turn regular planks into turbo planks without getting down on the floor. and there are over 20 exercises to choose from. incredible for improving flexibility and perfect for enhancing yoga and pilates. and safe for all fitness levels. get gym results at home in just 10 minutes a day. no expensive machines, no expensive memberships. get off the floor with aerotrainer. go to aerotrainer.com to get yours now. good afternoon, i'm geoff bennett, and as we come on the air, there's breaking news in those high stakes negotiations over infrastructure. nbc news has learned that president biden offered a concession in that rare one-on-one meeting with the republican senator in the oval office. but the president also wants

something big in return. could this finally be a breakthrough or is it the final offer before the president shows moderates he tried, allowing democrats to go it alone. much more on that in a moment. we're also following an explosive fire spreading rapidly across the country. at least, that's the framing in a new warning in a major progressive group. the letter is addressed to former minority leader chuck schumer, but make no doubt it's aimed directly at joe. not the joe in the white house but west virginia joe over in the senate. the group leading the charge said, quote, this is truly a five-alarm fire. democrats have to make a decision. are they going to protect the filibuster or protect votes? refusing to nuke the filibuster, republicans are set to shoot down the ambitious agenda of a voting rights bill and so much

more. >> to those who say we must make a decision between filibuster and x, i say this is a false choice. the reality is when you have a system that's not working effectively, the way to fix that is to change their behavior, not to eliminate the rules or change the rules, but to change your behavior. >> joining us now is nbc news capitol hill correspondent garrett haake who happens to be in west virginia for us, conveniently enough. also we ever capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell who is here in washington, and teri palmeri. leigh ann, over to you. president biden backing down from his original proposal to raise the corporate tax rate. now he's saying he wants to offer up a 15% minimum tax on u.s. corporations. basically he wants to establish a floor that every company has to pay when it comes to taxes. how will this be received, do you think? >> reporter: that's right, geoff. the white house is downplaying this a little bit saying the

corporate tax is nothing new, but president biden in his meeting with shelley moore capito yesterday presented that as an option, i guess, instead of focusing on increasing the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. mind you, that increase of corporate tax rate is something that was dead on arrival for republicans. it also left some consternation among some democrats as well. so this was an offering and a proposal to senator capito saying, look, we don't have to undo some of the taxes in the 2017 republican tax cut bill which debt republicans, especially which senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has said is a stark line for him that they don't want to touch, but instead said let's look at other taxes on how to pay for this. biden was clear in this meeting, i'm told that, he still wanted to use tax increases to pay for

his infrastructure bill. geoff, he also said he wants republicans to spend $1 trillion of new money. so in the last republican proposal, even though it was just under $1 trillion, there was only $250 billion in what we call new money around here, money that's not assumed is already going to be spent in the budget process. that means, geoff, that the democrats and the republicans are $1.4 trillion apart on their proposals. so we are waiting to see how republicans are going to respond. our sources think they're going to do a counteroffer and it will be presented as early as tomorrow because president biden and shelley moore capito are expected to talk again then. geoff? >> we talked before, how they're

expected to be where joe manchin is supposed to be. from what you've seen of joe manchin, has the white house done enough here? >> reporter: manchin said you should never stop talking to the other side and negotiations should continue all the time. i think that potentially even includes if and when the white house decides these specific negotiations don't work that he would probably want to see the white house continue to talk to individual republicans and see if perhaps some of them could be brought on board to support whatever the white house chooses to move forward with if they go the democrat only reconciliation route. i think the other word of caution for the white house is, as they throw out these other options on how to pay for an infrastructure package, they better hope joe manchin doesn't hear one he likes better, like raising the corporate tax up to

28%. manchin was not comfortable with that offer on its own, but you might see the white house negotiating with joe manchin on some of these other paid-for ideas they have subsequently floated, because they will need his, along with 49 other democrats, they will need his vote if they want to go with this on reconciliation alone. >> this notion that the biden white house is under pressure, that is not necessarily something i picked up in my own conversations white house officials. they believe they'll get infrastructure one way or another, they believe they'll get policing reform, they might even get some form of immigration even if it's just daca, and if republicans decide to block the sort of care economy portion of president biden's proposal, the expanded health care, the pre-k and all that, democrats will just use that against republicans in the 2020 midterms.

