amna: a new president in the spotlight. while the shadow of his predecessor still looms. >> congratulations, mr. president. amna: joseph r. biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the united states. >> president joe biden has called upon us to summon now the courage to see beyond crisis. amna: and kamala harris, barrier-breaking vice president. pledging to reunite the public -- >> democracy is precious. democracy is fragile. and at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed! amna: and renew the fight against covid. president biden: our national plan a full-scale wartime effort to address the supply shortages. amna: as president biden gets to work lawmakers are still working to impeach his predecessor. >> a trial will be held in the

united states senate. d there will be a vote whether to convict the president. amna: next. announcer: this is "washington week." corporate funding is provided by -- >> for 25 years csumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit

consumercellular.tv. announcer: kaiser permanente. additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: good evening. and welcome to "washington week." i'm amna nawaz. before this week's inauguration of president biden an vice president harris, there was the insurrection incited by former president trump. just over two weeks ago, the capitol was a crime scene, breached and defiled by a violent mob. this week, a different scene. those same steps were the site of an historic peaceful transfer of power. joe biden took the oath in a

fortified city and spoke before an empty national mall closed over security concerns and to prevent the spread of covid-19. president biden: few people in our nation's history have been more challenged o found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we're in now. once in a century virus silently stalks the country. a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism, that we must confront and we will defeat. amna: and biden wasn't the oy one taking his place in history. vice president kamala harris became the first woman of color to ever serve in the role. and as the biden-harris administration gets under way, sooes the senate impeachment trial of former president trump. it's been a week in washington like no other. and joining us now are some of the top reporters covering it all.

laura baron-lopez, white house correspondent for politico and ashley parker, white house bureau chief f "the washington post." welcome to you both. and thanks for being here. ashley, let's start with you. because you look over the last couple of weeks, a lot happened. we went from the same steps where the insurrection happened being the site for biden's swearing in, when you think about that, what is it we just witnessed? was this sort of the last chaotic shutter of the trump era or is that indicative of the country that biden now inherits? ashley: we don't -- the answer sort of when questions -- [broken audio] of peaceful -- luckily there were -- capitol. actual -- wit -- think --

donald trump -- to twitter and social -- and still out -- happened at the end [broken audio] if and when to wield it. virtually because -- republicans very -- grip over -- amna: ashley i'm going to cut you off. we're having some trouble with ashley parker's audio and we will try to reconnect with her and make sure we can hear what she's saying. laura, let me go to you because it's worth reminding people in between that insurrection and the inauguration there was impeachment. there was a house vote to impeach president trump. and we know now from what senatorchumer has announced tonight there's a time line for that impeachment trial. we should also remember president biden's inaugural address was centered around

this idea of unity and moving forward together. does that effort toward accountability for president trump, does that complicate biden's plan for unity moving forward? laura: well, i think amna that these things don't happen in a vacuum. and so as president biden and his administration has said, they're arguing that the senate can multitask. if you've been -- for -- a hill reporter you constantly hear lawmakers say they can walk and chew gm at the same time. biden knowing that is well -- not trying to activy encourage any republicans so far as we know yet to vote to convict trump. he's taking a handsoff approach but white house press secretary jen psaki think the senate cannot only carry out the impeachment trial but also get toork on confirming his nominees and the legislative

enda that biden is hoping to press forward. amna: and joining us now i want to welcome to the conversation errin haines, editor at large for the 19th news. errin, welcome back to the show. we're talking about this moment in time where you have an impeachment trial for the previous president moving forward at the same time the biden administration is trying to get its agenda off the ground. there's a bit of a split screen. a bit of a jarring moment happening in u.s. politics right now. how are you processing those two truths right now? errin: well, i think that it speaks to the divided reality that we are in as a country, as the new administration takes office and attempts to govern. we obviously have already seen three very dramatic wednesdays in the first three wednesdays of this year. and, you know, we don't know what's going to happen next wednesday. that's just how uncertain the times are that we now find ourselves. but what i wrote on inauguration day, really spoke to the idea of even as, you

