good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. the biden administration is cram belling to deal with the surge with migrants at the border. with homeland security, more than 15,000 children are unaccompanied. on sunday the homeland security

sect defended the administration's policies. >> the border is closed. we are expelling families. we are expelling single adults and we've made a decision that we will not expel young, vulnerable children. >> but the message that the border is closed is not slowing the rate of new arrivals. a temporary overflow facility for up to 2,000 children is now being set up in west texas to handle what the administration acknowledges is the largest surge in 20 years. president biden says he plans to visit the border, quote, at some point as reporters questioned him about the white house response. >> i know what's going on in those facilities. >> what more can be done, sir? >> a lot more. we are in the process of doing it now. republicans are seizing on the issue to hammer the president for reversing the trump policies, and now even some democrats are criticizing the conditions of the holding facilities for the migrant children. texas democratic congressman

henry cuellar provided these photos of a packed border patrol facility in texas. senator chris murphy who visited the border in el paso last week wroting, quote, i fought back tears as a 13-year-old girl sobbed uncontrollably having been separated from her grandmother and parents. >> i wouldn't want my children to be in those detention facilities, but this isn't 2019. these aren't cages. there are doctors and child care workers there and the biden administration is trying to deal with a mess they were left from the trump administration. >> joining me now is nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez in hidalgo, texas. gabe, more than 15,000 unaccompanied children and of course, 822 from more than ten days and we're getting our first glimpse of these crowded conditions from pictures that are provided by congressman cuellar, but no press access. is that still the case? >> yeah, that's right, andrea.

no press access to any of these facility, but as you mentioned, we are starting to see some of the conditions inside that facility in donna, texas. that facility, andrea is not too far from here, but it has been housing these unaccompanied minors and according to congressman cuellar's office there are eight pods there. each of those pods have a capacity for 260 unaccompanied minors. at least one of those pods, however, according to his office at this point has more than 400. andrea, we should note his office would not say who took those photos, but it would say that they were taken just this weekend. we did reach out to the department of homeland security as well as customs and border protection. neither has commented so far, but neither has disputed the authenticity of those images, but again, andrea, this comes as more questions are arising about what the biden administration

plans to do about this surge in unaccompanied children. we've also just reported that i.c.e. has just awarded an $87 million contract to secure about 1200 beds in hotel rooms near the border for migrant families. so certainly a sign that this surge, they don't expect the surge to end any time soon, andrea. >> and gabe, when we look at the border, you know, it's clear that the president and the first days in office is trying to reverse -- everyone acknowledges were inhumane conditions under president trump, but should they have anticipated that this would happen not even with the announcements of the new policies, but just the fact that president biden was elected on a platform of changing the policies under trump? >> certainly, that is the major question. certainly, that is a major question right now, andrea, that is facing the biden administration.

on the one hand they wanted to offer hope to some of these migrant, but now you have the dhs secretary as well as the president saying don't come. that's in some -- in the view of many observers here at the border, that seems to be mixed messaging. we have spoken with several migrants both on this side of the border and over in mexico in matamoros, mexico, that said they were encouraged by the change in administration and many didn't know the specifics of president biden's border policy, but what they did know is that he was not president trump and some of them did feel that now would be the time to come to the border, but certainly, andrea, that is the question facing the biden administration. you mentioned that new one in west texas that's set to open, the dallas convention center as well as another facility in midland all signs that the biden administration is scrambling to find space for these migrants, andrea? >> thanks so much, gabe

gutierrez and of course, joining me now is democratic congressman and chair of the homeland security committee benny thompson. thanks very much. we know that their intentions are good and they are trying to be humane from their reports and from what they've been saying and for the secretary to say we have a plan, is that good enough right now when you've got 15,000 migrant children and more on the way and 822 being held for more than ten days? >> well, thank you for having me, andrea. we had secretary mayorkas before the committee last week. he indicated that it was a challenge, that the numbers are increasing and that the department is creating facilities to accommodate the children. the midland texas facility would hold 700. the dallas, texas, facility will hold 2300 as well as some of the other facilities that will be

