welcome to a busy wednesday. it is "meet the press daily." i'm chuck todd. any moment, we expect to hear from president biden. he's going to be speaking at the white house, where we expect him to address the shooting in atlanta, where a lone gunman appears to have gone on a two-county rampage last night at area spas, killing eight people, including six asian women. at a press conference this morning, authorities say the suspect, 21-year-old robert aaron long, has taken responsibility for the shootings, and long claimed to them that his actions were not racially motivated. they also caution that a determination has not been made about his motive here. the local sheriff told reporters a short time ago that the

suspect says he has an issue with sex addiction. authorities said long was apprehended last night after a brief manhunt. appears he was en route to florida at the time, possibly to carry out additional shootings. when we hear president biden address this incident, he'll be speaking at a virtual meeting with what is a tradition in this country on st. patrick's day, ireland's prime minister. they'll be commemorating st. patrick's day. normally, this event is inside the white house. for covid reasons and travel restrictions, it is not being done this way, nor was it done that way last year. nbc's chief white house correspondent kristen welker is standing by, awaiting remarks from president biden. todd winter is covering this, as well. blayne alexander is in atlanta. kristen, this is a mostly ceremonial event with the irish prime minister. what do we expect to hear from the president? >> reporter: well, i think we can expect to hear him address

the shooting off of the top of this event. chuck, i wouldn't be surprised if that's the first thing that we hear from president biden. and he will likely echo what we heard from vice president harris earlier today, in which she condemned hate crimes against asian-americans. she stressed the fact that there is still no known motive in this instance. chuck, she did make that point because these shootings, and the victims of these shootings, do include asian-americans, and she reaffirmed the fact that this is an administration that condemns any behavior, and it comes in the wake of reports that there has been an uptick in anti-asian sentiment. >> okay. >> reporter: so i think that's the type of tone that you can expect to hear from president biden, chuck, when he addresses this in a short time from now. i also think you're going to hear him reaffirm the united states' commitment to ireland, to its partners overseas, particularly coming in the wake

of the trump administration and trying to reset some of those critical relationships, chuck. >> well, let's not forget, president biden talked about this violence and this xenophobia against asian-americans in his primetime speech last week. let me bring in tom winter for a little bit more on this investigation. at the end of the day, while there are a lot of people condemning the -- what looks to a lot of people like a hate crime, that is not necessarily where this investigation is at, tom. walk us through where we're at. >> right, chuck. of course, it is important to remember that this investigation is ongoing. they will develop, surely, more evidence and speak to more people. at this point, the investigation is guiding investigators along the lines of this is somebody who, one, has admitted to the crime, according to sheriffs and police officials in georgia when they briefed us several hours ago. two, this is an investigation that began shortly before 5:00 p.m. yesterday. it's not even 24 hours old. according to statements that the

suspect made, and apparently he'd been speaking almost immediately, he admitted to the crimes. on top of that, he made statements that he had some form of a sex addiction. so, you know, i've been trying to follow up and speak to law enforcement officials. okay, fine, if he had that and he wanted to quote, unquote, end his addiction by committing these crimes, why not go after maybe a strip club in atlanta or go after, you know, different types of stores that might sell pornography? why attack these particular places? obviously, predominantly the victims here are asian. the idea is that he may have visited some of these or all of these spas in the past, and so as a result, he may have been trying to quote, unquote, end his addiction by killing the people that might have been behind it, in his mind. so that's something they're following up. that's something they're continuing to track. all of this, of course, occurs in the backdrop in an increase

of asian bias and asian hate crime incidents that we've seen since march of last year. something we've been following closely. something that law enforcement officials across the country have been paying attention to, particularly in large cities or areas with large concentrations of asian communities. so it's something that is definitely worth following, and an investigation that is not yet complete. >> yeah. tom, do we know more about who this person is, the shooter? any of his -- did he have a job? did he go to school? we know he's a young adult. do we know much about him beyond what authorities have said so far? >> so you're asking me what we refer to in law enforcement circles as suspect pedigree. as far as education, we don't know much. we know he is robert aaron long. he is 21 years of age from woodstock, georgia. charged with four counts of murder, one count of aggravated assault, just in cherokee

