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good day, everyone, from msnbc headquarters. i'm alex witt. off the top right now, the big headlines, the minneapolis newspapers are preparing for the chauvin verdict.

businesses boarding storefronts. the nypd moments ago confirming to nbc news that from tomorrow officers will not be allowed to take unscheduled days off. concern shared by lawmakers in the nation's capital. >> i'm very worried because i don't think anyone in minneapolis, frankly, anyone in the united states, a good part of the world would understand any other verdict other than guilty. >> that trial resumes tomorrow. closing arguments are scheduled for 10:00 a.m. judge cahill will give the instructions. video after recent video. today new calls for justice and police reform.

>> those of us who hold significant positions must stand up. we must support them. we must speak out. we must call for justice. >> it's about ensuring people know what it is we are advocating for, body cameras. frankly, the atrocities we've seen and horrors we have witnessed have been possible because of body cameras. >> when a black person is stopped for a traffic violation, it should not end up in a death sentence. a leaked document claims some members of congress have been starting a caucus committed to anglo-saxon traditions. let's go to monica alba covering the president in delaware and amanda on capitol hill. amanda, this story is getting a lot of attention. >> we're getting new

developments over the potential america first caucus that was spearheaded in part by marjorie taylor greene. her office is trying to distance themselves from these documents that were originally obtained by pnchbowl news that outlined exactly what this caucus would stand for. in a few statement after previously having confirmed this caucus was in the work, details were to come, majorry taylor greene's spokesperson says, this was an early planning proposal and nothing was agreed to or approved. this doesn't mean anything was scrapped. as her earlier at the same time describes, she plans on driving trump's america first agenda. as this statement comes out, this is also on top of continued swift and bipartisan pushback to what this potential caucus would stand for, pushing back on the racist undertones some of what it was articulating and wanting to become this caucus.

it can be successful in trying to push forward some key ideas within the halls of congress. that pushback is swift from leaders in the republican party including kevin mccarthy including liz cheney. we're also hearing from democrats they're worried how this could impact other men's in the hall of congress. here's the conversation you had with selt moulton in the last hour. >> here we are in 2021 still having to have this debate on national tv about racism in our heart of government. kevin mccarthy, when he's pushed l say the right thing, but he hardly does anything to stop this behavior. that's what actually matters, putting an end to it. showing the entire world watching this embarrassment that we move past.

>> we've asked congresswoman greene's office if she launched this. whether or not this caucus does come to fruition, marjorie taylor greene will continue to push forward her agenda by any means necessary. doesn't want to do it within the confines of the media or others dictate. we're watching to see if in caucus will come forward. she's not going anywhere. she continues to issue this statement and put out this messaging and getting messages from congress, including congressman gohmert, and matt gaetz saying he would be proud. >> appreciate that.

the biden administration committed to raising the refugee cap. let's go to monica alba in wilmington, delaware. there was a little confusion in the rollout but how is the administration trying to frame this. >> reporter: the really is it's a punted pledge at the very least. candidate joe biden did promise to raise the refugee cap from 15,000, which was historically low under former president trump, quadrupling it. that's what joe biden said he was going to do to more than 62,000. and now he's saying that's not going to be possible in the short term. we got a sense from the national security adviser, jake sullivan, who was on the sunday shows this morning really trying to defend the administration's bungled rollout of this policy by trying to push back on the criticism that this was a reversal. take a listen.

>> the president wanted to go with this in two steps. the first step was to change the allocation so people in africa could literally get on planes this week. and the second would be to raise the cap as we were fixing the system in its processing. he took the first step this past week. he will take the second step in the weeks ahead. and i think there was some misunderstanding on friday about the import of his decision friday morning, which was focused on the allocation, not on the cap. >> so the white house is arguing because the process is ongoing, there is still time essentially for the president to make this right, but a lot of democrats and groups have pushed back, saying this is really a vow that will go unfulfilled because the fiscal year and the promise for trying to raise the cap by october, even the president himself yesterday said is unlikely. after golfing he did respond to a brief question on this matter. it was notable, alex, he tied it to the surge on the southern

