record 3.4 million vaccinations on friday. now nearly 14% of americans are fully vaccinated. more than 40 states say they expect to meet the administration's goal of making vaccines available to all adults by may 1st. let's go to cori coffin, who's joining me from miami beach. big welcome to you in this 2:00 hour. how are health experts connecting spring break to any possible surge in cases? because it's been spring breaking down there where you are. >> reporter: yeah, for about six weeks now, alex, and can many health experts we're hearing from now that we're seeing this steady rise in more and more states say that it is not a matter of if but when we get this extra surge from these tourists coming in, these partiers coming into various states, including miami beach here behind us with states that have more relaxed restrictions. on the front of the vaccines, i do want to mention that florida is one of those states that's opening up their age limit,

going to 40 and older on monday, and 18 and older on april 5th. they're trying to get as many people vaccinated as possible but this comes as these states do see these surge of people just flooding in and when it comes to the number of states that are seeing this rise, let's take a look at these numbers here. you mentioned over half the states in our country are seeing this rise and a handful are seeing a massive rise of 25% to 30% or more. that includes, i want to take note of a couple states in particular, connecticut, north dakota, new hampshire, minnesota, and some other ones. now, that's going to be important later, which i'll mention, so keep those in mind. now, the cdc director says that overall, the national average of rising cases has hit 7%. she says this is a clear sign that we are starting to get this increase. does it amount to a fourth wave? listen to what she said about how close we are to that. >> i remain deeply concerned about this trajectory. we have seen cases and hospital admissions move from historic declines to stagnations to

increases. and we know from prior surges that if we don't control things now, there is a real potential for the epidemic curve to soar again. please, take this moment very seriously. >> reporter: yeah, alex, the frustration is that we don't see the effect of these big crowds but several weeks coming up, the next two to three weeks, if not longer. she also says that it's so important for these crowds that we see out here, not much masking going on, a lot of crowds at night, to just hold off a little bit longer if we can stave this off with more vaccines coming in and with florida opening up their vaccine program and having so many folks coming in when it comes to the spring breakers, they're not the only state. we know of several other states that are loosening restrictions as their case loads go up, as you mentioned. two of those states in particular are two that were on the list of the highest numbers rising, north dakota and

connecticut. so these things are -- as i mentioned before, an if not when. two to three weeks from now, alex, we'll have to be look at these numbers very closely. >> thank you so much, cori coffin. let's take a look now at the other big headlines of the day as we get a live look at atlanta, georgia. that's where an anti-voter suppression rally is just getting under way after a slew of voting restrictions was signed into law in the state. president biden last night speaking out against what he is calling jim crow in the 21st century. >> is there anything the white house can do to protect voting rights in georgia? >> well, we're working on that right now. we don't know quite -- exactly what we can do at this point. the justice department is taking a like right now. new reaction from lawmakers on capitol hill who say this legislation has far-reaching implications beyond georgia. >> of course, they're targeted towards people of color, specifically african-americans. that is why we have got to pass hr1. >> this is a defining moment for

the american democracy. if this is happening in the state capital in georgia, it will not take very long for it to visit a state capital near you. also new today, a group of bipartisan lawmakers are heading to el paso, texas, to address the surge of migrants crossing the border. just a few minutes, i'll be speaking with congresswoman norma torres about what needs to be done to stem the growing humanitarian crisis. but first, for the first time since her arrest, we are hearing from georgia state representative park cannon, seen here. you're seeing here right there being put in handcuffs after knocking on the governor's door just as that voting bill was being signed into law. the georgia lawmaker spoke exclusively on the morning show about why she wanted to be in that room. >> i wanted to be there because as a legislator, i have a right just as the other legislators who were present did.

