they did not want to talk about lafayette square. that was very, very clear. lafayette park. and bill barr did everything he could to try to distract us, but we were not going to be distracted. >> i want to ask you about mail-in voting. you have unique familiarity with this given where you are from. bill barr was asked about this today and he continued to parrot the administration's view that mail-in voting is not secure. let's just listen. all right. you know what? i don't have the sound there, but the congressman rich richmond was saying, do you believe as the attorney general that mail-in voting will lead to massive voter fraud? the attorney general responds, i think there is a high risk that it will. he went on about that. tell me how you respond to this because you know mail-in voting better than many americans do. >> yes, i come from the state of washington. we're one of the states that has had mail-in ballots, mail-in voting for almost the long in the history of other states. you know, i think oregon may be a bit longer than us. i have this written down to try to count

lafayette? >> well, it was kind of different, because he wanted to talk to me, john lewis, and he had his assistant there, michael, to give me a call. so i said, okay. so i talked to john, it was very interesting, because he didn't have anything particularly to request of me, or any particular things he wanted to share. so i later surmised that what he wanted to do was just to hear my voice. but i want to emphasize that john was always the person who could predict things. that was one of the advantages he had. so he kind of looked ahead in the future, probably realized that what the impending situation was, and decided that he wanted to prepare himself for it. so our conversation was very interesting to that extent. >> he just wanted to hear his friend's voice one last time. mr. lafayette, how did he convince you to get more involved in the fight for civil rights? as i understand it, you said that you were a bit reluctant as first? >> ah, yes. not so much as getting involved in the civil rights,

>> on lafayette, on lafayette -- >> the gentleman's time has expired. >> can i ask for a brief recess? >> madam chair, the witness would like a break. >> mr. barr, ten minutes? >> five. >> okay. the committee will stand in recess for five minutes. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. you have been watching a contentious hearing. democrats on the house judiciary committee trying to grill attorney general bill barr after more than a year of his refusing to appear before them on big issues like his characterization, they say inaccurate, of the russia probe, the mueller probe, his order of federal agents into portland and lafayette square and whether he's independent of political influence from president trump, after ranking republican jim jordan showed a graphic, selectively edited nearly eight-minute montage of protests around the country which he claimed were anything but peaceful including sound bites from democrats biden and obama, clearly very political and highly edited. our team is in place, msnbc's garrett haake on capitol hill, former federal prosecutor and house inte

president trump got in trouble for one incident in lafayette park where he tear gassed peaceful protesters for a photo op. well, every night in portland he's tear gassing peaceful protesters for a photo op. >> lawrence, help me understand that. i will be talking to a number of senator who is put forward legislation to prevent federal troops from going in. i certainly do not understand the constitution the way you do. but it does actually -- our first amendment does give us a right to protest. the president is criminalizing protesting in general rather than arresting people who set fires to things and threaten public buildings. >> you're clearly right. and in fact just listening to nick reminds all of us that the destruction of america is underway in the hands of this tyrannical president. there is no ill legality except occasional minor offenses that the police of oregon can take care of themselves. and the homeland security acting director chad wolf and the attorney general are deploying paramilitaries on the streets of america sweeping up lawful protesters, targeting the press, essential

we ask about the protesters forcibly cleared from lafayette park. was it for that presidential photo-op? also tonight, the a.g. on black lives matter an on allegations of racial profiling by police. and amid this pandemic, should americans, concerned about their health, be allowed to vote in the presidential election by mail? what the attorney general says. >>> after that confrontation in new york's central park ignittrn calling police on a black man, a bird watcher, falsely claiming he was threatening her. the surprising turn tonight. what he's now saying to prosecutors. >>> the racist rant against asian-americans inside this restaurant. a tech ceo on video lashing out. the waitress defending the families and what's happened now. >>> the teacher who made international headlines has died. mary kay letourneau, convicted of raping a 12-year-old student, later marrying him. he was by her side as she died. deborah roberts on that tonight. >>> and the tropical threat we're watching along the east coast this evening as it closes in on the carolinas and th

