hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. fbi director chris wray testified before congress today that the pro trump mob that stormed the capitol to halt the electoral vote count engaged in, quote, domestic terrorism. today's testimony was the first time wray has spoken publicly since the insurrection and since the agency he leads has pursued hundreds of suspects. wray, who warned in september that the greatest threat to the homeland was white supremacists was appalled as he watched the riot on tv. >> i was apalled, like you, at the violence and destruction we saw that day. i was appalled that you, our country's elected leaders, were

victimized right here in those very halls. that attack, that siege was criminal behavior plain and simple and behavior that we, the fbi, view as domestic terrorism. >> before we go further, quick program note. the behavior that wray describes as domestic terror was greeted by donald trump at the time with a, quote, we love you and chilling warning to congress, quote, this is what happens when you have the audacity to actually count the vote. also highlighted the role of white supremacists in the attack as well as other militias known to have supported donald trump and debunked johnson's theory that fantasy dress-up trump supporters were somehow behind the attack. >> we're seeing quite a number, as we're building out the cases on the individuals we've arrested for the violence, quite a number what we would call

militia violent extremists. so self-identify with the proud boys or oath keepers. things like that. we also have a couple of instances where we've already identified individuals involved in the criminal behavior who we would put in the racially motivated, violent extremists who advocate for what you would call white supremacy. so there have been some of those individuals as well. >> based on your investigation so far, do you have any evidence that the capitol attack was organized by, quote, fake trump protesters? >> we have not seen evidence of that at this stage. >> understand in your testimony, previously, that you did not see antifa or groups playing a significant role in the january 6th insurrection? >> while we're equal opportunity and looking for violent extremism of any ideology, we

have not to date seen any evidence of anarchists, violent extremists or antifa connected with the 6th. >> "washington post" reports on the details of the careful planning and coordination of the proud boys to take the capitol. from new court filing on ethan, prosecutors write this. nordeen nominated from within to have war powers to lead activities at the capitol after the group's chairman, henry enrique tarrio was arrested by dc police upon arriving in the city two days earlier. the post adding, quote, prosecutors also asserted that nordeen led the group by positioning proud boys members carrying incrypted radios and wearing military style gear at an entrance to the capitol grounds guarded by a handful of capitol police officers and spreading out to others to avoid triggering police interest. the fbi director's on terrorism

that garnered an i love you from donald trump is where we start with some of our favorite reporters and friends. "the new york times" white house reporter focusing on homeland security and msnbc national security analyst former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence and nbc news contributor and capitol hill, garrett haake. this was dramatic in that it gave the republicans nothing to continue to spin their lies with, but it was important in terms of our country's top law enforcement official laying the blame, describing it as domestic terrorism and putting it at the feet of donald trump supporters and the white supremacist groups that assembled that day. >> this was cold bare facts from christopher wray today, describing this as an act of domestic terrorism.

dispensed with the notion there were any sort of secret undercover antifa or opponents of donald trump organizing this. laid the blame where it was and he also talked about the sheer scope of the investigation and frankly, the problem for the fbi here. dealing with something like 2,000 domestic terrorism cases. they have 55 of 56 field offices working in some capacity on cases related to the january 6th attack and in my conversations with some of the senators afterwards, there's a sense here that this is a cultural shift that's happening and is going to have to happen at the fbi to be able to look at one of their main jobs as these kind of domestic white supremacist groups, white nationalist groups. that the main threat they're dealing with is domestic and not foreign and that's part of the new era of challenges for the fbi. all of that laid out today and really non-dramatic, kind of just call, straightforward

demeanor of the reality and the reality that the fbi director believes is going to be a serious problem for his agency for potentially a long time to come. >> more of christopher wray's testimony from the threat of white supremacists. >> racially motivated violent extremism, specifically of the sort that advocates for the superiority of the white race is a persistent evolving threat and biggest chunk of the racially motivated violent extremism cases for sure and racially motivated violent extremism is the biggest chunk of the domestic terrorism portfolio overall. and the same group of people talking about have been responsible for the most lethal attacks over the last, say, decade. the number of arrests, for example, of racially motivated violent extremists who are what you would categorize as white supremacists last year was almost triple the number it was

in my first year as director. >> zolan, chris wray actually testified to the first half of that in september and folks who left the department of homeland security spoke out and you covered some of this, about the resistance they met from the white house in aggressively combatting that but this statistic that the number of arrests, for example, of violent extremists to categorize as white supremacists was triple, it was my first year as director. so there's a lot of things that happened, i'm sure, but here's four. donald trump refused, well, he did this back in 2016. placed blame both sides of the violence in charlottesville in 2017. charlottesville dismissed racial motivations in 2019 and donald trump told the proud boys to stand back and stand by in the 2020 debate. what wasn't said in this testimony? >> right. this testimony, the language that director wray used today was a bit more direct. you could say that to put it

lightly, than what we heard from some of the top leaders in the previous administration, the trump administration. some of the statements that you just read, nicolle, also important to tell the viewers here. it's not just noise, not just rhetoric but also a redirection, a transfer of resources to address the threat that was described, the alleged threat described by the previous administration. when they were not or when they were delaying warnings of domestic terrorism or white supremacy, when they were focusing on other threats, that of what they described as antifa in the last year. there's also investigators to address those threats and investigators that could have been, that were waving the flag and raising the alarm about the threat, the domestic terrorism threat, the racist extremism threat that we heard described today by the fbi director. so following up on what garrett said, now looking forward, what

is the biden administration going to do here? it's clear the most lethal threat has been clearly stated. domestic terrorism and the racist extremism bucket. within that bucket, it's white supremacist. now, how do you have not just the fbi but also dhs and the full federal government actually put forth the resources as well as the grants that will go towards local police departments to actually address that threat? this is a topic that has been polarized and at times politicized. it wasn't too long ago that in the obama administration before the trump administration, a report addressing domestic terrorists was actually rescinded. so it's been a couple of years since then but the federal government has a long way to go in addressing this threat. >> the federal government but the republican party specifically.

frank, chris wray testified clearly as anyone testified as osama bin laden being responsible for the plot on 9/11 clearly laid the blame on inspired terrorism for the insurrection and the largest number of arrests in this country under domestic terror bucket style crimes. how do you pursue domestic terrorism with the same vigor that we pursued foreign terrorism if one of the two political parties won't call it what it is? >> sometimes, it's the fbi's job to speak very painful truths and it's certainly the fbi director's job to speak the truth even when a significant portion of who's listening doesn't like what they're hearing and i'm sure that was the case today. i'm sure it was the way in prior to testimony of the director when he pointed out once again it's domestic terrorism that's

the threat and the subset of white supremacists with lethality, the kind of violence they're seeing from white supremacist groups. but here's the challenge. we're 25 years after the oklahoma city bombing. pulled off by two white guys, two domestic terrorist and here we are still without all the tools and the domestic terrorism law. now today armed with the knowledge considers what happens on january 6th to be an act of domestic terrorism because we define domestic terrorism in the law but don't outlaw it. is this senate or congress the one to make a difference, i'm asking a rhetorical question, do we see any indication they're going to support a hard pledged terrorism effort, or support regulation of social media fuel and fan the flames of how we got here or are they going to

denounce their own base that is as chris wray described in terms of the people who committed this, white supremacists? i think not. i think we're still on a journey to almost nowhere. i don't think we've improved much since the oklahoma city bombing and in fact, i think we may be in a worse position. >> frank, let me follow up on that. we do for the first time since christopher wray has testified under oath and uttered these words, racially motivated violence extremism specifically of the sort to advocate the superiority of the white race as a persistent evolving threat. the biggest chunk of racially motivated for sure and biggest chunk of domestic terrorism portfolio. bill barr was the ag and didn't follow up with the trip to the nation or even a mission's statement that we've heard about. having merrick garland as our country's attorney general who

