iredefined the wordng th'school' this year. it's why, at xfinity, we're committed to helping kids keep learning through the summer. and help college students studying at home stay connected through our university program. we're providing affordable internet access to low income families through our internet essentials program. and this summer, xfinity is creating a virtual summer camp for kids at home- all on xfinity x1. we're committed to helping all families stay connected. learn more at xfinity.com/education. good afternoon, i'm ari melber. i have several big stories for you at this hour. breaking news. the most vital development impacting americans is, of course, the spike in coronavirus pandemic, hitting new highs in

big states, texas, florida and arizona. and the u.s. national figures continue to spike, over 2.5 million cases and 125,000 deaths. at the supreme court, a big ruling strike down louisiana law and restricts access to the procedure. it is a loss for the trump doj and many conservatives who saw the loss and run around roe v. wade. we have special coverage on that ahead, including one of the victorious challengers. trump on defense, republicans and democrats in congress pressinged the administration about reports that russia offered bounties for the taliban u.s. troops in afghanistan. and the administration didn't do enough to stop the attacks on our own troops. also, in minneapolis, four former police officers charged in the george floyd killing appearing in court today. more on that later this hour. i can tell you our team of reporters is here, to cover all

of these stories. we're going to be hearing from all of them. we begin with reporting from washington, vice president pence urging americans to wear masks and social distance to counter the virus. in contrast with his boss donald trump but also similar to what pence has at least implied in the past. over the weekend, he donned a mask in texas and spoke there. >> president tapped me to lead the white house coronavirus tank force. part of our guidelines is to open up america, again, encourage people to wear facial coverings, where social distancing was not possible. so our administration is promoting the practice. on behalf of the administration, the white house coronavirus task force and the president will continue to do that. >> a white house press briefing is set to begin shortly. we're monitoring that, nbc's kara lee reporting for us live. >> reporter: ari, we've seen a number of mixed messages coming out of this white house, really

since the start of this pandemic. on masks, in particular, you have the vice president who on friday during a coronavirus task force briefing declined to encourage people to wear masks where other member eggs of the task force did. then you see him yesterday saying residents in texas should wear a mask. and the president has been adamant for weeks that this is a personal choice. so there's a lot of mixed messaging there. but really, mask is just symbolic of a broader conflicting message coming out of this white house on a number of fronts. we saw this early on with testing. the white house saying anyone who wanted a test could get a test, on the ground, that was not the reality. people couldn't get tests. we've seen the president push ahead with his rally indoors despite warnings from health officials. you see the white house saying that people should listen to their state and local governments and yesterday the president really pressing state and local governments to reopen even if they didn't meet the guidelines. now, some of those states having to roll back moving forward.

this is a president who really wants to turn a page on this. we've seen him try to move forward and pivot towards the economy. and each time he does that, there's a mixed message of coming out whether it's his own government, what he's saying and doing, or just the way this is going to play out going forward, ari. >> carol lee at the white house. thank you as always. states across the south are seeing the virus skyrocket. the state of florida, one of the hardest hit recorded another 5200 cases. a sharp new rise in cases has forced miami-dade county to shut down beaches heading into the popular july 4th weekend. governor drron desantis addressg all of this on sunday. this is basically socializing. you have know, you have graduation parties, you're going out, doing different things. these younger groups need to be thinking about who they're coming into contact with who may

be in the more vulnerable groups. >> nbc news correspondent sam brock has more from miami beach, florida. >> reporter: ari, good afternoon from miami beach where it is a hot spot, literally and figuratively. about 90 degrees out here. the latest numbers now 5,204 for today, that's just reported. on top of 8,500 sunday. almost 10,000 on saturday, looking backwards there, it seems like we were seeing improvement over the last couple of days. that's not necessarily the case when you look at the positive difficult rates there was more testing over the weekend. between 60,000 tests a day. the percentage positive rates went from here all the way to here. 14% all the way to 16%. that's not the numbers that officials want to see that's why they're taking action right now. i'm standing on miami beach. not a ton of people. some joggers and folks in the

water. it's pretty clear and social distanced. the issue is not this. the concern for what it's going to look like july 4th, especially what we've seen on memorial day, two weeks after that a surge across the country. this beach is not going to be open for july 4th. the mayor of miami coming out saying it's closed july 3rd through the 7th. he now joins his fellow leaders, broward county, just north, those are going to close. monroe county where the florida keys are, they are closing their beaches for the july 4th holiday. there's unanimity from the decision of lawmakers. they're keeping beaches open right now. as cases don't surge in florida, 176,000, one of the biggest tolls in the country, they do not want to take any chances and trying to be prudent over the holiday weekend. ari, back to you. >> sam brock from miami beach, thank you. right now, cases rising in texas, the governor saying the pandemic is taking a dangerous

turn. 100,000 cases there. all eyes on houston have become a hot spot. the hot spot bracing for the potential for capacity. joining us from houston is nbc's joe fryer. >> reporter: ari, cases here in texas continue to rise. hospitalizations remain a major concern with about 5500 patients in hospitals right now. in the state of texas. and while younger people, the ones who are getting the virus more and more these days, are less likely to be in the hospital. experts say they are still seeing more people between the ages of 20 and 40. young adults with underlying conditions who are being hospitalized which is a concern. now, in order to try and get things under control, the governor here on friday, decided to close down bars in texas. starting today, restaurants must function at reduced capacity. only 50% capacitial allowed. the question, is that going to be enough or are more steps needed moving forward. testing is a big question in

texas, across the sun belt, over the weekend, we saw images of long lines, people in cars that stretch for blocks, or people on foot standing in long lines, hoping to get a test. another major concern is what's coming up this weekend. we have another holiday weekend. health experts have said that they fear memorial day did help spread the virus. now comes the fourth of july here in houston. they are going to have a 15 minutes' fireworks show on the fourth of july. but no plans for any big gathering or any festival. they're telling people watch the fireworks on tv, or from your yard. ari. >> joe fryer, thank you very much. we're going to talk to dr. david perse. thanks for joining us. what are we seeing on the ground there? and is there any chance to turn this ship? >> well, as it was just reported, it's are accurate on the ground, the numbers continue

to surge. we're clearly in an exponential part of the curve. i would like to remind everyone across the nation that we are absolutely in a position where we as americans can change the slope of this crisis. it is with all of those simple things we talked about. we can talk about the government, shutting down this, shutting down that. americans, wear masks, social distance, wash your hands, stay away from mass gatherings. that's what slowed it down here in texas a couple months ago, that's what's going to slow it down everywhere in the country. >> i hear you on that, a lot of the news tenents and the core counsel with everybody including dr. fauci, and the cdc and i think everyone the president has not always been consistent on that. we've seen more people hammer that. take a look at secretary azar this weekend. >> the window is closing. we have to act. and people as individuals have

to act responsibly. we need to social distance. we need to wear face coverings if we're in settings where we can't social distance, particularly in the hot zones. >> what specifically do you say to people be they in texas or any other place who say, look, this is america, i'm going to do what i want to do, i say this as a quote, not as an endorsement, but as a reporter, i've heard this, say they, well it looks like, quote, we tried this for a few months, it's not working very well anyway, i'm going to do what i want, end quote. paraphrase. >> i'm going to respond, at least here in texas, people talk about this being second wave. this is not a second wave in texas. we're getting hit with a wave now. what we saw in march, that was a ripple. the reason that was only a ripple is because people took action. as americans we're completely empowered to take control of our destiny. it's as simple as wearing the mask. at least here in texas, it

worked quite well. it would have worked better had everyone worn the mask in social distancing. there's a cause and effect ratio between how many masks are worn, how many people social distance and whether or not we slow this thing down. that's where the rubber meets the road. the rubber meets the road when americans act. americans are in charge of their destiny, it's in heir hatheir h. change the shape of this disaster. >> i hear you on that, like if we mandate people could wear seat belts, that's going to work. doesn't mean it prevents every car injuries. it's not like people say let's skip seat belts and see where that goes. i think we have enough data on both of these issues. the last big issue, we'll dig in, big state, texas state, we look at this map, though, we see houston just getting hit so hard. and this here is in the bubble there. and a lot of different websites will show you these versions but

you can see roughly from the bubbles where it's getting hit the hardest. you can walk us through what that means and how that's affecting what you guys are doing in the state. >> sure. this map represents and we see it across the nation, it's directly linked to population dense ty. those more in populated densely suburbs and those are going to have a harder time than keeping it down in rural areas of america. again, it's simple viral biology. it's not that complicates, really. >> dr. persse, you laid it out. we hope everyone is listen. thank you, sir. >> thank you. all four former police officers charged in the death of george floyd in court today. new details on this russian plot

to kill troops in afghanistan. vladimir putin's spokesman spoking out as well. all that and more coming up. you're watching msnbc. up. you're watching msnbc. wanted♪ ♪we can do it ♪all strength, no sweat

four former minneapolis police officers involved in the killing of george floyd appearing before a judge today. former officer derek chauvin who knelt on floyd's neck charged with second degree murder. the other three charged with aiding and abetting, second

degree murder and manslaughter. we're joining by nbc reporter shaquille brewster. shaquille. >> reporter: i'll tell you, we saw the two officers having been released on bail, officer thomas lane and alexander kueng entered the courtroom a couple minutes ago. we're expecting the hearing to begin in five minutes or so. what we know about this hearing it will large be be a pretrial hearing. we know that the state may lay out what will they have in the killing of george floyd that happened over a month ago on memorial day. we know officer chauvin will appear via video link. he was transferred from the county jail to a state high maximum facility, that's where he'll appear via video to the judge. we do not know if we'll hear any pleas for the judge.

