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 coworker, your family member could pose a threat to our nation's security, and that means we need to be in a kind of post-9/11 posture, alex. by that, i mean, remember all the signs that came up. if you see something, say something. that's what the fbi's looking for right now. >> and now, nearly 5,000 national guard troops will be deployed in d.c. through march as some congressional staffers and extremism researchers say there are concerns about possible violence surrounding the upcoming impeachment proceedings. let's go to msnbc's vaughn hillyard standing by on capitol hill. what can you tell us about this new video? >> reporter: yeah, this new "new york times" video that you're looking at is video from the insurrection on the steps there of the capitol. and quite frankly, it's tough to watch. it's tough to listen to. and it shows just how intense, how direct, and how concentrated

these rioters, these insurrectionists were on entering the capitol. there's a 34-year-old woman who died. she's trampled in this video while her friend shouts out, she's dying and then pronounces loudly, she's dead. as he's doing this and yelling for help, the rioters keep trampling over her. you can see one insurrectionist taking a crutch, wave it above and hitting a police officer with it. another man with a hockey stick, striking repeatedly another police officer, a police officer is dragged down the steps in this video, and it is just more evidence that just how harrowing of a day, of an afternoon, of a night that was on january 6th. and that's why the department of homeland security this week released an alert warning of potential future domestic extremist threats, not only on the capitol grounds but also on lawmakers and, you know, the fbi

and the department of justice are still trying to identify individuals from that january 6th event as well as the man or woman that is yet to be identified in -- for placing pipe bombs, not only at the republican party headquarters but also the democratic party headquarters the night before while a lot of attention was on the u.s. capitol. that night before, between 7:30 and 8:30, this individual placed pipe bombs at both locations. they were disarmed by law enforcement, but fbi just put out new images over the last 24 hours from surveillance video of this individual. the reward is now up to $100,000. this is the striking scene here at the u.s. capitol three weeks after that insurrection as lawmakers and law enforcement discussed what future security protocols look like around here. you know, we've been standing out here and there were just some individuals that put posters, anti-fence posters here. you know, the capitol is not only for folks to come up and bear witness to one branch of

government here but also it's access to the senate and house office buildings where americans are able to go and visit their representatives and the staffs of those representatives, and we watched as capitol police removed these signs here from this capitol hill neighborhood, these posters, you know, demanding that these fences come down and there are serious questions as to what security looks like here moving forward as lawmakers as well as law enforcement debate potentially a permanent security perimeter around here. >> yeah. kind of heartbreaking, but it reflects the times. thank you so much, vaughn hillyard, for that. well, now to the growing calls to remove congresswoman marjorie taylor greene from the u.s. house as she faces mounting controversies. let's go to mariana. welcome again to you. how are democrats approaching this situation with congresswoman greene? >> well, alex, they're really weighing three different options to make sure that congresswoman marjorie taylor greene is the

last republican to use verbal attacks as well as potentially physical attacks in insurrecting any kind of violence in the future. the first one would be to expel her completely but that would be difficult to do since it requires two-thirds of the votes and republicans are not likely going to support a move like that. another one is removing her and stripping her from her committee assignments that would just allow her to vote on the floor, not really have influence on policy. and of course, the last one and most realistic option is censuring her. that would basically with equivalent to a slap on the wrist. it really could not -- she would not face any consequences besides the house just saying outright that they denounce any of her actions, including yesterday we heard from congresswoman cori bush from missouri who said that earlier this month, congresswoman greene berated her in the hallways, her and her staff, and that she felt very much threatened as she

described greene to be a white supremacist. she doesn't want to see her in the hallways. she asked speaker nancy pelosi for her office to be moved so she no longer faces her as often as she already may need to on the house floor. democrats, of course, now saying that republicans should also take action and really put a stop to this early on before it could potentially get worse. i want you to take a listen to congresswoman torres, another democrat from the house, who also is pushing for some kind of action against greene. take a listen. >> just because the leadership has failed to denounce terrorists that have been elected to congress, doesn't mean that the rest of us should capitulate and stand down against, you know, the tools that we have at our disposal to ensure that she feels some kind of discomfort for the discomfort and the danger that she has brought to the halls of congress.

