weekly jobless benefits that goes through september. there is expansion of tax credits affordable care act subsidies. and there's also funding for schools, states, and vaccines and a lot more as well. here's how an eligible family of four earning under $150,000 a year, couple earning $96,000, i should say, with two children, would receive here. each person gets $1,400, plus there is a $3,000 tax credit for each of the two children age 6 or older. the total help for this family is going to be more than $11,000. still not a single republican in the house is expected to vote for it in the coming moments as was the case in the senate. >> i call upon my republican colleagues to stop their march madness and show some compassion for their constituents who are less than wealthy. >> i've heard people across the country say this bill today is costly, corrupt, and liberal. it's a laundry list of left-wing priorities that predate the pandemic and do not meet the needs of the american families. >> let's go to capitol hill now, and manu raju is there following all of this. what's the status on this vote? >> any minute they're going to start voting. we do expect the vote to begin as early as 1:10 in the east, so in about ten minutes or so. it will be about a 45-minute vote, maybe up to an hour. and the democrats do believe they have the votes. they are supremely confident that they will get the requisite votes. we do expect about 217 to be the magic number in the house. that means that democrats can't afford to lose more than four votes. this also depends on who actually shows up and votes today. but that's the expectation. they can't lose more than four. and there's no expectation that they will in fact lose more than four. likely potentially only one democrat may vote against it, jared golden of maine, one democrat who voted against the initial version of the plan kurt schrader of oregon has indicated he will support this. and all republicans are signaling that they will vote against it as well, suggesting this is too big, unwieldy and just simply not needed at this time, despite polls showing its overwhelming popularity among most voters. the belief among the republicans is that ultimately voters will reward them for standing firm against this, but democrats are suggesting this is absolutely what's needed for this economy, a sweeping measure, brianna, as you indicated, $1.9 trillion hitting virtually all aspects of the u.s. economy, money for individuals and families, relief checks, $300 a week in jobless benefits that would go through the beginning of september. also money for schools or vaccine distribution, an expansion for a year of the child tax credit aimed at lower-income americans. where this pandemic has ravaged this economy and coming after a number of other massive spending proposals went into law in the trump era. this being the biggest achievement of joe biden as president. this will come just a couple of months after he was sworn in. and we do expect later this afternoon both senate majority leader chuck schumer and nancy pelosi to formally enroll this bill, take the formal steps to sign this bill once it passes the house. that will set the stage for joe biden signing this into law in the coming days here, brianna. >> and we are going to be watching the minutes unfolding here on the house floor. manu raju, thank you so much. i want to bring in our cnn political director david chalian to talk about this. this is big in comparison, david. this is the biggest economic boost to american middle-class families in decades. how does this compare to other sweeping government relief efforts? >> yeah. take a look at some of the other high-priced items that have passed through congress. here are five of them. three of these five are related to the coronavirus pandemic including last year the $2 trillion c.a.r.e.s. act and the $900 billion act in december that went for additional care. and now this 1.9 trillion american rescue plan, all three of those related to the pandemic. you add a $1 trillion plan in today's dollars for the 2009 recovery act, the obama stimulus. and if you go back to the new deal programs and add it up in today's dollar value, brianna, that was $789 billion worth of government funding into the economy. so, that's how it stacks up. you see where this bill getting passed today stacks up in this very expensive legislation from the government to try and bring the economy back for most americans. >> and you just heard manu there. there's no republican support. and that's not expected to change here in this coming up vote. this may make you think that this does not enjoy broad support across the country. but it does. >> take a look at our brand new poll conducted by ssrs. 61% of americans in this poll, brianna, favor this economic package, this covid relief bill that's passing the house today. 37% oppose. it even gets more popular when you break down some of the kpoepts that you and manu were talking about. 85% approval for the tax credits. 77% approval for the money that's in the bill to reopen schools and get kids back into classrooms. 