i'm geoff bennett coming to you live from the u.s. capitol. it is a tense day, a dramatic day in the house chamber there behind me, a potential make or break moment over the next several hours for much of president biden's domestic agenda. but at least according to the house speaker, this is the fun

part. >> reporter: just to clarify your intentions on this vote today, are you planning on delaying this vote if you do not have enough votes to pass this on the floor? >> i do not plan on not doing anything. as i've said, we had a great morning. lots of conversations, as we come to the end. let me just tell you about negotiating. at the end is when you really have to weigh in. you cannot tire. you cannot concede. this is the fun part. i just told members of my leadership that the reconciliation bill was a culmination of my service in congress, because it was about the children. the children, the children, the children. >> reporter: to follow up on manny's question, are you committed to having a vote on infrastructure today? >> yes. >> reporter: regardless of whether you have the votes? >> i intend to -- we're on a path to win the vote. i don't want to even consider any options other than that. >> reporter: is he saying something privately to you or to

the president that gives you more hope that that can move forward? >> do you think i'm going to talk to you about my conversations with joe manchin in here? if you promise not to tell anyone. >> the culmination of my service in congress, she says. some very interesting comments from the house speaker, projecting an upbeat mood at what is a very tense moment. and to that last point about senator joe manchin, a big scoop from politico this afternoon, a document kept secret for months about what manchin wants in order to get to yes. >> reporter: are you saying that is your ceiling, 1.5, the most you will accept? you signed that document this summer. did you have an agreement that that's what you would accept? >> at the time i signed that agreement, july 28, i was asked to go to a budget rulings.

i didn't think any of this was needed at this time. i thought the infrastructure bill was needed. but i said, fine, this was a condition i would get to, that was 1.5. >> reporter: so there you have it, the red line from the senior senator from west virginia. the big question now is how progressive democrats in the house who want a much more sweeping bill will react. for them, is this the fun part? joining me now is the chair of the house democratic caucus, new york congressman hakeem jeffries. great to have you with us. i should tell our viewers there is a pro-immigration rally on the other side of this camera that is providing the unexpected soundtrack for our conversation. but the first question is this. the house speaker today said we go in this to win this. moments later, majority leader steny hoyer was asked by reporters, are you confident this bill will pass, and his answer was no. what's your assessment? and what happens over the next few hours here? does this vote move forward or does the house speaker pull if?

>> it's my expectation that the bill will move forward. we are in it to win it, failure is not an option. we have to fix our mass transit system, invest in our water and sewer systems which are broken. those problems are exacerbated by the extreme weather events we're seeing back home with hurricane ida in new york. we want to make sure we provide every single american with access to high speed internet. all of those areas are covered in the bipartisan infrastructure agreement. that's important. at the same time, there are other investments that we need to make in childcare and in home care, driving down the high cost of life-saving prescription drugs, expanding access for medicare and medicaid for everyday americans and the most vulnerable amongst us. those are also priorities that i share and i feel need to happen with the fierce urgency and now and which are on the path to get done. >> congresswoman jayapal, who as

you know chairs the house progressive caucus, she was asked if anything had changed, she said no. yesterday she said she had some 60 or so colleagues, progressives, who are willing to vote no on this bipartisan infrastructure bill. if she's saying nothing has changed and the house speaker moves forward with this vote anyway, is she basically daring them to vote against it? >> we had two caucus meetings this week, very productive conversations. my expectation is today hopefully we'll have another caucus meeting to be briefed on the latest developments. and i do know that there have been intensifying conversations and discussions with the senate involving the white house and of course our house leadership. speaker pelosi is doing a tremendous job in navigating us forward. hopefully we'll in a place in the next few hours where it's clear that we have the type of ironclad agreement to move forward in a meaningful way with the build back better act that will allow for and facilitate

