tv Alex Witt Reports MSNBC April 25, 2021 10:00am-11:00am PDT
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53% approve, higher than president trump but lower than president obama's. the pandemic, nearly 7 in 10 americans approve of the job president biden is doing. ahead of the 100-day mark, vice president kamala harris giving a wide-ranging interview. amid the discussion, she gave new insight into her working relationship with the president. >> president biden always said that he wants you to be the last person in the room, particularly for big decisions, just as he was for president obama. he just made a really big decision. afghanistan. were you the last person in the room? >> yes. >> and you feel comfortable? >> i do. >> this is a president who is an extraordinary amount of courage. he is someone who i have seen over and over again make decisions based on what he truly believes based on his years of doing this work and studying
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these issues, what he truly believes is the right thing to do. >> on his 99th day in office, the president will deliver his first address as president to a joint session of congress. today we're getting an early look at what the republican response and criticism could look like. >> i'm sure he's going to talk about unity and bipartisanship, which he's not done since he's been up there. i wish he would talk about the crisis on the border, which he created. he'll talk about, why aren't all our schools open, and the $30 trillion debt and the inflation that's picking up. >> meanwhile, optimism is growing on capitol hill around police reform in the wake of several recent police shootings. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle discussing the prospects of a deal earlier today. >> for negotiations to be formal, we have to have the blessings of the leaders and hopefully that will come in the next few days. speaker pelosi has been supporter. senator scott, i do not believe, is acting on his own. he is acting with the approval and support of his leadership. i do think that the will is
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there. >> we can solve the issues if there's will to get there. and i think there's will to get there on part of both parties now. >> major news made right here on msnbc. congresswoman val demings considering with jonathan capehart she is considering running for governor or senator in florida. >> i am seriously considering running, jonathan. i have received calls and texts and messages from people all over the state, asking me to run because they feel they are not represented. >> i noticed that you didn't specify which office. you're thinking of either one? >> that's absolutely correct. i want to go, jonathan, to the position where i can do the most good. >> and that is some news right there. let's expand on the headlines with monica alba and amanda golden. welcome to you, both. monica, based on the new polls, what generally do americans
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think about biden's first 100 days? >> reporter: they're pleased with how the president has handled what he said would be his top priority in the first three months, and that the coronavirus pandemic. getting covid relief across the finish line is what he seems to be getting the highest marks for, and with the economy, some say he's working to united the country. diving into some of the numbers where he isn't necessarily getting that approval rating and people think he needs to be doing more is on the issue of gun safety and also immigration reform. these are things the president is working on in a parallel track, doing some executive orders, for instance. there so far hasn't been that much progress in either in terms of actual legislation on capitol hill. so, if you look at the polling here and how it compares to his predecessors, president biden is enjoying a 53% approval rating. that compares to former president trump who was at 40% at this same benchmark four years ago.
