it is less about ideology and more about a simple complete disconnect in what the basic facts are. it seems to me republicans in particular have a struggle to deal with in their ecosystem? . >> absolutely. i read a lot of reader emails. i read everything that comes into our general news inbox. and i reply to a lot of these. just the fundamental disregard for facts. they send me things i know are false. regret out of hand what trump people are saying. and i think that speaks very much to this lack of faith and fundamental information we are still fighting through. >> all right. nicholas johnston, thank you very much as always for your time this morning. >> we are starting a new administration, a new day. president biden gave an open to go republicans to move forward. the question is, are our leaders going to take this opportunity to turn the page?

thanks for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. >> i think the three of us talking about a peaceful transfer of power speaks to the constitutional integrity of our country. in this is an unusual thing. we are both trying to come back to normalcy, deal with totally abnormal challenge and make a more perfect union. it is an exciting time. approximate. >> we have to listen to folks that we agree with and folks that we don't. one of my fondest memories of the inauguration was the grace and generosity that president bush showed me and laura bush showed michelle. and it was a reminder that we can have fierce disagreements and yet recognize each other's common humanity. and that as americans we have more in common than what

separates us. >> that's really moving. really moving. former presidents bush, clinton and obama. a primetime inaugural special. willie, this went on throughout the day. i mean, look at this. these families, they really are, they are an american family. they are bonded together. during the inauguration, if you could put this up, please. i found this yesterday. the tweet is very moving. michelle obama pulls out activity bag filled with coloring books forestless george w. bush. there is another tweet i wanted to get out. where in the middle of the

service, w was sneaking over and holding michelle obama's hand. there you go. look at this. one of the great tweets of the day. these two. i swear they should go to the road together. i would pay whatever ticket costs were. if he don't love me like bush loved michelle, i don't want him. and the bottom right, looking straight ahead, sneaking over and holding her hand. and look at laura and president obama. >> i think what joe is saying, willie, like for the first time in four years, i think maybe we could just have a tiny bit of fun. . >> that's not what i'm saying. i'm saying i will pay whatever michelle and w are charging if they want to take that on the road to theaters all across

america. actually, they really do show something to americans. listen, the obamas were not particularly nice to george w. bush in the lead up to the election. barack obama said that. we scuffed him up really badly. yet i learned an awful lot that during the transition his people bent over backwards to help our people. and of course that has happened time and time again. that's who we are as a nation. all those people are a great example of how it is supposed to work. >> i think the bottom right photo was the moment when he was passing candies around like you and i did in church when we were kids.

trying to sneak contraband in. the onion may have had the best day ever. something about the term activity bag just got me. yeah, the display yesterday, and we'll get into what happened over the course of the day, all the executive actions that were taken by president biden. but that display on that stage, especially given what had happened two weeks before, the utter chaos and the feelings that we had on that day of, my goodness, our democracy is under attack. will it be left standing? will there even be an inauguration? it showed, yes, democracy is here. this is its day. and that relationship that you talked about between the different presidents and different parties. many of whom had fierce disagreements. president obama ran against the record of george w. bush very

explicitly. he was shown grace as he said in that moment last night at the celebration of america tv special. he said the bush family showed me grace. and i learned a lot from that. so to have this tableau in front of us, frankly just expressing normalcy and showing that the business of the country moves forward now, that the page has turned, i think was a very important moment for 24 country, whatever party you're in. >> of course donald trump came to power in part because of his lies about barack obama. his lies about him being from kenya, not being born in america, not being qualified to be president of the united states. he loved showing the tweets where he was bashing president obama time and time again.

michelle obama showed extraordinary grace and gave to the trumps the same thing that the bushes had given to them. and, again, that is the rule. that is not the exception. and i think that's what's so important for us to remember. i'm just curious, mika, what was your -- over the past couple of days, was there a moment you found most moving in the inauguration? something that gave you hope? >> it was actually the night before. and it was at that ceremony where they recognized the 400,000 people who had died of the coronavirus. and everybody on television and absolutely everybody in the living room where we were watching it got choked up. and it was not just at the gravity of what had happened, the amount of death and destruction that had been, you know, put on this country for all the reasons that we won't discuss right now.

but my god, the sun is going to come up tomorrow. no matter what side of the aisle you are on, with a new beginning for those who are suffering, whether fighting the coronavirus on the front lines or if they have been stricken by it. their family has been stricken by it. or their business has been stricken by it. this past administration has been a setback in terms of our response to what has attacked this country, a virus. but also a setback for women and for minorities. and on day one joe biden's administration has righted a lot of wrongs that people are feeling. whether it's reflected within his administration or within the plans that he has rolled out before he even stepped into the oval office. that ceremony for me, the fact that it was so simple. and the fact that it was so beautiful. it just expressed empathy for

one second. i started to feel it then. >> it's hard to believe, willie, that actually was the first time -- >> yeah. >> -- that we had come together as a country to mourn the loss of 400,000 americans. it would be as if we had gone through four years of world war ii with 400,000 people dying and never talked about it as a nation. never mourned together as a nation. and i remember that night mika is talking about. during that night, everybody was wiping tears from their eyes. i guess just the accumulation of the suffering and the isolation. and the fact that, again, no president had brought us together to mourn. >> to fix it or to mourn it. >> this extraordinarily tragic year we have been through.

there is something very qaa their particular about that. and i will also say, too, washington just looked different that night. >> it did. >> the united states capitol, which i remember the first time i went through the gates as a member and drove up right underneath the capitol and looked up. it was really the most awe-inspiring thing. it was lit up at night. and i just gasped. it was the most beautiful building i had ever seen. but, willie, two nights ago, when they showed that capitol that had been ransacked just two weeks prior when they showed it shining brightly on that hill, i said that is the most beautiful building i have ever seen in my life. it was an extraordinary moment, extraordinary few days. what about you? what did you find most moving over the past couple of days? . >> well, i hate to be repetitive, but i agree with you. i think friday night for me was the most moving.

not because of joe biden or kamala harris but because of that message, that we had that shared moment of grief that 400,000 people. if when we started this, put yourself back to late january or february of 2020. if someone told you 400,000 of our friends, neighbors and countrymen were going to die, it would be too much to bear. but it happened so slowly. it's gone over time and accumulated. in some ways we become numb to the statistics. well, on that night we weren't numb. we looked it straight in the eye and said, my gosh, look what has happened in our country. we heard from a president who vowed on his first day to make it his first order of business. and the centerpiece of his administration. i thought last night the celebration, the tom hanks hosted special, was beautiful in many ways. to your point, it showed our nation's capitol in the light in

which it should be shown. at the very end when you saw the fireworks over the washington, d.c. you saw the silhouetted president and first lady looking out at the fireworks with the washington monument in the background. and they were beautiful images of a beautiful city that belongs to all of us in this country. and i thought again symbolically, hose were important images to help at least in part wash away the ones we had from two weeks ago. >> speaking of george w. bush, house majority whip jim clyburn revealed this from his conversation with the former president at the inauguration yesterday. >> george bush said to me today. he said, you know, you're the savior. because if you had not nominated joe biden, we would not be

having this transfer of power today. he said to me joe biden was the only one who could have defeated the incumbent president. >> george w. bush was right. this is something we had talked about for quite some time. that history actually turned in south carolina. joe biden was in desperate trouble. his campaign was in trouble. there were people in south carolina and the black community that were even talking about moving to michael bloomberg if joe biden messed up in another debate. you were so wired in that entire process. i remember you calling me and saying jim clyburn is coming out. he's going to support joe biden. he's going to make all the difference in the world. boy, it really did.

that losing campaign that joe biden was suffering through turned around immediately in south carolina. never turned back. and we can say this now, about a year later, 11 months later, it was the most dramatic turnaround that any of us had seen in american politics in our lifetime. >> it certainly was. when you look at the fact that joe biden had come in as total ly defeated in the primaries and caucuses before that. and the media had written him off. and jim clyburn, who has unparalleled strength and credibility in south carolina, when he told me a couple of days before, we were there. the debate was going to happen. they were going to have a minister's breakfast the morning after the debate. and he told me, he said, all right, after your breakfast, i'm going to make an endorse.

. i said, really? he said, yeah. and he told me what he was going to do. and i called two or three of my best friends and advisers, including joe scarborough, and said don't tell anybody. you told me immediately, i knew that was going to happen. and we knew. but when you and everybody else came to see, and i think you had hints of it, was the power that clyburn had not based on some machine. but people trust him in south carolina. and those blacks in south carolina saw that they wanted to win. this was not about what was trending, what was fashionable. it was about real issues. who can turn this country around and save us from this catastrophe? and i think people underestimate the maturity and the level of trying to just be stable again

that a lot of voters have particularly in the black community. we don't want to be excited. we want to exist. >> exactly. the president, joe biden, spent his first few hours on the job issuing a flurry of executive orders on immigration, climate change, and the coronavirus. he issued a mask mandate for federal buildings and for all public transportation between states. he asked agencies to extend moratoriums on evictions and extend the payment and interest freeze on student loans. biden will restore the national security council pandemic unit that was disbanded by former president donald trump. and will begin reengaging with the world health organization. the president is moving quickly to reverse his predecessor's immigration agenda. he put a stop to the construction of the border wall,

paused deportations for his first 100 days. he called on congress to strengthen daca, and ended the so-called muslim ban. the united states has rejoined the paris climate agreement and has revoked the permit for the keystone oil pipeline. as for today, president biden is using his first full day in office to announce this country's first national strategy for fighting covid. it comes through a series of executive orders and directives as the u.s. sets another record for daily deaths. topping the list, expanding emergency relief to states and exercising the defense production act to make up for shortfalls in equipment. the white house says it also plans to launch a comprehensive vaccination program involving fema and other public health agencies like the cdc. the panel will be established to

help expand testing treatment and the health care workforce. the president will direct the department of education to provide guidance on how to safely reopen and operate schools and will call on the agency that oversees workplace safety to clarify its guidelines for employers. we are also told the administration will establish a task force to address in equities in how the virus affects communities of color and other underserved groups. joe, it seems so -- what's the word? it's so simple. he's actually getting to work and fighting the coronavirus on every level. . >> well, he's actually doing what a lot of people have been begging president trump to do since early march of last year. he just wouldn't do it because he didn't want -- even though he said i'm a wartime president, he did not want to take the responsibility. and they passed it over to states, who were just ill-equipped to do many of these

things. willie, it is interesting. a lot done yesterday. but a lot done with a signature by the president of the united states. we have been a nation that's been run by executive orders for the most part the past 10 years. the last four years of donald trump. the last six years of barack obama, have very few exceptions. it seems to me the great challenge for joe biden is going to be passing -- actually passing legislation. getting the 50/50 split senate and that split house of representatives, getting them to come together on some of these bills. and there's some opportunities. the daca program strikes me as an opportunity that joe biden will be able to find 50 in the senate. will be able to get a majority in the house, no doubt. a lot of people have been talking about infrastructure week the past four years. there is a great infrastructure bill that's ready to be passed. and also other reforms. john lewis voting rights act.

