Transcripts For MSNBC MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin 20240711

Mayor cos will get a vote expected to happen shortly. A top priority remains covid relief. President biden held a meeting with ten republican senators looking for a bipartisan agreement, but theyre pitching a bill one third the size of President Bidens proposal. Ill ask democratic senator chris murphy if a way Forward Together is even possible at this point. What both sides do agree on, though, we need more money for the vaccine rollout. The hiccup to that rollout this morning, the weather. Coming up, how many east coast states are still trying to sidestep the snow and get back on track. Well get to that part of the story in a moment. Lets get to our reporters focused on the action in our nations capital. Shannon pettypiece at the white house, Garrett Haake at his post on capitol hill and jacob sober rof following the implications of this administrations Immigration Policy and miss petedy piece well start with you at 1600, walk us through the Executive Actions President Biden is expected to take with regard to immigration today. Were starting to see the first steps of the Biden Administration undoing and reversing a lot of the hardline policies that were put in place by the Trump Administration. So with these steps today, hes directing Trump Administration, make sure they are in line with where this administration wants to go and notably, taking steps to reunite children with their parents who were spraitsed at the u. S. mexico border. Theres questions how thats going to work, how the parents and children will be reunited and which children that actually covers, but starting a task force as of today to try to answer those questions and put those pieces together. So all sort of a bigger strategy and what white house officials tell us is this is just the beginning. One person close to the white house said, you know, theres only so much this president knows he can to from Executive Action and Executive Orders. The big stuff is going to come from legislation. Day one we saw the administration introduce a big, comprehensive Immigration Reform bill. That does not have bipartisan support in congress or unanimous democrat support. After they get through covid relief the question is going to be, then do they really start focusing on immigration and getting the big hard stuff done outside of what the president can do unilaterally like the actions taken today. And garrett, while Shannon Pettypiece was reporting there, the new Senate Minority leader Mitch Mcconnell on the floor there in the upper chamber, he is speaking right now. Just a few moments ago, garrett, Senator Mcconnell said that mr. Mayorkas does not deserve to be confirmed as the new secretary of the department of Homeland Security in part because he was, quote, giving green cards, special favors. He was giving away green cards as special favors. What more do we know about the Senate Minority leaders train of thinking here . Well, i cant speak to the specifics of the green card incident but i can tell you mayorkas confirmation will be a squeaker or the most close Confirmation Vote of any of the byrne nominees so far because of this issue on immigration. Its not necessarily his own path on but he is an ava tar for the Biden Administrations immigration policies. We heard this from josh hawley when he first held up the speedy consideration of mayorkas nomination, tom cotton. This is a way for republican senators to speak out on their views on immigration and set up the opposition to the Biden Administrations immigration policies. Weve talked so much over the last couple weeks where the Republican Party goontsz, who the leadership is, what do believe, immigration is a safe fallback issue, a pretrump era issue on which they think they can oppose a Democratic Administration who has borderrelated policies that they believe are out of step with the rest of the country. Expect to see more on this front in terms of Republican Opposition to anything that comes from the Biden Administration that includes the word immigration. You would know the timing of this better than i would, but before mayorkas, i think we get Pete Buttigieg as well his Confirmation Vote. Is that also expected to be pretty smooth sailing for the former mayor of south bend . Yeah. I think mayor pete should become Secretary Pete with upwards of 80 votes. The Transportation Secretary Job is typically pretty bipartisan and widely approved and i dont expect this time will be any different. Jacob, back to immigration for a moment here. Youve covered the previous administrations Family Separation Policy at the border extensively. Help us understand the impact of what we expect to get from President Biden today with regards to those Executive Actions . You know, craig, this is a day that has been eagerly awaited by to the just the 5500 families who were taken away, tortured in the words of Physicians For Human Rights by the Trump Administration, but the lawyers and advocates that have been working on their behalf since almost the very first day that first separation happened in the Trump Administration as part of this systemic effort. I do think that according to what were hearing from the white house there is good news for those families and advocates. It will not just be limited, this Executive Order, when President Biden and Vice President harris go into the oval office at 5 00 p. M. Eastern time today to sign it, to the 611 that we know are still not able to be located or reached by the federal government. It will apply to all parents and chrn who are still separated and were separated by the Trump Administration, that includes one father and son i had a chance to talk with late last year about what its like almost three years on to remain separated. Alvaro and al va record jr. , heres what they said to me. Translator i would tell them that its very difficult, its very complicated because theres a pandemic worldwide and im not with my child. I just dont know what can happen. How old are you going to be . 