♪ ♪ a very good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york, welcome, every, to alec wit reports. breaking news the tell you about. it is relative to iran and an attack on an israeli linked oil tanker. let's go to jeff ledman at the white house. what do you know about this? >> israel had already accused iran of being behind the attack using drones on an oil tanker that was managed by an israeli company. they said they believed that was the reason behind that attack which actually killed two people aboard that vessel. now, we have both the united

kingdom and the united states government saying they, too, believe iran was behind that attack. secretary of state tony blinken saying in a statement moments ago that upon review of the available information, we are confident iran conducted this attack, which killed two innocent people, using one-way explosive, unarm -- unmanned aerial vehicles. they say a lethal capabilities that increasingly being deployed throughout the region. secretary blinken also going on to suggest that will be some type of a u.s. response to that, saying the response to that will be appropriate and will be forthcoming. we know this is taking place amid a tit for tat escalation of tensions at sea between iran and israel with a growing number of these kinds of incidents in recent weeks. but it also comes as the u.s. is in stalled nuclear negotiations with iran about getting back to the iran nuclear deal that trump pulled out of. both the u.s. and iran want to

get towards reuniting under that agreement but have not been able to do so. now, with these escalating tensions we have been seeing, there is increasing pessimism that the u.s. and iran will be able to actually broker some deal to get back to that agreement, particularly as you now have the u.s. out publicly saying that based on their intelligence they believe iran was behind this dedelow attack on the israeli-linked vessel. want to go over where this happened. it was north err arabian sea, right? are we certain this was in international waters? and also this ship, what kind of a ship was sit in do we know what it was transporting? it seems to be a commercial ship. >> that's right. it is a commercial ship, an oil tanker, one of these really large ships that goes extremely long distances. i believe it was a japanese-owned ship but that the management company that was responsible for it is an israeli company. it was associated with that

company, israeli intelligence officials have been saying they believe that's the reason it was targeted. >> when you go -- you say these uavs these one-way explosive uavs, that are those just kind of drones, correct. >> do we know where they would be launched from? where nearby they could be launched from that would be iranian land, iranian property, so that where it had come from? >> we don't exactly know where it was launched but but we know u.s. military and intelligence individuals have been trying to answer that question. what they have been trying to see is the kind of drone that you could essentially buy off the shelf and load it up makeshift with some type of explosives and then crash it into the ship? in which case it is hard to figure out who would be behind that. or is it more like a military style, more like the military

drones the u.s. government have and frankly the iranian government is known to have, much larger, much more powerful. if they are able to figure out if it was that kind of a drone that would point more clearly towards iran because fewer other militaries would have that type of capabilities. as far as where it could be launched from, in addition to iranian territory there is speculation it could also be launched from houthi territory in yemen where the iranians are active through their allies and groups they are associated with. >> tony blinken considering response. what would be an appropriate response to an attack like this? >> certainly, sanctions is something the u.s. has frequently turned to in this circumstance before. although it is difficult at this point to figure out where is left for the u.s. to sanction iran given the massive array of sanctions that are already in place on their nuclear. practice, on their ballistic missiles program as well as the

irgc, the iranian elite paramilitary force. that is one option. the u.s. could try to step up enforcement -- maritime enforcement at sea, make sure they are protecting these other vessels, particularly when they are in these sensitive areas that are known to have an active role for the iranian navy. >> i have got to tell you, it is not often that we hear from anthony ink builden issuing this kind of a robust statement on a sunday afternoon. it seems unusual. >> it does. and the incident was only a few days ago. and now the u.s. does not start attributing attacks like this to foreign nations notice they are darn sure and they can back it up with intelligence. you are seeing not only the u.s. doing this, but doing it in concert with the uk and israeli officials means there is a broad international consensus among the western nations that iran

