no trickle-down effect here. just the increase to the child tax credit alone will lift millions of children out of poverty and cut the child poverty rate nearly in half. because of this bill, some experts expect the economy to grow by more than 6% this year and add 7 million jobs, a level of growth, quite frankly, we've not seen since the 1980s and it will boost the income of the poorest americans by an average 206%. given all that, it's important to remember that zero republicans reported this legislation. that's not stopping them from attempted to take credit. >> senate republicans led the bipartisan cares alkt that got us through the last year. the american people have built a parade marching toward victory. democrats want to sprint in front of the parade and claim credit. >> it's remarkable legislation. unfortunately republicans, as i say, you know, vote no and take the dough. you see already some of them claiming this is a good thing, this is a good thing, but they couldn't give it a vote. anyway, enough of them. >> enough of them. joining me now is massachusetts congresswoman and member of the house oversight committe ayanna pressley. when can the rest of the american people expect to see this money? >> as early as this weekend. i mean the important thing to recognize here is for those who have been having sleepless nights, worrying about how they will pay for housing, medication, diapers, groceries, for businesses who may have worried they'll be visibly shuttered, help is on the way. this is a massive step forward proerks providing critical relief to millions of families and workers who have been crushed by this pandemic. and i want to acknowledge this is the biggest congressional caucus in the history of caucus and we secured major wins in. this every relief package to date has not done right by our immigrant neighbors and that mixed status families can be eligible. more work to be done there. this is a good step, a massive step forward. we also expanded availability for adult dependents. we had not done enough by the disability community. this is also a massive step forward and the massive child tax credit which will cut child poverty in half. i represent one of the districts that's the most undercounted in the century. it's definitely going to have a huge impact. and critical funding for housing, utilities, but if we really want to rescue america, we've got much more work do, which is why i'm going to continue to fight for a $15 million wage. we know it would lift people out of poverty, increase the salary of 32 million workers, and i'm going to fight for paid leave and survival checks for the duration of this crisis and the cancellation of student debt. it's a step massively forward to get schools safely reopened, support our businesses and families hurting. >> there's confusion on where this money is going. i want you to take a listen to minority leader kevin mccarthy and where the money is going. >> your mon is going to illegal immigrants' health care and also to san francisco where your money will be spent giving alcohol and marijuana to the homeless. that is what that bill is doing. >> if you could just explain. go ahead, congresswoman, please. >> there's no confusion. what that is what our gop colleagues are so very good at doing, spearheading campaigns na result in big lies. i remain focused and my democratic colleagues on centering needs on everyone who calls this country home. we're making massive infusions to our states and municipalities. many governors feel like they're going it alone. we're finally giving them the need that our colleagues have affronted and deterred. i represent the district with the largest density of community health centers in the country. we're giving them much needed funds. and there was a bill i introduced that was included this the package as well, and that's a $5 billion bill to support those experiencing homelessness. so this is a relief package to vice president harris's point that is leading with empathy. our gop colleagues have contempt for working families, they have contempt for every person who calls this country home. we're leading with empathy and being responsive to their needs. >> you brought up homelessness. i know a lot of people are breathing somewhat of a sigh of relief after this bill, but there are so many people across the country who are waiting to exhale. for people behind on their rent, mortgage, does this bill do anything for them? >> certainly. going to give them direct relief with these $400 stimulus checks. again, i'm going to continue to fight for $2,000 or recurring payments during the duration of this crisis and the cancellation of the rent and mortage so they don't have a big balloon payment at the end of the month. this should give them peace of mind and more relief. >> that's all right. i know you're a co-sponsor with the written cancellation act with omar. senator johnson made completely asinine comments and i want you to listen to this. >> i made the comment on january 6th i never felt threatened, and i didn't. mainly the reason i didn't is i knew the thousands of people who were marching the capitol were trying to pressure people like me to vote the way they wanted me to vote. i know they're the people who love their country, truly love law enforcement, and would never do anything to break the law. had the tables been turned -- and this could get me in trouble -- and president trump had won and they were antifa members, i might have been a little concerned. >> congresswoman, your thoughts. >> wow, stunning. actually the tables have been turned. black lives matter did protest paisley at the united states capitol and they did not cause trauma, injury, loss of life or maim u.s. capitol police officers in the quay these so-called patriots did. they proved, this violent mob of white supremacists that white supremacy is a threat to every american life and to our democracy. it's unfortunate that our gop colleagues dishonored their oath, those 43 senators, by not impeaching donald trump to hold him accountable and also to bar him from running for public office in the future, but our work and investigations continue. anyone who perpetuated that big lie in causing that insurrection and disrupting the transfer of power, anyone, anyone who makes excuses for them, they are traitors. that is nothing short of treasonous behavior. damning commentary, but certainly not surprising. >> not surprising indeed. thank you so much, congresswoman ayanna pressley, for joining us. i want to bring in a member of the ways & means committee, earl blumenauer. i want to talk about covid relief and what it does for servers across the country. so let me ask you. i know this is something you championed in the bill. how much of this money is going direct throw the pockets of serves, bus boys, hosts, and hostesses at restaurants. >> it's a great question and one of the areas that the motivated action is we've had 2 million people who work in the restaurants who make this work who have been out of a job. first and foremost, the bill will put $1,400 in the pockets of the overwhelming majority of them, well over 90%. the resources, the $28.6 billion will be focused primarily at the beginning on the smaller entities, be able to help people get back to work. the work force is one of the largest portions of their expenses, and they'll be able to use these, bring these men and women back. they are overwhelmingly women and people of color who are the lifeblood of these restaurants in the neighborhood. >> business