it's good to be with you. i'm geoff bennet and as we come on the air we have action from a major court ruling. the justices for the first time in a decade rejected the attempt to take down obamacare. the ruling was 7-2 with only conservative justices ruben and

gorsuch in the majority. but it was done on procedural grounds. that means the states that tried to sue don't have the right to bring the case, but there was no ruling on the actual merits of the case. republicans attorney general argued that without the original mandate, which was already struck down, the entire law should go. beyond the legalese, the real life impact here is that tens of millions of americans will get to keep their health care coverage and those protections for previous conditions. democrats are hoping the third time is the charm. >> today the supreme court decision is a landmark victory for democrats to defend protections for people with preexisting conditions. we will never forget how republican leaders embraced this monstrous way to rip away america's health care in the middle of a deadly pandemic. >> the aca is here to stay. and now we're going to try to make it bigger and better.

>> so for republican attorneys general who sued, it's a loss. but for many republicans in congress, it's also something of a win. the fact is that many congressional republicans have already moved on from this health care fight. obamacare has baked in for about a dozen years now, and a law that was once deeply unpopular now has support from a solid majority of americans. and gop attempts to repeal it on their own ended with a very famous thumbs down from the late senator john mccain. the ruling also takes away what could have been another election year cudgel of democrats demanding of republicans, you got what you wanted. now what? >> i don't know what the next step is. i just heard about this a few minutes ago, but i do hope republicans will come up with solutions that if obamacare is here to stay, then how can we repeal some of the regulations that make health care unaffordable for so many americans across the country. and there are regulations within obamacare we've got to address, repeal and take away.

>> take away, she says. that's the reaction from a freshman republican. but as gop lawmakers who have been around can tell you, they've tried that also, and it's far easier said than done. no on-camera reaction yet from president biden after his late-night return to washington, but it might sound something like this. >> the president of the united states of america, barack obama. [ applause ] >> that memorable hot mic moment from when obamacare was signed into law. with that joining us now, nbc capitol hill correspondent garrett haake, benjamin solomon, peter baker, and former law clerk to justice sotomayor, melissa peters. melissa, we'll start with you. this is not a ruling of holding the affordable care act, this is

a rule on the challenge. >> as you said earlier, this is on jurisdictional grounds. the people who brought this lawsuit didn't have the right to be in court for that challenge. but it seems they have put together another challenge for the affordable care act and it will be harder for other states to bring challenges like this one to the original mandate going forward. the original mandate was the requirement that each person in the united states purchase health care or suffer a financial penalty. in 2012 that individual mandate was upheld in a case where the chief justice joined the liberal wing of the court but held that it was a tax. when republicans reduced that tax to zero, this challenge was born because the objectors to obamacare said if it was zero, it was no longer taxed, and then it was constitutional. and if it was constitutional, then the entire act was

constitutional. the question is whether that portion of the affordable care act is unconstitutional as well. >> garrett, first, it's great to see you in person, but building on melissa's great point, one of the implicit takeaways -- the explicit takeaway from the ruling is that the debate belongs in the legislative branch. this is a project for congress. >> and it's largely been completed in the legislative branch. republicans have given up repeal and replace. while repeal is relatively straightforward, replace is more difficult. they've never come up with something to replace this law. republicans would have been on the hook to try to come up with that replacement and now they can move on to other things. they can continue to criticize, but geoff, there's not been a single substantive sort of broad policy that republicans have put forward in the intervening years. even today i heard from roy

blunt, a retired senator, who says this is now baked in to the american medical system. >> and peter baker, we have not yet heard from president biden. we expect to hear him weigh in on this when he signs the juneteenth bill around 3:30 eastern. they brought in mira tanden, made her an advisor to the president. her portfolio was based on all kinds of contingencies based on how the court would rule on this. right now this is a battle they don't have to fight. >> exactly, you can take that off the list. the flip side is it empowers or emboldens the list to say, okay, since we're no longer on defense on obamacare, we're going to be on offense so something broader. there is a whole sentiment among liberal democrats to try something like medicare for all, which is a broader government-run plan effectively across the board regardless of age. that took a lot more traction in

