Entitled to be treated with dignity. Thats what Labor Unions are all about. They provide dignity for people who deserve to be treated differently, and i want to thank joslyn, and i want to thank President And Madam president. I know you didnt expect to be in this role At This moment, but as i told you before i believe thAt The future of American Labor is in very good hands. I really mean it. Thank you. [ applause ] i want to welcome everyone to the White House. I really mean that. This is your house. Its not hyperbowl. This is a fact. This is your house. I wouldnt be here without you. In my White House you will always be welcome. You will always be welcome. Labor will always be welcome. I intend to be the most prounion president , the most prounion presidency in american history and one of the things i am able to do that is thAt The public has changed, too and youve educated the public. I want to thank the duespaying members of the laborers marty. Marty walsh who has helped me make sure that we keep the commitments across our entire government and before i go any further id like to pause for a moment of silence. Hundreds of union workers and Essential Workers who have died from covid19 and a buddy, John Sweeney who we lost earlier this year and to honor a truly dear friend, rich chunk. A moment of silence, please. Thank you. This is real. One of the things i admired about rich is that he understood what people in this economy are facing and he felt it in his bones. He understood what had happened to workers in this country like you do. I got to know a lot of you really well. You taste it. You understand it. I get kidded by my staff for all these years and i say i trust the person most who arrives At The right decision when it starts in their gut and goes with their heart and then they have the ability to articulate it because it goes to the brain. Theyre the ones that never back down. Theyre the ones that stay with you. Once you arrive at intellectually are the ones that i welcome that, but theyre not the ones who will stay until The End, and you know, rich understood the past and the challenges like so many of you who lived and led through these moments, but he also understood the future. I think he understood who built this country and the tools that are needed to build it back and build it back better. Youve heard me say it 100 times and were the only country in the world that has the crisis and when we come out of it, we build it back differently. We have to build back better. We have to. We must. We will because thats who we are. Thats what america is. On Labor Day we honor the dignity of the american worker and every day we remember that America Wasnt built by wall street. Theyre not all bad folks on wall street. Im not suggesting that, but they didnt build america. It was built by the middle class and unions built the middle class. [ applause ] he gave workers a voice for our Greatgand Father Bullet who was an engineer. Back in the days of the Molly Maguires and the way the folks were treated in Northeast Pennsylvania in the coal mines. He gave people a voice. Molly maguires, they were a little tougher. He gave them a hard time and he ended up on the doorstep in a bag, but you know, think about it. What are the basic things. You have to give people the ability to be able to take a deep breath and have a little bit of Breathing Room, and what are those things . Well, Health Care. A pension, god willing. High are wages for the safer workplace and protections against discrimination and harassment. Thats not asking too much. We fundamentally transformed how we live and how we work in this country. The reason we have is because of the victories won by labor. Ill be repetitive. The eighthour day, the weekend, time and a half for safety standards, sick days, and victories for all of us because i might add, i notice when you all do that Everybody Benefits whether they belong to a union or not. [ applause ] whether they belong to a union or not. [ applause ] when unions win workers across the board win. Thats a fact. Families win. Community wins. America wins. We grow, despite this workers have been getting cut out of the deal for too long a time. From 1948 after the war until 1979 productivity in america increased by more than 100 while the pay for american workers grew by 100 and along came 1979 and everything began to change. Productivity in the country has grown almost four times faster than pay in 1979. That means workers have been giving much more to the employers bottom lines than theyve gotten back in their paychecks, breaking the basic bargain of this country. The bargain was if you contributed to the welfare of the outfits you got to share in the benefits. Well, that stopped for a long time. So you can carve out your piece of the middle class and make it a possibility. Thats what got taken Away Rom a lot of people and instead people started seeing the Stock Market and Executive Pay as the only measure for economic growth. By the way, the Stock Markets gone uP Exponentially since ive been president. You havent heard me say a word about it. Im glad its gone up. No problem. Look, let me tell you something. My measure of economic success is how families like mine growing up, Working Families busting their neck, how theyre doing. Whether they have a little Breathing Room. Whether they have a job that delivers some dignity, a paycheck you can support a family on. In the economy my administration is building, instead