owners have a little more latitude here, so i'll ask again. is there some sort of constraint that this money has to go toward the workers or, you know, is it work that they have a little more leeway to make repairs or keep them afloat while we're in the grips of this pandemic? >> these are very complex small businesses, and unlike the other entity. payroll represents a much smaller percentage of their operating pots, but they'll be able to have the resources to bring them back and there will be a job going forward. without this such support, it would go with the other bill. >> since december 1st, over 210 restaurants have closed. not a single republican voted for this bill. i want to read senator wicker's tweet, who has been taking credit for the restaurant bill that he voted against where he's championing saying the independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief, and yet he vote ed no. what are your comments on this? >> we saw it with the american recovery act. but we focused on being able to provide this assistance. we're working now with my democratic colleagues across the country to work to make sure that the benefits happen for the smaller restaurants, not the big chains. in fact, we've set aside $5 billion for restaurants that are owned by women, veterans, and people of color at the smaller -- the least profitable, to be able to have them get their footing and to side step this notion that they somehow deserve credit because they weren't there. this should have gotten bipartisan support, but we're going to watch this pattern continue. nothing is more blatant than somebody who voted against it trying to gain credit. >> thank you so much, congressman, for championing this bill and being on with us. for you at home, if you can afford to go out and eat, take care of those servers. it's been a hard year. thank you so much for joining us, congressman. don't go anywhere. coming up, seeking justice for breonna taylor one year later and an update on the derek chauvin trial. keep it right here on "cross connection." on "cross connection." get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. visible is wireless that doesn't play games. no surprise fees, legit unlimited data for as little as $25 a month. and the best part, it's powered by verizon. but it gets crazier. bring a friend every month and get every month for $5. which is why i brought them. two $5-a-months right here. hey. hey. plus the players of my squad. hey. what's up? 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(snap) fine jewelry for every day, minus the traditional markups. ♪♪ i still didn't get what i came for, and it's justice, so -- the money means absolutely nothing. it don't help me get over the fooskt what happened. breonna doesn't benefit from that. that does nothing for us. >> say her name. one year ago louisville police shot and killed breonna taylor during a reckless and botched midnight raid. louisville ultimately settled the taylor wrongful death suit last year for $10 million and banned no-knock warrants but so far no one has been directly charged with her death. yesterday the city of minneapolis agreed to a $27 million settlement for the george floyd family as the trial for derek chauvin continues. the question remains, will police themselves ever be held accountable. joining me now are two friends of the show, erin hanes and a krp defense attorney. i want to turn to you because you interviewed breonna taylor ice mother. it's hard watching her with tears streaming down her cheeks. how much is your child's worth? in your conversation with her, what does justice look like for her? >> thank you, tiffany. and thank you for continuing to keep this story at the forefront. a year ago today no one knew who breonna taylor and what her mother tiana told me is the officers took her life. you have attorney general merrick garland who was sworn in this week. i asked if she wanted the justice department to look into her daughter's case and she said definitely without hesitation because she felt like, you know, the city of louisville, the state of kentucky did not rae respond to what happened to her daughter in terms of holding those officers accountable. she continues to push from a criminal liability standpoint to other legal avenues. ben crump, the family attorney said he's absolutely interested in exploring further criminal responsibility for those officers. he said what happened to breonna taylor was a clear breach of her constitutional rights. >> you know if the biden administration or anyone at the doj has been responsive to this request for them to pursue justice on her behalf? >> when i reached out to the justice department, they did not respond to me on whether they plan to look into this. what we know is that for at least the last administration, that cases like these were not really taken up by the justice department. they were at least in some cases investigated under the obama justice department when we saw kind of the black lives matter emerged. there were families like breonna taylor's family who did seek redress from the justice department and they would at least look into those cases, so that's what tameka palmer is hoping for at the very least for her daughter because she's feeling like justice has not been done in her daughter's case and it's not just about the financial settlement the family got. responsibility from a legal criminal standpoint is what she's going after. >> it's a brand-new day at the department of justice. merrick garland is now the attorney general. kristin clark, vanita gupta right now are still in front of the senate and trying to be confirmed as members of the doj. so it's very difficult to know right now if they'll do that. for the past four years, we've had a department of justice who's been out to lunch on these types of cases. they play a special role, there are federal statutes that have clearly been in violation. no one can do the job they do, particularly when it comes to those consent decrees and following up on the police departments and making sure they put into place measures that police certain communities better. as we know there are other communities that never have these problems in terms of policing and skpe excessive force. it's important to point out killings of black people is not only a problem. excessive policing and other things are important as well. the federal government plays a big role in these kinds of cases when they step in and file a lawsuit when there are the facts to do that. they always follow the facts. >> i want to stick with you, midwin, because daniel cameron is in an elected position. i think it's important to remember the role prosecutors play in these cases, but i want to switch gears and move to the derek chauvin trial. we now have an idea what jury selection looks like. so far it's not a very diverse journey. based on what you know, what does that say about jury selection and what impact will this have on potential justice in this case? >> right. race plays a crucial role in this case, there's no denying it. derek chauvin is white, george floyd is black. he ought to be tried by a jury of his peers. the prosecutor and the defense have gone through what a lot of people are now being able to watch called voir dire, which is where they basically ask perspective jurors, potential jurors, whether or not they believe they can be fair, whether or not they think they can sit through an entire trial and not form an opinion, come to a decision until its conclusion. but also they