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In multiple states and grow requirement here. Faster than before. There is no city mask records mean little when they requirement or county requirement. Get broken every day. What you see today is essentially a very maskless new cases, faster infections, community gathering. Thank you, vaughn. Thats nbcs Vaughn Hilliard more hospitalizations. Joining us from prescott, florida reported its highest arizona. They are calling for masks in the state of texas. Single day record today with today that state reported a 4 nearly 11,500 new cases. Increase in covid19 cases. In states across the southern and western u. S. Have seen a hospitals there are already surge. Straining to keep up as the the increase in cases per capita state approaches 200,000 is remarkable in some parts of confirmed infections. The country. This week in south carolina, more than 20 of tests came back Nbcs Jay Gray joins us now from dallas, and jay, texas has had a positive. That is also a record. Tone shift in how the reopening is going and how governor greg meanwhile, President Trump had been speaking on the virus abbott is telling people to pretty much daily. Protect themselves. Now he is staying on the how are texans reacting to that and to the cdc guidelines . Sidelines of the white house as coronavirus response. Thats apparently by design, yeah, joshua, youre according to a Senior Administration official. Absolutely right after an aggressive reopening plan here. That has not stopped the president from tweeting his they have taken a step back. And you do see a lot of texans, opinions. Today he tried again to explain at least in the dallas area who away the surge in cases as an have started Wearing Masks when increase in testing. Before it was not as prevalent experts say that more testing here. Look, were outside parkland does not by itself explain the hospital, which is the center rise in hospitalizations or in the rate of infections. For Dallas County medical activities here. No matter the cause, this deadly theyve had to add a fourth wing surge across much of the u. S. Is for covid19 patients because of leaving Many Americans without the influx of people coming in friends and without loved ones. With the disease. Its an issue thats stretching this year celebrating the the hospitals not only in this nations birthday means very Different Things to different area, but really across the people. I know he was scared to go state. Into the icu unit, and he didnt one of the worst areas right now houston, where doctors describe want to die by himself, and the situation as dire. Thats literally what happened. I dont think anything brings me peace right now, but i know that i dont have enough beds for spreading awareness does help me you. Let me just put it that way, okay . I dont have enough beds, and feel better, and my kids too. You will die. Its as simple as that. Lets begin in arizona. There is no more mr. Nice guy, it is now reporting nearly no more please. If you go out this fourth of 95,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and just over 1800 known july to a mass gathering, you have the potential of dying yourself or killing somebody deaths. Nbcs Vaughn Hilliard is in else. Prescott, arizona where a legendary annual rodeo took the same warning being issued place today. By officials in the rio grande vaughn, how cautious were people in how they celebrated . Valley, the far southern tip of joshua, i would say there is texas where they say they are just about maybe one out of completely out of hospital beds as well. Five, one out of six folks here back here in Dallas County, they in the Prescott Area that have went over a thousand new cases been Wearing Masks. Yesterday for the first time in we cant actually get access to one day. Its still growing here. The rodeo which draws thousands every year. And officials here stress that instead were here at the the data were getting right now Courthouse Square which is more is from likely about two weeks of a festival like atmosphere there is a lot of concern. Ago. Its still taking ten days in some cases for people to get while other fourth of july results after testing here in events were canceled around the dallas. State, near prescott, they were not. Thats where my met dr. Tom thank you, jay that is Nbcs Jay Gray joining us from rusing here. You were a general surgeon for parkland hospital, the historic 30 years you were telling me at hospital where they took jfk in the yavapai Regional Medical 1963 in dallas. Lets talk more about the spread center. From your view and what you have of this virus with dr. Anne seen today, why are you concerned . Im very concerned because my wife and i just got back from gallup, new mexico. Remoyne. And we were volunteers at the good to see you today, doctor. Gallup indian medical center. I wonder what your thoughts are we saw what a significant surge, on what the president has said. He has been saying the testing the affect it had on new mexico is behind the surge in cases. What do you see as the biggest and the gallup area, including factors . The native people and nonnative is it the obvious things like american people. Indoor gatherings, like they had to take significant businesses reopening, or is measures. You go across the border, and there