a good thursday morning to you. craig melvin here. we are living in unprecedented times. right now, the senate is getting ready for its second impeachment trial of the u.s. president for the first time in our history. that fact was not lost on house lawmakers during their debate. >> it will only serve to further divide a nation that is calling out for healing. >> others including myself are responsible for not speaking out sooner. before the president misinformed and inflamed a violent mob. >> the first step is to root out white supremacy starting with impeaching the white supremacist in chief. >> we here in this house have a sacred obligation to stand for truth. >> i'm not asking you to storm the beaches of normandy but show a fraction of the courage we ask of our troops every day. leadership is hard. it's time to impeach.

>> in a few moments i will talk to the last lawmaker you heard from, democratic congressman jason crow. he knows how impeachment trials work having served as an impeachment manager during the first senate trial. the outlines of what that trial will look like in the upper chamber are still taking shape at this hour. the big question we are following right now, how many republican senators will actually vote to convict? i will talk to a democratic senator who will be a juror. right now, we have breaking news on washington, d.c. ahead of president-eject joe biden's inauguration. two federal officials say the national mall will be closed to the public on inauguration day. pete williams is covering that breaking news. also with us, leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill and kristin welker standing by. mr. williams, we will start with

you. what can you tell us about these inauguration day security changes? >> we are talking about the national mall, which is that grassy area between the foot of the capitol and the lincoln memorial, the washington monument is in the middle of it. the grassy area is between the cap -- there is a picture looking back toward the capitol. in past inaugurations, that has been open to the public. you may remember, for example, four years ago the big question about whether the trump crowd was bigger than any other. we already knew that attendance was limited because the joint inaugural committee was not issuing big numbers of tickets this year for the close-up area near the capitol. we are talking now about the area where the public has been able to gather in the past and watch the ceremonies on big tv monitors. what we are told is that there will be no general public admission to the mall this time. there are permits that have been

issued for what are called first amendment protests on the mall. one group in particular that wanted to protest against the inauguration was given a permit in december and told that it could bring up to 5,000 people. a decision is not yet made on whether to allow that group in. it would only be for people who were part of the group covered by that permit and any of the people who came in on that permit would are to be screened by law enforcement before they could be on the mall. just general people showing up to the mall to watch the ceremony, bring a blanket, hang out as has been done in past years, that's not going to be allowed this year. one of the many further changes to inaugural security this time compared to past years. >> pete williams there, pete, on the breaking news, national mall will be closed. for folks who haven't been following, we have got on

inauguration day at least, there will be more troops there in washington, d.c. than in iraq and afghanistan combined. let's turn to leigh ann caldwell on the hill. hanging over this inauguration potentially the senate impeachment trial of president trump. tell us more about the time line as it takes shape for trial. what more do we know about mitch mcconnell's political calculations, if you will? >> craig, the inauguration and the senate impeachment trial are clashing into each other. there are some things we don't know. there's many puzzle pieces that have to be put together. the first is, which is really important, is when house speaker nancy pelosi is going to send the article of impeachment over to the senate. because if she does send it before january 19th, according to senate rules, that means that the impeachment trial would have to begin on january 20th at 1:00

p.m. inauguration is also happening at that exact same time on january 20th. we have not gotten clear indication of when speaker pelosi is going to send those over. we don't anticipate that she's going to want that split screen of a biden inauguration and a trump impeachment trial at the same time. it could be pushed a couple days. these are all things we don't know. we do have indication from her that she wants to do this sooner than later, meaning, she's not going to wait weeks or months to send that article over. as far as mitch mcconnell, who is only going to be majority leader for another week or so, because the two georgia senators will be sat and kamala harris will be vice president, he still has a lot of say in his conference. there needs to be 17 republicans to join all democrats in order to convict the president. i can easily name five off the

top of my head who are very likely to support conviction, five republicans. beyond that, mcconnell's position matters. he has not indicated that he would not support conviction, which is a huge smoke signal to his republican colleagues. craig? >> yeah. kristin welker, we heard from president trump in this recorded video after that historic second impeachment. the video is calling for peace. we are learning that he is more and more isolated right now. do we know anything about who is left around him to possibly defend him as this trial moves forward? >> it's a big question mark, craig. here is what i can tell you in terms of who is around him right now. you are absolutely right, that picture you paint, this is a president who is increasingly isolated, unlike the first impeachment where he had legal advisers buzzing around the white house, top aides eager to