9. Are you hoping to get anything for your birthday . Yeah. What do you think youre going to get or what do you want to get, buddy . My dad. So craig, its hard to put into words or comprehend what the families have gone through over the course of the last several years. While theres good news for alvaro and alvaro jr. There is worry and folks will want to see the language in the Executive Orders that advocate on behalf of these children for families who were separated and then reunited and deported together. What we understand from the white house is those families will not be covered by the scope of this Executive Order and not be afforded the opportunity to return to the country, but again, it will all be in the particulars of the Executive Order and i think this is just the first step as the white house has been telling all of us. All right. Garrett, really quickly here, i mean President Biden also trying to strike this deal for the Coronavirus Relief package. The president proposed 1. 9 trillion, republicans reportedly coming back with, if my math serves me right, roughly a third of that. Where do things stand after that big meeting at the white house with republican senators . Well, republican senators have been saying the right things about how well the meeting went, there was some possibility to negotiate with the administration on the direct Relief Checks and on how theyre targeted and how much money would go to whom. Democrats are also moving forward pretty quickly on the budget reconciliation process, the process that would allow them to pass a covid relief bill with just democratic votes. While some discussion on some of these issues in that bill i dont see an overwhelming shift downward from the Biden Administration toward the republican senators. I see democrats broadly moving ahead and see if any republicans want to get on board. Garrett haake from the hill, Shannon Pettypiece from the white house and jacob soberrof. Jim messina served as White House Deputy Chief Of Staff in operations under president obama. I want to put that full screen back up for our viewers at home showing the differences between the president s plan, the gop plan,. One thing they seem to agree on 160 billion for vaccines. On our information thats really the only thing they seem to agree on. You have senator collins at that meeting flanked by a number of other shall we say moderate republicans. Reportedly a Cordial Exchange of views. Senator collins did point out that this was President Bidens First Official meeting in the oval office. How much does political goodwill and capital like that, how much does it push the ball forward any more, jim . Well, its a good question. You know, i think the bigger question is, what are the republicans sort of strategy here, right . They just lost the house, the senate and the white house, and usually i always go by what Mitch Mcconnell said in 2017, winners get to make policies and losers go home. The republicans are saying we lost the election, but you need to come down to 600 billion and meet us because its bipartisan. Thats not bipartisan. Thats 10 republicans. What we ought to do is sit back and say, what do we need to do to fix this economy and get the vaccine out . You know, our lesson when i was the White House Deputy Chief Of Staff we passed a bill and bent over backwards to get three Republican Senate votes and it turned out not to be enough and we had Slower Growth than we should have coming out of it because we didnt pass a big enough bill. Joe biden was there for that and learned those lessons and hes going to say first of all im more than willing to make a deal with the republicans if its a real deal, but they are really far away and the most important thing is getting this right to get the vaccine out and to get the economy back on track where we need it. To your point, jim, i mean, youre the president and this is your first big swing. How worth is it for him to keep trying to negotiate with these moderate republicans . Again, if youre proposing 1. 