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to sell the american rescue plan to the american public. >> see, willie, he's still got it. >> he can sing! >> he's still got it. he's -- you know, mind's working great there. >> that's a great cover of johnny cash. i would like to see some of his others, maybe. maybe go all the way toward the end of johnny's career. do the full catalog. >> i like it a lot. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, march 18th. let's get straight to the news. the suspect arrested in the murder spree at the three spas in atlanta has been charged. 21-year-old robert long faces eight counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. police say he killed four people inside one spa, three people inside another, and one person inside a third. officials say he was arrested while on the way to florida to possibly carry out more attacks. six of the eight victims were asian women, leading to speculation that the spree may have been part of a rise in anti-asian hate since the coronavirus pandemic. but yesterday, officials offered another possible motive. >> the suspect did take responsibility for the shootings. he said that early on, once we began the interviews with him. he claims that these -- and as the chief said, this is still early -- but he does claim that it was not racially motivated. he apparently has an issue, what he considers a conviction, and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places and it's a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate. >> obviously, whatever the motivation was for this guy, we know that many of the victims, the majority of the victims were asian. we also know that this is an issue that's happening across the country. it is unacceptable. it is hateful. and it has to stop. >> let's go right down to atlanta. nbc news correspondent blayne alexander has been covering the story for us. blayne, good morning. we know six of the eight women were asian, killed inside these spas a couple of nights ago. what have we learned at that briefing and what have we learned since then? >> reporter: we certainly learned a lot during yesterday's briefing. you heard from what some law enforcement officials say, the suspect told them in the hours he was taken into custody. a couple of things i want to highlight. one was just the way in which he was captured. we know that this kind of spread out over this stunning, almost 200-mile stretch. the suspect really did cover a lot of ground when you think about the three spas and then the fact that he was ultimately captured about two hours to the south of where i am. and i think one of the more chilling detail that is he told investigators that when he was captured, when he was taken in, he was actually driving south toward florida. he was headed to florida, essentially to continue his spree, by his own admission, he planned to hit some more places there. the fact he was taken into custody in a relatively short amount of time ultimately saved some lives in that instance. the other thing i want to point out, you heard from captain jay baker there say what the suspect told him about his own mind-set. what it was that led him to, again, he has admitted to these crimes, he has accepted responsibility. so what he says led him to do these things. i want to also, though, highlight what atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms said right after this. she was asked about the fact that, you know, perhaps this was some sort of temptation he was trying to eliminate. and she said, one, we're not going to get into the place of victim blaming or victim shaming. but also, as far as the two businesses that were targeted here in the city of atlanta, she says, to their knowledge, to atlanta police knowledge. these were legitimate businesses. they didn't have any sort of complaints. they didn't have any major 911 calls against them. so they have no reason to have had them on their radar in the first place. i think that's an important point to underscore. and the final thing, as you mentioned, the motive. the question. what exactly was it that drove him to do this. now, overnight, atlanta police put out a rather strong statement, kind of underscoring the fact that they say that it's too early to rule anything out. and that includes, of course, race being a possible motivator for this crime. you know, they said, our investigation is still far from over and we are looking into every possibility. guys, as we start this day, there are still a number of questions. one, we know he will be arraigned today. we're also looking to get the names of the other four victims who were killed in this attack this week. >> before we heard from the police, there was a lot of concern that this was a hate crime, given that six of the eight victims were asian women. those charges still could be on the table as you point out. so what will authorities be looking at? what we have so far is the word of the alleged shooter, what he told the police. what more will police be looking at to determine whether this was a hate crime? >> reporter: well, i think a couple of things. that there is one survivor still, one man who is still in the hospital. we're told he's in stable condition. i assume they'll certainly be talking to him a lot to kind of find out what if anything the shooter said when he walked into these places. you know, talking to other people who may have been involved, as well, to find out what was said and perhaps what was asked, anything like that. but also his background. i think they're going to be looking at that a lot, too. but investigators have said that they have spoken with him, but they still have a long way to go in this investigation. so certainly, a lot of things left to be answered, willie. >> nbc's blayne alexander in atlanta for us this morning. blane, thank you so much. and it was his parents who called him in. >> we will follow this closely. we want to move to politics mow. senate majority leader chuck schumer announced democrats' plan to pass a comprehensive voting reform bill called the for the people act. >> we will put the bill on the floor. we will see if our republican friends join us. if they don't join us, our caucus will come together and decide the appropriate action to take. everything is on the table. failure is not an option. >> the package includes protections against gerrymandering, improved election security, and makes it easier to register to vote. the house passed its voter suppression of the bill earlier this month with every republican voting against it. democratic senator raphael warnock of georgia used his first floor speech to address the restrictive voting laws pushed by republicans in the wake of his senate runoff win. here's part of his comments. >> we are witnessing right now a massive and unabashed assault on voting rights, unlike anything we've ever seen since the jim crow era. this is jim crow in new clothes. within 24 hours, we elected georgia's first african-american, jewish senator and hours later, the capitol was assaulted. it is a contradiction to say we must protect minority rights in the senate while refusing to protect minority rights in the society. colleagues, those senate rules should overrule the integrity of our democracy. and we must find a way to pass voting rights. whether we get rid of the filibuster or not. >> senator warnock received a standing ovation and cheers throughout the chamber when he finished his speech. and the senator will be our guest just ahead on "morning joe." let's bring in white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan la mir. national political reporter for "the new york times," elaina plott, cofounder and ceo of axios, jim vandehei, and white house correspondent for politico and co-author of "the playbook," eugene daniels. he's also an msnbc contributor. good to have you all onboard this morning. >> jim vandehei, again, because we've been around capitol hill. i was around with you 25 years ago on capitol hill. we saw legislation passing more regularly than, but if you look just over the past ten years, look at the last six years of the obama administration and donald trump's four years, the only significant piece of legislation that passed over that day was trump's tax cut. >> i don't think it is unless they end up with 60 plus votes in the senate. ever since we've moved to this period of politics, you don't have moderates. you don't have nearly as many when we were in congress and i was covering congress. they're gone. now the parties are so polarized that it almost requires only having a 50-seat threshold if you want to get things done, unless you have a super majority. and that's really the question that's facing democrats. like, it's staring them right in the face. like, they know they can get this legislation on voting rights passed. they can get infrastructure done. they can get big chunks of the green new deal done. if they get rid of the filibuster. it's still a big if, but they could. they could really reengineer government in this country in the image that their base would love to have it reengineered to comport with, if they make that decision. the thing that sits in the back of their mind goes to your question, which is, okay, but if you keep flipping control, if you -- and we've had so many -- we've had republicans in full control, then democrats, republicans, and then democrats. what happens when you don't have power? does all of this stuff just get reversed or do they unto us as we did unto them? and i think that we're going to know relatively soon. i think this is going to come to a head. because if you look at the language that you heard in that floor speech, elizabeth warren told us that the filibuster -- in racism. there's going to be a lot of pressure on joe manchin to say, get rid of the damned filibuster and let's do what they want to do, what they believe the voters sent them there to do. we'll see. >> the filibuster has been around a couple of hundred years. but it certainly wasn't around at the very beginning of the republic. it's not like it's attached to the constitution. but jim, the choice is, do you want elections -- at this point, and again, i have always been a champion of the filibuster. i didn't like when harry reid got rid of it for federal judges. i didn't like when mitch mcconnell got rid of it for supreme court judges, but nothing's getting done in washington. when mitch mcconnell yesterday said, okay, if democrats do that, when republicans get elected, we're going to pass all of our priorities. we're going to toughen the border, we're going to pass gun laws -- and i thought, okay, well, great. let's do that. because that would mean elections have consequences. right now, elections do not have consequences, because as you said, there is no middle left in the senate. and everybody is just blindly voting the way their party wants them to vote. and a great example of that, i was hoping would have this more moderate center that could get significant legislation done at the beginning, because there are moderates out there, conservative/moderates. but you look at a bill thatted a 76% approval rating with the american people, had 56% approval rating with the republicans. not a single republican voted for that piece of legislation. not one. and they can't say that they spent too much money after their shameful record on deficits and debts. and the size of budgets over the last four years. so nothing's going to get done. elections are not going to have consequences if they don't something significantly. so what does that look like, jim? >> i think what it would look like, they would have to be able to persuade joe manchin and other skeptical democrats to go along with getting rid of the filibuster and doing exactly what you just said. there's been a lot of hypocritical nonsense around the filibuster for years. as you said, there's nothing in the constitution about it. it's a senate tradition. that's how most senate rules become constructed. and democrats are going to sit there and ask themselves, like, how can mitch mcconnell write in the "wall street journal" today that he's going to basically blow up the senate if they do anything on the filibuster, when mitch mcconnell himself used the filibuster to make sure that the supreme court, one of the most powerful institutions in the world, looks the way it does today, because he was able to block a supreme court nominee. and they're going to say, why don't we use that same power to get things done that we want to get done? and it's the only way their going to get these big things done. all of this nonsense about, oh, there's going to be so much bipartisan around infrastructure. there is not in theory, there is not in practice. the minute you start talking about tax increases and talk about the specific components, you're probably going to lose most if not all of the republican party. if they want to get things done on voting rights, if they want to get things done on infrastructure. joe biden, manchin, others will have to come to the conclusion that you're going to get rid of the filibuster and that's what the vast majority of democrats want to do. and by the way, i've always assumed that's what will happen. i think the pressure is so intense and mistakes are so high, you look at what's happening in the states with voting rights, i think they're going to do it. >> i think they're probably believing they have to do it. and willie, politically, the political fallout will come from however the republicans decide to act two years from now, if they take the majority. but what we have now are presidents who can't pass legislation. so they sign executive orders. and then the next president comes in. and they sign executive orders that overturn the last president's executive orders. i would like to see that -- if that's going to happen, it might as well happen with legislation. where, actually, the house and the senate actually function the way they're supposed to function. and anybody, willie, who believes that the american people are going to be shocked and stunned and deeply saddened with filibuster reform or if they change the rules of the filibuster. that's process americans aren't going to care. that's not what they're going to vote about two years from now. they're going to vote for the actual legislation that does get passed. >> and that's exactly the argument that minority leader mitch mcconnell made, the one you're referring to a couple of days ago. it was posed as a threat, but what he was saying was, okay, if you want to do this, if you want to have a simple majority vote on major legislation, we can do that. but here's what we're going to do when we're back in power. here's the minority leader two days ago. >> nobody serving in this chamber can even begin, can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched earth senate would look like. this is an institution that requires unanimous consent to turn the lights on before noon. everything that democrat senates did, presidents bush and trump, everything the republican senate did to president obama would be child's play compared to the disaster that democrats would create for their own priority if they break the senate. >> democrats may say, we're up for that. people like jim clyburn saying, civil rights legislation is too important. this hr-1 has to get through, so go ahead and get rid of the filibuster, if we can. where does that leave us? where is this headed? >> i think one of the most consistent themes i heard from republican donors over the past four years, willie, is that they, you know, contrary to everything we've seen