of workers competing with Each Other for the jobs that are scarce, everybodys mad at me because now, guess what . Employers are competing to attract workers. Having to raise pay. [ applause ] im serious, think about it. That kind of competition in the market helps workers earn higher wages and gives them the power to demand dignity in the workplace. Worker power is essential for building our economy better back than before, to grow the corporate power and to grow the economy up from the middle out. I am so tired. When have the middle class done wealthy where the wealthy havent done incredibly well. I Cant Think of a time when the middle class is booming and moving everybody does well, and to give workers even more power i also signed an Executive Order to improve competition in the economy including calling for a ban on noncompete agreements that deny workers the right to change the job in the same field even when theres no real reason for a company to stop them. Its all about suppressing wages. Thats what its about. In congress, when congress passed the 1935 labor relations act, it didnt just say you can have union, and it shouldnt be allowed and viewed for a long time. It says we, the government should encourage unions of collective bargaining and making it easier. Thats thats what it said. Believe every worker should have a free and fare choice, that P E longs to workers and the special interests, its why creating, organizing and to facilitate that choice whenever and wherever we can. I want to thank secretary walsh, marty, for leading thAt Task force. Thats why i want to see the congress pass the pro act and send it to my desk immediately. Thats why i want to extend Collective Bargaining Rights to state and local government employees and why transit workers, first responders, Healthcare Workers and other Essential Workers and guess what . The public seems to agree with that, as well. The government should never be a barrier to workers organizing. Its Governments Job to remove those barrier, but it is up to workers to make the choice whether to organizor not, whether to tomorrow a union or not, and we need to help them understand why that could be right choice for them. You know the economic races and wages like Health Insurance and paid leave and safe from the hell worker. Theres another reason. A basic unioned have. They gain power over the Decision Makers and the Decision Makers that change their lives. This simple word is thAt There is democracy. Democracy. Organizing and joining a union is democracy in action and its about dignity on the job and creating good jobs. Stop the economic bleeding and it was the worst bleeding since roosevelt. We passed the Rescue Plan and provided the extra Breathing Room for Working Families and it help states and cities keeP Essential workers on the job including educator, police officers, firefighters, Sanitation Workers and thanks to the part of Rescue Plan named for ohio labor under bush lewis, over A Million retirees and workers across the country. [ applause ] they can trust thAt The pensions they work for and sacrificed their cure, well be there for them. [ applause ] you know through the bipartisan agreement we reached to build Americas Infrastructure putting hundreds of thousands of people to work including plumbers, pipe fitters, electrical Work E steelworkers and so many other workers, Water Am is, broadband system, capping a band on Oil And Gas wells making the same salary as digging that well and creates jobs for american workers and makes our cities and towns more resilient and better able to meet the Climate Crisis and to keep those jobs here at home, when your government spends the Taxpayers Dollar its going to buy american goods, Made In America by american workers. [ applause ] look, over the years the Buy America Act has been a hollow promise. Its been there for a long time. Im going to make it a reality. The next stop, the next stop is dealing with the ability to pass the rest of my build back better agenda. Once in a generation investments in our people, making housing more affordable, bringing down the cost of Prescription Drugs by bringing medicare the power to negotiate for lower prices. You ought to thank Bernie Sanders for a lot of this. Making Elder Care and Child Care more affordable while improving the pay of Home Care workers and Child Care workers. Providing paid Family Leave and medical leave so that no worker is forced to choose between their job and their caregiver responsibilities. Youve all fought for all these things. Youve got to make them available, and provide two years of free University Highquality Prek and Highquality Prek and two years that are needed. It shows that if you send a kid to school at age 3, 4 and 5 they increase by 56 no matter whAt The background thAt Theyll go through school all 12 years and youre good. When i asked the Obama Administration i was asked to find out that what was their greatest concern. 