Understanding of the distant planet. Whatever the ultimate outcome, it represents an achievement of man. Thats whats behind curtain number one at this very hour. Behind curtain number two, the catastrophic failures of man to plan and prepare and embrace science, to guide Policy Making and disaster response. The crisis in texas enters the third day with at least 37 lives lost and untold others in danger of going hungry, cold and without Safe Drinking Water for days. The Texas Tribune describes the crisis this way, kwoelt, as millions of texans continue struggling through a dayslong winter storm without power or water. Governor greg abbott provided few details wednesday when they can expect the situations to improve. As of wednesday 2. 7 million households didnt have power. The nearly 12 million texans are facing Water Strupgss as after multiple days of freezing temperatures. Texans running low on food are finding empty Grocery Store shelves. Food pantries running out of splice. Ant freeze wiped out substantial portions of the statess credit crust and vegetable clops. The headlines tell the story, the Austin American statesman highlights a Central Texas resident who describes one panic attack after another. The Houston Chronicle reports that most of the city is dealing with low or no Water Pressure. The Dallas Morning News writes that hundreds of thousands of Covid Vaccine deliveries and injections have been delayed. The Texas Tribune adds this reporting, the texas leaders failed to heed warnings that left the states power grid vulnerable to winter extremes. Quote, Policy Observers blame the Power System Failure on the lirpgt us and State Agencies who they say did not heed the warnings of previous storms or account for more extreme weather events warned of by Climate Scientist sees. Instead texas prioritized the free market. Yesterday on this program mouth doud pointed out the through line between National Republican officials carrying the expresident s big lie and the states republican governor taking to fox news to falsely blame the green newdale for texass current crisis. That may well go down as abbotts youre doing a heck of a job moment as the state cement paralyzed in slow motion human catastrophe. And where are the other elected representatives right now . Are they handing out watering with going door to door or are they in cancun . If you guessed cancun that would appear correct. At least for the whereabouts of the state senator ted cruz photographed on a commercial flight to mexico yesterday. He turned around and head he had back this morning amid the uproar and calls for his resignation from texas democrats. He is scheduled to land back in houston an hour from now. Here is how he explained himself to nbc news on departure. Well, texas is going through horrific storms and millions of taqqens have lost pour and heat and been hurt. Our family was among them. We had no heat and no power. And yesterday my daughters asked if they could take a trip with friends. And hidy and i agreed, i flew down with them last night. Dropped them off and now im headed back to texas, back continuing to work to try to get the power on. Whats happening in texas is unacceptable and a lot of texans are hurting. The natural and political disasters facing texas are when we start this hour. With reporters and friends who know texas best. Victoria defrancesco. Professor at the school of Public Affairs at the university of texas. Tony plohetski, for the Austin American statesman and former Obama White House press secretary robert gibbs is here. I want to start with you, victoria. And i think we have fallen so far. And i think that the Signature Feature and it is both the republicans greatest strategic advantage and the thing when the bleep hits the fan causes the most damage in terms of Public Confidence and it would appear in the case of texas, human suffering. It the remorselessness and shamelessness of one of texass two senators going on vacation. Its its the actions of senator ted cruz. And ive got to get this in here, nicole. I am a parent with a 6yearold and 7yearold. And i cant tell you how many times they have asked me to go to mexico to visit their cousins or go this way to see friends, or going to kmuky cheese. And my answer to them is always, honey we cant do it now we are in the middle of a pandemic. Right now the past couple days honey we cant do it, we dont have power, resources to do it. As a parent, i get your kids ask you to do stuff and you want to make your kids happy. But at the end of the day you are the adult and youre the example and you are the role model. So, i mean, this line ted cruz is giving is just so hollow and so empty. And then its compounded by the lines from other prominent texas leaders. Starting with Governor Abbott who is scapegoating the windmills. Scapegoating green energy. This is a very minor part of the problems we are facing. Then we hear the comments from rick perry who is saying, you know what, it doesnt matter that we have to endure days without power if it means not having the federal government help us. So its everywhere you turn, right, governor, senator, previous governor, you know, cabinet secretary, we arent getting empathy and compassion. We are getting tough it out. And thats fine well tough it out. But provide us the regulations, infrastructure to allow us to tough it out. Because otherwise that is just cruel and heartless. Tony, take us through the ground truth right now on the ground. We had beto orourke on yesterday and he sent this note today. He said they did 151,000 calls last night. Theyll do two to three times that many today. Said that a lot of people he spoke with had no water, more and more are starting to get power back on but food is a big problem. One person they reached has medically compromised daughter who needs 24hour oxygen but cant provide that without power. She was turned away from the hospital because of capacity and only able to get oxygen inside the ambulance. Sounds like a whole lot of people suffering a whole lot at this hour. Unfortunately, really what we have seen play out all week is issue compounding other issues. This is really a growing crisis that has in many ways escalated as the week progressed. Of course, it started with the power issue earlier in the week. But then cascaded very quickly to now what we are seeing is the water issue. And that is playing out throughout the community of austin, for example, where i. Im told that most Hospital Facilities In The City Of Austin and the Central Texas region are struggling with water issues and heat. Because boilers rely upon water for heating purposes. And yet at the same time in in a crisis like this that could have happened in a more isolated way, there would be the ability to potentially take patients from one hospital to another. But at this point thats just really not logistically possible, because unfortunately everyone is in the same big boat. I spent a lot of time in austin. And the headlines in your newspaper just break my heart. Youre reporting that st. Davids lost Water Pressure and heat, that austins Water Utility wont rule out a citywide boil water mandate and the mayor is calling for volunteers to help move people to warming centers. Is there any indication how long the Weather Crisis will last and how long the infrastructure will stay down . Not exactly. We get different answers depending on the different times of day. And depending on who you talk to. I will tell you there has been some incremental progress with people getting power back, really within the past eight hours, earlier today i was hearing of course the power getting restored. Here In The City Of Austin we are down to about only 10 of people without power. At the height of this issue of this crisis, though, it was more than 40 of people who did not have power. But make no mistake. There are still people in homes here in austin who in some cases, not only have not had power for days and days now, they are now in a situation where they also dont have water. Essentially making their homes totally unhabitable at this time. The mayor asked people in our community with fourwheeldrives to register, volunteer so they can then fan out through different parts of the city and rescue people who especially need medical treatment right away. Obviously there are people out there who rely upon medical devices that are power operated. And no way ever intended to go this long or be this long without power. Robert gibbs, it became the butt of a lot of jokes that donald trump kept scheduling infrastructure week. And then he would Michael Cohen would get indicted or Robert Mueller would be appointed or yady yahdyiad da. But the crisis and suffering and the state leaders effort to blame it on Renewable Energy, just shows how dire these infrastructure in terms of not doing the things that the Climate Crisis required, how exposed and vulnerable we are. Well, and all fairly predictable too, nicole. This isnt this isnt something that there werent some descriptions of needing to plan for this type of winter storm. It happened not too recently, or fairly recently. And yet nothing was done to plan for it. I mean, im tempted to start all the answers with what you led in with, which is if we can put a rover on mars, cant we figure out how to operate a power grid effectively in the second largest state in the nation . And i think the political ramifications of this are going to be wide. This is going to be the number one issue in the texas legislature. And it may not have been in the top 20 of only a few days ago. And i think there is a lot of questions that people throughout the state and throughout the country quite frankly are reasonably going to have of their elected officials, to understand exactly what was that failure to plan and why was it not executed in the right way . And, robert, oskly when you work in the white house. And you and i have both this experience. Any. Any state has comes to your door. Youre asked to help. I noticed jen psaki said the federal government was sending generators. There will be a lot of pressure on this white house to go in and try to help from this point forward. Obviously no blame. This is allstate policies that led them to this point. But this is just another thing that probably landed on ron klains death in the midst of vaccine supply and distribution meetings and trying to get arms around a policy. They now a as a kwhous have to worry about the texas crisis. Absolutely. I believe a Disaster Declaration has come up and been approved. And thats what happens in a big storm like this or some sort of Natural Disaster we which we have now seen as your guests talked about the cascading other set of disasters that have gone with it. But youre correct, now hopefully with the Disaster Declaration fema can get involved. And all of the resources that are applicable to fema in responding to this can now be brought to bear