[inaudible conversations]

>> okay. six feet away. six feet away. good morning, everybody and thank you for joining us, and i'm so proud to be joined by two new outstanding senators from georgia, jon ossoff and raphael warnock who are working alongside democrats in the senate to deliver desperately needed covid-19 relief back to their home state. if this pivotal event today has a message, it's three words. elections have consequences -- this little event. before i get to that i i wanto stamp out i am that both these senators are history making. raphael warnock was born in georgia when two arch

segregationist where the senators, and now he's the first african-american senator from georgia. and jon ossoff is the first u.s. senator from georgia. so it's game changing. and following that game changing election that brought them both to the senate, democrats took the majority for the first time. what does that mean? it means real things to real people in georgia and throughout the country. if the election had gone the other way, we know that mitch mcconnell would not be working on covid relief for working families. but now because we have warnock and all soft in the senate, we are on the edge of delivering real relief to the working folks, to the poor people, , to the middle class people of georgia and of america. here's a little number. $78,200, a family that makes

$75,000 and has two kids, in other words, a family of four with two kids is going to get $8200 in additional direct relief. that's between the direct payments and the doubling of the child tax credit, which the house has already reported out and both have large support among the democrats in the senate. so these talented fighters are actually delivering on their promise when they ran, that they were actually going to bring real help, that elections have consequences, that the difference between having ossoff and warnock in the senate is very real to the vast majority of average folks in georgia and in the country. it's part of what we're trying to do here.

last year as you know congress passed multiple covid-19 relief packages, but we are far from out of the woods. the down payment congress passed in december stop some of the bleeding but without robust action the recovery is going to be long and painful, and we want to get out of that ditch, covid ditch both healthwise and economically as quick as possible. and the addition of these two men to the senate makes that very, very likely and very, very real. because it allows us to build in a much stronger way on the previous package that was passed in december. thanks to senators warnock and ossoff this covid bill will be bigger and bolder and bring significantly more help to georgians, and to americans. and right now democrats are on the path to secure another route of direct payments, and

expansion of the child tax credit and earned income tax credit, other things that they have been pushing for. funding for historically black colleges and universities, minority institutions and tribal colleges, debt relief to black farmers who have been ignored for far too long in georgia and elsewhere, and so much more. this -- they have been pushing me as a leader to get these things done. they have been talking to our caucus, and obviously the democratic caucus is very grateful that they ran such great races and helped us gain the majority, but we realize that's not the end, that's just the beginning. getting things done is the real reason that people elected them and what we must do. again, , in terms of direct assistance to georgia families, senators ossoff and warnock will help deliver an extra $8000 for

an average family of four. that makes a big difference in their lives. we senate democrats are moving full steam ahead with the bold plan to tackle the worst health crisis in 100 in 100 yeae spanish pandemic flu. the worst economic crisis in 75 years since the great depression. this bill, what we are proposing is proof to people who have lost faith in democracy, your vote matters. it sure mattered in georgia. the people of georgia should be very proud of their two twos and their state. because georgians and john and rafael went to the united states senate i can confidently say real significant help is on the way. senator ossoff. >> thank you, leader schumer. it's great to be alongside you,

senator reverend warnock. the message today for georgia families is very simple. $8200 of additional federal financial relief to help see you and your kids to this pandemic will be included in the senate legislation that we're working to pass right now. $8200 for a family of four in georgia earning $75,000. senator reverend warnock and i were sending to fight for covid relief for the people of our state who have had to face extraordinary childcare costs, as schools have been closed, who have that huge medical bills during this health crisis, , who have seen loss of employment and severe financial distress. families have been facing eviction and foreclosure. we came here to deliver help for

the people of georgia, and working with leader schumer and colleagues, senator reverend warnock and i are here to inform the people of georgia that we are working to advance this legislation which will deliver $8200 in additional federal relief in coming months for an average working family of four in the state of georgia. we are working tirelessly to ensure that there are additional funds for medicaid expansion, for the people of georgia. our state thus far has refused to expand medicaid, and we're working to secure additional funding for the expansion of medicaid in georgia, as well as leader schumer mentioned significant additional resources for historically black colleges and universities. so once again $8200 for a working family of four in the state of georgia to bridge this

period of great distress and suffering while we ramp up vaccines and the public health response. thank you leader schumer. senator reverend warnock. >> thank you so very much, i'm glad to be a with leader schumer and with senator ossoff. i love the sound of that come to talk about the urgency of getting this relief bill passed for the people back home in georgia and all across this country. i want to say i am so proud of the people of the state of georgia in this defining moment in american history for sending john and me to the united states senate. they sent us with a mandate to address the devastation of this book health crisis for our state and our country, and we intend to live up to that promise. the people of georgia are the ones who helped to make this robust relief possible.