what are you hearing? >> i'm a little devious about that because that's assuming they have manchin and sinema on board in terms of reconciliation. perhaps it's just a dance and they have to show they tried as much as they can to negotiate with republicans to give both manchin and sinema cover before their own constituents to say, we really tried our best but we have to go it alone. to not be concerned, i think, is a misstep, because at the end of the day, they really don't have a solid majority. they would have to pass these bills that don't require budgetary changes through reconciliation. sinema said in arizona just yesterday that she's not interested in nuking the filibuster. neither is manchin. i'm not sure how they can be so confident when they barely have the votes. >> garrett, joe manchin is set to meet privately with mr. johnson.

we happen to have mr. johnson as our next guest. let's talk about joe manchin. he's not easily swayed by the typical talking points. i'm always shocked by the fact that people not only know joe manchin when i ask about him, they know him personally. they can't name their member of congress, but in west virginia folks know manchin personally. what, if anything, can be said to him to sway his opinion on voting rights and maybe even potentially or changing the filibuster. >> i think that would be a difficult conversation for manchin who was governor and secretary of state before that, so he knows the voting issues inside and out, at least in his own state. i was in a group of reporters last week talking to manchin about the filibuster, and he said he's not going to break the government by voting to get rid of it. that's how he views this issue. i think mr. johnson would have to convince the senator that getting rid of the filibuster, the cure wouldn't be worse than the disease here, essentially,

that the problems they would be able to fix by doing so would be worth the risk, asman chin puts it, of breaking the government. on the voting rights legislation in particular, manchin has not been on board with specific details of s-1, the former hr-1, that big voting package. if he were to vote to get rid of the voting filibuster, then is s-1 a way to fix this. >> as i mentioned, derrick johnson, president of the naacp. thank you for joining us. let's pick up where i left off with garrett? what did you think of senator manchin? and how did the meeting take place, was it just a matter of him saying yes? >> it's not just me and the

naacp. we have been making rounds to make sure we have relationships with members of senate. it is important for us in this moment to accelerate concerns coming from the african-american community that's inclusive of voting rights. what we are seeing across the country is extremely concerning. it hearkens to a time in 1940 when policymakers were seeking to submit voters rather than electing members to different areas of government. for the naacp, we will put that on the table. more importantly, we'll be talking to our members in west virginia to hear from them and bring forth the conversations with those members to his attention. >> senator manchin has said previously that he supports the reauthorization of the voting rights act, but he does not want the "for the people" act, which is a sweeping bill that would

allow for more ballot access. is that good enough? is it good enough just not to reinstate the voting rights act? >> you need to know where he is on certain policy issues. you really can't have a good relationship in public, but we understand the emergency at the moment. we have multiple states around the country, seeking input. he is one of two, or we're going to allow the senate in this country to create a reality for african-americans, latinos and others where our citizenship in ways that are not helpful to our democracy. >> he should say there is a focus on democrats and senator

manchin because republicans have decided it's not in their own political interest basically to allow more people to vote. that's what these pieces of legislation would do and that's why we're talking so much about senator manchin here. if he comes back to you and says, i agree with you on the premise, i agree with you on the merits, but i'm still not in favor of getting rid of the filibuster. there is no way for the senate to get to 60 votes on that. so what will be done by the naacp? >> how do we make it known that student loans are something that should be addressed? how do we highlight that in this moment we are in a flesh pot of opportunity if we move forward this inclusive of all communities? we have to do something with the climate but we must address access to voting for our communities. that is a part of the conversation that we're going to

have. not to play it out in the media, not to answer hypotheticals but build a relationship. >> i hear you. right now there is no path to 60 votes on voter legislation, so i'm asking what the backup plan is. >> it is a hypothetical assuming that we need 60 votes when, in fact, we only need the 50 votes plus the vp. what happens if the federal courts begin to strike down different changes of laws based on lawsuits that have been brought by the naacp, ldf, to make the case that all americans should be afforded the opportunity to access to voting, and politics should not be able to remake the constitution.

>> president of naacp,derrick johnson, i appreciate the conversation. >> thank you. now a new warning about protecting against cyberattacks as a new wave of ransomware hits pipelines, boats and even meat. now reddit's wall street rally on even blackberry are taking a strange twist. stay with us. n blackberry are taking a strange twist stay with us ♪ na na na na... ♪ hey hey hey. ♪ goodbye. ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na... the world's first six-function multipro tailgate. available on the gmc sierra. psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful.

