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cheney. republican versus republican in an interview you will only see here. drawing new battle lines over the gop's path forward. her message, in our nbc news exclusive interview with savannah guthrie. >> it's an ongoing threat, so silence is not an option. >> how far are you willing to take this? would you run for president? >> this morning, the fallout and the fault lines. mitch mcconnell siding with the wyoming congresswoman as the house gets ready to vote on cheney's replacement. we're live with the newest reporting including what kevin mccarthy just had to say and the road to leadership getting bumpy. the calls against elise stefanik coming from inside the house, quite literally. the possible challenge in the works just hours before a candidate forum. plus, this morning, that key pipeline is back online. when the nation's fuel supply could get back to normal with a lot of gas stations still running on empty and the what the president is doing now on cyber defense. >> in the fight against the pandemic, who wants to be a millionaire?

one state's new incentive to boost their vaccination numbers. the president touching on it all in our nbc/msnbc town hall, and we're live with one of the country's biggest teachers unions and what they're calling for today. why it might surprise you. good thursday morning. i'm hallie jackson. can you tell it's a busy day in washington? i have leann caldwell on capitol hill, and john bresnahan. thanks to both of you for being here. let's start with the reshaping of the republican party as we speak right now. it is clearly donald trump's arty. but congresswoman cheney is making it clear she's ready for it fight, and she doesn't mind being one woman against the gop and donald trump. watch. >> i think that as women, you know, all of us have an obligation to usually fight harder and work harder and be better. but i don't think that anybody should ever play the victim. >> that is congresswoman cheney in that exclusive interview with our savannah guthrie that aired

today on the "today" show, and she's making a bunch of news today. >> she absolutely is, and she's making the point this is not just about the past, which is what republican members, including kevin mccarthy like to say, that she's focusing only on the past. they want to look ahead. she's saying the threat from the former president is ongoing, and it's something that the republican party needs to confront. she is also saying that she is not going to bequiet. she is determined to stay relevant and to fight this fight. let's listen to what else she said this morning on the "today" show. >> do you think leader mccarthy has placed his own ambitions to be speaker of the house above principle? >> i think that he is not leading with principle right now. and i think that it is sad and i think it's dangerous. >> i stand by what i said about liz cheney before. i'm a great admirer of hers. >> with representative cheney, she's calling out members of her

own party, and just yesterday, we heard kevin mccarthy say that no one is questioning the legitimacy of the election. well, i asked kevin mccarthy about that this morning at a press conference regarding police officers that he was honoring. i said, more than half of the party, the republican party, thinks that joe biden did not win the presidency legitimately. he declined to answer. so while leader mccarthy and republicans want this issue to go away, it sure is not. especially since representative cheney has a big platform now that she is no longer confined to the leadership role. she can now speak out any time in any way she wants. >> i see you nodding your head in agreement with that point. talk to me a little bit about that and about what we heard from congresswoman cheney about leader mccarthy and making very clear, calling it sad and dangerous where he stands. that is an extraordinary

statement to hear from somebody who until 24 hours ago was a member of republican leadership. >> i feel just like leigh ann just said, like obi-wan kenobi, strike her down, she's 1,000 times stronger. they have given her now a national platform. she's on the "today" show talking about these issues. this is exactly what they were trying to move past. she's focusing on this stuff. so they have made her a cause now. and she's going to be able to rally those republicans, how many ever there are who are conservatives who don't support donald trump and are outraged over what happened on january 6th. she's going to become the figure who can lead them. she's going to become that person. and there are republicans, we know there are republicans who are outraged over that. there's still, like you said, there's a lot of fear of donald trump in the party. you know, all these members are scared of their primaries. kevin mccarthy knows he needs trump. he can't have trump attacking his members if he wants to win

