we'll bring you the latest as well as the conversation with arizona democratic congressman. also we're keeping an eye on merrick garland's system before the house judiciary committee on the january 6th insurrection and other issues. meantime the fda authorizes booster shots for the moderna and johnson & johnson vaccines as we learn more about the effectiveness of the pfizer booster shot. and we are live on the ground in haiti, as the search continues for 17 american and canadian missionaries, including children, who were abducted by a haitian gang. and on this latina equal payday, take a closer look at the huge pay gap between latinas and white non-hispanic men. we begin on capitol hill, democrats are once again grappling with how to pay for their multi-trillion-dollar social safety net bill, and arizona senator kyrsten sinema is apposed to raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations to president biden and democratic leaders said is key to funding their reconciliation bill. with me is kristen welker and leighanne caldwell. how does the news affect efforts to get the outline of the bill in place by the halloween deadline for a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill? >> reporter: good morning, jose. it actually makes it much more complicated, because as the president and democratic leadership and members are starting to work on what is actually going to be in this legislation, the flipside of it perhaps the more challenging part is how they're going to pay for it. and now these democrats have had a huge stumbling block as senator sinema of arizona has not let down on her demand that they do not raise taxes on the highest income earners and they do not raise taxes on corporations above the 21% tax rate that's currently in corporations. now, this has become a huge problem, not only politically, but also practically as well as now they have to figure out other ways to pay for this estimated $2 trillion bill, and politically, they have to figure out how to fulfill a campaign promise that they ran on, which is undoing some of the 2017 tax cuts that benefited the highest income earners in the country. there is a lot of pressure on senator sinema from activists and progressives and from members of her own party. we just confirmed that five members of her veterans advisory council and outside council who advises her just resigned because of her consistent blocking of the president's agenda. they say that her inability and unwillingness to communicate with fellow members of her party and be clear about what she wants and what she stands for in this bill has caused them concerns, in addition to the fact that she doesn't want to, she's not helping to move this bill forward. so we'll see where senator sinema comes at the end of this, but right now it's a very tough road for her, but she's also making it very a tough road for democrats to pass their agenda. jose? >> kristen, president biden met with lawmakers a number of times to get a sense of where they stand on size and scope. we know where a lot of congress stands. what about the president? what are his top priorities? >> well, his first priority jose is to try to bring together these two sides of his parties, moderates and progressives, because he knows that's not going to be able to act on these key pieces of legislation until that happens. so what you would see is president biden become increasingly more personally engaged in these negotiations. that's why you saw those flurry the meetings at the white house earlier this week. i'm told he's going to continue that engagement until there is a deal. the pressure is on because remember, that infrastructure package passed through the senate. they just needed the house to vote on it, but progressives wouldn't move on it until they had a deal on this second piece of it, this social security net that also aims to deal with the climate crisis. now, for his part, president biden and officials here behind the scenes say he wants to make change. that's why the original package topped $2 trillion, actually $3 trillion, but now it's nearly half of that, jose, so what you are seeing is the president having a reality check with members of the party telling progressives the final bill likely won't include free college tuition, it will likely scale back those tax cuts, those child tax cuts and that key climate provision may not be included. behind the scenes here, officials are pushing back against the narrative that this is not going through. they say the final deal will still be big. it will be impactful, but all sides are going to have to compromise and that is a part of this compromise that we're seeing happen behind the scenes. as leighanne said the last-minute changes and wrangling over the tax structure how they pay pour it puts the october 31st deadline in jeopardy. >> at this hour, attorney general merrick garland is appearing before the house judiciary committee, oversight hearing. what are we expecting to hear from him today? >> reporter: he sure is. this hearing happens every year. he comes to congress to give the state of play, what's happening in the department of justice and what he is doing, we do know that's going to talk a lot about voting rights in his opening statement saying that, noting that the department of justice has recently sued georgia and still on a mission to ensure equal access to the polls. he also talks about those investigations and prosecutions into people who were here on january 6th saying this is some of the most complex and biggest cases that government has ever had to undertake, and he says that's proud of his members, but we can be sure that's going to get some very tough questions from republicans, not