76% approval for the stimulus checks. by the way, you don't get numbers like this without republicans, and it's a majority of republicans in the poll that also support those that's not true with the aid to local and state government. that's at 59% overall support. and i think only about 20% of republicans support that part of the bill in our poll, brianna. i do want to also show you in our poll joe biden's overall approval rating at this point in his presidency halfway through his first hundred days here on day 50. he's got a 51% overall approval. and this is how he stacks up against all his modern-day predecessors. you see, he's six points higher than donald trump was at this point in his presidency four years ago. but he's below everybody else which sort of speaks to our polarized nature and our politics these days, and how popular the covid relief bill is. >> david, i'm so sorry to interrupt you. let's go to the white house briefing. >> president biden has made clear from day one that he wants to change our immigration system. doing so means truly building back better because we can't just undo four years of the previous administration's actions overnight. those actions didn't just neglect our immigration system, they intentionally made it worse. when you add a pandemic to that, it's clear it will take significant time to overcome. we must build a better immigration system that reflects our values as americans, enforces our laws, safeguards public health, and moves away from cycles of irregular migration. today i'm here to talk about what we are doing with partners in mexico and central america to ensure that people don't make this dangerous journey and instead have opportunities for economic advancement and safety at home. the president has committed to seeking $4 billion over four years to address the root causes of migration including corruption, violence, and economic devastation exacerbated by climate change. as part of that plan we will dangerous the causes that compel individuals to migrate including improving governance and providing a foundation for investment and economic opportunity, strengthening civilian security, and the rule of law. working across the whole of government, we will look at access to international protection and refugee resettlement and rethinking asylum processing to ensure fair and faster consideration. only by addressing those root causes can we break the cycle of desperation and provide hope for families who clearly would prefer to stay in their countries and provide a better future for their children. president biden, when he was vice president, visited the region many times and is clear-eyed about the challenge. he insists now as he did then that governments commit to being true partners in creating the conditions for growth and security. but i want to emphasize that the funds we're asking for from congress don't go to government leaders. they go to communities, to training, to climate mitigation, to violence prevention, to anti-gang programs. in other words, they go to the people who otherwise migrate in search of hope. and they will have to have the participation of the private sectors in those countries who for too long have evaded taxes, underpaid workers, and failed to be part of the solution to creating safe, prosperous, and democratic countries. we've already begun specific actions to both undo the previous administration's policies and to advance a new vision of immigration. we have ended the so-called migrant protection protocols which sent people back to mexico to wait, sometimes for years, for a chance to present their asylum claims. working with the government of mexico, international organizations and ngos, we have safely admitted over 1,400 migrants and closed the most dangerous face of the mpp, the matamoros migrant camp. today we are announcing the restarting of the central american minors program for children to be reunited with a parent who is legally in the united states. this program was ended abruptly by the previous administration leaving around 3,000 children already approved for travel stranded. in phase two, we will be working to improve the camp program to expand safe and legal avenues to the united states. i want to be clear, neither this announcement nor any of the other measures suggest that anyone, especially children and families with young children, should make the dangerous trip to try and enter the u.s. in an irregular fashion. the border is not open. going forward we will continue to look for ways to provide legal avenues in the region for people needing protection while we continue to enforce our laws. this is a process. we have a great deal to do. but this administration has made significant progress, and we will continue to do so. it reflects who we are as americans putting our values at the center of our policy. thank you. >> go ahead. thank you for doing this, roberta. this $4 billion that the administration is seeking, are you seeking this as part of a larger comprehensive immigration package, or as a stand-alone bill? >> well, i think what you'll see is that $4 billion in a central american northern triangle strategy will be part of our foreign assistance request and will focus on the things we know that work. obviously, it's not our first rodeo. the president when he was vice president worked on these issues. we know how to get money to communities that are most likely to send migrants but also that are suffering the greatest effect of two hurricanes this season, et cetera. so, it will be part of our overall foreign assistance package in the meantime, we are focused on getting humanitarian assistance to these countries after hurricanes eta and iota. so in that sense it's part of a larger plan. but obviously there are parts of this that will be on the domestic side as well to fix the whole extent of our immigration processing. >> and what else is the administration doing right now to work with these home countries to send a message to people, don't come here, don't send your children here? >> well, i think one of the most important things is to make sure that we get communications right and the message right. and i'm happy to repeat that. but i think it's also important that we work with the international organizations that have very credible