population growth in america, they're also becoming key voting blocks in swing counties. joe biden becomes the first u.s. president to commemorate indigenous people's day, along side columbus day. we'll look at what this recognition means for native american communities. communitis we begin this hour with breaking news regarding a new treatment for covid-19. pharmaceutical giant merck announced today that they're asking the food and drug administration to authorize an emergency use authorization for its antiviral drug to treat covid-19. earlier this month, merck announced results from a phase three trial of their drug which found their drug reduced the chance that patients with covid-19 would be hospitalized by 50%. joining me now outside of memorial hospital, dr. azar. i want to begin with you. this merck news this morning, how significant is this development? >> jose, think of it this way. we have said from the very beginning that you don't go into battle with just one weapon and and this adds to the arsenal. a couple of points about this. certainly advantageous in the sense that it's an oral medication. it doesn't need to be infused like its monoclonal antibody counterparts. it's cheaper than the monoclonal antibody infusion, at $700 a course, compared to the monoclonal, which is $2,000. but this is not meant to be a substitution for vaccination, which is free, it's safe and effective. in this study, what merck found, as you pointed out, that it reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by 50% in individuals who are at risk for progression. this wasn't necessarily tested in the average person who is not at risk for progression. what i would like to see the fda really dissect, were there any significant side effects. is this something that analogous to tamiflu, can also be used as post-exposure prophylactics. so if someone gets infected with covid-19 in your household, can you take this merck antiviral? >> so so many questions, i'm glad you're here to answer a lot of them. a couple of questions is, other than the ones you just referred to, what's the cost of these things? and when they say it's a trial 3, what does that mean? >> right. so again, the way drugs come to market is by going through phase i, phase ii, phase iii trials. phase i, you're looking at a very, very small group of people, looking for safety and looking to see whether or not the drug is doing what it's supposed to be doing. in this case, inhibiting viral replication, essentially hijacking the virus' ability to replicate, thereby stopping it in its tracks. phase ii, you go on larger groups, safety, tolerability, and then phase iii, you're looking for outcomes, in this case, the severity of disease which lands people in the hospital and can kill them. the cost is significant, it's $700 for a course of treatment, which is about a five-day course of these pills. as i mentioned, the vaccine is free. the monoclonal antibody infusions are $2,000 and they require you being in a hospital or clinical setting to get an infusion. so certainly, something that you can take at home that's a pill, that's great. but the cost is potentially prohibitive. and i always want to make the point that, you know, we're not just talking about the u.s., we're talking about equity -- you know, globally, worldwide, and i understand that merck has made some comment that they'll use a sort of sliding scale to be able to get this drug to everybody around the world, and also allow generic makers to produce some of this, as well, jose. >> now, kerry, over the course of the last two weeks, cases are down by more than 54% in florida, where you are. what can you tell us about the situation on the ground there? >> reporter: well, it's particularly good news, especially when you just look back to august, when we had, jose, about 23,000 cases a day. now we're down to about 3,800 new cases a day in the state of florida. to better understand, as to why this is happening, we're turning to dr. randy katz here with memorial regional hospital. so, we see this drop. first of all, is there any one reason that explains why we've seen this drop? >> i think there's two main reasons. number one, for sure, is the vaccination rate, and number two is our behavior as a community. >> we've seen more people getting vaccinations? >> absolutely. the vaccination rates continue to rise. and between the patients that are already infected with covid and the number of people vaccinated, we're reaching that critical threshold of herd immunity. >> so we have this particularly good news, but is it a false sense of hope that we're changing the direction of the pandemic, especially as we're getting ready to head into the thanksgiving gatherings? >> in the medical community, we have a sense of cautious optimism. however, the one thing we cannot predict is, is a variant or a mutation that would effectively change the course of this pandemic. >> well, cautious optimism something that i think we all want, so thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> dr. katz explaining to us about the general reasons. again, if it was just so simple as the silver bullet of more vaccinations and people, you know, social distancing and wearing their masks, we would have been a lot further along. but as we heard, those are two of the very critical steps that have moved us to where we are now. and hopefully, as you just heard, maybe moving us towards the end of this pandemic. jose? >> that would be fantastic. kerry, thank you. dr. azar, we've now entered flu season across the u.s. health care officials have already been warning all americans to receive their flu shots this year. what do you want those watching at home to know about this flu season? how severe it could be. >> well, you know, last year, we anticipated a twindemic, which never happened. the reason is quite simple, that the mitigation and behavioral things that we did to prevent covid-19 prevented