border as a crisis. his administration has gone to great lengths to avoid using that label to describe what's happening with the u.s./mexico border. the president himself admitting because they're trying to figure out how to attempt to admit some of these children to the country using the refugee process, that that is a challenge for these other thousands of refugees from all over the world who applied and who want to come to the u.s. many of whom remain in limbo at the moment, alex. >> thank you for all of that. joining me right now, white house reporter for the associated press and nbc news political analyst jonathan lemire. welcome. i understand you are outside the church where joe biden is going to church right now, is that true? it's a different place than you usually are. >> reporter: that is correct. forgive, please, my shaky hand-held camera work. i'm part of the presidential press pool, following the president for all of his travels, and that includes a stop behind me at st. joseph's

church on the brandywine, which is his local church. his home is down the road. we arrived here a few minutes ago. this is his first stop of the day. he returns to washington tonight. >> i applaud you. thumbs up and "a" for effort. good job. speaking of that golf round he had yesterday, i know the president took some questions while leaving. as you noted on twitter, the president used the word crisis to describe the situation at the border while discussing the refugee cap. >> we're going to increase the number. the problem was that the refugee part working on the southern border with young people. >> so is this going to present messaging problems or the

message has changed? >> there was a lot of choice of words. the white house had stayed away from using the word crisis. they preferred nomenclature for challenge or situation. they are saying the response won't change even though the president used the word crisis. but it doesn't -- the white house is saying since then, this is not going to change their approach. they've already tasked the vice president to lead their response to the situation at the border. which of course now they're also dealing with the controversy that kicked up over the last couple of days with advocates/allies being disappointed. >> i'm going to pivot to polls. the president is nearing his 100th day in office. we're getting a good look at how americans view the job he's done so far. what does this say about biden's

approach and agenda and whether or not you can see these numbers. the lowest comes from quinnipiac at 48% and pew research at 59%. he's above water, pretty much. >> in most polls he's 50%, putting up a number higher than his predecessor did. and the white house is heartened by these numbers. they believe it's a testament to not only a change of tone and style from the. the and they feel americans were fatigued by the end of the trump era. more than that, they point to concrete results. in particular, the covid relief bill being passed, the surge in vaccine distribution, as they like to say $1400 checks in pocket and shots in arms. now they're pivoting to this infrastructure and jobs program. one more point that we should note is these are pieces of legislation that, though they have not gotten much in the way

of republican support in congress in washington, they have received some republican support from mayors and governors. in particular, gop voters. that's how the white house likes to claim these things are bipartisan. >> so, obviously, lots of issues that the biden administration is tackling. we talk about a full plate. you have the pandemic, infrastructure, the border and immigration, economy, climate, guns. this list goes on and on. as things stand right now, what are the top priorities of the biden administration? >> it's a two-part. answer. the president will be meeting are lawmakers at the white house and try to gain some gop support for this massive program. of course, there are other things. as much as they like to plan out what they're doing, any president has to respond to what is happening. i think the wave of mass shootings has forced their hand

that they will come under pressure to address that further in the days ahead. the refugee, we saw that on friday. they're going to be juggling a lot. the president is hosting the virtual climate summit and climate change is important for this administration. they have to walk and chew gum at the same time. we expect them to do a lot of that this week and next week will be his 100th day in office which will be marked to a joint session of congress and travel to sell his priorities. >> the only bummer about doing this interview with you the way you've done it, i'm never going to let you off the hook when i ask you for an interview and i say, i don't care, what do you mean you're too busy? look what you can do. really good job. >> thank you so much. enjoy your sunday. as minneapolis braces for the verdict in it the derek

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it is city of chicago is bracing for more protests in response to the police shooting death of 13-year-old adam toledo. give me a sense of how you describe the scene and the mood there today? >> reporter: as you can see, the scene behind me, very quiet as of now. we're in douglas park just north of little village, the neighborhood where adam toledo was shot and killed. they're expecting to have a vigil in a couple hours in remembrance of him and then later this evening in little village there will be a peace walk also in remembrance of him. this is after we saw on friday thousands of people gathering in the city's logan neighborhood in support of -- or remembrance of adam toledo as well.