mitch mcconnell do on the senate floor with regard to supreme court nominees or what have you is republicans consistently tell me that they don't believe their party fights in the way that democrats do. that they're not unified in the way that, say, harry reid was able to keep democrats unified. and so that, when donald trump himself was encouraging mitch mcconnell to eliminate the filibuster, i talked to a lot of republican voters across the country who were in favor of that. which is to say, i think senator -- or i think senator mcconnell is speaking to actually a shrinking number of republicans who themselves see the value in the filibuster. as you all were pointing out, this really is a 50/50 country. and i think republicans, however agitated they might be with the elimination of the filibuster now, they're ready for 2022 to get power back, because all of the things that leader mcconnell is threatening to pass in the event of the filibuster elimination, republicans have been wanting for the past four years. ewhich is to say, i don't think this would be the last resort that some senators are making it out to be. >> senators would actually want this, right? elena, senators -- republican senators, when they hear mitch mcconnell saying, oh, well, if we actually get rid of the filibuster, watch out, we're going to be able to pass tough legislation on border security. we're going to be able to pass tough legislation regarding carry permits and making things reciprocal. i think most senate republicans would say, okay, good, let's do that and we can actually pass legislation and campaign every two years or every six years on what we got done instead of what the president signed in an executive order. >> well, the thing is, joe, even if senate republicans aren't willing to say that explicitly, their voters will be saying that. as i said, i can't tell you how many republican voters i've spoken to in the past four years who believe that their party is never up to the challenge when it comes to legislation. that senate republicans like mitch mcconnell play to the base and stoke the anxieties of the base and the desires of the base to get into base only to achieve power and do next to nothing. it's not just democratic voters who are going to be calling their senators in the next few years, hoping for a reform of this measure of some sort. it's going to be the right, as well. and senate republicans are going to have to have a plan on how to respond to that pressure. >> house majority whip, congressman jim clyburn, called out the moderate democrats who are seen as protecting the filibuster. in an interview with politico, clyburn said, quote, we've got 50 democrats. warnock and ossoff are two. since when did sinema and manchin get to be more important nan ossoff and warnock. he went on, they all got us to 50, so this whole notion that we've got to do what manchin said, warnock is up in two years for re-election. eugene daniels, your thoughts? >> that's the thing i continue to hear from voting rights advocates. over the last couple of years, they started to talk about this more as an issue of making sure that black and brown people have the rights to vote, the issue of the filibuster, right? and you know, black people got joe biden to office. he has talked about that. he's talked about owing them. black women bolstered warnock and ossoff in georgia. black voters are the reason that there is a 50-vote, and with the vice president, a 51tiebreaker in the senate for democrats. so what i continue to hear is you either protect the filibuster, you protect this kind of arcane rule, like joe said, voters don't really care about, and that's not what they're going to vote on, or you fight -- you get voting rights passed, hr-1, hr-4, another one, which is the john lewis voting rights act that's coming down the pipe. you protect the rights of black and brown voters in this country. and that's the pressure that democrats like joe manchin and kristin sinema will continue to get. at some point, they'll start to make that decision, especially as we start to see -- i think schumer will start throwing things on the floor and see what republicans obstruct, they can point to that evidence and say, this is why we have to get rid of this. because they're showing that they don't want to. >> what a sharp contrast. you look at how dynamic the united states of america has been over the past 20 years. you look at the i.t. revolution, you look at everything that's been happening. and then, you contrast that with what washington's looked like for the past 20 years. and it's just, it has -- jonathan lamir, i know joe biden is a traditionalist, but this isn't 1994 or 2004. if joe biden the president wants to get anything done. if republicans in the senate want to get anything done when they're in the majority, they're going to have to do something dramatic to make sure that 50 plus 1 wins the day in the united states senate. and yes, that's for republicans as well as democrats. that's for conservatives as well as liberals. it's just not working again when over the past decade, the only major piece of legislation to pass through the house and the senate and get signed by a president was donald trump's tax for billionaires, tax cuts for billionaires. so where's biden on this? where does he move? is he going to call joe manchin in at some point and kristen sinema and ask if they can help get this job done so they can actually pass legislation over the next few years? >> there's an extraordinary amount of pressure building on president biden now to do something big, joe. we have seen him, of course -- we know joe biden. he was in the senate for nearly four decades. he'sinstitutionalist. and aides have said it's his preference in a perfect world to keep the filibuster in tact. but there's a recognition that's not going to be the case. there's been an intensive lobbying campaign from democratic organizers and lobbyists on the hill to west wing aides, to chief of staff ron klain in particular to try to move the president on this. we heard him yesterday in his interview with george stephanopoulos to open up some wiggle room. it's his first time where he would move. he has shown some willingness to move on the issue. he has, indeed, his aides know this, momentum after passing that covid -- massive covid relief bill. momentum he is trying to further by hitting the road, as the show opened today. noting, but that momentum won't go anywhere if they can't pass more legislation. and as much as they can just paint the republicans as the opposition to progress, whether it be about voting rights or about tax increases on the wealthy, that's not going to fly with a lot of democrats. a lot of democrats, and particularly those who helped put joe biden in office. and the president and the vice president will be in georgia tomorrow, to promote the covid relief bill, sure. but also as a thank you to the voters who helped deliver the senate to democrats, because of those two runoffs. certainly, voting rights act legislation is going to be discussed. that can only happen if things change in the senate. the pressure is building. biden is not willing to move yesterday, but aides suggest that down the road, he may be. >> he may have to. my old saying in politics, when i said i always noticed was, nobody stops you went you're going 80 miles an hour. well, the president's administration started at 80 miles an hour. they passed an historic piece of legislation. and things are going to slow down and stop for the next year and a half, unless they figure out some way to be able to pass pieces of legislation like hr-1 and other pieces of voting rights legislation, infrastructure bills, and things that actually americans will care about. elena, we've heard -- and really, the piece of legislation that we're probably talking about here, if we move past the filibuster or if there's something that moves the senate pass the filibuster, is hr-1. we've heard democrats talk about how important that is for voting rights to take care of gerrymandering, to take care of a lot of things, but we've also heard republicans, like mike lee, calling it a piece of legislation from the depths of hell that satan himself drafted. i did not know that satan was into legislative drafting, but there you go. mike lee says that he is. so what have you heard? is there any chance that any republicans would support hr-1 and the voting rights reforms or are they going to be lockstep against that? and if so, what do they fear the most about that bill? >> it's a great question, joe. at this moment, i have no reporting to suggest that any republican in the senate would be onboard with this bill. this is the reason why. i was just in texas the past two weeks, you know, covering the republican party. governor greg abbott on monday introduced a raft of quote/unquote election integrity bills. i cannot emphasize enough how for state republican parties across this country, election integrity, the continued, entrenched belief that the election was either stolen from donald trump, which is, of course, untrue, or that there were multiple irregularities, that the system has to deal with, the extent to which that is animating the gop base right now. any senate republican who signs on to a bill that would be able to suggest that democrats have more of a control over the electoral process in this country than many republican voters believe they already do is going to be the death nail for any of republican seeking re-election. in texas, this is the number one issue for the state republican party, beyond abortion, beyond further tax cuts, anything like that. so with the momentum for republicans continually behind this issue, there's little-to-no incentive for a senate republican to sign on for it. and i would add too, joe, that should this bill pass, republicans are going to have to be very careful with how they message about it and the damage that they are saying now that it could do to american democracy or the electoral process, because already, as we saw in georgia, but as i still continue to see when i talk to voter, donald trump's rhetoric that elections in this country are entirely broken, that you can't count on the outcome has dissuaded a lot of republican voters from already saying, they will never vote again. there's increasing data to back that up. it happens in conversations when i talk to voters. i was at a texas gop rally a couple of weeks ago where a voter spoke to me and said, i will never vote in another election again. it's totally rigged. echoing donald trump's rhetoric explicitly. and again, to the extent that republicans message against a bill like this and say it will ruin elections as we know it, that's a double-edged sword for them right now and they're going to have to be careful. >> eugene daniels, finally, what are you working on today? >> what we're working on today at "playbook," lots of things, but we have an exclusive and some scoops on what ron klain told progressives behind closed doors. leaders of the congressional progressive caucus met with white house chief of staff ron klain just yesterday morning. and representative jayapal actually talked to rachael bade on wednesday night and talked about what they're looking at. the build back better plan, talking about that progressives wanted a commitment from ron klain and president biden that it doesn't just look at transportation, but looks at climate change and health care and family infrastructure, paid family leave, things like that. and jayapal said, we can either go green or we can go bipartisan, because i just don't think that republicans are ready to have a transformative package. so i said that at the white house, is what she told us. and klain didn't say what the plan was, how they're going to tackle this next step, this build back better infrastructure plan. but they're exploring different options. they're talking about the possibility of breaking up the package in as many as three bills, and that's according to congresswoman jayapal. >> all right. thanks to you all. jim vandehei, elaina plott. still ahead, the head of homeland security gets grilled by lawmakers about what's going on at the southern border. plus, the first high-level meeting between u.s. and chinese officials will take place in alaska today. we'll talk about what's at stake ahead with those talks. but first, let's go to bill karins with a check on the severe weather that swept across the country. bill? >> good morning to you, mika. yesterday could have been so much worse. it was bad, but the set-up could have been horrific. we had 23 tornadoes reported, all the red dots, mostly in mississippi and portions of alabama. and we had areas that were hit, only a couple of injuries, no fatalities, and we haven't really seen pictures of whole towns taken out. this billingsby, alabama, tornado was one of the stronger ones. look at this suv. that's the front of the car. the hood was ripped open and one of the doors was almost ripped off the car. a lot of people did get to shelters. there'll be of cleanup today and we're not done yet. we have one tornado watch and one tornado warning around dothan, alabama. these storms will roll through panama city. and this afternoon, this line of storms is going to reintensify, and we think the carolinas have the best chance of seeing additional severe weather. 26 million people at risk. from all of our friends from savannah to charleston to augusta, georgia, to columbia to myrtle beach, wilmington, fayetteville, through areas of eastern north carolina. you're the area of greatest concern. nor anyone traveling today in the northeast, a lot of heavy rain. watch for significant airport and travel delay from washington, d.c., philadelphia, new york city, and boston. we could see as much as 2 inches of rain in and around new york city. so, again we'll continue to watch our severe weather outbreak on day two today. yesterday, somehow, maybe the luck of the irish, we made it through it unscathed. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. watching "" we'll be right back. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? 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introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notifications and a week of uninterrupted recording. all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determination. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. the u.s. will not outcompete china with short-term legislation and never-ending uncertainty. that's another great argument, but not trashing the legislative filibuster. imagine if every action the senate takes with national security implications were constantly subject to being wiped clean. while china plans years and decades at a time, our federal legislation would reduce to a shelf life of a couple of years. >> that was senate minority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday, making his case for the filibuster and bipartisan legislation to curb china's growth. it comes as tensions are riding high ahead of the biden administration's first face-to-face meeting with senior chinese officials today in alaska. joining us now, president of the council on foreign relations and author of the book "the world: a brief introduction," richard haass. and former ambassador to sweden under president obama, mark brzezinski. he served on the national security council staff under president clinton as director of russia and eurasian affairs. good morning to you both. >> richard, what should the u.s. expect to come out of this meeting? what should we expect to get out of this meeting? >> not a lot. on the one hand, this is the most important relationship of this era, but it's deteriorating at a fairly significant base. and each side seems prepared to stake out a fairly maximal positions. indeed, they can't even agree that this is a strategic dialogue. the two sides can't even agree whether this is a one-off or there's going to be follow-up meetings. it takes place in the context of profound differences. the u.s. is obviously unhappy with what's going on in hong kong. with what we call a genocide against the uighurs. unhappy with the continued expanding role of the government and the chinese economy. unhappy with muscular chinese foreign policy against taiwan in the south china sea. china, meanwhile, is unhappy with all of our criticisms and our sanctions. the real question is whether we can build a floor under this relationship, begin to have a much better understanding about what each side can live with, and begin also to see, and this is optimistic, whether we can carve out at least some limited areas of potential cooperation. say on dealing with north korea or climate change or global health. >> mark, you told us before that you'd quoted henry kissinger who said, we are in the foothills of the cold war. are we moving toward a cold war? are we actually in a cold war? and if you could explain to our viewers how this relationship with china, even if we are in the so-called foothills of a cold war, is far different than our showdowns with the soviet union post world war ii. >> well, thank you, joe and mika for having me. no question with the arrival of president biden, the demonizing rhetoric from the american side has diminished. but i'm in the sure we're at the problem solving stage yet. this is what's so exciting about today's meeting in alaska. two leading minds of democratic foreign policy, tony blinken, secretary of state, and national security, jake sullivan, really represent generational change. young guys in their 40s and 50s, sitting down with chinese counterparts, as richard said, the most important geopolitical relationship the u.s. has. and on the one hand, chinese/u.s. relations are at the lowest point ever in the modern era. on the other hand, the u.s. and china need each other. we need each other to be able to solve climate change, to stabilize the global economy, even to solve corona. so the question will be, will the outcome of today's meeting provide opportunities after probing each side -- each side probing, are there areas that we can work together while at the same time agreeing to disagree on key things, as well? >> sounds like there's a lot at stake. want to move to russia now. russia recalled its ambassador to the u.s. amid rising tensions between the two countries. the foreign ministry made the announcement yesterday without providing a reason why. but the move came after this answer from president biden. when asked about the intelligence report that said russia, again, interfered in the 2020 election. >> vladimir putin authorized operations during the election to denigrate you, support president trump, undermine our elections, divide our society. what price must he pay? >> he will pay a price. we had a long talk, he and i. i know him relatively well. and the conversation started off, i said, i know you and you know me. if i establish this occurred, then be prepared. >> you said you know he doesn't have a soul. >> i did say that to him, yes. and his response was, we understand with him. i wasn't being a wise guy. i was alone with him in his office. that's how it came about. it was when president bush said, i have looked into his eyes and saw his soul. i looked in his eyes and i said, i don't think you have a soul. and he said, i think we understand each other. the most important thing dealing with foreign leaders in my experience is just know the other guy. >> so you know vladimir putin. you think he's a killer? >> mm-hmm. i do. >> so, mark, as mr. ambassador yourself, recalling an ambassador, what's the message that's being sent there? and what do you make of the president's pretty clear description of his relationship with vladimir putin? >> well, mika, in diplomacy, there's no stronger message that can be sent than a leader of a country pulling back their personal representative to another country. and that's what russia has done here. and i think, i love what president biden did with president putin. he spoke truth directly to the eyes of this former kgb officer and said clearly, i understand you. that is the benefit to the american people of having a president who has been in the foreign affairs game for decades and decades. and i think it also -- that kind of show of strength will be resonating among the russian people, as well. it's important to remember that the human rights leader, alexei navalny, has been put, basically, into the -- into what was the former soviet gulag in the farthest reaches of the russian prison system. and many opposition leaders turned out to be successful democratic revolutionaries after they were put in jail. and i think this is part and parcel of a message to putin, be careful how you act going forward. >> richard haas, the associated press's jonathan lamir has looked into your eyes and seen your soul and he's going to tell you what he saw right now. jonathan? >> unfortunately, i saw the soul of a yankee fan, so sort of the same with putin. let's talk, richard, about, indeed -- >> ouch! >> -- let's talk about president biden's rather strong rhetoric about his russian counterpart. certainly a marked break from what president trump used to -- how he used to refer to vladimir putin. what sort of message does it send? but more than that, biden said yesterday in that interview, and of course, there are moments we have to work with russia and he highlighted the new start nuclear deal. what next has to happen, though? what is the next step of that relationship to be productive? in other words, what also is holding president biden back at this point from even tougher rhetoric from perhaps tougher measures against russia? >> it's a good question, jonathan. particularly for a red sox fan. on the upside, there's not an awful lot. possibly something on north korea. possibly something on iran. with russia, though, unlike china, it's more simply the avoidance of negatives. we've nailed down the single most important thing, which is the nuclear arms agreement. one question is if you can expand what it covers over time. but really what you want to do is limit what russia does in europe, what they're doing in ukraine, what they're doing in georgia. you don't want them to challenge nato countries directly. we want to limit their brazen new support in syria. and in a funny sort of way with russia, you've got a freer hand than you have with china. russia is not a great power in terms of economic reach. it's got one ninth, one-tenth the population of china. it's a more limited challenge. so with russia, we actually have a freer hand. we're not as involved with them around the world. but again, what's so interesting to me, here, as with china, there's real limits to our influence on the human rights and political question. both countries are pushing back against us. we're talking about it more. but whether we actually bring about results in either china or russia, i think is a real long shot. >> richard haas and mark brzezinski, thank you both for coming on the show this morning. we really appreciate it. a lot going on. coming up, congress will hold a hearing today on hate crimes against asian americans during the pandemic, something the white house says has been fueled by previous administration. we'll talk to one of the lawmakers who will be testifying today. "morning joe" is coming right back. today. 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your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee... yeah i should've just led with that... with at&t business... you can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need. i think there's no question that some of the damaging rhetoric that we saw during the prior administration, blaming, you know, calling covid, you know, the wuhan virus or other things, led to, you know, perceptions of the asian american community that are inaccurate, unfair, have raised, you know, threatening -- has evaluated threats against asian americans. and we're seeing that around the country. >> that is white house press secretary jen psaki, arguing that former president trump's rhetoric has played a role in the increased violence seen against the asian american community over the last year. in just a few hours, the house judiciary committee will hold a hearing on that rise in hate incidents against asian americans and pacific islanders. several members of congress will speak at the hearing, including our next guest, chair of the congressional asian pacific american caucus, democratic congresswoman, judy chu of california. also joining us, nbc news correspondent, joling kent. jo, you've been reporting on this at some length and some depth. let's pause for a moment and look back at the last year and talk about in a statistical way, how bad this problem is right now. >> hey, willie. good morning. you know, although we don't know the motive, investigators say it's too early to tell. you can say that the pain in the asian american community nationwide right now is being felt because of the data. and everything that we're seeing play out on the streets across america. and if you take a look, nearly 3,800 incidents of aaip hate and harassment incidents have been reported since march 19th. and if you look at who is being affected, this is where it hits home for so many of us. nearly 70% of all reported incidents are being reported by women. that's more than twice as many as men who are reporting these incidents. and certainly doesn't even take into account all of the people who are not reporting, right? and as you dig a little further into the data from stop aaip hate, you also see that a lot of this is happening, about 35% of the time, happening at businesses. so when you look at this full picture, you can see why there's so much stress and anxiety about this shall, even though there hasn't been a direct causal link determined officially yet. and we also know that so many women, asian american women in particular, are facing this stress, because there's a long history of misogyny and sexism and racialized sexism in these instances here, willie. >> congresswoman, we've seen incidents here in new york city, i know you see them in california all too often of people, many of them elderly, asian americans, being sucker punched, things like that, being spit on, being blamed for the coronavirus spreading across the country. what message do you hope to get across at the hearing today? >> well, we want to make sure that the people know that we are condemning these acts of violence and that we have to stand together. our hearts are still broken about the murder of eight people in georgia. eight of them being in these asian spa businesses and six of them being immigrant asian women. but actually, this day was coming. because it's been a whole year of ugly rhetoric by donald trump, who used the word "china virus," "wuhan virus," and "kung flu" to describe covid-19. and we saw a spike recently many places like new york and california, ugly actions against the elderly and the more vulnerable, including an 84-year-old thai man, who was assaulted and murdered in san francisco and a 91-year-old man who was assaulted and pushed to the ground in oakland chinatown and in my own city, a man who was beaten with his own cane and lost part of his finger. we need to bring attention to this so we can stand together to combat anti-asian hate crimes. >> so as you say, the first step is awareness to let people know how serious the problem is. that's what you're doing here. that's what joe is showing us, as well. what is the next step, though? so much of this is based on frankly ignorance and bigotry. what do you do about that problem so we don't see as many victims as we've seen in the last year? >> well, we have been working doubletime on federal solutions. one thing that gave us so much gratification is that president biden, within one week of taking office, issued the executive order for the department of justice to work with the asian american community on solutions. we, in fact, have already met with them and are working towards some steps that could combat hate crimes. we are also urging the passage of the no-hate act, which would vastly improve the hate-crime reporting and the programs that combat it. our hate crime reporting in the united states is very faulty, because our federal government relies on local law enforcement to come forth with those statistics. but local law enforcement varies quite widely as to whether they actually have programs such as this and this act would have to implement that. and then, we are calling on a national day to speak out against hate, on march 26th, so that our nation can show that it wants to stop these anti-asian hate crimes. >> jo, on a practical level, what are you seeing as you cover this story? what are people looking at doing to help stem this terrible tide? >> willie, i've been talking to activists and leaders in the community. and i think one thing that really stands out is that for the first time, a lot of this racism against our community is actually being talked about. and that's a huge first step in acknowledging the problem is putting it out there on the table. and as the congresswoman says, this is now being evaluated to the highest levels of government. you see the vice president talking about it, the president talking about it. but you also see it as a major, very key topic in pop culture. you have some of the biggest athletes and celebrities stepping forward to say, no, this is not okay. and in fact, it's been happening long before just the coronavirus pandemic, since last march. it's been happening for years and for generations. so when you look at what the community is doing, you not only see community support efforts like people escorting elderly asian americans, just to run their daily errands, but you also see very powerful voices saying, we need to do more. and here are some of the steps that need to be taken in order to eliminate this. and also to acknowledge the history of what we know to be extremely painful, extremely biased, extremely racist. and so i think that's also a really important thing to be monitoring as we look at this issue, is how are people talking about it? what kind of language should we be using? and how do we heal as a country and as a community here in the face of such a tragedy? because as the congresswoman said, a lot of people saw this coming. >> and that acknowledgement of the problem is the first step. it's where we are. let's see where we go from here. nbc's joling kent and judy chu will be watching that very closely. coming up on "morning joe," dick durbin and senator raphael warnock of georgia will be our guests. plus, president biden and democrats are actively promoting the covid relief package they passed. va secretary denis mcdonough will join us on how the plan helps veterans specifically. we're back in just 90 seconds. . we're back in just 90 seconds. this week in covid history. it's the second half of march 2020. streets are quiet, except for the sound of drive-by birthday parties, the newest craze, along with ovations for hospital workers. two things we absolutely will never stop doing. say, move over lbgts. there's a new identity in town. cuomo sexual. a new term for andrew cuomo, america's favorite fella. >> release