know, the president and vice president are calling for unity and healing in this country, you know, we are still very much in what joe biden campaigned on, which is a battle for the soul of america. and you're seeing women at the forefront of that battle on both sides of the aisle whether we're talking about, you know, newcomers to the democratic or republican party or the veterans that are part of the more traditional parts of the party, you know,hat they are saying is that unity and healing is not a conversation that can happen without some accountability and acknowledge scompment recognition of the -- acknowledgement and recognition of the events of the plast several weeks but the last few wednesdays beforeeople can talk about really coming together and moving forward to govern and also unite what is still a very fractured and fragile electorate. amna: laura, it's been so interesting to see president biden is really keeping his distance from t whole issue of impeachment. white house press secretary jen psaki has been asked about this time and again and has said

time and again he is deferring to congress on how and when to move forward on this. but when you look at his legislative priorities, clearly pandemic relief is top of mind, right? he has been talking about it relentlessly for the last couple of days just today. we saw him sign a couple more executive orders aimed toward providing economic relief for people who need it in the pandemic. and he was talking about the economic and the moral imperative of the moment for congress to act. take a quick listen to what he had to say today. presidenbiden: we cannot, will not let people go hungry. we can't let people be evicted because of nothing they did themselves. we can't watch people lose their jobs and we have to act. we have to act now. amna: laura, the pandemic is clearly the single biggest crisis president biden inherits. you and your political colleagues hosted a series of conversations with mayors from around the country, what is it that they want and need from

this administration when it comes to that relief? laura: yeah. they're talking about having a clear message from leaders at the top. so one that is a whole government approach and something that we did not see in the previous administration with mixed messages that came from the health and human services department, the trump administration itself, what -- when we're talking about masks and the use of wearg masks, when we're talking about social distancing, there is mixed messaging across the board. and so what a lot of mayors were saying was that to be -- to have someone that is following more of the science, and also leveling with the american public and saying that we are nowhere near the end of this pandemic. and that there are going to be harder times ahead, potentially before we reach the end of the finish line with this disease. and the loss of life that could

be incurred because of that. so that was a lot of what they were saying, a really all hands approach in terms of vaccine distribution and that they wanted to be able to communicate well with each other whether that's at the federal, state or local level to also assist other cities, to assist other states in terms of making sure that the vaccines reach people in a speedy manner. amna: errin, i want to bring you back in here. because when you look at where the need is, and it comes to the pandemic, and its effect, we know that black and brown and naist communities continue to be -- native communities continue to be among the hardest hit and messad early from the biden administration as they were incoming was they were going to address these racial inequities. have you seen from them specific plans that deal exactly with knows problems, getting the vaccine to some of those hardest hit communities, addressing some of that vaccine skepticism? errin: well, i think that that is going to be factored io this national plan that's still very much taking shape here on

day three of the biden-harris administration. but we have seen to your point, amna, three days of daily press briefings, right? that were not just broadcast on television but were also put on social media platforms in an attempt i think to kind of reach folks where they are. i just moderated a conversation with four of the women who are leading t biden-harris communications team and what they said was that truth and transparency, even in the difficult conversations for the hard days ahead, that the country is going to have on coronavirus, in this pandemic are going to be key to really keeping americans informed and also, you know, restoring trust. not just in the press but in the public's relationship to government. you know, as this vaccine rollout takes place. but as we sit here today, we know thathere is no 1-800 number that people can call or a bsite and people punch in their zip code and figure out where they can get help. so that is really what at least president biden has indicated

that the response to the federal government should be more national and something that they are planning to work on with an eye toward, you know, the folks who we know have been disproportionately impacted by this virus, that being, you know, black and brown and other marginalized folks in our society. amna: let's bring in now another reporter who's been covering all of this. joining us now is anna palmer, founder of punchbowl news and the host of the daily punch podcast. anna, always good to see you. wapet to -- i want to ask you about this plan and errin mentioned the vaccine rollout needs to be ramped up. thatepends on the money being released and funded by congress to actually have it move forward. the biden proposal so far, a massive $1.9 trillion plan. he says he wants bipartisan support to move that forward. what are your sources telling you, is that going to happen? anna: clearly the president wants bipartisan support. but so far, he is not finding much suppo in the republican

