morning. in the last hour we learned the united states added 916,000 jobs in the month of march, a massive number in what could be the start of a jobs boom, a month-long hiring surge. that number largely by states reopening and vaccines continuing to roll out at a faster rate than predicted, causing people to return to some of the their normal behavior and spending habits. that combined with the nearly $2 trillion stimulus boost to the economy has landed us where we are this morning. the president expected to address this when he speaks later this morning, but it is also crucial to remember today that 9 million people are still out of work, including more than 2 million women who had to drop out of the workforce for a number of reasons. the top one, to care for their children. while this is very good news, there's still a long way to go. we don't need to just get back to normal. it is time for a new normal. i want to begin with chief white

house correspondent kristen welker. kristen, the white house has to be very happy about this number. >> they are, steph. and we are efforting reaction but we know that when president biden talks a little later on this morning, he is going to tout these figures. he will likely argue they're in part, and the economy is in part being helped out by that $1.9 trillion covid relief package that passed and those $1,400 direct payments. i think more broadly you're going to hear the president defend this strategy of going big. what has been a controversial strategy for republicans who say that he's going too big, who say that all of the spending in that $1.9 trillion covid relief package is ultimately going to add to a ballooning deficit that was $2 trillion last year alone, one of the highest levels since the 1940s, steph. i think both sides will be watching this very carefully but the bottom line is this is a

strong jobs report on president biden's watch. he's going to be touting that and, of course, it does come as he's making this new push for a massive infrastructure bill that would be over $2.2 trillion spread out over the next decade. to do it, he said he's going to increase taxes on wealthy americans on large corporations and he's going to undoubtedly use these new numbers to try to make the case for that new plan, steph. >> kristen, thank you. joining us now to discuss, chris lu, former deputy labor secretary during the obama administration. chris, this is a very good number. people saying we're getting back to normal. don't we need a new normal? think about the vulnerabilities covid exposed. 2 million-plus women who left the workforce over childcare issues, they can't rush back to work. >> that's exactly right. let's take the numbers first. 900,000 jobs created is the best

we had in seven months and in large to the acceleration of the vaccine and $1.9 trillion relief package. which we should note most of the money that went out isn't probably reflected in these jobs' numbers right now. overall, we're still $8.4 million jobs short where we were before the pandemic. as you pointed out there are 14.2 million people who are long-term unemployed. that means they're out of work more than six months. we know the longer you're out of work, the harder it is to find a job. 3.4 million people lost their jobs permanently. this is not just getting back to the economy before the pandemic, it's about really addressing some of those systemic economic inequalities that have existed for decades. as importantly, this under investment in things like roads and bridges and broadband and school construction that we've talked about for a long time but we've never done anything about.

>> but the fact we just passed the american rescue plan, does that put at risk the infrastructure bill? yeah, republicans were not going to get on board with it no matter what. it doesn't behoove them, i know this is perverse, for the economy to do very well. but the fact we just spent almost $2 trillion and we're looking to spend it again when we're going to argue the economy didn't need that much support, the american rescue plan didn't need to be that big. that's what they're going to tell us. >> steph, the lesson we learned from the gratz recession is unless we continue to provide money into the economy, it means the recovery takes much longer and more americans suffer along the way. it's important to separate what we just passed, which is economic relief, that check to people who are out of work or need to pay their rent, it's unemployment benefits, it's childcare benefits and compare that to what the president is now trying to do, which is really to recover and create jobs and bring manufacturing back to the country and make the united states much more

competitive with china. these are the under investments we have not made for so long. and it doesn't take much to drive around this country, see the states of roads and bridges, look at the state of broadband access and as kids have struggled to go back to school, have struggled to do remote learning in so many places around the country, to understand if we want to be competitive for the 21st century, these are important investments that we need to make. >> what about jobs but not good jobs? what number that stands out to me in the report is hourly earnings fell by 4% -- excuse me, 4 cents. to me that says, yes, and we hear this from people looking to go back to work. they can find work but it's lower wages than before the pandemic. it's no health care. it's not full time. >> well, let's go back to the minimum wage. the federal minimum wage has not been raised since july 2009. that's the longest period of time we had without a minimum wage increase ever in this

