all set up at a studio at home. >> what's happening? >> olivia is calling. somebody answer olivia. >> someone answer that, please. >> and i-65, going to go ahead and apologize, my alexa is going off. alexa, off. >> a downstream effect playing out across the system. >> sorry, you're hearing my dog park at the mailman. >> sorry, this is my cat. >> the maps aren't going to move because he just whacked the computer with his head. let me just verbalize the forecast. >> 62 in pasadena. we'll talk about this storm -- he walks now, guys, so, i've lost all control. >> hold on one second. sorry. yes. you can have two biscuits. >> sorry about that! >> and run to the supreme court, as they've indicated, clearly, that's failed. they've refused to intervene and ultimately, now, those ballots are going to be counted. >> oh, my gosh. >> you know, i understand why people do their show from their home, but if we ever did, it just wouldn't feel right, mika. that's why we have maintained our -- >> you're a pioneer. >> we've maintained -- we just wouldn't do that. >> yeah. nas so funny, though, to see. especially the dogs and the kids and the cats. i love it. i actually love it. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, march 15th. daylight savings kicked in. >> how you feeling? >> it can be a little brutal, actually. >> yeah? >> yes. >> with us, we have white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan la mir. >> how you feeling this morning, jonathan, daylight savings time? >> joe, i'm a little tired, balls a little tired. and watching those clips, one of the biggest surprises of the pandemic is that neither my 9-year-old or 6-year-old have invaded my shot at any point. but there's still a few more months of this. there's still time. >> there's lots of time. >> you've got time. >> the host of msnbc's "politics nation" and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton joins us this morning, as well as washington anchor for bbc world news america, katty kay joins us. good to have you all onboard. so the u.s. hit a daily record for coronavirus vaccinations over the weekend. that's kind of nice to say, that we hit a new kind of record. but there are growing concerns about what it will take to convince enough americans to be vaccinated in order to stop the spread. yesterday on fox news, dr. anthony fauci was asked about a concerning new poll that shows republican men in particular, those who supported president trump, are reluctant to get the vaccine. >> according to a recent poll, 49% of republican men said they don't intend to get the vaccine. how much of a difference will it make if president trump leads a campaign for the people who are most devoted to him to actually go out and get the vaccine? >> chris, i think it would make all the difference in the world. he's a very widely popular person among republicans. if he came out and said, go and get vaccinated, it's really important for your health, the health of your family, and the health of the country. it seems absolutely inevitable that the vast majority of people who are his close followers would listen to him. i'm very surprised at the high percentage of republicans who said they don't want to get vaccinated. i don't understand where that's coming from. this is not a political issue. this is a public health issue. >> yeah, you know, katty kay, as always, the president is such a hypocrite. he gets the shot himself in private. >> secretly. he and melania. >> yeah, he and melania secretly get it in january. >> and then they won't show anybody else. and won't tell other people to get it. and he's been -- he's been playing with conspiracy theories his entire presidency. and now, 47% of gop of -- people who supported donald trump say they're not going to get the vaccine. again, it's this personality cult issue. and you wonder why the president who got it himself doesn't tell everybody else, get the shot. >> we know that the one thing that is critical, if we'll get to that july the 4th deadline and make it that joe biden lined out this weekend for being the kind of return to normalcy, it's not going to happen unless large numbers of americans get the vaccine, right? the vaccine is our way out of this. we all know that. world leaders around the world have got their vaccines in public, in order to persuade their voters, the people who support them and follow them to get the vaccine themselves. we know the power of role models in this. we've seen role models in the african-american community come out and say specifically, we are trying to get you, because you believe in me, i'm going to get my shot in public, so we know that it does work. for donald trump, though, to do it in public, i guess would be -- he said it at cpac, he did say, go get your shot, but that was just people that were listening to cpac that heard that. but for him to go on camera and do it would have a huge amount of influence on the people who have, you know, supported him to the end of the world, would clearly go and get it, if he got it in public. but for him to get it in public would be what, somehow admitting that joe biden had some kind of credit or coming out and credit. that's why he didn't take part in that psa announcement with the former presidents. he didn't want to give any credit to this administration. so doing anything that would help this administration, i guess that's why he's not wanting to do it now. >> joe, doesn't he take credit for the beautiful shot? he takes credit for it in terms of the accomplishments that the biden administration put together so quickly, in record time, compared to his botched response to the pandemic, where he didn't pretend it existed for months or came up with literally like crazy ideas that came out of nowhere, out of some crackpot's brain, like putting bleach in your body to get rid of it. he came up with crazy ideas to counter it. but he never actually got anything substantial done. in fact, most people would say what he did during his time as president during this pandemic led to more deaths. >> well, so, we have a couple of things going on here. and katty is right. he did say something in passing at cpac. he's not getting out there, telling people, go get your shots. and reverend al, how interesting that donald trump and all of his supporters will screech and yell about the importance of operation warp speed and why isn't he getting enough credit for operation warp speed. well, he should get credit for operation warp speed. but how bizarre if that's such a big damned deal, why are one in two republicans, for the most part, not getting the vaccine or saying