jzbalart. thank you for the privilege of your time. craig melvin picks up with more news right now. well, not craig yet. good friday morning. i'm stephanie ruhle. this hour we are diving directly into issues that probably matter most to you and your family. things like the soaring cost to put food on your table, gas in your tank and heat in your home. you've seen it if you've been to the grocery store. beef prices up. milk up. eggs. orange juice up and up. as temperatures outside are dropping, energy prices are doing the exact opposite. in moments we're going to break down what that could mean for you and your heating bill ahead of what is predicted to be a bitterly cold winter. and later, why these exact same issues could mean food banks are forced to serve chicken on thanksgiving instead of turkey. plus there's a new twist in the kyle rittenhouse trial. the prosecution now wants the jury to consider some of the lesser charges facing the accused shooter. a mad dash for last-minute child care in the seattle area. hundreds of too muchers called off work forcing them to cancel classes entirely. we're going to walk through the perfect storm of problems that dropped a surprise four-day weekend on to the laps of thousands of parents. we're going to start this morning with the chronic high prices across america. nbc news monica alba at her post. first to tom costello. he has more on the soars costs across the country including what could be an expensive winter for people trying to heat their homes. >> mid november in new england, temperatures are falling, and edward is making the rounds. delivering heating oil and sticker shock to his customers. >> as much as i hate to show them the bill, they're like they gasp, but they understand what's going on. >> reporter: from the northeast to the midwest, meteorologists predict a cold winter which could make it expensive. >> you have to heat your home. you have to pay the higher cost. >> reporter: prices have already jumped dramatically. natural gas up 130% from a year ago. heating oil up 59%. and prices could move even higher as the months get colder. from americans warming their homes to filling their tanks. >> gas prices are bananas. i drive my car for a living, so yeah. at $4 a gallon, you're like really? >> i don't have enough money to pay for gas every day, so this is crazy. >> reporter: the national average for unled now $3.41 a gallon. that's up from $2.11 that's year during the pandemic economic slowdown. filling up on the west coast right now even worse. $3.87 in washington. 3 .the $6 in nevada. and $4.64 in california. some lawmakers are calling on president biden to tap into the nation's strategic petroleum reserve. experts say the nation is largely at the mercy of the global energy markets, and the reserve is only meant for short-term emergencies. >> keep in mind, that any release from the reserve would only satisfy a small portion of global daily demand. this is a much bigger picture than just the u.s. alone. >> reporter: meanwhile record inflation could spell trouble for the president's massive $1.75 trillion social spending package. moderate democrats senator joe manchin reportedly hinting he may support delaying a vote on the bill until next year. the senator tweeting this week the inflation threat is getting worse and d.c. can no longer ignore it. a few tips if you want to try to keep your heating costs lower. consider turning down the thermostat for a good 8 hours a day. if you do that by 7 degrees, you'll save 10%. add thicker curtain windows. get a home audit. they'll determine where you're leaking warm air and tell you where to seal it. some of them will seal it for you and give you a break on your heating bill with the state, giving you a discount. also blow insulation into your attic. those will all help. i've done it myself. it does work. back to you. all right. tom costello for us there. tom, thank you. stephanie ruhle, thank you as well for starting us off on a friday morning. also with us is monica ol baa, our white house correspondent. monica, let me start with you. the high cost for everything. from milk, car parts. it's become a central issue for many american families but this is also a global issue. president biden had a meeting just a short time ago with leaders to talk about the world economy. what came out of that meeting? what could it mean for prices here at home? >> yeah. this absolutely touches almost every issue that the president is engaged on on a day-to-day basis, not just domestically but internationally as well. he did just finish meeting virtually with the asia pacific economic cooperation. that summit that normally takes place in person but due to the pandemic, these global leaders have been talking over zoom like we have for the last couple years. tackling some of these major issues, and one of the big topics we're told that came up was this idea of supply chain resiliency globally. this is something the white house has tried to really emphasize and say this isn't just about something the united states is doing when it comes to the backlog you see here. it's a much bigger picture problem that at the root, of course, is the coronavirus pandemic and all of these delays that we've seen over the last couple months. really, really in a quite acute manner now. heading into the holiday season. the president spoke about that and what he hopes he can do here at home on his economic agenda that he hopes then will have