Us. There are people who are trying to effect change. I need to really use my privilege and my voice to be supportive and come out. Im truly grateful at all of the turnout we have different colors in here. It is literally tear jerking. Its time for change. Its time for justice. Im here to fight for those things. And that was just a small sampling of what protesters across the country are saying about why they are out demonstrating. Welcome to monday. Its meet the press daily. Im katy tur in for chuck todd. Right now youre looking at live pictures from an america in crisis as millions of americans have hit a breaking point. As millions of americans will be under a curfew tonight. In minneapolis, philadelphia, new york, and the unrest is playing out against the backdrop of a deadly pandemic that has ravaged the nations economy and is disproportionately affecting africanamericans. Youre looking right now at the white house and the streets of washington on a day when the president berated the nations governors calling most of them weak and urging them to aggressively crack down on demonstrators. Nbc news has obtained audio of the president s call with governors today. What you heard from the president was a remarkable contrast with the message today from George Floyds brother who spoke at a prayer vigil in minneapolis with a message of deescalation. Please do this peacefully. My brother moved here from houston and i used to talk to him on the phone. He loved it here. He started driving truck. He was going to i know he would not want yall to be doing this. And im not saying that relax. [ applause ] before i go, i just want to hear this again. Whats his name . George floyd. Whats his name . George floyd. Whats his name . George floyd. Whats his name . George floyd. George. Floyd. George. Floyd. George. Floyd. George. Floyd. That message comes a of the a weekend of peaceful protest and demonstrations in virtually every major city in america as people demanded social change along with justice for george floyd and many others. That message, though, at times it was overtaken by these images of violence and fire, looting and chaos with collar scenes playing out in major cities across the country. The president and the attorney general are blaming elements for the far left for some of the images youre seeing on the screen. Theres concern from organizers and other local officials that elements on the far right are responsible. But not to be lost amid the confrontations over Police Brutality were images these like of police and protesters uniting, in some cases, and marching together. It is a moment of unrest, violence, tension, of mourning, of death, of frustration, of division, of injustice, of unfairness, and uncertainty that this nation is struggling to get past. Chuck is in minneapolis. Eamon is in philadelphia. Garrett is near the white house in washington. And cal perry is in louisville. Shack, i want to start with you because you are where this all began. Youre with George Floyds brother came to the vigil today. What is the mood there . What are the expectations for this evening . Exactly one week after george floyd died and at the aen where he died is a sense of community here and its a sense of community that started earlier today when thea brother of geoe floyd, Terrence Floyd, made an appearance here. Came to this vigil. Just look around a little bit. You see the actual vigil that one of thee three in this n intersection, but you keep going around, theres another one blocking off the entire intersection and you see people around. Earlier today before the brother came, there was a prayer circle. People got on their knees for nine minutes. Symbolizing the amount of time the officer had his knee on the neck of mr. Floyd. This is all coming as you heard Terrence Floyd and the message he had. Yes, it was a call for peace, but it was also a call to t rechannel that activism. Rechannel the anger and grief that people have. Eo you heard the message from the family. The chants from the crowd. They said one down, three to go. Thats because they want the other three officers involved to be arrested. We did hear some news in that regard earlier today from the family. The family hired their own attorney and through the familys attorney, they did their own autopsy and t they implicated the otherey officersn that autopsy saying that no, mr. Floyd did not die because of some unknown preexisting condition and said he died because of theid actions of tho officers. Listen to the family attorney earlier today. The officers killed him based on a knee to his neck for almost nine minutes and two knees on his back compressing his lungs. The ambulance was his hearse. Ill tell you ive been talking to people here all day and this is definitely a lighter moment. The clashes youve seen in minneapolis days and days ago did not happen d here. This is not the area. This is an area thats been more solemn. People have taken it more serious as people are playing music,pl praying, dropping off people. You see tears in peoples eyes and you see conversations happening. You see people who dont know each other. I met someone who came up from dallas, texas to peacefully protest. Having ay conversation with someone hes never met explaining the problems in the africanamerican community, the tension that exists between people and officers. Thats whats happening here. At the scene where one week ago you saw george floyd lost his life. Again, the family autopsy saying homicide caused by asphyxia. Now u to philadelphia and eamon, who is with a crowd of people. Whats going on there . So let me just preface this by an early apology in case we lose signal. We are walking with the protestors. What weve been doing, because this is a peaceful protest that started outside