he'll be joining us momentarily. the senate is set to vote on a major voting rights bill, all 50 democrats on board, but republicans they're prepared to block this thing. it could be the end of the road for the nation's voting rights legislation. and the january 6th committee voting unanimously to recommend former trump aide steve bannon facing contempt charges. next up is a full house vote, which could send bannon's fate to the hands of the justice department. congressman adam kinzinger joins us in a moment. i want to start with ali vitali. lay out for us what is next for steve bannon and the committee. this is about congress's power. >> reporter: yeah. and clearly this is about sending a message. that's what chairman thompson said yesterday in the aftermath of that recommendation that we saw late last night. that kicks off the process here. what we're going to see tomorrow is the full house vote on that recommendation to refer a contempt charge to the department of justice. if they vote to do that, then this will land at the feet of the doj, and they'll have to decide whether or not to move forward, prosecuting steve bannon for defying the subpoena request. look, congress has the power to subpoena people and information. this is one of the only tools in the toolbox to actually make sure that they comply with that. what happens here is it's not even necessarily so much about the importance of prosecuting steve bannon but more about pressuring him into actually complying so that the committee can do the work they say they need. that's what chairman thompson said this is about last night after that vote. listen. >> it's shocking to me, shocking to anyone would not do anything in their power to assist our investigation. so it's a shame that mr. bannon has put us in this position, but we won't take no for an answer. >> reporter: and look, they won't take no for an answer now, but when you talk about this being about the larger landscape of what congress can and can't enforce, we went through four years of the trump administration, and you and i have talked about this a lot where effectively congressional subpoenas were trampled and ignored by trump allies. this is setting the precedent that that's no longer going to be the case, especially now that trump is out of office and especially when you consider the fact that bannon was not a member of the white house during the time the congressional committee is looking to talk to him about in the waning days of 2020. all of this leads to a legal battle we knew was coming. the president here certainly far outweighs just talking about january 6th. it's definitely about the larger landscape. >> he was just a private citizen. we always say if it was you and me, he was just you and me. yet we are still waiting. i want to dig deeper and bring in illinois republican congressman, adam kinzinger, a member of the january 6th committee. he joins us now. this has been such an ordeal. the whole point of your inquiry is to gather information. how confident are you that what you're doing right now gets you any closer to getting the information you want and this country needs? >> well, i'm about as confident as i can be. i mean, we don't know what the future holds on this. let me say on the bannon side of the house, i think it's important that anybody that refuses to come before congress face consequences and that we can compel them. that may take some time. i recognize that, but there are many, many people out there that are not going to be able to resist subpoenas from congress, that actually some of them have no interest in resisting subpoenas that can give us information that can build up to steve bannon, maybe equivalent to what he knows. he is not like the limiting factor that short of us getting him before the committee we're not going to know anything. we are pursuing lots of fronts. >> i want to play part of what your republican colleague also on this committee, liz cheney, said yesterday about bannon's refusal to cooperate. watch this. >> mr. bannon's and mr. trump's privilege arguments do, however, appear to reveal one thing. they suggest that president trump was personally involved in the planning and execution of january 6th, and this committee will get to the bottom of that. >> okay. at the very same time, there's a new poll out that shows more than half of republicans believe trump bears no responsibility for january 6th whatsoever. how does that set the stage for the next part of your investigation? >> i mean, look, that's a difficult number to look at, i mean, quite honestly. i attribute that to a couple of things. number one, we are still tribalistic in this country that i think people don't want to know facts because, you know, it's whatever narrative puts them in the tribe. secondarily, it shows a lack of leadership in my party to stand in front of people and tell them the truth. if you have a base voter that hasn't heard anybody but me and liz say something, we can't really blame them for not believing. i guess everybody's responsible for their own belief. more people need to stand up, i think what this shows, what this shows my friend on the other side of the aisle, we may not agree on issues, there's a lot of issues we don't agree on, that's fine. but we have to have unity when it comes to defending democracy, or we will find ourselves in a bad place. that number to me is very concerning. >> but then stay with me here. as we're waiting for the house and the justice department i want you to help our audience understand the stakes. there have to be consequences for ignoring congressional subpoenas. congress is going to voluntarily lose its power if you basically hook up a guy because he's boys with trump. >> yeah, look, i think you're 100% right. this is accurate. this is why it is important for us to make sure. it is in the justice department's purview