global benefits. we also heard from the transportation secretary, pete buttigieg earlier on our sister network where he's really managing expectations about short-term versus long-term. in the short-term, he's acknowledging americans are going to continue to feel these pain points and to feel the pinch, but that things like trying to work on the ports, the immediate impact of the bipartisan infrastructure plan, that can help. but what does short-term really mean? we're talking weeks and months. some of the other relief that could come will not be seen for years. the white house wants to be clear to the american people, we acknowledge your pain. we're trying to work on some of the different solutions, but it's going to take a while. that will also with b a big focus of the cabinet meeting with the transportation secretary and others who are very engaged on this issue later this afternoon here at the white house. >> monica, really quickly, to that last point that tom made in his story there, this idea that inflation could very well derail the president's build back better plan. how real is the worry inside the white house that it could mean just that? >> you can tell that there was apprehension even when the president was taking the semi victory lap with the bipartisan bill. there's this attitude of one down, one to go, but the other one faces an uphill battle payoff what we're seeing. and we haven't gotten a white house reaction to senator manchin's comments expressing that concern which is not new. he's been saying that all along throughout this process. but the president has said he is completely confident that he can get senator manchin to yes, that he's going to rely on his personal relationships, in effect, house democrats told him we're putting our trust in you to do that. he says he can deliver it and the president when he was asked just a couple days ago, what gives him that confidence, that he can bring all 50 senators together on his human infrastructure plan, he simply replied, me. so that's where the president is. >> okay. >> stephanie ruhle, the labor department, i guess a short time ago gave us new insight on the number, the number of job openings we have in this country. and how many americans have just quit their jobs altogether. can you explain how all of this fits into the brder economic picture? >> well, i can try to. and you know, i know you're talking about a lot of negative things economically. we're so worried about these rising prices. but i like to look at what people are doing. not how they're feeling. and you know what they're doing, quitting? we saw over 4 million people quit their jobs throughout the month. we saw a lot of people quit their jobs in the education sector. that's not a surprise. they did not want to go back to in-person jobs in a school setting, because, of course, you have so many unvaccinated children. but we have at this point, 10.4 million open jobs in this country. now, think about the fact that when the biden administration is talking about the hard infrastructure plan, talking about creating jobs. here's one of the issues. we got 10 million open jobs right now, and people aren't going out and filling them. so while people are concerned about rising prices, they're comfortable quitting their jobs and we're looking at consumer spending. human demand. we're expecting to get really big retail sales numbers in the fourth quarter going into the holiday season. so yes, we don't like paying higher prices, but based on what people are doing, we seem to be comfortable with it. we're quitting our jobs and we're out there spending. >> steph, this may be a silly question, but these people who are quitting their jobs in droves, how can they afford to do that and what are they going to do for money? >> listen, we are going to see things change over time. remember, people did save over the pandemic. we have record household savings. we had almost nowhere to spend our disposable income over the last year and a half. we know there were the three stimulus checks and the expanded unemployment. people are getting that expanded child tax credit. that's not to say oh, people got government money so they're sitting home. people got some government money, so maybe they have a cushion. they're saying i'm going to leave this job that doesn't work for me or my family, possibly get into a training program and get a better, higher paying job that offers benefits. we're going to start to see that shift over the next couple months. this argument, oh, people have money, they're sitting home. there's not a lot of people sitting home. people went through the pandemic and they're saying how do i make my life stronger and better? >> monica alba, thank you. and a huge thanks to stephanie ruhle who bailed us out there at the top of the hour. >> i got one of those audits that tom costello was talking about, an energy audit. it is a great idea. >> okay. all right. >> just call your utility provider. >> have a good weekend, ladies. the defense is done in the rittenhouse murder trial. what are we going to hear in closing arguments? >> also every public school in seattle, every single one closed today because the school district didn't have enough teachers to show up. what's happening there and why other districts around this country could soon face the same problem. and with higher prices at the grocery store, families across the country are cutting back, even for thanksgiving dinner. i'm going to talk to the director of an arkansas food bank who is worried it means some families won't have turkey on the table at all. many asthma attacks i've had. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection-site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. ever notice how stiff clothes can feel rough on your skin? 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(swords clashing) -had enough? -no... arthritis. here. new aspercreme arthritis. full prescription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. this morning both sides are now preparing for closing arguments in the kyle rittenhouse trial. they're set to start monday. the defense rested its case on thursday, and it capped off eight days of at times dramatic testimony including from rittenhouse himself. soon it will be up to the jury to weigh the six charges he's facing including intentional homicide. now the prosecution is seeking approval for the jury to consider some of those lesser charges as well. rittenhouse is accused of shooting three people, killing two of them during protests in kenosha, wisconsin after the police shooting of jacob blake. meghan fitzgerald is in kenosha for us. take us through what we're expecting next week and how soon the jury could get this case. >> reporter: so, craig, we know that the jurors will be back monday. that's when they're going to hear the closing arguments. a judge indicated he's going to give the prosecution and the defense about two hours and 30 minutes to lee their final case. then the jurors here a jury instruction before starting deliberations. we suspect that will be sometime monday afternoon. keep in mind they were sent home yesterday evening, not back until monday after hearing from three witnesses called by the defense including drew hernandez, a guy here that night. he took video and posted it to social media. he testified that rittenhouse was there acting in self-defense and trying to help people, to render aid. he also testified that he witnessed several situations where rittenhouse was deescalating situations. so as you mentioned, the prosecution now seeking lesser charges. that's happening behind me in the courtroom where the defense and the prosecution are before the judge. we're paying attention closely to try to understand what they're going to be asking for, but this is likely because the prosecution is not as confident in their case and craig, they are looking for some sort of a conviction here. >> perhaps an off ramp to a certain extent, i guess. meghan fitzgerald for us. thank you. right now we are hearing more testimony from police officers in the trial for the man accused of killing ahmaud arbery. the officer patrolling the neighborhood where arbery was killed is in his third hour of testimony before the court informal earlier a defense attorney addressed a comment he made on thursday that sparked outrage. he just apologized for this comment that he made while objecting to the presence of national action network president, al sharpton. >> i didn't want anymore black pastors coming in here, or jesse jackson, whoever was in here earlier this week sitting with the victim's family trying to influence a jury in this case. >> msnbc's ron allen is there on the ground in georgia following this. an i also want to bring in paul butler, a professor at georgetown law school. former federal prosecutor and msnbc analyst. walk us through what we've heard in the trial this morning, and what did the defense attorney have to say about his comments on thursday? >> well, he was a bit contrite, but he hasn't backed down. i can also tell you that the activists who are out here supporting arbery's family said they are going to bring 100 black pastors here, 100 black pastors here on monday in response to what happened in the court. but here's what kevin gauff said this morning. >> i will let the court note that if my statements yesterday were overly broad,ly follow up with a more specific motion on monday, putting those concerns in the proper context. my apologies who anyone who inadvertently got offended. >> there's been a lot of outrage about the comment in southern georgia where there are so many racial overtones to this case. today the focus is still on the neighborhood where this happened where arbery was shot and killed. and the defense is trying to portray this as a very dangerous place where there were a lot of burglaries, where the defendants, the mcmichaels were on high alert and where they encountered arbery in the months before the fatal shooting. the prosecution emphasizing that he didn't commit a crime, that he was never seen robbing anything and that he was innocent, and that they had no reason to pursue him. the other reason this is interesting is because arbery's family's lawyers pushed back at the whole idea of demonizing him, of accusing him of being a criminal. and saying this is the kind of thing that often happens to black defendants in court or black victims in court. and that's why race plays into that as well. so the comment by attorney gauff hit on a lot of nerves and got a lot of people upset. as i said, there's talk now of 100 black pastors coming here monday morning. >> yeah. the comments did seem a bit tone deaf. ron allen, continuing to follow the trial. ron, thank you. paul, let's start there. what do you make of these comments? >> craig, i guess it's not enough that there's a virtually all white jury in a case in which three white