information. so it's a it's a very precarious world. and that series. we explore in the >> an update. >> on our family is available to stream right now on max. director and executive producer rachel mason. rachel, thank you so much. and that does it f us this morning. we'll see you right back here tomorrow at 6 a.m. eastern. ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. >> right now on ana cabrera reports government overhaul deadline day for millions of federal workers. >> weighing buyouts from the trump. >> white house. >> what happens next. >> if most say no? >> plus, the impact. >> of those buyouts. >> on the intel community. how decimating the ranks could impact. >> our national security. also ahead. >> growing concerns over elon musk's reach and access. >> to sensitive. >> government data. >> how democrats. >> are attempting to rein in the world's. richest man. and later the israeli prime minister. >> on. >> capitol hill this morning, as washington and the world.

>> grapple with president. trump's proposal. >> for the u.s. to own gaza. good morning. it is ten eastern, 7 a.m. pacific. i'm ana cabrera, reporting from new york. thank you for being with us. it is deadline day for tens of thousands of federal employees. they have until the end of the day to respond. to the trump administration's buyout offer. and sources tell nbc news more than 40,000 federal federal employees have already accepted that deferred resignation agreement. that's well below the target. the elon musk driven efforts aiming for at least 5% of the federal workforce, more than 100,000 staffers. we've also learned the buyouts are not just aimed at the administrative state staff at the cia and the nsa have also been presented this offer and tracking all of this. nbc news senior white hoe correspondent gabe gutierrez,bc's von hilliard joinings on capitol hill and our justice and intel

correspondent ken dilanian. so, gabe, the white house is at this point, as far as we know, well below their target number f these buyouts. so what happens next in this downsizing campaign after today's deadline passes? >> hi there. good morning. well, yes, the trump administration has said that their. >> goal. >> was 5. >> to. >> 10%. >> even on the low end. >> they're not they're. >> nowhere near that at this point with just. >> 40,000 or so taking the buyout offer. >> but the expectation. >> is that number will. >> increase in these 24 hours before the deadline. but it is unclear what happens next. ana. >> whether there will be. >> widespread layoffs after tonight's deadline passes, a lot of federal employees are wondering what will happen next. >> we've already. >> know that some agencies, for. >> example. >> usaid, all direct hires on friday will be placed on administrative leave staffs around the world asking to come back to the u.s. but a lot hinges this afternoon. >> unions are suing to block this buyout. >> offer, and. >> a federal judge. >> is expected to consider that this afternoon in boston. and.

>> gabe, we know legal experts some federal officials have warned that this. buyout offer is not ironclad. it could leave people without the promised severance. it's worth pointing out elon musk faces several lawsuits for unpaid severance by former ex-employees. so what does this look like there on the ground for federal workers? >> yeah. >> nbc news. >> is reporting that officials at the education department, top officials. warning their. workforce of. exactly that, that it's not exactly clear tha if employees. >> take this buyout offer, whether the. >> governmentould end. >> up rescinding it, and. >> tt they will be. left with no legal recourse. some unions are also. warning employees of just that, too. my colleague hallie jackson spoke with a federal worker yesterday. >> about some of these concerns. let's listen. >> in ten. >> 15 days. you know, this whole thing. >> has just. been turned. upside down through no. >> fault of my own. >> i don't know where my rent is coming from. >> nobody wants to work in this type of condition where we're going. >> to be in a. >> psychological warfare. >> for how long?

>> now, officials. with the education. >> department and the. office of personnel management say that those concerns are false, that in a memo sent. >> to employees. >> it says that. >> assurances are. >> binding for the government. but as you mentioned. >> on a lot ofkepticism across the federal. >> workforce. >> vaughan, republicans have largely been ing along with this. democrats have held protts about these sweeping government cuts, and they tried to subpoena musk. that failed. what else are they considering? >> right. this is. >> the restrictions of being in the minority in congress. >> and the senate and the house. >> yesterday, the house oversight committee, democrats, they attempted to put forward. >> what would amount to a subpoena of elon. >> musk to come testify before the committee. but because they're in the minority in the committee, they felt just one vote short here. and we should note that there are lawsuits outside of congress that are targeting. elon musk's efforts. there was a. hearing just yesterday here in dc over doj's access to treasury payment system. we are waiting for an

