good day to all of you. welcome to weekends with alex witt. here's what's happening. we start at the white house where in just about an hour or so from now members of the biden administration will speak with 16 bipartisan senators, eight republicans, eight democrats. this on the president's covid relief proposal. the press secretary stressing the importance of getting both parties on board. >> this is something that he has done when he was a senator. he has been able to reach out to the other side, do big things with both democrats and republicans, and he believes

this is what we need to do to move forward. he believes we need to take action on all of these big issues when we're talking about the economy, we talk about covid, the vaccine, taking action on masks, taking action on equality, climate change. >> and a live look now at capitol hill where speaker nancy pelosi will be sending that one article of impeachment against donald trump to the senate tomorrow. his second impeachment trial slated to begin in two weeks. senate majority leader chuck schumer speaking last hour saying he's hoping for a speedy trial. >> in terms of impeachment, look. everyone wants to put this awful chapter in american history behind us. but sweeping it under the rug will not bring healing. the only way to bring healing is to actually have real accountability, which this trial affords. so we will move forward with the trial. it will be fair but it will move at a relatively fast pace.

>> meantime, republican senator mitt romney appears to be not ruling out voting to convict trump. >> there's no question but that the article of impeachment was sent over by the house suggests impeachable conduct but we have not yet heard from the prosecution or from the defense. get a chance to hear from them and doyle my best as senate juror to apply justice as well as i can gds it. >> and this as another republican senator refuses to admit the election was stolen. >> this election was not stolen. do you accept that fact? >> well, what i would say is that the debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur. we never had any present nation court where we looked to the evidence. >> there were 86 challenges filed by president trump and his allies in court. all were dismissed. every state certified the results. >> not -- >> after investigations, kounls and recounts. the department of justice led by

william barr said there's no widespread evidence of fraud. can't you just stay words, this election was not stolen. >> what i would suggest is that if we want greater confidence in our elections, and 75% of republicans agree with me, that we do need to look at election integrity. and of course, rand paul saying it was not stolen there. a key word that i deleted. with a welcome, let's get started this hour by monica alba. monica, we'll start with you here. the new administration not at all mincing words when it comes to the former administration and the way it has handled the covid pandemic. >> that's right. the biden administration hit the ground running. they had something like 30 executive orders and actions spelled out in the first 48 hours and they expect to have plenty more of those in the days to come. >> you also saw a departure from

the trump white house to the biden years. you have the current president with some of his family members heading to church. he was at holy trinity in georgetown. this is something we were accustomed to seeing during the transition period. president biden and his family have frequently gone to catholic mass on saturdays or sundays and we're told they're still shopping around for a parish and a church here before they decide that but they went to holy trinity specific will you because that's also a place that kennedy used to go to for weekend mass. and then on the way back, we understand hunter biden, the president's son, got out of the motorcade and picked smum bagels at call your mother, a jewish deli. so already this afternoon, a very different approach to spending a sunday from what we saw over the trump years, but also looking ahead. this is now in terms of trying to undo some of the trump era policies the biden white house really has its work cut out for

them. while they can do this unilaterally, getting legislation passed is another matter. that's why you'll have this call with top white house officials and the bynum lawmakers. and chief of staff ron clain spoke to the emergency of that and the package earlier on an appearance on "meet the press." take a listen. >> the president put a plan before the country. and i think that's what the country wanted to hear. without delving back into the past, i think we didn't have this leadership before. he said here's what needs to happen. we're going on move fast and bipartisan. the need is urgent. americans both democrats and republicans are dying. kids' schools, they take care of both democratic and republican kids, are closed. people are on unemployment, food lines. that's not a party issue. >> the white house is expected to have continual thematic days in the days to come and the week ahead. they'll be focusing on issues

