armies in the world, but we cannot stop -- we cannot stop these viruses. and you are the army. you're the navy. you're the marines. i really mean it. this is a war. you are the frontline troops. what you're doing really, really, really matters. >> that was yesterday at cdc headquarters in atlanta, which was the first stop on biden and kamala harris' first joint trip as president and vice president. the trip was dubbed "help is here." it was initially scheduled to promote biden's recently passed $1.9 trillion relief package but the focused shifted after tuesday's shootings in and around atlanta that left eight people dead to highlight the asian-pacific islander communities where hate is on the increase in anti-asian sentiment since the start of the pandemic. >> they've been attacked, blamed, scapegoated, harassed, verbally assaulted, physically assaulted, killed. documented incident of hate against asian americans have seen a skyrocketing spike over the last year. it's been a year of living in fear of hate and violence, often hiding in plain sight. and it's often met with silence. that's been true throughout our history but that has to change, because our silence is complicity. we cannot be complicit. we have to speak out. we have to act. >> after those remarks, biden met with leaders from georgia's asian-pacific island community including state senator michelle you, who joined me last hour, and said this is not a new phenomenon. >> racism, violence against asian americans has been happening all along. these are things we have been seeing not just in the past week, not just in the past few months, not just since president trump, we're talking years and decades of discrimination that has been hiding in place sight. >> this week the house judiciary committee held a hearing on anti-asian violence. republican chip roy of texas decided this was his moment to go on an anti-china tirade and promote public lynching. >> there's an old saying in texas about find all of the rope in texas and get a taller tree. you know, we take justice very seriously and we ought to do that. round up the bad guys. so now we're talking about whether talking about china, the chi-coms, chinese communist party, whatever phrase we want to use, the chinese communist party running the country of china, i think they're the bad guys and that's the reality of what i tend to refer to as the chi-coms and i'm not going to be ashamed of saying i oppose the chi-coms. >> wow, that was a member of the united states congress glorifying lynch iing and ranting against china at a hearing specifically called to address racial hatred and violence against asian americans. . congresswoman grace meng was present at that hearing. she put forth legislation to address the rise in ping asian american hate crimes and called out the racism for what it was. >> we cannot turn a blind eye for people living in fear. i want to go back to something mr. roy said earlier, your president and your party and your colleague can talk about issues with any other country that you want. but you don't have to do it by putting a bull's-eye on the back of asian americans across this country on our grandparents, on our kids. this hearing was to address the hurt and pain of our community, to find solutions and we will not let you take our voice away from us. >> joining me now, democratic congresswoman judy chu of california. she was also at that hearing this week. she's the chair of the congressional asian-pacific american caucus and she was the first chinese-american woman elected to congress. congresswoman, good to see you. thank you for being with us. congresswoman meng was justifiably angry at that but there's scientific research that backs up that criticism. i want to just show our audience the headline that was linked to a study, a study that linked donald trump to anti-asian hate. it reads an ty asian #soared after donald trump linked covid-19 to china on twitter. the week after he started using the hashtag chinese virus on twitter, the number of people using the virus increased more than ten-fold and were much more likely to include anti-asian hashtags than those who just used covid-19. so there's a real tie between people saying like this in a public forum and other people acting on things. >> words have consequences. and, yes, you are right, when donald trump started using this china virus terminology, the anti-asian hate on twitter went up 900%. and by the way, over the last year, hate crimes against asians related to covid-19 went up by 150% in the major cities. so there is a direct link between donald trump's rhetoric and the kind of horrible hate crimes and incidents that asian americans across this country are experiencing. it has been, in fact, spiking in the last month and it is increasingly directed against the elderly and the more vulnerable, including an 84-year-old man in san francisco who was assaulted and then murdered and 91-year-old who was pushed to the ground violently, and 61-year-old on a new york subway who was slashed on the face from ear to ear, requiring 100 stitches. but never did i imagine that we would get to this point where we would have the biggest slaughter of people since the pandemic started, and that was with the murder of eight people in georgia, including