Transcripts For KNTV Meet The Press 20240712

First, we need to save our city. President trump weighs in. We have our military willing and ready and able. My guest is keith ellison. Atlanta mayor, washington, d. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and florida congresswoman val demming. Its put more than 40 million out of work as much of the country is trying to return to some form of normalcy often ignoring social distancing. You see no fear. We are embracing it. Prompting fears of a second wave. Every community is one wild weekend from falling off the cliff. Joining me is msnbc anchor joshua johnson. Maria teresa kumar and pat mccrory of north. Welcome to sunday. A special edition of meet the press. Good sunday morning. America is waking up to two crisis. One is so new its called the novel coronavirus. The second institutional racism is with us for some 400 years. Overnight protests in dozens of cities across this country. Anger erupting over Police Brutality over africanamericans. Most demonstrations were peaceful with few incidents. Others had moments of confrontation and, yes, some violence. A look around the country from washington, d. C. To chicago. To new york. To where it all started, minneapolis. This comes after george floyd, a black man, was killed in Police Custody when a Minneapolis Police officer kept his knee on floyds neck until he was dead. The officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with third degree murder and Second Degree manslaughter. After the country is dealing with the coronavirus. We have lost more than 400,000 lives and 40 million jobs. In those cases, africanamericans have been victimized and President Trump failed to respond in a manner we expect to come from previous president s. He initially tweeted, quote. He later tried to walk that back. On the virus the president seems more interested some changing the subject than in addressing it, let alone the death toll tweeting instead about mailin balloting and barack obama and russia, china, my colleague Joe Scarborough and media and stock market and twitter, itself. We are following two huge stories and we start with the nationwide protests. We have correspondents all across the country. We start with shaq. What do you got. Reporter good morning, chuck. For the first time in four days, minneapolis residents are waking up to scenes absent of burning buildings and overnight widespread destruction and historic activation of the National Guard insisting that local and state police have to regain control of the city. By the thousands yesterday, protesters came out yesterday to demonstrate and clean up from the mess from the day before and trying to remain peaceful in the name of george floyd, a man we learned this week was considered a man of peace and kindness by his friends and family. After protesters violated an 8 00 p. M. Curfew, officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd to clear the streets. Protesters say they will continue to come out and demonstrate until justice is served. Justice for them is the rest of the three remaining fired Minneapolis Police Department Officers involved in the death of george floyd. Chuck . Shaquille brewster getting us starred in minneapol started in minneapolis, shaq, thank you. Blaine is here to report. Reporter what we saw play out on the streets of atlanta was a much different and much calmer scene than what we watched unfold on friday night and due in large part to two things. More rules and more resources. Atlanta mayor ordered everyone off the streets of atlanta by 9 00 p. M. A citywide curfew. We saw National Guard troops coming in edition to local Law Enforcement to contain the crowds. Atlanta police told us they made 70 arrests overnight and this morning, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has authorized even more National Guard troops, as many as 3,000 to fan out across the state of georgia as officials here prepare for another night of protests. Chuck . Thank you. Garrett hake is here in washington where he is following the night long protests in Lafayette Park across from the white house. It was a rough night friday night. How was it last night, garrett . Reporter another rough night out here. Largescale public protests are nothing new in washington, d. C. Nothing more american than coming to the Nations Capital and yelling at your government but we saw, i think, unprecedented levels of anger out here last night. Frankly, from the protesters i talked to, just exhaustion they are back in the streets again protesting another Police Killing of another black man. A lot of protesters said they were out here for freddie gray, they are out here for michael brown. They have had this anger so long and dont feel like its being addressed. Speaking of the president ial tweets of the governments response. I asked a number of protesters what they thought the way the president is handling this. The reaction i got the most was brushing him off. This is a president they no longer believe he speaks for them or to them. They are having this conversation without him. Chuck . Garrett haake at Lafayette Park, thank you. Priscilla thompson is in houston and let me bring you in, George Floyds hometown. How were things last night, priscilla . Reporter a lot of grief in