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 her

terrified. as new reports lay out evidence of a potential cover-up inside the governor's office tied to nursing home deaths. welcome to friday. it is "meet the press daily" and i'm chuck todd. concerns over a fourth covid surge in covid cases remain very well. this morning, white house's covid response team reiterated their warnings that infection rates are still unacceptably high, as some states move to lift restrictions, including mask mandates. >> the current numbers remain concerning. cases and deaths are still too high and have now plateaued for more than a week at levels we saw during the late summer surge following six weeks of steady declines. this is why i'm asking you to double down on our prevention measures. i know the idea of relaxes mask wearing and getting back to everyday activities is

appealing, but we're not there yet. >> that plateau is about 60 to 70,000 cases a day. when you have that much of viral activity in a plateau, it almost invariably means that you are at risk for another spike. >> every day this week, we had 1,000 to 2,000 deaths, every single day this week, folks. and dr. fauci warns this morning that the more this virus replicates, the more risk there is for the spread of more dangerous variants, which then hits at our vaccination distribution issues. so the concern over another surge comes as the economy add nearly 400,000 jobs last month. it far exceeded expectations, but the number of workers who are now permanently unemployed has grown. and the economy is still 9.5 million jobs in the hole because of the pandemic. senate democrats today are moving towards a vote on president biden's massive $1.9 trillion relief bill. as they navigate a wild

west-style vote-a-rama process so they can end up passing without having to need a single republican vote. but there are divisions inside the democratic side of the caucus. this morning, senator bernie sanders lashed out at his party's decision not to fight the senate parliamentarian's ruling on the minimum wage, forcing a particularly awkward vote on the issue for moderates in his party. >> i think the parliamentarian was dead wrong, but more importantly, it is an absurd process that we allow an unelected staffer, somebody who works for the senate, not elected by anybody, to make a decision as to whether 30 million americans get a pay raise or not. i don't care how the parliamentarian rules, no parliamentarian should have that power. if people here want to vote against raising the minimum wage, you have this right. you want to vote for it and i hope you do, you have that right. but we should not shuffle off

that responsibility to an unelected staffer. that's wrong. >> so here's the current state of play in our war against the pandemic. the pace of vaccinations, that's quickening. but it's not enough, according to some public health experts. the economy, it's recovering, but it's not enough according to some economists. and covid relief is winding its way through the senate. but it's not enough, according to some top democrats, like bernie sanders. nbc's lien caldwell is on capitol hill with the latest on the covid bill. our senior business correspondent, nbc, stephanie ruhle is standing by to break down this jobs report. and also with us is former acting cdc director, dr. richard besser. we're trying to get all three angles of covid covered today. let's start with what's going on in the senate. there have been some important tweaks, league ann. the biggest is having to do with the special unemployment benefit, which got a one-month extension, but got brought back -- its monthly payment got

brought down by $100 each month. anything else likely to change? >> we're still waiting, chuck. the fact that there was this last-minute change just moments before they started this vote-a-rama meanings that senate democratic leaders are still working really hard to make sure that they have the support of all 50 democrats. because, remember, they can't lose a single democrat if they're guaranteed to pass this covid relief bill. but it seems like there might be some problems with this change in unemployment insurance, because that's supposed to be the next amendment that they're supposed to be voting on. but it's -- things are stalled in the senate right now. there's some negotiations and discussions that are happening, that were not quite clear on yet, but we do know that it pertains to this amendment. and that they haven't moved to it yet. so, there are still problems for democratic leaders. and it was evidence, also, in this last vote on the minimum

wage that bernie sanders brought to the floor. everyone knew that the senator sanders amendment was going to fail, because it needed the support of 60 senators to overrule the parliamentarian. but the fact that eight democrats voted against a $15 minimum wage over the next four years is very telling that not even, regardless of what the parliamentarian said, the party isn't there yet. now, i'm told by my sources that most democrats, other than manchin and sinema, do support $15. but they say that it is very complicated, the details, how you get there, the indexing, what to do after it reaches $15. what to do about tip and waged workers. so there's a lot of things that the democratic party still has to work out on some of these core economic issues, still. >> do we have any sense of, does this end up passing tomorrow? is the vote-a-rama going to go longer than that?

what kind of -- i guess, what kind of stamina does the senate gop have? >> yeah, we'll see. it's very unclear. senator johnson is still threatening to perhaps force the clerk to read every single amendment. you know, amendments obviously aren't as long as a 630-page bill. there are 900 amendments that have been filed -- excuse me, there's about 500 amendments that have been filed so far. doesn't mean that they're going to get on every single one of them. in the last vote-a-rama, there's about 900 amendments filed and they only voted on 40. but they end when they think that they are done. when each side has proven their point, mostly the opposition side, the republicans. and these -- they're going to try to force democrats to take very political and difficult votes that could end up in campaign ads. as you know very well, in the next election cycle. so there are efforts not to change the bill, really, it's to put democrats in a box.

