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good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to "alex witt reports."

here is what is happening. new this hour, the death toll from hurricane ida is now at 65 with one additional death recorded in just the last few hours in louisiana. most of those who lost their lives were in new jersey and new york when the remnants of that storm hit this week. new today, president biden announcing plans to survey damage in new york and new jersey on tuesday. the president traveled to louisiana yesterday and got a firsthand look at the areas that remain uninhabitable. he promised flood victims that no community will be left behind. meanwhile, a new investigation has begun into the death of four nursing home patients. they were among 800 patients packed inside a warehouse, taken there before ida struck louisiana. health officials say they have significant concerns about conditions at that facility. covering the very latest on ida's aftermath, in new jersey, in new orleans and in laplace, louisiana. so welcome to all. we will go first to you, gary,

in new jersey where governor murphy has been surveying the station today. he was in manville on thursday. what more are you learning about the damage there, gary? >> reporter: hey there, alex. the damage across the state of new jersey is really unbelievable. here in manville it is really two fold. it is the flooding which we have seen images of over the past couple of days that were 5 or 6 feet in some places, and then it is here in manville in a couple of locations the explosions caused by suspected gas leaks. that's what is behind me here. this used to be a banquet hall. as you can see it was just completely flattened. you can still see smoke coming out and really there does not seem to be anything salvageable. a number of homeowners and business owners have been trying to pick up the pieces here in manville. i want to introduce you to justin who owns a home a few blocks from here. his home was flattened by one of the explosions and he says he is still in shock. >> i was pretty scared because i don't think i have ever been in

a situation where it has been that life threatening, that water is rushing within a foot every 20 minutes, and watching your valuables just go away, especially like your vehicles. you know, i thank god we have insurance for things like that. >> reporter: alex, the help for people like justin is on the way. there is a $10 billion grant that governor murphy created for small businesses along the state and fema has announced new jersey is going to get one of their emergency declarations. that brings aid to clean up the mess. >> clean up they need. thank you very much. from there to new orleans where hundreds of thousands remain without power and today volunteers and some wonderful good samaritans are teaming up to make sure some people don't go hungry. nbc's ellison barber is there. it is a heartwarming scene in a moment of great tragedy. i appreciated your last hit with us because it warmed my heart to see how everybody is coming together. take it away now.

>> reporter: hey, alex. normally these people are lined up outside of this venue. they're usually here because they're coming to see a concert, but instead they're here getting a hot meal of food, all of it free. the only requirement here is that you show up and when you are in line at least they would like for you to be wearing a mask and just that are you hungry. that's the only thing they're asking of people, if you need food, you come here. they are working this venue along with culture aid new orleans to make sure that people are fed. they said they've gotten a bunch of food donated from restaurants, restaurants whose generators, they ran out of gas, they've lost power and the food was going to go bad and they're cooking it here. they have five star chefs working to feed people. i want you to listen to what one person we met in line a little while ago told us about this. he was waiting to pick up a hot meal for his wife and daughter. listen here. >> this is important because when you don't have power, you don't have clean water, you

can't cook at home. it is bloody hot, and cooking is also just very, very difficult. the heat factor. so being able to come down here and get a couple of meals for my wife and my daughter is incredible, it really is. >> reporter: so i'm going on show you just some of what they're cooking here, alex. when we say this is good food, we mean this is good food. they have all sorts of good traditional new orleans dishes. when you ask anybody here why something like this is happening, they say this is what people do in new orleans, that in new orleans for better or worse they're often used to not getting help when they need it. what do they do? they step up as neighbors and try to take care of each other. last night they were here cooking, serving food to thousands of people until close to midnight. they're going to do it again today. they say they will do it as long as needed. alex. >> it is just the best story of the day. ellison barber, thank you for sharing it with us. let's go to nbc's josh lederman in laplace, louisiana,

