Fg capitol while with a large group of proud boys around the building. Call him milkshake. Thats what they call him. He is from bradenton, florida. He spilled the beans by another proud Boy Member at the time which may turn out to be key information about the premeditated nature of the events that next transpired next. Scott is charged with assaulting a federal officer, engaging in violence and other counts. The Washington Post adds this reporting, quote, prosecutors allege as many as 60 members of the proud boys a right Wing Group with a history of violence that threw the support to Donald Trump in the election communicated on the ground in washington before several allegedly spearheaded key parts of the rioting. That authorities said led to five deaths. Assaults on nearly 140 police and evacuation of lawmaker just the picture painted by the fbi is one of graver danger of violence in the wake of the insurrection as the former president s ongoing public comments about the election and the Gops Refusal to condemn those comments may galvanize future violence. In prepared testimony to congress in March Jill Sanborn at the fbi said this. Quote, the fbi assesses there is an elevated threat of violence from extremists and some of these actors have been emboldened in the aftermath of the breach of the u. S. Capitol. It is a view shared by Liz Cheney. I think its dangerous. I think that we have to recognize how quickly things can unravel. We have to recognize what it means for the nation to have a former president who has not conceded and who continues to suggest that our Electoral System Cannot Function and do the will of the people. When you say dangerous, dangerous how . Are you alleging that January 6 could happen again or worse . I think theres no question. The even more ominous news is that nearly 4 in 10 republicans support vie leapt actions if elected Leaders Quote fail to act. It is something former bush 43 Speech Writer tackles. The Mind Set that this gives rise to a Maga World is something like this. We are victims of an injustice. The Leader Donald Trump was removed from office by illegitimate means and to destroy our country. If others wont protect us well take matters into our own hands. We are the victims of the crime of the century. The former colleague goes further writing this, quote, all who resist trumps will know they will be Singled Out by name, exposed to political jeopardy. This is not a drill joke. This is not a myth. This is not a drill. This is not a drill is where we start today with favorite reporters and friends. Former republican Congressman Denver Wriggleman is here. Also analyst and former Special Agent with the Fbi Clint watts is here and Anna Palmer from punch bowl news. Clint watts, i want to start with you on the Fbi Investigation which shows no signs sort of winding down and seem to be deeper into the groups of individuals. Tell me what the new charges mean is going on in the inside. One of the challenges of all of this is premeditated. I know from my own research teams watching it online it looked planned in advance because they coordination the actions and what essentially was an assembly. Just assembled in a location. What you see with the videos is different from the online space where you dont know where Everyone is or who Everyone is. You have video of someone saying lets take the capitol and specific and what they did. The other part is to connect it with the videos that show them particularly the proud boys breaking windows. Assaulting Law Enforcement officers. Shoving into the capitol. They were the first people there breaching the capitol and they really opened the way for everybody else to spill in so i think you got a pretty defined pathway now for a Conspiracy Case or a larger case in terms of what they were trying to undertake and i think that helps them parse out where to focus on the most violent rhetoric and individuals in those groups. And the coming weeks and months you will see a much broader case against the proud boys and the oathkeepers. They were the ones that created the catastrophe. Clint, how does the the Washington Post reported on the Fbi Field Office in norfolk, virginia, having a report and sending it in to somebody in washington About Chatter or preparations for war. How does that Intelligence Play into the investigation and what folks are charged with . I think it will definitely show that Everyone knew there was a plot to do something heading into the January 6. As long as you have that, that gives you the leads to build a case. The biggest challenge in the recent domestic cases is how much is an organized conspiracy and what was the intent . It is difficult to determine that. They dont mobilize in a physical location until the last minute and i think also why the norfolk report that came in the day before which is pretty lat even trying to defend the capitol. Late to get that, make assessment about it. Raw intelligence. I think those sorts of aspects allowed them the gateways to launch this investigation. The sad part is and this is the comments from Liz Cheney in that interview is will this happen again . We dont have a good handle on what point will we stop . At the moment the investigation is after the damage is already done. In Counter Terrorism we would never have accepted this in an international context and expected to stop the plot after 9 11. Here after January 6 we have people on Capitol Hill Part of the target attacked saying, no, dont investigate this or look at this. It is the opposite of the 9 11 commission essentially. Denver wriggleman, this is something i heard from a senior official involved in the 9 11 commission saying we need to in the same way that never again, failing to connect the dots became one of the Mission Statements of post9 11, Counter Terror and protecting the homeland and became integrated with the cia and the fbi and the creation of department of homeland security, there are pieces of reporting to never fail to as clint said turn in the day before like the reports from Field Office in norfolk and why it took three hours for the national guard to respond to an ongoing insurrection at the united states capitol. I wonder what you make of where we stand on those questions with as clint said no one beginning to establish a commission to investigate them. Im fortunate. My goodness, we could go back and forth on data all day. This is great. This is what i like to do. Clint is correct on the data and that we need a commission. Im with John Farmer who was on the 9 11 commission and when clint talks about the data we had a report three to five days after on who was involved. It was antifa or something like that had happened so i got a call from liz saying, help. Right . We put our Analysis Group together. I dont remember people i briefered this right after it happened and seven groups involved and i want to read real quick. Please, please. The proud boys. The oathkeepers. Nsc131. New jersey European Heritage association. The wiper army. The american nationalist and the american guard. We know that those seven were actually involved and a mix. Right . We had a mix of Qanon Conspiracy theorists, proud boys and others so if you put that together we have the data. We saw the proud boys assembling well before. Probably the night before. I put out a tweet saying this looks like charlottesville on steroids. We saw things that we had never seen before and looking at the need for a commission. Im so grateful to be on a board with John Farmer and we need the commission to connect the dots because it is not just that violence we saw on 1 6. Whats the Call And Response on Social Media to direct that violence again . We have seen that Call And Response as high as the president down to sort of leaders that are actually pushing that Call And Response to have this by hash tag. Keep fighting. Stop the steal. What is the response to the individuals tracking this . I probably agreed with clint on everything single point here but we have the data. This Isnt Something we are saying a far right or far left problem. The data says that its the far right. The data says these groups. The data says these are the individuals involved. It is data driven and i would say nobody with an oath to the constitution has a fear of a data driven commission and a duty as americans to identify the root causes of the Call And Response, social Medias Problem and the radicalization we see right in Social Media and the groups. I want to leigh politics aside and focus on what you articulated. The Security Picture and correct me, denver, if i have this wrong but the fbi seems to be saying that both the insurrection and the response by republicans to the insurrection, no appetite for holding Donald Trump accountable. No appetite for creating a commission. No appetite for permitting Liz Cheney to remain in leadership if he wont repeat the lie. That that has an incentivizing and a motivating effect. Is that accurate . It is accurate. If you look at the chatter right now, if you look at the number of people who supported the 1 6 insurrection said its a siege. It is a riot. I like that, too. Ill take those words. The ones that i have a problem with and i think where Clint And Anna will go is saying that this is okay and a bunch of people snapping pics. Thats bullshit. Thats the issue that we have with the data and fact based analysis not only did it happen but also setting the stage for if you dont have any type of recriminations or ability to identify the Command And Control structure were going to have a real problem trying to stop this in the future and has to do with language and nip this in the bud. I think we need to do this and you are correct. I want to ask you a Twopart Question and then brianna into this. One to pull out another 9 11 parallel. Are the lights flashing yellow . Goodness. I deployed ten days after 9 11. I have this sort of im uniquely sensitive to the issue of terrorism whether foreign or domestic. Ill just tell you that. Obviously it is. I try to identify with people. You saw the Pipe Bombs laid there, radicalizing or language based on the Great Awakening to take out political leaders. That language is there. Im sure Clint And Anna have seen it, too. Taking back the government. That is mobilizing language. That is a call for a response. My issue is you will see that response more and more when you talk about some of the groups but this is a long Conversation Id like to sit down with people in the Terrorism Field is how many people do we need platform and what can we see . How do