good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart, a very

busy wednesday morning. we're keeping a close eye on capitol hill, where right now the nation's top intelligence officials are testifying about the biggest threats to worldwide security. we're learning more about the kidnapping of four americans in mexico. the two surviing victims are back on u.s. soil and now we're hearing from their families. plus, top republicans speaking out, criticizing tucker carlson's portrayal of the january 6th attack, but how speaker kevin mccarthy is defending releasing the tapes to fox news. also, dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas speaks out on whether the biden administration could bring back family detention centers. florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz weighs in. and we begin this very busy hour with a very latest on capitol hill, where right now lawmakers are hearing from top leaders in the intelligence

community for their annual worldwide threats hearing. and this year, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are laser focused on various security threats from china, as well as russia's invasion of ukraine. >> the ccp represents both the leading and most consequential threat to u.s. national security and leadership globally and its intelligence specific ambitions and capabilities make it for us our most serious and consequential intelligence rival. >> and joining us now with more is ali vitali, also with us nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian and frank figliuzzi, former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi, now an msnbc national security analyst. so, ali, what are we hearing so far there? >> reporter: this was always going to be a wide ranging hearing, it happens annually, but there is so much on the table for these lawmakers right now, focussing on terrorism,

china, ukraine, russia, the chinese spy balloon, and then, of course, one of the things that has been operating in the background for the last few months is this committee's bipartisan push to get more information on the classified documents found not just at former president donald trump's mar-a-lago home, but in lesser numbers at president biden's residence in wilmington as well as former vice president mike pence's residence in indiana. he referenced that just now in the hearing, despite the fact that most of this conversation so far has hinged on global threats. listen to how warner put it. >> we still have unfununfinishe regarding the classified documents that we need to see in order for this intelligence committee to effectively oversee its job on intelligence oversights. we must resolve the issue soon. >> reporter: and so, jose, despite the fact we continue to hear them talk about china,

tiktok, russia, ukraine, all critical threats that these intel chiefs are going to be briefing on and being asked questions on, this is something that is important to keep in the back of our minds, even if it is not the main focus of today's hearing, it is something that we have talked a lot with these senators about in bipartisan fashion, trying to get a better sense of the risk assessment, the damage assessment of what was in these classified documents found in these three places from these three former presidents and vice presidents and more information that they want for them still as they continue to press the director of national intelligence and others on this and a whole wide range of topics today. >> so, ken, how would you compare this year's hearing to ones in the past? and specifically the issue of china becoming more front and center on this? >> yeah, it is so interesting, jose. look, in the global war on terror era, these hearings were very stark and very simple with questions like are terrorists going to come to the united states and kill americans, what is the cia and the u.s. military

doing to kill al qaeda and pakistan and yemen? it was very discreet, it was very -- kind of a narrow focus. we were obsessed as a nation with that threat. meanwhile, china, was growing in the background and was increasingly becoming more dangerous and now that has come home to roost and this hearing so far has been dominated by concerns about china. one that caught my eye in particular in the written assessment was a new focus on how china is seeking to influence u.s. politics. particularly state and local governments. the intelligence community, this is not a new idea, they have been warning about this, they say china is redoubling efforts in an atmosphere where there is a bipartisan consensus to confront china, china is trying to influence state and local politicians with online influence campaigns, with people that they send here to help do that. that is another example of a threat and not as visceral as the terrorist threat. this is a discussion about technology competition and

influence campaigns, but it is just as -- probably more of a threat, what u.s. officials are saying today, jose. >> interesting. so, frank, what stood out to you so far? what are you listening for? >> indeed, this is on a macro level, jose, this is unprecedented opportunity for the american public to get a peek behind a secret curtain. every year we get word from the intelligence community about what they're wrestling with. everybody should be tuned in. three things so far that stand out. first, it is crystal clear that the intelligence community views china as avril haines said, as an unparalleled threat, meaning nobody else comes even close to matching the threat posed by china. number two, with regard to russia and the ongoing battle it has with ukraine, they called out suppliers and supporters of russia, namely getting out in front of china, thinking about helping russia. number two, they mentioned iran