houston. Last night or over the course of the past couple of days since friday when the demonstrations began, more than 200 people have been arrested but these protests have been, by and large, peaceful and nonviolent. Instead what we have been seeing is a number of vigils popping up to honor the life of george floyd, his classmates from jack Gates High School gathered and released balloons and retold stories of what it was like growing up with him in the third war and playing basketball and football with him and while there is a lot of anger here and a desire to see justice, there is also an interest in remembering who george floyd was as a person and celebrating that. This comes as the governor has signaled that George Floyds body will return to houston for funeral services. Chuck . Priscilla thompson in houston there where they are mourning the death of their hometown resident george floyd. Thank you to all. Joining me from minneapolis is Minnesota Attorney general keith ellison. Mr. Ellison, welcome back to meet the press. Thank you. I start with the issue of this outside instigators, i guess. Were trying to understand who are the people responsible for this violence . Yourself . The governor . Minnesota has indicated that there is some domestic terrorists out there, perhaps white supremacists. Bill barr, the attorney general, characterized the outside instigators this way and let me play that bite for you and get you to respond. Many places, it appears the violence is planned, organized, and driven by an arcic and left extremist groups, far left extremist groups, using antifa tacks and being traveling outside the state to promote the violence. Its our understanding, mr. Attorney general, that according to the justice department, they got that intelligence from state and local authorities. What do you know about who is behind this . Well, here is what i know. There has been a lot of videotape taken by demonstrators of people who are very suspicious, who really did start breaking windows, particularly at the autozone and there have been other, you know, photographs and cars with no license plates, very suspicious behavior. But the real point is we do need to investigate it because, you know, the truth is nobody really knows. Ive talked to people who are demonstrating. Some of them say they think some of those folks are from minnesota and they say some have come from out of town. What the exact political motivation is unclear at this point. We need to investigate it. But what i would say, though, particularly as it relates to bill barr and the president is that they have not brought a single pattern and practice lawsuit against major municipality where there is systemic Police Abuses in america. They have actually tried to walk back their involvement in key states where they existed under the Obama Administration. They have not moved forward when it comes to 21st century policing, which the Obama Administration started. So i think the federal government does have a role but it needs to be constructing a better relationship between cities and the Police Departments that serve them and make incendiary comments about who is to blame here as opposed to actually investigating it isnt helpful. We need their help to be more constructive, unless assigning blaming on matters we dont know the truth of yet. Do you want to see federal charges brought against these four Police Officers . And do you think that will happen under this attorney general . Many. Yes, i do. And i dont know. I hope so. I can tell you that our local u. S. Attorney is a very constructive partner. Erica mcdonald is from minnesota and she is a serious prosecutor and Law Enforcement person, and i do trust her. The folks she works for, i hope, just leave her alone and let her do her job. Let me ask you this what your understanding of whether the three other Police Officers dp we heard the county attorney of Hennepin County expect charges to be brought. Where are we on that and what do you expect the charges to be if they are brought . Well, you know, i know we are early in the process, chuck. At this point, there is the two charges of thirddegree murder and seconddegree manslaughter. That complaint could well be amended to include other additional charges or even higher charges. And the other individuals are not out of the woods. The investigation is ongoing. In answer to your questions of what charges, i dont know. Id be speculating. Its not my case. But, you know, certainly aiding and betting is a possibility and there are others as well. So i think that that is something that the county attorney mike freeman is looking into now. We expect to hear something in, you know, the fairly near future. Big picture, mr. Attorney general. You know, a lot of americans, there is, you know, minnesota has the minnesota nice image. Minnesota has an image youre an africanamerican man that got collected statewide as the attorney general and the statess legal enforcement officer. Right. Some look at this and are surprised. Tell us the story in minneapolis why this shouldnt surprise people in your mind. Well, minnesota is kind of a tale of two cities. It really is a beautiful, wonderful place. I love it here. Ive raised all four of my kids here. There are so many great things about it and so many