the flu. so we had very little flu circulating last year, which is one of the main reasons that experts are concerned, that there's no crossover immunity, heldover immunity from last year. in addition, we are -- most of us are not working from home. our kids are back in school, people are traveling. and, you know, because case rates and hospitalizations and deaths are going down, that's fantastic, but, you know, that can give you a little bit of sense of false optimism. and people may let down their guard in terms of mask wearing indoors and things like that. so, for reasons that we do every year, we do encourage everybody over the age of six months to get the flu shot. it does, you know, decrease the risk of severe disease and hospitalization and certainly is shown to reduce deaths in children. remember, every year, we have a significant number of kids who die from the flu. the majority of whom are unvaccinated. so we want people to get both shots. you can get them both on the same day, by the way. a booster of your series of covid-19 or flu. either one in both arms. or both on the same arm, one inch apart. >> and dr. azar, is there a time, the best time to take that flu shot? >> yep. so the cdc recommends that most of us get it by the end of october. flu season generally lasts from october through may. and just like the covid-19 vaccine, it takes two weeks to develop your antibodies and be protected after you get the jab. >> dr. natalie azar and kerry sanders, thank you for being with me this morning. this morning, thousands of airline passengers are scrambling after southwest airlines canceled nearly 2,000 flights yesterday, leaving many passengers stranded this holiday weekend. take a look at these shots from different airports around the country. the faa and airline officials give contradictory explanations for the cancellations. and all of this comes as southwest pilots are challenging the company's covid-19 vaccine mandate. joining me now from miami international airport, nbc news correspondent, sam brock. sam, good morning. what more can you tell us about these wave of cancellations that continues today, right? >> reporter: jose, good morning. 700 more delays and cancellations so far today. sources familiar with what's going at southwest say things are normalizing today and should be operational tomorrow. but what is going on? what catalyzed this cataclysmic problem. southwest says what happened is severe weather in florida that was compounded by air traffic control issues. however, that particular narrative has been broken up by industry experts, who say, look at the other airlines who had so many problems in this part of the country. i just spoke with a woman who had her flight canceled not once, but twice. her name is liz. she was quite angry. she wants to get her money back and described to me what the last 36 hours have looked like. take a listen. >> at the last minute, yesterday -- the first time they sent a text message saying that it was canceled. so i would like go on my -- the southwest app, and try to check in. it wouldn't let me. so i'm like, okay, this is weird. so then, when they sent that text message, it just confirmed. then yesterday, i re -- i changed my flight. it was cool until the end of the night. then it was like, canceled. so i had to book with another airline and spend more money. >> reporter: that's a good point for many passengers. it's hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to find another flight. i would point your attention to the faa, which tweeted out a reaction to this over the weekend. they said that there was only a brief window of time on friday when there were air traffic problems. they also said, some airlines, which might be a dig at southwest, are continuing to have scheduling issues, because they have crew and aircraft that are out of place. so that's, again, that contradictory explanation. but the first part of what you said, getting into this report, that there has been issues with the covid vaccine, mandatory policy for southwest. the pilots, we are told from their union, were not calling out sick. payoff that, they say it has nothing to do with anything. it's also worth noting that that same pilot's association has asked a federal court to intervene and block southwest mandatory vaccine policy. jose, back to you. >> sam brock at mia, thank you so much. hispanic voters are key in swing counties across the country and as the hispanic vote grows, it's also changing. what's influencing them at the polls? coming up. plus, the house is getting ready to vote on the debt limit bill passed in the house. we'll bring you the latest from capitol hill. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. o diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. your eyes. beautiful on the outside, but if you have diabetes, there can be some not-so-pretty stuff going on, on the inside. it's true, if you have diabetes, you know high blood sugar is the root of the problem. but that excess sugar can cause the blood vessels to be seriously damaged. and when that happens, this could happen, vision loss or even blindness. that's right, diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of blindness for adults in the u.s. but even though you can't see it, there is something you can do about it. remember this: now is the time to get your eyes checked. eye care is an incredibly important part of your long-term diabetes management. see a path forward with actions and treatments that may help your eyes— and protect against vision loss. just say to yourself, “now eye see.” then—go see an eye care specialist. visit noweyesee.com to get the facts about diabetes, your eyes, and what you can do next—to take control of your sight. brought to you by regeneron. this halloween, xfinity rewards is offering up some spooky-good perks. like the chance to win a universal parks & resorts trip to hollywood or orlando to attend halloween horror nights. or xfinity rewards members, get the inside scoop on halloween kills. just say "watch with" into your voice remote for an exclusive live stream with jamie lee curtis. a q&a with me! join for free on the xfinity app. our thanks your rewards. 