she has fueled this insurrection. they are not done. all of us are targets of people like her. >> reporter: congresswoman greene is not backing down. she said in a ten-part tweet thread today that she spoke to former president trump and it really shows the division that is happening also within the republican party. republicans continuing to side with the former president because they're seeing the consequences of what happens when you go against him. a number of those republicans who voted to impeach him already being censured by their own state parties. congressman tom price just being censured hours ago from the south carolina state party and also you're seeing liz cheney, a member of leadership, facing calls for her to step aside and be defeated in the next election that we will see in just a couple of years. so, a lot of divisions and increasing divides here on capitol hill. >> liz cheney is getting support

from republicans, including george w. bush who called her father, dick cheney, to say, thank you for having liz stand up for what is right. your point is duly noted. thank you for that. joining me now, harry litman and melissa murray, law professor at nyu law school. good to see you and welcome back to the both of you. harry, let's talk first about the congresswoman. there have been calls for her expulsion from congress, but what is the constitutionality of that? is there any precedent? >> there's certainly precedent for expulsion. it just requires a two-thirds vote. there's a possible way that she could be called -- that she could be disqualified and not sit in the future, but it doesn't seem likely. but look, she's vile and delusional and as marianna says, she really is the face of the kind of trump wing of the party,

and it's most, i think, telling that these obviously incendiary comments aren't drawing the opposition or the objection of the republican leadership. >> yeah. she definitely has tied herself to donald trump and speaks about him as if he's her favorite, you know, president ever in history. let me take a listen with you, melissa, to something that congressman hakeem jeffries said this morning regarding the upcoming impeachment trial of donald trump. >> let's also keep in mind that the senate floor is not just going to be a courtroom. it is a crime scene, and that the individual senators are not just jurors. they were victims and witnesses to the crimes that took place on that particular day and have seen in compelling fashion. >> interesting point there. what do you make of that? how does the fact that everyone in congress was essentially a witness to these events and the senate floor is essentially the

scene of the crime? how does that affect the case? >> well, it's an astute point and not surprisingly made by representative hakeem jeffries who i will note is an nyu law graduate. one of the things that makes this different from ordinary circumstances is it's not a criminal trial. it doesn't have the same standards of proof as a criminal trial. it doesn't have the same evidentiary rules as a criminal trial, and you have as jurors individuals who are not only partisan in their outlook but, as hakeem jeffries has said, were actually there. they're eye-witnesses to the very event that has given rise to these charges in the first place so it's, again, a political event. and in some cases, political theater. so, that will come through as this begins in february and we'll see how this unfolds as the senators themselves weigh their own role in all of this and what it felt like to be there on the floor of the senate that day. >> yeah. waiting for that. that's going to be extraordinary. harry, there's some new reporting that jacob chansley, more infamously known as the qanon shaman, remember, he was

the guy that was wearing horns and painted body paint and he was letting out these, just, primordial screams there in the senate. it was extraordinary. anyway, he, at that capitol riot, is now willing to speak at trump's impeachment trial. the words of trump supporters who are accused of participating in the riot may end up being used against him in the impeachment trial. chansley and at least four other people, who are facing federal charges stemming from the riot, have suggested they were taking orders from trump. how would that affect the trial? >> so, first, you know, as melissa said, this is going to be a trial even more than the last one where everybody knows what happened. they experienced it personally. but it's part of an overall dynamic that's -- that as law enforcement really ups the pressure, brings conspiracy charges and the like, they are going to pit some of these insurrectionists against the president. it will happen another way when,

if they go on trial, they'll say, we want trump to testify, and there's going to be all kinds of skirmishes as the pressure of legal sanction causes trump to separate from the insurrectionists and he might actually be sort of testified against by the very people that he revved up and brought to the capitol. >> yeah, it will be interesting because they will be under oath and will have to speak how they interpreted their truth there. melissa, what about "the hill," which reports that the town of palm beach, florida, is performing a legal review of president trump's residency at mar-a-lago. writing, it could be a violence violation of rules set forward in a previous agreement with the town when he decided to convert the private residence into a club in 1993. among those conditions were that club members, including trump, could only spend a maximum of seven consecutive days and no more than three weeks of the year -- in a year at the premises so what do you make of that melissa?

