analysis after analysis shows us the rescue plan would make a huge difference. moody's analytics said it would bring us back faster, and over 90% of economists surveyed by reuters found it would drive substantial growth. the second question we often get, another good question, is when we will see bipartisan support for this bill. the reality is we see it every single day. a new survey from navigator research out this morning shows 72% of americans support the rescue plan, including 53% of republicans. a quinnipiac poll found 68% of americans back the rescue plan. a survey on monday showed over two-thirds support the package. i just wanted to highlight a couple of those pieces. those are excellent questions we get in here, but we did a little thinking about your questions. last thing i wanted to do at the top, kristen, who is back today again, asked a great question about the artimus program, and

i'm very excited to tell my daughter all about it. for those of you who have not followed, through the artimus, the american government will send astronauts to the service of the moon, another man and woman to the moon, which is very exciting. conduct new science, prepare for future trips to mars. today only 12 humans have walked on the moon. that was half a century ago. the artimus provides the opportunity to add numbers to that, of course. lunar exploration has brought the most recently detailed in fy21 omnibus spending bill, and certainly we support this effort and endeavor. why don't we go to you first, darlene. >> reporter: thank you. can you update us on the president's thinking on forgiving student loan debt? there are groups who are pushing for the president to forgive all

student loan debt. where does he stand on all that? >> sure. the president has and continues to support cancelling $10,000 of federal student loan debt per person as a response to the covid crisis. he's calling on congress to draft a proposal, and if it is passed and sent to his desk, he will look forward to signing it. debt relief is, of course, an important priority for the president. on day one, the first day of his administration, he directed the department of education to extend the existing pause on student loan payments and millions of americans with federal student loans. that was a step he took through executive action, but he certainly supports efforts by members in congress to take additional steps, and he would look forward to sign it. >> so he would do that through legislation and not an executive order? >> he already took a step through executive action on the first day and he would look to congress to take the next steps. >> reporter: second question,

there has been some sk discrepancies in these fema numbers the president quoted. he quoted 100. do you know exactly how many have been set up as of today, and how many were set up before the president took office? >> well, this is a priority to the president in setting up those vaccination sites and through partnership with fema something that he feels and our health and medical experts feel is a way to get more vaccines in the arms of americans. in terms of the specific numbers that have been set up to date, there are new updates every single day. i'm sure the team can provide an update on how many have been set up when they do their briefing tomorrow. i will say there were some really interesting updates that i received this morning about efforts to set up large-scale sites in texas. obviously there are some being set up in california. they're looking for space where

they can have great capacity to bring people in and vaccinate as many people as possible, but it's ongoing, and i'm sure the health team will be able to provide an update on the specific numbers. go ahead. >> reporter: i just wanted to ask if president biden will sign the refugee executive order today and a follow-up on that. >> the president is certainly committed to looking for ways to ensure more refugees are welcomed into the united states. it's a priority to him personally, but i don't expect him to sign a specific executive order today. >> reporter: do you expect him to announce his intent to raise the cap for the fiscal year for refugees to a prorated annual 125,000, which would be around, i guess, 80,000 for the year? i think "new york times" reported that. >> i expect him to talk about his commitment to refugees, but i'm not going to get ahead of any specific announcements he'll make in the speech. there's been good reporting. jake confirmed a lot of pieces.

>> reporter: has the president been briefed yet from secretary yellen's meeting with financial leaders over things like gamestop, and is he expecting her to deliver potential options to address that? >> i would send you to the department of treasury. they oversaw the meeting. i'm not even sure what time it took place. i would defer to them on that and any specific details they want to read on that. >> reporter: one of the parts of president biden's approach was that states didn't talk about when they would shut down, when they would reopen. it was talked about a kind of alert system. is that something president biden is planning to do, some kind of color-coded alert that

will tell them when to do those things? >> i will look into that. we are trying to make america safer, how to keep themselves ask thei and their families safe but also how to communicate with governors. that line of communication was shut at times to governors during the last administration, and they have a better heads up on how many vaccines they will have access to so they can do better planning, also working with them and tapping into fema, a question that came up earlier, utilizing their resources to be able to kind of mass vaccinate people in a larger location. those are a lot of ways we're implementing to date. there are a range of options on the table but i don't have any updates on a national alert system. i don't have any update on it, but again, you'll have the opportunity to talk to our health team tomorrow, and that's a good question to ask them.

