fully in the fall and stay open even if covid prevention strategies cannot be fully implemented throughout each school district. that news follows reassurances from the agency that fully vaccinated americans are safe from serious covid illness as the delta variant surges and pfizer executives announced their companies will seek federal authorization for a shirt shot to potentially boost immunity. there are new questions on paychecks for capitol police. the department will run out of money for salaries in the middle of next month without congressional action. >> i see it as a potential problem, but i'm hoping in the end the senate will understand that there's no way we can carry forth government without the capitol police being there to secure government. >> and the president with a forceful defense of his decision to move up the u.s. military's full withdrawal from afghanistan and pushing back on the criticism of the strategy as the taliban continues to make significant military gains

across the country. >> do i trust the taliban? no, but i trust the capacity of the afghan military who is better trained, better equipped and more competent in terms of conducting war. >> let's begin with afghanistan and nbc national security correspondent courtney kubiak at the pentagon. good to see you. taliban leaders are selling themselves to the afghan people as basically an inevitably that they will inevitably take over. how strong they are and how fast they're advancing. >> most afghans don't want that inevitability. they don't want the taliban to take over, but they may not necessarily have that choice. the reality is the taliban have been taking over large parts of the country and they've been doing it very quickly. it's been a contested country for 20 years now. so it's not a surprise that whomever is controlling one area moves back and forth in various hand, but what's been surprising

to the defense officials and military officials who have been speaking about this recently is just the speed with which it's been happening and they're focusing right now largely on the more rural areas. the areas where the afghan police and military are not quite as strong. they don't have as much support from the central government. the afghan military also has been consolidated into the more provincial capital areas and they're trying to protect the capitals of each province and some of the more rural parts of those provinces are falling to the taliban. the beg question is what happens next? does the taliban march on to kabul and take over the central government or do they try to just take as much of the country as they possibly can, sow enough instability so when they go potentially to the negotiating table with the afghan government that they'll have such a strong position that they'll have a more legitimate hold on the

government going forward. no one knows in which direction the taliban will go in, kasie. >> courtney kubiak starting us off. >> former allied supreme commander and ben rhodes, security adviser to president obama and author of "after the fall" being american in the world we made. ben, i want to start with you because i want to start with the president and you know from your years in the obama white house what his stance has been for decades now. what was your reaction to the speech and that really strong pushback when he took questions after ward? >> well, look, joe biden was a skeptic of the afghan surge in the obama white house. i think he had deeply internalized the belief that there was a limit on what we could achieve in afghanistan and that ultimately we were going to have to leave on our terms.

keeping troops in afghanistan until the country reached a certain state of stability was a recipe for keeping troops forever. when you saw his forceful comments you saw him standing there taking questions and this is someone who is confident that believes he's made the right decision, not because it will lead to a perfect outcome in afghanistan, but because as he said, we received the basic objective that took us to afghanistan in terms of routing al qaeda and getting osama bin laden and he's also someone with a very big agenda at home and around the world. he's looking at challenges from china and he's looking at the need to rally the world with climate change and he's looking at a threat picture that has changed and the counter terrorism threat is not emanating from afghanistan and he's willing to take on significant risk and for the afghan people a very significant risk in terms of this withdrawal because he ultimately believes there is not much we can do in afghanistan anymore and we can provide diplomatic assistance, security assistance, but at the end of the day, as he said

yesterday, he believes an argument, he ultimately believes the afghans will have to figure this out for themselves. >> we really have been there for such a long time. admiral stavridis, i want to show you a discussion that i was a part of on "morning joe" today. watch, we'll talk about it. >> we still believe there will not be a military situation, and we have to have a form of governance going forward that the afghan people can believe in. >> and admiral, i'll ask you the same question that joe asked this morning, how do you get the taliban to the table when they've really shown very little willingness in the past and they're, of course, on the march? >> i'll give you a military judgment. i think there is a one in three chance that we can accomplish that, and at the moment things

