a new face this morning inside of the investigation into the trump organization with donald trump's future now reportedly in the hands of a grk in new york. what this means and doesn't mean for the former president and his family. who could be called to testify? his reaction and our reality check, our white house legal team and legal analyst are all standing by. the hunt on the hill, democrats getting ready for the first go. as of right now the votes they

need. good morning i'm hallie jackson in washington with a busy wednesday morning for us here with her exclusive reporting on the trump grand jury. shannon pettypiece is outside of the white house, and we're joined by the federal prosecutor insore new york. the scoop that you have, the details you learned about the process that is technically we're not supposed to know about. i thought that was a tech issue on my end, i don't know if the viewers can hear you either. let me go to you, kahn, to set the scene here and shannon to you as well. we know at this point, let me

just give a quick summary here. we may here this this special grand jury that is now empanelled. can you tell me how significant it is. >> first off it is significant but it's not. what i mean by that is the next logical step in the general investigation that the da is bringing now and the manhattan da is bringing. a special grand jury is sitting longer. it's more complexion, that's where the investigation lasts a little longer. what i caution everyone out there to think about will anyone

reach a quick question and will they indict somebody. the cases are coplex and difficult to bring. >> shanna, talk to us about what you learned through the course of your reporting. >> sure, like he said this is a long-term six month grand jury being convened for the purpose of the district attorney to bring a mountain of evidence through testimony and democrats they obtained by subpoena in the last couple years. it really remains to be seen whether or not at the end of that or in the middle of that if they expect to offer charges to the panel to consider for a possible indictment or multiple indictments. it could go either way. it sounds like things are just getting rolling. and the da seems to have a long

road ahead in terms of how this is going to play out and how they're going to proceed. >> i want to explain some of the key players that we're talking about here. you have the manhattan district attorney. there is also, and you will see her on your screen, latisha james, she has been conducted a separate civil investigation. michael cohen was a long time lawyer and fixer. he pleaded guilty for lying to congress. there is also a lot of interest in the guy in the upper part of the screen. the chief financial officer that said to know all of the ins and outs. his former draurn has been cooperating and turning over tax records including donald junior

and eric trump who are leading the organization. who are you watching for potential exposure or potential importance for this investigation. >> while we don't know the extent of what they're looking at certainly they're trying to get allen weissleberg to flip against his boss, the former president. he is facing his own criminal liability. michael cohen could be a very useful witness to the da's office. he met with them a number of times to date, and the rest, really, still has to shake out. we know very little about what is going on behind the scenes at this point. the former president painting

this like he did other developments. it is a witch hunt he calls it. >> yeah, he said essentially just that, that as a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in american history saying it is purely political. he is trying to broaden this, and he says that this is an affront to the almost 75 million voters that supported him in the presidential election. a couple issues here. that may have flied with the impeachment. it may just to some extent have been effective in the mueller investigation, but this is a whole new ball game in is your standard traditional legal process. you have that element, you have

the grand jury that is not a political body, and then you have the fact that trump is no longer in political officer. how could this be politically motivated. and then you get to the us that the former president and his team keep putting out there that he may still be running for political officer and that this is something to do about 2024. we know that the former president is planning to get back on the road with rallies soon. that will give him not only another opportunity to appear but also a big microphone for investigators as he will do once again here. >> and maybe bigger than his blog, let me ask you about something that they were talking about and that is allen weissleberg. i want to play you something that they said earlier when they were talking about the trump cfo. watch. >> allen was the gate keeper for everything penny that came in and went out of the trump

organization. but it wasn't just the trump organization. it was also donald's personal accounts, the kids business accounts. the presidential inaugural committee, the campaign, any penny that had anything to do with donald trump went through allen weiseleberg's desk. what might happen in a situation liesh this. >> allen weisselberg is the lynch pin if is a small company, and everything flowed through him. so might be presented is documentary evidence that may expose him to criminal charges.

