i'm mitch mch andrea mitchell in washington. president biden is tackling the pandemic. blocked from getting key data during the transition, the new president isn't wasting any time setting up obvious contracts, delivering a detailed pandemic plan, holding a meeting with his covid-19 advisers today, having press secretary hold the first

noncombative press briefing in four years. he's leading by example, wearing a mask in his first appearance in the oval office, something donald trump never did. the bidens were wearing masks during the fireworks display last night in contrast to former president trump, who took off his mask on that balcony as soon as he returned from the hospital where he'd been treated for covid. none of this can alter the appalling toll of the virus. another record 4, 131 american deaths on wednesday alone. the total death toll now more than 4060,000. joining me, nbc news chief white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host peter alexander, "washington post" white house correspondent ann guerin and a dean of the school of public health at brown university. welcome all. peter, day one, even before day one, last night, you were in the white house briefing room. you actually had a briefing. number one. two, it was policy, substantive direct, nonconfrontational. and the new administration is

setting some very ambitious goals for covid-19. take us through what you'll see and hear today. >> reporter: yesterday the pageantry giving way to the policy even before he slept in the white house for the first night, joe biden signing 17 executive orders, some focusing on the coronavirus, ten more today focusing specifically on the pandemic, which remains a priority for this new president. among other things, they're launching this national coronavirus vaccine campaign. he's going to be exercising, using the dpa, the defense production act, which basically allows the government to use wartime power, emergency power, to expand production of testing and other critical fly splo sup to say nothing of other medical supplies needed for the first responders as well. beyond that, there will be a plan to try to deal with schools, a priority of this

president as well, the focusing on the reopening of schools and businesses safely as it relates to masks. we have been speaking about those as well. yesterday a mask mandate on federal property. today one of the executive orders focuses specifically on masks as it relates to transit, mandating them for interstate transit, on trains and planes and other travel of that kind. you quoted notably jeff zients, the coronavirus coordinator for president biden, and he said what they found was even worse than they anticipated, inheriting a real challenge and a real lack of information as it relates to a national strategy. that's where joe biden will clearly put his focus in the first days. rochelle walensky spoke earlier saying despite alex azar, the former hhs secretary, saying there would be vaccines available in pharmacies by the end of february, that was an

unrealistic expectation on what they're finding on their arrival. >> a huge setback. doctor, the pandemic is raging across the country. this morning savannah guthrie pressed the new cdc director on the promise of 100 million vaccinations in 100 days. >> that's the thing. a huge promise was made, and people have heard promises before. so can that work begin today? >> the work and the planning has been -- we've been meeting daily at least for six weeks or so, so that work has begun already, and we are on the ground. the president has planned to use the -- signed in to use the defense production act to see exactly what it is that are the resources that we need either in the vaccine production or in the vaccine distribution or in the vaccine administration. do we need syringes or do we need chemical products? >> and do we know the answer to those questions? >> we are working towards the answer to those questions.

we're day two in the driver's seat. >> they basically don't have the answers to those questions, doctor. this is a big problem on day one. >> yeah. first of all, thanks for having me on. it is a big problem. there are a couple issues. first of all, the transition has not been super smooth because of the trump team has not been forth coming with information. that's one part of the problem. the trump team has also overpromised consistently on the vaccines. they suggested we'd have 100 million doses by the end of january, that 50 million americans would have been vaccinated by the end of january. we're nine days away from the end of january and 17 million have gotten their first shot. there's a big gap between what was promised and what the current team is inheriting. but i still think that 100 million doses in 100 days is both doable and necessary. we have a new variant that is starting to circulate in the united states that is going to really, really put pressure on

