Video, i say to myself as probably all of you do to mr. Garner, dont do it, comply. Officer pantaleo, dont do it. I said that about the decisions made about both officer pantaleo and mr. Garner. But none of us can take back our decisions especially when they lead to the death of another human being. Shortly after those comments members of eric garners family reacted for making what they believe is the right decision but underscoring the point that their fight for justice is not over. Commissioner oneill, i thank you for doing the right thing. I truly and sincerely thank you for firing the officer regardless to however you came up to your decision, you finally made a decision that shouldve been made five years ago. We will be going for the congressional hearings. We will be trying to reopen the case. We will be going after the rest of the officers involved because its not over. Justice for new york city means pantaleo is fired and theres no murdering cop on the police force. In a moment eric garners children as well as reverend al sharpton who held that press conference earlier today will join me. But i want to first start with nbcs ron allen from nypd headquarters in manhattan. Ron . Reporter good afternoon, ali. As you heard, the commissioner went to great pains to make this decision. He said it was agonizing. There was a lot of pressure on him from many Different Directions from the rankin file, cops on the beat who certainly this is not going to be a popular decision with them. For the Garner Family they have been fighting for justice for the better part of five years. And of course people trying to determine is there accountability in the Police Department. Here is more of what the commissioner had to say about how difficult a decision this was for him. I agree with the Deputy Commissioner of trials legal findings and recommendations. It is clear that Daniel Pantaleo can no longer effectively serve as a new York City Police officer. The impact on the community have any factor in your decisionmaking in this . So im not going to stand up here and say i didnt think about that. But i had to be guided by the facts that were brought out in the Department Trial and that was sent up to our office. That Department Trial lasted a couple of weeks. And a judge ruled based on the evidence that she thought pantaleo should be fired for violating department policy. That final decision watt commissioners. But clearly this process, the evidence has been martialed forward. Thats what the commissioner said he was basing on his results on, the results of that disciplinary hearing. State prosecutors, federal prosecutors refused to take the pantaleo case to court because they felt that they could not prove that he intended to choke garner. Its a much different standard in a court than here at the nypd Police Department. So for the Garner Family and for supporters around the country, this is perhaps some small measure of justice. But as you said garners daughter say for some of them, this is just the beginning. They want the case reopened. They are not totally satisfied. They want someone brought to justice, pantaleo and some of the other officers for their father, their sons death. A milestone but not the end of this. Perhaps just reigniting and starting the whole thing or continuing the case and giving it perhaps some more momentum because whats significant is that i think this is the first time that somebody in five years has been held accountable for eric garners death other than himself. Ron, the president of the Police Benevolent association, the union, Patrick Lynch came out with a fiery response this morning. And then he held a press conference in which there was no reconciliation in his tone whatsoever. His response to what the Police Commissioner did was a lot of anger. Lets listen. To basically say that he followed the politics rather than the rule of law and the evidence is absolutely embarrassing. To try to say i was a cop for 34 years but now im the commissioner, i go by different rules, is absolutely wrong. He has more of a responsibility to sometimes stand alone and make a proper appropriate decision. He decided instead not to do that. He decided to run to the corner that has the loudest crowd. Ron, your thoughts on that. Reporter well, the police union here is very strong, and they have been defending pantaleo throughout this. For them it was a simple situation of a cop doing a very dangerous arrest that the suspect, garner, did not cooperate, that he was a huge guy, and that he had poor health and that he himself is to blame for what happened is essentially the unions position in all of this. And that has been consistent for the past five years. They see the commissioner as bowing to public pressure, bowing to politics of city hall and of the city of new york because, as you know, theres been a lot of protests, a lot of calls for justice not only here but across the country. So the unions position has been consistent. Its no surprise what theyre saying today. We understand that pantaleo is going to appeal this decision and fight for his job. Obviously lots at stake for him even though he has been confined to desk duty for the past five years. The commissioner even in his remarks said if he were a cop, he would be angry at himself for making this decision. So he was anticipating this knowing that this was going to happen and still felt that he had to make what is in his mind the right call. Ron allen at police headquarters. Thank you for joining me. Joining me now to react to todays news are two of eric garners children, his daughter, emerald snypes garner and his son along with the reverend al sharpton, president of the National Action network and host