hi, sovereign, into the january 6th insurrection, new details about the staggering delay at the pentagon to respond to the deadly attack on the capitol. a chilling new warning about a threat from extremist groups who have designs on attacking the capitol tomorrow. we start with that new warning. nbc news reports, quote, the department of homeland security and the fbi sent a joint intelligence bulletin in the law enforcement agencies tuesday, warning that some domestic groups have discussed plans to take control of the capitol and remove democratic lawmakerso on or about about march 4th, tomorrow, according to a senior law enforcement officials who describes the document to nbc news.

the bulletin warns that militia violent extremists were emboldened by the january 6th attack and therefore pose a higher overall threat. that warning coming as the congressional investigation into the insurrection drilled into the dangerous holdup in the deployment of national guard troops that day. william walker, the commander general of the national guard today described what he called an unusual delay in the between for troops and approve, a delay he believes had significant consequences. at 1:49 p.m. i received a frantic call from steven sun, where he informed me that the perimeter of the united states capitol had been breached by hostile rioter, chief sun, his voice cracking with emotion indicated a dire emergency. he requested the immediate

assistance of as many available national guardsmen that i could muster. immediately after that 1:49 call, i alerted the u.s. army senior leadership of the request. the approval for the chief's request would eventually come from the acting secretary of defense and be relayed to me by army senior leaders at 5:08 p.m., about three hours, 19 minutes later. i already had guardmen on buses at the armory ready to move. >> you could have send 155 much, much earlier. what would have been the impact ran an that 2:00 time frame? >> based on my experience with the -- i have 39 years in the national guard. i believe that number could have made a difference. we could have helped extend the perimeter and help push back the crowd. >> the timeline as walker described it was rendered unacceptable by senators on both sides of the aisle in today's

toby, hours-long delay, walker testified concerns over optics may have been what held up approval that the police desperately needed. who was it at the pentagon who spoke up about optics? well, speaking of optics, that will be lieutenant general charles flynn, the brother of michael flynn. michael flynn at the time was a leading proponent of overturning the results of the election. >> the arm senior leaders did not think that it looked good, it would be a good optic. they further stated it could incite the crowd. during the phone call with the district of columbia leaders, the deputy mayor, the chief, doctor rodriguez, who was talking about optics, were general flynn and general payett. they both said it wouldn't be in their best military advice to

advise the secretary of army to have uniformed guards members at the capitol during the election confirmation. >> hit pause on everything you think you know and remember this. back in january, "the washington post" reported that mike flynn's brother charles flynn was involved in discussions around troop deployment for that day, did you flynn said he couldn't remember whether he actually said anything on the call or not. quote -- i do not recall saying anything in the conference, but i may have, and i just don't recall saying anything to the audience on the other end. that's what he said at the time. he denied back in january his relationship with his brother mike flynn was a factor in the military's response, but today's testimony raises questions about the potential impact of politics on the response to the violent insurrection and why the system failed so catastrophically to protect the u.s. capitol on january 6th. those questions and the ongoing threat to our nation's capitol is where we start boo.

jonathan la mere is here. also elizabeth troy, who served as a homeland security and counter-terrorism adviser to vice president mike pence, now the director of the republican accountability project. peter strzok is here, author of the book "compromised." peter, you it interviewed the other mike flynn, who was pardoned by donald trump, and at the time of the insurrection, he actually held an event, if this were a wedding, this would be like the rehearsal dinner, where he said things too outrageous for me to report here, and mike flynn, the graced former national security adviser said this, quote -- there are more dead voters than buried in the battlefielding of gettysburg or vicksburg or normandy. of course, that is not true, but

his brother in a phone call during a deadly insurrection raised a question of optics? the optics in the other direction are atrocious. if you're worried about optics, there's no way as the brother of a felon, who is advocating not just for stopping the steal, but advocating the imposition of martial law, as to redo the vote to the public all the way up to inauguration day. there's no way i go anywhere near this deliberation and decision point. it's also important to remember when dod first made a comment they did not know that general charles flynn was on the call. they only mentioned later, and they didn't recall whether he said anything. there's nobody somewhere that close to essentially an

ex-three-star general calling for martial law should be anywhere near the decision about whether or not to apply military forces onto the nation's capitol. >> should general flynn's brother charles flynn have recused himself from the chain of command that day? >> well, i think recusal works in a number of different ways and organizations. in many ways i think there's ethics officials who can advice you on that, but look, there was clearly a concern about the optics. we can't talk about the events without going back to the summer, and the fact of the matter is that president trump's abuse, along with the attorney general, his abu of federal law enforcement, hi abuse of the military and quelling those demonstrations played a direct role not response and the hesitation to respond. you saw all these past secretaries of defense lining up to say, there is a separation between the military and the president. there's a chain of command and

oath and duty to the constitution that is importance to adhere to. that prior abuse from the summer absolutely played a role. if i'm a general officer. i believe he's been nominated and approved for a fourth star. if i'm concerned about the way the military is or isn't being used by the president, i don't want to go anywhere near this decision. >> if he's up for a fourth star and was worried about the optics, and that sort of pumping of the breaks on a military response that could have saved law enforcement lived, should that be part of the consideration, pete? >> there are plenty of thickets that need to be looked at, but the critical issue that came out of today is looking at what happened within the department of defense and why this hours-long process that i agree with general walker absolutely could have made a difference,

why that took as long as he did, given hit testimony earlier in the summer, he picked up a call right there with the attorney general and they were able to turn around and answer in minutes. that focus within the department of defense will be absolutely crucial. let's not forget, d.o.d. actually went to the white house and briefed president trump days before this occurred. there are additional questions there. what was briefed to trump? what did trump say? did he convey any intent? did he stifle anything? did he change anything? this is all that congress and dod needs to get to the bottom of. let me play some of the part of the testimony that pete is talking about. this is senator peters probing around the violence around the summer and the speed with which the national guard was deployed. watch. >> in june of 2020, as violence was escalating during the summer protests, were you able to immediately receive approval from the secretary of the army

and the secretary of defense to deploy national guard to assist law infersment at that time? >> senator peters, i was, yes, sir. the secretary of the army was with me for most of that week. he came to the armory, i was in constant communication with him when we were not together. >> so you were immediately able to receive approval in june of '20. from your testimony, i want to be clear. were you ability to immediately receive approval from the secretary of the army and the secretary of defense to deploy the national guard on january 6th? >> not. no, sir. >> jonathan? >> i think, nicolle, first of all, let's be very clear stott different makeup of these different protesters in. in june, they were nonviolent protests, those outraged by

george floyd, a black man killed under the neath of a white police officer in minnesota. there was no violence. instead the president cleared lafayette square, cleared the protesters using military personnel as part of the response, use a chemical akin to tear gas, pushing them out in order to have a photo op. you remember his awkward stroll across the park and standing there in front of the church holding a bible as if he had never held one before. and in january, these were trump supporters. they were white. they were people, as well documented if, if the racial makeup of that group had been different, the response from the capitol likely would have been different as well. we still saw, of course, real acts of heroism by the capitol police. the delay in the response is galling, one that, of course is worthy of further investigation. we saw some republican senators yet try to stall and change tactics in terms of the fbi