county. remember, there's a couple scenes, as you eluded to at the beginning of the show. we expect more charges from additional counties to be brought in this case. the charges as of within the last hour when i got off the phone with the clerk's office in cherokee county, the charges are still under seal. presumably, more background information is still contained in those filings that we can't see yet. we do know from the police briefings and separately from conversations i've had with law enforcement that his parents appear to have been very much aware of the problem. they were instrumental in leading to his arrest, providing information that led to his arrest yesterday. helpful in that regard. obviously, this idea in his troubled background, this is not the first time this has come up. obviously, his parents are well aware of it, according to law enforcement. as far as those particulars, job, background, any prior history of domestic violence against women, i'm curious about that, that's information that would be great to get. all of those things are still a little bit unknown, here less

than 24 hours after this started. >> tom winter with what he knows from his law enforcement sources. tom, thanks very much. let's move to blayne alexander, who is down in atlanta. we've been hearing from law enforcement and, obviously, where they thought this investigation might be headed, it seems to be moving in a different direction. what can you tell us from your perspective on the ground? >> reporter: yeah. chuck, i want to start with one of the things that tom mentioned. the fact that this is carried out over a number of different crime scenes. to give a lay of the land, there are a lot of moving pieces here in atlanta and outside of atlanta. where i'm standing right now, i'm in front of the gold spa. this was one of the three spas that was targeted. the other one is just across the street, literally a few feet away. those two were in very close proximity. the shootings actually happened -- the first of the three happened 45 minutes to the north of where i am, just outside of atlanta. a city called atworth.

that's where four people were killed. another person was shot and is injured. we understand if you just kind of look at how quickly all of this played out, all of this was over the course of about an hour or so, the first calls came in at about 5:00 p.m. as officials were working on that, they got a call here in atlanta saying that, hey, there's been a shooting here. while they were in one location, they were getting calls about shots fired across the street. now, those are the three locations. he was ultimately apprehended two hours to the south of where i'm standing right now. we're talking about multiple different jurisdictions, all of them working in a coordinated effort to bring this guy into custody relatively quickly. that's notable, chuck. of course, he did tell law enforcement he was on his way to florida, driving down 75, planning to go to florida and, he says, commit the same kind of similar heinous act. the fact they were able to work quickly and get him into custody certainly saved some lives. we're also learning a lot about,

though, the people who were killed. we're talking about eight individuals who died during this kind of spree last night. six of them asian women. the other two victims were white, we understand. we're learning a little bit more about these individuals, and we also know there was one person who was shot and is in stable condition currently in the hospital. chuck? >> i'm curious, blayne, i mean, do they feel like they have all the footage of the crime? are there cameras all over these places? they know exactly this guy's movement at every one of these places at this point? >> reporter: well, that was part of the reason they were able to apprehend him so quickly, chuck. the shooting -- we became aware of the shooting yesterday, and it was very quickly after that that he got that surveillance photo. we were able to see pictures of the shooter, pictures of his car, pictures of all of these things that ultimately led to his apprehension very quickly. and atlanta police have said, yes, they knew it was connected

because they were able to match those images with the surveillance taken down here. i do think that kind of speaks to just how quickly they were able to get him into custody. there were a lot of surveillance cameras and photos. then, of course, as we spoke about before, the fact that his family was cooperative in this. you know, law enforcement officials made that a very big point, to talk about that fact when they were talking in the news conference earlier today, as well. >> yeah. one wonders how much more we're going to learn, how much more we're going to learn about what his family knew about these problems going forward anyway. kristen, tom, and blayne, thank you for getting us started on this tragic story. we expect president biden will comment on the shootings soon. when the event with the prime minister of ireland begins, we will bring that to you when it happens. up next, the growing issues on the border are taking center stage on capitol hill. president biden's homeland security chief is facing questions over the administration's handling of what is turning into a humanitarian emergency. first, as we go to break, another look at life after lockdown.