this is after the family surgeried for peace and nonviolence and urging people to work toward reform. the mayor here ran on police reform and a lot of activists are saying this is exactly how this failed. she was on with our colleague al sharpton and responded to his question. i want you to hear some of that interview. >> there's a lot that we've already done over the course of my tenure as mayor, but more that has to be done. we have reformed our use of force general order in conjunction with the independent monitor and with a lot of input from our residents here in chicago. we have upped the training of our police officers, which basically was nonexistent after you left the academy. now this year, 40 hours of mandatory training, which of course includes use of force but also procedural justice and a lot of other civil rights acts that we didn't have in place

before. >> reporter: now the mayor was also asked about why the police officer involved, eric stillman, is still on the force. she noted he is on desk duty as independent investigations are going on, by the police accountability and the sdriblt attorney's office. we don't have a sense of what or if he may be charged and we don't have a firm timeline on how long those investigations will last. until then we'll follow the continuing demonstrations in chicago throughout the evening. >> and all the developments. thank you. let's bring in former prosecutor cnbc distributor. this video raises many questions. first of all, what was your reaction to the video when you saw it? >> my reaction to the video when i saw it was similar to my reaction to the bystander testimony in the george floyd trial, alex. that is, especially

mr. mcmillian who said, you can't win and other witnesses who said they felt helpless. the reason why is even though we don't have a complete picture of what happened next, we know he did what he was told to do. he raised his hands and that still got him shot. it leaves you wondering what it takes to avoid violent incounters with the police and how many incidents we have to see before we get meaningful reform that actually saves lives. >> so, i think i know the answer where it's going, but i want you to say it. you had the president of the chicago police union wanting the public to see this as a regrettable but justifiable use of force. thoughts? >> i mean, alex, that's not an acceptable answer when a young person has been killed. i think that's something we have to deal with directly. innocent people shouldn't be wrongfully killed. we have the same thing in chicago that occurred in daunte wright in minnesota where

encounters with police resulted in deaths that should not have happened. that can't be an answer for a group of people whose motto is to protect and serve. we need meaningful reform that should lead to saving lights. >> you mentioned daunte wright, and officer kim potter who mistook her taser for a gun. she now faces a maximum ten years in prison. do the charges fit what happened? do you think there could be more charges? and how difficult is it to determine a gun being mistaken for a taser? >> well, alex, let's start with the fact there are no formal chargesy et. this is something that's confusing with the criminal justice system. when you get charged with a felony, you're not actually charged until the grand jury formally indicts you. so, have they written down man slaut other a piece of paper they gave to the judge to set the bond? sure, they have.

but that's different than her being charged and stand trial. there will be an investigation that should only take a week but will last for weeks. maybe months until we're outside derek chauvin's trial. if we follow the playbook, time and time again, we saw it in eric garner, michael brown's case and breonna taylor's case, prosecutors will present this charge to a grand jury in secret and they can recommend secretly that the grand jury reject the charge and we may never see potter fully face justice. >> wait. so you're suggesting that could happen in this case? >> i'm not suggesting it. that could absolutely happen, alex. think about what we saw in breonna taylor taes case. i presented hundreds if not thousands of cases to a grand jury. i've never seen a grand juror to hire a lawyer to get permission to say that the prosecuting authority misrepresented what happened in secret in the grand jury room. we've seen that several times.