protocol, but these are outstanding questions here for the dod. also, as a final point. that afternoon the whereabouts and actions of the president of the united states, where he was m.i.a., he resisted calls to salomon the national guard. he instead watched on television, cheering on, witnesses say, his supporters at the capitol, enjoying the spectacle, not checking on the health of his vice president, whose life was in danger. this will go forward as the biden administration braces itself for other potential threats, including maybe tomorrow. >> i first saw this reported on her twitter feed. this was surprising that the

insurrectionists the scope and breadth of their ability to take the building, but by the response that so far, 43 republican senators thought what he did was just fine. let me show you, senator klobuchar trying to drill down on this information. this seems to be completely locked in with a question about the ongoing threat, which continues to be fueled by the lives that donald trump told. this is senator klobuchar knocking down ron johnson's lies about people who 23e89 festive about -- >> do you think there were serious violent people involved in this insurrection? >> 100%. a lot of officers were injured and a lot of damage was done. >> would you describe it as festive? >> absolutely not. so again, instead of protecting the capitol from a threat that is expected to be

particularly acute tomorrow, instead of getting to the bottom of the deadly delay. senators are also having to knock down disinformation being put out there by republican colleagues. >> the issue with this is that you have republicans who are continuing to double down on issues like ease elects fraud and they're using that to sort of play to their voter suppression efforts by doubling down on the big lie. all of these things led to january 6th and what happened there, right? they fed these people this -- this inciteful lie directly, and they ran with it, and then there was no accountability of donald trump for having done this. yeah, these people are emboldened. they probably still think they're fighting for the country and their patriotism.

i'm concerned about what would happen tomorrow, but i'm more concerned to make sure hopefully in time the national security apparatus works and that measures are being taken to really take the threat seriously, whether they're seeing any operational legitimate global troiism, we don't wait to see that. we follow that threat to make sure there's no possibility for operationalizing it, right? i hope that's what's happening right now. >> we still take our shoes off when we get on airplanes, because intel suggested and told us there was a threat of a bomb hiding in a shoe on an airplane. we still now, many, many years later, take our shoes off when we get on many. what should we be doing to protect ourselves from this current terror threat? >> i think it's what you need to do with what we saw yesterday.

it was so refreshing to hear director wray rebut the myths that olivia was talking about. the vote was not stolen. there's no evidence of widespread voter fraud, rebutting this notion that somehow there were antifa or afternoon-trump elements in the group that stormed the capitol on 1/6. we need apolitical leaders to stand up and talk about what did and did not happen. it takes the winds out of sails. the first thing has to be done is to agree by the leaders of our nation on a ground set of facts and truth of what occurred. from that, we've just got to maintain our vigilance. it's going to be a long time. the great concern is that it doesn't take a large group to cause mischief. you can get a one or two-person group acting on your own that you have no idea is coming. i worry we'll be in this for the

long haul and we have some diligence ahead of us. >> jonathan lamire, and jump in if this is incorrect -- one of the intentions would be to dissuade criminals carrying out acts of domestic terrorism and signal that law enforcement is on to them. how much of this is part of the new biden administration's posture on violent extremism, or are they totally uninvolved? is this being driven by law enforcement? >> noil, your sense is correct, to publicize a day like tomorrow, where there has been certainly a lot of online charter about an attempt to storm the capitol again, target lawmakers, to let would-be perpetrators know that law

enforcement know they're coming. we know it was a centerpiece of merrick garland. he talked about that, garland himself, of course, really first emerged to the forefront when they led the federal investigation into the oklahoma city bombing, an act of domestic terrorism in the 1990s. he made it clear and the biden white house has made it clear they think the threat is equal to those posed by international terrorists. it's a sobering thought that fellow americans could be perceived as a dangerous threat to their country men and women. this is something that we'll be living with for a long time. the discourse is so divided, the partisanship is so extreme, and donald trump is still fueling it. his speech on sunday made no mention of january 6th. it made plenty of mention about a stolen election, that he feels

like he was rightfully the victor and it was taken from him. that's going to define the audience, and supporters who may be driven to extreme violent acts. it's a sobering thought to look at the capitol now, which still looks like a war zone with military vehicles surrounding the building and creating a secure perimeter. >> it's enraging, if you remove donald trump, we used to have the tin foil hat clubs, the kooks, but if you have the most powerful person in the party feeding the kooks, how do you deal with that? >> that's a problem. you have actual political figures, right, that he would actually see this in maybe banana republicing maybe, and not the united states, but you have elected officials enabling

trump on this. you have other voices out there, like mike pence. i have to say that i was appalled when i saw the op-ed he penned. granted he was talking about hr-1, and i'm not here to debate the policy on that, but he doubled down on the story of election fraud and voter fraud. he basically doubles down on a big lie that led to calls for his hanging. i was shocked he would do that. he is part of that disinformation machine, right? he is doubling down on this, feeding that out to people who are paying attention, who are listening to it. i think all of this is actually dangerous. they're all part of it. >> it's amazing. we care more that they wanted to hang mike pence than mike pence does. thank you to all of you. when we come back, the nation is so close to heading the other direction in the pandemic, the end is in sight.

president joe biden today in that vein, calling the decisions by states like texas, to open up again, quote knee ander that will thinking. beto o'rourke will join us. republican la u. in dozens of states are trying to shut it down. our panel weighs in on the impact and where it's felt. plus new york goochor cuomo says today he's not going anywhere. he apologized against for the pain his comments have caused. all of those stories and moyer when "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. use" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere.

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i hope everyone has realized by now these masks make a difference. the we are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way in which we're able to get vaccines in people's arms. we've been able to move that all way up to may to get every adult american to get a shot. the last thing we need is the neanderthal thinking that the mask is not needed. it's critical, critical, critical they follow the science -- wash your hands, hot water. do it frequently. wear a mask and stay socially distanced. i know you all know that. i wish the heck some of our

elected officials knew it. >> president biden on the stunning and inexplicable move by governor abbott in texas, a man in the crisis of the failure of their infrastructure during last month's freeze. abbott declares the pandemic is over and ordering an end to the mask mandate, and businesses will open 100%. texas is suffering more than about any other state. more texans have died than in most other states. the tragic irony is we're weeks away from having enough vaccine to vaccinate every american. and with the evidence that outdoor venues can be operated in a socially distanced way