of msnbcs politicsnation. He held a press conference with the family earlier. Thank you to all of you for being here. Emerald, let me just start with you. We have met you on tv a few times and the nation has a little familiarity with you. We dont have any familiarity with your father, with eric garner. We have all seen a video that must be very hard for you to see. The police said today that it was a highcrime area and that they have to police crimes. Whos your father if youre not thinking of him as somebody who the police were thinking of as somebody they needed to stop . Just as i said multiple times that, you know, july 16th, 2014, nobody knew what eric garner or his family was. So when i, you know, going through this fight its like this is my father, this is my dad, this is the person who i called when i wanted something or the person who i got mad at when i didnt get what i wanted, like the person who raised me, the person who took me to the park, bought me school clothes. My daughter, thats her grand thats her pop pop. So i dont see a man who was breaking up a fight because thats what happened. I saw my father standing outside in an area where he lived. So it wasnt uncommon for us to be at a location in statin island because thats where we lived. So the idea that the police had to stop somebody in the commission of a crime. Thats ridiculous because if youre saying that you wanted to stop a crime, investigate the fight that was happening. Where is the 911 call that said that you are going there to respond to cigarettes . There isnt one. But there is a 911 call that said that there was a fight and a fight needed to be broken up. They also said that he had cigarettes on him, which is absolutely false. A search of my fathers call was never done. The stuff that was released out of his pockets was on the video and weve never gotten back his phone or asthma pump. You say that he had all these Health Issues and his health is so bad, then where is his pump . Eric, youre named after him. What do you want the world to know about your dad . That he was a loveable father, supportive, supported me no matter what, and its been hard for the last five years not having any support. Do you feel like a Little Something has happened, a little justice . I feel the commissioner he made a good decision. I dont believe that it was no pressure. It shouldnt have been no pressure on him to make this decision that he made. Reverend al, interesting stuff that the commissioner said and the head of the pba said. The commissioner said had he been a big cop, he mightve done the same thing. He was obviously using language that was trying to soften the blow. Tell me how you think the commissioner did here. He had backup to be able to make the decision he made today. It was disturbing to hear him say that if he was a cop hed be mad. Lets be very clear. According to the Police Guidelines and the training that pantaleo and police have to go through, cannot use a chokehold. So why would policemen be angry at somebody that disobeyed their training and the guidelines that they policed unless they are saying were above the law . And when they used the excuse about it was a highcrime area, they take out mobsters and arrest them in new york and they dont choke them to death. People that do mass killings are not choked to death. That i think is absolutely erroneous and insulting. The people of the city of new york and for that matter of the United States have the right to feel that the police are going to protect, conserve them within the guidelines of policing. Otherwise why have guidelines . And i think that the commissioner came to the wrong conclusion, but clearly cannot act as though hes policemen are something that can only justify whatever actions they do. There are guidelines. We didnt write the guidelines. Ive been involved in this case from day one. Nash Action Network isnt write the guidelines. The activists didnt write the guidelines. The police did, they were trained on it. So what are you saying that they shouldnt follow guidelines . The judge in this case said that the chokehold was a cause of death, period full stop. And the chokehold was used, she said. And she said that officer pantaleo gave false information. She said he was not forthcoming even when shown the video where he got his arm around if you have an officer that lied or distorted or wasnt forthcoming during the investigation, others that went in front of a grand jury ended in illegal or at least against policy chokehold, all of thats supposed to go out the window. And i would be mad. I think that policemen are in any way portrayed in not following guidelines, they ought to be insulted that they have no respect for their own process. What do you believe happened that day . 7 17 . Yeah. I believe that things went too far when you crossed the line. Like although you may not have woken up with the intentions to kill eric garner, eric garner still died. And in the trial they released that they still charged him with an arrest that the policeman got the credit for arresting eric garner. So, you know, like, on that day you took it too far. What do you think killed him . I think that pantaleo killed him. But this doesnt look like its going any further than this. So pantaleo gets fired, which was the least step one i call it. So whats step two . Step two is the congressional hearings, reopening the case, pointing out those who lied on day one lied in front of the grand jury, in front of it was inside the reason why we are trying to get the trial transcripts is because for example, one of the officers got on the stand and made a statement that he said that eric garner was alive and alert when he came to the scene. But