do you think that was appropriate at lafayette park to pepper spray tear gas and beat protesters and injure american citizens? >> well, i don't accept your characterization of what happened. but as i explained, the effort there was -- >> mr. barr, just answer yes or no. so let me just tell you, i'm starting to lose my temper. according to sworn testimony before the house natural resources committee by adam demarco who was there, this was, quote, an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, numerous media reports. >> i don't remember demarco as being involved in the decision-making. >> sir, sir, the president told governors on a telephone call that the way to deal with the protesters of police brutality and systemic racism like in lafayette square is that, quote, you have to get much tougher. you have to dominate. if you don't dominate, you're wasting your time. these are terrorists. and he also talked about you on that call, sir. here is what he said. he said, the attorney general is here, bill barr, and we will activate bill barr and activate him

john's episcopal church near lafayette square. secret service and park police appropriate use of safe restorative force actually cleared that up. in total, however, 51 u.s. park police officers were injured during the weekend leading up to the perimeter expansion. do you want to expand on the actions with lafayette park? >> for the 29th, 30th and 31st there was unprecedented rioting right around the white house. very violent. during that time, as you say, about 50 park police and a comparable number of secret service. so we had about -- i think around 90 officers injured. i'm talking about things like concussions. one was operated on and so forth. we had the president -- it was so bad that it's been reported the secret service recommended the president go down to the shelter. we had a breach of the treasury department. the historical building on lafayette park was burned down, the lodge. st. john's was set on fire. bricks were thrown at the police repeatedly. they took crow bars and pried up the pavers on lafayette park and threw

so just answer the question. >> well, i think -- >> do you think it was appropriate at lafayette park to pepper spray, tear gas, and beat protesters and injure american citizens? >> well, i don't accept your characterization of what happened, but as i explained, the effort there was -- >> mr. barr, i just asked for a yes or no. so let me just tell you -- i'm starting to lose my temper. according to sworn testimony before the house natural resources committee by army national guard officer adam demarco who was there, this was, quote, an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. u.s. media reports have confirmed -- mr. barr. excuse me. this is my time. sir. sir. the president told governors on a telephone call the way to deal with police brutality and systemic racism like in lafayette square is that, quote, you have to get much tougher. you have to dominate. if you don't dominate, you're wasting your time. these are terrorists. and he also talked about you on that call, sir. here's what he said. he said the attorney general is here. bill barr. and we

he explains. >> you used pepper spray and truncheons on american citizens, you did it in lafayette square, you expanded it to portland and you're projecting fear and violence nationwide in pursuit of obvious political objectives. shame on you, mr. barr. >> what did you make of the numerous accusations that came from democrats not just on this issue but several, the attorney general has covered and protected the president in a way they find unlawful. >> the attorney general is enforcing the rule of law and if democrats want to try to blame the attorney general for what is happening in democrat run cities that have been democrat run for years and years -- i think the last time there was an elected republican in portland was 1956, they want to try to blame the administration for that they're just 234r0u flatout wrong, the chief of seattle who sent out a letter to the residents and business owners in seattle and said the city council passed something that doesn't allow our officers to protect you from violent crowds. i'm putting you on notice. we will have to do a quote adjusted deployment wh

it started in lafayette park. officers from multiple agencies violently cleared a group of pieceful p ful peaceful protesters. he allowed federal agents to use weapons of war, firing tear gas into a peaceful group of protesters in lafayette square. we know. our cameras were there. our reporters were there. now the same thing is happening in portland, oregon. armed federal forces patrolling the streets of that city. last night federal agents fired tear gas into a crowd of moms, a croup known as the wall of moms who stood behind -- between the agents and the demonstrators to protect the demonstrators, to protect the demonstrators from federal agents. i should tell you, we're going to speak to one of the founding members of that group later in this show. they're also grabbing protesters off the streets and throwing them into unmarked vehicles, detaining them without telling them why they are being arrested. now, listen to how the acting secretary of homeland security, chad wolf, tried to justify that on fox news. >>

for example, andrew jackson's statue, which is just here in lafayette park in front of the white house. the emancipation memorial also here in washington, d.c. the president has been so much emphasis on protecting what he calls that heritage and history and he has shifted the conversation to that, instead of spending as much time talking about police brutality, police reform, systemic racism. those were the conversations that took place around the death of george floyd and the ensuing protests, but in the last couple of weeks you haven't really heard that from the president or from this white house. it's very clear, the executive order he signed on protecting monuments, where he stands and what message he's trying to signal to his base and what i thought was remarkable today was that for the second straight day in a row, the trump campaign is the one previewing the president's remarks. these are official white house events, these are official white house speeches. they aren't campaign events. you would be forgiven for mistaking them for campaign rally because of the content and how pol

