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a very good day to all of you. welcome to weekends with alex witt. we have breaking news out of florida with a state of emergency in miami beach, after these scenes early and then overnight, atemps to control massive spring break crowds, ending in chaos as party goers clash with police. go to cory coughman in miami beach for us. let's get to, first off, cory, are there any beach restrictions during the daytime and what about spring break destinations? curfews, what's coming down the pike? >> and in place for 72 hours from last night. now, the actual beach, which is to my left, doesn't have any specific restrictions in place,

especially during the daytime. at night, it is closed. and those nighttime closureinizeclude the 8:00 p.m. curfew for the streets behind us, which will be at 9:00 p.m. it now, let's have reused video of last night. what happened when police tried to crackdown on these crowds? what happened with the curfew? at 8:00 p.m., the crowds were in full effect, just like the last several weeks. by 9:00 p.m., they sprayed pepper balls in the crowd. they had atsdsed controls and the use of an armed guard truck out here as well. things got very rowdy. i would say mid9:00, things would disperse. and the mayor comments saying

part of the problem is they have lack of support from the governor. >> now, you've got the governor so he won't have to wear a mask. everything is open. somehow it's great. the local mayors watching what's happening and concerned. and urge people to practice how we care for them and the crowds aren't healthy and they're not safe. >> it's not just the violent crowds we've seen video of. and they are not very masked. and there's no statewide order to do so. so, there will be a meeting coming up in the next hour. an emergency meeting to find out now. already, as you bring black

leaders say last night was far too much. because most of the people out here are people of color. and they feel it's too much of a use of force. we heard from city leaders. so, the report i asked about the difference between daytime in miami beach and nighttime. how about between yesterday and today. since this lockdown went into effect, are you seeing as many people there with you today, as when you were reporting? >> you know, the difference is the heat, all of this. difference between the nighttime and daytime crowds, it's the same crowd that typically comes out. no fewer people out than we saw yesterday during the day. so, it would bow interesting to find out if row have a sunday night, going to a monday. so, it must be a saturday going to a sunday. it's a very different population

entirely. >> well, whatever you're doing, stay safe. as we watch what's unfolding, a new warning from health officials. a fourth stage headed to the u.s. as many states ease restrictions and travel restrikdss get high, they will allow the new u.k. strain to become dominant. in colorado, they'll be allowed to reopen wednesday, bars, after being shutdown for a year. mask mandate is going to ease up in about two weeks. and one in six american adults have been fully vaccinated. almost 80 million americans have gotten at least one dose of the covid vaccine and 166 million doses have been distributed across the country. welcome. let's talk about florida. what i was seeing from last

night in particular, pretty alarming, just in terms of the crowded streets. and no masks really in sight. how about you? >> i was taken aback. i couldn't imagine we're still in the middle of a pandemic. because any advantage they have was over taken by being in such crowds so close together. not wearing the masks and in nighttime, potentially in outdoor spaces. and potentially violence. the long term part of this is florida has one of the highest rates of concern in b 117. so, you might see a lot of the sprint breakers and you may see that increase. the thing that strikes me is look, they're letting down the mask mandates and the restrictions.

and saying they want people to take their own decisions. and many americans have looked to see what the laws are to base their sense of safety. if they see all the restaurants are open. they think it's now safe to go outside, whereas i think they need understand in many cases, governors are making a decision that balances public safety with economic imperative. so, we, americans, need to make decisions to keep us safe. just because there's no mask mandate very soon. only twoivl% of us have got the vaccine. >> just wear a mask. it's so easy. >> let me ask you about this, the vaccine specifically. because 43 million americans fully vaccinated with either pfizer, moderna or the j and, j vaccine. i know we reiterate that all

three are effective. americans should take whichever ones are available to them. at this point, is there any indication one performs better than the other and one has worse side effects than another? >> so far, the biggest side effect is from the cdc in terms of the 96 million people between december and beginning midjanuary and we have not seen updated data yet from j & j. they occur immediately after you get the vaccine. i would say get whatever vaccine you can get your hands on. you and i have talked in the past about how data is evolving. and data about the fact that they do reduce transition. and more studies are coming out saying it's 100% they're dropping transition.