rewind back to 7 17 14, he said that eric garner was unresponsive. So thats an example of the lie and thats an example of the coverup. There was never any truthfulness when they made their statements. There was never any truthfulness when they got on the stand. It was all a lie. So from day one to day now, theyre lying. So we want to point out the lies and basically get the case reopened because if there is proof that this officer has lied on the stand in front of judges in front of the jury, then he should be held accountable. Its perjury. If i did it, i would go to jail. Another thing is that when they said that they called into one of the, i guess the Higher Office and said that we have a fatality here. He said no big deal. He said no big deal. And that is the tension. That is the problem with community and police. No big deal you have a doa, you have dead on arrival of an unarmed Citizen Armed with, what, cigarettes and hes choked to death by an officer. The reaction of his superior no big deal, well, thats why there was demonstration and protests and we continue. It is a big deal to us. And the demonstrations and protests were widespread not just here in the city. Eric, what does life look like to you . How do you live with this unresolved . Have you been able to sort of get past it and does any day feel normal to you . Yeah, it does. Like, my support system they keep me going. Whos that . My friends, family, rev. If. How about you, emerald . Whats it look like . My support system, you know, tremendous. As you know, i took responsibility of my sisters two children so they keep me absolutely business fraechl sun up to down down. I work, go to therapy. I do different speaking engagements. I go out and i engage with the community. Going out and talking to people and doing things. Thats what takes up my time. What is improvement in this situation look like to you, not just justice for your father . Not having another eric garner, not having another tamir rice, another mike brown. We really need to put these laws in flas because if the chokehold was against the law, then we would be looking at a different situation here. For the chokehold just to be banned when eric garner was killed by achokehold, i would always imagine what if it was federally against the law to ban the chokehold, i mean for him not to use the chokehold. If we had those laws in place, we would not be here. It wouldve been resolved i believe within the first year. Emerald, eric garner jr. , thank you to both of you. Rev thanks to you as always. The black lives Matter Movement is responding to todays decision. The movement tweeted we know this is only a partial victory for the Garner Family who have not yet seen the officer held criminally accountable. We will continue to fight for the day black people are valued instead of fear and criminalization even in death. New York Attorney general Laticia James tweeted for over five years the Garner Family and communities across the country have waited for justice in the death of eric garner. With the termination of officer pantaleo, today some semblance of justice is finally being served. In memory of eric garner and the countless others who have unjustly lost their lives, we will continue to fight for reforms to fix our broken criminal Justice System and ensure that all of our communities feel safe. A short time ago we heard from new york city mayor bill de blasio. Today we have finally seen justice done. Today we saw the nypds own disciplinary process act fairly and impartially. Today will not bring eric garner back. But i hope it brings some small measure of closure and peace to the Garner Family. Now we have to look beyond this tragedy because our city is at a pivotal moment. Joining me now is a civil rights activist and the leading voice in the black lives Matter Movement. He also is the host of pod save the people. Its a podcast. Drey, your initial thoughts on what has happened today. Remember, a third of all the People Killed by a stranger in this country is actually killed by a Police Officer. But this is a victory in some ways that pantaleo got fired, he does need to be criminally charged. After garner was killed, the nypd changed three major policies very quietly. The first is that they actually took away the ban on chokeholds. If you look at the policy it says that chokeholds are banned, but in the next page it essentially says that they can be deemed okay if a panel of Police Officers in the nypd say its okay. They also loosened restrictions on shooting moving vehicles. They took away the requirement that deadly force had to be used as a last resort. We know that the posse actually really matters. Chokeholds were banned from 1993 until 2016 in new york city. It was really a sneak move that they did to essentially peel back the ban on chokeholds. So i want to just play something that de blasio said a little while ago. I know the nypd has changed profoundly. I know that members of the nypd learned the lessons of this tragedy. They acted on it. They did something about it. It is a beginning, but we have a lot more to do. And the change has to get deeper and deeper. So he says the nypd has changed profoundly. Youre telling me about changes that have not gone in the direction that some people would like. Yeah. So from policy perspective, the change has actually been pretty negative. You saw the press Conference Today with commissioner oneill. He suggested that garner shouldnt have resisted arrest. It was his fault that he was killed. And that is not okay and that does not signal a change. When i watched that video again im paraphrasing, i say to eric garner dont do it, and i say to pantaleo dont do it. So hes created this environment