carbahol was from philippines. he was 76. he enjoyed crabbing and clamming at the jersey shore and spending time with his grandchildren. may they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing. erin burnett "out front" starts right now. >> out front next, breaking news. the president shutting down any talk of resignation as he s stas down his second impeachment trial in the senate. plus more breaking news president elect joe biden is about to address the nation and you will see that here live. going to begin momentarily. and new arrests tonight in the capitol insurrection. a man carrying a confederate flag appearing in court. that man accused of beating a police officer with a flag pole charged. let's go "out front." and good evening, i'm erin burnett.

and we are going to bring you the president elect's speech live when it happens. as i said, in just a few moments. but first, "out front" tonight trump at this hour obsessed with his demise as the president faces his second senate impeachment trial. trump is said to be consumed by the spectacular unraveling of his presidency. and he is, though, still shutting down any talk of a possible resignation. this as another republican senator signals support for his removal in a senate trial. republican senator lisa murkowski in a statement writing, the house has responded swiftly and i believe appropriately with impeachment. i will listen carefully and consider the arguments of both sides and i will then announce how i will vote. the alaska senator open to convicting trump in the impeachment trial as the gop source tells cnn, quote, there is no love lost within the senate republican conference for trump. look, if the ballots were closed it would be overwhelming for conviction. but we will see how they vote, and thus, there are senators to watch. at least 23, including the senate majority leader himself, who has not ruled out a

conviction. sources also tell cnn mcconnell, quote, hates trump. democrats need at least 17 of those republicans to join them in convicting the president. but republicans as a party in washington are deeply divided. take senator rob portman. moderate, he says, quote, the president bears some responsibility for what occurred. yet goes on to continue. the president elect biden has rightly said he wants to set a new tone of greater unity as his administration begins. if the senate conducts an impeachment trial among my considerations will be what is best to help heal our country rather than deepen our divisions. okay. so if the president bears responsibility, which he does, then he has to be held accountable just like everybody else involved. absolving him of responsibility has been just a cover for protecting him that republican after republican used yesterday for their votes to absolve trump. >> we should be focused on bringing the nation together. >> congress must be the glue that starts unifying everyone. >> it is clear now more than

ever that our country needs to come together. >> i am willing to take the first step and extend my hand across the aisle and say vote against impeachment. vote in favor of a unified nation. >> voting against holding trump responsible for something he sparked and just to say the reality again, trump lit the bonfire, he threw on the accelerant and he did it not just on that day. he did it over months and months and months. and in the attack on the capitol, as it happened, we heard his words over those months and months and months repeated again and again by the attackers in all their ugliness. >> we'll lose everything. >> we're going to [ bleep ] lose it all. >> this is our country. >> this is our country, this is our house. >> we're bringing our country back. >> we want our country back. >> and then, of course, during the attack and after the attack trump was silent except for on twitter, right, where he celebrated and justified the riot, using his great lie, this is what he said, as we saw the

images of police officers with guns drawn on the house floor. he writes, these are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and viciously stripped away from great patriots. that is what trump really thought. period full stop. and every single person in this country knows if they are honest with themselves, and of course, it took himself endays to release the video you see there condemning the riot. he only did it on the day he was impeached a second time and we have learned aides had to force him to do it and he did it because he was worried about his grave legal jeopardy. maybe i'll save myself now. but there are still individuals who are willing to fall for it, to cover for him. senator lyndsay, count me out graham, actually celebrated trump's tone in the final video. he tweeted that it, quote, hit the mark. lindsey graham ever willing to forget and forgive what the president of the united states said on the attack of the rioters for the past seven days. >> we love you.

you're very special. you've seen what happens. you see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. >> again, we all a know what trump thinks because he told us. again and again. and even in that final video that lindsey graham celebrated, the president still did not say the election was fair. he still has not acknowledged that joe biden won to this moment. and that is crucial because we've now obtained an intelligence bulletin that warns that the lies about the election will incite even more violence. i quote the law enforcement warning. a. amplified perceptions of fraud and the change and control in the presidency and senate very likely will lead to an increase in violence. the person who started and perpetuated and fanned the flames of the lie of fraud is donald j. trump. it's a fact. we all know it, we all see it and he owns it himself. kaitlan collins is out front

near the white house tonight. caitlan, what more are you learning about what the president is doing and thinking right now in his final hours in the white house? >> reporter: well, this is not the last full week in office that aides thought that president trump was going to have. he loves the trappings of the presidency so much, and this week that has been replaced by warnings of legal exposure and upcoming senate trial and concerns about the business ramifications he could be facing once he is out of office, given what's been happening with his golf properties over the last several days as the backlash from what happened on capitol hill is still being felt among the president and his inner circle. and so we've learned that he is basically consumed by watching this unraveling of his presidency in these final few days in office, and that even included, erin, a passing casual conversation we should note about whether or not the president should resign. and we are told by sources that the president shut it down almost immediately. he has told aides not to bring up president richard nixon and any kind of comparison, anything like that. there was at one point he told

