press conference today, i remember covering president trump's first press conference back in 2017 and walking the halls of congress trying to find any member of his own party that had even seen the press conference. democrats had seen it, they were perfectly willing to criticize it. i have a feeling that today, while joe biden is going to get tough questions from the press, as he should, it's likely that members in his own party will actually watch what happened and have something to say about it afterwards. so at least we've come that far. thank you for getting up way too early with us on this thursday morning. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. >> good afternoon. >> would you mind putting us a mask on for us? >> when i'm talking to the tv cameras, i'm not going to put a

mask on. the whole point of the vaccine, cdc guidance is what we're following. >> republican senator ted cruz refusing to wear a mask while speaking to the press yesterday. official guidance from the cdc advises to continue regular precautions in public places, like wearing a mask, even when fully vaccinated. thanks, ted cruz, for guiding us. good morning, welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, march 25th. with us, we have white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan lemire, and president of the council on foreign relations and author of the book, the world, a brief introduction, richard haass is with us this morning. jonathan, you heard kasie just talk about it, president biden holding that press conference today. what can we expect? >> it's president biden's first press conference. it's 60-some odd days into the

this administration. he's gone the longest without having one of these events, and there's some talk among west wing aids that this matters more inside the beltway to average americans, but it is an important. it's a chance for a reporters to have an extended back and forth with the president, providing answers and clarity for the american public. and it comes at a crucial moment for this president. their plan, originally, was to use today as part of their victory lap for their $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. and we certainly should expect to hear plenty of that from the president, as well as, rightly, touting his successes, distributing the vaccine across the country. but it also comes as a moment when he's facing a number of unplanned external challenges. we talk about the influx of migrants at the southern border. we have members of his own party, threatening to block his nominees because of a lack of asian american representation. we have twin mass shootings of last week or so.

so they'll press on topics that will be challenging for him to face. he'll have to lay out his agenda is, and in particular, what the future of the filibuster is. how can he get legislation done on any of these crises. >> any concern about the white house internally about this upcoming press conference? are they concerned that they'll have things thrown at him or are they concerned about how he responds? >> they're downplaying the importance of this and point to all the other avenues about how president biden engages with the press and the public. but of course there's some concern. it's an unscripted moment. president biden himself has deemed himself a, quote, gaffe machine. we have seen him sometimes get in trouble when he speaks off the cuff. and they're fearful that something could turn into a news cycle or two a temporary distraction. but they see it as an opportunity, a chance to talk about their successes, but plans for all that's on his plate right now. >> well, and the backdrop of

this, of course, there is new evidence this morning that members of groups that attacked the u.s. capitol on january 6th, coordinated with one another. the paramilitary group, the oathkeepers and a similar group, the proud boys were in contact with one another in december to play -- to plan for potentially violent action in washington that day. according to a justice department memo opposing the pre-trial release of kelly mags of florida, a man accused of being leader of the oathkeepers and one of the ten members to play a leading role in the capitol assault, on december 19th, the court filing said, megs posted a message on facebook saying, this week, i organized an alliance between oathkeepers, florida 3%ers and proud boys. we have decided to work together and shut this -- you know what -- down. three days later, he posted,

quote, contact with pb and they always have a big group. force multiplier. between december 12th and january 4th, prosecutors said meggs organized and participated in approximately ten online discussions that were affiliated with the oathkeepers. he led and planned the group's activities and paid for two hotel rooms in washington, the court filing said. the documents do not allege that the group formulated a plan to attack the capitol before arriving in washington. so, joe, we have government moving forward, but still this massive set of questions around the capitol attacks. there are way smaller things across the country that are investigated and seen out for the public to see and justice served far quicker than anything that has happened with this incredible assault on our democracy.

>> well, it seems, richard, that the federal prosecutors are really trying to make sure they have everything lined up, especially for those that they would charge with conspiracy to commit sedition. you listen to that reporting, and it certainly seems like you are ticking down the requirements of the federal statute for sedition, and possibly a conspiracy between these groups. >> that's exactly right. when i was listening to mika, joe, the word, conspiracy, is what came to mind. this was not simply spontaneous on january 5th or 6th. and it also shows that we've got a network here. i'm not saying -- you know, multiple organizations and individuals who are communicating with one another regularly. well, this is a network. and it was essentially maybe activated around january 6th, but the infrastructure, the loyalty, the inclination was all

there beforehand, and that's really worrying, because we don't know yet how extensive it is and to what extent, for example, arresting these people decapitates, or whether there's a lot of people out there, who i assume, is the case, who are prepare to take their place. >> and here you go. trump supporters who answered the call to come to the capital on january 6th also answered the former president's call for donations to fund his legal challenges to election results in surprisingly high numbers. an nbc news analysis of campaign finance filings found that in the five weeks after the election, those charged in the capitol riot increased their political donations by about 75%, compared to the five weeks leading up to the election. many had made very few or no donations, at all, in previous years. but they began escalating their

numbers of contributions as trump was trying to overturn joe biden's victory. among the first 311 people who faced federal charges after the january 6th riot, about 90 have histories of making political contributions. and the overwhelming majority of them were made to trump or his aligned groups and within the past year. the donations shed light on the effectiveness of trump's post-election messaging, which, according to nbc news, has netted him hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions. many from small-donor donations, like those accused of storming the capitol. >> well, jonathan, you can't help but hear about this and go back to that discussion, that shouting discussion that kevin mccarthy had with donald trump, when donald trump was insisting that those rioters on capitol hill, those terrorists, were not his supporters, but somebody

else. and kevin mccarthy reportedly screamed back at the president, swore at the president, and then said, i'm here, who do you think blankety-blank i am. this is laughable that we're now seeing the fbi is tracing these donations back to the people they're arresting, proving once again, these were not only donald trump supporters, these were not only terrorists who were working to commit sedition against the united states of america, in the name of donald trump, but they were some of his most fierce supporters. >> and it shows how then president trump stoked this, this conspiracy theory, the big lie that there was election fraud, that he was the right winner of the november 6th election. when, of course, none of that was true. and it shows he's been laying the groundwork for weeks. he's been creating this fervor among his supporters who, for a

time, this reporting shows, were content to donate money, but he was building up anticipation to january 6th. we saw the tweets how he said that day was going to be wild. and many of his supporters took that seriously and literally and showed up that day. one would hope that a report like this would eliminate the republican talking point, which we still hear sometimes, that these supporters, that these rioters weren't trump supporters, that they may have been members of antifa posing as trump supporters. that's quite the long game, if that's the case. in one hasn't, this is certainly logical and makes sense, but still disturbing to see. and it shows just how long trump whipped this up into a frenzy that exploded into violence. >> absolutely. and a delegation of white house officials and members of congress traveled to the southern border yesterday to tour a health and human services facility being used to house migrant children. an nbc news cruise accompanied the delegation and toured a

facility in carrizo springs, texas. officials say there are just over 656 minors at the facility which has a capacity of 952. nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez was given exclusive media access to tour that facility and here's part of his report. >> reporter: this facility in carrizo springs, texas, is home to 676 unaccompanied teen boys. we saw the untake center, where kids are tested for covid and given duffel bags of clothes. there's a dining hall, classrooms, and dorm rooms, only four kids each. it was orderly and the children were calm, some wearing hats they knit themselves. we saw kids playing soccer outside. we were not allowed to speak to them, but members of the congressional delegation did. and gabe joins us now from

carrizo springs near the u.s. border with mexico. gabe, first of all, give us a sense of what it was that wasn't allowing the media in, before yesterday, and any insights, and also, with so many people, how are they handling the covid crisis in there? >> reporter: hey, there, mika. good morning. the biden administration had been facing this criticism for not allowing journalists in. earlier in the week, they did release hand-out video from other cbp facilities, not this hhs facility. i'll get to the difference between two in a moment. but the real overcrowding at this point is happening in those customs and border protection facilities. the biden administration has said because of covid protocols, they weren't allowing reporters in. privacy concerns, as well. but if i can say really quickly, mika, yes, right now, the

overcrowding, the kids being in those facilities for longer than ten days when the legal limit is 72 hours, those are the custom and border protection facilities where they first go after they're picked up at the u.s. border. then they're brought to facilities like this one run by hhs, and this is where they stay until they're found -- they find them a sponsor or a family members in the country, where then they can be placed in the care of that family member. in terms of covid, mika, we did learn that more than a hundred children here inside this facility, 108 children, have tested positive for covid-19. and they're given this covid test when they arrive. those that have covid are then put in special negative pressure dormitories, where they go in isolation. and then they're tested while they're here. just some insights, you know, having been here and, you know, we went along with this congressional delegation, as well as white house officials,

who are pool camera, so we were able to then distribute the video to other media outlets, but i have been here at this facility in 2019. it was actually open under the trump administration. then it was shut down, a couple weeks after it opened, because there weren't enough children here. it actually had a larger capacity back then. a couple of things at hhs have changed. number one, covid has reduced their bed capacity by about 40%, according to an hhs official. they also say that during the tail end of the trump administration, there was a hiring freeze in the agency. and so, that's part of the reason, they say, that this was slow to ramp up at the end of the trump administration and then once the biden administration took effect. still, there are questions of the biden administration, why it is taking so long. rank-and-file border agents have been saying that hhs has been slow to take these minors, so that is causing the overcrowding in the customs and border

protection facilities, mika. >> all right. nbc's gabe gutierrez, thank you very, very much for your reporting this morning. and of course, there are a lot of questions about access. white house press secretary jen psaki yesterday acknowledged that the administration allowed video access to a, quote, aspirational facility, rather than one where conditions are problematic. >> the access being granted today for the pool is of a facility that is aspirational of where you want to move these children. >> mm-hmm. >> what about access to the facilities where there is overcrowding and there is an actual problem. why was this one chosen over those? >> we're also open to providing access there and this is just a first step in a process of providing greater access to the military. >> you agree you've chosen the facility that is the aspirational facility as opposed to the problem at this moment? >> well, i would say we all

agree that the border patrol facilities are not places where children should be. they are -- children should be moving more quickly through those facilities. that is what our policy central focus is right now, as you know, jeff. and there are also -- it's also becoming a public health concern, because of the number of kids who are moving through those facilities and the fact -- >> why not show those to the american people? >> we will and we working with the border patrol and with dhs to determine how we can do that. >> jonathan lemire, this is problematic. look, i know jen psaki well, but reporters should be allowed into all the facilities. and when you only allow reporters into the aspirational ones, it leads to more questions, like, are reporters being used to sort of sell the part of this? we've got to see what's going on. not nike boxes of new shoes.

