signed into law on friday. president biden also announcing in just the last hoursh more vaccine split in the u.s. ensures the u.s. will have more than enough supply to vaccinate the entire population. here's president biden moments ago in the latest push. we're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every american adult by the end of may, month earlier than anyone expected. today i'm directing, my hhs team, to produce another 100 million doses and perform another of the 100 million of the vaccine. this is wartime effort, we need maximum flexibility. there's always a chance we'll encounter unexpected challenges or will there be a new need for a vaccination effort? a lot can happen. a lot can change. we need to be prepared. of course, we need to match the manufacturing of science and massive logistical undertaking. the -- leading to approval number rarely seen in the legislative pushes by either pared. 75% of all americans are squarely behind the bill, but even with those numbers, it was not enough apparently to dissuade a single republican member of congress of the obstruction of the legislation. the gop staking out its anti-covid relief position. >> with texas reopening fully today with no restrictions, despite a slug usual vaccine roll-out and warnings from health officials there. here's dr. anthony fauci on texas this morning. it's concern. we understand people's need to get back to normal, and we are going in that direction, but when you start doing things like completely putting aside all public health measures, as if you're turning a light switch off, that's quite risky. that's inviting a surge when you do that. that's where we start today. msnbc public health analyst dr. irwin red lynner is back. also joining us is jonathan swann, reporter for axios, and msnbc political analyst, former maryland congresswoman donna i havers -- everts is here. i want to start with you, doctor, it's still a case of more demand than supply. the white house seem acutely aware of reversing that dynamic. what does it look like logistically. >> there's a massive loics operation they have an enormous team of people from virtually every agency in the federal government that's committed to making sure they're not only manufactured in a timely way, but the delivery systems are amped up so that means delivers vaccines to remote community health centers, delivering vaccines on mobiles, opening up pharmacy chains across the uni think biden has made a believer out of all of us, even the those skeptical experts who, you know, were worried that he wouldn't even be able to fulfill that 100 million doses in the first 100 days. yet he's going to vastly exceed that. when he says we're going to get all adults vaccinated by the end of may, we've got to believe unless proven otherwise. they have the operational savvy behind all of this to make it entirely feasible, nicolle. >> doctor, this is the first i've heard you speak of skepticism that maybe the goals were to ambitious? what i think is they were able to slide ban the goal. they slid that back about ten days ago, and said that they would be able to procure enough supply to have the whole country, if not actually vaccinated, to have supply for the whole country by the end of may. why is that sprys? >> just like you, nicolle, i listened and way thinking when they first said it, that they would have enough vaccines to actually deliver it to people by the end of may. if he had said that in the beginning of hi efforts, i would have remained skeptical. we were waiting to be skeptical, and we'll see what happens kind of thing. but whatever they are doing is working. i think the public needs tore assured, and i think they are. at the high levels at the confidence really tells the tale. they're making the case not just rhetorically, but making their case by actions. you just look at the announcement they just made, the johnson & johnson/merck collaboration, that's amazing and i think it's giving us more confidence we ever would have imagined. >> donna everts, it's also really unprecedented number of public support. not every american knows everything in it, but the white house has done a darn good job is the money to help distribute, manufacture and procure enough vaccine for the entire country. people understand that what's in it is money to make schools safer and what's in it has led aid to local and state governments that have been really hit hard by the economic impact of the pandemic. the republican bet seems to be its size will become less popular over time, but when you look at 59% of republicans supporting it in its current incarnation that seems like a pretty dicey bet. >> it is, and i don't know any american who's going to think it's unpopular to get a $1400 check or a child tax credit or get a shot in the arm for a vaccine so you can go back to work, school and dine out in the evening. i mean, what has happened here is that president biden has made sure that he's commune indicated to the american people that each one of us has something to be gained by passing this legislate. you may not agree with all of it, but there are elements that each of us can point to that will be important to returning or lives back to normal. i think the american people have embraced that. in fact, they have embraced the competency of joe biden and his team in this administration to both deliver on their promises day to day, but also to not stop and wait for the legislative wheels to turn in order to continue to get work done. i think it's a combination of the president's competent and the american people embracing the things that they know are going to make a different in their lives. it never ceased to ameds me that the trump administration couldn't harness the universal desperation to return to normal. it seems that some of what the biden white house has succeeded at far exceeds basic competence. this was laser focused, not pulled offer or distracted by president trump's second impeachment. they seemed to be operating on if the-to-figuring out distribution in hard-hit communities and made sure to stay focused messagewide on this big public support for the package. what is interesting to me is this memo. they planned it sounds like a months-long plan to sell the package. cost lace of our message to the american people in the coming weeks that help is here for them and their families. we're going to carry that message through every corner, in direction engagement with the president, the vice president, the first lady, second gentleman, and top officials throughout the administration. we're going to make -- we'll highlight how the president's plan will deliver $5600 in direct payments for a typically family of four making under $150,000 a year. we'll talk about how additional money means the defeat of this virus is within reach. at this point, this is a white house that seems very much on offense -- and they are very focused on this sales job. >> it's biden's personal view that barack obama should have taken credit in a more aggressive way for the recovery act, for the stimulus bill, and that because he didn't do a proper victory lap and really reinforce the benefits of this bill, many people didn't realize they had gotten any benefit from the government, so their mission -- and again that memo you just read outlines it pretty clearly, but they're going to fan their cabinet members across the state, talk to coalition groups and basically try to make sure that americans who receive money from the government, whether it be the child tax credit or the stimulus check that thinks tangibly, viscerally know this is coming from congressional democrats and joe biden, the federal government providing this help. they see that as crucial not just for the short-term political fortune, but because they want to make a lot of these benefits permanent down the track. it's easy to talk about it in a high-level way, an abstract phenomenal amount of money, about you it's quite a radical bill, just in a true sense, they are reforming american social welfare as we know it. it's effectively a guaranteed income for people with children. they do not want this to be a temporary measure. they want to try to enshrine it in law. the only way to do that is make sure there's strong support for this legislation. >> i remember john boehner after the fight for obama care, what you're explaining is that it seems to be a trap for republicans. they're on the other side of the relief bill, but they're now going to end up on the other side of what you're describing, which is a pact to make sure the food bank lines that are now a common visual on local news broadcasts all across the country, they're going to end up on the other sides of that. >> the politics of dead and deficit have changed. even if you're a republican who is a consistent fiscal hawk -- i'm thinking about someone like pat toomey. >> there are like three, yeah. >> so let's be generous and talk about the ones who were consistent. they're kind of in trouble, because the most popular figure in their party, donald trump, has spent the last four years destroying the ability of reps to use a straight face when they complain about debt and deficit. he racked up bigger deficits than obama, and in the last six months of his presidency he was wanting to govern lie huey long. he was like i want to send out $2,000 chists, $200 gift cards to every senior, like an old-time machine mayor in the '60s. the only reason it didn't happen is because of mitch mcconnell. the person who has the most sway over their voters spent four year educating the voters that these issues don't matters, debt, deficit, who cares. we can spend money like it's going out of fashion. >> it's a welcomed conundrum in my view, and a small price to pay for their intellectual dishonestly. donna, i want to talk about governors are more responding to the pent-up desire to loosen restriction. maryland is one of them. governor hogan i think has been the impression from outside