dpa— go over to larissa from the german news agency dpa.pportunity. so after the recent route with the eu commission about supplies ought would be interested in a clarify position regarding the supplies to the eu countries, so the question would be i going to take back those supply cuts to the eu that you are not earlier in the second question that i have, regarding the contract that i have, regarding the contract that the eu commission announced earlier today, there have been parts which were supposed to be blackened out but which have been accessible to the public. and i would like to ask you for comment on that. thank you. ask you for comment on that. thank ou. . ~' ask you for comment on that. thank ou. . «i y ., ask you for comment on that. thank ou. ., a ask you for comment on that. thank ou. ., «i a ask you for comment on that. thank ou. ., «i i, ., you. thank you. as i said earlier, we have said _ you. thank you. as i said earlier, we have said what _ you. thank you. as i said earlier, we have said what can _ you. thank you. as i sa

but their efforts only went so far, because the previous administration failed to adequately use the dpa to enact a coordinated response to the pandemic going on to say, i know american workers and manufacturers are ready to step up to the plate. the biden strategy attempts to centralized regulation and decision-making at the national level. even president bind said today, shepp, we won't know for months how much it works. >> are there any companies that have already been contacted about the defense production act? >> reporter: well, tonight the press secretary was asked specifically where the government stand in the invocation of the dpa, itself. she says she wasn't sure but when you look at the executive order, it says it lays out this time frame for all of these agencies to look at the inventory at the stockpiles before going to ink these company's contracts. for one reference point, back in the spring of this year, the trump administration decided to invoke the dpa at the end of march. but it was about two weeks until they actually had hard contracts with companies for specific items

and what companies are being ordered to procure more under the dpa? and for the state allotment and pfizer credit, our state allotments based on five doses in the mile or six? -- vial or six? and is pfizer getting credit for all six doses? >> i believe the answer is a hundred percent and getting credit for six, precisely because everybody should now have the tools to be able to get the six pfizer dose out. that is thanks to the work of our dpa and supply chain team. next question? >> cnn, caitlin collins? >> thank you, two questions. one on the new variants we are seeing. the expectation seems to be they could have an impact on cases by mart? maybe gain -- by march? gain a foothold by april? and become the dominant cases we are seeing? what is the administration doing to stop that from happening beyond recommending people social distance and wear masks? >> let me turn first to dr. fauci, to talk about the science behind these variants, and what is likely to happen or what we know and believe. and then to dr. walensky, so she can discuss the actions we

i believe the next is department of police accountability. >> line item 3, dpa director's report. report on recent d.p.a. activities and announcements, d.p.a. report will be limit today a brief description of d.p.a. different tease and announcements. commission discussion will be limited to whether to calender any of the issues raised for future commission meetings. >> thank you. >> i have, for my staff, this week, for the new year we are at 23 new cases that have come in. this time last year we're at 35 cases. we've closed 31 cases so far this year and this time last year we closed 59 cases. compared to this time we have 401. we've sustained two cases so far this year which is the same number of two case that's had been sustained this time last year. we have 35 cases who is investigations have gone past nine months so far still below the 33 deadline and there have been no cases that have gone past that deadline. this time last year, we were at 25 cases. we have not mediated any cases this year nor had we mediated cases this time last year. we have a number of cases that are with

andy, why don't you start with the dpa and touch on the likely delivery of the additional 200 million doses. >> great. thanks for the question. the defense production act is a very important vehicle for us. we have an entire team that's focused on how to maximize and speed supply. now, in its first instance, getting the syringes and all of the other ancillary capabilities necessary to get americans their vaccines is one of the core areas, we identified 12 areas where the president has authorized us to use the defense production act including masks, including more testing, including making spaces. to the very specific question of whether or not a factory can be retrofitted to mass produce another vaccine, that's something under active exploration. as youd can imagine, it's not as simple as walking in and flipping a switch. these are delicate processes, very sterile processes and have to be done in a way that actually completely works. we will not be afraid to explore every option to get more vaccines to the public as quickly as possible. as for the timing of the moderna and pfizer cont

