package. democrats unveiling that full 600-page bill yesterday and it includes increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, $1400 direct checks, extending unemployment benefits and more money for small businesses. the president making his pitch yesterday public by turning up the heat on republican lawmakers. >> i'm grateful the senate and the house are moving quickly, and i'm prepared to hear their ideas how to make the package better and make it cheaper. i'm open to that. but we have to make clear who is helped and who is hurt. my hope is the republicans in congress listen to their constituents. ment. and breaking today as vaccination efforts gain momentum, hazardous weather is causing a major distribution delay. the deadly winter storms slowing the shipments of 6 million vaccines. that's across all 50 states, including in texas. breaking a short time ago, the president declaring a major disaster there today and plans to visit their next week. 15 million texans still have water issues and tens of thousands without power. today in houston, new york congresswoman oscasio-cortez volunteered at a food bank and offered support after raising $3.2 million in relief for texans. >> this is not just an issue for texans. this is an issue for our entire country. and our whole country needs to come and rally together behind the needs of texans all across the state. >> we're going to expand on those headlines now with our nbc reporters across the nation and texas. and more breaking news, officials are on their way to texas, the president declaring it a major disaster area. we will britain in nbc's morgan chesky, joining us from dallas. morgan, what are the conditions like there in the lone star state? >> reporter: as frigid temperatures finally start to leave texas, consequences of the winter blast clear. >> my life is ruined! >> reporter: busted water lines now flooding homes and thousands in food banks waiting hours for clean water. statewide 1,300 public water systems are compromised, serving 14.9 million texans, more than half the state. so many picking up pieces. >> when you have eight inches of standing sewage water, it's pretty much all ruined. not much can be saved >> reporter: ercot, the group managing the texas power grid, say customers no longer need to conserve electricity with operations back on track but the council is already being sued, plaintiffs claiming the group was negligence and failed to take reasonable care in estimating and planning the amount of power that would be required in the winter 2021 season. also under fire, texas senator ted cruz, who flew to cancun with his family while millions in his state suffered. cruz admitting he flew back early and regretted the trip but not without serious criticism. >> as leaders we stay on the ship. we don't leave the ship when the ship is in trouble >> reporter: also in houston -- >> we went through chaotic times. >> reporter: james many mcing veil opened up stores for anyone in need of shelter, just as he's done for hurricanes. >> there's so much attention on who's to blame, let's not blame people. let's fix the problem >> reporter: for these texans, a hometown blessing. >> i was taught the essence of living is giving and i will go to my grave with that saying. >> reporter: here in dallas it wasn't too long ago we had a temperature of negative 2, making it the colder day since 1949. so millions of texans now hoping that these warmer temperatures can speed up the recovery after what's been just a brutal past week. alex. >> brutal indeed. thank you very much, morgan chesky. joining me now, texas congressman mark veezier, member of the democratic house and armed services committee. how cute was that guy who opened up his storm and let people come in from the cold sit at the table, sit and relax on a couch, give them blankets on the showroom floors? i thought that was great. >> yes, alex, that was just unbelievable. i'm all the way up here in ft. worth, so i'm four hours away from houston. but i mean, just incredible. that's really what texas is all about. that's why we're known as the state with a big heart because we care about people and we care about our neighbors and friends and family and that was awesome that he did that. of course, what the republicans did by putting us in this situation to where we had to have this much pressure on the grid to where it ended up failing in many areas was absolutely scary. and to just think that we were seconds away from the entire grid collapsing and that could have created a national security nightmare with people trying to flee the state. >> it is stunning. >> unbelievable. >> a catastrophe, as if what we're dealing with now isn't hard enough. by the way, how are your constituents? what are they dealing with? >> right now here in the dallas-ft. worth area, what they were dealing with, next door in arlington they were under a boil alert. half the city of ft. worth, western portions of ft. worth and northern portions of ft. worth were under boil alerts. i can tell you, alex, just to sort of reinforce how close we were to experiencing a natural disaster, one of the major companies here that hauls trash off from homes and apartment complexes, as of yesterday, they did not have access to lng, liquefied natural gas, that fuels their trucks so they couldn't even go pick the trash up. think about that, if this major company that picks up trash didn't have gas available, that let's you know had this gone on a few more days, it could have been course. the problem the republicans created could have been much, much more than it is now because it was really that bad. >> i had not even considered trash pickup. the domino effect of this is extreme to say the least. here's something your