infrastructure. the president says he wants a bipartisan plan. question is, how does he get around the battle lines that have already been drawn? and new york state lawmakers open an impeachment inquiry into governor andrew cuomo. the question is, what's next for the governor, now that more members of his own party are turning against him? it's "way too early" for this. good morning! and welcome to "way too early," the show that's jealous of all you in arizona, which doesn't mark daylight saving time. you do not have to spring forward this weekend. i am kasie hunt on this friday, march 12th. we'll start with the news. president biden delivered his first prime time address last night, and he identified two key dates in the battle against the coronavirus. he directed states to make sure all adults are eligible for the vaccine by may 1st. and if all goes well, he says it's possible that small groups could begin gathering again on the fourth of july. >> i promise i will do everything in my power, i will not relent until we beat this virus, but i need you, the american people. i need you. i need every american to do their part. and that's not hyperbole. i need you. i need you to get vaccinated when it's your turn and when you can find an opportunity, and to help your family, your friends, your neighbors, get vaccinated as well. because here's the point -- if we do all this, if we do our part, if we do this together, by july the 4th, there's a good chance you, your families, and friends will be able to get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood or have a cookout or a barbecue and celebrate independence day. that doesn't mean large events with lots of people together, but it does mean small groups will be able to get together after this long, hard year. that will make this independence day something truly special. where we not only mark our independence as a nation, but we begin to mark our independence from this virus. >> the president said the administration will develop new tools to make it easier to get a vaccine, including rolling out a new website. he also said that new guidance is on the way to clarify what fully vaccinated people can and can't do safely. and as we mentioned, ahead of president biden's prime time address last night, he signed that $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill into law. it's the first major piece of legislation of his administration, and it came exactly one year to the day that the world health organization declared a global pandemic. >> this historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving people in this nation, working people, middle class folks, people who built the country, a fighting chance. that's what the essence of it is. >> according to the white house, some americans will see the latest round of stimulus checks as early as this weekend. the majority of recipients will get a direct payment of up to $1,400. and later today, the president will mark the passage of the relief bill with remarks in the rose garden. 17 members of congress have been invited to the event, all democrats, since no republicans voted in support of the measure. and next week, president biden will hit the road to tout the coronavirus relief bill in a tour across the country. joining us now, nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli. mike, always great to see you. thanks for being up early with us on this friday morning. >> good morning. happy friday. >> you have watched -- happy friday -- and covered joe biden for so long, now president biden. this was his first prime time address, and you know, the moments that really stuck out to me were the ones where he seemed to be talking directly to the american people, particularly that plea, saying, i need you, i need you to help me. what were your top takeaways from what we heard from the president last night? >> reporter: yeah, kasie, that's right. i think we talked during the transition that president biden in anticipation of his inauguration was reading up on fdr, trying to draw some lessons from his presidency during a time of crisis. and as i was watching the speech last night, my takeaways were, i think, some of his takeaways from what we learned from fdr. the first is the sort of willingness to set big goals. and there's obviously some political risk in doing so. but clearly, the headline that the white house wanted out of this speech was this idea of moving up the date of which all americans would be eligible for the vaccine, may 1st, then july 4th. we all look forward to a fourth of july that looks different from last year, when we may be able to gather with more of our friends and family. and so, that, obviously, is something that he's willing to put out there and be judged against and sort of also used as an opportunity to tout the progress that he thinks his administration has made in getting more vaccine supply and more of the ability to distribute that vaccine. but the other takeaway, i think, from fdr, is the real willingness and the importance of speaking candidly and clearly, directly to the american people about the challenges that we face. biden in all the years i've covered him has this real desire to relate to his audience, and you saw that last night as he spent so much time just sort of recalling the difficulty of the past year, those moments that we've all missed out on, but he also, i think, kasie -- it was clear in talking about the need to speak the truth. he's talked about the four crises this administration will have to tackle, the pandemic and the economy first and foremost, climate, and the racial justice crisis as well. but there's a fifth crisis that he very clearly thinks he needs to address, which is a crisis in confidence in our government, and that was something that was clearly something he wanted to address, to show that government can do big things. and lastly, i think it's really important that we don't overlook how clearly he spoke about the prejudice and the discrimination against asian americans during this pandemic. there was moments. he doesn't want to talk about the former guy, but there are moments when he clearly wants to make a break from him, and that was a very clear one as we talk about this pandemic. >> and a critical point, definitely. you mentioned distrust in government. and one of the things that this massive relief bill does is, frankly, insert government into places where they haven't necessarily been before, including dramatic expansions of the child tax credit and other things that, frankly, are widely supported by the american people. i mean, you mentioned fdr. the other person people seem to be talk being is lbj and the great society and the changes that were made then. what are the president's aides, advisers, saying behind the scenes about how he's thinking about that? >> reporter: well, certainly, biden, during the course of the democratic primaries, was seen not necessarily of the most progressive of the options, but the president's team has always felt that he doesn't get enough credit for being fairly progressive on economic policies, and i think another lesson that democrats have learned is that if you want to keep moving the ball forward with your priorities, one thing you need to do is sort of set, especially what we've seen during the gridlock in washington, is set deadlines, set clear time lines with which things need to be reauthorized. and so, one of the ways in which biden feels that incrementalism can lead to very real, big, progressive change is by doing some of the things they've done in this legislation. yes, temporarily institute some things like extending the child tax credit and growing unemployment benefits, increasing subsidies in the affordable care act. and now they have an opportunity in months and years to