voices and have very good networks among migrants sending communities to dispel the myths and misinformation that smugglers are using. when we talk about the border not being open and the ways in which we are trying to dissuade people from making that dangerous journey, the smauglers are conveying exactly the opposite to people. so we have to make sure we get that message out. we also need to be looking at things like the c.a.m., the central american minors, program, and how we can make that eligibility greater. but the next step is to look at solutions in the region. what more can we do to process people legally who require protection so they don't have to make that journey. and we're with looking at all of those things. >> and you said that this isn't your first rodeo. should the administration have been better prepared to handle this influx of children before it changed the policy allowing them to stay in the country? >> i think what we're doing right now is making a difference in the home countries, beginning to work with governments. that couldn't start until january 20th. there is one government at a time. you can't start changing processes of government, building facilities. all of this is part of the plan as quickly as possible to make sure that our domestic processes work more smoothly, more quickly, as i mentioned, but also to work with foreign governments. and you can't do that obviously till january 20th when you take over. but there have been multiple engagements with the government of mexico at very high level with the government of guatemala, with the honduran government, el sal vadorn in the first six weeks of government. so i think we've gotten off to a fast start in that engagement. >> thank you, madam besser. how has the government balanced the need from honduras about ongoing concerns for corruption. federal prosecutors say that the president was working on a plan to flood the united states with cocaine? >> i think one of the things that i made clear in the opening comments, which i want to reiterate, is that none of the money that we're looking to get from congress from the taxpayers of the united states goes to government leaders. and so i don't think that means that presidents are unimportant in these countries, but i do think that it's important to understand that we will be working with civil society, with international organizations and international ngos on the ground. we will work with officials that we can work with. but we also think it's really important that these countries make commitments, really explicit commitments, to advancing on anti-corruption. and in some places that will be hard to do if you've got officials for whom there is a cloud. and i think we need to work with the organizations that we can in countries. in some places we will work with religious organizations, ngos, et cetera. it's a challenge in countries that have confronted serious corruption risks. >> just want to follow up. like, what mechanism is in place? how do you possibly safeguard that funding to make sure it stays out of the hands of corrupt politicians? >> i think one of the things that we've always done, and 31 years in the state department has taught me this is we do end use monitoring. our embassies and people that we work with are looked at before they are recipients of funds. and we look at checks and we look at what's being done with the funds. we also don't deliver money in most cases. we deliver training. we deliver new lighting facilities that reduce violence and crime. so, a lot of what you do, it's not handing over blank checks. and i think that's really important in this. >> thank you very much. you're talking about restarting c.a.m. and these other long-term goals for what immigration policies should look like. right now new cnn reporting shows that unaccompanied migrant children are being held in these border facilities for on average 107 hours. that's up from i believe 77 hours on average last week. so, what is the biden administration doing right now to fix that? >> well, i think my part of this focuses much more on what we're doing at the end of this process in central america and mexico. i think all of us at every stage of this process are doing everything we can to make sure that children are well cared for and moved into facilities that are appropriate for them. but i want to make a point again that it's really important that people not make the dangerous journey in the first place, that we provide them with alternatives to making that journey, because it's not safe en route. and so if i could just emphasize that that it's really important that that message get out, because the perception is not the same as the reality in terms of the border not being open. but we want to provide through c.a.m., through other mechanisms ways for some of these young people to be reunited with family members in the united states. [ speaking foreign language ] >> you're telling them not to come just to follow up quickly, you're telling them they should not come. should you describe what's happening on the border as a crisis given how these numbers are spiking so much week by week? >> i think -- i'm not trying to be cute here, but i think the fact of the matter is we have to do what we do regardless of what anybody calls the situation. and the fact is we are all focused on improving the situation on changing to a more humane and efficient system. and whatever you call it wouldn't change what we're doing because we have urgency from the president on down to fix our system and make sure that we are better at dealing with the hopes and the dreams of these migrants in their home country. >> madam, do you think it's coincidence