hospitals and cause a potential spike in deaths. the only way to prevent it right now or the mean way to prevent it is get a lot more vaccines into people's arms. that has to be priority number one along with testing and mask wearing and other things that are important. >> do you think with the defense production act they can get the supplies and a create a system from scratch almost to get it out there? >> as dr. walensky said, none of us have clarity into what the problem is. the vaccine manufacturers tell us their production is going fine, and i think they are -- it is going fine. but there's a lot beyond that that's important. and there has been so little clarity out of the trump white house of where the holdups are, what the problems are. but i do think we need to give the biden team a little bit of time to sort that out, lay out what they'll do next. do i think they can? i do. i do think they can and i think we'll hit that 100 million in 100 days mark. but we still need more information about what the hang-ups are, which we don't

have a lot of clarity on yet. >> covid is one piece of the massive government overhaul. first of all, they have to deal with the covid leaf plan but their first priority is sweeping immigration reform. a lot of executive orders and a halt on deportations, what they're doing on the wall, the southern wall, more construction right now, and putting up legislation. are they taking on too much? >> well i think from, andrea, from the biden team's perspective they have to show value on all of the main priorities that president biden stressed during his campaign. the pandemic, which is even worse and more complicated than when he made it job one by the time he got to be president, it was in a worse state so he has a higher hill to climb there than he did as a candidate.

that's job one. then the fallout from the pandemic is related, kind of job 1 1/2, and then all of the other things that really led to joe biden beating other democrats for nomination and beating donald trump for the presidency. and immigration, which you rightly highlighted, is a big one, but there are numerous others that they're taking on all at once. obviously, not all of these things are going to get across the finish line in 100 days, which is the benchmark they've set for a lot the first priorities, but from their perspective they feel like they need to get traction, they need to show all the constituents that they understand the monumental task ahead of erasing a lot of the trump legacy and building a new one. so immigration is a way to really talk to a whole lot of things that are priorities for president biden, maybe chief among them changing the tone and

attitude of the united states toward the rest of the world, toward black and brown people, toward the border lands, toward a lot of things that were emblematic of the way donald trump behaved as president and which biden has vowed to change. >> certainly the muslim ban being repealed, so-called muslim ban. so many things in that first day that were symbolic of that, the w.h.o. peter, what about today? >> reporter: joe biden has confidence in christopher wray the fbi director and will keep him in that post. that might have been an issue because yesterday in the inaugural press briefing with the new press secretary yesterday, i asked her if joe biden had confidence in his fbi director, and she deflected when i asked her twice. we followed up with a white

house official who confirms they have confidence in him. but that was interesting because of course first of all there's going to be a challenge for joe biden as he try to rebuild trust in the intelligence agencies that donald trump targeted throughout the course of his four years in office. obviously fbi directors had a ten-year term that's intended to preserve the sort of measure of independence for the fbi director, but is evidenced by donald trump firing james comey. clearly that was not always the case. raised some eyebrows that they didn't have an immediate answer on chris wray. now we're learning he will stick with chris wray going forward. andrea? >> thanks so much. peter alexander, anne, dr. jha. thanks to all of you. joining me now angus king, member of the intelligence and armed services committee. senator, good to see you. >> pleasure to see you. >> good to see you. we've got avril haines, now

confirmed at 7:00 last night. she's the first step. but josh hawley, now we have someone thankfully at dni in charge of the intelligence agencies, josh hawley, senator from missouri, is already blocking the department of health -- i'm sorry -- dhs -- >> homeland security. >> in charge of secret service, immigration, enforcement, other key agencies at homeland. what are we going to see going forward? this is the same josh hawley one of the instigators of the electoral college, and i'm obviously struggling to talk. yep. >> i don't know what josh hawley is up to. he's already sort of harmed his reputation in the senate and this seems to be another step in that direction. the good news is i believe we're going to be able to confirm lloyd austin as secretary of defense later today or this evening. and we'll be moving through most of these confirmations. there have been some sporadic