the ventilators to new york. >> this sexy fella won't take no for an answer. down florida way, spring break is springing. >> if i get corona, i get corona. at the end of the day, i'm not going to let it stop me from partying. >> speaking of dumb-dumbs, here's devin nunes. >> it's a great time to go out and go to a local restaurant. luckily you can get in easily. >> back to washington, d.c. where president trump is holding a press conference. >> what do you say to americans right now that are scared. >> i say you're a terrible reporter. that's what i say. >> you tell him. when will things get back to normal? >> easter sunday, you'll have packed churches all over our country. i think it would be a beautiful time. and it's just about the timeline that i think is right. >> by gum, america has never been in safer or smaller hands. this has been this week in covid history. >> you know what -- >> you know -- >> oh, my god. >> it would be funny, willie, if almost 600,000 people hadn't died. you really do forget -- >> how bad -- >> the recklessness. >> god! >> -- and the stupidity that was exhibited a year ago, when you're looking at what donald trump is saying. it's really, just breathtaking how reckless and irresponsible he was. again, here's the most important thing. right after he had told bob woodward on tape that the coronavirus was deadly, that it was five times as deadly as the flu, that it was bad for all people, including younger people, as well, that this thing was airborne, it was contagious, and it was a real killer. so he knew the truth. he just didn't want to tell americans the truth because of the stock market. >> and because it made him look bad. pack the pews for easter. also that moment that we'd forgotten about, frankly, with peter alexander, where he puts the question to him a year ago this week. where he said very simply, there are a lot of people hurting out there right now, what do you say to them? do you think as an easier question right now as a politician to answer, to look into the camera and talk to the country and try to ease some of the pain. and he took that moment to smack down peter for a very simple question. >> oh, my god. >> it spoke to incompetence and his utter lack of empathy for the country where he was president. >> zero. >> unbelievable. >> the ap's jonathan lamir is still with us. and joining the conversation, we have former u.s. senator, now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill. msnbc contributor mike barnicle is with us and national correspondent for pbs "newshour," amna navaz joins us. >> jonathan, one thing we didn't talk about last hour that we really need to circle back to. speaking of lying going on in the trump organization, the lying and politicization of intel was just breathtakingly dangerous. you have bill mar, o'brien and ratcliffe who all lied and said, china is using a massive and sophisticated influence campaign. he knew that was a lie. o'brien knew that was a lie. bar said, oh, i booked at the intelligence and he lied through his teeth. lied -- the attorney general of the united states, going out of his way to lie through his teeth about intel. all for political purposes. all for political purposes. and now we find out this week that not only were they being liars at the time, but you had people in the intel community who were nervous about the fact that they were going to use their work. go out, twist it out of its proper context, and start spreading lies for donald trump's re-election campaign. and that's what the attorney general and the head of the intel community and trump's national security adviser all three did. deeply shameful, deeply dangerous. >> that's right, joe. let's take a step back here. it was during the election where these trump officials you just mentioned all touted the idea that china was trying to interfere with the election. and was trying to hurt president trump's re-election chances. they were grupd in with the efforts by russia and iran also to interfere with the electoral process last year. but now, we have a report from the intelligence community confirming, indeed, russia was trying to meddle with the process and again, favored donald trump, just like it did in 2016. you have vladimir putin in helsinki say on the record, he hoped trump would win, even as he denied the election interference and the president believed him, or at least he says he did. but now we know that china wasn't involved. the china, according to the intelligence community, made a calculated decision that they decided not to interfere, because they thought that the blowback, the risk was too great. that they didn't want to come in. that they were not going to take any efforts. and certainly, they were not trying to hurt president trump's chances. they basically sat this out. and now this means, again, the credibility of the u.s. intelligence organization, the apparatus, those who work for trump, again, deeply damaged and with widespread ramifications going forward, from ratcliffe and o'brien and bill barr. attorney general barr, of course, who some parade for his performance during the transition when he would not back donald trump's baseless claims of election fraud, that he had actually had won the 2020 race. but let's remember, this is far from the first time that barr has shaded material in a favorable light for the president. he was, of course, one of his first acts on the job was taking the mueller report and lifting pieces of it and providing in his letter to the public an incomplete depiction of what mueller found, which of course shaded public perception in a very favorable way for donald trump. this seems to be the latest and maybe last example of a damaging, damaging decision by barr and others in an attempt to help trump, but hurt the credibility of his offices and the government as a whole. >> you're right, he took the mueller report, in the words of william rehnquist, he retched their words from their proper context. he lied in front of the house and the senate, committed perjury. never really figured out why they didn't try to charge him for that. and claire mccaskill, and i do want to circle back to what jonathan said. a lot of people praising bill barr to the end, when you're using that position to purposefully spread lies. and here, barr went out of the d oj into the intel community. he claims to have seen intelligence and lied about it. spread lies about what the intel community had been found along with ratcliffe and o'brien, saying that china was basically trying to do the same thing that russia was doing. we found out that iran was doing it. why did they feel like they had to lie about china? here's bill barr again. bill barr again showing why he's the worst attorney general ever. john mitchell looks like atticus finch compared to bill barr. >> i think there's also a tendency for people to say, well, let's turn the page, it's going to get fixed now. but keep in mind, this report that came out has the seal of a number of agencies on it. it's not just a group of five or six guys or women. we're talking about the cia, the fbi, the dni, the department of homeland security. when you have a consensus across all these agencies from the professionals, it should carry weight. and the damage that barr did and o'brien did and ratcliffe did is they diminished the power of these kinds of reports. because now, there's a whole bunch of americans who say, oh, they're just lying about this for joe biden. this is all just deep state, blah blah blah. and that's what's really damaging about what they did. because this is the gold standard. the people that put this report together, most of them are veterans. many of them active military. they're not political. and what's obvious, if you back up and use common sense, you know why all of these countries wanted donald trump to win? because he wasn't very good at democracy. and they don't like democracies. they don't like human rights. and so when donald trump allowed the frame of the western alliance of democracy. that was just like a birthday present to all of these folks. so of course they wanted donald trump to win. it just kind of dumb to think they didn't. he was bad at democracy. >> very bad at democracy. very hostile towards democratically elected leaders. very engaging and warm with tyrants. and, you know, we can circle back when we talk about the misuse of the intelligence community and the twisting and distorting of the truth from the intelligence community to jonathan lamir's question, of course, to donald trump, on whether he believed his own intel community or an ex-kgb agent, and of course donald trump chose the ex-kgb agent. but here, willie, we've got a bigger problem and it's a timely problem, because you've got united states officials meeting with officials from china. now, we have enough -- we have enough issues to bring up with china. we have enough matters of importance that donald trump glossed over for four years on human rights and a lot of other issues. because he was so focused on the trade deal that never materialized. but you now have china, who's going to bring up the fact that they were lied about by the attorney general. they were lied about to the head of the intel community and lied about by the national security adviser for six months. this is the sort of thing that we accuse countries like china of doing to us. using their government to make up lies about our country now, as they sit across the table, this is something that china can bring up that actually donald trump and everybody that worked for him, including the attorney general of the united states spread malicious lies about him over the past six months. >> and this is what happens when you install loyalists in high positions. when you install william barr, when you have ratcliffe in there and o'brien in there. if you go through and read their comments over the last year, it's astounding. they say definitively, china is weighing in on this election, leaning in to help joe biden, but they've never say what they've seen. they say, it's intelligence we can't get into. you can go through and watch their interviews. it turns out according to this intelligence report that that just wasn't true. the intel agency saying that china actively decided to stay out of this election. but those loyalists wanted a story to tell donald trump. that in the way that russia may have been leaning on the election for donald trump, there was a counterweight and it was china leaning in for joe biden, that was not true. the intelligence committee issued another report yesterday. this one saying violent extremists motivated by racial bias and political grievances pose what they call an evaluated threat to the united states. the report came from the office of the director of national intelligence and echoed testimony offered by fbi director christopher wray earlier this month. it reads, quote, developments such as the anger over conditions related to the coronavirus pandemic and a belief in the debunked narrative that november's presidential election was fraudulent will almost certainly spur additional violence in 2021, the report read. it also stressed lone offenders are more likely to carry out violent attacks than organizations. they pose, quote, significant detection and disruption challenges because of their capacity for independent radicalization to violence, ability to mobilize discreetly, and access to firearms. attorney general merrick garland has pledged that combats domestic terrorism will be the top priority of the justice department. so this goes right in line with what director christopher wray has been saying not just since last month, but over the last year that domestic terrorism has become up with of the central focuses of law enforcement in this country. >> that's absolutely right, willie. and this is something we've seen as a trend just growing and growing for years, that the previous administration was really cautious and hesitant about acknowledging publicly and forcefully in any way. but those highlights from that unclassified report you just pointed out really do paint a picture of where we are today in terms of the threat. the threat for americans is domestic. the sort of high-level findings, too, is not just the idea that lone offenders in small cells are more likely to carry out those violent attacks, but also people who are racially or ethnically motivated to carry out violent extremism are more likely to target civilians. and that's what we've been seeing over the last several years, bit by bit, incident by incident, it all paints a picture. this report brings it all together. and this, of course, is of increasing concern and causing terrifying fear of communities of color because they have been living this for the last decade and plus when we've seen the number of these groups and membership of these groups increasing over time. and you look at what's happened with the asian american community over the last year. you know, there were groups that were collecting information, self-reported data on the number of hate incidents and hate attacks and those have been increasing dramatically over or nearly, rather, 4,000 such reported incidents over the last year, really in line with the pandemic. and those are self-reported. that is probably underreported as these incidents often are. and of course, last night's or rather, the night before last's horrific mass shooting in atlanta is again raising fears, causing real fear, palpable fear within these communities. and we don't yet know what the investigation will yield. we know the sheriff has said that the suspect believes that he was not racially motivated and yet, at the same time, what you saw was the vast majority of his victims were women of asian descent. and we talked to people on the ground in georgia, people from asian american communities across the country, that has them really scared. not wanting to go out and run errands and live their lives in the way they should be able to. this is something that needs to be addressed, both by members of congress. we know there's going to be a hearing later today led by members of congress. so it's something that needs to be addressed. has not yet been by our leaders in this country. >> so, mike barnicle, this is yet another area, another actually high price that americans have had to pay for having donald trump in the white house for four years. yes, white supremacists has been a part of this country for some time. racism has. you can talk about 400 years of history if that's your definition of some time. and of course, we had the timothy mcveigh attack in 1996. but, it got significantly worse in recent history when donald trump became elected president of the united states. it was donald trump that you look at charlottesville, it was donald trump who was seen as giving a pass to white supremacists. of course, you'll still have right-wing trumpists on the air, saying, that's a lie. what people say about charlottesville is a lie, and yet you had david duke the next day, saying, this is the reason we voted for and supported donald trump. white supremacists love donald trump, for a reason. you can look at his last debate when he told the proud boys to stand by. you can look at what happened on january the 6th and hear from one trump terrorist after another trump terrorist when they go before the court. what do they? we were follow the order, we were following the instructions of donald trump. we were just doing what donald trump inspired us to do, what donald trump told us to do. and this, well, this is the collateral damage of trumpism and it continues. >> there's