the biden administration to the growing concerns over border crossings. the number of migrants surging to new heights and conditions worsening at border patrol facilities. this morning, dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas on the defense while texas republicans seize upon the issue. >> i think we are executing with our plans. and quite frankly, when we are finished doing so, the american public will look back on this and say we secured our border and upheld our values and principles as a nation. >> it's going to get a lot worse, springtime, summer, more and more come over. the message is coming back that hey, we got a new president, come on in, we're open for business to traffickers, and guess what, they're right here. and i predict a million people trying to get into this country by the summertime. and other big headlines, new calls to end violence against asian-americans escalating across this country. thousands gathering for stop the hate rallies this weekend from new york to san francisco and a

number of cities in between. in a few minutes, the very latest on the investigation from atlanta. meantime over on capitol hill, the fight over the burst. the provision that could determine the fate of president biden's major legislative goals spilling onto the sunday talk shows today with a renewed sense of urgency from lawmakers on both sides. >> if someone cares enough to stop the senate in its tracks, to say to the measure you cannot even consider the measure before you, is it too much to ask them to stand at their desk to show that personal commitment? right now they phone it in, they call the cloak room, the room off the senate chamber, and say, yeah, i'm going to a filibuster. that's all it takes. >> there's something to be said for compromise and bipartisanship and respect for the minority rights in the senate. these rules have been in place since the beginning of our republic. there's a lot happening over the next three hours. in a few minutes, reaction to a new story about one particular

weapon used at the capitol hill riot, getting a closer look. and in the next hour, msnbc's mehdi hasan talks about his twitter feud with republican house member dan crenshaw. and at least a dozen journalists are making the trip to mar-a-lago, the reason may seem obvious when you hear it. but right now, nbc's monica alba is in washington. monica, welcome. how is the white house responding to the controversies at the southern border? >> reporter: they're defending their actions, alex, while acknowledging the severity of the situation. there has been a semantics debate over what to call it. the white house doesn't want to label it a crisis although it is a complex and challenging situation. they say words aside, they're trying to accommodate these hundreds of migrant children who are currently being held for far longer than they should be. it's only supposed to be 72 hours. but we know that about 500 of them are being held for more

than ten days now. that's why you have hhs trying to open more facilities in order to try to accommodate this surge. you also have the department of homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas placing a lot of the blame on the prior administration. listen to what he told jonathan capehart this morning. >> why the challenge on the border is as difficult as it is now, even though we are tackling it and will tackle it successfully, is because the entire system was dismantled. the department of homeland security will and are meeting that challenge and we will execute this successfully. >> reporter: the challenge is of course the ongoing pandemic, alex. he does say all these unaccompanied minors are being

tested for covid in these shelters. we have to imagine, we talk about social distancing and the fact that these facilities are completely overcrowded, and that's another reason that there's an intense political pressure for dhs and other agencies to reveal any kind of photos, images, videos of the conditions inside. no journalists have been allowed in in the last couple of weeks. and many requests for ride-alongs have also been denied. so when the secretary was pressed on why that's still the case, he said they're trying to work on that. but this is an incredibly difficult humanitarian challenge for the biden administration that is also on top of that, really turning into an optics and a political messaging one, alex. >> okay, thank you so much for that, monica alba from the white house. as we continue with the migration surge at the border, overnight the biden administration announced a new plan to care for many of the unaccompanied children. let's go to nbc's dasha burns, reporting on the latest from

granejo, texas. >> reporter: immigration agencies overwhelmed, struggling to handle the surge of migrants at the us border. over 5,000 unaccompanied minors in custody in overcrowded facilities. total border encounters in february up 28% over the previous month. especially in the rio grande valley in texas. this is the border wall here. just about a quarter mile up the road, customs and border protection has set up an area where they're processing the surge of migrants coming to the u.s. from there they take them on buses straight to mcallen. >> reporter: families are tested for covid and many shelter with local charities before traveling to relatives living across the country. >> in a time of stress you may become noble and generous and courageous or you may become mean and nasty and freak out. what's happening here is people are noble. >> reporter: in mexico, a rising number of families with young children are being allowed to

