covid cases nationwide, the biden administration is racing to speed up the country's vaccination efforts. chief of staff ron klain saying their goal of 100 million shots in biden's first 100 days is just the starting point. >> a hundred million shots is a bold goal, but we need to keep going after that. that is our first goal. it's not our final goal. it's not the end point. it's just a metric that the american people can watch and measure how we're doing. and this as new polling today from abc news shows two-thirds of americans approve of how biden is handling the coronavirus pandemic. 81% support the president's federal mask mandates, including nearly all democrats and a majority of republicans and i wants. on capitol hill, a tale of two republican parties. donald trump's second impeachment trial set to kick off in just a matter of weeks. but will any members of trump's

own party vote to convict him? two senate republicans with different reactions this morning. >> there's no question that the article of impeachment that was sent over by the house suggests impeachable conduct, but we have not yet heard either from the prosecution or from the defense, i'll get a chance to hear from them and i will do my best to apply justice as well as i can understand it. >> it's counterproductive. we already have a flaming fire in this country and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire. >> let's start in washington. with a good day to you, both. monica, we're going to begin with you. what exactly does the white house hope to accomplish on the call? >> reporter: this is an outreach process to bipartisan lawmakers in an effort to try to hammer out the details, what some of these lawmakers have already expressed are high concerns about just how large the price

tag is of this $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that president biden hopes to get across the finish line in the next couple of weeks ideally. of course, that looming impeachment trial may complicate that and that is why this timeline is so important to hammer out and that's why they're having this call take place on a sunday afternoon. we know it will be with the top white house economic adviser who is going to be leading the charge and we hope to get a readout after that. but you had ron klain earlier today on "meet the press" talking about just how difficult it might be to reach out to republicans and get them -- and convince them to support something like this, but why the need is more urgent now than ever with all of the crisis facing the country. take a listen. >> we were going to move past and move bipartisan. i think bipartisanship and speed are enemies of one another. the need is urgent. americans both democrats and republicans are dying.

kids' school that is take care of both democratic and republican kids are closed. people are on unemployment, people are in food lines. that's not a party issue. >> that's the argument that president biden has been making. of course, he's no stranger to how things work on capitol hill. but he might be keeping himself at a bit of an arm's length, delegating the negotiating to others because he also doesn't want to necessarily interfere in the process. we know behind the scenes he's been having many conversations with congressional leaders of both parties and that may be more the way he navigates this in the days to come, alex. >> okay. thank you so much. appreciate that, monica. new insight from senators on both sides of the aisle as they prepare for the impeachment trial. what positions are senators taking as this article of impeachment is set to be handed to them tomorrow? >> that senate impeachment trial is not going to start for

roughly another two weeks, but there is already a debate among senators from both sides of the aisle about whether that trial is constitutional at all. there is no precedent for impeaching and then holding a trial for a president once they're out of office and republicans saying that makes it unconstitutional, this is just a waste of time now that trump is out of office. of course, democrats siding amongst each other and saying that they're actually in u.s. history there have been government officials that while they were out of office, there was an impeachment trial held for them to determine whether they can hold federal office ever again. of course, democrats holding the power here in the senate so we shouldn't expect any kind of decision-making to not hold this impeachment trial. but it is interesting within the republican party, senators are already differing on whether it is constitutional to go forward with this or not. take a listen to a number of

senators, both democrats and republicans, expressing their opinion on how to move forward with this in the coming weeks. >> it is constitutional. we have precedent from way back when a secretary of war was tried after he had left office. and, obviously, there's a remedy that would help in the future, which would ban former president trump from running again. >> article 1 -- i think it's 6 and 7, specifically point out that you can impeach the president and it does not indicate that you can impeach someone who is not in office. so i think it's a moot point. >> the preponderance of the legal opinion is that an impeachment trial after someone has left office is constitutional. i believe that's the case. >> this is not a criminal justice trial. this is a political process. >> reporter: so the most interesting takeaway for me there is hearing the array of republican opinions, senator mitt romney saying it is constitutional and should move