>> reporter: american airlines and united airlines are planning to furlough about 27,000 employees by the end of next month as their federal pay runs out. is president biden planning to give those airlines more financial aid and does he support including that in this coronavirus relief package? >> i think the president's priorities are already in the package, and they are focused on ensuring there's funding to get vaccines in the arms of americans, funding to reopen schools, ensuring that the 1 in 7 families who can't put food on the table, he's worried about that, is able to do that. as you know, there is a process that will be ongoing on capitol hill over the course of the next days and through the course of next week where there will be amendments put forward to work on committees, but i think the priorities of the president are already in the bill. >> reporter: just a foreign policy question. avril haines said she would be providing congress with a

declassified report on who was responsible for the death of journalist jamal khashoggi. when can we expect to see that and does president biden plan to convict for the murder of jamal khashoggi? >> we would certainly never work to expedite or change the timeline that works best for them, and as jake noted, there is a range of our national security policies, certainly including, in terms of our relationship with saudi arabia, but i don't have anything to preview for you at this time. go ahead, pieeter. >> reporter: when it comes to covid relief, you said the president wants to help americans who need help. how do you determine who needs help and who doesn't? where do you draw that line? >> again, peter, i think what we're hoping to do through the package is provide assistance to

americans who are struggling to make ends meet at this moment in time. and you're right, there is a large swath of americans who are struggling through this moment in time because they fear about their health, the health of their grandparents, their cousins, their parents, and also people who worry about their kids going back to school, and their desire to get their kids back to school and continue learning. the package itself, again, is, of course, a priority of the president. it is not the end of our work or the end of his efforts to help bring relief to the american public. it is a first step, as he noted. he's also going to talk about his build back better agenda in the coming months, and that's something that will certainly build on this as well. >> reporter: i guess how should, for the americans listening to every word here, how soon could they expect that relief to come, and can you guarantee it will be there before the march 14th deadline when unemployment expires?

>> that's something the president is mindful of, the executive committee is mindful of, and that's why the president has been so firm in his insistence than the $1400 checks remain intact and that they go out to the american people. there is a process underway in congress. next week the committees will be doing the work that they should be doing, that they do through the budget reconciliation process. we have been very clear about our own view of the urgency here, and we're hopeful and confident that congress shares our view of that. >> the president talked about bipartisanship. he's worked with senate republicans, senate democrats and spoke with house democrats. when will he meet and speak with house republicans? >> every single day he is meeting with members of both parties, engaging with members of both parties. that work is not done but i don't have a meeting to announce here today. >> reporter: has he spoken or met with kevin mccarthy yet? >> i don't have any names to give out. he's met with members of our economic team, members of our

political teams. we are certainly engaged with all oflfices that have an interest in engaging with us. >> reporter: last question. hunter biden has a book to be released in april. is that book subject to a clearance review? >> for those of you who have not seen the news, it was announced by simon & shuster this morning. i have a statement from joe and jill biden as his parents. we honor our son to talk openly about his addiction. this is a personal book about his own personal journey, and i will leave it at that. >> jen, can you give us a sense of the scope and scale of the u.s. commitment to covid. $4 million has been approved for december, i believe. will there be additional funding? >> we have reiterated our

commitment to covax. i don't have a number today. >> will you comment on the vaccine supply for china as well as india? >> tell me a little bit more what you're looking for. >> reporter: china and india was essentially using the vaccine to improve ties with other country. what's the administration's position on that? >> our position is that we're focused on ensuring that the american people are vaccinated, that we are getting as many shots in the arms of americans as possible. we rejoined the world health organization so that the united states can have a seat at the global table in order to play a constructive role in getting safe and effective vaccines in the arms of americans. i'll leave it at that. >> reporter: do you have a comment on seeking asylum except for the legitimate people? >> i'll have to talk to our national security team about that.

go ahead. >> reporter: some republicans and democrats have said a minimum wage advancement is not necessary for this bill. is president biden willing to drop that for this bill? >> president biden believes the minimum wage should be raised. whether he'll negotiate that through the house and senate, i can't comment on here. >> reporter: does he believe the minimum wage needs to be in this package and this deal? >> i heard your question. he's committed to raising the minimum wage. he thinks it's an important step for american workers and american families. there is a process ongoing, the reconciliation process that will make some determinations about what can and cannot be in the bill based on rules. >> reporter: the question about dhs before, my question is about whether or not president biden believes or plans to in any way