the majority in 2022 and he wants to be speaker, but cheney doesn't have to worry about that anymore. she's free to say whatever she wants to whomever she wants. >> so what do you see about her political future then? i think we might have this bite, but she basically did not rule out a 2024 run, even when savannah pressed her a couple times and said what are your ambitions for 2024? here it is. >> i'm told -- >> right now, i am very focused on making sure that our party becomes again a party that stands for truth and stands for fundamental principles that are conservative, and mostly stands for the constitution. and i won't let a former president or anybody else unravel the democracy. >> whatever it takes. >> whatever it takes. >> what do you think her next steps will be? is it likely, i saw jonathan

martin over at "the new york times" talking about how there are some that are thinking perhaps cheney's threat to get into the race could draw donald trump into it, might at the very least freeze the field. what's your sense? >> you know, there's so much time. i think first of all, we have to see, is cheney going to run for re-election. she says she is. >> she said she will, right. >> so of course, but it's 2021 now. may of 2021, so we'll see. can she win election if trump tries to play in her home state? so those are big issues. look, i think cheney, just by the nature of who she was, this was a person being talked about as a possible speaker at one point. if for some reason mccarthy or steve scalise stumbled in the house republican conference, she was -- they were talking about she could do that, or a senator. she could have been a senator. so i think this is somebody who, you know, there's still a future for her. we have to see whether it's in

the republican party, is it as a conservative independent, is it the next manifestation of the conservative movement. we have to see. >> let's talk about the timeline moving forward to replace congresswoman cheney. elise stefanik considered the clear favorite to take the spot, but there is some discussion maybe about congressman chip roy. he's not ruling out this last-minute challenge. all of it hours ahead of this candidate forum before the vote tomorrow. what are you hearing? >> that's right, hallie. so tonight, there's going to be a candidate forum for elise stefanik who is going to present her case to the republican conference on why she should be the next gop conference chair. someone else could jump in the race. representative chip roy, a conservative from texas, a member of the freedom caucus, has not necessarily ruled it out. but i will say, chip roy has a very small following up here on capitol hill. he's probably just as popular or unpopular as representative liz cheney at this point. he aggravates a lot of members.

he's not a real threat. he's trying to make a point that elise stefanik should not just have a coronation. she should not just be placed in the next position. they want a contested race. we'll see if that happens. there's still time between now and tonight at 5:30 when that forum expects to take place. but the conference is expected to vote either by secret ballot or voice vote tomorrow morning on who the next gop conference chair will be. hallie. >> it's always great to have both of you super plugged in to what's happening in the world of capitol hill politics. >> we're also staying on top of another big story. millions of drivers along the east coast should expect a few more days of long gas station lines even though the colonial pipeline is back up and running again this morning after that six-day shutdown from a ransomware attack. officials warn those supply chains probably are not going to get back to normal until next week, which as you might imagine, is fueling frustration. check out the scene playing up and down the east coast right now.

people waiting for hours in some cases with some gas stations running on empty. gas buddy says nearly 3 out of 4 gas stations in north carolina are out of fuel. only 1 out of every 4 yesterday. several other states were also dealing with shortages. you can see them on the map on the right side of the screen. about half the stations in georgia, south carolina, virginia, here in d.c., all without gas. we'll hear more about this from president biden next hour, a day after he signed the executive order to beef up cybersecurity. lindsey reiser is speaking with drivers in fort mills, south carolina. kristen welker is at the white house. lindsey, what is the deal? what are you hearing? >> we're right on the border between north carolina and south carolina. a lot of people cross into south carolina where we are was because the gas is cheaper. as you can see here, there are cars here, not a crazy line, though. this is kind of showing really the case all day that we have been seeing here. when we first got here in the morning, this place didn't have gas. there's arstretch of four huge gas stations right along here. none had gas.