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welcome back. right now, homeland security secretary mayorkis continues to be grilled by congress. he has been defiant in the virtual hearing that this administration is not willing to resort to the kind of hard line and what they call inhumane policies of the last administration. border crosses surge and federal facilities begin to be taxed beyond their capacity. mayorkas has been pressured to deter migrants from making the journey, and he has been pressed to call it a crisis. he has been clear to the lawmakers that there are moral and ethical lines that this

administration is simply unwilling to cross. >> the tools of deterrence sometimes defy values and principles for which we all stand. and one of those tools of deterrence that the trump administration employed was deplorable and absolutely unacceptable. if we want to speak of language, then let me speak of language. a crisis is when a nation is willing to rip a 9-year-old child out of the hands of his or her parent and separate that family to deter future migration. that, to me, is a humanitarian crisis. and what the president has committed to, and what i am committed to and execute, is to ensure that we have an immigration system that works and that migration to our country is safe, orderly, and

humane. >> republicans, of course, say the administration's humane approach is what, itself, is unsustainable, and it is fueling a dangerous surge of crosses amid a global pandemic. they argue the president's approach is playing into the hands of cartels, who are using his softer rhetoric to falsely claim the border is open. president biden this morning was pressed about whether the administration needs to take a more forceful approach. >> do you have to say quite clearly, "don't come"? >> yes. i can say quite clearly, "don't come." we're in the process of getting set up, and it is not going to take a whole long time. but you'll be able to apply for asylum in place, so don't leave your town or city or community. >> nbc's leigh ann caldwell is on capitol hill. morgan chesky is outside the dallas convention center, which is opening its doors to serve as a temporary fema center for unaccompanied minors at the southern border. also, white house correspondent

for pbs news hour and msnbc contributor. morgan, i want to start with you. i'm curious, what are you seeing there now? is it being prepared, or is it already being used? >> reporter: yeah, chuck, great question. it's our understanding that, right now, it is still being prepared. i had a chance to speak with some red cross volunteers who were very tight-lipped, but they've been seen walking in and out of the building behind me. hhs says it could accept those, at least first few hundred migrant teens, on or around today. we don't know when their exact arrival will be. we do know they could house up to 3,000 migrant teenagers here, specifically between the ages of 15 and 17. when i had a chance to speak to an immigration attorney about what the conditions will be like inside, since we're not allowed in to take a look ourselves, he likened it to what you would expect at a hurricane relief center. cots, socially distanced, spread apart. he said the teens will be provided classwork here.

some sort of education. they'll, obviously, have cleaner conditions than what he believes they're subjected to closer to the border because they simply have the space here, that those centers do not have further south, closer to the border, that have simply been overrun due to the uptick. we're also along to governor greg abbott, who is speaking right now across the street from where i'm standing. he is calling on the biden administration to provide more clarification, saying they haven't given at least him answers on perhaps how they would treat some of these teenagers, should they become infected with covid-19. he was saying about for the past week now that he is concerned that the teenagers that are coming across, all migrants for that matter, present the risk of potentially infecting texas with these variants of covid-19. i presented that to an immigration attorney who is closely following this situation, and here's what he had to say.

governor greg abbott has said publicly he's concerned immigrants are bringing covid-19 to texas. >> governor abbott just dropped the mask mandate without any scientific or medical basis, and now he wants to blame the spread of covid on these kids. that is gutless and cowardly. >> reporter: now, as far as as long as this center will be utilized, hhs officials say they have up to 90 days to use the space here at the kay bailey hutchinson convention center. at that point, they can either renew the lease, but the immigration attorney you just heard tells me that, hopefully, within that amount of time, three months, which is still a long time, they can connect these teenagers with foster families or with loved ones. however, that process, the vetting, of course, is not exact ly easy. typically, he said it'd take hhs about 60 days to do so. he thinks they're adding an extra 30 days on top of that simply because these numbers, chuck, keep going up.

>> morgan, are they going to test these kids when they bring them in? i assume they'll have covid testing kits. are they? are they at least going to do that? >> reporter: we have reached out to the federal officials with hhs here to ask some specific questions. we've only been given a statement saying that, you know, health protocols will be followed. nothing further on that. it is important to note that in our conversations with city officials here, they've deferred completely to hhs, saying they are the sole organization -- agency, rather, responsible for running this, and will be the only point of contact from this point forward. chuck? >> morgan chesky outside the dallas convention center. morgan, thank you. let me bring in leigh ann caldwell and yamiche on this. leigh ann, on what secretary mayorkas is dealing with, is there any constructive criticism coming from the right, or is it