now, and i have every expectation that on bannon, you know, once wu pass the referral out of the house on thursday, which i think we will, i have ever expectation that the justice department will pursue that. we have other, you know, methods. there's civil contempt. there's inherent contempt, but that takes a rules change in the house. but the stakes are huge. not just for the power of congress but because in ten years we want our kids, i'll have a son who's 10 by then, we want our kids to be able to read the historical narrative of january 6th with accuracy, not something tainted by people who say it's antifa and the fbi. that's why this is so important. >> do you ultimately think you'll be subpoenaing donald trump? >> i don't know. you know, i think we can get to all the information we need without him, but i think we're certainly willing to do it. that's something i want to make clear. he's not off limits. but i also think, you know, if we can get that information prior to him and obviously you recognize the second he's subpoenaed it creates a whole circus, we'll do what we need to do, period. but we're not going to just call him in front of us to feel good. we're going to get the information from many other people some of which have already voluntarily come in and talked to the committee. >> can i ask you what has all of this been like for you personally? right now you have got democrats trying to redraw your district and republicans not across the board, but a lot of them are taking every opportunity to attack you. >> i think there was a saying attributed to church hill, it was like so you have enemies, good, it means you actually stand for something. i'm at peace. it's not fun, but i'm at peace. and i know that, you know, whether this -- if i end up with no place to run in illinois, that will be fine, right? it will be okay. i'm going to just stand in front of the american people and do the right thing. and the tough thing is i understand it because getting kicked out of a tribe or feeling like you're out of a tribe, it hurts, but what we need are more people that are willing to stand up to defend democracy. i'm not going to sit here and tell you it's no problem, it's fun, i enjoy it, i don't. but i also know in 20, 30 years when i look in the mirror i'm going to be able to look at myself longer than some other people would be able too. >> and you might say i don't want to be in that tribe name. thank you for joining me this morning. i appreciate it. >> you bet. thank you. we're going to stay on capitol hill, so much happening there today. big changes to tell you about when it comes to the president's human infrastructure bill. free community college out, the child tax credit and paid family leave scaled way back and the price tag, forget 3.5 trillion, it might end up being half that much. but the keyword right now is progress. the white house and democrats in congress say they are moving closer to a deal. today the president hits the road to sell the bill in scranton, pennsylvania. but here's the thing, how do you sell it when you don't know what's in it. monica alba joins us. that is my number one question. how do you sell a bill to the public when you don't know what's going to be in it? isn't the answer to sell it to washington? >> reporter: well, that's what's tricky, steph, and we did see that on friday when the president went to connecticut focused almost all of his remarks on the importance of child care and the child tax credit and what he wanted in this build back better agenda, then now after a meeting like yesterday, we're seeing there are actually some very big changes being proposed to that. so that is the fine line that he needs to walk here, and later today when he goes, we're told the message is going to be a little bit more symbolic and one of urgency. less of the specific parameters because you're right, they're still hashing this out. let's talk about some of the potential changes because they are significant. for weeks, the white house had been talking about productive meetings, making progress, but for the first time last night, we got a real sense of how they're going to be able to maybe come to an agreement because we're told, according to multiple sources who are part of that meeting, that the price tag is going to come down to somewhere between 1.75 and $1.9 trillion. the original price tag the white house wanted was 3.5 trillion. a big concession there. it sounds like free community college is going to be removed from the plan entirely. that child tax credit may only be extended for a year, despite it being very popular, and then the original bill had a proposal for paid family leave that was closer to 12 weeks. this would scale it down to four weeks, and then on that last bullet point, a critical one in terms of the climate agenda, the program that's in there right now will likely also be reduced significantly, but we're told that there will still be a focus on clean, renewable energy. so when the president travels to scranton, pennsylvania, tonight it will be his first time in his hometown since taking office, and we're told, again, he's going to trying to talk about some of these more specifics but arguing what matters is that democrats are coming together and are closer than ever to a deal. he's going to stress he wants this done before he leaves for europe next week, which is still a tall order, steph. >> it sure is. you are in luck because i have got the perfect guest to dig into this, democratic congressman josh gottheimer. he was in the room negotiating with the president and his fellow democrats last night. take us inside the room, you have seen what we're reporting about what's in and out. i want to tick through it. first of all, the cost is now being capped at 1.9 trillion, free community college out, child tax credit might be extended for one year instead of