good evening. it is a historic day in the fight against covid and physical and financial struggles it created. on the day president biden s signature domestic policy passed and $2 trillion covid relief bill, the president announced plans for a deal with johnson & johnson to produce 100 million more doses of the one-shot vaccine and america should have enough vaccine for every adult by the end of may. this as cases are declining again. we ll have more on that in a moment. we want to start with that covid relief bill that passed. whether you applaud the $2 trillion bill is house democrats did immediately after the pass or loathe the price, it s a big deal. it sets the tone in washington for two years with direct payments going to about 90% of households and money for the unemployed and those who have children and can t pay rent or bills. this is the most consequential legislation many of us will ever be a party to. what knows what the future will bring but nonetheless on this
adding to the more than 532,000 deaths and more than 29 million cases so far. five hours from now, the president will give his first prime time address to the nation from the white house. we have special coverage spanning two continents throughout this entire hour, beginning with nbc news correspondents, kelly o donnell covering the white house, sarah harmon in munich, germany, and joelene kent in los angeles. i ll begin with you at the white house. the president signed the american rescue plan moments ago. one day earlier than what was scheduled. did the white house realize waiting two days did not reflect the urgency of the crisis that millions of americans need that had money? reporter: well, the white house decided to act as quickly as they received the bill from capitol hill. so that s a standard part of how it works. it takes a few days to turn even a just passed piece of legislation into a document for the president s signature. so they hurried it up. by doing so, it
democrats frame it as transformative. republicans say it s government run amuck. i call upon my republican colleagues to stop their march madness and show some compassion for their constituents who are less than wealthy. i ve heard people across the country say this bill today is costly, corrupt, and liberal. it s a laundry list of left-wing priorities that predate the pandemic and do not meet the needs of the american families. that deal will head to the president s desk just as country arrives at a familiar coronavirus crossroads. the biden administration just this morning just last hour announcing a new agreement to buy 100 million more doses of the johnson & johnson single-shot covid vaccine. more vaccine means the country should get back to normal more quickly. but here s the concern at the white house. states are already relaxing restrictions even as dr. anthony fauci says, quote, we re not out of the woods yet. listen here, a similar warning from the cdc director
a criticism that, you know, the obama administration maybe didn t do enough to settle and explain and talk about their stimulus efforts and want to make sure that people around the country really know what s in the bill, know what s coming and the kind of impact it s having. there s a conversation that we ll watch how it plays outside of washington. do the additional benefits help people. they showed up at their briefing wearing masks and trying to make the case, the republican argument that the biden administration is not pushing aggressively enough there. you see follow the science, not the unions, the biden administration is pushing schools to open and a president can only do so much. local school districts make these decisions, mayors make them but the politics there and listen to the different perspectives from a top democrat and top republican on what this covid relief package is. the american rescue plan is transformative. it will comprehensively and compassiona
the most shockingly aggressive rescue bill of my lifetime is very likely to be signed into law. saturday after an all-night session, senate democrats passed the $1.9 trillion covid relief package in a strict party line vote. because senators made some changes to the bill, it now has to go back to the democratic controlled house which is expected to pass the identical senate version this week, possibly as early as tomorrow. so the bill would then go to the president, president biden for his signature. we re in the early part of march. not the 100-day marker yet. this is an incredible victory for both the country, the biden administrationings the democratic party which held together. they didn t get a vote in either house. they tried to break the party apart. that s bryns did by forcing tough votes on amendments and arguing against the bill in public. democrats won. and as a result, a lot of people s lives are going to get better. by passing this plan we would have delivered