or loathe the price, it's a big deal. it sets the tone in washington for two years with direct payments going to about 90% of households and money for the unemployed and those who have children and can't pay rent or bills. >> this is the most kcons consequential legislation many of us will ever be a party to. what knows what the future will bring but nonetheless on this day we celebrate. >> now, whether it's a success may depend on what happens next. though, a massive messaging blitz and sales pitch is underway. tomorrow president biden holds the first prime time address and next tuesday stops in the home state of pennsylvania which he narrowly won last year and republicans today rolling out their counter arguments, as well. >> we're doing damage to the future of this country spending dramatically more money than we obviously need. we're about to have a boom, and if we do have a boom, it will have nothing to do with this $1.9 trillion. >> not a single republican lawmaker voted for the bill. according to a cnn poll 61% of people favor the bill and put that in perspective, it's ten points higher than the president's approval rating in the cnn poll. 66% of americans say it will help. 28% say a lot. 38% say some. today president biden called it a historic victory and said it proves we can do big things. perspective from our chief political analyst gloria borger and john king. john, a 1.9 trillion covid relief bill is what president biden asked for coming into office, it's his 50th day as president. he got it. this is obviously a major win for him. the scope and scale of the legislation is really huge and maybe a lot of us haven't even wrapped our arms around how big it really is. how much does the president and country have riding on it? >> the country has a lot riding on it when you think about the covid toll whether the economy, case count, death, stress on the american psyche after the last year we've lived through. will this help end food lines for example? we've seen long lines at food banks? this will help poverty and children going hung aary across america. this is a giant win on day 50. next year, a year from now what does this big win do to shape the 2022 midterm climate? is the economy back? are most americans vaccinated? are schools open? are people going to baseball games? this comes together. this piece of legislation we focus a lot and progressives were arguing why are you taking out the minimum wage and targeting benefits and shrinking unemployment payments. we focused on the fights. when we look at the final bill, this is lyndon johnson and fdr and a giant progressive rewrite of the federal safety net and a giant role for the federal government. all the republicans voted no. if the economy bounces back and we get out of the health part of this pandemic, the president and democrats will claim credit for it. we have to implement it. that's hard. joe biden knows how to run the government, now he has to prove it. >> roger wicker of mississippi tweeted today after the bill passed the house, he tweeted independent restaurant operators won $28.6 billion worth of targeted relief. this funding will ensure small businesses can survive the pandemic by helping to adapt operations and keep employees on the payroll. sounds like he's all for it and it was part of passing it. he actually voted against the bill as did every single republican in the congress. >> yeah. >> what does it say to you now that he's boasting about part of it? he says it's not -- he can do both, that yes, he didn't say he voted against it but liked this part of the bill but didn't like the cost of the whole thing. >> there is a technical term for what he did and it called hootspa. he voted against the bill but wants to tell restaurant owners in his state that yeah, that t this is going to help you. this is the entire republican problem in messaging right now. they're pushing a ball up the hill and what he's trying to do is say yeah, because i voted against the whole thing doesn't mean there weren't parts of it i didn't like. remember after the barack obama stimulus bill, i remember those republicans who were going to ribbon cuttings at new projects even though they voted against the stimulus and that's what i think you're going to see here. you're going to see republicans in whatever way they can if this is a success, try to take credit for it even though they voted against it. it completely absurd, but what else can they do? >> they were against it before they were for it. >> well, right, yeah, i've heard that one, too, yeah. >> john, democrats saying president obama didn't get the credit he deserved for the stimulus bill back in 2009 and want to avoid that happening here. that's why or part of the reason why he'll hit the road to promote the bill across the u.s. how challenging is it going to be to make sure the execution of this new law is both, you know, efficient and fast? >> there is two important pieces of it. one is the inside washington part. can the irs do the work it has to do to make sure people get tax credits? can the other federal agencies do work they have to do to make sure the checks run smoothly? president biden cannot afford a rerun of the website if you will. the program is a signature piece of your presidency. you promised in the campaign. i can run the government, i get it. i'm going to bring a team in that can perform on day one. they must perform in implementing this and sell it outside of washington as gloria notes, republicans in washington say no. some may show up at ribbon cuttings, the vaccine rollout and schools are open. republicans in washington say no. joe biden has to talk to his own voters, latino voters and democrats got timid in the obama administration. it took along time for the economy to bounce back and the stimulus wasn't working. obamacare took a long time to kick in. it was unpopular at the beginning. he's telling democrats help me. don't make me the only salesman. democrats have to do this in unisome. democrats have to say it a trophy. >> gloria, predictions of what it will do to the economy, some say it will be great and some say it will lead to inflation. how much of the bill's story is yet to be written and how much will shape the legacy? >> in a way all of it is to be written. there is child tax credits that have to be written. it's