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good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome to weekends with alex witt. we begin with president biden saying donald trump should not receive intelligence briefings. in a new interview with cbs, biden breaking with tradition, saying trump has no need for those intel briefings now that he's out of office. >> should former president trump still receive intelligence briefings? >> i think not. >> why not? >> because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection. i just think that there's no need for him to have that intelligence briefing. what value is giving him an intelligence briefing? what impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something? >> also in that interview, the president says he will not budge on the $1,400 stimulus checks

but maybe taking a more targeted approach on exactly who will receive those checks. i will talk with congressman ro about covid relief in just a moment. today marks one month since the attack of capitol hill. congresswoman val demings earlier telling me how those events still haunt her. >> not a day that has gone by that i don't think about what happened. not just what happened that day but what could have happened. sometimes what could have happened can really be the most stressful. the questions that still exist, who participated? we know that we made a lot of arrests. we still got a lot more to go. who funded this horrible attack on our capitol? why wasn't there stronger law enforcement presence? prepared for the fight on that day. it is our job to get to the bottom of it, and we will. and new reaction on the growing fallout surrounding congresswoman marjorie taylor greene after being stripped from her committee assignments in an

unprecedented move, one democrat telling me last hour, it's now the republicans' turn to act. >> this is a cancer on the republican party, and i really hope that the republican party takes this action, that they take action with the appropriate outcome for her. >> let's check in now with msnbc's mike melly who's covering the president in wilmington and also ali vitali. what are we hearing about whether or not trump's going to have access to intel briefings? >> reporter: alex, of course we heard from president biden in this interview with cbs news yesterday, taped as part of the super bowl halftime special that they usually do have a conversation with the president in the white house at the time. and he said -- he was asked the question that the white house has really been tiptoeing around for the last several weeks which is will he continue to allow president trump, as all former presidents have access to intel briefings, classified information, and he was very

blunt with his assessment. he said he doesn't believe that he should have access to that. he said he doesn't believe there's any need for him to have that access. now, we got a little bit of a clarification from the white house press secretary today, jen psaki, putting out a statement saying simply that president biden was expressing his concerns about whether and how president trump would review this sensitive information. she goes on to say that what they have been saying at the white house all week, which is that this is a matter that is currently under review by the intelligence community, and that president biden trusts them to make the appropriate decision. now, all of this coming, alex, as you know, as president biden has been doing his best to try to sell his covid relief bill, that $1.9 trillion package that made some progress in congress this week, but it does seem like there's at least one big change coming and that is the question about whether or not the $15 an hour minimum wage should be included as part of the legislation. let's take a listen to part of that conversation with cbs in which he addressed this last

night. >> my guess is it will not be in it, but i do think that we should have a minimum wage stand by itself. look, no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage. and if you're making less than $15 an hour, you're living below the poverty wage. >> but that may not be in your american rescue plan. >> no, i put it in but i don't think it's going to survive. >> reporter: now, alex, as we hear from the white house about the sense of urgency around getting this legislation passed, i would think often about what president biden has told me over the years when he thinks back to the 2009 recovery act, which was a similar to provide economic stimulus to an economy under strain. he said it was important to get it passed but he worried that they didn't do enough to educate the american public about what was in it and to how it would benefit them, so we see a new initiative from this white house. you'll remember, alex, we used to call it the presidential radio address. well, they have a new video message released today in which president biden has a conversation with a laid-off

employee from california, talking about the importance of getting this legislation through, alex. >> it's a good one too. thank you so much, mike, for that. so, preparations certainly under way for donald trump's impeachment trial as we mark one month since the deadly capitol insurrection. let's go to ali vitali. >> it kicks off tuesday and from there the details get a little bit murkier. there's a little bit that we know and a lot that we don't. let's start with the things we know. we know we're not going to see former president donald trump appear to testify at this hearing. he's also not going to speak via letter. remember, democrats asked that he testify and trump's lawyers have since said that's not going to happen. we also have a sense, though, of the contours of each side's argument here. the trump lawyers are likely to argue that it's unconstitutional to even have this hearing in the first place. they'll make the argument that trump is now a former president and thusly a private citizen and you cannot vote on these