defend him, to be out on the airwaves doing that. this is largely a ghost town right now, craig. there was no communication strategy yesterday. it's still not clear who his legal team will be among the names, rudy giuliani, no confirmation from him that's going to be the case. we have heard allen dirshowitz. he says he hasn't been contacted by anyone from inside the president's orborbit. the usual team of lawyers who will rally around him typically right now, they are nowhere to be seen. that is the state of play as he approaches this senate trial. in terms of what is happening behind the scenes within the administration, officials here are packing up their boxes. they only have a few more days to be here behind the scenes. for president trump's part, he is increasingly defiant. he is focussed on redefining his legacy.

that's why you saw him travel to the border earlier this week. i anticipate we will hear more from him about that, trying to highlight the key parts of his legacy. if you look at the polls, a broad number of republicans still support president trump. we could see some action items, too. i am told there are discussions here behind the scenes about potential pardons and that those could come any day now. we know president trump has mused about pardoning himself as well. >> any idea what the president's doing behind you at this hour? how he is spending his days. >> well, every day we get guidance, which is the same guidance every single day since he lost the election, craig, which essentially says that he has a series of meetings and phone calls and he is working hard for the american people. this really sort of stunning white house guidance that we have never seen from any administration, that we have

never seen from this administration until right now. it's not very specific guidance. i think he is making outreach to lawmakers, to senate republicans or those his allies. lindsey graham traveled with him to the border earlier this week. we know that graham has been making outreach to other senate republicans, trying to convince them to vote against convicting president trump. i think he is doing that as well as, again, trying to focus on and highlight and figure out how he is going to spend these final days in office and what he is going to highlight of what he perceives to be his key accomplishments. one more point, we are trying to drill down on his off ramp. when is he going to leave washington? it's our understanding that he could leave before inauguration day. craig. >> so many questions. kristin welker there at the white house.

leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill. thanks to both of you. let's turn to jason crow of colorado. congressman, in addition to being a congressman, former army ranger. he served as an impeachment manager at president trump's first senate trial in january. january 2020, of course, which seems like six years ago. congressman, you know the pressure and the preparation that goes into being an impeachment manager. this is a totally different ball game. president days from leaving office. this was the most bipartisan effort for impeachment ever. how does that change the environment for the managers this time around? >> we need to keep this short. we need to stick to the facts. probably the biggest difference is we have to provide context. i think we have to talk about the events leading up to in the months and years that led to

last wednesday. once the 6th didn't come out of nowhere. there was a context surrounding it. it has been building for a while. the most important task the managers are to provide that context. what doesn't need to happen is the senators don't need a recitation what happened on january 6th. this is a unique situation where you have the house managers and the senators that they will try the case in front of that were victims of the same crime. they were all there. they saw it. they don't need to have a lecture on what happened on the 6th. we need to focus on the context. >> my colleague pressed your colleague democratic congressman cheryl. they gave reconnaissance tours to folks who appeared to be associated with the rally. she would not name names.

you have the "boston globe" saying that they noticed something. every panic button in my office had been torn out. the whole unit. they had no idea why. a republican congressman told hallie jackson that many of his leagues are altering routines. they are working to get body armor, which is reimbursable. he said their expectation is someone may try to kill us. they want an investigation into the visitors the day before the riot. do you think there needs to be one as well? >> there do need to be investigations. last weekend, i contacted the government accountability office and led an effort of 130 of my colleagues to request an investigation. they responded to me and they are starting one. the gao is in the process of working with me and my office and a few others to scope that

investigation. there will be other investigations. i would like to see a commission that would look at security issues and the breakdown but also the security issues going forward. look, this is a crime. there was an insurrection against the united states government and the u.s. congress. it was multiple felonies. it was a crime. it will be investigated by the fbi and other law enforcement. they will follow all of the leads and all the facts where it takes them. that includes if it takes them to members of congress, to staff members, to high ranking officials within the trump administration, that's where the investigation will go. we have to follow the process. we have to give due process to folks. we will go where the facts lead us. >> as a former army ranger, i'm sure you were taught to look for anything out of the ordinary. the more we learn about that insurrection last week, it sure does seem as if there was a

whole heck of a lot out of the ordinary, looking back on it. it would also seem to a lot of folks that something like this could not have been pulled off without some help from the inside. is that your assessment? >> i do think that the rioters, the mob had a knowledge of the capitol complex and had a level of preparedness that would indicate that. there may have been -- i do know that members of congress were giving tours in the days leading up to the insurrection. i will not sit -- i'm not a mind reader. i can not say the purpose of those. they were in contradiction to the health guidelines. since the pandemic kicked off back in march, since it started, the guidelines have been no public tours of the capitol. certainly, those tours in the days leading up to the 6th were in violation of those guidelines. anything else we are going to find out.