where the president visited yesterday. josh, welcome to you. let's talk about the damage. how is it looking there today and what help do they need to rebuild? >> reporter: well, alex, we heard president biden deliver a message yesterday that this is not about democrat, this is not about republicans, it is about americans. that is really what we are seeing on the ground here in laplace where president biden was yesterday, is americans helping americans. it is truly the best of the american spirit. we have been talking to some of these volunteers here at new wine christian fellowship who are handing out meals and supplies. some of them came from texas. there's one woman here from california, and people from arkansas and other places. i want you to take a look at something over here. look what it says on this box of produce over here. it says "missouri" because that's where this came from. i want you to meet ray hakt who loaded up his van full of produce from the amish and drove

down here. how did you find out about this distribution center? >> i found out about it on facebook basically. i grew up down here and i asked some friends to contact me with places i could bring a van full of fresh vegetables that people might be cooking. >> reporter: when you came down here to help you didn't know where the goods were going to go. >> i didn't have the idea. i didn't find the destination i was looking for, but i saw this line here and i thought, i'm turning in. this looks like they're doing the right thing here. so i thought this is where we're coming. >> reporter: ray, thank you so much for being here. those are the immediate needs, alex, food, water as well as shelter, places for people to sleep because still half to close a million people or more in louisiana in this area who don't have power. it is so important for us to keep in mind these are the immediate needs. we have been talking to folks who are putting temporary tarps over their roof. it will be months and months before they're able to actually deal with the long standing

needs here in louisiana, and that's why it is so important that folks remember that this area is going to need help not just today and tomorrow but well into the future. >> yeah. >> alex. >> give ray a high five, man, for that good samaritan spirit. that is really wonderful. thank you so much, josh lederman, for that. let's look at other top stories we're following for you today. new developments in the battle over abortion in texas. a district judge granting planned parenthood a temporary restraining order, blocking an anti-abortion group from suing them under the state's new law that bans the procedure after six weeks, while in washington democrats are planning a new push to make sure abortion rights protections are federal law. >> this texas law is not going to stop abortion. what it is going to do is make abortion unsafe and in the context of people having to have back room abortions where they might die. so it is putting lives at risk. of course, poor women and women of color in particular will be disproportionately burdened by this.

it is an enormous step backward and it is a violation of our constitutional right. mean tile, president biden is ordering the widespread declassification of fbi documents related to the september 11th attacks. the president's executive order demands the justice department release those records over the next six months with some set to come out as early as next week, of course, the 20th anniversary of the attacks. then on capitol hill several republican lawmakers are threatening legal action against 13 tech companies if they comply with the request from the january 6th select committee to preserve their phone records. that is where we begin with nbc's ali vitali. another welcome to you on this saturday. who is behind these threats and how big of a showdown could it be creating? >> reporter: alex, like everything with this committee from before it was even started it is fraught and intensely political. the fault lines here are pretty much as follows. republicans, including house minority leader kevin mccarthy, lashing out after this inquiry

and this request to 35 telecom and tech companies to preserve communication records of multiple individuals including some republican lawmakers who are allies of former president donald trump. mccarthy saying any of those companies that comply with this request from the committee would be doing so illegally, but we should point out that it is not the first time ever that companies have been asked to give congressional committees information like this and it is also not clear what law that would run afoul of. nevertheless he's calling it illegal, and mccarthy is also saying if republicans were to retake the house in the 2022 mid-terms he would punish these kinds of companies should they comply. last hour congresswoman madeleine dean gave you the view of democrats on this. take a listen. >> it says very, very clearly that mr. biggs and "mccain" kargtie are scared, they're very afraid. otherwise, wouldn't you expect a leader like mr. mccarthy to say

i will do everything in my power, i will turn over every rock, any record that i possibly have. after all, i was here during the insurrection when every one of our lifts was threatened. you would think that this would-be leader would counsel his other members to do the same. >> reporter: in fact, in an interview mccarthy did with a local station he said it is not that he has anything to add, it is that he has nothing to add. he says he talked to former president trump on that day after rioters entered the building. nevertheless, it is important to keep in mind, alex, these are not the only records requests that have gone out from the select committee on january 6th in recent weeks. in addition of this ask of telecom and tech companies the commission has also asked from seven federal agencies as well as the national archives for records and communications from people all the way up to the former president himself, but also down to allies and aides we have been covering for years. all of this with the goal of trying to paint a better picture of what happened in the lead-up

