going again? it's way to early for this. >> welcome to way too early. it is monday, march 29. the latest news shows wide-spread approval for biden's priorities. 75% approve of vaccine distribution, 72% of the pandemic handling and the economic recovery. as vaccinations ramp up, the united states has hit a new record of shots administered. nearly 3.4 million doses of the pfizer, moderna and johnson&johnson vaccines were administered. bringing the seven-day average to 2.6 million shots per day. that number is expected to continue rising. the biden administration says 11 million doses of the johnson&johnson vaccine will be distributed this week. according to the response coordinator, the u.s. is still on track to deliver its goal of making shots available to all adults by the end of may. >> nice to kick off the morning with some good news. still this, some areas of the country are still seeing a rise of covid cases and a plateau of hospitalizations. >> it is not completely the variants. what we are likely seeing is because of things like spring break and pulling back on the mitigation methods you've seen now. several states have done that. i believe it is premature. i've said many times to you, when you are coming down from a big peak and you reach a point to start to plateau, once you stay at that plateau, you stay in danger of a surge coming up. that's what we are starting to see. >> president biden set to pitch the first half of $3 trillion infrastructure plan in pittsburgh in an effort to improve the country's roads, bridges and water systems. outlining a second bill to address health care and other social assistance programs. >> what the american people hear from him, the first step of his plan towards recovery will include an investment in infrastructure. he's going to have more to say later about the second part of his recovery plan which will include health care, child care, addressing that. the total package, we are working out. he'll address those. >> joining us now, white house correspondent and co-aa tore of "the playbook" eugene, it's great to have you on the show. it has been a long time since we've had an optimistic start to any day let alone, week. the polling we are seeing here, essentially the pandemic the covid relief bill, and vaccinations and economy is very strong. they have spent the last couple of weeks dealing with crisis, specifically the situation at the border. how does this set them up going into the spring where there are touch choices about what p to do next? >> every single president or administration would do anything at any time to have high numbers like this. this is just one poll but part of a trend we've seen since the very beginning of the presidency. people have seen the way president biden and the administration have taken care of the economy as something that they are very positive about. to your point, in this era of politics, we are not seeing public opinion really move congress or republicans to be more likely to act. it doesn't feel like that. we saw during the covid relief bill. it was always popular with the american public, yet we didn't see any republicans vote for it in the house or senate. it is really interesting. thinking about infrastructure in two ways with the roads, bridges, waterways. that's likely to get more republican support. the idea we saw during the campaign is that president biden is interested in raising taxes on wedgiest americans and big businesses and that's where he's going to lose any republican support. >> what does it look like at the end of the day, perhaps they are going to make some effort to say, okay, we are going to build a road in the district to patch up infrastructure and dare republicans to say no to that while working on, as you point out, what is becoming a massive climate package that they are going to use the budget program, reconciliation process to do. is this basically the last challenge to republicans to say, hey, we are thinking about getting rid of the filla buster. show us you are willing to work a little bit. >> i think president biden will want to do a little more than workup this extra bill. especially those that are very popular with the american people. if chuck schumer can continue to convince the american people, that filla buster, because it hasn't been used but if they can continue to push this idea that republicans will use it and do that as they try to put a road in the district and get rid of the potholes that are destroying your car tires. those are the things the american people are thinking of. we are not traveling. but people are going to work in places. if you can convince people, hey, we are trying to get roads and there is a lot of pressure we'll put on republicans. at least a few republicans in the house, maybe the senate, possibly. >> eugene daniels, thank you for kicking off on this monday morning. republicans and democrats made duelling visits to the southern border. their take aways could not have been more different. house democrats toured a facility of unaccompanied children. >> we are glad to see the administration is building up the capacity to handle kids who have prnted themselves for asylum. the right place for these kids is with their family or relative sponsors. they are better off here than in the cpp processing centers where we have seen not just in the last week but even before in years past, the conditions at the cpp processing centers with people sleeping with what looks like aluminum blankets. so this is a much better situation but not the right situation tore them. the biden administration is taking people who are testing positive for covid-19 and locking them in cages side by side. this is