good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where covid relief legislation that could send direct checks more than 100 million americans is inching towards a final vote in the senate. the remaining hurdle is the vote-orama from republican proposals aimed at stretching out the process and making moderate democrats take tough votes. senate democrats are pushing covid relief on capitol hill, there's also good news on the economy. 465,000 private-sector jobs added in february. the employment rate at 6.2%, but long-term unemployment still a problem for millions of american who is remain unemployed and

giving up. chief white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host, kelly o'donnell, garrett haake on capitol hill, chris lieu, former deputy secretary of labor in the obama administration and david jolly, former republican. garrett, you've been chasing this senate vote since they gavelled into session today after their long night of reading, the reading marathon. how long is the process going to take? any way to estimate? >> reporter: this could be a very long process. sort of a popular parlor game on the hill to ask senators when they think they'll be done. the ones i've talked to expect it will be well after midnight. so far there have been more than 250 amendments filed although in contrast, the last time we did one of these there were more than 900 amendments filed and only about 40 got voted. we're till looking at dozens of amendment votes and debates on each one of those that could take us well into the wee hours of saturday morning, andrea. >> david jolly, we're at a

point -- a day behind schedule because of ron johnson demanding a reading of that 628-page bill give or take few pages, took up to 11 hours. senator warren from virginia told me yesterday there was bipartisan irritation in the senate to that, what he considered a stunt. how do you see this playing out? >> no senator likes to work longer hours than they're asked to despite their part-time work schedule generally. ron johnson is trying to make a point, trying to become a hero of the conservative right. but he's choosing an interesting issue on which to do it, andrea, which is a largely popular covid relief bill. and the interesting thing about this is now about 45 days into the biden administration this will be the defining moment of joe biden's first 100 days, the passage and signature of a major covid relief bill. it is intriguing that republicans have decided this is what they're going to try to

stop. my curiosity is when biden comes out with a victory lap on this covid relief bill, do republicans try to message against it? is this the defining contrast they want going into this political year or do they stay a little quieter and let biden have his moment and choose a fight down the road they find more political value in. >> kristen, what are you hearing from the president's team. they had kept saying they were going to get some republican support. then they switched to, as you've been reporting, to what is bipartisan out in the country because they have such good numbers. the polling support, what they're hearing from republican mayors, even from some republican governors. but they're not going to get a single republican volt so far. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. i think you underscore perfectly what the messaging is going to be from this administration. they are going to put the focus on the fact that this piece of legislation is very popular when it comes to the american people. they're going to put the focus on those $1,400 direct payments

and of course that comes with a compromise. they have compromised with moderate democrats to try to make sure they don't lose any democratic volts. of course they can't afford to. and that means that about 7 million fewer americans will get those direct payments than was in the house legislation. that means that those making less than $80,000 or couple ls making less than $160,000 will be getting those direct payments. there's also going to be aid to state and local governments as well as billions of dollars for vaccine rollout and a child tax credit. so those are the types of things that the administration is going to focus on. and they're using this jobs report, andrea, to try to underscore their point, making the argument that the economy still has a long way to go to get back to its precovid levels, that, yes, it is showing some signs of strength and recovery, but there's still about 9 million fewer jobs than there were a year ago. i think that's where the focus is going to be.

>> chriss lieu, talk about that jobs report because there are some people saying, you see we're creating jobs and reopening and it's a good thing and the economy is on a good trajectory. not so fast, said jay powell in his report this week. as kristen's reporting, the white house is saying we need this bill even though it's not really a stimulus bill, it's a recover bill. >> today's jobs report is encouraging but put it in context. we lost 9.5 million jobs since the beginning of the pandemic, so at the rate we're going right now, it would take two years to recover all of these jobs. and as jay powell said, the real unemployment rate is probably closer to 10% right now instead of the 6% that's been reported. underlying this report are a lot of really troubling signs. 4 million people have left the labor force. 6 million people are working

part-time but would rather be working full-time. as you pointed out, 4 million people are long-term unemployed, out of work for more than six months. we know the longer you're out of work, the harder it is to get a job. we go back to this. the lesson of the great recession is that unless you go big, the recovery takes longer and more americans are hurt. it's one of the reasons why the biden administration is coming out with this big proposal. there's money here not only for vaccines and testing, but it's money that goes to unemployed workers, about 11 million of whom who are going to start losings benefits in nine days unless congress takes action on all this. there's $50 billion for small businesses. we learned in today's jobs report that restaurants and bars have lost 3.5 million jobs sin the beginning of the recession. we have to go big and that's what president biden is doing. >> david, back to the senate and