country. as you rightly point out, there are far too many jobs in this country that are paying fairly consistent wages where people don't have benefits where they can't afford to rent an apartment at all. we need to do better in terms of that. we also have been exposed during this pandemic to the fact that a lot of these low-wage jobs probably aren't coming back right now. we've had a rapid transformation to online purchasing, which will have a substantial impact on brick and mortar shopping. we know a lot of restaurants are going to start to automate. we know a lot of these mom-and-mop restaurants and bodegas may not come back. this is kind of a crucial turning point in the economy and one of the reasons why there's so much money in this infrastructure plan for job training, because if we want to be competitive, we need to start training people for the next generation of jobs. >> but, chris, if you actually look around at small businesses right now, we can start to get to a place where there's a labor

shortage. talk to small mom and pops, talk to independent restaurants. they're actually having a very hard time hiring people because they have gone to warehouses, they have gone to different types of more regular work that these small businesses can't even hire right now. >> steph, you and i have talked about this the last year, during the pandemic when we had lockdowns, a lot of these small businesses have had to close and yet these big, the targets of the world were allowed, and walmarts of the world were allowed to stay open, and that's given them a significant competitive advantage. that's one of the things i'm most concerned about, notwithstanding the fact the money that was put into the ppe -- ppp program, a lot of the small businesses could not survive. and when you look at the long-term trend moving towards consideration, that didn't particularly bode well for a lot of small businesses. to be fair and clear, that has a disproportionate benefit of people of color who own a lot of these neighborhood small

businesses. >> chris, you and i are going to continue to talk about this in the coming months and year no doubt. but we're going to leave it there for now. we are going to cover this later in the hour. it is jobs day. but i want to turn now to minneapolis, where the trial of derek chauvin will get under way in an hour from now. it comes as another very tense day inside that courtroom that focused largely on what occurred in the moments after the ambulance arrived on the scene, something we didn't know much about before. george floyd's girlfriend started out the day in an emotional count how they met and the struggle they faced in their own opioid addiction. . we then heard from two paramedics who responded to the scene and tried to assess floyd. one responding as he first checked in on his condition. watch this. >> and what did his condition appear to be to you overall?

>> in lay terms i thought he was dead. >> why do you check the carotid pulse and what would you expect? >> in a living person, there lub should be a pulse there. i did not feel one. i expect the patient to be dead. >> then chauvin's supervisor who responded to the scene after floyd was taken away in that ambulance, he took the stand testifying derek chauvin went too far. >> if he was not putting up any resistance to the offer, they could have ended their restraint. >> and that is after he was handcuffed, on the ground and no longer resistant? >> correct. >> shaquille brewster, as you know, has been covering this story inside and out for weeks. he's outside the courtroom in minneapolis now. shaq, yesterday was intense. for those of us just watching at home, prosecutors showed pictures of george floyd inside that ambulance. what was the reaction like

inside the courtroom? >> well, the jury saw a very graphic picture and video of the paramedics and their efforts to resuscitate george floyd in that ambulance on the day that he died. there are reactions and reports from inside the courtroom that sometimes jurors put their hand over their face, that there were several furled brows, that there were signals they were connecting. at one point jurors stopped taking notes and all just focused squarely on the video. you're getting an idea the jury is really paying attention to what is being told inside that courtroom. and yesterday we heard the testimony from the paramedics who arrived on the scheme. they say when they pulled up, officers were still restraining george floyd. they went over and tried to take his pulse but derek chauvin's knee was still over george floyd. he didn't have a pulse. he didn't have a heartbeat. he wasn't breathing. the paramedic said for all intents and purposes he was dead at the scene there.

