Into America

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...

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 t...

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...

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 legisla...

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 bette...

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...

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 Wisc...

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 Cou...

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 la...

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....

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 1...

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 th...

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...

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 defe...

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...

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 cen...

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 h...

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 regardl...

Black Americans are dying from COVID-19 at a disproportionally high rate. One of the reasons why is proximity to pollution. In St. James Parish, Louisiana residents have been fighting for decades to stop industry-related pollution that causes a high prevalence of cancer, hypertension and other diseases. Those health disparities are now making residents a target for COVID-19. St. James and neighbor...

What do a famous DJ, an indie musician, and an all-girls choir have in common? It’s simple: a love of music. As we continue to collectively distance ourselves during this global pandemic, people are creating and listening to music to stay connected and bring joy to each other. This week, host Trymaine Lee talks about the power of music in the time of quarantine with writer and producer Bonsu Thomp...

Prisons are hotbeds of infection. People live in close quarters, where they often struggle to have access to soap and hot water. As COVID-19 sweeps the country, these men and women are doing everything they can to avoid getting sick. As many prisons reduce visitation rights, families that are already separated are struggling to remain in contact. This week, host Trymaine Lee talks to a Colorado wo...

There are moments in life that call for celebration and communion. When a baby is born and when a loved one dies, we cook meals, share stories and help out where we can. These moments of life and death are the moments that pull us together. But in the age of COVID-19, we are told to keep our distance. To prevent the spread of the virus, hospitals around the country are placing restrictions on who...

Coronavirus is continuing to spread and Americans are relying on the healthcare system to save them if they get sick. But what if you’re one of the 30 million Americans who are uninsured? Penny Wingard is one of them. As a breast cancer survivor, she’s immunocompromised and facing uncertainty about how to get proper care without coverage. In Charlotte, North Carolina, where Penny is from, federall...

This week, the coronavirus outbreak reached all 50 states and is now responsible for more than 140 deaths. Doctors and government officials are scrambling to address the problem. As schools close, employers send their workers home, and entertainment venues go dark, Americans are also wondering how the spread of the coronavirus will impact the 2020 election. This week’s primary states saw an increa...

The Mahoning Valley in northeast Ohio is in the middle of an economic transition. Manufacturing jobs have been leaving the region for decades, but the closure of the General Motors Lordstown factory last year was a major blow to the community. Some families were split apart as GM employees took transfers to other plants. Others are still mourning the departure of steady union jobs. But new opportu...