the Philadelphia Police headquarters but just in the last minute right here on this main thorough way that goes into the center of the city outside of city hall, we had a bit of a scary incident here. It was vehicle of sorts, an suv, that just plowed through the crowd of marng marchers walking here. It was a scary moment. M there was a tense stand off even earlier outside the convention center. The Pennsylvania Convention center, where a lot of the protestors here were taking a knee, demanding the police take a knee with them in solidarity with their demands. Now speaking of their demands, this has been a peaceful protest. Multiracial, multigenerational. Weve been walking with them now for a better part of the hour trohroughout thety. It sarted outside of the Philadelphia Police city headquarters. People were demanding accountability and justice for the killing of many unarmed black men including george floyd. As they have walked, theyve beeners courted by the police. There have been been these momentsn of intense stand off. A little animosity toward the chants of the crowd and the police. But none the less, the crowd in the protest continuing to march now for a better part of the hour. All kintd of demands here. Black lives mat rer movement us. Youve got you know young folks. Youve got ive seen parents here with their kids. And a lot of this to express solidarity with what has happened in thisty country. They have been trying to stay together. The police has beento around th. There have been hospitelicopter flying above, but for the most part bar thatth single incidente just witnessed, it has been a safe and peaceful march so far. Rc very scary indeed. Keep yourself safe out there. Now to washington, d. C. And garrett. Last night, it got pretty hairy in front of the white house. You and i were on the air when you got hit by something fired by Police Officers. What is it like there right now and what can you tell us about the expectations there for tonig tonight . Well its been a much calmer scene here today. Weve had protests like this one at Lafayette Park each of the last three prdays. Todays probably has the smallest total number of people and the level of tension has been lower. Al though while the protestors here have been the same, we are seeing an increased federal Law Enforcement response around the city and i think thats part of the tension here that is maybe unique ton washington, d. C. These protestors feel like theyve been having almost entirely one way conversation. Theyre shouting at park police and secret service and federals National Guard andnd really the white house behind them. And theyre not hearing anything back. Theyre not hearing sub santive ly from the president in any way that speaks to them and youre not seeing the same kind of s solidarity weve seen many other Police Departments where other Police Officers and captains are kneeling and being a part of the community of protestors. Here, you see the divide between the city of washington, d. C. , a city thats almost majority blo black and a federal government and response ledbl by a preside who these protestors have spared absolutely no colorful language in describing their disdain for and their distan for the way he has handled this entire incident, katy. What youre seeing on the left hand side of your screen now, that is a camera on the capitol and were seeing a line of cops there guarding the Capitol Building much as were seeingl a line of officers outside of the white house guarding the white house. In the conversations youve been toing with people showing up protest, who are they . Where are they from . I think we lost communication with garrett, unfortunately. Lets go now to cal perry. Cal, youve been in the middle of some very tense situations as well. Over the past few days. Whats happening today . So four days of violence cull min nated in the death last night of a 53yearold man on the west side of town. We just heard from the mayor who announced the Police Officers involved in that shooting were not wearing their body cameras. I want to take you back to mid march when brie area Brianna Taylor died. A no knock raid is way of saying they didnt o announce themselv, came in, got into a fire fight with her boyfriend, she was shot eight times. A 26yearold emt. A vital worker in the age of this pandemic and we dont know what happened because those officers wereap not wearing bod cameras so last friday, the mayor announced that body cameras would be required for all Law Enforcement operating in louisville. R last night after midnight, theres some kind of a fire fight, some unknown gunman. We understand two louisville Police Officers who are now on administrative leave returned fire as well as two National Guards men, but they did not activate their body cameras. They tell you two things. O one, the National Guard needs to leave thel city because theyr raising the tension and two, if it wasnt fortw cell phones, we really wouldnt see how Law Enforcement is operating in this country. Time and time again, these issues happen andn, even a city like louisville that seems to have theirat policies straight,e have this incident again. Last night, a 53yearold man who according to the mayor, everyone in town knew. He served barbecue to Police Officers for free. A man of the community. His body lay in the street for 12 hours while they investigated the scene then at the end of the day, lo and behold, those body cameras were not active. The police chief has been relieved of his chaommand. He was going to retire this month any way, but certain ly a tense scene and again, this all started on thursday night here in louisville when seven people were shot in a lprotest. Two days ago, five Police Officers were targeted by gunfire then last night,y shoot. The National Guardy will be he again. There will be thatrd dusk to da curfew. Hate to state the obvious, but if youre wearing a pod di camera and dont turn it on, its useless. Thank you very much. And were going to be watching developments in all those places throughout the hour. Well bring you news as it comes. Ahead at this moment of crisis, President Trump is dismissing calls to tone down his rhetoric and hes urging governors to ramp up their Law Enforcement response. Plus, is the violence and destruction were seeing at protests being stoked by outside agitators and organized extremists . A look at what we know and what we dont. But first, a plea for unity and resolve from a famous rapper and son of atlanta. 