making it permanent. paid family leave now four weeks instead of 12, clean energy performance program may be dropped. is that all correct? what am i missing? you were there. >> well, there's a lot of -- as was just said, there are a lot of issues we're still working through. what is very clear, stephanie is we're getting really close, and made seismic progress last night and over the last few days, both on two fronts, one, the bipartisan infrastructure bill. that's the roads, bridges, rail, the gateway tunnel between new york and new jersey, water infrastructure, broadband, climate resiliency. that bill clearly the president wants on his desk -- >> okay, we already knew that, josh. >> let's make news here. >> i'm getting here. >> we already know the bipartisan bill -- >> steph, i'm getting there. and secondly, you wanted to know what happened in the room, and secondly the other obviously big focus is on reconciliation package, which clearly there's support for. that's something we're going to pass, that i've been saying for weeks to like my colleagues and months now. it's got everything from child care, of course, to fighting climate change, to the state and local tax deduction. there's lots that will be in there that we'll get done, and we're getting very close. it is not -- i won't comment on all the specifics there because we're still negotiating, but the bottom line is we're making great progress, and i'm confident we'll get both bills done. >> what are the big issues still unresolved? >> well, there's -- you've probably seen there's still questions about everything from -- like good things that are out that are definitely part of this like child care and pre-k. there's questions on the paid leave side, issues around medicare and what happens there, the affordable care act. some questions are still being worked through, and some of the specifics that i read about this morning are not exactly in line with what we've talked about. some of these things going back and forth, and until you're there, you know, you're not final. but what is clear is -- and what was clear in the room last night and we heard from the president is that we've got to get both these packages across the finish line, and we've got momentum to do so. so i remain optimistic that we will. as you know, the bipartisan infrastructure bill is something that we've been fighting for a long time. i think what is important what we heard last night from everybody is we've got to get a vote on that. democrats are making that clear. you hear from republicans who want that passed is what i'm hearing about back home but also the importance of getting reconciliation across the finish line. that's something we've also been working on for months. >> when congresswoman jayapal talked about negotiations yesterday she talked about her fellow progressives, democratic senators and the white house. she didn't mention house moderates. where is your role in these negotiations? >> well, obviously we were at the white house yesterday and having these discussions and we've been involved, i've been on the phone like a lot of my colleagues in the white house, my colleagues in the senate and house, pretty much every single day over the last months working on this and obviously working also with the progressive caucus and talking to pramila, so we continue to work together. that's how this should happen, by us all working together. >> how are you working with them? i've got to tell you when i hear that progressives are going to the white house and meeting with the president in one room and moderates are going to the white house and meeting with the president in the other room, that is ridiculous. what kind of party can't negotiate together? when you talk about negotiating, you should be negotiating with progressives, why is it that the same party can't even get in the same room? i can't imagine having that kind of privilege in my own professional life. you got to hash it out. >> are you sitting down with fox all the time? >> no, but fox isn't on my team. pramila jayapal is on yours. >> i talk to pramila all the time. we all talk to each other all the time. that is just the furthest from the truth that we don't work together. we've got a big tent. we sit down and talk literally every week or engage with each other, and by the way yesterday, joe manchin, bernie sanders, as you know, i think the day before he was talking to pramila. we're all working together. we realize we're in the same party and we're rowing in the same direction and the values we support, the opportunity, whether you're fighting for child care or fighting climate change, we're all working together. and that's very clear, and you know there's going to be broad support for the physical infrastructure package. at the end of the day, we're going to deliver both these important pieces of legislation for our country and bring our country together and get this done. >> how important is the timing at this point? these are two huge transformative bills, but the clock is ticking, and at this point, even if you get them passed, it's unlikely people are going to see any changes, at least in the next midterms. how much do you need to do this asap? >> i think it's very -- listen, it's very important to do them asap because we've got to get shovels in the ground and 2 million people working in the country. i think the country needs it and that to me is the top priority and getting people to work, fixing those roads, fixing transit. there are things we can get started on immediately, and we can't afford -- that's why i obviously would have done this months ago. there's no reason we should be waiting a single day longer to get this passed and i'm pushing with my colleagues to get a vote on this next week. >> what happens today? you going back to the white house? >> today i'm going to go right from here and sit down