only on the government's take on suing on the texas abortion law, on critical race theory and a slew of issues. jose? >> kristen, i haven't had a chance to say welcome back. missed you. it's good to see you. >> thank you so much. it is great to see you as well. thanks for having me on. miss you. >> likewise. thank you both for being with me this morning. joining us to continue the conversation is arizona democratic congressman, a member of the congressional caucus. good to see you. >> thank you. >> a lot over the last 24 to 36 hours the likely price tag for the reconciliation bill would be under $2 trillion, tuition free community college out, expanded free tax credit extended for one year and duration of the paid family leave from 12 weeks to 4. what do you make of this potential outcome? >> well look, we don't focus on the money aspect. the $2 trillion, $3 trillion, we focus on what impact we have on everyday american's lives trying to recuperate from the recession caused by the pandemic and recessions of the past. we're here to compromise, to bring the standards of americans up to what we believe they deserve, and that means that we're going to have some smaller programs in a shorter period of time and make an impact to get it through and then we'll do that. i want to point out something that's very important for you to understand. this is not a progressive caucus position. 98% of the democratic caucus has been with the president and the vice president on reconciliation. we're just dealing with two holdouts in the senate and a few members in the house. this is not just a progressive position. this is a position held by the whole caucus really since the beginning of the year. >> important that you say that it really doesn't, you're not looking at the numbers but there is a huge difference between $1.5 trillion, $2 trillion and $3.5 trillion. these are monstrous numbers. >> not really. i mean look, this is a ten-year program and you were talking about over ten years. nobody says the defense budget is $7.7 trillion. it actually is what it is if you did it the same way we're budgeting when it comes to the social structure here. we're talking about essentially $100 billion to $200 billion more per year over ten years for an economy that is about $22 trillion to $23 trillion and growing. in my opinion and many economists it will restart the economy, get people out of the poverty that they find themselves in or general stagnation and reignite the american middle class. >> several members joined with hispanic federation to push for immigration reform to be included in its reconciliation bill. the senate parliamentarian blocked that twice. how important is it for you that immigration be part of this bill? >> very important and more importantly it's important for the families in arizona and across the country. we have close to 12 million families that are in various situations, a lot of them with u.s. citizen children and we can more importantly retap this workforce and get them out of the shadows. we have a big labor shortage happening right now. this is the part of the labor economy that could be helpful to restart the economy. these are the people that already own homes, want to start businesses, really want to be part of the american fabric and it will actually help solve a lot of our border problems because we can legally be coming across the border and people are doing this through coyotes or other manner, so we should be focused and figure out how to get this under reconciliation. if we can't get it done we need to figure out other ways to do it, whether by increasing the speed of visas or green cards processed or separate legislation that we need guarantees to pass the senate. >> ruben gallego thanks for being with us. appreciate your time. >> gracias. to news out west, los angeles looking to push back its vaccine mandate for city employees. a proposal submitted to the city administrative officer would give workers until december 18th to show proof of vaccination or risk losing their jobs. the original deadline came and went yesterday, with the new extension pending city council approval. the governor declared a statewide drought emergency in california, this as the state faces its most severe drought in more than a century. joining me with more, erin mclaughlin. good to see you. what does this declaration do for the state of california? >> hey, jose. governor gavin newsom made the statewide emergency declaration on tuesday, expanding the existing declaration to include some of the state's largest counties, including los angeles, san diego, and san francisco, boosting the governor's call to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 15% to put that goal in perspective, according to state water officials, california's cut water usage by just 5% in august, so more work is needed. however, you do see some businesses taking the situation very seriously. i was just up north in mendocino county, where some restaurants are stopping patrons from using indoor bathrooms setting up portable toilets to cut back on water use. up north in san jose officials are seeking approval to begin implementing drought surcharges for residents who do not meet that 15% conservation mark. california's hardly alone. according to the u.s. drought monitor, nearly 88% of the state and a good portion of the west are facing extreme drought. this past august was the driest and hottest on record and scientists are pointing to climate change as a key culprit. jose? >> erin, we also hear that hawaii is ready to accept vaccinated tourists once again? >> yes, that's right, jose. yesterday the governor of hawaii announced starting november 1st, the state will once again welcome