equivalency. When we see the policy changes allow to happen in the nypd, they are not actually positive things. The nypd does kill less people than they have historically. That is a net win for everybody. We know that stop and frisk is different. A decrease an area was followed by a decrease in crime. I was talking to commissioner bratton earlier today who he subscribed to the broken windows idea that if theres small crime, you go after small crime to let people know small crimes not acceptable because a lot of people across this country think to themselves if you thought that the problem eric garner was causing was that he was selling untaxed cigarettes, does that feel like something that shows up in that video that weve all seen of a whole lot of cops taking eric garner to the ground with him yelling audibly i cant breathe. Like at some point some say untax cigarettes, whether or not thats actually the case doesnt equal that scene we saw. But to some people you got to take action. How does that square . How do you sit there with africanamerican minority communities who do live in unsafe neighborhood who want proper policing but are saying after dont go after a guy for selling loosies. What the new Research Suggests is that in new york city actually is a case study is that there was an increase in social Service Organizations in the city, that the decrease in crime was followed by that increase, not by broken windows. They can actually measure actually led to a measurable decrease in crime. So again the safest communities dont have more police, they have more resources. He is a civil rights activist and he is the host of pod save the people. The acting director of the federal bureau of prisons nine days after accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while in federal custody awaiting trial in a manhattan jail. Plus, lester holts asks Mohamed Zarif about the military action with the United States. You are watching msnbc. Sponsored by usaa, insurance banking and investments tailored for the military community. Toor car rental, and getting her car towed. All i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. If i met another veteran, and they were with another insurance company, i would tell them, you need to join usaa because they have better rates, and better service. Were the gomez family. Were the rivera family. Were the kirby family, and we are usaa members for life. Get your Auto Insurance quote today. Jimmys gotten used to his whole room smelling like sweaty odors. Yup, hes gone noseblind. He thinks it smells fine, but his mom smells this. Luckily for all your hardtowash fabrics. Theres febreze fabric refresher. Febreze doesnt just mask, it eliminates odors youve. Gone noseblind to. And try Febreze Unstopables for fabric. With up to twice the fresh scent power, youll want to try it. Again and again and maybe just one more time. Indulge in irresistible freshness. Febreze unstopables. Breathe happy. How you watch it does too. Tv just keeps getting better. This is xfinity x1. Featuring the Emmy Awardwinning voice remote. Streaming Services Without changing passwords and input. Live sports with realtime stats and scores. Access to the most 4k content. And your movies and shows to go. The best tv experience is the best tv value. Xfinity x1. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Xfinity. The future of awesome. We have break news from washington where theres been a shakeup in the leadership at the federal bureau of prisons. Attorney general william barr has removed the acting director after Jeffrey Epsteins suicide at federal prison in new york city. The bureau of prisons has come under intense scrutiny since epsteins death with barr and lawmakers demanding answers about why epstein was left unsupervised. Nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams joins us now from washington with most are on this. Whos out and whos in . Reporter hugh herwitz has been returning now to his old job working on reentry programs at the bureau of prisons. And the attorney general has turned to somebody he knows very well, a woman that he put in charge of the bureau of prisons the last time he was attorney general in 1992 Kathleen Hawk sawyer. She had been in the bureau for 27 years. She was appointed in 1992 as the director. And hes also bringing back tom ckane who was 40 years in the bureau of prisons. He was Deputy Director. He will be Deputy Director again. This was very Decisive Action in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein suicide. Its the latest change recall last week the warden of the prison in new york, the mcc, the metropolitan Correction Centers and two prison employees we assume the two that were on duty the night epstein died were put on temporary leave. So more Decisive Action. All right. At this point do we know about other actions at the attorney general that looking to take . No. Frankly, we didnt know these were coming. Last week the attorney general the Justice Department said that after making the changes i discussed at the metropolitan Correction Center that other changes could be made. When we asked last week what might that be, we were told we dont know yet. People at the Justice Department say hes more interested and more involved with issues at the bureau of prisons they say than some of his predecessors in both republican and democratic administrations. But this has been something that hes been worried about since he became attorney general and clearly the whole epstein thing has really focused his attention on it. Pete williams, nbc news justice correspondent in washington. Coming up, 2020 president ial candidate Bernie Sanders pushing for an end to for profit prisons and expansion