make detention centers for undocumented immigrants, that they are no longer contracted with private companies? it's not a question about dhs, it's a question about what president biden's beliefs are and what he plans to do? >> i believe he signed an executive order to put the power of the immigrants in the committee to decide what to do. it is under the purview of the department of homeland security to make recommendations to the president of the united states, so that was what jake was conveying. >> reporter: he had used the previous executive order, though, to direct the department of justice not to renew contracts in private prisons, so i'm asking if he did not direct the department of homeland security to do the same. >> there is a new secretary at the department of homeland security. hopefully he'll come to this briefing room and talk about

these important issues, but we're not going to get ahead of his decision-making process. the president has talked about this issue as you've noted and others have noted, but we'll defer to the secretary of homeland security for more specifics about the path forward. >> reporter: jen, thank you for getting back to the folks at nasa. >> absolutely. >> reporter: yesterday the head of the cdc said it was safe to reopen schools without vac vaccinating teachers. you said the white house was waiting for official guidance before making a final determination. why isn't what the director of the cdc says, why isn't that enough? >> the director of the cdc also said they haven't issued their final guidance, and we, of course, wait for that process to complete and see its way through. as she would say as well, i believe she did an interview last night where she spoke to this issue again. the president, let me be crystal clear, wants schools to open, he wants them to stay open, and he wants to do that safely. and he wants health and medical

experts to be the guides for how we should do exactly that. so we're -- dr. walensky spoke to this in her personal capacity. obviously she's the head of the cdc, but we're going to wait for the final guidance to come out so we can use that as a guide for schools around the country. >> reporter: if this final guidance comes out and it says it is fine for schools to reopen without vaccinating teachers, can you say right now that's what president biden will support? >> whenever the guidance comes out, the president has prioritized, believes it should be a priority for teachers to be vaccinated. he also, though, believes that even with vaccinations for teachers or for any american that there are a number of other mitigation steps that are important to take. i'm sure this will be in the guidance when it comes out, or they'll speak to it, i should say. the wearing of masks, social distancing, ventilation. these are all factors that are important for americans and also for the reopening of schools. that's one of the reasons that

we need funding in order to be able to effectively ensure that public schools across the country are able to do that. >> reporter: one more question on this point. michael bloomberg said yesterday that it's time for president biden to stand up and say that the kids are the most important thing and stand up to the teachers' unions. if it comes down to a binary choice, and there is no indication that the teachers' dw union in chicago or california are willing to budge at this point, if it came down to a binary decision, who would win, the students or the teachers? >> i think it's unfair how you posed that question, but president biden wants schools to be open, teachers want schools to be open, families want schools to be open, but we want to do it safely. i don't think any parent in this country would disagree that they want their children to go to school in a safe environment, where there's ventilation, where proper steps are taken, whether

it's masks or social distancing, but the president is clear. he wants schools to open and stay open. he doesn't want them open for a month. that's disruptive for students, for teachers, for families, so he wants the proper steps to be taken so they can reopen and stay open. go ahead. >> reporter: one question on china. a state department spokesman said on wednesday that the united states was deeply disturbed about reports of systematic rape and sexual abuse to women and that there must be serious consequences for atrocities committed there, and i wondered if you could say anything about what serious consequences are currently under consideration? >> i don't think i can get ahead of the president or the secretary of state. we, of course, agree with those comments and statements from the state department, but i don't have anything to preview for you in terms of specific actions. >> reporter: has the president

used the construction act to get ppe or anything? >> dpa ratings, which you're probably familiar with, but everybody might not be, which kind of gives an assessment of what stock and supply is available. it's going we use as a guide and they're available to give a sense of items available. the president invoked the defense production act because he wanted his team to have the capacity to address shortfalls when needed, and we are constantly monitoring that. so all options are on the table in terms of how we would use the defense production act, and what we would use it to help produce in terms of relevant equipment or resources. i expect we'll have more of an update maybe even as soon as tomorrow on how specifically we're planning to use that. >> reporter: obviously you are tracking where the pitfalls are.

you haven't used it to this point? >> there are ongoing communication with companies and factories about what steps could be taken. i mentioned the ratings because we assess when there are needs to produce syringes or masks or things along those lines, then we can act very quickly. there is a briefing from our covid team tomorrow and hopefully they'll have more to say on this topic. >> reporter: i just wanted to clarify some questions on the energy sector, cancelling of the keystone pipeline. i wondered what the fate are of other key projects, including if the president cancels the pipeline through michigan, powers of the great lakes, does he support cancelling that? >> i have not asked about specifically that pipeline. i think we've noted a number under review, but i will see if there is a review.