15 past the hour and we head now to washington, where it will be a fairly quiet week on capitol hill, except for tomorrow, when the house returns briefly to take up the short-term debt limit extension approved by the senate last week. this comes as democrats continue to try and resolve their differences over their reconciliation package focusing on their big priorities, such as education, child care, health care, and fighting climate change. joining us now, nbc news national political reporter, sahil kapur on capitol hill, and nbc news white house correspondent, mike memoli. for the most part, congress is off this week. what will democrats be focusing on during their time away from washington and what are the major issues they'll be dealing with? >> jose, the house and the senate are out of session this week, but it will be a busy week for democratic leaders, as they try to wrangle their members into an agreement on that multi-million-trillion dollar spending bill that is a priority of president joe biden. one of the dilemmas that democrats are grappling with, as they try to get to that $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion sweet spot is how to structure these programs, how to cut down that bill. there's one school of thought in the democratic party that you should shrink the programs to just four core programs. things like the aca, medicaid, child tax credit, and climate change. and just eliminate all the rest and do those four programs well over the long haul. there's another school of thought among progressives, who say, do all the programs, but do them on a shorter time horizon to make sure they get in, even if they have to expire. that's one of several questions that party leaders will have to resolve. and one of the ways you know that, they're not quite there in terms of getting an agreement is that the two rival factions are not moving yet on their price tag. senator joe manchin of west virginia is still calling for $1.5 trillion. senator bernie sanders is still calling more $3.5 trillion. that's a lot of ground to make up and they only have 20 days until their new self-imposed deadline at the end of october. there's a forcing mechanism that democrats are grappling with and growing anxiety about this. that's the issue of the child tax credit. it's a centerpiece of the american rescue plan, a proud accomplishment that democrats are touting and hoping to campaign on in 2022. but there's just one problem. that money drys up at the end of this year. it expires. come january, a lot of those parents who are relying on it will not see those payments of $250 to $300 a month and democrats are insisting that's part of the reason why they have to get this bill done because they don't want to go into a midterm election where they're already expected to lose seats and that turn that political asset into a potential liability. i spoke to one democratic operative about this. let's put what he said on the screen. i think it's instructive of how many in the party are feeling about this. he talked about how failing to extend that tax credit would be a mistake, that democrats cannot make. he said, i'm quoting here, there's no silver bullet for success, but there's certainly a recipe for disaster. failing to pass the biden agenda, unquote, there's a lot of that anxiety, jose, all over the democratic party at this moment, as they try to get this done. >> and michael, this comes as the president's poll numbers are dropping. what's driving this poll number drops and what is the white house going to do about it? >> well, jose, we're seeing two major sort of drivers of the problem's job approval rating taking a dip. the first is the delta variant surge that we saw over the course of this summer, that now appears to be subsiding, with disruptions to really every facet of american life. it did take a toll for a president who campaigned, vowing to defeat the virus last year. obviously, the delta surge really imperiled the president's agenda in that respect. but secondly, everything that sahil was just laying out in terms of the process, the really difficult time the democrats are having getting on the same page in terms of the final price tag and what's in the president's agenda has really taken away from the fact that a lot of americans at this point don't really know what's in it. the process arguments have gotten in the way of the substance that the president really wants to focus on. for all the speeches that the president has given here in washington, it hasn't driven it in the way it can if the president hits the way more. that's what white house officials have been telegraphing for some time. we saw the president last week in michigan, touting the bipartisan infrastructure plan. and then we saw him days later in illinois, talking about the steps the administration was taking to continue to try to get the coronavirus under control. and so, we haven't gotten a sort of look ahead at the president's schedule for this week. obviously, he's extending the weekend through today in delaware, on this holiday, but the white house has been telegraphing that, especially with congress out of town, with fewer of the intense meetings that we've seen over the last few weeks, expect to see the president hit the road and try to communicate more directly to american people about what it is he's trying to do, and build the political pressure on republicans to help get this across the finish line. >> mike memoli at the white house, sahil kapur on capitol hill. thank you very much. you know, almost as quickly as it was halted, the strictest abortion law in the nation is once again in effect. the fifth circuit