this is a big deal. we've got new reporting on what that looks like. that's not all. the president is set to call on all of the nation's schools to set up regular testing for covid. that is what we are being told. we'll talk about that and what else he plans to lay out in his speech tonight. plus freedom now for some 200 people, including americas, who are currently in the air, literally minutes ago, out of afghanistan, headed for qatar, taking off from kabul on board the first flight out since u.s. forces withdrew last month. reporters in the region, in qatar, standing by live. good morning, i'm hallie jackson in washington, as we juggle these two big stories as we come on the air. mike memoli is at the white house. medical contributor dr. kavita patel, who served as health policy adviser during the obama administration. mike, couple of things we're learning about that the president is expected to unveil tonight. mandatory vaccination move for federal workers, that is

significant. and this call for schools to implement regular testing. talk us through what you're hearing from sources. >> reporter: hallie, obviously, this is shaping up to be a pretty significant speech from the president after a summer in which he had hoped we would be looking at the downslope of the covid-19 pandemic and focus on other issues, but instead the delta variant changed those plans. white house officials are casting this speech as sort of everything they've been trying to do, but bigger and bolder. one of those specifically already has to do with something the president himself did a couple of months ago. we talked about in july when the president ordered federal agencies to require a vaccine requirement on their staff or give them an option short of a vaccine of doing regular attestation of their negative status from covid-19. what the president is expected to do today sign an executive order, directing those federal agencies to give up that second option. you have to be vaccinated in order to report to work as a federal employee. and that's significant, because this covers millions of americans. what's also significant about it, this is an administration

that has been wary of dealing with vaccination mandates as a general population but something they want to do to lead by example. a lot of what the president will be doing is encouraging similar private/public partnerships, not mandates from the government but private entities as well. the second piece has to do with a big driver of why the president is giving this speech right now. safety in schools. >> that's right. >> reporter: the president already provided funding through the rescue plan in march to schools in order to set up testing regimes for teachers and students. now that we're talking about schools across the country, largely resuming to full time, at least mostly full time, in-person learning, they want school districts to be spending that money and providing testing. this is significant because what do we know as well? there is a vaccine available for most americans, 12 and older, but not for all americans, especially youngsters going back

to school. this is the two most significant pieces of what is a six-part plan we expect the president to be laying out today, hallie. >> mark mike, i want you to stand by as we talk to dr. patel in case i need you to jump in here. mike, we don't know if he has put pen to paper to sign that executive order, right? >> reporter: told by the white house. >> sorry, mike, your audio was down. >> reporter: not yet, hallie. that's what i've been told by the white house. >> dr. patel, that's going to happen any minute, right? talk about the significance of this, all federal workers and importantly government contractors, because there's a lot of them, to be vaccinated. >> hallie, this is huge. i think sometimes people assume the entire federal workforce is in washington, d.c. it's the opposite. 85% of the federal workforce is outside of washington, d.c., across all of the states and territories. so, 25 million workers at a minimum, combined with contractors, you're looking at upwards of 15 to 20% of the american workforce. that's huge. it's a very bold, but necessary move. i think this administration has

been like the public, and myself, blind sided by the impact of the delta variant combined with our kind of, you know, fledgling efforts to try to reach people who do not want to be vaccinated. a mandate makes a lot of sense, especially since we have a fully approved vaccine in the form of the pfizer vaccine. the schools, it's a complement, health and education are linked in such a way that we can't tease them apart and we can't have one proceed without the other. we have to have kids in person. we've had thousands of schools that have been turned virtual, have not been able to go to full in-person learning because of quarantines and cases, and threats. sadly, hallie, deaths amongst unvaccinated staff. >> talk about the other piece of this, it is back-to-school season. we've been talking about it here. parents concerned. now the white house, the president in his speech today, we've learned, will ask schools to set up regular testing. how does that look on the ground, right? who pays for that? are schools equipped to do that? there are some challenges in

implementing something this big. right? >> absolutely. hallie, look, i've been trying to help the maryland school districts that have been trying to get access to testing. number one, not easy to get access to testing. the states are trying to stand up support services. there are designated labs that are third parties that the states are using to do these sal saliva tests, nasal tests. it's not the tests that parents are worried about their children getting. but, hallie, it's not easy to get. abbott, one of the largest producers of those rapid tests, had to throw test as way months ago. we will be interested in hearing how the biden test will use the defense production or any of its force as a federal purchaser to get these tests. then the critical question, hallie, teaching people how to use them properly. a lot of states have used an opt-in policy, where parents can opt-in to allow their child to be testing. this is a shift, not a