we will find out who was involved and what happened. we have to follow the facts. to your earlier point, there were some alarm bells looking back on it. i noticed there weren't as many personnel as i thought there should have been given the nature of the number of people we were looking at. the riot gear, some of the other things i saw last year for the black lives matter protests weren't present on the day of the 6th. the thought did cross my mind about why not. then i dismissed it because i had confidence in the security preparations. as it turns out, that was misplaced. >> before i let you go, as you know, there has been some concern in your party about what a senate trial would potentially mean for the first 100 days of president-elect biden's administration, what it could mean for his agenda, the upper chamber, as you know, not shall

we say known for being able to walk and chew gum at the same time. are you at all concerned that a senate trial is going to perhaps hamper the incoming president's ability to get things done? >> i'm not concerned at all. frankly, that's a republican talking point to try to prevent us from doing our duty, to respond to this insurrection. they don't want accountability. they don't want to talk about what happened on the 6th. they want to move on. we're not going to move on, because unity and healing and reconciliation require truth and accountability. we will bring that truth and accountability. we will also address the pandemic like we have been working to do. we will address this economic crisis. we will address the domestic terror crisis that we have going forward in the months and years ahead in america. we can and we will do all those things, because those are our duties. we will execute those duties. >> congressman jason crow, thank

you, sir. i do appreciate your time. >> thank you. we just heard what the house may do next. the bigger is question, what is the senate planning? we will talk to a senator in a bit about when this process gets started. first, joe biden laying out new plans to get more people vaccinated faster. i will talk to an expert about what the new administration needs to do on day one. this hour, we also expect new details on the flint water crisis prosecution after michigan's former governor was charged in the case. ♪ irresistibly delicious. ♪ ♪ pour some almond breeze. ♪ ♪ for the maestros of the creamiest-ever, ♪ ♪ must-have smoothies. ♪ ♪ it's irresistibly delicious.♪ ♪ more almond breeze, please! ♪ ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) once-weekly ozempic® is helping

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we are six days out from joe biden being sworn in as the next president of the united states. today, he is set to outline what will likely be his biggest priority in his first 100 days, a vaccination and economic rescue legislative package. his team says the package would fund vaccinations and provide immediate relief to families suffering during this pandemic. the timing could not be more dire. this morning, just a few hours ago, we learned another 965,000 americans filed jobless claims in the last week. that's the highest since august. the vaccine rollout still well below expectations.

we are approaching 390,000 covid-related deaths in our country. let's turn to the dean of brown university's school of public health. good to have you. joe biden faces quite the uphill battle with the pandemic from the moment he gets into office. we don't have any specifics of this plan to fund vaccines and get those into more arms. what are you hoping to hear? >> good morning. thanks for having me on. what i'm hoping is to hear a plan for how we are going to start to move from getting vaccines to states into people's arms. there are a set of issues that need to be addressed. states just need more doses. we have heard from the biden team they are thinking about releases more doses. states need help. they need resources, staffing, they need help on llogistics. i would love to hear the biden team lay out how they are going to make those things happen so

states can do their jobs of getting people vaccinated. >> you and i have had this conversation about this idea that there's a patchwork of different approaches to the virus. we saw that with testing. we are seeing the same thing now with the rollout of the vaccines. the federal government leaving it up to the states to make sure folks get vaccinations. is that the best approach? is there a universe in which the federal government could come in and say, you know what, states, we have let you handle this for 10 or 11 months, hasn't gone well, we will take things from here? is that something that should be considered? >> at this point, if we were back in september planning, we could have that conversation about the role of the federal government. at this point, states are pretty far down the road and planning. what i would say is i don't think we need a total federal takeover. we need substantial federal engagement. the approach of the trump administration has largely been,