inhumane and wrong and direct consequence of the administration to stop building the wall, end the return and release policy. >> senator cruz sent the pictures of the cbb facility. humanitarian and public health crisis. >> the visits come a day after biden faced some questions at his first formal news conference as president. former president trump says he might visit the southern border claiming that many border officials have asked him to. >> a lot of people want me to. the border patrols and people of vice want me there. they've asked me to go. i feel i owe it to them. they are great people doing an incredible job. >> mr. president, when do you think that you would go? >> i say over the next couple of weeks, the border patrol wants me to go. >> okay. we're just gonna leave that there. still here, top moments of march madness. breaking down the winners and losers of the sweet 16. and biden says the justice department is looking into georgia's new voting law. we'll be right back. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette (vo) nobody dreams in conventional thinking. it didn't get us to the moon. it doesn't ring the bell on wall street. or disrupt the status quo. t-mobile for business uses unconventional thinking to help you realize new possibilities. like our new work from anywhere solutions, so your teams can collaborate almost anywhere. plus customer experience that finds solutions in the moment. ...and first-class benefits, like 5g with every plan. network, support and value without any tradeoffs. that's t-mobile for business. my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant™ with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™ janssen can help you explore cost support options. catch it. get it in. pass it on. reece. overtime in indy. >> alabama against ucla with overtime with that game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer. they never looked back. the bruins stemmed the tide going from the first four to elite eight. they'll meet top seeded michigan who won over florida state. sixth seeded usc is back for the first time since 2001 after the 82-68 victory over the number seven seed, oregon. the bull dogs advanced over creighton. elite eight featured a trio of teams tipped off tonight. houston over number 12 seed over top seeded baylor against number three arkansas. it has been an interesting year for all of our brackets. the women's tournament have reached the elite eight. sixth seeded texas with an upset over number two maryland. texas joins stanford, louisville and carolina. notably missing nc state which was the first number one seed to be eliminated. top seeded ucon and baylor top off today. turning now to olympic soccer. the u.s. will miss a third straight olympic tournament after the under 21 team lost to honduras. came off a mistake off a u.s. keeper. u.s. soccer will still have reputation in tokyo after, of course, the world cup champion women's team qualified last year. ahem, equal pay. they say golf is a game of inches and it is true. rafael learned it the hard way barely missing the final hole that would have pushed the tournament to a playoff. instead joel damon gets his first ever win on the tour. don't celebrate too early. also in golf, a civil rights group is urging the pga tour and masters to move out of georgia and away from the iconic augusta gulf club in the wake of the new voting bill. saying, quote, the pga tour and masters tournament have made efforts to address racial injustice. we not only speak out against the racist voter suppression law but also take action. now that would be a big deal. let's go to janessa webb with a check on the forecast. how are we starting off the week? >> good morning, i wish i could stick with the positive vibes but we have a dire situation happening across nashville and portions of tennessee. they are dealing with about six inches of rain in the last 24 hours. we have half a dozen communities that have been evacuated. the rain and river flooding that will be an issue. before we make its way out of the area. still, we are seeing the high tides in this area. we'll be watching that closely. i'll focus on the northeast. this is the exiting storm system that we saw over the weekend. this is our third severe outbreak. you can see it is moving out of the area. high wind, watches and advisories will be in place over the afternoon. we have had over 155 wind reports in the last 24 hours with cooler air. continue to see wind gusts up to 50 to 60 miles per hour throughout the afternoon across northern new england all the way into new york city. we are going to be watching the centrals here where you can see the upper midwest and another system making its way across the area. 55 to 75 mile an hour wind gusts and continue to watch the snow for the rockies. this last monday of march, we are still talking about snowfall up to 3 to 5 inches in that area. >> janessa webb, thank you. opening statements get underway today in the trial of derek chauvin. we'll be back in just a moment. t ♪ ♪ we know it's going to take many forms of energy to meet the world's needs while creating a cleaner future for all. at chevron, we're lowering the carbon emissions intensity of our operations, investing in lower-carbon technologies, and exploring renewable fuels of the future. we work hard to care for the homes we love. but it's only human... to protect the one we share. sales are down from last quarter webut we are hopinge things will pick up by q3. yeah...uh... doug? 