a truck came, replenished, and we're seeing steady crowds. i want to bring in richard. he lives in the area. he's gassing up. richard, talk to me about how difficult it was to find gas. >> i'm a senior, and i don't travel a lot, but i did get low on gas. and i live about two miles from here. and i didn't have trouble whatsoever finding this. >> you lucked out today. the line was down the street yesterday right here. >> and quick trip is not gouging the price, which is great. colonial settling was great. >> so it looks like things might get better throughout the weekend, hallie. as you can see here, they only have the 87 right here. they don't have the higher grades. they also don't have the grade where you fill up gas cans. so hopefully right now, it sounds like things will be better by the end of the weekend, that's what the federal government is saying. they waived a lot of regulations to help things. epa has waived regulations. the jones act has also been waived. that allows foreign vessels to carry.

hopefully people in the carolinas will see better conditions over the next few days. >> that's for sure. thank you. kristen, you have president biden who is going to be talking about the pipeline issue in, looking at my watch, maybe not even an hour from now. what do we expect? >> we expect president biden to talk about the government's efforts to deal with this crisis, and he will outline that new executive order you talked about that he signed yesterday. it does a couple things, hallie. among them, it encourages i.t. providers to alert the federal government if they feel as though there has been a breach. it's going to push federal government agencies to upgrade its secure locations. added calls for the federal government to improve security of software. those are a few steps this calls for. the energy secretary talked about this earlier today on "morning joe." take a listen to what she had to say. >> any entity now that is doing business with the federal

government, whether it's an infrastructure related entity or any other contractor doing business, will have to up their game on their own cybersecurity. and make sure their supply chains also are secure. >> now, hallie, as you know, executive orders only go so far. they only have so much teeth. so it remains to be seen just how widespread this impact will actually be. i am told that the president is also going to urge americans not to hoard gas. he's going to reiterate that when we speak in just a short time from now, hallie. >> kristen welker, just outside the white house. lindsey reiser, thanks to both of you. >> we're following new rocket fire and more and more people dying in the middle east this morning with the u.n. now warning israelis and palestinians are on the brink of all-out war. we're going to be live with a report in a moment. >> and new this morning, what the head of the nation's second biggest teachers union will do today to try to get more kids

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the situation in the middle east is getting worse this morning, with deadly violence now spilling into the streets of israel between arab and jewish israelis. that's on top of the aerial attacks palestinian militants and israelis are still releasing rocket attacks into the morning here, and more and more people, we're getting reports, dying

almost every hour. at least 83 palestinians and 7 israelis have been killed since monday. matt bradley is following the developments. i know you have followed the action and what has unfolded in the middle east for years now. talk about how significant this is. >> reporter: well, the reason why this is significant, you mentioned the eye-popping numbers, the rising casualties. you didn't mention the death of children, which has been on both sides in this truly horrific, you know, there was an apartment building in gaza that was leveled on video. these are the figures that are really catching the attention of the entire world. what's catching the attention of the israeli leadership are the fights in the streets. that's within israel proper. far away from contested territory, like the west bank or east jerusalem or the gaza strip or places that we're particular seeing on tv. this is really alarming because in places you're seeing actual fighting in the street between israeli civilians and palestinian civilians.

because before, the israelis could always turn around and say that no matter what is happening in the occupied territories, they can still point to the 20% of the israeli population who arab and say if only the palestinians would submit to israeli rule, they would enjoy peace and prosperity like the 20% of our population who do the same, who speak hebrew, who participate in our civic life. now, all of that is starting to fray. and in very, very public view. that's why you have heard from zippy libny and from benny gants, the minister of defense, saying the real risk here isn't the tit for tat rocket and air strikes in the gaza strip. the real risk is coming from the streets of israel itself. these acts of violence that are beginning to represent pilgrims on both sides and that many feel could lead directly to some kind of civil war involving actually israeli society inside the nation of israel. and actual civilians. that's so threatening to the

foundation of the jewish state. hallie. >> matt bradley, live for us with that. thank you. coming up on the show, some gop leaders rewriting history. incorrectly. somehow denying that any violence happened on capitol hill on january 6th. the violence that many of you saw with your own eyes and ears right here when it happened. we're going to break down the fact versus the alternate reality in a second. plus, kids 12 and older are starting to get the pfizer covid vaccine in more and more states today. we're live at a vaccination center in chicago where a whole bunch of teens are set to get the shot. plus, our medical expert on what you need to know before your kid gets vaccinated. good boy! [laughs] ♪ hold my pouch. ♪