more to it . Joshua, i think that the there are signs saying face science on transmission is pretty clear. Masks required in new mexico. If you give the virus an and in gallup, everybody is opportunity to spread, when wearing a mask. Its the rare exception, where people are not social as here its almost the distancing, theyre not wearing exception for people to be masks, its going to take that Wearing Masks. Opportunity and do what it does. And social distancing is you know, viruses just want to limited. And so im concerned that were already in a surge, and the continue to replicate and to things that are going on now could even make it worse and stress our Health Care System spread into new hosts. And we are not as a country or and put tremendous stress on ou even as a global community, we are not immune to this virus. So if we have people who are susceptible, which most of us are, and we are in close proximity to other people who might be infected, most of whom will be unknowingly infected and contagious and able to spread it, were going see cases. Thats why wearing a mask, social distancing, all of these things are so critical to our success in terms of being able to beat this virus. Florida saw its highest singleday increase in cases today. Oklahomas sevenday average reached a new high just two weeks after the president held his rally in tulsa. Level with me, dr. Remoyne. Have we lost the war on covid19 . Is this just a slow motion defeat that were watching . Well, joshua, i somebody has worked in epidemics and emerging Infectious Diseases for my entire career, and what i will say is we are not without hope. We have solutions. We know from the models, from the university of washington if 95 of the population wore a mask, we would be able to save up to 24,000 lives in the next coming months. We all have the ability to have an impact on this virus right now. Its the fourth of july. The most patriotic act you can do right now is to wear a mask. We can reduce the spread. All is not lost. We have lost a lot of the gains we made, but we can do better right now. Everybody can. The Washington Post spoke to many of the Nations Health experts, including dr. Anthony fauci about how theyre dealing with the risks of covid19. Their answers differed quite a bit. For example, when they were asked how they handle visitor, most of them say they only allow cleaners and service workers. Some people said they allowed more. When it came to their mail, some say they just leave it out to sit like dr. Fauci and wash their hands. Others said they dont take any precautions. What do you make of this variation among the experts . Well, i think there is a common theme here. And everybody has their own risk threshold, but most people are taking very, very good precautions. Listen, we know the issue about mail, and things that youre touching, what we like to call fomites. We know that kind of transmission is less important. Its not that it doesnt exist, its just that its less important than wearing a mask, social distancing, et cetera, et cetera. I think what youve seen in that article is doing their best to be socially distanted, wearing a mask, washing their hands, doing all of these things very carefully. And then you to decide, do i need to have somebody come into my house . In that article what the people said if they had workers come into the house, they would be in a different part of the house and everybody would wear masks. I think that is very reasonable. I use the example all the time that i just had a birthday, and i really wanted to spend it with my mom. That was really important to me. What i did is i quarantined for two weeks. My family, we quarantined for two weeks. So we were able to see my mom safely because she is in her late 70s, and of course in this vulnerable age group, and that was something proactive that we could do, and all be able to have the experience of being able to be together. So there is always something you can do. Everybody can do something. Briefly before i let you go, there was this article in the atlantic that is advocating against shaming people for hitting the beach with the pandemic going on. What is your advice for the best precautions to take this summer, especially for people who are determined to hit the beach . Well, you know, i know i sound like a broken record here, so im going to say it again. Wear a mask. Social distance, good hand hygiene. Honestly, i think people keep looking for some magic bullet or what they can or cant do. And if there is a way around the rules of how this virus transmits. The virus transmits when it has the opportunity to jump from one person who is infected to somebody smaes susceptible. And so the best thing everybody can do in everything they do in life is to stay six feet distant, wear a mask. If you have symptoms, stay home. Do your part. And really, you know, make sure that youre not giving this virus an opportunity to spread. If we all just think about how can i not give this virus opportunity to spread further, i think that that anything you do, you can kind of sort what the right way to do it or wrong way to do it is. Epidemiologist dr. Anne remoyne of school of public health. Doctor, happy recent birthday and thanks for making time for us. Happy fourth of july. Still to come on msnbc, june was a tough month for President Trump. Between the coronavirus pandemic and the protests against racial injustice, how is all this affected his reelection bid . All strength we aint stoppin believe me go straight till the morning look like we wont wait were taking everything we wanted we can do it all strength, no sweat essential for sewing, but maybe not needles. For people with certain inflammatory conditions. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz. The first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. Before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b or c, have flulike symptoms, or are prone to infections. 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If ever a candidate was his own best asset or worst liability, it would seem to be now. Lets bring in nbc political reporter monica alba, and anne gearrin, a White House Reporter for the Washington Post. Monica, let me start with you and the event at the white house. Have you begun to notice any of the i can hear a little sound in the background, i think. Exactly, joshua. The preprogram is just getting under way, and the president is expected to take the podium and give his remarks in the next 30 minutes or so. And what we have noticed here as hundreds of people have arrived on the south lawn for what is the largest event at the white house since the pandemic started in march is very few masks. Now this is something that is optional for attendees at this particular event, the salute to america. The white house was distributing them, but theyre not required. And they said that social distancing would be offered as something people could take advantage of if they wanted. But from the pictures that youre seeing here, you have people crowded together pretty closely at some picnic tables, and the chairs and other areas that are located for the actual viewing of remarks do appear to be a little more distanced. We have seen some members of the administration arrive. Some of them have been Wearing Masks, for example, Admiral Brett Giroir has been modeling that good behavior. We just saw chief of staff mark meadows Walking Around greeting people, not wearing a mask. Its hard to say what kind of message theyre projecting other than a mixed one in terms of bringing all these people together when you still have the cdc, the trump administrations own Health Experts saying its not a good idea to have large gatherings, especially not right now. And we may see much, much larger crowds on the National Mall once these flyovers begin and the fireworks which are set to take place later this evening, joshua. Monica, let me ask you about this Covid Response that seems to have created a kind of rift in the white house. Earlier a white house spokesperson told you, quote, to ensure the health and safety of those attending, social distancing will be observed and facial coverings and personal hand sanitizeler be provided, unquote. Why the about face after last nights rally on Mount Rushmore where we had very few masks and basically no social distancing . Its a great question. A lot of it does come down a little bit to the like cat. In south dakota, for example, they did have these codes that determined that those chairs had to be zip tied together in case there was a fire or any kind of emergency, they wanted there to be an egress. So its favoring one Health Precaution over another potentialliment here at the white house, they have said they have been trying to take these more safety options a into consideration when building and planning for these kinds of events. But you look at what was happening just two weeks ago tonight when the president went to tulsa for his First Campaign rally since the start of the health crisis, and you had all these advanced staffers who tested positive. You had secret Service Agents who tested positive. That was an indoors event. Of course, this is outdoors. But the risk again with all weve come to learn about asymptomatic people especially and how easily they can spread coronavirus is if youre going bring together these numbers of people, this is going to be the issue. And the other thing is for a lot of events a the white house during the height of the pandemic. That would do temperature screenings. They would ask anybody who enters the ground a wellness questionnaire, with what symptoms have you experienced . Where have you been . All of the that has stopped in the last couple of weeks. Everybody who enters here, and were talking hundreds of people who wont get into close proximity of the president and the first lady, but they will be members of the administration and other staffers who are attending, they havent necessarily gone through the screenings. It comes on a day where we learned that kimberly guilfoyle, one of his Campaign Officials and also the girlfriend to his eldest son donald trump jr. Tested positive for coronavirus yesterday. And the Contact Tracing that has now had to go through both the white house, the president s own inner circle, anyone else who may have come into contact with her, thats what theyve been dealing with for most of day, joshua. And let me play a quick clip from you about what the president said he has done for the economy, despite covid19 related to his reelection. There has not been anything like this, record setting, shattering