welcome change. hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. today's breaking news from the biden justice department, the first major legal action from the administration on the near total ban on abortion in texas which yesterday former head of planned parenthood on this program described as, quote, overturning roe v. wade in texas. attorney general merrick garland announcing a lawsuit against the state stressing the law clearly flies in the face of supreme court precedent guaranteeing women the right to make decisions about their own bodies before pregnancy is viable and that it is designed to subvert the u.s. constitution. watch. >> texas does not dispute that its statute violates supreme

court precedent. instead the statute includes an unprecedented scheme to, in the chief justices' words, quote, insulate the state from responsibility, closed quote. it does not rely on the state's executive branch to enforce the law as is the norm in texas and everywhere else. rather, the statute deputizes all private citizens, without any showing of personal connection or injury, to serve as bounty hunters. the obvious and expressly acknowledged intention of this statutory scheme is to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights by thwarting judicial review for as long as possible. thus far the law has had its intended effect. the department of justice has a duty to defend the constitution of the united states and to uphold the rule of law.

today we fulfill that duty by filing the lawsuit i have just described. >> this action from the biden justice department is described by "the wall street journal" today as certain to set off a federal versus state clash over the future of abortion rights. it follows a promise last week from president biden for a whole of government response to the supreme court's order allowing the texas law to stand as well as mounting pressure from his own party for urgent steps. ag garland's actions comes as the white house takes a more strident posture against texas governor abbott and his absurd public pronouncements about exceptions for rape being unnecessary in texas because he will eliminate rapists. >> well, if governor abbott has a means of eliminating all rapists or all rape from the united states, then there would be bipartisan support for that. but given there has never in the history of the country, in the

world, been any leader who has ever been able to eliminate rape, eliminate rapists from our streets, it's even more imperative. it's one of the many reasons, i should say, not the only reason, women in texas should have access to health care. >> ag garland's announcement comes in the wake of new reporting and "the new york times" over concerns of a coordinated campaign by right-leaning groups to push a conservative agenda state by state by state writing this, senator sheldon whitehouse, democrat of rhode island, also called on democrats to investigate whether the texas law was part of a national campaign waged by conservative groups and funded by unnamed donors intended to push certain legislation like voter suppression laws. democrats in congress are working to bolster the legal moves, already considering legislative options to protect a woman's right to choose in texas as well as in at least half a dozen other red states saying they will follow texas' lead.

the shot across the bough is where we start with some of our favorite reporters and friends. "new york times" reporter and msnbc contributor katie bennett is here. also joining us former nurse and current texas state representative donna howard is back, and former acting solicitor general and msnbc legal analyst joins us. neal, can you just break this down for the nonlawyers, myself and our audience what this is? >> so what this is the justice department i've been working for, it's a lawsuit against the state of texas saying this bill is unconstitutional and the bottom line it shows, i think, an intelligent and tough justice department, one that's standing up for people's rights as opposed to taking them away, which is what the trump justice

system did. there are three parts. the complaint you highlighted about abortion, that this texas law flatly is unconstitutional because it restricts women's rights. one is it isolates this vigilante provision that says, oh, the texas officials aren't going to enforce this law. it will be individual citizens. that was a trick that allowed them to estraight court review for a time but that trick and the gig is now up. i think the justice department calls them out on that and says if this were the law of the land it would proliferate in other ways and deprive people of their constitutional rights. and the third leg of the stool is an argument the federal government is directly harmed by these texas restrictions. for example, federal contractors who are required under federal law to get access to medical care and the like and what this law does is it restricts the

ability to do that. what attorney general garland is doing is saying we, the federal government, we're filing this lawsuit not just on behalf of individuals and their rights but the federal government's rights. >> so it sounds so compelling, again, to a nonlawyer. is it the view, in light what have this lawsuit says, that what the supreme court did was basely dodge because it was tricked? did this vigilante piece outsmart the united states supreme court? >> no, i don't think it outsmarted it but this is a case in a different procedural posture with the full weight of the united states behind it and so one could expect a different decision, at least as the case goes up to the u.s. supreme court and courts to say, hey, we have to reach the ultimate merits. here is the problem. ultimately this case is going to go to the united states supreme court and the supreme court already has pending before it a case for mississippi with

abortion restrictions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. both cases have the ability of overturning roe v. wade on the merits. the supreme court will have to decide it. so i think was wise in putting together a complaint that i think in the trial court and in the court of appeals is flatly unconstitutional. when it gets to the supreme court, however, all bets are off. >> neal, i want to ask you, because i don't want to get too far away from the people paying the price today while all the legal moves are important and we're cover them, there may be women who don't have access to make a decision. they don't have agency over their own body. is there anything in this category that can happen quickly? >> yes, the federal government can come in -- they haven't said they are -- and seek an emergency injunction. i hope that they will.

to stop this law right now from going into effect. we heard signs of that in the attorney general's statement. he said women right now are effectively precluded from getting abortions because of the chilling effect of the law and the like this reminds me of the exercise we did in 2010 when arizona enacted sb-1070, serious restrictions on immigration. we carefully studied it and reached almost the same kind of lawsuit as here. it's about the federal government's own unique rights in this area. those two things together are a very compelling case. i do expect this lawsuit to go forward and be bad news for texas until the supreme court hears it. katie benner, you know this garland justice department. they move deliberately and is oftentimes opaque to people outside of your beat. tell me your understanding of what's going on behind the

scenes and what more might be to come. >> sure. attorney general garland did address some of this today. he was asked during the press conference, did you file the lawsuit because of the pressure the biden administration faced from its own constituents, from democrats, from advocates of a woman's right to choose. he said, no, this was something that was determined based on the facts and the law. it seems the justice department as soon as the supreme court chose not to block the texas law, they had been looking at it, reviewed it and determined that the law did as neal said. it sort of uses what attorney general garland called an unprecedented scheme to allow a state to infringe on the constitutionally protected right to abortion by supreme court precedent. it allows the state to infringe on that. but because the state is not the ultimate enforcement mechanism, the state of texas does not enforce the new restrictions, private citizens do, it allows the state to say we're

technically not in violation of supreme court precedent. so what the garland justice did very quickly was determine this is not truly complying with the letter of the law, it is unconstitutional in their rendering and felt they needed to move quickly to sue. the other thing we need to understand is this texas law is being looked at as a blueprint for conservative state legislatures all over the country for issues like abortion. if we see states adopt this mechanism, we should expect the justice department to enact as in texas probably with the same amount of swiftness because it's deeply concerning the idea states can skirt supreme court precedent and other federal law by taking enforcement out of its own hands and putting it into the hands of citizens. >> representative howard, i want to come back to texas, and i

take katie's point this is a contagion, that there has been a wink and a nod that republican legislatures and republican governors heard loud and clear by the united states supreme court to pass whatever they want just to turn the enforcement over to vigilantes. i wonder if you've seen the repercussions of that yet in your state? >> oh, yes, immediate. we have so many clinics that have already stopped offering abortions. they can't risk the liability. they can't risk the expense they would incur in fighting this when they have other services they need to provide to women, family planning services, cancer screening, that sort of thing. yes, an immediate effect with this wild, wild west vigilante bounty hunter mentality and it has absolutely gotten people afraid, which is what its intended purpose was and is

