hello and thank you for spending part of your christmas eve with us. i'm lindsey reiser at our msnbc headquarters in new york. president trump began his holiday vacation down in mar-a-lago today. leaving the chaos he's causing in washington behind. that now includes a laundry list of concerns over the fate of the emergency covid relief, vital funding for the military, a potential government shutdown and maybe even a presidential attempt to pardon himself.

this morning, house republicans shot down the democrats attempt to act on president trump's last-minute demand to bump up stimulus checks to millions of americans to $2,000. so now the timing for those original $600 checks is in doubt as the president lashes out at the covid relief deal that his own advisors helped negotiate alongside a government funding bill which means the clock is ticking on emergency pandemic relief for struggling americans and it's ticking towards a government shutdown on monday if the president does not sign the legislation. not to mention congress is going to have to override the president's veto yesterday of the defense bill and that's not a sure thing either. the action on the hill today follows those stunning wednesday night pardons. jared kushner's father charles and paul manafort and roger stone part of a pardon wave that might crest with action to protect the first family. amid all this chaos, the

coronavirus continues to rage with more than 220,000 new confirmed cases in the u.s. and a national death toll now surpassing 327,000. we begin with nbc garrett haake and josh covering all the latest angles on these story in west palm beach and chuck rosenberg, a former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official. garret dt, we'll start you. let's start with what happened on the hill today with the covid relief/funding bill. we're basically in a holding pattern who does not bold well for americans who need that help. >> no, it doesn't. if the president chooses not to sign the bill as it exists in its current form, we're already going to see some of the co vco related from the cares act. democrats came to the floor this morning and they tried to pass by unanimous consent exactly what the president had asked for, boosting the $600 direct payments to $2,000 direct payments. they were blocked by one republican.

they plan to come back with the full house in session on the 28th and try to force a larger vote on this. they may be able to move things there. as it stands right now no one on capitol hill really understands if they're operating under a veto threat or just a presidential tantrum. hoyer spoke to this confusion in a news conference just after the vote today. take a listen. >> the president, i want to make it clear, if you listen to the president's five-minute whatever adjective one wants to apply to it, he did not say i'm going to veto the bill. he said it was insufficient, he wanted more. which is why we responded this morning to try to consistent with the president's request to accommodate his perspective. >> and, lindsey, that's why you have republicans in interviews and going on television, particularly on the president's

favorite channels saying the president needs to sign this bill. he needs to sign what he's got now. that's the easiest way out of this. if he wants more, already discussion about doing another stimulus bill next year. of course, next year he will not still be the president and that may be the hang up here. >> good point there. josh, how are white house officials selling these actionsen tactions on the relief bill? just days after they were publicly on the deal negotiated by treasury secretary mnuchin? >> that's exactly right. this is the latest example where white house officials are forced to essentially backfill a position and try to come up with some type of rationale for a position the president has taken after the fact. because this caught many of them off guard just like it did lawmakers in congress who thought that they were done and had, in fact, left town having passed that massive covid relief bill and silenced from the white house and they're letting the president's comments about this in his twitter video let them

speak for themselves and not clarifying whether the president, indeed, is threatening to veto this or if whether he's simply expressing his displeasure with it as it stands as garrett was pointing out. we got here last night from washington as the president came here for his vacation in florida and although on his schedule today there were no events listed, the white house included a fairly odd note in it, lindsey, that we don't normally see. they said the president is continuing to work hard on behalf of the american people and had many meetings and called scheduled. now, the only thing that we know the president has done so far today is head to his golf course here in west palm beach. but as we flew here last night the only senior level aide that we saw on the plane with him was jared kushner. but now a person familiar with the situation tells me that rudy giuliani was on air force one with us as we flew to west palm beach. so, as they say, watch this space. >> as we've been saying quite