but more importantly, rashad, he should not be afforded the privilege of privacy when he is in the commission of such a heinous act intended to divest the black citizens of this state of their right to vote. so, as a representative, i have an obligation to georgia voters who will will negatively impacted by this legislation to be in the room. >> joining me now is rashad richie, political analyst and host of the rashad richie morning show. good to see you. everything she said made utter sense. what were your takeaways from your conversation with park cannon? what instruct you about her retelling about this experience? >> that she had an expectation to be treated as a lawmaker, to be treated fairly, to be treated with respect as an elected representative. she said on my show that the arrest was unlawful, and i agree with her. not only based on what we saw in

that video but based on the georgia constitution. according to the georgia constitution, you're not allowed to arrest a sitting lawmaker during legislative session except for treason or a felony. so, they have charged her with felony acts, and these charges are very serious, but obviously, everyone who has seen the video, even republicans who called my program the next day, said it was overkill. >> so, rashad, we're watching her. she's knocking on the door, but she makes the point that the governor should not be signing a law like this into law in private. is that typically done? does brian kemp do that all the time, close the door and sign laws? >> no. there is usually an invite of certain lawmakers that were responsible for passing the bill, but as far as locking people out of the ceremony, that is something very rare. now, obviously, these

individuals who decided not to let her in or let her knock on the door, she wasn't even trying to gain entry, these are nonpolitical individuals, but they work in law enforcement. here's the reality of it. she was able to be in to building. that's public space. she was able to knock on a door. that's all she did. the individuals who arrested her are state troopers. a lot of people thought they were capitol police. i have a theory. i don't think the capitol police would have ever arrested her for simply knocking on the door, but these state troopers decided to take it to a whole other level and now, instead of the governor being able to take a victory lap with his constituents on the republican side, those cops, the culture of law enforcement, has now become a political sore spot for even the legislation that republicans said he should sign. >> wow. talk about overshadowing, right? you make a very good point there. how about her? how's she feeling after going through all this? >> it was a tough night for her. she was not able to get a lot of sleep that night. i was thankful that she still woke up very early in the

morning and did my morning show. but not only was it tough for her, just the impact of what happened, but the fact that she's now facing extremely serious charges for something that should have been another day of her being an advocate and a state representative, and i want to remind the audience of this. she's the youngest state representative, the youngest lawmaker we have in georgia, and this is how we're treating a young black female who decided to be part of the change, run for office, got elected by a significant amount of constituents in her district, and is well respected in the state of georgia, and this is how she's treated for simply knocking on a door. >> yeah. i mean, taking it all in, it's quite stunning. do you think governor brian kemp has the capacity to apologize for this incident? at least for the behavior of the state troopers. >> he has the capacity, but he won't do it and here's why he will not do it.

this governor literally said that no voter fraud took place in the state of georgia. however, he's signing a bill as if voter fraud took place in the state of georgia. they are literally legislating on lies. why is he doing this? why is he taking a different position in this legislation than what he would during the last presidential election? he's trying to secure his political victory in a republican primary because he has to run for re-election. at this point, he can not politically come against the officers who arrested her, so while he does have the capacity, he will not apologize on behalf of these cops and i do not expect him to soften his tone toward representative park cannon. >> is there any message that park cannon wanted to get across? she spoke exclusively with you about this. is there something else that she wanted to relay about this incident that she did through you? >> she would like people to pay attention. she wants everyone to be on notice that this is the new jim crow. remember, in a democracy, we're in the business of voters

picking the politician. bills like this allow the politician to pick the voters and she wanted to make sure that if you're going to do this, if you're going to sign legislation that is arcane, such as this, and adversarial to the meaning of democracy, do it in public. do it in the face of others. do it with pride if you're going to do it, not do it in secret, and that is the message she wanted to convey to the governor and those who were with him that day. >> yeah. rashad, what is your biggest concern about this new legislation? >> my biggest concern that they have now figured out a new way to win elections. they're not looking to just win general elections throughout the united states. they're looking to win specific elections and to put individuals in charge of elections. even though this bill is extreme, for example, early voting is restricted, absentee voting is restricted, it makes it a crime to give someone food or water while waiting in lines, and this state is notorious for having long lines in nonwhite

precincts, that's not even the grand slam partner republicans on this. here's what it is. this grand slam for them allows the republican-led legislature to take over county elections, including democratic counties, if they don't like the results. they are allowed, under this law, to implement their own superintendent of elections at any time of an election phase. >> rashadrichey, a disturbing conversation but i thank you nonetheless. new pictures from the suez canal back-up. why the next few hours will be critical to ending that log jam. e critical to ending that log jam.

