Hot spot. Top rivals, joe biden and Kamala Harris are holding a combined five different events a day after the former Vice President apologized for remarks about two segregationists senators. That apology getting lots of reaction. I think it is fair to talk about the fact if youre dealing with a racist or segregationist as he was, you have to call them out. He has now apologized for not doing that at the time and apologized for his past statements on bussing. I first want to say thank you. You know, we are at a point in our country where we need our leaders to be able to speak towards race issues without falling the law defensive bur posture or shifting blame. I cant believe he said i should apologize. Democrats also continuing to pursue africanamerican voters this weekend in new orleans. Pete buttigieg, threeeighths to appear at this weekends Essence Festival. The south bend mayor addressed the continuing anger over the Fatal Police Shooting in the city. But as we faced our own challenges with Racial Equity in our city, a number of areas im proud, and a number of areas where we have fallen short. We have to own up to that and its important to accept responsibility for what needs to change. Pete buttigieg talking with reverend al sharpton. Were going to talk with the rev in a few minutes. Stick around for that. Candidates not only on the ground but in the air. Four democratic hopefuls on the sunday shows. But it was not a democrat getting all the attention this morning. It was the man who prompted a twitter tantrum from the president , michigan congressman justin amash explaining his decision to leave the Republican Party. Ive had concerns with the Republican Party for several years. Ive had concerns with the party system generally. When i first got to congress, i thought i could change things from the inside, but as ive spent time there, ive seen that not only me, i dont think there is anyone in there who can change the system. Today a New Washington post abc poll shows that trump with his largest Approval Rating of his presidency, but far more people a full 53 still disapprove of the job hes doing as commander in chief. Shaq brewster is in new orleans. But lets start with mike memoli in charleston where joe biden is speaking now at a town hall. I understand the former Vice President talked to reporters just a short time ago. Thats right, richard. Im going to try to keep my voice low. Vice president is actually taking questions from the audience here, something we havent seen him do a lot in the campaign. As you mentioned, yes, he did take questions from reporters. Part of an effort here by the campaign to really turn the page from what has been a difficult few weeks since those comments about segregationists lawmakers more than two weeks ago and then, of course, that tense debate exchange with Kamala Harris last week. One of the ways hes trying to turn the page is talking about the future. But at least the repehes talki about his service along with president obama. We heard perhaps thats a signal that hes a weak frontrunner, that he cant stand on his own two feet. I had a chance to ask him about that earlier today. Lets take a listen. What do you say about using the name of obama because you cant stand on your own . I say lets talk about the future instead of talk about the past. Thats what this is all about. Have i made mistakes . Yes. Do we grow, yes. But thats why i chose here in South Carolina and chose an audience that, in fact, would be the most likely to have been offended by anything that was said. The Vice President was also asked about why it did take so long to make that apology. What he told reporters was that he wanted to do that in a setting like South Carolina which has, of course, significant africanamerican population. That audience is one that would have been most offender, and thats why he wanted to do it in South Carolina. Mike memoli there with joe biden speaking right behind him covering what has happened within the last 24 hours. Appreciate that. Over to the last day of the 25th anniversary Essence Festival in new orleans where Pete Buttigieg was the last of the 7 2020 candidates to speak at the event. Hes been under fire for a Police Shooting in his hometown. Shaq brewster is at the Essence Festival. Shaq, can you tell us what was the reaction there to what Pete Buttigieg said . Reporter mayor pete was the last candidate to speak on stage here. Just to set it up a little bit, right now theres a celebration of black women and gospel going on behind me. Essence festival focused on black women and black art. Mayor buttigieg was asked by reverend al sharpton about the so about that apologize bend you heard from Vice President biden. He was the last of six candidates to come up on that stage and take questions and give a speech and give his pitch to voters. Listen to what he had to say. Its important to accept responsibility for what needs to change. And i hope now the conversation can be a forwardlooking one about Racial Equity because every candidate, frankly, especially white candidates, need to find their voices on this issue. Reporter and the Common Thread from all the candidates that went on stage today and yesterday was that black women should be the focus of the democratic party, that black women have showed up and showed out at the polls. So they need to be