stay in the u.s. 60% in february compared to 38% in january. many fleeing danger back home. >> translator: her father was killed when she was 9 years old. >> reporter: some say the new president gave them hope for a life in america. why did you decide to come now? >> translator: to take advantage of the opportunity the president has given to the people of central america.callen's mayor says none of this is new. >> it's a similar pattern, first we had a trickle, then great waves coming over, then we had finger pointing in washington. >> reporter: and as for those unaccompanied minors, many of them in overcrowded facilities here in the rio grande valley, overnight health and human services announced they're opening a new facility in pecos, texas to help manage the influx. it will hold 500 with the capacity to expand to 2,000.

alex? >> okay, dasha burns, thank you so much for that report. meanwhile a new poll shows the president is receiving overwhelming support with a 59% job approval. his covid relief success appears to be providing a counterbalance to what's going on at the border. let's now bring in chief white correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker. welcome, peter, good to see you, my friend. so this american rescue plan is widely popular, especially as people start to now get those stimulus checks, right? they're also getting vaccinated. so what's your read on covid relief mitigating any public concerns right now over the border? >> obviously the biden administration would rather talk about covid relief because it is in fact popular, it is a sign that they can say we're fulfilling the promise we made when we came into office to get this pandemic behind us, and the longer we go into the year, the further we make progress on vaccination, the more the economy begins to bounce back, obviously the biden administration will want to talk

about that a lot. it doesn't want to talk about the border. republicans don't want to talk about covid relief because it is popular, therefore they do want to talk about the border because it's an area where they see vulnerability in the new administration. 59% is a pretty striking number. here we are roughly 60 days into the new administration and we never saw a number that high during a single day in the trump administration for president trump. neither president obama in his last term rarely got to numbers like that. for president biden it's a good start in terms of his approval. >> but tell me, how much do you think the fact that the biden folks blame the prior, the trump administration, for problems along the border? does that resonate? >> i think it does. in the early days every new president comes in and blames any problem they have on their predecessor. in this case obviously president trump spent so much of his administration cracking down on immigration, a striking contrast

in policy between the two presidencies no matter what. look, i think a lot of people were tired of the trump administration's immigration policies. the question is whether this surge changes their mind and makes them wonder whether the biden approach is strong enough. if he gets control, it will be a different matter but right now it's a concern for the white house. >> does the relief bill have more staying power as they're getting a handle on the border? >> i think the border issue is very galvanizing for conservatives, trump voters in particular, for folks watching fox news, they're hearing more about that than they are about covid relief. for the broader public, the pandemic is a bigger issue. it's kept people at home, it's kept schools closed, caused so much sickness and death in so

many families, it has a broader impact. the country is so tired after a full year of this, any sense of relief is a higher issue for them. that doesn't mean the border issue can't come back and bite the president in the weeks and months to come. >> here is a deep tease, a deep plug, i've read you are writing a book about the trump administration. you plan to get a sit-down with him. first of all, why is he doing it? i've heard it reported from his aides that he says it's important for him to control his own narrative and utilize these mediums to share his thoughts and correct the record. so talk about your intentions as you write this book. >> well, look. president trump has always believed that if he could talk to journalists or authors, he could bring his side of the story into the narrative. that's why he got so upset at bob woodward's first book, he

blamed his staff for that. he did talk to woodward for the second book that bob wrote. so my wife and i are working on a book on the trump presidency, we'll talk to him, we're glad he will talk to us. we'll talk to a number of people around him as well as his critics. it will be a full scale history of his presidency. i think it's important because look, his presidency has shaped this country in a very significant way, and i think if we don't go back and take a look at what happened, why, and how it happened, history is ill-served. >> the weekend you go down there for that interview, will you come on our show? we'll still buy the book. thank you, peter. let's go down to florida where massive spring break crowds are creating chaos in miami beach. that's where we find msnbc's

cori coffin. what's being done to get things under control there in miami beach, cori? >> reporter: when you see what that video shows last night versus where we are this morning, i mean, look at this, this is the same street from that video. very, very few people out here now. there is some aerial footage to show you how empty it is here today. last night obviously a massively different story. an emergency order had to be put in place by the city of miami beach. they fact a curfew, alex, that began at 8:00 p.m. the crowds refused to leave. at 9:00 p.m. officers said they will be forcibly removing people. they had armored trucks in here, they put pepper balls into the crowd, and only at that point was the crowd trying to disperse. they had some arrests, we're waiting for those arrest numbers. we also talked with the mayor of miami beach this morning about how untenable the situation has gotten.