committee did, sir, as you know. with you are wrote a letter to texas governor abbott demanding answers for the power dprid failure but you point to a 2011 report. it was done by the federal regulatory commission. in that report it outlined a number of issues that had not been addressed. we're talking 2011. who are those issues, and have they been addressed in the last, oh, ten years? >> yeah, no. for so long, the problem with ercot in particular is ercot pretty much runs ercot. the public utilities commission, which greg abbott, the governor, he's the person that's in charge of making those appointees before any would have been repairing is, they're basically fektless. so what we need to figure out is through legal maneuverings and what you have, is there a way for the texas grid to be tied into other grids during this time of emergency? i know people say they want to be completely free from the federal government, but look at texas, we're one of the world's largest economies and so much of the nation's energy, so much of the commerce that's created in this nation comes from texas. and with the second-most populous state in this situation, we really need to look at how we can make some changes immediately. >> look, there's a reason you guys are called the lone star state, that's for sure. but let me ask you about governor abbott because he blamed green energy, specifically wind and solar shutdowns during the storm for creating the havoc here. is that true? >> that was the craziest thing that i heard and it was -- i was shocked that the governor of texas would actually go on national tv and make that sort of a statement, that kind of statement, with absolutely no proof at all. it was like he was trying to play partisan politics and feed the base at the time people were having heat emergencies. you think about the dozens of people in texas who died because of this cold and for him to say that was just crazy. we need to look at how we're going to winterize all of these platforms, whether it's wind, natural gas, nuclear. just in case we have future extreme low-cold temperatures, how they're going to be able to continue to serve texas at a time of a winter emergency. that's the sort of thing we need to have the governor talking about and not try to play partisan politics. i was appalled that he did that. >> i could tell. absolutely. >> it was embarrassing. >> and let me ask you quickly because we're running out of time here, republican senator ted cruz -- you know where i'm going with this -- facing major backlash for flying to cancun while texas is dealing with this crisis. strategists have told the hill this fallout from this particular incident threatens to deal lasting political damage to the texas senator. what is your take on the ted cruz situation? >> i thought that senator cruz was already in a lot of trouble before this happened. and it was going to be very hard for him toic make a comeback. and with this, yeah, this is what people are going to remember him for and i'm surprised he took the trip because he's very recognizable. people know him wherever he goes. he ran for president, he so was on television all the time. >> particularly when he called the police department and said, hey, can you escort me while we're at the airport? he may not have made the call, granted, aides did. but that's even more noticeable, if they didn't recognize him under the mask, who's that guy being escorted by a couple police officers, right? >> exactly. or somebody who has litter ly spent their entire life trying to become president of the united states. i don't understand how he made this move. it makes no sense at all. but that's why this grid was under the pressure they're under, they feel they can do whatever it is they're going to do and people will re-elect them. that's the problem here. we need to have changes and really have voters take a strong look at who is leading our state, particularly statewide elected officers. >> i don't think people will soon forget what's been going on the last week there in texas. texas congressman mark veazey, it's always good to talk to you, my friend. thank you very much. we will go now to the latest on capitol hill and new charges. filed against six members of the oath keepers militia group, in connection with the january 6th insurrection. my colleague mary anna sotomayor is joining me now. mariana, welcome to you. what are you hearing? >> this is just another batch of the oath keepers who have been arrested since january 6th. previously, there was another three who federal investigators said they did a premeditated attack on the capitol. now those six actually working with the three that were previously arrested, discussing how they would not just storm the capitol but do so in a military-style formation. those six actually came from florida, north carolina and ohio. the prosecution already making the argument that house democrats tried to make during the impeachment trial, which was essentially, yes, these people were motivated by former president donald trump's words. and i want to read a little bit of what one suspect actually wrote ahead of the insurrection and why they decided to do that. they said, quote, trump said it's going to be wild. it's going to be wieltd. he wants us to make it wild. that's what he's saying. he called us all to the capitol and wants us to make it wild. now, there is bipartisan consensus across both chambers that everyone who breached capitol security must face some sort of penalty. that is exactly what congressman bennie thompson said earlier on msnbc. he, of course, is the chairman of the house homeland committee who will continue to investigate and look at all of these movements. take a look at what he said about what