forward while you have senator marco rubio saying that this impeachment trial will just be a waste of time. of course, romney signaling that he still needs to hear from the trump defense to be able to make a decision on whether he will vote to convict. we're a number of weeks away to really finding out if there are 17 republicans that will join democrats to make sure trump never serves in office again, alex. >> thank you so much. joining me right now, patrick leahy, president pro tem of the senate. welcome. let's get to the nuts and bolts here. democrats need 17 republican senators to vote to convict donald trump. as the days pass and the horror of the capitol hill riot seems to recede some what from the minds of a select few, you have some gop senators who are growing vocal against impeachment. how do you, sir, counter that ideology and do you think enough

republicans can be convinced to convict trump? >> i think you heard senator klobuchar earlier saying there's precedent for this. there's no question that we can go forward with this trial. remember, this is not impeachment of a president who is out of office. he was impeached. he was impeached while he was still in office by the house. this is now the trial. do we convict -- ahead of the impeachment which, of course, would have bearing on the ability to serve in the future. that may sound like legalese, but it's not. it is the constitution of the united states. donald trump did his best to ignore the constitution over and over again during his four years. now some people would like to forget the constitution. the fact is the constitution holds the united states together and that is what we're going to act under. we'll have the trial.

the trial -- former president trump's lawyers can appear for him if they want. we'll hear the evidence. and then i hope that every senator, republican or democrat, set aside politics, just do what is right. >> senator, you make a very good point. i believe you're the first person i personally have heard say that. in fact, this is merely a continuation of the impeachment trial that already began. it was successful in the house and it goes to the second half of how impeachment is conducted in this country. may i ask you, sir, about the word "unprecedented." you hear a lot of republicans throwing it around saying it's unprecedented that we would have something like this. is this a case to be made that this was an entirely unprecedented presidency? >> the president acted in an unprecedented fashion. of course, we had impeachment like this with the secretary of war back in 1800s. but what i would point out is,

look at history certainly in my lifetime. richard nixon committed crimes while he was in office and he said, i've got to resign. and he did resign. many would argue that the crimes that donald trump has committed worse crimes, inciting riots and so on. but he did not step down. so i think under the constitution, we have to take the steps. the fact is, the house makes a determination to impeach. they've done that with him twice. he's had one trial, he's going to have another trial. i'm watching it very closely. i can't tell you how many hundreds of hours my staff and i have gone over the constitution procedure because it appears i may well be the one presiding over the trial. >> that is true.

because if chief justice john roberts and vice president kamala harris both choose not to preside over that trial, that does fall to you because of the title. president pro tem. have you heard any likelihood on whether or not that is going to happen? >> i go on the fact that it's a real possibility and that's why i've started the work and started the research and going through it with some of the most brilliant lawyers i have ever known, many on my judiciary staff. and we're doing that. at the same time, of course, wearing my other hat as the incoming chairman of the appropriations committee trying to figure out how we get the money that president biden needs to continue fighting the covid which is an enormous threat to our country and our way of life, our schools, our families. the ability to get people back

to work and i've told the -- i've told president biden i will fight like mad in the appropriations committee to give him the money he needs. but i will also able to do these other things too. >> indeed, walking and chewing gum at the same time. >> i have not discussed with president biden at all the question of the impeachment and i don't think he would ask me to. what we've done with our conversation has been on how we get the money for the things he needs. >> absolutely. let's move to senator -- republican senator mitt romney today weighing in on both senators hawley and cruz as they're facing an ethics complaint from senate democrats. sir, let's take a listen to this. >> i think history will provide a measure of judgment with regards to those that continue to spread the lie that the president began with.

