ed an abortion is now being sued as expected, but not as expected anti-abortion forces in texas are coming out against the lawsuits. we'll explain why that is happening. "velshi" starts now. good morning. it's saturday, september 25th. i'm ali velshi. infrastructure week stretching into the weekend today. the fate of the biden agenda faces a rocky road ahead. the house budget committee sets up the democrats $3.5 trillion social spending plan that includes expanded safety net programs and clean energy and tax breaks for families and many more party priorities. democrats have put negotiations over that bill on the fast track because they're trying to line it up with the upcoming monday floor vote on the smaller buy partisan infrastructure bill which already passed the senate. progressives in the house are

threatening to tank the vote unless the larger bill is passed in tandem. this is a larger week for biden and democrats. this is actually what a functional government looks like. that is what you watching on capitol hill. you have this president who, unlike the former president, is trying to be an a lot of things to a lot of people. trying to satisfy moderates and progressives in the party. that is difficult. in case we need aid reminder, the news this week made clear the alternative to joe biden and democrats and struggles is a band of crooks who have not accepted the outcome of the election. look at arizona. the leader of the republican party in that state calling for another so-called audit after the latest attempt blew up in their faces and confirmed what

we all already knew. joe biden won arizona. rational people accepted that. they have a ring leader continuing to feed their collisions. the twice impeached ex-president will have a rally where he will probably spread more lies and sow the type of division that led the attack on the capitol. as they are trying to rewrite the past, democrats are focused on now. the house january 6th committee issued subpoenas to four officials, including mark meadows and steve bannon and dan scavino and kash patel. he was the chief of staff for then christopher miller. these subpoenas will compel these four to handover documents

related to the deadly attack by october th and sit for a deposition the week after that. it may seem to some democrats are moving slowly and involved in the messy process. that is how the functional government operates. the republicans are happy to remind us of the chaos that we could still all be dealing with instead. joining me now is betsy. she is the correspondent for politico. thank you for being here. weeks like this were made for reporters like you. it looks messy. it looks complicated. it looks internal bickers with the democrats. in fact, major parts of the biden agenda hang in the balance. what do you make of it? >> that's right. one of the reasons that democrats currently have full control of the u.s. government is because they built a broad inclusive coalition.

one of the challenges that comes with the coalition building is you have lots of different groups of people who want different things. what is front of mind for democratic leaders on capitol hill, what i hear about regularly, is the very deep concern that democrats could lose control of the house of representatives in the midterms. currently they are hanging on by the slimmest of margins. it is enough to advance big changes as part of president biden's agenda, but barely enough. that creates a ton of pressure for speaker pelosi. she has to try to corral both the moderate democrats, some of whom are comfortable with the democrat colleagues. pelosi has to work with the progressives and many view as the future of the democratic party. that's tough.

that's how governing works. republicans have had the same problem when they are in full control of the government. it is challenging. that is why being speaker of the house and president is a difficult job. it is the nature of how these things work. it creates a real time pressure for the january 6th select committee because leaders of that committee are operating under the assumption after that midterms are done, they cannot do more investigative work. that is why the committee is switching into high gear this week and start issuing lots of subpoenas and doing everything they can to rapidl interviews. >> how big a deal is the subpoenas to the former trump aides? the documents and sit-down depositions? it sounds like a big deal. obviously, mark meadows, the chief of staff. he must have known what was going on and kash patel.

former chief of staff at the time to the acting secretary. a lot of important questions could be answered by documents and testimony these two have or maybe all four of them. >> that is right. arguably, no one knows more about the tick-tock of what happened with is mark meadows. kash patel's view is different. between the two, there is not much information you will miss. the two together really have exhausted understanding of how the day went and how and why the president said what he said. the rally itself. what was going at the white house and the pentagon during the violence we saw. they really hold the keys to the kingdom. a huge, pressing question for the biden white house. will they green light meadows

participation. there was a weird episode where jen psaki said the president waived executive privilege and stepped back to get the materials. however, the statement from the white house said not exactly. leaving open the door to the possibility that biden could step in and keep some of the people and douments from getting to the committee. the white house oddly introduced suspense here. that is a huge question going forward. one other person i would note about the subpoenas who is really important is dan scavino. he has never had a big public profile. he is one of the longest serving white house aides. he is close to the president. he handles trump's power social media presence. i don't know we ever really heard much publicly from him. he is not someone faced much