we know here in minneapolis, we know that the city council last week voted to essentially fast-track the process that would allow that police department to be disbanded. the specifics of what that means hasn't been detailed yet. they essentially fast-tracked that process that would allow that question to be put up to voters in november. we all know that the police department and the mayor yesterday announce sd some chans that go in effect starting tomorrow, if an officer is involved in a critical incident, they will not be allowed to view the body cam video until after they file the initial police report. we know that there are protests here and across the country and you're starting to see the wheels turn, as a result of deaths of floyd. ari. >> shaquille brewster, thank you very much. we learned members of congress are briefed at the white house today, that's the plan for intelligence that russia was allegedly offering alleged bounties for taliban to kill

troops in afghanistan. a scandalous story. "the washington post" believed the bounties led to the deaths of several service members. i should note nbc news has not confirmed that. there may be no evidence that any bounty was made. obviously, it's a disputed issue. president trump asserting he wasn't briefed on it and also posting overnight, intel just reported they did not find this info credible and therefore did not report it to me or the vice president. a lot to get to here, we have nbc senior international correspondence keir simmons. he spoke with putin's spokesman peskov. we'll see in part what peskov is saying about the new reports. >> if russia was paying money to reward members of the taliban for the killing of american soldiers, would you consider that to be an act of aggression

by russia? would you see that as serious as that? >> i wouldn't -- i don't think that the situation is possible ever. so, so this is -- this is really ridiculous. this is really ridiculous to spread these kind of information. >> you don't think that -- well, if it did happen, do you believe it would -- >> you know, maybe i sound a little bit fooled. but this is 100% bull [ bleep ] it's not a dramatic thing but it's bull [ bleep ]. >> that's strong, mr. peskov. >> as simple as that. >> is it as simple as that? we're joining my nbc national security, justice correspondent, ken delanian. ken, as you know, as you call, russia from the very top, through the spokesmen for the online efforts are known for their sarcasm and trolling. so you have a sound bite in the news which is quite a sound

bite. but there's a lot more at stake here that's serious. why don't you walk us through what is known or disputed or unknown on this fact-worthy story? >> happy to, ari. nbc knew has a new reporting. an official briefed on the matter has confirmed to me that the u.s. has gathered information showing that bounties were paid by this russian intelligence unit to the taliban. and american service members in and an afghan civilian died as a result. they did not share details when and where and who but this corroborates the reporting of the "washington post" and "the new york times" that they believe an american died. but it adds to a murky picture, ari. we're talking to a lot of national security professionals over the week and today, not all of them think this is a big deal. we're getting mixed messages, part of it, it's classified and it's difficult for them to talk about.

but, look, if in fact the intelligence showed russian the paid bounties to kill american troops and the president wasn't briefed on it, that shows a breakdown in the national security process that has to be explained. ari, members of congress are demanding answers on that. >> is this, in your view as a reporter, and you've covered cia and intel for a long time, something that can be nailed down? over time, can it be referred whether this did or did not reach the president? as you said a breakdown in the process is one problem but if the president knew, it's a bigger problem. >> there's the rub. i think this is very much similar to the coronavirus situation where our report was it was in the daily briefing 20 times in the coronavirus. but donald trump only views himself as being briefed when it's orally presented to him on a certain date. it's perhaps true that the cia

didn't sit the president down and say i need to talk to you about these bounties. this is the kind of thing that is moving up the chain and presented to the president at the white house. it's part of the larger picture of intelligence in afghanistan, ari. >> in fairness to any government or government official there's a lot of paper flow and different officials take in information different ways. what i think your reporting and others under scores, this looks like a big deal that definitely should have reached the president in whatever medium of preferred way of getting info. ken, i appreciate the story. thank you. >> thanks, ari. we're going to fit in a break but we have another story that we haven't had time to get to. and it's a big one. the supreme court striking down the louisiana law that strikes down abortions. a win advocates say from the court that included john roberts. we have pete williams after the break. apps are used everywhere...

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major news at the supreme court today, the court applying precedent to basically strike down a louisiana law restricting abortion access. this narrow 4-5 ruling included the court's democratic appointees as well as chief justice roberts. the louisiana law would have made it difficult for many women to access abortions because of extra restrictions required to perform the procedure. such as mandating the doctor who performed must have hospital privileges within 30 miles. challenges left for services for potentially up to 10,000 patients. we're joined by nbc news justice correspondent pete williams who has been tracking every case since the court season. >> it's certainly a win for advocates of abortion rights because as you say, this louisiana law would have been quite restrictive and would have left the state without perhaps a

single abortion doctor. secondly, it's not a resoundingly huge victory for abortion rights in general, because four of the liberals certainly would have struck down the law saying two things. it provides no benefit for women. no health benefit, and it was a substantial burden to their right of access. the fifth and deciding vote here was cast by the chief justice john roberts and said, look, i am joining this decision for one reason. four years ago, the court struck down an identical law from texas. at the time, chief justice roberts decented. today, he said this is binding, this louisiana law is identical, for that reason, i'm joining it. the other thing that's interesting about this law, louisiana had not only said not only is our law unconstitutional but the people who filed this lawsuit have no legal standing, cannot challenge it, because they're not women. louisiana said that the challengers here, clinics and the abortion doctors, that the abortion rights doesn't apply to

them. it's a woman's right, therefore, these others didn't have the right to sue. and the court did decisively reject that. looking forward what doesbortio? it's going to be much harder for cases to prevail that only women can sue. if the state comes up with a restriction that might satisfy chief justice roberts who knows. it's not a resounding victory. it's a win nonetheless. >> really interesting, as you say, the coalition is built around one particular past precedent that roberts didn't join at the time. it's not a new coalition for a lot of different things. >> right. >> final question, pete, on what you called point two, it's so striking because as we know, many americans view the court and other things in washington somewhat skeptically. they think this is a straw poll vote for what their personal general beliefs are. you just walked us through why

roberts literally did something different than what we know this first-blush belief to be for the good or larger principles of the court. i'm curious what do you consider the polarized time as the court has bigger issues on its plate? in zbl in te in. >> in terms what does this mean? your guess is as good as mine. there's precedent there with cases from bill clinton and their experience with the court. these cases are not direct requests to the president. they're to the banks. it has nothing to do with his official duties, so there's enough similarities, enough differences, i'm not whether you could cite precedent and predict how those rulings will come out. >> very interesting in how chief

roberts will navigate that. pete, good to see you. joining us now one of the victorious plaintiffs in this very case, kathleen pittman, clinic group director for women in louisiana. if they had a good day in court, let me begin by saying, congratulations. >> thank you. it's a win, i'll take it. >> you there go. you just heard pete break down the legal issues. i'm curious, given the investment you that and your colleagues have made, why bring this case? what gdo you feel today's rulin really means? >> well, it's been a very long six years, that's for sure. it's important for many reasons. i think it's been mentioned time and again, louisiana has some of the most exhaustive and extensive requirements for, you know, that get in the way of abortion provision in the state of louisiana. and i want to point out, i said this is a win and we'll take it

and it certainly is, but this just maintains the status quo. this allows us to remain open. this is not an advancement for reproductive rights by any stretch of the imagination. >> yeah, that's certainly true on the law. as you say, that's why when we jump into this sometimes, the big picture and people look at it politically, we can easily miss some of the nuances you mentioned. i am curious about the way this ruling came down because as we all know people have strongly, deeply held beliefs about abortion, religious, ethically, personally. the law of the land, though, it is a woman's right to choose within the guidelines the court has set. and that means governments can not overly burden something that has been deemed a right, even if other people legitimately and genuinely believe it's ethically or religious wrong. i'm curious what you think of this passage from the ruling given it was your case here. louisiana imposes a burden on

access to abortion as severe as those imposed by the texas law that's what pete mentioned. thus, louisiana's law cannot stand under precedents. because you're so involved in this on the ground, what does that mean, that burden, and why you won, arguing it was too big of a burden? >> absolutely. the admitting privileges requirement, we produced at the district court level, as did they prove in whole women's health, it absolutely did not provide any protections or women. it does not improve their outcomes in any way. and when you have a situation where it is not providing any health benefits, yet is creating obstacles for women to obtain abortion care, then that in and of itself is unconstitutional. >> understood. and again, congratulation, interesting to get your

perspective. kathleen pittman. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. up next, growing fears among doctors that the overburdening fears of the pandemic can't handle the spikes. we'll go to a hospital close to maximum capacity. of therabreath healthy smile oral rinse to give her the healthy, sparkly smile she always wanted. (crowd cheering) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores.

turning to the spike in virus pandemic, the facts as we know them, the telling cases

worldwide. global death toll tops 500,000. the numbers doubled in less than two months. the u.s. one of the hardest hit nations. fully, 25% of all of the global dental deaths are actually here in america. cases surging in florida, texas and arizona hitting high in the weekend. mike pence wearing a mask. and also a mask there at a baptist church there. the hospitals systems are taxed, mississippi icu, already full. in a mississippi clarion-ledger interview, a state hospital officer said i'm terrified and overwhelmed with the health care system. the hospitals, icus, not in the fall. i'm talking about this week. dr. thomas dobbs joins me now. walk us through your concerns. >> yeah, yeah, thanks for having me on.