>> yeah, no, in many of these amendments, whether they're really written by the pollsters or the political consultants or not, they sometimes feel like they are, because they're basically being written for direct mail pieces or tv advertisements. let me move over to stephanie ruhle. this was a really good jobs report, but as we know, one month doth not make a recovery. we have -- i think we're all waiting for, when do we have two or three in a row. because this has been sort of an up or down thing, the sort of beginning of this recovery. so where are we? is this a top-heavy recovery? or are we starting to see some healing across the board? >> we are definitely seeing healing, chuck. things are getting better. as the covid numbers are coming down, businesses are opening. where you saw the biggest spikes in job creation were in the industries that were hit hardest. leisure, hospitality, retail. those are all very big positives across the board.

however, you said it at the top. we've still got over 9 million people out of work who had jobs before the pandemic. and the longer people are out of work, long-term unemployment. that's people who are not working for six months or longer, that's doubled. 42% of the people who are out of work are out of work now over six months. and the longer you're out, the harder it is to get back in. i want to share a conversation with you i had with a woman down in florida. she's 60 years old. she has now been out of work for almost a year and she's basically in a state of panic. watch this. florida are more open than most states. are there jobs to be had? are you applying for work? >> i've sent out hundreds of applications. i'm on indeed, i'm on other websites, word of mouth. just going to, looking on the

computer at companies in the area. but i am looking for work. when i sit on the computer, i'm always looking. always looking. but, chuck, here's what's really important. people are getting back to work, but many of these jobs are not paying them enough to survive. and while you've got so many people who have absolutely no job opportunities, yes, there's a job to be head, but chances are it's part-time. or they've cut the hours back or cut the pay. and workers don't have a lot of leverage. when you go from no job at all, many people feel like any job is something. and to leigh ann's point in the beginning, the fact that unemployment benefits are going to go down in dollar amounts, that's going to change the game. many people actually get paid more on unemployment than the jobs that are out there for them. we're not out of the woods. >> when you look at the jobs report and where we were lagging in job growth, can you point to things in this covid relief bill -- is the covid relief bill

responding properly to our underemployed part of the company? >> without a doubt. you are seeing targeted support for child care centers which have been decimated. we know a lot are going to states and localities. in the last month alone, we saw thousands and thousands -- ready for this -- of teachers. teachers who had to be laid off because school systems cannot afford to make their budgets. with so much money going to local budgets, you're going to see that reinvested in communities. and when you target that small business money, not just to any business with less than 500 people, because we all know all sorts of small businesses that didn't need the money took it, now with the more targeted efforts, hopefully it's going to get to businesses that need it most. there's also $25 billion, less than the restaurant act wanted, but it's something towards restaurants and we know they need help. yes, the stimulus bill is huge, but it's not going to be one and

done. they need more. >> good luck getting more. that's why democrats are struggling, they're afraid of going smaller, because i don't know if they think there'll be the appetite for more. stephanie ruhle, appreciate that. let me turn over to the health aspect of covid. we're at an inflection point. everyone has said it, fork in the road, whatever. pick the metaphor here. did these decisions to drop the mask mandates, which feels like more consequential than the decision to open up. if everybody were wearing a mask, i think we would be in a different situation. did we already choose the wrong path? is it already too late? >> chuck, i think there are some states that are definitely choosing the wrong path here. i've been saying over the past number of days that i've had cautious optimism. but that's tempered when you see states removing mask guidance.