want to make sure anybody hasn't made up their mind right up front. what the prosecutors and the defense attorneys use are called preemptive strikes. so they basically can strike a juror they don't like for any reason. the defense has 15 chances. the prosecutors have nine. however, if they believe a juror has been struck for race reasons, then they can do a batson challenge, which is basically where they're saying, listen, you're striking this juror because they're for race or gender, and so far there have been about two or three, and the judge has made a determination that that juror was struck for race-neutral reasons. i'm optimistic. i always try to be ultimately optimistic when it comes to these cases. right now we have seven, a couple more to go as well as two to four alternates. >> we at the "cross connection" will stay on top of this case and certainly msnbc will be bringing you the latest as the headlines continue to develop. errin haines, don't go go anywhere, and midwin charles, thanks for providing your great legal expertise. coming up, the race to vaccinate all americans. does everyone want the shots and more importantly, do they have access to them? 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why isn't it available to us? why are we hearing on the radio west caldwell, new jersey, got a big batch. they're lined up in a big beautiful facility, they're getting their shots. and cherry hill, they completely skipped over mrsa county and they're down in cherry hill and folks are getting shots, and they're not people of color. >> what we're finding is those same structures that made so many of our communities vulnerable in the first place, transportation, the density of the population, access, is playing out in terms of distribution also. so even though joe biden said we're going to push into these communities, open up the health communities and upping the doses communities getting, many communities like in trenton, they're still struggling to get. >> it dr. prenell, let me have you take a listen. >> the president bought 100,000 more doses of j&j. he said he would order 4,000 additional troops to the front lines to give vaccines. we're going to activate retired medical members and other people to really increase our ability to vaccinate the american public. now we're hitting 10,000 pharmacies with the vaccines, we're getting up to a thousand health centers and bring the vaccine to where the people who need it are. >> so they say they're going to bring the vaccine to where the people are. i know so many people who are texting and, you know, trying to find that hook upon how soon they can get the vaccine. there's still a small amount of the population who's a bit hesitant. what you do think right now is the biggest misconception about access to the vaccine or the biggest challenge to getting vaccine? >> thanks. let's start with vaccines don't save lives. vaccinations save lives. i don't think we've been as innovative and we've partnered as we should in those communities that are disproportionate? are we having partnerships with churches? are we having partnerships with barbershops, hairdressers? we have j&j which is more a mobile vaccine. are we asking who are those trusted messages? the only concern i have is when we hear about troops being activated, we hear about retired health care workers being activated, we want to mick sure the communities they're being activated for are communities that trust those personnel coming in. we don't want to dissuade or discourage people in any way from wanting to get a vaccine. i can tell you. i agree. i think think is more an asset. yes, black folk occupy the wait-and-see category. it means we have specific informational needs and when they're met, we have to make sure barriers are eliminated. that's what i'm looking to see happen. >> we've got to talk to you, but first take a listen to what your boy joe biden had to say. >> at the time that everyone is eligible in may, we'll launch with our partners new tools to make it easier for you to find the vaccine and where to get the shot including a new website that will help you first find the place to get vaccinated and the one nearest you. no more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones. >> no more searching day and night for an appointment for you and your loved ones. in florida where governor ron desantis continues to prioritize wealthy donors, will this plan work in a state like yours? >> great question. desantis from the start of the pandemic has had a pattern of choosing the wealthy and connected over the needs of the general population of florida, and the vaccines as they have come out, he has again demonstrated that pattern. he's had a case of managing our county where he's allocated the vaccine to the two wealthiest zip codes. there's another controversy going on down in the keys where a very ultra-wealthy zip code was getting access where my patients were begging and pleading for the vaccine. this particular governor is very resistant to any hint of racial equity. does it as an afterthought. we do have specific plans in miami-dade county. i've been working with commissioner watson. he's the head of the district of two predominantly historically black districts where we've launched mobile pods to go to those communities. this is not something he's doing because he cares. he's doing it because it would look politically very bad on his part if he didn't do anything to address the issues. but the rates right now, disparity rates are terrible, meaning 80% of whites have been vaccinated as opposed to blacks. there's a wide disparity gap there, and it's been demonstrated based on the way the governor has been dealing with this pandemic. >> dr. pernell, let me ask you. other people are gaining the system. i want our viewers to understand how you can work the system. if there are pharmacies, for example, is that an urban myth that pharmacies are throwing away vaccines so that at the end of the day, go to the pharmacies and see if they have leftovers? is that something that exists, and should they be doing that. >> what people need to know first and foremost, what are the priorities in your state. make sure to see if you have any of those priorities, whether or not you have moderate asthma, high blood pressure, type 1 or type 2 diabetes, heart disease, had a history of cerebral vascular disease, even if you're overweight or obese, you qualify, you qualify if you're a smoker. if people don't know what allows them to be eligible, that's a barrier right then and there. that's an informational barrier that forbids access. in addition to knowing if you qualify, i just read a very trustworthy public stallworth dr. mary bassett who used to be the commissioner of the new york city department of public health. if you know you're eligible, make noise to your electing health officials, county officials, the levels at the owed f the state. that's the power i want you to know you have. look. i lost my was on the this pandemic and he was scouring the city to find a test. we don't need to see that repeated with our people scouring the city to see if there's a vaccine. >> that's very helpful information, dr. pernell. also if someone is in your house and you're their primary caretaker or you're a smoker, you're a priority. thank you for that helpful information. my favorite panel dr. pernell, dr. ashby, and my buddy trymaine lee. stick around. there's a lot we have to make make sense this week. e make sense this week tide pods ultra oxi one ups the cleaning power of liquid. can it one up whatever they're doing? 