On July 13th, Daniel Lewis Lee is set to be the first prisoner executed by the federal government in 17 years. Executions have decreased on the federal and state level since their height in the 1990s, and for the first time in decades, a majority of Americans support life imprisonment over the death penalty. But Attorney General Bill Barr announced last month that four inmates would be scheduled for execution in rapid succession starting next week. Host Trymaine Lee speaks with Yale Law professo...
Jul 06, 2020•24 min
Black trans women have been central to the movement for gay rights and the fight for racial justice since their inceptions. But they have always been sidelined by the very movements they helped create. Black Trans women continue to face high rates of violence, poverty and suicide and are often the victims of misogyny and white supremacy. Raquel Willis, a Black transgender activist and the director of communications for the Ms. Foundation, a nonprofit fighting for women’s rights, is trying to cha...
Jul 02, 2020•26 min
In recent weeks, the debate over monuments, street names and other relics of the Confederacy has intensified. A statue of Jefferson Davis was pulled down in Richmond, Virginia. In Louisville, Kentucky, a monument depicting a Confederate officer was removed from the city square. And on Tuesday, Mississippi decided to remove the Confederate symbol from the state flag. There are those who argue that tearing these statues down erases our history. And others who say they must come down if we hope to ...
Jul 01, 2020•25 min
The state of Florida is seeing record highs of coronavirus cases as the pandemic stretches into its fifth month. More than 140,000 residents have tested positive for the virus and the state is reversing some of its efforts to reopen the economy. For weeks, Governor Ron DeSantis resisted statewide closures and social distancing while the rural community of Immokalee raised concerns about the virus and requested more testing and PPE. Immokalee is home to thousands of migrant farmworkers, some whom...
Jun 29, 2020•19 min
As people look to sustain the movement for racial justice, they are turning to the ballot box. Hundreds of Black candidates are running in local races, state races, and Congressional races all across the country in 2020. After weeks of protest, will we see a wave of Black candidates elected as an answer to those calls for change? Host Trymaine Lee speaks with two women who are trying to bring racial justice to the electoral system. Political strategist Jessica Byrd felt called into the movement ...
Jun 25, 2020•26 min
There is a pervasive wealth gap between Black and white Americans, the result of centuries of systemic violence and racism. Today, Black families have just 10% of the wealth white families have accumulated. New York Times staff writer Nikole Hannah-Jones says this racial wealth gap isn’t an accident. It’s the product of over 400 years of slavery, racial segregation, and discrimination. In her cover story, “What is Owed,” for the New York Times Magazine, Hannah-Jones explains how the US governmen...
Jun 24, 2020•24 min
On Tuesday, Kentucky will hold its primary election after a month-long delay caused by COVID-19. County clerks have reduced the number of polling places by 95% and voters have requested a record number of absentee ballots. The challenges to voting could have a major impact on the Democratic Senate primary, which has shifted dramatically in recent weeks. For the first time, state representative Charles Booker, a 35-year-old Black progressive, is polling ahead of his white moderate challenger, Amy...
Jun 22, 2020•18 min
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery on January 1, 1963. But it wasn’t until more than two years later – on June 19, 1965 – that enslaved people in the state of Texas were finally told that they were free. The anniversary of that day has become known as Juneteenth. This Juneteenth, 2020, America is in the midst of a racial reckoning. A pandemic is disproportionately killing Black Americans, and violence against Black people continues to be caught on camera, spark...
Jun 19, 2020•24 min
With national protests and wide social unrest, 2020 feels to some like 1968. That year, at the height of the Civil Rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. launched The Poor People’s Campaign. He called for a revolution around economic justice and a movement to unite people against poverty, racism, and other forms of oppression. In 2018, organizers resurrected the cause, re-establishing The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Host Trymaine Lee talks to Rev. Dr. William J Ba...
Jun 18, 2020•27 min
In 2012, President Obama announced DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – to give undocumented people brought to the US as minors the chance to stay in the country without fear of deportation. But less than a year into his term, President Trump rolled back the policy. The move was met with protest and legal action and now the Supreme Court is weighing whether the administration’s decision to wind down DACA is allowed. Luis Cortes Romero is one of the lawyers fighting on behalf of DACA. ...