targeted with specific policies. Thats why you heard senator Kamala Harris yesterday announce a 100 billiondollar plan that focuses on home ownership. You heard Elizabeth Warren saying she would take executive actions on day one that would address wages for women of color. You see the candidates coming out here, spending their time with black voters trying to show these voters are the focus. Shaq brewster there in new orleans covering the Essence Festival. A lot was covered over this last day. Thank you so much, shaq. Our very own reverend al sharpton speaking to the candidates, appearing there at the Essence Festival about how they will fight for black americans. Take a listen. Were making sure we have a full review of everything from use of force policies, with a lot of transparency to the way these body cameras work. How would you deal with the race wealth gap and the race economic gap . The racial wealth gap has gotten wider and has not closed over the last two decades. A lot of the policy ideas that i have dont just address poverty in general, but they also specifically get at this issue. Are you convinced deep down inside that you are ready for the fight if youre the nominee with this kind of president . Im ready. I have taken all kinds of predators. And ill tell you, we have a predator living in the white house. [ cheers ]. Joining us from new orleans is reverend al sharpton, host of politicsnation here on msnbc. Good to see you and glad you were able to speak with all the candidates at the festival. Who appeared the most president ial . I think that all of them came off reasonably well. I think certainly Kamala Harris being the black woman candidate was well received, but all of them, i think, were well received. And i think that they came specifically with policy points that they would do, which shows the respect they have for the gathering. One of the things i was concerned about and michelle e. Banks, who also shared with me in the conversation we didnt want to be patronized. We wanted to see what specifically they would do about race, what specifically would be their policies in terms of economic inequality as well as criminal justice. And they came prepared for that. This is the essence. I was asked to host that part of it because ive spoken every one of the 25 years and i wanted to followup the fact that all of them other than two, about 14 of them had appeared at National Action networks convention that committed to come to essence and we would do it as a followup as we will ton to do throughout the primaries. Spoken at every single of the 25 Essence Festivals. That says a lot there. In the arc of that, rev, where has the Energy Changed this year compared to the last cycle when you had a black man running for president and here you have, again, at least one africanamerican running for president this cycle . I think the Energy Change is that when barack obama was running and came to the Essence Festival, i believe it was in 06 into 07, that there was the aspiration of electing someone that could be president that was prepared and that had a shot at winning. I think today the difference is that theres the aspiration of seeing someone beat donald trump. Right. I think that the real motivation of a lot of the people and there are hundreds of thousands that have been there this weekend is that they feel trumps policies are hurting what has transpired turnover last half century in terms of civil rights and Voting Rights achievements. Hey, rev, i know you know the poll that came out from quinnipiac that looked at black innovators. You look at biden, 31 . Kamala harris, 27 . Booker, 5 . The key is biden in the last 24 hours that we started this hour staying yesterday he decided to finally apologize. You were the first person to interview him after he declared his candidacy and you asked him about this very issue. What do you make of his response now after he apologized yesterday . I think that he could have done it two weeks ago. He was on our show tweaks ao weo in South Carolina. I tried three or four ways to get him to understand the feelings, the hurt, and i said personally. And he didnt. He came back to South Carolina and apologized yesterday. That is good he apologized. It shows the president between him and the sitting president. But the question many will ask is why did it take two weeks . I think he could have done that two weeks ago, which not only would have been the political right thing to do because it would not have been an issue in the debate. I think it would have been the moral right thing to do if, in fact, you understand that your words were hurtful to a lot of people. You should stand up and own it and i think he had an opportunity to do it but it took two weeks. But im glad he did get there. I would just wish it had been two weeks ago. On the floor there at the Essence Festival, was it talked about in terms of the former. Vice president apologizing, number one . Number two, as he mentioned, barack obama vetted me, i must be okay, thats been his response so far. How did those two message points work with those on the floor there at the Essence Festival . I think that a lot of people that i spoke with over this weekend have said that they did not understand why he couldnt apologize. Many of them favor him because of his vice presidency with president obama. But they