not only was behind this but needs to be punished, there needs to be measures from the rest of the international community to make sure iran does not continue to take these increasingly aggressive actions in the maritime space. >> josh lederman from the white house, thank you. meantime, the white house is grappling with its covid response strategy as the delta variant rages from coast to coast. the states being hit the hardest, texas and florida, where the governors there are resisting a return to mask mandates. new reaction this morning to that from dr. fauci. >> i disagree with them. i respectfully disagree with them. the fact is there are things that are individual responsibilities that one has, and there are things that have to do with you individually which also impact others and the spread of infection that we are seeing now, the surge in case, john, is impacting everyone in the country. and on capitol hill, the

senate is back in session today, lawmakers finishing up the trillion dollar bipartisan package. majority leader chuck schumer says the text of the bill will be done imminently but some progressives are threatening to tank that plan unless larger reconciliation bill is passed alongside it while moderate democrats are pushing back. >> i just believe that every bill should go up on its own merits. >> this is a deal. and we have a tight margin in the senate. i respect that we have to get senator seine m.a. and manchin's vote on reconciliation. they should also respect there is a tight house margin and we have to hold up our end of the bargain as well and progressives are a part of the majority. >> one of two republicans sitting on the house select committee investigating the january 6 insurrection, congressman adam kinzinger says he is open to subpoenaing some of thinks gop colleagues.

>> would you support s&ping republican leaders in the house, and jim jordan? >> i would support subpoenas to anybody that can shed light on it. if that's the leader, it is the leader. i want to know what the president was doing every moment of that day, after he said i'm going to walk with you to the capitol. >> let's go to capitol hill where overnight the clock ran out on the nationwide eviction ban leaving literally millions of americans vulnerable to losing their homes in the coming weeks. progressive house democrats rallied on the steps of the capitol in protest calling on their colleagues to come back to washington to extend the moratorium. leann callwell is on capitol hill for us. do you have some democrats that aren't happy that the house adjourned for the august recess, it is go six weeks counting it, into mid-september.

they didn't get this done before leaving. what are they saying? >> that's right. there is no clear look forward that they will get this done either. speaker nancy pelosi sent a letter to her colleagues late last night saying that the house left because the republicans wouldn't support it. and that is something that representative alexandria ocasio cortez said, it is not the republicans' fall this time. it's actually democrats' fault. she said that this morning on cnn. let's take a listen. >> there was frankly a handful of conservative democrats in the house that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote. and we have to really just call a spade a spade. we cannot in good faith blame the republican party when house democrats have majority. we cannot kick people out of their homes when our end of the bargain has not been fulfilled. >> speaker pelosi also noted in that letter that the senate needs to act in order for both houses of congress to pass this and get this to the president's desk. the senate is in session. they are working on this

bipartisan infrastructure bill. there is no word they are going to act on this eviction moratorium. it could also need the support of the republicans, at least ten republicans, over in the senate. so this protest outside the capitol on the house steps is still ongoing. i speak with representative corey bush who is leading the protest. she has been there most of the time since friday night. she says whoever is to blame, it needs to be relktified, and congress or the white house or the cdc needs to fix it. but it's unclear if anyone is actually going to do so. >> lee anne caldwell. thank you. continuing this conversation, joining me, pramila jayapal, a congresswoman and chair of the -- caucus. let's start with the eviction crisis. some of your progressive

colleagues led by corey bush have been protesting outside the capitol on the steps suggesting congress comes back into session to deal with this. is there anything that congress can do? >> al egg, great to see you. i am proud of corey bush and our other members who are continuing to draw attention to the urgency of the homeless crisis we are about to face. i want to say this frankly can and should be done by the white house. the cdc has the power invested in them to take any action that is necessary to address public health crises. this is a public health crisis. the covid cases have been rising continuously for the last several weeks. and the reality is that if we are to end this eviction moratorium, if it is not extended, then 11.6 million americans are behind on their

rent, and millions will be evicted. and of course, when that happens, 80% of the people who are behind on rent are in states where covid is increasing by 100%. so it is not only going to make a lot of people homeless. it is going to drive up the covid cases. so the argument that the supreme court said something -- first of all, i want to be clear. the supreme court did not rule on this question. brett kavanaugh said something in his decision that congress needs to extend the moratorium. but the reality is that it is a very different situation than when he first made that decision on the supreme court case. the white house should extend it immediately. and they can do so. they threw to it congress after the progressive caucus put out a statement on wednesday saying, what is going on? the white house needs to extend this moratorium. they then pushed it to congress on thursday, when we were leaving on friday.

