the president will announce the u.s. is buying another 100 million doses and bring you his remarks live when they start. moments ago, the senate confirmed merrick garland to be u.s. attorney general by 70-30 with republican leader mitch mcconnell voting yes after he spent close to a year blocking garland's 2016 nomination to the supreme court. earlier today the senate confirmed marcia fudge who last vote as a member of congress would be passing the relief which cull if i mated in this moment on the house floor. >> yay are 220. the nays are 211. the motion is adopted. >> joining us now to start the coverage as we await the president, punch bowl news founder anna palmer and mike memoli covering the white house. the covid relief bill heading to the president's desk to be signed this friday. wasn't too long ago i recall and correct me if i'm wrong the chief of staff saying that they expected to be signing this early march. here we are. the president expected to sign it and we're only on day 50. are they happy about where things are as of today? >> reporter: yeah. if anything they're ahead of schedule. the newly sworn in president biden marching down pennsylvania avenue seven weeks ago to walk inside the white house and white house officials set mid-march as the timetable for this priority. and so this is a certainly real victory the first legislative and you mentioned the president's tweet saying help is here. what he's saying since being declared the winner that help is on the way and a longer statement the president calling this a victory for the essential workers who he called the backbone of this country and calling notary public the most important speaker in the history of this country and very soon hearing from the president in public for the first time with an event with the ceos of johnson & johnson and merck as a beginning of what to expect a sales campaign from the president even after the legislation is passed leading up to the prime time address tomorrow night and marching the progress this country made since the lockdowns a year ago and then a signing ceremony potentially on the south lawn friday. >> we'll get the remarks to you when they get under way. anna, the big ticket item ahead, infrastructure. you and jake sherman had a chat with the white house chief of staff. here's what he had to say to you guys. >> we've had republicans at the white house and the house and the senate tell us that they also share if not exactly the same way to do it an idea that we need to do something big on infrastructure and i'm cautiously optimistic to find a path forward on infrastructure that is substantial and bipartisan. >> the key words there cautiously optimistic. president biden trying to find a way forward with republicans on this relief package. he got nowhere getting that support. are republicans as optimistic on infrastructure as ron klain was last night? >> i think that there's a lot of hesitancy in there terms of trying to think about republicans and democrats come together. infrastructure is a lot of things to different people. you can be sure that democrats are going to want to spend a lot of money, maybe another trillion dollars, on infrastructure which will go to the realm of green jobs, electric grid. so while there is certainly different priorities that democrats and republicans probably agree upon, right? they have bridges and roads in the district crumbling. the infrastructure of this country didn't have a big infusion in a very long time. i think it will be a big, big lift to think to get many republicans to go along with a mass i package. >> to that point, what is your reaction to the votes on this covid relief bill as well as the confirmation of merrick garland? we are waiting the signing ceremony on capitol hill. that will be happening any moment now, covid relief bill. what is your reaction to how the votes played out? >> we all knew on covid relief based on how fast the president wanted to get it done they would not wait around for republicans. they learned the lessons of 2009. i think democrats said they tried to get republicans on board with the early days of the obama administration and didn't happen. i think as far as merrick garland, it is interesting to have mcconnell choosing to vote in favor of him as the attorney general, a respected jurist and republicans blocked him for that supreme court even hearing at that point but he had a lot of support in the chamber that republicans really did decide to support him for the attorney general position. >> we see the -- both the speaker of the house nancy pelosi and senate majority leader chuck schumer flanked by other members of the membership taking to the -- i guess right there on the hill and seeing obviously behind them. expected to be signing that bill any moment now. we are going to bring it to you live when it gets under way. anna, let's talk about the covid relief bill and supposed to be signed by the white house on friday. how soon do they expect to get the payments to ordinary americans? >> they have been working behind the scenes to try to make sure that this moves faster than previous iterations. some decisions were still being figured out for how soon the texts to -- >> i'm sorry. i want to hear the house speaker nancy pelosi. >> because we have passed the start consequential and transformative legislation. we are here today to sign the enrollment -- enroll the bill before it goes to the white house. though, the ceremonies are occasions to express appreciation. first i want to express recognition to the president of the united states. joe biden. [ applause ] president biden's vision and his determination were so apparent to the american people and the reason why this legislation enjoys this support of 75% of the american people and a strong bipartisan way across the country. we thank him for his leadership. and also, for his contribution to the substance of the legislation as well as his