we actually go in and look at the Command And Control structures with the Deep Platforming and wheres the balance . How do we allow the chuckleheads to look at things to have an insight into whats going on . Thats the issues is that of course it was flashing yellow when stop the steal rhetoric started and back in June Of 2020 right after the Michael Flynn Oath when we saw the rise, the incredible rise and individuals with strong language and a year ago. It was right at that June Part where i really started to get concerned and not alleviated. Then my last question is, i understand the intricacies of Deep Platforming and how that can feel like whackamole but how is it possible that the two leaders of the republican party in congress dont want to be part of the solution to protect the homeland . I think its a why i get frustrated. I think its a completely political calculation rather than looking at whats best for everybody. The issue that you have on whats with Command And Control infrastructures and people willing to do violence, what political reason would anybody have to do this . This is well beyond politics. Were well beyond that and rage. It is well beyond anger. We have to get the answers on how we allow this to happen and we did this. This is our problem. You know . And i was screaming about this. Listen. We can have another commission on far left violence and far right Violence And Polarization and radicalization and lets have one but on this specific topic for January 6th we had a chance as a country and i would humbly submit as a party to nip this in the Bud Beforehand and im not in that position. If i was a leader there could be other political calculations but looking at data and the background in intelligence theres no one good damn reason for us not to do this. Thats just something i try to get my arms around. I dont know if the political calculation to overwhelm the calculation for whats best for americans and stopping this in the future. Anna palmer, i have wondered about the relationship of Cheney And Mcconnell and the 9 11 policies they championed together and people that understand threats, domestic or foreign to the country, are they comfortable with the lights flashing yellow . Yeah. The conversation on Capitol Hill is so different than the conversation right now of the threats the why . Why . I think the it comes down to politics and the fact that when you look at whats happening with Kevin Mccarthy and what he has done to not defend Liz Cheney and the fear of Donald Trump and the fear that he is going to try to take out members and they will not be able to get the majority back. The real question i think is going to be what do senate republicans do now that the Commission Bill passed . When you look at where Republicans Leadership was and the statement to say they were against the bill they still had 35 that crossed the line and supported it and now need 10 republicans and schumer will have to find them. I dont know that theyll get there with mcconnell saying he is skeptical of the commission going forward at all. Anna, what is the sort of chatter up there about Congressman Katko making clear that the commission could absolutely look at other incidents . He stood up and said of course they could look at the early April Killing of a Capitol Police Officer from i think we were all On The Air together with when that happened and called bs on mccarthy, the reasons for Whipping Opposition on the bill he sent katko to go. He is a serious member of congress. He came in there to negotiate in good faith. Had the backing of the leadership and then the leadership totally just pushed the metaphor of the let the Bus Roll over him. This was not done in a vacuum. Mccarthy knew what katko was doing. Language broad enough to not just about January 6. But at the end of the day it is going to be a big issue for mccarthy because who would want to be his proxy when you dont know if he has your back at the end of the day . That is tough to swallow for most members of congress. Clint, i want to come back to sort of thing that i i cant imagine talking about on television. Political Violence And Support in the republican party for it but 39 of republicans support political violence if other means havent been effective for them and theres a piece about that mindset believing that they are the victimized ones. What does that support for political violence in this moment mean for Law Enforcement . Its a tragic time because it was three years ago i believe i testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee and about this topic. Impetus is essentially around isis and why we see that kind of violent rhetoric leads to violent action in the homeland and a topic is the fact that some of the russian extremist white Supremacy Movement overlaps with the u. S. And that violent rhetoric could lead to violent action just in the same way of back a decade ago. Fast forward to today. That isnt from abroad but Capitol Hill. You hear the rhetoric coming out of the congressmen that are still loyal to President Trump. And its created what i call a reality rebellion, trying to create an entire atmosphere that, a complete show and they have the audience in such a bubble that they shape their perceptions and leads to January 6. This Vote Recount that theyre trying to do in arizona and others Duply Kating that. If you create an action in the physical world it seems more legitimate than violence and to strike out and also just layers into the different levels in the country about what is nationalism and who is a real american. Not just in terms of the federal landscape and the president ial election. I think the local level it just is created a lot of animosity and hate between groups of all political, social, economic persuasions and each fraction mobilized based on the rhetoric from the 40 of americans who think theyre justified to rise up based on a history thats inaccurate every time that happens that also creates a reciprocal movement because they feel i cannot protect myself. If you believe in antifa that also means that theres an fa in fascist and one begets the others and with the splinter what we are doing is watching our political leaders use violent rhetoric to divide us and every time they divide us theres a Reprisal System to spiral out of control over time. Its just an unbelievable moment for our country and grateful to talk to you about it. Denver and anna, thank you so much. Clint is sticking around. More on the rise of extremists interseconding with what we see across the country. Reports of horrific antisemitic attacks and are there no voices standing up against that hate . Ted cruz is at it again. Another tweet of his this time upsetting u. S. Veterans aligning himself with the russian military. Well explain. [sfx kids laughing] [sfx bikes passing] [sfx fire truck siren] onstar, we see them. Okay. Mother and child in vehicle. Mother is unable to exit the vehicle. Injuries are unknown. Thank you, onstar. My son, is he okay . Your sons fine. 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With Comcast Business you get the network that can deliver Gig Speeds to the most businesses and advanced cybersecurity to protect every device on it all backed by a dedicated team, 24 7. Every day in business is a big day. Well keep you ready for whats next. Comcast business powering possibilities. We rally around shared principles. We show the world that we settle differences of opinions not with blows and not with weapons but with Discussion And Engagement and even friendship. This is a moment to make clear that Los Angeles stands against antisemitism. Los Angeles Mayor Last Night condemning recent attacks against jewish residents in the Los Angeles area. An attack on diners tuesday where various slurs were shouted and then escalated to violence. Los angeles times reporting a witness told them that people from the Car Caravan Throwing Bottles at Diabetesers Chanting Death to jews and free palestine. They had malice. In new York Police investigating a Gang Assault of a man Last Night at a hate crime. A person is arrested for the beating which took place in the middle of The Street. Following pro israel and pro palestinian demonstrators clashing. Theres a rise in the u. S. Since the outbreak of violence. Joining our conversation, Jonathan Greenblatt and Clint Watts is still with us. Jonathan, this is the second story of the hour thats shocking to read and say out loud. I want to ask how we solve but first your sense of whats going on. [ no audio ] jonathan, we are going to fix your audio. Sorry. There you go. Start over. Thank you for covering this story. It hasnt gotten nearly enough attention in the media. We have seen week over week since the fighting in the Middle East started more than a 50 surge in antisemitic attacks in the country. From new York City to california to florida to New Jersey to south carolina, and more and more. Incidents like assaults in broad daylight. People chased down and beaten. Reports from Southern California of men Throwing Bottles at homes that had jew on the doors. Right . Acts of vandalism at synagogue. And just out and out acts of harassment that things being said to people that i Cant Repeat On The Air. So we are deeply alarmed by this. Because literally just Yesterday President biden signed into effect the Covid19 Hate crimes act which was prompted by asianamerican being held collectiveively responsible for policies of cheen and we need elected officials to do what Los Angeles mayor did saying to hold jews responsible is antisemitism. It should have no place in the political dialogue and the people committing these crimes need to be brought to justice. My dear friend was interviewing the pakistani Foreign Minister and stopped him cold when he used some antisemitic slurs. Let me read this and ask you how we fight that. So the pakistani Foreign Minister said that the pressure on public opinion is mounting, the Cease Fire is inevitable. Israel is losing, the Media War despite the connections. She says what are the connections . He says deep pockets. She says what does that mean . He says they control the media. She then in the moment called it out saying i would call that an antisemitic remark. When you have senior Government Officials trotting that out its an Extension And Tail on soesh media. How do you what is sort of the whole of Society Pushback when you have one of the most seen your leaders in pakistan trotting this out and then down to a Twitter Account . You are exactly correct. We need a whole of Society Strategy