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tv   Alex Witt Reports  MSNBC  May 23, 2021 9:00am-10:00am PDT

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and we haven't even waited for that to decide what a commission should do. >> so there's a lot we know but a lot more that we don't know. we have to figure out the minimal physical security changes that we need to make. republicans are rejecting the white house's new $1.7 trillion counterproposal for an infrastructure plan, insisting the white house come down even more. both sides making clear their stance and the stakes. >> this is the test. this will determine whether or not we can work together in a bipartisan way on an important issue. >> he will not let inaction be the answer. when it gets to the point where it looks like that is inevitable, you'll see him change course. and new reaction to the release of police body cam video
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related to the death of a black man after his arrest by troopers in louisiana. the death of ronald greene adding new urgency. senator cory booker, one of the negotiators negotiating the bill, expressing his optimism earlier today. >> i wouldn't have a negotiating partner in tim scott if mitch mcconnell didn't believe that that is something that we should be at the table trying to work through. there are a lot of people who know the crisis we have in this country. the federal government has a responsibility, i believe, to deliver substantive, meaningful police reform. and now to expand for you on the hour's headlines, nbc's monica alba and garrett haake. monica, now that infrastructure discussions have stalled on capitol hill, what options are white house officials exploring ahead of the memorial day
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deadline just over a week ago? >> reporter: exactly, alex, the white house is saying they're preparing to explore going it alone again. what that means is employing the strategy they used for the covid relief bill back in march which is to use this process of budget reconciliation which doesn't require republican votes. that's something they may want to do here again, although there's no guarantee that even all of the democrats are on board with the president's proposal as it is now. but just to take you through the last couple of days and this real ping-pong back and forth, the republicans essentially rejected what the white house put forward on friday which was slimming down the $2.2 trillion original package to 1. trillion by making concessions in areas like broadband and research funding. so now we are really at a political impasse here. and the white house is giving clues about what might come next. and it sounds like these discussions of having them go solo are becoming more of a reality. again, that decision hasn't been made yet by the president.
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we got a little bit more insight, though, into how he's going to frame that and the thought process from white house adviser cedric richmond on the sunday shows this morning. >> he wants a deal, he wants it soon. but there are meaningful negotiations taking place in a bipartisan manner and he's willing to let that play out. but again, he will not let inaction be the answer. when it gets to the point when it looks like that's inevitable, you'll see him change course. but for now, we're engaged in what we want to be a bipartisan infrastructure bill. >> reporter: so they would still like the bipartisan talks to continue. but remember, congress is currently out of session, so any of these conversations would likely happen virtually ahead of memorial day. but now the white house is saying the ball is effectively in the republicans' court. they're waiting on them to come back with a new counter offer to their latest framework. remember, last month the gop
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senators had put forth something in the ballpark of $568 billion. so the two sides are very, very far apart at this time and it doesn't seem there's anything that's going to get them to find actual common ground, at least in the immediate sense, these talks, alex, the best way to describe them, are quite stalled out. >> so it looks like you're trying to for bipartisan success here but if they have to go it alone, they'll consider it seriously. thank you very much, monica. the senate could vote as soon as this week on the january 6th commission. democrats need support from ten gop senators for this bill to pass. but most republicans are not on a board. nbc's garrett haake is joining me from capitol hill with the latest. garrett, welcome you to. we heard from a number of senators today. what all did we learn? >> reporter: alex, we've learned, again, that this bill faces an enormously steep climb towards passage. so far zero republican senators have come forward to say that they support the idea of a january 6th commission, at least
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as the bill that passed the house is written. there is some leeway perhaps that if the bill could be changed slightly you might pick up a couple of votes. but even folks like marco rubio who had expressed some support for the idea of a commission came out at the start of the weekend saying he finally had time to sit down and read the bill, he doesn't want to do it. we've heard from some senate republicans who frankly have started to be a little more honest about why they don't want this commission, they say this is just bad politics for them, they don't want to be talking about january 6th into next year as the commission would suggest. you say the names there of republican senators who have come out opposed. you see roy blunt there, you played a sound bite from him in the intro. roy blunt has been part of the governing coalition in the senate. if he's against it, it faces a tough, tough road. there was some optimism from the senators who spoke on the sunday shows this morning. listen. >> we should be coming together
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in a bipartisan way to do a thorough investigation to make sure that the second time in american history that our capitol was taken was the last time. >> the two issues that i think are resolvable, one has to do with staffing, and i think that both sides should either jointly appoint the staff or there should be equal numbers of staff appointed by the chairman and the vice chairman. the second issue is i see no reason why the report cannot be completed by the end of this year. >> reporter: alex, there you had susan collins talking about two technical fixes to this bill, bipartisan hiring of staff which some republicans say they want to see included in it, and a hard, hard deadline, to make sure that whatever the commission does, their report is produced in 2021. that might be enough for her and perhaps a handful of other republicans. but getting to ten with just those changes is going to be incredibly difficult.
