use the chase mobile app to send money in just a tap, to friends at more banks then ever before. you got next? chase. helping you master what's now and what's next. it's the top of the hour on msnbc. i'm stephanie gosk. today is earth day. happening now in cities across the country, tens of thousands of people are coming together for the march for science. the event brings together scientists and advocates who want lawmakers to listen to evidence-based data when enacting policies. marchers are also protesting president trump's proposed budget cuts to federal agencies that fund scientific research. marches are taking place in new york city where morgan radford is standing by. first, we go to ali vatali.

what's the message there today? >> reporter: as you can probably see behind me, most of the people are beginning the march here over to the capital. we just finished off with a great musical set. it really put people in a celebratory mood. it's almost like this was a second line for anyone familiar with the new orleans tradition. this is what you said in the lead-in to the segment. it's people looking for evidence-based policies from the government that support things like climate change but also that push back against budgets like donald trump's that look at the funding for the national institute of health, the centers for disease control, places that are integral to research and science, seeing their funding slashed in his latest budget at the cost of raising defense spending, which is something that trump has prioritized. but the president is actually out with a statement on earth

day just a few minutes ago and it says economic growth enhances environmental protection and that emphasis on bringing back jobs for the american worker has been a trump cornerstone for much of his campaign and for the first 100 days of his presidency. that should tell us something about the way that environmental policies, things like climate change and medical research are factoring in to this administration and maybe they are taking a less back seat in a way to economic growth. that is something that donald trump is really emphasizing, especially for the first 100 days here. >> ali, for sure. that message from the president is not going to comfort a lot of the scientists there. thank you. that's ali vitali. morgan, has the rain kept any of the scientists away today? >> absolutely not, stephanie. it's been raining off and on. we've seen thousands of people

in the streets. they were supposed to stop ten blocks north of where i am standing now. the march is culminated here in times square. i want to introduce you to two people here. we have sisily and eric. you said president trump has replaced scientists with people who weren't friend of scientists. what did you mean by that? >> the department of energy in the obama administration had two very good and well-respected physicists in charge. and now he has the oops guy. >> reporter: the oops guy? >> the oops guy. >> reporter: you are a human resister. i want them to see this sign. it says, "i'm a trump resister." but we also have sisily who is another ientist. why did you think it was so important to come out here today? >> because i think demonstrating eventually changes the public's opinion. my research and my livelihood depends on government funding.

i'm funded by the nfs and i don't want to see the nih and epa be cut because it has huge implications on perpetuating scientific development. >> reporter: what she's saying is something we've heard from a lot of people marching here today. they said they were marching for climate change and more environmentally friendly policies and finally they said this is about technology. if it weren't for investment and research, we wouldn't have the internet. this is about america moving forward. stephanie? >> scientists coming out today. they don't normally get involved in political events but they are today. joining me now, christine todd whitman, also the former governor of new jersey. governor, thank you so much for joining me today. let me get your thoughts on today's nationwide march. >> well, first of all, it's a worldwide march happening all across the country.

so it's not just here in the united states. yes, i think a lot of what spurred this is obviously the new budget but this has been coming now for years. federal spending and ercut in desperately need fact-based cision making. this is a chance for scientists to finally be seen. they don't demonstrate. i mean, in new zealand, their chant is, what do we want, fact-based science. when do we want it? after peer review. that's not the kind of chant that gets people out on the streets. this is what they are doing for the first time, really taking a stand and saying science matters, matters to each one individually for all kinds of reasons for the newest technology in our homes and what doctors use. it's important for scientists to get out there and that's what this is about. >> govern nor, one of the most

contentious issues is climate change. there are a number of people in the republican party, your party, who don't believe climate change is manmade and some don't believe in it at all. what is your message to them? >> well, what i say to them is, look, we can do a lot of things for human health by cleaning up the air and what we put into it and that can help the environment. that can help slow down climate change. the climate's been changing since the earth was formed. but what we're putting into it is such a pace that earth can no longer absorb it. look back to china, beej jing before the olympic games and they closed down the airports and kept the cars out of the city, it was beautiful and clear and clearly there was a cause and effect there. whether or not you believe there is a cause of climate change,