would it be something that would be hard to overturn, and you know, just allow him to hole up there? >> it's interesting, alex, i was raised in florida and i was a teenager when that deal was struck. i was in elementary school when the mar-a-lago estate was purchased by donald trump and it made all the news. this is essentially a business contract between the city of palm beach and donald trump for the purposes of transforming a private residence into a revenue-generating private enterprise. so, again, it's about zoning laws. it's about different deals that were made in order to change zoning laws to permit this, so it's basically a contractual dispute between the city and donald trump. he can stonewall them but it's more likely that a settlement will be reached between the city and donald trump. that seems likely in any event, to be negotiated. but it would be very difficult, i think, for the city to actually enforce the terms of this contract, of this agreement against president trump short of going into mar-a-lago and

forcibly expelling him. >> yeah, kind of extraordinary. harry, i want you to weigh in on this too, and take into consideration the neighbors and i'll admit that i have a friend who lives in the area, and the general consensus is, don't have him try a private house here, right? let's not have him out here. let's keep him on mar-a-lago. it's what they would prefer, to have him stay on the property. would that weigh in, in terms of -- as they consider what to do going forward? ? i yeah, but look, this is a sort of garden variety dispute, as melissa says, that normally would not be a big deal. what it really shows is how toxic a figure president trump has become in the entire country. he couldn't possibly live in new york, his old residence, and wherever he is, there's a bad odor. so, i mean, what's really significant here, i agree with melissa on the contractual dispute, but what's significant is the, again, the polarization and how a majority of the country doesn't even want him in their state. >> there you go.

melissa murray, harry litman, thanks, guys. good to see you both. what georgia voters have to say about congresswoman marjorie taylor greene. that's next. that's next. this phone paired with 5g ultra wideband, wow! (announcer) the new samsung galaxy s21 is here and it's on verizon 5g ultra wideband, the fastest 5g in the world. available in parts of many cities. it's not just a great network. it's ridiculously fast. (announcer) stream your favorite shows in ultra hd. i'm so excited about this. streaming is crystal clear. (announcer) select unlimited plans get the disney bundle and 5g included at no extra cost. yes! (announcer) switch and get samsung galaxy s21+ 5g on us. only on verizon.

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(snap) fine jewelry for every day, minus the traditional markups. ♪♪ new reaction today from voters about their increasingly controversial congresswoman, marjorie taylor greene. while her constituents are speaking out, most republicans leaders are silent. let's go to amanda golden in rome, georgia. i believe that is what the 14th congressional district there in georgia, and that is her district. so, what are people saying there about her past comments? >> reporter: exactly, alex. we're here in the 14th congressional district. this is where marjorie taylor greene actually won the close to 75% of the vote. that was a 50-point vote margin beating out her democratic opponent in november. and the constituents here have kind of mixed reviews to all that's happening right now, because keep in mind, so much of the controversy around marjorie taylor greene was not news to the people that actually elected her. she's been spouting these

conspiracy theories in support of qanon, calling for the beheadings of different democratic leaders, doing all of these false, inaccurate conspiratorial things, pushing this dangerous rhetoric for years, for much of her political career and in a lot of ways, those that voted for her were looking for that outside of the box thinking, as they put it to me. i spoke to a number of constituents on both sides of the political aisle and i want to play some of the sound we gathered with them. take a listen. >> she's an embarrassment, and she's -- it's -- she's an outrage to, really, decent behavior. and i'm just sorry that that is what our district is becoming known for. >> i think the outrageous events of january 6th show that we need to take some strong action to try to protect the people of this country against domestic terrorists as well as foreign terrorists. >> one of the greatest conspiracy theorists was noah when he built the ark. everybody questioned him until it started to rain. i'm not saying i support conspiracy theories.

i support facts. but that's what makes america great. because we can have freedom and options in how we think. >> reporter: so, alex, you really hear all sides of the political spectrum there and i want to note for stacey, the supporter of marjorie taylor greene who spoke to me, she was just one that was willing to go on camera. i spoke to many others who weren't necessarily willing to go on the record in that way but say that the main reasons they were supporting her was for her defense of the constitution. whether or not they're going to take sides with conspiracy theories, they feel she was really defending what they were looking for by way of the second amendment, gun rights, things of that nature. and you know, marjorie taylor greene is not backing down. we saw that statement that she released yesterday and a tweet this morning saying she spoke to former president trump and thangd him for his support, reiterating that she is 100% loyal to him as her favorite president. >> you mean the person about whom you're speaking is the one who used the noah and the ark analogy as her reasoning for