they're keeping those around you safer and that's another reason to get it. >> somewhat perplexing at this point. more than four in ten health care workers have been vaccinated. one in three say they're not confident they're tested for safety and effectiveness. i know we talked about a trend when they were first rolling out. why do you think it's taken place, that we're going to see similar hesitancy? >> i think the demand is still pretty high in the population. majority of the health care workers have been vaccinated now. that trend is people wanting to wait and see, i have seen hesitancy improve as it's have had more experience and more have gotten the vaccine.

and the remaining have been confusion about the way the side effects of vaccines are evaluated. i think there's concern about long-term side effects. what i can tell you is majority of the time what we're concerned about are not so much long-term effects but as a month or two to vaccines. and it's side effects after giving to millions of people. and i hope it improves our ability to improve vaccines. i will tell you the hesitancy remains on my mind. once we get through the group of people who do want the vaccine, we're going to start getting through the smaller group of people, who will be more hesitant and it will require more one on one conversation and relationship and helping dispeldistrust and misinformation out there. you're going to help us do that.

breaking news on the shooting deaths of people at the area spas. they have been interviews, look under to electronic devices and have not yet turned up efrds needed to support a hate crimes charge. meanwhile, large crowds are gathering at this hour, taking part in anti-hate marches in rallies around this country. and joining us from one of the rallies in the city. you said a couple thousand people there. it was quite a loud crowd as we listened to the majority senate leader, schumer, speaking. >> reporter: yeah, that crowd has only grown. and right now, on the stage is andrew yang. former presidential candidate, current new york city mayoral candidate. senator shiemer are denouncing in this rise of antiasian american sentiment we've seen in this country.

let me tell you this space was booked weeks ago. this was before the tragedy we saw and right now there are rallies going on in this weekend. and of course here there are thousands and thousands of people in columbus park in the heart of chinatown. it's about taking back the power. he has experienced racism his entire life. his community is experiencing an uptick right now. his own mom calls him on the phone because she's been harassed. earlier today, they had martial arts classes for self defense. here's what they said about this event. >> you want this to create an experience where people can feel empowered. they can go home feeling like they can take control of their own personal world. self defense is obviously very important because a lot of people are scared. you don't want people scared, in fear. because when people are in fear,

they're crippled. they can't take any action. we want people to be strong, feel how important they are and feel how worthy they are to be here. >> reporter: so, people have been making signs of stop asian hate and passing around the pins for this sentiment. he wants people to frequent businesses in chinatown. of course, they were hit hard by covid-19 and now they have an extra layer and hope people will continue to support their community. >> new this hour, the outer fences are coming down near capitol hill. the streets have taken on a new look since the january insurrection. and taken by von hillyard. you know, this must be a welcome site for folks like you, because it not only tells us about the threat of future threats that may be subsiding and it's less

to go through when it gets to security, trying to get to work. >> and today, myself and you finally shared those photos because it leads one to smile. we see a family with a two-year-old kid on a scooter coming by and a couple others moving down the road. i think sthaltsz the beauty nof capitol complex is the beauty you're able to be at the heart of the nation's capitol. and what you saw over the last 12 hours now was the beginning of the taking down of the structure. so, now you can come along and approach a capitol. you stim see the main fencing up here. but it was just this week two lawmakers wrote about the potential threat and said, quote, there does not exist a known credible threat that warrants temporary security fencing.