people not to bring up nixon at all. though in this conversation we should note when they were talking about whether he could resign, the president basically joked to another adviser that he could not count on the vice president to pardon him in the way that gerald ford, of course, pardoned richard nixon. so basically what you've seen is they are having conversations like that, even if they are casual, even if they are not at all entertained in a serious manner, it does give you a window into what this week at the trump white house is looking like. they are pack up, aides are, packing up their offices, seeing moving trucks on the white house grounds. this comes as the president is staying behind closed doors. he's litting the vice president fill that leadership void going to visit with the national guard troops tonight on capitol hill, having a briefing on inauguration security at the fema headquarters. you're really seek ing how the president is stepping back often glimpses during his presidency, but now it is on full display during his final week on the job. one more thing i should note is

there are some aides who are trying to get the president to give a farewell address, listing his accomplishments. erin, so far the president seems uninterested and is not committed to giving one yet. >> caitlan, thank you very much. just incredible what caitlan is talking about. mike pence doesn't invoke the 25th amendment. you know, the president has people saying, hang mike pence. mike pence still stands by him by not invoking the 25th. he's doing all of these things and running the country right now and trump's comment to people is still, i don't trust the guy to pardon me? it is stunning. phil mattingly is on capitol hill. whether president trump is convicted of impeachment or not, obviously is in the hands of republican senators, right? they control this. doesn't matter if they're in the minority. their votes are required for the two-thirds necessary. any idea on where they now stand? >> reporter: yes, 17 republican senators at a minimum will have to join democrats in order to convict president trump. and for the most part those republicans are keeping their powder dry. you've had a couple of republicans like senator lindsey graham come out and say they

oppose the impeachment. you mentioned senator lisa murkowski's statement. not committing to voting to convict but making it clear where she stood on things. erin, behind the scenes a couple things are true. the vast majority of the republican conference is furious with president trump. the vast majority of the republican conference according to both senators and aides i'm talking to believes the president is culpable for what occurred on january 6, an event that threatened their lives and may have cost their lives if other people had not acted heroically to save those senators. whether that means they're going to vote to convict, however, is still an open question. there are a couple different elements i'm told are being discussed. one is the constitutionality of convicting a president after he leaves office. others are keying on that. another issue, politics. there are a number of republicans who are up in 2022. the president still popular with the base. still, obviously has a lot of support in the republican party. you have republicans with presidential ambitions in 2024. where do they go with things? obviously the key figure looming

overall of this is senate majority leader mitch mcconnell who very notably has not taken off the table the possibility of voting to convict. where he's going to end up, however, still an open question. for now republican senators largely in wait and see mode, erin. >> phil, thank you. let's go now to democratic senator amy klobuchar on the senate committee, the ranking committee on inaugural ceremonies. obviously we are getting ready to hear the president elect speak in just moments, senator. you know, look, we know president elect biden was lukewarm on the idea of impeachment because he doesn't want it to interfere with his agenda. an impeachment trial of his predecessor, of course, would. let's just be real, take some air out of the bubble of his first 100 days if it happens immediately. so the choice is to hold the trial right away, maybe you get more momentum with those republican senators. or you wait for biden to get some legislative victories and you do the whole impeachment trial months from now, maybe lose a lot of momentum. either way it could fail. what do you think is best? going right away or waiting?

>> you know what i'd like to see us do? what americans are doing every single day, erin. they're juggling their kids on their knees, their toddlers on their knees, their laptops on their desks, their jobs, trying to get through this pandemic. i don't understand why we couldn't get an agreement and senator mcconnell has at least signalled an openness to this, to do two things, three things at once. you could have the trial running in the afternoon, say, and work on the confirmation hearings every morning and pass legislation at night. i think these times demand that. we're going to see president elect biden come out tonight with a full-throated robust plan for getting us through this, including opening our schools, which so many people i talk to, one of their number one priorities as well as getting the vaccine distributed. so that's what's on our plate. and i think that there could be a way. i looked at the rules. there could be a way to agree to do that. and so that we could have it go

on at the same time. and you laid out the evidence, erin. it's pretty clear. it shouldn't take that long a time. >> so, okay. if you did that obviously you could, you could basically you're saying walk and chew gum at the same time. you could do it right away. but this leaves open the question of whether it will succeed. the senate majority -- he'll be minority, but mitch mcconnell said he will listen to the legal arguments before deciding. he's obviously making it clear he's open to it. that's not how someone would act as the current majority leader if they did not intend to consider it. but murkowski, you know, she was very clear tonight of where she stood, but a week ago in an interview she said i want him to resign, i want him out. he's caused enough damage. was even more blunt then. have you spoken, senator, with any republican senators other than, you know, murkowski and sass, the ones that we know, who tell you that they will vote to convict? >> i haven't directly spoken to them about that. i spent a lot of time with them in the last week, of course, on the electoral college.