to january 6th as well as afterwards. the deadline on some of those requests was two weeks, so the telecom companies have a little bit longer than the federal agencies do on this, but it is important to also remember here right now these are just requests. they are not yet subpoenas. nevertheless a politically fraught process and one that's on a timer right now. >> yeah, absolutely. well-put. thank you for explaining it all so carefully. appreciate that, ali vitali. coming up next, the texas valedictorian who denied school administrators an issued a plea for abortion rights. what she has to say now that the supreme court refused to block texas's new law. texas's new law. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win.

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so growing calls today for businesses to boycott the state of texas after the state's controversial new abortion went into place, that abortion law. meantime, pro-abortion rights social media users are taking matters into their own hands.

they flooded a whistleblower website set up by an anti-abortion group with fake reports. that group denied reports that the site crashed as a result. they say they expected the prank reports and are prepared for them. let's go to nbc's liz mclaughlin outside the texas state capital in austin. liz, that is how some activists are fighting back. what about in court? there was a new ruling from a state judge last night. what more can you tell us about it? >> reporter: a texas judge granted a restraining order but this is a narrow ruling specifically protecting planned parenthood from texas right to life, an anti-abortion group that helped pass this law. other anti-abortion groups and private citizens of any kind in texas can still sue planned parenthood and other abortion providers and other people who are helping patients get abortions. alex. >> so this decision is likely to have some sort of affect on the texas economy. what do you know about that?

>> reporter: there are calls on social media to boycott texas. a recent survey showed that skilled workers may be hesitant to come here. 66% of college educated workers say they would not move to texas to take a job because of this law. two-thirds of women say that. but governor greg abbott says he's not concerned about an exodus of economic activity. here is what he had to say. >> this is not slowing down businesses coming to the state of texas. in fact, it is accelerating the process of businesses coming to texas, particularly, morgan, interestingly they are leaving the very liberal state of california. i got to tell you, whether it be elon musk, who i talk to frequently, elon had to get out of california because part of the social policies in california and elon consistently tells me that he likes the social policies in the state of texas. >> reporter: big tech does have a big presence here, google,

dell and, of course, tesla as he mentioned. recent think about elon musk, the tesla ceo specifically saying he likes the social policies here. elon musk responded on twitter, not really taking a stance one side or the other, but in general saying he doesn't think government should impose their will on people and he wants to stay out of politics. a lot of companies are staying quiet on this. it is a little different than we saw on voting laws when companies were quick to speak out about it. some of the biggest employers here, at&t and oracle, declined to comment on this. it is a more emotional and controversial topic and maybe they don't want to alienate employees or customers. >> that elon musk tweet, he wasn't directly speaking to the governor but i think there's a pretty clear message. like don't impose government will on individuals. he said that flat out. liz, thank you so much for that.

there's one texan who is waging a battle against the new law. it is high school valedictorian paxton smith. you will recall back in june paxton ditched a script approved by school administrators and used her commencement speech to call out state leaders. take lace en. >> i'm terrified if my contraceptives fail, i'm terrified if i am rapet then my hopes and aspirations and dreams for my future will no longer matter. i cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights, a war on the rights of your mothers, a war on the rights of your sisters, a war on the rights of your daughters. we cannot stay silent. >> wow. paxton's brave stand got global attention. she has gone on to write a new

book, "a war on my body," and i'm excited to welcome paxton smith to the show right now. i'm also going to say i'm sure that the university of texas at austin is very excited to have you as a student there. you are going to do a lot. i'm sure you are going to bring a lot to that campus. let's start, paxton, by asking you your reaction to this week's news in texas. what was your thinking? >> it is incredibly upsetting and it is very hard to believe that something like this could happen in america. some of the principles of this nation that have been drilled into me since i was 5 years old is that this nation values freedom and liberty, but my state has gone against those principles and has taken away a basic human right from half of its population. >> so that's your state, but how concerned are you about the precedent being set here, not just for texas but for other states across this country? >> it is very frightening. texas has not been the first state to try to ban abortions,