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tomorrow morning, at 8:00 eastern here on msnbc, one day before opening statements in the murder trial of derek chauvin, ali velshi is on the ground in minneapolis talking with members of the community about the racial injustice highlighted by george floyd's death. he'll be joined by congresswoman ilhan omar. then later at 6:00 p.m.

eastern, ari melber breaks down the strategies of the prosecution and defense teams so you're invited to watch velshi, 8:46: the trial of derek chauvin. and "the trial: the killing of george floyd" with ari melber. both on msnbc. meantime, today, congresswoman veronica escobar is hosting a bipartisan congressional delegation in el paso, texas, amid the migrant surge at the southern border. it comes a day after more than two dozen members of congress from both parties surveyed the border, as you can see here, republican lawmakers were in mission, texas, and then the democrats visited a facility in cadiz springs. congresswoman ilhan omar talked about how she empathized with the children there. >> for me, it took me back to being a young kid just like themselves. we met, today, 13, 14, 15, 16--year-olds.

i myself was a child who fled like these kids, unconscionable violence. >> and joining me now is california congresswoman norma torres, a democratic member of the house appropriations committee. welcome back to the broadcast. it's good to see you, ma'am. and i know that you toured that same facility on wednesday. you were also the only member of congress born in central america. you were a child when your family immigrated from guatemala. tell us about your experience on wednesday. what was that like for you to see those children in those facilities? >> it's good to see you, alex, and on wednesday, the visit is always heartbreaking for me to be there, because i see myself in many of the faces of those children. i came here, you know, alone with -- to live with my uncle, my father's oldest brother.

circumstances in the region were really difficult at the time. it was a civil war in guatemala. so, when i look at these children and when i engage with them to ask about what were the circumstances that they were fleeing? what caused them, you know, to be here in our southern border presenting themselves and asking for asylum? one child said that his father was murdered, his mother, you know, she fled, and he was left alone. he didn't know what to do, so he decided to come north. another child was trying to reunite with his mother that was here. and another child was trying to reunite with a father that he had here. although, we look now at how they're being treated and the access that they have to medical care, you know, healthy food, showers, and bed facilities for them and some privacy that they need, all of us need, it's --

the circumstances are much better now than they were under the trump administration. however, children in a detention center like that is always a cause for concern for someone who is a mother and a grandmother like me and an immigrant that came from the same region. >> yeah. i can imagine. it's really gut-wrenching, actually, to listen to what you gleaned from talking with those children. does it strike you that any of them took the prospect of traveling to the u.s. border on a whim, a spur of the moment. is it the kind of thing that they said, i have to go? or to the republicans' point, they say that because joe biden is perceived as a nice guy and not going to be as hard on them potentially as president donald trump was, everyone's saying, oh, good, now it's time to go. did you get any sense of that? >> absolutely not. donald trump was perceived as an evil doer and yet these children were still fleeing the region.

i think that it is important, and i hope that at some time, you know, we could revisit. the issue that we have here in our southern border is a symptom of the real cause, the real problem, the real crisis in the northern triangle and had the u.s. not turned its back on the people, when we had already, under the obama administration, made so many advances in the rule of law and worked with the u.n. and 13 other country partners in setting up organizations, commissions that were in charge of helping the attorneys general there investigate cases of public corruption involving high political elites, the presidents of those country, the congress. and a narco trafficker in

honduras who has received bribes and financed his campaign on the back of narco traffickers like el chapo. you know, that is the crisis there in those countries, and we cannot simply put a band-aid and continue to address and throw money at our southern border without looking back and addressing those issues. >> well, i suspect you at least are somewhat gratified to hear our current president biden who said in that news conference on thursday that we need to look at the root causes of why this is happening, and i suspect that he and his administration are going to dig deep into trying to do so. that having been said, we saw republicans patrolling the southern border in armed boats, and we're going to play that right now. there, folks, you see them getting on board and clearly machine guns are plentiful around them. what's your reaction to seeing that? >> as a mother, you know, i hope that people are watching as a parent. this is political theater here,

