To deal with the Growing Threat of White Supremacists and domestic terrorism. Director wray is defending his agencys actions and condemning the insurrection. That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple. And its behavior that we the fbi view as domestic terrorism. Its got no place in our democracy. And tolerating it would make a mockery of our nations rule of law. Racially motivated violent extremism specifically of the sort that advocates for the superiority of the white race is a persistent evolving threat. Its the biggest chunk of our racially motivated violent extremism cases for sure. And racially motivated violent extremism is the biggest chunk of our domestic terrorism portfolio, if you will, overall. Wray went on to back the fbis handling of intelligence before january 6th, saying it was raw, unverified, and uncorroborated social media chatter. But it was shared in multiple ways, though not directly with him. Some angry demented guy living in moms basement, not that theres anything wrong with that, in one part of the country is now able to communicate with the similarly angry guy in grandmas attic in another part of the country. They get each other spun up now. I sometimes say terrorism today and we saw it on the 6th moves at the speed of social media. And despite this hearing being a part of Congress Efforts to get to the bottom of what went wrong, wray shed very little new light on what intel the fbi had before january 6th, and how the bureau plans to confront the rising threat of domestic terrorism going forward. That is partly because of his answers. Its also partly because of what he was asked and what he wasnt asked by many of these senators. Many republicans in the Senate Judiciary committee instead focusing on violence during Racial Justice protests along with antifa, the fbi director also knocking down Conspiracy Theories about who was involved in the january 6th attack. Based on your investigation so far, do you have any evidence that the Capitol Attack was organized by, quote, fake trump protesters . We have not seen evidence of that at this stage certainly. We have not to date seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th. Wray says there are currently 2,000 domestic terrorism investigations and violent White Supremacist investigations have almost tripled since he took office. Joining me now is msnbc news justice correspondent pete williams, Msnbc National Security contributor clint watts and the director of the republican Accountability Project and former assistant dhs secretary Elizabeth Newman. Pete, first off to you, there was so much in this hours long hearing. Wray was asked a number of questions. Im curious as you were watching, what did you learn . Well, the fbi gave the first real explicit explanation of what happened to that report that came in the night before from norfolk of warning about a Social Media Posting that people were explicitly talking about storming the capitol, doing lots of damage, possibly carrying out Violent Attacks on members of congress. He pushed back against the criticism last week that the fbi didnt share it very widely. He said they did it three different ways. It was briefed to all the Law Enforcement people who were in the command center, which included Capitol Police, metro police from d. C. , and others. It was sent to members of the joint task force, joint Terrorism Task force, same Law Enforcement agencies and then sent to a wider list of Law Enforcement customers. So he said it was pushed out very quickly even though they had no ability to verify it. It was simply a claim that they thought everybody ought to know about. I think youre right on the larger question there really was very little discussion today about some of the lurking issues here. Does the fbi need more authority from congress to be able to investigate domestic terrorism with the same kind of detail and intrusiveness that it can investigate foreign terrorism . Very little about that. Almost nothing about what precisely the fbi knew about plans to storm the capitol. And ive been reading all these court documents, all the charges. And there are places where prosecutors say this group, the oathkeepers or the proud boys or this individual planned to attack the capitol. But then when you look at the evidence thats in the documents, you dont see that detail. So either the fbi doesnt know the answer to that yet, or, for some reason, isnt saying in the court documents. But there wasnt much about that. So what wray was basically saying is, look, we knew that these groups were talking about coming to washington and doing something violent or going to their state capitols, and we pushed out many reports on that saying they might attack the election or the Electoral College vote or the inauguration and it could continue after that. And then we put out this thing the night before. So what do you want from us . That was basically saying we pass along everything we had. It seems like theres a lot of fingerpointing here, pete. The Capitol Police fingerpointing, the House Sergeant in arms, the Senate Sergeant in arms fingerpointing, and d. C. Police fingerpointing, the pentagon fingerpointing. Now the fbi is fingerpointing. I mean, this was, as you just mentioned, clearly known to the fbi that there was this chatter online. We had reported it on this network multiple times yeah, but its the nature i understand that. When it was chatter, though. But why because all of this chatter was out there and because of the way the president was going after the election, i guess im still curious about why it wasnt taken more seriously than it was. Why it was just considered chatter. Yeah. Well, of course chatter about what. I mean, how much chatter there was lots of talk about taking it to the streets and making them hear our message. But how much of it was specifically about doing what happened on the 6th . I think youre