in order to get people the basic level of service vs they need to survive in texas right now. And victoria i want to come back to you. We have new reporting on the tiktok of ted cruzs Decision Making. His family vacation, he was scheduled to return on saturday. He changed his flight this morning around 6 00 a. M. Let me show you why in likely represents a political crisis for him. He tweeted this in december when he attacked democratic mayor steven add letter for taking a trip to cabo while telling the constituents to stay home in the pandemic. Hypocrites compete appear utter hypocrites. Dont forget Mayor Add Letter who took a private jet and in cabo recorded a video telling austin to stay home if you can. This is not the time to relax. I dont even want to call it a glass house. Ted cruz is loathed across the ideological spectrum for not being particularly enlightened or generous of a human. But in sort of rank hypocrisy, and then tempt to shove the Tooth Pace Back in the tube after he got caught is its appalling and shocking even for ted cruz. We call for me, it comes down to what i mentioned earlier, which is empathy. And i think it goes beyond hypocrisy, when we are in the midst of these multiple cries kriz, right . Folks havent had power for days. Folks dont have water. Folks dont have food. Folks lives are in danger. Yes, we understand that a u. S. Senator isnt the most direct line in terms of getting the power back on, that its more about the State Agencies and the governor, and the state officials. I get that. And people get that as well. But our elected officials are also someone who we look to in terms of empathy. Something that we saw a lack of in the past four years with donald trump. And that was very much criticized, that there is leadership. But there is also this nontangible component which is being there for constituents, being there for the electorate. I think aside from the hypocrisy, aside from the ridiculousness of the cover story of why he went to cancun, we get at the deeper issue of our elected officials are starting to let go of that critical component, which is empathy. Yeah, and tony, it becomes so tangible, i mean a local crisis where literally your neighbors could be suffering. And he is right in that he cant singlehandedly Flip A Switch on turn the lights on. But just the spirit of being in and of your community when its suffering, used to be a nobrainer. And it used to be the stuff that texas politicians in particular, because it is such a competitive state, and more now than ever before, instinctively and for political purposes were pretty good at constituent services in a state that big is the stuff that books and books and books of political memoirs are made of. People driving across vast congressional districts and going door to door. What price do you think leaders who are found by the citizens of that state to have been awol or indifferent or playing the blame game, what price could they pay. Well, i want to say this. Based on covering types of stories that are similar to this over time, where a politician steps in it, so to speak and i was the one actually who first recorded about Mayor Add Letter going to Cabo San Lucas during the covid19 crisis. But one thing that is different and i want to point this out with regard to the willingness of the public to forgave a political leader who makes a similar sort of decision. And that is the mayor of austin within hours of the story breaking apologized. And asked the community to forgive him. And were not seeing that same tone from ted cruz today. Thats an interesting point. Robert gibbs, matthew doud made the point yesterday about this toxic playbook of revelling upon disinformation as a political tool, but that its almost next level to rely on the playbook on the tools at an hour of crisis. What do you make that one of the first interviews abbott did was to go on sean hannity and push out this disinformation about the role that the Green New Deal and Renewable Energy played . Well, i mean, i it is a classic political technique of pay no attention to what is directly in front of you, chase this shiny object off to the side thats really to blame for all your troubles. I think in reality people, particularly those in texas, are smart enough to understand that theyve been under Republican Leadership for the better part of two decades. I doubt aoc snuck in the Green New Deal and somehow made texas undergo it in the midst of backtoback, backtoback republican governors. Again i think its a poor technique pulled off poorly in the midst of immen human suffering. And i doubt quite frankly even in a lays like texas where that will find much traction. Victoria, if you could just sort of paul all these Threads Together for us. The state still very much in a crisis some of it from mother nature, some of it from policies, and some of it now salt in the wound from the political response. What do you think the next 24 hours holds in this sort of multilayered crisis for the state. So its a crisis of short, medium and longtime. In the shortterm, its a, getting power to the folks who still dont have it. And we know close to 2 million folks in texas still dont have power. Getting potable water. So those for me are the two big ones in the course of 24 hours. But as we move out further into the next couple of days, next couple of weeks, the mediumterm crisis we are facing is the fallout from pipes bursting, from businesses that were already fragile because of covid19, having this storm put upon them further weakened them. You have the economic impact. And then longer term you are looking at the agricultural fields in texas, which is a major industry, having frozen over. We see those economic failures as well. Its the shortmediumand longterm strategy we have to see implemented. For better or use the texas legislator is in session right now. They meet every other year. My hope is is and im optimist at my core, is that the legislator, rs and ds come together and say we are going to fix this so it doesnt happen again. Reporting from the Texas Tribune, just had out that we were seconds away from a tragedy where texas could have been in the dark for months. So i hope that this is a wakeup call for getting us on track for the medium to longterm. Because otherwise we are not reliving this in another ten years. Were probably going to relive it in another three years. We will stay on it. Thats a good way to put it, th tonia and robert for starting us off today. Were grateful for your expertise pvrp Where In The World is ted cruz right now . His constituent struggle with freezing temperature, Food Shortages and safe water. Were staying on top of that he is expected to arrive from cancun momentarily later this afternoon. And new York Governor Andrew Cuomo now the subject of a preliminary hearing investigation into how the state allocated the numbers of deaths of nursing home residents. Well bring you the latest on that. And the invisible wounds of covid. We will cover the explosion and demand for Mental Health services. All those stories and more when deadline white house continues after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. A ick break. Dont go anywhere. Insurance for members like martin. An air force veteran made of doing whats right, not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa were made for. To support local restaurants, weve been to every city, including baton rouge. And even topeka. Yeah, were exhausted. Whew so, tonight. Ill be eating the roast beef hero from. Parm. In. Soho. doorbell excellent. And, tonight. Ill be eating the coconut curry chicken from. Pikliz. In. Winter hill. doorbell giggle oh, theyre excellent. I had so many fried plantains i thought i was going to hurl. Do ya think they bought it . Oh yeah. Its moving day. And while her friends do ya think they bought it . Are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. It only takes about a minute. Wait, a minute . But what have you been doing for the last two hours . Delegating . Oh, good one. Move your Xfinity Services without breaking a sweat. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Xfinity makes moving easy. Go online to transfer your services in about a minute. Get started today. A senior official telling nbc news that the fbi and u. S. Attorneys office in brooklyn have opened a preliminary federal investigation into new York Governor Andrew Cuomos handling of Nursing Home Covid death data, coming after the State Attorney General revealed in january that the cuomo administers had severely publicly mislgbt allocated the number of covid deaths from Noursing Home by more than 6,000 who died in hospital. A top cuomo aide admitted last week that his administration froze when Donald Trumps d. O. J. Requested data out of fierce it would be used against them. Cuomo denies any accusations he acted in a coverup. And his administration says, quote, as we publicly said, doj has been looking into this for months. We have been cooperating with them and we will continue to do so. New york times now reports bipartisan state Senate Leaders could vote as soon as next week on whether for the strip Governor Cuomo of his Emergency Powers that were granted during the coronavirus pandemic. Joining our conversation is our New York Times political and Investigative Reporter and Washington Post contributing columness. Former congresswoman dona edwards. They are both msnbc contributors. And nick covered cuomo in albany. I wonder if you could add context as far as the reporting in the New York Times. Around this its a fastmoving scandal. Its an explosion of bipartisan condemnation of cuomos handling of this data around Nursing Home Deaths. And his response is making a lot of headlines too. Take us through your understanding of where he faces the most danger, both politically and potentially from the investigation. Well, nicole, i think this is the biggest political crisis the governor faced in all the time i have watched him or covered him. The first serious threat to his hold on new york politics, which has been strong for a decade now. There is two questions here. There is the factual question of how did they account for covid deaths in Nursing Homes . And did they fail to release that information both to the public to reporters and to the legislature in a timely way . And part of that is what the investigation is about, the federal investigation. We should stretch stress, rather, this is a very early stage investigation. Its more of an inquiry, which is appropriate. And we havent seen, you know, a clear allegation of criminality here. But the Bigger Picture here, the politically, nicole, is there is pent up frustration with how the governor tried to control the pandemic response. So far the public in new york has been mostly behind the governor. They have high trust in the guy for doing things right for them. But there is frustration over the way he has run sort of