no doubt, joe. there is no doubt. i am not a big fan of living in the past. i believe in moving forward. keep that line moving, go forward into the future. but we opened this segment with a clip of the former president speaking. we have been talking about things that have been existent in america for quite some time, but enhanced over the last four years with the presidential seal of approval given to intolerance, to fear, to suspicion, to anger. saying very little about racial strife in this country and the causes of it, never addressing it. of lying about nearly everything you can imagine from the dangers of the virus to the dangers of racial animosity and what it's doing to our country. and in the roof of it is in the former president's four years, in his language and in his behavior. and we're still living it and playing it out. and it affects us every day. now, donald trump didn't pull the trigger many atlanta, but donald trump certainly was responsible for the anger and the fear and the suspicion that exists in great degree in this country, much more so than ever in the past. and he's not to blame for a history of racial strife in this country, but he certainly is to be blamed for enhancing it with his inaction and his cowardice and addressing it. we're talking about rigged elections now. we're still talking about january 6th. all of that is the gift that keeps on giving, presented to us by a man who never, ever should have been president and the stain of his presidency is still in existence today and i fear how long it's going to last. the job that joe biden has is enormous enough, but dealing with the underbelly of all of these causes only adds to the degree of difficulty in the president. >> well, so, claire mccaskill, mike barnicle says that he doesn't like looking to the past. he likes moving forward. i'm the same way, in a lot of ways. but when it comes to what trump has said, when it comes to his terrible legacy, his dangerous legacy, i'm reminded of the faulkner quote that the past is not dead, it's not even the past. we can look at headlines today to see how these lies, this racism, this retrograde thinking is still framing our debate. and you look at polls, a new monmouth poll that came out that showed over two-thirds of republicans believe joe biden stole the election. over two third of republicans believe joe biden stole the election, with absolutely no evidence, with absolutely no proof, despite the fact 64 federal courts with many trump judges ruled that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. and yet, over two-thirds of republicans still believe that lie. you can talk about the pandemic. you can talk about vaccines. you be talk about us reopening small businesses, reopening our country, getting moving again. it's harder to do that, because donald trump's lies. and of course, almost 50% of republicans, almost 50% of men who support donald trump say they're not getting the vaccine again because of all of his conspiracy theories, because of all of his lies. >> well, the only positive of your question and our conversation right now is the number of republicans in america are shrinking. so it is a higher -- a high percentage, a ridiculously high percentage, but of a lower number. and let me throw some other numbers out. joe biden is enjoying an unprecedented favorability rating with the american people, considering what we've been through over the last four years. donald trump would dream to have an approval rating that would approach 60. most of the time, he was dying to see if he could even get to 50. i think there are a couple of outlying polls that maybe got him to 50 a couple of times. joe biden knows that time and doing the right thing is the best way to combat the lies. and doing the right thing means pushing on policies that most americans agree with. this isn't some kind of a left-wing socialist agenda that america was warned of by donald trump. this is meat and potatoes stuff. you know, helping pay for your kid's child care. this is about making sure that you can pay your rent. this is about working on things like minimum wage and gun safety. if donald trump is going to be overcome with all of his lies, it's going to take a president that has the discipline to stay focused on the things that really matter to americans, and then, this problem will take care of itself, because 30, 40, 50% of a minority party is not enough to win national elections and not enough to gain control of congress. >> great conversation. another story we're covering is the situation at the southern border. and amna, you've been following this. what's the latest reporting on that situation? >> well, mika, as we've all seen, it's not good. i had a story out just a couple of days ago, because we know one of the issues that the biden administration is facing is this increase in the number of unaccompanied minors who have been traveling across the u.s. southern border that is taxing the system in ways it is not set up to handle. just a few days ago, i had a chance to review some data from a source that showed us those children are being held in border patrol facilities for much, much longer than they're meant to be held by law. 72 hours is the limit for them to be held there. we found that on one day earlier this week, about 4,000 children were being held by border control facilities, 3,000 had been held for longer than 72 hours and over 300 of them had been held for ten days. now, i have been inside these facilities. everyone can agree, this is no place for children. they're basically cement jails, they're built to handle single adult males for a matter of hours or a day at most. and what you have now is a situation where because of both the policies of the previous administration, which meant there is a massive backup at the border, but also the affect of the pandemic, which effectively shut down the border to all cross-border traffic, the biden administration tried to step in and implement what they called a humane approach saying, we will allow unaccompanied children to come, that is now taxing the system. sources in the government have revealed they have publicly announced a number of plans they're putting into place to rye to accommodate and care for these children as they are meant to do under law. but right now the situation is not good. child welfare experts are very concerned about the situation that children in particular are there. and also the numbers that we're seeing of family units that are increasingly crossing the border, as well. and also being allowed to stay in the u.s. so this is a real problem for the biden administration. they seem to be having a whole of government approach, being thrown at every agency, homeland security, mayorkas has been leading the charge and they are leading with the idea that they can do this humanely, but it's looking very unlikely that any kind of comprehensive immigration reform that would be needed to finally fix these problems will make its way through. but i should also say, a lot of us have been requesting access to get down to those federal facilities to look inside the shelters for children, to look inside the border patrol facilities and we haven't been granted access yet. >> national correspondent for pbs "newshour," amna navaz, thank you so much for being on this morning. still ahead on "morning joe," the white house launches the "help is here" tour to explain to americans specifically how the covid relief bill helps. va secretary denis mcdonough joins us next with the impact on veterans. we'll be right back. ext with thn veterans we'll be right back. is now a good time for a flare-up? enough, crohn's! for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis... stelara® can provide relief and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? back off, uc! stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection... flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you 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history, muscle or nerve conditions and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. 95% of patients may pay as little as zero dollars for botox® so, text to see how you can save. botox is the #1 prescribed branded chronic migraine treatment. so, ask your doctor about botox® today. i learned from the recovery act, you've got to be hands-on and get down to the details. it doesn't really matter. we have, i think, have put together a hell of a team. so -- but we still have to, you know -- it's one thing to have efficiency, and we have to have equity, as well. >> that was president biden last week talking about the road to recovery at a veterans medical center, administering covid-19 vaccines. he was joined there by our next guest. u.s. secretary of veterans affairs, denis mcdonough. great to see you in your new capacity. >> mr. secretary, thanks so much for being here. the va got $17 billion from the covid relief bill. what are you using that $17 billion for? >> good morning, joe and mika, thanks for having me on this morning. the lion's share of that will be going to health care priorities, about $14.5 billion. that will allow us to ensure that more than 9 million enrolled veterans in our care have access to the kind of care that they've come to expect. the excellent care they've come to expect from the va. that will allow us to invest in facility upgrades. obviously, with a pandemic like this, we needed to upgrade our facilities to the zero pressure rooms, improving hvac systems, but we also saw something really interesting during the pandemic, joe, which is that upwards of 20 million appointments had to be changed or delayed and then of course, we see across the health care system, people have themselves chosen to not go in to get routine checkups and things like that. so this additional assistance will allow us to make sure that we cannot only meet the needs today, but also meet the needs that may have been postponed over the course of the last year because of the pandemic. >> several years ago, of course, and i know you're familiar with this, several years ago, there seemed to be one crisis after another, regarding a backlog at the va, especially for medical claims, medical concerns. what is the status of that with you going in and running the va now, where -- where are we as far as backlogs for medical claims, medical needs? >> well, there's two very important things that have resulted from the pandemic, joe. first is a delay in some kinds of exams that are required for our vets to get access to the care or resources or benefits that they need. this bill -- this new law, the arp, gives us $700 million to make sure we bring that backlog down. that's the first thing. that's a backlog from the pandemic on certain kinds of exams. the second thing is, a backlog on benefits claims, which has grown to somewhere around 210,000 cases. this is because personnel are not able to go into offices, for example -- personnel from supporting agencies that help us get documentation to prove cases. we're going to get -- we've got about $250 million in this bill to also bring that backlog down. so, those are two important investments in this bill that will allows to bring the backlogs down. let me just say one thing about the care at the va, joe. we're seeing remarkable uptake on vaccinations. we're seeing continued innovation at va facilities across the country. that's attributed to the va. so these stories of the past, the crises of the past are exactly that. and we're going to stay on top of these issues moving forward, especially with this new funding from the president. >> mr. secretary, it's willie geist, good to have you on the show this morning. as you know, the massive va bureaucracy has frustrated a lot of impressive, competent people who come from the world of business or the world of politics or the world of government and the military. military veterans themselves. so how are you looking at this job. obviously, covid is the problem in front of us right now, but there's homelessness, there's suicide, there's burn pits, there are all kinds of issues that plague our veteran community. how are you approaching the job perhaps differently than some of your predecessors? >> well, you're right. it is a massive -- it's a massive agency. 380,000 personnel. it's got the second-largest budget in the federal government. second only to the department of defense. and the personnel are scattered across the country. and so it makes it a very demanding management challenge. but the first thing i'm doing is getting to know people. that's a little bit difficult, obviously, given the pandemic. we can't be traveling as much as we might otherwise want to be. but we've gotten out to the veterans' medical center here in washington, d.c. with the president, along with the vice president. their presence helps underscore to the agency that this is a major priority of the white house. i'm also working very closely with republicans and democrats on capitol hill. i'll be traveling, starting later this month with republicans and democrats on capitol hill to demonstrate again, this is not a partisan issue, this is a non-partisan national security unifying agenda. and then the third thing is, i'll just make sure that the personnel here hold me to account to the things i've promised them. and in return, i'll hold them to account that we collectively promise capitol hill, promise the president, but most importantly, we promise the veterans. so all of these things, getting to know the personnel, traveling, making sure this is a presidential priority, and taking the politics out of it, willie. all of those things are going to help us ensure that the country sees the excellence of the va and stops focusing on maybe some of these crisis of the past. >> mr. secretary, mike barnicle has a question for you. mike? >> denis, the care at the va that you're talking about has certainly improved vastly over the last few years, but what kind of progress do you think can be made in getting more access, more readily available access to those thousands of veterans who live in rural states and live quite a driving distance from critical va medical care. >> well, this is a big priority. obviously, a big priority of republicans and democrats on capitol hill, too. we had a chair in the ranking member in the senate who hailed from montana and kansas. and we know those are not only big rural states, but states that have a lot of veterans. that's a priority for them. the first answer, mike, is to make sure that we're staffing the va facilities we have. so that's a question of retaining the amazing staff, the medical staff that we have, recruiting new staff. we have new authority from congress. we're going to use those authorities to recruit new additional staff into those rural communities. and then it's a question of, as we use this process that we call care in the community, which allows veterans under certain circumstances to not go into a va facility, but to rather go into a facility in their community to get care, we have to make sure that we're a good partner in community care. that means paying our bills on time. that also means making sure that we maintain a really vibrant network of community providers. supporting them with timely payments, as i said, but also making sure that our vets have access to the kind of expertise there that they've come to expect in the va institutions themselves. so each of those things is going to be really important here, mike, because at the end of the day, our vets, we have a lot of vets in rural and as we call them, highly rural settings. and when we're intentional about that, as we're being right now, with vaccinations and get creative and innovative on how we deliver that kind of care, i'm confident that we can meet the needs there. >> va secretary denis mcdonough, thank you very much for being on this morning. great to see you. coming up, a lot to discuss with our next guest, senator raphael warnock's election, as georgia's first black u.s. senator helped give democrats the senate majority. now he's blasting a wave of new republican efforts to suppress the vote. we'll ask him about that and the murder spree in his home state yesterday. 