here. >> thank you for watching this hour of hallie jackson reports. we're on the road this week. find us on twitter as always. reporteding and highlights from the show there. right now we go over to craig melvin who picks up our coverage. >> good wednesday morning to you. president biden is going to put vaccinations front and center. the president will be meeting with business, university, and health care leaders. and we just learned he is expected to urge businesses to require covid-19 vaccines for workerings. covid patients filling hospitals right now are younger, sicker, and largely unvaccinated. look at florida, for example. as of tuesday 145% more people

are hospitalized with covid right now than in the state's previous peak back in july of 2020. also this hour, the legislative victory lap for democrats continues. senate democrats just passing that $3.5 trillion budget overnight. passed along party lines, above other things it will expand medicare eligibility. we're also watching this podium because we expect to see and hear from senate majority leader chuck schumer about it. remember the once promising negotiations on a police reform bill? we just got a new interview with a key negotiator. so what's the hold up? we'll explain in a few moments. we start with a surge in covid cases across the country.

shannon pettymiss is there. dasha burns is in east tennessee, and there are already dozens of positive cases among students and staff. alison barber is in a state that has just run out of icu beds. and i want to bring in a doctor. a big thanks to all of you, shannon let's start with you. 15 minutes or so from now president bide listen be meeting with business and health care leaders. we learned the president is expected to urge businesses to start requires vaccines. what more can you tell us about that? >> it is part of a shift in strategy that we have seen from this carrot incentive baits strategy, talking about gift cards and lotteries to the more

stick approach. the federal government went as far as they can to mandate vaccines for the people they have control over. so members of the military are expected to soon have to get vaccinated. there is a requirement for va workers. now the next stage in that is encouraging private companies, local governments, state governments, as much as they can. so we're seeing this event today. the president bringing in leaders of institutions that put vaccine requirements in place including the head of united airlines that is requires all of it's ploys to get vaccinated. as the administration tries to get the new vaccine numbers up. the number of people gets shots but they still have such a long

way to go and they need to pick up the pace. as we have been reporting every day the cases are surging and surging across the country. >> to that point, alison, mississippi at the bottom when it comes to vaccinations. most hospitals are at or near capacity there. the state's largest hospitals ran out of icu beds this week. what are you hearing from the folks on the ground there in mississippi. >> i went to three different hospitals within the river's hospital system. another in gulfport, all three of them are at or near capacity. at various points we have seen ambulances come up and have to wait. beds are not available here. everyone that we speak to they say they are at capacity, not just in terms of the levels of bed, of staff they have, but also just emotionally. they feel like they are fighting

a battle that does not have to be so bad right now. we went on to the covid icu floor at this hospital and we met a nurse that was finishing up one of her final issues. the doctors, the nurses, they say they understand if people have questions and concerns about the covid-19 vaccines. questions they say they say far too many people are relying on information they see on the internet, not from any credible source instead of talking to them, the doctors, the nurses, the respiratory therapists on the floors treating this virus every single day. i spoke to one therapist and asked her what it is like in those moments before when

they're having to inintibated patients. >> what do they say? >> please don't let me die. they regret not getting the vaccine. many people say they wish they would have taken it. >> i have seen more death than i thought i would see in my whole life. we're helping as much as we can. we need help from, you know, our community. >> that second person you heard from there, that is jen. she is the nurse who after years of being in icu nurse she said she just can no longer do this any more and she is changing departments because it's just too much. across all three hospitals in this health system 90% of the hospitalized covid patients are

unvaccinated. doctors here are asking people to consider getting vaccinated. when people choose not to, when they're not relying on good information, again, from the doctors who deal with this every single day, that specialize in this, they're seeing those people come into their icus, and they're begging them to do whatever they can to save their lives. >> yeah, when it is too late. alison barber there. your heart has to go out to these nurses, doctors, and respiratory therapists. and they're at their wits end. you have, you know, e.r. nurse that's have seen the worst of the worst for years and years and they reach a breaking point. do you get the sense that as people get more and more sick that it is sparking a surge in

vaccinations. >> you hope, and you hope people realize that they can hold the answer, which is getting vaccinated. the doctors and nurses are retraumatized every time they take care of someone that is not vaccinated. they try to save that person's life, but they're not always successful. >> dasha, let me come to you for a moment here. you're in tennessee, you spent a lot of time there as covid ravaged that community. schools are back open, masks not required, what are you seeing and hearing there in tennessee? >> yeah, craig, i spent many months talking to health workers there. what they're seeing among kids is unprecedented.