but it has been one of the first where it managed to go through. other states who are trying to ban abortions and stop abortions in our state could take after the success texas has had. that worries me for the state of our country, that other states are probably going to try to do the same thing. >> what do you want to say to governor abbott? what do you want to say to the supreme court in this fight for a ruling? >> if i had something to say to greg abbott, it would be that he has either chosen to ignore or does not know that by banning abortions he is only getting rid of safe abortions. he has either chosen to ignore or does not know that thousands of people ended up in emergency rooms before roe v. wade. they died before roe v. wade. they suffered long-long injuries before roe v. wade and he has either chosen to ignore or does not know that his actions have led to bringing that back to reality. i hope that he is comfortable

with the blood that is going to be on his hands. >> anything to the supreme court as well, though that was very eloquently said and i think you could translate to the supreme court those five justices that voted the way they did this week ago well. >> yes. i mean banning abortion before fetal viability goes directly against the constitution and i wish that the supreme court would up hold the constitution and the constitutional rights that are guaranteed to the state citizens. >> paxton, i mentioned that you are attending now the university of texas at austin. do you plan to keep up your activism in college? >> i do. >> i think that's a really good thing. can i just suggest you should be on the debate team. you are a wonderful speaker. >> thank you. >> so you are very welcome. i'm grateful for young people like you in the next generation that are picking up these banners and very valiantly carrying them. thank you for your time as well on that. paxton smith, best of luck.

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a group of house republicans is backing up minority leader mccarthy's warning to tech companies. he is telling them not to comply with the house committee investigating the january 6th attack. he said if companies still choose to violate federal law, a republican majority will not forget and will stand with americans to hold them fully accountable under the law. now 11 republican house members, some of whom are implicated in the stop the steal movement, have also sent a letter telling those companies not to comply. let's bring in frank figliuzzi right now, msnbc national security contributor and former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi to take a look at all of this.

so my first question to you, my friend, can mccarthy's statement be perceived as a threat? >> oh, i think it is a threat. there's no other way to view it. in fact, i'll go a step further. if you put this down to any other level, local, state, legislature, that kind of thing, any fbi field other in the nation, they're going to look at that as a possible public corruption investigation. why? because essentially you have a public official stating that if a party complies with a lawful request or order or subpoena they're somehow going to be punished in an official way. he is going to use his official capacity to somehow punish somebody for complying with a lawful request. that sounds a lot like obstruction of congress. that sounds a lot like a possible public corruption violation, and now add to that the knowledge we have, alex, that mccarthy's name is among the other names whose records

have been requested and you have a clear conflict of interest that i think merits an ethics integrity investigation within the house. >> it is above board for a committee to ask for communication records. i mean if you were doing this investigation, not involving congress, don't you go to phone records as being pretty routine? >> well, i've said publicly that would be the very first thing that you would do, gather your data, get the documents, get all of the records. that puts you in the position of power. knowledge is power. you know who called who when, who e-mailed, who texted when, what time of day, right. you can even get content in the case of e-mails. this is extremely powerful information. i think that's why we're seeing such push back by among at least ten members of congress who don't want these records to see the light of day. >> yeah, there's now 11. what about the telecoms? give me a sense of how critical the information they have could be for the investigation.

>> well, first, the good news is some have already said they will comply. in fact, i think most of them have said they'll comply. now, whether they're going to comply with a request, what i call a pretty-please letter from the committee, the kind of preservation letter that has gone out or whether it is going to require a subpoena, that will be a lawyer-intensive discussion at the telecoms. the general counsels will get together and go, what is it we are really asking for here. we may see a real test here, alex, the power or not of a select committee to issue subpoenas and then enforce those subpoenas. so that may be why we're seeing these pretty-please letters before we see a subpoena. i don't know if they want to avoid that battle. but the significance of phone records, of e-mails, you know, when somebody like jim jordan says he can't remember how many times and when he may have called the president on january 6th, well, guess what? it is all right there. >> right. >> we'll know that. e-mails will give us content. here is the thing. you know, the request went to