often. chuck rosenberg, let's go to you and turn to those pardons and tick through some of them. on wednesday it was former campaign manager paul manafort, long-time associate roger stone and charles kushner. connected to the russia investigation and the individuals convicted from blackwater and those three former congressmen chris collins, duncan hunter both of whom were among the first two to endorse president trump and steve stockman. did any of these partens surprise you and what did they tell you about the president's thinking going forward? >> sadly, lindsey, they didn't really surprise me. nothing really surprises me very much any more. the president's thinking going forward to put it charitably is to take care of himself and his friends and his family and his political allies. that's what this president does. that's what his instincts are. and we've seen it over and over again. look, other presidents have

issued what i think are impro r improper, albeit constitutional pardons. other presidents have taken care of family and other presidents have taken care of allies. but no where nearly as often, not at the magnitude of what the current president is doing. and so to josh's point, watch this space because i expect a lot more of this type of behavior from this president. taking care of friends and political allies on his way out the door. >> but, chuck, what about himself. the debate is still out there on whether the president will try and pardon himself with a reaction would be in legal circles. most lawyers that we have on say, oh, we don't know because it's never been tested. >> yeah, great question. so, i think of it in three parts. can the president pardon himself? yes, he can. can he do that constitutionally? no, i don't think he can. and, third, if i'm right, that it would be unconstitutional, how do we know that? and it's that answer to that last question, how do we know it

will be unconstitutional where it gets a little tricky. the way we would find out would be for the president to pardon himself and then under the biden administration for the president to be indicted, charged federally with a crime and looks like he's committed plenty if you read the mueller report and then the president would have to raise his self-pardon as a defense to the charges, lindsey. and then and only then would we litigate it and get an answer to the question can the president constitutionally pardon himself? i don't think from the structure of the constitution as i read it it makes any sense that a president can constitutionally do that. but he may well try out the door and, again, we only get a definitive answer if we end up litigating it. we only litigate it if he ends up getting charged. >> sounds like a large and arduous process. we don't know what biden justice department would do because he says he wants to move the country forward. josh on this note, a growing body of reporting that the president is increasingly unpredictable and increasingly

unleashed. do people close to the president think that being at mar-a-lago for the next few days soaking up the vitamin d like you are right now will help lower the temperature a little? >> well, the problem is, lindsey, that the body of people who are around the president has gotten smaller and smaller. there are fewer of the people who tend to serve as a buffer between the president and his worst instincts. those individuals have either started to move on, are looking for new jobs or they are steering clear of the president's orbit because of how unpredictable he is. because they are concerned, according to the sources that we're speaking with about the path that he is going down. so, what you're left with are folks around the president who are real die-hard trumpers. people like rudy giuliani and people like sydney powell who has been meeting with the president repeatedly over the last week or so and those are people who are more likely to egg on the president's instincts to go for the jugular in these last final weeks than to try to

seek some common path forward. >> garrett, we still have four weeks to go in this current presidency. sure feels like anything can happen in those four weeks. how many of these problems do you think president-elect biden will inherent? >> it's a good question. i mean, president-elect has already said he intends to pursue another covid relief bill that would check some of the boxes that were left behind by this bill. that will be an issue regardless of how the president chooses to act here. but if the president doesn't sign something by the close of business on the 28th and the government shuts down, you could really amplify the scale of all the problems we're dealing with on the national level, including the covid crisis. including one of the key things in this bill was money for vaccine distribution. i think if that money gets held up, if the government shut down causes the covid recovery to stumble even further that could add an enormous amount of the president-elect's plate and i think that's really since i'm

the only one who hasn't gotten a chance to say it in this segment, something we should watch the space for. >> please don't make people turn off this channel thinking that is the only thing they're going to hear today. thank you. we have big international news to go before break. fou plus years since britain voted to leave the eu and today finally the two sides struck a trade agreement potentially settling this bitter and contentious geo political divorce we all know as brexit. if formally approved, the deal would take effect on january 1st. ahead, reaction to the chaos in congress from a member of congress. democratic congressman and former impeachment manager jason crowe will join me on the future of the covid relief bill and the latest round of presidential pardons. plus, despite the warnings millions of americans are still traveling. what it could mean for a potential post-holiday covid surge. [♪]