so what am i missing here? >> you're absolutely right. the press has been pushing for access to all of these facilities. and certainly that tour yesterday, though a step in the right direction, isn't going to silence the questions about what are the conditions really like there at the border. the white house certainly -- look, they point to the idea, this is a challenge that they inherited. that the trump administration had, in their estimation, broke in the nation's immigration system and put these conditions in place at the border. the white house has said, look, we still need time to figure this out and we have concerns about privacy of the minors there, as well as, of course, safety conditions because of the pandemic. but this is a challenge, they own this now and they need to be able to sort that out. and president biden yesterday took a step in that direction, too, where he anointed vice president harris and said that she would be the point person for the administration's response to the conditions at the border. and the vice president to this point, had sort of been without a portfolio and this is a big step. this is sort of her first big item that gives off the message

that the administration is taking this crisis seriously, but, also, of course, poses a lot of risk and responsibility on her shoulders. >> so richard haas, a lot of questions on how best to resolve this crisis. we had a democratic congressman on yesterday, congressman cuellar, who said we needed to be humane, but at the same time, the congressman, hispanic, a democrat, said we also have to show, humanely, the united states returning migrants back to their home countries to send that message. that's one part of it, i guess, according to the congressman. but what about the root of the problem? what do -- what should we do specifically in terms of foreign aid to these countries where most of these migrants are escaping horrific conditions. and how do with make sure the

american tax dollars that are spent there don't go to corrupt governments? >> joe, there are actually two problems and we need to unpack it for a second. a lot of people are coming, particularly adult men. and those are typical migrants. and that's in particular because of the economic differential, between mexico and the united states. and the answer there is to work something out with the mexican government. it's to get vaccines into the hands of mexican authorities. it's to get the mexican economy going again, easier said than done given their leadership. that's the kind of problem 25, 30 years ago that nafta essentially resolved. when mexico's economic growth rates began to approximate our own. that's one thing. the other thing are people, particularly young people, escaping from central america because of gangs, because of violence. they're coming north and so forth. there, there's a longer-term problem, what you are getting at, of providing aid to these governments, to essentially help them do what governments are

meant to do, which is to provide security. you know, have a better penal system, policing system, military system. that's a long-term effort. so we should start it. and any aide should be made conditional to these governments. the problem is, some of them won't accept aide on those terms. the mexican government, for example, is very reticent to be seen cooperating with us. the kinds of things we did in columbia for years in many cases is simply not on. these governments are not willing to be seen so close to the united states. so that means we'll have pressure at the border, and that's where capacity to process asylum cases become important. one other idea, which is controversial, is don't consider young people if they're over, say, 15. send back -- or over 16. treat people who are 16, 17, as adults, and not treat them as unaccompanied minors. >> meanwhile, new nbc news reports that the biden

transition team and career government officials say they began sounding an alarm in early december on the need to increase shelter space for a larger number of migrant children, expected to soon be crossing the border. but the trump administration didn't take action until just days before the inauguration. that's according to two biden transition officials and a u.s. official with knowledge of the discussions. let's bring one of the reporters on this story, nbc news correspondent, julia ainsley. so, julia, tell us exactly what happened and what triggers weren't pulled, what wasn't done right before the transition. >> well, mika, we know that in early december, when the transition finally got off the ground, the biden officials asked the then-trump administration if they could go ahead and start the process of opening more beds, in, you know, those aspirational facilities, facilities like the one that gabe got to tour yesterday.

because they knew that the numbers were climbing. you could already see the numbers of unaccompanied minors climbing late fall, especially because at that point, a judge had said that the trump administration policy of keeping out unaccompanied children during the pandemic was not lawful. so the numbers were going up. they said, look, we're looking at the data. we know you're looking at this data. you need to start the process now. because it takes a long time before you actually get one of those facilities up and running. instead, they said, they sat on their hands. and this isn't just coming from biden transition officials, it's coming from career officials who have worked under multiple presidents at health and human services, saying that they saw the data, they knew the numbers were going up, and now is the time. instead, really, the trump administration just gave no reason. they kept the status quo, and it wasn't until january 15th that then hhs secretary alex azar started the process to even begin site tours. after that, we know there's a very long process to actually

get the approvals, get the contracts out, get the people in there and open beds for children. they were already at a reduced capacity, as gabe pointed out, by 40%, just because of covid. that they weren't able to use all of the space that they had. so what i'm told, it was incredibly frustrating, and this was brought up not just once, but at least once a week starting at the very beginning of those transition conversations. >> all right. nbc's julia ainsley, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. let's get to some other stories making headlines this morning. after surpassing his goal of 100 million shots within a one days, president biden is expected to announce a new vaccination goal during his upcoming news conference today. one white house official tells nbc news that the president's new goal is, quote, ambitious, while declining to give details. last week, the president suggested that he would be doubling the previous goal. >> richard haas, let me get you in here really quickly. i read something in "the times,"

i think, yesterday, talking about how all the news we ever reported about covid over the last year was negative. there weren't a lot of bits of news that were worthy of a parade. but still, i get his point. you look at vaccinations and you look at how we're stacking up right now, with europe and other parts of the world. it's extraordinary. that didn't just happen. and the previous administration, the trump administration had operation warp speed, which worked really well. the current administration has handled the logistics far better than the previous administration ever could. but take them together, let's talk about -- let's just talk about -- everyone runs this country down all the time, talk about how extraordinary it is that a year later, we've rolled this out and we're giving vaccinations at such a rapid pace, when many people told us a

year ago, we wouldn't have a vaccination for four years. >> that's exactly right. this is an amazing accomplishment. first, the science. what these companies were able to do in a short amount of time and these new techniques that were developed. which, by the way, will have fantastic payoff beyond even covid. this really is transformational. then you had the intervention of the trump administration, essentially, up-front government financial support for the companies. and in some cases, to bet on vaccines, even before they knew they were good. they took a big risk and they built up supply. and now you have this administration doing two additional things. one is ramping up government involvement in the production, so now we're at, what, 3 million or so jabs a day. and obviously, putting much more emphasis, a real improvement, on the distribution, on the implementation to distribute vaccines across the country. this is an amazing public/private partnership. people will look at this,

whether it's harvard business school or what, joe. and for people who talk about the deep state and always criticize government, guess what? this is a really good example of government working with the private sector can make a miracle happen. >> yeah. >> all right, still ahead on "morning joe," the top two senate leaders, chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell, square off in a fight over voting rights. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ching "morn" we'll be right back. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection-site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. i'm draymond green with my subway sub with tender steak and melty cheese. my sub is gonna dunk all over your sub.

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this scar will always be there. my daughter's generation will always bear the burden of a national government that did nothing to protect. i'm not asking anybody here to show the courage that officer talley showed or the other men and women of law enforcement

that constantly have to deal with the inability of this place's capacity to deal with these issues. i'm just asking us to show an ounce of their courage by doing whatever we can to keep weapons of war out of our communities. >> senator michael bennet of colorado, speaking yesterday on the senate floor about victims of the boulder shooting. the man accused of killing ten people after opening fire inside a boulder grocery store is expected to make his first court appearance later this morning. the 21-year-old will be formally charged with the mass shooting and is expected to face ten counts of first-degree murder. if convicted, he could face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. last year, colorado removed the

death penalty. hundreds of people lined the streets yesterday during a procession to honor one of the victims, fallen officer eric talley, as his body was transported from the coroner's office to a funeral home. last night, the first of several planned candlelight vigils was held to remember the ten lives lost in the supermarket shooting. now to the war of words between the majority and minority leaders of the senate at a hearing on democrats' sweeping voting reform bill. the proposal, which passed the house with no republican support, is aimed at countering the more than 250 bills that restrict voting at the state level. >> instead of doing what you should be doing when you lose an election in a democracy,

attempting to win over those voters in the next election, republicans instead are trying to disenfranchise those voters. shame on them. this is one of the most despicable things i have seen in all my years. shame, shame, shame. >> some of these voter suppression laws in georgia and other republican states smack of jim crow rearing its ugly head once again. >> states are not engaging in trying to suppress voters whatsoever. this is clearly an effort by one party, to rewrite the rules of our political system. talk about shame. if anybody ought to be feeling any shame around here, it's turning the ftc into a partisan prosecutor, the majority controlled by the president's

party to harass and intimidate the other side. that's what you ought to be ashamed about. >> elizabeth warren has said that the filibuster is based on racism. is it? >> no, the filibuster predates the debates over civil rights, dates back to the beginning of the country. the filibuster started well before we got into the civil rights debates that have occurred off and on throughout the history of the country. the derivation of the filibuster was not related to race or civil rights. >> let's bring in white house correspondent for politico and co-author of "the playbook," eugene daniels. he's also a msnbc contributor. so from what we know and as we've been following the history of this story, is mitch mcconnell correct in his answer? >> historians would tell you, no, that he's not.

and i think when people talking about having jim crow-era -- it smelling of jim crow is because of strom thurmond and him standing up for there 24 hours filibustering the passing of civil rights legislation. that's what people are talking about and mitch mcconnell knows that, because people have said that before. and we've talked to black leaders, especially. they continue to push that. there's been this conversation about the filibuster happening forever. but, it's been more clear, especially after president obama during john lewis' funeral, called it a relic of the jim crow era, the idea that being racism being tied to that, and also now, democrats basically having to choose whether they want to pass this voting rights legislation and make sure that black and brown people have greater access, better access to voting. or allow this filibuster to stay in place. and that's something that black

leaders in the voting rights areas and civil rights areas are going to continue to push democrats like joe manchin and kyrsten sinema on. >> richard haas, things have come at us so quickly over the past five years, that sometimes it's hard to get a perspective. but let's just talk about what we're looking at here, with the republican party. and chuck schumer is right. you and i, both former republicans, both loyal republicans for decades. you've served several presidents in the white house. you have our former party actually starting to take on the characteristics of center-right, extreme parties in poland and hungary. and actually, state by state by state, county chair by county chair by county chair, their goal, their talking points all

have to do with restricting voting rights. making this country less democratic. understanding that they have to be the anti-democratic party if they're going to keep losing the popular vote every four years. and it really is. it is stunning that we're watching this debate play out. and yes, perhaps the democrats are overreaching, but the instinct is correct. and that is the need to push back on anti-democratic forces that have taken over the republican party. >> you know, joe, i'm old enough to remember, as are you, when the republican party was happy to engage the battle of ideas. and thinking of this as a political marketplace, you would say, here's the right role, a more limited role, say, for the government and the economy. or here's the right foreign policy, a stronger american foreign policy abroad. and you essentially put it to

the american people. that's political competition. instead, it's almost as if the republican party acknowledges that its current agenda, its current body of thoughts, can't win in a free and fair political marketplace. so what they're trying to do is narrow the market place. and what they're trying to do is essentially reduce the opportunity for votes, in a country, by the way, where already we have a problem where americans vote at relatively low levels, compared to many other democracies. so, yeah, this is, to me -- this is a really sad and troubling development. >> you gene, senator angus king, independent of maine, who has long been viewed as a supporter of the filibuster, wrote an op-ed this week, suggesting that he would be amenable to changes to it, particularly on voting rights legislation, saying it would be a special case. now, you identified the two senators earlier that a lot of democrats are watching here, sinema and manchin, who said they would be reluctant to offer similar changes to the

filibuster, but it seems like momentum is building and the white house is sending signals that they, too, as much as president biden would like to save the filibuster, he's willing to see it go if it means pushing his agenda. where do you see the state of play right now? >> i think that's right. we're starting to see more democrats, like you said, angus king, realizing that if you want to do anything, then you're going to have to be able to get that 51 votes or convince ten republicans. and right now, that doesn't seem to be the case. joe has said on this show before, because there's been talk about what happens if you're in the minority. and you know, maybe that's the point, right? as joe has put it, you should be able to pass your legislation. and elections should have consequences. and that's something that i hear from democrats when i ask them, are they worried about blowback from this. and what we're going to start seeing, and i talked to your guys' colleague, reverend al sharpton about this, we're going to start seeing black leaders go to, he says, to west virginia,

to arizona, and saying that manchin and sinema are, in effect, supporting racism by not getting rid of the filibuster. and that's something that we're going to be seeing. and also, they're tying it to the fact that they're not going to be able to get anything done. and that's something that other activists are working on, as well. and i'm not really sure how long, whether it's democrats, joe biden or others, can keep those forces at bay, because the black vote is the most important vote for democrats. >> politico's eugene daniels, thank you so much. we'll be reading the playbook this morning. we appreciate it. two separate house panels debated yesterday over the presence of extremism in the u.s. military and the rise in domestic terrorism. both of which were highlighted during the january 6th capitol attack. it comes as more former military and domestic extremist group members are being charged for their roles in the deadly riot

by the day. joining us now, two lawmakers that oversaw those discussions, chairman of the house or armed services committee, congressman adam smith. also with us, a member of that committee and chairwoman of the intelligence and counterterrorism subcommittee, congressman elissa slotkin of michigan. she previously served as a middle east analyst for the cia. great to have you both. >> adam, thanks so much for being with us. i'm curious of what you're finding now. we've heard for a few years concerns about extremism in military, in america armed forces. how widespread is the problem. >> well, we don't know. and that's the starting point, but secretary austin has made it clear this is a challenge in the ranks. he talked about during his testimony when he was being confirmed, it was really compelling testimony about what it was like coming up in the military as a black man. and where it's gone, and some of the things that he encountered. there is no question, as we've seen across the country in the last four years, with the rise

of white nationalism, the rise of white supremacy, and a troubling crossover, not just in the january 6th riots, although that certainly is the great example of it, but in many instances, where you have members of the military who are part of these groups. and what we discovered in the hearing yesterday is the military really hasn't done that much at the moment to find out, okay, who might be affiliated with these groups, within the military. so what we want to do right now is at least, you know, dive into the problem. and with the republicans yesterday, part of the problem in their response is they took on the role as sort of defense attorneys and say, if you can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, why are we talking about it? i think there's enough evidence right now of the problem, we've seen it across the country. there's considerable evidence that within the ranks of the military, we have issues with racism. we need to figure out what they are, how they're being addressed. this is really crucial to making sure we have our military as strong as possible. so we're at the beginning of this, but we need to find out what the problem is and what the best way to handle it is.