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the federal government is now urging businesses to protect themselves against cyberattacks and ransomware. nbc news has obtained a memo sent by the u.s. deputy national security advisor for cyber technology, and she writes this. the u.s. government is working with countries around the world to hold ransomware actors and the countries who harbor them accountable, but we cannot fight the threat posed by ransomware alone. the private sector has a distinct and key responsibility. it targets a major gas pipeline, one of the world's largest meat producers, a massachusetts ferry service and the mta in new york city. all those attacks with real world impacts that go well beyond cyberspace. joining us now, correspondent jake ward in san francisco, and

kira todd who worked with the obama administration on cybersecurity. thank you for being with us. give us an idea of how threatening these cyberattacks now, and should we expect these to become the new normal? >> reporter: geoff, standing where i am in san francisco, i could be standing in any city in america and i'm going to show you the exact thing i'm showing you now. you can see over my shoulder we need buses. this is the transit system of san francisco. in 2016, muni was hacked by ransomware operators who got $73,000 in bitcoin. it's a small amount of money by today's standards, and back then it was a big deal. they had to shut down the entire system for the whole day, make it free for people to keep it operating. today if i got on one of those buses and rode it almost anywhere in the city, i would be standing in front of a place that would also be hit. the public broadcaster that was hit in 2018, you talk about ucsf

that was hit in 2020. this is becoming very prevalent. the memo talks about business leaders, getting everyone together. you imagine some sort of roundtable in which people will agree on a shared choreography. we're talking here about the superintendents of school districts, we're talking about the administration of hospitals, we're talking about such an incredible variety of people, because as we've seen in recent days, whether it's beef or gas or buying a ferry ticket, all of that is under threat in this new ransomware era, geoff. >> kira, can you give us a full picture of how the u.s. is responding and retaliating against these attacks? it can't just be sanctions and tough talk from the white house. or is it? >> first of all, i think we have to commend the biden administration for the memo that came out today. we assume that businesses know what to do and know what's right and what are the basics in

cybersecurity. that assumption has been wrong, so what the white house did today was they went through the basics. they said make sure your data is backed up. segment your networks. do and perform software updates. make sure your instant response plans are working and effective and your employees know what to do. these are basic things we assumed to have been done and now it's important that there is a call to action on the part of the government to say you have to be doing these things, and i think it's quite possible you'll see this administration weigh even heavily on ensuring that critical infrastructure companies and companies across the nation are going to be doing the basics in order to secure the infrastructure so that we're not having a conversation about what happens once you get attacked. we should be able to prevent many, if not all, of these ransomware attacks. >> that memo you mentioned does not say whether these companies should pay the ransom. it used to be the fbi would say if you get a ransomware attack,

do not pay. what's your take on this? if companies start paying what colonial paid, what was it, $500 million in bitcoin, does that not just incentivize more attacks? >> if you get hit by ransomware, we're dealing with the symptom and not the cause. a company like colonial pipeline shouldn't have been in that situation. we learned they weren't doing the basics. the patch that was submitted months ago, colonial pipeline had not issued it on their own networks. but when you have an infrastructure that's held at ransom, you're going to ask the company to do whatever it needs to do to get back up and running. i'm not in the business of telling companies when they should be paying ransom because of the impact and the viability. if that company is part of the critical infrastructure and they've been attacked, they should immediately go to the government. i think what we've seen with jbs and colonial pipeline is an

example of what to do and what not to do. jbf, by all accounts, had appropriately backed up their data. they should take their data and services offline, it looks like, as a precautionary measure. but they were informing the government, they were transparent, so we didn't have that psychological impact that we had around the pipeline of, are we going to get gas? we saw lines a block long, not because there was no gas but because there was fear of that. >> thanks to both of you. we're going to make a turn here and focus on president biden's foreign travel. dust off your fascinators, friends of the american president and the british royals. biden and the first lady will meet with the queen at windsor castle.