articles of impeachment after he's out of office. they're also probably going to say that he was exercising his right to free speech when he was talking to his supporters but notably in their arguments, they are likely not going to bring up the fact that donald trump has repeatedly said he won the 2020 election. of course, that's just not true. democrats on the other side are going to argue that trump incited the deadly insurrection that happened here just one month ago when he told his supporters on the morning of january 6th that they had to fight like hell. they're also probably going to lean on the personal accounts of lawmakers. we have heard those palpable, emotional remembrances of what it was like to be here on january 6th, and we're likely to hear them also say that insurrectionists have said that they were here on trump's behalf. all of those are likely the democratic arguments, but then, in terms of how this process is actually going to break down, that's where things get a little bit murkier. we're not sure right now if there are going to be witnesses. we're not even sure how long this trial is going to last.

but if you talk to people on both sides of this, alex, there's not a huge appetite for this to go on for weeks and weeks, especially because democrats would rather turn their attention to biden's american rescue plan and covid stimulus relief. >> okay. ali vitali, thank you so much for the heads-up on what we do know and i know you'll bring the rest of it to us as soon as we figure it out. joining me now, a democratic member of the house oversight and reformed and armed services committee. he is also a progressive caucus deputy whip. congressman, welcome back to the broadcast. it's good to see you. may i get your reaction to something i wasn't able to get to with ali and intended to, but that being, the remittives clyde and gohmert who are being fined 5,000 bucks apiece now because they've evaded the house metal detectors. it is now a rule that one must go through those metal detectors. i heard clyde saying that it was a violation of constitution -- of his constitutional rights because it was delaying him. i mean, there's a lot more to it

than just that. >> alex, i really don't understand it. i mean, when you go to work, you can't say i'm an msnbc anchor to security doesn't apply. i'll just go wherever i want. most people, when they work, realize they have to comply with security. >> that's right. >> when you're in the congress, you're not something special. there's a workplace. >> my i.d. >> with rules and we comply. right. i think what offends these members of congress, they're so used to being put up on a pedestal that it just feels offensive to them that they have to do something every other american has to do, and i really think it's arrogance, and that's why it's all upsetting. >> okay. well, well put on that. let's start with covid relief, though, officially here. i know that you serve long champion $2,000 direct payments, you have president biden's proposal for $1,400 checks. the white house was pressed on biden's campaign promise of $2,000 checks. first, let's take a listen to that. >> there were $600 payments as

you know in the $900 billion package that passed in december. this is $1,400. together that's $2,000 so it would be delivering on the promise he made and that's something that he is firmly sticking by. >> jen psaki's description there, $600 to $1,400, those amounts, do they add up to the $2,000 that you want to see? >> well, i think we should be giving an additional $2,000 check. now, i believe president biden may have understood it as $600 plus $1,400. the main thing, though, is that this should be monthly, and second, we shouldn't be restricting the middle class and working class from getting it. i mean, some of the people are saying, cut it off at $50,000. that means if an individual is making $60,000 or $70,000, they're not going to get it. that would be a big mistake, especially because they're looking at the incomes from 2019 and they're not considering those who have had reduction in hours, reduction in income this year. means testing and excluding the middle class, excluding some of the working class would be a big mistake. >> when you propose $2,000 a

month, we're not just talking about a covid relief package and it's a one-shot deal. what kind of pushback do you get on that? i imagine one of the first things is people say, we can't afford that. >> you're absolutely right, and i say, well, we spend $8 trillion on covid relief. a lot of it is going to corporations. a lot of it has gone to institutions. why is it that when it comes to ordinary americans, we can't afford to help them with their rent payments, with their kids, with their food payments, and the second thing is, people say, well, let's do it through unemployment. there was a study recently that says 75% of people who are unemployed are not getting unemployment benefits, and i recommend the study. there are a lot of reasons. that's why just getting a check to people is the most efficient way. >> what about the $15 an hour federal minimum wage increase here? i know you've supported that. you heard president biden say he doesn't think it's going to make it into the final bill. there are multiple op-eds that

raise questions about whether now is the right time for that. they suggest the increase would negatively impact small businesses that have been struggling during the pandemic. it is their employees that would be the ones most receiving that kind of a federal minimum wage increase. so what do you say to that? >> it's just not factually true. look at the economic studies that professor has studied it and if you have a minimum wage that is at 80% of median income and the median wage in america, median income is about $19 an hour, 80%, it has no impact on employment. other studies have shown that where it does have an impact is people will require high school degrees so maybe it would mean some teenagers may not be able to get as many jobs, but for many americans who are doing this full-time, they're going to get a raise, and it's going to have a raise for the working class. we have to fight this and make sure it's in reconciliation. it would be a colossal mistake not to include this in the package. the house can pass it with $15

