having pets at the white house, a return to tradition. president trump and his family did not have any pets at the white house during his term. thanks for joining us this day on "inside politics." i hope to see you back tomorrow. brianna keilar picking it up. have a good day. helhello, i'm brianna keila and i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. tomorrow as the house delivers another impeachment article to the senate condemning former president trump for inciting insurrection at the capital, his successor is adding to his record-breaking list of executive actions, more than 30 so far. now biden begins his first full week as president, and in moments the white house will hold their press briefing to give more details on one of today's orders. this one, unlike one of the many others, does not undo trump's

work, it emphasizes it. it is to boost manufacturing. but two other actions do reverse trump's directives. just moments ago president biden signed an order to lift the ban on transgender troops in the military. and biden is reinstating coronavirus travel restrictions that trump wanted lifted this month. it restricts citizens coming from brazil, the island, u.k. and much of europe. he also aldded much of africa t the restriction list. and he removed connelly who gave misinformation while trump recovered from the coronavirus. he also lobbied congress for his giant $1.9 trillion covid relief bill, and for that let's turn to our cnn correspondent, phil mattingly. phil, i want to talk to you about the negotiations on this lobbying, but i also know you have breaking news from the

justice department. tell bus about this. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, brianna. while the administration is trying to move guard oforward o agenda, they are looking into investigations. the justice department is opening an investigation on whether the doj officials acted improperly in attempting to overturn the election. this regards one justice department official in particular by the name of jeffrey smith, who was having conversations with president trump about whether or not the justice department would do anything to back what the president was attempting to do in overturning the results of a democratic election. also the possibility that they were trying to fire jeffrey rosen who was the acting attorney general which looked on track to happen during a new year's eve weekend were it not for the threat of mass resignations from the senior leadership at the justice department. michael horowitz, the inspector general at the justice

department, obviously he's conducted a number of very high stakes investigations over the course of the last several years, will be conducting this investigation. worth noting, on capitol hill, senator dick durbin, the incoming chairman of the senate judiciary committee, has also said he will be looking into this issue as well, so no shortage of investigations, this one coming from the inspector general of the justice department, brianna. >> and these negotiations on the president's covid relief bill, is he making any progress with republicans? >> reporter: define progress, right? are they any closer to a final -- >> has he won them over? >> reporter: he has not won them over. he's not near an outcome yet. what is so interesting, particularly when you talk to democrats on capitol hill who obviously are newly empowered in the united states senate, and still maintain the majority in the house, are at this divide of whether they want to move now on a partisan basis as big as they can go on a package. the president put one down for 1 poi

1$.9 trillion, or do they wait to see if republicans will move on this. the president wants a package. brian drease held a conference call with eight republicans, eight democrats, and concerns were raised, particularly by democrats, about very specific elements of the package and whether or not it is justified given how large it is. that has been seen as kind of a bad sign as to where things are going. but i think it's also important to keep in context who the president of the united states is. president joe biden considers himself a deal maker. president joe biden when he was vice president made deals for president obama with people like new senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. this is going to be a process. it will take time. people on the hill who i talked to that were directly briefed on that call say it's a negotiation. they don't get the sense that

$1.9 trillion is a red line, they want to start the negotiation. that negotiation has officially started. those meetings are going to continue in the days and weeks ahead. the expectation is the president will play a key role in some of those talks as well. the bigger question right now for the white house as they push toward a bipartisan agreement, or at least an effort for a bipartisan agreement, is will democrats on capitol hill who want to move now and want to go big be willing to be patient and let that process play out, or will they try to move unilaterally, brianna? >> oh, the sausage making that happens at times like these. phil mattingly, thank you, covering the white house for us. in a few hours the impeachment trial for donald trump will get set in motion, when the house walks over the impeachment articles to the senate. this move will trigger a second impeachment trial which is now set to get underway in about two weeks. senior correspondent manu raju is live on capitol hill. any indication that the republicans will support this

move to convict? >> reporter: there are a handful that may actually vote to convict the former president, but will there be 17? that is the magic number, because there are 50 democrats who have all joined to convict donald trump. 17 republicans have to join as well to convict him, and then they can vote to bar him from ever holding office again. but in talking to many republican senators over the last week, it is clear that most republican senators are most likely going to vote to acquit donald trump, and there simply are not the 17 senators there at the moment. we'll see if anything changes during the trial. but you do have some senators like senator mitt romney who made very clear he has considered what the former president did an impeachable offense. he voted to convict the president, was the only republican to do so, in 2020. then other republican senators made clear they don't believe this effort to try a former president is constitutional. >> the preponderance of the legal opinion is that an