meant to continue to frighten children. is this the welcoming that we are showing in giving to a 7-year-old who is not trying, you know, to just come in like that, who is presenting themselves and saying, i'm hungry, i'm thirsty, i haven't eaten, i haven't slept, i have been abused on the way here, and these members of the u.s. senate flanked with our military or security forces with weapons and an armed boat like that, it is incredible. it is an incredible act that goes to show that they do not care about the humanity of the children, and they do not care about what is happening in the region and how cocaine is being brought into our country and instead of addressing the issues with the narco traffickers and the pandemics that they are creating here with drug addictions, they choose to

instead intimate these children. >> yeah. i want to ask you about republican senator james langford because he posted this video. we're going to show it here. it's from a migrant processing center in donna, texas, and in this video, he claims that it is a pod that is designed to hold 80 people, and it is currently holding 709. does the biden administration bear any responsibility here? i mean, are they doing enough quickly enough and if not, what are the logistical challenges that they face? >> it's a logistical nightmare for the biden administration. having taken over for two months now and coming into, you know, an administration that, number one, did not have a process of getting information, any type of information from the trump

administration, not only did they find out that there were hiring freezes for the personnel that we needed in order to process these kids, for the attorneys and the judges that are needed in order to process their cases of asylum, but they have to set up all of those processes. whenever i see those photos, i mean, it is a black eye on the greatest country in the world. but again, we have to make sure that when children present themselves that we do not push them back into the arms of the drug cartels or the gangs in mexico, and that is exactly what the trump administration was doing, pushing those kids back and, you know, members of congress visited them, refugee camps down at the border -- in mexico, on the mexican side of the border. >> california congresswoman norma torres, i really appreciate the passion and the insight you bring to this conversation. i'm definitely having you back to talk about it more as we watch how this develops.

thank you so much for your time. >> thank you, alex. the president's conversation with historians, one of my next guests will tell us what they talked about and what he wanted to know. what they talked about and what he wanted to know. we look up to our heroes. idolizing them. mimicking their every move. and if she counts on the advanced hydration of pedialyte when it matters most... so do we. hydrate like our heroes. ♪♪ during photosynthesis, plants convert solar energy into chemical energy, cleaning the oxygen we breathe. hydrate like our heroes. plants clean the air. when applied to stained textiles, plant-based surfactants like the ones in seventh generation detergent trap stains at the molecular level and flush them away. plant-based detergents clean your clothes. it's just science! just... science. seventh generation. powered by plants. tackles stains. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need.

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let's go now to some breaking news where millions in the south are on alert for another day of severe weather following a deadly tornado outbreak this week. let's go to nbc's morgan chesky, joining us from noonan, georgia. i tell you, it's incredible, this devastation. i'm curious what you have been seeing there, morgan. >> reporter: yeah, alex, it absolutely is incredible, and it's tough to fathom and keep in mind that the folks who live in this community are suffering from a direct hit here from this tornado late thursday but they had another tornado outbreak that happened just longer than a week ago, so this is almost adding insult to injury for so many people here in the south and just a quick peep behind me, you can see that the damage stretches for blocks and blocks through this community, alex, destroying homes, businesses,

schools, and leaving so many people now trying to pick up the pieces. residents in the south are counting their blessings just to have survived. >> we heard crashing and we huddled in the corner. >> reporter: scenes of utter devastation as tornado survivors work to pick up the pieces. >> we lost a lot of precious memories out of this. >> see those two windows? >> that's the bedroom. >> reporter: in georgia, residents john and lela mcgee narrowly escaped a tree that fell right through their roof, crashing on top of their bed. >> it's very scary, because you think, i could be dead. >> and i tell you what i -- how quickly this all happened and what a close call it was, because as i said, when her feet hit the floor, the tree hit the house. >> reporter: winds in georgia measuring close to 170 miles an hour, killing one person. in alabama, five people killed. three of them from just one family. >> i lost a brother-in-law.