all sort of -- just sort of talking points and press releases, so they can look like they're being tough? but is there any constructive, like, hey, why don't we solve the problem like this? any hint of that? >> reporter: that's interesting you ask that. because when i was listening to the hearing, that's what i was wondering, if there were going to be some new ideas or proposals that we would hear that could perhaps lead to some sort of solution. but we're not really hearing that. not really from either side, actually. republicans are saying that they did support and they still do support president trump's remain in mexico policy. they're saying that that worked, so they're pressing mayorkas to perhaps continue that. we know that is not going to happen. the reality is that this is a political problem for democrats, if you just want to talk about the politics of it. the policy, of course, is -- >> leigh ann, i'm going to pause

you here. >> reporter: yup. >> sorry, we got no warning. the president is speaking. we're going to go to him right now. >> it's good to have you on television. next year in washington. next year inyears, as you know, celebrated this st. patrick's day. i always put on a breakfast at my home, at the vice president's residence. >> in fairness, they gave us no warning. the folks at the white house. we're going to replay his comments on atlanta. give us a few minutes on that. leigh ann and yamiche, we'll focus back in on immigration. we'll get to the president's remarks about the shooting in atlanta. finish your comment there. is there, you know -- i think you were picking up on the political problem this has turned into for the democrats. >> reporter: yeah. there is the policy at issue but also the politics of it, as

well. democrats know this is a problem. this is a crisis the president is dealing with early on into his administration. it was immediate, and so you can see the sense of change that -- the optics of what people are thinking across the border regarding immigration. the house is voting on two bills this week, the dream act and at worker bill. none is dealing with what is happening at the border. they don't address the situation, so there's no solutions at this point, chuck. >> yamiche, i want to play something joe biden said to george stephanopoulos, in the interview this morning, that his election, in some ways, has kicked off this mini surge of sorts. take a listen. >> first out of all, the idea that joe biden said "come," because i heard the other day that they're coming because they know i'm a nice guy. >> they're saying this?

>> yeah. here's the deal, the adults are being sent back, number one. number two, what do you do with an unaccompaied child coming to the border? do you repeat what trump did, take them from their mothers, move them away, hold them in cells, et cetera? we're not doing that. >> yamiche, the question is, what do they do? because it does seem as if many folks have decided, hey, i've got a better shot at saving my kid from this horrible life. i'm going to send him on his own, because he can at least get in. maybe it'll only be temporary. maybe he can get to my relative, and maybe this is the way. is there a point where the administration is going to have to figure out how to deter that, as well? >> well, they're trying to deter that right now, but the tough spot the biden administration finds itself in is pause -- because president biden said he'll be more humane. unaccompanied minors are the only ones who can come to the

border without legal status and be let into the united states, after biden changed the order. then you have this narrative that i've heard from immigrants myself that i interviewed, who say they see president biden as more lenient. i had an immigrant tell me, an immigrant mother tell me, i see president biden more as a father than as a president. i had someone else say, i think he has a bigger heart than president trump. now, it's the time to really come. that's the message they're trying to fight back against. experts tell me, and lawyers tell me, that even though president biden is continuously saying, "don't come, don't come," his actions are speaking louder than his words. actions are that he is treating the children in a way president trump did not. he is not throwing them back into mexico and saying, fend for yourself, even if you're 9, 10, or even an infant. instead, he saying, welcome, come in. we're going to put you in facilities. we'll find something to do. there has to be this -- there is a real tough line here they're trying to go, especially, of course, president biden himself saying, this is a spike that happens. but this is a spike that's happening based also on what he, himself, has said.

they're going to have to figure out how to deal with this. i'm not seeing a way out for them in some ways when it comes to the numbers of people that are coming. because they feel more comfortable with this administration. i will say that there is, of course, this sense that they're hearing a lot of critics with no solutions. that's what the white house press secretary said to me when i pushed her on this idea, that how can we in america, even for one day, have children sleeping on the floor and not getting sunlight? she said, we're getting a lot of credit, not a lot of solutions. secretary mayorkas echoed that, saying, we're trying to figure this out and wrap our heads around this problem, but it's a big one. >> leigh ann, what kind of room on the hill on the left will biden have? for instance, it seems like one -- they want -- if the goal is to move the asylum process to in country, then one way to send that message is, you send these kids back on a plane to be processed in country. now, if they do that, what -- if