look bleak. we're getting the reports of the taliban on the move. you know, so much of afghanistan looks like the moon with gravity and the big population center are what matter. they are pretty well defended. there's a lot of capability. i commanded that mission for four years and was very involved in the training of the security forces during those years. on the other hand we had 150,000 coalition troops and now we'll go down to essentially zero coalition troops. so the question is have we provided enough capacity that can be translated into will and leadership. i think that's a one in three chance. ben said risk. yeah, there's a lot of risk here. there's a two and three chance unfortunately that the wheels come off and we end up in a civil war, but the key will be u.s. and our allies continue to

provide the funding for the afghan security forces. we need to pay them. equipment, ammunition, maybe some over the horizon capability, intelligence on the ground. i think the cia isn't going anywhere. if we want that one in three chance we'll have to put that level of effort into it. that's how we get the taliban to the table. absent that, they won't have much motivation to come. >> admiral, you mentioned a one in three chance also that we could end up in a civil war. what are the consequences for the united states of a civil war if that happens. >> it's a one in three chance -- >> forgive me. >> no problem upon the problem, of course, is for the afghans, not for us. how does it turn out and what are the implications for us. the worst end of the spectrum would be another ungoverned space. the re-rise of the al qaeda,

potentially islamic state, less likely. more likely there will be a growing strategic sense of potential terrorism coming back and then at the level of grand strategy, kasie, the questions about our reliability as an ally. all of that will be something we'll have to deal with if it goes badly. again, we can still land this thing, but it will take some real effort going forward. >> so, ben, one of the things that relates to showing our allies is this question about translators and others who helped us for so many years in afghanistan, the people that risked their lives for americans. what can the administration do to speed up their safe transfer to somewhere else for the united states, and to somewhere else if that's what we decide in order to make sure that they stay safe. >> this is an essential, moral issue and you heard president

biden yesterday they've basically done efrgs they can within the existing program where there's a careful process of vetting and there's only so fast you can move people through the system and they're talking about the fact that a thousand or 2,000 people have moved through this process and that is not considering that there are tens of thousands of people and what you heard them putting forth yesterday is they'll take adjustments to that system. it may take legislative changes to allow for greater numbers of people to come in and it will take maybe getting people out of afghanistan into third countries in very large numbers so they can be vetted there. normally the vetting process for someone coming here under a visa like this you do a lot of work coming out of afghanistan. tens of thousands who worked with us put their lives on the line who feel like they're in danger, if those people want to get out, i feel like what the biden will do is find the solutions where you talked about

yesterday when you're moving people en masse to third countries in central asia and other places so we can vet them there in a safer environment and then get them here to the united states. >> admiral james stavridis, and ben rhodes, we appreciate your time. men, women and children struggling to survive in syria. nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent and the host of this show andrea mitchell joins me now. andrea, it's lovely to see you. what can you tell us about this? >> well, this is a big deal and thanks so much for having me today. i wasn't especially working today, but the u.n. has unanimously approved aid to continue to 3.2 million syrian refugees in syria from turkey. it's the last remaining border crossing due to expire tomorrow and the deal here is the u.s. ambassador linda thomas

greenfield did broker this agreement working with other members of the security council, but she was taking the lead, of course, to compromise with russia, threatening to veto this tomorrow, this extension. this has been long sought by u.n. workers and other non-government workers and the relief organizations and the international rescue committee is criticizing it because aid workers in the u.s. wanted three border crossings because there's been so much greater need thisiary with drought and covid. there's real famine there. they need more than they've been getting and this was the last remaining border crossing and russia had blocked the other three and at least this remaining border crossing which we visited last month in june with the u.s. ambassador is at least going to remain open for another 12 months. it's not enough, but more than nothing. it certainly will sustain them and try to prevent the famine,