like climate change, health care, and other important pressing issues. but most important, they have identified the coronavirus pandemic, of course, and getting that economic relief. that's what they're hopeful will happen first. that's why you see these meetings today and then looking ahead, we will see a return of the white house daily press briefings. they already did that on wednesday, thursday and friday. and it is our understanding, they will be daily and they will be frequent and they will be lengthy. another departure from the last four years. >> indeed. thank you so much. we appreciate that. thunderstorm film set into motion a series of events ahead of trump's second impeachment trial. let's go to capitol hill. how are lawmakers preparing for this? >> reporter: all parties involved in this senate trial will have an extra two weeks before the trial begins to really prepare their arguments. of course, the trial date is starting on february 9th. even before then, a number of

democrats and especially republicans are trying to figure out if this trial is even constitutional. republicans, some of them, including senator mitt romney, saying that it is. a majority of other republicans saying that it isn't simple because trump is already out of office. democrats arguing the opposite, saying they're trying to finish what the house started, given that they impeached trump while he was still sitting president, and the big question remains, it is really as you heard, chuck schumer say in that clip that you played earlier, impeachment does provide the option to formally say whether president donald trump can serve in federal office again. and there is some agreement among republican that's trump should pay a price in some way for the insurrection that happened on january 6th here on capitol hill. that's exactly what chats try to hone in on during the impeachment trial and continuing

arguments. take a listen to what house impeachment managers had to say about their argument strategy. >> we expect to get republican senators to convict and we'll present a very good case. at the end of the day, you can't ignore that our former commander in chief incited an tike our own country. >> people say we need to have closure. we need to move on and we do need to have closure. closure will mean having the trial of the article of impeachment that was passed by the house, getting closure there, and making sure he never serves in federal office again. >> so there is a call to really put this chapter in american history behind everyone so they can start uniting as president biden has proposed in a number of speeches. of course, that focus is really what they need to do in order to win over at least 17 republican senators to convict president

trump. >> all right. thank you very much. joining me now, barbara lee, democrat from california. she serves on the appropriations committee and is the co-chair on the steering and policy committee. welcome back. good to see you again. >> thank you. >> you've heard some republicans arguing that it is not constitutional to impeach a former president, and yet early on my broadcast, i had senator patrick leahy, the president pro temperature of the senate, saying that you know, this whole process started in the house. this is merely a continuation, the completion of the impeachment. with whom do you agree? i think continuing answer but go ahead. >> well, of course we impeached donald trump while he was a sitting president. actually, we've impeached him twice. so i heard senator leahy, that was a very thorough interview and in fact senate must move forward now, as speaker pelosi is sending the impeachment

orders to the senate to conduct the trial. and i think that we should look at the evidence, which we know, we've seen already what the evidence is, and they're going to move forward expeditiously and conduct this impeachment trial. >> yes. and again we have senator schumer saying, he hopes it is done quickly. let's also talk about that donald trump considered replacing the attorney general to overturn the election. what do you make of this new reporting? >> well, it is consistent with how he has operated since he was running for the presidency. each and every step of the way, he's attempted to interfere in the decisions which impact his life personally. he's actually eroded the three branches of government and he tried on influence the outcome of this election.

these were fair and free elections. the voters decided that biden-harris would be the next administration, lead the next administration. and he has consistently been trying on deny voters their right to vote and take away this election and steal election. this was another one of his efforts to do that. when he called down to georgia to try to get them to manufacture votes. i mean, this is a sequential of events that have taken place since the election that really again slows that he doesn't care about our democracy. he doesn't care about the electoral process and he has operated more like dictator. >> i have to say, the phone call, the evidence of that broke on my podcast. it was absolutely stunning to listen to that call down to georgia. let me ask but the pandemic. i can't get away from it there in your state of california. it ranks second to last with vaccine distribution efficiency in this entire nation.

37% of the 4.4 million doses given to the golden state have been actually administered into the arms. right? so what is being done to speed all that up? how much of a setback is this for your constituents? >> we've been working this for months in terms of getting everything in order. i have to tell you, the state of california, and governors around the country never had a partner in how to develop a plan and how to develop the distribution efforts. we're getting there done, we're opening up venues for thor vaccine but of course we need more. we need a national strategy, a national plan and i am so please that had president biden, vice president harris have decided this is their first priority. so biden, we have a partner and we can move forward. so many people have died in california throughout the country. this is a matter of life and death. it is all hands on deck for us here in california. we're working at the federal

