to all the businesses make it through 2020... thank you for going the extra mile... and for the extra pump of caramel. thank you for the good food... and the good karma. thank you for all the deliveries... especially this one. you've reminded us that no matter what, we can always find a way to bounce forward. so thank you, to our customers and to businesses everywhere, from all of us at comcast business.

good day, everyone, from the brokaw news center here in los angeles. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we have breaking news as capitol hill right now is poised for several showdowns, this headed into the last week of 2020. topping the list, the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill on top of the spending package which still sits unsigned on the president's desk. the president once again at his golf club with the livelihoods of millions of americans hanging in the balance. two pandemic unemployment programs have now expired, programs that would have been extended in this bill and other critical lifelines are days from ending. president trump doubling down on new demands for higher stimulus checks, tweeting $2,000 plus $2,000 for other family members, not $600.

lawmakers on both sides of the aisle today expressing their frustration over the situation. >> nuif you want to make it $2,0 checks, negotiate that from the beginning. let's have the discussion after this bill is signed because right now we're at a point where people are left out in the dark. but to play this old switcheroo game, i don't get the point, i don't understand what's being done unless it's just to create chaos and show power and be upset because you lost the election. >> we're at the mercy of responding to a man who is not in concert with the difficult times people are facing. act for the american people you allegedly care about, but he shows he cares about one person, and that's donald trump. >> house speaker nancy pelosi setting up a vote tomorrow to approve the $2,000 stimulus checks requested by the president. it comes after house republicans first blocked an attempt for a unanimous vote on christmas eve. congress will also be voting in an attempt to override president trump's veto of a $740 billion

defense bill. starting out for this hour's coverage, nbc's josh letterman with the president in florida and shivia covering the biden administration. we'll start with you, josh, in florida where the president was seen golfing today. are there any type of discussions happening over there? >> reporter: if there are discussions, they would have to be taking place on the golf course, because as you mentioned, alex, that's where the president is right now and it's also where he spent three of the last five days while being here in south florida, with no signs he was engaging with congress or with steve mnuchin for finding a path wway forward. in the meantime, the frustration with his fellow republicans are growing quickly. there was a few days they were hoping to keep the powder dry, hoping the president would back

off on this threat, but then the president made it clear with his indication on twitter that that will not be taking place. in fact, the president has been retweeting his old five-day-old tweets on thursday, sending that video where he shocked washington suggesting he's not going to sign that relief bill. now republicans are starting to speak out, including retiring senator pat toomey of pennsylvania saying president trump's legacy is at stake. take a listen. >> i really don't know. i think the president has not actually explicitly said he's going to veto this bill. i take that as a hopeful sign. i think as he leaves office, he will -- i understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he'll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire. so i think the best thing to do, as i say, sign this and then make the case for subsequent

legislation. >> reporter: and, alex, it's americans of all political stripes who are going to feel the worst consequences of the president refusing to sign this, but it's his own fellow republicans who are facing the political heat after so many of them have been touting the fact that they were able to deliver this, including senator david perdue up for re-election in that runoff in georgia within hours of this covid relief being sent to the president, he had an ad out touting the fact that he was able to deliver relief for the american people. his opponent, jon ossoff, the democrat, now insisting that tv take that ad off the air. at the moment the ad is not accurate. >> that's right, and false advertising. let's turn to president-elect joe biden as more lawmakers are joining the incoming president in calls for president trump to sign that relief bill. of course, it remains stuck in a

stalemate. deepa shivia is joining us from delaware. deepa, welcome. what's on the agenda for today? >> reporter: they echoed what pat toomey has said rk, urging president to sign this bill. you see democrats and republicans coming together with the same message, and joe biden joining the chorus of voices urging the current president to sign this covid relief package. we talked about how some of those consequences would be millions of americans evicted just around the corner, small businesses falling apart and unemployment insurance that's already expired for so many people in this country. as josh said, it's everyday americans who are going to be facing these consequences. senator bernie sanders who actually had called on more of these relief checks to come through, he was actually partnering with very conservative republican senator josh hawley and they both agreed the bill that was put forth to