with some of my colleagues just like you said is important. we did this morning, i'm going to do so today all throughout the day and keep working on this until we get it done. that's our job to fight for the people we represent, i work for jersey and that's my job. i'm going to keep doing it, and we all should be talking. i'm meeting with republicans today as well to make sure that we bring together as much bipartisan work as we can. >> the more people working for jersey in my mind, the better. always good to see you. >> i agree, stephanie. >> i appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. coming up next, a major voting rights bill heads to the senate today. what you need to know about this bill and the impact its failure tough in your state and our future, our democracy. we're also watching the latest from a florida courtroom. minutes from now, the man accused of killing 17 students in parkland back in 2018 is expected to plead guilty. also ahead, my interview with treasury secretary janet yellen, with all the focus on the president's agenda, we still need to raise the debt ceiling before the end of the year, and the secretary has a big warning about what happens if we don't. >> i can't even contemplate the possibility that we're going to default. that would really be a catastrophe. tastrophe. ♪ 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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and if they do block it we have no chance of getting things done on voting rights on a federal level? >> reporter: a big vote coming up in the senate a little after 2:00 p.m. it will be a vote to advance that freedom to vote act. as things stand, it is likely a break 50/50 in the senate. all the democrats are on board. at this moment, not a single republican has raised their hand and said they're willing to move this forward and begin debate. the most likely candidate has been senator lisa murkowski in alaska, she's engaged with democrats before. she said she is a no on this and will vote to filibuster. it will fall short of the 60 votes needed to move forward. the question is the same as it's always been. are democrats going to do anything about the filibuster, use that nuclear option to eliminate it or create a carveout as many progressives, many democrats are calling for. as things stand the answer appears likely to be no, stephanie, because the two main holdouts in the senate who support this bill also support keeping the filibuster. that is senator joe manchin, senator kyrsten sinema and a big complication here of course is that democratic leaders and president biden need their votes on this economic multitrillion dollars package. the timing doesn't work out very well for the democrats here in terms of wanting to or being able to twist their arms. this is a major piece of voting rights legislation that activists and democratic leaders are unlikely to give up on. it includes automatic and same day voter registration that makes election day a federal holiday. it has no excuse mail-in voting. it does allow flexibility for states to implement their laws. allows states to enact voter i.d. laws. that was one of the big compromises. there's a lot for voting rights activists to like. it would put a lid on state's ability to enact restrictive voter laws and it would take some actions to combat election subversion. at the end of the day, unclear if democrats are going to do anything beyond kind of put up a procedural vote, and allow it to fail beyond that, stephanie. >> allow it to fail. i want to explain why this is so important. supporters of the freedom to vote act say it's more important than ever. right now we are seeing more republican controlled state legislatures pass laws that blatantly make it harder for minorities to vote. the texas legislature just passed new congressional district maps. they did it on monday night. these maps would shore up the gop's dominance in texas, and i want to share what mother jones' ar ri berman points out. white people make up 40% of the population and control 60% of the state's districts. 39% are latinos. but latinos only control 18% of the districts, blacks make up 12% and asians 5%, they control zero districts. for more on why all of this should matter to all americans i want to bring in matt dowd, the founder of country over party and a democratic candidate for lieutenant governor of it texas, errin haines, the editor at large of the 19th. matts voting rights is not something the average person thinks about day in and day out. help us understand why we desperately need to. debates infrastructure is meaningless if we're at risk of losing a free and functioning democracy. >> stephanie, i couldn't agree with you more. all the other issues including infrastructure and everything else that seems to be in debate pales in comparison to what's happening with voting rights. the voting we have that all of us have that has been expanded over the last 200 years to try to become closer to universal suffrage is the only way we as americans can express our voice and hold elected leaders accountable, whether they're democratic or republican or independent. it doesn't matter. it's the only way we can hold them accountable. we can fire them if they're doing bad things or rehire them if they're doing gad things. it's the most fundamental way we can express our preference, and when it gets undercut like it has been here in texas as you listed out there, what happens is as you begin to have a tyranny of the minority, and so we're supposed to have majority rule with an expression and ability to hear a minority voice. not have minority rule across these states that we have. today is world statistics day. so i'm going to quote a statistic. texas ranks 50th in ease of voting. in the 1990s it ranked 14th. it's dropped 36 places, and in that period of time more and more and more people