what the president-elect is going to do is where it need be to invoke the dpa to get the things we needsts, vaccines, what have you. in in other words, to not be hesitant to use whatever mechanisms we can to get everything on track oochs and in the flow that he pro districts. the feasibility of his goal is absolutely clear. there's no doubt about that, that that can be done. >> the guidelines that various state and local authorities are using to distribute the vaccine, clearly they were a bit too strict if we're finding ourselves throwing away vaccine. do you feel as if that has changed enough so that we're not going to be throwing away vaccine? >> yeah, i think so. one of the things that's clear is that the cdc came out on the basis of the recommendations from the acip, about different groups, 1a, 1b, 1c, as recommendations and guideline, not real restrictions. what happens is that maybe understandably the states and the local authorities were really very strictly adhering to that, where right now what the cdc is saying, those are guidelines. you've got to loosen them up, be less rigid

that's thanks to the work of our dpa and supply chain team. next question. >> next we will go to caitlyn collins at cnn. >> thank you. i have two questions. one on the new variants that we are seeing. the expectation seems to be they could start to have an impact on cases by march, maybe gain a foothold by april and become the dominant cases that we are seeing. what specifically is the administration doing to stop that from happening beyond recommending that people social distance and wear masks? >> let me turn first to dr. fauci to talk about the science behind these variants and what is likely to happen or what we believe. then to dr. walensky after that so she can discuss the actions we are taking as a country and the actions we expect americans to take to help with your question. thank you. >> there are a number of variants that we are concerned about. one that is quite well established already in the united states, and that is the 117 that is in about 28 or 29 states and more than 315 cases that have all been reported.youe a virus that ha

of lines on contracts i think there are ways that could use the dpa more immediately.e doing more to provide n- 5 masks to provide protection for high-risk individuals. the material used in hepa filters is the same blow fill used in an n-95 mask. the other thing they're looking for is needles think of a tuberculin syringe. it's a very graduated syringe. it draws up only a little bit with each pull if they use a syringe like that to vaccinate people, you could be more to extend the supply of the vaccine stock is to distribute different kinds of syringes that's where they could use the dpa. i think they're looking at that. >> doctor, are you recommending though that we're still just talking about who's jumping -- not who's jumping the line but the government getting to the front of the line or are you talking about the government saying to certain companies, we are asking you now, in fact demanding that you produce and manufacture certain goods that you are not manufacturing today and i would also ask why testing is not on that list given the terrible state of testing in

that is thanks to the work of our dpa and supply cain team. next question. >> next to kaitlan collins at cnn. >> thank you. i have two questions actually. one on these new variants that we're seeing and the expectations seems to be that they could really start to have an impact on cases by march, maybe gain a foot hold by april and become the dominant cases that we're seeing. so what specifically is the administration doing to stop that from happening beyond recommending that people social distance and wear masks? >> well let me turn first to dr. fauci to talk about the science behind these variants and what is likely to happen or what we know and what we believe. and then to dr. wallenski after that she could discuss the actions we're taking as a country and the actions we expect americans to take to help with your question. thank you. >> well, kaitlan, there are a number of variants that we're concerned about and one that is quite well established already in the united states and that is the 117, that is in about 28 or 29 states and more tha

this is a real issue, which, again, back to biden's plan about employing the dpa to ramp up production kind of back to that, again. we don't have enough supply, in the -- in the reserves or, in general. this all needs to be coordinated so that there is equity in supply and demand out there, lindsey. >> yeah, dr. azar, real quickly because we have to let you go. did you get your second shot, yet? i know you got your first one on live television. >> i did. i got it on wednesday. i am feeling fine. a little bit achier. i would say -- i had nothing. some people do experience more symptoms. but again, they are transient. 24, usually, to 34 hours. short-lived. you know, we all think a small price to pay for immunity, at the other end. >> absolutely. congrats on that second dose. i know you will still mask up and socially distance because, dr. azar, that's just your style. thanks so much. >> thanks. >>> bracing for the worst. state capitals across the country looking like they are preparing for war. the reinforcements being brought in to try to keep people safe. diabetes and raised triglyceri

