right now on "andrea mitchell reports," two americans dead after a case of mistaken identity leads to a kidnapping in a dangerous part of mexico. we will have details from

mexico's government and an update on the survivors. this hour, panic in the skies after a united airlines passenger threatens a flight attendant and tries to open an emergency door mid-flight. tackled by passengers and crew, adding to a string of problems confronting the faa. the battle over reproductive rights. california's governor cutting ties with walgreens for refusing to sell abortion bills. they are refusing to sell them across the country, even where it's legal. in texas, they are challenging the restrictive laws. jay powell saying they will raise rates to tame inflation. controlling inflation will require more unemployment. good day, everyone. i'm andra mitchell in a busy

washington. the local governor in mexico says two of the four americans are dead. merrick garland is addressing it. >> i've been briefed by the fbi, which is working with mexican authorities. senior department officials are working closely with our counterparts at the state department. during this difficult time, i want to offer my deepest sympathies to the families of the americans who were attacked and kidnapped. >> part of friday's horrifying attack caught on video. a mexican official telling reuters, both victims killed were male. the woman and another man who were with them are still alive, safe and now in the hands of authorities. they add that one person is in custody. we expect to hear from the state department in two hours. u.s. authorities say the americans were targeted by cartels in a case of mistaken identity. they reportedly traveled from south carolina so one of them could undergo cosmetic surgery.

morgan chesky is on the border in brownsville, texas. joining us, clint watts. morgan, what do we know about how this happened and who the victims are? >> reporter: a heartbreaking update from the governor of the mexican state. as we wait u.s. confirmation, this is just a tragic story, no matter how you look at it, especially the fact that we heard from the family members of some of the victims who explained what led them to make the journey to cross a bridge for what was supposed to be a routine cosmetic procedure. according to federal officials, it was just shortly after crossing one of the bridges from brownsville that this van carrying four u.s. citizens took fire from this group of armed men. what happened next, unfortunately, is what we saw in this video that came out showing

these armed individuals dragging these u.s. citizens into the back of a pickup truck on friday afternoon in broad daylight, moving, i should mention, they were not in a hurry. then for three days, the whereabouts were unknown until we heard from the mexican government today. two dead, two alive. all in the custody of mexican officials here. i think it's important to know that there was a level four travel advisory in place for the city of matamoras going as far back as october of 2022. one of the most tragic aspects of this is that violence was so bad there that there had been a reminder as to the do not travel aspect on the very day that this group crossed over to have this medical procedure done. coming just what would have been hours before this horrific crime took place. >> it's horrifying. it's so sad.

the primary focus is getting the two survivors safely home. they are working with mexican authorities. in this region, there are factions of the powerful drug cartel patrolling roads. who does the fbi work with here? who is safe? >> yeah. the fbi is going to work with the host nation's government. in this case, it's mexican law enforcement. i think just the nature of that video tells you that they were not worried about what they were doing in broad daylight. they were not worried about using violence. they were not worried about patrolling the roads. it's remarkable to see the kind of passivity in terms of the crimes they could operate. i think part of the reason we know a lot of this information is, there had been a travel warning. that likely means that the u.s. law enforcement community working with the mexican government or u.s. intelligence community that works down and

deals with these counter drug networks, working with law enforcement groups, they knew this situation was quite dangerous. the same intelligence that led them to actually make that warning could be part of the reason they are able to navigate more quickly right now and try to understand the situation with the cartel, but also try and connect with law enforcement and learn as much as they can about this incident. >> morgan, how is this affecting people going across that bridge? people go over that bridge right into matamoras really for work reasons. there is a lot of cosmetic and other medical care that is less expensive across the border. how is that happening now? >> reporter: andrea, it's a way of life in these communities. the gentleman who drove me from the airport here into the community of brownsville told me he will routinely cross from brownsville into matamoras, sometimes two, three times a day. i asked him -- this was prior to