a lot of right wing republicans won't like that. certainly a majority for the john lewis voting rights act as well. if americans want to get to a stage where executive orders signed by the last president are not done away with the first day of the next administration, well, they need to talk to their lawmakers and encourage them to actually pass legislation. >> yeah. >> yeah. that he wants the thing about an executive order. it is subject to the whims of the next executive. it can be taken away with the stroke of a pen like it was put into effect with the stroke of a pen. as mika said yesterday on the day of his inauguration, we set a new record for the number of deaths from covid. he will have to put this plan in place quickly. push to get vaccines out to people. and jonathan lemire, as you look at this new president, we will get some early tests, won't we, about whether this senate or

congress is what he hopes it is. 50/50 split with a tie-breaker from kamala harris is control by democrats. we will learn if joe biden's relationships with many of the senators is divisive, if it's important as many optimists have hoped. what do you see as the first big challenging between the president and the congress? . >> well, the biden administration is keenly aware there is only so much you can do by executive action. we heard a lot yesterday both publicly and privately, really stressing joe biden's relationships with those in the senate. remember, he's a creature of the senate. he adores the senate. he knows how it works. he is far more familiar with the process than his previous two predecessors, trump or bomb, in terms of working with lawmakers in that experience. they gained control of the senate with the 50/50 tie, with the vice president breaking that tie when the new senators were

sworn in by vice president harris yesterday afternoon. you hit a few of them already, you and joe did, in terms of where there could be some agreement. infrastructure became a punch line during the trump administration. daca, the immigration plan which they sent to the hill already, are already being met with some pushback. we heard from senate minority leader mcconnell stressing in his remarks, though they are a classy overture to the biden administration, but also noting how tight the margins were in the house and the senate and stressing the idea that americans voted for a divided government, which was a marker being put down, they won't just roll over for the biden administration. that republicans would still very much have their say. a covid relief bill is the number one priority. they will be working with lawmakers to try to get that done in the days ahead. but short of that, they are, to start, going to rely indeed on

the executive orders, with covid-19 being the priority. today we are seeing that already. they announced yesterday, the administration, the united states would rejoin the world health organization. today dr. fauci will participate in the vaccine plan, which the trump team had not done. we are seeing a plan rolled out in the next few weeks to have them show up at pharmacies and drug stores to increase their distribution. and i think we shouldn't lose the power of symbols. yesterday president biden wore a mask in the oval office at the resolute desk. president trump never wore a mask publicly that anyone else could see in the white house. and he only wore it a few times ever, wherever he was going. i was struck yesterday watching the first couple standing on the balcony, gazing out, looking at the fireworks, they were wearing masks. it's the same balcony that the president came back from walter reed, still having the coronavirus, still positive with the virus, and he got to the pal

-- balcony and took off his mask. it is more than just a mask mandate on federal property. he's trying to send a signal, it's okay to wear a mask. it's the only way to get through this together. >> still ahead on "morning joe". as we mentioned, control of the senate has officially flipped to the democrats. we'll talk to senate majority whip dick durbin and newly sworn in alex padilla, who has taken over kamala harris's old seat. plus, perhaps michael said it best yesterday when he tweeted, first nonweird white house press secretary in four years. jen sake has promised daily brief, executive for weekends, and a return of regular briefings with health professionals. she joins us ahead on "morning joe". ad on "morning joe"

♪ meet me in a land of hopes and dreams ♪ . does it worry me? absolutely. sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommend. ♪ ♪

this is my body of proof. proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis... ...with humira. humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage and clear skin in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. ask your rheumatologist about humira. go to humira.com to see proof in action. if you can't afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help.

i have an idea for a trade. if you can't afford your medicine, oh yeah, you going to place it? not until i'm sure. why don't you call td ameritrade for a strategy gut check? what's that? you run it by an expert, you talk about the risk and potential profit and loss. could've used that before i hired my interior decorator. voila! maybe a couple throw pillows would help. get a strategy gut check from our trade desk. ♪♪

the chair lays before the senate two certificates of election for the state of georgia and a certificate of appointment to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former senator kamala d. harris of california. [ applause ]. yeah, that was very weird. okay. >> that was a good moment, mika. nobody would have believed that the democrats were going to take control of the united states senate.

and they never would have if it were not for donald trump and the civil war he sparked, started, and continued to push in the state of georgia among the republican party. it just -- there has to be an understanding among every senator that they're going to be in the minority the next two years >> yeah. >> because of one person. >> right. politics aside, just the kamala harris story in itself right now is so inspiring. and i remember when she was actually the key note of the san francisco know your value event. and i was talking to her on stage. you were backstage talking to doug. and we both came away -- she was actually just considering her run for the presidency then. and i just thought -- i mean, we were in the middle of so much with trump. and the country was dealing with the fire hose of trump actions day by day by day. but i definitely thought

something very, very big was going to happen with her, that she was one of those people who could make it through. it's hard for women on a number of levels. but she and her husband were an incredible team. and the way that she connected with the women that day, i'll never forget it. >> you know, something that's interesting, reverend al, she is very engaging, as you know. very warm one on one.isco with your value conference, but she actually came over, had lunch with mika and me years ago. we were talking an hour, hour and a half about her kids and her life, her family, her mom. she's very warm and engaging. and early in the presidential

process that did not come across. because as you know better than any of us, running for president the first time, that is an extraordinary jump. that is hard. i can't even imagine how difficult that is to do. but sometimes she didn't come across well early on in that presidential race. but we saw throughout the general election campaign as vice president. she had already been tried by fire in the primaries. you're starting to see more of her personality, more of the real kamala coming out. it's good to see, very good to see. >> she is a very personable person. and she's very secure in her own the early part of the campaign she was trying to get her sea legs under her. you are hit from all sides.

and you can't prepare for that. i had many moments talking. and i took her to the famous soul foot restaurant in harlem named sylvia's. she said i want you sit me at the table where you sat with barack obama. we talked about jesse jackson, shirley chisholm. she was trying to live up to expectations. who she is is decent. she got hit from the left. those who were against policing at all. she got hit from the right. once she settled into her

comfort zone, we will be grateful for it as a nation. >> as we saw yesterday, vice president harris swore in three new senators, three new democrats. host of "way too early", kasie hunt. kasie, good morning. good to see you. we saw that moment yesterday where kamala harris swore in her replacement in senator pa tia. he will be on a little bit later. and warnock and osoff. do you see the first time the votes will matter, where we will see this 50/50 split with a tie-breaker being put to the test? . >> well, that was an incredibly authentic moment from kamala harris as she did that yesterday as you guys were just talking about, representative of how she is in public and private. i do wonder how and where this

50/50 split is going to come into play. we're going to have an early test i think of how republicans are going to handle this. i spoke with a number of them privately after the inaugural address. president biden got rave reviews from many of those, especially those who had been frustrated by president trump. many of the people that we always talked about who would say one thing in private and another in public. so there's an opening here. president biden has created an opening. and between what he says in public as this different type of leader that he is and the private relationships that he has, there is a chance i think that they can move forward in ways that perhaps wouldn't require kamala harris to break too many ties pause they could actually get onto the same page and do some big things, perhaps an infrastructure bill is what

republicans are talking about early on. we know the country needs more coronavirus relief. but it's also possible that we could very quickly see everyone run into their partisan corners. and i think there's obviously a very open question about what mitch mcconnell is going to decide to do. he went down to the floor and said democrats don't have a mandate. everything is split 50/50. and that's correct. if you look at it, it's obviously a very narrowly divided congress. but we are a narrowly divided country. and to the extent that there is a mandate for democrats, the -- i don't want to say biden's win was sweeping necessarily because it was so close in certain key states. but the number of votes that he got was so much more than the number that donald trump got. and mitch mcconnell also knows they lost, as joe was saying earlier today, pause of donald trump. they need to win over voters in the suburbs. so all of these political

questions are swirling. looming over it all is the impeachment trial that still has to unfold. so i think there's going to be some critical turning points. you know, the personalities are going to matter a lot. the relationship between chuck schumer, mitch mcconnell and mcconnell and biden as well. and i think, willie, it could really go either way. but there's some early promise here. >> well, there are new high-profile arrests in the investigation of the capitol riot. one of the attackers of a police officer being crushed in this video. the man to the right in the glasses was arrested and charged for assault yesterday in new york. patrick mccoy iii from connecticut was arrested in westchester county. new york -- on several charges related to the riot. and held without bay. his attorney told this to local reporters. also arrested yesterday was

proud boys organizer joe biggs. according to the complaint filed in federal court in florida. he admitted to an fbi agent he entered the capitol on january 6th but denied he forced hsz way in. the army is admitting in a statement that the pardoned brother of michael flynn was on the phone call from capitol police asking for urgent national guard assistance. the army continually denied -- >> why -- >> that charles flynn was on that call while pentagon officials expressed concern over sending guard troops to the capitol. there are no indications general charles flynn shares his brother's views or was influenced on january 6th. >> obviously, he wasn't because it was his brother who was calling for insurrection against the united states, was calling for martial law. you actually had that general

flynn urgently calling for national guard backup. jonathan lemire, very interesting number of stories we have been reading the past 24 hours. obviously it will take months to have proper perspective on all of this. we had the "new york times" story talking about how the proud boys are disgusted by donald trump now, calling him weak and feckless and other names that actually -- >> he's got nothing to give them now. . >> his manhood. thought he was going to push back harder. other stories written that qanon is being busted up, some of the sites are being completely taken down. obviously so much of this depends on facebook and twitter. they're the ones, and we have been saying it every day on this show, they are the ones that spread the hate the past several years. they are the ones that spread

the lies about the pandemic. we talked about that every day. they're the ones that allowed hundreds of thousands of people to die because they got the misinformation that facebook and twitter spread. the blood is on their hands as much as anybody else. the question is, will facebook and twitter continue to damage democracy, continue to allow people to use their platforms to spread theories that actually lead to insurrection against the united states and also lead to more people dying of a deadly pandemic. a lot of questions to answer here. but i'm just wondering from what you're looking at, from what you're hearing from your sources, does it seem that these right wing extremist groups are on the run now and that the fbi is not going to stop until they feel comfortable they have broken them to pieces? >> reporter: yeah. i think there are two separate things going on here. first of all, you noted that some of these groups have now turned on former president

trump. in fact, my colleagues at the ap did a deep dive in a number of of the y a nonmessage boards where they were in such despair. some would be humorous if it wasn't deadly at times topic. it fueled so many of those who stormed the capitol just two weeks ago. some felt trump betrayed them in the 11th hour. that perhaps he was not who he was pretending to be. far more seriously, though, yes. there is a movement here to really try to crackdown on these groups. we know the rise of extremism during the trump era, the rise of violence to be connected to the right wing groups during his four years in office. a sharp coral hraeugdz between the president's time and rhetoric and what we saw. and it certainly we have heard from officials, you know, it took them a few days to give us their first briefing after the capitol riots.

