there's a press conference planned by the floyd family a few hours from now. more on all of that straight ahead this hour. it's a big day for white house. roughly 15 minutes from now the white house covid-19 response team will be holding its briefing. a few hours after that, president biden and democratic congressional leaders will talk about the american rescue plan. big news for all of us. president biden just late out a new vaccination time line. you may want to turn up the volume. you do not want to forget these days. may 1st, that's when president biden says he will direct all states to make every adult eligible for a vaccine by that day. it doesn't mean doses will be available by then. the white house hopes for that to happen by the end of may. let's not forget, it's going to take time for people to actually get that shot or get those shots. if all goes according to plan, we could have a sense of normalcy by july 4th, according to president biden. the president hopes to recommend small gatherings with family and friends are safe by independence day. so many questions about what happens next. this hour, our reporters, our experts, our doctors, all of them will be here to answer your questions. how to get your vaccine. what's in the relief bill for you? something that so many have been waiting for. how can we safely be together? let's get to our reporters. monica alba, morgan chesky in texas. monica, president biden laying out this path to normalcy by independence day. it's going to mark our independence from this virus on july 4th. tell us more about how the president says we can get there. >> reporter: it's an ambitious time line, but one the president feels very confident in achieving because of what is in his covid relief bill, which of course he will have an event on later today. but also because of the pace of vaccinations in the country. he feels very encouraged by what we have seen so far. 100 million shots in arms in the first 100 days, that goal is likely to be met at just day 60. we are talking next week or so. this is something that because the former president was able to have some vaccinations already in the bag when they started, this is why they will be able to get to this point quickly. they haven't discussed much about operation warp speed. that's a criticism from republicans who wish president biden would give his predecessor some of the credit. when we talk about may 1st, they are hoping by then that every single state and territory will tell adults, you are eligible to sign up. that doesn't mean you will be able to get the shot immediately. that could still take weeks. if as many as 75% to 80% of the country start to get on that track, that's when we will be talking about herd immunity and when they feel it will be safe for people to gather. in limited settings, something like a backyard 4th of july cookout. what's critical to remember here, craig, is they will do this because more vaccinators are going to be allowed to administer the shot. there are more mass vaccination sites. a couple of outstanding questions, the federal government says by may 1st, there will be a website, a destination for people to go to, sign up online, get information about their vaccines. that's something we have heard a lot of complaints about. you probably know someone who is trying to get the shot. they are having issues online getting that done. they are hoping to have a clearinghouse for that in the next six weeks or so. unclear whether that will happen. the other thing we are waiting for is more guidance for what fully vaccinated people are going to be allowed to do when it concerns travel. that's something the cdc has not released yet. the president announced last night that's expected to come in the next two weeks or so. >> there's monica alba at the white house. morgan, we turn to you. president biden in the prime time address on thursday night also insisted that we need to stay vigilant. you are in texas where the governor rolled back that state's mask mandate. how is it a microcosm of this push and pull over restrictions? what does this relief mean for folks there in texas and around the country as we still fight this virus? >> reporter: craig, great question. we are seeing a showdown within the state of texas itself. you have the governor saying that he entrusts all businesses to do the right thing. he lifts the mandate. he increass capacity to 100%. you have the city of austin pushing back now saying that they will keep a public health mandate in place that would keep that mask mandate from being lifted, essentially superseding the governor's order. in response, we have seen texas attorney general now threaten legal action and have a lawsuit against the city of austin saying that they are violating the governor's orders. it will be interesting to see how that plays out. we have seen mayors in other areas come out and say it's too much, too soon, to lift this mask mandate. everyone will be watching the numbers incredibly closely. even though they are the lowest in months, if they do start to tick back up, texas could be absolutely hurting. as it stands right now, because the responsibility has been placed on businesses, we have seen individual policies crafted by businessowners, some increasing capacity to 100%, still requiring masks, others letting customers choose. we have seen quite