six of them being asian american. >> what's your response to people who say that there have been other possible motivations for this shooting that have been floated? that aren't -- you know, that the shooter himself and police didn't bring racism up, what do you say to people like that? >> let us be clear, this is a hate crime. this is a man, age 21, who went to a spa, his first stop was a spa called young's asian spa. then he drove 27 miles to another spa, which had two asian spas side by side. now, if his issue was sex addiction or whatever, in those 27 miles, he had plenty of places to stop at. but he chose three asian spas, he chose spas where it was very clear there would be asian women he could target. it was very clear this is a hate crime. whether it meets the legal standard is another question, because legal standard actually is pretty high. somebody actually has to hear you say something racist, and in this case, let's think about this, this was a spa where many people spoke other languages. if he even said something like that, would they have understood what he said in english? most likely not. >> let me ask you about another -- i want to ask you about another issue that is kind of ironic in this that you brought up the other day and that is not just expressions like the china virus or chinese virus or wuhan virus or kung flu were racist but they were designed to reflect responsibility for the poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the united states by president trump. it wasn't just that he decided to talk about asians. it's that he decided to use asians as a scapegoat for his irresponsibility and handling of coronavirus. >> oh, yes, it was very clear that he wanted to deflect that blame, to have the total focus be on china and even though the cdc and world health organization said not to use those terms because of the stigma that it caused from those geographical locations and those ethnicities, he actually doubled down over the year. he expressed it so much and he did it at his large rallies that his republican followers starting using the same terminology. there was such hysteria created around the xenophobia, even though he's no longer in office, we are still experiencing this terrible anti-asian hate. and it is going to take all of us coming together. thank goodness we have president biden changing the narrative so dramatically within the fist week that he took office, issuing the presidential memorandum, flying the flags at half-staff, going to atlanta and meeting with the community, actually paying attention to these anti-asian hate crimes comforting the people in that area, this is something that we would never have seen in the prior year. >> congresswoman, good to speak to you. thank you for being with us. democratic congresswoman judy chu of california, chair of the asian-pacific american caucus. joining me now is amanda nguyen, founder and ceo of rise and nobel prize nominee in 2019. she helped draft the sexual assault rights act in 2016. amanda, it's good to see you again, although it's not a good occasion to see you again. i want to talk to you about how this is being experienced in the asian american community. there's a lot of confusion and regardless of the specifics of the stuff that happened in atlanta, the activities of the last year have caused members of the asian american communities to live in fear for their safety and in some cases now their lives. >> yes, ali, it's heartbreaking and we have been living in this moment of grief, and to be honest with you, we have been living in this grief for quite some time now. this is the worst form of validation. for the past several months, we have been baring our souls, asking people how many more lives need to be killed in order for our story to matter? and now we have six asian women who are dead, and i can't tell you how much right now it means for people to stand up and stand with us. >> how do you see that, amanda? what can people who sort of say, look, i didn't know this was a thing or i certainly haven't taken part in it, what does this allyship look like. what can the rest of us do to make the asian american community in america feel safe, loved, respected and protected? >> ali, the cold creeps forward when everyone calculates it's wisest to stay silent another day until someone grabs a torch and charges into that nightmare and lights it up, and right now we're lighting it up. so for people who want to be on the right side of history, to live up to the creed of this country, wake up and choose to define how you want your future to be. because after all, our more perfect union is up to every generation to define. and right now i want every individual who is listening to me to know that you have the power to make this country be more equitable, be more safe for your aapi brothers and sisters, to please speak into the consciousness of this country and, please, reach out to your asian friends. >> amanda, you said it beautifully, wake up and choose to define what you want your future to be. that is our future as americans, our future in this effort to create a more perfect union. amanda, as always, thank you for your wisdom. amanda nguyen is founder and ceo of rise and 2019 nobel peace prize nominee. msnbc special coverage