this is insignificant. there have been other credible threats and lawmakers, not only inauguration day but march 4th. omso a potential threat on the day that joe biden is set to address congress for the first time. and yet, also general tapped by speaker pelosi to conduct the over view, as to not only what went wrong january 6th in terms of the apparatus and how to prevent a future attack. he, himself, said fencing is not a solution. only to go as far as saying a retractable fencing in an emergency situation would be necessary. instead, it was general ornery, who said general law enforcement needs to take the threat from within. we've seen more than 300 arrested by the fbi. more than 65 of them arrested

assaulting capitol police officers. and the more and more evidence that comes out, you've seen, not only sticks used, but the concern around bear spray. this week two individuals arrested in connection with the death of capitol police officer, brian sicknick, for the alleged belief of bear spray here. so, when we're talking about an armed insurrection, that's what took place january 6th. at the same time, i let you hear from lawmakers and i let you hear from one of those lawmakers, calling for some of the fencing to be taken down. take a listen. >> 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's not about eliminating risk, it is about whoorm is at risk. i think having all the fencing

around the capitol was not warranted by the risk i was seeing and explained to me. this is the seat of our democracy. if we tell the people that we're supposed to listen to you're not allowed in, that's really bad for a republic. >> and they will remain on the capitol grounds complex. but you're free to come down, take a train and i'll join you for a picnic. >> thank you so much. well, mar-a-lago has become a mecca for republicans cozying up to donald trump. and now for journalists, it's a time to rewrite history. ♪ ♪

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the resort in mar-a-lago will remain partially closed due to covid outbreak. but that's not stopping him from inviting the press to the beach

club. they report he's set for 12 interviews with augers examining his presidency, come of whom are pending sequels to books they published during trump's time in office. the white house correspondent, co author of the playbook and i welcome you as an msnbc contributor just this week, welcome. and a white house reporter from "politico" i welcome you equally hard but he's part of the team. what can i say? you do have one of the by lines in the story. so, do you know why trump is doing this? is he trying to rewrite history when it. >>s to his presidency? >> he's sitting down for a remarkable number of interviews and with top journalists from

maggie haberman to john carl, to talk to them for their upcoming books about his presidency. and the former president, he worked with different journalists when they wrote books during his time in the white house. he infamously did over 18 interviews with bob woodward and livid with his leadership during the covid pandemic in the best light. he wants to tell his side of the story. he understands they might not present him the way he would like to be presented but he really wants to tell his own side of the story here. and of course, as the next president, he has his own legacy on his mind and he's thinking of how he's going to be portrayed through history too. >> i'm curious to what extent,

if at all, there is talk about the behind the scenes at the white house. are they at all concern that more trump books could effect their own messaging on their agendas? >> i don't think so. and they don't spend a lot of time thinking of president trump. they do think about what he's going to say and what he said impacted republican party. they know this is a man who republican party is going to continue to follow. and that means by policy. the thing about trumpism is there wasn't a policy proposal he's known for. and that's stuff that the republican party has continued to imbrace. if anything, that's what the white house is thinking about because they know president biden talked about making sure it's time for unity, time to lower the temperature.

and then you have president trump, former president trump and the republicans doing the same rhetoric. >> and think about it. a thousand books written about. him. so? >> there's a lot out there. and i think something that's fascinating is this is a president -- we may have more insight from this one than more presidency in history. it started with his tweegts. tweets and there were all these leaks happening. they're making sure there need was out there. a lot of self preservation going on. and they're going to continue. i know because it was a special surprise for everyone, this presidency. that's where all the interest lies.