last year's primaries. we saw a number of candidates advocate for that as candidate biden didn't. but now he's going to come under pressure from his own party to say, okay, obamacare is no longer under threat. what should we do to expand or improve on it? >> benji solomon, you tweeted something that caught our attention, saying you think this is the last hurrah for repeal efforts. why do you think this is the case and how will congressman schumer try to build on it? >> there is one type of argument that seems to be ending, either bypassing a bill in congress or a comprehensive replacement or going to the supreme court with one of these lawsuits that will knock out a major part of the law, if not all of it. there is no longer the same political will for that. as you mentioned, it's not just

the republican responses are muted. today even while this lawsuit was going on, especially in an election year, many of them were distancing themselves from it. you had the odd situation where the white house under trump was supporting this lawsuit, 18 republican attorneys general was supporting it, but mitch mcconnell, when he was in debates for his re-election was saying nobody believed this lawsuit would succeed. that was the message he wanted out there, and meanwhile, joe manchin, who trump won the state of west virginia by 40 points, was shooting a copy of the lawsuit in his ads. that's what the politics were at that point. it's just no longer operative. but there will be lots of health care policy fights. on the left there are debates about how to expand coverage. should it be medicare for all where anybody can get it. there are questions about what to do about the population who live in the republican states

which haven't expanded medicaid, which leaves people in limbo supported by the 2012 supreme court decision. and there will be things like drug prices. on some issues, there might be overlap by republicans and democrats. in others there will be strong political differences. obviously there is no republican support for something like medicare for all. but this chapter on looking backwards from looking at the affordable care act and go back to something like existed today, that seems to be fading away right now. >> garrett, i know you have a question for the panel? >> benjy, i'm curious if you think there's something coming down the pike on health care. what do the republicans look like on health care? there is a chance they could trip backwards in the majority and the house, and their voters might expect to hear something from them to actually make this better instead of talking about how they want to get rid of obamacare. >> it's unclear. there's never been a great comprehensive republican plan they could agree on because

there is too much idealogical division within the caucus. there are people on the freedom caucus side, the more libertarian members who want minimal involvement of government in health care at all. you have to get them to the same place as someone like susan collins who wants a pretty significant government health care, even if she doesn't agree with democrats. but there are some more limited areas where you might see movement. a big one is drug prices where president trump, he never pursued it legislatively, but he did talk about areas of agreement with democrats, like giving the government more authority to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers. there is also a bill from senator grassley that's had bipartisan support in the past to cap inflation on drug prices. so there might be limited areas of agreement, but the kind of big, grand, comprehensive health care plan that replaces the entire system or makes some major changes to it the way obamacare did when it first passed, that does not seem around the pike any time soon. >> melissa, what are the chances

that another group of republican challenges could bring another differently tailored case that might have the justices look at it on the merits, or is this said and done? >> i don't think anything is said or done in a supreme court with a 6-3 conservative supermajority. even in this particular challenge, there were two justices, justice alito and justice gorsuch, who were willing to overturn the aca in the middle of a health pandemic. i don't think anything is off the table here. this is a very narrow decision on the specific facts of this particular case and this challenge. there could obviously be other challenges. there will certainly be challenges of a contraceptive mandate. there will be many challenges going forward, and i don't think all bets are off, and i don't think this is the height of the aca or efforts to repeal it. we may just see a more piecemeal approach going forward. >> peter baker, i want to draw on your experience as a presidential historian in

addition to being chief white house correspondent for the teams. when this law was passed and given that there were so many, you know, republican attempts to invalidate it, the fact that it has withstood three times now with the supreme court, i can't imagine anyone thinking that would be the case ten years ago when this law was passed. >> that's right, exactly. it shows, though, how problematic it is when you pass major social welfare changes with only one party's support, though, right? social security, medicare, medicaid, the history of these big advances in american social safety net basically show that you had at least some bipartisan support along the way under fdr, under lbj. president obama couldn't get that support when he passed it with vice president biden at his side, so they went ahead with basically entirely democratic support. it just meant it would be a partisan issue for years to