we all saw this in rice's case. this whole debate about whether or not she could have confused a gun with a taser, the prosecuting authority believes her or they would have had to charge her with murder. the fact they charged her with manslaughter means they believe what she said and that is the information they'll present to the grand jury, which means there's a high likelihood the grand jury will reject the charge and it's over. >> i had to let that settle in. let's talk about the derek chauvin trial and listen to what representative karen bass had to say about it this morning. >> the verdict is step one, but what we've seen in too many of these cases, in the rare time there is a guilty verdict, we've seen them get off with a minimum sentence. we don't know how long it will

take after the verdict that the judge will impose sentencing, but i worry both are flashpoints. as you mentioned, during the time of this trial we have learned of other people who have experienced violence at the hands of the police. >> so, david, big picture here. do you understand how she and many others might think that given everything we've heard in this trial? >> absolutely. that is a clear risk with this trial. i want to say, regardless of the outcome of the trial, regardless of how it turns out t will be positive overall for police reform in the united states. we just hope that reform happens in the most positive, possible way. >> tell me why you think that. why do you think it's going to be positive for police reform? >> because of what he with saw happen with the minneapolis police department and how they testified about the fact that what derek chauvin did was wrong. now, understand, i think derek chauvin is guilty. that does not make the minneapolis police department

innocent. they are responsible partly for his conduct because these problems with policing are systematic, not individual. civil rights lawyers, part of what we deal with when we're trying to get justice on these cases is a doctrine called qualified immunity, which protects the police officer's rights. when you have police chiefs getting on national television saying, this individual did it by keeping their knee on someone's neck, i have to believe it's going to influence that conversation across the country. that's why i think it will ultimately be positive. >> so, you -- >> still leaves open the question of punishment. >> i'm a news anchor, not a attorney, but i'm fully versed on what qualified immunity is just having covering so many issues that involve that. thank you so much. coming up tonight, join ari melber as he reflects on the

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now to startling coronavirus numbers out of michigan. they are accounting for 20 new cases in the country. governor whitmer says two dozen hospitals are at 90% capacity or more. in detroit, half of the hospitals are overwhelmed with covid patients. despite that, some positive vaccination news. half of american adults have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. in total, 205 million doses have been administered. dr. fauci today appearing on five different shows, partly in an effort to ease concerns about that pause on the johnson & johnson vaccine. >> i would imagine by this coming friday, we'll know one

way or the other where we're going with that. i would imagine we'll not see any further extension. they're looking carefully over the coming week and we hope by friday we'll get some sort of determination what we're going to with the johnson & johnson vaccine. >> joining me now is msnbc medical contributor, former obama white house policy director, dr. patel and dr. bedellia. there's a new article says pausing the johnson & johnson for a week was a deadly mistake, saying 10 million doses will sit unused in refrigerators. do you agree with that assessment? a vaccine pause doing more harm than good? >> well, alex, i think that the argument here is that, you know, particularly because johnson & johnson has been so helpful in

vulnerable populations, those that may not be able to come in for that second dose, those in more rural areas, i do think there's a marginal cost to the pause itself. this is revealing to the public about the thoroughness of the evaluation of the fda, of the cdc's advisory committee. so, my hope is, look, even with a rare incident like this, which they picked up and hasn't been seen in the mra vaccines that we're taking all these measures, i hope it breeds more confidence in the process and on the other side of this reduced vaccine hesitancy, but it remains to be seen. >> i know you agree with this j&j pause. there's a new piece for msnbc.com that you say this pause shows it's working. how do you balance gathering more data during a period of

time a vaccine is taken out of circulation. do you worry it could stunt the vaccination process? >> you can be bolstered by the confidence in the fda and when we reschedule johnson & johnson appointments, we had one in five say, no, i don't want to reschedule, i'll call you when i get the shot. that's the risk it poses. i think the longer it sits out there with a question mark over it, the longer the cloud looms. not just for the united states. we're seeing rip roaring cases, india, brazil, many other countries that could desperately use vaccines like this, but if the united states doesn't express confidence in it and rightfully go through the process, the rest of the countries could be put in an awkward position where some of them are already rejecting the vaccine without even having looked at the data. >> how quickly do you think it could be back in circulation,