have been unrepresented in the state, and more and more people have not had any ability to express their voice and hold leaders accountable. >> only because you're such a nerd to bring up world statistics day will i give you the second question, matt, because i can't even believe you just brought that up. how would federal voting rights legislation help combat this power grab we're seeing in places like exactly where you are, texas? >> well, the voting rights act as you all know in the '60s was passed to ensure people of all races, colors, creeds, whether you lived in a rural, urban u suburban area, you had a right of ease of voting. what this act's done is return to a time when we were more apt to have universal suffrage. i think one of the biggest elements of this is universalizing the ability of people to vote so a person in wyoming and a person in texas had the same power that there was one person, one vote. and one of the things you mentioned is gerrymandering. texas added 4 million people in the last ten years, 4 million. 95% of those people were people of color, 95% of the new people added in texas, they got no new representation. in fact, in texas because of gerrymandering, latinos and hispanics and the asian-americans and the african-americans are less represented than they were ten years ago after they added 95% of the population in this state. and so now you have a legislature and a congressional body that is not reflective of the diversity of the state. that's why i keep saying what they're doing is ensuring a tyranny of the minority. >> wow. erin, it's so important for people to understand how far reaching this is. we know voting rights has an impact on gerrymandered districts, voter disenfranchisement, abortion laws. help us understand some of these other far-reaching effects. >> yeah, i mean, look, stephanie, it's just as matt just said, regardless of party if you care about infrastructure, which is the thing that's making headlines this fall, you should care about voting. voting really is our democracy infrastructure, and without it, just to continue with the infrastructure metaphor, government is going to be a very bumpy road and maybe the bridge might collapse right? we do still live in a participatory and representative democracy. but yes, elections do have consequences. we're already beginning to see them. the supreme court, you know, became super conservative under a republican president who promised his voters that that was going to be a governing priority. also, yes, at the state level you have these legislatures and governors that have made the issue on whether we're talking about abortion, voter suppression, the minimum wage. that's something that's been passed at the state level. voters elect secretaries of state, right? that's an office with the power to control how elections are administered, so if that person isn't operating with integrity, what does that mean for our elections? and at the local level, if you care about things like policing reform, which has stalled in congress, right? this is where you make your voice heard. district attorneys, the city councillors who decide the budget that pays for priorities like policing, but also things like mental health services and addressing some of the other things we've made the police responsible, we pick those people, right? the sense of urgency around passing federal voting rights legislation has really picked up because you have these states releasing their maps, right? this is the first redistricting since that 2013 shelby v. holder decision which gutted section five of the voting rights act. so for democrats who are wanting this new federal legislation in place, they're saying that could potentially mitigate some of these voter suppression efforts in absence of, you know, it used to be maps like the map that matthew was talking about in texas, maps like the ones that are going to be coming out in georgia in just a few weeks. those had to be precleared, right, by the department of justice to make sure they were not harming voters who have been historically marginalized. that clearance no longer necessary. without that preclearance, these maps are being drawn. they can be approved with impunity in these gop controlled legislatures unless a court declares after the fact, not before, after the fact that those newly drawn districts can negatively impact voters of color, other marginalized folks. >> which is also why it's important to understand and know what judges are making their way to the bench permanently. maria, let's get real. republicans are likely going to kill this bill. what can people do to fight back to make their vote count? >> i love this panel because we've been able to go into depth of the historical reason why we're here, the fact that the gutting of the voting rights act absolutely basically gave local states power they wanted to disenfranchise individuals. the fact that texas is dead last in voting yet was able to pass a certified free election last year should have everybody in alarm. this state has passed two voter suppression laws saying even if you're in college, you're going to have to show your residency there. why, stephanie? because we're expecting a quarter of a million young latino youth turning 18 between now and next november at the same time that governor abbott, the governor who is trying to restrict a woman's access to health care by not protecting her choice, the one that basically is promoting critical race theory, the one that doesn't want to mandate masks. the one that keeps texas sick, he is on the ballot next year, and he does not want to be reckoned with. you're not doing the will of the people. what do americans need to do? access to the voting booth, to our democracy, it's the whole kit and caboodle. it's everything. it's whether or not we have fair representation. it's whether or