i lost a sister. i lost a niece. >> it has been really devastating to us, because you know, we're a close community. most all of us are related in a small community like this. >> reporter: the national weather service says at least two dozen tornados ripped through the region. some traveling hundreds of miles and even across state lines. >> we finally got close to 300 miles of damage. >> reporter: residents in kentucky and tennessee also reeling from severe weather. widespread damage and power outages. back in georgia, the mcgees, thankful to be alive. >> if i hadn't gotten up, i would have been under the rubble. i'm lucky to be alive. >> reporter: so now, alex, this is the scene that so many people are left facing, not just here in newnan, but across alabama as well today, and while we're having decent weather to start this recovery process in here, that's not going tb case for millions of others. we know the same system is now working its way up the eastern coast, potentially threatening

23 million people with even more severe weather. >> i tell you, it's nothing but insult to injury. everyone's got to take good care. thank you so much, morgankey. another breaking story this hour, pictures to share from space of that massive ship that's blocking the suez canal. pretty extraordinary that we have these pictures here. right now, certainly new efforts under way to free the ship, and the next few hours apparently are going to be critical. nbc's ralph sanchez in cairo, egypt, for us. it's amazing looking at those pictures. it really puts it into perspective. but we understand some progress may have been made since we last spoke? >> reporter: alex, that's right. egyptian officials held a press conference earlier, they're striking a sort of optimistic note. we are in a period of high tide in the suez canal, which could help this rescue effort. it might float the "ever given" off the stand where it's stuck and make it a little easier for these tugboats, tiny in comparison to that massive container ship, to move it back

into the middle of the suez canal. the other bit of good news, the rudder and the engine of the ship appear to be working, so if they can dislodge it, it should, in theory, be able to sail on its own power out of the canal. but those same officials are already talking about a fallback option, and it's a pretty desperate one. bringing cranes alongside the ship and individually unloading some of those 20,000 containers to try to reduce its weight, make it a little easier to get it off the sands. but alex, that is a dangerous and complicated operation at the best of times and there is a risk if it's done wrong, you could actually capsize this massive ship. >> wow. there is a lot at stake. really painstaking work. we're watching it for closely. thank you, raf. meantime, everyone, new pressure on congress today to pass federal protections for voting rights. it comes after georgia signed new restrictions into law, changing early voting,

criminalizing the distribution of food and water to voters, tightening i.d. requirements with mail-in ballots, taking away drop boxes and giving more control of elections to the legislature instead of the county. the push for federal action is on as 42 more states actively consider new voting restrictions. so, joining me right now for this conversation, eddie glaude jr., author, historian, chair of the department of african-american studies at princeton university, and one of our favorite msnbc contributors and analysts. eddie, welcome. as we look at this, it is an almost nationwide push right now to change voting laws. is georgia blazing a new trail? >> no, it's not new. it's -- i think they're in the front of the pack. as we know that there are over 250 -- i think it's up to 260, according to the brennan institute, pieces of legislation in over 43 state houses across the country that are trying to

in some ways disenfranchise significant portions of the american population. georgia's just at the head of the line, alex, but this is not new. we've been seeing this since the passage of the 15th amendment, since the ratification of the 15th amendment, so this is an ongoing process in the country. >> yeah, and it's also right now, there you see people that are supporting voting rights there in atlanta outside of the city hall. that rally's under way right now so we'll keep a look on that one too. look, eddie, there are a number of democrats, and that would include the president, who have made comparisons to jim crow. georgia governor brian kemp said, there's nothing jim crow about requiring a photo or state-issued i.d. to vote by absentee ballot but his comments would suggest that democrats are overreaching but is he misreading the mood of the voters and why people are demanding action from congress? is he not presenting a complete picture when that is the only thing that he focuses on as he pushes back? >> sure. you know, i think it's important for us to understand who