the conditions of success on the floor later on today. >> what's your reaction to those folks who say democrats are trying to do too much with these slim majorities? i read one of those newsletters this morning that said it's hard to pass an fdr agenda without an fdr majority in the congress. here you are trying to spend $3.5 trillion in social spending. >> certainly fdr was able to do the new deal with a little north of 300 democratic members of the house of representatives and i believe 69 democratic senators. even lyndon baines johnson in the context of the great society programs like medicare and medicaid had 290 or so democrats in the house and i think 68 senators on the democratic side in the senate. but the urgency of the moment,

the conditions that everyday americans are confronting, which president biden so correctly said we need to address decisively, require action that's comprehensive, that is compassionate, and that's continuing. we have to build back better. we can't go back to pre-pandemic normal. president biden, as candidate biden, promised we would deal with the fact, for instance, that half the american people, prior to the pandemic, reported they could not afford a sudden unexpected $400 expense. that's not an acceptable condition in the wealthiest country in the world. >> what's the whip count? >> that's probably a question that's above my pay grade, i'm just a caucus chair. we've got great leadership. >> the expectation is this will pass. is that the expectation of leadership? >> the expectation is absolutely that it will pass. and we are on a path to making sure that that happens. >> the house speaker today said that the reconciliation bill,

the social spending bill would be the culmination of her time in congress. that raised a lot of eyebrows. you are seen as a rising star in democratic politics. if the house speaker decides to retire after 30 plus years of service to this country, would you want her job, would you want to be house speaker? >> i haven't given it a thought. >> oh, come on. >> i've got an important job in front of me right now. i will say simply that i think what the speaker meant is that similar to the new deal era, which is a once in a lifetime moment to try to get decisive things done for everyday americans and the great society era, that this is the culmination of a lot of work done over the last several decades to try to get to a point where we can decisively act for working class americans, middle class americans, those who aspire to be part of the middle class, the poor, the sick, the afflicted, the least, the lost, and the left behind. >> i didn't hear you say no. congressman hakeem jeffries,

good to see you as always. let's bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell. leigh ann, one of the questions our team had this morning watching the press conference with the house speaker was, why was she in such a good mood? we're all talking about how biden's economic agenda is on a razor's edge. but she was upbeat, projecting confidence, wearing the speaker's mace pin that she wears on big days. >> reporter: she does seem in a good mood, in a sharp contrast with yesterday, she returned from a meeting at the white house last night and her security blocked us from asking her questions, which is usually unheard of. they don't usually do that. then you saw the clip at the congressional baseball game last night, furiously talking on the telephone. but ultimately today is the day that they are supposed to vote on this bipartisan infrastructure bill. and she thrives in these

challenges. her talking to her members is what gives her energy and the challenge of her trying to pass this piece of legislation. the last three hours, she has ushered in different groups of her house caucus, started with the moderates, and then the progressives, then she was meeting with the new democrats which are in between the moderates and the progressives. so she is trying to listen to every single member to see what their concerns are, to see what she's able to offer them in order to get everyone on the same page ahead of this vote. it's interesting that she still has not called off this vote. she insists that it's going to happen. but she has said multiple times that she only brings things to the floor that are going to pass. so she has not given up hope yet. she is still working. and there's still many hours left in the day. but one thing that the house does have to vote on today is to fund the government. the senate just moments ago

passed a short term government funding bill to keep the government lights on past tonight until december 3. and the house is going to vote on that today. so they will have averted one crisis. but then they're still trying to deal with this political crisis, president biden's agenda, geoff. >> they've crossed one crisis off the list. nbc's leigh ann caldwell, thanks for this reporting. with us here are punchbowl news co-founder anna palmer and senior washington correspondent from "the washington post" phil rucker. anna, we're finally getting clarity from joe manchin, what his red lines are, what his top line number is. for the progressives in the house who have been waiting for this clarity, they now have the clarity and it's not what they want. >> they aren't hearing anything that they want from joe manchin. i think they don't trust him. and he kind of just proved their point, that they are so far apart that they are still in unison against this infrastructure bill because they don't feel like reconciliation