of that magnificent idea, the supreme court and the new black lives matter mural on the street near lafayette park near the white house. that is where lewis made his final public appearance. it is a flitting final path here in washington for congressman lewis who helped shape the landscape of this city and its history over more than 30 years. cnn's esmalvo is here on capitol hill to start us off on this somber day. >> reporter: it's a beautiful day here in washington, d.c. there's a great deal of anticipation on the john lewis. we suspect there will be a lot of people on capitol hill as they say good-bye and also celebrate his life as the conscience of the congress having evolved and served as an activist that have and really as a lawmaker here in washington, d.c. as you know, this event and these kind of eve vents laying in state are planned town to the minute and we saw just about so:34 this morning, the first plane landing at joint base andrews, that of former staffers and family members. we do expect that the casket that the body of john lewis will arrive with about 20 family members and

still with me is brittney cunningham and the civil rights leader and activist, bernard lafayette jr. we have only a fewing seconds left, but reverend, i wanted to talk to you because a lot of people who are just learn iing about the movement don't know but this was not the only instance of violence that congressman p lewis faced. this is where he suffered a skull fracture, but you talk about you having cracked ribs and john lewis was repeatedly struck. this lifelong commitment to nonviolen nonviolence, where did that come from with the congressman? >> it is something that happened when he was very young. and he made that commitment. he did not want to live under the circumstances and he also believed that they could be changed. that's why he applied for a library card and he also you know, wanted to go to college there. in alabama. ended up at american baptist seminary. so it was something in his blood. in his conscious. in his spirit. and while he tried to persuade others to also join him. >> i'm so sorry, i hate to interrupt you, we just want to listen in on what's happening right

park police to police to back up the rest in washington's lafayette park. jason treader was taken into custody without incident at his home. if he's charged with two counts of destruction of federal property. authorities identified him and numerous videos and still pictures wearing rose-colored goggles and others without a mask. here, adding a cigarette on the burning center of confederate leader albert pike and law enforcement sources say that he has connections to antifa and that he "was on top of the statue directing people." they had as, chiseled it, and a human chain preventing people from getting to the statue. it also investigation, the firesides on the 9th of june 22nd and other structures in the nation's capital. of >> it was lit on fire and the starbucks arson fire, there wasa few others at lafayette park, the station was lit on fire. looking for the people or person responsible. >> others participated in the attempted destruction of the jackson statue are in custody and the rest come in the wake of the june 26th a and executive orders where he de

as the hearse made that left onto 8th street, north part of lafayette square, it was incredible. here you have in the laet congressman john lewis who put his life on the line for equality, justice, and fighting against the very things that people are back in the streets marching for, driving past signs that note that the movement that he was part of and that the march that he started has not yet been completed. i was reminded of a quote from ambassador andrew young when i interviewed him at sunnyland in 2019 about the assassination of dr. king and he said to me, quote, i remember he, meaning king, used to say that you know some of us are not going to make it to 40, he said, but if we can make it to 40, we can make it to 100. and reflecting on his own life, ambassador young said it became almost an obligation for me to keep doing whatever i can do as long as i can do it. at that point he was 87. he said i don't know if i can make it to 100 or not, but there are ideas that will keep me going. you can't waste the experience we've had. and that is exactly the same thing, the same fue

the ig also says his office will investigate the actions of department personnel in lafayette square op. it's intriguing news that someone will investigate what federal officers are doing beating up protesters while moving in unidentified badges. but i will also say bear many mind that the attorney general bill barr is scheduled next week to give his first ever testimony to the house. how much will you bet bill bar will be unable to comment on portland or lafayette square because now they are under active investigation so he couldn't possibly remark. yeah, watch for that. that's going to do it for us tonight. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> good evening, rachel. it was july 6th. i'm looking at the actual transcript. july 6th when you and i chatted about the republican convention in florida and both of us were very doubtable that it would actually happen, and we had to wait until now to discover how correct our doubts were. >> it's untenable, and it has been untenable from the very beginning. when the jacksonville sheriff came out last week, it was like,