that as soon as trump and his immigration policy were on the way out and biden and his stated policy were on the way in, this historic surge at the border started? >> well, first of all, one of the things i think is important is we've seen surges before. surges tend to respond to hope. and there was a significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of, you know, pent up demand. so, i don't know whether i would call that a coincidence. but i certainly think that the idea that a more humane policy would be in place may have driven people to make that decision. but perhaps and more importantly, it definitely drove smugglers to express disinformation, to spread disinformation about what was now possible. and we know that. >> if the change in administration has brought hope, then, from your perspective, is this surge good? >> i don't think that's what i just said. i think it's a reflection of how migrants feel at a particular time. i think what we are doing is making sure that we respond to that hope for people who need protection. we respond to that hope in a way that their cases can be adjudicated more quickly. but i don't think anybody would say that coming to the united states in an irregular fashion is a good thing. that's why i've tried repeatedly to dissuade people from listening to those smugglers. but we're going to try our best to do everything we can at each end of this in the united states, but especially in central america and mexico to ensure we have safe, orderly, and legal migration. >> go ahead. president biden, when he was vice president, was very active on working with the northern triangle countries. i'm just wondering were there lessons that you or he or other administration officials, many of whom are in jobs in this administration, have learned about how to deal with those countries or how to deal with foreign aid to them, that are informing how you're approaching things now? and just to kind of follow up a little bit on what peter was asking. are you concerned at all about kind of mixed messaging, at the same time you're telling people not to come, that the journey is dangerous, that because you are offering this talk about more humanitarian process, that people will not, you know, pay attention to the fact that they could apply from their home country that they are still, you know, so hopeful that there really is kind of a conflicting message coming from washington to central america? >> so on the first question, the question of learning things from when the vice president was leading a lot of our efforts in central america previously, i think, yes, that's a resounding yes. both the president and all of us who worked with him on that for him on that learned a great deal. and i think that it's really important that we put that to use now. one of the things he thinks is so important is being really explicit with leadership in the countries from which migrants are coming about commitments that they need to make. because overcoming the reasons people migrate is not going to be the united states' job alone. if we realize that it's lack of good governance, economic opportunity, and security issues or violence, then some of those require commitments by the governments on anti-corruption and transparency on creating governments that function better to provide services for their country. so, he's very clear on being sure that we get those commitments from leaders and holding them to it. right, the money is not a tap that gets turned on all at once. you have to make sure that you're continuing to follow those issues. so i think there's a lot of things we learned. and a lot of things we learned about ensuring that funds get to the communities that are really in need, whether it's post-hurricane or a coffee rest or historic draught. i think when you look at the issue of mixed messages, it is difficult at times to convey both hope in the future and the danger that is now. and that is what we're trying to do. and i will certainly agree that we are trying to walk and chew gum at the same time. we are trying to convey to everybody in the region that we will have legal processes for people in the future, and we're standing those up as soon as we can. but, at the same time, you cannot come through irregular means. it's dangerous, and the majority of people will be sent out of the united states. because that is the truth of it. we want to be honest with people. and so we are trying to send both messages, and smugglers are only trying to send one message. so, we're relying on every means we can to get that message out there, and that leads me to want to reiterate as i did before. [ speaking foreign language ] >> can you say a word more about what you're talking about in terms of the private sector? and like what exactly do you need? and then just to sort of as a second question, you're talking about being really explicit with these countries. but what sort of leverage does the united states actually have to effect change in those countries? like, what exactly can you do? >> yeah, let me take that second one first only because -- look, in the end, i think the implication of your question which is quite right is we can't make the changes. we can encourage them, we can help support them with resources, both technical assistance and funding, but we can't make those changes. the changes have to come in the northern triangle countries. what i should say is my own experience from traveling to those places, there are myriad of people and organizations who are trying to make those changes. and part of what we want to do is empower them. whether that's more effective, you know, economic support, whether it's training for young