come. now that it's baked in, that will probably diminish, as some of our partners have been saying, the animus is still high around the base, but the energy to get some kind of repeal and replace, something that will work, i think interest has dissipated. there are other interests republican conservatives are focused on, and i think they feel ten years out they have lost this battle. >> melissa, before we let you go. there was another ruling in the supreme court. it was 9-0 between lgbtq couples and a capital adoption agency. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: it was whether the liberal adoption laws trump and cannot discriminate on gay

couples serving as foster parents. the court said that was a violation of religious freedom rights, religious exercise rights, that it would go forward. this is, again, a very significant decision. this is a court that has been very muscular in its approach to religious liberty, much more expansive than higher courts have been, and once again, there's been another decision that spans the scope of religious liberty, although in a more narrow way than was expected. >> melissa murray, peter bake, benjy sarlin, garrett haake. garrett, we'll see you in a little while. i wonder if you can give us your reaction from this ruling in the supreme court, both in your capacity as health and human services secretary, but folks should know before you had this current role, you were the attorney general of california. in that role you led a coalition of states, including the district of columbia, in

defending the entirety of the aca, and because of that, there were republicans in the senate to include mitch mcconnell who did not want you to have the job that you have now. to the degree you can speak in your personal capacity as cabinet secretary, i'm not sure that you can, how is all this resonating with you today? >> geoff, i have to say to mike mongan and all the team at the department who actually argued this case before the supreme court, they are owed a debt of gratitude by the american people for defending this. i was fortunate as attorney general in working with him. we had the support of about 22 other state's attorney general. it's a victory, it's the law of the land. we haven't been able to say that without some hesitation for a while, and now we can say it. an exclamation point ahead of that, law of the land.

we have prevailed in the supreme court. >> president biden has expanded access, the covid relief bill had subsidies to make it more affordable for folks. what more needs to be done to shore up the affordable care act, and given the sense that it's not expected that congress is going to act on this, does president biden have enough presidential authority to do the work that you think needs to be done? >> we have some authority, but it sure would help if congress stepped in to help us more. for example, those subsidies that have been extended to a lot of middle class families so they can continue to afford their health care under the affordable care act, we want to see that made permanent. so those families will never risk falling over the cliff of losing the subsidies and now not being able to afford their health care insurance. we want to see that extended. we want to see what we can do to reduce the cost of prescription medication. the president was hot on that one all the way through the

campaign, and now i know he'd like to make sure we do everything possible. we do have some executive tools to try to reduce the cost in prescription drugs, but we would like to see congress help us out there. we want to make sure we can continue to expand medicaid, because right now more than two-thirds of all the states have expanded their medicaid health coverage. because of that, fewer people are living in poverty and getting the help they need. we talked about lowering the age to qualify for medicare from 65 to maybe 60 or less. that's another way to get more americans insured. we can do a lot of things, geoff, and we hope to do it in partnership with the congress. >> let's talk about medicaid expansion which you just brought up, because that seems to me to be the next frontier in this obamacare fight. you've got 12 states who don't offer medicaid to their residents which means you have millions upon millions of low-income people who can't get affordable health care coverage. how is the administration posing

to change that? do you have to have more conversations with these republican governors? do you have to do certain kinds of messaging so people know what they're missing out on, as you see it? >> we made it very attractive for them to say yes. we're essentially giving them a whole bunch of support to get their folks who aren't insured covered. it makes a lot of sense, it saves them a lot of money, and we hope they'll adopt it the way, as you mentioned, some 738 governors have in the nation. we also did really discreet things who are critical. for example, a woman who has a baby, right now she's on medicaid. she has access of about 60 days of postpartum care to help her through those first two months. we are now offering states a great challenge. we'll help you pay for extending that postpartum care for that woman from 60 days to a full year. we know for all these women they struggle. that's critical. especially in our communities of

color where a lot of women struggle just to make things work, so we're going to see if the states want to join us in that effort. >> final question to you. the affordable care act as survived three challenges now in the supreme court. do you think a fourth challenge is on the horizon? what are we planning for? >> if we were playing baseball, we would say three strikes you're out. if you count the several times that members in congress tried to dismantle the law. they've been out a long time, but look, we're going to be ready. there will be either a really good state attorney general or a u.s. attorney general or just a good president who is going to say, we're going to build on the affordable care act, not try to dismantle it. more and more you see the american people saying, that's exactly right, it's time to build on it. health care should be a right, not just a privilege for a few. that's where we're going.