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with copays as low as $0.... walgreens makes affording your medicare prescriptions... ...no sweat. so you can get back to the thing you'd rather be doing. ♪ ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪ with allstate, drivers who switched saved over $700. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate click or call to switch today. welcome back to the "cross connection." like we do every week we have a burning question. let's see what it is. >> my burning question is in light of all the conversations and reactions for removing confederate generals from military installations, buildings, statues, et cetera, has there been any discussion as far as you know about removing the name of j. edgar hoover from the fbi building. >> the answer is yes. in the past few weeks, members of congress have allowed legislation that would rename the building and strip any evidence of hoover from the fbi's pennsylvania avenue headquarters, but actually i'll let one of the congressmen tell you why in his own words. >> hello. gerry connolly. i introduced hr1290 for the commission to rename the j. edgar hoover namen from the fbi building. we need do this because he was a maligned character. he was a riisist who went after martin luther king in extraordinary ways. he was a homophobe, a misogynist. he was somebody who denied the existence of the mafia for decades, allowing the organized crime to get a toehold in the united states. it's time we renamed the building after somebody who deserves it. >> ideagree more, congressman. changing the name of our premier law enforcement agency so it doesn't honor a racist tyrant who trampled civil liberties, i don't know, seems like a pretty logical step to me. if you don't know about j. edgar hoover, he lorded over the fbi for nearly 50 years and spent the 1950s, '60s, and '70s to derail the civility rights movement by allowing illegal wiretaps and other dirty traps. hoover's fbi even sent dr. king an anonymous letter, something to blackmail him into committing suicide. it sounds crazy, but google it. we could spend hours discussion his misogyny, home oh phobia, and spinelessness when it comes to the mafia or step into 2021 and rededicate the building to someone who deserves it. i've got it. how about renorth-americaning it the stacey abrams building. someone who oppressed these people who built the country for free and managed to save the country from itself, certainly we can dedicate a building with equal protection under law after a real political warrior. now, we did reach out to see if fbi supports the renaming of the building and they said they don't comment on legislation but they're committed to all communities they serve, bound by oath to serve all citizens with equal passion, professionalism, dignity, and respect. thank you, gail, for your question. a reminder to everyone at home f you've got a bumping question, don't be shy. if you want an answer, send me your video. join me on tv and i love looking at all of your clips. please keep it to under one minute. this is not showtime at the apollo. and upload it or attach it to an email if you're old school and send it to us at crossconnection@nbcuni.com. we can make it make sense. don't go anywhere. coming up in the next hour, the alarming rise inside asian hate crimes. stay with us. with us ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. so dad bought puffs plus lotion, and rescued his nose. with up to 50% more lotion puffs bring soothing softness and relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. 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introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notification and a week of uninterrupted recording... all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determinatio. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. welcome back to "the cross connection." today marks one year since a national emergency was declared for the coronavirus. as we learned this week, hate crimes against the asian american community spiked 150% in major u.s. cities. last year, according to the center for the study of hate and extremism, president biden condemned the violence in his primetime address thursday. >> vicious hate crimes against asian americans who have been attacked, harassed, blamed and scapegoated. they're forced to live in fear for their lives just for walking down streets in america. it's wrong, it's un-american, and it must stop. >> what a far cry from his predecessor, who never missed an opportunity to say something racist and ignorant, even when it came to covid-19, doing so as recently as this week. now senator mazie hirono and congressman grace huang has introduced a bill to end the surge in hate crimes. joining me now is the congresswoman from new york. thank you so much for being here. tell me what in this legislation can help bring this racism to a screeching halt? >> first of all, thank you, tiffany, for having me and thank you, again, for covering this important issue. it is about a year since we started seeing this increase in hateful rhetoric violence against the asian american community. what we found out is it's been really difficult sometimes for victims to feel comfortable to report these crimes. since hirono and i are working on legislation to provide more resources for the department of justice to make it easier for people to report these hate incidents and hate crimes and really also to provide more resources to educate our communities on these types of incidents. >> let me ask you because a lot of people wonder when they see these awful things, what can we do? i know during the black lives matter protests, a lot of people asked how can we ally, what can we do? so i'm asking that. what can the community at large do to ally with the asian american community at this time? >> that is really the key word, you know, this has been a really tough year for our country and as our country gathers today virtually to remember the life of a beautiful american like breonna taylor, we also remember how different communities came together during this pandemic, during the black lives matter protests, and now we've seen communities beyond the asian american community stand up and speak up so when we have groups like the naacp, the ajc speak up to condemn this violence, when we have the president of our country condemn these attacks versus what we had a year ago, praise who just empowered these sorts of attacks, it really makes a difference. so to have our different communities, our allies stand up and speak up for each other is tremendously impactful. >> yeah, my friend brittany cunningham has very specific guidance on her instagram as well as joy reid so i encourage people to check that out. i want to switch gears before we have to go. i'm very happy you're fulfilling this legislation but i want to ask you good governor cuomo. he said he refuses to step down, despite certain allegations. he is in political peril. i remember talking about him last year as a potential presidential contender. what impact do you think these accusations will have on his political future and can he survive this? >> look, i can't predict the future but i do know that there have been numerous incidents that have been coming out. the increasing number of incidents that we have heard, the heartbreaking stories of these survivors, make it difficult for -- on a day-to-day basis for the job for the leader