safely, and that schools can be open safely, there's simply no scientific explanation for abbott's hasty move. joining us to discuss, former democratic congressman from texas you are our friend beto o'rourke. i saw i think pure emotion and feeling he's endangering texans, and that's why i wanted to talk to but this. your thoughts. >> you can call it whatever you want, and search for the motive behind it, but to be clear and to be honest with everybody, this action is going to kill more texans than who already died from this pandemic. as you mentioned, more than 44,000 texans have lost their live, so many unnecessarily, because governor abbott failed to apply science and the best public health guidance, has flip nopd on closing/reopening, requires a mask/not requiring

it, absolutely confusing the public. and this botch the roll-out of the vaccine is perhaps worst of all. there are now 254 different systems of distribution, because the governor left it up to the counties, showing absolutely no leadership. add all of that onto this order, and more will die. it's disproportionately falling to communities of color and lower income cyd codes, the co-more -- morbidities. wearing a mask is still something we can do, double masks as the cdc recommends is even better. keeping six-foot distance and joining efforts like our, where in 17 different texas cities this weekend, our volunteers will be canvassing in the lowest

income zip codes to register people for the vaccine, to make sure they get inoculated, and we hope to save more lives in the face of this absolute lack of leadership from our governor. >> tell me more about why you're doing that. when you're explaining how object bot is rolling out the vaccine system, there's -- it sounds like abbott is doing just that, without any sort of statewide prioritization, without any guidance or leadership. how is your effort filling in that vacuum? >> i think at this moment, it's not enough to be angry, no matter how justified that is, or to rail against abbott on twitter, and all of us have probably taken part in that, to some degree. we can't wait until the next election.

people need to be helped now, and we have the power collectively to do that. the hundreds and thousands of volunteers who will be knocking on doors, they're not waiting for a a directive from the governor, where you may not have internet access or folks on cell phones or cars, or get to a place where you can sign up. we will go to them, independently as volunteers to help out. it's the same things that texans did in the midst of the devastating winter storm, the power outage, loss of heat, electricity and water and now the burst water pipes that leave many without drinking water in their homes and significant damage. it's been neighbors helping neighbors, volunteers stepping up, everyday texans, regardless of political affiliation helping out complete strangers to make sure they're okay. it questions whether you are in

a failed state in the state of texas, but we can still count on one another. that's what we're left to do especially after the governor's announcement. he basically said to texas, you are on your own, good luck. >> that's precisely what he said. it's not up to interpretation. there's some reporting that business leaders do not welcome this, that it now falls to them. i want to read you some reporting from "the texas tribune." some business owners worry about the lyfting of restrictions, it's left to business owners to decide whether to require customers to wear masks. coming after abbott already started pushing legislators for civil protections for companies against coronavirus-related lawsuits. it sounds like it isn't going to work on the science side. there's a lot of skepticism in

texas that it's not going to work on the economic side as well. why is he doing it? >> they literally want to sacrifice the lives of our fellow texans, or -- i don't know, for political gain? to satisfy certain powerful interests within the state? this isn't hyperbole. you heard our lieutenant governor, arguably one of the most powerful positions in texas, say on fox news, we are willing to died. old people are willing to sacrifice their lives in order for the economy to reopen. it won't be any older texans, we know disproportionately black and brown texans. you heard rick perfectly say we will take blackouts that resulted in the death of an 11-year-old boy who froze to death in his bed in the trailer where he lives, of a vietnam veteran who froze to death in his truck, at least so far that we know of due to this, perry

says we'll take that rather than federal oversight and regulation. now this mission accomplished deal from abbott yesterday, saying we are done trying to fight covid, even though as you say, biden has told us every adult can be vaccinated by the end of may. i can see the end of may. we just need to run through the tape. instead he stopped and left us to our own devices. we're not ception it, we're moving forward on an individual backs. we're going to do everything we can with what we have where we are. >> i know your focus on texas and really at a granular level, but i wonder if you can speak to the indifference the human suffering, and the on the thread that pulls thor statements together is the larger nationalized indifference, a tone set by donald trump, but

you're right, it is not the way people think of texas, taking care of one another, doing everything they can to sort of make the sacrifices in the near term for big gains in the long temperature. to what do you chalk up the cruelty of the republican posture at this moment, this hour of the pandemic? >> you know, i think it appeared to many of us to be a cult of personality, and it probably still holds truf. it's hard to escape the conclusion that it's also a cult of death. you have extraordinarily andy-democratic elements. look at the insurrection of january 6th for any proof. you have antigovernment elements literally running the government of the state of texas, and i use the phrase "failed state" when you can't guarantee the public well fair and safety, you are

about there by any classic definition. you have folks literally upending civilization as we know it, and completely indifferent to the costs. 44,000 deaths alone in texas. in el paso, there are 280 bodies stalked up in a warehouses because there are not enough grave diggers and not new graves to be dug. they had to call in the national guard to move the bodies. they had to set up ten mobile morgues. that's in my city right now. they just don't care. that indifference is killing people in my community and throughout the state of texas. we do obituaries every day at the end of this program. we have done a whole lot of them from texas. it's in indifference to the death and the loss. every one of them ruins an entire family, a entire community's whole world. the scope may be beyond or ability to comprehend, but the

government response is inexplicable. thank you for talking with us. it's great to see you. >> thank you so much. up next, the fight to protect voting rights is happening at the supreme court, and across dozens of statehouses nationwide with laws that would severely harm minority voters. we'll talk about what is under way, next. voters. we'll talk about what is under way, next. (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?

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tonight house democrats are expecting to pass a national overhaul of voter access standards. the explosive debate over all across the country will likely end there. republican opposition in both chambers. it comes as -- who largely embrace donald trump's election fraud lies, to minimize -- they're challenges laws that -- that and the larger idea of how voting laws should be hand, where the republican lawyer in arizona had no reservations. >> what is the in keeping the -- ballot disqualifications rules

on the books? >> because it puts us as a competitive advantage. politics is a zero-sum game. every vote they get through unlawful interpretation of section 2 hurts us. the difference between winning an election 50-49. >> thank you, my time is up. ed join, i don't know if that sound i just played says more about the way you prepare to make a case to this supreme court or if it says more about the republicans' brazen attempts to make it harder for people who don't vote for them to vote.