that was not sufficient time to really drive a consensus. and don't forget, that because of the filibuster, we also would need to get 60 votes in the senate. i just am still calling on the white house to take immediate action. i think it is wrong that they haven't. i think it is crucial that we do not have, you know, up to 6 million to 11 million people out on the streets as covid cases are rising. >> there is already 300,000 who the proceedings of eviction have already begun against them. it started. the second the moratorium ended, boom, that happened. when you talk about doingt white house doing something right now, how, viewa executive order? can it be done that way? >> yes, it can. they can extend the moratorium. they have the power invested in them during they public health emergencies.

let it be a right wing supreme court that kicks people out f that's what happens. but at least let's, the democrats, house, senate, and white house, be the party that keeps people in their homes. >> i do want to point out, though, this is something we knew was coming for a long time. and yet, it's only gotten to kind of attention and congressional folk us from leaders and the like recently. i mean, really, is there blame to put on congress for letting it get to this point where it was all of a sudden everybody was under the gun with so little time left? >> well, we have been raising this for months. we have been raising this and the student debt moratorium for months. and because the white house has the power to do this, the administration has the power to do these things, we think it makes a lot more sense for the

administration to do it. because, obviously, you know what the margins are like in congress. so the white house did not say that they were not going to do the eviction moratorium until thursday. that was when that statement came out. i want to be clear that we have been working on this for months. but, of course, we are going to take the -- you know, the most realistic way forward, which is for the cdc to do it. the cdc is responsible for the public health of people in this country. we have rising covid cases. and we know that homelessness is directly tied to rising covid cases. all the research shows that. so there is really no reason for the administration not to do this. >> here's another frustrating thing we have been reporting through this weekend. the fact is, "washington post" reporting this as well. congress passed $46 billion to help renters during the pandemic but it has been painfully slow to get off the ground.

why is that? i mean, there are less than 5% of those who were eligible for and should have received these monies -- less than 5% of those who are eligible got that. i mean, what happened? what can congress do to expedite this and get money distributed? >> we are really looking into that. we need to do a lot more to figure out exactly what the issues are. i think there are multiple issues, alex. one is that some states are not using this rental assistance to get out to their constituents. this is what happens when we channel money to states. we have an unevenness of how the programs are implemented. it's why when we developed child care by the way and put forward our child care proposals, we should not be sending that money only to the states because there are many states that will opt out of a child care program, just like they have opted out of medicaid expansion, just like they are going the opt out of this rental assistance. that's one issue. even in my state, where we have a governor who is not in that

camp, it has been very slow to get out the money. and that is true across the country. i don't know what the problem is. we need to dive into that a little bit more. but let's do that as we extend the eviction moratorium, because these funds are available, but we need to stop the evictions from happening. >> a question that i have base on what you just said -- so you get the money to the states. it has been allotted to the states. if they choose not to do what it has been alotted for, are there consequences? >> not at this point. that's part of the problem with the way that money that's funneled to the states goes. and with republicans continuing to be the primary states where -- well, the only states where they refuse to take assistance that helps their constituents -- it is the same republicans by the way who voted against the american rescue plan, which is where this money comes from, this and the c.a.r.e.s. act. i think this is a big problem in terms of unevenness for people

depending on where you live. if you live in washington state you get access to medicate expansion. if you live in some southern state where they have denied that, you don't. it is the same thing with rental assistance. the same thing with child care. we need to be conscious of this as we develop these programs bus unfortunately it is a crazy situation where republicans are saying, we don't want to help our open constituents from being homeless? i was going to talk about infrastructure and reconciliation as well but i have gotten a lot from you on this as well. i want to move on to donald trump with regard to the january th panel. it is optimistic it is going to hear testimony from former trump officials because the doj said it is not going to block any of them from testifying. again as the "washington post" reports, the committee is also facing the unprecedented choice of whether or not to call republican lawmakers to testify. so who do you most want to see give testimony to your colleagues? whose testimony do you think would be most critical to figuring out what in the world