and ultimately what i said before that a fraud case is hard to bring, it would be hard to bring, i think, against the former president because there is likely no smoking gun documentary proof. but if they're able to exert pressure against him they may be able to get him to flip. so i expect documentary evidence, grand jury, and witnesses that may have heard or spoken to him about the things that may have gone on in the trump organization. >> can we talk timing for a second. the point has been made that this is rather likely. this is a matter of months and not weeks. do you read into those tea leaves at all? the case would probably be handed over to a success or potential i will be wrapped up

by then? are you reading anything into that? >> i'm not. my bet is that this will take longer than six months to wrap up. and my bet is that the next da will have a very interesting investigation to take over. >> okay, interesting. perhaps the under statement of the day. thank you. we're going to talk more about this later in the show. coming up we'll also talk about what is coming up at the senate. plus, later in the show one congressman talking about his push to punish marjorie taylor green. marjorie taylor green. what's the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists?

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taking a look over capitol hill where we're following a lot of stories right now. in the senate the last minute search is on for votes in favor of the january 6th commission. chuck schumer putting things into over overnight. also the counter proposal to the counter proposal on infrastructure. on police reform, talks in both chambers seem to be going for a deal in a matter of days. let's bring in now our dream team. leann caldwell and garrett haake. the clock is ticking on this january 6th commission vote. >> chuck schumer said there will be a vote on the floor of the senate as soap as this week. we're going to find out where every republican stands on creating a commission. where it appears they stand is opposed.

right now there are vanishingly few votes in play. lisa murkowski said she will vote for it. senators romney and collins talking about potentially voting for it. like wise rob portman, but it appears almost certain that republicans will marshall the votes necessary to defeat it. why? they say they want the mid-term elections to be about joe biden, not about donald trump. he sees the commission about being expressly political and something that forces negative trump related headlines into the news. that's why he is opposing it and it appears that senate republicans are falling in like on that. >> you also have congress focused infrastructure and police reform. >> two completely different issues but both fraught. let's start with police reform.

it's interesting ta senator tim scott the republican remains more optimistic than i have seen him. meanwhile senator corey booker is less so. he thinks a deal will come together, but he says they're not as close together as he would like them to be. senator lindsey graham said yesterday that they are still trying to find the sweet spot in as far as qualified immunity is concerned. so negotiations continue, senator kothd told the george floyd family they're going to name the legislation after him. the name of the legislation is important, but we need to get the details down. let's move on now to infrastructure where we are waiting a counter proposal by those six senate republicans back to president biden. we're told that it will be about a trillion dollars was, of

course, is far less than the 1 1 .7 trillion that the white house counter offered. meanwhile if those talks break down, hallie there is another bipartisan group also having their own negotiations on infrastructure should the white house and the six senate republicans not be able to come to some sort of an agreement. so it is still in the early stages, hallie. >> i feel like we're letting people peek behind the curtain in our calls. lots to cover on the hill, has we do members in the house are back with new fears about safety. we'll have one member live on that. later, the cool $8.5 billion that one company is putting down to buy access to one of the biggest movie libraies in

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report today finding that russia and iran were the top two sources of disinformation on their site. their top target was the u.s. >> hallie the 2016 election was a wake up call for facebook. as we all remember russian investigation used that information to disrupt american public opinion. so they set out to try to perge their inauthentic behavior. they took down 150 fake networks. and most of those afear be government propaganda networks. facebook says they have been more successful in trying to take them down and make it harder. and there is one called -- a

rally forge whose clients including turning point usa. they were hiring teenagers to create fake accounts and to comment on hot button issues. facebook hosted a lot of content that promoted the big lie that the election was stolen from donald trump that led up to the riots. they took many steps to try to ban that content. the bottom line here is that facebook like the rest of us is struggling with the line between free speech. and you have the line between house g.o.p. getting bigger and sharper. senate minority leader mitch

mcconnell out with a new reabuse of marjorie taylor greene that sounds like a hint to mccarthy. >> this is one of frequent outbursts that are outrageous and repprehensible. but any punishment i assume would have to be done by the house. it comes after the congresswoman that has already been stripped of committee assignments, digging in by the way after she had already been criticized for these ridiculous comparisons. kevin mccarthy condemned the remarks but called for something more disciplined. in a statement singling out democrats including president bide. some democrats are thinking about discipline as one congressman says he will be rolling out a centure. thank you for being back on the