of this topic will continue all day alex witt exams the rise in hate crimes of asian americans and people of other colors. and join lisa menendez and richard louis for a special report as they take a look at the increase in hate crimes across the united states. catch "american voices: hate on the rise" today. coming up, we will continue with figure skater 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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. immigrants, we are used to hardships. we are used to challenges. but, of course, it's becoming more and more difficult every day to operate when we're faced with all different fronts of challenges with the coronavirus and with the hate virus which we do not have a vaccine or antidote for. >> that was jason wang, ceo and owner of xian famous foods, small, very good chinese restaurant in new york city. he was already navigating his business through the difficult challenges of the pandemic and then two of his employees were attacked in broad daylight. wang was forced to cut back on operating hours to ensure the safety of his employees. our asian american brothers and sisters are living in fear in the united states. it's despicable. it's got to end. joining me now legendary figure skater kristi yamaguchi, the first asian american to win olympic gold the in skating category and founder of the always dream foundation, which provides access to reading for low-income families. kristi, it's an honor to have you on the show. i don't know if you heard my conversation with amanda nguyen a little bit ago but we cannot all fix hatred in society but we can reach out to our asian brothers and sisters who are feeling this fear and let them know they're not alone and the rest of us will put our necks out to keep them safe. >> absolutely, and i think that's why it's so important to have these conversations, is you know, starting a year ago but certainly now with escalation of the violence that's been happening. the more voices that are raised, i think the more the asian american community will be heard and hopefully that will bring about some solutions and peace and harmony and just, you know, breaking down those walls of racism that are creating this. >> your particular story is a story of great success but it's also the story of how deeply rooted anti-asian racism is in the united states. your great grandparents emigrated to the united states from japan. your grandfather was serving as a lieutenant in the united states army but your mother was born in a world war ii internment camp in america. >> yes, that's right. my grandmother felt safest being with her family when she found out she was pregnant with my mom and went back into the camp to be with her family and have my mom, so she was born at amaechi internment camp in colorado. so, yeah, i think at that time it was all about surviving and, you know, unfortunately having to prove your american loyalty, and i think they stayed silent a lot just to move on, to assimilate during those times. and now he -- things are not much better to stay silent and it's time to push for society, being accepted and being respected. >> this issue of the quest to assimilate, something you talk about, is -- is important, it's relevant because asian americans in doing that also thought sometimes not being too loud or not speaking up about things or not underscoring differences is going to be good. at this point, one of the things you told my producer lily, as you said, the younger generation, they don't necessarily think that way. >> they don't, and i think that's great. i think they are the ones who are opening the door for voices to be heard and they embrace, you know, everybody's differences, and i think we all know what makes america so great is diversity and that strengthens who we are. and as an athlete, as an olympian, we take the olympic oath to hold up those olympic values and it was the greatest honor of my life to represent our country. and, you know, and the values that are american. and i think we -- there are some that are a little lost right now and it's just finding our way back there. >> you are the epitome of american success and have been for a very long time, reaching back to 1992 when you won figure skating gold in the albertville olympics. yet you say that you are now a little bit fearful of what your parents might face. >> oh, absolutely. this definitely hits close to home. i'm always telling them, be aware of what's going on around you whenever you're out and about. we are here in the san francisco bay area. i have family in san jose, oakland, in san francisco. so it's -- it's something that i think so many friends and family are thinking of and dealing with. and, you know, i wouldn't say always looking over their shoulder but, you know, something that, you know, we shouldn't have to be worried about. and the hurt and the compassion that we want to go -- not the hurt but the compassion that we want to spread throughout the community is out there and it's not just going to take the asian american community but, you know, everyone as a whole coming together. >> it's going to need everybody, everybody joining hands and saying that the asian american community is part of our fabric of our country and we're going to work hard to keep members of that community safe. kristi, good to see you. thank you very much for joining us. kristi yamaguchi, olympic figure skater, gold medalist and founder of the olympic foundation. and speaking of olympics, they made decision to ban spectators of the olympics in japan because of the covid. another sign yet with the vaccine rollout, the pandemic is still cause for concern. we'll have the latest developments on the pandemic later this hour. and another day another republican lawmaker spewing nonsense and then claiming they're being silenced. it's apparently become part of the gop playbook. that's next. you're watching "velshi." re wat. and more of the entertainment you love like apple music. and the beautiful iphone 12 on us when you buy one. only from verizon. 