all expectations. Our economy is roaring back. Its coming back extremely strong. These are all historic numbers. A record, never had a number like that. An alltime high. Think of that. Weve done an incredible job. Weve done a historic thing, the likes of which nobody has ever seen before, in my opinion. African American Workers really happily for me made historic gains, with 404,000 jobs added last month alone. And thats a record. Kind of a super cut of the president s remarks this week, and the economy continues to be a key selling point for his reelection. Its been a selling point throughout. How is this playing within the campaign . Well, joshua, that recording was from thursday when we did see very strong job numbers released, and this has become a pattern for the president when he gets one of these good monthly reports that shows what he thinks is progress coming out of the coronavirus lockdown and the economic effects of that. He wants to trumpet it himself and wants to really in this case stretch it beyond what it really means. Those are really good job numbers, and it means a number of good strong indicators are happening. It does not mean that the economy itself is fixed or that unemployment is fixed or that the economic effects of the coronavirus are in any way behind us. None of those things are true. And so what he is doing is cherry picking a couple of good things and blowing it up into a much making it much more of it than it really is in terms of economic factor, and kind of using it as a political cover for all the other things that arent being done correctly on in dealing with the pandemic and sort of making it one thing that he can talk about thats good news amid what really was a spate of dismal news for him for the last three or four or five weeks. Nbcs monica alba and anne gearrin of the Washington Post, two people who will be watching this event closely tonight to hear what the president has to say. Thank you both very much. Something to think about on this fourth of july. The founders were pretty clear on what independence meant to them. And it was lot more than life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. John adams laid out his idea for this holiday in a letter to his wife abigail. He wrote it the day after congress voted to declare independence. Adams envisioned a celebration with parades, sports, shows, and illuminations, or fireworks. But he was also clear that we would have to defend our independence with toil and blood and treasure. The next day, the founders ratified the declaration of independence. In its last sentence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, quote, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor, unquote. Independence day is not just about our rights, but our responsibilities. America is debating many of its responsibilities, from dismantling systemic racism to wearing face masks. These founding documents show us that our independence demands enter dependence. How will we make that work . It might help to reimagine what we must mutually pledge to each other, even if someone else might not pledge it back. Our governments pledge to protect our troops is on the mind of congressman raj that krishnamoorthi of illinois. He will join us straight ahead. burke at farmers, we know how nice it is to save on your auto policy. But its even nicer knowing that if this happens. Or this. Or even this. Weve seen and covered it. So, get a quote today. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum Little Things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. 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Ill let you in on a little secret. They dont. By empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. To learn more, visit paycom. Com President Trump is preparing for tonights july 4th celebration saluting our Nations Armed forces. Meanwhile, questions remain about reports that he took no action to protect american soldiers in afghanistan from bounties russian operatives reportedly put prices on their heads. The New York Times broke this story. It has since uncovered that american officials intercepted data showing financial transfers from a Russian Military Intelligence Agency to a talibanlinked account. Joining us to discuss it is democratic congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of illinois. Congressman, good evening. Good evening. How you, joshua . Im well, thank you. Officials confirmed to nbc news that the possibility of these russian bounties was included in the president ial daily briefing, but he was not verbally briefed on the matter. If the president had been briefed and decided to act, what might that have looked like . Well, i comment on the specific intelligence. I was part of a classified briefing a couple of days ago from Intelligence Community officials. However, there are a number of tools at the president s disposal in terms of acting to prevent our anniversaries from harming our troops. As you know, the russians and others are trying to reintegrate into the world economy, trying to join the g8, trying to have sanctions lifted. We can say if they did Something Like this or tried to harm our troops, not only would they not be able to achieve those objectives, which theyre trying to achieve, but we would probably try to impose more