police officer, a father of seven children, the youngest just 7 years old. he was the first police officer to arrive at the scene. 21-year-old ahmad alissa is in custody, one week to the day a different gunman shot people in atlanta. the nation hadn't yet begun to heal from that tracks din before being hit with the second. our collective grief addressed in remarks by president biden earlier today, who called for immediately action, including a ban on assault weapons. >> less than a week after the or risks murders of eight people and the assault on the aapi community in georgia, while a flag was still flying half-staff for the tragedy, another american city has been scarred by gun violence and the resulting trauma. i hate to even say it, because we're saying it so off, but my heart goes out. i don't want to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common-step steps that would save lives in the future, and urge my colleagues in the house and senate to act. the senate should immediately pass -- let me say it again -- the united states senate should immediately pass the two house-passed bills. this should not be a partisan issue. this is an american issue. it will save lives, and we have to act. we should also ban assault weapons in the process. the senate judiciary committee already had a hearing scheduled today on gun violence. the coincidental timing according to the press secretary underscores the magnitude of this crisis. she tweeted, quote -- it's not timely that the senate is having a hearing on gun violence prevention tomorrow. that's not the point. the point is that gun violence is so common in this country, we can schedule a hearing on a random date and it ends up within a week of two mass shootings. the hearing hoped with an impassioned call from one democrat on the committee, senator richard blumenthal from connecticut, who placed much of the blame on the shoulders of his republican colleagues. america woe today to another nightmare, savage, but unsurprising. this has made this inpredictable. inaction by this congress makes us complicit. now is the time for action to honor these victims with action, real action, not the figure leaves or the shadows that have been offered on the other side, along with hopes and thoughts and prayers. >> we should note that senate republican leader mitch mcconnell delivered remarks today on the senate floor. he did not mention the shooting in colorado. that is where we start today. nbc's steve patterson is in boulder. also with you frank guttenberg who lost his daughter in, and carmen best joins us as well. steve, let mess start with you. do we have any information about the weapon that was used? >> reporter: alex, we do. according to the affidavit, the signed court document in this case, the shooter, the suspected shooter, i should say purchased an ar-556 about six days before the shooting. if you're at home, in layman's terms, close your eyes and picture an a.r., a high-powered long gun, semiautomatic. police are not saying that this is the weapon that was used in the shooting. police are not making that leap that this was the gun that killed ten people, but it is in that court document that purchase was made. we also don't know the circumstances leading up to that purchase or the legality of that purchase. all of the circumstantial evidence surrounding where he obtained the gun, we do not know. we only know what was in that court document. the only other missing piece is the mossive. we're learning more about the suspect. according to law enforcement officials in talks with nbc news, the suspect had a history of mental issues. this seems to gel with the fact that we're a two dales into this and the local police department is still at the head of this investigation. if this were a hate crimes investigation, if this were, you know, a racially motivated investigation, if this were a domestic terrorism investigation, you would assume, you would think that the fbi or a federal agency would be at the head of this investigation. that is not the case so far. obviously there's much more to go. we understand that the fbi is assisting, they're interviewing witnesses, they're still canvassing and processing the scene to try to come up with where this could lead star a motive, but that's what we know so far. >> steve, just to be clear, we know that the alleged shooter in this six days ago purchased an ar-556. we do not know whether in fact that was the gun used in this shooting. is that right? >> reporter: according to court documents, that weapon is listed in the document. that's the only contest we have. we do not know if that was used in the shooting, that's correct. alex. >> steve, give us a sense of what it is like in the community. the grocery store is the american public square, especially in these pandemic times, how is the community reacting. we have the names of the victims, that was an important first step in all of this. tell us more about the feeling on the ground. >> reporter: oh, my gosh, alex, if you can look behind me, but a row of flowers has been left. this makeshift memorial has been growing hour by hour. it is now snaking around the front of this store. we started to see social media messages, social media well wishes pop up from the family members of the victims who are lost in this tragic, horrific shooting. we have come to understand more about their stories, all of which are so heartbreaking. the one we know most is that of eric talley, the officer who run in, first in the line of duty, who went in before anybody else, took fire, was killed, lost his life trying to defend and save the people he was sworn to serve. just hearing the officers who knew him, the chief who so respected him, so knew him, listening to her deliver her address about who he was, who his family was, this, you know, this family of seven children, the oldest 20, the youngest just 7, and how much he loved his family is truly heart up did breaking. it's affected this community, not just the law enforcement, not just the community here in boulder, but obviously in larger metro denver and the entirety of colorado, which has had tragedy after tragedy of these mass shootings, which have been perpetuated for the last two decades. you have to wonder where the conversation leads next. obviously the talk of gun control and gun rights will inevitably take center stage, but whether there will be action, that remains to be seen. >> steve, thank you. carmen, let me talk with you as we talk about the slain officer in this shooting. to lose an officer in this sort of scenario is really the worst case for any law enforcement team, a father of seven, when you first heard about this, what was your reaction and what can you tell us about being a former law enforcement officer, how that grief is processed in the ranks? >> well, obviously this is such a tragic incident. i think chief herold summed it up well, selflessly serving, and ultimately giving the ultimate sacrifice, and trying to protect the community he served so well. obviously many of the community members and officers will feel this sense of loss and grief, not only for the officer, but for everyone who last their lives. that said, in the meantime there has to be a continued -- they still have orlando people to protect and serve. >>. many took the day off, if you will, to have other local jurisdictions, but the officers wanted to be there. they want to be out, they want to be in the community, they want to be a part of the community grieves with the community as the loss of this officer and the other nine people were victims of this horrible and senseless mass shooting. >> fred, what are these moments like for you when you hear about a new set the parents grieving over their loved once? >> it just brings me to tears. it brings me back to parkland. it's such a visceral, horrific way these families are now broken. i say everybody chance i get, gun safety is police safety. join us in this effort to do something about this epidemic. to the other families, okay, that were affected, i saw mr. mahoney's photo up there. his daughter had a beautiful message on twitter today about how thankful she is that he got to walk her down the aisle, and now she's pregnant and he won't get to meet his grandchild. this is the reality of gun violence today. to those failures on the republican side of the senate hearing today, engaging in dishonesty and b.s., i've had it, okay? this is not about the second amendment. nobody is trying to take your weapons if you're a legal, lawful gun owner. this is a public health epidemic. we a to be working together on how to reduce the gun violence, and how we decrease the severity of these incidents when they happen. if they don't want to join in that effort, we move forward without them. let's end the filibuster. >> fred, you know, i think a lot of people are looking at the legal realities that unfolded in colorado over the course much the last week. i know you're well aware of this, but six days ago an ordinance that had been passed banning assault-style weapons was basically overturned through a lawsuit. tell me more about that and what that tells you about the fight ahead for gun safety reform. >> you know, listen, states and cities across this country since parkland have done amazing work to protect the people in our communities. every time that's happened, the nra has been there filing lawsuits to make us less safe. they are a terror organization making us less safe. you can't make up these things. literally six days ago the nra achieved its goal, and they called it victory for colorado. that's what they called it. here we are, ten people dead, including a police officer, because of what they believe was victory for colorado. it is time to break the hold that terror organization has on our legislators and legislation. it is time to focus on this public health epidemic. it is time to work together to save lives. that's all that should matter right now. >> a lot of people will say victory in colorado has led to tragedy in colorado. carmen, fred brings up the point about getting law enforcement in this fight as stakeholders. do you think that changes the calculation? the battle lines have been fairly traditional. many do support versus thog loom holes closed, so we support some sort of mental health check before they're able to purchase guns. i can't find an argument why anybody needs to have an ar-556. there are many people who support -- don't know if this will move the needle a lot with