impeachment trial after someone has left office is constitutional. i believe that's the case. i'll, of course, hear what the lawyers have to say for each side, but i think it's pretty clear that the effort is constitutional. >> i think the trial is stupid. i think it's counterproductive. we already have a flaming fire in this country and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire. >> reporter: so the argument democrats are going to make during the impeachment trial is this is absolutely a constitutional action to go after a former president who has been impeached. they're going to point to past precedent where the senate has gone after a former federal officer who has resigned. there's never been an impeachment trial of a former president, so that's going to be part of the debate going forward. but this is going to happen in the next couple of weeks. tonight they're going to actually march over that article of impeachment, the incitement by the president that led to the

deadly riot at the capitol january 6. then they will put together the briefs sent to the senate which is serving as the court before arguments actually take place in february. what is also different, brianna, about this trial, chief justice john roberts will not be pre siding over this trial because it's a former president. it's actually going to be the senate president pro tem, patrick leahy, will preside over this trial. he can also vote in the trial. the difference will be if more than one republican can vote to convict. maybe a handful but not 17. brianna? >> manu raju live on capitol hill. we are standing by for the briefing at the white house. as we're waiting for that, i want to bring in gloria borger and david chalian. gloria, the department of justice inspector general, we

just heard, is now investigating if any doj official engaged in improper -- an improper attempt to interfere with election results. how might this impact the impeachment trial? >> well, it very well might impact the impeachment trial in this way. if people believe there was a crime committed that is an impeachable offense and they want people to vote to convict, they could say this is motive. they could say the president was plotting -- it's all too remarkable to even say because it sounds like a story -- that the president was plotting with somebody inside the justice department to dethrone the acting attorney general so he could get the justice department to overturn the election in georgia. it's remarkable, but it does go to the motive of the president, saying, look, he was planning

this insurrection in many different ways. >> and, you know, this is a big day, of course, david. the impeachment article is going to be walked over to the senate, and there is a sense, i think -- we just heard manu reporting -- maybe a handful of republicans, certainly far shy of that 17 that would be necessary to convict the president, only a handful are thinking about really doing this. it seems like there's been a shift from the heat of the moment after the insurrection to now when it comes to where republicans are. >> well, certainly i do think that as time marches on, the equalibrium comes back and leaving trump out of this, not the thinking of going after him.

even in the heat of the moment, a week after the insurrection, only 10% of republicans voted to vote him out. it is a small fraction of the overwhelming majority of republicans who either would just like this to go away, or who believe that staying locked arm with donald trump is the path forward for the party, that that's where their voters are. i'm not terribly surprised that we don't yet see 17 republicans in the senate emerge as potentially voting to convict the president. and to gloria's point, yes, this news of the doj investigation is no doubt going to be part of this case. eric swallow, one of the house managers, already indicated it will be. amy klobuchar, one of the jurors, yesterday was saying she fully expected this to be wrapped into the case, and yet i

still don't think you're seeing the math move much on the republican side. >> gloria, go on. >> i was just going to say i think that's because the republicans, by and large, have decided not to go to the issue itself, but rather argue this point in the senate on the question of whether it is, in fact, constitutional to convict a president who is no longer in office, and then their other argument is, well, this is a time when the country needs to be united and not divided and why would we divide the country even further by voting to convict? so those are their two arguments, and they're going to sort of push aside the crux of the matter which is, did the president incite this violence? >> and, david, some big news that republican senator rob portman is not going to run for re-election in 2022. he blamed partisan gridlock as a big reason that he's walking away. let's listen. >> our country is polarized

right now. it's kind of shirts and skins, isn't it? that makes it more difficult to find that common ground, because elected officials aren't rewarded for that. what they're rewarded for is throwing out the red meat on the talk show, and that, you ducive serious problems we face as a country. >> some of senator portman's, i guess, positions somewhat recently certainly raise the idea that he knew he was coming to be in cycle and that he was being pretty careful, david, but he's made this decision now, and i wonder what you think about it. >> i think rob portman is sort of like the perfect example of what has been sort of tearing at the republican party throughout the last ten years in the lead-up to donald trump but certainly accelerated under the trump presidency. we saw rob portman in a

mainstream sort of conservative republican from the establishment align himself time and again with president trump in fear of offending the base of voters that were as energetic as all get-out with president trump as their leader inside the republican party. so you saw somebody who tried to straddle all of the different factions and interests at play there, and i just think what you see in portman's departure is now open season for that fight in a place like ohio to play out. let's see how the republican primary field forms in ohio. does someone like jim jordan, a total trump loyalist, go up against a mainstream or moderate kind of republican to battle the party, and then which one is better positioned to fuel a democrat in a state that is a battleground state but trended red.