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>> it is definitely an uphill slog. thank you so much, garrett haake from the capitol on that. let's bring in frank figliuzzi, nbc security analyst and contributor. and starting tuesday, congratulations, my friend, host of a new podcast, "the bureau with frank figliuzzi," i'm tuning in for that. it is the last day the national guard will be deployed at the capitol. are you concerned about that at all? >> oh, i sure am. i think it's linked to the story we just told, that there's no bipartisan support for getting to the bottom of the insurrection. so that means that the threat is going to continue. it's going to be perpetuated. just within the last two weeks, alex, department of homeland security issued yet another bulletin saying that they're finding evidence that the threat continues. it's specifically tied to the fbi investigation of the insurrection, where they're saying in their inquiry, in
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their evidence-gathering, they're seeing signs of future violence moving forward. so the threat has not diminished. in fact some could say, unless there's strict accountability, the threat actually might increase. >> okay. so when you talk about these threats, what kind of threats are they finding? and would they be directed to members of congress, people on capitol hill? or are they wider spread than that? >> so there's no specificity in the most recent dhs bulletin. here's what i gleaned from it. when they point to the fbi investigation of the riot on january 6th and say we're seeing signs of future violence, that the threat has not gone away, that tells me a few things, they're common-sensical. they're likely seeing evidence of planning, discussion after january 6th, of what to do next. they're likely seeing capacity for weapons and munitions. they're probably seeing ongoing communications. that's a concern. there's a report out in the last
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24 hours from "the guardian," unverified as of yet, that police in the d.c. area after january 6th, in fact recorded threats to lawmakers, people talking about killing people on the democratic side of the congress. >> interesting. sounds not dissimilar to what was out there in the ether before january 6th. you have republicans saying, look, there are all these other investigations under way, including the major fbi/doj criminal investigations. what's the one big question that an independent commission, frank, could answer that the criminal investigations couldn't? >> i see it a little bit differently. i see it as they might be aimed at very similar objectives and information. but it's the public nature of a congressional -- an independent commission that is so important, alex, to getting to the truth publicly and countering the radicalization movement. that's what i see. the difference between the two is, look, the fbi is going at it big time, over 400 people
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arrested so far. they'll get to the bottom of it. but it's not for public consumption, right? it's criminal. it's grand jury. they're going to be looking for individual accountability. what a public nature commission would do is tell all of us as a nation, here's what really happened, here is how we got here, here are the responsible parties, even in leadership. that is going to quell and mitigate the damage of the big lie and the radicalization process. >> absolutely, something that people could read in total or at least get these bullet points which would be certainly digested by the media and put out there. you wrote a fascinating new article about new york's investigations into the trump organization. you are advising the trump children to lawyer up. are you saying, frank, that they could be held criminally liable for something that trump inc. could have done? >> yeah, i think it's important, a little white collar corporate crime lesson for the viewers who don't know, just because an investigation is targeting a
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corporation or an organization, does not mean that the individual officers or employees of that organization can't go to prison because of the wrongdoing. so that's really important. and what happens the second you realize a corporation or organization is under investigation is, suddenly the legal interests of the individual corporate officers and executives diverge from the interests of the umbrella organization. the umbrella organization needs to survive, stay intact and preserve its assets. its lawyers are going to do that. and they're going to do that possibly at the expense of the officers. what are the officers' interests? survive personally, minimize their role in wrongdoing. what is that mean? maybe point a finger at the other guy, in this case your brother, your sister, even your father. and if the interests of the organization is to survive, then the head of that organization, like donald trump j. trump, might wind up saying it wasn't me, it was one of my children.
