that may help you put this rms drama in its place. kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions and slowing disability progression versus aubagio. don't take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. while no cases of pml were recorded in rms clinical trials, it could happen. tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. the most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache and injection reactions. dealing with this rms drama? it's time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. dramatic results. less rms drama. - [narrator] this is dr. harold katz. he used to worry about how to fix the world's oral health problems. - i think i've got it. - [narrator] then he invented therabreath formulas. - you want fresh breath? i'll give you a fresh breath.

- [narrator] for fresh breath, healthy gums, dry mouth, and healthy smiles. - whoa, that's fresh. - [narrator] now, the world's mouths have never been healthier. (sighs contentedly) - works for 24 hours, i guarantee it. therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. - [narrator] available at walmart, target and other fine stores. it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, - [narrator] available at walmart, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. good day, everyone. welcome to alex witt reports.

here's what's happening. we start this hour in elizabeth city, north carolina, where there's a public viewing for the late andrew brown jr. he'll be laid to rest tomorrow, more than a week after his shooting death at the hands of sheriff deputies. let's go to vaughn hillyard. what's going on there? >> reporter: yeah, alex, this is a community waiting for the district attorney to decide whether he'll press charges against three deputies who on april 21st shot and killed andrew brown jr. it was a search warrant they were trying to conduct. there's a discrepancy what the district attorney is saying based off body cam footage the public has not seen. while that is debated and while

the district attorney makes the decision, the community is dealing with the loss of andrew brown jr. a funeral procession will be led right here across the street where his public viewing will be taking place this afternoon. then tomorrow afternoon is when his funeral service will take place. this afternoon there's a march for criminal justice reform here that has led members of the community and a couple hundred folks from around north carolina here. i want to bring in one individual from this community who we just met. could you tell me your relation to andrew brown jr. and what means to your community smchlt. >> i've been in this community my entire life. the street this all happened, i grew up on. andrew was a few years younger than me. we all grew up in the same area. this is important. we need justice for drew. i have two young boys. this could have happened to them. we need to find justice and do this for drew.

this is all for drew. justice for andrew brown jr. >> reporter: what has this last week and a half been like? we haven't seen the body cam footage. what do you want to take place over the next weeks to bring solace to this community and feel you are getting justice? >> we need the family to see the entire video. we need transparency from all law enforcement. we need them to see what happened. we need no more lies. we need everything to be at the forefront. >> reporter: thank you so much. the judge ruled this week the family will see all angles of the body cam footage by the end of this next week. then about a month from now, once the district attorney makes the decision whether to press charges, it will be at that point the judge could release it to the public. in the meanwhile it's here this afternoon hundreds are now

gathered. the viewing of andrew brown jr. will take place tomorrow. alex? >> thank you, vaughn. let's bring in keniesh grant. you heard vaughn say andrew brown's family doesn't know how he was killed. they've only seen about 20 seconds of body cam footage. a judge's order will allow them to view it next weekend. why the big delay? what do you make of this situation? >> that's my question too. why can't we see it? i don't know what could be a good reason for having this delay, other than expecting there's something happening there that they don't want to have public scrutiny about. not only should the family be able to view that video, the nation should. as we've seen, one of the only ways we get accountability when police misuse their authority or

mishandle situations is when we have the eyes of the nation, or the globe, watching. maybe they don't want us to see because maybe something happened they don't want to be accountable for. we need to see. >> when you look at how quickly congress passed the bipartisan protecting the asian community from hate crimes, does that inspire confidence in you that congress can get something passed? >> i don't know that i would make a connection between those two things. i would expect because we had some legislation about our api brothers and sisters that we should expect the same thing. the nation's history with black people is specific. it's a bit longer. it's a bit more tumultuous.

so for that reason, i think it might be difficult to get something that is perceived as specifically benefiting or protecting black people. i believe in many instances these conversations that we have about policing seem to be thought about as something specific to black people, although we saw last year in the wake of george floyd's death that many people, including white people, faced negative interactions, violent interactions with the police so police reform should be good for everyone. >> i want to get your take on republican senator tim scott. he took a lot of heat for saying america is not a racist country. black activists pushed back saying he's now in a long line of being an apologist. here's what was said yesterday. >> i was shocked when he put that into the mix.