additional hearing on this. the government is proposed at least two individuals affiliated with doj's be given read only access here, but that is an outstanding issue in the courts just here in the last few moments, the progressive caucus, you're actually watching this in real time. they are wrapping up their own press conference where. >> they. >> were talking about ways in which they can try to inhibit elon musk and doj's efforts across the federal government and agencies, and suggesting that potentially the march 14th government funding deadline could be another way in which they try to seek to halt some sort of funding towards doj's activities. but i want to let you listen here to the chair of the progressive caucus. just a moment ago. >> today. >> we're here. >> to say. >> with one. >> voice. >> fire elon musk. >> just last night. >> elon musk came. >> out and we. >> found out that he's. >> interfering with. >> air traffic control. >> when musk took over twitter, he. >> repeatedly crashed. >> that platform. it's not a big

deal if your app doesn't load. >> one day. >> but it is a huge deal if you don't know if your plane is going to crash or not. >> it is not clear not only to democrats, but to a great many republicans exactly what elon musk and doj's mission is across these agencies. he mentioned air traffic controllers. secretary duffy of the department of transportation just last night, saying that he and the department are going to allow musk's team to, quote, plug in to the department of transportation's air traffic control systems to help it. it's not clear exactly what systems or what they're plugging into here, but that is where a lot of there are outstanding questions. and what has led democrats to believe, in the case of the oversight committee, for example, the progressive caucus, they're suggesting that it takes just one republican to join democratic efforts to demand some accountability for some transparency from musk and his team. >> and, vaughn, i know you'll keep digging to try to get answers as well and find out exactly wt's going on. thank you gabe, thank you as well. i

want you to get out of that nasty weather. ken, let me turn to you. and we're seeing the us agency for international developmen still in this trump mandated holding pattern. thousands of staff members put on lve right now. just moments ago, presidentrump remarked on the unfounded fud claims aut usaid, and he praised elon musk's efforts. watch. >> we're catching up to a point where they don't know what the heck is going on. they can't lieve they're getting caught. and i have great respect for the people that a doingt. elon musk is hping us on it, and he's pretty good. he's pretty good. he's pretty good at it. >> they haven't been specific about fraud claims. they haven't shown any evidence of any kind of criminal activity. my understanding is there may be lawsuits now on the way. >> yes. good morning. look, a lot of people don't understand this, but usaid is run largely by contractors, by ngos and by private development companies, and they are owed tens of

millions of dollars right now by e government. and they're trying to maintain their payrolls and keep their people in place. and so they are consulting with lawyers and preparing to take legal action force the government to live up to its obligations. they have. people all over the. world who are in a holding pattern right now. and look, usaid does some questionable things. there have been inspector general reports at have called out inefficienes, waste, fraud and abuse. >> but it also does. >> life saving. ccial work around the world on. health and safety and buildg govnment systems and spreading u.s. soft power around. and the idea that this is being shut down is bng greeted by natiol security experts as a disasr. >> what more do we know about these buyout offers? also hitting national security and intel agencies? >> yeah. so at the cia and other intel agencies, they've been offered a differentersion of some of these buyouts. and, of course, you know, a crucial national security employees are often exempted. i'm not sensing

that a lot of people at those intel agencies are going to take these buyouts. the bigger issue, ana, is that people who are retirement eligible, and those are some of the mostxperienced people in these agencies, many of them are leaving because they are looking around at what's happening, and they're very deeply worried. just yesterday, we learned that the white house forced the cia to send a list of names of probationary employees network. now, in some cases, they use only the first name d the last initial. but there's still widespread concern that that exposed these pple, many of whom were hired to workn china, to foreign intelligence collection, and that they'll be able to determineheir identity. so there's rlly a the national security community about what's going on. >> ken dilanian, great reporting. thank you. and joining us now is former cia intelligence officer marc polymeropoulos. he's now an msnbc national security and intelligence analyst. marc, good to have you here. the hits just keep coming to the intel community. let's start with the yout offers for cia, nsa, also

some at odni. do you think people in the intel community are likely to take the buyout? and how hard would it be to backfill those sensitive positions? >> well, i think ken was right in the sense that many people who are eligible might retire. you know, whether others choose this kind of early out remains to be seen. but there is a significant concern about really, you know, a great deal of institutional knowledge walking out the door. you know, cia case officer takes years to train them and tradecraft training, how to operate as an intelligence officer overseas. they get language training. then they go to operational assignments. and eventually you become a full performance officer. but it takes a long time. and to lose those folks is going to be certainly devastating. and on top of that, as as ken noted, there's this list of probationary officers that were sent down to omb and the idea that we might have a reduction in force of kind of the next generation of staff on top of other officers, older officers leaving really makes

