>> donald trump is defending the mass firings of federal watchdogs. >> our federal. >> government now can discriminate against the citizens of the country. >> we are. >> all watching. >> and waiting. >> to see who is. >> going to hold the line. >> don't miss the weekends, saturday, and sunday. >> mornings at. >> 8:00 on msnbc. >> it is good to be back with you on this second hour of chris jansing reports at this hour. vance's view from the border. the vice president touring the texas border today after the president touted a massive drop in illegal border crossings. plus the $2 billion question. the supreme court rejects president trump's bid to avoid paying billions to usaid contractors. the administration has said they can't pay up right away. so what happens now? and any minute now, the man suspected of planning the suicide bombing at the kabul airport that killed 13 american service members will make his

first appearance in federal court. the charges he's facing. also, what we know about pete buttigieg's meeting with senate minority leader chuck schumer. is there a senate run in michigan in his future? our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. we begin with vice president vance at the southern border. nbc news homeland security correspondent julia ainsley joins us. what more can you tell us about the goal of this trip? >> well, look, he's going to be touting these border numbers that so far that we've seen from this administration that february was the lowest number of border encounters that border patrol and customs encounters with immigrants at the southern border down to just over 8000. for context, the second lowest in the past 25 years was 11,000 in april of 2017. so that is a significant drop. but to put all of this in context, the reason why these numbers are so low is because it's really impossible for anyone to claim asylum at

the southern border right now, even if they arrive legally. they are being turned back and not even allowed to approach those legal ports of entry by mexico. and the numbers were dying for, chris, are deportation numbers, because that's what trump ran on was to increase the number of deportations. and so far, we have not gotten a concrete number of how many people have been deported since trump took office. but vance will be there today to say that they have achieved, or at least on the road, to achieving operational control of the southern border. >> thank you so much for that, julia ainsley. and this live picture, by the way, that folks are looking at is the vice president. he is conducting, going to conduct an aerial tour of the border before taking part in a security roundtable later this afternoon. by the way, he's going to be speaking to the press alongside defense secretary pete hegseth and the director of national intelligence, tulsi gabbard. so we'll have that later on in the day. meantime, today, the supreme court rejected the trump administration's bid to freeze billions in usaid funds. nbc's

ken dilanian is reporting in dc. so what exactly does this latest ruling mean, ken? >> chris. it means that this. >> case goes back to the district judge that ordered the. >> unfreezing. >> because the supreme court has said he was within his power to do that. but this. >> is a. >> judge that has expressed frustration that. >> the. >> trump administration did not appear to be complying with his orders previously. now, what's at issue in this case. >> is $2. >> billion worth of contracts for work that's already. >> been. >> completed, at least according to the contractors who are suing usaid. so this is stuff that's happened in other countries. irrigation ditches in ukraine, for example, usaid contracts with companies, many of. >> them based. >> in the united states. they send people out, they do the work, they invoice the government, and they expect to be paid. in this case, the work was done, but the money wasn't paid. and so now the judge is ordering that this money be paid immediately. and now the drama is going to be does the trump administration comply with this order, which has been resisting so far? now the supreme court is backing this judge, and we're

going to have to see what happens. chris. >> all right. could be a standoff. keep us posted, ken dilanian. thank you. a court hearing is scheduled for this hour for an isis terrorist who's accused of planning that deadly attack on u.s. troops during the withdrawal from afghanistan. nbc's dan deluce is following that for us. dan, what more can you tell us? >> that's right. >> this is the first hearing. >> now, he. >> was. >> just brought. >> to. the united. >> states overnight. after the cia shared intelligence with pakistani intelligence, he was arrested by pakistani. authorities in the border. region near afghanistan. and brought here. he is accused of. basically casing. >> the area. >> where that attack on at abbey gate at kabul airport in 2021. during that chaotic u.s. withdrawal. that attack killed 13 service members and many other afghans, and he is accused of basically investigating, looking for where a route for the attack that took place and