court of appeals blocked the injunction from a district court judge that had paused the texas abortion ban last week. meaning that as of right now, women in texas cannot get an abortion past six weeks of pregnancy. here with me to break down the latest is nbc news justice correspondent, pete williams. pete, great seeing you. this seems to be kind of changing almost every day. what are people in texas waking up to today? >> well, it's still on hold, jose. and what's going to happen now is the justice department will respond -- the federal government will respond by tomorrow evening. that's the deadline that the appeals court set. and then the appeals court will decide whether to keep the stay that the judge imposed or lift it. what the court did late friday night was issue what's called an administrative stay. they're saying, we're not deciding this on the merits, we're just keeping things in place, while we decide who has the better argument here. and it's a complicated case, because, of course, the texas law was designed to make it hard to challenge in court, and the government's argument is, basically, you can't do that. >> tomorrow, meanwhile, the supreme court will be hearing the kentucky abortion case. tell us about that. >> well, the -- you know, if this were anything except abortion, the actual issue before the supreme court would be a very dry one about when state officials can intervene in litigation. so here's the background, so in 2018, kentucky passed a law that would ban the most common kind of surgical abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. common second trimester abortion procedure. the lower courts immediately put a hold on it. it went to the court of appeals for the sixth circuit. it agreed and said that would violate supreme court precedent. now, the state at that point decided that it was no longer going to try to defend the law. it defended it in the trial court, and it initially defended it before a three-judge panel, but there was an election, the democratic attorney general was replaced by a republican attorney general, daniel cameron, who then went to the court of appeals and said, now i want to get in. that's the question. can he come in at this late stage? and there are arguments on both sides of that. if he wins, then it only allows him to go back to the sixth circuit and try to prevail. it's no guarantee that the kentucky law would be put back into effect. but because it's about abortion at the back of the case, this in essence is a sort of proxy fight over abortion, jose. >> pete williams in washington, thank you so much. >> you bet. >> a mass shooting at a minnesota bar that cops are calling, quote, a hellish situation. 15 people were shot. one person killed. we're live with the update. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." diaz-balar. he breathes... he kills.... 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>> reporter: police are calling it one of the worst shootings st. paul has ever seen. it's unsure what sparked the gunfire, but 15 people were shot in the chaos, killing one woman at the scene. her mother identified her to 27-year-old markisha wiley, a vet technician. police arrested three men yesterday, reportedly involved in the shooting. at last check, they're in the hospital, but investigators say once they're discharged, they will be taken to jail. jose, a developing situation. we'll certainly be following closely. >> emilie, meanwhile in california, cruise ships are returning to the barrier in the first place since the pandemic. >> you may remember the cruise ship that spent nearly three weeks anchored off of coast after numerous positive covid tests. that was the "grand princess" back in april of 2020. well, that ship is making a comeback today. it will be stopping in san francisco after a year and a half hiatus, because of the pandemic. city officials celebrating the return of cruise ships, as they've long been a vital piece of their economy, bringing 280,000 visitors in 2019. port officials are anticipating 21 trips through the remainder of the year, but say 2022 will bring a record number of roughly six times that. of course, there are new covid protocols, as passengers and crew members must be vaccinated. >> and emilie, staying in san francisco, we understand that thousands could be without power today? >> that's right. the potential for dry, gusty winds has pacific gas and electric on high alert. the company is expected to shut off power for thousands of customers in more than 20 counties today, to reduce the risk of electrical equipment sparking fires. we've seen this happen before. an investigation revealing the company's equipment ignited the deadly campfire in 2018, which incinerated town of paradise. parts of central and northern california are under a red flag warning through tomorrow. pg&e expects customers will see full power restoration tuesday afternoon. >> emily ikeda, thank you so much. nearly half of all u.s. population gain in the last decade is thanks to the growth in the latino community. and as that voting bloc has grown, it's shifted into a key demographic of swing voters, especially at the local level. while the hispanic vote might seem like a clear vote for democrats, it's not a monolith. it all gets a little more complicated as you known locally. in california and new york, we saw the hispanic vote land solidly democratic in 2020, by over 50 points, but the picture looks different in places like texas and florida, where the margin for biden was less than 20 points. joining me now to talk through all of this is victoria defrancesco soto, an associate dean at the university of texas austin and an msnbc contributor. victoria, great seeing you. first off, let's talk about the incredible growth in the hispanic community. does voter turnout matchup? >> not exactly, jose. but this is something to look at in terms of the future potential of the latino vote. so