peacock app. you can download it from the app store or sign up for free at pck.tv/theweek. we'll be here for you on msnbc saturday nights from 8:00 to 10:00 eastern after the mehdi hasan show. it's the top of the hour and it's so good to be with you tonight. the american rescue plan is now law. more than 100 million americans have received at least one vaccine and the biden administration says all americans will qualify for a vaccine by may. with one year of the pandemic behind us, what will the year ahead look like? we'll dig into the future of work, travel, and more. plus one year ago this week, the pandemic left thousands in the theater industry without jobs. but while the lights are out on broadway, the stars are still shining. ♪ you live, you learn, you love, you learn ♪ >> the woman on the left joins us to talk about bringing new york's theaters back to life. and some joyful reunions. grandparents are seeing their grandkids for the first time in months. we'll share a few of your stories. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, i'm joshua johnson. welcome to "the week." this week marks one year since the pandemic changed the way we all live. on thursday, president biden marked the anniversary by signing his $1.9 trillion american rescue plan. that night, mr. biden delivered his first prime time address to the nation. the speech outlined a new timeline on vaccine distribution. >> 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. i need every american to do their part. if we do this together, by july the 4th, there is a good chance you, your families and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or our enabled, have a cookout, a barbecue, and celebrate independence day. july 4th with your loved ones is the goal. >> that would be a nice goal to hit. as of today more than 100 million people have at least received a first vaccine shot. 62% of seniors have received their first shots. back when mr. biden took office as president, it was only 8%. direct payments of $1,400 will begin hitting bank accounts as early as this weekend. now the white house turns its focus to highlighting the benefits of the bill. next week the president, vice president harris, the first lady and the second gentleman will begin what they call a help is here tour. they will deliver their sales pitch at stops in pennsylvania, nevada, colorado, new jersey, mexico, and georgia. but after this, what's next? will the white house turn to infrastructure, that infrastructure week we keep hearing about? maybe try to raise the minimum wage to something less than $15 per hour? with this sharply divided senate, can any piece of legislation get bipartisan support? and what will the year ahead look like for the rest of us? i mean, will we soon be able to all return to the office? and even if you could, will you? for more on that let's bring in our panel. the host of sirius xm's "the dean obedella show." and the author of "black ethnics," good to see you too. dean, in terms of this sales pitch and what it might need to contain, particularly because it is a very progressive piece of legislation and also because president biden said from the jump, i will be a president for all american people, this feels like a pitch he has to make work, the pitch that he has to land with people who don't necessarily like the legislation. >> well, the reality, you see polls showing about 70% plus like the legislation. i keep hearing people say, you know, there was no bipartisan support for this legislation. that's actually correcting. rank and file republicans, anyone from 35 to over 50% supported this. the gop elite in congress, the millionaires there, they don't care about it, they have their own political agenda, they don't care if the rank and file are suffering, frankly, because they made a calculation that let them suffer, who cares, we'll give them dr. seuss, they'll be happy with that. the reality is, joshua, you see president biden going out with vice president harris, you have the dnc running ads now, and a super pac, pro-biden super pac doing a seven-figure bye in battleground states. democrats are getting the messaging out there like they're republicans, almost. it's remarkable to see. it's a vast bill, it's an fdr, lbj type bill. every day president biden is showing us he's much more progressive than i think any of us thought and his view of government is that, as opposed to ronald reagan who said the most terrifying words are, "i'm here from the government to help you," joe biden is here from the government and in a time of need, it's there to help you. >> professor greer, i take dean's point, when you ask about the plan, a significant majority of the american people agree with it. significant majorities even agreed with raising the minimum wage, the plurality was $15 an hour, not $11, adjusted for inflation. i wonder if these next few years might sort of tell the tale of the politics outside the beltway in terms of what people actually want and what they feel and what affects us where we live away from some of the rhetoric of capitol hill. >> right, well, we know the beltway always takes time to catch up to the polling of what american people want. we saw this with marriage equity. we've seen it with marijuana. we've seen it with a woman's right to choose. it's congress that's behind the times, republicans most specifically. when dean says this is a sweeping fdr, lbj type