coming online. you know, we have, as americans, a value system and so part of our value system is quite clear. we are humanitarians and we understand challenges and when people press end themselves at the border like the young people are presenting themselves, we have to accept that, let them in and take care of them. they are children. >> the white house has announced that there is a visit by roberta jacobson, the special adviser on this to mexico and also by mr. gonzalez who will be going on to guatemala. is there any way to re-program some of the money that was cancelled and state department money involving fbi programs and a lot of other law enforcement to deal with root problems for the northern triangle country, but to re-program or get more money there quickly so that you could process these children and these families in country as

well as deal with the root problems and the causes? >> well, central american miners program is one of those programs where we will engage guatemala, honduras, el salvador and create a process by which young people can make application in those countries rather than go the dangerous trek to mexico to get to the southern border. we hope to engage that. the state department is moving in that direction, and for all intents and purposes we have a number of steps going. the first thing we have to do, though, is for these young people who present themselves at the border, we have to take care of them. obviously, the time constraints are challenging. the 72-hour requirement for cbp, it's difficult to meet with the numbers we have. we're doing the best we can.

hhs is trying to accommodate longer term facilities, but it's a buildout. i encourage this country to be patient and those young people are serious. when you see 5, 6, 7-year-olds coming hundreds of miles to seek the southern border, that's a commitment and for those families that are being separated, it's also daunting, but you know, the trump administration had a different policy that remain in mexico policy, those policies of inhumane treatment along the border, that's not who we are. so i would give president biden and his administration an opportunity to help alleviate these problems. i'm hearing from people in my area who want to facilitate some of the young people and i'm 1500

miles from the border, but there are people who have conscience who want to help. we need to make sure that those individuals are certified so that if they want to help and they meet the test. i'm convinced that secretary mayorkas along with other administrators in the biden administration will do just that. >> congressmen, finally, what about press access. even the trump administration let reporters in on supervised tours. how do you justify not permitting the news media so that we're relying on bootleg photos? >> well, from my perspective one who has been somewhat involved in openness and government, i'm sure this administration will work on press access. one way you can resolve some of the challenges is by letting the public know.

so i certain before the week's out press will have access. if not, it will be a problem. >> thank you very much. congressman bernie thompson, i appreciate you coming today, sir. >> more on the biden foreign policy challenges coming up ahead as the u.s. announces new sanctions with china with national security adviser jake sullivan, but first, a race against time as thousands of spring break revelers crowd miami. an msnbc exclusive give us an exclusive view of how the covid vaccinations get to the poorest places in the world. this is "andrea mitchell reports on msnbc." s "andrea mitchell res on msnbc." ini- a nearly invisible hearing aid from the brand leader in hearing aids with over 70 years of experience. (deborah) when i finally had miracle-ear and i could hear

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massive crowds of spring breakers packing miami beach streets over the weekend have overwhelmed the city causing officials to declare a state of emergency and enact an 8:00 p.m. curfew. police deployed a s.w.a.t. team on saturday to help manage the chaos. some local officers using pepper balls to break up the crowds. florida's relaxed covid protocols are enticing tourists and health officials fear they'll take the coronavirus home with them. the cdc director dr. rochelle walinski says the u.s. could see

another surge if we don't -- >> we are at a fork in the road where we as a country must decide which path we are going to take. the vaccination rate is picking up over the weekend. the united states administered more than 3 million doses each day and another milestone as the country races to vaccinate as many people. overnight astrazeneca released data saying the vaccine is 79% effective at preventing symptomatic disease and 100% effective against severe disease. the company could be requesting emergency use authorization by the fda within weeks. joining us now is dr. gupta. thank you very much. let's talk about what you see down there in miami beach because just seeing the pictures, it's appalling. obviously, the miami beach mayor is very concerned. >> good afternoon, andrea. you know, you're right it's

concerning and just disappointing to see, but i think it's a combination of factors that's led to this and this is not the first time in the pandemic we've been having this type of conversation. it's a combination of i think, colleges missed an opportunity to clearly tell their students to not travel, that we just have a few more months here. please don't travel and to say that clearly, that message was not delivered. number two, you are seeing governors like governor ron desantis again enable bad behavior. he's providing an environment and cover for people to come down to miami beach and he's encouraging it and he's thumbing his nose yet again at science running an op-ed in "the wall street journal" suggesting that he is warranting a victory lap because he's ignored science and public health experts. that combination is a one-two punch. lastly, we haven't leaned in enough in terms of communication