to combat this kind of hate because from Foreign Ministers to the mobs on the twitter at we track extremism offline and online. The center for Technology In Society Saw 17,000 last week tweets that were all saying that hitler was right for slaughtering or the jews or something like that and thats why we work with officials, Law Enforcement agencies, community leaders, the Social Media companies to pull down the unhinged memes, to push back on the crazed conspiracy theories. People make exaggerated Fictionalized Claims that the Jewish State is intentionally murdering babes or control the media. It spawns activities in The Street and a consequence to it. And that consequence is people getting beaten, assaulted and hurt in ways that i think makes all jews feel afraid and should make all people feel afraid. This isnt america. It is critical what youre doing by exposing the audience to this story is a start. Unless we have attention on it people wont realize the extent of the problem and well never solve it. Youve been seen a lot and been in that role. I wonder where you place this moment in terms of how you feel. Do you feel scared . I do feel scared and heard from people all over the country in the past week alarmed from College Campuses to Los Angeles. People are feeling under assault. It is like a charlottesville every day driving down The Street targeting jewish neighborhoods through a mega Phone Screaming are you jewish. Throwing bottles at people. This isnt normal. We have been fighting hate over 100 years and seen in the past that tension in the Middle East can spawn Hate Crimes here but i must say from the far right in the last segment talking about something we have tracked, the right wing extremists that stormed the capitol to the radical left with the unhinged claims about the jewish people or state. The community is Feeling Pressure from both sides. Feeling anxious about where Do We Go From Here . Many people are going to our website adl. Org and reporting the incidents. But it takes everybody, on the left and the right and the center, media, government, Law Enforcement to work together to push this prejudice back in the corner where it belongs. Clint, you know im coming to you on this burden on Law Enforcement. As well as how do you make sure that Social Media is not facile facilitating violence on The Streets. Compare this to the 1980s. Theres a global conflict you didnt see outbreaks of violence based on ethnic identity. This is awful right now but we were talking about antiasian hate. If you rewind it is antisemitism pretty much nonstop in terms of attacks around the country. I worked with lapd a little over a decade when the Commissioner Bratton was there and for every conflict they saw increasing amount of conflict because theyre an international community with people all over the world that live there and targeted for things they werent aware of and didnt know where it was coming from. The only reason to happen is an exact point of Social Media. If you went out there today, the amount of antisemitic hate in the social Media Environment and the online environment is enormous. Its massive coming from many directions and every time someone sees that that has a slight inclination theyre mobilized around it so its a two part chablg. One for the Social Media companies to throttle and recognize it. When you see a Conflict Break out in the world like israel and palestinian conflict going on you have to get there quick to metering that content so its not out of control and second part is for Law Enforcement agencies is knowing their communities, having that outreach is there. We spent a lot of effort a decade ago to do that and build outreach but after the George Floyd protests, the election conspiracies out there and now moving into the new period we lost that trust and the Law Enforcement and the communities and we have to rebuild it. How do we stop rhetoric . Theres more attacks like this as long as we dont come back together as a country and really end this what is a multipolar ethnic conflict in our country like i have never seen at any time in our history. Well stay on this with both of your help. Jonathan, thank you for spending time with us today. Clint watts, thank you. Nice to talk to you both. Still to come, we are not quite sure what Ted Cruzs problem is with the u. S. Army. Maybe it is having a die Verlgs Group of Men And Women on the front lines that bothers him or prefers the russian military. Well show you what he said next. Limu Emu Doug hey limu [ squawks ] how great is it that we get to tell everybody how Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . I mean it. Oh, sorry. [ laughter ] woops [ laughter ] good Evening Meow nope. Oh. What . Im an emu Ah Ha ha. No, buddy buddy, its a filter only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty new projects means new project managers. You need to hire. I need indeed. Indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. Claim your Seventy Five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed. Com home. Ted cruz managed to anger just about Everyone Last Night with a retweet of a Tiktok Video that attempted the mock the u. S. Army. The united States Senator from texas used the platform to share a video from a dubious online account that pairs russian military propaganda with an ad for the u. S. Army. Take a look. Someone did. [ speaking foreign language ] it begins in california. With a little girl raised by two moms. Also marched for equality. I like to think ive been defending freedom from an early age. To which cruz responded by writing, quote, excuse the language. Holy crap. Perhaps a woke, emasculated military isnt the best idea and a second tweet said it made the American Military into pansies. Vote vets said Ted Cruz attacks a soldier for telling his story. Says he prefers russians because Ted Cruz is a sedition loving perhaps dont suggest that the russian military is better than an American Military. Joining us now is Charlie Sykes and paul reich. He hosts a podcast independent americans. I told Everyone i need to hear from paul. Your thoughts . Okay. Where do we start with the latest asinine comments from Ted Cruz . Today is a day of contrast. President biden awarded the congressional medal of congress to Ralph Puckett who was on a walker and went in to say other people. He is the epitome of What Americans should be, dedicated his life to america and recognized. Then you have Ted Kruds to putt himself first, weak, cowardly putting the enemies interests ahead of our own. He is why people hate politicians. Enough already with Ted Cruz. People in texas should be ashamed of him. Day after day he continues to do things that helps the enemies after a group of people took over the capitol so he should resign, go away, keep the military out of his mouth and stay away from Tammy Duckworth that gave her legs in defense of this country. Ted cruz never wore the uniform or stood up for anybody. Im really surprised as someone who spent time in the party formerly known as republicans to see republicans so brazenly trotting out antimilitary messages. I think we talked when the pentagon had to respond to the carlson attacks and now an attack from cruz. Is there sort of a i know that the military is representative of the country at large but have you seen so much military bashing from republicans in your career . Never, never. Cuts to the core of the implosion in the republican party why nobody is off limits. Even the military. There is a divide within the party. You have Adam Kinzinger who served in the tear, Liz Cheney and then Ted Cruz. There is a divide here but this is the time for everybody in every party to stand up and be counted. Yesterday we had a vote in the congress and found out who stands with america and who stands with the enemies. Either you are with us or against us. Patriotism matters and well find out in the senate. Today again Ted Cruz continues to show she is not with america but with himself and now with the russians so the sooner he is gone the better and get a better patriot from texas. Cant you find somebody better than Ted Cruz to represent the great state of texas . Do it for america. Charlie, there a lot of great people in texas. I have watched closely as a lot of former veterans and former cia officials, folks have run at the beginning of the career as democrats not republicans. The republicans as a party that even pretends to care for national Security And Defense is over. Right . A Bygone E are. It is something completely new. This is Ted Cruz looking for new ways for people to hate him which is extraordinary. He was already hated why when i think of manly men and super warriors i think of Ted Cruz. I wish you could putt together a fundraiser to have an Arm Wrestling Contest of Tammy Duckworth and Ted Cruz because she would kick his ass. This is not about ideas. This is not about republican versus democrat. It is all performtive. You see them try to make themselves into something different and turning themselves into cartoons. Josh hawley is a pop list. Ted cruz is turning himself is what . What is this . Implying that the u. S. Military members are pansies, look. If im Ted Cruz and i have gone through the transformation that he has over four years i would stay away from the word emasculated. Really. After Donald Trump mocks his wife and he cravenly crawled back. The dictionary has a picture of Ted Cruz at emasculated. Because he has a beard thats that doesnt mean that its going to be effective. This is whats happened to the politics. That it is about this posturing. Whos the toughest. If that means contrasting members of our military with vladimir Putins Army he is willing to do it. This is the we have talked about the Post Truth Era of the politics. Ted cruz and people like Josh Hawley and Marco Rubio and Rand Paul are also in the Post Shame Era of our politics. Theyre not even embarrassed. What uses the Word Pansy anymore . It is offensive and lazy and dumb and keep in mind Ted Cruz is trying to remake himself from being the Jerk Demagogue from Harvard Into now what . You know . Grizzly warrior who calls other people pansies. It is so pathetic and offensive and even by Ted Cruz standards it is offensive. It shouldnt go unnoted when i think as paul said nothing is sacred, nothing is beyond. Theres no shame for politicizing the military and invoking the russians. Im glad to talk to you both. My thanks to you both. Check out the latest Ep Sod of Pauls Podcast independent americans. What appears to be an achievement for President Biden the Cease Fire in gaza is holding. Well survey the damage next. Sut when you buy this tea at walmart, walmart can buy more tea from milos. Milos can create new jobs, jobs for people like james and lacey and me. Me, i love my work family. Family here and home, is my life is better for us because of a job. A job created when you buy this tea at walmart. We made Usaa Insurance for members like martin. An Air Force Veteran made of doing whats right, not whats easy. So when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. Thats how you do it right. Usaa insurance is made just the way martins family needs it with hasslefree claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. Because doing right by our members, thats whats right. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. 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Talk to your Eczema Specialist about dupixent, oh yeah, you going to place it . Not until im sure. Why dont you call Td Ameritrade for a Strategy Gut Check . Whats that . You run it by an expert, you talk about the risk and potential profit and loss. Couldve used that before i hired my interior decorator. Voila maybe a Couple Throw pillows would help. Get a Strategy Gut Check from our trade desk. After the ceasefire, they are trying to rebuild, but it is difficult. Look at the damage around here. This was the iconic Media Building that was flattened after the israeli military gave warning to the Associated Press and the other inhabitants that they had to flee. But this is just one building. The mayor told us that 100 miles of critical infrastructure in gaza has been obliterated, A Hundred miles of water pipes, roads, roads that ambulances need to travel on but are unable to. Our colleague, Richard Engel, earlier today, getting an up close look at some of the devastation in gaza city. Palestinian families who fled their homes in search of shelter in recent days, about 100,000 in all, are now returning after the ceasefire between israel and hamas went into effect. And heres some of what theyre coming back to. Buildings demolished, infrastructure destroyed, more than 250 people died over the course of the 11day war. The vast majority of them, palestinians. Earlier today, more tension as a protest in jerusalem prompted israeli police to use Rubber Bullets and teargas but for now, the truce is holding. No more rockets, no more Air Strikes, at least for now. More from Richard Engel in gaza city. Reporter nicole, the ceasefire is holding insomuch as there are no rockets flying out of gaza into israeli cities, theres no israeli Air Strikes coming into gaza but it doesnt mean that the tensions are in any way reduced. In fact, there have been celebrations here, not celebrations that there is a ceasefire but celebrations among palestinians, among hamas supporters and people who dont support hamas that the palestinians won this round, that they were able to keep fighting. So, it is not that theyre celebrating calm. Theyre celebrating victory, which leads to the question, do they think there can be more of this, that they could take this to another round . At the moment, hamas doesnt seem to have the appetite to get into another full frontal battle with israel. It lost a tremendous amount here in gaza by doing that for the last two weeks, a lot of infrastructure was destroyed. But morally, politically, spiritually, it gained a lot. Hamas is seeing a boost of its popularity here in gaza, and now it is trying to claim ownership of the palestinian cause, presenting itself as the defender of the palestine people, particularly in jerusalem, and that is why those clashes at the Al Aqsa Mosque are crucial. It was clashes there that started this round and now as hamas is presenting its as the defender of palestinians for all palestinians and all people around the world, it is watching what happens at the Al Aqsa Mosque very closely and if things escalate there, then we could see another military escalation, but it hasnt happened, but watch jerusalem. Nicole . That was nbcs Richard Engel for us in gaza. And a note to all of you. On tuesday, we showed you video of peaceful protests from around the world in support of the palestinian people. We mistakenly said that those demonstrations were also a show of support for hamas, which we did not mean to do. Words matter, especially with this story, and we apologize. The next hour of Deadline White House starts after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Were just getting started. K br. Dont go anywhere. Were just getting started little your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats Plaque Psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory Tract Infection and headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Think of what peanuts have given Humanity Fuel for vast Migrations Sustenance for Mountaineering Expeditions and long journeys across the world but most importantly . They give us something to eat when we drink beer. Planters. A nut above. I believe the palestinians and israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy. My administration will continue our quiet and relentless diplomacy toward that end. I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress, and i have committed to working for it. Hi again, its 5 00 in the east, quiet and relentless. President biden there underscoring a strategy that could not be any further from the brash, showy and substancefree approach of his predecessor. Its a strategy that paid off in spades this week amid a cascade of crises here at home and abroad. At this hour, President Biden will cap off a week on the World Stage with a Press Conference with South Korean President Moon jaein, only the second World Leader to visit the biden white house. That is set to begin in just a few moments. As soon as it starts, well bring it to you live. It comes after a week of what President Biden described as, quote, quiet and relentless diplomacy, culminating, of course, in a ceasefire between israel and hamas, which at the moment appears to have ended 11 days of intense fighting in the region. Nbc news is reporting on the president s approach. As the first Rocket Fire was exchanged between israel and hamas, president Joe Biden settled on a strategy, and as he had throughout the 2020 campaign, biden adhered to it, despite mounting criticism from republicans and even his own democratic party. His approach was stylistically muted and substantively more hardline than some of his allies had expected. It was driven by a singular goal, to end the violence as soon as possible so he could train his focus back on to his domestic agenda. That muted approach meant that biden avoided making frequent comments on the crisis. At one point, dodging a question from a reporter with a joke. Watch. Mr. President, can i ask you a quick question on israel before you drive . No, you cant, not unless you get in front of the car as i step on it. Im only teasing. Here we go. Ready . Lets see it, sir. You ready . All of it marking an incredibly dramatic departure from the former president , whose fondness for diplomacy by tweet undercut the work of his own staff and diplomats and caused consternation and sometimes fear among our allies. President bidens quite and relentless approach, not limited to Foreign Policy either. The president has stayed above the fray as chaos engulfed washington and the republican party this week. President biden, for the most part, refusing to weigh in on the divisions inside the gop. Do you have any comments on the efforts to oust Liz Cheney from the house republican Leadership Post . Mr. President, you know whats happening with Kevin Mccarthy and his leadership. Can you trust him and work with him . Thank you, guys. Lets go. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Lets go. And do you believe youll be running against former President Trump . Oh, come on. I dont even think about i have no idea. I have no idea whether theyll be a republican party. Do you . What does the president have to show for staying away from bitter Partisan Bickering . Quite a bit, actually. In just the past few weeks, President Biden announced new guidance for vaccinated americans, marking an historic milestone toward the end of the Covid19 Pandemic in the united states. The president signed a bill addressing the epidemic of Hate Crimes against asianamericans, and the president has hosted leaders of both parties for talks on his next major legislative push, a potentially transformative trillion dollar Infrastructure Plan. The president s quiet and relentless approach paying off here at home and abroad is where we begin. Bidens transition team, Rick Stengel is back. Also joining us, Jonathan Lemire, Associated Press white House Correspondent and Robert Gibbs is here, form white house press secretary. The word i heard from a senior white House Official was ruthless competence to describe the ethos in the biden white house. Have you heard that . Yeah, nicole, thats what theyre certainly aiming for and trying to project. There isnt a lot of drama, at least not yet, internally, and this president doesnt seem inclined to really mess around with the drama thats happening outside the white house gates either in washington as those clips just portrayed. He is largely left the republican parties to fight among itself while focusing on The Big Picture items that he believes he was elected by the american people to do. Were seeing that both domestically and abroad, just, of course, in this week. Its a startling change at the white house. Suddenly, you know, because of the Cdc Guidance about masks, guidance made possible because of the successful Vaccination Program that this administration has presided over, you know, it is sort of joyful in there almost, people not wearing masks, people not having to be six feet apart. Were seeing, today, first only the second foreign Leader Visit in the Biden Term and the first one that can be sort of a full visit with all the Pomp And Circumstance and certainly one befitting of a traditional ally like South Korea. And of course we are seeing this ongoing push with the Infrastructure Plan, you know, the white house Making A Counteroffer To Republicans today. Its not quite clear whether that will get a deal done, but they see the feel like the wind is at their back. Public polling supports not just the Infrastructure Plan but biden himself. He remains very popular now four months into his administration, and they feel like they capitalized on the momentum, including with what was his