what it will look like now that herd immunity appears completely out of reach. plus, the republican side of the republican leadership escalates, as liz cheney warns her republican colleagues the election lies they've been embracing from donald trump are, quote, poison in the bloodstream of our democracy. and merrick garland testifies for the first time as the attorney general, as he looks to congress for help with issues including domestic terrorism and civil rights enforcements. welcome to tuesday, it is "meet the press daily" and i'm chuck todd. president biden is expected to give americans an update on what the summer is going to look like as the country continues to vaccine as many people as it can. the white house once again acknowledging vaccine demand is

not where they would like it to be, especially if we're going to defeat this virus. both "the washington post" and associated press are reporting the administration is going to shake up the vaccination strategy, basically taking a use it or lose it approach with the state. if you have unused vaccine, it's going somewhere else. with a third of the people vaccinated, the shots continue to decline. experts warning herd immunity will not be reached, there's too much vaccine hesitancy, so too much misinformation, and frankly, too much virus circulating the globe. what that means for american life going forward, of course, is a major question we all have to address, the president included. to be sure there's an optimal sense of optimism that we're finally in position to get back to some sort of semblancy after the hell scape of the last year. the economy is rebounding and pace of infection continues to decline. and the announcement from the

fda about the use of pfizer for younger adolescents, ages 12 to 16, can come at any time, which could have profound implications for schools and families, making it easier, you can say, to open schools in the fall. but still sitting at the center is a raging global pandemic. looks like we're just starting to come down from a global peak in new infections. most right now coming from india. their hospital system is basically collapsing. the u.s. has just instituted a new ban on travel from india as it becomes the second country in the world after the u.s. to surpass 20 million confirmed cases. we're going to get a report from india and talk to a top medical specialist coming up. but first, chief white house correspondent kristen welker. kristen, with the president addressing the nation and giving us a covid update, the implications of us not getting to herd immunity, the vaccine

hesitancy issue that is running mostry a problem in rural america, what solution are they coming up with to address this? >> chuck, i think their goal is going to be a more aggressive approach towards dealing with those who are hesitant about taking the vaccine, but also the second piece of what you say, which is really the critical part of this, chuck, getting to people in more rural, more hard-to-reach areas and making sure that the vaccines are reaching those people who need it most. taking a step back, i think what we're going to hear from president biden is an update on all of that and those efforts, particularly as we head into the summer. and as we head into that new benchmark that he set, which is by july 4 and, he wants people to be able to gather without masks for small gatherings for parties, for small celebrations. that's, already, already taking place in some areas but

vaccinations are really the key to all of that, chuck. it does come against the backdrop of this new approach that you talked about at the top. i just spoke with a white house official to try to get more details about how this is going to work. this is my sense of this. essentially if a state decides not to use 100% of its allocated amount of vaccines, those remaining vaccinations will go into a broader pool, and then that percentage of vaccine will be available to another state or even states that need it. so that is how they're going to try to deal with the issue of vaccine hesitancy and of the issue of those hard-to-reach places. but there's no doubt, chuck, when you think about the issue of herd immunity, what was once what this administration and the previous administration said was an absolute necessity to reach, it does feel as though the focus has shifted, instead of trying to reach herd immunity, trying

to tamp down on new cases of covid-19, trying to decrease the spread, and then over time potentially reaching herd immunity, chuck. >> so, you know what it sounds like, kristen, you said over time but it sounds like our new strategy is learning to live with the virus rather than try to defeat the virus? >> i think that's right. i think that is going to be the new mentality moving forward, how do we live with it? how do we mitigate as many cases as possible? again, how do we get vaccinations to people who are either reluctant to take the vaccine or don't feel as though they have access to the vaccine. so i would anticipate there's going to be a focus on the distribution on getting it to the rural areas but, of course, making it more available in vaccine sites all across the country, whether we're talking about pharmacies or those pop-up vaccination centers, chuck. >> kristen welker getting us