governor kemp is. is to not really try to attribute good faith to whatever he says about this issue. it's very clear what the georgia republican party's trying to do here. so, however he responds, we need to take him for who he is and for what he's done. look at his actions as opposed to his words, and let's be very clear. since the passage -- since the ratification of the 15th amendment, alex, there has been an ongoing attempt to disenfranchise black voters, whether it's been black men in the initial stages or black people overall. there's a reason why we've had repeated efforts to pass a voting rights act even though the 15th amendment guarantees the vote. so, this is just the latest instance, whether it's literacy tests, property tests, all sorts of things that have happened over the course of this country's history. this is just the latest instance in this particular moment, and we need to understand it for what it is. >> yeah. there's something else we need to understand and that is the felony arrest of the georgia state legislature -- legislator,

rather, park cannon, for merely going and knocking on the door of georgia governor brian kemp, as he was signing this into law. here we see the pictures once again. arrested, felony charges, did nothing more than knock on a door. is this something that governor kemp has the capacity to apologize for? we want to make the point that we believe these are georgia state troopers here, and it was suggested that had it been capitol state police there, they would not have arrested the georgia lawmaker. >> an elected representative. >> right, you know, i wonder why we're trying to give governor kemp the benefit of the doubt. he has proven himself over and over again, what he has committed to when he was secretary of state, what he's done as governor. i don't expect to hear one sound of an apology out of his mouth, alex. >> then here's my question. >> go ahead. >> but the fact is that he was widely criticized on a national

level by donald trump, right? during the georgia runoff elections and for trying -- not impeding those, despite the phone call that the former president made to him to say, hey, please, do that. but in essence, is he trying to right his own personal history by being so strident on this one? >> i have no idea. to my mind, it seems to me that he's playing to his -- what he perceives to be his political base, that base measures the value, the worth of a politician by way of their fealty or loyalty to donald trump or to trumpism and it's a consistent position, so i don't -- i don't really want to assume that he's going to act in a decent way or act in good faith. and so i think our -- i think our attention should be directed to what we need to do as a democracy. all the rest of us in responding to what is clearly an ill liberal effort on the part of the republican party across the country to disenfranchise american voters. >> let me also add that we

believe that arrest of the georgia lawmaker was illegal. that's according to rashad richey, with whom she spoke so we're going to see how this plays out. but we know it was a very traumatic time for her. let me ask you about one heck of an experience because you were in that group of historians who met privately with president biden earlier this month, and reportedly, he talked about the filibuster. did you, eddie, get any hint of how he might proceed on that, really, what about doing so to get voting rights passed? >> well, let me just say this. that meeting was, as a country boy from mississippi, that meeting was amazing in a number of different ways. we had a chance to talk about a broad range of issues, given the scale of the problems the country faced, but it was supposed to be off the record, and i want to respect it for what we all agreed to do at that moment. but let's just put it this way. the president of the united states understands what history is asking of him. let's see if he answers the call. that's the question we have to

ask ourselves. let's see. let's see if he actually answers the call that history has placed before him. >> okay, well, i will respect that and i will also add what i said to michael eric dyson who was in that room. i am so jealous of you having been there. that would have been amazing. but let me ask you about former president obama, who also began his presidency with a spirit of bipartisanship. did you get the sense that president biden at all believes that republicans will cross the aisle to work with him? is that something you would be comfortable reflecting on? is there hope, i guess, in his tone for that? >> i got the sense that he trusts his experience in the senate, that his own experience of governance, his own experience as a legislator informs how he sees the world. but i think, and this is apart from the conversation, he's running up against the world as it is, not the way the world was. he's running up against the

senate as it currently is, not as the senate that he participated in over this -- over those four years. so, let's put it this way. it's in his dna, but he has to really confront the world as it is to repeat myself. >> and i have to say, boy, how the world has changed, politically speaking, over just the last four years. >> indeed. >> so, to that point. let me ask you about those who have called for an economic boycott who have called on the big corporations. you have martin luther king jr.'s daughter, bernice, who is in the in favor of that, eddie. she tweeted, it could hurt middle class workers and people grappling with poverty and increase the harm of both racism and classicism. do you have a sense of what you think voters should be doing on this? >> well, i think we need to trust the organizers on the ground in georgia instead of helicoptering in. they've been organizing for a long time. i think they're ready. they've already filed lawsuits and the like. i think there needs to be