sanctions and further isolate them. How much can we actually hurt russia . Were talking about a country thats led by Vladimir Putin who just won a referendum to remain president until 2036. This is a guy who was president , got term limited, had his Prime Minister become president. That guy was president , decided he didnt want the job, and Vladimir Putin became president again and now he might be there basically for the rest of his life. How much power do we actually have over putin . Well, i think that fact that the russians are trying repeatedly to have sanctions lifted on them, especially by the United States shows that the sanctions do hurt them. That being said, you are correct that Vladimir Putin does try to insulate himself as much as possible from political and economic precious internally. That all being said, however, i think the sanctions do bite, especially on people around him and folks that have the ability to make it uncomfortable for him in power. Why do you think the russians would do such a thing . Do you think this was the kind of thing intended to do covertly and they just screwed it up, or was this the kind of thing where theyre trying to be gangster like yeah, we put a hit on your soldiers. Do something about it. Why would they do this . Again, i cant get into the classified information, but based on public reports, the russians have had malign interests against us in afghanistan for some time. They obviously are not happy with United States and its efforts to eject them from afghanistan back in the 1980s. And even in syria, they feel that we are somehow somehow interfering in a zone of influence of theirs. That all being said, we have to protect our troops, and we have to do whatever it takes to warn them and other adversaries that if you harm our troops, there will be serious consequences. Move on the the president is something else, do we know how specific these bounties were, whether it was just u. S. Service members or certain kinds of Service Members in certain kinds of activities . I cant comment on the intelligence, joshua, except there is a lot of credible evidence surrounding this situation that quite frankly i wish that the white house would try to delve into a little more also right now. Before i let you go, i definitely want the talk about covid19 and this second wave of stimulus checks thats being proposed. Democrats are on board. The president isnt ruling it out. A lot of republicans are on the fence. Whats the one biggest thing, congressman, that you think can realistically get done right now . I actually think that there will be another stimulus before the election, or there has to be, because quite frankly, a lot of our families are hurting still. You know, we still have doubledigit unemployment, upwards of 20 Million People are unemployed. You know, people who have lost their jobs find it very difficult, for instance, to pay for their health insurance, which was formally heavily subsidized by their employers. In addition, schools are not going to be reopening fully. And so families have all kinds of extra child care expenses that they have to bear that they didnt before. So the needs are real, joshua. And i think that every member of congress, republican and democrat, are getting the same phone calls we are from people who really need help and therefore there is going to be pressure to do something. I personally think there will be another round of payments to families. I think the president seems to be in favor of it. I think my colleagues on the other side need to get on the same page with their president. Certainly we as democrats have put that forward, and were going pursue that aggressively. Democratic congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of illinois, where mercifully, the daily increases in covid cases are slowing down. The last increase was the lowest single day increase since the end of march. Congressman, appreciate your time. Thanks very much. Thank you, joshua. Coming up, reports of some crimes are rising in several big cities during protests for Police Reform. What will it take to keep us safe today and improve Law Enforcement for tomorrow . Is that net carbs or total . Eh, not enough fiber. Chocolate would be good. Snacking should be sweet and simple. The delicious taste of glucerna gives you the sweetness you crave while helping you manage your blood sugar. With nutrients to help support immune health. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Just between us, cleaning with a mop and bucket is such a hassle. Well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. Its an allinone that absorbs dirt and grime deep inside. And it helps prevent streaks and haze. Stop cleaning. Start swiffering Many Americans are protesting for improved policing. Some of them may be among the people seeing some crimes rising across the country, including gun violence. This week new york mayor bill de blasio announced he would put more officers into the streets. New york recorded 125 shootings during the first three weeks of june. Thats more than doubled from the same time last year. In philadelphia, shootings are up 57 from last year. In los angeles, homicides rose 250 during the first week of june. Cities across the country are slashing their Police Budgets after the death of george floyd