started at the white house. thank you. let's turn halfway around the world to the crisis in india. alex crawford filed this report for us from delhi. >> reporter: terrible news again from india, which has been setting global record highs on the number of coronavirus infections for nearly two weeks now, and they're still overwhelmed. there seems to be no letup, no sign things are easing, even though the indian government is sending oxygen supplies in on the oxygen express overnight. six huge, big oxygen cylinders came but they're not enough to even cope for the city's oxygen demands in a normal week, never mind in a pandemic. a lot of families, a lot of relatives warning their sick relatives are dyeing from lack of oxygen even when they don't have coronavirus. and also here telling us this is a crisis situation and the international community needs to do much more 0 to help. they need the international community to deal with this as a

major disaster. >> there were medicines that no one had. they were low on oxygen. dr. summit ray spends the entire time we're there caring for his endangered patients and looking for oxygen. levels are perillessly low. >> i have been struggling for oxygen. >> it is a letdown. it is a collapse. we don't have time to feel sorry for somebody else. we're losing patients here. and it is here. everybody needs it. everybody needs it. >> reporter: the icu so crowded,

the doctors be nurses barely have room between beds. the only way to get into this unit is if a patient dies frpt outside the hospital, there are vehicles banked up in front of the emergency department with people inside struggling to breathe. waiting to get to bed to get help. many are in a terrible state by the time they get here and have often traveled around several hospitals before one will accept them. finally dr. sumit ray gets the news he's been reaching for. >> oxygen just received. >> reporter: it's a huge relief after working the phones most of the night and most of the day. the coronavirus is like a massive earthquake, he argues, and the government needs a significant government and worldwide response. >> if there's any help we can get from the rest of the other countries, it's to the just oxygen. it is like any major disaster, what happens in a major

disaster, an earthquake? doctors, nurses, hospital beds come in and build up a hospital from scratch quickly. that is what has to happen. >> there are some signs the virus may be leveling off in delhi but with hospitals so overwhelmed soon, the capital and india not out of the coronavirus catastrophe yet. alex crawford, sky news, delhi. >> as you heard there, that was the situation as best we can bring it to you on the ground from india. joining me now is dr. kavita patel, primary care physician, former white house director of health policy in the obama administration. let's start international before we go domestic, dr. patel. the situation in india, it does feel as if the one thing we're not providing that could accelerate things there is

essentially getting the wto to let india make as many of these vaccines as possible, fast as possible, and other entities. why do we seem hesitant on that front here? >> i think the patent waiver many countries supported but the u.s. has been hesitant has to do with the deal with manufacturers. let's be clear pfizer and moderna, the two companies bolstered, by the way, federal research dollars, are reluctant to see what the downstream effects can be if their companies have their patent waivers -- have their patents lifted and others can kind of develop that same technology. keep in mind, india is the largest manufacturers of generic drugs and vaccines. and now that is being called into question because they need the vaccines in country and

especially these mrna vaccines, which we know are very effective and particularly likely against the mutant variants, scary ones, and we should be scared, too, for the implications in the united states. >> they seem to be -- look, i understand they're proud of the technology, companies and all of that, but there's got to be a way to allow manufacturing without giving away the trade secret? >> there is, but i think it comes also with just having work on vaccine policy in previous life times, i can tell you it's not just lifting the patents. we're in a global supply shortage for the raw materials you and i talked about. they also have to move their head. billions of dollars we've given for tb, hiv and malaria prevention, should be redirected to getting raw materials and manufacturing effort worldwide,

not just india, but we've seen troubling numbers out of japan and other countries who were doing a good job, so to speak. so this is a good reason to mobilize, lift these patents in a temporary fashion but augment it, chuck, with some of the manufacturing heft in terms of raw materials and goods we can make in the united states and give countries like india for the world. >> let's talk about herd immunity for this country. feels like it is now a more elusive goal, if ever. realistically the next year and a half, are we leaking at more figuratively how to live with the virus versus herd immunity, since it certainly seems as if we're not on a trajectory to get there? >> yeah, well, a couple things, i'm personally not willing to concede on that. i want to make sure -- i actual expect to hear president biden today not only restating the