suggestion, but a recommendation, potentially even a mandate that schools have a surveillance policy. that means all students need to be tested at some point while they're in school. to do that requires nurses, training, public health. federal workforce will help these schools stand up or at least help expand what they're already doing, which is clearly not adequate. >> why now? what's the impetus for the president and the white house to be making these recommendations at this point? is it that they're looking at back-to-school season? is it that they're looking at where the numbers are as it relates to covid, for example, with the delta variant? >> reporter: hallie, just look at the case rates and we've been following this number since last march. on a single day in the past week one of the highest case recounts in the country during the entirety of the pandemic. so, compare that to where we were when the president last gave a major covid address just around july 4th weekend. >> yeah. >> reporter: we were at a low

point. this is a president coming out of a very difficult month of august, but knowing folks were dealing with back-to-school season and back-to-work season, a lot of businesses were getting to reopen after labor day as well. and the need for the president to speak directly and at times bluntly to the american people about the challenge that's still ahead. they also want to talk about what has worked and how to expand what happens worked for the broader population. what do we know, hallie? there's been a lot of politial resistance in parts of the country, especially the south, and the president wants to keep the pressure on governors, like ron desantis and others, and do the right thing or get out of the way and let others do it. >> mike memoli, kavita patel, thank you. mike, i know i'll see you later this evening ahead of the president's speech. dr. patel, thank you for your time. appreciate it. something that's developing as we speakers a flight in the air right now carrying 200 people, including americans,

coming from kabul to doha. this is the first evacuation flight since u.s. forces left. we've got nbc's raf sanchez in qatar. molly hunter is in pakistan. bring us up to speed. we understand the flight minutes before we came on the air lifted off. it is headed your way, frankly. who is on it? >> reporter: hallie, about 25 minutes ago, that qatari airlines taking off from kabul airport. it is a three-hour flight, assuming they fly direct through iranian air space. we are expecting that plane to touch down some time around 1:00 p.m. eastern. as you said, there are 200 people on board that plane, give or take. we don't know exactly how many americans are on there. we do know the state department has been saying there are about 100 americans trapped in afghanistan and trying to get out. hallie, what was so surreal about this was how normal it

looked, given that this is an airport controlled by the taliban. these passengers came into hamid karzai, went through customs, immigration, security. they walked up the stairs to that civilian airliner. they got on board. the plane took off. this was a very different visual from those american military c-17s taking off in the middle of the night. now, assuming everything goes smoothly and that plane is wheels down here in doha in a couple of hours time, those americans are met by embassy staff. this is a big moment. and it is something of a vindication for the biden administration, which has been saying all along, it could get the cooperation from the taliban and get americans out of that country without u.s. troops on the ground. hallie? >> we can't say it enough, raf. first flight out in something like nine or ten days at this point. your reporting has been sxhent, raf. the press secretary, jen psaki, responded to it on this network a couple of hours ago.

here is what she had to say. >> i can't get into too many details here for security reasons, because we want to keep people safe who are trying to depart afghanistan. our objective from the beginning here has been to work with the qataris, work with our partners in the region to get this airport operational and get people who want to depart out of the country. >> raf, do you get the sense that more flights are to come in to qatar, being facilitated by that country? >> reporter: that's the big question, hallie. is what we're seeing today scaleable? is this the first of many flights? and especially can afghans leave through that airport? as far as we know, everybody on board that flight today has an international passport, but there are thousands of afghans who are trying to get out of afghanistan also. you heard jen psaki there being very circumspect about the details. this plane took off from the same airport that that isis suicide bomber struck just a

couple of weeks ago. so, things still up in the air literally, hallie. the hope is that very soon we will have some good news here on the ground in doha, qatar. >> and you will be there to bring it to us, i know, ralph sanchez. molly hunter, let me get to you. there are those looking at the land border. you are near that in pakistan. talk about the reporting you've been doing, what you're hearing from pakistanis and others who you're talking to.