as well as the voters in our respective communities. i don't think the senate needs to take action. >> what's your response to that? >> well, that's going to be up to the ethics committee and, actually, senator romney's own caucus. but i've always thought of the senate as being -- or should be the conscious of the nation. i have considered -- a great responsibility but a great opportunity to serve all of these years in the senate. i want the senate to set an example, example of honesty. we can disagree on policy matters, how we vote, but the constitution should be the lone star for all of us. we should follow the constitution. and those who want to set aside the last election, the way they

did, president trump calling and trying to pressure authorities in a state to lie about the votes he got and so on, that's not -- that's not who we are as a country. that's not the example we should be setting to the rest of the world. think about the united states, how badly it's been tarnished. let's bring it back together. >> indeed. senator, let's talk about president biden's call for unity in his inaugural address. but as you know, the president is facing republican pushback on some of the executive orders he signed since the speech. is there an action in your mind that the president could take right now that would unify everyone? >> well, i think it's so soon. i think he's doing his best to unify. he has talked to a number of us privately, he's going to continue those conversations today. i think that he really wants to see us come back the way we

should be. i think president biden understands -- actually, probably better anybody in this country, how much the divisiveness hurt the whole country, the divisiveness of the past four years. and i think the reason he got more votes than anybody ever who ran for president is because he's trying to bring sides together. i'm urging senators to give him a chance. i've also said now is -- both as president pro tem and as chairman of the appropriations committee, i intend to bring republicans and democrats, sit down with me, talk about what we can and what we cannot do. i want people to -- i don't want either party to be knee jerk. i want us to be united states senators. that's what we take an oath to be. >> what a thoughtful

conversation and i thank you for it. patrick leahy, thank you, sir. one of the big headlines of the week, that some of the people who stormed the capitol may not pay any price at all. the prospects of that next. of tt (dad vo) life doesn't give you many second chances. but a subaru can. (dad) you guys ok? (avo 1) eyesight with pre-collision braking. standard on the subaru ascent. the three-row subaru ascent. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. (avo 2) get 0% for 63 months on select new 2021 models, now through february 1st. at philadelphia, we know what makes the perfect schmear of cream cheese. the recipe we invented over 145 years ago and me...the world's best, and possibly only, schmelier. philadelphia. schmear perfection.

if you have risk factors like heart disease, diabetes and raised triglycerides,... ...vascepa can give you something to celebrate. ♪ vascepa, when added to your statin,... ...is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. vascepa is clearly different. first and only fda approved. celebrate less risk. even for those with family history. ♪ don't take vascepa if you are... ...or become allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people... ...with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had them in the past. tell your doctor if you experience an irregular heartbeat or other heart rhythm problems. possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. celebrate less risk. added cardio protection. talk to your doctor about adding protection with vascepa. robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

talk to your doctor about adding protection without the commission fees so you can start investing today, wherever you are — even hanging with your dog. so, what are you waiting for? download now and get your first stock on us. robinhood. new year's resolutions come and go. so give your business more than resolutions... give it solutions, from comcast business. work more efficiently with fast internet and advanced wifi. make your business safer with powerful cybersecurity solutions. and stay productive with 24/7 support. make this year's resolution better solutions. bounce forward with comcast business. get started with a powerful internet and voice solution for just $64.90 a month. plus, for a limited time, ask how to get a $500 prepaid card when you upgrade. switch today.

i can't imagine how republican opposition to insurrection would fade over the space of a couple of weeks. we're talking about a president who stood in front of a mob and told them to go to the capitol and invade. told them to go to the capitol and stop the lawful business of government so that he could try to stay in the white house. that is so fundamentally wrong. >> impeachment juror and massachusetts senator elizabeth warren this morning reminding

her fellow senators exactly what transpired at the capitol january 6th. the article of impeachment against donald trump is expected to arrive at the senate tomorrow. joining me now, peter baker and joyce vance, former u.s. attorney and professor at the university of alabama school of law. welcome to you both. joyce, you first, here, republicans are arguing that it's unconstitutional because trump is out of office. is there anything explicit or implicit in the constitution that would support or reject that notion? you may have heard my conversation with patrick leahy in which he outlined that the process began while he was president. it went through the house. this is merely a continuation of the process to get to the senate. >> senator leahy is absolutely right here. a president can't just resign in order to avoid the consequences of his action. and i spent some time yesterday