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former president obama was at 61% back then. that gives you a historical sense. overall, this white house really wanted to make something clear, which is this president was not going to govern by tweet, he wasn't going to be trying to create any scandal. that's what these respondents identified in our own msnbc news polling. some saying what they like about this president is they don't have to wake up every day worrying about him, in the words of one north carolina voter. where we see a shift is on immigration. that's something they want to see him do more. they're only giving him an approval rating of 53% compared to 59%. we're now hearing from vice president kamala harris, who has been tasked with handling the diplomatic piece of this in terms of relationship with the northern triangle countries and we're hearing a little more about how she views that role and what she wants to do specifically on this topic in the coming weeks. >> we're making progress, but
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it's not going to evidence itself overnight. it will not. but it will be worth it. >> are you going to go there? >> yes. we're working on a plan to get there. we have to deal with covid issues, but i can't get there soon enough. >> the vice president is scheduled to travel to the region in june. we know she's been having some virtual meetings with the lead ez of guatemala and mexico scheduled a couple days from now. this is something where her role has been scrutinized a little bit, alex. there have been questions about how you define success with such a big task and homework assignment as to handling this. remember, it was former vice president biden who was in charge of this when former president obama tasked him with it all those years ago. the vice president says she seems her role in a similar manner but it's taking up a huge portion of her portfolio. >> it's a huge issue. let's go to amanda golden on capitol hill. what can we expect to hear from
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president biden's first address to congress on wednesday? >> reporter: we certainly expect him to tout his accomplishments in the first 100 days ahead and sell lawmakers in the audience and american public on his next legislation. we have new polls to show how americans have been identifying. 47% of registered voters preferring democratic-controlled congress with 42% preferring republicans in charge. and going onto the infrastructure plan biden is trying to promote, 59% approval, 21% disapproving. that's a very notable advantage for biden as he tries to work to sell that to congress now. also for biden's handling of the pandemic, as you noted, one of the critical issues of his presidency so far, that 69% approval with only 27% disapproing of his handling. in address is an opportunity for biden to move forward on his
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legislaive priorities, the infrastructure plan that he's put forward. we have heard from senate republicans who detailed their own rebuttal this week with that $568 billion component of infrastructure they want to hone in on the transportation elements of infrastructure. less of the human elements that were also included as part of biden's plan. his address coming at the 100-day mark. this is oftentimes a scorecard of a benchmark to see just how far he's come. here on -- within capitol hill and lawmakers, it's still in the eye of the beholder. we heard new reaction from democratic congresswoman beattie and kevin mccarthy. take a listen. >> you have to look at what he inherited, whether it was the economy, whether it was the lack of attention to covid-19, whether it was the injustices. we're in a unique time. i think he's been faced -- dealing with it face on and i'm very pleased with what he's done
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in the first 100 days. >> if i look at the 100 days, it's more like a bait and switch. the bait was he was going to govern as bipartisan, but the switch is, he's governed as a socialist. >> there's certainly some unique elements to the upcoming address in the new normal with the pandemic. it's going to be far scaled down to where it usually is and happening a couple months later than it typically does. only expect 200 audience members in the house chamber for this address, compared to the usual 1,600 that would normally be there. another historic first, biden will be delivering his address with two women behind him in the frame as he delivers that address. house speaker nancy pelosi on one side and vice president kamala harris on the other. >> something you and i both appreciate. there you have it, amanda golden, thank you so much. joining me for analysis, robert gibbs, former white house press secretary and msnbc political analyst and alisa menendez. good to see you both.
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robert, i'm curious what you make of the poll numbers. among them, the president's approval rating. even the fact that those polled preferred democrats to republicans. what's your assessment 100 days in? >> well, i think 100 days in, that poll shows the biden white house, there's a lot to like. the big numbers you mentioned, 69% approval of his response to covid-19, which is something he would spend a lot of time on. 59% support his infrastructure plan. so, again, i think lots of good news at the 100-day mark. there's warnings on immigration and border security. a couple numbers that stood out for me, the vaccine hesitancy numbers. 35% of the country says they're either waiting to see if there are any impacts to the vaccination or 20% who say they're not going to get it. they understand -- i think a biden white house understands