that he allegedly received funds and a motorcycle from isis to take part and to help plan that attack. >> dan delucia, thank you so much. now to capitol hill, where former transportation secretary pete buttigieg met with senate minority leader chuck schumer about a possible michigan senate bid. nbc's sahil kapur is following that story. there has been a lot of speculation about what pete buttigieg his next step might be. what more do we know about this meeting? >> yeah, that's right chris. >> we know this meeting took. >> place last week between pete buttigieg and. >> chuck schumer. that is according to a source with. >> direct knowledge. >> of it. >> pete buttigieg has. >> not officially made. >> up. >> his mind. >> as. >> to whether he's going to run for the seat. that's according to the same source that we spoke to, although he's clearly considering a run. this is a seat being vacated by the two term democrat, gary peters. the parties involved here are not feeling very chatty. >> buttigieg's team isn't commenting. >> the democrats campaign arm

isn't commenting. schumer's team also isn't commenting. >> however. >> democratic sources. >> not authorized. >> to discuss this have. >> told me. >> that the party is still assessing the field and the potential candidates, and they. >> have not formulated a preference at this point as to who they want as their nominee. one group. >> that is commenting. is the senate. >> leadership fund, the. >> main republican super. >> pac. >> which referred to buttigieg as an. indiana resident in their brief statement. buttigieg, of course, served. >> as mayor of south bend, indiana. >> he ran for president. in 2020. he exceeded. >> expectations by, in fact, winning the iowa caucuses. >> he relocated. >> from indiana to. >> michigan in 2022, citing his family ties there, namely his husband, charleston's. >> parents. >> and the arrival of their children. what is very clear, chris, is that. >> this. >> will be one of the most hotly contested senate seats in the. midterm election of 2026, really a must win for democrats. >> if they want any chance of winning back the majority in. >> what is expected to be another difficult. map for them. >> sahil kapur thank you. in

90s, president trump promises disruption in washington. but what will that mean for everyday americans? >> sadly, windshield chips can turn into windshield cracks. but at least you can go to safelite. com and schedule a fix in com and schedule a fix in minutes. we safelite can come t -honey... -but the gains are pumping! dad, is mommy a "finance bro?" she switched careers to make money for your weddings. oooh the asian market is blowing up! hey who wants shots, huh?! -shots?? -of milk. the right money moves aren't as aggressive as you think. made with certified organic cotton, wool and latex, plus ergonomic coils to support your body's. >> natural curves for cool and restorative sleep.

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and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. we have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. and we are just getting started. >> but as david sanger points out in the new york times, the president last night never explained how or why the potential benefits are worth the very real costs at home and abroad. joining us now, nbc, shaquille brewster in waukesha, wisconsin, eddie glaude. james mcdonald, distinguished university professor and an msnbc political analyst. jeremy peters is the new york times reporter and msnbc contributor. so, jeremy, look, you heard the president say, we are just getting started. the question is, is that a promise or a warning? >> just getting started. >> i mean. >> look, what they have accomplished here is very much under a huge question mark,

because much of it has been stated by courts. others like the tariffs, the effects of which we have yet to see shake out. because look, what did president trump run on and win on? in large measure, the economy and prices? he's promised to bring those down. and what these tariffs threaten to do is bring prices up not just of eggs, which we know have kind of become this this symbol of an inflationary economy, but of television sets of avocados, i mean, you name it, cars. even things could get a lot more expensive. and i'll point you to a bit of reporting that we did in the times last night, and we interviewed people after watching the speech, and one of them told my colleague campbell robertson, look, she voted for trump. she'd been a lifelong democrat. and she said, i don't see much change in my life. things aren't getting any better. so, you know, this all seems like a whole lot of talk. >> so, eddie, we all have talked to a lot of folks, especially

after the speech. but i want to take you to three republican states where we talked to business owners who are feeling the impact of tariffs already at a tavern, at a liquor store and then an ironworks company. take a listen. >> we definitely. >> are a little worried about the price increase for sure. i have a feeling that we'll have to see a significant little jump in prices. >> the importer and distributor. >> will also take a markup. >> depending on. >> their increased cost. so the. final out of pocket increase to the consumer. >> will probably be more like 40% to 50%. >> not just 25%. >> last week. >> our steel our. >> steel prices went. up a little bit. >> material is. >> is one of the costs. >> but there's also the cost. >> of everything. >> else that. >> keeps going up. >> the consumer. >> is always. >> going to pay for it. >> not only did the president not have a plan to answer economic concerns like these, he didn't even mention the veterans who lost their jobs, many of