to reach young people. i personally care for loved ones of young people who traveled, for example, for the thanksgiving holiday or for christmas and who unwittingly exposed their vulnerable loved ones to a virus and that vulnerable loved one ended up in an icu. those messages have not been given strongly enough to young people across country. there are three reason, andrea, the lack of colleges on up and governor desantis enabling this and us not directly reaching these young people, this is what you have. >> i also want to ask you about johnson & johnson because we've got a lot more doses available than have been actually taken by people. what do you think is hanging up the -- i would say a lag in usage of this very efficacious, you know, single-shot vaccine? >> well, i'm seeing that people are becoming more familiar and

more comfortable with it, andrea, but you're right. there will be that ramp-up period like there was with pfizer and moderna. with astra zeneca hopefully getting emergency use in the u.s. we will have four vaccines that are 100% effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths and i notice that the metric 79% for astrazeneca. we need to move away from that metric. that metric, it counts for mild illness, the vaccine averting bodyaches and sniffles. you don't take vaccines for bodyaches and sniffles. you take it because it's 100% effective at keeping out of the hospital and keeping away from people like myself. you don't want to see someone like myself in an intensive care unit. these four vaccines clearly keep people out of the hospital to the tune of 100% and the more we message on that and the less i'm confusing metrics like 62% for j&j, or 79% for astrazeneca the more people feel comfortable

getting the vaccine that they receive that's available to them at the vaccine clinic. >> dr. vin gupta, thank you, as always. now we turn to the global vaccine rollout which has been laggin in some parts of the world particularly in poorer countries that have had difficulty getting vaccine supply and vaccinating the global population is not just a humanitarian issue. unless it increases quickly the pandemic could drag on for serve years. nbc legal and investigative correspondent cynthia mcfadden got a look at vaccination efforts in uganda where they began vaccinating in uganda. cynthia, our intrepid traveler tell us about your journey. >> it is 7:30 at night here and

we can barely see lake victoria behind me and we are in uganda, as you say and we came to witness a small, but significant part of a very major international issue and that is the rollout of this vaccine. what we were able to see is going from island to island carrying vaccine with us the joy on the faces of the people as they saw that vaccine coming. i was -- they allowed me to carry the cooler of 40 doses of astrazeneca into the community. unicef is the coordinator of all of this here in uganda and around the world. as you know, this covax operation intended to vaccinate 20% of the world's poorest people in the hundred poorest countries. they've had to pull that back, and they haven't been able to meet that goal. they're now hoping by the end of the year to vaccinate just 3% of the world's poorest people.

so this is a little window into what that effort looks like. it's been hard for covax to get the vaccine. it's been hard for them to get it to countries and it's been hard for those countries to get it out to the people. so you know, as your guests have said all through this pandemic, if we haven't vaccinated everyone we haven't vaccinated anyone because this virus does mutate and it doesn't understand borders. so vaccinating the folks on this tiny little island out here today, those 40 people, every dose matters and we got to see that firsthand. it was pouring, by the way. we were really soaked, but we all had smiles on our faces and it was really exciting to be a part of it. >> what an adventure and also a great, great role there, but does the u.s. play a role in this? they've done $4 billion to covax. what role does the u.s. play? >> absolutely. absolutely. well, as you know well, the

trump administration pulled the u.s. out of the world health organization and refused to give any money to this covax operation. the biden administration has promised $4 billion and that really made a huge difference. they've been short on cash. it's been hard to raise this money. you know, sometimes crises bring out the best in us and sometimes they bring out the worst in us and in many ways, nations have hoarded vaccine that they got. no one begrudges anyone vaccinating their populations, but many wealthy countries, western countries signed up for the entire supply of vaccine that was available and so it's been very hard for the world health organization and others to pull together and get the vaccine at all. so this was a -- this is a real lesson in community, and i have to say, it's a thrill to be talking to you in washington from here on the shores of uganda.