right about that. And, to me, i dont know how much youre ever going to get the answers through these condition regional hearings. It does seem like having a 9 11style commission in the way were ever going to really get answers. Clint, what about you, what was your takeaway . This was pretty much what i thought there was going to happen. I think there are a few things that are interesting. What director wray said he did, you know, and the department did in terms of passing on intelligence is standard protocol. The joint Terrorism Task force sends along those messages. And then its really left up to the local departments. The difference is, is washington, d. C. Is not a state in a way that we usually have a governor, usually theres a fusion center. We have public safety, you know, we have Law Enforcement. And that information gets shared in a way where people make vulnerability assessments. Didnt really happen in this case. So i thought that was interesting. And it isnt the fbi thats going to defend the capitol. The next part is what pete was just talking about go ahead, sorry. The fbi is not authorized to sit on social media and watch things. They have to have an open case. And this is where it comes down particularly with domestic terrorism designation versus international. If these were International Terrorists talking about storming the capitol, there would have been a major investigation, the fbi wouldve tried to preempt it. And they did arrest several people i think they thought were going to show up at polling places. The wolverine militia that was going to capture governor whitmer. But they cannot just openly surveil social media if there is not a predicate there. And you got to one of the sticking points that i continue to hear from Law Enforcement, clint, which is that without a domestic Terrorism Law, there isnt much that the Intelligence Community can do to watch some of these chat rooms, to watch this chatter. And then theres pushback of course from civil Rights Groups saying im not so sure you want a domestic Terrorism Law because it can be abused. So it gets really murky. Elizabeth, you worked within dhs. You were trying to wave your arms and say this is a real problem, this Growing Threat of domestic extremism of white supremacy. When you were watching that hearing today or this hearing, what were you thinking . Well, i agree with what clint was saying. I would add on a few things that i think they could have done within existing authorities. One, there are open Source Intelligence corporations or groups out there that produce assessments of open source intel. And they have contracts with government agencies. Its all legal. They assessed that the threat of january 6th was different than the protests that we had seen in december and november. So, there were warnings being sounded by these outside groups that i dont know where their warnings went. I dont know why they werent heeded. But thats a question that to me is still outstanding why they seem to not take the threat as seriously as they should, too. The way that the Counterterrorism Community has operated in the two decades that ive been engaged with it in the Bush Administration and in the trump administration, there is something called the counterterrorism security group, which is a senior level group that meets to look at both active significant threats as well as policy issues. It is concerning to me that as the threat level and the rhetoric was starting to increase, why didnt they call us what we would call a snap csg . And maybe they did, and maybe they made that assessment, maybe that hasnt come out yet. But i didnt hear director wray talk about that. I heard him talk about command post briefings. I heard him talk about things that are fairly standard activities but were not indicative of individuals that were saying, leaning in. Saying something feels different here. And the last point is it feels as if the community has gotten complacent, theres probably a lot of reasons for that. Probably they thought the threat actor in this case was more like a bar fighter as opposed to an actor capable of a coordinated, planned attack on the capitol. But were not operating with an enemy thats like al qaeda where theres a complex coordinated attack and you can collect Puzzle Pieces over time and fit it together and figure out the specific credible threat. You keep Hearing People talk about, well, there was no specific credible threat. Thats not the way that this enemy works. This is a movement. And youre not going to know a specific credible threat. What we need to be able to do, though, for the American People is describe the threat environment. And january 6th, if you want to use a weather parallel, was a tornado warning. They should have issued that warning, conditions are ripe for violence. You need to be prepared, Law Enforcement community. You need to be prepared, members of the public, that conditions are ripe for violence. We dont know where, we dont know when, we dont know how, but we expect it. And that warning was not issued by fbi or dhs. Thats a good analogy. Clint, what did you make of the comparisons that were being made by some lawmakers between what we saw on january 6th at the capitol or antifa or some of the violence that sprang up out of the protests from over the summer . Its remarkable, katy. I heard the word antifa more than i heard proud boys, 3 , oathkeepers. These groups are listed in the documents in the Charging Documents in the criminal complaints. Its right there in front of you. They even wear the gear and the patches for these groups and yet were talking about a mythical antifa. I think it just points to the lack of seriousness around getting around the domestic terrorism problem. Director wray is getting grilled. Hes also being asked why didnt he stop this . At this point hes being asked was he using metadata, were you surveilling or using social