no one ever called america the racist country. that's not the problem here. there are systemic racism in various jurisdictions in this country. that's the problem. >> did scott have a strategy here? did he make a mistake not making that distinction like james clyburn did? >> i can't be clear about what he was thinking. i think he's trying to position himself as one who is acceptable to folks in the republican party as a black person who is not to be feared or who should not cause worry. i think he might be saying things that will posture to folks who want to believe the nation doesn't have big problems to reckon with. i'm just as confused as representative clyburn. >> let's listen to earlier today. senator scott had an opportunity to explain himself. here's what he said. >> first, let me say that thank goodness finally our president

and vice president and the leaders of the democratic caucus have all said what i've been saying for a long time. america is not a racist country. the question is is there a lingering effect after a couple centuries of racism in this nation, the answer is absolutely. >> okay. how do you interpret that? >> i think he's walking it back a bit. you probably know i'm married to a philosopher. he will call that a strawman argument. he can't expect democratic leaders wouldn't have something to say about this broad claim he made. i think he's trying to walk that back. i think he has to acknowledge, even in his own life, there are systems in the nation that cause problems and we have to address those systems and it's not racist to acknowledge the pain that people feel. >> thanks so much for joining us today. >> later the mayor of elizabeth

city will be joining al sharpton. watch "politics nation" at 5:00 eastern on msnbc. let's look at the other big headlines. the president is turning up the heat on congress, pushing for quick action on several big ticket agenda items. the president is set to hit the road this with to sell his plans to the american people. on capitol hill democrats face an uphill battle. the near $4 trillion price tag of those two bills sparking disagreement between the two parties. >> if you're talking about a scope which is roads and bridges and internet and tunnels and airports and water ways, we can be close. if you're talking about spending hundreds of billions of dollars to benefit public service unions, then we're far apart. >> i can see why this might be hard for my republican colleagues to grasp.

unlike the plans they propose this plan is paid for. unlike the plans they pass, this plan cuts taxes for working people and raises revenue on the wealthiest people in america. they passed a plan that gave $5 trillion to the wealthiest eople in this country. penny of it. now they're complaining when a president wants to invest here at home. plus, new reaction to the fbi raid and seizure of former trump lawyer rudy giuliani. adam shift speaking out this morning. >> the danger here is you have an american citizen, the personal attorney of the president, engaged in pushing out a kremlin false narrative and perhaps being -- doing so at the behest of these ukrainian politicians. the focus of the investigation

appears to be was rudy giuliani secretly working for a foreign power. new details from texas. a special election for the state's sixth congressional district will advance to a run-off. susan wright is vying to fill the seat of her husband ron wright who died of covid. she's advanced to the run-off. nbc news has yet to project who she'll be facing. let's go to mike memoli at the white house. mike, you have biden whose bills are creating a partisan stand-off on capitol hill. how are they being perceived by the american public? >> reporter: as we talk about the second 100 days of this biden administration we look back at the signature

accomplishment of its first 100 days, the american rescue plan. passed only along party lines as the white house wanted to move quickly to get checks in people's wallets. it's been an important part of the white house to build confidence. there's some reason to believe that the white house strategy is on track. there's a new abc/ipsos poll that shows 64% of americans are optimistic for the year ahead. that's the biggest number since the fall of 2006. it's building that momentum that's been a big part of the strategy. how often have you had white house officials on with you saying republicans in washington may not support this but people in the country support what the president is doing. that was the case from ron klain this morning.

take a listen. >> i think what the public is saying that america is on the move again. these common sense measures to give people help with health care, to give people a tax cut is the action they want to see now. >> reporter: the president and vice president hitting the road again this week. the president spending some time tomorrow in southeast virginia. later in the week heading to a very deep red republican state of louisiana. that's a signal i think from the white house of how they feel what they're proposing as bipartisan appeal. that's the public sales job. i got new information from a white house official about what's happening behind the scenes as they try to work for a bipartisan path forward. it's 415 calls or meetings that have happened with law makers on capitol hill and their staffs. 24 senate and house staff level briefing that were either bipartisan or republicans only. then you have that jobs cabinet,

