Says all American Adults will be eligible to receive a vaccine shot by the end of next month. As somebody who has been eagerly awaiting her vaccine shot and having no idea when i would become eligible, i will tell you, i feel this personally. As the president made clear tonight, hes saying this doesnt necessarily mean that all American Adults are going to be vaccinated by the end of next month, by may 1st, but he is ordering all states and territories to open eligibility to all adults by no later than may 1st, which means you can get in line, which means you can start setting up your appointment, which means you can make your plans. Any american adult who wants a shot will be free to sign up for one, and the president says his administration will do everything it can to make vaccine shots available to every single american who wants one. And that is just almost unbelievably good news for all of the americans who want to get vaccinated, present company included, but also for what it says about the progress the administration feels its making toward that ultimate goal of getting everybody vaccinated. And you know, also, it matters, i think, that we did, finally, finally get a real president ial address on covid, a real president ial address that made sense, that was rooted in empathy, and that explained even complex things truthfully and with nuance. It feels revolutionary, after what weve been through. Weddings, birthdays, graduations, all the things that needed to happen but didnt. The first date, the family reunions, sunday night rituals, it all has exacted a terrible cost on the psyche of so many of us, for we are fundamentally a people who want to be with others, to talk, to laugh, to hug, to hold one another, but this virus has kept us apart. Grandparents havent seen their children or grandchildren. Parents havent seen their kids. Kids havent seen their friends. The things we used to do that always filled us with joy have become things we couldnt do and broke our hearts. President biden tonight in the role of, essentially, consoler in chief on the oneyear anniversary of the pandemic. The president did announce concrete steps his administration is going to be taking to try to end this thing doubling the number of federally run vaccination centers, he said, increasing mobile outreach to communities that are otherwise having a hard time getting to vaccination sites, launching a central federal government website, he said, where people can find vaccine appointments. He said, no more hunting for appointments day and night. That perked up my ears. How many people do you know who have been doing that . Ever since first vaccines became available. He says there will be a federal resource to align everybody with a vaccine shot with their name on it. I want to know more about that. He said there will be thousands more people mobilized to administer vaccine shots, people like retired doctors and nurses, other federal officials other federal personnel. If the United States successfully executes a surge in Vaccine Availability and delivery and vaccinations stay on schedule, President Biden tonight set a date, sort of an aspirational date by which we might regain some amount of normalcy in the way that we live. I promise i will do everything in my power. I will not relent until we beat this virus. But i need you, the American People. I need you. I need every american to do their part. Thats not hyperbole. I need you. I need you to get vaccinated when its your turn and when you can find an opportunity and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors get vaccinated as well. Because heres the point if we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by july the 4th, theres a good chance you, your families and friends, will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate Independence Day. That doesnt mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together after this long, hard year. That will make this Independence Day something truly special, where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus. President biden speaking tonight in the east room of the white house. Again, this is his first prime time address to the nation since he has been president. And of course, this address tonight came just hours after he signed his 1. 9 trillion covid relief bill, the American Rescue plan. It feels very well choreographed that the president , 50 days into his first 100 days in office, would sign this giant relief bill aimed at pulling americans out of the economic tailspin covid has caused and also opening the country back up safely, that he would sign that bill right before giving this Major National address on the oneyear anniversary of the pandemic being declared. It feels very well choreographed. In fact, these events were not originally expected to happen on the same day. After the house passed the covid relief bill yesterday, that bill had to go through a couple more steps to make it to the president s desk. After that house vote, the white house said the president was actually expected to sign the bill on friday, tomorrow, so that would have been the day after tonights big speech. The bill went through an enrollment ceremony in which Speaker Pelosi and leader schumer signed the final bill. Before a bill goes to the president , it is, in fact, required by law that it must be enrolled, which means it gets printed on special paper and signed by