want to sell the best burger in every zip code? add an employee. or ten... then easily and automatically pay your team and file payroll taxes. that means... world domination! or just the west side. run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks.

good day, everyone, from msnbc world headquarters in new york, welcome to "weekends with alex witt." developing this hour, president biden is battling with congress over he's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. we'll ask a house lawmaker if they think democrats will have to go at it it alone and if they support recurring $2,000 relief checks. meanwhile, a new voice

weighing in on another crisis unfolding on capitol hill, georgia congresswoman williams will be explaining why she will be taking action against fellow georgia congresswoman marjorie taylor greene. >> even after everything has come to light about what she said, the dangerous and violent words that she understands the implication of them, because we all saw them on display january 6th, she continued to double down on them. just yesterday she didn't apologize for what she said because she means it. that's why i filed the resolution, along with my colleagues, to censure her in the united states congress. >> congresswoman greene has been under fire as old video surfaces of her controversial rhetoric, including touting qanon conspiracy theories and questioning the reality of mass shootings. congresswoman cori bush said she had to move her office away from the lawmaker after she claims greene berated her in the halls of congress. >> i moved my office because i'm

here to do a job for the people of st. louis. they deserve that. what i cannot do is continue to look over my shoulder wondering if a white supremacist in congress by the name of marjorie taylor greene or anyone else, because there are others, that they are doing something or conspireing against us. our focus has to be on st. louis and the work we can get done. and also, my team deserves better. >> congresswoman greene defending herself on twitter today, saying she won't back down, will never apologize. she also said she spoke on the phone with donald trump. trump is getting set for his second senate trial. his legal team right now faced with a tuesday deadline to answer the article of impeachment. we start the hour with two big stories from the white house and this tweet just a short time ago. congresswoman taylor greene tweeting she spoke with the former president this morning and is, quote, so grateful for his support. joining me is nbc kelly o'donnell. welcome, my friend. what can you tell us about the

growing concern about this congresswoman? >> well, there's kearocity and condemnation surrounding marjorie taylor greene. the office of the former president donald trump is not commenting on the phone call that she talked about having with the former president, but we have certainly seen donald trump comment about marjorie taylor greene in the past and the two adhered themselves to each other politically. they're in very much the same lane. as you saw, democrats in particular are concerned enough that they want to bring action to censure, even expel taylor greene from congress. that is a rare kind of move but it's drawing some support from democrats, even an outside republican group that expressed concern about some of her past statements, calling them appalling. she's become a provocateur of the republican party. a one-woman flashpoint. >> we have nothing to say. >> reporter: from taunting a school member survivor to trash-talking in the halls of

congress. >> democrats impeaching trump for nothing is crazy. that's what we're dealing with here in the house of hypocrites >> reporter: 46-year-old marjorie taylor greene represents her georgia district, and an accostic brand of politics. >> i'm tired of republicans that lay down and allow this country to be ravaged. >> reporter: trump-backing republican embraces completely false qanon conspiracy theories and in a newly uncovered video from 2018 claimed former president obama is muslim, the clintons had jfk jr. killed, and even questioned whether a plane crashed into the pentagon on 9/11. >> there's never any evidence shown for a plane in the pentagon. >> reporter: she's become a magnet for confrontation. >> criminals. >> stop. >> you know what, don't yell at people. you know what, you shouldn't be covid-positive members in here spreading covid everywhere!

stop being a hypocrite! yeah, this is how it is here now >> reporter: friday taylor greene released this video to claim missouri democrat cori bush instigated their verbal clash after bush called for taylor greene's expulsion from congress and requested permission to move her offices away from taylor greene. >> what i cannot do is continue to look over my shoulder wondering if a white supremacist in congress by the name of marjorie taylor greene, or anyone else, because there are others, that they're doing something or conspireing against us. >> reporter: taylor greene's campaign released a message to the mob, declaring every smear strengthens my base of support. i will never back down. i will never give up. friday the white house dismissed a question about taylor greene. >> we don't want to elevate conspiracy theories further in the briefing room. >> reporter: under pressure over taylor greene's conduct, republican leader kevin mccarthy is suspected to meet with her next week but his influence over

the congresswoman is unclear. and that's a big question, what can kevin mccarthy do, what is he willing to do politically? typically when a member of leadership is confronting a troublesome member of the house, they can do things like strip away a committee assignment. that can sometimes get a member in line. sometimes they pressed for people to resign, depending on the circumstances. very unclear what will happen here. part of what is so different now is marjorie taylor greene through her social media and her way of engaging with her supporters is capitalizing on the controversy on the notoriety, using it to fund-raise and to dig in saying she won't go. that's a very different dynamic than when some members of congress have gotten themselves in controversy in seasons past. we will be watching this closely to see what happens. >> i have to tell you, kel, i read the transcript of her statements on the pentagon on 9/11. seeing it for the first time in this report, you should have seen my jaw drop.