clearly human behavior is impacting the environment. and we're just helping our own human health. >> on that issue of climate change and what causes it, trump criticized obama for the paris clate accord. so far, president trump hasn't said what his administration is going to do. but what happens if the u.s. approximately pulls out of that agreement? >> well, i mean, we see leadership. we see leadership in the area of new technologies for energy and the area of new technologies for cleaning up the environment. we've become a side show and, unfortunately, one of the things that you know about the environment is that mother nature doesn't care about geopolitical boundaries. so we need to ensure not just that we are doing a better job of cleaning up our atmosphere but so are the other developing countries. we need to give them the tool to clean in a good way because that

benefits all of us. we don't have a voice at the table if we can't help influence where the emphasis is going to be and that's not in our best interests, i don't believe. >> what do you make of president trump's silence on this issue so far in his administration? >> well, i think that's a good thing. i'm afraid that this is the one area -- the budget really is the policy document. that tells you what people really think and what they care about and where they're really going. that troubles me deeply. a 31% cut, the deep cuts in noaa and across the administration, the government and science and in research and in technology, that's really what makes a difference is what omb does there. the president has the ability to override that, to change what omb is suggesting and congress has the last word and if he doesn't put himself too much in

a corner it doesn't go fwook whe back to where it needs to be. >> tell me what a 31% budget cut does to the epa. >> well, it's not just the epa. it does it to all of us because it means you'll step enforcement, a clot of cleanup projects and brownfield sites. those are located in many downtowns, the abandoned gas stations and things and money going to states to clean them up is going to dry up. that money is not going to be there. you're not going to have enforcement. we're going to go backwards. it's hard because people look around and say, gee, my water is clean and safe to drink. what's the problem? well, it's not always because we know that from flint, michigan, and here in arizona, we've had two back-to-back days of air quality alerts. one of the interesting things they said when there were

quality alerts, they said car pool as much as you can. they get it. there's a cause and effect relationship between the cars out on the road and the environment. so we lose that and that research. what is safe and what isn't safe. for a long time we thought asbestos was fabulous. there's a downside there we've found out about. same thing with lead. these are things we've learned because scientists are doing the work they need to do to give us the statistics so we can make inappropria decisions. i think they hate regulation. it's government overreach, in their mind and for some reason they have this idea that epa makes regulations out of whole cloth, that they are not based on science and that's where we have the real disconnect.

it's not the people who get up and say whose life can i mess up next? it's that we're finding out more and more about this toxin, this chemical, this new product. we need to protect people from the adverse effects. >> we'll have to wrap it up there. thank you, former epa administrator and new jersey governor christine todd whitman. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. people participating in the march for science hoping to send a message to president trump in washington this weekend. right now the president and first lady are at walter reed medical center. the president announcing the trip in a treat. he also announced a rally for next saturday evening, his 100th day in office. kelly o'donnell is at the white house this afternoon. what can you tell us about this visit to walter reed? >> reporter: well, it's an important step for any commander in chief, stephanie, to go and see injured service members and this is the first time the president has made this trip first lady melania trump who is in d.c. this weekend also joined

him. he said he wanted to present the purple heart to one particular service member when he heard this story. sergeant first class elva elvaro borentos who was injured in afghanistan. he said, when i heard about this, i wanted to do it myself, referring to the purple heart. congratulations. tremendous. i think he means the sacrifice of this service member in the line of duty injured in afghanistan. this was an opportunity for them to have personal contact with him, to award him the purple heart. there were meetings not on camera where the president was able to see other injured service members. it's also the president's hospital, as it's known, where typically the presidents of the united states go for any of their medical care. and so this was perhaps a place we'll see president trump visiting again from time to time looking at what past presidents have done of just sort of

dropping in and seeing service members. >> we see melania there alongside her husband for an event like that. thank you very much, kelly o'donnell. how much can president trump really do in the next week to bolster the first 100 days of his administration? we'll take a look. and what realistically can democrats command in a temporary spending bill that won't stop the government from shutting down? ing, so we know how to cover almost anything. even a coupe soup. [woman] so beautiful. [man] beautil just like you. [woman] oh, why thank you. [burke] and we covered it, november sixth, two-thousand-nine. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ except for every ladies' night. vegetarian... only glad has forceflex to prevent rips,