and then we ought to inconference insist it's in the final package. i don't think we should strip it from that bill. >> i wasn't aware of that study that you cited. high schoolers would have to finish high school. they couldn't just drop out for the short-term to get out there and work. i understand there may be financially pressing issues in their home or whatever the situation may be, but the fact is, if you think long-term, at least they would have to get a high school degree. >> that's what the recent studies show. this has been actively studied and they say, yes, it would have an impact on teenagers who don't have a high school degree but most employers pay the $15 and they require a high school diploma and 90% of americans get a high school diploma. but there have been so many times this has been studied and it doesn't have a negative impact on employment. when you pay people more, they're spending and that creates employment and the creation of employment overcomes any of the potential loss of employment. >> okay, let's talk covid now

because this week, you urged the biden administration to consider a single dose vaccine strategy. scientific research thus far on the vaccine shows no long-term efficacy after one doses of the moderna and pfizer vaccines. what's been the reaction to your suggestion as well as your request to try to gather further data on the effects of just one dose of the vaccine? >> well, actually, i spoke to dr. osterholm and their concern is that we're going to see a surge because of all the variants. everyone believes we need to have two shots. the question is, how long can you space them out? there are studies that show that after 28 days, the effectiveness of one dose is about 80%. there are studies from britain showing that. and then the question is, how long can you space out that second shot before the effectiveness wears off? some people are suggesting it could be as much as 3 to 6 months. i don't have all the answers. what i do know is that the cdc could convene the group to get

all the data from the scientists and i actually respect president biden make the judgment. i just want to make sure he gets all the data so he can make that judgment. >> yeah, well, i got to say, i was reading an "l.a. times" headline last night that suggests that even people going for their first dosage in the next week are going to be unable to do so because you've got so many people in line right now for a second dose. i mean, it's just a hot mess. that being said, what about vice president -- rather, president biden. i can't believe i said vice. >> i've done that too. >> thank you. i appreciate that. it's generous of you. anyway, he gave his first foreign policy speech rolling back trump's isolationist agenda and returning the u.s. to standing with our allies. the president wants to end arms sales to other and other support as well to saudi arabia for the war in yemen. i know that you, sir, have been leading on this from the start. you've proposed cutting off all funding for the war in yemen. are you encouraged by what you heard from president biden? >> i'm very encouraged. it's a bold step. it's a moral step and i give the

president enormous credit. but the people i give the most credit to are the human rights activists and the online communities who for years have been telling us we should not be supporting the saudis and their bombing campaign in yemen. it's one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes. there's a risk of famine that could literally take the lives of millions. the president is finally helping america change course and this is going to help bring an end to the war. >> california congressman ro khanna, thank you. >> always enjoy it, alex. most people can't live without it, including those who stormed the capitol one month ago. some new insight into how smartphones may help incriminate the rioters. that's next. the rioters. that's next. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in café mocha flavor.

new reports suggest private cellular phone data may be leading investigators to suspects in the capitol riots. "the new york times" says the data collected by smartphone apps are giving away users' locations, movements, spending, photos, and videos showing the movement of phones on january 6th as users marched from the pro-trump rally to capitol hill and in many cases the data has allowed investigators to track down owners of specific phones without a warrant.

joining me now, frank, former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence, also the author of "the fbi way" and an nbc news national security analyst and a good friend to us. frank, let's get to this. how does law enforcement get this seemingly private data without a warrant and then how do they use the data to find the owner of a phone? >> yeah, it's a fascinating discussion, because most of us don't understand how fully tracked and findable we are at any given time, and here's the thing. law enforcement's doing this not with -- not with some special law enforcement powers. they're going through commercial applications, so the reality is that this device we all carry around and anybody -- anybody who's ever stopped at a red light in front of a gas station and gotten a message saying, hey, any size coffee right there, 99 cents, you understand that they know who you are. who's they? marketing and commercial applications. when you stop at a mall and shop

