all right. that is going to do it for us tonight. we'll see you tomorrow. what's tomorrow? tomorrow is friday eve. that's right. "way too early" is up next. with hospitals across the country reaching capacity, new data shows just how many americans have died from coronavirus, and with the number of infections ticking up, top scientists at the fda are questioning the need for booster shots, so our question is will we need boosters or not? plus, olympic gold medalist simone biles and three other gymnasts testified before congress about the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked usa gymnastic. the question is will the fbi hold them accountable for the larry nassar matter.

a new era in space travel. the question is, are we witnessing a new start of an era in space travel? it's "way too early" for this. ♪♪ good morning and welcome to "way too early," the show that some days would like to buy a one-way ticket to mars. i'm jonathan lemire on this thursday, september 16th. we'll start with the news. the u.s. has reached another grim milestone in its fight against coronavirus. new data shows that more than one in 500 americans has died from covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, one in 500 americans. according to an nbc news tally, there have been more than 41,689,000 cases. so far 55% are vaccinated.

63% have received one dose. the fda will meet to discuss whether booster shots will be necessary for the majority of adults who are vaccinated. nbc news correspondent miguel almaguer explained. >> reporter: the battle over boosters as vaccine boosters make their case ahead of friday's fda review of pfizer's booster shot for the general public. >> and there you go, perfect. >> reporter: both pfizer and moderna releasing reams of new data. in the pfizer report, they say boosters are needed six months after the second shot saying it may be an urgent public health issue. a report from is role showed those vax it inned in january had a two-fold risk versus those vaccinated in april. >> it's how they're going to do

this winter. >> reporter: the president of moderna telling nbc news their vaccine also shows waning protection against infection over time. >> your data shows protection is dipping, but they're still protected from hospitalization. why are they still necessary? >> we do know that some cases do become severe and some lead to hospitalization and death. we think as the numbers get larger, there will be a substantial number of severe cases that will start to crop up. >> it's not just moderna and pfizer pushing a third dose. >> eight months after a second shot, get a booster shot. >> reporter: almost a month ago, the white house announced its plan for a booster program, but a new lancet study and other experts say the science still isn't clear, arguing while more of the fully vaccinated are suffering breakthrough infections, they're rarely hospitalized and nearly never die from the virus. >> what if americans wait?

what if they go a year before they get a booster shot. will it do harm? >> i don't think it will do harm if we wait as long as a year to get the booster. we're going to continue to monitor how well these vaccines keep us out of the hospital. that's their main job. and so far, that's holding up very well. >> reporter: with our nation still in the midst of a deadly pandemic, now approaching its 20th month, a broad push, but no full consensus on boosters and whether a third shot is really needed now. ahead of a d.c. rally this weekend in support of the january 6th insurrectionists, capitol police have asked the defense department to provide support from the national guard, quote, should the need arise. that request came hours before workers began installing a fence around the u.s. capitol. on saturday, once the fencing installation is complete, vehicle access will be limited to congress and staff.

a homeland security department official said earlier this week the rally is expected to draw about 700 people. the house ways and means committee is advancing its part of a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill. they finished their fourth markup and all republicans voted against the measure. the committee's portion of the bill includes major democratic priorities such as extending the child tax credit, expanding medicare, and paid family leave. stephanie murphy announced her opposition to the bill last week but said she hopes chanes can be made so she can vote on it. there will be a members-only meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss democrats' next steps. house speaker nancy pelosi says she wants both this reconciliation bill and the infrastructure bill done by september 27th. meanwhile white house chief

of staff ron klain is defending the current size of the spending package. klain claimed the build back better portion is zero because it's expected to be fully paid for. democrats want to fund the package by raising tacks on corporation, capital gains, and americans who earn a high income. heal said the final price tag could be scaled back from its current size by the time the package is ready for a vote. joining us now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell. good morning, leig ann, thanks for being here. >> it's going to be a complicated process moving forward. the house of representatives now that the committees are done drafting this legislation, it now goes to the budget committee where they're kind of secretaries. they put all the pieces of the bill together and it go is to

