From the white house. The log jam clearly over when it comes to cabinet confirmations. Senators making moves on three more of them today, on picks for commerce, along with Homeland Security and the state department. A big deal. Plus, the action today at the white house, what were learning about how President Biden is trying to try to improve Racial Equity with the stroke of a pen. Im Hallie Jackson in washington. Here to start us off Garrett Haake on capitol hill, kara lee near the white house. Garrett, let me start with you. A few hours until senators are sworn in for this historic trial. We have never seen this before. Weve never seen senators sworn in now for the second time, right, of an impeachment trial of the same person, the same president. One big question about the proceedings is now answered, who is going to preside, but other questions are still up in the hair. Not a lot of time to figure things out. Reporter at some point were going to see an agreement between the majority and minority on the structure of this trial. They have two weeks to sort that out. The actual trial with senators seated as a court wont begin until february 9th but today we will see the senators sworn in, summons sent out for Donald Trumps response here and then most of this process moves behind closed doors. I can tell you this trial is about as popular as a root canal among republican senators and were starting to see a lot of processrelated arguments about whether it should even happen at all. Today on the floor we expect to hear rand paul raise a constitutional point of order about whether its appropriate to try someone who is now essentially a private citizen. That could force a vote today. We also heard from republican senators like john cornyn complaining about the fact that it will be one of their own, pat leahy as Senate President pro tem presiding here, not the chief justice. Theyre seeing that through a political lens saying theyre going to have a democratic senator essentially sitting as the presiding officer is inappropriate. Expect to hear a lot of those process arguments here from republicans essentially trying to dampen the public enthusiasm or public regard for this trial before it gets going in earnest come the 9th. And, garrett, interesting, too, about the lunch that Jonathan Turley is going to be at talk being what weve seen, this constitutional argument that a lot of republicans have started to make over the last 48 hours or so. Reporter thank you for reminding me of that. Jonathan turley who was a witness for President Trump when he was still President Trump in the first impeachment trial on the legal elements of this will speak to republican senators behind closed doors today essentially arming them in a way with more process arguments about why as he believes this trial should not go forward in the first place. I expect were going to hear a lot more of those arguments coming out of the mouths of republican senators after they have this briefing from professor turley today. You got to imagine thats going to be the case. Carol, over on the other end of pennsylvania avenue you have finally now President Biden making frankly his most extensive remarks yet about impeachment, including on whether he thinks the gop votes are actually there or not, right . Fill us in. Reporter so he basically what he said was after days, hallie, where we had asked this question to the white house, what is the president s position on impeachment and theyve really deflect and wouldnt the answer the question. Just before the president weighed in on this running into a reporter in the hallway of the west Wing White House press secretary jen psaki said she appreciated all the creative ways reporters were asking this question but the now president no longer serves on the senate and isnt going to weigh in on what senators should do in the process. Yesterday he said that he does think that this needs to go forward. The question, though, hallie, that he hasnt answered is whether or not he thinks that former President Trump should be convicted in the senate or how he would vote if he were in his former job. So that is still remaining out there. He did say taking a little air out this have trial for democrats saying that he doesnt expect that they would get to this needed 17 republicans to convict the president and, again, still hasnt answered this question of how he might vote if he were still in the senate. Garrett, real quick, can i go back to you because the other headline this morning coming out of the hill is congress is now able to actually do some things that Congress Needs to do, right . This Democratic Majority Senate able to get back to business after this standoff with the republican leader. See if i can answer without using the word filibuster or putting it in plain english. Reporter the Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has ended his blockade surrounding a rules package. Mcconnell wanted assurances that democrats wouldnt do away with a 60 vote threshold for passing big pieces of legislation. Chuck schumer wouldnt give it to him, but mcconnell instead found that assurance in two Democratic Senators restating their longheld and widely known views that they would not be willing to get rid of that 60vote threshold and mcconnell essentially took that as a win, said he would remove his hold on setting up just the procedures and rules of the road for the senate and now we move forward as we probably could have done two weeks ago, but we have all reaffirmed that joe manchin and Kyrsten Sinema senator from arizona dont want to get rid of that 60 