vaccine reallocation but to be clear he doesn't want to give up on getting more americans vaccinated, whatever that threshold is. you still hear people say herd immunity, and what mine by herd immunity is we make the risk of protection, particularly for those particularly vulnerable, incredibly low. and all we can do is vaccine more people. but you're correct, there will be tangs about do we just need to get the virus at a level where we accept hundreds of cases a day and some form of death? but we need to be clear so this doesn't come back to kind of haunt us. so i think we should keep pushing. i think you will also see more of the divide. we've already got 60% of large employers saying they're putting mandate and vaccine requirements in place, chuck. we have to be honest about the fact if we want society to look more normal, we're going to have to act individually in the unique interest of a population.

that's not something we've done very well in the past. herd immunity might get replaced by vaccine encouragement, vaccine requirement. >> pfizer and the decision down -- that looks like we're going to get the emergency authorization use for them first. i think there's been some thought there. moderna, they've been testing longer, at least down to 16. i'm curious, what does this mean and how quickly do you expect moderna to also get its authorization? >> yeah, they usually have been following each other in sequence. keep in mind pfizer was authorized 16 and above and moderna 18 and above. when pfizer collected its data on 12 to 15 to the fda early april, we knew this amendment coming soon, probably next week, would be followed probably by weeks to maybe months by

moderna, johnson & johnson also infield with 6 months and older. we should deal of support for safety and efficacy from all three manufacturers. when you think about the sequence, 12 to 15, we get 5 to 12-year-olds and maybe even under 2 to 5, we should have most children vaccinated either by the end of this year or early 2022, hopefully looking like a normal fall for the in-person learning potential with masks probably, but still a more normal fall, which is good news. >> which vaccine manufacturer is doing the most research below 12? we know we will get there. number two, does the 12 to 15-year-old get one shot or two? >> it's still a two-dose shot. so it's a two-dose regimen they put into fields. so in terms of numbers, johnson & johnson has gone with a lower age group, so i think they have the most enrollees, i would have

to double-checkdouble-check, bul three using large numbers but moderna and johnson & johnson because they had to do under 18, they're infield with different stages and more numbers with the result of that. and all of these manufacturers have to first test the dose and safety. so it's kind of a two-part trial period. >> gotcha. and i know my producer will get mad at me but i feel like every answer, i have another question. is it likely the under 12-year-olds will end up getting the same dose, or they're likely get sort of a smaller dose? >> it's usually children are not just small adults, but it's usually a smaller dose and with maybe some modifications but that's more likely to be the scenario and they're testing it that way as well. >> gotcha. dr. kavita patel, always appreciate having you on to answer some of these questions that us lay people have.

so thank you. great to have you. up next -- florida's governor declares the pandemic officially over, dropping mandates like masks this week. some say the move is about protecting the power instead of the state because the move actually prevents local officials from implementing any ordinances. plus, the escalating fight amongst the leaders of the republican party about who should be the leaders of the republican party. leaders tofhe republican party ♪ ♪ irresistibly smooth chocolate. to put the world on pause. lindor. made to melt you. by the lindt master chocolatier. hey, dad! hey, son!

