Of the United States. Its kind of our way, or the highway. Mississippi senator roger wicker on all of that very shortly, In The Meantime, to Mark Meredith on how this is all going down, fueled by not only the president stating that this is the only way to do it, republicans, at a jobs report which might have helped his argument. Mark . Reporter neil, good morning to you right that jobs report is having an impact on the discussions. President biden counting on house and Senate Democrats to pass his 1. 9 trillion Stimulus Package. Republicans want the president to reign in spending but the president made it clear yesterday that hes willing to do this on a Party Line Vote if necessary to fund a few priorit ies like the 1,400 round of stimulus checks that he wants to see go out, more money for Food Assistance programs, as well as extending those enhanced federal Unemployment Benefits. The president making it directly in a speech on friday. Others think that things are Getting Better and we can afford to sit back, either do little or do nothing at all. Thats not what i see. I see enormous pain in this country. Reporter this week, a group of Senate Republicans told the president that theyre willing to work with them on a Stimulus Package, but now, a few days later some of those same senators say theyre being left out of these ongoing negotiations. I wish my thoughts mattered weve only made an overture with the white house negotiating with them and theyve not been interest interested. Reporter now, democrats have already started the process now of trying to write this package and theres going to be a debate that takes a few weeks on this and then they have to vote on this. The House Speaker said at the white house yesterday that she believes this package can Pass Congress by march, when some of those enhanced Unemployment Benefits are set to expire, so democrats very competent here that they can get this over the finish line, as for the president , hes spending his first weekend in his presidency away from washington here in his home state of delaware. We do expect the president to keep a pretty low profile, no Public Events but he says hes looking forward to watching the super bowl tomorrow with his family. Neil . Neil all right, thank you very much, my friend, Mark Meredith with the president of the United States in delaware. Lets go to senator roger wicker , the republican of mississippi, what he makes of this , go big or go home approach, the Biden Administration seems to be taking. Senator, good to have you, but what do you make of that . The president seems to be saying he wants to work with you and your colleagues, but this thing has got to be big, and theres no dithering around with it what did you make of that . Neil here is the reality about take it or leave it negotiations. With the cares Act Back In March , with at least two other occasions and then with a big 900 billion package later in the year, that was always done a signature by President Trump and worked out with massive support for republicans and democrats. Only now with this first proposal under the Biden Administration are we seeing part of the differences. This group of 10 that met with the president were exactly the type of people to get another almost unanimous or hugelybipartisan agreement and it really seemed like the president s team, the white house staff dug in and were adimate in saying no, its our way or the highway. Neil well what prompted that as you know, senator, they said around 618 billion a third o of what they were looking at, you guys were miles apart. Is there a chance that republicans could make a Counter Offer here to Say Something closer to at least a trillion, put off the 15 minimum wage thing which the white house already seems to be hinting is open to. What do you do . I think were less and less likely to get a deal now. We had the voteorama that lasted all night on thursday night, and really, it smoked the democrats out on what theyre looking for. What they really want to do is chip away at the trump tax cuts that have been so successful. They want to neil but the trump tax cut, senator, would not be part of the Stimulus Plan, right . Im sorry to jump on you there, but as far as i know, are they part of it . They hope in the bill that includes the Stimulus Plan, they have a reconciliation bill, yes, that would impose a whole different tax just like we did with reconciliation in 2017. Its been One Of The Best things that the congress has done lately, for job creation, and by the way, the independent cbo analysis says by the end of the year, Purchasing Power is going to be way up among americans, and at the same time, democrats are proposing to give give 2,000 cs to families that makeover 300,000 a year, to families that have not lost a paycheck and so our argument is lets target the relief. Well vote for another covid Relief Package but lets make it targeted and lets be mindful of what president obamas Treasury Secretary did. Larry sommers says check this size when the economy is already recovering, can be inflationary, so we have the bipartisan argument on our side that goes slow, and also just to reopen this government. Neil all right, senator, thank you very very much well see what happens senator roger wicker, of mississippi looking at where they can