all right, that is going to do it for us for now, but i will see you again tomorrow. today, cdc is updating our guidance for fully vaccinated people. anyone who is fully vaccinated can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing. >> but remember, all this good stuff is only for vaccinated people. the cdc's making a huge distinction between americans who did or did not get the shot. they put out this actual candy chart. on the unvaccinated people with yellow and red shades of risks, but on the right vaccinated people are all green for the go. we can do everything. everything maskless from visit a

hair salon to visiting a movie theater and even participate in an indoor high intensity exercise class which is amazing because i've never been able to do that before. >> the u.s. makes a huge leap toward normalcy. a sigh of relief as the cdc updates its mask guidance for those who have been vaccinated. the question is, how are starts responding? plus the president of the nation's second largest teachers union will be our guest after calling for students to return to the classroom full-time this fall. our question for randi weingarten this morning, are local chapters on board? the fighting intensifies in the middle east as israeli troops prepare for a possible ground invasion of gaza. the question, are we about to see another deadly escalation of violence? it's way too early for this.

good morning. welcome to "way too early." the show that right along with you, has been waiting a very long time for this lead story. i am kasie hunt on this friday, may 14th. we'll start with the news. after more than a year of telling americans to cover their faces to protect against coronavirus, the cdc is rolling back mask wearing guidance. federal health officials announced that americans who are fully vaccinated can stop wearing masks in most settings, outdoors and indoors. >> if you are fully vaccinated, you can start doing the things that you had stopped doing because of the pandemic. we have all longed for this moment when we can get back to some sense of normalcy. >> shortly after that new guidance came out, president biden hailed the cdc's recommendations in a speech from the rose garden calling it a great day for america.

>> i think it's a great milestone, a great day. it's been made possible by the extraordinary success we've had in vaccinating so many americans so quickly. to date, we've given out 250 million shots in 114 days. if you've been fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask. let me repeat, if you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask. but if you've not been vaccinated or are getting a two-shot vaccine and you only had your first shot but not your second, or you haven't waited the full two weeks after your second shot, you still need to wear a mask. the rule is very simple, get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do.

>> there you go. get naited. coming up on "morning joe," dr. anthony fauci will joins the conversation on the heel of the new guidance from the cdc. let's go now to the fallout over congressman andrew clyde's remarks that january 6th attack was like a, quote, normal tourist visit. reporters including our leigh ann caldwell, caught up with the congressman after an event honoring fallen police officers yesterday to try to give him a chance to explain. here is his original remark from wednesday's house oversight committee meeting followed by our attempt to get an explanation. >> as one of the members who stayed in the capitol and on the house floor, who, with other republican colleagues helped barricade the door until almost 3:00 p.m. that day from the mob who tried to enter, i can tell you, the house floor was never breached and it was not an insurrection. this is the truth, there was an undisciplined mob, there were some rioters and some who committed acts of vandalism, but let me be clear, there was no

insurrection and to call it an insurrection in my opinion is a bold-face lie. watching the tv footage of those who entered the capitol and walked through statuary hall, showed people taking pictures. if you didn't know the footage was a video from january 6th you would think it was a normal tourist visit. >> do you stand by those statements or regret saying that? five people died, including police officers and you're here today honoring police officers. >> if you're honest in your statement -- >> what's wrong about it? >> think about what you said. you didn't take what i said in context at all. >> can you explain to us? explain to us. >> you don't listen to what i said. okay. >> we did. >> do you believe that january 6th was an insurrection? >> is we showed you the

comments. i was there. try to tell you not to believe your own eyes. officer michael faknown, one of the d.c. police officers attacked by the rioters had this to say about congressman clyde and other lawmakers who continue to downplay the events of that day. >> i'm not interested in getting into like political squabbles, i'm not a politician, i'm not an elected official. i don't expect to give two [ bleep ] about my opinions, but i will say this, you know, those are lies. and peddling that [ bleep ] is an assault on every officer that fought to defend the capitol. it's disgraceful. >> there you go. all right. let's go now to the attempts to figure out how to govern. republican senators emerged optimistic from their two-hour meeting yesterday with president