great people. Yet, we have very stark disparities when it comes to africanamericans. Health disparities in health care and Health Disparities in housing and Health Disparities when it comes to employment and disparities all around. I mean, ill give you a quick example about 70 some percent of minnesotans own their own homes but only 27 of africanamericans do. Africanamericans are a fragile economic position in this state and we need massive investment. What i say to people is, look. If we can have some of the highest s. A. T. Scores in the country, if we can have some of the highest voting participation in the country, highest Home Ownership in the country, for whites, then we can do it for everything, but we have to have the will to do it for everybody. I think this sad tragic situation might give us the energy to really, really make those kind of commitments because they are absolutely needed. Keith ellison, the democraticelected attorney general of the state of minnesota, i appreciate you coming on this morning. I know its been a long week and a long few months for everybody, frankly, in this country. Thank you for coming on and sharing your perspective with us. Thank you. Joining me now is mayor of washington mariel bowser and mayor of atlanta, keshia lance bottoms. I know a long week for both of you. Mayor bowser, a report about last night, let me begin with you. How was it compared to friday night . And do you feel as if that going to see calm Going Forward or not . We are certainly going work for that, chuck. We are sending a very clear message to people that they have a right to exercise their First Amendment rights but not destroy our city. We saw just a destruction and mayhem among some that was maddening. Our crews are out right now cleaning up our city and we are working with all of our Law Enforcement partners to ensure calm in our city. Mayor lancebottoms, you were very passionate on friday night. You said at one point youre not protesting anything running out with brown liquor in your hands and breaking windows in this city, go home. You invoked your own 18yearold son, your own concerns, fears that you have about him and your kids. How were things last night and compared to friday night . Things were a bit more complex night but they werent perfect. People were still out protesting, by and large, peacefully. We had a 9 00 curfew last night we ended up arresting around 157 people last night. So we know that frustration is still there and all of the issues and all of the concerns and anger that were there on friday havent gone away. But this is more of a systemic issue that we are facing that is going to take time for us to address, but certainly acknowledging the deaths of so many innocent people in america, and there are no easy answers, but as mayor bowser said, the solution is not to destroy our cities. Mayor lance bottoms, do you believe there were outside forces at work . We heard from the attorney general. He seemed to think that there was some antifalike. He said very radical left groups. We heard in minnesota the governor thought there was some very radical far right groups also involved. Have you seen any evidence of any of these outside instigators . What i know in instant is that this protest, even from just a physical standpoint, didnt look like our normal protests. We, obviously, have a large africanamerican population in atlanta. This crowd was a very diverse crowd and that was noticeable on friday even before the problems began. We also noticed that many of the protesters even got lost when there was a detour. Many organizers in the city who often dont agree with me have shared that these were people from the outside, they did not know them. And have no idea where they came from. Mayor bowser, you have a unique issue. You have one resident in washington, d. C. Who, i think, was back seat driving you on friday night. Im referring to the president. I know you believe he hasnt been playing a helpful role. You made that very clear on twitter yesterday. Can he play a helpful role still . Or is it too late . Well, i think that the president has a responsibility to help calm the nation and he can start by not sending divisive tweets that are meant to harken to the segregationist past of our country and he can start by doing that right now. We certainly urge him to do that. We, as mayor bottoms has just said, we have systemic issues in our country to address and its going to take us at every level, federal and local, its going to take community and government to heal the hurt that people are feeling. So what you see in cities across our nations, what we saw last night, people who are angry and people who are hurting, and some not doing it in ways that are helpful to our cause but we still have to acknowledge that hurt and that anger. Mayor bowser, this is happening during a pandemic. You just started a phase one reopening in d. C. On friday. Im curious. Are you concerned that the police wont be respected when they try to enforce social distancing rules right now . Im concerned that we have Mass Gatherings in our street when we just lifted a stayathome order and what that could mean for spikes in our coronavirus cases later. In fact, im so concerned go that im urging im so concerned about it that im urging everybody