first, perhaps, diplomatic triumph this week, quietly pushing israel Behind The Scenes to get to that ceasefire with the palestinians and hamas. Rick stengel, how they did it, i think, is a Story Worth spending a minute on. You know, im told that between meetings with his own team and staff, calls to foreign leaders, and this quiet diplomacy, theyre talking about, there were about 80 meetings and calls in all, not one tweet. As Jonathan Lemire is talking about. Its such an abrupt change but its even different from just past president s who were normal american president s but who were more, i guess, out front, and i wonder what that says about this president s style on the World Stage. Well, the first thing it says, nicole, is that it isnt Joe Bidens first rodeo. Hes seen so many israelipalestinian crises over the decades. Hes dealt with Bibi Netanyahu A Million times. He knows that anything can go sideways on you at any moment, and i think its a glimpse, also, into the kind of bidenblinken Foreign Policy, which is deliberate, measured, dont overreact. You can get a lot more done Behind The Scenes than you can on camera. Thats who Joe Biden is. Thats who Tony Blinken is. And we saw that this week. And its also not this kind of Relentless America has to be first, america has to, you know, pump its muscles on the World Stage. You know, we do well because of our alliances, and thats one of the things that you saw because not only was biden and the whole administration talking to israel. They were talking to egypt. They were talking to jordan. They were talking to all of those powers that have something to do with it, so i think its both a good first test and a win, but it also shows their style of diplomacy, which is all about diplomacy. Making diplomacy great again, if you will. Robert gibbs, its also been brought to my attention that the asianamerican Hate Crimes legislation was signed into law, again offering a contrast not just in terms of legislation to protect asianamericans but in some ways to protect them from the last president. Who, even after he lost, continued to call it the China Flu and the china virus. We are still sort of unspooling all the damage to this country that he did. Theres No Doubt about it, nicole, and i think whats interesting is maybe some of those different accomplishments that you mentioned, you know, were now more than 60 of the population has had one covid vaccine, nearing 18 and aboves nearing 50 , legislation on asian Hate Crimes signed, progress on infrastructure, all while managing this conflict abroad, and the one thing that you have to understand in a white house, the most precious commodity, and the one thing that isnt replenishable is a president s time and i have No Doubt that while we are indispensable in that region of the world, in the Middle East, in making sure that some Peace And Stability can happen, inside that white house, they are deeply focused on a domestic agenda around jobs and around infrastructure and thats got to be the focus, quite frankly, of this administration, given whats at stake in our economy and in this country. Well, and jonathan, you guys have some great reporting. I mean, i think another way to put this ruthless, you know, competence is almost real Speed And Efficiency to get back to what Robert Gibbs is talking about. Let me read some of what the a. P. Is reporting about this week. Hourbyhour, biden advisors had concluded in the first days of the crisis as hamas fired hundreds of rockets on israel that a call from the president would have fallen flat. At the same time, early in the crisis, there was deep worry inside the white house that the fighting could escalate into something that would take months to tamp down. As the outside calls for biden to speak out more forcefully grew, the president and his top aides privately made the case to israeli officials that time was not on their side. Biden and netanyahu have known Each Other for more than 30 years and have frequently butted heads. Their conversations throughout the crisis probed one another as they tried to game out a path forward, according to officials. Its a picture of something so different, again, from what came before it, not pandering, not hyperbole, but i think for the president , knowing himself, and in dealing with the israelis, i think having a sense that it weakens the countrys hand. It weakens this white Houses Hand if you call for something that netanyahu is never going to do. Just talk about how they gamed this out this weekend, jonathan. Sure, nicole. The white Houses Outreach to israel and the pressure they applied to israel steadily escalated during the lengths of the violence, the 11 days, but it remained largely Behind The Scenes and that was a calculation my colleagues and i have reported throughout this period and have explained a number of stories. That biden recognized he had to give israel some running room. That he had to vocally say to them, they have the right to selfdefense. With those rockets coming in, israel had to hit back. They had to defend itself, and they were willing to let that happen for a few days, that certainly the biden the president and his team said they hoped for peace, they mourned lives lost on both sides, but they werent demanding that ceasefire, not immediately, because they knew, they made the calculation, that had they done so, it would have been ignored and, yes, would have left the white House Look and this new administration in its first real foreign Policy Test look weak or diminished by that so there wasnt a lot of Saber Rattling or blustery demands. Its done quietly but steadily and other allies in the region talking to Egypt And Jordan to get them to be involved, particularly on the Hamas Side and then President Biden, who has throughout his political career, including on the senate foreign Relations Committee and the Vice President has been publicly supportive of israel but Behind The Scenes, willing to be more critical, he ramped up his rhetoric with prime Minister Netanyahu and said, okay, its time now, according to our reporting, for this ceasefire to end. I Cant Cover for you any longer. The pressure is growing domestically for me to do something like this and call for this ceasefire and in the last 48 hurries, that deal was struck and so far, the ceasefire, though fragile and tentative, seems to be holding and the white house is still, of course, watching very warily. Yeah, i mean, those are white knuckle moments for any white house and obviously Everyone in the region. Rick stengel, my old boss, george w. Bush, hated any coverage that was sort of he called it naval gazing. This president is totally different, but there isnt a ton of naval gazing. There isnt a ton of selfreflection so i found this interview with the President And David brooks interesting. I want to read it to you and ask you to expand on it for us. David brooks interviews the president , who says this. Were at a genuine Inflection Point at history. He says were experiencing a fourth Industrial Revolution which encompasses developments rising from the age of Information Technology to the rise of the chinese Super State to shifts in the global competitive environment. In this context, biden sees the greatest risk in incrementalism. The risk is not trying to go big, booinld said. If we stay small, i dont know how we change our international status and competitive capacity. This is the case theyre making, and with a 60 Approval Rating with the agenda items and the legislative pieces and pushes even more popular than the president himself, they do have this window to do something so transformational with the role of government in american life, and i wonder if you expect that well hear more of this, that its about competition with china, its about Americas Place in the world. Thats why we need these big and expensive government programs. Yes, i thought it was a super revealing and interesting interview. Theres an Old English expression, nicole, called which goes, cometh the moment, cometh the man. And i think what happened with Joe Biden who has been a lifelong denizen of washington, d. C. , realized, this is my moment, in part because of who my predecessor was. I cant go small anymore. I cant be an incrementalist. Im a its not my first rodeo, as i said before, im not a young man anymore. Im going to do those things that i think really need to be done. He sees himself as an Fdr Sort of figure, and that has been what he has been so far, and i think thats powerful. You know, i mean, the presidency does things to people. You know, the same fire that melts the butter hardens The Egg, and in this case, its making Joe Biden rise to that office and do big things, and i think its something that could be transformational for the republic. I am so in awe of the way you just throw out these give me The Egg and the butter one more time, Rick Stengel. It was actually said by a psychologist. I cant remember the name. The same fire melts the butter, hardens The Egg, and it was about, you know, some people get stronger and some people get weaker and so your ruthless competence, nicole, you harden under the fire. No, i i love this. And i think, Robert Gibbs, what i was trying to figure out is whos the butter and whos The Egg. Talk about melting at the moment. If there were a functional republican party, you could see a debate around i dont even know. I guess maybe around an Infrastructure Package that was, you know, different pieces, maybe, Broadband Package separate from bridges and roads. They seem to not be able to comprehend how some things that you Cant Drive on or ride in a tube in are infrastructure. But the point is there isnt a functional republican party and i wonder if you can, from working with President Biden when he was Vice President , tell me how much of this is sort of carpe diem, my party might lose one of the chambers, maybe not, and how much of it is, this is what the country needs at this moment and just talk about where this vision comes from. Was it always there and this is what the countrys going through or is it the fact that there is no functioning Opposition Party . Explain where this is coming from, from your knowledge of him. Im going to try to do it. I doubt ill be quite as eloquent as rick was right there. None of us is. I know, right . I was hoping you were going to call on jonathan. I think the really i think its a combination, healthy combination of two things, right . Having sat as the Vice President in the obama administration, if you look at the first two years when you have the