men are accused of lynching a black man. now the defense doesn't want certain black people to even attend a public trial? this is the same defense team that complained that the jury pool didn't contain enough bubbas who they defined as white southern men who didn't go to college. it's clear the defense is playing every race card they can. >> paul, let's talk about some of the testimony we've heard so far. on thursday we saw the footage of arbery in a house under construction. in a testimony from the man who owned that home, he said various people had been seen on camera walking around the site several times. he said arbery never stole anything. how do you think this particular testimony affects the defense's case? >> well, i think it harms the defense case. they have to essentially put this black man who is the victim on trial to make it sound like he had it coming when they hunted him down and shot him. and they're saying that they suspected he was a burglar, that house that he is accused of burglarizing by these people never actually experienced any burglaries. outside there was a boat yard that had issues, but even though homeowner says that he thinks if mr. arbery was going in there, it was most likely because there was water. he was jogging. he needed some water. there was never a sign that anybody took anything from the actual house. >> so far from what you've seen play out inside that courtroom, how do you think it's going for the prosecution? >> well, i think the prosecution is doing a fine job. what they have to establish is that the law didn't actually authorize these three men to arrest mr. arbery. even georgia's very expansive citizens' arrest law which was based on slave catching law didn't allow an arrest where there was no good reason to suspect. and it certainly didn't allow people who started this fight, these three members, the aggressors to then use deadly force against mr. arbery. he's an innocent victim. he's not the criminal the crazed black man who the defense is trying to portray and hopefully the jury won't let the defense get away with this dealing the race card from the bottom of the deck. >> paul butler, we have to leave it there. paul, thank you. enjoy your weekend. covid restrictions, teacher shortages and not enough substitutes. all those issues together force the entire seattle public school district to shut down today. we're going to look at how thousands of families are scrambling to find last-minute child care, and why it could be a warning for other districts. next. at t-mobile for business, unconventional thinking means we see things differently, so you can focus on what matters most. whether it's ensuring food arrives as fresh as when it departs... keeping crews connected as they help build communities... or providing patients the care they need, even at home. we are the leader in 5g and a partner who delivers exceptional customer support and facebook advertising, on us. network. support. value. no trade-offs. unconventional thinking, it's better for business. ♪ ♪ 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. ♪ paul loves food. but his diabetes made food a mystery. everything felt like a "no". but then paul went from no to know. with freestyle libre 2, now he knows how food affects his glucose. and he knows when to make different choices. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free. visit freestylelibre.us ♪ say it's all right ♪ ♪ say it's all right, it's all right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ ♪ now listen to the beat ♪ ♪ kinda pat your feet ♪ ♪ it's all right ♪ ♪ have a good time 'cause it's all right ♪ i'm 77 years young, still going strong. ♪ oh, it's all right ♪ diabetes is not going to slow me down, thanks to my dexcom g6. this little wearable sends my glucose numbers right to my phone or receiver. and the arrow tells me which way i'm heading and how fast. so it's easier for me to keep my glucose in range. and the more time i spend in range, the more i can do. if you're on medicare, learn more at dexcom.com. today thousands of families in the northwest had to scramble to find last-minute child care after school was cancelled in seattle and bell view, washington. school officials there say hundreds of teachers all took today off. and they didn't have the staff to keep the doors open. according to the seattle times, they cited a perfect storm. a substitute shortage, covid restrictions, weather, veteran's day, and even teacher and student fatigue. nbc's jake ward is following this story. jake, what have you been hearing from teachers and how are parents dealing with the surprise four-day weekend? >> well, craig, this is definitely an example of how incredibly hard life has been for teachers over the past two years. right? you had not only a full year of having to deal with actual lockdown, but now all of these students coming back. all sorts of social and behavior issues. all that coming to a head, and as the seattle public school district mentioned, they are stretches extraordinarily thin. the soettle public school district basically saying that it could not keep the doors open considering how few teachers were planning to show up today. it seems that having yesterday, veteran's day off and having to come back to school was too much for the teachers. i mean, when we've spoken to teachers and principals up and down the west coast, they say over and over again that basically they think they are one or two