the update today -- if he felt safe going into matamoras or if there were areas he avoided. he says, you just have to be aware but that it was, i guess, a risk he was willing to take. on the other side, i had a chance to speak with a woman who has been a brownsville native her entire life. it has been years since she has crossed one of these bridges to go into a city that is a stone's throw from where i'm standing because she says it feels too unsafe. i think the unpredictability of the violence is what has struck so many people here. they were all shocked. those that i spoke to from brownsville to hear about this kidnapping. unfortunately, nobody was surprised. >> i want to bring in justice correspondent ken dilanian. what is the fbi saying? >> i had a chance to ask the attorney general, merrick garland, who was having a news conference on an unrelated matter. he was not in position to

confirm what the mexican government is saying. he said, as soon as he learns more information, he will give it to us. i asked him, what does this say about the ability of cartels to operate with immunity in some parts of mexico? listen to what he had to say. >> cartels are responsible for the deaths of americans. we are fighting as hard as possible. the dea and fbi are doing everything possible to dismantle and disrupt and ultimately prosecute the leaders of the cartels and the entire networks that they depend on. >> as you know, the u.s. intelligence community is working hand and glove with the mexican authorities to go after the cartels. they use some of the highest capabilities of u.s. intelligence, eavesdropping, overhead video, aircraft surveillance. we can assume they are using that right now to try to try to justice the people that carried out this kidnapping and make sure the fouramericans, two who

are alive, are returned to u.s. custody. >> thank you so much. a new wave of runway scares and dangerous passenger behavior ripping the airline industry, prompting the faa calling a meeting to address a string of close calls. the latest incident caught on video. a passenger repeatedly attempting to stab a flight attendant with a broken spoon, trying to open an emergency door mid-flight, before the plane could land safely in boston. the 33-year-old male passenger now facing federal charges, telling investigators he knew if he opened that door, many people would die. tom costello is here and covers aviation for him. this is a string of dangerous incidents on the runway, another one. >> let's start with this case in boston with this suspect. 33 years old. as you saw, he was tackled by

other passengers on board. he was brought down on the galley. it's impossible to open that door, thank goodness. that was not going to happen. stabbing a flight attendant with a broken spoon is serious. he faces federal chargs and potentially life in prison. as it relates to the broader theme, that is we have had -- we learned of a sixth runway incursion, a close call in which planes came too close together. this was in sarasota, florida. it happened in february. what happened is, air traffic control cleared a plane to land on a runway that another plane was taking off from. literally, potentially, right on top of each other. the plane that was going to land, it took -- it went around. we have seen multiple cases now. because of that, the faa is calling a summit for next week, an aviation safety summit. >> i want to play part of what

captain sully said to savannah on "today" this morning about how dangerous this is becoming. >> do you think there's a sense of complacency that sets in when air travel has been, thankfully, so safe? >> yes. we have become the victims of our own success. we must keep reminding ourselves on a daily basis that even though air travel has become ultra safe and routine, what we are doing is pushing a tube filled with people through the upper atmosphere seven or eight miles above the earth at 80% of the speed of sound in a hostile environment with outside air temperatures to minus 70 and air pressure one quarter that at the surface. we must return it safely to the surface every time. >> he famously landed that plane on the hudson after the bird strike. >> that's right. >> he knows what he is talking about. >> that's a good sound bite. it puts it into context how serious this is. that is why he says this is a

canary in a coal mine moment. we have all of these instances. we need to address it or something bad could happen. >> you are our expert. you know this better than anyone. let's talk about turbulence. this is to someone well-known in washington, dana hyde, the general counsel to the 9/11 commission, the ceo of the millennium challenge group, worked in the obama and clinton white house. 55 years old. she and her husband and son were traveling from new hampshire down to washington and virginia on a private plane. it was a college tour. >> coming back from a college tour. she lives in maryland. very accomplished lady. she was on this plane with her son and her husband. this is the private plane that hit terrible turbulence. she was killed. this is incredibly rare. i don't think i have heard of somebody dying of turbulence in

a plane. the ntsb is investigating. was there something going wrong with that plane? was there a mechanical issue? did they get caught in extreme turbulence? we know the jet stream right now moving from west to east is running at about 100 miles per hour faster than normal. people flying from l.a. to new york are saying, i got here an hour earlier. if you get caught into that river in the air, it can be incredibly violent. we don't know if that played a role. >> when you say that, we don't know -- in your piece it could have been the trim, which would be a big deal. do we know whether this -- whether dana was wearing a seat belt? >> we don't know. there's speculation that to have suffered that sort of an injury, a fatal injury, she may not have been. that is why they say, if you are in a plane, you have to keep the seat belt on. >> always, always.