public scrutiny and accountability. if he gets compelled to speak to the select committee, we're going to have a better understanding of not just what went on january 6th, which is more than enough, but of this person who had a low profile, but massive amount of influence and access to former president trump. >> betsy, i was quite pleased to find out you would be joining me to kickoff the show. i have been traveling. i needed somebody to give us the context you provided. you always do that. thank you, my friend. betsy. the national correspondent for politico and msnbc contributor. democrats are working to finalize the spending package of president biden. joining me is ritchie torres. he sits on the homeland security committee. you are one of the guys in the game. betsy and i are observers and journalists. this is in front of you right

now. the next 72 hours for you, congress member, are important for you and the country and the biden agenda and how things unfold the next couple years. >> no doubt about it. we have historic opportunity to govern in the 21st century as fdr did in the 20th century. if we fail to strike when the iron's hot, we will miss a once in a lifetime opportunity. every progressive, every single one of them, is willing to give the moderates the framework in exchange for the build back better act. not every moderate is willing to give progressives the build back better act in exchange for the bipartisan bill. there is the problem. as far as i'm concerned, the obstructionists are not the progressives, but rather the so-called moderates. i use the word so-called because there is nothing moderate about

allowing the child tax credit to expire and plunging 10 million people deeper into poverty. there is nothing moderate about turning a blind eye to climate change. that is not moderation. that is extremism. >> what do you say to people who are trying to be pragmatic? it has something to do with the fact that my seat is definitely in danger next time around and our majority is in danger. we're not sure how this is going to go over. dozen political expediency and maintaining the control of the house of representatives figure into your argument? >> yes, for the build back better act is popular. it is not just good government, but good politics. there is no greater threat to the democratic majority of the house and presidency of joe biden than government gridlock. it is coming from manchin and sinema.

we no longer live in a democrat as i. democracy. we live under the tierny of joe manchin. >> we heard from people in the senate. so much of the success rests on them and continuing support of the filibuster in the senate. what can happen now? we have been having this discussion for months. does the pressure on them not seem to work? >> in the two of them, they show no signs of budging. if the senate were to pass the reconciliation bill, the house would easily pass the bipartisan infrastructure framework. progressives like myself would have trouble voting for the bipartisan bill without the build back better act. that is more important than the bipartisan bill. it is critical for the 21st century social safety net and

combating climate change and critical for the next pandemic. for me, the two bills are not comparable. >> i want to ask about something that is happening today. you will be in constituency and talking about puerto rico. what is that about? >> i'm hosting the governor in the bronx. puerto rico is part of the united states. residents of puerto rico are citizens of the united states. none of the citizens have the right to vote or have representation in the senate and in the house. if you and i would move to puerto rico, we would lose the right to vote. the problem is simple. puerto rico is not a state. it is a colony. the colonization of puerto rico

is the deep rot of american democr democracy. >> democratic representative ritchie torres. thank you. coming up, i'll talk to cori bush from missouri about living in poverty in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. and riddle me that and the propaganda stunt in the sham audit in arizona is done and the meaningless outcome revealed the same results of the legitimate election. no surprise there. stay with us. we have more coming up on "velshi." coming up on "velshi.

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americans have an obsession with crime and often leads our local news. we're glued to tv shows about it. we get fully invested in the gripping stories of kidnapped

spouses. our concern about violence is imperfect. crimes and ijustices of women go unsolved at alarming rates. the death of gabby petito captivated the nation. her boyfriend, who police say is a person of interest, is still missing. what happened to gabby petito is horrible and her case deserves the attention it's getting. so do the stories of thousands of women who have shared a similar fate. ashley was 20 years old when she disappeared from the blackfoot indian reservation in 2017. the family received a tip of seen running from the reservation the night she vanished. the family found ashley's sweater and pair of red-stained boots. evidence that was turned over for dna testing. the family never got the results. ashley remains missing. this is far from an american

problem. sabrina was murdered in canada in 2019. she was found with a knife wound in her side. a man was taken into questioning but released. and shanita's body was brutally beaten to death. her killer remains on the loose. her mother says dna evidence has been sitting on the shelf untested. we need to look at the faces and names. these are four of the countless women who deserve better. gabby, ashley and sabrina and shantia. if you are a woman of color or indigenous woman or trans woman