media . I just think its an impossible environment to really move forward and get in front of this threat. It makes me very worried about the summer. And as pete has pointed out, as wray pointed out today, so far there have been no connections made to antifa among those who have been arrested or charged within the capitol. Everybody, thank you very much for trying to sort that out with us. We appreciate it. With me now is democratic congresswoman Eric Swalwell of california who recently served as an Impeachment Manager during Donald Trumps second trial. So my question to you, congressman, is what are your open questions . Well, will this happen again, katy, is the question that we all have. Were going to have more events at the capitol. And the reason i say that is is that we saw today that many of the people questioning fbi director wray were people who were responsible for the big lie that was told that brought so many to the capitol on january 6th. Many of the people questioning director wray went to the Insurrection Reunion this past weekend in florida showing no remorse for what they did and continued to advance this idea that joe biden is not the legitimate president. And because that is the case, these individuals have been inspired to believe that joe bidens not the legitimate president. And im afraid that that will inspire them to take on further acts against the government. We didnt get a lot of answers about the intelligence leading up. I mean, the director did say that there was chatter. But as he said, it was unverified chatter. As Elizabeth Newman said, its kind of hard to find verified chatter within these communities. How do you equip our Intelligence Community . What moves would you make to make them better able to respond to this sort of thing that is now bubbling up online . I was encouraged that the director referenced increasing the number of agents who and number of cases that they have on violent extremists or white nationalists. Thats positive. But i also think were going to need more resources to find how they recruit, radicalize, and target individuals. Also helping that newly appointed Attorney General Merrick Garland when hes in office will stand up more resources as well. But, again, i just want to step back and say that this was a massive Intelligence Failure because the public knew this was going to happen. I and my colleagues were getting contacted days before this event by family and friends saying please be safe. And i thought, well, of course were going to be safe, were in the United States capitol, theres no way theyre going to breach the capitol, and the capitol ultimately fell that day. So, we have to be honest about that. Congressman Eric Swalwell, thank you very much for joining us. And still ahead, a third accuser, and growing calls for Andrew Cuomos resignation. The very latest on the deepening crisis surrounding new yorks governor. Later up, a Major Partnership between two fierce competitors to produce more vaccine faster. Weve got the details on that. But first, the final stretch, democrats are just days away from a senate vote on the covid relief bill. Whats going to be in it . Und] i had this hundred thousand dollar student debt. Two hundred and twentyfive thousand dollars in debt. Ah, sofi literally changed my life. It was the easiest application process. Sofi made it so theres no tradeoff between my dreams and paying student loans. Student loans dont have to take over for the rest of your life. Thank you for allowing me to get my money right. announcer do you want to reduce stress . Thank you for allowing me shed pounds . Do you want to flatten your stomach . Do all that and more in just 10 minutes a day with aerotrainer, the total Body Fitness Solution that uses its revolutionary ergonomic design to help you to maintain comfortable, correct form. That means better results in less time. You can do an uncomfortable, oldfashioned crunch or an aerotrainer super crunch. Turn regular planks into turbo planks without getting down on the floor. And there are over 20 exercises to choose from. Incredible for improving flexibility and perfect for enhancing yoga and pilates. And safe for all fitness levels. Get gym results at home in just 10 minutes a day. No expensive machines, no expensive memberships. Get off the floor with aerotrainer. Go to aerotrainer. Com to get yours now. As early as tomorrow, the senate will begin work on the American Rescue plan. As the country faces a series of historic challenges, we must meet the moment with a historic response. Thats what the American People sent us here to do. Thats what our government is for. Not to sit back and wait for problems to fix themselves, not to cross our fingers and hope the economy will recover on its own. President biden is meeting remotely with senators this afternoon as part of an effort to whip votes for covid relief. The stakes are high with desperately needed Unemployment Benefits set to expire in less than two weeks. But democrats are passing this bill with the slimmest majority possible, which means any one defection could sink the entire bill. Some moderates are weary of the bailouts. Others want to limit those expanded Unemployment Benefits or tighten the restrictions on who is eligible for a 1,400 check. While senators on the left are still fuming over the lack of a minimum wage increase. And it is up to President Biden and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer to bring them all together or else risk an embarrassing and costly political failure just two months into a new administration. Joining me now, Punch Bowl News Founder Ana Palmer and Washington Post senior washington correspondent phil rucker. He is also the coauthor of the book a very stable genius, which is now out in paperback. Everyone, welcome. The stakes are very high, slim majority. What could happen . Senate democrats have no room for error here. As you laid