her son and husband are well? >> they are not -- nobody else on board the plane was injured. >> my gosh. thank you very much for all of that. >> you bet. aftershocks, months after the supreme court's landmark abortion restrictions, state restrictions are spreading a ban on the abortion bill as well as procedures to save the health and life of the mother. that's next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. ng "andrea tcmihell reports." this is msnbc. your heart is the beat of life. if you have heart failure, entrust your heart to entresto, a medicine specifically made for heart failure. entresto is the #1 heart failure brand prescribed by cardiologists. it was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. and just imagine where a healthier heart could take you.

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the impact of the supreme court's abortion decision is being felt across different states. in california, the governor is cutting off walgreens pharmacies from state business if their executives continue to refuse to sell abortion pills to customers. in texas, that state's abortion ban is having dangerous consequences for some residents. yamiche alcindor has more. >> reporter: when amanda and josh found they were expecting a baby girl, they were overjoyed. the name they picked, willow. >> it was magical. the first 17 weeks were very easy. very smooth sailing. >> reporter: just before week 18, something felt wrong. amanda's body was preparing for labor too early. the news was devastating. >> she said quickly, all in one breath, you are going to lose

the baby. she's not going to survive. i thought they would go in and intervene immediately. she told me that they couldn't because the baby's heart was still beating. i wasn't sick. >> reporter: laws in texas ban doctors from performing abortions except when a medical emergency endangers a person's life or major body function. those who violate the law could face up to life in prison. take me into what it was like to wait. >> i just existed in sorrow and fear. i was really, really scared. >> this isn't something you do with any other kind of medical issue. you have to ask, am i sick enough to get treatment? it was infuriating. >> reporter: three days after the diagnosis, her health deteriorated. doctors performed an abortion but serious infection let to sepsis. she spent three days in the icu. >> because of the law, i nearly died. nothing about this is pro-life.

>> joining me now, yamiche alcindor, robert gibbs, jonathan lemire and former u.s. attorney joyce vance. after meeting with that couple, it's heartbreaking. they are grieving the loss of a child, and at the same time, obviously, the health problems for herself, the mom. you talked to the leader of texas right to life, the name of the group. what kind of pushback did you hear? >> their story is heart did the -- heartbreaking. she wants to have a baby, a healthy baby. because of the medical complications, it's harder for her to conceive. her uterus was scarred during the fact she was forced to wait for this abortion. this law that almost killed her and it made it harder to start

the family she wants. when you talk to people on the other side of the issue, including the president of texas right for life, they say the law is clear. not that doctors can't intervene and that it's the doctor's that are misinterpreting this. that being said, there are so many doctors who said they are worried about this. if you violate the texas law, you could face life in prison. it takes one person saying, i disagree with the way this doctor handled this for a doctor to end up in prison. center for reproductive rights filed a lawsuit. they say it's not an issue with reading it wrong. it's an issue with the law. they are trying to seek more clarification so that doctors have more ability to intervene when it comes to these medical complications that they don't have to wait until people get sick. that lawsuit is making its way through the courts.

this lawsuit they hope could be a blueprint for other states. texas' near abortion ban is seen in other states. they are hoping this could have national implications if they win this lawsuit. it leaves families -- there are seven plaintiffs in the case. it leaves families who are hoping for change while they try to deal with what happened to them. >> i have heard of other stories like this, yamiche. i want to bring there joyce on the legal experts. i believe it was in south carolina, a state legislator was talking about this. that's why they voted against a heartbeat law. women are forced to carry babies with no fetal heartbeat at all. for weeks. there is tremendous danger to their health, as amanda has experienced. now the tragedy of what she -- the complications she may face in the future. joyce, doctors feel that they are facing liability.