the condition did not change, from the point he rolled on the stretcher and put him on the ambulance and took him to the hospital, where he was officially pronounced dead. we also heard from derek chauvin's supervisor, who essentially said derek chauvin didn't follow the protocols he would have. force should have been declined -- force should have been reduced, rather, as george floyd stopped resisting, as he was still handcuffed on the ground there. this was a day that started with emotional testimony. we heard from the girlfriend of george floyd, somebody who knew him probably the best. she got emotional pretty quickly talking about their love, how george floyd liked sports and also talked about how he had chronic back pain and how his opioid addiction initially started with painkillers but that shifted into what she called the classic story of addiction. you get the sense that the prosecution is also trying to get ahead of the defense. you know that the defense is going to be focusing on the drug use, the drugs that were in

george floyd's system when he died. the prosecution used his girlfriend, a sympathetic figure who made eye contact with the jury regularly to make that case. stephanie? >> what are you watching for as day five gets under way? >> we saw a shift in the testimony yesterday. you know, the first four, the first three days were really focused on those bystanders, people pleading with the officers to stop the force to get the knee off the neck of george floyd. now it feels like we're question ing the use of force. if you go back to what we heard during the opening statements, what it teased out. we know eventually we will be hearing from the police chief. they said we will also be hearing from multiple other officers on the scene. we heard from derek chauvin's direct supervisor, we know that. a lieutenant was invoked yesterday, that was someone once george floyd was officially pronounced dead was part of the

process and part of that investigation. i think we can start to expect to hear from more law enforcement witnesses. then we also know at some point we should be hearing from the medical examiner. it was the medical examiner's report that was the key factor in this in going to how george floyd died and what they found in the autopsy in his examination. so we don't know when that will specifically come but we do know we should expect that over the next days and weeks, stephanie. >> shaq brewster, thank you this morning. >> i want to bring in former civil rights attorney david henderson. a big focus yesterday was the emts and firefighters who responded to the scene. what was your take of their testimony yesterday? >> i think it was the most important testimony in the case. they turned the tide for what's coming. up until this point we focused on emotional testimony,s which heart-wrenching but we have known from the beginning this will come down to a battle

between experts on what caused george floyd's death, derek chauvin's knee in his neck, underlying health conditions or drug use? the paramedics will turn the tide of that discussion because their testimony is bulletproof. they don't have a dog in the fight. they're just telling the truth. >> how about the fact chauvin's supervisor, who was called to the scene spoke to chauvin right after the incident and said on the stand chauvin took it too far. how big was that for the prosecution? >> i know this is going to sound crazy, stephanie, but it's not a big of a deal as people think it is right now. here's the reason why. all of the testimony that comes from police officers, including the police chief, can be attacked. if the defense is smart, it can nullify that testimony by having other officers come testify. essentially what he's saying is hey, this is not what's written in the book but anyone who's ever done a job knows what is written in the book isn't the only policy that guides how you do your job. that's right the paramedics are

most important, because their testimony is bulletproof. >> what do you make of the prosecution trying to humanize george floyd, bring him girlfriend on? because we know that the defense is going to go for a character assassination, go after potential or past drug use. >> i think it was smart to bring his girlfriend on for the reason that you just said. they are going to attack his character, i call it character assassination. i think it is flat-out wrong. what liked about his girlfriend testifying is whether people want to admit it or not, we all know someone who is struggling with addiction these days. i think it paints george floyd instead of as a common criminal, which is how the defense is trying to make him look, as a common person with a common problem. the trouble is it comes at a cost. we've heard a lot more testimony about other drug use and what we expected and conservative jurors will hold that against them. >> in your last few seconds, what are you looking out for

today? >> i'm looking out for what happens as additional officers continue to take the stand. for me, forgive me, i'm a movie guy, this should be like jack nicholson taking the stand in as "a few good men," but i'm not sure they can pull it off. >> you can't handle the truth. i can't handle a home office. that office right there, that's a perfect ten! we will leave it there and i will see you soon >> we have breaking, very serious, distressing news overnight. at least 51 people killed, dozens more injured when a train derailed in taiwan. the train, which was carrying around 350 passengers came off the rails after colliding with a truck that had fallen from a construction site directly onto the track. video from the scene shows passengers climbing out of the windows and onto the tops of train cars to safety as crews worked tirelessly to rescue them. the accident comes on the first day of a national holiday where