level to make sure that the funding gets there. we worked, and i want to say, the tri-caucus, the black, hispanic and native-american caucus, we work to get 2.8 billion, not enough, but 2.8 billion to communities of color for not only vaccine but testing, tracing and health care follow-up. we've got to do it right. >> absolutely. i had a conversation with dr. anthony fauci yesterday about the vacation efforts and here's part of what he told me. let's take a listen. >> one of the things that is of concern to me, and the reason why we're putting a considerable amount of effort into it

the skepticism. >> what do you think needs to be done on build trust in the vaccine in the minority communities? >> sure. i have to say as an african-american woman, i understand the systemic racism and know what that is about in terms of the terrible, terrible things that have been done to people of color, african-americans in the past. look at the tuskegee institute, the unfortunate trials, using women of color, black women for procedures that ended up with deaths in their, you know, by deaths with them. so what we have to do is make sure. what we're doing with our trial caucus, to go into the communities, to be used by community health centers, mobile health units. hire people in the community and

to develop the trusted messengers and messages so people understand this is a matter of life and death. that we are all demonstrating by our actions that it is safe and we can do this. but i know most african-americans understand the reluctance and the hesitancy because of the past unfortunate frahm we have experienced with our health care system. >> absolutely. and it has to be addressed with clear and accurate and patient communication. let me ask but the president who this week really doubled down on his call for unity. after all that's happened in this past month, do you think unity is possible? what action do you think joe biden could take right now to try to unify all americans? >> sure. and i'm glad he's doubled down for unity. before unity, you have to have justice and accountability and recognition of what has taken place. i think he's doing the correct thing by issuing these executive orders to begin to put this

country back on track. there's a lot of damage that has been done. will poem teed to be -- it is so important to have this moment of truth in this country. we're working my legislation, truth, racial healing, transformation. also a bill for calling for racial justice as it relates to hr 40. there are a lot of efforts taking place that we as people of color recognize has to happen before unity can take place. the president is correct. the vice president is correct. they have to take the high ground and we follow. we have to make sure that the accountability and the justice is served because you can't heal and you can't move forward with people who have been, whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered. >> yeah. i do as a last question have to ask but this really historic inauguration this week. vice president kamala harris

becoming the first woman, black and south asian vice president in american history. and i know you tweeted a picture that you wore shirley chisholm's pearls because of her. can you share what you were feeling that day, having a black woman as the vice president of the united states of america? >> it is historic. it is exciting. of course, vice president harris was born in my district in oakland, california, raised in berkeley, in my congressional district. you add that to my level of personal excitement. and shirley chisholm was my mentor. i got involved in politics. she was the first african-american woman elected to congress. first african-american and the first woman to run for the presidency. and this is like 50 some years later? finally, it's long overdue. so i wanted to be at that

inauguration celebrating how far we've come and reminding how we got here. there were so many not only shirley chisholms, so many black well, so many women of color who went through so much just so we could get to this point in our history. so i salute them. i owe them a deep sense, i have a deep essential of gratitude. and wearing those pearls that shirley's god daughter said that she would want me about to wear that day was just for me, a very personal moment. and it is personal also. but it reminds me of however we've come, how far we must go and we're on the right track on achieve that goal of a more perfect union. >> i get to see that i love claiming her as well because she's a fellow california girl. so are you. we're all in this together. it's all good. thank you so much. so we're learning some new information on that capitol hill insurrection and about one man now charged who tweeted an assassination threat against

representative alexandria ocasio cortez. a ocasio cortez when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa why walgreens? with copays as low as $0.... walgreens makes affording your medicare prescriptions... ...no sweat. so you can get back to the thing you'd rather be doing. ♪ [ sigh ] not gonna happen. so you can get back to the thing you'd rather be doing. that's it. i'm calling kohler about their walk-in bath. my name is ken. how may i help you? hi, i'm calling about kohler's walk-in bath. excellent! happy to help. huh? hold one moment please... [ finger snaps ] hmm. ♪ ♪ the kohler walk-in bath features an extra-wide opening and a low step-in at three inches, which is 25 to 60% lower than some leading competitors.