the horror is america is changing all the time without changing at all. this harkins back to the 19th century. what we are seeing -- just really quickly, connect this segment with the segment around domestic. at the very moment in which the nation is pulling back from the efforts of radical reconstruction, there's an all-out solid that is twin -- it is attacked at the level of law and at the level of violence. we're in a cold civil war, nicolle, and we're seeing its elements at every turn, this attack on the voting rights of minority people, black people across the country is just an extension of this cold civil war over the future of this country, nicolle. >> i never want you to be quick and i think you're right to connectle two. because they're the same

politicians who didn't think donald trump should have been convicted for inciting the insurrection, they aring same largely involved in these laws. tell me more about the fight against them. it seems we have to do exactly what we did as the redeemers did in the aftermast of the civil war. that is we can't compromise with these folks. we need to understand them for who they are and what they're trying to do. these are the new redeemers, cleaving to this idea, nicolle, that this country must remain a white nation in the vein of old europe. so what are they trying to do? they're trying to figure out how to rig the game so they can still hold on to the reins of power. in doing so, they're undermining the very foundations of their

democracy. we need to understand this argument has made over and over again that we need to understand these folk for what they are doing. they are posing a clear and present danger to the very democracy that many of us cherish. we need to understand that and fight against it accordingly. ayisha, i want to play more from the supreme court's questions. this is justice sojustice sotom. this is not a due process claim. >> no, i'm trying to get a distinction between denial and -- >> well, no, you're denying something in you're not given the right to vote or results in your denial from circumstances that the state could remedy

easily. >> ayesha, when you talk about this is about the ability to win, the legal arguments are all phony on their face. i think that's where she seems to catch them in a lie. >> absolutely. here's the thing, go. i want to go back to something the professor said. they are constantly being caught in a lie, right? so the question becomes what are all the justices thinking as they're listening to these arguments unfold in front of them and what are they going to come down on? the right side of justice or the republican side of politics? at the end of day, it would be bandy on members of congress, and certainly the house is already on the rights, but the democratic senators have to think about the long-term implications of all of this foolery that's gone on for

generations at this point, but certainly that republicans in statehouses are pulling right now with voter suppression tactics, they're enacting laws in at least 43 states they've got laws they're trying to move to make it more difficult for people to be able to vote. the consequence of that for sitting democratic party officials should be so completely clear that it's important that we have a national to block and tackle against these efforts. i am just not convinced that all of the members of the united states senate believe that and see that, just as i'm not convinced that all the members of the supreme court will see how problematic this is. i think structurally democrats have to get in a room and realize or backs are against the wall at this point to do what's right for our society and for the republic moving forward. if they don't, this window of opportunity to pass a piece of legislation to address voter suppression is going to be really slim.

if they don't do anything about it, then the party could be out of power for a generation. that's real. i would expect there to be a little more anxiety, because the arguments have always been flimsy. the question becomes what are the people in power going to do about it right now. >> let me add to the point, 1650 bills introduced in 33 states, more than half seek to limit mail-in voting. arizona, pennsylvania and georgia are the states. tell you something? everyone is sticking around. we'll get reaction today from the apology from governor cuomo. that's next. apology from govern. that's next. s

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but i want new yorkers to hear from me directly on this. first, i fully support a woman's right to come forward. and i think it should be encouraged every way. i now understand that i acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. it was unintentional and i truly

and deeply apologize for it. >> after week largely spent out of public view, new york's governor andrew cuomo today responded to the sexual harassment scandal surrounding him. apologizing for how his actions have made people feel saying that he's embarrassed but saying that he, quote, never touched anyone inappropriately. governor cuomo pleading with new yorkers to wait for the facts of the state's attorney general's review before forming an opinion but saying he would not resign from office. what do you think? >> well, first of all, it is obvious from so many of the pictures that have come out, of course, the three women's accounts of what happened that the governor was extremely inappropriate. i do not buy at all this idea that he suddenly now realizes that his behavior was inappropriate. it's complete abuse of power. some of these women were his, worked for him and, you know, i

also want to add that it is not a secret that governor cuomo has a reputation of being a bully. that he has prided himself on strong arming people, having folks a little nervous about not knowing what to expect if they didn't do what he wanted them to do. so i think that his whole contrition has completely fallen flat. yes, i think that he should consider resigning for sure. i don't think that there should be a double standard. time and time, we have leaders who are in this position who call on other people to resign and then when it comes down to whether they've done something wrong, they say i'm not resigning. i think all of this needs to be dealt with. i think there's a bit of a dose of his medicine in terms of the way people are reacting and responding to this and at the end of the day, i am a new yorker and just completely disappointed. i wouldn't even say i was disgusted, but just completely disappointed in the lack of just values that some of our leaders show and then go back and say, oh, well, i didn't know that was

wrong. it's foolish, in my opinion. >> ayesha, there are press accounts of staffers and as a former staffer, i always pay a lot of attention of staffers covered who knew about these interactions that he seemed to apologize for today and moved at least one of the women to another job in the capitol. is an investigation still warranted even though your view is that he should resign? >> surely i believe deeply in justice and if the facts are required to whoever has a grievance and other people, et cetera, that they're able to get some kind of justice, then surely. at the end of the day show, it seems like there's a lot of facts out there. so to kick a can down the road, to say we're not going to make any determinations and recognize what we see in front of us until way down the line is wrong and i just want to also shout out that attorney general leticia james,

kudos to her for saying she's going to have a separate investigation to get to the bottom of this. i think at the end of the day, we need to get to the bottom of this. >> eddie glide, there's so much in politics that is driven by behavior and i think that's the clear point ayesha is making but also goodwill and ill will. i think ayesha alluded to this too. so many people have been on the receiving end of, let's say, unsatisfying reactions to the governor over his three terms. there's also a scandal that has exploded right ahead of these three allegations of sexual misconduct about his undercounting nursing home deaths, putting them in other categories so that the number reflected fewer people that died in nursing homes what felt do you make of the moment where two scandals are exploding? >> so the chicken's coming home to roost, it seems to me. i'm a country boy from

mississippi. you treat people you you want to be treated, and if you treat people badly on the way up, you'll see all of them on the way down. so it seems to me that the reputation of the governor precedes it. there's a sense in which how he's treated folk over the course of his career. in some ways, have come home to roost as i said. but look, i think it's really important. the me too movement set in some ways a frame for us. as we're trying to move into a different way of being together, a whole host of assumptions, a whole host of views about men and their priorities and their desires and how they can treat -- all of that stuff is coming into question. it's being challenged, it's being rejected clearly. it seems to me that part of this shift that's happening in the culture involves processes, not only to ensure that justice is found or executed, but to me,

it's also, nicolle, to ensure women are heard, that their voices are treated accordingly. so it seems to me that this is just, again, a case of the chickens coming home to roost. if he had dignity, he would step down. >> thank you so much my friends for spending time with us this hour. the next hour of "deadline: white house" starts after a quick break. don't go anywhere. starts after quick break. don't gony awhere. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. discover the replenishing power of new pronamel mineral boost. teeth need natural minerals to keep enamel healthy,