legislation, i agree. the difference between this and when obama essentially bailed out the country and the world, the democrats are finally understanding, let's call it something people understand, let's give it a name where it's consistent across. when we say the american rescue plan, people know, oh, okay, republicans ran up the deficit to give their wealthy friends tax breaks and democrats have to restructure the social safety net and joe biden is here to rescue us from the last four years. it's pretty explicit. when barack obama put together, you know, a package to try and save the american economy, domestically and internationally, it was called so many different things, many people never put two and two together to realize the check that they got from the u.s. government, from barack obama, was actually a democratic initiative to assist them. and so for the next few years obama was saying, remember, i helped you? and people were long gone, they didn't remember that. the last piece is, joe biden is running against the clock. we know that by the end of this year, the midterms are going to be in the front view mirror of all 435 members of the house and a third of the senate. so i think it's not a coincidence that when you put up the map, joshua, that they're going to new mexico and arizona and georgia and pennsylvania for this goodwill help is here tour. they're articulating -- and nevada. they're articulating to swing voters and people who paid attention to the biden campaign that this is actually what you asked for and this is what we're delivering. >> let me ask about the future of how we live as we move forward with covid, dean, particularly the way that we work. we found out this week in a report from "the chicago tribune" that if you take all the empty office space in downtown chicago it's basically the equivalent of willis tower, we used to call it sears tower, times five, and that is going to grow. we also learned target is getting rid of a million square feet of its office space in downtown minneapolis and shifting to a significant work from home schedule to allow more of its safe to work from home. we learned this from salesforce based in san francisco which just acquired slack, which makes it easier to work from home. do you think people will want to get back to the office? are you cool with working from home? >> i just want to get out of my apartment, is that okay? i want to give and go outside for a little while, i've been in this room that you can see for a year, joshua. >> i see the claw marks in the back wall, dean. >> that's a virtual background, i have nothing, i just sit in a chair all day. even sirius xm where i host a show, they're consolidating. i live in new york city. we have thousands of small businesses that have gone under here in new york city. there are people without jobs. we have a high unemployment rate. that's going to be the challenge. right now we have a race going on in new york city and the division is how do you bring back new industry, not old, how do you bring back new industry to get people to come back to the city, to move here, because it's not just office space. it's all the ancillary businesses, the dry cleaner, the car service, the lunch place, the restaurant place, you name it. so look, it's a new world. i think it's going to consolidate space. it's going to save some money for corporations. will that trickle down to employees? probably not. but it's going to be a new world for us. i think it's going to be this hybrid world, combination home and office, because i think a lot of people including myself have been far more efficient doing everything here, like going on tv here and then when i sign off, i can actually do work here if i choose to. >> i am totally not efficient working from home, i am so glad i get to come to 30 rock to do my job. i would be dead in the water if i had to do everything from home because it's do doggone distracting. although, before i go back to the professor, andrew yang will be here tomorrow night to talk about his mayoral run. send your questions to theweek@msnbc.com and we'll put some of your questions to andrew yang tomorrow. professor greer, we've learned the grammys aren't going to be held at the staples center, they'll be held a few blocks down the road at the l.a. convention center, somewhere between bride world, bridal expo, and the american academy of let otolaryngology. i get the feeling people are eager to gather but people are not sure how. >> i think some younger folks might have a renaissance of the roaring '20s and maybe some of the senior citizens too. i think people are going to have to access their comfort level. the vaccination card will in many ways be a passport for people to see whether or not they want to hang out with individuals. i do think some people have been productive at work but miss the camaraderie. i'm interested to see if companies will -- they have to reimagine it. is it going to be a co-working space where not everyone has offices anymore, you just come in and have a desk if you want to come in certain days of the week? we've had all these conversations about schools closing and infrastructure and asbestos in buildings. now our infrastructure is crumbling. some of these old, empty office buildings, can we reimagine them as places for students to gather, k-12, or even colleges? you know, can we think of it for people who are below the poverty line? and so