people, whether it's anti-gang programs, whether it's mothers clubs and empowering local communities. all of that gets done through people on the ground, not by the united states. so we want to be able to empower those actors. i also think that it's really important when you say what leverage do you have, well, i do think that working as partners with these countries means sitting down and talking about what we can do together, but also if american taxpayers' funds are going to be used, then that is a certain amount of leverage. the president really wants to move forward on this, but he won't unless he feels he has those commitments on an ongoing basis. is that leverage? you know, funds are sometimes important means of having that conversation. your first question was on -- remind me. >> let me just follow up. >> no, you can't follow up. you have to come back to the first one. [ laughter ] >> i mean, are you saying explicitly the u.s. could withhold funding, whether it's state department aid or usa aid? >> i think the really important thing to know is we are looking forward to getting this proposal before congress and having congress act on it, and what comes after that, you know, i just don't know. an executive branch can always adjust things like that. i also think it's really important to understand. you asked about the private sector. the private sector in all of these countries, central america in particular is a really important player here. and i think, to be very honest, we have not seen them step up. one of the mechanisms that was really effective under the obama/biden administration was for every dollar that the u.s. put into an assistance program, we asked for private sector organizations, local chambers of commerce or business organizations to either match us or exceed us. this gives the private sector skin in the game. it makes sure they are part of the solution. if the governments in these countries don't always have enough resources to do what they should to improve the economic opportunity for people, there are private-sector organizations, and members of the private sector, the business community who need to be part of that solution. and so we just feel that that's really an important element to this. we talked about international organizations, governments, ngos. i don't want to leave out the business community as a participant. >> okay. last three if you have time. thank you. >> go ahead. just to follow up -- >> we're going to jump out of this briefing at the white house with the border czar. this is the nsc coordinator for the southern border talking about the crisis on the border, though she is not calling it that. it's very clearly a crisis from what we are hearing from folks who can seeing it including cnn correspondent rosa flores who is on the border in donna, texas. and jonathan blitzer, who is a staff writer for "the new yorker" and who has covered this extensively. rosa, to you first. we are hearing from the biden border czar. she is reticent to call this a crisis. the policies of the biden administration which look objectively more humane than the trump administration that may have attracted more people to come to the border. but then there's also this question about do they have what they need, are they responding appropriately to deal with the influx, especially of unaccompanied minors? tell us what you thought about what she said and what you're seeing there on the ground, rosa. >> you know, brianna, what really stood out to me is that a lot of what she talked about are medium to long-term solutions to this problem. i didn't hear much about what is going to be dope right now to deal with the increase of migrants. in the past four weeks, more than 100,000 either arrests or encounters have happened here along the border. and so what are those solutions? and, like you said, she did contest that because of the change in policy, because, like you said, objectively, it is more humane under the biden administration. could they have foreseen something like this and prepared for it? you know, this is nothing new, having surges across the border. we've covered multiple of these. and we know what usually happens. after the surge, then extra border patrol agents, extra reinforcements are brought in to deal with the issue, to process migrants, to be able to process them through the system. one of the biggest concerns of courses involves children under u.s. law children cannot be held for more than 72 hours. and we know based on reporting from my colleague priscilla alvarez that that is not happening. migrant children are staying in facilities for much longer than that. so, that of course also if we were to look at the long-term solution to this, the big question is, well, at some point is congress going to invest in some of these facilities so that the proper facilities can be used to process these migrants timely? i don't know if we have pictures, but there are tweets that were tweeted out by the chief of patrol here at border patrol in south texas. and you'll see that these migrants are coming in, in large groups. and they are being received under a bridge. they have to wait there to be transported. again, this has happened before. so, while the medium and long-term solutions are great, what is being done now to make sure that this area has the resources to deal with this problem, regardless if you call it a crisis or a challenge? >> roberta is talking about a regional approach in central america. and i don't fault her, per se, for not going into details about how the u.s. government is processing people specifically at the border. i'm happy to hear kind of more holistic-minded view of how to address this problem