to consider their exposure. If they need to isolate from their family members when they go home and if they need to be tested, because we have worked very hard to blunt the curve. While i saw some people are masks last night, others didnt. While i saw some people socially distancing, others people were right on top of each other. So we dont want to compound this deadly virus and the impact that its had in our community. Mayor lance bottoms, i want to go back to the president. There is some talk he might give an Oval Office Address in the next few days. What would you like to hear from him . Do you think any of his words could be helpful here . What id like to hear from the president is leadership and id like to hear a genuine care and concern for our communities and where we are with Race Relations in america. We know that when he spoke on charlottesville, he made the matter worse. And we are already we are well beyond the Tipping Point in america and as my grandmother used to say, if you dont have anything good to say, sometimes you just shouldnt say anything at all. Your preference would be maybe he shouldnt bother with a televised address like this . I dont have an issue with the president of the United States addressing our nation, but i am concerned that this president has a history of making matters worse. Mayor bowser, before i go, there is some talk about the fourth of july celebration. The president wants to try to have one on the mall. Where are you on this . Chuck, even be for the events of the last several days, we have been very concerned about large gatherings. We will not be in a position to allow parades in our city while we are still in phase one of reopening from the coronavirus. Mayor Muriel Bowser and mayor keshia lance bottoms, thank you both. I know its been a rough few months and then some. Good luck to you out there and stay safe and stay healthy. Thank you. Thank you. When we come back, is it possible to change how mostly white Police Departments treat africanamericans . Im going to talk to a former police chief and a current democratic congresswoman and a possible future joe biden running mate, val demming next. Right now, there are over a million Walmart Associates doing their best to keep our nation going. Because despite everything thats changed, one thing hasnt and thats our devotion to you and our communities. Our priority will always be to keep you and our associates safe, while making sure you can still get the essentials you need. You may heard the yam val demings a lot later. She was a social worker and a cop and then rose to become chief of the orlando Police Department. The first woman to do so. She is also on the short list of women joe biden is reportedly considering as his running mate. In a column in fridays the washington post, demings wrote, quote. Val demings joins me now from orlando. Welcome to meet the press. Let me start with simply this. We have been through this cycle before in america. A lot this last decade. The incident with george floyd happens. There is outrage. The country has some sort of conversation about race and inequality and what happens . Not much changes. Why do you think that is the case . And what do you think is the possibility of making this time different . Chuck, i really do believe that we can. When i think about the extraordinary work that dr. King did, for example, in the Civil Rights Movement and look at where we are. It is a ever changing and ever commitment that we always have to make to deal with systemic racism in our country. I think before as we have dealt with misconduct involving Police Officers that we have always tried to deal with it as an individual department or an individual city or an individual state. But i do believe the time has certainly come. We are overdue for us to look at the problem as a nation. I think we all need to pause. And every Law Enforcement agency in this nation, whether they are are ten persons or 35,000 persons need to review their hiring standards, their training standards, look at their deescalation training that they are doing within the department, look at those officers who train other officers because we know our training officers are the ones who set the standard for what is acceptable and unacceptable on the street. And we have to continue to work with our Community Leaders to build relationships, to foster trust and we dont wait to do that when we are in the middle of a crisis. We have to continue to do that every day. I do believe we are long overdue for every Law Enforcement agency in our nation to review itself and come out better than before. Let me ask you this, though. Look at minneapolis. A lot of people have praised the police chief in minneapolis. He was brought in they have had some issues in the past. He was brought in to institute these reforms. But youve dealt with this as a chief. Its very hard. If youve got a Police Officer that you think isnt good in certain situations, its very hard for you to get rid one of those Police Officers, is it not . Let me say this, chuck. As you know, i spent 27 years at the orlando Police Department and had the honor of serving as the chief of police. Ive worked with some of the brightest, the best, and most courageous men and women that america has to offer. Certainly