>> hhs secretary, xavier becerra, thank you for joining us. covid on steroids. that's how a former white house official described a new and more contagious variant. dr. ashish jha will be here with what you need to know. and later joe manchin's list of demands on voting legislation. we'll talk about that. stay with us. about that. stay with us n frontline. the advanced network and technology for first responders. built on america's most reliable network. built for real interoperability. and built for 5g. it's america's #1 network in public safety. verizon frontline. built right for first responders.

with downy infusions, let the scent set the mood. feel the difference with downy. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ oh! are you using liberty mutual's coverage customizer tool? sorry? well, since you asked. it finds discounts and policy recommendations, so you only pay for what you need. limu, you're an animal! who's got the bird legs now? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ keeping your oysters business growing has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo

♪welcome back to that same old place♪ ♪that you laughed about♪ ♪well, the names have all changed♪ ♪since you hung around♪ welcome back, america. it sure is good to see you. ♪ yum yum yum yum yum yum yum ♪ ♪ yum yum yum yum yum yum ♪ ♪ yum yum yum yum yuuum yum yum yum yum yum yum yuuum ♪ ♪ yum ♪ ♪ yum yum (clap, clap) yum yum (clap) yum yum ♪ wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start. but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. so why not hook community centers up with wifi? for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. over the next 10 years, comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million low-income americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. i hope you're ready. 'cause we are.

delicia: this is where all our recycling is sorted -- 1.2 million pounds every day, helping to make san francisco the greenest big city in america. but that's not all you'll find here. there are hundreds of good-paying jobs, with most new workers hired from bayview-hunter's point. we don't just work at recology, we own it, creating opportunity and a better planet. now, that's making a difference.

president biden is back here in washington after a whirlwind week in europe which culminated in a high stakes summit with vladimir putin, a summit that ended with the two leaders still deeply divided over critical issues like human rights and cyber warfare. president biden returning to the white house fresh off his

face-to-face meeting with president putin. both leaders deeming the talks constructive. president biden insisting he met the moment. >> it was important to meet in person so there could be no misconceptions about what i wanted to communicate. i did what i came to do. >> reporter: but the president left the summit with few concrete reactions from putin, including on cybersecurity following a string of attacks in the u.s. linked to russian actors. >> i talked about the proposition that certain critical infrastructures should be off limits to attack, period. by cyber or any other means. if, in fact, they violate these basic norms, we will respond. cyberly. he knows. in the cyber world. >> putin denied most responsibility. >> translator: most cyberattacks in the world are carried out through the cyber realm of the united states. >> joining us now is the

president and chief security officer for crowdstrike, henry. it's nice to see you. we didn't get much concrete details between putin and president biden, especially since putin denied all responsibility for cyberattacks that had been attributed to him. what's the next step here, as you see it? >> it's a great first step because this is really the first substantive conversation between these two leaders on a very critical issue. talking about it is good. laying it on the table and talking did deterrents, but but do you put thought leaders from each country together and actually frame what the issues are? president biden talked about critical infrastructure being off limits, and that's very, very important, but you need to make sure you're clearly describing what actions are

unacceptable. we accept that espionage is acceptable, but anything that disrupts infrastructure is absolutely a red line that can't be crossed. >> i was going to ask you about that. is that how it works? is there honor among thieves, to use that phrase, to say, look, if you want to launch a cyberattack on a software company, that's one thing, but when it comes to the electric grid or waterways, that's a bridge too far. >> what it is, people are either incentivized or deterred from taking action. they're incentivized to take action or deterred from taking action. that's all that would work here. whether it would be for removing certain sanctions that had been implemented previously, and again, drawing that red line and taking some type of action against the russian infrastructure. the u.s. does not want to escalate this. we don't want to escalate it because it really can spiral out of control very similar to