various congressional officials. Then it has to be formally conveyed to the white house. It was expected by the time all that was said and done, it wouldnt actually be in bidens hands until tomorrow, but lo and behold, ron klain announced today that the bill got to the white house last night and so the president signed it today, klain saying it was because we want to move as fast as possible. So, another small thing, keeping with the Biden Administrations underpromiseoverdeliver strategy when it comes to responding to covid. And that little bit of extra speed, moving up the signing of the bill just by one day, it does actually mean something in practical terms. If your direct deposit information is already on file with the irs, and if you are one of the 85 of americans whos eligible for those 1,400 relief checks thats included in the rescue plan, we had been expecting that you might get that check as early as next week, but the White House Press secretary said today that with it being signed early, with them moving as fast as they can, you may actually see that money in your bank account as soon as this weekend. This weekend. And its already thursday night. President biden said tonight hes not going to need the full 100 days that he promised to get to 100 million vaccine doses administered. He said tonight he expects that well be at 100 million shots given by day 60 of his presidency, not by day 100. Day 60 is soon. Were already at day 51. But even with beating that 100day goal, even with vaccinating at a much faster pace than he initially promised, now, of course, Many Public Health experts think we not only need to keep up this pace, we need to considerably accelerate it. Well, the president did tonight say that he wants the u. S. Pace of vaccination to stay at a sustained rate of more than 2 million shots per day as a goal from here on out. Again, all American Adults eligible for the vaccine in every state and territory and tribe by the end of next month. Those are thats a lot. Those are big things that he is promising and that he is saying that the governments going to be able to do. The president s trying to raise spirits tonight. Hes acknowledging the loss that we have been through over the past year in a way that no other american politician of his generation or any other that ive ever known can do, in the way hes able to articulate grief and empathy and sympathy. Hes acknowledging the loss. He is also trying to raise spirits by telling you what it will take to get to the end of this crisis. And importantly, he asked for everybody to do their part. Not only does he want us all to get vaccinated, he said tonight, get vaccinated when its your turn, when you have the opportunity to get vaccinated, but help others get vaccinated. Help your neighbors and your friends and your family get vaccinated, too, so we can pull together toward a goal of being able to be together again safely and soon. And so, this is an important address. Because of this milestone, because of where we are in the biden presidency, because of what else is going on in the covid response. But let me get specific for a second, because there are ways this is going to go here that i think the scientists, the epidemiologists, the inspecious disease experts, they understand here, but we, the public, dont necessarily get it yet. Let me give you a few things that im talking about here. If we open everything back up again, like they are doing in texas right now as we speak and in florida and in oklahoma and in mississippi and all these other places, are we now vaccinating americans fast enough that any subsequent surge in new cases, surge in hospitalizations, surge in deaths that we get from these wide openings that are happening in so many states, is it possible that we are vaccinating enough americans now that those subsequent surges after these openings up wont be as bad . Is that giving us some cushion, some insolation from further spikes like weve seen in the past after other states opened up . With 90 of the American Population still unvaccinated now, 10 vaccinated, can scientists discern an Inflection Point where the effect of vaccines is protective enough that its not actually an irresponsible choice to open up . Will we get to a point where the dr. Faucis of the world and the cdc will give guidance on opening stuff up based on what proportion of the population is vaccinated . Is that day coming . Should we be heading toward that day already . Then theres the darker side of that question. If we are opening up in big parts of the country right now, if were opening up in big parts of the country too early, before there are enough people vaccinated to make it safe to do so, could those opening ups actually fuel the rise of these more virulent variants of the virus against which the vaccines dont work as well . Are we, in effect, breeding vaccineresistant strains by opening things up in lots of states and encouraging lots of viral transmission right now before weve got significant numbers of people vaccinated in those states . Or does it not work that way . I feel this is one of the issues that epidemiologists, Infectious Disease specialists, scientists who understand this stuff understand the subject, but we the public are fuzzy on this stuff. Were worried about continuing plateauing transmission, still more than 1,000 americans dying every day, and we are incredibly hopeful for not only the