01/14/21 01/14/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> we know the president of the united states incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion. he must go. he is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love. amy: donald trump becomes the first u.s. president to be impeached twice as the house of representatives charged him with inciting last week's deadly

insurrection at the capitol. trump will now face a second senate trial, but it is expected to take place after he leaves office. >> president donald trump is a direct and serious threato our democrac and to our constitution. the united states house of representatives did its dutto impeachim and the united states senate must now convict and remove him from public office. amy: we will speak to constitutional lawyer john bonifaz and professor keeanga yamahtta-taylor on "the bitter fruits of trump's white-power presidency." then more than 8000 americans have died from covid-19 over the past two days alone. the cdc warns another 92,000 can die in the next three weeks as complaints grow over the slow -- botched distribution of covid

vaccines. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman. the house of representatives has voted to impeach president donald trump for inciting an insurrection at the u.s. capitol in a bid to overturn joe biden's electoral college victory. trump becomes the first u.s. president to be impeached twice. wednesday's vote, 232 to 197, with 10 republicans joining democrats. it is the most by part of this impeachment -- bipartisan impeachment in history. this is missouri freshman democrat cori bush. >> if we fail to remove by what's up from assist president, it is communities like missouri's first district that suffer the most, the one 117th congress must understand we have a mandate to legislate in defense of black lives, the first step is to root out white supremacy starting with

impeaching the white supremacist in chief. thank you and i yelled back. -- i yield back. amy: some house republicans booed after congressmember cori bush delivered those remarks. shortly after wednesday's vote, house speaker nancy pelosi signed the single article of impeachment. close today the house demonstrated that no one is above the law, not even the president of the united states. that donald trump is a clear and present danger to our country, that once again we honor that oath of office to protect and defend the constitution of the united states, so help us god. amy: republican leader mitch mcconnell has adjourned the senate until january 19, making it unlikely trump's trial wi take place before joe biden takes office. we'll have more on trump's

historic second impeachment after headlines. the fbi is warning police chiefs across the united states to be on high alert for right-wing domestic terror attacks before, and during, joe biden's inauguration next week. in queens, new york, on wednesday, federal agents arrested 40-year-old eduard florea, a leader of the far-right proud boys group, for allegedly plotting another attack on the u.s. capitol. authorities recovered over 1000 rifle and shotgun rounds, along with knives, hatchets and swords. the fbi also confirmed the arrest of douglas allen sweet in virginia. he was photographed with the mob in the capitol last week wearing a shirt captioned "camp auschwitz" and "work brings freedom" in reference to the nazi death camp. in virginia, two police officers from the town of rocky mount were arrested after they boasted online about joining the insurrection. one of the officers is an army

veteran and trained sniper. in washington, heavily armed national guard troops slept on the floor of the capitol ahead of wednesday's impeachment vote. the pentagon said it's increasing the number of guard soldiers deployed to the the nation's capital to 20,000. authorities have erected eight-foot high metal walls around the capitol and set up a fortified perimeter around the u.s. naval observatory, the official residence of vice president mike pence. house democrats are demanding an investigation into whether republican lawmakers gave reconnaissance tours to far-right insurrectionists ahead of the january 6 riots at the capitol. congressmember mikie sherrill of new jersey -- who narrowly escaped the rampaging mob on january 6 -- says she witnessed an extremely hignumber of outside groups in the capitol complex on january 5 at a time when the building was mostly cled to visirs due to the pandemic. congressmember sherrill spoke to msnbc. >> i was flat on the ground as

other members were calling -- they thought it might be the last phone call they made. to imagine colleagues of mine had aided an event of this, it is incredibly offensive and there simply no way they can be allowed to continue to serve in congress. amy: meanwhile, house speaker pelosi has scheduled a vote on whether to fine lawmakers who evade metal detectors up to $10,000 per infraction. this week at least a dozen republican house members were seen walking around magnetometers or ignoring capitol police after setting them off. among those flaunting the rules was qanon-supporting freshman republican lauren boebert of colorado, who has pledged to carry her glock pistol with her at all times. she tweeted -- "i am legally permitted to carry my firearm in washington, d.c., and within the capitol complex." the statement is false. under house rules, firearms are restricted to a congressmember's office.

