tv Ayman Mohyeldin Reports MSNBC July 29, 2021 12:00pm-1:00pm PDT
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or fourth time streaming that period drama dan... dan: you just made me miss her best line, dan: so now i'm going to have to start it again. even insisted he didn't need directions dan. dan: okay, i'm not lost. i'm exploring. dan: that said, do you know where i am? from select gas, streaming, travel and more earn 5% cash back that automatically adjusts to your top eligible spend category, up to $500 spent each billing cycle. good afternoon, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin in new york. the delta variant drives new coronavirus cases across the u.s., president biden is set to announce next hour that federal employees will be required to get vaccinated or face rigorous testing. this follows similar actions by a number of states, cities, and now major companies in this country. it also comes as the senate debates the bipartisan fruk
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bill. chuck schumer saying he intends to get the legislation along with a budget resolution paving the way for the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill through before the august recess. >> we are on track to pass both elements of the two track strategy before we adjourn for august recess. it took some prodding and a few dead line but it all has worked out for the better. >> we're going look at the road ahead with colorado democratic senator john hickenlooper who helped negotiate that bill. a house committee heard from some of the texas democratic law machers who fled the state to block passage of a voting restrictions bill as protesters march towards the state capitol in texas demanding action on voting rights. we're learning more about how far donald trump went in his efforts to get the justice department to help him pursue his false election fraud claim.
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we'll talk with a reporter that broke that story and get reaction from senate judiciary committee chair dick durbin. and nbc news washington investigative reporter scott mcfarland joins us to talk about his exclusive interview with one of the more notorious writers from the january 6th riots. but we begin this hour at the white house. president bud en biden is about announce the new federal guidance for the vaccine. shannon, i begin with you. talk us through this decision making process, what you're hearing from your sources at the white house as to why the white house felt compelled to make this decision. >> white house officials indicated that they hope this will set a butt of a model for others to follow, whether it's state governments, local governments or companies. you know, there was a lot of
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discussion over the past couple weeks within the administration. you know, people close to the conversations told me about whether they should do this or they should wait until there is full fda approval which would help give them a little bit of, i guess, cover with some people who are concerned about getting the vaccine when it hasn't received that final fda approval. but because of the situation, we're seeing with the delta variant across the country spreading much more rapidly than a lot of people anticipated and the vaccination numbers really plateauing and stuck at levels well beyond -- well below where they were in the spring, the administration felt they needed to make this move now. this is a retirement that would affect a lot of people. it could help encourage others to do similar -- take similar
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steps for the employees. at least that is part of the thinking by the white house. >> really quickly, do we know if the white house has either put out the numbers or has the numbers on who or how many employees of the federal bureaucracy have not been vaccinated? or is this, as you were saying, more about the messaging to other agencies, corporations, and serving as a model? >> it's great question. one of my colleagues just asked the deputy press secretary that who is doing the press briefing in there. she said she didn't have the numbers. only half of people are fully vaccinated at this point. you have just over a third of people who are fully vaccinated. so you can kind of extrapolate and think that, you know, the federal workforces in those states may be around similar levels. it could effect a lot of employees. >> josh, you had the opportunity
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to speak with some federal employees about the vaccination requirements. it is anecdotal guven what we were talking about in terms of the number. what did they have to say about how they feel and whether or not they have actual tlan the vaccine or not? >> it's a mixed bag, ayman. the federal workforce represents a cross section of american society. you have blue collar workers, white collar workers, republicans, democrats, everything in between. a lot of the workers we spoke today told us, look, i'm already vaccinated. i got vaccinate the as soon as i could. for them this is not a big deal. it makes them feel safer that colleagues have to be vaccinate order undergo this rigorous testing and other requirements. but we also heard from some federal workers who did not feel that it was the place of the federal government to be telling individual workers how to make their own personal health care
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decisions. they do not have full approval. here is a sampling of what federal workers told us today. >> it's public health and it's not political to me. it's for safety reasons. to make sure veterans don't get sick. we don't need that. i don't know why everybody can't get the vaccine. >> i did it. i felt terrible. i don't think this vaccine is really to use. and it's effect different people differently. >> i think it's a long tomb coming. it should happen sooner. i think it's really important that everyone gets vaccinated because otherwise we're just hurting other people and passing on, you know, covid-19 to people who can't protect themselves. >> you can hear the frustration there from a lot of the workers, ayman, the fact that some people are still not vaccinated. it's creating these impositionses for those people who did choose to get the