they made clear they would be relentless in tracking down who was involved. we're still seeing arrests day by day in every corner of the country. a number of people, it must be noted, a number of men are turned in by their ex-wives or ex-girlfriends. we are seeing a number of people picked up. that will continue. that won't stop. again, we're turning to the idea of tone as well. so much of what they did was inspired by what president trump was doing. he has much less of a megaphone. he is an ex-president. he's not in office. but the change in washington but throughout the country who doesn't have that twitter account. the question remains what twitter and facebook will do at large. but just the fact that trump has been removed from the scene, one official told me, took down some of the impetus, fire, and some of the disinformation we have seen crowd the internet for four odd years now. that's a hopeful sign. this matter is not going away

any time soon despite joe biden being our president. >> and the way twitter allowed donald trump to continue lying about the election, continued to spread misinformation. >> oh, my god. for months and months. >> why facebook continued to allow donald trump to spread these vile lies that undermined confidence in our voting systems, undermined confidence in the elections. yes, facebook and twitter made billions and billions and billions of dollars in advertisements, laying about american democracy and actually being the megaphone for the insurrection to take down the united states government to kill mike pence by hanging, to kill nancy pelosi. that all led from facebook and twitter letting those lies be spread. i'm sorry, mika.

i was going to say we talked about it a lot. at the top of 7:00, we will be going through joe biden's inaugural address. it is fox news's chris wallace called the greatest inaugural speech he's seen his entire life. >> and coming up, another look at one of the most talked about moments from yesterday's in inauguration. the poem from poet amanda gorman. >> mr. president. >> the majority leader. >> mr. president. i need to catch my breath. so much is happening. h. so much is happening

my nunormal: fewer asthma attacks. less oral steroids. taking my treatment at home. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala at home.

find your nunormal with nucala. with unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans, you can take advantage of free eye exams and free designer eyewear. ♪ wow ♪ ♪ uh-huh ♪ free annual eye exams, designer frames and prescription lenses. it's time to take advantage. ♪ wow ♪ ♪ ♪ it's tim 2020's donevantage. a new era has begun so keep pushing forward... because this is twenty twenty won

make a different future start different at godaddy.com university of phoenix is awarding up to one million dollars in new scholarships through this month, because hope fuels opportunity. see what scholarship you qualify for at phoenix.edu

live look at the white house

at 48 past the hour. welcome back to "morning joe". a new day begins. 22-year-old amanda gorman, the country's first national youth poet laureate, soared to the top of amazon's best-seller list after her reading at the inauguration yesterday. gorman's two weeks "change sings" and the and the hills we climb" poems are one and two on the list. and the delivery of her poem "the hill we climb" from price from barack obama, hillary clinton, and oprah, who gave gorman a caged bird ring she wore yesterday and a pair of earrings. the youngest inaugural poet was praised by another famous poet. hamilton playwright lin-manuel

miranda. here is some of amanda gorman reciting her poem at yesterday's inauguration. >> we day comes we ask yourselves where can we find light in this never-ending share. we must wade. we braved the belly of the beast. we've learned that quiet isn't always peace. and the norms and notions of what just is isn't always justice. and yet the dawn is ours before we knew that somehow we do it. somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken but simply unfinished. we the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only

to on find herself reciting for one. we closed the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. we lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another. we seek harm to none and harm money for all. led the globe, if nothing else, say this is true. that even as we grieved, we grew. that even as we hurt, we hoped. that even as we tire, we try that we'll be ever tied together. victorious. not because we will never again know defeat but because we will never again sow division. we've seen a force that would shatter a nation rather than share it. would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. and this effort very nearly

succeeded. while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. >> if you closed your eyes and you didn't know any better, you would have thought she was accepting the nomination to become president of the united states. you would have thought she was being inauguration. it was the most uplifting inauguress to the country in such a difficult time. 22 years old with the poise to stand up there in front of four presidents and a vice president and with the world watching and to deliver a speech which was extraordinary in its delivery but more so in its content. >> she, more than anyone yesterday, also really started a healing of the nation. she raised us above all of the injury and pain this we have been going through since the siege in the same capitol building that she was standing

in front of. and i think the magic of amanda were not only her words but her delivery. many people deal in prose that cannot orate it as a way that gets through. she was a great presenter, orator, speaker, as she was a writer. and it was just amazing how her delivery and her words and the content, some of which she wrote on the night of insurrection just met the moment. saying we're proud of her is an understatement. she just uplifted a whole nation. and it was at a time we most needed it. >> a beautiful way to put that, mika. we as a nation aren't broken. we are unfinished. >> yes. >> talk about words that match the time perfectly.

it was a wonderful moment. >> reactions are pouring in from around the world to a new u.s. president and administration. from britain ""the guardian" newspaper says democracy has prevailed. the daily mail went for a punchier headline. don's gone. let's go june. from spain, el mundo. we have much to heal. and from hong kong, the south china morning post's headline, world wakes up to a new american leader. america's allies were effusive in congratulating president biden and vice president harris. justin trudeau tweeting, our two countries have tackled some of our country's greatest challenges together. and i'm looking forward to

continuing this partnership. the president of the european commission tweeted in part, america is back. and europe stands ready. french president emanuel macron tweeted in part, we will be stronger to face the challenges of our time, stronger to build our future, stronger to phrebgt our planet. welcome back to the paris agreement! referring to president biden recommitting the u.s. to the paris climate accords yesterday. and britain prime minister boris johnson was also enthusiastic about america rejoining the paris climate agreement tweeting, i look forward to working with our u.s. partners to do all we can to safeguard our planet. india's prime minister modi modi, i look forward to working

with him to strengthen india-u.s. strategic partnership. and congratulating president biden and vice president harris on their historic inauguration. and from belarus, she said she looked forward to developing realizes between belarus and the u.s. we need to talk about her. . >> we certainly do. we will finally have a state department that will, once again, champion freedom across the globe instead of thugs that this administration embraced far too long. jonathan lemire, it's simple really. if there are supporters of donald trump wondering why all of these people have come out and been so effusive in their praise toward joe biden, it's very simple. and it's that song that has gone into the pantheon of songs for

the biden family, a song beau listened to while he was going through cancer treatments, a group called new radicals. you were still trying to get out of hospital when you can get what you give came out. the love you take is equal to the love you make. i could quote some bible verses but i won't. president trump spent the last four years insulting our allies, demeaning them, doing everything it can to undermine their support at home especially in democratic countries. he's been quite kind to tyrants across the globe. but what a sigh of relief. and you've been around the world with donald trump. what a sigh of relief from these democratly elected leaders. >> reporter: joe, i'm not going to sing. but you're right, there was

almost a chorus of relief from allies. he has deep relationships with some of these leaders as his eight years of vice president. ran a large international portfolio. he is sending strong signals. he will rejoin alliances. strengthen these bonds. and be tough where he needs to. it was tell when jen psaki said the president in time would speak to vladimir putin. still ahead, more on president biden's inaugural address. one that chris wallace of fox news called the greatest address he's ever heard. "morning joe" will be right back. ever heard. "morning joe" will be right back

♪♪ >> our history has been a constant struggle between the american ideal that we are all

created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. the battle is perennial. victory is never assured. through civil war, the great depression, world war, 9/11, through struggle, sacrifice and setbacks, our better angels have always prevailed. in each of these moments, enough of us, enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward. . >> our nation's 46th president, joe biden, paying his respects to the 16th president last night after he invoked lincoln's words in an inaugural address and called for an end for what he calls a, quote, this uncivil war. welcome back to "morning joe". it's thursday, january 21.

we have mike barnicle, national affairs analyst of the recount and co-host and executive producer of show time's "the circus," john heilman. and white house reporter for the washington most ann guerin joins us. msnbc contributor. . >> so we were talking at the break, willie, about the new radicals. again, i sort of spoke in shorthand. you get what you give was a song that beau biden listened to as he was going through chemotherapy. and it got him up to continue doing that. even when he realized he was fighting a losing battle, the family continued playing that song to try to keep his spirits up because it had a positive impact on him. and a group called the new

radicals. had one plum. decided -- the leader decided he didn't really like the rock stardom thing. continued writing songs and producing other bands. but they reunited specifically for the biden inauguration because of this special connection they had with the family. . >> yeah. that song has become annan them for the bidens because of the inspiration he true from the song. it came out in late '98. took off in '99. it was a really good album. they vanished. they broke up. and i think the best i can tell, heilman may know, he knows a lot about music. but the lead singer didn't like the things that came with being a rock star, which is to say promotion and travel and he said he was tired. it's a shame. it's a good album. i was 22, 23, just getting

started, living in atlanta. that got heavy rotation. i have bummed they never put out another album. . >> well, it's a great song, obviously. but also a great album front to back. >> yeah. >> you were in your early 20s. i was in my early 60s. i got my first aarp card. it made that whole moment more special. >> you always remember where you are when you get first your aarp card. were you too cool back in '98? did you keep scoring upon them? were you cool with them? >> totally cool. that song is great. i don't think i know the rest of the plum. but i remember that song really punched through. yesterday it was kind of interesting to see a bunch of

people react to go that song back in the ether. and i saw a tweet by ice t. it was a nice moment where people tuned into that cut. i don't know anything other than that one song. but i remember thinking it was really great. and i thought i would hear more from that band and they faded off for whatever reason. it was nice to feel the nostalgia connected to that tune. . >> great music in the 90s. a lot of things going. maybe you have been brainwashed to new radicals. now that we got our business

done, we can go to the inaugural address. >> biden and vice president harris will receive the daily intelligence briefing. president biden will later deliver remarks on the fight against the virus and sign more executive orders. in his inaugural address yesterday, biden again with remarks that really were a salute to democrat say. before discussing the battle ahead. . >> the will of the people has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded. we've learned again that democracy is precious. democrat say democracy is fragile. democrat say has prevailed. here we stand days after a

riotous mob thought they could silence the will of the people, to stop the work of our democracy, to drive us from this sacred ground. it did not happen. it will never happen. not today, not tomorrow, not ever. not ever. . >> i understand that many of my fellow americans view the future with fear and trepidation. i promise you, i get it. but the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don't look like you. or worship the way you do. or don't get their news from the same sources you do. we must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue. >> my fellow americans, in the work ahead of us, we're going to need each other. we need all our strength to

persevere through this dark winter. we're entering what may be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus. we must face this pandemic as one nation. one nation. and i promise you this, we may endure for a night. but joy comeeth in the morning. we will get through this together. together. >> recent weeks and months have taught us a painful lesson. there is truth and there are lies. lies for power and profit. and each of us has a duty and a responsibility as citizens, as americans, especially as leaders. leaders who have pledged to honor our constitutional and protection our nation. to defend the truth and defeat the lies.