vaccinations weve had already but for the pace at which we are going to continue to vaccinate. How do we put those things together . There is a scientific point at which those points come together. The scientists need to help us understand those as the public. And while we are on the subject of questions that you might need a dr. Fauci type to answer, this is one that animates me with every passing day. Imagine for a second that we had, basically, a cure for covid19, a drug you could take if you did get covid. It doesnt prevent you from getting infected. Its not a vaccine. But if you do get infected, its basically a cure or close to it. Imagine if we had Something Like that, you know. You didnt get vaccinated in time and you got covid, you tested positive, but then you can take a dose of this drug, and its highly effective at preventing you from being hospitalized. Its like 70 effective or even more, 85 effective, 87 effective at keeping you from having to go to the hospital because of your covid infection, at keeping you from dying. Imagine if we had Something Like that, a drug you could take, if we had something that effective at effectively curing people who got infected with covid, a drug you could take that would keep you from getting sick and dying. How would the availability of that affect our National Response to this pandemic . Im asking because, honestly, it seems like we might have that right now already, but nobodys really talking about it. Two new Clinical Trial results reported yesterday showing that for people who have tested positive for covid, people who are at high risk of getting sick and dying from covid, you take this drug, 85 and 87 reduction in your chance of getting hospitalized or dying. Two different drugs, one with an 85 reduction, one with an 87 reduction. One of those drugs, the 87 one, is already approved for use in the United States its made by eli lilly. Eli lilly says they can make a million doses of that in the next few months. The other drug is made by glaxo and a Biotech Company called vir, vir. They say theyre applying for use authorization in the United States right away on the strength of these Clinical Trial results. Their Clinical Trial was actually called off by the Advisory Board overseeing it because the drug was working so well, they decided the only ethical thing to do was to stop the trial. They decided it wasnt ethically right to keep giving half the people in that trial just a placebo when the drug itself was working so well, was showing an 85 reduction in people having to go to the hospital and in people dying, among people who were covid positive and at high risk of getting sick. What if we had something thats basically a cure . What if weve already got something thats pretty close to a cure and were just not using it enough . Dr. Anthony fauci briefed at the white house this week on new antiviral prospects for treating and potentially curing covid, inhibitors, entry inhibitors, surprising numbers of drugs to treat covid in interesting stages of development right now, but there are three, possibly soontobe four antibody treatments already approved for use in the United States against covid that are really, really, really, really highly effective for people who have covid, who have been infected, to keep them from getting sick. The u. S. Government has bought hundreds of thousands of doses of these drugs. Theyre paid for. But, by and large, theyre not being used, while still, even now, were losing 1,5002,000 americans every day. We have that many deaths every day, while we have drugs that can significantly reduce the prospect of people dying from this illness. I mean, covid19 is not considered to be a curable illness now, but for people who are infected, who are at high risk of getting sick, this thing may be way more susceptible to treatment than were acting like. Why is that . Why is nobody talking about that . Im getting increasingly obsessed with this. We are one year in. We have vaccines now. We need to get everybody vaccinated. All adults eligible to be vaccinated by the end of next month, the president asking us all to help our friends and our neighbors and our family get vaccinated, too. We have the vaccines, soon to be in more than sufficient quantities. We also have some treatments now, with proven clinical effectiveness. And in addition to getting everybody vaccinated, to keep them from getting infected in the first place, we also need to acknowledge that 50,000plus americans are still getting infected every day now. And hopefully, that will go down with vaccines. But as of right now, weve been plateauing at 50,000 cases a day or more for a very long time. For people who do get covid, for people who test positive, who are at high risk of getting sick, it seems to me we need to get way more of those people access to the existing treatments that weve got, that are going wanting right now, that are not being used while americans die. How do we fix that part of it . Why isnt that more of a focus of our National Discussion . Is there something that im missing here, some way im looking at this the wrong way around . Joining us now is our nations top Infectious Disease expert. He is the director of the National Institute of allergy and Infectious Diseases. He really needs no introduction beyond that. Dr. Anthony fauci, its an honor to have you here tonight, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Good