>>> WELCOME TO OUR SPECIAL
COVERAGE MARKING JOE BIDENS 100
DAYS SINCE ELECTION.
THE PAST THREE MONTHS HAVE SHOWN
THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE INHERITED
A COUNTRY REELING FROM THE
PANDEMIC AND THE CHALLENGE OF
GETTING MILLIONS OF VACCINES TO
EVERY CORNER OF AMERICA.
THERE WAS THE ECONOMIC FALLOUT
FROM THAT VIRUS AND THE NO HOLDS BARRED FIGHT ON CAPITOL HILL TO
BARRED FIGHT ON CAPITOL HILL TO
FUND THE NATIONS BADLY NEEDED
RECOVERY.
OVERSEAS, CHINA AND RUSSIA
CONTINUE TO TEST THE AMERICAN
EXPERIMENT FOR WEAK SPOTS,
RAISING THE STAKES ON THE WORLD
STAGE.
WEVE GOT ALL OF THIS COVERED
THIS MORNING, BUT FIRST, WHAT
MAKES THE 100 DAY BENCHMARK SO
SIGNIFICANT?
TO TACKLE THAT QUESTION, LETS
BRING IN AUTHOR AND NBC NEWS
PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN MICHAEL
BESCHLASH.
THANK YOU.
>> AS JOE BIDEN IS GOING INTO
OFFICE, THERE ARE ALWAYS PEOPLE
TRYING TO DRAW PARALLELS.
A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE TALKING
ABOUT FDR.
I WAS TALKING ABOUT HARRY
TRUMAN.
BUT, ACTUALLY, WHEN YOU TALK
ABOUT THE FIRST 100 DAYS,
DOESNT THAT GO BACK TO FDR?
>> IT DOES.
IT REALLY WAS ALMOST PUBLIC
RELATIONS.
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
PRESIDENCY, 1933, THE BANKS WERE
CLOSED, WE WERE IN A TERRIBLE
DEPRESSION, THE COUNTRY SEEMED
TO BE COMING TO ITS KNEES.
AND FDR DID THINGS LIKE
REOPENING THE BANKS, YOU KNOW,
ESTABLISHING INSTITUTIONS,
RESTORING CONFIDENCE THAT MADE
PEOPLE FEEL BETTER WITHIN THE
FIRST 90 OR 100 DAYS.
SO ROOSEVELTS AID SAID WHY
DONT WE SORT OF SAY THE FIRST
100 DAYS IS A REAL IMPORTANT
BENCHMARK FOR EVERYONE PRESIDENT
AND LOOK AT HOW ROOSEVELT HAS
PASSED THE TEST, WHICH HE SURE
DID.
PROBABLY EVERY PRESIDENT SINCE
THEN HAS RUED THE DAY THAT
ROOSEVELT DID THAT BECAUSE,
OFTENTIMES, A PRESIDENT DOES NOT
SHOW HIS DUFF DURING THAT FIRST
PERIOD.
>> MICHAEL, THE NEW DEAL WAS
UNIQUE HISTORICALLY IN ITS
SCOPE.
BUT PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS DRAWN
COMPARISONS TO FDR IN HIS
AMBITIONS, HIS LEGISLATIVE
AMBITIONS.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE SHEER NUMBERS
THAT WERE TALKING ABOUT, UP
INTO THE TRILLIONS ON A COUPLE
OF DIFFERENT PACKAGES.
HOW DO YOU COMPARE IN THAT WAY
LEGISLATIVELY WHAT JOE BIDEN HAS
DONE SO FAR, WHAT HE HOPES TO DO
IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS COMPARED
TO FDR?
>> THIS IS WHAT THEY CALL A
TRANSFORMING PRESIDENT, MEANING
A PRESIDENT WHO IS NOT JUST
TRYING TO FIX PROBLEMS HES
DEALING WITH, BUT ALSO CHANGE
THE SYSTEM SO THAT THOSE
PROBLEMS ARE LESS LIKELY TO
HAPPEN AGAIN.
AND THAT IS WHY WE HONOR FDR.
HE SAID WERE GOING TO HAVE THE
GOVERNMENT MORE INVOLVED IN
HELPING PEOPLE DIRECTLY FROM
WASHINGTON THAN HAS EVER BEEN
THE CASE BEFORE BECAUSE IN A
MODERN ECONOMY, THERE ARE TOO
MANY DANGERS.
