for speaker should republicans take the house? we'll share new reporting that mccarthy and the former president spoke after the release of that first round of audio. one of the reporters behind that scoop is here. also this hour the latest on the war in ukraine. russia now squarely focusing on capturing the eastern as well as the southern portions of the country. the pentagon just announcing a meeting with allies next week to address ukraine's defensive needs. plus marjorie t under oath a case that could end her congressional career. recall about the attack. good afternoon. i'm garrett haake in washington in for hallie jackson. and here to start us off we've got nbc's ali vitali on capitol hill. nbc's senior national politics reporter john allen. political investigative reporter for the "washington post" josh dawsey. and congressional reporter for the "washington post" mariana sotomayor. before we get into the twists and turns of all the mccarthy audio, we just heard from president biden for the first time. i want to play what he just said. >> this ain't your father's republican party. not a joke. all you've got to do is look what's being played this morning about the tape that was release ed an way. but all kidding aside. this is the maga party now. >> the president anywaying himself out of what i suspect would have been even more interesting commentary there. mariana, you and your colleagues have new reporting now on how former president trump is responding to this audio recording of house republican leader mccarthy. let's listen to mccarthy first, then talk about trump's response. >> the only discussion i would have with him is that i think this will pass and it would be my recommendation you should resign. i mean that would be my take, but i don't think he would take it. but i don't know. >> so mariana, it's your reporting that mccarthy and president trump talked about that audio before it came out. what more can you tell us about that conversation? >> they actually spoke after that audio aired last night on msnbc. >> ah. >> yes. a little bit afterwards. and it really, to the surprise of many, many had assumed that trump would likely be upset with mccarthy, that mccarthy was actually going to go forth and tell him to resign because there were enough votes in the house to impeach him, which we did see come true in the end. but it was actually the opposite reaction is what two sources have told me and my colleague, jackie alemany. that trump was actually in a pretty good mood. he actually said that he loved to see that mccarthy ended up not telling him and in some ways was reveling in the fact that the republican party and mccarthy himself are under his good graces in some way, that mccarthy realized that telling him to resign was not the way to go, that it wasn't going to end up well for him, it wasn't going to end up well for the president and wasn't going to end up well with republicans voters. and that is something that we have seen for a while now, is just how this republican party has bent to trump. and it is actually still part of this story itself. house republicans are still waiting for a firm statement, a black-and-white statement from trump to see how to proceed. there's questions about should mccarthy be speaker. but right now many house republicans don't necessarily want to get into this mess. they know that they're on the brink of potentially regaining the majority and they don't want these kinds of headlines, these kinds ever intraparty fights to mess that up in a way. >> alli, we're out, nbc's out to mccarthy, to trump, to everybody involved in this trying to get to the bottom of it. so far no comment from mccarthy's world or trump's on these audiotapes. but we say tapes plural. since marianna's reporting overnight there has been another tape and a lot more word about where the leaks are or are not coming from. bring us up to speed there. >> yeah, garrett. more tapes and with the tapes denials about who leaked them. we're hearing because they're recordings from large groups of lawmakers and small groups of lawmakers who were on these calls with mccarthy, people making clear that they don't want to be seen as the ones who leaked them. including one of these new audiotapes from january 11th where mccarthy was speaking to the full house republican caucus. and here's what he said in that recording. check it out. >> let me be very clear to all of you, and i've been very clear to the president. he bears responsibilities for his words and actions. no if, ands or buts. i asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened? does he feel bad about what happened? he told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. >> and garrett, of course, that's a very different tune and tone than mccarthy struck publicly, especially in recent weeks and months. but he was also even sharper in his criticism of the former president in a smaller phone call one day earlier. the audio of that also came out today. part of that mccarthy said was him saying "i've had it with this guy," talking about the former president. and then those denials we were talking about. there were four people who were on the smaller call including that one where he said "i've had it with this guy." it was liz cheney, it was tom emmer, and it was steve scalise. we've reached back to all of them and we've heard back from scalise's folks, one of his people saying neither scalise nor anyone on his team recorded or leaked private conversations among members. and a similar denial from congresswoman liz cheney's office. one of her spokespeople saying "the select committee has asked kevin mccarthy to