quoted that september testimony from christopher wray, what can the justice department do to strengthen wray's position and finding on the threat of violent extremism and white supremacy? >> so i think people like merrick garland will make a difference. here's why. it has to be a whole of society approach. it is not just the fbi's role. not just law enforcement's role to make centuries of hate go away overnight. i think someone like merrick garland can help with that motivation but we talk about in the news about covid relief and getting out of the financial mess. let's also not forget, it's going to cost money to retrain police departments. this is a whole new area for them. the counties in the little towns and villages where this rises up

and training. >> this is an afteraction investigation to figure out where the chain of information dropped before it got to the people at the capitol that day. let's listen. >> do you think it's enough to just send an email? >> more than just an email. so first off, the email itself went to, i think maybe as many as five capitol police task force officers on the joint terrorism task force and the whole point of the joint terrorism task force is for the chosen representatives of the partner agency to be there in the loop realtime so that everybody's got the same information so that each agency can use the information to do what it needs to do but in addition to the email, so belt

and suspenders, it was verbally briefed and it's hard sometimes for members of congress to picture what it was like but picture the command post we'd stood up at the washington field office, represented all these agencies in the room. people are coming up to the microphone, one at a time saying now we're tracking this and seeing this. we don't know if it's real or not but here's what we're seeing and everybody taking notes. the whole idea, they're supposed to pass it up their chain of command and third, in addition to that, it was put into the law enforcement portal to make sure we already got that. >> i know. >> having said that, i do not consider what happened on january 6th to be an acceptable result. and that's why we're looking so hard at figuring out how can the process be improved. >> so clear that there's some sensitivity around what they knew and when they knew it. but not quite as clear what they did with that information or what responsibility who took for making sure, i mean, i think sun testified he had none of that

information. where does that lead into the investigation of what happened that day? >> so remember last week, there was a lot of finger pointing about this. former chief sund and the others say from this norfolk fbi field office conveyed to them the night before in an email why they said wasn't it a phone call or run further up the chain. here you said christopher wray said it was run further up the chain. briefedtal and members of the capitol police there for that briefing in addition to that email. i think two separate things are going to happen here. number one, this reflects poorly on the capitol police and the way that they handled the intel that did get to them. however spotty it may be. the entire structure of how security is handled up here on the capitol police board, inside but the sergeants at arms, the capitol police, all of that may be going out the window. amy klobuchar is the chairperson of the committee who controls

that and clearly unhappy with how their part of this is conducted. that's one branch of this. the other branch is from the intel side. we don't know yet and we may find out at the hearing tomorrow, what exactly was in the fbi intelligence report that came over from norfolk and was it the kind of thing that should have led someone from the fbi to come shake somebody out of bed and say, hey, this is a bigger deal? or, and this is another possibility we've been discussing for the last week and that john cornyn brought up, is this a failure on the intel side and the capitol side to get their head around the idea that something as big as what happened on january 6th was possible? that it just didn't seem possible no matter what the intelligence was, until they saw 10,000 people on the capitol grounds themselves. all of that will have to continue to be explored. >> it's not really a failure of imagination because anyone who watched donald trump's rally or media experiences.

you didn't know an imagination to know what he asked his supporters to do. you saw everyone amplifying what he asked people to do and if you were watching tv live on the 6th, you watched it happen in realtime and what wray didn't do was lay any blame at the feet of the lie, that the lie is what the fbi and the joint terrorism task force put as the motivation for the violence that they fear and warned the country about through the end of april. and christopher wray also knocked down the lie in the testimony but expect any reckoning among the six house members who your colleague luke brodwater has associations with those with described as domestic terrorists or do a better job of knocking down the lie that's fueling domestic terrorists, any reckoning off the table because of the grip of politics or do you think chris wray scared anybody today? >> you saw members of congress

even kind of pressing director wray to get him to acknowledge the things you said and reflect on the blame, whether or not there should be blame on former president trump as well. i mean, look, i'm sure frank can also speak to this. when it comes to the leaders of these federal agencies, they are often going to dodge questions to try and keep a perception net. they are apolitical on these issues, so i doubt that we're going to hear any kind of explicit statement like that come from him, but let's remember that there's still multiple investigations going on today including some members of the house like you just stated. my colleague, luke, wrote about. there's ongoing investigations into these. what i have noticed though is that there does seem to be more of a willingness by the federal government and quite frankly, the biden administration thus far with recent fbi bulletins as well as dhs bulletins to even

just feel comfortable enough to say white supremacy is a lethal threat. there was a recent warning that went out to centers that we were able to talk to sources about that did attach a political label of the right-wing when it came to those galvanized and continued to be encouraged by false statement about the previous election. so the warnings seed to be more explicit. when it comes to retroactively how clear and explicit statements will be when it comes to laying blame on january 6th, i think we'll have to wait and see. >> i want to get frank the last word here but tell our viewers we're watching president biden about to give remarks on an historic partnership with two rival drug companies that will increase the vaccine supply. with that notice and then let me apologize in advance if i have to interrupt you, let me ask you what role the lie plays in this current and future domestic terror threat? >> so nicolle, you raised the

issue of international terrorism and the disparity of this and the international terrorism and organizations. the fbi on the international battle identifies legal radicalizers and calls them and pursues them. we have leaders that radicalize our population and until we acknowledge it, we'll not get to a solution here. >> for those who are brave enough to do it beyond the few that have, liz cheney and mitt romney, what is the way to hold accountable the radicalizers, frank? >> accountability is the name of the game. we seem not to be able to do that. so we have to do it at the ballot box and bring consequences legally to people who incite, aid and abet and conspire. you're starting to see that. i'd like to see these groups and organizations who are all about violence dismantle financially through rico and other charges.

there has to be a whole of government strategy to do this but part of this is deradicalization. we can't do this overnight. social media regulation, domestic terrorism tools and laws, that's how we'll start getting there. >> let's listen to president biden. >> the vice president and i have good news to report. i'd like to make two key announcements today related to our covid-19 vaccination effort. as you know, a few days ago after a rigorous open and objective scientific review process, the food and drug administration issued an emergency use authorization for the johnson & johnson covid-19 vaccine. we should all be encouraged by this news of a third safe and highly effective covid-19 vaccine. the more people who get vaccinated, the faster we're going to overcome this virus and get back to our loved ones, get our economy back on track and

start to move back to normal. but that's one of my first goals in office when i got in office is to say there will be 100 million vaccination shots administered in my first 100 days in office. halfway to the goal in 37 days and i feel confident we'll make it all the way. as i've said, we have a long way to go, but we're going to use every resource of the federal government to make it happen. among the things i learned when i came in office was that johnson & johnson was behind manufacturing and production, but we had the potential, highly effective vaccine to accompany the two existing vaccines, it simply wasn't coming fast enough. so my team, my team has been hard at work to accelerate that effort. as i've always said, this is a

wartime effort and every action has been on the table including putting together breakthrough approaches. and today, we're announcing a major step forward. two of the largest health care and pharmaceutical companies in the world that are usually competitors are working together on the vaccine. johnson & johnson and merck will work together to expand the production of johnson & johnson's vaccine. this is the type of collaboration between companies we saw in world war ii. we also invoked the defense production act to equip two facilities to the standards necessary to safely manufacture the j&j vaccine and with the urging and assistance of my administration, johnson & johnson is also taking additional new actions to safely accelerate vaccine production. johnson & johnson's manufacturing facilities will

now begin to operate 24/7. in addition, we'll continue to use the defense production act to expedite critical materials in vaccine production such as equipment, machinery and supplies. i've also asked the department of defense to provide daily logistical support to strengthen johnson & johnson's efforts. i want to thank johnson & johnson and merck for stepping up and being good corporate citizens during this national crisis. here's what all this means. we're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in america by the end of may. let me say that again. when we came into office, the prior administration had contracted for not nearly enough vaccine to cover adults in america. we rectified that. about three weeks ago, we were able to say that we have enough vaccine supply for adults by the end of july. i'm pleased the announce today

as a consequence of the stepped up process that i've ordered and just outlined, this country will have enough vaccine supply, i'll say it again, for every adult in america by the end of may. by the end of may. that's progress. important progress. it's not enough to have the vaccine supply. we need vaccinavaccinators. we brought back retired doctors and nurses. we deployed more than 1,500 federal medical personnel. usually you see during national disasters from the federal emergency management agency, fema and the commissioned health corps at the department of health and human services and the defense department including the national guard. with thousands more to come. we're also increasing places where people can get vaccinated.