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this sets up tremendously dramatically legal tension. that's why each and every one of them needs to individually get their own lawyer and preserve their own interests. >> yikes, i'm glad thanksgiving is a good half year away at this point. from your experience at the fbi, do you think investigators have already reached out or will reach out to the trump children individually? and if they're doing that, how are those conversations playing out? >> well, there's no question that at the tail end of a white collar crime investigation, you're going to gather all your paper evidence, all your financial analysis, and you're going to have to sit down with the individual officers and employees. and of course they're working feverishly right now to develop cooperating witnesses like the cfo, allen weisselberg. that's a huge goal here. then they'll be able to present them individually what they think their role was. that's where they may start turning on each other. so what i point out in my column, alex, is that some damage may have already been
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done, because the organization's attorneys may have sat down with don junior, eric, ivanka, and say, hey, what went on here? and they may have misplaced trust in that organization attorney and said things that the organization may now disclose and waive the privilege and disclose to the prosecutors in order to hang one of them out to dry. so the stakes may already have been made legally by the trump family. >> in other words, as you said, lawyer up. okay. thank you so much. and we are following some breaking news to share for all of you. two children are in serious condition after a cable car fell to the ground in the italian alps. this is brand-new video we're just getting in. officials say at least 12 people were killed when the cable failed and dropped the car into a wooded, hard-to-reach area at the highest part of the route, possibly as high as 1,000 feet. wow, imagine that terror. the passengers were likely traveling to see picturesque
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lakes on a sunny sunday afternoon. crews are on the scene, investigating. the cause has not been determined just yet. whew, that's scary. there is a big unanswered question even today in the killing of george floyd. it involves the other three defendants in the case. my next guest is part of some new developments from this past week on their cases. that's next. age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond.
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at 18 past the hour, happening now, a rally is gathering in brooklyn for the george floyd anniversary remembrance march. this is the scene outside of brooklyn's borough hall. the march is expected to kick off shortly. floyd's family and attorneys are expected to attend. also new today, developments into the investigation of floyd's killing. prosecutors are asking for a new charge against three former minneapolis police officers facing trial next year. joining me now, neal katyal, former acting solicitor general,
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msnbc legal analyst, and esteemed guest. neal, thank you for being here. you were a special prosecutor in the george floyd case so i know you're very limited in what you can specifically say. but can you tell us what these three are facing and what action you're taking? >> yes. so alex, thanks for having me on. as i say, i'm extremely limited in what i can say. i'm just going to talk about the public record and just say, i argued in court on thursday that the three other cops should be charged with third degree murder, not just manslaughter. that's a request we made back to the court in february, in the trial court, before the chauvin trial. the trial court rejected it both with respect to officer chauvin as well as the other three defendants. we then brought that up to the court of appeals with respect to chauvin and got the third degree murder charge reinstated. and now the question before the court of appeals is whether or not these other three cops can be charged with third degree murder as well. that's what we argued on thursday. >> were they to be found guilty,
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how would that change what they would be facing? >> so the third degree murder punishment is up to 25 years in prison. a manslaughter charge is ten years. and there's also the possibility of second-degree murder, which is up to 40 years. >> okay. neal, duly noted on all of that. let's switch gears and talking about the disturbing ronald greene arrest video from louisiana. here is what cedric richmond, senior adviser to the president, said about it today. >> when i saw the video, i thought back to george floyd, another incident where the police report didn't match. and the real question is, if we didn't have body cameras, which we're pushing very hard, if we didn't have eyewitnesses that were courageous enough to film it on video, people would just give deference to the police officers and their account. this is what raises the big concern for people in america, that we hold police officers in such high esteem that we usually take their word. >> so look, that last point there. to his point, that society
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places high trust in police officers, how, neal, are they allowed, from a legal perspective, to get away two years? sometimes they cite pending investigations, that could be a reason to withhold information. is that typically a stall tactic? how about relative to this case? what do you think is happening? >> so i won't comment specifically on this case, but i think attorney general ellison after the chauvin verdict said something really important. he said, look, this is a victory in a sense, but, you know, it's just one step. and there is such police brutality going on in this country, we need to change our mindset in a lot of jurisdictions as to this. so body cameras, which that speaker is pointing to, i think is one important aspect to it, but there's a lot more. the idea that you can keep footage -- this is, after all, the people's footage. i mean, these are taxpayer-funded cops with their body cameras.
