as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. see for yourself at botoxcosmetic.com that is going to do it for us tonight. i'll see you again this time tomorrow. "way too early" is up next. the report said i sexually harassed 11 women. that was the headline people heard and saw and reacted to. the reaction was outrage. it should have been. however, it was also false. now, don't get me wrong, this is not to say that there are not 11 women who i truly offended. there are. and for that, i deeply, deeply apologize. new york governor andrew cuomo announces he is stepping down following a bombshell

report alleging sexual harassment. is the flit cat fallout over? plus, after years of attempts the senate has passed a bipartisan bill. the question is when will it actually get to president biden's desk? and amid covid concerns, the academy is taking the event outdoors and the people to that. the question is who makes the cut? it's "way too early" for this. good morning, and welcome to "way too early." the show that thinks that all the nominees are winners. i'm elisa menendez. we'll start with the news. new york governor andrew cuomo is stepping down are the three-term governor is stepping down and will leave his office

in two weeks. it comes as the assembly prepares to leave the month-long impeachment probe from several sexual harassment allegations. >> now, you know me. i'm a new yorker, born and bred. i am a fighter. and my instinct is to fight through this controversy. because i truly believe it is politically motivated. i believe it is unfair. and it is untruthful. this situation, by its current trajectory, will generate months of political and legal controversy. that is what is going to happen. i think that given the circumstances the best way i can help now is if i step aside and let government get back to governing. and therefore, that's what i'll

do. and my resignation will be effective in 14 days. >> in less than two weeks, lieutenant governor kathy hochul will take over and become the first woman to lead new york state. she responded to cuomo's re resignation that read, i agree with governor cuomo's decision to step down. it is the right thing to do. as someone who has served at all levels of government and is next in line of succession, i am prepared to lead new york state's 57th governor. the president was asked about the job that cuomo has done? >> as someone who has served, how do you assess. >> in terms of his personal state or what he's done as

governor? >> in terms of governor. >> well, he's done a hell of a job. a hell of a job. everything from access to voting to infrastructure, the whole range of things, that's why it's so sad. >> can you really say that he's accused of sexually harassed -- ask the substantive, should he remain as governor is one question? and women should be believed when they make accusations that are able to on the face of it make sense and investigated it, they're investigated and the judgment is made what they said is correct. that's one thing. the question is did he do a good job on infrastructure? that was the question. he did. >> but as a governor -- >> no, the question was, correct me if i'm wrong -- >> as the governor. >> well, the governor. >> outside of his personal behavior. >> you can separate the two? >> no, i was asked a specific question. i want to answer specifically.

>> white house press secretary jen psaki later tweeted about biden's comments writing, quote, the president responded to a specific question on infrastructure. also made it clear it was right for governor cuomo to step down, reiterated his support for women who come forward and made clear you can't separate personal behavior from other work. after months of negotiation, the senate has passed bipartisan infrastructure deal. the proposal will pour money into the ageing infrastructure. includes money for roads, bridges and highways, high speed internet, clean water and more. and 19 democrats to approve the measure, now, the proposal needs to clear the house. house speaker nancy pelosi said she won't take up the bipartisan bill until senate takes up

priorities. on that note, the senate voted along party lines for the $3.5 trillion budget resolution. the chamber is now on its second day, up to 50 hours of debate on the democrat-only infrastructure bill. among those passing, one to prohibit enactment of the green new deal, one for addressing climate change and one to address fracking. the debate can end anytime, when they choose. if and when they do, the house will complete its work for the resolution. house majority leader steny hoyer sent a member to members instructing them to be in the office of august 24, as the john lewis voting invitings act the be taken up as well. and the gop senators circulating

saying they will not support an increase in the debt ceiling. forcing democrats to take sole responsibility for higher debt. joining us now, nbc news correspondent leigh ann caldwell. the senate passing the infrastructure bill, of course, a huge win for president biden. it will be a long road before the bill actually gets to his desk. what do you expect next? >> it sure is a long road, alicia. the senate on that long road of $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill. now, both of those measures go over the house of representatives, the bipartisan bill and the process. now speaker pelosi says she's only going to take up when they come back to session later this month. the 3.5 trillion first step process. she is holding up on that bipartisan bill, until the