nuclear arms discussions. this absolutely is arms control. these are weapons that can be used and have a significant impact much like a kinetic type of attack. we really need to make sure we're framing the issue, drawing the red lines, and it is very clear if you cross this red line, this is what will happen. that is deterrence. that really has to be the next step. >> shawn, given the nature of your work, can you give us a threat assessment? what is this country really facing when it comes to significant infrastructure attacks, cyberattacks against u.s. infrastructure? >> you know, our targets base keeps getting bigger and bigger. every time new devices are introduced to the network, they are inherently vulnerable unless they're protected with certain types of software, and our adversaries know that. they are seeing a significant return on their investment, and unless we are able to deter them, they will continue to launch these types of attacks. they are not going to stop out of the goodness of their heart.

the return is too significant, and it really requires us to make sure that we draw this line. i think it's also important for the private sector to be investing in their security. the government cannot do this by themselves. they have a role to play, but they're not going to entirely solve this problem. the private sector needs to invest in technology, into policies and processes that allows them to have greater visibility into their environment so that they can disrupt it internally. the actors being taken off the field through deterrence is an important step, but the private sector absolutely needs to invest as well. >> on the topic of government solutions we heard today from senators on a cybersecurity department legislation. let's listen to that real quick. >> when the colonial pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline in the united states of america, falls to a ransomware attack, that is a very powerful signal that things have not gone well in our response to this.

>> from the criminal enterprise point of view, we've got to up the cost of doing business here. these people are making probably billions of dollars and the penalties are inadequate to the crime. >> so when we talk about solutions, how much of the solution is going to come internally from the u.s. rather than with diplomacy with russia, do you think? >> again, i think it has to be diplomacy. any type of response has to be proportional. i don't think, again, we want to escalate this. but it's not just russia. there are other nation states who have used these weapons. iran and north korea have both launched destructive attacks inside the united states against the commercial sector. we've seen companies that have suffered attacks by those nation states. so this is not just a u.s./russia issue, this is a global issue in many states and these are the states gaining those capabilities. that's why i think it's important to equate this to nuclear proliferation.

it's similar, certainly not as catastrophic, but absolutely similar in its construct as new organizations, new adversaries, new nation states gain these capabilities and we become more vulnerable. everything we do is tied to the internet. if the internet goes down, life as we know it will cease to exist. the ability to pump gas, the ability to keep food supply, the ability to keep transportation in the air, cars on the road, it all goes away. in has to be taken very, very seriously. we need to be leaning forward and make sure these discussions lead to effective actions. >> it's the next front in the arms race. shawn henry, we appreciate your time this afternoon. thank you. >> thank you. the new warning from the cdc as the most recent delta variant spreads. a look at the broadband's have and have-nots in this country. have-nots in this country.

♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. welcome to allstate, where we're driving down the cost of insurance. drivers who switched saved over $700. you're in good hands. call a local agent

or 1-800-allstate for a quote today. 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.” is your family ready for an emergency? you can prepare by mapping out two ways to escape your home, creating a supply kit, and including your whole family in practice drills. for help creating an emergency plan, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com a little preparation will make you and your family safer in an emergency. a week's worth of food and water, radio, flashlight, batteries and first aid kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com

health experts are urging americans to get vaccinated as a more dangerous and contagious strain of coronavirus spreads rapidly. the delta variant first identified in india now accounts for about 10% of new cases here in the u.s. the cdc warns that it poses a very real risk to americans who are not yet fully vaccinated,

especially in states where vaccination rates are lagging, places like georgia, louisiana, alabama and mississippi. here is former white house senior advisor andy slavitt early this morning on "morning joe." >> we should think of this as covid-19 on steroids. it would take you ten minutes to get exposed to covid, now it takes something like five minutes. if you haven't been vaccinated, you should be worried. >> with us is dr. ashish jha, the dean of school of public health, as everyone knows now. this delta variant is more transmissible. it also has different symptoms than what people are accustomed to, so what should folks watch out for? >> thanks for having me back. the issue around this delta variant, no doubt about it, far more contagious, maybe more deadly, but the issue around symptoms is still being sorted