the national archives for official device records. that's great. but what about the unofficial records, the private cellphone, right, the private e-mail? all of that will come from the telecom companies. >> two words you just mentioned there, private and official. we're not talking about private information from just an average citizen. we are talking about elected officials whose duty is to their constituents and to the government. these are elected officials that we're trying to get the information from. there's a difference. >> there is, but ironically, alex, that's also why we're going to see probably a battle royale over this because all of the officials concede, yeah, on my government device, absolutely it is in the national archives, you got me, that's got to get turned over. the battle is going to be over, hey, that's my private cellphone, that's where i call my spouse, i call my kids, come on, you have no right to that.

so the select committee is going to have to show cause as to why it is they think there's evidence -- >> yeah. >> -- in those records and i think they can make a compelling case, but we'll see a fight. >> definitely a fight there. let me ask about september 18th when we are expecting far-right extremists groups because you know about the planning, right, at this point. they're going to attend this rally at the u.s. capitol to demand justice for those who have been charged in connection to the january 6th riot. what kind of security threat could this pose? what is your greatest fear, frank? >> so, you know, here is my -- i will tell you what my greatest fear is, and this has changed. if you asked me this last week i would have a different response. it would have been very d.c. centric, very capital centric. i'm encouraged with the kinds of security planning and sharing and discussion of security intelligence i know is now going on. that's fantastic. what i'm concerned about monitoring chatter going on extremist sites is they're aware of the security.

they're now talking about going local, in fact they use that phrase, let's go local. that may mean there will be added vigilance required at state houses, capitals, vaccine certainties, who knows? if they decide it is too hard a target in d.c., they may seek out a softer target. that's my primary concern right now. >> the fbi, they know by the research and information they're getting, they know who is organizing this so they can help monitor what they're planning to do beyond the 18th in d.c.? >> so -- who applied for a permit and who is organizing this so-called justice for january 6th, they're going to feature the so-called political prisoners who have been arrested and jailed for january 6th. that's kind of overt. but the harder part is what they're trying to find, which is plans for violence and security breaching among extremist groups like proud boys. the rules haven't changed for the fbi in monitoring such

comes, but they're using existing rules more than ever before to their benefit to start scouring and looking for that. and in the process they will also hopefully find any plans, and all of the talk that we're seeing, you know, at home that talks about going local. so they're on it. they're monitoring it. i'm feeling more confident about september 18th in d.c., not so confident about local threats. >> well, they got two weeks to figure it out. frank figliuzzi, thank you so much. if the governor of california survives this month's recall election he may have one group of voters to thank most of all. the latee polling on that next. what are you wearing, dog? they're pants, dog. no, these are pants, dog. no way. my pants are pants, dog.

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xfinity xfi. so powerful, it keeps one-upping itself. can your internet do that? new this hour, vice president kamala harris will be campaigning for governor gavin newsom this week in her home state of california, and it comes as new polling shows 58% of californians plan to vote against recalling the democratic governor while 39% will support it. nbc is at an early voting center in north california. emily, welcome back. i know last time we spoke you were 40 minutes or so from voters getting there. it has been an hour and a half or so. what are they telling you? >> reporter: alex, you can see behind me there's no line. there's been a slow trickle of voters at this polling center in north hollywood. it has taken a lot of people that have shown up by surprise.

a few things to keep in mind though, all 22 million of california's registered voters received mail-in ballots, several million have been submitted and the data is looking favorable for governor newsom at this point. still though, newsom supporters say it is a point of concern not having lines here. they tell me that the lack of lines here today is, again, a point of concern and that newsom is the best chance at keeping essential workers safe. i want you to take a listen here. >> nurses, educators, first responders, i thought that we need to keep everything moving in the direction to protect what's already in place to make sure that we're not -- they're not impeded in terms of what is going to happen. who knows what is going to happen in the next six months with this pandemic? >> reporter: a recent poll shows 58% of likely voters want to say and were prepared to say no to recalling newsom, a positive sign for camp newsom, but the poll reveals more enthusiasm