the state pretty responsible on this. s tony fauci spoke out this morning on cnn about texas, but it seems that maryland is moving in a lot of the same directions ahead of perhaps. >> this is deeply troubling, especially in a state where there have not been enough vaccinated yet, and like in the county i live in, a majority black county, that hasn't received nearly enough vaccinations for the course of the pandemic. >> so i think for all of the celebrating, we need to look at more of the details. it's places like camden yards, so i guess you can play baseball with thousands of people gathered exchanging the coronavirus. it's very dangerous. we could have an opportunity to get control of this virus, and these governor seem to be tring to defy joe biden. >> there's this dynamic that those that are wrong i hope they don't endamager their citizens. in a way i hope the reckless ones are right, but the science doesn't seem to suggest that indoor openings ahead of vaccinations is safe. >> i just wrote as op ed that i think will be in "the hill" either tomorrow or friday. if we want to go free-stop cliff clining without ropes, we're engangers ourselves, that's it. if question drink and drive, we endanger others. when a governor defies science and federal policy and opens everything in spite of the severest warnings, that person is taking a risk that is involving and endangers the entire state and beyond. it's pretty outrageous. reckless i get is a reasonable word, but not quite enough to say how much risk the governor is putting people at for god knows what reasons. part of it is political, part of it is a disbloo belief in science, i don't know what it is, but i hope he gets a lot of feedback about making this move. >> jon that are, in your absence, we played a part of your interview where lindsey graham says he wants to harness the magic of donald trump without ought of the bad things that endanger the party and the country. >> we've had a hell after journey. i hated being this way. o. my god i hate it. but today first thing you'll see, all i can say is count me out, enough is enough. i've tried to be helpful. >> donald trump was my friend before the riot, and i'm trying to keep a relationship with him after the riot. i still consider him a friend what happened was a dark day in the history of america, and we're going to move forward. >> it sounds like he would rather by in couples their talking about harnessing magic from someone so destructive. it's like -- what does he want? s. >> i'm noel sure i fully get it even now. the way he sees it is in a very sort of real politic sense. donald trump is the most popular figure in the party, if they go too hard toward the leadership abandoning trump, then his voters won't show up. i'm sort of asking about the moral dough none drum, which surely exists given that five people died in the capitol. that's when he went on this thing about how there's a dark side, there's magic, and he's trying to heart necessary the magic. he basically said donald trump could be, you know, the greatest thing for the party, blah, blah, blah, or he could destroy it. i was like, yeah, he could. yeah, that's kind of meaningful. >> and it was an important acknowledgement that they basically have a see sued pact with him. doctor, thank you for starting us off on the day's headlines. jonathan and donna are sticking around. the department of justice has a new attorney general, merrick garland. what can he do to help root out extremism? jason crow will join us. state houses across the country are addressing voter issues for what they say is problem, but those problems don't exist in reality. plus pandemic's toll on our mental health, impacting how we all climb out of the past year, all those stories and more when "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. ame is austin. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 14 day system. with a painless, onesecond scan i can check my glucose without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. you can do it without fingersticks, too. ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. and visit freestyle libre.us to try it for free. we made usaa insurance for members like kate. a former army medic, made of the flexibility to handle whatever monday has in store and tackle four things at once. so when her car got hit, she didn't worry. she simply filed a claim on her usaa app and said... i got this. usaa insurance is made the way kate needs it - easy. she can even pick her payment plan so it's easy on her budget and her life. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa. oh, you think this is just a community center? usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. no. it's way more than that. cause when you hook our community up with the internet... boom! look at ariana, crushing virtual class. jamol, chasing that college dream. michael, doing something crazy. this is the place where we can show the world what we can do. comcast is partnering with 1000 community centers to create wifi-enabled lift zones, so students from low-income families can get the tools they need to be ready for anything. oh we're ready. ♪ ♪ america has a new top cop. merrick garland has been confirmed as attorney general just this afternoon. the key priority for garland, is channeling the massive resources into the fight against domestic extremism. while managing an fbi investigation into a capitol insurrection that has already led to hundreds of arrests. it was announced tuesday, national guard troops will stay through may 23rd, all of this as questions about a possible threat from within congress remain. "the washington post" reports that congressman paul gosar posted a motto of a organization. army ranger democratic congressman jason crow and jonathan swann is still with us. just all-out association with white supremacists first, what do you do about that? >> well, that's a great question, nicolle. i don't think we have an answer to that. first and foremost, we start off by condemning it. you know, if you step back, this is not surprising, unfortunately. so what we need to do is make sure this isn't becoming normalized and not accepting this as a regular part of our american discourse, while pushing back while we secure the complex, we secure the government and prepared to address violent extremism that's on the rise with america. >> i guess what is so shocking about it, is there is a current threat warning issued by the department of homeland security, and the joint terrorism task force against white supremists who believe donald trump's big lie. this has been identified by law enforcement as a current and urgent domestic terror threat and still furthering their message inch imagine your place of business, where you work, imagine that workplace coming under a violent assault by thousands of people that murdered a police officer, and tried to kill you and your other colleagues, but imagine for a second that other colleagues were part of inciting that, furthering it, and after the fact continued to incite it, even tried to bring guns into the workplace, and your employer can't do anything about it, can't fire these folks. that's the situation we're in right now. we're going to have to figure out a way to deal with it immediately in ndong as well as in the country. >> just describe what is that like? a good enough better voted to overturn the results. have you confronted them? there used to be a bit of comity on -- >> i represent almost as many republicans in my district as democrats. i come from a purple community. i grew up in a republican, working-class family, so i understand some of the anxieties and some of the political debates, and i have come in good faith to try to help rebuild this. but i think we have to understand that not all of my gop colleagues are the same. for all of those who are degree appraised and saying on things, there are -- and then of course there's a lot that fall somewhere in between on that spectrum. i'm dealing with this on a case-by-case basis and have a meeting of the minds with as many people as we can to find a path forward. >> i think i have two examples. politico describes liz cheney condemning paul gosar's viewpoint. this is not the kind of organization or event that other members of congress should be participating in, said cheney, but then on the other hand you have congresswoman lauren bobert who released -- she has this quote in the ad, time to cut the crab crap and remember this is the people's house. she conclusion the video with the audio of a gunshot. this toxics mix of racism and glorification of violence makes that comedy that -- that testified comity that joan than is talking about. >> i feel -- there are some people you can't. i'm not going to work with folks who normalize that behavior. it's not funny, it's not normal, it's not okay. what we have seen over the last three years, and certainly on january 6th, is that words have consequences, especially in you're an elected official. people listen to you and they act on what you say, and very real people are getting hurt and getting killed, because some people don't understand that. that's a leadership failure and we can't tolerate it. >> i remember you talked to my colleague rachel maddow as the insurrection was going on, and i remember that day talking to former intelligence officials and national security officials, who said this problem is radicalization on the right. it needs to be dealt with on the right. when you see a vote of close to 200 members vote not to strip marjorie taylor greene of her committee assignments, can they deal with it? >> the extreme right doesn't want to hear what i have to say generally. you're trying to speak truth to power, call out lies when i see it, but it will be more important and more powerful for people who identify with one another to call that out. that's why it's really important with the adam kindsingers of the world, that's a very powerful thing to do. i'm