the five cabinet secretaries, focused on selling the plans. they've had calls or meetings with 62 people. alex? >> mike memoli, thank you. republicans turn on congresswoman liz cheney over her criticism of donald trump. they've yet addressed allegations against congressman matt gaetz. some are saying cheney could be ousted from her leadership position. basically the question today is talk about the divide within the republican party. >> reporter: this is the ongoing conversation. i feel like every weekend we come and talk about the new ways the party is grapping over trump, what he means and how it's playing with lay makers in

washington, d.c. this weekend it's happening in washington and in utah. in washington there's a continued hub bub over liz cheney. she's been clear and she doesn't think he should be the future of this party going forward. there's been quiet questioning on the hill over when that was going to bubble up to a point where republican leadership could no longer take it. it seems like we're starting to see the public fissures happening as congressman close to kevin mccarthy are questioning whether or not cheney can retain her leadership position. even mccarthy himself has said if you're not talking about policy, you're talking about other things than the policy and the future of the republican party, then you're not being helpful to the party goals.

we're starting to see this no longer be wispered about. then separately, it's also a question for national republicans. in utah senator mitt romney was at the republican convention there. he referenced his criticism and the ways he has not walked in lock step with former president trump. he avoided a censure from the utah republican party. he did not avoid boos for the positions he's taken. however, fellow republican senator susan collins came to his defense this morning. listen to how she put it. >> mitt romney is an outstanding senator who serves his state and our country well. we republicans need to remember that we're united by fundamental

principles, believe in individual responsibility, freedom, free markets, a strong national defense. we're not a party of -- that is led by just one person. >> reporter: i think the thing that a lot of republicans probably can agree on is that they're not a party led by just one person because most republicans can't agree on who that person is who is going to lead them forward. there are several republicans caught in the role of donald trump going forward. we're seeing them with cheney and romney. there are senators likely is a murkowski who was at odds with the former president. a lot of people wonder how that will shake out electorally as these conversations going, not just on the hill, but conversations where voters weigh in. definitely not the end of this

dust-up within the republican. >> mitt romney, he got those boos when he was criticizing the character of the former president. you would think in conservative utah that would be a sentiment shared by many, if not, all. that's what struck me about it. he wasn't talking politics even. he was talking about the character of donald trump and that which we saw on display for four years and the years leading up to his presidency. ali, thank you for indulging me. something happened ten years ago today that meant a lot to many americans. i'll talk with congresswoman jason crow, next. congresswoman jason crow, next and strengthens and protects natural teeth. so, are you gonna lose another tooth? not on my watch! i'm ordering some burritos! oh, nice. burritos?! get a freshly made footlong from subway® instead. with crisp veggies on freshly baked bread. just order in the app!

ditch the burgers! choose better, be better. subway®. eat fresh.

the u.s. military withdrawal from afghanistan is formally under way. after almost 20 years the biden administration is looking to have all troops out of the country by september 11th.

the taliban is threatening troops in the region. joining me now is congressman jason crow. he's also a former u.s. army ranger. does the violence unfolding in afghanistan give you concern a reemerging taliban could come about in the absence of u.s. pressure there? what's the best approach to keeping pressure on those troops if we don't have a presence in afghanistan? >> there is undoubtedly risk to this decision. there's risk to making a decision to pull out, but there's also risk to making no decision at all. there's substantial risk in staying. the question is not whether or not there's risk. there's risk everywhere in the world. there's risk with china, russia and central america and south

america. we face problems everywhere in the world. we have limited resources to deal with it. we have to make the decision of where best to allocate our resources to meet the growing risks. president biden made that decision to pull down troops. it's one i support. now the question becomes how do we mitigate that risk the best we can? how do we protect our troops during the withdrawal? how do we keep faith that our afghanistan partners will help evacuate those individuals? how do we look at over the horizon options for keeping the taliban in check over the next couple years? >> as the u.s. is withdrawing from afghanistan, i know you've been spear heading a bipartisan effort calling on the president to protect afghan translators. you created the honoring our