vote threshold. Thank you both very much. Keep an eye on the senate floor for updates on the impeachment trial man, where some key senators stand. Were also getting word of a new investigation opened inside the Justice Department looking at whether former officials were involved in altering the outcome of the 2020 investigation. Let me bring in Pete Williams in washington with more on this. Pete, this stems it seems from that rather extraordinary New York Times article over the weekend. What more are you learning . Its exactly right. That is the whole reason for the launching of the investigation. Remember the Inspector General of the Justice Department already said he was going to look into the circumstances of the firing of the u. S. Attorney in atlanta who the suggestion was wasnt being active enough on the part of the white house to question the results in georgia. So now the ig is going to look at whether current or former Justice Department officials did anything wrong in discussing this with the white house. Now, you showed the picture of Jeffrey Clark who was the head of the civil digs at the Justice Department, acting head of the civil division. What the New York Times first reported and we have confirmed is that he had a meeting with the president in which he suggested or it was at least discussed that the Justice Department could write a letter to georgia saying the results of the election were under investigation and ultimately that didnt happen. The president apparently considered whether to fire jeff rosen who was the acting attorney general and put clark in his place. None of that ever happened. But thats what the Inspector General is going to look into. Of course, there are limits on what an Inspector General can do. He can compel the testimony of current Justice Department officials but most of the people involved in this are trump people and theyre gone. How much cooperation he can get from them isnt clear. Clark has said that the times story isnt accurate but hasnt said whats wrong with it. Thats what hes going to look into. Presumably also look at the calls that were made to the georgia secretary of state. Although the Inspector General says his jurisdiction does not extend to allegations against other government officials, that would be notably people at the white house and the president. Pete williams live for us there in washington. Thank you. So on that note let me bring in now democratic senator mazie hirono of hawaii, a member of the Judiciary Committee, also the Armed Services committee, among others. Senator, good to have you back on the show. Good morning. Good morning. So my colleague Pete Williams just laid out this Justice Department investigation looking at current and former doj officials involved in those efforts to try to overturn the election. I know that House Intelligence Committee chair adam schiff called it a good start but said much more will be required. What do you think . Is this a good start and what else does congress, perhaps your committee need to do to layer on top of this investigation . Do you have plans to do more . Its very clear that President Trump did everything he could, including an 11th hour desperate move to try to reshuffle the leadership at the department of justice so that they could present a case to the Supreme Court to overturn the election results. The only thing that stopped the president from doing this was the potential for mass resignations at the doj if we went ahead with this scheme. Im glad that the ig is conducting an investigation, im glad that the house will conduct their hearings and i hope that the new chair of our Judiciary Committee will also look into these matters because we have to hold this president accountable. To me that is the bottom line. You cant have a lawless president just go off into the sunset without and really threatening our democracy through inciting insurrection and we just sit here going, well, lets just move on. You talk about this issue of accountability. Obviously thats going to be front and center in this impeachment trial. You are one of the people who will be, i think, in a matter of a couple of hours here sworn in now for that second impeachment trial. Youve been hearing as we laid out at the top of this broadcast a number of republicans frankly make this process argument, if you will, right, that this trial itself is not constitutional. Jonathan turley will be in talking with republicans later today before the swearing in, making that same case. Are you concerned that the senators who are making that argument arent they the very ones that democrats would need to get on board in order to hit that conviction threshold . Does this jeopardize a potential conviction for the president . The fact that the republican senators are hiding behind a process argument as opposed to facing the substance of what we all experienced on january 6 says to me that they probably are looking for an excuse not to convict the president. So there you have it. But we need to go ahead with this process, with this impeachment, and i hope that there will be some senators who will have a conscience and listen to the facts and also the fact that we were all witnesses to this violent insurrection where five people died. I hope that they will look to the substance as opposed to the process. Do you think that some of the critics who are concerned about democratic senator Patrick Leahy presiding over this trial have a point perhaps on that front . Patrick leahy is president pro tem meaning that he has served in the senate for the longest time and he has a reputation for