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revisionist republicanism, as some in the gop are coming under fire this morning for rhetoric that does not at all match with reality on what happened on january 6th. several members during a house oversight committee hearing downplaying the violence, the rioting, the attack on the center of our democracy that day. take a look at what they said and what actually happened. >> the truth is being censored and covered up. as a result, the doj is harassing peaceful patriots across the country.

>> you know, if you didn't know the tv footage was a video from january 6th, you would think it was a normal tourist visit. >> many democrats have put forth a narrative that has been circulating around since january 6th, and it's never been corrected. for example, the narrative that president trump incited the riots on january 6th. >> we're going to walk down to the capitol. and we're going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women, and we're probably not going to be cheering so much for some of them. and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. >> now, this morning, one of the republicans behind one of the more eye-popping examples we just showed you is hardly

backing off, more like leaning in. we caught up with congressman clyde in the last few minutes this morning asking him to clarify, asking him, clarify what did you mean when you said the january 6th insurrectionists looked like tourists. >> do you stand by those statements? >> do you regret saying that? five people died. including police officers, and you're here today honoring police officers. >> if you're honest in your statement -- >> what's wrong about it when that's what you said? >> think about what you said. you didn't take what i said in context. >> can you explain it? >> explain to us. explain to us. >> you don't listen to what i said. >> we did. >> so you believe that january 6th was an insurrection? >> i'm joined by nbc news justice correspondent pete

williams. we wanted to bring you on for an update for the arrests of those who participated in the attack. where does the investigation stand right now? >> well, first of all, i want to say congressman clyde is right about one thing. at the very beginning, when people got into the capitol, the first shots that we saw did look like people, tourists walking through statuary hall, but that didn't last long. to answer your question, the justice department has now arrested more than 450 people, and it says in court documents that government lawyers will probably still make cases against at least 500, and maybe more. yesterday, during the hearing, at which congress clyde made that comment, the police chief in washington says he thinks more than 1,000 people got in there. now, clearly, there are two distinct groups of people. there are those folks who just came in and sort of stood around and grinned into their phones and took selfies and left. but there's a smaller group of people that did damage to the capitol, ransacked offices, and

a subgroup of that, of people who actually attacked police officers. the metropolitan police and the capitol police say at least 140 officers were injured during the capitol riots. so clearly, it was a lot more than just tourists. you know, there's -- the whole idea of the hearing yesterday was to be a fact finding hearing about two big questions that remain unanswered. what about the intelligence leading up to january 6th? what did the government know? did it know enough that it failed to spot all the social media messages that said all hell might break loose? and secondly, what happened on the 6th itself? how did the national guard get there and so forth. that question can probably only be answered by a 9/11 style commission, but what we saw at the hearing yesterday indicates why congress still hasn't agreed to do that. >> pete williams, listen, pete, we should note, too, going back to congressman clyde's statement, there was that one

shot, i remember it vividly because i was on the air with lester holt at the time when we showed it, the high shot we aurch see looking at the rotunda, i don't know if we have it, and people were sort of milling about. it became clear very quickly, as you point out, this was not at all a tourist situation with the violence and some of the scenes we saw. pete, really quickly before i let you go, do you have any sense if there were to be a 9/11 style commission for january 6th, how long something like that would take to uncover some of the questions, some of the answers to the questions you're pointing out here? >> if they do it right, it would take many months, possibly up to a year. >> okay. pete williams, live for us here in our washington newsroom. thank you very much. >> to other news. we're expecting a pretty big announcement within maybe the next 30 minutes or so about getting kids back into the classroom. that's because the head of a key teachers union, one of the country's biggest, is planning to call for a full reopening in the fall. that means in person five days a