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you believe that would have made a difference to have them at the perimeter at a sooner point and i know that the people in charge of capitol security felt the same. >> yes, ma'am. >> you could have had them there earlier, hours earlier, if it had been approved and then you had them actually sitting on the bus for a short period of time, right, waiting. >> yes, senator. i just came to the conclusion

that eventually, i'm going to get approval and i didn't, at that point, seconds mattered, minutes mattered and i needed to be ready to get them there quickly as possible. i already had district of columbus there to get through any traffic lights. so we were there in 18 minutes. >> 18 minutes. that's how long it took. once they had approval. hi, everyone. 5:00 in new york. the commanding general of the dc national guard, william walker there, stressing how much minutes and seconds mattered when it came to getting the national guard to the capitol to help suppress the violence on january 6th. once he received the authorization, around 150 troops could be there in less than 20 minutes. but during a second joint hearing on the insurrection today, walker told senators, quote, unusual restrictions have been put in place that slowed his ability to send them. from the "washington post" reporting major general william walker didn't receive approval

to change the dc guard's mission and sent his forces to the capitol on january 6th. until three hours and 19 minutes after he first received an emotional call from the capitol police chief requesting urgent back-up. walker described the restrictions as unusual noting he did not have such limitations last summer when the dc guard was tasked with racial justice protests after the killing of george floyd. walker's explosive testimony raises more questions about why the delay occurred as congress tries to piece together the missteps that enabled the horrific breach on the capitol. an attack on the democracy. new reporting shows at risk of happening again. nbc news learned of a joint intelligence bulletin sent by dhs and the fbi to state and local law enforcement warning that some domestic groups have discussed plans to take control of the u.s. capitol and remove democratic lawmakers on or about this thursday march 4th. according to a senior law enforcement official who describes the document.

the bulletin says extremists were emboldened by the insurrection and domestic violent extremists have a continued perception of election fraud associated with the transition which may contribute to domestic violent extremists mobiliing to violence with little or no warning. also noted they obtained intelligence of a possible threat putting out a statement that reads in part, quote, we've already made significant security upgrades to include establishing a physical structure and increasing manpower to ensure the protection of congress, the public, and of police officers. our department is working with our local, state and federal partners to stop any threats to the capitol. we're taking the intelligence seriously. and breaking news just this hour, three sources tell nbc news the house is scrapping plans for its session tomorrow due to this heightened threat. the threat of violence following the spread of the big lie both on january 6th and beyond where we start this hour with some of our favorite reporters and

friends. miles taylor is back. he's a former chief of staff at the department of homeland security during the trump administration. he's the co-founder and adviser to the group, the republican political alliance for integrity and reform. also joining us, eugene daniels, white house reporter and co-author of politico's play book and develin. your byline has been on a lot of this reporting. take me through the latest. >> the hearing today primarily about what the pentagon did or didn't do on january 6th and leading up to that. the delay in getting approval to send national guard to help at the capitol. to be honest though, i do think the larger issue is if you don't have those resources in place and ready that morning, i don't think you are going to prevent this breach from happening. i don't think you were going to

prevent people from getting in if you're summoning, if you're asking for the national guard that afternoon. there were missed opportunities before as well. >> walker testified though, eugene, that he could be there in 18 minutes. he had the national guard sitting on a bus knowing he would eventually get approval. let me show you some of the questioning from senator angus king. >> was the delay caused, in your judgment, from being on these various phone calls, by anything remotely resembling politics and a desire not to interfere with this particular group or was it because of the, i think the word blowback was used, concerns about what happened in the summer and the criticism the guard has taken for his actions at lafayette square or other parts of the summer as many. >> in my opinion, two factors.

i had the benefit and comfort of having the secretary of the army co-located with me during the summer. i didn't have that benefit for january 6th. so there was some concern. i don't think it was so much of what the district of columbia national guard and guard nation did for june. i think it was more the word i kept hearing was the optics of it and there was concern it could inflame the protesters. so uniform presence of guardsmen in u.s. air force and army uniforms could inflame the protesters. that was a thought by army senior leaders. >> so eugene, there was a concern about optics. the concern was held by mike flynn's brother. mike flynn pardoned by donald trump before he left office and held an event, like a rehearsal dinner, if you will, for the

insurrectionists the night before where he was advocating and inciting the violence that took place the next day with very much the same calls for fighting that rudy giuliani and donald trump used at the eclipse on the day of the insurrection. optics were of concern when the insurrectionists were trump supporters waving trump flags but optics were never a concern for the pentagon over the summer. explain. >> absolutely not. when you look at the difference between how protesters, peaceful protesters were treated in the summer, you know, when they were protesting against racism in this country and there were smoke pellets thrown at them, shot with rubber bullets so that then president trump could go take a picture in front of a church with a bible in his hand, that is the complete opposite of what we saw.

the idea is the benefit of the doubt would learn their lesson. but at the same time, what we know is that before january 6th, these people were saying they were going to take the capitol. it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, right? that was not what happened in the summer. and so it was perpetuated. we've talked about this a lot on this and other shows, perpetuated by a lie that president trump told from the very beginning and that is something that the people when you watch their interviews, they thought they were there because president trump told them to come there. whether or not he did explicitly or not that day. >> optics is just such an intriguing word and i hope the congress has an opportunity to speak with charles flynn about what he meant when he said optics. in my view, miles taylor, the optics of the president who sits atop the chain of command, the optics of the military not responding for three hours and

19 minutes are the scandal. >> nicolle, you and eugene have hit the nail on the head like you always do here and i look at this incident and say the red flag is three hours and 19 minutes. now, look, when i was in government helping oversee the department of homeland security, we had sophisticated plans in place for continity of government. making sure the centers of power in the united states were not overrun and ransacked and taken over. why did it take three hours and 19 minutes to activate some of those plans? you have to ask yourself not just about what was happening on the ground, but why wasn't the meeting convened in the white house situation room immediately and at the highest levels? these things ordered. because it didn't take the chain of command to figure out what was going on. all of us on this broadcast right now were watching in realtime as the capitol was ransacked. why didn't those things happen? this was the type of incident where delay can be deadly and i

also think, nicolle, you've got to look beyond what happened. those immediate moments on january 6th. what happened to the days leading up to it because my old department, did department of homeland security should have been seeing the warning signs, communicating the warning signs and we should be asking serious questions like why senior dhs leadership was on a farewell international tour while the united states capitol was being ransacked. that's information that we need to get to the bottom of this. >> isn't the answer obvious? i mean, this was an event publicized by donald trump. we learned during the impeachment trial it was funded by donald trump's campaign. he was the main event at the ellipse. would it have been awkward to warn capitol police about trump's event? >> nicolle, i'm really worried about the stories that i've seen

that show there were political motivations not just around january 6th but the weeks leading up to it when it comes to things like domestic terrorism and white supremacist groups threatening our country. i worry that intelligence information was suppressed related to those movements and suppressed for political reasons. now, we haven't firmly established that yet, but there's been enough whistleblowers and enough reports out there that that should be factored into this investigation. >> the truth emerging, i believe it was "post" exclusive that reported on mike flynn's brother. it was something the pentagon denied at the time. i don't remember if i was specifically on the conference or not and then the testimony today that he was actually on