speak with us about these events but he has so far declined. representative cheney did not record or leak the tape and does not know how the reporters got it." nevertheless, they did. and i think that marianna, you, i, we've all talked about this. ultimately it might not matter if it doesn't actually matter to trump. >> well, and john allen, that is the big question now, is how much does this matter to donald trump? his support is crucial for kevin mccarthy's plans to hopefully in his mind be speaker after the midterms. we know he's got enemies within trump's orbit. what should we make of how all this is going to play in the maga universe? >> well, as you know, garrett, donald trump is not a shrinking violet. and yet it's been 18 hours since the rachel maddow interview yesterday with jonathan allen and alexander burns, the reporters who unearthed these tapes. and we have not heard from donald trump himself. he has not put out a statement. that in and of itself is pretty supportive of kevin mccarthy at a time when it's a very tenuous moment at best for mccarthy and his allies. i talked to tom cole, clongsman from oklahoma today. he's one of those close mccarthy allies. he exchanged e-mails with mccarthy this morning about what's going on, said hang in there. what cole said is he thinks this isn't going to be particularly consequential for mccarthy. basically, there are people who are doubters, there are skeptics, there are haters of kevin mccarthy both in the house and in donald trump's world, but the people who are supportive of mccarthy are unlikely to be changed by this. and one of the reasons is this doesn't really alter the narrative. we all know that kevin mccarthy felt that it was disgraceful what happened on january 6th. we know that he held donald trump responsible. and we know that he turned around under pressure and gene you why flekted at trump's knee at mar-a-lago shortly after that and did absolutely nothing about january 6th. from the perspective of trump world this doesn't really change anything except kevin mccarthy is now taking a lot of abuse rather than donald trump or anybody else. >> but josh dausee, mccarthy's also getting the cavalry coming to his defense a little bit. we saw congresswoman ashley hinson tweeting that kevin mccarthy will be our speaker. nancy mace was on fox business earlier today saying she still supports mccarthy. walk us through the politics here within the republican party. how this will be viewed and whether they think this is going to be a topic that we'll all still be talking about in another week or two. >> well, it really depends, garrett. president trump, as others have said, has the most command of any others in the house gop caucus and his reaction, what he wants to be a large say whether kevin mccarthy becomes speaker. i mean, the environment is very good for republicans right now heading into the november election. they're likely to take a lot of seats and back the house by all party. and then you have mccarthy, who has to put together a very challenging coalition. he has some members on the right like matt gaetz and marjorie taylor greene, paul gosar, others who have been very skeptical of him. he obviously is not going to get support from some of the more right-wing members. and then he has to put together enough votes to become speaker, and who trump says he wants in that job is likely to be -- is likely to be the person who gets the votes. it's as simple as that really. and i think the others were right. the former president has been golfing today. i do not think he's that upset about this. but he does have a pretty tenuous relationship with kevin mccarthy. mccarthy at times has annoyed him. he at times -- when he came out and tried to publicly censure him after january 6th happened there was some real frustration there. i don't think their relationship is as warm as some of kevin mccarthy's allies might tell you that it is. but right now there doesn't seem to be any overwhelming desire to crush mccarthy from the former president. i think he probably goes to fight another day. >> for all of us who cover these speakership race when's they develop the first rule is you can't beat somebody with nobody. so we'll see if there's another republican who tries to take advantage of this situation when it comes to mccarthy. marianna, i want to play for you something one of the reporters behind this upcoming book said about additional audio they've collected. take a listen. >> we have a lot more on tape from this period, which is at the highest levels of american politics. it is sensitive, it's delicate, and it's high stakes. and we have it all on tape. and it's going to i think tell a very different story about this period than the story that many people are trying to tell right now. >> a big tease from friend of the show jonathan martin there. but how baked in are the narratives now about what happened on and around january 6th? what do you think it would take to change opinions, particularly on the right, about that day and its aftermath? given what we've just seen play out. >> you're totally right. i've been hearing from republican members and aides as well that january 6th isn't really affecting their base in any way, especially when you're looking at the midterms and turnout. however, i have also heard that some members are wondering if a tape exists of mccarthy blatantly saying that congresswoman lauren boebert should have been kicked off of twitter. that is something those two reporters mentioned and have written in their book, that he actually was upset with her rhetoric following the insurrection and just made an offhand