rough shod over the prerogatives of local health departments, lawmakers in the state leg and now the chance to see if he has been doing as good as he says. And this is the man Writing A Book Touting his successful handling of the pandemic in the middle of the pandemic. So there is some desire to see his power taken back a bit here. Dona edwards, i want to play you some of his response. This is Governor Cuomo responding to these allegations on monday. We made a mistake in creating the void. When we didnt provide information, it allowed press, people, cynics, politicians, to fill the void. We should have done a better job of providing as much information as we could as quickly as we could. And we should have done a better job on that. Do you think he is past the point of he doesnt go so far as to apologize. But he acknowledges short comings. Does the scandal move past the point where it does him much good . Or is that still helpful. Im not sure. I watched the entire unveil and it seems to me the governor was and still is incredibly defensive about whatever it is that took place. Let me say, i think there is still a lot of questions that are unanswered. But it does appear that Governor Cuomo did not represent the kind of transparency that we all thought that we were getting, actually nationally, as he appeared every single day as a calming voice in the early days of the pandemic. And so i think that that takes him just so far. But this really is a rooming political question. I dont know whether its a legal problem, a criminal, a civil problem. But its definitely a political problem. And it seems to me that the governor is not displaying the kind of openness in terms of assessing his own culpability even in the early days of the crisis. And i worked in politics for politicians who were it felt like constantly avoiding crisis pu. And so much of what happens in a politicians life is not necessarily who looks under the hood, but how you respond to it. And some of the heat coming toward the governor and his administration is in that category of how they are handling it. A Democratic New York Assembly member is claiming that Governor Cuomo threatened him for going public against him. His name is ron kim and he is one of nine democratic members of the new York State Assembly and said in a letter tuesday that they think its unambiguously clear that cuomo on obstructed justice, criticizing a criminal use of power. He says cuomo called him and threatened to destroy him if he didnt walk the comments back. Let me show you mr. Kim on morning joe this morning. For ten minutes he berated me, yelled at me, told me that my career would be over. He has been biting his tongue for months against me. And i had tonight, not tomorrow, tonight to issue a new statement essentially asking me to lie. Its my job to investigate. Its my job to ask the tough questions. And i shouldnt be punished for doing my job. Let me just read the governors response to that, spokesperson says, quote, mr. Kim is lying about his conversation with Governor Cuomo thursday night. I know, because i was one of three people in the room when the phone call occurred. At no time did anyone threaten to destroy anyone with their wrath nor engage in a coverup. Nick, once youre at this level, the crisis is squarely out of your control. I guess my question now is, having covered him and knowing a bit about new york and the times has had great reporting on this story as well. Where do you think this is heading . Its fascinating, nicole. You know, if you looked at the first nine or eight years of his career in the governors office, you would be hard pressed to find any official in the state voicing any public criticism of this man. People were afraid of him. He held a grudge. He was very smart. He was very effective. And if you crossed him he would pay you back. There are a lot of politicians in new york who can tell you off the record about a similar conversation they have had with him over the years. And more than a few reporters. So the fact that this is coming out, that there are lawmakers in his own party who feel compelled and empowered to speak out and challenge him is its steph a Fascinating Development and one that points to the intensity of this moment and this crisis and frankly the concerns people have, which i think are legitimate about how the governor handled the Nursing Home Deaths in the middle of a pandemic. And donna, its not a victimless crime. Youve got families whose loved ones are among the close to 500,000 americans who lost their lives this year to the coronavirus pandemic. And we do this every day. But its worth saying. Each and every one of those deaths is the destruction of someones whole family, their whole world. I feel like the response is lacking an apology to the families. Forget about his political enemies or the kind of folks that nick is talking about, but the the remorse for maybe causing more pain with a lack of transparency. You know, i mean, in fact, nicole, it felt like a very sort of cold response. Indeed i was thinking about the families because, keep in mind, especially in the Nursing Homes, families were not even able to be with their loved ones as they knew they were dying. And there doesnt seem to have been any recognition of that in the governors comments. And so, you know, i found it very, very lacking just on a human level, even though if you recall back to those press events in the early days of the pandemic, in relating his own experience and his family, i mean, there was a lot of empathy there. Yeah. But his response on this front just doesnt cut it. Donna edwards, thank you. Youre staying with us. Donna. Youre stuck with us a while longer. Thank you, nick for your reporting and insights. Grateful to have you. Up next as capitol hill remains under tight security following the deadly insurrection last month, there is new reporting today that two republican lawmakers are investigated by Capitol Police separately for actions related to what is now the new normal on capitol hill. Well bring you that reporting next. Capitol hill well bring you Th Rateporting Next noise of Fridge Opening guy fieri ya know, if you wanna make that sandwich the real deal, ya gotta focus on the bread layers. Kings hawaiian sliced bread makes everything better Angelic Choir umm, honey. Why is guy fieri in our kitchen . I dont know. Im booking you a oneway ticket to flavortown with a kings hawaiian meatball sub. I gotta go. Your neighbor needs kings hawaiian bread. Hey, i got you. Guy fieri . Repair your enamel with pronamel repair. Our most advanced formula helps you brush in Vital Minerals to actively repair and strengthen enamel. So you dont just brush to clean, you brush to build. Pronamel intensive enamel repair. Are you managing your diabetes. Using fingersticks . With the new freestyle Libre 2 System, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose with a painless, onesecond scan. And now with optional alarms, you can choose to be notified if you go too high or too low. And for those who qualify, the freestyle Libre 2 System is now covered by medicare. Ask your doctor for a prescription. You can do it without fingersticks. Learn more at freestyle libre 2 dot u. S. Pain hits fast. So get relief fast. Only Tylenol Rapid release gels have laserdrilled holes. They release Medicine Fast for fast pain relief. Tylenol rapid release gels. Its been a flash point up on capitol hill for weeks now. The Metal Detectors outside the house floor installed in the wake of the January 6th Insurrection. Some republicans have tried to resist the extra layer of security. One member calling it, atrocity, even as democrats fear their gop colleagues could put them in danger. Now the Huffing Ton Post reports that the u. S. Capitol police are investigating two incidents related to the Metal Detectors set up outside the chaim per. One involves a member of congress potentially assaulting a Police Officer. And the other involves a lawmaker trying to bring a gun on the house floor. Nbc news reached out to Capitol Police but they have not provided any comment. Joining our conversation is anna palmer ceo and founder of punch bowl news. Donna edwards is here. I remember talking to your colleague jake about some of the reaction in the earliest days of the Metal Detectors set up there. I dont know if its specifically this one incident but he described some members getting physical at the sort of audacity of having to be subjected as members to Metal Detectors. Can you just step back and explain why thats even controversial in the wake of the January 6th Insurrection. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that members for a long time are treated differently than you or me. They are driven around. They rarely if ever have to go through security to get in the capitol, unlike a reporter, unlike somebody who will be visiting the capitol to go to a meeting. We all have to go through the Mag Nominators. To get thu. This is a reaction Speaker Pelosi had after the insurrection because there was fear that republicans and statements that they were going to be carrying firearms. And republicans in particular really chaffed against this. The member you are speak something about a republican from idaho. He got in an altercation with a female policeman trying to get into the to go vote into the chamber. This is just, i think, one of those points where tensions are very, very high between members of congress, the Capitol Police. There is not a lot of trust going on. But those mag nom etters arent going anywhere. And pelosi went so far as to say every time someone goes on the floor without going through them theyre going to be charged and find money. Donna let me read the specifics of what mr. Fulcher allegedly done. Huffing tonight roughly pushed past an officer operating the Metal Detectors. Of the best way to describe what he did was to say he man handled the officer, a black woman significantly smaller than the congressman. He set off on the Mag Nominator that night and the officer seemed to get in his way as he tried to rush past her. But what started as one of the dances you do with someone as you zig and zag and try to get around each other ended as a physical distraction. He grabbed the officer with both hands and pushed roughly past her. You were in this body. One would be, would you have any problem with a Metal Detector . And two, does this represent a further deterioration of civility and respect for Safety Measures that everyone agree are necessary after january 6th . Well, not only, nicole, would i not have a problem with going through a Metal Detector. I also wouldnt be trying to carry a weapon through a Metal Detector onto the floor of the house, which is not allowed. I mean, what i find really offensive is that here these Police Officers had put their lives on the line trying to protect members of congress. And you have one member of congress through his