steps from lafayette park, more to the white house. you see it right there. this is now black lives matter plaza as they call it in washington, d.c. our joe johns is right there. >> reporter: john, this is seen as sort of a bridge between the youthful activism of john lewis and the youthful activism of today. we are expecting to see the procession in just a few minutes. what i want to do is point out to you what's going on in this intersection. you look over my shoulder, you can see a mural of large photograph of john lewis. that apparently is his last public appearance we're told it was here at black lives matter plaza on june 7th. as you can see he is wearing a mask with arms crossed. now, why is this a bridge? it is a bridge for a number of reasons, including because of the demonstrations, the fact that this is the place where the president of the united states cleared a group of peaceful protesters in order to walk over to st. john's episcopal church to do a photo-op holding a bible. it is more than that. when you look at the life of john lewis, this is a

the northern side of the white house would be lafayette square. that's where we see the golden knights parachute team making their jump. the u.s. army's aerobatic team, the counterpart to the blue angels and the air force thunderbirds. after they make their jump, we expect comments from the president. the event that you are looking at is taking place on the south side of the white house. that's the one that's directly in front of the washington monument, kind of flanking at the western end of the national mall. the north side of the white house is lafayette square, where we had been keeping an eye on protests in front of what is now known as black lives matter plaza. understandable why the white house might want to hold this event on the other side of the white house from where those protests are. we'll continue to keep an eye on this jump from the golden knights as we await the president's remarks there. you can see the army flags behind the parachuters. one of the things we'll be listening for are what the comments will be from the president ton

the ig also says his office will investigate the actions of department personnel in lafayette square op. it's intriguing news that someone will investigate what federal officers are doing beating up protesters while moving in unidentified badges. but i will also say bear many mind that the attorney general bill barr is scheduled next week to give his first ever testimony to the house. how much will you bet bill bar will be unable to comment on portland or lafayette square because now they are under active investigation so he couldn't possibly remark. yeah, watch for that. that's going to do it for us tonight. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell.

forced a lot of military officials to speak out when they were asked to remove peaceful protesters from lafayette square, people like jim miller, jim mattis and people like general milley. where are those voices in law enforcement? they must not be comfortable in asking to police the streets of american cities. >> nor should they be. look, let me talk about normal. i miss normal, but normal might add context here. when federal law enforcement agents go into cities it's always cooperatively. we're wanted. they asked us to come. they need our help. that's when we're most effective. can they protect federal property? sure. they don't need an invitation to do it. but that's a narrow mission. to the extent this mission has expanded and you have federal agents doing things they're not trained to do, like riot control and arresting protesters, that's deeply, deeply problematic. now, there are voices speaking out about that. i've heard them. i do it myself. i can't stand what i'm seeing. the problem, nicole, is when we need to be somewhere and the city wants us to help, it gets politicized by this presid

s, lafayette square last month. according to testimony that was just made public today, he is supposed to tell lawmakers tomorrow morning that police moved suddenly on the d.c. protesters, clearing the way without adequate warning before president trump's staged photo op in front of st. john's church. he's expected to call out those aggressive tactics. he will say, quote, having served in a combat zone and understanding how to assess threat environments, at no time did i feel threatened by the protesters or assess them to be violent. from my observation, those demonstrators, our fellow american citizens, were engaged in the peaceful expression of their first amendment rights. yet they were subjected to an unprovoked escalation and excessive use of force, end quote. with that in mind, is it any wonder that protesters and demonstrators around the country are now skeptical of the federal forces that are being deployed to their cities? joining us now, seattle mayor jep jenny durken. you have been watching what's going o

well, in june, after the lafayette square fiasco, the u.s. military made clear in a number of very powerful ways that enough was enough, and there is a debate now, but republicans and democrats are arguing to change those names. those are just two examples of what i think is a transformational change in the conversation of this country. >> annette, let me ask you about one area where it seems like we're talking past each other. this sense, i think, that people want a much broader reckoning about american history, and there are -- there is a response which i here sometimes -- not said as much publicly, people say, well, we've come a long way, we're not as racist as we were. it feels like these are two separate conversations, i would argue, at least, yes, of course there's a lot of progress the larger of question has this country rockened with the past and more, do you think that they have -- >> no, we have not. we have certainly acknowledged it, but i think the events have told -- what you're talking about has been a feature of our society for