camp. and reaching out to what we're calling bipartisan group in the senate where you have republicans and democrats trying to pull together to try to form some kind of unity in the middle. so far, there's been a -- by republicans that you might think would potentially be open to a bipartisan deal. senator mittomney of utah, for instance, senator lisa murkowski of alaska, except tal not only the price tag but also the timing, the fact that congress just passed a massive bill before the holidays and wondering if now is what is needed to do that. and there are going to be a lot of going to have to make up. and i don't -- the president isn't going -- this doesn't happen. republicans don't come together in the next couple of weeks, you're going to see him move very quickly to -- democratic bill through, a policy situation called reconciliation

where they can move legislation without a republican vote. amna: what about the pressure in his own party? we're talking about how republicans will work with him. you got pressure from progressives saying forget bipartisan support. act quickly. now is the time to act boldly and move forward. what -- how is that weighing on president biden right now? ashley: so far no indication that he is going to pursue some of the biggest wish list items that progressives have outlined for him, particularly through executive order. a lot of progressives say that they would ve for biden to use his executive authority to forgivup to $50 mue in -- $50,000 in student loan debt and say he can do that with a stroke of a pen and biden made clear well before he assumed the presidency that he does not think that he has the authority to do that through ecutive order, has said he doesn't want to use executive orders in that way. and so he's saying congress,

it's up to you and he supports forgiving some $10,000 in student loan debt. so there's a number of wish list items like that that progressives certainly want. and biden is saying the way that he wants to pursue that is through congress. now, the question again also that a lot of progressives have on their mind is how long is biden going to wait and see if senate republicans in that 50-50 senate are going to work with him and whether or not things can actually move through reconciliation? and so that's when we enter questions about are the democrats going to pursue getting rid of the legislative filibuster tool so that way they don't have to rely on republicans to push through that agenda? amna: when it comes to getting moving on some of those agenda items, president biden wasted no time getting to work on day one. signing a slew of executive orders on immigration, on the environment, and the pandemic right after being sworn in. and on thursday, biden did something that president trump had long resisted. invoking the defense production acto speed up production of

vaccines and the supplies to deliver them. biden also rejoined the world health organization and issued a mask mandate on trains, planes, and in federal buildings. another sign of the changing tiles, the biden administration rejoined the paris climate accords, halted construction of the border wall, and ended the so-cald muslim ban, all signature trump administration policies. so guys, i think anna is still with us now. when you look at these priorities, i know punchbowl news obtained documents that outlined those first 100 days, those crucial first 100 day policy priorities. democrats just have the majority on capitol hill. so what are the rl priorities among all of those lists? and how is he going to get this done? anna? anna: he wanted a delay on a plan and have it day by day what they were going to do, a lot of it happened with covid relief. i think -- the message of --

the need for covid relief [broken audio] and the economic crisis that he is entering into. so i think that is going to be the focus. and did things along the way with the paris climate agreement. and there was really a -- leadership -- goin to be all covid, economic relief, potentially something -- to try to kind of stimulatehe economy. but that's going to be the focus for him and going to be well balanced. amna: ashley parker from "the washington post" has rejoined us now. ashley, i want to ask you about something that candidate biden ran on the whole time. saying it was his relationships in the senate. that's what he was going to bank on to be able to stop the gridlock in washington and push thingshrough. when it comes to some of these key legislative items right now, what do we know about how much he's doing behind the scenes, who he's calling and what he's saying?