348 or 47 I Cant remember the number i got to. The single most important thing is they needed a better educated public, but guess what . They werent paying for it. And guess what . Does anybody think if we were starting off from scratch setting up public education wed say 12 years was enough for the 21st century . So look, we have to invest in Highquality Training and fastgrowing sectors, compete to give middleclass families a welldeserved Tax Cut for Day Care and Health Care and provide a significant monthly Tax Cut for working family with children and everybody talks about my child tax credit, it is a Tax Cut for ordinary folks. Thats what it is. [ applause ] in spite of that, i want us to see us finally, finally provide dreamers, tps recipient, farmers, Essential Workers and a pathway of citizenship, bringing them Out Of The Shadows to receive the representation that our laws and our unions provide. [ applause ] folks were making progress. Our economy is at its 750,000 jobs in a month on average during the past three months since ive been here. There are more than 4 Million jobs since i took office. In the first half of this year our economy grew At The fastest rate in 40 years. Unemployment is down. My build back better investments will allow us to keep and progress and move further in the years to come. I just want to add one more thought in closing. While the pandemic has prevented me from traveling as much as id like, ive had a chance to meet with many of your brothers and sisters and many of you. The proud uaw members bringing cars and trucks in Pennsylvania And Michigan and noting thAt The Big Three Have decided that along with the support of those unions building, going electric so we own that market. Steelworkers in portsmouth, virginia, and ibw workers and iron workers and nurses and Grocery Store workers in cincinnati, plumbers and Gas Fitters in maryland, aft teachers in virginia, and by the way, of course, i sleep with a member every night. The same one. Jill had her first day of fulltime teaching yesterday, this year, back to school. Look, ive talked with Union Transit workers, Machinist And Labor workers in wisconsin. Weve had teamsters here in the White House and the teamsters have always had my back and last week i met with the first responders in new orleans, and on monday i dropped by some of the Ibw Linemen in delaware to help them recover from hurricane ida. You know, in the last year has taught us anything, its whats essential. Whats essential is you. You and your union members. Wall street can go on strike, but all Of A Sudden in the middle of ida every Ibw Member resigned wed be in real trouble. I say thAt To make a generic point. I think we significantly underestimate, and i think even you guys sometimes underestimate, the incredible value you bring to the safety, Security And Growth of the economy. You know, youre Americas Heart and Americas Soul and we all need to fight as hard for them and work as hard for them as we can, and i want to say the press was very, very not just the press, a lot of people were very, very skeptical that when i was talking about that we had to deal with the environment that labor would never help. Guess what . Labor is the reason its working. Labor stepped up because you all understand, and i made a promise and ill keep it that what were talking about here is when you think of global warming, think of jobs. Jobs. All of the jobs that we will create making us the fastest growing in the world. You do it all. Im sorry to go on so long, but I Cant thank you enough for all youve done for the country and what youve done for me over my career. Youve educated me. Youve brought me along and youve always been there. Now im supposed to stop and walk out of the room here. Im going to stop, but with your permission im going to walk into the room because i want to say hello to you. Thank you. [ applause ] and youve been watching President Biden at a white House Event in the East Room, a couple of days after Labor Day as he digs into a critical month that can welldefine his presidency and we begin with senior Washington Correspondent phil rucker, coauthor of i alone can fix it and gerald cena, and eugene robinson. Phil, youve watched this president for a long time. This is his happy place. Hes with organized labor and this is his space. It certainly is, andrea. Its hard to think of a president who has had this deep of a connection to workers and the Blue Collar Working Class of this country that Joe Biden has had and yet you heard there from him a real pitch for his build back better agenda which is very much hanging in the balance on Capitol Hill just up the road. This is a critical few weeks ahead to try to get not only that Infrastructure Deal through the house that has already passed the senate, but perhaps more importantly for biden that 3. 5 trillion plan and a whole number of domestic Agenda Items designed to help people and families and very much in limbo because theres not universal support among the democrats and senate. Jim messina, the future of this rests very much on the senate on Senator Manchin who has new bottom lines over the weekend, but it couldnt go anywhere without speaker of the house nancy pelosi. This is what she had to say and shes sticking to the plan of that 3. 5 trillion. We will have a great bill that honors the values of the president and his vision. I dont know whAt The number will be. We are marking at 3. 