president trump was something that really democrats and republicans came together on, they agreed on, and president trump is really the one who is causing this whole stalemate in the first place. senator sanders actually spoke a little earlier about this on one of the sunday shows this morning. take a listen to what he said. >> at this moment, working families are suffering more economic desperation than any time since the great depression. we should be responding to that need. and let me say this. i think that president-elect biden understands that reality. and if we can get through this trump administration in the next few weeks without doing terrible harm to the american people, i suspect one of the first items on the biden agenda will be following up on what we're doing here and providing that kind of assistance. >> reporter: so you hear there bernie sanders saying that joe biden is prepared to carry forward this kind of messaging, this plan, this momentum into his own administration to really tackle this covid pandemic, the

economic fallout that has come with it. but it was interesting, alex, in that statement that joe biden put out, he really did nod to the bipartisan nature of this, and he urged president trump to essentially get on board. there are people on both sides of the aisle who can come together on this, and he thinks the president should, too. >> yeah, he absolutely should. deepa shivram, thank you so much for that. joining me now, congresswom congresswoman deborah dingell. thank you for joining us. let's play what you said on thursday. you were on capitol hill. let's take a listen. >> then the president, when we finally thought we would be able to give people hope -- that's what people need, hope -- and begin to continue to work on this in january doesn't give a damn about people. he threw more fear, he threw ke kerosene on a fire. >> that's how you felt on

thursday. how are you feeling now today as the jobless benefits have expired? that bill still sits on the president's desk. >> i obviously don't feel -- >> congresswoman, we're having a little bit of difficulty hearing you. do you have a microphone there? maybe you can just pull that? no? let's try it again, if you can continue talking. >> can you hear me now? >> yes. better, thank you. so do you feel any better today? >> i have no comment. i'm trying to appear more serene, but the fact of the matter is americans across the country are scared to death. people are -- i don't think ends how many americans are really impacted in their lives by

what's happening. it's got to stop. >> is that the reason why this president is holding up the bill, that he just does not understand? what other reason is there? >> i don't understand, and i am joining -- i said this over the weekend. i'm begging the president to understand this really is his legacy. if he wants people -- [ technical difficulties ] >> the government could be shut down. we're in the middle of a pandemic and we could shut the government down. >> congresswoman, there are few people i would rather hear from than you.

we are having some issues but we got a few of your points. i'll have to cut it off there. i promise we'll make up for the time. happy new year to you and happy new year's to the other side. national police officers speaking publicly for the first time, they're providing some pretty hair-raising details to the response to that christmas explosion in nashville. they recount the urgency to save people's lives, get people to safety, and not to mention the rv that was to explode. they had no understanding of what happened at the time. >> i'm prepared for a shootout and also getting as many people out as possible. it's multitasking in my thinking, just getting as many people out of these businesses as we can and also get ready to engage people that were not in uniform. >> shaq brewster is joining me from downtown nashville.

what was it like for you to see these officers bear their emotions, share their innermost thoughts and fears as this danger unfolded? >> reporter: it was definitely a rare look, alex, one that i frankly haven't seen before. remember, these are the officers who were there on the scene and experienced an explosion, but not only that, they are credited for saving many lives as they went to evacuate people. they heard that rv playing that eerie music and that warning telling them to evacuate that turned into somewhat of a countdown. they talk about the conversations they had with people, pressing that urgency on them, telling them it was time to leave. they even had detail about the pop song that was playing in the minutes before the rv detonated, the song that opens with the lyrics, when you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go downtown. but i want you to hear from the officers directly. listen here. >> i did look at the rv, noticed that all the shades were down

and kind of walked around it to see if there was a tag, anything like that, to try to get more info. i did not notice one. from there, myself, officer hosey, wells and sypos went into the building and knocked on all the doors that we could. >> i popped the trunk on my vehicle to get another piece of equipment out, at which point i just felt a push, basically. i was thrown into the trunk a little bit, turned around to see a very orange sky, a lot of smo smoke, at which point i ran back towards 2nd avenue north as all the other officers did. >> i grabbed him, he grabbed me, and we ducked into a doorway because we didn't know what was coming afterwards. i'll never forget the windows shattering after the blast all around me. it looked like a big prop from a movie scene, all the glass

