demonstrate the falsity of the idea that if we simply ignore him, he'll go away. >> also new today, west virginia senator joe manchin breaking with democrats on sweeping changes to voting rights saying he believes they'll further divide the country. manchin says he will vote against the for the people act and reiterate his opposition to changing the filibuster in the senate. >> in 2013, at that time, harry reid, the leader of the majority party of the democrat it is, the nuclear option. come back 2017, then leader mcconnell at that time in the majority and he did away with it for the supreme court. so, what goes around, comes around here. they all understand that. there were 33 democrats in 2017 that signed the letter to please save the filibuster and save our democracy. that's what i'm trying to do. >> as we head off this hour,

let's go to nbc's monica alba in washington, d.c. another welcome to you. we have the president, as you know, preparing for his first international trip in office. what does he hope to accomplish with it? it's. >> reporter: a critical test, alex, and i'm told he's preparing for these high-stakes summits. he was in discussions with his national security team yesterday in the oval office, for instance, because this is going to be a week where we see him head to multiple countries and meet with so many leaders on the international stage, beginning in the uk with boris johnson and then head to the g-7 in cornwall, and we know this from a washington post op-ed published today, that he wants to re-engage america's leadership internationally and restore strained alliances after the last four tumultuous years. and the way he says he's going to do that is by trying to rally

the world's democracies against threats like china and russia. one particular topic of conversation we know for sure the president plans to raise with vladimir putin at the end of his trip in geneva, switzerland, is all of these ransomware attacks and cyber intrusions linked to russian criminals. that's an area where senator mark warner says he wants the president to press president putin on because the u.s. is more vulnerable than ever to these types of attacks. take a listen to how he put it on one of the sunday shows. >> i do think we have the ability to -- there needs to be international repercussions, not one off, the united states acting alone. that's why president biden going and rallying the democracies at the g-7 meeting is so important. >> reporter: you saw the senator talking specifically about the evolution of the trip. the fact that first the president will be meeting with the g-7. then he heads to brussels,

belgium, to talk to the leaders on the sideline of the eu and nato summits. the president arguing he'll have all of these conversations with our friendly allies and partners before entering this more adversarial meeting with russia's president where it's not just cyber security he's going to raise, also ukraine, aggression on russia's part and also human rights abuses. perhaps what we saw with belarus in the last month or so. it's a very, very long list of agenda items, alex, which in addition to, there will be the issue of election interference. but the fact that these two are going to be meeting face-to-face in geneva is something the president has been preparing for, even though he has met with putin several times when he was vice president. two have known each other for a long time. of course, this is the first occasion where they're going to come and meet together since the president called putin a killer in an interview earlier this year. alex, a lot to watch for. >> big chunk of time, i'm sure, blocked on out on june 16th.

thank you for that. new today, a shocking jailhouse interview with a man accused of assaulting a capitol police officer during the january 6th attack. landon copeland says he doesn't regret it. speaking exclusively to wrc, he explains why he decided to participate in the riot and if he still supports the former president. scott macfarlane got that interview. thank you for joining us from capitol hill. last hour i was glued to this report. talk about what you're going to share this time and how that conversation went. >> reporter: good afternoon. it went longer. we got 20 minutes when he got phone time in his jailhouse. it went longer because he didn't have a lawyer present, knew he was talking on the record and has not entered a not guilty plea. we spoke, including about the allegations and the charges facing him. let's take a look at those charges. among the most serious of any

insurrection defendant. assault of police, obstruction of an official proceeding, unlawful entry. here's what he had to say when we talked about these allegations. >> i don't think i committed a crime. >> reporter: landon copeland is facing among the most serious charges. 130 defendants acaused of assaulting police. the feds say he grabbed a -- knocking an officer down. in a jailhouse interview with me, i asked him about that allegation. >> they were pushing people around and out towards the grass and there were clear signs around the grass area, and it was kind of felt like they were trying to push people over towards where the gas was. >> reporter: copeland says he didn't attend donald trump's speech and was making a fast food run with his girlfriend before he entered the capitol.

