Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Stephanie Ruhle 20210125

Priority, fighting the covid pandemic, and bringing our economy back. On the covid front it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. Over the weekend we hit a new covid milestone, 25 million cases, at the same time 420,000 americans have lost their lives. More than 20,000 died in the last week alone. Now, vaccines are out there, but things are moving slowly. Only about half of the total number of vaccines that have been distributed have actually made it into peoples arms. Some states are actually running out of doses completely. At the very same time President Biden is trying to deal with the economic side of the crisis. Today he will sign a new executive order focused on boosting american manufacturing, a made in america pledge followed by actual policy and then later tonight the house will deliver that single article of impeachment to the senate, the one accusing former President Trump of inciting an insurrection at the u. S. Capitol. The trial itself will not start for at least two weeks, but tonights event will get the ball officially rolling. I want to dig deeper into all of this and start with my colleague Garrett Haake on capitol hill. Garrett, how does impeachment fit in with all the rest that congress has to do right now . Reporter well by rule the impeachment trial process is supposed to start the very next day after the article is brought over to the senate but by agreement the senate has pushed that back, which allows them time to get a couple of Different Things done in the start of this Biden Administration. Now, by pushing the start date back to february 9th at the soonest republicans get a little bit of opportunity for donald trump to defend himself, to put his defense team together, put an argument together over the next couple weeks. Democrats get the chance to continue to confirm President Bidens nominees. Were going to see a vote on janet yellen tonight, a Committee Vote on the department of state, see his confirmation vote later this week and they get a chance to start nibbling at that next covid relief package. Its hard to see that getting passed in the immediate future but it gives them an opportunity to work. All of this while the trial hangs over everything, and as you talk to republican senators who are the swing jurors now in this process, its somewhat difficult to see how they get to 17 votes that would be necessary to convict between senators who dont really see the need, or arent entirely convinced that this is an impeachable offense. Heres a little bit of what we heard frankly just over the weekend. I think the trial is stupid. I think its counterproductive. We already have a flaming fire in this country and its like taking a bunch of dpas lean and pouring it on top of the fire. I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw which is incitement to insurrection is an impeachable offense, if not, what is . Reporter romney, youll remember, was the lone republican to vote for Donald Trumps conviction in the first impeachment trial. He would need a lot more of his colleagues to come along with him to see the former president convicted this time, steph. All right, garrett, lets get starter on all of this and go from the politics to the law. Lets bring in former acting solicitor general neal katyal, he literally wrote the book impeach the case against donald trump, and our dear friend chuck rosenberg, the host of the oath podcast. Neal, as days go by more and more republicans are opposing the senate trial completely. It feels like the possibility of getting 17 republicans to convict is getting further and further out of reach. Does that change what democrats should do Going Forward . I think it does. First of all, just remember, this trial, unlike the last one, stephanie, the democrats are in charge and they have the majority so they have the ability to craft some of the rules and actually have a real trial with witnesses, which didnt happen the last time around. And i think that the accusation here is a really simple one, its on videotape for everyone to see, which is trump stoked an insurrection and we saw the consequences of it. And as senator romney said, if not for this, then for what . And yes, youre absolutely right that, you know, marco rubio and some others are moving into a world in which were saying this trial is silly and so on, which is a really sad statement. I think, you know, on january 6th many republicans looked in the mirror and they realized what theyre enabling and coddling had wrought and now theyre starting to look the other way again as they looked the other way before. I think a trial can change things. Sustained attention to what trump actually did and having witnesses come forward can change dynamics a lot. I wouldnt underestimate the trial and its importance. This is why the founders have impeachment in the constitution, to draw a red line and say people like donald trump should be disqualified, lifetime ban from future office holding. Chuck, senator rubio says dont go forward with a trial because you can still hold people accountable through criminal investigations. But does that include a former president . Well, you can hold people accountable through criminal investigations. Thats absolutely true. But what he said earlier made no sense to me at all, stephanie, that theres a raging fire and that an impeachment fire would simply be pouring gasoline on it. What he didnt add, we ought to let the arsonist go. He can hold them accountable in an election, the president lost it. You can hold them accountable criminally but none of that excludes an impeachment trial and i completely agree with neal, if not this case, what case . He incited an insurrection, people died because of his words and its for the senate to judge whether or not to let somebody like that ever hold office again. The answer to that is obvious, he should not. Its one of the two penalties