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thing to do, having confidence in masks undermines vaccines. some local leaders who say masks saved lives during the pandemic are not happy and they expect the new laws to be challenged in court. one of those local officials who is not happy is the mayor of st. petersburg, mayor christman, who joins me now. first, there seems to be some confusion as to what the governor did yesterday. and i saw i have ties to multiple counties, like miami-dade county said this takes effect july 1st, and they will worry about things then. that's what the school system decided. in counties up in the panhandle, masks gone today. how do you and st. petersburg interpret the governor's decision? >> quite frankly, chuck, that's the challenge since the

pandemic. every time the governor has taken action, none of the orders make sense. they're often very confusing. the statements he makes publicly often do not line up with what's in the order. just an example, you mentioned the school system, his order, 21-102 goes into effect immediately for all local governments but he has since that time of putting that out has told school systems you can keep your mask mandate in place but local governments cannot do so. so the order itself is confusing. it's always causing great confusion among the populations and certainly among governments as we try to interpret these orders and apply them to our communities. certainly the easying thing is if he would have just let us to do what's best for our communities, which is what we've done right from the beginning. >> what kind of -- do you believe you have any legal

challenges and are you and other mayors -- i know you and some other mayors, particularly during covid, have talked frequently with each other. are you planning on suing the state over this power grab? >> i do think this order and statute, the bill he signed, i think they're going to be challenged. the challenge is, and we experienced this the last order he did. once he puts it out there and there becomes that thinking in the public they no longer need to wear masks, they no longer need to maintain social distancing, it gets very difficult for us on the local level tone force the orders that we do have in place. even though we got this, it's hard to put it back in the box once he's done this. the unfortunate thing is people are going to die because of this, and certainly hospitalizations are going to go up because of this. this isn't about health care. this is about politics.

>> so what about -- and i'm just curious, what is your plan now then going forward to mitigate covid if your hands are tied with ordinances. are you there to convince local businesses to have vaccine mandates for their employees? what is your plan to try to combat this if you can't do anything official with government? >> i think we have to appeal to our communities, each one of us that are leading a city or county all around the state, we so to appeal to our communities to follow the science, follow the cdc, to do, quite frankly, what the governor isn't doing, which is listening to experts, epidemiologists, virologists, the cdc. from our perspective, we're just going to try to talk to our community, and in st. pete

called it the st. pete way, wearing a mask when you're indoors, even outdoors in large gatherings, using hand sanitizing, getting vaccinated. statewide, we're only at about 43% across the state, that's it. yet this guy declared mission accomplished. i also find it really fascinating that last week he extended his emergency order but not for local governments. that's a power grab. >> and here's something i can't quite wrap my head around with the vaccines. there are certain vaccines that we do have as mandatory if you want to be in the public school system. so can you selectively decide which vaccines are mandatory the way he has? >> no. and i would love for him -- i think he ought to be challenged on this, he needs to tell the public why is it required if you're going to go to school, you have to have mumps, measles,

hep b, polio, but not covid. we can't require you to have covid. what's the difference? he can't answer that. it's politics. ness this is about his re-election in 2022, campaign in 2024, and him trying to get aheld of the field potentially for a primary in 2024. it's not about health care or caring for the people of florida, it's about his political career. >> mayor rick kriesman from st. petersburg, florida, i'm curious, are you going to open your local schools without a vaccine for covid in the fall? >> i certainly hope not. i know our school district here in pinellas county, they have a great school board, and they already informed us that masks will continue through the end of the school year. my son's vaccinated.

i want to encourage parents, get your kids vaccinated. we want to create as safe an environment we can for our kids to return to school. >> it just doesn't make sense, the lax on this vaccine and not the others. it does not compute. st. peters burgmaier kriseman, thank you for coming on. much appreciate it. a lot of florida politics is on our radar today. the person who represents the st. petersburg area is a campaign for governor. congressman charlie crist becoming the third major democrat to jump into the race to try to unseat governor ron desantis. >> i announced today i'm running as governor of florida for a florida for all. >> yeah, it's a little hot here but we're in the sunshine city and sunshine state and we're just getting started.