he said he entered from the west side with the largest wave. >> i don't regret being there because the idea was to confront our lawmakers. the idea was to try and have a voice and try and speak for people and just be like, hey, you know, we're not getting what we want from our lawmakers. >> reporter: copeland gained additional notoriety after he was charged by yelling at a judge. copeland, an iraq war veteran, called the judge a robot. said, no one can get him unless he wants to be gotten and yelled, i'm a vet. you owe this to me. you've, expletive, this all up. >> well, i imagine that probably did make it harder for myself. but, honestly, i feel like that what was said there was inappropriate. >> reporter: copeland says he still supports donald trump and says he has questions about what happened during the 2020 election.

landon copeland has a hearing tomorrow morning, 10:00 a.m. in d.c. it's a virtual hearing. he'll appear from his jail cell in utah. we'll see if this interview comes up during the hearing. >> i was just about to say, i bet this interview comes up. anyway, scott, it was great. joining me now is california congressman, ted lieu, and our good friend here. welcome, sir. what are your thoughts on that interview you just heard with that capitol right suspect. >> thank you, alex, for your question. i'm pleased prosecutors are prosecuting landon copeland. you can't attack the capitol and assault police officers. those are crimes in america. we value the rule of law. doesn't matter what your political views are. there are ways to express them. attacking the capitol, inciting or being part of an insurrection is not one of the ways you express your political view. >> let's talk about speaker pelosi, who has laid out multiple paths forward after republicans blocked the creation

of the independent commission to investigate the riot. the options include no senate vote, a house select committee or keeping the existing committee probes intact. what do you think is the best path forward? >> what we know is republicans cannot stop the full truth from coming out. we are going to investigate what happened on january 6th, what led up to it, and the consequences. there will either be a select committee or a standing committee or some sort of combination. there will be for speaker pelosi to decide. but the full truth will come out for the american people. >> okay. i want to turn to what happened on friday, former white house counsel don mcgahn's testimony to the committee. is there anything you can tell us about it as we await the transcript to be released, i believe that's happening some time this week, right? >>. >> the expectation is it will

happen some time this week. it was largely a staff-driven interview. i was briefed by staff after the interview. it's very clear that don mcgahn repeatedly said that the former president did not listen to his advice. we're going to wait to see what the transcript shows, but i hope the department of justice takes a good look at it to see if the former president engaged in any acts that obstructed justice or violated any laws. it's clear to me the president violated obstruction of justice. >> how important is it -- you weren't able to get testimony because donald trump blocked it and thought of a myriad number of reasons for why he wouldn't be allowed to testify. that said, he did so now. how important is that? >> we can't have an oversight system if someone is given a congressional subpoena and then appears over two years later.

that makes a lot of congressional subpoenas useless. that's why i introduced legislation, which means we can impose monetary fines on individuals who ignore congressional subpoenas. all that legislation requires is a house vote. it doesn't even require senate concurrence. i hope we're able to do that so we can enforce our subpoenas in a timely manner. >> what i'm sensing from you is announce and actually wondering what you'll even be able to do with his testimony now these two years later. what do you think can happen? what can congress do with it? >> congress probably can't do all that much with it. the department of justice can. so, we'll see when they review the transcript what they decide to do, if anything. again, in america, we value the rule of law anyone who violates the law, including the former president, needs to be held to account. >>. >> i want to talk about your

colleague, matt gaetz, who was one of the republicans in the judiciary hearing with don mcgahn. federal prosecutors are investigaing whether the florida congressman obstructed justice during a phone call with a witness in a potential sex crimes investigation. now, gaetz was asked about those new reports outside that hearing room on friday. let's listen to what he said. >> have you or your lawyers heard from investigators? >> well, i think there's a lot going on in florida. my focus is what's going on in washington. >> are you concerned you'll be indicted? >> no. great, thanks, everybody. >> so, when you see the latest news and you see mauts gaetz taking part in the judiciary committee with mcgahn, how does that square with you and your democrat colleagues? >> gop leader ken mckaerts needs