to be with you, rachel. First of all, let me give you the chance to wind me back here, if i am looking at this the wrong way around or if anything that i just said is wrong or too fuzzy. No, part of what you said, a good part of what you said is true. The only difficulty is that when youre dealing with something that requires an intravenous administration, the logistics of doing that on a wide scale is much more difficult than i think you made it appear. What we do need more of is orally administered pills like we have for hiv and hepatitisc, where someone can take them immediately. You dont have to line up to go in an infusion center. The other thing is, youre absolutely correct, though, that, in fact, some of the monoclonal antibodies are, in fact, really quite impressive, if you get the treatment early enough. Weve had a number of trials which you did not mention, when they were given to people later in the course of infection, essentially did not work at all. So, one of the things thats very, very clear, if you administer those drugs and the logistic difficulty in getting people to Infusion Centers to do that makes it difficult to readily use it, but in and of themselves, they are quite effective, if given early enough. The other point that you obviously had no way of making or knowing is that, when you get a variant, the monoclonal antibodies are very vulnerable to the variants because theyre very specific for a particular part of the virus. And when the virus mutates, if it mutates at that point that that Monoclonal Antibody binds to, then thats it, that Monoclonal Antibody is no good. Weve learned that from the south african experience, where the virus that is now prevalent in south africa, the 3. 5. 1 variant, that one knocks out many of the monoclonal antibodies that people are using, so there is not that real confidence that we now have the showstopper with monoclonal antibodies. They have a place, but the real therapeutic end game would be getting an orally available drug that you could readily administer, that you can get in a pharmacy, and a person can get it just like that when they get infected. Is there an interim step . I was interested to see that with the glaxo treatment, they talked today in their results about their Clinical Trial that theyre trying to basically reconfigure that drug so that it wouldnt be administered at an infusion center, infused in the way i think people may be familiar with, the way you get chemo, for example, in a lot of cases for onclojical treatment, but theyre trying to figure that drug as a simple injection. Now, that wouldnt get you as far as it being a pill you could take, but it would get you closer to being a more easily administered treatment. Youre absolutely correct. So, let me be clear, despite the caveats that i just gave about the monoclonal antibodies, they are potentially highly effective therapeutics. What many of the companies are working on and many of the researchers involved, is to do just what you say, to modify it in a way thats much more easily administrated, namely, being able to give it in a subcutaneous injection or getting it down to a way where you can give it intramuscularly or subcutaneously, where you dont have to have an infusion center. You could just go in, get an injection, and thats it. Thats the way the direction is going right now to facilitate the logistics of getting it into people. Do you think, dr. Fauci, that we are, ultimately, going to have coronaviruses and covid19 essentially endemic, and were going to be getting shots that are like flu shots, that are updated all the time to account for new variants, that its something that were never going to eradicate but were going to be increasingly treating and trying to avoid through evolving vaccines . That is entirely conceivable. So, when you have Infectious Diseases, the three ways you go at them you can control them, you can eliminate them, or you can eradicate them. Youre absolutely correct, it is unlikely that we will eradicate this, at least not in the near future, because if its widespread, global spread that we have, thats not going to happen. You can possibly eliminate it if, in fact, you vaccinate enough people and you get the overwhelming majority of the population vaccinated and you do get this veil of, or umbrella, of herd immunity. One of the stumbling blocks to that is that this is a global pandemic. So, unless you essentially equally suppress it throughout the world, or if you have places in the world where it still is pretty much doing its thing without any control, you will always have the danger, even if you do a good job in the United States or canada or the european union, that if you have parts of the world where theres a lot of viral activity, the idea of a variant emerging, getting to your country, and then regiving you another spike is a real danger. So, in answer to your specific question, it is conceivable that until we get a broader way of protection throughout the world, that we may have cycles where we have to keep boosting people, either boosting them with the original vaccine, which gives you enough antibody to spill over to the variants, or develop a vaccine thats specific for one or more of the variants. The only trouble with the latter is that, otherwise, you may find yourself playing whacamole with the variants, because we have a lot of different variants. One was the uk. Another one was the south