they were not all that way. But the overwhelming majority were. And so i commend the chief in minnesota because he did one thing that i certainly think helped to bring charges against one officer, we are waiting to see others, but that is to immediately fire that officer, which allowed the chief to do some things that otherwise they would not have been able to do. And so, you know, while i know that it seemed like the days that passed before the officer was arrested, if you look historically, that was a pretty swift arrest that was made. And so i do believe working collectively, every sheriffs, every police chief, throughout the nation working together and facing racism and other issues headon to make sure what are they dealing with . Is it a bad mind . A person who should have never been a Law Enforcement officer in the beginning . Is it a bad heart . Because you certainly have to have the heart for this job, or is it bad policy . And while i know the federal government does not have direct jurisdiction, i certainly believe that we do have a major role to play in terms of helping Law Enforcement agencies throughout the nation maybe come up with some standards for hiring and training, especially use of force training. I want to go a little Bigger Picture here. In some ways, the last three months have been particularly hard on communities of color but particularly the africanamerican community. You look at the impact of the coronavirus on Health Outcomes. The impact of the virus on the economic picture. Now throw in three more just brutal examples of Racial Injustice on the Law Enforcement front. Im referring to georgia, kentucky, and minnesota in particular. What does that mean for governing Going Forward . Congressman Anthony Brown said to me one of the things that has to change, you cant have race neutral policy right now. There actually has to be direct help, direct aid to africanamerican communities to sort of fix these injustices. Where are you on this . Well, you know, lets think about it. President johnson looked at policing, for example, in america, over 50 years ago, and what he said, basically, is what i just said, hire the brightest and the best and make sure they are welltrained and they have the tools to do an effective job and work closely with the citizens. But he also said but we have to address those social ills that cause decay in africanamerican communities in the first place. We have to look at economic development. We have to look at jobs. We have to look at wages. We have to look at education. And, you know, some believe that, you know, in order to be fair, if you will, that you treat communities the same, well, its not that simple. Unless communities all start in the same place and we know thats not true. Look at the coronavirus. Its something that we have never seen before that requires us to do some things we have never done before. But racism in america and the injustices that comes with it is nothing new. And so we have to get serious about, number one, admitting there is an issue and, number two, working together, and, chuck, it certainly would help if we had leadership at the top. If there was ever a time we need leadership in the white house, it is now, to help heal our nation, but i dont know why i would expect this president to do something that he has never done before and we have never seen before. All right. Let me ask the question this way about President Trump. If he called you up tonight after watching you here and said, look, help me Say Something to fix this, what would you tell him to say . I would tell him to begin with showing some compassion for the persons who the families that have lost their loved ones. Lets start there. And then continue to talk about america is great and wonderful because of the beautiful diversity that we have in this country, that we are a nation of immigrants, we are a nation of laws, we are a nation of immigrants and we have to work together. Lets look at our history. This country is already solved some of the toughest issues because we have been able to come together and work together. We can do that now and maybe look, chuck, if he called me today, i would welcome the opportunity to help this president get it right and maybe we begin today by acknowledging the sins of the past and even said things that he has said and done that caused harm and brought pain to the american people. Congresswoman val demings, i have to leave it there. Thank you for sharing your perspective with us. Thanks, chuck. When we come back, as protests erupt from coasttcoasted, how odo my name is janelle hendrickson, and im an area manager here at amazon. When you walk into an amazon fulfillment center, its like walking into the Chocolate Factory and you won a golden ticket. Its an amazing feeling. My threeyearold, when we get a box delivered, he gets excited. He screams, mommys work when the pandemic started, we started shipping out all the safety stuff that would keep the associates safe to all the other amazons. All of these are face masks, weve sent well over 10 million gloves. And this may look like a bottle of vodka. When we first got these, we were like whoa [laughing] with this pandemic, safety is even more important because theyre going home to babies, theyre going home to