them who were sitting right there. president trump has always been kind of given a pass on empathy. but do you think there is a point at which voters expect their president to understand and respond to their pain? >> absolutely. absolutely, chris. >> i think particularly voters who thought that he was supposed to be a change agent, that he was going to disrupt. they were okay when the pain was directed elsewhere, when it was regards to those questions around the border, when in regards in regards to others. but when it came to them, they thought he would improve their lives. they would deem it deepened their possession of the country. and so to feel this pinch in this moment and to hear, you know, silence. crickets in regards to their pain. right. i think will lead to a political backlash we've been getting to we've begun to see some of this with the town halls. but, you know, donald trump gave no attention to the human cost of his policies, no attention to what's going on with doge, no attention in terms of the effects around

tariffs, because honestly, those aren't the folks who are really top of mind for him. chris. and we need to we need to make that clear and understand it for what it is. >> trump still does, though, have his strong supporters. i mean, we certainly saw it in the number of standing ovations he got from members of congress. but you're in a suburban area of wisconsin where trump did have strong support this past election. does he still do they like what they heard last night? >> yes, is the short. >> answer, especially among those who voted for him. there's a level of validation that they have in seeing the past six weeks of this second. >> trump administration. they love. >> the. >> pace at which he's moving. they love the topics. >> in the areas and. >> policies that he's focused on. and then you also hear that polarization. i'll tell you many democrats that we've met, even just walking by as i've been here today, have said they intentionally stayed away from the speech because they didn't want to hear the lies and their words out of trump's mouth. i want you to listen to some of the conversations i had with people who said they have been his biggest supporters. listen

to what they said when i asked them about his speech. >> last night. >> what i. >> really liked was how he went through all the different, different points and to. >> make this. >> nation better. >> it was fantastic. >> it's pretty much everything he's been saying, you know, since. >> he got inaugurated. russia. >> ukraine is important because it wastes. it wastes. >> our tax dollars. >> i think the whole doge thing, which people laugh at, i think that's key. if hopefully they can, they can find ways to save money for our country because we can't keep going on the way it was. >> and then. >> there were those moments that really touched the folks i talked to, the brain cancer survivor getting honored and becoming a secret service agent. the student who was accepted into west point. those moments carried weight with those people watching, but there were also moments that were shared on social media. among those who love donald trump and among his base. i think those moments

definitely had the impact that the president wanted it to have, especially among his key group of supporters. >> you know what, chuck? it looks really damp and cold where you are. so i'm going to thank you. great reporting and let you go somewhere warm and dry. thank you for that, jeremy. look, there's always going to be that base, right. we've talked about that for eight, ten years for donald trump. but that also brings me to democrats and their mission, which they see as obviously appealing to voters who are persuadable, maybe trump voters who voted for democrats in the past. and the first thing that we heard was michigan senator elissa slotkin, right, who has won in a red state. so let me play. i know a lot of people probably didn't stay up after the hour and 40 minutes of donald trump to hear it. so we're going to play a decent sized chunk of that. let's listen. >> he's going. to make. >> you pay in every part of your life. >> grocery and home. >> prices are. >> going up. >> not down. and he hasn't laid.