integrity. I know that hes going to conduct this trial in a way that will be fair. Let me ask you about minority leader Chuck Schumer excuse me, majority leader Chuck Schumer as we are now getting used to calling him. He talked about consequences down the road for josh hawley and ted cruz. You have talked about accountability on the part of the president , i wonder about accountability for those senators as well. What kind of consequences do you think would be appropriate as this sort of discussion is happening now in your chamber about these two senators who of course objected to the electoral vote count . I have signed on to a letter to ask the Senate Ethics committee to conduct an investigation into the behavior of cruz and hawley and i think that that is an appropriate way to go. We have jurisdiction the senate has jurisdiction over the behavior of senators and so im calling for the Ethics Committee to exercise that jurisdiction. Im one of seven senators, Democratic Senators, who have signed that letter. Let me ask you and can i add yeah. I just wanted to add, hallie, that, you know, these two senators they did more than just simply have a disagreement over the election results. They were very busy just putting out the lie that this election was stolen. So they were ring leaders. And were it not for these two senators basically leading the charge in the senate to sign on to these objections, even though 100 House Republicans objected, those objections would have gotten nowhere, so they needed senators to sign on to the objections and senators hawley and cruz provided that leadership on the senate side to contest a fair and free election result. Before i let you go i have to get you on this news that we learned overnight as we were coming on the air this morning about the power sharing agreement, right . Congress can basically start to function now again. Senator mcconnell point to go two of your democratic colleagues, joe manchin, Kyrsten Sinema and their objections to the filibuster, that 60vote threshold. Do you believe that this agreement now, is that it . Is this the last we are going to hear about the filibuster this session or do you worry that this should be right back in front of you or should it be right back in front of you when Congress Takes up immigration . If Mitch Mcconnell uses the 60 vote threshold to be the obstructionist that hes been for so many years i think we will need to revisit. We are in the middle of a pandemic, an economic crisis and we need to get things done and if Mitch Mcconnells purpose is to make sure that President Bidens agenda and priorities will go nowhere, then err going to need to revisit the filibuster issue. He cant use 60 votes to block every good thing that the democrats want to bring forward for a vote in the senate. So perhaps not the last we will hear of that story. Senator, thank you so much for making time for us this morning. Thank you. On some of these Key Headlines in your chamber wechlt appreciate it. Coming up here, an ambitious goal of 1. 5 million shots a day by the spring set by the president , even with this growing vaccine shortage. Next up, one of the countrys vaccine experts on how we might be able to get there. And later an executive order meant to advance Racial Equity. The new details we are just learning, plus where it could help and where it might need some work when we talk with a leader in the black lives Matter Movement. E talk with a leader in the black lives Matter Movement [ engine rumbling ] [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] uh, you know theres a 30minute limit, right . Tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Since my dvt blood clot. I wasnt sure. Was another around the corner . Or could things go a different way . I wanted to help protect myself. My doctor recommended eliquis. Eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. Almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didnt experience another. And eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Eliquis is fdaapproved and has both. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Whats around the corner could be worth waiting for. Ask your doctor about eliquis. Tmobile is upgrading its network at a record pace. Whats around the corner could be worth waiting for. We were the first to bring 5g nationwide. And now that sprint is a part of tmobile were 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 were adding more every week. Coverage and speed. Who says you cant have it all . President biden is raising the bar and now wants 1. 5 million vaccine doses to be administered every day with the goal of getting shots to anybody who wants one by the end of the spring. Theres going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we have ever tried in this country, but i think we can do that. It comes as new cdc air travel restrictions are in place to try to slow the spread of more infectious and potentially deadly covid variants from the uk, from brazil, from south america. Starting today passengers traveling into the u. S. From any foreign country must show proof of a negative covid test before they get on their flight. Health officials in the uk this morning say they now have the highest covid death rate in the world, even more than the u. S. , even more than italy. The uk now with more than 100,000 deaths linked to covid. Back here at home in the u. S. California is lifting its stay at home lockdown orders as infections and hospitalizations trend lower. That is some good news at least. It means Outdoor Dining can start again on friday in california. Let me bring in dr. Paul offit director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital of philadelphia, also a member of the fda vaccines Advisory Board. Dr. Offit, great to have you with us this morning. Good morning to you. Good morning. So let me start with that news out of the white house. Vice president harris is getting ready for her second dose of the Moderna Vaccine today, the president is raising his goal 1. 