breaking at once. >> i'm not going to shy away from that. i am a spiritual person, so i truly believe when i do this job, i'm led by that voice how i treat people, how i go about doing this job every day. that's what guides me, and i truly believe that that's what guided me in that sense because i was literally getting ready to walk back toward that rv. >> reporter: now, you mentioned in the last hour how young these officers seem to be. yeah, they were on the force for two years, three years, four years, a sergeant was on the force for about 11 years. the sergeant wasn't actually on the scene but was the one many of the officers credit for telling them to move their cars out of the way, out of that blast zone. as part of the press conference, we also got a few nuggets of detail in terms of the investigation, a little more information than we knew before. one detail is about that rv, how one officer said the shades were

down on the rv. he tried to look in and couldn't see anything. he looped around and didn't see any plates on the rv. there was another officer who said that there was a camera hanging from off of the vehicle and he felt like he was being monitored, and that's how he felt as the different tones and announcements from the rv changed from a warning that you need to evacuate to that countdown that wasn't a consistent countdown but was blurting out different times. 13 minutes, 10 minutes, down to two minutes to that random song that was playing. even in the terms of detonating, you heard them talk about their faith even though they were not in the vicinity of the explosion, though they were headed in that direction and that's when the explosion happened. i spoke to the chief after that press conference and asked him about the action we saw yesterday, in antiop, tennessee, about 15 minutes from where we are now, we saw a raid on a house, something the fbi or

authorities aren't calling a person of interest or suspect, but they are clearly paying a lot of attention to it, and we know based on our conversations with senior law enforcement officials that they are looking into possible digital background and looking into possible connections with this man. well, the police chief told me that they are continuing to follow up on leads. they received more than 500 of those leads that they are tracking down. but that's the only lead that they acted on in that way in terms of a large search like that. again, that person is not a suspect, was not a person of interest, but there is clearly a lot of attention being paid to that individual. alex? >> absolutely. let me ask tim, our director, to put back up that google earth shots. it's the antioch location they were searching. it's not as if the rv was there, and what you see highlighted is the rv they believe, it certainly matches the description that went up. it's going to be hard to put two

and two together to some degree, shaq, because there is nothing left of the rv, right? it was just blown to smithereens. >> that's exactly right. we get the feeling fbi agents are moving forward in their effort to process that scene. they're starting to open up more areas around the downtown section here in nashville. they're starting to get to that point where things may open up again, but yeah, they don't know those details and that's something they're certainly looking into, but that google earth image is definitely a key clue. >> they've got hundreds of investigators looking into all of it. we have you, shaq brewster, in nashville. thank you so much. the goal of getting every american vaccinated. are the goalposts moving in the wrong direction? what has to happen to make this visual a reality. o happen to ma visual a reality wow! what'd you get, ryan? it's customized home insurance from liberty mutual!

what does it do bud? it customizes our home insurance so we only pay for what we need! and what did you get, mike? i got a bike. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ secret stops sweat 3x more ♪yo yo yo yo yo yo start your day with secret. than ordinary antiperspirants. with secret you're unstoppable. no sweat. try it and love it or get your money back. secret. ♪ all strength, no sweat (betsy)) quarter mile of tinsel. of lights. (harold) and real snow all the way from switzerland. (betsy) hmmhm... gonna be tough to top. well played. (vo) add some thrill to your wish list. at the season of audi sales event. get exceptional offers now.

lelet's get fast, accuratell range oresults.ions. introducing letsgetchecked health testing you do at home. know your health. know yourself. order now at letsgetchecked dot com

you're choosing to get connected to the most to xfinity mobile, reliable network nationwide, now with 5g included. discover how to save up to $400 a year with shared data starting at $15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited. come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. you can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store.

the coronavirus pandemic, another million-case milestone for the u.s.

the country has now passed 19 million cases. it is the fourth time this month we've added a million cases each time in less than a week. it's up from october when we only added 3,000 cases a month. 1.9 million americans have had the vaccine. up next, dr. fauci gives a timeline for when all of us could get the shot. >> from a purely logistic standpoint, starting from april, it's probably going to take several months. it will probably take until the end of the summer, so that i hope by the time we get to the fall, we will reach that critical percentage of people that we can really start thinking about to return to some form of normality. there is some good news in the midwest. cases in many states there are going down. wisconsin reported its lowest daily increase in cases since september yesterday, adding just 632 new cases.