biden about his infrastructure deal. senator shelley moore capito, a key player jumpstarting bipartisan talks, had this to say. >> he was very open to suggestions, as were we, and i think it's the beginning of -- it's a good jumpstart i think. we've gotten a little bit along the way and we promised to come back with another offer that he will react to and counteroffer. >> speaking to reporters at the capitol afterward senator roy blunt called the meeting, quote, positive. he added in part, quote, we all know we need to move pretty quickly here. senator pat toomey released a statement referring to the talks as, quote, productive, noting the tough work on agreeing to a total price tag and how to pay for such a package remains. here was president biden's reaction. >> i am very optimistic that we can reach a reasonable agreement. i laid out what i thought with we should be doing, how it should be paid for, and my

colleagues in the senate came back and said they'll come back to me with a counteroffer of what they are prepared to do and fund and how to fund it and then we'll talk again next week. >> all right. joining us now co-founder of punch bowl news, john bresnahan. always great to see you. i want to talk about the infrastructure talks in a second, but let's return to mr. clyde, congressman clyde, who, you know, i think it's important to give everyone a little bit of context on who he is because he's trying to explain how the capitol works. he had been in office all of three days on january 6th, and now he is making these remarks about what supposedly this looked like. you were at the capitol on that day. let's just underscore for everyone what actually happened. >> listen, i was in statuary hall and andrew clyde was not there, okay. he was in the house chamber. i was outside the house chamber.

that was not tourists. tourists don't, you know, hundreds of them don't try to knock down the door to the house chamber to get at house members. assault police officers, you know, search -- breach the senate. i mean i was there i was outside. i was in that crowd. anybody who says it was tourists, it's ludicrous and it's a lie and not true at all. with all due respect to the congressman, he doesn't know what he was talking about or he does and he doesn't want to acknowledge the truth of what happened that day. it was an insurrection. there were hundreds of people in the capitol looking to hurt members of congress. they were trump supporters, they were trying to block the certification of joe biden's election victory. that is the truth of what happened. >> yeah. let's underscore, you know, we see these pictures there obviously dramatic and hard to look at, seen the videos of police officers screaming, but remember, what they were trying to do is interfere with the

actual certification of our election to installs used to be just a formality but trying to prevent that formality from occurring, which is the very definition of insurrection. okay. so this, of course, the backdrop of this, is an interesting one, as president biden tries to actually demonstrate to the country that a government that is dealing with these kinds of things is actually capable of serving its citizens. the vaccine rollout has gone probably better than they could have expected. that's what allowed the cdc mask guidelines to be changed. but there's still so much work to do. people still struggling. the jobs report raised a lot of eyebrows and concerned a lot of people. now they're trying to spend an auchl lot of money as there are concerns about inflation, what's your sense of where these talks stand, whether they are going to get something like this? are democrats getting more nervous about the price tag? what's the state of play? >> you know, we are -- we're

looking at that and we're going to have stuff on our morning edition about that. i talked to senators that you showed before in your video, i talked to another senator who was in the room, they think biden is serious. they think he's serious about doing a deal. they don't think the democrats can pass an infrastructure deal on their own. they don't think joe manchin will vote for it and possibly kyrsten sinema and don't think the democrats can do it without them and that gives them leverage. they really believe biden wants a bipartisan deal. they will go back, they're going to do a counter offer. what we want to see is, if they come back with a serious counteroffer that doesn't involve raising taxes what does biden do? if he says i can get 40 ren votes and pass this through the senate and it's an $800 billion infrastructure deal, maybe it's not what i wanted or the progressives wanted, but it's a good deal, it's a bipartisan

deal. they could put biden in an awkward position here. they could. they could, with his own left. but, you know, that could work for the president also. they could take maybe an infrastructure deal and then go work on the american family plan, social welfare programs. there's a lot of -- it's a really interesting moment right here. >> yeah. no for sure. bunch bowl news john bresnahan, thank you very much. we appreciate your wit and wisdom early on in the morning. still ahead here, another member of the new york yankees tests positive for coronavirus despite being vaccinated. plus will we see scores full -- schools fully reopened this fall? we'll have those stories and much more when we come right back. ight back sales are down from last quarter but we are hoping things will pick up by q3. yeah...uh... doug? sorry about that. umm... what...its...um... you alright?

