y a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. you can do it without fingersticks, too. ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. and visit freestyle libre.us to try it for free. right now at the white house, president biden. okaying pfizer's shot, what age group and what you need to know, next. house republicans wondering if liz cheney will take a leadership job and who could replace her. the congress woman quadruples

down. also on the hill, honoring this hearing from merick garland, you're about to see it. his first time testifying as attorney general. we are juggling a couple things this morning. chris jansing in philadelphia, tell me what you're hearing from officials about what we can expect today? >> first, i think it is notable that we're continuing to see the president give weekly dresses on the state of the u.s. fight. there is a value in giving the updates to the value. we're seeing cities and towns put more open signs, so many

families are looking at the closes, the white house is acknowledging they're at a different moment now, they need to do more hands on work. they need to meet people where they are in order to keep the vaccination rates where they are. it is heard immunity. the fda potentially set to greenlight pfizer's bid to give the vaccinations to children in adolescents. a lot of talk about getting students back into classrooms. some are looking at requiring vaccines for that to happen. an important update for that perhaps as soon as this week.

>> it looks like the tristate area is looking to move up their opening deadline sooner than expected? >> yes, new jersey, new york, connecticut, all businesses going to open up and that is exceptionally good news. times square relies on booming tourism. broadway expecting to open in the fall. it doesn't really change their time line. but governor cuomo saying it is really about the numbers. hospitalizations going down, that allowed them to move this

opening forward as they have done. that state has become the first state to vaccinate more than half of the adult population. hallie? >> as we start to see what steph is talking about. you have the biden administration facing this obstacle. experts are concerned that that will make herd immunity difficult, if not impossible. younger people are expected to get out there and get their shots. >> yeah, it's so interesting. many of the same doctors that were on the front lines of fighting covid are now fighting against disinformation and fear. and the reason is in the polls. look at the skepticism there are among millennials and gen zers

saying they're going to wait. he he has amassed a few followers by doing dance moves, putting facts out there with a little humor, with the mess oj get your shot, take a listen. >> it's good to have an open discussion and to ask questions, you know? i think we often under estimate the intelligence of gen z but i think there is a heightened social awareness and if they're open to having a conversation and asking those questions, we're there to answer those questions. that's a reason many health professionals are getting on social media. to give you a sense of how important this is, 62 million millennials who could be getting the shot, millions more who are vaccine eligible among generation z, and they all, at

least many of them, have questions like these. >> we can't tell you what the consequences are down the line, it's just a different type of vaccine as we all know that has not had a long-term testing. >> the good news a lot of these folks are not saying never, and there is a brood push to get them involved. starting next week they will be sending out a million text messages with that very same message, get a shot.

congresswoman liz cheney, the number three republican in the house, emphasis on currently, kevin mccarthy went on tv this morning so say this. >> there is no concern about how she voted on impeachment. that decision has been made. i heard from members concerns about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair. to carry out the message. we need to work as one if we're able to win majority. >> cheney has not been shy about her concerns with the forer president's policies. it seems to be moving from will she remain in leadership to who will replace her? let me wring in leann caldwell. we're also joined by barbara comstock. not quite a resounding vote of

confidence, but liz cheney is not indicaing that she is not going to back down. she quadrupled down. she said they not continue to spread the big lie, calling it a poison to our democracy. but sources to our representative cheney being perpetuated by kevin mccarthy. the fact that he went on tv, gone to press conferences multiple times, and has not defended her at all is giving them a opportunity to threaten her position. mccarthy wants to win the

mid-term elections and win back the house, but he sees cheney as a roadblock to his speakership. he needs members from his swing districts and trump districts to get behind him if he is going to run for speaker should he win back the majority in 2022. there is a lot of conversations on capitol hill about who will replace liz cheney. should there be a vote to remove her when they're back in town next week, and there is a short list of name. the thinking is that it named to be a woman since liz cheney is the only current woman. elise stefanik seems to be the most popular choice. there is one member, one man, jim banks of indiana who has been working for this position, doing a shadow messaging

campaign, but because most members think it should be a woman his chances are not that great. these conversations are happening while cheney is out and before she comes back to town next week. >> thanks, leann. let's me bring in barbara comstock. is it likely she will with stand this for the second time this year? >> in february you saw there was a sigh mend majority. i think you can never go wrong in doing the right things for the right reasons. she is standing on principal. this big lie divided the country