our health system's pretty well taxed all the time. and then we're adding on all of these coronavirus patients who are extremely, extremely ill. and once a coronavirus patient goes to the icu and needs mechanical ventilation it usually takes weeks and weeks for them to recover. and many of them do recover and do extremely well. that's a wonderful thing but we don't have the capacity. as we're adding up the new cases, we're seeing an extreme amount of tension within our health system, especially the icus in jackson where is where our big medical centers are and most of our referral resources are for the state, on a daily basis, we're on single digits. icu bed availability. and it's not just the beds, it's the expertisenurses, the respir therapists, we're running tight. >> in dr. dobbs, learning a little bit about you prepping

here, i see you know your way around charts and stats. you argue through evidence which tends to be most persuasive. you said, number one, why are the numbers climbing? you just charted the spreading and testing. you said testing is not up, we're just spreading more. and you shared that online. and number two, you talk about superspreaders. you say 41% of them, according to studies, do not have any symptoms. and then you wrote six feet, 12 groups only. walk us through what you want people to take from these numbers. >> you know from the first one in mississippi, specifically, wooer seeing a lot of community-based transmission. people spread stg fring it from another. especially at social gatherings. we've seen an explosion of cases in young adults, 18 to 30, especially. and another graph shows our testing volumes have been stable, and actually declined a

little bit in recent weeks and our case numbers are up and our per positive is up. it's not that we're testing so many more people, it's that we're transmitting so much more. that's obviously very, very disturbing. and we're learning more and more about this virus, we know how important is asymptomatic transmission piece is. it was something early on that we didn't recognize that caught us with our guard down. now that we have that information, we basically have to live our lives assuming everybody could have coronavirus. the six feet and marchmasks andl groups that's going to protect us in any scenario. >> yeah it makes sense for what you and others are outlining is doable. dr. dobbs, i know you're very busy. appreciate you making time for us, sir. >> thank you for having me. >> yes, sir. we have breaking news out of seattle. the c.h.o.p. the capitol hill

organized protest zone, steve patterson reporting on the ground. steve. >> reporter: yeah, ari, i want to just show you what's happening here. take a look this way, so earlier there was a shooting. we know overnight it appeared to be a drive-by shooting. in fact, you can see some of the remnants of the glass. when the car was taken ware, it was a white suv, two people shot. one person a male, the other person in serious condition. police got statements collected evidence. first time we've seen police do any police work inside the c.h.o.p. zone since we've been here which is for about a week solid. after they left, the community kind of cleaned up their own area. as that was happening, we got word that the chief of police was coming to c.h.o.p. she came, she basically spoke to the press. spoke to some of the protesters and said this cannot exist the way it is anymore.

and in talking to her says she wants this to end. didn't indicate. gave no time line. gave no strategy about how she would do that. we spoke to her about exactly how she wants the barriers removed to shrink this zone. listen to this. >> i'm not going to let the detractors and naysayers and agitators be the onces who are the voice here. there are people who live here. there are multiple people being injured and hurt, and we need to do something about it. it's absolutely irresponsible. >> reporter: it is a volatile day. you can tell tensions have increased significantly. i'm not sure what the situation is about. we know that some members of the black clergy were here. you see some of them in sports coats. there was a disruption. you can hear the guy on the megaphone there. it's also a dynamic situation here in c.h.o.p. we're going to move this way a little bit. earlier as this was happening --

watch your step, steve -- as this was happening there was a reporter believed to be by the protesters identified as somebody who shoved a female protester. they surrounded his van. as he got out of the car, they followed him, i would count at least six city blocks out of the zone. and then tried to keep them enclosed inside the zone. so very tense everywhere. that started with this shooting then continued with the chief of police, basically saying that this can't exist. and now ending with another tense situation here. we're not sure when police may move in. but we know the city has signaled over and over again for the last week, that they're done with this situation here. the mayor has met many times with protesters. but as far as negotiations go, we know they haven't come to any conclusion. ari. >> steve patterson with that unfolding situation, thank you. as always, stay safe in seattle. up next, confederate statues coming down to all sorts of

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as i bring you this next news update, keep in mind it is the year 2020 in america. but it took till now, this year, for lawmakers in mississippi, to just vote to remove a confederate symbol from the official state flag. that happened sunday. the bill now heading to republican governor tai lee's desk. it will come down. flying there with the actual american flag. my colleague spoke to the mississippi speaker of the house who will offered the bill. take a look. >> we are not disregarding our heritage. we're not ignoring the past. but we are embracing the future here. and what we have now is a new

day in mississippi we made history this weekend. and we took -- i want to commend all of those representatives and senators who took their responsibility seriously. stepped forward, showed courage to create a new image for our state. a new brand, if you will. we're now going to set about a process of -- with dignity and respect, retiring the current flag and creating a new one. >> joining me now is georgetown professor michael eric dyson, the author of many books including "tears we cannot stop a sermon to white america." good day, sir. >> good afternoon, my friend. good to see you as always. >> we thought of you for this, because as with so many issues in america, especially on race, we need to hold more than one idea in our head. i will start by saying to you, this is a step in the right direction. but it is also late and embarrassing, i think, my view,

to have a symbol of treason from the civil war and racism, and it took until 2020 to do this. and yet it is still a step. and we cannot be so upset that we don't ever welcome any steps forward. with those thoughts in the air, i'm views, sir. >> no, absolutely, i agree. the treasonous rejection of american citizenship that flag betokens is highly striking. colin kaepernick, an american citizen, kneeling on holy ground of the gridiron on a sunday was seen as an unamericans citizen who had cast aspersion against the very reputation of the nation when indeed, in the official flag of mississippi, we are flowing in the air a rejection of the basic and fundamental principles of american democracy and celebrating it as if it were one of our own, which lets us know that pigment over principle,

color over conscience. thank god that the mississippi flag is going down. the great actress angnew ellis says we approve our bloody history with mississippi by being complicit in celebrating this flag. now it's time for us to remove the flag and wave high the banner of american moral and civic citizenship that should bebeen flying there all along. >> professor, when we study this history in race and in law in the constitution, it has always been the central contradiction of american history, the talk of freedom and the use of slavery. i'm curious what you think because this is now the change of living history, only in response to everything we just lived through in this tough period, because i am reminded and i know you know him much better than i do, but i'm reminded of our mutual admiration for jay-z, sean

carter, and one of the new songs he did with mike mill, who just got out of prison, when he uses our famous star-spangled banner, land of the free, home of the brave. he says in the land of the free, where the blacks enslave three fifth of a man, i believe, is the phrase, reminding us of this contradiction, the talk of freedom, the reality of servitude. >> that's right. off of a mean biggie beat that was sampled to eloquent expression. there's no question there is a fundamental contradiction. the american dilemma, if you will. gunner myrtle, a swedish economist coming to america in the footsteps of his former -- his european colleague, a century before, where he looked at america. it proclaims to embrace democracy, but it consistently undercuts it by embracing practices that would reject that

principle of democracy. and black people's bodies have been the warring ground upon which america has argued this case. this is the blackest state in america, mississippi. and yet the slowest to the finish line. this is a reliving of juneteenth for those who don't know. if two and a half years after slavery was proclaimed to be in by the emancipation proclamation waiting to that december for the 13th amendment to come, now mississippi more than a century later is embracing the freedom and democracy of black people. this is not two and a half years later. this is more than a century later. that we have embraced it, and certainly several decades where mississippi is caught up. we hope it doesn't take this long for other injustices to be addressed. we celebrate the victory. but we move on, knowing that we have many more victories to accumulate before justice is made real and democracy is made

tangible. >> makes sense. this is all on that living history and the flag and what it means. i want to get you also on the policy, because we saw congress move forward at the federal level with the house bill. at the local and state level, which as you and others have reminded everyone is where most of the rubber hits the road on these issues, where criminal law and policing for the most part is regulated, interestingly, we're seeing indications of the reform and defund movement taking hold. here's one new indicator. again, this is localized, so different places have different news, but you see the headline. police departments face this one-two punch, defund and coronavirus, and it says a recent study found leaders in 1,000 cities expect cuts to law enforcement spending. i'm curious, professor, what you see in this movement, because we do remember out of other peaceful and anti-war movements one of -- there's policy, which countries should you invade or not, and then there's power. do you actually say the pentagon

just as too much money, too much power, and thus can't even be checked in the system? so while i always am careful to say as a reporter that there are many police who are just honestly doing their jobs. most officers never fire a weapon or are involved in an incident involving a death. so there's all kinds of people just doing their jobs. yet, this movement, professor, seems to be saying at the higher policy level, we need to take money and power from some of these departments. what do you think of that new reporting i mentioned? >> well, it's absolutely necessary. as a journalist, you're absolutely right to aim for an ostensible neutrality, but we put our cards on the table, acknowledge what is good and bad, and try to adjudicate opposing claims. we don't oppose the efficacy of a practice by what didn't happen. we look at what did happen. what does happen too often is