5 million doses into arms every day. How realistic is that, dr. Offit, especially as were getting complaints from states that are growing about not being able to actually get enough vaccine in the first place . First of all, its not enough. If you agree with dr. Fauci and i do that we need to vaccinate about 70 of this country in order to get on top this have pandemic thats about 250 Million People with a twodose vaccine. Thats 500 million doses. If you give 3 million doses a day we could then vaccinate 70 of the population by the end of the summer. If were giving 1 or 1. 5 million doses a day and we need 500 million doses were talking about going well into next year before we get on the top of this pandemic. We have to be better at administering it than were doing now and 1. 5 million doses is still not enough. You talk about creating the vaccine, making sure we have enough out there. Let me talk to you about that because Johnson Johnson theres been a lot of execution about that vaccines. They said they might have an announcement about their vaccine, single shot, one shot not two like the other vaccines perhaps by early next week. What does this mean for that goal and as a member of that Advisory Board for the fda what are you going to be looking for when the j j info comes out . Were going to be looking at the same thing we looked at with the pfizer and Moderna Vaccines, how safe and effective is this vaccine, do we expect that the immune responses that are induced will be long lasting and then most importantly and we ask this question of every vaccine we look at, what we take it ourselves, would we give it to members of our own family, if the answer is yes then we would recommend to approve it to the fda. The president also says we could be well on our way toward herd immunity by the summer. The numbers that you have laid out indicate maybe thats overly ambitious. Whats your sense of that goal . Right. I think we can reach it, but i think we have to find a better way to mass produce this vaccine. Right now we dont have enough vaccine. Yeah. Right now the good news is the administration has surrounded itself with great scientists. When we hear Rochelle Walensky telling you the truth yesterday the head of the cdc that we are not making enough of this vaccine thats right. I think until we do that were not going to be able to get to this by the end of the summer. We can, there is no reason we cant do that, but we have to be able to do it. So what do you need, then . Is it the j j vaccine to come online . Ass zen can a, is that going to get us there . It helps. Two more vaccines over the next month would help with this mass production problem. 3 million doses a day, thats where we need to get. The u. S. s first days theres been a lot of talk about variants popping up of krs around the world. The first case of the brazil variant has been discovered in minnesota. How concerned should we be . Moderna says its vaccine covers om protection against the other strains but what is your Expert Opinion on that . Youre going to know there is a problem when people who have received two doses of the pfizer Moderna Vaccine are hospitalized with covid and infected within one of these strains like the south african or brazilian strain or california strain. Thats when you know there is a problem. We are trying to make a prediction about whether there would be a problem from looking at sera from people who have been immunized with two doses. We found for the south african strain it neutralizes it less so but it doesnt mean that its not enough, that vaccine is still not not enough. So we dont know that yet. Right now its not a problem. Its a theoretical problem. We should get ready for it as if it might be a problem but its not a problem yet. Dr. Paul offit, with he love having you break this stuff down on the show. We appreciate it and hope to have you back next week. It will be a big one potentially for you. Thank you. Back on capitol hill, President Bidens pick for the commerce secretary is testifying at her confirmation hearing right now. We will take you back live to the hill for more on that. Plus the new push to stop qanon followers from getting the security clearances they would need to serve in the government. Why critics say it could be a Civil Liberties slippery slope. We will talk with the member of congress who wrote that bill in a minute. First, this morning alabama is waking up to the after matt of a deadly tornado that hit the central part of the state north of birmingham. One person was killed, several more badly hurt. The storm flattened buildings, took down power lines. Shelters are open for people who had to evacuate while the state tries to balance the needs of people who are homeless with the spreading Coronavirus Infections as well. S infections as well. 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Your heart isnt just yours. Protect it with bayer aspirin. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. The white house this hour on new executive actions President Biden will sign today. In just a couple of hours, all intended to create more Racial Equity. An Administration Official tells nbc news theyre going to address housing, criminal justice, voting rights, health care, education and economic mobility. One of the orders will main date that the department of housing and urban development promote equitable housing policies, another will disavow racism and xenophobia including what was directed at asianamericans in the wake of covid. Other actions reportedly being rolled out today, the creation of a commission on policing, reinstating an obama era policy to stop the transfer of military equipment to local Police Departments and making prison conditions better while work to go eliminate the use of private prisons. Im joined by Brittany Cunningham a black lives matter activist, msnbc contributor, friend of this show, she was also a member of president obamas 21st Century Policing task force. Good morning to you. Good morning. Always glad to be here. Like weiss. Let me have you lay out based on your perspective here what are things where you believe these actions do well, where do they work, and where do you think they need some improvement . Where might they fall a little bit short . Well, most importantly im glad to see that these actions are coming out urgently, that the Biden Harris Administration is not wasting in i time and is putting Racial Equity at the front and center where it deserves to be. I always say that race is not the side story, it is the story because it affects everything in American Life and people of color are impacted by all policies. Im also really glad to see that Police Demilitarization has been resumed. That is something that i worked incredibly hard for alongside a number of activists and organizers around the country during the Obama Administration and the kind of tear gas and pepper spray and military tactics that we saw in residential areas are simply unacceptable when you think about whats happening in this country and what we saw this summer in response to George Floyd Protests just like we saw back in 2014 with ferguson. But i do think that there is a great deal of work to be done and im hoping that because this stuff is happening so quickly that there can be much more done in the next 100 days. I think that housing policy is crucial but we actually need to see investments in ensuring that communities of color can buy the houses that the equitable policies will make more accessible to them. We also need to see a number of things happen that are broad sweeping policies that absolutely affect people of color. People of color are affected by Environmental Issues and economic issues, so we need to see monthly survival checks as Ayanna Pressley calls them in 2,000 increments or more so make sure that people can get through this pandemic. Student debt cancellation will highly affect black indigenous and people of color and making sure that color is affordable and that we are not saddled with that debt later in life is an essential Racial Justice issue. We need to move urgently on reparations this is something that both pooid be and Vice President harris have spoken to and those are things that need to be moved urgently on to create Economic Justice and close economic gaps between black, latinx and white folks and most importantly we need to end that senate filibuster. I know that sounds like a technical issue but right now Mitch Mcconnell is trying to use that filibuster to reassert minority rule where it doesnt belong and to try to roll back civil and human rights as his party has been to go for decade. So that technical fix can actually enable all of those legislative fix that is we need to make progress. And thats interesting. We actually spoke with senator mazie hirono about that earlier on in the show about this idea that 60 vote threshold and senator hironos opinion is that it is perhaps going to have to get back on the table if senator mcconnell does try to block some legislation from moving forward. We will see how it goes given that not all democrats are unanimous in support for that. One of my colleagues here at nbc spoke with an organizer with the Philadelphia Community bail fund. I want to read you this quote. They said, quote, me and a lot of organizers are like nothing has changed. I think biden and kamala will do fluffy things rooted in respectability but actually getting to the root of black injustice i dont think theyll come anywhere near that. No politician has before. I wonder, brittany, what is your perspective . Listen, we are a week in, right . What is your perspective, though, on where this administration has been on this and what they do next . Well, listen, i think that these are perfectly legitimate fears. Folks in the black community have had many promises made to us over the years from many politicians and few of those have actually been fulfilled in really transformative ways. Transformation is the only thing that can actually help our communities be healed and be whole from the bottom up. And the best way to move forward is to earn our trust. I think all organizers and activists even if we have that feeling would love to be proven wrong and we are hoping that the Biden Harris Administration moves beyond commissions and updating research that we already have and that we already know, that they clearly listen to the demands of the community because theyve already been assembled and that they do courageous things like moving some of the money from the cops program and the doj away from further funding Police Departments but actually putting them into social programs and social services that make communities well from the ground up. Things like Funding Mental Health care and Restorative Justice