is a political debate these days. even what time the sun rises and sets. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, and joshua johnson. welcome to the week. did you have a good week? president biden certainly did. over the course of 48 hours, he took big steps toward addressing his priority. the pandemic. on wednesday, congress passed the american rescue plan. the next day, he signed it into law. that night, he delivered his first primetime presidential address. and in that speech, the president -- division of post- pandemic summer. >> i set a goal that many of you said was kind of way over the top. i said i intended to get 100 million shots of people's arms and my first hundred days in office. tonight, i can say we are not only going to meet that goal, we are going to meet that goal. because we are actually on track to reach this goal of 100 million shots in arms on my 60th day in office. tonight. i am announcing i will direct all states, tribes and territories, to make all adults, people 18 and over, eligible to be vaccinated no later than may 1. if this pandemic is nearing its end, at least in the united states, what is next on the administration's agenda? unity and bipartisanship driving forces of biden's campaign. but how much do the major parties have the will for that? or the stomach for it? no republican in the house or the senate voted for the covid relief will. that did not stop the bill, because democrats used the budget reconciliation products process to passive. as long as they kept everything every single democrat in the senate on board, they could pass a more sweeping, more progressive bill. but that tactic will not work for immigration reform or voting rights, unless every democrat favors ending the filibuster. so far, they don't. so, they will need republican support to advance president biden's legislative agenda. one republican and democrat, democrats often turn to is maine senator susan collins. back in 2009, she worked across party lines to pass an economic stimulus during the financial meltdown. but listen to senate majority leader chuck schumer explain why he did not reach out to her this time. >> we made a big mistake in 2009 and 10. susan collins was part of that mistake can we cut back on the stimulus dramatically. we stayed in recession for five years. what was offered by the republicans was so far away from what was needed, so far away from what biden propose, that he thought that they were not being serious and wanting to really negotiate. the urgency of covid release makes this understandable, but the american rescue plan comes with expiration dates. and there are some serious poverty fighting measures at democrats will want to extend. take the child tax credit in the stimulus. democrats increase this year's credit to $3000 for each child ages 6 to 17. for children under 6, it was raised to $3600 annually. the credit can be paid out in monthly installments, rather than a lump sum. and here is the thing. some republicans have already shown interest in making an expanded child tax credit permanent. last month, senator mitt romney of utah introduced the family security act. his bill would increase the credit above what the democrats passed in the covid package. but, to fund that, senator romney wants to eliminate other family and child assistance programs. he says that his goal is to simplify income support for low- income families. this might not be what democrats would prefer to pass. still, they are not as far as they were on covid relief. and unless senate democrats somehow unite on filibuster reform, they will need republicans and sooner or later. of the west, they could enter the midterms as a party with only meant one major achievement. covid legislation. and nothing else. joining us now to discuss it is peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the new york times and an msnbc political analyst. jason furman, former chairman of the white house council of economic advisers during the obama administration. good to see you both. gentlemen, we start with you with the child tax credit and the housing assistance. talk about how much impact that will have toward fighting poverty in this country. especially poverty brought on by the pandemic. >> it will have an extraordinary impact. we are going to have less poverty in the united states in the year 2021 then we ever had in our country in history poverty is going to fall particularly sharply because, be cut in half for children in this country. now, that will be a combination of people getting jobs, and, the check that they are getting from the government. and the key will be, making sure some of the key elements here are extended and made permanent so this is not just one, you know, low year for poverty. this becomes something that is built on in the future. >> jason, contrast that with what the house minority, kevin mccarthy, said about this, of this plan, the american rescue plan. take a listen. >> let me just point out three things which are hard-working taxpayers money is going for. you are now going to provide bonuses up to $25,000 to government employees and bureaucrats. if you're not part of the swamp, you get nothing. you are now, your money is going to pay for illegal immigrants healthcare. your money also is being sent to san francisco city, where your money will be spent giving alcohol and marijuana to the homeless. that is what that bill is doing. >> let's just be clear. at least one of the things that mr. mccarthy says is flat-out false. when he said your money is going to pay for illegal immigrants healthcare, well, one of the things that happens i should say senator -- had said that the money was going directly to illegal immigrants in the form of checks, which is not true, because undocumented immigrants don't have social security numbers and any social security numbers to get those checks. but jason, what about that? the messaging around this in terms of the aspects of the bill that are just designed to inflame and how that affects the administration's ability to measure, to message on this? >> the largest ottoman this bill is checks for american families. -- in this or money for children. pour for the unemployed. assistance for states so that they are not cutting back on their budgets. it is pretty easy to understand the american rescue plan. and the evidence will be something we see in the economy. as we see -- expectancy which is rapid drop goes over the course of the rest of the year. still going to have an eye on them