out very plainly, they have 50 votes they need with kamala harris, the Vice President to put them over the top. I dont think were going to see a ton change. Theyre going to write a Substitute Bill based on the rules of the senate, which will constrain what will be on a Spending Package like this because of reconciliation. There might be some changes on the margins. But Everybody Knows the stakes here. This is joe bidens biggest priority. Its something they have been working on for the past two months. I have a hard time seeing joe manchin or progressives like Bernie Sanders actually taint this bill. There is talk though that without the 15 minimum wage, they could lose somebody like Bernie Sanders. Theres also talk that if you scale back the increase in Unemployment Benefits that you could lose some progressive members of the house, and then sink the bill. You said the likelihood, ana, is low on that. But they are talking very loudly about it. Is it all just bluster . I think theyre serious, and i do think they have serious concerns, particularly when you look at senator joe manchin. I think he is concerned regarding Unemployment Benefits and wanting it to be 300 instead of 400 is real. But i think that joe manchin knows that he wields a lot of power in this senate, and hes going to want to be a productive member of the democratic caucus. When you look at Bernie Sanders, there might be side deals that are cut about where and when potentially a minimum wage bill itself comes to the floor. So theres a lot of things that i think theres going to be negotiating behind the scenes to get everybody to stay together. But you cant underscore the pressure that joe biden, hes been meeting with them in groups, that he is going to continue to put on democrats to get in line, say the country needs this. And think of how catastrophic it would be for his presidency, frankly, if this were to fail, that this is you dont get a lot of bites at the apple like this. So, as much as there are moderate senators or as moderate as someone like joe manchin is, there are moderate republicans as well. Yet were not seeing any republicans sign onto this bill. And its one of the bills that should, in theory, at least be pretty easy to agree on because its relief during a pandemic during a moment of crisis. The fact that were not seeing any republicans sign onto it right now, phil, what are does that mean for what might happen with the next piece of legislation and the next piece of legislation after that . Well, katy, you explained that really well because, look, of all the issues that biden is trying to face in his agenda, this seems to be the one that might garner the most bipartisan support. And yet it has garnered none, which is an indication that republicans in congress are not willing to work with him, dont want to get on board with this agenda and are going to try to block and obstruct the things that biden wants to get done. And lets keep in mind that this Covid Relief Issue was churning through the congress all of last fall. Speaker pelosi, senator Mitch Mcconnell, then treasury secretary Stephen Mnuchin were in negotiations for months to try to get additional covid relief and could not come to any sort of agreement. It took the president ial election and the swearingin of President Biden to bring it back to the fore. And yet it is still so close. There just isnt the republican support for this level of spending and for giving biden what would be a big political win. There are leaders talking right now. Schumer says that he has the votes, they could take up this bill as soon as noon tomorrow, the covid relief plan, and that he has the votes to pass it. Then you also have senator mcconnell, the minority leader now, saying its just too big and that it wouldve been more appropriate a year ago. Well, i dont think anybody should be surprised that Mitch Mcconnell isnt on board in all Democratic Washington with what joe biden and his administration are pushing. Youre going to see republicans do all that they can, which is limited. They are in the minority. But everything they can to try to slow down this bill, use any kind of procedural, you know, measures that are in their toolbox to try to force some tough votes for democrats. Were going to have a vote arama which will be a long series of votes and a lot of different issues could come up. And we expect them to come up. Its not going to be an easy process, particularly given the tight time line. Ana palmer, phil rucker, both of you, thank you so much. Its going to be an interesting year to four years coming up. And fewer people coming up next. Fewer people are dying, fewer people are getting sick. And more are being vaccinated. So why is the cdc saying we could erase all of the progress weve already made . And long after the virus is gone, some survivors of covid19 say their symptoms have stayed. Were going to take you to the lab where researchers are trying to find out why. Plantpowered creative roots gives kids the hydration they need, with the Fruit Flavors they love. And one gram of sugar. Find creative roots in the kids juice aisle. Im still exploring whats next. And still going for my best. Even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. So if theres a better treatment than warfarin, im reaching for that. Eliquis. Eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. Plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis is fdaapproved and has both. Whats next . Im on board. Dont Stop Taking Eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an Artificial Heart Valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Ask your doctor about eliquis. And if your ability to afford your medication has changed, we want to help. Are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, your medication has changed, gas or abdominal discomfort . Taking align can help. Align contains a Quality Probiotic to naturally help soothe digestive upsets 24 7. Try align, the pros in digestive health. And join the align Healthy Gut Team up and learn what millions of align users already know. How great a healthy gut can feel. Sign up at alignprobiotics. Com also try align dualbiotics gummies to help support digestive health. My auntie called me. She said uncles had a heart attack. I needed him to be here. Your heart isnt just yours. Protect it with bayer aspirin. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Nancy pelosi is speaking ahead of the house issues conference. Some people just cant afford businesses just cant afford to pay the full 15, and we want to help them. But, by and large, people are getting food stamps, theyre getting medicaid, theyre getting Housing Assistance and the rest because their employers are not paying a decent wage. So, again, for the taxpayer to save money from all of those expenditures for the workers so that they can put food on the table when they work fulltime and for the businesses, especially the Small Businesses that need help in meeting that goal, we will be passing minimum wage. And the white house was right out there with it very early. We have no complaint about what they have done. But theres clearly members of your conference that are very concerned that this particular opportunity is your best opportunity including many of your progressive members. That this is our best effort . Right. Passing it through reconciliation. Well have other reconciliation. But let me just say this because i think this is really important. This bill, this American Rescue plan, is spectacular. It has so much in it to put vaccinations into the arms of the American People, money in the pockets of our families, children in schools, workers in jobs. This is excellent. So lets not be diverted into thinking whats not in. But lets respect it for what is in, and it is spectacular. Now, we were also present in 2009. The house had a bill that was 1. 1 trillion. The senate cut it back 300 billion. The people say what lesson did you learn by not going big enough . No, we did go big enough. But it was cut back by about a third, a little more than a third when it went over to the senate side in order to get bipartisan support. We value that, but if we had stayed big, we would have had a bigger recovery then. This is a big bill for a bigger recovery, in fact, in light of a pandemic, just what this country needs. It meets the needs of the American People. Last night a member of your caucus called on Governor Cuomo in new york to resign amid allegations of sexual harassment. Im wondering if you agree what you think should happen. I issued a statement on this issue. I made clear that these allegations are very serious against Governor Cuomo made by serious individuals and deserve a serious and independent investigation. Now that the Attorney General has taken over the investigation, it will be fully independent and thorough. And i await the results of that investigation. My associate going into this conference in sort of the legislative tempo with the adding of the work week. How much of is both for speaker and for yourself is basically in response to the ghost of 1994 and 2010 when you lost chambers in the midsection . Im going to yield to the speaker. But as jim indicated nancy pelosi a moment ago saying that the current minimum wage, which in some places is 7. 25 an hour, is pathetic. A lot of democrats want to raise that to 15 an hour. There are some republicans, nancy pelosi says, that want to do that as well. Minimum wage will not be in the covid relief package. So we will see if there is legislation that pushes that and whether it is bipartisan. Again, senator schumer a little while ago saying that he does have the votes to pass covid relief and he could do it as soon as tomorrow. In the meantime back to the coronavirus. Merck will join forces with Johnson Johnson to ramp up production of the singledose j j vaccine. It is a Historic Deal between pharma rivals that was brokered by the white house and is said to be announced formerly later today. It comes as concerns are growing about a global rise in covid variants. We cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day. 2,000 daily deaths. Please hear me clearly. At this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hardearned ground we have gained. With me now is dr. Peter hotez. He is the codirector of the center for Vaccine Development at texas childrens hospital, and author of the new book preventing the next pandemic Vaccine Diplomacy in a time of antiscience. Dr. Hotez, thanks so much. Lets start off with this deal between merck and j j. These are two rival pharmaceutical companies. What is it going to mean to have the two of them working together to ramp up production of this vaccine . Yeah, no, its totally brilliant. And i say that because the two Companies Globally that have more clout, more heft, more Production Capacity for making vaccines among the multinationals is gsk, Glaxo Smith Kind and merck company. By linking j j with merck company, were going to probably be able to guarantee that were going to be able to meet the demands of the American People in terms of supplying the vaccine. They have the ability to scale up what we call the drug substance, the actual vaccine substance and the fill and finish. And i think we need their help because right now j js only committing to 3. 9 million doses in the immediate future. Thats a drop in the bucket. We have to come close to providing half a billion immunizations for all the covid vaccines. So we need to ramp up pretty quickly. So im really glad that merck was able to step up and help j j and they were willing to do that. And credit to the white house for brokering that. When you talk about ramp up Vaccine Development quickly, i mean, what is the time frame on that . What is quickly in the production of vaccine . What does that mean in that world . Yeah. You know, vaccines are a complicated process. Theyre among the most complicated pharmaceuticals we have. It isnt a quick, quick fix because you have to validate the production facilities. You have to go through inspections. You probably have to get the fda in there to help confirm the validation and help with the validation. So its not like all of a sudden were going to have 200 million doses the week after the 3. 