and i do want to note one thing. over in the house they picked up ten votes for impeachment. they have more republicans there. over in the house, 30%, about average of the two votes of the members who voted, sided with the president. in the senate, only 6% of the senate sided with the president when it came to the electoral votes. so you saw a difference there. so you saw a number of republican senators that were willing to buck the president. i consider that a good sign as we head into an impeachment trial. and a lot of them have a longer-term view of things than the house does. some of it's by virtue of the fact that we have six-year terms. but i think the fact is that in america, a wise man once said this, the president is not king. the law is king. and we have a president that incited an insurrection, sent a mad angry mob charging down the mall to the capitol with basic

instructions to go fight it out, as he said the day before, go wild, as he also said to basically be patriots, and then didn't do anything to stop it. i don't know what other evidence you need. >> and we should point out, and i'm sure this is on many senators' minds, if such a person is not fit to hold office, even if he's no longer in office, he can run again unless you all vote to prevent that. and in order to do that, you have to first convict him. it's important for people to understand the way that events must go for that step to happen. before we go, senator, dozens of people on the tara watch list were in washington for january 6. this is according to the washington post. i read law enforcement officials saying domestic extremists are likely more emboldened to carry out attacks. they are saying that because those individuals saw the success of last week's siege, what they perceive as success, why is the ceremony for joe biden still being held outside?

>> erin, this is an important moment for our country, and we cannot let these thugs and these mobsters literally stop the peaceful transfer of power in our country. and that is why this ceremony has held an incredibly important place right in front of the capitol. abraham lincoln held his ceremony on the other side of the capitol, but he held it outside before we even had a dome to make the point that this was important to our nation to have this capitol. abraham lincoln held another inaugural there in front of the capitol in the middle of the civil war. so my point is that we, when security people tell us that it's secure, and yes, they're ramping up security, multiple perimeters having many more guard members that have been envisioned, we obviously have a smaller inaugural. unless they say that it's a no-go, we go forward. and that's what president elect biden believes as well. it is so important to have all the members up there, 6 feet

apart, but republicans and democrats up there behind the president to show that in america, as george washington said when he posed the question to himself, he basically said, what's important? and he said, you know, it wasn't the first election. it was the second election in america that mattered because we showed that in our country, we can have a peaceful transfer of power. that's what this is about, this inauguration. it's about just a ceremony. it is a culmination of hundreds of years of democracy. >> senator, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you, erin. >> and i want to bring in gloria borger and michael smerconish. obviously you heard the case there from senator klobuchar. also when she's talking about republicans getting on board, senator murkowski really making it clear, she thinks the house did the right thing. saying she'll consider both sides. she's been clear where she stands. senator rob portman seems to be going the other way saying the president's responsible, but

unity. do you think there is enough republican support to convict in the senate? >> doubtful. impeachment was the easy part. now it gets complicated. and i listened carefully to your conversation with senator klobuchar talking about whether the senate trial should take place now or whether it should take place in the future. how about a third option, which is that it never take place. if it's headed for acquittal, are you emboldening the former president when that vote then takes place? maybe the best strategy for democrats is it that insofar as he's politically wounded, just leave him out there and let him be the republican problem for the next four years. maybe he has a resurgence of sorts two years in, meaning during the midterm election. but i just think that he's so injured politically that he could never come back and win in 2024, but he could gum up the works, both for the mid terms and for the 2024 election. so maybe the best strategy is

he's now been impeached twice, let it go at that. i'm theoretically posing that. >> so what do you think, gloria, is that something seriously that could be seriously under consideration? >> it could be, but from my point of view i think that there is a reason to have the trial. and the reason to have the trial is to let the american people know exactly what happened at the capitol that day. and at that point they will have more information. and you know, the more we learn about this, the more we understand that it could have been a hostage situation or a massacre even. and i think that the severity of what occurred needs to really be detailed to the american people and to members of the senate. i think michael's right. i think it's unlikely he's going to be convicted. >> i'm sorry to trump, gloria, the president elect is starting to speak. >> it's been 343 days since the virus that has ravaged our nation, tragically claimed its

first life. on february the 6th in 2020, patricia dowd took her last breath at home under the california sun in santa clara. she was 57 years old. a beloved wife, mother and daughter, sister. she never knew she had the virus. at the time when most folks never heard about the virus. but just like that, she was gone. it was exactly one year later, nearly 400,000 -- 400,000 of our fellow americans -- have met the same cruel fate. countless family and friends left behind with unrelenting grief and guilt, anger and frustration, and the emptiness felt by the loss of life is compounded by the loss of our way of life. during this pandemic millions of

americans, through no fault of their own, have lost the dignity and respect that comes with the job and a paycheck. millions of americans never thought they'd be out of work, many of them never envisioned the idea, are facing eviction. waiting for hours in their cars to feed their families as they drive up to a food bank. millions have kept their jobs, but have seen their hours and paychecks reduced, barely hanging on as well. that's happening today in the united states of america. in the midst of the dark winter of this pandemic, hospitalizations and deaths spike at record levels, there is real pain, overwhelming the real economy.