to get creative with thinking about how we can utilize some of this space. we've seen old abandoned malls become classrooms and schools in certain cities. so i think it's up to leadership and mayors to help think about what they want to do with the spaces. it's interesting you're having one of the mayoral candidates on, because new york is in dire straits and we really need someone that has a creative vision to think about what to do with all the retail space in new york city as well. as dean said, i desperately miss my lunch ladies, i miss my students and my lunch ladies so i want to go back to the office but many new yorkers also have to get on the subway to do so, they have to use the infrastructure to go back to normal. i think a lot of people don't necessarily want the old way of doing things, they want a new hybrid way, not staying in the apartment all day, but also we don't have to go back to status quo. >> yes, indeed, i hear that. and as someone who works in an old, not quite empty office building, a lovely office building but one that's been here since 1933, i have some thoughts about this building that i'll share at the end of the program. before i have to let you all go, dean, i wonder what you think about the nature of our families, particularly because with this covid relief bill there's a stipulation that all children who are born this year will be eligible for that $1,400 check, that support within the covid-19 relief plan. that feels like theoretically it could give some families a little bit more comfort in terms of starting or expanding their families. >> certainly. and this bill, if it works out the way it's planned, it could raise half the children out of poverty. it's a remarkable bill. that's why joe biden and vice president harris have to go out there and explain all of it. so this is such a helpful thing for families now, adults get $1,400, dependent children get it as well. it could be life changing for so many or at least a safety net for the future. and that's why joe biden and democrats can be proud of what they've done. but i have to say, they have to look forward, they have to keep delivering. i had congresswoman jayapal earlier this week who made it clear, if we don't deliver to the american people, they won't trust us again. that doesn't mean in the midterm they're going to vote republican. it means they're not going to come out and we're going to lose. so we have to deliver more than the covid relief bill. for democrats, it's not go big or go home. it's go big or you're going home. >> thanks for starting the hour with us. we've been answering some of your health questions related to the pandemic over the last few months. tomorrow we'll focus on something we think will be a major issue as covid-19 eases, our mental health. a clinical psychologist will join us for our next installment of "dear doctor." email us or tweet us a 30-second video. we'll answer as many questions we can tomorrow. coming up, how far does the settlement for george floyd's family go to help justice be served? and later, we'll be back. that's the message from broadway performers one year after the great white way went dark. when will they be back and how? elizabeth stanley of the musical "jagged little pill" joins us ahead. first, cori coffin is here with the headlines. >> hey, joshua. stories we're watching, in london protesters and police scuffled at a vigil of a woman who was killed. around a thousand people gathered at the memorial site. a metropolitan police officer has been charged with the woman's murder. georgetown law professor david batson has resigned after a viral video of him discussing black students. he's the second professor who is gone after the incident. sandra sellers was fired thursday. alejandro mayorkas has directed fema to help with children at the southern border. fema will support the government's efforts to safely receive, shelter, and transfer unaccompanied children. secretary mayorkas said his goal is to transfer children into the care of the department of health and services as quickly as possible. more of "the week with joshua johnson" after the break. ♪ a pair of jeans that fit just right ♪ ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. psst! psst! allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! you're good. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ hey limu! 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million. last spring, george floyd's death sparked months of protests across the world. protests that have not stopped. the settlement comes just weeks before the trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin. he is the first of four former officers set to stand trial for mr. floyd's death. nbc's shaquille brewster is following the trial in minneapolis. hey, shaq. >> reporter: hi, joshua. george floyd's family traveled to the city of minneapolis for the announcement of that record settlement. you said it, $27 million, it's a record for the city of minneapolis and one that was approved by the city council unanimously. it was a vote of 13-0. this happened actually during what was a regularly scheduled meeting of the city council. we saw them break into closed session, come out of closed session and announce that record settlement with that unanimous vote. if you look at the history of the city of minneapolis, yes, this is a record payout. but it comes just about two years after they