elizabeth, who is the world's longest-reigning monarch with the exception of lyndon b. johnson. but who could forget johnson's predecessor? president trump, you may remember, broke protocol by walking in front of the queen. that was a big faux pas. the sending of millions of covid vaccines around the world. and barber shops meeting the vaccine where they live. shops e vaccine where they live. and ninja babies! oh my gosh. oh my gosh! nobody builds 5g like verizon builds 5g because we're the engineers 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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we're following breaking news out of the white house this afternoon. the covid response team announced today that the u.s. will send millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine around the world. >> our overarching aim is to get as many effective vaccines to as many people as fast as possible. it's as simple as that. we want to save lives and avoid variants that place all of us at risk. perhaps even more important, this is just the right thing to do. >> the news comes after months of deliberation on what to do

after surplus doses and international pressure to help countries still struggling with outbreaks of covid-19. the first wave of 29 million doses will be sent out over the coming weeks. let's bring in dr. michael osterholm. he's the director of infectious reserve policy. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> what will this do to the vaccine fight, do you think? >> don't forget there are 16 billion people on the face of the earth who are in low to middle-income countries and only 1.5% have had access to the vaccine. this is very good news today. i commend the administration for its efforts, but as a world, we ever a lot more work to do to bring this pandemic under control for most of the low and middle-income countries, as well as stop the variant development

that occurs when we have so many people infected. >> let's talk about cases at home which have fallen for the first time, really, since 2020. are you concerned if the vaccine progress continues to lag in parts of the u.s.? >> let's be really clear that while there's been a lot of suggestion that this virus may be a seasonal virus, let's just remind you that last june at this very time, we saw almost no activity in the southern states, and then we saw a major surge in cases in july resulting in 7,000 cases reported per day. then we saw very little activity, generally spespeaking throughout the fall, then in january we hit 3,000 cases a day and the southern sun belt. for all i know, we can see a

july increase in cases. but to your point about the issue of vaccination, we have unfortunately at least eight states in this country that have major gaps in the number of people vaccinated. some of these states have counties where 20% less of the people have been vaccinated. those are areas that are ripe for seeing surges. we won't see a national surge, but yes, this is a real concern and this is why we have to continue to keep doing everything we can to get as many people vaccinated as possible. >> a question about the vaccine hesitancy or vaccine reluctance. it might even just be vaccine indifference. there was a recent polling that found about a third of unvaccinated adults were concerned about receiving a surprise bill. they weren't aware that getting the vaccine is free. how should the administration address that, do you think? >> well, we just have to keep educating the public about what the facts are and the fact that you can get vaccines free. that, in fact, they're safe, that they are very effective and

that very soon the two major mrna vaccines, the pfizer vaccine and the moderna vaccine, will likely be licensed. we have every reason to believe within weeks at most, there will be full formally licensed vaccines and people can no longer use the excuse, it's still an experimental vaccine. i think we'll see that happen. i think we'll see by december, two years and older getting vaccined, but day after day we have to continue sharing the correct information. >> dr. osterholm, we appreciate your words as always. the white house teams up with black-owned barber shops and beauty shops across t to cs,

and those barber shops are also vaccination sites. the gap in atlanta has been particularly concerning. so how will this program work and what's the response been so far? >> sure. so i'm actually standing at tony's barber studio. this is in midtown atlanta, a high-traffic area. it's usually a busy place. i'm going to show you why the biden administration believe this will be a successful idea. you'll see there are about nine or ten chairs inside this barber studio. tony tells me during peak business hours, all of them are filled, and in a given week they can see between 300 and 400 different customers. going back outside, when i talked to tony, the owner, he told me every single day, almost, vaccines have been a topic of conversation here in his barber studio, either people

for them or against them, but it's something they're talking about. that's a big reason, and that's exactly what the biden administration is counting on. that's why they're partnering with about a thousand shops like tone's, beauty shops around the country, yes, because it's aimed at people getting the vaccine but also being reported. we talked about areas being hit hard by the pandemic, but the reporting numbers are still low. why barber shops? why beauty shops? i talked to tony about that. here's what he told me about the important role these places play in the black community. take a look. >> it's a pretty ingenious way to kind of, you know, get more people to talk about it and maybe even go get the vaccine. so using us as a vehicle to do so, i think it is kind of

important. for african-american people, black people, this has been our living room, our den, where we come to discuss things. >> reporter: geoff, in addition to this question of vaccine hesitancy, there is also the very real issue of access, and that's something the biden administration is addressing as well by partnering with places like daycares to offer free child care and pharmacies to extend their hours to allow more people to go and get that vaccine, geoff. >> and, blayne, quickly, it's not tony who will administer the shot? there is a nurse there that will administer the shot? >> that's right. for shops that are partnering with the administration, the barbers are not giving the shots themselves, they're making their place available for an actual vaccine site to be setup in their facility. geoff? >> blayne alexander, we appreciate you as always.