>> did they expect donald trump is going to say something different? that he's going to rewrite history or the stances he took? what are they expecting, do you sense? >> purely, from a journalistic stand pointed, you want to speak with your subjects, the people you're interviewing in person. get to talk to them one on one and the last president, one on one, and ask probing questions about decision making and what happened behind the scene. but it is interesting some of the journalists that have gone down there. the ex-president has seems to be with the rug, at least temporarily. >> let me ask you, mar-a-lago has become a hot spot for republican lawmakers. they kiss the ring, if you will. you talk about the one easy step that could mess optrump endorsement. and holding that it still hold

as lot of water, what is the one easy step? do you think it could put republicans in potentially solutions? >> there's been jockeying to get the coveted endorsement of donald trump. after january 6th, it seemed his name was toxic. of course, it's the hottest name in republican politics. a lot of people running for office want to get the stamp of approve. and a lot of that is going to mar-a-lago and get in contact, either through aids or, my colleague, gab a and i wrote a story that came out today, about how that can go wrong, if people think or conjest they have a closer relationship with donald trump than they actually do, that it can backfire.

we wrote of one specific issues about jockeying for positions. we've seen all of the republican leaders make trips down to mar-a-lago. everyone from kevin mccarthy and ron mcdaniel. and the former president, he's had calls or met with over 50 members of congress. so, really just shows you his continues power with the party. getting a fundraiser there at mar-a-lago, at the president's club is the coveted location spot. people want him to come by, say hello and hopefully, ultimately get his endorsement. >> okay. let's talk about what's going on on the boarder. secretary was on the show defending the nation's position.

what is the thinking behind the scenes at the white house? how much do they put the blame on the trump administration, behind the scenes, as well as what they're saying publicly? >> i think behind the scenes, those conversations about what then president trump and how he spoke about this, the kind of policies that were in place during his presidency and they say we didn't have a great relationship with mexico because of this. they do continue to talk about that. we've seen that publicly. they continue their conversation privately. and they're, it seems, straighted over whether it is a quote/unquote crisis. they think it's a semantics issue that doesn't really matter. and i think they're trying not to, as i've been told, play the game, and figure out whether it's a crisis or problem or issue. and instead, they point to the fact that they ask fema to dump in and create better places for the kids, thousands of kids down there.

and they're in a tough spot, right? because what do you do when the rhetoric is going to be more humane and that's what brought them to the boarder. and at the same time, you have to save boarders. they've been saying for months don't come here. we'll figure this out later. you have people on the right talking about this a lot. and the progressive left about how they're being treated. >> i know 100%. meredith, i'm out of time. but can you quickly tell me what about mary trump told me about the trump family political future? >> yes. the former president's family, she's no fan. she made it clear this week. she's joining a group trying to

elect lgbtq progressive candidates and lawmakers. frrt but she had no shortage of criticism for her own family and that includes ivanka trump or don jr. getting to politics. she said there's no place for them and they have no experience. but she's really excited to get into politics herself. and the first step for her is getting involved in this organization. >> thank you so much for the schat. appreciate it. you've heard lots of complaints about the price tag that came with it. and the next guest says it could save america in the long run. andrew yang and congresswoman, grace meng will be on "politics nation" at 5:00 p.m. eastern. be on "politics nation" at 5:00 p.m. eteasrn are you packed yet? our flight is early tomorrow. and it's a long flight too. once we get there, we will need... buttercup! ♪

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new information on the covid

relief plan. first payments were due to begin in july but that may be delayed because the irs pushed tax day back now to may 17th. the big benefit. parents can now claim up to 3,600 for each child dependent. not forever though. the final payment is scheduled to end by december 31st. joining me is cochair of the racial justice organization, color of change. she's also the author of a new book, the sum of us. what racism cost us and how we can prosper together. why do you think it's important? what can it accomplish if just for one year? >> well, it's so important. it's wholly within the interest of the nation to make sure every child is raised where the family has enough money to meet basic

needs and have a shot at fulfilling its needs and that's not the case. before the pandemic, we had four in 12 children living in families struggling to make ends meet. one under seven under the poverty line. this amazing new built, which i have to give credit to congresswoman, who have been fighting on this issue for over a decade, will change the face of child poverty in this country. an issue already costing us 5 billion a year, i should add. it will mean a family, let's say minimum waged worker with two children, before this reform, could only get about $900 per child in credit back. wassant even eligible for the full amount of the credit. now that parent and that family