to stop embracing matt gaetz and remove him immediately from the house judiciary committee. this week we'll hear from fbi director christopher wray. the fbi is investigating matt gaetz for sex crimes with a minor as well as object strukdz of justice and other serious crimes. there is no way representative gaetz should be able to be asking questions of the fbi director who is investigating him for all of these crimes. he needs to either resign from the committee or be removed by gop leader kevin mccarthy. >> okay. let's turn to that new reporting from "the new york times." it shows in donald trump's final weeks in office, his chief of staff, mark meadows, repeatedly pushed the justice department to investigate the unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. reporting is coming from emails that were provided to congress. so, what does the urgency of these efforts at that time tell us about the waning days of trump's presidency, that he used

the power of the oval office to swing wildly at anything to stay in office? >> the former president, his enablers were trying to lie, chief and steal their way to a victory. that's not how our democracy works. during the impeachment trial we presented evidence that then attorney bill barr, one of donald trump's strongest supporters, went up to donald trump's face and said that his election conspiracy theories were, quote, bullshit, unquote. this "new york times" article shows how fantastical these theories were. they were looking at folks in italy using some magic satellite technology to alter voting machines here in the u.s. there's no evidence of that. you see that they're grasping for straws. donald trump lost because the overwhelming of american people rejected him and his core beliefs. >> you know, president trump keeping up the big lie during his speech at the north carolina

gop convention yesterday, at what point does it stop? does this also give license to any official who doesn't like the outcome of an election to just say, yeah, it's fraudulent? >> the former president is doing great damage to our democracy. i don't expect him to change because he is, in my opinion, delusional. he thinks he's going to be president this august. that's not going to happen. what shocks me are the republican elected official who know better, most of whom are not delusional. again, this is something we're watching in real time, which is the radicalization of the republican base. it is very disappointing to watch a major political party go off the deep end like this. >> let me ask you on a personal note because i know you. you do not suffer fools gladly. what is it like to work intimately with people, passing them in hallways, sitting on

committees that espouse this trump ideology, how difficult is it for you to do that effectively, to work with them effectively? >> it makes me angry but you learn to smile a lot, so you have to deal with the republicans because they are part of the house of representatives as well as the u.s. senate. many of them i know they know better and it's greatly disappointing that they're out there spewing the big lie. it's such a stupid lie. they can't even identify who stole the election. the former president's attorney said it was hugo chavez. news max has said it was dominion voting machines. by the way, chavez has been dead for several years and dominion is going to make a lot of money suing news max and other outlets and now we heard it's magical satellite technology. this is a lie and i'm disappointed republicans keep

promoting it. >> i'm glad you spoke your mind and substantially, i might add. good to see you. we have breaking news as the duke and duchess of sussex have announced the birth of their second child. the name honors two members of the royal family. we're going back to london with matt bradley and all the details on this happy story. look at your smile, too. what do you know about the baby? >> well, what we know is it was 7 pounds, 11 ounces in california, not where i am here in london. you mentioned the names. it's really interesting. here hearing the baby's name is lilibet diana mountbatten. so lilibet is elizabeth ii who was called lilibet as a child. that middle name is, of course, diana. that refers as an ode to her

father's mother, princess diana, who died in the late '90s in a car crash. of course, we all know that story. so, you know, there was a lot of discussion about these names. names, of course, are hugely significant. now, there was thoughts it might be lilibet or thoughts it might be pipp, which would be a reference to her great grandfather, prince philip. they were thinking maybe a nice homage to prince philip to name the baby pip. this is britain so the bookies were out in force, taking bets on the names. names are open for betting.