supporting marjorie taylor greene? okay, good. thank you so much, amanda golden for that one. let's be joined right now by california congresswoman sarah jacobs, a democratic member of the house foreign affairs and armed services committee. congresswoman, welcome. good to see you. i know that you were planning a resolution, you're going to introduce it next week, to censure the congresswoman and call for her resignation, so first of all, what compelled you to put this bill forward, and does that mean that you don't support the resolution that's been drafted by congressman jimmy gomez to get her expelled from congress? >> well, alex, it's great to be here with you and my colleague, georgia congresswoman williams and i will be introducing resolution on monday to censure and call for the resignation of marjorie taylor greene. we did that because we feel like her rhetoric, what she's posted, what she's espoused really crosses the boundary beyond normal political disagreement

into the category of things that are simply unacceptable, calling for political violence. i also support the efforts to expel her. i support the efforts to get her stripped of her committee assignments, and we felt that having this censure resolution was also an important way to make sure that the house goes on the record that this kind of behavior is unacceptable. >> yeah, sounds like you're trying to cover it from all angles. tell me what a censure would look like. >> so, a censure requires a simple majority, and it formally puts on the record that she is censured by the house of representatives and then the resolution also calls for her to resign. >> okay. so, then, that is quite encompassing there. you have more than 30 house lawmakers who have asked for greater flexibility in using their allowances to protect themselves while threats -- from threats, rather, while in d.c. and their home district. you had speaker pelosi speaking to those concerns. let's take a listen to that. >> the enemy is within the house

of representatives. >> what exactly did you mean when you said that the enemy is within? what exactly -- >> it means that we have members of congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence on other members of congress. >> do you feel safe at work? what's your take on the speaker and all that she meant when she said the enemy is within? >> look, i was in the house chamber on january 6th when the attack happened, and i worked in conflict settings around the world so i feel safe going into the house of representatives. i think it's important that we don't let this angry mob, this angry riot get in the way of the functions of democracy, but i also support efforts to make sure that we go through screening before we go on the house floor, that we make sure everyone wears masks, and i frankly think it's unacceptable that some of my colleagues on the republican side refuse to wear their masks and refuse to go through that screening and want to bring firearms on the house floor. it's simply unsafe for everyone,

not only the members, but everyone who works in the capitol. >> yeah. well, let's take a listen to what your democratic colleague, alexandria ocasio-cortez said talk talking about the republican party. >> there no consequences in the republican caucus for violence. there's no consequences for racism. no consequences for misogyny. no consequences for insurrection. and no consequences means that they condone it. it means that that silence is acceptance and they want it. >> in fact, just a few weeks ago, you were giving your first speech on the house floor where you said the response to political violence must always be accountability, so do you share aoc's view? are we not seeing enough accountability following the capitol riot? >> i agree with the fact that the republican party should be having the kind of internal deliberations that are

incredibly important to rat out this kind of extremist and this kind of hate from their ranks. i know that there were members of the republican party who were appalled at what happened on january 6th, who were appalled that there were still members of their party that came in and continued to vote for the objections of the election. >> but congresswoman, you know that. but you know that. but we don't publicly necessarily know that. i mean, doesn't that bother you, that they may express that this was whack-a-doodle, this was wrong, any expression to you personally, but they're not saying it out loud. >> i think that's exactly right. we need these members to come forward. we need that to be the loudest voice in the party and it currently isn't. it's being drowned out by this extremism and hate and i think it's incumbent on the republican party to hold themselves and their members accountable for these actions. >> so, while we're talking about accountability here, you're also calling on the department of defense to investigate whether current military service members were involved in the riot. you may have seen npr's report, one in five defendants in cases

tied to the attack served in the military, so what kind of action do you want to see? >> that's right. i represent a proud military community here in san diego, and i heard from so many constituents who wanted to make sure that anyone who was involved in the insurrection who had military ties were held to the highest level of accountability. so, my colleague and i wrote a letter to, at the time, acting secretary of defense and asked him to hold anyone currently in the military or use any of their powers to hold accountable anyone who was formerly in the military to the u.s. military code of justice and make sure that they are held accountable and tried for sedition if it's warranted. >> all right, well, california congresswoman from san diego area, sara jacobs, come see me again because we're both southern california girls so i love that. appreciate your time. >>ly definitely do that. >> thank you. it is a new vaccine of hope against covid-19, but how effective is it against the new strain from south africa?