listen to what he said. >> we have three problems going on at the same time. the first is an enormous number of people are coming. the second problem is that too many of those people that are coming are really exercising bad judgment, maybe they've been pent up, maybe they're just coming here with bad intentions. whatever it is, there are people doing things they shouldn't be doing. of course the third problem is we're in the middle of a pandemic. having scenes like this show that this is quite the challenge. >> reporter: so if people had not seen the footage prior to last night's emergency orders, we are talking about some very violent crowds, even a deadly shooting earlier in the week. officers reported being hurt. the night before they instituted these measures, alex, officers said they had three different incidents in which they could not control the crowd. so the mayor there, you heard him, he said this is a tinder, the city is in a tinder right

now, they did not want to wait for that match. >> cori, there seems to be a distinct difference between daytime and nighttime. we're showing video right now and you'vehow much emptier ocean avenue is right now. >> reporter: there seems to be two factors here, alex. day to night, it brings out different crowds. a lot of folks we spoke to here during the day, they're locals, they enjoy being out here or they're out here to be here with their families or to enjoy the beach. the folks coming out at night, they quite simply want to be intoxicated, they want to party. there are many people who said they would rather be arrested and continue to remain out past curfew last night than to just stick inside their hotels. and these are folks who are not

part of the normal miami beach community. >> it makes sense, definitely go to miami and spend spring break in jail. not. cori coffin, thank you so much. gone but not forgotten. parts of the capitol hill fence are coming down, but many gop lawmakers don't want to talk about what happened. lk about what happened. to redefine everything a truck can be. ♪ and while we've made good on that promise by winning back to back to back motor trend truck of the year awards, the work is never done. ♪ cell phone repair. the work is never done. did you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? just get a quote at libertymutual.com. really? i'll check that out.

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breaking news to share, defense secretary lloyd austin making an unannounced visit to afghanistan today, as the biden administration faces a decision whether to withdraw troops by a may 1 deadline as required in a u.s. agreement with the taliban. secretary austin meeting with the afghan president. he says the meeting was helpful and will inform the administration's decision. joining me is adam smith, chair of the house armed services

committee. congressman, thank you for joining me, it's good to see you. what does this visit tell you about the likelihood of bringing troops home in a little over a month? do you support that, sir? >> i think this visit tells us how important that may 1 deadline is. i support the idea that it's time to bring our troops home. by may 1 is a very unrealistic deadline. that's what, five, six weeks from now. we've got i think somewhere between 2,500 and 3,500 troops in afghanistan. our allies have another 6 to 7,000. if we're going, they're not staying. there's no way to safely pull 10,000 troops out of afghanistan in five weeks. the bigger and more important question is, what's the long term policy that president biden is going to put in place in afghanistan? does he think we have to stay there? if so, why? and for how long? my personal opinion is that the

two reasons for being in afghanistan, one, to sort of keep the afghan government propped up so it can survive. two, counterterrorism. i don't think either one of those is worth the cost and risk of our current situation. and we need to develop a responsible exit plan. there's a lot of detail in that. but that's what i've concluded would be the right policy. >> okay. thank you for that. i guess we'll look at may 1 and see that date potentially come and go. but having said that, sir, let's turn to the capitol. crews are removing the outer fence surrounding the capitol this week. i know you said you were deeply troubled by the extreme level of security around the u.s. capitol. what are your thoughts now, this sunday, some fencing is coming down. what do you think should happen next? >> there's two big things that need to be done here. number one is, what is appropriate security for the capitol in this environment? i think it was appropriate, certainly, after january 6, to put up this level of security,