like donald trump divided the country and now it is dividing the party. republicans need to turn the page and be post pandemic, post trump, and provide solutions. i know when i still get the e-mails from liz cheney the messaging is about the policies, maybe biden policies not good, policies to pursue, and when i hear from jim banks or the freedom caucus and they just talk about trump. this is not a personality to focus on, it is policies to focus on and liz cheney is doing that. it is cynical to replace a woman with a woman. that woman would be the handmaiden of that guy. they say we'll just replace a woman with a woman. a woman that will be quiet and not stand up and state her views. that is not a good message for

republicans. >> do you think if that is what would happen? >> i think it would be a bad move for any of those women. they're all my friends, but i think that would be a bad position to be in. you don't want to be that woman in the number three place that just sits there and smiles and reads the talking points. that's not a good position for anyone that wants to be a future leader in the party. i think an attack on liz will only strengthen her. i think it will behoove other leadership members including leader mccarthy to turn the page on this. some want to see him weakened by attacking liz. it will cost them votes when he wants to be speaker. he needs to unite this party and

move past this and not let the matt gates, the marjorie greens, and the jim banks to dictate to him. i don't think that will be helpful. >> you made a point how you would like to see policy prioritized over the things that people talk about. when you look at the quantitative piece of this, they have trapped a trump score for various numbers of congress. how often they voted for the policies that trump supported. liz cheney has a higher score than a jim jordan. she has voted on party lines more, does that not matter any more in the gop as it stands today. how do you square that? >> it should matter and actually i should point out those scores are based on bills that congress

passes and then trump signs. congress obviously was a body that proposed those laws so that was often times a matter of compromise and that is what leaders do. they compromise on bills so they can get them signs and help their constituents. often times the freedom caucus has said to no everything nap is not a path to the majority. we won more women and minority seats in 2020 by having candidates that stood up for themselves. they were not trump sycophants, but you had women like young kim in california. ashley henson. people who have been legislatures before. young kim outran donald trump by quite a large margin as did susan collins and others. our path to a majority is to have people who stand on their own two feet and state their views like liz cheney is doing, and it's mostly guys on their

knees begging, please, mr. president say something nice about me or it used to be, hey, tweet something about me. fortunately we don't have to deal with that any more. thank you so much, it's always a pleasure to have your perspective on the show. we have more to get to here including breaking news overnight. that overpass collapse in mexico city killing 23 people. we'll have the latest as rescue crews look at survivors. and merick garland testifying virtually right now in his first hearing at attorney general. we'll take you there live. and four migrant children separated from their families in the trump era set to be reunited this week. coming up the special assistant to the president for immigration about those reunions. immigratin about those reunions h moments.

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we're following breaking news. we're looking at video of the moment a subway overpass collapsed sending a train on to the busy street below pap support beam on that overpass is what failed as the train went by. at least 23 people have been killed, another 70 so far have been hurt. some of them in very, very serious condition. what do we know about the victims, the survivors, and where this investigation goes from here. >> yeah, good morning. at this point it looks like what was a rescue mission has now shifted over into a recovery. they think there might still be bodies buried in that rubble. 23 people were killed, about 70 people were taken to the hospital, incluing a man crushed by a subway beam.

miraculously he was alive when they extracted him from that rubble. he and seven others are listed in serious condition. now the investigation is shifting into how this could have happened. one of the newspapers is going back to the stretch of tracks, it is still relatively knew. the number 12 line opened after delays and allegations of corruption. in 2013, just to give you an idea a year after it opened it was temporarily shut down again for repairs. in 2017 mexico city was rocked by that massive earthquake. pictures from that area showed damage to some of the support columns. the neighbors were worried at the time but they appear to have been repaired.

now a full structural assessment has been ordered with the mayor pledging to get to the bottom of how this could have happened, again. authorities confirming now that among those did are some small children, hallie? >> it is just heartbreaking to see and think about. appreciate it. back here on the show, a potentially significant shift in a number of things including combatting sexual assault in the military. what the nation's top general just said that could you shall usher in a major policy change. and how many refugees should be allowed into the country according to president biden. we're live with more on that issue. resident biden we're live with more on that issue. t... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪

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right now on capitol hill merick garland is testifying for the first time. he is going to face tough questions on the doj investigations. i want to bring in pete williams who is following this.