>> reporter: the president also stopped the pipelines that would carry oil into alaska. >> i haven't seen another update from them on an additional step, but i'll see if there are any additional updates. >> reporter: also justin trudeau requested help in buying american. has there been an advancement on that? >> i don't have anything to report on that. >> reporter: i'm asking for a colleague who couldn't be here because of covid restrictions. the executive orders he signed the first day of his administration, and we hear the president is going to sign a memorandum for lgbtq rights worldwide.

however, the cornerstone to the lgbtq community was the ban on lgbt lgbtq. >> we have 85 days to go. >> reporter: what do we know about the president on this legislation? >> i think the president has been speaking out on a range of commitments, many on the lgbtq rights during his presidency, and he will continue, but i don't have any scheduling updates for you at this point in time. >> reporter: congress is expected to quit planned pare parenthood. is the biden administration

going to take action, as did the obama administration, to prevent planned parenthood from providing medicare programs? >> just last week in an executive order, he reissued guidance specifying that states cannot refuse medicaid funding for planned parenthood and other providers. hhs would certainly have more specific details, but they say they're committed to protecting and strengthening the medicaid program, as is the president, consistent with the executive order we released last week. go ahead, katie. >> reporter: thanks, jen. i know you said you would not talk about marjorie taylor greene in the briefing room, but i want to try this question in another way. what is the president commitment to assignin ing an analysis on republican party? >> i would say it is not the

president's role to assign fissures in the republican party and what might result. >> reporter: the new bill would require help for 14 million families. is that accurate or a starter? >> certainly efforts to provide additional funding for, i believe you said a child tax credit? >> reporter: it would actually eliminate existing programs and some child tax credit. >> the reporting just came out as i was coming out here so i haven't talked to our economic team about it. we certainly welcome efforts or offers from our republican friends for discussion in how we can improve the american recovery plan, but i haven't done -- they haven't done any analysis quite yet on senator

romney's proposal. >> reporter: nearly 2 million guns were stolen in january. a lot of this had to do with coverage of the capitol hill riots. the president promised to act on day one on this issue. there is only so much he can do with executive action on it. where does he fall on this? >> he has an ambitious plan in a lot of areas and a lot of issues. i would say as vice president, and even before that, the president took on the nra twice and won. this is an issue he is personally committed to. many in this building are personally committed to it, and i think he would love to see action on additional gun safety measures to protect families and children and knows that there is support across the american public for that. >> that's up to him for action, so when would he take action

before congress? >> we have a couple proposals before congress, but this is an issue he is personally committed to. he has worked on it many times in the past, but i don't have a date for you on when there would be a proposal. >> reporter: there is an nbc news video that went viral of the grocery store in naples, florida. >> give us a play by play. >> reporter: when you pan the grocery store, you see almost everybody in there is not wearing a mask, even though it's in a county where masks are mandated. beyond urging americans to wear masks, what is the white house doing to combat that resistance especially given concerns about the coronavirus mutations and others right now? >> one, we are trying to communicate about it as frequently as possible. obviously, as you see, i wear a mask out here. i take it off when i come to the podium based on the recommendations of our health and medical experts. you all are wearing masks right

now, and the president is taking steps that are possible through his federal authorities, including federal lands, on airplanes. we're trying to make sure people understand, and i'll reiterate it here today, it's not just a vaccine. it's an incredible american breakthrough and we want every american to have one. even after you're vaccinated, social distancing and wearing masks will be essential. we'll need to continue communicating about that through health and medical experts. >> what do you say about the folks, i believe one of the folks who owns or runs that store, that he doesn't believe 450,000 americans have died of coronavirus. at the end of the day, we need everybody on board to beat this virus. what do you tell him? >> we try to fight the information with facts, peter, and fight with health and medical experts including at a national level and local level to convey to people that wearing a mask is something that not only can save the lives of their

neighbors but of their family members. it's steps they're taking to protect themselves. we know statistically or from our health experts, i should say, that if americans wear masks for 100 days, 55 lives would be saved. we're going to communicate about it in a non-political way or factual way so americans can take steps to save themselves. >> how much would that cost if you followed through? >> there are a range of options on the table to help protect americans from the coronavirus and encouraged to mask up. that's vital to us because it's not just about the vaccine, it's about social distancing, ventilation and certainly wearing masks, but no decision has been made to do that so i don't have a costa assessment. obviously it would depend on how many people would be sent a mask. thank you, everyone. >> the white house press secretary jen psaki finishing a