remember, president trump -- rob portman won in 2020 by eight percentage points. >> it means we'll see where the republican party is. gloria, it's apparent when you look at the arizona republican party, the lesson they have taken out of this election. they've kicked out -- they've censured the mccains, mitt romney, they have censured cindy mccain. he have censured -- at least in arizona, they have censured the republican governor for putting in place some measures for coronavirus. i mean, what do you think about this, this decision to basically say, no, these folks are not part of the republican party and instead to be in favor of trump and, like, qanon. >> the irony here is, of course, that the republican governor, ducey, was a trump supporter.

this is, you are 100% with donald trump and what donald trump told you to do, or you're out. yes, cindy mccain endorsed joe biden, we get that. jeff flake left, but opened his mouth about donald trump, so they're all in. they're all in with donald trump, and they've made that decision, and i think what they want to do is they wanted to inhibit anybody else from going against anything that trump would want. they are making a bet in that republican party that donald trump will be an enduring political figure for the next four years, at least. there are a lot of people who may disagree with him, but to openly oust these people is quite remarkable, and what they are doing is paying homage to donald trump. there is no other way to look at it. >> david, from just a purely

political point, is that a good move? >> in 20 years, both the republican seats went from republican to democratic and the state flipped from joe biden to donald trump -- >> i'm so sorry, you guys, let's pause and listen to jen psaki at the white house. >> good afternoon. happy monday to everyone. a couple announcements at the top, first as a part of this administration's accessibility and inclusion efforts. starting today we'll have an asl, american sign language, interpreter for our daily press briefings. today heather is joining us virtually. the president is committed to building an america that is more inclusive, more just for every american, including americans with disabilities and their families. next i want to share a few updates from the covid response team. first today, the president will sign a presidential proclamation to reduce the spread of covid-19

through travel, especially as we see faster spreading variants emerging across the world. this proclamation is part of the biden administration's whole and decisive and science-driven response to the covid-19 pandemic. a particular note, on advice of our administration's medical and covid team, president biden has decided to maintain the restrictions previously in place for the european area, the united kingdom, republic of ireland and brazil. with the pandemic worsening and more contagious variants spreading, this isn't the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel, and in light of the contagious variant, b 13531, brazil has been added to the list. travelers must provide proof

within three days of travel to the airlines prior to departure. the president is taking these steps on the advice of his covid-19 and medical team. we're already working as a real partner with the states to dress their needs to vaccinate the public. this weekend west virginia asked the biden administration for assistance on a vaccination distribution center. at the president's direction, fema was deployed to help support the vaccination site. this comes from the president to support vaccine centers and vaccination efforts. we look forward to being the partner of the states moving forward. last update on covid, i wanted to briefly preview the first of our public health briefings, which will begin this wednesday and will be done regularly for the foreseeable future. these will be science-led briefings featuring our public health officials and members of our covid-19 response team. these briefings will typically happen three times a week to provide the american people with

key updates on the virus and our government's response, the reflection of our commitment to being transparent and honest with the public about the pandemic and the work our whole government team is doing every day. you will all be able to participate in those as well. finally -- i think finally -- this morning president biden signed an executive order to set the policy that all americans who are qualified to serve in the armed forces of the united states should be able to serve. today marks the memorandum of march 2013 to 2018 and also marks the revocation of march 2017. no one will be separated or discharged from the military or denied enlistment on the basis of gender identity, and for those in service who were discharged because of gender identity, their cases will be

re-examined. president biden believes gender identity should not be a bar to military service and that american strength is found in its diversity. america is stronger around the world when it is inclusive. sorry, i said it was the last, but a lot going on here. this afternoon the president will sign an executive order that takes an important step to support american manufacturing. with this executive order, the president is already making good on his commitment to build a future that is made in america by all of america's workers. through the buy american executive order, the president will put to work the nearly $600 million in taxpayer dollars that goes toward federal contracting in support of american manufacturing and good-paying jobs for america's workers. it directs companies to close loopholes in the way american manufacturing is measured, that we can increase an amount of a product that must be made in the u.s. to qualify for the buy american law. he will also appoint a senior white house official to oversee

this policy to ensure that it's actually enforced and that all agencies are seeking small and medium-sized businesses to makes the products they need. he has also tightened the process so americans can see how federal dollars are spent and where they are going. i will stop there, and john, why don't you kick us off. >> reporter: thank you, jen. we know you have to leave at 2:00 so we'll get started right now. one foreign, one domestic question. over the weekend there were dozens of protests in russian cities over the imprisonment of alexei navalny. what sort of sanctions could occur, and when does the president plan to speak to president putin? >> first, i'd like to point all of you to a statement that was released this weekend by the state department strongly condemning the use of harsh tactics against protesters and journalists in cities throughout russia. these continued efforts to suppress russia's rights to

peacefully protest and assemble their freedom of expression of alexei navalny and the crackdown is further evidence of civil society. so the order is for russians to release all those and for the release of alexei navalny. we want to participate in the poisoning of alexei navalny and explain the use of a chemical weapon on its soil. last week we announced the president issued a tasking to the intelligence community for its full assessment of a range of activitactivities, including cyber breach of the election, the soldiers in afghanistan. that is ongoing. we'll have an update on that