the bath fills and drains quickly, while the heated seat soothes your back, neck and shoulders. kohler is an expert in bathing, so you can count on a deep soaking experience. are you seeing this? the kohler walk-in bath comes with fully adjustable hydrotherapy jets and our exclusive bubblemassage. everything is installed in as little as a day by a kohler-certified installer. and it's made by kohler- america's leading plumbing brand. we need this bath. yes. yes you do. a kohler walk-in bath provides independence with peace of mind. call for $1,500 off your kohler walk-in bath. visit kohlerwalkinbath.com for more info.

new details into the insurrection. a man who tweeted about assassinating alexandria ocasio-cortez is now facing charges. joining me now, fbi special agent now, distinguished research fellow at the foreign policy research institute and msnbc national security analyst. also with me, law professor at new york university, former clerk to judge sotomayor. clint, this suspect also posted these threats to, quote, bring the guns next time and quote, get ahold of a capitol police officer and hug his neck with a nice rope. it is absolutely stunning

language. what does it tell you in. >> i think what is fascinating about it is it is fairly indicative of what would you see almost across the board if you were in these channels on social media. the teams i work with, this is quite common language and it is not policed on a lot of these platforms. as they go to more platforms, you see the incitement to violence continue to ramp up. what is important to float is how political leaders are pointing to specific individuals. we've seen it across the board for four years now. pointing to certain political people as the enemy. or the enemies of the people. the end ms. of the state. talking to media outlets as such. what you see over time is radicalization as it continues, you see people mobilize toward these targets. these threats should be taken seriously. this is someone who showed up to the capitol. what i ask now is what will we do? if this was ten years ago and i was working counter terrorism

against al qaeda or isis, we would take a very different approach. we would be talking about counter violent extremism, going into communities trying to work with people to calm the noise. to sort of bring down the level of dialogue. and we would be going to those people who spout and pick out target that incite violence, namely political, ideological and social leaders, and trying to calm the rhetoric or pursue them as criminal cases. so i'm very curious about what tact will be taken. >> the "washington post" is reporting on a debate within the fbi over whether all those rioters should be charged. but white mob violence has gone unpunished for more than 100 years. what is your take both for and against charging all the rioters? a lot of the mean they suspect not charging all the rioters would be a good thing is because would it clog up the d.c. court system. >> to be sure, it would be a

herculean effort to rein in. these thoughts are really dangerous. they're not only prone to radicalization of others but they are actually dangerous threats. and we didn't talk about this before. but a lot of the threats are aimed not just broadly at people in congress but specifically women in congress and outspoken women in congress. so one way the understand these threats are prompted by some kind of anxiety about the changing leadership profile in our country. so for that roane it is worth taken them seriously. the profile is changing and this won't necessariory go away. >> you had president biden promising a crackdown on it but you have 135 civil rights groups now objecting to new anti-terror laws because they say law enforcement already has the

tools to go after them. do you agree? i've had conversations with different officials, legal officials, intelligence officials, that pittsburgh we don't have the kind of domestic terror policies on the books that allow to us go after terrorists like this. >> if we did have the right tools, why didn't we stop the mobilization before? or any of the shooting sthat happened over the last two or three years? the key distinguishing factor is designation. meaning, do we designate people being part of an organized movement and organized entity which we then can pursue? now, there is a right to be concerned what we've seen politicians do, whichever party is in power, once the other side, or a specific group to be labeled as a terrorist organization, not particularly helpful. when it is international terrorists, everyone agrees on al qaeda or isis. when you have the republicans in charge, it would be antifa. if you have the democrats in

charge, you hear about white supremacy. that puts the law enforcement and justice departments in a weird bind in terms of navigating the policies. >> but is it all because it can come under the guise or the explanation, the excuse, that it is first amendment rights? that people should be able to say what they want to in this country? >> no. i don't think so. it comes down to putting the pieces together and being willing to designate specific groups as terrorist organizations. that's where it gets tricky. with international rules, it becomes foreign terrorist designation through the state department. whenever it comes to the domestic scene, there is no mechanism to do that. we fall book criminal code. criminal code is very good for investigating things that have already happened. but conspiracies are very tough. all the elements with there if these tools were adequate, all the wlemts there to start off a conspiracy investigation two weeks before the veenlt january 6th. the problem is this is not lone isolated individuals doing this.

