shots in american arms, this is new polling reveals the majority of americans think the country is on the wrong track and just this morning, chuck schumer said the senate will vote on a major voting rights bill next week but needs ten republican votes to pass. we talk to congressman jim clyburn about what's next for democrats' agenda. in hollywood, film and television production come to a halt as crews are set to go on strike as soon as this coming monday. jake ward will join us with the latest. beyond our borders the latest doefrlmentes after fire ripped through a high-rise building in taiwan, leaving 46 people dead and dozens of others injured. we begin this hour with the latest on the pandemic, a new study from the national institutes of health reveals that mixing and matching covid booster shots is safe and effective. for more on this and other covid news i'm joined by cal perry, nbc news correspondent and meagan fitzgerald also an nbc news correspondent in chicago. meagan, explain what the study means when it says it's okay to mix and match covid boosters. >> reporter: so jose, what this nih study says is that it's safe and this has not been peer reviewed but for example if you received the moderna vaccine it's safe to get a pfizer booster shot and vice versa, if you had pfizer you can get a moderna shot. what's interesting here, as it relates to those who got the johnson & johnson shot, it says they actually benefit greater by getting a moderna or pfizer booster shot as opposed to getting a j&j shot because it increases their immune system and seeing stronger antibody levels there, jose. >> so if the fda and the cdc gives a green light to both the moderna and the j&j boosters, how soon megan, could americans receive it? >> reporter: well, they say they're ready to go. they could receive them by the end of this month. according to the white house task force, they say they have enough supply and they will be ready to administer, distribute those to millions of americans who are waiting, jose. >> and cal, meanwhile cases are trending downwards in new orleans. what are you hearing from health officials what's driving this drop? >> reporter: a lot of folks are saying it is these mask mandates particularly in the school, statewide, mask mandates have made a big difference in community spread but you're not going to hear anyone celebrate about the low numbers. this is the fourth wave that new orleans has been through, but the statistics are looking good. if you take what was a 16% positivity rate late last month, now at 3%, you can see that difference. listen to what dr. elder told our crew yesterday about the difference we're seeing statewide here in louisiana. >> we saw a peak around the 20th of august here, where we had over 200 patients at our lcmc hospitals with covid. statewide over 3,000. just recently we're down to about 28 patients at our lcmc hospitals and just under 500 across the state. so we're looking better than where we were a few months ago. >> now the lower numbers are easing the pressure on what was a very strange system. vaccinations moving forward are going to be the concern here in louisiana. you have a very low vaccination rate in the state, 45th in the nation. when you go to the state's dashboard, 84% of new cases are amongst unvaccinated individuals. 80% of deaths last week amongst unvaccinated individuals, 83% currently of those hospitalized have not been vaccinated in the state. >> what a drop we're seeing. speaking with you last, vaccine card check at a restaurant, what was that like? >> reporter: this was the first time and i have to say i've been reporting extensively across the south. this has never happened before but here in new orleans i went to a restaurant off canal street and they said can we see proof of vaccination. certainly not consistent across the city and it will be an interesting discussion jose as we enter halloween and possibly mardi gras late february/early march of next year. i cannot imagine how you're going to ask everybody for the vaccination cards but they say they'll try here. >> in new york city you can't go anywhere indoors without showing the vaccine proof, and i.d., so that's something that we're seeing more and more throughout the country. cal perry and meagan fitzgerald, thank you very much. cal this is probably the first time you've been carded in a while. for more on this and other covid news i want to bring in dr. blackstock, ceo of advancing health equity and msnbc medical contributor. doctor, always great to see you. there's a lot of back and forth confusion over boosters. tell us what we need to know about the third shot. >> so it's called a booster but it may be a third dose. we're learning so much about vaccines and it may be another primary series includes a third dose. so far we have the pfizer vaccine approved for a booster, and most likely we'll see boosters for both moderna and johnson & johnson. the outstanding question is what is the follow-up booster from johnson & johnson, given that mix and match study has shown that a follow-up dose of moderna produces the strongest immune response. >> isn't the technology different in the j&j versus moderna and pfizer? >> right, and that's why we may be seeing the difference. j&j as well as astrazeneca use a different platform called an adenovirus, and the pfizer uses an mrna platform and it may be that combination of using the different platforms is what is producing this really different response and so it may be that people have received one dose of johnson & johnson would be better off receiving an mrna vaccine probably more specifically moderna if they get a third shot. >> what about the