is going to happen. >> and phil, i was sort of fascinated by this proxy war we're seeing between joe manchin, who is the most conservative member of the democratic caucus in the house and senate, and then you have bernie sanders, the progressive chair, who basically told the liberals to tank the bill in the house. >> his point is not every democrat who is a member of that party is a bernie sanders democrat. a lot of different democrats make up the majority in the congress that are a small majority and they have to come up with some sort of a compromise that will include not only manchin but kyrsten sinema, the democrat from arizona, who has not been as clear on what she's looking for in that final package. >> anna, if this vote moves forward, and we heard congressman jeffries say it is, if it moves forward and fails or gets pulled, is that a good

thing on balance because it's a wake-up call for democrats or is it a bad thing because it shows the democrats, at least in this moment, are dysfunctional? >> i don't think it's a fatal blow. they have a lot of time here. we were always predicting this would go into october, november, even december potentially. if the speaker puts it on the floor and it fails, that would be very uncharacteristic of her, typically she only puts votes on the floor that she knows will pass. if it doesn't go forward and they have to pull it, it's a real recognition that democrats need to get it together. what is the role joe biden will play to actually get people to coalesce and find a real pathway forward for progressives and moderates? >> it's funny you mentioned that because we don't know what we don't know. none of us knew a couple of hours ago that joe manchin had made clear to chuck schumer and the white house what he wanted to see in this reconciliation bill. do you have the sense that the house leadership knows how this is going to go and they're just

not letting on? >> i think nancy pelosi is trying to put as much pressure as possible on all these different factions. the moderates are saying, we're going ahead, this is happening, the progressives are saying hall no, and the new dems and more interesting people in the mix, they're positive. so she has positive momentum. it's not as if everybody is walking around saying, no, this isn't going to happen. you never want to count out nancy pelosi, because she oftentimes surprises people. but this is going to be a really big task for her. >> the brass band is starting up with this immigration rally, if people can hear that on their tvs. phil, what's interesting about president biden, this has been true since covering him during the transition, he doesn't insert himself into things where he doesn't think he can be helpful. there has been all this hand-wringing from members of the house democrats who say the president needs to be more involved here. but the white house makes the point that he is involved to the extent he thinks he's useful. >> that's right, and you're seeing a soft glove approach from biden, which is a real

contrast from president trump when he was inserting himself in these legislative hurdles. president biden is trying to be the deal maker that he was when he was a senator in office. he's still holding out hope of winning over republicans on some of these measures. this could be the end of biden's domestic agenda if these bills go down, we're looking at a very competitive and partisan midterm election year starting in 2022. >> that's a great point. one of the reasons why this whole thing is so fraught is because democrats view this, depending on how the midterms go, this could be their last big bill of their majority. >> you will hear them say, we had the house, we had the senate, we had the white house, that's not a compelling message, vote us back in even though we can't get things done. >> good to see both of, thank you so much. tomorrow the u.s. government

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it is imperative that congress address the debt limit. if not, our current estimate is that treasury will likely exhaust its extraordinary measures by october 18. america would default for the first time in history. the full faith and credit of the united states would be impaired and our country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession as a result. it's necessary to avert a catastrophic event for our economy. >> you just heard it from

treasury secretary janet yellen. the u.s. government could run out of money by october 18. it would mark the first default on our debt in american history. that's unless congress does something about it, unless congress raises the debt ceiling. the debt ceiling is like our country's credit card limit. if that limit doesn't go up, we can't pay our monthly bills. it's hard to overstate how potentially catastrophic that would be. no social security checks for almost 50 million seniors. our nation's military would go unpaid. millions of families with children who rely on tax credits will likely see delays. and if none of those apply to you, here's what could. if the government actually defaults, u.s. credit ratings would take a hit which means everything from mortgages to car loans to credit card bills would get more expensive. joining us now is punchbowl news co-founder jake sherman, great to have you with us live and in the flesh. >> yes. >> help us understand how what's happening now is different from the debt limit debate of 2011 when the country almost defaulted but didn't.