pete, i believe that is the chair of the house appropriations sub committee that we're seeing on the left side of our screens. what do you expect to hear and see over the course of the morning for the attorney general today. >> this is one of those virtual hearings, the attorney general is looking at the fifth floor of the justice department. his proposed budget reflects this administration and his priorities. he is asking $45 million for the fbi for domestic terrorism investigations and a parallel 30 million for u.s. attorneys to manage the increased case loads of handling the domestic terrorism case loads. a lot of that will be related to the exceptional size of the investigation. that is already resulting in about 450 cases filed and they

think it will go to 500. in terms of civil rights enforcement, he is asking for more division on the justice department. we have seen concrete changes based on the new policy, they are much more willing to launch these pattern investigations into local police departments. that had been the practice for the last couple of decades. in the trump administration both attorneys general jeff sessions and bill bar said they didn't think those accomplished much, that they were too hard on police departments and didn't result in enough advantage. for those of you that would like to know, that is ed levy on the left side of your frame and bobby kennedy, formally known as the robert f. kennedy building, the main justice headquarters here.

pete williams with the trivia nuggets as well. we'll keep you updated with information from that. it is now official as the president announces a new limit more than four times what the trump aministration had in place. the administration reversed course. this year's cap is now set at 62,500 and a could of double that number next year. but, president biden also says that "the sad truth is that we will not achieve 62,500 admissions this year. adding that next year's goal will still be hard to hit. let me bring in tyler moranz. thank you for being on the show. >> good morning. >> can you explain why it is in the president's view probably not achievable to hit that admissions limit this year?

>> let me start first, hallie by talking about what the president campaigned on. putting in place a fair, orderly, and humane immigration system. that is exactly what he has done. he sent a bill to congress reforming the immigration system and so the refugee resettlement program is one piece of the puzzle. we had to build out from a real destruction of the program. so the first step was making sure that we're accepting refugees from around the world. the trump administration largely banned refugees and we first opened up the program. the next step was to set that higher level at 62,500. now to answer your question we're going to do whatever we can to bring in as many refugees as possible. working with settlement agencies, nonprofits, state and local governments and of course the federal government.

>> what is the number that you would be happy, realistically that we hit if you think is achievable. >> we'll do what we can. as i said we're rebuilding the system. we have to open it back up. the systems were really just gutted. we're trying to put in place a fair system and we'll do our part to bring in as many refugees as possible. >> sure, can you can't if i that for me? 10 or 60,000. where do you think we could get and what would you like to see if it's not that max? >> i can't give you a number today. all i'm going to tell you is that we're committed to bringing in as many people as possible. the president committed to 125,000 refugees. we want to hit that goal. we're looking forward and we want to be a country that welcomes people from around the world. >> the biden administration faced some criticism from members of the president's own

party when this initial discussion came out that the president was not going to raise the cap. i don't have to rehash that period of weeks for you there, but there was pressure on the white house to go ahead and put this number in place. why shouldn't people think that this higher than achievable new cap is more about winning political points than the realities in the immigration system? >> because the president is committed today a system that really reflecting american values. the refugee system is part of that. the president has done so much already in the first 100 days on immigration. he sent a bill to reform the immigration system. he set this refugee cap. i want to know that when he came into office he faced a challenge at the border. the previous administration had done nothing to prepare for the increase in children coming to our border. in the last month alone we have reduced the number of children in border patrol by over 85%. we have reduced the time that it takes for children to be placed

with a parent or sponsor to 30 days from 40 days. the vice president is taking leadership on addressing the root causes of why people are coming to our border. so this president is about solutions. this president is about action. we're working on multiple fronts including reopening up the resettlement program. >> one of the other fronts is something that we have covered extensively on this show. the reunification on families. the people seperated under the prior administration. the homeland security secretary is also saying they are reusing the current group of parents. it sounded like the first group will be for parents. can you give us more insight? how are the parents getting here? when will the reunifications be here and what happens once they are reunified. what will happen at that point? >> sure, let me start by saying that on the first day of this

presidency president biden established an executive order that set up the task force to reunify families. so this was something that was incredibly important to him. and that was really a low moment in our history when thousands of children were taken from their parents. i have two kids myself and i can't imagine that happening. so what happened is the task force has been working over the last 100 days to sift through records. to verify identitidentities. so work with foreign governments to track down parents. it's so exciting we have the first four families that can be reunified. this is only the begins and there are lots and lots of more families that we need to find to reunify. we're going to work with nongovernmental organizations. we're going to work with lawyers, we're going to work with federal government and do everything that we can to find every single child and parent and reunite them. right now they're coming -- >> i'm almost out of time, i'm

sorry to interrupt you. i want to go back to the question here which was specifics on how are the parents getting here. when are the reunions happening? >> so those are going to start this week. we're going to see them over the next month. and i also just wanted to note that on june 2nd there will be more information about the work ahead. thank you for joining us this morning. we appreciate your time. >> going overseas now to london where we are looking at the g7, the summit of world leaders. the first face to face meeting of the g7 in two years. next up, nbc's andrea mitchell is live from ukraine. the secretary of state is saying today about russian aggression. and if you have not been on a plane in awhile because of the pandemic, we're going to tell you what the head of the faa is warning about dangerous behavior from your fellow passengers in the skies.