high unemployment rate for many months to come. but i expect it will be coming down sharply. and i don't think it would be very hard to explain. connect the dots between what was passed and what is happening. >> peter baker, what is your sense of what is next for the ministration? we learned that the dsa -- alexander may occur has instructed feed fema to help out with managing the flow of unaccompanied migrant children across the border. there's a 90 day federal effort to help receive shelter and transfer unaccompanied migrant children. does this mean that immigration is the next big item on the administration's agenda? or is this just one item on the list of things to do next? >> well, as with any president, the agenda items that you choose and the agenda items that are chosen for you. right? this, you know, the situation of the border is something obviously president biden had to deal with in his first hundred days in office. he would rather have had a chance to get some other things off his plate first. he would like to get the immigration legislation. but as you point out, that is a pretty far stretch at this point, given that it will require 60 votes in the senate and the only have 50+. kamala harris is tie-breaking vote. so, is a better chance of getting to some sort of bipartisan agreement might be infrastructure. at least that is the hope because both republicans and democrats have agreed over the last number of years that the country's roads and bridges and you know, broadband and other, you know, necessary items for the growth of the country are woefully underfunded and in need of repair. whether the two ties can actually come together on a plan on how to do that is a different question. it is another large ticket spending items that the republicans might decide is just too much to go along with. it might be in their interest to oppose it. but that they generally like some of the things in the bill because it will make the president look like a big spender. which of course he discussed a $1.9 trillion bill, is you know, the way he started his presidency. i think he is that a number of things on his agendas he wants to get done. -- at the border crisis that are things that are going to force themselves onto his agenda he can cope with. >> peter, how is this tour that the first lady on the vikes president and the second gentlemen are about to embark on going to impact that? we have a map of some of the places where they plan to be going over the next few days. you see the vice president is going to be headed to las vegas on monday, denver on tuesday. the president will be in deliver -- pennsylvania on tuesday. county, not the state of delaware. first lady will be in burlington, new jersey on monday. both the president, vice president will be in atlanta at the end of the week. and the second gentlemen will be in albuquerque, new mexico. what is the strategy, peter, in terms of whether those places? and what they will be saying there? >> conveniently enough, most of those places are in battleground states are states that democrats obviously want to hold onto them for years from now. and of course midterms in just two years. but you heard a lot from jason's former colleagues in the obama administration is that what date didn't do enough of was to sell the economic stimulus and the benefits they believe came from that in 2009. the president, president obama didn't care enough for didn't spend enough time or invest enough energy anyway, into convincing the public that this is a good thing that was going to result in good things in their lives and the things that they saw in the economy that were turning around were the result of something that the president has done. so, president of president biden wants to avoid that mistake. what whether it makes a difference or not will depend largely on the results of the package. but jason just talked about doing, if it really does propel the economy into higher groton people see it in their lives and were open to that kind of message. so, the substance matters as much as the messaging. but the biden administration plans to be aggressive about being out there and making sure they get credit that they can get. where they can get it. >> before i let you go, jason, what do you think in terms of where the economy is going? i don't know whether it is wise right now for people to start making big economic decisions. feels like things are going well. but there is still so much uncertainty in the very short- term. partly based on vaccinations, who gets vaccinated and when and how quickly re-reach herd immunity. what is the economy looking like to you in the neck 6-8 months? >> the next 6 weeks? yes. still a lot of uncertainty. how much viruses out there. if you are asking me six months from now, i think we won't be quite all the way back to normal. but we will be a lot of the way back to normal in our own lives. and, to have a successful economy, you need two things. one is people need to feel safe going to restaurants, traveling, doing all the things they love to do. and, we need to be able to afford to do all those things. the shots are one. to cash in your bank account is number 2. we are doing both of those right now. and i think it is going to work in 6-8 months. >> very, very briefly, peter, is that the economic outlook the administration is counting on right now? what did they expect? >> i think they are expecting that. what you hear from some economists is a worry that might propel the economy too far. it could overheat the economy. i don't know what that is going to happen or not. that is on the, you know, economists will debate. but that is soon to be the bigger concern at this point. that is what you the presidency. they would rather go go big and take a chance on that then go to small and leave the economy still suffering. >> peter baker of the new york times and jason furman. gentlemen, we appreciate you making time for us. thank you very much. >> still to come tonight, louisiana's cancer alley. residents there are fighting a plastics plant after growing concerns over high disease rates. up next, we will take a look at why and where the former president is currently under investigation. plus. the curtains could soon go up on broadway. and i cannot wait, please come up broadway. take my money. elizabeth stanley, one of the stars of the jagged little pill, one of the ones i am dying to see will share her story of surviving during the pandemic. that is all ahead when the week continues on msnbc. only pneed. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ dad, it's a video call. hold the phone in front of you. how's that? get...get mom. [ding] power e*trade gives you an award-winning app with 24/7 support when you need it the most. don't get mad. get e*trade and start trading today. ♪look at what's happened to me.♪ ♪i can't believe it myself.♪ ♪suddenly i'm up on top of the world...♪ maybe it is dirtier than it looks. ♪should've been somebody else...♪ it is dirtier than it looks. try new tide hygienic clean. it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? ...delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. see yourself. welcome back to the mirror. and know you're not alone. because this... come on jesse, one more! ...is a reflection of an unstoppable community. in the mirror. a new recording is shedding more light on the former president's efforts to interfere with the 2020 election. italy december phone call obtained by the wall street journal, donald trump just pressed the chief investigator of the georgia secretary of state's office to look into vote totals. one georgia, i know that by a lot. and the people know it. something happened there. i mean, something bad happened. you look into your to find things that are going to be unbelievable. the right answer comes out, you will be praised. >> the former president is under criminal investigation in georgia for his efforts to overturn the election there. meanwhile in new york, a criminal probe into his finances is expanding to include other associates. last month, the supreme court ordered mr. trump to hand his tax records over to the new york district attorney's office. yesterday, manhattan district attorney cyrus vance announced that he would not seek another term. does that mean there could be an indictment soon? let's discuss it with joyce vance. she is an msnbc contributor and former u.s. attorney. joyce, let's start with that. michael collet has been asked back for an eight interview. that was enough to make john dean, former white house counsel to president nixon to say that basically it is only in his words, it is only a matter of how many days until mr. vance indicts donald trump and others. what you think of that choice? >> well, dave, maybe a little bit optimistic. but michael cohen plays an important role for prosecutors. he now has millions of pages of documents, the debtor that underlies trump's taxes and other financial records. and it is such a help for them to have someone who can explain it. who better than the president's former lawyer? probably present for a lot of meetings and conversations, familiar with issues that get reflected in texas. so, it is no surprise that they have had: intro much work and it would seem to indicate that they are very interested in what is contained in the papers that they finally received. >> what do you think of that call in georgia? the one that the wall street journal reported on. how does that affect the overall investigation, do you think? >> you know, joshua, i have been thinking about these calls a lot. both of them. and, obviously what is at stake here is solicitation of election fraud by the former president, asking georgia officials to help. the -- would likely be that he really thought he one. he did not have the intent to solicit a crime. he was acting in good faith. but you know what is really remarkable here is, just that he wasn't acting in good faith if he believed he had won the election, he would have left it up for the process to work for recounts to happen. and for any problems to come to light. the fact that he personally is making his phone calls, the georgia officials who he doesn't know. the president of the united states, pressuring them to find him votes. pressuring them to find fraud. this i think is a strong indication. this is not the normal course of business. and i look forward to see what comes out of georgia in the next few months. >> could you give us some context for what you might expect? i'm not a prosecutor so i don't know how all this works and i hear plenty of people cynically presume that there is no way this prosecution is going to go forward. it is donald trump. he is to teflon. georgia will not go after this guy. and even if they did, there is no way, is impossible for this to actually happen. i have heard tons of cynicism on this. then again, if there is a case to be made and they don't go after him, that will be pretty bad for those prosecutors. but, what do you think about all of the peripheral aspects to these investigations, other than just the facts of the case? >> there is enormous cynicism about the criminal justice system, knowing that trump alluded what appears to be responsibility for crimes. we don't know for sure, right? it was possible that he was never prosecuted in the past because all of the evidence wasn't there. but their appearance of a long- term skating awfully close to the edge. so, people a right to be cynical. now, we no longer have a justice department that is controlled by the former president and his cronies. and instead, we have a prosecutor in new york, cy vance, i always feel the need to remind people, i am not related to. who seems to be going after a lot of financial calculations. we have the elected district attorney in fulton county, georgia, and experienced prosecutor. i would expect to these folks to examine the evidence, look in a criminal case. you have got to have admissible evidence of guilt that will stand up beyond a reasonable doubt both with your jerry and on appeal. so, it is really easy to be an armchair prosecutor and say, oh, there is plenty of evidence there. they should indict. it is really hard to begin the room looking at the evidence and making the decisions. particularly with the defendant like the former president. but i think these prosecutors will be focused. and they will do the right thing. if the evidence is there, they will indict. they don't have the evidence, they won't. >> and how to the ends of the cases factor in this? eric swoll well, a the bay area as a lawsuit he is pursuing related to the january 6th attack on the capital. mississippi congressman bennie thompson and the ncaa are suing the former president and his associates for their role in that. and you have a new piece in the washington post where you talk about how civil cases could kind of, as you put it, pry out the information that could lead to the former president being held more accountable. how does the whole network of all of these