when you see what's going on in gaza and israel. conflict resolution led by women that we need right now. >> these are women over 50, over 60, over 70, over 80 kicking ass. happy friday, everybody. have a great weekend. go to knowyourvolume.com and click on 50 over 50 for more. and nbc's andrea mitchell, thank you as well. we will see you at noon on "andrea mitchell reports." that does it for us this morning. kristen welker picks up the coverage right now. hi, there, i'm kristen welker in for stephanie ruhle. it is friday, may 21st, and here's what's happening. this morning the skies are quiet over the middle east, where an unconditional cease-fire between israel and hamas is holding at least for now. it took effect around 2:00 a.m. local time, about 14 hours ago,

end egg some of those brutal fighting in years. at least 240 palestinians and 12 israelis were killed. even with the cease-fire in place, we are just learning about new flashes this morning between lierl police and palestinians at the temple mount in jerusalem. more than a dozen people were reported hurt after police used stun grenades. the clashes follow remarks from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who called the day an assault on hamas an outstanding success but also warned any violation of the cease-fire would be met with a new level of force. netanyahu also thanked president biden for his support. the two men speaking six times over the past nine days. remember biden came into office hoping to avoid foreign entanglements like this so he could focus on domestic issues and other matters on the world stage, but like so many of his predecessors, he ultimately could not avoid it. mr. biden will send his

secretary of state antony blinken in the coming days to work with both sides and try to keep the cease-fire in place. i want to bring in our chief white house correspondent peter alexander, tracking developments from there. and kelly, i want to start with you. the clashes in jerusalem, they pose an early test to see if this cease-fire holds. what are you seeing, what are you hearing on the ground, kelly? >> this absolutely is the first test of this cease-fire. so far it is holding. but these incidents at the temple mount, this incident is still ongoing as far as we understand. we just got the latest from the israeli police spokesman saying this started after friday prayers. according to israeli place there were rioters, rocks being thrown, molotov cocktails being thrown on the temple mount and

that israeli forces -- israeli police responded trying to clear the rioters and allowing people to leave the area. they said this involved several hundred people but we don't have an exact number. there were also injuries reported from this. the israeli police using rubber bullets and stun gra nads, according to some reports. what's really important here, and police issued an updated statement to say they did not enter a mosque, they did not enter al aqsa mosque. that was the flashpoint, if you will remember, almost two weeks ago that really ignited this conflict. crucially overnight when this cease-fire went into effect, hamas issued a statement saying our finger is on the trigger. we're watching al aqsa mosque. if something happens there, we're ready to retaliate again.

so far that hasn't happened and that obviously is a good sign but we're keeping an eye. >> it certainly is, kelly, and that's a really important point to make. i want to go to my partner at the white house, peter. i know you have been talking to your sources and we're tracking this throughout the week. watching the president really get criticism for his handling of this, including from some members of his own party, who said he wasn't being tough enough. the white house said, look, he was engaged in intensive diplomacy behind the scenes, and i know you're learning more this morning about that diplomacy. what are you learning about his role? >> kristen, that's right. first to the criticism from congressional democrats, among others, not just progressives but some of the centrists, folks like tim kaine and chris murphy, the president used that as potential leverage behind the scenes in his conversations with benjamin netanyahu, israeli prime minister, to say there is not the support in the congress that may have existed in the past on this. you talk about the quiet,

intensive diplomacy. among the priorities for this 3rez was to end the violence as soon as possible, refocus on his domestic agenda. it was much more muted his strategy in terms of its style and public facing elements to it but much more hardlined in terms of the message in terms of substance. 80 calls to the administration and foreign counterparts, six calls between the president and benjamin netanyahu yesterday, the first call with the prime minister in egypt with -- excuse me, with president el-sisi. they did mention it was a very fragile cease-fire. this behind-the-scenes incident was calculated. it was by design, going from 2014 when the violence behind the scenes lasted 51 days. more than 2,000 palestinians were killed then. a different tact this time around. also really trying to recalibrate the way the u.s. after the last four years views