will be able to get as much as $7200. fully listing that family out of poverty. and that means better skoom attendance, health, asthma rates. totally saving our country and that family so much. and yet, it is just a small investment. and that's why we need support our families. it's such a great thing we need to extend and make permanent. it's not just about the pandemic. the poverty was a preexisting pandemic. >> my point we've got one year of this, awesome for all the reasons you've suggested. and i'm going to have my director put up another graphic to the extent she's going to help people impoverished and other staff. but doesn't this need to go on longer than a year? is there a chance that could happen? >> absolutely. this wasn't just about the pandemic. it was about 50 years of what we

call the inequality era of our country's economy growing and growing. and yet, the people who work so hard, having their standard of living decline and decline. we continued to nearly lead the advanced world in child poverty. that is just appalling. this is what should be a down payment on a and black, white, and brown. and that makes sure our families don't suffer needlessly. >> in your book, what nice things can't we have? >>. >> as long as it -- i mean nice things like wages that keep workers out of poverty and

universal health care and child care and reliable modern infrastructure. and the we is all americans, both the white americans, who are the largest share of the impoverished and uninsured and black and brown americans who are disproportionately so. and over the course of the journey, i discovered, that in a way that is holding us all back from having nice things, racism is the most powerful force stopping america from making smart policy decisions to invest in our people. >> yeah. to your point, cost the economy $16 trillion over the last two decades. can you get specific to some degree on how inequality like this hurts everyone. >> exactly right. that was a powerful study and

keeps being backed up by more and more studies. feels like every month a new one comes out. quite simply, sidelining. so many of the players on our team, right? if you have so many members of your team on the sidelines, unable to compete, unable to play and score points for your team, of course, then you're not going to have as many points. that's the simple way of thinking of it. but the problem i found in my research for "the sum of us" is the big lie is that we're not all on the same team. there's a zero-sum view that more white americans have, actually, than people of color. the idea that there's an us and them within the american people and that progress for people of color has to come at white folks' expense. that's what i heard across the country as i journeyed to write "the sum of us." and something emblu muatized about the public pool.

we used to have public pools that were segregated. and once it was time to integrate them during the civil rights movement, many towns decided to drain their public pools. i use that as a metaphor to talk about the ways we backed away from the formula that created the greatest middle class the world has ever seen, that needed to become as diverse as our nation. this is the challenge and one, that actually the biden/harris administration have met, which is exciting. can we extend the american dream to all of our people, even as the face of the american people becomes more diverse, as we have more children of color in our country, can we make sure they don't suffer needlessly? when we have a low minimum wage and support from the government, what can we expect? this is the kind of filling the public pool, this american rescue plan that we absolutely

need. and i hope many of the provisions become permanent. >> this is our country, the united states of america, and we are all americans. i think we need to get used to using those words more often. thank you so much. and the book "the sum of us, what racism costs all of us and how we can prosper together." come see me again real soon. thank you. republicans say terrorists are sneaking. blicans say terrors are sneaking my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant™ with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections

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keeping your oysters business growing has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo new reaction to republican claims that terrorists may be making their way to the u.s. through the southern boarder. democrats are pushing back. >> it's not just people from mexico or honduras and el salvador. they're finding people from yemen, iran, turkey. people on the terrorist watch list they're catching and

rushing it at once. >> i can't go into specifics but he is distorting and misconstruing a lot of what's happening at the boarder, to the point where it's more misinformation that is decidedly done to insight and scare people. >> and joining me now, is distinguished fellow and national security contributor and analyst. look, you served as an fbi special agent on a joint terrorism task force. in your mind, what's telling the truth here? >> it seems likes political opportunityism. what's more confusing is they said the names on the watch list. if you remember back, ten/fifteen years ago the watch list was notorious for having name confusion. like john smith, there are a lot of them in the world. in terms of countries stops, unless there's a case opened up, it's hard to tie it to