tourists, this two months after visitors were told to stay away as the island struggled with rising covid infections due to delta. restrictions to prevent visitors from the u.s. from entering were never put into effect, the announcement did work and tourism declined, not only tourism but the number of confirmed covid cases. hawaii's seven-day average of daily new cases plummeted from 900 to 117. covid-19 hospitalizations dropped from more than 400 to about 100 statewide, now all fully vaccinated tourists and business travelers are welcome with open arms. that said, all travelers still must register their trips on the state's safe travels website. jose? >> erin mclaughlin in los angeles, thank you so much. still ahead, the latest on the kidnapping of americans in haiti. we have a live report from pourt port-au-prince. and we have our doctor run through what you need to know on boosters. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. i always protect my voice. it's how i make my living. and you and i make a country with our voices. your vote is your voice. but more than ever, our freedom to vote is under attack. so please: call congress. tell them to pass the freedom to vote act. to protect our ability to have our say on the issues that matter most. so, let's pass the freedom to vote act and protect all our voices. is struggling to manage your type 2 diabetes and protect knocking you out of your zone? 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ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. ever wonder how san francisco became the greenest big city in america? 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. in business, setbacks change everything. so get comcast business internet and add securityedge. it helps keep your network safe by scanning for threats every 10 minutes. and unlike some cybersecurity options, this helps protect every connected device. yours, your employees' and even your customers'. so you can stay ahead. get started with a great offer and ask how you can add comcast business securityedge. plus for a limited time, ask how to get a $500 prepaid card when you upgrade. call today. turning to a breakthrough in the effort to protect the nation against covid-19, the fda has now given the green light to both the moderna and johnson & johnson booster shots, on the same day the fda signed off on mixing and matching booster shots, asserting that anyone eligible for the third jab can get a brand different from the one they got in the first round of shots. more on this, i'm joined by dr. kavita patel from the brookings institute and former white house policy director and msnbc medical contributor. always great seeing you. what was decided by the fda on boosters? >> you can mix and match as we call it. here is the caveat. i'll offer, i hate to be a downer but still applies to limited populations for moderna and pfizer recipients. if you got moderna, you can get a pfizer. if you got pfizer you can get a moderna, over 65, high risk occupation or high risk setting. if you got j&j, you can get and you should above the age of 18 no matter who you are, you should be getting a booster, a second j&j shot or pfizer shots. that's the caveats. >> thank you for clearing that up. i can't seem to get clear on exactly what we can and cannot do. so doctor, can people go to their pharmacies today to get a moderna or a j&j booster? >> i would love to say that you could. people are but technically don't be shocked if the pharmacy says wait a minute, because we still have a last step, today right now the cdc's advisory committee is meeting and then they will make a recommendation to the cdc director and she will sign off on something likely today and that's the official guidance that we need as doctors, pharmacists and others to give these vaccines. we also need to wait for directions on the moderna booster, not the same as the first two shots, it's a half dose, so we're all waiting for instructions do we use the original vials, will we get new vials? that might take tom time. if you're a pfizer recipient you can get a pfizer booster or a -- sorry, a pfizer booster or j&j shot, not a moderna one yet. >> if you're a j&j, millions of people in the united states got their j&j supposedly only one. >> right. >> and you're 65 and over or have some precondition, you can go to a pharmacy today and get the pfizer booster? >> not j&j. j&j recipients have to sit tight until we get that final sign-off from the cdc but the only people who can walk in today easily and get boosters are pfizer recipients, because that's been around for several months. we have to wait a couple more days but only a couple more days, jose. not too long. >> thank you. this is so important and helpful. thank you so much. doctor, the white house is also detailing its plan to vaccinate kids 5 to 11. dr. vivek murthy, the u.s. surgeon general says anticipates law and governments requiring students to get the shot. >> right. >> do you think school districts should be mandating the vaccine for kids? >> it's tough. so listen, i think that schools should start to set up very clear guidance and requirements that make it easier and easier for vaccinated children to return to some of the activities we've been talking about. most kids are in school but with restrictions and different measures playing separately, eating lunch outdoors. some of these restrictions but it's hard to put a hard mandate until we have some time for the parents to the go comfortable with it. by fall '22 it's no surprise we'll see mandates. we'll likely have an approval, but emergency vaccine it's tough to have mandates writ large across the country. >> doctor, there's talk in the uk about a delta variant. are