his ego, his selfimportance decides that he is going to tussle with a Capitol Hill Police officer. And remember that if youre an individual citizen and you do that to a Police Officer you would find yourself in handcuffs and marched down to the local lockup. And so i just find it really offensive. And i think that whats happened on capitol hill and im glad the speaker is imposing the fines which come directly out of paychecks so you dont have a choice about paying them. Because some members of congress seem to have misunderstood their roles. And they displayed already that they really have no respect for the institution. And we know more about one of the other insanity did from the Huffing Ton Post. Capitol hill hill are investigating andy harris trying to bring a gun on the house floor. Harris went through the mags that day, set off the machine and then complied with the search with the Metal Detector wand. The Police Officer located the gun on his side and had a hushed conversation with the congressman. What is the whats the can you just take us inside what the vibe is up there . Members Carrying Guns . Not members two republican members, one pushing a Capitol Police officer, the other being searched and has a gun on his hip. Whats going on up there . Whats the mood . I think andy harris is the member who had the gun, is is really in a camp of his own. Most members are in the Carrying Guns. I do think that they saw that their livesy in danger. I think there was a lot of fear that is manifested itself post january 6th in a way that it hasnt gotten to be less. But there is more. There is more i think people being fearful of one another, i think fearful of the role that the Capitol Police may or may not have played. You have a commission that the speaker is now saying thats going forward, like a 9 11 Type Commission to really investigate. But there hasnt been a lot of transparency about what happened. A lot of the video shown during Donald Trumps Impeachment Hearing was for the first time seen. And i think members really its almost like ptsd thats happening right now. And the reporters as well, people that lived through it, just how close we came to things being so much worse than they actually ended up. I think youre right. That is the lasting and the sort of universality regardless of the ultimate result of the impeachment trial. And and that palmer thank you for talking to us. Donna sticking around. When we come back demand surging for Mental Health services relating to all things related to the pandemic, depression and anxiety, isolation. Well look at some of those invisible wounds that have built up this past year next. Up this past year next hi. So youre the scientist here. Does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day . Its true jen. This Prebiotic Oat Formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. Impressive aveeno® healthy. Its our nature. ™ try the body wash, too. If youre on medicare, or retiring soon, making sure you have the right Medicare Coverage is important. So Call Unitedhealthcare and take advantage of a wide choice of plans including an aarp Medicare Advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. It can combine your hospital and doctor coverage with Prescription Drug coverage, and more, all for a low monthly premium or in some areas, no plan premium at all. 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You know, there is going to be. And as a country, were not equipped to handle, you know, i just miss him a lot. We all miss him. Two parents, two families mourning the loss of their children who took their own lives during this pandemic. Horrible, unimaginable. But undeniable evidence that the massive toll that everything that comes with the pandemic, school closures, isolation, are taking on young peoples wellbeing all across the country and probably all around the world. Experts are warning of a growing Mental Health crisis. The number of people in need of Mental Health services, not just children and young adults, has surged. New york times Reports Providers are struggling to meet the demand. Quote, many say that they are languishing on waiting lists, making call after call only to be turned away. With affordable options tough too find, providers who have long been in short supply are stretched thin. Were joined by clinical psychologist jeff, donna is still with us. Jeff, take us through what you should be watching for, especially with this reaching really epidemic levels with kids. Well, its really interesting that in the previous segment, you talked about that there was a possibility of the ptsd and why people were acting out at the capitol with trying to get in with guns. I think what were seeing is the world is upside down, not just for us as adults but especially for youngsters. They are experiencing ptsd. We are seeing many more cases of anxiety and depression going into the emergency rooms. We are seeing that there are kids who have thought about suicide more than perhaps theyve ever done before. Theyre completely disconnected, so theyre becoming much more introverted, much more anxious, much more angry because, quite frankly, they dont always have the skills, nicole, to say, hey, im really upset or im feeling depressed. Instead, they act out a lot of those emotions and feelings. Jeff, is the single factor whether youre inperson learning or is it bigger than that . Is It Households sort of fraught with economic anxiety or Food Insecurity or just fear of illness . Yeah, i think were seeing a combination of all of those things. Yes, the Hybrid Learning or learning from home completely has really impacted our youngsters. Theyre not attending graduations. Theyre not attending proms. And so that is really wearing them down emotionally, but we also seeing that being stuck at home all the time, being with the family may not be the experience that they really want. They want to be out with their friends and parents, such as myself, are saying, no, you have to be careful. You have to social distance. So, those things are really upsetting to them and were seeing that it is beginning to take a toll on them emotionally. Some of them feel that, what is the point of even trying to get a College Education when were looking at this economy and we may not even be able to get a job . So, all of these things are coalescing around their psychological State Of Mind and it is very negative. You know, donna, one of the sort of things that i thought about, watching jamie raskin eight hours a day for six days last week was what he had just been through as a parent, this just unimaginable, you know, cant take another breath grief that a parent would feel and i wonder if you think that were falling down on the Public Relations, public policy, destigmatizing on this as well. Well, i mean, i think that we have always struggled with how it is that we it publicly talk about Mental Health needs and mental illness. I think weve always struggled with how we provide care across the board in an equitable way, no matter what community that you live in. I know when i was representing my congressional district, there was such a need for Mental Health services for young black children and yet not a way to find culturally appropriate care for them, and so this pandemic has really exacerbated all of that, the pressures on families, the pressures on children, on struggling with education, and that, on top of the fact that we never had the number of providers that weve needed in the system anyway. Dr. Gardere, i wonder if you can just give our viewers some advice about how to monitor your kids and your loved ones for signs of more than malaise and with President Biden saying were not getting back to normal until next december, i think malaise is probably a universal sentiment, but obviously, depression and suicide is next level. Can you tell our viewers how to look out for the difference . Well, i think the most important thing that parents, Family Members need to do is to listen. Listen to exactly what our kids are saying. If theyre not talking about the future, if theyre not talking about things that are positive or talking about happiness but instead of talking about all of the things that are wrong and they cant see their way out of that malaise, if there are oversleeping, if were finding that theyre so frustrated that theyre becoming downright angry and rageful, and ive seen it in a lot of my patients, ive seen it in some of my own children, then we know that something must be done, and yes, there is an issue. There arent enough therapists of color, not enough psychiatrists, not enough therapists that are out there, but you have to try to connect your children, whether its online, i have to say that, whether its online or whether its a situation of putting together an Informal Support Group where they can talk to other children or other youngsters, anything that can help to get them to express their emotions is a positive and cathartic way that we need to go. Dr. Jeff gardere and donna edwards, thank you so much for having this difficult but important conversation with us. Were grateful. Next hour of deadline white house starts after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. We are just getting started. Go. We are just getting started. Plaque psoriasis, the burning, itching. The pain. With tremfya®, adults with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Tremfya®. Emerge tremfyant™. Janssen can help you explore cost support options. Its, you know, either you stay in your house and, you know, you are cold and you freeze to death and you have no food. This is really whats happening here in houston. This is peoples lives right now. Or you go out and go from hotel to hotel, hoping you find something and you risk, you know, getting covid. For me, as a parent, i feel like im failing my children, because theres nothing that i can do. Hi again, everyone. Its 5 00 in new york. No heat, no power, and now, for millions of people across the southern United States, no clean drinkable water. Whats happening in and around texas right now is a rolling crisis. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses still without electricity. People there already forced to use stoves, grills, and fire pits to just stay warm are now being asked to boil their water before drinking it. A tall task for the 650,000 of them who woke up with no power. Hospitals there already burdened by a fight against the global pandemic. Theyre now on the brink conserving water in some cases, evacuating patients in others. Then theres the tale of ted cruz. Hes just arrived back from cancun. In cancun, its right now 84 degrees and partly cloudy, and clearly, ted cruz knows he has some explaining to do. Heres what he said right before he departed mexico. Well, texas is going through horrific storms, and millions of texans have lost power and lost heat, and have been hurt. And our family was among them. We had no heat and no power, and yesterday my daughters asked if they could take a trip with some friends and heidi and i agreed so i flew down with them last night, dropped them off here, and now im headed back to texas, and back continuing to work to try to get the power on. Whats happening in texas is unacceptable and a lot of texans are hurting. But cruz is being a little misleading there. Nbc news has learned that he booked his return flight, the one hes about to get on there, at 6 00 a. M. This morning. He was originally scheduled to be in cancun all the way through saturday. The return of ted cruz as texas remains in a dire state is where we begin this hour. Joining our conversation, betsy price, the mayor of fort worth. Also joining us, mike, nbc News National Investigative Reporter, and david jolly, former republican congressman and an msnbc contributor. I want to mike, your story of what you have been through with your toddler son and your family and no cell service is one for the ages and has focused so much attention on what people are going through. I wonder if you could just share how youre doing now and how your familys doing and tell us what life is like right now. Were better. We have our power came back on and were warm and just to recap, im in houston, our pipes burst on tuesday, our power went out and we were really cold in a dark house when my son, pictured here, started choking on some trail mix that we had set out for the older kids and thats always going to be a scary situation but it was made much, much worse because we couldnt get cell service. We couldnt, you know, look up my doctors phone number. Fortunately, we made the Decision Just to bring him in based on the advice of a nurse friend who we were able to reach, and we had to kind of race across some icy streets to get to the emergency room, and later we spent four hours at the e. R. Waiting for tests. It was jam packed full of kids who need electrical power to power their lifesaving medical equipment, and so we had left the hospital, thinking that he was okay, and this is at, like, midnight or so. And got a call, thank god i had cell service at this moment when i got a call from the hospital saying, oh, we have seen the ct scan. Theres a peanut lodged in his airway. He needs to have it surgery immediately and we had to race back across town through red lights, through lights that were warning Traffic Lights that werent even on because the power is down to get to a hospital that was, like i said, filled with people but didnt even have running water, cant flush toilets or make coffee. And thank god hes much better now. He had surgery overnight to remove the peanut from his throat, but if any number of things had gone wrong if we hadnt had cell service at that moment, which has been very spotty during this crisis, we wouldnt have gotten the message, and the anesthesiologist told me the next morning that if we had waited even an hour or two hours, it could have been lifethreatening. He might not have survived, and so were better. Hes recovering and we have power again and were we have kind neighbors who are helping us out. So, yeah, thats where were at. Mike, youre a reporter, not used to becoming the story, but this is now something you cant distance yourself from, logistically or emotionally, and i wonder if you could just widen the lens and tell us what people are going through and if theres any end in sight to either the Natural Disaster or the infrastructure disaster, the power and the water, and the weather. I mean, what does what are the signs that this is going to change in the near term . I think in houston, were moving beyond the power crisis because a lot of people have electricity now. Most people do at this point. So, at least we can warm up. But this has been a long week and now the next phase of this is, you know, i mentioned my pipes burst. The homes in texas are not weatherized for, you know, sub freezing temperatures with no power or heat in the house. And so, my pipes burst, and so did my neighbors pipes, and so did 12, 15, 20 other people who i just know personally. And when i called plumbers today, most of them werent even answering the phone. The ones i reached talked about maybe in a week, maybe in two weeks, maybe in three weeks we can get to your house. I tried going to lowes myself this morning and waited in line for 40 minutes to get into the store to discover that the Plumbing Repair section is just picked over and, you know, people dont have water at their houses and probably wont, some of them, for weeks, if not months. I dont know how to i dont want to you cant overstate how this is for people. And so, i think, you know, this is this week, the cold is going to go. We have one more night of real cold, but the effects of this Power Grid Failure is going to linger for weeks at the very least if not longer. And i know youve been dealing with and taking care of your own family, but im sure youve heard by now that the states governor went on fox news on Sean Hannitys program and blamed the Green New Deal and Renewable Energy sources. Can you tell us your understanding of why well, so, prior to that going on fox news, the governor shared accurately with local media that same day that the big problem was the lack of weatherization at the gas plant, the natural gas power generating plants and thats the story. This has even if renewables were a problem, theyre such a small piece of the pie in terms of what accounts for Energy Production in texas that its negligible almost, so its you know, a lot of criticism being thrown that way, that thats basically a partisan Talking Point and has nothing to do with the actual crisis. The idea that the Green New Deal would have made things bad for texas is hard to stomach for some people when they look around and say, its not what we have was a train wreck, a legit rolling crisis that is not over, and so the system we have now is the system that led to these issues, and so i think thats where a lot of people that i have spoken to want the focus to be. How are we going to fix this now . And to, i think, move our conversation into that realm, mayor price is with us. Can you tell us how youre doing and how your constituents are doing. Well, were doing better by the hour. Weve moved from a high of about 330,000 people without power to about 33,000 now are without power. We still have nearly 300,000 people who have no water or are under a boil water issue. Probably 300,000 of that is under boil water issue. You know, its the perfect storm. Its hit the entire state very hard. There were known issues on our electrical grid, but you know, the time for pointing fingers and blaming is yet to come. We will ask the tough questions and get them answered. Right now, were all in this together. We have to all pitch in and help each other. Im glad mike was able to get neighbors to help him with his child. Thats what were asking people to do here, check on your neighbors, check on your loved ones, and lets pull strong together and our charitable organizations are really coming to the table. Its a lot going on. And its sunny right now. The sun has come out so thats a real plus for us. Were still below freezing, but it looks better. Mayor price, the pandemic, obviously, makes some of those endeavors, which texans are very good at, reaching out and welcoming people into their home, makes them more challenging and more dangerous. And we see even in some of the footage that our reporters in the state have gathered that people are scared. What do you say to constituents who know they need to move their family or are vulnerable or medically compromised member of the family out of freezing temperatures or to a place where they can get safe water or electricity but theyre scared because of the pandemic . I understand that completely. I mean, i have had covid myself. Family members. And it is a scary time to be in the pandemic, but we have warming shelters open all over the city. Many of the churches and other nonprofits are open too, and everyone has good social distancing. Everybodys required to wear a mask. Great hand washing. And anyone thats sick or anyone that knows they have covid, we will provide separate housing for them and were going to help people get through this and were going to do it safely within the guidelines of the pandemic, but we really dont big rise in corn monoxide poisoning, particularly among children, so dont take Charcoal Grills inside. Dont sit in your car in a closed garage. Those things are more dangerous at this point, even, than if you have to go somewhere and risk covid. David jolly, i guess if you had on your bingo card who would put International Travel ahead of his constituents, you might actually have guessed ted cruz. Hes just landing back in the state. From what i think even based on his own rather frantic public pronouncements is a Public Relations crisis, one of the biggest ones of his tenure as senator. What do you make of the Decision Making and it seems to be that one of the legacies of donald trump is this lack of empathy, this lack of seeing the job as one of being a Public Servant. And more just a Public Relations crisis, a leadership crisis. The mayor is far more gracious than i will be when it comes to assessing whether or not all texans are in this together. All texans but one, but ted cruz. And nicole, lets be very honest. Ted cruz is a liar who has failed the people of texas, and he has failed his responsibilities as a United States senator. We saw on display and were seeing it here in your interviews thus far, true leadership in the state of texas. People who rolled up their sleeves and are helping fellow texans. Last night there was a councilman from houston on with Brian Williams who said, i might be a councilman but im a texan first. And he went down to the local sewage plant, his name is willie rios and they worked to restart the generator so people could have sewage and their toilets would actually run. That is texas leadership. That same Council Member talked to a woman as he was going door to door who said, if i lose my power, i have my puppy to keep my warm. Ted cruz was going to the beaches of cancun to stay warm. And this notion that somehow it was a lastminute trip and that he planned to come back in 23 hours is an absolute lie and should be the end of ted cruzs political career in texas. I applaud the mayor and others for being gracious. Im not going to give ted cruz an ounce of grace in this moment. If were dealing with the facts, david jolly, there is also the fact of the first interview that gained a lot of National Attention from the states governor being one in which he misdirected the cause and i think a Natural Disaster usually affords local leaders a little bit of time and space to deal with a disaster and as the mayor indicated, there time afterwards to figure out whose fault it was. The first night he was on fox news