[sigh] [ding] never settle with power e*trade. it has powerful, easy-to-use tools to help you find opportunities, 24/7 support when you need answers plus some of the lowest options and futures contract prices around. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. some days, you just don't have it. not my uncle, though. he's taking trulicity for his type 2 diabetes and now, he's really on his game. once-weekly trulicity lowers your a1c by helping your body release the insulin it's already making. most people reached an a1c under 7%. plus, trulicity can lower your risk of cardiovascular events. it can also help you lose up to 10 pounds. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. it's not approved for use in children. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck,

severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration, and may worsen kidney problems. show your world what's truly inside. ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. ♪ the calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. laundry isn't done until it's done with downy. wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start. but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. so why not hook community centers up with wifi?

for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. over the next 10 years, comcast is committing $1 billion to reach 50 million low-income americans with the tools and resources they need to be ready for anything. i hope you're ready. 'cause we are. . all right. welcome back. time for sports. the u.s. olympic and paralympic committees is urging congress

against a potential boycott of next year's winter games in beijing as a way to address alleged human rights abuses by the cost country. the organization's ceo sent a two paige letter to lawmakers arguing a boycott won't solve any geopolitical issues with china and only serve to place athletes training for the games under a cloud of uncertainty. it comes with activists and members of congress pushing for a boycott or to relocate the games. last month the biden's state department suggested a boycott was possible but a senior official has clarified the option has not been discussed. a taste of what we might see from michael andrew in the tokyo games this summer if he succeeds at the olympic trials next month. andrew made one of the most impressive swims of his career at a meet in indianapolis yesterday turning in the second fastest time for a 100-meter breaststroke in american history and he's now ranked number one in the nation and ranked second in the 50 meter freestyle and

medley. turning to major league baseball and another concerning breakthrough case inside the yankees clubhouse. gleybar torres is the eighth member of the organization to test positive for the coronavirus joining three coaches and four other staff members. torres who was scratched from wednesday's night lineup is reportedly asymptomatic. he tested positive back in december and like all of the other seven yankees infected he's been fully vaccinated. really like an explanation for this. turn to the action on the field in milwaukee where starter corbin burns didn't get much help from the lineup in yesterday's 2-0 loss, still managed to set a league record to start a season. burns retired nine batters extending his streak to 58 strouz before allowing his first base on balls in the top of the fifth i think. to houston the astros might be proponents after last night's finish. we'll pick it up in the bottom

of the 11th, two outs and a houston runner on third base. take a look. >> bounces away, here comes straw, going to score. the game winner. miles straw flying down the line on a pitch in the dirt and the astros walk it off with straw's speed to score the run and win it 4-3. >> all right. i can see why they would be fans. miles straw, one of the fastest players in baseball, races home on that wild pitch to give houston a 4-3 walk-off against the rangers. all right. still ahead here, the latest on the cyber attack against a u.s. pipeline that netted a group of hackers a huge ransom. plus the fighting between israel and the palestinians intensifies. we're going to go to tel aviv for the latest. we're back in just a moment. n j.

my retirement plan with voya keeps me moving forward. they guide me with achievable steps that give me confidence. this is my granddaughter...she's cute like her grandpa. voya doesn't just help me get to retirement... ...they're with me all the way through it. voya. be confident to and through retirement. did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn before it begins? prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. take the prilosec otc two-week challenge. and see the difference for yourself. prilosec otc, 1 pill a day,

24 hours, zero heartburn. i've lost count of how 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.