tell us what the journey was like. >> there was lots of problems. >> reporter: had you stayed under taliban rule, what would that have been like? >> the big problem was the girls was not enough to go to school, no education for girls to get an education. here they can do that. stay at home and become 16 years old, you should marry. >> reporter: they were so tired, so relieved, as they mentioned. that over land crossing, if you can't get out by air, you have to go by land. it is dangerous. they were terrified. we did speak with the pakistanis guarding the border.

they said the same thing, pakistanis are only letting people into this country who have visas for onward travel or have exhibited serious medical need. so, they really don't want a huge rush of undocumented refugees. of course, they're already hosting several million. and officials we've been speaking to say this country simply can't afford it. gosh, hallie, speaking to those two girls was incredibly moving. hopefully, very soon, safely. >> we've been glued to your reporting from on the ground in the region. raf sanchez, thank you for your reporting. appreciate it. big news this morning. on the hill, house committee is beginning to make changes, rewrite the $3.5 trillion economic package. next up, senator mark warner, member of the budget committee is live, one-on-one, with where things stand. plus brand new reporting on why security fencing is going back up around the capitol. later in the show, new reporting that the justice department is getting ready to

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we are live on capitol hill, where right now at this hour, you're looking at it. one of several hearings is starting on the top priorities for president biden and congressional democrats, a multi-trillion dollar spending bill, with the path of getting to some kind of deal say pretty bumpy one with house and senate democrats as well as moderates and progressive, not eye-to-eye on several issues, including that trillion dollar price tag. leighann caldwell is on capitol hill. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. to try to bring this $3.5 trillion bill to the floor and have enough votes for it to pass. several committee, including the one on your screen, house ways & means committee, are marking up piece of this legislation. in the ways & means committee

they're talking about paid family leave subsidies for child care, free community college, and money for elder care as well. so, a big portion of that bill that as they're doing it, there are a lot of challenges that lay in front of democrats, including the moderates, who have concerns about the price tag. namely senator joe manchin, who has said, even back in june, that he would support a $1 to $2 trillion bill as long as it's paid for. hallie, i'm getting more details about what specifically senator manchin wants beyond the price tag. he wants to make sure that the new government programs are means tested, so that the people who most need them will receive them. he also wants tax on these programs, including income caps. so, there is going to be very difficult negotiations between democratic leaders and senator joe manchin because his vote in the senate is extremely necessary. it's absolutely necessary.

hallie? >> leigh ann caldwell live for us on the hill. i want to bring in senator mark warner, who helped to negotiate the bipartisan infrastructure deal and as a member of the budget committee helped draft the $3.5 trillion package. you're a busy man. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> you were initially persuaded to get on board with this $3.5 trillion bill. could you now be convinced to go down to $1.5 trillion? >> i was very much the budget committee member that was reluctant to go to the full $6 trillion. i worked with senator sanders and the white house to bring it down to $3.5. one thing that drives this is not just what we spend the money on but how we raise the revenue. i see the path of raising $3.5 trillion, over ten years. the actual spending dollars are much lower than what we spent in

the last year, for example, on covid. debate on how we raise the revenues has not been front and center. >> okay. >> i think that's where a lot of the action will be. friends of mine, like joe manchin, has said he wants to see how this is all paid for. i agree it needs to be paid for. many of the things that have been proposed will actually be tax cuts for people. for example, child tax credit that was paid out for this coming year is actually a middle class tax break. and maybe not viewed as a spending program. >> i hear you on figuring a path in order to figure out what the revenue offsets would be here, how to raise the revenue for it. if it comes down to it and it's 1.5 trillion in the end, are you good with that? >> listen, this process will have plenty of bumps. i feel like i worked with my other colleagues, and i'm committed to seeing if i can raise $3.5 trillion worth of revenue, new revenue over ten

years. i then think there is a wish list, quite honestly, of the number of major changes to our country. it's breathtaking that's being proposed. i'm not sure we'll be able to do all those initiatives. how we play that out will be a real challenge over the next month plus. but first and foremost, this is going to be driven by how much revenue we can raise. >> i hear you saying you're good with 3.5 trillion now. it sounds like you're not shutting the door to something lower. i'll move on but correct me if i'm wrong on that. >> i'm always here to try to get -- we surprised folks, whether it was the infrastructure deal that lord knows after all the storms and fires, hurricanes, we desperately need. so i'm about getting stuff done. >> we have a lot to get done as far as congress. two other big things on the to-do list are fund the actual