senate completes the rest of the process on this human infrastructure bill. they still have to write the legislation. and then they have to vote on it again. and now that is going to be a large block of moderates in the party who say they will not support this bipartisan bill until they see every single line of legislative text of this human infrastructure bill. and that's why speaker pelosi is waiting. so, we might not get a vote on the house on the bipartisan bill until maybe september. maybe even later than that. because they are saying that both of these pieces of legislation once complete need to move side by side. >> i always loved the moment, leeann, where the legislation is seeing them shepherding around lines of pages. despite the debt ceiling, where's it headed? >> so, democrats insist that they are going to make republicans have to vote on

increasing the debt ceiling. republicans are adamant that they will not do so. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has laid down the stakes actually a couple months ago, saying republicans aren't going to participate. you mentioned that letter, that 46 of those republicans signed, two democrats saying they're not going to do it, it's in democrats' hands. well, four republicans didn't sign that letter including susan collins and lisa murkowski, two moderates. that's still not enough, they need ten republicans to vote for it. democrats are moving a partisan bill through this process called reconciliation. they can attach it to that. the democrats have not done that yet. they want republicans to have skin in the game. and it's almost at a standoff at this point. >> leigh ann, we've been

focusing on infrastructure, you have the latest on the police reform. what's the latest? >> i do. there's a proposal by republican tim scott of south carolina. the latest was if they recesses for their august break without a deal on police reform he's going to walk away from the talks. well, in fact, they have recessed for the august break or about to any moment now. he tells me, actually, he's not, he's going to stay at the negotiating table. but on the table is not a big comprehensive police reform. perhaps they're doing a scaled-back measure. i spoke to him last night, listen to what he said. >> it's on the table. everything's on the table as we work through this. we're making progress. we're coming into agreements on portions of the bill. the good news is we've not resigned ourselves to stopping. we believe there's still a path forward to, so that's really

good news. >> okay, so you haven't decided on the skinny bill? >> no, my whole point, we will take a look at all options. >> okay. >> and that means, that if we can have a smaller bill, or we can continue to work on this larger bill. >> so, the good news, they're going to continue to work, but i will say they were so close a deal a couple months ago. and they only seem to be farther apart at this point. >> all right, nbc's leigh ann caldwell, thank you so much. still ahead, paris welcomes superstar lionel messi after his contract expired. plus, a tropical storm in the caribbean. and the florida cone, and meteorologist bill karins will have the latest on that, and much more. ore.

as your business changes, the united states postal service is changing with it. with e-commerce that runs at the speed of now. next day and two-day shipping nationwide, and returns right from the doorstep. it's a whole new world out there. let's not keep it waiting. i've never slept like this before. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep it's a whole new world out there. 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.

(vo) at t-mobile for business, unconventional thinking means we see things differently, so you can focus on what matters most. whether it's ensuring food arrives as fresh as when it departs. being first on the scene, when every second counts. or teaching biology without a lab. we are the leader in 5g. #1 in customer satisfaction. and a partner who includes 5g in every plan, so you get it all. without trade-offs. unconventional thinking. it's better for business. darrell's family uses gain flings now so their laundry smells more amazing than ever. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. comcast nbcuniversal is investing in entrepreneurs to bring what's next for sports technology to athletes, teams, and fans. that's why we created the sportstech accelerator, to invest in and develop the next generation of technology that will change the way we experience sports.

we've already invested in entrepreneurs like ane swim, who develops products that provide hair protection so that everyone can enjoy the freedom of swimming. like the athletes competing in tokyo, these entrepreneurs have a fierce work ethic and drive to achieve - to change the game and inspire the team of tomorrow. at the end of an era in barcelona begins a new chapter

in the life of soccer star alone nell messi. the 33-year-old flew to france yesterday to sign a two-year contract that includes a third season with psg, where he's reportedly at $51 million a year. saying last week the soccer legend would not be staying at his long "time" club because of financial and structural obstacles. at a news conference, messi broke down in tears after he confirmed he's leaving barcelona after 21 years. turning to major league baseball, we turn to boston where the tampa bay rays rallied over victory over the white sox. bases loaded error in the ninth inning that allowed three runs to score. the rays take the first of a three-game division series 8-4. the loss drops the red sox another game behind tampa. boston says two games behind the