9 million come along. But at least it provides some Backup Support to know that j j can meet its production demands, which may have been unclear prior to that. If you were in charge of the messaging campaign on the vaccines, on the response to the virus right now, what would you be telling the American Public . Theres a good news story and theres a cautionary tale. The good news story is that we now have things in place that by the summer maybe moving later into the summer and fall, we can fully vaccinate the American People. Well have that capacity. And now theres new evidence coming out of israel, coming out of scotland that if you give two doses of the Pfizer Vaccine and it looks like the j j and astrazeneca may fall into that, probably moderna will as well, they can also halt asymptomatic transmission, being pcr positive if youre vaccinated. So that means we can interrupt or halt Virus Transmission if enough americans get vaccinated. Thats a long way of saying we can vaccinate our way out of this epidemic by the summer or fall and get back to something resembling normalcy, really good news. The very difficult news is what dr. Walensky had to just announce, which is that between now and june and july when well fully ramp up, were going to be in for a tough time because this uk variant, the b. 1. 1. 7 variant is so highly transmissible and now the uk government is indicating it has higher mortality, which has not been Peer Reviewed yet but is looking very compelling. So that means were going to have a tough march, april, and may while we navigate this. It hasnt accelerated yet, but the fact that the decline is starting to slow concerns enough of us that thats a sign that that means the b. 1. 1. 7 variant is gearing up so we could be in for what some people are calling the big fourth wave. So get the vaccine when you are able to get it, when youre eligible. Dr. Peter hotez, thanks so much as always for joining us. Thank you. And think about where we were a year ago when covid19 shut down life as we knew it. Now think about where we are right now. We now know how the Coronavirus Spreads and how to keep it from spreading. We now know, we now have, excuse me, three vaccines. But there is still one big thing we do not know which is why millions of Covid Patients experience intense lingering symptoms even months after theyve recovered. Joining me now is nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk. So these long haul covid survivors, what are researchers trying to figure out right now . Basically, katy, theyre trying to figure out anything. They dont have answers to the questions like who is it affecting, how long will they be affected, what is causing this. They really dont know anything at this point. And thats why researchers at the nih went to congress and launched this billion dollars study to try to figure out why it is that some people can kick covid but not the symptoms. Imagine having a fever for nearly a year. Starts out in the 99 range in the morning and escalates throughout the day to the 101 range. After getting sick with covid19 last march, 47yearold amy wadson is technically virus free. But she is still suffering symptoms. She says she coined the phrase long haulers. On april 29th i created long haul covid fighters. I named it after trucker cap that i wore to my driveup covid test. The name stuck and the Support Group she started just keeps growing. Its taking a long time for the medical community to catch up to where we are. And we are suffering, and we need help. The nih wants to change that, launching a billion Dollars Initiative to study long haulers. Respiratory viruses like a cold, if its minor or the flu if its not so minor. People tend to get better after a couple of weeks. With covid for a lot of people that, doesnt seem to be happening. The brain fog just wont go away. Body aches, tired, cant think straight. My chest hurts. Feels off like im searching for words. Nih director dr. Francis collins says theres no pattern to who gets hit with long covid. Young, old, some really sick with covid at first, while others werent sick at all. We know there are people that have had these lasting effects for months. Do you suspect it could be longer than that, years even . I fear that some people who have had these effects who are already three or four months out may not be on a path to get better in a few more months. And this could be something that becomes a chronic illness. While there are still many questions medical professionals say there are theories about the cause. One is that the Immune System clears the virus but just keeps on fighting as if its there. Nih neurologist showed us what that can do to the brain. So those little marks right there that are on that slide, they shouldnt be there . They shouldnt be there. All this green stuff should not be there. You said earlier theyre leaking . The damage to the Blood Vessels allows the leakage of this protein into the brain itself. Im not a neurologist, but leaking in the brain is not a good sign, unfortunately. The brains he is studying are from people who died suddenly from covid but didnt have serious symptoms. He says this brain damage may not be severe enough to kill someone but could be the cause of some of the long hauler symptoms. Amy who is still unable to return to her teaching job in portland will soon be taking part in the nih study. Ill be able to access treatment that will help lessen my symptoms and make me feel normal