ruhle. it's thursday, april 8th. here's what's happening. in the next hour, medical experts are expected to take the stand when the trial of derek chauvin resumes for day nine of testimony. george floyd's drug use and what ultimately caused his death now taking center stage in the case. yesterday the jury heard from multiple agents called to investigate floyd's death, including a forensic scientist and chemist. they testified about the drugs they recovered from the scene, including drugs with floyd's dna found in the back of the police squad car. but the most intense, and without a doubt the most significant moment of the day, came when the two sides debated exactly what george floyd said in one specific body camera video. this was the defense asking special agent james ryerson about it in court. >> did you hear that? >> yes, i did. >> did you hear that mr. floyd apparently said, i ate too many drugs? >> yes, i did. >> and the prosecution played a longer clip for that same witness and got a different response. >> have you heard it in context, were you able to tell what mr. floyd was saying there? >> yes, i believe mr. floyd was saying, i ain't do no drugs. >> i want to begin this with nbc's shaquille brewster in minneapolis. shaq, another dramatic day. what are you watching out for today? >> well, stephanie, i went back this morning and looked at the opening statements to see what the prosecution promised and what we haven't heard just yet. much of it was the testimony from those medical experts who can answer and address the issue of exactly scientifically how george floyd died. they said we will hear from a forensic pathologist who will speak to what signs to look for when you see if someone dies from oxygen deprivation os asphyxia as we continue to hear the prosecution allege. we will hear from a toxicologist and then that highly anticipated testimony to come from dr. andrew baker, hennepin county medical examiner. in his autopsy back in june, he ruled the deaths to be an homicide but he did say in his report that the cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdue, restraint and neck compression. he didn't mention asphyxiation. the prosecution said and teased in their opening statement, they will be bringing up witnesses to speak to the cause of death and speak to the asphyxia they're alleging. of course, we're also hearing that increased cross-examination from arik nelson and the defense. you heard some of that necessary. the defense alleging george floyd died of a medical overdose essentially and pre-existing heart conditions he had. this is something you will continue to hear. but you will hear from key medical witnesses. we expect today and tomorrow as the prosecution continues laying out their case against derek chauvin. stephanie? >> shaq, something else we knew was coming was the focus on floyd's drug use. the family warned us this was coming. they did not want to hear about it. what was their reaction, and how about the jury? >> yes, stephanie, you play that clip, that interesting moment that you saw yesterday when eric nelson introduced the idea that george floyd said i ate too many drugs and that was disputed on the stand. gabe gutierrez talked to benjamin crump yesterday and he said that family is prepared for s'mores. -- smears from the defense. he said they're doing whatever they can to attack the character and attack the character of george floyd. we saw the brothers of george floyd in the courtroom yesterday. then you mentioned the jurors. they said they're paying attention to what's happening, taking notes and it's not lost in the defense and thick testimony we hear in the courtroom. >> i thought you were saying nods, not nods off. that is something. shaquille brewster, we are lucky you're not nodding off. that's what's happening. now i want to dig into what it all means. joining us the director of reshaping prosecution at the shira institute. we heard the witness -- and this one i need to you help me understand -- change his answer when asked something by the defense and then again the prosecution. i'm talking about the words heard in one specific clip of body cam video of george floyd. what do you make of that? how rare is it? >> it's not that rare, especially when you think about body cam footage. in my experience, i have spent plenty of hours, and what eventually showed in court was such a small amount up for review and we know it's not clear. the same clip was shown before and the witness said couldn't make out what was being said. it's not uncommon that you might have to listen to something a few times, you might have to watch it in fuller context to really understand. i also think it shows that the defense were doing their job, right? they're going to try with cross-examination to get in the points they want to be able to argue and that's why as they prepare witnesses on the prosecution side and so he said, yeah, to the way the defense counselor nelson characterized it but thankfully on redirect when having a chance to hear the fuller context, he could give a more accurate answer. >> there was a lot of focus on drugs yesterday. those found in floyd's car, police car. is the prosecution doing a good job getting ahead of this? we know it will be a focus for the defense. >> you have to keep in mind that this is a trial of the actions of derek chauvin, not george floyd. so the defense will continue this pretty much throughout the case, they're continuing to try to put george floyd on trial, his actions, what was or was not in his system, what he did or did not say. but what the prosecution has to do is continue to redirect the jury back to the actions of officer derek chauvin, or former officer derek chauvin. and it's unfortunate because i think even what we learned from some of the training testimony, interacting with community members who may be under the influence of other substances, is not an uncommon aspect of police jobs. it's