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vaccine. we're also hearing from the postal workers union. their union saying they do not believe it's the plaus of the federal government to be mandating vaccines for the workers. they say they oppose the bud enadministration's move on this at this time. >> all right. so let me pick up on that point. something that josh raised with the postal unions. the administration has been very careful to not say that this is "a mandate" but a requirement. what concerns do they have about the messaging around this announcement? is that detail an important one to note? >> well, no, they want to emphasize and, of course, so much of the news is coming out before the official announcement. so it's been bate duffle for them, i think. they really want to emphasize that for those who don't want to get vaccinated, there is a option where they can follow a rigorous testing mask wearing
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protocol. where you're tested and i haven't seen the full guidance of it yet, but, you know, weekly or a couple times a week. and you're required to wear a mask. the white house is trying to emphasize for people that don't want to get vaccinated for whatever reason, they don't have to. but they have to get tested and wear masks. and because the goal here, they say, is not to get everyone necessarily vaccinated but at the end of the day, to just have a safe workplace. that's what they want to see. a safe workplace can come through masks, testing or vaccinations. st so that's why they have these different options out there. certainly they're expecting to hear push back from this. it raised a lot of concern in many states out there when we have seen colleges and universities and some companies trying to require vaccine for their employees. >> yeah. let me ask you quickly, shannon, about the eviction moratorium. set to expire on july 31st. the president wants congress to extend that millions of
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americans facing possible eviction. are they leaning into congress to get something done or is this set to expire with little push from the white house to visit extended? >> you know, i mean, it's interesting just how much the dynamic of this pandemic has changed. because two weeks ago, four weeks ago when the cases were going down and unemployment numbers were going up and looked like the economy was improving, there could have been a case for letting this moratorium expire. so i think just because of so many of the fast changing dynamics here, that's one of the things the white house and congress are still really fluid and where they're going to come down on that. >> we'll see what happens before july 31st. thank you both for starting us off this hour. joining me now, dr. blackstock.
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she is also an msnbc medical contributor. dr. blackstock, great to have you back on the show. i want to begin with the president's expected announcement within the next hour about vaccines. are vaccine requirements or mandates the best way to try to get the unvaccinated in this country vaccinated? and what's the difference between mandating it and as we heard there from shannon, requiring it which is what the white house is preferred wording on this seems to be? >> thank you so much. we didn't really have to get here to this point where we are at essentially a vaccine impasse. people have seven, eight months to get vaccinated. there is vaccine outreach and education. and we still have half of the country unvaccinated. the delta variant has been a game changer. it's clear in order to address the recent surges, we need more people vaccinated.
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i think the vaccine mandates or requirements are imperative to increasing the numbers of vak sun ated people. >> i think the requirement language is more important than the mandate language. there should be some options for people who don't want to get vaccinated. but we should try to make it as inconvenient as possible for them. daily testing, you know, other mitigation strategies should be employed. and we also just have to make sure we're remembering the equity considerations. people of color in this country especially black, latino-americans have systemic racism and social institutions have not been trustworthy towards them. we're seeing people that are still experiencing vaccine hesitancy. i don't think anyone should be forced to get a vaccine. but we should have alternative because to ensure that we're creating a sauf environment. >> so speaking of the vaccine hesitancy for a moment, we're seeing this push by
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corporations. some require mandates that their employees get the vaccines before they return to work. should they have waited for the fda to issue full use authorization just to address the point that you're talking about which is the vaccine hesitancy? why not wait for that to come out before you can then safely say to these people you have to have it to come back to work? >> right. i know. st so complicated. i will say, i don't think we have tomb to wait. areas of the country where hospitals are at capacity. again, parts of louisiana, with he have children, you know, overpopulating the untensive care units. we can't have this. and so unfortunately, it is almost like our hands have been forced. so i think that the employer vaccine mandates are a requirement and are going to be what is needed to increase those numbers so that we can really get out of this nightmare. if we don't increase the vak
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sunation numbers, we're going to be in it a variation of this current situation for the next few years. that is clear here in the u.s. and also addressing vaccine global inequity. we need to make sure that we're vaccinated especially the global south because that is where the next variant is going to arise from. >> the messaging changes a little bit throughout this. d.c. is one of the latest cities to return to masking requirements. people in d.c. need to wear masks in all undoor settings. and to my point earlier, a lot of americans are confused and frustrated about the return to masks. also d.c. does not have high breakthrough cases. it does not by some assessmentes have that high transmissible cases. does the cdc guidance on masking leave too much open for interpretation to local authorities to say wear masks when they mao not need to wear masks and undermun the