i think it's a crucial role for our committee to do that. >> congresswoman slotkin, what are we finding out about the people who were at the riot? the people being charged, and maybe it's impatience, media impatience, but why is it so saturday to make a deduction here on what exactly was going on, because it does kind of seem so basic. >> well, i think, i mean, we're reacting to the fact that a disproportionate number of the truly organized, truly prepared folks who came in the capital on january 6th, who intended, we believe, to come in the capitol long before the morning of january 6th had a military background. they were either in the military or veterans of the military and so, i think we've seen that in the arrest reports. listen, it has to be methodical. and i don't think it's a secret anymore that there's overlapping law enforcement agencies that have an interest in what goes on in the capitol. so maybe it seems like it's

taking a long time. what i think is taking a long time is that we don't have an agreement on a 9/11-style commission. truly sort of standback objective, bipartisan look at what happened. i think we need that. and it's been kind of frustrating to a number of members that we haven't been able to come to an agreement on getting started on that. >> that's such that good point. and joe, i mean, if we can't even agree on the fact that this needs to be investigated. we can't even agree that this requires a 9/11-style commission to look at a mass assault on our democracy and process, i don't know. i mean, where are we if we can donate that? >> well, first of all, it does need to be bipartisan. >> of course! >> the proposal -- >> why wouldn't it be?! >> the proposal that was put forward would have put seven democrats on the committee and four republicans. that's not going to work. you can reverse that to seven republicans, four democrats. that wouldn't work. the house and the senators split 50/50. they need to figure out how to

get six republicans and six democrats on the committee. six republicans and six democrats can be like jury selection. like, they have a right to dismiss certain members there. and they can keep the wing nuts and the back benchers who are going to be doing this for press clippings rather than getting to the truth. they can veto those members. but, again, they need to move forward with a 9/11-style commission and they need to do it in a bipartisan manner. and i can't believe there aren't enough adults in leadership in the republican and the democratic party to figure out how to put your country first and get that done. and there's so many questions to ask and one of those questions, we just put it up on the screen, chairman smith, is the fact that 20% of the people that rioted on january the 6th reportedly were members or former members of the

united states military. >> and that is deeply disturbing. and that's a big part of the reason why we had the hearing yesterday. but i think what came out of our hearing yesterday, gave us a little bit of insight as to why we're having so much trouble to get this commission reformed. the republican response, wherever we start talking about this, is to equate this with this, you know, the right wing noise machine talking about, you know, woke -- excessive wokism, if you will. the idea we'll go out and persecute people just for something they thought or they said. that's certainly where matt gaetz and others went yesterday. the idea that you're even going to try to address the riot on capitol hill, that you'll try to address right-wing extremism, or what we've seen in the battle over voting rights. they claim that their effort to shut people down from voting is stop the rise of this unfair, left-wing sort of mythical attack that they have in their head. and as long as they focus on that, and say everything we try to do is just excessive, it's not. we are trying to get at a very

real problem. and i will say this. i know there are republicans, certainly on our committee, the most bipartisan committee in congress, but elsewhere who want to address this. but the poll of the trump people to make it into a deep-seeded partisan political fight, no matter what we say, to sort of wish the problem away, to imagine that white nationalism and white supremacy, that this doesn't exist, it's a very strong poll that the trump people are doing, and it makes it difficult to get to that common sense bipartisan agreement. >> congresswoman slotkin, this is obviously extremely important work to identify those in the military that hold extremist beliefs or racist beliefs. but what -- forgive the perhaps overly simple question, but what can be done about it? what can be done to prevent people like that from being in the military? what sort of steps or screening can be done to weed out the people who have these sort of beliefs in the armed forces? >> i want to say, there are some regulations, rules already on the books. it's not an open season for anyone who wants to join the military. i visited -- i can't tell you

how many recruiting stations in and around michigan, and you know, if you've got a swastika tattoo when you come in for your physical exam to try to get into the military, that's going to be a flag, that's going to be something that's potentially should be prohibited, should be prohibited. so there are rules. i think we need better data collection. and frankly, i just don't see a better person than general austin to be the one who leads on this issue. he's already had a one-day stand down for the entire force to talk about this issue. i've heard from people who went through that. but, you know, someone who grew up not only as a black man, but who was involved in uncovering nests of skinheads in the 82nd airborne, this is someone who had real experience with this. i'm going to let him have the time that needs to tackle it. but i think what i got the impression from yesterday, from my colleagues across the aisle is, one, a real reluctance to even look at this issue. and it made me think, we have been so, so focused over the

past 20 years on rooting out people in the military who might have a link to a foreign terrorist group, who might be sympathetic to an al qaida message, an isis message. we have been hyperfocused on that. why can't we take the same vigor and energy and put it into rooting out people who might be white supremacists. >> congresswoman elissa slotkin and congressman adam smith, thank you very much for everything you're doing and for being on the show this morning. >> greatly appreciate it. richard haass, i've been reading over the last few years about real concerns about right-wing extremists moving into german security forces. then you read that 20% of the people that tried to overthrow the government on january the 6th. 20% of the people who committed sedition against the united states were members of the military or former members of the military. we've got a real problem, don't we? >> we do have a real problem.

one of the things i hope they look at in addition to right to get a 9/11-like commission, joe, is military education. we should be looking at the curriculum in every one of the service academies and every one of the staff schools, which soldiers have to go through, as they go up the ladder. and making sure that we essentially teach civics and we deal with these issues as people move up the chain of command. and i would hope that that would be something that would get a lot of attention. the kind of one day that secretary austin had a stand down, that's fine, but that's one day. we have got to institutionalize civics in the military educational system. >> all right. thank you so much, richard. coming up, perhaps the strongest voice in congress when it comes to sexual assault in the military. senator kirsten gillibrand will be our guest. we'll get her thoughts on what's happening in washington, as far as the filibuster, and what's happening back in her home state

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a massive cargo ship got spun around and stuck in the suez canal, blocking more than 100 ships. look at this thing, it's giant. look at that. if you look closely, the ship has a tiny bumper sticker that says, student driver. traffic is backed up for miles and hundreds of ships will delayed. do you know how stressful it is to parallel park when someone's behind you. imagine blocking a whole hemisphere. you know what i'm saying? >> the massive container ship that ran aground in the suez canal halting traffic in one of the world's busiest waterways is still stuck after more than 24 hours. the ship operated by taiwanese

shipping company evergreen became horizontally wedged in the waterway following heavy winds. multiple tug boats were sent to the scene to start a refloat operation to dislodge the 1,300-foot vessel, which can take several days. none of the 25 crew members or any of the cargo has been harmed. preliminary investigations have ruled out mechanical failure for reason for the grounding. the ship has completely halted traffic on the canal, which in 2020 saw more than 19,000 ships pass through on an average of 51 ships a day. this is -- >> yeah -- >> -- like -- what? >> let's go to our naval correspondent, captain richard haass, hey, captain. so the suez crisis of 1956 and the suez crisis of 2021.

>> very different. >> i think we may be able to resolve this one a bit easier than the brits were able to resolve the one in '56. >> i doubt this one will bring down the british government. if it goes on long enough, it may bring down the egyptian government, because they're so dependent on revenues. they'll probably make gasoline prices higher at the pump. probably 10% of the world's oil goes through there. >> wow. hey, richard, i had somebody yesterday tweet during the show that they would love for me to ask guests and friends what they're reading right now, or if there's a great book they've read over the past year during covid. what about you? other than, of course, all the great writing you reading right now? what should our viewers read right now? is there a great book you've read over the past couple of months? >> for fun, total diversion, i

read carl hiacin's most recent book, called "squeeze me" for escapism, and then margaret mcmillen's most recent book on the history of war, just really thoughtful and interesting. and i just started a new book, what's it called about "thinking again," about basically learning to jettison all the things that we thought we knew and being open to new ideas. i'm finding that interesting as well. >> and who's the author of that? >> it's adam -- what's adam's last name, i'm sorry, i'm having a mental block here. >> "thinking again," all right it happens, those sound like some interesting choices. adam grant, i'm told by alex, it's adam grant, "thinking again." >> thank you, richard. >> still ahead, texas congresswoman veronica escobar will be our guest. she says, when it comes to the issue of immigration, what she's asking for doesn't include open borders.