i'm mayim bialik, and i love brains—it's why i became a neuroscientist. i also have a brain. and i love the brain supplement neuriva plus for both of those reasons. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance, to keep your brain on its toes--figuratively speaking. in fact, it's their most complete formula ever, with clinically-tested ingredients that are neuroscientist-approved. so support that big, beautiful brain of yours with the brain supplement that thinks bigger. neuriva. think bigger. [ humming ] alexa? play "ooh la la." [ "ooh la la" by cherie playing ] the moxie showerhead speaker. only from kohler. . welcome back. thousands of israeli troops are

gathered at the gaza border today preparing for a possible ground invasion of hamas ruled territory. the violence reached a new level this morning with israel carrying out its most intense attacks yet in response to palestinian militants firing hundreds of rockets into israel since wednesday night. israeli tanks and artillery fired at gaza on the ground while airstrikes and rocket attack continued from above. in a statement yesterday a hamas spokesperson said bombing israel was, quote, easier for us than drinking water. prime minister benjamin netanyahu addressed the violence saying israel will act with full force against its enemies. at least 119 palestinians and 7 israelis have been killed in this latest conflict and the victims include children. israeli troops have not entered gaza with force since a two-month war back in 2014. let's bring in long-time legendary foreign correspondent martin fletcher who is reporting for nbc news in tel aviv. martin, i'm thrilled to have you

here on "way too early" to bring your wisdom to bear. the circumstances extraordinarily unfortunate. can you bring us up to speed on where this stands and what kind of escalation we might expect in the next 24 hours? >> yeah. good morning, kasie. it's been a really, really rough night in gaza and in israel. the palestinians have fired about close to 200 rockets into israel at the same time israel is being bombarding the palestinians in gaza, especially looking for military targets from hamas, factories that are manufacturing the long-range rockets they're using to fire at tel aviv and the new element is that israel has chosen a new list of targets. there's a so-called underground city, if you like, underneath gaza, it's a very sophisticated complex network of tunnels that hamas has dug to use as its communication network to store weapons, to help its fighters move around quickly underground and safely, at the same time

israel is pounding that network, israel has also been building up its forces on the edge of gaza. they've called up 9,000 reserve troops. there's two infantry battalions and one mechanized battalion at the gates of gaza, along the fence of gaza waiting for the order to go in for a ground invasion. nobody thinks at this moment that it is actually likely to happen any time soon. it's more of a preparation for the next stage, if a next stage is necessary. as you mentioned, kasie, those fighting words from both sides don't look well for the immediate future. >> they do not. martin fletcher, thank very much for being there for us. we really appreciate your reporting as always, and perhaps we will see you later on next week. let's go now one more story on the international front, colonial pipeline paid nearly $5 million in ransom to the hackers that caused it to shut down operations this week. an nbc source has confirmed a

bloomberg report that the company paid using cryptocurrency. bloomberg reports the payment was made last friday hours after the attack began. nbc has not confirmed the timing of the ransom payment. the fbi usually discourages businesses from paying ransom, but doesn't forbid it. the managing director of the cyber readiness institute said such a payment could lead to more attacks. quote, it sets a dangerous precedent to have a critical infrastructure owner and operator pay a seven figure ransom. the fact fuels the most profitable and reckless business in the world. president biden was asked yesterday if he was briefed about the ransom payment, but offered no comment and colonial pipeline also declined to comment. all right. still ahead here, we're going to take a look at how states across the country are reacting to the new mask wearing guidance from the cdc. before we go to break, we want to know why you're awake. e-mail your reasons or drop me at a tweet @kasie and we'll read

our favorite answers coming up later in the show. later in the show. ess with the icon that does the same. the rx, crafted by lexus. get 0.9% apr financing on the 2021 rx 350. experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. (burke) phone it in to 1-800-farmers and you could get all sorts of home policy perks like the claim-free discount. the 2021 rx 350. go three years without a claim and get a discount. (neighbor) just by phoning it in? (burke) just phone it in. (painter 1) yeah, just phone it in and save money for being claim-free. (neighbor) even if i switch to farmers today?! (painter 2) yep, three years claim-free with any home insurance. (painter 3) i'm phoning it in and saving money for literally doing nothing. (burke) get your policy perks by calling 1-800-farmers. go ahead, phone it in. (grandpa) phone it in, why don't ya?! ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

[ humming ] alexa? play "ooh la la." [ "ooh la la" by cherie playing ] the moxie showerhead speaker. only from kohler. wondering what actually goes into your multivitamin? at new chapter, its' innovation, organic ingredients, and fermentation. fermentation? yes. formulated to help you body really truly absorb the natural goodness. new chapter. wellness, well done.

♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it is 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm kasie hunt. on the heels of the cdc's announcement rolling back mask wearing recommendations, some states reacted immediately. at least eight governors have already adjusted their guidance, but even with this new recommendation, governors in new york, new jersey, north

carolina, and virginia, all democrats, said they would take it under advisement before adopting. something many retailers plan to do as well. several workers unions voiced concerns that workers could be put in a difficult position, especially in states that still have mask mandates. on the same day that president announced the new cdc guidance on masks for those who are vaccinated an nbc news tally confirms the u.s. recorded more than 33 million cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. the virus has killed more than 588,000 people in the united states alone. it's been 22 days since the previous million case threshold was crossed as the average daily new case rates continue to fall, down to less than 40,000 per day. joining us now physician and fellow at the brookings institution, dr. patel, a former obama white house health policy director and an msnbc medical contributor. dr. pa tell, it's always great

to have you. thank you so much for being up and early with us. this is such a relief for so many people who have waited so long for this, but there are also some questions about how this is actually going to work in practice. mask use has already become something of a cultural signifier around where you live and the norms that exist in your community, so i guess my question is, do we just use the honor system to prove that we are vaccinated? does there need to be some other secure way to do something like this? >> yeah, kasie, good morning. i think that any time i hear, you know, well, you're on the honor system or you have to self-regulate, i worry a little bit -- well, i worry a lot because i do feel like there is going to be -- it's going to put all of us, including people like myself who want to believe that if people come forward and say i'm not masked so i should be, you know, assumed that i'm vaccinated, kasie, that's simply not practical and it's also not fair by the way to people who are still unvaccinated because

of age and also vulnerable because of whether it's just immunocompromised or even if you're elderly and fully vaccinated we know that your immune response is not as robust as someone who is younger, for example, so i think this brings up a whole host of issues especially for as you mentioned workplaces and different environments. it will probably be the most interesting to watch these states that have said immediately today nobody needs to wear masks. i suspect you're still going to see a lot of people wearing masks. it's going to be incredibly uneven. i'm not so sure that this is enough motivation to get those who are hesitant to rush to get vaccinated. it could have the opposite effect where people are like, look, everything is back to normal, i don't need to get vaccinated and that's not the truth. >> right. i think the president, we played a bite of him a little bit earlier basically said you wear a mask or get the vaccine, but that message is a little bit more complicated. doctor, one question i have,

too, you know, as a parent of a very young child who right now is still too young to wear a mask, but when he is old enough at the end of the summer would be expected to wear one in say a preschool setting or something like that, if all the parents start taking the masks off, how are we setting examples for those little kids and what should parents who are nervous about, you know, vaccinated parents who are nervous about what may happen to their kids how should they handle the masking question? >> yeah. i'm in the same boat, kasie, so i am not changing what i'm doing, quite frankly. the most practical advice to a parent who has children who are unvaccinated or not eligible any time soon, you're going to consistently keep the same behaviors for the reasons you mentioned. number one, you're trying to set an example for your children and so you do want to kind of mimic what they're doing or encouraging them to do. number two, we simply do not have enough data to kind of take our masks off as parents, take

our children indoors, even if they have a mask on, kasie, i know that kids have a hard time wearing them completely, especially the younger ones, so i feel like if you're a parent of a child who is not vaccinated for whatever reason, you shoulded consistently keep those behaviors to kind of err on the side of being outdoors with children or indoors with masks and i know that distancing has been removed but you can still encourage your children to keep as much possible distance and teach them the same hygiene we've been teaching them. could that change if our vaccination rates increase and we decrease the levels of viral activities in our communities? absolutely. we still have spots in the country, and this is the take home point, you need to look at the viral activity in your community as well. if cases are down to less than 10 or less than 5 per 100,000, which we're seeing in some spots, san francisco, et cetera, that might be enough of a reason even safely for people of all ages to be in settings without masks, but kasie, most of the