people rely on paychecks to pay for their bills and their children's needs. you won't see this pain if your score card is how things are going on wall street. but you will see it very clearly if you examine what the twin crises of a pandemic and this sinking economy have laid bare. the growing divide between those few people at the very top who are doing quite well in this economy, and the rest of america. just since this pandemic began, the wealth, the top 1% of the nation, has grown roughly tropical storm 1.5 trillion since the end of last year. four times the amount for the entire bottom 50% of american wage earners. some 18 million americans are still relying on unemployment

insurance. some 400,000 small businesses have permanently closed their doors. and it's not hard to see that we're in the middle of the once in several generations economic crisis with a once in several generations public health crisis. a crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight, and there's no time to waste. we have to act and we have to act now. this is what economists are telling us. more importantly, it's what the values we hold dear in our hearts of americans are telling us. a growing chorus of top economists agree that the moment of crisis -- in this moment of crisis with interest rates at historic lows, we cannot afford inaction. it's not just a smart fiscal investment that's including deficit spending are more urgent than ever.

it's that the return on these investments and jobs, racial equity, will prevent long-term economic damage and the benefits will far out surpass -- far surpass the cost. a growing number of top economists has shown even our debt situation will be more stable, not less stable if we seize this moment with vision and purpose. and so tonight i'd like to talk to you about our way forward, a two-step plan of rescue and recovery. a two-step plan to build a bridge to the other side of the crisis we face to a better, stronger, more secure america. tonight i'll layout my first step. the american rescue plan that will tackle the pandemic and get direct financial assistance and relief to americans who need it the most.

next month, in my first appearance before a joint session of congress, i will layout my build back better recovery plan. it will make historic investments in infrastructure that build back better plan. infrastructure, manufacturing, innovation, research and development, and clean energy. investments in a care giving economy and skills and training needed by our workers to be able to compete and win in the global economy. of the coming years. moody's, an independent wall street firm, said my approach will create more than 18 million good-paying jobs. our rescue and recovery plan is a path forward with both seriousness of purpose and a clear plan with transparency and accountability, with a call for unity that is equally necessary. and unity is not some pie in the

sky dream. it's a practical step to getting the things we have to get done as a country get done together. as i said in the past in december, a bipartisan covid relief package was a very important first step. i'm grateful for the democrats, republicans and independent members of congress who came together to get it done. what i said at the time, it's just a down payment. we need more action, more bipartisan ship, and we need to move quickly. we need to move fast. our rescue plan starts aggressively in order to speed up our national covid-19 response. the vaccines offer so much hope, and we're grateful to the scientists and researchers and everyone who participated in the clinical trials. we're also grateful for the rigorous review and testing that has led to million dollars of people around the world already being vaccinated safely.

but the vaccine rollout in the united states has been a dismal failure thus far. tomorrow i will layout our vaccination plan to correct course and meet our goal, 100 million shots at the end of my first 100 days as president. this is one of the most challenging operational efforts we have ever undertaken as a nation. we'll have to move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated, to create more places for them to get vaccinated. to mobilize more medical teams to get shots in people's arms, to increase vaccine supply, and to get it out the door as fast as possible. we'll also do everything we can to keep our educators and students safe, to safely reopen a majority of our k through 8 schools by the end of the first 100 days. we can do this if we give the

school districts, the schools themselves, the communities, the states the clear guidance they need as well as the resources they need that they can't afford right now because of the eco economic dilemma they're in. that means more testing and transportation. additional cleaning and sanitizing services in those schools. protective equipment and ventilation systems in those schools. we need to make sure that workers who have covid-19 symptoms are quarantined, and those who need to take care of their family members with covid-19 symptoms should be able to stay home from work and still get paid. this will reduce the spread of the virus and make sure workers get the support they need to maintain their families. but, but they need -- we need about 400 billion in funding from congress to make all of what i just said happen. it's a great deal, but i'm convinced we're ready to get

this done. the very health of our nation is at stake. our rescue plan also includes immediate relief to americans hardest hit and most in need. we will finish the job of getting a total of $2,000 in cash relief to people who need it the most. the $600 already appropriated is simply not enough. we just have to choose between paying rent and putting food on the table. even for those who have kept their jobs, these checks are really important. you see, if you're an american worker making $40,000 a year with less than $400 in savings, maybe you've lost hours or maybe you're doing fewer shifts, driving a truck or caring for the kids or the elderly. you're out there putting your life on the line to work during this pandemic and worry every week that you'll get sick, lose your job, or worse.