really important how this is implemented. biden is in charge of the implementing the stimulus package and they used to call him the sheriff of the white house because he was so involved in every single detail making sure that the money did not go to waste. that there was no fraud. you know about the stories coming out that the states have been given all this money and they are skaunquandering it and spending it properly and wasting your money. so you know where his head is at because he did it once before. maybe he'll tell kamala harris to be the person who does it this time but that is what part of legacy will be about and nobody can predict of course what is going to happen with the economy. >> gloria borger, john king, thank you. we're joined by chair of the congressional progressive caucus. thank you for being with us. speaker pelosi called this the most consequential legislation many of us will be party to. what is your message tonight to americans out there who are desperate for help and putting a lot of hopes on this bill? >> my message tonight and it's great to be with you, anderson, my message tonight is help is on the way. real tangible help. money in your pockets. a family of four is going to get checks for $5600. you got two kids, you're going to get another $6000 in child tax credit. if you're on enemployment and worried that will go away, we extend the it to $300 through the beginning of september. but on top of that, we got rental assistance in here. we have, you know, the biggest investment in child care. we've got money for schools to open so parents can have some hope again that their kids are going to be able to go back to school and be supported. we've got money for state and local governments and vaccine distribution because we have to crush the virus if we're going to be able to resume our activities. so that's my message. really simple. help is on the way, and it's going directly to the people every single piece of this package. >> so it didn't have republican support but one gop senator is taking credit for some of the bills potential impact. what does that tell you? are you skeptical about the prospects for bipartisanship down the road? if something this big and seemingly popular at this stage if you look at the polls couldn't bring republicans on board? >> it's a very big tactical mistake for republicans and you see republicans trying to claim credit for some of the things in the bill because they have to go home to their constituents and this bill has 76% approval across the country and they're going to have to try to explain why they voted no on a package that puts money in people's pockets and that helps people survive this terrible set of crisis that we're in right now. so i think, you know, they're going to have to make a decision if they are going to continue to obstruct us every step of the way or if they're going to roll up their sleeves and be part of the solution. we're not going to slow down what we do. we're not going to make what we do less because the crisis is too important and i think president biden understands that. that's whey he came out with $1.9 trillion and stuck to that. that's why we progressives pushed so hard to make the bill as progressive as it is and we're really committed to delivering for the people. >> one question not about the bill, today you called for ethics investigations into republican members of congress, lauren, moe brooks and paul gosar based on their potential roles in what you called instigating and aiding the capitol insurrection on january 6th. they denied wrongdoing. do you believe they intentionally put lives at risk? do you think they knew what was going to happen? >> i asked for an investigation for that reason. i fear that is the case. but the proper way to go about it is to call for an investigation, which is what we did. so i sent letters to both the office of congressional ethics and the house ethics committee because they both have the ability to investigate this and i would like to know and i gave a lot of evidence that's public but i think there is a lot of private evidence, anderson, that we haven't seen yet and the house ethics committee and the office of ethics will be able to look at all of the evidence and make a determination on the conduct of these individuals because i will tell you that having people who say the things that have been said that go to the kinds of events they go to who promote the ideas and conspiracy theories they promote is dangerous for all of congress. it undermines our credibility as a governing branch and i think that is inappropriate and i think it does not match our ethics standards of conduct 245 are clearly articulated in our house rules. >> congresswoman thank you. more political fights over covid including a deadline in texas that just passed setting up a fight between authorities over local mask mandates. the mayor in austin is going to join us. >> two legal matters confronting the former president, one involving michael cohen and a taped conversation after losing the election, john dean is here to talk about both when we continue. powerful claritin-d. claritin-d improves nasal airflow two times more than the leading allergy spray at hour one. 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(doorbell) (giggle) do ya think they bought it? oh yeah. rc news breaking in texas tonight where a legal fight is heating up between the state attorney general and local officials in austin. a short time ago a deadline passed for those officials to resend a local order requiring face masks. this was their response, the end of the governor's mask mandate that occurred today. the state attorney general said he'll sue if local officials do not compile. mayor steve adler who will join us in a moment said they will not back down. it is one example of how increased vaccinations and declining cases put some state officials at odds with local officiouses and private businesses over the best way forward. more from our ed lavandera. >> reporter: feelings of frustration and dread as businesses are allowed to fully reopen and the statewide mask mandate in texas is lifted. this houston restaurant owner says he doesn't understand why governor greg abbott is turning him into the mask police. >> we have been hurt the most, and requiring us now to