>> it's a thrill for us, cynthia. thank you so much for shedding a light -- a real spotlight on this very important mission. safe travels. and as we move on, of course, there are problems here at home. hundreds facing criminal charges following the january 6th riots. word some may face the more serious charge of all, sedition. >> top foreign challenges for the white house including tensions with russia and china. jake sullivan on that and a lot more. stay with us on andrea mitchell reports on msnbc. itchell reports on msnbc locating your parked car with the touch of a button might seem... excessive. unless... getting lost is the whole point. ♪ ♪

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as the nationwide investigation into the capitol riots unfolds, michael sherwin who up until recently led the efforts as the top prosecutor on the case is signaling suspects could face rarely seen charges of sedition against the u.s. government. here's what he told "60 minutes". >> i personally believe the evidence is trending towards that and probably meets those elements. >> do you anticipate sedition charges against some of these suspects? >> i believe the facts do support those charges. >> sherwin also indicated prosecutes are still examining the conduct of former president trump saying it was unequivocal that he was the magnet that brought rioters to d.c. >> joining me is pete williams

and joyce vance. pete, first to you, just legally, what's the import of having this sedition charge? what does that entail? >> well, it's -- i think, more symbolic than it is in terms of the range of statutes that the government has. i mean, it does carry a 20-year maximum sentence, but so do some of the other charges that have already been filed such as obstruction of a government proceeding. the element of the sedition statute that would apply here and you usually think of sedition of conspireing to overthrow the government and there was another part of the federal law saying anybody who conspires by force to delay, hinder or delatex kugz of any law of the united states and of course, that was the day congress was trying to carry out the electoral counting act, a law trying to decide who formally was elected president. so that's how that would fit. i will say i think it's a little unusual for somebody who is still a justice department

employee to talk like this and say where they think the evidence is going to go, but i will also say, andrea that prosecutors have been saying this since late january that they see things moving closer to the ability to bring seditious conspiracy charges. >> really, i agree. you know this better than anyone, but to have a former prosecutor talking while a case is still in place is pretty unusual, but joyce, let's play what else sherwin had to say about the tactics displayed by some of the groups involved in the vie on thes. >> the infantry calls it a stack. >> correct. a stack or a ranger file, a column, a close-quarter combat column going up that staircase. >> the oath keepers in that stack, what have they been charged with? >> the most significant charge is obstruction. that's a 20-year felony. they breached the felony with the intent, the goal to obstruct official proceedings, the count, the electoral college count. >> joyce, basically, they're

discussing and invest gaiting more organization among some of the leaders of this rather than it be an ad hoc riot that supposedly got out of control. >> that's right and obviously, the goal here is to hold the people who were the most involved in planning the violence at the capitol accountable. sometimes you do that by looking at other folks who were present, who were involved and learning what they know about leaders and organizers. so that's an important step, but andrea, i have to echo what pete said and say how improper it is for a prosecutor to do what sherwin did. he was brought to washington, d.c. from florida by bill barr who had been impressed with him in a local prosecution. he ended up as the acting u.s. attorney. he is still a doj employee returning to his duty post in florida where he is an assistant u.s. attorney and prosecutors don't go on tv and make comments. this sounded like a closing argument saying that the

president brought -- who acted like a magnet who brought people to d.c., that's what prosecutors do in closing arguments. those comments belong in a courtroom and not on "60 minutes." >> could it impact the case, joyce? >> it could. i don't think it will, andrea, but there is a possibility that you could lose jurors, for instance, who heard this and were very influenced by what a prosecutor said. the defense will certainly make arguments on this basis if there are trials down the road of key figures. it injects another element of uncertainty into what will already be a very difficult prosecution. i would be very surprised if sherwin had official doj approval to go on "60 minutes." >> pete, i also wanted to turn to you on the news from the supreme court. they've agreed to take up the death penalty case for the

boston marathon bomber. >> this is tsarnaev being one of two people along with his brother who later died in a shootout. he was sentenced to death, but a federal appeals court overturned that sentence saying the trial judge didn't proper give the defense enough leeway to give jurors the details about the bombing. the supreme court's decision to take this case, andrea means the court could end up reinstating the death penalty against tsarnaev. if that's what happens and it seems certainly possible given today's development, proposes a question for the biden administration because the president said he opposes the death penalty and would favor legislation to do away with it. does that mean that he would seek an executive order to stop federal executions and that's down the road. the news today is the court has agreed to look at this lower court ruling that had said that the judge improperly instructed