5. We are not going above that. We have to talk about what does it take . What would you cut . I hope that as people are being looking at numbers thAt Theyre weighing the values. And shes talking about the markup. They are writing this bill right now with the house, Ways And Means with the congressmen. Jim, you know what its like. They can write when they want and theyre keeping one eye, of course, on what can get past the senate. Youre exactly right. Washington understands two things, power and time. The democrats have the power and now theyre starting to run out of time. When theres no better operator than nancy pelosi. Shes a very small majority since World War ii and shes continued to get these big things through her house. Now were in a different game where well have to compromise with the Senate And Figure out whAt The senate can do and the senate has no majority and they need the Vice President to bring every Tie Vote and so these votes will be incredibly crucial and the clock is starting to tick. We only have so many legislative days before The End of the Fall Calendar and theyve got to start moving here, but if Theres Anyone the democrats want in charge of getting this thing done it would be nancy pelosi. But eugene robinson, the challenges lets not even talk about the foreign policy, and i know you were a foreign editor and Foreign Correspondent for years and whats going on overseas and ill be dealing with that later on in the program, but what about the voting Rights Bill and what about what happened in texas with Greg Abbot this week and what about the rape challenge, exactly when they said theyll have to do by codifying roe v. Wade. How is that ever going to get anywhere . I didnt hear the president mention those priorities, by the way, to this labor audience. Right. Those are very big and very good questions and unanswered questions. How in the world does congress move forward on Voting Rights . A crucial issue, i think, for the nation and certainly for the democratic party and how in the world do we deal with the Texas Abortion Law which is going to be copied in other states or is it allowed to go into effect by the Supreme Court . It certainly bodes well for the future of roe v. Wade, and so on the federal level there is going to be a need to do something about abortion yet not much ability to get that done. Getting the Infrastructure Bill passed and whether its 3. 5 trillion in the reconciliation or some lesser number and jim and phil are rid. This is incredibly difficult. However, it is At The bottom Line Arithmetic and democrats have to agree on the arithmetic. They already have republican agreement on hard Infrastructure Part and the rest they can do with democratic votes, so i think they will get this done, but those other issues of Voting Rights, abortion and other issues beyond, its very difficult for me to see how ven nancy pelosi, the great financial wizard to get anything enacted on that. Phil rucker, the midterms are just over the horizon and as much of a hit as the president may have taken over afghanistan and the way the afghanistan withdrawal took place, overall, withdrawing from afghanistan is popular. Hes got the 9 11 commemorations coming up on saturday which will be incredibly emotional, but covid is whAt They really feel has been an anchor weighing them down, the way the Delta Variant changed all of their plans. They confused messaging, of course, the Booster Shots and how that evolved and thats what he will be addressing tomorrow. Thats exactly right, andrea, and weve seen the President S Approval Rating on his management of the coronavirus consistent through the year and it has started to fall in the last few weeks and the series of public polls that have come out in the past week or two show real signs of trouble and the washington post, abc News Poll shows it down at 44 and thats not a good place for an incumbent president to be when hes trying to hang on to the house and Theres Concern for democrats although certainly theres time for biden to turn that around. Eugene robinson, what about abortion and the way the democrats are facing this issue . Abortion is, of course, Front And Center with the Texas Law and the Supreme Court will be having oral arguments on the Mississippi Law which will be 15 weeks and that will be determinative. Right. You can look at whAt The Supreme Court did or failed to do a few days ago on the Texas Law by letting it go into effect, and think that roe v. Wade is going to survive very long. That just seems to be the worst of all possible moments for that decision, and without roe v. Wade were once again At The point of having these Battles State by state. We could become a sharply divided nation on the question of abortion, almost two different nations because its very difficult for me to imagine how congress comes to some sort of consensus about a federal Abortion Law. Its never been able to do it before, and given the atmosphere right now, i just dont see that happening. I do see this, however, just in the pure, political sense in giving a boost to the democratic parties and i think people in the suburbs that Joe Biden took back will look At That Texas Law and say whoa, and i think thats bad for republicans and can generally help democrats. And finally, Jim Messina, we dont even have to face the midterms to see an early test. At least in California Weve got next weeks voting on, of course, the recall of Governor Newsom. His margins arent that great right now. He had the Vice President flying out there for a quick in and out trip to rally for him in her home state. She wouldnt be doing that, given how busy things are in washington if they werent nervous about the potential of larry elder, a conservative show host, how do you game it . There should never be confidence. You need 50 of people say he shouldnt be recalled and then it goes to the next candidates and a conservative republican can win and just to make a quick point on the abortion issue, we saw it last night in bedford New Hampshire and for the first time