for this group in texas to say, it's -- i saw yamiche's piece. he said, it's the doctors who are at fault. they should do this. the law is clear. the law is not clear in that regard. the law is a warning to doctors, correct? >> that's absolutely right. it's disingenuous for legislators to pretend it's doctors who are at fault here. what they have done is they have created an environment where it's risky for doctors to give their patients care, because if a prosecutor down the road in a red state second guesses that doctor's judgment, it's not just civil damages. those doctors could be looking at spending the rest of their life in prison. this is precisely the environment that these legislators hoped to craft. they very clearly say that they would like to put an end to abortion, whether that's abortion procedures or medicated abortion, women's rights are under attack on all fronts and

pretending it's anything other that be what it is i think demonstrates the sort of bad faith that these legislators are acting with. >> then there's the abortion pill. jonathan lemire, on that side of the issue, blue stay governors leaning into protecting rights. where does walgreens come out on this? they are not selling the pill even in places where it's clearly legal. >> yeah, that's the decision from the company to not sell the pill, even in states where it's legal. it's one thing if it's where states it's not. we heard from the governor that the state of california won't do business with walgreens. we will see if other states follow suit. it's a reminder how much of the forefront of our political discourse the issue of abortion is. the heartbreaking story yamiche brought us, abortion was one of the defining issues of the 2022 midterms in the aftermath of the

supreme court's decision to overturn roe v. wade, that polls suggest afterwards that it was one of the real animating factors for so many voters. one of the main reasons why democrats did so well this past november, better than expected. i think there's no reason to believe that will be anything other than the case in 2024 as well. we will have more distance from that decision, we see certain states really trying to further restrict access to the abortions. florida just now doing so that there will be more of a belief that republican-led state legislatures and statehouses will take this away from voters, from women in their states. i think you will hear from both sides of the aisle. democrats vowing to protect it. some republicans fuelled by pro-life groups trying to restrict it further, saying this is a moment to go further, proposing further bans. >> the white house comes into play as to what they can do.

they can only do things that involve the federal government, not the state. robert, this is a major issue in 2024. there's no question about it. look at the republican candidates in the primaries. mike pence is calling for an abortion pill ban. federally mandated. >> yeah. i think everyone who might have thought when this supreme court decision leaked that the issue had been settled, the months and really the hours after that certainly gave rise to the idea of just how tent this is in 2022 and in 2024. even if you talk to republican political strategists, a near ban or total ban on abortion polls at 10% nationally. it gives you a sense of really the exercise that goes on now to stake out the right ground here, to stake out ground that's politically safe, to stake out

ground that's medically safe and to provide some level of clarity to all the facets and complications that the supreme court really unfurled in their decision. i anticipate this will be a political issue in 2024 and maybe well beyond. >> jonathan, i want to turn -- pivot to the reaction we are seeing on capitol hill from republican senators to the newly released january 6th video, edited, aired by fox news host tucker carlson provided to him by house speaker mccarthy. carlson attempted to downplay the violence by showing people calmly walking through the capitol, not the hours of footage showing them violently -- >> it's [ bleep ]. when you see police officers assaulted. all of that or you had to be in close proximity to it.

if you were a tourist, you should have lined up at the visitor center and came in on an ordinarily basis. i don't think it's helpful. >> i don't know how you want to describe it. i know there were a lot of people in the capitol at the time who i think weren't cheering for their lives. it was an attack on the capitol. >> when you come into the chamber, you start opening desks, you stand up in their balcony, to put that in the same category as permitted peaceful protest is just a lie. >> jonathan lemire, those are republican senators. this is not bennie thompson complaining about turning over the footage without permission of the police. this is republican senators saying it's a lie. >> yeah. as i was starting to say, from the moment of january 6, that evening, tucker carlson and some

of his colleagues tried to downplay what happened that day. it is heartening those republican senators are not going along with that. some in the house have seized upon the footage and suggested this is the mainstream media and democrats overblowing what they say was a peaceful protest. it was a violent mob. it was a riot. people died that day and in the days after. many others were hurt. no matter what sort of efforts to whitewash or downplay it, that's not going to change facts. it goes to show just where the most influential voice on the most influential conservative news channel is taking his viewers. it's where the republican party goes. i think it's striking that here as the republican primary field takes shape, few candidates are talking about january 6. an issue of which they could use to -- as a wedge issue to bash donald trump and blame him for what happened that day.