some of these larger organizations, but the conversations keep happening, and meanwhile, people are dying. at this point, i absolutely agree we need to be pushing even harder to make sure we have real safety and real common-sense laws that keep people safe and prevent these types of tragedy from occurring? >> a couple moments ago, the president was asked about whether he in fact has the political capital to move forward aggressively. let's here what he had to say. >> reporter: mr. president -- o . >> reporter: mr. president - >> i hope so. i don't know. i haven't done any counting yet. >> fred, what's your responsibility to that? >> i am so thankful he spoke out about this today the way he did. i will tell you, people get this done. we're going to have to sum up every ounce of strength and will to do it. the majority of american people want to do this. americans in the past two election, it was clear, this was an issue they voted on. it's clear that it affected elections, and those who believe differently believe at their own peril. president biden, i have supported you from the very ounce of my being. i am so thankful for the way you were there for my family and other victims of gun violence, but we have work to do. let's get together, let's sell this across the country, but let's save lives. enough is enough. these instances of mass shootings, everyday shootings, they're inevitable, they are predictable. we know they're going to happen again. we can't keep doing nothing. the time is now. >> you know, each one of these is an american tragedy, but coming as atlanta and colorado is, on the heels of a pandemic that sent people indoors, that isolated us from one another, we are so desirous of change to get back to human connection, for u.s. to begin coming back into society, by being greeted with mass shootings is, um, it's a tragedy upon a tragedy. joe neguse, lawmakers from colorado, i think had important things to say on the topic. i want to play a bit of the sown from congressman neguse. >> this year as coloradoens we faced a lot of challenges. in this year of separation, due to covid, of loss and, grocery stores like king soopers has been one of the gathering places, one of the routine activities we continued to engage in as coloradoens and americans. it's hard to describe what it means for this safe place to see a horrible tragedy like this unfold. there's a lot that we don't know, there's a lot still unfolding from yesterday's events, but let me simply say this, this cannot be our new normal. we should be able to feel safe in our grocery stores. we should be able to feel safe in our schools, in our movies theaters, and in our communities. we need to see a change, because we have lost far too many lives. fred, i feel like americans are at best fed up, at worst they field crushed by the last year. in that way, the landscape for -- i think pulling the nuclear option we're the filibuster in congress gains momentum in our reopening process. >> listen, first, i want to say thank you to representative neguse. what people don't know, he believes this in his heart. he actually reached out to me years ago. i could never vote for him, but because he's an american, a dad, he's a really good person who wants to do something about it. we could ignore the fact that the last administration released a gun surge in the pandemic. the numbers of weapons in the hands of people who ran to stores to buy weapons without going through the proper procedures, without being vetted, and now added to the hurricanes of millions we had, it is horrible. as we come out, people are re-engaging and people suffering from mental illness from being indoors for so long i am worried about what's to come. we have to do something now. >> frank and carmen, thank you both for starting us off today. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. when we come back, what it would take for meaningful reform to happen. our next guest plans to channel her anger into action. justice department officials have considered for weeks on whether to charge sedition charges. what happens next? our trumpists the new republican reality for 2022 and beyond? all those stories and more when "deadline: white house" continues after this. don't go anywhere. te house" continues after this don't go anywhere. special inter. and winning. but now, the for the people act stands on the brink of becoming law. ensuring accurate elections. iron-clad ethics rules to crack down on political self-dealing. a ban on dark money. and finally reducing corporate money in our politics. to restore our faith in government. because it's time. for the people to win. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪ ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo-hoo! great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. different. the senate will debate and address the epidemic of gun violence in this country. senate democratic leaders pushing for reform following two mass shootings in one week and promises this congress will be the one to break with tradition. majority leader chuck schumer says the senate will take up two background check bills passed by the house earlier this month, the chamber's first meaningful gun legislation in two decades. senator hirono, thank you for take the time to chat. it's a big day on the hill, in america. a lot of folks are looking to your chamber as the bulwark in terms of change on gun safety. do you they these background check bills stand a chance? >> yes, especially if we -- so that the republicans cannot block this kind of common-sense legislation that will save lives. >> so you think the filibuster is very much on the table here? >> i would say so. it's not just this issue, of course on gun violence, but so many other matters that should be taken up. note that the rescue bill did not get a single republican in either the house or senate. so you can see the kind of obstructionist tactics that the republicans will likely employ. i'm open to making changes so that mitch mcconnell and his caucus cannot block all of this progressive, meaningful legislation. >> senator manchin did at one point in his career pass a -- do you think he's open to, shall we say, curbing the filibuster in service of gun safety reform? he has been sort of the kink -- the gum in the works, if you will in terms of democrats moving forward and abolishing the filibuster. >> joe manchin that is talked about reform himself, so i know he wants to get things done. he is very committed to gun safety. i'm hopeful we can get it done. of course i would like bipartisan support. one of the bills we're talking about, hr-8, is a bill that closes loopholes in background checks. i don't see how anybody could particularly object to that, except perhaps nra and other gun interests. i'm hoping we can get it down. >> democrats have a lot of legislative business to attend to. i know you are a co-sponsor of the covid hate crimes bill. can you tell us more about that and its prospects as you see them? >> this is a bill i'm really glad chuck schumer will fast-track. one would think we could get 100% support from republicans. what this bill does is ask the department of justice to appoint one person to report and track and review these kinds of crimes, and to work with state and county law enforcement so that we can encourage reporting through language and help and all of that. we need to get a much better database on the incidents of hate crimes. so this is a bill that would do that, and i would think that everyone would be universally condemning this kind of race-based attacks, harassment of the aapi community. >> it really feels like democrats are taking these inflection points and they are using, seizing on them to take action. it is, in part, because you have more power than you have had before, but it does not appear that democrats are going to let any stone go unturned here. i should call everyone's attention to the fact that one of your colleagues, senator tammy duckworth said today she told the white house she will vote guess an of president biden's nominees until they rectify the fact that there is no aapi representation in biden's cabinet. do you stand with her in that? >> tammy's position is that until she gets a commitment from the white house that there will be more diversity representation in the cabinet and senior white house advisory positions, she will not vote to confirm anyone who does not represent diversity. this is not about pitting one diversity group against another. i think this is a well articulated, focused position. i am prepared to join her in that. >> do you think the biden administration has been adequately receptive to your ideas for more diversity? >> obviously not, otherwise tammy and i wouldn't be taking our position. we would like to encourage them to do better. >> do you think there's a desire to do better? i should rephrase. >> i hope so. >> when you look at the events that have unfolded in the course of the last week, the shooting in atlanta, the shooting today in boulder, it feels like the country is at an inflection point. >> yes. >> you serve in the deliberative chamber, do you feel like the senate may be at an inflection point? >> it is at an inflection point. not we is set the agenda. in the four years of president trump and mitch mcconnell's leadership, he rarely ever brought bills to the floor in which the democrats could express our op position through the filibuster. now mitch mcconnell knows that democrats are prepared to bring bills to the floor that will support our economy, that will address the pandemic, that will address climate change, gun issues, and voter rights, and he wants to make sure that the filibuster is there so he can block every single one of these kinds of initiatives. i fealty a sense of urgency about getting things done. that is why the senate is at an inflection point. the democrats are prepared to bring these kinds of bills to the floor. >> senator mazie hirono, thank you for your time today. the latest of the militia members who stormed the capitol and if the former president could be held culpable as well. could be held culpable as well we didn't stop at computers. we didn't stop at storage or cloud. we kept going. working with our customers to enable the kind of technology that can guide an astronaut back to safety. and help make a hospital come to you, instead of you going to it. so when it comes to your business, you know we'll stop at nothing. ♪ ♪ think you're managing your moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease? i did. until i realized something was missing... ...me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there for him. so, i talked to my doctor and learned. humira is for people who still have uc or crohn's symptoms after trying other medications. and humira helps people achieve remission that can last, so you can experience few or no symptoms. 