or woman living in poverty, the system doesn't value your life. 466 indigenous women and girls were reported missing. 18% of those women received any newspaper coverage at all. according to the native women's group, indigenous women and girls are murdered at a rate ten times higher than all other ethnicities. black women make up less than 7% of the population, but account for 10% of all missing persons cases in the country. the numbers are staggering. the point is because the vast majority of the stories get no coverage, people don't know to be outraged. they don't know that violence against women continues to get a pass from the media and from society. hence, in many cases, these women's cases were erased twice. they go unsolved, uncovered and attackers go unpunished.

this is a crisis. we cannot consider ourselves a civilized society when women vanish and turn up dead and most of the time at the hands of men known to them or at random. maybe this hasn't effected you directly. i hope it hasn't. maybe you don't live in a community where women and girls are falling off the grid. it doesn't matter whether it effects you or not. just like climate change and the opioid crisis. it is time we hold violence against women, black, white, hispanic, indigenous, wealthy, poor. all women to the same standard of outrage and action. of outrage and aioctn. the best things america makes are the things america makes out here. the history she writes in her clear blue skies. the legends she births on home town fields. and the future she promises. when we made grand wagoneer, proudly assembled in america, we knew no object would ever rank with the best things in this country.

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you may have noticed i have been away. i returned from the trip to south africa. before my flight took off, the pilot said in a friendly tone, this is a 16-hour flight and you

have to wear your mask the whole time unless you are eating or drinking. if you have a problem, hit your call button. you will face serious consequences once we land. thank you. it was firm, direct and effective. no problems on the flight. that is the way the approach to covid has to be. you comply with the regulations or there will be consequences. if you know me, i love to debate issues and talk to people with opposing views. not when it comes to this. we have reached a global best practices to save lives and that is simply what needs to be done. debating masks and getting vaccinated is debating climate change. i'm done with it. we cannot be accommodating with the views that do not fall in line with the science. the virus has killed too many people. irresponsible people put us at risk. the seven-day average for deaths climbed above 2,000. we have not seen that level of

death during the pandemic since march. deaths are especially high in florida with the average of 350 daily deaths over the past week. despite those numbers, florida's governor ron desantis, remains intent on bucking the scientific community and thwarting the spread of covid. one of the moves was the appointment of dr. joseph ladapo. he made him a perfect pick for desantis. in the first move as surgeon general, he gave parents the discretion if their child wears a mask. he is now allowing students who come in contact with the virus to keep going to class if they remain asymptomatic. joining me now is dr. ashby. he serves at the florida state lead for the committee to

protect health care. dr. ashby, thank you for being here. the appointment of dr. ladapo, i could get my head around ron desantis being political and trying to pander to right-wing conspiracy theoryists. you appoint a serj on general who has in writing spread misinformation about covid. it seems to be dangerous in your state where covid is still running free. >> good morning. i could not agree more. dr. ledapo, as you know, has a great resume. meaning he is trained at great institutions and taught at outstanding institutions. by all regards, he is, you know, a successful physician and researcher. however, what we have seen during the course of the pandemic is he has lent his credentials and lent his color as a black physician to the

right-wing and politicians who have a different agenda that has no interest in actually protecting the public, but instead scoring political points and power. if you listen to the gentleman, he speaks very well in terms of covering the issues of covid and looks at the positives and negatives. it is hard not to agree with some of his points. a lot of his points don't make sense. in particular, he is, again, siding with the folks who are against public health measures to mitigate the virus and okay with innocent people dying unnecessarily. >> dr. ashby, on the show for the last 19 months, we had doctors of color, particularly black doctors. many black people in the country come with historically valid concerns of vaccinations and medications mandated by the

government. we got a bad history of that in this country. you think this is a little bit of a manipulation of that. the idea that ron desantis has found a black man, well educated black doctor, who spreads misinformation? >> correct. this is nothing new, right? you always have one person in a bunch who you can use and manipulate to the detriment of everyone else. throughout the history and throughout society, there is always that one guy who represents himself as the oppress the marginalize the community. there is always one suppressing that community. if you are a student of history, we know. i'm not saying this goes that deep, but what dr. ladapo is doing is detrimental to the health of the public, but health

of african-americans who have been historically and come temporaily wronged by our system. the reason we are here is because of the predecessors who fought and rebelled and died and locked up to be here. it is a slap in the face to have a gentleman like him using his credentials and others earned and fought for him to subvert and work against us. way too many people have died. people are still dying. this virus is not going anywhere. unless we follow the science, people will continually die at a disproportionately rate. just like every other disease and ifectious disease. he doesn't care at all. doesn't care about kids to accomplish his agenda.