terrorism, per se. and the other thing to look at is there are much easier ways for terrorists to get in to the united states, than to go through mexico, the southwest boarder. and most intercepted at airports or the northern boarder. you might remember the millennium plot, where they tried to come in through a navy boarder in washington. i think across the board, if you're worried about safety, it's crime. it's drug cartels, criminal networks. that's where the southwest boarder is an issue. i'd rather focus on the facts than incitement of terrorism. there's no evidence to support that claim. >> so, give me your assessment, scale of one to ten, ten being the most severe. the terror threat, in your mind, lands where? >> two. would be my guess. it is not that likely. we used to talk in

counterterrorism research that there was this huge plus and if you wanted to police the southwest boarder, they would try to connect terrorism to it. this going back to late 2000s. and that would come up from time to time. i don't think it's the large infultration route. i think we have a much bigger national terrorism problem than international. and what he does not discuss is we don't know the four people, i think he mentioned about, that reported dates back to one october. which would mean president trump may well have been president for that. we're not sure if they were positives and if it was, if it had anything to do with president biden. >> very true. so, let's talk about the capitol hill riot investigation and the fences coming down now. from what you're seeing now, do you think it's the right move? is the threat or less

diminished? because to your point, it's domestic terrorism we're concerned about and that's what we saw on display too, varying degrees, january 6th. >> that's right. and i do think that it is time to probably bring down those fences. look, the capitol is the people's house. and all threat mitigation techniques should be based on intelligence. if there's not intelligence to warrant the massive scale up, we don't want to turn this people's house into alcatraz. and there are other ways, as you heard in the report. he talked about invisible fences, trip wires. there are other options out there. >> what about the new intelligence report that was delivered and you're speaking about it now. but some of the details. it's warning of the rising threat of militias and white supremacists. the "the new york times" saying the intelligence assessment, highlighted from the threat from militias, predicting it would be

elevated in the coming months because of contentious, socio political factors. what are you hearing about this? >> i think that's correct. i think it's a year or two late. the rise was very much tied, as we've seen with some of the hate crime and white supremacists extremism in 2022, it being an election year. and it's not over in the minds of extremists out there. looking forward, i think one of the things we should consider is do we have any political rhetoric that points to targets. the reason they were here is because the president, his surrogates told him to be there. that's the number one reason. the second part is we should look to where there are other targets that are vulnerable, which are closer to where the extremists are. you're seeing service trying to kidnap governor whitmore in michigan. weevlg seen other targ lts emerge closer to their homes, throughout the country.

we were, in particular, worried about swing states, in the lead up to the election and after. i think we should be more concerned about it as summer comes and the rose in number. so extremism is still there. i think it comes down to targets and really political rhetoric. if we hear elected officials pushing forth conspiracies which are advancing towards targets, specific targets, then i would become very worried. >> sage and somewhat frightening insights from you, clint watts. thank you so much, clint. kids under pressure in this age of covid-19. this time over college admissions, as if that's not pressure enough. some insight from the president of florida and a&m university, next. university, next es, 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. i wish i could group my insurance stuff.

-[ coughs ] bundle. -the house, the car, the rv. like a cluster. an insurance cluster. -woosah. -[ chuckles ] -i doubt that exists. -it's a bundle! it's a bundle, and it saves you money! hi. i'm flo from progressive, and i couldn't help but overhear... super fun beach day, everybody. tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? and i couldn't help but overhear... what if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks? now they can! this towel has already been used and it still smells fresh. pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry for up to 12-weeks. t-mobile is the leader in 5g. we also believe in putting people first by treating them right. so we're upping the benefits without upping the price. introducing magenta max. now with unlimited premium data that can't slow down based on how much smartphone data you use. plus get netflix on us, and taxes and fees included! you won't find this with the other guys. in fact, you'll pay more and get less. right now, pay zero costs to switch! and bring your phone -- we'll pay it off! only at t-mobile. tonight...i'll be eating loaded tots for march madness.