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Transfer your Service Online in a few easy steps. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. You are allowed to fight back. Now im not asking my attorney general perhaps hell stop me from saying that, but i would think. Youre very tough, strong powerful people are allowed to fight back against that guy. Welcome back. That was President Trump addressing the nations governors in a call earlier today and that audio was obtained by nbc news and after urging governors to quote dominate the treats to contain the protests, the president went on to push governors to increase their use of National Guard resources. Not using the greatest resource you can use and theyre training for this stuff and theyre incredible. But youre not calling them up. I dont know. Youre making a mistake because youre making yourself look like fools. Joining me now from the white house is my nbc news colleague, shannon. Also with us is jonathan and cornell, an msnbc political analyst. Shannon, lets start with you. Walk us through that phone call. How long did it last and what was the reaction from the governors on that call . It went on for almost an hour and the attorney general and the defense secretary were also on the call. One said the president was losing it, others described it as a rant and the general message they got from it was that the president was trying to berate governors into increasing the amount of Law Enforcement tactics they use against these protesto protestors. He said most are weak. He said the governors are fools if they dont step up their police presence. He suggested that people who throw bricks and rocks at police should be put in jail for ten years and this fits with the big broader theme ive been hearing from my sources at the white house that the president sees the solution to this unrest being increases Law Enforcement. Not addressing these underlying issues that the protestors are concerned about. Police brutality, systemic racism, addressing those isnt the solution. Its increased Law Enforcement. Send ng the National Guard. Onthan, you know this because y covered the campaign alongside me. The president would often campaign on being the law and order president. That he would be tougher on anyone, everyone, than anyone else would be. That was his whole position. These, this unrest thats happening across the country is happening under his watch. You could say. Is he now looking for somebody to blame . He always has talked tough and hes liked the idea of deploy iing the military. Hes been loathe to involve himself in overseas conflict but here at home, hes talked about using the National Guard dmad de guard xhesically. Hes suggesting its going to be a referendum of him. Weve seen this before with the coronavirus pandemic that just of course just a matter of weeks ago, the president was trying to shift the focus and responsible responsibility ft. Governors, the mayors and hooe doing that again here. Hes been calling out some mayors by name, particularly the one this minneapolis. Hes been critical of number of governors on call. Today he got pushback from the governor of illinois, also jay insly, who said this is a president whose political career was born on the backs of birtheri srsm and racism. Im paraphrasing but those are his words. Hes shying away from a moment of leadership here. Certainly the law and order playbook is one the other candidates have used before. Most famously, nixon in 1968. But the key difference, knicnixf course wasnt the incumbent. Donald trump likes to fancy himself as the outsider. Hes pretty good at portraying himself as that. But here of course he is the president. This is on his watch. Talk about some of the language the president has been using when they loot will shoot, vicious dogs. Today talk iing about dominatin the protestors. What does that signal to you . It signals more of his base. This is quintessential trump. You know grievance politics. Heightened tribalism. Division. Thats his predicate. It has been from the very beginning and i have to understood line that point about this is a playbook, this is nixons playbook. This is a reboot of the nixon playbook but in a different time. It has to be that if i can scare suburban white voters who im strugging with right now, if i can scare them and have it us against them mentality, that certainly helps him politically. The problem is its not, the problem is you know, were not at that point in america anymore and when you look at those protests, those are just africanamericans. They are younger kids, latino kids. They look like a changing face of america who are frustrated with the injustice they continue to see. I pray, i pray that hes not able to tribalize and divide this country in order to hold on to political power because i think that would be a death nail for our democracy because these little protests, theyre not going to stop unless this injustice is in fact acted on and we need leadership whos going to act on it and bring us together, not divide us. Jonathan, dominating