president trump released a video wednesday in which he claimed to oppose political violence. trp read arepared statement from a teleprompter in a five-minute video posted on the white house's official twitter account. pres. trump: i unequivocally condemn the violence thate saw st week. violence and vanlism hav absotely nple in o couny and nplace o movent. am trumpent on tblamboth sis of theoliticalpectrum r violce over e past yr. his statement came a week after he told his supporters, "we love yo you're very ecial," they rampad through the catol. ump'preparedemar came afr his ais repoedly warnedim he fas seriou legaexposurence heeaves fice. "t washingn post" ports trump has instructed aides not to pay $20,000-a-day legal fees to his lawyer rudy giuliani, who's been working to overturn the results of the election. giuliani faces possible expulsion from the new york

state bar association after he told trump's mob on january 6, "let's have trial by combat." meanwhile, a growing number of businesses have distanced themselves from trump and his political allies. deutsche bank and signature bank say they're severing ties with the trump organization, as did the real estate brokerage firm cushman & wakefield. the pga of america said it would no longer hold next year's championship at trump's golf club in bedminster, new jersey. american express, at&t, comcast, dow, nike, g.e., verizon, and other corporations said they would cut contributions to republican lawmakers who refused to certify joe biden's electoral college victory. meanwhile, new york mayor bill de blasio said wednesday the city is canceling all contracts with the trump organization. >> so we will no longer be doing any business at all by the contract language, of the right to terminate contracts, obviously, if criminal act has

been committed and a criminal act has been committed. so goodbye to the trump organization. amy: 92,000 more people in the united states could die of covid-19 in the next three weeks, this according to a grim forecast issued by the centers for disease control and prevention. another 3800 deaths were reported wednesday alone and over 225,000 new confirmed cases. over 130,000 people are hospitalized with covid-19. pennsylvania said its number of hospitalizations is now close to double the peak of the spring's first wave. arizona officials also reported record-high hospitalization and icu numbers this week. a staggering one-in-three los angeles county residents has gotten the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic according to new data. early trials for johnson & johnson's experimental coronavirus vaccine are showing promising results. if further trials prove

effective, the vaccines could be -- the vaccine could be a game-changer as they require just one shot and do not need to be stored in ultra-cold freezers. democratic congressmember pramila jayapal said wednesday her husband steve williamson also has covid-19, days after she tested positive following last week's riot at the capitol when she was forced to take shelter with republican lawmakers who refused to wear facemasks. congressmember ayanna pressley's husband conan harris has also tested positive for covid-19. he was with the congresswoman during the capitol siege. as confirmed global deaths from covid-19 near 2 million, the world health organization is warning the worst of the pandemic may still lie ahead. >> going into a second year of this could be even tougher given the transmission dynamics and some of the issues. amy: the who points to the rapid spread of more infectious

variants which are believed to be more infectious and have quickly crossed borders and are circulating in countries around the world. the u.n. body is also asking wealthier countries to share their vaccines with poorer countries in a show of kindness and global solidarity. of the 46 countries that started vaccinating their populations, only one is low-income. china has reported its first covid death since may as who officials arrived in wuhan to start their investigation into the origins of the pandemic. china recently placed over 22 million people in lockdown in an effort to contain its mounting cases. switzerland is holding a referendum on the government's authority to impose covid restrictions after campaigners garnered enough support to trigger a public vote on repealing some lockdown and other measures. the vote could come as early as june and the outcome will be legally binding. in peru, health workers are on indefinite strike calling for more financial support and resources from the government as they battle the surge in

patients with dwindling hospital staff. the u.s. has expanded its ban on cotton products from the chinese province of xinjiang, now banning all cotton from the region and adding tomatoes to the list over fears of companies using the slave labor of imprisoned uyghur muslims. in hong kong, police raided and arrested 11 more people under the national security law as the crackdown on pro-democracy voices continues. the detained are accused of helping 12 activists flee to taiwan by speedboat in august. human rights watch said china has had an appalling year of human rights violations in 2020, citing the situation in hong kong, the trtment of muslim uyghurs, and the silencing of reports about the coronavirus. >> since president xi jinping came to power, it has gotten worse and worse overall.