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with one week to go until president trump hits that magic 100-day milestone, his administration is making a strong push to get legislative wins on the board. but with their to-do list growing, how much can you get done in the next seven days? i want t bring in laura and

senior video reporter for "the wall street journal." thank you all for joining me. kevin, i'll start with you. some people are caught off guard. among them, his staff. according to "the new york times," it left treshly officials speechless. what kind of plan can there be? >> treasury secretary steven mnuchin has been at work for reforming parts of the 2010 dodd/frank act. there was an executive order that just came on friday but in terms of tax plan, look, the republican conference is not entirely on the same page here with this, particularly on what's known as the border adjustment tax. now, that would stream $1 trillion in revenue for the government to be able to offset

other tax proposals. that's being supported by house speaker paul ryan. the president has not said where exactly he and the administration will fall in line with the border tax and many republicans in congress are already out against this. so the bottom line, if what we saw with health care worker and whether or not that -- the disruption could play out again on tax reform. >> there was a moment, quickly, kevin, iuickly realized how complicated this was, is that going to happen with taxes as well? >> they want to do it within the first year and it's not tied to any kind of fiscal clip. health care could happen next week, too. >> that's very optimistic. the tax announcement came about 3:00 p.m. the stock market did not change

a bit. >> investors didn't react and we saw earlier, particularly during the campaign, anything trump said moved markets. we also have steven mnuchin who has details in june and investors didn't really believe not that we wouldn't see an announcement but we wouldn't get details that they are craving. it was complicated by the reaction of white house officials who, as you say, were shocked. >> they want details. there are other issues that have yet to be solved. will is just be corporate taxes? there are a lot of key questions. >> and there indications of

broad strokes. >> right. trump has had many tax plans before. we've seen many variations of his idea. >> on top of all that, they want to address health care. laura, i'm going to turn to you. there's this renewed health care push. the president says it doesn't matter if it's passed next week but is there pressure to get this done before the 100-day deadline? >> i think there's pressure to get anything done before the 100-day deadline. the president hasn't had one legislative win yet. he tweeted pre-emptively saying that the coverage of the first 100 days is going to be terrible because i think he's a bit embarrassed about it. he needs to have a win on something and he's trying to reform the american health care system, pass a budget bill that averts the health care system and tax code in four days. none of that is going to happen. >> with all due respect to our friends in congress, they have trouble sometimes just with one

issue. kevin, is the administration trying to do too much too fast and just in one week? >> i spoke with the rnc chairwoman earlier this week and she said the biggest victory they've had was appointing someone to the supreme court. they had to use the political nuclear option. the sources i spoke to on capitol hill told me that on monday night there is going to be a house freedom caucus meeting. the ultra conservative wing of the republican party, they are going to meet and talk about whether or not there is a health care bill. this was the key part of what republicans ran on. not just to take back the white house but also to take the house and the senate, they said that they needed a republican-controlled majority in order to reform parts of obamacare. they have to now do that. and i think that what you're seeing is privately behind the scenes growing understanding that they have to get something done because forget about 20 sla20 for second. it's not just about the white

house but repubcans need to show that they can pass from a policy standpoint. >> so on that point, shelby, if this big legislative push goes nowhere, from a pr perspective, how does the president manage that issue going forward? >> i don't think he'll be happy. i don't see this coming to this dramatic head the gop has learned their lesson and i don't see this coming to this dramatic, should we vote, should we not but it is a huge promise to follow through and they have to have tax reform. this has to come before tax reform. that's just a talking point. there are parts of health care that they want to repeal that include taxes and they want to be able to do it with budget maneuver, reconciliation. it makes taxes much easier if they deal with health care first. they don't necessarily have to but it's going to be really

complicated to deal with taxes if they cannot agree on health care. >> meanwhile, the government has to stay up and running. >> exactly. >> thank you all very much. kevin, laura, shelby, i really appreciate it. >> thank you. be sure to catch "meet the press" tomorrow. chuck todd has exclusive interviews with nancy pelosi and white house chief of staff reince priebus. also on the show, senator marco rubio. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press" on nbc. pumng energy into the democratic party. t is the relationship between senator bernie sanders and democratic chairman tom perez allowing that to happen? we'll take a look. and later, how a few words written in a letter to the new york city mayor and police chief have been upset with the justice department. but first, a massive brush fire is destroying hundreds of homes in florida forcing residents to evacuate. the fire started on friday and quickly spread due to dry

conditions. now officials are struggling to contain the blaze. the governor deploying the national guard and five black hawk helicopters to help. (vo) more "doing chores for mom"

