good afternoon, everyone. i'm ayman mohyeldin in new york. right now, we're waiting for president biden to speak at an event in which he will will call for electric and other zero emission vehicles to make up half of all new cars and trucks sold in the united states by 2030. we'll bring the remarks to you when they begin. and later this afternoon, he will sun a bill to award congressional gold medals to the police officers who defended the capitol on january 6th. all of this comes as the delta variant continues to drive up the number of covid-19 cases and deaths across the united states. the biden administration says more people are getting vaccinated particularly in some of the hard hit areas. reiterating the vaccines are very effective. >> vaccines are working against the delta variant. they're highly effective from

any hospitalization and death. they're also effective in reducing the overall risk of infection. >> meanwhile, on capitol hill, the senate appears to be moving closer to the finish line with its work on bipartisan infrastructure bill. this as andrew cuomo is given the opportunity to provide final evidence in his defense as state lawmakers wrap up their investigation into allegations he sexually harass aid dozen women. and members of congress and other leading figures pay tribute to one of the leading labor leaders, afl-cio president richard trumka who died at the auj of 72. the we're going to begin this hour with the latest on the pandemic. seven states, florida, texas, missouri, arkansas, louisiana, alabama, and mississippi all of them account for about half of the new cases and hospitalizations in the past week despite making up less than a quarter of the u.s.

population. there are also states with some of the lowest vaccination rates with, we should note. here are the other facts. the biden administration says there are currently no plans to lift restrictions on foreigners traveling to the united states. but officials do say they are developing plans to require foreign visitors to be vaccinated. moderna's vaccine is 93% effective six months after the second dose is given. however, the company says a booster shot will be necessary before winter as antibody levels are likely to wain. a defense official tells nbc news that defense secretary lloyd austin is leaning towards recommending that president biden make vaccines mandatory for active duty troops but final decision has not yet been made. >> the biden administration is launching a new effort to make sure children 12 years and old rer vaccinated as schools reopen amid a new wave infections.

we have a lot of coverage to get. to joining us to start things off outside the department of education in washington, d.c. i'll begin with you. let's talk about the administration, the plans to do more and try to make sure that students 12 years and older are vaccinated before they go back to school. what's the plan on that front? >> only about 29% of u.s. school kids age 12-17 are fully vaccinated. and that is why the administration is increasingly concerned. we have a small window here to get them vaccinated before the schools open. and they can't mandate it. they're going try to work through pediatricians with association with sports associations. the why? you have to get a physical if you want to participate in most places in school sports. they think they can reach about 60% to 70% of school kids who participate in school sports. that way they're also trying to reach out to parent-teacher

associations and holding first meetings during which the administration is hoping that pediatricians will parachute into underscore for parents the importance of vaccinating their children. but when we spoke exclusively with education secretary he said, look, the biggest problem here is really political. it's these parents were very vocal on the impacts of the learning loss impacts and mental loss. these are the same parents fighting mask mandates and vaccinations and basically sealing that fate that, same fate for their kids. here's what he said. >> i want to put ourselves in the shoes of a teacher. a teacher that has diabetes, fully vaccinated but going back to a classroom with a bunch of kids running around without masks. we know we have a proek problem with breakthrough cases right now s that fair?

is that acceptable? >> of course it's not. of course it's not. nothing is going to disrupt in person learning more than poor decisions being made by leaders that are going to divide communities and schools. >> let's take a look here at the forecast for what some epidemiologists are calling the covid-19 perfect storm back to school. on left side you'll see a heat map of covid-19 infections. you can see they're surging. and the u.s. southeast. on the right side, very low vaccination rates among teens and children. they correspond -- you no, sir what they also correspond with? a lot of states that say you can't mandate masks. so those children are heading back into what some epidemiology usts have told us will be all but certain outbreaks, ayman? >> i know the california like many other states is seeing an increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. among people who are unvaccinated or only partially