in schools can actually help us reimagine Public Safety without putting more money in the hands of institutions that continue to abuse us. Thats the kind of courage that we deserve to see from this administration and activists will be there, organizers will be there to embolden and empower, to critique, to push, to cheer when it happens and to make sure that those are the kinds of changes that our communities do receive. Brit me cunningham, well said. Thank you so much, very much for the being on the show. We appreciate your time. We want to take you live back to capitol hill and this hearing room where President Bidens nominee for commerce secretary Gina Raimondo is testifying before a senate committee. We will keep an ear for any news as we watch some of the other movement happening today on the president s cabinet picks. We have a final vote in less than two hours to confirm tony blinken as secretary of state. Nbcs leanne canned well is on capitol hill. There is a Committee Vote on the head of the Homeland Security division. Leigh ann, talk about what we can expect today. Reporter hallie, bidens cabinet is slowly but surely being put into place. After tony blinken is confirmed could be secretary of state in just a couple hours which he is well expected to do biden will have four big cabinet secretaries in place regarding National Security and the cabinet secretaries who will help to implement the biden agenda. Before that was janet yellen who was confirmed last night to be treasury secretary, last week was avril haines to be director of National Intelligence and lloyd austin to be the defense secretary. One thing thats notable, hallie, is that most of these all of these nominees so far have been confirmed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Biden has not had to face the controversy with any of these nominees just yet, none of them have had to withdraw. The most controversial so mar is mayorkas who is going to be voted out of committee in just the next hour to be the head of the Homeland Security committee. He seems to have some opposition among the republicans, senator josh hawley, though, who does oppose him says that hes not going to hold up his confirmation, hes just simply going to oppose him. So by the end of the week democrats think that mayorkas and perhaps Pete Buttigieg will also be confirmed to be transportation secretary. So that would be six cabinet nominees if things run smoothly for the rest of the week for bidens cabinet. Hallie . We are getting a tiny bit of news out of Mitch Mcconnell who just spoke on the senate floor. This is a little procedural but its kind of interesting. We were talk about this issue of the 60vote threshold aka the filibuster and apparently senator mcconnell said he basically went directly to one of the Democratic Senators who is on his side about this, right . Thats sort of unusual. Reporter yeah, so mcconnell was waiting for an agreement from schumer, not to get rid of this filibuster, of course, thats that 60vote threshold that is needed to pass any sort of legislation on the floor. The filibuster, if that 60vote threshold is gotten rid of then it just needs a simple majority. Schumer was not giving that to mcconnell, any sort of commitment, so what mcconnell just said is that Arizona Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema gave mcconnell her assurance that is she would not vote to get rid of the filibuster, that 60vote threshold and that was apparently good enough for mcconnell to drop his opposition to this powersharing agreement now that they can start to organize how the senate is going to operate, hallie. Thank you much. Also on capitol hill a bill being floated to try to stop capitol rioters or qanon supporters from getting the security clearances they would need to have a job in the government. Next up we are talking about a lawmaker who craft that had bill, congresswoman stephanie murphy. Shes joining us live. There she is. First, no good deed goes unpunished as jimmy fallon found out to clean Steve Kornackis office. Are you kidding me . Who has pretied ties . He has a hockey jersey. Measuring tape . Blazer, you couldnt wear this on tv. More ties under the blazer. Advertise should go on the racks, clothes going to the rack. Im literally making your room cleaner by cleaning things. Steve, i thought 2020 was a Dumpster Fire but then i saw your ofs. A Dumpster Fire but then i saw your ofs so bird watching is trending this morning, but its not about evian fans peeping in the park. Its what at which timer is calling its newest effort to fight misinformation. Some people can help identify things in tweets believed to be misleading or simply not true. Thats on top of twitters civic integrity policy, the one that temporarily suspended congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene the one that prompted the new ban of mike lindell the ceo of my pillow and the one that permanently booted donald trump off because of what he posted related to the capitol riots. Those comments from the then president are being used in court. Remember this guy . The qanon is that man predominantly featured in coverage from january 6. His lawyer is saying that very language from the former president is to blame for the is that mans actions. He regrets very, very much having not just been duped by the president , but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position of making decision he should not have made. Whoever he blames, he is the one who still made that decision of course to go in and ransack the capitol. Now lawmakers are taking action so that somebody like