when it concludes. i apologize, i misstated that. i don't have a timeline of the review, it's something ongoing. it's a priority, of course. >> has a call been scheduled to president putin? >> i don't have any calls to predict for you at this point, but obviously the president is picking up the phone and engaging with a range of foreign leaders, european and others. there is more planned in the next couple days and we'll have readouts as those conoccur. >> and one here at home. the president has repeatedly stressed the covid relief package, the need to get something done now. with that in mind, considering the action of republican lawmakers over the weekend, is there a form of the vaccine that could be done sooner? and while we know white house officials have talked to the hill, can you speak to the president's personal involvement? who has he spoken to? >> the president has been actively engaging with democrats and republicans. we're not going to read out those calls for you because those are private conversations

and we feel that's the most effect effective way of getting this package moving forward. there was a call that occurred yesterday that we did a brief readout of that call, part of our work in talking with republicans. this process should work. he puts his policy forward, his vision forward, and then democrats and republicans can engage and give their input and feedback on what they think is going to work and how to move this package forward. in our view, this is working exactly as it should work. >> is there concern? democrats themselves, senator sanders and speaker pelosi said the reconciliation should be considered now, that there isn't time for this sort of legislative forum. >> the president has said he wants to move this package forward and he's conveyed that to republicans and democrats.

there is an urgency of the people to move this package forward because we're going to hit an unemployment insurance cliff in march where millions of people won't be able to have access to unemployment insurance. we're going to hit a point where we won't have enough funding for vaccine distribution. nobody wants to have the conversation. no member of congress in may or june when we don't have the funding to reopen schools, i should say. so there is an urgency he has conveyed. i will say as it relates to reconciliation, just to take a step back, everybody watching is not as in the weeds of the senators' process. reconciliation is a means of getting a bill passed. there are a number of means of getting bills passed. that does not mean regardless of how the bill is passed that democrats and republicans cannot both vote for it. so the president obviously wants to make this bipartisan, hence, he's engaging with members of both parties and he remains committed to that moving

forward. go ahead, kaitlan. >> reporter: just real quick, you were talking about the cliff in march. does he think it will get passed by march? >> there is an urgency moving forward. he certainly believes there needs to be progress in the next couple weeks. >> reporter: so he thinks by and large it will get passed? >> i don't want to look at a deadline, but we are all looking at that timeline in march as when we'll hit the unemployment cliff. it's important to get things done as rapidly and quickly as possible. >> reporter: you said last week he wants things bipartisan. we've seen republicans fight back on the price tag, the $15 minimum wage and who qualifies for the stimulus checks. is he willing to come down on any of that? >> i'm not going to negotiate from here, not that you're expecting me to do that. but, again, the president feels this is working as it should. he proposed his package, he's getting feedback, we're having conversations, we don't expect the final bill to look exactly the same as the first bill he proposed. i will remind you, though, that

the bipartisan package that passed in december had the same thresholds for the checks. $150,000, approximately that amount for families, $75,000 for individuals in terms of who would have access to those checks. each proponent of that package is vital to get us through this period of time. that's how the president looks at this package, that each of them are essential. not just vaccine distribution money, but funding to ensure that people can make sure they're putting food on the table, that their kids are eating, that they have the bridge needed to get to the other side of the pandemic. >> just quickly, yesterday the cdc director said she could not say how much vaccine there was left to go out. i know it's complicated what's being shipped and distributed and actually injected, but is there at least a ballpark amount that officials are aware of of how much vaccine there is? >> our team is working right now.

we've been here five days to evaluate the supply so we can release the maximum amount while also ensuring that everyone can get the second dose on the fda-recommended schedule. so the confusion around this issue, which we acknowledge there is some confusion, speaks to a larger problem, which is what we're inheriting from the prior administration, which is much worse than we could have imagined. so we are assessing now what we have access to and ensuring that we have more of a rapid engagement with states so that they have more of a heads-up on what to expect in the weeks ahead. >> reporter: just to button this up, gus perna still works here, right, and he's in charge of the logistics. could he say where this is going? >> there is a new cdc director who speaks to this, and what we are trying to do is fully comprehend what we have access to and make sure we're conveying that actively and effectively with the public.