a few signs popping up on certain businesses saying that essentially texas is a place for freedom. you have the freedom to choose whether or not you want to wear a mask or not. that's the tone playing out. people who are concerned about the spread of the virus now even more so because they feel like it's not necessarily a unified movement anymore because it's left up to the individual. that's kind of the tone playing out here. in the meantime, we have massive reopenings happening. the stadium behind me planning to pack stands for opening day three weeks from now. masks still would be required for the fans coming to the ranger game. when you have 30,000 people in there, tough to enforce. craig? >> morgan chesky on the ground in texas. thank you. right now, we are all dealing with pandemic fatigue. new research says about one in five people say they have lost a relative or a close friend to the virus. we are all looking forward to semblance of normalcy. we want to take time to focus on your questions about the vaccine. we brought in dr. patel, former health policy advisor for the obama administration, msnbc medical contributor, and a senior scholar at the johns hopkins center at the bloomberg school of public health. thanks to both of you. dr. patel, we will start with you. we haven't seen a lot of research on the effect of vaccines in kids. our first question comes from twitter. this is the first twitter question here. simple, is there any news regarding covid vaccines for children? >> craig, great question. we will try to move through them quickly to get to as many as possible. moderna and pfizer have closed enrollment for childrened aadolescenaed aless -- and as less enter -- and adolescents 12 to 17. we will wait for those to unfold. it should be in the next several months we will get more information. johnson & johnson is in trial with 12 to 17. has plans for younger age groups, including infants. >> just in time for the start of a new school year, it would seem. >> that's right. >> we have a question from a concerned mom. she writes, my daughter is 14 weeks pregnant and teaches kindergarten. she wears a mask all the time. her obstetrician does not believe she should get the vaccine because she's not high risk. he doesn't feel there's enough information for pregnant women yet. is there any new information about the safety of vaccinating pregnant women? >> we are getting new information every day as more pregnant women are vaccinated. i am somebody who advocates pregnant women get vaccinated. they have higher rates of pre-term birth and c-sections. the mother is more likely to require high level care. we see that there's been tens of thousands of pregnant women who have been vaccinated. we are not seeing any kind of safety signal that's worse than the background. this does look safe for all of the vaccines. the johnson & johnson vaccine is something that is used for ebola vaccines. that's been given to pregnant women as well. this is a safe and effective vaccine in pregnant women. it's one way to pass antibodies from the mother to the developing fetus and protect the infant for some period of time. i think pregnant women should get vaccinated. >> let's talk about booster shots. this is one of our viewers had a question about booster shots specifically. we have been told that we have to use the same brand of vaccine for the first and second shots. what about boosters or annual shots? will the brand matter or is it too soon to know? >> it's too soon to know. we don't know what the interval is going to be, if there's going to be tweaks to the boosters to be better matched to variants circulating. it may be that eventually there's another vaccine that's used as a booster. there are mix and match studies going on. we try to keep people to the same brand for first and second brand. there's guidance that in extraordinary circumstances you could sub because they use the same technology. too soon to tell. we will get that data as we follow people who have been vaccinated in natural history studies to see how well their immunity fares. >> let's move on to a question about antibodies. this is vicky on twitter. if someone received their second vaccine and not showing antibodies, does that mean they are not protected? >> this is the most popular question i'm getting as we have more people vaccinated. a couple of key points. understandably, psychological to want to check your antibodies for knowledge. i had moderna, both doses. i have not checked my antibodies because i know this is working based on the data from the trials. craig, not all antibody tests are created equal. it's likely that test that the viewer asked about was antibody test for another part of the virus. not the spike protein, which is what the vaccine helps prime your immune system to develop antibodies against. i can assure you, you likely have antibodies to that. if people are trying to get antibody test, make sure that it is an antibody test that looks for igg antibodies. the kind that you would see against that spike protein, which is what the vaccines are trying to accomplish. at the end of the day, it's not necessary and trust in the science based on hundreds of thousands of patients in the trials. >> useful information there. we have time for one more. are you going to stick around for the hour? this is a question on immunity. the question