lengthy briefing at the white house. she was taking questions large the on domestic issues, including president biden's covid relief plan, saying the president is adamant that $1400 checks to struggling americans be included in the final package being debated in congress. jake sullivan, the president's national security adviser, took questions before jen psaki came to the podium in the briefing room. that because president biden next hour will deliver a speech at the state department. in that speech, jake sullivan telling us the president will announce the united states will no longer support offensive military operations in yemen. that has been done throughout the trump administration by u.s. weapons being sold to saudi arabia and the united emirates, those weapons used as part of the emirates' bloody civil war. also jake sullivan when it comes to russia, vladimir putin's behavior, whether we're looking back to the interference in the elections or to alexei navalny

who was jailed after being poisoned. the president says there will be costs and consequences, but the united states will announce them in a manner of their choosing. to discuss what we just heard, katherine lucy of the "wall street journal," kylie and nia-malika henderson. kylie, let me start with you, every policy in the united states government, especially the comfort points of foreign policy. thought it was significant not only the policy shift when it comes to yemen but the language jake sullivan used essentially saying we will have a policy of no surprises, meaning we picked up the phone and talked to the uae and talked to the saudis, but we're going in a very different direction. >> we're learning a few things out of that briefing about what president biden is going to say when he visits the state department here. the main thing he's going to focus on is that their foreign policy is going to be led by diplomacy. that's why he's coming to the state department today. and as you said, they did

announce that the u.s. is going to be ending offensive support for what is ongoing in yemen right now. and that is a very significant decision. now, this is something that president biden promised to do on the campaign trail, this is something that democrats have been pushing him to do, and secretary of state tony blinken said this is something they would move on pretty quickly. but as you said, this means halting certain missiles, certain elements of u.s. munitions that were being sent to the uae in saudi arabia. and as you said, they did pick up the phone and they did call the emirates and the saudis to tell them this was coming. the other hugely significant news that we're hearing out of that briefing today is that the u.s. redeployment of u.s. military officials folks who were in germany are now going to be halted. so there is a relooking at where the military presence should be globally, and that's a review that the secretary of defense is going to be conducting.

and then the third thing i think is important to note is that the biden administration is also going to be announcing a new cap, a higher number on the number of refugees that are allowed to come into the united states. those numbers had hit historic lows in the trump administration, 15,000 in his final year, and so this is something that the biden administration wants to focus on, bringing in more refugees at a time when there are so many crises internationally. >> and katherine lucey, another big thing is in covid policy, and you can see that the new cdc director, dr. walensky, says it's important to bring kids back to schools even if they have not been vaccinated yet. yes, you would prefer to have teachers vaccinated, you would prefer mitigation efforts in place, but the children need to go back to school. we've seen in chicago and other

jurisdictions could lead to the president, and he was asked specifically, what would he choose, but there are teachers' unions saying we're not ready to do that just yet. that is a pressure point probably days or a few weeks down the road. >> that's right, john, this is a tricky issue for the administration. they made it very clear they want to reopen a majority of k-8 schools in the first 100 days, and they're saying they're push f pushing for more funding, pushing for more staffing, whatever they need to go to school safely. parents are getting frustrated by schools not opening and are really questioning whether they're doing enough and whether there should be more pressure put on teachers' unions. so i think you're right, the situation in chicago could become sort of a focus point here as they try and walk this

line. >> it's interesting, nia-malika henderson, it's day 16. you have this giant reset in the government, and we're watching the trump administration stop having these briefings. the former president was his own spokesman. he tweets his white house briefings. now you see jen psaki trying to reiterate and reinforce the president's priorities when it comes to covid relief, but until congress acts, every day, senator romney has a new plan today. will the white house consider that? some democrats want blanket forgiveness of student debt. jen psaki says the president supports $10,000 for every student and wants legislation from that. she tries not to negotiate from the podium but sometimes she gets drawn into it. >> that's right, and you saw her trip up on a couple issues early on. she is obviously getting used to this press corps, used to some of the issues coming up, but you do see the tinge in there. we talked about schools, sort of teachers' unions who we should

remember represent teachers, teachers versus kids and what that means for the biden administration, this administration, whether or not biden has talked to any house republicans about covid relief. you saw her say there she didn't have any meetings or calls to announce with kevin mccarthy, because, of course, there is this talk about whether or not there would be a bipartisan bill. typically that's thought of. can you get a couple senators on board, and the house is sort of not even in the picture in terms of getting on board with this $1.9 trillion relief package. but, listen, it is good she is doing these briefings. they're informative to the public, helpful to reporters as well, typically as the public still goes through this awful, awful covid pandemic which has horrible health implications for people, looking at maybe 500, 550,000 people dying, and then, of course, the record unemployment numbers that we're seeing, the claims that we saw most recently. so helpful, but again, it's a