on the covid beat this hour for us, nbc's scott cohn in southern california with the possibility of a post-surge. let's go to scott. scott, give us what the fears are. >> reporter: the fears are very real here, alex, which really is a hot spot. you know this was the first state to pass 2 million cases. that was a couple days ago. these cases continue to crop up. we are at a testing site in san jose, santa clara county, they'll do about 2500 tests here today. there is a little bit of a subtle shift in the numbers right now that officials are looking at, and it's a little too early to tell exactly what it means, but california has been looking so closely at intensive care unit capacity statewide, according to the state's formula, which accounts for staffing and for beds for

reasons other than covid. they're essentially at zero, but there is some improvement, for example, here in the greater bay area where we were down about 9% yesterday, now about 11% of capacity remaining. inside santa clara county, they are at about 93% of capacity or 7% remaining. that could mean that things are starting to improve or it could mean that it's just the tail end of the thanksgiving surge with the christmas surge still to come. that's what they're worried about. they continue to advise people not to travel as we head into new year's next week. if you did travel, anyway, if you gathered, whether you are showing symptoms or not, officials say you should get yourself tested. >> generally, i mean, within a couple of days is a good idea, and most people will become positive within a few days after exposure, about 5 to 7 days. however, once again, i think that really getting tested is important, but what's even more important is not to expose yourself to things that could

make you positive. >> reporter: and, again, they are looking now very closely at the end of this holiday season, new year's next week, urging people to just cancel your travel plans if you can, particularly here in california where the cases still are pretty much out of control, alex. >> i got to say, that interview, they said 5 to 7 days for testing. i've been tested twice this last week while traveling. i'll do another test tomorrow and i'm very happy to do another one three or four days later. i think the more testing you have access to and you can do, and i'm very grateful to our company, as you know, that's providing us testing as we travel, so i appreciate that. thank you so much, scott cohn. let's go to europe where vaccine rollout is underway. it is believed to be about 7% more contagious than the original.

matt bradley is in paris. matt, welcome to you. how with europeans reacting to these new developments? >> reporter: the first thing they're doing more than anything else, there is a twofold strategy. one is the tried and tested measure of lockdowns and that is something that's really been the only way, up until this vaccine, that has really shown to slow the spread of this virus. in some dozen countries, that's really threatening to a lot of european governments and they are willing to take any action. the best way to do that is to cut off travel to europe. the variant on the continent has some relationship to europe. it was a french national who lives in the u.k. and he was visiting france when he was tested positive and it was discovered he had this new variant. he's asymptomatic, he's at home, and that just goes to show what scientists are saying, that this new variant is not necessarily

more deadly, it's not in addition to the vaccines, but like you said, it spreads faster. the problem is, because it spreads faster, it may mutate faster, so scientists are worried that that faster spread may lead to more mutations that could be resistant to vaccines and could make the virus more deadly. that just makes this new rollout of these vaccines so much more important right now. today was the first day where we saw what is really, up until now, one of the largest rollouts of a unified effort to vaccinate a population in the world. this is not being done on a national level, necessarily, though countries are in control of their own vaccinations. it's the european union that is acting as the main customer for all of its constituent seats, all 27 members of the european union. they wanted to have a unified rollout today, at least three european countries, including germany, already started a couple vax naccinations yesterd.

they felt they could not wait to start vaccinating their health care workers and elderly populations. this is what's being called in europe d-day, and that's why we're seeing this rollout of vaccines. but, alex, it's mostly symbolic. the real vaccine effort isn't going to get rolling until next month because of the shortness of all these vaccines, they're really just trickling in, most europeans won't see them until spring, maybe even summer. we're starting to see the vaccine effort for the most vulnerable, the oldest, those on the front lines, health care workers, and this is something that will be a big relief to this continent which has already seen more than half a million deaths. alex? >> it has. pretty astounding numbers. matt bradley, thank you for the update from there. joining me right now, dr. elizabeth clayborne with the