show. >> great to see you. let's start with this, why now? what was the catalyst for you to move forward with this days after the comparison, is it what mccarthy said? was that the trigger? >> no, it's what marjorie taylor greene said. what she said was reprehensible. she is demeaning the memory of the jews and dishonors the memory of all of those that fought and died fighting against nazi germany, protecting america, protecting democracy. and she doubled down. mcconnell is right she needs to be sanctioned and the responsibility for that lies in the house and the path to that is with a censure. >> why make it a censure instead of an expulsion effort? >> i'm going to stay focused on

what she said in regards to the holl cost. that is rep ensble and she should be censured for this. at this moment the tool we have is censure and i hope we will bring it to the floor when we get back. >> that tool has been brought forward a few times. i think there was an expulsion effort as well whp what makes you think that yours would have legs and do anything concrete? >> we're seeing membering calling her out for rep ensble remarks. she has become the face of the republican party and making it hard to have any credibility

when you have the spokesman saying things like what is happening with the pan determine sick like the yellow stars and trains and gas chambers. there is no comparison and to do so is disgusting and it dishonors the house. >> we mentioned in a she dug in, she has not backed off of this and in some ways we know she fundraised off of things like this, off of the democratic opposition to the things she says. is there any concern that what you're doing is what she wants, giving her more oxygen to move forward. >> there are people that will like her combative style and people that like what she is saying, but we can't let what she says go unchallenged. her comparison is a threat to our ability to make sure we

never see a genocide like that. she is a threat to the way that we govern. we need two functioning parties. we need two functioning parties if we're going to move forward on the things that we have to to make sure that our children that what they need to move forward. and marjorie taylor greene makes that more difficult for all of us. she can do whatever she wants, we have to stand up to her and i'm not going to let her go on without being confronted. >> you're making the calculation then that the potential importance of calling out what she is saying to say this is wrong, gross, disgusting is more important than starving her of oxygen, is that a fair

summarization. she won't go away until good people stand up. the only way evil survives is if good people stand sigh land. >> what about the bill from democrats saying they're the ones? >> as a jewish american i have been fighting anti-semitism my whole life. we see growing anti-semitism in this country coming from bod sides, charlottes bill and the chants that jews will not replace us. anti-semitism. i'm going to call it out whether or not it is the left or the right. i called out publicly the last time and i did it in writing. together republicans and

democrats need to deal with the issues of hate in our country. >> quickly before we go, the bill to form a commission for the january 6th commission, if that vote fails, and they are looking slim in the senate, do you think the house should move forward with the committee? >> 100%. the attack on the capital was not just on the building or the people working there. it was an attack on our democracy. we have to understand what happened. it would be bet tore have a bipartisan independent commission. i'm hopeful that the senators will join in with the democrats and ask for signatures. if they stand in the way we can't block america's understanding of what happened. >> speaking of january 6th there is headlines out there about lawmakers and democrats now that

they're home nor district work period. are you concerned for your own safety or security? are you doing anything different to try to reduce that risk? >> i was in the capital on january 6th. i was in the chamber. you keep showing me taking cover as they were trying to break into the house chamber that day. i have taken actions every day since then and i have not gone a day or night without thinking about what happened then and worrying about the safety for my family and my team and for our nation. and that is again going back to the need for the commission. that's why we have to continue to make sure we understand what happened. >> are you hiring more security? can you give us any insight into that? >> i took steps to make my home more secure and i will leave it at that. >> thank you for being with us on a lot to talk about this morning, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, always good to talk to you. turning to covid now.

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independence to look into the source of the coronavirus. and americans are getting ready for a big holiday weekend. the closest thing to a real holiday weekend that we have seen since before the pandemic started. you have tens of millions of people getting their travel back on and that is why top public health officials say we can't let our guards down. if you're vaccinated, your appreciated. you remain at risk of infection. you still need to mask, and take other precautions. >> so to try to convince more people to get the shot, delaware and colorado are joining the list of states with vaccine lotteries. new sign that's it is working, too. a key milestone now reached 50% of all adults are now fully vaccinated. morgan ratford, 7:30 eastern tonight the first winner will be

announced, good morning. >> that's right, in fact 7:29. eastern on the dot. today is the day. so it is one of several states coming up with really creative incentive programs to get the rest of america vaccinated and so far it seems to be working. i spoke with the governor yesterday and he said that we're seeing more than 90% effectiveness in terms of a boost especially in that 16 to 17-year-old age group. here is what is at stake, hallie. he is saying he needs to convince the middle of the road people to make sure they get vaccinated. he is reaching the people on the fence. here is what is at stake. number one if you're over 18 you could win a million dollars. tonight is the first of five drawings happening this summer. if you're under 18 you stand a shot to win a completely full ride to any ohio state university or college.

