things will get worse than they are right now. bottom line, it's going to get worse. >> we have the assessment that covid-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. >> we have already lost 24 of our citizens. . >> we're heading towards an epidemic in the united states. the question is what the scope is going to be. >> tom hanks and his wife rita wilson, have both tested positive for coronavirus. . >> to keep new cases from entering our shores, we will be suspending all travel from europe to the united states for the next 30 days. >> all right. exactly one year ago today when the country began to feel the full effects of the coronavirus. march 11th, 2020 was the day the world health organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. and in the u.s., shutdowns kicked in, cities began limiting gatherings. schools began to close. and major sports leagues started to halt play. everything seemed to stop. can you believe it's been a year, joe? >> i know. willie, it seems so much longer than a year. now that we look back on that time period we understand actually what the president knew and when the president knew it. we understood for all the lies, for all the denials, all the efforts to say it was one person coming in from china, all the efforts to say it wasn't contagious, that it was going to just go away, in fact, he said that a year ago yesterday. relax. it's going to go away. basically nothing to see here, that he had already spoken with bob woodward in february and explained that he knew it was an airborne illness. he knew it was five times as deadly as the flu. he knew that it could affect people of all ages. and it was a real killer, i think were his words. fascinating the president yesterday was talking about the vaccine and saying, hey, remember, remember, the president doesn't want to go down memory lane about those press conferences, hydroxycholoroquine, bleach in the veins, crossing anthony fauci saying it won't come back in the fall, it's not going to come back. we could go down the list. but looking at all the information we know now, it's such a scandal. his biggest scandal, actually, that the president knew what he knew and still fiddled while rome burned and there are now over 500,000 people dead in part because of that negligence. . >> if someone came out on march 111th, 2020, saying there will be half a million americans dead by this time next year, you wouldn't have believed him. the early numbers were 240,000. that seemed impossible. we're well past double that now. you're right. you can't help but watch the clips and think what if we had gone on war footing, what would happen if he acted like the wartime president he said he wanted to be. what if he had been honest about what was coming and what could come as dr. fauci did in the testimony. he said it's going to get a lot worse. boy, was he right. we are doing it now, but we are doing it a year after we could have done it. that is the tragedy and the loss of lives, loss of jobs, the loss of an entire school year when will be lost in the education system. the word lost comes to mind. >> yeah. . >> the saddest part of it is it is preventable loss. . >> absolutely. it didn't have to be this bad. along with joe, willie and me, we have co founder of "axios", jim vandehei. and jill miller. the house gave president biden his first major legislative win with the final passage of his 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill. the vote was 220-211, mostly along party lines. jared golden of maine joined all republicans in voting against the bill. democrats erupted in applause after the roll call. >> on this vote, the yays are 220, the neys are 211. the motion is adopted. >> this picture of them applauding. he said he will sign it tomorrow. >> historic, tphoeric victory. everything addresses a real need. together, we're going to get through this and usher in a healthier future. there is real reason for hope, folks. real reason for hope. i promise you. later today, president biden will give his first primetime address to mark one area since the world health organization declared covid-19 a pandemic. you know, elizabeth, i think many of us have been almost lulled -- not lulled to sleep but lulled a bit by how tranquil things have been in the white house the past few months compared to the past four years. and i think history has perhaps snuck up on us here. we all remember after the huge battle over ach, leaning over and whispering to barack obama, this is a big blanking deal, well, it is. it was. but what was passed yesterday by all democrats and no republicans, might be the biggest teal. >> it is a very big deal. you're right. it's one of the biggest anti-poverty efforts in generations. it is -- what is so interesting about this bill, aside from its sheer size, is how much it is targeted to the poor. it's very different from the bill passed in 2009. we have been looking at this several days now. half foes to the unemployed, to people who are food insecure, who are struggling, who are hungry. it's really extraordinary. there's help for children, for families, for the unemployed. and the economic analysis is it could help growth in this country by growing 6.5% in the next year. it is a bill the democrats have long wanted. biden didn't propose something that big in the beginning. but chuck schumer and the democrats brought him along and said we have to go bigger this time. and he went along with it. now he has a whole month to sell this to the american people. they want to avoid the mistake they feel obama made by not selling the big bill that passed in 2009. they feel they have to go and take credit for this, especially as americans are, for whatever reason, trashing it. a very popular bill, even among republicans. . >> yeah. very popular bill. that's a funny thing. republicans will have a terrible time trashing this bill. you have some members of the united states senate who are republicans who voted against the bill, putting out press releases, taking credit for some things inside the bill, which leads to the bigger question. if you're the republican party and you've just opposed a bill in lock step that 76% of american people support, what's the strategy? what's the end game? they've already lined themselves up for pretty tough 30-second ads in the midterm elections. . >> i think it's a tough one for them, obviously. because i think people getting a check, they like getting a check. people getting assistance who need assistance, want to get assistance. the republican argument will be, well, this is a liberal wish list. there is no doubt