go ahead. >> reporter: acknowledging the confusion around the lack of clarity about the vaccine availability, give us a sense of just how stunning that revelation is? what was president biden's reaction to learning that? >> i will say i've sat in a lot of meetings with president biden about covid and his efforts to get the pandemic under control. he asks a lot of detailed questions about the status of supply, the status of distribution, the status of states when there's reporting from all of you on states not having the information they need. those are specific issues he raises. we're eyes wide open, all of us, including the president with the knowledge that we were not walking into a circumstance where there was going to be a concrete assessment or plan presented to us when we walked in, and there wasn't. that's why he put forward his 200-page vaccine distribution plan last week, and that's why he hired an experienced and talented team to get to the

bottom of exactly what we're looking at so that we can have that assessment moving forward. >> when does the administration think they'll have a better sense of the available inventory? >> well, as i noted at the top, we're going to be doing regular briefings. three times a week, and we'll start those on wednesday. i don't know what assessment they'll have on wednesday, but what our objective is is to provide a clear and accurate message to the public. >> reporter: as it relates to covid relief, we are in a national emergency and we should act like it. they don't want a delay and they don't want to experience a cost waiting for republicans to get on board with it. >> with the package? >> reporter: yes. >> i agree, he doesn't want a delay, either, and i would say 75% of the public agrees.

this covid package, funding for the vaccine distribution, but also making sure people can apply for unemployment insurance, funding for schools, the public supports that. the public will be conveying to leaders elected to represent them exactly that. go ahead. >> reporter: can i ask you to clarify the testing requirement? that applies to all people boarding planes, including u.s. citizens? anyone getting on a plane needs a test. >> from overseas? yes. yes. >> i also want to ask a couple things the trump administration did in the final stages and i wonder if you folks are going to intervene. one is they issued a license to a billionaire named dan gertner to allow him to access a u.s. system until 2022. will the biden administration intervene or does that stand? the other one is if he issued an

executive order for delisting china companies, in particular, three telecoms. do you plan on rescinding that order or stopping those agreements? >> we're about to have a treasury secretary confirmed, and i would send you to them to explain any of the views they may take -- undertake, i should say, in that sanctions review. then on the chinese, i know there was some reporting, perhaps from your outlet this morning, on that particular issue. as we've noted in here previously, there are a number of reviews, complex reviews, interagency reviews, i should say, that we're going to undertake as it relates to a range of our -- sorry, let me start again here -- a range of regulatory actions and a range of relationships with kcompanie as it relates to chinese investment and other issues as

well. those complex reviews are just starting. as i noted, they will need to go through the interagency, so the state department, the treasury department, a number of others who will review how we move forward, we're starting from an approach of patience as it relates to our relationship with china, so that means we're going to have consultations with our allies, we're going to have consultations with democrats and republicans, and we're going to allow the interagency process to work its way through to review and assess how we should move forward with our relationship. >> it's possible those reviews could lead to a change in this delisting process down the road? >> i don't want to get ahead of any review, but certainly we're taking an overarching look at all of it, and as we have more to report, we'll report back to you. >> can i ask broadly what the president believes president trump's legacy is with regards to china and the tariffs imposed? does president biden like those

tariffs? they remain in place on a large sum of china's goods. are those under review at this time? >> as is the case with other areas of our relationship with china, he will take a multilateral approach to engaging with china, and that includes evaluating the tariffs currently in place. he wants to ensure that we take any steps in coordination with our allies and partners and with democrats and republicans in congress as well. so nothing to report at this point in time, but we're committed to -- the president is committed to stopping china's economic abuses on many fronts, and the most effective way of doing that is to work in concert with our allies and partners to do exactly that. go ahead. >> i wanted to follow up a little bit on some of the china issues. i know there was an executive order regarding the sale of tiktok's u.s. business, and i wondered if there were plans to

revoke it oren enforce it, or t is the current thinking on that? >> it's a great question. i haven't had the opportunity to speak to our national securities team about it. i'm happy to see if i can get you something more specific. go ahead. >> reporter: two questions about it. first, are we stepping back a minute on what the administration's goals are? unity is something president biden spoke about quite a bit on the campaign trail, he talked about it during the transition. could you talk a little more specifically about what unity will mean to this administration, whether there are any kind of benchmarks that you've identified to show that unity has been achieved? it is in contrast with the coronavirus task force, of course, you have detailed benchmarks of what you want to achieve moment by moment. by unity, are you talking bipartisanship, are you talking about something widely popular in the united states?