what's happening in that region. here's the president yesterday. >> i believe the palestinians and israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy. my administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy towards that end. i believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress, and i'm committed to working for it. >> again, the words of the president just yesterday. today he will be hosting the south korean president here at the white house, so foreign policy on the front burner even as the president really does again want to try to focus on domestic policy issues. as relates to israel, you noted the secretary of state, antony blinken, expected to head to the region next week and we're also told by those here within the white house, it's likely within the next several weeks the decision will ultimately be made on who the u.s. ambassador to israel will be. kristen? >> i know there will be a lot of focus on who that person will

be, peter. i think you raise the seminole point, and kelly, i want to bring you in on it. as peter mentioned, the biden administration in some ways crafted this strategy based on what happened in 2014, when they went through eight truces in the middle east before ninth cease-fire actually held. so what is the strategy now in terms of making sure that this cease-fire actually holds and it's actually successful? i know egypt and qatar will be critical. >> that's right, kristen. it is very fragile. and a lot of ways you heard peter talking about how difficult it was just to get to this point, to get to the cease-fire. that in a lot of ways when you look at the bigger picture is the easy part. maintaining it, moving forward, crafting a plan is the hard part. i told you about the statement from hamas. we heard from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu a couple hours ago as well saying

israel will no longer tolerate any rocket fire from hamas. and in addition to that, you have the very fragile situation within neighborhoods here in israel after the intercommunal violence. the two sides. both victims of mob violence over the past several days. the key here will be in egypt, as the broker, ascending in two teams, one to tel aviv, the other two the palestinian territories trying to maintain the peace. the question, can they do it this time? >> that is the question. great reporting to start us off on a very busy friday morning. kelly cobiella and peter alexander, thank you very much for all of that. now i do want to turn to the news right here in washington. a bill that would establish a commission on the january 6th insurrection is headed to the u.s. senate, perhaps as early as next week. the senate republicans appear poised to block it, leaving democrats with a choice, do they accept defeat or do they try to

create a commission on their own? my colleague nbc's leigh ann caldwell joins me from capitol hill. and jake sherman from punchbowl news joins me this morning. thank you very much for being here. we think this vote could happen as early as next week. is that your expectation, and how do you think this is going to go down? >> hey, kristen, it could happen as early as next week. senate majority leader chuck schumer put it on the senate calendar. it doesn't mean everything is locked in stone yet so it could slide. again, early next week is possible. of course, we know it needs the support of 60 senators. that means at least ten republicans need to sign on to this. and it seems like a very high bar to reach at this point. our colleague, julie sirkin, did an amazing job compiling what all 50 republican senators have said about the commission, and most of them are outright opposed, regardless of what it looks like.

there are only about a dozen who are considering or willing to discuss it. some say like senator susan collins and mitt romney, if there are minor changes made, they could potentially support it. but it's going to be very difficult to get the republicans it needs in order to support it. democratic sources are saying, let's put this bill on the floor. if republicans want to change it, let's vote on amendments, see how that process goes down and if that's actually what happens. but like i said, it's going to be difficult, kristen, to pass this and get it to the president's desk. >> no one knows all of the machinations of capitol hill better than you. so when you say it's difficult, it is going to be difficult. and, of course, you think about trying to get ten votes and it's hard to see how that happens. the given what we heard from leader mccome yesterday, what

leigh anne was talking about. he said he would support a go-it-alone strategy but acknowledged if he did that, half the country probably wouldn't believe the results. what are the sources telling you about the thinking now inside the democratic party about whether they're going to go it alone? >> as always, leigh anne is right. but there's a decision tree here that breaks out from there. if senate democrats can work with senate republicans to make some changes around the margins, a whole host of changes, giving republicans ability to hire staff, whole host of things, if they can assuage those concerns, could they get ten as leigh anne said? maybe, maybe not. i asked pelosi yesterday, is there any way to get through the congress without some sort of investigation on january 6th? and she basically, she didn't say it outright, she said let's see what the senate does and he she makes a good point.