points of opposition, but i think we'll be able to get the cabinet in place, at least the national security people, within the next few days, early next week. so we have dni as you said and we'll have hopefully defense tonight, so i think we will be able to make sufficient progress. >> senator, when you say that you're hoping to have defense by tonight, that means there won't be a problem on the waivers because you have the house vote coming up and the senate will vote to waive the requirement that he be seven years out of uniform. >> the vote in the armed services committee which took place about an hour ago was supportive of the waiver. and i think there were some reluctant votes on that. i was one of them, but i voted yes to allow the waiver because i think we need a secretary of defense. i think lloyd austin is the right guy. i think he's going to vound himself with civilians in his

office, so i was persuaded that this was the right move. the support for the waiver passed the armed services committee. we'll be going to the floor probably about 4:30 this afternoon. shortly thereafter, assuming it passes in both the house and the senate, we'll be going directly to confirmation this evening. >> you're one of the senators who works so well with moderate democrats and republicans. do you think that there are 60 votes in the senate for either the biden covid package or something close to it, or do you think you'll have to resort to reconciliation and doing it, you know, with 50/50 and getting kamala harris to exercise that privilege of the vice president? >> well, i think the key term you used is something close to it. i don't think we'll be able to pull the entire package as is. that rarely is the case. the old saying is the president

proposes and the congress disposes. so i think there will be negotiation, but i'm hopeful we will be able to get 60 votes. i think most people on both sides of the aisle realize the job isn't done with regard to covid, that there's more work necessary in terms of assistance to states and localities, vaccine distribution. you just had an important section on that. that's going to take additional resources. support for individuals. so i think there's going to be a fair amount of debate, but i'm reasonably optimistic we'll be able to get 60 votes. it's better when we can. then you've got bipartisan buy-in, and i think that's a much stronger position to work from. >> based on what you know now, would you vote to convict donald trump? >> well, i don't like to say in advance because i haven't heard all the evidence. i will say that his actions

after the election, particularly after or about the 1st of december when it was absolutely clear what the outcome was, was profoundly damaging to our country. the most damaging activity on behalf of the u.s. president that i've ever seen. he basically delegitimized the democratic process. he misled millions of people. he then invited the mob to washington. in december he sent a tweet saying, "see you in d.c. on january 6th. it will be wild." then of course he riled up the mob that morning. i think there are questions we need to answer, though, andrea, to really have a totally clear picture of this. one is what intelligence did he have that morning or the day before as to the nature of the crowd and what their proclivities were, what their plans were? if he knew in advance that this was a crowd that was prone toward violence and that they were planning to storm the capitol, it seems to me that

makes his culpability even greater. the second question is what did he do that afternoon when it was going on? did he, in fact, sit in the white house and just watch temperature and think it was pretty cool? or was he deeply concerned and tried to shut it down? unfortunately, he didn't take any real action to try to shut it down until several hours into the melee at the capitol. i think those two things will have an important influence on the outcome. but i have to say a very unusual situation where the jury are also witnesses to what went on. >> witnesses and experiencing it in a profound way. i want to ask you briefly about china, which has slapped really tough sanctions against secretary pompeo, peter navarro, john bolton, a host of other people. i can imagine that some of the people in joe biden's administration, including the president, would be very sympathetic and very critical of what pompeo and others did

toward china, harmful to the relationship, but can they really stand by and not doing anything with china sanctioning such top officials? >> well, we have to respond in a thoughtful way. i think one of the most important changes in policy is that we respond in a multilateral way. in other words, it's not just us. donald trump was right that china needed to be confronted, but to do it, to irritate all of our allies and then turn your attention to china unilaterally has manifestly not been effective. so i think we do need to respond to these sanctions, but it would be much stronger if we did so in the context of international support. and i hope that's the direction the biden administration will move in. >> senator king, thank you very much. thanks for being with us today. >> pleasure. nice to be with you, andrea. >> the crisis on the economy as the coronavirus runs rampant. i'll talk the former treasury

secretary and white house chief of staff jack lew coming up next.