yankees in an ugly 8-4 loss in new york city as new york clings to a half game advantage. and rounding out the division in baltimore, the orioles are now on a six-game losing streak after falling 9-4 in last night's rain delay against detroit, despite the scary collision in the tigers outfield during the eighth inning that sent both players involved to the locker room. ouch. with injuries. detroit's manager said both guys were in a lot of pain and still undergoing tests. and finally, dodgers trea turner put his speed on display in the fifth game in philadelphia, zooming from second to score on a single line to right field. but the real highlight was his slide at home which looked like something out baseball ballet. turner touching the plate with his left hand as he slid through

and using his bottom leg to move seamlessly capped with twirl. amazing. dodgers beat the phillies 5-0. time for the weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. >> that was grateful, alicia, need that in slo-mo, too. let's get to the forecast. so much with the heat and now a tropical storm to deal with. but the heat is a big thing. that's the immediate concern. this heat wave goes from coast to coast. heat waves from the northwest to northern california. that does not help out obviously with firefighting efforts. in total, 121 million people impacted by the heat wave. up for philadelphia, new york city, too, the midwest continues to be very hot with heat warnings in st. louis and kansas city. and how hot will it be? today, the heat index, the number you see in the white. d.c. will feel like 105, everyone is cranking the ac. st. louis, 111, memphis, 111

too. and it looks like the heat is three or four days in most locations right from friday in areas from cincinnati to nashville. d.c. will be 96 to 99 by wednesday, thursday and friday. and here's the feels like temperature. the worst for new york city will be thursday. 105. d.c., 108 on thursday. midwest, the worst in st. louis, that will feel like 113 degrees. that's as hot as it gets in areas of the midwest. now for the tropics. we do have our tropical storm fred in puerto rico. this is a weak storm over the dominican republic as we go throughout the day today. there's not a lot of organization. as of now, this is a weak storm. that's going to interact with the mountains there in the dominican republic so it's going to stay weak. it won't be late saturday, saturday night that it could begin to strengthen if it

survives its trip past cuba and haiti and dominican republic. so for our friends in florida, looks like it's a weakish type storm. we'll continue to monitor it. >> as someone who lived in florida for seven years, i'm well accustomed to watching those maps. bill karins, thank you. still ahead, as the taliban continues its advance in afghanistan, the u.s. enjoy delivers a blunt message to those militants. more on that in a moment. we will be right back. right ba. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ it's a new dawn... ♪

if you've been taking copd sitting down, it's time to make a stand. start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com.

tide pods ultra oxi one ups the cleaning power of liquid. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. can it one up whatever they're doing? for sure. seriously? one up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. any further questions? uh uh! one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. >> tech: every customer has their own safelite story. this couple was on a camping trip... ...when their windshield got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ verizon launched the first 5g network and now we want to be the first to give everyone the joy of 5g, by giving every customer a new 5g phone. old customers. new customers. families. businesses. every customer.

from these bakers to these bakers. hello! new 5g phones when you trade in your old ones. cracked, busted, sticky buttons and all thank you. upgrade your phone. upgrade your network. (laughter) i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. as the u.s. troops prepare to leave afghanistan by the end of the month, the danger posed by the taliban is growing by the day for that country's military and the people left in the cross fire. nbc news kelly cobiella has the

latest. >> reporter: locals hid then fled. families who reached the capital of kabul, say the militants are more brutal than ever, in forcing women into marriage and killing government workers. do you know of anyone who was killed by the tala want while you were still there. the 28-year-old clerk told me the taliban took her colleague captive and burned her hair then killed her. the u.s. now three weeks from its deadline to withdraw troops is providing some air strikes but no backup on the ground, instead, sending a special envoy to the region. >> we will press the taliban to stop the negotiation. >> reporter: people are tired of war and have little hope for peace. she says, our children have no future. >> the u.s. envoy reportedly

warned of the taliban against a hostile takeover, saying any regime which comes to power in force will not be recognized nationally. they're expected to have talks with other leaders in the region. president biden says he does not regret the decision to pull troops from afghanistan, even as the situation there grows more stark. >> we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. we trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 afghan forces. and afghan leaders have to come together. we lost thousands -- death and injury, thousands of american personnel. they've got to fight for themselves. fight for their nation. >> the president promised to continue providing air support to resupply afghan troops with food and equipment. and to pay their salaries.

still ahead, some of the women who accused governor andrew cuomo of sexual harassment are reacting to his resignation. what they are saying about his apology. plus, tensions between president biden and gop governors over mask mandates are ramping up, as children head back to school. but before we go to break, we want to know why are you awake. email your reasons to waytooearly@msnbc.com. tweet me at alicia menendez. using the #waytooearly. tooearly e the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination.