the national security situation, i think, very dangerous for the united states. the cia is america's first line of defense. we have to be really careful in messing with these institutions, which are of extraordinary importance to the united states government. >> as ken mentioned, the cia was forced to email the white house a list of names of all its recent hires in an unclassified message. again, unclassified. so what kind of risk doeshat create for the people on that list? could they be vulnerable to foreign adversari? >> so. first of all, you know, think we have to be careful. i don't know the exact details of this are still a little murky. but if this is true, this in essence, compromises the cover stus of the entire next generation of cia officers who would go off and serve in places like beijing and moscow. the facthat it was first name, last initial. >> that easily. >> can be matched up later on, for example, with the names of u.s. officials who go to embassies. this is a tremendous own goal. i think this i would imagine senior officials in the direorate of operations are horrified at ts. but again, it

just goes to this haphazard nation. you know, how did this nature of how we're doing this, how did this happen? these are really important, you know, secrets that the u.s. government must keethe identity of our of our undercover officers. the fact that this may have gone through is pretty shocking. >> meantime, at the fbi, we've we've already talked about how the doj made the fbi turn over a list of agents who worked on the january 6th cases. well, now, just yesterday, acting deputy ag emil bove sent a memo to the fbi workforce blasting the bureau's leadership for insubordination. his wds for initially apparently resisting their demand. and he went on to say this quote, let me be clear. no fbi employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to january 6th investigations, is at risk of termination or other penalties. the only indivuals who should be concerned about the process are those who acted with corrupt or ptizan intent, who blatantly defied orders from department leadership, or who exercised discretion in

weaponizing the fbi. mark, what are agents supposed to make of this? >> right. well, well, ana, first of all, the acting deputy attorney general calling the acting fbi director insubordinate. you know, i can't remember the last time that happened. so that in and of itself is a pretty extraordinary development. and then you have the idea that that 5000 plus special agents who worked on the january 6th cases, who did what they were told, who did so honorably and sometimes, by the way, you know, helping prosecute those those january 6th, you know, insurgents who in fact attacked police officers. but the fact that their job status may be in jeopardy really casts a significant pall over the bureau. you know, by the way, these agents, most of them are taken from the joint terrorism task forces. that's the entities around the country in which they are designed to help protect americans from isis, from al qaeda, from hamas, hezbollah. so the notion that that, again, they're distracted by this, this doesn't make americans more safe. and i'm not sure even that

memo that was sent with the idea of whatever is intent, that's a key word on this, is that going to make these special agents, you know, you know, feel that their jobs are secure. let me add one more thing here. the idea of aually, you know, firing young agents who have mortgages, who have, you know, health care to pay, who have given kind of their lives to protect the country. there's something wrong with that. and i'm glad there's some outrage that's being generated. >> and we're glad to haveour perspective as somebody who's been on the inside. mark polymeropoulos, thank you so much for speaking with us, offering those thoughts. president trump says he wants gaza to become the riviera of the middle east. just ahead, how the wte house is now walking back. details of his plan as israel's leader hit the hill. plus, democrats tried and failed to subpoena elon musk. as questions grow about his influence. we'll talk to the oversight committee's top democrat who is trying to investigate. also this morning, we are tracking a winter weather alert for about 80 million americans. and does it feel like

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garrett hake in washington. garrett, h seriously are people in the white house and on capitol hill taking is proposal? >> well. >> you never really. >> know with predent trump. >> and there's. >> been this effort byhe white house over the last 24 hours to either clarify what the president. meant or clean up his comments from tuesday nht. when he said the u.s. would essentially own. >> the. >> gaza strip. >> take it over. >> this morning. theresident. >> himself is. >> weighing back. >> social media as. >> this plan. >> faces growing global criticism. >> this morning, trump >> to.stration officials trying. >> walk back. key parts of. >> the stunning. >> proposal the president. >> laid out. >> for a u.s. takeoverf. >> war torn gaza. >> secretary of sta marco. >> rubio, now suggestingny. >> u.s. involvement in gaza would be temporary. >> the only thing president trumpas done very generously, in my view. >> is offer. >>he united states williness. >> to step in and cle the debris, clean. >> the place. >> up from. >> all the destruction. >> but on tuesday, at a news. >> conference with israel' pre minister, the president.