what does the dpa mean. there are a few examples that our team has cited including vaccine supply, load-based syringes which allows the ability to get an extra dose into the pfizer vial which is important to getting more doses out there. the production of additional i-95 masks, isolation gowns, gloves, tips and swabs. so we're talking about very specific materials that can be used by vaccinators to get the shots in the arms. >> thanks for clarifying. there was some confusion. let me ask one other question, my question is different today, we're now hearing from the organizers of this year's summer games in japan. the ed of japan's olympic committee is seeking public reassurances from president biden himself given that, of course, the u.s. is the largest contingent of athletes that the games should be able to go on. on the world, based on where we are right now with the vaccine, does president biden believe the games in japan can safely go on? >> well, the president, i'm not sure if this readout had gone out y

what the president-elect is going to do is invoke the dpa to get the kinds of things we need.rie: -- tom: dr. fauci moving on. we have tried as best we can to bring you adult in the discussions. the packard hospital of stanford in the standard children's hospital after a tour of duty at the boston children's hospital and out of pennsylvania medicine and we are glad she could join us. those of a certain age have the vision of being in the doctor's office and it being in the corner. how do you vision the vaccination of those younger in the coming months? >> we are looking forward to having the ability around safety and efficacy around our teenagers and 12 and older. currently, we are able to vaccinate those 16 and older when those became available to us to be able to vaccinate at a local level. we will need to push for vaccine clinical trials in younger age groups. it will be important for us to protect all of our kids and adults and older adult population as effectively as possible. tom: do you assume we will be using the new, modern, mrna vaccines or do we wait more -- weight

what the president-elect is going to do is, where he needs, to invoke the dpa to get the thing is youhatever they may be. yousef: the number of covid deaths in the u.s. nears 400,000. let's bring in our asian consumer and health lead. what is the latest in terms of the situation in the united states? >> the u.s. continues to set new records on death and cases. we are coming up to the first anniversary of the first identified case in the u.s.. it has been clear the u.s. response has been completely underwhelming and it leads the world in number of cases, number of deaths, and infection rates. everything in the u.s. now is waiting for the new administration. president-elect biden has set out his plan to increase vaccinations to set up a federal vaccination site across the u.s. and invoke the law that anthony fauci pointed to where the government -- it is a wartime law. the government can compel private factories to start producing the components it needs to increase supply. there has been a lot of discussion over whether this can happen as planned. at the moment, the bright spot is a ne

vonnie: has the new administration clarified what it plans to do with the dpa, the defense protection? michelle: so, they are planning to call up the defense protection act wherever necessary. they have not said for specifically where yet, but people here that and they think that the companies are not making as many vaccines as they could be making . that is not the case. those on the ground are going as quickly as they can. what we are talking about is the supply chain. you can make as much vaccine as possible, but if you do not have glass vials or plastic to wrap them up in, it's no good. if you cannot administer them, you cannot get them out there. so the supply chains have been bottlenecked. if you cannot get ppe into the facilities to make the products, then you do not have what you need. it's that organize process from the top down, making sure that the entire path, coming from the basic essentials of what you need, all the way through to the production and distribution of things, of the vaccines and tests, that is the process this administration wants to make sure, from the nat

companies to help with this response and one thing he said was that basically they're going to sign the dpa to create these syringes where you can get six doses of the vaccine out of a syringe instead of five. once those syringes are available, they're not yet, they just signed the defense production act in the last 36 hours, but he said that would increase the supply 20% as soon as those are available. it's not just the scale of how they're passing out the vaccines. it's something as granular as that can make a wig difference for the states. that's the thing to watch as we judge this response compared to the last administrations, how they use the defense production act and if they can be more successful than we saw in the prior instances. >> we'll see how this continues. it was good to see experts leading the briefing the science instead of politicians. see you soon. >>> president biden dismantling four years of trump policies today. my next guess says we haven't begun to comprehend how much work we have ahead. tom friedman is here next. >>> president lincoln struggled to abolish slavery.