leader to go to the house floor. on the senate side, they're still crafting their version of the legislation. they're not going to do the same process that the house did in having the individual committees hold markups or hearings on this legislation, but they're writing these bills in consultation with the house side by side. now, while this is the logistic process of how this is going to take place bhierngsd the scenes and perhaps the much more important process is what leadership has to do to keep their members in line because there's a lot of concern from the moderates, including senator joe manchin and kyrsten sinema who were at the white house yesterday, and even at the house, there were problems with the house committee process when three democrats voted against the prescription drug pricing component in committee, and then you mentioned stephanie murphy, who voted against that committee's version of the

legislation. these are very slim majorities of the democrats in the house and senate, and they cannot lose hardly any members, jonathan. >> before we turn to the rally this weekend, one more on. this there's so much on congress's plate right now with the debt ceiling and the government funding running out. how are they going to balance all this? is it possible the reconciliation will fall to the back burner at least briefly? >> i was talking to a lobbyist yesterday, jonathan, who said they have never seen a more difficult task for a leadership of any party, not only by passing the infrastructure bill t3.5 trillion infrastructure bill, government spending runs out in 14 days, and then there's the debt ceiling as well. while the democrats want to prioritize the $3.5 trillion bill, they might have to put that aside to deal with government funding and lifting the debt limit. i'm not really sure how this

plays out yet. >> good luck indeed. capitol police as we know were criticized for their lack of preparation on january 6th. give us a brief sense. what are the changes they've been making to make sure this weekend's rally will be peaceful? >> it's clear that the one thing they don't want to be criticized for is that lack of preparation, that are perhaps overpreparing. as you mentioned the top dhs is estimates over 700 people are showing up at this rally, which is much smaller that whan took place on january 6th. but you see that fence was going up around the capitol all night last night. it's going to go around the perimeter of the capitol. no capitol police are allowed to take any time off. they're all either on duty or on call that day. new security cameras are in place. they're even increasing security for members of congress who are traveling. and the police want to be notified of all smaller rallies

taking place in states in members' districts. they want to make sure they're not blind-sided by anything that happens, and they are saying that they're extremely prepared, jonathan. >> nbc's leigh ann caldwell, thank you so very much. still ahead, did the fbi turn a blind eye with the abuse to usa gymnastics? we'll go over the hearing yesterday on capitol hill featuring top gymnasts. plus, later in the show i'll be joined by white house press secretary andrew bates as president biden ramps up requirements for employers to request vaccinations for current ploys, plus a check on the weather when we come right back. e weatr hewhen we come right back.

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i sit before you today to raise my voice about the little girl who had to endure while i

sit at this table and the countless others who needlessly suffered under nassar's guise of medical treatment, which we continue to endure today. >> what is the point of reporting abuse if our own fbi agents are going to take it upon themselves to bury that report in a drawer. >> in sacrificing my childhood for a chance to compete for the united states, i'm haunted by the fact that even after reporting my abuse, so many women and girls had to suffer at the hands of larry nassar. >> over the past few years, it's become painfully clear how a survivor's healing is affected by the handling of their abuse. and it disgusts me that we are still fighting for the most basic answers and accountability over six years later. >> that was part of the powerful testimony by four-american gymnasts who told congress yesterday that federal law

enforcement and gymnastics officials turned a blind eye to team doctor larry nassar's sexual abuse. it's an ertz to hold the fbi accountable after multiple missteps in the case that include delays that allowed nassar's abuse to continue. all four girls now women were abused by nassar after the fbi was made aware of the allegations against them. they say the bureau made fundamental errors in the probe after the gymnasts first made claims. the fbi has acknowledged their own conduct was inexcusable. nothing can be said about these four women's bravery. in baseball, there was a 5-3 victory over the diamondbacks. the team is still eyeing the top spot in the national league west. the dodgers take advantage of a rare loss by the giants to gain

some ground in the division, now just 1.5 games behind and 15 at home. at citi field in queens t cardinals complete a three-game sweep of the mets with last night's 11-4 win. paired with another loss by the reds, st. louis takes a full game lead -- that was a great catch -- for the second in the n.l. wild-card spot. toronto wrapped up its sixth straight series victory taking two out of three against the east-leading tampa bay rays. robbie ray struck out 13 batters over seven innings. the surging blue jays beat the rays, 6-3. in sale a wild pitch scores the go-ahead run for the red sox in the top of the tenth and opens the door the a six-run rally, including two runs driven in by kyle schwarber and christian vazquez. it's their first win against seattle since 2013. they went on to beat the