it is stunning to hear somebody espouse those sorts of just -- >> provably false. provably false. >> yes. thank you, kelly, for that. meantime, president biden pushing to get more money in the hands of many americans. senate democrats trying to move forward with biden's covid relief package, even without republican backing. nbc's monica alba is joining us from d.c. as well. monica, welcome. what is president biden doing to get his covid package passed? >> yesterday we saw the clearest indication president biden is giving his blessing to senate democrats to go ahead with this wonky project called budget reconciliation, which would mean they could advance that $1.9 trillion covid relief package through congress without needing republican support. and that's something majority leader chuck schumer now indicated democrats are ready to do as early as next week. president biden for his part though still would love to have

bipartisan support for this. clearly republicans have very little appetite for such a large bill, especially given the one they passed back in december was nearly $900 billion. so now the white house said they're continuing their outreach to bipartisan lawmakers. we know, for example, the president was on the phone with at least two republican senators in the last week or so but it's not like he's inviting them to come to the white house and negotiate face to face or in public. they're choosing intentionally to do much of these conversations out of the public eye and in private, which is something that president biden has said he feels more comfortable with given his many years on capitol hill as a veteran senator, of course. the white house is really struggling to identify how they want to proceed in terms of whether they want this to happen quickly through this process that maybe won't have any bipartisan support but they also know with everything looming in terms of all of the crises, they want to act soon. yesterday you have the president in that meeting with secretary

janet yellen of the treasury saying the unprecedented pandemic means the time for action is more urgent than ever. the question will be how much of the oxygen is taken up on capitol hill by the next senate impeachment trial for former president trump, and will that derail president biden's legislative agenda, alex? >> look, we're ten days in. i guess we'll watch and see how negotiating tactics develop with your help, monica. thank you. joining me now, congresswoman nora torres, democrat from california. welcome back to the broadcast. it's good to see you. on this new covid relief bill, are you confident congress can pass a measure in a bipartisan way or do you think it will go the way most everything is lately and go along party lines? >> it's great to see you again, alex. we're very excited about going back to work and working on behalf of our constituents. no matter where you go across the united states, republicans and democrats are suffering. the coronavirus has absolutely

challenged not just our economy but our way of life. but democrats are also preparing to do what is necessary in order to get money in the hands of our constituents. if republicans want to work with us, we're there. we certainly want to meet them in the middle. but what we're not prepared to do is to continue to negotiate against our own constituents, and the need that we know that is there in our communities. $1.9 trillion is what the president is offering. he has that on the table. and that gets up where we need to be. it includes money for a vaccine distribution. it includes testing. it includes money for our schools in order to ensure that our teachers are able to get the vaccine and get prepared to welcome our kids back to school. we will not be able to open up our economy until our kids are back in school 100%. >> point well taken there.

how about the recurring $2,000 relief checks. i know some of your colleagues are calling for that. do you support that prospect? >> i support that 100%. just look at my life in washington, d.c. a rent a basement apartment. my rent is $1,500 a month. that does not include utilities. imagine a family of four trying to survive on $2,000. that is why it is so important to not only think about infusing cash into the hands of our constituents but also providing support for food assistance, for rent assistance, for everything else that they need to continue to have a roof over their heads and continue to provide for their families. >> let's switch gears here. freshman congresswoman cori bush said she's moving her offices further away from representative greene. and here's how she described her fear to my colleague joy reid.