>> clearly saying. t u.s. could remain in. gaza indefinite. >> i do see a long term ownership position, and i see it bringing great stability to that part of the middle east. >> mr. trump. >> also did. >> not rule. >> out sending u.s. troops. >> if it's necessary, we'll do that. >> the white house tried to change. >> course when we. >> asked how that. >> fits with his often stated opposition. >> to u.s. >> involvement in the middle east. >> can you explain this. >> reversal and how building. >> and owning gaza squares with america. first foreign policy? >> i would reject the premise of your question that this forces the united states to be entangled in conflicts abroad. the president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in gaza. he has also said that the united states is not going to pay for the rebuilding of gaza. >> this morning. >> the president. himself clarified. >> saying gaza. >> would be turned. >> over to the united. >> states by israel. >> at the conclusion. >> of fighting, and that no u.s. troops would be needed. some allies. >> calling it. >> an opportunity to. >> remake the middle east. >> this is a bold, decisive

move. >> but many senate. >> republicans aren't buying it. >> i'm not supportive of having. >> the. >> american people pay to rebuild gaza. i don't. think that's our responsibility. >> democrats using even stronger language. >> absolutely dumb. >> stupid and illegal. >> and i know. >> the challenges. >> go well beyond. congressional criticism here. the president. >> says the 2. >> million or so palestinians who live in gaza will be resettled elsewhere in the region. but in the region, key allies like jordan and egypt, along with saudi arabia, have all. >> rejected that plan. >> they say they still support the creation of a palestinian state that includes gaza. no word from the white house on how they will square that circle. anna. >> okay. garrett. and as you were reporting out, we saw the prime minister arrive there on capitol hill right now as he gets ready to meet with lawmakers. we'll keep an update and update everybody as we keep an eye on what those meetings look like and any remarks that might be made around them. thank

you garrett. joining us now is gershon baskin. he's a hostage negotiator and mdle east director for the international community's organization. gershon, i want to revisit president trump's social media post just this morning where he sayshis. the gaza strip would be turned over tohe united states by israel at the conclusion of fighting. and the u.s. working with development teams from all over the world, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind onarth. no soldiers by the u.s. would be needed. stility for the region would reign with lots of exclamation points. gershon, something tells me it's just not that simple, right? >> i really wish it was that simple. it'd be wonderful if th united states came in with all of its power and abilities to clean up gaza and rebuild. >> it and make a new dubai in gaza. but the reality is a little bit different. president havoc in the region, have.ted >> created great. >> deal of. >> instability around the

different countries concerned. a pani amongst the palestinians. israel does not own gaza that israel can give gaza to the. >> united states. >> nor are 2.2 million palestinians goingo pick up and leave gaza. >> even if a majority. >> of them would like to leave the hell that they're living in, there is no place that is accepting them. >> no doors. >> are open. ifresident trump wants to be so magnanimous to open the doors of egypt and jordan, which he has suggested that they will do, i would suggest to president. >> trump to. >> open up the doors of florida in the gulf of america with those wonderful beaches that the gazans are used to living on. >> president trump did take other controversial stances. cheered by israelis in his fir term, he moved the embassy to jerusalem, recognized golan heights as part of israel, got out of the iran nuclear deal. but still, this gaza proposal seemed to be a shock to just about everybody, especially given what trump had said on the campaign trail. if this is some kind of negotiating tactic, what kind of compromise could be had

here? >> well, i think what the united states wants to do, what israel wants to do with many palestinians would like to do, certainly the arab neighbors, is to see that hamas doesn't control gaza anymore. if this is the negotiating tack to get hamas out of gaza, it's a very faulty move and a very dangerous one. there is a great deal of uncertainty around these remarks and everything that's included in what it means for the region. but the one thing is completely certain is that 2.2 million palestinians are not going to leave gaza because no one is willing to take them. and this is what we need to deal with. the war in gaza needs to end. the hostages, the israeli hostages. >> have. >> to come home. the palestinians need to establish a responsible civilian, technocratic government to govern gaza, and that needs to. >> be supported by the. >> united states with the other regional partners. and all of this needs to be packaged in the advancement of the two state solution, which is what's riding on whether or not saudi arabia and israel. >> will be able to. >> normalize relations in the

future. >> there's this new reporting from the new york times about how this proposal even came about. they write that just before the joint news conference with prime minister netanyahu, president trump told him that he was going to make this anuncement, according to two people bried on their interactions. but there had been no meetings with the state department or the pentagon. the defense department had produced no estimates of the troop numbers required or cost estimas, or even an outline of how it might work. if this is a preview into trump's style for the next four years, what does that mean for the region? >> not very good. but it's not new. there is. >> a. >> video online of jared kushner, the president's son in law and former adviser in the white house. >> who has made. >> many multi-millions of dollars in the arab gulf in presenting the idea of this gaza riviera, talking about the wonderful piece of real estate that gaza could be, if it could be developed by the real estate mols around the world, particularly in the united states. and you think. >> he got this idea from jared

kushner? >> very well. could be. i mean, jared said this a number of years ago, a it's online. we can see it. >> gershon baskin, i appreciat your thoughts and your your just knledge the region. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> and next here on ana cabrera reports ice, rain and sleet. the winter conditions 80 million americansre facing today. plus power grab. is there anything democrats can do to contain president trump and elon musk? we'll ask the top democrat on the house oversightommittee. the house oversightommittee. stay prilosec knows, for a fire... one fire extinguisher beats 10 buckets of water, and for zero heartburn 1 prilosec a day... beats taking up to 10 antacids a day. it's that simple, for 24 hour heartburn relief... one beats ten. prilosec otc. (vo 1) when you really philosophize about it, one beats ten. the's one thing you don't have enough of, and that's time. time is a truly scarce commodity. when you come to that realization, i thinit'very iortant to spend time wisely.