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this morning breaking news into the investigation of florida congressman matt gaetz with "the new york times" reporting the justice department is looking into gaetz and a local florida politician and their alleged involvement in recruiting and paying women for sex. our own hallie jackson has a closer look at this developing story. >> reporter: a new report says the doj is looking into whether congressman gaetz and a local politician in florida got involved with a cash-for-sex arrangement with "the new york times" citing receipts they reviewed. it comes not long after gaetz denied allegations being investigated by the justice department over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him. this morning new allegations about republican congressman matt gaetz, a report of a justice department investigation focusing on gaetz and an indicted florida politician and allegations of their involvement with multiple women who were

recruited online for sex and received cash payments according to "the new york times," citing sources close to the investigation. "the times" reporting investigators are focusing on gaetz and joel greenberg, a former tax collector in seminole county, florida, indicted last year and now pleading not guilty to a federal sex trafficking charge and other crime. "the times" writing greenberg neshlly met the women through websites who connect people who go on dates in exchange for gifts, fine dining, travel and allowances. mr. greenberg introduced the women to mr. gaetz, who also had sex with them. according to people close to the investigation who spoke with "the times," some of the men and women took ecstasy, an illegal mood-altering drug before having sex, including mr. gaetz. "the times" reports it reviewed scripts from cash app, a mobile payments app and anil pay that showed payments from gaetz to greenberg to one of the women and a payment from greenberg to a second woman, according to "the new york times" report.

gaetz denied every paying a woman for sex and a spokesman said matt gaetz refutes all of the disgusting allegations completely. the florida republican already in the spotlight after revelations earlier this week the justice department is examining whether gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws by having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him. >> the person doesn't exist. that's totally false. >> reporter: the 38-year-old conservative congressman elected in 2016 has been a staunch ally of former president donald trump. >> it is a horrible allegation, and it is a lie. >> reporter: the top house republican saying gaetz's seat on the powerful judiciary committee could be in jeopardy. >> those are serious implications if it comes out to be true, yes, we would remove him if that was the case. right now matt gaetz says it's not true so let's get all of the information. >> keep in mind cash paid for things like hotel rooms or dinners is not illegal. so some of the questions for federal investigators include whether any of these payments involve women who were underage

or who traveled across state lines for the purposes of sex. nbc news reached out to gaetz's office. the statement to "the times" said gaetz never paid for sex. the except of any criminal exposure not clear and no charges have been brought against the congressman. back to you. >> hallie jackson, thank you. a lot more questions around that story. and this morning we are learning more about wednesday night's mass shooting in orange, california. police investigating say the accused gunman knew his four victims. among them, a 9-year-old boy. he died in the arms of a woman who is believed to be his mom as she tried to protect him from the gunfire. that woman is in critical condition at this time. nbc's steve patterson is again on this very difficult scene. steve, what's the latest? >> yeah, stephanie, one thing investigators wanted to make perfectly abundantly clear is that this was not a random act. this was not a random shooting, that the shooter specifically

knew his victims specifically, targeted his victims. they described the relationship between suspected shooter or victims as either personal or business like. they now know the 44-year-old gonzalez was staying at nearby anaheim in a hotel, he took a rental car here to the scene to carry out that shooting in one of the most chilling details that we now know about this, according to police, he used bike locks to lock the front and back gate of this business complex, effectively locking the victims in and locking the police out. police arriving on the scene to gunfire, exchanging gunfire from the outside until they were able to get bolt cutters on the scene to actually breach in. the subject wounded in that exchange of gunfire, and not known whether that was self-inflicted wound or fire from police. and that woman who shielded that little boy, still alive.

she's in the hospital still in critical condition at last update. meanwhile, despite knowing all of this, we still don't know what the true motive in this case is, that is obviously at the core of the investigation as police remain on scene processing this scene, trying to move forward and push for answers. stephanie? >> steve patterson, thank you so much. we are thinking about those families, the victims and the community. coming up next -- we're going to get back to that major jobs number out this morning. hundreds of thousands of americans back to work with critics asking did the covid relief package need to be so big? and now the president has a massive infrastructure plan. was too much money spent on a temporary solution? i will be asking the chair of the council of economic advisers at the white house after the break. er the break.