can you say what president biden is thinking about when he says he wants to achieve unity? >> sure. the president came in to lead the country at a time when there was great division and a great need for healing. he spoke about that in his inaugural address just last week. so unity to him means, of course, approaching our work on legislative issues through a bipartisan lens, working with democrats and republicans, trying to find a path forward to work on the issues americans are facing. that's part of it. but it also means projecting that he is going to govern for all people and address all the issues the american people are facing. for example, that means talking about how the covid pandemic impacts not just democrats, but republicans, not just blue states but red states, ensuring that he is reaching out to democratic and republican governors, democratic and republican mayors and conveying, in every opportunity he has, that this is a problem we're all facing together. i think it's a little bit different than how you can mark,

of course, achieving 100 million shots in the arms of americans in the first 100 days, but unity is about the country feeling that they're in it together. and i think we'll know that when we see it, but he's going to be working on that and committed to that every opportunity he has to speak to the public. >> i have just one other question. the obama administration initially had wanted to put harriet tubman on the $20 bill. the trump administration dragged their feet on that. i wanted to see if the biden administration has a view on the timeline of whether or not she should be on the paper currency. >> i was here when we announced that, and it was very exciting. it hasn't moved forward yet, which we would have been interested in knowing at the time. the biden administration has made efforts to put harriet tubman on the new $20 notes. it's important that our money, if people he not know what a

note is, reflect the history of our country, and harriet tubman gracing the note would certainly express that. any specifics would, of course, come from the department of treasury. go ahead. >> reporter: another one on china. china's xi jinping spoke earlier today. i wonder if there is any official white house reaction to his comments. he talked about unity as well and also talked about cooperation on coronavirus and other issues. is that kind of statement today likely to change or affect the stance that the u.s., the administration, has toward china on trade and technology? >> no. i think our approach to china remains what it has been since -- for the last months, if not longer. we're in a serious competition with china, strategic competition with china as a defining feature of the 20th

century. china is blunting our technological edge and interrupts our science and organizations. what we've seen over the last few years is that china is growing more ah thuthoritarian home and abroad, and they are making us look at ways that require a new american approach. we said a little earlier we want to approach this with some strategic patience, and we want to conduct interviews with our internal agency. i stumbled over that, i needed a little more coffee, i guess. we want to engage with republicans and democrats in congress to discuss the path forward, and most importantly, we want to discuss this with our allies. know that the comments don't change anything. we believe that this moment requires a strategic and new approach forward. go ahead. i'm sorry, we'll go to you next.

>> reporter: i was going to pile a little more on china while we're on this topic. but i've wondered while he's been on the entity list for two years now, just before the trump administration left office, they instituted a new policy to basically revoke and issue intents for licenses of more innocuous items that america was selling to huawei. does the biden plan to keep huawei on the list and continue this ban? >> technologically, i just noted that the center of the u.s. competition, china is willing to do whatever it takes to begin technical advantage, gaining information on espionage and forcing technology transfer. the president's view is that we need to play a better defense, which must include holding china accountable for its unfair and illegal practices and making sure american technologies are not facilitating china's

military buildup. so he's committed to making sure china cannot misappropriate and misuse american data. we need a comprehensive strategy, as i said, and a more systemic approach to address these full range of issues. there is, again, an ongoing review of a range of these issues. we want to look at them carefully and we'll be committed to approaching them through the lens of ensuring we're protecting u.s. data and america's technological edge. i don't have more for you on it. as we do, we're happy to share that with all of you. go ahead. >> reporter: now-president biden condemned protest and violence on the far left and the far right before he was president. why haven't we heard anything directly from him about riots in portland and the pacific northwest since he was inaugurated? >> well, he's taking questions later this afternoon, so perhaps you will. i will say from here that president biden condemns violence and any violence in the strongest possible terms. peaceful protest are a

cornerstone of our democracy, but smashing windows is not protesting and neither is looting, and actions like these are totally unacceptable, and anyone who committed a crime should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. our team, of course, is monitoring it very closely. >> reporter: as he pushes for federal help to businesses affected by covid, should we expect to see any kind of federal assistance for these businesses up there that are affected by covid and riots? >> again, we've had this conversation in here already a few times since i joined the team, that his focus is on getting the american people through this period of time and pushing forward on a relief package that will get them the assistance they need as it relates to the pandemic and the impact of the pandemic. so i don't have anything more for you on that. >> reporter: just one more about the announcement you made off the top about the travel restrictions. when trump was imposing travel restrictions in march specifically on china, then candidate bind called it

xenophobic and mfear-mongering. what does the president think about that? >> president biden overturned the muslim ban, and he also supported even before he was inaug inaugurated, travel restrictions in order to keep the american people safe to ensure that we're getting the pandemic under control. that was part of his policy. but he was critical of the former president of having a policy that was not more kb comprehensive than travel restrictions. more importantly, having a more multi-faceted approach, vaccine distribution, funding to get shots into the arms of americans in the first 100 days, not just

travel restrictions. >> reporter: two questions, one domestic, one foreign, please. the first is bill eskerill, congressman, proposed firing post office employees. are there any changes given what happened at the post office the last couple of years to try to remove the postmaster general. >> it's an interesting question, we all love the mailmen and mailwomen. i don't have any more on that. i'll have to check to see if we have any specifics. i'm not aware of anything, but i'll check back with you. >> reporter: and the foreign policy question, it's my understanding that the previous administration did not release the war powers act resolution report before they left office. is there any plans -- i know there is a new secretary of defense as of -- >> as of a few -- well, i guess