again. I just want to get back to my life. A lot of the long haulers that weve spoke to say one of their biggest struggles has been trying to convince people around them that what they had been experiencing is linked to covid. They say that this study is a kind of validation of what theyve been going through as well as a promise that theyre going to try to get to the bottom of it and get some help. Katy . Its so scary to think about recovering from it but not actually recovering from it. Stephanie gosk, thank you so much. And we got some Breaking News out of southern california. A horrifying crash on the highway just over the border from baja, california, mexico. At least 15 people are dead, and more are hurt after Authorities Say a semitruck filled with gravel collided with an suv. You see it right there that was carrying 27 people. Highway patrol officers say that particular suv would usually carry eight to nine people maximum. Police say 14 people died at the scene. And another one died at the hospital. Several of those injured were airlifted and are now in intensive care. The truck driver only suffered minor injuries. The crash happened 11 miles north of the u. S. mexico border in el centro in the agricultural imperial valley. Authorities say Border Patrol is helping other Law Enforcement with the crash. Again, 27 people inside that suv. And coming up, it is as far as any president has gone in decades. What joe bidens words mean for amazon workers trying to unionize. First up, though, the bipartisan calls for governor Andrew Cuomos resignation after a third accuser coming forward. Fd with relapsing forms of ms, theres a lot to deal with. Not just unpredictable relapses. All these other things too. Who needs that kind of drama . Kesimpta is a oncemonthly athome injection that may help you put this rms drama in its place. Kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions and slowing disability progression versus aubagio. Dont take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. Kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. While no cases of pml were recorded in rms clinical trials, it could happen. Tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. Kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. The most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache and injection reactions. Dealing with this rms drama . Its time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. Dramatic results. Less rms drama. The benefit of doing a briefing every day is that i can certainly speak on behalf of the president and the Vice President. So let me reiterate that they both believe that every woman coming forward should be heard, should be treated with dignity, and treated with respect. As you all know, the new York Attorney general will oversee an independent investigation with Subpoena Power and the Governors Office said he will fully cooperate. That was jen psaki speaking on behalf of the president and the Vice President a moment ago you saw Hakeem Jeffries as well as House Speaker nancy pelosi Say Something similar. Now there is a member of new yorks congressional delegation who is calling for governor Andrew Cuomos resignation. Democratic congresswoman Kathleen Rice says the time has come for the governor to step down. Last night the New York Times reported a third woman had accused the governor of inappropriate conduct. Anna ruch told the times kwo, that cuomo asked to put his hands on her face. The reporting in the times is true, said ruch. Cuomo has not commented on this allegation, but he has denied a previous allegation that he kissed a former employee on the lips. A spokesperson pointed the New York Times to his statement over the Weekend Apologizing if his behavior was misinterpreted. That statement was prompted by allegations from a second former aid who says Comb Question asked her inappropriate questions about her personal life. With personal life. With me now, New York Times Albany Bureau chief jessie mckinley. Whats going on at the capitol today . I think there are a lot of discussions in the halls about how serious trouble andrew cuomo is in at this hour. Certainly more lawmakers came out last night after the reporting on anna and this unwanted kiss that the governor gave her at a wedding in 2019. I think theres a growing number of lawmakers who are fed up and want the governor to consider resignation. I dont think weve hit Critical Mass on that and noticeably absent have been any calls of resignation from the legislative leaders who could have a big say as to the governors fate. What is the word within the Governors Office right now about his mental state, his status . Does he feel the pressure to step down . What is going on there . I put out some feelers on that today. It has been remarkably quiet. Ill tell you. The governor, of course, grew greatly famous last year with his Press Conferences. A nonstop streak of Press Conferences during the spring. He has not made a public appearance since last wednesday when the first of these allegations broke. So he is staying pretty mute at this point. He has put out a couple of statements in response to our reporting but theres no indication hell bomb out any time soon. When that happens, i think hell be hit with a lot of questions and will need some pretty coherent answers if he wants to survive the scandal. Is there a Contingency Plan being made if he has to step down . He is leading the state in the middle of a pandemic. Are there moves being made to make sure if he does have to leave, that new york state would not be left in the lurch . I talked to one senior aide earlier today involving the actual coronavirus reaction. Who said, look, vaccinations are still happening, shots are getting in arms, testing is still being done. This is not affecting the states performance. The state is still running. Of course, if the governor did have to resign, the Lieutenant