smart money had diana 4 to 1. most of britain and bookies thought diana would be the name. this is a bit of an upset. lilibet, to current queen elizabeth ii. this is a really interesting development. this is, of course, a very fraught relationship between meghan and harry and the royal family in london. but little lilibet will be eighth in succession, after her older brother who is 2 years old, the wise age of 2, is referred to as master archie. >> master archie. >> she's still in the line of succession. she's still a royal. >> i think the name lilibet is very charming. i was reminded of that after covering the funeral of prince philip and we saw the letter on the top of his casket and i know she signed it lilibet, which was

his nickname for her. you're great to give us all the details. happy news. thank you so much, matt bradley, from london. jaime harrison, head of the dnc is next. his take on joe manchin and what he makes of a new "vanity fair" report saying republicans may blow up the presidential debate process. y blow up the presidential debate process. ecial needs, who also needed him. as part of our love promise, subaru and our retailers host adoption events and have donated 28 million dollars to support local animal shelters. we're proud to have helped over 230,000 pets so far... changing the lives of dogs like jack, and the families who adopt them. subaru. more than a car company.

why i'm voting against the for the people act. and for that reason, i will vote against the for the people act. furthermore, i will not vote to weaken or eliminate the filibuster. senator defending his stance

earlier today. >> i'm not supporting that because i think it would divide us further. i don't want to be in a country divided any further than i am right now. >> joining me for sunday exclusive interview is jaime harrison. senator manchin says he's not going to vote for s-1, the voting rights bill, and he's not going to vote to eliminate the filibuster. what's your response to that? >> well, listen, i'm very disappointed in senator manchin's decision. obviously, i disagree. listen, i know he ps to protect democracy, but there will be no democracy if we don't protect the right to vote of all americans. there are 350 plus bills in order to suppress and encumber the rights of voters in this nation. only one party is trying to cut

hours in which people can vote, change the standard by which courts look at elections and determine whether or not there's fraud in elections. only one party that is allowing political goons to intimidate voters at the precinct. that's the republican party. this is not a both sides issue. either are for protecting voting rights and protecting our democracy or you're against it. we have to focus and do all we can to make sure that all americans, regardless if you're a democrat or republican, but all americans get the opportunity to exercise their right. i'm willing to get into that arena and allow our candidates and the issues that we believe in to stand on their own. i don't need to rig an election in order to do that. but it seems like the republicans, that's the only way they can win. and it's shameful right now. and it's a threat to our democracy. >> here's something, though, and i want to get your perspective

on it. in the op-ed, senator manchin says he supports the john lewis voting rights advancement act saying it would, quote, update the formula states and localities must use to ensure voting rights that do not restrict the rights of any particular group or population. if it could get bipartisan support, would the dnc rally behind the john lewis voting rights act? would that at least be something? >> we already stand behind the john lewis voting rights act. this is the thing to understand about the democratic party. we want all americans, not just democrats, republicans, independents as well, all americans to have their right to vote. it is the great equalizer in this country. it's the thing that makes the billionaire ceo and the factory worker the same thing. this shouldn't be a partisan

thing. it shouldn't be a democrat versus republican thing. it's whether or not you believe that all americans should have the right to vote or you don't believe it. this is not negotiating an infrastructure bill, whether or not it's $1 trillion or $900 billion. this is about our right to vote and it's the foundation by which this democracy is built upon. and so, again, i just encourage democrats and republicans, understand what we are doing here, understand how history is going to look at all of us. it's about securing the right to vote for all americans and we have to do that. >> it is the right equalizer, no doubt about it. one voice, one vote, equal for everybody. let me ask you about the senator, as you know, faces discrimination on key legislation issues as well as the filibuster. when you look at the senate makeup of 50-50, how do you assess the presence of joe manchin, a democrat in what is a

deep red state? >> listen, i appreciate the experiences senator manchin has. i was running for the united states senate from a red state as well. and i understand the pressures and i understand he's trying to protect his electorate but all believe it. we have to do what we can. we can't just leave this up to the whims of mitch mcconnell and ted cruz to do the right thing. there are senators like them, of that ilkn congress who didn't do the right thing. these senators have already told us they're not going to do the right thing. mitch mcconnell already said he doesn't want joe biden to accomplish anything. this isn't about joe biden. this is about the american people. they didn't do the right thing on the commission. why in hell do they think they're going to do the right thing of voting rights of the people when it stands in the way