he said should happen to everyone who stormed the capitol january 6th. >> a number of their leaders actually participated in charging through the doors, a number of them broke windows coming in. they provided security for some of the other people around. they are a bad group of people. you can assemble but peacefully assemble. what we saw on january 6th is not a peaceful assembly. but as you know, there was no permit for the march to the capitol the former president encouraged the group to come to the capitol and stop the heal. >> members of congress, of course, were the targets of that insurrection, they taking the investigations into their own hands. we should expect two different hearings starting on the senate side tuesday and kicking off and ending with another one on the house side on thursday. all of which we will be talking to former capitol police officials as well as 0 house sergeant in arms and acting officials. and nancy pelosi is set to introduce legislation to finally get started on the 9/11-style commission that will investigate everything that happened over a month ago. >> thank you for that, mariana sotomayor, from the capitol. you might have missed it but president biden made one of the best arguments to republicans who might be against his $1.9 trillion covid relief package. will want to hear what he said. stay right where you are. when you drive this smooth, you save with allstate the future of auto insurance is here you've never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today when you switch to xfinity mobile, you're choosing to get connected allstate to the most reliable network nationwide, now with 5g included. discover how to save up to $300 a year with shared data starting at $15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited. come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. you can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store. - [announcer] we're thrive cosmetics, we create high performance, cruelty free, 100% vegan formulas and we love that you love our products. like our award winning liquid lash extensions mascara. plus, with every product you purchase we donate to help a woman thrive. join our movement today at thrivecosmetics.com. today marks one month president biden was sworn into office and right now a battle over his covid relief bill is under way. let's go to washington. monica, so good to see you. just hours ago we had democrats release the details of the bill. share what it shows? >> it is over 600 pages long, so we are poring over that right now. and this is something candidate and president-elect biden promised the american people and this is one of the main sticking points in this overall $1.9 trillion package for covid relief but it would promise $1,400 in direct payments. a couple more details we're getting, the battle over the minimum wage increase continues because that is something president biden said last week he wasn't sure would survive. they're still waiting to see whether it can be part of this or whether it's going to have to be stripped out of it. if this were to pass, it would essentially increase the minimum wage to $15 over the course of certain years. and it would also continue to expand on unemployment benefits for americans until at least august and also to expand the ppp loans that so many small businesses relied on in the early days of the pandemic. president biden spoke about so many americans with challenges expressed that they don't like how large the price tag is, lees said in effect, well, what would you have me take out? what would you strip out of this? what can we do not in terms of helping schools but all of the money for vaccine distribution that would be part of this, that's what he spoke to yesterday at a pfizer plant in michigan. overall his issues with people wanting to shrink this price tag, take a listen to what he had to say -- >> what would they have me cut? what would they have me leave out? should we not invest $20 billion to vaccinate the nation? should we not invest $290 million to extend unemployment insurance for the 11 million americans who are unemployed so they can get by? this is the united states of america, for god's sake. we invest in people. who are in need. >> the white house said they don't plan to shrink this $1.9 trillion package for anything because they can't identify what they will take off. but that may mean they won't be able to have bipartisan support, where republicans have no appetite for something this large. so the this is likely why democrats will have to go it alone through the budget reconciliation process and have to clear a couple more hurdles this coming week but why they've given us the top lines on the bill to move that along on capitol hill, alex. >> can i ask you about the president's pick for omb director who's facing roadblocks from democrats? what's behind that? >> yes, senator joe manchin of west virginia came out last night in a statement and said he cannot support her confirmation or her nomination to this posting because, in his words, of offensive tweets and other comments she had made. so the fact he has said that now essentially really deals quite a striking blow to her hopes for being in this post because in a 50/50 split senate, that would have to mean a republican would support her, which at this point we don't have any indication. so if she loses the support of joe manchin, as he's indicating, they would have to find that because vice president harris can come and break that tie but without all 50 democrats on board, her nomination really does not seem likely at all at this point, alex. >> thank you very much, monica alba. joining me now is heather bouchier, member of the white house council economic