the jury or limited the lawyers and therefore the death penalty was overturned in his case. >> thank you so much both of you. pete williams. joyce vance, and meanwhile, huge rallies across the country this weekend in support of asian-americans after the deadly attacks in atlanta and a rise in hate crime across the country. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. 's because it's your grandma when she was your age. oh wow. that's... that's amazing. oh and she was on the debate team. yeah, that's probably why you're the debate queen. >i'll take that. >>look at that smile. i have the same dimples as her. (laughter) yeah. >same placements and everything. >>unbelievable. ♪ hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play ♪ ♪ hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid ♪

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so no matter where you want to go, snhu can help you get there. visit snhu.edu today. 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 >> as the investigation of the mass shootings at three spas in georgia earns its second week, nbc news has learned that federal and local law enforcements do not believe they have enough concrete evidence to build a hate crime case against the suspected gunman. this as those grow with the asian-american community saying we stand with you. >> we feel invisible and just to

see that and all of these people coming out is a really big feeling and i think it's a big start for the healing to begin and to really support each other. >> nbc's blaine alexander is in atlanta. blaine, what are you learning about the decision -- well, they haven't made a decision, but their leaning so far about a hate crime? >> reporter: well, andrea, that's exactly it. they say that as of right now the evidence that they've been able to gather whether looking at electronic devices and holding interviews does not come to the level that they would be able to file federal hate crime charges and that's according to federal officials, but we have to underscore, local officials are still saying that it is still too early, too early to determine a motive and importantly, too early to rule anything out. that's something that they are going to continue looking at. as of right now, as far as the investigation goes to hit the high bar, there's not sufficient evidence to reach that level.

as you mentioned for so many people not just here in atlanta, they really are rallying around this asian-american community that they feel has been targeted. so for many people, it is hurtful. it is confusing and frustrating to hear that from officials. one other thing we want to point out is as this investigation is going on, we are learning more and more about the victims themselves. we are learning more about the lives that they led, the people that they left behind, but there is one piece that i want to share with you. i've told you the story of delana yaun and they had just gotten to the spa and led to separate rooms when the gunshots started. she was in a room and heard the gun shots begin and his wife, unfortunately, was killed and he made it out. four hours after that shooting he was detained and he was kept in handcuffs and he was there. the family tells us that he was asking where is my wife?

where is my wife? and it was only after his sister-in-law who happened to work next door came in and intervened that he was allowed to go. >> really outrageous, again, clearly targeted because of his ethnicity. blaine alexander, thanks very much. >> as we see the people across the country united against asian hate, and community leaders coming together to face that which divides us. the goal is to stand as one in the common purpose. >> i am joining story time to children around the world. >> my call is to make sure that we unite people by feeding them. >> while we are all suffering in our own commune ecocapacity. >> we need not suffer alone. >> in the face of our pain we must not forfeit our dignity. >> we are aware now as we have never been before.

>> i think of it as a massive reset for the world. >> we don't have to wait until the pandemic is over to unite, you know? the dream can come true right now. >> joining me now is tim shriver, the founder of unite and the longtime chair of special olympics and he's the co-editor of the new book the call to unite voices of hope and awakening. tim, great to see you. thank you. and tell me about the book and the whole movement here to bring people together especially because of the pandemic. >> you can see it, andrea, in those short clips, but you can also sense in the protests in atlanta now, the tsunami of grief, pastor rick warren says in this book, you can see it behind me, i've got many copies, as you can see and so many of us are struggling with the grief that the pandemic created and looking for help, looking for support, looking not to be invisible. this book is in the sense of invitation to anyone feeling

invisible that there are voices in people who are eager to reach out and support you, for those of us who have dealt with lots of loss. there are so many beautiful voices in here that can remind you of the strength that comes from sharing your loss and trusting others. as we come out of this pandemic it's good to remember what happened, but it's also good to have a little bit of a companion for what we want the new normal to look like. do we want it to be more joyful? let's hope so. more united, i think both political parties can hope that we can be more united as a people, more trusting and less likely to resolve our problems with hatred and racism. all these voices are here. so this is why i think of this book as a companion for the new us. i hope it provides -- it's a wonderful gift for people, and i think on a deeper level it's an invitation to recognize that sometimes what we see, i dare say on the news.