find some common ground, it looks like thats going to be pretty rough and again increasingly now, like this is going to be a oneway effort on the part of democrats to get pretty much everything they want, we dont know for sure, but we are watching it In The Meantime, a chance to catch up with dr. Fauci, of course the chief medical advisor for President Biden and were looking at the virus that is really the underlying reason why we are looking at another Stimulus Measure of this size. Included in that is a lot of Vaccine Distribution money and the like, but the one thing that i found interesting in talking to dr. Fauci is this notion that teachers are reluctant to return to school if they havent had vaccines. Fauci is essentially poopooing that notion echoing something we heard from the cdc director herself. Take a look. You cant have children going backtoschool as weve had in the past without necessarily having everyone vaccinated all the teachers oral the students vaccinated. Neil all right then there are fighting words and supportive words to my next guest, San Francisco city attorney, a democrat right now, whose essentially suing the School System there and saying look, its safe to open, lets open, lets get the kids back. Its not that much of a risk, not nearly the risk its been painted to be. Mr. Herrera, thank you for joining us. Whats the reaction youve gotten to this . Well, good morning, neil. Neil good morning. I think the first was the first case were aware of where a city essentially sued its School District to open but at least so far i think the overwhelming majority of feedback that ive heard has been positive. Its clear the status quo is not working for the 54,000 kids in the San Francisco unified School District and its time to get these kids back in school as 113 private and perochial schools in San Francisco are open and we need to get these kids educated because its for their mental well being and the overwhelming majority of people think this is a step in the right direction. Neil they have to respond to that. Have they responded yet . Yeah, i think that what youve seen is the School District and the school board, which here in california, are separately entities from the cities themselves. Theyve talked about they dont really think that this lawsuit was productive. They say that theyve had a plan , and unfortunately, the facts belie that under the california Education Code they are required to come up with a specific and detailed plan about how to open schools for inperson instruction as quickly as possible, and its a legal requirement that unfortunately, the School District has not met, and thats what we have gone in the court to do is well be seeking a preliminary injunction this week to get them to file a detailed plan, specific as to how they are going to get these kids back in school as quickly as possible , so we havent gotten the legal response of our filing, but publicly, at least, the School District has said that they do have a plan, which unfortunately, that really hasnt been the case in the last 10 months. Neil you know, dennis, when i talk to a lot of teachers all over the country we had a good man it on this show and all my shows over the course of the last few weeks, they said to a man or a woman, it be a hell of a lot easier on them to have inperson classes that its tough to do everything virtually and deal with the hardships of some kids who dont have internet verse or Compute Earls or laptops to participate and it be easier to be inperson, so i havent taken a poll on this , and say whether that is really representative of most teachers, but what stops it . Because its not olny in your fine city but places like chicago and elsewhere, where, you know, normally, Democrat Friendly constituencies are arguing with their democratic leaders, and not doing that, so what is it the union . Is it just a few teachers, what . I think, unfortunately, one thing is that we all know this started off this virus created a great deal of uncertainty and fear, understandably so, amongst our Frontline Workers and the like, families, but the scientific consensus, as you alluded to at the beginning of this segment with dr. Fauci and others, the cdc, our State Department and Public Health and our city, which has been very very conservative when it comes to reopening, t actually great success, has said that with proper mitigation measures, its safe to go back into schools and to open and i think theres been a certain amount of education that needs to go on and has gone on and i understand that, but what is clear is that the status quo is not working and i know that there are a lot of teachers the teachers themselves have been absolute heros in what theyve done for our families and many Teachers Want to get back in the classroom but obviously, institutionally, i think things move a little bit more slowly and im hopeful that this lawsuit is going to spur some real action and encourage people to just get back to the table, come up with a plan, and get these kids back in school. Because thats what needs to happen. Neil well you got the nations attention Dennis Herrera, San Francisco city attorney, please keep us posted on how the fight is going, thank you on saturday morning to tell us all about it, Dennis Herrera on all of that. You