mariners, 9-4. and new york kept pace with the other a.l. east. 4-3 over the happiness orioles. there's a virtual tie. what's better than a scoreboard proposal? how about a scoreboard divorce. they let everyone know max is back in the game. max, i hope you've got the cholesterol to be back in the game. time for the weather. let's go to bill karins for the forecast. bill, i hope that you and i collectively can agree to stay away from all sorts of scoreboard messages. what's the weather look like? >> nothing good's coming with that message. we're still dealing with nicholas in the gulf coast. it hasn't been that epic flood

event. isolated cases of flash flooding yesterday. that will happen again today. the storm itself is drifting along the louisiana coast. it's about a tenth of what it used to be, even less than wait used to be, 100th less of what it used to be. because the ground is so saturated, they have flash flood watches up through friday evening. 5 million people are included that. it's not going to to be a sunny nice day. on and off periods of heavy rain bush not like the crazy rainfall totals you get with a landfall system. widespread along the coast. isolated totals may be up to four inches. we're still in the peek month of the hurricane season. we have other areas of interest. we have one we call an investment column. there's one out in the atlantic, another one northeast of the bahamas, and the good news with all of these is they're going to remain over open ocean. we call these fish storms if

they do develop. the one on the east coast may bring large waves to the mid-atlantic this upcoming weekend. keep that in mind if you're heading to the beaches. no concerns in the tropics as we head to this upcoming weekend. for today's forecast, bring the umbrella. there will be showers and storms it will be cooler from phil yrk boston, down to d.c. isolated storms in florida. still hot in the middle of the country. if there's any good news to be had this weekend on the extended forecast, they're going to be doing the jig in the northwest. the rain is on its way. we've been waiting for some rain, and we're going to get it saturday, even into sunday. no one wants a wet weekend, jonathan, but with all the fire stories in washington, oregon, and idaho, we'll take wet and cold and be thrilled for the firefighters who will happily be working in this rain this upcoming weekend. >> you're right this is a rare weekend when rain in the forecast is good news for

everybody. bill karins, thank you so much. still ahead, joint chiefs chairman mark milley is facing backlash over bombshell claims in a new book. we'll be back in just a minute. we'll be back in just a minute will you turn to cold washing in tide. unsubscribe. wait, wait, wait this helps the environment. it saves you money. i will take that money. for the environment. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection-site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. ♪ regina approaches the all-electric cadillac lyriq.

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beijing. those revelations are outlined in an upcoming book by "washington post" reporters bob woodward and bob costa. quote, milley regularly communications with chiefs of defense across the world, including with clie na and russia. these conversations remain vital to improving mutual understanding of u.s. national security interests, reducing tensions, providing clarity, and avoiding unintended consequences. last year he told fishlts no tot overanalyze what they were seeing in washington. he delayed plans to send more u.s. troops to asia telling them, quote t last thing china needed to see at that moment were more planes. axios says it's unclear if

anyone communicated these actions to former president donald trump. nearly 30,000 afghans will be relocated across the country. california will welcome the most refugees from the first group followed by texas, oklahoma, arizona, and washington. in total, the white house says it hopes to resettle close to 100,000 afghan refugees by next fall. still ahead, president biden meets with top executives as he pushes vaccination requirements for the private sector. but before we go to break, we want to know, you know it, why are you awake? email your reasons to waytooearly@msnbc.com. or tweet me @jonlemire. leave out the "h." we'll read your answers later. we'll be back. your answers lat.

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welcome back to "way too early." it's just before 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm jonathan lemire. the biden administration will soon require new immigrants to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. starting october 1st, most people applying to become a permanent u.s. resident must complete the covid-19 vaccine series. the u.s. requires them to have a number of other vaccinations including measles, mumps, and the chicken pox. it comes after they announced a sweeping set of vaccine requirements last week. meanwhile the president met with the ceos of disney, walgreens,

and kaiser perm anymore tent to discuss mandates for larger businesses that he says will keep the economy on track. >> in total, these vaccination requirements will cover 100 million workers. two-thirds of all workers builds on previous requirements that we've installed so far. and the vaccine requirements work, and more companies are instituting them. even at fox news they're requiring it. >> the rules are still being worked on by the labor department but will apply to businesses with 100 or more workers who need to be fully vaccinated or show a negative test result at least once a week. those who do not comply will risk paying fines. joining us now, the impeccably dressed eugene scott. thanks for being here. i was in the room on the white house campus when the president met with those ceos of the