give it to states, leave it up to them, don't offer them support or help. states can't do it by themselves. more federal engagement, more federal help is essential. i think given how much work states have done, i wouldn't probably do a reset at this point. i would just figure out what do states need and help them achieve it. >> i do want to ask you about the johnson & johnson vaccine news. there's newly published trial data. it shows the one-dose vaccine, safe, appears to generate a promiing immune response in young and elderly volunteers. how encouraged should we be by this news? when do you think we could expect to see johnson & johnson ask for the emergency authorization? >> that was good news when we saw that. this is not telling us it's effective at preventing vaccine. it generates a really robust

immune response. i think in the next couple of weeks we will get data on whether it prevents infection. i am very optimistic it's going to show it does prevent infection. but optimism isn't data. we have to wait for data. a few weeks later we get fda approval. within a couple of weeks after that we start seeing some shots going into people's arms. big upside, it doesn't need crazy freezing and it's a single shot vaccine. a lot of upsides. we have to see the full data before we make a decision. >> we are getting all this good news on vaccines, it would seem, week after week. we have to figure out how to get the vaccines into more people's arms. thanks, as always. any moment now, we are expecting to hear from michigan officials. all of this -- here we go. a live look. a news conference is set to get underway after rick snyder, who

was charged in the flint water crisis, when that starts we will bring it to you live. first, an update on the struggle to reunite kids separated from their families at the border by the trump administration. lawyers said in a new court filing they have not been able to get in touch with the parents of 611 of those children. according to the filing of the 611, parents of 392 were deported, 201 are likely still in the united states. the trump administration has no contact information for 18. president-elect joe biden has said his justice department will conduct a thorough investigation into the family separations once he takes office. [ engine rumbling ] ♪♪ [ beeping ] [ engine revs ]

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moments ago, we got a little more clarity about some security changes being made in our nation's cop -- capitol. pete, what are you learning? >> this is something of a moving target. it's understandable given the security arrangements for the inaugural which were to go into place next week are being moved up. there's a lot of confusion about exactly how this is going to work. one of the things we were told earlier today and discussed with you about half an hour ago was the decision had been made not to allow the general public on the national mall.

but to allow only people who had previously issued protest permits to go on the mall. what we are told there a meeting that concluded on this and no decision has been made, that they still may -- they are basically looking they say at three options. closing the mall to the public all together. only allowing the permit groups. or allowing the general public. it's all still up in the air. we are told that they think that they will have a decision on this possibly by tomorrow. i think what's happening here is that the ultimate call on this is going to have to depend on coordination with the joint inaugural committee. there's a law enforcement input on what should be done, what the law enforcement people should be doing. there's a park service and interior department input on this. there's a legal question about whether they can issue these permits and then take them back. if so, how do they do that?

they now say all of that is still up in the air and this they have made no decision on this and that they will announce a decision maybe by tomorrow. >> okay. all right. pete, keep us posted. i know you will. officials appear to be considering -- these officials are considering closing the national mall. >> that's where it stands now. we are -- we have breaking news in michigan this morning as well. right now in michigan, the state's attorney general is talking about the new charges just filed in the investigation into the 2014 flint water crisis. let's listen in. >> to introduce my solicitor general and the wayne county prosecutor who have an important announcement today to make regarding the flint water investigation. i took no part in that investigation but thought it was important for me to be here today to thank them for their

service and to review for the public what my role and my office has played in the various matters we have been charged with in terms of handling the flint water crisis. the attorney general has a unique and multi-facetted job in the state of michigan. by law, i am michigan's chief law enforcement officer, able to prosecute crimes under state law in each of michigan's 83 counties. i am the attorney for our state government, charged by law with providing legal representation to state governmental bodies and officials in the performance of their duties. but last and certainly not least, i am your attorney. i am the people's attorney. i'm able to bring lawsuits on behalf of the people of this state whenever their interests are in jeopardy. my department handles more than 35,000 cases a year. in most of these instances, i

can perform these roles simultaneously and seamlessly. but on rare occasions, the roles that i am entrusted to play can sometimes create potential conflicts with other roles, or at least can give the appearance of such conflicts. so because of this, our supreme court has recognized a special procedure that allows my office to continue to perform its legal duties, even when faced with a perceived or actual conflict of interest. that procedure is our office conflict wall process. operate entirely independently of one another as if they were attorneys working in separate law firms. this process allows us to fully comply with our ethical obligations as attorneys while