there is a lot of policies the left wanted for a long time imbedded in this in a short-term nature. sit a huge experiment. targeting people who are poor, in poverty. and we'll be able to see whether it works. and they will argue it raises a deficit. that's a tough one. they spent so much money under donald trump, george w. bush. this is empirical that republicans are more responsible than democrats in spending money. republicans included. the big test case for all of us, when you talk to these people, joe and mika, when you talk to people at treasury or former treasury secretaries and people in congress, you say at what point can we have deficits this high and spend this much money, how long can we have free money in the system where you don't have to pay up? nobody can answer that question. nobody really knows. this is a small fear at this point inside the biden administration is do we end up with a massive inflation pause there is so much liquidity in the economy. not to repeat the mistake they made under president obama, going too small and not doing enough to juice the economy, getting people back to work. that has always been the game plan. can you get rid of the virus and can you get people back to work? we talk about a lot of things that have gone wrong. and i will say it again. we will look back at the creation and distribution of this vaccine as a modern day miracle. go back a year ago. nobody thought that you could produce vaccines at scale with this high efficacy that went through validation of the fda process and that are having the effect they thought they could. this is something we should all celebrate, both parties. that you would private sector working with the public sector to be able to do the unthinkable. and now it looks like by summer you could have most people vaccinated for the first time. i run a company. for the first time, i'm asking conversations this week about when do people get to come back to work? life is going to start to return to normal. people are going to go to restaurants. people are going to spend those checks. people are going to go on vacations. people are going to get in the airplanes. that is something good we can take from this, pause it is something we will apply in future paeubgs which had highly likely if you think about different manifestations of this virus or others to come. >> yeah. >> not being in 30 rock is gnawing away at me every day. i can't be in "30 rock". the commute was really -- that was my favorite part of the day. jim is right. operation warp speed launched under president trump. did see the moving of the vaccine forward very quickly. of course the biden team in december were -- they were horrified when they saw that actually the trump people had no plan to get it out to the country, and that was job one. we talked about it a year ago, how we were going to see something remarkable because this was the first time in the history of mankind that you had every scientist, every doctor, every smart person, every i.t. person working on the same follow, moving toward a vaccine, getting that vaccine distributed. and you had also had, and i don't mean this as a negative. you know, i also see you had big pharma companies that understood if they were the ones who unlocked this code it was going to be a huge payday for them. and that was something that was going to get people. that incentive as well, other than doing the right thing, that bottom line incentive was going to push people to work around the clock, 24 hours a day, to move towards a vaccine. well, it's happened. and i will say that the biden team has done a great job in putting together a game plan to get every american vaccinated. . >> yeah. i mean, we're ahead of schedule, as president biden announced last week that every american adult who wants one should be able to get one by the end of may. two months ahead of schedule. i'm so glad jim brought that ever. everyone is so cynical about politics and the country often. we see everything through the prism of politics. my gosh, look what the world did over the last year in creating a vaccine where we know they take 5 to 10 years to develop, test, and get approval. they did it in one year. because of that, may get the country back on its feet by fall for school and work and everything else that comes with it. we ought to pause and celebrate that. we will talk to the ceo of pfizer coming up in just a little while. as we talk about this relief bill, it did pass without a single republican vote. democrats warned yesterday republicans would try to take credit for the outcome. here's what house budget congressman john yarmuth said yesterday. >> the republicans are going to vote against this, show up at every rib been cutting and pump up their chest and take credit for all of these great benefits coming to their citizens. . >> the congressman is clairvoyant. it's already happening. despite voting no, roger wicker yesterday touted funding that would help independent restaurants. hours after the bill passed, he tweeted independent restaurant operators have won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief. >> 1.9 trillion bill doesn't mean i have to vote for the whole thing. it goes without saying. i issued a statement but i think it's a stupid question. . >> stupid question? . >> absolutely. i'm not going to vote for $1.9 trillion just because it has a couple of good provisions in it. . >> joe, that is senator wicker of mississippi. the argument goes, yes, of course there's targeted relief i like and would have voted for on its own. it's all the other stuff that progressives piled into the $1.9 trillion package that i couldn't vote for. . >> yeah. i think roger is going to be fine in mississippi politically. the thing is there are going to be races in pennsylvania where pat toomey is leaving, where roy blunt is going to be leaving. there's going to be races in ohio where rob portman is leaving. there are going to be a lot of swing statement races possibly in iowa. . >> north carolina. . >> yeah, north carolina. that -- talk about another great swing state race we're going to have that. elisabeth, people can put out statements all they want to, but when you see that 30-second ad that says congressman so-and-so voted against this. he voted against relief for your town. . >> right. >> he voted against relief for your family. he voted against relief for your business. he voted against relief for your hospital. he voted -- and go down all of that list, whether that ad appears on television in a 30-second spot or appears online. there's just no getting around steaming locomotive that's coming right there way politically. .