companies to talk about the vaccine requirements. they were certainly supportive. but what are companies across the country doing? how are they reacting? >> microsoft and disney said, yes, this is the step that needs to be taken to make workplaces and communities safer, but there are other businesses expressing whether they can get people to get vaccinated or if they can fund the weekly testing if they don't comply with the vaccinations. you have michigan and other communities with very large, you know, conservative anti-vax populations to be there, championing the mandates, to encourage people to move forward with them. >> the president of louisiana state university also there. louisiana has one of the lower vaccination rates in the country. so you've been doing reporting looking at polling, how americans are reacting to the

vaccine mandates. what did you find? >> the majority of americans support these mandates from biden which i think surprised a lot of people who felt like he was being maybe too heavy-handed. but there are voters on both sides of the aisle in red and blue states who are really frustrated with the progress that's not hatching with regard to this pandemic and support implementing more vaccines on things like travel, indoor sports games, restaurants to a lesser degree, but we certainly want to see something happen to move vaccine rates higher. obviously a great concern right now are vaccinations, some two-fold. boosters. there's mixed messaging from the administration as to when or if they'll be needed. >> right. >> and also children. >> yeah. >> what's the latest you've heard in terms of when those might be available and a time line for the decision on boosters? >> some could be eligible as recently as next month.

there's ongoing studies with pfizer and moderna with how effective they are and safe they are. there could be approval for emergency use very, very quickly in terms of the pfizer vaccine, i believe, but reports aren't, you know, set or public yet because the research is still happening. >> and one more for you. obviously we've heard from a lot of republican governors particularly down in the south who have been really angry about the vaccine mandates who will try to block these things. where does that stand right now? has any of it fell through or is it bluster at the moment? >> some have moved forward to see what legal actions they can take. the biden white house has been clear they're willing to fight those states. so it's something that's not going to be met with an easy victory on either side immediately, but i think there's going to be a lot of attention paid if there some of these governors as to what their populations and constituents want, and there's been surprise from some red states of how

supportive they've been of these vaccine mandates. >> still ahead, the commentator poised to make history from the milwaukee bucks broadcast booth. plus, google drop as new line making for a totally different uk and french connection to the u.s. we'll explain. "way too early" back in a moment. "way too early" back in a moment tide pods ultra oxi one ups the cleaning power of liquid.

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rocket which lifted off from cape canaveral, florida. the so-called mission will spend three days in orbit without any professional astronauts onboard. that's not frightening at all. they'll travel at an altitude of nearly 360 miles, higher than the space station and hubble telescope. and new this morning spacex just shared a stunning view from the glass capsule. that's absolutely gorgeous. for those of us bound to earth, google has completed laying its giant undersea cable. the grace hopper cable stretcheds 39 miles under water connecting the two countries. it also makes a stop in spain. it's capable of transferring 339 terabytes of data per second. grace hopper is set to come online in the next year, and

this isn't google's first underwater cable. the tech giant announced earlier this year a cable connecting u.s. and france is now ready for service. the company also announced it's partnering with facebook to lay 7,400 miles of cable to connect six countries in asia. every want to own your very own jumbotron living room to perhaps display messages, perhaps congratulating a friend on their divorce? lg has the tv for you. 27 feet across and it weighs over 2,000 pounds. the cost of this monster? $1.7 million. while this tv might not show up in many living rooms outside of perhaps donny deutsch's, the company will announce smaller sizes with the new technology chlg however, if you happen to be watching us on a 27-foot

screen, be sure to let us know at #waytooearly and no comments on my hair. lisa byington, the first to call the ncaa basketball tournament replaces longtime bucks anoungser. she announced in a statement, while we appreciate the significance of selecting lisa, she earned this position on her extraordinary experience. we look forward to lisa becoming the voice of the bucks, defending nba champs. still ahead, president biden is making an appeal to democrats about the earning structure and wreck sin yags bill. andrew bates joins us next to discuss those efforts as well as the push to get more americans vaccinated. and as we go to break, a look at this date in history. seven years ago, president barack obama declared that the