of prisoners rights and improvement to policing in the country. Wayfairs got your perfect mattress. Whether youre looking for a topbrand at a great price. Ready to upgrade. Moving in. Moving on up. Or making big moves. Deliveries ship free and come with a 100night free trial. No matter your budget. Or your sleep style. We have quality options for everyone. So search and shop. Save and snooze. And rest easy, knowing that weve got your back. Literally. Thats what you get, when youve got wayfair. So shop now. If you have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture now might not be the best time to ask yourself are my bones strong . Life is full of make or break moments. Thats why its so important to help reduce your risk of fracture with prolia®. Only prolia® is proven to help strengthen and protect bones from fracture with 1 shot every 6 months. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it or take xgeva® serious allergic reactions, like low Blood Pressure trouble breathing; throat tightness; face, lip, or tongue swelling rash; itching; or hives have happened. Tell your doctor about dental problems as severe jaw bone problems may happen or new or unusual pain in your hip groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. Speak to your doctor before stopping prolia® as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium; serious infections which could need hospitalization; skin problems; and severe bone joint, or muscle pain. Are you ready . Ask your doctor how prolia® can help strengthen your bones. Were continuing to follow the break news coming from new york this afternoon where nypd officer Daniel Pantaleo has been fired after the 2014 chokehold death of eric garner. The citys Police Commissioner james oneill said this afternoon in a press conference he fired pantaleo based on the recent recommendation of an administrative judge. But he acknowledged its a difficult situation. If i was still a cop, id probably be mad at me, i would. For not looking out for us. But i am. Its my responsibility as Police Commissioner to look out for the city and certainly to look out for the new York City Police officers. Joining me now former nypd commissioner bill bratton. He currently served as the executive chairman of. Commissioner, good to see you. You and i talked earlier today. The commissioner of the current commissioner does not seem to have made anybody happy with his statement today. I guess the family is pleased that pantaleo was fired, but the head of the pba, the Police Benevolent association is furious with what commissioner oneill said and did. They said that hes caved to political pressure. Well, first off, none of the reactio reactions, no surprise that this was a very controversial incident from the beginning and will continue to be controversial as it goes forward. I would push back on the issue of political decision that the inference that the commissioner in this case was just responding to the dictate of the mayor. Sorry, didnt happen, wouldnt happen with this commissioner, wouldnt have happened with me. Thats not the relationship i have with mayor de blasio, not the relationship i believe that my successor, jim oneill has. It is his decision based on the facts and circumstances presented to him. And its a difficult decision and one that in the long run pleases nobody. Lets talk about what led to this. You and i talked earlier this morning about or earlier today about the idea that this guy, he was known to police, eric garner, for selling untaxed cigarettes, loose cigarettes. They call them loosies. And there are some who say that that didnt seem to warrant any response. Maybe he needed a ticket or a citation of some sort that could have been served on him. How did we end up with a guy suspected of selling loosies with a whole bunch of police on him using a chokehold . Let me come at that with two responses. One, the commissioner in the leadup to his decision went into great detail about the circumstances in that public park in statin island that the Police Department and the community were attempting to address including violent crimes, including continuing disorder to the extent that people in the neighborhood could not use the park because of the people hanging out in the park dealing drugs, using drugs, defecating, urinating, the disorderly behavior, the assaults. So they were destroying that neighborhood and the community was asking that something be done about it. As it relates to mr. Garners part in that disorder, that its been singled out and put aside as if it was a singular event selling loosies. Loosies for the Greater Public should understand that in new york the state loses over 100 million a year because of untaxed cigarettes being sold as loosies. A lot of tax revenue seems very minor. But when you take it in the context of Everything Else that was going on in everything of that park, why was it such an attraction . Because they could buy loosies, because they could buy drugs. The misbehavior going on there was in some days chaotic. On the day of the Police Response to the park, mr. Garner himself had evidently attempted to break up a fight in the park between several individuals. And so that youve got that circumstance. The loosy aspect of it as it relates to mr. Garner, he was out on bail for an arrest for a similar offense at that location. So the responding officers, i believe, based on the reports were aware of that, that he was on bail for a similar offense that his refusal that is seen on the video to give identification would then allow the officers to make an arrest because they had no way to identify, address, et cetera. And that was a decision that the officers made within their