of them getting power? that's what it's all about. >> let me play devil's advocate. senator manchin is being viewed as standing in the way, but can you picture a time when democrats could thank joe manchin, too, for more years -- >> oh, yes. >> if republicans take back control of congress and, thereby, they would have use of the filibuster and the like. >> well, listen, joe manchin was a crucial part in terms of saving obamacare, the affordable care act. you know, had he not supported that effort, that -- that would not be here right now. listen, i'm not going to demonize joe manchin because i have a lot of respect for the senator. and i understand it. it's important to listen to perspectives and it's also important to understand how personal this is. i was just with my grandma last weekend, who lived under jim crow here in south carolina. it's not something she has to read about in textbooks. she lived under jim crow where she was treated as a

second-class citizen. she and so many others are so concerned about going back to that time. when they hear about these bills being passed in states all across the country. the question is, what is -- what are we going to do in d.c. in order to stop these efforts to go back to a time that none of us should want to go back to? and that's the real question? >> what about donald trump and his role in all of this? you know, he was praising all these efforts in his speech to the north carolina gop last night. take a listen to what he said. >> i love what they've done in texas. i love what they're doing in florida and have done in florida. i would like to see georgia much much tougher. they don't have signature verification, they don't have things. georgia has to be tougher. but i love what's going on in so many states. 41 different states because they saw what happened in this last disaster and they don't want it to happen again. >> to your point, 350 laws, 41

different states. i mean, how much does donald trump complicate the efforts to fight against these restrictive voting bills? >> well, listen, we know he's the most irresponsible president we've ever had in my lifetime and he's going to say and do things irresponsibly as well. this is where the rubber meets the road. he's followed by a whole legion of lemmings, people don't care more about keeping their seat. many times you see -- republicans love to talk about people on the republican dole. aulg they have done is played with mr. potato head dolls but they haven't done a thing to help those in this nation that are struggling. it just goes to show this is a party that is right now is rudderless and they're only

listening to someone who is probably the worst president of a generation. >> so, looking ahead to the midterms next year, the hill is reporting that republicans are seeking to tie democrats to the country's rising crime wave as part of their strategy for recapturing control of congress in 2022. it is believed, we discussed it before on this broadcast, defund the police may have hurt democrats in 2020. how should democrats respond? >> listen, the republicans were in control for the last four years in terms of funding and all. and so joe biden's been in the white house for four months. let's be serious. donald trump in his last budget cut community policing by half a billion dollars. there's a lot of rhetoric about supporting police but we see the republican party didn't listen or support the police officers on capitol hill who were trying to secure their -- provide their

security on january 6th. why didn't they listen to those police officers? why didn't they stand by those police officers? because they don't care about that? it's only about politics for them and some political game they are playing. bottom line, the democratic party is the only party in this country right now fighting for all american people, regardless of who they are, where they are and how they live. the republican party is just playing games and just trying to amass power. why? i don't know why. >> let me ask you a question as we look to the new "vanity fair" article. they're citing, your counterpart for the rnc, mcdaniels, repeating trump's grievances with the nonpartisan commission and threatening to advise gops for participating in debates unless significant reforms are

made. who benefits? who loses if gop candidates and nominees don't show up for debates? >> i guess the american people. look, this is the party where their candidate for four years didn't disclose his tax returns. we still don't even know what's in donald trump's tax returns. they don't want the scrutiny of the american people. they're devoid of policies, they don't have much character. if i were in her shoes, i wouldn't blame them. >> we know the new york attorney general and the new york district attorney, they know what's inside those taxes and, thus, a world of trouble potentially for donald trump. good to see you. come see me any time you have the time. the other former president speaking on you the this week and who he says is trying to rig the game when it comes to elections. we're back with that. s. we're back with that