signature when that comes. it would not have happened without a very collaborative spirit among our members. on the house side i commend our chairs and members of the committees of jurisdiction for working together. the relentless work of our staffs to make it possible to go over to the senate. i know that the senate chirs and members of their committees had a commiserate effort going there so it was collaborative. we had the leadership of the chairs, house and senate and resources of the commit tee members with the help of the staff which would not had been possible without the staff working so hard. so on this occasion and i think i can safely say and i've said to this my colleagues in the house on the democratic side, this is the most consequential legislation that many of us will ever be a party to. who knows what the future may bring? but nonetheless on this day we celebrate because we are honoring a promise made by our president as we joined with him in promising that help is on the way. and with that, i'm pleased as aulsz to welcome back to the house, a former member, now the leader, the majority leader of the united states senate, senator chuck schumer with appreciation for the great work that he did in the senate to bring all of that beautiful exuberance together to send back to us so that we could have this success today. mr. leader, welcome back to the house. >> thank you. >> let me thank you for your beautiful exuberance, as well and thanks to senators standing here, our great committee chairs and all of our senators who pulled together as one unit beating back killer amendments, making sure the bill was as strong as possible. and i want to salute them. all of those who are here and some who couldn't be here. i want to salute the house, as well. we were a seamless web. and we worked together, democrats on the house side, democrats on the senate side. altogether because we knew how important this was to america. what do we say to america? we say to america, help is on the way. you will receive $1,400 by the end of the march. help is on the way. vaccines will be available far more quickly to far more people at a -- in a shorter time. help is on the way. the schools will open safely and more quickly than we thought. help is on the way. half of america's children who are in poverty will not be in poverty because of this bill. help is on the way. snchl applause ] we democrats made promises, particularly we did in the senate. we said if we won those two seats in georgia, we would get things done. mitch mcconnell blocked bills four times in a row and mr. ossoff and mr. warnock said they would make sure that the actual promises made would be promises kept and they have been. so this is a wonderful day for america. this is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation we have passed in decades. you know what we can show america? that we can get things done to make their lives better and we will continue to do that through the rest of this session. help is on the way. [ applause ] >> now the distinguished majority leader of the senate and i will sign the bill and begin the course to the white house. with that we thank the members who are here, house and senate. i want to acknowledge make ma williams who is here because in ways she made today possible. president of the freshman class. >> bernie sanders, our chairman, of the budget committee, did a great, great job in getting this done as did -- >> as did john yar mouth of kentucky with a little help of bourbon. i see neil and widen and between the two of them they put nearly a trillion dollars into the pockets of the american people. but we are here to soon the bill so thank you all very much for joining us. thank you to the chairs, the house and senate chairs and as you said so correctly all those who are not here, as well. thank you. shall we? >> all right. there you have it. with a little help as the speaker out house said with bourbon. the american rescue plan gets signed on capitol hill and makes the way to the president's desk for signature and taking place friday afternoon. that was the house speaker nancy pelosi. senate majority leader chuck schumer. mike memoli, anna palmer with us. mike, i have a question for you, as well. beautiful exuberance is the way it's described. the most consequential legislation passed in decades as both the speaker and the senate majority leader said there. your reaction to those descriptions, anna? >> clearly democrats taking a victory lap here. this is a most consequential legislation the speaker has been a part of since obamacare. legacy making piece of legislation and for chuck schumer, he called out bernie sanders, the budget committee chairman, who could have settled this for democrats once the $15 minimum wage was taken out but each leaders thanking the members that stuck in line and leaders on this bill. democrats very excited that they were able to deliver on such a short timeline. >> mike, two parts for you. they pay tribute to joe biden for the vision and determination. how hands on was he in this process? republicans early on didn't meet him halfway. he had to work with the party and the caucus and senators like joe manchin come to mind and why wait until friday to sign this? >> in terms of the president's involvement in this process he is very hands on. the former legislator himself, the white house essentially has cleared the schedule over the last four or five days especially when the senate vote was happening over the weekend. he spent time on the phone specifically with senator joe manchin to resolve the last-minute snags there and in terms of why friday for the signing ceremony, the white house press secretary said that the paper work process they expect to get the bill actually transferred over to the white house sometime tomorrow and don't have a specific timeline and the focus tomorrow on the president's prime time address and not knowing when the bill will show up they want to make a schedule on friday for lawmakers like many of those on stage there outside the capitol to be able to join the president at the white house to celebrate what obviously you can tell by the mood there is a very xub rantd exuberant mood. >> thank you both for starting us off. joining me now is washington democratic congress adam smith. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. my apologies if we have to interrupt you awaiting the president's comments on this. speaker pelosi said the bill was passed with a little help from bourbon. what do you make of this historic day? >> it is an incredible accomplishment and a testimony to the leadership of majority leader schumer, speaker pelosi and joe biden. the approach working with all of the senators, this is not easy. to have gotten it done this quickly is an enormous accomplishment and we need it. the xli is crushed and people are -- don't have access to the food they need. facing eviction. they need this support to deal with the economic impacts of the pandemic. and we also need this money to help bring us to the end of the pandemic, to get the vaccinings out and to give the health care support we need to get it done so it's a great day for the country and i don't say that lightly. >> a milestone on so many different fronts with the vaccine rollout continuing. let's widen the conversation for a moment to ask you about one of the many challenges that remain before president biden and that is rewriting the current rules of warfare. the white house wants to replace the authorization for military use of force and that passed after the september 11th attacks going into iraq and since been used to allow combat against military groups spanning decades and continents. brown university cost of the war project accounting for the toll of post-9/11 wars and related violence measured over 800,000 people killed, over 300,000 people displaced and a price tag over $6.4 trillion. i know that you and the president both agree something has to be done to update the aumf. what happens now? have you had any conversations with the white house about specific proposals? >> i have, yes. this is not just about updating the aumf but narrowing the scope of the effort. congress has a role to play and we could get into a very confusing debate about how congress plays that role in military action but the important thick is the outcome. what does the military do? i think it's a vehicle for the congress to express to the president how we want to see that narrowed and then the president himself has to make the decisions. many times the president has gone around congress after we say we don't want to do something militarily. we need to understand both where it's worked and not. 20 years on to be operates on the same aumf doesn't reflect the changes and hopefully what we have learned about the pluses ab minuses of the efforts to under take. >> something as well foreign policy related. a saudi court denied a woman's right to appeal on the sentence for which she served over 1,000 days in prison and subject to a five-year travel ban among other restrictions. critics call it an effort to silence activists. looking at this, taken together with mohammed bin salman's role approving the killing of the intelligence community's assessment, should the u.s. still do business with saudi arabia? >> i think president biden has taken steps that president trump did not take. he acknowledged that mbf is responsible for the killing and sanctioned a number of people and entities associated with saudi arabia and he has responded to it but when you bring the question down the way you did, should we still do business with saudi arabia, we don't really have a choice. there's no way to cut them off given the interests in the region, the threat from iran, rebuilding iraq, dealing with isis. we are not in a position to just say we won't have anything to do with saudi arabia but hold them accountable and president biden started to do and the most important thing to me is to put pressure on saudi arabia to get a peace agreement in yemen. that is what we need to be focused on so i think we should have a very clear-eyed approach to the relationship. he wants to have a very strong authoritarian regime with him in charge and we need to deal with that but there's other interests and will interact with them and put pressure on them, especially for what's going on in yemen. >> congressman smith, thank you for allowing us to ask you questions on a few fronts there. appreciate it, sir. >> thank you for the chat. we are awaiting for president biden's white house event with the ceos of johnson & johnson and merck to begin. when that starts we'll bring fewer medicines with dovato. who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed... and get to and stay undetectable... can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its ingredients... or if you take dofetilide. hepatitis b can become harder to treat while taking dovato. do not stop dovato without talking to your doctor,... as your hepatitis b may worsen or become life-threatening. serious or life-threatening side effects can occur, including... allergic reactions, lactic acid buildup, and liver problems. if you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction,... stop taking dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis b or c,... or if you are, may be, or plan to be pregnant. your doctor may prescribe a different medicine... than dovato if you plan to be pregnant or if pregnancy is confirmed during the first trimester. dovato may harm your unborn baby. use effective birth control... while taking dovato. most common side effects are headache, nausea,... diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. ask your doctor about dovato—i did. hiv medicine is one part of it. (man) i'm a verizon engineer, part of the team that built 5g right, the only one from america's most