take a side on the masks isn't right in my opinion. >> reporter: for some it's triggered an emotional reminder what's been lost in the last year. 38-year-old jonathan martinez died of covid. his mother says the texas reopening is a kick of stomach. >> my son left six children behind, two of the youngest are 6 and 4 years old. they don't understand why their daddy isn't coming home. >> reporter: other states are now pushing ahead to reopen, as well. utah will lift its mask mandate on april 10th. in maryland start thing friday, capacity limits will be lifted for restaurants, retail stores and other businesses but masking and spacing protocols stay. health officials are urging caution as more than a dozen states are easing restrictions with more in the coming days and weeks. >> when you start doing things like completely putting aside all public health measures as if you're turning a light switch off, that's quite risky. we don't want to see another surge. >> reporter: the renewed fights over mask wearing come as the race to vaccinate americans continues to speed up an average of 2.2 million people now getting the shots every day. alaska is becoming the first state to open vaccinations to people 16 and older. >> we have a real good possibility of getting herd immunity before any other state. >> reporter: more guidelines will be released as more people are fully vaccinated. >> travel? about going out and getting a haircut and things like that? that's all imminently going to be coming out. >> reporter: as the country enters spring break season, california davis is offering 500 students $75 to choose a staycation instead of traveling. >> better than nothing and it helps people maybe on the fence of staying or not staying. >> reporter: and so anderson, as you mentioned, once again this mask mandate highlighting what we've seen here in texas for much of the last year. this wide gap between big city leaders in texas mostly democrat and state republican leadership. the city of austin pushing back on the governor's executive order insisting the mask mandate should remain in place but the attorney general in a tweet this afternoon saying that the masks in austin must be depriving city leadership of oxygen and he was planning on suing. that was supposed to happen a little over an hour ago. we're waiting on word when that lawsuit will be filed. >> ed lavandera, thank you very much. we're joined by the mayor of austin. thank you for being with us. the state attorney general gave until 6:00 p.m. central time to resend the mask mandate. where do things stand now? >> we're not going to resend anything. we told our community we would always be guided by the data and doctors and we'll continue that. the health authority in this area like doctors and all over the country, medical professionals are telling us with e we need to keep the mask mandate in place, that's what he ordered and we're going to enforce his rules. it going to be what it takes to really hold onto the games that we've gotten and we'll continue to do what is right for however long we're able to do that. >> so in austin, what now is the rule that you are holding on to? >> our health authority, dr. escott said masks should be mandated when people leave their homes and are around people of the public. so in retail establishments, when people are together in small groups. the orders that he put into place last summer are still in place and we're still, they're still enforceable here in the city. >> as ed lavenandera mentioned, tweet the attorney general said in part city county leaders must not be thinking clearly and maybe oxygen deprivation. what do you make of the tweet? it's snarky. >> the attorney general tweets at me a lot and and try not to engage at that level. these are serious challenges and serious problems. we still have a lot of people that are dying. we're trying really hard to open up our schools to more and more students in person. we're trying to open up businesses to a greater extent without a risk of rolling back. we have essential workers on the front line being confronted with people potentially that aren't wearing masks. this is serious. we're going to stay serious. we're going to continue to follow the science and the data and the doctors for however long we can here in texas and we've been doing this since the beginning which is why austin has one of the lowest mortality rates in the country. that is hard earned by the people in this community. i am so appreciative of the number of people and businesses that insists they're going to stay with the mask mandate. >> it puts businesses in a really difficult spot, you know, to have whether it's the bartender or the person at the grocery checkout having to enforce, you know, what the business rule is if the companies that -- if the business says that they want masks. it falls on just people who are probably not earning a ton of money to be the mask police and they get treated badly because of it. >> it's really unfortunate and absolutely unnecessary. you know, our businesses have the mask mandate by in large because they want to protech their employees, as well as their customers. when the governor removed the mask mandate, i had a lot of businesses reach out to me very frustrated and upset because they were -- they had been able to say to customers when they came into the store hey, you have to put on a mask. it's not me, it th's the law. when he took that away he took away the ambiguity whether masks work. there should be no ambiguity. these businesses are helped by having a law in place that says you have to wear masks. that's what we have now in austin and we do it in part to be able to protect those retail establishments and those workers that should not be put in the position of being the mask police. >> mayor adler, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. more breaking news, two more signs of possible legal jeopardy for the former president and a story reuters first broke and michael co-win teb talking to prosecutors and audio of the former president talking to another georgia official. all that when we continue. his future became my focus. lavender baths calmed him. so we made a plan to turn bath time into a business. ♪ ♪ so you want to make the best burger ever? 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