. >> you know, mike, we've grown up listening to politicians be melodramatic and saying this is the most important election of our lifetime. and then giving inaugural addresses as governors where sometimes they overreach. they go past. they get over their skis and say things that just don't line up with the times. but joe biden yesterday was in a unique position where he could utter the lines democracy has prevailed. and those three words are the words of our time. those three words were the words that will follow this inauguration long after we are gone just like fdr's we have never to fear but fear itself.

democracy has prevailed. >> yeah. well, you're right, joe. the other thing you just mentioned, you're absolutely right. the speech yesterday, if you reread it or reair portions of it, it's not poetry. he's not reaching for these euphoric phases we all remember from history. ask not what you can do for your country, stuff like that. jfk's. it was remarkably straight and to the point. and we played a clip of one of the month or important things he said yesterday just now standing in the lincoln memorial. he said in each of these moments, referring to the difficulties the nation has had in the depression, world war ii, enough of us came forward.

just that one remark in the speech to what amanda gorman said partially. again, you played this earlier in her poetry. somehow we've weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken but simply unfinished. if you twin the context of both the remarks, especially joe's speech, you get a president of the united states who is talking about the reality that all of us have been through as a nation and the reality going forward, that we can do this. for the first time in four years, we've got to do it together. and, again, for the first time in four years, just the significance of the night prior to the inaugural, tuesday effect, standing along the reflecting pool and mentioning incoming president of the united states, mentioned for the first time, it's incredible to even think about it now, for the first time mentioning 400,000 americans claimed by the virus.

that really went unspoken by the prior president, whose name i shall not mention. amazing. it's been an amazing two days. what a difference a day makes. >> what a difference a day makes. and, yes, how telling that our household and households across the country were filled with people who were wiping tears from their eyes simply pause we had a national leader two nights ago recognizing the husbands and the wives, the mothers and the fathers, the sons and the daughters, the friends, the coworkers, the church members, who had died of a terrible virus in the middle of a pandemic that had killed 400,000 people and yet there had not been a communal coming together where

the country mourned those 400,000 people until two nights ago. it really was a cathartic moment. and another line that jumped out at me, which should not have had to be said by any incoming president but had to be said in this time. when joe biden said there is truth and there are lies. lies told for power and lies told for profit. joe biden can control part of that equation. the lies for profit has been part of our media culture since the fairness doctrine was done away with by the regan administration in 1987. and joe biden can expect people

desperately clinging to peloton bikes or tan suits in the white house or anything they can to try and tear him to pieces. i'm just wondering, does biden have what it takes to not take the bait, to stay focused, to do his job, and not listen to the grouped noise all around him? . >> well, joe, i think what biden did yesterday, what president biden did yesterday was try to show that he is going to try. he did not speak donald trump's name in that inaugural address. but over and over again he sought to contrast his presidency to come with what had just been behind us. and i think truth and lies and the monetization of lies is something he wanted to point out

very specifically. it's not a particularly, you know, high-minded, lofty inaugural address kind of a thing to talk about. in that setting. but he wanted to do it because he wanted to give some heft to the message that was being put out elsewhere in his new administration that they would not lie to the american people. and the coronavirus pandemic is the first example of that. biden said throughout his campaign, has said during the transition, he feel level with americans about the treadful months ahead even with the bright light of a vaccine on the horizon that it's going to get worse before it gets better. he needs some footing to be able to say that. and to have people listen and believe what he says when he says follow the science. i think what he was doing is trying to give some grounding to

the larger thing of we won't lie to you. >> one of the lines that jumped out to a lot of people from the address yesterday is where president biden said politics doesn't have to be a raging fire destroying everything in its path. it does sound fluffy to some people. he said this throughout the campaign, turn down the temperature on the politics in the country. is that an attainable goal? is that something you can see happening? we have heard from some republicans as president biden rolled out the executive orders yesterday criticiing him on policy. some saying it begins the radical left agenda as they have been saying many months now. is that something you see as possible in watch, turn down the temperature on politics, sit down and actually get things done in a way they weren't done in the trump years? . >> well, i think, willie, the

only possibility for it is that if really there is -- because of the scale of the crises that biden also laid out yesterday and i thought with admirable clarity. he said i will always level with you. we have four once in a generation crises we are dealing with at the same time here. the economic crisis, racial division crisis, covid crisis and the climate crisis. it is admirable to explain that to people and be candid about it because it essentially says i'm going to put the country on war footing. against all of these battles. and the way it ties back to the polarization point, the argument he's making, and it's the only argument that might work, is that these -- it's so vast these challenges. and i would add a fifth crisis which is this crisis of

democracy itself. and that was implicit in biden's speech. maybe he will hit a tipping point where people will finally be able to leave some of these toxins out of the system and be able to take some of the temperature down. just to be candid, right, bill clinton came into office saying i'm going to find a third way. he was against the bitter politics of polarization and partisanship. he bought that battle two terms and lost. george w. bush made it central to his campaign. he could see this was happening. he came in and said compassionate conservative. i'm going to find a middle way. he failed over two terms. barack obama, more than the previous two, said we can disagree without being disagreeable. he saw polarization as the biggest central defining challenge. he came in and tried to do it for two terms and failed.

those are three great politicians. i mean great as super successful. three successive two-term presidents who recognized this was the central problem of our politics, left office with the problem worse than when they came in. joe biden sees the problem with the same kind of clarity. i've got to say, i think it's an incredibly daunting challenge. the only way he can start to overcome it, just as i said before, if the scale of the crises are so large and we now have been shocked into recognition of the fact that we have to come together to address them. and just how precarous our democracy is having seen on january 6th what we saw happen. >> yeah. and this also applies to the freedom of the press and what's happened the past four years. our friends at the recount put

together this next clip. contrasting day one of the biden administration's press briefings with day one of the trump administration's. >> some media were engaged in deliberate false reporting. >> there will be things when we see things differently in this room. >> this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. >> it is the importance of being truth and transparency back to the briefing room. . >> i will see you on monday. >> let's do this again tomorrow. >> thank you, jen. . >> thank you. >> you know, i was on the phone with reince and several people before that and was asking what the hell was going on. i was getting reports they were putting up photos of crowd sizes. and this is just something very

instructive to whoever is watching. whatever you do. whether you're in the white house or a governor's office or whether you're in a congressional office. and the justification started on day one. and reince said to me, we're doing everything we can do. we're trying to keep him calm. we're just going to give him a little bit of what he wants. and it started then. and i heard it for four years. and, boy, you should have seen what he wanted sean to do. that's the thing i've been trying to explain about donald trump from the very beginning. nobody ever told him no. >> yeah. >> if you tell him no and you can tell presidents no, then actually some of that behavior can actually be adjusted. that's behind us. let's look forward right now.

and bring in jen psaki. jen, thank you so much. >> good morning. >> white house press secretary. >> i must say we were all disappointed there were no overhead photos of crowd sizes. no. i want to ask you, how much have you studied up on the history of being a press secretary? i remember reading marlon fits water's book and being fascinated that even on his last day as press secretary they went after him tough. and he's like i never get a break from these people. they gave him a cake at the end. he said at that point i realize they liked me. they were just doing their job. it's a tough job. and i can't take it personally. >> that's exactly right, joe. and i come to this job having sat in the room as a deputy press secretary during the obama administration. i know full well there are days in the briefing room, and maybe today, where the press are going to come at me hard and ask me tough questions and they won't be satisfied with what they

hear. and we will have disagreements, as i said yesterday. that is part of a democracy. that is part of having a person who is serving in that role throughout history. i have talked to a lot of my predecessors about this. you have good days, days you feel you served the president well, the american people well, days you wish you had said something different. that's okay too. i will say when i talked to president-elect biden about the job, he said to me that tone coming from the briefing room and making sure there is alignment on tone and how we are projecting information and sharing data and sharing policy is important to him. he would be watching. he wanted to make sure we were on the same page or i'm on the same page as him of course. it speaks to what you were saying earlier. how it really comes from the top. and that's where i take my messaging from of course, the tone i'm going to speak to. and that's what i will try to model. i tried to model yesterday.

>> well, what we saw the past four years was a lack of understanding of what this job is and why it is so very important. can you explain what is your job and what is the duty you'll be performing for the american people? . >> well, if president biden were standing by me right now he would say i work for the american people. and so do i. part of that job is sharing his thinking. sharing information about what the united states government, what the white house is doing on policies to help the miles an hour people. it's taking questions, tough questions on many days from the press about the policies, being pushed on our policies and whether we're delivering on our promises. and it's also being straight and transparent. there is no better example than that, than covid-19 and our efforts to get the paupl under control. there are going to be days when people will not be hearing what

they want to hear, where the data will be concerning and troubling. we want to bring transparency back. and so we're just going to try to deliver on that in the briefing room. the job, the back and forth is the job. the healthy debate, healthy discussion in the briefing room is part of the job of the white house press secretary. >> hey, jen, it's willie. good morning. >> good morning. >> welcome to the job. look forward to talking to you for the next four years. as you said, he is going to be bifurcated. he has a lot to do. a lot he wants to do. does he believe donald trump committed impeachable offenses in the leadup to january 6th? . >> it's quite a popular question, which i understand. i answered it a couple times yesterday. and i talked with him about this as well. he has great respect for what

they do and all the abilities they have, the capacities they have, and the constitutional duty that they are all serving. he will determine the pace, the mechanics of holding the president account knowledge. former president. i'm still getting used to that. his focus is going to be getting the pandemic under control. that's how he is going to use his bully pulpit, how he will direct conversations with him. that's what he is going to do in the days ahead. >> does the president have a personal view whether donald trump committed impeachable offenses? >> he spent 36 years in the senate. he's retired from the senate. now he's governing for all the american people. so he's going to focus on delivering on what he feels that he promised to deliver on when he was running for office. >> obviously coronavirus is sitting in front of you, jen.