vivian, marion barry, jim bevel, bernard lafayette, paulina knight, angela butler. how all of us gathered in 1958 and '59 and '60 and '61 and '62 in the same city at the same time, i count as being providential. we did not plan it. and when kelly smith and the national christian leadership council met in the fall of 1958, and we determined that if there is to be a second major campaign that will demonstrate the efficacy of satya graha, of soul force, of love truth, that we would have to do it in nashville. and so i planned, as the strategist and organizer, a four-point gandhian strategic program to create the campaign. we decided with great fear and anticipation, we would desegregate downtown nashville. no group of black people or other people anywhere in the united states in the 20th industry against the rapatiousness of a segregated system ever thought about desegregating downtown, tearing down the signs, renovating the waiting rooms, taking the immoral signs off of drinking fountains. but it was black women who made that decision for us in nashville. i was scared

they said after the fiasco in lafayette park where he wanted to stand with a bible. so, now he's using this to suppress the right to protest and to protest the racial injustice that has greatly infected our nation. >> you're one of the few, we said, who vote said against the dhs law. is this exactly what you feared might happen or did you ever even imagine something like this? >> well, it's a little hard to matter this extreme of a use but it was fuzzy. was jammed through for political reasons in 2002, frankly because the republicans wanted a good issue and those that voted against the bill would be accused of being soft on terrorism. this was done to help defeat the democratic senator from georgia. so t was politically motivated, as i believe the iraq war vote was. and they got a result. they got the majority of the united states senate. the reality is this agency is not properly defined or regulated. prr and the president is taking it further by not having a confirmed secretary. so, there is no accountability. he takes it to the limit. that's what you have to under

supreme court ruled that segregation of interstate bus facilities was unconstitutional, john and bernard lafayette bought two tickets, climbed aboard a greyhound, sat up front and refused to move. this was months before the first official freedom riots. he was doing a test. trip was unsanctioned. few knew what they were up to. every stop through the night apparently the angry driver stormed out of the bus and into the bus station. and john and bernard had no idea what he might come back with. or who he might come back with. nobody was there to protect them. there were no camera crews to record events. you know, sometimes, rev, we read about this and we kind of take it for granted. or at least we -- we act as if it was inev itible. imagine the courage of two people malia's age, younger than my oldest daughter. on their own. to challenge an entire infrastructure of oppression. john was only 20 years old. but he pushed all 20 of those years to the center of the table, betting everything, all of it that his example could challenge centuries of convention and generations of brutal violence and countles

of the same team as the defense department does, and i am in the same boat as when some reacted to lafayette square, it's not appropriate and we are committed to the constitution. >> it's interesting you bring that up. it was clear a month or so ago that president trump wanted the u.s. military to go into cities and then secretary general milly and esper balked at that and didn't want that, and now he's doing this, and now i can't get the military, i will just use the department of homeland security. this is what people feared the department of homeland security was going to be back in the bush administration. >> in this case, taking people from the border patrol who should be at the border, by the way, and using them as crowd control actors is abusing. we have seen abuse of other departments. the department of justice made people think what happened to the norms that professional prosecutors used to abide by. the good news is that with the military, ultimately these are the organizations, the people that make up the rank and file of dhs want the department to function the way its supposed t

supreme court ruled that segregation of interstate bus facilities was unconstitutional, john and bernard lafayette bought two tickets, climbed aboard a greyhound, sat up front and refused to move. this was months before the first official freedom rides. he was doing a test. the trip was unsanctioned. few knew what they were up to. and at every stop through the night, apparently the angry driver stormed out of the bus and into the bus station. and john and bernard had no idea what he might come back with. or who he might come back with. nobody was there to protect them. there were no camera crews to record events. sometimes, rev, we read about this and we kind of take it for granted. or at least we act as if it was inevitable. imagine the courage of two people malia's age, younger than my oldest daughter, on their own to challenge an entire infrastructure of oppression. john was only 20 years old. but he pushed all 20 of those years to the center of the table, betting everything, all of it that his example could challenge centuries of convention and generations of brutal violence and countless dail

