president biden making his boldest moves to date. overnight president biden launching air strikes against iranian-linked fighters in syria. today issuing a once classified report about the brutal murder of journalist jamal khashoggi, a saudi dissident living in the united states until he was lured to -- an intelligence report directly blaming mohammad bin salman. for years president trump refused to acknowledge that intelligence had not r50e67d a concludes who was responsible and seg the word that he didn't do it. today, thanks to president biden

and his new administration complying with a law passed by congress in 2019, but ignored by the trump administration, we can see the truth for ourselves with our own eyes. the report states, quote -- we assess that saudi arabia's crown prince mohammad bin salman approved an operation to capture and kill jamal khashoggi. the assessment of the crown prince's control of the decisionmaking in the kingdom since 2017. the protective detail in the operation, and the crown prince's support for using violent measures to silent dissidents abroad, including khashoggi. "new york times" adds this on the significance of those findings, as the world watches president biden for signs of what could happen next in the push to hold the saudis accountable. the release of the report would not set aside the killing of mr.

khashoggi, and that the biden administration intended to attempt to isolate the crown prince, although it will avoid any measures that would threaten to break ties to the kingdom. the disclosure follows a u.s. air strike in syria, ordered by president biden overnight, in retaliation for rocket attacks on u.s. targets in neighboring iraq. the move is described by the "new york times" this way -- the world's first glymph how biden is likely to approach one of the greatest security concerns of american partners in the region, the network of militias backed by iran and committed to subverting the interests of u.s. and its allies. today's foreign policy moves died to erase four years of american instability on the world stage is where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. mike memoli is here. also joining us is julian

barnes, and retired four-star navy admiral, james -- i want to hear from all of you. first on the declassification of the murder. >> it's about time obviously. it seems apparent what occurred here. the real question frankly is not what happened anymore. the real question is, what will the administration do in response in it's a tough call. there are equities now on geopolitical side of this, as well as on the human rights and the simple violation of the laws of our society.

i think the administration is going to try to steer a middle course here. frankly i was surprised there were not personal sanctions levied. i think time will tell how congress reacts, how other nations react to this. it's just a difficult one for the administration finally, nicolle, because our equities involve not only dealing with the human rights concern as we appropriately must, but also resolving challenges in this region with iran, where we need cooperation from the saudis, our nato allies. it's a complicated moving set of pieces. julian barnes, i think admiral stavridis hit on this,

sanctioning against mbs. i want to read some of the times reporting on this, on how they landed at this support. president biden has decided that the price of directly penalizing saudi arabia's crown prince is too high. according to senior administration officials, the decision came after weeks of debate in which his newly formed security team advised him there was no way to bar him from entering the u.s. or weigh criminal charges against him without breaches rentalsships with one of the america's key arab allies. that feels different from candidate biden's announcement he would turn saudi arabia into a pariah. >> you put it exactly right. there is a difference between what candidate biden said and what president biden has done. what the administration officials have been saying is

they want to recalibrate and not rupture the relationship. they say to put a sanction on the de facto leader of saudi arabia would rupture that. that's something that the u.s. only does in the most extreme cases, not with partner countries but with rogue countries. so they couldn't bring themselves to do this but we have heard calls just today from congress, lawmakers in the house and senate who say there is more that the united states could have done, that they could have gone after some assets. they could have taken steps to restrict contact with mbs, to say general lloyd austin is not going to speak with the crown prince in his capacity as defense minister. that is where we stand down are

now, members of congress pressing for more. >> julian, i don't immediate to put you in the spot, but your publisher did go see donald trump and talk about the attack. mbs is a totally different leader, but he took that literally and treated jamal khashoggi as an enemy of the state, sent men to murder him. it is exponentially better than the last guy this white house released this report, but if you're a dissident journalist around the world, are you safe today? >> wohl, there are weighing you can argue you were. the secretary of state andy blinken outlined a new category of visa restriction named for jamal khashoggi, aimed at people who harass journalist, who

oppress dissidents. on account there is some real action. that may make a difference. that takes a stand against thoughts who oppress journalists who try to oppress a free press. on the other hand, mbs, there is not direct action against him. that has to -- that rings hollow to some. >> it feels like part of this story will continue i think not to blow back, but be reacted to, not just in this country, but around the world. it speaks to, admiral, the massive expectations. not just in this country but around the world. i think there's a reality when you look at the commitments and the things that you say when you're a candidate, and you look at a sober and mature politician like president biden getting in there, listens to advisers, and, you know, maybe not going as far

as some members of congress and his own party want him to. can you talk about through that lens the strikes last night? >> yeah, the strikes i think are not a hard call. they were appropriate, they are proportional, they were in response to attacks against u.s. military and contractors. they were conducted in a way to minimize casualties, subject to the intent of the mission. i think they were in every sense called for and appropriate. they were designed to tactically send a signal, a pretty simple one, we will take care of our people, we will respond. the strategic message here, i think, is, first and foremost, to tehran that, do not attack our people. let's get to the negotiating table.

there's an undercurrent of let's prell ahead. it seems counter-intuitive, but it really is part of the seriousness with which the administration is going to take this. sect lid it's a signal to our allies, to the saudi, to the gulf states, to the israelis, to nato, european union and those who are hopefully going to be with us, as we get back into the treaty, negotiate a better and bigger one with iran. so plenty of audiences. i think it's an appropriate strike. admiral, also i think it blows out of the water a lot of the fearmongering that trump foreign policy officials -- i'm thinking of mike pompeo -- had about what a president biden would do when it came to iran. it's a very strong move against iranian aggression. >> it is, and if you put it in a

larger context, albeit 30 days into this thing, they are getting away from the diplomacy of tactics, and thinking strategically about how they can make the right moves. you see this condemnation of this human rights violation pretty clear, but at the same time a very strong military capability in the region. that's a smart way to approach a complicated part of the country. mike memoli is behalf after suffering some technical difficulties. i'm going to come back to the first of the two big headlines with you, mike. on the release of the report. this was for no good reason other than trump's devotion to taken not even the right-wing line, but mbs's line, literally about this murder. it does not include sources and methods, but it's abundant think clear the intelligence community pieced together through enter

september, versus their knowledge of how mbs treats dissidents, that he was responsible for the brutal slaughter of jamal khashoggi. and we heard the hour before that there should have been sanctions against mbs. do you have any reporting on how they landed where they landed? was it in a call last night or never on the table? >> we have talked so much about how on substance and on style this biden administration is doing its best to make a clear break with the trump administration, clean up some messes, repair a lot of damage that was done. of course, the clearest case is on the pandemic as it relates to or domestic challenge here, but on a foreign policy front, i think there may be no more vexing issue to this white house right now than what they're doing with in saudi arabia. joe biden is a former vice president, a former chairman of

the foreign relations committee. he knows more than anybody the complexities of the alliance. that's been clear, especially in the waning days of the obama administration as they were pursuing the iran nuclear deal, the issues they faced. but you have what's been described as the two princes problem. you had jared kushner, empowered by his father-in-law, president trump, building a very close relationship with mohammad bin salman, who at the time when trump took office, he was the deputy crown prince. i was in the oval office about four years ago where president trump welcomed the deputy crown prince into the oval office. two months later, trump was doing something very unusual as a first destination for a foreign trip. he was going to saudi arabia. not canada or mexico or one of our transatlantic allies. within a month, mohammad bin

salman was elevated to the position of crown prince. with king salman, with his age and health very much in question, mbs is the de facto leader. the biden administration was not going to participate in a call with him involved. mbs is clearly running the show. can you sanction him? can you prevent him from coming to the u.s. in what would result in a very clear break with a country we very still clearly need. they were consulted as part of this air strike last night. it's not one that the administration has clearly come to just yet in figuring out how to walk this line. it's so important you take us back in time.