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. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. we need to reduce plastic waste in the environment. that's why at america's beverage companies, our bottles are made to be re-made. not all plastic is the same. we're carefully designing our bottles to be one hundred percent recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle, and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back. justice department officials are reportedly weighing sedition charges. donovan crowell, jessica watson and thomas caldwell, seen here in video obtained by "new york times," have already been charged with conspiring to obstruct the election results. there is a potential el and whether it supports a sedition charges, but they dropped short of providing a draft of the indictment. the final decision of the charges will be left to attorney general merrick garland, sworn in less than two weeks ago and has said the capitol riot investigation is his top priority. if the justice department decides to charge sedition, they will have their work cut out for them, as the times notes, the doj has not successfully prosecuted a sedition case in decades. joining me is michael schmidt, msnbc national security contributor and andrew wiseman, an msnbc legal analyst. andrew, let me start with you. how do you read this landscape? >> i think the most important thing to edify your viewers is that, although the statute is called the sedition statute, it covers a broad array of crimes. on the one handle, when you hear sedition, you think of the overthrow of the united states government. the statute does cover that incredibly serious offense, but it also covers much lesser crimes, such as using force to obtain federal property, or using force to hinder or prevent or delay federal authorities. those are crimes that seem much narrower and more tailored to what happened on january 6th, such as committing a crime of using force to obtain federal property is something that many of us just saw on video tape on january 6th itself. although it's called sedition, it really covers a broad array of offenses. i can't see that there's so-called lesser crimes -- while they're still serious -- are ones that do seem to fit the statute. >> michael it feels like the dawn of new era in prosecutors right-wing -- there was an agreement to not poke the bear, as they perhaps will be until joe biden. what's your expectation here, in terms of the weeks and months in terms of laud enforcement, justice department, our agencies looking very closely and scrutinizing the actions and plans of these types of groups. >> january 6th seems like a pivot point, a potential pivot point for the justice department, maybe probably not on the scale of 9/11, but maybe similarly. in that respect, what i mean is that it looks like the justice department will refocus itself on a new larger target. that doesn't mean they're still not going to look at international terrorism, but i think they're going to throw their time and attention behind the problems of domestic terrorism in ways that we have not seen before. certainly in the statements and the rhetoric coming out of the biden administration, in the statements from their justice department officials that went before congress in the lead-up to their confirmations coming in here, they have said this is obviously a huge issue. these people expect to spend an enormous amount of time getting their heads around these issues. it's tricky. it comes with liberty issues that they'll run up against, but it seems like a pivot point, a clang at the justice department. it's one thing to look at january 6th and see how aggressively the justice department proceed there, but then looking beyond that, how will resources be allocated differently? what type of cases will be made going forward? will we see more creative uses of prosecutions to go after these groups? will there be a push to deem some of these groups terrorist organizations? there will be a lot of things that we'll have to assess and look at coming forward in the months and year to come to see how much of an impact january 6th had on the trajectory and makeup of the-mile-an-hour law enforcement approach to this. >> andrew, michael brings up the reality we're living in, which is this is not just an investigation into terror. this is domestic terror, that then runs into civil liberties questions. i also will add political realities here. from an investigative standpoint, how tricky is it to navigate an investigation into domestic actors versus international actors, giving the political schism which is happening in this country, which overlays a lot of this. >> those need to be separated. one is the politics of this, and i think that's where merrick garland will be key in keeping politics out of the that equation. the second issue that you raise, though, is one that has to do with civil liberties. just to be clear, those are concerns whether you're doing foreign terrorism or domestic terrorism. they're still issues that we dealt with, for instance at the fbi to make sure that we are adhering to the fourth amendment as it applies to overseas. obviously there are issues as we domestically, but remember, the doj will be looking at conduct, not speech. it will be important to have leaders who are serious and responsibility like garland and lisa monaco to make sure people stay on the straight and narrow, but it is very important to prosecutor domestic terrorism matters, regardless of whether it's happening on the right or the left. the final point i would make is that it's somewhat ironic, because the sedition memo that came out in september of 2020 was penned by the department of justice in connection with the black lives matter demonstrations in the summer, but now you're seeing discussion of the set decision taught with a very different group trying to do very different things. >> as we talk about divorcing this from politics, michael, roger stone's name has cropped up in the last 24 hours as someone the oath keepers were with late last year. anytime roger stone is mentioned, it's hard to divorce politics from anything, is it not? >> obviously roger stone coming off just being prosecuted by the justice department, but commuted and pardoned by the president in the aftermath, he's certainly as close a trump ally as he is. his own conduct was prosecuted, his own conduct in relation to the 2016 election, and how he just, you know, misled investigators about that, was prosecuted, and he was held accountable for that. he got out of it because of the way the president dealt with it. he's a lightning rod in many ways, but i don't think the justice department would shy away from that, from going after anything related to him. they've been very open about includes things includes him, court documents, obviously, there were these people there to protect him at this event. my guess is that their nets will be cast far and wide and they'll look at his role and anyone else's role in any of this. i don't think that they will run from the politics or, you know, the hot button issues of it. this is the most serious investigation they say they've had in decades. >> if the justice department doesn't want to inject politics, roger stone may be hoping to inject politics. >> what do you know about the pace of this investigation? >> frankly nothing, because -- you know, there's so many cases, and some of them are fairly low level. those kinds of negotiation will happen with defense lawyers all the time. the real issues is whether there's a way to move up the chain and whether there's a conspiracy charge that could be brought against leaders who didn't necessarily participate on january 6th, but to quote merrick garland at his confirmation hearing, he's concerned about the groups and what's behind them and looking at this in a bigger context. i think if we start hearing about plea deals that involve cooperation and it's cooperating up, that i think will be significant. but the mere fact of plea deals themselves is sort of a nonevent. michael schmidt and andrew weissman, thank you both for your time. draping themselves around donald trump, the latest crop of right-wing republicans pledging their loyalty and hoping for that coveted endorsement. how that is all plays, coming up next. ays, coming up next we look up to our heroes. idolizing them. mimicking their every move. and if she counts on the advanced hydration of pedialyte when it matters most... so do we. hydrate like our heroes. ♪♪ when you buy this plant at walmart, they can buy more plants from metrolina greenhouses so abe and art can grow more plants. so they can hire vilma... and wendy... and me. so, more people can go to work. so, more days can start with kisses. when you buy this plant at walmart. ♪♪ are you willing to do what it takes to fight for america? our ancestors sacrificed their blood, their sweat, their tears, that is fortens and sometimes their lives to give us, their descendants, an american that is the greatest nation in world history. so i have a question for you -- are you willing to do the same? >> that was congressman mo brooks at the rally before the deadly insurrection on january 6th that took the lives of five people. a staunch supporter of the former guy, is now riding the trump wave and throws his hat in the ring for the alabama senate seat that will be vacated by richard shelby in 22022. another trump ally, former governor of missouri, who resigned from office after allegations of sexual misconduct, will run for roy blunt's open seat in missouri. will rucker, and mike murphy, gop strategist. mike, let me start with you, because the word "future" is in your title. did eric greitens and mo brooks in the deliberate upper chamber representing the republican party? >> well, you know, we're going to find out. generally political futures are not the same as political paths. right now there's an assumption that trump is godzilla in the primary. i think he's in the rear-view mirror. i don't know a year from now, when the talk is over and voting starts in republican primaries