effectively doing that. >> i wanted to ask you about governor abbott's comments yesterday, and i think republicans don't have an answer for a draconian near total ban on abortions, at least 85% of them that happen after the six-week mark. doesn't have an answer why there's no exception for cases of rape or incest. instead of saying he doesn't have an answer, he had this almost preemptive arrest plan for would-be rapists. do you have any information how that will get rolled out across the state in law enforcement? >> no. i'm hopeful he's not going to do something drastic to try to make that actually happen by perhaps even reducing the parameters of what would be considered sexual assault. the fact is, and he should know this. we have the office for sexual assault survivors task force out of his office. and they've been doing a

phenomenal be job of -- texas has been leading in the way in addressing sexual assault. the fact is only about 9% of texans assaulted even report and then only a small percentage, 1% to 3% of those are even prosecuted. i don't know what he's talking about here. this is really ridiculous. i can see a lot of this is political, of course. he is trying to show he's not being totally insensitive about rape, incest, domestic violence but at the same time is being pushed from his right flank by his primary opponent who thinks that because he said people who are survivors of rape have six weeks that he is somehow not pro-life. this is extreme politics any way you look at it. >> i wonder if your office has been hearing from women or even

couples and what advice you have for them. >> the first thing i want to say is that abortion is still legal. it's just much more complicate ed to access. despite this legislation we have so many advocates working nonstop to help people access abortion health care whether it's within the state of texas under the limitations that we have or helping them find a way to get out of state where there are less restrictions and still be able to access that abortion. it is all hands on deck trying to ensure that people do have access and that means there's a lot involved in terms of financing, transportation, all of those things. people are rallying. this is something that has gotten to the heart of what's been for years the efforts here

in texas to prevent women from accessing this constitutional right. we are awake to this. i hope the rest of the country is now and recognizes what is happening in texas will very well come to their state if texas is successful. we're doing all we can to ensure women still have access to this constitutional right to this health care. >> neal, i want to ask you something rallying around in my brain, may have come out of my mouth in the last week, when nominees go up to capitol hill and mutter they'll respect precedent and established law, are they lying? are they spinning? as cecile richards said, texas overturned roe v. wade. >> unfortunately, the confirmation hearings for many years have been kind of a farce in which every nominee says they care seriously about supreme

court precedent and the like and that gives cover to people like the susan collinses of the world, oh, nothing is going to happen when -- i think you and i during several of these hearings have been on tv saying that's not what that particular nominee has said in the past. this is a much harder question and, look, i think the bottom line and the most important thing is presidential elections have the most serious consequences for who is on the united states supreme court. if anyone has to doubt, oh, it doesn't really matter, look at what is going on now and is true of the justice department. this action is such a breath of fresh air. it's what we've been waiting for and is the opposite of what the trump justice department did for four years. >> katie, i want to follow up on that and ask you if you detected any sort of any administration's justice department is constantly dealing with multiple crises,

but are you aware of any sort of shifting resources or different allocations of focus? did this get moved to the top of the list, how this is affecting leaders of the justice department? >> i think the justice department is looking at what the job is in two buckets. one is to look and see what happened in the trump administration that needs to be changed or needs to be rethought to build morale within the department and rebuild trust with the public. at the same time to your point it is putting out fires. i would say the texas law and then the law in georgia and other moves being made to curb the right to vote is top of mind. this is what people care the most about. what they see as immediate threats to constitutional rights including a woman's right to choose protected by supreme

court precedent and for all people in the country to vote. these are the things, to your point, that have become very, very urgent, that they feel i think we will see merrick garland do as he did with voting law. he will not only file the lawsuit against texas, he did in georgia, and will speak out and say to congress, you are the only people, though, who can truly enshrine and protect rights. you make laws. the justice department is limited in what it can do. it can sue. lawsuits take a long time and this will have an immediate effect. the justice department probably will not be able to stop. we also know that it is really up to legislation to decide what is the rule of law in this country and the justice department enforces it. we can expect merrick garland to take on a role he's more comfortable with because he's been the attorney general which is being a public figure who speaks out on behalf of the

administration priorities asking congress to do its job. >> representative howard, i want to ask you about something you alluded to, the pressure governor abbott is feeling from his right flank, which is hard to imagine from where we sit. this is a longtime republican pollster who said this. republicans have been pleading support among suburban women. texas makes that problem worse not better. is there an opportunity here to reveal and show the republicans as completely out of step not just with men and women, not just with democrats but democrats and republicans, 60% of all americans believe abortion should be available in most circumstances if not all. >> absolutely. the growth that has occurred in texas has been in the suburbs as well as 95% of the growth and the census data released is minorities.

we have a real shifting demographic setup. when you look at the soccer moms, the suburbanites, the independents who may have voted republican, they're going to look at not only this but what's been happening with covid and the lack of mask mandates and vaccines. it's been one thing after another that i think is really making it questionable for a lot of folks here about who they want making policies in our state government. it is absolutely coming home and affecting them. i do think, indeed, we're going to see some real changes as we move forward here with 2022 elections. >> neal, if congress were to codify the law of the land as it is, some protections for reproductive, would that law

withstand? would that hold up? >> it would. i've been calling for that more than a year. me and other people saw the writing on the wall. it can pass a law that sweeps away laws like the texas one and codifies roe vs. wade. there are some bad arguments why congress lacks the power. they're bad arguments and the supreme court would have to uphold such a law and that law can be passed by majority vote and i think that vote needs to happen very soon in congress. >> so it's on them, they have to ability to surpass it? >> it would. >> very interesting. we'll stay on this. thank you all for starting us off on this breaking news. when we come back washington, d.c., on alert once again to the threat posed by supporters of the twice

impeached disgraced ex-president. this time set to rally at the capitol next saturday. police and leaders are preparing. plus, how fed up can one red state governor get when it comes to vaccinating people in his own state? we'll show you just as he continues to get no help from fellow republicans, the so-called leaders of the republican party. and in the next hour president biden with a big national address to get a handle on the delta variant. expected to be a new, more aggressive push to get the public and private sectors mandating vaccines. he'll call on all schools to set up testing, how it will play in areas resistant. all those stories and more when "deadline white house" continues after a quick break. r a quick b. give you so little for your old or busted phone, you just end up living with it? i don't think so. verizon lets you trade in your broken phone for a shiny new one. you break it... we upgrade it. you dunk it? crash it? yikes. doggy bone-it? ha-ha! slam it, wham it, strawberry jamit?

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these people are coming back to praise the people who were out to kill -- out to kill members of congress, successfully causing the deaths -- successfully is not the word, but that's the word -- that is what they set out to do of our law enforcement. >> speaker nancy pelosi sounding the alarm as our nation's capitol braces for the threat posed by donald trump's supporters set to descend on the capitol once again for a rally september 18th. capitol police are planning on reinstalling the fencing around the capitol that was put in place after the violence of the insurrection on january 6th. as police continued to track intelligence indicating far-right extremists groups like the proud boys and oath keepers

plan to attend next week's rally which is designed to demand, quote, justice for the hundreds of people who have been charged in connection with the january insurrection. justice for the hundreds of people who ransacked the capitol threatening the lives of sitting members of congress and vice president mike pence and physically attacking, on the scene. co-author of "playbook" eugene daniels and clint watts who worked as a consultant fbi counterterrorism individual. both msnbc contributors. eugene, i know tensions never waned, but what is another planned protest with the stated goal of supporting the insurrectionists doing to what is already sort of a brittle dynamic up there among members? >> it is continuing to split the

parties even further than they have been before when we all know the reason they came on january 6th, the reason that they're coming on september 18th. it's not a bipartisan group of people that are doing this. these are people who are supporters of the former president, likely people who are still consider themselves republicans. it is a huge reminder of how terrible our policies are, where there's a protest celebrating people who ransacked the capitol, said they wanted to hang mike pence. it is part of the white washing on the right about what happened on that day, something that republicans in congress have been a part of and it happened as putting them up as the aggrieved and victims. some got caught up in the moment probably. the point is they were trespassing, ransacking, beating