in 200 years democrats won a State House Seat and it turned out to be a referendum. So eugenes exactly right. The Supreme Court in texas just threw a political bombshell in the middle of American Politics and we still dont know whats going to happen on that, so i think we are looking at very uncertain political times. Thanks to all of you for starting us off. A very important month indeed for President Biden and all of his agenda. Thanks to phil rucker, of course, to Jim Messina and sorry about that, eugene. Eugene. With the President Still in the East Room thats what weve been all focused on. He has just been shaking hands with his pals in the labor movement. Thanks to all. And the Secretary Of State is pushing back on bipartisan criticism. The State Department is responsible for the delay of getting the charter planes out of an airplane in northern afghanistan prepared to evacuate americans and atrisk afghans released from the tarmac, though, still delayed, and not released and both sides blaming Each Other. Secretary blinken addressed the situation moments ago speaking at Ramstein Air Force base in germany. As of now, the taliban are not permitting the charter flights to depart. They claim some of the passengers do not have the required documentation. We are working to do everything in our power to support those flights and to get them off the ground. Hes been harshly criticized, of course, At The same time as relying on the taliban and the confusion as to who is responsible for those delays even as the taliban has been pummeling violently stopping protesters, Women Protesters largely around the country and especially in kabul and it was also announced a new Interim Government giving positions to two officials in the Al Qaedalinked Haqqani Network who have been sanctioned by the u. S. They are on fbi wanted lists and now in the acting regime. Those stranded in afghanistan also arent able to get flights out, but theyre resorting to treacherous overland routes, some are. Many are running into obstacles with documentation At The border. Nbcs Molly Hunter is at a critical crossing between afghanistan and pakistan who filed this report for us. Reporter andrea, good afternoon from the border crossing. I am on the pakistani side. While secretary of State Blinken speaking with regional allies after his visit to qatar. This is whats happening directly on the border. You have pakistani guards on this side and taliban guard, i would say two feet away right on the other side of the border. Right there is afghanistan, andrea, and i just want to give you a sense. Hundreds and hundreds of people are waiting over there. You have women and children, families over there and this is the pedestrian passage, weve been told. We have pakistani guides checking documents on the way in. We were able to speak with one of the taliban guards and they say they have about 20 people who have a serious medical issue and need medical care and need to come over and he also said theyre not letting anyone through the taliban side who pakistan wont let in. That is people with all of the correct documents, with Siv Visas and pakistani visas and papers to prove thAt They can cross. Al already the host of several million refugees and they cant afford more refugees. We have spoken about the crossings here and its been 200 to 300 people a day. You see trucks on this side and im just going to flip you around so you can see the trucks on that side. This is really whats been going back and forth through this border all morning. Uhcr does say one of the other border cross, its 350 miles south of where i am right now, much more active and right across from kandahar and the rough estimate 9,000 people crossed from afghanistan to pakistan yesterday and once they get through, apparently, there are makeshift tents. What we are trying to figure out if there have been a lot of irregular crossings. So if people are coming across not At These formal crossings, but coming over this long, porous, mountainous, 1600mile border and then trying to get into pakistan. Andrea . Molly hunter there at a critical crossing. Joining me now is Pentagon Correspondent Courtney kube and General Mccaffrey. Pakistan is the only Exist Strategy Theyve got. We dont believe thAt The russians are letting there be crossings and the continuous flow of crossings in the stands. China, similarly, another border. Iran is not a great place for any americans to cross. Upon there is no u. S. Embassy support there, but in pakistan there has been some u. S. Embassy help. The reality is there are two ways for people to get out of afghanistan. Over land or via air. Weve seen just in the last couple of days how difficult it is for air right now what woo these reports of americans and others who are sitting on the tarmac in mazaresharif trying to get on these charter flights and the taliban not allowing them to and keep in mind that not all of the airports are fully operational, and that presents a logistical hurdle in and of itself and as you rightly point out, andrea, there are only so many options for leaving via land and those are also not only fraught with peril to get through and getting to them can be difficult, as well and then they find an inhospitable when they are arriving and thousands arriving in countries like pakistan. The countries may not want to take them in. The situation is definitely very difficult and very few options for particularly for the u. S. Military where im standing right here. They