every aspect of chinese society, you can see how this party is becoming more and more intolerant of any kind of independent activity. amy: human rights watch slammed u.s. in the annual report with dr. ken roth sang "trump has been a complete disaster for human rights." in uganda, voting has begun in the closely watched race between longtime ugandan president yoweri museveni and the rapper-turned-politician known as bobby wine. on wednesday, tanks began patrolling areas of kampala largely in opposition stronghold neighborhoods. during the campaign, security forces repeatedly cracked down on opposition rallies, killing more than 50 people. uganda shut down all social media platforms ahead of the election. the census bureau has stopped working on president trump's directive to establish a count of undocumented residents. the move effectively ends trump's bid to exclude immigrants from the census count.

the aclu, which challenged trump's attack on the census in court, is calling for incoming president biden to formally rescind trump's policy. and the u.s. supreme court has barred patients from receiving medication in the mail to have a non-surgical abortion early in their pregnancy. the court reinstated a federal requirement that patients must visit a doctor's office or health center to obtain mifepristone, overturning a lower court ruling that the drug could be mailed to reduce unnecessary travel during the pandemic. the decision will force some to drive over 1000 miles to get the pill. the three liberal judges on the court dissented. sonia sotamayor said the ruling "imposes an unnecessary, irrational and unjustifiable undue burden on women seeking to exercise their right to choose." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined remotely by my co-host nermeen shaikh.

hi, nermeen. nermeen: good morning amy. ,welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: the house of representatives has voted to impeach president donald trump for inciting an insurrection at the u.s. capitol in a bid to overturn joe biden's electoral college victory, making trump the first u.s. president to be impeached twice. wednesday's vote was 232 to 197, with 10 republicans joining democrats. it is the most bipartisan impeachment in history. it was one week ago today, the morning after the insurrection, that congressmember ilhan of -- ilhan omar of minnesota, a former refugee, the first somali american to serve in congress and also the first to wear hijab in u.s. congress, first unveiled a resolution to peach trump. during wednesday's proceedings, she called trump a tyrant. >> let us not mince words about

what happened last week. it was a violent attempt to interrupt our democratic process . it was a targeted low at the most essential process that makes as a democracy. it was a direct and specifically incited by the president of the united states. for years, we have been asked to turn a blind eye to the criminality, corruption, and blatant disregard to the rule of law by the tyrant president we have in the white house. we as a nation can no longer look away. amy: in 2019, president trump was impeached by the house for abuse of power and obstruction of congress. this is democratic congresswoman diana degette of colorado, who served as an impeachment manager last year and will again this year. she was speaking on wednesday. >> just over year ago, i stood where you are standing today as

we took the solemn step of impeaching the president of the united states for pressuring a foreign leader to take unlawful actions to help him in their election. just one week ago, almost to the hour, i laid right there on the floor of the gallery above us. i heard gunshots in the speakers lobby. i heard the mob counting on the door. what they were trying to do, they were all in agreement -- angry mob trying to stop the certification of a legitimate election. it is clear the president learned nothing in the last year. yesterday the president said again he did nothing wrong. this man is dangerous. he has defied the constitution. he has incited sedition. he must remain. amy -- he must be removed.

amy: president trump now faces an impeachment trial in the senate, which republican leader mitch mcconnell has adjourned until january 19, making it unlikely the trial will take place before joe biden is inaugurated. for more, we are joined by john bonifaz, co-founder and president of free speech for people, and co-author of "the constitution demands it: the case for the impeachment of donald trump." can you talk about the significance of the second impeachment of donald trump and what it means and what will happen in the senate? >> thank you for having me. this is a significant, historic vote. the house of representatives did its duty to pass this article of impeachment against donald trump for inciting insurrection of a violent, seditious attack on the u.s. capitol to overthrow us additional government. as speaker pelosi said, he is a clear and present danger to the nation. he must be removed immediately. we do not accept the idea senator mcconnell has put forward that somehow the senate