promises working group. tell me about the efforts, where they stand and why it's important. >> alex, i've done this for two reasons. i served with the interpreters in afghanistan and iraq. i couldn't have done my mission without them. we wouldn't be able to communicate or do what we had to do to perform our missions. they became essential. they fought alongside us. many died alongside us. we have a moral obligation to protect them and not leave them to the whims of the taliban. they will be killed. no doubt about it. there's a national security element here. we have operations all throughout the world. we work with local partners and translators. the work is watching us right now, how we treat these partners. if we leave them behind, if we

leave them high and dry, when we go to asian and central and south america, people are not going to work with us. we have to make sure we'll showing the world we'll stand by people that stood by us. >> you know what today is. ten years since the killing of osama bin laden. i'm curious what that mission meant to you and the progress you think we've made in the middle east since bin laden was killed. >> it's been an emotional couple weeks with the announcement of the withdrawal. i served on the bin laden task force. i was part of the joint operation task force, the task force with the joint responsibility of trying to find bin laden. i spent most of my 20s looking for osama bin laden.

when ten years ago the announcement was made he was killed, i was watching that in my living room in colorado. there was a closure i felt. right now i'm dealing with a lot of the same emotions as we withdraw our combat operations. we leave a certain bit of ourselves in those countries. there's always a mixture of feelings when there's these milestones and major issues that we deal with. >> thanks for sharing that. i know it's personal to you. let me ask you about gun reform. the president addressed this in the address to congress. he said he's not trying to change the constitution, he's being reasonable. do you think he was effective in his messaging? he's saying no one wants to take guns from law abiding citizens, but firearms can be kept out of the hands of people who

shouldn't have them. is president biden presenting this in a way that gun reform can get to his desk? >> you know, i think his state of the union speech was one of the better speeches i've seen in my life. other presidents get credit for their rhetoric. i come from a working class background. i represent a broad array of folks. president biden is accessible. he's just talking to people. he's having a conversation. i think he's an extremely effective messenger. i'm a gun owner. i'm a lifetime hunter. i was an army ranger. we talk about rights when we talk about the gun debate. we don't talk about our duties and responsibilities. rights have duties and

responsibilities. citizenship comes with duties. we're not fulfilling our duties on the gun debate. we have to do what we have to do to protect each other with responsible gun legislation. >> one question for you about colorado, it's gaining a seat in the next election. what's your sense on that and how it can impact your state? >> we're going to add a congressional seat. we have seven right now. we'll add eight. colorado is leading the way -- we have automatic voter registration, strong voter protection and voting rights. we have nonpartisan redirecting process. we passed an amendment to depoliticize and take the decision out of hands of the

electorate like me. we're going to see this process in colorado. i know the nation a watching us to see how it goes. i don't know what my district is going to look like at the end of the year. i know it will be a nonpartisan process. >> good. all right. takes our cues from colorado and you congressman jason crow, good to see you. we've been talking about georgia, then came florida, now it's texas. the latest push from the republicans to keep you from voting. applebee's irresist-a-bowls all just $8.99.

so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business.

governor desantis is going to sign a new voting law. joining me now is florida represent and "new york times"

reporter. just a few months ago republicans were referring to florida as a model for voting. now they're changing things. can you explain this? >> it's inexplicable. after the november elections, governor desantis said we put the ghost of bush v gore behind us. a few months later and many lies later from the former president, here we are passing georgia-style voter suppression here in florida. >> there's that. nick, it is not just florida. it's also texas. you've written about republicans working on a vast election bill that would be among the most severe in the nation. what's in the works there? >> so, texas is progressing on a bill there that would kind of really overhaul their election system. it's similar in some ways to georgia and florida.

it puts limits on voting by mail, although they have no excuse there. it really targets cities. harris county, home to houston, implemented policies in 2020 such as 24-hour voting and those are out right banned in the new legislation. it has a restriction on how many voting machines can be put in different polling places that election officials i talked to in texas could end up limiting or reducing the amount of polling locations. then there's another provision that will expand the responsibility of partisan poll watchers. with the amped up rhetoric we've been seeing there are fares that those partisan poll watchers could sometimes miss behave. >> you called out joe mansion

and kyrsten sinema saying they could stop this. do you think the democratic party is doing enough to put pressure on them? >> i don't think we're doing enough to put pressure on joe manchin and kyrsten sinema. when you go to the senate, you go there at the very least to preserve the democracy that sent you there. i think it's very important that folks like joe manchin and kyrsten sinema understand what's at stake. they're defending the filibuster while working class people are having their voting rights taken away. that needs understood by them. >> nick, tell me about the article you recently wrote about how republicans in several states are pushing bills to give poll watchers more autonomy. how did this affect voters,