the senate can levy. The mere fact he could be charged by federal prosecutors in no way precludes an impeachment in my view. What do you think . The idea that a criminal everyone is subject to a criminal charge. If that rationale were true we would never have feet e impeachment. Donald trump is going to be investigated for many Different Things but the impeachment standard is different, its about office holding, not about whether someone should be in jail. Is this person america wants to put forth as being a possible candidate for high office again and i think the answer to that answers itself. Lets talk about what the president was up to, where his head was at come early january. The New York Times reported a story over the weekend that in late december after bill barr, who had been the president s human shield for years, after he actually said enough is enough, we saw President Trump, according to the New York Times, concoct a plan to replace the attorney general Jeffrey Rosen with the Justice Department official, a guy named jeffrey clark, someone who had helped trump try to overturn the Election Results and the only reason President Trump didnt do that is because when other members of the department of justice got word of this there was risk in mass they would all quit and that would be quite a spectacle, what do you make of that, chuck . Its interesting, stephanie, first of all the president doesnt have to concoct a plan or plot, hes the president. If he wanted to get rid of his acting attorney general, he could do so. Fortunately there were some adults around him, white House Counsel and others, told him what a horrible idea it was. You make a very important point the fact that others were willing to resign en masse, that replacing his acting attorney general under those circumstances was a very bad idea. But the president always had that authority. Fortunately in this case he didnt use it. What really strikes me, and neal and i both come from the department of justice, is that a subordinate official in this case clark, the acting head of the civil division, would go around his boss, would go around the acting attorney general and try and affect this plan with the president. Thats extraordinary. Thats insubordination. If anyone should have been fired it should have been clark. Not rosen. Neal, should this be part of the impeachment trial . I think that it does form part of the matrix, again in the backdrop. Obviously the article is about the insurrection but theres a more general culture of lawlessness that surrounded the Trump Administration, and stephanie, this story is the most significant story about the Justice Department in nearly 50 years. I dont have words to describe how horrible this is and what this plot was about. And i can tell you when you take one of those big four jobs at the Justice Department, as i was privileged to for a while in serving as acting solicitor general, the one thing you think about, the first thing you think about is a saturday night massacre in 1974 and you ask yourself would i have the fortitude if my career is threatened to do the right thing. What is my oath . What is my responsibility . And its not a hard question when you think about, like, the saturday night massacre or Something Like that, and there are always coknivers like this guy clark in my administration, you cant weed them all out but they never get very far because president s surround themselves with people who have fidelity of the constitution. Its not like a house of cards episode. Theres always the conninive person, in this administration this guy got so far he got to the president of the United States itself and they hatched a plot. I mean, that is frightening and scary. While it may not be a formal article of impeachment that culture of lawlessness has to be front and center at the senate trial. Frightening and scary. I want to repeat that again, neal katyal, saying this is the worst department of justice story in the last 50 years. Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us this morning, i appreciate it. Coming up, we have got to talk about covid relief. A Bipartisan Group of a senators, both sides of the aisle, now lobbying the white house for a more targeted covid relief bill. Will that happen . Ill be speaking to one of President Bidens top economic advisers. And new travel restrictions set to be announced today aimed at slowing the spread of that highly contagious coronavirus variant. What you need to know this morning. [ engines revving ] its amazing to see them in the wild like th shhh. [ engine revs ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. So you want to make the best burger ever . Then make it [ engine revs ] that means selling everything. And eating nothing but cheese till you find the perfect slice. Even if everyone asks you. Another burger truck . Dont listen to them that means cooking day and night until you get. [ ding ] you got paid that means adding people to the payroll. Hi mom. That means. Best burger ever. Intuit quickbooks helps Small Businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping. Im a performer. Always have been. And always will be. Never letting anything get in my way. Not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. And certainly not arthritis. Voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. And it can help you too. Feel the joy of movement with voltaren. Tmobile is upgrading its network at a record pace. 