one of the things we learned over the course of last year was the value of masks, and we went from a no-mask situation to one where we were able to show that wearing masks provides protection not only to the individual, but to all of the people around that person. when you say in a state that people don't have to wear masks anymore, it's not about that person's individual choice. it's about putting risk people out and about in the community, people who have to go to work etch day to put food on the table. it's the wrong direction to go, especially in light of the warning that we just heard from dr. fauci and dr. walensky, that we're plateauing at a level that was as high as we were at the peak of last summer, when we started putting in place more restrictions. it's a bad situation to be in. >> let me ask you, if you had to choose the following flawed option when it comes to health mitigation, would you prefer

restrictions on businesses and no masks and open 100%, but a mask mandate? >> it's a false choice and i avoid going to that -- >> i know. >> because it needs to be a combination. you deft -- >> you seeing where i'm going here, right? just this like -- take mississippi and texas. look, i understand that it isn't easy dealing with the small business onerous goings, this is killing us, this is killing us. you have tax revenue issues. so i guess the thing is, if you had to make the false choice, is the mask mandate the thing to keep? >>, you definitely want to keep the mask mandate. that's been something that's been shown to reduce transmission. if you're going to be bringing people into more indoor spaces, you definitely want to have them wearing masks to protect the other customers, but to protect your employees. it's not a fair thing to do to working americans to put them in

close contact with people who are not wearing masks. and the thing i find really exciting right now, as more and more people get vaccinated, it will become safer and safer to start to reopen aspects of the economy. but you have to keep a close eye on the case counts and the direction there. you have to a keep a close eye on the variants that are around. and you have to listen to dr. fauci's warning that when you're having this number of cases each day, it allows those variants to get a foothold. if we can drive that leveling off level way down, to 20,000, it's a major difference from where we are right now, where there's significant transmission going on that allows these variants to spread. >> you know, the other thing dr. besser, and i'm curious what your thoughts are on this, we've had -- our case count has come down pretty dramatically. it does seem as if the death rate is not falling as dramatically. and yet you would think that would fall quicker, because

we've had targeted vaccinations for the most vulnerable and yet we're still seeing 1500 people a day die. is that a lagging indicator from the last surge or proof that these variants are just creating tougher outcomes? >> i think the answer isn't fully in on that and we'll have to wait and see, but some of it is that the death rate is lagging indicator. one of the things that gives me hope is if you break this down and look at deaths in long-term care facilities, in nursing homes, where that was early targeting for vaccinationt death rate has just plummeted and it shows how important it is to vaccinate. there are still those in the highest risk group from dying from this, who are the oldest, where there's more targeted outreach to get people

vaccinated, in particular among people of color. and that gives me some hope. the early focus was all around numbers. now there's a lot more focus on getting this to the communities that have been hit the hardest. and i think we'll see that pay off in terms of decreasing hospitalization rates and hopefully decreasing death rates. >> man, i cannot wait to reach that cliff. that's one of those cliffs you can't wait to free fall on, as far as the graphics are concerned. dr. richard besser, thank you very much. before that, stephanie ruhle and leigh ann caldwell, a great way to get started. breaking news in the upcoming murder trial of george floyd. the minnesota court of appeals ruled today that a third-degree murder charge against former police officer derek chauvin should be reinstated. this ruling does not by itself reinstate the charge. the state can now try again to get that third-degree charge reinstated. but chauvin's lawyers can appeal. chauvin also faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

jury selection is scheduled to begin on monday, but that now may be delayed. all right, up next, some new pressure on embattled governor andrew cuomo as new york state lawmakers are preparing to strip the democrat of his pandemic-related emergency powers. we'll have more on that plus the person who could be his possible successor. who would make history. we're also keeping an eye on the white house press briefing right now and we'll bring you any major developments ahead. we'll be right back. you any major developments ahead we'll be right back.

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welcome back. right now, new york state lawmakers are debating stripping andrew governor cuomo of his pandemic-related emergency powers. the move would return decisions on lockdowns to local governments and it comes as cuomo is facing mounting scrutiny on two fronts. the first, reporting by "the wall street journal" and "the new york times" that cuomo advisers altered a report last summer to conceal the number of nursing home residents who died

of covid-19 in hospitals. oh, by the way, he was trying to finish a book at the time. an administration official says the hospital data was left out over concerns about its accuracy and that the omission did not change the conclusion of the report. but at the same time, one of the three women who is alleging cuomo behaved inappropriately is speaking out on camera. charlotte bennett, a former cuomo aide and sexual assault survivor, told cbs news she had a disturbing conversation with the governor in his office. >> yes. he asked if i had trouble enjoying being with someone because of my drama. >> this seems highly inappropriate. >> yeah. the governor asked me if i was sensitive to intimacy. >> in his office? >> yes. during the workday.