house and the senate and the presidency, those first two years are the years in which you can do big things. And you dont know what the congressional makeup is going to be like after the midterms. You dont know whether youre going to get reelected, so there is a moment to strike, and it is now. But i think whether it is covid, whether it is china, whatever it is that has created that moment of deep inflection in this country, Joe Biden recognizes it and understanding that the clock is ticking on the ability to get things done, i think this is where the moment is joined, and he is going to really press what he can get out of this. And i think its smart from a historical perspective. I think its really smart for what is facing the country. And i think its deeply smart, politically. Hes he knows he has this chance. He does not know what the future holds. Yeah, and i mean, Robert Gibbs, on this point of incrementalism, its not like a smaller Covid Relief Bill or a smaller Infrastructure Plan would become bipartisan. I mean, the republican party is broken as a governing party, so its not like theres not a political purpose anymore to doing anything in a way that could be bipartisan. The republicans have made it clear, they have no interest in doing anything with him. And i wonder if you think that surprised him, if you think that was something he had to recalibrate after he won. Well, i think if you listen to the rhetoric of the campaign, there was an Inflection Point in dealing with the republicans. He talked about the fact that he knew them, he had these deep relationships, and he could make this work. My guess is, despite saying all that, he realized fairly quickly that it is a disorganized opposition. Look, im struck by the fact, i dont even know what the central negative message that theyre trying to move against Joe Biden is. They seem much more focused on dr. Seuss and, you know, mr. Potato head and all these things that i can assure you very few people in the real World Care about. They want jobs. They want the economy moving again. They want stronger roads and bridges. And i think hes just laser focused on trying to get that done, and just as hes not waiting for the rest of the world to Catch Up with him, hes also not waiting for the republican party to get their act together before he moves forward. Again, its understanding that Ticking Clock and needing to move quickly. Im not proud of this, but ill tell you, i spent some time trying to understand what their attacks on him are and theyre sort of around the stuff that isnt sticking. Hes got a 60 Approval Rating. His proposals, which are very expensive, are very popular, even among republicans. The way he wants to change the Tax Structure is popular among republicans too, because even republicans think corporations should pay more. So, i think the point about them not being able to attack him, they attack him, it just isnt sticking. Rick stengel, Jonathan Lemire, Robert Gibbs are all sticking around. We continue to wait for President Bidens joint News Conference with the president of South Korea. And we will bring it to you live as soon as it starts. When we return, cases of coronavirus are dropping dramatically all across the country. There are new questions about whether well need to have Booster Vaccines to beat the virus once and for all. Well get some answers on that next. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Use continues after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Starting today, nobody has to settle for less than the very best. 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Things are improving, and we are seeing this week after week as more and more people roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated, the number of cases and the level of Community Risk is decreasing. The Cdc Director Today on the incredible progress the u. S. Has made thanks to vaccinations. Citing an average of about 27,000 new covid cases per day, the lowest in about a year, about 500 deaths per day, the lowest since the pandemic began. And a dramatic decrease since january in concern for outbreaks at the community level. In an article headlined covid on the run, david of the New York times writes this. The virus is running out of places to be communicable. Andy slavitt, one of President Bidens Top Covid Advisors told me. The sharp decline in cases over the past month virtually guarantees that deaths will fall over the next month. The pandemic appears to be in an exponential decay phase. Lets bring in msnbc medical Contributor Dr. Kavita patel, former obama white House Health Policy Director And Fellow at the brookings institute. Rick stengel, Jonathan Lemire, and Robert Gibbs are all still here and are going to jump in on the questioning. Dr. Patel, let me ask you about this idea that its running out of places to go. Does that mean were not in a place where Community Spread is happening anymore . Yeah, and that really comes, nicole, from this question of, you know, if one person gets infected, in previous kind of surges, that one person could infect, exponentially, one, two, three other people and what were seeing now is people are still getting infected, but theyre largely staying kind of infected as a unit of one and not spreading it to other people. And thats kind of the classic definition of what we look for in Herd Immunity. I know were trying not to get people confused or whats a certain number for Herd Immunity. The truth with Herd Immunity is that still people get cases. Theyre just not likely to spread them to other people. I would say thats overall true of the country, not necessarily true in all parts of the country, which is why we have to keep pushing for vaccinations to increase. Let me just try to understand that. I remember in the beginning, obviously, i live in New York so i was in the epicenter, but the first sort of Hot Spot was new rochelle and it was just what you described, one person spread it and it sort of shut down an entire community. The fact that it doesnt do that anymore, is it because the virus has mutated and is weaker or is it because enough people had it and or more importantly are vaccinated now . Right. Yeah, its more the latter. Between people who are naturally infected and there is some overlap with those who got vaccines by injection, but between those two groups, theres just not as many people for the virus to go into and infect. By the way, its why we also see an increase in cases in children. Its not that theres some, you know, worse version of the virus, although, the predominant viral strain right now is that uk b. 117 variant but it is clear that fewer and fewer people are getting infected and fewer and fewer are getting it. But im not going to declare victory in the world has quieted down. Too soon to do that. I want the bring Jonathan Lemire in for a question. Dr. Patel, good to see you again. You just mentioned the variant that is now taking Center Stage in the united states. Hoping you can just give us an update on two things. What other variants . Are we seeing new ones emerge, perhaps, elsewhere in the globe that we should be concerned about here in the united states and secondly, connected, whats the latest on the idea of Booster Shots . Weve heard for so long that americans who received these vaccines will, whether its six months, eight months, ten months a year, whatever it might be, would need a booster, in part to ward off those variants. Whats the latest thinking on that . Sure. Good to see you as well, jonathan. On the first question, i think the variant that were all keeping a very close Eye On is the b. 617 variant from india and cases are declining in india but theyre still raging so were watching that and were watching especially, jonathan, in the uk, singapore, and places where that particular variant is now looking like its going to become dominant and there are, again, like with the uk variant, early signs that it could be more infectious, more transmissible, so i think at the end of the day, the variants are what we all are kind of watching and keeping a close Eye On, including in the united states. Its why we think we might need those Booster Shots. The ceos of Moderna And Pfizer made some bold statements by saying its highly likely Everyone will need one within 99 to 12 months but we dont have data to support that. What we have is we still have strong immunity after at least six months, and its likely longer, but we just havent had that many people vaccinated for longer than six months, so as we follow people, we will likely see that they still have immunity, and especially, good news, all the three vaccines in the united states seem to work against all the variants, likely including the b. 1617 one. So jonathan, i think its about, you know, would we need a booster after about 12 months but this puts the united states in a quandary because the world needs those same vaccines so is our booster as important as getting Everyone else vaccinated and trying to kind of quiet the virus around the world . Dr. Patel, i want to put the numbers up, because weve all been having this conversation since we had all of the sort of tragic numbers when the trajectory was going up, but its just as remarkable to see them going down. So, the sevenday average is 27,700. Its down 20 from just last week, the lowest since June Of 2020. Deaths are down, the sevenday average is 498 per day, a new le since march of 2020. Hospital admissions are down, the sevenday average is 3,438 per day. Thats down 15 from last week. Are these drops a trajectory, or is this just sort of catching up with the number of people that have been vaccinated . Do you expect these numbers to continue on this trajectory . Yeah, we do. I mean, nicole, its definitely driven, in part, by vaccinations, but you know, it is also just a trajectory, doubledigit Declines Week over Week Kind of representing the fact that, you know, basic Mitigation Measures were working as well as getting the most vulnerable people vaccinated. As a point, though, the people that are driving deaths and hospitalizations are generally unvaccinated people, so if we can continue to even if its 500,000 a day, get more and more people vaccinated, including 12 to 15yearolds, that is going to make a difference. So, its a trajectory that reflects both, the vaccination as well as in places where the Mitigation Measures and i think thats why you hear a lot of health people like me, when you see states like texas outlawing masks in children, those are not this is not the time to take away