up law enforcement officers no matter how they got there, no matter how caught up in the moment some people say they were. that is the part continuing to cause friction. there are still republicans who are pushing or allowing donald trump the big lie and all of the lies that were surrounding the 2020 election. >> it's just completely backward. clint watts, they want the poor little insurrectionists to have netflix and visits for jail but don't want the law enforcement officials whose bodies were mutilated, who were tased to have justice. it does speak to what has been green lit in this country. >> it's a bizarre thing, nicolle. these are the capitol police who are still there today trying to protect those same congressmen that are calling them tourists, trying to downplay this or in some cases it was a week ago

talking about playing up the idea of participating in essentially another rally calling for justice for the offenders. not justice for those that were abused. the real key in all of this is the world has gone upside-down and it's all for political gain. what i do notice some of the politicians that were very vigorous and sort of calling for justice for january 6 are backing away from that. here is the problem with that. whenever you dance with the devil, the devil tends to bite back. over time the politicians calling for the rallies it won't be too long until those on the most extreme feel they've been taken advantage of, that they've been told to surface or show up under false pretenses only to see the political leaders not show up. it's a dangerous tightrope for them to walk and is clearly something that only those that aren't very bright would think they could play both sides of the issue, one to rally the voters and constituents and the

other to try and hide and cowher. >> senator schumer, mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy on the rally for jailed january 6 rioters. cnbc is reporting nancy pelosi has invited them to her office for that briefing to be briefed by the capitol police chief tom manger. are they planning on attending that briefing? >> at this point i would assume chuck schumer will be at the briefing but it's likely they will want to be a part of that and get an understanding of what's going on. the fact that you even have to ask the question, nicolle, that is, again, a reminder of where we're at. it's kind of confusing and a little bit ridiculous that we're wondering whether or not the leadership of congress can get together and have an

understanding about a possible threat to the u.s. capitol, and that is where we are. we're eight months since january 6th, more than that, and that is continuing to be the concern and the question is how far are republicans, people like kevin mccarthy, willing to push the idea that like clint was saying playing both sides of the fence here. and that is one of the concerns when you talk to democrats and even some republicans behind closed doors. i think a lot of people didn't think it was going to get as bad, the lie would lead to something like january 6th, that it would continue on until september 18th. but that's where we are and that is the thing i continue to hear, continue to hear from people is how can we even be questioning whether or not members of congress are going to work together to protect the place where they work, the place where

their staffers work. >> well, i would love to know the answer, so i would ask if anyone from kevin mccarthy or mitch mcconnell's office knows the answer, call me, call eugene, let us know and we'll put the answer on the air. color me skeptical, wondering if they would attend or not. i would love to hear that they are, and if we get that information in the next 1:27 we'll bring it to all of you. i want to ask you about something that, to me, clint, is so haunting because it is an echo not just of tucker carlson but vladimir putin, and that is the energy around ashli babbitt. warning of potential violence. the capitol memo notes a rise in heated discussion surrounding ashli babbitt's death. the event may serve as a, quote,

justice for ashli babbitt rally. it started seeing increased attention online after the police officer who fatally shot ashli babbitt spoke out for the first time and revealed his identity. in this space lies donald trump who met with babbitt's mother. vladimir putin has been talking about ashli babbitt way back to january. what has the effect of that been in this space and what is the tie to the let we see? >> where you see donald trump squawk is where the extremists walk. he picks the targets, the issues still. he is the unifying force. he is actually undermined himself a couple times, his comment about vaccines a couple weeks ago that does erode some of his support. what is also remarkable is i start to worry when i see those virtual discussions shift to real physical actions.

i'll give you an example. he went to some of these channels today particularly the proud boys network, you'll see they're printing paraphernalia, making t-shirts that say justice for ashli babbitt or whoever their chosen person is that they see as being injustly held. separately what's remarkable they go for the idea or they will pay attention to the rhetoric of vladimir putin who just this last year has openly detained and put down protests in his own country, peaceful protests, and would never under any circumstance allow any sort of violent protest or anyone to carry a gun under any circumstance in to moscow as part of an armed group or militia group. it would never happen. they would be met with violent resistance. it's all of this sort of irony underneath of it that's hard to wrap your head around when you read what they're saying, when you see what they're talking about but is straight authoritarianism. it is fascism at its core. and it's ultimately about a

white nationalist. i think that's consistent across all of it. part of the reason that you see a lot of this rhetoric to the officer who defended against ashli babbitt is because he's african-american. it is tied up in race issues. the same thing happens with women that come and speak out. you see a lot of misogynist rhetoric that pops up. it is targeted in that way. all minorities, all minority religions against women is a stew of awfulness you would never have dreamed of in your life and could never have happened without the internet and social media. >> a stew of awfulness. that will stick with me. all the press attention and congressional briefings around this washington event pushes some of the darkest forces that are convening online to other capitols in other places on the 18th? >> i definitely think so, nicolle. it's already happening. you're seeing some calls, a false flag, it's a false flag to round us up on september 18th.

you're going to see that. you're seeing political leaders back away from it. if they back away, their followers back away as well. what i'm more worried about the state capitols, the same political leaders in the republican party that are so worried about taxes and have been cutting budgets, create these instances which absolutely tax the system here at the federal government, overtime, law enforcement, fences. and at every state capitol around the country where they're already stressed under covid, these republican leaders calling for the rallies are stressing the system around the country. >> and perhaps most sinisterly, if that's a word, by design. eugene daniels, thank you for spending some time with us today. clint is sticking around. florida's governor and trump wannabe desantis, seemed confused asking out loud how on earth have masks become a political issue. he actually said that. the man who literally made masks

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for god's sakes, how difficult is this to understand? why in the world do we have to come up with these crazy ideas, and they're crazy ideas, that the vaccine has something in it and it's tracing people wherever they go? and the same very people that are say that go are carrying their cell phones around.

i mean, come on. come on. >> i never thought of it that way. west virginia governor jim justice. he has had it with all the disinformation around covid vaccines, the hesitation and reluctance to take them. his state ranks second to last but if governor justice wants to know why he's struggling to get his state vaccinated he should take a long, hard look at his party, starting with the disgraced ex-president who leads it. during a fox news interview last night encouraged a fox host to let his unvaccinated wife, quote, have her freedom. whatever that means. and there's florida governor ran desantis who said this about vaccines. >> the vaccines have -- it's about your health and whether you want that protection or not. it really doesn't impact me or

anyone else. >> except all of our freaking kids, every one of them under 12. it impacts all of them. everything he said was false. it reduces transmission and the chances of a new variant emerging. it's the only way out. it's the only way to get back to normal. he made this incredible claim against masks yesterday. >> since i've been governor -- i don't know why masks have politics around it. >> it would be funny if it wasn't killing people in your state. it's the same guy who sold merchandise that read don't fauci my florida and has signed legislation and spent money banning schools from mandating masks. joining our conversation is editor at-large of "the bulwark" and an msnbc contributor charlie sykes and associate editor and

columnist a.b. stoddard. you know where i lose the thread on this they all worship at the altar of donald trump. if he runs again they're going to be relegated to the hinter lands anyway. why not try to save some of your own citizens? >> well, that's the point. jim justice is the governor of one of the trumpiest states in the country and shows it's possible -- it's possible to say, you don't have to buy this. i mean, you don't have to encourage people to embrace the lunacy. the contrast between jim justice, who is governor of a state i think trump won by 50 points, and he's not intimidated, versus ron desantis. shamelessness is a superpower and you also pointed out somebody that's actually marketed merchandise don't fauci

my florida. the thing is he is so deeply cynical in his demagoguery here. this is clearly his brand. this is clearly his path to the nomination. you asked the right question. at some point don't you have to put the lives of your constituents first? and jim justice is showing it can be done by the republican governor in an extremely trumpian state. very few excuses left for people like ron desantis. >> this is a stupid conversation. this is about republican leaders who have packed pediatric icu units. it's not funny. it's not funny to republicans in their state, no those saying good-bye to people who didn't get vaccinated. when do they wake up and realize how stupid they're being?