the protestors, using force, isnt that exactly or it is exactly what the protestors are protesting about Law Enforcement. How does the president feel or how does he at one, in one breath say he understands the flight of George Floyds family and he doesnt have sympathy for empathy for them and finds his death was senseless and then in the other side of his mouth call for Law Enforcement to use overwhelming force . Its a hard balancing act and im not sure one hes doing that well. To be sure, he did talk b about mr. Floyds family on saturday, his last public appearance mind you, in florida. Ahead of just after that rocket launch. But since then, that has not been his focus at all. His focus has been on the protestors and use iing this ve bellicose rhetoric, war like rhetoric at times. And i think theres a great unease that this is going to lead to further clashes. We know we have curfews across the nation tonight including for the first time in new york city. Theres going to be an overwhelming number of Police Officers and in certain cities, National Guards men and women on the ground and i think theres a sense that this ushlging from the president , the rhetoric hes using, could lead to further clashes thats going to incite more violence. Thats a concern around some of the people around the president but at the same time, there is a political calculation. Again to evoke 1968. Theres a sense here that if theres a great unrest and this is this worries with the events of the last few days have worried perhaps suburban women voters or senior voters who we know the president has struggled with as of late because of the pandemic, if theyre rattled by this, they might be inclined to drift back towards the socalled law and order candidate. Thats what trump is banging on. You make an interesting point there and i was having a conversation with a former white house official today about politically what this does for the president. After all, were in an Election Year and he uses the things like this as a political cud yul. They said its going to be a wash. People who dont want the president , still dont like him. People who like him still do like him. The one concession this person made was what jonathan just alluded to, white suburban women. I think its problematic and this is why. Is that when you talk to white suburban women in focus groups, we spent a lot of time talking about 2018 was a health care election. It was bigger than that for a lot of these women who broke democratic, especially White College women. What they talked about is division and what they understood is that for their children and for this next generation, we cant continue along the divided path. And the division to them was just as concerning as their pocketbook concerns or any of their kitchen counter concerns. And i dont see this sort of driving more of this division and making the country you know, more divided and more hostile to each other. I dont see that as persuading College Educated white women in the suburbs that this is a direction we should go in the country thats fruitful for their children in the future. Theres a moral peace to the white house and to the office that i think hes failing at and i think that is really problematic and you see it in some of the polling numbers now. Joe biden has been sort of absent from the television ways for a couple of weeks now but Washington Post poll joe bidens lead over donald trump is growing as more voters see him as not having the temperment and personality as to not hold office in the white house. Shannon, i have a quick question to you because the president has his defense secretary op the call with governors and hes threatened to get the military involved. What is on the table now . What is being discussed . Senator cotton today said something along the lines of having the 101st airborne show up to some of these protests. My colleagues courtney and kara lee have some fresh reporting on this tonight about this 200 somethingyearold law called the insurrection act that allows the president to use active duty military personnel within the country so the National Guards, governors can deploy them in a Law Enforcement capacity. But this would allow the president to use other active duty military. Thats something thats being considered and appears to be very much on the table at this point. Wow, shannon with that new line of reporting. And up ahead, a closer look at who might be behind the various incidents of violence that are taking place across the country. Stay with us. E country. Stay with us the men and women of the United States postal service. Were here to deliver cards and packages from loved ones and also deliver the peace of mind of knowing that essentials like prescriptions are on their way. Every day, all across america, we deliver for you. And we always will. Dad, im scared. 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Lets do this another way. Let dees this another way. Lets stop thinking that our police dont matter. And move. Welcome back. Powerful words from George Floyds brother this afternoon as he visited the site of his brothers death calling for peace and a stop to violence and looting. Floyd echoed a concern thats been voiced by many. The destruction of black communities caught in the cross fire of these protests, protests that some black activists feel are being escalated by white groups taking advantage of the situation. Joining us now is tremayne lee and nbc news correspondent, tom winter. So tom, first on what Law Enforcement is telling you about who they believe are the main agitators, the main people that are start iing the violence and committing the looting across the country. Well, unsurprisingly its the people that are, unsurprisingly, its not the people that are