donald trump tried to send troops to lafayette park and the u.s. military told them to go to hell, they knew how to read the constitution. now he's sending bill barr's groups, these little green men, to portland and other cities. this is the caravan on steroids. >> there's nothing else to call it except creeping auth authoritarianism. i don't know if it's creeping anymore if you have the president using federal power for his own purposes. this is a natural, i feel like, build up of the post war on terror, when you have the local police stations being outfitted with m rwraps, it makes it easir to just keep escalating. and i hope that governors, that they speak out. i hope that people speak out, but it's very scary that donald trump has this much power at an election time. and to underscore what everyone else has been saying, he has clearly signalled -- donald trump has clearly signalled that he is going to sow chaos and doubt about the election results if it does not go the way he expects it to go. i think we need to all be taking that with dead ser

relationship with the president, because you already saw him break with the president after the walk through lafayette park for the photo op in front of the church, apologizing for doingo so. and now making a stand saying these cannot be flown at military installations. and the president was not happy with the decision. it does appear, for now, his job should be safe but hard to say, really. >> abbey, what do you make of all this? >> reporter: this is a shift for president trump in the sort of medium term because just a couple of years ago he was in favor of removing the confederate flag, for example, from the south carolina state houses in the midst of the debate, saying perhaps it should go into a museum. as a political figure himself and as president, he recognizes the confederate flag has a lot of support. among people who are his base. his supporters fly the confederate flag atcome pain rallies. he understands this is part of the cultural yoitd of people most allied behind him. also part of the conversation around the naming of military bases after confederate generals, which the president has al

it just outside lafayette square and washington, d.c., douglas kennedy, fox news. >> mike: cap next, we hear from world war ii veterans ahead of the independence day weekend. first beyond our borders tonight. these forwar four people are ded 100 injured after our fireworks explosion and turkey. three people unaccounted for and efforts to control the fire were hampered by continuing explosions and cause unknown at this point. botswana's watching investigation after 275 elephant carcasses have been found in recent leaks excreted coaching, which is a problem in the country, has been ruled out as the cause. officials are using aircraft to better understand the mysterious loss of life. if covid-19 is considered a unlikely candidate, but for now nothing including poison has been ruled out. the u.s. as to why dwight, eisenhower has spent 169 straight days at sea, a record for an american warship. nuclear powered air shape carrier is currently in the arabian sea. some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. we we'll be right back. ♪ the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [co

you did it here in washington, you did in lafayette square, you expanded to portland, and now you are projecting fear and violence nationwide in pursuit of obvious political objectives. shame on you, mr. barr. >> sean: shame on you, lying jerry nadler. former congressman trey gowdy, all the talking points were all the same, trey. it's an insult at this point after today's schiff show. they all rigid regurgitated the same line. you are doing this. that's all i 1500 police officers injured, many more, some blinded, now we are up to 16 dead? are my eyes deceiving me, trey gowdy? >> sean, if politics is about contrast we have contrast for november. do you want the anarchy you see in portland and seattle or do you want a country or everyone is safe and secure? what you also saw today is what a serious grown-up attorney general can do for this country and it makes me wish and wonder where we would be if he had been the ag from day one, if bill barr had been the preside president's ag. as for crazy uncle jerry, now you know, sean, why the democrats kept them hidden in the attic during impeac

well, in june, after the lafayette square fiasco, the u.s. military made clear in a number of very powerful ways that enough was enough. and there is a debate now, but republicans and democrats are arguing to change those names. those are just two examples of what i think is a transformational change in the conversation in this country. >> annette, let me ask you about one area where it does seem we're still talking past each other. there is this sense, i think, of people who want to have a much broader reckoning about american history. and there is a response which i hear sometimes, not so much publicly, where people are saying, we've come a long way. we're really not as racist as we were. and it feels like these are two separate conversations in a way. i would argue, at least, i think, yes, of course, there is a lot of progress. look at the number of black elected officials, look at the number of black police chiefs. but the larger question of, has this country reckoned with the past, with 250 years of slavery and segregation and more, do y