we know that looking at the census numbers, there's been tremendous growth nationwide in the latino population. and especially in states like texas and florida and some of our southern and midwestern states. however, something that has frustrated many in the latino community is that does not readily translate into the electorate. we see in 2020, only 50% of eligible latino voters turning out. compare that to 73% for whites, 63% for black voters. so you can see that there's still a whole lot more room for growth, even though we saw the latino electorate grow more than any other one in 2020. i think this is really about the potential and also the youth, jose. the average age of a white american is 58. the average age of a latino is 11. >> and victoria, in places like texas, this last election saw an increase in parts of that state as far as latinos going republican. >> absolutely. and we saw a lot of talk about the rio grande valley. that's that strip around the border with mexico, around the rio grande river. and what we're seeing here are a couple of dynamics. there's no silver bullet, per se. but we see that rural urban divide, you know, the same reason that rural white folks, maybe even some rural black folks would vote, gop would vote for donald trump. we saw that with latinos. we also saw that the economy really resonated with latinos. among some parts here in texas, the oil and gas industry is really dominant. and there was a lot of fear, pent up with a biden win might mean economic trouble for folks in that industry. so i think there are a lot of things going on here, in addition to the fact that the gop campaign hit really hard down here in texas, as they did in other pockets of the nation. >> victoria, what does this mean for candidates going forward? it seems as though a lot of times, you see latino outreach going towards the different communities. only kind of when it's election time or right before voting day. >> yeah, look, it's about the investment. and we know that with the latino community, which tends to be a low-propensity voting community, they don't turn out as much, mobilization is very key. and so we know that for latinos in 2020, we saw the gop do a very good job of turning out latinos and getting into their communities. something which we didn't see in 2016. donald trump didn't even have a google-translated web page in spanish. but this time around, he started a year and a half earlier with his web page, targeted groups focused on latinos, whereas the democrats, because of the pandemic, didn't do what they traditionally do in getting into the communities. they relied on text, on nobody, on web. because of the pandemic, but at the end of the day, that person-to-person contact is so important for communities, like those in the rio grande valley and florida, that latino community that needs that extra boost of mobilization. >> kind of important not to take anything or anybody for granted, victoria. >> absolutely. i mean, let's get one thing straight. biden won the latino vote in 2020. he absolutely did. a clear majority. but as you pointed out earlier in that graphic, jose, you look at texas and florida, and the numbers don't look as comfortable. and we know from past elections, things like eones ago, say the george w. bush years, when the gop puts it in their sites to really touch latinos and try to connect with them, they can't. here in texas, we know that george w. bush, when he ran for governor the second time, got 49% of the latino vote here in the state. so when the work is put in, when the investment is made, there can be movement. so both democrats and republicans need to constantly keep this front of mind and don't take latinos for granted. >> don't take anybody for granted, be respectful of everyone always is a good motto to have. >> coming up, details on the meeting between the u.s. and the taliban. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. c diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. itchy? 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>> jose, good morning. well, taiwan's president issued some very strong and unambiguous remarks on this in response yesterday. and she said taiwan will not bow to chinese pressure towards reunification, and also reaffirmed her nation's right to self-defense. but she said actually a lot more than that. so one of the things, she pledged that taiwan will continue to invest in its defense capabilities, to ensure that no one can force taiwan on to the path that china has laid before it. and she kind of characterized this path as one lacking in a democratic free way of life for taiwan's people. so these are obviously very strong words of defiance from taiwan, in the face of increasing pressure, probably at this point, you can say intimidation from china. >> and matt, over the weekend, the u.s. and the taliban met for the first time since the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. what came out of those meetings? >> so these talks are ongoing right now as senior-level u.s. delegation, meeting taliban representatives in doha, in qatar. and i think for the moment, the main focus for the united states seems to be securing safe package for those americans and foreign nationals still in afghanistan. but there's a few issues on the table, as well, that are really no less important. one of them is the rights of afghan women under taliban rule. that's not going to go away. but also this kind of attempt to ensure that the taliban honor their pledge that they had made prior to taking power, that they would prevent afghanistan from becoming safe harbor once again for terrorism. you know, the taliban, however, over the weekend, actually said that the one thing that they are not talking about in these talks is actual cooperation between the united states and the taliban on combatting the islamic state in afghanistan. >> and finally, matt, nearly all of lebanon is without