>> well, it's different. the people on the ground resisting the vaccine are hoovering toxic pollution on the internet and on facebook. and talking about this stew of awfulness that can lead to violence by white nationalists who support donald trump and leading to death in overcrowded hospitals. the anti-vax movement was strong. it was helped by donald trump and this is why you see someone like governor desantis who unlike governor justice is trying to replace donald trump and head the republican party and knows this animates the base. you can no longer approve of the vaccine. so months and months and months ago he actually held an event, gave fox news an exclusive for.

where seniors were getting vaccinated. he was pro-vaccine but injection, anti-vaccine mandate, let's get you the regeneron so once you're infected i'll get you this medicine so maybe you don't end up in the hospital. he knows his numbers are plummeting. he knows the rates of death and infection in the state are ghastly. but he picks these fights and of course knows that masks are a front on the battlefield and delights in that because it animates the base and he wants to be a hero if donald trump doesn't run for president. he is well aware of the infection and death rates, everything going on the ground in the schools, the counties. defying his attempts to stop mask mandates, doing this for one reason.

three republicans outspoken about the vaccine misinformation and they cannot fight this battle alone when the whole party is fueling hesitancy and saying things like, well, you have your freedom. it's like liz cheney and adam kinzinger trying to fight the entire party on january 6th. when we come back president biden cleaning house, having to remove several really extraordinary standout holdovers from the trump years. from their posts on advisory boards. nothing personal, guys. just looking for qualified people this time. solid burn. that's next. that's next.

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providing energy whenever it's needed. because seeing a more sustainable world isn't far in the future. we're building it... now. ge building a world that works. just this afternoon nbc news has confirmed that the biden administration has completed a process that amounts to cleaning house. an effort to remove a number of official from advisory board positions, many of them appointed as a kind of reward, i guess, in the dying -- and we mean dying hours of the trump presidency. the white house insists the move is based on qualifications, not politics. although the termination process is now complete, many of the trump era officials initially refused to resign their posts. you might recognize some of

these names. there are 18 of them. people like sean spicer, kellyanne conway, who posted her refusal letter on twitter in which she ironically de cried -- this is a quote -- a break from presidential norms. you mean like the insurrection? charlie and a.b. are back. i don't want to color this conversation. this is stupid, too. i mean these are people who worked for a president who incited an insurrection and refused to leave. so i guess, of course, they refuse to leave their boards, dharlie. >> could i comment on the last segment briefly? >> please. >> what has happened in the republican party, the contrast between the way the republicans were willing to rally around the national interest in the wake of 9/11 and make significant sacrifices in terms of government power, even civil liberties, and their unwillingness to do the same with a coronavirus pandemic that

has taken the same number of lives lost on 9/11 every couple of days now. this particular issue is -- it is silly. look, under normal circumstances presidents do not approve the appointments of their predecessor to these honoriveic positions but these were not normal appointments. let's be honest about it. donald trump was not a normal presidential administration. so, you know, clearly there's kind of a middle finger to the country in putting sean spicer on this board, putting kellyanne conway on this board. i think the biden administration is belatedly just cleaning house, as is very much their legal right to do so. >> yeah, i mean, look, i take your first point and i think it is much more profound in this conversation about these two people who really ushered in -- sean spicer with his first briefing with the lie about crowd size and kellyanne conway in one of her earliest appearances on "meet the press" talking about alternative facts.

you know, they ushered in some of what has led to this bifurcation in information streams and reality and all of the bologna about the vaccine that the governor of west virginia is talking about, a.b.. but the notion that people who were part of an administration that ushered in the first unpeaceful, deadly transition of power is insane. they should have resigned in shame. >> it is so interesting because obviously naming them to these boards in the final, you know, minutes of an administration is so unserious and everybody knew that, but sprinkled into that group are sean spicer and kellyanne conway who love nothing more than this new spotlight to say on twitter, you know, we're going to sue and we're not going to resign. it is not the kind of thing -- and jack keane, general keane and h.r. mcmaster who are also

on the list are going to do. but in terms of people who enjoy the attention, this move gives them that, and that's probably not a consequence that the administration was considering. again, they have the right to have people, you know, donald trump did plenty of replacing when he was in office for four years. that is to be sure. administrations have the right to have their own people. it just gives a good twitter box to people who are waiting for one. >> a.b. stoddard, charlie sykes, thank you for spending time with us, especially on these stories. the next hour of "deadline: white house" starts. let me tell you what we have, live remarks from president biden on covid. starts right after a quick break. don't go anywhere. dry eye symptoms keep driving you crazy? inflammation in your eye might be to blame. [inflammation] let's kick ken's ache and burn into gear! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief.

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♪ ♪ hi again, everyone. it is 5:00 in new york. any moment now president biden will deliver remarks on fighting the covid-19 pandemic, outlining a sweeping new white house strategy to ramp up pressure on unvaccinated americans and stress that the only way back to any sort of normalcy is to get as many shots in arms as possible. the big, new policy the president will announce requiring all employers with at least 100 employees to ensure that their workers are vaccinated or force them to get tested weekly. the white house estimates this will impact 80 million workers. the president is also set to announce a vaccine requirement for the millions of health care workers who work at locations that receive medicare and medicaid funding. he will call on large

entertainment venues to require proof of vaccination or testing for entry, and he will sign an executive order mandating vaccines among all federal executive branch workers and contractors that do business with the federal government. "the new york times" describes these moves as, quote, the most expansive actions biden has taken to control the pandemic since he assumed the presidency. "the times" adding, quote, the mandates are a marked shift for a president who, mindful of the contentious political climate around vaccinations, initially steered away from any talk of making vaccines mandatory. but the fda approval which prompted the pentagon to require its employees to get vaccinated, has clear strengthened mr. biden's hand. the president's address comes as the summer he once hoped would be a time to declare independence from the virus was, unfortunately, the opposite. with slow vaccination rates and the contagious delta variant spreading rapidly, infections and hospitalizations in the country are now much higher than

they were one month ago. the country currently averages more than 150,000 new cases and about 1,500 deaths each day. the president of the united states. >> i want to talk to you about where we are in the battle against covid-19, the progress we've made and the work we have left to do. it starts with understanding this. even as the delta variant 19 has -- covid-19 has been hitting this country hard, we have the tools to combat the virus if we can come together and use those tools. if we raise our vaccination rate, protect ourselves and others with masking, expanded testing and identify people who are infected, we can and we will turn the tide on covid-19. it will take a lot of hard work and it is going to take some time. many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million americans who are still not vaccinated,