blaming the Green New Deal. Its not that hard to tell the truth, nicole. Even once youre elected. And actually, voters raurd you for telling the truth. Theres a crisis going on in texas, and what the citizens of texas deserve during a storm where people have lost their lives is Political Leadership that rather than reaching for the scurrilous, reach for the truth, and were seeing Leadership Failure in the governor and the texas in this moment. We have a mechanism to hold them accountable and its at the ballot box and i think texans will remember this week, not just for the personal challenges but also for the political realities that they get to face with their leaders. Mayor price, could you just make this local for us. What can people outside the state do for your constituents and people of the state . Well, first and foremost, i got to say that anybody thats not on the boots on the ground, its not the mayors position because we dont have time to think about doing anything else. If youre truly a Public Servant and not serving on the political side of this. What people outside of texas can do is pray for texans. If theyve got Family Members here, check on them, see what they need. Theres really no way to ship in goods and things, but you know, you can donate to red cross. You can donate to united way, to the local churches. Theyre all helping. Were going to have aig need for outside plumbing. Your other member mentioned. For people to come in and to help with that. And to help with people who dont have Homeowners Insurance to meet their repairs. Im fortunate enough, our house has broken pipes and was without power for 38 hours and also its flooded but we do have Homeowners Insurance and were going to its going to take a lot of funds to get these people back on their feet, to get everybody back on their feet after a tragedy like this. Mayor betsy price of fort worth and mike hixenbaugh, whos been through the wringer this week, thank you both so much for taking some time to start us off and tell us what you have been through. Were really grateful. David jolly is sticking around. Were going to stay on this story throughout the night, a top elected official in Dallas County is ari melbers next guest coming up in the next hour. When we return, the staggering toll of coronavirus on the Life Expectancy of all americans. And the republican governor who is accused of Playing Politics with Vaccine Distribution in his state. Plus, President Bidens plan to reform immigration may have a long way to go, but already, President Biden is making big changes at the border, and and new reporting today in the unique trauma endured by africanamerican congressional staffers during the insurrection at the capitol. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. After a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Woman i have moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis. Now, theres skyrizi. Things are getting clearer yeah i feel free to bare my skin, yeah, thats all me nothing and me go hand in hand nothing on my skin, thats my new plan nothing is everything woman keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. With skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. Of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. And skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. I see nothing in a different way and its my moment so i just gotta say nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to, or recently received a vaccine. Nothing is everything woman now is the time to ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. With unitedhealthcare Medicare Advantage plans, theres more to take advantage of. Get a checkup here. And have a Wellness Visit come to you there. Wow, uhhuh unitedhealthcare Medicare Advantage plans. Take advantage everywhere. Wow. Newly released data from the Cdc Out Today displays an even fuller picture of the staggering toll the coronavirus has taken on our country. It finds that Life Expectancy in the United States fell by a full year for the first half of 2020. That is the largest drop since world war ii. A deep look into the numbers bolsters a troubling trend that weve been reporting on. Its upsetting, nonetheless. How disproportionately the virus has affected minority communities. From the New York Times and the cdcs findings, quote, Life Expectancy of the black population declined by 2. 7 years in the first half of 2020 after 20 years of gains. The gap between Black And White Americans which have been narrowing is now at six years, the widest since 1998. And their Racial Disparities when it comes to the vaccinations as well. More from the times, quote, rates of vaccinations in black and latino communities in new york are lower than rates in largely white communities, new data shows. The latest evidence that suggests they arent getting equal access to those vaccines. Experts and leaders in these communities say the data shows that black and Latino Americans are being vaccinated at lower rates because they face obstacles like language and technology barriers, disparities in access to medical facilities, and getting to a site. Joining our conversation, dr. Peter hotez, codirector of the center for Vaccine Development at texas Childrens Hospital and the dean of the National School of tropical medicine at Baylor College of medicine. Also joining us, mara gay, msnbc contributor. Dr. Hotez, youre in texas. I need to ask how youre doing and how your familys doing. Well, its been a rough week. We just got our power back a couple of hours ago, and so weve been out of power and water for three days, and its been tough. I have four adult kids but the one who still lives with us, rachel, is our adult Special Needs Daughter and thats been especially tough for her and us. So, its weve seen better days, but hopefully things will start to turn around. Well, dr. Hotez, i dont miss your appearances, even if theyre not on this network, and its sort of Encapsulates The Mission that beating the coronavirus is for folks like yourself, for scientists and for doctors and i think that rang through, knowing what youre going through this week, so thank you for spending some time with us and continuing to educate our viewers and your host here about whats happening. I wonder, your thoughts on this data. Its actually something weve been covering all year. I remember talking to chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot almost a year ago about the disproportionate impact of covid on her black residents there, and its a story thats told in city after city, state after state from coast to coast, but now we have the hard data that Life Expectancy has dropped by 2. 7 years. How do we turn that around . Yeah, Tly Horrible News for a number of reasons. One, dont forget, this is only for the drop for the First Six Months of 2020. Thats before the worst of our epidemic here in the United States, so next year at this time, the drop is likely going to be far more significant. Thats point one. Point two, overall, its about a year drop, but when you divide it up by race and ethnicity, what you find is its less than a year for Nonhispanic White populations, about two years for hispanic populations, and 2. 7, as you point out, for africanamerican populations, so remember what that is. This is an average. So its not like youre shaving a year or two off somebody whos now going to live to 77 instead of 79. Its more profound than that. What it is, its losing large numbers of people on either side of those numbers. So, to me, when i see that, i see a generation lost of moms and dads, especially, black and brown communities of moms and dads in their 40s and 50s and early 60s. Thats thats the real story. Thats the historic decimation of black and brown communities, losing a generation of moms and dads and of parents, you know, of 40s and 50s, of teenagers and young men and women in their early 20s, the devastation from covid19 will be felt for years to come. I mean, mara, this is what sort of, i think, hits me in waves. We were talking about Mental Health and youre part of three groups that im sure a year ago you never thought youd be in, a covid victim, a victim of long haul symptoms, and now, you know, one of the early new yorkers to be vaccinated, and i wonder if you can speak to what dr. Hotez just detailed. Yeah. I mean, i think dr. Hotez put the human gave this a human frame that we really, really need at this moment. Were not just talking about numbers here. Were talking about kin, Family Members that have been lost to this virus. You know, one of the striking things for me is that there is not a black american who i know, either professionally or personally, who has not lost someone to this virus. And that alone is a striking divide from what i hear from my white friends and colleagues. It really has had this disproportionate impact. And you know, its very emotional. Its going to take us time to process. I know for me, you know, i grew up, upper middle class, i never had any underlying conditions before getting sick with covid. And i think despite all the opportunities that i had, college graduate, work for the New York Times, because i live in a majority minority city that was abandoned by the Trump White House and lied to about what the threat was from covid, that alone put me at risk and now i, you know, i suffer greatly from covid. Im one of thousands of new yorkers to have long haul symptoms. Im at higher risk right now. Im immunocompromised at the moment and its lost on me that despite all the advantages that my parents gave me, as a black american, i still somehow ended up in the same immunocompromised group as my Black Brothers and sisters who have asthma because they grew up in poor neighborhoods, down the street from power plants and areas of high pollution, and so i really think that in some ways its just a really stark, painful reminder that race is not if not destiny, its certainly determinative stiff in the United States in a way that is tragic and criminal and it should not be. It should light a fire under us and make sure and really compel us to close this gap. The other thing is, its not that we dont know how. Its not that we dont know what works. Its about finding the political will to get it done. So, there are plenty of Public Health experts who can tell you how to fix childhood asthma in most populations, for example. We know how to do it. Weve just chosen not to prioritize it, tt we see that change. Mara, you tweeted about getting vaccinated. How did that feel, and how can this new administration with the very different stated mission and commitment to address all the things youre talking about make sure that access to the vaccine doesnt fall along the same sort of tragic demographic lines as the disease has . Yeah, nicole, it was extremely emotional for me. I got very lucky. I went online just like other New Yorkers On Sunday and i got a next Day