to get us through the inauguration on january 20. after that, as i looked at the threat environment, it didn't warrant this level of security. that's not to say there wasn't any threat. but when it comes to managing security, it is not about eliminating risk. it is about prudently managing that risk. and anything having 2,500 national guard troops and all of this fencing up around the capitol was not warranted by the risk that i was seeing and by the risk that was being explained to me. keep in mind, putting all of this up, we're a democracy. sorry, we're a republic, not a democracy, and that's an important point. my job is to represent the people in my district. i'm to be their voice in congress as are my colleagues in the house and senate. this is the seat of our democracy. if we tell the people who we're supposed to listen to that you're not allowed in, that's really bad for a republic. all of this i think created problems. look, if the risk warranted it,

then that's one thing. i don't think it did, and i'm glad it's coming down. i'm glad we're taking the next step forward. the other question is, you know, what happened on january 6? i think it's really important that we find out, number one, to learn from those mistakes, and number two, to give us a better picture of that threat environment, who are these people. >> congressman, let me ask you specifically about that, because you are aware there's diminished momentum, if you will, to create any sort of a 9/11-style commission on the capitol attack. you have republican and democratic leaders who can't agree on who will be on that commission or exactly what it will study. what are the chances that it does what needs to be done, as you say, to examine this and find out exactly what happened on january 6? >> i think it's at risk. it's a statement of how divided our country is and how divided our politics have become that we can't get past this. both sides to some extent want to grab onto their ideology and prejudge this.

and that has created a very difficult situation in terms of forming a commission. and i think that's sad and unfortunate. i hope we can move past it. i will say that the republicans have not been easy to work with on this, as we've seen. a number of them have been trying to diminish what happened. and then, i mean, the whole issue of, you know, the big lie of the election, you know, a lot of republicans haven't let that go. they haven't unequivocally said no, this was a free and fair election and joe biden won so stop. those divisions are making it difficult to say, look, we're not going to prejudge it, let's just get a bunch of people together and talk about it. everyone wants to sort of jockey for position in advance of it. that's a sad statement on the state of our politics. >> among those republicans who have not let the big lie go, congresswoman marjorie taylor greene, your colleague jimmy gomez introduced a privilege resolution to expel her from

congress. he says she wishes harm to the legislative body. listen to speaker nancy pelosi's reaction to that resolution. >> members are very unhappy about what happened here and they can express themselves the way they do. what mr. gomez did is his own view, and that is not a leadership position. >> would you care to share your views on this? >> i agree with the speaker on that. although i think jimmy has a very, very good point. this didn't come out, i think, as much as it should have. when we did strip marjorie taylor greene of her committees, she advocated, condoned violence against our colleagues. and i know a lot of republicans were upset that we took the unprecedented step of stripping her of her committees. normally the caucus does that. normally the party disciplines their own members. the republicans refused to do that and they said that was unprecedented and it was. what was also unprecedented was that a sitting member of

congress condoned, in some cases appeared to advocate violence against her colleagues, never take the words back, never apologize for it, never said, oh, it was the heat of the moment. we've all had -- not all, but some have had more moments of anger than others. she never took it back and has never changed her opinion. and if that is the case, then i think she should be censured. i agree with the speaker, however, the people of her district in georgia have decided to elect her. it takes really extreme situations when 435 members of congress overturn the will of the electorate in a given district. so i do agree that that would be a step too far. but i hope the republicans will, you know, not accept this, will recognize how this is different than the normal back and forth. >> congressman, may i ask you, so they're not saying anything publicly, they're not rebuking her, they're not censuring her, they're not doing anything with her. that's publicly. are you hearing privately from

any of your republican colleagues that she has taken things a step or three too far? >> oh, absolutely. i have very good relationships with my republican colleagues. as chairman of the armed services committee, we're the most bipartisan committee in congress. every year we pass the defense bill and every year it's on a bipartisan basis. we have a built-in method of working together that i think makes a very positive difference. so i have a lot of very good relationships with many members of congress. yes, republicans are appalled by what she's doing, no question about it. but again, as you guys have talked about a lot, there's that, you know, trump supporting base out there that many of them don't want to take on directly. some have, as we've seen. but most of them don't. yes, on a private basis, with very few exceptions, my republican colleagues recognize that marjorie taylor greene threatening violence, continuing to advocate it, is not a good look for our body, whether you're a republican or a democrat.

