their part. there s a good chance you, your families and friendses, will be able to get together in your backyard or your neighborhood and have a cookout or barbecue and celebrate independence day when we mark our independence as a nation and our independence from this virus. joining me now, nbc news chief white house correspondent and weekend today co-anchor, kelly o donnell, yamiche alcindor, former deputy white house chief of staff to president obama, jim messina and former rnc chair, michael steele. welcome, all. kristen, let me start with you. if big primetime address last night after a major legislative win. now of course the challenge to make sure that americans understand why it is that they are receiving the help that they have. what s the plan going forward? reporter: that s right. now the president and vice president are going to be focused on selling this massive piece of legislation that just passed, $1.9 trillion covid relief and of course one of the cente
found vaccine freedom. hello, i am katty kay in washington, christian fraser is in london. it s a year to the day the world health organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. since then, 29 million cases have been reported here in the us, and 529,000 people have died. tonight, joe biden will address the nation, to remember those who lost their lives, and try to give all those who ve survived this year a sense of hope. yesterday, the president announced the us government has bought another 100 million more doses of thejohnson &johnson vaccine. and in the last hour he signed that enormous $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. thank you, all. appreciate it. let s bring in our north america editor, jon sopel. it is 51 days into the biden administration, he sides into law this huge stimulus package, it has to be seen as an early win for him. yes, i think so and this is very much yes, i think so and this is very much a yes, i think so and this is very much a hallmark of what the b
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 kcons consequential legislation many of us will ever be a party to. what knows what the future will bring but nonetheless on this day we celebrate. now, whether it s a success may depend on what happens next. though, a massive messaging blitz and sales pitch is underway. tomorrow president biden holds the first prime time address and next tuesday stops in the home state of pennsylvania which he narrowly won last year and republicans today rolling out their counter arguments, as well. we re doing damage to the future of this country spending dramatically more money than we obviously need. we re about to have a boom, and if we do have a boom, it will have nothing to do with this $1.9 trillion. not a single republican lawmaker voted fo
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
benefits, increased child tax credits, additional money for vaccines, reopening schools, farms, health care. and the list goes on. now, this measure is already reaping benefits. american airlines is crediting the bill with saving 27,000 jobs. mississippi senator roger wickerbrags, independent restaurant operates have won $28.6 billion of targeted relief. this fund willing ensure that small businesses can survive the pandemic. now, you would be correct in noting senator wicker is a republican. you would also be correct in noting that he was a republican that voted against the bill. you all did. you would be correct in noting that senator wicker is taking a sort of credit for help that he voted against providing. and you would be correct in including, that s pretty messed up. so the president s first prime-time address comes as the pandemic crosses the one-year mark. more than 10% of americans are now fully vaccinated and nearly 20% of americans have received their first shot