cannot act immediately to hold this impeachment trial and conviction remove him. there is a procedure for enacting emergency roles to reconvene the u.s. senate. senator mcconnell should do that. members of the republican-led senate are responsible. those who did not vote to convict last time are responsible in part for allowing this president to stay in office, someone who has clearly abused his power time and time again, leading to this violent attack on the u.s. capitol just last week. nermeen: john bonifaz, it seems that mcconnell is not likely to reconvene the senate. could you talk about what the significance and the consequences would be of impeaching president carrying out a trial in the senate for

former president? what would be the consequences of that? >> the consequences are that there is a basis for disqualifying a member of the public who has held public office before and has been convicted from ever running for office, holding office again. that disqualification has to happen here. not only should he be convicted for having engaged in this insurrection, inciting this insurrection, but he should be barred from ever holding future federal office. and that can happen even if he has already left office. that is significant because the president has said he intends to consider running for office again, has suggested he might run in 2024. there is no basis for him to be able to hold office again if he is convicted -- in fact, the

14th amend section three makes clear anyone who is engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the united states may not hold public office in the future. nermeen: could you elaborate on that? section three of the 14th amendment? in a recent piece in "washington post" eric foner advocated invoking thasectio section three of the 14th amendment, as the more expeditious way of getting rid of trump and also a more appropriate one. he wrote -- "invoking a constitutional provision meant to limit the political power of confederate leaders would mark an appropriate and to the career of a president who so closely identifies himself as the memory of the confederacy and with the culture of white resentment." john bonifaz? >> i agree with eric foner.

in fact, with respect to invoking this provision of the 14th amendment -- that provision is cited in the article of impeachment house of representatives passed yesterday. but it does not mean we only do that. we have to proceed with this impeachment trial. this president must be held accountable for the charges that have now been issued by the u.s. house of representatives for inciting insurrection. impeachment means anything. it means this president be held accountable for his crimes, his high crimes that he has committed. i think we ought to make sure the senate does its job, that it holds this impeachment trial immediately, that it convicts and removes this president from public office, while at the same time invoking that provision of the 14th amendment. frankly, it ought to be invoked

not only against the president, but against those members of congress who participated in seeking to overthrow a free and fair election last november. even after this violent attack on the was capital, you had 140 members of the u.s. house, seven members of the u.s. senate, voting after that attack to overthrow this free and fair election. they participated in helping to incite this insurrection. participated spreading the big lie that somehow this was a fraudulent election and it was not. and the idea that they get to stay in office after having participated in an action is antithetical to our democracy and that provision of the 14th amendment. amy: john bonifaz, it president trump were found guilty in the senate, and there are serious questions with the crises that are being faced from the economy

and covid, to continue to deal with donald trump, it is not automatic that he would not be able to run again, is that right? it would have to be a sanction decided by the senate if they found him guilty. >> that is correct. and this has happened in prior impeachments of judges were following the conviction vote, there is another vote that is taken and only requires a simple majority of the senate to disqualify the person from ever holding federal office again. that is what would have to happen here. first, the senate would have to hold the impeachment trial, convict the president -- or if he is no longer president, the ex-president -- and then pass bicycle majority vote the disqualification. all of that can take place very quickly. and it should. senator schumer has called on senator mcconnell to invoke

emergency rules to reconvene this senat now not to have estate adjourned until january 19. and the reason is that we know on right-wing militia sites, there are statements being made, discussions of another attack on washington weeding up to the inauguration. and this president has incited that. young to be held accountable and he ought not to be in public office any longer. amy: john bonifaz, thank you for being with us co-founder and , president of free speech for people and co-author of "the constitution demands it: the case for the impeachment of donald trump." next, keeanga yamahtta-taylor. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "run rabbit run" by flanagan & allen. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we continued look at president trump's second impeachment. it is historic. the house voted to an 32 to 190 seven to charge trump with inciting last extend insurrection at the capitol, making him the first president to be impeached twice. during wednesday's debate, cori bush of missouri called trump a white supremacist president. >> madame speaker, st. louis and i rise in support of the articles of impeachment against donald j. trump. if we fail to remove a white supremacist president incited a white supremacist insurrection, it is communities like missouri's first district that suffer the most. the 117th congress must understand with a mandate to legislate in defense of black lives. the first step is to root out whe supremacy starting with