they say that yesterday 29% of positive tests in their system were among those under the age of 18. in washington county schools have reopened just over a week ago. they have seen 50 positive cases among students and staffs and around 194 in quarantine. despite the numbers there are no mask requirements, no social distancing requirements, and no strict protocols around quarantining those around schools. some parents say this is making them scared to send their kids to school. it's especially scary for parents with children who are immunocompromised. i spoke to one woman who has a

kindergartener who is at risk. >> i send him to school, and i hope he wears it. once he goes through the doors i have no control over that. we spent a lot of time in the hospital when he was younger and those were very difficult days. and i definitely don't want to relive that nor would i want anyone to experience that. >> and craig, at the same time you have parents anxious and feeling helpless right now this is a region where this virus has been politicized. there is a lot of information. there are parents who would be very upset if a mask mandate were to be put in place. they feel like it would be a burden nor their children. as of now, still not mandates

masks. he emphasize third degree is a local decision. emphasized that personal choice is extremely important, but as you heard from anna there, she puts a mask on her kids every day, but what happens once he walks through the doors she has no control over. craig? >> doctor, thank you, that's what i don't get, i still don't get it. a notion of personal choice, which obviously everyone supports personal choice, but when it conversely affects public health, show it there continues to be large swaths of people in the country, people with children, that don't get that at this point? >> look, it is pretty selfish. even if you send your kids to school with a mask on, but if

their lunch and gym times, other times, don't have standards in place, they are not safe. we need policies to keep our kids safe like masks, distancing, ventilation, and vaccination for all of the staff and children qualified. that is what keeps our kids under 12, especially our vulnerable children, as safe as possible and in school. >> local school board leaders, i don't want to guess how many of them have a background in public health, in biology, or anything for that matter. this is something that continues to fascinate me. the long term effects of covid. kids are struggling with long covid. lingering physical, mental, and neurological systems are

affecting children and adults. includes those with mild reactions to the initial coronavirus infection. what do we know at this point about long covid and our children? >> so we still know very little. anyone that is affected with the coronavirus can have long covid. the more children that get infected, they will have symptoms of long covid and we don't know what affects are on developing brains and body. it includes things like confusion, brain fog, amnesia. for our children eligible to be vaccinated, and those not eligible, we're sending them into a lifetime of chronicle medical conditions. they could be infected as well. >> very quickly, something that

continues to confuse me. for those of us with children, measles, mumps, chicken pox, rubella, you get vaccinations for all of them. once the fda shifts to full blown authorization will that move the needle for parents? >> i do, i think it will for some parents and also for some employers and school systems. we have also seen resistance to approved vaccines. we have seen measles outbreaks unnecessarily in the last ten years. as soon as humanly possible, but we're simply running out of time. >> we'll have to leave it there. dr. cass, alison barber, thank

you, shannon pettypiece, thank you all. if you have questions about this pandemic and back to school, if you have those questions let us know you can tweet them to us with the hashtag msnbc answers. it is talk @msnbc.com. we're doing to do that this friday at 11:00 a.m. eastern. >> cathy hockel is about to loose lieutenant from her title. her first public comment from 24 hours ago. where is she and what happens to quo moe when he is out of office. we'll break that down for you.

and democrats working on a 2.5 trillion budge deal and we'll look at what is next for that plan and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. it imagined to get a fair amount of support.