>> let me ask you quickly, sir, about the surge at the southern border. your republican colleagues have been seizing on this issue. are they overemphasizing this for political gain or is it a real problem and if so to what extent? >> yeah, both, actually. they're clearly overemphasizing it for political gain. and yes, it's a real problem. where the overemphasis comes on is that somehow this is joe biden's fault. this is exactly what we saw during the trump administration. this is reflective of the growing problems in latin america and the growing desperation of people down there. between natural disasters, covid, failed governments, economic hardship, violence, families are desperate to find a safe place, for them and for their children, they're desperate to come here. that presents a challenge. donald trump's approach to this challenge was completely and totally inhumane. he didn't care, he made no effort whatsoever to try to help these people in any humane way. joe biden is trying to find a better balance.

no, we can't just open up the borders and let everybody in. but there is an asylum process, there are things we can do to more hue humanely deal with this process. the solutions of donald trump are not the way our country should go. >> thanks for joining me, sir. donald trump has put out the welcome mat at mar-a-lago for reporters who want to write books. but after the january 6 attack, does he think he can salvage his legacy? ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. [music: "i swear"] jaycee tried gain flings for the first time the other day... and forgot where she was. you can always spot a first time gain flings user.

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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.

in georgia, lawmakers calling for gun reform in the wake of this week's shooting that killed eight people at three different atlanta area spas. thousands gathered in cities across the country yesterday to honor those victims and denounce hate against the asian-american community. nbc's deepa shivaram has more.

>> reporter: authorities haven't ruled out a motive yet, that includes a hate crime. since the shootings took place on tuesday, there have been ongoing discussions about the process and sometimes the unfair process of qualifying something and prosecuting something, calling it a hate crime and based on a crime of hate, especially when it's racially biased and has affected a certain community like it did with those six of eight people shot and killed on tuesday, women of asian descent. and so authorities are still looking at that. but in the meantime, alex, lawmakers, like you said, including georgia senator raphael warnock, didn't mince words this morning on "meet the

press," calling for gun control, more gun reform. we know that the shooter was able to purchase a weapon the day of. you know, there was no waiting period. he was able to access that gun and then go on this shooting spree that hurt so many people and this entire community. take a listen to what he said on "meet the press" this morning. >> we need reasonable gun reform in our country. this shooter was able to kill all of these folks the same day he purchased a firearm. but right now, what is our legislature doing? they're busy under the gold dome here in georgia, trying to prevent people from being able to vote the same day they register. i think that suggests a distortion of values. law enforcement will go through the work they need to do. but we all know hate when we see it. it is tragic that we've been visited with this kind of violence yet again. >> reporter: so you hear there,

alex, senator warnock saying we all know hate when we see it, bringing up again, like i mentioned, the process and the sometimes unclear process of what it means to really prosecute something as a hate crime. and along the lines of what the senator said, there is a new poll that came out today from "usa today" and ipsos showing that 25% of americans have said that they have seen this blame on the coronavirus, blame on the pandemic, put on asians and asian-americans at one point. if you dig deeper into that poll, the number is nearly 50% of asian-americans themselves who have seen that blame. we know the consequences of this, alex, it turns into hate incidents, it turns into hate crimes, this scapegoating that we've seen, particularly for the asian-american community during this pandemic. and it affects kids, it affects grandparents, it affects the elderly. it has just spanned so much time of fear for this community