especially voters of color? >> there's a horrid history in this country of partisan poll watchers intimidating voters, harassing votes and used to intimidate voters in cities and communities of color from voting. in recent years there's been a host of laws and regulations that have kept that in check. it's a routine position. you observe the process and so it goes. president trump in 2020 was touting an army of poll watchers. there was great fears there would be amped up poll watchers. we saw that in wayne county in detroit. they were harassing election officials. in a few spotted areas in harris county, i found about 44 instances. the new laws are making it harder to remove these poll

watchers if they misbehave. in texas they have to almost commit voter fraud or a felony to be removed. a lot of activists i spoke to say by setting this bar so high it's almost authorizing some of these partisan poll watchers to intimidate voters. >> that's interesting. amari, i spoke with your colleague state representative dan daily. he said he believes these bills are designed to make it harder for democrats to win elections. what do you think? >> i agree with my colleague. you have to remember that the state senator who introduced this bill in the senate, he's not just a state senator. he's the chairman of the republican party of the state of florida. the republican house member who introduced this bill, he's not just a state representative, he's the former chairman of the republican party in the state of florida. this bill is not about election integrity. it's about point shaving.

what's very interesting, akin to some of the provisions of the texas bill, there's a provision in this bill that would pro prevent local voters -- local governments are being attacked, especially in blue areas for responding to lawsuits about voting rights by complying with the law. >> you know, nick, can you offer reason as to why the bills are starting to surface in states of florida and texas, usually republican strong holds? >> you look at what happened in 2020. georgia flipped blue. they overhauled their voting laws and added new restrictions. in florida republicans used

voting by mail more than democrats in 2018. that flipped in 2020. then you see republicans start to target vote by mail in this recent law. in texas turnout in cities soared. harris county went up by 10%, a lot of that due to the new options and methods that the county clerk allowed. 24-hour voting, drive-through voting. so it's almost like you don't have to look very far in the past. look at the 2020 election and find the motivation. >> it's worth continuing to discuss. thank you both so much. we're ready for the summer, everyone.

we'll talk about how many people are going to be getting away from it all. we'll look at some new numbers next. more like, yeah right, brothers! get outta here! it's not crazy. it's a scramble. just crack an egg. you could take your ulcerative colitis treatment in a different direction. talk to your doctor about xeljanz, a pill, not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when a certain medicine did not help enough. xeljanz is the first and only fda-approved pill for moderate to severe uc. it can reduce symptoms in as early as two weeks, improve the appearance of the intestinal lining, and provide lasting steroid-free remission.

xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers, including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. you could take your uc treatment in a different direction. ask your gastroenterologist about xeljanz. good morning, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong. yes, you are. i'm gonna get this place all clean. i'll give you a hand. and i'm gonna put lisa on crutches! wait, what? said she's gonna need crutches. she fell pretty hard. you might want to clean that up, girl. excuse us. when owning a small business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage.

-and i'm gonna -- -eh, eh, eh. -donny, no. -oh. mommy, i won a medal. that's amazing! ♪ your radiance comes alive ♪ i got in! ♪ i don't need the rain ♪ celebrate all the moms in your life with sparkling gifts from pandora jewelry. this shot is our shot. the covid-19 vaccines are ready. and so is walgreens, with pharmacists who you know, who know you. so, when you're ready, they'll be ready to give it to you safely, for free. this is our shot at bringing our communities back together. providing healing, not just for some, but for all. this is our shot. this is our shot. this is our shot. ♪ this is a cold call. ♪ yeah, what y'all want? will you turn to cold washing with tide? tide cleans better in cold than the bargain brand in hot. so, mr. t can wash his hanes tees in cold. that's true mr. t.

