Joe Biden, 78, gets his second COVID shot and slams MAGA rioters for 'sedition' but says he will feel safe at his inauguration with 10,000 National Guards creating 'ring of steel'

President-elect Joe Biden on Monday said those that 'engaged in sedition and threatened people's lives' during last week's attack on Capitol Hill should be held accountable. 

Asked if President Donald Trump had been among those engaging in sedition, Biden said: 'I've been clear that President Trump should not be in office. Period.'

The House is expected to impeach Trump this week but the Senate - given that it doesn't return to Washington D.C. until January 19th - is unlikely to tackle the issue before Trump leaves office, meaning the early days of Biden's presidency would be taken up with his predecessor's trial.  

But Biden said he has the 'hope and expectation' that the Senate could hold an impeachment trial while confirming his Cabinet nominees and working on an additional COVID relief package. 

'Look, my priority is to get first and foremost the stimulus bill passed,' he said.

'I had a discussion today with some of the folks in the House and Senate and the question is whether or not, for example, the House moves forward, which they obviously are, with impeachment and send it over to the Senate, whether or not we can bifurcate this, dealing with impeachment, getting people nominated and confirmed in the Senate as well as moving on the package,' he noted.

'That's my hope and expectation,' he added.

Biden takes the oath of office in nine days. If Trump would be be impeached, it would prevent him from running for another term as president.

The president-elect made his remarks after he received the second dose of his coronavirus vaccine, which should make him immune to the virus. 

Biden pulled off his sport jacket to reveal a dark, short-sleeve T-shirt underneath when he arrived at the Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware.

He said 'Ready, set, go' to Chief Nurse Executive Ric Cumin, who administered the Pfizer vaccine. The moment played out on television cameras. 

Biden received his first shot on Dec. 21 - also televised. The virus has now killed nearly 375,000 people in the United States - about 60,000 more than when the president-elect got his first round of vaccination. 

Vice President Mike Pence, who received his first dose on Dec. 18 in a televised setting, received his second dose 'Last week on Thursday,' according to his office. 

President-elect Joe Biden received the second dose of his coronavirus vaccine, which should make him immune to the virus

Biden said the death rate from the coronavirus unacceptable -'Three to four thousand a day is beyond the pale. It is just wrong. We can do a lot to change it,' he said

The president-elect said he hopes the Senate could hold impeach President Donald Trump while confirming his Cabinet nominees and working on an additional COVID relief package

He expressed confidence in his COVID-19 combating team to be able to conduct a vaccine distribution blitz after he takes office on January 20th. 

'My number one priority is getting vaccine in people's arms like we just did today as rapidly as we can. We are working on that program now,' he said. 'I will be meeting on zoom call with my team later this afternoon. And I put together which I will be announcing on Thursday laying out the plan, costs of how I want to proceed, cost of what we have to do to be able to get the entire COVID operation up and running.'

He said the death rate is unacceptable. 

'Three to four thousand a day is beyond the pale. It is just wrong. We can do a lot to change it,' he said. 

Biden also told the reporters with him he wasn't afraid of holding his inauguration ceremony outside on January 20th in the wake of last Wednesday's MAGA riot, where a pro-Trump mob swarmed the stands built for his inauguration.

'I'm not afraid of taking the oath outside,' Biden said.

Additional security measures have been put into place, including seven-foot anti-climbing fences around the Capitol complex, surrounding it in a ring of steel.

National Guard units have arrived to help guard the building through January 20th. The head of the National Guard said at least 10,000 troops will be deployed in Washington, D.C., by Saturday, and an additional 5,000 could be requested from other states. 

Biden argued both parties agreed those who engaged in ransacking the Capitol and threatening the life of Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be punished.

'I think it is critically important there be a real serious focus on holding those folks who engaged in sedition and threatened people's lives, defacing public property, caused great damage, that they be held accountable. I think that's the view held by the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans in the Congress,' he said. 

Pence and his family could hear the angry and violent crowds shouting 'where's Mike Pence' while they stormed through the building as Trump did nothing to check in on his second-in-command's safety.

The vice president angered Trump and his supporters earlier this week after pushing back against the president's incorrect claim that the VP could put a stop to the certification of Biden's victory in the Electoral College. 

Trump and Pence reportedly have not spoken to one another since Wednesday's riot. 

Joe Biden said he's not worried about taking the oath of office outside as seven-foot tall anti-climbing fence now circles the Capitol as part of enhanced security measures

Members of the New York National Guard form up on the East Front of the Capitol as at least 10,000 troops will be deployed in Washington, D.C., by Saturday

Joe Biden said those that 'engaged in sedition and threatened people's lives' during last week's attack on Capitol Hill should be held accountable

Biden said those that threatened Vice President Mike Pence during Capitol Hill MAGA riot should be held accountable 

The vice president was rushed by his security team from the Senate chamber moments before the mob broke in and took over, sitting in the same chair Pence had been presiding in moments earlier.   

Meanwhile, Pelosi and Democratic leaders formally accused Trump of incitement to insurrection Monday morning as part of an attempt to shame him out of office at breakneck speed.

Democrats introduced their impeachment resolution, first floated Friday, accusing Trump of 'incitement of insurrection' as the House met.

Top Democrats say it has enough support to pass the House - and that they expect Republicans to sign on to it.

And they set up fast-moving floor votes that that will force House Republicans to cast votes this week both on President Trump's fitness for office and on whether to remove him during his final days in power.

On Monday morning, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) sought to call up a resolution that would instruct Pence to convene cabinet members to declare Trump 'incapable of executing the duties of his office' under the terms of the 25th Amendment.

But he failed to get 'unanimous consent' when a House Republican objected. Pelosi says she will respond by bringing the 25th amendment resolution to the floor Tuesday - meaning Republicans will have to vote on the record on whether they believe Trump is fit for office

Pelosi's plan is to first try to bring up the resolution formally requesting Vice President Mike Pence invoke the 25th Amendment through the request, then follow up by bringing it before the full House.

The amendment provides either for the cabinet to meet to assess the president, or a special committee to be established by Congress – although Congress has never created such a body. 

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin or Marylan began developing 25th amendment legislation months ago, and has examined the issue for years. 

The move puts pressure on Pence – who Trump publicly sought to strong-arm at the rally that proceeded the Capitol riots. 

The resolution would not carry the force of law, but it would be the first test for House Republicans, many of whom served with Pence, since a vote hours after the riot split the conference on whether to count votes where Trump has claimed fraud. 

The House will vote on the 25th amendment legislation on Tuesday. They will vote on impeaching Trump on Wednesday.

Even if the House votes Wednesday to impeach, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wrote colleagues a trial would not likely begin until January 19th – missing the opportunity to remove Trump from office, and also complicating the start of Biden's tenure. 

Unlike through impeachment, if Pence and a majority of the cabinet officers were to vote that Trump was unfit for office, Pence would immediately become acting president for a period of days that would run out Trump's term. 

Biden said on Friday that Trump was 'an embarrassment to the country' and if Trump was in office longer he'd support using the impeachment process or the 25th amendment to remove him. 

His indication that Trump should be left alone to finish out his final days in the White House puts him in opposition with many Democrats on Capitol Hill.

'If we were six months out, we should do everything to get him out of office. Impeach him again and trying to invoke the 25th amendment. Get him out of office. I'm focused now on us taking control as vice president and president on the 20th and get our agenda going,' he said.