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this next stair step in vaccinations is going to be the hardest part in getting herd immunity and getting a majority of people vaccinated. >> what's the difference between biden stands and the guy you worked for, barack obama, he was at 61% at this point. why the difference? >> i think probably a much more polarized country even than we had in 2009. i know sometimes that seems hard to believe, but i think one of the pollsters that conducted the poll said, you can change the president but you can't change the country. and the 53% approval is within the neighborhood of the 51 or so percent that joe biden got on election night. i don't think i'm terribly surprised that these numbers are at 53%, but, look, i thinkist the numbers inside that really show, i think, a strong 100-day report card for this president. now, folks that work in the white house will understand the 100-day mark is really terribly
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artificial. and it really is going to be the rest of the year that determines the trajectory of where this goes, particularly around these two big infrastructure projects. >> every saturday and sunday you give voice to those who have struggled to get their voices heard about all the issues that are most pressing to them. do you think this president has delivered for those americans, as much as can be expected at this early point? >> well, as always, i think that depends on who you ask. you look at that polling. clearly there is broad support for this president, especially of his handling around this pandemic. i think that relief has been felt immediately. if you were someone that received one much those direct payment checks, you felt that element of relief. if you were one of the millions of americans who received a covid vaccine, you have felt the relief. it is hard to quantify the relief you have felt from that vaccination. at the same time, there are so many things, so many forms of relief americans are looking
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for. systemic change that are going to take a little longer for this administration and for congress to deliver, whether you're talking about policing reforms, whether you're talking about reimagining america's child care system as a form of infrastructure, whether you're talking about immigration. gibbs just said there, the immigration numbers were potentially a point that the biden administration is going to need to look at. i would underscore, people are looking at that both ways. you have people looking ait the as a question of border security. you also have people looking at it as a question of this administration not choosing to role back title 42, a question of whether or not this administration is going to use the full weight, their full political power in order to push for a path way to citizenship, push that through congress. i think there is both the immediate relief that people have felt. they are clearly celebrating that in these polls. then when it comes to these bigger systemic questions,
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there's still a lot of work to be done. >> you have to wonder how patient can be or should be given how critical some of these things are when they pop up. the issue of guns, for example. robert, you have joe biden, he did make a promise at his inauguration to unite the country. while more than 50% approve of his job doing just that, we have nbc news polling that shows over 80% of america still think it's really divided. what do you make of that? can both be true? you have 82% saying the country is divided but 50% say he's doing a good job. >> well, i think that's a demonstration that he's trying, he's reaching out. he's having meetings at the white house to bring people together, look for bipart solution on covid relief, on vaccinations, on the economy. but i think at the same time, it's a recognition that much has been said that 80% of the country doesn't feel that it's -- or feels it's still
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divided. it is going to take a long time for this country to feel it's not divided anymore. and it's going to take a lot longer than 100 days. it may take more than four years to get there. we didn't get here overnight and he with wouldn't get out of it overnight. much like immigration and guns. these are issues and feelings that have built up really for years and years. and i think it is unrealistic and unfair to think that after 100 days those type of systemic issues would be solved. >> how do you think the president is doing at balancing the demands of moderate democrats versus progressive democrats? >> i promise i'm going to answer that question, but i also want to add onto what robert just said there. while that division is very deep and very real, there are also some very loud voices who feel they benefit from fanning the flames of that division. so, when you talk about some of
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these faux populist republicans, if they want people to buy into that idea, part of what they have to sell is that government can't work, government can't deliver. so every time joe biden is able to show that the opposite is true, that government can actually be used as an engine for change, the government is capable of getting things done, that government is capable of offering relief, as they have shown with their handling of this pandemic, then he provides a strong counternarrative for what those who would seek to sort of propel that division are looking to do. on this question of moderates and progressives, sometimes i think this issue gets framed as though progressives are some type of headache for president biden to deal with. in reality, i think it is -- it is in many ways the reverse. i think they are often pushing for policies when you're looking really big picture, like action on climate change, like action on student debt, that are very popular, and they are propelling