what we're hearing from republicans, mitch mcconnell yesterday, about how this latest round of covid relief is not necessary, it's big democratic spending, a democratic wish list, you know, billions still haven't been allocated, et cetera, etc. here's the way chris murphy tried to puncture that with his own fact check yesterday. >> it's a little hard to listen to my republican colleagues claim that this bill is too expensive when they were willing to spend the exact same amount of money in 2017 on tax cuts for their wealthy corporate and millionaire friends. now all of a sudden when democrats are in charge of the white house, when a democratic majority leader sits here in the united states senate, $1.9 trillion is too much money to spend. democrats took control of the white house and took control of the senate. all of these things, which were categorized as covid relief by

republicans in march, are no longer covid relief. you're just supposed to think of these as extras. >> so david, he makes a point as he says that 90%, 95% of this is exactly the same streams of money with some money added in that were approved in a big bipartisan vote last march. >> sure. look, if donald trump would have been advocating for when he was fighting for his survival, his political survival. audacity is something we're going to see a lot of from republicans throughout the biden administration, particularly around the debt and deficit, which we know republicans have lost credibility on. the one area where republicans could have made an effort to amend this bill, andrea, and it would have played well with republicans, is this -- perhaps the stimulus checks should be going to only those who have seen that diminishment of their income, right. in round one of the small business ppp program, it was any

business qualified. in round two, they said wait a minute, businesses should have to show they lost income to qualify. i think as we get into successive rounds of checks going to the american people, they should specifically target people who have lost income. republicans could have gone that route, but it would have required negotiating in good faith, which they don't have any interest in doing with the current administration unfortunately. >> garrett, let's just catch up with this minimum wage vote that's under way. they've been debating that. is this the bernie sanders minimum wage vote? and so far, the senators, the democratic senators who have been against, according to the count from our hill people, joe manchin, jeanne shaheen, angus king, kristin cinema, chris coons, john tess or the, john karpen ter, maggie hassett. is that the way it's going? >> reporter: that's the way it is going. this is something of a protest vote by senator sander, who

wanted to get his democrats on the record about this minimum wage provision and cannot be in the final version of the bill because of the budget rules can under which they're operating. now we're able to see the state of play with democrats. some democrat who is voted no will argue this is sort of an extraneous vote and maybe doesn't reflect their real position. what we're seeing is there's not a united democratic vote for $15 minimum wage. that may play into republicans who have been arguing that even mitch mcconnell, by the way, is saying we need to raise the minimum wage but perhaps not that much. there are a couple of republican proposals out there that have been kind of shopping around for democratic support. progressives in the house say $15 minimum wage is already a compromise. so you're seeing now in the votes as they're being tallied just how challenging it will be to come up with the 60 votes necessary in the senate and the house majority to find a kind of goldilocks option to raise the minimum wage if the biden administration stays committed to doing so.

>> of course the caveat is until they gavel down people can still switch their vote. kristen welker, finally, as garrett has been teptelling us every day, this is easy one, as long as it's going to be into the overnight hours, this unlike a lot of the president's other proposals, immigration, for instance, and certainly the criminal justice reform, the police bill we saw the other night, to get those to the senate is going to be so hard because this is the 50-vote margin, not the 60-vote margin. >> reporter: i think that's right, andrea. the fact that you saw vice president kamala harris as the tiebreaking vote overnight just to move this into debate really shows the sign of the times, that this is a deeply divided congress. it will be very difficult to move on these priorities, the george floyd bill, of course, climate change. think about how difficult that will be and of course immigration, andrea.

a sign of things to come. >> thanks so very much. kristen welker, garrett haake, chris lu, david jolly, thanks for kicking it off today. coming up, can new york governor andrew cuomo survive the growing scandal surrounding him as two of his sexual harassment accusers speak publicly? and new reports his administration altered the count of covid nursing home deaths. that's next. i'll be observing your safe-driving abilities. play your cards right, and you could be in for a tasty discount. [ clicks pen] let's roll. hey, check it out. one time i tripped on the sidewalk over here. [ heavy-metal music playing ] -[ snoring ] -and a high of 89 degrees. [ electronic music playing ] ooh! ooh! who just gives away wood? the snapshot app from progressive rewards you for driving safe and driving less. there's an app? -[ chuckles ] beth. -save money with progressive. [ tires screech ] well, that came out of nowhere. plaque psoriasis, the burning, itching. the pain.