afternoon and went back and re-read the portions of the federalist papers that talk about the powers of the senate and impeachment to see if there was anything explicit. there's not. but the clear tone and the agreement among legal scholars is that a president can proceed to an impeachment trial after he's resigned. otherwise the most important sanction that the founding fathers created for a president, the sanction that says you can never run for office again, would be meaningless. so republicans are simply trying to dodge the merits of the argument here. >> that's one way to spend a saturday afternoon, reading the federalist papers. >> we're a lot of fun. >> he's a private citizen now. if so, are there other legal avenues at different levels that could pursue to punish the former president? joyce, to you. >> absolutely. private citizen trump is a

minimal to any sorts of investigation or prosecution that any other private citizen could be. that could run the full range from pre-existing investigations we know about, the new york attorney general appears to have some civil investigations going, pre-existing criminal cases, but also criminal consequences if the evidence supports them from the insurrection. >> peter, you have senators that may argue right now that it's unconstitutional, but where does the former president's defense stand? he seems to have secured himself an attorney. how does he plan to defend himself? >> yeah, it's a good question. we don't know the answer to that yet. the team that defended him a year ago is basically not returning for a second bite of that apple. rudy giuliani was interested in doing it, but he might be a witness. he's no longer going to be the president's lawyer in this regard and he picked a lawyer recommended by senator lindsay

graham from south carolina who hasn't been part of trump's orbit before. i think they're only beginning to take it seriously. i think in trump's orbit he focused on other things until now. but the looming trial, of course, is in fact going to happen. he can't get out of it at this point. he make the constitutional argument, but the democrats will proceed regardless of that. and i think that the president is going to make the case most likely that it was free speech. he said that he thinks his conversation at the rally that preceded the mob attack was, quote, appropriate, unquote, and didn't actually incite violence. he used the word peacefully one time. but the house managers would point out that he used the word fight nine times. i think the house manager is going to try to build a case

that will go beyond that one day. make the argument that january 6th was the culmination of months to discredit the election, that they used false claims of fraud in order to overturn the will of the people. i think their case will go beyond that one talk at that one rally. >> i'm not sure you find this remarkable but it feels palpable here. donald trump would have already begun a vigorous defense of his actions on twitter and yet without that platform, we're hearing next to nothing. so there are a number of ways you can take that. how do you interpret the effect of that? >> it's a huge difference. just look at our conversation this last week or two without him being on twitter. he doesn't dominate the same way he did. yes, he has every avenue in the world to speak to the public if he wants to. he could go and call fox news, he could hold a rally, have a press conference, issue a written statement. without the twitter and

instantaneous vehicle, he's no longer this constant presence in our national conversation, right? back in the day, back when he was -- two weeks or so ago, any moment, any hour could go by in which he was expressing his thoughts, sometimes very provocative on any subject, that interested him, anything that he happened to see on fox news or oan. we've gone days without seeing and hearing from him and it doesn't mean he's going to go away. it's a different way of communications -- >> i hope what i just heard is going to conflict with what i heard, but i want to ask you about another headline this weekend. the justice department and the fbi, they're debating if they should not charge some of the capitol hill rioters mostly because it could swamp the d.c. courts. how commonplace is that? not changing because of an overwhelmed court system? especially on a high-profile case? >> well, prosecutors are always forced to make choices about resources and to charge only the

most serious, important cases that impact their districts. but, here, i think the conversation needs to take advantage of this knowledge that this is not a group that's been indicted. it's individuals. every individual needs to be assessed independently for prosecution and doj has the resources to surge people in and to stage prosecution using both the federal courts and d.c. superior courts. alex, maybe this has undertones of the larger national conversation about criminal justice reform and whether we have alternatives, whether there are some people who should receive pretrial diversion which puts you on probation before you go to trial and see if you can turn your life around. we're a country that engages in mass incarceration. there are a lot of people who believe we can do better. i don't think people who stormed the capitol are the right place to start with that. these people need serious consideration for consequences. maybe this helps us evaluate