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the president, giving him some of the momentum he needs in the court of public opinion in order to get some of that stuff done. >> thank you for answering both. i appreciated the first answer, too. robert, i want to play something that vice president harris said this morning. take a listen. >> this is a president who has an extraordinary amount of courage. he is someone who i have seen over and over again make decisions based on what he truly believes based on his years of doing this work and studying these issues. what he truly believes is the right thing to do. and i'm going to tell you something about him. he is aacutely aware it may not be popular or advantageous for him personally. >> you were press secretary in the obama white house. you know joe biden. is this the same joe biden that you knew back in the obama
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administration? >> yeah, absolutely, alex. i mean, i think the decision that he made recently on afghanistan, again, echoed a lot of what i heard sitting in meetings in the situation room in late 2009 around that issue. i think in many ways he's very much the same person that i knew back then. i will say i think that if you look at some of what is happening around infrastructure and climate change, i think it's also a president that realizes that a lot of these problems have lingered far too long, and they're not going to get better if we keep kicking the can down the road. and i think you've seen really bold infrastructure plans, big plans around cutting emissions that contribute to climate change because he understands, quite frankly, we don't have four or six or eight years to waste on this topic. so, i think both he's steady in what he's believed, and i think as the vice president said, he's using that experience, but i
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also think he understands the moment in time that he sits in that oval office requires some big decisions and quick action. >> yeah. i enjoyed this conversation so much. it was good for everyone except alicia because you'll be doing more o.t., is all i have to say. you have long days on sunday. she's coming back. we're going to make it a long day on sundays for you. tonight, as i said, you can join alicia with dr. fauci and congressman ruiz, they're address issues around covid and washington's effort to end the pandemic. tonight at 7:00 p.m. herein on msnbc. sharing the shots as the u.s. begins to face a vaccine surplus, the push to help other countries coping with a new surge of the virus. a new surge of the virus
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control a record-breaking surge in cases. world record case numbers are pushing the country's health care system to the brink and the rising death toll is forcing many to hold mass cremations in places like parking lots, even in city parks. nbc's matt bradley is following this story from us from london. i mean, couldon get even more dire than it is right now in india? what's the latest there? >> reporter: yes, absolutely it could. already india has been -- you know, that daily record you just mentioned, that record-breaking day today, nearly 350,000 new cases in one day, that's the fourth time in as many days that india has broken that record. so, basically we're seeing an exponential increase in the number much cases. the number of deaths is still very high. it's about 200,000 on a national level, but it's actually quite a bit more than that now. but they're really worried that this is undercounting because of the number of people who haven't been tested, the number of
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people who have died at home, as you mentioned, cremated, sometimes in their own backyards. this problem is not only getting worse, it's already a lot worse than it looks. take a look. >> an entire subcontinent is gasping for air. as india breaks another world record for new daily infections, nearly 350,000 on saturday alone. hospitals are turning patients away for lack of oxygen. many arrive barely able to walk. this young girl watched her mother die minutes after arriving at the hospital. >> when you walk outside the hospitals and you see that rush and people calling frantic calls, crying on the phone that, please, can you help me. all i can say is, yes, i'm trying. >> reporter: the government flying in oxygen tanks on air force planes and sending special oxygen express trains around the country. >> who would ever think there would be a shortage of oxygen to breathe. it's like, terrible. >> reporter: crematories are overflowing with corpses so families have been allowed to
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bury their loved ones wherever they can, teen in their backyards. desperate to find medical care, some are resorting to the black market. >> i am searching on the streets for my mother. >> reporter: the black market price of the shot remdesivir, $1,000. as much as he makes in one month. >> people are dying on the roads, people are crying, please give us one dose of injection. >> reporter: fewer than 1.5% of india's population is fully vaccinated. >> we thought we had won the war against covid. we had done beautifully. >> reporter: the government relaxed rules, allowed a festival a few weeks ago. that turned india's second wave into a tsunami. and, you know, alex, in addition to the obvious and horrific humanitarian tragedy that's been going on in india, indians are arguing helping what is the second largest country in the