we've sent millions of vaccines to over 7,000 pharmacies to make it easier for folks to get their covid-19 vaccine shot like they would their flu shot. the federal government is also working with states to set up hundreds of mass vaccination centers in places like stadiums, community centers, parking lots that vaccinate thousands of people per day. my wife jill and i just visited one in houston last week. it's incredible. now, with this increased production of three safe and effective vaccines, we have an opportunity to help address the urgent national need more quickly and getting schools back open safely. right now, an entire generation of young people is on the brink of being set back a year more in their learning. you can ask millions of parents, they understand. we're already seeing rising

mental health concerns due in part to isolation. educational disparities continue to grow wider each day but our schools remain closed and remote learning isn't the same for every student as you all know. our educators are doing everything they can to protect and educate our students, despite the lack of resources and as district faces budget crises that risk education jobs. moms and dads are exiting the workforce at astonishing numbers to care for and manage the school experience for the children at home, hindering their own opportunities and further undermining the health of our economy. this is a national imperative that we get our kids back into the classroom safely and as soon as possible. as you know, back in december, i set a goal for having a majority of our k through 8 schools open by the end of my first 100 days as president. to achieve that goal, i sent the american rescue plan to congress

to provide vital help to make sure they can reopen safely. essential things like more teachers, more buses and bus drivers to transport our kids safely and more space to conduct in-person instructions and more protective equipment, school cleaning services, physical alterations that reduce the risk of the spread of the virus, all cost money. the house passed the american rescue plan last week and i hope the senate will follow quickly as well. the centers for disease control and prevention, the cdc issued new guidelines on how to reopen our school safely. it's a road map that will enable schools if they have the resources they deserve to reopen safely. i have given those schools a road map. i've asked congress to give them the tools and today, to add one more tool to school reopening.

a vaccinated workforce. let me be clear. we can reopen schools if the right steps are taken even before employees are vaccinated. but time and again, we've heard from educators and parents that have anxieties about that. so as yet another move to help accelerate the safe reopening of our schools, let's treat in-person learning like an essential service that it is and that means getting essential workers to provide that service, educators, schools, staff, child care workers, get them vaccinated immediately. they're essential workers. over 30 states have already taken a step to prioritize educators for vaccination and today, i'm using the full authority of the federal government. i'm directing every state to do the same. my challenge to all states, territories in the district of columbia is this. we want every educator, school

staff member, child care worker to receive at least one shot by the end of the month of march. to help make this happen, starting next week and for the month of march, we'll be using our federal pharmacy program to prioritize the vaccination of pre-k through 12 educators and staff and child care workers. throughout march, they will be able to sign up for an appointment at a pharmacy near them. i want to be very clear. not every educator will be able to get their appointment in the first week. but our goal is to do everything we can to help every educator receive his shot this month, the month of march. i want to conclude with this. we're making progress from the mess we inherited. we're moving in the right direction. and today's announcements are a huge step in our effort to beat this pandemic but i have to be honest with you, this fight is far from over. i told you i'd be straight up with you from the beginning.

as i said many times, things may get worse again as new variants spread and as we face setbacks like recent winter storms in the midwest and south. but our administration will never take this public health threat lightly. though we celebrate the news of a third vaccine, i urge all americans, please, keep washing your hands, stay socially distanced, wear masks, keep wearing them, get vaccinated when it's your turn. now is not the time to let up. i've asked the country to wear a mask for my first 100 days in office. now's not the time to let our guard down. people's lives are at stake. we have already, and i carry this in my pocket, we lost more as of today, we lost more than 511,839 americans as of today. that's got to stop.

we need the united states senate to follow the house and pass the american rescue plan. because despite the optimism, without new resources, our entire effort will be set back. we need the resources, the american rescue plan and we need it urgently. we need them expanding testing. ramp up vaccine distribution. fund fema and other federal vaccine efforts. and continue reimbursing states for their efforts. we need resources to expand genomic sequencing, find protective gear, transportation staffing and other costs required for school and businesses to open safely. we need it funded. the bottom line is we need the american rescue plan now, now. there is light at the end of the tunnel. but we cannot let our guard down now or ensure that victory is inevitable. we can't assume that.

we must remain vigilant, act fast and aggressively and look out for one another. that's how we're going to get ahead of this virus, get our economy going again and get back to our loved ones. so thank you and please, please, it's not over yet. great news, but stay vigilant. may god bless you and may god protect our troops. thank you all very, very much. >> president biden making a good deal of news there. announcing that the vaccine supply that will be sufficient, let's listen. hang on. >> i've been cautioned not to give an answer to that because we don't know for sure, but my hope is by this time next year, we'll be back to normal and before that, my hope, but again, it depends on if people continue to be smart and understand that we still can have significant losses. there's a lot we have to do yet.

so thank you. >> did you receive a briefing about the border today? >> yes, i did. >> what did you learn? >> a lot. >> some questions shouted there at the president. that one, did he received a briefing. what did you learn, he said a lot but the headline, president biden with vice president harris, that the country will have enough vaccine supply to vaccinate every american adult by the end of may. that is sliding the promise up from the end of july by two months. making extensive remarks about schools. there's now mental health concerns due to isolation and the disparities of remote school. he committed that every education employee, school employees and teachers should be able to have one shot of a covid

vaccine by the end of march. made some pretty sharp comments about what he inherited. he said we're making progress from the mess we inherited. accused the last administration of not contracting with enough vaccine manufacturers to have enough supply for the country. joining our conversation, peter baker, "new york times" chief white house correspondent and nbc political analyst and msnbc medical contributor, former white house policy director. i'm sure i missed something but take me through the news from your vantage point. >> huge news, nicolle and not only the president invoked the defense production act but used it to get what would be traditional rivals to work together to develop enough vaccine so we can meet the target which is astonishing. enough vaccine for anyone who wants it by the end of may. that's incredible.

and the second, i think, was a pointed reference from greg abbott, lifting mask mandate and restrictions, but biden asking for 100 days. i'm trying to meet my promise by getting vaccines earlier and what was clear in the message about schools is he's using the federal workforce and the federal pharmacy distribution so that he can directly ship vaccines to pharmacy partners and have them earmarked for teachers and educators. huge, because not all states have adopted a priority scheme for teachers and educators and child care workers. >> peter baker, this is the power of the white house invoking the defense production act, getting two rivalled drug manufacturers to come together for the good of the country. he actually harkined back to a tool that is used in times of war. this is what he ran on. this is what he's delivering

very early in his presidency. >> well, he knows he's going to be judged on this. this is the one thing people wanted most when they elected him. that and i think a sense of calm or leadership but particularly, obviously, this pandemic has to be priority number one. he's made it priority number one and the sooner he gets people vaccinated, the sooner people can begin to get some sort of semblance of real life, the better it will be for the country. there's so much frustration out there right now among parents who want their kids to be back in school and republicans trying to tap into that and use that to criticize the president for not doing more to get students back into the classrooms. he's addressing that today by saying, let's get shots into the arms of the teachers and make them essential workers like health care workers and front line workers who have been prioritized in this vaccine program and of course, he's taking his shots at previous administration for leaving him what he calls a mess. they also left him a vaccine which he's now distributing but he has ramped up production and