not our children are going to be able to get the access to education they need. it's whether or not our economy's going to go roaring for everyone because we have infrastructure. it is the underpinning of everything. it's the reason why we're even having a conversation on infrastructure, on child tax credit because americans, a multicultural america, we voted. and if americans believe in the value of their vote, i recognize that people are tired, people are having a hard time coming out of this pandemic, but the thing that we need to do is not just call our members of congress, but we have to give them a spine. we have to make sure that we show up, that we make sure we show up to town halls. we tell them this is the most important thing. i believe right now that democrats are trying to show to the american public that there are republicans who do not believe in fair access to the voing booth, and the one thing this country while very thin, republicans, democrats and independents deeply believe in equal justice to the voting booth. my hope is they use this as a vehicle of transparency, to demonstrate what party is on the democratic side of d's, the little d the infrastructure d of democracy versus the party who wants to create opaqueness and have minority rule. think my hope is that by doing that transparency they go ahead and say we're going to suspend the filibuster for this finite piece of legislation. this is the underpinning of our democracy. >> access to voting is everything. ma thank you all so much for joining us. you definitely made us smarter on this issue that matters. next, vaccines for younger kids still not approved, but we've got brand new details about the administration's plan to roll them out when they are. you need to hear this. you need . due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin that's a trail i want to take. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk better than warfarin. and has less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis has both. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. you need to hear this. re easily you need to hear this. nger for bleeding to stop. get help right away for unexpected bleeding, or unusual bruising. it may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor about eliquis. i've got big news! now, nurtec odt is the first and only medication proven to treat and prevent migraines. don't take if allergic to nurtec. the most common side effects were nausea, stomach pain, and indigestion. ask your doctor about nurtec today! when you hear, ask your doctor cough cough sneeze sneeze. [ sneezing ] it's time for, plop plop fizz fizz. alka seltzer plus cold relief. dissolves quickly. instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. pandemic, and some stories you need to know on this wednesday. new york city mayor bill de blasio just said all city employees must get vaccinated by october 29th, but this time there's no testing option. while in washington, the supreme court declined to block maine's vaccine mandate on health care workers, which could set the stage for other legal challenges. speaking of vaccine mandates, southwest airlines said yesterday that they are now scrapping their plan to put unvaccinated workers on unpaid leave. i've invited southwest's ceo to come on because i'm going to need that one explained to me. fox news an neil kavot tested positive for covid, he credits the vaccine for saving his life writing this, had i not been vaccinated and with all my medical issues, this would have been a far more dire situation. it's not because i did and i'm surviving this because i did. all of this comes as the white house gears up to vaccinate kids ages 5 to 11 before the holiday season. my friend and colleague, heidi przybyla is live outside children's national hospital in d.c. you got a firsthand look at the administration's plan. give it to us. >> reporter: yeah, some great news, the white house announcing moments ago it will have enough supply for all 28 million children ages 5 to 11, and they'll be able to get that shot within days of the expected authorization of the pfizer vaccine. how are they going to do it? they are partnering the department of health and human services with children's hospitals all across the country that will allow them to not only reach the children who are at highest risk like children with immuno suppressed conditions but also to reach into those rural communities where access is lesser to partner with pediatricians, they're going to pair this with a major public education campaign, and here's why this matters, steph. they're going at this differently than they did in the rollout for vaccinating adults where we saw a lot of major mass vaccination sites with people, maybe they weren't familiar with, fema officials. they're looking at the data here that tells us that while it is encouraging that two-thirds of parents do want to get their kids vaccinated, look at this number. immediately that number is only a third. now, we heard dr. fauci say we can't get to that herd immunity, which means we can't get back to life as normal here unless we have more children vaccinated. and steph, we are bumping right up on the holiday season. we put to rest the lie over this past month that covid doesn't hurt kids, right? september was a horrible month for covid and children. don't want to see a repeat of that going into the holidays, steph. >> we certainly don't, heidi. thank you for that important report. up next, my exclusive interview with treasury secretary janet yellen, including where she thinks we are right now in our economic recovery, and the biggest risks ahead. >> we will come out of this and i still expect that the u.s. economy will be back to full employment next year. o full employment next year their only friend? the open road. i have friends. 