him is not making decisions on behalf of the country. Thats because there is now a new bill aimed at banning qanon believers or followers or anybody who participated in the capitol riots from getting a Government Security clearance. Its already drawing criticism from people who say it could take away Civil Liberties. Murphy has proposed a bill that would ban anyone from the wrong opinions from having a significant opinion in the federal government. Believe forbidden things and you dont get a security clearance. You cant work here. Joining me now the democratic florida congresswoman introducing this bill stephanie murphy. Thanks for being on the show. Great to be with you. So let me start there with the criticism of your bill so far coming from Tucker Carlson and others who say this is basically an attack on Civil Liberties, this is cancel culture run amok, a slippery slope meant to happen. Im not surprised to see someone like Tucker Carlson misconstruing this bill to incite fear and to create space for the radical right wing views to continue to be a part of our society. But, look, i used to be a former National Security specialist, ive been through the sf86 process. They ask you about everything from your work history to your foreign activities to your Mental Health, police record. So that they can determine whether or not you are reliable, trustworthy and of good conduct and character and loyal to the united states. So a security clearance is a privilege not a right and i think that if an american participated in the Capitol Attack or if they subscribed to the dangerous and antigovernment views of qanon, that have been linked to that attack, then they really have no business being entrusted with our national secrets. I assume thats what gave you the inspiration to put this bill together, congresswoman . Absolutely. And anybody who has held a security clearance understands whats at stake. That we put a lot of resources and human lives at risk to collect intel so that we can make good decisions and secure our country. If we have people who have bad intentions, who arent of good character, they dont deserve to be in possession of that kind of information that can harm this country. And certainly somebody who participated in an effort to overthrow the u. S. Government shouldnt be in possession of information that could hurt this country. Is there something in the bill that would sort of backstop against what some have described as the potential for a slippery slope. Today its qanon written in, tomorrow what if its something else, another type of belief . It simply asks if you participated in the january 6 event. It should be disclosed if you participated in that violent insurrection and it also asks if you are a part of any organization that believes in these kinds of conspiracy theories. And then its up to the adjudicator to take that information and decide whether or not you are worthy and can hold our state secrets secure and whether or not you can be trusted to hold a security clearance and work for the united states. You know, i dont think its a crazy idea that if you participated in a violent attempt to overthrow our government that you shouldnt be allowed to work for that very same government. And to be clear, qanon is a crazy Conspiracy Theory that says former President Trump was under assault by satan worshippers and as a result government leaders should be arrested, tried and executed. Weve seen that Conspiracy Theory result in violence, whether its the pizza parlor shooting in washington or the most recent attempt to overthrow the government. How somebody who discloses their affiliation with these organizations or these activities would be deemed suitable to hold a clearance and serve this country and uphold our constitution is hard for me to imagine. Very quickly, congresswoman, do you believe this bill has enough support from your colleagues that it could make it through the house . Look, this bill isnt about republicans or democrats, its about americans who care about combating violent extremism that is here now on our shores. So i know that i have a lot of republican colleagues who have served this country who have also held a security clearance having gone through the sf86 process and im hopeful that they can see that we need to be able to root out this kind of extremism in our government organizations and in the military and in other places where people are entrusted with our national secrets. So i am hopeful that we will be able to move this on a bipartisan basis. Congresswoman stephanie murphy, thank you so much for talking through this with us here on the show. With he would love to have you back. We appreciate your time. Former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed this would take years because of technical issues, but the Biden Administration is now speeding up the push to put Harriet Tubman on the 20 bill. It is the culmination of a years Long Campaign to put a woman on the bill in place of Andrew Jackson and it just so happens to be a campaign that i covered five and a half years ago when i was a baby reporter for nbc nightly news in los angeles. I think that her story and what she did is just so incredible. What message do you have for the president , then . I think that the president should definitely put a woman on the 20 bill because we are powerful. We are. And Harriet Tubman might be on that 20 before too long. After the break the debate over reopening schools. How the isolation of virtual schooling might be contributing to alarming Mental Health issues for students. An important story you will