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right now the g7 is meeting in london with their focus on russia. they have drawn a lot of focus from around the world. the talks are expected to be taking place now among foreign ministers in person, but off camera, that's why we're not showing it to you at the moment. it's part of the first face to face summit since 2019. the u.s. stands with ukraine, set to make a public show of support tomorrow when he arrives in kiev to reaffirm unwaivering support for ukraine sovereignty. andrea mitchell made her way there. i'm glad to have you. i know you're fresh off of the

plane. >> exactly, hallie, it is so great to be with you. they are, of course, concerned here about the russian aggression. you know that more troops were matched at the border with ukraine. that is what secretary blinken and the other ministers are focusing on at this hour. they have been meeting in other parts of the world. today, right now, the russian aggression and how to take a united stand against russia. it's complicated. there are also concerns about other aspects of what is happening in ukraine. today, with the focus on russia, they're points out certainly secretary blinken has been pointed out here. president biden is taking a tough stand against russia, and what they're saying is unlike donald trump, taking a tough

stand against vladimir putin, but also ready to engage. >> president biden has been very clear for a long time, including before he was president, that if russia chooses to act recklessly or aggressively, we'll respond. but we're not looking to escalate. we prefer to have a more stable and more predictable relationship, and if russia moves in that direction so will we. >> the other big message is that the u.s. is now working with allies and this has been explicit not only here or in london at the first actual meeting, but virtually as he meets with leaders around the world and talks to them on facebook and in other meetings that we work with the allies now and again, in contrast to the way they have criticized the trump administration for

in -- ignoring allies. you'll be reporting at noon certain even just about an hour or so from now. andrea, thank you. coming up after the break, what the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff just said that could change the way the military handles sexual assault. that story is coming up. s sexuat that story is coming up. the bowls are back. applebee's irresist-a-bowls all just $8.99.

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just ask your asthma specialist about dupixent. general mrk millie saying he no longer o poeszs taking decisions of sexual assault charging out of the hands of commanders. we had joni ernst and kristin gillibrand calling for that exact same thing. >> there was very damming reporting about sex assault reports. it will be taking the prosecution, that decision making authority out of that commanders hands, putting it with a specialized prosecutor.

>> let's bring in court any kubi. where do they stand with military leaders? >> we're still waiting on that and the final decision from this independent review commission for how to move forward. this has been a problem that plagued the u.s. military for four years. the fact that the chairman of the joint chiefs has now come out and said he is "open to the idea of making this change is significant. for years, commanders and other service chiefs have been against the idea of taking the investigation and the prosecution of sexual assault and other charges, sexual harassment and other things out of the hands of the military commander. the idea here is they don't want the military commanders to give up control. they want to be the ones deciding on the potential discipline for their ranks. people on the hill like senator gillibrand and other advocating fights against the sexual

assault and harassment in the ranges, they say by putting this in the hands of a civilian, they can recommend charges, that will deter behavior in the first place. that will keep troops from engaging in the sexual harassment and assault in the first place. but it's not just general millie that we heard from. the former chairman, also someone that spoke out against this idea for years, is now saying he is open to it. the idea that why these military leaders are now changing their tune hallie is that for years they worked against the scourge of sexual harassment and sexual assault. now they say they're open to anything that might combat this problem, hallie. thank you for that report. appreciate it. coming up, why the faa is