>> so this will be crist's second campaign for governor as a democrat. he, of course, was the state's republican governor for one term, elected in '06. did not run again in '10, because he decided to run for the u.s. senate. anyway, a lot happened between that and that senate race and these two democratic candidacies for governor. but after switching parties, he was the democratic candidate and lot to rick scott by a very close margin, 51%. and he will be likely one of three democrats that are likely considering a run. and this morning, louise demings sent a tweet that we call a sizzle reel, part of the highlight, saying she's ready for the moment. it's federal dollars now so the moment is in your imagination when you see it. we'll be right back. ♪i've got ts you've got the looks♪

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it is becoming increasingly likely republican liz cheney will lose her leadership position, but the question is when and how will it look? cheney continues to defend the integrity of the 2020 election and refusing to back down on the criticism of former president trump and his decision to lie so blatantly to the american people.

minority leader kevin mccarthy today is again refusing to defend the person who tells the truth about the election, liz cheney. >> i have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message. we all need to be working at one if we're able to win the majority. i haven't heard members concerned about her vote on impeachment. it's more concern about the job ability to do and what's our best step forward that we can all work together instead of attacking one another. >> a cheney spokeswoman responded to the minority leader's comment this way, quote, this is about whether the republican party is going to perpetuate lies about the 2020 election in an attempt to whitewash what happened january 6th. and liz will not do that. that is the issue. it appears cheney, unlike any

others, she will be criticized by her own party because she chose to tell the truth. joining me now, capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell and someone who knows a little bit about republican leadership fights, michael steele. leigh anne, i think what happened today, went out there this morning it looked like with a plan and went after liz cheney today. first time he had done that in a while. >> right, it was a back and forth with liz cheney and former president trump for a while but now it's a back and forth between liz cheney and leader mccarthy. but the reality of what is happening on capitol hill is this isn't happening in a vacuum, chuck. this is happening because leader mccarthy is refusing to defend

liz cheney, giving the green light to rank and file members to go ahead and be more vocal and be more opposed to her, as her position as conference chair. can he tamp down on this at any moment that he wants to because he's not doing that. and that is a big sign. he chose to go on fox news this morning where he full skplikted to be asked about it, and so that is giving members the confidence that liz cheney is really, really threatened in her position, and what the cheney allies are saying is it's pretty remarkable that the person who is trying to tell the truth, trying to push back on false claims of the last election, has destroyed trust in the election process, is the one being punished by the republican party. >> michael steele, i was --

again, i was sort of blown away by kevin brady on friday to me on this program, refusing to give any sort of vote of confidence to liz cheney under any circumstances at all. and, again, kevin brady is not gosar, not gomer, he's not any of those guys. this is a leadership player. you're a committee chair or once were, you're a part of the club. when he did that, what does that tell you? does this mean rank and file, they don't like being asked about liz cheney anymore? what is it? how do you lose kevin brady? >> i think that's a big part of it. let's start with some of the facts. president trump lost the election. nobody should be able to say that. the insane conspiracy theory he promulgated after that led to losing the senators in florida

and senate majority with that. no one should have an issue saying those facts. and we would not be looking at trillions of dollars in spending if republicans had a seat at the table. the next chance by getting a seat at the table is 2022. winning the house majority is the only way to get republicans back in the conversation, back in power in washington. so that's kind of the entire focus on the house republican team, and i think a lot of them are sick of relitigating the events of january 6th and want to move on and cheney is making that impossible. >> i understand the point of view you're coming from. michael, what you're saying is the person with whom -- the person whose fault it is that republicans don't have the seat at the table is the person that the party needs to get said seat at the table. do you realize how illogical and

how ridiculous -- i know you're probably right politically, but it's absurd on its face. donald trump is the reason why republicans don't have any seat at the table. his inability to be a leader, his inability to face the truth, his narcissism, you name it. >> yes. >> and you're rallying around him to get there? >> i'm saying as logical and illogical as it is, this is life in the trump era and we're not out of the trump era. life in the trump era is the republican majority requires trump plus, the new voters the president brought to the party, people who are intensely loyal to him, as well as some suburban voters and others who were repelled by him. you have to bring the whole big tent together to accomplish the goal. >> apparently, leigh anne, the only way to do that is stop arguing the lie. pretend it didn't happen.