what the president-elect is going to do is where need be, to invoke the dpa to get the things we neede are we on the j&j and astrazeneca vaccines? >> soon, chuck. we are going to be meeting with the authorities on that. they have a lot of events, events meaning infections within the context of the trial. so their data i think very soon, i would imagine within a period of a week or so or at the most a couple of weeks. >> let's hope dr. fauci is right there. before we go, i want to pass this along, phil spectacularer the convicted murderer and famed music producer died. since 2009 he had been serving time for the shooting death of actor lana clarkson. according to the california department of corrections specter died of natural cause. he was 81 years old. >>> coming up in our next hour, we are going to take a look at the capitol. as the country is cautiously counting down to inauguration day. the latest on secure measures there as they are everywhere. >> also as we learn move about the movement that fueled these shocking insurrections. stay with us. insurrections stay with us through th

it will take time, but activation of the dpa is a move in the right direction, ali. >> what do you makethat they have to get 100 million doss out? you know about dr. stanford. you know about the actual stuff that happens on the ground. you said we have the resources for it and the people to do it. does this plan look like it will get us there? >> you know, i'm extremely fortunate to be living in a city that has one of the oldest and well reputable public health departments in the country. however, other rural communities that simply need more resources, that's where we need to pay attention. communities of color where they don't have the staffing or support. that's where we need to focus attention. as you know, ali, it is not just the actual medication of the vaccine. it is the swabs and gauze and alcohol. it is all of these other little steps. the organization. they had an algorithm for each pod. the vaccination pod. the greeter. it is a considerable amount of organization from the federal to the state to the local level. that needs to happen. i'm hopeful with this administration that

and one thing he just said is basically, they're going to sign the dpa to create these syringes where doses of out of a vaccine instead of five. he said once those syringes are available, they're not yet, they just signed the defense production act in the last 36 hours, he said that would increase the supply 20% as soon as those are available. it's not just the scale. it's something as granulars that can make a big difference for the states. that's the thing to watch. judge this response compared to the last administrations, how they use the defense production act and if they can be more successful than we saw in the prior instances. >> we'll see how this continues. it was good to see experts leading the briefing when it comes to the science and what's really going on instead of the politicians. thank you very much. i'll see both of you soon. >>> out with the old. president biden dismantling four years of trump policies today, but my next guest says we haven't even begun to comprehend how much work we've got ahead. tom friedman is here next. we're all finding ways to keep moving. but

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 desp

i know the executive order that was signed but has this white house invoked the dpa and how soon we'll see companies compel to produce supplies or vaccine or whatever else that impacts americans? >> it was invoked the day it was signed within 24 hours of it being signed. >> it jump started the process. >> yes. i confirmed that. the next day, the following day which i realize everybody can't be here every day because of covid. it was invoked and means or work is ongoing with companies to ensure we are expediting the manufacturing of materials to ensure we can get 100 million shots in the arms of americans. i know there's been some confusion about this. there's a few examples that our team has cited including vaccine is up mine, syringes which allows for the ability to get an extra dose into the pfizer vial. production of n-95 masks. gloves, swabs. >> there was some confusion on the ermier call. one other question. yesterday you deflected but my question is different today. we're hearing from the organizers of this year's summer games in japan. the head is seeking public reassurances fro

what the president-elect is going to do is, where need be, to invoke the dpa to get the kinds of things is the nation's top infectious disease expert on president-elect biden's ambitious plan to have 100 million covid-19 doses administered during his first 100 days in office. dr. fauci's comments come as the cdc warns that the highly contagious strain of the virus is likely to become dominant by march. >> they say that it isn't more virulent, but we've got to be careful because the more cases you get, even though on a one to one basis, it's not more virulent meaning it doesn't make you more sick or more likely to die. the more cases you have, the more hospitalizations you're going to have, the more hospitalizations you have, the more deaths you're going to have. arthel: let's bring in dr. tom frieden, former cdc director and ceo of resolve to save lives. always very happy to have you, and i want to start with this new highly contagious variant. it's making a lot of people anxious. do the current vaccines protect us from this new strain, and might there come a point when existing vaccine