$2,000 is going to go a long way to ease that pain. we'll also provide more peace of mind for struggling families by extending unemployment insurance beyond the end of march for millions of workers. that means that 18 million americans currently running out of unemployment benefits, while they look for work, can count on these checks continuing to be there. plus there will be a $400 per week supplement so people can make ends meet. this gets money quickly into the pockets of millions of americans who will spend it immediately on food and rent and other basic needs. as the economists tell us, that helps the whole economy grow. we'll also tackle the growing hunger crisis in america. as i speak, and the vice president elect has spoken to this many times, one in seven households in america, more than one in five black and latino

households in america report they don't have enough food to eat. this includes 30 million adults and as many as 12 million children. it's wrong. it's tragic. it's unnecessary. it's unacceptable. so we're going to extend emergency nutritional assistance for 43 million children and their families enrolled in the s.n.a.p. program through the rest of this year. we'll help hardee's restaurants prepare meals for the hungry, provide food for the families who need it. we'll invest $3 billion in making sure mothers and their young children have the nutrition they need. this will not only meet our moral obligation we have to one another, but it will also spur economic growth, get restaurants and workers back on the job. and as you work to keep people from going hungry, we'll also work to keep a roof over their

heads, to stem the growing housing crisis and evictions that are looming. approximately 14 million americans are falling behind on rent. many at risk of eviction. if we don't act now, there will be a wave of evictions and foreclosures in the coming months as the pandemic rages on. this would overwhelm emergency shelters, increase covid-19 infections as people have nowhere to go and can't socially distance. next week we'll take action or extend nationwide restrictions on evictions and foreclosures. this will provide more than 25 million americans greater stability instead of living on the edge every single month. and i'm asking congress to do its part by funding rental assistance for 14 million hard-hit families and tenants. it will also be a bridge to

economic recovery for countless mom and pop landlords. these crises are straining the budgets of states and cities and tribal communities that are forced to consider layoff and service restrictions of the most needed workers. it means that people putting their lives at risk are the very people now at risk of losing their jobs. police officers. firefighters. all first responders. nurses. educators. you know, over the last year alone, over 600,000 educators have lost their jobs in our cities and towns. our rescue plan will provide emergency funding to keep these essential workers on the job and maintain essential services. it will ensure that vaccines are administered and schools can reopen. mice president elect harris and i have been speaking with county officials, mayors, governors of

both parties on a regular basis. we're ready to work with them to help them get the relief they need. our rescue plan will also help small businesses that are the engines of our economic growth, our economy as a whole. the glue that holds communities together as well. but they're hurting badly. and you realize they account for nearly half of the entire total u.s. work force. our rescue plan will provide flexible grants to help those hardest-hit small businesses survive the pandemic. and the low-cost capital that will help entrepreneurs of all backgrounds create and maintain jobs, plus provide the essential goods and services that communities depend upon. last week i laid out how we'll make sure that our emergency small business relief is distributed swiftly and equitably, unlike the first time around. we're going to focus on small

businesses, on main street. we'll focus on minority-owned small businesses, women-owned small businesses, finally having equal access to the resources they need to reopen and to rebuild. and we will be responsible with taxpayers' dollars, ensuring accountability that reduces waste and fraud and abuse like we did in the recovery act that i administered in our administration. direct cash payments, extended unemployment insurance, rent relief, food assistance, keeping essential front line workers on the job, aid to small bus businesses. these are keys to the american rescue plan that would lift 12 million americans out of poverty and cut job poverty in half. that's 5 million children lifted out of poverty if we move. our plan will reduce poverty in the black community by one-third. reduce poverty in the hispanic community by almost 40%, and

includes much more, like an increase in the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour. people tell me that's going to be hard to pass. florida just passed it. as divided as that state is, they just passed it. the rest of the country is ready to move as well. should be a national minimum wage of $15 an hour. no one working 40 hours a week should live below the poverty line. that's what it means. if you work for less than $15 an hour and work 40 hours a week, you're living in poverty. it includes access to affordable child care. it will enable parents, particularly women, to get back to work. i look forward to working with members of congress from both parties to move quickly to get the american rescue plan to the american people. and then we can move with equal urgency and bipartisanship to my build back better recovery plan that i will call for next month to generate even more economic growth.

american manufacturing was the arsenal of democracy in world war ii. it will be so again. imagine a future made in america, all made in america, and all by americans. we'll use taxpayers dollars to rebuild america. we'll buy american products, supporting millions of american manufacturing jobs, enhancing our competitive strength and increasingly competitive world. imagine historic investments and research and development to sharpen america's innovative edge and markets for global leadership is up for grabs. markets like the battery technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy. imagine confronting the climate crisis with american jobs and ingenuity leading the world. it's time to stop talking about infrastructure and to finally

start building an infrastructure so we can be more competitive. millions of good-paying jobs that put americans to work rebuilding our roads, our bridges, our ports to make them more climate resilient, to make them faster, cheaper, cleaner, to transport american-made goods across our country and around the world. that's how we compete. and imagine millions of jobs and the care giving economy to ease the financial burden of caring for young children and aged loved ones. let's make sure our care givers mostly women, women of color, immigrants, have the same pay and dignity that they deserve so we can do these bold practical things now. now. you know, i know what i just described does not come cheaply. but failure to do so will cost us dearly. the consensus among leading