>> i moved my offices because i'm here to do a job for the people of st. louis. they deserve that. what i cannot do is continuing to look over my shoulder wondering if a white supremacist in congress by the name of marjorie taylor greene, or anyone else, because there are others, that they are doing something or conspireing against us. our focus has to be on st. louis and the work we can get done. and also my team deserves better. >> she's not unique there. there are others who expressed similar sentiments. how do you feel? do you worry at all about your personal safety or that of your team? >> i absolutely worry about my team and my personal safety. but first i want to commend my colleague, cori bush, for thinking first of all about her constituents and their need to have a congresswoman in congress at the capitol focusing on their needs. so the fact that she had to move her office is a telling story of

what the rest of us have to do to protect ourselves. we're certainly alone because the enemy truly is within. we have members of congress that have weapons in their offices, and i'm not only talking about 9 millimeters, i'm talking ak-47s and other type of weapons they maintain in their offices, who are refusing to go through metal detectors and no one -- no one should be afraid to go to work and feel unsafe. >> that is chilling, the prospect of ak-47s there in offices of lawmakers. there have been calls for hearings for marjorie taylor greene to be censored, to possibly be expelled. what are your thoughts on her and her future? >> yes, and she's definitely the problem of kevin mccarthy, who has real sideline he's not had a backbone to stand up to the bullies, qanon bullies that were

elected. look, my opponent was a qanon, unfortunately, even our own democratic party here in california failed to denounce him, but just because the leadership failed to denounce terrorists that have been elected to congress doesn't mean that the rest of us should capitulate and stand down against the tools that we have at our disposal to ensure that she feels some kind of discomfort for the discomfort and the danger she has brought to the halls of congress. she fueled this insurrection. they are not done. all of us are targets of people like her. >> chilling. so republicans conducted ten investigations into ben ghazni. four americans died. none of those investigations found any wron doing. but now they want to move on to

a riot at the capitol in which five americans died. i remember well a couple weeks ago when you told me how you were running for your life during the capitol riot, you had bought a bulletproof vest for the inauguration. you wanted to wear that to feel safe. what do you make of republicans seemingly trying to just forget about january 6th? >> we cannot allow anyone to simply turn the page on the blood that was shed that day. how do you tell those families of those officers not just the officers that died and have killed themselves as a result but the 60 officers that were injured, who may never be able to come back to work, how do you tell those families, those kids that their fathers' lives are meaningless? that is what republicans in the senate are telling not just the families but the rest of the nation, that somebody could be

so grossly incompetent at doing their job that somebody could call on violence against their peers and get away with it. we cannot allow this to happen. >> california democratic congresswoman norma torres, it's always good to see you. on "politics nation" chuck schumer joins senator al sharpton on covid relief and racial equity at 5:00 eastern here on msnbc. the connection between gamestop stock and the rise of trump, why those two are more intwined than you may think. y t. fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪

it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win.

always good to see you. always good to see you history says: fine jewelry for occasions. we say: forget occasions. (snap) fine jewelry for every day, minus the traditional markups. ♪♪ this breaking news to share today, maryland became the second u.s. state to detect the south african covid variant. governor larry hogan said the case involves an adult living in baltimore. he's not traveled internationally. the state said this means community transmission of the

south african strain is likely. on thursday, of course, two cases of that strain were found in south carolina. we'll keep you up to date on that. meantime, the financial frenzy behind gamestop is far from home. let's go to kathy parks, who has the latest >> reporter: gamestop mania leaving a big mark on wall street. the dow, s&p 500 and nasdaq all posting big losses friday, but gamestop shares kept surging. >> it's a classic story of the little guy versus the big pros on wall street. >> reporter: the scott skyrocketed thanks to amateur investors chatting on reddit. keith gill, who goes by roaring kitty, has been championing gamestop for months. >> the first stock that i'm going to talk about is gamestop. i know it's a polarizing stock. some people won't even tune into the stream >> reporter: members of the forum began buying up the struggling stock that major traders bet would keep falling. in turn, the pros ended up losing billions while people like justin speak, a pastor and

novice investor, began cashing in. >> we decided it's $35, but the upside is real high. at my last glance, those shares were worth about $3,300. >> reporter: he used the trading robinhood to make the ingestment. now the stock price plunged since thursday. >> this was an internal operational risk management decision that was firm made so we could protect the firm and protect our customers. >> reporter: the move catching the attention of lawmakers, whiles sec warned against market that minute lags. writing we will act to retail investor when's the facts demonstrate abusive or activity that is prohibited by the laws. the showdown in wall street setting the stage in washington, as congress prepares to hold hearings amid the financial