impeaching the white supremacist in chief. thank you and i yield back. >> the john mack from ohio -- amy: after cori bush' remarks, some republicans booed. congressmember bush has said her first resolution in congress will be to "call for the expulsion of the republican members of congress who incited this domestic terror attack on the capitol." as trump was impeached wednesday, more of his supporters who took part in last week's attack were arrested, including current police officers. in queens, new york, the fbi arrested eduard florea, a leader of the far-right proud boys group, for allegedly plotting another attack on the u.s. capitol. the fbi also confirmed the arrest of douglas allen sweet in virginia, who was photographed with the mob in the capitol wearing a shirt that read "camp auschwitz" in reference to the nazi death camp. in virginia, two police officers from the town of rocky mount were arrested after they boasted

online about joining the insurrection. one is an army veteran and trained sniper. ana houston police officer was placed on administrative leave and will likely face felony charges after he was filmed joining riots at the capitol. this comes as the fbi is warning police chiefs across the united states to be on high alert for right-wing domestic terror attacks before, and during, joe biden's inauguration next week. the pentagon said it's increasing the number of guard soldiers deployed to the nation's capital to 20,000 -- twice the combined number of u.s. troops in iraq and afghanistan. this massive mobilization stands in stark contrast to last week's riot. pr reports despite open planning of the violent attack on social media, the fbi and department of homeland security filed no security report ahead of january 6, even though they produced

similar intelligence bulletins ahead of demonstrations after the police killing of george floyd, and black lives matter marches, and the annual convention of the islamic society of north america. for more, we're joined by renowned scholar keeanga yamahtta-taylor, assistant professor of african american studies at princeton university and a contributing writer at "the new yorker" magazine. her latest piece is headlined "the bitter fruits of trump's white-power presidency." professor taylor, welcome back to democracy now! why don't you respond to the impeachment yesterday and what you saw this insurrection -- what underlies it. >> i think the impeachment yesterday is a culmination of sorts of the kind violence and racism that has been at the heart of the trump

administration that finally boiled over. this is an effort to i think reassert some kind of authority and control in a situation that seems to have spiraled out of control politically at an incredibly dangerous time. if we think about all of the things that are happening in the united states right now with the exponential spread of covid, with the disintegration of the u.s. economy, with llions of people -- it is not hyperbole disabling's of people stand on the precipice of eviction and foreclosure at the end of january. and we have a government that has completely spun out of control at the hands of donald trump. i think the impeachment procedures are an effort to

regain control, which is why you've seen -- not many, not a significant number -- but some republicans who have finally grasped the depth of depravity of this trump administration and this danger it represents. i think this has gotten to this point because it has been allowed -- the trump administration has been allowed to court white supremacists and white extremists from before donald trump one his presidency and certainly well into his presidency, that all of his racist comments, his comments encouraging violence against his politil opponents, both in politics and a population at large, have been down laid have been ignored in some cases,

agon. all of that has brought us to this point from has brought us to this point today. nermeen: could you elaborate on what you said about the house republicans who broke with the party and voted to support in favor of impeachment? do you see that as indicative of where the party might go after trump? many of said, 10 is nothing. everyone should have voted to impeach him given what happened. where do you see the party going once trump is out? >> i think given that donald trump not only received 74 million votes, but he significantly increased his voter turnout even at the most hysterical part of his presidency, the most unhinged part of his presiden toward the end. he still continued to grow his

voter base. i think the idea that this is either the end of the republican party or the republican party has learned from its mistakes is sadly mistaken. i think the republican party, for most of them, feel as if they have benefited from the rancorous of donald trump. i think what really makes a difference in terms of whether they can continue to embrace this kind of unvarnished white extremism in the heart of their party or whether they try to put the cloak back over it -- which i think is an important thing to say. even for those republicans who have come out and finally said this is a bridge too far, i