AND LBJ IN 1965 SAID FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT HAS TO MOVE IN TO
MAKE SURE THERE ARE CIVIL RIGHTS
AND BOOTY WIPES AND HELP IN
EDUCATION AND PEOPLE WHO ARE
POOR GET DIRECT HELP AND ALL
SORTS OF OTHER THINGS LIKE
MEDICARE.
ALL THESE THINGS CHANGED THE
FACE OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL
SYSTEM IN A WAY THAT AFFECTS US
TO THIS DAY.
SO BIDEN HAS USED THE FORCE OF
THE PRESIDENCY TO FIGHT THE
PANDEMIC IN A WAY THAT SURE
DIDNT HAPPEN UNDER DONALD
TRUMP.
NO TALK ABOUT INJECTING BLEACH
OR DISINFECTANT OR ULTRAVIOLET
RAYS.
YOU SEE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
MOVING IN AND IF BIDEN HAD NOT
FOUGHT THE PANDEMIC EFFECTIVELY,
WE CERTAINLY WOULD BE HEARING
ABOUT IT.
THE ECONOMY IS BETTER IN ALL
SORTS OF WAYS AND ALSO THE
THREATS OF DEMOCRACY WHICH WE
SAW ON THE 6th OF JANUARY AT THE
OF THAT INSURRECTION, I GAUSHT
YOU THAT IF JOE BIDEN HAD NOT
DONE WELL DURING THESE FIRST 100
DAYS, YOU WOULD SEE PEOPLE
SAYING WE HAVE TO TAKE POWER IN
OUR OWN HANDS AGAINST THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE
PRESIDENT.
>> WE HAVE SEEN A RETURN TO
CONSTITUTIONAL NORMS TO BASIC
POLITICAL NORMS THAT OFTEN WERE
SKIRTED OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS
DURING THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY.
WE ALSO SAW A DIFFERENCE IN HOW
COVID WAS TACKLED.
THERE WAS A LOT OF
DISINFORMATION COMING OUT OF
DONALD TRUMPS PRESS
CONFERENCES.
EVEN IF YOU COMPARE THEM TO WHAT
HE SAID PRIVATELY SO JOURNALIST
BOB WOODWARD, IS THAT PERHAPS
THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE?
>> IT IS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE.
THAT IS THE MOST BASIC JOB A
PRESIDENT HAS, AS YOU WELL KNOW,
JOE, IS TO HELP AMERICANS PROTECT THEMSELVES WHEN THEIR
PROTECT THEMSELVES WHEN THEIR
LIVES ARE AT STAKE.
DONALD TRUMP WAS SHAMEFULLY
NEGLIGENT.
HE NEVER DID THAT.
ONE MY SAY OVER HALF A MILLION
AMERICANS, MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE
DIED NEEDLESSLY WOULD NOT HAVE
DIED HAD YOU HAD A MORE
COMPETENT PRESIDENT.
NOW WEVE GOT ONE.
>> MICHAEL, I WANT TO SHOW A
PICTURE THAT YOU ACTUALLY
TWEETED EARLIER THIS WEEK. IVE PUT IT AT THE TOP OF MY
IVE PUT IT AT THE TOP OF MY
TWITTER -- OF MY TWITTER PAGE.
BECAUSE I THINK IT DEFINES NOT
ONLY THE CAN DO AMERICAN
CHARACTER OF 1945, BUT ALSO I
STILL SEE A LOT OF THIS IN
AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURS, IN AMERICAN HEALTH CARE WORKERS, IN
AMERICAN HEALTH CARE WORKERS, IN
AMERICANS ACROSS THIS COUNTRY.
PEOPLE WHO BELIEVE ANYTHING IS
POSSIBLE.
>> A GREAT PRESIDENT WHO
CERTAINLY HAD FLAWS, BUT A GREAT
PRESIDENT SAID WE AMERICANS HELP
TO BUILD -- CAN HELP TO BUILD A
MIGHTY WAR EFFORT THAT CAN
TOPPLE ADOLF HITLER AND DID SO
IN ABOUT THREE YEARS.
AND THIS TIME IN 1945, NOT ONLY
WE, BUT OUR ALLIED PARTNERS WERE
NOT ONLY RUSHING ON BERLIN TO
CONQUER BERLIN, HITLER WAS IN
THE BUNKER AND YOU HAD A
WONDERFUL PICTURE OF THIS GUY
WHO WAS A PARATROOPER, AS YOU
KNOW, WHO IS THERE ENJOYING
HITLERS COGNAC IN HIS ALPINE
RETREAT.
WHAT BETTER SYMBOL OF THE FACT
THAT NOT ONLY DID AMERICA AND
ITS PARTNERS WIN THE WAR IN