frenzy. the fallout for robinhood isn't over. it's been hit with a class action lawsuit among angry customers and texas attorney general has launched an investigation into the company and others say that it took extraordinary and unusual steps to limit access to the free market. alex? >> kathy park, thank you for that. ful joining me now our friend and former presidential candidate, tom steyer -- current friend, i might add. there we go. we will get to climate in a second but first, i have a few questions on gamestop. you started a hedge fund early in your career. i was checking out your wikipedia page and it said steier was known for taking high risks on distressed acts in volatile markets. would you come on beyond the losing end of this as a smaller investor trying to take on big hedge funds? you know exactly what's going on here, right? >> i do know what's going on, alex. this is something i think i understand. i wouldn't have been part of either side of this trade in reality.

but let's be clear, this is a grass fire coming from the grassroots of people who are angry about a rigged system. and in fact what we saw was the status quo power players protecting the status quo and trying to take the power away from those grassroots players. there has been high-speed trading that's taking advantage of everybody else on wall street that's been there front-running other people for years and no one has done anything. in fact, when the grassroots starts to take the power, all of a sudden this is terrible. we have to do something. we have to protect the system. that just doesn't seem fair to me. >> mike lewis wrote a great book about that, "high-speed trading." let's me ask you about the "usa today" headlines, stock frenzy echoed an sti establishment behind rise. what see a connection there and

what is it? >> i absolutely do, alex. there's no doubt in my mind the people who are getting together online to buy this stock are angry at a rigged system, a system that is not working for them, that is organized around the inciters and they see it here in terms of the stock market but they see it also much more broadly in society based on the inequalities. that's why when i was running for president, i was pushing for a wealth tax. make people like me pay more taxes because there's something really wrong in our society and people are furious about it and the insiders just keep on supporting rules that protect them, rules that advantage them and everybody else in this society is angry as heck. >> so if you want to look at it this way, on one hand you have trump-inspired an sti establishment types and then on the other hand hedge fund billionaires making money on wall street for years.

is in pi side likable in this, tom? it seems like you can find a reason to dislike all of it. >> let's be clear, this is a fight about money, alex. but you have to ask when there's a fight about money, who do you sympathize with? my heart goes to the people who feel they are bucking a rigged system, that it's not working for them, and that's why -- that's why i was pushing for this system to reform itself. to do things to make it fair, to give power back to the people. this is the complaint about our democracy. this is the complaint about the way our money works. there is a sense in america that the elites serve themselves and that's in politics, that's in the economy in jobs, that's in those structures of our society. and people feel that really deeply. they believe it. i think they're right, and they're lashing out in the ways that they can. when you see that, i think your

heart has to go to the grassroots. your heart has to go to the grass fire. we need to reform this society really dramatically. i think that's what compels -- that's the energy in america. and that is what joe biden and kamala harris are trying to do to show government can work for the people again. >> yes. let me ask you about climate here. i know something you're very passionate about. i know you have come out in support of the green new deal. what do you make of the president's executive orders to try to tackle the climate crisis, including stopping the construction of the keystone xl pipeline, move to reduce fossil fuels, some of the job losses, as you know, they would be immediate. so is there a way to train folks to fill green jobs without some sort of gap there and having no income in between? >> look, joe biden and kamala harris ran on the need to address our climate crisis. they won based on young people turning out in record levels,

largely to respond to the climate crisis. and if really what he's doing with his executive absence is fulfilling the promises he made in the campaign and also doing the right thing, but, alex, a huge part of that campaign promise is the promise to rebuild america in a clean, green way and create millions of good-paying union jobs. the president can do a lot of things in terms of executive action but he can't spend $2 trillion without congress supporting him. and that is jobs for republican workers, for democratic workers, for independent workers and that's also setting a framework for american business to look to the future of clean energy and create millions of jobs there. i think it is really significant that gm said that they're going to be producing only zero-emission vehicles by 2030. >> that is huge.