out. there is one study out of the u.k. that says more headaches, more runny nose and sore throat, but again, i don't think that's definitive, and if you have any of the classic covid symptoms, you've got to get it checked out. >> so let's talk about young kids, kids under 12 who still aren't approved for covid vaccines, people with medical conditions that can't get vaccinated. should we be taking different steps to protect them given the threat by this delta variant? >> this is where we can look to the u.k. in the u.k. now the delta variant is dominant, it's probably 70% of infections. we are seeing a lot of people unvaccinated get infected. when we think about how do we protect kids under 12, how do we protect those more vulnerable? the important thing is to get people around them vaccinated. be careful, wear masks indoors, avoid large crowds. number one is about

vaccinations. experts agree that we're most likely not to reach the 70% vaccinated goal by president biden's july 4th deadline. what does it mean if we're stuck where we are in terms of vaccinations. is there a demonstrable difference between being stuck at 61%, 72% or an percentage of americans being vaccinated. >> there is probably a threshold in the 70s or 80s that would make a drastic difference and the pandemic would really get under control in the united states. if we're in the 60s, it will be a real challenge for us and we'll see more outbreaks in the summer and the fall, especially with variants circulating inside the united states. >> dr. jha, thank you for your insight and advice as always. good to see you. coming up, joe manchin

signals he could be willing to compromise on voting rights, but he's got a list of demands first. it's hot out there. dangerously hot. dangerously hot. introducing the new citi custom cash℠ card, a different kind of card that rewards rashida where her spending is trending. just ask overly confident diy rashida rashida: wait, was this the right wall? or last minute gift shopping rashida rashida: i'm putting a bow on it! wow. even sneaking away for a vacay rashida. rashida: shhh! i've earned this? from home improvement, drugstores, select travel and more

earn 5% cash back that automatically adjusts to your top eligible spend category, up to $500 spent each billing cycle. ♪ ♪ the light. it comes from within. it drives you. and it guides you. to shine your brightest. as you charge ahead. illuminating the way forward. a light maker. recognizing that the impact you make, comes from the energy you create. introducing the all-electric lyriq. lighting the way. ♪ ♪ [lazer beam and sizzling sounds] ♪♪

when you buy this tea at walmart, walmart can buy more tea from milo's. milo's can create new jobs, jobs for people like james and lacey and me. me, i love my work family. family here and home, is my life. life is better for us because of a job. a job created when you buy this tea at walmart. ♪ i got love ♪ ♪ i got love ♪ ♪ i got love mama... ♪ i suffered with psoriasis for so long. i felt gross. people were afraid i was contagious. i was covered from head to toe. i was afraid to show my skin.

after i started cosentyx i wasn't covered anymore. four years clear. five years now. i just look and feel better. see me. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. five years is just crazy. see me. learn more at cosentyx.com. - [announcer] when you earn a degree from southern new hampshire university, it's worth getting loud... - woo! i did it! (people cheering) - [announcer] ...and emotional. - [woman]woo hoo! - cool! - [man] we're proud of you, right, trav? - yeah! - [announcer] snhu graduates recognize what they can accomplish with a supportive university by their side. - i did it... you can too!

- [announcer] start your celebration at snhu.edu next hour at the white house, president biden is expected to sign the juneteenth national independence day act into law. the house voted 415 to 14 yesterday to send the bill to the president's desk. 14 republicans voted against it. now, it will designate juneteenth as a federal holiday, the first new federal holiday since martin luther king jr. day was established back in 1983. juneteenth is a day meant to commemorate the end of slavery in the united states. on june 19th, 1865, well after slaves were freed by the emancipation proclamation, union soldiers delivered the news of freedom to the last remaining enslaved people in galveston, texas. this afternoon there is word of a new proposal for a voting