the call and the person that worried about optics. >> right. so it was very clear from the witnesses today that he was on that call. it took a long time, frankly, to pry that detail out of military officials and i think that raises an obvious appearance question. you know, this person who is the brother of someone who has really embraced and advocated and amplified the qanon message and endless conspiracy theories was involved in the decision-making process about how to deal with a mob that includes some of the adherents of that message. that's an obvious natural question to ask, and so what we learn today in the testimony was that he was in that call. he was part of that discussion, but to be honest, i still think there's a lot more to do on this. i think there are a lot of people we haven't heard from yet and i think we have a bare bones

architecture but a lot more needs to be figured out. >> i want to ask you about the threat that alert that became public tuesday night warning about tomorrow and then in the last 30 minutes, it was announced that house business would not take place tomorrow. just talk about the level of anxiety and concern around this latest threat. >> you know, all of us in dc kind of have this anxiety after we saw what happened on january 6th. some of my colleagues, people i love and work with every single day were there. so there's always this concern about what could happen. qanon was kind of always date-driven. that still seems to be the case. they've chosen this date because the goal post keeps getting moved backward. they had fantasies that on january 20th before joe biden took his hand on the bible and took the oath of office, the military would arrest everyone on stage. that anxiety and then we saw

what happened on january 6th. we continue to see these kind of things percolating online with the same type of people. the anxiety just buttoned up higher and higher and higher as people are trying to do work in the house. reporters are trying to do their jobs and staff members are trying to support the work of the american people. and i think something that is making it worse is that the lie that started all of this has become a part of the republican party orthodoxy almost. you see former mike pence calling on and saying there are a significant voter irregularities when that wasn't true. he said millions of people were concerned and they're concerned because president trump got on stage and lied on 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning on november 4th that this election was being stolen from him and it's all cyclical. >> miles, you were in the room with mike pence. what's wrong with mike pence? people wanted to, quote, hang

mike pence. they hung a noose outside in case they got to do what they said they wanted to do. why is he adhering to the big lie that is behind the terror alert? how do you run for president if you're the thing that puts country at risk of a terror attack? >> it defies all logic and morality. donald trump has seen mike pence totally abdicate himself on the altar of trumpism and i think mike pence sees this as politically beneficial to not cut against his former boss. that's really unfortunate, not just for political reasons but for national security reasons because the perpetuation of this lie is an actual national security threat and i can tell you, having helped overseen the preparations in this government that the election was secure, that it was a lie. there was not widespread fraud. donald trump because of the perpetuation of the lie made extremism go mainstream. just the other day, i had a

friend who had a close relative who's sane, rational, well educated who came forward and said about donald trump getting reinaugurated on march 4th. these lies are going mainstream and that's created the potential for violence. main street radicalism that we have to deal with in this country and not just isolated, but these people are getting online and crossing state lines to coordinate and we've got to look to the biden administration to put together a tough plan to counter it. >> it's not the biden administration's problem to solve. our old party is the disgrace that caused the terror threat and i don't know what to do with my rising panic that the republican party who thought they did a good job of making sure the attacks of 9/11 wasn't repeated on our homeland, they're now part of the terror threat and make the threat more dire. what role do republicans have to put national security ahead of the iowa caucuses?

>> nicolle, as a fellow republican with some of the people out there saying the wrong thing, i've got to put forward, they have got to stand up and again, it's not just political. this is national security. after 9/11, we saw members of congress on both sides of the aisle walk out, stand on the capitol steps, hold hands and sing the national anthem. why weren't we seeing that type of uniied response after january 6th? the reason is because of republican extremism right now that's fueling this narrative that's jumped the tracks from rhetoric into violence. that's on republicans. republicans need to step forward especially in the wake of this most recent joint intelligence bulletin and say these dates of march 4th and may 20th when qanoners think the military will help donald trump come back to office, they need to debunk those lies. they need to debunk them forcefully and they need to be out there in their districts with their constituents saying that this is bs.

>> devlin, you cover law enforcement and fbi and justice department. were you surprised by how stark and specific the language is about what exactly incites the domestic extremists and what incites them is adherence to the election fraud lie? >> yeah, i think that's a big problem for law enforcement in this sense. the fbi has pursued politically motivated violence for decades. that's nothing new. what's very different about, i think, this particular type of threat is you've now got people talking about doing insane degrees of violence for things like holding the majority in congress. i think one of the challenges for the fbi is they have to be able to sift through all of these people who want to do horrible violence with the end goal of basically very traditional politics.

that is a combination that i think is still something the fbi is coming to terms with and sorting out the dangerous from just sort of the keyboard commandos is a big, big task ahead for the fbi. >> but eugene, it gets to the bigger point that the keyboard commandos are part of a movement that, as miles keeps saying, is radicalized to violence and i wonder if you think the testimony yesterday from christopher wray, which could not have been more stark, there was no antifa at the insurrection. sorry ron johnson. no fantasy fake trump people there. just trump supporters, white supremacists and violent extremists. that's it. >> the republican party is not going to be able to have a good healthy conversation about this unless they get over all the conspiracy theories that are part of january 6th. because i think something that when i talk to republicans behind the scenes, they know that these things aren't true,

but they're worried about the blowback from former president trump and his allies. they're also, they don't know what to do here. they don't want to take blame for what happened on january 6th as they perpetuated this lie. i don't think they thought it was going to go this far no matter how much the people who are saying they were going to take the capitol, that was their house, even before january 6th. they didn't think that was going to happen. so republicans are going to have to, just like miles was saying there, have this conversation about what actually is their party about and as these threats become more real, we saw what could happen. where do they stand on it? even ron johnson was talking about the fact that asking, were there any firearms? did you find any guns to kind of tie this, make this loop that this wasn't that dangerous? there were no guns there. but we know people have baseball bats. we know they had zip ties. we know they were saying they

wanted to hang mike pence. they were walking around yelling for nancy pelosi, so all of these things made it just as dangerous as would be. >> ron johnson's position is death was had through means other than firearms, everything's okay here. it's an unbelievable state of affairs. eugene, miles, devlin. three of the most knowledgeable people to talk to about these topics. thank you for starting us off. dolly parton getting a taste of her own medicine. helped fund the development of the moderna vaccine and now, she's had her first shot. vaccinations ramp up all across this country. the debate raging over whether some states are lifting covid restrictions too soon. that story's next. plus, president biden's plan to get schools reopened. such a priority for the administration that first lady jill biden and the newly sworn in secretary of education toured two schools opened for in-person learning in the hopes that others will follow suit in the latest on the push for covid relief in the face of republican opposition in washington.