mbs did a big tour through the united states, met with many people, but then a lot of people stopped engaging with him after this brutal murder. you raise this point about jared kushner. this seems to be maybe a flashing yellow light for anyone trying to unwrap the nature of the saudi/trump relationship. let me read this from "new york times" at the time -- given kushner's political inexperience, private exchanges could make hi susceptible to manipulation. a new chief of staff tried to re-impose long-standing procedures, stipulating that national security council staff members could participate in all calls, but even with the restrictions, kushner at 37, mbs 33, kept chatting.

in fact they were on a first-name basis in text messages and phone calls. there a everly by the new white house to determine what might have been disclosed, and what the nature was of all those text messages between jared and mbs? >> let's go back to the transition. something we're talking about at the time was the degree to which there was a serious brick wall put up, but by certain specific departments and agencies, specifically the pentagon and certainly part of the national security field as well. there was some indication, at least some concern on the part of the biden team, there was last-minute efforts on the part of close trump allies within the administration to do some cleanup, to do whatever they could to prevent access to information of this source, that the biden administration might

be able to gain. this is certainly something they're not willing to talk about even privately at this stage. it's certainly an issue that's ongoing. we reported three years ago, in fact, about the fact that jared kushner was operating, as were some others, without interim security clearances. the proper protocols were not even followed. the biden administration does not want to talk about this. but there are certainly onagain national security issues that this poses, especially as jared kushner might have financial entanglements with the saudi government and their sovereign fund as he seekses to open investment affirms here in the united states with them. the administration has to confront it, whether they want to or not. >> the questions of the last administration were why didn't

jared vet out? why didn't the cia throw up a flag that john kelly and don mcgahn wanted to listen to? we're not talking personal ethical issue, but back to debating policy. it seems like the clearest news cycle yet that this is joe biden's white house, joe biden's washington and joe biden's foreign policy. >> look, this very report was publicly denied by donald trump. he denied the very conclusions that the cia came to. he put out that rambling statement of why he was going to continue with the relationship with saudi arabia. he said that there wasn't any spoking gun with what the cia found. here we have in one of the first major foreign policy acts of this administration, putting out this report that was demanded by congress under law, that they

have released. they released the conclusion, conclusions that the previous president denied. this administration is not denying those conclusion, and there's something important to that. we need to remember that this is a return to the normal state, where, you know a high confidence conclusion by the cia is given weight and not dismissed. >> admiral stavridis, i didn't play this, but did yesterday. when reporters asked donald trump about this high confidence conclusion from the cia, he said -- they didn't conclude. they didn't conclude. yes they did. he said, they did not come to a conclusion. they did just that. facts are facts again. >> let's put it simply. amateur hour is over. the team that is here is not

flashy, not a lot of sizzle, but boy, are they deeply experienced. they are collegial and will work together, make that interagency process sing. they're well known enter nationally and abroad. they have a strategic approach. that's a pretty good package for america. thank you for starting us off. mike memoli is sticking around. president biden is in texas this hour, meeting with those left stranded by a storm. we're likely to get a third vaccine approved today, the cdc warning that restrictions should remain in place. theres a number of cases where we're seeing trouble. and day one of cpac is under way. i have lots of thoughts.

again, they're mocking masks, helping to summer the big lie. all those stories and more when "deadline: white house" continues. don't go anywhere. ine: white ho continues. don't go anywhere. (noise of fridge opening) guy fieri! ya know, if you wanna make that sandwich the real deal, ya gotta focus on the bread layers. king's hawaiian sliced bread makes everything better! ♪ (angelic choir) ♪ umm, honey...why is guy fieri in our kitchen? i don't know. i'm booking you a one-way ticket to flavortown with a king's hawaiian meatball sub. ♪ ♪

i gotta go. your neighbor needs king's hawaiian bread. hey, i got you. guy fieri? we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪

president biden has gone to texas. no paper towels were thrown. earlier he visited a food bank and will survey damage from earlier this month. more than 40 people have died in texas alone.

the president was greeted by a large bipartisan group, let by governor abbott and senator john cornyn. ted cruz again had other plans. he'll make remarks in just over an hour. matthew dowd joins us, and mike memory is back. >> this used to not be a big deal, a president visiting a state hit hard and offering comfort, but it's a big deal to see it executed with joe biden's compassion. >> yeah, because we haven't had a president with empathy in four years. the fact that somebody shows up at a scene of a tragedy in tragic circumstances, and the most important thing you can do -- you know, nicolle, have been served in the white house,

is not what rear sources you bring to bear, while incredibly important, but what emotion you have and how you relate to people. i know your lead-in said this was a natural disaster, but much more succinctly it's a leadership disaster. showing up when the governor of the state hasn't really been around in a way that people have felt has helped, i think it's a big deal. to see a leader that comes in and relates to people is just as powerful as mill qulons of dollars provided to anybody. >> i key thinking about this young presidency, mike memoli. this pledge to unite the country. i might have had it wrong. it wasn't going to be watering done his principles. it was going to be about days like today, politics end when leadership is required.

he's there flanked by the wrap governor on one side, the republican senator on another. there's nothing uncomfortable about that for him. i think -- we talk about normalcy as not it's a great story or big deal. it's shocking to see this after the last four years. these are people who i'm sure are not talking about politics or crowd size, or throwing things at the victims. this really is a return to what leadership is supposed to bring to a state and community that is suffering. >> i might have said this before, but an alternate campaign slogan may have been make the presidency presidential again. that was very much something that appealed to voters on the campaign trail. not the loud voices on twitter, not the extremes on either party, but ordinary folks, and if you'll indulge some campaign

nostalgia, i find myselves talking to white house officials that were campaign officials. the last time i was with joe biden in houston the day after the primary. he was laying the groundwork for super tuesday. i don't know ifively the first reports to ask him about this coronavirus we were hearing about, and whether he was concerned about what it was going to do to the campaign, whether it would change the way he would campaign. of course it did. it changed everything. what he said then and what he would say to me multiple times afterwards is how he missed being out in public. he's a very tactile politician, the touch and feel of being out there with the people. as the white house put it today, he's going to texas because he

wants to see firsthand what the local officials are dealing with. he can get briefings, but he wants to hear it firsthand, but he went to an ops center. the other things that's interesting about this, nicolle, governor greg abbott is in a bit of political heat there. having the democratic president of the united states alongside him today is something of a favor, in fact, to show some bipartisanship. john cornyn, the republican senior senator, said he was hoping for an invitation to be part of the vitt. i have to note, the other senator, ted cruz, who faced a bit of heat over his response to this crisis, was not with him. he was in florida at the cpac conference making a joke about his trip to cancun, and mocking alexandria ocasio-cortez for fearing for her life on january 6th. a very constant reminder of the

contrast that has worked so well for president biden up to this point. >> this is why i love you both, but i think widening the lens is a good way to talk about how we got here today. i want to ask you, matthew, about something that mike memoli said. it strikes me this is a good mark, right? a year ago to right now. and what did joe biden do? he adapted. he adapted the way you adapted, the way mike memoli adapted, and the way i adapted, and he became president. i think there's something said for leaders tore living the lives we're living. and donald trump mocked him on zoom. he was running around without masks, sickening chris christie and everyone who came into his who you. what do you think about his ability to have a common touch on a day like this?