going to encourage more of thigh gop colleagues to do it. there has to be that pushback coming from their own side of the aisle. until we soo that, we'll see this tribalism, this division, these tensions fester. >> jonathan, i'm surprised that didn't come up, the security concerns in your interview with lindsey graham. >> to be fair, i didn't press him on that element. and also to be fair, he did not support the overturning of the vote, but as you do who voted to overturn the result. >> we will all continue to be riveted by everything that goes on up there. thank you both for spending time with us for being a part of so much of the hour. up next for us, we'll talk about some of the more extreme voting restrictions, trying to get pushed through by republicans. that's next. ing to get pushed through by republicans. that's next. these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. nfc just yesterday that georgia's state senate approved legislation so brazen and flay rand and obvious in its partisan and racial targeting voter suppression legislation so outrageous that even georgia's own republican lieutenant governor refused to oversee the debase of this bill, because he recognized there was no legitimate basis for restrictions on the voting and that it's merely an. >> that senator ossoff weighing in on sweeping changes that his state passed, which eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, among other things. georgia is one of several things pushing to limit voting, unproven false lies as their reasoning, pushing the former guy's big lie that he actually won the election, which we all know he didn't. florida is oompl example -- is another example. even if you somehow accept that there's a perception problem with thevalidity of our elections, and you declare your goal to be combatting it, perhaps the legislation should target the per 16th problems, otherwise it makes it sure seem that it's exactly what its opponents allege. let me cut a little closer to the bone here. republicans are telling new lies to make the old lie seem like it wasn't a lie and disenfranchise voters who vote for them. isn't that's what's going on, aaron blake? >> ever since the 2020 election and as the trump challenges to the results kind of petered out, we have seen this ramping up of efforts to change the election laws in states across the country. the predicate for that is the idea that, no, there was no actual widespread voter fraud that was proven, and the courts rejected all these claims, but there is a massive perception problem, particularly on the right of people who don't believe that our elects are safe. they don't believe they're legitimate if you look at the actual bills being passed right flow. many of the key swing states are looking at these and could soon move on them, a lot of the measure have nothing to do with the actual fraud claims. so a they've been passing these bills, there's been the argument these are intended to address that perception problem. the times for voting, souls to the polls in georgia, they go quite a bit fur to accrues to the benefits, and reinforces this is much broader. it seems so many stories come back to the disinformation ecosystem that's propped up by facebook, that's propped up by right-wing media, and is not done harming the country. the insurrection wasn't the end, it seemed to be a launch party. the disinformation seems to disenfranchise voters that republicans have just accepted are not going to vote for them. >> there it is laid bare. the fact is that record numbers of black and brown people cast votes for joe biden in the 2020 election, and republicans have decided that they don't want that to happen again. so in not wanting it to happen, they have continued the line and built upon the lie and vote to restrict those voters. if it's not my voters showing up, i don't want them to vote at all. i think it's important for us to be very clear about what this is. these are ways to disenfranchise black and brown voters, period, full stop, end of story. i think that if republicans have decided they're going to stop everything, so they say no to relief for families with coronavirus, and they say no, and by the way you can't vote, either. so i think this is a very dangerous road for republicans they logged mail-in balloting before. they were the ones who put it into statute, and now they don't like it, because the other voters, the voters are not voting for them. shank on them. >> stacey abrams takes this, as she usually does, to the next front. i'm going to read this to you -- corporate america cannot by silent on voting restrictions. stacey abrams says there should be a hue and cry for far-reaching voting restrictions instead of the more guarded response from corporate titans. the georgia democrat called on athletes and other activists to demand that businesses more forcefully speak out against restrictive proposals i think strategically this is precisely where this debate should go. this should be a poison pill too knit cold dough nay to a rep who backs they measures. >> we have talked about the bill that passed this week, the week before, they passed a different bit that even some of the top republicans in the state are objecting to. s the bill that didn't pass created a number of restrictions that seemed to be unlikely negative to impact. it restricts polls to one sunday. it prevents people from being able to give people food and drink while they wait in long lines votes. they could bus people to early voting without an emergency situation of some sort. those three things will impact the african-american churches, especially for those facilitating voting by parisian ner. there are so many things that i think that are in these bills that are really raising concerns. the problem with raising this as an issue is not something that necessarily attracts corporations, because this is happening at the state level. it's very minutia involved here, and so making this an issue that people care about is very difficult. so that's why i think stacey abrams talk about it this way. >> we'll stay on this. aaron blake, we're glad you're on this, too. donna is sticking around. up next for us, as we move closer to some form of normalcy, there's a lot of questions and concerns about what we should expect life to look and feel like. will it be the same before? how much damage to our mechbl health has been done? we'll start that conversation, next. done we'll start that conversation, next life... doesn't stop for diabetes. be ready for every moment, with glucerna. it's the number one doctor recommended brand that is scientifically designed to help manage your blood sugar. live every moment. glucerna. hey, dad! is scientifically designed to help manage your blood sugar. hey, son! no dad, it's a video call. you got to move the phone in front of you like..like it's a mirror, dad. you know? alright, okay. how's that? is that how you hold a mirror? [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning mobile app with powerful, easy-to-use tools and interactive charts to give you an edge, 24/7 support when you need it the most and $0 commissions for online u.s. listed stocks. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. after a year of lockdowns and isolation, experts are increasingly worried about the long-term effects on our mental health from the pandemic, especially for kids and teenagers now dubbed the lost generation with most schooling limited to zoom screens, and there's evidence showing they started the school year already behind. just last week a study revealed significantly higher rates of suicidal behaviors that appeared to correspond from times from covid-19 related stressors and community responses were heightened. many adults and young people alike are dealing with extreme anxiety. dr. lucy mcbride writes in "the washington post" about the trauma that makes many of us fear any return to normal. quote, the mind races, what about masks? do i remember how to make smalltalk? what would i wear? we have been yearning to be done with forced distancing, social isolation and life in more virtual reality. now that the moment has arrived, the prospect is oddly disconcerting. we're lucky to bring into our conversation internal medicine physician. our friend donna edwards is still with us. dr. mcbride, talk about what you've written and what your concerns are. >> you know, thank you so much for having me today. and what i'm writing about is this phenomena that i'm seeing in my patients every single day right now. ands are really the newest version of what i've been seeing for a year now, which is people in distress. people are now facing the prospect of re-entering life going back to school, going back to work. of course, many people essential workers, myself included, have been working the whole time. but regardless of your pandemic experience, you are no doubt going to be facing some sort of emotional experience facing the new normal. and it's only natural to experience those feelings when we've been under what i would call a collective trauma for 12 months. >> what is the impact of sort of the collision of fear of your health? i mean, i always tended towards some hypocondarea, always goggling symptoms. every time i had a cold i would race and get a covid test. all that anxiety around your health and your family's health. what is sort of the combination of that with the isolation and now the fear of re-entry? what does that do to our brains? >> it does a lot of important things to our brains. between disrupted routines, between social isolation, between the fear of getting covid itself, caring for our loved ones, caring for our teenagers and our kids who have been out of school. all of that stacks traum yay the reason i'm talking about this and the reason why i am writing about this right now is because for the 20 years i've been practicing, it's been abundantly clear to me, as it is to many other doctors, that mental health matters. it