compartmentalize it. by the way, are they aware donald trump may get a megaphone back tomorrow? what happens then? >> they're fully aware. facebook will decide whether they will continue the ban on donald trump. and i have not talked to one republican, staffer or member of congress who wants donald trump back on social media. of course, republicans continue to say that big-tech companies should not sensor people but it's made their lives somewhat easier they don't have to deal with trump spouting off statements on social media. so the press is once again the gatekeepers, actually, of what the former president says. so this will make it very difficult for them if he's back on facebook. it will complicate problems for leader mccarthy. because it's not just about the midterms that leader mccarthy is thinking about. of course he wants to win those but he also wants to be speaker should republicans win that

midterm, and he needs those members' support who represents the very trumpy districts. >> and, in fact, michael, i would think we can't -- you can't talk about kevin mccarthy's broughtside of liz cheney today without noticing that someone decided to open yo dump him on primetime last night on fox with tucker carlson trying to somehow create a scandal somehow with kevin mccarthy's friendship with the somehow republican focus group guy frank luntz. what was that about? and was that a hard hi by mccarthy's head? >> i didn't understand that. everybody knows kevin mccarthy knows frank luntz. so i really didn't understand it, to be honest with you. >> where woo that be coming from, just the trump wing of the party trying to remind mccarthy

that he's not in a comfortable position himself? >> maybe, although i think at this point the trump wing of the party thinks kevin is the best option as majority leader in 2022. and if that's the idea, i don't think throwing balls past his head is a good idea. >> well, in a circular firing squad sometimes, i don't know if people aim. leon caldwell and michael steel, thank you for trying to compact the former megaphone that may get turned back on. what happens when we welcome change? we can make emergency medicine possible at 40,000 feet. instead of burning our past for power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. we can create new ways to connect. rethinking how we communicate to be more inclusive than ever. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions,

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welcome back. the attorney general merrick garland appeared before congress today, and it was the first time he did so as the sitting attorney general. it was a virtual hearing about the justice department's budget. but you never know what will be

asked. and the attorney general did get asked as well as he had questions too. he wants congress to support more fujding for prosecuting terrorist cases, enforcing civil rights and combating gun violence. but as with many hearings, the focus of the questions from republicans was about less of the priorities of the justice department but more about some of the priorities of some of the republicans including immigration and voter i.d. laws. >> can you tell us what specific measures you have implemented or maybe you plan to implement to enforce the immigration laws and protect the current rule of law? >> the border patrol on the customs and i.c.e. are all in the department of homeland security so they have the primary responsibility of the border. >> in your opinion, do you think requiring identification for the purposes of participating in an election does cause despartive

effects on demographics? and if so, which demme demographics are those and what can we do to help that? >> the issue with a photo i.d. is not a problem. everybody, we know, has voter i.d. about the that is not the case for many people all across america. when it comes out that it will affect people's right to vote, we have a serious problem. >> nbc's pete williams joins me now. he watched the entire thing. pete, it's funny because it was so rare that we saw sitting attorney general actually show up to house hearing this seemed to be something worth following today, particularly he had his doing when the democrats were put in charge. the biggest takeaway for you, and it seems as if domestic terrorism is the headline, but what did you learn?

