joe biden ask kamala harris. >> the most progressive legislation in a generation. >> one of the most sweeping federal recovery efforts in history. >> the exexpansion of the child tax credit that's going to cut in half childhood poverty. >> it demonstrates a government that's working for the people. >> the bill is amended is passed. [ applause ] >> that's what it sounds like. today president biden back out at work touring a medical center distributing vaccines to veterans. the landmark bill is the first major legislative victory of the biden era. about $2 trillion. the house expected to vote on wednesday. they are racing so it will get president biden's signature before any unemployment benefits would expire in mid-march. it includes $1400 stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits, another $50 billion for loans for small businesss around the nation, $14 billion for vaccine distribution, a large program that supports children, more on that part tonight. and these checks are slated to be in the mail by the end of the month. that's what they call news you can use. relief coming amidst new progress. 31 million americans as of tonight fully vccinated. the rate increasing as a third vaccine comes into play. the u.s. hit a record 2.9 million vaccines in a single day just right here on saturday. the results can be seen as well in what is now a precipitous fall since the peak of covid in early january when the u.s. was hitting about a quarter million cases a day. now cases falling over 10% the last two weeks. the same with the grim death rate. it's now down 10% over the last two weeks. then this part is key. a number of hospitalizations over the last two weeks. 29%. president biden has drawn many different contrasts with the last president including a willingness to deal directly with the deaths with the tough news regardless of how it might play politically. the last president would have lied about this kind of bad news. and now biden aids say he will summit if ongoing credibility he's building for what they see as a partially good news address that's coming thursday night. president biden will mix some of that encouraging data i just shared with you along with his argument that americans need to have resolve in the next phase going forward. thursday will be america's one year anniversary of when this pandemic was declared a national emergency. let's get right into it right now. we are joined by cornell belcher, and welcoming back joan walsh, national affairs correspondent for "the nation." good to have you both here. cornell, i want your view on this split aspect. no matter how good the news is, we all know what we're living through. we know hospitalization and deaths continue. so does no way a leader spike a football and yet you want people to get around the corner by saying help is on the way. money is on the way. if you keep doing the right things, the end of the pandemic may be on the way. >> despite a lot of history, americans want to be optimistic about the future. and i think the president gives them the real, but also a sense that we're beginning to turn the corner on this. and all they did is that americans want to get back to normal. they want their lives back. and it seems we have a professional adult in the white house who is just simply doing the work. it's not tweeting. he's not picking fights. hooeps not calling names. hooeps doing the work of government and making government government competent again. joe biden is making government competent and working for the american people. there's a sense we are beginning to turn the corner and americans are getting more optimistic. we have to tap that down because americans could get out of control. but there's a sense that it's going to be morning in america again. >> you also just said something that is straight forward but is worth reflecting on. when the work is good, you don't need to tweet as much. it makes me think of a jamaican saying that others have used. which is good work doesn't have to advertise. when the work is good enough, it doesn't even need to advertise itself. i'm wondering as a pollster and you have a advised obama and biden white house, now we're in the biden/harris white house, what does it mean when you see $2 trillion coming that they are not having to promote negative nestly if people are going to get the checks and get the reality? >> i think you can bring politics in it because i'm your resident political hack. but when government is impacting millions of americans in a real i way, the government doesn't really impact millions of americans in a daily way, but when you're getting a stimulus they can check that you need from the government, when you're getting rent assistance that so many unemployed working families need, when you're getting an tension of unemployment, these are concrete actions that "morning joe" is delivering in a way we haven't seen a president deliver since perhaps fdr. fpz. >> i agree. i think this is the momentous. i don't think we have seen anything like this since the great society. it might go back to fdr. it relates to fdr because what biden and democrats have done is begin to rebuild the opportunity structure that the new deal put in place in the '30s and '40s that built middle class consciously left out a lot of black people, people of color, but these are the building blocks of new ladders of opportunity for working people, low income people, middle class people. and i think it's a big deal. i don't think they should spike the football, but i agree with cornell. people really enjoy good news and they want to be optimistic. so i think there's a balancing act, but so far biden has played it really well. he learned from the obama administration in some way that you do have to blow your own horn, you have to explain to people what you're doing and why it's making a difference. you can combine that realism about, hey, we saw the doctor