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welcome back. as we said at the top of the show, before president trump headed south for the holiday, he left congress scrambling by vetoing the $740 billion annual defense bill. the national defense authorization act passed in both the house and senate by veto proof margins but still not clear congressional republicans who supported the bill may change their minds now that the president is opposing it. president trump has been threatening this veto for weeks because he's upset it didn't adjust a law provided liability protection for social media companies and would allow for the renaming of military bases named after confederate soldiers. included in this bill was a pay raise for troops, benefits for veterans and funding for military construction projects and other national security efforts and a requirement for the pentagon to transition away from chinese goods.

joining me now is colorado democratic congressman jason crow. congressman, thank you so much for joining us on this christmas eve. let's begin with this national defense army veto. you're an army ranger and currently a member of the armed services committee. what do you think of the president's veto and more specifically how he called the act a gift to china and russia. >> well, lindsey, i sit on the armed services committee but i started as a private and private crow being on the very receiving end of the decisions made in washington. while the president is vetoing the defense bill because he wants to sue twitter, hundreds of thousands of servicemen and women who will spend the holidays alone today. who are on the front lines defending our democracy and freedom and won't get the pay raise and the support for military housing and food assistance and other things that they and their family need because the president has failed

to lead up to his obligations as commander in chief. surprise nobody at this point. >> such important context this is happening while our troops are overseas sacrificing time away from their families. top republican lawmakers like congresswoman liz cheney has already said they will override the veto. so, will the president's veto have any impact or just mostly symb symbolic? >> well, i do think we're going to override the veto. i think we have the votes for it. unless republicans who voted for getting tough on china addressing cyber attacks and giving pay raise to our troops a couple weeks ago decide that their obligations to donald trump are more important to our servicemen and women. i don't think that will happen. i hope it doesn't happen and i think we're going to override it. but in the final days of the trump administration on full display, he is more interested in loyalty and more interested than he is actually discharging

his obligation to the country and men and women in uniform. >> we're having some tech glitches, but we'll keep moving on here and hopefully we'll hear you clearly. let's talk about the pardons that president trump has issued this week. pardoned four blaand while thes men were not in the military, what is the response to these pardons in particular? >> yeah, it's uphorrent he doesn't respect our constitution and that should be a surprise to nobody. he has shown us over the last four years repeatedly who he is. but lawlessness does not happen on its own it happens because people allow it to happen. my story in those view are those members of congress who have taken an oath just like i have and more interested in rubber stamping and supporting the president than they are at fulfilling their own oath to the country. that is, in my view, the bigger

authority here. one that i think we have to make sure that we're addressing going forward and reestablishing and holding people accountable who didn't uphold their oath contrartrary to the constitution. >> you started 2020 on the impeachment team and now ending with trump pardoning. as one of the lawmakers tasked with prosecuting the case during his impeachment, what is your response to this? do you remember with republican senator ben sasse these republicans are rotten to the core? >> absolutely. you know, ben sasse is calling it like it is. unfortunately, he's in a class of his own. the silence on the other side of the aisle is complicity. people are not speaking up about this. that's the same as supporting it. i think that's the story that needs to continue to be told. and i hope that other people join sasse. >> so, we had chuck rosenberg on

earlier and he talked about the different scenarios and, for example, which president trump does pardon himself, leaves office, perhaps the biden justice department wants to pursue federal charges against the president. and that whole idea of whether he could pardon himself would essentially be tried in the courts. how, do you think that would happen in the biden administration because he has been so focused on saying, look, we need to move forward as a country? >> i do think the president means when he says it is more important we find ways to work together to bridge our divides and get things done for the american people. we are deeply divided and in many ways my own family is divided. i have extended family members who are supporters of the president and my family in that respect is really no different from so many other american families. we need to find a path forward at the end of the day. i don't think that's necessarily nucherally exclusive to make sure we're holding people