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 . Now to the latest of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the facts at this hour. Across the nation the total number of cases has grown to more than 25 million. That is about one in every 13 people in this country. To date 420,000 americans have died since the pandemic began. As of this morning there is some positive news, though, in terms of trends. The seven day average for new cases is showing a drop of about 30 and at the same time hospitalizations are down, very good news. But dr. Anthony fauci says we cannot let our guard down. This isnt over. You know what i think this really is, is just a natural peaking and then plateauing and then coming down. The number of vaccines that weve gotten into the arms of people, good start, we want to keep going, get a lot of people vaccinated but i dont think the dynamics of what were seeing now with the plateauing is significantly influenced yet. It will be soon, but yet. By the vaccine. Later today President Biden is set to reinstate the travel restrictions on brazil and europe, the ones former President Trump lifted. President biden also expected to impose a travel ban on south africa, where a new strain of the virus has been identified. Joining us now nbc news senior medical correspondent dr. John torres. Dr. Fauci says new vaccines could be ready for possible approval within weeks, not months, as a person who is spending her days refreshing, refreshing, refreshing and not being able to get appointments for her parents to get a vaccine, how big of a deal would a new vaccine be . And stephanie, im hearing that story across the country. Getting this extra vaccine, this Johnson Johnson vaccine, which they expect the eua within a couple of weeks is going to be a very huge deal. They think by spring theyll have 100 million doses and the other thing about the Johnson Johnson vaccine is its a one shot vaccine, it doesnt take the storage requirements that some of the other vaccines do so it will be easier to distribute out there. As you know that distribution is a bit of a problem but the administration is also a problem. Getting that shot into peoples arms like you mentioned earlier, the shots are there, theyre not getting into the arm and stephanie thats the big problem were facing right now. I know were less than a week into this administration but i want to share hhs secretary nominee Xavier Becerra giving his assessment on where this Administration Stands right now fighting the pandemic. What we inherited didnt work and now weve got to make it work. In 100 days getting 100 shots out there on 100 million shots out there in vaccines is incredibly important. Its ambitious, its bold. Its doable. We have to do it. But we have to recognize that were doing it while the plane is in a dive like this. Of nose dive. How big of a nose dive are we in . You know, stephanie, being a military pilot, the first thing you do when youre in a nose dive is you pull back on the airplane, apply power on the throttle. I think weve done that. Weve pulled back as far as applying the power, thats getting that vaccine out there, getting that help we need to the states, and that has always been the big issue, the big stumbling block, Different Health agencies are saying were not getting the help we need to get the vaccines into peoples arms. Having a vienna refrigerator or freezer does nobody any good. It needs to be in somebodys arm. Getting the help is important. And thats what the Biden Administration is starting to do, theyre starting to work it, one big important step theyre taking is theyre getting a liaison at the federal level from each state who can tell them, heres the help we need from you and the federal government is going to do that. Fema is getting involved, they should be involved, its a disaster, an emergency, getting that help to the states will mean the states will get the help they need. States, cities, federal government, got to Work Together if we want to get through this. We always have to remember, you cannot have an economic recovery until you have a health covery, and right now covid is our boss. Dr. John, thank you so much. When we come back former President Trump talked about by america, made in america. Today President Biden will sign an executive order aimed at jump starting our slowing American Economy and actually put policy in place so we can produce more, so we can buy more to actually do it. Top Biden Economic adviser Jared Bernstein joins us on what happened in that phone call between the white house and bipartisan lawmakers all around the stimulus package and to learn more about this made in america plan. Dont you tell me that im crazy. Dont you say that im losing my mind. If im acting a little strange its cause theres something new in my life. Im in love. Love, love, love. Its everything ive been dreaming of. Im in love. Celebrate your love with a gift from Pandora Jewelry and discover all the ways to shop. 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This comes one day after members of the administration met with a Bipartisan Group of senators to discuss the president s 1. 9 trillion covid Economic Relief proposal. Nbcs Geoff Bennett is at the white house with more. What exactly is in todays buy american executive order . President biden later today is expected to sign this executive order that really boosts american purchases, boosts government purchases from american manufacturers and one of the reasons why the Biden Administration says this is an urgent imperative is because since february of last year the u. S. Has shed roughly 540,000 u. S. Factory jobs connected to the pandemic. And every year the federal government spends about 600 billion on procurement, also known as buying stuff. What this e. O. Will do is it will funnel those billions of dollars to american investment. It also closes loopholes and really restricts waivers so that manufacturers cant easily sell foreign goods to american companies, steph. Tell us what happened with that call last night . Some of the president s economic advisers and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, because we know team biden is doing a lot on the executive order front but they really want to get this stimulus package through. Yeah, and this is a call that we knew about in advance. Brian dees, who is President Bidens top economic adviser, held a phone call yesterday afternoon with 16 senators, eight democrats, eight