economists is we simply cannot afford not to do what i'm proposing. independent and respected institutions from around the world from the federal reserve to the international monetary fund have underscored the urgency, even wall street firms have reinforced the logic. if we invest now boldly, smartly, and with unwavering focus on american workers and families, we will strengthen our economy, reduce inequity, and put our nation's long-term finances on the most sustainable course. and where we're making permanent investments, recurring investments, as i said in the campaign trail, we will pay for them by making sure that everyone pays their fair share. not punishing anybody. we can do without punishing a single person by closing tax loopholes for companies that ship jobs overseas. or allow american companies, 90

of the top fortune 500 to pay zero federal income taxes. asking everyone to pay their fair share at the top so we can make permanent investments to rescue and rebuild america. it's the right thing for our economy. it's the fair thing. it's the decent thing to do. we not only have an economic imperative to act now. i believe we have a moral obligation. and this pandemic in america, we cannot let people go hungry. we cannot let people get evicted. we cannot watch nurses, educators and others lose their jobs. we so badly need them. we must act now and act decisively. my fellow americans, the decisions we make in the next few weeks and months are going to determine whether we thrive in a way that benefits all americans, or that we stay stuck in a place where those at the top do great while economic

growth for most everyone else is just a spectator sport, and where american prospects dim, not brightened. these investments will determine whether we reassert american leadership and out compete our competitors in a global economy. we're better equipped to do this than any nation in the world. whether we watch them catch up and pass us by, together i know which path we'll choose. that includes all americans so we can own the 21st century. all of these bold steps, it's going to take time to get where we need to be. there will be stumbles, but i will always be honest with you about both the progress we're making and what setbacks we meet. and there will -- here's the deal. the more people we vaccinate,

the faster we do it, the sooner we can save lives and put this pandemic behind us and get back to our lives and our loved ones. and the sooner we can rescue and rebuild the american economy, the biggest and most profitable engine in the world, i know it's been nearly a year. it's tested us beyond measure. for all of you who have lost someone, my heart goes out to you. i know that feeling looking at an empty chair across the table. all of you have fallen on hard times. i know you can never get back what you lost, but as your president, i know that every day matters and every person matters. from the very first to the nearly 400,000 lost american souls and counting, to the millions of you just looking for a fighting chance in this economy, i promise you, we will

not forget you. we understand what you're going through. we will never, ever give up. and we will come back. we'll come back together. we didn't get into all this overnight. we won't get out of it overnight. and we can't do it as a separated and divided nation. the only way we can do it is to come together, to come together as fellow americans, as neighbors, as a united states of america. and when we do, there's nothing beyond our capacity -- i've said this many times. when america acts as one, there's never been a single thing we've been unable to do, no matter how consequential this year has been. out of all the peril of this moment, i want you to know, i give you my word, i see the promise, the promise as well. we've seen clearly what we face now. now we're being so optimistic

about america, as optimistic as i've ever been. we have everything we need, but the will must be demonstrated. so come wednesday we begin a new chapter. the vice president elect and i will do our best to meet all the expectations you have for the country and the expectations we have for it. i'm confident, i am truly confident, together -- together we can get this done and come out better off than what we went into this crisis. god bless you all, and may god protect our troops. >> all right. the president elect speaking there for just about 25 minutes addressing the country. just want to make sure everyone understands, the vice president elect was sitting right behind him in the chair you see there, kamala harris was sitting there, the senator, vice president elect as the president elect gave a speech for 25 minutes

talking about his plans for vaccinations, economic plans, obviously expressing empathy for those who have lost loved ones, and talking about unity and how he wants to be a president for all americans. putting it together in the kind of speech that we have -- it's a presidential speech. joining me now, our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, dr. jonathan reiner and austin goolsbee who is the council of the economic advisers under president obama. gloria borger is also still with me. sanjay, let me start with you. the president elect obviously giving his overall picture of what he wants to accomplish here when he takes office. it's a very ambitious plan. but at its core, it's about the vaccinations, the virus, the economic damage from the virus. he says the very health of our nation is at stake. what's your first rea to what we just heard? >> well, you know, it hits on all the notes that we've been talking about for sometime from a public health standpoint

within the direct, most direct covid sort of part of the speech, he sort of focused on the vaccines as you mentioned. we heard this goal of 100 million doses in 100 days. he laid out some plans for that. there are some specifics that are still going to be necessary. for example, actually the personnel to actually inoculate people has been one of the rate limiting steps. how do you address the manpower issues. nevertheless, there was discussion about setting up large vaccination centers, community outreach around vaccines. the second thing was testing. you know, we haven't been talking very much about testing at all, all the discussions have all been around vaccines. but president elect, i should say, is talking about $50 billion being spent on testing, massive testing increases. getting rapid tests out there and scale be up pcr testing. very important, you know. this is something that has been a real -- we've been really lacking in this for some time.