week. that announcement is about to come from randi weingarten, the president of the second biggest teachers union who is expected to say the u.s. will not be fully back until we're fully back in school, and my union is all in. it comes as the first younger teenagers, adolescents here in the u.s., can and are getting vaccinated this morning, now that the cdc has officially signed off on pfizer's shot for people as young as 12 years old. that means 17 million kids are becoming eligible today. there's an obstacle here now, convincing the 17 million kids and their parents to actually go and get the shot. in ohio, the state is offering up a huge incentive for both adults and teens. a shot at $1 million. the governor announcing that vaccinated adults can enter a lottery that will pay out $1 million to five people, and for teens, they're offering five of them full-ride scholarships to its public universities. that would include all four years of tuition, room, board,

books. shaq brewster is in chicago, also ashish jha. >> as we wait for this big announcement on getting kids to school, some are going into the building behind you to get their shot. >> that's right, hallie. that announcement is expected to come in just a few minutes here from the president of the american federation of teachers, that organization that represents about 1.7 million teachers nationwide. and she's expected to say in her remarks very clearly, calling for the reopening of schools, saying, quote, there is no doubt schools must be open in person five days a week. she says that she wants there to be a focus on safety. this isn't risk free, but she says the game changer are those vaccinations. the vaccinations that are now available for people 12 and up now, and happening in the building behind me. hallie, i spoke to a family coming out. the mother was a bus driver for the chicago transportation authority here. she was with her three kids.

she said she signed up instantly as soon as she heard that message and that announcement from the cdc. listen to what she and her kids told me just a couple minutes ago. >> today is day one, mom. you came out. you said we're getting the kids vaccinated. >> yes. >> why is that? >> the kids want some type of normal. they want to be able to go to school. they want to hang out with their friends, sleep overs. they don't want to be confined all the time, and the only way they're going to have any type of normal is to get vaccinated. >> i start high school next year, and i want to be able to go to my first day of high school. and also, i don't want to be robbed of my eighth grade graduation. >> you heard her say afterwards that she didn't want to be robbed of her eighth grade graduation. she worked so hard for it and she wanted to have that experience. it's not just happening at this hospital here in chicago. you're seeing many of the large hospitals already taking appointments. not only appointments but also walk-up reservations where people can walk in and go ahead and get their vaccine. the city also saying at some of

their mass vaccination sites, people can come in, 12 to 15, can now come in and get that vaccine, and we're also hearing that the city is working with chicago public schools to work on a mobile vaccination unit. the key is they want things to get back to normal, and many people are saying it's these vaccines now available to more people that will be the key to making it happen, hallie. >> shaq brewster, thank you very much. super interesting interview. dr. jha, let me talk to you about a couple things and the news coming from randi weingarten, from a public health perspective, are we at a point in this pandemic where that timeline is realistic, where we can safely have kids back in school full time five days a week this fall? >> absolutely. absolutely. first of all, thanks for having me on. this is great to see from ms. wine garden. there's no doubt about it, the science on this is very, very clear. we can get kids back to school safely, safe for them, safe for teachers, safe for staff. i'm thrilled to see it, and i

think it will happen this fall. and it will, of course, also be great for parents who want to see their kids back. >> you have also got, what would you say quickly, dr. jha, to those parents who may be feeling like, i don't know, should i do this, should i not? >> in terms of getting vaccinated, absolutely. i have two kids between 12 and 15. both are super excited and i'm excited to get them vaccinated. the data on safety is really quite good. we know it works. it helps people get their lives back. i'm pretty supportive of it. >> let me ask you, dr. fauci this morning was crystal clear about a subject that a lot of people are interested about, which is mask wearing. indoors and out. very clear. let me play for you what he had to say. >> we have got to make that transition. if you are vaccinated, you don't have to wear a mask outside. we are in a very unusual situation. if you're going into a completely crowded situation where people are essentially falling all over each other, then you wear a mask. but any other time, if you're vaccinated and you're outside,