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more than 10 million americans are out of weather with 900,000 people filing for unemployment just last week alone. on his first day in office, president biden signed executive orderings extending the eviction moratorium and pausing federal student loan payments with more orders aimed at tapping the pandemic today. economic recovery is tied to

controlling the covid-19. we have exactly the right person to talk to about this. jack lew, former treasury secretary and white house chief of staff in the obama administration, who ran under presidents clinton and obama. thanks for join us. jeff zients said the vaccine distribution plan is worse than they thought. how hard is it going to be to fix this? >> i think it's going to be a hard problem, but they have the right person on the job. jeff is a tremendous manager who knows how government works. he knows how to come up with a plan. he knows how to execute a plan. it's a tragedy he's coming in and needing to start almost from scratch on some key parts of the distribution, but i have great confidence in him, and it reflects president biden's commitment to fixing this and fixing it fast, because you put your finger on the real crux of the economic challenge. we're not going to have an economy that's fully working

again until we get ahead of the health crisis. we can't get ahead of the health crisis if we can't figure out how to distribute the vaccine and get people vaccinated. >> and what zients is also reporting is that, you know, they didn't get the help they needed from the transition. you participated in several transitions. not always so friendly in the transitions and difficult times. how do you handle multiple crises with these with so little preparation? >> well, it's unfortunate that the transition out didn't reflect the approach that republicans and democrats alike have taken for my entire professional career going from, you know, bush to clinton, from clinton to bush, bush to bama. each handoff was smooth. even after the bush/gore election where the outcome was not clear until fairly late

because of the supreme court case. as soon as the court resolved it, the process went forward. vice president gore conceded graciously and instantaneously the government was open for transition, which is hard under the best of circumstances. what we've just gone through is extraordinary, not to have access to the information and the planning process for such a long period of time. on the other side, what i said about jeff zients is true about people in almost every key position. they're experienced and knowledgeable people who will very quickly get their hands around the challenges, and they're going to make up for lost time. i wish that it wasn't necessary to make up for lost time. i have a lot of confidence on the both domestic, economic, and international issues that the experience of the team and the quality of the team is going to make this kind of fade away quickly. there's no doubt in the early

days there's catch-up. >> janet yellin, your successor at treasury, now said that they need to go big and not worry about the debt right now. you're part of the letter of former treasury secretaries endorsing quick confirmation for her. what in that covid relief package do you think they could start thinking about compromising a way -- minimum wage is something that is such a red line for a lot of republicans that they should give up on some of the traditional progressive democratic agenda? >> i think it's a little early to start to say what could be given away. what's important is that president biden put out a program which if you ask my opinion, it's the right program. it addresses the health crisis, the immediate economic crisis, and starts the foundation of rebuilding our economy in a more equitable way. but he also made it clear in every element of the

inauguration that he wants to work in a bipartisan basis with congress, that he's listening as well as broadcasting. jen psaki when her first briefing yesterday afternoon, made it clear they didn't start with a number and filled it out. they started with what they thought they needed to do and built up to what they presented. but there's room for negotiation. the way you find that room for negotiation is engagement. and there's no one who's more experienced in engaging with the congress than joe biden. he doesn't do it in a wide-eyed way or in a naive way. he does it in an experienced way. he knows it's hard. he knows on both sides when you have a compromise you have to persuade your own side to go along. but it's also the way you deliver on the promise out of the chaos of the last two weeks and the dysfunction in so many ways of the last few years that we can rebuild the country in a unified way. i come out of this inauguration more optimistic that there's a possibility of that happening.

>> great to hear some optimism in washington. thank you so much, jack. good to see you. >> good to see you, andrea. when we talk about breaking barriers, how yesterday's inauguration signaled big changes for women of color in more ways than one. and the new majority, alex padilla joins me. ♪ ♪ (quiet piano music) ♪ ♪ comfort in the extreme. the lincoln family of luxury suvs. hey, dad! hey, son! no dad, it's a video call. you got to move the phone in front of you like..like it's a mirror, dad. you know?