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the right hotel for the right price easy. visit booking.com now to find out why we're booking.yeah i'm stephanie gosk, live in new york, at the bottom of this hour, thousands are out on earth day to take part in a march for science rally. in d.c., rain isn't stopping the masses as activists and scientists denouncing the president's call for the epa and national institute of health. meanwhile, president trump reiterating his plan for tax reform next wednesday. the announcement comes in the first 100 days that the white house is almost up. right now, another crowd is gathering in las vegas for

senator bernie sanders and democratic party chairman and progressive wings and it's been a bumpy road. the chairman at times taking on boos. alex sykes is joining me from the event. do we have unity yet? >> reporter: it's still a step in progress here. i think tom perez knew that. these rallies seem like bernie sanders rallies. tom perez was not the guy that bernie sanders wanted to be the dnc chairman. that was keith ellison. and let them vent a little bit and build that process. there's been a couple bumps in the road and it's going to be a long process before they get to

a completely unified democratic party. >> alex, i know it's loud there. but is tom perez, as you've mentioned, he's a bit of an unknown. is he picking up the bernie sanders' shine? >> reporter: yes, he is. people were skeptical at first but then they hear him talk and say a lot of the same issues that bernie sanders is talking about, hearing this strong rhetoric. he's been dropping swear words in his speeches this week. they give him a benefit of the doubt. remember, the context here is that they blame the dnc essentially for rigging the primary process last year against bernie sanders. there's a lot of mistrust coming in here and perez is trying to rebuild that the same time he's trying to rebuild the democratic party as a whole after losses in november but he recognizes that this is a crowd that he needs. bernie sanders is one of those popular politicians in the country. he won a huge portion of the democratic primary vote and he's going to begin, if he doesn't

finish this week, to get them on board. >> do you expect that we'll see more of this down the road? >>eporter: i think we will, whether with bernie sanders or liz wet b elizabeth warren or other figures. they've already done tours like this and tom perez has been going around and doing smaller listening tours with people and activists where he let's them vent and express their frustration. democrats are really angry. they are frustrated with the party and not happy with the state of it and he's going to try to channel that into rebuilding it. it's a big challenge and it's tough but we'll see if he can pull it off. >> alex seitz-wald, thank you very much. this week's terror attack in paris could have a huge impact on tomorrow's presidential election. and the two front-runners couldn't be any more different. one woman being compared to president donald trump and the

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last-minute preparations are under way right now at polling stations across france. with just hours to go before the first round, the campaigning has now stopped before tomorrow's presidential vote. the right-wing candidate marine le pen is supported by donald trump and the center left candidate, emmanuel macron backed by president trump. president trump tweeted that this terror attack about have an impact on the area. are you seeing that on the

ground? >> reporter: well, there were peop who panicked around a man who they thought was about to commit another terror attack. people are on edge here near the champs-elysees. we see a lot of police and troops walking around. although, it's not that unusual. it's been that way for a couple of years now. i don't think people are so scared that they are not going to vote. they may be confused about who they want that they are not going to vote. rates could be 35%. but i don't think terror will be a factor. >> why should they care? >> reporter: marine le pen is not just a right-whiing candida, she's a radical candidate. and fascist is a word we used to

use in united states but not so much here. the world could be threatened if marine le pen becomes president of france, says president trump. so he wants to support emmanuel macron as he did with justin trudeau. president trump is huge hly popula here. so frankly, i think his call to emmanuel macron, the centrist candidate, is going to be a lot more beneficial to him than marine le pen. >> what impact does it have if a

crypto fascist is elected? >> she wants to have a referendum and she will threaten the integrity in nato so pretty heavy influence. >> turning europe on its head, it seems like. christopher dickey, thank you very much. officials in new york city firing back after the trump administration puts them on notice, telling cities they must get on board or else. plus, we were the only ones able to get access to i.c.e. agents in southern california. a report from the u.s./mexico border, next.