allowing us to fully perform our duties and responsibilities under state law. when i took office on january 1st of 2019 and took over some of the most significant civil cases and criminal investigations in the history of our state, none were more consequential than the flint water crisis. the crisis resulted in more than 100 civil lawsuits against state agencies and employees that my department was -- [ no audio ] i was presented with the most difficult decision in my tenure as attorney general as to which side of the wall i would work with. >> okay. we are going to continue to

listen here. as you saw, there's a little problem with the feed. we are going to monitor. gabe gutierrez has been following this story. he has listening. gabe, if you can, walk us through this decision to charge the former governor. who else has been charged? do we know at this point? >> reporter: certainly, this is a long anticipated decision. this coming years after that scandal in flint, michigan, where they switched the water supply from detroit to the contaminated flint river. dozens of people were sickened. at least 80. at least 12 people were killed. we can tell you just this morning a short time ago, former michigan governor rich snyder was actually arraigned on two counts of willful neglect of duty, punishable by up to a year in prison and up to a $1,000 fine. we also understand that the former public works director

also will face those same charges. this, again, copcomes years aft the scandal. it comes after in 2017, there were michigan officials that were charged by then. one with involuntary manslaughter, a more serious charge. those charges were actually dropped in 2019, two years later, because of concerns with how the special counsel at the time conducted that investigation. michigan's attorney general right now, we are listening to this news conference, is announcing the results of the wide ranging investigation, something that had been anticipated by many of the families in flintthat had been watching closely. we have not heard from rick snyder. his attorney did tell the associated press, i believe yesterday, as news of the charges were breaking, that, quote, we believe there's no evidence to support any criminal charges against the governor. in addition to all of this,

craig, in the last few months, there has been a $600 million civil settlement reached with those families impacted by this crisis. there's going to be a court-monitored compensation fund. the news this morning is that former governor rick snyder, the highest ranking official as part of this scandal, he has been charged with two counts of willful neglect of duty, two misdemeanors. we are monitoring the news conference to find out what else may be coming and also the results of that investigation that has taken several years. >> gabe gutierrez, again, on the flint water crisis and the charges that the former governor is facing. we will continue to listen to that news conference. we will pass along news to you as well. gabe, thank you. president trump is about to face his second impeachment trial because that was capitol hill riot. we will try to answer some of the big questions about what

that trial will look like. we will talk to a u.s. senator who will also, of course, be a juror. teachers on the front lines of the pandemic are starting to get the vaccine. we will get the latest from utah where the governor made teachers a priority group. nts. but the right pad can. only always ultra thins have rapiddry technology and, they absorb 40% faster. the gush happens fast. that's why always absorbs faster. i'm not hungry! you're having one more bite! no! one more bite! ♪ kraft. for the win win.

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(sneeze) skip to cold relief fast. alka-seltzer plus power max gels. with 25% more concentrated power. oh, what a relief it is! so fast! breaking news, just in the last few moments. new york's attorney general lass just announced a lawsuit against new york city mayor bill de blasio, the city and the nypd. >> today, my office is seeking broad relief against the nypd and the city of new york in the form of ongoing monitoring, training and permanent changes to unconstitutional policies and practices as it relates to large-scale protests. we need immediate change to

decades old unjust practices and policies and to restore trust and ensure reforms are fully implemented, it's critical real changes are made. >> her lawsuit seeks, as you heard there in part, seeks systemic reforms to the nypd. they are asking for a monitor to oversee the department's compliance and policing practices in future protests as well. all of this coming on the heels of the protests last summer in new york city and the department's controversial response. we will continue to follow this story. we turn back to the pandemic. throughout this pandemic, millions of educators, teachers, staff workers, custodians, cafeteria workers, administrators, they have been putting themselves at risk every day to make sure kids don't fall behind during the crisis. in utah, teachers will be safer,

because teachers there are now officially able to get vaccinated for covid-19. we are following the story. 7% of utah's educators have god -- have gotten infected. what are you hearing from educators? >> reporter: it's a huge week for educators in utah. here in salt lake county, the largest concentration of students and teachers in the state. you can hear some hustle and bustle here behind me. let me tell you what happened. the state's governor was just here launching the first in the nation lte network for students. you can see right up here, the green dots, those are radio towers online. as we know, the digital divide has been exacerbated by covid-19. now all the students in this district are going to have

