A former slave trader, rolled it down the street and threw it in the harbor. And the stig by protests here in the u. S. , they dont fully capture the scope of what is happening. Because in small, rural towns across the country, that are primarily white, they are also hold progress tests. Places like garden city, kansas in the middle of the country. Or granite falls, washington, north of seattle. Or rugby, north zk d. Dakota, whs not even two whole square miles. Just to give you a sense of how widespread this is, how this is literally happening everywhere, i want to tell you about a town in eastern texas, which has long been known as a strong hold of White Supremacy in america. Back in 1992, a town ordered that towns housing projects to be integrated and this was the reaction. 11,000 people live here. According to the 1990 census, none of them are black. This is a white town, a white race. Thats the way we want to keep it. Reporter he was attending a Klu Klux Klan rally, protesting a federal court order to integrate the Public Housing project immediately. There is a lot of hostility in town toward blacks. Ill shoot every single one of them. Reporter his name is darrell, just another man on the street who says he will fight integration. Im that way, my parents raised me without going schools with blacks and thats the way i want my kids. If blacks come down here, its going to turn violent as hell. Blacks were driven out by kkk demonstrations. That was varieiter, texas. And this is viter, texas. The president s dependance on backlash politics, from birtherism on forward. Its obviously a powerful force. Its the reason he became president. And there was a fear in the beginning that backlash these protests would be another example of before, some power of that. But so far President Trump is on the wrong side of the issues and the polling shows that in a bunch of ways. It shows this is the closest he can get to a freefall, a sevenpoint drop in one month as the gap between him and joe biden widens. Most people disapprove of his handling of the protest. The polling shows how quickly american opinions are shifting onni issues like racial equalit. 57 of americans believe police are more likely to use Excessive Force if the suspect is bla september of 2014, only 43 of americans felt that way. The numbers have almost completely flipped. The protests are shifting the terms of our national debate. Its crazy that after vilifying players who knelt during the national anthem, chief among them colin capper knack, the commissioner of the nfl is now saying black lives matter. And heres mitt romney saying the phrase black lives matter marching on the street in a mask. Even if its just lip service, seeing all these kinds of different parts of the establishment embracing the message of the protesters is striking. The conversation is now shifting so quickly, not only are there calls from protesters to defund the police, which seems thats big budget cuts or abolishing police forces, but a veto proof majority of the Minneapolis City Council pledged the process to begin ending the Minneapolis Police department. It is a dig chanbig change frome were two weeks ago. A favorite example is wisconsins former republican governor who tweeted, reform the police or defund the police. If you told me two weeks ago scott walker would be holding down the conservative side of the argument with, its time to reform the police, i would have thought you were crazy. But democrats are looking to capitalize on this. Today, democratic leadership knelt in memory of george floyd. Got a lot of meme reaction on twitter as you might imagine. They also unveiled a farreaching Police Reform bill that would ban chokeholds and noknock warrants in drug cases. Joining me now is one of the sponsors of the bill, senator Kamala Harris, democrat of california. Lets talk about the legislation first, senator. I want to start with this sort of framework. I talked to a lot of folks working on this issue before ferguson, ferguson on. And there is some real frustration, i think, among people that different attempts at reforms, body cameras, which were a very big point of reform, police training, all kinds of discipline actions for police, that they failed to sort of do the thing that we want to happen. What is your case for why this package wouldnt fail, would actually have real teeth . Changing things . It builds upon everything thats happened in the past, chris. But what it does most specifically, is it is completely and totally directed at one issue, which is accountability and consequence, when there is a violation of law, when the rules are broken. So in addition to what you mentioned, our bill, sponsored by the congressional black caucus, of which i am a member, and so many colleagues are endorsing, what it will do is change the National Standard for use of force. So currently, in so many jurisdictions, chris, when there is an excessive use of force, the question in a courtroom when reviewing that, is to ask was that use of force reasonable . Well, you can find reason for just about anything. Its not a fair standard. And its almost insurmountable when talking about prosecution of Excessive Force. So were suggesting it be changed to ask a question instead not was that reasonable but was it necessary . Were talking about doing pattern and practice investigations. So we want to strengthen that teeth, so for example, the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division will continue to do the work that was started under a Previous Administration but stopped under donald