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♪ vaccine, vaccine, vaccine ♪ ♪ i'm begging of you, please don't hesitate ♪ ♪ vaccine, vaccine, vaccine ♪ ♪ because once you're dead, then that's a bit too late ♪ >> i'm finally going to get my vaccine. i'm so excited. i'm old enough to get it and i'm smart enough to get it. >> i love her.

dolly parton $1 million donation to vanderbilt university helped develop the moderna vaccine, getting what she joked was a dose of her own medicine. calling on public leaders to get vaccinated as soon as they're eligible. it comes after president biden announced yesterday that this country, we will have enough vaccine doses for every adult in the country by the end of may. until then, the director of the cdc continues to warn of our most imminent threats. the changing virus, a recent uptick in covid cases and deaths and deepening covid fatigue. >> today, we are at a critical nexus in the pandemic. stamina has worn thin, fatigue is winning and the exact measures we've taken to stop the pandemic are too often being flagrantly ignored. how this plays out is up to us. the next three months are pivotal. >> turning our conversation, msnbc medical contributor, our

friend, dr. nahid and then boston university school of medicine and matt dowd is back, founder of country over party. start with the good news. we were on the air yesterday when president biden made the announcement that there would be enough vaccine supply in this country by the end of may to vaccinate every american. what does that look like? that is a whole lot of logistical, massive logistical efforts. >> that's right. i think that now that supply potentially is looking like the easier part of this between now and then in may, as long as manufacturing capacity continues to be what they predicted, the bigger effort will be the distribution and it's going to be that equity and it really literally means getting out to all the communities that are affected and it means, you know, keeping track now of these three different vaccines but i think it's doable. it's doable with enough resources behind it and enough sort of heart to try to bring

all that felt left out outside of this. the thing that does worry me is what dr. walensky talked about today was this variance in state's adoptions of the cdc recommendations. what we do between now and then, and generally, there is some variance in the way the states adopt cdc guidance. like when you look at h1n1 and ebola, they dealt differently with returning responders, but the amount of variants we've seen recently with states and how they interpret and adopt cdc guidance is worrisome to me as we move forward and a sign of our times and how politically divided we are. >> this might be a dumb question but i live in new york where the anti-smoking messages are brutal and graphic. i wonder if the public messaging should be more brutal and graphic. don't be the last person to die of covid. >> i think we need to drive that, what dolly parton said. one, thank you, ms. parton for the donations because clearly the biomedical community gained from it as did the rest of us.

the big part of the point she made, if you're dead, it's too late and then also, we need to have a message of hope is this is how we return to normalcy. not just fear but this is our united responsibility of returning our communities and our economy back to normal. >> you just said power out so i'll do a leaky roof weather analogy but waiting for the roof to be repaired. you don't let the house flood. you do all the things knowing the roof is scheduled to be repaired. i wonder if the moves in texas will have unintended consequence. beto o'rourke on last hour and say people will die because of this. if your leaders send a signal it's over, but you haven't been vaccinated, the risk is the very same today as it was a month ago and until you're vaccinated, you could die of covid. >> nicolle, that's my biggest concern is that you're right, there should be a harsher sharper edge message on why people need to get this but

what's also happening simultaneously is the countermessaging. what the governor said is a counter message. basically it said we're back to business. restaurants can be open 100%. you can go into stores, do whatever you want. no masks, don't worry but basically don't worry about it which sends a message to people. there's a group of people in the population that won't get the vaccine. absolutely won't get the vaccine and there's not much we can do about that. and then there's this group that's the hesitant group and that in places like texas now is hearing a message from the leader of the state that basically we're already back to normal. so intuitively, they're thinking, why now do i need the vaccine? i was nervous about it, but not only a specific problem which is not vaccinating people and people will get sick and die, but for a whole bunch of other people that might have gotten ready to take a vaccine, they're now hearing a completely opposite message from what dolly

parton, who i have to say i'm a huge fan, talk about a woman who's come from nowhere. the fourth member of 12 children born in a cabin in pitman center, tennessee and she's done more to combat this coronavirus than almost every single republican official in the country. >> can't argue with that and i think of your frame around servant leaders. she's also done more to serve her fellow americans and that's where i get stuck on this texas question. what is abbott's incentive in the moment of political crisis for his own governorship where he was caught abdicating his responsibilities as leader of the state during the freeze? why now in danger. we don't want to be the arbiters of whether people want to wear a mask or not. >> in homage to dolly parton again, state capitol here has

become the best little capitol house in texas in where we are today. i have multiple explanations, none of them seem rational but multiple explanations about why the governor would do this. first, he just had a horrible week because he didn't deal with the power going out and people losing their water and pipes breaking. he didn't deal with it well at all. basically today now a lot of us are talking about why aren't we having to wear masks anymore? so somewhat of a shift. but keep in mind, a large segment of the republican primary vote which is what greg abbott's worried about. he's not worried about the general election and he is somebody that's talked to a lot of people about running for president in 2024. a large segment, a majority segment of the republican primary vote, completely 100% agrees with him. i think he's competing with the other sort of bizarre governor in south dakota who said basically i'm not going to do

anything, aren't we free in south dakota where he have the highest death rate and highest rate of coronavirus, one of the highest in the country but she seems completely happy with it. a two for. get off the bad week to create another bad week and worried about the republican primary base which he is in sync with. >> so scary. doctor, just to set the record straight. not that our viewers need it but the science suggests that we'll be wearing our masks to protect the unvaccinated people in our communities for a while longer, right? >> that's right. i mean, we know that vaccines can potentially reduce transmission but we don't know that yet and until there's enough of us that have been vaccinated that we don't pose a threat, we have to wear this mask but secondary. we have to learn lessons from this pandemic. the flu cases are down. the common cold cases are down. by the way, cost about $40 billion in economic activity every year. the flu causes like 30,000 to

60,000 deaths a year. those have gone down and maybe not the same restrictions but learn the lessons of when you're sick, you don't come to work. maybe wear a mask or traveling long distances, wear a mask. keep the habits, good habits of what we've learned in terms of the benefit we've seen and i think those will hopefully continue even past the acute phase of the pandemic. >> dr. bhadelia, thank you for that and matt, stick around. education secretary in place. president biden with all out push to reopen schools safely. that story is next. to reopen s. that story is next metastatic breast cancer is relentless, but i'm relentless every day. and having more days is possible with verzenio, proven to help you live significantly longer when taken with fulvestrant. verzenio + fulvestrant is for women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy. diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection.