happened on january 6th? >> yes, first of all i think it is very good that the doj has made this decision. it is absolutely the right thing to do. we need transparency. we need accountability. and we don't need the d.o.j. acting like the trump doc and blocking us from getting this information. that's excellent news. second, who do i want to see? obviously, leader mccarthy and a number of top republicans, some of whom are still in congress, who were directly in contact with the president. we know they were directly in contact with the president. so it is important that those people come and testify. and i was very pleased to see that adam kinzinger and i believe earlier liz cheney said this as well, the two republicans on the select committee, that they, too, want to see anybody who was in contact and can give a blow by blow, minute by minute description of what happened on january 6th and the days leading up. >> okay. what you have just said, i want to reiterate it in a different

way. because that's what you are looking for. for any republicans who say oh, this is a witch-hunt, look, they are just coming after us. you are about a broad based anybody in the republican administration, anybody that worked from donald trump. you just want to hear from people who were in contact with donald trump on that day in the immediate time preceding this to figure out how this got to where it did? that's it? >> that's exactly right. that's exactly right. those individuals and i would say individuals that were in touch with key insurrectionist leaders. that is also very important because we know there are members of congress that may have worked with these insurrectionists and each helped them in different ways. i hope i am not correct about that. but, alex, we do not know that. so we knead to get -- need to get that testimony as well to dperm who helped this insurrectionist crowd enter the united states capitol on the

most violent assault on our democracy, on our capitol since the war of 1812. >> always fun to talk to you. i love our chats. come see me again soon. i know they are serious in nature but i enjoy them. thank. amid the raf ams of the pandemic is political posturing putting the public's health in danger? up next, the potential fallout after one big governor outlawed vaccine and mask mandates. dog'? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. can you be free of hair breakage worries? we invited mahault to see for herself that new dove breakage remedy gives damaged hair the strength it needs. even with repeated combing hair treated with dove shows 97% less breakage. strong hair with new dove breakage remedy. we have to be able to repair the enamel on a daily basis. with pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair

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now to the latest on the covid-19 pandemic and rising number of cases and hospitalizations. the number of vaccinated americans, that is going up, too. 49.5% fully vaccinated, 57.5% with at least one shot. but even so, experts are predicting today that things will get worse before they get better. >> i don't think we are going to see lockdowns. i think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country -- not enough to crush the outbreak, but i believe

enough to not allow to us get into the situation we were in last winter. but things are going to get worse. >> the cdc now asking everyone in these counties in red -- which is vastly more than half of the country -- to wear masks in public, as you can see. >> vaccinated people are capable of getting the virus in their nose and throat. and they do seem to have high enough levels of virus that they might be contagious. and hence the reason that if you are in a community where this virus is spreading, about 75% of counties right now it is prudent to put on a mask eve if you are vaccinated. >> today's big number comes from florida, recording 21,683 new cases in 24 hours. it is the state's highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

in one of the nation's biggest hot spots the governor there is actively opposing mask mandates measures. let's go to austin, texas. >> steved aler earlier this morning painted a bleak picture for what hospitals in this area lock like right now. he said he visited an icu yesterday. i can't tell you how many times he used the word scary to describe what he saw. there is 2.3 million people living in the greater austin area and currently nine icu beds available. it is a real problem for hospitals. they are starting to put in some of their surge plans which include moving some patients to the hallways of these hospitals just to add more people to the hospital. they are not adding more staff to the hospital. that's becoming a real big issue as well. because when there were staffing issues this time last year the state was able to bring in reinforcements. today they can't bring anybody