out protesting and trying to get answers. Trying to seek change. Those protests by and large certainly in new york city according to nypd officials and in many other cities across the country, have been very peaceful, productive, well organized and something that here in new york city, they often work with groups that theres been issues between a certain communities and the nypd for a long period of time so theyre used to working with groups that protest. Listening to the commissioner yesterday as well as john miller, those protests have gone relatively Violence Free and certainly no destruction of property. Whats happening is they say that anarchist groups are working their way into these protests or are involved in violence and destruction of property when those protests come to a conclusion. So where its really gotten ugly in the commissioners words, last night was when things got dark, when the sun went down. Things here in new york city really picked up. Weve seen that elsewhere with a real specific targeting of highend retail, wealthier neighborhoods, chain type stores. Theyre well coordinated according to commissioner miller. Theyve got bicycle scouts. Theyre radioing each other. Theyre using encrypted apps to say where police are and where theyre not. Theyre destroying property, police vehicles. Approaching 60, probably higher than that that have been destroyed. Its being seen across the country and i think its important for folks to realize there are people here that are in pain. There are people here that have grievances that are protesting quite peacefully then there are some others that are coming into this with very different agendas. So tremayne, Terrence Floyd today raised what is a strong point that its often the black communities that get hit hardest while protesting and black protestors while black protestors feel the Police Crackdown on social media over the weekend, what you could see was a number of black protestors urging white not protestors, white agitators to stop. There was one in particular of a black woman stopping two white women from tagging a starbucks. Yeah you know what, theres annage old troep of outside agitators stirring up trouble and been used to delegitimize actual push for justice. They say theres grounding this time, that there are infiltrate ers. Ill quote one, white an artists and communists have infiltrated the protest movement so while theyre pushing for justice for george floyd and other black people who have been killed be i the police, this these interlopers have come in and taken advantage. Especially these white protestors or white agitators go back to their communities, they can kind of blend back in. But u when the black folks come out to the street, the police who are going to crack into their heads. When they burn down stores in their community, the black folks are the ones who have to deal with it and as you can see from the white house, ramp up, Law Enforcement, get out there and kick some behinds essentially. I heard a politician say basically white skate borders. Thats unfair in some ways because we know that the coalitions calling for justice are wide and large at this point but still, the fact that it will be the black mass that will deal with the brunt of whatever force that comes down is concerning. So the activists i spoke with say we have vigilant, but make sure we keep our eyes and ears open. On social media, there are a number of videos of black protestors urging these white folks to stop it. Theres one i wont forget. A black woman tell iing a white man to stop being so provocative with the police. He was throwing things and she said theyre going to kill us. Theyre killing black people. The white man said theyre doing that already and continue. Its not a game. For others its real life. Absolutely. Thank you very much. And tom, thank you as well. And joining me now on the phone is new york governor andrew cuomo. Governor, thank you for being here. Were look iing at on the left hand side of the screen are big protests, big group of protestors that has gathered in new york city and there will be a curfew for the first time during this unrest here in new york starting at 11 00 p. M. Tonight. Do you think its going to help . We hope so, but look, the conversation youre having is the right conversation. There is a righteous protest that is going on in this nation and it should frankly. What weve seen with that mr. Floyd killing is just disgusting and its one in a series and Everybody Knows it and it has sparked a true cry for reform and change and progress. Now that righteous protest movement has been infiltrate. Has been exploited and used by anarchist groups, by just criminals who say this is a great opportunity the loot. And its actually disapating the impact of the protest and the righteous protests and you see the federal President Trump is using that because they want to talk about looting because they dont want to talk about the floyd killing. So separate iing the two is ver important. The legitimate protest is right and they should be outraged and we should use it as a moment of reform in this nation finally to deal with the racism and discrimination and injustice and inequality, but we have to protect against the looters and those extreme groups who want to use this moment. So how do you fix the problem and lets focus specifically on Law Enforcement because there are a lot of problems but lets try to narrow it down right here. How do you fix this stance that Law Enforcement has toward black americans . Well, katy, i think thats the right question and id like to this movement actually sharpen. Theres no doubt when you look back in history, big change came from moments when people demanded change. Where there was the triangle fire, the storm koing