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shaquille brewster on the ground there. authorities have partially refloated the evergiven. the ship responded to the pulling and toeing and modified the ship's course by 80% putting the stern 102 meters off shore. previously, it was just four meters off shore. they now plan to take advantage of the high tide. sending a message of reassurance to resume navigation once the vessel is fully floated. absolutely increedible. still ahead here, the quite over georgia's sweeping new rewrite to the voting rules. before we want to go to break, why are you awake. email us the reasons to why too early or to kasie use the #waytooearly. we'll use them later in the show. later in the show kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette is now a good time for a flare-up? enough, crohn's! for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis... stelara® can provide relief and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? 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>> we are taking a look as well. in a fiery statement, the president urged congress to pass the voting rights bill that would prevent restrictions like in georgia. he wrote in part, this is jim crow in the 21st century. it must end. we have a moral and constitutional act. urging people to pass the voter rights act and john lewis act to prevent attacks on the sacred right to vote. as the administration moves to shift, senator warnock says the country cannot simply move on. >> we have to work on our infrastructure, and our democracy. the only way we've got the prospects of getting things done is because people were able to show up and express their voices in the democracy. we wouldn't had passed the american rescue plan had the people in georgia not stood up the way they did, historic turnout. we have to do both of those things. >> joining us now, political reporter greg. thank you for getting up early with us. you've been reporting on some of the legal challenges as to what we saw happen in your home state last week. this seems inevitable to me. walk us through what those challenges are and what your reporting says about whether they are likely to succeed. >> there are now two sweeping lawsuits. one was signed hours and the other filed last night. they both say these new rules are a grab bag of voting restrictions that flout the constitutional rights of georgians and disproportionately affect voters of color. they could both be moving through courts. i expect them to be kind of lumped together but could move through courts the same time congress is facing increased pressure to pass legislation that would preempt all of this discussion. >> so greg, everyone knows court cases can take very, very long periods to ultimately be resolved. there are periods of appeals, possible it ends up in a higher court at some point. what is your sense of whether this law is going to be in effect when reverend warnock faces voters in two years. he was part of a special election and has to run for a full term. >> a lot of legal experts expect this to go to appeals court which is majority conservative. vote he there is pressure to pass some kind of voting law which would render these court fights meaningless and strike down the hurdles to pass the approval and other key pieces that democratic critics say are necessary now to block restrictions from elections from taking place. >> and greg, can i ask you, one thing that stuck out to me is the substantial businesses in atlanta, coca-cola, american airlines, we did a story about how the masters is coming under pressure over this law. what kind of impact could those companies have over this law as it goes forward? how much pressure are they going to come under also in the context of this? >> those companies like delta, home depot, coca-cola. the reason why voting rights advocates have not let up the pressure on them, they see georgia as the first in a sweep of battleground states that could be taking up these restrictions. they want to send messages now. i've seen a call of protests of those companies. there is pressure on georgia sports scenes and major league baseball not to hold the all-star. the final four not to pick atlanta as a site for its major event. so there is all sorts of pressure on the business community. earlier in this debate, they were pretty much on the sidelines. they tipped toed through it. >> thank you for getting up with us. we'll take a look at this weekend's episode of saturday night live and the cast's totally different take on passover. >> police straining is like pilot training. it has to be perfect or people will die. ll die ice t, stone cold calling on everyone to turn to cold washing with tide. ♪ this is a cold call! ♪ hello, my name is ice t. can you spare a few seconds to learn about cold water washing with tide? 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(grandpa) phone it in, why don't ya?! ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ it doesn't happen often. everyday people taking on the corporate special interests. 