if he'll have anywhere near the grip he has now. there's some polls out that shows that different faction of the republican party. there's a fair amount of an ala republican primary, something that i hate to insult all my friends in alabama, a state i know well and have worked in and have great fondness for, but mo brooks is a clown and he is a secessionist, and it would be tragic if they besmirched the party by electing him in a primary but i will say he's a formidable candidate. i think greitens or governor duct tape, i can't pronounce his name correctly, i apologize, in missouri, is going to have even more headwinds. because he's been involved in a lot of personal scandals that cut even among republican primary voters, evangelicals and other key groups so we will see. it's an open question what the future is going to look like in those two states. >> i don't know, phil, i'm going to go with eric greitens, former governor of missouri. but phil, you know, here we have the chasm between republican party elders who are looking past the primary to the general and the republican party voters and the base who seem still very much entranced by the pixie dust of the former president. i mean, where do you think this ends up? where do you think the momentum in the party is, and who is -- who has their hands on the captain's wheel? >> well, the momentum in the party base is clearly with trump right now, but that's largely because there's not any sort of rival leader of the republican party at the moment, and as mike was just saying, that could change a year from now when these primary elections are actually taking place because there's going to be jockeying heading into the next presidential election of people who are going to try to help lead the republican party into a new or different direction and a new generation, and that could potentially provide some competition to trump in terms of the leadership of the party. alabama, there seems to be in toppling trump there, but there are some other states where there will be primary campaigns for the senate that could be much more complicated. pennsylvania's one of them where the base of the republican party is with trump, but having that trump endorsement could be sort of a scarlet letter in the general election. obviously, trump lost the state of pennsylvania when he was on the ballot last november and is not popular there overall in the state when you talk about the general election. >> mike, you know, trump has a list of enemies and he is clearly going down that list, people who spoke out against him or said the election was free and fair in november, they're all on that list and near the top is brad raffensperger, the secretary of state in georgia who is one of the foremost voices inside the party saying, this vote was -- this was a free and fair election. trump released a statement -- this is not actually a tweet, though, it is worded a lot like a tweet. wow, just heard the good news. one of our most outstanding congressmen, jodi, has announced he's running for secretary of state in the great state of georgia, trump said. unlike the current georgia secretary of state, he leads out front with integrity. i mean, how real are these threats? how much is this something that really -- go ahead. >> well, in the republican primary, at least now, again, there's no voting now so this is all noise, but it is real. that's a conservative primary, but the state is evolving. raffensperger's got some strength and he's a pretty strong candidate. jody is a congressman from a republican district which means he's got a base in a primary which will be formidable but he hasn't had a competitive election in a long time. what this is telling me is trump is driven by grievance, insecurity, and revenge, which, you know, makes him get up in the morning and he can have an impact on those primaries, but step one is, you know, will he campaign in a primary in a way that just makes it all a rehash of the last election? he also doesn't like the governor there, governor kemp, who's extremely formidable politically, so raffensperger, i doubt, will be totally alone. the second thing is what you brought up. being the trumpy candidate in a competitive general election state if you win the primary is no ticket to washington. if pennsylvania replaces pat toomey as nominee with a super trump-y republican, it's dead, the democrats pick up that seat. it's done. big problem for the senate republicans, i'm sure mitch mcconnell loves the idea of a crazy trumper being the nominee in pennsylvania and it could also put georgia in play if hice -- the congressman in the primary against raffensperger really goes into a trump suck-up phase with trump running around trying to constantly relitigate the actual known facts of the last election. so, georgia could be another republican train wreck thanks to trump. so, a lot of -- a lot of maneuvering yet to happen. >> i just wonder, though, phil, in terms of trump running around and gumming up the works, trump also gets people to the polls, right? i mean, if we're talking about georgia, we look at kelly loeffler's defeat, some people say, oh, it's because she pledged too much allegiance to donald trump. other people say, it's because trump didn't go down to the state enough. even with -- in hindsight, it's hard to know exactly how to analyze the losses in that race and trump's role in them. >> it really is, but the -- alex, the 2022 midterm elections are going to be different in one regard, which is that trump is not on the ballot and he also doesn't have anything personally at stake. he drove people to the polls in 2016 and 2020 because he was at the top of the ballot and then in 2018, he very effectively drove turnout in a number of those key senate battlegrounds in those midterms because the stake -- the future of his agenda was at stake in terms of which party controlled the house and the senate, but now he's a former, he's out of office, he doesn't have much personally on the line and so it will be sort of a test to see whether he can translate all of that support to mobilizing his supporters around these other candidates. >> he is still issuing statements that read a lot like tweets. just in case anybody doesn't already know that. >> that's true. >> phil rucker and mike murphy, thank you for your time. the next hour of "deadline white house" starts right after this quick break. line white house" starts right after this quick break man: condos, 150k. [ traffic passing by ] sorry, bud. thanks. switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. you know, like the sign says. alright, back to work. we need to reduce plastic waste in the environment. that's why at america's beverage companies, our bottles are made to be re-made. not all plastic is the same. we're carefully designing our bottles to be one hundred percent recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle, and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back. keeping your oysters business growing that completes the circle, and rhas you swamped.aste. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo 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. ten lives have been lost and more families have been shattered by gun violence in the state of colorado. and jill and i are devastated and the feeling -- i just can't imagine how the families are feeling. the victims whose futures were stolen from them, from their families, from their loved ones, who now have to struggle to go on and try to make sense of what's happened. >> hi again, everyone, it is 5:00 in new york. i'm alex wagner in for nicole wallace. president joe biden is filling the role yet again of consoler in chief to a grieving nation, one reeling after another senseless mass shooting. yesterday, ten people, including one police officer, were killed in a grocery store in boulder, colorado, the nation's second mass shooting in a week. democrats are renewed in their push for meaningful gun reform and biden emphasized the urgency of gun safety legislation. >> i don't need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save the lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the house and senate to act. we can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country. >> we are expecting to hear from the president again this hour and we will bring you his remarks live. reporting in "the new york times" details how this moment may force gun reform to become a larger focus in biden's agenda. in 2020, gun control was given a prominent place on biden's campaign website, but it had been a back burner concern for an administration single mindedly focused on the pandemic. that could change after the attacks in boulder and if so, mr. biden's successes and failures over the past three decades are likely to inform how he addresses the issue as president. as vice president, he pushed for more reforms in the wake of the sandy hook shooting in 2015. and as the "times" points out, gun control was an issue biden pledged during his campaign to be a priority. >> to the voices who offer those empty words of sympathy and our prayers go out to you, and then oppose -- oppose a change in any way that would cure this god awful problem, i've beaten the national rifle association twice, passed meaningful gun legislation at a federal level and i'll do it again. and i want to tell you, if i'm elected, nra, i'm coming for you and gun manufacturers, i'm going to take you on and i'm going to beat you. i'm the only one who's going to. >> nothing is perhaps more symbolic of america's gun violence epidemic than the flags at the white house being flown at half-staff yet again today, only a few hours after they had been lowered from half-staff to honor the victims of last week's shootings in atlanta. with new leadership in washington and the lives of 18 individuals cut short just in the past week, from mass shootings, our country is at an inflection point, underscored in this tweet from senator chris murphy of connecticut who took office soon after newtown. the senator writes, this is the moment to make our stand. now. today, our movement is stronger than the gun lobby. they are weak. we are potent. finally, a president and a congress that supports gun reform. no more newtowns, no more parklands, no more boulders. now, we make our stand. the new administration's fight for gun reform is where we start this hour. matt viser, reporter for the "washington post" is here, also with us, eugene robinson, and a.b. stoddard, real