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undermine the confident of people? >> i think that is the challenge. i think that the cdc has had difficulty with the communication piece. and, you know, the public is understandably incredibly confused. i will will say that, you know, the most recent update and guide license are in response to new data showing that even fully vaccinated people cannot only have breakthrough infections but transmit infections to other people. what i will say also is that over two-thirds of counties including washington, d.c., as the county and city are at high transmission levels. and so they should -- people should be wearing masking indoors. i know it's confusing, the back and forth. the fact is that masking is already part of the strategy to irrad indicating this virus. >> all right. dr. blackstock, always appreciate your insights. thank you. >> thank you, ayman. after weeks of compromise, the senate is finally set to take up the massive
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infrastructure plan. i'll be joined by one of the senators that helped negotiate that deal, john hickenlooper. that deal, john hickenlooper i became a sofi member because i needed to consolidate my credit card debt. i needed just one simple way to pay it all off. it was an easy decision to apply with sofi loans, just based on the interest rate and how much i would be saving. there was only one that stood out and one that actually made sense and that was sofi personal loans. it felt so freeing. i felt like i was finally out of this neverending trap of interest and payments and debt. ♪♪
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legislation that no member on either sued of the aisle will think is perfect. but it is an important basic duty of government. >> mitch mcconnell there to offer encouraging words as the senate begins debate on the infrastructure bill. chuck schumer says he plans to get the legislation passed along with a budget resolution needed for the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill facing on other infrastructure priorities before lawmakers actually leave for the august recess. but there could be some complications on both sides of the capitol. joining us to talk about this, our capitol hill correspondent. what is the time line for getting this bill and the companion budget resolution through the senate if they're trying to do it before the august recess? >> yeah. the bipartisan bill has some real momentum behind it.
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it sounds like the senate is going to stay in session this weekend to handle amendment votes and the final passage could be as early as the middle of next week. now that they have kind of broken from of the lull, that bill has momentum behind it. the reconciliation piece is more complicated. with a much smaller margin for error. the bipartisan bill, for example, it had 17 republican votes for it last night. that means even if a handful of people see the details don't like it drop off, you still have room to pass it. the reconciliat margin for error. 50 democratic votes. you need all of them. it's going to be a painful process. it's the kind of thing where you'll see what we call a voterama, up all night, perhaps more than one night. just to get into the resolution itself. that is before a word of text gets written.
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that will be enormous will you challenging to put it mildly. >> you talk about the 17 republicans who joined with 50 democrats. passage is not certain. the final text still needs to be written, gary. what could potentially happen over the next few days that could derecall this process? >> there is always a land mine in the text, something that goes beyond what the two parties agreed to or upsets one side or the other. writing legislative text is pretty complicated. the bigger challenge will be ultimately in the handoff to the house where democrats are split there on whether they want to take it up right away or sit and wait for the reconciliation piece to come over. that could take a long time. moving those two things through the other chamber in the same caned of parallel track they've done in the senate is equally
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challenging. it's possible you won't see house republicans contributing to anything like this same number of votes that senate republicans are and democrats have to walk the tight rope on both bills when they get there. >> yeah. to that point, jake, let me pick up on the thread that he is pulling on. the narrow margin, zero room for error for the reconciliation bill. you have somebody like senator kristen saying she's not going to support $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. her vote will be needed to get it through. what is she trying to do? could this impact the entire process? >> i spent a good chunk of yesterday afternoon trying to figure out what exactly she was saying. you had very little success with her team and we tried to talk to her yesterday evening. we did not -- she was not willing to talk about it. so there is a bunch of different threats she could be making. there is the budget resolution
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which he just eluded to. the that would require all 50 votes. that is set at $3.5 trillion. i believe she is saying she will vote for that to get started on that process. but a separate process after they pass that budget. so will she pass the budget? i don't know the answer to that. but i think what she is saying is she won't pass -- you have to think of this in two pieces. the budget resolution is the frame of the house. and the reconciliation bill is all of the inards of the house, walls, furniture, policies that make up that bill. i think what she's saying is she's not going to vote for a policy bill. that presents difficult circumstances. bernie sanders and the house democrats, the progressives in the house are looking for a 6 to $10 trillion billion. they paired back demands quite significantly, at least by half.