Jun 17, 2020•23 min
Another unarmed Black man was killed by police over the weekend, this time in Atlanta. His name was Rayshard Brooks and he was 27 years old. The officer who shot Brooks has been fired, and the police chief has resigned, while across the country, protests against police brutality and racism continue. NBC News correspondent Blayne Alexander has been reporting the story in Georgia and spoke to Brooks’s wife over the weekend. She and Trymaine also talk about the emotional toll of being a Black journ...
Jun 15, 2020•21 min
‘Defund the police’ has become a familiar rallying call at protests across the country. It’s a push to reduce the size of police department budgets, in order to reallocate resources to other parts of the community. And a few cities leaders are listening. Last week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced his commitment to reallocating $150 million of the LAPD budget to communities of color in the upcoming fiscal year. This comes after years of attempted reform and decades of tension between th...
Jun 11, 2020•31 min
Into America host Trymaine Lee joins Chris Hayes, host of the podcast Why Is This Happening to discuss the current moment of protest. If you listen to anyone about this time of rage and grief and action, make it Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Trymaine Lee. From his origins reporting on police and crime in Philadelphia to his nights covering Ferguson in 2014 to his Emmy Award-winning work on the lasting trauma of the violence in Chicago, Lee offers a raw and insightful perspective on this nati...
Jun 09, 2020•55 min
The nationwide movement against police brutality and racism have reignited the debate around protests about the same issues from players in the NFL. Last week, comments made by quarterback Drew Brees about protest and the flag led to a wave of criticism from Black players inside the league. Brees, who is white, has apologized, repeatedly. And now the NFL – the same league that banned kneeling on the field just two years ago - is making their own statement about how they plan to support Black pla...
Jun 09, 2020•29 min
The regulations designed to stop the spread of coronavirus have infiltrated every part of our lives, including religion. Across the country, worship services have gone online or even into parking lots. But some churches are pushing back. Host Trymaine Lee talks with a pastor in North Carolina who sued over restrictions on indoor services. Plus, NBC News Justice Correspondent Pete Williams explains how governments and the courts are balancing freedom of religion and public safety. For a transcrip...
Jun 06, 2020•22 min
There have been nearly two weeks of national protests and collective unrest following the police killing of George Floyd. But for some, it is yet another step in the long march of progress. South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn has been fighting for racial justice his entire life. He started at age 12 as the youth chapter of his local NAACP chapter and today is the highest ranking Black legislator in Congress. His advice to protesters today? “Stay steady, stay focused.” Trymaine Lee sits down...
Jun 05, 2020•25 min
Most Black parents had “the talk” about race and racism with their children, but far fewer non-Black parents have. And “the talk” matters – for all kids -- because what we learn when we’re young sticks with us. So, as the world protests the death of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police, how can parents best help their kids understand what’s happening, and how to build a better world? Host Tyrmaine Lee speaks to Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, a leading expert on how to talk to ki...
Jun 04, 2020•26 min
One thing feels different about the current protests we are seeing following the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery: the composition of the crowds. In some parts of the country, white Americans are showing up. They are protesting, taking the knee, and flooding social media. There seems to be a renewed call for white accountability. But is posting and protesting enough? And will this energy last? Trymaine Lee talks to Tim Wise, an anti-racist essayist, author and edu...
Jun 03, 2020•28 min
As protests and riots continue following the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, NBC News Now and NBCBLK convene a virtual conversation called Can You Hear Us Now? Trymaine Lee moderates this discussion on race, civil unrest and what it’s like to be Black in America with some of the biggest thinkers, policy makers, actors and activists of this moment. We hear from Wisconsin Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, co-Founder of Camp...
Jun 03, 2020•34 min
Tens of thousands of people across the nation took to the streets this weekend to protest racism and police brutality in the wake of the suspected murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in police custody last week in Minneapolis. On Sunday night, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz tapped state Attorney General Keith Ellison to take the lead in the Floyd case with help from the Hennepin County District Attorney’s Office. Ellison was elected in 2018 after representing Minnesota’s 5th Congr...