the fda is warning people who have seafood allergies not to eat cicadas. the agency tweeted the warning yesterday with the words, yep, we ever to say it. the brood x cicadas apparently share a genealogy with shrimp and lobsters, if you can believer that. one of the reporters who broke the story for the "washington post" joins me next. reddit is targeting a stock that was just $2 a few months ago. it's up 3,000% since. p 3,000% se are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+,

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that the fbi is investigating postmaster louis dejoy. he has contributed to donald trump in which he was employed by donald trump. he has made contributions to the republican party. he stressed that the postmaster general did not knowingly violate any laws. jacob broke the story for the "washington post." jacob, when i was doing a story on dejoy last summer, i spoke to a former employee of his who said he felt pressured to donate to republican candidates, and he had not donated previously, and

he was told, don't worry, you'll get the money back. is this something the investigation is looking into? >> yeah, it is, and this is something that was part of the legislation. when louis dejoy was appointed postmaster general, just like you, doing some routine reporting, crawling around with folks working for him. within ten minutes they were often unprompted. you know we were pressured to give to republican causes, right? that was the reputation. we're looking here at something called straw donors. an employer will encourage or ask employees to make political donations to their favorite candidates or causes and then reimburse those employees with raises or with bonuses. and that's what's being alleged here. >> right, exactly. what do you expect louis dejoy's fate will be once the postal board of governors, they're all

confirmed by the senate? the biden administration has put together three governors, the senate so far has confirmed one of them. once these folks are confirmed, democrats will have a majority the board of governors, and the pressure from democratic lawmakers is that the board of governors should then move to basically replace louis dejoy. president biden cannot do it himself, he doesn't have the authority. what do you think this all means for dejoy's fate? >> we got all three of them confirmed now. that doesn't give democrats and one of the nominees is an independent but would caucus with the democrats. that doesn't give that group the majority a lot of people expect to be able to unseat louis dejoy. the chair of the board of governors, a democrat named ron

blume, has said he supports louis dejoy, he supports louis dejoy's plans for the postal service, and he doesn't expect him to lose his job. we'll see if this has any bearing on the postmaster general's future. >> i appreciate you joining us. the meme stocks are on the way once again. amc stock closed at an all-time high of $62.65. that's before dropping today amid news of a selloff. you could have bought shares for $2 apiece a few months ago, but the renewed interest isn't just due for movie theaters post lockdown. retailers mostly by reddit, they're turning into real dollars for these struggling

companies. amc sold $200 million in shares to a hedge fund tuesday who then turned around and dumped them for a profit. robin, it's great to see you. what's happening here at amc and what's the end game? >> geoff, i know you were a young man, but in the summer of 1983 air supply had a hit song. it's called "making love out of nothing at all." that's what's happening here, to torture the metaphor. you had a bunch of people who decided to stick it to the hedge fund people and they drive it up immensely. this was a $2 stock. it was at 70-plus at a $2 billion market gap, so they can say, okay, let's raise some cash, and they can take something that was a meme into a very cash-rich mentality. you're talking $750 million raised in no time at all. >> i will admit to knowing about

the group air supply. i do not know that song, though. are meme stocks here to stay? >> i could not see this coming. yes, we're in an unprecedented time of the economy, and when you have nowhere else to invest, you make up these opportunities. what was the last time you saw somebody hold a blackberry? when was the last time that company totaled a profit to justify its stock going up in 2021? when i ask a question about this, the young investors say, hey, man, you just don't get it, boomer, x-er. maybe i won't get it, but the physics have to reassert themselves again. >> how does this get started?

i admit i don't read reddit. i find it actually hard to read. how are these decisions made? >> then they go in there, wouldn't it be cool, wouldn't it be cool, and what's $2 becomes $10 and what's a penny dogecoin becomes 20 cents. amc could turn around and issue a statement of filing saying, we're going to sell a ton of stock and we're warning you, individual investors, you might not want to buy this stock because it's worthless, but we're going to go ahead and sell it, anyway, and pay down some of our debts. we're living in a black mirror era, so to speak. >> that's a great way to put it. thank you for your time. >> thank you. they call nasa's attempts

the bambino. they announced they have two new missions to venus in the next decade. it will be the first in 30 years despite scientists pushing for a return to the planet. this will be on the viable and hospitable climate of venus, as the scientific american says is an apocalyptic state. the president's plan to make community college free for all. e community college free for all so i only pay for what i need. 'cause i do things a bit differently. wet teddy bears! wet teddy bears here! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (vo) nobody dreams in conventional thinking. it didn't get us to the moon. it doesn't ring the bell on wall street.