>> the other day i brought up at the end a conversation that i think we can have multiple times. it's the idea of being a servant leader in this moment, and how you do that. you do it with humility. you do that with the ability to manage things. you do that with the capacity to touch people, and you do that without political consideration. so donald trump -- think about the terms of this between donald trump doing something like this and joe biden doing something like this. donald trump always wanted to figure out, was it a state i won? do they love me? what can i get out of the disaster? what can i get out of that? that's not a servant leader. that's the opposite. joe biden met with a governor who opposed him, still opposed him, he goes into a city, in an area where many, many of the people voted against him. none of that donald trump would

have had the capacity to do, because it takes a combination of strength, which is based in humility. it's based in the idea of your capacity to put yourself in someone else's shoos, which jo i want join ready will does because of the tragedy and circumstances he's gone through in the entirety of his life, and you serve like george washington serve, or serve lie jefferson served. you're not doing if to make money. you're not doing it to achieve fame and fortune. you're doing it for a certificate amount of time to serve the people and you step back into your life. that's why joe biden is establishing this idea that we thought was in some never neverland as a servant leader, but they do exist. that capacity of joe biden to show that? maybe will cause other people who have had hesitations to be servant leaders, because they might be criticized or considered weak, or may not be

considered as the right political person is what we fundamentally need. we need servant leaders. >> and it still counts as breaking news that a president goes to a state, doesn't play politics, doesn't ask what he's going to get for it, doesn't refuse to help part of this country. it still counts as news, because we had nothing of that sort for four years. matthew is staying with us. mike memory, you are welcome to take me back in time anyday of the week. i think he know joe biden in a way that most of us do not. thank you. >> thank you. right now the fda advisory committee is meeting. they could give johnson & johnson's covid green light for emergency use by tonight. that would open up more options for more people in this country. we'll talk about it next. r more. we'll talk aboutt inext to support local restaurants, we've been to every city, including baton rouge... and even topeka. yeah, we're exhausted.

whew! so, tonight... i'll be eating the roast beef hero from...parm...in...soho. (doorbell) excellent. and, tonight... i'll be eating the coconut curry chicken from...pikliz...in... winter hill. (doorbell) (giggle) oh, they're excellent. i had so many fried plantains i thought i was going to hurl. do ya think they bought it? oh yeah. fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. do ya think they bought it? fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. how do we ensure families facing food insecurity get access to their food? we needed to make sure that, if they couldn't get to the food, the food would come to them. we can deliver for food banks and schools. amazon knows how to do that. i helped deliver 12 million meals to families in need.

that's the power of having a company like amazon behind me. dad, it's a video call. hold the phone in front of you. how's that? get...get mom. [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning app with 24/7 support when you need it the most. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. i'm looking for my client. i'm his accountant. i'm so sorry. 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. if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away,

and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. cyber attacks are relentlessly advancing. to end them, cybereason built a cyber security solution so advanced... it can end attacks today -- on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. and deliver future-ready protection, keeping you sharp for tomorrow. join us, the defenders, in our mission.

cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere. if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. we now have three highly effective vaccines. importantly, each of them are very effective against severe disease. virtually all of them say, you look at the data and it's clear that you get essentially no hospitalizations or deaths. this is very, very good news. there are other candidates that have fulfilled enrollment and we're looking forward with them, too. the bottom line is the more vaccines that have high efficacy

that we can get into play, the better there is. >> that's dr. anthony fauci today in our growing supply of safe and effective vaccines. we are waiting right now for a vote from the advisory panel, on whether to recommend approval of the johnson & johnson sing of-dose vaccine. a likely favorable decision by the committees would clear the path for the agency to approve what would become our third vaccine in just over two months. joining our conversation is the medical director at boston health. and reverend al sharpton, president of the national action network. matthew doubt is still with us. dr. bedelia, i feel like we're getting go a point with a seesaw

being balanced where the tools for our fighting covid balances out the warnings for the new variants? i wonder if you filed like we have as much in our quiver to fight it as what's coming at us. >> we're definitely better than we have been, but also time for caution. and the advantages that we talked about with complete ploex, the fact that it's one dose, the fact refrigeration is not as complicated. a couple technical things that were covered that might be of interest. the one thing they discussed is there's currently a trial going on for two doses of the johnson & johnson vaccine. so as we saw the the numbers,

overall were not as be right back buster, and part of the trouble is this is not an apples to apples america. the america where pfizer and moderna did their trials is different. so having another candidate to protect against the severe disease is important, but the other technical piece they discussed is the data -- there were only 3.7% of the participants over 75, so there was discussion about whether there's enough evidence, so the eyes will be on the fda whether they will produce any 18 to 75 criteria, or whether they leave it open to anybody 18 and older. rev, much news. you've been vaccinated? >> i was vaccinated yesterday in harlem at harlem hospital. as part of the drive that vice president harris has been trying

to get those of us in the black and brown community that are high profile to come out and encourage people to come out. i went myself to kick it off in harlem. i'm in atlanta right now meeting with ministers and some in the entertainment industry to do the same. as more vaccines become available as the doctor talked about, and as we are fighting to make sure that the access is equal in black and brown communities, which has not been so, but they are moving that way, i think we also have to make people understandi safe to come and get them. the hesitancy in our communities have been strong and it's going down as more of us speak out. i've had no problem. i flew down here to atlanta this morning, so all of the fears that people have i can tell you, as a walking, living witness, it

will not necessarily about -- some may have little side effects, but mostly they do not, but it beats the alternative, and that is that you could face real sickness if you become a victim of this virus and could even face death. with half a million people dead, this is no time going with conspiracy theories. we must follow the science. >> matthew, i keep thinking about evaluating leaders, public officials, and the rev is doing as much as important work, leading by example. doctors have taken so much time over the last 12 months to educate a public that really didn't have any modern understanding or sort of frame of reference for what we are living through but you cannot ever escape the hole the last guy dug in terms of millions of people still skeptical of wearing masks. i looked at the numbers today.

they seemed tore flattened at their lower level, but we're still a country with a lot of divisions how to stay safe and whether to do the things we can do before we're all vaccinated. >> well, yeah, and the reason we have those divisions on those important topics whether it's health for our democracy is because there's been a complete assault on truth, right? it didn't start with donald trump. it just got put on caffeine and magniied and juiced up by donald trump. it's been an ongoing problem for 20 years where there's been a whole communication and quote/unquote news plat 678s. i don't mind anybody's opinions, it's that it serves up an entirely different dinner of alternative facts to go back to something that kellyanne conway, though she didn't say it with

humor. when truth comes under attack, it doesn't matter what the scientists say, it doesn't matter what the doctors say. it doesn't matter what health professionals say. it doesn't matter when you start telling people they need to turn off their water, because it's going to go below 20 degrees. if people think there's an alternative set of facts or that's not true, we have this. now, i don't blame one solo individual. i think donald trump singularly sought to seek down anything related to truth in our democracy, conspiracies and all of that, but there's been a concerted effort by a whole number of people to profit off telling people lies. that's fundamentally what has caused most of the problems we see today. our health concerns, our concerns about our democracy and constitution, and all of those things have led to the loss of life. the flint lead crisis, the

coronavirus crisis, and the crisis related to our democracy when we have didn't tell -- or certainty people didn't tell people the truth, all of them have led to loss of life. truth was the first casualty. everything else has been collateral damage. >> doctor, we spend the earley among talking about when the rubber hits the road what is the state of our doctors and nurses who have been dealing with this unprecedented pandemic. we have 511,000 americans who have lost their lives. how are doctors and nurses and hospital workers holding up? >> you know, i've seen that in other epidemics. i was part of the western

african ebola response, and the mental toll it takes -- matthew's comments remind me back in april, who takes responsibility? we can't look back, but we have to talk about the fact that we lost a lot of footing, all resilience and resources we had. we just expended that because of the the self-inflicted wound of this political division. we're not out of woods. today the cdc director talked about the fact that the seven-day cases are actually higher this week than last week. we got news from the hearing that the unpublished data shows that 1.7 times higher with the b.1.1.7 that's becoming more predominant. thank you so much.