trump for all intents and purposes. And those folks will have subpoena power to go after those Police Departments that have a pattern and practise of discrimination. In addition, we are proposing that there needs to be independent investigations. I will tell you as a former prosecutor, no matter how well intentioned a d. A. Or a states attorney, the reality is that there is at the very least a lack of appearance of absence of conflict when that prosecutor is investigating a Police Officer from an agency they work with every day. We need to have independent investigations. Another piece is transparency in terms of data. Again, when i was attorney general, we opened up the California Department of justice, and data which otherwise journalists had to claw out of us, we opened it up and i said look, we want to make sure that the public has information about deaths in custody, arrest rates based on demographic information. These are the things in this package, including our antilynching bill. And to your point about how far have we come, the fact that we cant last week get through an antilynching bill, in the year of our lord 2020 is ridiculous. So the obstacles are there to passing the legislation. But its good work. It does not address what we need to address in terms of really dealing with what will truly create safety and Healthy Communities in america. The very specific focus, which is accountability and consequence in policing. When you hear im sure you saw the mayor in washington, d. C. Obviously painted black lives matter on 16th street, other protesters came and painted the phrase defund the police. That phrase has gotten a lot of practice. The president has been tweeting about it. Joe biden saying i do not support it. What does that phrase mean to you, what is your reaction to it as a policy prescription . So, chris, we have to reimagine safety and Public Safety in america. The status quo has been to determine and create policy around the idea that more police equals more safety. And thats just wrong. You know what creates greater safety . Funding our Public Schools so that currently 2 3 of our public schoolteachers dont have to come out of their own back pocket to pay for school supplies. What creates safety . Investing in the Economic Opportunities of communities, creating jobs. What creates safe and Healthy Communities . Making sure that all people have access to health care. Mental health care. And then it is within their reach, meaning it is affordable. These are the things that create safe communities. And when in america today, many cities, as the total city half of their budget, 1 3 goes to policing, we all have to step back and ask is that the smartest and best way to actually achieve safety through Healthy Communities, we have safe communities. I also have to point Something Else out, chris. When you go to middle and upper middle class suburban communities, you dont see the patrol car sitting out on the corner patrolling the streets like in other neighborhoods. But you know what you do see . You see wellfunded schools. What you do see is families who have the ability to get through the end of the month and not worry about how theyre going to put food on the table. What you do see are access to capital and access to Public Health and to health care. So we do need to reimagine how we, as a society, are going to, in a smart way, achieve Public Safety. We dont want Police Officers to be dealing with the homeless issue. We dont want Police Officers to be dealing with Substance Abuse and Mental Health. No, we should be putting those resources into our Public Health systems. We should be looking at our budgets, and asking are we getting the best return on investment as taxpayers . Much less what is morally right and what is right in terms of actually having safe communities that thrive. And also, part of what we have to do here is also look at the militarization of Police Departments. And the kind of money that is going to that. And we need to demilitarize Police Departments. So theres a lot in this conversation. But at its core, one of the issues that i think we should all agree on is that it is old thinking, it is outdated, and is actually wrong and backward to think that more Police Officers will create more safety. Theres an irony here, too that i would like you to respond to. As the president is saying, i would never defund police. As youre talking about investments in things Like Mental Health or Substance Abuse, right now every state and locality red, blue, republican, democrat, is going to have their local budgets annihilated because of the economic downturn. Police, Fire Department, theyre cutting from south dakota, to kentucky, to new york city, to san francisco. The democrats want to give state localities 375 billion. And as of today, my understa understanding is the republicans dont want to do that. You are correct, chris. Youre exactly right. So you want to talk about which leaders are committed to safe and Healthy Communities, when you have a president of the United States saying that you dont want to he doesnt want to give money to state and local governments, thats teachers, its first responders, its firefighters, its Mental Health professionals, Public Health professionals. So listen, as far as donald trump is concerned, and what he says, hes looking for a Campaign Slogan that might work for him. But the reality is, the american people, i think, are smarter to know that if we really want to address what is wrong with the way that we are using taxpayer dollars, what is wrong with