and now we know the inspector general, michael horwitz, from doj is investigating both there and at lafayette square across from the white house. what is going on here and do you think it's necessary for these troops to be -- these federal agents to be deployed as aggressively as they are? >> no, i don't at all. and i don't think it's appropriate. and what's more, the people in the region don't want the presence of these federal troops, these largely unmarked federal troops. they think it's only going to make it worse, that it's going to be incendiary. and we've seen evidence that people are being grabbed off the street, hustled into unmarked vehicles by people who are not well-identified, if they're identified at all. and this includes people just peacefully protesting. this is the kind of thing you see in repressive regimes around the world, not in the united states. it's kind of why it's being done. it's being done against the wishes of these local officials by the president of the united states because he feels it's a good campaign issue for him to run on. he is more than willing to creat

bernard lafayette and diane nash both told me they were surprised that he made it out alive, that they thought -- as bernard said, they always went for his head. >> yeah. it is worth a reminder given that he knew that there were things, so many things yet to be done that he had fought for, that the version of the voting rights act has been on mitch mcconnell's desk i think 225 days now. eugene robinson, andrea mitchell, john meacham, i can't thank you enough for the conversation. jonathan capehart, you're going to be back with us but thank you all so much for sharing your thoughts and your memories of this great man. and coming up next, california has had to roll back reopening after a sharp increase in covid-19 cases, pushing it to number two in the u.s. only behind new york. the latest in a live report straight ahead. (vo) touch and go. handwriting recognition and the audi a4. get exceptional offers at your local audi dealer. i appreciate what makes each person unique. that's why i like liberty mutual. they get that no two people are alike and customize your car insurance so you only

this is what we're seeing in portland and other places is frankly exactly what we saw in lafayette square earlier this summer. where the president didn't hesitate to use tear gas on peaceful protesters who are out expressing their frustrations. so as president, biden would be, i think he's demonstrated he would be a listener, he would listen to all sides, that he would be, you know, would first and put the protection of our community first and put it out front. >> right now americans are demanding someone more than a listener. what would biden do? >> across the course of his career has been extremely supportive of community policing. he's been incredibly supportive of taking on the larger systemic racism in our society. making sure all community vs the resources they need to build a more equitable society. >> we're hearing the former vice president is days away from announcing who his vice presidential candidate will be. when can we expect that? >> we heard him say some time in august. you can expect to hear from him in early august. i wanted to say one thing which is today, two of our co

and we saw mattis come out after the lafayette square moment, which i thought was important. we have got republican leaders basically saying in a kind of, you know, nonconfrontational way like we're going to have the election. but it is going to matter what people yielding power throughout the republican party and in the military, the courts, all of these people operating in those institutions, their conscious and what they're willing to do when the moment matters is going to matter a lot. >> the majority of this country shares this position. we're not going back to salma 1963. we're going forward. and freedom means freedom for everybody in this country. one of the most powerful ideas in the history of the world that represented a before and after moment were the words that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with even alienable rights including life, liberty and happiness. the whole history of the country has been the struggle to close the gap between that perfect ideal and the reality, the flawed reality, the original sin of slavery. we're not going back.

which really abuts at lafayette square after all of that violence, all of those federal forces marching on, beating on, firing gas upon peaceful protesters. and of course john lewis knows something of peaceful protests. it is really remarkable that he was there. he lived to see three words in yellow on black pavement visible from space, and it will probably be said visible from heaven. they read out "black lives matter." our hour-long look at the life and times of john lewis begins now. >>> in my younger days, i got arrested and went to jail 40 times. i've since been in congress another five times. and i may get arrested and go to jail again. >> he's an icon of a civil rights movement. >> they found the power of the human spirit in john lewis, and he came to symbolize the student movement. >> he believed that he could help a country find its soul. >> risking death to fight for what's right. >> i did not think john would survive. >> he likes to stir things up. he likes a little drama. >> give us a vote. let us vote. >> john lewis is not popularity. he's about purpose. >> never give up. n

lafayette square, outside the white house, when the president cleared all those protestors, violently, for the purposef h o his photo op. and then what we have seen from the federal police in portland, oregon. be wary of paramilitaries. when the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come. and that's not, exactly, what we have been seeing. but that is the lesson that comes to mind and that's been looming for a lot of us, as we have watched unidentified officers, of some kind, scoop people off the streets. and now, the president threatening to do that in democratic-controlled cities nationwide. that's why i wanted to talk to tim snyder again. joining us now for the interview is tim snyder. best-selling author of on tyranny. also, another best-seller called the road to unfreedom. he is abroad right now and is up in the middle of the night to be here. professor, thank you so much for being here. i really appreciate your time. >> of course. >> should we be thinking about this thing that we've been watching in portland? the president's threat