as well as the vaccines and the other aid that they need, the shelter, as recently, kasie, as just last weekend, three children died in that attack in the idlib province and so this is so critical. russia's position that all of the aid flowed through assad and the regime that's been attacking these people, making them homeless and assad views people as his opponents and that's what happened in syria today. >> a little hope. >> thanks so much for this amazing job you've done all week so i can get a few days off with my family. >> you've been so sweet to have me and enjoy your final day of rest with your family after bringing us this important news. we will see you for your full show on monday. >> thank you. coming up next, do you need a booster? pfizer making news that they're

planning a third dose of the covid vaccine, but health officials are saying not so fast. the delta, a mass casualty, vent. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. "andrea mitchell s only on msnbc. reports" only on . . this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. e vent. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. vent. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. event. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. tchell reports" only on msnbc are you packed yet? our flight is early tomorrow. and it's a long flight too. once we get there, we will need... buttercup! ♪

hi, verizon launched the first 5g network, and now we want to be the first to give everyone the joy of 5g by giving every customer a new 5g phone, on us, aha! old customers. new customers. families. businesses. in-laws. law firms. every customer. new 5g phones when you trade in your old ones. and if you're not a customer, we'll help cover the cost to switch. just ask wanda. she's been with us since... (gasps)... now. upgrade your phone. upgrade your network. darrell's family uses gain flings now so their laundry smells more amazing than ever. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. ♪ ♪ 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. ♪ ah! to dmy helicopter haslogy better wifi than this. you thinking what i am? upgrade time. don't worry i have the best internet people. hello xfinity. get me xfi pronto. that was fast. yep. now we just self-install.

and we're back baby. do more of what you love when you upgrade to xfinity xfi. baby ninjas? i love it. welcome back. some major news in the fight against covid. the cdc releasing new guidance

urging schools to re-open in the fall even if they can't be implemented throughout each school district. fully vaccinated students do not have to ware masks this fall. saying that their initial data shows a third shot within 12 months could boost immunity against the highly contagious delta variant. the fda and cdc are advising vaccinated americans that they don't need a booster shot right now. in states with lower vaccination rates the delta variant is fueling a new surge in hospitalizations. joining me now is shaq brewster from springfield missouri and missouri is one of the states where vaccinated people are getting hit hard with delta. what is happening to those vulnerable unvaccinated populations like the one you're covering in springfield? >> reporter: in these areas you're seeing hospitals start to fill up again. one doctor telling me earlier

this week that it's the worst that it has ever been and he blames the delta variant. all of the patients, the majority of them, the 95% of patients are unvaccinated. that's why you're hearing the focus and the push from local leaders and medical leaders to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible and that's why even with that news from pfizer, even with those comments from the fda and the cdc you have local leaders emphasizing just get the vaccines that are available right now. have that be the main focus. i spoke to a fire chief yesterday who said he is witnessing a mass casualt event in slow motion. i talked to him about the level of frustration and he set up at the fire station. listen to our conversation. >> it's frustrating because i can tell you the virus does not care about what you think or not. it is a virus. it's doing what viruses do. it is replicating and it is

changing its form and it puts you at risk of dying or becoming seriously ill with long-term complications. so the only way to avoid long term illness or potentially death is to vaccinate. >> reporter: the white house also stepping up their efforts in some of these local areas sending in a surge team to springfield, missouri, and providing resources for those groups going door to door and pushing the vaccinations and that got pushback from missouri's governor having federal agents go door it door is not a welcome activity here in the state of missouri and the white house emphasizing it's about the groups and local groups who do this and going ahead and getting as many people as possible vaccinated, kasie? >> shaq brewster. thanks for being with us today. we appreciate your reporting. >> joining me is a senior scholar at the bloomberg school