9 trillion and theyre proposing roughly 600 billion, thats a lot of sunlight between the two. Theyre not 100 billion or 200 billion but a trillion apart. Why even bother and why negotiate and why not just do it the way Senator Sanders has suggested doing . Well, look, when we had tough bills and the Economic Stimulus Act Of 2009 where we had obama care we sent joe biden out to the hill to make the deal because thats what hes good at. Hes the best ive ever seen at it. Hes going to do everything he can, but to your point they are just drastically different and its so different that, you know, he may get to a point where he says look, i want to work with you, theres other ways to work with you, you have lots of bills coming but on this one im going to go it alone because it is the most important thing and ive got to get it done. But because hes joe biden hes going to bend over backwards and try and he will have more discussions but they are really far apart and i sort of agree with garrett, i think youre going to see them have to go it alone here because the republicans are just in fantasy land if they think joe biden is going to come down to 600 billion. Lets talk about this issue with West Virginia democratic senator joe manchin for a moment. Vice president harris gives an interview to a local news interview in West Virginia to pitch pandemic relief. The senator apparently was frustrated he wasnt notified saying, quote, i couldnt believe it, no one called me. Whats protocol here, jim . Should the white house have notified him first, especially since he could be a swing vote or a key vote at least on a major bill . Protocol is that you wouldnt nominate on a radio interview. You know, i understand the senators frustration i used to be Chief Of Staff to Max Baucus Of Montana and every administration would go to montana doing these interviews and put him in a vice. This is manchins problem because he wants to be in the middle of every deal and he is the swing vote but he has got to be a little bit hard headed here and understand this is going to happen repeatedly. It is what it is. Its price to be paid for being the swing vote and hes going to see a lot of these and he kind of needs to grin and take his medicine. To that end i actually talked to the republican governor of West Virginia roughly this time on monday and a lot of folks were somewhat surprised to hear him say, they need to go big. They need to go really big on relief and wasting, you know, some money, even if its a few hundred billion shouldnt be a chief concern. What position does that put senator manchin in . Well, i watched your interview with him and i was stunned too. The governor is not a liberal democrat, he is a conservative republican saying, look, lets get this right. We have one shot at this and we have real problems here. So, you know, i do think that puts some pressure on manchin and i think that ill bet hes more grumpy about the governors interview with you than he was Kamala Harris doing a radio show. Every once in a while someone takes heat for doing something they didnt do. I think hes going to have to kind of deal with it. I think the governor is right, lets get this right. We have new strains coming, were nervous about these things, lets spend the money it takes to get it right. Last year the republicans spent 2 trillion on a tax cut for rich people, they can spend 1. 6 trillion to get the covid and Economic Relief packages right for normal americans. Jim mess siena occasional guest but daily viewer. Thank you so much for your time. We are following Breaking News in South Florida. Nbc news has learned that two fbi agents were killed serving a warrant in the city of sunrise. Three other agents were hurt. Law enforcement officials tell nbc news that the suspect was wanted on charges of Violent Crimes against children. That suspect is now dead. Official have not released the names of the officers and say the investigation there in South Florida is ongoing. , quote, loony lies, conspiracy theories. A cancer for the Republican Party. Thats how senator Mitch Mcconnell is describing georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greenes brand of politics, but does the rest of the Republican Party agree . Well take a look at the growing divide. First, though, some massive Vaccination Sites are closed today as east coast states are digging out from a blizzard. Were going to check in on those delays and how fast they could get back an track. T they could get back atrn ack. [ Making Popping Noises ] [ noises stop ] hi. Thanks, dad. Sure. Sure. Yyou didnt spin it, did you . 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Two state, new york and new jersey, they still have most of their major sites closed today. You can see the sign for anyone who might show up, they will see this and be told that they cant get their appointment today. Most people have already been notified and in new york and new jersey, the sites that are closed today, they are expecting them to reopen tomorrow. One potential concern or question some people have had is whats the deal with those vaccines and the canceled appointments . We know the vaccine is available in the United States and dont have a long shelf life. Is there any possibility that vaccines might not be usable now . I spoke to Colonel Patrick who overseas the new jersey state police, the mega sites in new jersey, about that possibility and he said, its not a concern. Listen to him. Im fairly certain that we did not waste one dose in the last two days or three days because of this storm given that, again, that Planning Process and understanding that we werent going to be giving them, im sure they did not come out of the freezer. Reporter and in new york, a spokesperson with the new York Department of health tells me its the same situation