she has been quoted as saying asking if she had already been with an older man. >> she asked me if age difference mattered. she also explained that he was fine with anyone over 22. >> when asked for comment, cuomo's spokesperson referred nbc to his news conference on wednesday, in which he apologized for acting in a way made others feel uncomfortable. threw in some ifs there. and also claimed he never touched anybody inappropriately, despite former adviser lindsay boy lan. our own anne thompson has been reporting on governor cuomo next week. she joins me now, there's no doubt that charlotte bennett's interview only adds to the impact of that side of the story. but the newest developments have to do with the nursing home numbers and sort of the other scandal that is engulfing the

cuomo administration here. it looks like they're sort of admitting that, yes, they did this. they're just trying to claim it wasn't nefarious? >> that's what -- that's exactly what they're doing, chuck. because they are saying that they couldn't verify the numbers that the hospitals were giving them about the nursing home patients who had been transferred there and died. and that's why they weren't in the report. but what makes this suspicious is at the very same time, governor cuomo was contemplating writing a book, bragging about his leadership during the pandemic. he had earned a lot of praise across the country for those daily briefings that he gave, explaining what was going on. and then the background to all of this and what republicans have been harping on since the end of march was a directive that the governor sent out, telling nursing homes that they

could not reject any patient who had left -- gone to the hospital to be treated for covid. they had to take that patient back. and he says the reason he did that at the end of march is that they were so worried that they wouldn't have enough capacity in hospitals that the patients who were not as serious could go back to the nursing homes. republicans have said, and many family members have said, that's what sent covid racing through nursing homes and caused so many deaths. 15,000 in the state. but the governor has said all along, it wasn't that, it was staff members, people coming into the nursing homes. so there's that debate. but when you put that all together, it sure looks like they were trying to make the numbers look better than they actually were. >> is the nursing home part of this, ann? what kind of legal trouble could he be in there?

and also, do we have any update on how the attorney general is going to handle the sexual harassment allegations? >> well, the u.s. attorney in brooklyn is leading the federal investigation into the accounting of nursing home deaths. and there's a question from what i understand and i'm not a lawyer, chuck, so, there is a question of whether that accounting impacted medicaid or any kind of government records. were there any laws broken there? and that's what the u.s. attorney is looking at. what the independent investigator will look at, who has yet to be appointed, the state attorney general, tish james, she will do that. that investigator is going to look into the sexual harassment claims. and from my understanding, that investigator will be looking at civil claims there, to see if any of those laws were broken in

the governor's approach to these young women. but i think watching charlotte bennett last night was really just devastating to the governor's, you know, argument that he was just, you know, palling around. >> yeah. yep. no, i think that is not going to help reinforce his side of the story. anne thompson, thank you. and because of that, we think it's time to take a look at the person who could replace the governor. and while he says he will not resign, it isn't stopping the pressure from republicans and some democrats for the three-term democrat to do one of two things. step down now or at least say you're not running for re-election, which puts the lieutenant governor, kathy hochul, in the spotlight. she would be first in line to secede cuomo. a former member of congress, erie county clerk, so she has sort of the non-new york city credential that many democrats statewide need to win statewide elections in new york.

our senior political editor mark murray joins me now. so, mark, it's basically, who is kathy hochul? give us a rundown of her political career. how did she end up lieutenant governor. >> yeah, chuck, she ended up becoming andrew cuomo's lieutenant governor nominee, his second bid, seeking a second term. and of course, she's actually someone who's very familiar to those of us who cover congressional elections and congress. she ended up winning a special election in 2011, in a crowded seat to replace then congressman chris lee, a republican who got caught up in scandal. she won that primarily campaigning against paul ryan's medicare plans to cut medicare, won that race, but ended up losing in 2012 after redistricting in a really close contest against republican chris collins. collins, of course, got caught up in scandal himself. but then after all of that, she ended up becoming the lieutenant