government, right, and raise the debt ceiling. >> right. >> do you think democrats need to tie these together? and also on the treasure secretary's letter warning of irreparable damage if you don't deal with the debt limit next month. can you say definitively, right now, that congress will not let the u.s. default on its debt? >> hallie, the most stupid thing that congress could do -- i don't care what political party you belong to -- all the challenges our country is facing, coming out of covid, dealing with the challenges from afghanistan, grappling with how we keep the economic recovery going, would be to inflict potentially irreparable harm by putting into question the full faith and credit of the united states. that's what happens when we don't raise the debt ceiling. and i think it's remarkable, my republican friends who are suddenly saying they don't want to do this. when the democrats roadwayed the debt ceiling three separate times without a lot of controversy under president trump, and all we're doing by raising the debt ceiling is

literally paying for the close to $8 trillion that president trump added to the debt. this is not saying authorizing future spending. this is saying we're going to pay the bills we incurred, for example, last year under the covid relief plan. so i find it more than a little bit hypocritical that some folks are saying they want to extract a pound of flesh on that. the democrats didn't do that under president trump. and i hope cooler heads will prevail. and if the idea of putting this -- the debt ceiling connected to not only the government spending, making sure the government remains open, but also provide that much-needed relief, hard-hit areas and these afghan refugees coming in, if somebody wants to vote to put the full faith and credit of our country at risk to turn, shut down the government again and not help out communities that have been hit by storms, if my republican colleagues want to do that -- i don't think at the end of the day they'll choose to do that.

>> my producer is going to kill me but i have two quick questions for you if you can be brief with me. >> sure. >> security fencing potentially going up around the capitol soon ahead of this september 18th rally. is that appropriate, in your view, is that necessary? >> i've not gotten the full briefing. i'll get that later. i've got to tell you, two days away from the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and the idea that we've got a group of people here that are going to come a week later, after that 20th anniversary, and try to celebrate domestic insurrectionists is outrageous. and any responsible political figure, i don't care what political party you belong to, ought to condemn that so-called rally and not participate in it. >> less than 20 seconds, but your reaction to the breaking news that afghanistan, this flight now the first since the withdrawal that is headed to doha based on our reporting. any other details or intell about more flights? >> i'll be getting that today. other ngo flights out of northern iraq. this is where the rubber hits the road. taliban, we can trust not trust

-- cannot trust them at all. i pray for this flight and others to come. >> senator mark warner, making a lot of news, lot of headlines. appreciate your time. thank you, sir. >> thank you. we're talking more about what we discussed with the senator. fbi releasing new video of the suspect planting pipe bombs ahead of the january 6th riot. and more on the capitol fencing after the break. t. and more on the capitol fencing after the break. dad, it's a video call. hold the phone in front of you. how's that? get...get mom. [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning app with 24/7 support when you need it the most. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. at usaa, we've been called too exclusive.

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nbc news has learned security fencing is going back up around the capitol. you'll remember it was up for months after the attack on january 6th, and it is being reinstalled now for a somewhat similar reason. it's because supporters of the capitol rioters are planning to hold what's being called the justice for j6 rally a week from saturday. house speaker nancy pelosi has invited lawmakers to join her for a briefing. you heard senator warner mention that in our last segment. he seemed pretty disgusted that this rally is happening at all. new surveillance video of the suspect who is believed to have planted pipe bombs around

capitol hill the night before the insurrection. we're joined by nbc news justice correspondent pete williams and sahilkapur. >> reporter: nancy pelosi has invited other congressional leaders to participate in this briefing, five days before the expected rally. it's not quite clear what to expect from this. based on the fact that it is explicitly in support of those who attacked the capitol january 6th, the police community around here is taking no chance. the briefing is expected to be led by tom manger, newly installed capitol police chief with the task of protecting this complex from new and unique threats. this, of course, will be a first early test of that. now on the fencing, it is expected that there's going to be some new fencing coming up. it's not entirely clear if it will be inner fencing around the