Jun 01, 2020•24 min
The US Postal Service reaches every corner of America – from cities to small towns. In the midst of a pandemic, postal carriers are still delivering the mail, ensuring that people can pay their bills, keep up to date on medication, and connect with loved ones – even as most of us stay home to stop the spread of coronavirus. But for years, the post office has been in financial decline – over the last 11 years the service has lost $69 billion. Postmaster General Megan Brennan estimates that withou...
May 28, 2020•26 min
The impact of coronavirus has been devastating, but while we wait for a treatment or a vaccine, laughter may be the next best medicine. Comedian, actress, podcast host and author Michelle Buteau is taking time during quarantine to slow down, reflect and stay creative. Host Trymaine Lee sits down with Buteau, who is at home in the Bronx with her twins, to discuss the value of comedy in a pandemic. For a transcript, please visit https://www.msnbc.com/intoamerica . Further Reading and Viewing: Mich...
May 25, 2020•20 min
The 2020 election season was thrown a curve ball when the spread of coronavirus across the U.S intensified in March. By early April, former Vice President Joe Biden was the only candidate left standing. Around the same time that Biden became the apparent nominee, a woman named Tara Reade alleged in a podcast interview that Biden sexually assaulted her when she was a staffer on his senate team in 1993. Recent polling shows voters are split on whether or not they believe the allegation against Bid...
May 21, 2020•29 min
The bottom has dropped out for America’s airlines. More than 90 percent of passengers have disappeared. Airports feel deserted. And despite a huge government bailout, there’s growing concern that not all the major carriers will survive past September. Meanwhile, passengers are unsure whether it is safe to fly and there’s a whole new routine for getting from place A to place B that involves more than masks and hand sanitizer. NBC Correspondent Tom Costello has been covering the airline industry f...
May 18, 2020•21 min
One of the earliest outbreaks of coronavirus in the United States happened in a nursing home in Washington state, where dozens of people died. Over 26,000 COVID-19 deaths can now be linked to long-term care facilities. Yet, we still don’t have numbers from the federal government tracking the outbreak in nursing homes. In early April, NBC national investigative reporter Suzy Khimm and her reporting partner Laura Strickler began looking into the numbers themselves – reaching out to state health de...
May 14, 2020•29 min
Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed on February 23rd in Brunswick, Georgia. His family says he was going on a one of his regular jogs through his suburban neighborhood when two armed white men, a father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, confronted him on a shady street. The men claim they thought Arbery was a burglary suspect, that he went for Travis’s gun and that they were acting in self defense. The killing didn’t garner widespread attention until last week, when a grainy cell phone video ...
May 11, 2020•20 min
This pandemic has left millions of Americans without a job and unable to look for a new one. Another 3.2 million people filed jobless claims last week, bringing the total to 33 million since coronavirus hit. Experts predict that the US unemployment rate is now somewhere around 20 percent, a rate approaching the Great Depression. Host Trymaine Lee talks with Anchor of Sunday Nightly News and Senior National Correspondent. Kate Snow about how unemployed Americans are dealing with the new anxieties...
May 07, 2020•22 min
We’ve been hearing for weeks that a vaccine for coronavirus is what’s needed before life returns to some type of normalcy. But under normal circumstances, vaccine development is a long, complex process, that takes on average, 10 years, according to the National Institutes of Health. But the man in charge of the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center is trying to significantly shorten that timeline. The center’s director, Dr. John Mascola, feels optimistic that a vaccine for coronavirus could be ready by ...
May 04, 2020•33 min
Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy, but recent years haven’t been so kind to them. The 2008 financial crisis left Main Street in a precarious position, and now the coronavirus pandemic has left millions of small business owners at risk of not being able to reopen their doors. Take Andrew Gaouette. At Mutt Waggin’, his pet supply shops in southeastern Massachusetts, he has seen his sales drops 60 percent. The government is offering relief to small businesses through emergency l...
Apr 30, 2020•29 min
Stacey Abrams has been making a very public case for why she would be a strong running mate for the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, Joe Biden. She’s not shy about her desire to serve, why she believes her experience is relevant, and whether Biden should choose a woman of color for the ticket. As the founder of Fair Fight, a national organization to ensure voting rights, Abrams told us that regardless of whether she’s on the ticket, she wants Georgia and states across the country to take steps to...
Apr 27, 2020•22 min