when it comes to casting a ballot in this recall election from republicans. i caught up with one california native who says she has voted across party lines in the past, but this time around she wants republicans -- take a listen. >> reporter: what stands out about larry elder to you? >> i have known him for a long time. i have seen him around for a long time, so he's familiar to me, and he speaks the truth and he, you know, prides himself on that but with humility. >> reporter: still, a steep challenge for the right. remember, here in california democrats outnumber republicans two to one. alex. >> okay. emily ikeda, thank you so much there from north hollywood. three conservative radio talk show hosts, staunch critics of covid vaccines, are now dead from coronavirus. will their deaths be enough to convince their listeners to get vaccinated?

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three influential conservative radio hosts, all of whom used their platforms to criticize covid vaccines, are now dead after contracting the virus. dick farrell, phil valentine and mark burnier all died within the past month. as political divides deepens will their deaths sway the minds of listeners. joining me, alan smith. give me a sense of the consensus here. is it going to change any minds about the vaccine in what are you hearing? >> well, from one of the gentlemen i spoke to who i know he was a kentucky republican, he has been hesitant to take the vaccine really this whole time, this hit him. you know, he was aware that these guys had died and he still, still is on the fence about it. >> and why? why is he hesitant?

does he give you the logic for that? >> i mean he cites a bunch of stuff that, you know, other people who are guest the vaccine are citing online. one-off studies, stuff that really goes against what really all of the health experts in the united states are telling people right now about vaccination. so it really seems that for a lot of the hesitancy, even, you know, hearing a trusted source like one of the conservative radio hosts who mocked the vaccine and then dies of coronavirus within, you know, weeks of the battle beginning, it hits home for some of these guys. but the hesitancy doesn't seem to be drawn back at all. >> give me a sense of how influential these guys were with their voices in their listening communities. >> well, really these guys weren't necessarily people that had the biggest audiences, but for their audience locally they could be super influential. i mean we know that some of the, you know, conservatives and maybe some more vaccine

skeptical people have greater trust for local media, so there are fellow conservative radio hosts who i spoke to who said, yeah, this could certainly have an impact on the listening population to see one of these guys they're listening to and they're trusting and they're taking advice on stuff like this, and then they just see them die like snap of the finger. >> do you think that their voices, to their listening audience superseded that of government voices? i mean if you get what i'm trying to say. >> certainly. >> yes, you think so? >> yes, absolutely. i mean much of the vaccine skepticism comes from a place of, i don't trust the government, i don't trust what mainstream sources are telling me, and these are guys who have an audience built up off the idea that i am not the mainstream source, i'm going against what the government is telling you. you know, i'm saying the things that other people don't want you to hear. >> yeah. >> so to see these guys have that happen to them, and also two of the three guys, at least according to their families,

changed course on vaccines right before death. >> yeah. >> they were telling family members, get the vaccine, and family members went out in public and said these guys are encouraging right now for people to get vaccinated. but for them it was too late already. the disease had progressed and they were essentially on their death beds at that point. >> that's tragic. okay. allan smith, thank you so much. appreciate the story. some of president biden's sweeping initiatives, how do they compare to those who came become him and how will history judge his actions to end america's longest war? i've got new perspective next. one that's been paved and one that's forever wild but freedom means you don't have to choose just one adventure ♪ ♪ you get both. introducing the all-new 3-row jeep grand cherokee l jeep. there's only one.

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let's go to the latest with new reaction to america's historic withdrawal from afghanistan and the end of america's longest war. in a new column for msnbc.com columnist and host hassan praised the move with the headline, "joe biden ended the war in afghanistan, that is a bfd." joining me is historian markuptagro. a welcome to you. often don't use probably bfd but you know what it means. how significant will this moment be when reflecting on president biden's legacy in the long run. will his bioread he ended america's longest war without any sub heading there? >> alex, i think this is a blip on the radar for the biden legacy. there's no question in my mind that this reflects poorly on the