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the idea that that can be kept secret for two years, i can't really fathom what possible public policy justification there could be. you want to make sure the video is verified, you want to make sure it comes out at an appropriate time. but two years? come on. >> so i want to ask you about the new york investigations into the trump organization. when you heard the attorney general flip from civil to criminal proceedings, what does that mean from a legal perspective, and what did you make of that? >> i think it means a lot. just to connect up to the story you were talking about with frank figliuzzi earlier about republicans dodging the january 6th commission, they can dodge the commission all they want but donald trump looks like he's going to have liability for all the other days besides january 6th. this is incredibly significant, because when the new york attorney general says this is now not a civil investigation only, it's a criminal one, that means this isn't like other things we've read about like
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impeachment allegations or political statements by nancy pelosi against donald trump or something. this is an official statement by prosecutors who have the power to put someone in jail and saying, look, we think there's something serious here. and, you know, trump has been pretty good at delaying and delaying and delaying. but now it seems like the chickens are coming home to roost. and so, you know, if i were one of the trumps right now, not just donald trump, the former president, but also one of his children, i would be exceptionally, exceptionally worried. >> so investigators certainly appear to be closing in on the organization's long time cfo, allen weisselberg. let's take a listen to jen weisselberg, his former daughter-in-law. >> the compensation in gift taxes revealed by myself the day before the election, november
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22nd, 2020, have proven to be true. compensation and gift taxes for the organization, for donald trump himself, and for all the employees, the employees, specifically, the trump family and the weisselberg family. there's nothing legal going on there. >> so listening to that and your last answer, is it only a matter of time before criminal charges are officially filed? >> we'll have to wait for the investigation to see. but i think we know two very important things. number one, the prosecutors are trying very hard to flip allen weisselberg, who was the cfo, who knows a lot about where the trump legal difficulties lie, by going after his children. one of the things that jennifer weisselberg, the ex who is important, she once said the trumps control people by compensating you with homes and things, it's not easy to walk away when they provide your home. so she's basically suggesting that the trump organization
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worked a little more like a mafia organization, providing goodies and benefits in exchange for silence. that's number one. the second thing we know is that the new york prosecutors over the last several months have investigated the trump tax returns and documents. they've brought in michael cohen, trump's former lawyer, nine times. they've subpoenaed eric trump, i'm sure he's excited because he got to do something before don junior and ivanka for once. time will tell what the results of that investigation are. but if i'm one of those people, the trumps, i've hired hopefully good counsel at this point and i would be pretty worried. >> i've got to tell you, i'm glad the camera wasn't on me when you talked about eric trump, i had to stifle a laugh, but understood. neal katyal, good to see are you are thank you very much. four months in office, president biden's ambitious
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so check out this new video. we just got it in moments ago. it shows the smoldering aftermath of a volcano in congo. it erupted for the first time in almost 20 years. this volcano roared back to life last night. it has raised fears this river of lava you're seeing is headed toward a city of 2 million people. but official now say that is not the case. even so, thousands have been evacuated. no word yet on any casualties. back here stateside, new and growing concerns today for american businesses as help wanted signs pop up across the country. it will likely impact you, from longer wait times to slower service at some of america's favorite destinations. my guest joins me from falmouth,
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massachusetts, near cape cod, where businesses are struggling to find workers. >> reporter: alex, we're days away from the unofficial start of summer. it does feel like people are excited and ready to get back out there, go to these restaurants and businesses and enjoy their summer. but that worries people like debbie maguire, the co-owner of liam's irish public. she usually has 45 employees at her pub. today she has 20. she usually has to sort through applications to sort through to figure out who to pick. today she only has three applications. the national restaurant association tells us that nationwide, 72% of restaurant owners say they're having issues finding people to work for them. so what is causing all of this? first of all, it does have to do with the unemployment benefits
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being offered federally and state by state. it also has to do with something as simple as childcare. a parent can't work if they have to take care of their kids. here at summer vacation destination, it has to do with people with foreign visas to work. the president of the chamber of commerce in cape cod tells me it has to do with the type of people and age of people here on cape cod. it's not necessarily those younger folks who are willing to work as a bartender or busboy, it's more of an aging population on the cape. debbie is keeping her hopes up about all of this. >> i've always had this saying, anybody can run a business when the economy is booming. when the rubber hits the road, can you survive? we've survived all the other crises. we got through the 2008 crash. we got through 9/11, which all had serious impact on our budget. we will get through this. >> reporter: so what are places like liam's going to do,