of public health. dr. daljia, thank you for being with us. i want to start with this news from pfizer about the third possible booster shot of the vaccine. what do we know about the vaccine's efficacy after two doses, how long it lasts and what would this potential booster do? >> what we know so far is that our vaccines are holding up especially when it comes to what provides when it comes to disease and death. there's a different discussion for immunosuppressed populations, but for the general public the two-dose series do seem to be holding up. what we have to do is let time elapse and seem to me what the threshold would be is for fully vaccinated individuals getting breakthrough infections and landing them in a hospital and that's not happening at a high enough rate. i don't think that's something that we'll need a booster in the near-term. it's important to study them and it's important to have a pathway

for approval if necessary, but i'm not ready to pull the trigger on needing a third dose yet. >> what about people who got the johnson & johnson vaccine and the new delta variant? >> it seems to be the data that johnson & johnson released that it does seem to be effective against it. the goal of the vaccine is to prevent serious disease, hospitalization and death and we're not seeing a high level of breakthrough infects of people who got the johnson & johnson vaccine and we may hear from that in the next couple of weeks to months, but i don't think right now there's evidence that the johnson & johnson vaccine is faring poorly. we have to get more vaccines into people's arms with any of the vaccines in the u.s. >> so take a look at this map. researchers at georgetown say that these five unvaccinated clusters of the country, you can see them there could become a breeding ground for new variants

that tackles the delta variant specifically. doesn't that mean we would be protected against other variants or -- >> it does. so you have to remember the virus will continue to generate new variants. many won't be significant. some will be significant and that's the fact that the virus is replicating in more people. all of the vaccines seem to do well against these variants because it's very hard for a variant to completely erase the whole benefit that a vaccine gives you. it's not just antibodies, it's t-cells and worrisome variants like the beta variant, which was called the south african variant, the vaccines seemed to hold up okay against it and with the delta variant all we're seeing is people at highest risk, it's not coincidental that they're not unvaccinated because they're holding up. vaccines are going to be the solution to any variants that this virus throws at us. it's important to think about

updating the vaccine, but i don't see any real reason to do so yet. >> okay. so let's talk about the news about schools this morning and the cdc calling for them to fully re-open even if it recommends. is that the right call? >> i do think it's the right call. we have a lot of data from the pre-vaccine data that we can do schooling safely, and now it's even easier because of the fact that we've got a lot of teachers vaccinated and a significant proportions against the age of 12 and the default that schools stay open because this is something that harms children throughout the pandemic, despite the fact that children were less likely to have severe disease so i do think this is the right call and recognizing that vaccinated children will not be a threat to others, and allowing them to not have to wear masks. i think this is all the right

call and hopefully we'll have a much better school year if we can keep this in place. >> dr. amesh adaljia, enjoy your weekend. capitol protection, six months after t riots, capitol police might be forced to furlough officers if the lawmakers they protect don't act fast. surfside recovery efforts in the condo collapse. officials are talking about this rid now and we'll bring you the latest in just a moment. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop. announcer: no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker...

please don't follow me in. this may look like a regular movie night. but if you're a kid with diabetes, it's more. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker... it's the simple act of enjoying time with friends, knowing you understand your glucose levels. ♪♪ the instant air purifier removes 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. ♪ ♪ 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. you're clearly someone who takes care of yourself. so why wait to screen for colon cancer? because when caught in early stages, it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive and detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers

even in early stages. tell me more. it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your prescriber or an online prescriber if cologuard is right for you. i'll do it. good plan.

emergency planning for kids. we can't predict when an emergency will happen. so that's why it's important to make a plan with your parents. here are a few tips to stay safe. know how to get in touch with your family. write down phone numbers for your parents, siblings and neighbors. pick a place to meet your family if you are not together and can't go home. remind your parents to pack an emergency supply kit. making a plan might feel like homework, but it will help you and your family stay safe during an emergency.