>> out a credible plan to deal with either of those. his tariffs on allies like canada will raise prices on energy, lumber and cars and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers. your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn't work without going after your health care. meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down. and if he's not careful, he could walk us right into a recession. and one more thing. in order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement. >> that's that's a key one, right, with a lot of people talking about social security. but is that the baseline? did she establish what democrats see as their strongest answer to chaos? >> well, right. what she was doing right there, chris was laying out a largely theoretical case. we don't know what the economy is going to look like when she says you are going to pay more, trump is going to make

you pay more. that very well could happen. but democrats strategy right now seems to be relying on that to happen. and it sounds to me at this point at least, a lot like what we've heard from democrats over the last few years. they've been telling voters how they should feel. you should feel better about the economy under president joe biden, because it's better than everywhere else in the world. you should feel good about your personal safety because crime overall is down, and those things don't necessarily square with what people are actually experiencing in their lives. so democrats have to hope that trump's policies do inflict some discomfort on voters, who will then turn around and punish republicans and trump for that in the midterm elections, because right now, that's where they've got to focus. >> one thing that has not changed, eddie, is this split, right? i mean, the american public sees this so differently. i'm sure people our viewers are

listening to those folks in waukesha, wisconsin, and saying, did they watch a completely different speech than i saw? the new york times points out this. trump claimed he stopped government censorship and brought back free speech in america, but signed executive orders that require the government to scrub certain words and phrases from the public domain. that split screen is so dramatic. do you see it closing? is there anything that democrats can do to close it? does history tell us it will close? i know i may be asking you to like, you know, put on your carnac the magnificent hat, but but i do wonder, like, is this where we are for the foreseeable future? >> yes. >> this is where we are. this is us, honestly. and it's not about predicting what will happen with donald trump's policies. we know what he's doing. he's stoking

grievance. he's stoking hatreds. he's stoking fears. and, you know, i think as good as we might think, senator slotkin's response was, is as if she was treating donald trump as a normal president. this is a normal political moment, and it's not. and it seems to me that the democrats have taken this tack, that they're kind of confused whether or not they want to say that the house is on fire, that this is actually that these people actually pose an existential threat, chris, or they want to just simply say, well, you know, let's deal with it as if it's ordinary. right. they will let let them have more rope and they will hang themselves in the process. the american people, most of the american people will suffer. so i think we're in this moment. we're going to be in this moment for a while. these kind of fever dreams last. and they're bodies that come in the wake. and i think we need to we need to understand what's in front of us. and what's in front of us is not normal, chris. it's not

normal. and i think, you know, from his call for a new crime bill to the way in which he talked about the border, the way in which he threw out all of the culture war, red meat. this isn't normal, but do you need to orient themselves accordingly? >> do you think, eddie, that he did outplay his opposition because he threw so much at everybody and is still throwing so much at everybody so fast? it's hard to keep up and it's like it's like a game of whack a mole. it's hard to know where to punch next or. or how hard to punch. >> only if you're not clear about what you stand for, then you're reading and reacting. you're reading and reacting. if you have a vision of where the country should be, if you have an understanding of your obligations to, to, to the citizens that you represent, if you have a view of what constitutes the substantive public good, then you're fighting for that, not just

fighting against him. and so as long as the democrats are reading and reacting or just sitting back acting as if this is politics as usual, you're going to have the kind of unsettled response that i'm offering here. but if they articulate a vision, a counter vision to what we're experiencing right now, then maybe, maybe we can see that they're fighting for the america that we want, not the america that we have. >> eddie glaude, jeremy peters, such an important conversation. thank you both. and coming up, powerful storms are tearing through huge swaths of the country. winds sending planes flying at a dallas airport. our reporter is standing by as that system plows through north system plows through north caro ♪ unnecessary action hero ♪ missing punches. unnecessary. check reversals. unnecessary. time sheet corrections. unnecessary. unanswered sick time. (yelling) (glass breaking) get paycom and make the unnecessary, unnecessary. [restaurant noise] allison.

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>> bay hill, the house that arnie built. >> home to a signature. >> event with a first class field and a defending champion eyeing his next signature moment. >> what a. >> finish at the arnold palmer invitational on nbc and peacock. >> now to breaking news. just minutes ago, french president emmanuel macron wrapped up an address to his nation in which he said the threat from russia is real. nbc's matt bodner is following this for us. what were the big takeaways from this message? matt. >> thank you. chris. well, there's a lot in this speech. it's i think we're going to be coming back to this one quite a bit. it's the kind of speech you would expect from a european leader who appears very concerned, not just about russia, but about the united states. let's hit some of the highlights. first of all, there will be a summit of some kind in the near future with european defense officials to start working out what europe is going to do to help ukraine. presuming the united states might not. some of his other points. peace