now to some new criticism from former president barack obama during a virtual discussion at the economic club of chicago. obama calling out republicans for their efforts to change state voting laws, saying they are essentially rigging the system. >> this really has to do with the basic rules by which we all have agreed to that keep this diverse, you know, multiracial democracy functioning, are we going to stick to those rules or are we going to start rigging the game in a way which breaks it? that's not going to be good for business. not to mention not good for our soul. >> well, joining me now, robert gibbs, former white house press secretary under president obama. your former boss there, not

beating around the bush. he's increasingly vocal about voting rights. what do you think is propelling him to speak out now and why? >> i think no doubt, alex, the activity that is happening in so many states around the cannot that threaten access to the ballot box for so many, i think is clearly driving the former president being out there so foesfully on this. i think the argument he was making there was also pitched to the business community. in that if we pull apart the fabric of our democracy, that not only impedes greatly on our democracy, but it impedes the functionality of our society in which business depends on, in order to function. so, i think there's a real challenge here from the former president, not just to speak out in terms of voting rights as a democracy issue or as a political issue in which many will be involved in, but in upsetting the order that functions in our society and

allows business to do business. so, it's an interesting argument, and i think one that i hope businesses listen to very closely as they decide how actively to get involved in this debate. >> i'd like you to compare what you heard from president obama and what you heard from donald trump, could they be more different? >> no, i think that's been readily apparent for a while. but i also think -- you know, it's remarkable and i think in many ways, though the comments from president obama came before what president trump said last night, it's very much, in a sense, a prebuttal. the actions you see so many state legislatures taking right now are not because of widespread fraud. you've heard many people say this. it is because donald trump wound his base up into thinking there was the perception of fraud. so, we're not doing anything to

challenge what happened in the last election because fraud happened. we're doing it because of one man's, quite frankly, being -- one man really being upset he lost an election, a close election, but a fair election. and now a series of legislator proposals being done, again, not because of actual fraud because the perception in donald trump's mind that fraud was propagated and stole the white house from him. >> also this week on the podcast, former president obama talks about his policy goals, the policy goals of his former vp, saying president biden is, quote, finishing the job of his administration. take a listen to this. >> 90% of the folks who are there were there in my administration. they are continuing and building on the policies we talked about. whether it's affordable care act or our climate change agenda and paris peace accords and figuring out how do we improve the

ladders to mobility through things like community colleges. >> curious to your reaction to those comments because it could be perceived as if president obama is framing, rather, president biden's presidency is kind of a third term of obama. would that be helpful to joe biden? >> well, i don't think that's what he's saying there. i think what he's saying is -- and this started in many ways with the great recession and the former president talked about this at the economic club. we sit in a world right now with great economic inequality and a lot of very important problems like climate change that have to be addressed. many of the challenges that president obama and i was fortunate to work on in the white house, we understood this was going to be a challenge that was going to take longer than one president's term to accomplish. so, i think what he's talking about there is the efforts that president obama started to work more on working class family

issues, to put in the forefront climate change and the activities that we had to take to both grow the economy and protect our planet, again, weren't going to be solved in four years or eight years. in reality, i doubt they'll be solved in four or eight years of the biden administration. these are items that continually have to be updated. the root of what you can see president biden working on started with president obama. the affordable care act, they started this week and talked about the increase in the number of people that have signed up for coverage under obamacare. now joe biden wants to strengthen and improve obamacare. i think it's really just drawing that line between those rather than just saying this is joe biden -- or barack obama's third term. >> you make good sense. i see you neglected to call out like four years of a hiccup in between these years progressing. speaking of progressing,

president obama talked about the progressive movement. take a listen to this. >> a manifestation of the more progressive views that more people brought to politics in 2008 and 2009, 2010 and i think my presidency helped to solidify a huge tilt in the direction of progressive politics of young people that is now continuing in the 30s, as millenials and gen zers are starting to marry and have families. >> here's what you make of that, and do you think for president biden as being perceived as more of a moderate helps him push through progressive agenda items? >> oh, i think there's no doubt. in many ways republicans have tried to frame joe biden as this