that's why a lot of the residents we spoke to here said they love this incentive listen to what they told me. >> did the ohio lottery play a role at all in the decision to get vaccinated. >> i would not say overall but it's definitely extra motivation. >> now that you have it are you going to register for the lottery tonight. >> i wasn't going to but i think i will. >> how badly are you wanting or waiting for things to get back? >> i feel like i have been waiting forever, i want to get back to the concerts and the sporting events. >> not everyone is on board. there are state lawmakers trying to create a big, they're drafting one to try to stop the program because there are critics on both sides saying thg is a huge waste of taxpayer money. when skied the governor he said

that i know some people will say i'm crazy, but it takes a big creative move to make sure everyone here in my state is safe. morgan, we'll see you again at 7:29 p.m. eastern tonight. right now secretary of state blinken in jordan after trips to egypt and israel. we're live with andrea mitchell on why it is still being called a tinderbox. and still, a teenager that witnessed and recorded the final minutes of george floyd's life. she is now 18 years old and she is reflecting on the trauma she will have to live with the rest of her life. she says i'm a girl trying to heal from something. to heal from something. insurance with liberty mutual,r so you only pay for what you need. hot dog or... chicken?

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jordan after meeting with egypt's president earlier this morning. they are two countries that they say are crucial to keeping the region stable. they are boosting reconstruction efforts in gaza, but the clashes are raising questions about whether or not it will be enough to keep the piece. andrea mitchell is live for us now in jerusalem. temperature us what the situation likes like where you are and the commitments that secretary blinken is making. >> that is the issue, the contrast between the diplomatic track and what is happening on the ground. and right here pr the protests, continuous protests over eviction notices and an impending course decision about whether or not israel could go ahead and evict the long-term

generational families from their homes, in favor of jewish settlers moving in could move forward. that lead to conflict with the police that lead to them shooting into the mosque on that friday night a couple weeks ago, that of course lead to the anger, the hamas rockets, and the israeli bombing and air strikes against gaza that lead to 11 days of a war here. that is the conflict that the u.s., the allies, and the people here all hope remain in this fragile cease fire. but the underlying conditions continue. when we went to the neighborhoods today they were saying that blinken said yesterday that the evictions should stop. the demolition of our

neighborhoods should stop, israel should stop doing this. and the fact is that he was already 572 miles away at that moment in cairo. he was going on to try to port the regional diplomacy, the cease fire, and on to jordan. even as i was talking to people a member that was telling me that only the u.s. can resolve this, take a listen. >> he is here and he should intervene, he should do something. just to talk will not prevent this occupation from evacuating palestinians and oppress them. it's time to intervee. >> so that is the sentiment from this member of the parliament as

well as a lot of young people out here and all the while as he is trying to pursue the diplomacy around the region they want action now. there is no caretaker of government. they had four elections without being able to now, in two years, four elections, and no clear majority and days are running out. >> andrea, thank you,ly see more of you later today at noon eastern, thank you. next up, an official partner of this year's olympics now openly calling for the games to be canceled into will japan actually pull the plug with less than two months to go? and you will meet astro, the robot that could serve you your next meal.