settled with another family involved in a police-involved killing. that family received $20 million. and when you talk to the family and listen to what we heard from the family and the family's attorney, they want there to be a financial burden, a financial cost for what they consider police misconduct. they say they want this settlement to be a wake-up call not just for police departments across the country but for cities considering police reforms across the country. to that point, the family, after announcing the settlement, they went to the exact area, the spot in the community where george floyd was killed. they got on their knee and laid some flowers and committed to dedicating $500,000 of that settlement to that exact community. it's an intersection that is still closed off to this day where there is a giant memorial there that the city is still debating over what exactly to do with that area. they're committing to investing to that committee and challenged other companies to do the same. the key distinction here, and we continue to hear this is an historic settlement, the key distinction is that this happened before the criminal trial of derek chauvin. that is taking place in the courtroom behind me. we know the jury selection process is well under way. so far, seven potential jurors have been seated or seven of the potential jurors have been seated. that's about half of the 12 jurors and the two alternates they're aiming to seat at this point. the majority are men, two are women. the majority are white, three are of color and the age ranges from 20s to 30s. the latest juror to be seated is in her 40s. this process will continue. court is out of session this weekend, we'll see it pick back up next week. one thing we're seeing with the jury selection process is it gets a little bit more detailed, a little bit more specific than what we're used to in a jury selection process. you're hearing questions of these jurors not just of what do you do in your spare time or where do you work, explain your job, but you're hearing questions about their politics. what do you think about the law enforcement community, what do you think about the black lives matter movement, did you attend a protest after the death of george floyd. you get a sense that these jurors are being asked what their ideas are, what they have seen with this video. most of the jurors that have been seated have said they have seen and are familiar with the video of george floyd under the knee of former police officer derek chauvin. the key distinction, something that has been emphasized by the judge and by the defense in this case is they believe they can set aside what they've seen already, set aside any idea of the situation and be an impartial juror on that panel. as i said, jury selection will resume on monday. the judge has slated up to three weeks for this jury selection process and we know opening statements are set to begin on march 29 here in the city of minneapolis. joshua? >> thank you, shaq. that was nbc's shaquille brewster reporting from minneapolis. today demonstrators gathered in louisville to mark one year since the death of breonna taylor. she was shot dead in her apartment last month by police officers executing a no-knock search warrant. today president biden tweeted condolences to her family and called for passing a landmark police reform bill. let's continue with nbc's antonia hylton in louisville. >> reporter: hi, joshua. throughout the day today hundreds of people have been descending on downtown louisville to pay their respects to breonna taylor's family and make their opinions known about needed police reforms in the city of louisville. people have been singing, crying, and sharing memories throughout the day. who you hear when you talk to residents in the city, while they're grateful for a series of reforms that have been passed here, what they really feel is that justice cannot be served until someone is charged and held accountable as directly responsible for causing breonna taylor's death. tamika palmer, her mother, has been speaking out over the last several days. she's called on the commonwealth attorney in the city to take you want mantle and try to charge the officers. she's written a letter to president biden asking for his attention and assistance in this case. she spoke with msnbc's lindsey reiser and kendis gibson this morning. i want you to take a listen to this. >> i never cared about a judgment. it was never about that for me. it was, i still didn't get what i came for and that's justice. so the money means absolutely nothing. it won't help me get over the fact of what happened. breonna doesn't benefit from that. it does nothing for us. >> reporter: joshua, you can hear so much of the pain in tamika palmer's voice in that conversation. so much of that is reflected in the community here. many people see themselves and their children reflected back in the story from breonna taylor's family. and now there is a new level of urgency here because just two days ago, the kentucky senate has passed a bill that would criminalize insulting or heckling police officers at protests just like the one taking place here all day today. and activists tell me they believe this is a direct response to the movement that has been launched out of this city and a direct response to the story of breonna taylor. >> thank you, nbc's antonia hylton reporting from louisville. up next, it's