cannot be guaranteed on our own continents anymore. russia, as you said, is a threat. france needs you, the people, and we will. we will no longer benefit from the post-cold war peace dividend, which was a very interesting point for him to make. and he's saying that peace cannot be achieved if ukraine falls. the price of peace cannot be the collapse of ukraine, and it cannot be based on a weak ceasefire. so this is obviously, i think, addressing a lot of a lot of the things we've been seeing out of the white house, out of washington with regards to ukraine in recent days. to me, the big takeaway, the thing that's really ringing in my ears, i want to believe that the united states will stay on our side, but we have to be ready if it doesn't. so like i said this, this feels like a significant speech from a european leader who is concerned about america's future role in europe. and obviously, the recent moves we've seen with ukraine, this announcement today about the suspension of military aid to ukraine, these reports about intelligence sharing, ending. so

there we have it, a big speech from macron. >> matt bodner. thank you for that. here at home, the monstrous storm system pummeling the country right now has turned deadly, killing at least three people and injuring more than a dozen. among the states worst hit mississippi, where officials say a man was electrocuted and killed near jackson after trying to put out a grass fire sparked by a downed power line. just miles away from there, another man died when the wind sent a tree slamming into the car he was driving. falling trees also destroyed at least three homes a few hours up north, reducing them to piles of debris. and in this video, you can see it took just seconds for wind gusts to yank the roof right off of the clay county jail. with at least seven inmates inside. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here, and nbc's george solace is in raleigh, north carolina. george, what else are we seeing where you are? >> yeah. hey, chris. >> obviously. >> this storm.

>> system has. >> been. >> moving fast, and it. >> has been leaving. >> a rampant. >> trail of destruction. >> where it goes. >> here in. >> raleigh. >> there was a tornado. >> warning earlier. this afternoon that. has since expired. >> that is the good news. but we have been seeing images of toppled trees and power lines here. a number of folks without. power in this region. >> now. >> the winds are starting to pick up. so that. >> is a big concern for the residents here. >> the good news is some of the rain, as you might be able to see, has tapered. but elsewhere, as you mentioned, we have seen a lot of destruction in oklahoma, in texas, where some of that debris and some of those damage damaged areas are becoming more evident there. as you mentioned, it's unfortunate that it has turned deadly in some parts of this country. a lot of folks think, thinking that some of this system is really just moved so fast here that the damage really wasn't so widespread. but again, this is just now passing this area here. so folks will begin to assess and look at the regions. and again here what we're seeing just a lot of those downed trees and those power

lines which are going to leave people without power. and again, we're looking at some of those winds starting to pick up. but folks hoping that by tomorrow morning it really is just a cleanup once the system really moves out of here. chris. >> thank you so much for that, george. so, bill, the storm is triggering tornadoes, rain, snow, fire risks. what concerns as it moves east. isolated tornadoes. >> wind damage. as we head. >> through the evening rush. hour on the east coast. >> washington, dc just saw the line of storms go through raleigh. >> you're in the clear where george and our team is located. fayetteville in the clear. myrtle beach, you're. >> just about done. >> maybe just. >> a few showers left. so the areas. >> of concern now will be wilmington to new bern, washington. greenville to norfolk, heading up towards williamsburg, and then eventually southern portions of maryland. so here's washington dc. just some rain for you over the next half hour. then you're done. that line that was really strong has since weakened as it's moving here into areas of delaware and maryland further to the south. you can see we did have a one severe thunderstorm warning with this, but that has since weakened too. so right now things are not that dire. at least we're not seeing a lot of

destruction taking place. and if we do get any isolated strong storms the rest of today, it would be in eastern north carolina. the backside of this storm was no joke 50 to 70 mile per hour winds. some areas picked up a couple inches of snow. blizzard warning continues in des moines, iowa. also the upper peninsula here, wausau, green bay are under a winter weather advisory. we're not going to see a lot more additional snow. it's just so windy that it's picking up the snow and tossing it around. and that's where the issues are. here's the current wind gusts. and if you have a flight today, there's a lot of delays out there because of this huge storm. most of the wind gusts right now are in saint louis at 29. that's not too bad. so it was worse earlier, but we still have those high wind warnings around kansas city to des moines. chris will be happy to be done with this storm by later on this evening. and for your own personal forecast, it looks like around 430 in new york city is when the heavy rains come through. >> oh, great. just about when i'm walking home. >> that's why i told you. >> thank you, bill, for that. well, with americans reeling from rising food prices, there is some good news today for fans of shake shack. the fast food