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out there. nbc's emily ikeda is out in the elements for us, joining us from white plains, new york. emily, what are you dealing with there? hey there. anna. >> well, i want to show you the consistency. >> ofhis wintry mix that we're dealing with. >> it's not. >> like that light. >> stuff >> this is what happens. >> when. >> there's no salt on the sidewalk. same with the roadways. >> it's basically. >> a sheet of ice here. >> even when you pick it up. >> you can see this. is what's been falling. throughout the morning. >> and parts of. >> the. >> northeast could see up to. >> half an inch of ice accumulation. >> it's why. >> officials are urging. >> people to be careful. >> as they head out their door. >> today. >> millions waking up. >> to a treacherous. >> morning commute. >> as a blast. >> of winter. sweeps across. >> at least. >> 17 states. >> even roads. >> prepped with brine turning. >> to a. >> sheet of ice. >> right there. did you see that? >> yeah. >> sending cars. >> slipping and. sliding near kansas city. >> this car. narrowly avoiding a collision with. >> another vehicle. >> the dangerous deluge of. >> freezing rain. complete with

thunder and. >> lightning icing over roads. >> across the. >> midwest and expected to. >> impact major. >> cities like. >> washington. >> d.c, philadelphia. >> new york, and boston. >> schools in several. >> states closing. >> today as a precaution. parts of central pennsylvania. >> under a. >> rare ice. storm warning, bracing for up to. >> a. >> half inch of ice. >> what is. >> the degree of. >> risk when. >> it comes to freezing rain? >> the freezing rain makes the roadway very, very slippery. and unfortunately, people think that they can still drive on it. it's not snow, it is ice. and everybody, including us, will slide on ice overnight. >> commercial vehicles. >> banned from multiple major interstates across pennsylvania. >> on the other coast. residents in the pacific northwest. >> are digging out. >> from a week of unrelenting. >> snow captured on this time lapse. >> with even more. >> on the way. >> oh my gosh. >> rainstorms in northern. >> california leading to severe flooding and landslides. >> this man's home. >> destroyed about 25ft.

>> of mud. >> just kind of. >> slid into the. >> house and. >> took. out the house. >> winter weather not. >> letting. >> up from coast to coast. >> and this latest blast of winter are taking a toll on air travel. >> already today, some 2000 flight delays and more. >> than. >> 500 flight cancellations. >> officials also. >> warning against. >> the. >> possibility of power outages. >> to rise throughout the day. because the weight of the ice and the snow on tree branches and power lines. >> on us. >> it's a headache and causing problems, clearly. but i guess if there is any silver lining, at least for the kids, is it's a snow day for so many. and i know my kids are rejoicing. not so good for the parents though. thank you emily. we're going to turn back to our nation's capital now. and the growing scrutiny over elon musk's influence and access. congressman gerry connolly tried to subpoena him yesterday before that was tanked by republicans. what more can democrats do to keep an eye on the richest man in the world and contain the president's escalating power

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[joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise] provider at. rokos sparks. >> nobody elected. >> elon musk to be president, but he has his grimy hands all over our administration. >> every. >> day. >> elon and his tech. >> bros ride their skateboards. >> over to a new agency. >> and start crashing into their databases. >> some blunt words from members of the congressional progressive

caucus just this morning, calling for elon musk to be fired from his position as a special government employee. now, this comes after republicans quashed a move yesterday from the ranking democrat on the house oversight committee to subpoena elon musk about doge and his efforts to overhaul the federal government. >> given his prominence and his importance. >> i move. >> that the committee subpoena elon musk to come before it. >> i point. of order. >> our federal agents. >> oh, we don't listen to demagogues out of. >> order, not. >> out of order and out of order. >> a motion. >> to adjourn. this is demagoguery. this is over, as are in favor of tabling. >> yes. let's have order. >> in. this country. >> so he said they tabled it. well, virginia democratic congressman gerry connolly, the ranking member of the house oversight committee, is with us now. so that sounded like a bit of a mess for all involved in that conversation. if you were