he is actually a prop. >> dr. ashby, thank you. he is a vascular cardiologist. thank you, sir. coming up after the break, the tangible effects of the climate crisis. california is literally running out of water. first, a quick reminder, "velshi" is a podcast. you can listen anytime and for free. listen and subscribe anywhere you get your podcasts. anywhere you get your podcasts. ly attrac? with bounce pet hair & lint guard, your clothes can repel pet hair. look how the shirt on the left attracts pet hair like a magnet! pet hair is no match for bounce. with bounce, you can love your pets, and lint roll less. - oh, sister of mine. - mmm... - i got you this. - the new iphone 13 pro? - it's on verizon 5g - i can't believe you got me this! - yes, verizon is giving one to everyone when they trade in their old or damaged phone. - oh! so like every sister can get this? - yeah. - every aluminum siding installer? - why not? - every doula? - they would have to! every customer, new and old, can get iphone 13 pro on us. because everyone deserves better.

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lopez is discovering a world not seen for decades. >> this is the first time this set of trees here has even seen the light of day in probably 60 years. >> so, in your lifetime, these stress have never been above the water line? >> exactly. >> reporter: the water level at the second largest reservoir is the lowest it has been. drought is not new to california, but what is different is the intensity and duration of the current brought on by climate change. john yarborough sees lake management at lake oroville. >> last year was the largest we had on record. >> reporter: it is not only affecting the water supply, but the infrastructure that depends on it. this hydro electric power plant on the oroville dam controls the energy. the water level has been too low to power it. >> this is the surface of mars, i imagine. >> this is dramatic.

we shut the power plant down until we get enough precipitation to bring the reservoir back up. >> reporter: with the hydro power compromised, other power sources are that much more important. in the mojave desert, we met alicia knab its ceo. >> solar will create the most? >> absolutely. solar is the most abundant resource particularly here in california. >> reporter: even energy sources as abundant as the sun and wind come with challenging. >> the sun doesn't always shine or the wind doesn't always blow. there are more solutions needed to achieve the renewable goals. >> reporter: the energy on the horizon and now with the reality of climate change. jacob soboroff, lake oroville, california. thank you. the migrants camping under the

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find new flexibility. ♪ i had a dream that someday ♪ ♪ i would just fly, fly away ♪ it's a different administration, but the situation remains much the same at border. another mass group of migrants. haitians fleeing disaster and political unrest trying to seek entrance it to the united states through mexico. now how this country treats refugees. these images and the reports that the united states was mass deporting migrants prompted the special envoy to haiti to quit his post this week. in the resignation letter, he said, i will not be associated with the united states inhumane counter productive decision to

deport refugees to haiti. he went on to say, surging migration will only grow as we add to haiti's unacceptable misery. a news conference yesterday, president biden spoke about migrants corralled by agents on horse back. >> it is beyond embarrassment. it's dangerous. it's wrong. it sends the wrong message around the world. it sends the wrong message at home. it is simply not who we are. >> joining me to explain the pieces of the story is catlyn dickerson. the latest is the democrats free pass on immigration is over. she explores the racial overtones of the immigration policy and president biden has not done anything. good to see you. we talked about this many times. america has a warped sense of immigration policy and what it should look like. it is obsessed with the southern

border and criminality. democrats and republicans have shared the blame over the years. >> that's very true, ali. i think immigration is the divisive issue on the left and the right. it feels politicians on both sides are so addictive to divisive talking points that we immediately retract to those places. rather than create change. as we discussed, there was a lot of consternation of what the border looked like under president trump. the political situation today and the way the world is and the way our asylum laws exist will mean these constant fluctuations will keep happening. then you have administrations, democrat or republican, refer back to the deterrent methods that don't work because we see