there variants out there that we should know about? >> yes, so this is a sublineage, i feel like i'm always trying to communicate this in a short amount of time and it's hard. every strain has different mutations to it. a sublineage a version of delta and let's call it delta plus but it's a version of delta which we're seeing an uptick in, 40% of cases in the uk. we believe part of why there's a plateau and kind of a decline in the decrease of cases of delta in the uk we're watching it closely. we don't want it to be a repeat of what we have here. keep in mind, though, in the uk they rolled out with the vaccine astrazeneca that had a slightly low efficacy than some of the other mrmrna vaccines. it is something i'm keeping an eye on and keep viewers informed and right now, not a threat in the u.s., something to watch though closely. >> dr. patel, thank you for being so clear and helping me understand things that are difficult for me to understand. i really appreciate it. thank you. >> thanks. still ahead taking 22 months for latina's pay to match that of their male counterparts. we are joined with staggering numbers on latina equal payday. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. 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>> good morning to you, jose. latinas as you said make 57 cents for every $1 a white non-hispanic man makes. last year the number was 55 cents so you think that was an increase, that the gap has narrowed for latinas. if you look at the data, it tells a very different story. a spoke with monica ramirez, president and founder of justice for migrant women what is behind this. >> the data has never told the full story. whole groups of women where the day it is based on full time women workers who are working year round. we're already leaving out part-time workers, gig workers and many others. this year for latinas that 57 cents does not represent reality because we know during the covid pandemic, more than 1 million latinas were pushed out of the labor force. >> let me say that again, more than 1 million latinas were pushed out of the labor force. in fact, for march of 2020 to march of this year, latinas experienced the greatest job in labor force size. you see the two cents narrowing because so many low paid women workers were pushed out of their jobs. it is bad news, not good. then you look at the numbers more broadly. the number of latinas with a college degree increased by more than 70% in the past two decades and still regardless of education level, latinas are paid less than nonwhite hispanic men and the numbers over time big consequences, according to the national women's law center, it would take a latina more than 400 years to earn what a white male earned in a 40-year career. jose? >> alicia, this is a systematic problem, not just a matter of more latinas going into the workforce. >> not just about putting those latinas back into the workforce. it is also not about latinas leaning in. it is about big systemic issues, you're talking about paycheck fairness, wage increases, talking about something like immigration reform and of course talking about a lot of the provisions we saw in the build back bet ear gen da that would allow women to work outside of the home and at the same time care for their families. >> allicia, you're such a beacon for many of us. i thank you for being with me this morning. catch "american voices with alicia menendez" saturdays and sundays at 6:00 p.m. eastern/3:00 p.m. pacific on msnbc. senate democrats hopes of voting rights legislation are dashed again after hitting a republican blockade yesterday, not a single member of the republican party sided with the democrats' proposal leading democrats ten short of ending a filibuster. this is the third time the gop has filibustered voting rights and raising the question of a change in senate rules. this is a wave of voting restrictions hits states like texas. joining me is texas congressman colin allred, leading the effort for the freedom to vote act in the house. congressman, it's a pleasure to see you sir. what now? what now? >> well, the fight goes on. now we knew this was going to happen. we knew we were not going to get ten senate republicans to vote for voting rights. they are standing in the way as you said of basic common sense voting standards and i think would allow every american regardless of party to be able to participate but now we go to the rules change fight that you mentioned, which is that i don't think that voting rights legislation that's critical to saving our democracy should be subject to this super majority requirement that the filibuster has. it should have a simple majority vote, whether that is a change to the rules or maybe even a change in terms of going back to speaking filibuster, which we used to have, we need to have some kind of change that allows critical legislation like this to get through. >> colin, what can be done in the house of representatives level? what's plan b? >> well, we passed several pieces of legislation the for the people act, the john lewis voting rights act to restore voting rights. we sent those to the senate and what they came up with is what they voted on yesterday, and they're going to bring up the john lewis voting rights advancement act i think next week so we're going to continue with that push to try and repair the voting rights act but it all comes back to this same alleyway, which is democracy is held hostage by the filibuster, held hostage by a senate republican caucus that is unwilling and unable to find even ten who will vote for basic voting rights, so we have to have a change and this is going to come down to the will of our democratic colleagues to understand what really is at risk, because in texas as you know, we are seeing just unprecedented levels of voter suppression, with this gerrymandering we just had come through for all of our maps, state house, congressional maps, something has to be done. >> congressman, i want to ask you about immigration, there was 1.7 million migrants arrested at the border in the last 12 months, all-time forever high. you're from texas, thousands more haitian migrants are expected to arrive in the next couple of months. 