. welcome back. let's go now to the recovery effort in surfside florida where officials are giving an update on the condo collapse recovery mission. at this hour 78 people are confirmed dead and 62 are still missing. joining me now is sam brock who is in surfside for us. sam, good to see you. another difficult day there. >> heart wrenching, kasie. we just got an update within the last two or three minutes from the mayor here. the death toll now is officially at 78. it was 64 coming into the day. a bump up of 14 more souls in all this and a couple of reasons why we're seeing such escalation here in recent days and one is accessibility, now that the remainder of champlain towers is gone. the mayor said they removed 13 million tons of debris and the surfside mayor weighing in that

the debris field which is four or five stories high is now ground level. as these efforts continue, kasie and there are still 62 people unaccounted for there are others that were evacuated. crest view towers had to evacuate last week because of the audit that found structural safety issues there that was unsafe for residents to live there. they had to be evacuated and today they went back into the building for 15 minutes with a police escort. that was their window to get as much stuff as they could. margaret dregi had been living there for years and she was able to get her medicine and clothes to go to work, but that was it. here's how she described this process. >> i don't know when they'll let me take my furniture and my stuff and i can't live knowing that it can be unsafe and the same thing that happened in surfside could happen there, so therefore, i have to -- i have to move on.

>> kasie, the city of miami beach has tagged 15 structures, ten that have people in them and we're waiting for structural integrity of that. the magnitude of this tragedy is growing every day and it is an aching hole in the center of this close-knit community and that's how everyone is feeling right now, kasie? >> for sure. all right. sam brock, thank you very much for staying on this incredibly difficult story for us. let's go now to capitol hill where the protective fencing set up around the capitol after the january 6th insurrection is set to be removed as early as today as questions arise whether capitol police may be forced to furlough officers unless congress takes action. joining us now is capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell. good to see you. as if they haven't been through enough already, can you help our

viewers explain the legislative holdup in infighting that has caused the situation? >> yeah, kasie, that's right. that's exactly what it is, legislative infighting and politics. the house of representatives passed major funding, security supplemental about a month ago, but that piece of legislation that included $31 million for capitol police salaries has been held up in the senate as many republicans think that it's not necessary. so while senator pat leahy, the head of the appropriations committee in the senate put out a statement a couple of weeks ago, there's renewed focus that the capitol police could have to furlough officers if they don't receive funding by mid-august. capitol police have put out their own statement telling nbc news that the u.s. capitol police continues to advise and work with our oversight committees so that the department can secure the capitol members and staff within

the funded levels and securing our workforce remains a high priority. this is happening as more al among capitol police have been extremely low since january 6th. they're also having problems retaining and recruiting, as well. so this is just another blow to a very overworked capitol police force, kasie. >> it really is just absolutely devastating. leigh ann caldwell, thank you very much, we appreciate it. joining us is jake okencloss, and he was a major in the reserves. thank you for being here. i want to start with the possible furloughs for capitol police. it says a lot that the politics of this are such that the people that were throwing themselves in front of -- they were literally beaten by american flags to protect all of you on that day now may have to go without pay

because of political infighting. what is your response to this reality and what needs to be done here? republicans are on track to vote to defund the police for a second time in this congressional term. they have already failed the american people and capitol police by trying to undermine a bipartisan objective to understand the insurrection on january 6th and that was an attack on our democracy and that would have provided transparency for the american people and now they're failing the capitol police again by threatening to withhold funds at the people's house. >> congressman, do you think the capitol is or would be able to survive in another attack? >> the fencing is coming down and they're expanding to field offices in florida and california because of so many threats against members. the bill that would pay police includes funding for all of the other security measures in the

capitol. there are online conspiracy theories suggesting there may be attacks in the future. is the building ready to handle that? >> we need to make the u.s. capitol a hard target to use military parlance while making it permeable to the constituents, taxpayers have every right to walk into that building, to talk to their representatives in congress and to feel that that building truly is the people's house. at the same time, we need to have a security posture at the u.s. capitol that can prevent and if necessary deter and fight back against another attack on the building. those two things are possible and it requires strong leadership of capitol police and it requires funding which are holing up. >> congressman, let's turn to afghanistans you are a veteran and you appeared in a striking ad talking about all those people who helped you and our