people that have pfizer, would it be okay to get a moderna booster shot then? >> that is what we are going to see today and tomorrow as the fda officials review the data. right now, we know that only a pfizer booster is approved for people who have received pfizer for their primary series but we may eventually see that you can receive any other vaccine as a booster in the follow-up. we'll see what the data shows. >> talking a lot about boosters but there's still a group of americans against getting that first shot. how do we get through to that segment of the population and prevent more unnecessary deaths? >> i know. this is really the challenge, and we're talking so much about boosters as you mentioned. we really need to be focusing on those who remain unvaccinated, because those really are the people getting sick, hospitalized, and dying, and so i think that we still have to continue vaccine outreach and education but ultimately i think that vaccine mandates are going to be the way to go. hopefully they will be adopted by more and more organizations and businesses that are not covered by the federal mandate. i think that is the only way that we're going to the 80%, 90% vax rate we need to get out of this pandemic. >> is that what we need an 80% to 90% vaccination rate to get out of the pandemic, 80% to 90%? >> yes, unfortunately, because of the delta variant because it's so contagious, you know, that percentage has changed since the beginning of the pandemic, compared to the wild type variant. the delta variant is much more infectious, much more contagious and as a result we need more people vaccinated and the way that vaccinations work is by increasing population immunity, so the more individuals vaccinated the higher the population immuity and less likely we have the pandemic continue. >> when the vaccine was first available black americans were less likely and latinos adding they want to wait. that has waned. in your conversations with black patients was there any particular turning point to get convinced to get vaccinated? >> yes. i do think that the article picked on several important points. especially seeing the delta surge, people have had close friends, family members who have died in that surge and i think also the vaccine mandates. i know a number of individual patients who have decided to get vaccinated because of the vaccine mandates. obviously we want to make sure that we are, don't have additional deaths and again, i think the vaccine mandates are going to really be what pushes people to get vaccinated over the next few months to a year. >> dr. blackstock, always a pleasure, thank you. >> thank you, jose. next, the president's agenda stalled on capitol hill. house majority whip congressman jim clyburn joins us next to break down where things stand and what it will take to get things moving. plus new details about the motive in the deadly bow and arrow attack in norway. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. what makes new salonpas arthritis gel so good for arthritis pain? salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. it's clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. salonpas. it's good medicine. wanna help kids get their homework done? 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'cause we are. it's 13 past the hour. now to capitol hill, where it looks like the senate is going to take another shot at passing a voting rights bill. senate majority leader chuck schumer told democrats he plans to hold a procedural vote next wednesday on an updated bill spearheaded by joe manchin as americans show their frustration over lack of action on several key issues. a new pit copoll shows that 62% of americans believe the country is on the wrong track. i want to bring in moderator of "washington week" on pbs own msnbc political analyst and capitol hill sahil kapur. sahil, does the new voting rights bill have a chance of moving forward? >> reporter: it's got a chance of getting 50 democratic votes in the senate, a good chance after this bill was structured as a compromise within the party to win the vote of senator joe manchin a key holdout on the previous major voting rights bill democrats were pursuing. they want him giving states more flexibility to prevent certain provisions and cutting out the mandates to allow states to implement voter i.d. with certain safeguards. same day voter registration including guarantees for early voting and no excuse mail voting, counteract a number of laws about election subversion which the previous bill didn't do as a counter to the former president's attempts to overturn the results of 2020 election that he lost. it's a big moment. activists i've talked to are calling it a make or break moment. if this doesn't succeed, doesn't find a way above the 60-vote threshold they don't believe they'll get another chance. >> the president outlined a series of steps to deal with shortages of goods that led to rising priceis in recent months. with christmas over a couple months away, there isn't much time for efforts to work. is there a plan b in the event the efforts fail? >> great question but there isn't a plan b. the idea the federal government working in partnership with private companies will try to make sure the u.s. supply chain is rock solid, we saw the announcement of the number of ports in california going to 24/7 operations in order to get goods processed more quickly and also means that americans whoa are facing higher consumer goods that the president is trying to work on their behalf to get goods back to a price that is more familiar rather than inflation we're experiencing. that being said, this is one of the many