authority. The circumstance that took this thing out of control has been articulated, and i think articulated very well by the Police Commissioner in his statement the idea that the reckless behavior that was described was the idea to attempt an arrest when additional officers were only moments away whose very presence may have intimidated mr. Garner into stopping his resistance to the idea of an arrest. Because up till that moment everything you have articulated makes some sense. There might be some argument to say maybe loosies are different than dealing drugs and maybe they need to be dealt with by different people. But thats a policing and a community argument. But until that point everything seemed normalish. The idea that somebody lost their live. That video has been shown probably millions of times by now, the officers were there for a number of minutes. It wasnt as if they got out of the car and approached and immediately attempted to make an arrest. They were there involved in conversation, discussion attempting with mr. Garner to in some respects deescalate it effectively, show us your id. And then they can make a determination. And that lost in the context of this was that the fact that the officers were not taking a precipitiv action. It was an action taken after some time attempting to get cooperation. But we are counting on the fact that that never has to happen. Thats the high bar for police. The bar shouldnt be lower than that. Dont shoot somebody until you need to. Dont choke somebody until you need to. Choke and chokehold is so misunderstood in the sense of maybe one of the good things coming out of this terrible tragedy was a significant definition of a chokehold and when is it inappropriate, when is it not. Calls now for its criminalization. Good luck on that because you will see an effort made as is always the case when laws are passed to try to define it down to the finest detail. I sat in on dozens of disciplinary cases involving chokeholds that which, in the old description was basically any pressure applied to the neck. So an officer attempting to stop a prisoner moving away grab the back of a shirt collar and pulling him back momentarily, that would be described as a chokehold. Would you fire a Police Officer over Something Like that . The whole idea of a chokehold has taken on a connotation that is really not understood. The implication that i think we all focus on is a forceful choking of a person. And a conscious forceful choking of a person, in some instances its inadvertent. It doesnt even rise to the level of what we would think of as force. So the issue Going Forward is going to hopefully bring more clarification to understanding of what is a chokehold. As it relates to this incident, it is quite clear that a chokehold even applied for a number of seconds was used. That was the finding of the administrative Deputy Commissioner. That was ultimately the finding of commissioner oneill. Commissioner bratton, good to see you. Thank you as always. He is a former nypd commissioner and a commissioner of a whole bunch of other places as well. He is an msnbc senior counterterrorism analyst. Bernie sanders is the latest president ial candidate to unveil a plan to change the nations criminal justice program. He would unveiled the plan in South Carolina yesterday. He wants to do that by establishing National Standards for the use of force by police that deescalates and establishes federal guidelines for the use of body cameras. He also wants to end the federal programs that provide military equipment to local Police Departments and he wants to revive the use of federal consent decrees to address systemic constitutional violations. Now Police Officers also take on tasks they are not trained for such as being social workers, conflict negotiators, medical responders. Sanders wants to change that by give money to state and local governments to create a civilian core that would be comprised of social workers, emergency medical technicians, trained Mental Health professionals to handle lowerlevel conflicts and Mental Health emergencies. Hundreds of thousands of people in jail right now have not been convicted of a crime but are there because they can not afford bail or pay fines and fees. Sanders want to change that by using the ending of cash bail. He also wants to provide incentives to state and local governments to end the reliance on fines and fees by Police Departments. Sanders also wants to ban the use of forprofit prisons. About 8. 5 of state and federal prisoners were held in prisons that were run by private corporations. His plan also calls for abolishing the death penalty, ending the mandatory use or the end of mandatory minimums, expanding sentencing alternatives and legalizing marijuana and expunging previous marijuana convictions. Joining me now to take a closer look at this is laura brook eisen at the Brennan Center for justice. She is also the author. Lauren, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you for having me on the show today. What stands out to you as sort of the biggest or most important thing as you look at Bernie Sanders proposals . So as many of your viewers are aware, we have 2. 2 Million People incarcerated in the u. S. In fact, we incarcerate more people in the u. S. Than any other country on this planet. We have about 2. 