trying to get the distribution system working better than it was when he got it. and i think that's priority americans want him to show and i think things are available by end of may, people see the light at the end of the tunnel but warns not to get too optimistic too soon. we're not at the end of the tunnel yet. we can see the light but still a lot of danger between now and then. people are still vulnerable who have not been vaccinated. people still need to wear masks, telling americans they need to be careful and watch out for the fact that we're still having infections, tens of thousands a day. >> dr. patel, you referenced texas governor abbott. let me read you nbc news' story on this. this broke on the air. greg abbott will lift the mask mandate and announce businesses reopen at full capacity in one week's time. now time to open texas 100% he said tuesday afternoon. covid has not suddenly

disappeared but state mandates no longer needed. i believe greg abbott's houston one city in america that now has victims of all four of the covid strains coursing through this country and while all this supply is on the way, there's no indication that children will be vaccinated anytime soon and i know we talked about kids. is it reckless to take masks off before we know the impact of the strains on kids? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, out of the top 20 counties in the united states for the most cases of covid, 11 of them are in the state of texas. you pointed out yesterday, houston made history in not a good way with the number of variants they proved to have in the state and i'm friends with a bunch of doctors and nurses there. they're stunned. they don't understand the logic. we're so close. 12% of texans have been vaccinated and we know this is hitting lower income texans worse than others.

people of color, which is a large population in the state of texas. this is the definition of malpractice and i hope people don't listen and i hope mayors try to do what they can to enforce what is sensible in their state. >> pierre, the republican party still has a very bizarre and negligent approach to covid. your colleague reported that donald trump and melania trump got vaccinated and didn't tell anybody. if donald trump could convince millions of his supporters of something that was not true, that he won when he lost in a landslide, why not try to convince millions of supporters he got a vaccine and they should too? >> yeah, it's rather remarkable. he actually told people at cpac over the weekend for the first time they should get the vaccine, but you're right, he didn't do it in the way he demonstrated his own willingness to get it and didn't do it in office and hasn't done it until now. you're right he has great sway with the large part of the

population, particularly the part that's very skeptical at times of the science, of the vaccines and worried about it. if he could, if he were more vocal, to be as vocal as some of the previous presidents like george w. bush and barack obama and bill clinton and joe biden is, to say it's effective, i think it would have a big impact on a lot of americans but he has, for whatever reason, chosen to not do it. it's interesting too because it's something he could claim as a victory, achievement of his administration. he could certainly point out that the vaccine was developed on his watch after he initiated operation warp speed to try to accelerate efforts to develop the vaccine faster than it's ever been developed before and yet doesn't want to claim credit for that by going out there and being an advocate. i think it's because he's reactive to his base and sort of following their skeptical instincts about vaccinations. >> which is a toxic cycle

because they're skeptical because of him and then he didn't do the thing he told them to do like he said he was going to walk to the capitol with them, now facing serious charges and did nothing of the kind. dr. patel, i want to ask you about distribution because i think this is universally going to be hailed as great news that the supply is plussed up, that rival drug companies work together but what affects people in their real lives is where they can get it, how they can get it and i've heard the president talk about getting it into drugstores, making it like getting a flu shot. that isn't the reality for the majority of people now. what are you envisioning for this kind of rush of supply? how did they work to make sure the distribution is just as smooth? >> yeah, i think that the distribution, the president did allude to it is actually liberating the retired workforce to be able to put up tents to

put shots in arms and need a way to have some throughput so people can actually figure out where they can go and that creates the traffic log, so number one, taking ownership over directing those sites is something that you heard the president reference. he'll do that, mass vaccination sites set up by the federal government and partnership with state and i think really, also that key sent the signal by educators being prioritized with federal supply. i think he's warning governors that you can't get complacent about the distribution because if you do, i think the president said, you know, basically, we'll step in, something we never saw trump do. he delegated it with no resources. your point, frustration is the word because i.t. systems don't communicate and portals don't work. i suspect something his team is

keeping a close eye on it because you could imagine they'd take over those functions to make it ease your for americans to sign up for a vaccine. you've got to pass the stimulus plan because the billions of dollars there, potentially earmarked as discretionary, need to come forward to states so they can stand up more vaccine site and to get these vaccines to clinics like mine or we can get shots and know how to counsel patients. >> the politics of the relief act are inexplicable for republicans. 76%, i believe, of americans who support the covid relief package more than supporting president biden for the very reasons articulated. people want their vaccines and stimulus and see vaccinating the country as the key to getting the country back open. my question is two part. one, the president aware that i

think it was the second week of march last year when the world ground to a halt. i had the tv on the nba and announced they were stopping the season. spring training, you could see the channels on tv in the house. nbc sent everybody home. figure out a place to broadcast schools shut down around the time kids were coming home from spring break anyway with all the books and supplies. this is the one earmark. what do you think the politics and the public mood and the isolation he talked about, what bearing do you think that has on republicans who are standing in the way of the relief package? >> i think it's a big thing right now, obviously, it's hard to imagine it's been a full year that we've all been living with this. i think if you told us that a year ago, people wouldn't have believed it could be so long. i think we all imagined it would be weeks or months, but here we are now, beginning slowly into the second year and we heard the

president say today something really interesting. previously said he thought normal life could get back some time around christmas. it looked like the question he asked was when will that happen. seemed to be saying a year from now. hope he's not extending that time frame but a lot of americans are impatient for that. how that translates to the politics of the covid relief bill. most americans, a large percentage of americans are in favor of that. do they know details and would they be in favor of it? $1.8 trillion versus $1.9 trillion. probably not paying attention to some of the details. what you don't see the republicans making is a counteroffer in the same ballpark president biden insisted he wants to have and that's where i think they decide to stay in opposition rather than to propose a different version. >> dr. patel, peter baker, please stay with us for our ongoing coverage of the news of president biden just announcing that the vaccine supply will be

adequate to vaccinate the entire adult population by the end of june. he didn't say that the vaccinations would be in all of our arms but the supply would be there by the end of may. that's moving up his prior commitment from the end of july to the end of may. we're also going to check in on texas. texas' governor moving in a different direction. we'll cover that on the other side of a break. don't go anywhere. her side of a break. don't go anywhere.

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just just a few moments ago, president biden made a announcement announcing a deal that will boost vaccine supply in this country, announcing an unlikely partnership between pharmaceutical rivals merckjohnson & johnson. the president also warning the country that though we now have three safe and effective vaccines and we're doing everything we can to produce enough for all americans by the end of may, with the emerging variants and a coronavirus with a track record of being unpredictable, it is not the time to let our guard down. and almost right on cue, texas republican governor greg abbott did just that, saying, quote, it's time to open texas 100%. he lifted the statewide mask mandate, allowing all businesses to open at 100% capacity without masks, effective next wednesday. let's bring in nbc's morgan chesky, who's near the state capitol in austin, texas. morgan, i see people feeling confused. the president told them it's not the time to let their guard down, not to stop doing the few

things we can do to protect ourselves, wearing a mask, social distancing, convening outside if we convene. well, the governor said the opposite. what gives? >> reporter: yeah, nicole, mixed messages aplenty, not just coming from washington, d.c., but also right here within texas. within just the past hour, we have seen the mayors of just about every major metropolitan area come out against this recent news from governor greg abbott, saying that they wish that if the governor was to take away the mask mandate, that he would at least stop from fully reopening the state, but to have both of those things combined, we've seen the mayor from san antonio, houston, dallas, they've all come out and said it's essentially setting them up for a position of failure, and a feel, for lack of a better term, hamstrung at this point because this governor's executive order makes it tougher, at least in their words, to enact any rules going forward. governor abbott explicitly saying that this executive order makes sure that no one can be punished for not wearing a mask.