just that what should have happened was a response that had care as opposed to force. so it's going to be a force for the prosecution to continue to redirect the jury back that it's the actions of former officer chauvin that are on trial. >> we only have about five seconds left but i would like to know what the experts are focusing on. what are you watching out for today? >> i think, again, this causation piece. we keep hearing asphyxia. we heard some of that from the emergency room doctor. expecting that as the type of information we want to be drawn out and, of course, on cross and what the defense will be looking for is toxicology, and what was in mr. floyd's testimony. >> we will all be watching. thank you for joining us this morning, jamella. we appreciate your insights. let's turn to washington, d.c. where president biden, no surprise, pulling out all of the stops when it comes to pushing his $2 trillion infrastructure plan, telling reporters yesterday he's open to some compromise, including on the corporate tax hike that's going to fund this plan. watch this. >> mr. president, are you willing to go lower than the 28% corporate tax late? >> i'm willing to listen to that. i'm wide open to, but we got to pay for this. we got to pay. there are many other ways we can do it. but i'm willing to negotiate that. >> nbc's monica alba in d.c. with the latest. monica, let's talk through this, when asked about working with republicans, president biden was asked yesterday in that press briefing room, he pointed to his effort with covid relief saying he tried to work with smor republicans during that process. they weren't willing to play ball. that very same group of republicans is saying, no he didn't. what happened? >> that's right, steph. that group of gop lawmakers pushing back pretty intensely to those comments. they released a letter overnight saying we did come and meet with president biden in good faith back when we were debating covid relief. we offered him a counterproposal on what we expected and we thought in terms of the package being slimmed down and then these republican senators were saying that was, quote, roundly dismissed because less than 24 hours later, the white house started signaling they were going to go down the path of budget reconciliation, which didn't require any republican vote. so they're trying to set the record straight from their perspective on that. where this differs going forward on infrastructure is the president is saying he is willing to spend more time negotiating face to face with republicans. he's going to roll out the blue carpet in the oval office and invite them to come next week and perhaps have more sessions than just the one they had over the american rescue plan. and this is expected to take place over weeks and months. again, a slightly different timeline than what we saw with the initial covid relief funding. steph? >> meanwhile, chuck schumer clearly doesn't think that's going to work. he signaled he wants to get this thing through using budget reconciliation but his own fellow democratic senator john manchin is out with a new op-ed saying, not so fast, i'm not necessarily on board. if you can't get manchin on board, what's the path here? >> a critical voice here signaling that he is opposed to going down the path of budget reconciliation again. this is something democrats were not sure they could utilize but the senate parliamentarian said they could. but now you have john manchin saying quite emphatically he opposes it. ly read a quote from the op-ed, we should all be alarmed with how the budget reconciliation process is being used by both parties to stifle debate around major issues facing our country today. legislating was never supposed to be easy. that is really now an uphill battle for the president who was thinking inaction is not an option and that's how he wanted to get infrastructure passed. but this really now puts things at quite a stalemate, steph. i know you're going to pose all of those questions to your next guest. >> indeed i am, monica, thank you. joining me now, u.s. energy secretary jennifer granholm, who we would like to welcome back to the show. we have not seen you here since just before the 2016 election. welcome back, secretary. >> thank you. >> i want to start with the infrastructure plan. if president biden took another swing at this thing, cut the cost significantly, even moderately, is there any shot some republicans will get on board? >> well, here's the evidence that it is possible because substantively what's inside of this bill are things republicans have voted for in the past. stephanie, there was a massive energy bill that was passed in december of 2020 that had so many of the components of this american jobs plan, the support for critical minerals, for example, to create a supply chain for batteries. the investment in manufacturing and hydrogen and carbon capture and use and sequestration, all of these technologies republicans supported and voted for and democrats in a bipartisan way appear in this bill. and, of course, we know that the support for roads and bridges as well as investing in the transmission grid has bipartisan support. so i'm hopeful that this bill, which has been carefully constructed in a way to achieve bipartisan support, will be the foundation for those negotiations next week when they come back and that, you know, people will listen to their constituents who overwhelmingly support components of this bill. >> i would like to be hopeful about more americans getting good jobs. president biden said if this thing gets passed, it could help create 19 million good paying, blue collar jobs. can you tell us exactly what kind of jobs he's referring to? >> he's referring -- you know, there was a stud why you out on friday from georgetown which says that the infrastructure components of this will create jobs for people who have just high school degrees and with a little