advisers. welcome to you. let's get into this. the $400 relief check, that means a lot to the people hurting. who is getting a check and how might this impact, this particular one, be different from any previous stimulus checks? >> so the package that the president put out there had $1,400 checks going out to families. this is still being negotiated right now on the hill. my understanding is new numbers have come out in the past hour or so. i think what is really important here is that these checks need to go out to all of the families that need them and that is consistent with both what the president promised to the american people and what the economy really means. we know that so many families have been struggling. we know that covid pandemic has caused so much hardship for families all across the united states, that these checks are really going to make a difference in the lives of millions of american families. >> let's look at the jobs report. the latest one shows more than 861,000 new applications for unemployment insurance. officially, more than 10 million people are classified as unemployed. this is in the 6.3 unemployment rate but more than 18 million are actually receiving unemployment assistance. you have fed chair jerome powell saying the unemployment rate is likely closer to 10%. add to that some fear many of these jobs are not coming back. i p guess the question to you is are there projections on if and when these jobs will come back? >> a lot of that hinges on what congress does in the coming weeks. so you're right, there are millions of folks unemployed. and it's difficult because of the pandemic for statisticians to exactly measure what's going on given the survey was not representing these circumstances but it's clearer it is bigger than the standard rate we use, and closer to about 10%, once you count all of the folks who are not working because their business shut down or they were forced to drop out because their job just wasn't there. here's the thing, we can really help these folks if we get this american rescue plan passed and those benefits going out to the millions of american families. that is really the urgency of this package here. the economists estimated if we don't act now, it could take up to four years to get back to unemployment rates we had before the pandemic, where as if this plan goes into effect as it was outlined, it could be just a year that we could get back to those unemployment rates. that's a real difference in the lives of americans. >> for sure. in terms of who would get those checks, there's been a lot of debate whether or not that $75,000 a year threshold holds for singles, for a couple up to $150,000 or if it's going to be dropped. where does that stand? >> well, the negotiations are ongoing right now. but i think what is really important and what the president's emphasized time and time and time again is that this needs to reach folks that need it. and so we think about the essential workers out there. you think about the nurse or kinder garden teacher, or police officer who's struggling in this time of need where they've been out there helping the american people. we need to make sure that those folks get the benefits they need to support their families. >> yeah, for sure. sticking point here, is that being the $15 minimum wage proposal. although president biden said he's not even sure it's going to survive. how are you planning to get support, particularly from smaller states? >> you know, the $15 minimum wage is something that actually does have support, right, across -- we see in polls the american people understand just how important it is people are paid a fair day's wage. of course, especially over the past year, where so many of those essential workers out there who have been delivering food, the clerk at the grocery store who might be the daycare worker that's out there still working trying to make sure other people can still get to work, many of those folks who make the minimum wage or would be affected by this increase. that's why it's so economically important this be part of this package. the president's been very consistent raising the minimum wage is good for the american people and it's good for the economy. >> let me go for one estimate we read, which says, heather, this bill would reduce childhood poverty by 45%. there's documented proof that underserved community have been hit harder by the pandemic, also suffering in greater numbers right now in texas. is the administration considering targeted relief to these communities? could that help them economically if they get a boost? >> well, you know, i'm glad you asked that. this package was built from the ground up to make sure we focus the attention on those who needed it most, right? so it starts with getting out there to make sure that the communities have the resources to distribute the vaccine. that's really important, especially to the communities of color who have been so hard hit and many of them struggling to get the vaccines they need and protective gear and all of the things. then many other parts of the package are targeted to those most in need. you think about the support for emergency paid leave, dozens without help from their employer, that will help them. you think about money for childcare instance, money for employee, minimum wage, that those are all policies are really are targeted helping those most in need and going to boost incomes in communities of color. so it is important that we do target those folks who need it the most with those families or communities or for the economy overall. >> i have to tell you, heather, the fact this is a 600-page proposal and a lot of it is still being negotiated, i appreciate you going through what you can for