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so i don't know exactly what she is saying. if she's saying what we think she is saying, it's going to be challenging nonetheless. >> you have awe standing invite to find that answer out and come back and report. let's talk about the other sued of congress for a moment. normally we talk about how the hard part of the legislative process is getting something through the senate. it seems when it comes to infrastructure as you were talking about there with the house democratic progressive caucus, that the house could end up being the tough part in all of this. what hurdles do the infrastructure bills face on the other side of the capitol? >> they face a democratic caucus that is a three or four seat majority depending on what happens with seats and who is there that day. all those things. that is very important. number two, he talked about this. moderates in the caucus. people in the problem solvers caucus or the blue dog. pick your moderate caucus who
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say, listen, let's pass this infrastructure bill now. it's hot. the senate just passed it. let's get it through and into law. progress ufz say, no, we're not going to pass that until we see what the senate is willing to do on the human infrastructure piece, the social safety net piece, things of that nature. so that is that tension right there. and listen, there have been people -- there have been certain house democrats that say they want to eliminate the salt cap, the state and local tax cap. they want to repeal that. that was done in the trump administration. people from the northeast are very eager to get that repealed. so could they hold the bill up for that? i mean any four or five house democrats have veto power over the caucus. so especially when it comes to the larger bill. the bipartisan bill, we'll have to see how many republicans vote for it. not clear at this point. >> all right. thank you to you and thanks to
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you earlier. joining us now to continue this conversation, colorado democratic senator john hickenlooper. one of the senators who helped negotiate the bipartisan infrastructure deal. he also sits on the commerce side and transportation committee. senator, thank you so much for your time. given the polarizing political climate these days that we've been seeing play out, the fact that both parties were automobile to forge this deal on such a major issue, is by washington standards, momentous. how were these negotiations able to succeed when other efforts in the past failed? >> well, i think there is a real focus on we got to get something done. it's not just to make sure we get infrastructure for this country when it really needs it. it's not just creating the jobs that go with that infrastructure. it is showing the rest of the world that the american democracy can still function and still find places to compromise, come together despite the partisan divides between republicans and democrats and
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get something done. that's what you saw here is a great deal of persistence and hard work on part of the number of people. >> are you confident that the coalition that includes 17 of your republican colleagues as well as the 50 democrats stays in place until the final bill is passed? although there is a positive stat with what we saw last night, you stul have senator mitch mcconnell who is not is 100% onboard with this bill. >> this is my 49 democratic colleagues and the republicans, you know, i think i'm not sure everyone is going to stay onboard with this thing. but the fact that we have 17 republicans we only need ten republicans to get this done, i feel optimistic. and people have worked so hard-working through all the obstacles and all the distractions of the past few weeks. and now we're so close to the finish line. i feel a little bit like we're at the olympics. it doesn't matter if you get to that finish line, you have to
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cross it before everyone else. the we have finish strong. >> one of the hurdles crossing the finish line is that bipartisan bul is part of a two track process on infrastructure. the other part of that, the reconciliation sbil where things could get a lull bit complicated. one of those 49 colleagues of yours, arizona senator says that she will vote to begin the process on that bill but does not support the large pricetag. and that can derail it. and the caucus said this in a statement yesterday. the votes of congressional progressive caucus members are not guaranteed on any bipartisan package until we examine the details and until the reconciliation bill is agreed to and passed with our priorities. so with an evenly split senate, sir, and a narrow democratic majority in the house, how do you bring all of these folks together to make sure that both parties of the infrastructure plan get through? they're now tied together it seems.
