Let's begin by answering Andrea Mitchell's question. "How would it have appeared" if the Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had called the Maryland governor to request National Guard troops just afer Freddie Gray's funeral? It would have appeared that she was doing her job, protecting people and property, rather than being overly concerned with photo op politics.
On her MSNBC show today, Mitchell asked Rep. Elijah Cummings to explain why the mayor waited three hours after the rioting started to call the Governor for help. Good question. But when Cummings criticized "Tuesday morning quarterbacking" and mentioned that the Gray funeral had just ended, Mitchell backed off. She thanked Cummings for his "context," then apologetically added "you're right: how would it have appeared if she called up the National Guard as the funeral was taking place. "