comment saying can twitter ban her, please? and something like that, mccarthy going after a member, even if it was a joke or in passing, that is something that i've been told could really jeopardize his speakership. it could really annoy members within his own conference. >> ali vitali, we're in like lightning round territory here. nbc was able to report late last week -- or late last night rather that donald trump jr. still scheduled to come testify before the january 6th committee soon. any update on when he'll come in or how close that puts the committee to the end of their interview to-do list? >> yeah, garrett, last night does kind of feel like last week. so i totally get it. >> thank you. >> at the same time we don't have yet any specific update in terms of donald trump jr. but i did think there were some striking comments overnight from congressman jamie raskin. he was talking about what the committee was working on saying that hearings now look like they're going to be in june. that presents a shifting timeline. we also know that they're up against the clock for the midterm elections. at the same time, though, something else raskin said caught my attention. he said this was not a coup directed at the president. it was a coup directed by the president against the vice president and against congress. and he promised in that interview that the findings that they have will blow the roof off of congress. not mincing words there. >> no. another big tease there. but we will see when those hearings start what the committee's got up their sleeves. guys, thank you all for joining us, getting us kicked off on this story that i suspect we'll be talking about for quite a while. up next we'll have the latest on the war in ukraine. what we know about a possible mass grave site near mariupol captured on satellite imagery. plus president biden set to speak live this hour on the climate crisis. we'll monitor his remarks out west. and later the first lawmaker to testify under oath about the january 6th insurrection. what marjorie taylor greene is sharing on the stand. exploring the heart of historic europe with viking, you'll get closer to iconic landmarks, to local life and legendary treasures as you sail onboard our patented, award-winning viking longships. you'll enjoy many extras, including wi-fi, cultural enrichment from ship to shore and engaging excursions. viking - voted number one river cruise line by condé nast readers. learn more at viking.com. this is the planning effect. nina's got a lot of ideas for the future... a lot of ideas. so when she wants a plan based on what matters most, she turns to fidelity. at fidelity, anyone can create a free plan. a plan that can change as your priorities do. and nina's free plan? 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>> yeah, that's right. so the pentagon announced yesterday, pentagon press secretary john kirby, that secretary austin was convening this large meeting of other defense ministers and some chiefs of defense of both nato allies and some non-nato allies in germany next week. and the goal is to talk about what ukraine needs right now and what the country is going to need going forward. so their future defense needs as well. there has been this really herculean effort on the part of both the united states and other countries to get as much assistance in to ukraine as possible. as someone that's been watching the military with these foreign military sales and providing equipment to other countries, they have moved at an unbelievably fast pace compared to what we usually see, how the u.s. provides weapons and things. for instance, in some cases as soon as an announcement is made of weapons systems that are going to ukraine, the united states is going to provide to the ukrainian military, things will start moving in 24 to 48 hours. so in the coming days we expect ukraine from the united states to get some additional artillery, specifically five more battalions of howitzers and nearly 150,000 rounds, artillery rounds. this is what this next battle in the donbas area is going to be -- largely look like, is a battle of artillery. the russians have a tremendous amount of artillery arrayed around that area already, both inside russia and inside the russian-occupied areas of ukraine. this is the united states effort to get the ukrainian military the ability to not just push back any russian onslaught but potentially keep them from taking any new territory inside ukraine. in addition to that, another thing that we spoke about today at this briefing with john kirby was this other new capability, these phoenix drones. phoenix ghost drones. these are a lot like the switchblades that we've been hearing about for the last several weeks. it's a loitering munition, which means it's a drone, an unmanned vehicle, that flies down over a target and slams down on it with some explosives on board and destroys the target down below. the u.s. is now going to send some more of a similar kind of drone to the ukrainians. getting to them with the goal of them being fielded in the flex several weeks. but press secretary john kirby, when i asked him a little bit more about what exactly they're hoping to accomplish from this meeting next week with these chiefs of defense and these defense ministers in germany, he said it's largely about somewhat ukraine needs now and going forward and how they're going to fund it. here's what he had to say. >> we certainly want to hear from ukraine and from other nations about what they're doing in terms of immediate defense assistance and how that might change as the fighting there changes. but i think he he