at a kiosk and look at jewelry or sneakers, it's tracking how many people are stopping at that kiosk versus the next kiosk. here's what's happening and what's not happening. law enforcement can actually identify a unique numerical identifier from your phone pinging the nearest cell phone. they don't get your name or even your phone number, but that unique identifier, they then match with other things like, hey, that same identifier showed up at 23 main street that night. that's your house. now they can look at who owns that residence. now they have you. and it's interesting that this is unregulated. congress hasn't got their hands around this. i believe search warrants should be required once they get your -- they need to get your phone number. once they've found that cell phone going at 23 main street, they should be going to a judge to identify you. but they're usually not, and this other area, alex, of commercial applications is even far more daunting than the law enforcement applications. >> this is fascinating. it is absolutely incredible,

makes you want to stay inside all the time, at home, you know, but anyway, all right, so these capitol riots, frank, shed new light on the extent of white supremacy in the military, but service members have watched extremism rise over the last few years. the new defense secretary, as you know this week, ordered a standdown over the next 60 days, trying to tackle this problem. but can anything really be done about this, frank? is there a law someone breaks by being an extremist? and by the way, who gets defined what an extremist is anyway? >> right, we've got to be very careful that we can't have a kneejerk reaction that starts policing ideology and thought. we don't need that. nobody wants that. but absolutely, there can be recruitment, vetting and background screening and we can have the higher-ups from the unit commanders on upsetting the tone. we will not tolerate this. we will not tolerate racist

tattoos and white supremacy tattoos. if we hear it, you're out of here and if it turns to violence, we're going to court-martial you. here's a connection to law enforcement. understand that police departments around the country give special credit -- you get bumped up the list for being a veteran. if you come out of the military and you have that racist ideology, now you're being pushed into police departments where that becomes an additional issue. >> so, let's put up this op-ed that you wrote for msnbc.com as we read the headline here. how to stop russia from recruiting the next trump. and you explore allegations made by a former russian spy that trump may indeed have been the target of a 40-year russian operation. first of all, it was a hell of a piece here. look how much i've -- notes, the yellow highlighting, i mean, it was absolutely fascinating. everyone should read it. but how realistic is this? because this would have had to be a really long game, frank. i mean, 40 years. >> look, i think the american

public needs to understand that it's not just russia doing this. china is in the long game. their intelligence services look for young up and coming talent that might some day become a mayor and then a governor and then a senator and then a presidential candidate. they are doing it, and the thing is, alex, just because trump has left office, doesn't mean there isn't somebody else coming down the pike that they set their eyes on, on a trip to moscow years ago and all of this that the kgb former major is telling us is very consistent with my experience in foreign counterintelligence. it is a long game. trump fell right into the trap, and it seems that he played along. we've got to stop the next one by changing how we look at candidates. we have to start viewing candidates as potential national security threats and asking some hard questions of them. >> look, i appreciate the going forward prospect of all this, but let's reiterate that there has been no direct proof of donald trump being tied in any

way to putin or russia. is it fair to explore this theory? >> oh, not only is it fair, it's a must. we have to. we have to understand, alex, in my book, that's out now, i actually was permitted by the fbi for the first time to reveal that as assistant director, i had to confront a presidential candidate and also in another case a sitting member of congress and tell them, we knew they were in a clandestine relationship with a foreign intelligence service. it's not just the presidential level. it's all the way down. >> yeah. i got to tell you, that was some of the stuff i highlighted and put a little asterisk by. it was pretty extraordinary revolution there. thank you, frank figliuz zi. the unexpected benefit from your child's flu shot. that's next. benefit from your child's flu shot. that's nt.ex it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. tide pods child-guard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks.

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27 paths with this breaking news to share. it is an ongoing situation, everyone.

an inmate uprising at a detention center in st. louis earlier today. officials say that the disturbance is at the city justice center. it started around 2:30 this morning. it has been lasting for hours. items have been set on fire and thrown through the windows of upper floors. >> this was not a situation where there were demands being made by anyone. these were just very angry, defiant, very violent people that we house at the justice center. no one at the justice center is housed for a misdemeanor, a municipal offense or a low level felony. everybody housed at the justice center is housed there because of very serious offenses like assault on police officers and homicide and things of that sort. >> we should let you know it's also the third incident reported at that justice center since late december. we'll stay on top of that for you. but let's go to new numbers in the coronavirus pandemic this hour. more than 42,000 new cases have