none of them are doing that. why? they know so many republican voters agree with that sentiment, that january 6 was just a peaceful protest, january 6 wasn't that big a deal. it just got out of hand. so many republicans in congress right now still do not believe that joe biden was legitimately elected president. it's the legacy of the big lie. it will be with us through 2024 and beyond. >> we know from the testimony and depositions for the doe -- dominion lawsuit against fox, the anchors knew about the election results and other things and just chose to say what they were saying. to be continued. yamiche, great reporting. thank you. robert, jonathan, joyce. thanks to all. the price you pay. the fed chair warning of more and higher rates to come. likely to have a big impact on the unemployment rate. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. eports." this is msnbc.

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on capitol hill this morning, federal reserve chair jerome powell signaling more interest rate hikes are coming and they could come at a faster pace and hit a higher peak. it's part of the effort to tackle inflation and cool the u.s. economy without tipping it into recession. the cost could be felt in higher unemployment, which the fed chair was pressed on by senator elizabeth warren today. >> right now, the unemployment rate is 3.4%, which is the lowest in 54 years. we don't think that we need to see a sharp or enormous increase in unemployment to get inflation under control. >> i'm looking at your projections. do you call laying off $2 -- 2 million families? we need a fed that will fight for families. if you are not going to lead that charge, we need someone at the fed who will.

>> joining me now is senior market correspondent dominic chu. fed chairs are used to that attacks on the hill. that's what combating inflation is all about. >> it is. fed chair powell, to your point, basically is trying to reiterate what he and other policymakers have been saying for weeks. this fight against inflation is far from over. it's going to take more effort on the fed's part to take active measures to slow things down, to slow inflation down overall. the point here is the job situation is going to be tough. he did say while inflation has been moderating, the progress and process of getting inflation back towards that 2% fed target has a long way to go. the road to that inflation target will in his words, be bumpy. those are his words. he then cited the recent economic data. it's indicated there's a stronger economy than forecast.

that means more inflationary pressures and they remain high. that suggests the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously thought. powell said if that continues to come in showing stronger inflation, the fed stands ready to increase by more and a higher pace. on the job side of things, in response to elizabeth warren and the exact words she put out, the hypothetical loss of 2 million jobs, powell did push back against warren by saying the fed is only doing what it needs to. this is a balancing act for the greater good. suggesting that if inflation were to remain consistently higher, that it would ultimately hurt working families even worse across the totality of america. >> it's a hard balance. they are surprised by how persistent, how sticky inflation has been, aren't they? it's taken more action than they initially thought. >> sure. >> is that because of the

covid -- the money pumped into the economy that's lasting longer? >> andrea, to that point, there's a lot of stuff going on. the fed's job is harder, way harder than at any time during its history. it is partly because of what you said. it's also because it's dealing with an economy and policies that are unprecedented in central banking history. a large part of this is trying to undo, unwind, normalize the control of money supply in our country. this is after a decade plus of keeping interest rates at or near zero, which pumped trillions of dollars of almost free cash into the financial system. then to your point, the pandemic added economic shutdowns, tax pairer funded fiscal stimulus and supply chains sent into chaos because of pandemic policies and repercussions. to powell's point, this is the lowest amount of unemployment in half a century. all of these moving parts are making this a very, very tough,

tough thing to navigate for fed chair powell. >> the possibility of a soft landing at this point? >> a recession will happen. you and i both know it. we have seen it through history. economies by their nature are cyclical. they move up and down. the question is now when and how deep the downturn will be. if you rewind six months ago, folks were saying they were predicting a recession. it hasn't happened yet. doesn't mean it won't. at this point, the consensus is more toward a mild recession. >> thank you very much. we are going into an election year on top of everything else. deepening tensions. a top chinese official say they are hurtling toward confrontation and conflict. how the remarks might impact tense relations between the two super powers. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. "ana mitchell reports" on msnbc anies. it's time to pass bipartisan legislation to stop big tech from collecting personal data on our kids