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we have this breaking news to share as a covid case caused by the south african variant has been identified now in maryland. the strain is now known to be in two states while the uk variant has been reported in 31 states. the brazil strain in one. msnbc's senior medical correspondent, dr. john torres, is joining me right now. dr. john, always good to have you. can you explain, first of all, what exactly is a variant? >> and alex, this is the biggest question i get because we keep talking about variants and a variant is basically a change in the virus that gives it some advantage, and if you look at the virus here, we have some graphics to show you. basically, the virus has these spikes on the end of it. when the virus duplicates itself, it does two copies, then it does three copies and then it does four copies. along that duplication, one of

the copies turns into a mistake. sometimes that mistake is an advantage, like what we've seen here, and when it becomes advantageous to the virus, it becomes less advantageous to us and more dangerous to us. right now there are the three variants we're talking about that have gone through that change, alexis. >> what are the main variants we should be concerned about? >> the big ones we've heard about for a while is the b 1.1.7. that was discovered in the uk. right now, unfortunately, here in the united states, it is a virus that has spread over more than half the states we have here in the u.s., and by some estimates, by march, it's going to become the dominant virus in the united states. and then you talk about the b. 1.3.5.1 that was a virus that was originally detected in south africa. the issue with this virus is we know it's more contagious but it could be more dangerous. problem is, that has come to the united states as well and as of earlier today, we have cases in south carolina, two cases and then one case in maryland.

the concern is none of these people are related, none of these people traveled, so we think there might be community spread and then the last one is the p-1 variant. this one comes out of brazil. we have one case of that in minnesota right now. again, this is somebody who traveled so we're not sure about community spread in that case. but if this community spread starts happening with these ones that are a little more dangerous, then we could have some issues. >> so, do we know if these variants are more dangerous? >> so, that's part of the problem. we don't really know exactly what we're seeing right now with these variants because of the way the viruses act. if you look here on the virus itself, you see these proteins, the e, s, m proteins, these are the spike proteins you keep hearing people talk about and what these proteins do is over time, they can change. they can mutate. if they mutate enough to give them an advantage, then that becomes the variant we talk about, and the advantage they get, what these spike proteins allow them to do is basically a lock-key type mechanism so this is a key that locks into our

cell and lets the virus get inside the cell. if that lock is a better-fitting lock, the virus can get in stronger so we know some of these are adapting the spike protein where it can do just that, alex. >> what about vaccines then? do they work against the new variants? >> well, right now, it's kind of a mixed picture of the vaccine. the one we know about, mostly, is the pfizer vaccine because that one was just recently tested and tested down in south africa. like you can see here in the u.s., 72% effective in the u.s., but that's effective at preventing severe disease and death and then you only have 57% effectiveness in south africa. if you look at novavax, another one that's coming down the pipe here, and we expect it to be around pretty soon. that's less than 50% effective against the south african variant and then go to pfizer and moderna. and we simply really don't know hard facts about pfizer and moderna because they're looking at it now. they've looked at it in a lab. they're going to start looking at it in people out in the communities, studies are ongoing, so we'll know pretty soon, but they look like they're

effective. we just don't know how effective they're going to be. >> listen, people are wondering, what can i do to protect myself against the variants? i mean, are there things that experts are saying? >> and that's the biggest question and the biggest thing people can do is obviously get the vaccine but on top of that, you want a mask and one of the best masks, a surgical mask. there's blue ones, white ones, they're three-layer masks. cloth masks can work as well but you want to make sure there are two or three layers and those are fairly thick layers and the best way you can tell that is shine a light through that mask. if you can see the light very easily shine through the mask, then you want to go ahead and probably double mask at that point. not everybody needs to but it could certainly help and don't forget to wash your hands. that's exceptionally important, that 20 seconds of hand washing can really help get this under control and make sure we don't spread this virus because if it doesn't spread, it doesn't get a variant. if it doesn't get a variant, we don't have the issues we're talking about, alex. >> that's all great advice. i hadn't heard that about shining a light. that makes really good sense.