is, does the pfizer vaccine provide the same degree of immunity for people who are immunocompromised as for individuals who are not immunocompromised? >> this is an important question. one we don't have a lot of data on. we have been getting immunocompromised people vaccinated. we see benefits. we haven't been able to quantify the difference to know whether or not somebody with, for example, an organ transplant has the same reaction to someone who doesn't. in general, the rule is, you have a blunted response. there's different types of immunosuppression. there's people who have hiv/aids. people are immunosuppressing drugs. we will see how much protection they get. we know they get significant protection. >> don't go far. we are going to come back to you later in the hour for more viewer questions. if you have a question, if you are watching or listening, there's time to send in this question. tweet them, #msnbcanswers. you can email them, talk@msnbc.com. just because a person is eligible for the vaccine doesn't mean it's easy to get that vaccine. as many of you know. up next, how some of the most vulnerable homebound americans are getting vaccinated, finally, after a long and exhausting year. >> i try not to cry. it would be tears of joy. it might feel like things are slowly getting back to normal. but the future is still quite bleak for many small businesses across this country. can small businessowners expect to bounce back? 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[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. man: i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. man: i feel free to bare my skin. ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. here you go, let me help you. man: i feel free to bare my skin. hi mr. charles, we made you dinner. ahh, thank you! ready to eat? yes i am! president biden's announcement that every u.s. adult will be eligible for a vaccine by may 1st is giving a lot of folks a lot of hope. but eligibility doesn't always equal accessibility. that's true for the more than 7 million americans who are homebound. lots of them are seniors who qualify for the vaccine but need extra help to actually get that shot. we saw firsthand what that help looks like in manchester, connecticut. take us through some of the programs that really do seem to be bringing the shots to people at home. >> reporter: so these programs have been popping up all across the country. home care organizations are partnering with local hospitals, with their cities, with their states to bring these vaccines into people's homes. it is because of programs like this that this 83-year-old, who lives behind me in this house, was just able to get her second dose of the moderna vaccine. we were in there with her. take a listen. >> i had no means of going, unless i had an aide take me. i'm limited with electronics. i have the flip phone. i don't have electronics in the house. this is wonderful really. it really is. i appreciate it. >> reporter: she told us she's so excited to see her friends. as we were setting up, neighbors came by. they asked us if everything was okay, if she was doing okay. she's special in the community. they said they are so excited in a couple of weeks to go in and visit with her. i spoke with a program in new jersey, a pilot program that's just starting out as well. they told me about the struggles they are facing as they begin to bring these vaccines into people's homes. i spoke to this program here in hartford county. it started working on their efforts back in january. they were ahead of the game. they told me about the logistical nightmare they had to overcome in the last couple of months with administering the doses. it's hard enough to set up vaccination sites. but imagine if it is people's homes all across a region. they have time limitations. nurses are racing against the clock every single day to make sure that they can administer these doses before they go bad. on top of that, staffing issues. the home care nurses already work so hard every day to meet their responsibilities across an entire region. it really takes a full-time -- it's like another full-time job to administer these vaccinations as well. this program here in connecticut says they will be expanding to the rest of the state. they have currently 4,300 other people who are ready to get the vaccine who are homebound that they are hoping to get the vaccine to in the coming months. overall, really these programs are just saying that they hope to get more resources. the staffing resources and also more supply so they can meet the great demand of the homebound population when it comes to this vaccine. >> sounds like a great program. it's good to see our homebound neighbors getting those shots in their arms. isa gutierrez, thank you for that. good information. we know you have lots of questions about what's in the covid relief bill. more importantly, or most importantly to a lot of folks, when can you expect to see that relief? when are those checks going to hit your mailbox or bank account? we will answer those questions next. small businessowners have been hit especially hard by this covid economy. i talked with an expert about when things could turn around. it may be sooner than a lot of you think. i talked to businessowners about what they need most. >> i don't have the tools to try to survive. when the hole is so big, there's no way. no way feel the clarity of non-drowsy claritin. and 24-hour relief from symptoms caused by over 200 indoor and outdoor allergens. try claritin cool mint chewabls for powerful allergy relief plus a cooling sensation. live claritin clear. ♪ ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa nicorette® knows, quitting smoking is hard. you get advice like: usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey are you kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette®. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette® so you want to make the best burger ever? 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>> reporter: craig, this is all taking place in a virtual, a streaming city council meeting. this is a meeting prescheduled. lots of items that were on the agenda. it started an hour or so ago. just in the past couple of minutes, we saw an agenda item added to the closed session. this is a discussion happening behind cameras. in that agenda item, they say that they are going to discuss what they are calling a legislative or litigation matter. something involving the george floyd family. we know happening today, they are having a press conference later today. this is, of course, the first week of the trial, the first week of jury selection. lots to talk about. they got a major win earlier this week when the judge re-added the third degree murder charge against derek chauvin. lots to discuss this week. that's something we are keeping our eye on. this just happened in the past couple of minutes in a meeting. the city council saying they will discuss a legal matter involving the family of george floyd. craig? >> the language coming in just a few moments ago, to amend the agenda to include under the order or closed session that litigation matter of karen nelson shaffer as trustee for the next of kin of george p. floyd. we will keep a very close eye on what comes out of that city council meeting in the next few minutes. to your point, with regard to the jury here, shaq, we have not been listening live to jury selection. this is deliberate so we don't unintentionally identify any potential jurors. i know you have been listening. what are some of the key takeaways? where do things stand at this moment with regard to the number of jurors and what these jurors look like? >> reporter: we about halfway there. six members of this jury have been empanelled. a majority of them are men. five of them are men. there's one woman on the panel. we know half of them are white. the other three are people of color. we know half of them are also in their 20s. the other half in their 30s. these jurors are remaining anonymous. we are getting some information about the potential makeup of that jury. we know that the jurors are being asked detailed questions. we are not going to play you the responses. i want to take you inside the courtroom and listen to some of the questions that the individuals are being asked. >> can you think of in your personal or professional life or any of your activities where you have had to come -- you have been called upon to resolve a dispute between two people? >> if you needed the police, you would like to know you could pick up the phone, call and that they would be available to help? it sounds like you have a strong respect for law enforcement. is that fair? >> would you be able to proudly say to your friends and facebook followers and family members, i was a juror who found mr. chauvin not guilty? >> reporter: all of the jurors said they were familiar with the situation. most of them said they have seen the video where george floyd is under the knee of that former minneapolis police officer. each of them, this is the important part, each have said that they are able to set that aside and be an impartial juror on this process. craig? >> seeing and hearing those lawyers ask those questions is pretty revealing. shaquille brewster for us on the ground in minneapolis where it looks like it's going to be a busy day. we will check in with you in a bit. we have breaking news right now in new york. growing pressure on new york governor andrew cuomo to resign. four more new york democratic members of congress joined the chorus this morning. that means now 11 democratic representatives from the state have called on cuomo to step down. congressman jerry nadler says he lost the confidence of the people in the state. cuomo can no longer lead. just last hour, it was congresswoman grace meng who said this to my colleague hallie jackson. >> with the increasing numbers of incidents coming through every single day, it's just become too much of a distraction for our state legislators to be able to do the job that they need to do to carry our state through this pandemic. >> six women have accused governor cuomo of inappropriate behavior, prompting those calls for him to resign. governor cuomo denied touching anyone inappropriately. he acknowledged that he acted in ways that made people feel uncomfortable. he has said that was unintentional and he has apologized. an independent investigation with lawyers appointed by the state attorney general is underway. president biden signed the covid relief bill into law. how quickly could folks start to see those checks? 