accountable and violations of the law and make sure we're investigating those violations and bringing people to justice who did violate the law in the last couple years and bringing divides and for the american people. >> congressman jason crow, i'm also team multi-colored lights on the tree. thank you. have a very merry christmas. in the next hour i'll talk to general berry mccaffrey on the veto of the defense bill and what it means for the military. millions ignore the warnings and travel for the holidays. but, first, a big milestone for one of america's top health experts. today is not only christmas eve, it is also dr. anthony fauci's 80th birthday and he got quite a gift for washington, d.c. mayor muriel bowser. issued a proclamation in his honor. we'll be right back. nor. we'll be right back. when our daughter and her kids moved in with us...

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welcome back. an alarming new update from the cdc as americans of mi s as mil

american head to destinations. it could rise to 419,000 within the next three weeks. it's already surpassed 327,000 as the nation tops 18.5 million confirmed cases. still the tsa says about a million people have been flying every day for the past five days despite pleas from officials. nbc kerry sanders is at florida's ft. lauderdale airport with some breaking news. kerry. >> well, it is breaking news because there's been so much concern about that variant strain of coronavirus that has emerged in england. and, so as a result of that, we have just gotten word from united airlines that beginning december 28th, united customers traveling from london heathrow to chicago, newark, washington, dulles and san francisco will be required to present that they have a negative co vi orcovid 7

prior to travel. you can't take it a week ago or two weeks ago. with the date, this begins december 28th, especially for those americans who may get flown overseas for the holidays or for those who will be coming after christmas, this is a critical shift in the way they are going to be handling it. overall, the big encouragement has been from the cdc to try to skip traveling this year because it's almost considered a superspreader event. the tsa says 1.1 million passengers traveled yesterday checking through and we're seeing a rather busy day today. this is not busy like in those pre-covi d-day d pre-covid days but in the open air and in the close proximity in the cramp spaces despite all the precautions that people are taking that the health officials know it is those situations that lead to the spread of coronavirus. so, if you're sitting wondering,

should i travel? the cdc says don't. lindsey? >> they've been saying that. hopefully people will heed their warnings. kerry sanders, thank you. joining me now cdc adviser william shatner professor of infectious diseases. we have to get your reaction to what we're hearing about right now about the travel retricti restrictions to the uk, do you think it is a good call? >> yes, i think it's a good call, lindsey. i'll say yes, but, but if you have to have a test and a result within 72 hours, i don't know if you can always get the gold standard test. the pcr nasal swab test. you may be using a rapid test and, of course, those rapid tests are notorious for giving you false negatives. so, it's a barrier, but a barrier that is not complete. but let's do it. we want to keep this strain as far away from us as possible.

although we all acknowledge it may have already arrived and be spreading undetected here in the united states. >> right. i should clarify not restrictions necessarily as testing guidelines. dr. schaffner, what do these numbers tell you what we are in for and especially like in southern california where they're already out of icu beds. >> we're all worried about that. we got a surge after thanksgiving and certainly looks as though another surge after christmas and perhaps new year's parties and things such as that. we're all dealing with these problems in an intense way across the country. i know in my own medical center here, we've opened up new beds, we've made a whole series of modifications, we're not at the very edge yet, but we are certainly getting close. and that must be the situation

and even worse around the country. >> many americans have been hearing these warnings for months now and they're choosing to travel anyway. is there anything more that needs to be happening at the government level in terms of travel restrictions? >> well, i think what we really need at the national level is modeling and a new national policy based on public health and science. and if we start doing that and we anticipate that that will happen, then i think gradually, gradually it won't happen overnight. we can get much more acceptance and as the vaccine rolls out, we can empfus is that that's something else that we're doing but we have to keep up with the mask, the social distancing and the avoiding large groups for several months now in order to make sure that the vaccine and everything else combines to flatten the curve. >> did you just wink at us,