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>> well, it's a little bit like magic. you don't want to look to closely at people's hands when doing the trick. i think it's doable. obviously, any individual or it doesn't take very many individuals to derecall the whole thing. i see that. but you have to recognize that this country needs infrastructure. we also need to put serious investment in the caring economy and making sure that women can come back in the workforce without having to worry about who is going to take care of their elderly parent or disabled child. all those have to be held in light of the greater good. and i you this we'll get there. you know, she didn't say she couldn't be persuaded to take on that higher number. she is going to look with fresh eyes. she put in as much time as nun in making sure we got that bipartisan bill done. i you this she'll put in the same type of effort to make sure
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we get a good reckon sul yags bill done as well. >> we'll see if the magic works. thank you very much for your time, sir. greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. >> still ahead, one of the most notorious january 6th rioters talks to nbc news. we'll play for you what he had to say next. you're watching "ayman mohyeldin reports." you're watching "ayman mohyeldin reports. (piano playing) here we go. ♪♪ [john legend's i can see clearly now] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ make your reunion happen with vrbo. your together awaits. vrbo this is andy, my schwab financial consultant. here's andy listening to my goals and making plans. this is us talking tax-smart investing, managing risk, and all the ways schwab can help me invest. this is andy reminding me how i can keep my investing costs low
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most notorious photographs from that day, richard barnett with his foot on a december income nancy pelosi's office suite is charged with knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry and disorderly conduct on the capitol grounds and theft. yesterday he sat down for an unlt view. scott mcfarland joins me now. what did he have to say? >> i wanted to talk about his case. it's a notorious case, not only allegedly having his feet up on nancy pelosi's office suite desk but of taking her mail and leaving her a note. he wouldn't talk about his case. he is facing the prospect of trial and many years behind bars. he did serve three months time in pretrial detention here in d.c. he made revelations about what life is like for the january 6 defendants in jail. they are separated from the rest of the jail population. what they call the patriot wing. case started a newsletter.
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that he hand it jail cell to jail cell. they have a nightly singing of the national anthem. he's not going to be a sympathetic figure. we shouldn't be surprised that they tried to get released from jail until trial. >> you can love me but hate me. can you love me and hate what i did. you cannot like anything about me. but you have to put that aside. because this isn't about me. this is about our federal prison system in america and what they're doing to people. not just me, to everybody in there. >> he got himself released from jail in late april. other defendants are trying to do the same. citing among other things the 23 hour a day lockdowns in the jail due to covid-19. now barnett calls that solitary. turns out though that this defendant who is accused of leading a belligerent note for nancy pelosi was potentially saying some things to the correctional officers too.
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>> there are two forms of solitary there. the one is for the jay sticks, detainees. and then the other ones seems to be for anyone that is willing to speak out about the atrocities that were going on there. so i spent a lot of time in second solitary which is worse. the. >> you were speaking up and they were moving you out? >> i was being punished for speaking up, yes. and even when i spoke up and showed them the rules in the book, that made it even worse. >> he is back in court in august. trial date could be later this year or next year. this is certainly a case to watch. >> yeah, certainly will be watching and tracking. thank you for that insightful reporting. new reporting to day about how then president trump tried to subvert the 2020 election results calling his acting attorney general almost daily with false claims of election fraud. you're watching "ayman mohyeldin reports." aud. you're watching "ayman mohyeldin reports. ♪
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we're back with new details on then president trump's desperate attempt to overturn the 2020 election in the final days in office. "the washington post" reporting that the former president called his acting attorney general jeffrey rosen nearly every single day to press false claims of voter fraud and improper vote counts. notes from some calls taken from his top aides, could be turned over to congress and rosen and the aide who took the notes could face questioning by committees looking into trump's actions in the days following the election. joining me now is one of "the washington post" reporters who broke that story. great to have you with us. how likely is it these notes will be handed over to congress? what could the impact be? >> hi. i think it's likely they will be handed over to congress. there is still a chance that trump's lawyers could try to