even though the vaccine is safe, effective and free. you might be confused about what is true and what is false about covid-19. so before i outline the new steps to fight covid-19 that i'm going to be announcing tonight, let me give you some clear information about where we stand. first, we have considerably -- we have made considerable progress in battling covid-19. when i became president, about 2 million americans were fully vaccinated. today over 175 million americans have that protection. before i took office we hadn't ordered enough vaccine for every american. just weeks in office we did. the week before i took office on january 20th of this year, over 25,000 americans died that week from covid-19. last week that grim weekly toll

was down 70%, and in three months before i took office our economy was faltering, creating just 50,000 jobs a month. we're now averaging 700,000 new jobs a month in the past three months. this progress is real. but while america is in much better shape than it was seven months ago when i took office, i need to tell you a second fact. we are in the tough stretch and it could last for a while. highly contagious delta variant have i began to warn america about back in july spread late summer like it did in other countries before us. while the vaccines provide strong protection for the vaccinated, we read about and hear about and we see the stories of hospitalized people, people on their death beds, among the unvaccinated over the past few weeks. this is a pandemic of the

unvaccinated, and it is caused by the fact that despite america having unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million americans who have failed to get the shot. to make matters worse, there are elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against covid-19. instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they're ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from covid in their communities. this is totally unacceptable. third, if you wonder how all of this adds up, here is the math. the vast majority of the americans are doing the right thing. nearly three-quarters of the eligible have gotten at least one shot, but one quarter has

not gotten any. that's nearly 80 million americans not vaccinated, and the country as large as ours, that's 25% minority, that 25% can cause a lot of damage and they are. the unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals, are overrunning emergency rooms and intensive care units, leaving no room for someone with a heart attack or pancreatitis or cancer. fourth, i want to emphasize that the vaccines provide very strong protection from severe illness from covid-19. i know there's a lot of confusion and misinformation, but the world's leading scientists confirm that if you are fully vaccinated, your risk of severe illness from covid-19 is very low. in fact, based on available data from the summer, only one out of

every 160,000 fully vaccinated americans was hospitalized for covid per day. these are the facts. so here is where we stand. the path ahead, even with the delta variant, is not nearly as bad as last winter. but what makes it incredibly more frustrating is we have the tools to combat covid-19 and a distinct minority of americans supported by a distinct minority of officials are keeping us from turning the corner. these pandemic politics, as i refer to it, are making people sick, causing unvaccinated people to die. we cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the large majority of americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal. as your president i'm announcing tonight a new plan to require more americans to be vaccinated

to combat those blocking public health. my plan also increases testing, protects our economy, and will make our kids safer in schools. it consists of six broad areas of action, and many specific measures in each, each of those actions that you can read more about at whitehouse.gov. whitehouse.gov. the measures, these are going to take time to have full impact, but if we implement them i believe, and the scientists indicate, that the months ahead we can reduce the number of unvaccinated americans, increase hospitalizations and deaths, and allow our children to go to schools safely and keep our economy strong by keeping businesses open. first, we must increase vaccinations among the unvaccinated with new

vaccination requirements. of the nearly 80 million eligible americans who have not gotten vaccinated, many said they were waiting for approval from the federal drug administration, the fda. well, last month the fda granted that approval. so the time for waiting is over. this summer we made progress through a combination of vaccine requirements and incentives as well as the fda approval. 4 million more people got their first shot in august than they did in july, and we need to do more. this is not about freedom or personal choice. it is about protecting yourself and those around you, the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love. my job as president is to protect all americans. so tonight i'm announcing that the department of labor is developing an emergency rule to

require all employers with 100 or more employees, that together employ over 80 million workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test at least once a week. some of the biggest companies are already requiring this. united airlines, disney, tyson's food, and even fox news. the bottom line, we're going to protect vaccinated workers from unvaccinated co-workers. we are going to reduce the spread of covid-19 by increasing the share of the workforce that is vaccinated in businesses all across america. my plan will extend the vaccination requirements that i previously issued in the health care field. already i have announced we'll be requiring vaccinations at all nursing home workers who treat patients on medicare and medicaid because i had that

federal authority. tonight i'm using that same authority to expand that to cover those who work in hospitals, home health care facilities or other medical facilities. a total of 17 million health care workers. if you are seeking care at a health facility, you should be able to know that the people treating you are vaccinated. simple, straightforward, period. next, i will sign an executive order that will now require all executive branch federal employees to be vaccinated, all. i've signed another executive order that will require federal contractors to do the same. if you want to work with the federal government and do business with us, get vaccinated. if you want to do business with the federal government, vaccinate your workforce. tonight i'm removing one of the last remaining obstacles that make it difficult for you to get

vaccinated. the department of labor will require employers who have 100 or more workers to give those workers paid time off to get vaccinated. no one should lose pay in order to get vaccinated or take a loved one to get vaccinated. today in total the vaccine requirements in my plan will affect about 100 million americans, two-thirds of all workers. for other sectors, i issue this appeal. to those of you running large entertainment venues from sports arenas to concert venues to movie theaters, please require folks to get vaccinated or show a negative test as a condition of entry. to the nation's family physicians, pediatricians, gps, general practitioners, you are the most trusted medical voice to your patients. you may be the one person who

can get someone to change their mind about being vaccinated. tonight i'm asking each of you to reach out to your unvaccinated patients over the next two weeks and make a personal appeal to them to get the shot. america needs your personal involvement in this critical effort. my message to unvaccinated americans is this. what more is there to wait for? what more do you need to see? we've made vaccinations free, safe and convenient. the vaccine has fda approval. over 200 million americans have gotten at least one shot. we've been patient but our patience is wearing thin and your refusal has cost all of us. so, please, do the right thing. but don't just take it from me. listen to the voices of

unvaccinated americans who are lying in hospital beds taking their final breath saying, "if only i had gotten vaccinated, if only." it is a tragedy. please don't let it become yours. the second piece of my plan is continuing to protect the vaccinated. for the vast majority of you who have gotten vaccinated, i understand your anger at those who haven't gotten vaccinated. i understand the anxiety about getting a breakthrough case. but as the science makes clear, if you are fully vaccinated you are highly protected from severe illness even if you get covid-19. in fact, recent data indicates there is only one confirmed positive case per 5,000 fully vaccinated americans per day. you're as safe as possible and we're doing everything we can to

keep it that way, keep it that way, keep you safe. that's where boosters come in, the shots that different you even more protection than after your second shot. now, i know there's been some confusion about boosters so let me be clear. last month our top government doctors announced an initial plan for booster shots for vaccinated americans. they believe that the booster is likely to provide the highest level of protection yet. of course, the decision of which booster shots to give, when to start them and who will give them will be left completely to the scientists at the fda and the centers for disease control. while we wait, we've done our part. we've bought enough boosters, enough booster shots and the distribution system is ready to

administer them. as soon as they're authorized, those eligible will be able to get a booster right away in tens of thousands of sites across the country for most americans at your nearby drugstore and for free. the third piece of my plan is keeping -- and maybe the most important is keeping our children safe and our schools open. for any parent, it doesn't matter how low the risk of any illness or accident is when it comes to your child or grandchild. trust me, i know. so let me speak to you directly. let me speak to you directly to help ease some of your worries. it comes down to two separate categories. children ages 12 and older who are eligible for a vaccine now and children ages 11 and under who are not yet eligible, the safest thing for your child 12 and older is to get them

vaccinated. they get vaccinated for a lot of things. that's it. get them vaccinated. as with adults, almost all of the serious covid-19 cases we are seeing among adolescents are in unvaccinated 12 to 17 year olds, an age group that lags behind in vaccination rates. so, parents, please get your teenager vaccinated. what about children under the age of 12 who can't get vaccinated yet? well, the best way for a parent to protect their child under the age of 12 starts at home. every parent, every teen sibling, every caregiver around them should be vaccinated. children have four times higher chance of getting hospitalized if they live in a state with low vaccination rates rather than states with high vaccination rates. now, if you are a parent of a young child, you are wondering