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china in the last 24 hours has been ratcheting up its rhetoric against the u.s., as there's growing u.s. concern about the possibility that beijing is considering arming russia in the war in ukraine. today, china's new foreign minister said the u.s. and china are hurtling towards, quote, confrontation and conflict unless washington changes course. this as china's president xi, in a rare statement, blamed washington for the deteriorating relations monday saying the u.s. is trying to contain china. that is a buzz ward according to many. joining me now, jeremy bash, former chief of staff at the pentagon and cia. first, i want to untangle what's happening with the u.s. and china and then get to bakhmut and ukraine and whether that

city is worth the casualties that ukraine is suffering to try to hold it. these are very unusual statements by president xi. why now? why so confrontational? >> at the end of 2022, the beginning of 2023, china was on a charm offensive. they realized their zero covid policy had failed. they realized their growth was 3%. which is for china a recession. they were reaching out to the west. they believed that their integration into the global economy required better relations with washington. china was trying to have its cake and eat it, too. they were talking openly about arming the russians in their fight against ukraine. that's when secretary blinken went to the security conference and called his chinese counterpart out on this. the united states described some of the information. it was collecting. this has u.s. policymakers very worried. in ukraine, it's a frozen conflict. if china gets involved on behalf of russia, that could materially

help moscow. the united states is putting maximum pressure on china not to do that. >> what about the china balloon? was that an embarrassment? >> i think my view of that is that probably xi wasn't tracking the exact whereabouts of the balloon. certainly, that has inflamed tensions. we have grown concerned over many years about chinese surveillance capabilities, their cyberattacks, their use of social media platforms like tiktok and other platforms to collect data on americans. this balloon surveillance was another manifestation of chinese efforts to surveil the united states and collect intelligence on our military. >> kevin mccarthy, the speaker, of course, had campaigned saying he would go to taiwan as speaker pelosi did, to the aggravation of the white house and state department. now he is not going. according to all reports out of taipei, the taiwanese president is coming here and will meet in

california. that's dodging a real irritant. or will it be an irritant to have her on u.s. soil? >> what's happening is we are getting signals from taipei, both the house speaker is getting signals as well as the executive branch is learning what the taiwanese want to see unfold. one of the things that's very important is that we will continue to arm taiwan and provide it with important capabilities that it can use to become a porcupine as they say in military parlance, a difficult animal to swallow, so china cannot create the military capability to invade taiwan by 2027, which is what xi has said he potentially wants his military to be prepared to do. >> there was concern the military reactions from china to a visit by the speaker would be even worse than the missiles, which they did, over taiwan last time around. let's talk about ukraine. is bakhmut really worth ukraine

standing to fight? zelenskyy confirmed they will stand and fight. >> it's the modern day city. it has powerful symbolic value. the ukrainians don't want to see the russian flag hoisted over a city, the city of back bakhmut. this is the toughest fighting of the war. the ukrainians to their credit have held tough. they have fought not just the regular russian forces but the wagner group. they have been able to really hold the russians at bay there. >> to win, do they need f-16s or some air power, drones, something? >> eventually, we are going to have to provide them air power in some form or fashion, whether it's unmanned systems like reapers or f-16s or some other capabilities to give them standoff air power to strike

russian targets as they advance on ukrainian elements. >> we are training for first time two ukrainian pilots on the f-16s here in the states. >> i think we're getting ready to evaluate their capabilities and figure out exactly what the right formation would be. i think eventually, the biden administration will go there because if we see one thing over last year, it's that so many of our red lines have become pink dotted lines and clear lines. every time we say we aren't sure we want to give a capability, we have delivered. i think one thing we will not do is talk about things we're not going to do. we're going to hold all options on the table so russia understands that the west is unified and will defend ukraine. >> as always, thank you so much. protecting the vote. bills to restrict ballot access introduced in dozens of states. what's being done to ensure constitutional rights in key battlegrounds? all that from mark moral from the urban league. or mal from the urban league ady for this.