fellow americans, translator, drivers, security guards, others. the president talked about this yesterday. he said that the message is clear that there's a home for people here, but the visa program was dramatically cut during the trump administration and so far there's so much red tape. what should we be doing to get these translators and others to a safe place at this point? >> it's a two-track process. on one, we need to expedite and streamline the permanent process and the visa process so that it takes less time and it's more transparent and less bureaucratic for those applying for these visas, but that's still going to be a years-long process and the more urgent track is the president and the administration need to ensure that the 18,000 or so interpreters who aided u.s. troops including my patrol that they are evacuating to third countries while awaiting visa

processing. this is about keeping a promise we cannot allow that to happen to those who served alongside american troops. >> congressman jake achincloss, thank you for joining us. >> monopoly money, they push out competition from health care to banking to tech that could impact your wallet. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. which lets her earn extra membership rewards points on purchases for her business. now she's the office mvp. get the card built for business. by american express. the instant air purifier removes 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. ♪ ♪

(realtor) the previous owners left in a hurry, so the house comes withur faeverything you see. ection. follow me. ♪ (realtor) so, any questions? (wife) we'll take it! (realtor) great. (vo) it will haunt your senses. the heart-pounding audi suv family. get exceptional offers at your local audi dealer. welcome back. in just under an hour president biden plans to announce a major executive order aiming to increase economic competition to try to make labor markets more fluid and businesses more powerful. the executive order is to ban or limit non-compete clauses that makes it difficult to switch jobs and places greater jut neomergers in hopes of boosting hiring and raising wages.

joining me now is jim messina from president obama's 2012 re-election campaign. jonathan lemmire and jiju scott. there are 72 measures including a couple who address how they affect consumers. there are a couple of things on the list making it easier for generic and canadian drug manufacturers to compete, letting people buy hearing aids without a prescription and they want tos for the airlines to refund money when they lose your bags. you've got a little bit more power against these big corporations and it does seem like there may even be some conservatives onboard with this. how is this going to be received, do you think? particularly with the business community?

>> well, it's interesting, kasie. this is a launtry list, as you said of things that the democrats have been trying to do for a very long time and some are bipartisan and politically popular. you made a joke of it, but it's very true. you do polling and the airlines drive people nuts. >> it's insane. it is actually insane. yes. >> so some of these mach a lot of sense. there are some that are going to be really very partisan especially going after a couple of industries. the drug industries, that will be an absolute war on capitol hill and other things, but this is joe biden attempting to address a whole bunch of things that may not be done legislatively and is saying, look, across our government, let's use every single tool at our disposal to help the consumers and it puts them in exactly the frame that he wants to be in which is having the back of the little guy in the

fight against these powerful companies that are doing things that perhaps they shouldn't be doing. >> jonathan lemire, i understand this is a messaging event that show cases what they're doing by executive order and it underscores what you can't do in congress because it's typically the second best way to go about doing something and it's really a far cry from actually writing laws. what does this say to you about the state of the biden domestic agenda in congress? >> first of all, the airplane wi-fi thing that's enough to make me a single-issue voter. that is one of the more frustrating things we can all encounter. kasie, you raise a good point and yes, this is a smaller piece of the biden domestic agenda and it does underscore the difficulties they'll have. we know the covid relief bill, that got done early and

democrats alone, and with infrastructure and yes, there's the infrastructure portion of this. hopefully the white house thinks and it did wobble a moment ago and then they'll have to do the rest on reconciliation, the bigger cares act and the family part of it and that will be the democrats alone and we're seeing things sort of stall and that was the main event yesterday when a burn of civil rights leaders met with the president. they met with the vice president amid a sense of frustration that the white house hasn't taken a lead on this issue, but they haven't been out there and they haven't pushed congress in the senate to move through one of the voting rights packages which at the moment do seem stalled without a change to the filibuster and you know better than anyone and a few moderate democrats don't want to touch. the white house did announce on tuesday president biden will travel to philadelphia and he'll give the speech on protecting the right to vote and organizers and democrats hope that it will