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new york governor andrew cuomo is facing growing backlash as two scandals surrounding him continue to spiral. two of the women who have accused cuomo of sexual harassment are speaking out in new interviews and the governor is expected to lose his emergency pandemic powers amid new reporting on efrltss by his top aide toss conceal the high number of nursing home deaths in new york state. those powers enacted just a year ago gave the governor wide authority over pandemic restrictions without legislative or local government consent. anne thompson has more. >> reporter: new pressure from both scandals facing new york governor drew dry as a report in "the new york times" tells top aide alsoered a report in june 2020 to conceal the number of nursing home residents who died in t 20. it excluded residents who died

in hospitals. at the time, cuomo was making plans to write a book on his handling of the pandemic, for which he'd won widespread praise. a senior responding to nbc news that the hospital data was left out after the state health department could not confirm it had been adequately verified. instead, it did not change the report's conclusion. this as two of the three women who claim cuomo sex utilitily harassed them are speaking out. >> without explicitly saying it, he implied to me that i was old enough for him and he was lonely. >> reporter: 25-year-old charlotte bennett was an executive assistant to cuomo. she told cbs news she had a disturbing conversation with the governor in his office on june 5th. >> he asked me if mattered. he also explained that he was fine with anyone over 22. i thought, he's trying to sleep with me.

the governor is trying to sleep with me. and i'm deeply uncomfortable and i have to get out of this room as soon as possible. >> reporter: when asked for comment, cuomo's spokesperson referred us to wednesday's press conference. >> i never, ever meant to offend anyone or hurt anyone or cause anyone pain. >> reporter: and the governor's apology. >> i was apologizing to the young woman who worked here, who said that i made her feel uncomfortable. >> reporter: an apology bennett does not accept. >> he has not apologized for sexually harassing me, and he can't even use my name. >> reporter: another former aide, lindsey boylan, said the governor made inappropriate remarks during her tenure and gave her an unwanted kiss. today in "harper's bazaar," boylan says, "i'm not focused on

punishment. i'm focused on accountability." >> joining me now is anne thompson, jesse mckinley, and pbs news hour white house correspondent yamiche alcindor. following up on your story, what is the outlook now politically as more people are saying that if he doesn't resign he should not run for reelection? >> well, that's what the latest quinnipiac poll shows, andrea, but i think in albany, and yes, sir see can speak to this better than i can, is the sense i get from talking to people is that people are running out of patience with andrew cuomo. i spoke to andrea stewart cousins, the senate majority leader, on wednesday. i asked her what was the breaking point. she wouldn't put a number on that. 24 hous later she's saying if one more accuser comes forward,

he needs to resign. the state senate is debating whether or not to repeal the emergency pandemic powers that were granted to governor cuomo at the start of this pandemic, and that's happening largely because of the nursing home scandal. because people don't trust him anymore when it comes to the number of deaths because his administration only reported those who died actually in nursing homes at the beginning and not those nursing home residents who went to hospitals and died. and so there is a growing distrust and certainly a growing sense of frustration. i don't think you can overestimate the impact of seeing charlotte bennett on tv tell her story. it has a much different effect than just reading her words in the newspaper. andrea? >> that's very true. let me play also, jesse, and i want to bring you into this and we're glad to have your

expertise here, also another segment from the norah o'donnell cbs interview with charlotte bennett and just the impact of it and ask you about it on the other side. >> i think abusers look for vulnerabilities, previous traumas, the idea that maybe i'm more willing to accept behavior because i have a history of sexual violence. perhaps i'm not as confident in myself. >> you think he knew that. >> yeah. >> you think he was grooming you. >> yeah. >> jesse, i want to ask you about albany, because you know it so well. also your colleague from "the new york times" who broke the story about the nursing home data that was altered by the cuomo aides as your colleague is reporting but also the impact of the interview being on