i pity the fool who don't turn to cold. ahh. splashed down in the gulf of mexico. the first nighttime splash down since 1968. it carried four astronauts. it was hoisted out of the water. mission control eventually

congratulated the crew. >> your crew is really a tribute to resilience. we wish you happy reunions with your families and thanks for flying spacex. new reaction to the transportation security administration's decision to extend its face mask requirement until september. you'll have to keep wearing your face coverings at all airports, buses and rail systems. here to talk about the future of travel is sarah nelson, president of the association of flight attendants. good to have you back. how important is it that the mask mandate has been extended? what does that mean to airline employees? do you think there's a sense of relief that they'll be required now past the may deadline? >> this is not an extension of the mask mandate by itself, but

the enforcement of that mandate. it's important scientist and health care professionals are telling us we need to continue to wear the masks in enclosed spaces so we're not carrying variants of virus until we have everyone vaccinated. we need to continue to wear the masks in enclosed spaces and there's no more enclosed space than the space we work in in the aircraft cabin. this says that the federal government is backing us up in doing our jobs. they're saying when flight attendants say you need to wear the mask, there's a zero tolerance policy from the faa if you're interfering with the instructions that tsa is going to enforce this and there will be fines and jail times if you're not following through. >> the frequency with which i

fly, i'm relieved. i'm glad you have to be tough about it. i'm grateful for it. there's this new report by axios that says 72% of americans are planning summer trips. it was half of that the summer of 2020. do you have a sense what airports are going to look like? >> they're going to be more crowded. it's important everyone follows the rules. we don't want to extend the pandemic. it's a little strange to realize and think back to what it was like when we were dealing with the eboli outbreak. there's some pandemic fatigue going on, but let's listen to the health care experts, the scientists, continue to wear the masks and really respect that so

we can all get back to normal. everybody is ready to travel an and get out. you'll see a lot of full flights. you should prepare for that. we can do it safely if we all follow the rules. >> tsa leaders say we're looking to recruit. we need about 6,000 new officers by summer. many positions are unfilled. does that concern you? what kind of situation could this create at the airports and on flights? >> it's difficult when we have staffing shortages at tsa. that's a problem when we see government shutdowns and when there's cutbacks in government funding. it's also a problem when the tsa agents don't get on the pay scale with the rest of the federal government and attract people to those jobs. we're talking about that this week in front of congress, about

this very issue. it's one of the ways we can attract people to this work and make sure we're staffed up for the summer. >> let me ask you real quick, how long do you think it will take for the airline industry to fully recover? >> one thing that's really important to recognize is that this is going to take an international network to be able to recover. one of the things we're doing is also focusing on getting the vaccine distributed all around the world so we can continue to travel safely to all these countries and attract people to the united states. as long as there's travel restrictions, we're not going to fully recover. as things stand today, experts are saying they're not seeing a full recovery until 2024. the more we can do to spread the vaccines the faster we'll all recover and have those safe jobs and support all the other industries. >> just another good reason to get vaccinated. thank you so much, sarah.

inspiring america by breaking barriers, coming up. eap thank you! hey, hey, no, no limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ frank is a fan of fast. he's a fast talker. a fast walker. thanks, gary. and for unexpected heartburn... frank is a fan of pepcid. it works in minutes. nexium 24 hour and prilosec otc can take one to four days to fully work. pepcid. strong relief for fans of fast. needles. essential for sewing, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. because there are options. like an “unjection.” xeljanz. the first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests.

tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. needles. fine for some. but for you, there's a pill that may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. xeljanz. an “unjection.”

[sizzling] i may not be able to tell time, but i know what time it is. [whispering] it's grilled cheese o'clock.

a new nbc special is highlighting those who have made a positive impact in this last year, inspiring america, the 2021 inspiration list honors those dedicated to making a difference in their communities, culture and country. my next guest is one of those inspiring people. >> now, there are a growing number of inspiring women who are transforming what was once an exclusive boys club, like nfl agent nicole lynn. she became the first african-american woman to represent a top three draft pick. >> any time someone thinks of an agent, they're going to think of me. the first person that's going to come to their mind is a black woman. i'm the jerry maguire, that's who i am. >> joining me now is nicole lynn, an nfl agent and the first african-american woman to represent a top three draft pick. she's also the author of "agent

you, show up, do the work and succeed on your own terms." the book is available on july 13th. but big welcome to you, nicole. i'm curious, because it was two short years ago when you became the first black woman to represent a top three pick. last year for the very first time more than half of first-round picks are represented by black agents and that includes you. so what is it like to be part of these historical moments? >> honestly it's very indescribable. you know, when i wanted to be an agent eight years ago, i remember looking at the business and not seeing many people that looked like me. so being able to achieve the level of success that i have, it's nothing more than a blessing. i'm so happy to be in this position. >> yeah, i can imagine you are. but you've had to go through a couple of things, right? you told nbc's hoda kotb, that there were times people just assumed you were the girlfriend of a player and that team security even kicked you out once because of that.

