for more we're joined by chuck collins, author of the new report "a year of billionaire pandemic gains." he is also the author of "the wealth hoarders: how billionaires pay millions to hide trillions." chuck, welcome back to democracy now! who are e pandemic profiteers and how dohey do it? >> good morning. you mentioned a couple like jeff bezos and elon mus but what we found is there's a whole group of people, must 50 billionaires whose wealth has ge up over 100%. there often leading companies who have benefited from the pandemic conditions by having essentially the competition shut down. they are the online retailers, the online telemedicine, and then think about it, any of the companies that were depending on while brick and mortar economies have been shut down, those are the ones that have seen their wealth surge dramatically. as you said, we're talking about 657 billionaires whose combined wealth is $1.3 trillion increase in the last year, but $4.2 trillion total -- which is almost double the amount of wealth at the bottom half of u.s. households. these folks have reaped enormous w

susan collins was extremely upset that the superpac who is run by chuck schumer ransom ads that wereg her husband and other things. so all of that history is very toxic and very bitter. and you combine that with chuck schumer's point of view which is frustration about the fact that he doesn't feel like he can, on the big things, always get a bipartisan deal with someone like susan collins who is from a blue state, and that's where you have this -- susan collins, i'm told, john, has spoken on the phone four times to the democratic president, joe biden. she has spoken to chuck schumer not at all since this new administration took over. >> life is the fifth grade. we'll see if this works out. dana bash, seung moon kim, thankful for your insight. >>> they're struggling to find proper shelter for the migrant children. i give to shriners hospitals for children because i want to be a part of something amazing. - i know my gift to shriners hospitals for children makes a difference in the lives of children. - our support gives kids a bright future. - i give because when i see a child smile, i

i hope president biden speaks out and opposes what chuck schumer has said about susan collins. she's a spine of steel, she's a hard worker, she's not going to be bullied or bribed by chuck schumer, and that doesn't work in the way he does politics in his own caucus. >> to be fair, as we're sitting here waiting for a vote on stimulus, there is another republican motion to adjourn, right, to delay the final vote when the votes are there. i think you could say that the failure for bipartisanship, both parties probably share some of that blame. but i do want to ask you about the party itself because you're a member of gop leadership. as you know, trump is now demanding that campaign donations go to his pac, political action committee, over the rnc, and there is even a battle between trump and the rnc over whether the rnc could use his name to fund-raise. i just want to know is that good from your perch for the republican party? >> the thing that's really uniting the republican party right now is the biden administration and biden policies. what we see happening at the border is unit

but i mean, even chuck schumer kind of fighting with susan collins last week, it doesn't portend thate moderates here. so, the question will be, will republicans think it is going to be politically beneficial for them to just push back against democrats, or are they going to want to say, hey, i did bring this road here, i did bring this bridge that needed to be fixed in my community, to help them get re-elected? >> so, more broadly, i mean, this all does seem to be leading to a showdown over the filibuster in the senate. you're seeing democrats also do things like push the d.r.e.a.m. act, pass for a background check bill on guns. what they're doing, essentially, is pulling popular pieces out of big, normally contentious issues, and essentially, daring republicans to vote against them as they try to demonstrate that republicans aren't willing to work with them on anything. but president biden remains opposed to changing the filibuster reform rules. what is your sense of how this dynamic is going to play out? is there going to be building frustration among democrats that's going to lead

do that and why don't you get rid of the filibuster and you had pbs quoting chuck schumer and jim clyburn, we saw katlyn collinsing barack obama. but hardly ever did i see, which is how do you respond to republican criticism that x, such and such. >> i think so. they tried to drill into the immigration issues that's front and center, at least we saw it there, unlike in examples you're giving where there was none. but i think the fact that they allowed him to speak so long-winded and that he only called on 10 reporters total in the 60 minutes or so, it really defined perhaps the way things will be going forward and i hope that changes because even the border questions with the exception of cecilia vega who did a great job of ask whether or not it was acceptable to biden, the conditions and the situation at the facilities, there was little pushback. we have an unprecedented crisis on our border and no one with asked at what point are you going to bring enforcement back because everyone in america knows that's why it's continuing to surge. howie: you of course have been there many times and there wasn't a lot of p