7,000 migrants were sent back to that island last month. what do you see as far as immigration reform, how do you see it? how important is it? >> it's critically important. in fact, some economists have told us that for a long-term economic growth, the most important policy we could pass is comprehensive immigration reform. we need to bring the best and the brightest from around the world to the united states. we have a system right now that doesn't work for that, and i'm on the committee as well and we need to be fixing how we are treating our neighbors here in our hemisphere, so that their countries are more stable, so that folks are able to pursue whatever their goals are in their home country, they don't have to flee this violence, this instability in the united states unfortunately has played a role in some cases in increasing that instability, and so now we have a very critical role i think to play and try to stabilize those countries including haiti as you mentioned. >> um-hum. congressman allred, a pleasure to see you. thank you for being with me this morning. really appreciate it. >> thank you, sir. and we're keeping our eye on florida, any minute we'll be hearing from the lead county sheriff's office with a possible update on the search for brian laundrie. still ahead the desperate efforts to kidnap american missionaries in haiti. we're live on the ground in port-au-prince. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. your new pharmacy is here. and here. and here, too. it's here to help you save time and money and trips to the pharmacy. it's here to get you the medication you need when you need it. who knew it could be this easy? 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>> reporter: hey there, jose, good morning. it is yet another day of protests in port-au-prince. what unfolded in the last few minutes behind me there was a fire started, this is happening over and over again in parts throughout the city, in my colleague can zoom in there behind me, you see another fire well under way and from my vantage point three or four happening right now, burning tires, frustrated with the government that comes months really years of economic problems here and of course, the intensity intensifying anxiety following the assassination of this country's president. also frustration over dramatic rise in kidnapping over the last several months. 300% rise since july, and all this attention now to the 17 missionaries who were kidnapped, people here on the ground say that this has been happening over and over again. yesterday we met a missionary from florida that was returning here to haiti, he runs an orphanage in port-au-prince. we spoke how he had survived his own attack. take a listen. >> the same day the president was assassinated, i was robbed at gunpoint two miles from my home. >> reporter: why do you keep coming back? >> because i have 67 children who call me daddy, and i've raised a lot of them from youngsters and a lot of them are teenagers now. >> reporter: do you fear for your life? >> i do fear for my life at times but more now than before because i've never seen it escalate to this level. >> reporter: back live now, you see yet another fire still burning here in port-au-prince. this is a country living in fear, again, after these kidnappings over the last several days. we just learned overnight, jose, the haitian police arrested several suspected kidnappers in an unrelated case, and that say reminder of just how common this has become. we just heard that later on today, the families of the kidnapped missionaries a representative from their organization is supposed to read a letter from the families so that would be the first time we could be hearing from them directly. the organization set aside today as a day of fasting and prayer for the safe return of those missionaries. jose? >> what a difficult situation. clint, the white house said its policy is to the to pay ransoms. what other options do we have to resolve the situation? >> usually this resolves in the private sector or in the non-profit sector, meaning intermediaries that are familiar with the groups that are in haiti that can negotiate their way out of this, but again, the reason the u.s. government does not pay any of these ransoms is it creates an effect where doesn't really solve the problem, it incentivizes kidnap and ransom. we've seen this across the board in places like africa, haiti is another example where one ransom is paid and incentivized more kidnappings to come. that's why the u.s. government takes this position. this reminds me back to the mid 1990s when i was in the army. u.s. troops deploy there because the country became so unstable and this country is falling into chaos at a rapid pace. >> they shot the president the last 7th of july. it's really a complicated and dangerous situation. thank you for being with me this morning. the house judiciary committee is holding a hearing on the department of justice with attorney general merrick garland testifying. >> it appeared in last week's "wall street journal" by the author of the patriot act, mr. sensenbrenner, former chairman of this committee entitled "the patriot act wasn't meant to target parents." be on the record. >> without objection. >> we'll keep monitoring. still ahead, covid cases in london skyrocketing again, what some british doctors are urging the government to do. we're live in london next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. . wanderers on the road of life. the journey is why they ride. when the road is all you need, there is no destination. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop. announcer: no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker... please don't follow me in. i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪nothing is everything♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. ok everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, now introducing ensure complete! with 30 grams of protein. instantly clear everyday congestion ensure complete! with vicks sinex saline. for fast drug free relief vicks sinex. instantly clear everyday congestion. and try vicks sinex children's saline. safe and gentle relief for children's noses. 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. 48 past the hour. time to take a look at some of the headlines beyond our borders, we're starting out in the middle east where yesterday syria saw a strength of attacks. in damascus, 14 people were killed when two bombs attached to a bus carrying syrian troops went off. and an attack in a rebel-held town in northern syria killed at least ten people, four of them children. the attack was part of a government campaign to regain control of areas still in opposition hands. it was the worst day of violence in northwest syria since a truce was negotiated in 2020. over in southern japan, the mt. aso volcano is erupting, spewing plumes of ash in the sky. japan's meteorological agency raising the warning left to 3 on a scale of 5. owe fishes say they're concerned about the threat of lava and falling rocks. in britain, the fight against the coronavirus as cases continue to rise. the british health minister calling for people to get their vaccine booster shot, warning restrictions could be reintroduced. joining us from london with more is matt bradley. matt, good morning. why are they seeing such a rise in cases? >> reporter: jose, that's the million-pound question here. the government is facing a lot of criticism, of course there's no shortage of fingerpointing that's going on. as you mentioned, sky-high numbers here in terms of cases, about 40,000 a day for the past more than a week. that's way more than we're seeing on continental europe. here is the thing, jose, is that we're not necessarily seeing that pictured in the hospitalizations, and the deaths. the hospitalization rate has just started to increase, and the deaths have really more or less leveled off, especially compared to this time last year, when there was a similar number of cases, and so the government finished congratulating itself for the massive success of the vaccination pranl, they're wondering what needs to be done. they've stepped away from introducing as of last night, introducing any new measures that would crack down on public freedoms. but at the same time, they're saying they've managed because of the numbers i mentioned, to kind of decouple the new infections and cases and the rate of deaths and hospitalizations. they say because of the vaccines, they can do that successfully. they can live with the virus which is something that this government has been talking about for quite a while. now, that has broken major tests for the community. the huge health service that provides care for everybody, they say that we need to go from plan a, which is essentially what we're doing right now in britain, which is relying mostly on booster shots for people over 50, and single vaccination shots for people between the ages of 12 and 15. they're saying that's not enough. we need to start introducing more regulations. now, that would mean compulsory mask wearing, advising people to try to work from home, and essentially saying that people need to start wearing masks on public transportation and other places and making that part of the law. in britain you don't see that compared to europe when i was in mainland europe a couple weeks ago, people walk into restaurants and around indoor places and they're all wearing masks. here in london, you simply don't see that at all. it's almost as if the pandemic is entirely over. so the government has ruled out reintroducing any of the more draconian lockdowns that we saw as recently as earlier this year, but they have said that this is one to watch, and if the numbers don't correct themselves, they will be implementing what they're calling plan b. jose? >> matt bradley in london. thank you. i appreciate it. nancy pelosi is holding the weekly press briefing. let's go to that. >> and addressing the concerns, vaccines in arms. money in people's pockets. safety in the workplace, children going back to school, all impacted by governance and science in this regard. at the same time, we have a global responsibility, and we know that, and we certainly are doing a lot, but we have to do more. so here we are down through the stretch from maryland and horse racing, it's horse sports. now horse raing -- racing. and we're almost to the stretch. we've rounded the turn and we're making great progress to our goal of securing a framework agreement for build back better in a timely fashion. we're going to -- it's going to be -- although it's a smaller bill, it's still historic, transformational, and will make an enormous difference in the lives of america's working families. again, in the health care arena, we have lowering health care costs by reducing prescription drug prices. that's part of our goal, expanding medicaid, in states