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>> we will see some kind of boom. so many households have built up extra savings. >> there's a long way to go. he predicts people's desire to socialize and spend will come back, perhaps even by this summer. >> there will be more concerts and more people dining outside at restaurants this summer, even than two years ago. >> together, we are leading the fight. >> in chinatown, nearly 200 people took to the streets to try and save this restaurant, urging the landlord to help. but it wasn't enough. sunday was the last day for customers in truman lam's banquet hall. for now, he will continue takeout. wants to find a new location to keep up the legacy. the lights are out. the hope is there for a lighter and brighter year ahead, that by next lunar new year, good luck and prosperity will be restored in chinatown and throughout the country. it will be. it will be restored. i want to turn now to break down what exactly is in the american rescue plan for you, what it means for you. looking at what we just saw there in chinatown, it's obvious that there are so many folks who are hurting right now. let's start with the question on everyone's mind this morning. when will people start to see those 1,400 checks hit their bank accounts or mailboxes? >> it will begin as early as this weekend. the best thing people can do to get their money, especially if they saw their income fall, file as soon as today. the treasury is making the determinations as we speak. to make sure that people have uploaded their bank information to the irs through the portal. that's the fastest way to get it. it will take longer through a paper check in the mail. >> good information there. another huge change is the child tax credit. folks not talking about this as much. one viewer did ask about that specifically. this viewer writing, what income bracket is qualified to receive the money? is a family of four with a joint income of $250,000 qualified? who qualifies and how does this bill change how the child tax credit works? >> that family of four will not qualify for this enhancement. it's available for singles up to $75,000 and couples making up to $150,000. it's a huge, huge shift. it increases the existing tax credit of $2,000 to $3,000 for kids 6 to 17 and $3,600 for kids under 6. it eliminates a minimum threshold income. it's a big deal for families under that threshold. >> our next viewer submitted a question that millions of americans can relate to as well. susan asking, is there anything to help homeowners who are behind in mortgage payments? how or what do we do to apply? my husband and i are dreadfully behind in mortgage payments. i was laid off. my husband lost his second job. even after the stimulus check, we will be in trouble. >> the best thing i can advise our viewer to do is call their lender or loan servicer. there is a $10 billion fund for what's called the homeowner assistance program in this covid bill. it can wave late fees and potentially grant some forbearance. it's complicated. individuals want to take advantage of this and should contact their loan servicer directly. >> the rescue plan makes some pretty substantial changes to the affordable care act. how will they affect people's health care. >> there's $34 billion in obamacare subsidies. those are the exchanges. people are going to pay no more than 8.5% of their income on insurance premiums. many people pay more than that. for those making 150% of the poverty line or less, $20,000 a year, their premiums will be eliminated entirely. >> very useful information. answering questions there about what's in the bill, what it means. thank you. our doctors are back as well. they are back to answer all of your questions about the pandemic, including when you can safely get together with family and friends. we will also take a moment to remember yet another one of the many lives taken by this virus. a 28-year-old mother and proud member of the navajo nation. ♪ ♪ be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? 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[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. a year ago today, college basketball's march madness was canceled for the first time in the ncaa's history because of the pandemic. some good news for fans this morning though. it's back. starting next week. there's a tightrope the ncaa will have to walk. new tighter restrictions for everyone on and off the court because of this pandemic. sam brock is covering this part of the story from miami. sam, so much has changed in a year. march madness is back. what's being done this time around to make sure that players and some of the fans who are able to watch the games are safe? >> reporter: the madness continues. that's the good news. in terms of the rules and restrictions you were describing, every single interaction, every practice, every trip is being planned. with respect to the big news of the day from yesterday, duke bowing out of the tournament, after having a positive test, that was a big deal because of the profile of the university, the fact they made 24 consecutive ncaa tournaments. here is the bottom line. duke was being so careful that the players were being -- were staying at a hotel on campus for the season and still this happened. the ncaa is in a position where they are trying to figure out, how are we going to maneuver 68 schools, 2,000 plus people and traveling parties? most of this in indianapolis on a half dozen courses, primarily from local universities. they are bringing all of these people in at that time. it's being done to a granular detail. 