June 10 Black Lives Matter protests

Gov. Tate Reeves discussed the Mississippi state flag which is the only one of the United States to feature a Confederate symbol.  

The governor added that some people want to keep the flag while some people want to change the flag and that sooner rather than later, “people may decide to change.”

“There is no doubt that there's a lot of conversation surrounding that issue right now. And it's very important to have a conversation. That's certainly ongoing. I've made it clear what my position is and, and my position is consistent today as it was in 2019,” Reeves said. “I believe that if we're going to have real change in our state. We've got to deal with the issue of the flag in such a way in which all Mississippians can come together and can rally around one another.”

The Mississippi flag is the same one that has flown over the state since 1890, but it wasn't an official state flag until 2001, after the vote by the Mississippi Legislature, according to Reeves.

“As we look back on many of the decisions that were made by the politicians in '01 and no one probably wouldn't make the same decisions that they made them,” Reeves said.

These comments come the same day that NASCAR banned the display of the Confederate flag at all events.

Bubba Wallace, the only full-time African American driver in the Cup Series, responded to NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag saying, "bravo."

Wallace was interviewed on FOX Sports 1 ahead of this evening’s race in Martinsville, Virginia.

NASCAR announced the decision in a statement earlier today saying "the display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited" from all events and properties.

"There’s a lot of emotions on the racetrack and off the racetrack that are riding with us. Tonight is something special. Today has been special. Hats off to NASCAR," Wallace said.

Some background: Wallace told CNN's Don Lemon he wanted NASCAR to go further than 2015, when it asked fans not to bring the Confederate flags to races –– instead prohibit it all together.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said systems on every level, from federal to local governments, need to shift the way they prioritize budget dollars and invest in underserved communities.

"What they're saying is, if your funding is going just to law enforcement, and you're not investing significant dollars in communities that have been under resourced and underserved for decades, you've got it all wrong," Turner told CNN on Wednesday.

He said if governments invest in the communities that have been underserved for decades, then not as much money will need to be spent on policing.

Turner said people want good policing and accountability, but "if we continue to get it wrong" marches, protests and demonstrations will continue.

WATCH:

Thomas Lane, one of the four former officers involved in George Floyd's death, has been released from the Hennepin County Jail on bond, according to the jail website.

Some context: Earl Gray, attorney for Lane, told NBC's Today Show on June 8 that his client "was doing what he thought was right."

Lane, 37, had only been on the force for four days when he helped to restrain Floyd, according to his lawyer. Asked how his client could stand by and watch for nearly nine minutes, Gray said:

Chauvin, Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were responding to a call about a $20 counterfeit bill on May 25 when they detained Floyd, who died while in custody. 

The four officers were fired and are now facing charges in Floyd's death.  

Chauvin, 44, was charged last Wednesday with a new, more serious count of second-degree murder. 

Kueng, Thao and Lane were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has renewed her call for the removal of the 11 statues representing Confederate soldiers and officials that are on display as part of the National Statuary Hall collection in the United States Capitol. 

Pelosi made the request in a letter today to the congressional leadership of the Joint Committee on the Library.

In a tweet, Pelosi said, “The statues which fill the halls of Congress should reflect our highest ideals as Americans. Today, I am once again calling for the removal from the US Capitol of the statues representing Confederate soldiers and officials. These statues pay homage to hate, not heritage.” 

The push from Pelosi is a renewal of a call she made in 2017 when she asked then-House Speaker Paul Ryan to join Democrats in backing legislation to remove the statues from the Capitol. That failed push from Democrats came after the violence in Charlottesville.  

President Trump avoided commenting on police, protesters, and George Floyd's death during an event with pro-Trump African-American community leaders at the White House on Wednesday.

Instead, Trump said historically black colleges and universities “were treated very, very badly and I treated them very good,” and said the black community is “doing very well now.”

Trump and other participants also blasted the media in vitriolic terms.

Republican political consultant Raynard Jackson accused the media of “putting more poison into the black community than any drug dealer” and “killing more black folks than any white person with a sheet over their face.”

The President didn’t respond directly, but later added, “The media is almost 100% negative. It’s incredible.”

Even when participants steered the conversation to the black community’s relationship with law enforcement, the President did not comment.

Kareem Lanier with the pro-Trump Urban Revitalization Coalition told the President that problems with police abuses run deep in the African American community.

After Lanier spoke, the President said that his comments were “well said,” and concluded the event.

Trump then took only one question from the press, but didn't respond when asked twice about why the confederacy needed to be defended.

The event was not on Trump's public schedule and was billed only as a “roundtable discussion.”

It's been more than two weeks since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police, and demonstrators continue to peacefully protest across the country.

Floyd died on Memorial Day in Minneapolis, and bystander video showed a police officer kneeling on the side of his neck as officers tried to subdue him. That sparked days of massive protests in cities across the nation and a sweeping discussion about race relations, reform of policing and more.

Here's a look at the protests across the country:

New York

Boston

Rapper and actor Chris "Ludacris" Bridges spoke with CNN about the importance of educating children on racial issue as the country continues to come to terms with the death of George Floyd.

Prior to Floyd's tragic death, Ludacris had already been working on helping to eliminate racial bias with a new media platform called Kid Nation. Developed with his business partner Sandy Lal, Kid Nation aims to teach children about current events, mostly through music.

Lal and Ludacris are planning for a full launch of the platform in the fall, but moved up the release of two new songs tied to current events. They collaborated with various groups of kids, who sing the songs, while Ludacris created the lyrics and melodies.

"I'm being the change that I want to see. So by giving all the parents that are home schooling right now another opening and giving their kids something safe to look at," Ludacris said. "We felt this was an emergency to put these song out. You're right. Having these conversations is hard. That's why I'm trying to do everything I can so the next generation doesn't go through the problems and issues that we're going through."

WATCH:

NASCAR will no longer allow the Confederate flag to be displayed at events and properties, according to a statement this afternoon.

Some context: In a week where NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace wore an "I Can't Breathe" T-shirt before an event and said racetracks shouldn't allow Confederate flags, the NASCAR driver will make another bold move Wednesday by racing a car with a Black Lives Matter paint scheme.

"I think by running this branding on our car, putting the hashtag out there, bringing more awareness to it, it lines up with the videos that we had put out as NASCAR," said Wallace, the first full-time African American driver in the Cup Series since 1971. "Listening and learning. Educating ourselves. So people will look up what this hashtag means. And hopefully get a better understanding."