not only affects how we feel every day, our day-to-day behaviors, our day-to-day thoughts and feelings. it directly affects our physical health. it directly affects our medical outcomes. mental health is not only relevant. it's important as part of the experience of caring for ourselves. we must address it in the doctor's office just like we do any other body part. >> you know, it's so much more important and bigger than we have time for today. this is the beginning of the conversation. but i wonder what we can look out for in ourselves and our friends as a sign of someone really in trouble. >> that's a great question. i'm so glad you asked. before the pandemic, we had epidemics of diseases of despair, depression, anxiety, opiate addiction, suicide rates. and frankly we live in a very stressful word. so even if you're not suffering from capital d depression or capital a anxiety, life in the modern world is stressful. you add a pandemic and all of a sudden we have a new bumper crop, if you will, of people in distress. so what can you do? how can you help other people? first is to name it and to normalize it. we are normally -- it's normal to be in distress when we've been through a global pandemic. and then to try to collect sort of a kit of coping tools, for example, trying to get some regular exercise, prioritizing sleep. sleep is the glue for our mental health. you're asking for help. one of the things i commonly recommend not only to my own kids but to my patients is reaching out to a loved one, someone who you can talk to. that is crucial. >> donna, you just got vaccinated. are you dealing with any of this angst about re-entry? >> well, i'm thinking about it. and i have to tell you, after getting vaccinated, i didn't realize how much of a relief i would feel, even though i still have to get my second vaccination. but i also thought we put so much emphasis on how much we are a digital age and we're always in our devices. it turns out we actually really do need actual human contact, and that that's important for us, whether we're young people or those of us in our older age. and i think we greatly underestimated our need for that kind of contact. and i am looking forward to getting back to it even though i will have to figure out how to get out of my elastic pants. [ laughter ] >> i think that we need to -- >> that's a big one. >> this is one of the most enjoyable conversations i've had in a long time. i want to ask both of you to come back regularly. dr. lucy mcbride, donna edwards, thank you so much. >> thank you. as you've seen in the lower right-hand corner of your screen this hour, tonight a special dedicated to lives well lived. remembering and honoring the pandemic's victims and their families. we'll be joined by those who have lost loved ones including senator elizabeth warren. and tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. chris hayes will be live from the lincoln memorial hosting "all in america: the year we meet again,". white house chief of staff ron klain will be among chris' guests. for us, the next hour of "deadline: white house" starts after a break. we're just getting started. we're just getting started 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 need to reduce plastic waste in the environment. that's why at america's beverage companies, our bottles are made to be re-made. not all plastic is the same. we're carefully designing our bottles to be one hundred percent recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle, and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back. some say this is my greatest challenge ever. that completes the circle, but i've seen centuries of this. with a companion that powers a digital world, traded with a touch. the gold standard, so to speak ;) dry, distressed skin that struggles? new aveeno® restorative skin therapy. with our highest concentration of prebiotic oat intensely moisturizes over time to improve skin's resilience. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™. ♪♪ i am not the president's lawyer. i am the united states lawyer. and i will do everything in my power at which i believe is considerable to fend off any effort by anyone to make prosecutions or investigations partisan or political in any way. my job is to protect the department of justice and its employees in going about their job and doing the right thing according to the facts and the law. >> hi, again, everyone. it's 5:00 in new york. it's official, a return to an independent, impartial justice department after four years of the politicization of the rule of law and overreaches in executive power as the homeland faces intense threats from domestic extremists and foreign actors. merrick garland was confirmed as u.s. attorney general by the senate just a few hours ago in a 70-30 bipartisan vote, one of the largest votes for an a.g. in several decades. and now the work begins. "the washington post" describes what awaits the new chief law enforcement officer, quote, garland will inherit a justice department damaged by president donald trump's efforts to use its power to benefit his friends and hurt his enemies. he'll inherit a department overseeing several high-profile political cases, the outcomes of which probably will leave wide swaths of the country unhappy. he'll inherit a department that has for the last four years vigorously implemented trump's conservative agenda, instituting an aggressive charging policy and reviving use of the federal death penalty. this doj's focus on impartiality, a stark contrast from the previous justice department, echoed in the statements of others tapped to fill out the department's senior ranks. yesterday lisa monaco, president biden's nominee for deputy attorney general called the norms of policy her north star and stressed the critical nature of the tasks ahead. >> today the justice department is at an inflexion point. never has the department's role in protecting our national security and the safety of the american people been more important as we battle violent extremism foreign and domestic and mounting cyber threats from nation states and criminals alike. our response to the shocking events of january 6th an attack that cut to our country's core. and i know so personally affected many in this room is nothing less than the defense of our democracy. >> a defense we know a.g. garland regards justice seriously. during his confirmation hearing garland said the investigation into the capitol riot will be his first priority. he highlighted the need to protect against the broader threat of domestic terrorism. it's a threat he has extensive experience with after leading -- after working as the lead prosecutor in the oklahoma city bombing case. "the washington post" reported those who work with garland on the oklahoma city case and the prosecution of another notorious domestic terrorist known as the uni bomber say the experiences shaped him and make him well positioned to confront the current threat. the fbi's release yesterday of the new video footage of the person suspected of placing pipe bombs near the rnc and dnc headquarters the night before the january 6th riot signals the investigations are very much still ongoing. and while more than 300 people have already been charged in connection with the insurrection, concerns over the safety of those working at the capitol remain. the pentagon announced defense secretary lloyd austin has approved the request from capitol police to keep the more than 2,000 national guard troops at the capitol through may 23rd. the start of a new era at the department of justice as the threat of domestic terror mounts is where we start this hour. msnbc national security analyst frank figliuzzi. former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence is back. also joining us chuck rosenberg, former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official now an msnbc contributor and katie benner is here, and "new york times" justice department. katie, in your story today you write about the restoration of the rule of law and garland's not tomorrow the president's lawyer in normal times and a normal transition of power, that's not news. but when you think of all the news cycles where folks on your beat had to cover letters from dozens of former justice department officials condemning the acts of trump's attorneys general, it is a real break with the last four years. >> you're going to see a president that does not attack the justice department. and you're going to see an attorney general who does not need to respond to such attacks or does not need to feel the pressure to respond to those attacks. what we'll also see is an attorney general who comes in with the credibility as a bipartisan and fair arbiter of the law. and there is no place where that will be more important than in the very investigation that you referenced the top of the show where you spoke of the investigation into domestic extremism in the united states. this is an issue where we are starting to see republicans and democrats -- see people within the republican party also separate over whether or not this was an act of insurrectionist for a pro-trump mob or something else. people definitely need someone with that kind of credibility come in to make difficult charging decisions and start bringing cases forward that could create political rancor. >> frank figliuzzi, can you take us inside -- i'm on the twitter feed. i re-tweet all the pictures that the fbi puts out. pete williams here covered the release of the video of the intensifying infection into the pipe bombs. but can you take us inside what's really happening at the fbi on the investigation right now? >> yeah. so not only does this continue to be all hands on deck 24/7, but we're seeing an unprecedented use of crowdsourcing. really, this is modern law enforcement where the crowd will help solve the problem. and so that's why you see all of these videos and photos pushed out. in particular, the new videos that have