already been reported just today as the u.s. total approaches 27 million. the virus has now killed more than 461,000 americans. the biden administration is deploying 1,000 troops across the country to help speed up the vaccination process. more than 28 million americans have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. 7.5 million are fully inoculated with both doses. new research shows people who have recovered from covid might not be protected against variant strains. data from a vaccine trial shows some participants who had covid antibodies, in fact, got sick again. strains from the uk, south africa, and brazil have spread now to 36 states. and supermarket chain kroger is now offering employees a $100 bonus if they get a covid vaccine. they join other retailers like dollar general, trader joe's, and aldi in an effort to incentivize more employees to go out and get the shot. there are two new battlefields in the war against covid. sports stadiums are getting

involved, and nbc's sam brock is standing by at raymond james stadium in tampa, florida. erin gilchrist is outside yankee stadium. aaron, go to you first. there's been lots of activity there at yankee stadium today. it is a mass vaccination site. tell me about that and what you're seeing this hour. >> reporter: yeah, alex, you're absolutely right. this line has been flowing steadily since we got here early this morning. the line actually started forming around 7:00, an hour before the gates even opened here at yankee stadium. you can see all these folks who have appointments today to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. these folks were able to do that through an organization called sks omos. they are the doctors, a network of doctors and healthcare providers here in the new york area who are focusing in on the bronx because this borough in particular has the highest covid-19 positivity rate of all the boroughs, the five boroughs here in new york city. and they believe that having an organization like somos that knows people in this community

is going to really make a difference in convincing people who maybe have been reluctant to come out and get the covid vaccine shot. i want you to hear a little bit more from the conversation we had with the folks at somos. listen. >> we know, based on our research, that almost two-thirds of communities of color, even in my own family, you know, you have to talk through the safety of this vaccine, and we know that this vaccine is safe. they trust a doctor. they don't necessarily trust the government, for good reason. and doing it in a way in which we've been leading people by giving them information, trustworthy information, battling misinformation, walking them through the process, and then encouraging them to take action. >> reporter: so, the vaccinations will be done this evening through 8:00 this evening and then on into next week. 15,000 appointments made available just for people who live in the bronx, and that's because we've seen that black and latino communities in

particular have been disproportionately impacted by this virus. and that is a part of the effort now to make sure that there's a little more equity in distributing the virus. the folks that you see in the line over here, they are hoping to go in today to make an appointment to come back and get their vaccinations too. alex, i'm here in the bronx. >> it's such good news and we saw a national guard member there. i know they're helping speed things up as well. aaron gilchrist, thank you so much for that report. let's go now from the bronx to tampa, and the precautions being taken to keep the super bowl from becoming a super spreader event. let's go to nbc's sam brock. what's the situation there? what are we expecting, sam? >> reporter: alex, good afternoon. very good to be with you. certainly, this is a world stage for everybody. the world is watching in the literal sense that this is one of the highest-rated events anywhere but figuratively in the sense as well that tlbd be the potential for widespread transmission of covid, just looking at the fact that 100 million people across the country last year watched the super bowl and many of them in groups. now, the nfl, the city of tampa,

they can only control as much as they can try to get their arms around. it's been a lot of messaging put up around here, rules as well, in tampa itself. indoor and outdoor areas. you have to wear a mask. that means when you're at restaurants and bars and you're not eating, you're supposed to be taking your mask off to take a bite and putting it right back on again. outdoor areas around downtown and super bowl events, those two are requiring masks in theory. now, i'm seeing a lot of adherence around the city. i'm seeing plenty of people who are not following the rules. there's that. the nfl itself is putting up signage everywhere, including for temperatures, that says, if you feel ill with a 100.4 up on a sign and then an x over it, do not come in if you cross that threshold. they are trying. are these protocols going to work? we talked to folks around tampa to find out if they think it's going to be effective. >> i think it's going to be a super spreader. >> i feel we're safe. i think they're taking proper precautions. you know, they're spacing everybody out. >> it's going to happen, bro.