bit of training. so all kinds of jobs for all kinds of people, whether it's construction workers, sheet metal workers, plumbers, pipe fitters or the people who are doing logistics or the people who are doing administration and there is a component there that you're aware of, i'm sure, for the care economy, so we have an infrastructure for caring for our seniors and children like other countries do, but we just don't have it. so it's all kinds of jobs for all kinds of people. >> construction workers and sheet metal workers, for the most part, are always in demand. help us understand what the training component would look like, because even before covid hit, we had a massive skills gap in this country. we had millions of open jobs and millions of americans who could not make a living wage. does this plan hope -- is there anything in there that's going to narrow this gap? >> yeah, i mean, in fact, a big component of this is $100 million for training of people, for making sure that the apprenticeships are robust, that we make sure that there is a pipeline for good paying union jobs in these trades. the investment in the training piece alone is really significant. it's one of the reasons why secretary -- the secretary of labor is part of our coalition to be able to make the case to the legislature. but clearly, ensuring that the krieptd of training for the right kind of jobs at the right time is a clear piece of this infrastructure package. >> people hear infrastructure and they don't really know how it affects them. they hear $2 trillion. sounds like a big number. take us to your home state of michigan. how would this change the life of the average american worker living in michigan? >> yeah, think about this, the people who live in flint, michigan, this package is not just in flint but cities where you have older housing stock and lead pipes. this package in the american jobs plan will ensure workers are put to work removing the lead pipes that poison often children in an irreparable way in those communities. that has bipartisan support. the water infrastructure of our nation. in michigan we build the automobile, so we want to make sure we have a supply chain for the electric vehicle and that includes the battery for that electric vehicle. the battery itself uses minerals that are critical for the content of those batteries like lithium and cobalt. we don't do much of that extraction in this country. we don't do any of the processing of those minerals in this country. that those kinds of jobs, we should be doing instead of ceding the territory to our economic competitors like china. china has a very strategic plan to corner the market on batteries, on critical materials, on whatever they can in the clean energy economy because they see that america has been standing still. for michigan and other countries in the industrial midwest, that this plan focusing on creating a manufacturing backbone. we are down to a 72-year low in manufacturing jobs in this country. it's ridiculous. if we want to have energy security, if we want to economic security, we need to make sure -- and if we want to have national security, we need to make sure we're building the means for that. we don't have any companies in the country that build transformers for the electric grid. we get them from asia. we get them from china. come on, if we want to make sure there's not hacking on our grid, we've got to be building that stuff here. and that's what this plan does. it focuses on building the manufacturing backbone, supply chain so we can be economically secure, energy secure and nationally secure. >> and put more broadly, china has a specific plan to corner the market in anything. secretary, always good to see you. thank you very much for joining us this morning. >> great to see you too. >> welcome back. >> you bet. coming up next -- we're going to stay focused on the white house, where in a few hours president biden is expected to make a major announcement about new gun restrictions. . plus, we don't want to miss this. new reporting on the sex trafficking probe into republican congressman matt gaetz. why investigators are looking at his travel to the bahamas. and republicans are pushing back on criticism of georgia's voting law by pushing back at some democratic states. we will fact check that. we will fact check that. to help young homeowners who are turning into their parents. now, remember, they're not programs. they're tv shows. you woke up early. no one cares. yes. so, i was using something called homequote explorer from progressive to easily compare home insurance rates. was i hashtagging? 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(snap) fine jewelry for every day, minus the traditional markups. ♪♪ we just told you about president biden's infrastructure plan and this morning he's also focused on guns, set to announce a bunch of executive actions to fight gun violence later today. this comes after three mass shootings in the last month, in georgia, colorado and california. chief white house correspondent peter alexander joins us now. peter, what's going on with these actions? give us the details? >> steph, as you noted, there are going to be civil executive actions the president is going to announce just before noon today in the rose garden. among other things they're going to address ghost guns, ghost guns are guns you can buy online in kits. they're assembled at home without serial numbers so they're untraceable, no background checks required there. the president will order the justice department to try to rein in those guns. it's noted those guns were found in the cache of weapons that investigators found in the militiamen in michigan plotting to kill and kidnap governor whitmer last year. they're also going to crackdown on stabilizing braces that make pistols more accurate. but the bottom line in all of this, steph, and even the announcement as relates to a new atf director, who