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woman set to take over at new york's next governor, cathy hochul is her name. she will be taking over after governor cuomo resigned which happened about 24 hours ago. cuomo continues to insist he did nothing wrong. he was facing impeachment in the new york state assembly and investigations by five different district attorneys. it's unclear if the impeachment will go forward. but yasmin is at the state capital and we're also joined by someone very close to the soon to be governor. lauren is part of a group dedicated to women's civic

leadership. cuomo still has 13 days in office. what do we know about his plans in that time and why the two-week delay here? why 14 days? >> so that is up with of two really big questions a lot of folks in albany is r asking. the other is albany, the capital building behind me, the folks inside here will they continue to pursue impeachment. to answer your first question, i was just speaking to assemblywoman marybeth hall. she asked that same question of me. she feels that the governor is trying to keep power for a little while longer. we can't forget this is a three-term governor. a member of a dynasty here. hoping that he could have run for a fourth term, entertained that option before all of this started to come out, and then the fact that he doesn't have

anywhere to live. he has to find a place to go. so that answers kind of your first question. speaking to mary beth walsh. speaking to the republican caucus, she feels they should continue to pursue impeachment. they will release that later. also judiciary chair levine says they were always going to complete the investigation. i also spoke to a member of the senate here, a new york state senator, and here is what he had to say. >> it is far along on the sexual harassment claims, but the book

deal issue, and i think they should complete their investigation. i don't think they satisfy the need for accountability. >> that is much of what i am hearing, right? the resignation does not satisfy accountability. this is what folks are saying over and over again. it is about a goefrs surrounding the cuomo bridge. it is about nursing homes, the covid pandemic continuing now, and controversy with an alleged abuse of power with book sales he has written. so you have all of that packed into one. then you sexual assault decisions of that. will it go to trial? that is a we i flaerd a source as well. the first test for that lieutenant governor will be

whether or not she urges the assembly to pursue impeachment here, craig. >> yeah, that is an internetting point. thank you, lauren. you worked closely with lieutenant hochul. what do you expect that we will hear from her today. will she want to continue these investigations? >> i think first of all it is important to understand how very different from governor cuomo she really is. i think a lot of people in new york don't think that while he chose her as a running mate she ran on her own volition. she is the duly e leblgted -- elected governor. she is very different.

she is really a consensus builder. she spent years traveling by car. building relationships with local officials at every level, running up and down the ballot, and she is a consensus building. i think she also has a very clear understanding of the massive challenges ahead. it is the districts about how to manage that. and from the biden rescue plan that is locked up in albany because of gridlock during this time, and i think she is eager to get things moving forward. >> already facing some questions among other things, potential conflicts of interest. saying hocul is married, now

general council at gambling and hospitality giant. when she is governor, you know she will be controlling the new york state gaming commission. a powerful body to say the least. they have a recusal process in place. but is this something that could potentially being a bigger issue? >> i think the governor to be is extremely focused on accountability and state government. that's the hallmark of who she is and what she is known for. there is a recusal process. his businesses were closely reviewed by the state ethics committees. they're in review again now and looking at it in terms of in the light of her new role, once she becomes governor, and i have ever confidence that she and her

husband will make the best decisions for the state. this is something who values ethics and integrity above all. she is cognizant that she is stepping into a state government that has by royaled with controversy for years. i have every confidence that she will be a model for very high ethical standards in state government. >> thank you, we'll have to leave it there. thank you as always. we're going to see chuck schumer take to the podium soon. they passed a massive bipartisan infrastructure deal. the question now, though, what will the house do? and how fast can poshl money for new roads, bridges, and internet in rural areas get to the state? we'll get to that next.

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a giant step forward towards transforming america. that's what majority leader chuck schumer is calling a budget resolution. they passed it without a single republican vote. the $3.5 trillion plan set to

expand health care, education, climate initiatives first it goes to the house with bipartisan infrastructure deal and this is where things could get much more complicated. leigh ann caldwell, we suspect to hear from schumer any minute now, what is next for the infrastructure deal and the budget resolution? >> we expect schumer to take a victory lap for the two. and the frame work of the 3.5 trillion human infrastructure bill. next they go to the house of representatives. nancy pelosi plans to take up one of those bills. the frame work, later this month. what is going to happen with a bipartisan bill, she will hold on to that for a little while.