>> domestic terrorism and civil rights, asking for $85 million more on domestic terrorism, about half between the u.s. attorneys and fbi, asking for about $33 million more on civil rights, especially parts of the justice department he wanted to build back up. he did request 21% increase for immigration judges and that's the justice department's part of this whole thing. they don't really enforce. they are, of course, facing a huge back log and he said they hope to hire 100 new immigration judges. he was asked why don't you hire more? and he said there's only so much the system can absorb at any one time. on guns that came up, he said if it's problematic to ask people to show a photo i.d. at the polls, why is it a problem to show an i.d. to buy a gun? the attorney general said both

of constitutional but the question is one suppresses minority turnout. by the way, there have been some courts that said some photo i.d. requirements were so restrictive it did that but it turns out there's actually very little data on whether -- either way on this problem, whether lack of photo i.d. end zone creates fraud and whether requiring voter i.d. suppresses turnout. >> pete, isn't there another problem there's no mandate in this country to have a photo i.d., you don't have to have one to be a citizen of this country, do you? >> no. you don't have to vote either. >> right. >> and voting is a right, travel is a right. traveling is a right but you have to show a photo i.d. to get on a plane. and he didn't get any questions really about this huge, massive federal investigation of the capitol riot. he didn't get any questions about the hunter biden case, about the increase of the

justice department's pattern and practice investigations, some of those changes and policy. these budget hearings, as you know, chuck, tend to be focused on micro questions and some of the greater issues. >> but it does say something that the derm investigation didn't get brought up that the reasons who were on the judiciary committee, may tell you where their head is at anyways. pete williams on the beat for us, thank you, sir. still ahead -- potential seed change in the way the military handles sexual assault. this is the wade things have been dealt with for decades and looks like things are changing. we will be live at the pentagon after this. t® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. we look up to our heroes. idolizing them. mimicking their every move. and if she counts on the advanced hydration of pedialyte

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visit paycom.com for a free demo. now says he's open to taking sexual assault investigations out of the chain of command and that's been at the heart of the debate. where do you deal with it? inside or outside of the chain of command? he is not yet endorsing the changes, but he's saying, quote, we've been at it for years and we haven't effectively moved the needle, and we have to and we

must. courtney, it's terrific to have you back at your post there at the pentagon. this is a significant shift from the uniform military side of things, and i -- it sounds like the general is looking at it in terms of the track record of the last ten years shows the chain of command has not worked? >> that's exactly it. for years there has been significant resistance among the uniform military to changing this. what this would essentially do is right now if there's any kind of case -- or any kind of allegation of sexual harassment or sexual assault among the military, their commanders or somebody in their chain of command has the first authority to look at the investigator, and potentially initiate an investigation and recommend for any potential follow-up, like a court-martial. this will put that process in

the civilian hands. and it's something members of congress have been pushing for for years as well as advocates who say that, in fact, giving this role over to somebody in the civilian world would detour the behavior in the first place, but the military did not want to take it out of the chain of command and were worried about the problems with potential good order and discipline that it would cause problems among the ranks, but now we have the chairman of the joint chiefs, general mark milly saying he's open to this change, and it's not because he is signaling it might bring about some change in the problem, but he's so desperate, they are so desperate in the military to actually elicit change in this issue that he's willing to try it now. >> so that, to me, should be the headline, then, it's really more about the military admits it can't get -- it can't solve this

problem the way they have tried? >> they just have been trying for so long. i have been covering this building for 16 years now and every year when the numbers come out, we hear about all the changes the military is trying to take to curb the instances of sexual harassment or sexual assault, and now the general is saying he's willing to do whatever he needs to do to move the needle and combat this problem. >> some form of zero tolerance from the beginning there for things like this might be a start, anyway. great to have you back, and great to have you there. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you for being with us. msnbc's coverage continues with katy tur right after this break.

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good afternoon. i am katy tur. as we come on the air we are waiting for president biden to speak about covid and what life could look like this summer, and he's expected to announce he is expected for the u.s. to vaccinate 70% of americans by july 4th. and then a new report could come at anytime about pfizer authorizing the vaccinations for up to 16 million more americans, and a sigh of relief for a lot of parents and summer camps who have been anxiously awaiting this news. pfizer says volunteers in the clinical trial had similar side effects as older teens and in a moment i will talk with one of those teen volunteers. the u.s. would be the first country to vaccinate kids this