that ends up being a temporary solution, will the left go bonkers on this or not? >> reporter: that's a really good question. democrats are trying to figure out how to move forward themselves on immigration. while in the happening behind the scenes, they're also debating and discussing among themselves about some comprehensive immigration policy that they cannot get on the same page on. of course, that deals with a lot of issues, but the asylum issue, the refugee issue are two of those issues, as part of the legislation. that is something that the progressives have positions on, the moderates, and it's a broad swath of where democrats stand on so much of this. so immigration is not just a wedge issue between republicans and democrats. it's also become a very difficult issue for democrats themselves internally, as a family. what's happening on the border

is only making the conversation more fraught, chuck. >> you know, yamiche, i will say this, the biden administration, while -- look, there's been some media restrictions, trying to figure out what border patrol is doing and with more information on these facilities. on the other hand, the white house isn't pushing back that this shouldn't be our focus. so i do find it -- they do seem to at least accept the premise that this is a problem. >> that's right. the white house and white house officials, both on become ground, when you talk to them off the record, or when they're publicly speaking, they all do admit that there, of course, is a challenge at the border. the numbers speak for themselves. we're seeing more and more unaccompanied children come over our borders in dire straits, saying, "we need help." that is a challenge they can't deny. secretary mayorkas was asked specifically today, "why can't you use the word crisis?" he said, i don't want to focus

on the language. i want to focus on the border operations and how to fix the situation. whether you call it a crisis or challenge, the problem is, it is a big problem they'll have to fix. republicans have a sort of dignity exploding out there. it's got a lot of non-starters that democrats are not going to get behind. immigration is not only a political wedge issue, it is a political weapon, especially on the republican side, because they're wielding this against democrats, saying we want to focus on this. this is a problem that biden can't simply solve with an executive order. >> you know, leigh ann, that brings me -- is there any group of republicans that could be part of this solution? it certainly looks like, particularly on the house side, but even, i think, you have more and more senators, it looks like they'd prefer to have the issue, since it's the only thing that unites on this party these days. >> reporter: it's what republicans say about democrats. they don't really want to solve

the immigration problem, because, republicans would say, keeping the hope out there enables latinos to vote for democrats, is what republicans would say. now, the issue seems to be flipped. but there are a few republicans who say that they're trying to come up with solutions to the issue. just this morning, there was a press conference with a freshman republican from miami, representative salazar, and she says that she wants to be that person to come up with some solutions that do solve this problem. senator lindsey graham was supposed to have joined that press conference. senator graham also just told reporters a couple days ago that he deputy think even the dream act is something that could come up in the senate because of what is happening at the border, and that no one that he thinks is willing to even discuss the issue of immigration on the republican side at this point. >> i heard that comment. there's no logic to that

comment. i understand the political emotions of the motion, but there's no logic. it makes no sense on any level. you know, i'm not going to pay my bills because i have a crisis. i'm not going to do this. i mean, it's sort of a bizarre thought process that only seems to reinforce the idea this is a political decision, not a policy decision.igh ann caldwell, yami thank you for reporting on the issues. after the break, president biden's comments on atlanta. com. mm. [ clicks tongue ] i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice.

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as promised, let's play some of what president biden said a few moments ago. our tv pool that covers the president ended up missing the first top of his remarks. the president got started very quick when they did the pool call. he began by saying he was just on the phone, being briefed by his attorney general and fbi director about the shooting in atlanta, and the investigation is ongoing. a motive is still to be determined. take a listen. >> speaking about the brutality against asian-americans for the last couple months, and i think it's -- it is very, very troublesome. i make no connection at this moment to the motivation of the killer. i'm waiting for an answer from -- as the investigation proceeds, from the fbi and from the justice department. so -- and that's -- so i'll have

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the bottom line is, and this is something about which we all agree, the immigration system is broken. it is in need of legislative reform. hopefully, this year, and i am confident and optimistic that we will actually begin, once and for all, to fix a system. >> welcome back. that was dhs secretary mayorkas saying what congress has known to be true for decades, the immigration system is broken and in need of a legislative fix. while the secretary seems to be optimistic for a grand bargain,

recent history shows it is easier said than done. a member of congress joins me now, texas democratic congressman henry cueller. the secretary has been in office a couple months. a bill that congress would have to pass, tell me how there is going to be a bipartisan atmosphere to deal with this issue. >> you're absolutely right. it is going to be difficult. i want to see full, comprehensive immigration reform. if you notice, that's not on the floor this week. we have a dream act. we have a worker plan. we're hopeful at least the piece bill approach will get us where we need to get. pass it from the house, then we have to worry about how do we get 60 votes, ten republicans in