when we come back, cpac is under way. of course they are pushing dangerous election lies, taking dangerous health risks. 2020 is calling and it wants its freak show back. that story is next. its freak show back. that story is next

did you know you can go to libertymutual.com to customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? really? i didn't-- aah! ok. i'm on vibrate. aaah! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ please, everyone, when you're in the ballroom and seated, you should still be wearing a mask. so if everybody could go ahead and work on that. i know, i know, it is not the

most fun. >> you have the right -- [ yelling ] >> you have the right to set the own rules in your own house and we're borrowing somebody else's house. >> that really happened. yeah, people boo at people in their own group who tell them to wear a mask so none of them will die. that is the host of cpac. let me tell you why we're covering this story. cpac used to be super fringy and now it is a gathering of conservative activists in that clip they were heckled for asking their own members to put their masks on. the conference is happening almost one year into the pandemic with more than 500,000 lives lost and after last year's cpac was the one of the first major superspreader events and just like in 2020 it is topped off by the former guy, now twiced impeached ex president still clinging to his delusion that the election was stolen

from him. from "the new york times," loyalty tests will be everywhere, with false claims of election fraud and speeches from republican hopefuls that will compete to praise him and to show him as the favorite of the party 2024 presidential nomination. but nothing sums up the state of the conservative movement better than this. trump as the republican party golden calf, a statue was paraded down the halls of cpac today. we're back with the rev and matthew dowd. rev. >> you know, he is the former president, but he's still the ill loose inator and chief. on sunday he's going to say he won the election. he was robbed. he is still a coronavirus denier. it is an illusive-in-chief and

thanks will matter and those investigations. but the sad part is that america is going to have to deal with, he's going to come out, he's going to be covered all over media, especially right-wing media at a time we're trying to get people's actual lives safe and bring some sanity and sanitizer to the political world and the political landscape that we now have to work in. and it is just sad that he's bringing his poison back but that he will. >> matthew, i don't think trump is the biggest story at cpac. i think the story, because what we have to live with as citizens of this country is the people that are in washington representing us and i think the story is the slavish devotion to his lies. now, i'm going to show this. i do not do this often but this is ted cruz. >> orlando is awesome.

it is not as nice as cancun. let me tell you this right now. donald trump is not going anywhere. bernie is wearing mittens and aoc is telling us she was murdered in the immortal words of william wallace -- freedom! >> so, he didn't get the memo that slaying at cpac isn't what he thinks it is, matthew. >> i think he would have been better off quoting george wallace because he would have gotten more applause than william wallace. i mean, i go between, this is like showing up at the pt barnham circus where you can't take my eyes off of what i'm seeing but i feel bad about what i'm seeing simultaneously, that is what i feel like when we observe what is going on here. as i said earlier on stephanie

rule's show, this should have been held at rozwell, new mexico and area 51. they have the conference titles uncanceled, when they thought to cancel scientists, cancel medical experts, cancel the election results, cancel joe biden, and cancel the constitution. so with no irony at all they call the conference uncanceled. for me, i could laugh, i could tune in and see it and be appalled at it. ted cruz, he makes this joke down there while people here still don't have drinking water in texas, while people don't have places to stay and can't find groceries, he makes a joke about cancun in the midst of all of that. so i could chuckle at some of the things and laugh out of some sense of, like, bizarreness, but the dangerousness of this is

amazing to me. and keep in mind that this is why the fungus or the mushroom of donald trump grew out and became what he became. donald trump didn't change cpac. cpac is what fostered and fertilized what then became donald trump and the success of donald trump. so cpac has now been mainstreamed in the republican party. you have urs senators and governors going there and the former president going there. but i really struggle between laughing with tears at this and crying with tears about it as the dangerousness of it effects our democracy. >> that is a great way to put it. and i feel the same combination and it is sort of the ptsd of despair of what a party we both served has become and what fools they've turned themselves into

in service to donald trump. thank you so much for spending so much of the hour with us. don't miss politics nation tomorrow at 5:00, revs full entire sitdown with vice president kamala harris will air for the very first time. the next hour of "deadline: white house" starts after a quick break. don't go anywhere. we're just getting started. any. we're just getting started espo♪ ♪ [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade. ...and then what happened daddy? well, you see here... there's a photo of you and there's a photo of your mommy and then there's a picture of me. but before our story it goes way, way, way back with your great, great, great grandparents. see this handsome man, his name is william. william fell in love with rose and they had a kid. his name was charles and charles met martha...

isn't she pretty? yeah.

♪ ♪ at wayfair... you can spend less on sofas isn't she pretty? that bring the whole family together. no matter what you need for your home you can spend less and get way more. if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe.

if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. there is no question, none, that president trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.

no question about it. >> if the president was the party's nominee, would you support him? >> the nominee of the party? absolutely. >> he might kill me but i'll vote for him. hi, again, everyone. it is 5:00 in the new york. that is quick. a perfect example of where the gop stands right now in the time of the biden presidency is the party without a spine and one without the finger on the pulse of american public over one of the central issues facing most american families right now, economic recovery. there is now overwhelming support for president biden's covid relief bill which the house will vote on tonight and republicans have been steadfast in opposition, labelling it a bloated budget busting blue state bailout according to "the new york times." but many of the own constituents see the benefits. more than four in ten republicans back the package according to polling from the survey monkey. and 72% supported the billet

number that includes 97% of democrats and in the era of biden, the republican party is in a state of disarray. more from the times, while congressional republicans tried to undermine the legislation, mayors and governors in their party push for the plan saying their states and cities need the federal aid to keep police officers on beats, to reopen schools and have help small businesses and it is that very disconnect between washington republicans and everybody else in the entire country that richard north patterson addressed today in the bulwark. in challenging times average americans are far por concerned with their family and future than limited government. in some the reagan paradigm has outlived its time. and the question is how best to replace it and for if history teaches us anything, it is this, over time no society does well when most of the people do not. and no democracy can remain stable and secure without shared

opportunity and prosperity. the consequences of congressional republicans being out of step with their base is reflected in recent polling. mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy and ted cruz have favor ability ratings of 25% or lower. and that same survey found president biden with a 58% approval. a republican party floundering in the post trump era is where we start this hour. joy reid is here. she's hosting a special edition at 7:00 with dr. fauci and members of the congressional black caucus in which they will all discuss the covid crisis and the impact on communities of color. we'll talk more about that before we let her go. and also joining us, jonathan la meyer and tim miller is here, the spirit animal and the former rnc and contributor to the

bulwark. tim, this is so poetic, right. there are now -- they have staked out and they're down at cpac making blood oaths to a guy that is cost them the white house, cost them the senate and is now dragging down their own approval ratings into the mid-20s. >> yeah, you know, nicolle, i think people have learned the facts that come here to this show and listening to us about the so-called republican civil war that lasted about one scaramucci. >> not even that long. >> look, i had to suffer through cpac today for bulwark article over the weekend and there are two things that are happening. one is you're exactly right, the golden calf treatment of donald trump. but the more concerning thing is the treatment of the insurrection. i watched almost all of the speakers and it was completely erased from history. like from those communist paintings where they erase

somebody that was a problem to the state. no one mentioned it with the exception of josh hawley. and josh hawley only mentioned it in the context of how he stood up to the elites and oligarchs by voting to over turn the election and after the insurrection and he got a standing ovation. this is the world they're living in. the speakers want to pretend that the attack on the capitol didn't happen or they're proud of their role in it. i mean, it is alarming. i think it used to be seen as kind of like a circus or a side show. but it very much is not that. and i think that is very much a reflection of where the party is. and it is a reflection of the niche quote that you started us out with. mitch mcconnell said that donald trump was morally responsible for the insurrection that resulted in the death of a police officer and yet still he said that he'll support him four years later. that tells you all you need to know about the seriousness they're treating the terrorist

insurrection. >> and joy, we started with that sound. claire mccaskill at the moment that mitch mcconnell said that cautioned everybody that he was speak directly to his corporate donors. but he said it. and if you say it even for your corporate donors, you have to act like you mean it and killing everybody else who works here is a big deal and maybe you should be prosecuted for it. but when you go on tv and say he should be president again in four years, you obviously don't mean it. >> it is true. and i would say that tim is also my spirit animal so we'll have to worked out a shared custody agreement. but i'm old enough to remember when cpac used to be where ron paul would win every straw poll and it was considered the cookie kind of fringe aspect of the republican party. now you still won't see a mitch mcconnell there, because he's not welcome. but it is the mainstream of the