been released on whoever placed these two i.e.d.s the night before the insurrection. the fbi's sharing now that they know that there is home made black powder in these devices or there was, i should say. what does that mean? it means that the public will know somebody was researching how to make black powder, talking about it, purchasing materials to do that. they're also asking people to zero in on the video in terms of the gait, the walk, the posture, the stretching that's taking place. because that stretch may mean something is an issue with a shoulder or a neck, the backpack may be too heavy. they're saying the person may have put down the first device and gone back somewhere to retrieve this second device, that maybe they weren't both in the backpack at the same time. and if you've got someone who fits this and then was talking or obsessing about media coverage of themselves and the bomb planting afterwards, they want to hear from you. that's what they're telling me today. >> i want to ask you also, frank figliuzzi, about a letter that lead impeachment manager jamie raskin sent to fbi director christopher wray requesting a briefing on the infiltration of law enforcement by white supremacists. raskin's also the chair of the house oversight subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties. let me read a little bit about this. the shocking participation of law enforcement personnel in the january 6th domestic terror attack against congress and our capitol police means that the bureau must level with the american public about the steps it is taking to combat the infiltration of law enforcement departments by white supremacists. i am deeply concerned that the bureau dismissed this threat last year and instead characterized the threat of white supremacist infiltration of law enforcement as a hypothetical problem that has not materialized. what is he getting at, and what can you tell us about this? >> so, you may recall that former director jim comey at a speech before a national police executive conference referenced this growing issue back then. it's time for the fbi to step up and take a leadership position and now coordinate an effort to identify and find extremism in police departments. we know that dozens of police departments in the country have opened internal affairs inquiries because they believe they had active duty officers attending. we also know that there is this pipeline from the military police departments that's really worthy of discussion. because there's veterans' preference, which i'm a big fan. but when you have veterans going to the top of the list as police candidates because they've come off the combat field and the military has said we have a white supremacist problem in the military, we've had to stand down to get our hands around this, maybe it's time to rethink who's getting in police departments, maybe it's time for law enforcement to stand down and figure this out. >> chuck rosenberg, frank figliuzzi brings this to its next natural place. and that is we now have two cabinet secretaries who have said in their confirmation hearings that they understand the need to ferret out white supremacy in their own ranks, secretary austin and now this need to probe within law enforcement. what does the task of investigating white supremacists and any conspiracy around the insurrection and any ongoing threat? we are under a threat warning through the end of april, i believe, in this country. how dicey is that? what does that look like inside the justice department? >> it is dicey. it is a metastasizing threat, nicole. and, by the way, it's not new. what is new is that former president gave sustenance to this movement. he grew a moral equivalency in charlottesville and said there were good people on both sides. so those words resonate when he told the proud boys to stand by and stand back. those words resonate. and so you have a metastasizing problem. i've been encouraged by the way the u.s. attorney's office and the district of columbia has attacked it more than 300 people have been charged. we know there are ongoing investigations. there's two things we have to do. one is we have to prosecute people who committed these acts. the other is we have to prevent these acts from occurring. the second thing is harder than the first. and it requires a change in the tone from the top. one of the things we're going to see, i believe, with this administration is a decided change, a decisive change in the tone from the top. now, in and of itself that doesn't fix the problem. again, it's always been a part of our society, sadly. but, when we put people in jail for doing this and we don't condone but rather we condemn these acts of white supremacy and terrorism, helps. the other thing i think we have to do is pass a statute at the federal level to make domestic terrorism a crime. make it the moral equivalent of international terrorism. that will send a strong signal, too. >> you've got congressman gosar tweeting out white supremacist mottos. and half a dozen associations and contacts between republican house members and white supremacist groups have been reported. how do you tip toe around what isn't tip-toeing anymore but clear and public associations among republican public officials? >> i don't think you tip-toe around it at all, nicole. we have always had members of congress who are clowns and fools. [ laughter ] the constitution only requires that a member of congress be 30. it doesn't require that they pass any sort of intelligence test or meet any sort of ethical standard. and so we will always have those types of members of congress. what we need is a bipartisan and strong signal at the very top. so whether it is the president or the senate majority leader or the house speaker or their minority counterparts, we need leadership to speak out. kudos to the mitt romneys and liz cheneys of the world who have spoken out forcefully about this type of thing. we're not going to be able to do anything about paul gosar. the only thing that can did thing about paul gosar are his constituents. what we need to do is talk thoughtfully and candidly with the american people about the nature and threat that's out there and prosecute the people who have committed these horrific acts. >> katy benner, it strikes me that this threat, like the threat of violent foreign terrorism, did not spring up overnight. it was obviously growing and gaining steam and gaining power and gaining organization and came to a crescendo publicly for a lot of people on january 6th. is there any reporting that suggests that this was on bill barr's radar? >> yeah. there is reporting that this was on the fbi's radar and on the justice department's radar that people did know that the white supremacist threat was a huge threat. in the fall chris wray the fbi director testified that it was the largest threat the fbi was tracking. this was on everybody's radar. but we also saw from the very top from the president, there was tacit permission for these groups to exist and thrive making it extremely difficult for law enforcement to then push back on them and say we're seen as key constituents of the president. that shift alone for a president that does not court these groups will make it i think far easier for law enforcement to do its job, at least the incoming deputy attorney general if she is confirmed, monaco, says that she seeks not just to look into the capitol and that riot and that attack but to also look at the roots of this growing threat. it would've been really hard for her to say or do that under a president who was courting those elements. >> it's such an important point. let me play some of merrick garland on this topic for you, frank. >> fbi director wray has indicated that the threat of domestic terrorism and particularly of white supremacist extremists is his number one concern in this area. this is coupled with an enormous rise in hate crimes over the past few years. there is a line from oklahoma city, and there is another line from oklahoma city all the way back to the experiences that i mentioned in my opening with respect to the battles of the original justice department against the klu klux klan. and i certainly agree that we are facing a more dangerous period than we faced in oklahoma city than at that time. >> it's just remarkable to sit and contemplate what donald trump ushered in or what was ushered in on his watch. >> i think it's remarkable to realize how fast it resurfaced in our society with the blessing of someone sitting in the oval office. and i have to tell you, i'd be hard pressed to think of a better person out there on the playing field right now than merrick garland to take the helm right now. because he was intimately involved not only in the uni bomber case. so he understands violent and bizarre ideologies but the oklahoma city bombing. the people in oklahoma city love merrick garland for what he did and the leadership he showed. so, we're 25 years after oklahoma city. we still don't have a domestic terrorism law. we don't have social media regulation. merrick garland is going to take those issues on headfirst. but watch carefully for those in congress who start fighting against that because they're going to show us who they are and predictably they'll show us that they are not for suppressing violent ideology and violence. >> i want to show you a little bit more of lisa monaco, chuck rosenberg, on the doj rank in file, something near to your heart, too. let's watch. >> i believe that the soul of the justice department lives in the integrity of the women and men who serve it, in the career professionals and in the norms that are the connective tissue keeping our rule of law muscles strong. i've already had the great good fortune to work with nearly every part of the department of justice. i know it's career lawyers, law enforcement agents, analysts and professional staff are its beating heart. >> chuck, i know you maintain that the rank in file was focused