now works for gabby giffords, former congresswoman's group, are being done without the support of congress. so as much as the white house can do alone, initial first steps but it doesn't go as far as he would like them to. >> peter, thank you very much. now we have to turn to an investigation going on in washington and congressman matt gaetz. federal investigators are looking into travel he did to the bahamas with women and specifically if they were paid to travel for sex. that's according to a law enforcement official and another person familiar with the matter. sources also say whether they're looking at whether he searched for women to pay for sex online. the congressman repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. tom, what have we learned? >> the important thing about this and why this advances what we know about this investigation it helps put into clearer focus what the federal nexus is to this. this isn't a local prostitution investigation. this isn't a local underage sex investigation. when you have international travel here and the reporting, as you said, involving gaetz's trip to the bahamas and whether or not that involved paying women for sex and whether or not they traveled with him for the purposes of paying for sex, more important in the federal context, we're starting to get a better sense of why this investigation has this federal nexus once you cross state lines. once you travel abroad for these purposes you can violate one or more federal statutes. obviously looking for women online to have sex with, particularly if they're underage, that involves another sex suss to federal crime. it helps build out this picture a little bit, even if gaetz said i never paid for sex, i never had sex with an underage girl. although in the second part of this statement he released to cbs news last night, he did say this investigation appears to be a fishing expedition into vacations and consensual sex acts. so it appears to a little bit confirm some of the things we've been hearing about this investigation and his activities. steph? >> so this is connected to what we learned last week relating to trafficking a 17-year-old? >> correct. this is all part of the same investigation. he says it's part of an expanding investigation. no, it's just all part of the same thing they're looking at. we're just getting more details about it and able to share those and report those to you. so that's what we know about this. but it's all tied to the same investigation we spoke about last week, which came out of another investigation in florida last august, started under the trump administration and attorney general bill barr, who we understand was briefed on the matter. this investigation came from a local florida politician who is believed to -- matt gaetz is believed to have some ties to, an associate of, we have pictures of the two together. there's a court hearing in that case we will be following. we expect more developments. >> you're talking about joel greenberg? >> that's exactly right. there's a status conference in his case. yesterday he pleaded not guilty to the third superseding indictment, fourth indictment in his case and he did that in a paper statement, steph. but there's a status conference today. we will see if matt gaetz's name comes up. it hasn't so far in that case but we will be watching closely. >> indeed we will. thank you, tom. next, companies taking a stand as new voting laws draw criticism but they want long-term change. that's their goal. here's one of the issues, why the short-term impact could end up hurting the people they're trying to help the most. our bre. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. what do we want for dinner? 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steak! choose better be better and now save when you order in the app. subway eat fresh. as we continue to return to classrooms... parents like me want to make sure we're doing it safely. especially in the underserved communities hardest hit by covid. trust me, no one wants to get back to classroom learning more than teachers like me. using common sense safety measures like masks, physical distancing, and proper ventilation. safety is why we're prioritizing vaccinations for educators. because together, we all have a responsibility to do our part. and together, we will get through this, safely. this morning the anger is intensifying over georgia's recently passed voting law but it could just be the tip of the iceberg. at least 361 new laws have been proposed in 47 states to limit mail-in, early and in-person election day voting. and republicans are pointing to blue state election laws as proof of an alleged double standard. we're doing serious fact checking and for facts sake, joins us now. there's confusion about what was originally in the georgia bill and what actually passed. can you clear this up? >> yes, some of the early provisions they looked at but limited who could vote by mail, cut early voting, the eventual bill expands early voting that may seem like a dollop of sugar to make it go down easier but it didn't work for corporations or those democrats who said if there's any barrier to the ballot box, it's too many. >> some republicans are defending georgia's law pointing to colorado saying both states have voter i.d. requirements and they claim colorado has fewer early voting options. they have a lot of drop boxes in that state. how accurate is this argument? >> it is a pretty unserious comparison because colorado runs their election almost entirely by mail. while georgia may have more early voting, colorado's 15 days of early voting serves 10% of the voters. and the voter i.d. you can can use utility bill, and georgia you're talking photo i.d. from the government. >> let's talk about kentucky. a place we do not think of as a bastion of bipartisan. what's going on there with voting laws? >> yes, we actually saw lawmakers come together