vak sin ated so far. what are the concerns brought on by officials there and what are officials looking to try to reverse the trend if anything? >> right. like you mentioned, california is seeing the exact same trend as the rest of the country. maybe the numbers are different. but we're seeing an increase in cases in hospitalizations here. so officials are taking drastic measures here. l.a. county now requiring all of its 110,000 employees to get the vaccine. they will have to be vaccinated moving forward. meanwhile, the city of l.a. has put forward a motion to require people to prove they've been vaccinated before entering indoor spaces. this is a major change. this would affect all of the residents in the city of los angeles. and everything they can do here, not just from city governments, but private companies as well, many across the state are requiring their employees to get the vaccine.

meanwhile, health officials are pointing out the large numbers. if you look at the numbers yesterday here in l.a. county, they reported the single largest number of infections in one day since early february when things were really bad in los angeles. we spoke to a doctor from this medical center who talked to us about the importance of vaccinating the people that have still not gotten the vaccine here. >> i think this surge has exposed the fact that even l.a. county, ten million people, 70% plus have received one dose, that's still millions of people, two million people that have not yet gotten their first dose who have been eligible. and i'm not talking about those less than 12. these are adults over 12 that have not yet taken their first dose. so in an area with a massive population like this, 70% is not enough. >> we could see more local

government as cross california with these mandates asking employees to get vaccines. as you heard from the doctor, it is very important that everyone who is eligible against the vaccine. >> heidi, as we talk about schools reopening, there is always the concern whether teachers will get mandated for vaccines. it is something being decided from school district to school district and state to state. does the administration have a position on that as they push forward to try to get students vaccinated. whether or not they have the support of a similar measure for schools across the country? >> i did ask them directly about a vaccine mandate. he said that is not in the per view of the federal government. a lot of this is -- has to fall on local and state officials. but the very critical question at this point is what more can

they do? we know based on studies in israel what happens when you put kids into classrooms when the pandemic is still on going without masks. you get outbreaks. and so the question is will the administration also offer even more specific guidance beyond what students can do with group sports? meaning once community spread hits a certain level, are you going to say that schools should close? that they should go back to virtual, for instance? nobody wants to go down that path right now. we are barrelling towards it simply based on dat yachlt and then states and locations need the tools to make those decisions in real time. >> all right t thanks to the both of you for starting us off and it continue that conversation. let's bring in dr. patel, physician and fellow at the brookings institution and former obama white house health policy director.

she is also a medical contributor and a very familiar face for all of us throughout all of this. dr. patel, as heidi reported, there you have the biden administration hoping to encourage more children to get vaccinated through a network of pediatricians, administering back to school sports physicals and what have you. hosting pop-up vaccination clinics and trying to parachute into pta meetings. ? is that smart way to do it? do you see an alt earn tough way in trying to get kids vaccinated? >> yeah. ayman, that's exactly the right set of questions to ask. but it's not enough. so it is a minimum necessity to do all the things that heidi talked about with the secretary. i think on top of that, we have to be realistic. we already know that depending on where you live, 25% of 12 to 16-year-olds got the vaccine. by the way, that's with many parents that are pro vaccine want to get fully vaccinated. you have to acknowledge, there is a sensitivity with children. the only thing i augment by saying we should be doing and

talking about, ayman, we're seeing clinical turn around time for test results getting delayed more and more. we need for children to have surveillance methods. we need to make sure the ventilation is adequate. we have to have all those things in. so while the secretary doesn't have the ability to put in a mandate, you can sure as heck put in the supportive environment to acknowledge that we're barrelling towards something and we need to have the support in place to keep us safe. >> let's talk a little bit about booster shots. moderna saying today that the vaccine is still roughly 93% effective six months after the second dose. pfizer reported the vaccine was roughly 84% effective after the same period. there has been a lot of talk about offering booster shots. is that a good move right now given that millions remain unvaccinated? >> yeah. you know what? this is really testing kind of like our health capacity to, you know, literally walk and chew gum at the same time. i do believe we can do it. i think that we are at a