clear politics associated editor and columnist. thank you all for joining me. matt, let me start with you. you know, we know from reporting that the biden administration was prepared for a full-throated push on infrastructure. how much do you think those priorities are getting reshuffled in the wake of these shootings? >> significantly. it's notable, alex, that this is the second week in a row where the biden white house has tried to embark on the help is here tour and just like last week, it was derailed on a trip to atlanta by the shootings there. today, it's overshadowed by the shootings in colorado. so, i do think it's reshuffling things a little bit. you heard biden before he left talk more aggressively and frankly, for those who want to see action on gun control, it was a biden that has been missing in the first part of the administration. biden last year, as the clips you just aired showed, was very committed to this, talking about it as a day one priority in terms of background checks and assault weapons bans, but in the first couple of months, biden has not put this at the top of the list on what he's been talking about and what he's been using the presidential bully pulpit to address. so, i think many are expecting there will be a shift, and that this will become more of a priority for biden to talk about. he's in the right position for a lot of people like chris murphy but he hasn't sort of elevated it to a presidential level discussion with other priorities taking precedent. >> eugene, when we talk about the shift shifting to something like gun safety and the violence that's inherent in the issue, it dovetails directly with the essence of biden, which is to heal the country and grief is so central to his presidency, right? he's come in here in a moment of extraordinary economic pain, social isolation, a health crisis, this is very much part of that same portfolio, the country is in pain, the country is scared. it seems like it would be hard for joe biden not to take this up, given what else he's doing in a similar vein. >> it would be hard for him not to take it up. on the other hand, does this become yet another thing, big thing that joe biden could get done if it weren't for that pesky filibuster, right? because it is going to run into -- if he does take this on, and frankly, it's hard for me to imagine him actually prioritizing gun reform, gun safety ahead of the big infrastructure build back better climate, which was kind of next on the agenda and talking about $3 trillion. that's a pretty heavy lift. but however he prioritizes it, he's going to run into the reality of the u.s. senate and the reality is that he can get all kinds of gun safety reforms through the house, but it's unclear to me what, if anything, he can get through the senate if he needs 60 votes. >> a.b., we're -- where is the republican party on this these days? i mean, you know, when we talk about other high priority issues in the senate in particular, we've been talking a lot about voting rights, being -- perhaps being the thing that tips us out of filibuster land. maybe it's gun safety reform. it certainly doesn't animate the republican base the way that fraudulent elections seem to and perhaps that means there will be less republican resistance if you look at the polling numbers on this. 77% of republicans approve of background checks. does that change the political calculus, perhaps, in the upper chamber? >> unfortunately, expanded background checks has polled sometimes at more than 80% for years while republicans have continued to resist this. this is an issue of great importance to joe biden but there's also a reason, eugene's right, why he did not put it on the front burner of his agenda because he knows there are not ten republicans, he knows very intimately how hard joe manchin and pat toomey worked on this while he was in the white house, biden does, and he knows that those ten republicans don't exist today, and so the problem for the democratic coalition is, it's much more diverse than the republican coalition, as we've seen, which has become more unified and sort of purified under the years of donald trump, and even though the power of the nra is vastly diminished from the newtown period, manchin, toomey fighting for their bill in the senate, the single issue activists still continue to dominate the primary electorate for republicans, and so even though that lobbying arm is really weakened, they still have single-issue voters who turn out in primaries in huge numbers based on the abortion question and guns, and this is just not something the democrats have, and even after parkland, everyone thought it was -- this is really going to mobilize and galvanize young voters and they're going to turn out in huge numbers in north carolina and in florida and they're going to be a factor in the midterm elections, it's going to help with this agenda and that just wasn't the case. and so even though the nra is diminished, trump is gone, it's not even part of the conversation for republicans, they are trade of one thing, which is losing their primary elections and that's why they're not going to budge on this. >> let me pose that question to eugene in terms of the atrophying of the nra and concurrent with the rise of gun safety advocacy organizations outspending pro-gun groups in the 2018 midterms. do you agree with a.b. that this landscape essentially remains unchanged in terms of the political dynamics from outside groups? >> well, in terms of -- yeah, in terms of the political dynamic inside the republican party, and inside republican primaries, i totally agree with a.b. the dynamic is there are these voters who care passionately about guns. there are second amendment voters who vote in republican primaries and who are going to vote for the -- for -- who are not going to vote for the candidate who wants to entertain ideas about new restrictions on gun ownership, however sensible these restrictions are. they're just not going to do it. and so, republican office holders pay attention to those primary voters because if they don't win the primary, they're gone, right, and that's this -- it's a diseased dynamic that is actually controlling politics in washington because it's a minority of a minority that is running the show in terms of these republican senators. but that's the way it is. >> and matt, so, matt, we're back to square one with the biden administration here, right? we know -- this is an issue he cares about. he talked a lot about on the campaign trail. he is going to be -- he is talking about it today. he will be presumably talking about it in the days that follow, but the biden administration has been tactical on a lot of these issues, so ultimately, where do we go from here? >> well, it's interesting, as eugene and a.b. were pointing out where it's really animated the republican base but you also saw in this last presidential primary the way that it animated the democratic base as well. that's why we have those clips that you played ahead of this where biden was at these forums, moms demand action, mike bloomberg put a lot of money into these forums and really elevated the issue among democratic primary voters to press candidates on these things. so, i also think it's kind of polarized, you know, both sides are sort of heading in different directions. so, i do think that biden now does have a struggle and eugene was alluding to the filibuster, which makes it even harder to imagine, but you also have to get all the democrats, even if you got rid of the filibuster, and joe manchin right now is not even on board with the house legislation that was passed, much less something much more ambitious that biden wants to do on an assault weapons ban or gun buyback programs, other things that he ran on that are politically impractical right now, given the dynamics in the senate. so, i mean, i do think that biden focuses probably on other things but i also think he, you know, there's going to be pressure for him to use the bully pulpit on the white house for him to try to elevate this issue, you know, and maybe it's a thing that you don't get much legislation yet but you use it in the next midterms to try and unseat and change the political dynamics in washington. >> well, the medium term game here, a.b., seems to be -- i mean, every data point of the last month has been, we could do this if not for the filibuster, and it's democrats saying it on literally every issue. we could have a better democracy. we could have a more enfranchised voting public. we could be doing infrastructure. we could be doing -- like, every sentence ends with, if not for the filibuster. and one wonders whether at one point we are going to find the straw that breaks the camel's back, could this be it? i mean, is that the inevitable conclusion to all of this is the ending of the filibuster and is this furthering that argument? >> well, it might well be, but what matt talked about in terms of the timing for the president who's so just passionately wants to keep the focus on covid relief right now and trying to repair the economy and build back better and talking up this $1.9 trillion package around the country so that voters really feel it, they know that the vaccines are on the rise and they know that help is, quote, on the way, but this white house really wants to sort of right the wrongs that they talk about from 2009, haunted by the fact that they didn't seem to really promote their first stimulus and they really want voters to feel this. and these two shootings in the last two weeks really are a lesson in distraction. they're tragic and there are substantive policy questions but you get into a filibuster fight right now, no one's going to remember the covid relief, the american rescue plan, and the administration is keenly aware of that. >> yeah, eugene, a.b. makes that great point. they are battling these -- the biden administration comes in battling these existential crises, right, to the american public, to the -- again, american -- our public health, the american economy, and then is thrown these curveballs, if you will, obviously, they are tragedies but in terms of the momentum they are seeking to carve out here out of this just -- just seemingly inexorable pit. how do you read their trajectory in the coming weeks and months, given all this? >> well, joe biden's certainly been around long enough to know that, you know, you can lay out an agenda and the last two weeks were supposed to be about promoting the rescue act and letting everybody know what was in it and selling it and events happen. stuff happens that can distract you, and so what they seem to be doing is they're trying to keep their focus. they're trying to continue on, but they have to take into account the fact that these are horrific events that you have to pay attention to and you have to say and do something about. i would be surprised, though, if this were the issue on which they wanted to have the filibuster fight. i think it would be much more likely, for example, on hr1 or some variation of hr1 on voting rights, which is an issue that i think you can -- you can unite democrats around in a way that you maybe couldn't get every single democrat on board for the gun reform that biden wants. >> basically, it has to be an issue that joe manchin and kyrsten sinema can get on board with. >> pretty much. >> matt, eugene, and a. b., thank you for starting us off this hour. when we return, the uphill battle against disinformation, a stunning new report finds that facebook struggled to contain as many as 10 billion page views sharing false or misleading information, often from violent domestic extremist groups leading up to the 2020 election. that's next. and an illinois city becomes the first in the country to pay reparations to its african-american residents for historic discrimination. and it could become a blueprint for similar programs nationwide. 