that's ended in violence in the last week. you can see behind me this memorial growing outside gold spa, one of the spas that was targeted. and just the community is healing, alex. they're really trying to figure out how to move forward after this. in the meantime we're also waiting for a response from law enforcement. >> i'm looking at the results that have polling as well, people are saying they're watching others get bullied while at the grocery store, it's pretty stunning, deepa, thank you for bringing us the details. new today, the senate rule that could make or break president biden's legislative agenda. this morning democrats are making the argument for why the filibuster should be reformed as republicans urge their counterparts to keep tradition alive. >> there's something to be said for compromise and bipartisanship and respect for minority rights in the senate. >> it's a contradiction to insist on minority rights in the

senate while refusing to stand up for minority rights in the society. >> joining me now, michael starr hopkins, founding partner of northern star strategies, susan del percio, msnbc political analyst, and david jolly, former republican congressman and msnbc contributor. welcome, all, good to see you guys. michael, you heard those two arguments there, i can guess your answer, but who is right and why? >> democrats are 100% right on this. republicans are now talking about compromise, talking about minority rule. where was all this the last four or five years? honestly, where was all this the last 20, 30 years? now republicans want to talk about compromise. but when donald trump was forcing immigrant children into cages, when he was putting muslim ban in place, there was no compromise. now is the time for democrats to focus on making sure people have vaccines, making sure that every

american has access to affordable jobs, and making sure every american has access to the ballot. as long as we have the filibuster as it's currently in place, that's not going to happen. so i'm happy to see democrats pushing back. >> susan, as i look at the sound bites, might republicans be nodding their heads over what senator warnock said, thinking he has a good point? or doesn't that matter, is it all about just trying to gridlock the other side? >> he has an excellent point. and maybe there are a few republican senators that feel it in their heart but they'll never say it out loud because, again, always afraid of a primary or of their own caucus. it's interesting that mitch mcconnell thought it was okay to not have any compromise on a supreme court justice for life that cannot be revoked unless under extreme circumstances. and when he wanted to get one of his own and he only had a slim majority. now we're looking at, going forward, republicans will do

this if they get control of the senate again even if it's with 51 votes. if i were them, i would do it. but i would also do it for a very fundamental reason. the number 60 was meant to build to consensus, for people to compromise. washington has become a town where compromise is a bad word and it's not going to happen. president biden can get five or six republicans maybe on board. but it's not enough. so let each administration and each member be evaluated at the voting booth on election day. >> so david, there are some republicans or some really in general that suggest republicans will have a hard time retaking the senate because of all the legislation that would potentially pass with no filibuster rule. is that a risk that you think democrats want to take and could spur long term hold on both houses? >> yeah, alex, i love this conversation because count me squarely in the middle. i'm an independent, one of these

consensus driven people, actually i like the vestiges of the filibuster. but look, we're long past consensus-driven policy in the united states, we simply are. so for joe biden and the democrats, this is the time, these are your at least two years. it may be the only two years you have of complete control of the white house, the senate, and the house, so go big, get your agenda done and then sell that agenda during the midterms to the american people and let the voters decide. republicans can run on their opposition to that agenda. they can run on a renewed contrast and policy in two years. but if you don't get rid of the filibuster, then this is just going to kind of waddle along to the midterms and biden's not going to get any signature achievements done outside what we just saw using the reconciliation process with the covid relief bill. >> michael, going back to what senator warnock said, you heard him make the comparison to minority voting rights. democratic legislation that would expand voting rights, hr 1, was introduced on the senate floor this week. republicans overwhelmingly

oppose it. could that be a tipping point for moderate democrats who are saying now, let's try to be bipartisan, it's try to compromise? if republicans vote down hr 1, will democrats then draw the line? >> we have to. look, i think if senator manchin, if senator sinema, choose not to amend the filibuster, we're going to have a real problem. what republicans are attempting to do is make it so fewer and fewer americans can vote. there's nothing less democratic than restricting the right to vote. if you don't have the right to vote, you don't have your full citizenship. that's what senator warnock was saying. at the end of the day, every american should have access to the ballot. and if we're not able to fix that, then what's the point in having a democracy? this is why we have to amend the filibuster. >> is that then the tipping point? okay, guys, i'll switch gears and start with you, susan,