he says that businesses and individuals can now decide on their own how they want to best stay safe going forward in this pandemic. it all goes into effect a week ago or a week from now on wednesday, and as it stands right now, there is mixed messages and people being excited on one hand, but then we're seeing the numbers in texas, potentially, go up. more than 40,000 people in this state have died as a result of covid-19, and we heard the governor say that numbers have started to trend down. he pointed to the fact that 7 million texans will hopefully be vaccinated in the next several days, but there is definitely a sense of apprehension that with this dual move, the state could be headed in the wrong direction. nicole? >> morgan, stay with us. i want to bring dr. kavita patel into this conversation. the former political operative in me says this is a governor in a lot of hot water politically for botching the state's response to a natural disaster,

and so he's pulling for the low-hanging fruit, telling people, woo hoo, rip off your mask, but it seems like that is the wrong move at the wrong time in the wrong state. >> yeah. unfortunately, nicole, people haven't learned this doesn't need to be an either/or situation. i think the governor is exactly in the hot water you describe and he is feeling the need to say everything's okay, everything's open. it does not need to be so extreme. when you see these extremes, nicole, oh, it's all business is closed or, oh, let's follow the science, the people in the middle suffer and that's what's happening in the state of texas. it will be inevitable that these mixed messages put people at risk, and that translates to hospitals, hospitalizations, lives, and people lost. you can open businesses safely and still keep cases down, but rather than focus on that and support businesses to do that, he is sending an easy message that sounds popular but is utter

chaos on the ground level. >> and with all the politics in this debate already, dr. patel, it seems like you're giving a permission structure to people who aren't going to respect a small business owner. no one knows what that person's home situation is if they've got a child undergoing chemotherapy or a parent with diabetes, i mean, it seems to lift up the defiers or the people who don't want to comply with the health measures and disempower the people who need to. >> yeah, and remember, nicole, who are the people that are working in those restaurants, cleaning hotel rooms, the people who are actually sweeping the streets, people who are doing the work of restocking shelves, these are people who are usually of color, they're young, especially healthcare workers, even they have not necessarily been vaccinated yet if they're in a home care setting. so, again, we're looking at these extremes and putting those people at risk for no reason. >> dr. kavita patel, nbc's

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evidence that the january 6th riot here, the insurrection, was organized by people simply posing as supporters of president trump? >> we have not seen any evidence of that, certainly -- >> is there any evidence at all that it was organized or planned or carried out by groups like antifa or black lives matter? >> we have not seen any evidence to that effect thus far in the investigation. >> and is there any doubt that

the people who stormed the capitol included white supremacists and other far-right extremist organizations? >> there's no doubt that it included individuals that we would call militia violent extremists and in some instances, individuals that were racially motivated violent extremists who advocate for, you know, the superiority of the white race. >> hi again, everyone, it's 5:00 in new york. fbi director christopher wray dropping a truth bomb today on capitol hill, a fact-based takedown of the republican peddled claim that antifa or fake dressed-up trump supporters were the ones who stormed the capitol. in testimony to the senate judiciary committee today, wray stated multiple times the fbi's findings as the bureau continues its investigation into january 6th. that white supremacists and militia violent extremists were the groups involved in the insurrection. wray went on to describe a threat he's voiced in front of congress before, that white

supremacists comprise the largest chunk of domestic extremism, which is the large threat to our country. he spoke of a surge in combatting domestic terror, the number of cases it's pursuing has doubled since september. republicans attempted to equate the insurrection with the protests over racial injustice we saw over the summer, all fitting into the pattern we've seen from the gop, as "the washington post" writes, the party has been swiftly repositioned as an instrument of white grievance. it refuses to condemn racist within its ranks. its main national legislative agenda seems to be the suppression of minority voting. trumpism is defined by the belief that real americans are beset by threats from multiculturists, antifa militants and various thugs, gang bangers and whiners. the whole trump movement and now

most of the republican party is premised on the social sanctification of precognitive fears and disgust. chris wray, who was donald trump's hand-picked choice to replace jim comey today also knocked down the lie behind the insurrection. you know, the one that has become a litmus test for those who want to remain in the good graces of the former guy, that joe biden's victory was a result of widespread voter fraud, something that has been disproven in court case after court case, dozens of them and by trump's own a.g. here's senator cory booker asking wray about just that. >> do you agree with attorney general barr's statement that there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud that could have changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election? >> i agree with attorney general barr. >> and to be crystal clear on this, as fbi director, who is -- these would be federal crimes, you're aware of no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election,

correct? >> we are not aware of any widespread evidence of voter fraud, much less that would have affected the outcome in the presidential election. >> christopher wray annihilating the two big gop lies that define that party. it's where we start this hour with some of our favorite reporters and friends. robert gibbs, former obama white house press secretary is back. also joining us, michael steele, former rnc chairman and a.b. stoddard. robert and michael are msnbc political analysts. we're going to work on you, a.b. michael steele, let me start with you. christopher wray is such an interesting figure. he came in after donald trump fired jim comey for not seeing to it to let mike flynn go. but christopher wray has to duck and weave to survive, and ron johnson put a whole lot of pressure on him to politicize the fbi and the investigation into hunter biden. he managed to keep his head down just enough to still be there but this is the second time he's

testified about the threat of white supremacy and violent domestic extremism. do you think this testimony changes anything? >> i think it does in this administration, and you know, it's about time that folks started listening to what he has to say in this space, because what he's laying out there is truth and what he's laying out there are facts that are, you know, girded by what we've seen not just on january 6th but leading up to january 6th, so there's -- he's speaking to a pattern of behavior. he's speaking to a pattern of coverage that they're doing inside the fbi to sort of keep a tab on what's going on out there, and elected officials who have the responsibility, nicole, to protect the common good, to protect the democracy, need to step up and take it seriously. republicans who want to sit there and act like, oh yeah, a whole bunch of antifa people

took their time to put on maga hats to go march against the capitol, it's just utter bull. and just own the fact that this is something that's happening not just across the country but in your own backyard. and i think that's what mr. wray is trying to get folks to see, that no matter how much you try to dress this up and put lipstick on that pig, it's still ugly as hell. and the reality is you've got to deal with it. >> i'm just laughing at the idea of a lipstick on a pig. always makes me laugh. this is lipstick on white supremacists turned domestic terrorists, a.b. stoddard, and as much coverage as we've given the big lie behind the insurrection, the lie about who's responsible has received less attention from all of us, but let me show you the result of that lie. 58% of trump voters describe the insurrection as, quote, mostly an antifa-inspired attack that only involved a few trump supporters. 28% call it a rally of trump

supporters, some of whom attacked the capitol. and only 4% describe it for what it was, an attempted coup inspired by donald trump. >> yeah, nicole, that's why i don't think that christopher wray's very stark testimony today is going to change much, because we're -- here we are, the first week of march, and there's been such a concerted attempt to whitewash this event and to perpetuate the big election lie, and those two forces combined are making people like ron johnson tell the voters what they want to hear so that they can keep their jobs in 2022 or run for president in 2024. i was heartened by the fact that lindsey graham and ben sasse did engage the director on this new radicalization threat and the fact that response will require

tremendously shrewd strategies involving resources and human capital and training and a whole new perspective for the agency. they seem to acknowledge that that was real, the domestic terror threat and the radicalization of people online who could become violent. but for the rest of them, many of whom i found -- i had forgotten that three of the republican senators of the five who are running for president are on the judiciary committee, and they were enjoying their time talking about things like the national guard and, you know, other left-wing threats, but i think it was a step in the right direction about just the broad challenges that the agency and all of our law enforcement faces because the threat is so different now. it's not isis and it's internal. so, i was glad to hear at least some republicans acknowledging that, but for the most part, they're going to want to talk about the protests last summer,