back in may. The deepest cuts are in new york and los angeles at 1 billion and 150 million respectively. As Police Reform legislation stalls in congress, is enough being done to rethink our Nations Police forces . Here with us to discuss it is Derrick Johnson, the president and ceo of the naacp and marq claxton, a retired nypd detective and director of the black Law Enforcement alliance. Good to have both of you with us this evening. And derrick, let me start with you with regards to the surge in crime. In new york, police, some police are blaming it on a new law that limits judges ability to incarcerate people before trial on certain charges. There was also the release of thousands of prisoners out of concern for spreading covid19. Derrick, how much do you see those things as factors in this rise in crime . I think were going to begin to see more attempts to conflate the issue. Crime is a direct result of loss of hope, the lack of job opportunities, the inability of local jurisdictions to address Mental Health illness. We have to look at society in its totality and not try to isolate scenarios that it is tough on crime or not tough on crime. We have a systemic problem in this nation. In the African American, its a loss of hope, loss of opportunity. There is not enough funding in education. Those are the real problems. We want to address crime, lets look at the entire picture and not assume that youre tough on crime, crime goes down. Thats not an accurate picture. Marq, as we mentioned, the lapd is in the middle of a budget cut. Its also in the middle of a hiring cut. On wednesday, the Los Angeles Council voted to cut the number of sworn officers below 10,000. The city has not had that small a head count at the lapd since 2008. What do you make of that change, marq . Is it a good thing . A bad thing . Or is that one statistic kind of too narrow . I have to trust the judgment of the los angeles government. Ill tell you this, that there are departments across the nation who are deciding how theyre going to proceed with this reality rest allocation of. Some departments are choosing to deal with the increase in funding through attrition or hiring freezes like l. A. Other departments like the nypd are choosing or examining the possibility of reassigning some individuals who were previously reassigned such as safety, traffic, et cetera. So its really a judgment based on jurisdiction. The rubber is going to meet the road when we move forward with some of these changes and budgetary gymnastics if you will and decide on how were going proceed in enforcing the laws and creating the new reality in policing. I should note by the way, we are looking at pictures of the president and the first lady walking out on to the white house lawn. There is a fourth of July Celebration that has slowly gotten under way this evening. The president is expected to give remarks within the next ten minutesish as part of a Larger Program with military flyovers, fireworks, music. There has already been some performing this evening. Weve noted that at part of the festivities at the white house there has been a request for social distancing as well as a request that people wear their masks, including some folks being asked to put them on after they had taken them off, maybe even just for taking some pictures. This is a celebration that d. C. s mayor Muriel Bowser has said is antithetical to a city that is trying to control the spread of covid19. She has encouraged washingtonians to stay home, to celebrate the fourth of july in a different way. Its also unusual for the way the fourth of july is observed. Anyone who has been in the Nations Capital knows the big crowd around the white house and the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial is just a tradition in washington. Youve got these things colliding. Covid19, the tradition of july 4th, and also the residents from last nights event at Mount Rushmore in south dakota, an official white house event that had a lot of overtones of a straight ahead Donald Trump Campaign rally, as the rhetoric began to evolve through the program. The president and mrs. Trump are making their way up to the stage. After a musical interlude, there will be as we understand it some aerobatics before the president gives his remarks in about the next five to ten minutes. Well keep an eye on these images. Well continue with Derrick Johnson and marq claxton. Apologies in advance, gentlemen, if i have to interrupt you for the president seeking. But derrick, let me come back to you for just a brief moment with regards to Law Enforcement. We noted this week in both virginia and austin, texas, that cannabis possession has essentially become decriminalized. African americans tend to get arrested for Marijuana Possession at nearly four times the rate of white americans. How do moves like this, derrick, compare to the effort to completely overhaul Law Enforcement and criminal justice . Where does that fit in . Its a huge step. Weve seen a substantial growth in mass incarceration, particularly African American communities disproportionately being charged and convicted with crim crimes. You know, going back to the previous question we have to be careful with the strategic placement of narrative of this either or reality. Crime is not marq, im sorry to interrupt. I