when will it be -- when many it be the vaccine available for them. i strongly support independent, scientific review for vaccine uses for children under 12. we can't take short cuts without scientific work. but i have made it clear i will do everything within my power to support the fda with any resource it needs to continue to do this as safely and as quickly as possible, and our nation's top doctors are committed to keeping the public at large updated on the process so parents can plan. now to the schools. we know that if schools follow the science and implement the safety measures like testing, masking, adequate ventilation systems which we provided the money for, social distancing and vaccinations, then children can be safe from covid-19 in schools. today about 90% of school staffs

and teachers are vaccinated. we should get that to 100%. my administration has already acquired teachers at the schools run by the defense department because i have the authority as president of the federal system, the defense department and the interior department, to get vaccinated. that's authority i process. tonight i'm announcing that we'll require all of nearly 300,000 educators in the federal-paid head start programs must be vaccinated as well to protect your youngest, our youngest most precious americans and give parents comfort. tonight i'm calling on all governors to require vaccinations for all teachers and staff. some already have done so. we need more to step up. vaccination requirements in schools are nothing new. they work. they're overwhelmingly supported by educators and their unions,

and all school officials trying to do the right thing by our children, i'll always be on your side. let me be blunt. my plan also takes on elected officials in states that are undermining you in these life saving actions. right now local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while their governor picks a fight with them and even threatens their salaries or their jobs. talk about bullying the schools. if they'll not help, if these governors won't help us beat the pandemic, i will use my power as president to get them out of the way. the department of education has already begun to take legal action against states undermining protection that local school officials have ordered. any teacher or school official whose pay is withheld for doing the right thing, we will have

that pay restored by the federal government 100%. i promise you i will have your back. the fourth piece of my plan is increasing testing and masking. from the start america's failed to do enough covid-19 testing. in order to better detect and control the delta variant i'm taking steps tonight to make testing more available, more affordable and more convenient. i will use the defense production act to increase production of rapid tests including those that you can use at home. while that production is ramping up, my administration has worked with top retailers like walmart, amazon and kroger, and tonight we're announcing no later than next week each of these outlets will start to sell at-home rapid test kits at cost for the next

three months. this immediate price reduction for at-home test kits for up to 35% reduction. we'll also expand -- expand free testing at 10,000 pharmacies around the country, and we'll commit -- we're committing $2 billion to purchase nearly 300 million rapid tests for distribution to community health centers, food banks, schools, so that every american, no matter their income, can access free and convenient tests. this is important to everyone, particularly for a parent or a child -- with a child not old enough to be vaccinated. you will be able to test them at home and test those around them. in addition to testing, we know masking helps stop the spread of covid-19. that's why when i came into

office i required masks for all federal buildings and on federal lands, on airlines and other modes of transportation. today, tonight i'm announcing that the transportation safety administration, the tsa, will double the fines on travelers that refuse to mask. if you break the rules, be prepared to pay. by the way, show some respect. the anger you see on television toward flight attendants and others doing their job is wrong. it is ugly. the fifth piece of my plan is protecting our economic recovery. because of our vaccination program and the american rescue plan which we passed early in my administration, we've had record job creation for a new administration. economic growth unmatched in 40 years.

we cannot let unvaccinated do this progress -- undo it, turn it back. so tonight i'm announcing the additional steps to strengthen our economic recovery. we will be expanding covid-19 economic injury disaster loan programs. that's a program that's going to allow small businesses to borrow up to $2 million from the current $500,000, to keep going if covid-19 impacts on their sales. these low-interest long-term loans require no repayment for two years and can be used to hire and retain workers, purchase inventory or even pay down higher cost debt racked up since the pandemic began. i'll also be taking additional steps to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic. sixth, we're going to continue to improve the care of those who do get covid-19.

in early july i announced the deployment of surge response teams. these are teams compromised of experts from the department of health and human services, the cdc, the defense department and the federal emergency management agency, fema, to areas in the country that need help to stem the spread of covid-19. since then the federal government has deployed nearly 1,000 staff including doctors, nurses, paramedics, into 18 states. today i'm announcing that the defense department will double the number of military health teams, that they'll deploy to help their fellow americans in hospitals around the country. additionally we are increasing medicines recommended by real doctors, not conspiracy

theoryists. the monoclonal antibodies have been shown to reduce the infection up to 60% for those at risk of developing severe disease. we have distributed 1.4 million courses of these treatments to save lives and reduce the strain on hospitals. tonight i'm announcing we will increase the average pace of shipment across the country of free monoclonal antibody treatments by another 50%. before i close, let me say this. communities of color are disproportionately impacted by this virus. as we continue to battle covid-19 we will ensure that equity continues to be at the center of our response. we will ensure that everyone is reached. my first responsibility as president is to protect the american people and make sure we have enough vaccine for every american including enough boosters for every american who is approved to get one.

we also know that this virus transcends borders. that's why even as we execute this plan at home we need to continue fighting the virus overseas, continue to be the arsenal of vaccines. we're proud to have donated nearly 140 million vaccines over 90 countries, more than all other countries combined including europe, china and russia combined. that's american leadership on a global stage. that's just the beginning. we've also now started to ship another 500 million covid vaccines, pfizer vaccines, purchased to donate to 100 lower income countries in need of vaccines. i will be announcing additional steps to help the rest of the world later this month. as i recently released the key parts of my pandemic preparedness plan so that america isn't caught flat footed

with a new pandemic comes again, as it will, next month i'm also going to release a plan in greater detail. so let me close with this. we have so -- we have made so much progress during the past seven months of this pandemic. the recent increases in vaccinations in august already are having an impact in some states where case counts are dropping in recent days. even so, we remain at a critical moment, a critical time. we have the tools. now we just have to finish the job with truth, with science, with confidence, and together as one nation. look, we are the united states of america. there's nothing, not a single thing we are unable to do if we do it together. so let's stay together. god bless you all and all those who continue to serve on the

front lines of this pandemic. may god protect our troops. get vaccinated. >> mr. president. >> when will -- be ready. >> is it constitutional, mr. president? >> president biden with a big address, with big policy proposals. he summed it up there with his last whispered words, get vaccinated. these were the most specific remarks on how to combat the delta variant and acknowledging this point in vaccine hesitancy and disinformation. watching along with us "washington post" bureau chief ashley parker and msnbc political analyst, also watching with us dr. bhadelia, also an msnbc medical contributor. dr. redlener is here, founder of disaster preparedness at columbia university. he is an msnbc analyst.

my colleague steph ruhle we all know, the host of the 9:00 p.m. hour. steph, i want to start with you. the pieces add up to an impact, the exact number of unvaccinated americans. i'm guessing that is by design. of course, some of the people in that group of federal workers, of headstart teachers, employees with more than 100 employees are surely already vaccinated, but talk about the potential impact of what he rolled out today. >> this is absolutely huge. make no mistake. this is the white house's work around to get america vaccinated. this could impact 80 million people, requiring all of these businesses that have any sort of contract with the federal government -- as i said, over 80 million people. this is going to be a game changer. so are we going to see some businesses sue the administration say, hey, we don't want to do this? sure. but for the most part, ceos that i'm speaking to, especially ceos who run big businesses in the south, this is exactly what they want.