the very few Mitigation Measures that actually have made a difference, and so i would say to keep that trajectory going, try to get to close to zero as possible, we need to vaccinate and protect those who arent vaccinated. I want to ask you about Dating Apps. This is one of my favorite covid stories of the day. The white house announced today that some of the biggest Dating Apps in the country are launching features showing Vaccination Status and links to vaccine information. The white house says ok cupid found vaccinated people or those who plan to get vaccinated received 14 more matches. I know youre on the, you know, by any way possible incentivize vaccination participation. But there is some ingenuity here and i wonder what you think about people getting creative with this. Yeah, i think behavioral psychology works. I mean, there have been very clear stories about dating just being difficult because if youre wearing a mask and youre constantly six feet apart, it doesnt make for kind of getting to know someone. So, what better than to kind of say, look, im vaccinated, and i think its very similar to, you know, people tend to kind of have likeminded youre vaccinated and you believe in science, you want to kind of meet someone else. So its become a proxy for, you know, how to tell if someone really believes in Science And Someone who doesnt and i think thats also going to be an interesting experiment, but i am a little bit of, get anybody vaccinated by any means necessary, short of taxpayer dollars. Im not a huge fan of Throwing Millions of dollars for a handful of people. I know its driving up numbers, but i would love to see these kind of nudges, nicole, which i think are working. Dr. Kavita patel, thank you for fielding our Questions Today and spending time with us. Nice to see you. We continue to keep an Eye On the biden white house where the president is set to hold a joint News Conference with the president of South Korea. We will carry that live when it happens. When we return, teachers are pushing back against Red States that are banning Mask Mandates, even in public schools where kids are not yet vaccinated. That Story And Reaction from the head of the most powerful Teachers Union is next. 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Ill be eating roasted Cauliflower Tacos with spicy chipotle sauce. [doorbell chimes] thank you. [puck scores] oooow yeah i wasnt ready you want cheese to go with that whine . . Maybe i didnt love you quite as often as i could have were delivering for the earth. By investing in more electric vehicles, reusable packaging, and carbon capture research. Making earth our priority. I thought id seen it all. A growing number of republicanled states banning Mask Mandates for schools, despite the fact that this country has no approved vaccine for any child younger than 12 years old, the president of the american federation of teachers, who has expressed on this program her goal is to get all schools reopened 100 this fall, is now joining Frontline Workers in expressing concern over the shift in Cdc Mask Guidance last week. In the letter obtained by nbcs heidi przybyla, randi said, while this change in guidance makes clear the effectiveness of vaccines, it has raised questions about how to apply it in all the environments in which our members serve, education, healthcare, and public service. For those entrusted with the welfare of children, any Change Or Ambiguity in guidance triggers a significant impact on Planning And Classroom management. Joining us now is Randi Weingarten and the aforementioned Nbc News correspondent heidi przybyla. Thank you so much for being with us today. The story has sort of roared back into the headlines and randi, if you could just start by telling me what you want, what teachers want in terms of Classroom Safety for the fall. So, Number One, and i notice were all wearing the same hue here. Springs here. Yeah, exactly. Number one, we want schools open in the fall, and we dont want outbreaks, so we dont want, you know, an outbreak in an Elementary School in light of kids not having vaccinations. We want schools open and we want them to stay open, so we understood and were really pleased that the cdc sees the effectiveness of the vaccines as so great that those of us who are vaccinated get to individually choose whether to wear a mask or not. But unfortunately, the politics have been such that iowa and texas then rushed to say, no Mask Mandates when we still dont have a vaccine for thats okayed for Elementary School students, and we see whats happened in india with the variants for kids. So, what weve just basically said to the cdc is, we dont want to be the mask police. Please give us some guidance. Well figure out how to deal with it. Lets, you know, do this in the fall. Lets finish the School Year this year safely, and well figure it out. But dont make us make it up as we go along every single day, and dont make us be the mask police. So, randi, what you would like is for the cdc to issue guidance saying that any child under 12 should wear a mask in school and continue to social distance, i think three feet now, not six. Would that be helpful . Correct. And then instead of it becoming because what weve seen, nicole, is that any time we raise these issues, were not the doctors, were the teachers, you know, and so any time we raise these issues, then people perceive it as, were trying to create obstacles to reopening, but it seemed pretty clear that this meant that if you had a vaccine, then you could take off your mask. What does that mean in terms of junior high schools, high schools, in terms of, you know, outside, inside . I can figure out that outside it means, go maskless. Inside, if you dont have good ventilation, maybe it means something else. So, weve asked them that question, but the second piece that seems clear to us is what you just said, which is, in Elementary School, until we have the vaccines, it seems like, unfortunately, were going to have to still keep wearing our masks and be physically distant so we dont have outbreaks, because we want to have school open. Heidi przybyla, youve done some incredible reporting on ventilation in schools, and i thought that this would be like the moon shot, right . We dont have vaccines for small children, so surely we would put together all of our smartest people to make classrooms safe and wellventilated. Your reporting paints a slightly different picture. Explain. Nicole, schools are sitting on billions of dollars in covid relief money, and unfortunately, when congress handed that money over, they didnt say, here are the scientifically proven machinery that you need to spend this on. They just said, go and make your classrooms safe. Heres the money. And of course, whenever that happens, there are a lot of companies who are hard selling to these schools and these schools are very well intentioned. Theyre trying to protect children, but according to the experts who i talked to and who penned a letter about this, theyre very concerned that some of these companies that are selling ionizing Air Cleaning Equipment that is not scientifically proven to work could actually not just not work but also potentially be harmful, and they say until we have that evidence and that information, these things should be shut off, nicole. Were not talking about just a few schools. And this is back of the Envelope Surveying because we cannot find out exactly how many, but were talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that have already been spent on these items, and now the Department Of Education is saying, whoa, maybe we need to issue some more guidance about this. Its just an unbelievably massive challenge, and i want to ask both of you about what to expect in the fall. I mean, obviously, there were great disparities with what remote learning offered. I mean, i have been remote teaching my son all year and you know, you basically have to have someone, an i. T. Expert you can call. I mean, it is not really achievable, and i wonder, randi, how you help people Make Up who didnt have the wifi, who didnt have the technical expertise, who didnt have a parent making them do all the assignments. What is the plan for the fall for making sure that the people that have fallen behind, that didnt have sort of the resources to keep up remotely, how do we catch them up . How do we catch them academically and socially and mentally . Well, theres two plans, nicole. One is for the summer, and one is for the fall. And in the summer, you have a lot of districts, and i spent a lot of time last week talking about this. You have a lot of districts who have used the federal money in a way to do academics in the Morning And Enrichment in the afternoon. But really inject a lot of Joy And Fun in their summer programs. You know, make it camplike. Have dance. Have sports. Have arts. So that kids feel a joy, not just a sense of, oh my god, look what i missed. And then, in the fall, we have to first and foremost create a welcoming and safe environment, and this is part of where heidi is so right. Breathing good air keeps a kid or a teacher well. And we need to really fix these ventilation systems, not continue to get something off the shelf that doesnt work. But second, the places that have wrapped services around schools, so you keep schools open for 10, 12 hours, you have the mental health services. You have guidance services. I was just in a school in Syracuse Yesterday that had dental services. But you wrap services around schools so you have you can make sure that we deal with the trauma that arises whenever it arises, and then you have a combination of teachers doing the kind of assessment that they would normally do, interventions that they would do, and then you have a lot of tutoring and a lot of both enrichment as well as catchup. The most important thing is for us to make sure we dont that kids dont think that theyre the cause of this. And i think a lot of kids, if we think about next year, as a year of recovery, and that this was a year of academic disruption, i think youre going to see a lot of kids accelerate in learning, but the most important thing is focus on their wellbeing and their emotional social recovery and let teachers do the kind of academic intervention that we need plus tutoring aligned to that in a school that is open as a Community School many hours a day. And heidi, on this just basic idea, i think randi puts it pretty simply, that kids and teachers deserve to breathe clean air. Do the schools feel like there are adequate resources