party. like -- >> that's right. >> those did a golden calf, worshiping idol moment as people cheered the golden trump as it rolled down the hall in its flip-flops. that is the mainstream of the republican party. i say this as somebody whose father was a hard core reaganite. and that was a part of the growing up process of people in the old school republican party, that is what they came up on. and in their mind it is about ideas. for black folks, it is about something other than that but it seemed like we're having ideas about limited government and preserving a certain social order. now all of what republicanism and conservatism, they're brand of it has come down to is worship of nebuchadnezzar, of

donald trump. worshiping him in day and night and act and deed. that is it. that is the only thing that makes you a republican right now. and how do you rescue a party that is that idol -- dilluted of ideas and policies. the only policy is to get on their knees and worship a former reality show star who couldn't even make casinos work in atlantic city. the child cager, the person who left us with half a million bodies on the ground from covid. that is their king. all i have to say, the republicans, is that your king? good luck. >> look, and this isn't us saying it. jonathan, this was the gop platform this year. heading into this -- this is again, this is not me. this is not joy's opinions or tim's opinion, this is the platform that they put forth to

the rnc at their convention this year. that is what they took to the public. and that is what brought about a historic defeat, a blowout kind of loss. and i guess i wonder and i don't have any hope any more, but i wonder almost just from a christopher columbus, where are they going kind of thing, how many losses are they going to stomach in service of someone who has cost them everything? >> it is a party that has been shaped and defined by trump and still owned by trump. and the events of today at cpac illustrated that yet again. and we're going to see it only more so as the weekend goes on culminating in donald trump's return to the spotlight on sunday when he delivers that speech. and we've been told that he won't go as far as to say that he will declare a candidate in 2024, we're not expecting that. but he'll hint at it. he'll be critical of president biden. but we expect him to be far more

critical of the fellow republicans, those that he feel betrayed them because they voted to convict him in his second impeachment trial or in his mind weren't cooperative with his efforts to over turn the election and voter fraud, brian kemp, we'll hear his name on sunday. but the bulk of the republicans seem okay with this. that, yes, donald trump did win in 2016. he lost the popular vote. let's remember that. he lost the popular vote. he was elected president. but since then his party lost in the 2018 midterm elections. suffered defeats in the house and senate this time around. lost control of the senate through his action or inaction when those two runoffs in georgia went to the democrats, he's piled up the defeats here and it is remarkable how republicans still remain in his sway. yes, he does still poll very well on the gop. it is down somewhat from november. but he does still poll there. but no one is willing to break him from outside of the few

lonely voices like mitt romney and liz cheney that wish it could stand for something else and try to turn the page from donald trump have to be disheartened from what they've seen today at cpac and an event started off with organizers asking the crowd to wear masks and he got booed for it. >> yeah, there is that. tim, this is joe biden's washington. he's made clear that on domestic and foreign policy he's going to be forceful. he's not a political hostage. i think we're talking about a really unhealthy stockholm syndrome that went on between donald trump and the republican party. this is in every single way, no paper towels were thrown at the site of a natural disaster in texas because we don't have that person in office any more. and, but, he's still committed to bipartisan fashion and what

does it look like in the republican party that you have so perfectly described. >> i have one quick fact check to joy reid which is i suffered through cpac today and there were policy issues discussed, one is making it harder for people to vote and two is making it easier to say racist stuff on social media -- >> tell us about that. that is important. >> that's the two big issues. >> that is what they're pushing. tell us about that, tim. >> it is all clouded in the election security about the big lie. but they're talking about the need for stopping hr-1 and voter i.d. laws that are happening in state legislatures. so that is the one big policy issue. and there not a lot of bashing of big tack and saying their canceling conservatives and wrong expectation of section 230 and how to take on google and apple. and those are the only two

policy issues that get brought up. as far as the bipartisan side with biden, look, the problem is he's in this situation where he has 50 votes in the senate so he doesn't need a republican to get things done and needs ten over the filibuster and there aren't ten republicans to work with him. so he's in the situation, well well do i deal with mitt romney and make some changes to the covid relief package to be bipartisan. i think that biden wants to do that. and i think that if romney and collins and murkowski and toomey said how about we make it 1.7 and change this thing about education funding in 2026 and should be in 2022. i think that biden would want to do that. the problem is even the republicans who have acted in good faith like mitt romney haven't really shown an interest to deal with him in that way. we'll see if that comes. i think biden wants it to come but i think that is the problem with you look at the senate why

we haven't seen a little more of it. >> that is a good point. all bipartisan governing means to republicans and you and i know this, is take some of our ideas. it doesn't actually mean collaborating. joy, pick up on that. because there is a serious policy push and it is not under the radar. it is out and proud, trying to disenfranchise voters, trying to make it harder for people to vote. brad raffensberger said they're based on big lie. i haven't seen a ton of republicans speaking out in other states and this is a republican effort underway coast to coast. >> you and tim will remember the big autopsy, remember the autopsy. that seems like a -- it seems like a hundred years ago when you were writing the way to fix the party is to reach out and try to get more black and brown folks involved. i'm friends with michael steele who was serious about saying we need to find ways to reach out. he even -- people mocked him for it but the hip-hop community,

what could we do and there were conservative-leaning african-americans who were into the business stuff and tax cuts and they want the entrepreneur stuff and latinos are close to a third would be open to the republican party. that is gone. what they're now essentially saying is a subtext of what has been rp open politics. forget what the tim millers are writing and what george w. bush was saying. subtext has felt we'll make it so that few of you could vote that so few of the black and brown folks and the indigenous and the asian-americans that aren't down with us, so you could get to the polls, that we don't have to worry about you and we could say we don't want to expand the party. all we want are trumpists. even white nationalists are welcome. neo-nazi's, you want to hang

mike pence, we're scared of you. you might hurt us. you could be in the tent. but they don't want to expand the party to people of color because that would mean advancing policies people of color might want. there is a sense that they would let go of all of the tax cuts they could say the n-word. we want to say racist stuff and not quote/unquote canceled and if they could have the social power, put john wayne back up front and get rid of the hip-hop stuff and make this country white and waspy and that is the problem. the republican party can't grow from there. so you have to do minority rule or the old south africa strategy. if you're going to drop into the minority, what else can you do? you go to south africa and not let y'all vote. >> it is unbelievable.

joy, tell me what you need to hear from dr. fauci tonight? >> well first of all, i'm so excited that we could -- this is the second time i get to talk to dr. fauci and his freedom and release from the hostage situation that he was in over the last four years, it makes me so happy. so we have tons of questions. we had hundreds of people put in questions. we're going to focus on letting them ask their questions. my own questions are about the idea of access versus desire in communities of color. because i've got both in my circle. i have people who say i'm afraid to get the vaccine. i don't know if i want to do it. i was talking with some folks over at harlem hospital, they are struggling to get people to do even on staff, people are reticent. but at the same time they're also looking outside and seeing lines people from west chester and the upper east side lining outside of harlem hospital to get the vaccine and the folks in the community are locked out. so i'm very interested in what is the balance right now between can people get it if they want it and will people take it if

they could get it -- the vaccine. >> i can't wait to watch it. thank you both for starting us off this hour. jonathan is sticking around. be sure to tune in for a special edition of the reid out on the impact of the covid crisis tonight at 7:00 p.m. here on msnbc. when we return, the release of fln intelligence report that concludes that saudi arabia crown prince approved the murder of a washington post journalist, it is another sharp turn away from the former guy, the one to bragged to bob woodward he got congress to leave the crown prince alone. and plus the biden administration is fighting to save neera tanden for budget director, we'll ask careen john pierre about that fight and the president's push for covid relief. and breaking news, just a few moments ago. an fda advisory panel has recommended approval for a third coronavirus vaccine here in the u.s. johnson & johnson single dose shot. it is a big boost for efforts to

slow the spread of the variants and curb the virus. we'll get to all of those stories coming up. "deadline: white house"s after a quick break. don't go anywhere. anywhere. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant™ with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms

or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™ janssen can help you explore cost support options. we need to reduce plastic waste in the environment. that's why at america's beverage companies, our bottles are made to be re-made. not all plastic is the same. we're carefully designing our bottles to be one hundred percent recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle, and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back.