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assert kind privilege on their own. so far that has not happened. they sent us a letter saying they're not going to assert executive privilege over. >> the justice department notified former officials this week that they could testify to the various committees investigating trump's efforts to overturn the election. are we likely to see acting attorney general rosen and his aides call to testify? do you have any reporting on that? >> i think there is a good chance of that happening. again, some of it depends on whether there ends up being a court fight over this. it doesn't appear to be headed that way. as long as it doesn't get into a court fight, i think you're going to see democrats in congress insist that rosen come talk to them about these conversations. >> all right. we'll continue to follow the story. thank you so much. i appreciate it. joining us now to continue the conversation on this is illinois senator dick durbin. he is the senate majority whip and chair of the judiciary committee. senator, thank you so much for coming back on the program. i want to begin by getting your reaction to his reporting and
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what it tells you about donald trump's efforts to use the justice department to pursue his false claims of election fraud. >> well, it confirms many suspicions. it also provides us with good news. it confirms our suspicions that former president donald trump was virtually unhinged after this election, flailing way in every trection, every court suit he could file to try to push his big lie, they election had been stolen from him. it confirms that. and secondly though, it confirms the fact that jeffrey rosen as has been reported was being harassed and still stood his ground. so some of us were skeptical. bill barr left after saying largely honest and unaccurate election results. he was canned by donald trump and then along came jeffrey rosen. he turned out to have the backbone to stand up to this president. that's good information to know. >> as you mentioned, the
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reporting came not too long after the justice department told several former trump administration officials, including jeffrey rosen, that they in fact can answer questions from congress about efforts by donald trump or his justice department to challenge, to stop the counting or perhaps even overturn the results of the presidential election which brings me to my question to you. we know you want to bring rosen and others before the committee. what do you expect that to happen? >> well, we have work to do. we have to take a look at the notes and see what level of cooperation we can receive from mr. rosen. but let me tell you why this is important. this manufactured madness of trump about the results of the election has been bought into by so many americans who are desperate to believe they never should have left the white house. and if we're going to put any truth to dispel the rumors, we've got to come out with a complete record. nancy pelosi is doing it on january 6th. we need to do the same about president trump's antics in the
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weeks preceding the departure from the white house. >> let's switch gears for a moment if i can. two weeks ago a federal judge in texas ruled that the daca program for undocumented migrants brought to the u.s. as children was illegal and it had to stop accepting applications. you're a leading proponent of the dream act to protect the folks. here's what you had to say in march about efforts to get that passed. watch. >> the vast majority of americans have all political faiths support it. and, yet, i brought it to the floor five times and stopped by the filibuster five times from passing it. i had a majority. i didn't have 60 votes. do i have 60 now? i think i'm close. i'm going to sit down with members of the republican sued and ask them if they would consider supporting it. i think i'll have some sort whether it's enough remains to be seen. >> that was four months ago. since you made those remarks, you have been able to get any closer to the 60 votes needed to get the bill through the senate? >> honestly, i have not.
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we still have a handful of republicans that i think would support the dream act or daca if given opportunity. we're looking for other alternatives. a reconciliation bill may be one of them. >> why are the republicans not getting onboard for this with you? >> they're too pillars of the re-election campaign for republicans in the next election. the first is to argue that the democrats are soft when it comes to law enforcement. pretty tough argument to make when the republicans have done everything they can to diss the capitol hill police and to stop any inquiry into what happened january 6th. and the second one is we're going to unleash all of the would-be terrorists into the united states if we allow the daca kids that have been here all their lives to become citizens in this country. i don't think either argument is very strong. they're sticking with it. >> so what do you plan on -- i know you're supposed to be later today being part of a group of democratic senators and house members talking to the president about immigration issues including daca. what do you hope will come out
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of this meeting and will democrats try to use the reckon reconciliation bill? >> i think the purpose is to fortify our belief that the president is committed to those who receive daca and eligible through the dream act and others that will be worthy citizens in this country and if given a chance. many of these people have been on front line of fighting the covid-19. they're responsible for our food supply with the back breaking work they do in the field. and they want to be given a chance to become citizens of this country. we have a long process and most of the legislation to achieve that. but it's a fair process. i think president biden supports it. i think he has proven that by his own record. >> dick durbin, thank you for your tomb. greatly appreciate it as always. >> thank you. >> and we're following some breaking news out of washington this hour. first lady jill biden will undergo a procedure to remove an object that got lodged in her left foot. the white house says she stepped