republicans, among the republicans, are more of those selfavowed moderates. What were learning from folks on the call while they said it was a good first step, a promising conversation, there are those republicans who balked at the price tag, who balked at the scope of this package and who also expressed reservations about the timing making the case that Congress Just passed a roughly trillion dollar bill a couple weeks ago theyre making the case its too soon to do it here again but there are those democrats to include Bernie Sanders who is the chairman of the Senate Budget committee saying democrats and republicans can talk all they want, democrats are moving forward, potentially with this process known as reconciliation. Its a way of writing this proposal to pass it with democratic votes alone. So already you are seeing from some elected democrats making the case that the scale and the severity of the need is so great that theres no time to wait, that the opportunity costs for waiting are just too great, steph. Doing nothing costs a whole lot more than something that has theoretically a big price tag. Joining us now to discuss a member of President Bidens council of economic advisers is jared bern stein. Lets start with the president s made in america pledge. Former President Trump did a great job talking about made in america, getting voters excited about his commitment to that. But at the same time geoff said it, our government spends over 600 billion buying stuff and a lot of that money doesnt go to u. S. Companies. How does this executive order specifically address that . Yeah. And all the ways that geoff ticked off, setting up a systematic procedure around this significant problem. 600 billion a year in procurement, about 3 of gdp, even in washington thats real money. Let me back up for half a second to give you economics kind of underlying this executive order. You know, joe biden has always recognized that globalization, and increased trade flows, are a double edged sword. No question, these flows are positive in terms of increasing the flow of goods and services into our country and holding down price pressures. You know, thats a real attribute. But at the same time joe biden is a politician who has long recognized the downsides of globalization. Manufacturing factories that have long been hurt, communities that have been hurt and the way this is leeched into our politics in a way that too many people in power have ignored this problem, or just thrown, you know, another trade deal at it and crossed their fingers and hoped it worked out. Thats not the way he rolls on this. He has long been very committed to increasing manufacturing opportunity employment in this country and one way to do that is getting our arms around the waiver process as geoff said, creating a senior position in the executive office of president to oversee so that we stop granting these ad hoc waivers. One of my personal favorite parts of this, expanding the manufacturing extension partnership, a small Agency Within the Commerce Department thats instrumental in making sure small and diversely owned manufacturers can plug into an International Supply chain, and to this procurement process. How did we get here . I cannot imagine a lawmaker on either side of the aisle saying, yeah, lets stop doing business with u. S. Manufacturers, lets go with overseas businesses, how did we get here to begin with . Great question. The reason we got here to begin with is because theres been no oversight of the buy american provisions. These are provisions that have existed since the 1930s but i remember, and i remember because joe biden reminded me, that when we were in the recovery act there was a front page story about how recovery act dollars were flowing out of the country buying chinese steel. Let me tell you mildly that wasnt okay with the Vice President at the time and its not okay with the president now. So what hes doing here is setting in place a process that will establish domestic content rules, that will get their arms around the price waivers and the country waivers that let so many of these procurement dollars leech out because nobodys watching the shop. That probably is the best way to look at this executive order. It sets up the first systematic procedure to really enforce buy american rules. Katy porter said it last week, oversight shouldnt be political. I do want to talk about the call yesterday, a group of senators, both sides of the aisle on a call with your colleague brian dees, all focussed on this next Economic Relief package. Can you tell us what happened . Well, i wasnt on the call but ive gotten readout from my colleagues. And i think it was much as geoff described it, there was a sense of urgency in the room and it was a sense that was shared by both sides. You know, ive been listening to your show for the last few minutes and the situation in terms of virus control and vaccine production and distribution is, you know, as dire as the president has said. But he is coming in with his team and, again, its not unlike what we were just talking about, a systematic procedure that has here to fore not existed to get this vaccine into peoples arms but thats going to take resources and its going to take resources to open the schools, to make sure that people continue to get unemployment insurance, to make sure folks get the checks they need to meet their struggling economic conditions, to offset hunger, to offset evictions. All of this is critically important. While i hear republicans saying lets see how the first plan worked, im sorry, thats insufficient. The first plan was a great downpayment, Congress Took too long to get there but they did a good job. Now we have to look around the corner and recognize that that plan is but a downpayment that runs out before we will have this crisis to ground and so thats why the urgency of this plan is so foremost in our administrations mind. Well, what about a stand alone bill that