in and hospitals are on their own when it comes to staffing and all the virus that is coming into those hospitals. there is also the issue the governor's executive order, a mandate against mandates, saying local officials cannot put in mandates on vaccines or mandates on masks. it has local officials worried about how they are able to manage their territories and their own areas. i want to have you listen to steved aler, the mayor of austin about some of the mixed messaging that's coming from different areas of the government. >> what is frustrating for me right now is in order to get a community to move they need to be hearing one message. they need to be hearing one message from their political leaders, from their health leaders, from their doctors, from from their businesses, from their faith community. they need to be hearing one message. what is happening that is wrong right now in our country is people are hearing mixed messages, and divided messages, and there are too many people

that are confused whatb what it is they should be doing to keep them, their families, and everybody safe. the answer is still very simple -- get vaccinated and wear masks. >> there is some good news. there is 500,000 people getting vaccinated every single day in the united states. about 15,000 people this week in travis county alone. so those vaccination numbers are increasing. alex. >> thank you gary crumb bach from austin, texas. let's go to a physician and fellow at the blkings physician and msnbc medical contributor. what do you make of the developments in texas the last hours? >> i wish i could say we didn't see this coming but we did looking at their vaccination rates. and now we know from data around the country that these outbreaks started with activities around the july 4th time period. the cases we are seeing today

really were several weeks in the making. what troubles me is any time the virus has an opportunity to infect anyone, vaccinated or not it mass a chance to get smarter, mutate and basically get fitter to outsmart us in the future. as much as we can -- the mayor is right, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, and while we are waiting for everyone to get vaccinated wear a mask in indoor spaces. >> do you agree with the assumption that things will get worse before they get better? if so, what does that look like? >> yes. by the way, it's not -- it is sad that you and i are sitting here. it tells like a repeat. every three to four months we are having the same conversation. we have a predictability how the surns go. we can also look to the uk, israel, and other countries to see we are probably two to four weeks of higher cases until we see the descent. florida is on a straight line up. we have to wait for them to

crest, then come down. i can't tell you how many people have said i am going to disney world next week and my family has a vacation. i am sitting there to myself saying this is not the time to go to a state that has no hospital capacity. don't be alarmist. if you are vaccinated, you are safe, but don't add to problem and put yourself at risk by entering one of the these hot spots. >> we have been hearing the phrase, pandemic of the unvaccinated. but the cdc is now saying that vaccinated people who catch the delta variant are more contagious, they can pass it along. what is the main takeaway that people, vaccinated or not, need to accept right now about where we are with this virus? >> i think it has been hard because of the communication around this. i'm kind of guilty of it. has been really confusing. here's what the cdc data tells us. if i am vaccinated but i am around a lot of people that are infected, whether i know it or

not, that if i get it, and i can, that i can reproduce the virus as efficiently as an unvaccinated person. that does not mean that vaccinated people are at the same risk of getting covid as unvaccinated people. so this still is a pandemic of the unvaccinated but now, to your question directly, if you were vaccinated and you have people around you who alex, you it means you should be cautious i am not worried about dying, about going to the hospital. but i live in a world that's full of high risk people because i am a doctor. i don't want to get sick. i don't want to get them sick. i don't even say people in high risk areas should mask. i think people indoors around people they don't know should mask. >> come back and see us very

soon, which means you must stay in good health, my friend. it was emotional, kraumt, and disturbing. what were the most significant revelations from the first hearing on the attack on the capitol? the key takeaways, next. told m, that i should get used to people staring. so i did. it's okay, you can stare. when you're a two-time gold medalist, it comes with the territory. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪

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see your best self. in the mirror. new today, at least one republican on the select committee investigating the capitol riots supports subpoenaing top republicans to testify before that committee. this after capitol police officers gave details of abuse and beatings on january 6th at the hands of rioters. >> i was electrocuted again and again and again with a taser. >> the rioters attempting to breach the capitol were shouting "trump sent us". >> they outnumbered us 50-something to one. a may lay ensued. terrorists engaged us in hand to hand combat. >> one woman in a pink -- shirt