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especially now that they can have 100% capacity in their locations? they'll be changing how they work in the kitchen, getting fresher food out faster to customers. it also has to do with incentives, whether it's overtime or sales-based incentives. >> go to smitty's ice cream and get a scoop of black cherry thank you very much, gary. republicans are trying to stall the president's legislative efforts. 54% of americans approve of how the president is doing in a gallup poll. meanwhile, the president tries to define his agenda in a new interview. joining me know is nbc news political analyst peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" and a good friend. thank you, peter. this interview i just mentioned,
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biden has long been considered a moderate but now we're seeing sweeping legislative agendas that some perceive as more progressive. david brooks asks the question, has biden changed. can i ask it to you? what do you think? has joe biden inched over from a mostly moderate ideology? >> i think joe biden has always had a very fine instinct for the moving center of his party. in the '90s, when crime was a big issue, when the new democrats were on the rise, he gravitated toward tough on crime legislation. you know, when the iraq war fell out of favor in the late 2000s, he moved to join that part of the party. i think he has traditionally managed to find sort of the consensus middle part of his party. it doesn't always make him popular with those on the left who wish he were more progressive or those on the more moderate side who sometimes think he goes too far. he's taking policies he's always
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supported, but it's the scale of what he's doing that's probably more surprising than anything else, $6 trillion worth he spending in the first few months of his presidency for big things he probably always supported but wouldn't have necessarily either had the power, obviously, or maybe the moment of opportunity to kind of push them all at once the way he is now. >> there was one point in the interview, peter, when the president said the progressives don't like me because i'm not prepared to take on what i would say and they would say is a socialist agenda. and you've got biden adviser cedric richmond asked about this earlier this morning, let's take a listen to part of that. >> the president passed a $1.9 trillion bill that reduced child poverty by 50%. black poverty by 34%. hispanic poverty by 38%. and aapi poverty by 22%. that is progressive. it's bold. and it's transformational. so i think the president is always talking about what he's done, what he can get done. and he's not a president that walks around talking about
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labels. he's a president that just meets the challenges he's faced with and keeps the promises he's made. >> so look, there's politics and then there's policy. might the president reject the progressive label for political reasons but gave the policies at least in part? does he understand how important it is to speak carefully about this because almost every republican in this country will go ballistic over the world "socialism"? >> right. obviously this is about how you define the same policies. if you ask voters in polls do you support more spending on infrastructures, you get large numbers, including republicans and independents, who say yes, that's a priority. in you say is biden being too socialist, you see a different kind of number. that's why he doesn't want to use the word. socialist and liberal are used by republicans as if they're equivalent.
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they aren't the same thing. he's talking about an activist government, spending money, raising taxes. socialism is taking over private industry, which he is not proposing here. he has not proposed a single pair health care system which a lot of democratic socialists would favor. what he is doing is saying, let's go out there and be aggressive about spending to juice the economy, take care of social ills and fix the infrastructure that needs fixing. we'll see if he gets anywhere with it. i'm not sure he will, a compromise does not i'm to be in the offing at the moment. he's moving fast because he realizes the opportunity for a new president, with narrow majorities in congress, is really very tight. >> and the point that you made, distinguishing socialism and liberalism, there is a distinction in the democratic party between democratic
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socialists and liberals. >> i think obviously, you know, other than president biden, probably the most influential person in the west wing would have to be ron klain, the white house chief of staff. he's probably, you know, the most influential chief of staff for years. he was chief of staff in the vice president's office, worked with him on the hill years ago. partly because ron klain understands how washington works. he's studying the agenda right now in a way that's quite powerful and quite notable. that could change over time. but for the moment, that's the one person i think you should watch. his is the twitter feed you should follow to watch the thinking in the white house. >> peter baker, always
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appreciate the chat on a sunday. new comment about masks coming from a particular republican lawmaker. while it might be best to just ignore those remarks, we should ignore gop leadership to at least disavow the statements. my panel will weigh in, i'll have them just minutes away. the light. ♪ it comes from within. it drives you. and it guides you. to shine your brightest. ♪ as you charge ahead. illuminating the way forward. a light maker. recognizing that the impact you make comes from the energy you create. introducing the all-electric lyriq. lighting the way. ♪
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and get one 50% off. subway®. eat fresh. think of what peanuts have given humanity! fuel for vast migrations! sustenance for mountaineering expeditions and long journeys across the world! but most importantly? they give us something to eat when we drink beer. planters. a nut above. new today, a profound drop in covid cases in the u.s. the country is reporting now just 21,000 cases over the last 24 hours. that's down even since yesterday, as vaccinations are pushing those numbers lower. americans are eager to get back to life. festivals, sports, parades, all back in full swing. nbc's blayne alexander joins us from the cdc in atlanta with more on all this. i have to say, blayne, it is so remarkable to see crowds like this starting to gather again. it's been this lost year, so you take note of it.
