. >> nbc's leigh ann caldwell is on capitol hill.gan chesky is outside the dallas convention center, which is opening its doors to serve as a temporary fema center for unaccompanied minors at the southern border. also, white house correspondent for pbs news hour and msnbc contributor. morgan, i want to start with you. i'm curious, what are you seeing there now? is it being prepared, or is it already being used? >> reporter: yeah, chuck, great question. it's our understanding that, right now, it is still being prepared. i had a chance to speak with some red cross volunteers who were very tight-lipped, but they've been seen walking in and out of the building behind me. hhs says it could accept those, at least first few hundred migrant teens, on or around today. we don't know when their exact arrival will be. we do know they could house up to 3,000 migrant teenagers here, specifically between the ages of 15 and 17. when i had a chance to speak to an immigration attorney about what the conditions will be like inside, since we're not allo

let me bring in peter alexander and leigh ann caldwell. leigh ann, let me play a little more of what we heard from a woman named angela. we heard from her at the top of this broadcast. she's been relying on unemployment benefits since she lost her newspaper job last year. listen. >> in between when you're not really sure what's happening, what's the next step. oh, they're voting on whatever. it is very stressful. very -- you just don't know what's coming next. >> it's confusing for people, so answer that question, leigh ann. what is the next step? what are they voting on and when? >> reporter: so, hallie, the good news is they are still on track to meet this march 14th deadline of when these unemployment insurance benefits do run out. that doesn't seem to be a problem. but where is the bill? we're actually waiting on it being passed from the senate to the house of representatives. everyone might be asking what is taking so long. well, this is a very technical process where they are actually printing the legislation, incorporating the chang

leigh ann, why was that comment so significant? >> well, katy, that was significant because that looks like senator joe manchin is seeing some sort of openness perhaps to at least changes in the filibuster. we know that the filibuster and changing that 60-vote threshold to pass legislation in the senate has been a big priority for progressives. there's been a lot of senators, moderates, including namely senator joe manchin of west virginia, who has said that he will not do anything to eliminate that filibuster, that 60-vote threshold. he has been adamant about that. but in the last week alone, katy, we've seen a number of these more moderate senators come out and say that they are perhaps more open to it, including senator amy klobuchar and senator jon tester of montana. both of them have indicated an openness to it. senator joe manchin coming out and saying that has led democratic sources that i'm talking to think he might be seeing there is republican obstruction down the line on this biden agenda and that perhaps there does need

i want to bring in peter alexander now and leigh ann caldwell.t do we know about what the president is expected to say? >> reporter: this will take place at white house, the first prime time address at 8:00 this evening. we are told by senior administration officials that president biden tonight is going to try to strike a tone that's somber and hopeful. hopeful in that he will try to deliver a message about the progress that we have made and the direction that we are now heading. he will demonstrate the light that is ahead for americans right now. he will note the sacrifices. more than 525,000 americans who have lost their lives. his first action when arriving in washington, d.c. before taking the oath of office was going there to the lincoln memorial as they lit that beautiful site up. he will focus about the successes and what needs to be done in terms vaccinations. more vaccination sites. the progress we have made to this point. as it relates to the covid relief bill, nearly $2 trillion, i think it will get mention today. when he signed it to

>> kelly o'donnell, jo ling kent, leigh ann caldwell. thanks for your great reporting. >>> there are new developments as far as what happened in the january 6th riots and investigation into the insurrection. a political appointee of former president trump has been arrested in connection with that attack on the capitol and was allegedly still working in the administration with top secret security clearance at the time. federico klein worked as an aide in the state department. in court documents it is alleged that he was seen on video assaulting police officers that day. let me bring in nbc's pete williams on this one. pete, this seems to be so far the most direct known link yet between the trump administration and at least one of the rioters that was there. what more are you learning from the documents? >> he was a low level campaign worker, worked on the trump campaign and apparently as a reward for that he was given a low level political job working on south american affairs at the state department. frederico klein, 40 years old, came t

leigh—anne pinnock from little mix, love island's jack fincham, and the premier league footballer jesse that specialise in personal security dogs. these animals are imported from countries where ear cropping is not banned, and the companies are not breaking the law. leigh—anne pinnock�*s came from a uk breeder that was later prosecuted for cutting puppies' ears to make them look tougher. there is no suggestion the singer knew what was happening or condoned it. pinnock and lingard have not commented. jack fincham says he did not buy the dog, it was a rescue and going to a rehoming centre, adding that he does not condone ear cropping and thinks it is cruel. some celebrities are speaking out against the practice. people that have got a platform and social media presence, who are looked at as role models, they should be telling people no, this is not a good idea, rather than showing off their dog and saying, this is what it should be like. ear cropping is illegal in the uk, but it does still happen. however, one of the biggest problems is dogs being bought from overseas with their ears alre