mean, this is pretty dramatic for the bridge too far to be this. if we think about all of the things that donald trump has said and done in his very short one term presidency, for it to get to this point, insurrection, riots in the capitol building that resulted in the deaths of two police officers. one officer was killed in the capitol and another committed suicide days after the riots in the capitol. if that is what it takes three to break with donald trump, it speaks to the rot at the core of the republican party. i think because they have been so successful embracing these politics of racism, extremism, xenophobia, islamophobia, political violence -- the idea that only republicans are entitled to win elections, there

will have to be some demonstration that those politics are no longer popular among a certain strain under the population for them to abandon that strategy. so it remains to be seen what donald trump's influence will be, whether the corporate titans jumping off the titanic will be enough to get the attention of the republican party. but that so many of them continue to cling to this demagogue even after the death of police officers, even after the mayhem at the capitol, is both astounding and speaks to the utter corruption of the republican party at large. amy: i want to ask you abt the comments of people like cover

several pramila jayapal, who, along with many others like norma torres, ayana pressley, have talked about the hor -- alexandria ocasio-cortez. these women of color flaying this mob who not to mention some of the african-american capitol police who felt completely unprotected themselves from their leadership as they were being chased by the mob. but you had pramila jayapal bringing these two issues together. she is the third congressmember to test positive for covid-19 that we know of. the new jersey congressmember coleman watkins also tested positive. 75 years old, african-american, cancer survivor. because of sequestering with republican congress members who refused to wear masks. pramila jayapal said, only hours after president trump incited a deadly assault on our capital,

our country and our democracy, many republicans still refused to take the bare minimum covid-19 precaution and simply wear a damn mask in a crowded room creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack." now her husband has tested positive, as has ayanna pressley's husband. can you talk about the coming together of these two issues? nancy pelosi, democrats demanding these republicans wear masks or be fined and having those fines deducted from republicans paychecks if they don't wear them in the house but for this attack last week and the disproportionate effect covid has on people of color? >> it is utterly disgusting and it shows something about the

selfishness, the hypocrisy of the republican party to put these people at risk for the sake of their political brands. i think there's something much more pernicious to this when we think about the ways these people are responsible have a political obligation to make determinations about how the country responds to this virus, to be responsible for creating the provisions to mitigate the worst aspects of this virus, and are now in political control of how the vaccines are disseminated in response to the virus. so i think when you look at the

absolutely astounding, appalling response of the most powerful nation on earth to the coronavirus, you get some insight into why the political response has been so completely bungled. with the republican party in charge of the senate and the presidency, they have had absolutely no interest in pursuing an aggressive strategy to try to contain this virus. i think early on republican party took the stance that was imposed on wheat workers and the meek hacking -- meatpacking industry that they would force people to work, they would create a situation where there were no public provisions so people could safely shelter in place at home, which has been

the only real known way to curb the virus. but we know the only way that is possible is if you make sure that people's rent is paid, that you make sure people are able to afford groceries, that you make sure people are able to provide for their families. that is the only way you can stay at home. so the republicans left the effort to take that off the table to force people to go to work, which has resulted in the disasterous dental we have in this country, all of the hedge that americans would becom immune to thousands of people dying and that would be the way they would get away with that. so the personal politicization of wearing a mask, taking

preventative measures, also underlies a political approach to not containing this virus as it has had a disproportionate impact on indigenous people, on black people come on latinx people who are forced to work in the public sector. in these people civilly do not care. this party of disproportionate millionaires, disproportionately white males, do not care about the impact right down to putting their colleagues come the people they work with, at risk. it speaks to something deranged wiin the individuals that compose that party. it is disgusting. amy: and a correction, discovers member bonnie watson coleman. we will link to her op-edn the "washington post" "i'm 75, had cancer, i got cover 19 because my gop colleagues dismissed fax." nermeen: as you just outline,

this litany of abusive policies of the trump administration is carried out right to this moment, despite that, as you've written about, he received over 70 million votes. as you have also said, there was an increase in the people who voted for him, among demographics -- graphic groups that one would not expect to support him. so there are these 70 million people who are trump supporters and we're going into the biden-harris administration next week. what is going to happen all these people? how should the biden-harrison administration engage with them if at all and in what ways? >> there are two things. one is i think trump increased his overall voting turnout, to