with broad bipartisan support and pass an election bill that standardizes a lot of their pandemic reforms. things like early voting, dropboxes and online portals to request your mail-in ballot if you're an absentee voter. they think it's in their best interest to make it easier to vote and part of that is republicans did very well in 2020 with the expansions. so they're looking at it and saying, hey, the more the merrier. let's turn people out. >> jane timm, thank you so much. the other major aspect of this story we're focusing on is the immediate economic impact and cost of cancellation. major league baseball made it official moving the july all-star game from atlanta to denver. the estimated economic loss for georgia is over $100 million. the small business owners and workers feeling like they are bearing a brunt. this right here, this is the cost of cancellation. as companies and activists are making statements and taking actions in hopes of creating long-term positive social change, the unintended consequence is the short-term pain inflicted on those local economies. blayne alexander is in atlanta with more on that. >> steph, as you know, we've heard from a lot of different people for who have been reporting this constant fallout, continued fallout from georgia's controversial voting bill. we heard from lawmakers both here in georgia and in washington. we heard from big businesses and corporations but now we are hearing from the small businesses, you know, all sides really agree that they are the ones who are truly feeling the impact when it comes to this move out of georgia. >> after months ever seeing his sales stunted by the pandemic, he thought all-star weekend would help make up his ground. >> weekend would be 20,000. >> that's more than double of a normal weekend. >> way more than double. >> his shop is in atlanta park, home of the atlanta braves and until this year home to this year's all-star game. now he's among dozens of disappointing businesses facing financial loss with mlb moving the game georgia taking a stand against the state's new voting law and tens of millions of dollars in tourist revenue. >> i understand why they're doing it but it's still frustrating as far as the small business owner, it's kind of hard to try to maintain and bring customers in because of the pandemic. >> the game is now heading west to denver and critics point out to a city where a very different demographic. in denver, black ownership is less than 10%. the pandemic has already taken a disproportionate toll on black businesses. now for many this is another crushing blow. >> it's unfortunate to know those who may be hurt by the legislation would also continue to be hurt by us not supporting our economy here. >> reporter: ryan maloof, who owns a restaurant in downtown atlanta, is worried about the lasting impact. >> it's a trickledown effect. we're just trying to get back to a normal sense of business here. >> joining us now, john hope bryant, chairman, founder and ceo of operation hope, a nonprofit, for-purpose organization working to disrupt poverty, power and inclusion to low-incomed adults, which has its headquarters in atlanta. people want to create long-term positive change. talk to us about the immediate negative impact on the local economy in georgia. >> well, of course, it's -- everything is reported is accurate. 96% of all black businesses don't have employees. 96%. most black businesses don't have more than a couple months of fro cash flow to sustain them. and this was before covid it. i will encourage those companies on your program and those watching to get ahold of operation hope, we will help you get the money available in the bill, tens of thousands of dollars available, and we will help coach you through this. this is a real issue made worse by the current legislative, i believe, wrong action. that said, stephanie, you look at this, major league baseball for the first integration with back jon and bartholomew would not bring him to atlanta until they intergraded, you probably know that, in the '60s. and now you think atlanta is open for business to everybody, the efforts of ceos here, who said we're not standing for -- we're not honoring dr. king in the '60s. robert woodruff of coca-cola said to blacks, we should support this business. look now they're employee blacks, contracting with blacks. atlanta is now the tenth largest economy in the u.s. and 31st largest economy in the world. yes, short-term hit, no doubt about it. but if we -- in some ways they're doing long-term development for the branded in georgia. >> hold on, john. why didn't these companies make she's moves before the vote happened, when they actually could have made a difference? >> great point. i don't want to call the ceo out but one of the ceos in question i talked to him and he said, john, we were at the table. we pulled some of the most egregious parts of this bill out. he said georgia was going to do something. it's a republican governor, assembly and senate. they were going to pass something. me and other ceos pulled a lot of horrible stuff out. he said john, i'm talking to you and other people, we realized we couldn't just stand against the bad stuff and putting ourselves in your shoes, in the shoes of an african-american, we know to try to do the right thing, not just stop the bad thing. that's when they flipped and said no, no,s this un-american. i actually commend them for that. >> they say they got the worst stuff out. you're a georgia guy. president biden called this the new jim crow. do you agree? >> oh, it's worse. it's a payback bill. this is a payback bill. when hillary clinton lost, the people who supported hillary clinton -- and i know her and respect her -- stood down and said, okay, new president, we will support them and wish them the best, even though we don't think he's the right guy. but when mr. trump lost, he couldn't accept that loss and i guess some voters couldn't either, even though the republican courts said there was no fraud. so he told a lie. this is the payback for the lie. they could not accept they lost. black people basically created the president and brought to it u.s. senators in and people are upset. it's wrong to have a payback bill. this should be about, stephanie, accuracy, participation, and trust. we failed on all three of those counts the way this was done. it's the way it was done that is the failure here. >> all right then, john, every time you're here, you make us better and smarter. thank you for joining us, john hope bryant. coming up -- we've got to talk covid. why are cases rising in states with very tight restrictions and dropping in states that rolled them back? 