the senate. your analysis is on point. >> let's start with, look, there's so many -- a comprehensive bill used to be, when i started covering washington, if you made the bill bigger, you had a better chance of it passing. that is not the case here. if you're going to slice the immigration bill as it is, what would be the priority piece that is you think are the most achievable now, and the most necessary, in order to at least deal with the situation at the border? >> i mean, the dream act is one to take care of those 800 plus kids here that we need to take care of. those are people following the law and not -- are working, going to school. those are the folks we need here. but i think one of the ways to address the issue at the border is, how do we get people that can come in, work, and they can go back again and send money

back over there? that's where a guest worker plan would be good. then the people that want to come work will follow the law, and then the ones that are coming in for other reasoreason border patrol can focus. that actually will help us secure the border, if we do a program like we had after world war ii. >> i had a good conversation both on this show a couple days ago and on my podcast today with a former colleague of yours, former republican congressman carlos cabello. pointed to the same country as a blueprint of how america can help pull a country out of the depths. that is columbia. the point being is, can we do for honduras, el salvador, guatemala, with investments, with help, can you convince your colleagues that investment in those three countries can do for our relationship what columbia,

which is now a shining example and a really good ally of the united states? >> i agree. i mean, columbia is a very good example of who happens when they work with the united states to invest. not only for their military and security, but also the trade agreements and the private interactions that we have, the business on the connections side. that's important. we can do the same thing. i was involved in 2014/2015 when vice president biden at that time, on the house appropriations, we had the first $750 million. we've added millions and millions of money down there in south america, in central america, but we still haven't seen the results. i know president trump cut some of the funding, but we still got to see results. it's not only the assistance we're providing, but we need the private sector to bring jobs down there. >> so what you have been a bit

critical of the administration a bit in simply saying that -- and i'm curious, is it more of -- was it a failure to imagine what was going to happen? is it how they're -- what, specifically, would you like to see them do differently than they're doing right now? >> first of all, the one week of the inauguration, i was calling the white house already. my contact i was telling, hey, see what's happening on the ground. this was back in january. i was telling the white house folks, "you've got to understand what i'm seeing here. i'm seeing the numbers." i live at the border. i don't just visit the border, i live there. i go there right after my votes in d.c. i've been warning the administration. first, we have to understand there's three messages. the administration's message has to be better. you can't say, "don't come now, come later." that's a bad message. it's got to be clear and concise. don't come in here illegally. that should be the message. message number two is what i

call the networks of friends and family. hey, pedro, i was able to come over. you ought to come over. they see images like what you're playing right now. people coming across. of course, they're going to. third message, real quickly, the criminal organizations. that is a powerful message because they charge an average of $6,000. imagine if we had 100,000 people that crossed in february. do the math. that's $600 million that they made. so they got an incentive to recruit aggressively. i just got off the phone with somebody in mexico, and they went over some things. it's exactly what i'm telling you. we have to cut off the money that's going to the drug cartels. otherwise, we feed them and feed them and we feed them. >> so, look, president biden has said, if an unaccompanied minor comes into the country, we're not sending them back, not doing these things. how would you deal with this

situation? it certainly looks like many -- and i get it, people are desperate, and they think, you know what, i'm better off just sending my young teenage kid on his own. maybe if there's a group of them, they can get in. i empathize with the desperation, so i want to preface my question there. but since it's clear that this is happening, where do you -- what should we do with the kids? should we place them in the united states, or do you think we have process them in country? >> first of all, the ones who are already in the pipeline, coming over here or are here, we take care of them like they're our kids. absolutely. we take care of them. we have to do a better job at moving them out of the border post stations and taking care of them with health and human services. number one. number two, if we can go back and try to process them before they come over, because when they come over through a dangerous country or countries, we know the only ones that win are the bad guys. they make money off bad men.

you know very well, chuck, that some of them are abused on the way up here. the other thing is, we have to make sure that we understand, we have to make sure we understand the pull and push factors. if you have somebody on your show, you can tell who is a democrat and who is a republican. democrats talk about the push factors only. republicans talk only about the pull factors. we have to address both of them. both of the factors. >> no, it's true. it's true. the only time you get it in stereo is if you have one on each side, then you hear both parts of the conversation. yeah, border security seems to be two words a lot of democrats are afraid to talk about. anyway, congressman cuellar, democrat who represen texas at the border, thank you for sharing your perspective. >> thank you, chuck. coming up, a reality check on our virus situation amid growing uncertainty about the trajectory of the pandemic here.