aiding russia, number three, they mentioned north korea. so, they're tuned in and it is a technique to throw this out publicly and say we're on to you people. we're on to these countries that are considering or already helping russia. it is a technique that biden administration officials have used successfully before. and i like the strategic way of throwing out intelligence to call people out. number three, a clear thread is developing with regard to technology. technology posing not only a challenge to collect intelligence these days with all the encryption and various challenges out there that we're trying to breakthrough, but also technology as a threat, meaning cyber, hacking, malware, really getting hard for the community to put its arms around it. and in that context, marco rubio brought up tiktok. and the threat posed by a china-controlled app that actually penetrates our citizens and collects data. >> yeah, and, frank, i want to

focus in a little bit about something you were talking about. lawmakers are clearly focusing on china and russia. iran supplied russia with drones for use on the battlefield in ukraine. iran is involved in so many other places around the world. they have influence in cuba, and nicaragua, in venezuela. have the threats from iran gotten enough attention from the intelligence community? >> great question. because i -- being the american public and, you know, we're kind of fickle with regard to where we put our attention and it gets all the attention, the u.s. intelligence community has to fight that urge too, to just -- like kids on a soccer field all running to the ball, right. you got to maintain lanes and focus on places like iran. iran is a state-sponsor of terrorism. they have the ability to hurt us here and put people on the ground here, they have done that recently with an activist in new york, trying to hurt her or kill her, the fbi has intervened in

that operation. and iran has a very robust cybercapability to hurt us and hack us. so, you can see all the myriad of challenges that the intelligence community has to battle on a simultaneous basis. >> and, gao released a report calling on the fbi and dhs to do more to counter domestic threats. to what degree can lawmakers focus on that today? >> i hope they do, jose. i fear they won't give it the attention it deserves. this is a big issue. this is at the top of a lot of intelligence that policymakers are seeing now, the increasing threat from domestic violence extremists and what the gao said and what other government reports have said is that the fbi and the dhs have not come to terms with how they can collect intelligence on these people who are americans after all who enjoy the rights of americans, where is the line between free speech and what they post on social media, and dangerous threats that the fbi needs to act on? i hope the fbi director gets

hard questions about that today, and including what they knew before january 6th and why they didn't distribute and publish more intelligence reports about the threats to the capitol before january 6th. i fear, though, this -- china and other things, iran as you mentioned, are going to take up a lot of the oxygen today. >> and, ali, frank talked about tiktok and tiktok has been mentioned in this hearing already. the senate introduced a new bill that would allow the commerce secretary to, well, essentially regulate or even ban technology, like tiktok. what do we know about that? >> look, i know we often talk about how rare bipartisanship is up here, but there are a few spaces, including on china, on wanting to crack down on the ccp, we're seeing that on the house side, senate side. tiktok is another area to that, related of course, because despite the company's protestations, there is concern about the role that china could play on this platform, if not in a data collection capacity, which senator mark warner was

talking about, at least in a propaganda fashion in the future. those are concerns that lawmakers were airing in part during this hearing, but we heard it frankly for weeks and months up here on capitol hill. we have seen crackdowns on government devices. but now we're seeing the white house come behind this latest senate push and we're seeing the administration broadly potentially find a spot of bipartisanship with their counterparts on capitol hill. despite the fact we're in a period of divided government. this is one of those things where if you're someone who likes to use tiktok for dance videos and cooking videos, you're going to want to perk up and pay attention. what many lawmakers here say is that even though you might be using the platform for that, it doesn't take away the national security concerns that they and intelligence officials have about this platform. that's one of the spaces we're really watching closely up here on capitol hill for potential action even in a period of divided government. >> ali vitali, ken dilanian, frank figliuzzi, thank you for being with us this morning. the two americans who