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meantime, a stunning new report highlights how facebook's effort at combatting misinformation appear to have been too little and too late. the activist group avas claims that facebook could have prevented ten billion views on pages sharing false claims about the 2020 election if it hadn't waited until october to stem the tide of misinformation and while facebook has pledged to crack down on the presence of extremist groups promoting violence on its platforms, its efforts may not be enough. from "mother jones," at the time avaaz completed its report, the organization found that 118 of these groups were still active and continued promoting violence to a combined following of nearly 27 million. a spokesperson for facebook disputed the report's methodology and claimed facebook has done more than any other internet company to combat harmful content. joining us now is clint watts, distinguished research fellow at the foreign policy research institute and nick thompson, ceo of "the atlantic." clint, let me start with you. is it possible -- i mean, the landscape of misinformation is so vast, is it possible to actually stop the proliferation of misinformation on the internet, and what role does facebook play at this point in time? >> there's a couple challenges. one, no one imagined what it would be like for everybody to be their own printing press, and that's essentially what people have the ability to do right now. they can make content faster than anybody could police it. second dimension of this is no one is in agreement about what should be policed. if you went to capitol hill today, one political persuasion would say that it's free speech and vice versa and that changes over time. very dynamic. third sort of aspect of this is, what is misinformation or disinformation really comes down to where you evaluate people's opinions versus the news and that is very unclear in the social media space. who's a journalist, who is a news producer, versus who is stating their opinion? and i think the last sort of thing to think about is it can be stopped or taken down much more aggressively and that's by focusing on the most prolific offenders. usually, it is a small cadre that produces the largest volume of disinformation and misinformation and the earlier you do it the better because it stems it over time so if you want to get away from billions of views, you need to stop it very early on and that's probably where facebook could have done better. >> nick, i sort of wonder from a layman's perspective and it is a blunt metaphor but whether this is not whack-a-mole. when you hear about users being kicked off facebook, they find another platform to organize on and spread misinformation. if it's not parler, it's something else. to what degree can you stop the mushrooming of sites that will accommodate misinformation? >> one thing, i think, to remember about facebook is it is whack-a-mole on facebook but facebook has also hat mole food in its algorithm for the last ten years so the most important thing for facebook to do is to remove the mole food to make it not as profitable to make it not as beneficial to put outlandish material that activates the sort of hyperpartisan misinformation types of our brain. so that's part of it. the central thing that facebook needs to do is reckon with its algorithm and the ecosystem it created. it is also entirely true, though, that as facebook cracks down more, new platforms pop up. so a lot of people say, facebook should just basically ban all the republicans. well, what is that going to do? first of all, facebook's not going to do it because they want to be a platform that connects the whole world. secondly, it doesn't follow any coherent philosophy. third of all, if you even did any group or any class they would move to another platform and facebook, which does actually try, right, you can critique facebook and say it doesn't do a good enough job but facebook genuinely tries. you move everyone off facebook, you made the problem you're concerned about better or worse? >> clint, i apologize in advance, we may need to go to the president but i want to get one question in to you if i can, which is, to what degree is the federal government even the appropriate party to be establishing the guardrails? i mean, the internet, silicon valley, these are huge industries that are very complicated. there are a set of ethical and technological questions that need to be answered. can they best be answered? can they best be regulated by those sitting in the capitol hill? >> well, the unspoken truth is that the worst offenders on many of these platforms are the elected officials that use facebook, use twitter, use these social media platforms to advance their message. they're the ones buying ads oftentimes that are, you know, skirting the rails around what is misinformation or disinformation. i think a big thing that could be done is deciding what the harm is that is being, you know, occurring on these platforms and then measure from that what needs to be done. for example, if vaccine uptake is not occurring because there's so much misinformation and disinformation, that's a very clear harm, then the social media companies should be going after it. extremism, we talked about january 6th, but this has been going on for a decade. without a terrorist designation process, it's very difficult for social media to go ahead and mitigate many of these threats because there's debate about who should be policed or not. so i think setting some guardrails is totally possible if we can figure out what the harms are and what the public safety measures are we want to take. >> nick, i'm going to quote an "atlantic" story and again, i will issue the same apology, we may have to cut away to the president who's making remarks momentarily. the science of making americans hurt their own country. this is an excellent article by anne applebaum but it is easy to make americans believe disinformation because we are prone to sensationalistic -- we like sensationalism in this country. i'm paraphrasing grossly. everybody should read the article. that is a fundamental flaw in our own system, in our own data processing centers. and unwinding that in the 21st century seems like an impossibility. >> it's a very hard problem. first of all, i will happily yield to the president. you have to cut away, as long as he says true things. to your question, one of the things that anne was writing about was actually the first thing that clint said in his fabulous comments to start this off. one of the things that happened to the american media and information ecosystem, because of the technology platforms, is everything got flattened. it was hard to distinguish between a publisher that had fact checkers and one that did not. it was a massive change to our information ecosystem that happened really quickly, and we haven't caught up. we haven't figured out how to handle this problem. and so that is part of what anne is talking about is that this broken information ecosystem -- >> clint watts and nick thompson, thank you. president biden has been introduced in columbus, ohio. let's listen to the president. >> as the congresswoman said earlier today at the white house, i addressed the mass shooting in boulder, colorado. while the investigation is ongoing, and i spent time on the telephone with the attorney general as well as the head of the fbi, the investigation is still ongoing. my heart goes out to the families of the victims and the survivors. i want to commend the heroic actions of officer eric talley, the father of seven children, who left for work yesterday morning assuming he would be able to go home. and for the ultimate sacrifice he made for others. now, let me turn to why i came today to talk about initially the american rescue plan and the progress we're making on tackling covid. tamika, thank you for sharing your stories and what you're doing. my daughter is also a social worker and you have a profound impact on people's lives. and all you do to connect folks here in ohio with the coverage and care they need. i want to thank joyce, congresswoman, for sticking with me during the day and marcy, my old friend, good to see you, marcy, thanks for being here. and tim ryan. i always kid with tim, if i've got to be a fox hole, he's the guy i want to be with. he always keeps his word, does exactly what he says he's going to do, and it's great seeing you, tim. my best to the family. madam president, thanks for having served in the obama/biden administration. you're doing an incredible job here. and all the docs that are here that i got a chance to meet with today. thank you. you are an incredible group of individuals. i also want to thank sherrod brown who wanted to be here today but had to be in washington to cast important votes in the united states senate. look, i want everybody to be aware that there are three key parts to the american rescue plan all my colleagues supported here. first, we're going to more rapidly acquire and we set out to more rapidly acquire enough vaccine to