people of color, black and brown bodies, are constantly sacrificed on the alter of a policy gone wrong where police people don't seem to have the internal will to refrain from choking black people to death. look at elijah mcclain, the beautiful young boy, 23 years old, on the spectrum. saying i'm an introvert, we can fix it, we can work together. giving you the ideal articulation of black respectability as the premise of acknowledging my humanity, and they still killed him. and so the reality is, we have to have a severe reckoning with the racial animus that continues to motivate so many police people in this country, and it's a good thing. look at "the new york times" that has a new report, only 4% of the time that police get involved in criminal or at least violent activities. most of the stuff is barney fife. it is not matlock, to mix metaphors and professions. so the point is that we've got to get to a point in this

country where we understand that we've got to defund the police, refund other areas of the culture that could address the needs we have, have serious public safety. i think it's a beautiful thing that police people, police departments, and broader echelons of american government are re-examining the need for police in this country. that's a good thing, not a bad thing. >> i appreciate you on the very seriousness of this as well as your understandably beloved rhetoric, when michael eric dyson is mixing metaphors, we call that a remix. good to see you sir. >> i love you. you're the best dj ever. >> good to see you. that does do our time, both for the professor, all our great guests. we appreciate it, and our nbc reporters. i'll be back at 6:00 p.m. eastern if you're around. keep it here for katy tur next. t

good afternoon. i'm katy tur. it's 11:00 a.m. oust west and 2:00 p.m. here in the east. here are the facts as we know them this hour. the w.h.o. is sending a team to wuhan, china, to investigate the origins of the covid-19 pandemic. the organization said it can better understand how to fight the virus with a full grasp of where it came from. the city of jacksonville, florida, home to the republican convention in august, is making mask wearing mandatory in public and indoor situations. the city has not yet addressed whether attendees of the convention will be required to wear them. >> in texas, the houston methodist hospital is reporting that 60% of its covid-19 patients including a third of its icu patients are under the age of 50. which means younger people are getting sicker than they did during the initial surge of this virus. and at least three counties in florida will close beaches ahead

of the july 4th holiday weekend. the closures include cities of miami and ft. lauderdale. the mayor of miami-dade county warned the closures could extend past the holiday. >> let's begin in arizona, where covid-19 is spreading fast and some might say out of control. the state set a new record for daily cases yesterday with nearly 4,000 confirmed. as of last night, the state was using 87% of its icu beds. and the positivity rate among tests is at 25%. double where it was just two weeks ago. joining us now from phoenix is nbc news reporter vaughn hillya hillyard. the cases keep rising, the hospital bed capacity keeps lowering. what are you hearing out there today? >> katy, there's frankly nothing that gives me hope here that the trajectory is going to change in the state, not next week, not the week after that, or the week after that. there are also a record number of hospitalizations in the state.

a record number of ventilators in use, a record number of icu beds in use. the governor here, doug ducey, haze not implemented any new restrictions in the state. this weekend looked like any normal weekend, whether it be june 2019 or june 2018. he's urging folks to stay home. at the same time, there is no stay-at-home order implements. the bars are still open, the restaurants are still open. the water parks are still open, casinos are still open. this is a state that is in a state of, i would say, frankly, denial. part of what gives me such little hope as to the tide turning is the way the state is operating its testing. right now, katy, the demand for tests far exceeds what the state labs here are able to actually process. right behind me here, this is sunora request laboratories. this is the major lab that processes 80% of the covid tests here in the state. they have too many tests coming in on a daily basis that they're

not able to process because they don't have enough machinery to process them. and i have been pressing them over the last week as to when this new machinery is coming in, and frankly, i just talked to the coo, and they're providing very little in terms of answers. take a listen to part of our interview. >> we recognize that there is a great demand and it continues to increase. and at the same time, we are partnering with the state, the governor, and other partners to continue to bring up that testing so that every arizonian can have the testing as quickly as possible. >> when will you expect to be able to do 50,000? >> we're ramping up and exact dates i can't give you today, but what i can tell you is we have terrific partners that have been helping us build capacity very quickly, and we'll be able to do that over the next few weeks. >> she was not able to tell me that even over the course of the next month that they are going to be in a state in which

they're able to process more tests. meaning that folks who are asymptomatic, folks that even have symptoms are struggling to not only get tests but also to get quick results out of here. >> it's just remarkable. especially when you talk about the bars, vaughn, when you see california closing some bars in some areas. texas is closing bars. florida is stopping drinking on site at bars. interesting that arizona, where the spike is increasing, is not following suit. vaughn hillyard in arizona, thank you very much. >> it's been three months. arizona had lead time. >> yeah. you're right about that. i mean, we have been talking about it now since march. vaughn hillyard, thank you. and california governor gavin newsom is slowing the reopening process in his state. as i just said, he ordered bars to close in six counties, including los angeles. which saw its second highest total of reported cases yesterday. the move comes as new cases and hospitalizations rise across

california. joining us now from l.a. is nbc news correspondent erin mclachlan. california was praised for how quickly it acted in the early stages of this pandemic. it reopened. why are they seeing another spike? is the governor attributing it to young people as we're seeing in arizona and florida and texas, going out to bars? >> well, experts i have been speaking to, katy, attribute it to people's behavior in general, as the state has slowly been reopening. they are not following guidelines, not social distancing, they're not wearing their masks, and now, the stunning turn of events for the state. some 50% increase in cases in just the last two weeks. 30% increase in hospitalizations. i was speaking to one expert, bob walkter, the chair of ucsf medical. he was telling me this is a warning shot for the entire state of california.

take a listen. >> my hope is that this is, the virus is firing a warning shot to us. and if we respond to that shot appropriately, we start taking more precautions, we start doing universal masking, i think we can tamp the numbers back down and put a lid on this before it gets out of hand. >> watcher's warning that the state is just a few weeks away from a new york-like situation that is not just bars that may have to shut down as they are now across some seven counties, gavin newsom recommending bars shut down for eight more in addition to that, but watcher saying the entire state may have to shut down if people don't start following the rules. >> erin, thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> as the number of new hot spots develop across the country, some health officials and politicians are considering a second round of closures. hhs secretary alex azar warned the window is closing to get a

handle on the new surge of cases, but he dodged the question when asked if the u.s. opened up too soon. >> mr. secretary, did america reopen too soon? >> well, here's what we know, which is we're seeing surges in new cases, especially in counties in the southern united states and our governors like governor abbott, are reporting that the majority of these new cases are under age 35. many are asymptomatic. >> i want to get to that in a second, but to the question of did we open too fast, do you think? >> we have got to get back to work, back to school, and back to health care, and we have seen states that have reopened just as much as the counties at issue here and have not seen these kinds of outbreaks. >> let's bring in dr. erwin red lener, director of the national center for disaster preparedness. let's start off where azar left us, which he dodged the question on whether we opened too soon.

he said some areas that opened early are not seeing the same spikes. can you explain that? >> well, he didn't answer the question. let me help him. we absolutely opened too early. and we opened too many types of businesses too early, and particularly bars and restaurants and so on. and this problem, of course, has been exacerbated by the horrible message being given by the president, that it's okay not to wear masks, that it's okay to hold a rally like he did in tulsa with people crowded together and nobody wearing masks. et cetera, so we have a complicated problem. and the fact that vaughn reported earlier than arizona is still struggling to have the amount of testing it needs is just an underscoring of how ill prepared we were to reopen, katy. >> let's put that map we just had on the screen up again. shows where the cases are rising across the country. you'll notice that in the northeast, particularly new york, new jersey, places that did lockdown orders, kept them

in place for quite a long time, are not seeing a rise in covid cases. the governors around here are talking about quarantine for people who are traveling in from states where the rise meets a certain threshold. is that enough to stop it from reinfecting states like new york, states like new jersey, states like connecticut? is more needed to be done than just a simple quarantine? >> yeah, well, we have to have people following the basic rules of keeping the spread down, especially since we don't have medications yet to treat people. and secondly, we certainly don't have a vaccine. you put all those factors together, and the resurgence we're seeing across the sun belt, and we have a very dangerous situation. i would not at all say that new york, new jersey, while they have done a good job and things are under control now, they're not invulnerable to a second wave or even a continuation of the first wave. but whatever it is, we're all still in deep trouble.

we opened too early. we still don't have the testing we need. it's just extraordinary that we're entering july now at this particular moment of ill preparedness for this coming events around covid, katy. >> dr. redlener, they think very much for joining us today. let's move on to another international story. a senior administration official confirmed to nbc news that some lawmakers will be briefed on allegations russia offered a bounty to the taliban in exchange for killing american soldiers. the existence of the intelligence was first reported by "the new york times." one official familiar with the intel tells nbc news the u.s. gathered information showing russian operatives paid the bounties to the taliban, and u.s. service members and afghan civilians died as a result. the president has denied he was previously briefed on the intelligence. he tweeted on sunday, intel just reported to me they did not find this info credible and therefore did not report it to me or vp.