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>> we're back with more on this morning's breaking jobs news. the just-released unemployment report shows 916,000 jobs were added in march with unemployment now ticking down to 6%. joining us now to discuss

cecilia rouse, the chair of the white house economic advisers. thank you for joining us. i want to get your reaction to this big number. >> this number was so encouraging, good news for the country and good news for the american people. it really suggests the confidence is building in the fact we're getting to the other side of this pandemic. that said, i do want to emphasize while this was fabulous data for one month, we're not there yet. what we still know is that we're 8.4 million jobs fewer than we were at this time last year, and so we still have quite a long way to go. that said, we're certainly encouraged. many people asked if we see the economy picking up, do we really need to be making further investments? and i just want to emphasize the american rescue plan was so important for encouraging this kind of growth, for encouraging the widespread use of vaccinations, giving people the confidence that we can get this economy back on track, but we do

know that even last year at this time there were some structural problems in our economy. we had not been investing in infrastructure. our prosperity was not widely shared and that will still be work that remains to be done. >> could the size of the american rescue plan, because it went far beyond broadening out vaccinations, could it end up standing in the way of the infrastructure bill? the american rescue plan, while absolutely needed, is only temporary, a temporary solution and that infrastructure bill, those are long-term solutions and they both have very big price tags on them. >> they are, but they're designed to do different things. this economic crisis had its roots in a pandemic. this was a once-in-a-century pandemic, which had economic reverberations around the world. it was necessary to put the federal resources towards getting the vaccinations developed and distributed and into people's arms. in the meantime people needed to have the funds to put food on the table, pay their back rent,

state and local governments needed this aid to help make all of this work as well. we needed to get kids back into school. so the american rescue plan is designed to do exactly that. but this country has not made the kinds of long-term investments that are so necessary for growth. so the jobs plan is not designed to spend quickly. it's designed to be spent out over time and make those critical investments in our economy so that we remain the strong economic power that we should be and have been for decades. >> an investment in rescaling, helping people get higher scaled, higher-paying jobs would certainly put us on a better path. in the immediate do we actually risk -- i know it sounds crazy having a labor shortage when it comes to one of the lowest wage jobs. this week a ceo said he can't find hourly workers and those he has, he has to pay bonuses to because they don't want to come back to work. >> you know, i haven't seen that

in the data yet. our lowest-wage workers and the american people, we have not seen wage growth over the last several decades. that's part of what the american jobs plan is about, it's actually about improving wages and ensuring people can earn a good living with just one job. so the facts that our lowest-wage workers may be paying a little more, i actually think that's a good thing rather than a bad thing. >> can our businesses afford to pay more? the fact that we have seen corporate america do phenomenally well, look at the markets, get their arguing, we can't pay our workers more, can't they? >> you know, this goes to the heart of president biden's plan. the idea is to be investing in our infrastructure, which includes people, so that people have better jobs, that are better paying jobs with more job security. meanwhile, we have to pay for that. and so he proposes that we do

that by making our tax system more fair. we do know that corporations have been making lots of profits over the last several years and so as part of his plan, it is to make the -- make corporate taxes fairer, which is really about rolling back even just part of the 2019 tax cuts for corporations and for our richest americans so that, again, our prosperity is widely shared and this plan is fiscally responsible. >> all right, well, good jobs report is good news for america. thank you for joining us this morning >> now i want to focus on one specific industry, restaurants, hospitalities and bring in a dear friend of mine, the owner of restaurants in new york, l.a., and vegas and head judge on bravo's "top chef." tom, for the last year you and i, let's be honest, have not had one single positive

conversation. your industry saw an enormous amount of jobs loss. here we are, the american rescue plan included $128 million for restaurants. we are seeing bars and restaurants hire back people in droves. how are things going? >> stephanie, first off, thank you for having me on and thank you for having me on throughout the last year and for your constant reporting on the plight of restaurants. your voice definitely helped get us where we are right now. we're starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. restaurants are starting to open up. we're starting to hire people back. we had a great jobs report, as you just mentioned, but restaurant workers are still -- about 1.8 million are still unemployed so we have a long way to go. and what will really flip the switch here is when people feel they're safe going out. i think the cdc, their comments on vaccinated people can't pass the pandemic or pass the disease on was really, really helpful. i think as we see more and more people get fully vaccinated,