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kamala harris made history

when she took the oath of office, becoming the first woman, first black american, first person of south asian descent to become vice president of the united states. she credits her mother as her chief inspiration and all the other women who made her gains possible. >> it is my honor to be here, to stand on the shoulders of those who came before, to speak tonight as your vice president. in many ways, this moment embodies our character as a nation. it demonstrates who we are, even in dark times. we not only dream. we do. >> another woman also had a breakout moment at the inaugural, 22-year-old amanda gorman. the youngest inaugural poet in history captivated the world with her poem "the hill we climb." >> with the norms and notions of what just is isn't always

justice. and yet the dawn is ours before we knew it, somehow we do it, somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken but simply unfinished. >> she's absolutely captivating. joining me now is democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california, who wore shirley chisolms pearls. congresswoman, meaningful to me as well. what does all of this mean to you and the fact of kamala harris' leap into history? >> thank you, andrea. nice to see you smiling again. i'll tell you, a weight has been lifted. so many people are saying that. this country has been there, so much. so many people have been grieving. they're angry, anxious, fearful. yesterday was just a day that

reminded us that we must keep hope alive. kamala harris, vice president harris, i mean, it's like she's prepared, she's eshs appearanced, she connects with people. she understands the challenges and aspirations of everyone in our country. and so for her to be the first african-american, the first south asian woman to be elected as our vice president is a moment to behold. it's historical. but it also says a lot about how far we've come but how far we must go. i wore shirley's pearls yesterday, her god daughter said she knew shirley would want me to wear them because first i supported kamala when she ran for president, and kamala wore shirley chisholm's colors she used in her campaign but also recognized that 50 years later, here she is standing on shirley

chisholm's and other black women's shoulders, other women's shoulders who have fought so hard just to get this far. so it's taken this long. that's progress. but like vice president harris said, she's not going to be the last one, and we have to keep fighting to break these barriers so all of our young girls, our black and brown girls, all young girls no they can achieve any dream, any aspiration that they have. >> and boys can know that the girls can achieve those dreams too. in his speech yesterday, president biden talked about stopping white supremacy. let's listen. >> now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat. >> he was the first american president to even mention white supremacy. what did that mean to you?

>> it meant so much because as an african-american, we know what domestic terrorism is from the beginning, since 400 years ago. we've seen domestic terrorism, been the victims of it, generation after generation. just look at the four little girls who were bombed in birmingham, alabama, as an example of that. so for him to really talk about white supremacy and domestic terrorism, for me was really a step, a moment, first of all, that says to me that he understands what it means and how terrible and how dangerous it is but also he understands why systemic racism has got to be addressed, because they go hand in hand. i was please t not only is he talking about making domestic terrorism and white supremacy being dismantled, he also talked in one of his executive orders last night, the fact that racial equity and justice and

addressing systemic racism is going to permeate and be a part of his overall agenda in each and every policy. so this is a major deal, especially for people of color. no president has ever taken this on as an issue, as one of their top priority issues. and being one who was on the floor in congress in the chamber january 6th, i think now recognizing the response and what happened that day, i think more of my colleagues understand, more people in our country understand the dangers of white supremacy and domestic terrorism. >> indeed. congresswoman barbara lee, thanks for being with us. going home -- joe biden returning to the white house this time as president. next, two men who have known him so well for so long. is now a good time for a flare-up? enough, crohn's. for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis,

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>> it's good to see you! we have to keep doing this. >> it's been three hours. how does it feel, mr. president? >> feels great. >> you've been aspiring to this office your whole career. >> feels like going home. >> it was a long road to the front door of the white house for joe biden, a man who was first sworn in as a senator in 1973 in the hospital where his two sons were still recovering after the car crash that killed his first wife and eldest daughter. now flanked by his family, president biden is entering the office he first set off for decades ago. as he told our mike memoli, it feels like he's going home. joining me are two men who have known joe biden many years. chris dodd, former democratic senator from connecticut and msnbc contributor mike barnicle. welcome both. senator dodd, first to you, so many issues on the agenda for joe biden, and he handled that speech without getting into a

laundry list of priorities. it was plain-spoken, eloquent speech about what he wants to do, calling for bipartisanship. you know the senate well. will he get it, especially with sweeping immigration reform? no other president has managed to do that. >> well, listen, i don't know the answer to that question. none of us do at this point. but he has a shot to use the line from "hamilton." it's a long road back, but i think there are enough people in the senate, republicans, who want to be able to work to help the country heal and get back doing the work of the business of the nation. and so the specifics of various bills that -- and there will be disagreements, but i'm more optimistic about this. it has been a dreadful four years of really not taking care of the issues that most americans wrestled with.