critical stage where people are talking about decreasing levels of immunity. as well as patients with hiv and certain medications, cancer ises. we do not have the defuntive data today, ayman. it takes a while to plan the efforts. we should talking about boosters not because i can offer them tomorrow, but it's going to take months to even think about a structure to do it in an orderly way while we are also vaccinating the people who are not vaccinated. and because covid-19 is going to be with us for a while, maybe a long while, these are exactly the tough conversations we have to have at the same time that we tell everyone the best way to save your life and get back to normal at some point is to get vaccinated. >> one quick one for you about possible foreign travel. the biden administration saying it is considering requiring foreign visitors who come to the u.s. to be vaccinated which is something that other countries require for american travelers right now.

your overall thoughts on this plan? what about the people coming to the u.s. for the sole purpose of getting the vaccine? immediately what jumps to my mind is serious logistical challenges. verifying who gets it. is there some kind of natural discrimination that would happen against people who are coming from countries underdeveloped without resources to get the vaccine? how do you gun to even create a system that is equal and fair for everyone trying to come into this country? >> absolutely. this the issue around equity. i think it's smart to put into place a plan so that we -- if we had a requirement we would think to your point which vaccines are eligible? how do we make sure the technical requirement as cross planes and ships and ports of entry are all ubiquitous? and then to your very important question majority of the globe is not vaccinated. doesn't have a chance to get vaccinated. are we saying that the united states, you know, the land of

the free and the home of the brave is off access? here's what i'll say from a public health standpoint, they make sense as long as you can accommodate people who are coming and are not vaccinated. and what does that mean? other countries have done it. they imposed a quarantine. they actually had a way to monitor the movement of people. i know that sounds squary. scary but those are decisions we have to make. >> it will be a long road ahead to put a system in place. we're following major breaking news. a big announcement from the justice department about an investigation into phoenix's police department. we'll have the details on that next. we're get ag clear time line of when the bipartisan infrastructure bill could actually pass. this as one moderate democrat fends off criticism from within her own party. and some sad news to pass along as we mentioned earlier, labor rikts leader richard trumka died today. trumka, a third generation coal

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justice department. attorney general merrick garland and assistant attorney general for the civil rights division just announced that for the third time under this biden administration, they're opening a practice investigation into one of our nation's police departments. thissest investigation looking into the city of phoenix. this is the attorney general making the announcement just in the last hour. >> today we're announcing that justice department is opening an investigation into the city of phoenix and the phoenix police department. the investigation will determine whether the phoenix police department engages in a pad tern or practice of violations of the constitution or federal law. >> joining me now are our msnbc legal analyst and also joining me, msnbc law enforcement analyst cedric alexander. can you explain that part? what does it mean that department of justice is opening a pattern or practice investigation into whether this city of phoenix violated phoenix

and the police department violated the constitution? >> pattern and practice investigations are a tool that justice department is authorized to use to investigate police departments where there is public evidence. they suggest there is either a pattern or an extreme practice of police misconduct. whether that's excessive force, thats what was at issue in the minneapolis investigation. or a variety of other kinds of conduct. and we heard a lot of that laid out today in this press conference. there is the possibility of violation of first amendment rights of protesters in the black lives matter movement. there is the possibility of depravation of property in an unconstitutional way on behalf of homeless residents of the city of phoenix. so these sorts of investigations aren't meant to be oppositional to the police departments that are the subject of the investigation. no one likes to be the subject of one. but as the attorney general went out of his way to point out, doj

is hoping to collaborate with city leaders here. they can offer technical assistance to help the police department and ensure that it's engaging in constitutional policing. this can be a very productive process for police departments that go through the work with the justice department. >> so speaking ofess, it's the third time garland opening this type of federal investigation since becoming attorney general. first to being into the city's of -- and police departments of minneapolis and louisville. i'm curious to get your thoughts on this. what would lead the doj to open this type of investigation? and is this another way if you will of trying to impose police reform in various departments and cities across the country? since we're unable to get kind of federal police reform bill through congress at this moment. >> no. so let me be clear about something here. first of all, there is probably been a great deal of evidence, a