grandparents. So, our responsibility is to make sure that they go home safe every single day. Try natures bounty sleep3, so, our responsibility is to make a unique trilayer supplement that calms you, helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer great sleep comes naturally with sleep3. Only from natures bounty. Reasonable car welcome back. The panel is here. Joshua johnson, Maria Teresa Kumar and pat mccrory of North Carolina joining me now. I want to hear from President Trump. Here is President Trump from friday discussing the george floyd death. I think Police Brutality is certainly something we have been hearing about, reading about, studying, i have for many years. We all have to say and i think most people would admit, that most of the policemen and women ive seen have been outing. When you have Something Like this happen you look at it and you just say how does a thing like that happen . It seems so bad to watch. Here is president obamas statement also friday where he said, quote. Joshua johnson, i felt like both of those statements indicated these are two president s who had two very different life experiences. Indeed. In one statement asks a question, which is how could this happen . The other statement answers it that this is normal and this just happens. If anything, the protests that we saw this weekend proved the foy people have been making about Law Enforcement which is that without some systemic changes, heavy handedness seems to be kind of the order of the day. I didnt see any Law Enforcement really working to protect the protesters in exercising their constitutional First Amendment right to protest and that is part of Law Enforcement to uphold the constitution. To subscribe this to anarchist or antifa i think giving them too much power. The idea that you could have a few people who break a few windows and burn a few cars and then militarize the whole nations Law Enforcement infrastructure, it just shows how very tenuous things are right now. I dont know that the protesters are the problem. I dont even nope that the Law Enforcement officers are the problem necessarily. But the expectation we set on them on what normal should be, that may be the issue, whether normal is keeping quiet in the streets or whether normal is upholding the constitution and giving people the right to speak their mind, even if speaking their mind means cussing you out. Pat mccrory, youve been a governor and a mayor. I know youve dealt with demonstrations that can get out of hand at times. A, how did you deal with it . B, seeing what we are seeing now, would you be doing things the same way or differently . One lesson i learned in 2016, the anarchists that we had in charlotte when i had to call the National Guard over the mayors objections, dont care what the mayor or governor or, at that time, president obama said. They dont even care what the protesters are protesting about. Their cause is destruction. Capitalism and destruction of governmental units and destruction of our police and they use using tactics. Do not underestimate them. And im so proud the governor of minnesota doesnt. They will use tactics which they will maneuver around using their iphones so once the police move, they will be elsewhere they are very dangerous and they burned down the city hall in nashville, tennessee. That is their goal and they will play the media also. I encourage the media to draw them out and identify them to protect our neighborhoods, our cities, and protect the right of these protesters over a very justifiable reason why they are protesting. Maria teresa, to bring it back to the larger issue, in some ways, i think both joshua and pat are indicating lets not let the actions of a few violent, perhaps instigators get in the way of the Bigger Picture here. Ive heard many say over the last few days between the pandemic, Health Outcome and unemployment picture and throw more examples of this Racial Injustice, in some ways, this eruption should have been expected in some form. Well, i think that the country is tired of seeing Police Brutality squarefaced in the issues we are facing and especially among covid. The challenge is that president obama saw what happened in ferguson and he created a task force in an attempt to bring community, business, and Police Community and address the culture that needs to change in many Police Departments around the country. One of the first things this President Trump did was, when he took office, he basically scrapped it, he gutted it. A lot of communities and a lot of Police Departments who said, yes, we want to modernize and see how we make culture change, dont have it any more. And so when we see the president wring his hands saying what can i do . Lead. Just like he took away the playbook on how to actually deal with the pandemic and lets take the stuff off that playbook and figure out how do we modernize and talk about the importance of police reform. We need it. Pat mccrory, mark meadows, you know, with a former North Carolina congressman and now chief of staff for the president thinks this is a time to do a Oval Office Address. We expect from this any previous president. We know this is not always a comfortable thing for him to do on this front. How would you advise the white house or President Trump to talk right