friday. technically friday. >> >> reporter: but formally today. >> exactly. >> reporter: is there any plan to release the trump administration letter on troop levels in various countries overseas or to update that more quickly than might be required by the statute? >> it's an excellent question. i would send you to the department of defense, and my old friend john kirby, who i'm sure would be happy to answer your question. go ahead in the back with the excellent mask on. >> flamingos. >> flamingos. >> reporter: in the deaths, or near death of alexei navalny,

will president biden hold president putin personally responsible for navalny's health while he's imprisoned there? and what's going on with paul wheeler and what's your position? >> let me take the second question and get you something more comprehensive, and certainly we don't plan to follow the same pattern of the last administration, but on the first question, i would say this is the reason why the president tasked his national security team, his intelligence team, with assessing a range of issues as it relates to our relationship with russia, including the solar winds breach, including the poisoning of alexei navalny, which we have been quite outspoken about and will continue to be. we want to see that review conclude. but as has always been the case, the president reserves the right

to respond in the time and manner of his choosing. and i'm not going to take options off the table from here. go ahead. >> reporter: hi, if possible, can i also ask a question for one of my colleagues who couldn't be here? >> sure. >> reporter: new york city mayor bill de blasio announced today that the city is delaying the opening of large covid-19 vaccination sites like yankee stadium, at citifield. governor cuomo has said the state has the capacity to vaccinate up to 100,000 folks a day if there was supply. as the administration is analyzing and reconfiguring its distribution plan, how heavily is infrastructure being weighed? in other words, does new york get first dibs because it has the capacity to do this right away? and then the second question would be kind of on the same covid note, there are seniors who don't have access to

websites, don't have folks vouching for them. is there anything the administration is doing to ensure that seniors who don't have anybody to assist them with scheduling these appointments that they don't fall through the cracks? then i have a second question from another reporter. >> sure. on the first question, this is a really important one. infrastructure is pivotal. it's not just about the science. scientists, medical experts, what they've done over the last year in moving this vaccine forward has been a herculean effort, but now it's about making sure there are more v vaccinators and more places to distribute the vaccine. clearly, if they're large facilities, like football fields or other places to do that, can be quite efficient. there are other places around the country where we're seeing developments along that front, and we're certainly encouraging that, but this is a multifaceted

challenge, which is pivotal, but it's about having the people who can physically put the shots into the arms of americans and it's about having places that can be done. i don't have anything for you on the prioritization. that is something our team is working through and we want to ensure that we are working closely with governors across the country to effectively do that. tell me the second part to that question. >> reaching out to senior whose may not have access to internet or even phone to schedule these appoi appointments? a complaint that's emerged a lot. >> yeah. it's a really important question, because what we have discovered and what our team discovered is that the further you get into vaccinating americans, the harder it becomes. for a couple of reasons. one, vaccine hesitancy, dr. fauci talked about as an issue of great concern to him and other health medical experts and it's more predominant in communities of color.

as you noted, also an issue with communicating with a range of people in the public. a range of reasons. seniors and others who aren't picking up their phone and looking at information on instagram every day. not receiving information in the same way young adults would be. so part of our effort is to use across the board public communications campaign, and effort, to meet people where they are. certainly thinking how to reach seniors, doing it in a way it is being done locally by trusted authorities and trusted figures locally. we found this to be a key -- a key effective approach that that, but we will continue to be working on that and it's definitely one of the challenges we're facing. >> this question is from pross palumbo from abc in south florida adding florida's governor ran desantis blasted part of the president's covid plan specifically saying "fema camps are not necessary in florida." has or will the president be reaching out to desantis?

what is his reaction to comments like these? >> well, the president is a pretty even-keeled guy. i would say he doesn't have much a reaction other than he wants to ensure that the vaccine is distributed to people across the country including, of course, the millions of people living in florida, and i will note, because we're data-first here, facts-first, only distributed 50% vaccines given in florida. clearly, they have a good deal of the vaccine. that supply will need to continue to increase as they are able to affectively reach people across the state. but part of the challenge, as we were just talking about is not just having the supply. that's pivotal. also having vaccinators and vaccine distribution places, and doing it in a way that's reaching people where they are and meeting local communities. the president's going to be focused on that in a bipartisan

manner regardless of what any elected official has to say. go ahead, all the way in the back. in the back. then come to you, sir. go ahead. >> thanks, jen. executive order the president signed last week, suspended a trump administration executive order that was particularly aimed at keeping foreign countries, specifically china, from interfering in the u.s. power grid. but he suspended that for 90 days in that executive order. given what you said about china today, why do that? especially something related to the united nations in terms of the power grid? >> i have to -- the relationship with the president with china, i'll have to check on that specific piece and circle back with you directly. go ahead? >> thank you. the administration said that they'll need a mexico policy from the prior administration, would not be enforced anymore, but there are thousands of people who are stuck now as a result of that policy.