i'm going to do it on my mask as soon as i get off the set. dr. john torres, thank you so much for that. joining me now, dr. south, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the university of pennsylvania. doctor, welcome. i'm glad to have you here. so, you were listening, i'm sure, to dr. torres, who just walked us through these three variants. but what are your biggest concerns, dr. south, about the spread of these and other variants that could develop? because i've heard there could be hundreds, right? >> absolutely. the new variants are certainly concerning in that they are more contagious and potentially make people more sick. it underscores the importance of two things. we have to continue with social distancing. we have to continue with social distancing and wearing masks, but it also underscores the importance of a swift and equitable vaccine rollout, because the quicker we can get people vaccinated, the less likely it is that this -- these new variants will have a chance to spread. >> okay. so, that's good. but it's going to take a while for everyone to get vaccinated, right? so the longer that we take getting everybody vaccinated and

the more that there's an opportunity for these variants to develop, does that mean that we could have covid with us for years to come? >> covid is here to stay. it is going to be with us for a long time. and we are adjusting life. our lives are not always going to be so restricted as they are now but we need to keep going a little bit longer so that later we can go back to somewhat of a normal life. >> yeah. so, johnson & johnson, as you know, phase 3 data shows that its one-dose vaccine is 72% effective in the u.s., 66% effective globally. so, what do you say to somebody who is skeptical after comparing the data, the efficiency to pfizer or moderna, which around 95% effective, but i just want to point out, the preventing severe disease or potentially death, that is 85% effective. with j&j's vaccine. is that the thing that you're

going to focus on? is that good news for you? >> absolutely. so, we have to remember that we don't yet know the pfizer and moderna efficacy against these new variants because they were not as present during the trials for those vaccines. so, it's a little bit hard to make a comparison. i think we have to look at this through a lens of equity, always. it is important that we get the vaccine out so i'm glad there is another vaccine that we can add to our arsenal, but we have to be careful and thinking about who gets what vaccine and make sure that that is equitably distributed. >> okay. in an nbc think piece, you wrote that once you didn't trust the covid vaccine, and i remind people, you are a doctor. but you have changed your mind. talk about that. why did you change your mind? >> absolutely. so, in late november, when i found out that because of my exposure risk, i'm an emergency medicine doctor and medicine,

that i would be eligible in the first wave to get the vaccine, my initial reaction was, no way. i'm not getting a new vaccine. i had to sit with that and over the course of a couple weeks, address my concerns. my main concerns were the speed at which the vaccine was developed, the new mrna technology that i didn't previously know about, and the risk or concern about a long-term side effect from the covid vaccine that we wouldn't know about because the trials only followed people for a short period of time. and then, you know, undergirding all of that hesitation that i myself had, our experiences of racism in healthcare, in life that go into my decision making process when i'm deciding about something new. >> well, i appreciate your perspective, dr. eugenia south. come see me again. i enjoyed our conversation. and stay healthy. thank you. do you have a question about the covid-19 variants? we're going to have a doctor ready to answer them for you tomorrow so just send me a video of you asking your questions.

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so, next week, president biden will shift focus to his number one agenda item, covid relief. senate democrats are trying to move forward with the relief package, even without republican backing, and more than 50 house

democrats are urging biden to include $2,000 recurring checks in the plan. let's go to my colleague, nbc's monica alva, joining us once again from d.c. monica, what is the president saying about the prospect of going it alone? >> reporter: well, president biden now is signaling an openness to this having to be the ultimate path for democrats if they want to get this $1.9 trillion package passed quickly. that is what president biden told reporters yesterday on the south lawn, saying that though he would love to potentially have gop lawmakers come on board, he's prepared to go a different route if that's the only way to make it happen. take a listen to what he had to say. >> i support passing covid relief with support from republicans if we can get it, but the covid relief has to pass. there's no if, and, or buts. >> reporter: so, the word but there doing a lot of work in that sentence to signal the president is saying, ideally, i would love bipartisanship, but if that's not possible, he kind