mcconnell is not -- has not been as feshantly no as he has been on other issues. i don't see much of a basis here, i don't want to give the sense i'm too optimistic, but i'm not as pessimistic as i usually am given the republicans can come on board given a set of changes. if pelosi decides to go it alone, she can create a special committee like republicans did with benghazi, republicans and democrats. it would then be up to republicans to see if they wanted to appoint some people. i imagine it would be better if they would so it would be inside the room and out. and then she can say choose your congressional committee oversight homeland security agency and create an investigation in the committees. democrats would be at a major advantage on both of those panels. a commission, however, has upside for republicans. republicans could have the ability to disagree with subpoenas and equal

representation. actually, an independent commission is the best option for republicans if you assume that there is going to be an investigation one way or the other. >> that's a really important point. jake, let me just ask you if there is a commission, we know that there's going tosh a lot of focus on kevin mccarthy. democrats want him to testify about that phone call that he had with former president trump on the day of january 6th that has gotten so much attention. and yesterday he said he would in fact testify. what are the expectations here and what are the folks inside mccarthy's office telling you about how they're viewing all of this? >> they're sick of being asked about donald trump, which was unfortunate because mccarthy is standing with trump and will i variably get questions about it. if he's compelled by a subpoena, i don't see that he's able to ditch testifying. i think he will have to testify, obviously. i imagine he can claim it was a

is conversation with the president, and there's some sort of privacy expected with that? i don't think that's going to fly. but, listen, the real concern among mccarthy and republicans is democrats can send this panel into next year, into an election year, and continue to tie donald trump to the neck of every republican, which they're going to do regardless of this commission or not. i think that's the real political fear they're facing right now. >> i think you're absolutely right. they have their eye on 2022 and concerns about the implications of what all of this could mean as they're fighting to try to win back the house. leigh anne caldwell, jake sherman, thank you very much for joining us this friday morning. ahead this hour, new questions about whether or not we could need booster shots of the covid vaccine. plus, the financial incentive some states are offering to workers who stay in new full-time jobs.

connecticut governor ned lamont joins me as his state works towards pandemic recovery. and the clock is ticking to pass reform just days before the one-year anniversary of george floyd's death. we're digging into what's holding up the negotiation. that's next on msnbc. ext on msnc this machine needs updating... kids don't really have records anymore... but it tastes better on vinyl... servicenow. visible is wireless that doesn't play games. no surprise fees, legit unlimited data for as little as $25 a month. and the best part, it's powered by verizon. but it gets crazier. bring a friend every month and get every month for $5. which is why i brought them. two $5-a-months right here. hey. hey. plus the players of my squad.

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there are growing questions this morning over when or if booster shots will be needed for

the covid-19. a source told axios boosters may be needed as early as september for some people. top medical adviser anthony fauci taking a little different position. let's listen. >> there's been a lot of talk and maybe some representation that we absolutely will need booster shots at this time. we don't know. we don't know what the durability is protection is. we're following it very closely. we may at some time have to get a booster shot, but we don't know when that is. >> let's go live now to nbc's sam brock in florida where he's been talking directly to restaurants about booster shots as they welcome back customers. sam, this is a hot topic right now. what are folks telling you there? >> kristen, good morning, good to be with you. happy friday. i will just add to the whole fauci conversation he just told axios in his exact words we will almost certainly need a booster shot within a year of the primary dosage just to kind of add to the idea there's been

mixed messaging going on. as far as what folks are saying down here, i've talked to people going to restaurants, the industry is booming now in south florida. it's up more than 50% in terms of seated diners since 2019 before the pandemic. folks who got the vaccine told me, look, having a booster will not stop me from continuing that process, whatever keeps me safe. and people who did not want to talk to me at all were the same as we've seen for months now. here's what we heard here -- >> i will be fine with it, as long as we continue to be safe, as long as it's safe to go out without having the mask on all the time. if it speeds us up to normalcy, i'm cool with it. >> had i think it's a lot like the flu shot. a lot of people don't do it though. i don't do the flu shot. not because i don't want to, but because it's a little bit of a hassle. >> kristen, pfizer's ceo said they're studying the efficacy of