that did not accept the expansion. strengthen the aca and improving medicare. taking us to nearly universal coverage in our country. another bucket is the family care piece of that. children learning. parents earning. especially moms. dads too, who have responsibilities in the home with a child tax credit. child care/universal pre-k. they go together. home health care, paid family medical leave. workplace development, and housing to name a few of the aspects of that. and, again, very important to our children. these are jobs issues. health and jobs. family issues and jobs and now climate. helping achieve the president's vision to cut emissions in half by 2030, advancing environmental justice. that's a very important part of all of this for the president. justice. and creating good paying clean energy jobs. so it's about the health of our children, the air they breathe, the water they drink. it's about creating good paying green jobs to make us preimminent in the world. it's about security issues as our experts our security experts tell us. competition for habitat and resources and time of drought and the rest and the migration. it contributes to other natural disasters. it's a national security issue, and always a moral issue to pass this plan in the best possible way onto future generations. children understand that much better than some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, in fact. so this will build back better, achieves better future for workers, their families, and the children. creating good paying jobs, giving a tax cut, big tax cut to the middle class, lowering costs for families, and making the wealthiest -- the wealthiest in corporations pay their fair share. so this legislation will be paid for. in fact, it may be more than paid for. again, it's transformative. it's historic. it's life-changing. and it will pass soon. again, everything that the congressional democrats do is our -- our title for the people. but sadly, senate republicans continue to stand in the way. yesterday, yesterday was such a sad day. senate republicans voted to aid and abet the most dangerous campaign of voter suppression since jim crow as they blocked a vote on the freedom to vote act. hurting their own constituents and dishonoring the sanctitity of the vote. lawmakers have introduce -- in the 2021 sessions alone. a number of them have become law. and they must be overturned and this legislation would do that. and the voter suppression laws, it ends the vote nullification laws. they're there to overturn the results of an election. really? house democrats have passed hr one which is now the bill that i mentioned in the senate, the freedom to vote act as modified in the senate. that's a good bill. hr 4, the john lewis voting rights act. and today when i leave here, i'll go to the 10th anniversary of mlk memorial dedication. ten years it's been. imagine. martin luther king was 58 years ago, nearly 60 years ago when he stood near that place and talked about justice and democracy and the beautiful speech. i had a dream speech. this fierce urgency of now. now martin luther king is there on the mall as john lewis called it, america's front yard, with washington and lincoln and jefferson. presidents of the united states and reverend martin luther king. so we'll go down there and honor dr. king, of course, being inspired by his work and words to protect the ballot. meanwhile, here on the hill, this select committee on january 6th continues its work this week unanimously on a bipartisan basis voting to hold one of the past presidents advisers to contempt for failing to comply with congressional subpoena. the committee is seeking information from bannon that is central to the investigative and legislative purpose. to investigate the january 6th domestic terrorist attack that was intended to interfere with the peaceful constitutional transfer of power, and then see what legislation is necessary that springs from that. according to published reports, bannon had specific knowledge about the events of january 6th before they occurred, and had multiple roles relevant to the attack, and very outspoken about it. today on the house -- today on the floor of the house will vote to approve this contempt resolution led by the committee to find the truth. okay. so everything that, again, we've got the -- everything the congressional -- the sanktty of the salt, the assault on the constitution and meeting the needs of the people. we have a busy few days here. any questions? >> reporter: bannon, why is it important that republicans vote to hold him in contempt? >> because they take an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. the genius of our constitution and founders was the separation of power. checks and balances. if, in fact, you went to negate the ability of one check of another branch of government over another, then you are undermining the constitution. so this goes beyond bannon in terms of its importance and you would think that if they take an oath to protect and defend the constitution, they would vote for the system of checks and balances. >> i'm curious if you think a package like this can be completed without rate increases, tax rate increases. >> we've changed the subject? >>. >> reporter: yes. >> well, that's one of the options. that's for sure. the last couple days just to answer your question, the last couple of days we've come to -- we're narrowing what the possibilities are as we see what we need to cover, because the bill will be paid for. and so what are the choices that will be made? so we met yesterday morning to narrow what needs to be done, and the chairman of the finance committee, chairman of the ways and means committee had been working