were perplexed, particularly with his answer that seemed to lean towards states rights when he said to senator Kamala Harris, you were bussed because the local school board. That was perplexing. Some were relieved when he apologized. But saying president obama selected him twice, that carries weight. But these statements he made two and a half weeks ago was after obama had selected him. Hes got to deal with the fact that even though theyre talking about things 40 or 50 years ago, he didnt make those statements 40 or 50 years ago, he made them two and a half weeks ago about how he could work with races and segregationists and the question they never called him boy and all that. That was not said 50 years ago, so barack obama couldnt have vetted what he said two and a half weeks ago. Reverend al sharpton live at the Essence Festival. Thank you so much, rev. Be sure to catch the rev on politicsnation. Thats going to be at the top of the hour. Stick around for that. Coming up, the u. S. Womens soccer team, can i say anything else here . History, fourpeat . They did it. They made history at the world cup. Its a lifelong adventure finding all of these new connections all the time. New features. Greater details. Richer stories. Get your dna kit today at ancestry. Com. Or trips to mars. 4. 95. Delivery drones or the latest phones. 4. 95. No matter what you trade, at fidelity its just 4. 95 per online u. S. Equity trade. Thats it. U. S. Wins their fourth world cup. Yeah, you wanted to be there, all 330 million of you americans out there. They are champions. U. S. Now has won half of all of the fifa world cup competitions. They are the winningest in the world. They bead the netherlands 20 to win its fourth world cup in three decades. Fans coast to coast celebrating this hour. [ cheers ] usa usa usa little girls get inspired by this. The womens team are like superheroes to me. I cried every single goal. Theyre awesome, yeah. All right. Nbcs kelly cobe is in leon. Richard, i can guarantee you, american fans will be partying through the night tonight after their team won their fourth world cup, backtoback victories now, the only second womens team to accomplish that. German did it back in 2007. No doubt the u. S. Team is now the best in the world. But boy did they have to fight for it. The dutch really put up a strong defense. The u. S. , which has scored in every other game in the first 12 00 this tournament, didnt get a goal until the second half and it came off a penalty on alex morgan, Megan Rapinoe nailed it. A short time later, rose la very well coming getting through two defenders to score the second goal. This was an incredibly emotional win for this team. They said all along theres a target on their back because theyre defending champions. Theyve been criticized for the way they play, the way they celebrate, and for issues that theyve taken on off the field. Tonight the cocapital, Megan Rapinoe at times controversial has won it all, essentially. The golden boot for most goals scored, six goals, three assists. The golden ball for best player of the entire tournament, and best player of this match tonight when she was asked about it, she said its surreal. I dont know what to feel right now. Its ridiculous. Lots of congratulations as you can see imagine are being tweeted out tonight, including from first lady, melania trump. As you know, richard, the parade is already being planned. Richard . We cannot wait. We will see you at that parade. The winningest World Cup Team womens soccer. Coming up, a leaked memo from one of britains top diplomats, causing a stir over what he says about President Trump. Plus, the fallout over congressman justin amash turning his back on the republican parties. S back on the republican parties. vo parents have a way of imagining the worst. Especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. At subaru, were taking on distracted driving [ping] with sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road. The allnew subaru forester. The safest forester ever. The latest Charter School scandals are piling up. Leaders of one san Diego Charter network . Indicted for conspiracy and grand theft. Thankfully, the governors Charter School policy task force just made important recommendations for reform more accountability on Charter School spending. And giving local School Districts more control over the authorization of Charter Schools. Reforms we need to pass now. So call your state senator. Ask them to support ab 1505 and ab 1507. Welcome back. The u. K. s top diplomat in the United States reportedly says President Trump is incompetent. Thats according to diplomatic documents leaked to the mail on sunday newspaper. Britains ambassador made the highly critical comments in a series of memos to london. The paper says he says the Trump White House is inept, insecure, clumsy, uniquely dysfunctional and filled with knife fights. Nbc news has not seen these cables. He reached out to the white house and the u. K. Ambassadors office for comment. The u. K. Foreign office defended him saying ambassadors are allowed to be candid but added his views do not represent those of the government. Nbc news correspondent hans nichols is in berkeley heights, new jersey, where the president is this weekend. Hans, those who are following european leaders would say, okay, this is an ambassador