able to subpoena musk today, what questions would you have for him? >> i guess i'd. >> start with, tell us all. >> about the. >> authority you. >> claim to have to. >> be rummaging around in federal agencies, rummaging. >> around in. >> private databases of american citizens. >> interrupting with payment schemes and. >> terminating employees. >> transferring employees. >> shutting down operations. >> that is sweeping. >> power no american. >> has ever had. >> not even. >> a president. >> so who are you and. >> where do you. >> get this authority. >> and prove it? >> i mean. >> you know, show us. >> and what what are the boundaries of accountability for you? >> in your new op ed that was published by msnbc just this morning, you vowed to, quote, pressure republican majorities in both chambers to muster what little courage they have left to stand up to. this would be dictator in the white house. and you add that democrats must not be afraid to use every tool at

our disposal to delay and obstruct the passage and implementation of any legislation that circumvents our laws and harms our constituents, and drags us further down the path toward authoritarianism. congressman, is there a way to hold musk accountable without republican support? what are those tools? >> well. >> i think we're. >> going to see a lot. >> of litigation in. our future. and. >> you know, the. >> going to the courts has actually shown some real promise in being able, for example. >> to stop. >> the funding freeze that was across the board that was hurting american communities. throughout the country. in blocking. >> the trump attempt. >> to reinterpret. >> the 14th amendment and birthright citizenship. and there are going to be dozens of other lawsuits that i think will come to fruit that will most certainly circumvent. the sweeping. >> power that. >> is apparently being claimed by elon musk and his young.

troupe of minions. >> so the courts one way to hold this administration accountable. you are also encouraging civil servants to not take the buyouts and not be afraid to reach out anonymously to democrats as whistleblowers. i know your district there in northern virginia is home to many federal employees. what kind of stories are you hearing? >> oh, the. stories are myriad. >> i mean. really in the. >> scores now. and federal employees, i think. >> have gone from. >> shock and dismay to. now anger and determination. hey, we're citizens too. we're doing a. >> job. >> and we're not. >> going to be punished. >> for. >> doing our jobs. >> so. >> you know, we're hearing. >> stories about. >> intrusion in in computer programing. >> in interruption in payments to. >> vendors. in terms of loyalty oaths being asked for.

>> intrusion of personal information, like, how did you vote? who did you support? this is very chilling. >> it really. >> is sort. >> of like the mccarthy era 2.0. >> for a lot. >> of federal employees. and for all of us as well. >> so but. >> they're standing. up and. they're being heard. and i think that's a hopeful. >> sign that. >> you know, elon musk and donald trump. >> aren't going to, with impunity, simply have their way with the federal workforce and federal employees who work so. >> hard every. >> day for the american people. >> and it's important that their voices are heard. that allows us to shine light on what they are experiencing and what's truly happening behind the curtain, so to speak. during yesterday's hearing, you challenged republican congresswoman nancy mace for using a derogatory term towards the trans community during that oversight hearing. and i want to play that moment. please note we're bleeping the word in question. >> does this advance the interest of american citizens. >> paying for. >> guatemala to the tune.

>> of $2 million? >> yes or no? >> the gentlelady has used. >> a phrase. >> that is considered a slur in the lgbtq community and the transgender community. and let me please finish without interruption. and. >> well, this occurred just hours before president trump signed an executive order banning trans women from women's sports. congressman, what's your message to members of the lgbtq plus community that are concerned, maybe even scared right now by what they're seeing in washington? >> they're not alone. >> and we are willing to speak. >> up and fight. >> for them. >> you know, this. >> is just basic. >> human decency. if you. >> know that. >> a particular word is. >> a slur. >> why would you continue to use it, let alone brazenly repeat it as she did yesterday, when you know it creates harm and inflicts pain, find a better

word. and try to avoid causing, in this case, intentional pain. i just don't understand. >> that we're all americans. >> we may have differences. but at the end of the day we have. you know, a common. you know, citizenship. >> we share. >> and be kind. what's that really cost you? >> be kind. good place for us to end. democratic congressman gerry connolly of virginia, thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> more now, on that executive order, president trump signed banning transgender women and girls from competing in female sports. it is the fourth executive order he has signed targeting transgender people since he took office two and a half weeks ago. the order will be implemented in several ways. first, it will change title nine guidance to bar students assigned male at birth from participating in women and girls sports. the education department will investigate potential violations. the order also says

trans women who apply for visas to enter the u.s. to compete in women's sports could be investigated for fraud. that appears to be a warning for the la olympics organizers. already, the ncaa says its board of governors is reviewing the executive order and will take necessary steps to align ncaa policy in the coming days. president trump has signed more than 50 executive orders, the most in a president's first 100 days in more than 40 years. and you can track trump's executive orders with our new interactive graphic. just go to nbc news.com/trump orders. if you want to learn more. next here on ana cabrera reports a new lawsuit from the doj over sanctuary cities. plus, a health warning some states are already seeing hospitals overwhelmed while schools are being forced to cancel classes and close to cancel classes and close what's causing we're still going for that sweet shot. and with higher stroke risk from afib not caused by a heart valve problem... we're going for eliquis.