been a year since curtains went down on broadway. performers are eager to do it again and get paid for it. the star of "jagged little pill" joins us when we come back. ins k now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? it all starts with an invitation... ...to experience lexus. the invitation to lexus sales event. get 0% apr financing on the 2021 rx 350. experience amazing at your lexus 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elizabeth stanley starred in the musical "jagged little pill" which led the tony awards including best musical. congratulations, first of all, on the tony nomination. i know it's been a pretty wild year, including with the news that theaters will slowly begin to reopen, mostly some of the smaller ones. what have you been doing in the last weeks, last few days, perhaps in anticipation of being able to get back onstage? >> oh, gosh. you know, one of the most fun things i've gotten to do during this past year was tom kitt who orchestrated "jagged little pill" reached out to my mid-pandemic and said, i want to create something, he's a brilliant composer, he said, can you come up with lyrics, whatever moves you in this time and is speaking to you. i've never done that before. it took me a long time, i had lots of, "no, that goes in the trash can." but i ended up coming up with this sort of poem that he is he set to music and we were in the recording studio last week. it's so much fun to be collaborating with human beings again. >> is that what a number of performers have been doing? it seems like you hear stories of performers finding ways to stay on their craft and others who may be pivoting to other forms of revenue just to kind of pay the bills. >> yeah, i mean, i think it's combo platter, right? whatever it takes to piecemeal a living during this time. i definitely feel like when i just did my taxes, i was like, oh, it wasn't horrific, there were, you know, enough small things that came in. a lot of small performance things that were virtual. and some other that were just like crafts, i got really into tie dyeing over the summer and smaller things that had nothing to do with the performing arts that were a great distraction. >> we spoke yesterday on peacock to a number of broadway professionals including brian stokes mitchell about how he envisions the future of broadway. >> what i'm imagining is the ovation, that these theaters are going to hear when those curtains go up for the very first time and the lights go on on the stage and you see once again a cast assembled on broadway doing what we do best and doing the thing that people are craving, live theater. >> i'm dying to go back to the theater. but i wonder how that's going to work in a post-covid broadway, particularly since theaters on broadway are pretty tight spaces. it's hard to socially distance, it's inherently collaborative. what do you imagine your workplace to be like when the theaters reopen after covid? >> it's a great question. and i've thought about it a lot. i do think it will be different, right? physically it will be different and emotionally it will be different. i think we've learned a lot about ourselves as people, as representation within our industry, all of that. so i think that will be different, the way that we treat each other, the way disputes are handled. i think there will be a lot more understanding and a lot more space given for those things. so on an emotional level i think it's -- i hope it will be even better. and physically, you know, the nature of what we do feels so intimate, so much hugging and singing in each other's spaces. i think some of that will have to be what it is, which is part of why we have to wait until it feels really safe. but i do think it will be thrilling, like brian was saying, hearing that first downbeat of the overture is just going to be like truly like a rock concert which our show often feels like a rock concert but it will feel through the roof when it comes back. >> you had been planning a wedding that was postponed by covid. as i understand it, you were planning a small, intimate gathering. what do you plan to do once it's safer to gather again? still keeping it small? >> you know, i don't know. probably, although i was just saying to someone recently, after this year of not being able to see anyone, i just want to which the biggest party with everyone i love there. so we'll see if that's possible. >> yes. yes. >> right? don't you just want that, you want to go to a huge party and just stay out all night? >> times square, block it off from 41st to 46th, yes. >> i think that's affordable. >> yes. i totally get this desire of, once i can gather, i just miss being around people. >> that's right, get me on that subway full of people, i'm in. >> exactly. i am in, get me on the subway. don't touch me, but get on the subway. i think about the last broadway shows i have seen, "to kill a mockingbird," freestyle love supreme, "network" at the bell asco, "harry potter and the cursed child." it's been a long time since i went to a broadway show and did not leave floating on air. i encourage everybody watching, please tell them, broadway, take my money, because everything on broadway is worth seeing including "jagged little pill" starring elizabeth stanley, it's playing at the broadhurst theater or will be soon. elizabeth, thank you so much and best of luck. >> thanks for having me. be well. coming up. >> if