dr. patel? >> i mean, they're sitting on our shelves right now. remember, this is technically a recommendation. our state did not have to follow it. of course, who's not going to follow a recommendation like that. as soon as the cdc votes on friday, hopefully they will vote. if they kick this longer, it will erode any confidence that even people like myself are holding. it can be lifted and we can start to administer that vaccine that day. >> so, we heard that dr. fauci. he says he doesn't see any scenario where the j&j is totally canceled. if shots resumed, what's your advice to j&j to restore confidence, especially to those who had hesitancy about being vaccinated? >> yeah, i think that what they've done already -- johnson & johnson went an extra step and said, while the cdc and the advisory committee are evaluating this, we're going to pause our trials. which i don't know if they need

to do or not. what i foresee is one of two things can happen. one could be the pause is unpaused and we go back to vaccinating as usual but we've now put this advisory out there for providers to help recognize the rare side effect in patients or the other is they take a more conservative step where they may place limitations on age, which is what the uk government has done with astrazeneca where there were some rare instances of blood clots seen as well. i hope it's the former because the number of these events are immensely small. when you look at the risk with birth control pills or pregnancy, yes, there are different kinds of clots but the incidents are so small and the benefit of the vaccines are so high that what i think it would do on the other side is all of us having these conversations and getting the message out that these are safe and the system is working. >> when the vaccines first became available, doctors stressed, take any shot you

possibly can. both of you told me that as well. some americans want the ability to choose which kind they get but it seems officials are reluctant to do that until you get to the vaccine site. dr. patel, why do you think that is? do you think americans should choose which shot they get? if you go to a vaccine site offering one kind, there you have it. but if there are two or potentially three being offered, should they be able to choose? >> yeah. i believe in choice in everything, especially in something in this regard. we do have enough supply now where we are going to see choices being offered. first thing's first, if you've had a history of allergies to certain vaccines or parts that could cross-populate with the mrna vaccines, that's important to remember. second, it's not trivial. some people don't show up for that second dose. if you know you're one of those people that might not show up, one dose is convenient. third, as we talked about pregnant women and breast-feeding women.

we're getting great data on the mrna in breast-feeding women about transporting important antibodies in breast milk. i apply real life layer to it. tell me which shot i'm showing up for and tell me how to stay safe while we monitor reactions. but we will likely be able to offer choices to patients. >> everything you said, i appreciate, as do the viewers. seems like marjorie taylor greene is trying to back away from that anglo-saxon caucus. t s your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. thank you! hey, hey, no, no limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ with relapsing forms of ms, there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too.

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pin down what went wrong and how to prevent this again. let's go to vaughn hilliard. it's not just about the fencing, but certainly that is still there today. is there, first of all, any indication of how long that might stay? >> reporter: no, there's still this nine-foot fence that remains here blocking people from getting any closer to the capitol complex. we're on the west front of the capitol. you saw on that video, january 6th, it was this front line in which thousands of folks stormed onto what was then the inaugural platform for the pending inauguration of joe biden here. folks can't get beyond this nine-foot fence. i think this fence represents a lot more. that is the fact that just this week the ig for the capitol police, michael bolton, testified before congress there were deficiencies in equipment, in training, in leadership, in ways in which the capitol police were equipped, saying they did

not have enough heavy munition like stun grenades to push people back. until capitol police can get more funding, until they can hire more personnel, this sort of apparatus needs to remain. i want you to hear an exchange between ig michael bolton and congressman butterfield at the end of the week. >> mr. boulton are let me get your answer on the record in this. did training deficiencies tribute to the department's inability? >> i believe, yes, training deficiencies put officers, our brave men and women, in positions not to succeed. >> reporter: alex, we're more than 100 days removed from that january 6th attack but there are still six different congressional committees that are investigating exactly what took place on january 6th in the cause of what led up to it. there have also been calls from