immediate areas of the capitol or potential outer fencing, which was there after the january 6th attack for a long period of time. speaker pelosi was asked about that yesterday, whether she thinks it's needed. she said not necessarily, but wouldn't go into details. she wouldn't rule it out. seems like the capitol police is going to make that decision and figure out how best to protect this complex ahead of that rally, hallie. >> sahil, thanks. pete, you have capitol police dealing with security on that front. you have the fbi still trying to track down the key suspect from the january 6th riot. they have new video out, right? >> right. this is the day before, when two pipe bombs were planted near the capitol. the two videos show the movements of this person that night. now, the fbi says they believe the bombs were planted between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. the night before the riots. this video shows the suspect walking up, signature on a bench near the democratic national committee headquarters where one of the pipe bombs was later planted. now in this video, you don't actually see this person plant

the bomb. this person takes out a cell phone, looks at it, is wearing a backpack, gray hoodie, face mask, black and light gray nike speed turf shoes, gloves, and walks out of the frame. the second video was assembled by the fbi based on its analysis of all the surveillance videos and shows the movements of this person during this time on the night before the riots. you can plot the person's movements on a map, as they move around capitol hill. and then at strategic points where there is surveillance video, they pull the surveillance video out to show the person walking along that specific part of the route. this is all in southeast washington. the republican national committee is on 1st street. the democratic national committee is on south capitol. and you see the dnc, rnc sites there in red and blue. and then they believe -- about the only thing the fbi can say for sure now, after looking at all this surveillance video,

talking to people in the neighborhood, is that they don't think this person is from that area of washington. they also think this person, based out of a park that's nearby called folger park. you'll see it appear here. >> yeah. >> there it is on the screen. it's just covered up right now. there you see folger park. that's where they think this person based this activity out of that night. they don't even know if this is a man or woman. hopes by releasing this video is that somebody will see something familiar here, certainly in what the person is wearing or carrying, the way they carry the backpack, for example, the way they walk or move. are any of these things familiar? they hope that will generate some tips here. all they know is that these two pipe bombs were planted, that they were fully functioning, analysts say, they were made with metal pipe and kitchen timers, but they didn't go off. of course, they still don't know why they were planted, what the thought was.

>> pete williams, great reporting, thank you. sahil thank you as well. appreciate it. justice department seems to be getting ready for a fight in texas. as soon as today, as soon as this afternoon, according to "the wall street journal" report citing people familiar with the matter, the department of justice may sue texas over that restrictive abortion law. we have not yet independently verified this report. white house press secretary jen psaki this morning said any legal action out of the justice department would be in line with directives that have come from the president. i want to bring in the reporter who broke this story from "the wall street journal." sadie, great, great scoop. thank you for being with us. can you talk about, first of all, anything else we know on timing here? might this happen today? might it be tomorrow? and what route is the doj going to take here? >> reporter: sure. i think there's still a good chance this could come as soon as today and justice department officials spent the weekend urgently exploring all of their options to challenge this law,

scouring different legal books and considering different options, because some novel legal provisions in this measure are making it incredibly challenging for both private groups and the federal government to know exactly what argument to put forward in a lawsuit. so the attorney general said this weekend that they would be ramping up enforcement of a law that makes it illegal to intimidate or injure people who go into abortion clinics, patients and employees both. that law has been enforced kind of in a spotty way in the past. it's been -- enforcement has been a mixed bag over recent years. and so the fact that the attorney general is pointing to this law as, you know, a primary weapon against this texas bill, i think, indicates that their options to challenge this law are pretty limited. it will be interesting to see what kind of legal argument they put in their lawsuit. >> right. as we've been reporting here, sadie, many states are looking at their own restriction laws,

texas as a blueprint for what they could do. how do you see any potential action being taken by the doj, lawsuit being filed like you're talking about? how do you see that affecting other states who may be looking to texas as a model here? >> reporter: sure. i think it would certainly join potentially a list of other legal challenges on the state level to these types of laws, and it could actually give some fuel for, you know, private abortion rights groups who are looking to sue. we could also potentially see the justice department joining in some of those lawsuits, if they are filed. you know, if this is the type of thing that the federal government wants to get involved in. but certainly there are going to be more options for the courts to weigh in on this open question in the future, given these lawsuits and a number of other legal challenges. >> sadie gurman, excellent reporting. thank you so much for sharing it with us here on msnbc. appreciate it. next up, new reporting just in. our team confirming the biden