reliable network. we designed our 5g to make the things you do every day better. with 5g nationwide, millions of people can now work, listen, and stream in verizon 5g quality. and in parts of many cities where people can use massive capacity, we have ultra wideband, the fastest 5g in the world. this is the 5g that's built for you. this is 5g built right. only from verizon. the u.s. surpassed 100,000 new cases of the coronavirus yesterday but the 7-day average is below 70,000 cases. here are the facts as we know them at this hour. as the white house announces plans to buy 100 million more johnson & johnson doses, the covid team urged americans to be vigilant despite the positive news. >> while these trends are starting to head in the right direction, the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths still remain too high and are somber reminders that we must remain vigilant. >> maryland governor announced restaurants and bars will not be subject to capacity limits starting friday and lifting quarantine restrictions. alaska's the first state to stop requirements for vaccines. this means that beginning today anyone 16 or older can get vaccinated in the state. joining me now is a family physician and associate dean of graduate medicine in cincinnati. thank you for joining us. texas ending the mask mandate. businesses are open with no restrictions. what if more states follow texas' lead? >> i'm concerned they need to pay attention to the cdc guidelines and those vaccinated with two weeks since the last dose, those individuals can meet together without masks and without any socially distancing but those patients who have not been vaccinated need to be very careful about who they're exposed to. >> speaking of vaccines, the white house says it struck a deal for 100 million more doses of the johnson & johnson vaccine. last week the mayor of detroit had to clarify comments of the efficacy and now a perception issue. how can the white house inspire confidence in j&j especially in underserved communities of color where there's already vaccine hesitancy? >> so i think there are a couple of things to consider. it is really not apples to apples comparison with the moderna vaccine and pfizer as one group versus the vaccine from j&j. the moderna vaccine and the pfizer vaccine were tested prior to the variants out there and so the tests conditions are very different. b-117 had come to the fore and the african variant as well. very different testing situation. >> i noticed earlier in the segment about alaska opening the vaccines to anyone 16 and older, that is the goal we want as a country. how can we get to that point as a country? >> taking it one step at a time. dealing with the hesitancy issue so people are willing to go ahead and get access to the vaccine. the fact to push forward with an increase in the number available is excellent. i think we continue on our present path. convincing patients to get the vaccine tomorrow. here in ohio thursday we start the phase of anyone over 50 and making sure we have the vaccines available when people need them. >> doctor, thanks as always for the insights. appreciate it. on the 50th day of president biden's presidency we have a look at the first massive legislative achievement. legislative achievement. ar one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas or abdominal discomfort? taking align can help. align contains a quality probiotic to naturally help soothe digestive upsets 24/7. try align, the pros in digestive health. and join the align healthy gut team up and learn what millions of align users already know. how great a healthy gut can feel. sign up at alignprobiotics.com also try align dualbiotics gummies to help support digestive health. dad, it's a video call. hold the phone in front of you. how's that? get...get mom. 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keep people away, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. if you see wires down, treat them all as if they're hot and energized. stay away from any downed wire, call 911, and call pg&e right after so we can both respond out and keep the public safe. we are awaiting remarks from president biden on the purchase of 100 million additional johnson & johnson vaccine doses. today marks the 50th day of the biden president coinciding with first major legislative achievement, the passage of the nearly $2 trillion covid relief package and the bill delivers on the key promises made like getting more americans vaccinated and helping to reopen schools in this country. and then there's this. nearly 78 million vaccine doses have been administered since biden took office putting the u.s. ahead of schedule for 100 million shots in the fist 100 days in office. joining me now is historian michael beschloss. great to have you with us. help put this in perspective for us. the first 50 days, biden passed the first big piece of legislation today. how does that compare to previous presidents? what kind of progress is he making on the stated agenda? >> he's delivering. look at the problems he had to deal with. the pandemic above all and the economic suffering that's widespread along with threats to democracy and children who are largely still at home from public schools. and a racial reckoning 400 years plus in the making. he's had to deal with all of that. these are basic questions. and history usually honors a president to deal with fundamental crises so you're asking me will our grandchildren will reading about this day and learning about what happened today? they sure will because here's a problem where we have widespread economic suffering, people who are suffering are covid, over half of a million people dead in this country who did not need to die and what we are seeing is something that we should see which is a president using the power and the voice of the federal government and the president of the united states to do everything he can to try to help americans to protect themselves. where have we seen that before? 