access to high-speed internet. this is a governor who has been focused on education. last week, he put teachers at the front of the line to get vaccinated. in this room yesterday, we saw some of the very first shots go into the arms of educators here in salt lake county. i have to tell you, the vibe here was infectious. the superintendent told me she has not seen teachers with this kind of energy in a very long time. it has been such a long haul for educators. i want you to hear from one of the teachers we spoke with. she teaches health. listen to the excitement in her voice after she got the vaccine. >> i bragged to my students, guess what, i get to get my vaccine today? really? that's cool. i will tell them it was super easy. as far as what it felt like, a flu shot. it almost didn't feel it. if i can do it -- i'm not the biggest fan of needles. if i can do it, anybody can do it.

>> reporter: thousands more teachers will be vaccinated tomorrow and today. the word i kept hearing from everyone that i spoke with was relief. relief that there is finally some hope, some light at the end of the tunnel. >> thank you. a new series on "today" called teachers on the front lines explores some of the ooh meek challen -- unique challenges teachers are facing. a school in detroit, michigan, is encouraging teachers to take part in a new wellness program aimed at helping them overcome mental health strains. >> reporter: this is janelle's dream job. a teacher in her hometown, detroit. >> i knew i wanted to be a teacher when i met my third

great math teacher. she used to say -- fowler, i would sit up, shoulders straight. she was it. i want to be like her when i grow up. >> reporter: now 29, she's well on her way. acknowledging that some of the hardest work is what teachers do outside the classroom. >> happy new year. >> reporter: like taking one of her students under her wing. >> this is the reason i get up every day. i want to make sure he has what he needs. you didn't call me. >> my phone was broke. >> reporter: when it looked as if he was no longer going to go to her school, having moved in with a great aunt, she wasn't having it. >> i was like, nope. that can't happen. give me your address. i will pick him up every morning. i change my wake-up time so i could go and get him. >> reporter: if that sounds amazing, it's part of the fabric of an extraordinary school, detroit achievement academy. >> our student population is

made up of predominantly students of color and a vast majority are living below the poverty line. >> reporter: this woman founded it eight years ago after running a successful clothing company and giving much of the profit to good causes. she wanted to bring some of her business know how to something she felt would really make a difference. >> i think teaching is cool. we make sure that that's reflected in how we pay them. they're the highest paid teachers in metro detroit. we invest in their lives. >> good morning! >> reporter: the school, serving 220 students, is very close-knit. extremely low staff turnover. teachers love teaching here. their students are thriving. when covid struck, she was well aware many of the kids' families were barely holding on. >> we diverted our resources to

things like buying groceries for our family members, paying their utilities so we could have -- they could have runing water. >> reporter: you did something most couldn't or wouldn't do. >> our priority was the well-being and health and famil stuff is secondary. it won't come without the first. >> it paid off. even with some students returning, there have been no reported cases of covid at the school. despite the heavy cost many were paying at home, including janell. >> my grandmother got sick at the end of march, and by the middle of april she was gone. >> adding to the pain, her uncle passed away from covid just a few weeks later. >> i realized, like, i keep saying i'm okay. i don't feel okay. i'm not okay. >> reporter: but the school already had a unique program in place to help, a $500 per

teacher per year wellness fund, money in addition to their regular health insurance. >> sometimes it's a co-pay towards mental health. sometimes it's a new pair of running shoes. anything that helps you be well and take care of yourself. >> i bet that fund was used up this past year. >> yeah. yes, it was. everyone knows that working on your mental health is like going to the gym. >> and i think 2020 was the year of being honest about how you were feeling mentally. >> reporter: and the better you feel, the more you can give to your students. >> absolutely. i started meeting with a therapist online. after my sessions i get my cry out and then i'm, like, okay, phew, let's rededicate ourselves, let's get to it. >> reporter: but janell says while the money helps, what the staff gets from one another is what makes all the difference. >> having kyle contact when he me when she heard about the death of my grandmother and uncle, she was right there, hey, what can i do, how can i help?