some members of the gop say could work, that gives a ton of money, just for Vaccine Distribution, and leaves Everything Else out, this idea that once we actually have vaccines in the arms of the american people, were going to see pent up demand, Consumers Want to spend, jobs will come back . Yeah, this is not a light switch. This is a dimmer switch. Its not going to work that way and, you yourself said a few minutes ago its exactly the way i think about it, which is this is a duel crisis, absolutely, we have to implement the Vaccine Distribution and virus control that is so thoroughly articulated in this plan with a federal and scientific and ep deem we have to deal with the economic crisis, one analysis by mark zandy of moodies, if we dont implement the rescue plan it will take us one year longer to get back to full employment. Thats a particularly serious strain for communities of color, for black and hispanic workers whos unemployment rates are multiples of the national rate. So the economic crisis is part and parcel of the health crisis. And youre not going to you know, its not like if you its not like are getting jabbed in the arm and all the sudden the economy is going to blossom. Its much more gradual. The timing of the rescue plan takes that into account. We know it is urgent to get people back on their feet and healthy. Up next, any hope that the Republican Party would separate itself from former President Trump seems to be going out the window. What we can learn from what is playing out in the state of arizona. Dont settle for silver 1 for diabetic dry skin 1 for psoriasis symptom relief and 1 for eczema symptom relief gold bond champion your skin pick up like a pro. Gold bond just order on the subway app and its ready to go with contactless curbside. Turkey sub in a hot tub now get 15 off any footlong when you order in the app. With relapsing forms of ms, theres a lot to deal with. Not just unpredictable relapses. All these other things too. Who needs that kind of drama . Kesimpta is a oncemonthly injection that may help you put this rms drama in its place. Me back and cause serious liver problems or death. Kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections, especially when taken before or after other medicines that weaken the immune system. A rare, potentially fatal brain infection called pml may happen with kesimpta. Tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. Kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. Talk to your doctor about any injectionrelated reactions. The most common side effects are upper respiratory Tract Infections and headache. Ask your Healthcare Provider about kesimpta. Dramatic results. Less rms drama. Trial for former President Trump moves forward today theres a big question hanging over republicans right now. Whos the leader of the party . Were already seeing this play out in the state of arizona where this weekend kelly ward, a candidate backed by trump who was pushing his Election Fraud claims baseless ones, well she won reelection as chairwoman of the party. That should tell you who republicans voters are, at least in arizona. To discuss, Michael Steele, and cofounders of punch bowl news, jake sherman. What do you make of whats happening in arizona . Weve been saying for weeks republicans are going to be distancing themselves from trump since the insurrection on the capitol, but now youve got an Election Fraud pusher being reelected to run the party in arizona while the republican governor was censured by his own party for taking action to protect his state from the coronavirus. What is going on . Well, i think youve just got to back up. I dont know why people keep insisting the party is somehow going to start running away from trump. Ive never believed that and its not going to happen. They will double down and as this impeachment trial unfolds you will see just how much the party is in lockstep with the man who was impeached for a second time. So what the Arizona Party did in censuring cindy mccain and the governor, what you see happening in the Republican Caucus with jim jordan and the so called Freedom Caucus, theres nothing free about that, going trying to take out, you know, liz cheney, that tells you exactly where the partys head is right now. Everybody else needs to adapt and adjust to that and stop thinking that somehow theres some miracles going to occur that because trump is not there that republicans are going to act like republicans pretrump. Thats not going to happen. This has been brewing and churning for quite some time. I know it firsthand. From my time as national chairman. It was not something that just popped up on the screen in 2009. That goes back to the 1980s. It goes back even further in some cases. Theres a long trail here, stephanie, that tells us exactly where the partys leading itself, and its away from those things that it wasnt stood for, towards something that looks more like trumpism, or what they call populism. Jake, you talked to republicans on the hill every day. What do they tell you . Well, i want to Say Something about arizona. We have to keep in mind that republicans have lost both senate seats in arizona, once held by john mccain and jeff flake and now are held by democrats. So the arizona Republican Party is not i mean, it doesnt really have anything to write home about, so to speak. But listen, i think i think its going to be very difficult to see anymore than four or five republicans split with trump and vote to impeach the president. The president , according to maggie haberman, our colleague and friend tweeted over the weekend that there are obviously fewer votes for impeachment today than there would have been january 7th, absolutely 100 true and the president recognizes that. And listen, as anna and i know anna knows this, but im sure Michael Steele knows this as well, the base of the party is still with trump, 75 , 80 . So, you know, the political incentive to call the president out is