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>> from a republican standing ovation to back to business. elon musk returning to capitol hill today to attend a closed door lunch with senate republicans. and that's not all. tonight he'll talk directly with house republicans after some asked for more clarity over his sweeping d.o.j. cuts. nbc's julie sirkin joins us from the hill. what questions are there out there that these members of congress want answered for musk today? >> well, musk's first stop on the hill is actually a meeting with senate republicans during their lunch. he still hasn't come out of that room. by the way, i was just over there as senate republicans started streaming out of there. what we've heard is that there was talk of a rescissions package essentially codifying the doge cuts into law process that senate republicans are now eyeing to do through 51 vote threshold, not that 60 vote threshold. that, of course, is needed, typically requiring democratic votes. also, elon musk apparently handed out his personal cell phone number to senators who were pressing him on the cuts on the layoffs. of

course, we've all seen those town halls that house members have been experiencing. and senators, by the way, trying to make sure that he provides them with a list of the cuts that he is eyeing, so they're not surprised about it on the back end. musk admitting that he did make some make some mistakes during this process. he took a chainsaw approach, as he himself has touted on the stage of cpac, the conservative political action conference. a couple of weeks ago, members of congress saying that they prefer those mistakes are not made. of course, don bacon last night, moderate republican telling me after trump's speech to congress that he's hoping that musk provides them with this list, that he doesn't have to go in backwards and retroactively fix mistakes like rehiring workers that he laid off, and other matters as well. tonight. musk is back on the hill to meet with house republicans who are concerned because they've been hearing from their constituents, conservative areas to rural areas, not just moderate districts or democratic districts. these are republicans who are concerned about musk's role and the role he's playing in government. trump giving him

a shout out last night. and musk saying after that speech in a post to x that he is increasingly convinced that we can get to 60 senators after that speech, meaning, of course, that they would perhaps win more seats in 2026. that is a tall task because of the amount of senate republicans that are up for reelection in the next two years. we'll see if that happens. chris. >> julie sirkin, thank you. i want to bring in jamie mosher, a veteran who served in the u.s. military for more than 30 years in the air force, the army national guard, the air national guard. last month, he was laid off from his job at a va medical center. jamie, first of all, thank you so much for your service and thank you for speaking with us today. look, elon musk, capitol hill today. what would you want him to know? >> i want him. >> to know. that a lot of the people i know, and. >> a lot of. >> the people i've served. >> with and people that i've served with and have. >> have made the ultimate sacrifice, are very aware that he was not elected. to be.

>> operating within our government. >> his cuts are. >> harmful and. >> perceived as as malicious. >> i do not. >> believe they have. >> americans best interest behind them. they are being poised as that. it's kind of where i'm at with that. >> you sound frustrated. you sound. i think a lot of people are confused. last night we heard the president thank elon musk, and there were resounding applause from republicans, even as veterans were in that room. and i know you watched from home, i think at least part of it. what was your reaction to what you heard? >> like you said. i had to turn it off. >> i was. >> just so frustrated. >> i mean, i have. just a recent termination being mislabeled as a poor performer. >> or as. >> a. >> lazy federal. >> worker leeching off the

system. i was already going into it with kind of heated emotions, but just to. see the blatant kind of disregard for democracy and just like. just i don't know. i don't know, like, these people are not kings. they're not they're not, you know, dictators, they're just they're. elected leaders, some of them. and they're supposed to be performing the. >> job that they were elected. >> to do. >> and they are. >> just representing themselves. and the president and not the people that put them there. >> as i said, you have served your country 30 years in the military. what has it meant to you? what has it meant to your family that you've been laid off? >> it's huge. i just retired november 1st and. was started at the va on january 13th, and then