that's why president biden has invoked the dpa, which will allow the federal government to get more supplies out to the states so they can administer more of these vaccines. but there's no doubt, andrea, that the administration continuously said throughout the transition process that they were not getting the critical information that they needed. now, of course, it now falls on the current administration to deal with this crisis. one of the key promises is that there is going to be an expansion of testing sites, and so i think there's going to be a lot of focus on making sure that happens quickly. and now of course this new indication from cdc that schools can start to begin to reopen. and there's going to be pressure to make sure that happens safely and securely. and so i think that part of the strategy on the part of the biden administration is to have more of these briefings. we've now had two this week, andrea, to really try to set a new tone as they address this crisis with sobering warnings that this crisis is likely going to get worse before it gets better. now of course the new info

i believe the next is department of police accountability. >> line item 3, dpa director's report.ecent d.p.a. activities and announcements, d.p.a. report will be limit today a brief description of d.p.a. different tease and announcements. commission discussion will be limited to whether to calender any of the issues raised for future commission meetings. >> thank you. >> i have, for my staff, this week, for the new year we are at 23 new cases that have come in. this time last year we're at 35 cases. we've closed 31 cases so far this year and this time last year we closed 59 cases. compared to this time we have 401. we've sustained two cases so far this year which is the same number of two case that's had been sustained this time last year. we have 35 cases who is investigations have gone past nine months so far still below the 33 deadline and there have been no cases that have gone past that deadline. this time last year, we were at 25 cases. we have not mediated any cases this year nor had we mediated cases this time last year. we have a number of cases that are with the commissi

has this white house invoked the dpa and how soon will it be compelled to have vaccines and supplies to vaccinate america? press sec. psaki: it was invoked the day it was signed, and within 24 hours. >> so it was invoked. press sec. psaki: i confirmed that the next day, the following day in the briefing room, and i realize that everybody cannot be here every day. but, it was invoked and it means that our work is ongoing with companies to ensure that we are expediting the manufacturing of materials to ensure that we can get 100 million shots in the arms of americans. and i know there have been confusion about this and what does it mean. there are a few examples that our team has cited including on vaccines applied, such as syringes, which allows for the ability to get an extra dose out of the pfizer vial, which is important to getting more doses out there. additional n95 masks, isolation gowns, loves, pipette tips and high absorbency -- absorbency phone swap -- swabs. we are talking about what is needed to get some shots in the arms and americans. >> let me ask one other question. my

. >> president trump also focussed on dpa georgia. more on the race he lost than the one he's now trying to help win using what could be his last political rally as president to ask his vp to help overturn joe biden's victory and deliver him a second term. a power mike pence does not have. >> he's a great guy. if he doesn't come through, i won't like him quite as much. >> president trump getting it all out just hours before congress green lights getting him out. the latest on the plans to try to stop or more accurately, delay the certification of joe biden's win. why donald trump is saying mike pence will, quote, come through for him tomorrow. we're talking with one republican senator later in the show who is not planning to come through, so to speak, for the president. the north dakota senator kevin cramer who says he will not reject joe biden's win. >>> we start with the critical senate runoff races in georgia. it's election day and voters are voting. we have blaine alexander in fulton county, georgia, shaq brewster, steve kornacki,

. >> you mentioned yesterday but not specific companies that might have had dpa contracts. >> on the first -- i don't know specific companies for you. i can circle back with our covid team and see if we have more specifics. those conversations are happening as we speak. there was a question yesterday about whether the defense production act had been invoked. it has been invoked so the processing are rapidly ongoing. the president has supported d.c. statehood in the past. that remains his position. i don't have anything for you on the timeline. >> covid. a trade mark of the last administration's efforts was there would be a big announcement like jared kushner testing witness and no time line and it never materialized. i was interested when the chief of staff there would be a clearinghouse for central vaccine information. i was wondering if you could provide a timeline when there's a dot gov website or e-mail. >> i know all members of my family are asking the same question as i'm sure yours are. it's something we're eager to do and provide more information to the american public about