if you can lay out the plan for the american people who frankly have been waiting for a plan for an entire year, what's happening today to change the trajectory of a crisis that claimed a new record yesterday in terms of deaths? >> well, willie, today the president will be signing 10 executive orders building on what he did yesterday, rejoining the world health organization, mask mandate. today he will lay out more specifics about what the path forward will look like, the distribution plan, steps he can take within miss presidential power to do that. i will be bringing dr. fauci to the briefing room today as part of our effort to especially sure we're having public health experts, medical experts leading our communication about the process that is under way to get the pandemic under control. but it's multipart, willie. it's not going -- we're not going to be able to get out of the pandemic or get the pandemic under control overnight. it's going to take months and

months. we want to also be clear in setting that expectation with the american public. so today he will spend the day talking about it. he will deliver some remarks to the public outlining more specifics on the vaccine plans, more specifics on restrictions that he will put in place to keep people healthy and safe. and we'll build from there. it's just the beginning. . >> mike barnicle? >> jen, you're the first person to occupy the press secretary's office in four years with some experience, who knows what she is doing. you don't need any on-the-job training. you have had it at the state department and the prior white house. what would be your thinking about ways to lower certainly the burner flame, lower the hostility that has enveloped the role of the press and the press secretary in the prior white house? do you feel confident that's already done? >> i think it's going to take

some time. you know, i have a tremendous responsibility with this opportunity, which is lower the temperature myself. as you all know from having spent some time in the briefing room or conducting many interviews, it takes two to really escalate. and even when there are days when we disagree or there are days when i'm not providing all the specific details that everybody would like to hear, my goal and objective is to maintain a calm tone in the briefing room. hopefully that will contribute to a discussion about the american public 6th day >> white house press secretary jen psaki. tkpraeugzs. . >> thank you, meek qaa. look forward to talking with you again. yeah. that would be great. still ahead on "morning joe", we'll bring in newly sworn in senator,padilla, who has

replaced kamala harris as junior senator. and the first latino senator. you're watching "morning joe". we'll be right back. ning joe". we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music) ♪ ♪ comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs. to support a strong immune system, your body needs routine. centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc. season, after season. ace your immune support, with centrum.

♪ ♪ 2020's done a new era has begun so keep pushing forward... because this is twenty twenty won make a different future start different at godaddy.com when they told me my work wasn't essential walls enclosed around me with the words “you can't do this” tattooed to its surface. an unshakable feeling. pressure that swelled beyond my capable strength. how do i break through...alone? i don't... the strength to break through has always been built together. crafted with the people who stand beside us. introducing career services for life.

learn more at phoenix.edu flexible hours. that work around your schedule. jackson hewitt is here to fight for the biggest refund you deserve. whether you're a 9-5er or 5-9er. go pro at subway® for double the protein on any footlong. or on any new protein bowl! so many ways to go pro at subway®! it's not amateur-tein, it's pro-tein, baby! go pro and get double the protein for just $2 more. subway. eat fresh. your journey requires liberty mutual. go pro and get double the they customize your more. car insurance so you only pay for what you need. wow. that will save me lots of money. this game's boring. only pay for what you need. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.

please raise your right hand. okay. do you solemnly swear that you will support? defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties on the office of which you are about to enter so help you god. >> i do. >> congratulations. >> let's bring in alex padilla of california. senator, thank you so much for being with us. you are joining the senate in interesting times, shall we say. what is your top priority as a

new u.s. senator? >> oh, my gosh. on behalf of california, certainly a long list of issues to tackle. none more urgent or critical than helping the biden administration improve our response to the covid-19 pandemic. california is one of the epi centers across the country. we have seen the pain and suffering the past 10 years. now we know what we have known for a long time. no plan under the trump administration. but the biden administration but and faith in science and public health experts. >> it is equally divided 50/50. the house also split down the middle. that will require efforts at bipartisanship. any members on the other side you have had a chance to talk to coming into the senate? are there any issues in particular you think are

particularly ripe for bipartisan compromise? >> look, i think both covid response is an opportunity for bipartisanship because the coronavirus does not discriminate. republicans, democrats, red states, blue states, everybody is being impacted. everybody is being devastated. i certainly hope there is a willingness to work on a bipartisan basis to improve the distribution plans, administration plans across the country and provide relief for struggling families, small business owners, state and local deposits and more. you know, we're going to have our work cut out for us. i don't think it will be easy. if yesterday is any indicator, i'll tell you my first experience with a republican member, after seening the oath was senator grassley. i leaned over to him and said, senator, i want you to know that i did the california version of

the full grassley. he chuckled and he said but i have a lot more counties than you do. i said but i have a lot more miles in my state than you do. maybe there is a window opening there. we will do that with all of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle. >> it's remarkable how that works. you engage with people and build relationships with them. it sounds like you're off to a great start. reverend al has a question for you. >> senator, first, congratulations. let me ask you as you deal with the senate as a new senator, the president, president biden faces several challenges at one time. one of which is the racial inequality and division in the country. you have dealt with it. i know your work. we have talked in california. and you had to deal also in your

being selected with not dividing the black and latino community. you have bills like the john lewis voting bill, george floyd bill coming before the senate. how to you, in your particular understanding of the need to deal with these racial issues, how do you thread that through a 50/50 senate and how do you think you can bring life to these bills without playing into the divisions that have scarred us the last four years? >> i appreciate that, reverend. good to see you again. i think it's building on what joe just mentioned. it's building relationships, building rapport. for me it's an opportunity to share my life experiences across the board. we are currently suffering deul pandemics. a lot of focus on covid-19 from a medical and health and economic standpoint. it has revealed and exacerbated a lot of other divisions,

whether it's inequitable act tess to health care, unequal school resources. who is more vulnerable by virtue of the nature of the jobs they hold. so as we hope to do better on vaccine distribution and get on the other side of the pandemic, we're going to have to, as joe biden puts it, build back better. not just infrastructure talk. that is every institution in our country talk. . >> senator padilla, it's willie geist. congratulations on your swearing in yesterday. obviously you would like to get down to covid and other issues that face people in your states, specifically your community as you have talked about. you also have this parallel track of an impeachment trial. do you think it's a good idea to pursue impeachment right now as you also confront covid and the economy? >> look, i do think that's the case. we have to not just respond better to covid and protect everybody's health but protect and defend our fundamental democracy as well.

it's not one or the other. we have to be able -- and i think there is a willingness to do both. even if it's longer workdays. we have to do both. >> and how do you suspect this will play out? is this going to be a long trial? is it going to be weeks and weeks? what are you hearing? . >> having to conclude that, yes, a lot is still shaking out. whether it's how the impeachment trial shapes up, how the house will function the next couple of years. the committee structure and committee assignments. all of that is still being negotiated between the majority leader schumer and senator mcconnell. >> senator alex pa tia, thanks so much and congratulations. it's great to have you on this morning. still ahead, in one of his first acts as president, joe biden has put a halt on president trump signature immigration initiative. the u.s. border wall with

mexico. we'll bring in jacob soberoff who has been following this issue from the very beginning. "morning joe" will be right back. "morning joe" will be rit h back among my patients, i often see them have teeth sensitivity as well as gum issues. does it worry me? absolutely. sensodyne sensitivity & gum gives us the dual action effect that really takes care of both our teeth sensitivity as well as our gum issues. there's no question it's something that i would recommend.

there's no question it's something i made a business out of my passion. i mean, who doesn't love obsessing over network security? all our techs are pros. they know exactly which parking lots have the strongest signal. i just don't have the bandwidth for more business. seriously, i don't have the bandwidth. glitchy video calls with regional offices? yeah, that's my thing. with at&t business, you do the things you love. our people and network will help do the things you don't. let's take care of business. at&t.

i can only say this, we have worked hard. we've left it all as the athletes would say, we have left it all on the field. we don't have to -- we don't have to come and say we'll never say in a month when we're sitting in florida we're not going to be looking at each other and saying, you know, if we only worked a little bit harder. . >> the things we have done have been incredible. and i couldn't have done it without you. so just a good-bye. we love you. we will be back in some form. >> that was donald trump yesterday just minutes before taking his final ride on air force one as president of the united states. kevin williamson has a heck of a

piece in the national review. >> it is something. . >> he is the author of the book "big white ghetto" dead broke, stone cold stupid, high on rage in the dank woolly wilds of the real america. mika wants to read our entire column. >> it's so good. >> she enjoyed it so much. . >> mika, take a run at it. then we will do your dramatic read. >> well, that sucked. memo to maga and its myriad fellow travelers, maybe death of a salesman as presented by lenny reefen stall. wasn't the show americans were dying to tune into this season. while we're at it, we may turn your party over to midi and the

studio audience from hee-haw was not absolutely aces as a political strategy. think, uncle cletus, i know this whole thing still sounds like your idea of a good time. how is that working out for you? republicans controlled not only the white house but both houses of congress. they were in historically strong position. elsewhere as well. they pissed it away like they were midnight drunks, care okayy war belling the old chumba wumba song. in 2021, they run absolutely squat. joe biden won the presidency. notwithstanding whatever the guest hosting for dennis praeger this week has to say about it. donald trump is in fact, the

first president since herbert hoover losing the presidency, the house and the senate all in a single term. along with being the first president to be impeached twice, the first game show host elected to office, that's trump's cola imto the history books? well, that and 400,000 dead americans and the failed coup d'etat business. ask the third lady melania trump, the most unpopular presidential wife in recorded history you trump eurbg republicans stphaoerd that joe biden was too corrupt and too sin elseent to win a financial campaign that he was one part behalfeo and one part turnip. the turnip kicked your dumb as from delaware to d.c. so you rioted. real smart move, cletus.

five americans are dead. barricaded have been erupted around the capitol. state capitals have been oblige to prepare for siege. americans blame you for this. and they are not wrong. trust the plan. the qanon consultists say. is this what you were planning? i know you're stupid but you're not that stupid. oh, but he fights, you'll say, over and over and over. he didn't fight. he tweeted. he he's 10 feet tall on social media and a pushover in real life. undeployment rate raising, abortion rate rising, beijing rising, the coronavirus body count rising. but he sure did tweet a lot. and he pardoned roger stone. at least he took care of that pressing national priority. but the judges, you protest, fair point.

trump's absurd attempts to overturn the lex through the specious legal challenges were laughed out of court by the very men and women he appointed to the bench. even his judges think he's a joke. everyone has figured that out except you. and and so good-bye, donald j. trump, the man who wanted to be conrad hilton but turned out to be paris hilton. good-bye ivanka, jared, there's a table for four reserved for you. so long, melania. it's not clear what you got out of this, but i hope it was worth it. a fond farewell to ted cruz's reputation and mike pence's self-respect, lindsey graham's manhood and fox news business model. in with dr. jill biden, out with dr. sebastian gorka. good night, sweet ladies. good night. good night. i'm sure we'll all meet again.