yelled, you hear that, guys -- [ bleep ] voted for joe biden. no one had ever called me a [ bleep ] while wearing the uniform of police officer. joining us a fellow at the foreign policy research institute. clint, as i welcome you to this disturbing discussion, these officers made direct references to donald trump as being a motivating factor, having cited what they were being told by the insurrectionists, by those rioters. it remains to be seen whether republicans will resist subpoenas, but is there any other way for this committee to get evidence on what republicans did or didn't do? maybe -- is there electronic evidence? how else can the house get evidence on what was behind it. >> many of the folks are coming

through the plea process. some are being released from jail. i think there is two ways that that could actually sort of illuminate. one, those that are pleading to lower or lesser charges and then cooperating court part of a larger conspiracy, specifically, the stop the steal rally the night and day before and then that morning that was out on the lawn. when you listen to some of the testimony that came out this week you realize they were determined to get into the capitol. there was no question about that. this wasn't just a peaceful protest at the capitol. they wanted to breach night uh-huh. >> in almost all of those documents there is one name that stands out. that was donald trump. either people believed that president trump wanted them to go to the capitol or that president trump was condoning them essentially going into the capitol. if that comes to light that part of his trump organization, the campaign organization or other republicans on capitol hill were involved in essentially organizing this, i think we will see that. and i am not convinced it will

will come out through the committee as much as through the investigations and the documents that we will see that come out at trial. >> do you know what's interesting? we heard donald trump say, we are going to march to the capitol. i mean -- anyway. let's look at what happened as the officers were testifying inside. representatives marjorie taylor green and matt gaetz were us a calling on those arrested political prisoners. does that potentially have an affect on people who may still be likely to engage in this kind of behavior, clint? >> it does, alec, because they think that these political leaders might fit for them if they pursue their insurrection-type acts or their violence in general. but it is very damaging to the country. separately i would just tell you almost all -- all of russia's internal propaganda is about january 6th. guess what they say? these are political prisoners.

i can't believe joe biden is detaining them. not only is it damaging to our country, could it motivate further incitement, but it is giving ammunition to adversaries to doe grade our democracy. it is a double whammy. we are destroying our own democracy and it gives ammunition to help others destroy our democracy as well. a low point in our country. >> let's play more of the testimony from the officers earlier. let's listen. >> the rioters attempted to breach the capitol were shutting "trump sent us". >> i told them to just leave the capitol. in response, they yelled, no, man, this is our house. president trump invited us here. we're here to stop the steal. >> i saw the christian flag directly to my front. another read jesus is my savior, trump is my president.

>> clint, you previously talked about the connections between rioters and various groups. when a connection is made to an outsized political figure, how does that clikt the investigation and also the effort to try to keep this from ever happening again? >> not only is it just an outside member. it is the commander in chief. i mean, it is literally the boss of some of the leadership that day. i think that's why this department of justice notes that we saw come out on friday about president trump trying to pressure them to simply overturn the election or provide the seeds to overturn the election, i think what we will find out in terms of the chain of command -- this is one of my big oeps open questions for the committee, who was calling the shots about the department of defense? was it the commander in chief or have been mike pence? inside a book that seems to allude that mike pence was on the phone with the department of defense. >> yeah. >> was he actually trying to organize some sort of rescue mission, essentially, come to the capitol? and what was the president doing? and which of the congressmen

were in on this, essentially knew what was going on, in a the president essentially abt kated his responsibility as commander in chief? i think that's one of the questions that has been left unanswered. >> i interviewed the authors of that book and donald trump claimed according to their reporting that he was watching on tv from the white house enjoying what he was seeing. clint watts, always good to talk with you thank you. pushback from new york city's vaccine mandate from people who were overworked and overhyped during the pandemic. d overhyped during the pandemic. ♪ so i'd like to know where you got the notion ♪ ♪ to rock the boat don't rock the boat, baby ♪ ♪ rock the boat don't tip the boat over ♪ ♪ rock the boat ♪ ♪ don't rock the boat, baby ♪ ♪ rock the boat ♪ see disney's jungle cruise.