tampa bay's in the super bowl. people are going to go out, have a good time. there's nothing the city can do to stop it. >> i'm excited. i'm excited to see tampa thriving in what's been a very tough climate and no, not super worried. people seem to be, for the most part, following, you know, directions. >> reporter: alex, if you look at this big picture, nationally right now, covid cases have actually dropped 20% in the last two weeks. when you see daily totals of 130,000 cases, that's still eye-popping, but significantly less than where we were. what health officials do not want to see is that we're finally getting our arms around holiday travel and people getting together in december, january, things start to come down and then you have a huge event like this and it just spikes all over again. those are the risks. but let me leave you with something positive. only 25,000 people are going to be allowed in the stadium, raymond james, behind me on sunday. a third of those, alex, are healthcare workers. 7,500 of them. >> that's cool. >> reporter: i would guess all of whom are very excited about it and you're going to hear from

some of them tonight on "nbc nightly news." >> that sounds awesome. i wasn't aware so many of them were going to be healthcare workers. they'll be joined by the weeknd. he's going to be performing from the stands. you're lucky to get this assignment. >> reporter: you are right. there's a prop bet, alex. >> a what? yeah? >> reporter: a prop bet on what color jacket the weeknd is going to be wearing. keep that in the back of your mind. >> as soon as i get off the set, got a few things to figure out for the next 25 minutes. but after that, thank you so much. good to see you, sam brock. meantime, some new details show west virginia's successful rollout of the vaccine is proving to be effective. the state's coronavirus czar said deaths are down 40% to 45%. hospitalizations are seeing a 50% reduction. this happened in the less than two months. msnbc's gary is in martinsburg, west virginia, with the very latest. let's talk about what's happening there. you know, i have to say, i spoke last weekend with the governor of west virginia. he was an absolute delight and showed such a level of just

common sense, apolitical application. it was quite refreshing if you want to know the honest truth. but how has empowering local pharmacies there helped that state, helped west virginia lead in the vaccine rollout? >> reporter: hey there, alex, yeah, we've been here at a vaccination clinic all morning and there has been a steady stream of people. i talked to one woman who said she felt like it was the willy wonka golden ticket but west virginia, as you mentioned, is doing quite a remarkable job here at actually administering these vaccines once they get into the state supply. there's actually more than 100% of the vaccines administered because of those extra doses that are sometimes left in vials and part of that is because of clinics like this. but the other part of that is because of community pharmacies. the west virginia department of health is a little bit bucking the trend nationally. they're not going with the cvs and walgreens national model. they're going to these community pharmacies. people like tony moore, who i'm going to introduce you to in a

moment, he is somebody who knows his community, he knows the people he serves, and here's what he had to say about the importance of community pharmacies. >> well, i'll tell you, a lot of people, you know, struggle to get to a pharmacy, for one thing. you know, we deliver if we have to. we do curbside service for people who are afraid to come into the store. i know everyone who comes into my store. i know their parents, i know their kids. i know what they take. so, they like that personal service. with that personal relationship, you know, i can ease their concerns as far as any fears that they may have about vaccination. >> reporter: now, this clinic here is wrapping up in about an hour but officials tell me they wish it didn't have to. the issue that everyone's dealing with throughout the nation is supply, supply, supply. we spoke as you mentioned to governor jim justice, who said he's pleading with the federal government to get more vaccines into the state. clearly, this is something they can handle. they've been doing a remarkable job at it so far. they just need more vaccines.

>> okay, well said. gary, thank you for that. joining me now is dr. elizabeth claiborne, an adjunct assistant professor at the university of maryland school of medicine, also an emergency medicine physician at prince georges hospital center. doctor, thank you for joining me again. it's nice to see you back on the broadcast here. let's get to first this week. there was a bloomberg analysis of global vaccination suggesting it's going to be seven years before things are back to normal. that is based on getting 75% of populations vaccinated in every country around the world. look, i do want to point out that this is a worldwide projection. in fact, they say the u.s. could reach normalcy in around 11 months at this vaccination rate. but all these predictions, what's your take on them? >> well, i think you have to remember, alex, that there's a lot of unknowns when it comes to covid-19. if you think about how much more we know now compared to six months ago, it's remarkable, the progress that we have made so these early projections need to be taken with a grain of salt.

i certainly think that the full force of the governments in multiple countries are behind the effort to vaccinate populations, and specifically those ones that are at most risk. and i think once we get stable in the united states, we probably will turn our focus to what's going on in other parts of the world that don't have as many resources. but it is going to be a long road. i don't anticipate people thinking that they're going to get back to, quote, unquote, normalcy any time soon, and that's why it is important to continue to be safe and to gather information and prepare yourself for when you may have the opportunity to get your vaccine. >> such extraordinary times. let's talk about the new uk trial that's going to test mixing the two different vaccines for the first and second doses. the trial is going to use pfizer and moderna vaccines as well as astrazeneca, which is approved in the uk. it's not approved here in the u.s. yet. what's your reaction, dr. claiborne, to that, to that mixing? how likely is it that we here in the united states could be mixing vaccines at some point?