say, well, do you like these benefits? maybe we need to extend them and make it an election issue to run on as well. and so, that's clearly on display as well. >> yeah. and the timing -- the timing seems to line up, surprise, surprise, with that midterm election and people wanting to hang on to things the government's given them. nbc's mike memoli, thanks very much, my friend. always great to see you. have a lovely weekend. dr. anthony fauci, meanwhile, said he would have been shocked if he had known a year ago that more than 530,000 people in the u.s. would die from covid-19. when he was asked on the "today" show what went wrong, he pointed to the deep rift among us. >> we had such divisiveness in our country that even simple common sense public health measures took on a political connotation. when people, you know -- if you wanted to wear a mask, you were on this side. if you wanted to stay in and avoid congregate settings, you were on this side. it wasn't a pure public health approach. it was really very much influenced by the divisiveness we had in this country, where we were saying -- mixed messages were coming from washington, that's for sure. >> it really is just so difficult to grapple with the magnitude of our loss and all of the reasons why we lost more americans than we needed to. and texas attorney general ken paxton is suing the city of austin and travis county for not lifting mask mandates along with the rest of the state. paxton wrote in a tweet, "i told travis county and the city of austin to comply with state mask law. they blew me off. so, once again, i'm dragging them to court." texas has lifted nearly all coronavirus restrictions, but austin and travis county health officials have said they're going to continue to enforce safety protocols. austin mayor steve adler released a statement thursday that reads in part, "i will fight to defend and enforce our local health officials' rules for as long as possible. we promised to be guided by doctors, science, and data, as concerns the pandemic, and we do everything we can to keep that promise." all right, still ahead here, congressman tom suozzi will be my guest on the heels of president biden signing that massive covid relief bill. plus, newly sworn in attorney general merrick garland addresses the justice department for the first time. his message about the rule of law and a check on the weather when we come right back. we com. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice. and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! this is how you become the best! [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. psst! psst! don't get mad. 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. see every delivery... every yikes... and even every awwwwwwww... wait, where was i? introducing self protection from xfinity. designed to put you in control. with real-time notification and a week of uninterrupted recording... all powered by reliable, secure wifi from xfinity. gotta respect his determinatio. it's easy and affordable to get started. get self protection for $10 a month. welcome back. duke university will end its streak of 24 consecutive march madness appearances after dropping out of its conference tournament because of coronavirus concerns. the school's athletic director says the blue devils' season is over after last night's quarterfinal game was canceled because of a positive test and the resulting quarantining and contact tracing within the program. he said that before this, there had been no positive tests all season for a player or a coach. with duke's withdrawal, florida state advances to tonight's acc semifinal against unc. and dreams of the big dance are also over for the kentucky wildcats, who will miss march madness for the first time since 2013 after a one-point loss to mississippi state in yesterday's opening round of the s.e.c. tournament. according to the "ap," it will likely be the first time in 45 years that both duke and kentucky will not compete in the ncaa tournament. meanwhile, the university of virginia plays on after some last-second heroics against syracuse yesterday. watch this. >> virginia with a chance for the last shot to win it. clark, big one for the win, got it! >> freshman reef beekman scoring his only points of the game, a three-point buzzer beater that sends uva to the acc tournament semifinals. that's awesome. look at that. amazing. and in new york city, georgetown advances to the big east semis after upsetting top-seeded villanova at madison square garden yesterday. after the game, georgetown coach patrick ewing aired his grievances against security in the building where he built his hall of fame career with the knicks. >> i do want to say one thing, though, they -- i thought this was my building, and i feel terrible that i'm getting stopped, accosted, asking for passes. everybody in this building should know who the hell i am. and i'm getting stopped. i can't move around this building, like -- i was like, what the hell? is this madison square garden? i'm going to have to call mr. dolan and say, geez, is my number in the rafters or what? >> wow! that's stunning, and yet, so frustratingly believable. time now for the weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the weekend forecast. bill, good morning. happy friday. >> happy friday, kasie. and we're talking about a huge major winter storm in the middle of the country. we have one more warm day on the eastern seaboard after record highs yesterday, but let's get into the details of this major winter storm. it's now moving out of california and into arizona this weekend. it has its eye set on the middle of the country. the back side's the cold side. that's where we're going to get some record-breaking snow possible in areas of colorado and wyoming. then we could have a lot of rain and flood problems out ahead of it from kansas, missouri, maybe southern illinois, even into kentucky and indiana. but the snow is really what's going to make for -- you know, you're going to see these incredible pictures over the weekend. where you see the purple is 12 inches, the pink is 18 inches. there will be some isolated spots just west of denver by maybe 10 or 15 miles, call it the foothills, that could get up to 5 feet of snow. right now, the forecast for denver is 18 to 24 inches of snow, and that will be over the weekend. so, as far as the rainfall goes, this also could cause problems over the next three days, especially areas of northern arkansas, southern missouri and locations of kansas. you could even deal with isolated severe weather. so we're in that season, too, where we could deal with severe storms, flooding and a winter storm. so, the forecast for today. we will see some showers early today in the east, but then it will improve during the day. no complaints in the southeast. kasie, it looks like, you know, who knows? you never know when we have our last winter storm. let's just hope maybe this one's it. >> well, i guess if you want to go hit the ski slopes one last time, you'd better head there today or you won't be able to drive there. >> to get there, exactly. good point. >> bill karins, thank you very much. we're thinking of all those folks out there dealing with that snow. all right, still ahead here, new york governor andrew cuomo under increasing pressure amid harassment allegations. now democrats in the new york legislature are promising an investigation. the first step toward impeachment. we'll be back in just a moment. impeachment. we'll be back in just a moment n! that means selling everything. and eating nothing but cheese till you find the perfect slice... even if everyone asks you... another burger truck? don't listen to them! that means cooking day and night until you get... 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