>> this is -- alex, this is all about the private sector. do we have to do the build-back better plan? absolutely. and that's millions and millions of good-paying union jobs everywhere in the united states. but do we also have to compete globally in the move to clean energy and clean energy products? absolutely. this is -- gm was fighting this. they were absolutely -- they were suing my home state of california for having too strong miles per gallon laws. >> i remember that. >> this is about about-face, irrevocable and i think it's an absolute turning point. it's not the first sign we've seen. we've seen many signs. the american business community is absolutely ready to go and compete for the future in terms of clean energy and create millions of jobs. if they don't do that, and if they don't succeed, that hurts working people across this country in the most important way. it is critical for us as a country to win on this.

>> okay. tom steyer, we're going to have you back again because you're my go-to climate guy and a lot more. thank you very much. good to see you. >> thank you, alex. nice to see you. inside a qanon chatroom, the disturbing thing some believers were saying about taking action against members of congress. to feeding america. and yet, one in four children may still face hunger. so, as part of our love promise, subaru and our retailers are doing it again, donating an additional 100 million meals to help those in need. love. it's never been needed more than right now. subaru. more than a car company. [ sigh ] not gonna happen. that's it. i'm calling kohler about their walk-in bath. my name is ken. how may i help you? hi, i'm calling about kohler's walk-in bath. excellent! happy to help. huh? hold one moment please... [ finger snaps ] hmm.

♪ ♪ the kohler walk-in bath features an extra-wide opening and a low step-in at three inches, which is 25 to 60% lower than some leading competitors. the bath fills and drains quickly, while the heated seat soothes your back, neck and shoulders. kohler is an expert in bathing, so you can count on a deep soaking experience. are you seeing this? the kohler walk-in bath comes with fully adjustable hydrotherapy jets and our exclusive bubblemassage. everything is installed in as little as a day by a kohler-certified installer. and it's made by kohler- america's leading plumbing brand. we need this bath. yes. yes you do. a kohler walk-in bath provides independence with peace of mind. call for $1,500 off your kohler walk-in bath. visit kohlerwalkinbath.com for more info. history says: fine jewelry for occasions. we say: forget occasions. (snap) fine jewelry for every day, minus the traditional markups. ♪♪

new and alarming audio from an online chatroom gives fresh insight why trump supporters and qanon believers held out hope donald trump would have remained president even up until inauguration day. let's take a listen to what they said in some of their own voices in their own words. >> if you're just going to walk away, why do you have 65,000 troops in d.c.? that makes no sense. >> why are you going to deputize all of them people, man, marralize them? they don't have anybody else that will arrest them, so they have to find somebody to do it. >> the source i follow i heard said, trump can file or call martial law even up to five

minutes before biden's inauguration if he has to. >> his farewell speech will be he declares martial law and as he's doing that, they're arresting the people like biden's administration and all of those corrupt and that's why they have all of the security around the white house capitol hill area. >> joining me now, stuart thompson. he collected this audio for a visual storytelling piece in "the new york times" opinion section. stuart, welcome. it's extraordinary to listen to all of this, very revealing, of course. first of all, what made you start listening and what went through your mind as you heard what was being said? >> i started off looking at the steal movement, people that claimed the election was stolen and that led down the rabbit hole of the big q groups that believe in this grand conspiracy that involves sex trafficking rings and other crimes. the group is really assembling to discuss the rally on january 6th. and it was just interesting to listen in as they made these

predictions for what was going to happen and key to the q movement and its resilience is moving goal posts down the road constantly. as that day ended and none of their prophecies came true, the next target was the 20th and then i just kept listening and kept hearing about their predictions and all of the misinformation that they are constantly consuming. >> listen, it's all worth playing a little more. let's listen to what folks were saying about taking action against members of congress. here's that. >> i wish they'd storm the congress and the senate and pull them treasonous guys out of there. >> patriots are in the building. s it's beautiful. >> does he not realize president trump called us to siege the place? >> honestly, i think the patriots should have been allowed to go in there and grab those s.o.b.s and pull them out of the building and, you know, have an execution right there. s. >> we have to trust that there's

going to be military tribunals and we'll get to watch all kinds of executions. >> they're guilty. treason. behead 'em all. >> bring in the firing squad. >> if the biden inauguration wants to come in and take your weapons and force vaccination, you have drew process to blow them the -- away. do it. >> were you -- woof, were you listening to this in realtime? did you know this was going to get this bad? >> yeah, i was listening in realtime, it became somewhat of an obsession. i listened from the first moment i woke up until i went to bed. it wasn't totally clear to me how far we had gone. you read the stuff online and follow it in groups but it's a very different experience when you can hear it. i think part of it is we can dismiss stuff online sometimes wrongly because we think it's just what people are typing behind some anonymous accounts but when you hear the words, you really connect with the fact