they are looking for the federal government to give them air cover so they can require vaccines because think about this. if you run a business right now and you put the vaccine mandate in place, you run the risk that your employees who don't want to get it could say, you know what, stephanie? i'm going to go quit and work at your competitor down the road that doesn't have such strict rules. this evens the playing field. they can do it with osha. we've seen other presidents use osha to do it before. this is how the president is going to most aggressively get america vaccinated. remember, it was the government that got us the vaccine. it was the medical community that educated us, and it is the business community that holds the carrot to get america vaccinated. you are always going to have the hard-core anti-vaxxers at the fringe, but this is the big move. it is going to have a massive impact. >> steph, he talked about companies with more than 100 employees. he talked about companies that already have vaccine mandates and mentioned fox news.

not the obvious divide here. what other than the cultural and regional dynamics you are mentioning here are holding up this step? >> there isn't one. right. we saw some businesses hold back until the fda gave it official approval, and now we have it. companies absolutely want their employees to be vaccinated. also, because it improves consumer confidence. you and i are both vaccinated. do we really want to go into a store with our children under the age of 12 where we don't know if the employees are vaccinated? no, we don't. so businesses care about this because they care about the bottom line. always remember, ceos don't care about pom ticks. they care about doing business. how are we going to get our self into true economy recovery? it is to get america vaccinated. we know it from the business world. the fact he is pointing at fox news is extraordinary. this is the clearest we have seen our president angry. he clearly said, this is the pandemic of the unvaccinated and

it is. >> you know, ashley parker, calling out and really holding up -- i won't even say holding out, but lifting up fox news for having a vaccine mandate undermines all of the garbage i saw as sort of hot takes from far right-wing -- not even far right-wing, but right-wing critics of this administration. basically what he is saying is he wants everyone to do what they're doing to protect themselves and their high-paid powerful hosts. >> well, that's exactly right. to borrow a bidenism, in some ways it was the "come on, man" speech, right. he was trying to do a lot of things, speaking to a number of different audiences. one of those was expressing real frustration with the people who are not vaccinated, and one of the reasons that a portion of the population is not vaccinated is in part because of outlets like fox news and right-wing conservative media that has very much pushed an anti-science message. so holding up fox news in that

way makes a lot of sense. he subtly -- or even not so subtly calling out their hypocrisy from what they mandated for their employees versus what some of their prime time hosts are advocating. that frustration, too, in some ways it was doing double duty. it was not just directed to the people that are not vaccinated but sending a meddage to the audience he addressed, those who are vaccinated who share his frustration and anger and acknowledging, i know what it is like and these are the various things i'm trying to do to get this situation under control and get that 80 million people, that percentage of the population to get on board and help the country. >> dr. redlener, he also spoke to -- i hope this is a universal concern still in this country, concern about our children. i know there are pediatric icu units in a lot of parts of the country, in the south the most unvaccinated states that are tragically at capacity. he spoke about not just that

anxiety. he spoke to two pieces of this. the actors he described as bullies who are preventing schools from protecting their youngest students, the ones not eligible for vaccines, but also talked about how to keep schools safe. there are things you can do. he mandated vaccine for teachers. he seemed to do that with teachers who have a federal overlap, head start teachers, teachers who teach through the defense department or department of interior. he talked about using the defense production act and he talked about partnerships with giant retailers with amazon, walmart and kroger. talk about those pieces as sort of a buffer for our kids. >> yeah, any koem. this is actually an extraordinary speech and one of the most effective strategies we have seen in a long time when it comes to going after a major public health crisis. this will go down in the annals of major public health wars

against things like smallpox and polio. as far as children in schools are concerned, he was very specific. in fact, we saw a kind of earlier release of the plan today, and it is the opposite of puffery. it is filled with absolute hard-core programs and recommendation for everything from teachers and parents to businesses and so on. actually, it is extremely encouraged by what i heard today. a very impressive show. for parents though, i think it really is important that they do whatever they can as individual parents for their own children, but as well banning together with other parents who insist that no adult human being can enter a school that is not able to prove that they've been vaccinated. i don't think testing is a substitute for that either. so teachers, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, administrators, everybody needs to get vaccinated. i think the message from the president was clear, you need to do this. he has basically pulled out

every single tool available to the federal government to move this process along and get hopefully this covid nightmare over with sooner rather than later, nicolle. >> dr. bhadelia, i want your reaction to the speech, to the policies in it, but also to his giving voice to the exasperation and anxiety of vaccinated americans who feel like they've done everything they've been asked to do. they put their mask on. they took their mask off. they got vaccinated. they put their mask back on now indoors. they're test in. they're doing everything right. he really spoke to patience wearing thin. >> yeah, nicolle. he said at the beginning of the talk, this is the pandemic of the unvaccinated. but what he said in not so many words is that also, listen, we are still in a pandemic because so many of us are unvaccinated. it is a subtle difference but it makes a difference, which is that if a majority of us had gotten vaccinated in a timely manner you could have disconnected the cases from the hospitalizations, we would not be back in this crisis, you know, of the health care system that we are seeing.

part of, you know, this giving air to some of this frustration health care workers in particular, as you notice, 17 million health care workers will be affected by this new vaccine requirement that are taking medicare and medicaid eligible interest in their facility. health care workers occupy an important place in our community. they are at the nexus between communities and patients. they are around patients who are vulnerable, who may have taken the vaccine and immunocompromised and then are there in the hospital for something else. they might be around other health care workers that they could expose, and there might be a cluster that take away people from care. so it becomes important to ensure that that group is vaccinated. i know there's been concerns, you know, there's concerns there are a portion of health care workers that have mandates go in place, particularly in areas that are hard hit that may just lead and it might lead to shortages, and i think it is something we have to look at as mitigation strategies. it will be interesting to see

how many that actually impacts. however, you have to weigh that against the cost of having unvaccinated health care workers and how many people would be exposed and hurt from that phenomenon as well. >> yeah. i mean what he promised the country, dr. redlener, is that you should not and you will not be at risk if you go into a facility seeking health care treatment. he also called on physicians. he named checked pediatricians, general practitioners, family doctors to go through their files -- he didn't use that word, but to go through their patient list and reach out personally, call anyone who is not yet vaccinated who is over 12 years old. what will the impact of that be? >> that was a pretty power fm message that he gave. just in terms of what he was just saying, i think we have a very, very angry and frustrated in some cases group of our primary health care providers, doctors, icu doctors, et cetera,

especially in those states where the icus and the hospitals in general are being overwhelmed. they're at their wit's end. i think asking them to go ahead and make these calls and reach out was a great message from the president. i think some may be too frustrated at this point to do anything more than they're already doing. however, i do think the words of the president are going to help people who do feel so angry, including those in the health care system. you know, you see nurses and doctors literally in tears with frustration seeing people on their death beds saying they wish they had gotten the shot. you know, what is it that we're asking of our health care colleagues? we're so dependent on them, and it is just mind boggling to see them so frustrated. but, hopefully, they will heed the president's advice and make this last push to do everything they can to make patients be aware of how critical it is. the last thing i would like to say. >> please. >> you know, this is not a matter of individual's choice or freedom of choice.