number of complaints that have been made by citizens there in phoenix. in regard to the phoenix police department that is bringing this to bear. and therefore, the justice department, it appears, is taking a responsibility on the administration to look at many of those complaints that have been lodged against that particular department. second part of your question, no, they're not doing this. i'm quite sure in regards to anything that has to do with police reform. i think what you have here today is a doj that is legitimately, fairly and without bias challenging police departments across this country to do better, particularly those that may have had a reported history of these types of impropriety that is causing a great deal of distrust in the loss of legitimacy to the police departments in those respective communities. so i think it is a good move on the part of the doj.

i was glad to read that mayor opened this investigation and welcomes it. pretty much assured it will be open and transparent. i hope mean phoenix, of course, is one of the departments over the years that has struggled under a great deal of issues around policing there. >> we should note, both the mayor and the police chief pledged full support for this investigation. joyce, the investigation if it goes, you know, relatively smooth as one would think it could, what kind of changes do investigations like these lead to in the city and the police department? >> the changes are driven by any problems that doj finds in the course of the investigation. i think he is absolutely right here when he says this case gets opened on the basis of citizen complaints that are public. now doj has to review

documentation and body camera footage inside the police department to meet with community stake holders and citizen groups to wrap its arms around the situation stlofg department and whether there are violations. then it will help the department craft specific response that's ensures that policing moving forward will be constitutional in the city. from this announcement we get a sense that there is a focus on how they're interacting with the disability community. there was specific mention of people who were having mental health issues. so i would expect to see a focus there. this is how the department reacted to protests last summer. there were a lot of concerns expressed by the community. >> all right. joyce vance and cedric alexander. thank you. we're waiting for president biden to give comments. let's hear the president.

>> good afternoon, i'm president of the u.s. aw local 600 in deer born, michigan, home of the historic ruth complex and the for the lightning. mr. president, it is my honor to be with you here today. we know that uaw and joe biden worked together from the earliest days in delaware where we supported you and your first run for office. we were there at the beginning and we're so proud to be here now with our brother and the white house here today. uaw members are excited about the future. the batteries that go in them. we know the president biden has our back. we know he understands that we can grow our industry and preserve and create more good paying union jobs and build back a better plan.

we know that this president understands that as we move towards this bright future, none of us will be left behind. that we are the true engine of making this technology work, grow, and power america's middle class. mr. president, you have our back and we have yours. thank you, president biden. >> please, everybody sit down. good afternoon. before i begin, let me start with something, apologize more somber. i learned a couple hours ago when my staff came in that a close friend of mine and i think of many of you as well richard

trumka died today from a heart attack. the reason i was a few minutes late coming out, i apologize for that, i was talking to his wife and to his son who called. he wouldn't just a great labor leader. of he was a friend. he was a friend of yours too. he is someone i could confide in. and you know whatever he said he would have to do he would do. he was always there. he was an american worker. always fighting for working people, protecting their wages, safety, pensions. and their ability to build a middle class life. i also believe the middle class built america but i know who built the middle class, unions. unions built the middle class. there is no doubt that rich trumka helped build unions across this country. my heart goes out to barbara and rich jr. and the grandkids.

and i might point out that -- i used to always kid him. he was from soft coal country. i was from hard coal country. we established this thing about, you know, he used to be president of mine workers. and that's how he got started. folks, let me now turn to today's events. i want to thank bernie for the introduction and for being part of the best autoworkers in the world. thank you for the uaw president. thank you. good to see you, pal. i also want to thank the leaders of the big three. general motors, she -- i want to tell you, i you this she's one of the reasons we're here today. we had a long discussion on a zoom call with a bunch of labor leaders and other major business leaders and she made a