the question of, can we use the dpa to somehow make more vaccines, turns out to be a far trickier question. the problem there is these are complicated vaccin to make you cannot just have somebody else step in and make these mrna vaccines without a lot of technical expertise and specialized equipment, much that comes from countries outside of the united states. there are going to be challenges to ramping up a lot more production. i do think the biden team is definitely going to try to do that. there are going to be some technical limitations that will make it hard for us to start producing tens of millions of these vaccines every day. i think that is not going to be possible because of technical challenges. amy: it raises very interesting questions when it is a massive shortage in the world of vaccines. was it the world health organization said, of the 46 countries now vaccinating their populations at whatever speed, only one of them is a low income country. these vaccines have to get out all over. i was just going back years in "health affairs," the magazine, to an article that talked abou

. >>> this morning dpa georggeorg secretary of state is talk act the very long list of conspiracy theoriesen't true that president trump said in the phone call, trying to overturn joe biden's win. listen. >> the last two months we've been fighting a whack amole. we debunked every one of the theories but president trump continues to believe them. >> those are conspiracies that by the way, he also tried to take on directly during the call. warning the president not to believe everything he reads on the internet. >> mr. president, the problem you have with social media is they can -- people can say anything. >> no, this isn't social media. this is trump media. it's not social media. >> the reality of the things to dras back to social media. and the murkier corners of the internet. but it does speak to one thing. and to be clear, they've all been debunked. it speaks to one thing. that is the idea that this misinformation that the president continues to amplify can be serious consequences more broadly. i want to bring in ben collins who traced the origins of some of the conspiracy theories. bef

just to follow up on that, i want to be clear, has the president actually signed the dpa? and can you speak to the time line -- you raised the issue of summer. so we're clear on the expectations by the end of summer. by summer, 300 million people would be vaccinated. is that still your expectation? and nen can you speak to some of the concerns that we've heard from governors who have cheered this announcement, welcoming more supplies and vaccines but in the words of one, we are going to need much more supply. are you able to meet what the governors are asking for, not just increasing it in this first part but to make what they're asking for? >> so, thank you for the question. first of all, it's important to clarify the difference between 300 million or 600 million vaccines being produced and the process of getting that across the country to providers and pharmacies and community clinics into people's arms. there are many more challenges. the president announced a first step, mainly to make sure we have enough production. making sure that 300 million people get vaccinated h

in kansas, they stormed the row tun dpa at their state capitol and said they'd be back and armed this weekend. the washington governor's residence had its gates broken down and the grounds stormed by armed men. state police were on the scene there. they chose not to arrest any of those people, even after they broke down the gates, because any didn't want to upset anybody. the pipe bombs found outside the headquarters of the rnc and the dnc in washington were both reportedly real bombs. they were not hoax devices. they were operable pipe bombs capable of causing, quote, great harm according to the capitol police bomb squad. one of the lawyers who filed pro-trump lawsuits after the election in the state of georgia is now calling for vice president mike pence to be the first one before the firing squad. if the point of authoritarian seizure is to get rid of democratic norms and restrictions so that the country isn't governed by them anymore, so that leaders aren't restrained by them anymore, to clear the way for the claiming and indefinite holding of power sheerly by force, what about ye

understanding and our reporting, that president biden has in fact signed an executive order to jump-start the dpa, which basically means he will unleash and get the ball rolling on getting more supplies to the states that need them to administer the vaccines. and they're going to increase vaccine production, aiming for 300 million doses that can be administered by the end of summer. now, you heard the clarification. this doesn't mean that 300 million people will be vaccinated by the end of summer, but it means that that's their goal, their bench mark in terms of how many vaccines they would like to be able to have access to by the end of the summer. so presumably the summer, the fall, is when the administration is signaling people should start to see things start to go back to normal. but this is a critical test and it does come as the president is saying, he cannot do it unless congress acts, unless congress passes that $1.9 trillion relief package, because that's where the real resources, that's where the real money comes from. still a lot of work to be done and these briefings on almost a dail