there is an organization behind it. there is resource behind it. it is tough to go ahead and charge because it is different from organized crime where there are many things allow you to build up on it. so what we're doing is treating every one as one off or individual case but actually there's a tremendous amount of organization among several groups embedding themselves in these groups. >> it is interesting historically speaking. it has shown how anti-extremism initiatives have played out. the house unmerge activities, the patriot act, recently fbi's operation iron fist. so my question is, how can justice be served for a crime like this without, i'm just going to indicate, collateral damage. >> well, that certainly seems to be the question that the civil rights groups are raising in their objection to expanding their tools to combat domestic

terrorism. as they say, expanding the array of federal laws that can be implemented may simple give law enforcement more grounds to intervene in communities of color that are already over policed. so their point is that the tools already exist. there are more than 50 laws on the books, federal laws that deal with domestic terrorism specifically, tonight stay least of which the laws that deal with organized crime and racketeering and charges that could be brought to bear. the question isn't about tools but about the will to deploy it in these particular circumstances. >> very interesting. unfortunately, i have to wrap but i know i will see you both very soon. thank you. how much is enough when it comes to covid relief? will the push for the $15 minimum wage wind up on the cutting room floor? loor pick up like a pro. just order on the subway app and it's ready to go with contactless curbside.

turkey sub in a hot tub! now get 15% off any footlong when you order in the app. with oscar mayer deli fresh it's not just a sandwich, far from it. it's a reason to come together. it's a taste of something good. a taste we all could use right now. so let's make the most of it. and make every sandwich count. with oscar mayer deli fresh

some new details on that

police car that plowed into a crowd in tacoma, washington. it happened last night when a large group was watching cars in drag racing maneuvers. the crowd was blocking an intersection and defied orders to disperse. then here is what happened next. >> oh my god! >> tacoma police say that police vehicle became surrounded by the crowd. the driver feared for his safety. while trying to extricate himself from an unsafe position, the officer drove forward, striking one individual. may have impacted some others. the officer stopped at a point of safety and called for medical aid. a police spokesperson said that many questions remain unanswered. >> well, the hand book doesn't always have the answers for us. in this situation, i'm not sure there is a general answer on what to do. it has a lot to do with what the officer is feeling at the time. the fear that they're in. this is difficult for everybody

involved. the officers, people involved, people that are injured. >> police stay investigation has been turned over to the pierce county force investigation team. from there now to the latest on the coronavirus pandemic, the u.s. has recorded more than four 4 new million cases just this month. 4 million new ones. bringing the nationwide total to more than 25 million cases. if the rate continues, there could be another new cases by the end of this month. more than 17 million americans have gotten at least the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. the white house chief of staff says the 100 million shots in 100 days is just the start of an aggressive plan. >> 100 million shots is a bold, ambitious goal. we need to keep going after that. so that is our goal. our first goal. it is not our final goal. it is not the end point. it is just a metric that the american people can watch and measure how we're doing. >> and the cdc says there are

now at least 195 confirmed cases of the u.k. variant in the u.s. it is across 22 states. it is thought to be more transmissible than original and potentially more deadly. on the covid beat for us, covering vaccine problems in california. we'll start with you, corey. you're joining me from jfk airport in new york city. what are the changes expected this week for air travelers? >> reporter: yeah. i want to talk about the variant. that's one of the reasons why these new changes going into place, to try to catch any of that variant coming through for international travelers. it will start on tuesday. international travelers will have to show proof of a test or that they have recovered from covid-19. this is even if you've received the vaccine and anyone years 2 and up. so as young as 2 years old and up. and of course, this also is