african variant. We now have a couple of homegrown variants, one in california and one in new york. So, what you really need to do is to get a vaccine thats potent enough and broad enough that it will overlap all of the other variants. You can give that a name, more of a universal sarscov2 vaccine. Thats what were aiming at so that we dont have to be repetitive every year coming back to chase after these variants. This week, President Biden was asked what the United States will do with surplus vaccine, if the u. S. Government ends up buying more vaccine than we need to vaccinate our own population, and he said, we will share it with the world. Do you anticipate that, in fairly short order, that the u. S. Can be in a position to help vaccinate the world . Again, not as charity, but because its the thing that needs to be done in order to defeat this thing worldwide, because we are a nation that is more capable than most to be able to effectuate Something Like that around the world. Do you anticipate us being in a Global Leadership role in that front . The answer is yes, and theres more to it than just that. Were part of this group called covax. Weve already given 2 billion and were going to give another 2 billion for a total of 4 billion. The president also said, and its true, that we will have a surplus. And when we do, were willing to give it to some of the countries that can fend for themselves. But theres also another thing we can do. We can partner with many of the other countries to give the resources to these other countries that dont generally have the capability of making vaccines for themselves, to allow them to ultimately be selfsufficient. In other words, instead of giving doses to them, giving them the capability of making doses themselves. So, all of those different things, i think, are going in the right direction, because it is quite true, this is a global pandemic, and it requires a global response. And if the entire world is not controlling it, then nobody is going to really absolutely control it. Dr. Fauci, im so grateful to have this time with you tonight. If you dont mind taking a quick break for us, ive got a couple more questions for you on the other side of the break. Sure. No problem. All right. Dr. Anthony fauci is our guest. Stay with us. Well be right back. Stay with us well be right back. Introducing the new sleep number 360 smart bed. Its the most comfortable, duallyadjustable, footwarming, temperaturebalancing, proven quality night sleep weve ever made the new sleep number 360 smart bed, from 999. Plus, 0 interest for 48 months on all smart beds. 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Movement dysfunction, sleepiness, and stomach issues are common side effects. When bipolar i overwhelms, vraylar helps smooth the ups and downs. Bike week getting under way in Daytona Beach this weekend and main street is already lined with motorcycles, and Business Owners say theyre ready. The 80th anniversary of the event came a year after it was cut short as the pandemic was exploding. As worries remain this year, a mask mandate is in place. However, when it comes to enforcement, thats in the hands of businesses. We will not forcibly let the people, if they want to do it, its up to them. I think its going to be big. I think its going to look like the pandemic never surfaced. It is bike week in Daytona Beach, florida, this week. 300,000 people expected to congregate in the streets for a motorcycle rally that happens there once a year. The Daytona Police say its up to Business Owners to enforce the mask mandate during bike week. Many Business Owners are saying, meh, they wont. But remember, last year, a motorcycle rally in sturgis, south dakota, drew just under 500,000 people. Health officials later said that event caused the spread of covid19 cases to more than 20 states. Back with us now is dr. Anthony fauci, President Bidens chief medical adviser on covid issues, director of the National Institute of allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci, thank you, again. I have to ask if you are worried about this motorcycle week in daytona, if it may end up having the kind of consequences that sturgis had last year . I think theres a big possibility that thats exactly what would happen. I just took a look at that clip, rachel, and it really gave me chills just looking at it. I mean, i understand people want to get out and enjoy themselves and get back to what would have been normal a couple of years ago, but weve really just got to hang on a bit longer. Were really going in the right direction, as we heard from the president just a little while ago. Its really illadvised to do Something Like that, because you know as a matter of fact that people are not uniformly going to keep their masks on. When they finish with the rally, theyre going to go to bars, theyre going to have fun, which is understandable. You could understand theyre wanting to do that, but theyre likely going to be pulling back from some of the prudent Public Health measures. I just hope we dont have another surge in that area from that. It is really illadvised. Weve seen a number of governors in recent days rescind mask mandates. Do you ever speak with any of those governors . Do they either consult with you, or do you ever try to call them to talk about those decisions . You know, i havent spoken to governors as a group for a while. I get calls almost every day