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on the object while she was in hawaii last weekend. we're told the president will be with her during the procedure at the walter reed national military medical center. the fight for voting rights is on capitol hill. we'll take a look at how senate democrats are reworking the bill in hopes of it gaining key support. you're watching "ayman mohyeldin reports." t. you're watching "ayman mohyeldin rertpos. and your mind is finally in a better place. except now you have uncontrollable body movements called tardive dyskinesia - td. and it can seem like that's all people see. some meds for mental health can cause abnormal dopamine signaling in the brain. while how it works is not fully understood, ingrezza is thought to reduce that signaling. ingrezza is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery,
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is still on in congress and across the country. earlier today texas state democrats testified before a house oversight subcommittee about texas' voting laws, detailing the restrictions voters there are facing. >> i'm hoping i don't have to keep fighting this fight, that my grandchildren, my grandchildren's children will not have to keep repeating these struggles. >> the new version of the bill expected to include at least some demands made by senator joe manchin, who refused to sponsor the for the people act as it stood last month. here is what former texas congressman o'rourke had to say on "morning joe" about what needs to be done on the hill. >> if we want to change this state, this country for the better, we have to vote. if we're going to be able to vote, we need new voting rights legislation. the filibuster will have to change. you've changed it to approve fast track trade deals, supreme court justices, federal judges, budget deals. make an exception for voting rights legislation.
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>> joining me now is the assistant dean for civic engagement at the university of texas austin and, of course, an msnbc contributor. it's great to have you with us. let's start where beto o'rourke left off. does there need to be a change in the filibuster for voting rights legislation to pass? >> it would be nice, it would make it a lot easier, a lot faster. ayman, there's not the political will. we saw clearly both senators manchin and senator sinema saying this is a no go. so in terms of where that national movement is going to happen, because it has to happen at the national level, in our state it's not going to happen. the focus i think now is on this new structure that senator manchin actually just put out, i believe, yesterday. it's modeled after the john lewis voting rights act. it's not as far reaching as the for the people act but still
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provides some needed guardrails. the latter is where i think the political realities will be more supportive of the passage of this. >> are you hopeful something gets done? >> i am optimistic. i'm cautiously optimistic -- >> where do you see the opportunity for it to be optimistic? >> to be very plain here, senator manchin has put forward his support for this revised structure, so the basis of the john lewis voting rights act. he said i'm not going to sign or for the people so we know that's a nonstarter. but he has clearly signaled and i would say more and more the last couple of days that he's open to doing another type of voting rights legislation, pared down but has core pieces. one piece i thought was
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important for the state of texas with regards to gerrymandering. we got two new seats. we're coming back into session in the fall and the gerrymandering that will take place with a very strong republican majority is lethal for democrats. under the manchin bill. i think stuff like this that i'm seeing in this framework is promising. >> there's been some criticism the white house is not doing enough. do you believe, do you see president biden doing enough? could he be doing more? he gave that stirring speech saying it has to be followed up with more specific actions from the white house. >> there is no greater bully pulpit than the presidency. in looking at trying to gain that national voice the texas democrats are looking for in d.c. it is important to have joe
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biden's voice, they met with vice president harris, with the clintons, stacy abrams. they need to have that strength in numbers and that bully pulpit of joe biden as well. >> critics are saying it cannot be done by outsmarting or outorganizing what is happening with these efforts. it has to be done legislaively on the federal level. thank you for your time and insights. that wraps up the hour for me. "deadline white house" with nicolle wallace starts right after this quick break. colle wat after this quick break 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.
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hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. today president biden is set to make a major announcement aimed at boosting vaccinations which have failed to reach beyond those hardened political divisions in this country. and now put the country at risk of those of the unvaccinated and to the vaccine mandate president biden is expected to announce a series of measures to boost the lagging rates including expanding leave to get vaccinated and recover from side effects and is urging state and local governments to offer a major incentive to people who decide to get vaccinated now, $100 in their pockets when they go get the shot. finally the president setting an example that some in corporate america are already following, announcing this afternoon that all civilian federal
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