what joe did yesterday was genuine, which is which he's always been, in my view, and it was very important not that necessarily he convinced people who disagree with him automatically, but i think what they came away with was the sense that joe believed very deeply what he was saying. and that's a very important place to begin in washington, d.c. joe biden wasn't just talking about things he's only recently come to care back. go back to the long history of his involvement in public service, he's cared deeply about the unity in this country. it's how he operates. i've watched him for 36 years in the senate, in the congress. and he constantly was reaching out to people that he had fundamental disagreements with, and in more cases than not was able to fashion a compromise and ability to move forward. i know the word compromise is not welcomed in many circles politically, but our country needs to recognize that in a democracy, in a pluralistic society, you need to reach out, all of us need to reach out to

the other side and try and find common ground. >> mike, in a very clear rebuke of former president trump for refusing to concede and not going through any of the traditional handoffs with his successor, three former president who is attended had a pointed conversation, including a direct message to president biden, who he did not endorse. >> you know, andrea, the three presidents standing there, each of them speaking their minds represent three different political points of view. george bush is different politically from the two democrats, but bill clinton is different from barack obama. but the three presidents standing there were unified in one aspect. they all agreed that the democracy that we are part of, the united states of america, has survived a near mis-hit on it over the past four years. and i think president biden, as soon as he took the oath of

office, we have had a president of the united states, really a functioning president of the united states who understands government, who has a soul, who has humility, who believes in inclusion, and most importantly believes in truth, took office. >> and, mike, i want to play what the presidents had to say. let's listen especially to president bush. that was a very pointed statement. >> we've got to not just listen to folks we agree with but listen to folks we don't. >> i think if americans would love their neighbor like they would like to be loved themselves, a lot of the division in our society would end. >> everybody needs to get off their high horse and reach out to their friends and neighbors. >> so, mike, mike and senator dodd, the former presidents don't get together that often. they get together at presidential libraries and sadly at funerals, but they agreed to do this. mike and senator dodd, what are

they trying to say about what donald trump did that was so wrong about the inauguration, mostly about the election, and the effect going forward? >> well, you know, mike has just said it. i mean, president bush talked about respect, institutional respect. there will be disagreements on policy, but institutional respect is absolutely critical in a society like ours where democracy reigns, the rule of law reigns. that's been our standard for almost 250 years. and these three former presidents that mike eloquently described as being very different from each other and yet share the common belief that each succeeding generation bears a responsibility to be rigid in the acceptance of the rule of law and to promote it and to reach out with people we disagree with and bring together, a lot of what bill clinton just said, because it's so important. we talk about the inaugural event being a time of peaceful

transition. everybody in this country needs to reach out to people. people who have neighbors and friends who are republicans who with disagree, some of them haven't talked to each other in a long time. everybody needs to do this. this country doesn't function alone by what happens in the white house or in the congress. each one of us bears responsibility to listen to each other, sit down and listen to each other, and try and find a common understanding of what direction we need to go in and do it soon so we get back on our feet. >> well, i'm going to have to leave it there, mike. i hope we have more time -- very briefly, mike, yes. complete your thought. >> chris said it all as usual. >> we will pick this up another time. i'm so sorry. chris dodd, mike barnicle, thanks to both. and passing the baton as kamala harris makes history, her successor in the senate is also becoming the first latino representing california in the chamber. senator alex padilla joins me next.