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welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, march 25th. top of the hour. the ap's jonathan lemire still with us. joining the conversation, we have msnbc contributor, mike barnicle. nbc news capitol hill correspondent and host of "way too early," kasie hunt joins us. and white house editor for politico, sam stein is with us this morning. good to have you all. >> well, we have a press conference coming up. sam stein, what are you hearing? is the white house concerned? do they think the president will do well or sound a bit more like dana carvey. >> so good. >> dana carvey's imitation on colbert show. >> it's tough to distinguish between the two.

it was that good an impression. jonathan wrote about this. nine days ago, this press conference, had the press conference taken place nine days ago, the topics would have been remarkably different than what they are likely to be today. that's the dangers you get when you announce a press conference so far in advance. when they initially debuted this, the idea is they would solve the covid bill, take a bit of a victory lap. the questions would likely revolve around what was in the $1.9 trillion reopening, school reopposition, how the pandemic is going. and now we're looking at a whole host of different issues are going to come up. the real world has intervened in a way. we have the situation on the border. what exactly vice president harris's role is going to be there. we have two horrific shootings, which will raise questions about where joe biden is on gun violence. he had promised some action on day one that has not come. we have questions about cabinet composition, with prominent

senators raising concerns that there's not proper preparation for asian pacific american islanders. so all of these things could come up that would not have likely come up nine days ago. it's going to be an interesting press conference for a first one, sure. >> jonathan lemire, what's the white house's biggest concern going into this press conference? >> i think sam hit on a lot of it there, with the idea that this is -- they are now going to be sort of off message. that this has been a really disciplined and methodical white house, and it's been not easy to keep all these different factions and parts of the democratic party in line. joe biden was able to do that in the general election by uniting them for a common purpose, defeating donald trump. he was able to unite them for the first 50-plus days ofthis administration, to get that covid relief bill. everyone agreed, that had to come first. now, a difference in opinions. there are a lot of questions about priorities, whether it is immigration or gun control or infrastructure or voting rights. and i think today in that news

conference, my colleagues are going to ask the questions on all of those things. and also, how is the president going to respond to what is -- he had already started his administration facing this historic confluence of crises. and now only more are being put on his plate. certainly, west-wing aides, republican and democrat alike, those who used to work in the building say, this is what you get when you sign up for that job. you can have the best-laid plans and real-world events overtake them. we'll hear from the president today, in an important venue, talk about how he's going to respond. >> and mike barnacle, again, many challenges. obviously, some democrats have been expressing their concerns about what's been happening at the border, expressing concerns about policies and what messages need to be sent. we had a congressman yesterday on from the border state, talking about that we need to send different signals to these countries. where so many of the illegal immigrant s migrate from.

and you have tammy duckworth protesting because, what she said is a lack of diversity in the white house. a lot, if this -- as everybody else has been saying, if this had been done a week ago, it would have been the president taking a victory lap. now, boy, a lot of difficult problems in the inbox for joe biden in this administration. and a lot of tough questions probably going to be asked today. >> yeah, for sure, joe. it's certainly a different menu today than it would have been nine or ten days ago, had this press conference been held then. i think -- and you just mentioned, i think, one of the key elements of today's presser, if that he will be asked repeatedly no doubt about our relationship with the government of mexico. exactly what is it and is it functional. why aren't they seemingly helping us more with the problems along the border. i think you're going to get questions about the capacities of executive orders by the president of the united states, in terms of gun control and

expanding background checks. you're going to get all sorts of interesting questions that are going to show exactly what joe biden stands on several key issues that have only popped up, really, over in the last nine or ten days. prior to the last nine or ten days, as both jonathan and sam pointed out, it would have been a different press conference. it would have been a victory lap, focused on, you know, checks are in the mail and vaccine shots are in the arms. but that's all changed and it's going to be an interesting day for the president of the united states, as well as for the american citizens watching it. >> absolutely. joe manchin showed some hesitancy when it came to the last massive spending bill on capitol hill. this time, though, he seems far more supportive when it comes to the biden administration's plan on infrastructure. as the white house grapples with securing what could be a $3 trillion package, the key west virginia democrat told reporters yesterday that he favors a,

quote, enormous infrastructure deal. he also supports paying for it, in part, by raising tax revenues. the topic of increasing the corporate tax rate set by former president trump's tax reform law at 21% is a point of contention among republicans. manchin called the gop resistance to higher taxes not, quote, reasonable to negotiations. kasie hunt, what do you make of manchin's position. are you at all surprised by it? >> you know, i'm not, actually, because if you think about west virginia, which is, of course, the state that he represents, lots of federal money for infrastructure helps him at home. it's going to be something that's likely welcomed by the governor of the state, a republican. it's not a place where higher taxes on corporations or people making high amounts of money is necessarily going to be something that really hits home. i honestly think that there are some democrats who represent

places like the state of maryland or the state of new york, where cost of living can be very high, where you might see more concerns about the suggestions to raise personal taxes. but infrastructure, you know, it historically has been such a bipartisan issue. and i don't mean that in that people have been able to easily agree, but rather, it is easier to get people to vote "yes" on something when they have something in the bill that helps them at home. so you could compile something that would get enough votes that it would be representative of people across the country. the environment has become so toxic that we can't even get that far. they're reinstating ear marks -- i mean, joe will remember the fight over this, because things have gotten so bad, they think maybe that will help. but the reality is, now, these issues that everyone's talking about, in terms of this press conference, are piling up one after the other after the other. and while, yes, there are challenges for the administration, they also serve to underscore the degree of the

obstruction that republicans seem to be engaged in right now in congress. >> so kasie, what's the dynamic that is moving people like susan collins, mitt romney, lisa murkowski, and others who had signaled that they might want to work with a moderate group of democrats at the beginning of this congress. what has moved them into their corners, to be so aggressively against anything the democrats are for. can they not meet in the middle in the transportation bill? can they not meet in the middle on the voting rights bill? can they not meet in the middle on john lewis' voting rights bill? they're just -- there has to be, at some point, a meeting of the minds of both of these parties. >> so, joe, i actually think some of that is going on. there are bipartisan meetings that are happening, bipartisan lunches that are happening. there are reports this morning that the white house has reached out specifically to susan collins to try to patch things up. the problem is, there's not enough of them to get to 60

votes. even if you count everyone that you could possibly put in that bucket, susan collins, lisa murkowski, mitt romney among the ones you listed, it doesn't add up to 60, which means that that fundamental dynamic remains the same. that middle ground actually can't control whether or not legislation passes. and it makes it much, much harder and much more reliant on the leadership of both parties who, yes, we talk about extremist in views and ideology and policy proposals, but you also have to remember, these are two guys in mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer whose jobs are to run against each other. they are chairs of their respective party committees, essentially, if not in name, then that's what they focus on all the times. susan collins is incredibly anger at chuck schumer. he spent $100 million trying to oust her. and they now have a very sour relationship. so it's very, very hard to solve when it's so incredibly evenly

divided. and i just, i don't see a way right now where those -- that group of people that you name can become the center of gravity. and that's a tough reality, frankly, for the country. >> a delegation of white house officials and members of congress traveled to the southern border yesterday to tour a health and human services facility being used to house migrant children. an nbc news crew accompanied the delegation and toured a facility in carrizo springs, texas. officials say there are just over 766 minors at the facility, which has a capacity of 952. 108 of the children had tested positive for the coronavirus when they entered the facility. those who test positive are kept in negative air pressure dorm minors and no minors are released from the facility until they've had two negative covid-19 tests.

the facility has classrooms for the teenagers. and dormitories that hold four children in a room. unlike reports from other facilities. there was no indication of overcrowding there, as all. so let's bring in msnbc correspondent, jacob soboroff, on his way to the southern border. he joins us now. along with journalist roberto lovato, he's the author of the book, "unforgetting: a memoir of family, migration, gangs and revolution in the americas." good to have you both. >> jacob, let's begin with you. what's the purpose of letting the media go to, quote, aspirational, closed quote, facilities. these are not the facilities that are problematic. we can have fuzzy pictures of unaccompanied minors playing soccer and sitting in classrooms and stretching and smiling, but that's not the reality, the sort of reality that you've been

covering for quite some time. not exactly sure what the goal was yesterday. >> reporter: nor i, joe, honestly. i think what the goal wasn't was to show the problem, show it clearly, and show it transparently, frankly. i'm glad that they let us into those -- into that facility yesterday. gabe gutierrez had some great reporting and it was good to see the conditions there and hear the reports firsthand from him, but that's not donna, texas, where there's over a thousand percent overcrowding in their processing center today. it's certainly not yuma, arizona, where i'm on my way to, the second most crowded sector along the border in those processing facilities. and really, it doesn't do much to explain to us what a fair, safe, and orderly immigration system looks like, that the administration says, rhetorically, that they want to set up. and i think there's a short-term conversation to have about that. and the longer-term conversation, which is, how did they depart from 30-plus years

of deterrence and punishment, that included barack obama's presidency. trump, obviously, worse than ever before with family separations. and biden, who is still using some of the same types of facilities along the border to hold kids that, of course, nobody was happy about during the previous administration, nor during the obama administration. >> hey, jacob, no one knows the situation at the border better than you do. you're right, nothing from yesterday is going to silence these questions about the conditions there. from your reporting, people that you've talked to, what sort of timetable do you think we're looking at here, for there to be actual, substantial change to what we're seeing -- you know, what we're seeing, or should we say, hearing about what are in those facilities with the overcrowding and the children lined in. is there any sort of plan? when did some of the increased capacity come online? when can some of this pressure be alleviated? >> reporter: i think in the short-term, jonathan, you might see the pressure alleviated in the facilities sooner than later down on the border, because they're opening so many

so-called influx facilities through the office of refugee resettlement. but arguably, actually, there are people that know this far better than i do, including roberto lovato, and i'm curious to hear from you about this, when you hear the administration talking about long-term solutions, fair and safe and orderly immigration process, you know, that's rhetoric. what's the reality? where do you see them going and what does it actually mean to you? >> thank you, jacob. and thank you for having me. the first central american on tv on these central american issues since at least 2018. i think it means we'll be seeing a lot more of the same policies right now. the policies tend to be a combination of privatization of government resources, backed up by militarized policing and militaries. it used to be that we supported

crackpot dictator that killed thousands and a genocide dal maniac, but now we're supporting legitimately elected, but lying and corrupt governments that are not doing anything, except enriching themselves like juan orlando hernandez in honduras, who is actually named in u.s. court by u.s. attorneys for his connections to drug lords, like his brother. i don't expect a whole lot. i predicted that the trump administration -- the biden administration would make a major shift from going from iron cages to plexiglas. and that's happened! and i -- i don't -- i've seen this pattern for 30 years, as i document in the book. >> jacob, roberto just alluded to the corruption involved along the border and the trafficking that goes on. my question to you is the coyotes who make enormous sums of money crossing the rivers,

bringing immigrants over to the united states' side. they go back to the mexican side, load up again, and do this. why are they not arrested by the mexican government? >> reporter: yeah, that's a great question. and i think it's a, you know, frankly, the way that things have operated, not just under this administration, but under previous administrations. and the point that i want to make about that, mike, is that you hear today from republicans that this is a cartel-enriching, open border policy. but if you look at the data, these cartel have said able to operate with impunity and have only gotten stronger through all united states presidential administrations. including donald trump. the cost of coming to the united states has only gotten more expensive, as the punitive deterrence policies have gotten more aggressive. the harder u.s. policy has gotten, in terms of enforcement along our southern border, the

stronger the cartels have become. and that's why, you know, i hear them talk about root causes. everything roberto is talking about, but also about things like climate change and climate variability. and the right wants to poke fun at that. but i've been to guatemala and people starving because of malnutrition, because of coffee leaf rust, a fungus that has killed the lifeblood, literally, crops that feed entire communities. and until things like that are addressed, you're still going to have the cartels playing a major role in this, because they're responding to closed borders, not open borders, despite what it might seem and what the rhetoric sounds like. >> roberto, you've talked about 30 years of failed policies. what do we need to do? what do those policies need to look like moving forward, to alleviate this crisis on the border, and in immigration, generally. >> if i could answer that, i would get a nobel prize, but let me try. i think that, first of all, the

united states needs to apologize to the people of central america for supporting genocide, mass murder, failed economic policies, whether it's bush's puebla to panama, obama's alliance for prosperity, or now to biden plan, which are all variations of the same theme of private sector solutions that have failed backed by militaryism, when people speak up. i think there's something -- nothing less than an apology, then backed up like something like a marshall plan for central america. it's going to mark a major shift and signal to the corrupt governments, the militaryists, even the gangs. it's going to signal there's a new day in the united states. and i don't see it yet. >> so what is the marshal plan -- what does the marshal plan look like, because it sounds certainly like the possible solution. a great idea. but for the fact that at the same time, you talk about a marshal plan, you talk about corruption in government there

and graft. so where do we get the money so we can tell american taxpayers we're going to have a marshal plan for these countries. it will alleviate the crisis on our southern border and across the nation. and we can guarantee you that the money will get to the people who need it the most. >> that's another nobel prize question, but i think that, it's not unlike what black lives matter is asking for, actually, which is to use the money, instead of for policing people to death and into jail, start giving it for social programs, to stop people from going into gangs and other things, housing and child care. so in the same way, there are some previews of solutions in congress right now, in the house and senator markly's legislation to cut off funding to these corrupt and violent presidents

in el solve dor or honduras. that's a start. we need to start there and support groups on the ground that are civil society organizations, quite frankly, because the institutional structures, the legislatures, the judicial systems and the executive are rife with corruption. so we do this in a very difficult, but harsh message to these corrupted failed governments that democrats and republicans have been supporting. until that happens, there won't be any -- it will be bad money following bad policy and bad money. >> all right. roberto lovato, thank you. jacob soboroff, thank you as well for your reporting. we appreciate it. cas kasie, we talked about the hill and the inability to strike compromise. 2013, there were some attempts to put together a bipartisan coalition to pass immigration reform, sweeping immigration reform.