coming as travel has increased six fold. international travel specifically. since june to november in this, during this pandemic. now, the president spoke about these sweeping executive changes. this expansive rule on travel restrictions. listen to what he said is necessity. >> we're in a national emergency. it is time we treat it like one. together, the national plan as the united states of america. there are moments in history when more is asked of a particular generation. more is asked of americans than other times. we are in that moment now. history will measure whether we're up to the task. i believe we are. >> and alex, i have to say from the travelers that we spoke to, it has been well received. they believe these he policies should have been in place a long time ago under the trump administration. one change that will happen in addition is that under the trump

administration, it was up to states to kind of institute their own policies. now the biden administration would like the take over that entire concept into a federal response including the quarantining that of course we know is happening in new york and will now happen across this country. >> okay. thank you so much from jfk. heading to the other side of the country to scott joining us from san francisco. so scott, what are you hearing about a plan to vaccinate more people? >> reporter: well, alex, it is happening. it is just not happening nearly fast enough. you think about where we've been in the last year since the coronavirus first appeared on the west coast. and this is pretty moment pous we have a mass vaccination site here if san francisco but it is set up to vaccinate 3,000 people a day. they only have enough vaccine to do about 500. they say if they get the vaccine, they can get it into people's arms bust statewide, it is not quite that simple.

you can see about 4.9 million doses delivered to the state of california and only about 2 million have been administered for a rate of about 41%. that's near the lowest in the country and experts say we have got to pick up the pace. >> it is critically important that we accelerate our efforts to get as many people vaccinated as possible. because the only way that we can prevent these variants from spreading in the future is if we can control the pandemic and get the vaccine in the arms of as many people as possible to achieve herd immunity and decrease the number of cases. >> reporter: so officials here are looking very closely at the biden administration's plan. this federalization of the vaccine response. they say it can't come a moment too soon to try to get this disease under control. >> you said it. thank you so much.

joining me now, the professor at the university of chicago booth school of business. he is the former chairman of the council of economic advisers. welcome back to the broadcast. i'm glad to talk to you here. let's first look together to president biden's $1.9 trillion american rescue plan. when you break down what is in that plan, what is absolutely necessary in economic recovery and what could possibly be scaled back and decrease that price tag in terms of negotiation purposes? >> well, i think everything that is in it is critically important and i like that they're calling it a rescue package, not a stimulus. it is not a stimulus. stimulus is, government spends the money to try to jump start the economy. this is just trying to keep people from having permanent damage while we get this virus under control. if we can get the virus under control, through public health measures, through vaccine, et

cetera, then we don't need near as much rescue money. but if we are going to be months getting that under control, and that we let the virus rage into its third or fourth peak, however you want to count it. that sets us back. and you can't have a raging virus and think, oh, we can just do there on the cheap for negotiation purposes. let's not spend as. money. it is not the total price tag matters. it is what the money is going for. >> so you're saying, spend a lot now. negotiate compromise later. >> yeah. we have spent a lot of money already before we got to this rescue package. and we needed that money. but it is exactly the failure to control the spread of the virus that has brought us back we need more money. we've got to provide relief. and as long as the virus rages,

we will always need more money. so let's keep one eye on the relief that is necessary. but let's keep the second eye where it should be which is on stopping virus. if you stop the virus, the economy can come booming back. and we saw that when we had a lull in the spread of the virus. and then we saw that slipping away. now possibly even double dip recession as the virus reemerged. >> it is all inextricably involved. brian deese is meeting with a groox senators to discuss the relief plan. if you were in brian's position, how would you pitch this plan to moderate republican who's might argue, hey, congress just pass ad $900 billion relief bill. >> i'm a big fan of his. i worked closely with him in the obama administration. so i'm not going to second-guess his negotiation.