on the day-to-day functions of their job. but the facts, and katie had a lot of this reporting before anybody else, was that lots of people quit cases. more than a few left the department. the former attorney general likened them to preschoolers or montessori students. this is a sea change for the rank in file. >> it is, thank goodness. look, lisa monaco, just as frank said that merrick garland is the right person for the attorney general job, lisa monaco is absolutely the right person to be the chief operating officer of the department. i do maintain, nicole, that the rank in file are okay. but it also matters how you ask the question. if you ask them, do you like your job, do you believe in the mission, do you like your colleagues, do you respect their work? the answer's always almost inevitably yes. if you ask them were you well led, do you believe in the leadership of the department, at least the last four years, the answer in many quarters was absolutely not. so is the morale okay? it depends on who you ask and how you ask the question. will it be okay? i believe it'll be fine. lisa's right. the heart and soul of the department of justice are the women and men in federal law enforcement and the u.s. attorney's office, the fbi, the dea, the atf, the marshall service. they're fine. now they're also well led. and being in a job that you like with colleagues that you like with a mission that you embrace and good leadership, that's a change. it's an important change. and i am very optimistic about the next four years. >> and just to end on katie benner's point, they do not need to brace them for mean tweets from the president. the president i think tweeted more about chuck rosenberg and rod rosenstein than just about anybody else who reported to him. chuck rosenberg, frank figliuzzi, katie benner, thank you for starting us off this hour. when we come back, president biden's big victories in the fight against coronavirus and the hypocrisy of republicans who didn't lift a finger to help pass covid relief but now want credit for the biden administration's vaccine success. plus, the real-world impact of a $1.9 trillion package. we'll talk to one mayor about what the stimulus bill means for his city as he grabms with his own profound laws. and fears are now rising as texas ditches its mask mandate today and fully reopens for business indoors. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break. don't go anywhere. my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 14 day system. with a painless, onesecond scan i can check my glucose without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. you can do it without fingersticks, too. ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. and visit freestyle libre.us to try it for free. dad, it's a video call. for the freestyle libre 14 day system. hold the phone in front of you. how's that? get...get mom. [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning app with 24/7 support when you need it the most. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. 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... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ when you buy this plant at walmart, they can buy more plants from metrolina greenhouses so abe and art can grow more plants. so they can hire vilma... and wendy... and me. so, more people can go to work. so, more days can start with kisses. when you buy this plant at walmart. ♪♪ it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, when you buy this plant at walmart. jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. this bill represents a historic victory for the american people. i look forward to signing it later this week. the american rescue plan, a partnership between johnson & johnson and merck, proves we can do big things, important things in this country. >> president biden sounding some optimistic notes there today as he prepares to sign his $1.9 trillion covid relief package into law friday, adding more good news today, president biden announced the purchase of an additional 100 million doses of the johnson & johnson single-dose vaccine, effectively securing enough doses to vaccinate children in booster doses if the virus were to re-emerge. while biden has earned high marks from the public for his response to the crisis since taking over in january, some officials from the last guy's administration are demanding credit for the work they claim they started. joining our conversation jason johnson, journalism and politics professor at morgan state university and a contributor to msnbc. and msnbc political analyst. jason, thank you for filling in for me last week. i'm grateful and i know our viewers love seeing you. i'm going to start with you. this idea, i mean, the development of the vaccine is an accomplishment, a feat of science. anyone who contributed to their success. donald trump put on his jammies and plunked down and did nothing as the country's president from election night until he was shuttled out of washington, d.c. on january 20th. what kind of credit do they think they're owed? >> and, nicole, you're actually giving the president some credit. if he had just gone upstairs and sat in his jammies, there would probably still be hundreds of thousands of people alive. he actually countered the value of getting vaccines. he actually countered what public health officials were trying to do. he caused some of the damage that we're facing today in addition to when the initial research was being done for vaccines, he wanted to pick and choose which states got access to things as simple as ventilators. there's absolutely nobody from the previous administration who can take any sort of credit one way or another except maybe dr. fauci. even dr. birx said, yeah, i didn't quite do my job as well as possible. it is a bizarre attempt to rewrite history, the likes we haven't seen since, oh, january 6th. for republicans to try and take credit for what joe biden has clearly been doing since the moment he took office. >> david, the polling is so extraordinary. we've spent a career staring at polls, and in my case willing them to say things they often didn't say. you can't will a poll number like this. 75% of the american public supports the covid relief package. we reported in the last hour from a memo on what sounds like a weeks' long concerted effort on the part of the white house, the first lady vice president, second gentleman to really help educate the public on what's in this bill. this seems to ensure that as the benefits make their way into people's lives, it'll be clear where it came from. >> there's no question, nicole. and you and i do study a lot of polls. anything these days to get 75% is unusual. but usually it's things that aren't happening right in front of you. usually a debate in congress makes things split. i look back at 2009 when president obama and vice president biden made the decision to rescue the american auto industry. that was pulling in about 15% approval. yet by 2012 it was one of the reasons why president obama won re-election. this is starting at a high watermark. and i think the biden administration and democrats clearly intend to nature the benefits along the way here. republicans in congress are starting fake fights about dr. seuss, supporting efforts to make it harder for everyone to vote in this country and standing in the way of covid relief. let's not forget a year ago. donald trump basically said this is going to go away, don't worry about it, it's no big deal. so there's nobody in american history who's handled a crisis more poorly than donald trump. it's one of the reasons he's a one-term president. i think those numbers are startling. and it just speaks to no matter what happens in washington, in towns all across the country, people are hurting. they're hurting so badly not just healthy, economic toll. people are desperately saying, yes, we need the help, not that it is an ivory tower good idea to pass a plan like this, i need the help right now. >> jason, what the hell are republicans doing? this is not money that they're going to be able to make unpopular as time goes on. it's money that'll help get vaccines into their arms, which will help get their businesses and their districts open. that will help get their coffers overflowing. the public will intuit. and it sounds like the white house is going to hit the road and make sure that they understand that all of the aid that is coming is from the package. republicans cho ez to obstruct that legislation and oppose it universally. what could the possible rebranding effort of standing against vaccinations and making schools safer and direct aid to families be? >> so, i'm going to translate my brain into republican speak right now. the only way that i can imagine, i'm putting my brain into the 2022 midterms. the only way i can imagine this working is if they suggest down the road that it either wasn't enough money or that the money wasn't properly targeted. that's the only explanation. and i don't know how any of that makes any sense if we're back in movie theaters next summer for them to claim, well, the money wasn't enough or it wasn't tacted properly. and this is what we're going to see this fall. it's what we're going to see next summer. remember paul ryan who he was the budget nerd and vehemently stood against the stimulus that obama wrote. you're going to have all these republicans who voted against this bill who are going to try and go to the trough and ask for things for their district. i don't know why logically unless they think it can be some effective argument down the road. and i don't see what that argument is. >> the problem with that is size wasn't an issue for the last four years. >> of course not. so that is, again, the political argument, and the dollar amount's just about the same. the tax cuts that trump passed with support of most republicans in congress, i think all of this in this bill. if you can't win that political