apologized in advance for interrupting and sure enough. Im sorry for interrupting. I want to clarify what we are watching now. This is one of the flyovers that is going to be a part of the event. Of course this is air force one. Of course the president is not in it, but it is one of the most heavily equipped and technologically advanced aircraft in the world. So it is one of the flyovers to show the aerial might of the United States government. There are also other aerial feats that were expecting this evening, including a jump from the Golden Knights parachute team on to the ellipse. If youre familiar with the thunderbirds from the air force and the blue angels from the navy, the Golden Knights are the army equivalent. They are the only other Aerobatic Team that is sanctioned by the pentagon. Theyve been around since the late 60s and take part in parachute competitions and exhibitions. They have done tens of thousands of them since they incorporated in the late 50s and then became known as the Golden Knights in the early 60s. The flyover with air force one is one of the precursors to the president s event. Also some more music from i believe that would be pershings own, the band in red on the left of your screen, to the left, i guess behind the president now. As the ceremony continues in front of the white house with the Washington Monument behind it. This would be on the Southern Side of the white house. The northern side of the white house would be lafayette square. Thats where we see the Golden Knights parachute team making their jump. The u. S. Armys Aerobatic Team, the counterpart to the blue angels and the air force thunderbirds. After they make their jump, we expect comments from the president. The event that you are looking at is taking place on the south side of the white house. Thats the one thats directly in front of the Washington Monument, kind of flanking at the western end of the National Mall. The north side of the white house is lafayette square, where we had been keeping an eye on protests in front of what is now known as black lives matter plaza. Understandable why the white house might want to hold this event on the other side of the white house from where those protests are. Well continue to keep an eye on this jump from the Golden Knights as we await the president s remarks there. You can see the army flags behind the parachuters. One of the things well be listening for are what the comments will be from the president tonight. He spoke at length yesterday, as did a number of the other speakers, spoke at length at Mount Rushmore in terms of the efforts to, as they put it, cancel some of the Founding Fathers and the luminary figures from American History who were involved in some social atrocities. The president railed against that, as did some of the other speaker, including kristi noem, the governor of south dakota. Tonight we hear to hear from the interior secretary David Bernhardt who will speak before the president , after the parachute group, the Golden Knights have finished their jump. Well listen back in for the president s remarks in just a moment. Take a minute to take a look at that image from the Golden Knights. I believe we still have marq and derrick if we want to continue. Derrick, are you still with us . Im here. Could i just ask you, derrick, for your thoughts in terms of what we heard from the president at Mount Rushmore, what we might hear today . I understand the debate in some ways about what to do with these monuments. The naacp has been a part of that debate, basically since it began, i think. Whats your sense of this culture conversation right now . Its inconsistent to say that you are for the United States and youre a patriot and yet you celebrate the confederacy. The confederacy was antithe United States. It seceded from the you knunion. It took up arms. It committed a treasonous act. Those are the symbols and the name changes that are being sought. Again, we cannot allow the right to try to grab the narrative and take the conversation away from the reality. Jefferson davis and others were they committed treasonous act. Thats what you see as protests. Those are the monuments youre seeing and people seeking to take down, and thats the position the naacp has had for decades. In fact, it. Lets get a quick word from monica alba who is at the white house. What do you see . What i just heard is the announcement that the president is stepping to the podium for those remarks. We have some fireworks apparently Getting Started early tonight here, which you can also see there, toward the direction of the Washington Monument. Whats notable is they havent done a 4th of July Celebration. Last year the president spoke from the Lincoln Memorial. I think were taking a listen to the president. We are indeed. Lets head to the white house where the president is speaking now. Members of my cabinet and fellow americans, the first lady and i are delighted to welcome you to the Second Annual salute to america. On this wonderful day we celebrate our history, our heros, our heritage, our Great American flag and our freedom. Happy 4th of july to everyone. I want to thanks u. S. Army Golden Knights for that truly aweinspiring display. Tremendous talent. The Golden Knights and every member of the armed forces here this evening, we just want to say that you have earned the eternal gratitude of our entire nation. 