if you're 55 and up, t- mobile has plans built just for you. switch today and get 2 lines of unlimited and 2 free smartphones. plus you'll now get netflix on us. all this for up to 50% off vs. verizon. it's all included. 2 lines of unlimited for only $70 bucks. and this rate is fixed. you'll pay exactly $70 bucks total. this month and every month. only at t-mobile. as your business changes, the united states postal service is changing with it. with e-commerce that runs at the speed of now. next day and two-day shipping nationwide, and returns right from the doorstep. it's a whole new world out there. let's not keep it waiting. >> tech: every customer has their own safelite story. itthis couple was onld a camping trip... ...when their windshield got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service you can trust.

>> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ comcast nbcuniversal is investing in entrepreneurs to bring what's next for sports technology to athletes, teams, and fans. that's why we created the sportstech accelerator, to invest in and develop the next generation of technology that will change the way we experience sports. we've already invested in entrepreneurs like ane swim, who develops products that provide hair protection so that everyone can enjoy the freedom of swimming. like the athletes competing in tokyo, these entrepreneurs have a fierce work ethic and drive to achieve - to change the game and inspire the team of tomorrow.

♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it is just before 5:30 on the east coast. 2:30 out west. alicia menendez. the covid situation worsening especially in parts of the country with lower vaccination rates. 167 million americans are now fully vaccinated. but that's still just over 50%. according to an nbc news count, case are up by 190,000 and 630 new deaths have been reported. morgan chesky has the latest. >> reporter: delta driving covid cases to dangerous highs. the variant now tied to 93% of u.s. infections, the biggest spikes coming in texas, missouri, florida and arkansas, where monday brought its largest single-day increase in hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. patients flowing into arkansas hospitals at double the national rate. >> it's worse than any of the

prior surges for a whole host of reasons. >> reporter: there's only eight icu beds left in the entire state. this doctor has seen an increase in younger patients. >> young healthy people shouldn't be dieing from the virus, period. they shouldn't be dieing from covid-19. because this variant is so virulent and replicates pretty quickly, we're seeing rapid changes with the health of individuals infected with the virus. >> reporter: president biden speaking out despite the surge. >> i find that counterintuitive and quite frankly disingenuous. >> do you intend to intervene in states in florida where they don't oppose mask mandates. >> reporter: a standing judge issued an order allowing local

school officials to issue their own mandates. and in kentucky, the governor mandating all schools mask-up. as u.s. covid cases now top 36 million, the push to vaccinate and the confusion over booster shots continues. despite the fda urging no need for boosters. some states like mississippi are advising doctors to consider it. as pfizer and moderna conduct their own safety trials, texas officials confirming some people intentionally getting more doses than they should. experts say that decision is premature. >> i don't believe people should be going out and doing this on their own. it causes a lot more confusion. we want to look at the safety and efficacy data of third shots before we make guidance who will benefit from it or who won't. >> president biden celebrating the passage of the bill touting it as a huge bipartisan win. thanked both from both sides of the aisle for working together. >> i want to thank the group of senators, democrats and

republicans for doing what they told me they would do. after years and years of infrastructure week, we're on it's cusp of an infrastructure decade that i truly believe will transform america. this bill shows that we can work together. i know a lot of people, some sitting in the audience here, didn't think this could happen. this bill was declared dead more often than anybody. but bipartisan was the thing of the past, it was characterized as a relic of an earlier age. as you may well remember, i never believed that. i still don't. so i want to thank those senators who worked so hard to bring this agreement together. i know what needed, for the republicans that supported this bill, you showed a lot of courage. i know compromise is hard for both sides. but it's important, it's important, it's necessary for

democracy to be able to function. i just want to thank everyone on both sides of the aisle for supporting this bill. today, we proved that democracy can still work. a lot more work to do. >> joining us white house correspondent for politico and co-author of "the playbook" eugene daniels, he's also an msnbc contributor. good morning, my friend. let's talk about the white house's role in congressional talks? how involved is president biden? we heard how he and his administration are going to be out on the road selling this thing. how are they selling it to members of congress? >> yeah, the thing about this, you heard the president there, they're sitting in the audience with them. they haven't been this excited this entire eight months of him being in office. they have been looking forward to a day when they can kind of say to the naysayers, you know, we told you so, president biden promised on the campaign trail he's going to bring some