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42 days ago, joe biden was sworn in as our country's president and one of the most ambitious promises he made was to get america's kids back in schoolhouses and to reopen within his first 100 days in office. with vaccinations going up, his administration with a big push to make good on that promise. today, first lady jill biden toured schools with miguel cardona to see how schools are preparing to open safely for in-person learning while president biden is using his bully pulpit to urge states to prioritize vaccinating teachers and staff by the end of march. joining our conversation, nbc news correspondent carol lee and matt dowd is still here. carol, this has been getting from the white house, maybe not

as much coverage but because of the vaccinations but i want to play his announcement. >> 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 they have anxieties about that. my challenge to all states and 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. >> i'll confess, one of my parents with some anxiety but the science is in now. schools that adhere to mask wearing and ventilation and open windows and social data have a year of data behind them now. it is possible to do this safely. >> right, nicolle. and that's the most forceful we've heard from president biden on the schools issue. this administration, this white house kind of took a few beats

to get their messages right on school reopenings and they were criticized for setting a goal of one day a week which was seen as too low and then setloftier goal and i think what you're seeing is as that benchmark gets closer, there's a realization within the white house. one, just what you said that the science is there that supports this and also, it's not going to happen without some very forceful strong voice coming from the federal government, from the president himself and that's why you saw him step out and say that they were going to prioritize. they want states to prioritize teachers for vaccines. he said that in the past but also caveated and said, well, we don't really have control of that. it's up to the states and what we heard him say yesterday is he wants states to do it and use this federal partnership with pharmacies to try to get states that aren't prioritizing teachers for the vaccine to get

to make it easier for the teachers to get the vaccine, there's going to be a national summit at the white house that's organizing this month on this issue. they're thinking about appointing schools reopenings. so part of the overarching theme here is that there's an acknowledgment that in order to get the country back to normal, as much as possible, that schools are a real key component of that, that you can't reopen the economy in the way you want to without schools because parents rely on sending their children to school. there are students who are well behind because of virtual learning has gone on for a year now and they really need to deal with some of these mental health issues. it's a recognition that the problem is large and that it requires a real big voice and that's what the president is doing here, try to use the bully pulpit but also that without schools reopening, we're never going to get back to normal. >> matthew, this debate, i think, was tainted maybe by the last president who, there wasn't

science yet when he was advocating for all the schools to go back because schools hadn't been in session at that point in the pandemic and i wonder how much you think sort of the trump hangover is impeding the policy-making and the public's reception of this new administration's policy making. >> well, you know, one of the things is that, yes, there is political division going on and so it contributes to if joe biden is for it, 40% of the country is against it no matter what it is or a third of the country is against it. it's less than existed with donald trump where more than of the country was against it and justifiably so in this. nicolle, you have a child, i have a daughter whose junior year was basically shot last year and senior's year is shot and i don't think we can underestimate, all of us want the schools to open but in our history of america, moments in time leave indelible marks on

generations of people. they move from those and they are affected by those events for a long period of time. 9/11 happened to a whole generation of folks and it affected them. what we're doing, in the midst of now, is going to affect an entire generation of folks. how they approach politics, how they approach public policy, how they approach, how they interact with human beings and what our kids and our teachers have all had to go through in a unified moment of time and what i think i'm most frustrated about is all of these republican office holders push and say, open schools, open the schools, first, they're not listening to the parents who are like, yeah, i want the schools open but i want it to be safe for my kid but second is, what joe biden is pushing in the covid relief bill is the capacity to open the schools. so the gop wants the schools open but not to support the strategy, the methods and the

resources that would allow the schools to open as quickly as possible and safely. that's another example of the gop saying one thing and doing another, which we've obviously become a consistent pattern over the course of this but i don't think we can underestimate what effect this last year has had on a generation whether they're graduating from high school, entering into elementary school or graduating from college. the effect is going to be long and drawn out in how these people, these young people view the world. >> oh, that's so true. i have so many thoughts. we have to have that conversation some day, all three of us. carol and matt are sticking around. when we come back -- why republicans are opposed to covid relief when their own constituents for many of the reasons matt dowd laid out are for it. that's next. reasons matt dowd laid out are for it that's next. h. listerine® cleans virtually 100%. helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. never settle for 25%.

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single piece of the bill you passed addresses a genuine desperate need for the american people. each piece isn't just defensible, it is urgent and overwhelmingly supported by the people. it's good policy and it's good politics. we never had anything this urgent and this ambitious that was so widely embraced. >> the polls bear that out, what he just said. president biden, a few moments ago at a virtual meeting with house democrats touting the popularity of his $1.9 trillion covid relief plan that they passed early saturday morning. that bill is now being taken up by the senate and democrats are gearing up to pass it without a single republican vote. let me read you the approval rating for the package. 77% of all voters support the covid relief package. 59% of all republican voters support the covid relief

package. republican governors who have appeared on this network support the relief package. mayors, local officials for the relief package. republicans putting themselves way outside of a lot of stake holders this their own districts and in their own states with their opposition. >> yeah, nicolle. the white house feels, in terms of where the country is on this and where republicans are outside of washington, they feel good about their position there. obviously, the president made an effort and they're still giving lip service to the idea that there's an effort to win over republicans here in washington, but there's a confidence that the american public is with them and on their side and they've tried to get this through the house and now the senate to court some of those mayors, local officials, governors to build momentum, thinking maybe

that would put some pressure on lawmakers inside washington. that hasn't worked, but what it has done is born out support across the country among americans for the various elements of the plan. one of the interesting things the president said in his remarks to house democrats was one he thanked them for compromise. because there is still a little bit of wrangling that they need to do within the party to get this over the finish line. but he also said that this could build momentum to make it easier to get future things done. so kind of holding out this carrot of hope that if they can stick together and pass this, that will build momentum to get his priorities done. that remains to be seen. but we've so far seen a pretty united party and bipartisan support in the country for this. >> you know, matt, i am thinking of something former speaker boehner said that when there is legislation that gives people

things, and in this case, this is going to give people -- this funds the actual vaccinations and the production of a lot of that vaccine. this will fund some of the mesh measures schools have to go through, safer to put kids back in the classroom and teachers. once people are vaccinated and are able to drop their kids off at school and maybe go back to an office, they might like those things, whether they're part of the 77% who support it or not. it just seems like this is a political problem that is going to get worse for republicans before it gets better. >> yeah. well, i mean, for some reason, the republicans continue -- it's ever since the donald trump era when they lost badly in 2018 and they lost again in 2020, and then the disaster of the insurrection on january 6. they cannot seem to get out of their own way. i think the biden administration has done a pretty good job in

how to define bipartisanship. i've always been of the mind you can't divide -- you define bipartisanship by what goes on in washington, d.c., because they're making decisions for wholly other reasons than that. it would be like, nicolle, if you or carol, when we're all back to normal decide to hold a party, right? and you send out invitations. and half the people don't say they want to come and then go around the street and complain why wasn't i invited? well, you were invited but you didn't want to come. >> i think that happened to me in high school. >> i think we all in the media have to quit defining bipartisanship by what happens in washington, d.c. because that's not bipartisanship. those are decisions made for wholly different reasons. we have to define bipartisanship by what the country is saying, not what people in washington, d.c. are saying. >> such a good point. carol lee, matt dowd, thank you so much for spending time with

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achieve more. and like most teachers, his idea of success was watching his students achieve it. it is no surprise over his multidecade career in florida that he earned award after award after award. he taught social studies and civic engagement. he was passionate about getting his students registered to vote as soon as they turned 18. more recently, though, he was enjoying retirement with his lovely wife joan and his kids and his grandkids. but he contracted covid-19 a few months ago, and in september, he died at the young age of 78. larry kelly's legacy is one to be proud of. thousands of lives changed, improved because of him and a beautiful family who misses him every single day. we will be right back.

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