received my termination notice on february 13th. for me. >> moving to the va was. >> just a continuation of. service to my country. it was a it was the ability to continue to provide for my family, for wife and two daughters and also, as a side note, i get to continue to serve with and for my brothers and sisters. as veterans providing for them. it was it was kind of a perfect, perfect thing. until february 14th, when i received my email and my world came crashing down. i'm the sole earner in the family. this is had a huge financial impact. i don't know. it's hard to market myself out there with my skill set. i found the perfect job and then that was taken away from me. it's huge financial stress right now. >> i know i asked you what you

would say to elon musk, but what would you want people out there listening to know? i mean, we just learned that the chief of staff at the department of veterans affairs put out a memo yesterday outlining a va wide reduction in force in august to resize and tailor the workforce to the mission. but if we do the math, it could mean between 59,000 and 82,000 people would be let go. what would that mean for the department? you were inside it. you saw how it worked. can it take a hit like that and do what veterans have come to expect it to do? >> yeah. >> i. really only speak for the short amount of time i was in my department at my facility. but i will say we i went in, we were short staffed going in. i knew that we were struggling. i worked in the transportation department getting vets from their homes to the va for healthcare appointments. which is which is a huge. part of it.

to get they they need the support in order to receive the benefits. i don't know if they were to cut more out of our department. we wouldn't be able to support transporting vets, and i don't and i'm speaking only for our facility. i don't know how that number you talked about, you know, 50 to 82,000, is that going to be intelligently applied and kind of spread across the board, or is it going to be just an ax to probationary employees that have been on the job for 30 days, even though, you know, i've done nothing, nothing wrong? >> jamie mosher, it's we appreciate you coming on at a time that is obviously very difficult for you and your family and telling your truth. so thank you so much. and we only wish you all the best.

>> i very much appreciate you giving me the opportunity. thank you. >> thank you. well, taking on the latest public health crisis in america with cod liver oil. the latest comments from robert f kennedy jr on the measles outbreak. but first, let me introduce you to the colossal wooly mouse. yeah, that's the one on the left. scientists tweaked a normal mouse's dna to bring out new traits like wooly mammoth fur. it started as a quest by a company called colossal biosciences to bring back extinct species like the wooly mammoth and dodo bird. a lot of scientists say that's not going to happen, but there is an important question about whether or not some of this science can be used in solving other medical mysteries. so we'll wait for that. and they're cute, though, right? we'll be right back. >> safelite repair. safelite

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everybody hear me? sure can. do you hear me? i sure can. so, can you hear well? sure can. hear well, feel well, from your first appointment. claim your free hearing test. call 1-800-977-3399 now. >> house democrats are relaunching their fight for voting protections today. a group of lawmakers reintroduced the john lewis voting rights advancement act, which would restore and strengthen parts of the voting rights act of 1965. alabama congresswoman terri sewell spoke of its importance just days ahead of the 60th anniversary of the bloody sunday march in selma. >> never did i. >> think that 60 years. 60 years after john was bludgeoned on a bridge, that the cause for which

john lewis and those foot soldiers, foot soldiers march would be our cause too. we know that, as john said, that ours is not the fight of one day, one week or one year. ours is truly the fight of a lifetime, and we will stand boldly with the american people to ensure that the sacred right to vote is protected, and that every american who is eligible to vote has access to the ballot box. >> this renewed effort comes after that same voting rights bill that bore john lewis name failed to reach president biden's desk while he was at the white house. doctor jay bhattacharya, best known for being an early critic of covid 19 lockdown orders, is now president trump's pick to lead the nih. he faced scrutiny today at his senate confirmation hearing, repeatedly questioned over how he would respond to trump's cuts. >> so do. >> you do you. >> support further cuts. >> at nih. funding or staff? >> senator, i don't support you