finally, all this around schools as well, using these strategies to open up schools. he says about $400 billion around those three sort of particular areas. we'll see, i think with the vaccines are the states and the feds going to work together? is the private sector and the national pharmacies, like the cvs and walgreens, are they going to be part of this? how do you get the extra manpower issue? >> right. >> you have to make sure the plan works, erin. >> that's the question, dr. reiner. he says it totals $400 billion. at this point is it a money problem, dr. reiner? is that going to make a difference? >> well, money is important. what was even more important that we heard was the sense of urgency to get shots into arms. you know, science and industry and the government this past year has done an amazing thing by creating these vaccines in record time. but they're worthless unless we get them into people 's arms.

today we vaccinated 900,000 people for their first shots. that sound like we're moving in the right direction. the president elect has given us a goal of 100 million -- excuse me, 100 million shots in 100 days. that's ambitious, but it's probably half what we need to be. we probably need to be vaccinating 2 million people a day. >> yeah. >> mind you, most of our vaccines right now are double dose vaccines. so we need, we need to massively amp up our vaccination program and we need to take it into the community. we're about to start that here in washington, d.c. with mass vaccination programs. we need to take the vaccines where the people are, not where we want them to be. we can't expect -- we can't expect to vaccinate 250 million people by telling them to call the nearest walgreens. we need to take the vaccines to them. and i think president elect biden gets that. >> so, you know, he also, austin, as part of this, right, made the line between the pandemic and the economy, right.

now, he makes -- made the case, right, for a whole lot of things. rent assistance, unemployment extension, all of that. but at its core he made the case for those $2,000 checks. now, i just want to ask you about that. i understand that that is popular. i also understand bernie sanders liked the idea. donald trump liked the idea. larry summers, though, who obviously you know, the national economic council under president obama, recently said that $2,000 stimulus check idea which the president elect just laid out would be a serious mistake that would risk an overheat to the economy. is this more about politics than being good policy? >> i don't think so. i mean, i disagree. i'm friendly with larry. i disagreed when he said that. i don't think it's going to overheat the economy. and i think the vice president's speech had an immense amount of content in it. he had a lot of policy details in there. >> yes. >> if we're only a $2,000 check,

then i think there would be some criticism of that. but it sounded like the president elect has really thought it through and his advisers have put together a pretty comprehensive package which, when you get into something like this where you need to get relief out quickly, some of that needs to go out in the form of checks that you can get out the door rapidly and you don't apply as intense of a filter of who should get it. but you also had other money to the unemployed, money for earned income tax credit. money for paid sick leave so people who are sick don't go to work and get other people sick. that was kind of -- i guess i would call it levels of nuance that are very welcome at a moment like this. it was not a pie in the sky. it was laying out a detailed road map of how you're going to confront it.

>> and gloria, a detailed road map of how we're going to confront this from a vaccine plan again, one can debate how much of this makes sense or will actually happen, but a detailed plan, and in that detailed plan empathy for those who have lost their loved ones, which the president-elect of course showed, is something we have not seen. >> well, this was very big. $1.9 trillion economic plan that was described as a moral obligation. and that's the kind of language you that hear a lot from joe biden, talking about how we've all experienced the loss of our way of life and how we have to get through this together because that pain is overwhelming our economy. so you're going to hear this a lot. joe biden -- biden also talked about a $15 minimum wage in all of this. what he's doing is he's throwing it all out there. he understands -- i talked to some biden people today.

they understand they have problems with republicans on the total, you know, $2,000 stimulus, et cetera. but they're putting it all out there because they have things they know they have to do. they have to get these schools reopened in a safe way. they have to get vaccines in people's arms. and the president-elect said that the rollout has been a dismal failure and he would move heaven and earth to get these vaccines into people's arms. so he let the public hear exactly what he's going to do. he didn't mince words. and say look, i've got to do this because i've got to get moving and he's talking not only to the public at large but to republicans in the zmat because he needs them to help him out on a bunch of things. >> yes. that's obviously very important. as i was indicating, just putting this all together, again, whether you agree or disagree, this is not something that we -- that president trump ever did, in laying it all out and putting it there. but to the point of what's

ahead, sanjay, how hard is it going to be to meet these vaccination targets? >> you know, i actually don't think it's going to be that challenging. you know, 100 million doses in 100 days, as jonathan was just pointing out, we're kind of close to a million doses a day right now. and when you start to really get all of these various sort of components working together, the federal government -- the state governments for potentially these large vaccination events and these community rollouts, things like that, possibly using things like the national guard, and bringing pharmacies and things like that online, they've been largely tasked with taking care of long-term care facilities so far. they weren't really thinking they were going to start doing the general public until maybe in the spring. if they start doing that earlier, i think it's very doable. if we want to actually accelerate that number and other vaccines come online, we could exceed that i think. >> certainly you've got the