now . I would show empathy and show strength against the antifa type of individuals, whether the left wring or right wing, i dont know. Id also talk about solutions. We also have to recognize the police, the progress we have made in the past 25 years from police just riding around in cars and responding to crime to Extensive Community policing over the last 25 years. We still need more training but we also have to recognize the progress and the progress still needs to be made. Joshua johnson, let me ask you this. If president called you up and said what should i say in an on the floor office address, what would you tell him to say . Can his words still matter . President s words always matter, for sure. I cant really tell the president what to say as an anchor but i would the president if there is ways that he can dovetail with the police reform. If the goal is to make America Great again there are certain ways if we harken back what Great America once was, i think in perfect line what the protesters are asking for. When streets are safen area communities feel cared for, there are more jobs and prosperity oprosper ity on the streets and what the president and protesters have wanted. Enand the protesters may agree on more than what they think. Thank you all. Pause it there. When we come back, the coronavirus where its been and where its going. vo since our beginning, our business has been people. And their financial wellbeing. Its evident in good times, with decisions focused on the longterm. And crucial when circumstances become difficult. That continued emphasis on people our advisors, associates, clients and communities gives us purpose, strength and a way forward. Today. And always. Try natures bounty sleep3, a unique trilayer supplement that calms you, helps you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer great sleep comes naturally with sleep3. Only from natures bounty. 16. laughter how many pints of iced tea are left in the pitcher . Times. Ten. So, wait. errhhhhh do you want to show us the continents on the. No. It is not going good. My mom is getting stressed out. speaks hebrew mommas tired. I, im, like. Woooo. screams sighs heavily so, starting just quickly by breathing in. I never thought id say this, but i kind of miss school the teachers, i mean, yall are gifted people i thank you so much for what youre doing. Their investment into our children is beyond what we can even imagine. Appreciate all that you do. To serve on the front lines. To fight an invisible enemy with courage and compassion. To comfort and to care, to hope, to press on, to do whatever it takes to beat the odds. We are the men and women of americas hospitals and health systems. And were here to care for you in every way every day. Welcome back. Death toll from the coronavirus in the United States now passed 100,000. We wanted to see if the virus is on the decline and where it is on the decline. It turns out its complicated. There were fewer new cases of covid19 this past week than the week before. Almost 22,000 fewer according to a nbc news tally and number of null reported deaths down about 1900 and by state when you break it down some see big declines in new cases, texas, illinois, massachusetts, and new jersey saw their cases decline over a thousand the last week. Number of deaths dropped sharply in many of those same states. In all cases, declining by 130 or more. Even with so many people still dying on a daily basis, there are some positive signs. Not all states are moving in a positive direction. Some even seeing a steep increase. In these states, the number of new cases last week climbed by more than 450 and the number of newly reported deaths up in this small set of states as well. While the overall picture is improving, thanks mostly to the northeast, there are still many trouble spots around the coun y country, even as governors try to slowly reopen their states. When we come back, mornings were made for Better Things than Rheumatoid Arthritis or Psoriatic Arthritis. When considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz xr, a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis or active Psoriatic Arthritis for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. It can reduce pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. 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And wells fargo employees are assisting millions of customers never before across america through fee waivers and payment deferrals, helping people stay in their homes through mortgage Payment Relief efforts and donating 175 Million Dollars to help hundreds of local organizations provide food and other critical needs. When you need us, wells fargo is here to help. Welcome back. Lets talk a little veep stakes here. To the panel, i want to read to you what my colleagues wrote over the weekend. The death of a 46yearold george floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer has thrust issues of criminal just toos the forefront and revived one of the biggest questions surrounding bidens choice. Will he choose not just a woman but a woman of color . I want to add a comment than jim clyburn, perhaps the person credited most with getting biden this nomination, he said this, we have to some someone on the ticket who can complement the candidacy