doctor? one more question for you about this whole idea of travel. there's also, we've heard from president-elect biden's nominee for cdc director she floated the idea of an international travel ban. what are your thoughts on that? >> that's certainly out at the edges of something. that would have a profound effect on the world's economy. of course. it would for a while help to dampen transmission but you know this virus is everywhere. i would certainly like to speak with dr. wolinski about what the short turb benefits she would anticipate having. it is more within each country we have to do more to dampen the curve to reduce the frequency of transmission. >> officials now are confirming the vaccination push, which is

the sign of hope that we have is going slower than expected nationwide. only about one million of the nine million doses distributed so far reported as administered. did you expect this? did you expect kind of a slowing rollout and maybe some hiccups here and what do you think needs to change to pick up the speed? >> i think, i think everybody wants to do it exactly right. and so we're being very careful in the beginning to be meticulous about doing this. and i think there's always, there's also been a sense that the locals want to make sure that they have enough vaccine on hand so that they can give not only the first, but the second dose. those assurances have been coming and i know that locally in my own state, things are revving up because those assurances have arrived. and, so, i think we're all trying to do the best we can as

quickly as we can. >> most important to get it right. dr. william schaffner, thank you so much. the key cabinet roles president-elect biden has yet to fill. how soon can we find out his choices. the president of the navajo nation joins us with groundbreaking choice for secretary. choice for secretary. get moving wherever you have an internet connection. and when you're ready, enjoy access to thousands of locations nationwide. with silversneakers, you're free to move. enroll today at no additional cost by visiting the website on your screen. because i want to be a part of something amazing. - i know my gift to shriners hospitals for children makes a difference in the lives of children. - our support gives kids a bright future. - i give because when i see a child smile, i smile.

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so call now. (soft music) ♪ hello, colonial penn? welcome back. despite the raw partisan anger and feuding that has dominated politics the last four years president-elect joe biden declared that the political center in this country is alive and well. it happened in a conversation with columnist last night. "wall street journal" reported the president-elect said, quote, republicans are beginning to realize there is a center that has to be responded to and the democrats are beginning, once again, to pay attention to our base, which has been my base my whole career. working class folks black and white. biden is expected to meet with his transition advisors later

today. one of the key issues for the incoming president is filling his cabinet. key posts remain with most eyes on who biden will name as attorney general. so, we turn to nbc mike memoli. what are you hearing from the transition team? is the president-elect any closer to naming an ag? >> well, lindsey, something of a holiday pause here for the president-elect. we expect him to celebrate christmas these next two days with a smaller group of bidens than he would typically have over for the holidays but yesterday, of course, we saw him name his education secretary miguel car dondona. most of the cabinet filled, but not all of it. and the eyes on the attorney general position. we heard from the president-elect about it this week. i asked him if he's waiting on the special runoff elections in georgia before making the decisions. the balance of power in the senate so important. biden indicated as he put it,

not an obvious choice in my mind. he said his key focus is finding somebody who can help restore confidence in the career professionals at the justice department such an important consideration especially given what we see from the president this week and the pardons as attorney general barr leaves his position. this is a major issue for biden, of course, especially given the investigation that is ongoing with his son. i asked him if that was a factor that had xcome up in any of the conversations. he said absolutely not and he was determined to make sure that his justice department is not what it has been for president trump which is something as a private lawyer rather than a jawditija jul part. >> any other headlines out of that conversation? >> yeah, very interesting conversation. some of the most candid comments we have gotten from the president-elect yet. you talked about his confidence in the fact that he believes there was a mandate from this election from the american