i know you know this very well, andrea. news is the pain story of us and sometimes we need another version which is the hope and awakening story of us and that's what this book tries to remind us is also a part of us. >> and what message would you have for asian-americans, tim, who have been suffering this for centuries, really, but it's only coming to light because of this horrific incident and i have to say that we are covering it, and we are all horrified, but where have we been for so many years as this was developing? >> yeah. it's an enormous source of pain and i can understand how many people in the asian-american community are feeling completely forgotten in our national story. completely overwhelmed by it and completely treated with indifference and even violence by our national story. these moments give us the chance

not just to re-visit the pain, but to look for something better in ourselves and to use this moment of pain. t.d. jakes, and pastor jakes said in this book, pain always leaves a gift. my hope is he doesn't say pain is a gift. this is a horrific moment in our nation's history in many respect, but we have to learn from it and we have to grow from it. a deeper wisdom and a more compassionate heart and a more realistic and truthful account of who we are so that we can change and become the better version of what we want to be. there's no denying the pain and grief in our culture. there's no denying the division in our political system, but there is an antidote and the antidote in some ways, is us. the better version of us. it's not going to be easy. our country, as you know, andrea is so deeply divided now and many people think it's going to get worse. i personally don't. i hope it gets better and i think if people put something

like this at their bedside table so that the last thing they read at night might be just a page of amanda cloots, common or jewel or presidents bush or president clinton. some of these people you may be thinking i don't like him or i don't know her or she's not in my group, but the truth of the matter is at some level we're all in the same group and this is a book that i think can form a little bit of a foundation for strengthening the spirit that we need to bring us together. >> tim, it's a wonderful message. thank you for bringing it to us, and coming up. >> thank you. >> the secretary of defense making a surprise visit to afghanistan says the biden administration wants a responsible end to america's longest war and more on that and other critical topics with jake sullivan here on msnbc. ake sullivan here on msnbc i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database.

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and remove the waste that weighs you down. it also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic metamucil. support your daily digestive health. and try metamucil fiber thins. a great tasting and easy way to start your day. today the u.s., canada, britain and the european union announced sanctions against china over what they are calling a genocidal campaign. they met with top chinese officials in a contentious session in alaska were both sides laid bare their interests over many issues. joining me now is jake sullivan.

it's very good to see you. thank you for being here today. some are calling u.s. relations with china the worst since tiananmen in 1989. you knew going in it would be tough. you acknowledged that. with both sides staking out harder positions, how do you pull back from that and work together on things that you can work to the or want to, like climate? >> first of all, thanks for having me. as you said, we knew it was going to be tough going in. we knew it was going to be direct and frank and we were going to have to cover a lot of issues on which we have profound concerns with china's policies, whether it's hong kong or tibet or taiwan. we did all of that. we also talked about areas where our interests intersintersect. john kerry will meet with his counterpart to discuss that issue. we wanted to communicate to china was that working on those issues was not a favor china was

doing for us, not something on which we would make concessions. rather there are places where it's in america's national interest to work together and other places where we are going to push back against behavior that we find intolerable. that's what we did today in partnership with our allies in issuing these sanctions for what china is doing. >> bob gates, former defense secretary, former national security and cia official, has said that sanctions don't really work. do sanctions work against china? >> we don't believe any particular sanction, any one designation is the totality of a policy. it is part of an overall strategy and an important tool to be deployed in combination with other tools to send a clear message about our rejection of the kinds of policies policy is undertaking and to impose specific costs, particularly on the individuals and entities who

are carrying out the broad-based brutality against the citizens of china. it's not a complete answer, but it's part of an answer that the united states is undertaking along with allies and partners. >> i want to move on to russia and other issues. i've been wondering, you and tony blinken had to push back after hearing the lecture, this long lecture that was hardly the two minute on each side quick photo spray you were expecting, that everyone was expecting. what would it feel like as you were sitting there and he was going on and on and you were getting notes from your colleagues about what he was saying? >> well, you know, what really struck me, andrea, is that we heard this kind of what about before. this is an old playbook that has been used in previous eras.