survived a deadly abduction in mexico are at a texas hospital this morning. eric williams and latavia washington mcgee will return to the u.s. on tuesday after being found at a small wooden house about 15 miles from the city of matamoros, mexico. two of their friends identified by family members as shaeed woodard and zindell brown were killed. officials say the group had just arrived in mexico for one of them to get a medical procedure which they were attacked in matamoros and what may have been a case of mistaken identity. earlier this morning, latavia mcgee's mother explained what her daughter told her about what happened. >> they was driving through and a van came up and started shooting and hit the car, shooting inside the van or whatever. and i guess the others tried to run and they got shot at the same time. shaeed and zindell, they got shot at the same time and she watched them -- she watched them

die. >> with us now to talk more about this, nbc news correspondent ellison barber in lake city, south carolina. telemundo news anchor julio bakedo. ellison, we're hearing more from family members of the survivors, what are they telling us? >> reporter: yeah, family and friends tell nbc news all four of these individuals were childhood friends and that they had gone together to split up driving duties to take turns on the long journey to mexico. this city, lake city, is was their hometown. the mayor has already talked about this, acknowledging all of them had ties here. we expect the community to have a vigil later this evening. the family of the survivors, we're starting to hear more from them and they're talking about this scale, this range of emotions of feeling a lot of relief that they have now heard that their loved ones are safe

and back in the united states getting medical care, but also feeling devastated for the families, their loved ones, and friends who do not make it back home. nbc news spoke to the brother of one of the survivors, eric williams, he was shot in the leg according to mexican authorities and was in surgery according to his family yesterday. listen to more of what his brother had to say. >> i was overwhelmed with emotion. i was very happy because the uncertainty was one of the worst things, not knowing whether or not he was okay or not, and to find out he's okay, i was totally relieved. >> reporter: and the wife of eric williams spoke to our colleague gabe gutierrez and said she was able to speak to her husband yesterday before he went into surgery. she didn't get into the extent of the injuries that he suffered, but did say that his leg had been injured. mexican authorities say that he was shot in the leg.

jose. >> mexican cartels rarely attack or certainly target americans, this may very well be a case of mistaken identity, but when you look at the cartels, and their influence in border towns in northern mexico, how much influence do they have in these towns? >> huge influence, jose. drug cartels and crime are a big problem, specifically in the northern part of mexico, northern cities such as matamoros. more than 200 criminal organizations are in mexico. that's not only big organized drug cartels like sinaloa, but also more organizations that are even more violent sometimes. this president's government can become one of the deadliest in the whole century of mexico. that's a bigger story. >> these are numbers that are just 190,000 people may have been killed under his administration? >> that's a bigger story. >> i have to interrupt you very

quickly if i can. merrick garland is speaking in washington, d.c. about the investigation into the louisville justice -- civil rights investigation into the metro police department there. >> -- benita gupta and assistant attorney general kristen clark who is in charge of our civil rights division. i also want to acknowledge mayor greenburg, council president winkler, and interim chief of police gwenn villerreal, thank you for joining us today. in 2020, lmpd officers shot and killed breonna taylor in her own home in the middle of the night. the officers were executing a search warrant but found no evidence of any crime. in a separate criminal case we have charged that officers involved in obtaining the warrant knew that the affidavit that supported the warrant contained false and misleading information. miss taylor's death brought

immeasurable pain, both to her family and to this community. in april 2021, our civil rights division opened the pattern or practice investigation that i just referenced. shortly after we opened the investigation, lmpd leader told the department breonna taylor was a symptom of problems that we have had for years. the justice department's findings and the report that we are releasing today bear that out. the department has concluded there is reasonable cause to believe that louisville metro and lmpd engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the first and fourth amendments of the constitution. there is also reasonable cause to believe that they engaged in conduct that violates title 6 of the civil rights act of 1964, the safe streets act and the americans with disabilities act.

specifically the report finds that lmpd uses excessive force, including unjustified neck restraints and the unreasonable use of police dogs and tasers, conduct searches based on invalid warrants, unlawfully executes warrants without knocking and announcing, unlawfully stops, searches, detains, and arrests people, unlawfully discriminates against black people and enforcement activities, violates the rights of people engaged in protected speech critical of policing and along with louisville metro, discriminates against people with behavioral health disabilities when responding to them in crisis. the justice department has also identified the deficiencies in lmpd's response to and investigation of domestic violence and sexual assault.