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. i'm just a comedian. i don't have the answers but i'm not just looking them online, i'm looking around me. the grandmother who fought against her attackers raised thousands and she gave it back to the community. in mandarin, there is a cheer that says, basic bbly fuel up. i say that to myself, fuel up. do more. the year of a metal ox which basically means a car. get in. no pee breaks. >> that was on saturday night live discussing what can really be done to help the asian community. former host rudolph. enjoyed calling out the florida spring breakers and her kamala harris and her unity seder. ted cruz, marjory taylor green also made an appearance featuring the couple in some racy predicaments. harris's step son had the reaction anyone would have. >> listen to me, girl, i support you. every time you look around from there. >> cannot blame you. can't blame you. meanwhile, it almost looked like prepandemic times as 5,000 coronavirus-tested rock fans packed a stadium. the first concert that big. everyone attending had to pass a same-day screening and those with preexisting conditions were asked not to sign up. all there were asked to wear high-quality face coverings and agree to inform authorities if they come down with symptoms after the event. and they had no outbreaks. maybe there is in our future. now this. prince william has been named world sexiest bald man according to a new report by the sun. the world's other famous bald men had a lot to say about it. finding several references of the prince as sexy. he beat out mike tyson, pitbull and michael jordan. dwayne the rock johnson when he stated, how in the cinnamon toast does this happen when larry davis still has a pulse. and posting a grid of qualified famous bald men including bruce willis and others. so many wonderful choices. take a close look. you might have missed actor ryan reynolds who is not bald is on there to which, reynolds commented, wait, dot, dot, dot. i'm not sure about that but we'll go with it. next, we'll check in with dr. patel on the coronavirus. 48 years ago, the last combat troops left south vietnam ending the u.s.'s direct military involvement in the vietnam war. >> i'm standing here today in hanoi, the american military involvement finally came to an end. if anything or anyone symbolized the american agony as the prisoners. they became instruments of peace. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette facing leaks takes strength. so here's to the strong, who trust in our performance and comfortable long-lasting protection. because your strength is supported by ours. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. 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[♪♪] when you have diabetes, managing your blood sugar is crucial. try boost glucose control. the patented blend is clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. boost glucose control products contain high quality protein and key nutrients to support immune health. try boost. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. welcome back. as experts warn of eligible wit states urging appointments. kansas, louisiana, north dakota ohio, oklahoma and texts are joining these other states. absent are many states in the northeast where recent spikes have come from. minnesota are allowing eligible adults to book appointments on tuesday with indiana and others following on wednesday. joining us now, dr. patel. former obama white house representative. it is nice we've had more positive news on the covid front than we have in recent weeks. the fact that people are opening eligiblity to get this vaccine. when is it that you think it will be relatively easy, we won't be clicking on links and watching them disappear? >> i can tell your experience of this on a personal level. look, we've administered about 100 million shots so far. i do think the biden administration will meet their goal of 200 million by the first hundred days which i never thought would be possible. a couple of things made it happen, the supply partially evoked by the act being trigorred to basically get 24/7 access to pfizer, moderna and johnson&johnson. when president biden set this may deadline, i think these states, the ones you listed which are majority republican governed said, we'll beat it. that's great. to your question, we are still going to be about another month before you can kind of walk in and say, this is the vaccine i want, where can i go and get it? it is still coming along with an impressive click with more sites being populated on a day-to-day basis. >> thank you. after a year of this that month doesn't seem too far away. to what point was the politicization of the mask wearing, do you think we'll see that in the vaccination arena as well? how concerned are one, you'll still have people who haven't actually gotten them. how does that affect the rest of us who decide that we want to be vaccinated. and what do we need to be doing to try to convince people that this is safe and effective and helps everyone? >> i think having those conversations actually do work. i find that when tell me, no, i don't want the vaccine, and if i actually try to probe and don't try to blame or judge and ask, what are you thinking, a lot of women in reproductive age are still concerned about effects it might have on taking a vaccine and effects on a future pregnancy. addressing though, one, takes time. and two, i think it takes a conversation with a health professional that actually understands the data, more specifically, somebody who's looked at the trials. and to your point, we are going to have a point after which we still have probably tens of millions of americans who do not want to receive a vaccine. and i want people towns, herd immunity isn't an on and off light switch. it's like a dimmer dial. so the more and more people we can get vaccinated sooner rather than later, the earlier kind of a return to normal happens. i actually think that incentive matters. i think you'll start to see a lot of employee workplaces and other places get vaccines after the country has had a chance to get them, and they will try to make it easier for some of those more reluctant staff. because, right now, you have to really work to get the vaccine. but for those who don't want it, as it becomes easier and more convenient to get it, i think we'll be able to address. there are always people who do not want vaccines for multiple reasons, and we have