governor nominee and finds herself in the situation she's in. >> one thing about her, when she was in the state legislature, she was pretty front-facing and forward-leaning on issues of sexual harassment against women. she hasn't spoken out much yet and she's not considered a total cuomo insider here. at what point do we -- you know, if she speaks out, it could speak volumes. >> absolutely. and of course, chuck, there's a little of a trickier situation. she was andrew cuomo's running mate. so sometimes when we looked back in virginia, where justin fairfax as lieutenant governor was thinking about the thoughts about would he end up replacing ralph northam. you in virginia run a separate slate. you get elected alone. she got elected with andrew cuomo. and so sometimes kind of speaking out takes on a little bit of a different dynamic than if you ended up getting that

spot just yourself. >> it's a tricky moment here. and if cuomo's not going to willingly pass the baton, it puts her in a really unique and tough spot. but there's no doubt, she's going to be increasingly in the spotlight and someone folks need to get to know. mark murray, thank you, sir. up next, new questions about the biden administration's efforts to get iran back to the negotiating table over a nuclear deal, as tensions continue to rise with tehran. s continue to rise with tehran

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welcome back. last night "the wall street journal" reported and we have since confirmed that joe biden had initially claimed two separate air strikes in syria last week against iranian militia groups but called one off after learning there was potential for civilian casualty s including women and children. the other air strike did go ahead, bombing the station that was used by a militia. new intel comes after an iraqi base hosting u.s. troops came under another attack, a rocket attack, on wednesday of this week. now, neither president biden, the pentagon, nor the state department say they can confirm iran's involvement or responsibility for that attack. take a listen. >> we cannot attribute responsibility for the rocket attacks at this time. obviously, it's a rocket attack and we have seen rocket attacks

come from shia-backed militia groups in the past. so in that way, it certainly coincides with our past experience here. >> the other code word you hear him say there, shia backed. that's also a way that they hint at iran's involvement. all of this is happening as the biden administration is signaling openness to bring tehran back to the table to renegotiate what's left of this nuclear deal. so joining me now is former ambassador to syria during the obama administration, robert ford. so ambassador ford, to say we're getting mixed messages is probably an understatement here. but i guess i want to lay out a few facts that have happened. and if you can just sort of try to explain, you know, how we should interpret this. so, the biden administration essentially sends a signal, we're ready to talk with iran. after that signal is sent, we have the -- those militia attacks on our troops. biden responds. iran then responds to the

response, it appears. and yet at the same time, a french diplomat indicated to reuters today that, hey, it's looking pretty good for talks. so explain why somehow we're closer to possibly sitting down with iran after all of this proxy fighting that's been going on the last two weeks. >> so, the simple answer is, you can negotiate the nuclear issue with iran, and i think the u.s. has a huge interest in stopping the iranian nuclear program. at the same time that there's back and forth with these pro-iran militias on the ground in places like syria and iraq and american forces, you can do both at the same time. it is diplomatically possible to walk and chew gum. >> okay, but it's not easy. i'm just curious, what message is iran trying to send. are they trying to test biden's

resolve, see how serious he is? and is there a point where the american side looks or frankly, the entire sort of allied side here looks like they're, you know, willing to take anything as long as it gets iran back to the table. is that a sign of weakness? >> there are two separate issues here. the iranian nuclear program. that's one issue. and it's a distinct issue. and then at last second issue, which is iran's regional expansion and the use of proxy militias, such as the ones in syria and iraq. that's a separate distinct issue. i do not think that these pokes at the american forces from these proxy militias is a message from iran about the nuclear file. the iranians, ja bad zarif, their foreign minister, just a couple of hours ago on twitter, said they're going to come forward through proper diplomatic channels with a proposal. i'm sure it's going to have to

be hugely negotiated, but i don't think they're signaling that they won't talk. but in the meantime, we should expect that there thereby more pokes at us, from these proxy militias on the ground, in places like iraq. >> you have made -- took pains to say that these are separate and distinct issues. a lot of folks on this side are not going to see it that way and it's certainly what makes it sometimes nearly politically impossible to get any sort of bipartisan agreement on how to deal with iran. and i guess, i would assume the iranians know this, though. so, again, even if you -- we want to see it separately, does everybody else see it separately? >> well, i would not assume that the iranians have a sophisticated understanding of american political dynamics. maybe they do, maybe they don't. i'm not sure that they do. in my experience negotiating with foreign governments over the years, often, they didn't