lmpd relied heavily on pretextural traffic stops in black neighborhoods. in these stops, officers use the pretense of making a stop for minor traffic offense in order to investigate for other crimes. some officers have demonstrated disrespect for the people they are sworn to protect. some have videotaped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars, and insulted people with disabilities, and called black people monkeys, animal, and boy. this conduct is unacceptable. it is heart breaking. it erodes the community trust necessary for effective policing and it is an affront to the vast majority of officers who put their lives on the line every day to serve louisville with honor.

and it is an affront to the people of louisville who deserve better. as the report states, most metro employees and lmpd officers are dedicated public servants who work hard to promote public safety. but louisville metro and lmpd have failed to ensure that all employees uphold the constitutional and statutory rights of the people of louisville. louisville metro and lmpd have also failed to provide police officers and other employees with the support and resources that they need to do their jobs effectively and lawfully. our investigation uncovered deficient training, substandard facilities and equipment, inadequate support for officer mental health, and wellness. police officers already have difficult jobs. these inadequacies have made those jobs even harder and less

safe. our report also describes unlawful law enforcement practices by lmpd patrol officers and by members of a specialized unit that was first called the viper unit. the unit was later rebranded as 9th mobile division in the criminal interdiction division. officers in this specialized unit frequently made pretextural traffic stops in the black neighborhoods. they violated residents 4th amendment rights. the report concludes that the unit's activities were part of an overall enforcement approach that resulted in significant and unlawful racial disparities. lmpd's conduct undermined its public safety mission, and strained its relationship with the community it is meant to protect and serve. in an important step toward

reform, i am pleased to announce the city of louisville has signed an agreement in principle with the department of justice. this agreement commits the city and lmpd to work with the justice department, the community, police officers, and other stakeholders to address the problems that we have identified. and this agreement commits us to negotiate a legally binding consent decree with an independent monitor. louisville metro and lmpd have already instituted a number of changes through the settlement with a family of breonna taylor, as well as through other measures. the city enacted a law that prohibits lmpd from seeking no knock warrants. a limited pilot program started sending behavioral health professionals to certain 911 calls. and the city has expanded

community-based violence prevention services. lmpd has also announced plans to revamp its training, support for officers health and wellness, and internal auditing. these efforts are commendable and we credit louisville metro and lmpd for acknowledging the change is necessary. but more must be done. the justice department recommends 36 remedial measures that provide a starting framework for changes that are necessary to improve public safety, build community trust and comply with the constitution and federal law. to the officers of lmpd, the justice department is acutely aware of the integral role that law enforcement officers play in our society and the dangers you face to keep your community

safe. so it is imperative that your police department sets you up for success. your department needs to provide you with clear policies and consistent training that explains constitutional boundaries and responsibilities. you need equipment and facilities that help you meet those responsibilities. and in the supervisors and a chain of command that enables you to achieve the highest standards of your profession. to the people of louisville, you have shown meaningful engagement on issues of reform. during the investigation, the department met with many community members, including people who had encounters with the police, religious leaders, advocates, criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, and service providers. i want to thank you for sharing your experiences with us. we could not have completed this

investigation without your contributions. and i ask that you continue to engage with these issues in the months ahead. your involvement is critical to our success. together we can make true progress and ensure the durability of reforms. together, we can ensure that constitutional policing also results in safer communities. finally, to the career staff of the civil rights division of the u.s. attorney's office for the western district of kentucky, who conducted this investigation, thank you for your extraordinary hard work, which will make louisville a better place and a safer place for all its residents. as i mentioned when i announced the opening of this investigation, the justice department is charged with ensuring that the constitutional and federal statutory rights of the people are protected.