to remember that it is a medical procedure, getting that shot and we have to remind people what not getting it could mean for them. >> dr. kavita patel, thank you very much. earlier on the show, we asked all of you, what are you up? paul writes, i'm up for the shoulder mri i've been waiting to get since the beginning of the pandemic. excited to get back out on the tennis court. another person says that they're just returning to the golf course in germany where it is not way too early. shout-out to a lot of our international viewers in australia. and jenny shares this photo, up way too early to fly to the netherlands for the first time to see my family for the first time since the pandemic. #joy. these kind of pictures are giving me life. coming up next here, we'll take a look at the axios one big thing. and coming up on "morning joe," jamie harrison will join the conversation of vowing to fight republican efforts to restrict voting access. don't go anywhere. 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[ding] never settle with power e*trade. it has easy-to-use tools and some of the lowest prices. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. age-related macular degeneration may lead to severe vision loss. so the national eye institute did 20 years of clinical studies on a formula only found in preservision. if it were my vision, i'd ask my doctor about preservision. it's the most studied eye vitamin brand. if it were my vision, i'd look into preservision. only preservision areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the nei to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. i have amd. it is my vision so my plan includes preservision. welcome back. joining us now with a look at axios a.m., white house reporter for axios, alayna treene. what's the one big thing today? >> today we take a look at how democrats are looking to move forward with gun reform. it's going to be an uphill battle like everything these days in 50/50 senate, but they're using it as a test run for the senate. chuck schumer and kirsten gillibrand are taking the lead on some sort of compromise legislation that republicans could get onboard with. this is a good issues that democrats can show republicans they don't need to get rid of the filibuster, they can work across party lines and get ten republican votes onboard. it's an optimistic goal. we saw senator chris murphy say this yesterday while he was on "meet the press," but gun reform is increasingly something that americans want. two-thirds of americans support stronger gun laws. the situation in the past year has certainly coalesced around universal background checks, especially on firearm sales. that's the sweet spot that republicans are looking at right now. so time will tell. i think the one, you know, caveat here is that it is recess. the senate broke on thursday for a two-week recess. and this tends to happen in past gun reform efforts. you lose momentum the farther away you get from the horrific shootings you saw in atlanta and boulder. so i think stay tuned for how this conversation shapes up in the next few weeks. >> so alayna, we know that senator schumer, the majority leader has promised votes on things like this. that they'll be on the floor, people will have to go on the record. what is your reporting about what exactly he's going to put on the senate floor on guns? is it going to be what the house passed, something that they think they can get these ten republicans on, how do you think they're going to handle it? >> so it's a great question and a lot of people are wondering that, too. from my conversations with top senate aides working for the leader and others, they're looking at revising the house bill that was passed a few weeks ago, hr-8. and it's a bill that republicans say is a nonstarter, but they're looking at revising it and pulling a lot of it back and seeing where they can find common ground. that at least is the status of negotiations right now. that it could, of course, change in the coming weeks as they have more conversations with republicans. but they're hoping to find something like background checks on commercial firearm sales. other things that kind of touch on the manchin/toomey bill that was introduced in 2013, that more republicans say they can get onboard with. so that's kind of where negotiations stand now. but i wouldn't be surprised if they changed in the coming days. >> so, speaking also of moderate democrats or rather, i'm going to bring up moderate democrats, because joe manchin is also one of those people who said, hr-8 is a nonstarter. how are moderates going to react to some of the other things biden is proposing, including his tax plan? >> so we have a story on axios about how a lot of moderates are kind of uneasy about how the biden administration is looking at paying for his upcoming infrastructure plan, through taxes. they -- they're kind of balking at the 28% corporate tax rate. some think it should be around 25%. and these are people of the problem solvers caucus, some of those house democrats. and also looking at reinstating the pullbacks on the salt tax. on the state and local reductions. and so they're kind of pressuring the biden administration on this. we haven't seen a former plan of how to pay for it yet. so these conversations will be shaping up. >> all right, axios' alayna treene, thank you so much for joining us this morning. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. >> i look at it this way, the first time we have an excuse, there were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge. all of the rest of them, in my mind, could have mitigated or decreased substantially, if we took the les