Appointment at the jaeft center and the National Guard was running the vaccine site, and you know, it was emotional for me because it really did feel to me like the beginning of the end of a very long nightmare for myself, personally, but also for new york city, a city i love that has suffered greatly, and so it was a huge relief. I want that for every american who wants a vaccine and i think in terms of reaching groups that dont have vaccine access, the lesson here is really that if we dont prioritize groups that are disadvantaged, they will be last, whether thats americans living in poverty, black, hispanic, and native americans, they will be last if they arent prioritized and the decision to roll the vaccine out using broadband signup is really questionable. I mean, i think what should be going on is we should be going door to door. We should be tapping into already trusted Community Groups and in those communities that can help get the word out about the vaccine and help people sign up. This is really an all hands on deck effort, and if that doesnt happen, then those who are most at risk will be the last to receive this lifesaving vaccine. Speaking of Vaccine Distribution and right and wrong, im coming to you, david jolly, with the latest Desantis Headline around covid. He unveiled a popup vaccine clinic in a wealthy, mostly white area of Manatee County south of tampa. Only residents in two counties were allowed to use the popup. He said it was part of his effort to vaccinate seniors, but critics of desantis, and there have been many, are calling out those residents as ones who live in wealthy zip codes and have not been hit with the virus as hard as other parts of his own state. And certainly minority communities. Who say you . Yeah, look, a remarkable display of failed leadership considering everything we just discussed. The opportunity for a governor to address the disparate impact and distribution of vaccine to both communities of color but also to solve economic disparities in the distribution. Really a remarkable story, nicole. Understand, these were extra doses of vaccine that the governor had access to, Above And Beyond what the county otherwise had and he struck a deal with a republican donor of his who had developed a large, largely white, Republican Community and a republican elected official to say, we will send you the extra doses, but only if we do it in this area with only access given to these zip codes. He basically sent additional vaccine to Republican Voters. And his defense was that thats where the density was, but thats not the case, because from the beginning of this pandemic, ron desantis has not prioritized Public Health. He has prioritized the economy. This was a governor that declared professional wrestling to be an essential service, a governor that when local communities said they wanted a mask mandate, he kneecapped them and said the state wont allow local communities to do it. When schools said, were afraid to reopen, he said you have to. This is a governor who has not prioritized Public Health, and so the suggestion today, his defense that he was just prioritizing Public Health would be inconsistent with his behavior in the last 13 months. What he was doing was prioritizing Republican Voters by giving them access to a vaccine while he is in an election cycle facing reelection. Theres not much to add to david jollys description of that but i will try. When caught doing exactly what david just described, he basically threatened to make this the states policy, fine, ill just send it to the people that want me and want it. David jolly, dr. Hotez, mara gay, grateful for all three of you. Thank you for spending time with us today. When we return, democrats unveil President Bidens sweeping plan to overhaul immigration but already his administration has made a sharp break from the cruelty of the Previous Administration on that front. That storys next. Dministration front. That storys next. We made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. When a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Daddy, is that where were from . Well, actually. Were from a lot of places. You see were from here and there and here. Your familys story is waiting to be shared. At ancestry. Com to support local restaurants, weve been to every city, including baton rouge. And even topeka. Yeah, were exhausted. Whew so, tonight. Ill be eating the roast beef hero from. Parm. In. Soho. doorbell excellent. And, tonight. Ill be eating the coconut curry chicken from. Pikliz. In. Winter hill. doorbell giggle oh, theyre excellent. I had so many fried plantains i thought i was going to hurl. Do ya think they bought it . Oh yeah. Do ya think they bought it . Water . Urgh rocket ship hey hey heads up. Thank you water tastes like, water. So we fixed it. Mio Cyber Attacks are relentlessly advancing. To end them, cybereason built a Cyber Security solution so advanced. It can end attacks today on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. And deliver futureready protection, keeping you sharp for tomorrow. Join us, the defenders, in our mission. Cybereason. End Cyber Attacks. From endpoints to everywhere. We cover the stories in realtime on this program, but it bears repeating. One of the biggest stains on the country from the Trump Presidency was his administrations handling of immigration, especially the separation of children from their parents, children as young as newborns, at the border. One of President Bidens promises to the American People during his campaign was to fix that problem. That stain. Today, were getting the first look at what the Biden Administrations plans are. Democratic allies of the president and Congress Today introduced the u. S. Citizenship act of 2021. The biden approved immigration overhaul, which among many things includes an eightyear pathway to citizenship for people in the country unlawfully who arrive by january 1st of this year. Joining our conversation, matt adviser, democratic strategist aisha mills. Matt, i know that President Biden was in the was Vice President when his boss, president obama, sought to build a Bipartisan Coalition with, of all folks, marco rubio. My old boss, george w. Bush, sought to build a coalition with john mccain and the late ted kennedy. This is really, really hard. Reading your reporting on his focus on finding these Little Pockets of support in the senate, it seems like the circumstances may suit this urgent need. Talk about their strategy for getting this through. So, its interesting right now, and comparing it to 2013, the last time that there was an attempt on legislation like this, and youve got a Different Senate and a different house, and you can imagine this passing the house, i think the struggle is in the senate. And white house officials have been a little bit cagey over what specifically their strategy is going to be in the senate. Whether they would try to do this through budget reconciliation, whether they would try to end the filibuster as a way to pass this, so i think that theyre trying to game that out right now in part by seeing reaction to their first piece, and i think its important to also note a little bit of the change and sort of how theyre approaching this, how theyre talking about this. Even if you look at the sponsors of this legislation, congresswoman Linda Sanchez was raised in Southern California by mexican immigrants. Bob menendez in the senate was raised in new jersey by cuban immigrants. So theres more of an immigrantfriendly attitude that the Biden White House has through this legislation, and its also important that its their first sort of big push. Hes putting a lot of Political Capital on the line to try to push this through at the very start of his administration, which was one frustration that people had with obama, that he waited too long. So, biden is really putting this front and center out the gate. You know, aisha, when you think about this past two efforts, i mean, president obama had and it didnt succeed, but he had some willing partners for different pieces of the policy. George w. Bush was a different situation. All of his resistance was from within his own party. He had plenty of partners in the democratic party. He really just had one or two prominent ones in his own party. One of them was john mccain. The Republican Party has gone hard right, especially on issues of immigration, and frankly, their sort of tepid response to White Supremacy and racists makes the politics on the other side of the aisle seem more difficult than even the last two president s encountered. Youre absolutely right, nicole. I mean, you just nailed it. Everything has become so, just, disgustingly political, frankly, because you have a Republican Party and perhaps not every republican but certainly the party itself and they move en masse that is so focused on demonizing somebody, right, so if its not black people, its certainly immigrants. Demonizing somebody for perhaps their own economic condition of certain people in the community, and just out of a fear of Demographic Shift that we are in a position where, and you know, im thankful for the Biden Administration to bring back in a humanitarian aspect to migrants generally but weve been in this position of republicans wanting to penalize people for looking to seek a better life here in this country, largely because it has to do with race, largely because of some inwardfacing sense that if there are brown people who show up, that means that somehow the base of the Republican Party is going to get less. I dont know how you get through to them and kind of break that log jam around what frankly are white supremacist roots and ideas about who is american in order to drive something forward, but i think that there is a, you know, conversation to be had around process that was just mentioned, especially in the senate, that biden is going to have to make some tough calls. I think the democrats are going to have to make some tough calls on how were going to move forward, because we know that theres just a vile body politic happening on one side of the aisle that is determined to not see the humanity of people and think about whats best for the country because theyre trying to, you know, grow on the backs of immigrants. Matt viser, we covered your reporting yesterday about this first big push, the president in milwaukee pushing covid relief in the town hall, the Vice President on nbc news on the today show echoing many of the same messages about some of the Vaccine Funding thats in that relief package. I wonder if they view that so far as a model and if we should expect to see them out pushing comprehensive Immigration Reform as well. Yeah. I mean, nicole, you saw this a little bit with how biden has handled his first covid relief package. He had that introductory meeting with republicans to try to work with them, kind of extending a hand to see if anybody grabbed it. And when that didnt work, they kind of prepared to go around them. And do it along a party line vote. I dont know if theyre going to take that path on immigration, but you can see them attempting to. This first initial sort of piece of legislation, i think theyre hoping that some republicans will gravitate toward it. If they dont, then i think biden has to make a choice of which direction to go, and if he wants to go down a party line path. I think it gets harder on immigration than it is on covid relief. Its a little bit more of a divisive issue. The polling is a little bit more divided on immigration than it is on the covid relief package. But i think youll see biden try to sell this a little bit more going down the road, and you know, i mean, again, it is pretty indicative that this is his first sort of piece of legislation thats not covid related. Its immigration. Its an indication of how important they view this issue. Its such a symbolic departure too from his predecessor who he calls the former guy. Matt viser and aisha mills, thank you so much. When we come back, what the January 6th Insurrection felt like to africanamerican staffers on capitol hill. We have brandnew reporting in the New York Times on just that subject next. The New York Times on just that subject next. quiet piano music comfort in the extreme. The lincoln family of luxury suvs. Condos. 