might have heard theres some kind of Football Game tomorrow, besides just the teams involved, how theyre trying to keep it a safe and healthy one not only for those who are going to be in tampa, but for you, across the nation, maybe planning parties, and to hear the Health Authorities warn you. No superspreader events. soft music announcer this is chet. He loves monday through friday but lives for the weekend. Hes put some miles on his truck and now, its time for something new. So he came to truecar and saw what other people paid for the same truck he wants. Now, he can recognize a great price. Truecar was so easy, chet was in and out and got right on back to the life he loves. Before you buy a car or truck, see what others paid for it with truecar. Neil all right, the theme at Raymond James stadium tomorrows super bowl will be played, but theres a great deal of concern not only just limiting how many are going to be in that stadium i think its just a little under 20,000, so a third of its normal capacity, but what theyre going to be doing in and around the town and of course, the message that the medical community is sending for those Planning Super Bowl parties and the like that if they had their preference you should do outside, as if, and if youll do anything inside keep it limited, keep it small, dr. Alan joins us now, nfl chief medical officer, doctor, thank you for taking the time. People tend to gravitate to larger crowds though. It starts out innocently enough, and those crowds get big. What do you tell them, doctor . Well, i tell them the same thing weve been telling our players, coaches and staff for the whole season and that is the best advice if you want to boil it down to one nugget is we should all act as if someone is covidinfected around us at all times because if you do that, then youll take care of all of the appropriate measures. Youll wear a mask, youll wash your hands, youll stay distant from people if eating without a mask youll move away to be by yourself, youll make sure symptoms are reported, and so that advice has carried us through our nfl season and its the same advice we would share with our fans who maybe gathering with those they havent been sheltering with throughout the pandemic. Neil what are some common tips, doctor . I know youre asked this question all the time but ive even heard they are telling folks avoid super bowl but buffe ts, dont have them picking around the food themselves and risk a spreading event what do you think . Well, i think we have less concern now than we did early on in the pandemic about the spread by phomites, or particle transmission on surfaces. The biggest Transmission Events weve seen have been person to person contact through respiratory droplets so thats why masking is so key and its vulnerable when eating. If youre eating most people dont wear a mask when eating so if youre unmasked and eating and talking thats when you have transmission if people are in a close proximity to each other so thats why the eating of kind of grab and go style meals is really the most important element moreso than the food presentation. Neil you know what ive also seen, a little tangentia. Had, doctor, but i live in new jersey, and they are expanding Indoor Dining in the state, but with a proviso that the better part be to wear a mask when even going out to restaurants obviously not when youre in the process of eating but what do you think of that, the double , triple kind of Safety Measures on top of the tsa now cracking down on those not wearing masks, for example, and serving fines of up to 1,500. Well, the one thing i can share with you, neil, is that we found mask wearing to be one of the most effective strategies in the nfl environment. If we want back and looked at where we saw transmission and what really worked a lot of people focused on the fact we tested our players every day, they focus on our Contact Tracing devices. Those werent the things that ultimately made us safe. What really made us safe is when we double down and had masks on at all times including on the practice field or in the weight room, and so we believe that masks are a really effective intervention strategy, and thats not just our belief, thats whats supported by the data, in how we were able to get through our full nfl season. Neil all right, doctor, thank you, i hope everyone heeds pretty common sense advice there , i want everyone to have a good time but not to ruin it for everyone else. Doctor, thank you enjoy the game dr. Alan sills on all of that. Meanwhile, back to this whole budget battle here and the dash for cash. The push to forgive student debt some are urging within joe biden s own party to go big on that, as well, up to 50,000 big , in Student Loan Debt forgiveness. The president is a lot lower than that. I think theres a bit of a rumble on the left, after this. These folks, they dont have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps. Com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the services of the Post Office Plus ups only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again. Neil all right, the great push now to forgive Student Loans. Here the thing though, the fight really is within the Democratic Party, where joe biden wants to limit that to 10,000 worth of total forgiveness, where