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>> it is almost impossible to overstate how important this really is. we are at an inflection point. this is a moral moment in america, a defining moment in our history. voting rights is not just one issue alongside other issues. it is about who we say we are. it is about our covenant with one another as an american people. and so we've got to get onboard. i know there's a big debate about the filibuster. i'm sure we're going to have to have that debate. but my argument is that voting rights is bigger than the filibuster and we must pass voting rights, whether we get rid of the filibuster or not. >> mr. senator, it's willie geist. great to have you on the show this morning. i do want to ask you about how you get this through. you mentioned the potential for limiting the filibuster. your colleague on the house side, james clyburn, has said on questions of civil rights, we need to get this through, however we do it. even if that means putting aside some of the historic rules of the senate and pushing the filibuster away. do you agree that an elimination of the filibuster is needed to get this through? >> i think that when it comes to voting rights, all options have to be on the table. we've seen carveouts before, with respect to the courts. so what could be more important than making sure that the voices of the american people are not squeezed out of their own democracy? and so, look, we should have 100 votes in the senate, for voting rights. it used to be a bipartisan issue. the last time we reauthorized the 1965 voting rights act, george w. bush was president and it passed the same senate 98-0. what changed? and so what i hope to do is to appeal to the conscience of all of my colleagues. both democrats and republicans. i believe in democracy. ronald neeber was right. humankinds inclination for justice makes democracy possible. our inclination for injustice makes democracy necessary. we have to preserve the republic. there are politicians that are trying to win at any cost, even the cost of the democracy itself. we have to stand up in this defining moment and say that this is who we are as an american people. we believe in the democratic process. and i say that knowing that there will be moments when thiss side or that side will win or lose. but we have to cast our lots with the people, did republic belongs to the people and not to the politicians. >> senator claire mccaskill has a question for you. claire. >> good morning, senator. i can't tell you how wonderful it is to see you on the floor of the senate giving a powerful speech about voting rights. you're not from a bright blue state. and i want to pose to you the question how do we knit together the people who come from states like yours and those are some republicans, too. we've got pat tombmy in a state that joe biden won. we have ron johnson in a state that joe biden won. how do we bring together those of thaw are not from bright blue or bright red place toes actually move the needle in a way that creates lasting change sntd instead of having a situation where it goes back and forth based on who has 50? have you had an opportunity to sit down and talk with other senators that are from states like yours about a way forward that doesn't leave people of moderate states behind? >> well, here is the thing, claire. we have got to give ourselves over to something larger than ourselves. i think that what we are dealing with right now is the ambition of politicians. i mean, look at the american people. when it comes to this covid-19 relief package that we just passed, there is bipartisan support for the package, but that's not reflected in the vote that we just saw two weeks ago. it's not reflected here in this capital. there is a disconnection between where the american people are and what is happening in washington right now. if we let them crush our voting rights, if we let them move forward with this partisan and racial gerrymandering that we will see increasingly if we don't pass federal legislation, we're going to find an increasing disconnect between where the people are and what happens in this house. so i think in a real sengs, we have to stand up and says our democracy. the other side keeps pushing these voter suppression tactics and gerrymandering of districts in such a way, we're going to see them draw themselves into a kinds of increasing irrationality extremism and irrelevance. we have to save the democracy and we have to save our republican sisters and brothers from themselves. >> mike barnacle is with us, senator, and he has a question for you. mike. >> senator, speaking of your republican colleagues, we realize that you've been in the senate a little less than three months. but if you've had the opportunity to talk to any of your republican colleagues, and perhaps make some beginnings of a friendship with some of your republican colleagues, do you have any sense of why they fear the changing demographics of this country, the changing face of this country seemingly much more so than they fear iran or china or russia? they fear their own people. >> well, you know, i'm a pastor. it's in my instinct to reach out to folks. and, yes, i've had some good conversations and i feel like we're building some good friendships and relationships with some and hopefully out of that will come the possibility of some unlikely alliances. and so i will continue to reach out. but, i mean, you're exactly right. what is this fear of the people? look what we're doing in georgia. we are seeing these long lines in georgia as people turn out in record numbers to vote. they're trying to pass legislation that will make the lines even longer as they make it difficult for people to vote early, to vote by mail. and then they're trying to make it a crime to bring people water who are standing in lines that they're making longer. we know what is going on here. they are trying to take control of the democracy so that there's this disconnect and it doesn't matter whether they have the majority or not. it's anti-american. it's anti-democratic. and there ought to be bipartisan commitment to what is fundamental to who we say we are as an american people. one person, one vote. >> senator warnock, before you go, i'd have to ask you about the horrific situation in your state, the murder sprees at the three separate spas, the murders of asian women. what do you make so far of what the captured suspect has told investigators about what was his motive and overall what is the latest in that situation? >> well, it's heartbreaking. and my heart goes out to all of these families. and we ought to be praying for them with our lips, but also with our actions. we need a kind of active peace that stops these kinds of things as much as we can from happening in the first place. we will hear, i guess, you know, his explanation in the days lady, but we know hate when we see its. we'll get into the nuances of it, but only hate drives you to take 8 precious lives in the way that he did. and i'm more interested in hearing the stories of the victims. that's really what we ought to be amplifying, their humanity so that we can think about what we must do as a society to create what dr. king called the beloved community. >> senator rafael warnock, thank you very much. >> thank you. still ahead, our next guest says the filibuster is being used as a weapon of mass obstruction. senator dick durbin joins the conversation. "morning joe" will be right back. conversation "morning joe" will be right back i was honored on a few occasions to stand with my hero and my parishioner, john lewis. i was his pastor. but i'm clear, he was my mentor. on more than one occasion, we boarded buses together after sunday church services as part of our souls to the polls program encouraging the ebenezer church family and communities of faith to participate in the democratic process. now just a few months after congressman lewis's death, there are those in the georgia legislature, some who even dared to praise his name, that are now trying to get rid of sunday souls to the polls, making it a crime for people who pray together to get on a bus together in order to vote together. i think that's wrong. as a matter of fact, i think that a vote is a kind of prayer. for the kind of world we desire for ourselves and for our children. 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>> we know that at the root of it is deep seeded unconscious bias internalized, systemic racism and white supremacy. >> and for the families of those killed, the pain runs deep. among the eight victims, paul michaels. his brother, john, says he is work to go forgive. >> i'd like the world to know that my brother is a very hard working, loving husband, a good brother, a man that would do anything for someone if they needed it. >> that was nbc's blain alexander reporting. let's turn to politics mow. senator majority leader chuck schumer announced the democrats' plan to pass a comprehensive voting reform bill called the for the people act. >> we will put the bill on the floor. we will see if our republican friends join us. if they don't join us, our caucus will come together and decide the appropriate action to take. everything is on the table. failure is not an option. >> the house passed its version of the bill earlier this month with every republican voting against it. democratic senator rafael warnock of georgia used his first floor speech to address the restrictive voting laws pushed by republicans in the wake of his senate runoff win. here is part of his comments. >> we are witnessing right now a massive and una-barbed assault on voting rights unlike anything we have seen since the jim crow era. this is jim crow in new clothes. within 24 hours, we elected georgia's first avenue can american jewish senator and hours later, the capitol was assaulted. it is a contra decision to say we must protect minority rights in the senate while refusing to protect minority rights in the society. we must find a way to pass voting rights whether we get rid of the filibuster or not. >> senator warnock received a standing ovation when he finished his press. let's bring in jonathan lamere, elena plot, co-founder and ceo of axy yoes jim van da high and coauthor of the playbook, eugene daniels. he's also an msnbc contributor. good to have you all on this morning. jim vandehei, because we've been around capitol hill, i was around 25 years ago on capitol hill, we saw legislation passing regularly then, but look at the last six years of the obama administration and donald trump's four years. really, the only significant piece of legislation that passed over that decade real big piece of legislation was trump's tax cut that helped a lot of billionaires. is it possible to get legislation through this senate or any senate these days without some major restructuring of the filibuster? >> i don't think it is unless one of the parties has some kind of dynamic election result and ends up with 60 plus votes in the senate. ever since we moved to this period of politics, you don't have moderates in either party. you have a couple, but not nearly as many as when you were in congress and i was covering congress. they're gone. so now the parties are so polarized and unified that it almost requires only having a 50 seat threshold if you want to get things done unless you have a super majority. that's really the question that is facing democrats. like it's staring them right in the face. they know they can get this legislation on voting rights passed. they can get infrastructure done. they can get big chunks of the green new deal done if they get rid of the filibuster. it's still a big if, but they could. they could re-engineer government in this country in the image that their base would love to have it re-engineered to comport with if this make that decision. the thing that sits in the back of their mind goes to your question, which is, okay, but if you keep flipping control, and we've had republicans in full control, then democrats, republicans, and then democrats. what happens when you don't have power? does all the stuff get reversed or they do unto us as we do unto them? i think we're going to know relatively soon. i think this is going to come to a head. if you look at the language that you heard in that floor speech, elizabeth warren told us the filibuster -- there will be a lot of pressure on joe manchion to say let's get writ of the filibuster and do what the people want us to do. we'll see. >> the filibuster wasn't around at the beginning of the republic, so it's not like it's attached to the constitution. but, jim, the choice is do you want elections -- and at this point, again, i have always been a champion of the filibuster. i didn't like when harry reed got rid of it for federal judges, i didn't like it when mitch mcconnell got rid of it for supreme court judges. but nothing is getting done in washington. when mitch mcconnell yesterday said well, okay, if democrats do that when republicans get elected, we're going to pass all of our priorities. we're going to toughen the border, we're going to pass gun laws. and i thought, okay, great, let's do that because that would mean elections have consequences. right now, elections do not have consequences because, as you said, there is no middle left in the senate. and everybody is just blindly voting the way their party wants them to vote. and a great example of that, i was hoping would have this more moderate center that could get significant legislation done at the beginning because there are moderates out there, conservative/moderates. but you look at a bill that had 76% approval rating with the american people, had 56% approval rating with the republicans, not a single republican voted for that piece of legislation. not one. and they can't say that it spent too much money after their shameful record on deficits and debts and the size of budgets over the last four years. so nothing is going to get done. elections are not going to have consequences if they don't do something significantly. so what does that look like, jim? >> i think what it would look like, they would have to be able to persuade joe manchon and other democrats to go along with getting rid of the filibuster and do exactly what you just said. as you said, there's nothing in the institute about it. it's a senate tradition and that's how most senate rules become constructed. democrats are going to sit there and ask themselves, how can mitch mcconnell write in the "wall street journal" today that he's going on basically blow up the senate if they do anything on the filibuster when mitch mcconnell himself used the filibuster to make sure that the supreme court in one of the most powerful institutions in the world looks the way it does today because he was able to block a supreme court nominee? and they're going to say, why don't we use that same power to get things done that we want to get done? and it's the only way they're going to get these big things done. all this nonsense about oh, there's so much bystart