from one governor or another, asking usually for some advice about what to do or plans that they have, saying, do you think this is a reasonable idea . They need some feedback. I have not heard from the governors of the states that you mentioned, namely from texas or mississippi, about the idea of pulling back on the mask mandate. I have not heard from them. One of the other things i have been thinking about, as President Biden lays out this prospect of a very much advanced vaccination effort nationwide lots of federal resources, lots more vaccine supply, lots more Ambitious Goals in terms of who qualifies and how quickly. Were seeing such Different Levels of performance from different states in terms of getting vaccines into arms. Were seeing states like alaska, for example, do great in vaccinating a large proportion of their population. State like connecticut is also doing well. I live in massachusetts, where theyre doing a pretty lousy job. I wonder if part of the National Effort here is to get less poorly performing states up to speed, to help them with best practices, to help them reconfigure their websites or reconfigure some of the ways that theyre administering things to get them to follow best practices from other places so we dont have laggard states like massachusetts and some others. Rachel, i think you just nailed it. Thats exactly the issue that needs to be addressed, and thats the reason why what the president said very clearly before the speech and at the speech tonight, is that we at the federal level are going to really partner with the states in a collaborative, cooperative, and hopefully, synergistic way, where were opening up Community Vaccine centers, up to 500 of them, including in areas that have minority populations that generally dont have easy access to the types of things, including vaccines. Were going to put vaccines in pharmacies, including those located in areas, again, that are underserved. Were going to use mobile units that are going to get out into poorly served areas. Were going to increase dramatically the number of people who will be able to give the vaccination, regular army, military people. Were going to get volunteers from retired physicians, nurses, and other Health Care Providers in order to get this machine running really smoothly. Thats what the president was talking about tonight. Thats what he speaks to us in private about. And thats when you see a much more uniform approach of efficiency of getting vaccines into peoples arms. Thats exactly what he was referring to tonight. Dr. Fauci, i think its a comfort to a lot of americans just to know that you are the president s top adviser on these matters and that you are meeting with him regularly and that you are in communication with him. The president tonight told the country that one of the things he wants us all to do is listen to you when you talk to us about this disease and about the truth of this epidemic. I feel like i have to ask you sort of the converse. Is he always listening to you . Is there anything that you want the Biden Administration to be doing or that you have advised them to do that theyre not doing . Not at all, rachel. I mean, we speak with the medical group every single day, multiple times a day. We meet with jeff zients, who is the person who is really the one leading the medical group. We meet with the president at least once a week. We get involved in other types of zooms with people on the team. Were in constant contact. The president says all the time, either directly to us or translating it through people like ron klain and jeff zients, that he wants the science to rule what we do. Tell me what is scientifically sound. Tell me what is sound from a Public Health standpoint and well do it. And there isnt anything that i can think of where we said, this should or should not be done, and it wasnt followed, absolutely, without any exceptions. Let me ask you just one specific point. There had been an expectation that the guidance for vaccinated people would come out late last week. It ended upcoming out a few days later than that. There had been some reporting that suggested that there were discussions within the administration about travel guidance and other specific parts of that. Were there any shenanigans there . Was the cdc interfered with at all no. In its ability to recommend what it thought was right . Absolutely not. Unqualified no. There was no interference at all. They were just finetuning a document. The cdc is very careful, rachel. They want to get it right. Theyre an evidencebased organization, and they want to make sure they have the evidence or they dont have the evidence, can they model it . If they cant model it, can they least put commonsense judgment . What we saw with the first installation of recommendations is the first in a series that are going to be coming out one after the other. They will address travel. They will address workplace. They will address houses of worship. Youre going to see that coming out pretty quickly so that people will have recommendations, what they can do now that we got a lot of people vaccinated. So youre going to see that very soon. Dr. Anthony fauci, President Bidens chief medical adviser, director of the National Institute of allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci, i am honored to have you here and to have this time. Ill ask you, as i did last time, if you are if the answer