of gives a blessing to majority leader chuck schumer to go forth with the plan that he has already proposed for as early as next week, which is to fast track the legislation through a process called budget reconciliation, which doesn't require republicans, but there's still some sticking points, and of course republicans are mostly opposed to just how large $1.9 trillion is in that very steep price tag, so that may get trimmed down, potentially, but on this question of additional checks, this was something that did have bipartisan support back in december when those $600 checks were proved to be increased to $2,000 and now the question is, will they be more targeted towards potentially families in financial need? could there be more? all of that and those details are still being worked out, alex, as you mentioned. of course, the white house wants to keep the focus on that for the week ahead, but we also know that the looming second senate impeachment trial is likely to take up a lot of the political oxygen on capitol hill, so

they're really going to have to be doing both of these things in order to try to get something done on their legislative agenda, alex, in any kind of timely fashion. >> okay. monica alba setting the scene for us, thank you so much, monica. breaking up, is it really that hard to do? the new trouble that awaits republicans who can't say no to trumpism. that's next. that's next. mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz... a pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis when methotrexate has not helped enough. xeljanz can help relieve joint pain and swelling, stiffness, and helps stop further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose

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i mean, they beat him up before he got into office, they're beating him up after he leaves office, i mean, at some point, i mean, give the man a break. i mean, move on. >> well, there's a new anti-trump group that is not taking that advice and former governor nikki haley and they're taking aim at those who supported donald trump as well. the republican accountability project targeting a dozen republican lawmakers in a new billboard campaign calling on them to resign for spreading falsehoods about the 2020 election. and joining me now is olivia

troy, director of the republican accountability project, a former top aide to former vice president mike pence and a former white house coronavirus task force member. welcome back to the broadcast. this is going to be great because there's a lot to get to. first of all, olivia, when you hear nikki haley say to give trump a break and as more republicans are publicly defending trump ahead of his impeachment trial that starts next week, how can you hold people responsible when a majority of the party appears to still be unwilling to break from donald trump? >> it's really disappointing to watch people like nikki haley, right, who were once respected in terms of conservative circles, in terms of the republican party. >> and by the way, she's also played a low profile over these trump years. she really doesn't come up and comment all the time. i interpreted that as she was trying to protect her own legacy for potentially something in the future. but then there's this. >> right.

i always thought that as well, to be honest. i mean, she's, quite frankly, one of the only senior administration officials that got this grand farewell in the oval office, let us not forget about that, right? she kind of leaves the administration unscathed and so for her to double down like this is really quite baffling and the only thing that i can think of is the fact that she is appealing to what she thinks is the trump base of the party and that's where she thinks her future is. and so she's going to go all in, which is unfortunate, because the reason we've established this project, the republican accountability project, is to stand for those more principled republicans, so people that are going to take a stand no matter what cost to their own races and their careers. they're going to take a stand against this movement that is toxic and it's not just toxic to the republican party. this is toxic to the country and the american people's well being. >> so, you're taking a stand against those. does that mean you will also do things to support people like liz cheney, who really is facing

an onslaught of criticism for her, you know, support of the impeachment? >> absolutely. this is a two-part project. one, it's to remind those who were the main enablers on the election lies that led to the insurrection that happened on january 6th, and another part of the project is to defend those, to defend the few and far between who came forward and said, no, this is wrong. people like liz cheney, people like representative kinzinger, who have been very vocal that this is not okay. they have condemned these acts. they've come forward. they voted for impeachment. and so we're going to be looking at the senate too, and we are still calling for the conviction of donald trump, because he needs to be held accountable. you hear these republicans calling for unity. right, well, the first step towards unity would be holding yourself responsible for the actions that you have enabled and taken personally that got us to this moment, and then we can

talk about unity when these people are held accountable and they come forward and admit their lies. >> yeah. so, one person we've nod heard much from is former vice president mike pence. and let's not forget that the capitol hill rioters, they were heard chanting, "hang mike pence." there was one report that he was in fear for his life. what do you make of his silence, and if he were to speak out in favor of seeking accountability for what happened, do you think fellow republicans would stand by him? >> well, there's no moment like today to take that stand if you're going to take it. if you're going to break away from trumpism, finally, and move away and allow others the opportunity to perhaps come forward with you and provide them and empower them and have their back, this would be the moment, and so i hope, perhaps somewhere in mike pence's head, that he is weighing this, but you know, there's also a careful calculus for him. his life has already been