today. we're not out of of the woods yet. don't go to bars. last thing on this. i think that that message actually, in some ways, helps people postpone gratification. i'm not going to take off my mask because we are getting chorus. so i think you can give some good news and still have realism. you add them together, and i think you have a recipe to continue doing the things we need to do. >> yeah, i want to bring you in on something you had written about in multiple forms, books and articles. progressive social policy, which is sometimes treated in washington as either obviously unaffordable or just some sort of, quote, unquote, liberal pipe dream. joe biden was not known as a leader on some of this stuff, but he's committed to support ing and signing it, which means it's going to be real. i want to get your analysis for viewers and something you know a bit about, which is the long-term push for better family support including working and families in the stimulus bill. they call in the times a a policy revolution in aid for children. guaranteed income for families of children. children's allowances that are common in center left democracies. more than 93% of children, 69 million people in america would receive these benefits ushd the plan. the one-year cost is big. $100 billion with democrats, especially liberal democrats saying the goal is to get this done now, which they are and then make it permanent so there's long-term support for families in america. a huge deal. your thoughts? >> a huge deal. $3,000 a year if you have small kids. i think it's huge. you're right to say this is fundamental in other advanced western, rich, wealthy countries. but it does feel like the covid nightmare has made americans see what government can do. the trump administration made us all see what it can can do in a bad way. tearing apart families at the border. and also the total incompetence and lying about handling this challenge. so it's a great opportunity for joe biden. i think it's also important that he said we'd rather go big than go too small. so i think that times piece was mind blowing. that number is hugely important. i think we continue it. it's only for one year so it's possible it will be clawed back. but as long as republicans are debating, dr. seuss, think don't have appetite for policy. they have racism and resentment. there's not a lot of pushback. but there will over time. i hope as well as pushback, there's real excitement about what this is doing for families. it's innovative and really important. >> i think that you make really key points here. and for all of us viewers, stand alone program just to help working families and low-income families, who are struggling in the pandemic. we know politically that stand alone might be harder to pass or get a floor vote in both chambers. and yet here as part of this fast action with 51 votes needed, it's now passing, which means, yes, it's democracy. it's a huge deal for working families. cornell, i did want to bring in something we talk about policy. lindsey graham to give credit where it's due, he's stepped up and engaging in a serious way about the policy issues. just kidding. that doesn't happen. but i will as our political expert, i will have you take a swing on the republican side where lindsey graham has been talking about trump magic and the dark side john mccain's widow has been pushing back. >> there's something about trump. there's a dark side and there's some magic there. what i'm trying to do is harness the magic. >> i just don't believe that our party can survive by appealing to the dark side of humanity. >> cornell, there's so many ways to go, but i give you the floor for the magic. tell us about the magic. >> the magic is racism, i guess. the magic is the republican brand is worse off now than it was when george bush left it. certainly, a bigger party than it is right now. you have someone who is defeated as a sitting president. joe biden garnered more votes than anyone has in defeating him. they lost the senate. they lost the house. the kind of magic that they sprinkle around, if you're a democrat, you to like it. the more in the face of the republican party, i think the harder it becomes for them to win back those suburban women and desperately need to win back. >> all very good points. 12k3w4r. >> i think donald trump harnessed lindsey graham a long time ago. i agree, it's going to be very hard. all they really got is voter suppression and gerrymandering. i'm afraid of both those things. we can't be comply sant. in terms of appealing to the electorate now, they are going the wrong way. a lot of them know it. >> the magic of racism. >> this you go. cornell giving us phrases. i do think when someone speaks for a living, lindsey graham may pretend to be something else. he's fine with his words. this many years in when everything corr net just said, the old lindsey fwra ham used to say. he called donald trump a bigt bigot. he then was a able to stand up to it. now he's reduced to words. defending someone you used to call a bigot is giving magic that you can't explain what's so great about it. it speaks for itself. i want to thank you both. we'll be seeing more of you. we have our shortest break. later tonight we have a gop mayor that will, main why one thing biden is doing. the bill so bad a republican is boycotting the debate and why is racketeering coming off in a new trump case. back in just 30 seconds. case back in just 30 seconds. from...tony's tex mex...in... katy. (doorbell) (giggle) do ya think they bought it? oh yeah. while nothing can stop people from exercising their most sacred power as a citizen, there are those that will do anything they can to take that power away. >> that's president biden speaking on the bloody sunday verse ri addressing some of the new splauling nationwide attack on voting rights. one place we're seeing it is in georgia. the senate passed a bill to roll back voting rights. provisions include limits on absentee voting, eliminating no excuse absentee voting. the bill has been so dogged by controversy that now the number two republican official in the state is actually boycotting the session, refusing to oversee the debate saying he poses all of to. it's happening in large part for part son reasons. georgia went blue in the presidential election and senate runoffs and gave the majority needed to pass the other big thing in america right now. the covid checks that are on their way to your household in the stimulus bill. georgia is also ground zero for another reason. it's in place where president trump was caught abusing his power. trying to get a top elections official to, quote, find him votes he didn't get. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have why wouldn't you want to find the right answer, brad. because those numbers are so wrong. >> that was not okay. that was not normal then. just sweeping it under the rug risks normalizing it now. it's very important that the country keep this in mind. donald trump is facing a criminal investigation in georgia for that call and other things for a reason. because election interference is still illegal. now there are new reports that one of the top racketeering prosecutors has been enb listed to support that very trump throw. we think we have the perfect expert to get into this, right after the break. fpz expert to get into this, rigt after the break. fp your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ♪ woman: now is the time to ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. to support a strong immune system, your body needs routine. now is the time to ask your centrum helps your immune defenses every day, with vitamin c, d and zinc. season, after season. ace your immune support, with centrum. 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[music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [music: “you're the best” by joe esposito] [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade and take charge of your finances today. so you're a small business, don't get mad. or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. . welcome back. we're joined by former acting solicitor general. my first question is simple. trump, georgia, racketeering, go. >> well, i mean, look, i'm glad trump has finally found his footing. the racketeering case is just about the only job that's appropriate these days. what's happened in georgia the last couple days is they hired an outside prosecutor, an expert this racketeering, literally wrote the book on prosecuting state racketeering. and the district attorney there as well as there has a good deal of experience in prosecuting racketeering cases. it's not surprising that this news is coming. she said on february 10th in a letter that everyone needs to preserve their documents not because of racketeering investigation. racketeering means there could be some pretty serious criminal charges if charges are brought. >> let many read from some of the reporting. if trump engaged in two or more acts that involve these false statements, you could piece together a violation of the racketeering a act. and i'm curious what you think given the equities here. he's not above the law. hooets citizen now. but prosecutors talk about having the gods to get 12 people to a guilty verdict. do you think that normal standard is best to apply here or do you think under the rule of law if the evidence is strong enough, but there's real world hesitancy a about what a jury would do, should a prosecutor lean towards following the evidence or following the jury issues, which i think even you would acknowledge may be real, particularly some states. >> you have to follow the evidence. every time. nobody can be above the law. you can't have a separate standard of justice for some people or just too difficult to prosecute. racketeering is often really about violent crimes like murder or kidnapping, but georgia finds it more broadly to include false statements made to state officials. and here trump does have a defense. what he's going to say is i was falsifying information. i genuinely believed i had won the election. now ordinarily, that kind of defense wouldn't pass the smell test, but when you're dealing with delusion, maybe he's dpot a defense there. that's what's they are going to find out. the investigation is not just about trump. it's also about lindsey graham, rudy giuliani, the u.s. attorney and some others. and any of those folks can clip on trump. i heard you talking about lindsey graham paling around with donald trump. he might be the possibility that he might be paling around with donald trump because he's hoping trump will let something slip that lindsey graham can use in exchange for a deal. >> all very interesting. so important to stay on these cases given what already went down in the public realm. thank you. you can always go to msnbc.com for neil's breakdowns, which we appreciate. we're turning now to a legal case that has a legal matter. neil is not commenting on it because he's been named special prosecutor. the jury selection of the murder trial. it's expected to begin tomorrow of the former minneapolis police officer charged with murder and second degree manslaughter in the death of george floyd. there's also potential third degree charge that might be reintated. we got a look at the jury selection questionnaire, which asked jurors about a range of issues including do they have a favorable or unfavorable view of blm or support defunding police. we're going to stay on that story. right now, after the break, gon infighting hitting republicans in a money war. and a republican mayor now telling republicans in washington just get behind biden stimulus. it works and it's needed in the community. our special guest, next. e community. our special guest, next. 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