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soft on crime. see how that feels and what the people of new york city will feel about that. this absurd statement needs to be taken back instantly. >> challenging president trump and jeff sessions on friday after the department of justice released a statement putting new york and other so-called sanctuary cities on notice. the dodge sej sent nine letters sanctuary cities. "new york city continues to see ga murder after gangrder, the consequence of the city's soft on crime stance." as you saw, that did not sit well with the mayor and the country's largest police department. the warning was all part of a larger crackdown on immigration. earlier in the day, sessions and homeland security john kelly

observed observations at the mexico and u.s. border. >> ideally, the best place for us to pick up these criminals is in jails or prisons. if we don't do that, we have to go into neighborhoods, into courthouses, go wherever we can find them and apprehend them. >> nbc's gadi schwartz got a chance to ride along with the officers as they carried out a string of operations in california this past week. here's his exclusive look. >> reporter: on any given day, the immigration arrests happen before the sun comes up. nine teams spanning california with lists of immigrants with criminal histories targeted for deportation. >> we don't do raids or sweeps. what we're doing and what you've seen happening is targeted

enforcement operations. >> reporter: i.c.e. agents waiting for this man to walk out ther before moving in. >> i go to work right now. >> reporter: this is an i.c.e. agent. >> if you're here in this country illegally, he should be deported. >> this officer knocks on the wind window. >> she showed you a card from an attorney that says don't talk to i.c.e., i'm not going to let you in and of course we're going to abide by that. >> reporter: back at the processing center, the men rounded up are it waiting to ca their families. this man has a history of burglars. >> nobody is perfect. everybody has made mistake. >> he tells us that his wife has

cancer. >> reporter: he says he doesn't know what is going to happen with his wife. he's the one who takes care of his wife. he doesn't know what's going to happen to his daughters. >> reporter: this man has been deported four times and convicted of selling drugs. >> he says the reason he keeps coming back is because of his daughters. what are they going to do? >> reporter: i.c.e. says they would have rather detained them while in jail. >> our preference would be to take these people into custody at a jail or some other law enforcement facility. >> reporter: so instead arrests happen at their homes or work. any news of deportation leads to fear. high-profile removals like this woman deported in front of her kids or this week news of a daca recipient being sent back to mexico. families terrified that minor

criminal offenses are those with no cnal records could be deported. >> what about people with families here? >> that' an unfortunate consequence of our immigration laws. but we don't make immigration laws. our job is to enforce them. >> reporter: he says the laws are the same but this administration is bringing change, bringing more resources to agents on who should be targeted. >> we've sort of shifted in that spectrum of criminality. it now includes everyone that's not only been convicted of a crime but those who have entered here illegally, whether they have been convicted of illegal entry or not. >> reporter: does that mean i.c.e. is prepared to go after everybody? >> that's not what we're doing right now. if we're prepared, and we get that order, we're going to do it. >> reporter: leaving millions of undocumented families living under an american contradiction. we are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants. >> that was nbc's gadi schwartz.

great reporting there. vice president mike pence confronting north korea while in australia saying three different times that, quote, all options are on the table. we'll take a closer look at the u.s. strategy against the nuclear armed regime. and happening now in our nation's capital and in cities across the country, giant marches are under way to defend science. we'll go live to both washington, d.c., and new york city coming up. lays♪ my friends know me so well. they can tell what i'm thinking, just by looking in my eyes. they can tell when i'm really excited and thrilled. and they know when i'm not so excited and thrilled. but what they didn't know was that i had dry, itchy eyes. but i knew. so i finally decided to showy eyes some love. some eyelove. when is it chronic dry eye? to find out more, chat with your eye doctor and go to myeyelove.com. it's all about eyelove, my friends.