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as the house pushes forward with the reconciliation bill, the white house is moving to get the senate on the same page. president biden is stepping up, personally meeting with senators who are concerned with the package's $3.5 trillion price tag. the president held personal meetings with kyrsten sinema and joe manchin at the white house yesterday. both democrats have stated they will not support the bill at its current size. bernie sanders of vermont said

any lower amount would be, quote, not acceptable. joining us now, white house deputy press secretary andrew bates. andrew, thanks so much for getting up and being with us here this morning. let's talk reconciliation. let's start there. we know the president met with senators sinema and manchin yesterday. what can you tell us about those meetings and how the president think they when and if the spending bill will stay at $3.5 trillion. >> i appreciate you having me, jonathan. he had productive meetings with senator manchin and senator sinema yesterday. he's extremely engaged in these conversations with a wide range of members as we advance his build back better agenda, which as you were getting at is about building an economy that delivers for the middle class, not just those at the top. i think it should be noted that we're not going to negotiate about the top line number in public, of course, but 3.5 is not the price tag. that is the gross amount that

the proposal would invest in reducing costs in economic growth and creating good jobs and in cutting taxes for the middle class. it is paid for by repealing some of the exorbitant tax breaks that were given to the wealthiest americans during the previous administration and the large corporations who pay little to nothing in taxes some of the president, vice president, cabinet, seen your white house staff are constantly speaking with members in both chambers, hearing their views, advancing this package, and i think it's important to keep in mind also that the values behind it broadly unify democrats. there is recognition across the caucuses in both chambers that we cannot simply revert to the way things were before the pandemic came to our shores. for too long, middle-class families have been working as hard as their parents did, but they've been forced to play by a

different set of rules than those at the top, and so there's an urgency for us to move now to make sure we're cutting costs for prescription drugs, that we're making education more affordable, making it easier to pay for child care or pay for care for an aging parent. >> obviously, though, there does seem to be some difference of opinion between senator sanders and manchin on the size of the package, but we know we're going to hear from the president today. i'll be at the white house when he talks about his agenda and tax enforcement. preview what he's going to say about this, and how do you ward off republican attacks who suggest the taxes are going to be going up? >> i think the president will make clear we're at an inflerkz point where we have to choose are we going to put middle-class families and working people at the heart of our economic policy because there have been many times where our economy has boom and the benefits have felt disproportionately inappropriate

in board rooms but not as much for those who make under $400,000 a year. and it's crucial that we make sure there is not one set of rules for those who have been the most successful and another set of rules for everybody else. and so i think he's going to make clear that we have to ensure that work is rewarded, not just wealth, and that we have to do this now. for so long american families have had to pay the highest prescription drug costs of anywhere in the world bar none, sometimes two to three times as much as people pay in other countries, and he's going to say that while there has been no shortage of lobbyists associated with big money interests who have been misrepresenting what is in this package, when it comes to the attacks we've seen from republicans, there's a very clear choice. is it more important that we cut taxes for middle-class families

as we come out of the second worst economic downturn we've ever experienced as a nation or we preserve inordinate tax breaks for large companies who often pay little to nothing in taxes, or is it more important to preserve the capacity of big pharmaceutical companies to price gouge than to cut costs when it comes to prescription drugs for millions of families across our country. he's going to, i think, lay that out in very clear terms and remind people that the american public is solidly behind this proposal and this approach, to making sure that our economy works for everyone and not just those at the top. >> one more for you, andrew. we were talking earlier in the show about the president meeting with business leaders who support the new vaccination mandate. polling suggests americans do as well. giving that momentum, public support, is the president planning on pushing for more

mandates, more vaccine mandates to get the virus under control? >> right now our focus is onnism plea menling the plan that you mentioned, jonathan, and like you were getting at, broad majorities of the american people strongly support this plan to defeat defeat the panded they are joined by a consensus in the scientific community as well as among economist whose have stepped forward to say that this is literally the best thing we can do to ensure that our economy continues to recover from the immense hit it took from covid. we are now growing at the fastest rate in nearly 40 years. we have seen unprecedented job growth for this point in a new presidency, and like you heard yesterday, when the president met with leaders of large employers ranging from disney to kaiser permanente to the business roundtable representing so many large businesses to lsu,

employers know that the best way to ensure our economy stays on track, that we fuel the recovery, is vaccinations. those are the best weapon that we have against the pandemic. they're saving lives. we have lost over 600,000 americans to this. that is unacceptable. we have to make sure we are doing everything we can to overcome it. we are already seeing a tremendous response after he laid out this plan to defeat the pandemic last week. and we are continuing to work with everybody that we can to bring it to a close. >> all right. white house deputy press secretary andrew bates. thank you so much for being with us this morning. earlier in the show, we asked, why are you awake? one viewer tweets, i'm on my way to the fifth 12-hour shift since sunday in a covid unit. i'm a respiratory therapist and i'm tired.