relative to donald trump who is sitting down for interviews in the coming weeks with authors who are examining his presidency and are writing books. i'm curious what you make of this. is this an attempt to rewrite history? does donald trump just want to be in the public eye? is it both? >> donald trump is incredibly consistent, he wants and needs attention. he believes on top of it that he could probably talk a good enough game to get his point of view, as distorted as it may be, into these books. but i also just think he likes the attention because he would rather say there has been more books written about me than any other president in history. and that's what he's looking for. >> interesting. there is some new nbc reporting, this david, is going to you, because it's coming from florida, it says that florida governor ron desantis is emerging as a strong potential 2024 hopeful and heir to the trump white house. what do you make that have? of that? >> i think ron desantis is the

frontrunner for the republican nomination and could possibly beat joe biden. a couple of challenges for desantis. is he peaking too early? he's got a reelection in '22, will he commit to serving out his full four years as florida governor or will he jump ship? does donald trump run again in 2024? does he try to tap a successor? what does that mean for ron desantis? the governors who have been most physically distanced from trump for the last four years, those are the ones best positioned to succeed him. >> can we look at 2022 relative to you, david? because you made some headlines yourself this week saying you are likely to run against desantis for that governor's seat in 2022 as an independent. michael and susan are both applauding, i will too, good luck to you. any kind of formal announcement

you want to make today, or place odds? >> florida democrats have not won the governorship in 28 years. and so if we're going to see a change of direction in florida, we might have to consider a change in politics. we're having a baby in four weeks. i'm nowhere near a decision nor an announcement. >> all right. >> mazel tov. >> exactly, mazel tov, get through that first, we totally understand. my friends, good to see all three of you, appreciate you and hope to see you again. there was a moment during president biden's remarks at the cdc on friday that has gone largely overlooked, but that is why we are here. we'll bring that moment you to and why it might be the most important thing you didn't hear, next.

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it's time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. dramatic results. less rms drama. at this hour, three big developments we're watching in the capitol riot investigation. republicans are at odds over whether capitol insurrectionists should be viewed as patriots. details on bear spray and the role that it played in the assault on capitol police. and the capitol is taking on a new look today with perimeter fences coming down. you can see a little bit that have in this photo taken by nbc reporter amanda golden. and amanda joins us right now from capitol hill. a good picture, amanda, thank you for sharing it. what else are you noticing there today? >> reporter: alex, from the posture of security and the fencing coming down, we've seen a lot of that outer perimeter fencing be taken down on

recommendation of the capitol police who say they don't have a known, existing, credible threat at this time that would warrant the continued amount of fencing we've seen since january 6. in addition to that they've now said they're going to keep that inner perimeter, the fencing that's around the capitol square as they continue to make repairs. i've also seen some bike racks be put up against different senate and house buildings, an indication that that could last longer as more of this fencing continues to come down. this comes as we're getting also an increased update from the fbi into their overall investigation of january 6. they're asking for the public's help in identifying ten individuals, ten men that they say committed some of the most violent attacks as they stormed the capitol and hurting of law enforcement. they're asking for the public's help with i.d.'ing these men. the video shows the egregious assaults. this comes as over 300 individuals have been arrested related to charges from january 6. we're also now having this

continued debate around some of the irritants that were used, there is increased reporting around bear spray, that's one of those chemical irritant substances used during january 6 as well as other riots and various violence throughout the last year. and for two individuals that were charged with the assault on capitol police officer brian sicknick last week, they were charged for using that bear spray. it's not quite sure if that bear spray directly related to the injuries that sicknick sustained and later died from following january 6 but it is putting that increased pressure on looking into these kind of irritants and where their place to be, to be so easily accessed. there is also discussion about republicans' posture on the people who stormed the capitol. comments from senator ron johnson, characteriing those who stormed the capitol as patriots, that they were not insurrectionists, and saying he didn't feel personally unsafe during january 6 even though he