>> reporter: she says you were among the first people to call her and talked about how much that meant to her. >> i didn't know that. >> it's so sad when you see something like that happens. it lays the disparities bare and punches you in the face. no teacher doesn't want to come back and do their jobs and teach kids. teachers are a special type of person. they are not like you and me. like, they are called to do this and they're exceptional at it. >> being a teacher is not an 8:00 to 4:00 job at all. you have to be committed to that work. >> reporter: anybody who has you as a teacher is one lucky kid. i appreciate it. >> that was nbc' cynthia mcfadden reporting there. this morning we are still waiting to find out when the senate will start president trump's second impeachment trial. one top house democrat, though, jim klineberg, made this

prediction about how the actual vote could shake out. >> i think there's a very good chance that there will be a conviction in the senate because i think mitch mcconnell and the three others recognized that that is the quickest way to get him out of their hair, so to speak. >> i want to bring in democratic senator bob casey of pennsylvania now, who of course will be one of the jurors in that trial. senator casey, let's just start with the timing of it. what can you tell us about when this trial may start and how it could be run? >> well, craig, as of today, no certainty about timing, but i think it's possible it could start the day after the inauguration if not the afternoon of the inauguration because the way the procedures are set up is if it's an afternoon proceeding, after 1:00, and it could go into the night. so i hope we could have a trial that could last just a few days

and maybe have it completed before the weekend is over. and then we could continue working on all of the other work that has to be done, operations as well as covid-19. we still have a raging pandemic and a lot of people hurting. >> how confident are you that the upper chamber can conduct a trial, confirm president-elect biden's nominees to cabinet positions, marshal a coronavirus response plan. how confident are you that you and your fellow senators can do all those things simultaneously? >> craig, i'm confident, and we have no choice. we have to do this. we have to be able to do all of these at the same time. i think it's literally splitting the morning from the afternoon and the evening because there's no question we can't put off for

another day holding the president accountable for inciting an insurrection. all the violence that we saw, at least five people dead, countless people injured, and at the same time he inspired and incited a crowd to go to the capitol to kill people. you heard people saying hang mike pence and trying to find nancy pelosi. this could have been a lot worse, and we have to lay this at the feet of the president, which is the appropriate response. he has to be held accountable. and we have to get cabinet nominations processed as well as begin to bring to bear more relief for the american people because what we passed in december, whether it's on food assistance or on money for vaccine distribution and the like, that's just a january, february, march bill. we need a full new piece of legislation to go beyond march.

we've got to start working on it right now. >> i want to play something that republican a republican colleague of yours said. this is south carolina senator lindsey graham. i want to play what he said and get your reaction on the other side. here it is. >> these actions, if they continue, will incite for violence to the american people. what good comes from impeaching president trump after he's out of office? that's an unconstitutional attack on the presidency. it will divide the country. it will incite violence. >> senator casey, what say you to that, the suggestion that a conviction would, quote, incite more violence? >> it doesn't make any sense. does lindsey graham believe that the people being charged by prosecutors should not be charged? does he believe we're just supposed to forget about the fact that the seat of democracy of the united states government

was attacked and that people died? i don't think anyone believes that. and in america, there can't be justice without accountability. we need a whole range of steps taken to impose accountability. but the principle objective of an impeachment process is to uphold the constitution so that you don't have some future president thinking they can do whatever the hell they want, tell a lie, a falsehood over and over again about the election, and then get away with inciting a mob that threatened the life of his own vice president as well as the speaker and other members of congress. you can't allow that kind of conduct to go without sanctions. but i think lindsey graham should reread the constitution because the constitution demands that officials that engage in this kind of activity and tell a lie over and over again are held

to account. >> pennsylvania senator bob casey, we'll have to leave it there. thanks as always. appreciate your time. that's going to do it for me this hour. "andrea mitchell reports" starts after a short break. a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam® is clinically proven to shorten colds! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam zinc that cold!

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fractu fracturing, but the outcome in the senate an open question. the entire political world is waiting to see what mitch mcconnell will do. the republican leader's refusal to publicly come out for or against convicting the president has left his caucus stuck in a holding pattern. eight days after inciting the deadly riot on capitol hill, the president isolated and lashing out at those who abandoned him is trying to prevent a senate conviction and wash away his own responsibility by releasing a white house video message condemning violence. the impeachment trial now likely after the inaugural is another major challenge for joe biden as the president-elect tries to unite the country and focus on the economy and the coronavirus pandemic. nbc chief white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host kristen welker joins me. nbc capitol hill correspondent case yu hunt. jim messina. and adam jefferson, a forme