while the frame work is just that, a frame work, she is going to wait until the actual legislation is written in the house and the senate before she is willing to take on that bipartisan infrastructure bill. things are very complicated in this two-track process. we're also getting some signs including senator manchin who says he has a problem with that frame work. >> now that infrastructure has been checked off. tell us what is happening with police reform. >> that's right. just about six weeks ago i was talking to you and things seemed really, really close to a deal.

that fell apart. they are still working, the negotiators are still working and they have blown through another deadline, self imposed. the good news is that they are not walking away. the bad news is they're no closer to a deal. what senator tim scott told me is they're discussing a slimmed down proposal. >> it is as pro bust as we can. the communities have not resigned ourselves to stopping. we believe there is still a pathforward. we will look at all options. >> okay. >> that means we could have a smaller bill or we could continue to work on -- >> so what a slimmed down skinny

police reform bill would potentially look like is sources telling me that means it would probably leave the most contentious issue aside for another day, the issue of qualified immunity. all options are still on the table, they're still negotiates but they might slim down their objectives. >> a skinny police reform bill, okay, those negotiations, thank you we should note for our audience watching and listening on sirius satellite radio chuck schumer expected to take to that podium at any moment to talk about that infrastructure bill just passed and that budget bill passed in the wee hours in the

morning meanwhile right now half of the u.s. population is fully vaccinated against covid-19. the big question continues to be why. my friend ari melbur a third just got a shot herself after months of uncertainty. i want to play part of that moving conversation. >> my daughter went to the hospital and complained about asthma. and three days later was diagnosed with covid-19. she was hesitant, she was unvaccinated, and she was he has tent and she was put on the ventilator on may 22nd, and was never able to fully pull

through. she was in the hospital for 50 days. for those about to have lost loved ones, our lives will never be the say. >> my brother who lives in wyoming e-mailed me. i flew back to see people and he was already in icu. i was there and i visited with his neighbor that works at the hospital, she said i tried to get him to get a vaccine and he said he didn't think he needed it. >> do you think your 37-year-old daughter would still be with us if she was vaccinated. >> that's my true belief. and had she been able to ever speak for herself, which she

never did come out and be conscious enough, i think she would encourage people, beg people. >> karen, for your brother? >> i believe he would still be alive if he had been vaccinated. >> you heard it. they say the vaccine could have saved their brothers or daughter's life. powerful. >> thousands of buildings in northern california are in the path of the dixie wildfire. as you know, that is saying something. the big new concern about where that could go next. first, an eye on tropical storm fred. this morning it's in effect for

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from prom dresses be to workoutsnt. and new adventures you hope the more you give 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. - [narrator] at southern new hampshire university, we're committed to making college more accessible by making it more affordable. that's why we're keeping our tuition the same for all online and campus programs through the year 2022. - i knew snhu was the place for me when i saw how affordable it was, i ran to my husband with my computer and i said, "look, we can do this."

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. and saving small businesses and our economy. now we're going from rescue to recovery. to make the economy and the american people's lives better than it was before covid. because there was so many structural problems in our economy and it became a sourness in the land that we very much want to remove. the two-track strategy, which i out shrined earlier this year is moving full steam ahead. before we broke for the august recess, many said it was an impossible task, but democrats in the senate are determined, fiercely determined to move president biden's build back better agenda forward.

sometimes it took a little prodding. it took weekends, late nights, quoture motions. we kept working at it. i pushed them when they needed pushing were giving more time when they needed more time and space, and that bill passed yesterday. but now we have to keep working at it and i'm very pleased to report that the two-track strategy is right on track. as i said first we pass the bipartisan infrastructure package with all 50 democrats and 19 republicans. every democrat voted for both the bipartisan bill and the resolution, the budget resolution. and the first bill, the bipartisan bill, was a long

overdue step to revitalize workers, economies, the tools to succeed. the bipartisan infrastructure bill will put america on track to lead the 21st century in productivity and job creation for decades to come. my entire caucus agrees that there is much more that needs to be done. so on the second track we passed a robust budget resolution that will grow the middle class in the 21st century and give more americans a chance to get into the middle class. keep them and assure them they're going to stay them. help those trying to climb into the middle class to get there more easily. that's our mission, our goal, and that is what motivates me.