they will start coming out to restaurants. that's what is missing now. even at 50%, we're not full yet. especially tuesday, wednesday, thursday is a little soft, weekends get busier. but we're getting there. you mentioned a previous piece that we are struggling to find people who want to work, not because they want to stay home, it's because they left the city. a lot of my cooks, they couldn't afford the rent anymore, they packed up and moved in with their parents so getting them back here is becoming bait of a problem. it's starting to feel -- it's starting to feel somewhat normalized. we're getting there. >> so if you're struggling to get those cooks back into the city, how do you solve for that and for you, you have some of the finest restaurants across the major cities. what is that doing for small restaurant owners out there? we do see headlines across the country, restaurant owners saying they're struggling to

find workers for a number of reasons. how do you solve that? >> listen, i think as you start making phone calls and little by little people are starting to come back. the bigger problem is these are expensive to live in. if a young cook goes back home to where they grew up and find a job there, they're going to stay there for a while. eventually they're going to find their way back to the big cities because that's where the better restaurants are and that's where they want to learn. we have a ways to go. we're trying to fill in the gaps the best we can. right now we're only open five days a week. we can't open seven days a week right now. and, again, the demand is not there. and we're adding to our income by doing these delivery boxes. so we do a drop, we will ship 200 boxes at a time and that's doing really well. but a la carte dining, that has a ways to go. we're adding people. i still feel as the vaccine starts coming on board, we're going to see a lot more activity

and we will get through this. we staff the restaurant the best we can right now. the food may take a little longer to get out, the service may not be exact lip where it needs to be. we're short staffed, but we'll get there. >> hey, i just want to go out to eat. the service doesn't need to be perfect. is there an issue for you that so many people who are laid off were forced to find other work and they found it in warehouse jobs? there's been huge demand for warehouse jobs, hundreds of thousands of people left the service industry and they now work in distribution senters where they get health care, where they get more regular hours. are you at risk that you're not going to be able to bring those people back and you need them? >> no, i think eventually they will come back. a lot of restaurant workers love the work but it's monotonous work in a warehouse. we offer health care benefits, have paid time off. new york city the minimum is $15 an hour. my cooks are getting a lot more than that. we may have to increase our

rates and that's fine. it's interesting because you would think in a market where there are so many people unemployed that it would be -- it would put a lot of pressure on bringing wages down but we are seeing the opposite, which is actually pretty good. listen, we feel if we raise our rates, we can get better qualified people and we have some elasticity in our pricing and higher-end restaurants, but it's the middle-end restaurants, mom and pops that don't have elasticity and they will probably struggle. listen, the good news is we have $28.6 billion to pump through restaurants. we're going to get to pay our bills. we're going to get to pay our back rent, bring workers back and stay open and make sure we actually start thriving for at least the next year and that will sort of get us to hire more people back. i'm going to hire people back that i don't even really need at this point because we have to -- the one feature of the restaurant act, money has to be

spent by the end of the year. whatever money we take in, has to get out the door. one way to get the money out the door is paying people. so it's -- i still think there's a light at the end of the tunnel. we have constructual issues to deal with. we will get through it. i'm feeling better every single day. >> when people get paid, they put that money back into the company and we all grow. tom, always good to see you. thank you very much for joining me this morning. >> pleasure. all next week you want to be here and on nbc news where we feature focus on the american worker, forever changed. in depth look at the future of work, changes brought on by the pandemic and how this impacts all of us. you will see special reports across all platforms of nbc news. coming up next, we're likely hours away from a major covid milestone in the u.s. but we cannot let our guard down. cases are spiking in the first u.s. epicenter of this pandemic. what is happening in new york's tristate area and how can it