it is about a choice that you make that will or won't affect other people in your family and in your community. it is not just about you guys. it is about all of us. >> yeah. i mean, ashley, that seemed to be his point. you know, the cdc has released studies of a single teacher i believe in northern california, covid positive, breathing and infecting kindergartners. what a nightmare. that is every parents' nightmare. the vaccine mandate, the mask mandates make that fear go away, make that risk go away. the president also using his platform to talk about something that all of us who troll twitter more than we would like to admit have sat and watched, and i have wept watching these death bed pleas for loved ones to not do what they did, to take the vaccine, to not wait until it is too late when their loved one, their husband or a young spouse or a daughter is on aventilator leaving behind multiple young children. we have all seen those videos. the president gave voice to that

horror. >> he did. >> yes, he sure did. that's one of the through lines of this speech also was no matter who you are -- again, he talked to so many different audiences, the vaccinated, the unvaccinated, communities of color who are hardest hit, parents of kids who are 12 and over, parents of kids who are 12 and under, but the through line was vaccines, vaccines, vaccines. the vaccinated americans, he talked about a booster and how it is incredibly important. for unvaccinated americans he talked about how vaccines are important not just to protect themselves and avoid what you said, those harrowing, devastating death bed pleas before they're intubated, please, can i get the first shot now, but also the importance of others. he talked about vaccines, getting kids who are 12 and over and eligible to get vaccines, and the importance of vaccines in families where maybe your kid can't get the vaccine but you can make sure everyone around them, yourself, a caregiver, an older sibling is vaccinated. it is davy stating pandemic.

it is incredibly confounding and deadly. if there's one thing he can do -- and he talked about vaccines for the global community. but there's one thing that he made clear is that the best answer the u.s. and the world has right now are vaccines. >> steph, you cover these stories and tell them just about better than anybody here of the human toll this has taken. what part of this speech today do you think breaks through to those for whom nothing else has yet? >> i dully think this speech speaks to parents out there. you and i are both moms. we know we have kids under that vaccination age, and it is important to get them tested. getting tested is really hard, and our kids wake up day in and day out, maybe they have the sniffles, maybe they have a cough. the fact that we are seeing the president so carefully create this partnership with kroger, walmart, amazon, i have spoken with walmart and amazon today saying we're thrilled to have this partnership with the white house. let's be really clear. the government is not

subsidizing these companies so they're going to sell these at-home tests cheaper. if they were, you would suddenly see the conspiracy theorist whack-a-doodles saying it is big business cashing in again, they're making so much money. they're not. they're not making so much money. than a selling these tests at cost because they want parents to be able to test their kids at home, kids who cannot get vaccinated and who could spread this thing. it is huge. in terms of public health, this is where we saw a president plead with the country and companies saying public health comes before profits. it is very rare you see any company say this, and for parents out there who are panicked, because all of us are now out and about. i'm in our office right now and i will go home to a house with an unvaccinated child under the age of 12. i'm scared about that. i'm scared about it every day. the president spoke to all of us. >> i'm scared about it. thanks for bringing that up, steph. ashley parker, dr. nahid

bhadelia, dr. irwin redlener and stephanie ruhle, thank you for being part of our coverage today. when we come back two heavyweights of the legal world on opposite sides of the political aisle are teaming up to protect all election workers who are now increasingly under threat from pushers of the big lie about election fraud. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. what the world needs now... is people. people who see healthcare a little bit differently. where technology helps doctors provide more precise care...

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democracy, and all of you who have not said a word are complicit in this. fight for every legal vote. go through your due process. we encourage you, use your first amendment, that's fine. death threats, physical threats, intimidation, it is too much. it is not right. someone is going to get hurt. someone is going to get shot. someone is going to get killed. >> we play that as often as we do for all the wrong reasons, because he was right. that was georgia elections official and republican gabriel sterlings warning back in december that u.s. elections workers, officials and their families under threat for doing their jobs. now nine months later those same workers have received little help from anybody, more threats and laws limiting and criminalizing their involvement in elections. this week an investigation by reuters reveals only four known arrests and zero convictions out

of hundreds of instances of harassment and intimidation, including 102 threats of violence or death. almost all of them appearing to be inspired by donald trump's big lie about election fraud, which, of course, wasn't a thing. the unprecedented threat against election workers were so serious that election lawyers have teamed up to offer them free legal help. warning from "the washington post" this week. if such attacks go unaddressed, our system will suffer long-term damage. barbara mcquad is joining us and clint watts. barbara, i remember when gabriel stern made those comments. they were shocking and horrific to hear republican officials

warned us threats against other election officials. to see those threats have not only continued and they ticked up and all of this disinformation around election fraud is not only still out there threatening election workers, it's propelling voter restrictions in 48 of the 50 states. what does the legal efforts do to blunt any of that. >> they can provide legal assistance to some of these election workers where in very small communities, if you are a secretary of state, you have legal resources, the state attorney general's office can represent you. if you are a county clerk in a small county or a few people on the front line who are sued, you may not have that kind of resources. this hotline provides legal advice in advance. one of the challenges about

being election workers is a lot of times these questions come up in the heat of election day. because we have voting in many places and only one day, it creates a lot of pressure to make sure everybody gets everything right that day. having access to be qualified and serving pro bono. that could be a great election. >> clint, we have spent a lot of times covering officials and we spent a lot of time of tim alberta, they're up against their own neighbors, their kids' friends parents. as barbara's pointing out, there is not a lot of friendly terrain to hearing to the facts or telling the truth about the fact there was no election fraud. just talk about the kinds of

threats and where they come from for these folks. >> that's right, nicole, the other thing is these are volunteer positions and low-pay in terms of resources. polls being hammered across the country with security threat simultaneously. going into election day, we are worried about mobilization at poling places instead of unfolded on january 6th. the outcome was the same, under police and under resource essentially, security apparatus to protect all of these workers. at the same point if you look at all where elected officials were pointing, what donald trump was talking about, philadelphia and key locations, we see it in arizona, the recount. in each of these areas, he's pointing people to them and creating a targeting mechanism and ultimately it's in direct voter suppression that we are witnessing that's being used as

intimidation tactic. i am thrilled their efforts trying to bring these challenges forward. the other part that's layered, you can go onto social media and you can see these threats. i am sure just like many others, their social media feeds and phone lines and mail systems are clogged with all sorts of threats. those are violent threats against people. they should be pursued legally just like they would. we can't take it as a joke. if this is allowed to continue, it starts with threats online and ends up with violence in person. >> barbara, i wonder if you can explain why these threats meet the threshold for prosecutions are not prosecuted. the messages often included

highly personal, sometimes sexualized threats or violence or deaths. not only to the officials themselves but also to family members and children. highly personal sexualized threats of violence to these officials and their children and they're not prosecuted even though they need that threshold, how does that happen and how do you fix that? >> i don't know. there is a first amendment rights to say things about groups. if you insist, specific officer, we had a case where if someone threatens to bomb the site, it had to be specific. a reasonable person would fear

is a true threat. in those kinds of cases, i think what we need is aggressive response by prosecutors to make sure we take those cases seriously. deterrent is what's so important in this case. these are people who are not well-compensated. nobody is going to get rich being local officials. the worry is people are going to stop doing that work. protecting those people i think is essential to protecting the right to vote and the right to have free and fair elections. >> we'll stay on this. barbara mcquade, thank you so much for spending some time for us. a quick break for us. we'll be right back. us a quick break for us we'll be right back.

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thank you so much for letting us into your home during these extraordinary times. we are grateful. "the beat" with ari melber starts right now. >> today president biden went further than ever before requiring americans to get vaccinated. the u.s. is going much further than before. this is the far reaching covid vaccine requirements the united states ever released. the new rules mandate employees at large companies must either get vaccinated or tested. this is a far-reaching measure that the united states held back on during the trump and biden presidencies until now. >> i will sign an executive order that'll now require all executive branch, federal employees to be vaccinated, all. i have signed