these are regular, everyday americans in some respects. they sound a lot like your neighbors or aunts but also they're down this path of believing these conspiracies. so it is really disturbing. and i think far more disturbing to hear it than just to read it and see the capitol hill incident and other things that we are seeing that sort of rise in temperature of these groups is foretold through the audio clips. >> stuart, if you were listening to this, what about law enforcement? if they had been listening to this, could they have seen what was coming their way? >> yeah, definitely. there were charges filed. there was a man from queens charged after making some threats online. but when i was reading that article about him, it sounded a lot like what these groups say in the chatrooms and elsewhere online. partly maybe that's because it's part of the conversation when you're in these groups, it's the

expectation that military tribunals and public executions will happen. they believe that because they think these people have committed horrible crimes, for which there's no evidence. >> right. >> and yet it's a disturbing thing but i think the law enforcement response is one response, but we can't stop there. there's other places and sort of by the time you're making threats online, it's gone a little far and the responsibility of social networks to sort of add friction to the way this misinformation is shared is really important. when we saw parler go offline that was following these groups, their reaction to that was a lot of the sources for misinformation disappeared and there was a big void left and there was just not a lot to share and not a lot to talk about when that happened. so i think real little that's another part of the solution in sort of lowering the temperature and adding friction to the amount of misinformation that gets spread. >> let's listen to some of the conspiracy theories that people appear to believe in and then the way they describe trump. here it is. >> so i heard when in 2016, when

hillary was supposed to be president, the military actually stepped in and appointed trump as the commander in chief. >> but if you look into it and read the post, it's actual emails from pence trying to get trump out before he even won the election. >> i just read somewhere that biden just lowered the age of consent to age 8. has anybody heard anything about that? >> you know, you laughed about it uppic and biggie? he was murdered and i think it was the deep state that murdered him. >> how do you try to interpret all of this, make sense of it, stuart? >> yeah, i mean, i think what we are seeing is people that go online and find supportive networks for this kind of information, i thought it was really interesting this is an

audio chat app. maybe people don't even know those exist. but it's just one of these places where this conversation could happen. before these networks existed, you might have your friends and your family around, share believes with them or they might dismiss you or try to walk you back from the edge of some of these believes. but what we are seeing is just thriving network online where people can get together, a lot of those clips you just heard are just wild misinformation but it's extremely common to have that stuff shared and the way they see themselves talking about it, they see themselves as fact checkers. they reject mainstream news and turn to each other to check things. and part of that is i heard this online, did anybody else? if someone else read that or has another link to support it, that's a pretty good confirmation for them. we're seeing a lot of consequences from the past several years rejecting mainstream media, rejecting institutions we're supposed to trust and having a bunch of people in place to spread misinformation and now we are seeing the real-world consequences of all of that.

>> it is extraordinary, stuart thompson. thank you so much for bringing it us to. >> thank you. from health departments to neighborhood pharmacies, the state that is changing where you're going to get your covid vaccine. and do you have a question about the covid-19 variants? we'll have a doctor ready to answer tomorrow. send me a video of you asking your question. we will put them on tv. send it to askalex@msnbc.com. the answer is coming your way tomorrow at 2:00 eastern. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad... try this new robitussin honey severe. the real honey you love... plus, the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? new robitussin honey severe. strong relief for your severe symptoms.

at heinz, every ketchup starts with our same tomatoes. but not every tomato ends in the same kind of heinz ketchup. because you can't be everyone's favorite ketchup without making a ketchup for everyone.