congress authorized the department to conduct pattern or practice investigations to help it fulfill this responsibility. but those investigations and the recommendations that ensue do not only protect individual civil rights, they also assist police departments in developing measures to increase transparency and accountability. those qualities are necessary to building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve and community trust is essential to making both communities and policing safer. the justice department looks forward to working with louisville metro and lmpd to achieve these ends. i'm now pleased to turn the podium over to associate attorney general benita gupta. >> well, we just heard from attorney general merrick garland, extraordinary statements coming out of the

justice department. i want to bring in ken dilanian and charles coleman. ken, some of the comments and the statements and the determinations of the investigation are really striking. >> yeah, just devastating, jose. and so interesting how this goes, right? garland reads this litany of horrible things he says the louisville police department has done over the years, to black people, and to other people, violating their civil rights, and then he says and they agreed to stop this and they have signed a consent decree, which is usually how these things go. this is what is called a pattern and practices investigation, civil investigation that the justice department conducts and they do these routinely, but it is important to note that elections matter here. during the trump administration, these investigations were curtailed. and in fact after the george floyd murder in minneapolis, then attorney general bill barr declined to open one in minneapolis, it wasn't until president biden was elected and

attorney general merrick garland was appointed that garland announced a pattern and practice investigation in minneapolis. at any one time there are more than a dozen of these going on and consent decrees around the country and many have been subject to them. this is the latest one. this is as egregious as i've seen in terms of the doj laying out some really horrible things that they allege that this police department has done to its citizens. >> charles, just, when you see it in black and white, lmpd unlawfully discriminates against black people and enforcement activities, against -- discriminates against people with behavioral health disabilities when responding to them in crisis. this is a devastating picture, charles. important that this now come out, but that also the changes that need to come about are carried out to the totality. >> a lot to unpack with this report, jose. i think it starts with the notion of what a pattern or practice symbolizes. what it means is that individual officers as many people have

already said wereionce and aggression and discrimination against black people, against people who were underrepresented, against marginalized communities. the significance here, jose, number one, is that you're talking about information that quite frankly was widely known and i do applaud kristen clark and the civil rights division of the doj for pushing forward and pressing this investigation. but the one criticism that i do have about merrick garland in his remarks was that quite frankly because this has been so talked about, not only nationally but specifically within the community of louisville, and kentucky, the fact there seemed to be almost a slight bit of coddling toward police officers was something that bothered me and would bother community. you don't have to have training not to call someone a boy. you don't have to have training not to throw drinks on people and videotape them. that's not a training issue. that's a culture issue. while i appreciate the severity of tone and the seriousness of the report, that is one

important criticism i would have to push back on because these are things black people have been saying for a very long time. not just in louisville, but nationally in our conversation about policing and law enforcement. there are a number of other things about merrick garland's comments that stood out to me and the other important thing i want to point out really quickly is that this is also an issue around qualified immunity. because we have seen this before, we saw it in ferguson, where there was a pattern of discrimination which was found to have existed in the police department, but none the individual officers who contributed to that pattern were held accountable because qualified immunity did not allow it and because the report did not allow it. i'm curious to see whether any of the individuals who are part of the investigation who were found to have committed these wrongdoings will ultimately be held account bbe for what it is found out they have done.

i want to turn back to what we were discussing previously, the four americans that were kidnapped in mexico, two were found dead. two were found alive and are back in the u.s. julio, we were speaking about the influence of the cartels in much of northern mexico. but also just the extraordinarily violent system that exists in mexico right now where 180, 190,000 just under lopez obrador's administration, how can something like this change? >> that's the big question in this case, and in every other crime that takes place in mexico. what exactly is the mexican government doing to control this criminal organization that are growing stronger and stronger and more dangerous each day? and there are being fueled by americans demanding narcotics and also by the drugs coming from the -- the weapons and guns coming from the united states to