also wants to take a longer, larger view of the defense relationships that ukraine will need tofr going forward. >> defensive systems also includes the radars the u.s. is providing to them. that is anti-artillery. it will hopefully give the ukrainians the ability to hone in on where the russian artillery systems are so that they can then strike them and stop them from strike at the ukrainians. garrett. >> we've talked so much about how bad the russian logistics have been. we probably haven't talked enough about how quickly the pentagon and our allies have moved on logistics it help ukrainians. courtney kube, thank you for that report. ambassador mcfaul, i want to get your reaction to this senior russian military official revealing, or at least discussing russia's intent not just to take donbas in the east but grab territory in the south, maybe all wait to moldova, a country we haven't really been talking about much yet in this country. >> well, they've been talking about this, you know, in various ways. the land bridge, it's called novarossiya. it's a territory that used to be part of the russian empire. the focus has been on that for a long time, and mariupol is the key piece there. putin as you know yesterday declared victory in mash yup ol. it didn't sound very confident. it was more like we got it, now we have to move on. this what this general said of course is an expansion, though. especially to odesa because if god forbid they could take odesa all wait to moldova, that then would block all the ports for ukraine, right? mariupol is a major port. odesa is a major port. they need those ports for their exports. and that would have radically negative implications for ukraine's economy moving forward. so that would be a major defeat if indeed they went there. i think it's premature to declare that they'll be able to do that successfully, though. >> is the war expanding into moldova proper a realistic possibility we should be considering now? >> let's not get ahead of our skis. i would say we all want to jump to this notion that it's going to come to another country. from putin's military objectives he already has transnistria there as you were talking about. it's a frozen conflict that's been there since the collapse of the soviet union. the idea he needs to occupy and take territory in moldova, i think if it's coming it's months away. and that's the other thing we really need to understand. this is the whole thing, right? ukraine has won the war already. the war. putin did not achieve his main objectives in the war. but now we're focused on the battle of donbas. and and the stakes are really, really high. if the ukrainians can fight to a standstill or push back the russians in the battle of donbas, then we'll never have to talk about moldova again. our allies will be reassured. but if putin wins the battle of donbas, then they have momentum. then we'll be beginning to talk about moldova and we'll be beginning to talk about maybe they're going to come up through kyiv again. and that's why it's great what we've done so far in terms of resupplying. but when you talk to ukrainians, they're like that's great, you announced it today, why didn't you announce that four weeks ago? and i think everybody needs to understand, we have national security interest in stopping putin in donbas and we should do everything we can to make that happen so that our allies and other countries like moldova will not be threatened in the future. >> i feel like i've got to say for the record, ambassador, i wasn't rooting for any kind of military action in moldova. but when you're talking about new phases in this war, i feel like it's important to put this stuff on the table. appreciate your expertise and your time. former ambassador michael mcfaul. thank you very much. >> yeah. sure. and next, what new executive action president biden is taking today to fight climate change while his bigger climate agenda stalls here in washington. plus what marjorie taylor greene is saying under oath about her actions leading up to the january 6th attack. stick around. ick around are you taking a statin drug to reduce cholesterol? it can also deplete your coq10 levels. i recommend considering qunol coq10 along with your statin medication. the brand i trust is qunol. this is remington. he's a member of the family, for sure. we always fed him kibble it just seemed like the thing to do. but he was getting picky, and we started noticing some allergy symptoms. we heard about the farmer's dog and it was a complete transformation. his allergies were going away and he just had amazing energy. it's a no-brainer that remi should have the best nutritious and delicious food possible. i'm investing in my dog's health and happiness. ♪♪ get started at longlivedogs.com re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. any minute now president biden is scheduled to speak for the second time today from washington state. he's headed to green river college in auburn, washington. and he's expected to call on congress to pass his plan to lower health care and energy costs. in just the last hour in seattle the president signed an executive order aimed at addressing climate change and its effects on america's forests. he even took a swipe at former president trump in his remarks beforehand. >> i think we're at one of those moments in world history and in american history where we've reached the point that the crisis on the environment has become so obvious with the notable exception of the former president that we really have an opportunity to do things we couldn't have done two, five, ten years ago. >> nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli is traveling with the president. so mike, what should we be listening for when the president takes the podium here coming up? >> well, garrett, it's an interesting pair of events we're seeing from president biden here today in seattle because if you look at the events the president started this week, first in portsmouth, new hampshire and then yesterday in portland, oregon, he was focusing on some of the results from the bipartisan infrastructure law, touting the results that democrats have been able to deliver on one of the major promises he delivered on. what are the pair of events today talking about? first, climate. and today and later today talking about lowering prescription drug prices. you know this very well, garrett. what does that sound like? the two pillars of many that were part of the build back better legislation. what democrats have not delivered on. this is the administration trying to potentially start laying the groundwork for what we know are the subject of very quiet deliberations and discussions behind the scenes to see what if anything democrats can try to move forward on in the next few weeks as congress heads into the remaining productive potential weeks of the session before we go off into the midterm campaign full-time. it was also interesting, garrett, to hear both in fund-raisers yesterday but also in his remarks earlier today the president being rather frank about the political problems that democrats face. yesterday saying that both the ongoing issues with covid as well as the inflation challenge primarily because of the situation in ukraine have as he put it stymied democrats' ability to move further with their agenda. and earlier also talking about the fact that yes, democrats do have two members in the senate who have held up some of the additional priorities but as he focused on republicans who he said are really as he put it a maga party at this point and even making a reference to yes, those kevin mccarthy tapes to show that the former president still has an iron grip on the republican party. the president trying to focus away from democratic divisions and spotlight those in the republican party. >> all right. mike memoli on what looks like a beautiful day in seattle. mike, thank you. and georgia republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene is in an atlanta courtroom today where she's fighting to hold on to her seat in congress. a group of voters there is challenging her re-election bid, claiming that she played a role in the january 6th attack on the capitol and they're citing georgia law along with the 14th amendment which says in part that no person shall be a senator or representative in congress who shall have gauged in insurrection or rebellion. well, earlier the lawyer for the plaintiffs in this case asked greene about a tv interview that she gave before the insurrection. >> what are you prepared for? >> well, you know, the words of many of my colleagues as we were just meeting together in our gop conference meeting this morning. this is our 1776 moment. >> you've never heard anybody say, use the term 1776 as a code word for violence to occur on january 6th, 2021? >> no. absolutely not. >> nbc's blayne alexander is covering this hearing for us. so blayne, bring us up to date on what we've heard from the congresswoman. she's the first member of congress to testify under oath about january 6th, but she's not saying a lot. >> reporter: yeah. in fact, there have been several themes as we kind of listened to this testimony throughout the morning and into the afternoon, garrett. we're stretching into hour four of her being on the stand. there have been several breaks throughout. but one thing we've kind of heard repeatedly is her saying he she either doesn't remember, she doesn't recall, or she's not sure when she's questioned about things. now, there have been a lot of focus on her social media accounts, specifically her twitter and her facebook pages, either about things that have been posted on those accounts or things that she's liked from those accounts. specifically asking about posts that she made around questioning the results of the 2020 election or posts that she made speaking about house speaker nancy pelosi, calling her a traitor. a lot of those resulted in her saying she doesn't recall, she doesn't recall making them, saying there were people on her staff who posted those things and she's not necessarily sure it was she or it's something that she authorized ahead of time. so here's a little bit of an exchange that kind of amounts to that. here's what she had to say when she was questioned about speaker pelosi. take a look. >> did you like a post that said it's quicker -- that a bullet to the head would be a quicker way to remove nancy pelosi from the role of speaker? >> i have had many people manage my social media account over the years. i have no idea who liked that. >> okay. are you testifying under oath it wasn't you? i just want to be clear on that. >> i am testifying i have no idea who liked that comment. >> fair enough. it could have been you. right? >> she's answered the question. >> i'm telling you i do not know. >> reporter: so garrett, we've seen a lot of exchanges similar to that one. another thing that's come under a lot of scrutiny is a news maxx appearance where she has said this is our 1776 moment. now, of course all of this certainly has big implications here in georgia but around the country because it could possibly set a precedent for what could happen with potential other challenges with other members of congress. you know, we've seen president trump issue a