we really appreciate you doing that work. kim writes, because molly wanted a treat to watch you knowing the oriole lost again. and our friend jay crusoe up because he has an unruly cat who wants to get fed. and matthew is up road tripping from madison, wisconsin, to denver, colorado. two great cities. safe drive. up next, a look at the axios one big thing and coming up on "morning joe" a check-in with former commissioner dr. scott gottlieb ahead of pfizer's booster shots for the general public. plus, we'll hear from the democrats campaign office. sean patrick maloney after risking his party loses the house without a change of message. his appearance can't be missed. the show is just moments away. the show is just moments away. yeah...uh... doug? sorry about that. umm... what...its...um...

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thing" for this morning? >> afghan refugees heading to 46 states. starting to get details from the biden administration about what is going on with all the afghan refugees, remember, first flown to processing sites overseas in qatar or germany and then to military bases in the united states, while the plans what communities they would be resettled in were worked out. that process is beginning. the first 40,000 of them or so are moved into communities across the united states. 46 states have agreed to accept refugees. biggest group to the biggest states, in texas and california. interesting thing the biden administration told us is no state refused refugees and the response from local officials was "warm." an interesting contrast some of the political rhetoric that may have been seen online when this process began. that the refugees weren't vetted correctly, never brought to the united states, not checked enough. another sign where the online

twitter rhetoric doesn't really match the reality in that it's going smoothly. no states said no. reddest of red states, texas, one of the top accepters of refugees. the first 40,000 going out over the summer and into the fall. the request for congress, more funding to send up to 100,000 by fall of next year. >> a really good point about the welcome that these refugees are receiving across the map. regardless of the spectrum. shifting gears, axios has new reporting on the future of 911 emergency centers. how is that technology evolving? >> very slowly so far as our smartphones and telephones are much more effective at getting all sorts of information -- 911 systems have been -- able to catch up -- a few able to accept text messages but not uniform across the united states. not something people know how to use very well. still used on a regular dial

911, tell the person where you're standing. a new effort in congress, $10 billion in the house and senate looking to enhance these types of programs. use more text videos, embrace some of the location services that we have on our cell phones that we're carrying around every day. look for that coming through. of course, all things of a political element as well. a wrinkle in the debate, republicans will be able to successfully block this kind of funding for states that, or localities efforts to defund the police. rebuffered in the house and senate so far. look for another political debate around police funding. this time as relates to 911 systems improvements. >> axios, of course, keeping up to date a covid map throughout this pandemic. >> yes. >> what is this week looking like? >> a little better than the one before. last time here the map was pretty grim. this one tracks case counts. starting to come down a little bit. an 8% drop from the week before. that's still far too high according to a lot of officials we're talking to, but seems

we're reaching peak of the wave of the delta variant. leading indicator pace is coming down, although still very high you can see on the map. lagging indicators worrisome. hospitalizations and deaths, of course, still at high levels in the delta variant wave, and we haven't seen those tick down yet. those things lag by a couple of weeks. case counts, continuing in a positive direction, hopefully the metrics will look good coming up, too. >> nicholas johnson, thank you so very much. and thank you all for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. today the president will see a continuation as we talked about with deputy white house secretary andrew bates a few minutes ago. we'll be hearing from the president today about his agenda, tax plans and tax enforcement. politically, an attempt amp the tummal of afghanistan. seeing that story begin to fade from the headlines, except for good news pieces of it. like those welcomes the refugees are receiving across the country. seeing this white house try to reset back to its domestic

agenda and a tough road to go in terms of balancing that infrastructure bill and the larger reconciliation package bringing those democrats together's following it each and every day as it developing. thank you again. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪♪ gosh, the sun hasn't even come up yet. >> here we go. here we go. once again, we look at the top of the comcast building, and, willie, you know -- >> fantastic. >> comcast, so is mika's penthouse up there. >> no. >> where she's been living. like howard hughes with bottles all around. >> okay. >> and living there, and -- >> meet you up there. >> good morning! and -- welcome. >> no, no. >> to "morning joe." >> oh, wait a second. i'm talking to my friend willie. >> i see that. >> talking to my fen