power and it could be days before they get it back. it's a really serious situation in lebanon. >> yeah, so, this one is a result of this ongoing economic political crisis in lebanon. so one thing we know about this country is it's very dependent on fuel imports. and basically, what's happened now is the taps have run dry into the two main power plants in lebanon. so they were brought offline. now, there are some efforts funnel some of the fuel stops from the military to get these power plants back online. but it's already a situation in lebanon where many people are getting their power from privately owned generators that run on diesel, which is also seeing a shortage. so this could go on for quite a while. >> matt bodner in moscow, thank you so much. appreciate. it. it's the international day of the girl, a day to empower girls and amplify their voices around the world. our own savanna guthrie sat down with activist and nobel peace prize winner molalla yousef. >> i wish that the biden administration and other world leaders had done more to protect human's rights, women and girl's rights, but it's never too late. whether it is a political deal, negotiations, you know, recognizing the taliban government. they must be conditional on the fact that the taliban recognize women and girl's right to education. >> ma lala's nonprofit, the ma lala fund has is invested close to $2 million in afghanistan for the education of girls. malala's message to young girls today is believe in yourself and believe in your voice. coming up, what biden did in honor of today that no other president has done before. we'll explain, next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." n, next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. ♪ (vo) subaru presents... the underdogs. they may have lost an eye, or their hearing, or their youthful good looks. but there's a lot of things these remarkable dogs haven't lost... like their ability to lick, wag, and love with the best of them. join subaru in helping underdogs find a loving home and celebrate all dogs during our third annual national make a dog's day. ♪♪ (calls dog) buttercup... (whines) ♪♪ ♪ ohh ohh ♪ do you struggle with occasional nerve aches in your hands or feet? ♪♪ try nervivenerve relief from the world's #1 selling nerve care company. nervive contains alpha lipoic acid to relieve occasional nerve aches, weakness and discomfort. try nervivenerve relief. fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. 47 past the hour. you know, for decades, the second monday in october has been a federal holiday, celebrating european explorers who decimated native populations in the americas. native americans are trying to change the focus towards an appreciation of indigenous peoples. this year, those efforts got a huge political boost when president biden signed the first-ever presidential proclamation designating today as indigenous people's day. in addition to columbus day. as he wrote in that proclamation on friday, we must never forget the centuries-long campaign of violence, displacement, assimilation, and terror wrought upon native communities and tribal nations throughout our country. today, we acknowledge the significant sacrifices made by native peoples to this country and recognize their many ongoing contributions to their nation. joining us now to talk about this is jenny monet, she's an investigative journalist and author of the newsletter, indigenously decolonizing your news feed. she's also a citizen of the laguna pueblo tribe. jenny, it's great seeing you. thank you for being with me. how big of a deal is this proclamation? >> good morning, to you, jose, and happy indigenous people's day. the movement to replace indigenous people's day with the federally recognized holiday columbus day is about three decades long. and it really ramped up around the 500th anniversary of marking columbus' journey, you know, in 1492, the storied tale that we all grew up with in school that, you know, framed columbus as being the quote, first, explorer to reach the americas. but, in fact, what we now know today, which is centered around this movement is, you know, the great detail of misinformation, you know, that columbus actually never really set foot on what we today call the united states. he only came as close to setting an anchor in the caribbean. and on the more grim side, we know that there was a trail of genocial legacy that has led to the colonization of indigenous lands. all of this centered around president biden's biden's proclamation. it is the most visible representation of acknowledging what he said, the terror and the atrociies that have been imposed on indigenous peoples. >> you're talking about he never set foot on this continent, but cortez set a huge foot in 1516 going forward in what is now mexico, and besoro, that foot is felt today in places like peru. how can we go forward on this? for example, the federal holiday. just what would and should we be doing? >> well, if you look at the great strides that indigenous people's day has had in the united states, i'd say over the last five years, we're seeing dozens of u.s. cities and states making similar proclamations year after year. and -- but when we parse out the numbers indigenously, my numbers took an examination state by state of just how many have actually ditched columbus day for indigenous people's day. i mean that on a granular level in terms of paid holidays and recognizing the same kind of public holiday standards that go with legalizing a holiday. there are only five, and that includes the district of columbia that observe indigenous people's day in replacement of columbus day. there are three others that want to have it both ways, columbus day and indigenous people's day. and then there are two that adopted indigenous people's day. alaska and vermont. but they don't offer paid holiday around it. if you're closing government offices, it's likely