tricky job she has. >> it is a tricky job, and kylie, one of the calculations is the biden team does want to show, again, around the world and around the united states, that we have changed the compass point, we're changing direction. we're changing the way we do things and we're changing the policies from the trump administration, but you also want to get it right. when it comes to issues, you heard tough words from jake sullivan about russia. you heard tough words from the leaders over prisoners in china. the iran nuclear accords came up as well. how do they draw the sweet spot at the state department saying, we have a new team, a different approach, but we want to get everybody on the same page before we act? >> that's right, john, and i think the way they're trying to do that is by doing just exactly what they did today, announcing a few foreign policy decisions or reviews that are ongoing and then really digging into the details here at the state department and saying that they're doing that alongside allies, and then actually doing

it, picking up the phone and calling allies around the world as they devise things such as their north korea policy or their policy on afghanistan or their policy on russia. they want to take action with allies so they're actually making those phone calls so that they can do that. and while they are reviewing all these things, they are announcing some really consequential foreign policy decisions that will define the biden administration out of the gates here. we saw that in the first week of president biden's tenure, fof course, when he rejoined the paris climate accord, when the u.s. got back into the world health organization that trump had ditched on his way out, so these are things they are reversing from the trump era, but they are also things they're really looking at in depth so they can figure out a full, fulsome policy approach that really works. >> grateful for your reporting, nia is going to stay with us.

a very public test on whether they welcome marjorie taylor greene into their committee. >> as far as i'm concerned, she is not in my tent. she discredits us and should not be considered a part of us. ♪ wow, uh-huh ♪ unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. take advantage everywhere. ♪ wow. ♪ - [announcer] grubhub perks give you the kind of panera deals that make you want to move. ♪ get a free delivery perk on your first order from panera, only on.. - [group] grubhub! - [announcer] grub what you love. if you're at home thinking about your financial plan... so are we. prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. that's over 25 million people. with over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of financial professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone.

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the gop wants a test for every single house member. the test is this. are you okay with what marjorie greene taylor believes? a vote will decide if marjorie greene taylor, who has testified that the riot was not an inside job. she said greene did offer a behind closed door policy to fellow republicans, and he said that should be enough. >> i denounce all those comments that were brought up.

she came inside our conference and denounced them as well. she said she was wrong. she has reached out in other ways and forms inside our chambers -- >> she apologized for past comments. >> kevin mccarthy says all is well. the house speaker nancy pelosi says, no, it is not. >> it's just so unfortunate. you would think the republican leadership in the congress would have some sense of responsibility to this institution as they did when they did not seek representative king of iowa two years ago. >> nia-malika henderson is still with us enjoying our conversation, manu raju on capitol hill. manu, the republicans are having this vote because they say they refuse to clean up their own

mess. >> they wanted kevin mccarthy. typically if they get in hot water, the party does it themselves. they don't require on the full body, the full chamber, to act. we heard that about king who made racial comments over the years. ultimately one was enough and they pushed him out of the committee. they are not doing that with marjorie taylor greene, in large part, or mainly because her comments were made before she became a member of congress. now, she, as you noted, made some comments privately last night to denounce, apparently, her past views or just say they don't represent who she is. we have not heard her say that publicly, though, and that's a big question. also the question is the precedent this vote would set. some democrats i'm talking to, john, are concerned about the precedent if republicans take the majority. will they come after their members? earlier today i asked the speaker, nancy pelosi, about if she has any concerns about the precedent it would set.

>> reporter: are you woraerd wo all about the precedent it would set? >> if one of our members were concerned about their safety, we would be the first to take them off the committee. >> reporter: she said, i'm done, and walked off from there. they believe republicans should take action, but politically, too, democrats see an advantage with trying to link republicans to qanon, the french conspiracy theory, they want to put republicans on the record voting this afternoon in support of keeping her on the committee. i'm told, john, in a conference call yesterday, the top democrat who is in charge of the house campaign committee, sean patrick ma maloney, said they plan to link qanon with her campaign, so that is part of trying to get her off the committee, john.