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right now it's a race between getting more people vaccinated and those highly contagious covid variants. today the u.s. is on track to hit 100 million people who have gotten at least one vaccine dose. as of now, nearly 16% of americans are fully vaccinated but at the same time one year after its the global epicenter, kapss are up in the global tristate area around new york city and michigan. we've seen this before. nbc's lindsey reiser is on the ground in connecticut. lindsey, what's going on? >> hey, stephanie, it's good to see you. we didn't need a reminder of the coast covid has taken right now but here's a memorial in old greenwich, connecticut. all of these small white flags represent a life lost in this state. even though vaccinations right now are open to everybody 16 and older in this state, there's a

spike going on in this entire region, and the major health system in this state, yale's new haven medical system, said it's really happening in younger people, people 55 and younger and there's a 40% pike in people ages 35 to 44. they're blaming the spread of the variants and also the fact a lot of younger people have not been vaccinated yet. in nearby new jersey, the governor there is saying with spring break travel and variant spread, they're expecting right now another peak at the end of april. that's the moderate projection. the severe projection is we won't flatline until may and it is affecting schools reopening. i spoke to the superintendent of the patterson new jersey school district. they made the decision this week to stay remote. let's listen to what she said. >> i know how important it is being in an urban district to get our children back to school. for some of them, they have no socialization at all. there's a lot of isolation.

not all of our children go outside after school. and if you're an only child, then you have even more isolation. >> you know, a lot of parents want their kids in school. in fact two-thirds of the parents at that district said once school is reopen, they will send their kids back. but if we didn't need a reminder that the pandemic wasn't over, here it is right here, stephanie. >> lindsey, thank you. just looking at all of those flags is a reminder of the year we just faced. coming up next, you don't want to go anywhere. you need to hear this story. the death of a teenager at a group home. what a former employee told our kate snow about the culture inside. kate joins us with this important story. portant story. [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito]

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now to an nbc news investigation into group homes that are supposed to provide therapy care and education to young people who often have nowhere else to go. but a former employee is coming forward with what she saw happening in one of these very facilities. kate snow joins us with more. what is this employee revealing? >> this is a woman that worked at a facility in michigan where a child died last year. she says the for profit company that operated that home fired

often inexperienced entry level staff at low wages and made millions of dollars. we need to warn you that some of what you're about to see is disturbing. >> cornelius frederick died days after being restrained on the floor. >> he was in a restraint and now he is unresponsive. >> if you asked the majority of our staff six months prior we could have told you this would happen. >> a former employee is speaking publicly for the first time. she was cornelius's case manager and says aggressive restraints were common. >> they called his death senseless, tragic, and said the actions taken by the staff members in that video do not adhere to the academy policies and procedures. >> on paper it doesn't, but the

culture and the core of sequel would speak differently. >> in 2019 lakeside academy grew more violent after it accepted more tougher kids from california because some california counties paid more than other states. sequel would make more money on kids from california? >> yes. if admissions or others had red flags, management basically was like no, we're taking them. >> why? >> it came down to money. whatever to make california happy. >> white worked with cornelius at a different youth home. >> he wanted to be loved. that came from him not having what he felt like he needed in the home. >> after cornelius's death, michigan shut lakeside down and they're pulling kids from sequel facilities. >> i don't think they should be running any youth facilities. >> sequel says the overwhelming majority of state child serving

agencies continue to find our services essential and operating at and exceeding standards. >> sequel is an agency, you know, a company composed of thousands of people who have committed their lives to helping some of our most underserved kids. >> a company that continues to operate in 19 states. >> case, have you been able to quantify how much money sequel was making? >> it's interesting. they're a private company, hard to get a lot of information, but there was a filing in 2017 that says they grew their profits over the three years before then to more than $200 million a year. i should also mention that i know you care a lot about business, a private equity firm has a controlling share in sequel, to above sequel you have another layer of private equity investors.

also wanting profits. they told us they invested millions to improve the company. >> case, that is such an important note, especially given the last thing your guest said, she said thousands of people that devoted their lives to this. there is no one that has devoted their lives to improving the health of kids, it's a profit play. you'll want to see this, tune into children that play. for-profit companies running youth homes. sunday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. bill watching. thank you for watching. that wraps up this hour. hallie jackson picking up breaking coverage of the derek chauvin trial. testimony is set to start in 15 minutes. set to start in 15 minutes. e big move. just more moving.

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