Good morning and welcome to morning, Joe. It is Tuesday, September 7th. And we are following a number of quickly developing stories this morning, including the United States now topping 40 million COVID cases since the start of the pandemic, with health experts keeping a close eye on the

impact of Labor Day weekend travel. Plus, the Taliban claims to have captured the last part of

Afghanistan still holding out against their rule. It comes as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken

visits Qatar, where he will hold meetings about the ongoing evacuation efforts.

The very latest on the still growing death toll from last week's Hurricane Ida, as President Biden will visit New York and New Jersey today.

And expanded unemployment benefits have expired for millions

of Americans. What does it mean for the economic recovery? We'll look into that. But we begin this

morning with a consequential week for Democrats as Congress returns to Washington this week.

Democrats will begin the process of the most significant expansion of this country's social safety net in over half a century. The New York Times reports this morning that congressional committees are set to meet this week to devise legislation that would touch virtually every

American's life from conception to aged infirmity. The paper reports the proposed legislation,

a creddle to grave reweaving of a social safety net, frayed by decades of expanding income inequality,

stagnating wealth, and depleted governmental resources, capped by the worst public health

crisis in a century. The pandemic loosened the reins on federal spending,

prompting members of both parties to support,

showering the economy with aid. It also uncorked decades-old policy desires, like expanding Medicare

coverage or paid family and medical leave that Democrats contend have proved to be necessities

as the country has lived through the coronavirus crisis.

Democrats say they will finance their spending with proposed tax increases on corporations,

which has already incited a multifaceted big budget effort by business groups working to kill the

idea and by possibly taxing wealth

in ways that the United States has never tried before. To critics, the legislation represents

a fundamental upending of American-style governance and a shift towards social democracy. With it,

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