in the region. i think it's important. and it has to happen simultaneously to measures being taken at the border itself. at the border itself, what struck me that was left out of that press conference and a context that i think is important to include here, is the fact that you have -- the regular exodus from central america which we've seen before, which will continue, which never ceased to be a problem. in addition to that, you have the fact of an unprecedented global pandemic, people in the region are reeling from that. you have two recent hurricanes. you have a change in administration which doesn't just mean that there is a moment of opportunity for people to come to the u.s. because of their perception of a more humane border policy in the new administration. but also you're talking about an outgoing administration that has, quite frankly, devastated the asylum system and the government's processing capacity at the border. so right now what the current administration is dealing with is both all of these other factors and all of the humanitarian consequences of all these other factors, plus the fact that you had an out going administration that effectively froze tens of thousands of people in northern mexico for the last year and change. and so mixed among the people who are arriving at the border now are of course also tens of thousands of people who have been there already waiting. so, i don't envy the current administration, the sort of policy conundrum of how to deal with it all. and i think nora's right to point out that the main thing we should all be paying attention to is the amount of time children are spending in the facilities run by border patrol. you want to minimize the amount of time that children spend in those facilities. they're not made to deal with children. and so the priority for the administration is to get children out of those facilities and into the care of the department of health and human services, which is tasked specifically with dealing with unaccom unaccompanied immigrant children. i know hhs is trying its best. and there are flaws in how it's responding to the problem. but i just mean to supply a little bit more context around the fact that they are trying to create these emergency influx facilities to deal with the new arrivals. but, again, hhs right now has 13,000 plus beds available for unaccompanied children. because of the pandemic, they can only use 60% of that capacity. so, there is a whole slough of complications to deal with. i don't dispute for one second that we're dealing with a crisis. i just think our sense of what the crisis is has to predate this very specific moment in which we find ourselves. >> that's a very good point, jonathan. we appreciate you joining us for that, jonathan blitzer, thank you. rosa flores on the ground in texas, thank you. underway right now, the house is now voting on the massive $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. it's one of the most expensive pieces of legislation in history. stand by for the final result. plus, cnn is learning that meghan markle filed a formal complaint against pierce morgan's tv network just before he stormed off and quit his show. and damning text messages show a vaccine tent was set up outside a wealthy florida community to help governor ron desantis politically. this is special cnn coverage. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ excuse me ma'am, did you know that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? thank you! hey, hey, no, no, limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ when i was diagnosed with dupuytren's contracture, i waited to get treated. thought surgery was my only option. but then i found out about nonsurgical treatments. it was a total game changer. learn more about the condition at factsonhand.com hello i'm an idaho potato farmer. you know a lot of folks think of a potato, even an idaho potato as a side dish. but does this look like a side dish to you? ...or this? ...or these? does a side dish have a dog like this? ...or a truck like this? or a good-looking, charismatic, spokesfarmer like me? i think we both know the answer to that. always look for the grown in idaho seal. side dish? a vaccine scandal is rocking florida politics. a manatee county commissioner and developer are being criticized for organizing a vaccine drive for residents in two primary zip codes with a largely white, wealthy population. explosive text messages between the two talk about how the event would give governor ron desantis more exposure for the 2022 election. democratic congressman and former florida governor charlie christa is joining us now. he is considering a second run for governor. congressman, thank you for being with us. you requested that the department of justice investigate governor desantis and whether the vaccine drives benefitted his political allies and donors. have you heard back from the doj? >> no, brianna not as yet. i anticipate that we will hear shortly. the new attorney general merrick garland is being sworn in today. and so i'm sending him a letter this afternoon that will remake that request to investigate what governor desantis is doing in terms of the distribution of the vaccines in florida and try to get to the bottom of the fact of whether or not what this is doing is, in essence, picking winners and losers in florida, those who get vaccinated, those who do not. and, as you said in your intro, they're targeting what they call pop-ups in wealthy, white, republican neighborhoods in florida. and doing so for the political gain of the governor which is absolutely unconscionable. they talk about in these texts you referred to, you know, '22, meaning 2022 