environmental movement. We passed in new york gun control after sandy hook. Theres a reform agenda for criminal justice. How do you have local district attorneys investigating police abuse of the Police Departments that they worked with every day in why do you not release the disciplinary record of a Police Officer whos being investigated for abuse . Why you still allow choke holds to be legal in this country . I mean there are obvious reform measures that should have been passed a long time ago. The police are very strong politically in this nation. I understand that. But these reforms are way overdue. Should there be, should local officials, the mayor, look into the budget for the n wrwpd or should mayors look into the budgets for Law Enforcement and maybe redirect some of that money toward communities that need it . Well the number of police we need is a city by city, locality by locality decision. I think its a legitimate question, point. Are we overpolicing. Just in terms of personnel. I dont think theres any doubt but that there are abuses within within our system that are not independently investigated. Im a former prosecutor. When you have the local prosecutor doing the investigation of police abuse, that is a conflict of interest in my opinion. A conflict of interest can be an apparent conflict. How could people believe the local prosecutor is going to be independent and uninfluenced . It defies common sense so there are basic reforms. In my state, we use the attorney general to investigate any killing of an unarmed person by a Police Officer but even in new york, i cant get that law passed. I did it by executive order. In new york. What about, what about optics . Were seeing the militarization of Law Enforcement across the country including here in new york and i will give you that new york is in a unique position because we are a terror target. Because we have been the victim of terrorism in this city. But does Law Enforcement need to look like they are the military . What message does that send . Well, thats complicated, katy, because look, the Police Department in new york is also an antiterrorism department. Right. And this was 9 11 and you have to remember in normal times, what keeps me up at night is a terrorist attack. But we are not using Army Personnel in new york city. We dont have National Guard. I just saw the pictures of military personnel in washington, d. C. , by the federal government. Were not doing that in new york. New york governor andrew cuomo, thank you very much for calling in. We appreciate your time. Thank you, katy, pleasure. And joining me now for more on the protests and the president s response is secretary johnson. Thank you very much for joining me today. First off, as a prominent africanamerican, prominent black leader in this country, what is your take on what needs to be done to start to fix the problem . Katy, where do i begin . First, protest is a frm of language. Its a form of speech. By those who feel as though their voices are not heard. And so on the National Level, the state level, the local level, leaders have to as a starting point, acknowledge the grievance. Its real. Its valid. Africanamericans and a whole lot of other americans have been say iing now for years, black lives matter and when we see a representative of our nations Law Enforcement snuff out a life as if he were an animal and the Police Officer was the hunter, you can hear collectively a will the lot of americans saying to the rest of america, see what weve been saying for the last six years. And so hearing the grievance and acknowledging the validity of it was a starting point. If youre a student of history and im sure you are, you know that in 1965, president johnson went to a joint session of congress and embraced the wording of the civil rights movement. We shall overcome. It was an acknowledgment from our National Leader that he hears the message and acknowledges the valid ity of i. Unfortunately, our National Leadership is uncapable of unwilling to do that. I noted garrett on the ground there in washington said this is a one way conversation and that is so telling. No one at the National Level is acknowledging what protestors in a peaceful manner are saying. Is there anything that the president could say that would help the situation . I mean the people who might need to hear it would they take the president s words at face value . Would they believe the words that came out of his mouth . With protests this widespread across our entire country in reaction to minneapolis, what is required at the National Level is a bold statement. I have many mind black lives matter and coming from this president , that would be significant. Whether he is capable of that, whether he is willing to do that is the bigger question, but i believe a statement along those lines is warranted, not a statement about militarizing our country. Not a tastatement about a threa of the invocation of the insurvinsu insurvey of 1807 but of the actions that brought us to this place. Let me ask you about the act. My colleagues are reporting that that is seriously on the table,. My colleagues have been reporting that is seriously under consideration for the president. What would it mean if he invoked it . Katy, as you know, before i was secretary of homeland security, i was general down counsel for the department of defense. The active duty military is prohibited to engage in Domestic Police action. The insurrection act of 1807 is an act of last resort essentially, when a local government, the national government, is so overwhelmed on a in a domestic situation, that the u. S. Military has to be deployed, where basically the government can no longer function it is so overwhelmed by violence in the streets. I believe we are though the