bipartisanship. and to be clear, this is a huge deal, right? this is a lot of money. the president and democrats and rivals they say the infrastructure investment is more than we've seen in a very long time. so that's number one. but also this proof you that can kind of find some common ground in a world where we're not seeing a lot of that on capitol hill. whether that is duplicative, whether they can do that again is another conversation for another day. but that's something that they're focusing on. but what we have been talking to them now is this reconciliation bill, right? this $3.5 trillion bill, what that looks like. because that is where, i think, they're going to have to use the president even more than they did this time around. the president was able to let the senate doll its thing on the infrastructure bill. they allowed chuck schumer to do what he wanted to do. he wasn't involved in conversation but with this reconciliation bill, we heard

them say if folks need to come to the oval office to calm their fears, we'll do that. they've had 400, they gaul them engagements, or different conversations with members of congress and their staff for reconciliation. and they haven't really started the process yet so that tells you how much more they have to be on that. >> you know, the part of that sound is the part where he says, some of you think we couldn't be able to do this. but here we are. but also on the covid front, how is the white house planning to deal with this question of the large swath of americans who are still unvaccinated. particularly, as kids, educators, members of school districts head back to school? >> it's a big concern. a lot of them have parents, we talk about that all the time. they kind of understand and the frustrations that both parents and leaders have in trying to figure out what is the best for kids but right now, we know the

president had said that they're going to be looking into what can the federal government do to kind of force the hand of some of these governors and some of these areas to see what they can do. however, jen psaki said yesterday, the press secretary, that they're not going to withhold funds. that's something they could do, withhold some of these covid relief funds from states that don't allow schools or institutions to kind of make their own decisions. right now, their focus is trying to continue to get people vaccinated. they're trying to look at getting those kids that are under or over 12 to get vaccinated. looking into more information about the under-12 set. because they know that that is the place that they're going to be able to -- if they're able to convince these parents to get these kids vaccinated. that is going to be more effective than masks which obviously has stayed a cultural war as a part of this entire pandemic. and the vaccine of that, too. and they're trying to take some

politics out of that when they're having these conversations with governors. but so far, it's seemingly impossible to do so for some of these folks. >> really hard to disentangle. politico's eugene daniels, thank you. still ahead, a pizza delivery out of this world. totally different for astronauts at the international space station. that's next on "way too early."

(customer) hi? (burke) happy anniversary. (customer) for what? (burke) every year you're with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. it's a policy perk for being a farmers customer. (customer) do i have to do anything? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) hmm, that is really something. (burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. see ya. (kid) may i have a balloon, too? (burke) sure. your parents have maintained a farmers home policy for twelve consecutive months, right? ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ (burke) start with a quote at 1-800-farmers. to be a thriver with metastatic breast cancer means... grabbing a hold of what matters. asking for what we want. and need. and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. living longer is possible and proven with kisqali when taken with fulvestrant or a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor in hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is approved for both pre- and postmenopausal women, and has extended lives in multiple clinical trials. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective

at delaying disease progression versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. it's our time. for more time. we asked for kisqali. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. i've never slept like this before. we gave new zzzquil pure zzzs restorative herbal sleep we asked for kisqali. 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.

age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. time now for "something totally different." did someone order a pizza, an aerospace company partnered with nasa to launch its supply ship. apples kiwi and a pizza kit and

a cheese smorgasbord for the seven astronauts living in space. the rocket plans to upgrade solar wings, science experiment supplies and 3d music equipment. and the bonnaroo music festivalological now require vaccines. unvaccinated festivalgoers will be required to wear masks at all times. and masks will be required for all, regardless of vaccination status indoors. organizers are strongly encouraging full vaccination. reminding people the deadline to get the last dose in time for the festival is august 19th. the television academy is taking covid precautions for next month's emmy awards. the organization announced it is limiting the number of nominees allowed to attend the award show following discussions with health and safety experts. it will now be limited to no

more than four tickets per nomination. it's up to the individual teams who stays home and who goes. ouch. the tv academy also opted to move all ceremonies to an outdoor space behind l.a.'s microsoft theater. and up next, the woman behind governor cuomo's resignation. "way too early" coming right back. n. "way too early" coming right back ♪♪ this is not normal. no. ♪♪ so? ♪♪ right? go with us and find millions of flexible options, all in our app. expedia. it matters who you travel with.