nonexistent. Stephanie, this is basic political calculus thats going on here, which is the voters are with the president , were not going to win elections unless we have our base, and we have to be with trump, you know, we have to be with trump. What about the political calculus that trump will and has turned on everyone. Hes threatening to start a third party and then he wasnt. Are republicans actually listening to this . If he does start that third party that will crush them come 2024 in terms of splitting the vote. If he plans on starting a third party he could change his mind on any given day. Hes never stood up to his word. One thing trump has proven over the last four years he can change his mind any given day no matter what. I do think there is a split in the Republican Party, even people like ronna mcdaniel, head of the rnc, saying we need to come together as one Republican Party but the president clearly feels bruised by what happened on january 6th and the fact that a lot of republicans didnt defend him as much as he had hoped and so i think thats going to be playing out in the next several days, weeks as we see does the president , is he able to get back on social media . Hes had a very muted megaphone since he was kicked off. Were going to find out if those platforms continue to do that as a lifetime ban or not and then how does he continue to find relevance . We know this president more than anyone watches the media, watches television, wants to be a player in it. I dont expect him to go to maralago and golf all day long and not try to pull the strings on the Republican Party. Whether or not you have people like Mitch Mcconnell able to effectively stand up to him, well see. So michael, lets go back to you, Mitch Mcconnell, may or may not stand up to the president but we saw the likes of Kevin Mccarthy and other republicans who a week ago were pointing the finger at President Trump for his involvement and what happened on the 6th, suddenly backing off. I want to share what Kevin Mccarthy said. The president bears responsibility for wednesdays attack on congress by mob rioters. I thought the president had some responsibility when it came to the response. I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility. Whats your reaction to that, michael . Its typical kevin. You know, im not surprised by that. I dont know why anybody should be. Look, after this got out there and started to take shape and form the one thing that has always been in front of everybody is what will trump do . We still dont really know, to annas point, exactly what thats going to look like, how thats going to play itself out but what the back room chatter is, the president s pissed, hes making a list, hes checking it twice and hes going after those hes considered to have been naughty. And Kevin Mccarthy doesnt want to be on that list. But michael he needs the Freedom Caucus and those trump republicans to stand with him in the house, as hes trying to position himself for whatever comes next. Okay, hes making a list, hes checking it twice and is going to do what with it . President trump lost, republicans no longer have control of the senate, they dont have control of the house. What exactly can he do . Tell me who hes gotten elected besides himself . Look, youre speaking to the choir. Ive been saying this for years now. I dont know why they keep listening to the guy. Hes not winning races for you. Hes not a brand thats buying you, you know, the kind of credibility you need with the american people. Your base is getting smaller and smaller. But thats but thats just its all about primary politics. This is not about general elections. This is not about necessarily taking back the senate and the house. The hope is that they can throw enough mud on the Biden Administration over the next 18 months so that in 2022 these folks will be positioned to go and say, see, look what he did and ignore all the stuff that trump has done. So the reality here, this is not about trying to win so much the race right now, its looking longer term for sure. But trump is not the guy thats going to get you there and until they realize that, youre going to see this back and forth with donald trump. He still controls a lot more in this party than people want to believe. Michael, jake, anna, thank you so much. 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In 2017 the Trump Administration rolled back the obama era decision to undo the militarys long standing ban on openly serving transgender troops. I want to move on to education. President Bidens National covid strategy sets a goal of getting a majority of k8 schools open safely in the next 100 days. But right now teachers at one of the nations largest Public School systems have just voted against returning to in person classes as they wait for more vaccines to become available. I want to go live to shaquille. Shaq, whats going on . Reporter well, definitely more uncertainty for Chicago Public students and families this morning, especially when you look at the breakdown of that vote this weekend, stephanie. It just was not even close. More than 70 of Chicago Teacher Union Members voted against resuming that inperson instruction for students. Teachers were supposed to come back today. Now that date has been moved to wednesday. Negotiations are still happening there, but this is a major warning sign for the Biden Administration and their goal of reopening schools within the first 100 days. Thats because when you look at the Biden Administrations plan its focused on setting clear guidelines that districts can follow and giving them the resources, the funding and the reimbursement ability to make those changes that are necessary. Both of those have been in place here in chicago, but youre seeing there are still other hurdles beyond what is being addressed in that plan. I want you to listen to a little bit of my conversation with a middle schoolteacher here in chicago who is also a parent of an