$1,400 check. he didn't want you to have it. i don't understand the political strategy here. i think perhaps they feel that by midterms in two years that people have forgotten and there will be something else they're thinking about. i just don't understand these votes. again, they will take credit for it and hope people forget. i think that is one reason you are seeing this big effort by the biden white house. this will go on for a month. biden is going to philadelphia this week or next week. he has the entire cabinet out. it is just this blitz. they are going to delay the address to congress by at least until april. because they are determined to sell this bill which they are very pleased about. so, again, i think the republicans think that by 2022, fall of 2022, people will have forgotten about the bill and they could move on to something else. it is a mystery to me. . >> he ya, it is a mystery, willie. i still, for the life ofme, can't figure out why republicans didn't find a way to get to yes. but they didn't. they keep thinking this is 2009, that joe biden is barack obama. he's not. the guy has been there 40 years. barack obama had been in washington 40 weeks before he was running for president. biden's team has been extraordinarily efficient setting this up, getting what they wanted. i can't figure out what the republican strategy is. >> and the white house set this up. they called in the republicans to the oval office to show publicly but also privately they were reaching out. they wanted to get some kind of deal. they didn't get a single republican vote in the house or senate. the president can say he tried to work for republicans. it didn't work out. so they had to go the route of budget reconciliation. sam stein showed 75% for the bill. they will have questions to answer, republicans will, when they go back to their districts. it's not just about the stimulus and getting through coronavirus. the pieces that fight poverty in this bill also likely are very popular with people in their own states, many of whom fall below the poverty line. . >> seeing how this legislation is setting up for the first three, four, five six months of joe biden's presidency, you start with one of the most popular bills in recent memory >> yeah. . >> if you just look at the polls. the next is the bill that will stop americans for having to stand in lines so long at the voting booths. a bill that will actually expand participation in our democracy. and, mika, while washington insiders on the republican side will be against it and while --. >> and claim it was made by the devil. >> party bureaucrats will be against it. people are just going to look and at some point more and more independents are going to say, what's wrong with these people? . >> it's a pivotal moment in history. >> trump is gone. what's wrong with these people? they voted against my check. they voted against my kids' school, against the community hospital. they voted against -- >> our voting! >> now they are trying to make it harder for me to vote. it's not really -- it's not really a good, unifying platform for any party. . >> you don't have to fight everything. still ahead on modern joe, congressman jim clyburn will be our guest. what's next to the democrats' agenda now that the covid relief bill is done? >> plus, former presidents are coming together to encourage americans to get vaccinated. but one is missing from the new ad. >> wait. is bush not there? >> no. he's right there. and he got ready. he's looking fit, joe. also, merrick garland finally gets a confirmation vote. we'll have that update and more on where president biden's cabinet stands. you're watching "morning joe". we'll be right back. ing "mornin. we'll be right back. i'm a performer. always have been. and always will be. never letting anything get in my way. not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. and certainly not arthritis. voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. and it can help you too. feel the joy of movement with voltaren. what's the #1 retinol brand used most by dermatologists? tah-dah, it's neutrogena® with derm-proven retinol, rapid wrinkle repair® smooths the look of fine lines in 1-week, deep wrinkles in 4. so you can kiss wrinkles, and other wrinkle creams goodbye. rapid wrinkle repair® pair with our most concentrated retinol ever for 2x the power. neutrogena® ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. thank you! hey, hey, no, no limu, no limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ right now the covid-19 vaccines are available to millions of americans. and soon they will be available to everyone. . >> this vaccine means hope. it will protect you and those you love from this dangerous and deadly disease. >> i want to go back to work and i want to be able to move around. >>. >> with michelle's mom, to hug her and see her on her birthday. >> i'm really looking forward to going to texas rangers stadium with a full stadium. . >> we have lost enough people. and we have suffered enough damage. >> in order to get rid of this pandemic, it's important for our fellow citizens to get vaccinated. . >> i'm getting vaccinated pause we want this pandemic to end as soon as possible. . >> so we urge you to get vaccinated when it's available to you. . >> roll up your sleeve and do your part. . >> this is our shot. . >> now it's up to you. >> so did. >> you know, i love this country, willie. i'm such a sucker for it. i see former presidents. i think about all they've gone through. >> that's right. to serve. >> to think about all the terrible things i have said. . >> stop! >> you look at them and you just think about how much they all move this country and how lucky we were to have every one of them in the white house. and i've got to say, look at bush. bush has got the guns. . >> he's doing some weightlifting. >> wanted dead or alive. . >> he's doing more than mountain biking. there is steel beams in texas. . >> look at that. >> laura bush looks fantastic. . >> laura looks great >> she is saying, bushy, you don't need to spend so much time in the gym. go back to your paint stphrg just to see the tableau over all of these 40 years or so, it's extraordinary and important, by the way. there is a significant percentage of this country that is reluctant to get the vaccine. they may not like one of those men but they like the other telling them to go get the vaccine. it would be helpful if the most recent president, president trump were there too. he has such a large following who frankly does what he says. he