1933 when roosevelt came in. joe biden is a person of great modesty and the first to say he is not an fdr but the reason we honor fdr is he came in with one third of america unemployed, people needing help and roosevelt said i'm going to use the federal government, i will go to congress as quickly as possible and i'm trying to relieve that suffering and make things better. this week remind me of roosevelt. >> let me ask you if i can about what we are seeing, michael, on the southern border in the united states because the president promised to reform thest asylum system and increasingly as we saw today from the white house coordinator families coming to the border continues to surge. how difficult has the issue of immigration been for previous presidents? >> it has been and in general it's -- you were talking about the fact that this is 50 days in which it sure is. 50 days from now we will probably talk about how well joe biden did in the first 100 days. some things i'm sure he will have done towering wonderful job. like other presidents some things will probably end up being delayed. so the 100 day or the 50 day mark is not a bad one but not the same one that historians use. presidents can do some very good things that don't necessarily start 50 days in. >> how have other presidents reacted to this first signature piece of legislation? since we are on the topic of covid relief. there's talk about more relief down the road if americans need it. how does the president take the momentum of what happened today? the president is walking out now. but really quickly, how can he take that momentum and translate it? this is a president with great courage and gut who is's willing to -- >> i'm sorry. let's cross over now to the white house and listen in. >> today between johnson & johnson, merck and the biden administration to further accelerate production of the one-shot johnson & johnson covid-19 vaccine. i want to give a big thanks to president biden for having us here today and for his leadership effort to johnson & johnson's 135,000 employees and the global partners for the really exceptional expertise to reach the globe as quickly as possible. and also to my good friend ken frazier and to merck for their partnership and for his personal friendship over the years. our industry, it is realizing the early days of the pandemic the vaccine development wasn't a race against each oh as competitors. it is really a race against time to defeat a common enemy. today, we're at war with covid-19. and public/private partnerships like the one we celebrate today, they're a major reason that last week i was privileged enough to witness some of the very first residents in the home state of new jersey receiving doses of our vaccines just 13 moths, 13 months after we started the development process. and when one of the residents, this senior apartment, was asked how she felt after she was given the shot she replied, safe. couldn't be -- i couldn't be more proud. in our new collaboration with merck it will allow us to be more ambitious in the goals to keep as many people around the globe as safe as we possibly can with our effective, one-dose vaccine. so i'm proud, extremely proud to count ken frazier as an active partner as we bring the companies together in new ways on behalf of humanity. we share one common goal above all things. and that is, advancing public health. so please join me in welcoming ken frazier. >> mr. president, i want to begin by thanking you for the steady, practical and resolute leadership you and your administration have provided. putting people before politics and fostering an environment in which private sector manufacturing and scientific capabilities can work in healthy partnership with government to create a force multiplier in a battle we simply must win. i'm also pleased to be here alongside my friend and colleague alex gor ski to talk about our historic collaboration. the covid-19 pandemic has affected all areas of our global community, created profound challenges and hardships, especially for our most vulnerable and disadvantaged people and communities. it is also shown a light on the resilience of first responders, scientists, health care workers and those providing essential community services, the real heroes of this challenging moment. at merck we are proud to contribute to the global response to the pandemic. through this collaboration, with our colleagues at johnson & johnson and the biden administration, we will work together to enable more timely delivery of much needed medicines and vaccines for the pandemic. now, some observers may view this corporate partnership as the coming together of rivals. but in these extraordinary times we are colleagues, not competitors. the funding made available by the biden administration will enable us to adapt our manufacturing facilities for the production of vaccines and medicines including johnson & johnson's vaccine. with the support of biden administration and specifically the dpa, we will exwe ditd the modification of our equipment. again, i want to thank president biden, alex gorsky and colleagues at johnson & johnson for tear remarkable scientific achieverments and my colleagues within merck for helping to facilitate this important partnership. and now, it is my distinct honor to introduce the man who's brought the full weight of the federal government to bear in fighting this virus, president joe biden. >> i want to thank you both for those words. you know, you and i knew one another when i wasn't president and you weren't a chairman. >> right. >> we'd ride back and forth on amtrak living in philadelphia. i was commuting to wilmington. it's good to see you both here. thank both of your kind words and thank scientists and researchers at johnson & johnson for the literal heroic effort that began when covid-19 first spread and led to the sach and effective