to help them navigate . It sounds sort of like the wild wild west. Theyre sort of untested and unproven devices, and its not clear that they are able to achieve what randi said. Clean air. All that purchasing is going on right now, nicole, and i can assure you that myself and others will be watching whats going on with what one expert called a procurementpalooza to see those differences and how schools are spending these funds but to randis point about social and emotional wellbeing, i couldnt agree more and im sure as the mothers of two young sons who are using those ipads and need that i. T. Department, all that said, theyre the lucky ones, and the data that im starting to look at about the disparities between whats happened with our children and children in inner cities and more impoverished areas compared to children in more suburban areas is really harrowing, and the question is going to be, how much can Schools Pivot and come up with an innovative way to target those children who have fallen the furthest behind, because you have to guard against a really generalized approach here that is treating all of these children equal, because theyre not equal. Theyve been left behind. For months. For a year now. In these environments. In detroit, they didnt even have chromebooks last summer until late in the year and theres a lot of children just falling off the radar. And second to that point is, to the extent were able to invest those funds in hiring teachers, because and teachers are the the supply and the Demand Curves right now are not meeting and thats going to be a challenge because to fulfill all of these ambitious programs, youre going to need the staff and the boots on the ground to do this, and right now, the preliminary data is raising questions about whether theyre going to be able to find enough qualified professionals at these smaller classrooms to do this targeted teaching. Absolutely right. Point taken, heidi, and i just really quickly, randi, i mean, the disparity was so much exacerbated by the pandemic, and frankly, these families are the ones most distrustful of schools being a safe place. How do you get them all back into the schoolhouse . So, theres a couple of things. Number one, nicole, were putting in 5 Million to do a backtoschool for Everyone-campaign'>Everyone Campaign this spring and this summer. Because we have to actually meet the fear and the obstacles that parents have and particularly parents who are skeptical that, you know, we can keep their kids safe. And notice i say we because we have to be all in. Its like time to not do the Blame Game and time to bring Everyone together, and the second piece, and i think heidi is quite right, that we are seeing a huge shortage now. Teachers are tired. They are exhausted. And we have to find a way to repair and to nourish them as well as families in terms of really attracting and retaining, figuring out how to diversify our teaching force. Theres a lot of things we have to do now, but if we can lower class sizes, have open houses this summer, kind of stand them up with vaccination centers, and create a joy like i have seen in the schools that i have been to in the last few weeks that have been reopened, it is something that will turn things around and create hope. Randi weingarten, i appreciate your optimism. Heidi przybyla, im so glad to have your reporting this hour. Thank you both so much for spreading some time with us. We have to sneak in a quick break. Well be right back. Dont go anywhere. K break. Well be right back. Dont go anywhere. Limu emu. And doug. So then i said to him, you oughta customize your Car Insurance with Liberty Mutual, so you only pay for what you need. Oh um, doug can we talk about something other than work, its the weekend. Yeah, yeah. [ squawk ] hot dog or. Chicken . [ squawk ] only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. If you have moderate to severe psoriasis. Or psoriatic arthritis, little things, can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable. With reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. For psoriatic arthritis,. Otezla is proven. To reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. 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Think of what peanuts have given Humanity Fuel for vast Migrations Sustenance for Mountaineering Expeditions and long journeys across the world but most importantly . They give us something to eat when we drink beer. Planters. A nut above. We are still awaiting President Bidens News Conference with president of South Korea. Rick stangle, there is perhaps no other ally that was more taunted or traumatized by tweets like little Rocket Man and all of the shenanigans between Donald Trump and kim jongun. I wonder what you think went on in this meeting today. I think think is just the second World Leader to travel to washington to meet with President Biden. Well, again, you know, President Biden is very familiar with our ally in South Korea. He was chairman of the senate foreign Relations Committee. And i think thats right. I mean, South Korea was bundled about and hurdled about by what trump was doing in a kind of bullyish way. But one of the things that President Biden recognizes, and im just saying this to all of our viewers, too. Our foreign aid to South Korea after the korean war changed a coronation into one of the most prosperous nations in the world that is now a Donor Nation to other nations. People need to realize the benefit that comes back to us from the foreign aid that we do. And what were seeing, probably, is, you know, one of the things in Foreign Policy is you can never want something more than your ally wants it. But sometimes your ally wants something more than you want it. And President Moon wants to have a deal with north korea, maybe even more than President Biden does. So i think hes going to have to navigate what President Moon wants him to do and that more cautious, deliberative, incrementalist Foreign Policy that we saw evidence of just today. So were in the twominute mark, so i apologize in advance if the president causes us to cut you off, but are you getting any readouts from what has happened thus far . It wouldnt be the first time a president has interrupted me, nicole. We are waiting to hear. Certainly we know that there is the president is friendly over chers to his korean counter part. Not one that this president has focussed too much on yet. As much as his Foreign Policy he wants to have his Emphasis And Access on asia and certainly combatting china. Im sorry, jonathan. Lets listen. Go for it. Were honored to welcome to the white house President Moon. We got an opportunity to spend some private time with him, as well as our delegations. This is the only person, head of state, second in the state to visit the white house since i have been president. And its been a real joy. Its a reflection of how much we value the 70year alliance with the republic of korea and how essential we know the relationship is to the united states, the future of the indopacific region and to the world. Today has been particularly special because this afternoon in addition to our by rat ll meetings, President Moon participated in a Ceremony Right in this room that awarded him the medal of honor to a veteran of the korean war. A true american hero, Colonel Ralph Pucket jr. I dont know if theres ever been an award of the medal of honor. It went a great deal to me, to my family and to the country. That binds the republic of korea and, excuse me, the united states together, its a commitment to expand in cooperation and shaping our shared future in accordance with our democratic values that have made our nation strong and agile and highly competitive in the 21st century economies. The republic of korea and the united states are both built on innovation, and we must both meet the challenges facing us today and look to what is possible for tomorrow. Our partnership is grounded on our ironclad commitment to share security. Our alliance has long been the Lynch Pin of peace, security, prosperity and the region growing more prominent and us being together. I was grateful that our two nations were able to quickly conclude a new Cost Sharing Agreement for forces in korea in march which will benefit both our people. And i thank again the president for that agreement. Today we made important progress on a range of issues. We spoke about the shared approach of the democratic shared approach to the democratic Peoples Republic in korea and continuing thread of the dprks nuclear and missile programs. My team consulted closely with President Moons team throughout the process of our dprk review, and we both are keeply concerned about the situation. Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the dprk to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the korean peninsula. Today icon firmed to President Moon that the united states will proceed in close consultation with the republic of korea in our strategy and our approach. And to help drive all these efforts, im pleased to announce that ambassador song kim, Career Diplomat and with deep Policy Expertise will serve as u. S. Herbal envoy to the dprk. Ambassador kim, you are here somewhere today. Stand up, will you . Thank you for being here. [ applause ] thank you for taking on this important role. We appreciate it very much. The partnership also extends beyond the goals of the peninsula. It would address issues of regional and global concern through stronger cooperation with partners in the region, including the assean, the quad and trilateral cooperation with japan. That cooperation is particularly important to coordinate an approach in a situation that exists in birma as we work to pressure to restore democracy for the people of birma and to address issues critical to regional stability such as maintaining freedom of navigation in the south China Sea and preserving Peace And Stability across the taiwan straits. Today we also discussed ways that the republic of korea and the united states will work together to address the challenges of our time beginning with our efforts to end the Covid19 Pandemic globally. We agree to establish a comprehensive vaccine partnership, to expand the manufacture of vaccines that have been approved safe and effective, and we can scale up and so we can scale up global vaccine supplies. Well strengthen our ability to fight the pandemic and respond to future biological threats. When it comes to fighting climate change, the republic of korea and the united states are committed to making amb