he's the best there is. i think the fact that this, the damage, the check damage is not exclusively in cities. it is not exclusively in blue states. it is across the board. at least softens the blow so we can have a discussion about what is the most effective form of relief and how much should go to the unemployed and how much should be direct checks and how much should go to small business and all sorts of those things. i think the fact there needs to be relief, i don't think it is a big secret and i do think that the republicans are, maybe the moderate ones, the republicans are partly on board with that. you just have to look out the window to see how the economy is doing. it's not doing well. >> yeah. i want to focus one specific thing. the proposal of the $15 minimum wage. how likely is it that it will

remain in this legace? this is coming at a time when small businesses are struggling. do you think it may have been included in this bill, you know, you put it all together. was it more of a negotiating point? do you think the timing is right for this? or do you think it is something to say, okay, we'll give you this. if we put this on a calendar. >> i don't totally know. i don't come as the policy guy, not on the politics. i will say i'm a little surprised that there seem to be grumbling the way there does, when in the polling, you've got americans by a 4-1 margin saying they believe that we should raise the minimum wage and joe biden ran on a campaign of, i want to raise the minimum wage if you vote for me. and he won by 7 million votes. so maybe if the republicans do not want a minimum wage

increase, as you know, how reconciliation rules are. if you want a 50-vote threshold, it has to be budget related. if the minimum wage is not that, then it would end up being in a second bill, a different bill. and the relief package, if they need to get 50 votes, will have to be reconciliationable. if that is a verb. but given the widespread public support for raising the minimum wage, it feels like maybe this is more just about how long for the phase-in or should it be the same level everywhere in the country or things like, that as opposed to should we raise it at all. >> but let me look the 2019 study. it was done by the nonbipartisan office found, sure, it could lift 1.3 million out of poverty but also cost potentially 1.3 million jobs.

loss do you as an economist weigh the cost benefit here? >> well, all i will tell you is there is a massive debate going on in the economic research community about whether the employment effects, what are the distribution effects of raising the minimum wage. and there have been a lot of minimum wage increases, to $15 an hour, even, but a lot of minimum wage increases at the state level and the city level that have shown pretty modest negative impacts on employment. not as big as the millions that you're talking about. so that's why i say, given its popularity, and given that it was on the stated program joe biden ran on, it feels to me more like an issue of, we can debate timing. we can debate would the level be the same everywhere. but the argument that raising the minimum wage should not

happen, i guess i don't totally understand that argument in the negotiation. >> okay. professor austan goolsby, thank you. . joe biden is stuck in the middle with plenty of hurdles ahead. a journal heist has covered several administrations will join me to talk about this next. plus, one of president biden's first executive orders reveals president trump's 1776 commission. a program some say would have whitewashed the history of slavery across this country. reverend al sharpton explains the importance of this move today at 5:00 eastern on politics nation. y at 5:00 easten politics nation. write your next adventure. handwriting recognition and the audi q3. lease or purchase a new audi suv and have your first month's payment covered. ♪♪ it's velveeta shells & cheese

versus the other guys. ♪♪ clearly, velveeta melts creamier.

before we talk about tax-smart investing, what's new? -well, audrey's expecting... -twins! grandparents! we want to put money aside for them, so...change in plans. alright, let's see what we can adjust. ♪♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. okay. mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. lemme guess, change in plans? at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan.

the fundamental difference between the biden approach and the trump approach is that we'll take responsibility at the federal government. we're going to own this problem. we'll work closely with the states. they are key partners getting this done but we'll also do the work ourselves. we'll use all the powers we have in the white house. we'll work with congress to get more funning, to accelerate this, so we can improve the rate at which we're vaccinating people. >> explaining how the biden administration is breaking away from its read thatthat, its predecessors. >> author of the book, his very

best. this was on the daily beast and it was titled, biden's first 100 days will be the biggest since fdr's. what did you mean? >> when fdr came to office in 1933, people remembered that he said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. a role important thing that he said in his inaugural address, we need action and action now. he kept repeating that word action. and this is joe biden's approach as well. he is facing a different kind of crisis. but he is tapping it the same way, very aggressive action. and asking people to judge him how he does in his first 100 days. he set the bar at 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days. a million a day. if he achieves that, and gets more money from congress, which i think he will in the meantime, we will have then set a process

in motion. gotten a level of momentum that he needs to achieve a whole lot of other things down the road. so the first thing he has to do is deliver for the american people. and i think he is set up to do so. >> okay. let's that relative to the op ed you wrote for the "washington post," the best case scenario for biden's first year. which you said, for four interm minutible years donald trump made that optimism look naive. now after an inspiring inauguration hope is back. then on twitter when you shared that article you said contrary to the national speculation, i am cautiously optimistic. what do you think joe biden's four years will look like? >> well, he's in a very, very fraught political environment. i don't think there is any point in undersysteming a lot of what he's up against. but the thing to remember is