vaccine that are now being co-produced. today we're seeing two health companies, competitors, each with over 130 years of experience coming together to help write a more hopeful chapter in our battle against covid-19. i just had an opportunity to meet with both of these ceos and with the senior operating officers and to hear about the work they're doing together to produce the vaccine substitute and accelerate what they call to take it to full finish. what's clear is this is historic, nearly unprecedented collaboration. during world war ii, one of the country's slogans was we are all in this together. we are all in this together. and the companies took that slogan to heart. for example, one automaker didn't have the capacity to build enough jeeps. the competitor stepped in to help. competing airline makers produced parts and gave the american pilots as a consequence control of the skies. today, we are seeing the same type of collaboration when it comes to getting this virus under control. i said we had to treat this like a war. so i want to thank the two companies for showing how we can come together and defeet this virus. by putting patriotism and public health first. i mean that literally. putting patriotism and public health first. your companies have been working closely with a man you both privately knew well. bragged about. jeff zion. i want to thank you, jeff, and the entire covid team you put together for the coordination of our covid-19 response and dr. david kesler and his team. when i came into office we began to work with the team of j&j and became clear that merck one of the world's leading vaccine manufacturers was in the position to be the partner we needed in this effort in this wartime effort. i'm not hesitated to use the power under the defense production act to expedite critical materials and vaccine production, such as the equipment, machinery and supplies. and it's not just johnson & johnson and merck. pfizer, moderna also work closely with us to help speed up the delivery of millions more doses. the result is that we're now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every american adult by the end of may. months earlier than anyone expected. and today, i'm directing jeff and my hhs team to produce another 100 million doses and purchase another 100 million doses of the johnson & johnson vaccine. i'm doing this because in this wartime effort we need maximum flexibility. there's a chance of unexpected challenges or we'll -- there will be a new need for a vaccine effort or vaccination effort. a lot can happen, a lot can change and we need to be prepared. and of course, we need to match the miracle of science and the skill of manufacturing with the massive logistic l undertaking of vaccinating every 300 million americans. already we have gone from johnson & johnson vaccine authorization to shots in the arm in three days. i was telling the gentlemen we were at a facility yesterday, a veterans outreach, and there were three members of the veterans community getting shots. one was getting of each of the three vaccines and the guy in the middle, a veteran getting his. i was standing about as far away as i am from you and standing up and he was sitting down. there's a nurse put it in the arm he went -- j&j. just one. well, there's millions of people are going to feel that way and be fraud to have -- be in a position to have the ability to get the help you need. seven weeks ago only 8% of the seniors, those most vulnerable to covid-19, received the vaccination. today, 60% of the people over the age of 65 or older have receive ed at least one shot and that's because this is a population that represents 80% of the covid-19 deaths. we've opened support and opened -- and supported more than 500 community vaccination sides, that's more than -- and then administering hundreds of shots a day. and for folks who aren't near a pharmacy the mass vaccination center we deploy mobile clinics like vans do go into places to meet the folks where they live. we are supplying vaccines to community health centers to reach those who have hit the hardest and suffered the most, especially black, latino, native american in rural communities and this is important. because we know, we have more to do to ensure everyone is treated with equity and those most impacted get the care they deserb. on saturday we hit a record beyond the numbers are the stories. a father who says he no longer fears for his daughter when she leaves to go to work at the hospital. the children are now able to hug their grandparents. the vaccine brings hope, healing in so many ways. again, a vaccinated america is the only way to beat the pandemic, get our economy back on track, and for us to get back our lives and our loved ones. you knee, that's why the american rescue plan was so critical. i want to thank speaker pelosi and the house of representatives for passing the bill. i will be signing it into law shortly. this represents a historic victory for the american people. i look forward to signing it later this week. everything in the american rescue plan addresses a real need, including investments to fund our entire vaccination effort. more vaccines, more vaccinators and more vaccination sites. many more millions will get tested, including home tests. schools will have the funding to reopen safely, a national better tiff. the american rescue plan, a partnership between johnson & johnson and merck proves we can do big things, important things in this country. let me conclude one. tomorrow night, i'm going to primetime address the american people, and talk about what we've been through as a nation this past year, but more importantly, i'm going to talk about what comes next. i'm going to launch the next phase of the covid response, and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask of the american people. there is light at the end of this dark tunnel over the past year. we cannot let our guard