argument that on one side you're trying to help small businesses, working people, the poor, versus the very wealthy, you might as well get out of politics. number two, i think what you're going to see a lot of them saying is i actually supported the idea that i supported the spirit of it. in fact, i would have voted for it, but there was too much money going to california. they'll come up with their idea. you're already seeing members of the republican caucus today touting parts of it. saying i saw roger wicker from mississippi sending out something about the aid to the restaurant industry. but, again, i think at the end of the day there's too much sunlight on this. and i think not only do you need to prosecute the case if you're a democrat about why this was a good idea and continue to do great storytelling. you need to keep reminding who stood in the other way. >> when we come back, we'll talk to the mayor of long beach, california. he's leading his city through the crisis of coronavirus after losing his mom and stepdad to covid. he will join us next. beer on a friday night ♪ ♪ a pair of jeans that fit just right ♪ ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪ we're made for. guy fieri! ya know, if you wanna make that sandwich the real deal, ya gotta focus on the bread layers. king's hawaiian sliced bread makes everything better! ♪ (angelic choir) ♪ and here's mine! these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. if you take asthma medicines, don't change or stop them without talking to your doctor. so help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. with the covid relief bill now heading to president biden's desk, the goal of all of this helping millions of americans in need and the real-world potential of $1.9 trillion is at the finish line politically, the starting line practically. in long beach, california, a big diverse city where more than 51,000 people have been sickened with every couldid in the state hardest hit by the pandemic, the mayor has a plan for how to use the $151 million in federal funds the city's expecting, including millions toward economic recovery ending city employee furloughs and improving basic health and safety needs like food security and housing. joining us now is long beach, california, mayor robert garcia. last summer, mayor garcia lost both his mom and his stepfather to covid. i want to start there. tonight we're going to seek to honor the families that have lost loved ones this year and the loved ones they've lost. what is most important to you to hear about the loss? >> well, i think it's important to remember that behind every single number there's a real story and real people. and we hear these numbers all the time about the amount of folks that died across our country. but every single person has a story, has a family and is impacted neighborhoods across the country. i think about my mom was an immigrant. she was an essential worker i think like a lot of women of color are essential workers. she didn't have a choice. she went to work because she believed in her job but also because she had to. and losing her obviously was tragic for my family. but her story can be repeated over and over again. so people should just remember that a lot of people gave their lives and are heroes across this country that are perished to this awful virus. >> and how did the fact that dealing with coronavirus became personal for you affect how you led your city this year? >> well, there's no question that i think my mom's story having been a health care worker absolutely informed our approach to the shutdown. and we always sided on data and science and doing the right thing and not falling into pressure. it certainly impacted our ability to enforce our mask mandates and people keep safe. it's really helped in our vaccine rollout. we view every single vaccine in someone's arm as an opportunity to save someone's life. and if you're a mayor and not obsessed with the vaccine, then you're not doing your job. now we're very encouraged what happened in congress which will help us get even more support to people faster. >> can you explain to folks who maybe are just watching the political side of this in washington, d.c. what the depth of support and need is in your city for the relief package. >> yeah. i don't think people really realize what's happened to american cities in this last year. most cities across the country have depleted their reserves. employees are furloughed or have been laid off. revenues that we would depend on from businesses of course have dramatically increased. and some sectors are completely gone. for a city like long beach depends on tourism. and that's an industry that's been hit really hard. when we think about what this congressional act is going to do, it is going to save jobs and get services back to people, reopen libraries, get public safety back in place, help people experiencing homelessness. and most importantly in this bill is the ability for governments to replenish their emergency reserves. we have all spent down these reserves. so now we'll be prepared for the next pandemic or the next natural disaster. and that's something that we're very grateful to president biden and the congress for putting in this bill. >> mr. mayor, my colleague jason johnson is here with us and has a question for you. >> sure. >> yes, mr. mayor. you've done a great job of actually -- i've seen some of the work that's been done. but i want to focus on your efforts with re-opening schools. because you have your own health department, you've been giving teachers vaccinations since january. you've been way ahead of the rest of most of the country and opening up schools is a key economic driver. can you talk a little bit about your city's efforts to make sure teachers are vaccinated so that schools can be reopened this spring, and what impact that might have on the city as well as kids who are going to be able to get back into the school? >> absolutely. we were the first city to start vaccinating staff and teachers. independent schools as well. every single teacher will have been vaccinated twice with the two-week inoculation after the second vaccine when schools open up on march 29th of this month. and so we will be the first large school district in the state to open up with every single teacher and school staff member fully vaccinated. as a former teacher myself, i knew that day one teachers deserve to be safe in the classroom and parents deserve the peace of mind to know that staff and teachers are also safe. we're going to have a safe re-opening, and i think it's important to keep everyone safe. it's working out really well here in long beach. and the whole state is moving this direction. >> i want to let my colleague ask you a question. are you dealing with any vaccine hesitancy based on any of the disinformation or misinformation out there? >> absolutely. i think first we have to remember that we have to unwind just from the last administration with president trump just the amount of misinformation and how nervous and scared he made, especially communities of color. so we absolutely are running into latino communities, african-american communities that are a little distrustful where things are at. and i've heard from a lot of undocumented folks that have seen the last four years and how terrible we have been to this population. so there is hesitancy. but we have to meet people where they are. we've been doing mobile clinics at black churches, we've been doing mobile clinics in multiple languages. and that's how we reach hard-to-reach communities by going to them in their language. and if we're not doing that intentional work, we're going to miss all these folks. and many are scared to get the vaccine. >> it's understandable. david has a question for you. >> mayor garcia, you talked about the direct aid your city is going to receive. but obviously you have in your city citizens and small business owners who are also eligible for benefits. talk about the marketing and organizing challenge to make people aware of that and so that they fully access and realize those benefits? >> the american rescue plan is unbelievable for cities and for businesses. we took the american rescue plan and kind of branded our own long beach recovery act. and cities across the country are actually doing this. within that, we have created roundtables and brought business leaders together to ask them what their needs are. so we're putting out grants through our partnerships with this bill but also with the state and the county to get relief directly to businesses. the american rescue plan is the best thing to happen to small business owners and to workers directly probably in decades. so this is just an incredible amount of money that they're going to be able to use to rebuild businesses for workers to get support. and i don't think people understand the breadth of the rescue that is happening here for small businesses. so we're very grateful not just to support businesses directly but also to put in place a lot of programs are going to help workers on the ground. everything from childcare services to health programs in communities to health equity programs in hard-to-reach communities. overall it's a really great program. >> we would love to maybe put you on the spot here and come back after the bill is passed and signed into law and see how it is touching -- you just talk about it touching just about every single member of your community from front line workers to businesses to kids to their parents who can go back to work to the vaccinated public. i hope we can talk to you again when that is farther along. thank you so much, mayor robert garcia of long beach, california, for spending some time with us. jason and david are sticking around. a reminder, tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, we will reflect on the past year. we'll share the stories of covid-19 victims, their families, and how they've inspired the whole