7 million children who have an incarcerated parent. So Bernie Sanders yesterday unveiled his criminal justice platform, and just like a lot of other candidates it focuses on how we can finally cut prison populations significantly. In fact, hes one of many candidates whose focused on a specific number. That number is 50 . Now its pretty incredible that we have so many candidates, 23 candidates are running for president on the democratic ticket, and most of them have endorsed some sort of criminal justice platform that would significantly reduce mass incarceration. Thats the first time weve ever seen so many candidates focusing on cutting prison populations. I will say this focus that weve got on these Immigration Detention Centers may be the thing that this country needed to sort of put a light on private prisons forprofit prisons because theyre all forprofit prisons. We learned about those kids who didnt get too fast paste and soap in a place that costs more money per person than a stay at the ritzcarlton in some places would. This is your area of expertise. What were doing things about forprofit prisons due to this whole problematic criminal Justice System that we have . So senator sanders released his criminal justice platform yesterday. He is one of 11 of the 23 candidates so far who has articulated that they as president would eliminate private prisons and, in fact, most of his candidates have gone further and said they would eliminate all profits from incarceration. Now what a lot of these platforms are missing is that theyre not focusing on the other special Interest Groups with a stake in keeping prisons filled like correctional officer unions. New york Governor Cuomo faced this in 2011 when he tried to close seven prisons in new york. The new york correctional union balked and said Public Safety will be greatly, you know, Public Safety will be a problem because of whats happening with the governors aim to close private prisons. And weve seen a lot of the candidates really focusing on eliminating profit from incarceration. Now thats important. We know that private firms and we know that all the companies that make money off incarceration are certainly a significant hurdle when it comes to downsizing our prison populations in this country. But theyre really one special Interest Group. None of the candidates so far have focused on the other special Interest Group that do play a role in ensuring our prison populations remain full. All right, laurenbrooke eisen is a senior fellow and acting director at the Brennan Center for justice. Coming up next, lester holts interview with the zarif. Youre watching msnbc. Ick when you can scan . With the freestyle libre 14 day system just scan the sensor with your reader, iphone or android and manage your diabetes. With the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose levels any time, without fingersticks. Ask your doctor to write a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at freestylelibre. Us you can do it without fingersticks. When i needed to create a better visitor experience. Improve our workflow. Attract new customers. Thats when fastsigns recommended fleet graphics. Yeah, and now business is rolling in. Get started at fastsigns. Com. And i dont add trup the years. S. But what i do count on. Is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. Boost® high protein. Be up for life. Has four levels of defenseremium gasoagainst gunk, wear, corrosion and friction. That helps keep your Engine Running like new. Its fuel for thought. Who used expedia to book the Vacation Rental that led to the ride which took them to the place where they discovered that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. Flights, hotels, cars, activities, Vacation Rentals. Expedia. Everything you need to go. Tensions between the u. S. And iran continue to escalate out at sea where the iranian government warned the u. S. There would be, quote, heavy consequences if the u. S. Interferes with an Iranian Oil Tanker now headed to greece. Nbcs lester holt got a rare look inside iran. He sat down with the countrys foreign minister. Reporter tensions in the meeting ratcheting up this morning, iran issuing a stern warning to the United States trying to seize an Iranian Oil Tanker released just today by authorities in gibraltar. It had been stopped for violating european sanctions. Also today officials are rejecting President Trumps statement that iran is somehow ready to negotiate. I spoke a few hours ago with the speaker of the parliament here who says there are no negotiations, no talks and no back channel communications. Over the weekend i spoke to the foreign minister here, zarief, about the risk of war in the region. Heres a bit of that conversation. You dont think iran would act militarily to end the stranglehold . We would not. We have not done that in the past 250 years. We have defended ourselves and taught good lessons to those who invaded us. Reporter do you think the political option is on the plate for the Trump Administration . Well this, has been a policy tenet for u. S. Governments to say no option is off the table but i think that is not based on what we have all agreed in the United Nations charter, that the use of force is illegal. Threat of use of force is illegal. Reporter we also had a chance to speak to regular iranians in cafes and their places of work and homes about their fears where all of this can be going and also how they are surviving the crippling sanctions the u. S. Has placed on this country. Well have more tonight on nbc nightly news. But for now we will send it back to you. Lester, thank you. Lester holt reports from iran for a special edition of nbc nightly news with lester holt. Will he have much more with his exclusive interview with Iranian Foreign minister. Coming up, the two congresswomen blocked from entering israel will hold a News Conference to direct palestinians and israel territories. Your home at a great price, the way it works best for you, ill take that. Wait honey, no. When you want it. You get a delivery experience you can always count on. You get your perfect find at a price to match, on your own schedule. You get fast and Free Shipping on the things that make your home feel like you. Thats what you get when youve got wayfair. So shop now Liberty Mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. I wish i could shake your hand. Granted. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Announcer only fidelity offers four zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. And we have zero account fees for brokerage accounts. At fidelity those zeros really add up. Maybe ill win saved by zero for adults with moderately to severely active crohns disease, stelara® works differently. Studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or flulike symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. Alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. These may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. Some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. Talk to your doctor today, and learn how janssen can help you explore cost support options. Remission can start with stelara®. Roxana our students dont have parttime needs. So they absolutely cannot have parttime solutions. Angelia one of changes that we need is smaller class sizes. Rosanne we need a lot more school nurses, a lot more school counselors. Rodney counselors provide that social, emotional core thats needed. Marisa schools need to be safe places for our children to learn. Ever every student has the right to quality education. No matter what neighborhood you live in. Angelia we are cta. Rosanne we are cta. Marisa we are cta. Narrator because we know quality Public Schools make a better california for all of us. In a few minutes well hear from congresswomen tlaib and omar expected to talk about their ban to the west bank. Citing her support of an israeli boycott and congresswoman tlaib told the riesisraeli government but no thanks after they reiterated restrictions for her trip to visit her mother, who lives in the west bank. The move to ban these women despite the politics is largely unprecedented given the close relationship between israel and the United States. But many pointed to the president s tweet, which came out before israels announcement. It reads, it would show great weakness if israel allowed representative omar and tlaib to visit. They hate israel and all jewish people. Joining me is nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt. Were going to hear from these two Congress Women soon. We are, in a couple of minutes, expected to hear from them at a press conference in minnesota. So this, of course, a saga that has continued on for several days now. Were watching to see in omar and tlaib will offer new information about how this all played out or about what their leaders plan to do next. I think thats really the big question here, ali. There are two figures here and the president was also tweeting late last night about this. The ambassador from israel to the United States ron determirms well as the bad to israel, the trust has broken down there, this is not something they feel is tenable Going Forward. And theres been some reporting were still working on confirming there may be some effort under way to try and call out those two people in the court of responding to this. But, of course, were still waiting to learn some of the details around that. Im interested to see if it comes up in the press Conference Today. Were going to hear as we understand it from a couple of other people who the congresswoman say have been affected by travel restrictions to israel, so he can expect to hear personal stories in a couple of minutes as well as from the two of them. They expect the press conference to last an hour so it seems like we may be getting quite a bit of material along those lines. But again, well have to see what they have to stay, just how emotional their testimony is on this. And, of course, whether or not the president is watching what it unfolding and decides to take to twitter to offer some additional feelings, thoughts about this that may continue this story, ali. The president has been very closely involved in this so no doubt he will be paying some attention to it. Casey hu kasie hunt, capitol hill correspondent and host of kasie dc sundays here on msnbc. That wraps up this hour for me. I will see you back here tomorrow. I want to ask my control room to take a quick look at the dow. We have not visited it all week. We got off to a strong day. Hasnt moved a whole lot. That looks like 1 even as a gain for the dow. Were almost done making up for all of the things that happened. We had an 800point drop as you recall tuesday. Anyway, i will be back tomorrow at 1 00 p. M. And again at 3 00 p. M. You can watch on sirius xm, tune in, msnbc now, msnbc app and apple tv and can you always find me on social media, twitter, facebook, instagram, snapchat and linkedin. Thank you for watching. Deadline white house starts right now. Aloha and namaste, everyone. It is 4 00 in new york city. Im John Heilemann in here for Nicolle Wallace all week long, im sorry to report. If President Trump seems more irritable or cranky you would expect from a president coming off a week of summer vacation, which he apparently played a lot of golf and surfed a lot of cable news, look for a unique set of polls along with a crush ominous headlines that smacked him in the face when he first woke up this morning in the white house. A new national nbc news the wall street journal poll puts trump 12 points behind. Behind whom . A democrat to be named later. The generic democrat beating the sitting president by double digits. Trump also failing the grade on on response to the Mass Shootings in dayton