university. thank you for joining us. i've heard a lot of people wondering if the vaccine will protect against that variant strain. what do we know, if anything, at this point? >> alex, there are a lot of investigations still going on and we have reason to believe that the vaccine will be protective against this strain. that is not for sure, there is still research that needs to take place, but for now pointing to these vaccines continuing to be effective for the variant that may be more contagious but not necessarily more deadly. >> nearly 2 million americans have been vaccinated, so the new goal is to get to everyone by summertime. doctor, some were saying this is slower than expected, but it sure sounds faster than what we're hearing from matt bradley in europe there. do you agree it's taking more time? >> no, alex, i actually think we

should be quite proud of the progress we've made. the development of this vaccine was faster than anything we've had in the history of medicine, and the efforts going into rolling it out have been really amazing so far. i know a number of my fellow colleagues who have already been vaccinated are working on the front lines of patients. i think we can believe that as summer approaches, americans will have access to the vaccine. but while we're expecting these vaccines to be widely available during the spring and summer, there are lots of things you still need to do to protect yourself. you still need to socially distance, you still need to be wearing a mask. you need to listen to your health officials. i also advocate everyone to complete an advanced care plan. it's something that can help me as an e.r. doctor if you do become sick. my father was recently admitted to the hospital with covid. he is fortunately recovering well, and one of the things i had was my family and i

discussed what would happen if my dad got sick. we had documented that on forms you can find by the cdc. because it was a topic i brought up, they were comfortable discussing this. i had a ted talk recently on this where i brought it up with my family and everyone was comfortable. i can't tell you how advantageous it was going through the experience of having a close family member get sick with covid. >> it is a difficult conversation to have, but it is a necessary one. as you go down the road, it can help ease things a bit. we just talked to dr. fauci and he has high hopes we can return to normalcy by the fall. does that mean no more masks and that indoor gatherings will be allowed, large groups in restaurants and the like without any hindrances? >> i think that "normal" will depend on how much of the population is vac naturcinated t time. if we reach the numbers of herd

immunity then normal might mean these areas where people gather for large events like concerts and sporting events might be possible, but it might be restricted to people who have been vaccinated, for example. i don't think we'll be completely normal for some time. until everyone is vaccinated with both doses and we have evidence that everyone is safe, we'll have the protectiveness of wearing a mask and social distancing. >> you heard mention of a slight decrease in california which has been hit so hard. they think maybe they're seeing the end of the thanksgiving surge. are you concerned about another christmas surge? when would we see numbers starting to decrease? >> many of us who are on the front line right now are very concerned about ongoing surges because of the amount of travel that's been taking place over the holidays. we really just have gotten over what would have been the surge from thanksgiving. they occur about two three weeks

after the event when you would see people become symptomatic and sick over their exposures during travel and gathering times. with christmas having just taken place and people potentially wanting to travel during the new year's, we're going to see surges in january through the end of the month and maybe even into february which certainly is concerning to many of our hospitals that are already very stretched thin. >> yeah. dr. elizabeth clayborne, it's always good to see you. i'm sure your family appreciates your leadership. we appreciate your insights here, too. you heard the president say he was robbed of his election, and members of his inner circle agree. but what do his actions reveal in we'll go behind the scenes, next. we'll go behind the scene, next

here's another cleaning tip from mr. clean. cleaning tough bathroom and kitchen messes with sprays and wipes can be a struggle. there's an easier way. try mr. clean magic eraser. just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum... and caked-on grease from oven doors. now mr. clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. they're perfect for icky messes on stovetops... in microwaves... and all over the house. for an amazing clean, try mr. clean magic eraser, and mr. clean magic eraser sheets.

and through the woods this holiday season. remember, safe drivers save 40% with allstate. saving is easy when you're in good hands. call a local agent, or 1-800-allstate for a quote today. yit's more than just a house. call a local agent, [music playing throughout] it's a kitchen that's been passed down, along with the recipes. three generations on the wall... with room to grow. the rhythm of home... the smells, the sounds, the flow... the feeling of owning a home is not black or white. citi is working across our business to make home ownership a reality for more black americans.