television and how that plays there. there are certain things that are just accepted, a certain amount of harassment in the me-too area, accepted in the state capitol in the legislative corridors but now it's become more graphically real and personal with the video of this norah o'donnell interview? does that have an impact on the political fallout? >> i think that charlotte's account on cbs, which concorded with our reporting last week and in "the times," was compelling. i think it was convincing. i think it was emotionally wrenching. and i certainly think for people that read our story and have seen that interview it brings home the fact that this was a young woman in an office with the chief executive of the state of new york in a very uncomfortable situation. and certainly albany does not have a good history when it comes to sexual misconduct and harassment. and i think that just to echo your report, i think there is

deep distrust now and deep frustration from democrats who run albany with the governor's performance, with his statements, with his apology, and with this report we had this morning about the fact that these reports on nursing homes, which predate even the sexual harassment scandal, seem to be doctored and incorrect. >> yamiche, just looking at this, andrew cuomo, the politics of it, there was a lot of talk in washington from the hud secretary about the bullying and his manner but he'd certainly become -- if anyone could be a hero when new york was in the -- ground zero really for the national tragedy of the pandemic a year ago, on television, on our network, and every other network as this hour, in fact, with his briefings, the book which certainly seems premature and a big mistake, now there's new talk about andrew cuomo running for president in 2024.

there's in fact real doubt that he can run for reelection. >> that's right. and andrew cuomo is really in it, not only in a tough position because of these allegations of course and because of his handling of the pandemic, but also puts the democratic party in a tough position. let's remember that democrats especially in the senate led the charge on me-too, who led to former senator al franken resigning. they were first and foremost kristen jill brand, the new york senator, was clear she would not tolerate any sort of behavior in this age of me-too. when you listen to charlotte and her talking about not just the fact that the governor was inappropriate but that he was using his power in a way that was grooming her as a rape survivor to try to sleep with her and using the style that he frankly used in some ways really to capture the attention of america during the pandemic, that gruff style, that kind of

tough style that -- almost angry style, he was using that same style in her office in some ways to bully people but to also try to befriend her and make her feel she was special. i think all of that really puts democrats in a tough position. we heard the white house the other day, they backed the investigation, but i think as this continues to go on it will be more untenable for democrats not to say more on that. >> indeed. it's a real touch stone of a story. an incredible personal saga also for those of us who followed andrew cuomo and before that his father for to many decades. thank you so much, anne thompson, jesse mckinley, thanks for being with us. yamiche alcindor, appreciate all of you. we have breaking news now following the former polici police officer involved in the death of george floyd. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams joins us now. that trial is set to start with jury selection on monday. what's happened today? >> it may not start on monday, andrea, if this gets appealed.

derrick shauf vin's lawyers argued a of 3rd degree murder. that can only be police force and someone died. that can't be used. the trial judge agreed. but an appeals court in minnesota said that's not the case, the charge can be used and sent it back to the trial court. shauf vin's lawyers can appeal this to the state supreme court and that could delay the start of the trial. as of now, the state is able to try again to get the third degree murder charge reinstated but chauvin's lawyers could appeal. the disparity in vaccination rates across the country continuing to grow. larry hogan under fire for low vaccinations in communities of color. how the state cannery verse that trend coming up next.

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if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe.

if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. as more americans get their

coronavirus shots and states lift restrictionses, a disparity is emerging. black americans received half the doses of white americans. this is particularly notable in maryland where predominantly white counties have much higher vaccination rates than counties that are predominantly blook. in worcester county, 83% white, 14.1% of residents are fully vaccinated but in prince george's county outside washington, a majority black, only 3.9% of the residents have gotten their shots. after growing criticism about the disparity, governor larry hogan has vowed to make it more equitable, announcing a new plan to target communities with pop-up clinics led by community organizations. >> top-down and bottom-up approach. we're not where we need to be with black -- the black community or the hispanic community.

>> joining me is dr. josh sharpstein at johns hopkins school of public health. doctor, thank you very much. you wrote an op-ed for "the washington post" about maryland's inequitable distribution last weekend and there's clearly a reaction with governor hogan announcing a new plan. do you think he goes far enough? >> i think it's a step in the right direction, andrea, but i think more needs to be done. there are some structural problems with the way maryland is giving out vaccines. for example, the state counts vaccines given to hospitals against the total for the county that the hospitals are located in. so baltimore city has 11 hospitals. a lot of vaccine is gone to those hospitals and they've turned around and vaccinated patients in the whole region. it's not a problem to give vaccine to hospitals but when you count it against the city's total, there that's less vaccine for baltimore city, a city that is two-thirds african-american. >> that's really a problem. when we talk about baltimore, johns hopkins, you know, a