other cases in a new light and push these very important cases forward. >> yeah, yeah. peter, one more question about impeachment here. i saw a suggestion that if the conviction vote were silent, not public, there would be an overwhelming number of senators voting against the president. is that your sense? are some gop senators scared of getting primaried if they vote against trump? >> well, i think the republicans -- a lot of republicans in the senate are done with trump. they would like to wash their hands of him and move on. they're tired, exhausted. they think they cost him their majority because of the way he handled the georgia runoff elections. whether or not they would actually translate into a conviction, it's a different thing. there is -- you know, it's their party's base to consider. would there be a penalty if you go against the will of republican voters, or at least some republican voters. that will be the calculation for many of them. you're right, there might be a different vote if it were, you

know, a secret ballot. obviously that's not going to happen. but it does tell you, i think, the level of anger that there has been among at least some senator republicans against president trump after these last few weeks. >> yeah. good to see you both. thank you, guys, so much. donald trump's businesses are now paying a price for the capitol riot and the investigation into his finances is digging deeper. the legal perils the former president may be facing next. net mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. when considering another treatment, ask about xeljanz...

a pill for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis when methotrexate has not helped enough. xeljanz can help relieve joint pain and swelling, stiffness, and helps stop further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections, like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra may increase risk of death. tears in the stomach or intestines and serious allergic reactions have happened. don't let another morning go by without asking your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. xeljanz. ♪ ooh la la by cherie ♪

the moxie showerhead speaker. only from kohler. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home.

two florida banks are the latest to sever ties with donald trump, bank united announced it would no longer have a depository relationship with president trump joining florida's professional bank and jeremy's deutsch bank. joining me now is business investigations editor for the "new york times" and author of the book "dark towers." david, welcome. tell me what these decisions

actually mean. does it mean accounts that donald trump holds get closed immediately or what? >> it varies from bank to bank. most of these banks that have been saying that they will no longer work with him have simply been places where donald trump had checking or savings or in a couple of cases brokerage accounts. they amount to basically an inconvenience for trump having to find new financial institutions willing to hold his money. the bigger problem are the banks saying going forward we're not going to lend to donald trump. and deutsch bank is the biggest because trump owes deutsch bank $330 million. it varies but it amounts to a serious problem. >> that's an extraordinary amount to owe deutsch bank. "the miami herald," one account

holds more than $5.1 million. but the question to you, david, why did these banks cut ties with trump? is there a risk for their business bottom line by doing so? >> well, i think there's a risk in either case. there's the reason they did this, i think, in general is that the reputational damage that the trump brand has incurred in the past couple of weeks is just immense and these banks, like other companies, are getting phone calls from reporters, customers, perspective customers, from employees saying what on earth are we doing working with someone who is being impeached for a second time and who, you know, helped incite a crowd that went onto try to impede democracy? and i think the risk to the institutions that are cutting ties with him, first of all, it's probably not the best financial decision for them in the short term, at least, it's good for banks to have millions of dollars in someone's deposits, that helps them financially.

and trump won tens of millions of votes in the election. he has many loyal supporters in places like miami. there's a lot of people who voted for donald trump. and it would not surprise me if there's at least some backlash to that. but clearly, theseinstitutions have done a cost-benefit analysis and concluded it's better to be rid of donald trump and risk that backlash rather than continue working with him. >> it seems unprecedented, david? is it? is there something that comes to mind to you where you're like, no, this happened before? >> i feel like everything in the past four or five years has been unprecedented. no, nothing like this comes to mind. i'm not -- with some of these banks, i'm not hugely surprised that this is where it's ended up. the appeal of doing business with trump had been that this is someone who, you know -- he had a lot of money and was doing big projects and banks thought they could structure loan agreements in ways -- there was very little risk to these institutions of