marking a major break of trump era foreign policy, the biden administration releasing an intelligence report compiled back in 2018 but buried by the trump white house. it concludes that bin salman signed off on the killing of jamal khashoggi. it is clear how it could not have happened without the crown

prince's approval, citing the control of decision making in the kingdom since 2017, the direct involvement of the key adviser and members of bin salman's protective detail in the operation and the crown prince's support for using violent measures to silence disdents abroad. but amid holding his personally accountable, the biden administration has decided that the cost of punishing bin salman is too high. the decision by mr. biden during the 2020 campaign called saudi arabia a pariah state with no redeeming social value, came after weeks of debate in which his newly formed national security team advised him there was to way to bar the heir in entering the u.s. or to weigh criminal charges against him without breaching the relationship with a key arab alleys. joining our conversation jeremy bash. former chief of staff for the cia and department of defense

and jonathan lemire is here as well. and first it was widely believed to be that the cia had conclusively reached this determination that mbs was responsible for the killing of khashoggi. but donald trump constantly went on tv and said they didn't conclude, and knocked it down. the significance of releasing it today, what is that? >> yeah, i think, nicolle, the prior says said something like maybe he did it, maybe he didn't do it. and obviously opened the door to the doubt. but there was no doubt left today in those summary of conclusions that were released by the office of the director of national intelligence. first of all, this report had to be released under a law passed by congress. and i think the biden administration welcomed the opportunity for transparency, because they want to make very clear on the record that our intelligence agencies had conclusively assessed a long time ago, this is not new, a long time ago that the crown prince of saudi arabia had directed this killing. and this murder of jamal

khashoggi was heinous not because he was an innocent person, but because it was state sanctioned. and know we'll talk about it, it was sanctioned by someone who we have to work with. who we have some strategic interests in common. and so how do you do that with someone who has to be a partner against iran, again terrorism, against other challenges in the region as we recalibrate this relationship, we have to walk and chew gum and say we're rebuking you for the human rights violation and we're going to speak truth to power and work with you to protect our common security interests. it is a fine line but i think the administration is walking it appropriately today. >> what do you think about the blowback that some are sending the way of the biden white house. congresswoman jackie speier was on in the 3:00 p.m. hour saying that she thought sanctions

against mbs would have been appropriate. and i hear what you're saying. and obviously i was part of an administration that made all sorts of compromised and people we had to work with. so i'm not saying this in -- in terms of a judgment rendering by this decision. i'm asking about this declaration about moral clarity with our allies and our partners. and i guess, i'm wondering if the line should be on the other side of dismembering a dissident and a washington post journalists and someone who lived in virginia with a bone saw, letting that slide. >> it is an incredibly fair point. and i think what the biden administration is trying to do is they're trying to say, we are elevating human rights, we are going to hold accountable those people who conducted this operation, who conducted it by denying them visas, by freezing assets. i think also just the fact that we're putting on the the record for the entire international community to see is an

incredible important showing transparency on our part and not afraid of calling out the behavior that is condemnable. and there is a national security reality which is saudi arabia is a large and important country in the gulf and those sunni gulf entries are -- awith this strike operating out of syria, we have to the partnership and our troops working with countries like saudi arabia, we'll have to have defensive systems against them. no one likes to talk about the fact that we have to protect ourselves but that is the national security reality and i think the biden administration understands it and they're acting accordingly. >> jeremy, i want to sort of pick up on that point if i could. certainly when president trump was in office, he showed no interest in using the traditional spotlight that the office of the presidency carried

to shine a light on hume rab rights abuse and preach that democracy and human rights and var values, but president biden said he would come into office doing so so i think there is disappointment in the reaction today. so expand why you think this is different. we know that we issue sanctions against other countries when they run afoul of the international code of conduct, when an american resident in this case is killed. what strategic role, we know the trump administration placed a high priority on saudi arabia. the linchpin of the middle east strategy. where do you think saudi arabia fits in now with the biden administration going forward in that tumultuous region of the world? >> i think in some respects some countries like the saudis had a blank check, kind of an authority to operate without any consequences. i think what the biden administration is trying to do is trying to recall. we're not going to provide you any offensive in yemen, that is an announcement that biden had

made in prior weeks and now we're going to put a premium on human rights and the actions that you take against dissidents and i think as tony blinken laid out today, there is in effect a khashoggi ban. there is consequences for anybody who tries to jail and imprison or stifle or muzzle dissidents. saudi arabia is not a democracy. and we shouldn't pretend that it is. and so we're going to have to give voice and elevate "voice" -- elevate voice for people that are stay into the crown. and it is so important going forward that we have an administration that said with moral clarity, we're going to protect our values, even though we know we have to do things in the security realm, even though we have to work with partners and allies, some of whom we like, some of whom we tolerate. but national security and our values could not be separated and we're going to try to do both. >> jeremy, i want to cover this in a slightly different way.

a lot of the fear-mongering that happened on the right and right-wing media, about what a biden/harris presidency has been obliterated in the last 24 hours. i think you're correct in terms of what any president does, what president obama or clinton and other presidents have had to do is look at countries that we have to work with even if we don't like them or agree with the way they run their countries so it has a whole lot of precedent. but between the strike against iranian militias and between what seems like a pretty restrained position that he's taking, with king and saudi arabia, it seems to blow out of the water the republican fear-mongering that this would be somehow an administration that would let iran off the hook. >> well, there is no doubt, iran has been in a very provocative mode. first of all, nicolle, as you referenced, they have been undertaking the army, the

training and the -- attacking our troops and by the way, we lost deterrence for all of the prior president's tough talk over the last year, we've lost deterrence because they have been emboldened and attacking our troops and our position in the last year and it culminated in the last few weeks and biden acted last night in a proportionate way and a strategically important because tactically it hit syria but it was a message to tehran to get away with attacking our forces without paying a consequence. and i think your point about iran's malign activity is important because the biden administration is coming out of the blocks pretty tough against iran. yes, they're saying we're willing to have a dialogue and negotiation and talk about your nuclear program and we're interested in getting back any americans who have you detained but we're not going to shrink from using military force when necessary to go after your

surrogates and proxies who are attacking our troops. >> thank you, my friend. jonathan, thank you for spending some time with us this hour. when we return, president biden is pushing ahead on covid relief and fighting to save his nominee for budget director in the face of republican opposition. we'll ask white house press secretary karine john pierre about both of those battles next. t both of those battles next he helped me set up my watch lists. oh, he's terrific. excellent tennis player. bye-bye. i recognize that voice. annie? yeah! she helped me find the right bonds for my income strategy. you're very popular around here. there's a birthday going on. karl! he took care of my 401k rollover. wow, you call a lot. yeah, well it's my money we're talking about here. joining us for karaoke later? ah, i'd love to, but people get really emotional when i sing. help from a team that will exceed your expectations. ♪♪ ♪ hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play ♪ ♪ hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid ♪

♪ and all that glitters is gold ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. with any handcrafted burger. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting to feel a little foggy. just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. started noticing things a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game.

i'm able to remember things. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. i made a business out of my passion. i mean, who doesn't love obsessing over network security? all our techs are pros. they know exactly which parking lots have the strongest signal. i just don't have the bandwidth for more business. seriously, i don't have the bandwidth. glitchy video calls with regional offices? yeah, that's my thing. with at&t business, you do the things you love. our people and network will help do the things you don't. let's take care of business. at&t.