>> one way congresswoman greene could alleviate this is if she apologized publicly. would she go to the floor? i want you to listen here. she did do an interview with a conservative internet network this week where she did say parkland happened, that the school shooting happened where in the past she questioned if that was a staged event, a false flag event. that is nuts. listen to her with desousa, and it's interesting the language. >> 9/11 happened. we all saw it happen. >> 9/11 was done by osama bin laden. >> osama bin laden, absolutely. 19 terrorists that hijacked their planes. there's nothing wrong with asking questions, and that's what i've done is ask questions. this grave concern i'm being

persecuted for is what they asked questions about in 2018, and they are outraged that i dare commit such a sin and use my freedom of speech and just ask questions about things i have read about. >> ask questions, meaning, she asked questions, did a plane really fly into the pentagon? i lived across from the pentagon. a plane flew into the pentagon. people died. and she suggested that nancy pelosi should be killed. yes, you have a freedom of speech, especially if you're going to get involved with a position of responsibility. >> positions of responsibility, positions of power, positions of visibility. we saw she has no gratitude toward leadership that really moved to kind of save her from getting removed from these

positions by republicans. she said the leadership is weak, kevin mccarthy is all talk and no action. any time we talk about the conspiracy theorists like her, the theories that she espouses, particularly qanon, it is ethically dangerous. the fbi said this indicates a terrorist threat. it's not just someone's crazy talk, there is real danger here. we saw that on january 6. many of those folks were qanon conspiracy theorists. kevin mccarthy can suddenly claim he doesn't know what qanon is? he has denounced it in the past, and now he's saying, what is qanon, i don't even know how to pronounce it. he has members that are qanon conspiracy theorists in his caucus. >> they have deadly consequences and horrific consequences. marjorie taylor greene is speaking on the floor of the

house of representatives right now. we're tracking that to see if there is contrition to come. the point nia-malika henderson just raised about kevin mccarthy. your title is leader. you don't earn the title if you denounce yourself. here's kevin mccarthy last summer. >> i think it would be helpful if you could hear exactly what she told all of us, denouncing qanon -- i don't know if i'm saying it right, i don't even know what it is. there is no place for qanon in the republican party. i do not support it. >> does he really think that we're stupid, that republican voters, his voters, are stupid, that we're not going to go back and look at what he said in the past? this fits this pattern. remember back when the mueller report came out? lindsey graham said, i'm not even going to read the mueller report. he was chairman of the committee. you would ask republicans about them and he would say, i'm not going to pay attention to those. if they're not going to do their home work and study big issues

of the day, or if they're going to flat out lie and say they don't know what qanon is, why should we listen to them at all? >> of course he understands qanon. he understands the controversy, he understands the conspiracy theories, he knows what happened on january 6 and marjorie taylor greene. >> manu, i'm sorry, i need to interrupt you so we can listen to marjorie taylor greene. >> i say this to everyone, any source of information that is a mix of truth and a mix of lies is dangerous no matter what it is saying, what party it is helping, anything or any country it's about. it's dangerous. and these are the things that happen on the left and the right. and it is a true problem in our country. so i walked away from those things and i decided i'm going to do what i've done all my life. i'm going to work hard and try to solve the problems that i'm

upset about. so i started getting involved in politics. you see, school shootings are absolutely real, and every child that is lost, those families mourn it. i understand how terrible it is because when i was 16 years old in 11th grade, my school was a gun-free school zone, and one of my schoolmates brought guns to school and took our entire school hostage, and that happened right down the hall from my classroom. i know the fear that david hogg had that day, i know the fear these kids have. and this is why, and i say this sincerely with all my heart, because i love our kids, every single one of your children, all of our children. i firmly believe that children at school should never be left unprotected. i believe they should be just as protected as we were with 30,000 national guardsmen. our children are our future and they're our most precious resource. i also want to tell you 9/11

absolutely happened. i remember that day crying all day long watching it on the news. it's a tragedy for anyone to say it didn't happen. so that i definitely want to tell you. i do not believe that it's fake. i also want to tell you that we've got to do better. you see, big media companies can take teeny, tiny pieces of words that i've said, that any of you have said, any of us, and can portray us into someone that we're not, and that is wrong. cancel culture is a real thing. it is very real. and when big tech companies like twitter, you can scroll through and see where someone may have retweeted porn, this is a problem. this is a terrible, terrible thing, but yet when i say that i absolutely believe with all my heart that god's creation is he created the male and female and