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>> you know, the labor market in many ways is very tight, although for some individuals they're still finding in certain sectors certain parts of the country a hard time getting back to work. but we've suffered, the united states and the global economy, a very, very unusual shock that has both put people out of work, but has also changed patterns of demand, shifting demand away from services like travel, staying in hotels, eating out at restaurants. instead, we've been gobbling up goods, you know, goods and commodities like we've never seen before. >> i know you talk a lot about the importance of child care. we've got a child care worker shortage, a service worker industry shortage, and what we're seeing is lots of people moving in those lower wage jobs to work for multibillion dollars companies, big box stores who can afford to pay bonuses and higher wages and benefits, which are great for the workers, but what do we do about all those small businesses that they can't compete with the amazons on the world, and a lot of those big businesses are looking to hire hundreds of thousands of workers going into the holidays. what happens to a small business? >> well, in a way it's good to see wages rise and working conditions improve for people working in low wage sectors of the economy. this is something that we've wanted to accomplish for a long time, but of course i think as the economy begins to recover and demand returns to the service sector and as people feel we continue to address the pandemic, the supply of workers into that sector will surely expand. >> a restaurant is going to be able to pay more than amazon can? >> they may have to pay more, and that will be part of the adjustment, but this is something that's good for workers. many of the service sector workers have suffered from chronically low wages and from working conditions and benefits that leave them working -- and this is true particularly of child care workers -- a good share of them really have to be on public assistance because they earn so little. so, you know, these are issues we need to address. >> two weeks ago you were warning that we would face economic catastrophe if the u.s. defaulted. we didn't -- we temporarily have held off on the debt ceiling situation, but it's not over. >> no, it's not over. >> what could happen, how long would we face economic catastrophe, how long would it take to recover if we do default? >> i can't even contemplate the possibility that we're going to default. that would really be a catastrophe. it's congress's responsibility and duty to make sure that the debt ceiling is raised. >> doesn't mean they're going to do their jobs, though. >> i believe they will do their jobs. they must do their jobs. >> and does it surprise you that so many lawmakers would take us to the brink? i can't imagine there are any voters that would sign on for, yeah, a default would be great for me. does it surprise you that this has now become an issue? >> it's become a political football and raising the debt ceiling is now politically fraught. it's become an opportunity for a self-inflicted wound that congress would impose on the u.s. economy now. it's never happened. >> what is the one thing you'd like to tell lawmakers that must be in this reconciliation bill? what do you think is the most important thing? >> well, there are many things that are very important. many t are very important. climate change is very high on my list and it's high on president biden's list. there are policies to address climate change in the infrastructure package and in reconciliation and certainly, a range of policies that will address the needs of families and children to make sure that children have the investments and the opportunities that they need to thrive. there's a lot in this package and we'll see an agreement reached that will take advantage of an opportunity we have to have healthier economic growth and healthier family life. >> anything you think we could wait on? >> you know, not going to negotiate about that here. i -- this is more members of congress to sort through and see where they can see they can get. and we're following breaking news in the state of florida, where nicholas cruz, the suspect accused of opening fire inside marjory stoneman douglas high school is back in court today, expected to plead guilty this morning. carey sanders outside that courthouse in ft. lauderdale now. kerry, what can we expect from this hearing? >> reporter: it's important to know that this is a plea, not a plea deal. there's no deal on the table in terms of sentencing. let's go live to the courtroom here. nicholas cruz has entered the courtroom here. as he follows through, as his attorneys have said, he will plead guilty to 17 and also 17 attempted murders and he will then face the death penalty. it's important to note here, we want to note that the families who have gathered here, most of them won't even say the name "nicholas cruz," as you look at the pictures here of those who were murdered, and we will be able to use the term murdered once he enters that plea, some of them as young as 14 years old. students as well as teachers and staff at parkland. the marjory stoneman douglas massacre at the time was the worst high school shooting in the country, exceeding even columbine. after he enters his plea, they will then have to -- and this sounds a little odd -- but they will have to impanel a jury and the jury will then listen to the case and they will then recommend whether nicholas cruz should get the death penalty or he should face life in prison. that will be a process that will take time and the jury simply recommends that it is the judge who ultimately decides whether it is a death penalty or life in prison. stephanie? >> kerry sanders, thank you so much. all of those faces, they were just kids. coming up, the battle