put aside your mask. >> what do you think, dr. jha, that indoors. dr. fauci was clear, outside, no mask. what about indoor mask guidance? what should that look like now? >> i think what's going to happen on the indoor mask guidance is we'll see a peeling back there as well. more and more people are getting vaccinated. infection numbers are going down. anything that is super crowded, we're going to have to recommend that people wear masks. less crowded spaces, you're going to see states pull back on mask mandates. if you're vaccinated, it's pretty safe to be indoors as well unmasked as long as you're not in that super crowded, let's say, jam-packed indoor concert where it may be more of a challenge. >> always great to have your expertise and perspective on the show, especially with a lot of developments. thank you. coming up in the nux hour, craig melvin is talking with dr. william groupert, do not mix that. >> and then coming up here on

this show next, you have president biden hosting senate republicans at the white house today. in hopes of trying to land a bipartisan deal on infrastructure. we'r live at the white house withor on that. and the president's promise that fighting climate change is all about jobs, facing one of its first tests in michigan. we're live in so-called vehicle city with what gm is doing. it has autoworkers up in arms and talking with us about it. wait until you hear it. ♪ the things, you say ♪ ♪ you're unbelievable ♪ ♪ ♪ applebee's irresist-a-bowls are back. dig in for just $8.99. ♪♪ it's velveeta shells & cheese some say this is my greatest challenge ever. but i've seen centuries of this.

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it's us...pushing us. it's verizon...vs verizon. and who wins? you. we may be getting closer to an answer to that on an infrastructure bill today. you have the white house and top republicans in congress sounding cautiously optimistic. emphasis on cautiously. on the heels of that big four meeting in the oval office. watch. >> i think they want a deal this time, and i think they want a deal with us because i don't think they think they can pass this second effort through a

reconciliation package. >> i want to get a bipartisan deal on as much as we can get a bipartisan deal on. and that means roads, bridges, broadband, infrastructure. >> that's president biden, of course, our msnbc exclusive. he's still leaving the door open to going it alone for some parts of the plan that have less republican support. spending on child care to help millions of parents, especially women, get back to work. the president will have another crack at bipartisan negotiations. he and his team meeting with another group of lawmakers, this time, all republican senators. kelly o'donnell is outside the white house. tee us up for this meeting and what you think is going to come up inside that room? >> after listening to the excerpts you played and setting the scene, it's really about preserving all of the available pathways. wanting to get something that both the president and leaders in congress can say is an achievement, because bipartisanship does work when you're talking about

infrastructure. it may be rare in almost every other conversation, but everyone wants to be able to go home and talk about a bridge or a road in their community that has been improved. so there is a pathway there. what it does do for the president is it has to give him a willingness, and he's shown that so far, to narrow the scope of it. you heard him say the hard infrastructure that republicans have been focused on, not some of the other kinds of programs that may affect the ability to work together, and that's going to be a harder sell. so today, among those who will be there, shelly moore caputo, who is the top republican on the relevant committees here dealing with infrastructure. she's from west virginia. you also have pat toomey and roy blunt, who are not seeking re-election. that gives them a little bit of freedom. and then you have roger wicker, also a top republican when it comes to infrastructure. so you've got the committees here that are involved that have the specific knowledge. if there's a willingness to

work, that balance of having some who don't have to run before the voters again, that may help to move things along a bit. hallie. >> kelly o'donnell live for us outside the white house, thank you. we're also following one of the president's promises that's now facing one of its first tests. here's the deal. president biden has said the fight against climate change relates directly to american jobs. a good example is general motors, right? you have gm promising to go all electric by 2035. the company is investing across the u.s. and touting new jobs all while cutting greenhouse gas emissions. sounds pretty good, right? well, auto murk workers in michigan are calling foul after gm quietly revealed plans to invest a billion dollars in an electric vehicle plant not in the u.s. but in mexico. the car is expected to then be shipped over across the border here to this country. let's bring in josh lederman who is on the ground in flint, michigan. about half of the meme in the area were employed by g mrb.