these systems, what is wrong with the criminal justice system, we will see that most people would free, lets invest in our teachers, lets invest in our Public Health system and the potential of communities. Part of what we also are seeing, chris, and i was out there marching, many of us have been, that there is a community of people who seemingly have nothing in common, who are coming together around these issues. Knowing that these are issues that relate to all of us, and when we have good policing, we all benefit. When we have bad policing, we are all hurt. Let me ask you about that, your Senate Colleague mitt romney was at one of these marches. I think a lone republican senator or member of congress. He said black lives matter. Weve seen these protests in places that are historically have very intense legacies of racism and White Supremacy. What do you make of the politics of this moment . The sentiment of the nation at this moment . I think the nation is i think that the nation is hurting and that we are really raw. America is raw right now, and her wounds are exposed. The reality of it is that what what the tragedy of the murder of george floyd is just the latest in generations of this story, and finally, everyone is getting to witness it because of the prevalence of smartphones. Communities have been mothers have been crying over their dead childrens bodies for generations, and no one would listen or they would turn a blind eye. And now you cannot turn a blind eye, because its right there in vivid detail, such as was the murder of george floyd. And theres a reckoning thats happening. People have to come to terms with americas history as it relates to policing, as it relates to racism. And i think what i find to be inspirational about this moment, when you look at the folks who were out there, folks are understanding that this is about all of us. This is about all of us. Racism is bad for everyone. For everyone. And this gives me hope. And so and theres power in this movement. And this cant be denied. Senator Kamala Harris of the state of california, thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy day to spend time with us. Ahead, the reported shouting lash and the backlash of the administrations use of the military for a pr stunt. Se of t military for a pr stunt. Businesses are starting to bounce back. But what if you could do better than that . Like adapt. Discover. Deliver, in new ways, to new customers. What if you could come back stronger . Faster. Better. At comcast business, we want to help you not just bounce back, but bounce forward. And now, with one of our best offers ever, were committed to helping you do just that. Get a powerful and reliable internet and voice solution for only 29. 95 a month for three months. Call or go online today. In a span of seven days, a decision to assault protesters in d. C. For an awkward photoop for the president , it embodies everything wrong with this presidency and wrong with it in this particular moment. That is only been made worse by various authorities. Even though, again, we all saw it with our own eyes. The new hill, they have chosen to die on is that it was not tear gas. You see, the park police reversed its original proclamation saying it is tear gasish. But now william barr is trying to draw a distinction between pepper balls and actual tear gas. By the way, there was no tear gas used. The tear gas was used sunday when they had to clear 8th street to allow the Fire Department to come in and save st. Johns church thats when tear gas was used. There was chemical irritants used. No, pepper spray is not chemical. Pepper balls. Its not chemicals. I dont know, maybe you should just sit around a pepper ball and see if it makes you cry. Why did you fire it . Just because you wanted to give people more flavor on their food . No. What is clear is the entire thing is a debacle. The debacle was a public representation of a series of debacles happening internally. The new yorker magazine, a shouting match between the president and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff about sending military forces into American Cities. That writer is here now. Derek, i wonder if you can tell us more about what was going on behind the scenes. We saw a Public Performance of clearing Peaceful Protesters with, you know, Police Officers punching cameramen and pepper balls. What was happening behind the scenes . Well, its i think that would have been the next day. So the chairman of the joint chiefs mark millie, the defense secretary, met in mark esper met in President Trumps office in the oval office on monday, the day when they all when we saw those photographs of the president holding the bottlible. The president informs the chairman of the joint chiefs, i would like to send troops into the cities to stop the protest. And millie resisted, and said im not going to do that, thats for Law Enforcement. Were not going to send soldiers into the cities. And they got into a shouting match, as im told. And they sort of fought it out. They yelled at each other. Somebody described the room as basically two bullies. And the president backed down. You know, the meeting went on for a long time. They were in there for several hours, but at the end of the day, they didnt send the troops into the city. Whats trike istriking, wha n gleaned from the reporting, as overwrought as the response has been, the men on the Lincoln Memorial, the protesters being cleared, there was a version of this that this was the tempered version that was that came out of trumps impulses for something