rioting, businesses being burned, and be able to go back to their office and put press releases out saying that's what they asked the fbi director about. >> but it's important to always point out that what they want isn't based in reality. and there's something infuriating, robert gibbs, for those of us who live in reality, when you watch the republicans. i mean, there were no black lives matter protesters carrying their flags who used the pole to beat police officers. there were no antifa protesters who went in and yelled, hang mike pence. there were no protesters on any side other than donald trump's side who carried out an insurrection against the capitol and who threatened the lives of mike pence and everybody who works there. so, i wonder how the committee functions with people who can't assert and call out and probe the president's role in furthering that lie. what wray described as domestic

terrorism, the president in realtime said, i love you and said, quote, this is what happens when you deny the results of an election. he taunted congress for doing what they were doing and that was the same behavior that wray described as a domestic terror attack. >> yeah, i mean, look, it's startling, just the pictures, nicole, that you showed in the beginning of the story. i mean, the number of trump flags and trump banners hoisted over the side of the capitol to show exactly who the rioters are, it's pretty crystal clear. i mean, it's -- they were literally wearing it on their sleeves and wearing it on their flags. i think the significance, though, of somebody like a christopher wray is i don't think the big lie is going to be solved by an epiphimaic moment

of these judiciary committee members deciding everything they've said in the last several months isn't true. it is going to take literally a thousand testimonials like you saw from christopher wray that slowly crack the dam before it breaks, and i'm not naive to think that's going to happen in a short period of time, but i think if we're waiting for josh hawley or lindsey graham or ron johnson or ted cruz to climb the mountain and be the truth teller, then i think we ought to get a comfortable chair to wait. that's the -- that's not going to happen. it's going to have to happen slowly with people recognizing the reality of facts. again, i'm not naive that that's going to happen overnight. >> yeah. >> but i think it's a lot more likely that those poll numbers change because people continue to hear what christopher wray and others say, then it is because lindsey graham decided to change his mind.

>> just wait until 9:00 p.m., lindsey graham may very well say something else. i think the other thing is that this platform is a loser. i mean, michael steele, they have lost on this platform, and the lie was a cover story for what donald trump viewed was a humiliating loss to someone donald trump started prattling, you know, tomato, tomato, to prove that he was mentally fit. do you remember that? he lost in a landslide, a popular vote, i think, record margin to someone he tried to belittle as not mentally astute or fit enough to beat him. i want to show you something bill cassidy said about this idea of how much losing trump has ushered in. >> if we idolize one person, we will lose. and that's kind of clear from the last election. over the last four years, we've lost the house, the senate, and the presidency. political campaigns are about winning. our agenda does not move forward

unless we win. we need a candidate who cannot only win himself or herself but we also have to have someone who lifts all boats. >> i don't know whether to laugh or cry, but i mean, part of me wants them to keep on losing. >> well, yeah, there is that piece and what impact that has in the overall thinking of folks who are backing this narrative. but there's more to this than the losing and the winning. you've got to stand for something. you've got to believe in something, not in someone, and the reality for the republican party at this moment is what is that thing you believe in? what is it you will articulate to the american people in a way that moves their body, mind, and spirit to appreciate your, you know, confirmation of facts, your edification on science, your understanding of their day-to-day circumstances.

you just can't slough it off with black unemployment is the lowest it's ever been or, you know, the caravan is coming across the border or all these other bromides and ugly narratives that have been pushed out into the public and think that that's going to continue to work for you. so, the healing begins with the losing. the healing begins with the reality that the american people have rejected what you have put in front of them, and that -- the first taste of that, nicole, and everybody on this panel knows, was a little place called georgia. and you cannot overlook what georgia actually means going forward, and you know the next on the tip of that spear? texas. watch. >> yeah, but let me push you, michael steele, because that didn't happen. they lost and it didn't happen. and i didn't watch donald trump at cpac but i saw some of the others there. the healing has not begun, and i'm no longer invested in the

republican party healing. i just don't know how the country functions without -- with one party not interested in governing and not tethered to the truth. i don't know how you have debates if the other party can't acknowledge that up is up and down is down. >> you probably don't. yeah, you'll spend some time talking to yourself. but then most importantly, you're talking to the american people. >> right. >> you know, you don't need to talk to a republican who's dumb on facts. right? you don't need to talk to that individual. you talk around them. you talk over them. you talk to the people you're trying to reach. you're right, it didn't happen in this cycle, and that's a lesson for the democrats. understand why you lost 14 seats. it wasn't because people were running into the arms of, you know, the other guy. right? >> yeah. >> they were running because what you put out there at the end of the campaign was something they did not want to have a part of. namely, defunding the police. that narrative took hold. that's why trump ran with it, pushed it, because he knew the impact it would have. so, both parties are in a

position where one can step into the space that's being, you know, left as a vacuum, the democrats. republicans have to understand, to allow that to happen, just keep doing what you're doing. but you can self-correct. so, when those senators who want to be president and those members in the house who think they want to grow their majority, they have to think about how they do that. because that precious moment won't be there all the time where you win, particularly every time donald trump opens his mouth, which he likely intends to do. >> a.b., i want to pull this thread a little harder. everything that michael steele said is true, always, but everything that they ran on, even where it helped them, was based on a lie. can you name one republican position that is not based on a lie? and i think the example where this is playing out is the covid relief package. 76% of americans support the stuff in the covid relief package and there is not one -- not only is there not anyone who

supports it, there are no cosponsors in the republican party for something called covid relief that's going to get americans vaccinated by the end of may and get our country back on its feet. >> well, part of not making donald trump upset is, you know, all along, they had to pretend that the response throughout 2020 was really good enough and was fine and even in the last covid relief negotiations that happened under the trump administration, they had to pretend that now they want to be a loyal opposition party and they want to basically -- their description, their criticism of the package is that it's not targeted enough. it doesn't spend that much money on vaccine distribution at all. it has a lot of new money for new schools and new teachers and stuff that's not direct covid relief and emergency funding. for the crisis. and so, they're pretty much in lockstep about, you know, about -- i think they feel good about opposing it is what i'm

saying. they think it's politically going to be -- it's just not going to be as politically popular by the midterms as the democrats think it is. the republicans -- the problem is that the ideas that they used to stand for became unpopular in the age of donald trump, so they will -- they now are mad at the chinese government, but they can't really articulate just exactly what the plan would be that would be different from president trump in the last four years that they would employ if they were president, you know, in 2024. they're back to immigration as an idea. you know the president -- president trump in 2020 did not run on immigration. he did not talk about it for six months. he talked about the evils of mail ballots but he did not talk about the caravans as he did in 2018. so, you can see in tom cotton and all these others, a new kind of, you know, criticism of joe biden's immigration changes and

that is going to be something that they unite around. they still have no healthcare plan. but they're trying to find a way back in the opposition in the minority to being against things that they think will resonate with voters. you know, school closures, new amounts of migrants coming over the border, new taxes, and i think that that's, you know, for once, with trump out of the way, they feel that they can do that. they're opposing a democrat. but no, they're not proposing new ideas. they're really in this no man's land right now where they have to cling to trump and all his litmus tests and lies but at the same time desperate to try to win back a majority in 2022 and the presidency in 2024. and they are not united on how they're going to do that. >> and robert gibbs, a quick last word for you. president biden seems to have their number. i mean, i just heard more from a.b. than i've heard from any republican elected official in washington in six months.