to those last two questions that i ask you changes if there are shenanigans, if there is inappropriate political pressure, i hope that you will squawk. You have an open invitation to be here any time to tell us if theres anything going on that we ought to know about. Were so grateful for your work, sir. Thank you, rachel. I havent changed at all over the last year, so i will tell it like it is all the time, i promise you. We trust you for it. Thank you. Thank you for having me. All right, weve got much more to get to tonight. Stay with us. T much more to get to tonight stay with us procedures can really put a hurting on your wallet. But paying for the dentist doesnt have to be painful. Thats where healthmarkets can help. Answer just a few questions and their fitscore can instantly match you with the plan that fits your insurance needs and your budget, so you know youve got the right plan at the guaranteed best price. Healthmarkets has plans for as little as under a dollar a day. You can save money every time you go to the dentist with Coverage Options that include exams, cleanings, and xrays at 100 . Plus healthmarkets has plans to cover fillings, crowns, dentures, and even root canals. Now thats something to smile about. 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They guarantee the lowest price on the plans they offer and their service absolutely free. So call or click now and make this the last time you shop for dental insurance with the fitscore forever promise, and let healthmarkets put a smile back on your face. Your insurance marketplace healthmarkets. You could save now on dental plans with healthmarkets. Call the number on your screen or visit healthmarkets. Com a dramatic turn today in the rising scandals around new York Democratic governor andrew cuomo. In recent weeks, a number of allegations have surfaced in which Governor Cuomos accused of making sexually inappropriate remarks or of Sexual Harassment of women he came in contact with as governor, including women who worked under him in albany. Tonight, the speaker of the new York State Assembly announced that the Judiciary Committee is going to launch an impeachment investigation into Governor Cuomo. That impeachment investigation will reportedly look into recent allegations against the governor as well as the governors nursing home scandal, where the Governors Office is alleged to have covered up the number of covid19 deaths in new york nursing homes, fudging the numbers, basically, to avoid political fallout and criticism. Now, impeachment at the state level works basically the same way that it does at the federal level. If the assembly were ultimately to vote to impeach Governor Cuomo, the next step is he would then be tried in the state senate. Well, as of tonight, roughly twothirds of the senators in the new York State Senate have already called on Governor Cuomo to step down, including the Senate Democratic leader, andrea stewartcousins. The allegations against cuomo range from allegations of inappropriate touching and inquiries about the sex lives of his subordinates to allegations of unwanted kissing and a request to play strip poker during a trip on a government plane. And the latest allegation first reported by the albany times union, the governors accused of reaching under a staffers shirt and groping her while she was at the Governors Mansion on official business. Governor cuomo has denied ever inappropriately touching or propositioning anyone who worked for him. He denies asking anyone to play strip poker, denies reaching under a womans blouse. At the same time, he has responded to some of the claims of inappropriate conversations and statements by saying his actions, quote, have been misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation. Hes admitted that he, quote, may have been insensitive or too personal in his interactions. Well, tonight, just before we got on the air, the wall street journal published a story reporting that after some of the initial allegations first surfaced, Governor Cuomos office started calling former staffers, seeking information about one of the accusers. And in at least one case, encouraging those former staffers that they should call reporters and discredit the woman who was making the accusations. We reached out to the Governors Office regarding this new wall street journal reporting. They told us the allegation of intimidation is false. Earlier this month, new York State Attorney general tish james, letitia james, announced that her office would be opening an independent investigation into allegations of Sexual Harassment and inappropriate sexual remarks by the governor. Tish james involvement in this case has been seen, particularly by many new york democrats, as an important step in the investigative process, especially when she made clear she would not accept pressure from anyone in terms of deciding how to run the investigation. It would happen on her terms. Until recently, until today, it seemed like Andrew Cuomos fate as governor of new york state would hinge almost entirely on the results of attorney general james investigation. But with this latest allegation from the albany paper, it appears that that tish james investigation may not be enough, or at least it wont be the only factor here. Today, that allegation from the sixth cuomo accuser, the one who claims he reached under her shirt at the Governors Mansion, that allegation was