to the United States who minds his ps and kqs. Hes been around for four decades and many european leaders have weighed in with similar criticisms of this president. On the flip side, has the white house, has President Trump reacted to these reports because hes known, at least by critics, as having fairly thin skin . Reporter nothing from the white house yet or the president. He will be flying back here to washington, d. C. , shortly and hell end up at the white house this evening. Well see if the press pool will have a chance to engage the president and get his view as well as a variety of other topics. He this is before you had public diplomacy. Theyre trying to explain their government positions to royal Imperial Courts or ambassadors or republics or democracies. They have a job of gathering information and explaining whats happening inside the country. All ambassadors do it. We saw the candor with wikileaks came out and you saw the u. S. Armrest of moscow talking about going to a wedding in georgia with great detail or going to a wedding and really detailing in colorful language what happens. Its part of the job. Its not supposed to be public, which is why you see the u. K. Back pedaling and the foreign secretary said earlier today that, look, basically he tries to fire him and say its a personal view. Have a listen. Our ambassador was doing his job, but its also important to say that this was a personal view. Its not the view of the british government. Its not my view. Reporter now, the u. K. Has confirmed that theyre doing an internal investigation into the source of the leak or just how this got out because it is a breach of internal protocol, let alone the challenge they will have cleaning this up diplomatically. This could be his parting shot depending on what happens with new leadership there. Hans nichols, thank you. Time now for we said, they said. News outlets overseas are focusing on President Trumps show of u. S. Military might this fourth of july, something he dubbed a salute to america. It was an allout hollywoodstyle production with cameras on the president as he left the white house broadcast on huge screens here to a fanfare of or kess tral music. President trumps extensive fourth of july festivities, the truth is, 243 years of this countrys existence is worth celebrating. He will have a very close look at how many people really are there for his event. Remember, he is obsessed with crowd sizes and might well compare this to his inauguration when he was very disappointed by how many people really turned up. That event was held on the National Mall and was the first time in nearly seven decades that a u. S. President addressed a crowd on Independence Day. Opponents criticized the president for using taxpayer dollars to fund what they called a Campaign Event and they called out his speech for inaccuracies. This is a very expensive undertaking by the president , and it has had a lot of people questioning whether this is really an event organized by the government, is it something organized by the campaign, is it something that should be financed by the campaign . Check facts, people were saying to donald trump. There was a lot of fun factchecking going on last night. I suspect if it was any other president , it wouldnt be controversial. Several headlines abroad focused on the price tag for thursdays celebration. The exact amount, still unknown. But the irish times points out the show of pomp diverted 2. 5 million in entrance fees from the parks service. And the united kingdoms independent described it as a secondrate red square rally. Tallying the cost of the tanks at an estimated 750,000. We said, they said. A new abc news Washington Post poll coming out today showing President Trump trailing now three democratic frontrunners in headtohead matchups. Joe biden still holds a commanding 10point lead over the president. Senator Kamala Harris is up by two points in the new poll, leading 48 to trumps 46 . And senator Bernie Sanders also had a headtohead lead on donald trump, albeit by one point. Meanwhile, michigan congressman justin amash explains his decision to jump ship from the Republican Party. The former gopper spoke with jake tapper this morning about why he chose to leave the party of trump. I think this term in congress has really shown how bad it can get. Over the years ive seen that people are just falling in line behind the leaders, including people in my own caucus, which i left. So its gotten worse and worse, and i think this was the term that really broke it for me. Lets bring in Political National reporter Daniel Strauss and Julian Aguilar. Lets start with justin amash. Breaking the dam here . You know, i think his past comments, nobody was too surprised. The president s reaction is one youre going to continue to see based on republicans that speak out against the president s party. I just this will be something that leads up to 2020. Im not sure if were going to be taugtsz as we get closer to primaries in certain states. Daniel, there havent been a lot in terms of members of congress who have switched parties, a handful, really, in the 21st century. How does this read in the beltway from other republicans and democrats for that matter . I mean, its a surprising fact in the sense that this is a member, a Founding Member of the House Freedom caucus a group of