commitment. and she's keeping it. thank you very much, madam chair. jim farley of ford, and by the way, my dad is in the automobile business. he sold fords for a while but mostly general motors products. you see that sucker over there? zero to 60 in 4.1 seconds. it's all electric. i have a commitment for mary when they make the first electric corvette, i got drive it. right? she thinks i'm kidding. p i'm not kidding. and my entire secret service detail went oh, my god. let's go. and mark stewart, i mark, we used to have one of your big plants in my state. and as man i'm about to recognize, i want to pay

particular recognition to my chairman, my buddy. i kid my michigan friends, but, you know, i just want you to know that to say to the senators and duckworth and i'm leaving folks out, i'm sure. senator gary peters and congressman debbie ding will who is automobiles. i remind the michigan delegation this. used to be when i was first got elected, i used to tell your husband this as well, we had a higher percentage of autoworkers in delaware.

including michigan. we had a very small population. and we had almost 100,000 autoworkers in our states, county and the autolite and others had something to do with it. but i just want to be very straight forward, you know, uaw as they say. i know we're missing someone special and dear friend of all of us, carl levin who passed awlast week. carl and i served together for 30 years in the united states. he was one of the most -- i think of all my colleagues, a testament, the most honorable people, most decent people not only served with but i ever known. he was a tirls champion. and the iconic american automobile industry. he embodied everything that his beloved michigan and his -- and our country represents.

respect, dignity, pride, pride in the nation and pride in what we built. and so today labor and industry. state and local leaders are all working together to write the next chapter of the american story. as i said before, we're in competition with china and many other nations for the 21st century. to win, we have to make sure the future is made in america. back in may i toured the ford plant. state of the art facility in deer born. uaw workers are building the first ever all electric ford 150. i got to drive it. it's incredible. just like the other vehicles behind me today. they're sahratian of the future that is now beginning to happen. a future of the automobile industry that is electric. battery electric, plug in, hybrid electric, fuel cell electric. it's electric. and there is no turning back.

the question is whether we'll lead or fall behind in the race for the future. it's whether we'll build the vehicles here in the united states, we're going to have to rely on other countries for those batteries. whether or not the job to build these vehicles and batteries are good paying union jobs. jobs with benefits, jobs that are going to sustain continued growth of the middle class. they have to be. they have to be made in america. right now china is leading the race. one of the largest and fastest growing electric vehicle markets in the world. the key part of the vehicle is the battery. right now 80% of the manufacturing capacity through the batteries is done in china. it's no the chun's battery technology that is much of more innovative than anyone else. remember, our national labs in america, our universities, our automakers, led in the development of this technology.

we led in the development of the technology. there is no reason we can't reclaim that leadership and lead again. but we just have to move and move fast. when barack obama and i were in office, that's what we were doing. in 2009, the automobile industry was flat on us back. we were told we never be able to sell american made cars of the same rate we did before. but we didn't listen to them. we even had some in both parties who didn't think we should bail out the industry. if you remember. well, we bet on the american workers. they stepped up and we saved more than a million jobs in the process. working with the auto industry, we set fuel efficiency standards and provided incentives for folks to buy fuel efficient vehicles. through the recovery act, we made the largest investment in clean energy and battery

technology ever made. and then the previous administration came along in office and rolled back the standards we set. despite bipartisan support for consumer incentives, they also let the federal tax credit expire. penalizing autoworkers who were at the time selling most electric vehicles in the world in the united states. they announced infrastructure week, they did it every week for four years and not once got anything done. not once. the rest of the world is moving ahead. we just got to step up. government, labor, industry, working together what you're seeing here today. we have a playbook and it's going to work. today, i'm announcing steps we're taking, set a new pace for electric vehicles. first, i'm following through on the campaign commitment to reverse the previous administration rollback of vehicle emissions and efficiency standards. i'm doing so and with the