25% capacity at the games. that includes staff, team, ushers, administrators, everybody involved in putting this on. the bus trips, 34 folks for each team are being split up among three different buses with assigned seats so no one is next to another person or with anyone in front of them. the elevator trips are being planned so if a team is practicing, they shut down the other elevators, bringing some people down, moving them out and doing the same thing with the rest of the teammates. that's how particular this is. dana o'neill has never seen anything like it. here is how she describes what's going on right now in indiana. >> you will go from your hotel bubble to your practice bubble to your transportation bubble bubble to your arena bubble and back. so that is sort of like a bunch of mini bubbles within one another. >> reporter: even the officials are being quarantined in their hotels. their day basically continue sises of going from hotel to van to arena, back to hotel and that's it. dana said if the coaches want to go for a jog outside, they would rather you run in the convention skyway hallways rather than go outside. that is how careful the ncaa is being, at least for the start of this as you start with really an unprecedented blueprint putting on everyone's favorite tournament, march madness, which will go on starting next week. >> sam brock in miami, thank so much. now that we have new guidance from the cdc for fully vaccinated people, we wanted to answer some more of your questions on getting together, being with our friends and family and loved ones. we bring back dr. patel, and we've got a question from the oakland jazz choir on twitter. they're asking can a small, fully vaccinated community choir of 15 to 20 rehearse together with singer's masks outdoors around indoors? >> great question. i'm looking forward to hearing as much music as possible. so the updated cdc guidance allows for fully vaccinated people, two weeks after your second dose with a two does vaccine, and two weeks for one doors. indoors without a mask is exceptional. i would offer that 15 to 20 is right at the cusp of kind of medium sized. if possible, keeping the risk lower now would be great and it sounds like they're willing to sing outdoors and that's wonderful also. i would encourage fully vaccinated people, small settings to get together indoors without masks even. >> all right. we have an email from a golfer who's ready to get back out on the course. she says i would like to rejoin my ladies golf league in may. i will be fully vaccinated by then. but other members might not be. will it be safe for me to join? >> so this is an area where i think we have to kind of go beyond what the cdc guidance says. a lot of us are being a little more bold because the cdc guidance was cautious. golfing is an outdoor activity, it was low risk prevaccine. if you're vaccinated around some people that are unvaccinated but you're in an outdoor setting, it's low risk. i don't think that people that are vaccinated are going to be shown to be drives of infection. more and more data is coming out. i would say that that is a relatively safe activity. but it goes beyond the cdc guidance. we'll see more iterations of the guidance as we get more data from the cdc so they feel comfortable making those judgments. i would say go for it. >> dr. patel, one more here. if everyone involved is vaccinated, if everyone is vaccinated can visiting family and friends stay overnights for short visits? >> absolutely. that's the greatest sign that we're getting closer to normal. you should visit and feel comfortable staying with them. >> doctors, thank you. what beautiful tulips you have there on this friday morning. enjoy the weekend, doctors. this week, we have been taking a moment every day to honor the more than 533,000 americans we have lost to this virus. one of the lives cut short was valentina blackhorse opinion according to her sister, she was a natural mother, a caring sibling, and the glue that held their family together. valentina was also a former miss western navajo dedicated to sharing her culture and language. she died just one day after testing positive. she leaves behind a 1-year-old daughter, who she loved deeply. this is how we should remember valentina blackhorse in the words of her younger sister. >> she feels our go-to person. anytime i would run into something i would go to her. ask for advice, ask for help. being a mom made her happy. her daughter was an infant. our language and our culture. anytime she would -- you know, let the kids know that their language is important and not to let it fade away. apropos before she passed she test came back positive. her test showed the covid one. she didn't really talk about it. because i think she didn't want us worried. she didn't want her kids to worry about her. you know, her daughter says mama and, you know, she'll say mama. >> valentina blackhorse died from covid-19 on april 23rd, 2020. she was just 28 years old. that's going to do it for me this hour. "andrea mitchell reports" starts after a short break. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. 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