president for now, but this will be a very small part of the biden legacy overall. remember, we're not even in the first quarter of the biden presidency. it was a little impetuousness as it related to the withdrawal. i think it is going to be looked upon as a botched military -- a military failure, and that falls to joe biden. the buck stops with joe biden. but there's a long way to the finish line for this term and there will be many things that will be probably more reflective of joe biden's legacy than the failed withdrawal from afghanistan. >> and there are many who agree with you, but for some the achievement of ending this war has certainly been overshadowed by all of this confusion that ensued during the final days in afghanistan. do you think the evacuation will be a subtitle or a footnote in biden's legacy? i ask because when we talk about the withdrawal of vietnam, we

think about the fall of saigon often and we remember the pictures of people clinging and begging to get on to those helicopters as they were taking off from roof tops. >> you're absolutely right, alex. that came under the ford presidency, and that is not a big note in the canon of the ford presidency. what it did, the danger for gerald ford was that it exacerbated the impression that americans had that gerald ford was out of depth in the office of the presidency. we all remember those chevy chase caricatures on "saturday night live" which made gerald ford appear as sort of a good natured enclosed who just wasn't able to fulfill the duties of the presidency. so that sort of exacerbated that impression. that's the danger for biden. biden has to recover from this and show that he can execute the duties of the presidency of the united states effectively. so infrastructure, voting

rights, protecting roe v. wade, all of those things become so much more important for joe biden going forward. >> yeah. i guess you make a very good point because when you think about the president ford legacy, so much of it is wrapped up in watergate, a ginormous story, not necessarily larger or smaller than that of finishing up in vietnam certainly, but it was so big that to your point other issues can really dominate the legacy of a president. >> i think that's exactly right. remember, with gerald ford, too, vietnam was not gerald ford's failure. it was a war that was more or less begun by john f. kennedy, escalated by lyndon johnson. richard nixon took it over and deepened the war, if not with troops with bombs. gerald ford was at the vend of of -- the very end of the failed war. the same is true for joe biden. joe biden has been advocating exiting afghanistan for the better part of a decade, so this

will not be the dominant part of joe biden's legacy. >> picking up on what you were just saying, mark, he is certainly attempting to pass several social initiatives including voting rights and infrastructure bills. if joe biden is able to successfully sweep these measures through, do you think that it would approach the legacy of lyndon b. johnson and the great society? >> probably not, alex, but the comparison is hard to make. it was a very different washington when lyndon johnson held the presidency. bipartisanship was a natural part of the political process. that's not the case as we know in 2021. it won't be the case for the balance of joe biden's presidency. by the same token, alex, joe biden can become the most progressive president since lyndon johnson with the sweeping infrastructureal program. the key for biden is not just passing. it is telling the american people what it means to them,

particularly those independents. we have seen independents go from a 60% approval rating to 36% after the fall of afghanistan. so it is going to be very important for joe biden not only to pass it but to tell americans why it is so important to them. >> but, mark, if it doesn't pass, the sweeping pieces of legislation he wants to get through, how much will people remember at least that he tried, the message that he was? do those things just get relegated as footnotes? >> i think the fact that he stands for something can mean something if action is taken around it, alex, and the most manifest action is around legislation which creates that change. if biden can create a movement out of this, that becomes important as well, but the legislation is a pretty key component to joe biden's success as president. >> markupdegrove, love the chat. come see me any time.

that will do it for me on this edition of "alex witt reports." i will see you again tomorrow at noon eastern when i will talk with filmmaker michael moore who says he is proud of president biden for ending the war in afghanistan. first, yasmin vossoughian continues our coverage. ♪ ♪ good afternoon, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian coming to you from msnbc world headquarters on a busy labor day weekend. we got a legal victory for planned parenthood in the state of texas but is it enough to stop the toughest abortion law in the country from taking effect? we are live in austin with that report. then the death toll still rising in the northeast here while louisiana deals with a power crisis that is expected to last beyond this holiday weekend. we expect to hear from the louisiana governor this hour as well. new reaction to kevin mccarthy blatant attempt to meddle with the work of the january 6th committee and new insight into what the house minority