of our state to carry out. i joined many of my congressional colleagues yesterday to ask for his resignation. >> well, i have to say he's denied all of these accusations adamantly so we will definitely keep our eye on this story. congresswoman, thank you very much for joining us. you are welcome back any time because i definitely am committed to continue to cover the heinous crimes that we see taking places against members of the asian american community and i want an ally and be a part of this solution. thank you for keeping this conversation to the forefront. thank you so much. i want to bring in our very dynamic panel of all women to discuss this and more. welcome baqiren haynes, editor of the 19th, msnbc contributor and jess morales, co-chair of families belong together. thank you, ladies. we have an all-girl band happening here today, right on time. i want at to switch gears and get right into covid relief. this impacts women and particularly women of color. and jess, i want to start with you because hispanic women have been hit the hardest of anybody. tell me why that is and what the solution might be? >> absolutely. one of the most important things about the american recovery plan passing is it's one of the best legislations we had in decades and that will matter a lot for my community. we've been at low-wage jobs since before the pandemic, had to work those low-wage jobs during the pandemic and still at risk, partly because of immigration status for many in our community, domestic workers i work with, have reported they either have to choose between staying home with their children are going out to work so they can put food on the table and taking care of elderly folks, who they may be the only person that that elderly person sees this week. this has really hit us hard and that's why i'm excited there's finally relief coming and this is an incredible first step but there's a long road to recovery. >> and we are seeing women leave the workforce because of varying obligations, but particularly motherhood. calling the she-session for a reason, it's hitting women so hard. do you think we will see women return to the workforce in numbers as equal to before or do you think we permanently lost some of these women in the workforce? >> i think it's going to be an unfortunate reality you're not going to see the same numbers and i think that's partially because it took so long for us to get somebody like president biden in office to help turn the tide and be able to help tackle the pandemic we had. and there is, and i will probably ruin the quote, tiffany, that concept the rising tide lifts all boats, so consider this type of saeps assistance being provided by the relief plan, and the hope is that employers get continued to help bring employees back. we understand we've got to be able to help people put food on the table, to be automobile to have mortgage assistance and rent assistance, but we also need to make sure the businesses get some assistance as well to ensure they have jobs for mothers to come back to when they're ready to come back. >> erin, i know you've reported on this a lot at the 19th. why has this recession hit women so fard compared to men? >> thank you very much, tiffany. as we round a year of this pandemic we know the systemic inequalities laid there not in terms of race but around gender, which were pre-existing before this pandemic and women and marginalized communities are looking for a new and better normal on the other side of this as we look ahead to recovery. the reason for this is women were already financially fragile in terms of housing, in terms of food i security, the wage gap is something we continue to talk about just this week, asian women paid equity day, where asian women continue to earn 85 cents to every day that white men earn in this country. so we know that there were these inequalities that existed that were exacerbated by the pandemic. hundreds of thousands of women having to drop out of the workforce largely because, as you mentioned, the childcare piece. and unless that is addressed as part of our country's economic infrastructure, you will not see this economy recovering with the majority, or at least what was the majority, of the u.s. workforce before the pandemic, mainly women. so what we know is the pandemic was political for women and that as the majority of the u.s. population and majority of the u.s. electorate, they were absolutely voting for relief in the form of a lot of what came in that pandemic relief package that was just signed by president biden and that vice president harris has also championed in this conversation about equity and the pandemic. we have to also talk about the gender component of that. >> all right. i want to talk -- shift gears a little bit and talk about one woman who's out of work. it's time to take a little peek into the sunken place and see who's trying to crawl her way out. stacy dash, the actress turned conservative pundit. home girl has announced her former employer fox news and apologized for the many, many, many horrible comments she's made defending donald trump. >> i've lived my life being angry, you know, which was what i was on fox news. you know, i was the angry conservative black woman. i realized in 2016 that anger is unsustainable. and it will destroy you. and people don't know is that i made a lot of mistakes because of that anger. >> i will take a sip of her tears quickly before turning back to the panel. let me just say, sometimes things all do fall down. she fell down. my friend, our friend, dr. jason johnson, wrote about this for "the grio" and he talks about her in this sunken place and says, without trump's penchant for gassing up fading '80s and '90s star, the actress' career died up faster than tumbleweed in "a game of roses" and not even a try row foam plate would get her out. i ask you, stacy dash shows up to your house with the potato salad and raisins in it, does she get invited to the cookout? >> oh, wow, potato salad, devil's no. i thought she was trying to make amends here. let's cancel the potato salad with raisins in it. look, i'm old enough to remember when omarosa wrote her book about her experience in the trump administration and her support for the president and really wanted to say that she was renouncing a lot of the things that she saw but, you know, people did remember that she was a part of the coalition that got president trump elected in 2016. stacy dash also, you know, has been part of that coalition that wanted to see the former president in office and championed him while he was in office. so for a lot of black americans we frankly saw the former president's tenure as existential threat, i don't know they will be particularly willing to welcome her back to the cookout but maybe bringing that potato salad recipe would not be the best strategy to getting back in the cookout. >> jess, let me ask you, are there people in other communities who are, you know, trying to bo an about-face and now trying to creep back in and say i was just kidding before? >> yeah, i mean, i think so, definitely. people who took advantage of situations are now seeing that the money is not coming in, the gigs aren't coming up. you know, i think about my own journey as an abolitionist, reconciliation is available to all but first you have to repair the harm that you did. and tea is not a reparation situation. so these are people who supported a president who separated children, who rolled back support for trans and queer people, who oppressed black