still fresh unstopables in-wash scent booster downy unstopables

the women who accused governor andrew cuomo of sexual harassment are speaking out after he announced his resignation. lindsey boylan, the first woman to accuse. tweeting from the beginning i simply asked that the governor stop his abusive behavior. it became abundantly clear he was unable to do that until attacking and blaming victims until the end. and cuomo saying, mrs. mcgrath

remain grateful that their voices and experiences were herd. >> i definitely want him to resign. at the same time, i'm not gloating over it. and i don't think anyone should. it's a very sad day for the state of new york. what he did to those women was unforgivable. and he brought it on himself, through his own actions. and, of course, he immediately started blaming others. blaming his opponents. his political opponents. blaming his enemies. blaming the media. his own flaws brought him down. not anyone else. >> joining us now, city hall and politics reporter for wnyc brigid bergin. good to see you. what have you learned for andrew cuomo next? >> this time, we know we have a window of two weeks before the governor is going anywhere. while he announced his

resignation, he's not stepping down today. he announced two weeks. that is to provide a seamless transition to lieutenant governor kathy hochul who will become the acting governor at that point. there's a question what those two weeks will be like. in addition to that, we have the assembly on track to go forward with impeachment charges against the governor. the assembly judiciary committee is still set to meet again, this coming monday. they already met once this week. made it very clear when they came out of that meeting they had a schedule for public hearings and for an impeachment proceeding. there's an open question now, whether or not they will continue down that path. under the new york city constitution, it's not clear if they are able to do that. and if they were to do that, what type of punishment they could afford the governor, at this point, since he's already said he will leave office. the open question becomes, would they choose to say they would

bar him from running from future state office. that's a potential punishment under the new york state constitution for officers who are impeached. but that's, of course, only if the assembly decides to go forward with the impeachment. and they hold the full trial in the new york state senate. of course, there are also criminal investigations that the governor still faces. in westchester can county, and albany count. and investigations ongoing related to covid nursing home deaths, his $5 million book deal and whether any of the staff worked during their time in state government on that. and his handling of other issues related to the state's functioning. and i think those are the questions that people are really waiting to see those. those additional investigations. whether they have implications for the governor going forward. and then what happened during this period of transition. >> right. what can you tell us about

hochul's relationship to the legislature? >> well, kathy hochul has been the lieutenant governor for just -- for the -- since 2014. and at this point, i think she has seen pretty favorably among state lawmakers. she was not particularly close to cuomo and his inner circle. she was never part of those covid briefings. during the time that the governor and his staff has been overseeing the pandemic, she has been doing what she has done previously, which is traveling across the state of new york, a very big state, bringing the governor's message to different parts of the state. i think there's a lot of hope among state lawmakers that she'll bring a certain level of stability. and a different style of governing than the governor has had while he has been in office. certainly, that makes her a leading contender for running for governor in 2022. and that is the position that is up for re-election next year.

and i think there are folks who are hopeful to see, you know, this could be a historic moment for new york. not unlike the first time we saw our first african american governor when governor david patterson assumed the seat when governor eliot spitzer stepped down. this will be new york down. i think she's going to make history and people are aware of that. >> all right. thank you. earlier in the show we asked why are you awake, and meg is writing, i'm on a cruise in greece and we passed the islands. that sounds nice. i'm up way too early because it's the first day of school for the students in columbus and my puppy has not adjusted to the schedule. and larry bums us that we're losing minutes of day light

every day and i want to be aware for every last minute of summer. and sandy just got back from the maroon 5 concert last night. you keep me young. coming up on msnbc, "1 big thing" and a live report from hospitals being inundated with coronavirus patients in mississippi and florida. and as the debate over masks heats up in the sunshine state, dr. carlee simon returns about the mask mandates. "morning joe" is moments away. t the mask mandates. "morning joe" is moments away. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right,

that's why there's only one best network. my name is douglas. i'm a writer/director and i'm still working. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. ♪ born to be wild ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ born to be wild ♪ see disney's jungle cruise. applebee's and a movie, now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high you know how i feel ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing]

♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. it's time to start a new day. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. did you know that your clothes can actually attract pet hair? with bounce pet hair & lint guard, ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. your clothes can repel pet hair. look how the shirt on the left attracts pet hair like a magnet!