150k. How are you, son . Whos your friend . Oh, um, this is eric. Ooh. The big e. [ chuckles ] great to meet ya. People love my nicknames. Its a whole thing. Thats wonderful, sir. Switch to progressive, and you can save hundreds. You know, like the sign says. Is that net carbs or total . Eh, not enough fiber. Chocolate would be good. Snacking should be sweet and simple. 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Now just remember, taking a second, thinking, if they touch these doors, if they hit these doors, the way they hit that door, if they hit these doors and come anywhere near my staff, and im just going to be real honest about it, my thought process was, we banging to the end. As a black woman, to be barricaded in my office using Office Furniture and water bottles, on the ground, in the dark, that terror, those moments of terror, is familiar in a deep and ancestral way for me. Those were just a few of the accounts of what happened on january 6th shared by black members of congress. The events of that day undoubtedly traumatic for everyone and anyone who was in the capitol, but the New York Times has some new reporting that describes, quote, for some black staff members, the Capitol Attack brought back memories of how they had tried to avoid people they felt could be prone to racist violence, only to find them at their place of work. The times report adds that staffers, quote, have been talking among themselves about how close the violence came to them, what it means to experience such a virulent expression of racism, and what is supposed to be a citadel of liberty. And the suspicion they now feel toward other aides, members of congress, and random people they encounter as they go about their business on capitol hill. Joining our conversation, the reporter whose byline is on that remarkable piece of reporting, New York Times congressional reporter luke broadwater, and former congressional aide for democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee, whos also quoted in that article. Luke, i wonder if you could i think this is the most important story in the paper today. If you can just take me through the arc of your reporting. Well, sure. Since the violent attack on the capitol, more than a month ago, weve been doing a lot of reporting into the the impact o lawmakers, on Capitol Police. But some of the people that have been somewhat overlooked in this process have been the congressional aides. And just like the reporters were on capitol hill that day, just like the police, just like the lawmakers, the congressional aides who were on capitol hill that day went through a lot. And i thought it was important that we tell their stories. So once i found out that jabir and mike and remington were willing to tell their stories on the record, i was happy to interview them. So what were hearing is the long lasting effects of this attack on the capitol, how it affected people mentally, how it affected people physically, but also, from the perspective of black congressional aides, how the racist imagery of that day, the imagery of White Supremacy really hit home in a way that is really, really terrible and really heartbreaking. Jabir, i want to read some of your quotes in lukes piece. You said this. For black staffers, its a little bit different because a lot of these attacks are directed towards our people. Weve seen these things happen over and over and over again. I dont think we were blinded that people who were domestic terrorists would say oh, its the capitol. Well stop there. It makes the trauma worse, another one of your colleagues said because as youre walking around, you dont know who could have been involved with what. How did the acquittal and the trial and seeing all of the violence played out all week affect you . Its extremely traumatic. Im speaking not just for myself, but my peers and those who were on the capitol grounds, the complex during that day. Its traumatic because there is not justice for the lead instigator and the insurrection, and it was also traumatic ubecause Senate Members who voted to make sure that trump did not get convicted, thats traumatic as well. And we have to cross these grounds, interacting with these numbers, interacting with staff. Its tough. Jabir, luke has also reported on a half dozen republican members who have ties to white supremacist groups or have appeared with them. Do you know any staffers who have such ties. I do not. I do not. But quite frankly, you know, we havent looked. I think if there was some investigating, i would not be surprised if there were ties. Jabir, i was in the white house on 9 11, and there was so much care and attention given to staffers who evacuated that day. Are there services offered, counselling services or whats being done for congressional staffers . Prior to my departure, i do know that the house did offer counselling services for members to speak about the traumatic experience and staffers. For myself specifically, ive actually reached out and set up some times to speak to a therapist myself to really break down the traumatic experience and really focus on exactly how its going to affect me longterm and my places of work, especially in the d. C. Area. I want to read a little bit more of your reporting, luke. You quote another staffer here who says i never thought id see the Confederate Flag walked lew the halls of congress. Communications director for stacey plaskett. As much as we think we have made progress, we havent progressed that much. The Confederate Flag was inside the capitol, and trump flags. I worked in politics. Those arent american flags. Trump flag is not an american flag, carried next to a Confederate Flag. What is the Lasting Impact of the acquittal and no consequences for Donald Trumps role in inciting people carrying his flag and Confederate Flags, not american flags . Well, yes, and it wasnt just the Confederate Flag. We had people with the flag of a fictional country where the flag is modeled off the nazi flag. We had the people that had the camp auschwitz tshirt referencing the holocaust. So there were multiple images of White Supremacy in the building that day. And i dont think its lost on anyone that this week there was a security guidance that went out to members of congress telling them to upgrade their Home Security systems and include panic buttons. And we get a rating that they should not announce when theyre going to be at a public event. They should only announce that after the event is over. So this was guidance that went out this week from the sergeant at arms. I think the fear and the threats against members of congress are still really present on peoples minds, and that includes the congressional aides i interviewed for this story because many of them felt that, you know, that their members, that the people they represent could be targeted because theyre some of the most outspoken critics of President Trump and his supporters especially the violent supporters that we saw break into the capitol might be looking for them. Luke broadwater, jabir mcknight, thank you so much for spending time talking about this with us. Were grateful. When we return, as we do every day, well remember lives well lived. Well lived. Ct the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Usaa turning 65 . Were made for. At aetna, we take a total, connected approach to your health and wellness to help you age actively. With Medicare Advantage plans designed for the whole you, we offer monthly plan premiums starting at 0. Hospital, medical and Prescription Drug coverage, in one simple plan. Plus dental, vision and hearing. Aetna Medicare Advantage plans. Call today to learn more or to be connected to a local agent in your community and well send you a 10 visa reward card with no obligation to enroll. Lives arent lived much better than this one. Rose was simply an inspiration. Born to a mother who survived the Armenian Genocide and a father who was a veteran of war in turkey, rose grew up proud of her heritage and her armenian community. Her mother passed when she was 13, so she and her sister ran the household. She graduated from Philadelphia High School just months after the u. S. Entered world war ii. So she did her part, a job at a defense plant where the work was top secret. In time, the whole world would come to know heroes like rose as rosie the riveter. She worked huge, heavy machinery, learned to read blueprints, and she wore pants for the first time in her life. After the war, she fell in love, married, moves to the suburb, and raised three wonderful children. She even went back to work in 1960 for another 35 years. She retired at the age of 70 not because she couldnt do it anymore, because she just figured it was time. Rose liked to cook. She liked to read and garden, but nothing brought her more joy than her family and her adoring grandchildren. Rose died of covid19 complications two days before she would have turned 96. Cause of death is just a footnote, though. At the tail end of a spectacular life. Intelligent, beautiful and driven, rochelle, a real life rosie the riveter, an inspiration to us all. Thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. Were grateful. The beat with ari melber starts right now. Hi, ari. Hi, nicolle. Appreciate your reporting. Thank you as always. Thanks, my friend. I do want to welcome everyone. Thank you. I want to welcome everyone to the beat. We begin with the new video tonight. Texas senator ted cruz landing back in houston coming from cancun, mexico. He left for cakes in the middle of this deep har