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only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (upbeat pop music in background throughout) some confused news today for americans looking to travel across the pond. starting tomorrow, fully vaccinated americans can enter the uk without quarantining in a mood sure to add a needed boost to the country's tourism industry and spirits. matt, welcome to you.

how are folks over there responding to the news? >> alex, i mean, normally this street -- i am on puerto bello road in noting hill. you remember the movie with julia roberts back in -- i think everybody saw it. normally this street is catering to americans like us who saw the movie and loved it. there are normally stalls up and down the street on weekends like this selling catch keys to american tourists like myself. what we are seeing now is empty streets. this is how it has been the last year and a half. i went out and spoke with merchants and they told me how excited they are to hear about americans coming back starting tomorrow. here's what one of them told me. >> there is a big america-shaped hole in this road these days right? >> yeah. >> how much did you miss foreign tourists? americans specifically? >> they are amazing. they are one of my best tourists conscious like, customers.

it is now knowing they can come in the engagement will be amazing. i do a design your own. what happens is i find them open, friendly. they want to support small business. for me, i am quite stoked because they are my number one customer. >> have you been suffering financially? >> made an impact in a bad way. them coming back will be amazing. i am really looking forward to it. >> so those american tourists who are going to be coming back -- it is not going to be totally easy for them. at the end of the day, you are still going the need to show a negative test, a pcr or a lateral test, before you can get on the plane. day two, you are still going to have to show another negative test. but this is a big gift to a lot of people in this country who are relying on the tourist trade. it is not just americans. it is also the european union, with the exception of france. french people are not going to

be able to come here without quarantining. that is causing a diplomatic skis. between britain and france. moving forward, it looks as though, for a lot of british folks, this is all over, even though the delta variant is still very much creeping up on this country and there is anxiety about it. there is still a lot of confidence that it looks as though cases are stabilizing, deaths and hospitalizations are starting to stabilize. this has stumped scientists. this is different from how it is in the u.s. >> we have been playing close attention to all of that as well as what it will be like for americans as they travel back to the uk. now to the debate over vaccine mandates and their impact on the extraordinary heroes of the covid pandemic. [ sirens ] >> the a merks ts and the paramedics have thousands of

individuals to hospitals during the pandemic. while many are vaccinated, others are not. that brings me to my next guest, president of local 2507 the uniformed em, paramedics, and fire inspectors. thank you to you and what you and yours do for us over the last months, and all time. mayor dedeblasio mandated all municipal employees to get vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. you said vaccination should be a personal choice and not be mandated. why? >> good afternoon. yes, thank you for having me on. it should be a matter of personal choice. there is no conclusive evidence showing that this is a 100%

guarantee not to harm you. on the contrary f you go on the cdc website, over 12,000 have died from the vaccination. countless of others, thousands, have been injured or have sustained some sort of medical problems. until this is either fda approved or there is some more extensive clinical trials by reliable resources and people who can provide this data to us, why should -- we should be subjected to this deadly vaccination. >> let me interrupt you. a couple of things here. first of all, you know that no vaccination, not a one that's out there, offers a 100% guarantee. i ask you, have you or members of your union had, let's say, the mumps measles vaccinations, polio vaccinations, and those that are out there.

>> yeah. >> okay. so you have had those. with the fda, cdc also backing it up, that they believe in another month, perhaps, there will be full fda approval, beyond what has been issued at this point, the emergency authorization. that point, orrin, would that change your mind? would you say we are getting the official thumbs-up, my concerns. at that point would you say to your guys and gals, let's get you vaccinated? >> not necessarily. i mean just to go back on what you were saying about the other vaccinations, those have went through five to ten years of testing before humans were subjected to it. so this thing was brought to us after six months of production. so it's still unknown -- >> and i don't disagree with you 100%, but you do know that we have better technology than, say, the 1950s when polio -- >> absolutely. >> that vaccine was developed.