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vaccine. "the new york times" reports the agency is getting ready to authorize it for some 12 to 15. if that happens the cdc advisory panel will meet to look at data. i'm joined by an infectious disease physician. dr. davis, good morning. thanks for being on. >> thanks for having me, hallie. >> so talk about how big of a deal it might be if kids in that age group could potentially start getting vaccinated in a matter of weeks, what that would mean for our journey as a nation and getting back to school? >> this is the exact news we need right now, hallie. we have reached what i think is the crux of this pandemic. it's absolutely expected we were able to get people vaccinated, and full credit to the administration. an absolute triumph of getting vaccines out, and we have 30% of the population vaccinated. now we've reached that do i really want this vaccine or the flat-out i don't want it and we

are seeing a decrease in being able to get people vaccinated at about 2.6 million a day, which is 10% down from last week. so adolescents, young children and children in general are a huge part of being able to get to that herd immunity we've been talking about all year. it's imperative that we are able to get kids vaccinated, and it comes at a time that it's critical because we're now seeing much higher cases in this age group. in michigan which, unfortunately, has been bearing the brunt of this, numbers are up in kids. we're seeing this as schools, people are more likely to be in school, at sporting events, and so this is an absolute necessity. >> these adolescents, preteens and younger teenagers, have parents, so how big of a hurdle might it be or are you worried about convincing adult who are vaccine hesitant to convince

their kids. what is your message? >> i'm a mom and i'm a mom before i'm a physician, before i'm a public health expert, and i would say this is the most important tool in our toolbox. i had to sit down and weigh for myself the risks and benefits of getting the covid vaccine versus getting covid. i think for some people the question is just the vaccine or nothing, and that's not the reality here. this is absolutely imperative. so as a parent i would say we know the data here. this is incredibly great data in that safety is there. efficacy is some of the best we've ever seen. compare this to the flu vaccine whose efficacy is much lower and look at what it's done. look at what it's done to prevent morbidity. as a parent i would say please consider this for the health of not only your kids but the rest of the community. >> we're almost out of time but i do want to ask you about this

conversation that's been had about herd immunity and the skepticism emerging from some public health officials and experts that we might not hit herd immunity. it might be community immunity where it's more varied around the country at different levels. can you put into perspective what that means and what you think might end up happening here? >> i think sometimes we like to think about things in absolutes, and the reality is that's not how the world is set up. it is possible and likely that we may not reach herd immunity in the exact definition that is given, but at the end of the day that doesn't change the charge. the charge is we need to get vaccines up, and the charge is the new normal we also desperately crave, we don't get there. we don't even get nearly there if we don't make that charge. and so, for me, i believe we need to start taking the pressure off the what ifs and how it is -- what's the assignment, guys, what do we need to do right now? what we need to do now is get as close to that as possible. what does it mean if we don't get there exactly? it means our new normal looks

different. it means there may be more restrictions in place than we would have enjoyed if we had completely -- if we had completely gotten there. and so i believe that between now and july we need to have more of a focus on increasing vaccine confidence and making sure that access -- access is available for all because that is still not the case. >> and critical. thank you very much for being with us. for a lot of americans who may not have traveled since the start of the pandemic, you're thinking of taking a summer or fall trip, things will look different. there will be masks, maybe temperature checks, but the federal aviation administration is warning of a dramatic spike in bad and sometimes violent passenger behavior. nbc's tom costello has an exclusive look at the new zero tolerance approach airlines are taking to fight it. >> reporter: in ft. lauderdale a fistfight after passengers

deplaned refuse to go wear masks. in d.c. a passenger removed after allegedly arguing with flight attendants over the mask rule. in denver an emergency landing after a man tried to only an emergency exit. >> you're a joke. >> reporter: nationwide, members of congress harassed on planes and in airports. >> your lie has been exposed. >> reporter: the faa says a typical year brings 100-150 formal cases of bad passenger behavior. so far that number has skyrocketed to 1,300 cases. refusal to wear masks, political intimidation, excessive drinking, verbal and physical assault. >> it is not permissible, and we will not tolerate interfering with a flight crew in the performance of safety duties, period. >> reporter: now a zero tolerance approach from the faa. unruly passengers face potential criminal charges, fines of up to $35,000, and banned for life by the airlines. one flight attendant tweeting she resigned because of the

constant pushback from guests. >> what we've seen are flight attendants assaulted, pushed, choked. we had a passenger urinate. the physical and verbal abuse that flight attendants have been taking has been way off the charts. >> nbc's tom costello reporting on that. you can catch more of tom's reporting throughout the day on nbc and tonight on "nightly news." that does it for this hour of "hallie jackson reports." for now i'll turn it over to craig melvin picking up our coverage right now. and a good monday -- excuse me, tuesday morning to you. craig melvin here. a number of stories that we're following right now. first, a summer of normalcy. well, some version of that. that's the message we could be hearing from president biden just a few hours from now at the white house. we also could get a new development on the vaccine front, a decision from the