ashley: well, one thing that came up in the briefing today that was somewhat surprising, was that his team has been passed with a lot of -- so you had brian deese reaching out to a bipartisan group of mayors, talking about an upcoming call on sunday with a group of 16 democratic and republican senators. but it is unclear, for instance, exactly what that personal touch biden promised is happening and when we're really going to see it and one sign that is potentially disconcerting for the biden folks is that if you look at his big ticket items, that anna was just discussing and you look at some of the republicans who you would expect for him to get, and frankly you absolutely need for him to get, someone like senator susan collins or senator mitt romney, even they are already expressing some skepticism and reluctance to keep portions of his covid relief bill. and so these calls for unity are aspirational and they are

important. but he is going to have to find a way to go beyond simply that to -- bipartisan and push something through congress. amna: when you look at the calls for unity, they're complicated somewhat by the calls for accountability. especially after the insurrection earlier in january. and there's a real divide we should point out within republicans. you have someone like mitchell mcconnell who has accused trump of provoking that insurrection. then you have the number three house republican liz cheney voting to impeach the president. what is the thinking behind this divide? in the republican party right now? errin? errin: well, you know, with president trump out of the office the future of the republican party and the direction they are going to go in is very much in question. i mean, you had marjorie taylor green, you know, in the wake of joe biden being inaugurated, calling for his impeachment. and you have -- you know, folks like -- another freshman laurie

bobby:ert who is -- boebert who is wanting to carry a gun on the house floor. so that really seems at odds with some other republicans who try to strike maybe a more -- a more conciliatory tone if not a tone that felt disingenuous to some democrats that i spoke to given, you know, their role in kind of stoking the claims of a rigged election that, you know, a lot of folks -- say did fuel the events of january 6. and so again, these are lawmaker that are coming to work with colleagues that they do not trust right now given the events of january 6, the fact that there was an insurrection and questions of whether some of their co-workers were involved in that insurrection or aided in that insurrection in some way. so while the impeachment trial has been put off by a couple of weeks and we don't know what that will do to kind of cool

folks' trements on that, this is something that still is out there that still is unresolved. not just for the american people but also for these lawmakers that have to find a way forward together and how they do that without addressing the events othat day is really unclear. amna: and anna, i should mention that i failed to mention earlier kevin mccarthy has said that impeachment is a non-starter. that it just works to further divide the country. that's the divide for the g.o.p. right now. but what about democrats? very briefly, is there a political consequence for them if they don't work toward accountability? anna: i don't think the question is going to be -- the next couple of weeks. i don't see enough republicans yoming onboard with that at this point. a lot more republicans questioning whether it's constitutional to try to impeach a former president.

the concept of accountability for democrats, i think is going to be to -- [broken audio] joe biden, and they want to -- doing things their way and time for democrats to move forward and talk about whether or not how they will come along for the ride. amna: ashley, when you look at the impeachment schedule ahead right now, it looks like mitch mcconnell got that delayed time line and looks like it will not begin, the trial in the senate until about february 9, what did democrats get in return? ashley: well, you know, joe biden was asked sort of in general terms about that time line. and he said, he simon: to imply that he's happy for that as -- he seemed to imply he's happy for that as we to get his government up and running. the biden white house kept on saying that it is technically true that -- due to things they

can chew gum and hold an impeachment trial and confirm the president's nominees. bu what democrats got in some ways was also more time to push through some of biden's cabinet nominees. amna: uh-huh. so we see now that the biden administration working hard to get under way. i can't thank the four of you enough for joining me. that is all the time we have for tonight. thank you for joining us on this inauguration week. and thank you to our incredible reporters, laura baron-lopez, errin haines, anna palmer, and ashley parker. to end this week's show, a little bit of hope as america begins to write her next chapter. hereow from the inauguration is youth poet laureate amanda gorman. >> we will rebuild, reconcile and recover in every known nook of our natio and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful,

when the day comes we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it. for there is always lht if only we're brave enough to see it. if only we're brave enough to be it. amna: can't think of better words to end this week. thank you to amanda gorman. for more on joe biden's inauguration, and this historic week, make sure to watch the "washington week" extra. that's streaming on our website and on our social media accounts. i'm amna nawaz. good night and please stay safe. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

announcer: corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- boeing. kaiser permanente. consumer cellular. additional funding is provided by the estate of arnold adams and koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

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