surges over and over again and they are upsetting for people. you make the determinations that vast groups of people are not eligible for entry. then people slip through the cracks and back into harm's way. >> the prevailing wisdom under the trump administration is immigration pushes wages down. that has been debunked many times. in the moment in the united states, there are labor shortages. let's put that aside. the economic argument. the president has sent vice president harris to the area to find out why people immigrant. violence and sexual violence. and in europe, you have people fleeing their homes. what is the solution? is it better laws on our side or better economic development? haiti is a mess. it is not hard to imagine why someone would want to leave haiti and come to the united states. >> this is not a difficult --

not an easy question to answer rather. what is the solution? that is very clear. i think we know a couple of things. the united states has signed on to international treaties where we committed to not returning people back to harm's way. we're clearly doing that with haitians being sent back to the home country. the government has requested the deportation flights stop. the united states has doubled down on the message of everybody is going to be sent back. these messages are part of the strategy. not about the specifics at the border now. they about sending a message to people all over the world not to come to the united states. that is dubious given the requirements we have to offer safety and protection to those who ask and offer a screening. what you have to do, what the administration has to balance is

upholding those commitments that we made as a country and the thing held to more than previous democratic administrations have. at the same time, change the laws so you don't have to sort of deal with the surges in brief policies and initiatives that change each time the administration changes. >> we have fundamentally criminalized being a refugee and asylum. if you get a hearing, in most cases, people from central america, who might be of a certain color, do not get granted asylum after a hearing. overwhelming majority go back to where they have come from. we have decided when people show up on our shores, they must be criminals attempting to do something bad and break laws in the united states. we abandon the idea, let's finds the refugees and let them in if we can. >> you want to look at the stats and be specific. it is true a lot of people are

denied asylum. the stats we are given inflated. they include people whose cases are denied in abstention. i have done hearings where the notices were sent to the wrong date. the general point you are making is an important one. the idea of consequence and delivery and deterrence. this is not something that biden created. this was created to deter primarily mexican workers coming to the united states to work illegally and detain them and discourage that. we applied those same methods to sylum seekers. that doesn't align to the laws which are written, but out dated laws and the administration is grabbing at straws and it is not working and that is something

that is the haitian situation at the border is another example. >> i appreciate you clarifying the comments about the number of people denied immigration status after applying through the normal process. i would like to get more information from you on that so we can get proper stats to share with the viewers. i appreciate talking with you. i learn something new. caitlyn dickerson. loyal viewers know a passion of mine is fighting poverty. it is discussed by me in terms of policy and economics and numbers. after the break, we look at the human side of poverty. >> i have something even better than syrup. >> what? >> pretend syrup. >> do you want some pretend syrup? she's had enough?

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the united states receive federal rent relief last month. as you can see, emergency rental assistance which is funded by two specific pandemic relief bills passed over the last year seems to be getting out the door faster than it was earlier this year, but according to the treasury department as of august 31st only about 17% of the 46.5 billion that the government earmarked for covid-19 rental aid has been distributed. there's an even bigger problem when you consider that the millions of americans who are at risk of losing their homes since the federal eviction moratorium expired this summer. we talk a lot on this show about poverty. my next guest understands the realities of living without a home, the realities of just existing in america under back breaking poverty. in her best-selling memoir "maid," stephanie land tells the story of becoming pregnant at a

young age, getting trapped into a toxic relationship and her slip into homelessness. what it costs to be poor in america and the struggles of getting help from the government. >> i was overwhelmed by how much work it took to prove i was poor. land's book has been adopted into the netflix series "maid," here's a clip. >> are you currently under the influence of any drugs or alcohol? >> no. >> are you sure? because you look strung out. >> no. we slept in a car last night, so -- >> so you're homeless. >> no. no, i wouldn't say that. so you have a home? >> maddie's dad, he drinks and he blacks out and punches stuff -- >> punches maddie? no. no. just -- last night -- last night was different and i got scared.