him defaulting. that has changed and it also is now the case that there's great downside risk to working with him. and deutsch bank -- >> let me interject there. didn't his banker with deutsch bank resign? what does that indicate to you? what kind of legal troubles could he face with his dealings over deutsch bank and what does it say to the fact that she resigned? >> her resignation -- there's still a lot of unanswered question about that. her name is rosemary bradley. she had been his primary banker at deutsch bank for more than a decade. there are both civil and criminal and congressional investigations that are still seeking after years of trying to get trump's financial records from deutsch bank and, you know, it's anyone's guess what that is going to show. we know at deutsch bank, though, there were employers who raised money laundered concerns in both the trump and kushner accounts.

we still don't have the full story about what happened there. >> i trust you will get to the bottom of that. let me ask you, though, is this just the beginning? how many more banks or financial institutions have relationships with donald trump and what's the impact on his finances of this? >> i think it's a very serious financial impact for him. he has hundreds of millions of dollars of debt coming due in the next few years, most of it to deutsch bank, but not all of it. and normally, a borrower would go to the lender and say, can we refinance the loan, extend it a few years. that's not going to be an option for trump with most of these loans. he's going to need to come up with a lot of cash quickly or he's going to be at risk of defaulting. in the case of deutsch bank, if he defaults, the bank has recourse to his personal assets. they could go to court to seize his property or the money he has in various banking accounts. so he's going to need to come up with cash very quickly and his

businesses right now are struggling. so it's very unclear to me where he might be able to get that money. >> well, i'm certain you won't find this surprising when i say, i'm curious to see what your investigations lead to as are the viewers here. we'll welcome you back any time. thank you very much. author of "dark towers." it was just released in paper back. congratulations on that. next hour, i'll speak with michael cohen about his cooperation with new york prosecutors investigating trump's finances and, chop, chop, citizen trump's new idea that could split the republican party in two. wo this is what community looks like. ♪♪ caring for each other, ♪♪ protecting each other. ♪♪ and as the covid vaccine rolls out, we'll be ready to administer it. ♪♪

sofi made it so easy to pay off my student loan debt. they were able to give me a personal loan so i could pay off all of my credit cards. i got my mortgage through sofi and the whole process was so easy. ♪ express yourself ♪ ♪ ♪ express yourself ♪ ♪

he may no longer hold public office, donald trump is showing no signs of loosening his grip over the republican party even if it means splitting the party in two. new reporting today from "the washington post" says in recent weeks, trump has entertained the idea of a third party calling it the patriot party and instructed his aides to prepare election challenges to lawmakers who crossed him in the final weeks in office. well, joining me now, don calloway, founder of the national voter protection action fund, susan del percio, republican strategist, and david jolly, former republican congressman from florida and an msnbc political contributor. good to see you all. i'll start with you, susan. trump reportedly preparing these challenges for these lawmakers.

you have congresswoman liz cheney, brian kemp, lisa murkowski, tom rice and gave his full endorsement this weekend to kelly ward of arizona who embraced his false election conspiracies. what do you make of this? how much influence does trump really have now? >> well, at the moment, he still has a good deal of influence. if you look at what happened in arizona, ms. ward did win re-election. it was close. i think it was 51-49. but he still does have influence. he goes into a topic that he knows nothing about and that is election law. you cannot just start a new party. it doesn't just happen. he can run as an independent assuming he's not convicted and barred from running from office. but to start a new party and get access on ballots in all 50 states is just -- doesn't happen overnight. so, of course, he talks about

that which he does not know anything about. that doesn't mean he can't be influential in 2022 primaries. there there's still the potential. things could change as we get more information about the siege on the capitol hill and depending on how the impeachment hearing goes or -- hearing, we'll see what happens. >> i'm going to pick up on what you were talking about with you, david, with "the washington post" backing this up. multiple people in trump's orbit say trump has told people that the third-party threat gives him leverage to prevent republican senators from voting to convict him during the senate impeachment trial. i was asking peter baker about that, were the vote to be silent, might it be different than what we think could happen, if they weren't able to trace who voted which way. but your reaction to all of that? do you think it's going to work or will it backfire? >> i love that question because i'm actually involved in a group