be a real campaign on that issue. >> eugene scott, to that very point, we've heard from it and i've talked to several activists who are incredibly frustrated with what hasn't happened on voting rights, but the reality in congress doesn't seem like it's going to change. what have you heard in your reporting from those activists and others about what they actually want the administration to do and what's a reasonable set of expectations. >> many of the activists advocating for wants to see the biden white house and the progressive ideas in terms of making sure that the right to vote is secured. there's a real threat that many of these individuals feel is facing voting rights and the concern is high rid now or at a level so far because we know the

midterm elections are coming up, and so there's been some pressure to see the biden white house work and move forward on this issue without republicans and not risk, you know, the reputation or the value or perception of bipartisanship that biden holds dear. there's also been a desire to see the white house just work more with groups on the ground to encourage different state legislatures to go about waiting to protect voting rights differently than they have so far. we saw in "the washington post," we reported how many of these advocates feel that the biden white house is an ally and values this issue and they want to see more action than words and quite frankly, even speeches. >> jim messina, what do you think of the way the white house is balancing this issue? it's a tricky one for them politically. they put priority on the infrastructure agenda and to a

certain extent they haven't avoided the issue, but they recognize the real they it faces in congress. if you're advising them how do you think they should be handling this? >> i think they've taken some good steps. yesterday the vice president announced a new $25 million campaign to go with the $20 million they'd already pledged at the dnc to ensure voting rights in the states. that's a very good first step. this issue has become the most important issue of democratic voters. voters are absolutely focused on these voting rights bills and there have been bills introduced in 48 states trying to limit people's voting rights and this is an absolute moment where the democratic party wants to see its elected officials push and the white house is trapped in the middle of this filibuster fight which you have reported on anyone else and this is an issue where they can't go alone. reconciliation will not be able to fix the voting rights issues and you can't do that on the

reconciliation bill and you have republicans on these things and they're putting their money where their mouth is in funding these efforts and the president will move a national conversation when he gives that long anticipated speech in philadelphia next week. >> we'll be watching very closely. jim messina, jonathan lemire, eugene scott, thank you for being here. we appreciate it. >> they're pledging key votes for the president's infrastructure deal and with all things in d.c., there is, of course, a catch. two members of the problem solvers caucus join me next on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. 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. ♪ why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because a quality night's sleep is scientifically proven to help boost performance. to deliver our technology as-a-service. introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed, the only bed that effortlessly adjusts to both of you. proven quality sleep is life-changing sleep.

think of what peanuts have given humanity! fuel for vast migrations! sustenance for mountaineering expeditions

and long journeys across the world! but most importantly? they give us something to eat when we drink beer. planters. a nut above. welcome back. prominent conservatives are putting pressure on republican leadership surging them to oppose the bipartisan bill. even as ores announced they backed the framework. so what happens now? joining me now is two members of the problem solvers caucus. brian fitzpatrick of pennsylvania and congressman phillips. i'm disappointed not to see your live shot from the van that you showed us when we came to cover your campaign. you are calling for a stand

alone vote on the bipartisan plan, but the speaker, nancy pelosi recommitted that she will not take it up unless she gets the reconciliation bill from the senate. that is likely because she doesn't have the votes unless she brings up the bill first. what good is it to bring the bill to the floor if there is huge questions about whether or not it could pass. >> first, part of this infrastructure plan is to improve the potholes in the roads so i can bring the van back out again. >> the problem solvers caucus is aligned with the white house right now. we want to lead. have the best infrastructure in the world. i'm aligned with all of my democratic and republican colleagues that we should bring this bill to the floor for a vote. it should stand on it's own two legs as should a social infrastructure plan which i favor.