vaccinate every single american quicker than anticipated. and with my covid team went through and the use of the defense production act, we have been able to organize and help increase the number of doses and much shorter time, so by the end of may, we're going to have on hand roughly 600 million doses, enough for every american, and the american rescue plan is also going to provide funding for more vaccination, vaccination sites, vaccinators, and the paraphernalia needed to put that vaccine in one's arm. in addition, there is a second important piece of that plan. it's focused on dealing with the economic deprivation so many americans have become subject to consequences of this virus through no fault of their own. millions have lost their jobs and are still out of work. around 11 million children in america are going hungry through no fault of their own but as a result of the pandemic and the economic crisis millions of americans are not able to maintain their mortgage payments or rental payments and have found themselves on the verge of being evicted and having their homes repossessed. we stepped in and we prevented that from happening with the american rescue plan. hundreds of thousands of businesses are now not going to go under but they're going to have an idea -- an opportunity to reopen and have the financial assistance to be able to do it the right way and safely. schools closed and children losing up to a year or more in learning capacity, you're ahead in ohio but across the nation, help was badly needed and now we've provided the funding for that. because of isolation and violence against women is up, abuse of children is up and the need for mental health problems, the consequences of them is up as a consequence of covid. and in addition to that, suicides are up. the second -- so, second, the american rescue plan brings relief to a population that's badly hurting. and one more element of response is that first and foremost, as a commitment to getting americans $1,400 check per person, including per child, so a firefighter and a schoolteacher making $120,000 combined with two kids are going to get a direct payment of $5,600. in cash. if they already have a -- an account online with the irs, which many do, by tomorrow, we will have distributed 100 million of those checks. just since the legislation passed, we're on the verge of doing that as of tomorrow. but for someone who doesn't have direct deposit, they're getting a check in the mail for all that. so, we expand the child -- we also expanded the child care tax credit. right now, if you file your federal income tax, you get to a $2,000 deduction for every child you have. but if you're making a minimum wage, you don't earn enough to file for federal taxes but because of the american rescue plan, if you have two children, for example, under the age of six, you're going to get a check for $3,600. if you have -- a child and so if you have two children, $7,200. it's estimated this will do more to end child poverty in america than anything we've ever done. there's also the earned income tax credit. if you're over the age of 19 and not a full-time student, and you're a childless worker, now you will get a check for $1,500 if you file. small businesses not only will be able to borrow the money to keep the businesses afloat, but get loan forgiveness and approving your business to get back in the game and by the way, all of this, economists left right and center argue and acknowledge will create 7 million more jobs and increase economic growth, increase economic growth. there's so much more, but help is here. but i'm here in this great hospital to talk about a third way to help, and that's for your -- third type of help and that's healthcare. i just concluded a tour of the radiation oncology department here at the james cancer center, which expanded thanks to a $100 million grant in the affordable care act that sherrod brown was instrumental in making happen. that's in addition to the research funding ohio state received under the beau biden cancer moon shot. because of our investments, this department has gone from being able to treat 60 to 70 patients a day to nearly 300 a day. this place is a source of hope. i have said that i want to -- when i ran, i said i wanted to be the president who would preside over the end of cancer as we know it. we see the strides we've made, you talk to the docs and the researchers, i can tell you, it's within our reach. we're all benefitting from the breakthroughs pioneered by the defense department, for example, research agency called darpa which helped bring us everything from the internet to gps. well, i'm going to be proposing to my friends in congress that we launch a similar operation at the department of -- at the department of health. a new effort to deliver health breakthroughs, find cures for cancer and other diseases by investing billions of dollars that companies are not willing to do -- drug companies are not -- don't have the capacity. and i know we can do this, and i know we can find great breakthroughs. america does big things. 11 years ago today, president obama signed into law the affordable care act. historic achievement that would not have been possible but for the vision and determination of one of the most successful presidents in recent american history, barack obama. i might note paraphernalia parenthetically he was laughing. i didn't know what he was laughing about. he said, did you hear? they picked up what you said on the mic. all i could think was, thank god my mother wasn't around to hear it but look, on this anniversary, just remember how close we have come to losing that act we fought so hard for. and we have a duty not just to protect it but to make it better. and keep becoming a nation where healthcare is a right for all and not a privilege for a few. when i ran for president, i promised i would build on the foundation of the affordable care act and just 50 days into my administration, we've delivered on that promise with the american rescue plan. it does that by making healthcare more affordable. it means better coverage and lower premiums for millions of americans. if you're enrolled in obamacare, you're going to save an average of $50 a month. for a family of four earning $90,000 a year, that could save you $200 a month in savings. for a 60-year-old couple here in ohio earning $75,000 per year, it could save them about $1,000 per month and to maintain the same healthcare. that's $12,000 a year in your pocket that you didn't have before. because the american rescue plan, if you lost healthcare because you lost your job, or your hours were cut, we pay your contribution and your employer's contribution on a so-called c.o.b.r.a. that's what your employer-based health insurance was. and so, since if they've gone out of business or you're no longer there because you had to be laid off, you can stay covered for up to six months until you get back on your feet because we'll -- the federal government will cover both ends of that c.o.b.r.a. payment. for millions who are out of work and have no coverage, thanks to this law, there's an obamacare plan that most folks can get with $0 premiums. co-pays will still be there but $0 premiums. four out of five americans shopping on the obamacare marketplace can get quality healthcare with a premium of $10 a month or less. let me say that again. four out of five americans who shop for a plan will find one for $10 or less per month. it's especially important in communities that historically have gone without insurance at higher rates. very few communities that have always faced health disparities, brown, black, and asian, native american communities, have borne the brunt of the covid crisis. we're also making it easier to sign up for obamacare. we've opened healthcare.gov for special enrollments on february 15th and the first two weeks alone, more than 200,000 americans gained coverage. today, i'm pleased to announce we've extended that period to run through august 15th. just go to healthcare.gov or call the national hotline, 1-800-318-2596. that's 1-800-318-2596. a few clicks, a short conversation, that's all it takes to start seeing these benefits. increase coverage and lower premiums. i'll close with this. with the american rescue plan and the affordable care act, millions of families will be able to sleep a little more soundly at night because they don't have to worry about losing everything if they get sick. i, like many of you, grew up in a middle class, i guess, technically lower middle class household based on income. we lived in a three-bedroom split level home with four kids and our grand pop living with us. and the walls were paper thin. i can remember lying in bed and hearing my dad rolling back and forth and i could tell there was something wrong. i remember asking my mom, next morning, what's the matter with dad? she said, honey, he's just worried. we just lost our health insurance. he no longer has coverage. people lying in bed wondering, my god, what happens? what happens? if, in fact, i get sick. what happens if i turn and she has breast cancer or i end up with a heart condition? what happens? and god forbid you're sitting on the edge of a hospital bed with someone you love like i did with my son, beau, as he was dying, and all you have to think about is, all they have to think about is getting better, not what happens if an insurance company could come in like they did before obamacare and say, sorry, you've outrun your coverage. i used to sit there and think, my god, what would happen? what would i do? that's the difference. we're going to keep building until every american has that peace of mind and to show that our government can fulfill its most essential purpose to care for and protect the american people. when we work together, we can do big things, important things, necessary things. we saw it 11 years with the affordable care act. we saw it 11 days ago when we marked the signing of the american rescue plan. but we're not done yet. last week, we met my goal that i announced of administering 100 million shots in my first 100 days in office. at the time, the press said that's awfully audacious. now that we've done it in 58 days, they're saying, boy, he sure set the bar awful low. well, this week, we're announcing a new goal, to get more people vaccinated. >> that is president biden making remarks recognizing the 11th anniversary of the affordable care act. announcing that as part of his administration's effort to