because of columbus day, the federal mandates around that. and so you know, it's in this really interesting space where i think a lot of the conversation is drawing around how we look critically and think critically about the lens that has shaped race and these issues in america, and i think that's what is so important about indigenous people's day. >> it's a broad question. you know? and maybe we should -- i'd love to have this conversation another day, because i really need to hear from you more, but what would you say are the biggest issues that need to be addressed in native american communities spoken at large? >> oh, well, there's so many, and i think we're also grateful even for the most recent development that also happened on friday with president biden in restoring the protections to the grand staircase eskalante, holy lands in south eastern utah of even my relatives. those lands were protected under president obama. millions of acres where our ancestors are buried. our prayers are in that soil, and they were exposed to great threat under the trump administration when he greatly reduced those protections. and so on friday i think that that's a big gift that we have on top of this proclamation from the biden administration is to have those protections not only restored but in some cases, expanded. and i know that while this proclamation is a big deal, i think across indian country, we're all probably beeping a little bit brighter around the restoration. that's one issue, and then another big issue is coming up around the boarding school legacy that secretary deb holland has taken on herself to lead an investigation for the very first time in this country which also is linked to buried truths involving late genocide on indigenous peoples. i think that as we move forward, the results of that investigation are due april 1st, and so there's a lot to look forward to. >> yeah. and you know, it's amazing that it's the first time in native american is in a cabinet of the president of the united states. it's 2021, and it took this long. you know? >> too long. right? >> too long. >> thank you so much. >> it's great to be here. >> coming up, going without health insurance can really affect someone's life. who is most at risk next? bogeys on your six, limu. they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual so they only pay for what they need. woooooooooooooo... we are not getting you a helicopter. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ as someone who resembles someone else... i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ one thing we've learned over the course of the covid pandemic is how many of our fellow americans continue to face challenges getting the most basic medical care they need. i took a closer look. >> this is the moment francisco finally started getting life-saving treatment, but he almost didn't make it here. he had been sick for days with worsening symptoms. he had three days of mains in his entire body and a lot of sweating. >> but the construction worker and father of two refused to go to the hospital. >> because once i was thinking how am i going to pay? >> translator: how is this going to be if i can't work and i can't get a paycheck? >> francisco didn't have health insurance. because of that has never gone to see a doctor in the u.s. does it worry you, the early days that yo have no health insurance? >> translator: how was i going to pay? >> that fear of getting hit with a massive bill kept him from seeking help when he finally went to the er. he was diagnosed with a severe case of covid. >> translator: one month and four days in the hospital from covid. >> by the time they come to me, they come in with one foot in the grave. >> reporter: a pulmonologist serves the latino community and sees patients like frin cisco all the time. does having health insurance affect the time patients come in to see you? >> absolutely. i mean, i take care of people that have no resources. they are concerned of the financial implications. >> and it's not just financial concerns keeping some latinos from seeking health care. many are concerned about their immigration status or fear a language barrier. >> i see it every day, and i have been seeing it for decades. it's not getting better. it's getting worse. >> latinos have the highest uninsured rates of any ethnic group in the u.s. in california latinos are three times more likely to be uninsured than whites. community health workers the spend nearly every day going door to door in hard-hit communities and food banks to physically sign people up for government-run health insurance. >> it comes down to the education. what do they know they have access to? that's when we break the barriers and inform them, yes, you can get access oh to the this kind of insurance. >> translator: too expensive, they say. instead, they resort to natural remedies. they suffered through covid with no medications and jose believes he has early alzheimer's but can't see a doctor to be diagnosed. how challenging is it to close the gap? >> the whole day we were with them, they didn't sign up a single person for insurance, but they're not giving up. >> it does take a long time to help our community, and it's more than a meeting or two to persuade them to get the help they have access to. >> as for francisco, he's taking it one day at a time, going in for regular monthly checkups. >> translator: hopefully i can go back to how i was before. >> and that wraps up this hour. thank you for the privilege of your time. craig melvin picks up with more news right now. and a good monday morning to you. craig melvin here. lots we're following right now. we could soon add another tool as we battle this pandemic. because in just the last few hours merck announced it is seeking emergency use authorization for the anti-viral drug that treats mild to moderate covid-19 and

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