understand even simple things. but, i think on this side of the water, in the united states, there needs to be a discussion about what to do about the iranian nuclear program, maximum pressure under the trump administration did not stop the iranian nuclear program. if anything, the iranians now have more materials with which to make nuclear weapons. they have more sophisticated production facilities with which to make them. and so the maximum pressure didn't work. i think what the biden administration needs to do is to move forward on negotiating with the iranians, while at the same time pushing back on these proxy militias. and the good news is, on pushing back on the proxy militias, we have allies. the israeli air force is hitting those same militias regularly and having success. the government of iraq in baghdad, it's weak, but it, too, wants to clip the wings of those

proxy militias. so working with friends like that, we should be pushing back on the proxy militias, even as we sit down to negotiate on the nuclear issue. by the way, pushing back on the proxy publishes ya will probably gain republican support. >> right. let me ask you on the nuclear issue, do you believe iran want s. do you believe, ultimately, iran is willing not to stop pursuing a nuclear weapon, or do you think at some point they want to continue to buy time and at some point say, we have the weapon. now what are you going to do? >> i have no doubt that there are people in the iranian government who have that position that you just mentioned. it sounds sort of like north korea, doesn't it? so the question is, can the entire iranian government come to an agreement on stopping the nuclear weapons program. iran, like the united states, has different factions,

different parties. so they will have disagreements amongst themselves just as we do. the question is, can you get a binding agreement. and we won't know until you go to the negotiating table. >> there you go. and we have to see what talks will look like. ambassador ford, really appreciate getting your perspective and expertise on this. we have a long way to go and this stuff is never as easy as it looks. up next, after suffering major election losses, republicans trying to change the rules of the game there. publicans trying to change the rules of the game there. your happy place. find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. what is humana doing sending me a diy test kit? old health insurance reminds you to schedule a screening, say, for colon cancer. humana does you one better and sends you an at-home test kit, when it's overdue.

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if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. welcome back. after losing the presidential contest and two senate seats in one year, georgia republicans are looking to make major changes. none to how they campaigned and persuade voters, but into the state's voting laws. republican lawmakers are backing multiple bills that would eliminate automatic voter registration, require excuses in

most cases to vote absentee and curb early voting access by placing restrictions on drop boxes. republicans say these bills would work to build voter confidence that was eroded on president trump's unfounded attacks, but critics say this will simply make voting harder, which may be a feature of the bill, especially for black voters and nothing more than sour grapes from a party looking to keep their grasp on power. joining me now is my nbc news colleague, blayne alexander. blayne, you had a republican secretary of state and a republican governor swear by the integrity of these elections. are they going to support these changes? >> and that's exactly what i asked gabriel sterling when i spoke with him yesterday. he's somebody that his name, his face certainly would be very familiar to our audience, because you'll remember that when georgia's elections came under repeated attack from former president trump, he was one of the strongest defenders

of the process. he talked about the fact that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. that's something we also heard from the republican secretary of state, brad raffensperger, but he came out and said, we have to stop the rhetoric and the lies about the election. so when i spoke with him yesterday, i asked him if there are no issues, if there are no widespread issues that would result in a different outcome when it comes to georgia's elections, why would it be necessary to make some changes? and he did acknowledge that some of these pieces of legislation go too far. but he said that there would be some components of them that would, in his words, shore up confidence when it comes to elections. and shore up security, and he says that's the point. now, as you mentioned, chuck, there is a good deal of opposition to this. not only from voting rights groups, fair fight, of course, the group that was founded by stacey abrams, but even some business leaders in the community are kind of dipping their toe into the pool of politics and kind of putting out statements reiterating the importance of voting rights. so one thing that's important to mention here, chuck, is that it's very unlikely that the

versions that we see right now are the ones that would ultimately pass and make their way to governor kemp's desk. there would be a number of changes that have to go to the other sides of the house and senate, but certainly a lot of opposition right now, as it stands, and a lot of people speaking out against it. chuck? >> blayne alexander with this reporting. and every time i still just sort of am shocked at all of these republican-backed changes to voting reforms that republicans pushed so hard in the '90s and more absentee and things like that. blayne alexander, thank you. we'll be right back with a new look at how jo biden made it to the white house. at how joe bidt the white house. voiceover: r. wanderers on the road of life. the journey is why they ride. when the road is all you need, there is no destination. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop.