that has started a new party. and susan is exactly right. donald trump does not realize what he is saying. i think what donald trump ultimately will realize if he wants to reshape a party in his image, he's going to use the primary process within the republican party. the republican party today has a marriage of necessity. it's in a fragile state. it can't lose the trump win and it can't lose the traditional wing or their numbers deflate too far. what republicans are going to suffer from, and we're seeing it right now, is both attrition of grassroots voters and the emergence of a new party that creates competition. the attrition of voters is obvious. republican voters are delisting as republicans. in tampa bay, 2,000 people left the republican party during the week of january 6th. republicans are going to suffer the loss of voters. and they will see the emergence of new minor parties that create

competition. the group i'm involved with, the serve america movement, we're in new york and connecticut, recruiting candidates in florida, texas, iowa and maine. in one week, we have seen an uptick of over 1,000% in traffic to sam. and the interesting thing is, the serve america movement is not a conservative movement to the gop. it's a coalition that comes around -- comes around the shared values of problem-solving and i think that's the attrition that republicans are going to suffer from. not people looking for more conservativism, just for a government and a party that works. we're seeing at the serve america movement right now. >> dually noted. we're going to have to talk further about that as it's developed more. this brings me to the perfect question for you, don. do you think democrats actually like the idea of splitting the republican party? it could give them the edge in coming elections? >> i'm delighted. this is -- i don't have an answer. this is wonderful.

what a time to be alive. this isn't about starting a new party. if it's going to happen, it's going to be about battles that are happening between party loyalist and is extremists on the republican side and, listen, primaries are great for democrats because you will emerge with a deeply flawed candidate if the traditional republican wins that person will have been deeply wounded and be in a financial disadvantage, particularly if the democrat has been -- had a clear field for our entire primary. if not, if the crazy wins, then you have a deeply flawed candidate who republicans and democrats will have an interest of keeping out of office. as a partisan democrat, this is fantastic. i don't think it will last forever. republicans are professional. they'll get it together. this will take a while and it's going to be a bloody battle -- i

shouldn't say bloody. because we've seen they're capable of violence. but it's going to be a fight. and democrats have to get our stuff together while republicans are having their information battle. >> let's talk about more of this division of the republican party, especially since the capitol riot on january 6th, david. on capitol hill you have gop house leader kevin mccarthy and here's what he said -- it was a full-court press with greta van susteren. take a listen to this. >> i thought the president had some responsibility when it came to the response. i also think everybody across this country has some responsibility. >> what's your reaction to that? >> i served with kevin mccarthy and i described him as a raw political animal who is desperate to become speaker of the house and wounded from not becoming speaker when john boehner vacated the seat. and what happened initially, he

suffered the blowback as cheney and mcconnell did. as a test of leadership, cheney and mcconnell stuck to their position. kevin mccarthy is backpedaling. he wants to be speaker. but it's also an indication of this previous topic, alex, which is donald trump still controls the party. this is a marriage of necessity. kevin mccarthy is a perfect reflection of the fact that this party remains shaped in donald trump's image. cheney and mcconnell are the last gasps of the old republican party. >> a new poll shows that 57% of americans, they're confident in joe biden's ability to unify the country. do you share the same optimism? >> absolutely. and that's why it was very clear early on, it was clear that joe biden was probably the only person that could beat trump and i think that sentiment is seen now in the idea that 57% of

voters think he's the one who can bring us back. but we were dragged down during the trump years and a significant part of joe biden's task is just getting us back to zero. but i do think that the message of joe biden is never stop, kee the faith because there is a role for you, and you never know when your number is going to be called so i think everybody should be inspired by joe biden actually. >> with the arizona party overnight, susan, voting to krens you're cindy mccain and governor ducey, establishment republicans. what was your response? >> cindy mccain said i'll wear it as a badge of honor. i don't mind being judged by my enemies, people who are against me, that's fine, and that came around a lot during the trump administration, but it is -- it does show how absolutely