i didn't know they were from any of those things and i watch fox. the president has just done what michael steele said. he's gone around them, he's gone to the country, and he's built up 76% -- i don't remember anything that had 76% -- the patriot act after 9/11 had a lot of public -- but 76% support for the covid relief act is as good as it gets. >> absolutely. as a political operative, i'm happy to take the 76% position. >> the public, right? >> give somebody else the remainder. >> correct. >> i'm not a deep math major but i'll take that bet in a political situation. look, the challenge that republicans have, as you mentioned, is it's hard to understand what they're for, particularly around covid relief. this is always hard when you don't have the bully pulpit of the presidency, but they've certainly not enumerated it, and you know, i think they're stuck with this hope of, as a strategy, that they hope that the economy isn't recovered and they hope that the virus hasn't

gone away. i think that's a terrible political position to be in, rooting for, in some ways, failure as you're looking at a 76% solution on the other side. you'd certainly like -- you certainly like the positioning of where joe biden is right now, and look, i'll say this. the recent announcement that we may have enough vaccine for everybody by the end of may, if we're looking at a normal summer, i'm fascinated as to where the republican party goes, because none of the messaging that we're hearing now is reaching those suburban voters that left republicans in this election. and there's no plan to get them back. you can't grow more of the voters they've already gotten. you've got to start winning voters that they lost over the course of four years with trump, and there doesn't seem to be a good plan to do that. >> yes, many of their voters may be in jail. thank you for starting us off this hour. wonderful to see all of you.

when we return, the number two democrat in the united states senate, senator dick durbin will join us on today's testimony from the fbi director. plus the push to pass covid relief and the biden administration's first sanctions against russia. plus a third woman comes forward accusing new york governor andrew cuomo of an unwanted advance. now the first democratic member of congress is calling for the governor to resign. we'll have the latest developments in that story. and we heard president biden say now is not the time to let our guard down on covid. we saw what the governor of texas did today. he's ending the mask mandate and now another red state governor is following suit. we'll bring you the latest. "deadline white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. br 25% of your mouth. listerine® cleans virtually 100%. helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. never settle for 25%. always go for 100. bring out the bold™

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based on your investigation so far, do you have any evidence that the capitol attack was organized by, quote, fake trump protesters? >> we have not seen evidence of that at this stage, certainly. >> senate judiciary committee chairman dick durbin earlier today making sure fbi chris wray had the opportunity to strike down some of the big lies from republicans like ron johnson that the insurrection was organized by dressed up provocateurs or antifa. joining us now, dick durbin. it's sad that you have to do this, to give leaders like christopher wray the opportunity to do this, but if you could just explain from your point of view the value of it. >> this was an attempt at the second big lie. the first big lie, of course, trump actually believes he won the election, and he lost it.

and now, the next big lie is that january 6th was not about trump supporters being incited to form a mob and to crash on to the capitol, but somehow was fake trump protesters. so, we asked the director of the fbi today, based on your investigation and your evidence, any indication that's the case? he said, no evidence whatsoever. so, it's an indication to me that we have to keep this up. the folks who are supporting mr. trump are going to try to rewrite history every single chapter, and if we don't put the truth out in front of the american people, they're going to be overwhelmed with lies. >> are you surprised that republicans who view themselves, and it may not be -- it may be a further delusion on the part of republicans, but i think republicans view themselves as being advocates for strong counterterrorism policies but christopher wray started and was unequivocal that the insurrection carried out gi trump supporters, many of them were white supremacists and white militia groups, was an act

of domestic terror. are you surprised that republicans are so weak with that threat? >> well, the best they can come up with was things were pretty rough in portland a few months before. listen, i conceded the point from the beginning, i'm against violence as a part of political expression, whether it comes from the right, left, up or down. and we ought to make that our basic standard for both political parties. but they're in complete denial. the republicans are in complete denial about what happened january 6th. i wish there would be more honest admission of what occurred. there are a few exceptions. i will concede that senator grassley, my republican counterpart, acknowledged that what i said was a fact. but still, we know what's going on in the right-wing media and what these conspiracy theorists. they're trying to rewrite these chapters in history. and i'm not going to let them if i have anything to do with it. >> there's also an effort through these hearings to understand how what happened on january 6th happened and to make sure it doesn't come to pass

again. let me play for you a little bit of christopher wray's testimony on the threat assessment and that report out of the norfolk field office. >> the information was raw. it was unverified. in a perfect world, we would have taken longer to be able to figure out whether it was reliable, but we made the judgment, our folks made the judgment to get that information to the relevant people as quickly as possible. like i said, three different ways in order to leave as little as possible to chance. i didn't see the report myself even until after the 6th. but the way in which it was handled, at least as i understand it, strikes me as consistent with our normal process. >> now, just for our viewers, this was a report out of the norfolk field office that reported chatter about plans for war, about groups of insurrectionists meeting at points to travel to d.c. together. do you have a better understanding about how that intelligence failed to make its way to law enforcement who were protecting all of you that day?

>> that's still unclear, and there will have to be more investigation before we can come up with a solid answer. but the bottom line is this. if anyone thought that this domestic terrorist effort, this white supremacist effort was some minor league effort of a bunch of folks cavorting around in the woods with their face paint on, they learned more on january 6th. this is a serious and dangerous group. it is an heir apparent to the ku klux klan, which used violence throughout the early days of american history after the civil war, and we have to take them seriously. i think director wray made it clear that on the top of the list now, when it comes to threats to america, these domestic terrorists are right up there. >> senator, if you could turn with us to the news that broke when we came on the air that president biden has secured enough supply and production of vaccines to have an adequate supply for every american by the end of may, that moves up his

promise from just a few weeks ago of having enough supply by the end of july. how much of the covid relief package is working with that supply to get it into people's communities and arms? >> well, at least $160 million, and that's the biden rescue plan. listen, this president has dealt with this threat to america, this pandemic, he has faced reality, he has come up with a plan to manufacture and produce the vaccine necessary to protect our nation and to break the back of this pandemic. that is exactly what he was elected to do, and when he accomplishes that, and i pray that he will sooner rather than later, we'll have this economy start to recover, we'll see our kids back in school and life coming back to normal. now, we have had breakthroughs with vaccines. we have more and more choices coming before us. we have opportunities now. it's up to us as americans to step up, roll up our sleeves, and be part of the effort in america to stop this pandemic.

>> as soon as he got his announcement out of his mouth, two red state governors announced that they would stop enforcing mask mandates and requiring many of the nonmedical measures that have kept us safe over the last 12 months. is there more work that your republican colleagues could do to get republican governors in their states to go along with some of those safety measures while the vaccine is shipping out? or is that a lost cause? >> nicole, we've learned the hard way that if you try to cut corners, you're going to pay a price, and infections in deaths. i pray these governors will have second thoughts, be cautious and careful, to make sure that they really have turned it around, the infection rate and the death rates in their state. we don't want a resurgence of infections and deaths, and they have to be careful in doing it. and i hope it doesn't become a political football. listen, we're all in it together. politically, the democrats and

republicans and independents all face the same threat. we all have the same goal. i think if we just hung together for a few months, we can make a big difference in terms of vaccinations and the end of this pandemic. >> why do you think donald trump and first lady melania trump got vaccinated and didn't tell anybody. >> they were playing this game with the american people that this was a hoax, that it was going to go away, that it wasn't that serious, that just a couple shots of lysol would be a magic cure and they didn't want to accept the reality of it. joe biden came in, start to finish, and accepted the reality of this pandemic and said, now it's my turn to accept responsibility. president trump never accepted responsibility. >> another change in u.s. policy is on the front of russia. the biden white house today announcing sanctions over the poisoning of alexey navalny. i mean, we know what we can see. we know what becomes public and

what is sort of available for public consumption. in terms of announcements like this. but under the surface, can you explain the shift in the u.s.-russia relationship with donald trump who had even to his own advisors just an inexplicable yearning to be liked by vladimir putin. >> there was a bromance there which will, i'm sure, we'll learn some day what it was really all about. maybe president trump's tax returns will start to reveal it. but over the years, we know vladimir putin, former officer in the kgb and some of the tactics he's engaged in and now with navalny, we can see what he does with dissent. i think president biden's made it clear, the united states is not going to tolerate that as acceptable conduct and putin is going to pay a price for it. >> it's perhaps the most dramatic shift in policy to date. senator, thank you for spending time with us on a busy day. we're grateful. when we return, a third

woman has come forward with allegations against new york governor andrew cuomo. we'll get the latest developments on that story and the growing political fallout this hour. next. g political fallout this hour. next 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 ♪