was at the capitol at the time. that's getting pushback from some senate republicans. here is what senator roy blunt said earlier today on "meet the press." >> ron johnson called them insurrectionists, people that love this former president bush called them hostile forces. what's your view of this. >> i'm much more in agreement of george w. bush's view of this. i think it was a terrible day for america. i think it was absolutely unacceptable. we can't let that kind of thing be repeated. that's an underlying principle of what happened on january 6th that we don't need to try to explain away or come up with alternative versions of. we all saw what happened. we know what happened. we know we can't let that happen again. >> reporter: alex, you hear the pushback from senator blunt. this comes as in the last week the house overwhelmingly passed legislation to honor both capitol and d.c. police officers

for the actions they took to respond on january 6th, but there were 12 house republicans who objected to that bill because of the use of the word insurrection. >> yeah, yeah. we've been noting that one. thank you so much, amanda golden. u.s. tensions with china, what is it we have to worry about coming up? ♪ freshness and softness you never forget, with downy. alright, guys, no insurance talk on beach day. -i'm down. -yes, please. [ chuckles ] don't get me wrong, i love my rv, but insuring it is such a hassle. same with my boat. the insurance bills are through the roof. -[ sighs ] -be cool.

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china and the united states and asia generally. and met with him, i guess, 24, 25 hours alone. just me and an interpreter and he and an interpreter. by the way, i handed in all my notes. >> joining me now is victor choe, an msnbc korean affairs contributor and analyst. welcome back. good to see you. so, this was tucked away at the end of a talk about covid. how do you interpret the comment from the president, and if it was a message, to whom was the recipient of it? >> well, i think the message, alex, was to the chinese president. his secretary of state and national security adviser had some pretty tough meetings in alaska with their counterparts to sort of set up the relationship under this new administration. and, you know, on the one hand, i think biden is saying, we're

not going to take any guff from china and it's going to be a tough relationship. there are a lot of things china is doing that we don't like. at the same time, he knows the chinese leader and has a personal relationship with him. for the chinese, that's important, that there is some sort of relationship between the two leaders. so, you know, overall, i think it's a good start for the biden administration on china. there's still a lot more to come, though. >> okay. what do you think is behind china's pushback during that diplomat meeting? was it unusual or was it a show? did it have meaning behind it? what's your interpretation of that? >> well, so i think both sides knew going into the meetings that it was going to be a tough set of meetings. it was two full days at the very highest levels. the secretary of state and the national security adviser. so, they knew it was going to be tough meetings. they had their back up a little bit going into the meetings. they were expecting it to be difficult. but i think both sides came out feeling like as difficult as it was and with a lot of issues on which we disagree, taiwan, hong

kong, tibet, just go down the list, there are still some things the u.s. and china can cooperate on, including things like climate change, iran and north korea. it's an expansive agenda, for sure. >> let me ask you about north korea because the biden administration says china is its biggest foreign policy challenge, but china certainly has influence with north korea. kim yo young, the sister of kim jong-un, is threatening president biden with sleepless nights over the next four years. can you give me your assessment of the next four years, after the fire and fury, the love letters, the meetings with donald trump. where do things stand today? >> so, we're in a worse position today than we were four years ago. i mean, despite the love letters and the summits, north korea has 20-plus nuclear weapons, it has probably dozens more based on the fissile material they have.

you're right, china has a lot of influence over north korea. 90% of north korea's external trade is with one country, and that is china. the chinese don't want to see nuclear weapons on the korean peninsula either. there's an opportunity here for cooperation between the united states and china, but it's not going to be each side doing the other one a favor. i mean, they're going to cooperate because it's in their strategic interest to do so. >> victor, we'll have to have you back and further this conversation. a lot more to come. we're keeping an eye on a number of rallies today calling for an end to attacks on asian-americans. mehdi hasan joins me later. r ♪ hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid ♪ ♪ and all that glitters is gold ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's.

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msnbc world headquarters here in nk. we begin with breaking news, update on law enforcement at eight people at atlanta area spas. atlanta officials are telling nbc news they have yet to find concrete evidence that would be enough to build a hate crime case against the accused shooter. investigators say they have done interviews, they have looked into electronic devices and have not turned up evidence needed to support a hate crimes charge yet. also new this hour, crowds are mobilizing around this country to take part i