voters. this is not something like you can just go on one interview and actually say i'm sorry. we have folks like this in our community, the goya chairman, for instance, who have done the opposite. they really doubled down. i think it's time for everyone who was a part of propping up president trump so they know and can repair the harm they've done. >> it i have to tell you, i say all the time, i'm pretty enough to remember these things, i have a lot memory, i don't forget, but in case you at home are not like me with a memory like an elephant, let's take a look from the sound bites from the "clueless" actress, and i use that term in every sense. >> the democratic party -- >> they have a plantation mentality. as long as i give you this much money, you'll stay right there. this is the democratic party's new version of slavery to me. i'm a believer in the american dream. if we don't want segregation, we need to get rid of channels like bet and bet awards and image awards, where you're only awarded if you're black. i think it's a good thing for the good girls -- >> women, they're over 18. >> yes, women, to be told stay home, be safe. the other bad girls, bad women, are the ones who like to be naughty, might go out and play and get hurt. alcohol doesn't get you drink. you get yourself drunk. ment. >> alcohol does not get you drunk but maga clearly does. katie, what do you say, are there people -- who else are we trying to see creep back into the community after they pretty much threw their own people under the bus? what do you say to those people? >> tiffany, you always have to ask the why, that's what i do, why. what is the purpose of her redemption tour? i agree that she probably shouldn't be launching this redemption tour in such a substantive way, which she's really not, right? i think that's what is important is, i think we should always say that there's perhaps a little bit of rool to be able to welcome people back into some type of fold, although the welcome her back is probably not the right statement because she never really was with us in the first place. but i think if she wants to make a change, she has to do something else besides lip service and that's all we heard so far. i'm so glad you played this trip because there were a parade of unmentionables of people who rode this trump train and it's important to remind people, words hurt and words matter and she was representing, allegedly, a group of people that was not going to escape the ire and being a target of somebody like donald trump. so i think it's key you remind people of what she said, because you're right, we shouldn't forget this quickly. >> katie said it nicer than me, welcome her back in some form. she ain't welcome to my cookout ever at all, along with the rest of the crazy people who rode the crazy trump train he we'll talk about more trending topics after the break e trending topics after the brea o. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. try downy free & gentle. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ tonight, i'll be eating the al pastor burrito from boca burritos right here in aurora. 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>> yet another white male governor has decided to sign into law that completely affects women's reproductive rights and that's a key factor here. but there are several women politicians there to support these absurd and draconian law. its not just arkansas, it's also texas. it's not just isolated incidents happening in arkansas. the remedy is always the court system but what is fearful we saw in the trump administration a proliferation of judges appointed to the bench that will try to streamline and expedite these cases being heard in front of the supreme court. but ironically, the stopgap are the courts, it is our judicial system. we have a law called roe v. wade and from the supreme court of the united states, highest court in the land, it governs courts in your backyard. because of that, you're going to see effective challenges to seize type of ridiculous and absurd and progressive be laws in states like arkansas and that will slow the roll. keep in mind, it's important there will come a day a case about reproductive rights will make its way to the supreme court of the united states. so make sure we continue we veet for people in office who will put justices and judges on the bench that will be reflective of us not only of gender but also color. >> i'll ask you, erin, in arkansas abortions were practically already banned in 2017, some 90% of arkansas counties had no clinic that's provided abortions and 70% of arkansas women lived in those counties. now we have a law from a republican lawmaker in texas who is proposing the death penalty for women who have abortions. erin, even if it doesn't overturn at the supreme court, at the local level, we're still trying to navigate these punitive laws. what's your take? >> well, you know, i think katie is exactly right here, that this is an issue that highlights the lack of representation of women in government as these federal and state and local levels. much so you have overwhelmingly male lawmakers making these decisions, you know, that these are the kinds of outcomes that you can have, not to say that men are not interested in opposing roe versus wade or women's right to choose but, certainly, a lot of these punitive measures and efforts to get rid of abortion are being driven by men who are in elected office. >> yes. >> so, therefore, women being the majority of the electorate, we know this is an issue for women. >> right. >> and these are all women's issues but where this falls on the spectrum is something that matters and they're weighing in on the ballot box, of course. >> yes, and, jess, i will ask you because there's all of this concern over the religious right in particular cares so much about the fetus and pregnancies, and yet we have the surge of migrants arriving at the southwest border. a lot of these are unaccompanied children. the border patrol is trying ho house an unprecedented number of children and adults being held beyond the three-day limit. while we're having these punitive laws for women and their reproductive rights, let's talk about what's happening with these children at the southern border and, in your view, what should be happening? >> well, i think the first and most important thing to say is that children coming to the border is not a surge. these are children who are traveling thousands of miles with just courage that i can only imagine because of their circumstances. when families and children leave their home, pack up and move, it's not because of policy or because of a new president, it's because they are desperate. and they have no other choice. and we should welcome those families and, in fact, they are coming here to legally seek asylum. it's really important that we address the root causes of why people are migrating here and once they're here we welcome them and in particular we make sure every single child is safe. people come here because they are trying to do the best thing for their children or because they are children themselves who don't have any other options. we have to take care of them, make sure they don't spend time in detention. we have to make sure those conditions in detention are excellent conditions, that people are cared for, that children are getting learning, that their in an environment that will not traumatize them. and then we have to make sure that we repair the harm that happened the last trump administration. he