>> so every debt limit debate i've been a part of, which is way too many at this point, came with a price. john boehner said we either need to cut spending, reform entitlements, a variety of hostage demands. this does not. mitch mcconnell has said republicans aren't lifting the debt limit and that's it, they're just not doing it, and democrats need to do it with budget reconciliation, which is the fast-track 50-vote process that you could raise the debt limit with just democratic votes. there's not much time. we're 19 days to the limit. democrats just -- congress needs to get going because everything takes a long time. >> i want to play for you what senator pat toomey, pennsylvania republican, said about the debt limit. >> it is not about past spending. it is about future spending. consider for instance this 3.5, which is really $5.5, trillion spending bill. last time i checked, that hasn't passed yet.

>> according to the u.s. treasury, senator, the debt limit does not authorize new spending commitments. even if the democrats are unable to pass infrastructure, unable to pass social infrastructure, if both those bills die, correct me if i'm wrong here, you would still have to raise the debt limit. >> you would not have to raise it as soon and you would not have to raise it as much. >> so our friend tony there over at cbs, he wasn't wrong. what toomey is saying is not right. >> no, it's not right. it's not. yes, the government is on auto pilot in some respects, there's lots of spending. but treasury is not taking into account what congress might pass in the near term or the long term. so he's not exactly right. a few notes of caution here, though. i mean, the government shutting down, it's not going to shut down, but we're on the shutdown day, and the markets aren't really reacting. we know the government is not going to shut down. if it did shut down, we know there is harm but it's not

cataclysmic for the most part unless it goes on for a long time. so you can't really bring this up to the deadline. i think we'll see markets start reacting sooner than october 17 or 16. congress really doesn't have a lot of time here. >> what toomey is saying there, is that the overall republican stance? >> yes. >> because the republicans raised the debt limit twice under trump and they did it with democrats. now they're saying it's about future spending. no, it's about debt that was incurred under the trump administration. >> yes and no. you have to raise it for past spending and future spending. government needs to be able to borrow money, period, no matter who's spending the money. republicans voted for government funding packages. it's not like one party supports all the spending all the time. there's plenty of bipartisan spending in congress. so it's not as neat and clean as that. and yes, democrats helped out and yes, republicans have helped out during republican demonstrations and democratic administrations. this approach right now is relatively novel.

and the demand that it goes on reconciliation is a relatively novel demand. >> why is everything unprecedented these days, jake? >> i don't know. >> leader schumer over in the senate said today, a couple of minutes ago, that democrats are going to try to go it alone. how's that going to work? he says they won't work reconciliation and they can't use unanimous consent. >> i don't know what he means, going it alone would indicate reconciliation but he's not moved on reconciliation. unless he has something up his sleeve here which we don't know about, and i just doubt that, because again, we've been around this carousel many times and we kind of know how to moves. we've explored as a congress, they've explored every single option in the past. >> including getting rid of it. >> including getting rid of it. nancy pelosi put her support very lightly behind changing it in some way but she said she's not going to do that right now. >> it would be one less headache for them to have. >> it would be. >> great to see you as always, jake sherman. the u.s. has just crossed

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in the summer of 1994, i was raped. i became pregnant. and i chose to have an abortion. >> i was one of the lucky ones, madam chair. a lot of girls and women in my generation didn't make it. they died from unsafe abortions. >> in that moment she chose life and those resources were available to her as a single mom. my mom survived. >> it is simply nobody's business what choices we as pregnant people make about our own bodies. >> rare and emotional testimony

today on capitol hill from some of the women of congress who told difficult stories of choice in two very different ways. these congresswomen shared their deeply personal abortion experiences into the official record all in the hope of changing the national conversation as abortion access nears a crisis moment nationwide. today's hearing follows a vote in the house last week to codify "roe v. wade." and the introduction of abortion restrictions that is now the law of the land in texas and that are being considered by a number of gop-led states. it also comes as the supreme court prepares to hear a controversial abortion rights case next term. joining us now is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. so ali, these congresswomen sharing their stories, this is all a part of trying to change policy. >> it's part of trying to change policy. the question i asked them when we spoke exclusively before their testimony is if they thought it would matter. i was struck, congresswoman cori