that he has a lot going for him. to stress the positive here for a second because mostly you hear about the obstacles in his way. take the republicans in the house of representatives. they are now noise. not news. they don't have a friend in the white house. they don't have a filibuster. they have no, i mean zero, power. republicans in the house of representatives, forget about them. now you can say, well the democrats' margin is very narrow. but the democrats unlike the way they operated this the past are very disciplined nowadays. while you might hear noise on twitter and approximatingives complaining about this, moderates complaining about that, they are working in tandem with chuck schumer, noinz noiz and the white house. the senate, flew a combination of reconciliation this budget process and the ability to get

some republican votes, ten republican votes, for certain pieces of legislation, covid rowly, for instance, where there is republican support as -- just indicated, he can get a number of thing down without abolishing the filibuster altogether. however, in one critical area they need to use what i call the democracy option, not the nuclear option. get rid of the filibuster when it comes to the john lewis act, which expands democracy and prevents state legislatures from imposing voter suppression methods. so they can strike a blow for democracy if they have to abolish the filibuster later on when they can't get bipartisan support. they have the option to do that, which we just proerkted this week. so they have set the table for some very significant achievements here f not in the first 100 days, then in the first year. and i think they can have an

historic year that is almost in line with what lyndon johnson achieved in 1965. now people will say that's pole polyannish, i am not saying that's going the happen. but a little luck and a head of steam that's going to come from achieving the vaccination objectives in the first 100 days -- >> i guess what this means is you are going to have to come back periodically throughout the year and we will hold you to the thing you have written back and we will play your statements back to you. why people of color are getting covid at a higher rate than whites, yet fewer vaccines. we will have a guest on to explain that disparity in our next hour. ty in our next hour.

♪♪ 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. ♪♪ life under covid is an issue you may have to face at work. mandatory vaccination.

the ceo of united airlines said he would like all of his employees to receive the vaccine. it is the latest evidence of the pandemic's economic toll and peril facing some businesses. a third of all small businesses couldn't pay rent this month. minorities, nearly half of them were unable to make january's rent. meanwhile, home sales soared to the highest level in 15 years. the historically low mortgage rates are fuelling the surge. that's going do it for this edition of weekends with alex with it. listeny riser is up next with a manager of the trial who is not able to vote for impeachment. he able to vote for impeachment

i'm here to bring you all the news from across this great world of ours. now "news of the world" is coming home. little girl is lost. and i'm taking her home. and it's certified fresh. how much you want for her? this child is not for sale. tom hanks is magnificent... in a towering piece of moviemaking. she needs new memories.

(vo) businesses are always making choices. here's a choice you don't have to make: the largest 5g network... award-winning customer satisfaction... or insanely great value.

now, with t-mobile for business, there's no compromise. network. support. value. choose. all. three. t-mobile for business. ready when you are. (announcer) do you want to reduce stress? shed pounds? do you want to flatten your stomach? do all that and more in just 10 minutes a day with aerotrainer, the total body fitness solution that uses its revolutionary ergonomic design to help you to maintain comfortable, correct form. that means better results in less time. you can do an uncomfortable, old-fashioned crunch or an aerotrainer super crunch. turn regular planks into turbo planks without getting down on the floor. and there are over 20 exercises to choose from. incredible for improving flexibility and perfect for enhancing yoga and pilates. and safe for all fitness levels.

get gym results at home in just 10 minutes a day. no expensive machines, no expensive memberships. get off the floor with aerotrainer. go to aerotrainer.com to get yours now. i'm lindsey reiser in for yasmine voss voss. on the eve of an impeachment article against donald trump being sent to the senate new reporting out today about a plot involving the former president, the department of justice, and the supreme court. in just a moment i will talk to the reporter who broke that story as well as one of the house impeachment managers. plus, new arrests in the capitol hill riots as extremist face the prospect of a full-court press from the biden administration. we are also following a developing story in tacoma