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[sizzling] i may not be able to tell time, but i know what time it is. [whispering] it's grilled cheese o'clock. some of us wake up on a wednesday morning and spend a few bucks on a coffee or maybe a few more on gas. jeff bezos has spent $8.5 billion to buy the most iconic movie studio. amazon set to add mgm to its portfolio.

it seems very clearly aimed at helping to grow amazon's footprint in entertainment and boost its own film and tv division. is this not one more step in what seems to be amazon's world takeover? >> yeah, it is. the sky is the limit in terms of what kinds of businesses amazon wants to get into. the hollywood piece of it is very important for them. they see it as key to driving amazon prime subscriptions. basically, you buy a studio like this, you create a real presence in hollywood. you have an additional pull for consumers to sign up for amazon prime instead of a service like walmart. they have been trying to do this for ten years through their own studio, amazon studios. they haven't cracked the code. by buying a storied studio with a very famous library of films, of television shows and the

talent that can create future shows based off of that, this seems like a recipe to really bolster amazon's presence in hollywood. >> what is next for them? you look at hollywood. mgm. they have "the washington post." they have whole foods, thinking biggest acquisition to date. what's the next step? >> that's a great question. look, i think -- [ no audio ] i think they're going to be fine in that regard. jeff bezos has more money than god. i think any business where he sees a competitive advantage for the core business of amazon prime -- >> live there recording on the latest from jeff bezos. thank you very much. we have less than a couple months until the tokyo olympics

are set to begin. key words being set to begin. this morning, there's new pressure on japan to cancel the 2020 games which are delayed. you have a japanese newspaper, an official partner of the games, now openly calling for a cancellation. they say strains on the medical system. you have a state of emergency set to expire soon in and around tokyo. covid cases are on the rise. the vaccine rollout across that country has been barely started. you have olympic officials who are very sort of certain they will keep the games going on. they are incentivized to do that. there's a lot of money in keeping the games going. what would it take for a postponement or cancellation? is it your sense those things are off the table? >> reporter: everything that we are hearing from the ioc is that this is full steam ahead.

officials have said that they think the olympics can still happen, even if tokyo is under a state of emergency. the messaging from an ioc perspective seems to be that cancelling is off the table. whether japan's government is willing to take the political gamble is the big question. covid cases are still on the rise. the vaccine strategy is way behind where it should be. it's the lowest country of the g8 for vaccination. it's around 5%. the truth is, people in japan, they don't want the games to go ahead. according to polls, around 80% of people are opposed to it. this major newspaper, also an official sponsor of the olympics, is calling for the games to be canceled is significant because of what's at stake. >> those two numbers say it all. 5% vaccinated, 80% opposed to the games. what would that look like? if there is, for example, the japanese government, tokyo

government says we are not comfortable with this, even though the ioc says, we want to move forward, how does that get resolved? how would that work? >> reporter: most of japan is against having the games, because they don't want it to be the world's biggest superspreader event. they are fearful of the covid variants, and for good reason. they will have thousands of officials, athletes and media coming to attend the games. there just seems to be this sense that for a public health reason, it can't go ahead. we have to remember that when the ioc postponed the gamed last march, there were 865 active cases in tokyo. now there are over 70,000 active cases. we have the u.s. issuing its highest possible travel warning. there are protests and petitions against the games and less than 60 days to go before they are supposed to open. >> really quickly, because i'm curious, what is the last

possible moment when we could see the plug being pulled on the games if they happen? are we talking day 30? or the night before? >> reporter: that's a question i was asking people today, is there this drop-dead date. there doesn't seem to be. there's also the issue of what happens if japan does cancel. how do they do that? do they close the airports? do they inform the ioc? are there legal tussles that could come because of that decision? there's just so much that isn't clear. what we know is that the state of emergency in tokyo is due to expire on monday. it's widely expected that it's going to be extended. >> thank you very much for that. we should note that nbc universal, the patience company -- the parent company to msnbc, owns the media rights to the olympics. that does it for us.

for now, i turn it over to craig melvin. good wednesday morning to you. craig melvin here. it's a big week in our fight against covid-19. we just crossed a huge milestone. more than 50% of american adults are now fully vaccinated. this weekend, we will see a big test on how this nation reopens to travel. millions of americans desperate to get out of town after being cooped up for more than a year are ready to hit the road. this hour, i will ask a doctor about what travellers should keep in mind. first, that new reporting from "the washington post," quote, prosecutor in trump criminal probe convenes grand jury to hear evidence, weigh potential charges. that's according to two people familiar with the development. that manhattan grand jury could