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vice president mike pence is vowing to make sure that north korea is dealt with saying all options remain on the table. in a news conference with australia's prime minister, he issued new vows to take action. if china isn't able to rein in the threat. let's go to sara james in melbourne for more on the vice president's visit. sarah, why was this visit to australia so important for the

vice president? >> reporter: well, the vice president said it's an incredibly important time to reaffirm lie ya reaffirm alliances and engage and there is a joint base in the center of this country which is incredibly helpful and an important time when it comes to north korea and what it poses. australia, meantime, is feeling the pressure. the north korean foreign ministerayingha australia face as nuclear threat for toeing the line with the united states. both the united states and the australian prime minister here saying that there is one nation which can bring pressure to bear on north korea and that nation is china. >> the president and i have great confidence that china will

properly deal with north korea. but as president trump made clear a few short days ago, if china is unable to deal with north korea, the united states and our allies will. >> and indeed grateful to the australia prime minister for calling china this week and trying to put some of that economic and diplomatic pressure to bear to have china exert its leverage with north korea. >> sarah, switching gears for a moment, the refugee agreement made by the obama administration which has been a sticky issue with president trump came up during his talks, vice president's talks. what was his response? >> reporter: yes, that's an interesting one. there was a notorious conversation that happened on

january 28 when it was called a dumb de. th is something that the austraans really wanted to have happen. what occurre was the vice president said that because of the importance of the strategic relationship, that deal is going to go through. >> all right. well, sara james, thank you very much. let's talk more about the vice president's trip abroad and the u.s. policy on north korea. jonathan pollack is an expert with the brookings institution and former professor at the u.s. naval war college. thank you for joining me. i wanted to start right in on this. how serious is the u.s. taking these new threats by north korea? this is the second time that we were told that they are right on the verge of detonating a nuclear bomb. >> north korea makes these statements with some regularity. they are done for domestic purposes and maybe an element of

cautioning the united states as well. they are not going to telegraph exactly what they are going to do but they are trying in some sense to put markers down perhaps that somehow that will inhibit the united states from acting against them. and to, frankly, warn the united states of what a conflict might look like if war were to ensue. >> it raises a possibility that perhaps china is may be exeing pressure that the administration isooking for. can we read anything into that? >> we can. the chinese made no information about withholding oil supplies to the north. that's been raised in chinese publications. the implication being that this would be a way that and either

oil supplies are being restricted to the north and there are a lot more automobiles now than a few years ago or, alternatively, that the north korean authorities may be preserving the oil that's coming in as much as possible. >> we're hearing that all options aren on the table but the u.s. has possibly shown restraint because it may lead to a significant loss of life and destruction. can you describe what would happen? >> what would you be trying to do. but let's set that to the side.

we're better prepared of major retaliation triggered by north korean options, north korea's ability to hit seoul, the people of 20 million people and the consequences here could be extraordinary and regardless of what we may imply, any strategy and allies both in seoul and in tokyo they've said as much and very strongly. so the presumption that you can make a decision to go to war in the absence of those consultations and putting aside china as a very, very large consideration that is separate from that just shows the notion

of unilateral action. it's almost unimaginable. and fortunately i think that the administration in terms of some of the very sober military advice it's getting from very, very senior people, they understand the consequences of what is war would look like in korea. death and destruction would be almost unimaginable and we've got to ask ourselves very, very carefully if that's the road we're thinking about going down. i don't think we are. i really think with due respect to vice president trump, vice presidt penc rather, all options are not on the table. they are set aside for any kind of realistic purpose as we weigh the options of how we indeed deal with this very, very dangerous and enduring threat. >> if you could describe for me the u.s. presence already on the ground in the region. >> well, we have ordinary narrowly in the republic of

korea, 28,5000 military personnel. we have augmented forces that are there in the region right now. air power and at some point in the next week or more, a u.s. aircraft carrier that has been making the rounds, including to australia and the indian ocean. so -- and then we, of course, have 50,000 troops in japan that give the united states a whole array of possibilities to address and to deter and to caution north korea against any kind of unilateral action. >> those forces also in the line of fire. jonathan pollack, thank you for joining me. that wraps things up for me. i'm stephanie gosk. up next, yasmin vossoughian has a report on what is happening across the country. (haha) no wonder you can't sleep, your car is a mess!

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