support of the auto industry. the automobile industry. today, the environmental protection agency and the department of transportation are unveiling proposals to do just that. these agencies are beginning to work on the next round of standards for a broad class of vehicles, for cars, suvs, pickup trucks, medium and heavy duty vehicles. we have announcementes to day from automakers representing near lit entire auto industry market who have positioned around the ambition of 40% to 50% of all vehicles sold by 2030 in america being electric. this is a big deal. but to unlock the full potential swreshgs to keep investing in our worksers and manufacturing capacity. and that's what our build back better plan is all about. it's about leveraging once in a generation investments and a whole of government effort to lift up american autoworkers and strengthen the american leadership in the world. in the clean car technology

trucks, not just cars but trucks as well and buses. that's why today i'm signing an executive order setting out a target of 50% of all passenger vehicles sold by 2030 will be electric. and set into motion an all out effort. that's why i walk with the members of congress today. we're working around the clock on the build back better plan which does three critical things. one, it transforms our infrastructure. we're going put americans to work modernizing our roads, highways, airports, rail and transit systems. that includes union workers to work. installing a national network of 500,000 charging stations on our roads and highways and in our homes and apartments. two, we're going to boost our manufacturing capacity. the build back better plan invests in new rooted facilities. excuse me, new and retool

facilities. and employ workers with good paying jobs. and grants, grants to kick start new battery and parts production. loans and tax credits to boost manufacturing of these clean vehicles. and our build back better plan makes the largest investment of research and development in generations. this will help innovate, manufacturer and build the supply chains for batteries, semiconductors and those small computer chips and electric trucks in cars are going to be even more relied upon as we move forward. never again should we be in a situation where we face today with the semiconductor shortage. we know these kinds of federal investments, we know they work. it was the defense department and nasa that got the modern semiconductor industry on its feet decades ago. our own department of energy transformed the battery industry where we went into office.

grants and loans, battery prices dropped 85% because we were forward looking. we need that same mindset today. thirdly, support of consumers and fleets. that means purchasing incentives for consumers to buy clean vehicles. union made right here in america. like the ones championed by ron white and the senate. provide $7,500 basic credit, $2,500 credit for vehicles made in america and additional 2 $,500 for union made vehicles. that means spurring demand of vehicles of over 600,000 vehicles. the a lot of vehicles. 60,000 of them. all american made clean vehicles. that's what we're going to do as

we rollout and get rid of the existing fleet, we're going to support the electric transit system as well. and the electric school buses. there is one other thing in our playbook, the american worker. the american worker. american worker is the ace in the deck. manufacture you at home are like the folks i grew up in scranton and delaware. they feel left out, left behind in an economy and industry that is rapidly changing. i get it. i understand it. but we're going leave no one behind. nearly 90% of the jobs createhood in our infrastructure plan do not require a bachelor's degree. we're going buy american materials and services from american businesses made in america by american workers.

the bottom line is we're proposing a blue collar blueprint to rebuild america. that's what's going to be. and we need automakers and other companies to keep investing in it america. we need them not to take the benefits of our public investments and expand battery manufacturing abrewed. continue to pay good wages. support local communities across the country. much that's why i'm so proud the uaw is standing here today as well. it's why i'm proud that three largest employers are sitting here and their sights are set not only on electric vehicles but on expansion. expanding union jobs. expanding the middle class. it matters. you know, in the spring i kept my commitment to convene leaders of all the major economies in the world. it was not in person but we did

it on a zoom call. it was being hosted in the white house on the most consequential issues facing the world. the agreement was the climate crisis. i made clear, i made clear what i long believe and i think when i think of the climate crisis. beyond the devastation of the lives and livelihoods and the health of our planet, when i hear climate, i think jobs, good paying union jobs. i want the world to see there was a consensus that all that were an inflection point in world history. if it we have to save the planet, we can also come out of it better. we can create millions of good paying jobs that generate significant economic growth and opportunity. to raise the standard of living people here and around ld world.