a booster now and said the science should be clear in a matter of months. >> all comes down to the science. sam brock in coral gables. happy friday to you, my friend. thank you for joining us. appreciate it. i now want to bring in former cdc director dr. tom frieden. great for seeing you. thank you very much for joining us on this friday. let's start there with what sam was talking about, mixed messages we are hearing right now. you have the ceos of pfizer and moderna who say we will likely need booster shots by the fall. you heard what dr. anthony fauci said. what are you seeing in the science? what does the science tell us? >> kristen, here's the bottom line. there are two reasons why we might need a booster shot. first, if variants emerge in what are called vaccine escape variants, so they can get around immunity which are vaccinations, which are amazingly effective at providing. secondly, if the vaccine-induced

immunity fades or wanes over time so you would become susceptible to an infection and need a booster dose. if those things happen, yes, we would need booster shots. but right now here's the bottom line, whether or not we need boosters is a definite maybe. what we see are some of the variants are somewhat resistant to vaccine. what we see is some of the antibody levels fade some over time. but fundamentally, we need to see do people who have been vaccinated start getting sick from the virus again? and if that happens, yes, we will need a booster. and it's absolutely right for the companies to begin developing them, especially against the new variants in case we need them. but we also have to recognize that most of the world hasn't had a first helping, hasn't had a first dose. we need to ramp up global vaccine equity and access because if we don't do that, the risk of a dangerous vaccine escape mutant rising and spreading and endangering us

increases as well. >> and i think you touch on two key points at least in my mind. one, you have the variants, and then you have this question, do we start to see people get sick again? so i guess the question becomes, are you concerned we could start to see another wave in the fall? >> well, i don't think we can predict what's going to happen. i do think it's virtually certain that the worst of the pandemic is behind us in the u.s. we have very high levels of immunity. immunity is quite good, even against variants. we have the virus on the run. that doesn't mean it's going to go away completely. we're still going to be dealing with cases and clusters, potential outbreaks in places like homeless shelters, prisons, jails, nursing homes. so the virus is not gone but it's certainly done. >> well, i think a lot of people will be cheering to hear you say

the worst is behind us. we hope that is certainly the case. dr. frieden, thank you so much for joining us and thank you for your great information. we want to go now to north connecticut, where the state is joining new hampshire in giving out $1,000 bonuses to get people back to work after the pandemic. nbc's kathy park is in greenwich for us today. kathy, break this down, how is this working? >> hey, kristen, good morning to you. consider this a signing bonus of sorts and applies to those who have been unemployed here in connecticut for an extended period of time. so 8 to 12 weeks. the you do need to apply. the program officially kicks off on monday and you also need to hold on to that job for a period of at least eight weeks to get that $1,000 check. we had a chance to speak with business owners here in the greenwich area and the reactions are mixed. there are folks who are excited about this incentive, because

this means it could potentially spur more people to join the workforce, because obviously they're dealing with the labor shortage right now. because a lot of these businesses are starting to ramp back up. on the flip side, you have some people who say, look, i've had employees. thafd been secure with a job for the greater part of the year. where is my bonus, $1,000 check? you have people who have differing opinions about this but hopefully this incentive will mean more people will eventually apply for this and get back to the job first, kristen. >> kathy park in greenwich, connecticut. thank you for breaking all of that down. joining us now to discuss this further is the democratic governor, ned lamont of connecticut. governor, thank you very much for being here on this friday. the question i guess is the $1,000 signing bonus working? what kind of responses are you

getting? >> we're going to let you know on monday, but i'm hearing a lot of really good feedback, kristen, from restaurants, service sector, retail, folks who said we're having a harder time getting people back into the workforce. we have a lot of covid hesitancy. so we have a lot of people who are a bit of a wait and see. so i hope this $1,000 gives them a nudge, help them with day care and transportation and get them back in the workforce. >> i think covid hesitancy is probably the biggest thing you're battling in terms of messaging. how do you address that? >> getting everybody vaccinated. we have almost three quarters of our adults vaccinated now. that makes a big difference. the infection rate fell below 1% yesterday. people's confidence is going up every day. i heard that in some of your previous newscasts about people getting back into the restaurants, back into retail. we have consumers coming,