rights bill, a topic that seemed to go nowhere in the senate. the question now is did senator joe manchin just bring it back to life? with us is msnbc news correspondent garrett haake. garrett, you had to leave the desk here and run back over to the hill. won't hold that against you. let's talk about what we heard last night from senator manchin, because he outlined his changes to the for the people act, changes that stacey abrams says she even supports. tell us how this scrambles the debate now in congress. >> reporter: manchin had wanted to give them a list of what he wanted. manchin has finally done that and his bill looks a lot like the for the people act. it makes elections a federal

holiday, it makes automatic voter registration by motor vehicles, and it dropped something republicans really hated like the harvest provisions or things around federal funding of elections. this is a sweet spot for manchin. it's been fairly well received by his fellow democrats so far. >> how is it going to be received by republicans? because before this, there was that one republican we knew of, lisa murkowski, who was on board with it, but now you have senator mcconnell saying he's not for it at all, not that he was before it. >> reporter: yeah, senate republicans lined up today literally in a studio in the capitol for a show of force both against the manchin version of for the people and the original version. mcconnell said manchin's version is still totally unacceptable to republicans. and i think -- you have to understand, geoff, this is not an issue like infrastructure where there is maybe somewhere in the middle the two sides can

meet, they just disagree on how to pay for it or the scope or what have you. there is arguably a vast majority of republican senators who firmly believe the federal government should stay out of the kind of running of elections that this for the people act does. they don't want federal fingerprints on it at all, and they're not willing to talk about that any further than that. so manchin, you know, if his version is accepted by senate democrats, it unifies one party, but it also unifies the other party here. so i think this has a short-term political impact where, when this is brought to the floor next week, you might see all democrats united and at least trying to move forward on debate on this which had not been the case beforehand. but republicans are going to stand shoulder to shoulder. you'll see all 50 republicans voting on even the manchin version of this. if you want to see the for the people act, if you think this is

something that should be done, then they need to get rid of the filibuster, and we're back at how there is no voting for that, either. >> garrett, quickly, do we know what date they're having the vote on this bill? >> reporter: it's looking like probably tuesday, but geoff, as you know, timing can be a bit fluid up here. >> keep us honest. garrett haake doing double duty for us today. the biden administration is calling for major upgrades to broadband infrastructure as part of the jobs plan. the white house issued a new tool that shows just how lost the country is without high-speed internet and how urgent these upgrades are needed. jake ward joins me from san francisco. jake, so much of the country has limited access to broadband. what did your reporting find? >> that map is just shocking,

right, geoff? when we looked at this issue, we decided to go to one city in north carolina that actually offers bradband internet, world class connectivity, to its citizens. then we went just up the road to visit another city that's prevented from doing so. >> reporter: high schoolteacher michelle galloway spent months trying to connect with her students from her farmhouse during the pandemic. >> sometimes i would cry after a class. >> reporter: at times the slow internet made it nearly impossible to communicate. >> i had one student to hold up a sign saying, miss galloway, ask that question again. so i wrote it out and held it up. >> reporter: high speed broadband internet needed for videoconferencing is always hard to get in rural america, because companies make less money connecting rural communities than they do cities. but wilson, north carolina is an exception. you wouldn't think that a place like this has world class

broadband speeds, but the truth is, it does. but in order to actually connect all of these houses, crews have to install fiberoptic cable like these. have a large cable company refused to partner with wilson, the city spent $32 million to create its own broadband network, making high-speed internet a public utility here, available to anyone in the county like gas or electricity. >> we didn't just cherry pick the most profitable or potentially profitable regions. >> reporter: only two cities in north carolina are allowed to provide internet this way, because state law now forbids internet connectivity on the grounds of fair public availability. but the mayor says the law is holding his town back. residents here say the internet

offered by private companies is so slow, many go to the library for a reliable connection. >> i have to do online applications when i have to apply for jobs or look for mental assistance. >> michelle galloway is now connected to wilson's high-speed network and says the and says t could be a learning opportunity for her students. >> it would be a wonderful group protect. why do 18 states take this perspective on the expansion of broadband internet? >> now, jeff, the argument on the part of the people behind the state laws that forbid this kind of utility treatment of internet, they say it's all about trying to create more competition, but you heard the mayor of rocky mount. they're saying he can't get connectivity for his people. in fact, he says we have sons and daughters that went to work for google and we want them to come back and work here and