the shock of many people, but i don't think the 74 million people that voted for trump are all white supremacist,hite extra assists are looking to kill people in the democratic party. clearly there is a stratum at that among people but i don't -- i think there's a more complicated set of issues going on here. i think trump increased his voter totals among latinx people, like voters, putting ack women. there's much more talk about his increase among black male voters. he also increased his total -- voting totals among black women. i think there is a much more complicated story to tell about

really the collapse in the credibility of the parties in that people feel like the world is falling apart around the and that there has been an anemic response from the political parties involved. in some ways, tre are lots of things i think that motivate trump voters. one of them being registering one's disappointment, disapproval with government itself. trump has become this absurd symbol of antigovernment, even as the president, the most powerful elected position not just in this country, but in the world -- he still registers as a kind of antigovernment figur. -

i think people feel his behavior is also a rebuke of the kind of buttoned up political theater that most other elected officials engage in. and so i think what really is speaks to is the lack of political options and alternatives for people and it is country. that is why when people talk about is this the end of the republican party, is the republican party going to dissolve over this -- people were saying the same thing in 2015 when donald trump became the candidate for the republican party, which seemed ridiculous, and theepublicans were somewhat of a laughingstock as result of that until they actually won the presidency. when there are two parties, it limits your ability to really register opposition and leads people to vote for one or the other.

that being said, i think there is an opportunity for the biden-harrison administration to actually be able to demonstrate a government that can be effective. they have to seize this opportunity that has been dropped in their laps because of the activism cooked work of activists in georgia that helped flip the senate seat in that state. that means officially once joe biden is inaugurated, there are no more excuses. the democratic party has control of the senate and that should very quickly open up a period of intense legislation. the $2000 checks. we want to see them. relief for renters in this country. stopping evictions.

we want to see that. health care, a real plan around the distribution of this vaccine. i think all of those things -- canceling student loan debt. all of these things are now probable. the democrats do not have the republicans as an excuse for why they can't get things done. i think it means that the biden-here's the administration are going to have to abandon this plan of bipartisanship, of trying to appeal to the discredited and disgraced republican party in the name of some false unity. and instead, they must plow ahead wi a plan that can actually fix not just deeper problems, but problems that seem and appear to be completely out of control and this country. they have to use this authority to do so.

amy: we have 10 seconds. >> we know from joe biden's history that that will be a hard thing for him to do. it means the social movements that were most activated through the summer around black lives matter have to reemerge to force the biden-harris administration to follow through on the promises that were made. amy: keeanga yamahtta-taylor, thank you for being with us, assistant professor of african american studies at princeton university and a contributing writer at "the new yorker" magazine. we will link to her most recent piece "the bitter fruits of trump's white-power presidency." next up, and 8000 americans have died of covid-19 in the past two days alone. we will talk about the botched vaccine distribution and what is to be done not only in this country, but around the world. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "world without fear" by antibalas.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. more than 8000 americans have died from covid-19 in the last two days alone. experts believe the outbreak look get even worse before the effects of the vaccines are felt. the cdc warns another 92,000 people could die in the next three weeks. this as complains grow over the slow distributive vaccines. in effigies read up the rollout, the cdc has expended guidelines to include eligibility for anyone 65 or older as well as those with underlying health conditions. for more, we go to omaha, nebraska, on the rollout around the world and in the u.s., joined by dr. ali khan, epidemiologist and the dean of the college of public health at the university of nebraska medical center. he's the former director of the cdc's office of public health preparedness and response, where he oversaw the strategic national stockpile. dr. khan, welcome back to democracy now!

you have these new cdc guidelines was to anyone 65 or older can get this vaccine or people with comorbidity, with underlying problems below that, as well as teachers and health care professionals. the biden decision, as well as the trump administration decision now, to just release everything, not to save half for people to go back and get their second is for the moderna and pfizer vaccines, which requires two doses for the full protection. what are your thoughts about this? >> thank you. so this really helps to balance the supply-demand mismatch we are seeing across america. there has been apprimatel30 million doses distributed, but only about 10 million doses actually administered. i think the overall national number is 30% of doses that have been distributed have been administered.