and that dpa authority and getting those syringes made actually increases our supply effectively 20% as soon as those syringes are available. >> on page 46 of the report you seem to achieve something that republicans have refused to do legislatively and the previous administration refused to do. and that is funding to help the localities, cities, counties that are trying to administer this that have absolutely zero budget for this. and it looks like you're using medicaid funding to do that. it says you're going to use the federal medicaid assistance percentage method to do it, which means you will not need a legislative appropriation of money to do this. this will automatically come out of medicaid funds. >> that's right. and some money to do this was passed by congress in that bill right before christmas, was signed ultimately by president trump. and we think we have enough funds to get going on this program. we're going to need more help from congress. you heard the president of the united states when he was president-elect last week stand up and address the country in prime time a

we already have a flaming fire in this country and it's like taking a bunch of dpas lean and pouring it on top of the fire. >> i believe that what is being alleged and what we saw which is incitement to insurrection is an impeachable offense, if not, what is? >> reporter: romney, you'll remember, was the lone republican to vote for donald trump's conviction in the first impeachment trial. he would need a lot more of his colleagues to come along with him to see the former president convicted this time, steph. >> all right, garrett, let's get starter on all of this and go from the politics to the law. let's bring in former acting solicitor general neal katyal, he literally wrote the book "impeach: the case against donald trump," and our dear friend chuck rosenberg, the host of the oath podcast. neal, as days go by more and more republicans are opposing the senate trial completely. it feels like the possibility of getting 17 republicans to convict is getting further and further out of reach. does that change what democrats should do going forward? >> i think it does. first of all, just

so the dpa, the defense production act that the president was referring to was to do the things thatld facilitate the ability to get those vaccines administered and one case in point, that i referred to is the dead space syringes so you can get the extra dose out of a vile, instead of five doses, you get six but he was not referring to getting more vaccine from that. he was referring to other things. >> you know, we did a cnn analysis and found that somewhere between 12% and about a third of americans probably have some protection against covid-19 through vaccination, but also obviously, from the growing number of people who have actually gotten infected and then recovered with the virus. currently about 6% of the population has been vaccinated. is that where you hope we would be by now, and whether you add the number of americans vaccinated after the first 100 days, where will we be? i mean, is that -- that's not going to be enough but will the country feel different or feel different or be more normal? >> you know, i think it's going to take awhile for us to feel like we're back to

yes, you know, he signed the dpa and that went into action yesterday, and we want to make sure that we have the materials so that the vaccines can get out there. so that is another way that we're trying to move as an administration that the president is leading on. so there are many ways that we have seen in the past week that president biden has taken covid very seriously and understands that we cannot waste any more time, and as a government we need to act now. >> i do have to move to another important question here. leaders in the senate agreed to delay the impeachment trial of former president trump for about two weeks. is that enough time to install president biden's cabinet picks, and, more importantly, to most struggling americans out there pass his massive covid relief bill? >> so, as you just said, the president's priority is making sure that we take care of the american people. he leaves impeachment to the legislative branch. that is -- they will decide that. they will decide how quickly to move with that and how swiftly, whatever it is that they want to do on that side. his

maybe a little more tentatively, you mentioned companies yesterday, but not specific companies that had dpa contracts and the state hub was mentioned in the first briefing. >> i don't know of certain companies for you. i can see if we have more of those specifics. obviously those conversations with happening as we speak. there was a question whether the defense production act had been inv invoked. it has been invoked, so those conversations are ongoing. the president has supported d.c. statehood in the past, that's certainly his position, but i don't have anything for you in the timeline or next steps there. >> reporter: on covid quickly, the administration's last efforts were there would be a big announcement on jared kushner's testing website and no timeline put on it, it never really materialized. i was interested when the chief of staff said last night there would be a central clearing house for vaccine information, and i was wondering if you could provide an expectation or timeline on when americans could expect when there is a dot.gov e-mail address or phone number they could go to to