to defend against dark forces attacking your organization, you need to see in the dark. to have the wisdom to understand multiple cyber threats. the precision focus to end attacks instantly. on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. join the world's leading companies in our mission to defend. cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere. what message would you give

to iran with your first military action. >> you can't act with impunity. be careful. >> those were president biden's very first comments on the the air strike last night over syria that we were talking about in the last block and the breaking news this hour that an fda panel recommended emergency use of the johnson & johnson single dose vaccine. it is deemed safe and effective and will very likely become the third approved vaccine in just hours or days. >> that good news coming during a very busy week for president biden. he surveyed storm damage in texas earlier today. the president and first lady are in houston right now at a massive fema vaccination facility and tonight the house will vote on president biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief bill that is expected to pass along party lines. whether it gets to the senate, it will be without the $15 minimum wage increase which a senate ruling has disqualified from the reconciliation process, that democrats are using to pass

the relief bill with a simple majority. all of this as a growing number of republicans and at least one democrat oppose the president's budget director nominee. neera tanden, who they have criticized for her history of attacking republicans on social media. the white house is still defending tanden's nomination. joining us now, karine john pierre, white house communications director and former campaign chief of staff to kamala harris and senior adviser to the biden campaign, most importantly our friend. it is great to see you. >> hey, nicolle. so good to see you. thank you for having me. >> i remember these days when just when you run down to the national security advisers office to find out what we're saying about the khashoggi report and then running to the affairs office to see what we are talking about on the minimum and then come on and get asked about something else entirely. clearly, a flurry of activity, especially since the former guy has exited his second

impeachment trial. but i want to ask you about neera tanden's nomination first and find out where that stands right now. >> let me first say that neera tanden is a -- a premier expert in her field. she is more than qualified to be in this position. especially, nicolle, as we're talking about getting american people back to work as we're talking about turning around this economy, we need someone like her to be in this position to be in this job. she's someone as well that has held top, top positions in both the obama administration and a clinton administration. so she understands how this all works. and i think that the last thing i wanted to say which is so, i think, critical and key, is that she understands. she has her own personal story having grown up with a single parent. her mom who was an immigrant and she understands what it means when -- when policy is used to

turn your life around. and that is one of the firsthand knowledge that she has. so, look, as you know and you've been hearing from us all week, you've heard from the president this week that we are behind neera tanden 100%. we're having the conversations she's had more than a dozen conversations with members on the hill, with senators and so we're going to continue to tay the course. and like i said, she's more than qualified for this position. and we're going to get her there. we're going to get her to this confirmation and just work really hard to make that happen. >> karine, you've spent time on our air as a former contributor and now that you're on the other side, speaking for the white house, i job that i had. i want to ask you about something that has been a controversy, as a woman i've been on the both sides, want to ask you about the treatment

about "the washington post" that the editor put out a statement defending her and other journalists are defending her. she was covering this controversy over neera tanden and i wonder if the white house has put out any statement on that? >> so let me first say this, there is no place anywhere, anywhere for those types of attacks on any reporter. it is wrong. it is disgraceful. and we condemn them. >> general mally dillon use the the f word to describe republicans and shortly after went out and apologized and did seemed to be that president biden wanted that kind of tone set. one of your colleagues was fired after a confrontational hostile interaction with a journalist. i wonder whether you think that the tanden nomination and her statements are in line with the standard president biden seems to have set? >> i think one of the things that neera tanden did right away

is that as we're speaking about the tweets here, is that she apologized. she removed them from her twitter account. and i think that says volumes. and she has met with both republican and democratic senators to have that conversation, to talk to them directly. and think that is important as we're talking about leadership, as we're talking about moving forward, as we're talking about what type of country we want to be. and i think that says a lot about her, and about this moment that we're in, this moment that the president wants to bring us in. and so, yeah, that -- when we talk about president biden and the type of administration that he wants to have, the administration that is respectful and administration that really puts the american people first, and this is what we're doing. this is what we're focusing on. >> you also have a new vaccine likely racing into hospitals and pharmacies hours after it's approved and it cleared the last

policy hurdle today, talk about what it is like in the west wing. as a public, we become arm chair epidemiologists but what is it like to have any new prodect that will have vaccine available to all americans by the end of july. >> youed nicolle that the president was in houston right now, in a few moments he's going to be speaking giving remarks at nrg straid which is also a vaccination center in a local community. they vaccinated up to 6,000 people a day. those are daily doses and that is critical and that is important. so yes, he went there as president to make sure to survey, to survey the storms, to make sure that the texans know that he's fighting for them and he's thinking of them but he also wanted to send the strong message of the importance of having these types of

vaccination sites. and it makes me think also, nicolle, as we start off the week, today is friday clearly, we started off the week with president biden remembering the 500 million lives that we lost just -- just in a year because of covid. i'm sorry, 500,000 lives that we lost to covid. and that should not be. these are people who are with us a year ago. and so you see the compassion and you see the understanding of this moment and so when we think about also what is about to happen today, with the american rescue plan, and how critical it is, nicolle, to get that passed, because we are dealing with multiple crises, we're dealing with the economic crisis, with covid-19 and so we have to get this -- this package passed so we could do more to help the american people, give them relief as it comes to making sure that they're getting these doses and these vaccines and

making sure that we're giving real economic relief for people who are suffering who can't put food on their table, right, who are lining up to get that unemployment insurance benefit and these are critical things to get our kids back in schools safely. and so this is what we're working towards. as you're talking about, as your asking me what is it like at the west wing, that is our focus. that is really is. and one more thing, nicolle, one of the things that is important to president biden and he had said this when he announced our communications team, which is communicating with the public is critical. and making sure that we're being forth right, making sure that we're letting them know what we're doing here for them. and so it is one of the things that he feels is the most important, one of the most important jobs that he has to the american people which is why he's out there today in texas. >> well, it is a really important point. and when you look at the approval ratings that the covid

relief package has, a big reason is that people are suffering. people are in pain. people are hurting. the second biggest reason is probably that president biden has used the bully pulpit to assure americans that -- 76%, i'm sorry. i gave you a lower estimate. 76% of americans support the legislation that is likely to -- that is going to pass tonight. 89% of democrats and 60% of republicans. are you surprised or is he surprised that with a package with almost 80% public support, 60% of republicans, republican governors in west virginia, republican mayor clamoring for it that the republicans are walking off this public relations cliff in opposition to it? >> look, it is not surprising that the package is popular amongst voter across the country and has that bipartisan support that you just mentioned. because people need relief. this is a moment to -- this is a big moment that is happening with these multiple crises and

we have to meet that moment. and when it comes to republicans on capitol hill, it is their question to answer. which is, how are you going to answer, you not supporting this bill that is -- that is overwhelmingly popular in your state, in your -- in your district. that is the question to post to them, because they're not where they're constituents are. so we have to continue to think about the american people. we have to continue to give them relief. because like you said, too many people are suffering right now. and we can do better and we can do more and this is what president biden and vice president harris have been working so hard to do these last -- these last several weeks. >> karine, i want to tell you in case you can't see, we have a shot up of your boss who is about to speak. we've been given the two-minute warning so if we interrupt you it is to take him. >> it is more important. >> sounds like a perfect white

house communications staffer. let me ask you this. it is so clear that you all have a disciplined approach to how you communicate on behalf of him and how you push the agenda. what were those weeks like when donald trump still sort of took up all of the oxygen? did you take that time to plan and prepare all of the events this week? and your right, it feels like 11 years ago but monday was a sad commemoration of 500,000 lives lost. >> we stayed focused. if you remember that week, it feels like ages ago, he went to wisconsin and heard a town hall and heard directly from the american people and took questions from republicans and democrats, right. >> here he is. >> it is dinnertime. good afternoon, our almost it is evening. and i want to thank you governor abbott for your hospitality and your friendship. and representative senator cornyn. i think he had to go back.