Elementary School student. Listen to how she explains the complexities of this debate going on in chicago. Teachers have cried about returning, they just dont feel good about returning. I have seen parents just cry and say, look, i am a city worker, i have had to go to work every single day, you know, but i have two very young kids that cannot do this on their own, either. So how do you handle that . I think thats the biggest challenge, right . It has to be there has to be a compromise. Reporter and there are also some dis crept sees when you look at who is planning to send their kids back. Black, latino, asian families only about a third of those students are expected to return. When you look at white families that number is double at about 67 of those students. Stephanie . I want to go deeper on this. Thank you, shaq. Joining us now former education secretary john king, also the former new york state education commissioner. Secretary, this thing is complicated. I know the debate is raging over President Bidens covid stimulus plan saying its so expensive, he is putting a lot of money towards reopening schools, but i want you to help us understand the cost of not passing it. When schools are not open, walk us through the costs of that. Sure. Well, thanks for the opportunity to join you. The cost is significant for kids, it starts with lost learning. Recent study by mckinzy suggested that theres five to nine months on average of lost learning in math due to the disruption of schools because of covid. That will have a longterm impact on students academic success but also their career success. Recent study by brookings suggested that there could be a 2. 5 trillion cost to the economy for every four months of lost learning. So you think about what that means for our longterm wellbeing as a society and then you factor in the socioemotional and Mental Health costs. So there are real costs. Now, to address that we ought to be making the investments necessary for safe reopening and thats going to involve testing and Contact Tracing and ventilation improvements and small class size so that we can do social distancing, but its worth making those investments in order to avoid that longterm harm. But you and i have been having this exact conversation for the last ten months and then over the weekend we read a heartbreaking New York Times piece about a surge of suicides in the Las Vegas Area that then pushing saying the mental what this is doing to kids emotionally, mentally but not being able to go to school is devastating. We know what the situation is, yet across the board we dont necessarily want to spend the money to make schools safer. Thats exactly right. As a country we continue to choose restaurants and bars over schools. We could have from the beginning said our top priority is keep schools open for the sakes of our kids wellbeing, for the sake of our economy. That would have been the wise decision. We didnt do that. President biden and his team are trying to correct that now. They need congress to step up with the resources to make that work. How big of a role should teachers unions play in whether or not schools reopen . You heard that sound from a moment ago. I get it, teachers there might say we dont feel safe and then youve got parents that are city workers saying, well, we have to go to work every day and our kids have to go to school. Whats your take on this . Well, you know, the teachers unions in many cases are asking for the very things that Public Health experts are saying are necessary. Regular testing of staff and students, proper ventilation in schools, sufficient masks and other personal protective equipment. These are very reasonable requests. Part of the challenge nationally has been that the resources havent been there and there hasnt been the necessary commitment at the federal level or frankly at the state level. I live in maryland. Our governor last week said schools should be open without making any commitment to the necessary resources or getting our vaccination process in order so that teachers and school staff can get vaccinated. So theres a lot of political posturing, not a lot of commitment to the resources necessary. I know we are out of time, but youve spent your career in education. On a one to ten, how bad is this on terms of the crises weve faced educationwise in our country all the years youve been working in this . I mean, this is near ten. When i think about the impact on kids of all this missed time. You know, for me school saved my life when i lost both my parents as a kid. If i had been without school and that regular relationship with teachers and peers, it would have been devastating in my life. This is a disaster. We have to mobilize all of our political will as a society to get this right for our kids. Its a ten in terms of crisis. When there is a ten crisis for our kids, we have to do something. Secretary, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it. That wraps up this very busy hour. I am stiff knee ruhle. Hallie jackson picks up breaking News Coverage on the other side of the break. She will be joined by impeachment manager congressman Eric Swalwell. Y impeachment manager congressman Eric Swalwell. Twork at a record pace. 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 . Oh, oh, oh, ozempic® announcer onceweekly ozempic® is helping many people with type 2 diabetes like emily lower their blood sugar. A majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. Heres your a1c. 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One impeachment manager congressman Eric Swalwell is joining us live in just a couple of minutes. Plus over at the white house the pandemic and the push back on a bipartisan relief plan. Who is affected by the travel ban thats going back into effect and were live with new virus variants spreading. And the nations vaccine supply running low. Dr. Anthony fauci with this warning about the uk strain on today. Im pretty convinced