in working as hard as i can to get this going forward. the democratic budget resolution is transformation if is probably the most significant single piece of legislation that we have seen certainly in decades and bernie sanders thinks since roosevelt. it will cut taxes, lower costs, create good paying jobs, invest in our future while tackling the climate change crisis. it is big, bold, and strong and it will be paid for by making it more fair without raises taxes on working families and businesses. by asking the corporations and the wealthy to pay their share. that was done by the republicans

under trump, it was reported that you had a greater chance of being audited if made $40,000 rather than $40 million. but that's where the republican party is these days with the wealthy, the powerful, and the right wing that doesn't want to see government help people at all. so the job, make is easier to stay in the middle class and build ladders into the middle class for hard working people. and let me just say something about this, this is my gut. for the last 20 years there has been a sourness. the american character has been for centuries a bright sunny character. the dream says it means if i work hard i will be doing better in ten years from now than i am

today and my kids will do even better than me. it faded. it created a sourness and it elected a man that was so divisive. we don't want to do that again. we want to retore that american dream. they expect us to give hope, progress, and that is what we're trying to do with both bills, with both bills. so let me say what we're doing here is not easy. we labored for months and months to reach this point and we have no ig lugss, maybe the hardest work is yet to come but we're united in a desire to get it done and so far so good. and i think my entire caucus can

say with absolute certainty it is worth doing and we will get the job done. last night i convened a meeting with all of the chairs. i gave them a deadline of producing a bill that can be passed in the senate as soon as possible. every committee clare be meeting and policed on a weekly basis. and we will do weekly zooms with them as well. we'll work very hard in the next few weeks, the next month, frankly, to get that reconciliation bill ready nap is a hard job for such a large, important bill, but we're going to roll up our sleeves and work to get it done. i want to close on voting rights. i don't know how many of you were up when we did that there. yesterday morning you saw what it was like when the senate comes together in a bipartisan

way to pass legislation. this morning, early this morning at 4:00 a.m. we saw what it looks like when the senate refuses to come together even on simple things that the american people overwhelmingly debating voting rights legislation in the senate. let me be clear, republicans refusing to support anything on voting rights is not an excuse for democrats to do nothing. in recent weeks as recently as yesterday we've had a meeting of nine senators, myself and four of the more progressive senators warnock, merkley, klobuchar and padilla and four of the more moderate senators, manchin, kaine, tester and king.

and we're making great progress to come together with a very strong voting rights bill that every democrat can support. so we are going to come up with that legislation. we are going to rally around it, and this morning i filed closure on a vehicle to allow the senate to take up that compromise voting rights bill when we return. voting rights will be the very first matter of legislative business when the senate returns to session in september. ready for your questions. mr. pink shirt. >> senator mcconnell said this to me yesterday. they have the house, the senate and the presidency. it's their obligation to go over the governing -- [ inaudible ] your reaction to that and can you rule out once and for all reconciliation? >> look, let me just say this, i cannot believe the republicans would let the country default, and it has always been

bipartisan to deal with the debt ceiling. when trump was president, i believe the democrats joined with him to raise it three times. again, i cannot believe republicans would let us default. as for reconciliation, the white house and janet yellen preferred it be done outside of reconciliation, a to keep it bipartisan, to stop making this a partisan issue because it's fraught with peril. mitch mcconnell seems to want to do that. i don't think he'll succeed, and second, because reconciliation limits what you can do there and doing it outside gives you more flexibility. yes? >> on voting rights, failure is not an option and everything is on the table here. when you come back in september what is it actually going to take? >> this is -- this is -- we have made progress and we are showing

very clearly to every one of our 50 senators that republicans won't join us and yet the importance of voting rights, if anything, has strengthened in the minds of everybody. everybody. and senator manchin put down a proposal back in june that had not everything i would want, but many of the things i want. so we are making very good progress and we are going to keep at it. it's so important. yes? what do you say, showing me that democrats are not enough. >> two things. i say we're going to keep at it, and as i've said before, everything, everything is on the table. yes? yes? >> speaking of senator manchin, he put out a statement this morning saying he's concerned about the price tag, how do you navigate his concerns with the $2.5 trillion increase. >> look, there are some in my