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crafted with clinically studied plant-based ingredients that work naturally with your body. for restorative sleep like never before. new this morning, we're learning the white house is willing to pull its pick for the head of the atf, alcohol, tobacco and firearms. david chipman was recommended back in april. because of some of the things he said recently about changing gun laws, he has gotten opposition from every senate republican and drew some concern from a few moderate democrats. that would make his confirmation really tough. tyler pager, reporter for "the washington post." what did chipman say, what did he do that is now leading the white house to pulling his nom? >> reporter: he was rolled out earlier this year that president biden outlined to curb gun violence.

he drew immediate opposition from republicans. the white house was excited about him because he was a veteran atf agent, worked in the agency for 25 years. after leaving the agency, he joined the gun control advocacy group founded by former representative gabby giffords to fight gun control. he joined as a consultant and became an outspoken critic of the nation's gun laws and became an advocate for curbing gun violence and passing more restrictive legislation of the that obviously drew a lot of pushback from the national rifle association, other second amendment groups who thought he was a threat to their right to own guns. so republicans immediately lined up against him. democrats thought he would be the unique nominee to thread the needle, given his experience with the agency and his advocacy on behalf of gun control but independent senator from maine, angus king and others became wary of supporting someone like him. >> real quick, what's the biden administration's next move here? >> reporter: that's what we're

waiting to find out. they do not have an immediate replacement for him. and they're trying to find a role for chipman in the administration, but it remains unclear exactly what that role would be. >> atf has had only acting directors for the last five or six years or so. tyler pager from "the washington post." thank you for your reporting and bringing it to us. coming up next, interesting images from north korea breaking overnight. have you seen that this morning? dozens of troops in gas masks and hazmat suits during a parade. we'll explain next. parade we'll explain next don't settle for silver #1 for diabetic dry skin* #1 for psoriasis symptom relief* and #1 for eczema symptom relief* gold bond champion your skin breyers is always so delicious... gold bond i can tell that they used your milk, matilda. great job! moo you're welcome. breyers natural vanilla is made with 100% grade a milk and cream and only sustainably farmed vanilla. better starts with breyers.

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back now with new developments in a national story that developed overnight while you were probably sleeping. north korea holding a military parade. it looked different this year. no speech from the dictator, no missiles. hazmat-style suits and gas masks as the country's so-called emergency disease prevention unit. it was the first parade with president biden in the white house. his administration, obviously, noticing that. kelly cobiella is covering this for us. >> reporter: hallie, good morning. this parade happens every year in north korea, meant to mark

the founding of the country. it's usually used as a stage for north korea to flex its military muscle and get the attention of the west, and of the international community. but this year, it was much more subdued. a midnight military parade in pyongyang, complete with soldiers marching in formation, flags and fireworks. the first of its kind since president biden took office. but unlike many previous parades, there was no sign of suspected ballistic missiles, like these, showcased shortly before biden took office. the biden administration has been trying to recalibrate the relationship with north korea after multiple meetings between president trump and kim jong-un failed to result in north korea giving up its nuclear arsenal. >> history shows they should have carried out provocations by now. they did it immediately in the trump administration. >> reporter: offering recently

to meet with the regime. >> the united states does not have noticeably north korean leader, kim jong-un, whose presence was noted by cheering crowds. >> this could either be a sign of illness that has caused weight loss or it could be some massive diet that he went on because his health condition is quite poor for somebody his age. >> one of the most striking images, rows of people in bright orange hazmat suits and gas masks. state media reportedly saying theed unit is using to protect e country and its people during the covid pandemic. kim jong-un recently addressing covid measures in the secretive state, turning down an offer of united nations backed vaccines for the country. instead, saying north korea would fight the pandemic, quote,

our style. there have been reports of food shortages and other economic problems inside north korea, and this parade may have given us some hints that there are some domestic issues there. it was interesting that kim jong-un did not give a speech. instead, that was left to a member of the workers party, who ujed the people to, quote, overcome the current present day crisis. this seemed much more like a morale booster for the north korean booster than it did a message for the west. >> kelly cobiella reporting for us there. >> new this morning, senator amy klobuchar sharing publicly a cancer diagnosis she got earlier this year. 61-year-old minnesota democrat in a blog post saying doctors discovered stage 1-a breast cancer during a routine mammogram back in february. she had a lumpectomy and radiation treatment and she said quote, it went well. she delayed her routine medical exams because of the pandemic. she's calling now on other