us thus far. we look forward to seeing you soon. new york governor andrew cuomo said he should have been specific on covid measures in new york in one specific way. if you think you know the answer, you could be wrong. we'll explain. plain. to defend against dark forces attacking your organization, you need to see in the dark. to have the wisdom to understand multiple cyber threats. the precision focus to end attacks instantly. on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. join the world's leading companies in our mission to defend. cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere. this weekend new york governor andrew cuomo was on defense after lashing out at critics in a fiery news conference. and it comes as the fbi is investigating allegations that the state is underreporting covid deaths in nursing homes. and the list of democrats backing that probe is growing. congresswoman oscasio-cortez, very latest now to join the call for a full investigation. minute call msnbc's cori coffin is following this story for us. welcome to you. we know the governor was speaking out yesterday. what all did he say? >> alex, good morning, or good afternoon i guess we should say out on the east coast. the governor here finding him civil to have continually defend his administration's actions during the height of the pandemic. he said that, yes, their administration did have a lag in providing public data and that created a void but he said conspiracy theories and lies filled that voight. to his critics, both republicans and democrats, he said these are publicly motivated lies and confusing things further. all of that stemming from the report that the cuomo administration undercounted deaths by the thousands and some other lawmakers accusing cuomo of doing that intentionally. the governor insisting it was an oversight, mistake. every single death was still counted but were categorized incorrectly. he stopped short of issuing an apology yesterday but did have this to say. listen in. >> i was not aggressive enough in knocking down the falsities. i heard them. i saw them. i dismissed it as politics. i dismissed it as personal agendas. i dismissed it as partisan politics, which is at a fever pitch nowadays. but i should have been more aggressive in calling it out. >> alex, this might have been enough, that explanation might have been enough if more information had not come to light about a top aide saying they actually did withhold some of the tally numbers for a state legislative request. originally she said it was because they had fear over what the trump administration would do with those numbers politically and then backtracking and saying, no, it was just because they were dealing with a department of justice request first, though the federal request takes precedent over the state legislative request. either way, bipartisan calls for a full investigation. more lawmakers here say that is warranted because of those additional questions. alex? >> thank you for that report, cori coffin. governor cuomo, not the only politician in holt water this week. we're talking about texas senator ted cruz who is big-time facing lack bash after flying on vacation with his family as millions of his constituents were without power and running water in subfreezing temperatures. after cutting that trip short, senator cruz is making an apology tour of sorts. >> look, it was obviously a mistake. in hindsight, i wouldn't have done it. i was trying to be a dad. and all of us have made decisions when you got two girls who have been cold for two days and haven't had heat or power and their saying, hey, look, we don't have school, why don't we go, let's get out of here. >> joining me now is zerlina maxwell, host of the show "zerlina" on peacock, host of the oversight committee and "usa today" contributor and chris lu, former labor secretary during the obama administration. hey, guys, good to see you again. thank you for joining me. okay, hindsight, zerlina, i'm curious to your reaction to the reasoning there. we'll get the fact he can't single-handedly fix texas' power grid issues, right, but what does it say to the people of texas when they have to boil snow in order to just get water and their senator is jetting off to the cancun ritz-carlton? he said in hindsight that was a bad decision. i don't know. he's got a wife and his family and maybe he could have said girls, you go enjoy. i'm going to stay here and work for the people. >> i'm going to say something that might be surprising. donald trump had the correct nickname for ted cruz. his correct name for ted cruz was lying ted. and ted cruz told at least three lies in that clip you just played, alex. his daughters apparently asked him to go to cancun. i don't know what preteen girls think of cancun as their ideal destination. i would think of like disney world. is but besides that, i think it's ridiculous for him to come out and say, well, i was just trying to be a good dad. i didn't think there was anything i could do. that is not true. he's telling many, many lies to his constituents who are freezing and he could have stayed home, called stakeholders, brought resources to bear, sent water. i mean, alexandria oscasio-cortez is a congresswoman from the bronx, new york, and she's doing more than senator ted cruz for the constituents in texas. i hope they remember that. also, they left a dog. that was really messed up. >> i know, right? i agree with that too. i'm a huge animal lover. the you did what? i'm going to pick up on the aoc point zerlina is making with you, chris. you have the congresswoman from texas, she's raising millions for texas, i think $3.2 million, volunteering at a food bank and it's not even her state. does that just make the optics