there. They say because they had enough warning for this storm they knew cancellations were coming, and that providers were able to account for that and not pull out some of these vaccines and they dont think they will have issues in terms of wasting doses. Most people they have already had their appointments rescheduled and if not both in new york and new jersey here they say those will be reschedule in the coming days. Craig . All right. Ellison barber for us in new jersey, thank you. I want to turn to dr. Peter hotez, the codirector of the center for Vaccine Development at texas childrens hospital. Hes also the dean of the National School of tropical medicine at Baylor College of medicine. Always good to have you, doctor. Lets start with these variants, the uk variant, now in a majority of the states in this country. How does that change the way we should be fighting this virus as a nation or does it . Yeah. You know, craig, thanks. Unfortunately it changes things in a big way because we have seen this in england and south africa, the uk and south african variants really take over all of the virus, out compete all of the other Virus Lin Najs in a particular location and the expectation is thats whats going to happen here in the United States with the uk one, the south africapen, maybe the brazilian as well, and the issue is theyre more transmissible, more people are going to get infected faster if theyre not vaccinated and the Mortality Rate is hire as well. Im worried even though its started to decline, down from about 250,000 new confirmed cases a day to 150,000. Now im calling that the Eye Of The Hurricane and the other piece, the other shoe is about to fall. Sorry for mixing the metaphors. Im really concerned. What makes you think we are in the eye and this downtick in hospitalizations, especially, that its not going to continue . Just because when weve seen these variants gain foothold in a region, they just take off. Were basing it on precedent weve seen in brazil and south africa and england. I think we have to assume thats whats going to happen here in the United States. It also means a shift in vaccine policy. I thinks the original plan coming out of the Biden Administration, the 100 million doses in 100 days and having the moderna and Pfizer Vaccine reshipped in the fall, all were well inten idea, but now i worry with this rapid takeoff of the variants were going to have to shift again and call an audible an really figure out how to accelerate the vaccinations ahead of the variants coming in. Dr. Hotez, lets talk about the new cdc data out. It shows in the first month of vaccinations, roughly 13 million americans were vaccinated. The majority, just over 60 of that 13 million, were white. Does this latest evidence that black and Brown Americans are getting vaccinated as a lower rate than white americans, how much does that concern you . And how do we turn that around and how do we change those numbers . Yeah. Its really disturbing, craig. At the Kaiser Family Foundation Just reported mississippi, for instance, even those the africanamerican population makes up 30 of the population of the state of mississippi, only 15 are getting vaccinated. Were failing our people of color. Were failing africanamerican and hispanic communities getting them vaccinated. We have to figure out why and in a hurry. I think a lot has to do with the fact that were not creating enough Vaccination Hubs in lowincome neighborhoods. That undoubtedly is a big piece of this. I think the other is we did a study led by a colleague at texas a m and kizer did a study came up with the same results, very high rates of Vaccine Refusal and hesitancy in the africanamerican communities and addressing that. One of the things im doing now is any africanamerican Radio Program Station Podcast that will invite me to talk about this im there. And one of the reasons im so worried is, were now the cdc is reporting roughly a third of the deaths in the africanamerican and hispanic communities is occurring in individuals under the age of 65. Were always hearing this is 65 and older. Its not the case with the africanamerican and hispanic communities. Its one in three under the age of 65. What were seeing is this is robbing a generation of africanamerican and hispanic families of their 40, 50yearold moms and dads and brothers and sisters. When the new variant comes in i can only imagine thats going to amplify. I have a piece coming out in the daily beast tomorrow to report on this and im worried and heartbroken about the pending doom i see approaching. Dr. Hotez always shooting it straight, thanks as always, sir. Well check in with you soon. A bit of fuse to pass along to you on a tuesday morning. Weve learned that former president ial candidate and now New York City mayoral candidate an true yang has tested positive for covid19. In a Statement Yang says he is experiencing mild symptoms but otherwise hes feeling well. Hes in good spirits. He also says while he is in quarantine, he will still be planning to attend as many Virtual Events as possible. Republican Senate Leader Mitch Mcconnell taking on controversial georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene saying Conspiracy Theorys are cancer for the Republican Party. But will she face any pushback in the house . Thats next. Dad, its a video call. Hold the phone in front of you. Hows that . Get. Get mom. 