people for bipartisanship. he talked about it a little bit this week in terms of praising that breakthrough with the covid relief bill. when he was challenged about whether he's being naive about this and i want to read this quote. i would respectfully suggest that i beat the hell out of everybody else during the course of this campaign. he won a very crowded field from the democratic nomination and as he beat it he beat president trump by 7 million votes i would respectfully suggest that i think i know what i'm doing. he believes he will take that mandate for bipartisanship into the new year and be able to get things done. he talked about his reluctance to use executive authority, as well. interesting factor. he's talked about this a little bit before about the fact that president trump has done so much by executive authority that he can simply undue. when some in his party are calling for relieving $50,000 for debt he said i don't think there is necessarily that authorityteresting to see how h

approaching these questions, lindsey. >> mike memoli, good to see you. among the most notable debb haaland. she would be the first native american cabinet secretary. let's bring in jonathan nez. thank you so much for your time today and i want to play part of congresswoman's haaland's remarks after she was introduced by president-elect biden to be the interior secretary. it really stuck out to me. let's listen. >> i'm honored and humbled to accept their nomination for secretary of the interior. growing up in my mother's puebl offen o's household made me fierce i relied on food stamps and raised my child as a single mom. >> how important is congresswoman haaland's nomination and use her role as

secretary? >> thank you, lindsey. with deb being in that position there just shows that one of our very own worked very hard and grew up like one of us and, you know, made their way to the top and here we have deb is going to be our interior secretary and it brings great joy. also we'll give you a different perspective of how to take care of our land. and this climate team, this energy team shows that this new administration is recommitting the faith in our relationship with mother earth. native american s throughout th country have been fighting for protection of grand canyon, oak flat from fracking and natural resource exploitation and even uranium development and i know that with deb haaland being the

secretary will also protect these lands and also give a seat at the table for native american leaders throughout the country to have input on the joint management of federal lands to protect our lands for us now, not just native americans, but all united states citizens and into the future. so, this cabinet is shaping up to be a very diverse cabinet. and it does look like america. so, we are happy. >> a seat at the table, indeed. the burei want to turn now to t pandemic and its impact. so much of the country is seeing a surge in cases. the cdc reporting that the incidents of covid-19 and the native american population is nearly twice as high as that of white americans. what are you seeing? has there been enough testing and what is the plan right now for the vaccine roll out? >> well, let me just also say

and thank the navajo people. this country has gone through three waves. we're going through a three wave here in america. on the navajo nation we're going through our second wave. we managed to not go through one of the waves this country has gone through and it's because of navajo leadership and the health care professionals doing the very best to push back on this virus. of course, we have a high percentage of those most vulnerable population in our lands, you know, people that have diabetes, cardio vascular disease, cancer and so we've lost over 750 of our navajo relatives here. our thoughts and prayers go out to them. but i think that we are doing our very best with the limited resources that we have to fight this virus. matter of fact, right now we are talking with dr. burla literally on the live stream the ceo of pfizer 3,900 doses of pfizer and

all of it, much of it has been given out to our health care professionals and we're anticipating the entire shipment, 7,800 moderna shot to come into the navajo nation. some are here and some are still arriving. so, we are hopeful that we can start beginning to use the tier approach of the 1a, 1b and right now in 1a getting our health care professional vaccinated and our emts and our first responders and it brings hope to the navajo people and as they all say, we all say that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. we did get hit hard but we are using our way of life teaching our resilience to fight this on the navajo nation. >> before we let you go, so much skepticism among the minority communities to take the vaccine. what is your message?

>> that is the reason why we are doing a town hall right now with dr. bourla and do the same thing with moderna. it's voluntary and we're not going to force people to get the vaccine, but they are getting information today and into the future of the vaccines and, you know, a lot of our health care professionals, not just here on the navajo nation but all across the country have been vaccinated and they believe in science. and, so, you know, i hope and pray that we are going to be able to ease and answer a lot of the questions that our navajo people have on this vaccine and, you know, we all want to get back to some normal and i think this is one way to do it getting vaccine. thank you. >> navajo nation president jonathan nez, thank you for your time. good luck to you. ahead, the truth in black and white. a major midwestern newspaper apologizes for decades of racism

in its coverage. we'll talk to the reporter behind the headline and what comes next. saving is easy when you're in good hands. call a local agent, or 1-800-allstate for a quote today.