workers are sure to follow. >> if what about the people who found jobs in the past few months, are they eligible for this as well? >> no, they're not eligible but i think what i'm hearing, especially in the service sector, there's a small creep up in wages for everybody. i think there's a bit of a labor shortage in certain sectors, and you have to pay to attract the right laborers. so i think you're going to see a lot of people getting a raise this year. >> you, governor, have lifted nearly all restrictions on wednesday but there still seems to be a lot of confusion about wearing masks. what exactly is your advice to residents and then businesses, particularly those who are concerned about the variants? >> we have said, look, we ended all of our business restrictions. that means distancing and curfews, outdoors, nobody has to wear a mask, vaccinated or unvaccinated. indoors following the cdc grinds, if you're unvaccinated, you still have to wear the mask

indoors and we're going to keep that going for the foreseeable future. but you're right, kristen, some of our store owners have said we'd like everybody to wear the mask a little bit longer, and it gives all of our consumers greater sense of confidence, and they certainly are free to do that. >> governor, one more quickly before i let you go. we know president biden has set this benchmark of having 70% of adults having at least one dose by july 4th. what is your hope and goal within your state for july 4th? >> president biden, been there, done that. we're at about 74% right now, and we got to keep going. it's sort of the invincible, 25 to 30-year-old age group to work on. that's why if you come to connecticut, that first drink is free if you have been vaccinated. >> governor, thank you so much for joining us on this friday. we really appreciate it.

>> great to see you, kristen. >> great to see you. coming up next -- a civil rights investigation is still going on right now into the death of ronald greene while he was in police custody. this as calls are getting louder for congress to pass police reform just days before the one-year mark since george floyd's death. where those talks stand, that's next right here on msnbc. renae runs with us on a john deere 1 series tractor. because out here, you can't fake a job well done. hear renae's story at deere.com what happens when we welcome change? we can transform our workforce overnight out of convenience, or necessity. we can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them where they are,

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right now we're watching louisiana where a civil rights probe looking into the 2019 death of ronald greene in police custody is now under way after body camera footage leaked to the ap, showing state police initially mischaracterized the nature of his death in a press release. this morning it's putting pressure on lawmakers to act. president biden called on congress to pass the george floyd justice in policing act by the anniversary of his murder. with just four days left until that deadline, that is looking unlikely for now. i want to go now to priscilla thompson on the ground in louisiana. we also have pbs newshour white house expandand yamiche

yamiche alcindor. priscilla, what are you seeing on the ground so far? >> yes, oftentimes in cases like this we see renewed calls for justice and it ignites widespread protest. but that's not one thing we are seeing here. one thing that can do is put pressure on officials to act and release more tape or whatever it is protesters are calling for and activists say there are a couple of things that may be going on. one, someone pointed out to me this was an incident that happened outside of monroe and something that took place between greene and louisiana state troopers, not local law enforcement. so what activists are saying is they're calling on the governor to do more in this situation and to step in and act. the but we did hear from governor john bel edwards late yesterday about this, and he says he's standing by what he said initially about the release

of the tapes and what the law enforcement agencies that are investigating this, including the doj and district attorney, have asked him to do as it relates to releasing these tapes. take a listen to what he said yesterday. >> they renewed their request that the video not be made public, and that's why the state police hasn't done it. i fully expect as soon as they were told by those agencies that they can release the video without jeopardizing the investigation, you will see everything there is to offer. >> at that point about seeing everything that is there is really important to a lot of folks who are watching this case as you alluded to. initial reports from police suggested greene died on impact from a car crash, and it didn't mention this altercation that we are seeing in this video that was released by the ap. so the family, of course, is

saying as they have been all along this was a cover-up and they feel like greene was murdered. but we aren't hearing very much more from law enforcement officials. as i say, they're continuing this investigation and aren't going to speak on an ongoing investigation. kristen? >> yamiche, i want to bring you into the conversation now. you and i have been covering the debate over police reform in washington. we know that president biden called for it to get done by may 25th. that is, of course, the one year mark since the death of george floyd. i have been talking to my sources who say there are a lot of discussions behind the scenes about how exactly the president plans to mark that day. what are you sources telling you? what do you think we're going to see from president biden next week? >> when i'm talking to my sources, they're saying president biden really, really cares about marking this anniversary of the murder of george floyd. i'm told that there might be some sort of -- and likely will