challenges fixing president biden. yesterday the white house press secretary said she could not guarantee that poll day packages were going to be on time. also police reform, remember at this point seen as a way, there's no way at least right now of seeing it be revived. what you have are the democratic agenda that is at an inflection point, add to that the argument over the debt ceiling and infrastructure and what you have is a busy couple of months for president biden and a democra ic base saying what are democrats getting done for us. >> the cost, just the basic cost of food is going up and up. the basic food that we all require to have at home is going up and up and up. these are issues that aren't easy to confront. >> we're both from miami, fl. we love big family gatherings. wanting to stock their fridges and buy gifts. they want to lift spirits amid the second year of the pandemic. at the grocery store higher prices and the inability to have the gatherings because of covid and also seeing wages and the inflation we're experiencing. i taubl to my family in miami, they're complaining all the goods are going up and their paychecks are not going up alongside that. >> yep, and yamiche, i have to have you over my house which is your house soon to celebrate together. thank you both for being with me. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up now, we'll be talking about this on what's happening on capitol hill is south carolina democratic congressman and house majority whip jim clyburn. congressman, a pleasure to see you. >> thank you very much for having me. >> thanks, good to see you. i want to get your thoughts on the news that senator schumer will take up another voting rights bill to get through the senate. >> joe manchin has done what he said he would do, bring along ten republicans who will vote to allow it to go forward. if he doesn't, we're going to have to get around this filibuster. i hope this will demonstrate to senator manchin the need to do so. i can't imagine that he will allow the filibuster to stop. the black folks in his state and other states are exercising their right to vote. the filibuster has been used historically by southern states to keep black people from voting. it's just that simple, and that's the problem here, and back in the day, west virginia, historically we have a west virginia but because they're rejected second class citizenship and broke away from virginia over the whole issue of slavery. so west virginia has got a pretty good history and i hope joe manchin will recognize that history and not perpetuate that think would have happened at west virginia had not seen the light. >> so you trust that senator manchin is good at whipping the vote before it goes to the senate? >> do i trust it? i don't think so. i'm hopeful but i don't think he will. i think he's going to have to relent on the filibuster and nobody's asking him to give up the filibuster. they would treat the voting rights and constitutional rights when it comes to the filibuster the same way you treat the budget. reconciliation is used to keep the majority from keeping us away from full faith and credit of the united states of america and we are going to do the same thing when it comes to protecting voting rights and other constitutional rights. you can't let the filibuster ruin that. >> negotiations you said are still going on over the size and scope of the reconciliation bill. you're the house democrats' chief vote counter. where are you now as far as the votes there and what are you saying are the fundamental aspects that must stay in. >> keep the focus on the family and we did what was necessary over half of the children living in poverty got bailed out of poverty when we did the child tax credit and only did it for one year. we have to make that permanent. that's got to be paramount here. start talking about what it is in this bill. let's do what is necessary to provide health care, get beyond this affordable care act the so-called coverage gap there. do something about medicaid in this 12th state. >> just lost the connection, it's a technical problem we have. it is what it is on life television. i don't know if we have the congressman back. no, we don't have him. congressman clyburn thank you for being with us. we'll reestablish our technical situation and thank him for being on this morning. next, they're calling it striketober. thousands of john deere workers walking off the job, the industries impacted and how it could affect all of us next. ♪ ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience, you have the flexibility you need to unveil them to the world. ♪ what makes new salonpas arthritis gel so good for arthritis pain? 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>> good morning, jose. that's right, it is the largest private sector strike in two years. 