down now or assume the victory is northwest. we'll get through this together and usher in a helpful and -- healthy and more hopeful future. and may god bless you all, and protect our troops and ease the pain in the hearts of so many people who have lost their loved ones. we're going to do this. we're going to get it down. thank you. [ inaudible question ] >> the surplus, if we have a surplus, we're going to share it with the rest of the world. we have already decided we're going to work with the outfit covax. we've committed to help get the funding for more vaccines around the world. this is not something that can be stopped by a fence, nonary how high you build a fence or wall. we're going to start off by making sure americans are taken care of first, and then try to help the rest of the worrell. thank you. the president taye a bit of a victory lap there with the milestones in the first 50 days. with me is michael beschloss. and also white house correspond mike memoli. mr. beschloss, talking about his primetime address, it's a light at the end of the tunnel, but he's going to outline what this country needs to do, and what he expect and what he's going to ask of the american people in the coming months. what are the expectations that he just set? he set the expectation he's going to do everything he can to explain to americans how they can protect them slfls, how they can get jobs back if they need it, how they can stop starving if they are starving, and too many americans are literally starving today. the other thing is that this is america. this is what we expect of a president. wood row wilson, 1918, was dealing with an influenza pandemic, never gave a single speech about it, never told americans how to help themselves, never used the federal government to try to reduce the pain, and as a result 675,000 died without a word. a year ago donald trump was supposedly dealing with the pandemic and basically said i'll leave it to the governors of the states. how would we have liked it if after pearl harbor the president said i'm not going to deal with the imperial japanese, i'm going to let the governors do what they feel like doing. i think joe biden will be remembered by historians for what he did today. do we have any idea of what tomorrow night might look like? >> reporter: he just previewed it a bit for us right there, talking about the real journey we've been on since the lockdown began at this point a year ago, but the fact there is some optimism, including because of this legislation for what's ahead, that's one reason why i think the timing of the passage of this bill is so significant. as the event shod, the sales job is really in a way just beginning. nbc has obtained a memo from officials that the officials are going to be hitting the road to tout the benefits of this law, even as they consider their next steps in terms of a legislative agenda. there's been a lot of focus on the fact today's vote was along party lines, republicans not supporting this legislation. a part of the idea of the road show, as you would call it, as the president goes out to talk about what's in this piece of legislation, it will include local mayors, governors, businesses groups, some traditional republican-leaning constituencies to try to say this piece of legislation and the president's agenda has overwhelming bipartisan support. just an interesting noel of color about how the white house has been marking this passage as well, typically in a bit vote like this, you gather the staff together to watch it. well, i'm told by senior administration official that because of the covid protocols that are in place at the white house, the president and the vice president were only able to gather with a few other staffers in the roosevelt room to watch this final vote in the house today. ron klain, the white house chief of staff, telling the other senior officials this morning over a zoom meeting that in ordinary times, they would gather together to have watched this vote, but obviously they are not normal times. michael beschloss, quickly, the final thought to you, the next 250 days, what do they look like? >> you're dealing with a situation, again joe biden is the last person to say he's fdr, but you're dealing with problems that are almost as difficult. you're dealing with not only the pandemic and the problems of the economy, but, you know, joe biden knows he has to deliver and begin to make progress on the racial problems in this country. he spoke eloquently about that last year. he has to deal with a lot of kids who are still at home from public schools, and democracy is in jeopardy. we now know from january 6th, there's a lot of groups that would like to see our democracy wrecked. part of a president's jobs is to defend the constitution, make sure that does not happen. >> voting restrictions under way in this country, that has to be addressed. michael beschloss, mike memily thank you for wrapping up this hour. that does it for me. "deadline: white house" with nicolle wallace starts right after this break. nicolle wallace starts right after this break my soul ♪ ♪ got my mouth ♪ ♪ i got life ♪ four, five, turn, kick. we got chased by these wild coyotes! they were following her because she had beef jerky in her pocket. (laughing) (trumpet playing) someone behind me, come on. pick that up, pick that up, right there, right there. as long as you keep making the internet an amazing place to be, we'll keep bringing you a faster, more secure, and more amazing internet. xfinity. the future of awesome. (vo) ideas exist inside you, electrify you. they grow from our imagination, but they can't be held back. they want to be set free. to make the world more responsible, and even more incredible. ideas start the future, just like that. soaring public approval of the 1.9 trillion relief package, including nearly 60% support. 71% of allsh and signaling their the bill now headed to president biden's desk,