caucus who may believe that it's too much. there are some in my caucus who believe it's too little. the original bill that sanders put in is 6 trillion, and i supported that, and i can tell you this, in reconciliation. one, we are going to all come together to get something done and, two, it will have every part of the biden plan in big -- in a big, bold, robust way. manu. manu. you can follow up. >> lowering the price tag, are you firm on 3.5 trillion? >> as i said, every part of biden's proposal will be there in a big, robust way. there are some members in our caucus who want less. some members in our caucus who want more. that's the same in the house and we will all come together to meet that goal. yes? >> do you support an exception on the voting rights? >> everything is on the table.

yes? [ inaudible question ] >> not on voting rights, on reconciliation. yes. [ inaudible question ] >> we go through voterrama all of the time. when you compare the amazing breadth, strength and depth of the 3.5 trillion we passed, this is a small little thing that means nothing. yes, in the back, red dress. [ inaudible question ] >> i hope not. as you've seen, i always try to do bipartisan stuff. and this senate has done more bipartisan stuff and my members know that, appreciate and have thanked me for it. for instance, we have before the infrastructure bill which we

kind of had to push, prod and i was very instrumental in trying to make sure it got done, and you know, that's what the gang of five says, our five democrats, we had yusika, and it took three weeks bipartisan. we had the water bill, bipartisan, and we had the transport bill, bipartisan and we've had more amendments this year, skipping vote-a-rama which is an exercise way out there, and we've had more amendments in months than mcconnell often had in years. yes? [ inaudible question ] >> you know, some are worried about inflation, but if you talk to the leading economists, the way to deal with that is to make sure you pay for it.

we intend to pay for it and we intend to pay for it in sticking with biden's rules, by closing loopholes and having the wealthy and the big corporations finally, finally, finally pay their fair share. last question. [ inaudible question ] [ inaudible question ] >> first question -- well, first, i would say so many people were dubious we could get anything done including many of you in this room. can't get the arp done, and never get the president's cabinet done in time, and the two-track strategy and it will be impossible to succeed.

so far so good. how come? a, i try, and i think our caucus tries to show respect for every single member. we have a diverse caucus. we have bernie sanders, we have joe manchin and everybody in between and we show respect. we don't belittle or denigrate or anything, but second and most important every member of our caucus realizes realizes that unity is our strength and with 50 votes at a time when republicans on too many issues refuse to cooperate at all as you saw last night, we all need to be unified and everyone knows that, so that doesn't mean people don't fight for their beliefs, but at the end of the day, we have to come together. thus far we have. is it going to be easy on reconciliation? absolutely not, but if past is prolog, we've got a chance at a good, decent chance. i told you i want to get the bill done on september 15th. >> and there you have it. senate majority leader chuck

schumer there, a victory lap, part preview. back with me, nbc's leigh ann caldwell and covers capitol hill for us. it would seem voting rights would be senator schumer's next priority. what's the game plan there? >> yeah, craig. that is senator schumer's next, immediate priority when the senate returns in september. he says that's the first order of business, and he's continuing to work with four moderate democrats and four progressive democrats by rafael warnock of georgia on the progressive side and joe manchin on the moderate side to come up with legislation that 50 democrats can support, but you know what, craig? 50 democrats is not enough to pass voting rights legislation. they need the support of ten republicans so their first task at hand is to get their party united behind something and take vote again and probably again and again to show the public that the democrats are trying to do something. so voting rights is at hand, but

we have to wait a few weeks for them to come back for them to take it up again, craig. >> it did seem as though we heard senator schumer opened the possibility of adjusting the filibuster or did i hear that wrong, very quickly. >> no big news there, the same position he had. everything is on the table, craig. >> everything is always on the table. leigh ann caldwell for us there from the capitol rotunda. leigh ann, thank you. and thank you for joining me. that will do it for me this hour. special presidential envoy for climate john kerry will join andrea mitchell right now on "andrea mitchell reports." and good day. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington where president biden is calling on business and university leaders to mandate vaccine requirements in the ongoing fight against the delta variant slamming communities and hospitals across