will be diplomatic in nature and you will know, andrea, it will be the dip the mats working with the taliban most likely through an intermediary to get atrisk americans and afghans out of the country. I talked to aisha tanzeem. She got out and so many of her colleagues didnt, and i tried to clarify yesterday that Voice Of America is no longer part of the State Department and totally an independent agency and it is funded by the u. S. Government and a lot of these voice of America Staff feel very much betrayed. They feel they should have gotten out along with other international media colleagues. A andrea, i wasnt sure if that was to me. The military is out of the equation. We have very little leverage. The pakistanis and the chinese do. The hypocrisy inside the d. C. Beltway is unbelievable. Two President S, Trump And Biden made legitimate decisions, political decisions to withdraw the military forces. We havent had Combat Troops there and Special Ops in two years. It predictably collapsed. I dont think anyone who was aware of the situation on the ground thought it would do anything but that. The surprise is that it went under within a matter of days and week, but right now courtneys report is dead on the money. The military will not play a role. Pakistan is not going to welcome millions of refugees through the crossing points and Theyll Cross through the thousandmile Border And Theyll filter into iran which theyre doing by the thousands. This will go on for years escaping this repressive and Rural Pashtun Taliban Movement and thats where we are. And lets talk for a moment general about this new taliban acting government. So in this new regime none of the Coalition Partners Abdullah or Hamid Karzai, surprisingly theyve kept to their own including several members of the haqqani network. People with Al Qaeda links and on fbi wanted lists and have bounties on their heads and haqqani himself. How do we deal with them to help get our people out . Why should they be recognized, but how do we alienate them when theyre dealing with Al Qaeda, the very people that we defeated 20 years ago . You know, i dealt with Hamid Karzai in afghanistan and he is despicable. He is a significant part of the reason why there was no american public support for this war. I also think that when we have an 18th Century Notion of diplomacy in the public dialogue right now. We already recognize the taliban and were dealing with them in do happen. General Don Hugh in the military dealt with them day after day and we need to get an Interest Section back. And the haqqanis are terrorists more than jihadists and thats who they are. If we want to work deliberately on getting hundreds of thousands of afghans out who identify with democracy, freedom, individual rights and womens rights then we have to get on the ground. And courtney, you were just as we approach this 20th anniversary this weekend, you were just at Fort Drum in new York State with the tenth mountain division. They were first in and last out. You talked to some of those soldiers. Share that with us. Thats right. So specifically, this was the 4th Battalion 34th Infantry Regiment known as the Polar Bear unit. This was the first unit on the ground after the September 11th attacks and the last soldiers out and the last mission thAt They had there was the evacuation. These are infantry soldiers. This was outside of whAt They usually do when dealing with a humanitarian crisis and heres whAt They said. Dealing with thousands of people coming on to an airport is something weve never seen and never specifically prepared for that. It was difficult. Desperation especially. People are handing babies over or doing anything they could to try to get into the airport on to an aircraft. It was hard to see some of that stuff. About half of these soldiers too young to remember what drew the u. S. Into War In Afghanistan, the September 11th attacks. It is surreal, growing up you hear things about the War In Afghanistan and i find myself there. 140 soldiers returned on Labor Day and they were months behind when they were expecting to be home and andrea, about half of them dont even remember the September 11th attacks that drew the u. S. To War In Afghanistan. Well, as General Mccaffrey knows better than anyone theyre the best and the brightest. They are our true heroes, the men and women of the forces who went in 20 years ago and those who helped bring our people out. Those that did get out. We got out because of our military. Thank you both so much. Courtney kube for Everything Youve done. Coming up next, Abortion Law backlash. Texas women fleeing the state searching for the medical treatment as the governor sets an unrealistic goal concerning rape. Whats that all about . And that new Covid Variant now here in the u. S. As delta still rages. What does it mean as more students are going back to school. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports. This is msnbc. New customers get our best deals on all smartphones. Thats right. But what if im already a customer . Oh, no problem. Hey, cam. . Ah, same deal yeah, its kind of our thing. Huh, thats a great deal. What if im new to At T . Cam, can you. . Hey. But what about for existing customers . Same deal. Its the same deal. Is he ok . Its not complicated to open your possibilities. With At T, everyone gets our best deals on every smartphone like a Samsung Galaxy Z fold3 5g. Usaa is made for the safe pilots. Like mac. Who can come to a stop with barely a bobble. With usaa safepilot, when you drive safe. You can save up to 30 on your auto insurance. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. Get a quote today. Baaam. Internet that doesnt Miss A beat. Thats cute, but my internet streams to my ride. Adorable, but does yours Block Malware . Nope. It crushes it. Pshh, mines so fast, No One can catch me. Big Whoop Mine gives me a 4k streaming box. For free thats because you all have the same internet. Xfinity xfi. So powerful, it keeps oneupping itself. Can your internet do that . Turning to texas and that near ban on abortion in cases of Rape And Incest not excluded. Governor Greg Abbot is being accused of Magical Thinking after vowing to eliminate all rape in this state. Why force a Rape Or Incest victim to carry a pregnancy to term. It doesnt require that at all because obviously, it provides at least six weeks for a person to be able to get an abortion. Rape is a crime. Goal number one in the state of texas is to eliminate rape. Really . Texas isnt doing that well at eliminating rape. Fbi Data Shows state had the most reported cases of any state in the nation in 2019. Joining me now nbc correspondent Priscilla Thompson at a planned Parenthood Site Austin and former u. S. Attorney joyce vance. First to you, youve been tracking neighboring states that have been getting calls from texas desperate for these services. Andrea, not just calls, but appointments and the majority of the appointments arent residents of the state, but residents of texas. In the days immediately after this law went into effect they were receiving around 50 calls per day from women in texas, and since then to where we are today one week in, they have scheduled more than 150 abortion appointments. The majority of them for women from texas, and those women are a lot of them are under the age of 18 in their second trimester trying to figure out whAt To do here, and i want to play a bit of my conversation with rebecca tong, the coexecutive director of the trust womens clinic in oklahoma. Take a listen. For the state of texas to be telling their citizens to go out of state during a pandemic for a pill and for a Fiveminute Procedure is cruel, and i wish we could see everyone. I am not if we open the clinic 24 7 im not sure we would be able to see all of the people who need care. And that emotion that youre hearing there is matched by the reproductive justice advocates that ive been speaking to in the state who say theyre also inundated with calls from women between 12 to 15 weeks pregnant trying to figure out whAt To do and in fear thAt They could be arrested or that something could happen to them if they moved forward with trying to have a procedure. Andrea . Thanks so much to Priscilla Thompson. Joyce vance, lets get your reaction to the Texas Governor who was looking to eliminate rape. Thats a fantastic goal. That should have been the goal for Texas Governor and Texas Leadership all along. The statistics you show, andrea, indicate thAt Theyre not particularly successful at it and those numbers are replicated nationwide where rape and Sexual Violence are problems that we face that seem to be intractable. So this Magical Thinking of saying women wont need abortions because were going to end rape. Thats just Window Dressing and its offensive and dangerous. It minimizes the denial of rights thAt Texas is trying to visit on women in texas. And of course, as you know, better than anyone as a former prosecutor that when you come to issues like rape the statistics really lie because they underreport it because so many of those assaults go unchallenged, unmentioned and unprosecuted. Joyce, youve also written a piece for Msnbc Documentary thAt This Texas Abortion Law is just the start of a republican endgame. What do you see as The Endgame . Well, it is The Endgame i suppose is the Dobbs Case from mississippi thAt The Supreme Court will hear next term. That case would give the Supreme Court the opportunity that chooses to flatout reverse row. Right now roe versus wade is still the law in this country. What happened in texas was that asked the Supreme Court to take the modest step of preventing the law from going into effect while litigation on its constitutionality was ongoing. The Supreme Court denied to do that so thAt Texas and the rights guaranteed by roe no longer exist in texas. What well learn with the Supreme Court next term is whether that will be expanded and will exist across the country rather than just in texas. Thanks so much. In a speech tomorrow, President Biden will explain how he plans to get the covid Delta Variant under control. His announcement will come amid concerns thAt The deadly virus is mutating yet again. Joining us is the Vice Dean from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of health. Good to see you again. The president will have a Sixpart Battle Plan tomorrow stressing the need to vaccinate more americans, we understand. What do you want to hear from him beyond get those shots . I think thAt There will be several important Policy Elements including the approach to vaccine mandates where appropriate, whAt The federal government is doing to support safety in Nursing Homes and schools. But i also hope to hear a little bit of the why and the how, particularly if he can bridge to the groups that are really resistant to vaccination. You know, there are coaches doing videos. There are republican leaders doing videos. Talking about vaccination. So its really