expand healthcare to as many people as possible during the covid pandemic, the special enrollment period for obamacare will be extended until august 15th. giving americans an additional three months to enroll or reassess their coverage needs. let's bring in dr. roy, medical director of covid isolation and quarantine sites at housing works in new york city. dr. roy, thanks for joining me. the president announcing an extended enrollment period in august -- until august 15th, he cited in specific the fact that communities of color in particular have been hit hard in this covid pandemic. they are also the ones that have not been particularly enfranchised in the american healthcare system. i wonder if you believe that at this moment, one of the silver linings of the pandemic may be that we are beginning to address the structural inequities as far as communities of color and their access to healthcare. >> yeah, great to be with you, alex, and that's a really important question and issue that we really need to address head on. you're absolutely right in that communities of color, specifically black americans, native americans, hispanic men and women, all of these populations have been ignored, their health needs have been underaddressed or not addressed at all. i'm quite confident and it's unfortunate that it took a pandemic to really expose these existing cracks in our healthcare system, criminal justice system, social justice system, you name it, but i believe that it's being addressed now. we have an administration at the federal level that's clearly aware. in fact, they even appointed dr. nunes smith to address these issues, an equity expert who's also a physician and a public health expert. and within the medical community, i'll tell you, as a doctor, i'm seeing lots of training to address structural racism within hospitals and clinics and amongst healthcare professionals. it's going to take time, alex, but i'm optimistic we're moving in the right direction. >> i want to just get us all up to speed in terms of where we are with covid and vaccinations. you know, we know 25% of the country, i think, has gotten their first shot. there are vaccine holdouts, though. some of them may be the republicans who have said in polls that they do not intend on getting the vaccination. that, you know, world view may be a result of some of the disinformation that's being spread by members of their own party. but it is also communities of color who are skeptical of the vaccine because of historic, you know, racial, racist experiments conducted on them by the -- on the part of the federal government. how much are we winning this battle to bring them into the fold, these communities of color and get them vaccinated? do you feel optimistic that ultimately they will get the shot? >> yeah, so, i mean, if i could predict the future, i would say that, yes, this will all happen and all the people that are most vulnerable and who have been traditionally historically neglected will get the vaccine. it's going to take time, patience, and effort from all of us, particularly people in positions of authority, especially the medical community, but really, all comers. it's going to require -- from our leadership a lot of misinformation, as you point out, alex, from our political leaders, particularly from the previous administration, it was reckless. we need to make sure that the information that we're conveying is accurate and we need to simply listen. we need to partner with trusted members of black communities. that could be pastors. it could be other religious leaders. it could be barbershop owners, community activists, partner them with public health professionals, work together to listen. listen to what their concerns are, their questions are, and then within organizations and hospital systems and other systems, really tackle and address structural racism inherent unconscious bias and all those other issues that are acting as barriers to the care and treatment that people need and deserve, alex. >> healthcare is certainly a crossroads for other issues. dr. lipi roy, thank you so much for your time. when we return, a historic first in the fight for racial justice in this country as one illinois city authorizes reparation payments to its african-american residents. that is ahead. to its african-american residents that is ahead. we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa ♪ 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. there are a lot of people around the country hoping it is just a start, but still, it is an historic day in evanston, illinois, a suburb of chicago. that city is now the very first in america to make reparations available to some of its black citizens after generations of discrimination, particularly in the housing sector. evanston city council last night voted 8-1 to distribute $400,000 to eligible families for home repairs or down payments on property. the details of the plan, quote, the program is being funded through donations and revenue from a 3% tax on the sale of recreational marijuana. the city has pledged to distribute $10 million over 10 years. qualifying residents must either have lived in or been a district descendant of a black person who lived in evanston between 1919 and 1969 and who suffered discrimination in housing. joining us is staff writer for cobs. it does feel like a historic day. for people who don't understand, the housing sector, the housing market in america is really ground zero for structural racism. >> sure. i mean, there is a whole body of historical literature on this. literally you can just tick off the books that historians of this stuff know. and it is, you know, very clear that, you know, housing has been the major engine for wealth acquisition for american households. and, so, one is the compound effect of having a whole sector of the community, whole sector of the population excluded by and large from the ability to accrue equity in their homes, the ability to get a home loan, the ability to get into housing that would then become a means of financing college for their kids or their grandchildren or retirement. there is a whole set of compound effects here. and, so, it's not shocking at all that people were looking for someplace to begin pulling this ball of yarn that housing would be one key string that you could pull at. >> what i think will shock people is how recently this structural racism was being practiced. city leaders decided to first address housing following a report last year that showed how starting with the arrival of the first black resident in 1855, evanston, the city in question here, restricted where blacks could live. despite a fair housing law in 1968, evidence showed that as late as 1985, jelani, i believe you and i were alive at that point, real estate agents steered black renters and home buyers to a section of town where they were the majority. 1985. i think one of the meaningful things about this is we're talking about a group of people, this is not slavery, which was a long time ago. this is the 20th century. and for people who have trotted out the argument, oh, this happened a long time ago, why should we be doing this now, this neutralizes that argument entirely. >> it absolutely does. when people are talking about slavery, first off, slavery is not that long ago. we kind of see the impacts of that. but even if we didn't talk about that, even if we started from simply the 20th century and respotted people, all the discriminatory practices that happened before then, we would still have a huge debt, a huge set of inequalities that were engineered by public policy. and, so, this is not alarming or shocking. the other thing is that as housing was created, city after city after city evanston wasn't alone in this. this wasn't some unique policy. there were cities across the country that developed restrictive covenants in different policies, federal government policy that was enacted to prevent homes from being sold to african-americans or developments being built if they were going to be open to african-americans purchasing there. yeah, this is a huge concern and it is good to see that evanston has begun the conversation that we need to have in a much bigger context about this. >> folks in support of reparations, people engaged on a structural racism issue say as goes evanston perhaps sho could go the country. we're talking about a state-level initiative here and some people hope that this will be just a bellwether for what could be done at the federal level. are you optimistic about that? a lot of people say if you're really going to deal with the legacy of racism, you have to look at the u.s. government. >> sure. i mean, i think that there is a possibility. i don't think that we should have any illusions about this being kind of one and done situation. but this is a very protracted conversation that we're probably at the opening end of, the beginning of and it will go on even with far less controversial policies. it took us a century to get any form of health care. we still don't have a national health care plan. but even to get obamacare and medicare in place took decades. so this is the beginning of a conversation that will hopefully develop in something much bigger on a federal scale. >> we know that joe biden and kamala harris endorse reparations. a commission may be formed. things are moving on the front. thank you as always for your time. >> thank you. >> when we return, as we do every day, we will remember 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"the beat" with ari melber starts right now. >> thank you for your reporting and for those stories. i want to welcome everybody to "the beat." we begin tonight with the investigation and the other mourning going on in america, the mourning in boulder, colorado. the suspect out of the hospital in police custody, 21-year-old charged with ten counts of first degree murder. investigators still working on a motive. >> why did this happen? we don't have the answer to that yet and the investigation is in the very early stages and the investigators are working hard to determine that. >> authorities say all 10 victims had been identified, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends. the ages range from 20 to 65. it includes a police officer, eric tally, the first responder to get inside the store. he was a father of seven. colleagues say he loved his kids and family more than anything, that his entire life and career was about serving the community,