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>> reporter: absolutely. you know, for the past year plus, alex, any time we've talked about large crowds, it's been almost with this tone of concern, talking about them in the context of potentially being super spreaders or dangerous gatherings. now as more and more people are rolling up their sleeves and getting that vaccine, slowly but surely we're seeing scenes like this once again becoming the norm. it's the sweet sound of sports arenas rolling back to life. the nba playoffs are back. so are the fans, in sharp contrast to last year's bubble. stadiums are now allowing spectators inside. >> we have masks and sanitizers. >> reporter: in miami, it's the food and wine festival filling the streets of south beach. for the first time since the start of the pandemic -- [ cheering ] -- large scale pride parades are coming back with tampa pride drawing 40,000 people to celebrate. >> this is so awesome, just to be outside and able to gather and have a parade and have the
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celebration. it's just wonderful. >> reporter: all signs that the nation is turning a major corner on covid. >> as more and more people roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated, the number of cases and the level of community risk is decreasing. >> reporter: and the numbers tell the story. nationwide, the daily average of new cases has dropped below 30,000 for the first time in almost a year. with 45 states and washington, d.c. all seeing a decline in cases. nearly 39% of americans are fully vaccinated and almost half of the nation's population has received at least one shot. the biden administration has set a goal to increase that number to 70% by the fourth of july. and around the country, added motivation. in chicago, a series of outdoor concerts only for the fully vaccinated. and at d.c.'s iconic national zoo, now reopen to the public for the first time in months, visitors who are fully vaccinated can go without a mask in outdoor spaces. so alex, certainly a lot of
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encouraging news there. but again, health officials say it really all comes down to one thing: vaccines. they're still working hard to urge people to get them. since april, the rate of daily vaccinations has dropped more than 50%. back to you. >> that is very good news. i had forgotten about the zoos, it was good to see the zoo. thanks for helping us do that, blayne alexander. marjorie taylor greene is doubling down on a comment about the holocaust which is drawing outrage. should anyone be surprised? but where is the outrage from the gop?
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holocaust. >> this woman is mentally ill. you know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in nazi germany and this is exactly the type of abuse that take place in is talking about. >> hmm. congresswoman greene now doubling down in defense of those comments, saying she stands by all of her statements and that she said nothing wrong. democratic strategist don callaway, msnbc analyst susan del percio, and david jolly, an msnbc contributor. susan, i would actually so prefer not to play such absurd statements. but there is a bigger point here. congresswoman greene keeps talking like this and it is a
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rare republican who stands up to her comments. since leadership keeps letting this just slide, is it defining the republican party? >> it is. and that's such a good point, alex. this is about leadership and other republicans not responding and calling her out. that's the real story here. and what i find, just from a political lens, it would be so much better for the republicans to call her out because they're so afraid of donald trump, so leave him out of it, go after her, try and look a little bit rational, instead of saying quiet. i can't believe that we have some senior members of congress who are so afraid of marjorie taylor greene. i don't know, maybe she has something on the speaker, who knows? because it makes no sense. she's despicable and belongs nowhere in the congress. but since she's there, she should be taken out -- not taken out, excuse me, but she should be called out by her republican
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colleagues. >> you say maybe she has something on the speaker. she may or may not. my point is, and i'm not joking, she is capable of saying anything and getting attention for it. so maybe we should all leave her well enough alone. let's look at this, don, if representative alexandria ocasio-cortez said something like this, republicans would be howling. does it seem like greene just can say and do anything she wants? and how do democrats even combat this when it seems clear republicans aren't going to? does ignoring her help? >> a couple of questions here. so does it seem like democrats should combat this? yes. but they don't have to come up with any type of clever messaging. all they have to do is play her own clips. susan, the people at the lincoln project do an amazing job that have. she says something crazy, democrats need to find it and amplify it, and say, this is your republican party.