>> well, i know that a lot of researchers and physicians like myself are eagerly awaiting results of this oxford study to see if there's actually indeed a benefit to mixing the vaccines. it's proposed that by mixing the two vaccines, you might have an added response and additional protection, but that is not how the original trials that led to the fda approval of these vaccines were done and that is why they are not being administered in that fashion at this time. however, i think we all look forward to ongoing research which would give more opportunity and ease in the administration and rollout of this vaccine nationwide if the vaccines can indeed be interchangeable and provide sufficient and potentially superior protection. >> okay. let's talk about the head of the cdc who said this week that schools could reopen even if teachers are not vaccinated, saying that it's not a prerequisite for safely opening schools. i want to mention here that white house press secretary jen psaki responded saying that although the administration certainly wants to send students back to school, it is waiting

for official guidance from the cdc. how important do you think vaccinations are in the reopening of schools? do you think they're necessary? >> i certainly think that is the optimal way that we should be proceeding as to protect anyone who's on the front lines while they're interacting with other people when and children and families. however, we don't have the resources to do that right now, so i am, like everyone else, awaiting the cdc guidance on what they're going to say as far as school reopening. there are some mitigating processes that can take place that would make it safer at schools for teachers who are returning to work without vaccinations, but i understand where they're coming from. i mean, i was on the front lines for several months with no protection and that was not an optimal position to be in. but i still went to work and i did what i needed to do, and so i think that we need to be really mindful of where people are coming from, where those fears are. those are very real fears and i don't think they should be discounted. i just think that we're going to have to wait and see what the evidence shows and what the cdc decides to tell us as far as

their recommendations with school reopening. >> you're looking at it from a scientific perspective, which we appreciate. last question here. some troubling data to share from the cdc. just over 5% of americans who have been vaccinated are black. 60% are white. why this inequity and how do we address it? >> i'm glad that you're bringing this up, alex. it's something that's near and dear to my heart, as a physician that serves a largely african-american population, i have been very active in trying to encourage our communities to color to get vaccines but that cannot happen if we are not providing the infrastructure for these at-risk communities to get access to vaccines so in addition to the conversation about vaccine hesitancy, i think that we should encourage people to do the research, speak to a trusted healthcare professional or scientist, someone who's looked at the data, and ask yourself, you know, what are my concerns, can i answer that appropriately if i get the right information? and then the second step is, do i have access to those vaccines? so i know within the

biden-harris covid advisory team, they're looking at particular methods to reach those disadvantaged communities that don't have as easy access such as mobile units that need that and i think that is an important aspect of addressing these inequities of health that have been ravaging our people of color. >> i think you're 100% right, dr. elizabeth claiborne. always a pleasure. thank you so much. stuck in limbo but why? the sense of deja vu for merrick garland. and also be sure to watch tomorrow. i'll be asking former trump attorney michael cohen about his conversation with adult film actress stormy daniels. conversati wonith adult film actress stormy daniels ter? urgh! (rocket ship) hey! hey! heads up. thank you! water tastes like, water. so we fixed it. mio ♪♪ for skin as alive as you are... don't settle for silver 7 moisturizers

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right now, president biden's choice for attorney general, merrick garland, is in limbo after republicans refused to set a confirmation date. gop senators have paused all remaining cabinet discussions until after the impeachment trial, which means it may be several more weeks before garland could be confirmed. joining me now is kimberly atkins, msnbc contributor, columnist for the "boston globe" and co-host of #sisterinlaw podcast. that's a good one. kimberly, welcome to you. when i heard merrick garland was going through this, i was like, come on. this is like deja vu. do you see parallels with how the republicans blocked his supreme court nomination and the delay of his cabinet confirmation? >> yes, alex, i do. it seems that this was an

opportunity that republicans had before they turned over control of the senate to the democrats, you know, that 50/50 split plus the vice president's tiebreaker gives them control. before they did that, they delayed the attorney general's confirmation hearing scheduling and when democrats wanted to schedule it for this upcoming monday, before donald trump's impeachment trial began, lindsey graham said, no, essentially ensuring, as you said, that it will be weeks before an attorney general will be permanently installed at the justice department. they did it because they could. and it signals to me that the same sort of obstruction that we saw in the early years of the obama administration may also be awaiting joe biden as he's trying to implement his agenda. of course, the department of justice is a huge part of that agenda, sentencing reform awaits, criminal justice reform and policing reform awaits and of course the d.o.j. is investigating the insurrectionists and trying to bring them to justice. so it's a real --