nationally known medical center and other big hospitals, university of maryland, and they are drawing patients not just from all over maryland but from all over the region as you point out. so that is something. how is his plan going to help the people in the city of baltimore? >> i think that remains to be seen a little bit. we suggested in our op-ed some ways the state could be more supportive. right now the baltimore city health department is working with johns hopkins, university of medical, meld star and other hospitals to go out and bring vaccines to assisted living, to senior housing, to communities that are really being strug mg to get vaccine and where there are very high rates of covid. we need more resources for those kinds of efforts. i think, you know, you see that the state has a little bit of that in mind, but it's got to go a lot further to undo the enormous disparities that you just showed your viewers.

>> it's really unconscionable when you think about pg county next to the washington urban area, part of the washington area, and 3.9% rate of vaccination right there. a lot of those people are frontline workers who ought to qualify automatically in the first category. you write policymakers in maryland and around the country take note. there's no justification for pointing to vaccine hesitancy when the real problem is vaccine access. do you think local leaders are focusing on the wrong thing when they talk about the promotion on vaccine hesitancy when it's also -- when you say access, you're talking about websites that are really hard to navigate, and people who don't have high-speed broadband. >> at one point the governor himself said the issue isn't the amount of vaccine, it's whether people want it. of course that is not the case right now. right now many more people want it in every corner of maryland than the vaccine is accessible. in fact, in prince george's

county, 100,000 people put their name on a list saying please, please, i want the vaccine. the problem is not hesitancy at the moment. the problem is access. you know, the complicated system, the need to be on all these different websites and constantly be checking, that really in a sense discriminates against people who don't have an internet access, don't understand the language, don't have the time because they're working, to spend all this time trying to find a shot. so the only solution is to recognize this is a problem and do a whole series of things, managing to the outcome, making sure we get a fair vaccine distribution in the end. >> dr. sharpstein, thank you very much. we really appreciate it. check out our interactive and personal itzed state-by-state guide. it has everything you need to help you figure out when and where to get the covid-19 vaccine. log on to planyourvaccine.com.

the senate vote-orama ahead of the final vote on covid relief began with senator bernie sanders' $15 an hour minimum wage amendment that will apparently fail with bipartisan opposition. i don't know if they've gavelled him down yet. the chairman of the budget committee joins me now. there were seven democrats and angus king, the independent from maine, voting against it. i don't know if that's the final vote. >> i think that's roughly right, andrea. look, here is the bottom line. to my mind, the great crisis economically that we're facing in america is that 63% of the american people today are living paycheck to paycheck. and many, many millions of people are working at jobs that do not enable them to take adequate care of their families. in other words, they're working at starvation wages. the american people want us to

raise the minimum wage to a living wage of 15 bucks an hour. while i'm disappointed at the vote today, let me be very clear. we are not giving up on this. we are going to come back with vote after vote, and one way or the other we are going to pass a $15 an hour minimum wage. that is what the american people want. and that is what the american people need. >> senator, we've been talk here today about issues like climate change, like immigration reform, like the george floyd bill. all of these pieces of legislation that are going to get through the house, not that comfortably given the margins, but get through the house and die in the senate unless something is done because no matter how popular they are. that's what's so striking about this. and if you're facing that kind of a roadblock, is it time to rethink the filibuster? >> well, i would say two things. right now is as you've indicated just today, we're dealing with i think the most consequential

piece of legislation for working people in the modern history of this country. and we're doing that through a reconciliation process, which means that we only need 50 votes plus the vice president. and as you know, this legislation is going to provide $1,400 for every working-class person and their children. it will extend unemployment with a $400 supplement on top of normal unemployment. a whole lot of money for education so we can reopen our schools, expand health care. it is enormously important. sadly enough, we have zero republican support. so your point is well taken. in one way or another we're going to have to do what the american people want us to do. this covid bill today enormously popular among democrat, independents, republicans. and if we cannot get republican support in one way or another we've got to go forward. now, you asked me about the filibuster. it is my position absolutely that democracy has to prevail in the united states senate. we cannot have continued