sowed division and chaos and suffering. it's going to take a little bit of time to fix that. in the meantime, however, we have to make sure we're reuniting families who have been separated in the last administration, and make sure every child is safe. this is really about kids and child welfare, and we have an obligation to take care of them. >> yeah, this is such a sad story and we're definitely going to stick with it here at "the cross connection." my colleague jacob soboroff, is laser-focused on this issue. i want to make a hard turn and talk about award season. it's in full swing, oscars drop monday and grammys tomorrow, hosted by the very awesome treva noah but not everyone is the in the spirit. chart-topping artist the weeknd announced he's boycotting the grammys from now until forever because of the secret committee. forever, ever ever? errin, what do you think, is this a good move or will we see what happens when keeping it real goes wrong? >> i mean, look, i don't know, if anybody is interested, i won't be at the grammys this year either. i've checked out of the grammys for quite a while myself. you say trying to get me out of the newsroom and into the group chat here, but -- >> but i will say the weeknd taking this stand, he already had his kind of star turn this year musically with his super bowl performance, and what you are increasingly seeing black entertainers, black musicians saying to these institutions that, you know, we're not the help. you will not continue to just abuse us for our talent but exclude us in diversity. we saw this with the golden globes, with highlighting the lack of african-american writers that are participating. you've seen just the oscar so white movement that april rein started. people are saying they will be there not for just this output but the industry and the weeknd is the latest example of that. >> yes, you made the point and group chat, i should say, made the point. so it's interesting talking about award season and we're definitely going to be talking about it in the coming weeks as the oscar nomination has come out. you guys, this panel is so awesome. i'm so grateful for you tackling all of these topics. . katie, errin and jess. and speaking of the grammies i want to congratulate my colleague rachel maddow for her nomination for best spoken word album for her amazing book "blowout." don't go anywhere. i've got a word or two from lindsey graham. he needs to take a seat. stay with us. from america's most reliable network at no extra cost. and plans to mix and match, so you only pay for what you need. the plan is so reasonable, they can stay on for the rest of their lives. aww... and on top of that, nobody gives you more entertainment you love like disney+, hulu and espn+ on select unlimited plans. you even get one of our best 5g phones on us when you buy one. and it all starts at just $35. only from verizon. you can't plan for your period's... what the gush moments. but the right pad can. only always ultra thins have rapiddry technology and, they absorb 40% faster. the gush happens fast. that's why always absorbs faster. before nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable night's sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? 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>> this debt relief will begin to rectify decades of broken promises and discrimination from the usda that caused black farmers to lose roughly 90% of their landed between 1910 and today. so call it whatever you like, lindsey, not everyone is designed to keep et 00ing fertilizer from the people who so publicly disrespect them. we leave that to you. but just so you know, many money falls way short of reparations because black farmers damn sure deserve better, way better, than what this country has given them. has given them that means... best burger ever. intuit quickbooks helps small businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. when our daughter and her kids moved in with us... our bargain detergent couldn't keep up. boost® high protein also has key nutrients turns out it's mostly water. so, we switched back to tide. one wash, stains are gone. daughter: slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. i'm still going for what's next. even with higher stroke risk due to... afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin,... i want that. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin. and has less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis has both. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking, you may bruise more easily... or take longer for bleeding to stop. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, or unusual bruising. it may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor about eliquis. i'm jayson tatum. check out my subway sub with delicious turkey and crispy bacon. i'm draymond green. with my subway sub with tender steak and melty cheese. my sub will help you put points on the board, unlike some other subs. why would you say that, jayson? 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>> this is a really important conversation, tiffany. i'm really glad you're broaching the topic. i think it is really important to talk with someone with any feelings you're having in terms of struggling. you can text hello to 741741 and chat back and forth with a licensed texter. but it's important to talk with someone, whether it be the crisis check line or a family member, a member of your congregation if you're part of a faith community, but it's important to let somebody know you're struggling because it can help to take the load off of you. >> michelle obama also -- forever flotus as we call her, she actually smoke about challenges with her mental health during the pandemic. so let's say you're struggling, you're not necessarily suicidal but let's say you have anxiety, you're sad, depressed. one day you feel like you're on top of the world and the next day you feel like the world is on top of you but you don't have health insurance and there's no recourse for you. what do you do, if it's not serious enough to be suicidal but you're struggling with life? >> i cannot underscore what dr. bradford said, just talk to somebody. it's not good just to keep it inside and that was year from meghan markle's call for help. and a study that looked at why people seek help and 63% of black people would with not want to seek help was you would look weak for a mental health condition. so that's why it's important for people like michelle obama, taraji p. henson, be as a psychiatrist to talk about being anxious, talk to them about it and let them know it's a normalish thing. you're not the only one suffering. i would say, don't let the shame cripple you in trying to get some help and talk to your pastor, even if it's not someone like a psychologist or psychiatrist or social worker. literally picking up the phone and phoning a friend is one thing you can do and not letting it -- sort of cripple your idea of being a strong black woman because seeking help is what makes you strong in these cases. >> and that's one thing i do want to get out of these conversations, it is very normal a. people like you, michelle obama, people like me, i don't know anyone who has not had a experience of anxiety or sadness or depression during this time. speaking of women of color, particularly in the black community, dr. harden, we're taught to be -- put that s on your chest and get out there and face the world. how do you unlearn that behavior? because there