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looks a look at the college admissions process in a series kids under pressure. some schools are seeing a massive spike in applications. harvard saw a 42% increase. ucla and nyu saw big jumps as well. some have had to push back decisions because of the surge. state schools are facing the opposite problem, a drop in the number of students applying. joining me now is dr. larry robinson, president of florida a&m university. thanks for joining us. how have admission numbers changed at your university, florida a&m? have you seen a spike? have you seen a drop in the applications for fall of 2021? >> thanks, alex, for having me on. we've actually seen a spike. we are probably going to break another record in terms of applications to the university for the fall of 2021. we had a record year in 2019.

we're going to exceed that for 2021. but not only that, the academic profile of our students is also an all-time high. the average high school gpa is about 3.9 now. >> wow! >> yeah, it's pretty competitive environment. >> it sounds like it. tell me why do you think you've seen this spike? what is it about florida a&m or universities in general that you're seeing -- i know it's a great school, so we know that. >> i think starting with that, it's a great institution. i do think that the value of hbcus in terms of their national recognition has spiked as well because of the attention given this past year around social injustices that happen around the country. and the roles that have played over time addressing those issues. i think by and large it's a recognition of the great academic programs, the great

culture and environment that we provide for our students that people are beginning to acknowledge as well. the data suggests very strongly certainly if you are an african-american you've got to take a very serious look at sending your loved ones to an hbcu because the data shows that they can get anywhere from these institutions much more so than they do at others. >> there is one reason relative to ivy league schools that have seen an increase and it's the decision to waive the s.a.t. and a.c.t. test score requirements. the pandemic made it really impossible for many high school juniors and seniors to take that test that has fundamentally changed the application process. without those measures, doctor, how do you decide which students to ten, especially when your gpa and extracurricular activities have been so affected by the pandemic? where does florida a&m stand on s.a.t. and a.c.t.? >> well, we're part of the state university system of florida and

that system has not waived those requirements at this time so it's still one of the important measures that the system uses to determine eligibility for admission into the 12-member set of institutions here in the state. what we've done is make more test options available for students. we've had special s.a.t./a.c.t. testing opportunities on our campus because we recognize that in some places students have had difficulties in getting to those tests. what we're doing in the interim, though, is students are getting to take those tests. we are admitting them based upon their gpa scores with the anticipation that they will soon their the examination or re-take it in some instances where they're trying to take a higher score. the other thing that we're doing too is that we have a collaboration with the state college system of florida. we don't reject any students, we redirect them so we have a

program where they go to those colleges, get their aa degrees and come into a specific degree program at the university. >> that's great. take advantage of community colleges and other ones that are there available. real quick, do you think it's the beginning of the end for s.a.t./a.c.t. or do you think it's going come back full force once all of the pandemic-related issues settle? >> well, i'm glad to see institutions are taking a broader perspective on what it takes to determine what a student is going to be successful in college or not. standardized tests isn't the only measure of that. in fact i suggest -- our data suggests that the students' epa is a better measure but things like grit, determination, commitment, maturity. sometimes standardized test shows what a student has experienced, how many times they have had to practice and so forth for the test. they don't measure that student's commitment to coming to an institution and then going

out in the world and making a true difference. >> can i just say speaking as the mom of two kids, i'm glad you don't measure how many times mothers say study! that wraps up this edition of "weekends with alex witt." up next, yasmin vossoughian has sally susman about the challenges to get the covid vaccine to underserved communities of color. rved communitie s of color 5g fro erica's most iable network at no extra cost. and more of the entertainment you love like apple music. and the beautiful iphone 12 on us when you buy one. only from verizon. ♪ and a little bit of chicken fried ♪ ♪ cold beer on a friday night ♪ ♪ a pair of jeans that fit just right ♪ ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. ♪♪

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