rather than comp lukate the candidacy, referring to amy klobuchar. Could joe biden get away with picking say a white running mate in Elizabeth Warren or amy klobuchar. Would this create some problems in the Democratic Party . The Vice President already said hes not going to decide until august 1st. I believe hes going to continue vetting every person he believes is qualified. What i encourage him to look for is who can bring the young people out on the streets into the Democratic Party. The majority of democrats right now recognize that the house is on fire. They recognize we need to change the people in leadership in order to actually address the issues that the pandemic has so eloquently revealed in the last 40 days. And what were going to need is to increase that electoral base. And the only place to do it, chuck, is among young people. For the very first time, were going to have 12 million more young voters potentially than baby boomers, so who is that candidate that speaks to their truth, to their experience, and to the economic and social injustices that they have basically grown up their whole life with. Pat mccrory, is there a running mate on the list there of the dozen women we put up there that reportedly the former Vice President is consulting about, is there one on the list that you think, boy, she would help. She could help him in North Carolina . I thought the congresswoman you spoke to from florida has a pretty strong background that would worry me as a republican. You know, a week ago, we were having debates on whether to arrest people on beaches or Michigan Lakes or getting haircuts. This week, were talking about arresting people looting stores. By august, who knows what the new criteria will be for president ial election. Because things are changing so dramatically at this point in time. But i tell you who it has to be is someone who can be ready to step into the presidency. And i think thats going to be looked at because of Vice President bidens age. You know, joshua johnson, i had a lot of people say what pat mccrory said right there, which is that is going to matter to them or at least the perception of that is going to matter. Good i had an old friend of mine remind me, yeah, running mates mattered a lot in 1998 with dan quayle and lloyd bentsen, too, meaning it didnt matter add all on that front. But joshua johnson, whats your take on this as far as biden is concerned . Obviously very briefly, i think its going to be after what we saw this weekend, its what the running mate represents, particularly with africanamerican voters. We know health care, the economy, and Law Enforcement are huge issues. After this weekend, Law Enforcement, if not Law Enforcement reform, is going to matter a great deal. I wouldnt be surprise fd you started hearing Bernie Sanders talking about the convention and saying, you know, these delegates i have, if were going to have a unified platform, i think we need to talk more about Law Enforcement. Some of these people on the list may have a little more credibility than others to talk about reforming Law Enforcement instead of just improving it. Dwling thats going to matter a lot. Well, im curious, val demings, youre a floridian, you followed her a little bit. The knock on her is going to be, you know, we havent had a member of congress go directly to the presidency or the vice presidency in over 100 years, i think even on the vice presidency directly. But is the other life experiences, executive experience, enough . We havent had a Real Estate Developer go right to the presidency ever. Its a fair point. Maria teresa kumar, does val demings have that does she meet the ready on day one bar or whatever that bar is in the minds of some voters . I think that she has incredible experience. I have had the opportunity to work with her when she was working with emilys list as a candidate and before, and she brings in not only the experience but the Law Enforcement that perhaps is going to be on the ballot, but i believe what were going to need is someone who will be ready on day one, not just on the National Stage but on the interNational Stage. Quickly, pat mccrory, the rnc convention, is it going to be in your home state or not . You know, were in a plital tussle. The question is who makes the rules for the virus for a convention . Does the governor make the rules or the rnc make the rules . The governor wants the rnc to make the rules. Who knows. Its a political battle right now. A fair way to put it. Before we leave you, i would like to mention our new meet the press College Roundtable series. Each week, ill be joined by journalism students who will get a chance to interview newsmakers we help connect with them. Episodes will be available every friday streaming on nbc news and other platforms. Thats all for today. Thank you for watching. Thank you for trusting us. Well be back next week because if its sunday, its meet the press. Boys club in silicon valley. This week, tough words about silicone from a self described outsider on Venture Capital and group think. Amy, who helped Cantor Fitzgerald rise from the ashes of 9 11 predicts the pandemic will change how and where Venture Capital invests. Plus greg sands on what start ups need to do right now before its too late. This week on press here