grandparents have been vaccinated, they can visit their daughter and her family. >> the beautiful reunions grandparents are having with their families. it's going to make you smile. that's just ahead. stay close. if you have risk factors like heart disease, diabetes and raised triglycerides,... ...vascepa can give you something to celebrate. ♪ vascepa, when added to your statin,... ...is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. vascepa is clearly different. first and only fda approved. celebrate less risk. even for those with family history. ♪ don't take vascepa if you are... ...or become allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people... ...with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had them in the past. tell your doctor if you experience an irregular heartbeat or other heart rhythm problems. possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. celebrate less risk. added cardio protection. talk to your doctor about adding protection with vascepa. psst! psst! talk to your doctor about adding protection allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! you're good. instantly clear every day congestion with vicks sinex saline nasal mist. for drug free relief that works fast. vicks sinex. instantly clear everday congestion. (vo) nobody dreams in conventional thinking. it didn't get us to the moon. it doesn't ring the bell on wall street. or disrupt the status quo. t-mobile for business uses unconventional thinking to help you realize new possibilities. like our new work from anywhere solutions, so your teams can collaborate almost anywhere. plus customer experience that finds solutions in the moment. ...and first-class benefits, like 5g with every plan. network, support and value without any tradeoffs. that's t-mobile for business. one of the hardest things in this pandemic has been the social isolation not just from our friends but our families, particularly our grandparents. over this past year, we've become accustomed to videos of seniors waving to their children and grandchildren from windows or celebrating their birthdays with car parades. my grandmother did that as well. but new cdc guidelines this week renewed hopes for grandparents to hug their grandkids again. >> if grandparents have been vaccinated, they can visit their daughter and her family even if they have not been vaccinated, as long as the daughter and her family are not at risk for severe disease. >> we asked grandparents in our audience what this increase in vaccinations means for them. i know what it means for my grandmother, it means i'm booking a ticket to west palm beach, florida, angel, i'm coming to see you as soon as i can. sally writes, i haven't seen my 3-year-old grandson since january of 2020. he's in massachusetts and i'm in florida. i'll be fully vaccinated april 7th and he and my daughters will be the first place i'm going. zoom is nice but grandma needs a hug. debbie writes, yesterday my husband and i stood in the rain with our 5-year-old grandson. we just stood under an umbrella and hugged and loved. it was incredibly sweet. we are fully vaccinated but he is in kindergarten so we stay masked. vickie writes, my adult kids and new granddaughter are the only people i've been with for the past year. i live alone so this interaction has been a very important part of my life. i live in a rural area so i am blessed to be able to spend time outside where it's safe. just received my first injection yesterday of pfizer. and finally, terry sent us this video. >> i received my first vaccine dose from pfizer about two weeks ago and i'm going to go back in another two weeks to receive my second and final vaccine. i'll be so glad when we finally get done with this pandemic. i lost numerous family members and friends to this disease. i can't wait to see my family and friends and get back to normalcy. especially i can't wait to see my great grandpa who is in his 90s, still kicking it. >> terry, i'm sorry you lost loved ones and i know you're getting forward to getting back to the people you love. thanks to everybody for sharing your stories with us. none of these reunions would be possible without the great folks administering the vaccines. now the federal government needs help recruiting more of them. if you are a health care professional, retiree or a student, you can see if you qualify to volunteer online. the website is phe, as in public health emergency, phe.gov/covidvaccinators. if you still need your shot, visit planyourvaccine.com, a state by state guide. this has been a week to reflect on our lives during the pandemic. i'll share some of what's kept me grounded during this difficult year before we go. yea. . and survivors. it was interesting to think about their lives... their successes... and...their hardships. i think that's part of what i want my kids to know. they come from people who... were brave. and took risks. big risks. no pressure. 