americans, especially women, not to do the same. watch. >> get those screenings. go in, get a mammogram, get what other health checkup you should normally be getting because we know there's so many better safety controls now in doctors' offices than at the beginning of this pandemic, and the second is just be grateful for the people around you. it really puts things in perspective. >> the senator on good morning america this morning. medical officials recommend mammograms every two years for women between the ages of 50 and 74. >> coming up, president biden trying to clean house, requesting resignations from several holdovers from the trump administration. some of whom now say they won't go. we're laying out that controversy and the legal battle ahead, next. ahd,ea next. of the great highw. all they need is a bike and a full tank of gas. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ]

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[ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning mobile app with powerful, easy-to-use tools and interactive charts to give you an edge, 24/7 support when you need it the most and $0 commissions for online u.s. listed stocks. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. just coming in to us. this is about 200 people including some americans boarding that flight we told you about at the top of the show that took off from kabul in the last hour. they're boarding a bus that's going to take them to the plane. this is the plane taking off. that flight is on its way to doha in qatar, the first evacuation flight since troops left. we'll keep monitoring this and give you an update when it lands. >> month into joe biden's presidency, his administration is still cleaning house as it relates to former trump officials. with the director of the

personnel office sending letters to 18 people asking them to resign. that list includes names like h.r. mcmaster, sean spicer, kellyanne conway, dave urban, et cetera. despite the wous's threat to fire them, some of those officials are refusing to hand in their resignations, setting up a possible legal standoff. i'm joined by mark murray. set the scene as far as president. what is typical, what is not when it comes to these kinds of positions on military advisory boards and letting people stay on or not. >> these are advisory boards for a lot hof the service academies you see like the air force academy, west point and the naval academy, and these positions do end up having set dates that you have a term that you serve throughout x-date, and for many of them, the former president, donald trump, ended up appointing people like sean spicer, the former omb director, and kellyanne conway to these positions as trump was ending his presidency or pretty much

headed out the door. >> on the way out the door, right. >> right, and so, you know, the white house ended up saying they want their own people, people who align with their values, and also their qualifications that they see are important for these types of positions. and as we ended up seeing, the likes of kellyanne conway as well as russ, were defiant, along with sean spicer, theying they would not do this or they refuse to resign, so the white house said they were fired. legal experts, when we get to whether this was legal or not, legal experts say the president hof the united states has very wide authority when it comes to these kinds of executive branch appointments, even for people with set terms like, for example, remember james comey, the former fbi director, he had a set term for many more years before donald trump ended up firing him as fbi director. so the courts have usually sided that the president has a wide authority when it comes to these executive branch positions. >> you talked about, mark, the

potential for legal action moving forward. you also had jen psaki saying these decisions were based on whether you were qualified to serf and when you were aligned with the ideas of the administration. spicer does have maybe a navy background, he's also acknowledged he doesn't tell the truth. he's known to not do that. and then people like h.r. mcmast whoor could arguably be qualified to serve on a military academy board, right? >> right, and hallie, this goes back to the way you put it earlier, on kind of cleaning house. i do think there's an argument that maybe on one hand you have h.r. mcmaster and on the other hand, some of the more political appointees in the trump era. at the same time, the white house is arguing there needs to be alignment. they need to have people who are representing their side of things. even if you come from a different political party, you might have different beliefs or views on different issues. if you're not coming add it from good faith on what to do even on

subjects like service academies and advisory boards, you're not going to get anywhere. >> mark murray, thank you. and thanks to all of you for watching this very busy hour. tomorrow, i will not see you here. i will see you from the pentagon because we will be having special coverage to mark 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 6:00 a.m. eastern. at 10:00, we will be across the river, across the potomac in northernverge verge from the pentagon. for now, we'll turn you over to chris jansing who picks up coverage now. >> good thursday morning. i'm chris jansing in for craig melvin. this nob, we're tracking a number of fast moving stories with critical developments including increased security coming to capitol hill. congress and police now taking crucial steps ahead of a scheduled rally in support of people arresting during the january 6th insurrection. one of those steps, the return of that imposing