republicans who are usually allied with President Trump. But for a while now congressman amash has disagreed with the Trump Administration and made his thinking known. So its not so unusual among observers here in d. C. For us to see amash split with trump or really spar with him, but to leave the party altogether is unusual, and i think a lot of us didnt see it coming. Did not see it coming. As you mentioned here, especially with the freedom caucus, thats of note. Also of note that shes one of the lead voices when it comes to impeachment from those in the senate, daniel. Look, fans of impeachment have really embraced congressman amash. They say, look, this is a House Freedom caucus member calling for impeachment. Its that serious. At the same time, though, the Republican Party overall still holds trump in very high regard, and i dont think amash leaving or amashs calls for impeachment are really going to sway a broad swath of the Republican Party. When we speak about high regard, the latest abc news Washington Post poll shows that President Trump is enjoying an increase in Approval Ratings, still below the midline, below 50 here, but still an increase. So julian, are we seeing a new trend line . These early poll numbers are early, but we look for trends. Right. Like you said, theyre early. But i think what might have given the president a boost with his negotiations with mexico with respect to the trade tariffs, i think you saw a lot of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle push back against these tariffs. What the president came out with was that mexico did send more troops to secure its southern border, sending troops to the northern border to prevent people from crossing and agreed to accept people under the mpp, the migration protection protocol. Even the cites say mexico w c mexico was doing this anyway. With respect to the growing job numbers we saw, the Trump Administration took a hit, but we saw the rebound. So thats always good leading into an Election Year especially. When you look at the economy, though, julian, that ranked number one in this poll in terms of the issues americans are caring about. All those together, how is it resonating in texas . Democrats hoping for purple. Right. I think were still a ways away. At least at the state level people are flipping enough house seats to make the legislature more balanced. One of these polls said 50 of people at large think that the president might have gone too far on immigration. The conditions reported in el paso in this Detention Centers, the fact that mpp has been expanded, family separations are still going on, thats going to play into the fact of how texas voters think. But texas senators have been pretty lock step on the president , which is the threatened tariffs. Were way far out, but texas is not going to turn blue anytime soon. You might get more purple. The president is about to leave new jersey. Lets listen to him real fast. Were doing better than any nation on the planet. And were very honored by that. In addition the Interest Rates essentially werent paid. We have tremendous numbers coming out and thats a big thing. Our economy is doing incredibly well. I want to congratulate the womens soccer team on the world cup. Thats an incredible achievement. It was a very exciting game. I got to see a little bit of it. Theyre great players and its a great honor to have them capture it for the United States for a fourth time. Its a tremendous thing, so congratulations to the team that won the world cup. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask. [ inaudible question ] they better be careful because and i wont tell you what that reason is, but its no good. They better be careful. [ inaudible question ] no, i havent seen it. But, you know, we had our little ins and outs with a couple countries, and i would say the u. K. And the ambassador and he has not served the u. K. Well. So i can understand it and i can say things about him, but i wont bother. [ inaudible question ] yeah, were moving ahead with the census. Theyre spending 15 billion or some ridiculous amount of money on a census. I dont know why we cant do that through computers of the world because, frankly, thats the way you should do it today and probably a lot more accurately. But theyre spending 15 billion to 20 billion on a census asking everything except are you a citizen of the United States. How ridiculous is that . So we are moving forward. We have a couple of avenues and our attorney general is doing a fantastic job in many ways. And i think hes got it under control. [ inaudible question ] say again . [ inaudible question ] we can do a memorandum, but there are alternatives. Our attorney general is a fantastic man and he has it well under control. [ inaudible question ] the New York Times story is a hoax. I think anything the New York Times writes nowadays, theyre really you know, they use the word unhinged, the New York Times. I call it the failing New York Times for a reason. Check their unfunded liability and see what theyre worth. Theyre already a failed New York Times. When we write a story like that, i went to my people and they said, sir, its not true. We told them about a crisis. They said it was manufactured. They laughed for months. And it turned out it wasnt manufactured. We were right about that. We told them that the