Governor would become governor and in a strange Twist Of Fate would be the states first female governor. So i think that theres a lot of eyes on the Governors Mansion in albany to see when the governor pops out, what he says, and moreover, how it is received by lawmakers. How do lawmakers up there feel about his apologies so far . I mean, there was a bit of outcry over the weekend when he said he was just being playful. A lot of people didnt really enjoy that as an explanation for what he was doing. He was conducting himself. And then he hasnt directly responded to the allegations, the most recent allegations from the wedding. Yeah. I think that that explanation on sunday night did not do the trick. I think it fell flat for a lot of people. I think there is a lot of visceral anger about the governors alleged behavior. It looks like we just lost Jesse Mckinley but we got a good portion of his reporting. Thank you for joining us. And this week President Biden expressed more support for unions than any president in decades. Listen to this. Unions lift up workers, union and nonunion, especially black and brown workers. Ive made it clear, made it clear when i was running that my administrations policy would be to support unions organizing and the right to collectively bargain. You heard it. He specifically pointed to what has been happening in alabama where Warehouse Workers are trying to be the first amazon employees to join a union. Joining me now, business and Technology Correspondent joelene kent. So amazon is really hoping that these employees do not vote to say yes to unionizing. Talk to me about what is happening and when we expect to get a final vote tally. Yeah. All eyes are on march 29th. Thats when this vote by mail situation will conclude. And then the Hand Counting will begin of this union vote. The reason amazon is campaigning against this union is because they say they already provide everything that the folks who want to unionize are asking for. An issue here is that if the union is approved by these nearly 6,000 workers in alabama, it would be the first u. S. U. N. Inside an amazon warehouse. That as we know, often sets trends for the rest of the country. It could have a Domino Effect across the country, not just for amazon but walmart and many others. Weve been talking to workers on the ground in bestamer and the chore us is about better, safer conditions. We talked to Jennifer Bates. She works in unloading ever since the warehouse opened there last year. This is how she put it to us. They took away the hazard pay and said we were not essential workers. And maybe the week later, whoo the week later, he gave, i think it was 10 million to black lives matter. If it mattered, why are not you taking care of your people . Now, when we talk about workers like Jennifer Bates, she represents a lot of people who are currently casting their vote right now and theyre supporting unionization. But of course, we are seeing the Counter Campaign from amazon itself in the form of flyering and communication online. They issued this statement to us when we asked what their response was to Jennifer Bates and other people who support unionization. They say the fact is that amazon already offers what unions are requesting for employees. Industry leading pay with a minimum 15 an hour starting wage, comprehensive benefits, opportunities for career growth, ill while working in a safe, modern work environment. If you look at the Bigger Picture here, the issue really is for the workers who support unionization, how much money amazon has made in the pandemic. Theyve done very well. Billionaire ceo jeff bezos, his wealth exploding. The pandemic Holiday Season was their best quarter ever. And workers say they want more Safety Investment so they can continue working there and they do disclose to us, they like working at amazon. They are appreciative of the fact that amazon has a if you will fillment center in bessemer, alabama. They just want a higher standard. Thats why you see the president weighing in on this in a very unusual situation. Theyve helped make the company a whole lot of money and theyve been putting their lives on the line to do it for these past, for this past year now. Thank you so much. Also this. We just heard a moment ago, from the cdc saying now is not the time to lift restrictions. We are too close to getting out of this pandemic and the variants are too dangerous. Texas has just ended its mask mandate after eight months. Thats going to do it for me today. If youre going outside, wear a mask. If youre staying in, Ayman Mohyeldin picks up our coverage next. S up our coverage next it sure can. Really . Can it one up breakfast in bed . Yeah, for sure. Thanks, boys. What about that . Uhh, yep it can . Yeah, even that i would very much like to see that. Me too. Tide pods ultra oxi. One up the toughest stains with 50 more Cleaning Power than liquid detergent. Any further questions . Uh uh nope one up the power of liquid with tide pods ultra oxi. Needles. Essential for pine trees, but maybe not for people with certain inflammatory conditions. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz. The first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. Before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. Tell your doctor if youve had hepatitis b or c, have flulike symptoms, or are prone to infections. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. Taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. Tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. Needles. Fine for some things. But for you, theres a pill that may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. Xeljanz. An unjection™. Good afternoon, everyone. In washington, authorities are preparing for possible protests at the capitol on thursday, the day some followers of the qanon Conspiracy Theory believe donald trump will return to d. C. On the socalle