substitutes away from not being able to cover the number of teachers you need to actually legally keep a school open. that's how stretched everybody has been. and when you think about it, you also have teachers -- it is part of this sort of multicar pileup that begins with child care. when child care goes away, suddenly people can't go to work. that's the case for thousands of families across seattle, kent, and bellvue today. we're looking at the possibility of rethinking what it is to qualify a substitute. the state superintendent of the washington state schools says that if anything he was surprised that more school districts didn't shut down on this particular day, considering that the emergency authorizations for substitutes, that is an emergency authorization that allows someone without a college degree to be in charge of the classroom is up 10% since last year when it was already a big, big problem. so all of this showing that the child care crisis here is very, very real. >> yeah. and you've got to wonder if this is the canary in the coal mine. if this isn't something we start to see all over the country. jake, thank you. right now there's new legal fallout in that deadly crush at the astro world festival in houston, texas. in just the last few moments, high profile attorney ben krump announced new lawsuits on behalf of more than 100 people involved in the deadly chaos last friday. nine people died after a crowd surged while travis scott does on stage. this is what the attorney had to say about this latest lawsuit just a few moments ago. >> families lost their high school children. their college children. people were injured greatly. and nobody should ever die from going to a concert. >> travis scott, drake also performed. event promoter all face legal action. change your strategy or lose. that's the warning that some democrats are sending to members of their own party after their abysmal showing among rural voters in virginia, especially. but will that message get through? first up, the price of everything on the thanksgiving table from turkey to cranberry sauce, the cost has gone up. what does it mean? i'll talk to an arkansas food bank director who says turkey may not be an option this year for many families. the new sensodyne repair and protect with deep repair has the science to show that the toothpaste goes deep inside the exposed dentin to help repair sensitive teeth. my patients are able to have that quality of life back. i recommend sensodyne repair and protect with deep repair. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ you are my sunshine ♪ ♪ my only sunshine... ♪ rybelsus® is a pill that lowers blood sugar in three ways. increases insulin when you need it... decreases sugar... and slows food. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to what's possible with rybelsus®. ♪ please don't take my sunshine away ♪ you may pay as little as $10 per prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. pnc bank believes that if a pair of goggles can help your backhand get better then your bank should help you budget even better. virtual wallet® with low cash mode℠ from pnc bank. one way we're making a difference. no, he's not in his room. ♪♪ ♪♪ dad, why didn't you answer your phone? 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[ sneezing ] needs, 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. now available for fast sinus relief. right now across this country families are struggling to pie their weekly groceries, let alone a thanksgiving feast. we're seeing headlines like this in communities all over america. food banks are having trouble helping those who need it most. they don't have food on their shelves, especially turkeys for thanksgiving. one food bank director in west central arkansas put it this way. quote, instead of turkey and dressing, it may be chicken and dressing this year. and that food bank director joins me now, the director of the river valley regional food bank. tracy, thanks so much for your time on a friday. in a normal year -- >> thank you for having me. >> how much food in a normal year would you have on hand at this point to help families for thanksgiving and how much do you have now? >> well, just to put it in perspective, usually like, last year we did anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 turkeys, and this year i have five in my freezer. >> five. >> five. count them on one hand, five. yes, sir. yes, sir. so we have a local station doing turkey drives for us and things but the cost of turkey is up 70% from last year. so those that did have a little bit to give, they're kind of tight. so yes, sir, that's exactly right. five. >> so what are you telling the people that you serve every day? >> well, we're substituting. we've been really fortunate with the tyson corporation to step forward so we can provide protein, and it's going to be like i quote, you know, my quote says, we're going to probably have chicken and dressing for a lot of families but they will have something on their table. the people in the river valley are really good to come out and help. it's been tight. >> help folks understand what -- maybe why this is happening there. is the need for help because the cost of food is going up? or is there something else at work here in. >> well, yeah. the cost of food is going up, because the cost of transportation is going up. you know, the cost of corn and soybeans went up. that's what you feed turkeys. everything