leigh—anne pinnock�*s came from a uk breeder that was later prosecuted for cutting puppies�* ears toy the dog, it was a rescue and going to a re—homing centre, adding that he does not condone ear cropping and thinks it is cruel. some celebrities are speaking out against the practice. people that have got a platform and social media presence, who are looked at as role models, they should be telling people no, this is not a good idea, rather than showing off their dog and saying, this is what it should be like. ear cropping is illegal in the uk, but it does still happen. however, one of the biggest problems is dogs being bought from overseas with their ears already cropped, like you can see on eton here. the rspca is now working to ban these imports. it�*s a measure that�*s supported by some mps. we could introduce a ban very simply in the act that is coming up, the agricultural bill coming up. we could introduce a ban on the import of dogs with cropped ears. the rspca believes unless this ban happens and attitudes change towards ear cropping, we will see cases continue to rise in the

leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill, josh lederman. josh, let me start with you. out this joint intel bulletin warning that domestic groups have, quote, discussed plans to take control of the capitol and remove democratic lawmakers either on or around today, march 4th. it doesn't seem like it's very active where you are at the moment, which seems to be a good thing. tell us what you're seeing. >> reporter: there is increased presence of police and law enforcement personnel here in washington, d.c., hallie. more cops out on the street trying to make sure nothing goes wrong today. i want to show you a little bit of the scene here outside the capitol where you can still see some of the signs of the militarization, if you will, of d.c. that we saw in the immediate aftermath of what took place on january 6th. you can see barbed wire that has been erected over this perimeter around the capitol. that's been up for the last couple of months as these national guard troops are standing watch over the capitol. these are some of the 5,000 national guard troops still here in t

mike caldwell, leigh ann caldwell, thank you very much. >>> coming up -- we will talk to the chairman of the sandy hook task force about what can realistically happen now. >>> and as we pass the 30 million covid cases, fears are growing about a fourth wave. >>> plus, the new setback that's putting vaccine maker astrazeneca back in the hot seat. azeneca back in the hot seat alright, i brought in ensure max protein... ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't (grunting noise) i'll take that. yeeeeeah! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar drink, play, and win big in the powered by protein challenge! ♪ you're not using too much are you hon? nope... charmin ultra soft is so soft you'll have to remind your family they can use less. charmin ultra soft is twice as absorbent so you can use less. don't worry, there's plenty left for you, dad. we all go, why not enjoy the go with charmin. introducing fidelity income planning. we look at how much you've saved, how much you'll need, and build a straightforward plan to generate income, even when you're not working. a p

mike memory is outside the white house, leigh ann caldwell is on capitol hill.'s talk about neera tanden, mike, who could replace her and where might she land? >> reporter: the fact that even before we knew where senator murkowski was going to vote, the white house decided to withdraw tanden's nomination tells you that the white house wasn't sure one republican vote would get her over the finish line. joe manchin the democrat from west virginia stated his opposition to the nomination but there were other democrats we haven't heard from yet. clearly a concern there. it's a setback for what has been a success story for the white house in terms of its nominations. 13 cabinet or cabinet level officials confirmed, six more on the runway ready to go. i will be waiting the same committee we are waiting to see in terms of one of those joint committees today, the homeland security and government affairs committee, they are set to hold a hearing tomorrow for shalanda young, she's been nominated to be the deputy omb director and there's strong support our nbc team is repor

leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill. leigh ann, let me start with you. you have new reporting just in the last 15 minutes. unemployment insurance in the relief bill is going to be reduced to $300 a week, but it's going to be extended for an additional month, as we understand it. your original reporting, what more can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right. there's some news because of the changes in the unemployment insurance. it was supposed to be extended through august. what the senators have agreed to, the democrats anyway, is extending that for another month through september. the reason, they didn't want that unemployment insurance to run out when congress is not in town. during august, they are usually not here in washington working. they did not want a potential lapse in unemployment insurance benefits for people while they are away. that also means that because of that extension, they reduced the weekly benefit from $400 to $300. that is an agreement between moderates and progressives in the democratic caucus. it's going to come up in an amendme

here's nbc's leigh ann caldwell. >> it was just one of 1,100 killings at the hands of police in 2020,ional outrage. >> black lives matter. >> during the protests that spread across the country last summer, congress tried and failed to pass police reform and accountability legislation. now with a new congress and a new occupant in the white house, they're trying again. >> it's absolutely necessary that we do something. i mean, i feel like this is what people might have felt when they were trying to pass major civil rights legislation, the voting rights act, legislation against lynching. i mean, these are important questions in our country. >> the house passed the george floyd justice in policing bill with no republican support. when the house passed the george floyd justice in policing bill last congress, they had the support of three republicans. this time, none. >> democrats wouldn't work with us, wouldn't take any of our amendments. this is partisan political bill. >> so, what's in the bill? well, it would ban chokeholds and carotid holds, which is how george floyd died. it would al