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>> sure, because what we see as domestic terrorism is extremism all stripes, this idea of a grievance or judge and ideology based around it. what we saw with the dni report is basically the federal government coming together and things like stop the steal, false claims the election was stolen, is exactly the kind of grievance and exactly the kind of conspiracy theory that can fuel these extremists cells that could, you know, result in acts of violence. >> congressman, one of the things from this office of the national director intelligence report is the threat of lone offenders as opposed to large, organized groups. i will read you a piece of it. the ic, intelligence community, assesses that lone offenders or small cells of domestic violent extremists adhering to a diverse set of violent extremist ideologies are more likely to carry out violent attacks in the homeland than organizations who advocate a dve, domestic violence extremist, ideology. this is an important point that ties into what katie was just talking about, we now sort of set it on fire. we've got a whole bunch of people who have a whole bunch of extremist views and they might be actually one of the biggest threats we face to our safety. >> that's right. and, look, let's take a step back. first of all, as someone who's read a lot of intelligence reports in my time in national security, this one really stands out about the fact it's about domestic violence creamism, about what we're facing at home, right about lone offenders making it very difficult to understand where and when the threat might strike. we've certainly gotten a sense of that from atlanta, how lone offenders can certainly strong and cause mass casualties. but also one thing to point out is the report used this phrase over and over again, called almost certainly, saying almost certainly that these events right now will spur more violence. almost certainly we can expect more attacks. and that phrase was very alarming to me. >> katie, i want to read you a portion of an unsealed indictment, unsealed yesterday, about a proud boy named ethan nordean, charged in connection with the january 6th attacks. it said on november 27, 2020, after the election, nordean posted on social media, quote, we tried playing nice and by the rules. now you will deal with the monster you created, the spirit of 1776 resurfaced and created groups like the proud boys and we will not be extinguished. we will grow like the flame that fuels us and spread like the love who guides us. we are unstoppable, unrelenting and now unforgiving. this is some of stuff tying into -- not convictions yet, but some of these indictments for which the participants on january 6th being charged. >> yes, they're showing that through the indictments that people came to the capitol to stop the certification of the election because they had reason to, and that reason, the motive, is sort of what you just read, that quote, that idea people are being motivated by an ideology they weren't just coming to wreak havoc, they had a bigger purpose in coming to d.c. >> congressman, a lot of people will remember the photo of you on january 6th. there was a photo of you picking up trash inside the u.s. capitol on january 7th after the insurrection. you tweeted after that, a month ago, i found this broken eagle while cleaning the capitol after the insurrection. i kept it as a tender reminder. this is one of several symbols i want to share with you as we think about what comes next for our nation. given the week we had and given the month of anti-asian crime in this country, piled on to the two months you had back in this new kong, what lies ahead for this nation? >> well, the scary part about that is we don't know what comes next, and as father of a 3-year-old and 5-year-old, two asian american baby boys, i worry about what comes next, i worry about what kind of america they will grow up in. in your previous segment you talked about senator johnson, he used this word respect, respect for law enforcement saying people on january 6th, respect law enforcement, respect our democracy. that is not true. the desecration in the rotunda and capitol that i helped clean up shows a disrespect for our country, a disrespect for our government and honestly a disrespect for each other and that is the key to this, that we are losing this respect for each other, losing respect for our country, and that is what allows people to feel like they can attack our