his re-election opportunity is just around the corner. and so it's clear and obvious to me that this is inappropriate, that it's immoral. because what's happening here if the governor is choosing who gets the vaccines first, those are people who more likely than not are going to live. and those on the flip side of that coin, the darker side of the coin, if you will, are the ones who potentially have a greater opportunity to die. this is life and death, brianna. it's unbelievable that anyone would use that for a political gain. this is supposed to be fair, straightforward, honest, and done right. and as they say, do the right thing. right now it looks to me completely as though governor desantis is doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason at the wrong time. and that's bad for people. >> desantis says that your request is just politically motivated since you are considering a run for governor. surely you can not deny that there is a political advantage in making this argument that you're making. >> there is a people advantage at making this argument today. i'm trying to make sure that my fellow floridians get the vaccine equitably, fairly distributed to them, and not on an unequal basis as the governor is doing right now. this has nothing to do with politics. this has everything to do with people. we're supposed to have a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people, and for governor desantis, it's all about politics. and it's an abuse of office. it is absolutely wrong to be doing this. and when you are in a life and death situation, it's beyond wrong. it's outrageous. and i just can't believe that they're doing this. i can't believe that the text messages were found which then went to the "tampa bay times," and now to you. and thank god that happened. good journalists are doing their job and finding the truth of what went down here. i hope the new attorney general merrick garland will get our letter this afternoon, requesting that he launch an investigation by the department of justice so that the united states of america into what's going on in florida with governor desantis' office and the distribution of these life-saving vaccines. it's a miracle we have them. go ahead. >> no, it is a miracle. and i think people can agree that they should not be favored politically as they're handed out. there are a lot of floridians who say that governor desantis, they think he's doing a good job in the pandemic. what do you say to them? >> well, they just heard about this today, if they've heard about it today or they're watching cnn right now. they're just hearing this being revealed. and it's outrageous. and if you hear this revealed and see the character of the man of the governor who is in office right now, you will be heartbroken. it happened at lakewood ranch, the ones that are hispanic, the ones that are black that aren't getting this kind of attention. and what's reason why? well, it sure looks right now that it's slurl political. maybe his numbers were high yesterday. i don't think they're high today. >> i want to thank you so much for coming on. congressman charlie crist, appreciate it. an emotional plea to nba super star lebron james to break his silence on whether he plans to get a covid vaccination. espn's stephen smith makes his plea to james in pointing to the disproportionate rate of which black americans are dying from the coronavirus in doing so. take a listen. >> this covid pandemic and its impact on the african-american community has made me rethink the hesitation i once had. primarily on keeping things like this so private. why is simple. it's because people are dying. my people are dying. lebron james has done almost everything right since he entered the national basketball association. he's spoken out and been on the right side on huge issues impacting the black community over and over and over again. he's been a leader, an influencer. lebron james has been an example. i encourage him to continue to be that shining example when this began. again, it's necessary. >> and here is what lebron james had to say over the weekend about making his covid vaccination decision public. >> that's a conversation that my family and i will have, you know, and pretty much keep that to a private thing. obviously, adam had his comments about the vaccination and what not. but days like that when you decide to do something, that's a conversation between you and your family and not for everybody. so i keep it that way. >> jamil hill is joining us to talk about this. she is a contributing writer for "the atlantic" and the "jamel hill is unbothered" podcast. how are people in the sports world reacting overall to smith's plea for lebron james to go public with his vaccination plans? >> well, i mean, i think certainly a lot of people understand why stephen a. smith, my former colleague would say that, because he is right, the rate in which the pandemic has affected the african-american community has been staggering. and so there's certainly been a push from our health officials that people in a prominent position should make it known that they plan to get vaccinated. for the record, i plan to get vaccinated. so, i understand where stephen ah is coming from, but on the other side of it i think we need to allow lebron james a little bit of grace and privacy. lebron has been there on the front lines for virtually every issue or a number of issues that impact our community. and i understand why people would want to pull him into this one. but he's right, this is a personal, private decision. this is concerning his health. i know that when people are celebrities and i know when they are in his position, we feel entitled