10,000 members of the united autoworkers striking against john deere, asking for better pay and as you say, that is part of a national push when it comes to negotiations between labor and management. we also see iatsi, the behind the scenes union in hollywood preparing to go on strike. they say they could strike as early as monday. that's about 60,000 members of the behind the scenes union in hollywood and would bring hollywood production to a halt. they say the revenue for hollywood has gone up during the pandemic and they haven't seen their share of it and you mentioned nurses. about 21,000 members of the nursing union here in california saying that they are prepared to go on strike, about 96% of them voted in favor. they have the to issue about a ten-day warning, because it is such a big deal, but they are striking against what they say is an unfair two-tiered pay system that would bring the pay of entry level nursing staff, pharmacists, midwives down from 26% to 39%, after the pandemic, they say it is unfair to be treated and as a result are going to the mats. we're seeing an extraordinary uptick in this. the sheer numbers are a little confusing. the bureau of labor statistics says the number of strikes is not as great as it has been in the past but these are big influential unions and against the backdrop of 4.3 million people walking off the job, quitting their job in august, that was the biggest number since the year 2000, something is definitely going on in the country right now. >> jacob, meanwhile the fire is ripping through southern california forcing to shut down the 101 freeway, right? >> yes. it's a terrible thing. having traveled in california, as you know, it's a storybook place it's remote. the 101 is the one major freeway that serves that part of the california coast and it is currently closed. amtrak and pacific railroads both had to shut doyne and at this point we're looking at about 15,000 acres burning with only about 5% containment and that is because if you stand in that area right now, you have to lean against the wind, 70-mile-per-hour winds are buffeting those fires and driving them through the dry fuel we've seen after so much drought so definitely still at the beginning of the fight against what could be a very serious fire, jose. >> jacob ward, thank you for always bringing us that. just minutes ago the white house announced president biden and first lady dr. jill biden will travel to the vatican to meet with pope francis, the 29th of this month. the two are expected to discuss the covid pandemic, climate change and caring for the poor, scheduleed ahead of the g20 summit said to begin october the 30th in rome. next, new details this morning about the bow and arrow attack that left five people dead, calling it a terrorist attack. plus the crisis in haiti causing ripple effects throughout the region. what the prime minister is saying about the country's political future. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." the cloud would give us more flexibility, but we lose control. ♪ ♪ ♪ should i stay or should i go? 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>> it's a complex one. you essentially have different factions that are in the ruling coalition. one faction the widow of the assassinated president, another faction supporting ariel henri who was considered something of an outsider in the president's inner circle and these different groups are clashing. they are having a clash of ideology, there's all sorts of pressure points being pressed, some have argued that the gang violence has been escalating in recent weeks, maybe part of the political tactics aimed at forcing the prime minister out. it's a very complex situation. >> the people it hurt aren't the people in power or those trying to get to power. it's the people that are trying to make an everyday existence and families. talk about the journey, anthony, from south america where many of the asylum seekers we've seen in the united states are arriving. that's a journey that is so dangerous, so perilous, and yet they're willing to make it. >> you're right. we talked to the deportees turned back to haiti and those on this perilous trip through jungles, over rushing rivers. they talk about stepping over dead bodies, seeing fellow migrants pass away or be robbed of their life savings in front of their eyes. some of them faced those exact same consequences on these long arduous trips up through the border. many of them never expected honestly to land back in haiti, it's a place they left many years ago. it's a place that is now arguably far worse than it was when they left. so for them, the phrase that we keep on hearing from many of the migrants, many of the deportees that return to haiti, is that haiti is hell. that's what they keep on repeating and honestly their back there but their singular mission is to get back out. they'll tick risky trips on rick ety rafts to neighboring islands or spend whatever money they have left to try to find some way out. >> it's important i think i'm glad you're mentioning this, because these 7,000 people that were deported just over the last month from the del rio area, del rio, texas, area, many of them haven't been to haiti in ten years, maybe some left 2010 earthquake, right, some others left to get jobs in the olympics in brazil and chile, so they're returning back to a country that they don't really know. >> moreover, many are returning with children with brazilian or chilean passports that are citizens of a different country and yet they find themselves back and destitute nation that is really for lack of a better term a failed state. there is no rule of law that's functioning. the police force is either broken or corrupt or inept. you have a situation where the gangs have taken control over vast swathes of the capitol, other parts of the country as well. you have an earthquake in the south that has left not only more than 2,000 dead but tens of thousands still homeless and facing chronic problems with access to potable water, facing other kind of infections and disease because of the sanitary conditions they're forced to live in and some of the deportees had homes in the south that crumbled in the earthquake. some of them are stuck in what is probably the most violent capitol in the hemisphere today, port-au-prince with little means and very little plan or strategy to try to navigate this nightmare that they found themselves in. >> a one-way ticket back to a place maybe they don't know anymore. looks like know one's really caring. this is really a crisis, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. thank you for having me. next, falling behind. kids are being hit hard by the pandemic, and it's hitting esl students even harder. what's being done to get them the help they need. plus, tying immigration reform to reconciliation. we'll talk with the congressman who says a pathway to citizenship must be included in the bill. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." 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 ♪ ♪♪ your new pharmacy is here. to help you compare prices, and save on your medication. amazon prime members get select meds as low as $1 a month. who knew it could be this easy? 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>> tech: that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ 44 past the hour, time for a check of the headlines. beyond our borders, breaking news of a massive fire ripping through a residential building southern taiwan, smoke and flames can be seen billowing from the flames of a 13-story building. 46 are dead and dozens injured and a deadly scene in beirut, clashes are up amid protests organized by hezbollah and its allies, gunshots coming from the tops of buildings and surrounding streets, at least five people have been killed. 'frightening scene in norway, a man armed with a bow and arrow attacked people, killing five and injuring two in what norway's security agency is now calling a terrorist act. joining us from moscow, nbc's keir simmons. keir, good to see you. what's the latest on the investigation into this attack? >> jose, as you say, norway security agency saying this appears to be an act of terror but cryptically saying they've not identified a motive at this time, naming the suspect is 37-year-old danish citizen aspen anderson who converted to islam and there are fears that he had been radicalized. of course this was a bizarre attack using a bow and arrow, five people were killed in this norwegian town, four women and one man. a terrifying scene but they do not appear according to the police to be any other suspects so the norwegian prime minister telling people that they can feel secure. >> and you're in moscow, where undersecretary victoria nolan is wrapping up a three-day diplomatic visit. its u.s. calling the talks there constructive? >> that's right. president putin also saying that the talks were constructive. let's be honest, the relations between the u.s. and russia have been in deep freeze. i think the talks with victoria nolan looked at cyber and arms control, so very limited areas where russia and america have things they can talk about or traditionally talked about but always ways in which things can become very icy again. one of them senior russian officials if those were put in place that president putin would have no option but to respond. the u.s. biden administration is trying to refocus on china. it would like to box off the russian situation. the russians of course do not want to be sidelines. >> keir simmons with probably the best interview ever with the president of russia. i presume he didn't invite you over for hors d'oeuvres. biggest drop in test scores in math and reading, the key reason the linguistic gap for kids learning english as a second language. guad vinegas has more. >> reporter: they straddle two languages and serve as a key cultural bridge at home but english learners in the u.s. are struggling with what they lost during the pandemic. >> with the covid, i cannot learn nothing because of my house, there's nobody to help me. >> an estimated 5 million k-12 students are enrolled as english learners across the country. recent research found these students among those most impacted by the pandemic with lower scores and more likely to receive failing grades. >> i have like almost all less. >> what about your grades? >> it's bad. i have f, d. >> at the beginning, i have only f, f, f. >> it's been a tough learning loss for this california teacher to watch. of all of your english learners what percentage lost some of their language skills? >> particularly in regards to speaking many students are juggling household responsibilities and making sure the family continue to run. >> it was hard because i was distracted a lot because i had to share a room with my sister. i forgot a lot. >> only students were falling behind so much that she lobbied to restart classes seven months before schools reopened, sometimes teaching outdoors in 100 degree heat. why was it so important for to you bring students back into the school. >> coming in person gave them access, opportunities to practice english to communicate, to ask questions. >> do you feel more good because the teacher is you and her but when it's in computer, it's more harder. >> for some students who have high risk health issues, it's not safe to go back to school yet. >> we got confused. we are going backward instead of going forward. >> as a student with down's syndrome, his parents say he needs extra help and having to learn remotely is hurting his future. >> in the school he can have whatever he needs, we try to dot best we can but it's hard for us. >> reporter: those back in school are seeing their grades rise again as they begin to catch up. >> this is going to be years and generational, so i think to recoup some of that lost time, that lost learning, that is going to be very important that there's coordination between elementaries, middle schools and high schools. >> a combined effort to recover the forgotten words that covid took away. nbc news, modesto, california. an important slice of america. thanks for that report. next, white democrats hopes for immigration reform rest on reconciliation. a congressman says the budget bill must include immigration, but is it a deal breaker? 