new reaction today as millions of americans face financial uncertainty after president trump's failure to sign that new covid relief bill. as of this morning, nearly 14 million americans will lose

their unemployment benefits, and some could face massey vik evic in the new year. right now the president refuses to sign the measure unless it includes $2,000 relief checks. it's creating bipartisan confusion about why he's turning back on the deal, brokered by his own secretary of state, steve mnuchin. >> everybody felt mnuchin was representing the white house. i talked to mnuchin yesterday, and that was the assumption everybody had. >> i was on a call with secretary mnuchin, and he had talked about getting to this point, having negotiated presumably on behalf of the president of the united states. that was his person at the table. >> joining me now is david ferrer hold, msnbc analyst. do you feel like steven mnuchin feels like the most blindsided person in america, and even if

he was, shouldn't he have expected it even a little bit? >> it's hard to get into it, but mnuchin felt he was empowered to speak for donald trump and had been for months. i don't think mnuchin believed this erroneously, i think trump had put him in charge of this and trump had shown no interest in these talks until they were over. so mnuchin did feel blindsided, but i'm not sure what else he could have done. he was playing the role he had been playing for months when all of a sudden trump decided past the 11th hour, when the bill was already approved by congress, that he wanted something else. >> i'm trying to figure this out. the negotiations had been going on for months. what was the president doing during all this time? did he ever reach out to anyone to say, you know what, $600 is not going to cut it. >> apparently he had made those comments in private. here's what's totally insane about this. the president was running for office during these

negotiations. if he wanted $2,000 to get out to people, he could have made that point in july and august and gotten those checks out before the election. he could have done this earlier but he didn't really intervene until he had already lost the election, until a bill with a different check amount had already been signed. he had plenty of chances to do this before and chose not to. >> so some republicans like senator lindsey graham who, by the way, spent part of christmas day with the president, they are saying the president is determined on this defense bill, and he seems to be siding with the president. will any republicans follow with the $2,000 relief checks? and specifically those in the senate. >> no, i don't think any of them will. democrats have been asking for $2,000 or a larger amount for a long time and republicans have said no a number of times. i think in this case with president trump about to head out the door, trump's leverage is a lot lower. so, no, i don't think republicans in the senate, and we already know republicans in

the house are not going to agree with this. it seems like trump either signs this bill or the congress expires on january 3rd and we start negotiations over again with all these americans bearing the brunt of the impact in the meantime. >> you know, david, in a recent article that you wrote for the "washington post," you said that as trump continues to push his baseless claims of voter fraud, pence is house hunting in the suburbs, mark meadows is considering starting a consulting firm, and larry kudlow is thinking of getting back into broadcasting. we remind viewers he came from cnbc, our sister network. what does this tell us about the mood of the white house right now? >> people in the white house understood that he had lost, and donald trump can go back to being donald trump professionally. that's a career. he can go back to that. he doesn't have to think about his next job. everybody else, including mike pence, does. they have to figure out where the money is going to come from. they have to figure out how to

land in a land where trump does not exist. it's a much bigger incentive for them to honor reality. it's the president himself who is pretending this process isn't happening. >> some things you are more concerned about. january 6 with election certification and the president calling on twitter for people to show up in d.c. and that it's going to be wild, or on january 20th, what the president may or may not do. do we have any indication what the president will do on january 20th. >> january 20th is inauguration day. most presidents welcome their successor at the white house in the morning, get on marine i and fly off to their new life. i don't think president trump will do it exactly as others have done. some say he will junot leave th white house.

if he doesn't, he is a trespasser and he can be removed. your president for four years, when the four years is up, you're not president anymore. i don't think that's going to happen. i don't think the president wants his last image to be drug out or shoved out the door by the secret service, but i don't think he'll be following the usual rituals of welcoming biden and legitimizing biden's power by his attendance. i think he'll just not show up. >> can i ask you about january 6? are you worried about demonstrations like we've seen in the past few weeks? >> we have seen demonstrations in washington that have turned violent. they're not huge demonstrations and they've gotten smaller over time, but they are folks coming to look for people to fight with. i think you'll see some of that on january 6th. i don't think, given past experience, there will be a huge crowd or anything that will actually disrupt the process of counting votes in congress. but i'm sure the d.c. police are counting on another round, probably not the last round, of violent protests.