let's go to the latest now on the coronavirus pandemic. this morning the u.s. hit a milestone. a million cases surpassing 26 million confirmed cases just this week. it is in fact the fifth time this month the nation reported a million new cases. it's really remarkable. each time it took less than a week. almost 23 million americans have gotten at least one dose of a covid vaccine. dr. fauci says the u.s. wants to start vaccinating younger children by the summertime. the vaccines are not yet approved for anyone under 16. dr. fauci said upcoming trials will evaluate safety in children. the u.s. has identified more than 430 cases caused by the covid variant. the uk strain is across 31 states. the south african variant is now in two states. the brazilian strain at least one state. and starting tuesday all passengers on public transportation and transit hubs will be required to wear face masks. the rule does not apply to private vehicles. in florida, there's new

criticism to the governor's plan to have a supermarket chain take the lead in vaccine distribution. let's go to my colleague cori coffin in west palm beach for us. let's talk about this partnership and reaction to it. what do you know? >> yes, and as of late, some recent changes to that partnership, alex. this partnership was originally introduced by governor ron desantis, trying to make sure the vaccine would be more redable for those 65 and older here in the state. they originally announced they will use all publix locations to distribute the vaccine, no public county health locations. that drew some issues which we'll get into in a moment. but proponents of this plan say this makes it readily available and more so for seniors who can't travel for for some of the county sites, like this woman we talked to. >> we got in within just a short period of time of trying. anything you can prevent, you

need to, you know. this is our way of getting our country back, of getting our lives back, to be able to do what we want to do and what we need to do and until everybody gets vaccinated, we're going to be at a disadvantage. >> well, disadvantage is the word here, alex, because many people were frustrated with the governor's plan because they say it actually did leave poorer communities at a disadvantage. many of them do not have a publix in their area within this county here. so we have learned of a new announcement from the governor's office saying they will go ahead and do a partnership between publix and local county organizations so they will have some sites in poor neighborhoods. as we're learning, the state is going to get some 307,000 vaccines next week. that is up from 266,000. all part of the biden administration's plan to up dosages to each state as we try to get 150 million within the first 100 days. but, unfortunately, it's such a

small number going to poorer communities, just 5,000 doses going to those communities, alex. that is something they say they're still working on trying to figure out equity in the vaccine distribution. >> yes, a lot to figure out. thank you very much, cori ka reeb abdul jabbar is the latest public figure to get vaccinated for covid in a push to inspire confidence in the vaccine. and his skyhook foundation has just been recognized for its work offering s.t.e.m. opportunities to underserved students impacted by the pandemic. i'm delighted to say, kareem abdul-jabbar is joining me right now. kareem, big welcome to you. such an exciting time to have you on the show. you have been a civil rights activist for most of your career. >> yes, i have. >> first of all, tell me about the vaccine and challenge of vaccinating communities of color, why do you think they should get it? >> well, it's absolutely necessary all segments of our society participate and try to be as healthy as they can be.

you know, the black community needs to be involved. they have some issues with the health care system that traditionally, and they have to get over that. they have to understand the safest path is through vaccination, and protecting all of the people they can protect with the vaccination. >> absolutely. as you well know, we lost baseball legend hank aaron just a week ago. he also dedicated much of his life to giving back and helping others. and he also took the vaccine earlier this month. are you frustrated, kareem, by the unfounded conspiracy theories? i'm sure you get why people might be a little suspicious. >> well, i understand why certain communities would be suspicious. communities that have been shunned by the majority. but at this point, all americans need to understand that the vaccine is safe and it works. and we need to protect everybody that we can protect, so you want to protect your family and your

community, get them out there and get that vaccination. it's absolutely going to do something, going to do a lot to help us knock down this covid virus and get to the point where we can go on and regain our lives. >> amen to all of that. let's talk about your foundation. you've been involved in bringing science and math opportunities to underserved communities for years now. then you found a way to pivot during the pandemic that led to this recognition from the global business alliance. tell us about that. >> well, the global business alliance just seemed to enjoy what we were doing. they liked our approach. i have always felt that education is a social justice issue. and the l.a. unified school district, they agreed with me and so does a number of the corporations out there that want

to help. so we have gotten a little bit of help from verizon, and they've helped us take vans out to the various community centers and recreation centers that are open now now that the schools are closed. and still getting to the students and still trying to keep to our model of taking them outdoors so they could have s.t.e.m., science, technology, engineering and math, they can do experiments in science, technology, engineering and math outdoors where they have a chance to relate to an environment that enhances their well being and confidence. >> yes. >> so, you know, we're trying to do that and all of the help we can get from the corporate world is going to make it even more effective. so that's what we're trying to do.

i'm very thankful for the help we're getting. >> yes, it's incredibly inspiring and so nurturing for these kids and these students to learn, despite these difficult times. as you well know, president biden launched a racial equity initiative to address historically underserved and an marginalized americans. i know, kareem, you've been in the struggle for a long time. what do you expect from the biden administration? can he right the wrongs? >> president biden is trying to do all he can to facilitate what we're doing. for example, we work with panasonic. they've given us the abilities to get routers in so that our students can access the internet. that's, you know, an essential nowadays for learning. they've helped us do a lot of good in that way. and there's a lot of ways that the different corporate entities can become involved and help the people that they serve. so, you know, i'm encouraging that, and i'm very thankful for all the help that we've gotten.