be some sort of ceremony at the white house that might include families of victims who have been killed by police, possibly the floyd family. also possibly lawmakers working on the george floyd justice in policing act. things are still being worked out but that's in some ways the bones of it, and somebody's putting it together. hopefully maybe by sunday or this weekend, there will be a firm plan on how to mark this. we know that president biden has spoken to the floyd family a number of times. let's remember the daughter of george floyd said her father would change the world, and in some ways he has changed the world. there's a racial reckoning going on since the murder but there are thing that's haven't changed, including the fact policing reform is not going to pass based on my sourcing, not going to pass by tuesday. african-americans are still two to three times as likely more than white americans to be killed police.

and so there are questions about what will change in the lives of african-americans when it comes to police. and he's trying to push that legislation but there's only so much he can do that can be worked on in congress, based on my reporting. >> that's right. i spoke to a top official last night who said we don't want to necessarily to get done by next week, we want it to get done right. they would like to see it get done at the very latest this summer, yamiche. we know one of the big sticking points is that issue of qualified immunity, whether police officers can be sued. republicans say no. what are you hearing about any areas of possible compromise around that issue? >> qualified immunity is really, as you said, a core part of this argument. it's whether or not individual police officers should and can be held accountable and whether or not they can be sued by families if they feel like they're loved one was killed wrongly by a police officer. republicans have said they don't want that to be taken away. democrats have signaled they want to keep qualified immunity

on the table but then there's jim clyburn that. powerful democrat and close ally of president biden who signaled he would support a bill without qualified immunity. i put the question to the white house press secretary jen psaki a few weeks ago, would the president back and sign the bill without qualified immunity change at all? she wouldn't signal publicly where he stood on that issue. so that's a big question, whether president biden push to try to change qualified immunity or will he go along with jim clyburn and say, you know what, we got as much as we could in this bill and let's move on? >> i think that's where a lot of the focus will be in the coming weeks. priscilla thompson, thank you for all of your great reporting in louisiana. and yamiche alcindor, we will see you later at the white house, i'm sure. thank you. next, it's the first congressional action to fight attacks against asian americans. during the pandemic, now signed into law. but what is actually going to change?

new york congresswoman grace meng joins me on what this law means for communities across the country. ans for communities acre country. hot dog or... chicken? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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it was rare show of bipartisan support here in washington with president biden signing the covid-19 hate crimes act into law during one of the first large indoor gatherings without people wearing masks. the house overwhelmingly passed the measure to bolster response to attacks against asian americans, which during the wake of the pandemic increased by 150% across major cities in the past year alone. joining us now is congresswoman grace meng from new york. she was at that bill signing yesterday. congresswoman, thank you very much for joining us in what was a critical moment at the white house. we kind of laid out the broad strokes a bit, the fact that it empowers law enforcement to vent hate crimes.

what investigate hate crimes. what do you think as the tangible asset of this law? >> in two things, before you have a law, you need to amend the measure to what's going on. what we know is most police jurisdictions around the country are reporting zero hate incidents and bias incidents on any given year. number one, this would pri more data to the federal government so we can see what's happening and where. second, it would require the department of justice to work with local law enforcement entities to provide guidance to victims on how to report crimes, making it easier for victims to report crimes maybe online and in different languages, and to make sure those resources are out there. >> so this really addresses the law enforcement piece of this. but there's, of course, a cultural piece to this as well. there's the fact you have

stereotypes that have been waged over the past year in the wake of the pandemic. so does this bill go far enough to address those issues for you? in other words, where do you want to see this conversation go next? >> sure. so let me be clear, this is an important step, but to me this is only one piece of the puzzle, of the solution for addressing these hate incidents. and i really want to applaud president biden for taking such early and decisive steps to speaking out. it is important to have our leaders, unlike the previous administrations, speak out against hate and against bigotry. yes, this legislation holds law enforcement accountable in reporting these incidents but we also have to do more, address the issue of mental health, for example. many of the perpetrators in my home city of new york suffer from mental health issues. we need to invest more robustly in these programs. we also need to invest in