country is simply not there yet. i would have liked the cdc add some level of vaccination rate threshold and some level of case activity to communities and then you could have this level of comfort, but until then, mask up and get vaccinated. if you're with adults then you're vaccinated, feel free to take that mask off. that's something we've all been saying for a long time. for sure. all right. dr. patel, thank you very much for your expertise and guidance for myself and all those out there who have these questions about small children. still ahead here, we're going to take a look at the totally different way that mayor bill de blasio is promoting the coronavirus vaccine in new york city. "way too early" back in just a moment. a moment

from prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. (vo) nobody dreams in conventional thinking. it didn't get us to the moon. it doesn't ring the bell on wall street. or disrupt the status quo. t-mobile for business uses unconventional thinking

to help you realize new possibilities. like our new work from anywhere solutions, so your teams can collaborate almost anywhere. plus customer experience that finds solutions in the moment. ...and first-class benefits, like 5g with every plan. network, support and value without any tradeoffs. that's t-mobile for business. your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. and take. it. on... with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some, rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints.

rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. tell your doctor about any infections... and if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. take on ra. talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. rinvoq. make it your mission. if you can't afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. ♪ if you can't afford your medicine, pepto bismol coats and soothes your stomach for fast relief and get the same fast relief in a delightful chew with pepto bismol chews. here in new york city shake

shack is offering free fries to vaccinated commerce. >> show you us your vaccine card. we'll get you a free fries on us. >> free fries when you get vaccinated? i can get this, these delicious fries, if this is appealing to you, think of this when you think of vaccination. >> de blasio made people want to stop eating french fries. a third dose if he stops eating on camera. >> just eating on camera. it's an absolutely not. time now for something totally different. that was jimmy fallon's take on yesterday's news conference with new york city bill de blasio touting a new vaccine incentive from shake shack. in case that grossed you out so much you missed the message

shake shack will give out free fries and a burger voucher for residents who get vaccinated on the mobile vaccine bus. vaccinations, said the mayor. hope the sign language interpreter did a good job of trying to capture that. hbo has canceled tonight's taping of "real time with bill maher" after the host tested positive for covid-19. the result came during the weekly staff tests. maher is fully vaccinated and not showing any symptoms. hbo said in a statement, quote, real-time production has taken every production following cdc guidelines. no other staff or crew members have tested positive at this time and the show will be rescheduled at a later date. and now, prince harry is sharing more details of his experience growing up with the royal family. on a new episode of dac

shepherd's podcast the duke of sussex admitted thinking of quitting royal life, compared it to the 1998 jim carrey show "the truman show" living with the knowledge you're always being watched. prince harry said he feared that his wife meghan would have to live under the scrutiny of the uk media the same way his late mother princess diana did and moving to california has given his family more freedom. and now this, a cat in chicago used up one of its nine lives yesterday when it jumped out of a window five stories high, escaping from a burning building. look at this. the chicago fire department personnel were recording video when the building was being extinguished when the black cat made the daring jump. the cat landed on all four paws and walked away once it hit the grass. the cat was not injured and the fire department is currently tracking down its owner. no one was injured in that apartment fire and it was isolated to one unit. look at that. i'm glad he's all right. still ahead here, following

new guidance from the cdc, the head of a major american teachers union is calling for the full reopening of public schools and joins us next. "way too early" is coming right back. "way too early" is coming right back “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today.

here's the most important thing you can do to be a true ally. that racist joke, shut it down with i don't think that's funny. that racist comment, call it what it is. racist. and let the offender deal with the emotions that come with being called out. t come with being called out

welcome back. more now on the fight against covid and the struggle to get american schoolchildren back in the classroom. our next guest heads the nation's second largest teachers union and she's calling for a full reopening of u.s. public schools for the next academic year. >> we can and we must reopen schools in the fall for in-person teaching, learning, and support, and we must keep them open fully and safely five days a week. the united states will not be fully back until we're fully back in school, and my union is all-in. >> and the president of the american federation of teachers