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world by population is imperative for the entire global population because when you have the virus spreading at such massive speeds throughout such a huge population, you're asking for new and deadly, more resistant variants of this virus. that's exactly what's happening in india. it's a new indian-borne variant moving through it, and that variant could test the entire world and defy some of the vaccines that the rest of us here in the developed world, britain and the u.s. have already administered. >> thank you so much for that. you're putting all of this into perspective. i do have some good news to share. i'm going to discuss it with the man joining me, california congressman adam schiff, the chairman of the house intelligence committee. congressman, it's awfully good to see you. apparently the national security advisers of the united states, jake sullivan and the national security adviser of india have just spoken. the united states is going to be helping india. they recognize this dire situation. there's a number of ways in
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which they're going to do it. they'll give raw material to help them develop their own vaccines there. the vaccine there is covid shield vaccine and provide things like ppe, the oxygen you saw matt bradley talking about, how there's a lack of oxygen supply in that country. very much noting the urgent need for all of this. therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators. i mean, that is great news. tell me how important you think this kind of help is for a country like india because we have to keep in mind, coronavirus does not just stay within our borders. this is a global pandemic. >> that's exactly right. i think it's great our national security adviser is conferring with india's national security adviser and reaching these agreements where we'll help provide some raw materials and precursors so they can ramp up production of their own vaccine. but also help provide them with ventilators or oxygen with
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therapeutics. india came to our aid early in the pandemic when we were being hit really hard. there's a very long history of the united states and india working together on vaccination programs. global vaccination programs. so, there's a lot of history here. and as your correspondent so rightly pointed out, you know, as long as the vaccine is proliferating anywhere in the globe, you'll have it mutating. the more that happens, the more we're at risk at home as well because those mutations may get around the vaccinations that many americans have already received. so we're all in this together. we have, i think, a huge humanitarian interest in helping our friends in india and around the globe but we also have a strong self-interest as well. >> are we in this enough to send some of our supply of vaccines to india? a lot of headlines suggest there's greater supply than
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demand right now, so should some go to india? >> well, i think we are reaching the point, and we could see this coming, i think weeks ago, where the problem in the united states would no longer be the supply of vaccines, but, rather, people's hesitancy about getting vaccinated. now, i think the president has been very prud end to make sure we have an adequate supply for all americans, as we've seen, there were problems with j&j. that has now been approved once again. we want to make sure that we protect our own citizens, but i think we are at the point now, because of the hesitancy, where we have to ramp up our efforts to educate people but we're also in a position to do more to help our neighbors in canada and mexico and help others around the world, including india. >> absolutely. do you find vaccine hesitancy, very quickly, to be a problem of national security concern? >> well, it certainly poses a very real threat to american
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lives. i knew this was going to be a problem when i visited the vaccination sites in my district, including pfizer, and 25% of their own medical personnel was reluctant to get the vaccine. 25% of medical personnel are hesitant, then the population at large is going to have even greater hesitancy. we really need to get that herd immunity in the united states to stop the mutation of the virus. so, the this is a supreme challenge. it's one we can overcome, but it's going to mean that we all need to push to have good information. >> let's talk about what happened yesterday when the president became the first u.s. president to acknowledge the killing of more than a million armenian by turks, classifying it as genocide. earlier on the floor of the house you delivered an open letter to the president calling on him to do this. for our viewers who may not know the details beyond the horrific numbers, tell us why this is significant. >> the facts of history are very plain.
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in the first genocide, the ottoman empire wiped out a million armenian men, women and children. our failure to recognize that tells the perpetrators of other potential genocides, or other genocides going on, that the united states won't have the fortitude to stand up to them. so, it's important historically. it's certainly important for so many armenians around the world who have seen their pain and their loss denied. but it's also very important today, even while armenians and armenia itself fears there could be another genocide after the war waged on them by turkey and azerbaijan. >> turkey's foreign minister, their ambassador in ankara protest. >> i think it's a pretty muted reaction by turkey.