targeted boycotts in some ways or targeted efforts. whether or not that will include boycotts, we will have to see. we know that the s.e.c. did in the state of mississippi to bring down that flag, but look, i think it's very important for us to understand that there are forces around the world, not just in the united states, who believe that capitalism can proceed without liberalism, who believe that you can pursue profit without any commitment to democracy. and we're seeing that view, evidence itself in our own country. we have to understand that there are corporations who are more interested in their bottom line than they are in democracy. and if corporations reveal that that's their position, they need to be held to account. >> eddie glaude jr., always a pleasure, my friend. thank you so much. meantime, if you received the pfizer vaccine, there's something you need to hear. we'll bring you the results of a remarkable new study coming up. remarkable new study coming up for less than the very best. because only verizon gives you 5g from america's most reliable network at no extra cost. and plans to mix and match, so you only pay for what you need.

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vaccine. researchers found the vaccine produces strong immune responses in 99% of people with just one dose. the research also reveals that people who have received the single dose and had the virus before saw a level of antibodies seven times higher. let's bring in medical contributor dr. natalie azar. always good to see you. hey, this is great news, right, about the pfizer vaccine effectiveness? what do you make of this study? >> alex, definitely, good news. you know, essentially, the investigators were asking two main questions. one, how strong is the immune response after one dose? and does the strength of that response differ as a function of whether or not you were infected before with covid-19? and in fact, as you pointed out, they did find that the strength of the immune response was really boosted if you had had prior covid-19 infection, but what they also found is that after one dose, even if you didn't have prior infection, your level of immunity or your

immune response was greater than someone who never -- or who only had immunity from infection and i didn't mean for that to sound confusing but what we've always known is that the vaccine response is always going to be a little bit stronger than natural infection. but here's kind of the kicker because they were releasing this study or announcing this study as sort of a defense of their action or their protocol to delay the time between the first and second dose, right, you know, we're doing three to four weeks here for moderna and pfizer. they were doing 12 weeks. so the only issue that i have with this is that these tests were done at 28 days post-first infection or first vaccination, so they're kind of extrapolating to protection at 12 weeks. we don't really have that real world information, but nonetheless, it's very, very interesting, alex. >> yeah. because there's a big difference between 28 days and potentially, you know, 3 months worth, right? so, good point you make there. >> here's the thing.

alex, what they say about -- what they say about that, which i think is really actually interesting is we know that people who have had infection with covid-19 are probably protected for 90 days and i think that's where they're sort of getting that correlate. if you got the vaccine and you have a really good immune response to the vaccine, it's very likely that you will be protected for those three months. >> okay. let's take a quick look at minnesota because out of 800,000 fully vaccinated people, only 89 people contracted coronavirus. i mean, how do you think they got it? could it be that their symptoms maybe aren't as severe as they would have otherwise been if they didn't have the vaccine? >> well, yeah, and also, alex, if you look at the numbers, that small number actually represents less than a tenth of 1% of all the people who were vaccinated. we know that no vaccine is 100% protective. what we don't actually know and have that much granular detail on is how sick those individuals

got. if we're talking about mild illness, that is symptomatic illness, well, that's the big unanswered question as to whether or not the vaccine can actually protect against that. so, actually, i found these results to be quite reassuring. if we know that the vaccine that we're talking about was either pfizer or moderna, which are about 95% protective, which is fantastic, that's still 5 people out of a hundred who are going to escape or evade that immune protection. >> yeah. this was all really positive for the most part. i mean, we're just going to call it a day right now then, okay? we'll end on a good note. >> good news this week. >> dr. natalie azar, thank you so much. what vice president kamala harris just said about her mother and why it's important for women's history month. t'imp for women's history month. twent, sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. needles. essential for pine trees, but maybe not for people

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eastern, ""american voices," rights here on msnbc some new insight from vice president kamala harris, 66 days since her inauguration. she had a very busy week, last night criticizing georgia's new voting law and earlier in the week she was appointed as the administration point person on the border crisis. harris also swore in two cabinet members and visited a covid vaccination site in florida. in one interview, she spoke about the scientists who helped develop the vaccines. she took a look back. >> i think about people like dr. kizzy corbet, and my mother was a scientist. my mother had two goals in her life, to raise her two daughters and end breast cancer and she would actually take us to the lab with her often. and i watched how these scientists, they have the -- they have this passion. it's a deep passion to improve human life and condition and to see what is possible.