has gone up. it's a supply and demand. you know, and the bottle neck of the -- when we go to order product, it takes us anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks, sometimes up to four months to get anything in here. and we rely on donations a lot. and we've been really grateful with the arkansas hunger relief alliance and feeding america to keep the doors open and keep it going. but it has been really tough. we've substituted with fish and protein -- you know, chicken, pork products. just to keep food on the table for these folks. a lot of our food we're giving out is shelf stable food. in river valley in 2019 we experienced a 100-year flood. we were just recuperating from the 100-year flood where we are mainly a manufacturing and service industry town. we hit that, and then the pandemic hit. a lot of -- a lot of the restaurants closed down. and it's a goods and services. so when all of the service industry was closed such as spaus and gyms and things like that, everybody started buying goods. that hasn't helped the supply and demand. >> tracy, when people hear stories like this from you and in their own community, if they're able, a lot of folks want to help. if people want to help out your organization, what can they do? >> well, thank you for asking. as part -- one of the six feeding america food banks in the state of arkansas, you can go to any website and donate. ours is rvr food bank koirg. we would love to have you donate. and volunteers, hit your local food banks. they need you right now. >> rvrfoodbank.org. >> thank you. have a blessed day. >> a big warning for democrats ahead of next year's med midterms. apparently it's getting worse getting crushed in rural areas. my next guest is a democrat who knows a thing or too about winning over rural voters. served as montana's governor. he's going to join me in a few moments to talk about how he wants to see the party change its pitch. unormal? fewer asthma attacks with nucala. a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala reduces eosinophils, a key cause of severe asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala. learning about our history with ancestrydna®, inspired us to learn more about our culture and where we come from. ...here? 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is my community safe? do i have clean air and water? can i believe that i can do better for my kids and grand kids myself? and unfortunately for half of america, and that's urban and rural, that hasn't been the case over the last decades. >> is that because many democratic candidates or maybe even the party's message at large is now one that's designed to appeal more to those urban and suburban voters at the expense of rural voters? >> well, and i think that's where we really have got to make sure that our message, the democratic party message is one that can work in urban and rural areas. i've gone to small towns where literally the closest child care center is 30 miles away. there's nine infants and toddlers for every one child care slot in rural america. child care and pre-k is important in urban areas. it's important in rural areas. we have a medicaid expansion pass. i went to every single rural hospital and folks recognize first down you lose that hospital, you're going to lose that town. you're going to lose the small businesses in them. so it's not -- look, we've got to make sure that our message is one if you look at both infrastructure bill and build back better, it has those constituent pieces that matter in rural america. as well as matter in urban america. and what we've got to make sure we're doing is look, we often don't even as democrats, we don't show up in those hard places. we don't even listen to say what are the challenges that you're facing? and we need to start doing that. >> you mentioned the build back better bill. and the infrastructure bill. the hard infrastructure bill the president is expected to sign on monday. there's $65 billion that is set aside for improving broad band nationwide. congressman jim clyburn spent a lot of time talking about how crucial that is going to be, especially for rural america. but you don't hear democrats -- maybe it's just me. i don't hear a lot of democrats out there selling that part of the plan to rural america. billions of dollars in broad band infrastructure. >> no, that -- craig, that's exactly right. and we need to be talking about that. right? in the 21st century economy, you have to have connectivity if you're going to be able to succeed. in some parts of this country, we don't have that. or when one of every five road miles is in disrepair, and you have to go a long way to get there, it's not only the jobs created but it's the opportunity. so i do think that is part of exactly the issue, it's great stuff in there. and there's important things for rural america as well as urban america. and we need to make sure that we're talking to both. let's talk about what actually unifies us. actually unifies. let's talk about housing. you know, there's one in four americans in rural areas pay over half of their income for rental housing. you need housing in rural areas just like you do in urban. homes are where jobs go to sleep at night. so we need to start actually -- and part of it is certainly messaging and part it have is also recognizing that, yeah, there's maybe a lot of counties that you don't win but that doesn't mean that you write off those areas or don't listen to those parties. that's what we've seen over the last decade when it comes to senate races. we've got to do better than doing that. >> former governor of montana, thanks for your insights. enjoy your weekend. >> billionaire robert smith has literally changed lives with his philanthropy. he paid off the entire college debt for every morehouse graduate in 2019. now he has more to help before they even get to college. our conversation about that next. college our conversation about that next only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ ♪ 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. ♪ before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... to unveil them to the world. claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? 