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i think turkey understands it needs the united states more than the united states needs turkey. but nonetheless, we've seen this drift of turkey away from the west, a drift towards russia. they're buying air defense systems from russia. turkey is increasingly sidling up to iran and erdogan is becoming the autocrat, moving away from democracy. turkey is the leading jailer of journalists in the world. we've seen this disturbing drift by turkey already. and i think the president concluded, quite rightly, if the u.s./turkish relationship depends on us being complacent on a genocide, it can't be -- >> you mentioned russia. i would like to talk to you about moscow having ordered its troops to withdraw from the border of ukraine after that massive buildup. what do you make of the show of force put on with these drills. was it meant to be threatening? was it meant to be a test on how
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president biden would respond? >> i think it was for exactly those purposes. there was a question while they were doing it, were they going to invade ukraine again? it appears they're not invaing ukraine, at least not at the moment. but coming so early in the biden presidency, i think this was a shot across the bow to say, united states, this is our sphere of influence, this is our becomeyard, you need to stay out. we're prepared to do whatever we need to do to vindicate our interests in the region, including remaking the maps of europe by war. the first time since world war ii. i think it was a powerful message that putin was trying to send and joe biden had his own powerful message to send back in the conversations he's had with putin, pushing back hard on ukraine, pushing back hard on russian meddling on our elections, pushing back hard on the poisoning of opposition leaders, including navalny. the united states made it clear
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to putin that we're not going to be in the thrall of the klemm lynn dictatorship. >> congressman schiff, thank you. police reform an america. do lawmakers have the political will to legislate significant changes? so when her car got hit, she didn't waste any time. she filed a claim on her usaa app and said, “that was easy.” usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa. incomparable design makes it beautiful. state of the art technology, makes it brilliant. the visionary lexus nx. lease the 2021 nx 300 for $349 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.
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a new push to release body camera video in the fatal shooting of andrew brown jr. in north carolina and it is coming from the sheriff's department. nbc's kathy park is joining from us elizabeth city. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: good afternoon to you. despite the national spotlight here in elizabeth city, i can tell you it's been relatively quiet for the most part. especially in front of the sheriff's department. we know a few protesters have come through the community and
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overnight there were some gatherings as well. but these protests have been relatively peaceful, but as you mentioned, there is growing pressure to release that body camera footage. there is a growing list of people who want this to happen. this includes city officials, the city manager, the mayor came out saying they will be putting in a formal request on monday. and now the sheriff has come out saying he will begin the formal steps to release the footage. take a listen. >> we want the body camera footage made public. some people have falsely claimed that my office has the power to do so. that is not true. only a judge can release the video. our county will file a motion in court, hopefully monday, to have the footage released. >> reporter: and, alex, we have made several calls to the sheriff's department to offer any sort of clarity, a timeline exactly when this footage may be released. he said that the request will go
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in tomorrow, but we don't know if this means it will be hours before it's released or it could be days. but officials here on the ground, they haven't released too much about this shooting. we do know deputies were serving a search, arrest warrant on wednesday when things took a deadly turn. and that's why this community is growing so frustrated because that's all they're working with. they want more answers and they're hoping the release of this body camera footage could fill those gaps. >> 100% to your point. we don't know when it will be released but it can't come soon enough. thank you so much. joining me now, democratic msnbc contributors. welcome to you both. i'm curious to you're reaction, juanita, to what you heard. why do you think it took pressure from officials and local organizations and the news media bringing that to light for the county sheriff to agree to release the footage?