the administration has not said what you will do with them and how to process these migrants. what is the answer to that? >> in terms of migrants at the border? >> yeah. who are stuck as a result of remaining in mexico. many thousands of people. >> well, i think there's a couple of steps that we, we're working to convey, and convey more effectively to people direct ly living in many of the countries who have large populations, who are coming to the border. one is that this is not the right time to come. we have proposed a number of policies that we are working to implement including a pause on deportations. you know people in the united states, that is something the department of homeland security would be working to implement. also we've proposed and immigration bill, something the president put forward on day one and proposed funding to help address the circumstances and

the challenging conditions that are on the ground in a number of these countries. >> and talking about those people who are in limbo at the moment. not discouraging new people from coming and not applying it to new people but those specifically turned away by the trump administration? >> i would send you to the department of homeland security on that for a more specific assessment. >> second question. presses you a little harder. you said earlier that the president had been speaking with members of the senate. >> uh-huh. >> you didn't say who they were and anything about those conversations, because they were private. i mean, presumably they were discussing the people's business. is that a matter -- why should those be private? why not be more revealing who the president is speaking with in the government? >> i said the president is speaking with democrats and republicans, as are a number of senior officials from the current white house. and we'll continue to do that. what i meant was those conversations getting their

feedback what they think about bills and legislation, how they feel about the covid package, that the president put forward. where they have concerns, where they have agreements. some of those conversations are private. they can speak publicly about their conversations, of course, as many have done. i am confirming he personally is involved and will continue to be involved moving the package forward. >> and why not release the names of the people who the president is speaking with to negotiate on this bill? i know you want to have more transparency in this administration that. talked about it a lot. why not make that a part of the transparency effort? >> again, speaking with both members of parties. a number want to have those private and a number have spoken publicly what conversations with the administration. that's perfectly fine by us. >> going babck to covid. do you know when americans will be able to be widely vaccinated? >> of course we defer to our

health and medical experts, as you all know, and dr. fauci spoke to this briefly last week, and i expect it's something our health and medical experts who will be doing a briefing later this week will be able to speak to more specifically. we obviously set out our bold goal of 100 million shots in the arms of americans in the first 100 days. we will build from there and we are looking forward to building from there. but i don't have an assessment a new assessment for you when a broad, a group of the population can get it. >> they can get it when they want it? what i'm asking? previous administration said midyear. said it regularly. >> cdc and medical experts from the feel have given assess monies leaning towards summer and fall but i don't have a new assessment from here but i encourage you to ask them that and why we're putting them out to answer questions from all of you. >> john? >> and trump administration rushed through a number of

excuses, has the president directed anything on the death penalty? >> his position you may be familiar with. he's opposed to the death penalty. nothing to preview in terms of what steps he may take, you said these briefings will start. president trump did not attend a lot of the briefings at the end. did not attend a lot of the coronavirus task force briefings. will president biden attend the meetings with those working on this? >> briefed far more regularly than the past president was believed on covid and developments and progress the team is making. i couldn't expect he attends every task force meeting but expects and requests regular meetings from the team and i expect he'll get them. go ahead. >> the whole point impeaching somebody is basically to get rid of them and trump is already gone. would president biden support maybe the senate censuring him just so lawmakers can move on

with the people's business? >> i really appreciate your creative way of asking this question, which has come up few times in here. the president is, was in the senate 36 years you all know. he's no longer in the senate and will leave it to up members in the senate, democrats and republicans, to decide how to hold the form e president accountable. >> last one. go ahead. >> sorry. i wanted to ask briefly on afghanistan. you guys received further troop reductions there and what numbers would we be talking about? >> an excellent question. we're on day five. i don't have anything new on specifically afghanistan troop reductions, but i'm hoping to get jake sullivan out to the briefing room soon to answer a lot of your questions on a range of issues. >> thank you, jen. >> thanks, jen. >> one more. sorry about that. we don't want to leave you hanging. very patient in the back. >> yeah. the foreign press group, i have two foreign policy issue ones on

china, one on the uk. >> okay. >> china, mentioned about competition and president biden's hsr campbell saying he hopes for a stable computation, saying what the kwwhite house i looking for and you just mentioned about a comprehensive strategy. what can we expect of him? >> i appreciate all the questions and i don't have a preview when we will have more specifics on our strategy. i've tried to convey overarching, the president's overarching approach. again, this is a relationship that we are going to be communicating with and working with partners and allies on. there are a number of calls that will happen over the coming weeks with key partners and allies and sure this will be a topic of discussion as well as democrats and republicans on the hill, and we are going to approach it with patience. >> and on th