that should not be denied, when i am censored for saying those types of things, that is wrong. you see, here is the real situation. i decided to run for congress because i wanted to help our country. i want americans to have our american dream, i want to protect our freedoms. this is what i ran for congress on. i never once said during my entire campaign "qanon." i never once said any of the things i'm being accused of today during my campaign. i never said any of these things since i have been elected for congress. these were words of the past, and these things do not represent me, they do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values. here's what i can tell you. i am beyond grateful for this opportunity, and i'll tell you why. i believe in god with all my heart, and i am so grateful to be humbled, to be reminded that

i'm a sinner and that jesus died on the cross to forgive me for my sins. and this is something that i absolutely rejoice in today to tell you all. and i think it's important for all of us to remember, none of us are perfect. none of us are. and none of us can even come close to earning our way into heaven just by our acts and our works. but it's only through the grace of god. and this is why i will tell you as a member of this congress, the 117th congress, i'm a passionate person, i'm a competitor, i'm a fighter, i will work with you for good things for the people of this country, but the things i will not stand for is abortion. i think it's the worst thing this country has ever committed. and if we are to say "in god we trust," how do we murder god's creation in the womb? another thing i will say to this

body is i want to work for all of you for our people. it should be america first always, always, and there's nothing wrong with that. and if this congress is to tolerate members that condone riots that have hurt american people, attacked police officers, occupied federal property, burned businesses and cities but yet wants to condemn me and crucify me in the public square for words that i said and i regret a few years ago, then i think we're in a real big problem, a very big problem. what shall we do as americans? shall we stay divided like this? will we allow the media that is just as guilty as qanon at presenting truth and lies to divide us? will we allow ourselves to be addicted to hate and hating one another? i hope not, because that's not the future i want for my children, and it's not the future i want for any of your children. i yield back my time.

thank you. >> the gentlewoman's time has expired. >> republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene speaking on the house floor saying many words that republicans wished she had said weeks and weeks and months ago, words of the past, words that do not represent me now. she said, i am a sinner and she asked for forgiveness. she said she should not be held accountable for words she said or words that social media posted that she liked back in 2019. manu raju still on the hill and nia-malika henderson with me. she goes to the floor and says, i regret this. she said she was wrong to believe in the qanon conspiracy theory. she's essentially saying i'm a sinner and i've made mistakes. a very important statement from the congresswoman, we should make that clear. she is standing up on the floor and at least now finally saying these things, questioning 9/11,

questioning school shootings were wrong and were mistakes. the question many people will ask is why now, why only today when you're about to be stripped of your committees? >> she could have done this over the last several days. she refused to do so, saying she would not apologize, raising money off of it, getting back with donald trump, and this train has left the station already. they're voting this afternoon to begin that process. there is a procedural vote followed by a vote with the full house to strip her of her committee assignments. the question is, does this pitch appeal to any democrats, because the democrats have the votes to strip her of her rights.

the democrats may say, look, she apologized, maybe we should give her another chance, maybe the republicans should give her another chance. at moment i'm not expecting that to change the dynamic. it's still expected she will lose those two committee spots, but this moment could give some democrats reason to think about the action they're taking here, but again, the question, john, why not say this last week that could have headed off this effort on the floor of the house, because democrats in part moved forward because she had not backed away from her statements and dug in. >> we would not be having this conversation if she said this the day after she was elected, if she said this the first day she came to washington. she could have said, i want to make something clear because i know things in my past have been controversial and i have many critics, justifiably so.

she said, i would ask questions about things that aren't true. i would ask questions about them, comment on them. if it wasn't for 9/11, i wouldn't be standing here today. i was allowed to believe things that weren't true. no, you weren't allowed, you allowed herself. an intelligent woman who allowed herself and didn't do the homework. you look ati qanon, and you realize it's quackery. >> what we don't understand about theories if we're not in them is the ways in which they trauk and maybe dog whistle certain things that we don't necessarily understand because we're not knee deep in them. i think what's dangerous about this moment is she's still a

conspiracy theer fist. she talked about god creating man and woman. ly she was essentially saying that that's why she's advocating for guns in schools. she said 9/11 happened but she didn't say the plane flew into the pentagon. i still think her elevation into congress and getting on these committees should, of course, be off these committees if democrats have anything to do with it. i think it's very dangerous and she's going to take a much bigger platform going forward. she talks the language of a conspiracy theorist. she is a fellow traveler with them, and i think this is a movement that is only going to get bigger. as the former president said, she is the future star of this party, and i think kevin mccarthy is ignoring that. it poses a real danger for the re