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age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv this was a scene in selma, alabama, on sunday. commemorating bloody sunday, president biden crossing the

evan pettis bridge, marking the fight for voting rights, blasting the redistricting map saying it discriminates against black voters, again calling on congress to pass voting rights legislation, despite lacking the votes to get it done. >> selma is a reckoning, a right to vote, a right to vote, to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty. this fundamental right remains under assault. conservative supreme court has gutted voting rights act over the years. we know that we must get the votes in congress to pass the john lewis voting rights advancement act. and the freedom to vote act. i made it clear i will not let a filibuster obstruct the sacred right to vote. >> joining me now is marc

morial, president and ceo of the national urban league, holding its conference in d.c. this week, the first time in four years. >> our first time our legislative conference, virtual for three and now back in person. >> you were face to face with the president, you and your group and we heard his rhetoric, but why not last year? why not when the democrats had both houses? why wasn't there a bigger push from the white house for voting rights? >> it was deeply disappointing that truly two members of the democratic caucus and the senate stood in the way of the passage of voting rights. in truth and in fact, all of the behind the scenes effort at that time were designed to cajole, assuage, convince senators manchin and sinema to give us an exception to the filibuster rule and, andrea, there are 160 exceptions to the filibuster rule. now, the pathway is more

difficult, but we have to make a continuing moral case for the protection of democracy and voting rights and it is troubling that in 2023 already there have been 150 pieces of legislation filed in 32 state legislatures across the nation to even further restrict voting rights. so i think i would hope that americans would look at it this way. right now in ukraine, we're spending billions to protect ukrainian democracy. and their right to self-determination. here at home, you've got an aggressive effort to undermine american democracy. this contradicts the very values of this country, so the president spoke with us yesterday, dropped in, impromptu at our meeting at the white

house and reaffirmed his commitment and i think there is going to be -- have to be some creative efforts to achieve what we want to achieve, but also the max mization of executive power, but also the max mization of the presidential bully pulpit to make the case across the board to the american people that we need voting rights is what i think is in order. >> and now you don't have the house, you don't have speaker pelosi, and you got a much harder and even if you could fight the filibuster battle and he's certainly -- the president was indicating that at the edmund pettus bridge. >> and i would hope that speaker mccarthy, and senator mcconnell, would break away from their pattern and have a real meaningful discussion with the civil rights community and with the leaders of the democratic caucus on both sides about voting rights. they have been silent. they've not had anything to

said. they've not engaged on this very important american issue. and as you know, in the 1960s, people like everett dirksen and other republicans worked with president johnson to pass voting rights and it was a powerful moment in american history. will speaker mccarthy and senator mcconnell step up or will they continue to avoid the issue and not meet the moment that i think is called on. and i think there has got to be a lot more illumination of their position and their conversation. they have got a role to play in this. and, of course, we are willing and ready to meet with anyone, anywhere, anytime, to have a productive discussion about voting rights. >> let me ask you about voting rights for the district of columbia, and are you disappointed that the president and clearly put politics in 2024 on the crime issue ahead of home rule for d.c. when he flipped

his position? >> unyielding in my support for home rule for the district of columbia. i don't think any president or any congress should interpose itself to nullify the actions of the d.c. city council and the mayor. >> that's what the senate is prepared to do. >> i think it is wrong for them to do it. i think it is inconsistent. and, andrea, it brings us back to the old days, when the house and the senate stood as a sort of super legislature, reviewing every action of the d.c. city council and the d.c. mayer. >> hasn't happened since 1991. >> and so this is not a positive move and i think we got to say this is why d.c. needs to be a state. >> have to leave it there. can't argue with that. thank you very much, marc morial, always great to see you. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow us online on facebook and on twitter at mitchellreports. chris jansing reports starts

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good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. a shocking and sickening end to the brazen kidnapping of four americans in mexico. two found dead, a third is injured. some were calling for military action against drug cartels before this tragedy.