explain the optics and how the company is responding. >> reporter: insecure, disappointed, hypocritical. those are some of the words, hallie, that gm workers used to describe what they felt when they heard that their employer was going to be spending all this money to build electric vehicles in mexico. flint is called vehicle city for a reason. but over the decades, tens of thousands of these jobs have gone elsewhere, to places like mexico and china. and now, the gm workers say that with gm basking in the glow of all this public positive publicity for going green, they had expected or at least hoped that a lot of that money would be to bring jobs here to the u.s. they also say it's particularly egregious for gm to be shipping these jobs to mexico at the same time that the company is asking the biden administration to spend tens of billions of dollars to extend federal incentives for people to actually buy electric vehicles, as well as to build electric

vehicle charging stations across the country. and i want you to hear from brett baker, who is a gm worker, also the local union president here in flint, and he told us he felt this decision was shameful. >> i have seen what product investment to mexico does to a community like flint, michigan, that we live in. and for general motors to ask for the bailout and for american taxpayers to be there for general motors in a time of need, it's a time of need for american workers. and to not get this investment is shameful. >> reporter: now, gm says this is just a small fraction of their overall investments in bringing jobs here to the u.s. they say they're actually spending $9 billion to upgrade and built electric vehicle facilities including right here in michigan, as well as ohio and tennessee. they say that will have about 9,000 jobs involved. the company also telling me, look, we're a global automaker. we make cars all over the world, and so if we're going to go all

electric by 2035, it's only natural that some of those cars are going to be built outside the u.s. hallie. >> josh lederman live for us in flint. thank you, great reporting. appreciate it. coming up, more great reporting in the fight to make d.c. a state. what changes the white house wants to see in the bill making its way through capitol hill. we're talking with one of the journalists breaking that story in a second. plus, fresh off her surprising announcement she is ending her talk show, our own savannah guthrie has another big exclusive this morning, this one with ellen degeneres. >> there are probably people who are thinking, how could you not know? and if you didn't know, should you have known? doug? [ding] never settle with power e*trade. it has easy-to-use tools and some of the lowest prices. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today.

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student loans don't have to take over for the rest of your life. thank you for allowing me to get my money right. back now with a statehood edition of sources say. you have "the new york times" reporting this morning that the white house is quietly pushing for a change in the bill that's out there that would make washington, d.c. right here the nation's 51st state. it all has to do with the electoral votes that d.c. gets in the electoral college and the new proposal to give them to the winner of the national popular vote, whoever wins that. we bring in one of the reports on that piece, washington correspondent for "the new york times" and msnbc contributor,

charlie savage. good morning. >> hi, hallie. nice to be back. >> what is up with this? how involved is the white house on this? how likely is this going to lead to, like, any kind of changes in the bill? >> well, this bill has already passed the house in its present? >> well this bill has already passed the house in its present form, try to prevent any electoral college votes being appointed on behalf of the federal district in the places in d.c. people live all became a state, that would leave behind the white house, the supreme court, national mall, places like that. the white house is said to have reached out to them and said we're not sure that's the right approach to prevent this mandated lectors from being appointed an amendment to the constitution is not repealed right away. we think a better method is to say, unless and until that amendment is repealed, those

votes will still happen in the electoral college but go to the winner of the national popular vote. it's a cleaner, more elegant solution about what to do about that problem and might also spur republicans to cooperate in clinging up the constitution by repealing that amendment rather than obstructing it to create another legal thing to fight about. so far, for the house to pass it without that change that's in the senate now for the first time when democrats controlled the senate so there's a possibility that the bill could be marked up and altered. and in the senate committee. it's still not going to get a vote as long as there's a filibuster rule in the senate. the democrats may adjust that bill in response to the biden administration's heel policy concerns. >> charlie, why do you think the white house is suggesting the changes now and why do it quietly? >> well, why now is because this is the first time the bill has come up in the modern era where there is a democratic