i believe we need early childhood education and other elements of that. but we have to show the country and the world that we can still work together in the united states congress. this is a fine opportunity to do just that. that's why i think we should bring it to the floor as quickly as possible and that's what administration wants. >> so congressman fitzpatrick, as you watch senator mcconnell handling things on the senate side. he promised a hell of a fight on the partisan reconciliation package of this. he has been a little more sir come circumspect. how confident are you that the in the will get this over to the house so you can act on it. >> thank you for having us,

casey. if it bill is worth it's salt, it should not be links or delinked. we have for the first time a bill that has democratic and republican support. and the white house endorsed it. and it just came out yuds. that the afl and cio both support this so if we can't get this don't we can get anything done. that's not to say it won't come in the future. >> it is pretty classic issues that we heard before. how much traction do you think that will get inside of the

republican conference? >> they can study the bill. they can, you know, do whatever they need to, mark it up, that's what legislation is about. put it on the floor. have every single member of the house and senate vote yes or no and go back home to their constituents to answer for their vote. that's the only way to legislate. once we muddy it up, that's when things get very complicated. it's the worst kept secret that if you have a provision that can't survive an up or down vote on it's own, you try to sneak it through with something else. we want our bill that the house and senate block, just to give us a vote, that's all we're asking for. >> congressman phillips, will you get that vote before the end of august? >> we're going to try. as a member of congress, it's

like being salespeople sometimes. we have to work with colleagues on all perspectives to encourage their support. and i recognize why there is disappointment. there will be disappointment on anything that meets it's medal in the united states congress. probably won't be fully endorsed by the far right or the far left, but that's what we're here -- we exist for this reason, casey. 58 of us committed to working together. you can't work with people you don't deed of trust and you can't trust people you don't know. brian is my friend, college, and brother in arms in this pursuit and we have work to do on both sides. that's my job, his job, all of our jobs and we're going to get to it. >> congressman dean phillips, thank you very much for giving us a little connection here on this friday. andrea will be back on monday. follow the show online and on facebook and twitter.

you can also follow me on twitter at kaci. chuck todd is up next, but before we go, louisiana teen zaleh avante-gard won the scripts national spelling be last night. she already has three guinness world records with basketballs. we can only hope our weekends are this good. watch. >> murraya. >> that is correct. amazing. have a wonderful weekend.

developed by gastroenterologists. it adds more good bacteria to your gut to naturally help soothe your occasional bloating, gas and abdominal discomfort. support your digestive health with align, the #1 doctor recommended probiotic. try align today. and try new align fast acting biotic gummies. helps soothe occasional digestive upsets in as little as 7 days. it takes a certain kind of person to change the world. my great-great-grandmother, my great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather was that kind of person.

he looked after his community. she built an empire. he protected this nation. they lived their lives in extraordinary ways. with ancestry, i learned the story of peter vaughters... william lacy... madam c.j.walker. they are the heroes in my family. who are the heroes in yours? - [narrator] this is dr. harold katz. he used to worry about how to fix the world's oral health problems. - i think i've got it. - [narrator] then he invented therabreath formulas. - you want fresh breath? i'll give you a fresh breath. - [narrator] for fresh breath, healthy gums, dry mouth, and healthy smiles. - whoa, that's fresh. - [narrator] now, the world's mouths have never been healthier. (sighs contentedly) - works for 24 hours, i guarantee it. therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. - [narrator] available at walmart, target and other fine stores. [ "me and you" by barry louis polisar ] - ♪ me and you just singing on the train ♪

♪ me and you listening to the rain ♪ ♪ me and you we are the same ♪ ♪ me and you have all the fame we need ♪ ♪ indeed, you and me are we ♪ ♪ me and you singing in the park ♪ ♪ me and you, we're waiting for the dark ♪ ♪ welcome to allstate, ♪ ♪are you down, d-d-down, d-d-down, d-d-down♪ where we're driving down the cost of insurance. ♪ ♪ are you down, down♪ ♪d-down, down? are you♪ drivers who switched saved over $700. ♪ allstate. here, better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands. click or call for a lower rate today.