randi weingarten joins us now. good morning. thank you so much for spending some time with us. >> good morning. >> this morning. >> it is really early. >> it is very, very early. our show is aptly named. but let's talk about, we've actually a lot of parents who watch, many of whom are up with their kids and have been really, really concerned about this issue and obviously we showed everyone where you stand now on opening these schools, but you've been under a lot of pressure to take this position earlier. there are a lot of parents in particularly public school districts in big cities, places likes the fairfax county schools, for example, here in the washington, d.c., area, do you think that there's been damage done to some of those systems that's going to decrease trust in public education in a way that may hurt you going forward? >> well, i think that covid has decreased trust. i think the whole last year, and i spent a little time doing

this, talking about this, i think the whole last year and all the chaos and the fear and the misinformation and the lack of consistency, i think all of that had a lot to do with decreasing trust. let me just be really clear, my union has been trying to reopen schools since april 2020 and we put out the first report well before actually cdc did, but what's happened is that the fear has gotten in the way and the evolution of the -- of covid, the last administration's response. what i think joe biden has done, he has done what donald trump would not, but, you know, having said all of this, you know, i do think we have to do a lot of work in terms of trust. the good news is that once we got fairly consistent guidelines in february and the resources in

match, you saw a really big push to reopen either full or reopen in person full or part time and now by our account and by vrbo's count, 97% of schools are reopened full or part time. the real issue is that we have a lot of black and brown and indigenous parents and asian parents who just don't trust that we can keep their kids safe, and some of it is covid, but some of it is long-standing issues around, you know, around the conditions of schools, around bullying, around other kinds of things and we have to work on that as well. >> yeah. >> which is why we said we would put in a real campaign, including $5 million, to do that kind of door-to-door work and create that kind of trust. >> yeah.

i'm glad that you raised particularly students who come from backgrounds where they don't have any other options. i mean i know a lot of parents who, if they're able to afford it, have sent their kids to private schools so their kids could be in school this past year. that's not an option for so many people, and those kids are -- were already at risk of falling further behind. they've now lost a year. what are we going to do? what are public school teachers going to do to catch those kids up and make sure they don't become essentially a completely lost generation? >> well, so first off, you know, the kids that i'm really worried about are the kids that just are off the radar, and there are many of those kids that are off the radar. we have to find them. but secondly, teachers have been working really hard this year in ways that, you know, they just turned on a dime -- >> absolutely.

>> there's a lot, so let's, you know -- so this has been a terrible year. it's been a nightmare. it's, you know -- but let's not -- let's not talk about -- i'm not giving in to a lost the that is being planned right now. so for example, there's like four or five different ways that we have to think about this. number one is, we have to really meet kids' social and emotional needs and get the kind of, get that kind of staffing in schools. number two, we really have to do things this summer and a lot of districts are doing the kind of academics in the morning, joy and enrichment in the morning. and those are the kind of things that help create resilience, help rebuild relationships, and that's really important for kids who opt into the summer. number three, tutoring, that's

consistent with classes, aligned with classes and curriculum is really important, and places in indiana and other places are doing that. and number four, there's a lot of intervention strategies. there's high school transcript analysis. new york city's utf has a great five-point plan. so the real issue, though, is i think we have to think about how we reimagine schools so that this kind of social/emotional well-being is in tact for the whole next year. but the other piece, and this is -- the other piece is, let's meet students' passion. let's really focus on civics and science and project-based learning so that we accelerate learning, not just really, you know, just do classroom, classroom, classroom, classroom, test, test, test. >> all right. we've got a lot of work to do.

american federation of teachers' president randi weingarten. thank you so much for being up early with us to help us understand this a little better. and earlier on in the show, we asked all of you, why are you awake. debbie writes this, i'm up way too early today because hubby and are flying to chicago to visit my son. armond e-mails this picture saying, we're up taking care of this little girl picked up yesterday. jim also has a hungry puppy waking him up way too early. and pam is up early to decorate the christmas tree for this weekend's festivities. she promised her family as soon as everyone was vaccinated, they would celebrate the holidays they missed because of covid and sends along this christmas in may card from her granddaughter, merry christmas in may. i love it. coming up next, we'll take a look at the axios one big thing. and coming up on "morning joe," the cdc says fully vaccinated americans can stop wearing