we are seeing great -- great variability in the ability to get the vaccine out. i releasing the vaccine, you take care addresng issues where sites have more people than vaccine and by increasing the number of people who are eligible you take care of sites that are throwing away vaccine because they can't give it to anybody. it addresses some of the mismatch but there is a real concern here. the first concern is this in no way addresses the continued operational insufficiency we are seeing at locaand state level. do they have the processes and procedures in place to enroll these people, vaccinate them, and track them? i also have slight concern about trust. by increasing the people who are eligible, approximately 150 million people who have just been made eligible, what is not going to happen is there isn't

going to be 300 million doses of vaccine that are about to be released tomorrow. so these individuals still are not going to get vaccinated over the next couple of months. we need to remind people this does not mean you can get vaccinated tomorrow. the other concern is from the manufacturing standpoint. we have had a mismatch between distribution and administration, but also concern of a mismatch between manufacturing and administration because we know one vaccine is not sufficient. you need to get two vaccines. will manufacturing be able to keep up withll of this increased demand for vaccines? it is not a panacea, not a solution. it will help some of the problem but the fundamental issues around improving operations remain. nermeen: dr. khan, could you comment on the report that some health workers who were the first among those to be offered the vaccine, tt someealth

workers have been refusing the vaccine? in the second issue is what we know about those who received both doses of either vaccine, the likelihood of them still being able to spread the virus if they become infected? >> those are excellent questions. we should not be surprised there is vaccine hesitancy in the united states, including among health-care workers. as we heard from your last guest, significant polarization and polymerization of this response -- politicization of this response. in our facilities here, in nebraska, we have almost 95% compliance so people are lining up to get vaccinated. we need to be careful about anecdotes about who does or does not want to get vaccinated. the good news is for people who are getting two doses of the vaccine, recent reports suggest

there likely protected for a year -- which is excellent news about the vaccine. we do not yet have the data getting vaccinated prevents disease transmission. you may have mild basic to meta-disease a could sti be infecting other people. we did not have enough time to collect that data and often that data is collected after the vaccine is ministered in the community. your question is a great reminder that even with vaccination, we still need to make sure people are wearing masks, that they're social distancing, that their washing hands. a great reminder there is 1.7 billion people right now who wake up with near zero cases, zero deaths, go to a live sporting event, economies are growing, and we can do the same thing here in the united states if we use good science, if we are data-driven, and we won't need a whole lot of vaccine to drop this tragic number of cases

we continue to see in the u.s. i believe for the third time in a row, we have had over 4000 deaths in a single day from a completely preventable disease. amy: the terrible fear that now flatten the cur means going straight up. what about, if you're getting two vaccines, johnson & johnson apparel he has a one-shot vaccine and they're just about to make an announcement about that, but if you get the pfizer for example, what if you go back and they only have the moderna? two studies show this is ok to mix and match? >> there are no studies available that suggests it is ok to mix and match. this is a lot of effort at the local health department to make sure you go back and get the exact same vaccine. good point about johnson & johnson. that vaccine would be a game changer if the studies suggest it is efficacious and safe.

just one does, not the issues of maintaining these vaccines under frozen conditions. it does allow the more typical of mass vaccination. you don't need to follow-up, you just need to give them the one does. hopefully, we will hear good news in the next couple of weeks on the johnson & johnson vaccine and their commitment to supply approximately 12 million doses by the end of february. amy: let's not forget the w joe has pointed out of the 46 countries that started vaccinated, only one population is low income. tomorrow we will be joined by the son of jonas salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine. dr. khan, thank you for being with us, epidemiologist and the dean of the college of public health at the university of nebraska medical center. former director at the cdc. that does it for our broadcast.

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narrator: on this episode of "earth focus"...los angeles is known for its urban sprawl and traffic-clogged system o freeways rather than its diverse array of living species. the second-most-populated city in america is actually a biodiverse hotspot--one of just a few in the entire world. within the confines of this concrete jungle, species are adapting and, in some cases, even thriving. welcome to the los angeles urban wild.