the white house press secretary reiterated that just a couple moments ago. >> the u.s. receives thousands of reports a day on intelligence, and they are subject to strict scrutiny. while the white house does not routinely comment on internal deliberations, the cia director, nsa, national security adviser and chief of staff can confirm neither the president nor vice president were briefed on the alleged russian bounty intelligence. >> and in a new interview today with nbc news, russian government spokesman denied the allegations. let's go to nbc news senior international correspondent keir simmons who just sat down with peskov, sat down over zoom, it looks like. what's he saying? >> that's right. that's right, over the internet from here in london to there in moscow, katy. i guess one of the crucial lessons from this interview is

that as far as president putin's spokesman, one of his right-hand men is concerned, he says at no point did america raise with the russians concerns that this might be happening. whether or not the intelligence was solid or not, you would think that somebody might have said something to russia to just try, if you like, to get them to back off. instead, the spokesperson for the kremlin, dimitri peskov, telling me that it is all lies, blaming the media, and as our interview went on, getting more and more forceful. this begins with an excerpt from me. >> if russia was paying money to reward members of the taliban for the killing of american soldiers, would you consider that to be an act of aggression by russia? would you see that as serious as that? >> i wouldn't -- i don't think that the situation is possible

ever. so this is really ridiculous. this is really ridiculous to spread this kind of information. >> you don't think that -- well, if it did happen, do you believe it would -- >> you know, maybe i can say, but this is 100% bull [ bleep ]. it's nondiplomatic thing, but it's bull [ bleep ]. >> that's strong. >> as simple as that. >> so impactful language, katy, and here's another aspect of that interview i think is going to hit people. dimitri peskov, president putin's spokesperson, using president trump's tweet suggesting that there is suspicion over whether this intelligence is accurate, using that tweet to say that we shouldn't be talking about this, effectively saying to me, look, if the president of the united states doesn't appear to believe this, then why are you even

asking me about it? katy. >> well, democrats are certainly very skeptical of both what the russians are saying and the president's denial of knowing about that briefing. keir simmons, thank you very much. >> also, according to our white house team, the white house will be having a briefing with some lawmakers on this story today at the white house. and you can catch more of keir's interview with peskov tonight on "nbc nightly news with lester holt." still ahead, today, the supreme court delivered a surprising victory to abortion rights advocates. we'll look at what the decision could reveal about the increasingly conservative court. plus, we're going to go down to mississippi where history is being made. a referendum to remove the confederate emblem from the state's flag is now headed to the governor's desk. first, though, breaking news out of minneapolis. the former police officers charged in george floyd's death appear in court. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less

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we're following breaking news out of minneapolis this afternoon. where the former police officers involved in the death of george floyd have appeared in court. derek chauvin, seen on video with his knee on floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes, appeared via video stream. he is charged with second degree murder and third degree murder and manslaughter. the remaining three former police officers all appeared in court in person. they are charged with aiding and abetting manslaughter, also murder. joining me now from minneapolis is nbc news reporter shaquille brewster. what happened? >> well, katy, we now have a trial date. the former officers and their attorneys agreed to a trial date of march 8th. there will be another hearing before them in september, but these were very quick procedural hearings. they went through each person came up, we saw officer chauvin appearing via video link, he was wearing an orange jumpsuit and a

mask. he's still in police custody. while two of the other former officers have been released already. but again, they were very quick hearings. the reason why they explained that trial date being set for march is because of the mountain of evidence that the state and that the defense will be able to go through and look through. one note we did hear from the judge is he admonished some of the prosecutors for talking to the media. so you can expect to see and hear less from the prosecutors as they talk about the case. we heard that president trump was -- that the governor of minnesota was invoked for their commenting on this case. the judge did suggest that or one of the attorneys suggested that they may try to request a change in venue for this trial. but that's something that would be determined a little later. again, these are very quick hearings. each one for each officer lasting about ten minutes. what we do know is there will be that trial that we'll have in march of next year. katy. >> quickly, where do things stand with the minneapolis city

council on disbanding the police department? >> well, last week, they voted to essentially fast track a process that would allow them to disband that police department. it would bring essentially a question before voters for the november election. but there's still no details on what that would look like. we have an idea of what it could mean, which they say would include some sort of law enforcement duties, but they also want to attack the targets, the original focuses of crime and causes of crime, not just dealing with crime in the law enforcement community. one thing you continue to hear from the mayor and the current police chief is their opposition to disbanding the entire police department. they are pushing for smaller reforms, the reforms they say will allow for more accountability. one of those reforms will be going into effect tomorrow. and that's any officer involved in a critical incident will not be able to view or is prohibited from viewing the body camera footage before releasing that

police report or creating that police report. those are reforms people have been calling for, but you still have people on the ground saying that's not enough. they want the entire police system to be disbanded. katy. >> shaquille brewster, thank you very much. >> a bill that will remove the confederate emblem from the mississippi state flag is now headed to the governor's desk. state lawmakers passed the historic referendum over the weekend. mississippi was the only remaining state to have the confederate flag insignia on its flag. it marks a moment of reckoning for the state where voters up until recently strongly supporting the flag as it was. with me now from jackson, mississippi, is nbc news news correspondent catie beck. what happened, why is it getting changed now? is it all due to the protests and what happened with george floyd? >> i certainly think that's moved things along, katy. this discussion actually happened very quickly over the past couple weeks. then a historic vote, as you stated, yesterday, overwhelming

support in the house and senate here in mississippi, to remove the flag that's been their flag for 124 years. there was applause when this action was taken in the gallery. i think most people here in mississippi are supportive. i think most actually think it was long overdue. there was a small gaggle of protesters at the capitol throughout the weekend, but just a handful of them that were really arguing the decision needed to be solely in the hands of voters and not in the hands of legislatolegislators. at this point, there will be a nine-member commission that will design the new flag. they have until september 14th to do that, and the design will go on the november ballot and voters will decide yes or no. if they decide no, the commission will take it back and design another. the only two stipulations are it cannot have any confederate emblem on it and it must say in god we trust. so at this point, i think lawmakers are feeling like they have kind of accomplished both things. been able to remove the flag but also giving voters a say in this, which is important to them

as well. katy. >> you know, you added what i was going to add, which is they're taking away the confederate symbols but they are adding, as you say, in god we trust. catie beck in mississippi. thank you very much. >> and still ahead, the supreme court delivered a victory to abortion rights activists today. i'm going to speak with a lawyer who challenged louisiana's strict abortion law before the high court. but first, the vice president's very public break with the president over an issue donald trump has sought to politicize. it's masks. stay with us. smart bed, on sale now, you can both adjust your comfort with your sleep number setting. come on pup, time to go. can it help me fall asleep faster? yes, by gently warming your feet but can it help keep me asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. so you can really promise better sleep? not promise. prove. and now, during the lowest prices of the season, the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only $1,299, save $400. only for a limited time. to learn more, go to sleepnumber.com.

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we're following all of the developments in the pandemic, and here are the facts as we know them this hour. there are now more than 10 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide. deaths across the globe have hit over a half million. the european union will reopen

to nonessential travel on wednesday. the eu has drawn up a list of a dozen countries whose citizens will be allowed to travel to the block because of low levels of infections. the united states is not on that list. >> u.s. immigration and customs enforcement has until july 17th to release migrant children held in three family detention centers due to the the threat of covid-19's spread in those facilities. the ruling from a federal judge in los angeles applies to 124 children at places in texas and pennsylvania. >> today, the broadway league announced it will suspend all performances for the remainder of 2020. shows are expected to resume in early 2021. broadway abruptly shut down all theaters back in early march. and in a public break with the president, vice president mike pence is now urging americans to wear masks as coronavirus cases surge. during a trip to texas over the weekend, the vice president was seen wearing a mask, and he

urged others to do the same when he spoke to the press alongside texas governor greg abbott. >> the governor and i talked this week. we talked about the importance in this moment of calling on people across texas. wear a mask. >> joining me now from the white house is carol lee. one caveat here, the choir that sang to the vice president over the weekend was not wearing a mask. or not wearing masks. and secondly, i wonder if this change of heart for the vice president, this change in tone, comes because of that briefing on friday when he was asked by cbs' polly reed why he was asking people to do as they say and not as they do in flouting local ordinances when it comes to health precautions and wearing masks and social distancing. >> yeah, katy, for sure, they have been under a lot of

pressure. the vice president as the head of the white house's coronavirus task force, to explain why they were directing people to do certain things that and precautions that they were not themselves demonstrating they were taking. the vice president in that briefing on friday declined to encourage people to wear masks. saying it was their personal choice. you know, that it wasn't something that he was going to push people to do. and then obviously, yesterday, while he was in texas, he reversed that. now, as for where the president stands on this issue, currently, kayleigh mcenany was asked about this in the briefing, and particularly in the context of jacksonville mandating masks, which is where the president's going to have his convention in august, and let's take a listen to what she had to say. >> it's his choice to wear a mask. it's there personal choice of any individual as to whether to wear a mask or not. he encourages people to make whatever decision is best for their safety, but he did say to

me he has no problem with masks and to do whatever your local jurisdiction requests of you. >> so again, you know, to president really leaning into this idea that it's a personal choice, not coming out and saying everyone should wear a mask, urging to follow state and local guidelines. this is something that his press secretary is saying. we have not heard this directly from the reds. we know the president so far has refused to wear a mask in public, even if he has worn one at times privately, but the big kwgz ha questions hanging over all of this is essentially is the white house going to get on the same page and have a clear message to the country as we're seeing this spike in cases? so far, they haven't really done that. >> and just remember, there are a lot of people out there in the country that will not wear a mask and don't think it's necessary. think that it has been politicized. and might change their mind and might take more precautions if the president of the united states was either seen wearing a mask or seen urging people to

wear a mask, as pretty much everybody else has done so far. carol lee, thank you very much. and as cases surge in florida, hundreds of doctorses are demanding changes to plans to hold the republican national convention in jacksonville. you heard carol talking about that a moment ago. more than 400 florida doctors signed an open letter to the mayor and the city council of jacksonville calling for the event to be postponed or very significantly reduced in numbers. the physicians are also asking for a mandate on masks and social distancing. and just moments ago, the city of jacksonville announced a new mandatory mask policy beginning tonight at 5:00 p.m. joining me now is one of the doctors who signed that letter, she's a pediatric specialist and assistant professor at the university of florida college of medicine. so jacksonville is saying you have to wear a mask if you go outside or if you are in a public place indoors. it's not clear, though, if that's going to apply to the

convention. if that is applied to the convention, do you think it could be pulled off safely? >> so first and foremost, i want to thank our mayor for reversing his position on this. and finally mandating local mask use. at this time, with the scale and the size of the convention as planned, even with good mask use and some social distancing, having a gathering that massive and that large where people from all across the country potentially protesters as well, it doesn't seem like it would be safe to proceed as planned. >> so in some estimates, there could be as many as 40,000 people coming to jacksonville from all parts of the united states. and you're concerned that this could end up being a superspreader event, not just for the city of jacksonville but for places all around the country. >> correct. right now, the cases in florida are skyrocketing.