Detention Centers are really full, and they got to change the loopholes and the asylum and the immigration laws. We can do it quickly, but we have no way to do it because the democrats but the New York Times story is a fabrication. Now, i look i had people there that told me the job that they are doing is incredible. In all cases, if you look, people that came from unbelievable poverty, they had no water or a anything where they came from, those are people that are very happy with whats going on because relatively speaking, theyre in much better shape right now. The Border Patrol and all of the Law Enforcement thats working on the border, its incredible what theyre doing. Theyve had to become nurses, they had to become janitors, they had to become things they were never trained to do, all because the democrats refuse to change the loopholes and the asylum and the immigration laws. I think its a disgrace, and the New York Times is basically a partner with the democrats the way i look at it. They should never be allowed to write stories like that. [ inaudible question ] the numbers are going down because mexico is doing a lot. Mexico is building up over 20,000 soldiers at the border. So the numbers are going down, yes. [ inaudible question ] i would like to see that. When you look at world cup soccer, thats one thing. And you also have to look at soccer, professional soccer. You have to see whos taking in what. I dont know what the numbers are. I would like to see that. But again, you have to look at the stars of the mens soccer and the great stars of the womens soccer, and you have to see year round what is the attendance for womens soccer outside of world cup. But i would like to see it. [ inaudible question ] no, i dont know anything about it. That i dont know. [ inaudible question ] what . [ inaudible question ] we havent really thoughtb. We will look at that, certainly. [ inaudible question ] iran is doing a lot of bad things. Remember this. The obama agreement, which was the most fool, agreement youll ever find, it expires in very short period of time. Whether you have this conversation now or in a number of years from now, a few number of years, very important conversation. Except the way they want it, they would have automatic rights to have nuclear weapons. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. Thank you very much. [ inaudible question ] well, were doing very well with china, thats right. Most importantly, were doing well with the tariffs. Were taking in billions and billions of dollars from china. Weve never taken in 10 cents from china. China has ripped us off during obama and biden, during bush and other president s, clinton, obviously. And right now chinas not very happy because thousands of companies are leaving china and theyre going to other places, including the United States because they dont want to pay tariffs. And the other thing is chinas paying the tariffs. Theyre devaluing their currency and pumping money in. Our people have not been paying for the tariffs. Thank you. Thank you. [ inaudible question ] well, if the fed knew what it was doing, they would lower rates and they would stop quantitative tightening. If you look at europe, what theyre doing is theyre pumping money in and theyre having rates lowered so they can compete with us. Just remember, the European Union was set up in order to compete with the United States. Okay . If you look at what hes done, i mean, made them somewhat competitive. Now, despite everything, theyre not doing well and were doing great. Europe is not theyre doing great. When they cut Interest Rates and pump in a lot of money, its not an even playing field. Were doing the opposite. Were taking money out and Interest Rates have gone up. If the fed didnt do what it did or even half, we would have a dow that would be as good as it is, were doing no good, but we would have a dow anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 points higher. [ inaudible question ] what were going to the is im going to start showing these Detention Centers to the press. I want the press to go in and see them. I just smoke to mark morgan and i just spoke with, as you know, kevin. So were going to send people in. Were going to have some of the press go in because theyre crowded and were the ones who were complaining about theyre crowded. Theyre crowded because people come up. But now, thanks to mexico, its slowing down greatly, and i think youll start to see very good numbers. But it is crowded. But we want to have the press go in and see because the New York Times, it really is fake news. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. [ inaudible question ] thank you very much. President trump now just leaving morristown, new jersey, where he was there for the weekend. Headed back to the white house. Daniel strauss, Julian Aguilera still with us. Dan, he was finishing by saying he may let the press into the Detention Centers or get close to them . In general, really dressing the issue of the New York Times article that came out related to the difficult, the squalid conditions in these Detention Centers. I think its clear the president remains an avid reader of the New York Times. Beyond that, this is something that this is one of the marquee issues of the Trump Administration, which is to curb immigration along the southern border. These stories that have continued to come out about lack of hygiene in these Detention Centers, overcrowding, are things that are resonating, but theres a lot of evidence to suggest thats not the case. Well have to listen. It was hard to hear there. Thank you both. Political all right. Julian, since i hear that we have a little bit more time with you, i might to ask you what your thoughts were about what you heard from the president. Clear he was saying its a fabrication what happened in the New York Times, as daniel was saying. Hes still a reader. Right. You know, its like saying the sun is going to set later for the president to bash the New York Times. But with respect to the article that came out in collaboration with the el paso times, the Texas Tribune needs to work with the New York Times. We know their editing process, theyre fiercely accurate. I know some of them personally. I dont think anything is a fabrication. As we said before on this report, you have the government Inspector General saying there have been warning flags for a long time about these facilities. You have members of congress coming to visit them, you have the press invited, but not allowed to take pictures or talk to the people detained there. Yeah, it begs the question, what access people are going to get and how true at a picture will be. In defense of the Border Patrol, they said theyre not quipped to hold large families. They were built to process what traditionally was the problem with unauthorized migration, which was single adult males. In Border Patrols defense, theyve been saying this for a long time. Theyre not care takers, theyre Law Enforcement officers. Thats going to continue as long as people keep pushing back on what these narratives say, advocates, lawyers that have been there. I have no reason to believe theyre lying about the conditions. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time, Julian Aguilar as well as Daniel Strauss sticking around for the gaggle there with the press in new jersey before the president takes off. Coming up, hidden heroes. We take a moment to recognize the people who take care of our military veterans who lay it all on the line for our freedom. Between healthy gums and strong teeth. Complete protection from parodontax has 8 designed benefits for healthy gums and strong teeth. Complete protection from parodontax. Who used expedia to book the Vacation Rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. Expedia. Everything you need to go. Independence weekend may end today, but for many, it does not. For the 1. 5 million active duty military, their everyday job is, well, at its core, freedom. In places far and wide, big and small. So we thought wed remember an important part of the countrys military family. Those who take care of veterans every day. Often family members, young and driven, they, too, are part of why we can celebrate Independence Day. Thats 5. 5 million military caregivers today and growing. Helping with medicines, comforting partners with bad mornings or nights, Holding Hands during tough physical therapy sessions. Dressing wounds more severe than our history has ever seen. And another thing, they do this more than double the years versus the average. Joining me now, colleen rose who cares for her husband, john, an active duty marine, who sustained significant head injuries after an ied attack. Colleen is also an Elizabeth DoleFoundation Hidden Heroes fellow. And eric alva, First American injured in the iraq war who lost his right leg. Also the iraq wars first purple heart recipient. Colleen, i want to start you. Thanks for being with us. 5. 5 million. Not a lot of people know about that. 5. 5 million caring for veterans. Independence day means a whole lot of Different Things for good people like you who fight every day to care for your loved ones. Yes, richard, thats totally correct. Thank you so much for having me. You betcha. So tell me about that. What is it like to care for john . You know, its really a journey. When i first started caring for my husband, he was very severely injured. I was doing things like caring for his burns, helping him get dressed, and nine years after his injury, it looks a lot different than it used to. Today, i help him with more daytoday things. Hes really independent. So im just helping managing the household. Its definitely changed a lot. You know, staff sergeant, and, again, thank you, sir, for your service. Remember those people who cared for you when you first came back, and i know that there are probably vivid images in your mind of those who cared for you. Yes, richard, thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for your kind words. I had a very strong support system, especially my mother was my main caregiver. And tell me about what she did that stood out. Well, other than making sure that i ate or, you know, i was there to be comforted because there was a lot of crying, there was a lot of anger, there was a lot of loss. You know, psychologically, she played a big role in my mental state as well. Colleen, you know, what kind of support do caregivers like you need . Because, again, as i was mentioning, severe injuries in some cases. Staff sergeant alva, again, having to lose a limb, in your case, an ied attack, then his head injuries you had to deal with. What sort of support do you need . The