>> yeah, i bet. i'm curious, though, kareem, what you think of the climate out there. and i'm not talking about the weather. the climate where white supremacist types are storming the capitol, the department of homeland security, as you know, put out an unprecedented national terrorism advisory, warning that extremists, domestic extremists, could attack anyone at any time. how do you view this threat? how do you think the government should be handling it? >> well, you know, as a black american, i have my whole life understood that that threat is real. i've seen it too many times. for me, it started with the murder of emmett till. it happened when i was 8 years old. it's still a lot the same in that respect. we've got to do something about that. we've got to educate people and protect people who are -- who deserve our protection. we've got to educate people who don't understand that people should not be judged by their color. they should be judged by the

content of their character. that's what it should be all about. and we have to keep reinforcing this lesson, and you know, that's -- that's what i have done. that's what i have done with my life, with my foundation. anybody wants to help my foundation can go to skyhook.org and they can make absolute -- >> yeah, make a difference by donating and helping. >> they can definitely make a difference for us. >> that's wonderful. i do want to remind viewers, kareem, that you were a teenager on the streets of new york city in the 1960s and you were there on june 4th, 1967. you were alongside -- we're seeing this photo here -- bill russell and jim brown. you were standing with muhammad ali when he rejected army induction. it was a very unpopular decision at the time. you have witnessed so much of this history. do you ever get the feeling, like, you've seen this movie before? do you have hope that anything's different this time? >> well, it's a lot like i've

seen it before. it's the same movie. it's just kept running and running and running and running and running. you know, all the way from 1967 to this present day. you know, over 50 years. it's something we've got to do something about, you know? the problems are not going to go away because we want them to go away. they're only going to go away if we can talk to each other in a civilized way and figure out what the issues are and what the solutions are. >> absolutely. >> if we don't do that, you know, we're going to just keep going around in circles and we don't need to do that. and you know, what president biden is talking about, you know, the green reconstruction of our country in a way that promotes jobs and prosperity for everybody, that's something worth working towards. >> well, we are like-minded in this way, that it all starts with great education and the sky hook foundation.org is a place

where people can feel good about supporting your efforts as well. thank you so much for your time. it was very good to have you on the show. thank you, kareem abdul-jabbar. the search for the person who planted two pipe bombs in washington, why the fbi is poring over these surveillance images. that's in our next hour. r thesee images that's in our next hour. hing or. like how nice it is to switch and save on your auto policy. but it's even nicer knowing that if this happens... ...or this happens... ...or this... ...or even this... ...we've seen and covered it. so, call 1-800-farmers to switch your auto policy and you could save an average of four hundred seventy dollars. get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ (vo) businesses are always making choices. here's a choice you don't have to make: the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... or insanely great value. now, with t-mobile for business, there's no compromise.

network. support. value. choose. all. three. t-mobile for business. ready when you are.

could donald trump be kicked out of mar-a-lago, at least as his place of residence? the city of palm beach, florida, is taking a new look at that from a legal perspective. we're going to examine it as well next. for some of us, our daily journey is a short one when you drive less, you pay less with pay per mile insurance from allstate you've never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking allstate in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing

that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

keeping your oysters business growing has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit

when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo

a very good day from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome, everyone, to "weekends with alex witt." we beginning with the breaking news and the intensifying manhunt for this person who planted two pipe bombs in washington. investigators are poring over these surveillance images, taken the night before the capitol riot. they're now sharing them with the public. moments ago, the fbi released this new wanted poster. it shows ten new suspects accused of assaulting federal officers and violence at the capitol. earlier, i spoke with former fbi acting director for counterterrorism about these new threats from domestic terrorists. >> we're used to see advisories about an international terror threat, but this is a threat that says, your neighbor, your