country, all of us. join me for a special presentation of "lives well lived" tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. when we come back, health experts are sounding the alarm about a potential new coronavirus threat after the state of texas shifts its covid restrictions and fully reopens for business indoors and out. we'll have a live report next. ♪ hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid ♪ ♪ and all that glitters is gold ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo-hoo! great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. texas has become the biggest state in the country to lift its mask mandate and end all covid restrictions of businesses there. the decision to reopen has been slammed by state and federal officials including president biden who called the move, quote, neanderthal thinking. the lonestar state is averaging more than 5,000 new covid cases every single day and has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the entire country. according to the "new york times," health experts worry that re-opening too early could make things worse there, especially in vulnerable communities. msnbc news correspondent priscilla thompson is live in rio grande city, texas. jason and david are still with us. i'm curious what the feeling on the ground is about it and if people plan to still wear their masks when they're in high-risk environments like indoors and crowded places. >> well, nicole, i will tell you folks here in the rio grande valley are not happy about the governor's decision. i've spoken to half a dozen residents here, all of whom who know someone who has died from this virus. they know what it was like here during the peak when the hospitals were running out of beds and talking about possibly having to ration ventilators. and the mayor of rio grande city at the time said to me it was like living a nightmare. they do not want to see that happen again. that is what many residents and officials are afraid could happen as this mask mandate is lifted and occupancy limits are rolled back. and i spoke to several residents about how covid has impacted them and what they think of the governor's decision. take a listen to what some of these folks shared with me. >> i believe it's premature. it is irresponsible and consequently it is placing the entire state of texas in harm's way. >> he's trying to put things back to normal, but i don't think we're ready for that. i don't know in my mind i'm still afraid to be honest. >> i lost my grandfather like three weeks ago of covid, and i'm, like, are you serious? like you're really going to open everything after everything that has been happening, a lot of people have been dying recently? i'm, like, are you serious? you're being that selfish? >> and everyone that i have spoken to says that they are going to continue to wear those masks. leaders in the business community have said they will continue to require those of customers. in austin the city says they plan to keep their mask mandate in place. and the austin american statesman is now reporting that the texas attorney general has threatened to sue the city over that decision if they don't don reverse course by the end of today. but the other thing that you mentioned and i want to comment on is the vaccinations that are happening here. texas is at the bottom of the list when you compare to it other states in terms of per capita vaccinations. and i spoke to one woman and her elderly mother who told me they got their first dose of the vaccine. it's going to be a few weeks before they got that second dose, and they really waited the governor had waited a few more months before a few more people in state were vaccinated before they rolled back. >> priscilla thompson, thank you so much for your reporting. we'll continue to check in with you there. i love texas. jason johnson, this is so heartbreaking for the very reasons that all of the folks priscilla talked to said. people are still scared. and in reality, the horizon is we can see it. we know thou is going to end. they just need a little more time. the politics seem irreparably broken in texas if they can't wait. >> and unnecessary, right? we still have people recovering from the power outage. you have people who still don't know where they were living who were put out of their homes whose homes are still being repaired. now is not the time. these are the people i fear for the most. i fear for the people who are working. i fear for people in restaurants and at target and at heb and grocery stores and everything else like that because of this mandate now or the lifting of these mandates by the governor, they're going to be dealing with more aggressive, obnoxious anti-mask people. >> yeah. >> i was just at a restaurant a couple of days ago, and i saw this couple come in, walk in the restaurant without mask, and i saw three different waiters have to walk up to them and say could you please politely leave, could you please politely leave? can you put your mask on? that's going to be throughout the state. those are the people who are going to get sick. the hourly employees who can't afford to get sick are the ones who get damaged when the governor decides to play politics instead of listening to science. >> it's sad. thank you for being my wing people today. i'm very grateful. when we come back, as we do every day, we'll remember lives well lived. and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. this is how you become the best! ♪“you're the best” by joe esposito♪ ♪ [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade. [ garbage truck creaking and whirring ] [ speaking indistinctly ] [ truck beeping ] [ speaking indistinctly ] [ beeping continues ] [ engine revving ] obviously, i have not been to the zoo since. [ truck departs ] what? switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. you know, like the sign says. t-mobile is upgrading its network sat a record pace.ive and you can save hundreds. we were the first to bring 5g nationwide. and now that sprint is a part of t-mobile we're turning up the speed. upgrading over a thousand towers a month with ultra capacity 5g. to bring speeds as fast as wifi to cities and towns across america. and we're adding more every week. coverage and speed. who says you can't have it all? when you buy this plant at walmart, they can buy more plants from metrolina greenhouses so abe and art can grow more plants. so they can hire vilma... and wendy... and me. so, more people can go to work. so, more days can start with kisses. when you buy this plant at walmart. ♪♪ how do we ensure families facing food insecurity get access to their food? we needed to make sure that, if they couldn't get to the food, the food would come to them. we can deliver for food banks and schools. amazon knows how to do that. i helped deliver 12 million meals to families in need. that's the power of having a company like amazon behind me. it's hard to imagine how devastating it must have been back in april, 9-year-old zeunessa was in bangladesh, not doing well, and some of her closest family was thousands of miles away, right here in the states. they facetimed each other, and ama, as they called her, told her family that she loved them. the next day, she was in the hospital. and the day after that, her family got another facetime call. this time to inform them that she had passed away. ama was an extraordinary person. she ran an umbrella factory in bangladesh at a time when most women worked at home. she beat cancer. she lived through a war. her family tells us she once put herself between her sons and a firing squad in order to save their lives. simply put, she was incredible. ama loved cooking. she loved the ocean. more than anything, she loved her dear children and grandchildren. and of course it is them who we're thinking about this afternoon. we'll be right back. ht back. dad, it's a video call. hold the phone in front of you. how's that? get...get mom. [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning app with 24/7 support when you need it the most. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. my body is truly powerful. i have the power to lower my a1c. because my body can still make its own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it, lowering my blood sugar from the first dose. once-weekly trulicity responds when my body needs it, 24/7. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. it isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include indigestion, fatigue, belly pain, decreased appetite, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting which can lead to dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. i have it within me to lower my a1c. ask your doctor about trulicity. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ want to save hundreds on your wireless bill? ♪♪ with xfinity mobile, you can. how about saving hundreds on the new samsung galaxy s21 ultra 5g? you can do that too. all on the most reliable network? sure thing! and with fast, nationwide 5g included - at no extra cost? we've got you covered. so join the carrier rated #1 in customer satisfaction... ...and learn how much you can save at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings. thank you for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. we're grateful. join us in two hours at 8:00 p.m. eastern for a special presentation as we remember lives well lived. "the beat" with ari melber starts right now, though. hi, ari. hi, nicolle. we'll be watching in two hours. i know how dear to your heart that reporting is. thank you as always. >> thank you, my friend. >> thank you. on "the beat" tonight, we are picking up partly where nicolle has left off with democrats eyeing recent history and responding with their own historic moment, a policy breakthrough and a political victory now, just 50 days into the biden presidency. >> this is a momentous day in the history of our country. we are honoring a promise made