shattered the republican party has become. i mean, we're talking about arizona. we're talking about cindy mccain. that is as drastic of a contrast as we can show in this country as far as our political parties have gone, and i think it's a real shame frankly, and, you know, but i will go to this point about president biden and his inauguration speech. he said enough of us can come together to move our country forward. it doesn't have to be everybody. so there is room to make a difference even in a fractured republican party. you can stand on conviction, and you can workers especially right now to get our country, you know, healthy and recover from the covid crisis. >> amen to all of that. don, susan, david. always a pleasure, guys. see you next weekend. better show up. i'll be here. meantime, getting on a plane is about to get more complicated for a lot of travelers. just a few days, the new rules coming your way next and hear the latest news and updates from

your favorite msnbc host anywhere any time on any device with tune-in. go to tune-in.com/msnbc2021 to listen commercial-free with tune-in premium. commercial-fre tune-in premium.

why walgreens? with save a trip refills that let you pick up all your prescriptions all on the same day...

we make filling your medicare prescriptions... ...go like clockwork. so you can get back to what you'd rather be doing! ♪ new sweeping travel restrictions will change how you fly. this will begin on tuesday. let's go to jfk airport here in new york city. okay. what's this about, and what should travelers expect this week? >> reporter: yeah. this aomais to international travelers coming into the united states, alex. it starts on tuesday. they are going to have to provide a negative covid test within three days of their travel, or if they have recovered they are going to have to provide documentation that they have recovered from covid. this applies to anyone traveling 2 years old and up and does not exempt you if you have the vaccine. you still have to get tested. we spoke with some travelers, some international travelers about what all this means to them? listen to what they told me.

>> i have a friend who wants to come from brazil to have trip and all these things it's crazy, the new normal. >> i think it's really necessary because, you know, the spread of covid is really getting out away. >> better to start now. been a lot of asymptomatic people, too, even with the covid-19. so if you have at least covid testing beforehand, you know, on top of the temperature check, i think it would definitely add on to the safety of the travelers. >> reporter: so alex, even though there is going to be some scramble internationally as people try to get on the flights before tuesday or try to get that test in order to continue with their travel, for the most part we're hearing that people do approve of these changes, and along with these changes other executive, other parts of that executive order signed by the biden administration includes

requiring masks in all public travel areas as well as some guidelines when it comes to quarantining as you arrive here, about ten days when you get into the united states. we also know this is not just for air travel, for ports of entry in canada and mexico. >> having done some air travel myself. got to wear masks on the plane and the new york state government is after me. they do tracing with me for a good ten days after i return so there you have it. thank you, cori coffin, for that. president biden's covid relief proposal comes under a microscope later today involving the white house. up next, why this meeting may be critical to advancing the near $it trillion package and donald trump's personal attorney has been doing a lot of talking to the manhattan d.a. and has another interview coming up. i'll be speaking with michael cohen about where the investigation is heading and why citizen trump could be in big trouble.

i feel like we're forgetting something. let me check. xfinity home gives you peace of mind from anywhere with professionally monitored home security built around you. no, i think we're good. good. so when you're away, you don't have to worry. the tent. we forgot... the tent. except about that. xfinity home. simple. easy. awesome. hey look, i found the tent! get xfinity home with no term contract required. click or call today.

good day, everyone. from msnbc world headquarters here in new york, welcome to "weekends with alex witt." developing this now this afternoon a group of bipartisan senators will speak with the white house about president biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal. white house chief of staff ron klain stressing the need for bipartisanship. >> we were going to move fast and we're going to move bipartisan. i don't think bipartisanship and speed are enemies of one another. the need is urgent. americans, both democrats and republicans, are dying. kids' schools