not want to miss after the break. L want to miss after the break ooh la la by cherie it was the age of wisdom. Ooh la la by cherie the moxie showerhead speaker. Only from kohler. As covid cases keep setting records across the country its hard to imagine a return to normalcy especially in schools but Remote Learning on top of logistical challenges seem to pose an unexpected threat perhaps, one involving the Mental Health of school kids. Kate snow joins me now. President biden signed an executive order promising to create covid safe conditions for in Person Learning. Why are some teachers and educators saying in Person Learning has crucial Mental Health implications . A lot of experts, parents, are concerned about the impact that Remote Learning is having on our kids Mental Health. Theres a debate because on the one hand you have the physical risks of covid when you go back to in Person Learning. The story were about to tell you may be disturbing because were looking at a district where suicides are up dramatically. Reporter this morning the great debate over whether to send kids back to in person school. For superintendent jarra in nevada, which includes las vegas, its not even a question. Its a priority. Its a priority for us to be really looking and bringing normalcy to our children and our family. Reporter since the district switched to Remote Learning last march he says theyve had 19 students take their own lives. We lost another kid saturday. This saturday . Im so sorry. Reporter the youngest, a third grader, just 9 years old. With Virtual Learning for nearly a year, jarra says students have slipped academically, lost time with friends and have no facetoface contact with teachers or staff who could help them in crisis. Its hard to know why someone takes their life but do you personally think there is a length between virtual schooling and the number of suicides youve had . I think theres a factor involved in this, yes. I believe so . In what sense . I think the isolation, i think the kids reaching out, they dont have that vehicle in school right now, and i think there is a factor anecdotally. Reporter in rural Washington State lily says her anxiety got worse after in person classes stopped nearly a year ago. Always have someone physically next to me. I would always have someone i could physically talk to without having to dial their number or text them through snapchat and now im just with my cat in my room. Do you feel a lot of uncertainty right now . Is that part of the anxiety . Yes. I am im in my junior year. Im planning to take the sats. Im doing college searches. Right knew, im not learning. Im not retaining any information. Reporter across the country 42 of students are attending schools that are virtual only. Chicago wants to open Public Schools for in Person Learning next week but the citys Teachers Union is refusing to return. For you benefits of getting kids in the building doesnt outweigh the dangers . At this point it does not. Reporter lori is a mother of three and Virtual Learning hasnt been easy. But shes also a spanish teacher for kindergarten through eighth grade. If we move quickly, are we prepared for the damage it can cause . Are we prepared for how many kids will get sick . Are we prepared for how many teachers and Staff Members will get sick . It will happen. Reporter the city points to a study of Chicago Catholic School students back in the classroom that found in Person Learning poses a low risk of covid transmission even low are than the risk in the broader community. The union says the Catholic School system is different than Public Schools and say since prek and kids with disabilities went back to Public Schools there have already been positive cases at more than 60 facilities. President biden was asked about the situation in chicago monday. The teachers i know they want to work. They just want to work in safe environment and as safely as you can make it and we can do that. Reporter teachers and students waiting for answers as School Districts across the nation are tested by relentless pandemic. A lot of teachers are asking for vaccinations before they go back inside a school. Lori told me she would feel more supportive if she had both shots. Such an important story and im appreciative for you for bringing that to us. As always, if youre having thoughts of suicide or selfharm look for help. Call the number were about to put on your screen, 1800273talk. You are not alone. That does it for us this hour. Craig melvin and his interviews with former dhs secretary tom ridge and former vp nominee joe lieberman. See you tomorrow. E west side. Run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks. My nunormal fewer asthma attacks. Less oral steroids. Taking my treatment at home. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. 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So choose a data option thats right for you. Get nationwide 5g included and save up to 300 a year on the network rated 1 in customer satisfaction. Its your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. And good tuesday to you. Craig melvin here from the msnbc World Headquarters in new york city. We are following a lot of movement in our Nations Capital right now. A few hours from now President Biden will address one of the biggest promises of his administration, advancing Racial Equity. On capitol hill this hour, the senate Homeland Security committee will be smeegts to vote on the nomination of President Bidens Homeland Security alejandro mayorkas, our immigration system will be central to his responsibilities and it is central