to know everything that they do. but i think there are certain issues where they have a right to not always let us into their world. we see what lebron james has done when it comes to political issues, what he just did with voting, how he still remains engaged in trying to fight voter suppression. do we have to put everything on lebron james' shoulder? i know that he's a very prominent figure in our community, but he's also not a public health official. he's not in charge of vaccinations. yes, his endorsement will probably mean a lot. but there will be a number of other black athletes that i'm sure will talk about being vaccinated. we've seen the vice president kamala harris, last i checked, she was black, she's been vaccinated. so there's a number of people already i think in this arena who are more than willing to show other people in the african-american community that it's safe to get this vaccination. >> if he decides not to get vaccinated and that decision became public, how do you think that could impact black americans who are on the fence about getting vaccinated or are really leaning towards not getting vaccinated? >> well, one, i thin k she feels it's damaging to other people, not necessarily talking about herself and how seriously mental issues are thought of. how that played into the piers morgan discussion as it were, which resulted in him leaving the program. but that's where we're at. so the duchess' side very much of the view, i think, probably, that this is a public policy issue. it's not about this rile that's existed between piers and megan. >> max foster in england. thank you so much. i want to bring in hosts of "the malcolm effect" podcast and a social activist now living in cairo and grew up in the uk's you call this the lasting remnant of a brutal royal empire. what did you mean and what you think about what played out in the last few days? >> thank you for having me, brianna. i'm unaware of the american kind of viewership in relation to the story and how it's been broken around the interview. and it's been framed as, this is a shocking revelation. and people have asked me, am i shocked that there are accusations of racism leveled at the royal family? and my only response to that is, am i shocked that a country that refuses to acknowledge its role in the slave tried is potential to ly racist? am i shocked that a country that roots its national identity in a brutal empire that propelled itself to become an economic global house, powerhouse, around the world, on the backs -- on the backs of forced labor of all too often black and brown bodies is mpotentially racist? i grew up in the uk and can tell you that white supremacy is embedded into the social fabric of that country. so i -- a find it quite laughable, the sugat it's a sho revelation of the royal family that represents racism and white supremacy. that institution at its helm is a figurehead that all too often engaged in violent acts and tried to cover them up. right now in 2021 boris johnson, on the record calling black people with watermelon smiles, as pickepickenese, feels uncomfortable when he sees black boys at nighttime. of course i'm not shocked. a very long-winded answer to the question, but brianna, that is how i feel. >> i appreciate your answer and a lot of people agree with you. you are not alone in this assessment when they look at the history of the monarch and when they look at the history of britain. this statement that came out from buckingham palace called the allegations of racism concerning, and it went on to say while some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously, and will be addressed by the family privately. i mean, what is your reaction to that statement, and what is your expectation of how this will be handled? >> it is expected and for all of us who know that family is wrapped up and engulfed in secrecy, but whenever their backs are against the wall they kind of go back and say, this is a family affair, and will be dealt privately. i mean, i find it laughable when boris johnson was asked, our current prime minister what do you think of the interview? he said i haven't watched it but racism has no part to play in our society. those who are black and brown like myself from minority ethnic groups, we intimately know what racism looks like, and we intimately can relate to the charges that meghan has stated against that family. there was not consent over how light the baby would be but rather consent how dark the baby would be. the nuance is in the language. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. it is the top of the hour. i am brianna keilar and thank you so much for joining me. we are moments away from seeing the final results as the house is voting on whether to approve president biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. if passed, it would just need his signature to become officially one of the largest relief programs in american history. the white house says that the signing is set for friday, and this legislation will provide a new round of direct payments to many americans. in fact, it will provide the largest relief checks ever. along with the $1,400 in direct aid there is also a $300 boost to weekly jobless benefits through september, expansion of tax credits, affordable care act subsidies plus funding for schools, states, vaccines and much more. a brand new cnn poll shows 61% of americans support the american rescue plan act, but no republicans in the senate backed it, and all house republicans are also expected to reject it. >> and to hear republicans talk while they would vote "no" it's typical that they vote no and take the dough. and this bill has bipartisan support across t