i'd really rather we didn't. >> there's a dramatic reading and kevin williamson you get extra points for referencing not once but twice cletus the slack-jawed yokel. >> i thought she was joking about reading the whole column. that's bananas. >> that is bananas. that's what you get for a three-hour show. now that we read your entire column. let's talk about your book "big white ghetto" which is obviously picking up some things that you laid out in this column. >> yeah. it is a book that's largely about poverty and addiction and other kinds of social dysfunction associated with the poor, largely rural parts of white america. the way in which that works in our contemporary politics, how

those people look at the communities in the world and how the rest of the country looks at those communities. >> so talk about how those new realities, how declining rates of life expectancy for working class white americans, how poverty, how opioids led to the presidency of donald trump. >> yeah. it's really largely a question of what we call for lack of a better term globalization. some people are equipped to thrive in the contemporary economy and some people who really aren't. among men, a lot of the things that used to give a sense of belonging and meaning to life like marriage, fatherhood and long-term ties to a single community and that sort of thing have been diminished, put off or reduced elsewhere in life. they have fewer and fewer things

with which to root and orient themselves. so people looking for status, people looking for a sense of meaning, people looking for a sense of social belonging turn to this angry tribalistic form of partisan politics. that becomes an identity, a substitute religion. that really is the fundamental cause of a lot of the anger and rage we see particularly in conservative politics right now and in american politics in general. >> as you say, many of the people you write about in your book found someone or something in donald trump that they believed perhaps didn't look like them or live a life like them but would fight for them. where do they go now? where do they turn when they look at politics, in the past they didn't really see anybody that would fight for them, they believed trump would. what happens now with donald trump off the stage? >> the first thing is to help them believe they were wrong to believe that about donald trump.

he didn't fight for them. when you look at the trade deficit and those sorts of things, he failed at those. he failed at his own criteria. the republican party has a problem in that the trump element represents two-thirds to three-fourths of the party. neither faction can win an election without the other. together they win elections easily. donald trump almost got re-elected. it's easy for them to be corrupted by this, by the easy access to power. i think that will be a challenge for senate republicans coming up. they will have to decide where they are as a party what they stand for and what kind of country they think they want to try to achieve and leave for their children. the advice i give to them is to think about neville chamberlain.

chamberlain was a patriot and a statesman. he did many worth while things in his career, but he's only known for one thing, getting wrong the most important question of his time. many senate republicans right now are in the same place. they're faced with a defining question for their time in politics and they have to get it right. >> all right. john heilemann? >> kevin, i want to extend off that point. a lot of what you're pointing to, i think that has huge political implications. it's not a purely political phenomenon. it's a social phenomenon. i guess one of the questions i ask is you just talked about how the republican party, the challenge the party has in dealing with this as a problem. i guess i'm going to flip that question around and ask what do you think -- what kind of

cultural and social change could happen and how we could encourage it to happen that would leach the toxic elements out of this phenomenon. >> i think you're right it's principally a cultural and social problem. the politics come from that. not the other way around. we have a certain spiritual sickness in our society that shows up in our politics. the problem with those sorts of deep broad cultural problems is there are not really policy solutions to them. you can't pass a law that says people have to have better families or be better citizens. or people have to love their neighbors. it's why yesterday's joe biden speech gave me the creeps a little bit. we're going to reform everything, every institution that affects american life. >> no, you're not. unless you're north korea, you don't have power over every

institution. the belief that we can change ourselves socially by presidents who serve four-year terms and you know, temporary employees, is wishful thinking. >> let me ask you a follow up on that. is there something positive in joe biden speaking that way in stead of talking about american carnage? that's the first question. the second question is how do we rebuild some of these institutions. if an example above is not the answer, it's a question tim carney addressed in his book. how do we build the community institutions? how do we rebuild the churches, the synagogues, the rotary clubs? the things that used to bind

communities together? >> yeah. presidents do set examples. and joe biden, who is not someone i think highly of. i think his decency and all that is nonsense. he has the great advantage of the fact that he will look good by comparison. by comparison with donald trump, joe biden will look pretty good, at least for a while. so he's got that going for him. if that kind of example inspires people to be better citizens, better members of their community, that's a great thing. i doubt that's the case. but that example works in that way. it's partly a problem of activity. it's not that you can't go join the rotary club, that you can't volunteer at your church. we all have more time right now than we used to. there are fewer entertainment options outside the home. people would rather stay home and view netflix than do these things.

so politics has been converted into a form of entertainment. it's another thing you do with a device on your couch. if anything we're seeing that deepening, becoming more entrenched in our own time. i don't think that is very inspiring for our republic. >> kevin williamson, thank you. we can agree on your column and maybe disagree a little bit on joe biden. we appreciate you coming on. your new book is "big white get to: dead broke, stone cold in the dank willy wilds of the real american." >> you read the whole column. >> the whole column. it was so good. >> appreciate you're being on. thank you. up next, a new day in america as joe biden and the democratic party take full control of washington during one of the most trying times in our nation's history. we'll talk about the swift

action from the new administration turning the page on the trump presidency. plus majority whip dick durbin will be our guest. the next hour of "morning joe" starts right now. >> i think the fact that the three of us are standing here talking about a peaceful transfer of power speaks to the institutional integrity of our country. >> so this is an unusual thing. we are both trying to come back to normalcy, deal with totally abnormal challenge and make a more perfect union. it is an exciting time. approximate. >> we've got to not just listen to folks that we agree with but listen to folks that we don't. one of my fondest memories of the inauguration was the grace and generosity that president bush showed me and laura bush showed michelle. and it was a reminder that we

can have fierce disagreements and yet recognize each other's common humanity. and that as americans we have more in common than what separates us. >> that's really moving. so moving. those were former presidents bush, clinton and obama. a conversation featured last night in the prime time inaugural special, celebrating america. willie, this went on throughout the day. i mean, look at this. these families, they really are, they are an american family. they are bonded together. during the inauguration, if you could put this up, please. i found this yesterday. the tweet is very moving. michelle obama pulls out activity bag filled with coloring books for a restless george w. bush. >> they were holding hands.

it was cute. >> there was another tweet i wanted to get out where -- >> no. >> -- where in the middle of the service, dubya was sneaking over, holding michelle obama's hand. look at this. look at this. one of the great tweets of the day. these two. i swear they should go to the road together. i would pay whatever ticket costs were. if he don't love me like bush loved michelle, i don't want him. and look at the botment right, bush is looking straight ahead, sneaking over, holding her hand. and look at laura and president obama. >> i think what joe is saying, willie, like for the first time in four years, i think maybe we could just have a tiny bit of fun. >> that's not what i'm saying.

i'm saying i will pay whatever michelle and dubya are charging if they want to take that on the road to theaters all across america. actually, they really do show something to americans. listen, the obamas were not particularly nice to george w. bush in the lead up to the election. barack obama said that. he said we really -- we scuffed him up really badly. yet i learned an awful lot that during the transition his people bent over backwards to help our people. and of course that has happened time and time again. so it really does -- that's who we are as a nation. all those people are a great example of how it is supposed to work. >> i think the bottom right photo was the moment when he was passing candies around like you

and i did in church when we were kids. trying to sneak contraband in. the onion may have had the best day of everyone, including joe biden. something about the term activity bag just got me. yeah, the display yesterday, and we'll get into what happened over the course of the day, all the executive actions that were taken by president biden. but that display on that stage, especially given what had happened two weeks before, the utter chaos and the feelings that we had on that day of, my goodness, our democracy is under attack. will it be left standing? will there even be an inauguration? i think the normalcy of that day yesterday was so important. it showed, yes, democracy is here. this is its day. and that relationship that you talked about between the

different presidents of different parties. many of whom had fierce disagreements. president obama ran against the record of george w. bush very explicitly. and he was shown grace by the bush family as he said last night in that "celebration of america" tv special. he said the bush family showed me grace. to have this out in front of us and frankly just expressing normalcy and showing that the business of the country moves forward now, that the page has turned, i think was a very important moment for this country, whatever party you're in. >> of course donald trump came to power in part because of his lies about barack obama. his lies about him being from kenya, not being born in america, not being qualified to be president of the united states. he loved showing the tweets where he was bashing president

obama time and time again. well, donald trump was elected president of the united states, and president and michelle obama showed extraordinary grace, and gave to the trumps the same thing that the bushes had given to them. and, again, that is the rule. that is not the exception. and i think that's so important for us to remember. i'm just curious, mika, what was your -- over the past couple of days, was there a moment you found most moving in the inauguration? something that gave you hope? >> it was actually the night before. and it was at that ceremony where they recognized the 400,000 people who had died of the coronavirus. and everybody on television and absolutely everybody in the living room where we were watching it got choked up. and it was not just at the

gravity of what had happened, the amount of death and destruction that had been, you know, put on this country for all the reasons that we won't discuss right now. but my god, the sun is going to come up tomorrow. no matter what side of the aisle you are on, with a new beginning for those who are suffering, whether fighting the coronavirus on the front lines or if they have been stricken by it. their family has been stricken by it. or their business has been stricken by it. this past administration has been a setback in terms of our response to what has attacked this country, a virus. but also a setback for women and for minorities. and on day one joe biden's administration has righted a lot of wrongs that people are feeling. whether it's reflected within his administration or within the plans that he has rolled out before he even stepped into the

oval office. that ceremony for me, the fact that it was so simple. and the fact that it was so beautiful. it just expressed empathy for one second. i started to feel it then. >> it's hard to believe, willie, that actually was the first time -- >> yeah. >> -- that we had come together as a country to mourn the loss of 400,000 americans. it would be as if we had gone through four years of world war ii with 400,000 people dying and never talked about it as a nation. never mourned together as a nation. and i remember that night mika is talking about. during that night, everybody was wiping tears from their eyes. i guess just the accumulation of the suffering and the isolation. and the fact that, again, no

president had brought us together to mourn this -- >> -- this extraordinarily tragic year we have been through. there is something very cathartic about it. and i will also say, too, washington just looked different that night. >> it did. >> the united states capitol, which i remember the first time i went through the gates as a member and drove up right underneath the capitol and looked up. it was really the most awe-inspiring thing. it was lit up at night. and i just gasped. it was the most beautiful building i had ever seen. but, willie, two nights ago, when they showed that capitol that had been ransacked just two weeks prior when they showed it shining brightly on that hill, i said that is the most beautiful building i have ever seen in my life. it was an extraordinary moment, extraordinary few days. what about you? what did you find most moving

over the past couple of days? >> well, i hate to be repetitive, but i agree with you. i think friday night for me was the most moving. not because of joe biden or kamala harris but because of that message, that we had that shared moment of grief that 400,000 people -- if when we started this, put yourself back to late january or february of 2020. if someone told you 400,000 of our friends, neighbors and countrymen were going to die, it would be too much to bear. but it happened so slowly. it's gone over time and it's accumulated. in some ways we become numb to the statistics. well, on that night we weren't numb. we looked it straight in the eye and said, my gosh, look what has happened in our country. we heard from a president who vowed on his first day to make it his first order of business. a year into the pandemic, we

finally get a strategy on the pandemic. the new orders issued by the president. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off.