mexico. also, what is the american government doing to cooperate with mexico and fight this criminal organization? >> it is also what is mexico doing to cooperate with the united states or anybody else? >> cooperation, the state of that relationship right now. >> so, paul, how do you fight something like this, which is really going on for years and as julio said, it is getting worse. is there any solution to this? >> it is extraordinarily difficult problem so solve. and as you know, and as you remember, it wasn't only just a week ago or so that the former head of the mexican fbi was convicted in the united states for crimes of bribery and cooperating with the mexican cartels, and there is a degree of impunity. at the same time, jose, it is important to point out that in my time as a federal prosecutor at a border state and u.s. attorney, i worked with scores and scores of men and women in mexican law enforcement, men and women of good faith, who every single day were working hard to

look at the flow of narcotics within their own country and into the united states. and many of those people paid for that fight with their own lives. the problem is so profound. as you correctly pointed out, it is because there is such an extraordinary demand here in the united states that these drugs are moving across the border and the principle concern, the number one concern for the cartels is profit. as long as they can make money, lives of other human beings are of no matter or no concern to them. and also we know now that when it is that cartels inadvertently, perhaps mistakenly, execute americans, kidnap americans, the pressure becomes so extraordinary that they recognize that this is bad for the bottom line, that they are not going to make a profit because of what they have done here and so they quickly pivot. i suspect that the reason that these individuals -- this

tragedy resulted in two survivors here is because the cartel itself recognized that the pressure was becoming too great between mexican law enforcement and american law enforcement, focusing on what happened in tamaulipas. >> thank you so much for being with us this morning. those are the same groups that bring in the fentanyl, these are the same groups that smuggle people throughout mexico into the united states, these are the people that are exploiting human beings on a daily basis and unfortunately human life means very little to them. thank you for being with us. coming up, new text messages unsealed in the defamation suit against fox news. what one top anchor said about former president trump behind the scenes while praising him on air. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. u're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. e? qulipta® can help prevent migraines. you can't always prevent what's going on outside... that's why qulipta® helps what's going on inside. qulipta® gets right to work. in a 3-month study, qulipta® significantly reduced monthly migraine days

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37 past the hour. there is growing pushback from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle against fox news host tucker carlson and his false portrayal of the january 6th attack as mostly peaceful and not an insurrection. last night, carlson aired for the second night in a row portions from the video from the 44,000 hours of security camera footage he received from kevin mccarthy. nbc news does not know how the video was edited and whether portions edited out could have provided fuller context. gop lawmakers have said this about carlson's attempt to downplay the violence of january 6th.

>> i think it is [ bleep ]. if you were just a tourist, you should have probably lined up at the visitors center and came in on an orderly baseis. >> it was an attack on the capitol. >> to somehow put that in the same category as a permitted peaceful protest is just a lie. >> but, mccarthy says he still stands by giving carlson access to the footage. >> i didn't see what was aired, but i want to give the transparency to everybody and everybody can make up their own mind. >> it comes as brand-new exhibits from the dominion voting systems defamation lawsuit against fox news revealed that just two days before the january 6th attack carlson wrote about donald trump, quote, i hate him, passionately, i can't handle much more of this. joining us now is ashley parker, "washington post" senior national political correspondent and nbc news political analyst. great seeing you. i want to begin with speaker

mccarthy, standing by his decision to give fox news' tucker carlson access to all the footage. what is mccarthy trying to achieve here? >> well, he's claiming it is about transparency. but it is worth remembering that when he was desperate to get the speaker's gavel going 15 votes that sort of one of the two conditions that tucker carlson laid out and it is worth noting that the fact that tucker carlson could even lay out conditions shows how powerful he is in conservative political circles was that mccarthy release all, you know, the thousands of minutes of live footage. mccarthy says it is about transparency. but he gave it specifically to one network, not to all the networks, and he gave it to one network that we know because of this dominion lawsuit. in fact, when it came to january 6th, it has been anything but transparent with executives and show hosts saying one thing