sanship around infrastructure. there is in theory, but not in practice. once you talk about the specific components, you're going to lose most if not all of the republican party. if they want to get things done on infrastructure, you're going to have to get rid of the filibuster and that's what the vast majority of democrats will have to do. i think the pressure is so intense and the stakes are so high when you look at what's happening in the states with voting rights, i think they're going to do it. still ahead, how democrats are responding to mitch mcconnell's threats over the filibuster. we'll dig into that. but first, let's go to bill karins for the check on the tornado threat across the country. bill. >> mika, we're not done yesterday. we had 24 tornados in the last 24 hours. we're going to focus on the carolinas and we're getting new pictures in from an overnight tornado in alabama. this is the billingsley area. it looks like there was significant damage through those vehicles and through the farmland there. no reports of any fatalities with that tornado or any other other 23 that we had yesterday. you can see some significant damage and we have had some injuries with these tornados. what are we dealing with now? we have one area of concern in the florida panhandle. we have a new tornado watch that's been issued in areas from makin, georgia, all the way through tallahassee with these line of storms. the danger is still out there. later this afternoon, this line of storms rolls all the way up through the carolinas. that area in yellow is a slight risk. the next higher category is enhanced risk in the orange. there's an area of red in there called a moderate risk. that's why we expect the greatest coverage of severe weather today. that does include wilmington and myrtle beach. and a closer look at the area of greatest concern in original there, augusta, columbia, raleigh, and myrtle beach. the other story, heavy rain will be moving in in the northeast. haven't had a significant rain event in new york city in over three weeks. about 2 inches of rain is expected this afternoon and this evening. with a lot of people heading back to the airport, we do expect some pretty significant airport delays. we'll continue to monitor the tornados and everything else here on msnbc throughout the day. rain already in washington, d.c. it will be an umbrella day on the way home, also. brella day o the way home, also ♪ ♪ this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage and clear skin in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. ask your rheumatologist about humira. go to humira.com to see proof in action. if you can't afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. is now a good time for a flare-up? 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introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notifications and a week of uninterrupted recording. all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determination. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. nobody serving in this chamber can even begin -- can even begin to imagine what a completely scorched earth senate would look like. this is an institution that requires unanimous consent to turn the lights on before noon. everybody the republican senate did to president obama would be child's play compared to the disaster that democrats would create for their own priorities if -- if they break the senate. >> that was the threat from mitch mcconnell this week, if you go this way, we'll go that way, as well. democrats may say we're up for that. people like jim clyburn saying civil rights legislation, this hr-1 has to get through so get rid of the filibuster if we can. where does that leave us? >> i think one of the most consistent themes we've heard from republican voters over the past four years is contrary to everything we've seen mitch mcconnell do on the senate floor is republicans consistently tell me that they don't believe their party fights in the way that democrats do, that they're not unified in the way that, say, harry reed was able to keep democrats unified. and to that, about donald trump himself was encouraging mitch mcconnell to eliminate the filibuster, i talked to a lot of republican voters across the country who were in favor of that. which is to say i think senator mcconnell is talking to a sh rinking number of republicans who say the value in the filibuster. as you all were pointing out, this really is a 50/50 country and i think republicans, however agitated they might be with the elimination of the filibuster now, they're ready for 2022 to get power because because all of the things that leader mcconnell is threatening to pass in the event of the filibuster elimination, republicans have been wanting for the past four years. which is to say i don't think this would be the last resort that some senators are making it out to be. >>. >> yeah. senators would actually want this. republican senators. when they hear mitch mcconnell say if we get rid of the filibuster, watch out, we're going to be able to pass tough legislation on border security, we're going to be able to pass tough legislation on carry permits and making things reciprocal. i would think most senate republicans would say, well, good, let's do that and we can actually pass legislation and campaign every two years or every six years on what we got done instead of what the president signed on an executive order. >> well, the thing is, joe, even if senate republicans are not saying that, their voters will be saying that. as i said, i can't tell you how many republican voters i've spoken to in the past four years alone who believe their party is never up to the challenge when it comes to legislation, that senate republicans like mitch mcconnell play to the base and stoke the anxiety of the base to get into office to achieve power and do next to nothing. so, again, it's not democratic voters who are going to be calling their senators in the next few years, hoping for a reform of this measure of some sort. it's going to be the right, as well. and senate republicans are going to have to have a plan on how to respond to that pressure. coming up, how all of this plays into voting rights. congressman jim clyburn has some thoughts on that and we'll hear from him straight ahead. "morning joe" is back in a moment. joe" is back in a moment ♪ over 10 years ago, we made a promise to redefine everything a truck can be. ♪ and while we've made good on that promise by winning back to back to back motor trend truck of the year awards, the work is never done. ♪ if you smell gas, you're too close. leave the structure, call 911, keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. house majority whip congressman jim clyburn called out the moderate democrats who are seen as protecting the filibuster. in an interview with politico, clyburn said we have 50 democrats. warnock and osoff are two. they all got us to 50. so this whole notion that we have to do what manchon says, warnock is up in two years for re-election. eugene daniels, your thought? >> that's the thing that i continue to hear from voting rights advocates. over the last two years, they started to talk about this more as an issue of making sure black and brown people have the right to vote, the issue of the filibuster. black people got joe biden into office. he has talked about that. he has talked about owing them. they are the reason black voters are the reason that there is a 50 vote with the vice president of 51 tiebreaker in the sneets senate for democrats. so what i continue to hear is you either protect the filibuster, you protect this arcane rule, like joe said, voters don't really care about it. or you get voting rights passed hr-1, hr-4, another one, which is the john lewis voting rights act that's coming down the pike. you either protect the rights of black and brown voters in this country, and that is what they are telling and that's the pressure that senate democrats, include joe manchon are going to continue to get. at some point, they're going to have to make that decision, especially as we start to see and i assume that chuck schumer is going to start throwing a lot of things on the floor and see republicans obstruct. see republicans actual filibuster and then they can point to that evidence and say, you know, this is why we have to get rid of this because they are showing that they don't want to, like joe said, govern. >> and what a sharp contrast. you look at how dynamic the united states of america has been over the past 20 years. you look at the i.t. revolution. you look at everything that has been happening. and then you contrast that with what washington has looked like for the past 20 years. and it's just -- it has -- jonathan lamere, i know joe biden is a traditionalist. but this ain't 1974. this isn't even 1994 or 2004. if joe biden, the president, wants to get anything done, if republicans that are in the senate want to get anything done when they're in the majority, they're going to -- they're going to have to do something dramatic to make sure that 50 plus one wins the day in the united states senate. and, yes, that's for republicans as well as democrats. that is for conservatives as well as liberals. it's just not working again when over the past decade the only major piece of legislation to pass through the house and the senate and get signed by your president was donald trump's tax cuts for billionaires. so where is biden on this? where does he move? is it -- is he going to call joe manchon in at some point and kristin cinema and ask if they can help get this job done so they can actually pass legislation over the next few years? >> there's an extraordinary amount of pressure on joe biden to see something big, joe. we have seen him. we know joe biden. he was in the senate for nearly four decades. he's an institutionalist. he believes in traditions of the body. and certainly he has said himself and aids around him said it is his preference in a perfect world to keep the filibuster intact. but there's a recognition that that is not going to be the case. there's been an intensive lobbying campaign from democratic organizers, from lawmakers on the hill to west wing aides, chief of staff ron clain in particular to move staff on this. we heard the suggestion of the talking filibuster which probably doesn't go far enough, but it's the first time where he has shown some willingness to move on the issue. he has, indeed, his aids know this, momentum after passing that covid massive covid relief bill, momentum he is trying to further by hitting the road as the show opened today, noting. but that momentum won't go anywhere if they can't pass more legislation. and they can -- as much as they can paint the republicans as the opposition of progress, whether it be about voting rights or about a tax increases on the wealthy, that is not going to fly with a lot of democrats. a lot of democrats, particularly those who helped put joe abide nn office. the president and the vice president will be in georgia tomorrow to promote the covid relief bill, sure, but also as a thank you to the voters who helped deliver the senate to democrats because of those two runoffs. certainly voting rights act legislation is going to be discussed. but that can only happen if things change in the senate. the pressure is building. biden is not willing to move yet, but aides suggest that down the road he may be. coming up, senate majority whip dick durbin is standing by. the illinois democrat joins us next on "morning joe." linois des next on "morning joe." hi sabrina! >>hi jen! so this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin? 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not until i'm sure. why don't you call td ameritrade for a strategy gut check? what's that? you run it by an expert, you talk about the risk and potential profit and loss. could've used that before i hired my interior decorator. voila! maybe a couple throw pillows would help. get a strategy gut check from our trade desk. ♪♪ 35 past the hour. time now for business before the bell. with cnbc's dominic chu. dom, the first wave of stimulus payments from the covid relief package have gone out. what are we hearing? >> well, i did see three cars there, mika, to joe's point. but, anyway, new york city is getting back into full swing. 90 million americans, that's the number of people who have seen their economic impact payments, aka stimulus checks deposited into their accounts. the irs says that those 90 million deposited payments total around $242 billion. most of those are going through direct deposits to peoples bank accounts. another 150,000 checks and prepaid debit cards were actually mailed out, worth around $442 million. so the irs will continue to disburse payments, mail checks for prepaid debit cards, that kind of thing. but if you are a taxpayer and you are interested in learning the status of your payment, go to irs website and click on the link that says my payment. and sticking with those personal finances and the irs, it has extended the deadline for filing your taxes this year until may 17th. and anyone who has filed taxes knows that the data is usually on or around april 15th. irs commissioner chuck reddick says the tax collecting arm of the treasury department wants to do everything possible to help taxpayers navigate the unusual circumstances tied to the pandemic. but the caveat here is big. this is for federal taxes. you still need to check with what your individual state's filing deadlines are. they may not have changed. and here is one that's interesting, guys. there's a lot of focus these days on climate change, the popularity in electric vehicles. while that evolution of automakers towards making evs is one of the reasons why the international energy agency thinks we may have reached peak gasoline. demand for gasoline may not recover to prepandemic levels, citing things like changing work patterns, new paradigms, hybrid home office models but willy, also because the cars that do have internal combustion engines that use gasoline are much more fuel efficient these days than in years past. back over to you guys. >> dom chu with the business report and the midtown traffic report at the top. thank you so much. questions on the house homeland security issue. at issue, the biden administration's handling of the surge of migrants at the southern border. >> we are just saying don't come now. that is not a message of deterrent. the trump administration, in my judgment, did a masterful job in negotiating the remain in mexico policy and the asylum cooperative agreements with central america. this administration has created this crisis by reisn'ting these agreements. >> i will share with you how i define a crisis. a crisis is when a nation is willing to rip a 9-year-old child out of the hands of his other her parent and separate that family to deter future migration. that, to me, is a humanitarian crisis. and what the president has committed to and what i am committed to and execute is to ensure that we have an immigration system that works and that migration to our country is safe, orderly, and humane. >> let's bring in now the chairman of the judiciary committee, democratic majority whip senator dick durban of illinois. good morning. it's good to see you. is there a crisis at the border right now? >> there's a challenge and it's not to be underestimated. we've got to deal with it and deal with it directly. the word is out in central america. there's a new administration and it's being tested. secondly, we have exploitation of some of the poorest people in our hemisphere