even worse for ted cruz? >> you know, alex, i have spent a dozen years on capitol hill and this is politics 101. when there's a crisis at home, elected officials go home. it doesn't matter if you're in the u.s. senate or school board or if there's anything you can do. appearances matter. people want to know they're elected officials are putting their constituents' interests first instead of personal interests. let me give you another example in addition to aoc, beto o'rourke, not even a current member of congress, organized phone banks to call citizens in texan to connect them to water, food and transportation. those food banks reached out to 780,000 senior citizens. you don't even have to be a current member of congress but when you have the stature of ted cruz, there's a lot you can do to help your constituents. >> absolutely. i'm going to change topics here. this is from lisa lair of "the new york times," who writes today, for much of the past six years, donald trump dominated the political conversation with outrage and everything else with his tweets. well, the former president has now gone nearly silent, leaving a trump-size void in our conversation that president biden has little to fill. now we're suddenly ee meshed in controversy that isn't quickly subsumed in a deluge of trump news. what do you make of that? >> i think it gives us time, frankfully, to be talking about things that matter more than what donald trump tweets. i can't think of anything more erroneous of waste of time to talk about than this guy's twitter feed. the reality is there's a lot going on in this country. and our attention and discussions should revolve around those taking parts in trying to solve these problems. talk about the policies that affect american people on a very real level. so i think if you're talking about the fiasco with ted cruz or everyday reactions of president biden, that's what we should be doing and i am sure that's driving donald trump crazy. every hour we spend talking about things like rise in hate crimes dependence asian americans, talking about the rise of energy bills the people of texas are going to have to try to grapple with, every time we talk about something that isn't donald trump, it drives him nuts. that's why you will see him do everything he can to desperately cling to attention, desperately try to get politicians to bend to his will and if that actually happens, alex, it's because people are volunteering to be part of the surface. at this point there's no volunteers for donald trump, just volunteers. >> and i will ask you about the rise in hate crimes in a second. in terms of volunteers, if you, will you, senator graham is going on a peacekeeping commission aamid this civil war going on in the gop. the reason we talk about donald trump is this, this palm beach the new epicenter of the greater republican party? >> yes. the other thing you didn't mention is that nikki haley tried to go down there and meet with donald trump this week and he snubbed her. i think what it shows is that in donald trump's world, there's only one person that he cares about and that's himself. he wants 100% blind loyalty, which is j people are going down kissing his ring. we also saw in the blistering attack made on mitch mcconnell, unless you're 100% blindly loyal to him, he will come after you. and that's really not the great place for any politician to be, whether you're a never-trumper or not a never-trumper. and those people who called him out after january 6th were right to do that. but this will be a continuing problem for donald trump and republican party. while the trump brand has great value within the republican primary system, it's not clear how much weight it carries among the general electorate now. >> speaking of nikki haley, these two women reportedly have not spoken since january 6th. what do you make of this, can nikki haley have it both ways with donald trump? how much did her statement condemning trump for january 6th damage any potential 20 24 run or can she garner support from the non-trumpian republicans for her honesty? ? i think the last part of that question is kind of an open-ended question. put the first part of that question about whether or not donald trump will forget, no, he will not. i think anybody who crossed trump post november 3rd, quite frankly, is going to be on a list of sorts. he always talks about how he likes to sit back and get revenge on people he sees having wronged him. i think necci haley being very loud about the fact she made a mistake by following donald trump, sure, she may thing that could get some of the never trumpers or moderate republicans, they will not forget she went up to him including almost insurrection. the republicans now have gone up to donald trump up to and including insurrection. and thens this some that tell off quite before that. because they saw what happened january 6th with the demme of police officers and they did not want to be allied with with that. she has a tough line to walk. i think the fact of the matter is the republican party needs to figure out what they stand for and it can't be a man. >> okay, then i'm going to ask this quickly even though nick told me we had to do. the fact ivanka trump told marco rubio i'm never running for your seat seat. s with that a serious contention or headline grab for attention and legitimacy? >> real quick, as rick has the cast. >> i think it was a headline grab of attention. i expect ivanka are to try to resurface from public life, we move on from the shadow of the trump presidency. but pend of the day i think will depend on what the legal situation is that the whole trump family will likely have to deal with. >> thank you being preef on that. we're going to get to the