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Thats stunning new statement from Mitch Mcconnell is getting a lot of attention this morning and while the senator from kentucky did not mention her by name, mcconnell did release that statement after he faced more questions about republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene. Calls for greene to resign over her controversial comments and social media posts are only getting louder. A group of House Democrats have introduced a legislation to remove her from her two committee assignments. Im joined by congresswoman karen bass, democrat from Chris Cizilla congresswoman bass sits on the house judiciary and attorney Affairs Committee responded on twitter saying the real cancer for the Republican Party is weak republicans who only know how to lose gracefully. This is why were losing our country. Thats what George Congresswoman said. Youre coming at this from the other side of the aisle, but how significant were those statements by Senator Mcconnell and what to you make of the congresswomans response to that statement. First of all, its wonderful to have something to agree with Senator Mcconnell on because i certainly agree with his statement and that it is certainly not surprising to see her double down and i think it just, frankly, gives more fuel to the fire for why she shouldnt be on the committee. Now, i am hoping that we dont have to move forward with our legislation, but that Republican Leadership will do like they is it with steven king and take her off the committee. She should not sit on a committee talking about education when she has such flagrant disregard for the lives of children that have been lost. Congresswoman, heres one of the things that struck me, a lot of the wacky stuff she has said, whether its denying that sandy hook happened or some of the other things she said, she said it before she was electd. While she was running. A lot of this stuff was Common Knowledge in conspiracial circles. Why the outrage now . Why not outrage months ago . Oh, i think there was plenty of outrage when she was campaigning against her from our side. We certainly raised all of those issues. You know, its not just that, she also associated herself with violent statements made about speaker pelosi. Its completely unacceptable for somebody like that, frankly, to be in congress at all, but at a minimum to be on a committee that deals with children, that deals with education. Im not sure what committee she should be on but i know she shouldnt be on that one. Lets talk immigration. This afternoon were going toto see President Biden sign three nor Executive Orders on immigration, they include a task force to reunite the separated families and another that would evaluate Legal Immigration programs. Youre considered one of the closers as i understand it, part of the group of lawmakers designed to get a comprehensive Immigration Package over the finish line. Some republicans have said theyre not happy with how much Executive Action this president is taking. Are you at all concerned, congresswoman, this is going to make it harder for your team to close on a sweeping Immigration Bill . No. Well first of all, i think its absolutely right that President Biden issue Executive Orders because immediate action is needed to begin to address the harm that trump did. I mean frankly what he did to those children i consider a crime against humanity. There are 60 cameroon nines facing deportation on thursday. One thing i know President Biden will do will be to have a coherent foreign policy. You cant address some of these issues without addressing the root causes as to why people make the journey in the first place. I think some of my republican colleagues think these people hop on Southwest Airlines and fly to the border and have no sense at all of the incredible journey that they take. The africans that come here fly to ecuador in south america and walk of the United States. So the cameroonens i know we will begin to addreicy in africa that has been completely ignored for the last four years. So the Executive Actions are absolutely needed as well as our comprehensive legislation that we will be moving forward shortly and im proud to be a closer. Congresswoman karen bass thank you for your time. Thank you. Republicanawkers in georgia just introduced a group of new bills that will make it more complicated for many people to cast their ballots. According to the Atlanta Journal constitution the bills ban automatic voter registration, ballot dropboxes, end no excuse absentee voting. These changes would overhaul the states voting laws and may come after georgia saw record Voting Turnout in 2020. Democrats flipped both of georgias u. S. Senate seats. President biden defeated President Trump in the state of georgia. Protests overnight and more questions for the Police Department in rochester, new york. The latest on the investigation into that video of Police Pepperspraying a handcuffed 9yearold girl. Will President Biden make a deal with republicans on his covid relief plan or will democrats move forward without them . Ill talk to connecticut senator chris murphy about where the negotiations stand this hour. Ute negotiations stand this hour sneeze skip to cold relief fast. Alkaseltzer plus power max gels. With 25 more concentrated power. Oh, what a relief it is so fast i am robert strickler. 