joining me is capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell.is remarkable, i think, you and i spent a lot of time worrying about the minimum wage provision and what manchin did over the weekend. but when you think about it, the bill that joe biden submitted and the bill that the house is about to pass, the second time, they look pretty similar. >> reporter: they sure do, chuck. they are just what the progressive caucus, which is a really telling sign, they are calling them minor concessions, so that is a point that shows that these democrats are pretty pleased with this legislation. this is a massive piece of legislation, that is going to -- is geared towards middle and low income people, which you don't see very often around here with big pieces of legislation, a lot of it goes to the top income earners. let's listen to what hakeem jeffries, a member of democratic leadership, how he put it earlier this morning. if we have that. >> we don't have that sound bite, if you could summarize that for us, that's okay. >> reporter: i'll absolutely summa

and to leigh ann's point in the beginning, the fact that unemployment benefits are going to go down in dollar amounts, that's going to change the game. many people actually get paid more on unemployment than the jobs that are out there for them. we're not out of the woods. >> when you look at the jobs report and where we were lagging in job growth, can you point to things in this covid relief bill -- is the covid relief bill responding properly to our underemployed part of the company? >> without a doubt. you are seeing targeted support for child care centers which have been decimated. we know a lot are going to states and localities. in the last month alone, we saw thousands and thousands -- ready for this -- of teachers. teachers who had to be laid off because school systems cannot afford to make their budgets. with so much money going to local budgets, you're going to see that reinvested in communities. and when you target that small business money, not just to any business with less than 500 people, because we all know all sorts of small businesses that didn't need the money took i

leigh ann caldwell, thank you. will stay on that topic coming up with senator chris van hollen a member of the budget committee joining us live to talk about exactly that, when this passage may happen and the fate that have $15 minimum wage hike. >>> up next, new york's governor facing new allegations of sexual harassment. what he's admitting for the first time about his behavior and the independent investigation that has been launched. the reporter who first broke this story joins us coming up. ee this story joins us coming up. that if an app can help you track your pizza... come on cody, where are you buddy? ...then your bank should have the technology to help you track your spending. virtual wallet® for digital banking. one way we're helping to make a difference at pnc bank. >> vo: my car is my after-work decompression zone. ♪ music ♪ >> vo: so when my windshield broke... i found the experts at safelite autoglass. they have exclusive technology and service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite rep

leigh ann caldwell, thanks to you. let's stay on the hill and talk more about the growing rue man humanitarian describe success at the border. homeland secretary may be in for tough questioning as he makes his first appearance before the house homeland security committee. let's bringin julia ainsley. his appearance is happening a day after he said that border apprehensions are expected to reach the highest level in two decades. tell us more about that. >> reporter: that's right. and actually just as i'm speaking to you, he just got to the topic of that surge at the border. he is talking about everything that his administration -- that this administration is doing at the border, but that because they are not sending back unaccompanied children, they are seeing a surge of those. also a surge of single documents. but right before he spoke, the chairman of the committee bennie thompson said again that this is something that they inherited but that they want to see that children are treated humanely, that the policies under

capitol hill correspondent leigh-ann caldwell.es fast on progressive priorities. which moderates? >> so, willie, this isn't necessarily about the covid bill. this is everything else that democrats are trying to do in the next few weeks. these big democratic agenda items. we have already seen some of them, including the lbgbtq, the george floyd legislation this week, looking ahead to gun rights bills that are expected to come up. perhaps some components of immigration, women's rights. but there's moderates, including problem-solvers caucus, include dogs who are concerned about the democratic strategy. and that is pushing the bills forward which mind you, have been passed in the last congress with the exact same way with no legislation to appeal to republicans. the reason that matters now is because the last bill they were just messaging the bills. mcconnell was never going to bring them up in the senate. now it reaches president biden's desk if there is those republicans support. remember they need 10 republicans to pass anything t

nbc's leigh ann caldwell, thank you for that reporting.ming up, the biden administration works to stock up enough covid vaccine doses for every american. and then some. now the u.s. is facing pressure to free up some shots to share with the rest of the world. we'll get over that, next on "morning joe." we'll get over that, next on "morning joe." allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst psst you're good hi sabrina! >>hi jen! so this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin? exactly jen! calm + restore oat gel is formulated with prebiotic oat. and strengthens skin's moisture barrier. uh! i love it! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ the epson ecotank. no more buying cartridges. look at all this ink it comes with. big ink tanks. lots of ink. no more cartridges. incredible amount of ink. the epson ecotank. just fill and chill. >>> welcome back to "morning joe." it's 46 past the hour. it's daylight savings, the first monday after daylight sa