bush spoke about about how coming up in the church, a member of her faith community, she saw her own mind changed as she heard these stories and made these decisions herself, she said absolutely this can change minds. the reality on the ground, you and i have covered this issue for a long time, we know how deeply passionate and entrenched these viewpoints are. we even saw during the hearing, these two stark contrasts between the lawmakers who shared their stories to have abortions and a republican lawmaker on the committee who testified for the committee who said, pointing to her mother's decision not to have an abortion. these are deeply held views. do i think in the broader conversation around this issue, we're now seeing the impact of reflective democracy, having more women of color and women period in the halls of congress, this is what you get. and actually i asked one of these lawmakers about this. listen to what she told me. >> is that an outgrowth of reflective democracy? >> i totally think so. being able to see what a difference barbara's story, cori's story, and my story can

make is really important, and it doesn't happen if you don't have that representation of women and of women of color. >> and i think what she said there is so important, geoff, because we spoke with these three women who happen to be women of color. and the thing that they continue to hearken back to, especially congresswoman barbara lee who had her abortion before that landmark "roe" ruling, she pointed to the fact that she survived, she was lucky enough, in her words, to have a family friend who was a good doctor in mexico, even though it was a back alley clinic, it was a good doctor, she said. she pointed to the fact that she survived but how dangerous it was especially for black and brown women. that's the warning you hear still from reproductive advocates, if you go back to a time before "roe," those are the women who would be in the crosshairs here. >> where does this policy push head next? the supreme court is expected to hear the mississippi case that bans abortion after 15 weeks.

the supreme court is expected to take that up in december. and there is a push, as you mentioned, on capitol hill. what happens next? >> we saw the house last week pass a bill that would have codified federal protections. at the same time, though, that bill has no real reality in the senate. you would have to reform the filibuster there. it's actually notable in the aftermath of the house passing that bill, we saw groups like naral join the push of coalitions pushing the senate to do away with the filibuster. there's momentum on the democratic side for it but no real reality to it. that's why these lawmakers shared their stories. many of them don't talk about this often, there's apprehension about sharing their stories, but they want to move the public and the national conversation around this issue at a time when they see things as dangerous for the right to choose.

>> ali vitali, thanks for bringing us that regulatory. with us is one of the congresswomen who ali mentioned who testified at that hearing, congresswoman barbara lee of california. thank you for sharing some time with us this afternoon. you shared your story for the public record, uncharted testimony for you. why was it important to testify about your personal experience? >> thank you very much. let me say, having an abortion is my personal business, it's nobody else's business, it's a private decision i made with my mother and my family. so i have been very reluctant to talk about that because of just that. what is taking place in the country compelled me to talk about those days i remember so well, having a back alley abortion, and i survived. but you know what, we're getting back there if we don't do something and do something quickly. as hard as it is to talk about these grueling decisions that i had to make at age 16, i had

just turned 16, but if my story will help other women come out and if it will shed some light on the fact that regardless of your views, you know, people have the decision-making right, the freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies. and that's what we were trying to communicate. and i felt like now is the time, if i was ever going to be helpful in making sure that no one has to go through what i went through years ago. >> do you feel like you were heard today? what do you hope your colleagues who may support restrictions, who may support abortion restrictions, what do you hope they took away today, after today's hearing? >> i hope they took away that whether they support or oppose abortion, that it's their decision. i'm not going to tell my colleagues that their mothers made the wrong decision. i'm not going to tell my colleagues they made the wrong decisions. that's not for politicians to determine. it's for that person.