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needles. essential for sewing, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. because there are options. like an “unjection.” xeljanz. the first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to severe ulcerative colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. needles. fine for some. but for you,

there's a pill that may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. xeljanz. an “unjection.” a new proposal from the biden administration would make community college programs free for all americans. community college tuition typically runs a few thousand dollars a year, but even then, other expenses like food, rent, transportation and textbooks often force students to take out loans to complete their educations. the proposal would free up pell grant money and other aid to help cover those costs. and joining us now from washington is nbc news political correspondent ali vitale.

ali, i think most people think community college is already free. what is the reality for students? >> reporter: the reality, geoff is reality colleges are cheaper, but not free, not across the board and at least not yet. that's what the biden plan would aim to do, make community colleges free for everyone. miranda was set to go to a private four-year college to study nursing. >> i had felt, this is a school for me. >> reporter: chris earned a baseball scholarship to the university of massachusetts amherst. but when the students sat down with calculators, they discovered even with financial aid, the cost of of a four-year degree didn't add up. >> amherst was north of $70,000 per year. over four years that's over a quarter million dollars. >> i was figuring out the loans i was going to have to repay and it just wasn't feasible. >> reporter: that's why the two decided to go to community

college instead. and they're hardly alone. according to a new poll, nearly half of american families are rethinking the value of a four-year college. since 1985, the average cost of attending a four-year university has risen nearly 500%, resulting in sky-high student loan debt. now the biden administration is looking to make higher education affordable for all, providing americans with free community college. >> when a young child goes to school -- not day care -- they're far more likely to graduate from high school. when you add two years of free community college on top of that, you begin to change the dynamic. >> reporter: biden's proposal would waive tuition for two years of community college and cover expenses including child care, mental health services and tutoring. ushering many black and brown students into higher ed. but the plan comes with a hefty price tag, $256 billion and

critics aren't so sure it's worth it. noting community colleges traditionally have high drop-out rates and often don't lead to top dollar jobs. >> community colleges don't have a great history of setting people up for high earnsings. so if we're get being people going to community colleges instead of a higher quality institution that they would have gone, absent this additional funding, then we're actually making that person worse off. >> reporter: another potential pitfall, biden's plan is a mixed bag for states, with some paying more to support community college plans than they already do. but back on campus, chris says community colleges provide students with the kind of practical job training many four-year schools lack. >> i actually have a job already lined up for when i graduate this summer working for a hip-hop company. i think community colleges do need to realize how beneficial they actually are. i hope people do realize that.

>> reporter: and, geoff, from a policy perspective, this is really a move towards racial equity, removing the financial barriers for mostly black and brown students to get into higher education. you can really think about this like the on-ramp. if you remove those financial barriers, you're getting more people onto the highway of higher ed. once they're there, the students i talked to at springfield community technical college are are an example of the routes you can take. you saw chris garaging from the community college into a job. one of the other students that i talked to, she's considering going to a more traditional four-year university after. there's a lot of different paths that you can take. 6 course, all of this is not passed in congress still being figured out. >> ali, the push back the community colleges have a high drop-out rate, isn't that

connected to the cost? they drop out because they can't afford it. that's my take on t. >> reporter: it's part of it. the enrollment rate has dropped. over the next ten years experts believe they're going to see the enrollment rate grow bigger. and what communities have tried to do across the country is community colleges partnering with other traditional four-year universities in their community trying to strengthen that pipeline so if people want to go on they have that opportunity as well. >> nbc's ali vitali. that does it for me. aman me dean picks up coverage next. next ork in america. thousands of smarter towers, with the 5g coverage you need. broader spectrum for faster 5g speeds. next-generation servers with superior network reliability. because the more you do with 5g, the more your network matters. it's us...pushing us. it's verizon...vs verizon. and who wins? you.

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good afternoon, everyone. i'm aman in new york. the biden administration is taking a big step towards fulfilling its commitment to fill 80 million vaccine doses this month. vaccines approved for use here in the united states will now soon be shipped to countries in asia, africa and south and central america. national security adviser jake sullivan is saying this is just one part of a larger global effort. >> we're also working with our g7 partners on a larger effort to help end the pandemic so the world democracies deliver for people everywhere. >> and president biden is in rehoboth beach, delaware, for the first lady's 70th birthday today adds