masks. what's the risk of becoming a so-called breakthrough case. we're going to hear from dr. anthony fauci about this. plus, republican senator roger wicker joins the conversation after his conversation with president biden yesterday. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" just moments away. . don't go anywhere. "morning joe" just moments away. ♪ every spray ♪ ♪ every day ♪ ♪ dove and degree fund local youth programs. ♪ every day u does good ♪ unilever clara didn't believe gain scent beads could make her sheets smell amazing days later. boy was she surprised! and the more nights that go by, the more surprised she gets. her husband is surprised too. gain scent beads age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. when you have metastatic breast cancer,

what does it mean to be a thriver? it means we grab a hold of what matters most. we sweat the details. ask for what we want. get what we need. and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. living longer is possible and proven with kisqali when taken with a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor in premenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor alone. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash or are plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment.

kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. it's our time. for more time. we asked for kisqali. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. darrell's family uses gain flings now so their laundry smells more amazing than ever. for more time. we asked for kisqali. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. hi sabrina! hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. really?! this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.

welcome back. joining us now with a look at axios a.m., the cofounder of axios, mike allen. mike, always great to see you. you recently spoke with the reverend franklin graham, who's the son of the iconic evangelical preacher about trying to convince his followers to the vaccine. let's watch a little bit of that. >> nothing is more important to you than saving souls. >> no. i want people to know that god loves them. he will forgive you and god will accept you into his presence. i want people to know that covid-19 can kill you, but we have a vaccine out there that could possibly save your life. and if you wait, it could be too

late. >> very interesting conversation, mike. what more did you learn there and how has the evangelical community approached the vaccine to the approach that the reverend graham feels it's necessary to make this plea? >> yeah, thank you, kasie. at the very end there, if you wait, it can be too late. it's the grammar, the cadence of an altar call. franklin graham has a big problem, kasie, you know the polling. 45% of evangelicals say they would not get the vaccine. 30% of all americans say that. so there's this massive gap. and you have someone like franklin graham saying, i got the shot, so should you. but the preachers just don't have the hold on their flock that they used to. i traveled down to north wilkes

wilkesborough, north carolina, the ones that put up those white tents that we all remember from central park from those dark days in the early part of covid. and franklin graham is saying, this is another way to save your life. >> that's very important message for all of us. mike, let's talk a little bit about politics now, because i know you guys have been doing some reporting, as have we, on liz cheney and what exactly it is that she plans to do to try to execute on that very clearly stated mission of trying to prevent, make sure, that donald trump does not become president of the united states again. what are you guys learning about how her plans are going to unfold? >> kasie, liz cheney is going national. she's determined to make the purge, the start of a movement, not the end of something. so, kasie, ramping up in lots of ways. we're going to see her giving

specious. we're going to see her traveling the country. we're going to see her raising money. we're going to see her playing in elections. and it's also in the service of this larger message, like from even before the vote, kasie, as you know, her camp has been very intentional about making this bigger than a leadership fight. making this about the truth. making this about the future of the democratic party. making liz cheney the leader of the bid to counter trump, to trump trump. >> right, the future of the republican party, indeed. and mike, this also comes as -- there was a freshman congressman who basically said, hey, there were tourists in the capitol on january 6th. obviously, those of us that were there know that that's simply not the case. how does leadership, currently leadership grapple with this? they've got liz cheney on the one hand saying the obvious, saying the truth, and they've got some of these back bench

house members saying, it didn't even happen. >> yeah, so, a lot of republicans were telling me and i know telling you, kasie, if we can get passed this leadership fight, if we can get past the cheney problem, this is going to be for the national party a black eye, a pr disaster. but if we can get past it, we can talk about joe biden. we can talk about what we want to be talking about, about democrats. but kasie, you're pointing out, they're nowhere near that. there's recidivism on one, kevin mccarthy, the house republican leader is out trying to deny that something happened. and others are saying that it didn't even happen at all. and so, no progress in turning that page, where other republicans want it to be, which is a message about democrats and about president biden. >> right. all right, mike allen, thank you very much. we really appreciate it. they were not