rather lengthy statement in her support. representative matt gaetz was here inside the hearing earlier. it's getting a lot of attention. now, as for what happens from here, the judge is going to make a recommendation. that goes to the secretary of state here in georgia. ultimately he will be the one to decide whether or not she stays on the ballot. garrett? >> a fascinating case. blayne alexander watching it for us down in georgia. blayne, thank you. and we've got breaking news now from florida, where governor ron desantis has just signed into law that bill stripping disney of its self-governing district. this following clashes over the company's criticism of the so-called "don't say gay" law. nbc's maura barrett is in tallahassee, florida. she's been covering this for us. this doesn't take effect immediately. what do we know about what it's going to mean for central florida? >> right, garrett. this law does not take effect until june of 2023. so we've got about 13 months to figure out what's going to happen in the in between. we reached out to disney for comment but have not gotten any clarity or comment from them on what they plan to do next. it might be safe to assume that legal challenges will ensue because there is some confusion in the florida constitution about who actually has the right to dissolve one of these self-governing special districts such as reedy creek that disney sits in. so in this next year we could see disney push back against the state house here or work to compromise with lawmakers, which is what the republicans are hoping to do to make them something more like a universal or other theme parks, excuse me, that would have to ask for permission to expand their infrastructure or build new rides. that kind of thing. and in the meantime what people are really concerned about is where the tax dollars are going to affect the surrounding counties. right? disney has a billion dollars in debt that can now trickle into orange and osceola counties, spiking taxpayers' costs there. i also want to note at the same tnt where he signed the disney bill into law he also signed what he calls the stop woke bill which means stop wrongs against kids and our employees, which is an extension of his fight against mandatory civil rights training and diversity inclusion in certain education factors. he also signed or announced that he signed that congressional map earlier this morning. again, this all -- everything going on in this special legislative session this week. a very, very busy time in florida but overshadowing this redistricting effort that we've seen that democratic lawmakers are really concerned about throwing off the balance and blocking representation of black lawmakers and black population here in florida. and so that has already actually seen a lawsuit filed since he signed it this morning because groups that filed the lawsuit say that it violates a florida constitutional amendment. for all of these bills we just saw signed, safe to assume in the next couple of months leading up to the primary, leading up to the midterms that they'll face a lot of legal challenges. garrett. >> never a dull moment in florida politics. nbc's maura barrett, thank you for your reporting. >> absolutely not. >> and up next, a closer look at environmental injustice. in alabama's black belt. why people there say their kids and their grandkids cannot play in their own back yards. >> you've got waste running in people's yards, neighbors' yard. it backs up into these neighbors' homes. it backs up in a bathroom, on the floors. what happens when performance... meets power? 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>> well, this story really is shocking. what we saw in lowndes county, alabama was really an entire neighborhood that was engulfed in waste because they have sewage systems that are failing or none at all. the dark green waters across from jerry dean smith's home hold a foul-smelling mix of human waste. >> it smells. it smells so bad. >> reporter: in hainesville, alabama and many towns across lowndes county residents pay for sewage to flow into these lagoons. but here many homes have failing sewage systems or none at all. >> you've got waste running in people yards, neighbors' yard. it backs up into the majority of these neighbors' homes. it backs up in a bathroom, on their floors. >> reporter: smith and her neighbors say it's a health risk. in fact, one study found one out of every three adults here tested positive for hookworms, an intestinal parasite long thought to be eradicated. >> it's not necessary for this to be going on in 2022. it just shouldn't be. this is the wealthiest country. our sewer system should be a right. >> reporter: she and others believe this is racism, blaming the state and local government for not installing a centralized sewage system. in lowndes county, which is majority black, the poverty rate is nearly double the national average. at least 40% of homes have inadequate or no sewage systems at all. catherine coleman flowers, who grew up here, is an environmental activist. >> you call this america's dirty secret. why? >> because it largely exists in rural communities and poor communities and most people when they find out about it they're shocked. they don't believe that it's a reality in this country. >> reporter: last november the department of justice opened a civil rights investigation aimed at assessing whether the alabama and lowndes county health departments are discriminating against black residents. earlier this month the doj held its first public meetings here. fed-up residents sounded off. >> i hope that y'all are coming to work it