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suing the state of illinois, the city of chicago in cook county over their sanctuary cities policies, arguing that they interfere with the federal immigration laws. let's get right to nbc news homeland security correspondent julia ainsley and msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin. julia, we just got this lawsuit. what are we learning? >> that's right. >> ana. >> tom homan said. >> chicago would be. >> ground zero. >> for trump's plans for mass deportation. >> we've already. >> seen that play. >> out with mass arrests. >> there last week. and now this lawsuit. >> the justice department. >> is suing. >> the suing chicago, the. >> mayor. >> of. chicago and. >> the governor. >> of illinois. >> because of the. >> sanctuary city. policies of. >> the city and the. state that. >> they say are deliberately impeding. federal ice. >> officers from going. >> in and making arrests of people who they. >> say are not undocumented immigrants, who have committed crimes, who. >> are. >> living in chicago. >> basically. >> the way the. sanctuary city. >> policy works is. >> that the. >> local and. >> state law.

>> enforcement of. >> chicago and. >> illinois don't. >> call ice. >> when they are releasing. >> someone who's. >> undocumented after they've served their time, or after they've. >> finished their interaction. >> with law enforcement. this is across. >> the country. there are many cities. >> who have these policies. >> in this case, i said that. >> this is violating the federal. authority to be able. to regulate. >> immigration law. >> they say it also violates the lake and riley act that president. >> trump just. >> signed into law. >> that says that. >> ice has to take. into custody. >> any immigrant. >> who is accused of a crime. and they. say that it's resulted in countless. criminals being released. >> into chicago. >> the thing. >> to look for. >> ana. >> is whether or not this lawsuit gets picked. up and copied, copied. >> and pasted, and sanctuary cities and in federal districts. >> challenging those policies across the country. because, as you know, chicago is not the only city that has these policies. >> in place. >> a lot is at stake here to see how. >> the northern district of illinois will weigh in. >> on. >> this lawsuit. >> right now, they're asking the judge in this case to enter a pause.

>> on this. >> to say that this, that these laws violate the supremacy clause, which means they're basically illegal under the constitution and that they should be considered invalid. >> ana and this lawsuit comes just hours after new attorney general pam bondi ordered the doj to pause funding to so-called sanctuary cities that declined to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. so, lisa, is there any indication that the cities or the entities, the jurisdictions that they're suing, you know, are in the wrong here? not necessarily. but i think it all comes down to how seriously courts take what julia already referred to as the supremacy clause argument. and i think we're going to see variations of this made by this administration in a variety of contexts, starting with immigration, but also potentially in an abortion context and in others as well. and their argument is that by not cooperating with federal immigration priorities, states like illinois, cities like chicago, are impeding the

federal government's ability to enforce its own laws. and i want to read to you a little bit from the complaint. they said the united states has well-established, preeminent and preemptive. authority to regulate immigration matters. in other words, the united states, as the federal government sort of covers the entire field with respect to immigration. there's no room for states and localities, according to the justice department in this complaint, to enter their own policies with respect to, for example, telling police officers that they can't provide certain information to the justice department or immigration authorities, or handing over people who are no longer in their custody, as julia just mentioned to immigration authorities, they're saying the us covers the field. there is no other room for states and localities to make different decisions. and that's a bigger philosophical divide that we're seeing play itself out now. this is an administration that believes in what i'll call president maximus, that the president has authority over all aspects of the federal government. but they're also advancing a theory of federal

government power to the exclusion of power by states and localities to make contrary decisions. we've seen that play itself out differently in the abortion context, where they're saying states and localities should feel free to make their own decisions. but with president trump in office, we may see a larger methodological shift to the federal government owns this all, and you cannot make contrary decisions. states and local governments. so is this one of those things you end, you would see ending up at the supreme court? absolutely. all of the claims in this lawsuit are all different variations of arguments under the supremacy clause, saying, for example, that the state and local policies here constitute unlawful discrimination under the supremacy clause and other variants of that. i don't see how this ends other than in the supreme court, particularly, as you said, because we're going to likely see copy and paste efforts of this complaint in different areas around the country. that means these lawsuits will percolate up to different federal appeals courts