know, i don't. >> have. >> any. >> intention to. >> cut anyone at the nih. >> will you object if it slows or stops life saving research? >> i my. >> my interactions. >> with secretary kennedy and president trump to. >> date. >> suggest that they don't want to slow research. they want to they want to speed it up. >> will you object. >> if that. >> becomes evident that they're slowing. >> the research? >> i senator, i have to. >> say, i don't. >> i don't. >> believe that that they are ever going to ask me to. >> do that. >> nbc's burkley lovelace jr is following this for us. so if confirmed, bhattacharya will oversee an agency made up of 27 different research institutes. they've got a budget approaching $50 billion. what more do we know about him and his plans for nih? >> yeah. so bhattacharya was certainly an interesting choice for the trump administration. while he is a physician, he's never completed any clinical training beyond medical school, nor has he practiced medicine. much of his research at stanford

university, where he's a professor, actually focuses on health economics and health policy. and so while experts say that doesn't qualify him for the job, i think they were really curious what his plans at nih would be. and so during the confirmation hearing today, we did get a bit of insight into that. he said he would like to establish a culture of so-called scientific dissent at the nih, where leaders actually actively encourage different ideas. it's important to note that bhattacharya clashed with the nih during the pandemic over lockdowns. he also said that, as you noted, he doesn't support further job cuts at the nih. that and that he would make sure workers there would have enough resources. and also interesting to bring up is that he didn't launching a new study about a potential link between vaccines and autism. that was a theory that has been debunked by decades of research. but some health experts have feared that secretary kennedy could make a push to devote new funding to a new study. so it's especially interesting that he didn't rule out a new study on that. >> chris berkeley lovelace junior, always good to see you.

thank you. health and human services secretary robert f kennedy jr is now pushing cod liver oil as a remedy for the measles. it comes as the u.s. confirms 164 measles cases, 159 of them in texas. i want to bring in nbc news medical fellow doctor akshay syal. so doctor rfk jr made his cod liver oil push on fox news, and he never mentioned vaccines, which he had been talking about just a couple of days ago. what do you make of this? >> look, chris, the. >> most effective. >> thing for measles. >> is the mmr vaccine. you know, two doses. >> of. >> that vaccine. >> are about. >> 90. 90 plus. >> percent effective. at preventing measles. it's one of the. most extraordinary things we. >> have in. >> medicine right now. >> you know. as it comes. >> to cod liver oil, we're not. >> talking about it by accident. the reason. >> bobby kennedy brought it up is probably because it's high in vitamin a and vitamin a, you know, can be used in measles treatment. but there is some important context. >> here, chris. >> and that's, you know, vitamin

a is really only shown to be beneficial. in poorer countries. chris, for people you know, may not be as as well nourished as we are here in the u.s. so vitamin a deficiency here in the us is extremely uncommon. so that's kind of the. backdrop here as to why we're talking about this in the first place. but the important thing here, chris, is that, you know, those those cases where vitamin a can be beneficial. we're talking about, you know, 100 teaspoons of cod liver oil. that's a lot of cod liver oil to be taking. and you know, that can of course have its own side effects. so definitely not something we want to replace the vaccine with here. chris. >> as somebody who was a kid in the 60s when they thought it was good just to give you a spoon of cod liver oil. no, thanks. but let's be serious here. have you ever seen any study that suggested in the united states where vaccines are available, that this is an alternative? >> no, i haven't, not to the point where i would recommend it for patient use. you know, there's some small studies here and there that show, you know, suggest it may help certain types of arthritis, but nothing that i would, you know, go out and recommend to my patients. and certainly not something that

i would recommend as a substitute for the for the measles vaccine. chris. >> doctor, it's always good to see you. thank you. that is going to do it for us this hour. make sure to join us for chris jansing reports every weekday, 1 to 3 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. our coverage continues msnbc. our coverage continues with katy tur with fatigue and light-headedness, i knew something was wrong. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light-headedness, can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out. making that appointment can help you get ahead of stroke risk. this is no time to wait. ugh, when is my allergy spray going to kick in? -you need astepro. -astepro? it's faster, bro. 8x faster than flonase. it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's mom to you. astepro starts working in 30 minutes.

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