>> did you file a police report? >> no. >> do you want to call the cops now? it's not too late? >> and say what? that he didn't hit me? >> stephanie land is the subject of that series. she joins me now. stephanie, it's an honor to finally talk to you in person. i read your book with remarkable interest because it's different from what we talk about on the show. we talk about poverty, we talk about the numbers. you talked about the effort that you have to go through to show that you're poor. you had seven different kinds of assistance that you were on in addition to earning about nine bucks an hour as steady as you could as a house cleaner. >> yeah, and thank you for having me on. this is quite a treat. i was on seven different kinds of assistance when i actually was not working. i had been working as a landscaper and the season ended, couldn't find another job so i decided to enroll in a local

community college and that was when i was able to count on two hands how much government assistance programs i was on at the time. >> one of the things that we do talk about here because of the effort to get money out to people who needed it during the pandemic is the degree to which we can cut taxes for the wealthy withal northwest no effort in the question. we don't question what they did with the money that they save or have. but when we talk about money going to people who are impoverished or insecure, whether the lazy once will take advantage of it, whether they won't go to work. there is a real sense that what you are doing is the product of something wrong that you did. what did you do that was so wrong that people were going at you for being poor? >> oh, goodness, i only have five minutes. there was so much. i was blamed for leaving a toxic relationship because that was a stable home. i was blamed for that in open

court, and i was seen as a bad person because i removed my daughter from, you know, somewhat stable environment and now we were homeless and when really i was leaving an abusive situation, but people didn't see it that way because it was emotional abuse, and it just seems like, you know, you can never do anything right, and i think people do that because as long as i am doing bad things and wrong things they can blame me for or that they would never do themselves then they don't feel they can help a person in my situation. >> in your book you talk about the book and the tv show focuses on food and you and i were chatting the other day. food wasn't always great, you couldn't always get the food you wanted, but you could manage to be fed. you worried constantly of not having a roof over your head which was a constant fear that

so many millions of americans live in right this moment. >> yeah. i still, to some extent struggle with housing insecurity. i mean, i don't know what it's going to take for me to feel completely housing secure after so many years of just suddenly discovering that i don't have a place to sleep anymore, and i need to move or, you know, there's mold in the walls that are making us sick or my landlord suddenly decides that they don't want to give me a cut of rent so that i'm landscaping in their yard or something. there were so many different situations where just i could no longer stay where i was living. >> and we forget that just because people might get government assistance doesn't mean it's easy to find a place to live or stay where you live. all of that is fraught with difficulty and then when you have children you're trying to create stability for them, that becomes impossible. >> yeah. i mean, for someone who is on

food stamps, for example, you are often not allowed to have more than $2,500 in assets in your bank account. that's the federal rule, any so how are you going to save for first, last and deposit for another place to live? most places you need to come up with at least $3,000, you know, or way more even to move into low-income housing. >> what's the situation now, stephanie? when you were earning money at $9 an hour and the federal minimum wage was $7.25. you were working in the homes of middle-class people and sometimes wealthy people and that was stark for you. you now have finally been able to tell your story and have finally met with some success. how does it feel? >> there's been a lot of processing. some of it, i don't know if i'm ever going to be able to process. some of it has been dealing with a lot of what they call survivor's guilt, but i am also

a really shy, introvert in real life so it's kind of hard for me to talk all of the time to massive amounts of people, but it gives me a chance to advocate, and it gives me a chance to open doors for hopefully more people to talk about their experiences who are way less privileged than i am. >> we are privileged to have you tell your story to us and that you wrote it in a book and joined us on the show to talk about it. it gives a real face to some of the stories that we talk about on the show. stephanie land is the author of "maid, hard work, low pay and a mother's will to survive," stephanie's story premieres friday october 1st. we're just getting started on this saturday morning. cori bush will be here to discuss the future of police reform in america. facebook wanted to save the world and it is by being a danger to your democracy and health. the cyber ninjas finally

finished whatever anti-democratic nonsense they're up to, but it could be coming to a state near you. another hour of "velshi" begins right now. good morning to you. it is saturday, september 25th. i'm ali velshi. today democrats are reminding us what a functional government looks like while republicans are reminding us of the dysfunction that we narrowly escaped. they are finalized $the 3 trillion package that encompasses tax breaks for families and clean energy inis nottives. the fate of president biden's entire economic agenda is hanging in the balance so democrats are putting negotiations over that bill in the fast track. this is because progressives are threatening to tankan upcoming vote on the smaller bipartisan infrastructure bill unless the larger $3.5 trillion package is passed in tandem. this may seem like a type of internal party bickering that's