>> it's a problem. but how does this delay affect that? does it mean everything has to be just on hold, full stop? >> it doesn't mean that everything's on hold. there is an acting attorney general in place. there are these investigations. we've seen these arrests being made for the insurrectionists, for example, but it really takes someone permanently in place to really be more broad reaching and forward thinking about the way the justice department needs to be reformed in all ways, including taking the politics out of the justice department in a way that we saw happen in the last administration. you really need someone permanent in there, somebody with joe biden's ear and somebody who can implement his own vision and right now, merrick garland cannot do that. >> in an article for the "boston globe," you said that this sets back -- setback, rather, is, quote, a clear sign that the kind of obstruction obama faced from republicans will probably await biden at every turn. how does this, then, affect biden's message of unity? does he have to abandon that sentiment in order to just get

something done? >> he shouldn't have to. and the answer -- the short answer is no. he still will have, especially moving forward now that the gavels have finally been turned over, control of the senate. so, once it is back up and running, he will be able to very quickly install most of his -- the remaining cabinet position posts and he's also had a long relationship with folks within the senate in a way that president obama didn't, so he may have a better ability to overcome some of these efforts to obstruct his agenda but we'll have to see. to me, that first sign just didn't seem like a good one. >> i want to move on to another recent article that you wrote, kimberly, about the future of the supreme court because you said as soon as chief justice john roberts jr. told joe biden, congratulations, mr. president, i thought, now steven breyer can retire. why is it that you thinking now is the time for him to step down? >> well, we've seen that this

50/50 split in the senate can be very tenuous. a couple weeks back, a senator fell ill and it was a reminder that just that quickly, that democratic majority can be lost, and if we have a retirement or something terrible happens, god forbid, to anybody on the supreme court, that could be a really big fight of the kind that we've seen in recent years. so, joe biden has already pledged to put a black woman justice on the court, even if joe -- even if stephen breyer retires, it won't change the make-up of the court but it will give joe biden a chance to start putting his mark on the judiciary from the top down, making that high court more diverse as it's readying to take up big cases on issues like affirmative action, making it younger. there are a lot of -- this court is leaning to the older side, not to be ageist at all but that

makes a difference in terms of how it represents the country as well, and stephen breyer certainly is a democratic appointee who worked in the democratic senate at one point. he understands how politics works and if he wants to ensure that joe biden has that chance, this is the time to do it. >> okay. kimberly atkins, thank you so much. and i can just say, your work environment there at home looks so cheerful. all the bright colors. impact to hang out there. it's nice. free speech may be priceless but it might be very costly to some people who showed undying loyalty to donald trump and that's ahead. showed undying loyalty to donald trump and that's ahead hey! -hey man, you're here! you don't trust me here in vegas, do you? uh, well... i thought we had a breakthrough with the volkswagen. -we did, yeah! we broke through. that's the volkswagen?! -that's the cross sport. wow. -seatbelts! please just tell me where we're going. feeling sluggish or weighed down?

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that is a wrap, everyone. thanks for watching weekends with alex witt. yasmin is up next with her in the spotlight segment. she's talking with the host of the espn daily podcast about the super bowl. versus the other guys. ♪♪ clearly, velveeta melts creamier.

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good afternoon, everybody, i'm yasmin vossoughian. we got a lot to cover in the two hours ahead. we're going to bring it all to you. a team of reporters ready to bring you the big stories, the president taking a big new swing at his predecessor, saying he can't be trusted with something every other president has gotten. plus, new revelations from biden about what may not be in the covid relief bill. and a new signal from trump's impeachment lawyer faced with scenes like this from january 6th, he plans to put democrats on trial. breaking media news as well, fox dumping one of its most popular hosts a day after