the big difference between the united states and china at the end of the day is that china can't face criticism without jailing its critics or silencing them in some cases even killing them. the united states built into our constitution faces our challenges, overcomes them and works towards becoming a more perfect union. in that it was -- it was an honor to be able to represent the united states of america at that table in the face of what the chinese government was laying out. >> the defense secretary lloyd austin just made his first visit to afghanistan since becoming defense secretary. nbc news has been reporting that the president is considering extending the deadline for bringing home troops from america's longest war to november instead of donald trump's may 1st deadline. i know you will not state what the president is leaning towards doing. isn't it too late to plan an ordinarily withdrawal by may 1st

and given the level of violence, isn't it warranted to reward the taliban with that? >> president biden had the opportunity to speak this morning with secretary austin to get a full report if his trip to kabul from his discussions with leaders. at the same time, secretary blinken is on a plane as we speak headed to brussels to meet with his counterparts at nato to discuss the way forward. the president hasn't made any decisions. he is in the process of finalizing his determination about the way forward with our troop presence in afghanistan. he will have more to say to that in the days and weeks ahead. >> presumably, the commanders don't think we can withdraw or should withdraw that quickly. i have talked to some of the nato allies. they need our supply lines, our air support.

wouldn't they have to -- >> the president is -- sorry about that. the president is absolutely committed to ensuring that we will have a safe and ordinarily withdrawal if, in fact, the decision he ultimately ends up taking is to withdraw. he hasn't made any decisions yet. he will look at all of this and make a determination once he has all the facts presented to him. and his determination will be rooted in a simple calculus of what's in the national security interests of the united states. >> has the rhetoric with vladimir putin gotten out of hand? was it a mistake to acknowledge he called him a killer? >> no. president biden was asked a direct question. he gave a direct answer. that's how he has operated for 40 plus years in public service. it's how he will continue to operate as president. we believe that we are going to have tough days with russia because there are issues on which we profoundly disagree and

actions we need to respond to forcefully. we also believe that we can work with russia on key issues, including the nuclear question where just in the last few weeks, we have extended the new start agreement by five years. this will not be an easy relationship. it will have significant challenges. it will require america to stand up for its interests. there are also areas where the united states and russia can work together in a stable and d interest. >> on iran, the military times reporting that there has been at least in the past a threat from the revolutionary guard to blow up something, to attack ft. mcnair in washington, d.c., the way they attacked "uss cole." is that credible? >> i'm not going to get into specific intelligence. i will say that president biden takes absolutely seriously the

threat that iran poses to individuals, to personnel, to facilities and to american interest in the region and here in the united states. and we will take steps to ensure that we are defending and protecting ourselves and making clear to iran the profound costs that would come if they went down that line. >> i'm going to ask you about north korea. kim jong-un's sister issuing a warning that if it wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it better refrain from causing a stink at its first step. is that the only response from north korea to the overtured from the biden administration? >> we have not heard directly from them. we have reached out because we believe that diplomacy has to be part of the process of getting to a denuclearized north korea. we remain intent on achieving

that goal. we also want to make sure that we are pulling together with our allies, japan and south korea, and engaging other regional actors, including china and russia, in a process that shows that this is ultimately up to north korea to come forward and act in a constructive manner. the u.s. will continue to stand up firmly on behalf of our own defense and the defense of our allies and partners. >> finally, getting the news media into some of the detention facilities, something the trump administration did. i know you are under huge pressure. briefly, is there a commitment to get access to these facilities? >> the biden administration has a commitment to transparency, to make sure that the news media gets the chance to report on every aspect of what's happening at the border. my colleagues will follow through on that. >> national security advisor jake sullivan, please come back. there's so much to talk about. that does it for us today.

and if it's monday, the biden administration says it's trying to stem the flow of migrants at the border as unaccompanied children are now in federal custody amid growing questions about the government's handling of the emergency situation. plus, astrazeneca says clinical trials in the u.s. show its vaccine is safe and effective as communities from michigan to miami beach brace for the threat of another possible surge in infections. nationwide protests cast a spotlight on racism and violence against asian-americans as the investigation continues into those deadly atlanta spa shootings. ♪♪