it's for whomever she trusts. and those decisions are very personal and should not be part of the elected officials' decisions. i want everyone to have the right, the freedom, to make their own decisions. so i hope they heard us that it doesn't matter to me what you believe in, i'm not going to interfere with your beliefs, just let me do my thing, let me do what i have to do if in fact that's my decision. and believe you me, these are some gut wrenching and heart-wrenching decisions we have to make and it's very traumatic. >> you represent california, but you were born in texas, which now has a near total abortion ban. if other states follow texas' lead, and some of them are trying to do that, how can congress protect "roe v. wade"? >> well, i'm really proud of the fact that we've been working since 2013 with congressman judy chu to pass the women's health protection act. we passed that. of course we know it's an uphill

battle, given the dynamics in the senate. but this is the first step to make sure we put into law "roe v. wade." so we can't stop now, we've got to keep going, because once again, i can see what's getting ready to take place. back alley abortions. do you know that the african-american women died more of septic abortions than any other reasons for death in the day when i was a teenager? and so i see what's going on. this is an issue of justice. it's an issue of freedom. and we have to make sure that everyone has access to the full range of reproductive health care including abortion. so we have to educate more members of congress and make sure they understand, i'm not taking away their freedom, i'm not condemning them for their views, but let me make my own personal decisions. it's none of your business, it's not the business of any elected officials. >> when you say i see what's coming, you have the supreme court scheduled to consider the constitutionality of mississippi's so-called heartbeat bill that's scheduled to happen in december.

how concerned are you about what may come down the line? >> well, i'm very concerned. that's why we must try to fight at the state level to try to stop these laws, because you showed the map, how many states now unfortunately have abortion restrictions or are moving toward that. so we have to have -- we have some wonderful organizations at the local level who have to hold their officials accountable, who have to continue to file appeals and lawsuits which we're doing, and really make sure that we get "roe v. wade" codified into law, make sure that's the law of the land. and also we need to make sure that the hyde amendment, which i talked about today, is repealed, because i was here as a staff person for congressman rondell ron dellums. that hyde amendment, he said he would get the it in medicaid for poor women so they wouldn't have

access to abortion. it's so racist and discriminatory. >> congresswoman barbara lee, thank you. >> nice being with you, thank you. a story about justice served nearly 100 years in the making. california governor gavin newsom is expected to sign a bill this afternoon that enables the return of prime beachfront property in southern california to the descendants of a black couple who were stripped of their land and driven out by the kkk nearly 100 years ago. bruce's beach was taken from willa and charles bruce nearly a century ago. they bought it in 1912 for $1,200 and built it as a resort for black americans who had few options for enjoying time along the california coast. but the resort quickly became a target of the area's white residents, leading them to acts of vandalism, attacks on black visitors, and even a 1920 attack by the kkk. the city eventually seized the

land from the bruces through eminent domain in 1924 and other surrounding parcels of land under the pretence of building a city park. today, that land could be worth up to $75 million. it's going back to that family. it's a long overdue writing of a wrong committed a century ago. coming up next, breaking news. a grim new milestone in the pandemic. the u.s. has just crossed 700,000 deaths from covid-19 and also ahead, more than 160 expectant mothers have died from covid so far. now the cdc is urgently pleading with pregnant women to get vaccinated. women to get vaccinated it has long-lasting light scent, no heavy perfumes, and no dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day. new downy light!

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feel the difference with downy. we've got some breaking news to share with you on the covid pandemic. the u.s. has just reached another grim milestone. 700,000 covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic. but there is some good news in the fight against covid. vaccine rates are slowly ticking

up. this week marks the deadline for many workplace mandates. one thing is becoming clear. the mandates are working. "new york times" journalist david leonhart broke down the data. in california, thousands of health care workers have gotten a shot in recent weeks. in new york, a mandate requiring hospital and nursing home staff to be vaccinated resulted in 100,000 newly vaccinated people. trinity health's vaccination rate is up 94% among staff there. and it's not just health care workers seeing this increase. united airlines is preparing to potentially fire 600 employees who defied the company's vaccine mandate. but the overwhelming majority of the united employees, 99%, some 67,000 people, got the shot. that's a lot of numbers and we'll break it down right now with msnbc medical contributor and pulmonologist dr. vin gupta.