they're not going to get the vaccine? and why isn't donald trump, if he thinks it's such a big damned deal, if he thinks he created such a, quote, beautiful shot, why isn't he making sure that people are getting it so we can open this country back up? >> this is the real display of the real pettiness and dark side of this president. he wants to take credit for something, yet he won't promote what he's taking credit for. but at the bottom of it is he shows a real insensitivity, if not a sense of not caring about the health and life and death of his own followers. he would rather play these games with biden, of who's going to get credit and i'm not going to enhance what biden is doing, rather than say, wait a minute, we have to be concerned about the very people that voted for me, that support me, and that still support me. at some point, i don't care how big an ego maniac you are, you should be concerned about the public if you're a public servant. and it shows how really hollow this man is in terms of any moral concern for anyone outside of himself. >> so let's just make this very simple. if the president wants to go off and say nothing, that's fine. it's not his responsibility anymore. but if he's going to keep taking credit for the vaccine, if he's going to put out press releases about the vaccine, if he's going to talk about his beautiful shot, if his people are going to keep whining about how he's not getting enough credit for operation warp speed, which he should get credit for operation warp speed. if he's going to be engaged in that debate, then you know what? then, stay engaged in that debate. and do what's best for america and do what's best for your supporters. do what's best for your supporters' families. do what's best for your supporters' grandkids, grandparents, everybody. do what's best for reopening the schools, reopening small businesses. tell your supporters to go out and get the vaccine. let them know it's safe. you took it. we all know what a hypo hypochoc you are. you wouldn't take that shot unless you knew it was safe. >> why can't you share that with your people? >> it's always weird when people have asked you, donald, questions about ant-vaxing things. you've always skirted in the middle and you won't come out and say it. well, okay, again, that's your business. you lost. you can keep acting that way, because you don't represent anybody. but again, if you want to be engaged in the debate over vaccines, then be engaged in a positive way. be engaged in a way that can actually save lives going forward. you made a lot of mistakes, you know you did. you know, donald, you were responsible for a lot of deaths. you know that's going to stay with you throughout, you know, decades, years to come in the history books. just be positive here. and get that one out of two republicans that voted for you, tell them to do what you did. get the vaccine. save themselves. save their families from a possible bad situation and let's get this country opened up again. >> nbc news international correspondent kate snow has more on the effort to convince americans to get the vaccine. >> reporter: at holy name medical center in new jersey, i met so many who had been desperate to get a vaccine appointment. >> it's overwhelming and i'm -- i feel that i'm lucky. >> reporter: but there are also millions rejecting it. >> i'm not getting the vaccine because i'm honestly not scared of the virus. >> i don't trust the vaccine at all. >> reporter: many of them white conservatives like gena millatello, a mom of four who works at a school and voted for former president trump. >> leading public health officials and scientists and doctors are saying, we should get this vaccine. why are you so concerned about it? >> i don't think it's 100% safe and effective. and i believe that the risk is worse than what the benefit would be. >> the benefit. you're concerned that it hasn't been tested enough. >> yes. >> reporter: a new poll finds nearly half of trump voters do not plan to get the vaccine compared to just 10% of biden voters. dr. melody weaver runs a clinic in rural idaho. >> you have people believing that masks don't matter, the vaccine's a conspiracy, and maybe they're out to get us. >> reporter: it's a huge concern for dr. paul offit, who serves on the fda panel that approved the vaccines. this country needs everyone to get this vaccine, right? or at least a certain percentage of people to eventually get to herd immunity. >> you're right. we need about 80%, at least, of the population to be immune. >> reporter: dr. ashish jha is at brown university. it's politicized now. you hear people say, i don't believe in this administration, i don't believe in these vaccines. >> yeah, this is one of the more disturbing things in my mind, kind of disturbing turn of events. there's nothing political about this virus. the virus doesn't care if you're a democrat or a republican. and the vaccines work just as well for democrats and republicans. >> for me as a scientist who's also a christian, this is an answer to a lot of prayers. >> reporter: public health officials are targeting conservative media and a new public service announcement features former presidents, including george w. bush. >> it's important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. >> reporter: but not donald trump, who got his vaccine privately. what if your employer says you need to get the shot before going back to school? >> i would have to find another job. >> reporter: why is it so important for every one of us to get this vaccine? >> my message is really simple. we want to put it behind us and get our lives back and be able to see family and friends. the best and only real way we can do that is if most americans get vaccinated. >> make that choice, because to not make that choice is not only to put yourself at risk, but to put everyone with whom you contact with at risk. >> this is where the alternative facts environment that so many donald trump supporters live in, this is where it impacts them. and it's not -- no, it's not people living in the ozarks, living in a tent. it's everybody. it's, you know, one of my friends who's highly educated. who's got a lot of children, who's got -- and people that obviously have a household that needs to be safe. he refuses to take the shot. he's a donald trump supporter. he's been educated. he knows better. he should know better. but he's not going to. and jonathan la mir, can you help us out here? you obviously followed donald trump. this is a public health crisis. that we obviously have to get behind us. and we can't do that if one-half of the 