i want to put the world on notice. america is back. america is back. the future that will be built right here in america. let me close with this. our economy is recovering. in six months we're seeing the fastest job growth on record at this point in any administration in history. fastest economic growth of nearly 40 years. we have shown will is no quit in america. it's never, ever been a good bet to bet against america. we are the united states of america. there is not a single solitary thing, nothing, beyond our capacity to get done if we when we do it together. we have to act. that's we're doing today. again, i want to thank this ceos of the automobile companies and

all the autoworkers. thank you all for being here today. i'm going to sign the executive order. but i'd like to invite my congressional colleagues to come up if they're will to stand behind me here and when we do this and others who know they're supposed to come on up. thank you all very much. >> now, when i sign this executive order, usually i am able to give a pen to all the folks would are part of it. i got one pen.

you each are going to get a pen, i promise. again, let me start off by thanking the ceos as well as the uaw. you all -- all you are the reason why it is happen >> all right. >> thank you. you >> yes. >> all right. you're looking at president joe biden there speaking at the white house after signing an

executive order pushing forward on the use of more clean vehicles and electric vehicles and cars and trucks here in this country. at one point saying the future will be built right here in america. we're going to keep a close eye on this vent to see if he does take any questions. you see him there flanked by members of congress, members of the misch delegation as well as transportation secretary pete buttigieg. . with us right now, this is a bold initiative by the froze try president to try to get the number of clean vehicles and batteries made here in the united states. the he wants to get them substantially up in terms of the percentage of the market share. saying it was important both for the survival of the climate and this planet but at the same time he believes it can lead to economic growth. millions of middle class good paying jobs and more importantly, as i mentioned, saying the batteries, the vehicles can be built right here on american soil and america can

reclaim its leadership. your take ways. a bold initiative? will it make a difference in the long run? >> well, ayman, clearly for anybody in elected public office, there are certain issues that are more personally animating to them than others. you heard that cars is certainly nor him one of those animated issues in his life of public service. he talked about in the state of delaware how it had the highest percentage per capita of union autoworkers in the country at one point. his own father was a car salesman for some time. now in terms of executive order that he is signing there, setting that target for 2030 to have half of all new cars sold either zero emission or electric vehicles, that's mostly symbolish order that he signing and, of course, there are critics in his own party that think he's not going far enough.

but what the president is trying to do here is draw attention and to do everything he can to push for a piece of legislation that will advance his climate agenda, will advance his infrastructure agenda and, of course, that bipartisan infrastructure bill pending before the senate at this very moment would go part of the way towards expanding, for instance, the number of electric vehicle charging stations across the country. and, of course, the other reconciliation measure would do more on the issue of batteries and the like. now we should keep an eye on this picture. you heard him refer to the trip to deer born where they are manufacturing a picture. he got behind the wheel. there are close to his walk back twoest wing there. ayman. so keep an eye out. >> yeah, we're going to keep a close eye on that event. we're also waiting to see if he does take any questions from the press. he may be taking one right now. let's take a listen. ♪

>> we're not going to be able to make that out. we'll keep an eye on it. we'll give you any news if he does make it and track that feed to the president perhaps the president going to visit one of the trucks. switching gears for a moment but staying on the topic of politics, new york governor andrew cuomo facing a friday the 13th deadline to hand over any evidence or documents to the state's assembly as they finish up the impeachment probe. this follows the release of the new york attorney general that alleged cuomo sexually harassed multiple women. he disputed the allegations saying he never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. joining me now our nbc news senior correspondent kate snow and a republican strategist and msnbc political analyst. kate, i know that you just spoke to the leader of the new york democratic party. what did he have to tell you?