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just ask the employee owners of recology. we built the recycling system from the ground up, helping san francisco become the first city in the country to have a universal recycling and composting program for residents and businesses. but it all starts with you. let's keep making a differene together. s want to use the recken silluation bill. they've been blocked by the senate parliamentarian. that doesn't seem to be the end of it. several congressional officials tell "the new york times" democrats are seriously considering a long-shot proposal to use the bill to provide temporary legal status but not citizenship to millions of un -- undocumented immigrants. with me is a member of the congressional democratic caucus. it's a pleasure to see you this morning. thank you for being with me. what are the issues you think that are fundamental that need to be in any bill that you have in front of you to support reconciliation? >> well, jose, as you know i was the first member of congress to say that the reconciliation package which i totally embrace and support, it's the president's build back better plan, if it doesn't include immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship, then i could not support a package, even if it con tanss so many good things. most immigration reform that has happened has always provided a pathway to citizenship, and that is what we're striving for. we want consistency. we've been unsuccessful thus far, but the senate parliamentarian, because of the existence of the racist and antiquated filibuster in the senate, that's why we're having to go through all of these hoops, but we are at, i think, a critical point now in the coming days and weeks in congress. we've got to deliver for our community. it's been 35 years since congress last enacted immigration reform that was in 198 6 when ronald reagan was president. it's time that we do right by immigrants. we've paid a lot of lip service and heard many stories of how immigrants kept the country running, whether it was picking vegetables and fruits in camps all over the country inning a curl areas, or delivers food to people who needed it during the pandemic or saving lives as doctors and nurses and other technicians, so it's time that we demonstrate more than lip service to the immigrant community, and i'm hoping that in the coming days as we take a third try at convincing the parliamentarian that immigration reform should be a component, that we will prevail. >> now, you know, third time could be strike three, you're out. what about this thing in the new york times talking about maybe some democrats are thinking about some reform that could legalize or give immigrants working documents but not a pathway to citizenship? >> well, that's an option, but i don't know that it's our last option. the ability to remain here, the ability to be able to work and to study and to have peace of mind to live with your family members here, with your neighbors, in the communities that you call home for such a long time would be very important. if that were an option, it should also give access to participate in the affordable care act and other benefits that are essential and normally extended to lawful permanent residents and citizens, so those are the types of alternatives that are out there as we move forward, but a reconciliation bill has to include immigration reform. i took that position back then. others have joined me in that position. representatives respectively through europe and california, we published an op ed last week in a prominent newspaper. we think this is essential, and given that it now is incumbent on the democratic party, we have to deliver for immigrants alone, because republicans have taken themselves out of the equation because of trump. we have to deliver relief and a guarantee of peace of mind to the immigrant community. >> so separate from the parliamentarian's decision one way or another on this, is there not a plan b like what happened in 2013, right? when the senate, that gang of eight got together and put through a complete process of immigration reform? it wasn't even brought up in the house of representatives. but is there not something that could be discussed, bipartisan or not, to get this rolling in the house, for example? >> i think there is. there is the possibility that in the coming days, if republicans just can't be convinced to join an effort to provide relief to the immigrant community, that we go it alone, and let me just underscore that republicans in the past have gone as far as to fire the parliamentarian. i'm not advocating that, but the presiding officer in this instance, vice president harris, could just set aside the ruling of the parliamentarian and rule that a proposal to provide either a pathway to citizenship or something else changing the registry date is in order, and you could pass it with a majority vote in the senate. obviously that is a higher hurdle, but i'm hoping that members of the senate will find the fortitude, the courage, and the moral standing to take such an action if it becomes necessary, and it's looking like it is. >> congressman garcia, it's always a pleasure to see you. thank you for being with me. >> thank you. congratulations on your new show. >> thank you. that wraps up the hour for me. thank you for the privilege of your time. naz min picks up our time with more coverage right now. hi, everybody. good morning. i'm yaz min in for craig melvin. it is a busy hour to