privately and in some cases the exact opposite to their viewers publicly. >> and so you do have now the republican leader of the house and senate, opposite ends of the issue, mcconnell issued yesterday some criticism from the capitol police chief. also, what does this is a about how each of these leaders is dealing with their side of congress? >> well, mccarthy and mcconnell have long taken different approaches, not just to their different chambers, but really to the handling of former president trump and the maga base. and kevin mccarthy, despite very briefly in the immediate aftermath of the january 6th attacks seeming to stand up to trump and decry it was the first major high profile republican to run down to mar-a-lago, to kiss trump's ring, and to appear in a photo-op with him that seemed to

help ease trump's way back into a little bit of good standing in republican society after the january 6th attacks, where mcconnell has been much more circumspect and cautious and he's not outright crossed trump, but he made very clear that that's not someone he wants to deal with, he doesn't have a lot of patience for this, he's not going to bend over backwards to appease the maga base and in the senate, which is different dynamics, different than the house, mcconnell has been quite successful. >> yeah. ashley parker, thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. i want to turn now to the biden administration trying to prepare for what is expected to be an increase of border crossings after title 42 is lifted this spring. nbc news learned one idea under consideration is it reopen immigration detention centers for migrant families, something harshly criticized by

immigration advocates and others. alejandro mayorkas says no decision has been made and it is just one of the many ideas under consideration. >> one thing that i promote in this department is to put all options on the table, great, good, bad, terrible, let us discuss them, and many will be left on the cutting room floor, but the best ideas blossom from open and candid dialogue. >> and joining us now florida congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. great to see you. haven't seen you in a while. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> the administration considering reinstating a policy that it was originally against, it shot down. what is your reaction to that? >> first of all, hearing the secretary and others, it sounds like this is an overstatement

and hyperfocus rather than the administration doing exactly what joe biden wants them to do is make sure that we come up with policies that are going to deter people from taking the risk and approaching the border like he's done with the humanitarian parole programs for the ukrainian people, for nicaraguans, for haitians, for venezuelans, and ensuring that there is a safe lawful pathway so that we can get people who are simply trying to make a better life for themselves and flee the persecution they were facing can do that. i'll tell you, this fanning the flames of border crisis is so -- such baloney. the reality is when republicans are talking about drugs streaming across the border and it being immigrants that bring them, the majority, jose, as you know, drugs, which is absolutely something we have to stop, are coming across the border, mostly carried by americans at our actual border crossings. so, that's where we need to get a handle on this and we need

to -- and democrats put more resources into the border patrol, the last several fiscal years, we need republicans to come to the table and work with us on comprehensive immigration reform so we can really get at the crux of this problem. >> but, congresswoman, and you are so knowledgeable on, for example, the reality and what many call the root causes of why people are forced to leave places like cuba, nicaragua, venezuela, haiti. i'm just wondering, why is it so difficult for there to be be some movement, bipartisan or not, some movement on immigration reform? >> xenophobia, jose. really, that's the bottom line, is that democrats have stepped up to the table again and again. and tried six ways from sunday, every perm permeatation of making sure people can come to the country and remain in the country. people are really fleeing

persecution and the republicans are just xenophobics who summarily want to continue to fan the flames, demonize immigrants, that's unacceptable. we need to work together to solve this problem and i praise the biden administration for dramatically dropping those that are coming and presenting at the border, taking that risk, by 90% based on these establishment of these parole programs. we have to work together. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, i hope we can continue ourconversation going forward. in a matter of hours, we're expecting to learn more about the police killing of tyre nichols. details about what tapes authorities are scheduled to release later today show. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." you're watching "je os diaz-balart reports. s. it's just a new way of life for me. the always discreet pad is super comfortable. it feels like it's barely there. look at how much it holds, and it still stays thin! i've looked at myself in the mirror and i can't see it at all!