referred not just to tish james office, but to Albany Police as well. Governor cuomos attorney saying the governors accuser did not want to report that latest allegation to the police, so the Governors Office did it themselves. Police told the New York Times that they havent received a formal complaint from the alleged victim, they havent opened a criminal investigation, but they have offered services to the accuser. That means the governor could soon be facing investigations from the attorney general as well as from local law enforcement, and now, as of today, an impeachment investigation in the state assembly, as Many Democrats in the new York Assembly and the new york senate say theyve already heard enough to call for the governors resignation. So, like i said, this story is developing by the second. Some of these latest developments quite dramatic. Watch this space. Developments quite dramatic. Watch this space congratulations, america. Today we got ourselves a new attorney general. Former federal Appeals Court judge, former Supreme Court nominee in the obama administration, Merrick Garland greeted with applause by Justice Department staffers as he showed up to work on his first full day as the countrys 86th attorney general. He gave a speech to the 115,000 personnel of the Justice Department in which he pledged a return to normalcy and independence in the pursuit of justice. The only way we can succeed and retain the trust of the American People is to adhere to the norms. Those norms require that like cases be treated alike, that there not be one rule for democrats and another for republicans, one rule for friends and another for foes. Less than an hour after this speech, Merrick Garland received a closeddoor briefing from fbi director chris wray and other Security Officials on the ongoing investigations into the january 6th capitol attack. Garland said that would be his First Priority as ag. The fbi and Justice Department are looking to build a large conspiracy case against the oath keepers. The oath keepers have already seen 12 members arrested in relation to the attack. In addition to inheriting the whole docket of hundreds of criminal cases stemming from the capitol attack, attorney general garland will also have to start the hard process of restoring morale and restoring regular order at an agency that went through the proverbial wars under its past leadership under President Trump. And here we are still learning new details about the damage inflicted by the Previous Administration in its waning days. Npr and other news outlets reporting tonight that two whistleblowers accuse former highranking Justice Department official and trump ally Jeffrey Bossert clark of improperly trying to hire unqualified people loyal to former President Trump to senior Justice Department positions. You may remember Jeffrey Bossert clark as the guy who, in january, hatched a plot with President Trump in which they planned to oust the acting attorney general who refused to investigate election interference on behalf of the president to the president s liking. Mr. Clark and the president decided that clark would take over the attorney general job, himself, when he promised that he would tell the state of georgia that they must void their Election Results and no longer consider joe biden to be the winner in that state. That caper, that effort to install clark at the top of the Justice Department led, very nearly, to a mass resignation at the top of the Justice Department. Its reported in the New York Times today that that is now being investigated by the Justice Departments inspector general. Tonight, Merrick Garland ceremonial sworn into his new position by the vice president. He swore to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This is a job, in particular, where its clear that he has that work cut out for him. More ahead tonight. Stay with us. T out for him. More ahead tonight stay with us the best new thing in the world today. Weve got one. Its 7 pounds and 11 onces and really seriously too cute to handle. His name is liam matthew donovan. He is the son of our beloved senior producer, jen, and her husband, matt. He was just born yesterday, literally, and he was a little behind schedule, which means he already knows how the maddow team rolls. Welcome to the world, liam matthew. If you are following along at home, now, you may have noticed that our staff has had quite a lot of babies in the past year. To be exact, six new babies since last march, just in the staff of this show. And i would like to point out, that would be enough to form a little baby Basketball Team with enough players to have a substitute for when any of the baby players got tired, which would, of course, be very, very cute. No pressure, of course, but im just saying, this is an option that we have now, because you guys are so good. All right, that does it for us tonight. Well see you again tomorrow. Way too early with kasie hunt is up next. My fellow americans, youre owed nothing less than the truth. And for all of you asking when things will get back to normal, here is the truth. The only way to get our lives back, to get our economy back on track is to beat the virus. President biden addresses the American People one year into the pandemic. Just hours after he signed that sweeping 1. 9 trillion aid package into law. The question is, when will the relief start rolling out . And with the covid bill