democrats to have a 9/11-style commission, an independent group that investigates everything related to that january 6th attack. speaker pelosi just this week again said she wants a proposal to come forward that will take republican support, but that is where the breakdown is and why a formal group has not been announced because republicans have not come to agreement with democrats, including speaker pelosi to the extent of what the makeup, how many republicans versus democrats are on that committee. also the scope of it. because we stoortd hear from the republican side, started to go down that rob bit hole of what led to january 6th. could potentially members of congress be implicated. it could potentially lead to more of an understanding of the extent to which president trump's own words invoked what happened on january 6th here. that is why there is that 9/11-style commission has not

been approved or built out yet at this point. >> you've given us a lot to think about and discuss. thank you for doing that. right now i'm joined by msnbc political analyst mehdi hasan. i'm curious what in terms of big picture, 100 days after this capitol riot, what are the biggest lessons we or you have learned about the insurrection? >>. >> it's a great question. we learned so much. one thing we learned is that the vast majority of people who attacked the capitol, who invaded the capitol, who breached security on january 6th were not members of white nationalist gangs, of militias. we know the oath keepers and the proud boys were heavily involved as a conspiracy case against 12 oath keepers, founding member on friday agreed to take a plea

deal. but the vast majority of people were not militia members. you might say, that's a good thing. that shows the power of these militias is not as big as we think. but the vast majority of people were ordinary people, quote/unquote. they were your neighbors, ceos, accountants, people in white collar job. walter pape put out a study suggesting these people were not poor, not unemployed, not left behind, not people hit by globalization. these are very comfortably off people holding white collar jobs and these are people who were upset about their country changing. they came disproportionately from counties which have seen the number of white people in those counties go down. once again, unfortunately, a major american news story, political divide in our country,

sadly comes back to race. >> is it something that donald trump helped to amplify, to unleash? in other words, licensing the ability to behave this way, to express yourself this way? >> 100%. this was the big issue for many of us when trump looked like he would be defeated and then defeated. this idea you can beat donald trump the in an election, and the wider issue of trumpism, for want of a better word, which as you say, is the unleashing the amplification of these views. these views have always been there in america. people point out trump is not new. they're right. what happened in recent years is they had become taboo, they had become on the fringes, they weren't seen as mainstream. what happened under trump was these people and these views were able to crawl out from under rocks. they were given legitimaization

from the most powerful man in the world. they turn up in the capital. hillary clinton was attacked for calling trump supporters deplorables. but the reality is there are millions of americans who support racist far-right authoritarian views or willing to turn a blind eye and willing to vote for those pushing those views. look at the polls, 50% of republicans thought what happened on january 6th, wasn't that bad, wasn't a big deal. >> shocking. according to punchbowl news, lawmakers who criticize trump spent tens of thousands of dollars across the first quarter this year on personal security. you had democrats like eric swalwell, you had republicans like mitt romney and liz cheney. what does this tell you, lawmakers spending money to make

sure they can safely work at the capitol or in their home district or just go about their day. is this the new norm? >> it shouldn't be the new norm. >> no. >> but it looks like it's becoming the new norm. there's a line on twitter that people always -- what would you say if you saw this in another country, alex? you would say, a failed state. you would say a democracy that's, you know, a weak democracy in decline. how can you have a country, a political system where political violence is now part of everyday conversation, is now seen as a tool by members of the electorate, by political groups. this violence, don't forget, shg has been incited by the former president. you have a gop official in michigan. we covered this on my show who says, burn them at the stake, referring to witches in michigan, referring to governor whitmer and secretary of state and the attorney general, who all three are women in michigan. that kind of language that's become acceptable on the right

that now right wingers themselves, republicans themselves having fed the beast are now becoming victim to, are now living in fear. we talk about cowardly republicans in congress who don't stand up to trump, which is true. but there's this issue, which some are literally them are literally living in fear of physical violence, of getting killed. and we should have called this out much earlier when mitt romney voted against -- voted for convicting donald trump in the first impeachment trial. you had cpac saying we can't guarantee your security and mitt romney, when you say stuff like this you're not welcome in republican circles. that kind of rhetoric is just not acceptable. >> yeah. well, that brings us to this as we talk about the america first caucus. first raised apparently by congresswoman marjorie taylor greene. a document describing the caucus said "america is a nation with a border and a culture, strengthened by a common respect for uniquely anglo-saxon political traditions." you know, after significant bipartisan pushback greene is -- she tried to somewhat distance herself. but is there a bigger