244 years ago in philadelphia the 56 signers of our declaration of independence pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to boldly proclaim this Eternal Truth that we are all made equal by god. Thanks to the courage of those patriots on july 4th, 1776, the American Republic stands today as the greatest, most exceptional and most virtuous nation in the history of the world. Our workers, our factories have revolutionized industries and lifted millions into prosperity. Our artists, architects and engineers have inspired the globe with transcendent works of beauty. American heros defeated the nazis, dethroned the fascists, toppled the communists, saved american values, upheld american principles and chased down the terrorists to the very ends of the earth. We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing. Our inventors, scientists, doctors and researchers have improved the lives of billions and billions of people all around the world. Our brave astronauts planted the American Flag on the moon in america. Well be the first nation to land on mars. All americans living today are the heirs of this magnificent legacy. We are the descendants of the most daring and courageous people ever to walk on the face of the earth. We inherit their towering confidence unwavering enthusiasm, their unbridled ambition and unrelenting apartment mit optimism. This is the untamed spirit that built this glorious nation and this is the spirit that burns brightly within the soul of every american patriot. That is why we pay tribute to generations of american heros whose names have etched on our monuments and memorials and in the pages of history and in the hearts of a very grateful people we will never allow an angry mob to turn down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms. We will safeguard our values, traditions, customs and beliefs. We will teach our children to cherish and adore their country so that they can build its future. Together we will fight for the American Dream and we will defend, protect and preserve american way of life, which began in 1492 when columbus discovered america. Jobs and companies are coming back to our country like never before. The power of tariffs being imposed on foreign lands that took advantage of the United States for decades and decades have enabled us to make great trade deals where there were none. Tens of billions of dollars are now paid to the United States treasury by these same countries, but there and then we go hit by the virus that came from china. And we made a lot of progress. Our strategy is moving along well. It goes out in one area and rears back its ugly face in another area. But weve learned a lot, weve learned how to put out the flame. Weve made ventilators where there were none by the tens of thousands to the point that we have far more than we need and we are now distributing them to many Foreign Countries as a gesture of goodwill. Likewise testing, there were no tests for a new virus but now we have tested almost 40 Million People. By so doing we showcases, 99 of which are totally harmless, results that no other country can show because no other country is testing that we have, not in terms of the numbers or in terms of the quality. And now just like everything else, we have become the manufacturer on record for ventilators, we have the most and finest testing anywhere in the world and we are producing gowns and masks and Surgical Equipment in our country where heretofore it was almost exclusively made in foreign lands, in particular china, where ironically this virus and others came from. Chineses secrecy, deceptions and coverup allowed it to spread all over the world, 189 countries, and china must be held fully accountable. Weve been listening to President Donald Trump speaking on the lawn of the white house. Similar to what he said yesterday at mt. Rushmore where it began with some more broader and patriot iic themes and shifd into his more common themes that he has noted in the campaign, he referred to some of the cultural fights over monuments and statues across the country saying we are in the process of defeating the radical left, the marxists and anarchists and people who have no clue what they are do. He said he would never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history or trample on our freedom. He also said something that i think many of you, if youre playing the home game immediately marked on your card referring to preserving the american way of life, which began in 1492 when columbus discovered america. No. Columbus landed on the island of hispaniola where haiti and the Dominican Republic are. Thats where columbus landed in 1492 after he had sailed the ocean blue. We will keep an eye on the remarks as a crowd has gathered at the white house, a crowd made up in large part of First Responders and people excuse me, front line workers and their families, including some First Responders, as well as doctors and nurses, as well as members of the military and their families and members of the administration. Plenty to discuss with our guests, including nbc political reporter monica alba, who is still with us. We also have ann gearen, White House Correspondent for the Washington Post and joining us