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then finally my whole livestream. boom! 12 months of $5 wireless. visible, as little as $25 a month or $5 a month when you bring a friend. powered by verizon. wireless that gets better with friends. . . one of our guests tonight was a blast from the past for me, a reminder of life before the pandemic, before christina greer was a guest, we were guest on other shows here. here we are in november 2018 ahead of the midterms in the studio. sometimes none of this feels real. that's what this look on my face means. i'm having that petrified grin that says, well, this is happening. it's the same look i had on the elevator heading out that day, that look of, well, this is real. you're really here and this is really happening. all right. let's go. this week i spent some time going through pictures on my phone because it's not just been a year of covid for me. it's also a year of living and working in new york. i moved here for this job about a month before everything shut down. this life change insulated me from the worst. i went through two life changes. one was covid and the other was suppressing my inner 10-year-old. broadcasting was my dream and it came true. i took these pictures to make this dream feel like reality. we were already expecting 2020 to be a wild year with the election. i got hired just in time to sit on a panel the night of the new hampshire primary. there's no way to convey how surreal it is to step through the tv and sit down on the other side next to people you admire. thank god for that daze, that heavy rush because it made the tragedies easier to deal with. in march 2020, the world health organization declared covid-19 a pandemic. on that day i was standing in this spot beginning to shift from what we expected to what we never saw coming. >> welcome to a special hour of msnbc focused on the coronavirus outbreak which the world health organization is now calling a pandemic. i'm chris jansing. >> we were expecting senator sanders to speak any moment one day after joe biden increased his delegate lead over the vermont senator. let's listen in. >> it's so wild now looking into the distant past. i mean, seeing other people here in studio 3a behind dr. natalie azar or sitting that close together at the main desk, feels like forever ago. and that haircut, but that's another conversation. all this is kind of pathetic, i know. i sound like a dad looking at a scrapbook of his newborn. baby's first special coverage and look, baby's first time as a guest on "weekend today." he was so eloquent. here's a good one. baby's first makeup consultation. he's really learned how to blend. i get it. i sound ridiculous. you have every right to roll your eyes. but i'm one of the few people who never broadcast through home through this. i sent a lot of time here and 30 rock got very quiet very quickly. it was eerie, almost like it was a company holiday and nobody told me. i spent a few months anchoring on the weekends and between shows i would walk around the studios to clear my head. sometimes i was halfway expecting a tour group to get off the elevator or someone was going to jump out of a corner for a gag in a late-night show. but there was no one. the first year of this pandemic i held onto the things that grave me hope. for a while that made me feel incredibly guilty, prospering when others were suffering. i refused to let it become my ivory tower. two things are helping me. the first one, and this is a big one, gratitude. rockefeller center is a tourist attraction. it's okay to have moments of delight and wonder, especially in a place like this. if you ever take the tour here, look for these pipes near studio 6b. jim henson's team decorated them in 1964 while they were waiting to go on the jack par program. this wrench with a note reads with love from the muppets. with so much ugliness in the world, why not look for things to appreciate and be grateful for? the sadness is going to come sooner or later, and in this case it was sooner. i took these pictures the day before memorial day, and the next day george floyd was dead. that friday i caught these protesters after they stopped traffic in manhattan and converged in times square. no wonder i still marvel at this place. it's easy for me to be grateful. and sometimes i need all the gratitude i can get. that's the first thing. the second is engraved on 30 rock itself. one more tip if you ever visit here. go to the east entrance of the building, the fifth avenue side. over the entrance san art deco sculpture. wisdom and knowledge, if there's one thing our times need right now, it's stability. if there's one thing i can help with, it's knowledge and hopefully a little wisdom too. i can help with that. i can help, and that's the second thing keeping me going, purpose, having a task to focus on that connects me to others, in this case, to you. it takes me out of myself, away from my fear and my pain many times. you know, someday this building will fill up with people again, as will the streets of new york, as will the streets of your town. survivors guilt is going to be hell on some of us. hopefully we'll all find ways to go from guilt to gratitude. we'll look back at the pain and then look forward with purpose. and maybe we'll all be more resilient empathetic, grounded, and grateful. life makes us say i'm really here and this is really happening. all right. let's go. with that said, we would love to hear from you and to see you too. remember, i can join us sunday evening tomorrow night 9:00 p.m. eastern after the mehdi hassan show. until we meet again, i'm joshua johnson. thank you for making time for us. good night. the invitation to lexus sales event. get 0% apr financing on the 2021 is 300. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn get 0% apr financing on the 2021 is 300. before it begins? 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