capitol, and attack each other. >> that picture of you that we're showing on the screen is important because i've had a few conversations this morning with members of the asian american community who are saying that, you know, you may not be part of this problem but you can do little things to help end it and that's what you were doing that day in the capitol. you were doing your little thing you could do. you were cleaning up trash. i think we have to take inspiration from that, about what the rest of us can do to make our asian american brothers and sisters feel safe, our little bit to reach out and be allies and help keep those feel safe. thank you both for your work, katie benner, just reporter for "the new york times" and andy im, senator from new jersey. coming up -- covid cases are rising across the country as new strains of the virus spread. th. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa with hepatitis c... ...i felt i couldn't be at my... ...best for my family. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. in only 8 weeks with mavyret... ...i was cured. i faced reminders of my hep c every day. i worried about my hep c. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret... ...i was cured. mavyret is the only 8-week cure for all types of hep c. before starting mavyret your doctor will test... ...if you've had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant,... ...other liver problems, hiv-1, or other medical conditions,... ...and all medicines you take. don't take mavyret with atazanavir... ...or rifampin, or if you've had certain liver problems. if you've had or have serious liver problems other than hep c, there's a rare chance they may worsen. signs of serious liver problems may include yellowing of the skin, abdominal pain or swelling, confusion, and unexplained bleeding or bruising. tell your doctor if you develop symptoms of liver disease. common side effects include headache and tiredness. with hep c behind me, i feel free... ...fearless... ...because i am cured. if you can't afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. still fresh unstopables in-wash scent booster downy unstopables dstarting today,s nobody has to settle for less than the very best. because only verizon gives you 5g from america's most reliable network at no extra cost. and plans to mix and match, so you only pay for what you need. the plan is so reasonable, they can stay on for the rest of their lives. aww... and on top of that, nobody gives you more entertainment you love like disney+, hulu and espn+ on select unlimited plans. you even get one of our best 5g phones on us when you buy one. and it all starts at just $35. only from verizon. ♪ ♪ ♪ when it comes to your financial health, just a few small steps can make a real difference. ♪ ♪ ♪ learn, save and spend with guidance from chase. confidence feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. see every delivery... every yikes... and even every awwwwwwww... wait, where was i? 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 biden administration is ticked off one of the top priorities on its coronavirus checklist. friday the united states surpassed the president's goal of administering 100 million vaccine doses in 100 days. they did it in 59 days. a victory that is way ahead of schedule. according to nbc numbers roughly 12% of the american population is fully vaccinated. as more and more shots go into arms, there's more hope a fourth vaccine could enter the mix. on thursday the astrazeneca vaccine was cleared by the e.u.'s drug regulatory agency after ten countries suspended it after increased incidents of blood clots. a few dozen of the millions say they suffered from the serious medical condition, however, the agency determined that the vaccine doesn't elevate the risk of blood clots and the reward was deemed greater than the risk. right now that drug is not authorized for use in the united states. the road ahead is looking to clear up but there are several warning signs indicated we are not ready for the drug yet. officials are warning of an upcoming surge after 15 states have warned of an increased case of daily covid infections. covid cases. not to mention there are cases of the new variants which are more deadly and more contagious in each of the country's 50 states. dr. anthony fauci joined "weekend today" and said even though things look promising at the moment, we need to stay vigilant and look at what's going on in europe. >> they are usually around three to four weeks ahead of us in the dynamics of their outbreak. they went up like us, came back down, plateaued and they pulled back on their public health measures, masking and things like that, and right now they're going through the beginning of a surge, 5 or 10% increases. i'm really concerned if we declare victory prematurely that that's the same thing that's going to happen. >> joining me now is dr. nahid bedelia from boston medical center. good to see you again. thank you for being with us. let's first talk about the astrazeneca vaccine. it's being made in the united states. it's not being used in the united states. it is being used elsewhere, including in canada. what do you know about this blood clot thing? they're saying that the drug doesn't -- the vaccine doesn't