indianapolis departments targeting asian americans soons and have you back to talk about as much as possible catch "zer zerlina" on the choice. e choice if you need the key to fresh laundry try gain flings. they have more freshness ingredients compared to bargain liquid detergent. ' f new reaction now to a 150-year-old law being used in an effort to put donald trump out of business. congressman bennie thompson is teaming up with the naacp in a lawsuit against the former president and rudy giuliani accusing them of conspireing with extremist groups to incite the capitol riots. >> donald trump has to go away. if he doesn't, we will put him out of business. just like we did certain brands of the ku klux klan and other roots. when you hit them punitively in their pocketbook, you put them out of business. and that's what ultimately we want to do with this lawsuit. >> joining me now is derrick johnson, president and ceo of the naacp. welcome back, my friend. it's good to see you. give me your take on the strategy here. >> the civil rights act of 1871, commonly known as the ku klux klan act, was created for a moment like this, to ensure members of congress carrying out their constitutional duty would not be faced with intimidation or violence. in the backdrop of 1871 was during a time the country was reunited after the civil war. and southern members of congress was commonly being threatened by groups such as the ku klux klan. when you look at what took place january 6th, that failed coup, insurrection, we find ourselves in a scenario where individuals are violating our constitution and threatening members of congress and it's apparent, it's on video, it's in all of the statements that we've seen last week during the impeachment trial. >> so i'm curious that op-ed that was written in "the new york times," the title was using an anti-klan law against trump's clan, that an accurate characterization of your suit? >> it's absolutely an accurate characterization. think about it, what we celebrate in this nation is the peaceful transfer of power. we settle the dispute at the election box, and once it is settled, we move on. but that didn't happen this time because the former president could not accept he lost. hep he couldn't accept it and filed over 60 lawsuits. the naacp had to intervene in one manner or another in over 34 of those lawsuits. he could not accept it. he began to fan the flames of racial hatred. all based on race. they were seeking to delegitimize black votes in pennsylvania, philadelphia, pittsburgh, milwaukee and indiana. that's not the way we settle our disputes in this country. this is not a banana republic. >> right. do you think some of what we saw during the recent impeachment trial could be part of this lawsuit, derrick? especially what senator mitch mcconnell said after the impeachment vote when he called out the president directly and quite vociferously, could that be used? >> we put it in our pleadings. it is right there. the evidence that was displayed during the impeachment trial is conclusive. unfortunately, that was a political hearing. now we are seeking to get redressed in a court of law so that some justice can be brought. and i look forward to the day where criminal charges are being brought. this is not acceptable. we know it from the history of this country, if you allow white supremacists domestic terror to go unchecked, people are harmed. we see that in the '20s, '30s '40s and '50s in the south against snaerns, jewish community, against so many individuals because no one was ever held accountable. we must stand up as a nation and drive an understanding that our country is united and should not be divided by partisanship on questions of treason and insurrection. >> yes, amen to that. let me switch gears here and talk about what else was going on on capitol hill this week, the reparations for african-americans. as you know the house judiciary committee held that hearing on whether to create a commission now to figure out how to provide compensation for racial discrimination. you had representative sheila jackson lee of texas who wrote the reparations bill. and has attempted to get it through congress without success in the past. this is just a bill, derrick, to consider forming a committee and then discuss the issue. ment why do you think even forming a committee is an issue for some lawmakers? >> well, it's been an issue since congressman conyers brought this issue forward years ago. naacp have always been in support, senator conyers active member of the naacp detroit branch. he the foresight of bringing this issue forward in the '70s. again, there's been intentional harm by this government. there's been harm created that's never been addressed. and if the japanese could be considered for reparation because of interment, in the jewish community could be considered because of the holocaust, we have endured harm for centuries, not only because of slavery but the wealth gap is the direct result of the home mortgage loan. the wealth gap is the direct result of being excluded from social security benefits because legislators put into the bill if you're a domestic or agriculture worker, those employers were exempt from paying into the social security system. so many generations were locked out of accumulating wealth. >> i'm really glad you put all of that out there, derrick johnson. we will have you back as this progresses, hopefully, in congress. thank you very much. saving souls and saving lives, religion and science combine to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music) ♪ ♪ comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs. tonight i'll be eating a calzone from doughballs in aurora. 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