75 million people who voted for donald trump aren't going to get the vaccines. i mean, it's bad for them, but worse for this country. can you explain donald trump's hesitancy to go public with this, based on everything you've seen in the past. how he skirted questions on anti-vax issues or qanon issues. >> well, joe, you hit on a few pieces of this already. certainly, his history with anti-vaxers is well documented and the reluctance to do something that would appear to give joe biden any sort of credit. that, too. but there's a little bit more, people that i've talked to around him. first, it's so trivial, but the idea -- the embarrassing idea that the president, he didn't want photo shot, thought he would look weak if he had to have a shot in the arm with his sleeve rolled up, didn't want that on camera. but trump has always has this reluctance to say anything that would upset people that already support him. and he knows that there are a number of republicans and trump supporters in particular who don't want to have the vaccine, who perhaps his fear is would be alienated if he was suddenly out there, relentlessly promoting it. and this is all backwards, because they don't want to take the vaccine because of the antiscience approach that he and people around him have taken for years. and now he could, indeed, be the person to change that. but he doesn't want to alienate them. so it's in this terrible cycle that doesn't seem to want to be broken and is dangerous for them and all of this. this current white house is aware of this. they know soon enough that the challenge with the vaccine is not going to be supply. there's going to be enough supply. the challenge is going to be convincing americans to take it. distributing it to where it needs to go and getting those reluctant to take the vaccine to actually do sop and jen sack ji, the white house press secretary was asked this week about exactly this. is joe biden the right messenger for conservatives? she acknowledged, perhaps not. that it would be useful to have a conservative figure get out there and advocate it. president trump could be that person, but he to this point is refusing to do so. >> even though, again, as you said, even though he got the shot himself, in private. hey, jonathan, let me ask you really quickly while we have you, and then we'll go on and do the story about governor andrew cuomo's problems in new york. what's the white house's response to the cuomo scandals, i'll say scandals, the nursing home scandals and all the women who have come forward. what is the white house's response after chuck schumer and kirsten gillibrand. you go down the list, a lot of leaders in new york state, both at the state and the national level, all calling for his resignation. where is the white house. >> the white house publicly is trying to steer clear, as difficult as that has been. i pressed jen psaki last week in the briefing room about this very matter. and her line was, well, the investigation is ongoing. we should see where it goes. i also said to her, but wait, governor cuomo is in charge of the covid-19 response, the vaccine distribution in the state of new york. does the white house still have confidence in him? and there was this -- she sort of danced around it, acknowledging, look, some of his pandemic gubernatorial powers have been stripped from him. that this is -- he's in a difficult spot here. biden -- president biden yesterday did publicly, he was asked about it as he came back from the white house, from delaware. he, again, sort of said, well, there's an investigation that's going on. we should see where it leads us. behind the scenes, there's real concerns here. they know that cuomo is damaged, in particular when schumer on friday said cuomo should resign. that was perceived among many democrats as almost the final straw. though cuomo was telling people, he won't go and it would take a push from biden to actually get him to resign. to this point, the white house is saying, no, they don't want to be stuck up in this like barack obama's white house was when david patterson, another scandal-engulfed governor of new york was asked to step aside about a decade or so ago. it's a distraction. they're hoping it gets resolved on its own, but it may not. the president may get pulled into it further. >> here is president biden as he was asked yet to weigh in on the mounting calls for new york governor andrew cuomo to resign. take a look. >> do you think governor andrew cuomo should resign? >> i think the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us. >> all right. so the investigation underway, here are the latest developments concerning new york governor andrew cuomo. a longtime adviser to governor cuomo reportedly called county officials to gauge their loyalty to the embattled governor amid an ongoing sexual harassment investigation. that's according to multiple officials who spoke to "the washington post." one of the democratic county executives that was recently contacted by larry schwartz, head of the new york's coronavirus vaccine rollout, filed an ethics complaint with the state attorney general's office. according to the post. the executive feared retaliation against the county's vaccine supply if schwartz was not leeds with his response to questions about supporting the governor. when contacted by "the post," schwartz acknowledged making the calls as a 30-year friend of cuomo's. but said he, quote, did nothing wrong. schwartz said he did not discuss vaccines in the conversation. the governor has denied touching anyone inappropriately, though he has apologized for any past behavior that may have made people uncomfortable. >> hey, reverend al. let's be straight here. if you've got the guy that's in charge of your vaccine rollout calling county officials, seeing whether they're still loyal to andrew cuomo or not, you don't have to tell them that their answer is freighted with real meaning for whether they're going to get the vaccinations that they need. it's -- it's obviously why cuomo -- which it's disgusting. it's obvious why he had his vaccination czar, his coronavirus czar, calling these county officials. show loyalty and maybe you get more vaccines. don't show loyalty and you don't. and even if he didn't say anything, that was the clear suggestion with the person he chose to make those false for him. >> at best, it is clearly not the person that should be making false. and in fact, the implications are there. i think what a lot of people are torn with now is even those of us that have said, well, we're not going to call on him to resign, let's see where the