>> yeah. i spoke with jay jacobs. for those outside of new york, he's the state chair of democratic party. he was put there essentially by governor cuomo who recommended him for that job. he's known governor cuomo for 20 years. he told me they're very close. and he was defending governor cuomo up until this week. he told me that he changed minds when he saw. saw the attorney gl report. he felt like the details in there were disturbing. he called governor cuomo yesterday to try to convince him to step down. take a listen. >> i was very clear and direct with the governor. i thought his political position was untenable. i did not see, i told him i did not see anyway he was going to be able to remain in office. he was very clear that he had felt his side of the story had not been fully aired and he wanted to do that. he wanted an opportunity to do

that. i understood that. >> jay jacobs also told me he feels governor cuomo is increasingly isolated, and the only person who doesn't see this isn't going to end well is the governor himself. >> kate, the judicial assembly gave governor cuomo until friday the 13th to hand over any more documents or evidence. what's the timeline? does this take days, weeks or months to play out? >> the committee is having another meeting on monday. this is their impeachment investigation of the governor. it doesn't just cover sexual harassment allegations, but whether he used staff to write his book which made a lot of money and whether he tried to hide the number of covid deaths

of people in nursing homes or retirement homes. they're nearing the conclusion of that impeachment inquiry and they want a response from the governor. all of this could take months to play out. it could be quite a while before they vote on articles of impeachment. everyone i'm talking to says there's no one speaking out in support of governor cuomo. no one saying they won't vote for the articles of impeachment. >> susan, you workedcuomo. you wrote the following, it never occurred to me that maybe it was because i was high profile and didn't owe my career to the governor that i may have been shielded from this behavior. walk us through that. what do you mean by that? talk some more about how you're rethinking your time working for cuomo. >> well, as kate pointed out the governor has a very small

circle. it's almost nonexistent i would argue. when i came into the office, i was -- there were newspaper stories about it. i think maybe he was not -- maybe he was on best behavior. not that i'm saying he was going to sexually harass me, but just in the culture of how bad that office was, the toxicity of it. what got me rethinking is the fact that honestly by not speaking out about it, i kind of allowed it to keep going. now it's a time where you see that the toxicity i saw could easily allow this type of behavior the governor is being charged with now to fester and happen. that's what's so important, that we need to change the culture in albany and in politics and government and business in general. this is not just around politics and government. there's -- this is across every industry. when we talk about governor

cuomo specifically, it's important to understand that, not only is the governor bunkered down, he's defiant. he will be defiant until he basically is going to be impeached. we probably won't see him resign until three or four days before the assembly votes to move the articles of impeachment. >> susan and kate, thank you for joining us on this developing story. you can catch more of kate's interview with the democratic chair tonight. soon president biden will award four congressional medals of honor to the four d.c. capitol police officers. michael fanone is featured on the latest cover of "time"

magazine. just this week the metropolitan police department announcing two more of its officers who responded on the 6st took their own lives. joining me now is scott mcfarland. scott, tell us about this ceremony and the significance of these officers being recognized with this award. >> reporter: we're scheduled to see the president in about 30 minutes to sign this bill to give the congressional gold medal to capitol police officers. it's happening at a difficult time. there are still ten capitol police officers off the job with injuries. they're operating with hundreds fewer officers than they're supposed to have. they're under staffed. we'll see sergeant gonell who testified last week before the january 6th panel about the horrors he experienced. in my latest reporting, there are several cases moving closer

to a plea agreement where officers were allegedly assaulted. we'll see what judges have to say about event on january 6th. >> we'll be tracking that and more. scott mcfarland in d.c. that wraps up the hour for me. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. eastern. we'll leave you with the president taking a little joyride around the white house. "deadline white house" with nicolle wallace starts after this break. ace starts after this break i've been taking prevagen on a regular basis for at least eight years. for me, the greatest benefit over the years has been that prevagen seems to help me recall things and also think more clearly. and i enthusiastically recommend prevagen. it has helped me an awful lot. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. i've never slept like this before.

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it's 4:00 in the east. we await an event the white house says will be solemn and all about the officers who protected the u.s. capitol on january 6th. a rose garden ceremony expected as president biden signs into law legislation awarding four congressional gold medals to the united states capitol police. for a few hours, as the country and world watched in horror that day at the sight of the u.s. capitol overrun by supporters of the ex president, it seemed possible we might awaken from a slumber that saw two political parties slide into an alternate reality. one in which cops are no hero. a violent mob is a tourist visit. targeted by the