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>> steph, good morning, there were certainly an expectation here in florida because of everything we saw down here on spring break, we would see an explosion of cases. that's not been the case. it's been a modest uptick. from georgia to mississippi, texas to arkansas, all of the states with looser restrictions have seen double-digit drop in covid cases. we wanted to find out what's behind the case count. call it a covid conundrum and states with the strictest measures in the country like pennsylvania and new england, cases are on the rise. while in the south states like arkansas and texas that reopened businesses and ripped away mask mandates are seeing their numbers drop. >> i'm announcing today that the statewide mask mandate will be lifted. >> people and businesses don't need the state telling them how to operate. >> reporter: so what might explain the apparent contradiction? one theory, differences in testing rates. alabama has experienced one of the biggest dips in reports infections, more than 50% in two weeks. but it's also dead last in the u.s. for covid testing, only 56 tests per 100,000 people. that's a fraction of what you will find in places like vermont, massachusetts and new york, where numbers are surging. how much does lack of adequate testing have to do with the numbers we are seeing right now? >> when you don't test, you're blind. when you're not testing, you have a false sense of what the real problem is in your community. >> reporter: another theory, covid fatigue. in michigan where people are just coming out of lockdown for the first time in months, cases are up more than 100%, as demographics shift. >> what's different in this wave is these are younger individuals between the ages of 30 and 60. the vast majority of which are not currently vaccinated. >> reporter: texas, on the other hand, began reopening its doors months ago and just jammed 40,000 people into the rangers' ballpark, many without masks. >> a lot of individuals in the southern part of the u.s. and especially here in texas have already been exposed to the coronavirus, so many individuals already have coronavirus antibodies. >> reporter: that leads us to the risky behavior we've seen in places like miami beach, florida, where numbers have only increased slightly. theory number three, young people are acting as carriers. as doctors say, they're returning to other states, taking the virus with them. >> those are the least likely to show up for testing and those younger individuals infect older individuals or more vulnerable individuals, that takes time. >> reporter: bottom line, health experts say the following figures in the south might be giving a false sense of security. do medical experts worry you're emboldening those leaders who said it was a good idea to loosen restrictions? >> we worry if there's a perfect storm brewing. we remember the virus takes 10 to 14 to 21 days develop. we might be seeing the early effects of that right now. >> reporter: and another factor to address here, steph, the variant states like michigan and minnesota have seen cases skyrocket. they have big footprints of the uk variant but there's outliers to that as well. i'm in florida with the largest number of uk variant documented cases in the country and cases only has risen 17%. this virus continues to perplex. stephanie? >> certainly does, sam. thank you after the break, one dad and dear friend of this show is speaking for his daughter because she can't speak for herself. his plea to help her and earn else get out of this pandemic. stick around. you need to see this. to see ths p without frequent heartburn waking her up. now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? - [announcer] welcome to intelligent indoor grilling with the ninja foodi all-smart xl grill.n. just pick your protein, select your doneness, and let the grill monitor your food. it also turns into an air fryer. bring outdoor grilling flavors indoors with the grill that grills for you. 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 this is how you become the best! 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i want to bring in her dad msnbc national analyst. clint, thank you, thank you, for what you wrote. it means so much to all of us. but i want to start with, how is pepper doing? what has it been like for her this past year? >> so, thanks, stephanie, first for bringing up pepper and her situation. it's been a tough year. i think it's been a tough year for all kids. but with kids with autism and special needs and disabilities, it's been really tough to get back in the classroom. oftentimes these kids like pepper can't wear masks for very long. there is no such thing as social distancing. there is a load open aides in the classroom. they have to be there one-to-one. in this setting, it shuts down the whole school for 14 or ten days at a time. for her, she hasn't had consistent school for over a year. today is her third day back in the classroom. it's really fingers crossed until there is a case that pops up. why do we still have cases? well, we don't have everybody vaccinated. if we don't get to a point where we can reach some sort