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police department and its use of force and de-escalation policies. this comes as we await a major release later today of more footage and audio related to tyre nichols' death. nichols died in january, days after he was beaten by memphis police officers during a traffic stop. i want to bring in nbc's antonia hylton with more on this. antonia, what can we expect today? >> jose, in just a couple of hours this afternoon, we are going to get a lot of video and audio as you mentioned and access to new charging documents and records that will shed new light on what happened that night. and i think when it comes to the videos and the audio, we're going to be looking for a couple specific things. look, what we saw in the initial batch showed us very clearly the level of aggression, the viciouh which the officers beat tyre that night. and the long stretch of time to receive any kind of medical assistance and aid on the scene. we're going to be listening today to see what more do we learn about the conversations

the officers had with each other, what interaction did they later that night have with tyre's parents? what we heard from the family is that they were not honest, they did not tell the truth about their interaction with tyre and the nature of that traffic stop that night when they met the family and told them what happened. so we're going to be listening and watching, of course, closely. those two elements are going to give us a lot of insight into the nature of the department and the actions, the culture of the officers on the scene that day. this comes as we know that more than a dozen city employees have been held accountable. many of them terminated, some suspended without pay. we learned that one officer in the police department managed to resign before he was going to be fired anyway, which is something that is going to allow him to keep his pension, something that angered many community members and the family there on the ground. we're also seeing this renewed push among activists in memphis who have been very sustained in

their efforts to talk to city council members and push for reforms the family wants to see. late last night out of a city council meeting, they passed five new ordinances that are going to change the culture of policing in memphis that includes a rage of changes to civilian oversight, independent review groups that will look at their use of force and deadly force, department practices and procedures. but it also means an end to things like the use of unmarked vehicles in traffic stops. the community there is really grateful for these changes. and i think people are going to be watching closely tonight to see what other demands might come. >> antonia hylton, thank you so very much. moments ago, the house select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic wrapped up its hearing looking into the origins of covid. joining us is dr. rick bright, former biden/harris transition covid advisory board member. thank you so much for being with us this morning.

we have learned the energy department and the fbi believe that the covid pandemic likely started from a lab leak in china. why are there still so many disagreements within even the intelligence community about where it came from? >> good morning, jose. this is a really important question. we really do need to know the origins of a pandemic virus so we can be better prepared for the next pandemic when it does occur. the challenge with any of these assessments today is there's limited data. it's all circumstantial evidence. there's really no clear answer to this question about the origin. while different camps might believe they have enough information to either think is from a natural evolutionary process or perhaps an engineered process, there's not enough data on any side to answer this question definitively. so we're really just shooting at blanks right now trying to find the right answer. through a scientific process, i

think we will eventually get there but not through political discussions. >> so how -- does the fact that china, apparently, has been anything but open about letting folks come in and see and analyze things, isn't that fact in and of itself important in determining whether it was from a lab leak? because you would think if it was just some evolutionary situation with the bats that china would have no problem in letting people come and investigate that. >> transparency is important to get a clear answer. we do need to see more transparency from china and actually from many countries around the globe to get at a clear answer to this question, the origins and how this virus -- not only where it emerged, but also how this virus spread around the globe so quickly. transparency is important. it would be great for china and

others to share more information, more data about the origins. but that does not mean that a lack of transparency or even lack of collaboration in many cases means that this virus came from a lab accident. so there are many data gaps on all sides. it's important to keep an open mind and follow a scientific process to get at a clear answer that's going to be meaningful and helpful for the future. >> how can we use this to better prepare for what may be a next virus? >> it's important to understand that a pandemic pathogen organisms can emerge from nature, and they are evolving in animal species around the world. we see a lot of opportunity for transition of those pathogens from an animal to human. we see the spillover event

consistently and constantly in different viruses across the globe. we want to be prepared for those incidents. that needs we need to make sure we have surveillance systems in place in the animal populations and in the human populations to be able to detect those when they occur. but we must realize that lab accidents do happen. there's a lot of science happening around the world. we need to make sure that when those studies or experiments are being conducted in labs around the world, that we do have the right oversight and the right biosafety procedures are followed to reduce the incidents for any of those potential lab accidents. again, it goes back to surveillance and collaboration and transparency. when lab accidents happen, when spillovers happen from animals to humans, we should be able to detect those quickly, share that information and be able to respond more effectively next time. >> thank you so much for being with us. dr. rick bright, appreciate your time.

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