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she's too far down the road for legitimate republicans to be able to detach and put her on an island and say no, she's not one of us. yeah, this is you. this is us. this is what you have chosen to be as a party, the more and more you go without completely exorcising and separating her p you go without exocising her from the party. she continues to have the biggest house platform of any republican. last week she said black lives matter protesters were caught and released. that's a term you use with animals in the wild. you see a consistent pattern of somebody dehumanizing the language and she is the worst in the party outside of mitch
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mcconnell and donald trump. >> aoc told latino u.a.s. that many will not admit how the attack on the capitol has deeply affected the law making. when you have a group of republicans like majorie taylor greene, blind, it seems like both sides detest each other. you talked about experiences and having coalitions with other members of the party, but it doesn't feel that way. >> most members would be happy to tell you that they have friendships across the aisle. what they don't want to admit to is there is no bipartisan, no political or legislative camaraderie. in large part because congress
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is an institution where leadership dictates the entire agenda and legislative behaviors. current leaders as well as past have decided to attack this bipartisan track. but today with the republican party, could you find common cause with coalitions that embrace falsehoods and deny the reality of january 6. here is the danger. it is reflective of the dilemma. is she was one of the top fund-raisers among all republicans in the house. she raised $3 million in the first quarter. by contrast aoc raised about $800,000. the problem is that aoc's message resonates. as a country we have to wrestle
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what that means. more so than kevin mccarthy coming out and condemn it. what does it mean that donors rush to majorie taylor greene and says i want to donate to your cause. >> plump, even in exile is the republican party's cash cow. it goes on to concede there is a splintering in the party. his drive has all but determined how the main party committees come down on the split. david was outlining with the money. do these recounts across the country serve as moneymakers for trump? and if so, why put money in trump's pocket? >> this is a massive discussion for the broader discussion of
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campaign finance reform. to the extend that people go to washington, d.c. and have to protect themselves to continue to receive financing, then we aren't going to see substantive change. and that hats deep implications for the way we are able to govern in this context. until we are able to move away from a situation where money is the predominant factor over who gets elected and who doesn't, then we are not going to be able to govern and get things done in congress. donald trump is the fund-raising factor within the republican party. no rank and file republican is willing to upset him because it cuts off his or her money. until we are able to address money broadly in politics, you will have the graysees like donald trump and majorie taylor greene. >> another article says quote --
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susan is it clear that trump is the leader of the party until something else can outfunneled raise him? and what does that say about the party. >> i want to clarify one thing. i am proud of the work i did with lincoln project, but i haven't been with them since january. just wanted to get that on the record. trumpism is seeped into the state parties. i say that often but it's important to remember because right now it's at that local level that is preventing people from necessarily rising up. if you are the florida state chairman, you have to be careful how you talk about desantis
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because you have donald trump out there and he weighs on every republican, without a doubt. >> i was just told in my ear that we have to go so i guess i have to listen to nick. good to see y'all. moving forward on the january 6 investigation, with or without republicans. why some democrats say they are willing to go it alone. they ar willing to go it alone now they can! downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry. with 6 times the freshness ingredients, downy unstopables gives you more of what you love. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. ugh, these balls are moist. or is that the damp weight of self-awareness you now hold in your hands? yeah (laugh)
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very good day to all of you from the news center here in locks. welcome to alex witt reports. a possible independent commission to investigate the january 6 attack on the capitol. lawmakers have been publicly at large over whether one is necessary, but today a small sign of bipartisan agreement. >> we should be coming together in a bipartisan way to do a thorough investigation to make sure the second time in american history that our capitol was taken is the last time. >> the two issues are resolvable. one has to do with staffing. and i think that both sides should either jointly appoint the staff or there should be equal numbers of staff appointed by the chairman and vice chairman. second issue,

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