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of moderate to advanced amd progression. i have amd. it is my vision so my plan includes preservision. welcome back. as president, joe biden is trying to steer the nation out of a crisis. in a way it's some of the challenges he faced to become president. in their new book "lucky" it details biden's path to victory. biden's ability to traverse the challenges of the campaign was doubted by many democrats, including his own campaign staffers and perhaps, most importantly, former president obama. obama wanted to make sure that joe's long-term reputation wasn't going to be endangered. he certainly wasn't confident joe was going to win. but they looked at the coming priary as the wild west of

politics, a lawless and unpredictable melee that could leave biden not just beaten but permanently scarred. jonathan allen and amy parmis join me now. jonathan, let me start with you. your book's title is "lucky." are we to assume that is the conclusion that you guys draw here? that joe biden is simply lucky to be president? >> joe biden got lucky, the democratic party got lucky. what we saw after the election with the republic tested in a way that it never has been before and still standing firm, the nation is lucky for that. it means all of those things, chuck. but we take you through in thorough detail in new reporting just how dark the dark days were for biden during the primary and all the breaks that went his way. i should say this, lucky is not a pejorative term in any way, shape or form. joe biden set a message for his campaign and he stuck to it, the

battle for the soul of america. it was something that the public wanted. and so luck was the residue of design here. he just was prepared to take advantage of those breaks. if you listen to joe biden, he's somebody who talks about luck all the time. >> amy, i want to build on this discipline issue with him. on page 411 you write ridiculed for so long about his lack of discipline as a candidate, biden stuck to his theory of the case of rather than a path forward he proposed backtracking to the pretrump era. and despite a resume of any political contender, democrats voted and rejected two dozen candidates before sticking on him. in the face of pressure from his allies and members of his own staff to change his strategy in the general election. the point is he did something he

was notorious for never doing. he stuck to a message, he stuck to a campaign plan, and we're seeing it bleed into his habits early on in the first hundred days here. do we think it sticks? >> i mean that's tbd, chuck. but yeah, he is very scripted right now. and i think that's something that he learned over the course of the campaign. i think that he did have some lucky breaks. we talk about this a lot in the book. there were few people to sign on with him very early on. as you mentioned, president obama was reluctant to do so. he had a meeting early on with his aides, with biden's aides wanting to reassure how they were going to run this campaign, how disciplined he would be because he was afraid it would tarnish not only his friend and partner, former partner's reputation but his own and the obama legacy. i think that was something that they took very seriously. so i think -- and then he caught lucky breaks along the way. one thing we point to is how

elizabeth warren in a very key moment when michael bloomberg was getting so much traction took out michael bloomberg in a debate and we talk about how she did that and how she prepared for that comment. so we take you inside all of these lucky breaks throughout the book. >> you know, it's interesting, john, the fact that -- you know, i talked to somebody very close who admitted, hey, he was right, i was wrong. there is -- i'm curious now, does that give him more of a mandate that this is his democratic party? one of the favorite critiques on the right is, oh, he's not really in charge, it's really obama, or it's really kamala, or it's really ron klain. yet what your book describes and a lot of our reporting says is that joe biden stuck to his guns. everybody else tried to talk him out of it. he was right, they were wrong. >> chuck, we go into it in the book. a perfect example, a quick anecdote, biden is in this place

during the racial unrest, protests for racial justice and some of the violence accompanying that, what donald trump was doing in response. there were people high up in his own campaign who said you need to move to where the activists are. you need to apologize for the crime bill. embrace the slogan defund the police. biden just wouldn't do it, he wouldn't budge. he went out and did an op-ed and said i am not for defund the police. if you ask congressional leaders, one of the reasons house members lost so many seats is because republicans made such an effective use of that on the campaign trail and they were not able to push biden into that corner because he was so firm on it. now, that may not be the policy that every democrat wants, but i'm sure that pretty much every democrat is happy that joe biden is the president right now and not donald trump.

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good afternoon, i'm katy tur. at this hour nearly $2 trillion in relief is facing its biggest and perhaps final major hurdle before getting back to those who need it most. you're looking live right now at the senate floor where the fate of president biden's massive covid bill hangs in the balance, and two major forces are at play right here. there's the policy and the performance. first, the policy. new numbers show 379,000 jobs added last month, the most since october. but the white house says that does not tell the whole story. >> most of the job gains last month were in the leisure and hospitality sector. it's good to see some of those come back.