important At This moment to try and reduce the polarization thats happening because that is a major reason were having such a problem with covid this summer. To your very point, heres a video done by the university of kentucky mens basketball coach, a psa of sorts about getting the shots. Im not telling anyone whAt To do with their body. I dont want to hear anybody died because they didnt do it. Im just saying it doesnt say youll never get it. But the chances of something severe happening are really, really low. I dont like shots either. When i see a needle, i about faint. Youll never see a tattoo on this body. You take the shot, you got a chance. This was not a psa, it was a Press Conference but hes making the point, you get tattoos, what are you so afraid of the shot about . Its a different messenger. We need different people speaking to different audiences talking about the importance of vaccination, the importance of mask wearing when youre close to other people and why they do it, connecting in different ways. Its just you look At The math, you can see how politics has intruded into our response. I think the president is doing a great job leading and by bridging to some of these other messengers he can reach more people. I want to flag a shocking number. According to the american academy of pediatrics, more than 250,000 children have tested positive for covid in the last week as schools reopen. How do you deal with that . Presumably these are a lot of younger children, below 12 years old. Thats right. Record number of kids are going into the hospital. I think 2,400 in the last week. This is a really challenging time for parents and kids. You know, the importance of school is still there. But Caution And Mitigation measures are also needed right now. So the teachers being vaccinated, schools having ventilation, kids and teachers wearing masks, these things matter. They could be the difference between a School Year where people are able to learn and have consistency and a year where just its on and off so many different so many different kids being kept out of school. We all know the value of Inperson Education after that last year and a half. Thank you very much. Well all be watching the President S speech tomorrow. Ethel kennedy, the widow of Senator Robert F. Kennedy issuing a rare public statement about her husbands assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, who was accused of killing the senator in an l. A. Ballroom moments after he won the primary 53 years ago. The California Parole Board recommended that he be freed from prison, dividing the Kennedy Family on whether he should be released. Reporter 53 years after the assassination of robert f. Kennedy that left a nation shattered, his widow, ethel, speaking out against the possible release from prison of his killer, Sirhan Sirhan writing our family and our country suffered an unspeakable loss due to the inhumanity of one man. We believe in the gentleness that spared his life, but in taming his act of violence he should not have the opportunity to terrorize again. Adding simply in the handwritten note, he should not be paroled. Along with her rare statement, the 93yearold sharing a picture of her and rfk on their wedding day. In 1968, moments after the junior senator from New York won the california primary, Sirhan Sirhan fatally shot him At The l. A. Ambassadors hotel. Senator Robert Francis Kennedy died at 1 44 a. M. Today, june 6, 1968. Reporter Bobbys Death coming five years after the assassination of his older brother. Last month on his 16th Attempt at parole, the Parole Board recommended sirhan, now 77, be released. Two of rfks surviving sons voiced their support for the gunmans release. Six of their siblings spoke out against It Writing in part as children of robert f. Kennedy we are devastated thAt The man who murdered our father has been recommended for parole. Its a recommendation we intend to challenge every step of the way. One of the six, who was born six months after her fathers death, writing in the New York times last week i never had the chance to see my fathers face and he never had the chance to see mine, adding what i do know is that mr. Sirhan is not someone deserving of parole. A lawyer for sirhan says that under california law, parole will be granted unless the prisoner poses an unreasonable risk to the public if released. The Parole Board has several months to review its recommendation and then californias governor Governor Newsom has another 30 days to approve it, deny it or modify it. That does it for Andrea Mitchell reports. Follow the show online, On Facebook and on twitter. Chuck todd is up next with Mtp Daily only on msnbc. What happens when we Welcome Change . We can transform our workforce overnight out of convenience, or necessity. We can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. With app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to be. Faster. Vmware. Welcome change. If its wednesday, dozens of unanswered questions for the President And Congress as democrats spar over the size, scope, messaging, timing and cost of a massive package of reforms. With the threat of a Government Shutdown just weeks away. President Biden Plans to lay out a new plan to fight the raging Delta Variant which is taking a toll on the economic recovery and his own partys fortunes. And growing fallout in texas where women are fleeing the state to get an abortion as Governor Abbott struggles to defend this controversial ban