constituency in the u.s., mehdi, than we would think, at least before the last few years that would embrace these ideals? i mean, truly embrace them. >> sadly the answer is yes. for far too long we have referred to the marjorie taylor greens and the paul gosars and the matt gaetz as the people behind these sorts of documents as fringe figures. the reality is they're not fringe figures. they may be peddling ideas that we have seen as fringe for many years. this anglo-saxon rhetoric, this america first rhetoric, plenty of historians over the last 48 hours is stray from the playbook of the kkk. it's not hyperbole to say this is ku klux klan receipt trkt 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, straight, almost lifted word for word from kkk documents. but you know, it's been around for a while. but trump legitimizes stuff and marjorie taylor greene and others getting elected and getting supported by kevin mccarthy. when you talk about bipartisan pushback, mccarthy put out some mild subtweet saying oh we don't

agree with this, this is whatnot we should do. but he's also the guy who backed marjorie taylor greene when she arrived in the house. he said give her a chance. and he took his own sweet time to strip her of a committee. i don't see him stripping the others, paul gosar and matt gaetz and others, of these committee assignments. paul gosar of arizona, alex, went to a white supremacist conference hosted by holocaust deniers. he then peddled white supremacist talking points and cartoons on twitter. nothing's been done to him in the weeks since. it's an absolute outrage. the republican party's telling the world we're okay with white supremacy, we're okay with white nationalism. these subtweets don't count. look at the actions and there aren't any actions. >> i'm sure you're going to be talking about this on your show but let me also say you have riz ahmed on your show tonight. he's the star of "the sound of metal." he's been nominated for an academy award. what a role. what a film. everyone has to watch. i'm just saying this is when you all have to watch the catch the mehdi hassan show tonight 8:00 eastern here on msnbc. really looking forward to that, mehdi. thank you, my friend. >> thank you. >> you can also check out mehdi

hassan's show on the peacock streaming channel "the choice." it's weeknights 7:00 eastern. some new details are emerging about how that fedex gunman managed to get his weapons. meanwhile, his devastated family is apologizing for what happened. allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! all good i'm ordering some burritos! oh, nice. burritos?!

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it's velveeta shells & cheese and now save when you order in the app. versus the other guys. ♪♪ clearly, velveeta melts creamier. hello, everyone. i'm alicia menendez. ahead at 7:00 p.m. on "american voices" we speak with reverend william barber about the ongoing fight to protect voting rights across america. that's 7:00 p.m. "american voices" right here on msnbc. numbers of note. help wanted across america as the pandemic recedes and the economy rebounds. so many employers are struggling to hire employees. in a new survey of independent business owners 51% said they found few or no qualified job applicants. a record 42% of all owners had job openings. they just couldn't fill. labor shortages range from construction to transportation to hospitality.

the reasons vary. our friend neil irwin writes in "the new york times" about three potential causes of the labor shortfall including the claim that covid relief benefits are too generous. white house economic adviser jared bernstein is not convinced that's the problem. >> thus far what we're seeing is robust job creation and we're not seeing a great deal of differences between places where, you know, enhanced benefits have more of an impact than places where they don't. >> another possible reason keeping people from working, some fear catching covid at work. others need to be home. irwin cites last month's census survey indicating 6.3 million adults remain home to care for children who might normally be in school or in daycare. others were caring for an older person. and while the covid relief money is an economic lifeline for many americans, it's still not enough for those struggling. a poll this week shows 38 million americans, or 15%, say

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history says: fine jewellery for occasions. we say: forget occasions. (snap) fine jewellery for every day. good day, everyone. from msnbc world headquarters here in new york, welcome to "alex witt reports." here's what's happening at 2:00 p.m. eastern, 11:00 a.m. pacific time. we start with new details about the gunman in the mass shooting at a