and there were also 40,000 or so candidates during the trials. so it's not like they did it on 10 people. there was a number of people. so putting that altogether, do you know how many of your union members are vaccinated? is that something they disclose to you? >> roughly 50%, half. and just to -- again, to add to what you're saying, we're not telling our people not to get vaccinated. >> right. >> all we are telling them is that it should be their choice. it should be our choice of what we place in our body until there's more clinical tests. and the last thing that will make things easier for people is the city going to pay for this weekly test which the mayor already said no, he's not going to pay for the covid test. are they going to keep us on payroll should we have some sort of adverse reaction? that's unknown. are they going to pay our

medical bills should we become ill from this vaccination? our people work for poverty wages, they can't afford to fall off payroll. if some sort of guarantees were placed on us, people will be gladly stepping in line to take this vaccination, but none of that has been guaranteed to us. >> can i just ask you real quick because i'm asking out of time. those 50% who have taken the vaccine, do you hear from them? are they glad that they did, particularly given everything that they see and have seen for the last 16, 18 months? they have been on the front lines. and what they have witnessed has beyond horrific and tragic. >> i appreciate you acknowledging that. some are grateful and some are not. we had a few members who died, who possibly died from this vaccine. we can't prove it, but two of them died within four days after getting the vaccination. and now they're telling us that we could be -- even if we're vaccinated, we are carriers as

well. so i mean people have second thoughts now about taking the vaccination. >> oren, thank you so much for talking with me. best of luck with all this. i know you have a ton to sort through. i appreciate your time with us. well, you can't make pizza or spaghetti without it. now the u.s. facing a shortage and the extreme weather is to blame. we'll explain. and the extreme weather is to blame. we'll explain. he military, we've grown to serve all who've honorably served. no matter their rank, or when they were in. a marine just out of basic, or a petty officer from '73. and even his kids. and their kids. usaa is made for all who've honorably served and their families. are we still exclusive? absolutely. and that's exactly why you should join.

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in california, some new concerns over extreme weather and the ripple effect it will have across the country. scott cohn is in san martin, california. >> reporter: in some cases you're seeing prices go up but the nature of a drought is it plays out over time. some of the tomato crop, the prices are already set so they will make up for that next year. the issue is drought, water

shortages. so some growers of the processing tomatos, unlike heirloom where i am now, they are cutting back on acreage. that means tighter supplies, higher prices. for processors they find this enormously frustrating. >> we need to have balance, right? balance between making sure that everyone has sufficient water to both grow food and to still, you know, have the proper water for daily use. but something you can't wait until it's an emergency. and i think often that's what we do is we wait until it's a dire emergency before we take action. >> reporter: the price of water is now about eight to ten times what they normally pay, so a lot of growers are just not planting or they're going to let these fields go fallow. a lot of the ag interests in california have been saying for some time that we need to improve the water infrastructure

in this state that is so susceptible to droughts. >> i've heard that, you're right. an olympic head line, the latest medal counting is pretty tight. medal counting is pretty tight. millions of vulnerable americans struggle to get reliable transportation to their medical appointments. that's why i started medhaul. citi launched the impact fund to invest in both women and entrepreneurs of color like me, so i can realize my vision and give everything i've got to my company, and my community. i got you. for the love of people. for the love of community. for the love of progress. citi. i've never slept like this before. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep to people who were tired of being tired. what is even in this? clinically-studied plant based ingredients passion flower, valerian root, and hops. new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep. (brad) how is apartments-dot-com so sure that we'll still have the most listings in the future? by going there. (man) no listings in 2178!

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outstanding five gold medals after winning the 50-meter freestyle. here's where the medal count stands. the united states has the most medals with 59, but china has the most gold so far with 24. that's going to do it for me on this edition of "alex witt reports." my friend yasmin vossoughian continues our coverage now. hey, everybody, good afternoon. i'm yasmin vossoughian. we have a lot going on right now. so the senate is in session on a sunday with majority leader chuck schumer promising to take as long as it takes to get the infrastructure bill done. the white house is firing back today at critics of its covid messaging and the rising cases across this country of course from that delta variant. then we have some new reporting that the january 6th committee is considering which of its republican colleagues to in fact call to testify. and then there's donald trump, the former president, trying