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>> look, i don't think county sheriffs are going to be quick to release any video that can provide damning evidence against their deputies. that gives us an inclination, including the 911 call in, about andrew banks jr. shot in the back. all signals right now point to really damning information that is likely going to be coming to light. that's why the sheriff's office was probably hesitant to even take this step. what i found jarring as they released the prerecorded video earlier this week, they're calling for transparency but only now are they working with the courts to file the patrolman paperwork to get the body camera footage released. i think that pressure is going to continue because i think in addition to not moving forward to quickly release the body camera footage, they haven't provided any additional information. the names of the officers, any insight from the crime scene. nothing has been released yet. tensions are appropriately rising because people are
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exhausted and traumatized from the cadence of black people being murdered by police. >> eric, to that point, this is one of several police-involved shootings across the country. how different is the world now that these videos exist? how much pressure does this put on officials? >> well, i think the george floyd verdict and the reaction to the video we saw last year shows that these videos can have a tremendous impact in terms of people feeling they get some sort of objective view of what happened in a police shooting when they see the video. i think that's ramped up the pressure on police departments to make these videos available as soon as possible. in the case of george floyd's death, luckily a bystander videotaped or recorded the encounter and then made it public because the body cam video from the officers involved wasn't made public, as far as i understand, until august. he was killed, i believe, in
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may. so, i think what we need to see now is police departments and law enforcement institutions develop policies to allowing them to release footage more quickly so people can see for their own eyes what may have happened. you know, in the case of the young teenager who was shot dead in ohio, the police did that, they released the footage as soon as they could and it cleared up misinformation circulating on social media about what happened between the officers and the people involved in the altercation. and so i think there's a sense that there's a lot of pressure to remove the red tape and allow police to release these videos as soon as possible. >> you know, eric, you and i spoke about that during coverage together of the george floyd trial. i'm curious about the conviction. were you surprised by it or watching the trial, did you think, it could end up the way it did? >> well, you know, i'm a black
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man in america, so i was highly cynical about whether or not he would actually be found guilty. i'm also a journalist and i've had -- have covered this very closely and police officers have wide latitude to employ deadly force if they think they're in trouble. another reason why the existence of the video from the bistandsers was so important, because we were able to see, you know, exactly what the situation was without any sort of spin on either side. and so in the end, just considering the evidence, i thought it would have been impossible for him to not be found guilty, but knowing the wide latitude officers are given in court, i was still skeptical and concerned and gratified to see the result that happened. >> yeah. after the conviction, president biden made a statement but he allowed vice president kamala harris to express her sentiments
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first. some suggest that that was significant. how important a moment do you think that was? >> oh, it was absolutely significant, alex. kamala harris moves through this world as a black woman and to have her voice heard is incredible, especially having joe biden step back and allow his vice president to step forward and to enter this moment and express herself fully. i think it was important, especially as a black person existing in this country, knowing that it wasn't a done deal. it wasn't a secure moment until we heard each verdict called out and read by that judge. and even in that moment, i don't think i was surprised -- there was a moment of relief but that exhaustion and trauma still set in because hours before the verdict was read, we have bryant killed in ohio. the next morning we have andrew brown jr. killed in north carolina. it's a steady drum beat that
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rips through us. but it calls for more than we think washington has the appetite for in terms of reforming police. because this is absolutely a moment when we need to seriously look at other community-based, unarmed responses, whether that be people with mental health crises, family disruptions or traffic stops even so we can eliminate the cycle of black people being murdered at the hands much police on an almost daily basis. >> if i can break in quickly. one thing that concerns me about is we're pressuring these police departments to release this video, but that means we are also initiating this torrent of images of black pain and death. >> and trauma. >> and we have to endure the trauma of seeing black people killed by law enforcement just to hold law enforcement accountable. it has to be become an international incident where the footage is replayed over and over again on cable television and online.
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and we have to find a way, i think, to hold officers accountable without putting black people through this trauma again and again and again, week after week, day after day, just to get justice. >> yeah. very thoughtful discussion, you guys. thank you so much. i appreciate you both a lot. what do americans want and when do they want it? the answers to those questions plus another one, can washington get it done? that's next. that's next. we didn't stop at computers. we didn't stop at storage or cloud. we kept going. working with our customers to enable the kind of technology that can guide an astronaut back to safety. and help make a hospital come to you, instead of you going to it. so when it comes to your business, you know we'll stop at nothing. ♪♪ if you have moderate to severe psoriasis... or psoriatic arthritis,
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a new nbc news poll is giving us a fresh look at how americans view president biden's sweeping infrastructure plan. 59% say the president's $2.3 trillion proposal is a good idea. by party, 87% of democrats, 68% of independents, but 21% of republicans support biden's plan. joining me now is florida congresswoman stephanie murphy, a member of the house ways and means and armed services committee. thank you for joining me, congresswoman. you were just at the white house with with the blue dog coalition, which you co-chair, by the way. you also met virtually with transportation secretary pete buttigieg. you were talking about the jobs plan. so, give me your number one takeaway from these discussions. what did you learn about the interest of the white house and whether they're going to match up with more moderate democrats. >> great to be with you, alex. yes, in our meetings with white
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house senior staff as well as transportation secretary buttigieg, you know, the tone was positive and productive. i think it was a reflection of the fact that across this country, everyone understands, as your poll reflects, that he with need to make investments to rebuild our nation's infrastructure and really create a 21st century jobs plan that enables the american people to get back to work. you know, a lot of the details are still being hammered out. i think the fact that the white house is meeting with blue dogs and other coalitions within the house and the senate is a good sign that they are open to negotiating and open to constructing the boldest package that the votes will bear to ensure we deliver for the american people. and so i think a lot of work lies in front of us, but the imperative is very much strong and agreed on in a bipartisan across this country.