talk about that experience and some of the challenges you faced to try to get to this point in your career. >> yeah, it's really tough. because these teams or players are not used to seeing women in this role, they don't automatically assume you're an agent. so when you're with the player, they assume you're the wife or the girlfriend or publicist or marketing rep. i've had a number of situations, whether at the nfl combine or that situation where i was with a team trying to see my player, where they're assuming that i'm a girlfriend sneaking in. so i'm hoping that one day that that becomes a part of the past and that women that look like me, it becomes a part of the norm for the agent community. >> yeah, absolutely. despite making some big, huge strides, black agents are now facing another hurdle here, convincing white players to sign with them. you said after last year's draft your goal for this year was to sign a white player so the question for you, nicole, did it happen? and why is it important for you to represent a diverse group of athletes? >> i tried really hard, it did

not happen. it's been a hurdle that myself and other top black agents have been trying to jump. you know, it's really about making sure that everyone in the league finds black agents credible, not just the black players. i think once we're able to convince other ethnicities that black agents are just as good as any other agent, i think we've really made it. so unfortunately, i met with several white players, i did not secure one, but that is still one of my goals because i think it's important to have a diverse representation. >> my money is on you doing it this year. just listening to you and seeing your stamina and endurance and your attitude, i bet you you will. but give me a last thought on the direction of your industry right now as you see it, and how much progress do you think still needs to be made? put that in perspective for me. >> currently i think there's only 17 women out of 900 agents that represent a player. that's a number that probably to you is very shocking but to me is a good thing. it used to be much less.

i think we're trending in the right direction. my hope is that one day there are no more firsts. no more first to do this or that but we're just the best agents. it becomes so much of the norm that we're not being recognized for these firsts. so i think we're trending in the right direction but it's going to take some time. >> i'm just going to say from my vantage point, you're very impressive so best of luck and i hope you reach that goal this reach. thank you so much, nicole lynn. all of you catch the 2021 inspiration list tonight at 10:00 eastern right here on msnbc. that's a wrap, everyone, of alex witt reports. yasmin vossoughian is up next with the results of the texas special election and what it shows about trump's hold on the republican party. ty

this is our block. our place. our people. watch the curb. not having a ride to get the vaccine. can't be the reason you don't get it. you wanna help? donate a ride today. ♪ (ac/dc: back in black) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ back in black ♪ ♪ i hit the sack ♪ ♪ i've been too long... ♪ applebee's irresist-a-bowls are back. dig in for just $8.99. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond.

we started with computers. 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. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: so when it comes to your business, try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette ♪look at what's happened to me.♪ ♪i can't believe it myself.♪ ♪suddenly i'm up on top of the world...♪ maybe it is dirtier than it looks. ♪should've been somebody else...♪ it is dirtier than it looks. try new tide hygienic clean.

♪ it's grilled cheese time. ♪ ♪ yeah, it's time for grilled cheese. ♪ ♪ after we make grilled cheese, ♪ ♪ then we're eating grilled cheese. ♪ ♪ because it's time. ♪ ♪ yeah. ♪ ♪ time for grilled cheese. ♪ so what do you love about your always pan? the non-stick? incredible. the built-in spatula rest? genius? i just learned to cook and this pan makes it so easy.

history says: fine jewellery for occasions. we say: forget occasions. (snap) fine jewellery for every day. good afternoon, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. we have a lot of ground to cover in the two hours ahead. protests and mourning in north carolina. rallies to demand action ahead of the funeral for police shooting victim andrew brown jr. we're going to take you there live. also scenes of pandemonium as a protest leads to a destructive takeover of a soccer stadium. and the latest on the investigation into rudy giuliani and what charges he may face. plus this