support that we need is valely ex te really extensive. It totally takes a village, richard. Yeah. People in the community, if theyre interested in helping, thank you, first of all, for acknowledging us and wanting to help people like me. I think you can learn about what our life is like. Go to hiddenheroes. Org and read stories about me and people like me. And i think if youre looking in the larger sense to help us is to look for those organizations that are in your communities every single day. Helping caregivers. You infrastructure is there already for sure. You face economic challenge, do you not . Totally. I have a lot of Student Loan Debt which i accrued before my husband was injured and its difficult to maintain employment throughout years of care, through injuries and through procedures that he requires. So its really hard to make ontime payments for very costly Student Loans during that time. So e iing families really working through it. Staff sergeant, youre also openly gay. Of the lgbtq survey members, the vav v. A. Says depression and suicidal thoughts, theyre at a rate twice that of heterosexual veterans. How did your caregivers help you through these experiences . You know, thats interesting, richard, because, you know, of course, i wasnt out at that time and everything, but, again, you know, i think, you know, to echo what colleen said, you know, when you have a village and people who support you, those, you know, diversities of my background, people didnt really put first. It was about my recovery, my care, and looking you know, making sure that i came back and which i did, and, you know, i have a husband today whos my dependent. Former army and he plays a big role because as of july 4th just the other day, you know, he made sure i had my ear plugs next to the nightstand because those fireworks still echo some of the bombs that were being dropped that night, and so, you know, hes my primary caregiver now. And, you know, ive been in good hands all this time. In good hands. Your husband here, staff sergeant, for you. Colleen, you are those good hands. Whats amazing about what youve done, colleen, for your husband, you also had your own battle. You are a cancer survivor. So you are battling two fronts. How did yes. You do that . You know, i think you just do it because you dont really have a choice. So you just go ahead and you check off the things on your todo list and you tap into that village and your friends and your family and you just you deal with all of the emotions a lot later. Unfortunately. What would your words of advice be for those who are caregivers . Often its not easy to express the difficult times, but as you know, it helps other caregivers when they hear this is the tough times we made it through, colleen. Sure. I think that for any caregiver out there, youre doing more than you realize. I would say good job, number one. And i would say ask for help. Its really difficult to ask for help when youre the one used to doing all of the helping. But if youre supported, your service member, your veteran, is going to be better taken care of and thats really what its all about. Staff sergeant, as you have lived through your life and you look at the caregivers that are important to you, talking about your husband, in the lgbtq space, how is caregiving maybe a little bit different . Its a little bit different sometimes because sometimes people have not actually disclosed their identities. So asking for help puts it as a reservation as their caregiver can be because they dont want people to actually know because of the ramifications of the discrimination that, you know, lgbt veterans still face, so it may be a little difficult, but what we do is tell personal stories and we make sure that theres a network out there, you know, that we can help lgbt veterans to realize theyre not alone and to, you know, to look at that, you know, whether gay, straight, you know, we are all veterans of this great country. And we all, thanks to colleen and like my mother who were the caregivers, that we should all be there to support each other and just network and if they need assistance, too, then as a veteran who recovered, i can be there, too, as a caregiver. Well, to all of certainly the veterans and to all the caregivers of veterans, i thank you both. Staff sergeant alva, i appreciate you holding up high the caregivers that are helped you throughout the time. Colleen rose, hats off to you as well for you caring for your husband, what you do to bring awareness to this very topic. I appreciate you both spending the time as we finish out this Independence Day weekend. Thank you for your thank you, richard. Thank you. Thanks. Of note here, if you want more information, you can go to hiddenheroes. Org. Thats Elizabeth Dole foundat n foundation. Comcast, nbc universal, which is the Parent Company of msnbc, is a Community Partner with the Elizabeth Dole foundation for this campaign. That will do it for me this week. Join me back here next saturday and sunday 4 00 p. M. Eastern. I look forward to seeing you then. Reach out to me on twitter. Facebook. Whatever you like. Instagram. Ill get right back to you. But for now i turn it over to reverend al sharpton and politicsnation. Good evening. And welcome to politicsnation. Live from new orleans. On the final day of the 2019 Essence Festival, where al