threatened. his credibility by trump has completely been undermined and destroyed, even after his unwavering loyalty for years. and this is why it's so baffling to me to watch these republicans pander and fly down to mar-a-lago and be so loyal to trump, right? because he turns on you. he's not loyal back. look what he did to mike pence. and it's just baffling to watch these republicans and the republican party continue to clamor around him when he clearly doesn't care about them. he doesn't care about the future of the party. he's all in it for himself. he's in it for his family. he's in it for his personal gain. he always has been. >> so there's a liberal watchdog group that is tracking companies that hire people who work as top aides to donald trump who did work that way, i should say. should former trump staffers be held accountable? and are there people who are being impacted by this that don't deserve to be? >> yeah, that's a tough question. i think that it's fair to say

that there were a group of inner circle enablers who pushed very dangerous and horrible policies in the administration. i'm talking about the inner circle of, like, steven miller, right, who was by day one, one of the more staunch, i would say, racist people in this administration that i have witnessed firsthand. who did all of these atrocities. but then there are people who were also, let's not forget, career people who were also assigned and detailed to the national security council, people who were just trying to do their jobs and to try to control the chaos and do the right thing, and so i think we have to be careful to not penalize those people who were really just, you know, part of the deep state, so to speak, as we were labeled. i was one of those people who got labeled that way along the way. and so i think there has to be a careful calculus on that, but do i think that some of these people should be held accountable? absolutely. >> you made quite a revelation

on msnbc about the former head of the white house coronavirus task force, dr. deborah birx. let's take a look at that. >> she was coming into a no-win situation, and even more so than i think she even realized. because i was told that i was to watch her, that she was not to be trusted, because she was a matt pottinger hire. >> who told you to watch her? was there anyone else who was labeled untrustworthy? >> i'll remember that day for the rest of my life because the last thing i expected was to walk into the office of the chief of staff to the vice president and be told, you know, dr. birx is starting today. we expect you to keep watch on her. she's not to be trusted. she's a matt pottinger hire and that means matt was one of the first people in the administration inside the white house to really take the pandemic serious. he was walking around trying to get people to wear masks.

he was walking around raising the alarm on it. he did this starting in january, where he really tried to get people to realize how dangerous this moment was going to be. and so he reaches out to dr. birx and brings her in, says, you know, we have someone, we have a medical expert who's dealt with hiv in the pandemic, i was familiar with dr. birx's work beforehand. but because of that, because of this division and these factions that existed in this white house, which are way too complicated to get into this moment, but you've seen reported about and we've all witnessed, because of this kind of situation and this environment that we were in, these were the types of scenarios that we faced, and so when i was -- when that was said to me, i can't tell you -- i was so confused because literally this happened minutes before dr. birx walks into the room and i'm going to be sharing an office with her. and i just remember thinking, we're in the middle of this crisis. i know this is going to be bad. i've dealt with many crises before.

this is the last thing that we should be worrying about right now is these games and undermining a doctor before she's even walked through the door. >> yeah, you were asked -- >> i don't care about this. i never did that. >> you were basically asked to spy on her and report back. >> yeah, and to be honest with you, i am very supportive of my colleagues. i'm also known for being very supportive of women in the workplace. >> yeah. >> and this crossed so many lines for me and she's a medical expert. i am not. i was not going to behave that way. i was going to work hard and have her back in situations that were very, very difficult internally. >> yeah. >> but that i witnessed firsthand. i mean, you're not going to win against the virus that's already ahead of you if that's how you're going to behave. >> listen, you're also known for being a great interview and someone with whom i really love talking because you give it to us straight, olivia troy, thank you so much. we'll see you again no doubt.

that's going to do it for us this hour, everyone. i'm alex witt. yasmin vossoughian is up next. e. ♪ don't you tell me ♪ ♪ that i'm crazy... ♪ ♪ don't you say that i'm losing my mind. ♪ ♪ i'm in love... ♪ ♪ love, love. ♪ celebrate your love with a gift from pandora jewelry and discover all the ways to shop.

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good afternoon, everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian. we've got a lot going on right now, and we have a team of reporters out in the field covering all of the big stories so we want to get right to it. with those calls to remove representative marjorie taylor greene from office. the georgia republican is under fire today for a number of controversial comments as we've been following, including a newly-surfaced video where she questioned if a plane hit the pentagon back on 9/11. and a cnn report saying that she questioned the legitimacy of several mass shootings and liked social media posts calling for the execution of prominent

democrats. while the chair of the house ethics committee is calling for her