there was that moment during the trump administration when -- where democrats and republicans were around the table in the white house and donald trump turned to dianne feinstein and said, y'all get a plan together, i will sign it for comprehensive immigration reform. nothing ever happened there. is there just no hope that republicans and democrats alike can cobble together a plan to have a sane immigration policy? >> joe, honestly, i think this is one issue where things are the most discouraging. it is an issue that divides people incredibly deeply and as long as things are going on along the border the way they are and that becomes the dominant image that republicans, for example, are using in campaign-related materials and things like that, it's just not going to be something that we're going to be able to successfully deal with. and that's in large part because former president trump made this

issue so incredibly divisive that what was, as you point out, something that everyone recognized was a problem that we needed to solve, is now one of the most significant cultural wedge issues we have. >> all right. we mentioned the issue of a lack of asian american representation in biden's cabinet that is likely to come up in his news conference today. earlier this week, the president defended his administration against that criticism. >> there isn't an asian american in your cabinet, sir. >> we have the most diverse cabinet in history. we have a lot of asian americans who are in the cabinet and subcabinet levels. our cabinet is formed. >> kurt bardela joins us now with his lathe piece for "usa today," entitled "duckworth and hi rono are right. asian americans deserve more

than tokenism from biden ". and kurt a lot of people would say that joe biden has a more diverse cabinet than we've seen in a long time. but you're right, there is definitely an area where we could see more representation. how do we get there? >> you know, mika, in the overall conversation about racism in america, we all understand that at the root of racism is to suppress communities of color, to suppress our voices, to suppress our access to the corridors of power, and thereby influence our ability to actually impact a national agenda. what the asian american community is looking for right now, especially in the backdrop of all of the attention that we've been receiving due to the rise in violence in hate crimes against the api community overall, we need more than just tokenism. it's not enough to say, well, we'll have someone who can be the api outreach person at the

white house. we want someone that's going to have access. someone that's going to be able to influence the broader agenda. because we all have a stake in the common agenda. whether it's gun reform, health care, climate change, education, infrastructure, we care as much about those issues as everybody else does. and we want to have a seat at the table, as those issues are being prioritized and debated and policies are being shaped. and we want to have a voice within the biden white house to make sure that we're represented during those broader conversations, not just when it comes to issues that are related specifically to the api community. >> i totally agree with everything you've said. i agree that there is a void. but i also want to ask you, point-blank, about the first statement you made. do you think that the biden administration is willingly, knowingly suppressing? >> no, i don't think they're willingly, knowingly suppressing the asian american voices or asian american community. i think that they could do a better job of having

representation. and i think that's the point that senators duckworth and hi rw rhona were makinging on tuesday when they were having discussions with the white house about this issue and making the case that there is a better way to have bigger voices for our community and especially at a time where we have been at the forefront of one of the major national narratives that's unfolding, the lack of asian american faces and voices is glaring to say the least. and the point that they made -- and i think that it was well received, because at the end of the day, they relented on their threat that they wouldn't vote for any of the non-white biden nominees that they had said, okay, the white house heard us, we have faith that this president, particularly, understands what we're saying. this isn't donald trump. this isn't the republican party, this isn't a party that is built on suppressing minorities, that's trying to take voting rights away from communities of color. we believe in trust that we can take joe biden and his administration at their word when they say, this will be a priority. they will make some changes. they will do better to have more

representation for the asian american community. and nothing that this president has done leads us to believe that we can't take them at face value. he has been there talking about these issues when they have come up. he doesn't need to be prompted. he doesn't need a note card with little talking points written on it to tell him that when violence against asian americans happen, he needs to address it as a president. he doesn't need to be told, he needs to wait days to lower flags at half-staff. we'll take them at face value and take them at their word that they'll good on what he told those senators. >> kurt, are you zpesing they may be tone deaf. certainly, you were concerned and others were concerned in an initial response to this inquiry several days ago. >> well, i think that this is where the nuance of communities of color really comes into play. you can't tell asian americans that you are represented, you have the vice president, kamala harris. there's a big difference right now in how we view south asians and the east asian community. it's the east asian community

that's been under siege by the racist rhetoric of the republican party. it's people who look like me who have those targets on our back, because of the rhetoric of kung flu and china virus. so when we bring this up, and you say, well, look at harris, look at the nomination of neera tanden, we feel a little bit differently about that because of the current state that we're in and i think that the biden administration was a little unaware there of those nuances and how they express them. i don't think it was intentional. i don't think it was coming from a place where they felt like they wanted to suppress our voices or hold us back. but now that they've had these conversations, especially with those two senators, i think they see that there's a lot more on the surface that needs to be addressed than they may have realized when they first put together the administration. for better or worse, this is the first administration in more than 20 years that doesn't have an asian american cabinet secretary. this is a very diverse cabinet

and a very diverse administration, but that one little nuance did not go unnoticed among the asian american community. >> kurt bardella, thank you very, very much. still ahead on "morning joe," we have a lot to cover in our next hour, with our next guest, actually. senator kirsten gillibrand joins us straight ahead. before we go to break, i spent some time yesterday with a fantastic group of students at the university of delaware's biden institute. it was the annual women's history month luncheon. it was also equal payday, giving students a virtual opportunity to network with women in leadership. valerie biden owens, the president's sister, offered this valuable advice. >> the biggest thing is, is that life -- life has a way of interrupting. and our journey is not always a direct route. sometimes, we have a bumpy day

with really deep ditches. and other times, we can have smooth sailing with a soft breeze. but the key is that under either circumstances, we have to keep moving forward. we have to stay true to our convictions and we have to hold tight to those -- to the perseverance that we will make things better. that we will prevail. >> mika was able to watch that, and i'll tell you what, val was so inspiring, you were, as well. those 200 students, very, very fortunate, i think, to hear from both of you. >> we had a great time. head over to know your value.com for my top seven tips for college women preparing to enter the workforce. thank you very much to the biden institute and the university of delaware for this incredible event. we need more of this in this pandemic environment, kid need a place to get some inspiration and some access. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." access. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." ♪ hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play ♪

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there's a lot there if you, you know, if you just don't worry about the fact that he's 78, he gets a little confused sometimes. it doesn't mean you're attacking him personally or, you know, but you have to acknowledge that, you know, he's just, he's just, he's just like, we're going to try, we're doing things, you know, and you know, come on. here's a deal, let me just -- i'm not kidding around. no joke, folks. you know, my dad lost his job in scranton, i lost my dog, i'm not kidding, i'm not being a wise guy, don't, don't -- and he always does the list. number one, the one part. number two, what they said. number three, you get the drill. come on, your dog pays pony soldier. come on, it's good. it's what the people said. so that's what i'm gathering from it, visually. but, you know, i don't know, it's a character now. >> oh, my gosh, he's so good. i mean, number two, what they said, you know, that.

dana carvey working on his impression of president biden on the "late show" with stephen colbert. jonathan lemire, i'm giving him a ten. you? >> yeah, that's spectacular, mika. no offense to folks who work in this building, but "snl" hasn't quite captured him, at least of late. mike barnicle, and dana carvey, that was hysterical. he, of course, he was famous for his george h.w. bush impersonation, a little bit less on the scene these days. but right there, the essence of the numbers, not a joke, folks, that to me got the essence of joe biden. what do you think? you've known biden for a long time. >> here's the deal, man, my word as a biden, okay? my uncle finias once told me, he said, hi, joe, i think -- i think that's what he said, that's what i remember. here's the deal, dana carvey, he's the best. >> he needs a little more malarkey, mika, but we approve. >> i did too. and dana biden yesterday is so

much like her brother. and she was telling a story about how he would introduce her -- you know, as a kid, they would go out and play with the boys on the street or whatever, and they would say, oh, you're bringing a girl, and joe would say, i'm not bringing a girl, that's my sister, man. that's my sister. and when she was telling the story, i was like, oh, my god, she sounds so much like him. but they're a wonderful family and that's a great impersonation. joining us now, member of both the intelligence and armed services committees and chair of the personnel subcommittee, democratic senator, kirsten gillibrand of new york. it's so great to have you back on the show and see you, at some point, hopefully i'll see you in person. >> in person. thank you, mika, it's great to be on the show. >> we've got a lot to talk about, but i know something that's very important to you and you've been working on for years now, is the issue of sexual assault in the military. and i guess the first question is more like a comment, why are

we still talking about this? where are the roadblocks to justice? >> well, it's really shocking, mika. we've been talking about this since 2013. and during that time, we have passed over 200 reforms. any low -- any low-hanging fruit, any smallball reform that the dod will permit, and still, there was estimated most recently to be over 200,000 sexual assaults in the military and unfortunately, the rate of prosecution and the rate of conviction has gone down. it's shocking, over the last ten years. and it's just heartbreaking, because for every case that isn't investigated or prosecuted, and we don't put these recidivists and rapists into jail, they tend to be people who do it over and over again. they -- justice is not possible for so many of these survivors. and unfortunately, they

typically will leave the military within a year, because there is no justice for them. so all of that investment in these service members is wasted, because they refuse to take sexual assault seriously. i think the problem is the chain of command is poorly trained. the chain of command is the one that decides whether these cases go to trial. they aren't lawyers. they certainly do not have criminal justice backgrounds, and the only help they have is from their essential general councils. and they have very little criminal justice experience. and so, unfortunately, they choose the wrong cases to go to trial, and then they don't end in conviction. and so it's a problem. and so i want to make sure that this decision is made by trained military prosecutors. who spend a lifetime developing their ability to prosecute these cases successfully. >> kasie hunt has been following your work every step of the way. kasie's got the next question. >> senator gillibrand, nice to see you this morning. and of course, you did hit on the piece of this that republicans have expressed some opposition to, taking these

cases out of the chain of command. so i'm wondering if you could speak a little bit more broadly about the issue that we're talking about in so many critical pieces of president biden's agenda, as well as other things that democrats in the senate like you are focused on. and that's the filibuster. the reality that it's incredibly difficult to move anything without 60 votes. where do you stand personally right now on eliminating the filibuster and where do you think the democratic caucus is, given how republicans have handled this in the early days of the administration? >> so, i believe we are in a crisis in this country where we need to help people, desperately. with the covid epidemic, with the crushing economic fallout, families in my state of new york are suffering deeply, business owners are suffering, the health care industry is suffering. and we need more support and more help. there's a lot of things we want to get done, but if we had to get 60 votes, we may not

actually be able to deliver the support the families need. i've been grateful that we had this first opportunity for the reconciliation package. i'm looking forward to the next build back better package. we should have both soft and hard infrastructure, including things like national paid leave. those bills can possibly all go through reconciliation, which is a 51-vote threshold. but beyond that, that's your only opportunity. and if it's your only opportunity to govern, that's a problem. we have so many issues. we have the epidemic of gun violence that we can work very hard to get to 60 on. the last time my anti-gun trafficking bill was voted on, i got 58 votes. the background checks bill got 43 or -- 53 or 54. so it is possible to get to 60. we'll have to work very hard to do that. but look at an issue like voting reform, voting rights. you have legislatures all across the country who are trying to make it harder for people to vote. in that instance, i feel that if we keep pushing our head against

a wall to do these major pieces of legislation, to help america recover from covid, to protect their civil rights, to protect communities, then we should look at filibuster reform. i support eliminating the filibuster, despite the negative impact it will have wherever we are next in the minority. and it is a terrible risk you're taking, because just imagine all the things that could be a risk under republican leadership. women's rights, lbgtq rights, clean air and clean water, things that are so essential for this country. it's a hard decision, it's not a simple decision. i fall down on the side of reform and reducing it to a 51-vote threshold. there are other ideas. president biden has said, let's return to the talking filibuster. i support that reform. i think that's a great idea. but i don't know that our caucus is there yet. we have to spend some time talking about it, talking about the risks, talking about the urgency of this moment and why

this might be warranted. we can certainly try to do the things at a 60-vote threshold and see how that goes. it might not work. and so we -- all we have to do is our best to govern this country. and if mitch mcconnell and republicans decide they're unwilling to help us govern, then it might be our only -- our only response. so i don't think we're there yet, as a caucus, but i do think it's something that we are going to debate heavily and talk about the pros and cons, because it is not simple. >> yeah. it definitely isn't. i want to ask you about governor andrew cuomo, your state. you've taken a strong position against sexual harassment, sexual assault, on every level, not just in the military. and definitely have been preaching for a new culture in our country, as it pertains to how women are treated. should he step down?