pharmacists, we can all get our flu shot at the pharmacy, right? they know how to get them, they know how to get them out, they know how to get them in people's arms. that infrastructure exists and many americans have experienced it. thank you all very much. as we just heard there from the president-elect, he of course is ready for inauguration. in just days. and we are now following breaking news on the investigation into the capitol hill riot. fbi director christopher wray has spoken publicly for the first time since the attack, and he has given us some new details about threats ahead of joe biden's presidential inauguration. >> we are seeing an extensive amount of concerning online chatter is the best way i would describe it about a number of events surrounding the inauguration. >> evan perez is out front. we just heard there for the first time from the director. so extensive amount of concerning online chatter. he says that's the best way i would describe it. about events surrounding the ip

augustration. he's also saying more than 100 people have been arrested after the riot, we know more are to come. so tell us first about some of the new suspects you're learning about. >> right. he said they've identified more than 200 people that they want to arrest. some of those people are coming in. just a couple of them that came in today, for instance, one's name is peter stager. he is seen on this now infamous video, notorious video of someone using an american flag to attack a metropolitan police officer in washington on the steps of the u.s. capitol. he's seen on various videos. in one video, according to prosecutors, he says "everyone is a treasonous traitor. death is the only remedy for what's going on in that building." those are the words of peter stager. he was arrested today by the fbi. another one arrested kevin seyfried. he's also fairly notorious. we saw the pictures of him marching around the rotunda of the u.s. capitol with a confederate flag. he and his son were both

arrested, erin. in this case prosecutors said that they entered the building through a broken window. the prosecutors allege that the son, whose name was hunter, is the one that broke the window. again, both were arrested in true form, right? again, he was carrying a confederate flag. he surrendered today to the fbi, sort of like the people who carried that flag originally. >> all right, evan. thank you very much. all right. so i want to go straight to the attorney general for the district of columbia, karl racine. and attorney general, i want to give you a chance to respond to what we just heard from the fbi director, right? chris wray said in his first comments to the public since the riot, "we are seeing an extensive amount of concerning online chatter about a number of events surrounding the inauguration." how much are you aware of here and how concerned are you about the safety of the inauguration? >> well, i think everybody in the district of columbia government and including the

metropolitan police department are taking all threats very seriously. we saw last week the potential for mob violence in these hate groups and there's no reason to think they're going to stop now. that's why we have to fortify the defense for sure, prepare, and go forward with the public inauguration. we can do this. >> now, we have laid out very clearly trump's remarks over months, right? about fraud and rigging and the only reason he loses is if it's stolen and rise up and all of those things that were echoed word for word by the mob. okay? so there's a very clear link over months to his role in this. however, we are learning that his lawyers are expected to argue that his remarks specifically before the riot fall under the category of protected speech. i guess first amendment? i'm not sure. do you think this holds up? >> well, you know, this is the hardest legal line in a case in

which one would investigate the president for his words, inciting violence. the supreme court says that you can't prosecute someone just because of what they say unless there actually is an intent to incite violence. and here, you know, there's a lot of evidence, of course, of president trump and others motivating, imploring, advocating for things like combat justice, fight fight fight. that is a question that we as prosecutors have to take a serious look at. and we'll make the decision. at least best as we can. in short order. >> in terms of your decision to move forward with charges, correct? >> yes. >> so there is video online, attorney general, that shows riots discussing the floor plan of the capitol, right? expressing plans to "take this building." let me play a clip for you.

>> there are two floors in the other room. one in the rear and one to the right when you go in. so we should probably coordinate together if we're going to take this building. >> okay. what do you make of the level of knowledge? two doors in the other room, one to the right. they know what they were doing. they knew what they were doing. they knew what they were walking into. >> yeah, there is no doubt that they were prepared, planned, and quite intentional. and seemingly in some places had knowledge of vulnerable areas, places to push, places to get into. so all this has to be reviewed thoroughly and publicly and transparently because we cannot let this happen again. fbi director chris wray talked about a lot of chatter. well, there was a lot of chatter as well two weeks ago. >> so attorney general, i want

to ask you, you and i have talked about the work that you have done about possible corruption and fraud with the inauguration and the trump family. we've learned that your office has asked donald trump jr. to sit for a sworn deposition related to your investigation into the misuse of a million dollars for the inaugural committee. how confident are you now, attorney general, that the trump family, donald trump jr., broke the law? >> i'm extremely confident of that. we're before a court, and at the end of the day the court will decide. but the evidence is clear. the trump business and the trump family used the not for profit to profit themselves. that's why the presidential inauguration commission paid so much money for rooms and event space that were far above market rate during the inauguration commission, and that's why we just amended our complaint to include that donald trump jr.'s good friend essentially had a free set of rooms for a period

of time during the inauguration for no good not for profit purpose. that's not consistent with the law. that's why we're going to pursue that. >> well, attorney general, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> thanks to all of you. anderson starts now. good evening. we begin tonight with the contrast between incoming and outgoing administrations at a point in time unlike any the country has ever seen before. just moments ago president-elect biden outlined his plan to fight covid and boost the economy at the end of a week that saw deaths top 4,000 a day and nearly a million more americans file for unemployment benefits. >> there is real pain, overwhelming the real economy. one where people rely on paychecks, not their investments, to pay for their bills and their meals and their children's needs. and it's not