radical leftist with this crazy agenda. and i think the great thing about what joe biden embodies is he sounds and looks like common sense america. he doesn't strike anybody and he didn't strike anybody in both the primaries or the general election as something that was deeply radical. look, that's helpful in making sure people understand what you're trying to do and in understanding that sometimes big change is not always embraced by everybody because they're fearful of that change. and i think joe biden embodies this idea of common sense, get it done, working class background. and i think that's important to making sure that his agenda pushes forward. it is every bit a progressive agenda. and the changes he's proposed would be fairly enormous. i think people don't look at joe biden and feel scared that it's

something that's radical or wildly out of place. >> thank you for the chat, robert gibbs. >> happy to do it. within the hour, vice president harris will head for guatemala on a mission about migrants. we have a live report next. e a t tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? what if your clothes could stay fresh for weeks? now they can! this towel has already been used and it still smells fresh. pour a cap of downy unstopables into your washing machine before each load and enjoy fresher smelling laundry for up to 12-weeks. ♪ ♪ mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. when considering another treatment ask about xeljanz, a pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis when methotrexate has not helped enough. xeljanz can help relieve joint pain and swelling, stiffness, and helps stop further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections,

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next half hour, vice president harris leaves for guatemala. let's get right to nbc's kerry sanders joining us from guatemala. who's the vice president going to be meeting with? >> reporter: she'll be meeting with the president here in guatemala. the it's guatemala, honduras and el salvador where we see this tremendous number of not just

migrants leaving, but children. in the last month it's estimated there may have been as many as 25,000 children who made their way to the u.s. southern border, crossing in. and so this is, indeed, a crises. the vice president is making her way here. we know she's bringing a package of some aid. that includes, first of all, hundreds of thousands of coronavirus vaccines to assist. also more than $300 million in humanitarian aid, plus a pledge of $4 billion for long-term development and security. but take a look at what she will be seeing just outside her window on the plane as she comes in. this is the terrain of guatemala. and consider the arduous and very difficult walk that it takes just to leave this region as a child to try to make it to the united states. remember, they're leaving behind their parents. so, what can the vice president expect with this aid package? will it be enough?

listen to what migration said. >> can the vice president's visit here stem the tide of immigration? >> i don't think the vice president to guatemala can stem the tide to the united states in the short term. if there is a chance, it would be in the long term. >> long term meaning? >> 10, 20 years. >> reporter: the pied piper lure of children to the united states is not only one of better life and some food, it is the fact that there has been not just decades but generations of poverty and misery. and so parents, it seems rather irresponsible to us, but here i've been told by those that are aware, it's not irresponsible but, rather, it is the responsible thing to do from their point of view, to let their children try to get to the united states, alex. >> it's just heartbreaking. when you think about that.

what are the experts telling you, kerry, on the root causes of the migration? >> reporter: well, there are so many. first, there is corruption and there is crime. up, kids say they're also leaving -- you have to remember, these are kids. they don't understand those sorts of things but, other than crime but food. they're hungry. their parents know they cannot deliver for them, in part, because the food they grow here is not growing like they used to. they now call this area the dry corridor. it's the result, they believe, experts are saying, is climate change. so, crop yields are down 50%. listen to what an expert had to tell us about that. >> if we talk about historical emissions, that's the -- the amount is just too big whereas small countries like honduras, guatemala and el salvador, count for very small emissions globally, and yet we are

affected. we have impacts year on year, and that's what we call climate injustice and that's why there is a responsibility from developed countries, like the u.s., to help these other countries. >> reporter: so here you might take little umbrage at this, but they're blaming the united states for 100 years of carbon emissions they say has caused a change in the weather patterns here. it's important to note that unlike farming in the united states, here they do not have irrigation, they don't have reservoirs. they rely on mother nature. they're now hitting these things called mid-summer drought, something they never saw before. so, with the amount of food that they grow, the corn, the beans, the sort of things people rely on to live their daily lives, just not growing as they once did. as i noted before, parents say, the responsible thing is to let our children try to make it to