administration that isn't just going to oppose the bill because republicans oppose giving -- creating two senate seats democrats would probably win. for the first time, a party that is favorable to the place is in place like a year ago when the trump administration was never going to endorse it anyway. that's why the executive branch legal team has gone over this with a fine tooth comb now. the second question, why quietly? >> why quietly? >> republicans have been -- who hate this bill don't want to give two seats in the senate to the democrats. they have been throwing up everything they can against the bill to muddy it up, all kinds of legal and policy objections. the notion that democrats might be considering changes to the bill for legal and policy republicans is sensitive at this stage. that's why quietly. >> charlie, great reporting. thank you for bringing it to us with what your sources are saying this morning. back on capitol hill we are waiting to hear from house speaker nancy pelosi really any

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she has been a tv icon for decades making a career comeback years after she first came out publicly but ellen is now announcing her show's next season will be the last. in an interview with nbc news she's insisting that decision is not a response to the controversy over workplace culture on her talk show which led to an investigation by the parent company and an apology to the staff. here she is with savannah guthrie. >> how did it feel in that moment. >> to say it today. >> season 19 is going to be my last season. this show has been the greatest experience of my life and i owe it all to you. thank you. >> i could see it in your eyes. >> yeah. >> what was the emotion with it? >> relief, joy, sadness. >> it's everything. i mean, you know, i think i got choked up on saying that this is the best experience of my life because it has been. >> it's a welcome mat. >> the show started 18 years

ago. jennifer aniston the first guest. celebrities, musicians, kids and animals followed and those who doubted an openly gay talk show host could succeed, ellen proved them wrong. >> many famous and talented people have tried to do this job and not succeeded. why did it work for you? >> you're right. i am more talented than the rest. i wanted you to say it. i don't know. i'm kind of made for this. i'm quick on my feet and i know what it's like as a comedian to read the room. >> it's been a difficult season of ellen's life. last summer headlines swirled calling her kind image into question. former staffers calling the work environment on her show toxic. >> there will be people who think ellen is leaving because of everything that went on. >> if i was quitting i would not come back this year. i did think about not coming

back because it did, you know, it was devastating. i am a kind person. i am a person who likes to make people happy. >> i just kept saying to portia, if i was a fan of somebody and even though if i loved them, i would think there must be some truth to it because it's not stopping. then right on the heels of that, i hear in the -- i read in the press, that there's a toxic work environment by i mean i had no idea, never saw anything that would even point to that. >> did you feel like you were being canceled? >> i mean, i really didn't understand it. i still don't understand it. it was too orchestrated and coordinated. people get picked on, but for four months straight for me and for me to read in the press about a toxic work environment when all i've ever heard from every guest that comes on the show what a happy atmosphere this is and a happy place it is. >> there are probably people thinking how could you not know?

if you didn't, should you have? >> i don't know how when there's 255 employees and there's a lot of buildings. unless i stayed here until the last person goes home at night, it is my name on the show so clearly it affects me and i have to be the one to stand up and say, this can't be tolerated. i do wish somebody would have come to me and said hey, something is going on that you should know about. >> what are you most proud of? >> i'm most proud of going 19 years on this show. this is an accomplishment. i'm proud of the kind of show we do and i'm proud we are funny. >> i'm proud that we are helping people and we represent acts of kindness. >> i happen to know that washer and dryer drier is too big for your apartment so we bought you a house.

highlights people we want to say look at this person doing good. >> you needed the money but donated it to other families. i'm going to double that and give each other $10,000. >> okay. >> ellen has 2400 guests. >> that does it for us for this hour of msnbc reports. thank you so much for watching as always. we'll turn you over to the capable hands of craig melvin picking up our coverage. >> good thursday morning. craig melvin here. the letter of the day. the major news we're following, "p" for party, politics, pipeline, pandemic and policing. any minute now house speaker nancy pelosi will be holding the weekly briefing