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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. new york governor andrew cuomo is now facing calls from within his own party to resign after a third allegation of sexual harassment surfaced yesterday. democratic u.s. representative kathleen rice tweeted, quote, the time has come. the governor must resign.

congresswoman rice is the first democratic member of congress to call for the governor's resignation, and it comes after new reporting in "the new york times" of a third woman claiming that the governor made unwanted advances toward her at a wedding reception in september 2019. the new allegation follows two previous claims of sexual harassment against cuomo from aides who worked with him at the new york state house. nbc news has not independently reported on these new allegations. the governor has not responded to the new report. a spokesperson referred the "times" to the governor's statement on sunday, which read, in part, quote, i now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways i never intended. i acknowledge some of the things i have said have been misinterpreted as an unexpected flirtation. to the extent anyone felt that way, i am truly sorry about that. joining our conversation, tim o'brien, senior columnist for bloomberg opinion and nick, "new

york times" political reporter and an msnbc contributor. nick, the "times" has had really blockbuster development after blockbuster development on this story. a third accuser and now the political fallout seems to be keeping pace. >> that's right. so, kathleen rice, of course, is a member of congress, a democrat. she's a respected figure. her voice does matter. and she adds to a chorus of people in the party who are calling for him to step down. it's a small chorus so far and the thing i would point out, nicole, is that so far the people calling for the governor to step down are mostly people he's been politically at odds with in general, so mayor de blasio especially, but left-wing democrats in the legislature. so i'm waiting to see if this spreads to more people who are more in his power base and obviously, you know, an important person here is the senator from new york, kirsten gillibrand, who has been a focus

in recent days and people try to get statements on her from whether he should resign and she's been a leader on sexual harassment issues and has been active in calling for other people with similar accusations to step down. i think if you see her move in that direction, it's more of a wave. >> i want to read more of this accuser's story, because the political fallout is very much part of this moment, i think, and bringing attention to private conduct or in this case not so private. there's a photo in the "times" story. this interaction happened at a wedding. but let me read some of the reporting about her story. quote, the governor was working the room after toasting the newlyweds and when he came upon ms. ruch, now 33, she thanked him but what happened next instantly unsettled her. mr. cuomo put his hand on ms. ruch's bare lower back, she said in an interview on monday. when she removed his hand with her own, she recalled the governor remarked that she

seemed aggressive and placed his hands on her cheeks. he asked if he could kiss her loudly enough for a friend standing nearby to hear. she was bewildered by the entreaty and pulled away as the governor drew closer. tim, we spent years giving air time to the credible accusers of donald trump's. obviously, it doesn't matter what party the politician is in. these accusations deserve their fair and respectful airing. but if you look at the pattern of cases like this, there is a difference. i mean, republicans, you know, rise to run for re-election. democrats usually head in the direction that confosori is talking about. >> as we all should because i don't think this is an ideological or a political issue. it's about how power is used. it's about women being fully enfranchised at every level of our society, regardless of party

or position. it's a reminder of how grotesque we men still tend to be in the workplace, whether it's the political workplace or the corporate workplace. i think this welcome moment that began and came far too late with the harvey weinstein allegations and harvey weinstein being brought to justice are still fairly recent and it's extraordinary to me that people in power like andrew cuomo aren't more sensitive to this. i think if he rolled a different way, i think when politicians in the upper branches of power begin to fall, people can step forward and help break their fall or they can simply let them drop. and that's when you find out whether or not you've made the right friends and haven't burnt too many bridges throughout your career. but what we're seeing happening with him right now isn't

democrat versus republican. it's about men understanding that women want to be treated differently, deserve to be treated differently, and are going to be treated differently or they're going to get held to account for it. >> and also seems to affirm a bob woodward edict that the truth emerges and in the case of this "times" reporting, there's -- there are photos. nick and tim are sticking around. when we come back, what donald trump's long-time accountant knows and what prosecutors hope to find out from him. that story is next. that story is next ♪ 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.

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woman: now is the time to ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. [ traffic passing by ] [ birds chirping ] mondays, right? what? i said mondays, right? [ chuckles ] what about 'em? just trying to make conversation. switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. you know, like the sign says. prosecutors in manhattan are looking into former president trump and his business dealings and they're reportedly asking witnesses about his top money guy, trump org cfo. from the "new york times" report, quoted, the increased focus on the executive allen

weisselberg could step up pressure on him to cooperate with the investigation. he has served as the trump organization's financial gatekeeper for more than two decades and could be a vital source of information for the government about the inner workings of the company. weisselberg was a key figure in the hush money payments to stormy daniels that landed michael cohen in prison. in 2018, federal prosecutors reportedly struck a deal with weisselberg, granting him immunity in exchange for his cooperation. we're back with tim and nick. tim, you know what weisselberg knows. what would the prosecutors find out? >> they would find out what all of those hundreds of llcs that the trump organization established under alan weisselberg's watchful eye are being used for. they would find out why properties were valued one way for tax collectors and another way for insurers and banks. allen weisselberg -- you know, al capone ultimately went down

because they got his accountant, and the accountant is the one who showed federal investigators how capone's organization was cooking its books. this is about the most vulnerable person you could put in the crosshairs around donald trump. allen weisselberg is the same age as donald. he was fred trump's accountant. he came into the trump organization in the '70s. he graduated to becoming donald's cfo. but there was no deal that went through the trump organization of significance that allen weisselberg didn't look at. there was no financing arrangement that he didn't give his blessing to. and what you're seeing now is a classic prosecutorial strategy to the extent that they're doing more than merely looking at allen weisselberg and they're pondering prosecuting allen weisselberg, that means allen weisselberg might flip, and if

allen weisselberg flips, you're going to see a number of dominos very quickly tip over inside the trump organization, and it's going to present, i think, a lot of legal peril to donald trump around issues like tax fraud, a falsification of business records, and some of these other issues that we know the manhattan district attorney is looking at. >> let me show you michael cohen who was once inside the trump organization himself working alongside alllen weisselberg said about alllen weisselberg. >> now in october 2018, "the new york times" revealed that, quote, president trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents. it further stated from mr. trump, quote, he also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents' real estate holdings by hundreds of

millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing his tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings. mr. cohen, do you know whether that specific report is accurate? >> i don't. i wasn't there in 1990s. >> who would know the answer to those questions? >> alllen weisselberg. >> it's like keyser soze. >> listen, as tim alluded, always the untouchables, and it's always bad news when they come for your account. the reason is any large financial fraud, it's a team sport. trump is a real estate guy, but he is not a financial engineer. he is not setting up his own llcs. he is not going his own appraisals. you have to have helper, lawyers, accountants, appraisers, people who work for and with you. it's a team sport. and what you often find in these prosecutions is that if you crack these service providers, you can crack the case.

and this guy is the ultimate service provider. he isn't working for trump family for decades. he holds the keys to the castle. and if he wants to be helpful to prosecutors, he can, as tim said, he can tell you a lot about those llcs and valuations and places where the money is hiding. >> it will be interesting. we'll keep watching. tim o'brien, nick confessore, thank you so much for spending some time with us. when we return, as we do every day, we will remember lives well lived. ou need for your home you can spend less and get way more.

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thanks for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. we're grateful. "the beat" with ari melber starts right now. hi, ari. >> hi, nicolle. can i talk to you about some good news for one second? >> yes, please. >> because we rely on you to walk us through thoughtfully so many things, including so much bad news. here we are with an actual announcement from the president about adults getting vaccines, anyone who wants one by the end of may. it feels like some nice progress. >> i said -- maybe you were listening. i said i feel like i'm going cry when i heard that