we're one of the new hot spots in the nation. and if we have people traveling from all across the country, staying here for a few days, it has the potential to overwhelm our local hospital systems as well as to spread the coronavirus to everybody's localities when they go back home. >> let me put up on the screen a poll from residents of jacksonville. 58% of residents out there oppose the convention being held there. 42% support it. it does break largely on partisan lines, but there are republicans who are concerned about this. how much pressure do you think -- how much is the pressure going to matter for officials when it comes to this convention? are you expecting realistically there to be any change, either by local officials or by organizers of this convention? >> we can only hope that our local leaders as well as state leaders will heed the warnings

of public health officials, physicians. it is very clear from the cdc guidance and from every public health expert that what we need to do is wear masks, maintain social distance, avoid large gatherings. the republican national convention is all of those things. and this is not political. it is about public health. if we were talking about the dnc, we would be making the same recommendations. >> doctor, thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate it. we want to go now to breaking news out of seattle. after a deadly shooting near the city's capitol hill occupied protest zone or chop, the city's police chief is warning its days could be numbered, the zone, that is. joining me from seattle is steve patterson. what's happening out there? >> we're in the heart of chop right now. the protesters are talking about exactly what you just mentioned, they're behind me.

there's kind of a heated moment. some of the larger community, the black clergy came in, pastors from the area, to try to talk to the protesters about maybe scaling some of the barriers that are around the zone back a little bit. that led to a very heated conversation, and you're seeing the fallout of that. earlier, as you mentioned, there was a shooting. the shooting that was different from the shootings we have seen before earlier last week is that unlike those shootings that appeared to be more on the fringes of this community, this shooting was pretty much in the heart of the community. we're not going to hit you. you got it. the vehicle that was used in the shooting to what capacity we're not sure, was here earlier. police came in for about 20 minutes. the first time we have seen police do anything inside here. they cleaned it up, they did their crime scene investigation. they spoke to protesters. they took the vehicle, and they left. what we're hearing is one has died. one male.

one other male remains in critical condition following this early-morning shooting. obviously, that raises the tensions here. we have been feeling that all day with the protesters on the ground. we know many of them. they're upset at what happened, but they say the barriers that are in place, the same ones that the city wants to remove, is exactly why that shooting wasn't way worse. here's one of the protesters i spoke to about just that. listen to this. >> right now, we have no police here, so we have to police ourselves. and the barricades do help protect ourselves and our community. >> so you hear the situation on the ground here. discussions continue. the chief was here earlier, came into the chop zone. she says that this all has to end. it has to end soon. how they're going to do that, what the timetable looks like, what the force looks like that they need to bring in here to do that, none of that has been discussed, at least with the public and with the press yet, but it is going to happen, and

according to her, it's going to happen soon. guys, back to you. >> steve patterson in seattle, steve, thank you very much. >> and coming up in a moment, when are schools going to open back up? and how are they going to do so? >> and why has the federal government been silent on the issue? first up, though, the supreme court strikes down louisiana's strict abortion law. what today's decision could tell us about the increasingly conservative court. very acidic and they're actually pulling out the minerals from the enamel. i like to recommend pronamel to my patients. pronamel will help push the minerals back into the enamel, to keep the enamel strong. i know it works. and i hear nothing but great things from my patients that have switched to it. to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't. [grunting noise] i'll take that. woohoo! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. ensure max protein. with nutrients to support immune health.

suffering the loss of a loved one, suffering economic hardship. the country is crying out for leadership, leadership that can unite us, leadership that brings us together. that's what the presidency is - the duty to care, to care for all of us, not just those who vote for us, but all of us. i promise you this: i won't traffic in fear and division. i won't fan the flames of hate. i'll seek to heal the racial wounds that have long plagued our country, not use them for political gain. i'll do my job and i will take responsibility, i won't blame others. you know, i've said from the outset of this election, that we're in the battle for the soul of this nation. what we believe and maybe most importantly, who we want to be, it's all at stake. when we stand together, finally as one america, we'll rise stronger than we were before. i'm joe biden and i approve this message.

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a victory for abortion rights supporters today. the supreme court overturned louisiana's controversial antiabortion legislation today. chief justice roberts cited precedent in a nearly identical case the court already ruled on out of texas, siding with the court's liberals. so let's bring in nancy, the president for the center for republican rights which challenged the louisiana abortion law. nancy, thanks so much for joining us. were you surprised by this decision today? >> well, we're just delighted by the huge win today. i mean, this is a big win for louisiana, the clinics can now stay open. it's a win for women, and it's a vindication for the rule of law. we said all along that this case was about whether the court would follow its own precedent and uphold women's health four years ago. we're just delighted that they

did and we can breathe a sigh of relief for today that abortion rights have been protected again in the supreme court. >> so this was interesting because in the amicus briefs filed, there were a number of abortion rights activists, civil rights activists or and such, but there were also the american bar association, i believe, talking about needing to uphold past precedent. this case looked exactly like the texas case that came before the supreme court already. the supreme court ruled against the texas law and looking at this one, why did people believe that because this is a conservative court that they would not side with precedent? >> it's great that you mention the american bar association brief, because they had never filed a brief in an abortion rights case in the supreme court before. but because the rule of law issue was so important, they filed here. so chief justice roberts, who descented in the case four years

ago, joined the other four justices today in striking down the louisiana law. and he said because it was clear that it was the same law and that precedent dictated that when you have the same kind of case, you have got to follow the same law. >> so what does it say to you about the makeup of this court right now and how they might rule on future cases? >> well, you know, we take one case at a time. i mean, unfortunately, we had dissents today from justices kavanaugh and gorsuch, the trump appointees on the supreme court, so we remain concerned about what happens in the future. i mean, there has been a relentless campaign against a woman's right to make decisions about her health and future and her rights to make decisions about abortion. and we have seen over 450 cases since 2011. the center for reproductive rights alone has 30 cases in courts today. so we're concerned about the

future. we're not counting on anything, and it's really important that people remain vigilant because the fact that we had to litigate for six years all of the way to the supreme court a case that we had already won suggests just how fraught it is. >> correct me if i'm wrong, but louisiana also slipped in that providers, apportibortion provi can't sue on behalf of patients into this case, and this ruling struck that down as well. >> yeah, louisiana at the last minute when they got to the supreme court said, you know, we don't think the doctors should be able to vindicate the rights of their patients at all. and the supreme court firmly rejected that, as they should have. it has been true since roe v. wade that doctors are well positioned to know what is wrong about these laws and to be able to vindicate their patients' rights. >> nancy northup, thank you very much for joining us today. we appreciate your time.

>> thank you. and with just four months remaining before the 2020 election, recent battleground polling has vice president biden leading trump in pennsylvania, the battleground state. that's bad news for a president who barely won the state back in 2016. one of the areas that pulled the president over the finish line is beaver county, pennsylvania. located a little over 30 miles north of pittsburgh. he won there by 19 points. and even as the pandemic ravaged the state, voters there have remained squarely in president trump's corner, that is potentially until now. joining me now with her latest county by county report is nbc news reporter dasha burns who is in beaver county, pennsylvania. dasha, what are you hearing from trump supporters out there? >> well, katy, i have been asking voters the same questions about november 2020 since last year, and the answer is now starting to evolve a bit, but

not for the reasons that you might think. six weeks ago, we were here talking to voters about the president's handling of the pandemic, and folks here were pretty happy with the president's job. they were more frustrated with the democratic governor for shutting down businesses for too long. now, the conversation has shifted. not because of covid but because of race. that is surprising here in beaver because this community is more than 90% white, only 6% black. but i was here over the weekend when the community held a unity march, where mostly white crowds showed up to stand up against police brutality and racial inequality, and that's where i met john and susan. i want to introduce you to them. they're conservative republicans, but a couple years ago, their daughter adopted two african-american children, and they began educating themselves on race. when they saw the george floyd video, it hit them hard and they saw the president's comments in a new light. take a listen to some of what they told me.