collins. back in 2009, she worked across party lines to pass an economic stimulus during the financial meltdown. but listen to senate majority leader chuck schumer explain why he did not reach out to her this time. >> we made a big mistake in 2009 and 10. susan collins was part of that mistake can we cut back on the stimulus dramatically. we stayed in recession for five years. what was offered by the republicans was so far away from what was needed, so far away from what biden propose, that he thought that they were not being serious and wanting to really negotiate. >>> the urgency of covid release makes this understandable, but the american rescue plan comes with expiration dates. and there are some serious poverty fighting measures at democrats will want to extend. take the child tax credit in the stimulus. democrats increase this year's credit to $3000 for each child ages 6 to 17. for children under 6, it was raised to $3600 annually. the credit can be paid out in monthly installments, rather than a lump sum. and here is the thing. some republicans have already shown interest in making an expanded child tax credit permanent. last mont

chuck schumer whose jobs are to run against each other. they are chairs of their respective party committees, essentially, if not in name, then that's what they focus on all the times. susan collinsk schumer. he spent $100 million trying to oust her. and they now have a very sour relationship. so it's very, very hard to solve when it's so incredibly evenly divided. and i just, i don't see a way right now where those -- that group of people that you name can become the center of gravity. and that's a tough reality, frankly, for the country. >> a delegation of white house officials and members of congress traveled to the southern border yesterday to tour a health and human services facility being used to house migrant children. an nbc news crew accompanied the delegation and toured a facility in carrizo springs, texas. officials say there are just over 766 minors at the facility, which has a capacity of 952. 108 of the children had tested positive for the coronavirus when they entered the facility. those who test positive are kept in negative air pressure dorm minors and no minors are released from the facility until they've had two negative covid-19 tests. the facility has classro

collins of cnn. go to iwmf.org and learn more about this incredible organization representing women around the world. kasie hunt is in for chuckng of a great woman. up next on "mtp daily" only on msnbc. i'll be observing your safe-driving abilities. play your cards right, and you could be in for a tasty discount. [ clicks pen] let's roll. hey, check it out. one time i tripped on the sidewalk over here. [ heavy-metal music playing ] -[ snoring ] -and a high of 89 degrees. [ electronic music playing ] ooh! ooh! who just gives away wood? the snapshot app from progressive rewards you for driving safe and driving less. there's an app? -[ chuckles ] beth. -save money with progressive. [ tires screech ] well, that came out of nowhere. we started with computers. we didn't stop at computers. we didn't stop at storage or cloud. we kept going. working with our customers to enable the kind of technology that can guide an astronaut back to safety. and help make a hospital come to you, instead of you going to it. so when it comes to your business, you know we'll stop at nothing. new projects means new project managers. so when it comes you

chuck schumer to step in to advance his nomination out of committee. becerra looks to be on track to win confirmation. yesterday, senator susan collinsn of west virginia announced they would support his nomination as hhs secretary, and those toss-up votes do give becerra the numbers he needs. senator collins the sole republican to back him, writes, "although there are issues where i strongly disagree with mr. becerra, i believe he merits confirmation as hhs secretary. i look forward to working with the department to achieve bipartisan results on behalf of the american people." >>> and congresswoman deb haaland's confirmation vote will come next week after the senate voted 54-42 to end debate on her nomination to be secretary of the interior. haaland is expected to win confirmation on monday to become the first native american to serve in a presidential cabinet. wow. >>> meanwhile, new york state lawmakers have opened an impeachment inquiry into governor andrew cuomo. the majority democratic state assembly announced yesterday that it would give its judiciary committee broad jurisdiction to investigate allegations of misconduct against

collins leading us off tonight from the white house. kaitlan, thank you very much. appreciate that. democrats battling to get the voting rights bill passed and majority leader chuck schumer calling gop efforts to suppress the vote one of the most despicable things he's seen. well, he's here, live, next. ck. the fast way to bring it up to speed. is scotts turf builder rapid grass. rapid grass is a revolutionary mix of seed and fertilizer that will change the way you grow grass. it grows two times faster than seed alone for full, green grass in just weeks. after growing grass this fast, everything else just seems... slow. it's lawn season. let's get to the yard. download the scotts my lawn app today for your personalized lawn plan. you can try to predict the future or you can create it. we're driving it. everywhere. we emit optimism, not exhaust. we plug in our vehicles as naturally as we charge our phones. we. we are generation e. we want smart. clean. and safe. to also be fun, easy and powerful! ultium! a battery that charges fast. runs long. it fits everyone. nobody will be left out. and that, changes everything. ♪ ♪ the harry's razor is not the same ♪ because s