of herd immunity and get enough people vaccinated, that will continue to happen. it shuts down schools for special needs first before everybody else. >> we know everyone should get vaccinated. but what do you say to people who understand your situation but they say, that's not my life and i don't want to get the shot? >> it's one of the strangest things about democracy and freedom is is that really in the sense of herd immunity, if we don't all do it, then we have no immunity. meaning, we know the variants will come back around. we know it will continue to spread. you can see in the southern hemisphere right now, they're going into new surges as it gets cold. we can be facing the same situation in the fall. so i think oftentimes, it doesn't dawn on people that their decision and personally not to get a vaccine actually affects all of us, collectively, in ways that you may not anticipate. in this case, it's with special needs, it's also about front line workers, hospital workers. they're exhausted, too. they've gone through the most intense year of hospital care that's probably ever been imagined in u.s. hospitals. i don't think they want to go through that again. i don't think the average american wants them to go through that again. so you got to take the context of the vaccine out, yourself. maybe you don't think you are really vulnerable or you don't need one. remember, there are others out there that are vulnerable. this is about the greater good, fought just any one individual. >> this actually weaves together multiple dangerous false narratives out there. you are an expert on this information. you know it is fought true. how do we also fight the perception that vaccines cause autism? we have been hearing that for years. we know it's not true? >> stephanie, so it's an interesting approach. social media, i work on this, i have written about it. it's brought about the death of expertise. tom nichols is on the show on msnbc quite often so what we have to do is think about what our trusted messengers are. we put a lot of weight on dr. fauci. people tend to believe information particularly in social media that comes from people that look like them and talk like them. which means we need local messengers on scale, more messengers, micromessengers out in these communities restoring trust in the med cat community and the safety of these vaccines. i think if we can do that on scale, we will make major advances as people who know the expert can take that word and have trust and faith that the vaccine is safe. which we know it is. >> it certainly is. clint, thank you so much for telling your story. we are sending the very best to pepper and to you. i remember when she came to visit us at 30 rock. once we are all back and working and vaccinated, i hope you all come back soon. >> thank you, stephanie. >> that wraps up this hour, i'm stephanie rule. medical experts are expected to take the stand in the derek chauvin murder trial. she will also be joined by white house communications director kate bedingfield as president biden prepares to take action on guns. t biden prepares to take action on guns my hiv treatment,... there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor... and switched to... fewer medicines with dovato. prescription dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with... just 2 medicines... in 1 pill,... dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed... and get to and stay undetectable... can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its ingredients... or if you take dofetilide. hepatitis b can become harder to treat while taking dovato. do not stop dovato without talking to your doctor,... as your hepatitis b may worsen or become life-threatening. serious or life-threatening side effects can occur, including... allergic reactions, lactic acid buildup, and liver problems. if you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction,... stop taking dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis b or c,... or if you are, may be, or plan to be pregnant. your doctor may prescribe a different medicine... than dovato if you plan to be pregnant or if pregnancy is confirmed during the first trimester. dovato may harm your unborn baby. use effective birth control... while taking dovato. most common side effects are headache, nausea,... diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. ask your doctor about dovato—i did. zero-commission trades for online u.s. stocks and etfs. and a commitment to get you the best price on every trade, hiv medicine is one part of it. which saved investors over $1.5 billion last year. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. bike shop please hold. bike sales are booming. 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 our resume database. claim your $75 credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/bike. hey xfinity, show me disney plus... i'm here on business. i need your help. when you post your first job i've been quested to bring this one back to its kind. now you can access exclusive disney originals... we are an unusual couple. oh i don't think that was ever in question. ...and stream must-see disney new releases! people need this symbol. where do we start? find the best in entertainment all in one place, with disney plus now on xfinity! a way better way to watch. we started with computers. 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. so as we come on the air right now, the judge in minneapolis is coming into the courtroom to begin today's proceedings in the murder trial of former police officer derek chauvin. medical experts expected to take the stand a day after the court erupted in a war over words. just what was george floyd saying to police about drugs in a body cam clip played before the jury? that answer could be critical to the prosecution and defense. we are live at the courthouse. we are live at the white house, where next