for real and not play us as stupid or crazy. >> discrimination, direct or indirect. the end result is we need a waste management system. >> reporter: a state health official disagrees and says doj won't find any wrongdoing. >> they'll come out with the same conclusion. i've done my own investigation. i see no discrimination. if you flush your toilet, you're responsible. your home is your property. it's private property. >> reporter: she even suggested residents use outhouses. >> we've got an outhouse on the outside and you've got sewage on the ground. environmentally the outhouse is better. >> reporter: she has personally started a non-profit pilot program to put septic tanks outside some homes. but she says that organization doesn't have resources to help everyone. in the meantime, residents like 78-year-old catherine canyon are just trying to survive in squalid conditions. >> if it rain and take a shower, or flush my stool the waste coming back up. sometime in my kitchen sink. so i don't do dishes. i use paper plates. it got me disgusted. >> reporter: the sewage pooling below the trailer is rotting the floors. she said she broke her arm falling through the floor but can't fix it or move. how do you feel living in this state? >> trapped. trapped. nowhere to go. but we just have to pray and have faith. and hope tomorrow get better. >> this is the first environmentals. tis investigation the justice department conducted under title vi. they can't engage in discrimination. add to that the biden administration requested$1.4 million from congress to investigate whether american civil rights are violated in cases like this. activists and residents of alabama say they're concerned that officials can put liens on the homes without proper sewage systems even if they can't afford them. >> disturbing stuff. you said this is the first investigation. >> if the department of justice has the say you see more environmental justice invests. the assistance attorney general put out a statement she wants to have an office that will really focus on environmental justice. i talked to a number of people who looked at alabama saying this is stepping back 100 years and this discrimination they think it is discrimination is institutional systemic discrimination tied to infrastructure and quality of life. i think of katherine canyon who literally fell through the floor. when i walked into the home the floor sank. the situation is that bad. so there are so many people in that county and places around the nation saying sewage systems should be a right. environmental justice is just like voting rights and something to fight for and should be guaranteed. a basic human right they say. >> it is important reporting. thank you for sharing it with us. >> thank you so much. tomorrow former president trump is set to hold a rally for vance. former president's endorsement of the author shakes up what's been a packed and kay noting ohio republican senate primary. covering us for us is nbc's vaughn hillyard. the primary is a week from tuesday. what are you watching for this weekend? >> reporter: i think this primary will tell us about donald trump's influence over voters and the political capital putting from him into these races. not only this race but also the dr. oz race in pennsylvania. the missouri and arizona republican primary and if the candidates don't come out on top it puts questions as to just how influential he is over the republican base today and why tomorrow i think telling to see what he says alongside vance. this is a competitive republican primary on may 3rd. there's josh mandell across ohio church to church. the former gop party chair, a popular figure in activist politics and mike gibbons, a businessman. he said he was disappointed he didn't get the endorsement. trump went with jd vance that considered himself a nevada trumper calling him an idiot and speaks to the willingness of donald trump to fri and welcome people in the party that acquiesce to the power. tomorrow here in ohio him next to vance because as long as the republican figures acquiesce to his power in this party donald trump has always shown that you are well aware an openness to welcoming them into his republican party. >> love the linkage of the fist story and the time story of the broadcast. what are we seeing on the air waves there? are the other trumpist candidates trying to reach for the maga mantle since vance claimed the endorsement. >> reporter: they are. in fact, mike gibbons the businessman with $10 million of his money into this race thinks that voters are open. who that person is here and you see josh mandell continuing to run closely with donald trump. but it was in that conversation with mike gibbons seeming to open up a little bit of a crack into the idea that donald trump as he told me doesn't always make quote the right decisions and a head nod to the fact that donald trump surrounded himself in the past with individuals that didn't serve him well and suggesting in the case of vance he is not a true conservative and draft oz with a mistake on that front. essentially you don't hear republicans often suggest that donald trump is always making the right call but the races that donald trump is sticking the nose into is republicans from the states going to openly step aside from trump and say that maybe whatever donald trump says is not what the republican party will ultimately do. >> i can't tell you how many times i heard. it is not that donald trump made a bad choice but got bad advice. vaughn hillyard in ohio, thank you. thank you for watching this hour of msnbc. 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