they stood up not only for that statement for the country, and now it's up to the congress to deliver. and that's why our top priorities for getting the vaccine distributed in our state, and delivering the relief and assistance georgians need to get on their feet through this tough time. this is one moment in which it's very clear that public policy is quite literally a matter of life and death. and so it's true that congress needs to take bold action took georgians and americans respond to a once in a century pandemic that is great and economic turn down, the of which we haven't seen in 75 years. and we do that by passing this $1.9 trillion relief proposal, and when we do that here are the things we bring home for the people of georgia. $20 billion in vaccine

procurement, distribution and outreach so we can address the health of our citizens and our economy, 20 billion for the whole country. and then just for georgia, nearly $2 billion. to incentivize our state to finally expand medicaid. and i want to emphasize that because many of us have been fighting for the expansion of medicaid for years. folks here in the congress have been trying to get states like georgia to expand medicaid. i literally got arrested in an act of civil disobedience try g to get our state to do the right thing. i came here to visit capital as an activist in 2017 standing up when they were cutting the children's health care program in order to give it to trillion dollars tax cut to the richest of the rich. and so now we can finally get georgia to expand medicaid by

providing nearly $2 billion. it covers the cost of expanding medicaid in georgia, and then some. and that would not have happened were it not for the fact that people of georgia stood up and sent us to the senate. or the $4 billion of george's k-12 school to ensure teachers, children and staff stay safe and billions in a cool funny for our historically lacked colleges and universities. also $5 billion in debt relief, and direct assistant to farmers of color to help our rural communities who have been so hard-hit by the recent economic devastation but also have suffered from long-term discrimination. relief for rental and mortgage assistance, and more than $8 billion to help georgians

provide essential services to keep up the fight on the front lines of this pandemic. that's just some of what's in this package. so i'm committed to getting it done as quickly as possible. i'm so grateful to leader schumer for his support. we have been encouraging others to stand with us to make sure that the people of georgia and the people of this country get the relief they need. there is not another minute to waste. >> we will take a few questions. go ahead. >> it sounds like you are fully on board with the $1400 check for those making 75,000, up to 75,150 respectively, individuals, couples with the phaseout at 100,000 1000 individuals and couples. how confident are you that you have everyone in your party --

>> bottom line is it has brought broad support in our caucus, and we think the house bill is right in the ballpark, right in the ballpark. >> -- $15 minimum wage as a form of direct aid to folks in this bill. the president has been skeptical a can survive the reconciliation process. what is your view on this attachment to this bill and making all the way through the senate? >> senator sanders and i are working very closely together to overcome the birdbath and make sure we do everything we can to see that it survives the birdbath. we will see what happens. that's our first step. >> senator ossoff and ward k you also mention medicaid expansion. can you tell me a little more about what you think can make it into this final bill that will incentivize states like georgia to expand medicaid?

>> piquant package provides an additional 5% for georgia through the f mpa which would more than incentivize georgia to do the right thing. listen, georgia is already losing money because it refused to expand medicaid. and politicians have been playing games around this for years. but now with this additional 5% through fma p, we more than provide adequate support for georgia to do the right thing. >> i'm going to ask, is the trial slowing you down at all into living relief? on that the house impeachment managers change in the gop colleagues mines? >> on question one, no, it is not. as we promised when i first became majority leader they said you have three big tasks, presidents cabin, impeachment, covid. we are on track with all three. this week we affirm to more of the presence of nominees, impeachment, the sport at a good

pace and archimedes as we speak both in house and senate are working on bold covid relief that the american people need. so no, it is not slowing us down. look, yesterdays testimony and presentations, actually not testimony, but presentations were extremely powerful, gutwrenching when you saw what happened. a lot of people didn't see it up close, particularly a lot of -- i had never seen myself in that tape that they should. i didn't know they had it until i saw it. and so on hopeful it will change minds. it's hard to look at that and not see the gravity of what happened. >> after yesterdays testimony do you see the need to bring in outside what is a? >> that is -- with giving the house managers a free hand, and they said to us we are not sure what managers but we want to preserve the right and the bipartisan agreement the leader mcconnell and i negotiated that is allowed and it will make that decision i think after the

opening arguments on both sides. >> leader schumer, what is your reaction republicans basically say this trial is nothing more than just preventing donald trump from her in a can. >> was just look at the trial, look at what happened. to sweep this under the rug, to ignore it in one of the most dastardly acts any president, probably the most dastardly act any president is committed would not heal but keep the ones open. last one. >> leader schumer, it seems that might not be the votes to convict president trump site might not be able to -- bar him from office because her support for bring forward a 14th amendment measure? >> where first going to finish the impeachment trial at the demographics would get together and discuss where to go next. mq everybody. and thank my colleagues. -- thank you, everybody. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the city impeachment trial against former president trump resumes today with house impeachment managers concluding arguments to convict the former president before defense lawyers begin their arguments. after that, four hours we set aside for written questions from senators for lawyers on both sides, in addition time will be set aside for attorneys to argue whether to subpoena witnesses and documents. closing arguments and the vote are expected next week.