what should be happening right now that isn't in the case of andrew cuomo? >> so i've said this he should, because of a couple of reasons. one, he has lost the support of his governing partners. and during this epidemic, of both covid and the economic fallout, we need all hands on deck and complete focus. i think that will be very, very hard. there's also multiple credible allegations of sexual harassment and other sexual misconduct. and these are serious allegations. of course, the governor's entitled to whatever review process he wants and he can have that. and he will have that, because we now have an impeachment proceeding in assembly and we have an investigation by the attorney general. those investigations will take several months. so, this is not something that will be clarified soon. but i've been pretty clear about

my views. >> senator kirsten gillibrand, i appreciate everything that you do. thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. >> thank you, mika. coming up, the pandemic -- we'll see you soon. the pandemic has been devastating for the u.s. economy, but our next guest says it's also provided an opportunity for a much-needed reset. we'll explain that, next on "morning joe." set. 'll explain that, next on "morning joe." hey, dad! hey, son! no dad, it's a video call. you got to move the phone in front of you

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we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills. because that challenge is one that we're willing to accept. one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win and the others too.

>> president kennedy back in 1962, speaking about the nation's efforts to reach the moon. our next guest argues we should learn from kennedy's moonshot approach to solve the crisis facing our world today. joining us joining us now, from fesser at university college london marianna, author of "mission economy." and mike barnacle will take the first question. mike? >> professor, we are surrounded here in this country with tech outfits that boggle the imagination with all the gifts they provide us instantly that make our lives easier. but are we undervaluing the potential and the value of governments, both state and federal in terms of bringing more to the table to assist us and expanding our opportunities? >> absolutely. we need to be asking ourselves, all these wonderful smart products when we all use and our

children use, what makes them smart and not stupid? internet, gps, touch screen, siri. these were all not only invested in by the public sector, the navy got us gps, but these were purpose driven organizations. the internet didn't come about because someone in government obsessed about a technology called the internet. they needed to solve a problem. the satellites needed to communicate. the internet was the answer. same thing with gps. so what are the modern day problems, whether it's around the digital divide, a plastic free ocean, carbon neutral cities that can galvanize that public/private relationship because the moon landing was not just nasa, it was lots of different companies. that can foster technology as a spillover, but we're also really confronting that bill back better agenda. in other words, technology and science for the public good. which is one really interesting thing i found in researching the book is that nasa wasn't naive

at all when it, you know, partnered with the private sector. there was companies like general electric, motorola, honeywell. but the design of the partnership had things like a no excess profits clause or the procurement contract went away from being cost plus which simply could have costs coming back to nasa that were really inflated towards fixed price contracts with incentives for continual innovation and quality improvement. so that build back better agenda which we all talk about has to go to the design of the public/private relationship today. those partnerships need to be symbiotic. >> sam stein. >> yeah. i hone i don't sound as old as mike barnacle just did talking about the apps on my phone and the diddy dos or whatever he just said. profess we shall doesn't the real problem come down to a simple thing, which is automation? our jobs are being essentially

taken away from us because there are more efficient ways for them to be done through technology, computers, robots? and if that is, indeed, the crux of the matter, how do you go about changing them? people like efficiencies in their lives, they want to hail a taxi cab on their phone, for instance, or produce goods at cheaper rates and they don't see the long-term costs that come in. >> good point. i mean, i think there's two parts of my answer to that. first of all, machines, robots, have been taking jobs for 200 years. david ricardo, the first economist ever back in 1821, "principles of the parallel economy" was the first ever textbook. i can't believe i remember this. he had a chapter, chapter 31 on ready machinery where he was posing that robots are tain taking our jobs problem. then what happened for 200 years was that those profits being generated from industrialization and slowly these became robots kept being reinvested back into

the economy. so new jobs appeared, new skills appeared. what's happened in the last 20 to 30 years is that stopped. lots of profits are going out of the economy. they're what i call value extraction. $4 trillion have been used by the global fortune 500 companies to push chas back their shares. that corporate governance problem, which is not a pro bought problem, is hurting american workers. there was a bipartisan agreement on this. i think this is a really interesting way to kind of rethink what we even mean by our digital platforms in big tech. first of all, a lot of the tech that big tech gets credited for wasn't actually invented by them. they do wonderful things. apple had this wonderfully designed gadgets that we all use and that in itself is value

creation. but how do we govern digital platform for value creation so that the algorithms themselves don't end up becoming a rent seeking algorithm. that requires a competition policy that is not just expost, but gets those relationships right in the first place and, you know, conditionality around reinvestment is something that i'm seeing globally right now with the covid-19 recovery schemes. and in denmark and austria, what is interesting is companies cannot access covid recovery money unless they stop using tax havens. in france, companies cannot get access to covid recovery unless they commit to reducing their carbon emissions. so thinking about the build back better agenda in terms of a redesign of the partnership between, say, big tech and government or big energy companies and government i think is the opportunity here. >> wow. we need a lot more time for this. you'll have to come back. the new book is "mission economy" a moon shot guide to changing capitalism.

marianna, thank you so much for being on the show. by the way, everybody, yesterday for equal payday, the president and first lady hosted members of the u.s. women's soccer team, including world cup champion megan rupino who testified on the topic before the house oversight committee. rupino spoke in the white house about the team's struggle for pay equity. >> you see, despite all the wins, i'm still paid less than men who do the same job that i do. for each trophy, of which there are many, and for each win, for each tie and for each time that we play, it's less. >> meanwhile, gender barriers are being broken in the broadcast booth. as the nba's first all-female team called last night's contest between the denver nuggets and

the toronto raptors. here is a look at the opening of the turner sports broadcast. >> welcome to a little bit of history. it is the first ever all-female broadcast by itself. megan mcpeek and the one and only kia nerf. amy, we will do what we do best and that is talk basketball in just a moment. but as i said, we are thrilled to be here tonight and very quickly, to every young girl watching this broadcast tonight, we hope you love seeing the five of us do this. know you can do absolutely anything and please dream big. >> wonderful. still ahead, the white house allows access to a facility housing unaccompanied migrant children, but did the tightly managed photo-op give an accurate depiction of the conditions at the border? we'll talk about that and speak with congresswoman representing

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good afternoon. >> would you mind putting on your mask for us? >> when i'm talking to the tv camera, i'm not going to put a mask on. all of us have been immunized. you're welcome to step away if you like. the whole point of a vaccine, cdc guidance is what we're following. >> republican senator ted cruz refusing to wear a mask while speaking to the press yesterday. just for the record, official guidance from the cdc advises to continue regular precautions in public places like wearing a mask, even when fully vaccinated. thanks, ted cruz for guiding us to the cdc. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, march 25th. with us, we have white house

reporter for the associated press jonathan lamere and president of the council on foreign relations and author of the book "the world a brief introduction," richard haus is with us this morning. so you heard casey just talking about it. what can we expect? >> it's president biden's first news conference. it's 60 odd days in his administration. he's gone the longest without having one of these events than any of his predecessors in decades. i know there's some talk, particularly among the west wing aides that this matters more in the beltway than americans. it is a back and forth with the president providing answers and clarity for the american public and it comes at a crucial moment for this president. their plan originally was used today as part of their victory lap for their 1.9 trillion covid relief bill. we should expect to hear plenty of that from the president as

well as touting his successes, distributing the vaccine across the country. but it comes at a moment when he's facing a number of unplanned external challenges. we talked about the influx of migrants at the southern border. we have members of his own party threatening to block his nominees because of a lack of asian-american representation. we have, of course, the twin mass shootings of the last week or so. so he's going to be pressed on topics that will be challenging for him to face. he is going to lay out what his event is and how can he get los angeles -- las vegas done on this crisis? >> are they concerned that he's going to have things thrown at him that they weren't expecting originally? are they concerned with how he responds? >> certainly they're down playing the importance of this and they point to all the other avenues in which president biden

addresses the public. that's standard west wing rhetoric. but of course they're concerned. it's an unscripted moment. .president biden himself as deemed himself a gaffe machine. we have seen him sometimes get in trouble when he speaks off-the-cuff and they're fearful that something could turn into a new cycle or two, even a temporary distraction while they're pushing forward with their message. but they also see it as an opportunity, a chance to talk about their successes and plans for what all is on his plate right now. >> well, and then the back drop of this, of course, there is new evidence this morning that members of groups that attacked the u.s. capitol on january 6th communicated with other. they were in contact with one another in december to plan for potentially violent action in washington that day. according to a justice department memo, opposing the pretrial release of kelly megs of florida, a man accused of

being leader of the oath keepers and one of the ten members to play a leading role in the capitol assault, on december 19th, the court filing said meggs post add message of facebook saying this week, i organized an alliance between oath keepers, florida 3%ers and proud boys. we have decided to work together and shut this -- down. you know what down. three days later, he posted, quote, contact with pb and they always have a big group force multiplier. between december 12th and january 4th, prosecutors said meggs organized and participated in approximately 10 online discussions that were affiliated with the oath keepers. he led and planned the group's activities and paid for two hotel rooms in washington, the court filing said. the documents does not allege that the group formulated a plan to attack the capitol before

arriving in washington. so, joe, we have the government moving forward, but still this massive set of questions around the capitol attacks. i mean, there are way smaller things that happened across the country that are investigated, and that are seen out for the public and the world to see and justice served far quicker than anything that has happened with this incredible assault on our democracy. >> well, it seems, richard, that the federal prosecutors are really trying to make sure they have everything lined up, especially for those that they would charge with the conspiracy to commit sedition. you listen to that report and it certainly seems like you were taking down the requirements of the federal statute for sedition and possibly a conspiracy between these groups. >> that's exactly right. when i was listening to mika,

joe, the word conspiracy is what came to mind. this was not spontaneous on january 5th or 6th. and it shows that we have a network here. i'm not saying you have -- you have multiple organizations and individuals who are communicating with one another regularly. this was a network and it was activated around january 6th. but the infrastructure, the loyalty, the inclination was all there before happened. and that's worrying because we don't know yet how extensive it is and to what extent, for example, arresting these people decapitates it or whether there's a lot of other people out there who are prepared to take their place. >> and here you go. trump supporters who answered the calm to come to the capitol on january 6th also answered the former president's call for donations to fund his legal challenges to election results

and surprisingly high numbers. campaign finance filings found that in the five weeks after the election, those charged in the capitol riot increased their political donations by about 75% compared to the five weeks leading up to the election. they began escalating their numbers of contributions as trump was trying to overturn joe biden's victory. among the first 311 people who faced federal charges after the january 6th riot, about 90 have histories of making political contributions. and the overwhelming majority of them were made to trump or his aligned groups. and within the past year. the donations shed light on the effectiveness of trump's post election messaging.