. >> leigh ann caldwell on the ground in davenport, thank you very much. >>> up next -- we're gettingm border patrol facility housing some of the 6,000 children in cpd custody, but it is a government-guided tour. that's next. >>> welcome back. there are currently nearly 6,000 children in border custody and for the first time in the biden administration we are seeing video from inside one of the facilities. we are just getting the video in now, and the biden administration allowed a television camera in. while this is our first look into one of these facilities, again, to remind you, it's a government-guided look, plain and simple. we are only seeing what they let us see. while our own antonia hill is on the ground in texas. with those caveats, what have we seen and gotten access to? >> reporter: i am in front of the processing center here on the border in texas and we have received pretty alarming and critical information that reporters have been asking for, as you mentioned, for days and weeks now. there are 4,100 people detained inside the facility behind me, a series of tent struct

there was talk, i heard this from leigh ann caldwell today, of over 100 amendments being proposed. >> there were more than 250 amendments proposed by lunchtime. in the last vote-a-rama there were about 900 proposed but only 40 got voted on. this will essentially go until the minority party, in this case the republicans, decide they have extracted enough pain to let this pass. in the senate the minority party has fairly limited options to change the course of big legislation but they can slow things down dramatically if they choose and everything we've seen so far is that is what republicans have chosen to do with this bill. >> in slowing things down dramatically, ashley parker, what is the strategy? why do that? >> well, you can use that to make a point, to take time to debate these amendments and changes and focus attention on them. republicans, as garrett said, are largely the ones who are slowing this down, using the tools and leverage they have. but i would point out that there was also a vote on the minimum wage, on trying to put that $15 minimum wage back in and that was somethi

shannon pettypiece, leigh ann caldwell, peter baker, thank you all so much for kicking us off today.lly appreciate it. >>> and coming up next, asian-american elected officials are putting pressure on the biden administration calling for more representation and more engagement from the white house on all issues of importance to the aapi community. we're going to be joined by congresswoman judy chu of california just ahead. and later, as calls for gun reform heat up on the hill we're hearing from the family of one of the victims of the deadly colorado shooting for the first time. we're live with a report on the ground ahead. and as we go to break, a look at life after lockdown. this is how you become the best! ♪“you're the best” by joe esposito♪ ♪ [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade. and in an emergency, they need a network that puts them first. that connects them to technology, to each other, and to other agencies. that's why at&t built firstnet with and for first responders the emergency response network authorized by congress. firstnet. because putting them first

. >> joining us now, capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell. good morning, thanks for getting up early with us. it is a big day on the hill. i'm so interested in mcconnell's strategy here. it seems as though republicans are taking the same approach that they did back in 2009 when the obama administration was passing this massive stimulus package in the midst of the 2008 recession. but at this point, this is so popular, people yes are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, we're starting to get our vaccines, we are starting to see more and more people who can safely go out, but also the economy is going to lag on all of those indicators, it is not clear that big things like theme parks or other events that employ so many people will be up and ready through the summer. what is the political calculation for republicans in just blanket on that position to what the biden administration is trying to do here? >> reporter: it is interesting, i was a little surprised that they would be so opposed right off the bat from the beginning of this. looking for

washington with you this morning, and we are live from both ends of pennsylvania avenue with nbc's leigh annaldwell on capitol hill and carol lee at the white house. we've been talking about this bill for months, it is set to pass within a matter of hours but may be a few hours longer. at this point we had expected debate to have begin, that is not the case at least as of 10:01 eastern time this morning. >> that's right, hallie. house speaker nancy pelosi and democratic leadership are so convinced that this bill is going to pass that they held a press conference yesterday touting the passage of this bill, so they are confident that that is going to happen. in fact, one of the democrats who voted against it just a couple weeks ago, one of the two, representative schrader of oregon, he has come out and said because of the changes in the senate he is going to vote for it this time. but that final vote -- final vote is not going to take place for a few hours, perhaps, later than expected. that is because we are seeing procedural delays on the house floor at this moment. representative marjorie t

leigh—anne pinnock from little mix, love island's jack fincham, and the premier league footballer jesseen. however, one of the biggest problems is dogs being bought from overseas with their ears already cropped, that you can see on eton here. the rspca is now working to ban these imports. it is a measure that is supported by some mps. we could introduce a ban very simply in the act that is coming up, the agricultural bill coming up. we could introduce a ban on the import of dogs with cropped ears. the rspca believes unless this ban happens and attitudes changed towards ear cropping, we will see cases continue to rise in the uk. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. we'rejoined now by dr caroline allen, who is the rspca's chief vet. dr allen, thank you very much for your time this morning. what is the point? what is the point in cropping the years question mark there point? what is the point in cropping the years question marl— the years question mark there is no oint for the years question mark there is no point for the _ the years question mark there is no point for the animal. _ the years qu