cause it but it may activate some dormant condition you don't know you have if you take it? >> yeah. so, ali, the first thing to concentrate on is that the number of these blood clots are really small. on sunday the astrazeneca company as well as u.k. regulators released data on 17 million people and really showed the frequency was about the same. the concern was that the blood clots that the authorities in the netherlands were seeing, they were seeing in healthier patients, a rare condition -- that seemed similar to a rare condition called itp, a clotting disorder. it's a very rare condition. there is no correlation from what you heard from the eu authorities evaluating this whether it was causally tied to the vaccine or just the fact that it happened to being you caught these rare cases. based on that they have -- given the benefits of the vaccine, they've given it the green light. they've had a couple of false starts, issues with the dosing, issues with the way they communicated their results. i think the u.s. trials results which should be out in the next week or two are going to be important to setting minds at ease and getting data here with our population to get a good sort of overview of how efficacious the vaccine is. i actually am still holding out hope. i think the u.s. trial is going to be an important next step in having the company gain back some of that trust. >> you tweeted a chart out this morning which i found very helpful about when americans are going to be fully vaccinated. i want to put that up on the screen. you look -- you're looking at a date, i guess this is extrapolating from the rate that we're at right now, and that may increase if we get another vaccine or more supply, but by about july 31st you're talking about 50% of the population being vaccinated. 70% by october 12th. 85% by december 7th and 100% shortly thereafter. tell me about this chart and what it's based on. >> yeah. you tweeted this morning, ali, about the 100 million people we've vaccinated. that's about 13% of us being fully vaccinated. this chart is from the npr vaccine tracker. this is based on our current rate. we still have our foot on the accelerator. you can see for 50% of us to be fully vaccinated, that might not happen until the end of july. let's say that improves. we're still looking at months where all of us get to a point where we reach that 75, 80% number that we've been talking about. the thing that concerns me is that, look, these vaccines have done incredible. real life effectiveness data looks great and they can decrease disease, hospitalizations and deaths even with the variants that are out there. maybe the variants mabrey down the effectiveness be a little bit, but they're doing pretty well. we know all data points to the fact that they're reducing transmissions. maybe not perfectly. so all we have to do is hold on, right? if we wanted an a grade we would have gotten enough of us vaccinated so when we opened up indoor capacity and took down masks the cases wouldn't have gone up and neither deaths. if we wanted a b grade we could have waited until those of us higher risk, those of us clawing tooth and nail to get our hands on the vaccine so they don't get hospitalized if we get the disease. if we had waited until they get vaccinated we wouldn't be seeing what we're seeing which is we opened up too early and the 15 states that are seeing the surges but then places like michigan are now seeing a lagging indicator like hospitalizations go up again. so this is the first day of spring and what we sow today is what we'll reap in the fall. >> places like connecticut 100% opened up. new york, 50% for restaurants and gyms. these are states we're seeing increased cases and transmissions. nahid bedelia at the boston medical center. that does it for me. thank you for watching. you can catch me here from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. velshi is available as a podcast. you can listen to today's show and any of our broadcasts on the go any time. listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. go nowhere, my friends. the cross connection with tiffany cross with a guest appearance by our friend joy reid starts right now. ♪♪ ♪♪ as the president and i discussed with our aapi community in a meeting earlier today, whatever the killer's motive, these facts are clear. six out of the eight people killed on tuesday night were of asian descent. seven were women. racism is real in america and it has always been. xenophobia is real in america and always has been. sexism, too. >> good morning. i'm tiffany cross and today on "the cross connection" as you just heard, the highest ranking asian-american official in our nation's history put it plainly, racism and sexism are as american as apple pie. president biden and vice president harris visited atlanta on friday to console a community in fear and a nation in grief. they made it clear that while the suspect blames a, quote, sex addiction, and officials say the motive is not yet clear, this was an act of violence against the aapi community. the son of one of the victims spoke to nbc and he certainly agrees. >> reporter: what's your reaction to the way that they have handled the investigation into this shooting? >> you can't say that this isn't racially