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. just hours after being sworn in as vice president kamala harris was on the senate floor wednesday presiding over the seating of her successor california's newly appointed senator alex padilla. >> the chair lays before the senate two certificates for 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. >> in addition to padilla, harris sworn in the newly elected senators from georgia, jon ossoff and raphael warnock. joining me now is california's brand now senator alex padilla. senator, welcome, congratulations. i am losing my voice. >> it was a long day yesterday. >> it was a very long and very exciting day. a lot of talking into the night. president biden is pausing deportations by executive order, pitching -- including a legal path to citizenship for 11 billion immigrants who were not documented. how optimistic are you that you can achieve some of these goals. >> i'm very optimistic, actually. comprehensive immigration reform for the united states of america is long overdue. and i know some people have

planned to the -- the very thin democratic majorities is maybe a challenge to making progress on this issue. i disagree. it was less than ten years ago we saw a bipartisan accord come out of the united states senate. hasn't been that long, i know some of the political climate has changed but to me it gives me hope there is a path forward. i think the biden-harris administration's initial proposal is a great start and i can't wait to put my shoulder into it. no state has more at stake in achieving immigration reform than the state of california. >> and no state has more at stake in the covid crisis as well. we've got, now, a vaccination crisis in itself. what can california do? do you have to wait for the federal government to get up to speed on the vaccines given the fact that the biden team is reporting, you know, that they inherited a lack of a plan. >> a couple of things, i mean, i think what the biden administration is reporting is something that we've all known

for the last ten months, there has not been a cohesive national plan to combat the covid-19 pandemic. that's why the problem has gotten as bad as it's been. it's why so many people are hopeful now with biden in the white house, someone who believes not just in science but in public health efforts that will begin to get our arms around this pandemic. when it comes to the vaccine, clearly need to ramp up production, keep our eye on logistics and distribution and equitable administration of the vaccine. and just tying these two issues together, andrea, covid and immigration reform, let's not lose sight on this, you know, we've all come to value and respect essential workers and frontline workers. california's not alone in having a lot of immigrants, documented and otherwise, working in critical capacities, you know, if those who have put their life opt line to get us through this pandemic don't deserve security and a pathway to citizenship, then, you know, i don't know where your heart is. so that's a big important argument to make that i hope accelerates progress on these

matters. >> with all of this at stake so many interrelated crises, some people believe that a senate impeachment trial is going to slow or even block republican willingness to compromise on these big issues. do they have a point? >> i mean, i've heard that argument. i certainly don't see that sentiment in amongst the members of the senate, at least on our side of the aisle. it's a false choice to say we have to protect the health and safety of the people of america versus defend the safety of our democracy. we have to do both. and if it means longer workdays and longer workweeks for the foreseeable future then we're prepared to do just that. >> and at the same time do you really think that senators ted cruz and josh hawley should be expelled from the senate for how they helped the president before the insurrection. >> when it comes to accountability for what happened on january 6th, nobody is above the law. and it's not just donald trump

and what he did to create that insurrection, but he clearly had enablers. he's had enablers for the last four plus years. so if the proof is there, the evidence is already out in the public arena, both senators hawley and cruz have newspapers in their own states calling for their resignation. i think the writing on the wall, there must be consequences. >> well, new start alex padilla, congratulations again, it's so good to talk to you. i hope we have many more conversations. >> thank you, andrea, a little hot tea with lemon. >> thank you, and chicken soup. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports," chuck todd is up next with "mtp daily." don't let anything get in your way. here we go! yeah, appreciate you, man! go pro and get double the protein for just $2 more.

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if it's thursday, the new president versus the raging pandemic on the first full day in office the biden administration rolls out its national strategy to defeat covid as the u.s. sees its deadliest day yet. plus after an inaugural address about unifying the country comes a potentially divisive impeachment trial. a controversial $2 trillion recovery plan, and a fight over the filibuster. welcome to the reality of governing. and qanon conspiracy theorists get a dose of reality after biden takes the oath of office bursting their bubble of a delusional trump inspired