it has netted him hundreds of millions of dollars in contributions. many from small dollar donations like those accused of storming the capitol. >> jonathan, you can't help but hear about this and go back to that discussion, that shouting discussion that kevin mccarthy had with donald trump when donald trump was insisting that those rioters on capitol hill, those terrorists were not his supporters, but somebody else. and kevin mccarthy reportedly screamed back at the president, swore at the president and said i'm here, who do you think blanky blank i am. this is almost laughable that we now are seeing that the fbi is tracing these donations back to the people that they're arresting, proving once again the that these were not only donald trump supporters, these were not only terrorists who were working to commit sa decision against the united

states of america in the name of donald trump, but they were some of his most fierce supporters. >> and it shows how then president trump stoked this, this conspiracy theory, the big lie that there was election fraud, that he was the right winger of the november 6th election. which, of course, none of that was true. he had been laying the groundwork for weeks and creating a fervor here among his supporters for a time were content to donate money and he was building up anticipation to january 6th. we know the tweets about how he said that day was going to be wild. certain a lot of these supporters took that seriously and literally and they showed up that day. one would hope that a report like this would eliminate the republican talking point, which we still hear sometimes, that these supporters, that these rioters weren't trump supporters, that they may have been members of antifa posing as

trump supporters. on the one hand, this is logical and makes sense, but it's disturbing to see. and it shows how long trump whipped this up in a frenzy that led to violence. and still ahead, the crisis playing out along the southern border. is the white house providing a clear enough picture of what is really happening? you're watching "morning joe." w really happening you're watching "morning joe." psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis.

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a delegation of white house officials and members of congress traveled to the southern border yesterday to tour a health and human services facility being used to house migrant children. an nbc news crew accompanied the delegation and toured a facility in carrizo springs, texas. officials say there are just over 766 minors at the facility. which has the capacity of 952. nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez was given exclusive media access to tour that

facility and here is part of his report. >> this facility in carrizo springs, texas, is home to 766 unaccompanied minors, all teen boys. officials say more than 100 have tested positive for covid. after mounting pressure on the biden administration, a network camera was allowed inside today. we saw the intake center where kids are tested for covid and given did you feel bags of clothes. there's a dining hall, classrooms and dorm rooms, only four kids each. it was orderly and the children were calm. we saw kids playing soccer outside. we were not allowed to speak to them, but members of the congressional delegation did. >> and gabe joins us now. gabe, first of all, give us a sense of what it was that wasn't allowing the media in before yesterday and any insights and also with so many people, how are they handling covid, the

covid crisis in there? >> hey there, mika. good morning. so, yes, the biden administration had been facing this criticism for not allowing journalists in. earlier in the week, they did release hand out video from other cbp facilities, not this hhs facility. i'll get to the difference between the two in a moment. but the real overcrowding at this point is happening in those customs and border protection facilities. now, the biden administration has said because of covid protocols, they weren't allowing reporters in. privacy concerns, as well. but if i can say quickly, mika, yes, right now, the overcrowding, the kids being in those facilities for longer than ten days when the legal limit is 72 hours, those are the customs and border protection facilities where they first go after they're picked up at the u.s. border. then they're brought to facilities like this one run by

hhs. this is where they stay until they're found -- they find them a sponsor or a family member inside the country where then they can be placed in the care of that family member. in terms of covid, mika, we did learn that more than 100 children here inside this facility, 108 children have tested positive for covid-19. and they're given this covid test when they arrive. those that have covid are then put in special negative pressure dormitories where they go in isolation. then they're tested while they're here. just some insights, you know, having been here and, you know, we went along with this congressional delegation as well as white house officials, a pool camera so that we were able to distribute the video to our facilities. i had been here in 2019. it was open under the trump administration and then it was shut down a couple of weeks

after it opened because there weren't enough children here. it had a larger capacity back then. a couple of things that have changed. number one, covid has reduced their bed capacity by about 40%. according to an hhs officials. they also say during the tail end of the trump administration, there was a hiring freeze in the agency and so that is part of the reason they say that this was slow to ramp up at the end of the trump administration and then once the biden administration took effect. still, there are questions of the biden administration and why it is taking so lock. rank and file border agents are saying that hhs has been slow to take these minors. and so that is causing the overcrowding in the customs and border protection facilities, mika. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez. thank you very much. coming up, chuck schumer says republicans should be ashamed of their position on voting rights. mitch mcconnell says the same about democrats and the fec.

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now to the war of words

between the majority and the minority leaders of the senate at a hearing on democrats sweeping voting reform bill. the proposal which passed the house with no republican support is aimed at countering the more than 250 bills that restrict voting at the state level. >> instead of doing what you should be doing when you lose an election in a democracy, attempting to win over those voters in the next election, republicans instead are trying to disfranchise those voters. shame on them. this is one of the most despicable things i have seen in all my years. shame, shame, shame. some of these voter suppression laws in georgia and other republican states smack of jim crow rearing its ugly head once again. >> states are not engaging in trying to suppress voters

whatsoever. this is clearly an effort by one party to rewrite the rules of our political system. talk about shame. if anybody ought to be feeling any shame around here, it's turning the fec into a partisan prosecutor. the majority controlled by the president's party, to harass and intimidate the other side. that's what you ought to be ashamed about. >> elizabeth warren has said that the filibuster is based on racism. is it? >> no. the filibuster predates the debates over civil rights. it goes back to the beginning of the country. the filibuster started well before we got into the civil rights debates that occurred often over the history of the country. so the derrivation of the

filibuster was not related to civil rights. >> let's bring in coauthor of the play book eugene daniels. he is also an msnbc contributor. so from what we know and as we've been following the history of this story, is mitch mcconnell correct in his answer? >> historians would tell you no, that he's not. and i think when people talk about it having jim crow era, it's smelling of jim crow is because of strong thurman and him standing up there for i think it was 24 hours filibustering the passing of civil rights legislation. so that is what people are talking about. mitch mcconnell knows that because people have said that before. and we talk to black leaders especially, they continue to push that. there's been this conversation about the filibuster happening forever. but it's been more clear,

especially after president obama during john lewis's funeral called it a relic of the jim crow era, the idea of being racist, being tied to that and now democrats basically having to choose whether or not they want to pass this voting rights legislation and make sure that black and brown people have greater access to voting or allow this filibuster to stay in place. and that's something that black leaders and the voting rights areas and civil rights areas are going to continue to push democrats like joe manchon and kristin cinema on. >> things have come at us so quickly over the past five years that sometimes it's hard to get a perspective. but let's talk about what we're looking at here with the republican party. chuck schumer is right. you and i, both former republicans, both loyal republicans for decades, you served several presidents in the

white house. you have our former party actually starting to take on the characteristics of center right extreme parties in poland and hungary and, actually, state by state by state, county chair by county chair by county chair, their goal, their talking points all have to do with restricting voting rights. making this country less democratic, understanding that they have to be the antidemocratic party if they're going to keep losing the popular vote every four years. and it really is. it is stunning that we're watching this debate play out and, yes, perhaps the democrats are overreaching and some portions of hr1, but the instinct is correct and that is the need to push back on anti-democratic forces that have

taken over the republican party. >> yeah. joe, i'm old enough to remember, as are you, when the republican party was happy to engage the battle of ideas and thinking on of this as a political marketplace, you would say here is the right role, a more limited role, say, for the government and the economy. here is the right foreign policy or stronger american policy abroad. and then you essentially put it to the american people. that is political competition. its current education, its current body of thoughts can't win in a free and fair political marketplace. so what they're trying to do is narrow the marketplace. and what they're trying to do is reduce the opportunity for vote. in a country where already we have a problem where americans vote at relatively low levels compared to other democracies. so, yeah, this is, to me, a really sad and troubling

development. coming up, we're going to turn back to the immigration issue at the southern border, including efforts to tackle the problem at the source, in central america. congresswoman veronica escobar joins the conversation, straight ahead. s the conversation, strait ahead.

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we are often asked are we turning the corner, my response is really more like we are at the corner, whether or not we're going to be turning that corner remains to be seen. we have a lot of challenges in front of us with regard to high level of daily infections, yesterday being 54,974. when you're at that level, i don't think you can declare victory and say you've turned the corner. you've got to continue to do what we're doing.

>> dr. anthony fauci, with that message yesterday during his upcoming news conference today, president biden is expected to announce a new vaccination goal. nbc news correspondent heidi przybyla reports that it will be directing $100 million to medical support networks that are key to the country's vaccine strategy. and heidi joins us now from a vaccination site in fairfax, virginia, which is partially run by the medical reserve core. it's good to see you. tell us more about what we can expect today. >> yeah. we've seen these massive vaccinate nation sites, but we don't always see the faces of the staff who are delivering all of those shots for free. nbc has learned that joe biden is making an unprecedented investment in the medical

reserve corps. that is a volunteer staff and i'm told this is going to have a lasting effect. it's not only going to help get those additional doses when they come online into arms, but it will help secure this volunteer infrastructure for future public health crises. when i talk to local officials here, they said it's a god send. they've never had this kind of infusion of cash to support this operation. while we may have several well funded centers like i am in here, this will allow them to take it to more rural places in the state, in the country. i spoke with one woman who said this experience of being in this center vaccinating people even though she's not being paid has been life changing. she says she wants to go back into direct patient care, that she's been working with elderly people, for instance, who when

they come in to get vaccinated, it's very emotional. they cry. their family members, their younger families members who are in cry. and it has been a very inspirational experience for her as well as many of the other volunteers who are stepping up. it's just unbelievable that people who are in the medical profession who already pull long hours are volunteering to come in here and do this day after day. >> heidi, it's jonathan lamere. i wanted to follow up on what you just said, the idea that in new influx of cash could help create vaccination sites across the country in areas and states that have not had as much success vaccinating their residents, whether that is rural areas, hard to reach, perhaps, in cities, in poor neighborhoods and cities where perhaps vaccine hesitancy or inability or lack of access to these vaccines. walk us through a little more of what you know. how rapid is expansion going to be? how big sits going to be? >> right. well, it will be big, in tandem

with all the other legs of the stool that we're seeing. so we had the covid relief money passed by congress. now we're starting to see how that money will be elevated. you have different prongs to this. you have the retail pharmacies, the community vaccinate nation sites. then you have the manpower. underappreciated in all of this is the fact that a lot of that manpower, particularly in places like this has come from the volunteer doctors, nurses, logistics people. and so even though they may be working for free, there is a lot that goes into setting this all up. they have to run background checks. they have to get them trained up. there is facility fees. so this money that they're going to use is going to be a huge part of how we're able to implement once all of the doses come in. now, they're not giving a ton of details on specifically an estate level or district level where the money will go, but if

you look at president biden's announcement that is coming out, this all fits into that overarching framework of trying to step up our service and reaching individuals in these underserved communities and in these rural communities. because let's face it, i'm here in fairfax, but this is not how it looks if you drive two how is hours out of washington, d.c. there's not this kind of access and well run facilities available. >> heidi, thank you very much for that context especially. so we'll be hearing about vaccines in today's news conference and we'll likely be hearing a lot about the southern border. yesterday, president biden named vice president kamala harris as the administration's point person to stem the current flow of migrants and address the root causes of their migration. joining us now, cochair of the immigration task force in the congressional hispanic caucuses

congresswoman veronica escobar of texas. she recently wrote a "new york times" op ed entitled i represent el paso. what i'm asking for doesn't include open borders. the piece is worth a read. i'd like to point to your piece that you wrote back in 2014. why the border crisis is a myth. you've been writing about this. you've been trying to work on this. and you've been talking about those root causes and also solutions. share with us what you have been writing about and working for now for years and why it's so important today in this discussion. >> mika, it's great to see you. thank you for having me. i was having a conversation about my staffers with how frustrating it is to not be solutions oriented.