that's the problem with the pandemic and that's just not available to that town in the open market. >> and the broadband disparity is not just in rural america and it's in major cities in washington, d.c. and chicago. san francisco, baltimore, as you well know so yeah, it's a huge issue and thanks for bringing it to us. >> coming up next, a record-setting heat wave enters its sixth day. when will the west get relief? did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula

that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. it then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. [♪♪] if you have diabetes, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost today.

this past year has felt like a long, long norwegian winter. but eventually, with spring comes rebirth. everything begins anew. and many of us realize a fundamental human need to connect with other like-minded people. welcome back to the world. viking. exploring the world in comfort... once again. hey, mom. i'll never say this but.... - thanks for telling me everyone 12 and older is eligible for the covid-19 vaccine. (both) thank you for getting past our walls. - thanks, honey, for always being there for me. - thanks for letting me know, in clinical trials vaccines... - ...prevented nearly 100% of hospitalizations and deaths due to covid. - thank you for loving me that much.

- thanks. [lazer beam and sizzling sounds] ♪♪ it's not officially summer yet, but an extreme heat wave is sweeping across the west. millions are baking in recordbreaking, triple digit temperatures. in death valley, california, temperatures are expected to climb over 120 degrees again today, and both california and texas, officials are urging

people to conserve electricity with the heat and high demand for air-conditioning, taxing power grids. joining us now from dallas is nbc news correspondent morgan chesky. these kind of temperatures present all kinds of risks to residences. give us a sense of how first responders are preparing for a rise in heat-related calls and it seems to me that you're at a fire department there. >> jeff, good afternoon. firefighters are on call and heat related and they've been seeing a spike. eight to ten days it was 78 degrees here and the heat today is 101. it is only expected to get hotter as the summer goes on and i can tell you right now that firefighters are used to the heat here in texas, but this heat wave in particular is coming before summer even starts and that's why they're especially concerned about the vulnerable population and those elderly and young children that could be especially at risk and you don't have to be outside

long in these temperatures to be in trouble, but that risk from the heat, jeff, is coupled with the fact that there is significant concern about the texas power supply and a lot of people have the deja vu in february where the unprecedented demand for heat caused those outages statewide and left millions in the dark and that's why everyone is trying to stay cool and asking every texan from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. to try to conserve power as much as possible as they try to shore up some of the repairs to these power supplies and you can hear another call coming in right now, jeff. this is pretty much how it's been going all day long here at the station now and right now everyone's just being told when they service these folks, jeff, stay cool. stay inside and stay hydrated. >> well, that's incredible. nbc's morgan chesky following it from texas. good to see you. >> thanks for spending the hour with me. ayman mohyeldin picks up the

coverage coming up next. when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? to deliver our technology as-a-service. try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. introducing the instant air purifier. carefully engineered with an advanced

3-in-1 filtration system, and plasma ion technology to remove 99.9% of the virus that causes covid-19 from treated air. so you can breathe easier knowing that you and your family have added protection.

delicia: this is where all our recycling is sorted -- 1.2 million pounds every day, helping to make san francisco so you can breathe easier the greenest big city in america. but that's not all you'll find here. there are hundreds of good-paying jobs, with most new workers hired from bayview-hunter's point. we don't just work at recology, we own it, creating opportunity and a better planet. now, that's making a difference. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ just two pills for all day pain relief. aleve it, and see what's possible. that delicious scramble was microwaved? get outta here. everybody's a skeptic. wright brothers? more like, yeah right, brothers! get outta here! it's not crazy. it's a scramble. just crack an egg. good afternoon, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin in new york. obamacare has survived its third major challenge at the u.s. supreme court. today the justices rejected an effort by a group of republican-led states to declare the law unconstitutional because the 2017 tax law eliminated the penalty for not complying with the mandate to buy health insurance. president biden issued a statement calling the