i think he's getting on a plane. he told me last he came in to see me last event. and representatives shirley jackson lee, and al green, lizzy pinnely, excuse me pinnel, and what am i doing here? i'm going to lose track here. and mayor turner, judge hidalgo, thank you all for welcoming us. and jill and i wanted to visit today for a couple of reasons. first and foremost, let the people of texas know our prayers are with you and this aftermath of this winter storm. and secondly to let you know what i told governor abbott and mayor turner and judge hidalgo and the congressional delegation, that we will be true partners to help you recover and rebuild from the storms and this pandemic and the economic crisis. we're in for the long haul.

earlier today we received an update on the storm relief efforts from harris county emergency operations center. folks there are doing god's work as my mother would say. it is an important update on how the federal government and states are working together through the major disaster declaration and emergency declarations that i made when the governor contacted me. the federal emergency management, fema, is providing millions of gallons of water and millions of meals and direct assistance to uninsured homeowners to repair the damage, burst pipes caused to millions of homes across this state. the public assistance that comes with disaster declaration ensures that mayors and county officials could find shelter for folks in need and keep them safe and warm. this is in addition to the more than 125,000 blankets fema has also made available to storm victims.

so children and families don't go to sleep cold. fema working with the defense logistic agency and the army corp of engineers from the defense department has made generators and diesel fuel available to hospitals and nursing homes and other critical facilities to keep the to keep n and speed power restoration along its way. many local military bases are helping efforts to distribute water and food, fuel, and blankets all across the state. and i especially want to thank the service members for helping your fellow americans in times of need. when we have a problem, we always call on the military, domestic or foreign, no matter what. you're the best in the world. and i know millions of texans have been impacted by the disruption of the water systems. the environmental protection agency has deployed mobile drinking water labs in houston, san antonio and fort worth to test water so we can get boil

water advisories lifted and get safe drinking water flowing through those faucets again. there is more, but let me say this. we're not here today as democrats or republicans. we're here today as americans. the american leaders with the responsibility, all of us here in this parking lot, responsibility to all the people we serve. when a crisis hits our states like the one that hit texas, it's not a republican or democrat who are hurting, it's our fellow americans who are hurt, and it's our job to help everyone in need, look out for one another, leave nobody behind. that's what we've seen today in our visit. after our briefing on the storm relief, we stopped by the houston food bank. that's also doing god's work. incredible operation. just like everyone else here in the vaccination center, they've done thousands of people, thousands of people. making a fundamental difference in the safety and security of people.

the more people get vaccinated, the faster we'll beat this pandemic. that's why one of my first steps and my first goals as president was to announce that i was going to get 100 million covid vaccine shots administered in my fist 100 days. because of the people behind me and others, america is going to be the first in the country, perhaps the first in the world to get that done. and i'm proud to say we're halfway there. 50 million shots. actually, i was telling the congress i carry a little card with me and a list every day, the actual number of vaccines that have been administered. as of today -- as of last night, 503,587. every single one matters. we're weeks ahead of schedule. even with setbacks from the winter storm, we're moving in the right direction. look, in the last six week,

we've gone from six million shots right before we took office in total to 12 million shots per week now. we've increased vaccine distribution by 70%. 60% of the people over the age of 5 have received at least one shot. close to 50% of the people over the age of 65 got at least one shot. and say why am i focusing on that? well, it's especially important because people over the age of 65 account for 80% of all the covid deaths. 80%. roughly 75% of the people who live in long-term care facilities now have gotten their first dose, and those cases are at the lowest level since the reporting began back in may. we're making this progress because of all of you. the federal government and the states are working together along with public and private partners. it starts with supply. we work a vaccine manufacturer,

pfizer and moderna to ensure we had enough supply to supply all adults in america by the end of july. and we discovered the vaccine manufacturers, though, weren't getting prioritized when it came to securing supplies they needed to fix their problem and not be able to go more rapidly. so i used the defense production act to speed up the supply chain for key equipment that's already helped increase vaccine production. last week i toured the pfizer vaccine manufacturing facility in kalamazoo, michigan. it's incredible the precision, the safety, the pride, the sense of purpose, everyone involved at that facility. and we've all seen the news about johnson & johnson vaccine, today, just the third safe effective vaccine. and it's out. they've approved it today. we're going to use every conceivable way to expand manufacturing of the vaccine. the third vaccine to make even

more rapid progress of getting shots in people's arms. here's what else we're doing. we're increasing the number of vaccinators, the people -- one thing about the vaccine, another thing to get it in people's arms. we brought back retired doctors and nurses by executive order, allowed that to happen. we've already deployed more than 1,500 medical professionals. you see the during the natural disasters from fema. our commission corps from the department of health and human services and the defense department, including the national guard. and we're lining up thousands more. we're also setting up more places to get vaccinated. and today, as of today, we provided $3.8 billion to states, territories, and tribes to create hundreds of new vaccination centers and ramp up existing ones. we're provide personnel and equipment. and we're covering the cost for states, including the use of their national guards.

here in texas, it's meant millions of dollars and hundreds of vaccinators working in community vaccination centers and three mass vaccination centers in arlington, dallas, and right here in houston on the other side here. to vaccinate thousands of americans a day, tens of thousands overall. i want to show the american people the extraordinary effort being made and understood taken in the most difficult operational challenge this nation has ever faced logistically. it's remarkable. about 6,000 doses a day here. folks who are eligible can call by phone, sign up online for an appointment, drive in, stay in their cars, get a shot, in and out in a very short amount of time. requires massive logistical coordination, and critical federal support from fema and the national guard to work with cities and states and the houston texans stand up this kind of site. vice president harris and i did

a virtual tour of a similar vaccination center in arizona. one nurse, one nurse there said -- she talked about the shots, how many they were getting in people's arms. and she said she felt like she was administering, get this, a dose of hope. a dose of hope. we're working with governors across the country to stand up and lend federal support to hundreds of vaccination centers from stadiums like here to community centers to houses of worship, large parking lots, delivery places, doses that hope we can get in people's arms as quickly as possible. i've also sent millions of vaccines to thousands of local pharmacies, over 7,000 to make it easier for folks to get the covid-19 vaccine shot like they would a flu shot, because people are comfortable going to their local pharmacy. they go there for their flu shot, everything else. they trust the pharmacist, and likely to go.

here in texas, that includes 500 pharmacies across this state, like walmart and cvs, including 50 pharmacies here in houston. and for the folks who didn't live near a vaccination center or a pharmacy, we're deploying mobile clinics to go out to those neighborhoods in rural areas where people are unable to get to the centers. these are special vehicles of pop-up clinics and meet folks where they live and where they don't have the transportation to get the shots, which they'll be launching very soon here in houston, those mobile units, as well as dallas, arlington and across the state. we've also started to send vaccines directly to community health centers to help the hard to reach folks in cities, small towns, rural communities in black, latino, and native american communities, they have higher rates of covid-19 infections and deaths than any other groups. here in texas, we're already

partnering with 12 community health centers in ten cities, which have combined sites at over 100 locations across the entire state. we're going to save people's lives and five weeks have administered the most shots of any country in the world. that's great progress. it's also true that while covid-19 vaccinations are up, covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are down. but i need to be honest with you. i said from the beginning, like roosevelt who said i'll shoot you straight from the shoulder. you can handle anything as long as you're told the truth. cases and hospitalizations could go back up as new variants emerge. and it's not the time to relax. we have to keep washing our hands, staying socially distanced, and for god's sake, wear your mask. wear your mask. it's not a political statement.

it's a patriotic thing to do. some of our progress in this fight is because so many americans are stepping up and doing these things. and the worst thing we could do now would be let our guard down. and here is another critical point. we're going hit a phase in this effort, maybe late april, early may when many predict there will be ramped up vaccine supply, and we'll have administered shots to most of the people who are eager to get them and those who have been able to get. but at the same time there will be people who live in hard to reach areas who can't get the shots and there are folks who are hesitant to take the shots. we all know there is a history in this country of subjugating tern communities to terrible medical and scientific abuse. but if there is one message that needs to cut through all this, the vaccines are safe. i promise you, they are safe and effective.