dr. gupta, a grim milestone, 700,000 americans dead from covid-19. help us understand, how does that strike you, especially in a moment when we have vaccines, vaccines are free and readily accessible? >> geoff, good afternoon, great to see you. of course the last 200,000 deaths, probably 90% of those were preventible if we think about the loss of life since vaccines were widely available. geoff, we're expecting we'll cross an additional 100,000 deaths likely by january 1. we're continuing to lose americans, deaths that are preventible. what i would say for everybody out there right now watching, we're going to expect some degree of reprieve here through the end of october. cases are declining already in the south. they're still rising in the north to some degree. but that's going to be plateauing at about 1,500 deaths a day through october, not a level we like, of course, but there will be a bit of reprieve

before november, december, january. cold and flu season take effect, that's when we'll see an uptick again. >> a bit of calm before the storm there. let's talk about mandates. you spent a lot of time talking to employers and employees ahead of mandates convincing people to get the vaccine on their own. what do you make of these mandates and their effectiveness, as outlined by the numbers we ticked through by david leonhart? >> i'm personally seeing people are asking more questions now. it was never the case that everybody who was yet to be vaccinated said, no way, no how. a lot of them were just putting it off, waiting and seeing. they wanted to ask questions. turns out, geoff, 20% of people in the country are still uninsured, many of them don't have the ability to ask directed questions. now they're asking them, they're seeking out information. a lot of people, geoff, just didn't show proof, they didn't provide documentation. of course now we're seeing especially in health care, people don't want to lose their

jobs. so it's multiple factors here that are being accelerated because of these mandates. documentation and showing of proof, seeking out questions or answers to questions that have long existed, and then of course some people say, you know what, i don't want to lose my job. >> that's true. while we have you, i want to get on the record with this urgent cdc guidance for pregnant women. there has apparently been a twofold increase in icu admissions for expectant mothers who are infected with covid-19. 161 pregnant women have died from covid-19. 22 of them just in august alone. so help us understand, what exactly is this new cdc guidance and how does that differ from what they've been saying before? because it was my understanding they've been telling pregnant women to get the shot for months now. >> there hasn't been much of a difference, geoff. you are 100% correct. we have been begging, pleading women that are thinking about getting pregnant or that are currently pregnant, intrapartum, to get vaccinated. here's why. you just cited data, that you're

at two times increased risk of ending up in the icu if you're unvaccinated and pregnant versus if you're vaccinated and pregnant. geoff, you're eight times greater risk of ending up in the hospital if you're reason why. any pregnant female, their immune system is doing double duty, trying to protect baby while protecting mom. it is doing double duty. that's the reason the vaccine is vital. that's why unvaccinated pregnant women are particularly high risk of ending up in the hospital. >> i never thought of it that way, you just explained it so clearly. their immune systems are doing double duty. thanks for the clarity and great context. appreciate you. coming up next, the change happening that could lead to the biggest border surge in decades. stay with us. in decades. stay with us even with higher stroke risk due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin that's a trail i want to take. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin.

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reports u.s. officials quietly prepare for what could be the largest surge in traffic at the southern border in decades, that's if the covid restriction that blocked most migrants for two years is lifted today. nbc news correspondent jacob soboroff is in port-au-prince. >> reporter: around this time yesterday, we talked to you from the airport at port-au-prince where thousands of haitian migrants have been sent back since expulsions from under the bridge began around ten days ago, this morning, united nations making appeal to the u.s. and other governments for expelling haitian migrants, deporting them to port prince and throughout the country of haiti. they would like the u.s. to refrain expelling haitians without proper assessment of individual protection needs. that's echoing a message we heard from the u.n. chief of mission for migration here on the ground yesterday. and it takes into account realities on the ground. thousands of migrants returned

by the biden administration under cdc authority. they say it is about public health. many democrats second degree. those migrants often have nowhere to go, they're returning to a country to somewhere they haven't been in almost a decade. so many left after the 2010 earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands, they made their way to brazil, to chile, and find their way to the southern border, now unable to enter the u.s. because of the biden administration policy. they effectively become stateless. we talked to some on the ground yesterday, some on your very program. they may attempt to enter the united states and leave haiti, again if given the opportunity. bottom line, they don't see a future for themselves in this country. that's why we are here, to look at realities on the ground far from the southern border. >> thanks for that report. my thanks to you for spending the hour with me. hallie jackson picks up coverage

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