let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo.

the president, joe biden, spent his first few hours on the job issuing a flurry of executive orders on immigration, climate change and the coronavirus. he issued a mask mandate for federal buildings and for all public transportation between states. he asked agencies to extend moratoriums on evictions and extend the payment and interest freeze on student loans. biden will restore the national security council pandemic unit that was disbanded by former

president donald trump. and will begin reengaging with the world health organization. the president is moving quickly to reverse his predecessor's immigration agenda. he put a stop to the construction of the border wall, paused some deportations for his first 100 days. he called on congress to strengthen daca, and ended the so-called muslim ban. the united states has also rejoined the paris climate agreement and has revoked the permit for the keystone oil pipeline. as for today, president biden is using his first full day in office to announce this country's first national strategy for fighting covid. it comes through a series of executive orders and directives as the u.s. sets another record for daily deaths. topping the list, expanding

emergency relief to states and exercising the defense production act to make up for shortfalls in equipment. the white house says it also plans to launch a comprehensive vaccination program involving fema and other public health agencies like the cdc. the panel will be established to help expand testing treatment and the health care workforce. the president will direct the department of education to provide guidance on how to safely reopen and operate schools and will call on the agency that oversees workplace safety to clarify its guidelines for employers. we are also told the administration will establish a task force to address inequities in how the virus affects communities of color and other underserved groups. joe, it seems so -- what's the word? it's so simple. he's actually getting to work and fighting the coronavirus on every level. >> well, he's actually doing

what a lot of people have been begging president trump to do since early march of last year. he just wouldn't do it because he didn't want -- even though he said i'm a wartime president, he did not want to take the responsibility. and they passed it over to states, who were just ill-equipped to do many of these things. it is interesting. a lot done yesterday. but a lot done with a signature by the president of the united states. we have been a nation that's been run by executive orders for the most part over the past 10 years. the last four years of donald trump. the last six years of barack obama, have very few exceptions. it seems to me the great challenge for joe biden is going to be passing -- actually passing legislation. getting the 50/50 split senate and that split house of representatives, getting them to come together on some of these bills. and there's some opportunities. the daca program strikes me as an opportunity that joe biden will be able to find 50 in the senate.

will be able to get a majority in the house, no doubt. a lot of people have been talking about infrastructure weak the past four years. there is a great infrastructure bill that's ready to be passed. and also other reforms. john lewis voting rights act. a lot of right-wing republicans won't like that. certainly a majority for the john lewis voting rights act as well. if americans want to get to a stage where executive orders signed by the last president are not done away with the first day of the next administration, well, they need to talk to their lawmakers and encourage them to actually pass legislation. coming up, the history made by kamala harris yesterday. not just as vice president, but as tiebreaker in the 50/50 senate. the new balance of power next on "morning joe."

♪ ♪ be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. and many achieved remission that can last. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores .

don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible.

the chair lays before the senate two certificates of election for the state of georgia and a certificate of appointment to fill the vacancy

created by the resignation of former senator kamala d. harris of california. [ applause ] yeah, that was very weird. okay. >> that was a good moment, mika. nobody would have believed that the democrats were going to take control of the united states senate. and they never would have if it were not for donald trump and the civil war he sparked, started, and continued to push in the state of georgia among the republican party. it just -- there has to be an understanding among every senator that they're going to be in the minority the next two years -- >> yeah. >> -- because of one person. >> right. politics aside, just the kamala

harris story in itself right now is so inspiring. and i remember when she was actually the key note of the san francisco know your value event. and i was talking to her on stage. you were backstage talking to doug. and we both came away -- she was actually just considering her run for the presidency then. and i just thought -- i mean, we were in the middle of so much with trump. and the country was dealing with the fire hose of trump actions day by day by day. but i definitely thought something very, very big was going to happen with her, that she was one of those people who could make it through. it's hard for women on a number of levels. but she and her husband were an incredible team. and the way that she connected with the women that day, i'll never forget it. >> you know, something that's interesting, reverend al, she is very engaging, as you know.

very warm one on one. we not only spent time with her in san francisco with that know your value conference, but she actually came over, had lunch with mika and me a couple years ago. >> they were talking for about an hour, hour and a half about her kids, and her life, her family and her mom. she's very warm and engaging. and early in the presidential process that did not come across. because as you know better than any of us, running for president the first time, that is an extraordinary jump. that is hard. i can't even imagine how difficult that is to do. but sometimes she didn't come across well early on in that presidential race. but we saw throughout the general election campaign as

vice president. she had already been tried by fire in the primaries. you're starting to see more of her personality, more of the real kamala coming out in public and it's good to see, very good to see. >> she is a very personable person. and she's very secure in her own skin. i think that the early part of the campaign she was trying to get her sea legs under her. you are hit from all sides. and you can't prepare for that. there's no book to read. there's no training for that. i had many moments -- i knew her since she was d.a., and i had many moments talking to her. and i took her to the famous soul foot restaurant in harlem named sylvia's. she said i want you sit me at the table where you sat with barack obama when he was running. we talked a lot about shirley

chisholm and jesse jackson. i felt that she was trying to live up to expectations and try to be kamala harris at the same time. i think she has come through with that. she is who she is. and who she is is decent. she got hit from the left as kamala the cop. those against policing at all. she got hit from the right. once she settled into her comfort zone and i think she'll be a great vice president and we will be grateful for the nation. up next, senator dick durbin on "morning joe."

to defend against dark forces attacking your organization, you need to see in the dark. to have the wisdom to understand multiple cyber threats. the precision focus to end attacks instantly.

on computers, mobile devices, servers and the cloud. join the world's leading companies in our mission to defend. cybereason. end cyber attacks. from endpoints to everywhere.

♪ amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ i once was lost but now i'm found ♪ was blind but now i see ♪ >> beautiful moment yesterday from garth brooks singing amazing grace. wonderful day for the bidens, for those supporting joe biden. today he wakes up to the reality that he's inherited the worst job market of any modern president. this just breaking, 900,000 filed for jobless claims last week. historically high level as biden inherits the worst job market of

any modern president. so welcome to the white house, mr. president. so, kurt bardella joins us now, he's a columnist for "usa today" and the "l.a. times" and plugged into the country music scene as publisher of "the morning hangover" news letter out of nashville. we were talking about this yesterday. lady gaga sings for joe biden's inauguration, that's all good for her. good for her fans. same with j. lo. garth brooks, it's a little bit trickier. the it's not hard to predict. but of course his facebook fan beige getting deluged by people comparing him to the dixie chicks saying they'll never buy another record of his again. he's a traitor. blah, blah, blah. garth brooks could have easily skipped this but he thought it was important to be there. tell me why.

>> so many people associate country music and politics with this dixie academics episode of 2003. they spoke out against the iraq war, they were blacklisted from country music, from that point forward there's been hesitancy and fear from country music artists to get engaged in politics and societal issues because of the professional backlash. here you have the biggest star, the most successful selling solo male artist in the history of music get asked to her form at the biden inauguration, rather than let that fear dictate his decisionmaking, rather than worrying about the backlash and what it could mean for his career going forward, garth answered the call and felt it was so important to be there for this american moment, to partake in that, to have that representation of the country music community on that stage with the incoming president, joe biden, that he said to hell with the haters.

to hell with being afraid. i'm going to be there. whatever happens after that happens. whether his career somehow disappears, it's something that he can live with because we're in a moment in time where we have to move beyond some of these petty differences. we have to come together. i think the message of president biden's unity and healing was something that spoke directly to garth. i spent the last couple of days talking to people in his camp. hearing about how they were trying to make this decision and taking into account all the things you talked about. at the end of the day, it came down to this was a moment of history, a piece of america. he wasn't going to miss being on that stage, having that unique opportunity because to garth music is the ultimate heal. his music has been about healing, togetherness and community. no matter what happens after this, he will never regret being on that stage for this moment, just two weeks removed from the

capitol siege. it meant a great deal to him. if his career goes away after that, which i don't think it will, if it does, he can live with that. >> so president biden signed an executive order yesterday pausing the construction of president trump's border wall at the u.s. southern border with mexico. joining us now from the site of the wall, nbc news and msnbc correspondent jacob soboroff. you have been following every aspect of this story. first tell us what exactly was built. what is this wall that the new president is now halting construction of? >> well, i think, mika, it's important to underscore there was a lot built. over 450 miles. while it was easy for fact checkers or democrats for instance to dismiss this as replacement wall, operationally it was significant. in places like arizona where i was on federal land and native land, they say it was

devastating to the environment, to sacred sites for native communities and for migration. it was extraordinary to be out here yesterday and watch in realtime as president biden signed this proclamation to halt the construction for seven days. this is the border, but at daylight we'll see if the trucks that were out here working on the final grading of that thing, the all-weather road that runs below the stadium lights that you see come back to finish their work. the wall itself is largely finished but there's work to do. what happens now? do they pack up and go home? that proclamation, executive order said the agencies will con cult on what to do and now to move forward from here. operationally it's significant and symbolically it is even more significant. now we can talk about i.c.e., what happens with the children, deportation, the list goes on and on. >> as you led me to, the wall

was just one piece, it was the splashiest piece and it led chants during the campaign and his presidency, but family separation was the most awful piece of all this the policy technically stopped a couple years ago. as you have been reporting for the last several months, many of those kids are still separated from their families. what is the biden administration planning to do to reunite those kids with their families? >> it's still an open question. i've been talking to incoming white house administration officials about this. we believe by the end of the month, between the 25th and 1st of february, we'll see this task force set up by executive order to reunite the families. it gives me chills to think about this and say this, but right here in otay-mesa, they won the reunication of all the

families. if it were not for one woman all those families wouldn't be in a position to be reunified because of that aclu lawsuit. what is the relief? vice president now president biden has said that he believed it was criminal. what's the accountability going to be? i know you're talking to senator durbin coming up, he will be the chair of the senate judiciary committee. they'll hold hearings on this. what does accountability look like? will there be a criminal referral by them? it's two-pronged, how will you care for the families traumatized, tortured in the words of physicians for human rights, abused according to the words of the pediatrics. that right now are the issues at hand. >> all right.