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We should note it is not clear what happened before or after that video was recorded. Police were responding to a report of family trouble. Nbcs ron allen is following this story closely and joins me now. Again, the incident now under internal investigation. Take us through what we know about what happened . The investigation by the Police Department, by An Accountabilioa the state of new yorks attorney general. Theres a lot of just condemnation about what happened here in this incident. Its a friday afternoon, about 3 30 in the afternoon. The Police Arrive in this neighborhood and this girl is very distraught, very emotional. Shes shes crying out for her father. There seems to be a dispute with her mother going on. The police say they arrived and theyre trying to get her to get into the police car to take her to a hospital for medical treatment of some sort. They say that she resists them, that she kicks them, that they dont injure her as theyre trying to get her into the car. However, watching what happened the girl in handcuffs and one of the officers eventually using pepper spray to try to get her to comply to get into the car is unsettling for City Officials there in rochester, even the chief of police has said she does not condone this sort of police tactic. Heres what she said about the use of pepper spray on a 9yearold. Well, i can tell you that im not going to tell you that thats okay. That Pepper Spraying A 9yearold is something that is condoned or that what were going to do here is just not who we are. Again, the officers say that girl kicked them, kicked one of them, that she wouldnt comply, that they did not injure her as they were getting her into the car. The police chief says that there was an ambulance on the way and that she says the officers should have taken steps to deescalate the situation more so and waited for help to arrive, medical help to arrive, to assist the girl. Just a very, very difficult situation, a very emotional situation. We dont know a lot about what was going on with the girl, her mother, her father, the family there. Bottom line, though, the department has launched a sweeping investigation, at least two of the officers we understand are facing some kind of discipline. The mayor was so upset she said she wanted to do something more immediate, more serious, suggesting she wanted the officers fired. All that will be determined as this investigation goes on. Craig . Ron allen for us, following the story, keep us posted, sir. Thank you. President biden and those ten republican senators are still talking about a potential covid relief plan, but could they actually make a deal or will democrats have to go it alone . Ill talk to democratic senator chris murphy about that and about an issue that is near and dear to his heart and has been for a number of years now. Were going to talk about guns, next. Network at a record pace. We were the first to bring 5g nationwide. 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That may seem like a milestone and theyre far apart on what that relief should look like. Louisiana senator bill cassidy is part of the group of republicans that met with President Biden in the white house and this morning defended the leaner republican play. Weve actually done a pretty good job of the american people. Its more rhetoric to say that, oh my gosh, the house is on fire when in reality, if you look at what the data is from the fed, the families are doing pretty well based upon what weve already done. Senator chris murphy, democrat from connecticut. I imagine youve seen some of that data that senator cassidy just referenced. Are American Families doing, quote, pretty well . Well, you know, bills a friend, but it is not accurate to say that American Families are doing pretty well. Just look at the lines around the block over and over again for food assistance. Look at the number of people who are filing jobless claims. I mean, we cant afford to go small here. The good news is that theres really a lot of unity out in the American Public about the things that joe biden wants to do. Theres a new poll out this morning that shows that things like 2,000 checks and additional money for vaccines and raising the minimum wage, these have 60 to 70 of the support from the American Public. Obviously i want to have republicans supporting this, but if they decide to vote against things that have that degree of popularity back in their states, well, i think thats more a question they have to answer than a question that we have to answer. You tweeted something on sunday that caught my attention. You tweeted that republicans have the edge in the senate, they showed little effort to negotiate with democrats. Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell said back in september elections have consequences. I remember senator Lindsey Graham saying that years ago, elections have consequences. Is it time for democrats to just go it alone on their own if republicans dont come on board . Im not just talking about covid relief. Im talking about immigration, talk about gun law reform, which well talk about in a moment. But this idea that democrats should, you know, engage in the kumbaya and come to the table when your republican counterparts didnt seem as willing just a few months ago. Its important to remember that bipartisanship is not an end, right. It should be a means toward an end. The end that we should be seeking is to rescue this country from a devastating pandemic and a crippling economic recession. So my perspective is lets just do stuff thats really popular. Right, its really popular to give people 2,000 checks. Its really popular to increase the minimum wage. Its popular to enact universal Background Checks. As long as were doing things that enjoy proud bipartisan support in the American Public and we have the possess able to get it done with 50 votes in the senate, lets do it. Its up to republicans whether they join us or not. Joe biden campaigned on uniting this country and hes succeeded. Hes put together an agenda that does unite the country. I dont know its his false theres a recalcitrant group of republican elected officials in washington that refuse to get behind things that everybody in the country wants. You mentioned universal Background Checks, gun law reform, your top legislative issue, has been for a while. This week is National Gun Violence survivors week. You represent connecticut, where 26 people, 20 of them children, were killed in a mass shooting at sandy hook in 2012. This month well remember the 2018 shooting in parkland. 17 people there. Senator, have you had an opportunity yet to talk to the president about his plan, about the issue . And do we know at what point the white house and congress are going to take up Gun Violence Legislation . Well, craig, as you know, the problem got worse2020, not better. We saw dramatic ecord numbers of legal gun sales which means we also likely saw records of illegal gun sales. We need to do something about it early this year. President biden is right to focus this moment on covid. Until we turn the corner on the virus, theres not much else that we can do. But as soon as we get a covid relief bill done, i hope well take a look at Executive Actions that can save lives but also putting universal Background Checks available for the United States senate. I think its a sea change where we are today versus where we were just four years ago. I think there are 60 votes, maybe more in the senate, for that piece of legislation. Weve got to get through the crisis, but once we do, im going to be pushing to make a move on that. Its gun violence survivors week this week, and we unfortunately have a lot more survivors that are lobbying the capitol than ever before. Senator, well leave it there. Well continue to talk about this. Its an issue near and dear to my heart as well. Senator, thank you. We have some sad news to pass along this morning. Captain sir tom moore, that 100yearold world war ii veteran who captured hearts around the world, has died. He was recently hospitalized with coronavirus. Captain moore planned to raise 1,000 pounds for Health Care Workers in the United Kingdom by walking in his backyard. Well, he wound up raising tens of millions of dollars. It earned him knighthood from the queen. A true hero in these difficult times. Thats going to do it for me this hour. Andrea mitchell reports will start after a short break. Is maximum strength cold and flu medicine with soothing honeylicious taste. Nyquil honey. The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever best sleep with a cold medicine. How great is it that we get to tell everybody how Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . I mean it. Uhoh, sorry. Oh. What . Im an emu no, buddy only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. Tmobile is now americas largest and fastest 5g network. And to celebrate, we want everyone to unleash 5g speeds in more places. Right now, every current and new customers can get a free Samsung Galaxy s21 5g. Just bring in a qualifying device to trade. Switch to tmobile and save up to 20 every month vs. The other guys. The leader in 5g coverage. The fastest 5g the best value in wireless. And a free galaxy s21 for everyone. Only at tmobile. Good day, everyone. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington where both Political Parties are on edge has President Biden is fighting for his big covid relief package. The republicans in ohm warfare today as Mitch Mcconnell has come out strongly against qanon supporting Marjorie Taylor greene. And he backed liz cheney for exercising her right to, quote, impeach donald trump. Mcconnell saying congresswoman greenes looney lies and Conspiracy Theorys are a cancer for the Republican Party and our country. Really taking a stand there. And his statement on cheney saying that cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them. Looming over all this, next weeks second Impeachment Trial of mr. Trump. The brandnew Trump Legal Team after he fired or rather they quit over the weekend. He had expected them to deliver their response to the latest article today. And they will deliver ha response. Just now, a first look at the house impeachment managers brief arguing that the president summoned a mob to washington, exhorted them into a frenzy, and aimed them like a Loaded Cannon Down pennsylvania avenue. Joining me now