>> as well they should, david fahrenthold. why those around the president may be breaking into another cold sweat in just a few weeks. few weeks. downy unstopables

this is disgraceful. these are folks that have committed serious felonies. no regular american could have

gotten these pardons and they only got them because they're friends of donald trump. he repeatedly put himself and his friends above our country. >> reaction on the show yesterday from california congressman ted liu on recent pardons. that included roger stone and paul manafort and others caught up in the mueller russian probe as well as some allies from congress and jared kushner's father. joining me now, melissa murray, professor of law, nyu law school. melissa, always good to talk to you. first of all, could any normal american have gotten these pardons? >> typically the process for a pardon requires making a petition that goes to the department of justice and their pardon department. and those pardon requests are thoroughly vetted by doj lawyers and then submitted with a recommendation from the doj to the president. that was not the case in this particular circumstance. it has been said that around 88% of the pardons that president trump has issued during his presidency have actually gone

outside of this ordinary process, so to that extent, these are people who are very close, who have access to the president. these are not people who are seeking pardons through the ordinary course. >> okay. it's not just democrats like ted liu criticizing the president. in fact, here's what senator pat toomey said this morning about some of the pardons. >> some of these other cases, i mean, my goodness, we have tax fraud and bank fraud, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, but because they were close to the president, they got pardoned. this is unfortunately reminiscent of the mark rich pardon by president clinton. it is legal, it is constitutional, but i think it's a misuse of the power. >> that last part there, a misuse of the power. what is your response to that? >> the constitution really doesn't provide many parameters on executive clemency. it's an incredibly broad power. but what we have seen under the course of ordinary presidencies is that presidents have used the pardon power to advance their own policy goals. so, for example, jimmy carter

used the pardon power to provide amnesty to those who were accused of evading the draft to send a signal that the nation was healing after the conflict of the vietnam war. in the same way, gerald ford pardoned nixon for the president to heal of watergate and president obama did to pardon non-violent drug offenders. so it can be used to advance policy goals. in the trump administration it seems like the reason is to pardon the people close to the president. and the reasons why are reasons we still don't know about. >> i was trying to apply a lofty category for the pardons, but no can do. let's talk about andrew weissman who was a mueller prosecutor that calls the president's final act an obstruction of justice, do you agree with that?

>> so andrew is my colleague at nyu and he is a veteran. i don't know if it is fair to call an abuse of power. but it is certainly unorthodox and certainly beyond what framers might have contemplated. it was originally intended to be a grant of mercy. where the general justice system perhaps went too far allowing the checkti tivexecutive to mak corrections. i don't think they planned to use the power in a way that included sheelf dealings. many have used it in ways that benefitted them. bill clinton pardoned his half brother. >> quickly the pardons could have a downside. they will no longer have fifth

amendment privilege and that includes any pardons within the trump family as well, right? >> that is especially true in situations where the individuals might be called upon to identify before congress. some of the individuals like michael flynn have been able to plead the 5th amendment when testifying before congress. that will not be the case going forward now. >> there is a a downside then, melissa murray, thank you so much. >> because of the pandemic this may be the worse winter of all for one american industry and that is ahead. ican industry and that is ahead.

♪ it's velveeta versus the other guys. clearly, nothing melts like velveeta. ♪ ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ it's a new dawn...

if you've been taking copd sitting down, it's time to make a stand. start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand and start a new day with trelegy. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. ask your doctor about finding the right words can be tough.n it comes to autism, finding understanding doesn't have to be. we can create a kinder, more inclusive world for the millions of people on the autism spectrum.

go to autismspeaks.org. it makes our lipton leaves better. which makes this smooth tea taste better. and time spent together. even better. and drinking lipton every day.

can help support a healthy heart. life with covid. many are hoping the covid bill could be a lifesaver. take out and delivery sales have so soared. that 10% percentage point

difference could mean the last meal for many places. an estimated 110,000 restaurants have closed and sadly more are probably pending. when the house convenvenes tomow they're expected to vote on the payments. what will that accomplish? on t payments what will that accomplish? - oh. - what's going on?

- oh, darn! - let me help. lift and push and push! there... it's up there. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them before they start with downy wrinkleguard. you're choosing to get connected to the most to xfinity mobile, reliable network nationwide, now with 5g included. discover how to save up to $400 a year with shared data starting at $15 a month, or get the lowest price for one line of unlimited.

come into your local xfinity store to make the most of your mobile experience. you can shop the latest phones, bring your own device, or trade in for extra savings. stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store. welce