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with regard to the future and your question that you asked, my concern is that we don't have the corporate memory of lessons learned. >> welcome back. that was dr. fauci cautioning against opening up too soon as he testified today before congress. taking a look at where we stand on the numbers, here's we stand on the virus. more than 27% of adults in the united states have received at least one shot, so that's good news. but nationally our average number of new cases now up 12% from last week. and over the past two weeks, some states are reporting significant upticks in cases, including michigan, which is up over 55%. let's bring in dr. hebadalia, school of infectious medicine, msnbc contribute tore. dr. hebadilia, i've been saying it all week. it's a deja vu.

i had to remind people in new york that it was 2021, not 2020. we have michael osterholm who is alarmed at what's happening, we have dr. jha who is concerned but thinks we have it under control. where are you? >> i'm somewhere in the middle, chuck. you and i have talked about the race between variants and vaccines. what you're seeing in europe is leaving out the u.k., many of the countries are having to roll back and consider even localized lockdowns because their cases have gone up. what we have at our advantage is we're distributing more vaccines per 100 people in this country. but we're also behind, and we have in our favor that those countries seem to have much more of the b.1.1.7 variant, the one

that seems to be more transmissible, the ones that have a greater mortality. but we are on the road to being more protected, so my level of concern is if we don't get through all the folks who are medically high risk, who will end up in the hospital and potentially die from this disease before we open up and let our guard down, we're just giving away all the advantages we have compared to those countries in europe. >> it feels like we're on a pace that, okay, getting all adults by the end of may, let's say we are able to do that pace, the way this b.1.1.7 variant is moving is more lethal. do you expect it to be the dominant strain by april? >> you're already seeing that some states are hitting the 50% mark of where it potentially may have an impact on the spread.

i think it depends on our actions between now and then. i would not be surprised if it becomes the predominant strain. what you might see if we get through vaccinating a lot more of us, there might be a disconnect between cases, hospitalizations and deaths. we always said getting sick with this disease, even if you don't get hospitalized, there are other things that are bad, but if we at least get vaccinated, we have that resilience of getting more people in the hospital, getting more people who die of this disease. that's why i think if the number of cases go up, at least if we get through enough of us vaccinated, we may not have more severe impact, at least we'll make an impact. so the ihs says if you can hold onto those masks, mask compliance until july 1st, just that simple measure we can save 14,000 people between now and then. so get your shot, wear your mask until more of us are vaccinated.

>> at today's hearing, dr. bhadelia, he said high schoolers should be able to get it by the fall. is there any reason why high schoolers couldn't get it by the end of june, and at least down to 16? >> moderna currently is available for everybody -- sorry -- pfizer is available for everybody over 16, so you have moderna doing their study. it depends how long it takes them to get through their pediatric enrollment, yeah, you could potentially see early vaccinations of children. it depends on the age of your high schooler if you're able to get access to a vaccine. currently for those younger than 16, i think you'll have to wait until we get results from moderna as well as johnson & johnson. >> dr. nahid bhadelia, boston

university, always good to have your perspective. thank you. and thank you all for being with us this hour. we're back tomorrow with more "mtp press daily." katy tur right after this break. . to find 92% of colon cancers even in early stages. tell me more. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your prescriber or an online prescriber if cologuard is right for you. i'll do it. good plan. here you go, let me help you. i'll do it. hi mr. charles, we made you dinner. ahh, thank you! ready to eat? yes i am! mom and dad left costa rica, 1971.

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good afternoon. as we come on the air today, there are a lot of new developments coming in at times by minute into the mass shooting spree at three atlanta area day spas. eight people were shot, six of those were killed, and they were of asian descent while two were white. and all but one of those killed were women. the suspect, who was in police custody, is 21-year-old robert aaron long. the cherokee county georgia sheriff's office says he's now been charged so far with four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. authorities say he is speaking about the shootings, and i want to underscore here, this is what authorities say he