minority who are obstructing what the american people want. so count me in as somebody who believes the majority should rule in the senate so we can begin doing the business of the american people. >> was it -- did it hurt your cause when president biden a few weeks ago seemed to be acknowledging that the minimum wage could not survive? did that take some wind out of your sails? >> well, that's not what he said. he talked about what he thought the parliamentarian would do. and i don't want to bore your viewers with the arcane rules that we have to live under here in the senate where in this case a parliamentarian who was elected by nobody, who essentially is a senate staffer, made a determination that 32 million americans should not get a pay raise. that is outrageous. i have nothing against her personally. she made her opinion. she should not have that responsibility. so all i'm saying right now is poll after poll shows the

american people understand we've got to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, 15 bucks an hour, and we're going to do that. one way or the other, we are going to accomplish that goal. >> and is it okay to phase it in, to go to $10, $12 -- >> andrea -- what do you think is in the bill? exactly that. five-year phase-in. people saying going to $15 an hour tomorrow, not true. going from $7.25 to $11.50 to $14 to $15. it is a phased-in bill. >> what about what senator romney and some of the other republicans have talked about, though, a lower amount? e as -- >> useless. look, you know, we need -- as i said earlier, the great crisis economically we're facing with so many of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. raising the minimum wage, as i think romney proposes, to $10 an hour at the end of five years is

fairly meaningless. >> right. >> what i'm proposing is not radical. it's what the american people want and need. by the way, some eight states in this country have already moved toward a $15 an hour minimum wage. does uns of cities have done it. the house of representatives has done it. the president of the united states supports it. it's time for the senate to do the same. >> and what does it say about the caucus, though, that seven democrats really were against it? how do you -- >> well, i think what we are going to be doing now is rallying the american people and demanding that all democrats support this and republicans as well. you know, in my mind, this is not -- this is an issue that impacts all working people. it especially impacts women who are disproportionately working for low wages,

disproportionately impacts the latin-american, latino community, and they're also working at low-wage jobs. we're going to get the word out and mobile ides people from coast to covid test. at the end of the day, here's my prediction -- we will pass that. all right? >> thank you, senator, on a busy day. thanks for coming. >> thank you. >> we appreciate it. u.s. capitol police are asking the pentagon for an extension of the national guard presence at the capitol. it comes amid continued threats against lawmakers by extremists. nearly 5,000 troops still in washington had been scheduled to lever next week. the associated press is reporting that police are r asking some troops to remain for 60 days. joining me now democratic congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. congresswoman, thanks for being with us. first of all, do you think given the concerns of your colleagues, we hear this from the democratic caution this week, about the march 4th threats, what they're

facing in their home districts when they travel, coming to the complex despite the horrible fence and all that that is around the capitol right now that no one likes, that some more security is needed? should the guard stay or is it time to take it all down? >> well, i'd certainly rather have the guard and the fencing. as long as the guard is here based on credible intelligence, i of course have no objection to that. but look what we've just had. march 4th we were told -- indeed, the house adjourned because of the threats of about march 4th. we really can't keep being afraid from our own capitol of our own people. some of this is approaching being overdone. as long as it's based on credible intelligence and especially fencing, then of

course that's the thing we need to do. but we have got to get back to the capitol we know. and we're not going do that if we continue to have a march 4th where the house adjourns and nothing happens. >> is it -- the first order of business, though, should be perhaps dealing with the chain of command revealed dramatically in recent hearings where it took four hours after the general in charge of the d.c. national guard could even get the authorization to move the troops that he had preliminary put on buses at the armory. he could have gotten there in 18 minutes when he first asked for it at 1:49 and didn't get the approval until 5:08. if they'd been moving by 1:49 and got therein 18 minutes later, a lot of the damage would not have been done. >> completely avoidable. i have a bill and it doesn't take my statehood bill, and we got the statehood passed for the

first time in june, about to get it passed again, it doesn't take statehood to get control of the national guard. the conflagration at the capitol would have been much mitigated if, in fact, the district had had control over the national guard and could have called out any of a dozen national police who finally did come as you say after three hours. this really had to do with trump, then the president of the united states. to call out the national guard, the district has to go to the president. that's why i have a bill to give the mayor of the district of columbia the right to call out the national guard just like any other mayor can. but the mayor held back the national guard because it was, remember, the -- sorry, the president held back the national guard because, remember, it was

the president who essentially incited this mob to the capitol, and he wanted them there. the result is what we saw on january 6th and wh we're paying for in the nation's capitol. >> i want to clarify something that has come up this week including here yesterday, because the republicans had a leadership meeting in florida midday thursday on march 4th. and the decision to not have the session -- the session would only have been an hour or so with maybe an hour of debate and one vote on thursday morning. they did that. you all did that on wednesday night. so there was really no price paid in terms of legislative business because they couldn't have had a longer session on thursday. and there were certainly concerns as you probably heard from caucus members, from your colleagues, that they felt under threat and there was real intelligence, i'm told.