see yourself. welcome back to the mirror. and know you're not alone because this is not just a mirror. it's an unstoppable community. come on jessie one

more. it's a race across time zones. come on you two, lets go. a gift for the whole family. so join in now and see your best self in the mirror. welcome back. 2020 will be the year of covid. but it will also be remembered as the year that served powerful protests and conversations about racial injustice across the globe. this week, a major midwestern newspaper, the "kansas city star" issued this apology on its front page. in a letter to readers titled

the truth about black and white, the paper's editor wrote the newspaper, quote, disenfranchised -- the truth in black and white, rather. disenfranchised, ignored and scorned generations of black kansas citians and how the paper's coverage as far back as 1880 contributed to racial inequality that persists today. joining me is the reporter who started this conversation at the "s "kansas city star." thank you for joining us. i want to start with a question on everyone's minds. was it a difficult decision to take this to the editors of "the star." were you afraid what the response would be? >> no, i wasn't afraid at all. i was -- i mean, i felt really confident that they would support me. they could say no, but i did feel confident that they would support me. what we talked about was the implications of this.

what this would mean once we do this, what this would mean for us and so we knew that once we opened it -- opened the door, that that meant that we would shine a light on ourselves and people would be watching and that it would be important for us to have follow through. >> talk to me about the process of what you did. were you spending long hours staring at microfilm and give smus examples of what you saw in your examination of the paper's past. >> yeah, it took a lot of work. we did a lot of research. the first thing that we did was to just go back and look at archived papers to find out what we had done our hadn't done, what we had ignored or missed. we did that. that took a lot of time going through the archives and then we went through microfiche and compared what we had done with what the weekly local black press had done here in kansas

city and so we made those comparisons. we also went through documentation to make sure that we could substantiate what was going on at the time and so there was the archive information, the court documents, as well as the information and the stories that we saw in the call. it was like six months of work. >> wow. that's a lot. can you give smus some specific examples, maybe some that you found most surprising? >> yeah, i mean, i was researching specifically a desegregation case in 1977. and one of the things i noticed was that much of what was written about in the "kansas city star" had a lot to do with desegregation of schools in the south. meanwhile, there was a

tremendous amount happening here in kansas city. i also noticed that oftentimes the conversations about the black children in kansas city was about them as a problem. and i found that very disturbing. that was just a small example of some of the things that i saw. >> disturbing indeed. the kansas city star is the second newspaper to issue such an apology. the "los angeles times" issued one in september. do you think this is just the beginning and do we need to see more publications do what you did? >> absolutely, i think more publications should do that. the difference in what the "l.a. times" did and what the "kansas city star" did is the "kansas city star" we decided we were going to do more than just make an apology but that we were going to bare our soul if you will. we laid it all out there on the table so that people could see what we were apologizing for. so we looked for examples and

stories and laid them out in full on the table so that you could see exactly the problem and what we were tackling. >> my last question to you quickly, what has been the community's response? >> it's been mostly positive. i've been very happy about the response. most people have said we're so glad that you've done this. it's long overdue. but they also have questions about what we do next and how we follow up with this. >> mara, i would love to have you back on to discuss that. thank you for being with us this hour. don't go away. stay with me for another hour of live msnbc coverage right after the break. over two million meals provided. over four hundred national parks protected. in fact, subaru and our retailers will have proudly

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thanks for staying with us. i'm lindsey riser in new york. the wait for desperately needed stimulus checks continues for millions of americans as the president threatens to derail the $900 billion covid relief deal that also funds the government into next year. a bill that his advisers helped negotiate and that the white house said he would support. today, house democrats tried to fast track a stand-alone bill that would increase stimulus checks to $2,000 per person as the president is now demanding, but the effort was blocked by republican republicans. republicans then tried and failed to fast track another of the president's demands to revisit the for