that may take different positions on it. and what happens when we see federal appeals courts from different areas of the country disagree? it ends up in the supreme court. all right, lisa ruben and julia ainsley, thank you very much, ladies. up next on ana cabrera reports a viral quad demic as positivity rates for flu, covid and other respiratory illnesses and norovirus soar. why this is happening and the best way to protect your family. >> work, play. >> blink. relief. >> work, play. >> blink. >> relief. >> the only. >> 3 in 1. >> extended relief formula for dry eyes. >> blink. >> you're seeing skechers famous glide step footwear everywhere. and now that famous design is available in hands free. skechers slip ins get the comfort and style glide step now with the convenience of slip with the convenience of slip ins. with no be ♪ (male vo) big.

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are you or someone you love has been sick this winter. right now, a spike in flu cases is overwhelming some hospitals and even forcing some schools across the country to cancel classes. nbc's maggie vespa is tracking this for us from nationwide children's hospital in columbus, ohio. maggie, it seems like lots of people are coming down with something. how serious is the flu outbreak this season? >> a slew. >> of experts. >> tell us it's actually really. >> serious, especially. >> for the post covid era. >> we're here. >> as you. >> said, at. nationwide children's hospital and this. >> really sweet waiting. >> area. this hospital alone. >> in columbus, ohio. >> so the staff tell us. >> they saw. >> 1500 cases. >> of the flu. >> just last week. >> so the numbers are surging. and you said it's not just the flu. >> also covid, norovirus. >> other respiratory illnesses. >> so kind of this viral. >> what they're calling quad. demic that. >> as you. >> said is forcing schools and districts. >> to close. >> for days on end in several states. >> my son is home sick.

>> he's got. >> fever this morning. >> a savage. >> flu season is. taking aim. >> at america's kids. >> at least 41. states and. >> washington, d.c. are. >> reporting high. >> or very. >> high levels. >> of influenza. >> like illnesses, with cases soaring. >> among children. >> indiana seeing. >> a nearly. 32% increase. >> of. >> kids as young as five. >> showing up. >> in ers with flu like. >> symptoms. across the country. dozens of. >> districts forced to cancel classes. flu is the main driver, but we're also seeing covid virus, rsv and the norovirus. so all four together overwhelming the system. more than 1700. >> students and. >> 200 staff. >> members. >> even 15. >> bus drivers. >> were marked absent. >> near louisville. >> because of. >> widespread illness. >> in tennessee, more than. >> 70 schools. >> closed across parts. >> of. >> southwest ohio. >> and northern kentucky. >> at least. 16 schools shut down these. >> last few weeks. >> we had.

>> the covid outbreak and we. >> had to, you. >> know. >> we shut. >> down for. >> a. long time. >> flu season typically lasts from october through. >> may. >> with its peak. >> occurring in january. >> some experts say this. >> year's peak. >> is hitting later. >> and harder. >> right now, we're seeing pretty much peak activity across the entire country, all at about the same time. >> the cdc. >> estimates there have been at least 250,000 hospitalizations and 11,000 flu deaths. >> so far this season. >> including 16 pediatric. >> deaths. >> just this week. >> the best. >> ways to protect. >> your. family get the flu shot. doctors say it's not too late. >> adding. >> it only takes up to seven. >> days to. >> kick in. also. >> they. >> say wipe. >> down surfaces. urge your child. >> to wash their hands. >> frequently and. >> if they're feeling. >> sick, keep them home. >> until they've. >> gone 24. >> hours. >> fever free without using medication. >> tips to keep. >> kids safe. >> as a wicked. >> flu season gets worse. >> and experts.

>> tell us it actually could. >> be weeks. >> if. >> not. up to a month before these numbers start. >> to fall. >> so a bit of a long road ahead. one final. >> note experts. >> even told us months ago. >> that they were worried. >> this could happen. >> because pediatric. flu vaccination. rates and flu vaccination rates. >> broadly are at their lowest numbers in several years. >> the latest cdc data showing right now. pediatric across the country 44.5%. >> vaccination rate. >> that's nearly a. 14 point. >> drop from five. >> years ago. >> ana. >> okay, we've been warned. it's not too late to get your flu shot. maggie. vespa. thank you. that does it for us today. see you back here tomorrow. same time, same place as always. i appreciate your company. i'm ana cabrera, reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. >> good morning. >> 11 a.m. >> eastern. 8 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin with president trump's reshaping of the federal government. >> every momen