one that has bugging me for a few weeks now, at least since we've been seeing what is happening in lafayette square outside the white house when the protester cleared the protesters violently for the purpose of his photo-op and what we've seen about federal agents operating in the streets of portland, oregon. lesson six. be wary of paramilitaries. when the pro-leader of paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come. that's not exactly what we've been seeing, but it is the lesson that comes to mind. that's been looming for a lot of us as we have watched unidentified federal officers of some kind scoop people off the streets of an american city and the president threatening now to do it in democratic-controlled cities nationwide. that's why i wanted to talk to tim snyder again. joining us for the interview is tim snyder, best-selling author of "on tyranny." he is professor of history at yale university. he is abroad and is up in the middle of the night to be here. professor, thank you so much for being here. i really appreciate your time. >> of course. >> shou

to politicize the military and most recently by using helicopters to suppress peaceful protesters in lafayette square. in this case, lieutenant colonel vindman, if he's on the list, has earned his way to the list. in order to get on the promotion list, you have to have been recommended to be on there by your rater, your intermediate rater, and your senior rater. so three officers above you have to concur that you should get on the list. all i'm saying is that if his name is on the list, his name should not be taken off by the dod and that it should be allowed to go forward with his name still on the list. i'm afraid that the white house is pressuring the dod to take lieutenant colonel vindman's name off the list after he's earned his way onto it as he was evaluated by his supervisors. >> do you have any response in hand as of yet from either defense secretary esper's office or more broadly from the defense department? and what are you expecting them to do in terms of responding to what you've announced today? >> all i've asked them to do, rachel, it's very simple. all i've asked them to do, ce

including clearing lafayette park near the white house june 1st. >> it's still unclear to me who gave the direction to clear the park at that moment in time. >> you see, i find that hard to believe. i'm sorry, but it's like a pretty big decision. a lot of people there. everyone is there and it just sort of happened? >> what have been described as peaceful protest, 50 park police, 60 secret service, and six national guard soldiers were injured. including one who was hit in the head with a brick. but esper cautioned against bringing in active duty soldier is. >> using active duty forces in a law enforcement role should remain a last resort. >> general milley weighing in on the issue is. >> we as a nation as a military are still struggling with racism, and we have work to do. >> also taking aim at the civil war confederate names on military bases issue. >> it was an act of treason at the time against the union and the stars & stripes. it was against the u.s. constitution. and those officers turned their back on their oath. >> some lawmakers are focused on recent reporting's in "the new y

it started on june 1st with the tear gassing of protesters in lafayette park, exercising their first amendment rights so that the president could have a photo op in front of a church. then june got even worse. donald trump was doing everything, from setbacks at the supreme court to a new surge in coronavirus cases to a recession and record job losses. now trump has had bad months before, but this june feels different. this is materially cost him. instead of broadening his base, he's deepening his commitment to the american fringe and america is not responding well to that. two reporters who followed trump's terrible month closely. thanks to both of you for being here. let me start with you. you could have taken lots of months in the last four years and said, boy, this is a bad month for donald trump. he was impeached, the mueller report, he's investigating. but this is different because all of the polls including those in swing states are showing that americans are are showing that americans are departing from his vision of what america needs to be doing right now. a presidential can

how much will you bet bill bar will be unable to comment on portland or lafayette square because now they are under active investigation so he couldn't possibly remark. yeah, watch for that. that's going to do it for us tonight. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. >> good evening, rachel. it was july 6th. i'm looking at the actual transcript. july 6th when you and i chatted about the republican convention in florida and both of us were very doubtable that it would actually happen, and we had to wait until now to discover how correct our doubts were. >> it's untenable, and it has been untenable from the very beginning. when the jacksonville sheriff came out last week, it was like, no, no, no, can't do it. i'm a republican. i would love to be able to do it. it's my job. can't be done. you guys haven't got it together to plan for what venues. not possible. it was just a matter of time before they had to call the thing off. but now i don't actually know what they're going to do. they're going back to north carolina after canceling there and dissing them and they ha