pet hair is no match for bounce. with bounce, you can love your pets, and lint roll less. joining us now with a look at axios a.m., political reporter for axios a.m., alexi mccammond. what's the "1 big thing" this morning? >> thank you, so good to be with you. yesterday, president biden said he does not regret the decision

to pull the troops out of afghanistan by the end of august, and that matters because the taliban has really stunned some u.s. government military and security officials with its conquest over the past week. we know as you know well, based on your reporting that the taliban has taken over something like 65% of the country. but we know based on president biden's public words and our conversations with sources familiar with his thinking that biden isn't budging on this. >> can you give us a sense though, is this an ongoing conversation, one they keep returning to inside the administration? >> yeah. i mean that's right. it's an ongoing conversation they're having, but when we talked to the white house officials, they privately kind of reassured that pointed to the pulling that the americans are overwhelmingly supportive of pulling the troops out of afghanistan and we talked to national security figures and said, look, even if president biden wanted to go around afghanistan's official security forces to try to do something to

intervene to help them with the taliban, it would be incredibly difficult to do that and most likely unlikely to happen. >> yeah. as you well know, during the presidential campaign, we talked about what biden would be facing once he was in office, the way he'd need to re-establish america on the world stage in addition to a whole suite of domestic challenges. how do they see what is playing out in afghanistan in relation to what is happening here in the united states? >> it's a really good point, because when you talk to the white house officials they privately say, look, this is the afghanistan situation. we have been there for years and years, done have what we could, announced our intentions early on and we have other things to focus on. to your point. there are many, many domestic issues going on, the pandemic not the least of them. >> alexi, what's causing the rise in the financial market? >> folks are getting back into the economy and although raw

materials and inflation aren't showing at a stagnation just yet, we could see some dips in the future. >> alexi mccammond, good to see you. thank you for getting up "way too early" and i will see you on saturdays and sundays right here on msnbc. "morning joe" starts right now. the senate passed president biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill with bipartisan support. that's -- that's good news. that's positive. [ applause ] that's right. a trillion dollars to fix our roads, bridges and airports so after they finish laguardia that will leave us with about 40 bucks. >> well, good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." wednesday, august 12th and mika is off, on the track to the south of france. >> we begin with the latest development of covid, hospitalizations, deaths, still on the rise especially in parts

of the country with lower vaccination rates as we have been telling you for some time. morgan chesky has the latest. >> reporter: delta driving covid cases to dangerous highs. the variant now tied to 93% of u.s. infections. the biggest spikes coming in texas, missouri, florida and arkansas, where monday brought its largest single day increase in hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. patients flowing into arkansas hospitals at double the national rate. >> it's worse than any of the prior surges for a whole host of reasons. >> reporter: with only eight icu beds left in the spire state, the doctor says his hospital is seeing an increase in younger patients. >> young, healthy people should not be dying from a viral illness, period. they shouldn't be dying from covid-19. but because this particular variant is so severe, virulent and replicates very quickly, we

are seeing pretty rapid changes to the health of individuals that are infected with the virus. >> reporter: president biden speaking out about banning the mask mandates, despite the surge. >> i find that totally counterintuitive and frankly, disingenuous. >> can you intervene in states like texas and florida where they're banning the mask mandates? >> i don't believe i do thus far, we're checking out. >> reporter: a san antonio judge allowed the local school officials to issue their own mandate and in kentucky, the governor is mandating all schools mask up. as covid cases top 36 million, despite the fda urging no need for boosters some states like mississippi are advising the doctors to consider it. as pfizer and moderna conduct their own safety trials, texas officials are confirming some people are intentionally getting

more doses than they should. experts say that decision is premature. >> i don't believe that most people should be doing this on their own, it will cause a lot more confusion. we want to actually look at the safety and the efficacy data of third shots before we make guidance about who would benefit from it, and who wouldn't. >> morgan chesky reporting there. more now on schools, thousands are heading back to the classroom this week as the debate over vaccine and mask mandates escalates. let's bring in nbc news correspondent kerry sanders from palm beach county. what are you hearing there? >> well, good morning. there's a real debate in the state right now about whether parents can have the schools mandate actual mask wearing because the governor has made it clear, the school boards, the superintendents, they cannot do that and if they do do that they will potentially lose their salaries and, again, that