>> are you talking about the reading of the bill? >> i'm talk about -- well, i'm talking about the vote on the george floyd vote wednesday night where you had a longer session wednesday night and did not have a session on thursday and, in fact, there was no business to be done on thursday at that point. >> yeah. there was no business to be done and we have got to stop calling off business or else what you're going to have are people making threats all the time and the congress not being able to get its work done. all you have to do is call in the threat and that's it. >> clear i a continuing problem. thank you very much, congresswoman eleanor holmes norton. appreciate you being here.

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pope francis is making history today in iraq, beginning the first papal visit to that country, arriving in baghdad with full pomp and circumstance from the iraqi government before a speech delivering a message of peace and inclusion. he's hoping to support iraqi christians who have been leaving the country because of threats from islamic extremists. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins me now. richard, take us through what we've seen and heard from pope francis today ahead of the meeting tomorrow with iraq's altola, ali al sistani.

>> reporter: andrea, the trip so far is going very well, better than expected. there was a lot of concern about this trip. in fact, quite a few officials inside the vatican, i'm hearing, had been suggesting, nudging, encouraging the pope to postpone this trip. they were worried about the pandemic. they were worried that his presence in this country would draw clouds, it would make a public health crisis even worse. obviously, they were worried about security. they've taken a lot of steps to prevent crowds from gathering. he's not traveling, for example, in the popemobile. he's in a closed, armored car in an effort not to bring people out on to the streets, so they can catch a glimpse of him. there's a curfew in place. but mostly, it is the message that is resonating here. and he's getting a very warm reception. not just from christians in this country, he's getting a warm reception from muslims, from both sunni and shia. even the shia militias that have

been firing rockets at u.s. bases or were supporting the firing of rockets at bases put out a statement welcoming his visit. and i spoke with the president, barham saleh, and i asked him how he thinks it is going, and he was overjoyed. he did not try to hide his enthusiasm. he thinks that this message of reconciliation, that this country and the world can only move forward if they put religious differences behind them and reach out to brothers in religion and sisters in religion, that that is a message he said that people here want to hear and are receptive to. >> him coming here, his holiness at this time, is truly a very, very important message. and as he and i were -- his holiness and i were talking, the significance of iraq, the

birthplace of abraham, this is a place we need to see, not in the name of god, we are all descendants of prophet abraham, the father of all prophets and the faithful. not in the name of god or in the name of religion, we need to really coexist. >> reporter: and this is just the first day of this trip. and it has been quite a success. and he didn't just meet with political officials, although that was a -- today was a lot of protocol visits. he went to a church, a church that had been attacked decade ago by an al qaida affiliate and six suicide bombers went into that church, massacred dozens of people, killed two priests. and pope francis went there and that means a great deal, not just about healing, but it means a great deal to the christian community in this country. christians have been leaving here in droves over the last several years, over the last several decades, in fact.

and by coming here, under these difficult circumstances, on a trip many didn't want him to do, even in his own circle, he is sending a message to one of the oldest christian communities in the world that he's with them and they should stay. >> and such an important message it is. richard engel, thank you so much for that extraordinary report from iraq. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show online, on facebook, and on twitter @mitchellreports. have a safe weekend. wear your masks. chuck todd is up next with"mtp daily", only on msnbc. daily", only on msnbc. the patented blend is clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. boost glucose control products contain high quality protein and key nutrients to support immune health. try boost. [ garbage truck creaking and whirring ] [ speaking indistinctly ] [ truck beeping ]

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if it's friday, republicans try to slow down covid relief in the senate any way they can. as progressive democrats try to squeeze their colleagues on the issue of raising the minimum wage any way they can. plus, first light or fourth surge. the white house warns we're at an inflection point in the war against covid. just as a new jobs report has the economy showing some renewed signs of life. and one of new york governor andrew cuomo's accusers opens up about an incident with the governor that she says left