the united states. here is guatemala, a shocking statistic, those children get to the border and we think, first of all, it's just insane to think a child as young as 10 or 11 years old making their way to the border, but also they have in the united states. it's estimated that 1 of every 6 people born in guatemala now lives in the united states. so you begin to understand that there is a long-term connection here as children are leaving, making their way or attempting to make their way to the u.s. border. it's a being problem for kamala harris to handle in one visit, both here in guatemala and in mexico. >> but you have outlined everything in a comprehensive report. she has a very tall order. thank you so much. he's probably the favorite target of trump allies and the former president himself, but what will they gain from demonizing dr. anthony fauci?

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dr. anthony fauci is fending off new attacks from members of the gop, donald trump, and his allies. >> my job was to take a vaccine and use my institute and the talented scientists that we have there, and that we fund in the various universities, to get a vaccine that was highly safe and highly effective. and we succeeded. that's what i do. all the other stuff is just a terrible, not happy type of a distraction. but it's all nonsense. >> his defense comes after a number of republicans call for his firing after some of his pandemic emails were released. joining me now is francesca chaim we ares. in this new article in "the washington post," trump has cast

fauci has public enemy number one. why do republicans think it's good politics to go after fauci? >> well, in the last election, alex, former president trump lost largely because of his handling of the coronavirus. and as he looks towards 2022 and republicans try to take back the senate and the house, that dr. anthony fauci is an easy target for them, and these emails just added more ammunition to their arguments against dr. fauci, who wasn't the only person by the way on the coronavirus task force at the time who was saying things like -- when the science led them in the direction, they were saying things like masks are needed now. he has become the poster child for many of the republican arguments against the government's handling of coronavirus. >> we should also make the point there was concern about the supply of masks that would be taken away from the front line

health workers there, the doctors, nurses and the like. so that was part of what he was concerned about when he was saying don't wear masks, as well. but this criticism, it's not slowing down. in fact, last night, president trump brought it up attacking fauci at his north carolina rally. >> he's been wrong on almost every issue, and he was wrong on wuhan and the lab also. very wrong. but fauci has perhaps never been wrong when he denied the virus and where it came from. >> fauci has advised the country on a number of health emergencies. why do you think he emerged from the coronavirus pandemic as a target for the gop? >> well, again, alex, there were restrictions that many states had in place that the federal government had in place that

republicans disagreed with, many republicans disagreed with. and he was, again, an easy target to make a poster child for this given that he was the one speaking out from the white house podium, that he was the face of the coronavirus task force at that time. and when you look at things like what former president trump said, this government, the biden administration does have a 90-day review in place to try to find out what the origins of the coronavirus were. joe biden put that in place last month. so we expect to hear an update on that in the next couple of months. >> okay, francesca chambers, i know i'll see you soon. thank you so much. the unmasking of america is a relief to so many, but so many have been told to keep them on until october. we'll talk about that coming up, as well. we'll talk about that coming up, as well. ♪ where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪♪ ♪ and they're always glad you came ♪ ♪ you wanna be where you can see(ah-ah) ♪

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a very good day to all of

you from msnbc world head guarders. welcome to "alex witt reports." here's what's happening as we approach 2:00 p.m. in the east. we begin with new reaction to the head of the democratic national committee, as senator joe manchin breaks with democrats saying he won't be backing the voting rights bill. he said partisan voting legislation will destroy the already weakening binds of democracy and said he will not vote to eliminate the filibuster. jaime harrison told me last hour deciding whether to protect voting rights is not a partisan issue. >> i'm very disappointed in senator manchin's decision, and obviously i disagree. because listen, i know he wants to protect democracy. but there will be no democracy if we don't protect the rights to vote for all americans. this is not a both sides issue. either you are for protecting voting rights and our