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>> but there's not a dollar sign agreement yet. you have senate republicans who have unveiled the $568 billion infrastructure proposal, pretty wide gap there between that and the more than $2 trillion plan from the president. is there we have to are way behind on infrastructure. the proposal put up may not go far enough where the needs that exist in our communities are, and i think, i want to do both things in a bipartisan way, because inaction isn't an option, but there are a lot of pathways for us to make the
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necessary investments whether it's through the appropriations process or the larger infrastructure bill, and then let's also be very clear. the republicans that are negotiating right now, there's only four of them. we need ten votes from republican senators in order to get a bill across the finish line. so they need to, more upon building their coalition as well. >> good point on the numbers. i know you've been invited to attend the president's address to congress wednesday. what do you specifically want to hear from the president? >> i'm excited to have been invited to the address. i think it will be a vision for how we can build back better, and you know, as he nears his first 100 days in office, he has already worked with us in congress to deliver immediate relief to the american people. including getting shots into the arms of every american as well as getting checks into pockets as we try to recover from this economic recession. and i think his speech will focus on the path that lies
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ahead, and what it looks like as we rebuild our country postpandemic. i know there are a lot of challenges out there, but given his performance in the first 100 days i'm very optimistic about the future. >> mentioned you are a member of the blue coalition, a member of the caucus giving response after the speech. is that necessary, in your mind? >> you know, people will give the responses that they want to, but, you know, whether we are moderates or progressives we are far mow united as democrats focused on values for the middle class, small businesses and working for the working family. we are united by those values far more than there are differences between the various ends of the caucus. what's different is the difference between democrats and republicans. republicans who continue to try to obstruct a path forward to help working families pull out
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of this economic recession. and i think the focus will be on what the republican rebuttal to the president's forward-looking speech will be. >> all right. florida congresswoman stephanie murphy. good to see you. come see me again. thank you very much. what americans think about going back to the office. that's next. they wanted it fixed fast. they drove to safelite autoglass for a guaranteed, same-day, in-shop repair. we repaired the chip before it could crack. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust, when you need it most. ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ cell phone repair. did you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? just get a quote at libertymutual.com. really? i'll check that out.
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expanded unemployment benefits during the pandemic. 19 states reinstate add rule requiring those receiving jobless benefits to look for work. four more states will do so likewise, soon, numbers of note here. breaking news top of the hour how american is lending a hand to a in desperate need, and new polling numbers for president biden. what do they tell us? do they ts
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from msnbc headquarters in new york. welcome to alex witt reports. relative to breaking news, a ray of hope for the desperate situation in india. just learned in the past hour the u.s. is now sending aid including rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, ppe and more to assist the doctors fighting a staggering even historic spike in coronavirus cases in india. it has seen the biggest daily increase in cases of any country four days in a row. hospitals, in fact, are returning out of oxygen. joining me now, nbc news medical contributor dr. bhadelia. heartwarming to hear what we'll be able to do to help india. probably a drop in the bucket when you think what they're battling. talk how much you think these supplies will help and what needs to happen in india to keep this virus from spreading? >> yeah. i'm going to start wit
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