playing out at schools across the country. how to teach the history of race in the u.s.? a stunning inside look and the massive consequences, next. oknde massive consequences, next growing up in a little red house, on the edge of a forest in norway, there were three things my family encouraged: kindness, honesty and hard work. over time, i've come to add a fourth: be curious. be curious about the world around us, and then go. go with an open heart, and you will find inspiration anew. viking. exploring the world in comfort. ♪darling, i, i can't get enough of your love babe♪ ♪girl, i don't know, i don't know,♪ ♪i don't know why i can't get enough of your love babe♪ ♪oh no, babe girl, if i could only make you see♪ ♪and make you understand♪ get a dozen double crunch shrimp for $1 with any steak entrée. only at applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. you get more with aarp medicare advantage plans from unitedhealthcare. like $0 copays on tier 1 and tier 2 prescription drugs. ♪ wow! ♪ ♪ uh-huh. ♪ so go ahead. take advantage now. ♪ wow! ♪ with voltaren arthritis pain gel my husband's got his moves back. an alternative to pain pills voltaren is the first full prescription strength gel for powerful arthritis pain relief... voltaren the joy of movement this morning, the debate is raging over how race is taught in american classrooms. in fact, a growing number of school districts are taking steps to restrict how the history of racism and slavery is presented to students. msnbc's new documentary, "civil war," takes a revealing look at how our nation teaches perhaps one of the most divisive and important chapters in american history, and its impact on the current state of race relations. watch this. >> no one on the civilian side, on the confederate presidency, was ever forced to concede and repudiate what they believed. and we allowed a group of people that waged an armed insurrection against their government to build statues to their heroes. so that has kept it alive. we have never solved the core problem of the civil war. >> joining us now, eddie glaude, chair of the department of african-american studies at princeton. eddie, we don't have to go back to the civil war. we can go back nine months. 66% of republicans do not consider the january 6th insurrection an attack on the government, despite count less -- i mean, all the video that they have seen. what do we do about this? >> we have to confront the truth of the matter. and that is that we never resolved the single contradiction at the heart of the country. and i should say this, stephanie, we have to confront the intimacies of our hatred, that the hatred is rooted in families, and fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts. so it's very difficult to condemn that. and it goes all the way back to the civil war, whence families fought against each other. it requires a different kind of attention, precisely because of the intimacy of the hatred itself. eddie, here's the thing. you're a college professor. your students want to confront it and learn about it and get better and smarter. but they don't have to take your class. they're choosing to take it. the people who don't want to confront this history are the problem and they aren't signing up for your class. >> not at all. and this is why we have to do it at the level of policy, of public education, in some ways. we have to teach the full story, stephanie. and the full story is going to include the ugliness, as well as the power of the democratic experiment. but if we refuse to confront the ugliness, we remain adolescents. we refuse to grow up as a nation. and let me put it really quickly. this is the way it is. it's like the fabric of the nation has been sewn together, right, in a very shaky way. and all we feed is one good tug and it all comes apart. and it seems like every generation, we're tugging at the seams. and it seems our republic almost feels as if it's coming apart as a result. >> you teach students, as i said, about african-american history. what are the most common misconceptions you experience with your students? because lots of us think, oh, we know history, but we don't. >> well, they really don't understand the violence that attended the collapse of reconstruction. the fact that senator ted cruz invoked the compromise of 877 on the floor of the senate in order to absolve the so-called problem around the certification of the recent presidential election. people -- our students don't really understand what happened in clinton, mississippi, in 1875. they don't understand what happened in wilmington, north carolina, in 1898, where you had violent, violent overthrow of government. where you had violent, violent kind of attacks on black communities to protect them from voting. so we really don't tell the story, because in some ways, the lost cause won. it has been the narrative of the civil war. and this documentary, i think, exposes this very carefully in a very, very gentle way, it seems to me. >> we cannot let a lost cause win, not now or ever. eddie, so good to see you. i know what i will be doing sunday night at 10:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. i will be watching "civil war," the documentary. eddie, always good to see you. thank you at home for watching. this wraps up this very busy hour. i'm stephanie ruhle. jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage right now. and good morning. it's 10:00 a.m. eastern/7:00 a.m. pacific. new reporting on the record number of migrant detections at the southern border, the most of any year ever, this as president biden hits the road again to push for his build back better plan, while democrats continue to hammer out the details of that bill. and as senate takes another shot at moving forward on voting rights. we're going to talk about all of this with texas congresswoman shelia jackson lee. over