>> do you think he's hurting his campaign with his tone on race right now? >> i do. yeah. yeah. i think that could change if he would be a little bit more vocal or at least try to show some understanding. some more compassion. >> in 2016, did you vote for donald trump? >> yes. >> yeah? >> yeah. >> do you know what you're going to do in november yet? >> no. >> and katy, they don't know what they're going to do in november. they could still vote for donald trump, but john says he is more open to the idea of voting for a democrat than he has been in the past. he says now it's more about issues and character versus party or incumbents, katy. >> you know, i have been speaking to a lot of trump allies warning the campaign that the president needs to sound more empathetic when it comes to the racial unrest in this

country. and move away from the law and order message, as he is currently using it. they say it's doing him no good. dasha burns, thank you very much. and coming up, when will it be safe for children to go back to school? we're going to dig in to that. and why that question hasn't been met with many answers from the federal government. don't go anywhere. (announcer) carvana's had a lot of firsts.

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one wash, stains are gone. daughter: slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. . . we have breaking news off the state of new jersey. governor phil murphy has just announced indoor dining will no longer resume on thursday. he said the state had plans to loosen restrictions this week however after covid-19 spikes in other states by the return of indoor dining we have decided to postpone indoor dining indefinitely. a bit of fore shadowing of what you might see across the northeast where states had

declining states even as other states are increasing. not good news. let's move on, though, what's going to happen for parents if a few weeks' time. if you're a parent, these two questions might be weighing heavily on your mind, when whether my child or children return to school and if they do, what will it look like? local and federal officials have yet to establish a plan much less a budget to handle schooling in the era of covid-19. and the consequences of that are far reaching. a former treasury department official told nbc news policy editor there are 78 million parents with at least one child in their household under 18. a parent's ability to find and keep a job is inseparable from child care and schooling. in other words, you should haven't to choose between having a job and getting your kid

schooling. a for fes so of economics at brown university joins me. professor, thank you very much for this book and your other book u it got me through my pregnancy and through the beginning of teddy's life. they were very helpful. let's talk about what's happening now when we are discussing school and a lot of places around this country, mid-august is when kids start going back to school, lot of parents dealt with the home schooling during the last half of this past school year. they're in the summer now and they're looking forward to what's going to happen in the fall because as we said in the beginning it's very hard to hold a job and home school your kids. what can we expect and what does the data show is going to be safe for children?

>> in terms of what we should expect, i think the answer is we have no idea. so some places like rhode island have said kids will be back in school august 31st. we don't know what that's going to look like. fairfax, virginia, either choose online or two days in person and two days on your own. we have no idea what things are going to look like and even once kids get into school we don't know what it's going the look like. beyond that, we don't have a great sense of how we best protect kids. and how we can protect teachers and staff members. we know kids are at lower risk of covid than other people. teachers aren't at lower risk than other people and having all of those pieces together and a plan is something that i think almost no place has worked out yet. >> is there enough data out there to come up with a

reasonable expectation for what it might look like if we do send kids back to school? has the federal government tracked enough of it, enough available for people like you who traffic in data to make an educated assessment? >> no, no. not at all. in fact one of the things that i found most frustrating in the last few weeks is the feeling like we could be getting more data. we don't seem to have any systematic data. our best bet is to look to europe where a lot of schools have reopened and actually that's pretty reassuring, we haven't seen much in the way of large outbreaks at european schools or much evidence that schools are driving a lot of additional spread. that's good. we need to see more in the u.s. i started collecting data on google forms. shower we're just missing something that should be driven from the top and yet nobody is

doing it. >> i want to add this before we go, lower income families are much more likely to face hurdles and access to technology. 1 inform 5 of those households with annual income of less than $50,000 say their children lack necessary software and equipment for online learning and this is going to xexacerbate the gap there. professor, we'd love to have you back. the story will only get more acute as the summer wears on. thank you very much for joining us today. >> thank you. you can read the full report on nbc news.com. a good meme going around on the weekend. if you don't want to home school your kids any longer, wear a mask. that will do it for me today. you'll see at 5:00 p.m. on "meet the press daily".

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hi, everyone. i'm nicolle wallace. 3:00 p.m. in the east. brian williams has a much deserved day off today. we're following several big stories this hour, including a surprising victory for supporters of abortion rights at the u.s. supreme court. the high court struck down a louisiana law that required any doctor offering abortion services to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. chief justice john roberts once again siding with the court's four more liberal justices to say that the law was unconstitutional. much more on that later in the hour. we're also tracking the latest on the coronavirus. here are the headlines and facts as we foe them at this hour. the world health organization says the pandemic is accelerating, as countries that are reopening see a surge in infections.

this comes six months to the day after the very first case was diagnosed and as the world reaches two solemn milestones. this past weekend the number of confirmed cases surpassed 10 million. and the number lives lost worldwide has now passed 500,000. the united states accounts for one quarter of those totals with more than 2.5 million cases and more than 126,000 deaths. and the number of infections still rising. particularly in the south and the west. health and human services secretary alex azar says those outbreaks would spin out of control without immediate actions such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing. as the numbers of cases in florida continue to rise, officials in the southern part of that state have joined with miami announcing that beaches will be closed during the fourth of july weekend. days after refusing to answer a question about wearing masks vp

mike pence said during a visit to texas that people should wear face coverings to prevent the virus from spreading further. >> wear a mask. wherever it's indicated. or wherever you're not able to practice the kind of social distancing that would prevent the spread of the coronavirus. >> new york's governor andrew cuomo is urging president trump to take that one step further by signing an executive order requiring people to wear masks. >> at this point as a nation and we still haven't done the simple, easy, minimal step of saying, you must wear a mask when you're in public. and the president doesn't have to pass a piece of legislation, doesn't have to call the congress. just sign an executive order saying, wear a mask. we did it two months ago in this state.

>> hoping to catch a broadway show later this year you're out of luck the broadway league announced today that shows will be suspended through the end of the year and performances will begin after the beginning of the new year. california is experiencing a huge outbreak, los angeles, what's the outbreak and the surge attributed to? >> reporter: nicolle, experts say it's a attributed to people's behavior, people not following the rules as the state has slowly reopened. they're not wearing their masks. they're not social distancing. this weekend, the governor having to take the action of ordering bars and nightclubs across seven counties to be closed. recommending closures across eight more and experts i've been talking to say this could be just the beginning if the state doesn't get back on track.

take a listen what ucsf medical stool has to say. >> no good reason we couldn't have been new york in march if we're not careful. people will see the surge in cases and say, it's time now to take this seriously. if we don't do that, i don't see any reason that we're not going to be back into lockdown over the next few weeks and given the reason we were opening up to try to allow the economy recover that will cause the economy to implode once again. >> we've been speaking to bar owners here in los angeles, one of the county's now ordered lockdowns for bars and nightclubs, this is potentially devastating. they were hurting with the shutdown to begin with, they invested even more money in their businesses trying to adjust their business models to a new reality to that partial reopening. to shut down again very worried about their future. other bar owners telling us they

simply didn't reopen at all seeing that this was a possibility. >> thank you for your reports. stay safe. joining our conversation now, dr. lipi roy and jake sherman. dr. roy, to the question i posed to erinn, why after some of the strictest and in california's case, earliest lockdowns in the country, why are they seeing a surge in the state? >> nicolle, it's almost flabber gasting. when i have colleagues, friends and family all over the world and they're looking at the united states and this alarming escalation in infections and deaths with complete confusion and frankly some embarrassment. like you guys are the richest

country in the world, this has nothing to do with money, nicolle, we're here today, back in january, back in february, yes, it was an infectious virus that caused all of these infections. today, right now, at a 126,000 deaths and rising, this is because of poor -- i mean colossal failure in leadership from our elected officials not strictly enforcing -- not even encouraging or enforcing the recommendations that were made by the cdc, the nih and other public health officials. they're just not listening to the health recommendations. >> what is the harm, dr. roy, what can we put a sort of any sort of metric on of donald trump from the beginning refusing to model behavior, i think he has -- i don't know -- he has upward of 50 million twitter followers, he's photographed every single day, in the positive for me, what's

the opportunity that he had or still has to model behavior that could save lives? >> nicolle, when you're the leader of the western world, or the leader of any nation, community, you have a responsibility and to your phrase, a positive kind of interpretation, you have an opportunity to really make a difference. and right now, it's really about -- it's about leadership leading by example. remember friday's coronavirus task force briefing, nicolle, every single member wore a mask except the vice president. now today the vice president or a couple of days ago he was saying, wear a mask, wear a mask. but still he's saying it now because it matters. i don't leave the house without a mask. and you saw dr. fauci, dr. birx, all of them were wearing a mask. it matters, nicolle, when people see our leaders wearing a mask, it sends a clear message, these

public health interventions actually matter. i don't leave my apartment without a mask. >> jake sherman, i'm going to do something as i have never done, i'm going to put up a picture of dick cheney, her daughter put up. simply modeling life-saving behavior. it's so easy, jake sherman. i ran some tape on my show of you trying to pose a question to white house chief of staff mark meadows and jared kushner when they were up on capitol hill and hey said something to you guys about how the reporters looked different with masks on. i think we caught on tape saying, we're trying not to die, sir. what's the contact like with the republican party, with simple