violence is serious, its devastating, its disheartening, i believe we are a long way of declaring there is an insurrection in this country. I believe local Law Enforcement, with the help of the National Guard, under state control, is adequate to deal with this situation, as long as Law Enforcement keeps their heads. And as long as the protestors stay focused on the purpose peacefully of their original message, what brought them to the streets in the first place. If you were heading up a lauftd ageLaw Enforcement agency right now, say in washington, d. C. , what would you say to them . What position should they take between them and the the protesters . I would remind those that are there to serve and to protect, that part of your job is to protect the people who are demonstrating peacefully. What we need to reemphasize with nations Law Enforcement, or at least parts of them, are tactics in deescalation. When things are becoming tense, when things are getting out of control, it is up to the Law Enforcement officer, the superior agent in that circumstance, to bring down tensions, not add to them, not escalate them. And so we need to remind Law Enforcement officers, Public Safety officers, peace officers, that part of what theyre there for is to deescalate situations. And on a longer term basis, take a look at recruitment. What kind of people are we recruiting to our state and local Law Enforcement, would be so depraved that they would engage in Something Like we saw in minneapolis. Recruitment and training. Secretary jeh johnson, thank you very much for joining us today. Coming up next, moments of unity between Police Officers and protesters. Youre watching msnbc. So as you head back out on the road, well be doing what we do best. Providing some calm amidst the chaos. With virtual, realtime tours of our vehicles as well as remote purchasing. For a little help, on and off the road. Now when you buy or lease a new lincoln, well make up to 3 payments on your behalf. Welcome back. Weve seen tensions flare between police and protesters at times, but were also see moments of unity. Take a look at this moment of the santa cruz mayor and the Santa Cruz Police kneeling during a peaceful protest. Chief mills said its time to acknowledge abuse at the hands of officers and substantial change will take a concerted effort of integrity, humility, and a genuine sense of justice. Chief mills joins me now. Chief, thank you very much for joining us. What needs to what can change . Can anything change in the immediate future to make it so that another black man or black woman cannot unnecessarily killed at the hands of officers . Well, i appreciate the sentiments from your station to think about what we can do right now. I think theres several things that we can focus on, one of which is immediately nationwide. We should be looking at the escalation in training our officers not only verbal deescalation but tactical deescalation and now we can slow things down and to help people get out of the situations that they found themselves in. Either an officer or a community member. The second thing is, we need a dose of humility in policing, that we dont have all the answers, that we have been abusive in the past in many ways, and that we can come out of this through recognizing we can do much better and begin making those steps forward in an aggressive manner. Let me ask you this, there have been horrible scenarios where white boys, white men have massacred many people and have been taken into Police Custody without incident, thankfully. And then there have been black men who have been killed for a potential forgery on a 20 bill or maybe selling single cigarettes on staten island. Where do Police Officers or why do at least some Police Officers see black men as inherently more of a threat than even white men who have just murdered multiple people . Well, each of those situations are a little bit different. But i think the reality is its not just the police, but we all bring our prejudices into this profession. I think its nationally. People calling the police, using 911 to tell us to go check on a black man to check on selling cds in downtown santa cruz because it didnt look right. So we sent two Police Officers to that. The reality is that we all bring these prejudices and we have to figure out as a nation how to get past this historically systemic racism that we find ourselves in. And im committed to doing that. I know many other chiefs in our nation are, as well. Do you think it will happen in your lifetime . Ive been doing this for 42 years, and i certainly hope so, or else what we have done has been in vain. What we have to do, and the reason that people like me and many others are speaking out is because we know this has to take place for us to have any legitimacy as protectors of society. Chief mills of santa cruz, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate all of your honesty tonight with some very tough questions. Stay safe out there. Thank you so much. That will do it for me. Chuck will be tomorrow with more meet the press daily and be with me from 1 00 to 3 00 p. M. In the meantime, the beat with ari melber starts right now. Hi there, ari. Hi. Thank you very much and welcome to the beat. Im ari melber. We have a very busy show. This is actually one week after Police Killed george floyd. Today, part of an extraordinary message from his own family, as well as many disturbing things coming out of washington. Right now at this very hour, i want to show you what we know. You can see these protestors gathering for a seventh straight night in cities around the country. Some of the crowds that you see here quite large. Swelling in size. And were nonfmonitoring this a over the country, including marchers on the right side, crowds on