jacob soboroff, we know you'll stay on this. up before dawn for us along the border in san diego. joining us now is democratic majority whip and incoming chairman of the judiciary committee, senator dick durbin of illinois. he's reintroducing the domestic terrorism prevention act bill. great to have you with us. we'll get to that bill in a moment. i want to ask you about yesterday and the inauguration. we've been talking this morning about what it meant to the country as a turning of the page in many ways. what was it like to be there and how was it to stage that event on the steps that were attacked two weeks before. >> it was great. we defied the terrorists who raided the capitol two weeks ago. the ordinary business of the united states has continued despite that five, six-hour interruption. hats off to you for that piece on garth brooks. when i came off the stage, i saw him standing in the hallway, i

walked up to him and said thank you. i want you to know there's a hell of a lot of democrats who are fans of yours, too. i think it's important. it's risky, i guess from a business point of view. he did a good thing yesterday. i'm glad you highlighted it. >> senator, moving forward, looking ahead at your top priorities, where in that does accounting for the past play a role, especially the past two weeks and the insurrection at the capitol? >> i can tell you we have an unresolved piece of business. those terrorists, if you will, who raided this building, the united states capitol building have to be held accountable for their conduct. the president needs to be held accountable for his incitement of that mob to come and attack this building and try to disrupt our government. that's the reality. i think the house did the right thing in impeaching the president for a second time. they will be sending it over to

us in a day or two. we have to decide how to work it into a busy calendar. it is a priority. >> well, when you address that, i'm curious about insurrectionists that actually are in your midst, insurrectionists that you will be working with every day. i speak of josh hawley and ted cruz who inspired the insurrection. mitch mcconnell begged hawley not to do this, hawley didn't listen to mitch mcconnell, wouldn't even go on a conference call that mcconnell had urging members not to cross this line. hawley did it. hawley worked overtime lying as mitch mcconnell said. those lies inspired the mob, led to the insurrection, could have led to death of the members of

the united states senate and house. why wouldn't josh hawley, why wouldn't ted cruz for their roles in this insurrection be voted out of the united states senate? you need two-thirds of the members. if you don't get voted out of the senate, driven out for insurrection against the united states of america, what do you get voted out for? >> i think we would take this a step at a time. they'll be held accountable in texas and missouri. they're being held accountable nationally. if there's anything to do at the congressional level, senate level, it would be initiated by the ethics committee. i will tell you that what they did and the incitement of that mob and the first bump or whatever followed it inexcusable in light of what happened to this capitol building and our government. we have to take it seriously in terms of my colleagues being held accountable, i don't think we heard the end of that story.

>> what can you do in your new position to work to get the families that were separated at the border reunited? >> let me tell you, in the midst of that terrible policy i went up to an immigration court in chicago. the judge was a good woman, had a heart of gold. she said stay for the first item on the call. the first item on the call was a 2-year-old girl who had to be lifted into the chair and handed a stuffed animal. she was one of those separated. along with her was a 3-year-old boy. he was given a little match box car, he got up on the table and listened as they decided to postpone his hearing for six months. those were two of the victims of that awful policy. to think that people in that administration thought that was a good way to discourage people from coming to america is shameful, just shameful. trust my, the senate judiciary committee won't forget that. >> senator dick durbin, thank

you very, very much. again, he's reintroducing the domestic terrorism prevention act bill. we will have you back again soon. thank you, sir. up next, a closer look at joe biden's inaugural address and what his message means for the days ahead. as we go to break, a look at what's new over at knowyourvalue.com. earlier on the show we spoke with white house press secretary jen psaki, we explore how she and her work for the biden administration could mark a turning point for women. there's also a piece by the ceo of the nonpartisan women's civic organization, lauren leader. and the vice president's niece, meena harris talks about the message in her new book "ambitious girl." and a reminder about know your values, very important partnership with forbes.

it's a 50 over 50 list. you can nominate a woman over 50 who achieved great success and paid it forward. the submission deadline is closing soon. get the submissions in or nominate yourself. go to knowyourvalue.com for more. we'll be right back. research shows people remember commercials with nostalgia.

so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's one that'll really take you back. 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. ♪ go pro at subway® for double the protein on any footlong. or on any new protein bowl! so many ways to go pro at subway®! it's not amateur-tein, it's pro-tein, baby! go pro and get double the protein for just $2 more. subway. eat fresh. ♪ ♪ go pro and get double the protein for just $2 more. (quiet piano music) (loud music & noises) ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music)

comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs. use a single hr software? nope. we use 11. eleven. why do an expense report from your phone when you can do it from a machine that jams? i just emailed my wife's social security number to the entire company instead of hr, so... please come back. how hard is your business software working for you?

with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. hon? first off, we love each other... it's time for sleep number's january sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring... exactly. no problem...and done. and now, save $1,000 on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed, now $1,799. only for a limited time.

♪♪ >> that's the new radical song ewere talking about a couple hours ago that obviously leaves an awful lot to the bidens for reasons described earlier. but let's bring in the author of "winners take all," and with us professor of history at new york university? ruth bengiat, the author of the book "strongmen: mussolini to the present." i see then that this is a very dark time and potentially a very bright time. it's important to hold these truths together. this is not the chaos of the beginning of something, this is

the chaos of the end of something. we will actually create a country that's better for every single person. but we have to be willing to tell that story forcefully. we have to be willing to fight those people tooth and nail and we have to fight to win. we are living through a revolt against the future, the future will prevail." . look, anand, i'll start with you there, one word i take issue with is fight because i think it's been used so terribly in the past few weeks. and there's got to be a better way to get to this more perfect union that we all have been fighting for. >> can i speak as a former republican and say i agree with anand, i agree with you completely, we're not talking about fighting physically, but it is a mind-set and republicans have had that mind-set that it is a battle for the soul of america and they live it and they believe it and they do it

24 -- that's how i thought when i ran and that's how democrats have to start thinking, that's how independents have to start thinking, that's how conservatives who love this country need to start thinking, this is a battle for the future of america and it is a battle we have to fight 24 hours a day, seven days a week, politically, and peacefully. >> i am with you, joe, and i understand mika's concern about, you know, we want to not have violence. but i actually think there is a huge problem in this country of only the bad guys having fight in them. you don't actually want a society where only the people who want to do harm are -- understand themselves to be in a battle and the people who actually want to make life better for more people, who want to fight for a multicultural society, who want to advance social progress, those people are -- your previous guest, senator durbin, when you asked

him the question about seditionists in his midst, that was not an answer with a sense of fight that you got back from him. you, a former republican, are inviting him to expel colleagues who are seditionists. and he says it's a matter for the ethics committee. that's what it looks like when you don't have a sense of fight. and so i wrote the piece in the ink, that it's not just the democracy that has prevailed, as joe biden so eloquently said yesterday, it is the future that has prevailed, or it has at least been given a chance to prevail. these last four years i think we can now safely say were an attempt at a revolt against the future, to stop the future, to stop the progress of an america that is becoming a country of the world, a country that looks like the world, distilled into one land, an extraordinary feat. i also argue in the piece we are jumping high and that's why we're falling on our face. we are actually trying something incredibly hard as americans and

we forget that. we've been having this drama, this drama of many years, because we're actually trying to do something extraordinary. >> exactly. >> and germany and france and britain and a lot of other countries are actually not trying to do what we're trying to do, they're actually not on a path to being majority/minority superpowers that look like the world. we have to give ourselves a pat on the back but also, remember, that it is going to be a fight to make that beautiful vision real. >> that's one of the things i love about this country is we are never satisfied, never satisfied. we're always pushing forward. and, yes, we have a press that is always critical of people in office, always demanding more of them, always demanding more of this country, and that's why we are who we are. i will say, willie, on the issue of expelling members that led an insurrection, and encouraged an insurrection against the united states of america and tried to

undermine the constitution of the united states of america, if you don't expel a member for that -- >> yeah, come on. >> what do you expel a member for? this is -- i must say, i'm tired of these wishy-washy answers, josh hawley should be expelled from the united states senate. it's that simple. >> yesterday -- >> the top newspapers in the state believe it, and i know members of the senate whose lives were in danger believe it too. i can't believe, in fact, the guy is still in the united states senate. >> yeah, and some have added ted cruz to that list as well for the speeches they made and the lie they told in the months leading up to those speeches but that's part of the tension with this biden white house. we heard it again this morning, they want to look forward. jen tsaki the new press secretary wanted to deal with covid. that's partly true but there has to be a reckoning of what just happened literally two weeks

ago. we've got to look that squarely in the eye. you write about authoritarianism. an early moment from sean spicer where he came out on the second day where he said we had the biggest inauguration crowd of all time and it was dismissed and laughed off as pathetic. but if you fast forward four years we got the big lie, that donald trump has won the election, which led to a revolt at the capitol and the death of five people. >> yeah. and, you know, the big lie is the product of myriad small lies that have been told over four years, or five if you count the campaign. and i think one of the central principles of authoritarianism is lawlessness, the leader feels he's above the law and not be-holden to the truth and lying is part of this prevailing over the truth, imposing your will and your fictional reality. so i think that pushing back in the name of accountability and

transparency and decency as biden started to do, to speak to your former point, i think, you know, we do need -- the lesson of authoritarianism is all these guys started out testing the system. donald trump told us he could shoot someone and not lose any followers so you have to push back vigorously. but biden also has empathy, and we need to temper that, you know, bellicose masculine energy with empathy and dialogue. so in a sense he is the ideal leader for this moment. >> so, i mean, that empathy in the right place, though, i mean, there are certain things that i think in the weeks and months to come we have to reconcile and confront, and accountability has to be involved. but in terms of authoritarianism, can you explain that often the followers of authoritarians that they're not -- they don't have to be brilliant minds. that they can be large groups who are easily manipulated.

>> yeah. and what we see is all of these leaders who have had the most success know how -- they have a background in media and mass communications. and they know how to be what people need them to be. they will be anything you need them to be. they're showmen. and this is part of the tragedy because they reach out on an emotional basis but they actually despise and use those who put their faith in them. >> we're actually up against a hard break. so hard it's -- >> we need to have both of you back. >> this is the one hard break i can't blow through. i'd love to have both of you back tomorrow if we can do this. we need to have a longer conversation on this because it is so important to figure out how we got here. and anand you and i need to have our finishing speech, our finishing discussion on institutions and how they held up. thank you, guys, so much. >> our discussion is not broken,

it's just unfinished. >> there you go. we'll see you both tomorrow, if possible. >> willie, final thoughts before we go? >> well, the honeymoon ends today, we've got a new total death record yesterday from covid, and also bad economic numbers again, the reality after a day of celebration of the country sets in this morning for president biden. >> and that does it for us this morning, stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle, live in washington, d.c., where history has been made. but now the work begins. it is thursday, january 21st, the first full day in office for our new president, joseph r. biden. but now that all the celebrations are over we've got to be honest about how tough things are in this country right now. will we face multiple crises? for example, at the very same time biden was taking the oath of office, thousands