is so sort of let me just swallow it, get up the next day, face the next day with gusto, like the ancestors. how do you earn learn that and navigate this world today where mental health is a lot more prevalent with people? >> yeah, i think really in sharing our stories is where the strength to unlearn some of that comes from. the more we talk about the ways we are struggling, the more we're giving other people space to recognize they may be struggling as well. i think we are sharing it and it's not just dirty little secrets we're keeping locked away. we're then able to unlock the resources that we need, to tell the truth about these things and to recognize we're human. we're not robots. there are a lot of great things we can do but we're all still human. so it's important to know we can embrace our feelings and take care of ourselves when we're struggling as well. >> i think addressing systemic racism and health care will take work, commitment and also data and creating a pipeline for people. i have friends who look for therapists who are african-american to speak specifically to their children. i imagine it may be the same way in the latino community and certainly the native american community. what will it take to make our health care community more diverse or make the existing members in our health care community more culturally competent? >> i will be honest, it takes money. if you look at the health care system and the way that it is, it's so hard to find a health care provider. forget the fact if you're trying to find a provider that looks like you and you're black, that more than likely will not happen. the most recent data for psychologists in 2015 showed maybe some 86% of psychologists were white and only 4% were black. you can imagine just by investing in stim programs and recruiting people in middle school, how i became a doctor, is one way to increase participation. but funding for education for people of color and trying to diversify the workforce, we also need legislation that ensures that money is actually appropriated to community health clinics. so often it's put in the legislation and the spending doesn't go through or funding runs out in five or ten years and you have clinics scrambling to refund programs. so i really think it's money. our mental health system is just incredibly fragments and incredibly complicated to navigate and there are not enough access points for people to get to. and it really just is going to take some actual money and also an education. obviously, i think that's something that means you have to pay the people who are going doing the cultural competent education, which is a whole other conversation on its own when you think about the number of black academics or groups in medicine trying to help with cultural competent education. >> doctor, this sounds completely insane to me but colorism has been linked to depression and anxiety. and according to some research, it suggests people in the black community with darker skin tones have higher levels of depressive disorders and are more likely to experience trauma with less access to mental health service. this is insane to me. again, after hearing that interview where the royal families were discussing archie's skin tone, and systems of oppression that teach people bare skin is somehow better than darker skin, as insane as it sounds, it's also understandable. i think this is why it's so important to have culture compete ensy in the medical community. have you seen that? >> oh, absolutely. it's painful what doctors see in brothers and sisters struggling with. the research is clear, the lighter your skin is to white, the more privilege you have in the country. so it's not at all shocking to me colorism plays a role in people feeling more anxious, depressed, being locked out of more countries. we know all of that is tied together, so i'm not surprised at all by that. >> we have to have you both back to continue this conversation as so many people continue to struggle with mental health. thank you very much, doctors. you'll both definitely be back coming up -- an artist's remarkable tribute to the victims of police brutality. he joins me when we come back. e. ever notice how stiff clothes can feel rough on your skin? for softer clothes that are gentle on your skin, try downy free & gentle. downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. seeing blood when you brush or floss can be a sign of early gum damage. new parodontax active gum repair kills plaque bacteria at the gum line to help keep the gum seal tight. new parodontax active gum repair toothpaste. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ deposit, plan and pay with easy tools from chase. simplicity feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. 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age is a great connection point for those who don't have black skin and don't understand what we're feeling. we also know what it's like to be 7-year-old, we all have loved ones in our 50s like gregory gunn or walter scott. i think we all know in a very fundamental, basic human level there's immense tragedy of cutting any of these lives short. >> and just capturing this humanity of these individuals, their families and what they're going through, i mean, it's just so incredibly moving. i understand that you have partners with "playboy." can you tell us about that? >> yeah, so this past month i had a lot of cool projects kind of come my way, "playboy" being one of them. i also did work for the audio-bohn society, worked with amazon. for me it's just great opportunity to continue sharing my perspective and my view of the world. black people are not a monolith and not just the pain and injustice we are seeing a lot in the news. there's so much more to us. we're a beautiful spectrum. these projects allow me to highlight those moments. the "playboy" one in particular, it was inspired by seeing a couple -- black couple dancing at a protest in port green in brooklyn. to me that was such a beautiful movement of love and protection they were creating and this ability to shine amidst all of this chaos was something i really wanted to highlight and share with others. >> adrian, i have to tell you, your work is quite moving and i think it's a great reminder for everyone, particularly today, as we remember breonna taylor, who was shot a year ago today, that each of these hashtags was a human being. they had a story. they had dreams. breonna's friends called her breezy. she wanted to work in health care. i think it's easy to see flat fixtures but when you see the whole breadth of who they were, it's quite beautiful. where can people see it? >> you can see it mainly on my social media. my instagram is abayy.bbe or on my website, adrian brandon.com. >> thank you very much, adrian, for closing our show. that's our show for today. thank you at home for watching. i will be back next saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern. but you can catch me on the gramm. i'm going live in a few minutes. for now, stay tuned for my friend alex witt. and more of the entertainment you love like apple music. and the beautiful iphone 12 on us when you buy one. only from verizon. did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. it then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst psst you're good not everybody wants the same thing. that's why i go with liberty mutual — they customize my car insurance so i only pay for what i need. 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