thing like wearing mask. >> i did say that. i'm trying not to die. i stand by desire not to perish. the white house has created in its estimation what it believes a bubble. i mean, they're tested quite frequently and when mark meadows and jared kushner came up to capitol hill they probably had been tested that morning. we don't have those tests on capitol hill. i haven't been tested in this building. i have been tested in the past. i have no idea. i hope i don't have the coronavirus. i was in close proximity with the chief of staff without a test. up here on capitol hill, i have my mask a couple of inches away from me. most people wear masks. there's still a number of republicans who refuse to wear masks on the house floor and walking around the building and i'm not picking up on republicans because it's fun to pick on republicans, i don't believe that, my experience is republicans in the house are much less likely to wear masks, i mean, i don't know what it is

and the senate, almost everyone wears a mask. some republicans in the house are taking their cue perhaps from the president who also doesn't wear a mask and i think that's unfortunate because not only is it me and my reporting colleagues up here, but this is a building as you know, nicolle, and many of the viewers know, we have hundreds of workers, maintenance workers, technicians who are in the building all the time, coming to work who are not involved in politics and who want to stay safe. physical contact is almost inevitable. our government operates -- this is the nerve center. nancy pelosi and mitch mcconnell has decided to say no to testing. we're all xitsing in this building without any real precautions besides a mask. it's a little bit uncomfortable and people still aren't following the guidelines. one last thing, lynn cheney is

the only one i noticed who's willing to criticize the president. she did over the afghan bounty issue with the russians. asked some very pointed questions. that's interesting, because this is republican leadership that has pretty much tried to get the president what he wants. >> jake, three things. one, push back gently that it's a bubble. covid infections inside the president's residence and deep inside the west wing staff. i want to read you something from politico. politico reporting that president has privately come to the grim realization in recent days, told politico, amid a mountain of bad polling and warning from his staunchest allies he's on course to a one-term president. marred by widespread criticism over his response to the coronavirus pandemic and

nationwide racial unrest. here's chris christie putting it even more bluntly as only christie said, he's losing. >> he is losing. if he doesn't change course, both in terms of the substance of what he's discussing and the way that he approaches the american people, then he will lose. there's no question that while these national polls are less significant in terms of the raw numbers, the trend is obvious. the trend is moving towards joe biden. when joe biden hasn't said a word. >> jake? >> yeah, absolutely right. everyone in the white house i speak to recognizes that. the one thing they say they also haven't started campaigning and spending money on ads and it's indeed an eon until we're at the voting boxes voting for the president. but still, it's not one poll. . it's not two polls. it's every single shred of

evidence has the president losing. . in the white house, there's this recognition. we ran this morning some data, some talking points that the president's staff wished he would talk about. they can't get him on message. by the way, even if he stuck to a message, are the atmospherics so bad that he could not win? we don't know that. because the president dives down all sort of rabbit holes. there's a story for him to tell that would be advantages you for him he refuses to tell it. >> jake sherman. dr. roy, thank you so much for starting us off on just some of the big headlines today. i appreciate it. when we return -- that stunning reporting over the weekend that russia secretly offered bounties to kill american troops in afghanistan. donald trump under growing pressure after taking no known actions in the face of russia's

aggression. that story is ahead. plus, as we mentioned, a big win for abortion rights at the united states supreme court. once again, it's chief justice john roberts confounding conservatives. we'll take a closer look coming up. oming up c'mon pizza's here. whoa! is that shaq? this is my new pizza the shaq-a-roni and it's bigger than pizza because for every shaq-a-roni sold, $1 is donated to the papa john's foundation for building community.

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an explosive new scandal concerning you guessed it, russia. now ratcheting up the pressure on donald trump's white house. nbc news has now confirmed that

russian officials offered bounty for killing of troops in afghanistan. quote, the underlining allegations continue to be value waited. this news was first reported by "the new york times" friday night. another explosive component of this story, the trump white house hasn't done anything in response or to stop it. the report reads in part, quote, the intelligence finding was briefed to president trump and the white house's national security council discussed the problem in interagency meeting in late march. they developed a menu of potential options starting with a making a diplomatic complaint to moscow and a demand that it stopped. an escalating series of sanctions and other possible responses but the white house has yet to authorize any step the official said. but now as these ground-breaking allegations come to light,

president trump is claiming ignorance. president trump echoed claims from other white house officials that neither he nor the vice president were ever briefed on the situation. later, the president added that his intelligence officials didn't find the allegations credible enough to bring it to his attention and implied that it was, quote x possibly another fabricated russia hoax. nbc news has learned from one official familiar with the situation that u.s. service members and afghan civilians have died as a result of this bounty program. joining now is someone with vast knowledge of national security issues, frank figliuzzi. he's now an msnbc national security analyst. i want to start with the bounty program and then move to what's now an undeniable constellation about data points about trump's relationship with russia. let's start with the program itself. how is this different from an

act of war, paying money to taliban militants to murder american soldiers on the battlefield? >> well, i'm glad you asked that because essentially what we're seeing here is the new warfare. we saw it with regard to our 2016 elections and we're seeing it now with this allegation, that is, the use of very secret sensitive intelligence units. in this case the allegation it's the gru, the russian military intelligence to carry out kinetic action, to do behind the scenes operations. . that's if new warfare and if the white house fails to understand that, we got an even bigger problem than just this allegation and it would fit the narrative for putin to want to continue it to make it so painful for u.s. troops to remain in afghanistan that we have to leave and it would fit the trump narrative, hey, u.s. soldiers are getting killed we need to pull out, see, i promised, we'd come to peace and

get out of there. there's lots of motivation and even motivations that we're not certain of that would allow trump to let this go and cause fear to his briefers to bring this up. we need a lot of answers, nicolle, and i'd love to talk about this how symptomatic of a larger problem of the briefing in the white house. >> three senior intelligence officials, no doubt this would have been in the pdb, like, threats to u.s. troops and coalition forces in afghanistan, does that sound about right? >> yeah, this is actually called time-out, get the president on the line if he's not in the building and at the least it's in the pdb. i want to give some of the nay sayers on the other side a moment here, for the sake of argument that rarely, the

president is telling the truth that this didn't rise to the level of briefing because it wasn't credible, well, here's how this goes, we need to know a lot more about the vetting process because what i'm hearing nicolle from people still inside the intelligence community that they are hesitant to even vet anti-russia information that would be unpleasant for the president to hear. so what i want to see is pub lig hearings, certainly much of it will be have to be behind closed doors, because it's classified. vet this out. if you say it's not credible, what did you do? by the way, what do intelligence briefings look like right now today, every day, every week at the white house? because what i'm hearing, nicolle is that the rhythm of regular briefings from the community is broken and even broken at the senate and house intelligence levels and i's getting stopped in some agencies

by the heads of those agencies or by the doj or the white house. >> let's separate out the intelligence community what they knew when they knew it and what they told the president from the military. it's been reported i believe by "the new york times" when this intelligence was first learned it was -- i think this is "the new york times'" scoop on front page today, adam goldman and michael schmidt about how special operations and intelligence officials in afghanistan put this intelligence to use immediate to help protect forces on the ground i'm told by a former military official that kind of information gets shared up the chain of command at the pentagon immediately, doesn't have the pentagon have some accountability here, too? >> yeah, if we're going to have briefings on this, they shouldn't be white house officials telling things to certain select members of the house and the senate. we need the head of dia, the

head of nsa, the head of cia, sitting at table and saying this is what we knew, this is where it came from. that's the only kind of briefing that's going to satisfy me that we're getting to the bottom of this. >> let me take a step back with you, frank, where are we if russia is so emboldened that they're paying money to the taliban to slaughter american soldiers? >> well, we're where we were during the cold war, where putin feels like he's in control of the relationship. he's seemingly license to do what he needs to do and he gets zero pushback from the oval office, gaining a foothold in syria, or any other host of things from poisoning people to rebuking sanctions.

he is in control of this relationship. we may never know why. but when the window of opportunity arising, where we can demand answers where congress can say, we need all the facts, we need to seize that opportunity and that opportunity is today. >> frank, you were on the air the day that andrew mccabe said on this program, he offered an investigation into donald trump as to whether or not he was an agent to russia. what evidence that he's not these days? >> we have to ask ourselves, has anything developed since the mueller report to cause us to think that we still don't have a problem. there's nothing to worry about. nothing to see here with regard to whatever it is that's driving and motivating the relationship, the unexplainable relationship between this president and the kremlin. and we need to understand everything that's done in that

context and understand that the moves the president has made even recently getting rid of his igs, naming his guy at dni, all extremist from getting to the truth in situations like this, we can't believe what the dni says because we can't believe anything that's coming out of the white house or the people around the white house. this is an unprecedented situation where we just can't trust what we're being told. >> frank figliuzzi, thanks for spending some time with us today. when we return -- reaction from russia and why vladimir putin is involved in the plot to pay bounties on american troops. new tide power pods one up the cleaning power of liquid.

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in a defensive tweet storm over the weekend, president trump denied ever knowing about the alleged bounties russian government placed on u.s. forces in afghanistan. the kremlin has swiftly denied all allegations that it provided cash to tell ban fighters in exchange for the killing of u.s. and ally forces. in an exclusive interview with nbc news, a top spokesman for vladimir putin, called the reports, wait for it, fake news. joining us now is keir simmons.

can they pretend not to