education. our kids in this country have not been taught a complete enough history of different communities, contributions, to the history of the united states. whether it's the asian, african-american, latino, native american, et cetera. >> congresswoman meng, you take me to my very next point. because this is an issue that impacts so many communities. in fact, there was another disturbing incident overnight, and we've seen an increase in anti-semitic hate crimes. new york city police say the hate crime task force is investigating the assault of a jewish man in times square. it happened just yesterday. he was beaten by a group of people in the middle of the street. what is your reaction to that? and how do we address hate against other communities, anti-semitism? >> so i do want to point out -- and you make a good point -- that this legislation that was signed into law yesterday does not only apply to and help the asian american community, it

applies to all communities. in fact, for example, the lgbtq community was very instrumental in helping get this legislation passed. any community, any victim who is the victim of bullying, harassment, and harassment, will benefit from more information being provided to the federal government. >> congresswoman meng, so wonderful to have your perspective, particularly since you were there at the white house yesterday for that historic signing. we really appreciate your perspective. thank you. >> thank you so much. coming up next -- we are following new investments in the controversy surrounding new york governor andrew cuomo. what his brother is saying about allegations he blurred the line between news anchor and political adviser. adviser. who built the most reliable network in america. thousands of smarter towers, with the 5g coverage you need. broader spectrum for faster 5g speeds.

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>> i can be objective about just about any topic but not about my family. >> less than two month's ago he promised his viewers he would be straight with them. i cannot cover it because he is my brother. >> off camera he was involved. this morning the governor's office confirming what the washington post first reported. that chris cuomo joined strategy calls with the governor's aids about how to respond to the scandal. >> did he do more than just listen on these calls? >> yes, he gave a lot of advice. he told his brother not to resign, to push back against the allegations, do not give into "cancel culture." >> when asked about the reports, they scribe chris cuomo's role as a few phone conversations with friends and advisors. that influence from his brother, according to the washington

post, apparent in the governor's defiant response. >> governor cuomo has denied accusations and apologized for making anyone uncomfortable. >> they have accused him of inappropriate remarks, groping, and inappropriate kisses. cnn says it was inappropriate for chris to be on those calls which chris acknowledges. he will not participate in such conversations going forward. >> i love my brother, i love my family, i love my job. and i love and respect my colleagues here at cnn and again, to them, i am truly sorry. >> our thanks to ann thompson for that report. i want to bring in the reporter

that broke this story, josh, great scoop, thank you for being with us on this friday. i want to pick up on something that ann thompson said, she asked you if chris cuomo did more than just listen. how engaged was he in these phone calls in these strategy sessions? >> he was quite engaged. he was giving advice to cancel culture. they include the governor's top aid, lawyers, outside friends, and one that was unlike any other is a cnn anchor. >> and he said that harassment is not making someone feel uncomfortable. is that a line that his brother

avised him to make? >> he used the term cancel culture. some of the things they advised on the call are a strident tone that he took later when he was interacting with the press in new york. >> i know you have been working your sources on this what are they saying chris cuomo's role? >> he has always been one of his brother's advisors. someone that is very close to the governor said that he was on the calls because he only trusts about five people. i think for most folks around him it is understood that chris cuomo is part of some of the

calls. he got in trouble for getting vip covid testing. but he was also recommending ppe and other things so he is very involved in the operation. >> very quickly we know we don't know what will happen for the governor. >> they told us firmly yesterday that while his actions are inappropriate there is no discipline for him. there is a outcry since then, but as of last night there was no plan. i'm kristin welker, garrett haake picks up coverage, next.

haake picks up coverage, next. [♪♪] when you have diabetes, managing your blood sugar is crucial. try boost glucose control. the patented blend is clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels.

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the new cease fire in the middle east is holding, but pockets of violence remain. the cease fire being put to an early test with clashes breaking out between palestinian protestors after prayers. celebrations in the streets of israel and gaza where the cease fire toox effect.