>> and joining me now is susan whiting, she chairs the board of the national women's history museum. and with a big welcome to you, you know, as i think about what we just heard there, some vice presidents shy away from the spotlight, but that doesn't seem to be the case with kamala harris. as the first female biracial vice president, how important in your mind is her visibility? >> oh, it's incredibly important, because what we know is that if you can see someone, you can be like them. you can picture that opportunity ahead of you, and so all the firsts that she's had are things we need to celebrate and talk about and write and make sure that people understand that it's -- that possibility exists for them. so, the more examples we have like that, the better. >> which i think will lead me into this next question i asked you because in the interview that we just heard, the vice president made it a point to name one of those scientists, dr. corbet, a black scientist there.

as a key player behind the covid-19 vaccines. why, in your mind, is it important that the vice president points out accomplishments like those of dr. corbett? >> well, it's very important because now we know her name. >> yeah. >> but -- and that's an incredible example but there are so many other scientists, for example, but women who have really led in many different ways, whose names we do not know. and when you don't know that all those people have contributed to what makes, you know, our american history and our -- and what we're doing currently happen, you don't understand the possibility and respect, really, the accomplishments, so it's incredibly important to call this out. >> you know, something -- you've heard the saying the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. she mentioned her mom and her mom's efforts to cure breast cancer. and looking back really with admiration at her mother. this is a big part of your work, right, susan? i mean, studying the accomplishments of other women,

those who helped pave the way. >> yes. in our work with the national women's history museum, that's what we do. we really shine a light on all the examples we can find and ones we're still discovering of women's accomplishments, and it's meant to inspire women, obviously, and girls, but it's also incredibly important for boys and men to understand and participate in this, because it is our history. it's not just women's history. and so, showing these examples and making it possible for people to understand what's happened in our collective history is really critically important, and mothers, we all have one, are our way to connect to that. >> yeah. something i want to focus on, which is that your museum installed the artwork, vice president kamala harris glass ceiling breaker. it was at the lincoln memorial last month. tell me about that. >> oh, it's such an exciting

opportunity for us. so, in collaboration with bbh, which is a creative agency in new york and with an organization of leading women, we put this amazing piece of art that, by literally shattering glass, creates a portrait, and it is a portrait, clearly in a moment where the vice president had shattered many glass ceilings, and a whole list of firsts, so we put this piece of art at the foot of lincoln memorial, and it was there for about five days, and we had reactions from literally all over the world. people wrote about it. i think it's inspired a lot of people, and it was both an interesting and tactile way where you could see this big accomplishment. >> yeah. 25 years, you're celebrating the museum there. we're approaching the end of women's history month. anything in the upcoming final remaining days of march that you

want to note? >> sure. well, we -- because we are the women's history museum, you know, every day is women's history day in our work, and we are a virtual museum at womenshistory.org and we have lots of programming this month for women's history month, so you can see everything from the reading of a book for young learners to opportunities to participate in upcoming exhibits about women's history. >> it's worth checking out. susan whiting, thank you for your time. i appreciate you. >> thank you. >> and your efforts. and that's going to do it for me on this saturday edition of weekends with alex witt. up next, geoff bennett sits in for yasmin vossoughian with former ambassador christopher hill on biden's challenges overseas in afghanistan, china, and north korea. lenges overseas in afghanistan, china, and north korea. in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to

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and good afternoon, i'm geoff bennett in for my good friend, yasmin vossoughian. with ef got a lot going on right now and a great team of correspondents and guests ready to cover it all. including anger and outrage in atlanta. a protest against a new election law that could potentially steal the vote from georgia's citizens. it's a state law that could have national implications, increasing the calls today for the senate to pass federal protections for voting rights. plus, a deadline quickly approaching for what could be the biden administration's first big policy