this week, two of my senators are hosting a cdel of senators who are going to go to the border. they will engage in political theater just as kevin mccarthy did when he came to el paso. they will criticize the administration. they will do everything they can to demonize migrants. they'll fly back to d.c. and do nothing. they won't be held accountable. they won't be asked what they did when their party had control of the house, the senate and the white house under donald trump. you're right, i've been writing about this since 2014. in 2014, we began seeing vulnerable families arriving at our doorstep, inaccompanied children arriving at our doorstep and we focused obsessively on the border. that obsession only with the border, with walls, with the

cruelty of deterrence policies under trump, expulsion, none of that changes the situation because the situation is not at the border, the situation is outside of our borders. the news from the white house yesterday that vice president kamala harris will be -- has taken the lead on addressing these root causes is exciting to me because i feel hopeful that we will finally begin to engage strategically on addressing this issue once and for all. if we don't get it right, if we don't address it at the root cause, we will be having this conversation every single year. and the reason i sent you that 2014 piece was precisely that. we've been having the same conversation every year and we lose sight of the fact that we're not getting any closer to solving this situation, not necessarily for us, but for these vulnerable people who have

nowhere else to go but to america. so i feel hopeful for the first time. i think the media needs to do a much better job. they need to get their facts right and they need to hold us accountable. >> what do you think the administration needs to do more in the way that the situation is being addressed right now? what's the biggest mistake that's been made? is it sometimes words maybe perhaps being too far ahead of policy or is it something more? >> you know, mika, i've shared this with the white house. i feel like they should lean in. i feel like they should completely embrace this challenge in the way that the president adjusted the issues with covid.

lay out everything that they are doing to make the situation better. there's no question that the situation right now is unsustainable. it's not good. not for any human being involved in the system. whether it be the migrants or the agents or the communities. but i feel as though, you know, in the absence of leaning in on this, it creates an opportunity for the media to run with stories about messaging or stories about these visits without true accountability and true solutions. >> congresswoman, it's jonathan lamere. so let's get beyond the messaging, then. let's talk about what can be done to -- in these migrants' home countries to improve these situations so they would not be inclined to make this dangerous trek. the biden white house has made clear that's where they're trying to shift some of their priorities, whether some of it

is indeed through advertisements, trying to tell the locals that now is not the time to come. more of it is about volunteers and making sure that ends up in the right hands and not perhaps corrupt government officials. walk us through, what needs to be done there on the other side of the border to prevent this crisis? >> that's a great question. so the countries of the northern triangle are where we've seen the vast majority of our families and the unaccompanied children. and each one of those countries has a different situation. you know, in one of those countries, it may be the climate crisis and calamity that's occurring that's driving people combined with violence, you know, for families and individuals in another it might be the economic situation. so it's not a one size fits all solution. and that is why the vice president's leadership is going to be so integral. we're going to need a whole of government approach for that. it's going to need to include

diplomacy. but we also have to hold accountable talking about accountability those countries that do have corrupt leadership. you know, a lot of these families, they are using criminal networks to get here that have been in place for years and, in fact, by some of these countries have been allowed to engage with impunity. so we've got to hold them accountable. there has to be a carrot and a stick approach. we also have to deal with mexico. we are seeing a large number of mexicans arriving at our ports seeking asylum because of the economic situation in mexico, but also because of increasing violence in mexico. a migration evolves and changes. we have not been responsive to the changing waves of migration.

we also, at the border, have to change the way that we engage with migrants. we cannot treat every single person who arrives at our doorstep as though they are a national security threat. because that takes our eyes off of real threats. and so i've advocated for a different way of -- we have kind of a rethinking of the department of homeland security with increasing civilian personnel like processors, you know, data entry processors right now. you have trained -- highly trained law enforcement agents doing data processing at processing facilities. they need to be doing the job that they were trained for. we need more child welfare and family welfare folks inside these facilities to humanely process folks. there's a whole host of things that we can and need to be doing. and so all those senators that are coming to the border to visit, i think you all need to ask them what is their solution.

and their solution can't be what donald trump did because, frankly, the vast majority of those policies are still in place under president biden and they haven't made much of a difference. >> congresswoman, veronica escobar, thank you so much. we appreciate your coming on and we will see once again very soon, i hope. still ahead, what if your path to a more satisfying life is actually not about you? our colleague here at msnbc richard lui joins us next with some words on the power of selflessness. "morning joe" will be right back. ssness "morning joe" will be right back th delicious turkey and crispy bacon. it will help you hit shots from anywhere, unlike those other subs. my sub has steak. wait, what did he say? steak! choose better be better and now save when you order in the app. michael: this is the story of two brothers.

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kayak. search one and done. five years ago our colleague, richard louis, learned of his father's alzheimer's diagnosis and prepared to leave his dream job. instead, he reduced his work hours and joined 53 million americans in becoming a family caregiver. he's the author of a new book about that experience entitled "enough about me: the unexpected power of selflessness," and richard joins us now. i love this, richard. i have so many questions and so many ways in which i relate to having a parent who's struggling. let's start with what inspired the book. >> mika, yeah, i'm glad we could talk about this because i watched you share your story, and we have similar paths in

that we were caring for our father. and that's what started it for me seven years ago when he was diagnosed with dementia and alzheimer's. and then began the question, what do i want to do? i had the year, i talked to yvette milia, who you know well, and she said guess what, richard, i'm caring for my mother long distance as well so let's figure out something. so began this friday, saturday, sunday schedule. and it brought me as well as the stories we're covering today, like colorado and the hate crimes against asian american community, where we have to look outside ourselves basically. my father, who's a pastor, was kind of showing me that but not telling me that, mika. >> what did you learn about yourself and your father during your time caring for him, spending time with him?

>> i've kind of like rediscovered myself like two times in the last seven years, re-creating what i think is important in life, what i think is important to do. and i think that my father, who continues to encourage me to do different things, even though he can't talk or walk right now, maybe he's laughing inside to say, you're actually doing a book about selflessness? i got you! i got what i exactly wanted you to do in the interim. mika, as you know personally, it's a journey of discovery but something i think i'm going to take with me for the rest of my life. >> yeah, yeah. hey, richard, your son, i'm looking at the picture. it is funny how they can forget names, but the love is there. can you talk a little bit about that? that picture says so much to me about what you already knew

about him and you. >> i was wondering, mika, if he was there. and so some of the ways that we would figure that out is to talk into a microphone -- as you can see the headphones in this picture, and this is a time where i said to him, dad, if you can hear me, blink once. and it was risk, right? i didn't know if he would do it. and he blinked once. and, mika, i was like, i can't believe it. i took out my phone and i had it right here and i said it's richard, your son, if you remember me, blink once, and he did it again. i think that part of seeing what's behind the forehead, that's what is behind people is so important, and as he has shown me throughout my life and now through this book is how do you think and do things day by day? he's a very simple person. he's a social worker.

my mom was a schoolteacher. they didn't tell me about it, they lived it in a selfless manner. >> i want to ask you about the power of selflessness as our final question but sometimes a parent may lose words, but that makes it your jobs to find out what they're saying to you. it doesn't end there. i learned it's way beyond not just -- you don't correct them but you need -- you need to figure it out, because it is there. love is there. even if someone with dementia or alzheimer's has lost the words. so tell me what you have learned about the power of selflessness. >> mika, that's exactly it. i had to figure it out, along with my siblings. we had to figure out how to communicate and show our care and love for my father and through that, we discovered, well, there's a lot of benefits. there's a lot of joy, despite

difficulty. and that keyed the beginning of the book to talk about, well, how can we be selfless every day? so began the little things, not the big things necessarily, desmond tutu, mother teresa sort of acts, more what can we do every day? and that's why this was approached in a very scientific way and very practical, how can i do something when i make a choice every 15 minutes kind of way. blue collar approach to a white collar idea. >> richard, before we go, you've been very busy, recently wrote a piece for nbcu candidate on asian american activism entitled, let's finish what we started. tell us about that. >> mika, we're kind of in a moment for a movement perhaps, and as we as journalists look at the others, that's also -- i mean, journalists are selfless by nature because we're telling stories about other people. i think when we look at the history of the asian american

pacific islander movement, there really haven't been a lot of inklings. there had been one in 19812 as you covered on "morning joe" but the question today is what happened? today might be that opening. we have 1,700 asian american journalists today. back in 1982 when vincent chen, a solidification of a potential moment, there were 50. so what we are seeing now in the field is an amazing story being told and we will see what happens next. during may, during the heritage month, is a great opportunity to see is this a moment for a movement? >> well, a great opportunity is the book, "enough about me: the unexpected pausch of selflessness." richard liu, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. congratulations. >> thanks, mika. finally this morning, nbc news national expandant miguel almaguer reports for us on the struggle to get kids back in

schools as infections are rising again in at least 20 states. >> reporter: trending in the wrong direction, the highest number of states since january 20 are now reporting a rise in new covid cases. cities like chicago reporting their largest increase in infections since october. >> we're seeing parts of michigan and new jersey reporting they're having hospital shortage issues, especially in kind of rural counties. >> reporter: with the nation averaging 55,000 new cases a day, upwards of 20 million people are being vaccinated each week. the cdc director says her goal by the end of the month is to vaccinate all teachers and school staff members. amid pressure to reopen all schools this spring, over 45% of elementary and middle schools offer in-person learning. 75% offer in-person or hybrid learning. a new poll finds most parents

are at least somewhat concerned. their children face educational setbacks. >> they are really to do assignments. >> reporter: as the biden administration beths $130 billion in relief to help reopen schools, 55% of white students are in the classroom every day but only 30% latino, 28% of black and 15% of asian students are doing the same. many big school districts like los angeles, home predominantly to latino students, won't return to the classroom until april. tonight the national push to return to the classroom after lessons learned from the pandemic. >> nbc's miguel almaguer with that. before we go, i want to point to something joe wrote on his website joe scarborough.com, wrote it last night. recently a ceo actually took his own life from literally the pain and the suffering from tinnitus,

it's a condition. joe suffers that, for years of recording music and doing live tv and having headphones on, it's a constant blaring and ringing in the ears that could be really debilitating and it's got no cure. he writes about that. check out the piece. i'm really proud of him, it's hard to do. we need to have a coping mechanism for this and doctors still haven't done it this morning. that does it for us this morning. geoff bennett picks up the coverage right now. good morning, i'm geoff bennett in for my friend stephanie ruhle. it's thursday, march 25th. president biden is set to hold his first press conference a few hours from now and it's hard to imagine him having more huge pressing issues on his plate at one time, from the pandemic to the economy to racial inequity, and that was before last week happened. in recent days