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(vo) reflect on the past, celebrate the future. season's greetings from audi. the richest black man in america is once again using his vast fortune to help others. robert smith surprised the entire graduating class of morehouse in 2019 by announcing he's paying off their student loans. now he's lifting a new batch of students in a different way. i had a chance to talk to him about this new philanthropic mission. >> and my family is making grant to eliminate their student loans. >> you could see it in the graduates' faces as robert smith changed their lives with the surprise donation two years ago. there you were giving the commencement address at morehouse college and you decide to announce you're going to forgive the millions in student loan debt. what moved to you do that? >> i thought this would be a way to liberate their opportunity now to contribute to their society, to their communities without that burden. >> now smith, who made his fortune in private equity management has launched one stock, one future. smith donating nearly 15,000 shares of top tech stocks to students, teachers and staff at the eagle academies for young men across the new york area. the gift will be powered by goal setter, a financial literacy app. it's not just about the financial assistance, i gather, it's also about teaching these young people how to handle money. what was your thinking behind that? >> it's a wems creation journey for them. many of these students don't necessarily participate in financial literacy training as young people. it's about the learning journey of financial literacy and providing them an opportunity to firsthand start learning about wealth, wealth creation and utilizing the markets to do so. >> goal setter uses games and quizes to teach young people and adults how to save and invest their money. tanya vancourt is goal setter's founder and ceo. >> the crown cruel of what we do is all centered around financial education. we open up financial education quizes every single week, kindergarten, all the way through 1th grade and for parents, too, and they're mapped to financial literacy standards but they're rooted in memes and gifs in popular culture. >> they make mention education more fun and engaging for young people. marcus is a 15-year-old student at the eagle academy in brooklyn, one of the student set to benefit from smith's gift. >> i was very excited when that happened. it gives people an excuse now to go to stocks. there's somebody actually helping you do this. >> cotton, who want to be a marine biologist says this has given him a road map to his future. >> those things would be if i got $300, i would buy something for $10, i would put away probably 150 for future references and then the rest of the money put into investments like for stocks. it helps you save your money faster, quicker and easier. >> the overall stock of one stock, one future is to create 1 million black and latinex shareholders and investors. smith has encouraged other companies to donate stocks as well. among those who have stepped up, delta, lyft, twitter and comcast, which is nbc's parent company. are we crowd sourcing philanthropy here a bit? >> a bit. the executives in these companies, doesn't have to be just the ceo, all executives and latin american can all contribute a thousand shares. it's a wonderful feeling to know that you've empowered a youth to now participate in what will be the greatest wealth creation opportunities for them in the capital markets in america. >> robert smith, using his fortune for good. by the way, he also told me that he plans to give away that entire $ 6 billion to $7 billion fortune. that's going to do it for me. also this sunday be sure to check out "in the dark of the valley." it's a new documentary that explores the decades-long coverup of a nuclear accident in the los angeles area and the families who suffered because of it. watch "in the dark of the valley," this sunday, 10. eastern only on msnbc. "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington where term are trump chief of staff and former congressman mark medos is refusing to obey a congressional subpoena. the committee has said it will vote to refer him to the justice department department for possible criminal prosecution. this as former president trump has won a day from the d.c. court of appeals, tem peril blocking today's release of documents from the national archives related to his denial of the election results and his role before and after the insurrection. president biden will be meeting with his cabinet this afternoon on how to implement the infrastructure legislation he's signing into law on