by smugglers and others are telling them stories about what is going to happen when they finally reach the border, if they'll pay large sums of money to get there. and we are trying to bring some order to this chaotic situation. i agree completely with secretary myorkis. we do not want to return to the zero tolerance policies of the trump administration where children, infants and toddlers were forcibly removed from their parents. that is unacceptable. we have to have a humane, sensible and orderly approach. >> there's no question that the perception is out there because our teams are on the ground interviewing migrant aes they come that it's going to be easier now to get into the united states and to stay in the united states once you're here, a pathway to citizenship, perhaps, awaits them. so what should the biden administration be doing today or perhaps be doing differently to deter that? >> they're using title 42 and basically saying to any adults coming across the border, be prepared to be returned to the other side of the border. children, we're doing our best to treat them humanely in an orderly fashion and that has created some strains on the system because of the numbers. but at the end of the day, we're going to need an orderly process at the border and the american people want it and we're going to deliver it. >> senator, we don't want to return to the policies of the trump administration, as you said, that deliberately separated children and toddlers from their mothers and fathers. as a deterrent. they voted on it in october. it's just grotesque and inhumane. but how do we get back to -- let's say do we look at what barack obama's administration did? because when he left office, the illegal border crossings, crossing the mexican border were at a 50-year low. it seems we can do this and we can be humane about how we do this. how do we get back to those sort of numbers? first it was a dramatic backlog. we need more immigration judges. we need to resolve this cases in a much faster fashion than we currently are today. and i think judges are needed. secondly, we should make it clear that those who want to apply for asylum basically should do it in their home countries, not come to the border of the united states and create this awful situation. we need to work with the central american countries and with mexico to get that done. >> you know, there are a lot of people like myself who have always looked at the senate with good admiration and have seen it, really, as the world's most important, most deliberative body. i've always believed in the filibuster. hot heads like myself, when i served in the house of representatives. we've reached a point, though, where legislation over the past decade, we've passed very few significant pieces of legislation over the past decade. we've gotten to a point where elections don't really have consequences other than presidential executive orders that are signed and supreme court justices that are appointed. how do we move towards making the senate actually a legislative body again without blowing the entire system up? >> joe, take a look at what we've done in the senate so far this year. an impeachment trial, a reconciliation bill and nominations, period, end of story. those three things, none of them are affected by the filibuster rule. the filibuster has a stranglehold of the united states senate. it used to be rare. i can remember the day when i came to the senate, it was rarely used. there was always the prospect out there, but rarely applied. now it is commonplace. whenever you're thinking about bringing a bill to the floor, the first question is can i find a super majority to support this bill? 60 votes. because if i can't, any member can phone in a filibuster, stop the proceedings on the floor and take the weekend off at home. that is unacceptable. i have got to do something to put life back into the senate. >> would actually making people get on the floor and talk, having people actually -- having to sit in the chamber, some of the reforms that joe manchon and others are talking about, would returning back to a talking filibuster make a difference or will the senate eventually have to go even further than that? >> well, we all remember jimmy stewart. and we understand what happened to mr. smith. when he wanted the filibuster in his days, he had to stand there as long as he wanted to stop the senate. no longer the case. members make a phone call to the cloak room right off the senate floor and say, oh, i think i might file some demand for cloture on this, stop the proceedings. that's it and then they go home for the weekend. if you had to stand at your desk because of your convictions and belief and commitment and make some personal sacrifice, i think it would be less frequently used. >> and also, if the business in the senate is held up for ten days for 15 days, they're going to have to explain for those 10 or 15 days why nothing else is getting done. and they're doing that to stop black people, to stop hispanics, to stop asian americans from having access to voting. also, for whatever the cause is, that republicans or democrats are trying to stop. it puts a red hot clarify on them, right? >> absolutely. and voting rights you, i think, are front and center the biggest constitutional issue and challenge we face in this nation as we watch all these legislatures trying to find ways to restrict opportunities for americans to vote. let me add my own personal favorite. 20 years ago, i introduce the dream act to make sure that kids who are brought here as infants and totd lers have a path towards legalization. it is overwhelmingly popular across the united states. i brought it to the floor of the senate five different times and i was stopped by a filibuster every single time. that's an illustration to me that when you get into the world of human rights and civil rights, the filibuster is your problem. >> and, senator, before you go, we want to hear about the equality act, the senate judiciary hearing on it. >> well, i think it was an excellent hearing. and i thank my colleagues on both sides. the obvious question is whether or not we are going to prohibit on a federal basis discrimination based on sexual orientation. to think that across america, because of supreme court decisions, you can have a -- a marriage in the morning, a gay marriage in the morning and then be fired in the afternoon from your job because of your sexual orientation, that to me is unacceptable because we have such a patchwork of state law that's provide this protection. i hope, i just hope we can find one republican who will stand up and join us to stop this discrimination. >> all right. chairman of the judiciary committee, senator dick durban, thank you very much. and now joining us, someone who testified at the hearing on the equality act, president of the human rights campaign, alfonso david. thank you very much for being on the show this morning. tell our viewers not only what you said during the hearing, but what you hope americans will understand about this act. >> sure, thank you. thank you, mika, for having me again. yesterday for the first time in our history, the united states senate considered the quality act and heard stories of discrimination and violence against lgbtq people across this country. they heard from me. they also heard from thela keating, a transgender teenager from washington state who shared her story about wanting to go to a college and feel valued no matter what state her college is in. we also heard from dr. edith guffy, a minister from kansas and she talked about simply trying to ensure that her lgbtq child is protected under law. for far too long, mika, lgbtq people have been denied the same basic civil rights protections that are enjoyed by fellow americans. people in this country are united behind the idea that lgbtq people deserve protections. more than 70% support the equality act according to a poll released by the human rights campaign yesterday. and, in fact, 94% of democrats, 85% of independents, and 68% of republicans support the equality act. these protections are supported by a majority of adults in all 50 states and by solid majorities across all age groups. so this legislation, the equality act, its time has come. we need to make sure that lgbtq people are protected in all facets of life and that's what we talked about yesterday and that's what we are advancing in the senate. >> you mentioned one of the speakers at yesterday's hearing, 16-year-old stella keating. and here is some of her speech questioning why her rights as a transgender woman can be taken away so easily. >> right now, i live in the state with -- where i have equal protection under the law. and as a high school sophomore, i'm start to go look at colleges. and all i can think about is this. less than half of the states in our country provide equal protection for me under the law. what happens if i want to attend a college in a state that doesn't protect me? right now, i could be denied medical care or be evicted for simply being transgender in many states. how is that even right? how is that even american? what if i'm offered a dream job in a state even if my employer is sue sportive, i still have to live somewhere. i have to eat and i have to have a doctor. and why do i have to worry about all of this at the age of 16? this is united states of america, the country that i love. every young person, every person regardless of who they are or who they love, should be able to excited about their future. >> so alfonso, can you explain to me how this legislation is different than what the supreme court ruled on last year, 6-3 ruling. a lot of people paid close attention to the fact nee gorsuch and john roberts both said if you discriminate based on sexual orientation, that is a violation of civil rights. how is this legislation different than that ruling? >> joe, that's a great question. the supreme court held lgbtq people are protected under federal civil rights laws. so we're talking about employment, housing and credit. but the supreme court could not opine on federal laws that don't exist. so lgbtq are not currently protected under public accommodations, we are not currently protected under jury service. we're not currently protected under transportation hubs. so for me as a black man, gay man, i can walk into a department store to purchase a shirt and i have no rights, i can be thrown out of the cars on a lift and have no recourse under federal law. so what the equality act does, it further supports the bostonoff decision and protects lgbtq people in all facets of life. we heard arguments against the equality act, we heard them yesterday, and those arguments are speciousies. first they claim the quality act would destroy women's sports and that's false. we had he quality acts in states for decades, minnesota, illinois, new mexico, virginia, california and the list goes on. 22 states and more than 125 cities have adopted common sense inclusive protections for lgbtq people. all we're asking for is that the federal government do the same. >> alfonso, it's willie geist. good to see you this morning. i think a lot of our pro gresive watching would be astounded to hear there are still 27 states because of your sexual orientation you could be denied a loan, discriminated against at places of housing. how does that work actually? how do they vet people and how do they deny people those rights? >> willie, i will just give you an example. we have a couple, lgbtq couple looking to purchase a home or rent an apartment. they went and found the perfect duplex for them. they were shown the apartment. there were no issues with their credit or issues with them actually being processed. when the lapd lord found out that they had this, quote, unique relationship, the landlord emailed them and said they were being denied the apartment because of their unique relationship. and they lived in a state without any state protections under state law so they had no recourse. so you know the past years the trump administration advanced policies to discriminate against lgbtq people. so we've also seen instances where people face discrimination, as i said before, in going into retail establishments or going into stores. and they have no recourse. i could, for example, be picked to sit on a jury and i can be dismissed from sitting on that jury because i'm lgbtq and i would have no recourse under federal law, unless you live in a state that has those protections, you have no recourse. and 29 states in this country do not provide comprehensive legal protections to lgbtq people. >> president of the human rights campaign, alfonso david, thank you very much. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. i've lost count of how many asthma attacks i've had. i've been on and off oral steroids to manage my asthma. does that sound normal to you? 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(giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter. hi sabrina! >>hi jen! so this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin? exactly jen! calm + restore oat gel is formulated with prebiotic oat. and strengthens skin's moisture barrier. uh! i love it! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ willie, you're looking at the line now over joe biden. interesting the past few days. he believes the new york governor may go to jail, vladimir putin is kaler and 75% of his staff members like major, the german shep efrd. not 86%, not 84%, 85% like major. >> 100%, he's a rescue. >> and major is coming back, major. >> he is. the biden's german shepherd will return to the white house after training. the first dog made headlines for biting someone just a little bit. >> it was an unfamiliar setting. here's the thing with rescues -- >> okay. >> just forget the script. let me explain. >> hurry up. i want to hit willie's take. >> they have to adjust to a new situation. and think about the juju that was in that white house, like uncomfortable vibes. i bet you major was channeling them. so he was just getting -- you have to be very patient with rescue pets. rescues are the best. willie, you agree, correct? >> something about the juju i picked up in there? i don't know what that was. 85% is an approval rating that any politician would kill for, so good for major for coming down. i would like to know who the 15% are. president biden said there are some unfamiliar people. major is a german shepherd, a protective dog, protecting his guy and we hope the training goes well and he will be back to the white house and juju will be improved. >> it's improved drastically already. >> those are, willie, numbers any politician would kill for, and it appears that -- >> stop! >> -- this -- dot, dot, dot. >> i put that on a tee for you, joe. >> good morning. we're going to go to stephanie and save ourselves from ourselves. >> and save ourselves from having to say ourselves. here stephanie ruhle right now. good morning, i'm stephanie ruhle live at msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it is thursday, march 18th, let's get smarter. we begin with a spotlight on the surge in anti-asian hate crimes. the new focus coming after a string of lethal shootings in atlanta, georgia, even though the confessed gunman claimser that not racially motivated. that man was supposed to arraigned today but we got word moments ago the hearing has been canceled. long faces murder charges of eight people killed at three different massage parlors in the atlanta area. six of the eight victims killed tuesday were of asian decent. all but one

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