Contact tracing is largely gone. I think and i believe that we should be treating every case as if its a variant during this pandemic right now. The good news according to dr. Anthony fauci is Johnson Johnsons new singledose vaccine could help get more people vaccinated and prevent severe disease and hospitalizations as the virus continues to mutate and replicate. We have now a valueadded additional vaccine candidate. This is a singleshot vaccine in which you start to see efficacy anywhere from 7 to 10 days. It is inexpensive and the company is capable of making doses in the numbers of billions. Joining me now nbc news chief White House Correspondent and Weekend Today cohost Kristen Welker. Dr. Celine gounder, a member of bidens Advisory Board during the transition. And patrice harris, former president of the american medical association. Kristen, how difficult is it proving for the biden team with such a short transition, if any, to get their arms around the shortage of doses and the
Time in a bipartisan way. And so i want to yield to the distinguished chair because the bill that the Senate Passed is identical to our instructions to the budget as we said to them. Get behind the microphone. Yeah. The speaker is right. We got the same amount in instructions back from the senate that we passed, so we can pass it with a simple vote today and intend to. Then the committees will draft the legislation that actually creates the assignment of those dollars, and well bring that back to the floor in just a couple of weeks. And, you know, we only lost two democrats in the vote. They just voted for 1. 9 trillion. So we dont anticipate a problem. Madam speaker, do you have any concerns that a package this large approaching 2 trillion might sacrifice progressive policies Going Forward . Absolutely not. One of the things that we always discuss is, as we try to address the emergency that we have now, to crush the virus, to save the lives and livelihood of the American People, were
I dug into and im excited to tell my daughter about it. For those who have not been following as closely, through the Artemis Program, the United States government will work with industry and International Partners to send astronauts to the surface of the moon, another man and another woman to the moon, which is exciting, conduct new and exciting science, and demonstrate americas values. To date only 12 humans have walked on the moon. That was half a century ago. The Artemis Program provides exactly the opportunity to add numbers to that, of course. Lunar exploration has broad and bicameral support in congress, most recently detailed in the fy201 Omnibus Spending Bill and we support this effort. Can you update us on the president s thinking on the issue of forgiving Student Loan Debt . There are some groups that are pushing anew for the president to forgive all Student Loan Debt. Where does he stand on that . Sure. The president has and continues to support canceling 10,000 of federal
Youre watching the fimt farewell for officer brian sicknick, the hearse poised to leave the capitol for the last time. The capitol he had served and defended and died in defending the capitol in the assault on january 6th. That is the east front of the capitol. The leaders have escorted him down to the plaza. The remains were brought down with military precision. There was the mournful playing of the bagpipes of Amazing Grace and those final steps by the pall bearers carrying a flag, as well, that had been flown by nancy pelosi over the capitol on january 7th, the day after the assault, when congress was again showing resilience and showing that they were returning to order. The Motorcycle Escort now for the final trip to arlington for his burial. As we see the cortege moving outside of the capitol, it will go across the bridge to arlington cemetery, across memorial bridge, this after a rare tribute. Only five times in American History have we seen this tribute for a civilian lying in
House correspondent, Weekend Today cohost Peter Alexander, Garrett Haake on capitol hill, brendan buck, former Senior Adviser to house speakers paul ryan and john boehner, and former Maryland Democratic congresswoman Debra Everets and former senator claire mccaskill. Peter first to you. Lets start with the covid Relief Package. The white house releasing a statement after that monday meaning with republicans saying the president is open to reconciliation, but the republicans are in the conversation. So where do we stand . Are democrats on the Progressive Side getting nervous hell compromise too much, or are all saying hell go big even if it means going it alone . Reporter when everybody was said and done last night, it was clear President Biden, this white house wasnt really giving much ground here. They say that the meeting was substantive and productive but at the end of the day he said they had to meet this moment. The decision is whether to go big and go it alone or scale back this