sterilizations and birth control. china declines the accusations. ♪ here is a check of the headlines. joe biden has signed executive orders to speed up the response to the virus. his plan includes requiring international travelers to quarantine when they arrive they run joe biden is -- when they arrive. joe biden is inheriting you vaccine rollout that he calls a failure. >> it is going to take months to turn this around but let me be clear. we will get through this. we will defeat this pandemic. to a nation waiting for action, let me be clear on this point.

help is on the way. today, i am unveiling a national strategy on covid-19, and executive actions to beat this pandemic. >> the u.s. build a meme member of the world health organization. dr. fauci said the u.s. will continue funding the agency. iraq's prime minister has reached security officials after a twin bombing on thursday. isil has claimed responsibility for the attack which killed at least 32 people. the top republican in the u.s. senate is proposing the impeachment trial of donald trump start mid february. he said this would give trump two weeks to prepare once the charge is presented. trump was impeached days before the end of his term for inciting a riot at capitol hill that left five dead. a 15 day state of emergency has started in the central african

republic in an attempt to stop rebel attacks. a new alliance known as the coalition a patriots for change is trying to get rid of the president. the u.n. envoy to the central african republic is calling for increased spending and peacekeeping operations. a court will decide whether ugandan opposition leader can be free to leave his house. sorters have been surrounding his home since friday, though that government denies he is under house arrest. more news at the top of the hour. for now, it is inside story on al jazeera. ♪ >> rolling back donald trump's legacy.

joe biden moved to scrap many of his predecessor's policies on his first day but after four tumultuous years of trump, can the new president bring normality back to the white house? and repair fractured relations around the world? this is inside story. ♪ >> welcome to the program. after one of the most bitterly contested and chaotic elections in american history, joe biden, the 46th president, has begun his term in office, vowing to press forward with speed and urgency. within hours of being's one in, he kicked off his term signing 17 executive orders to reverse some of donald trump's most contentious policies.

included repealing donald trump travel ban on muslim majority countries, halting construction of the border wall, and rejoining the paris climate accord. >> the 46th president of the united states arrives at his new residence and he kept to his word and went immediately to work. his first action in the oval office was to sign a series of executive orders striking at the heart of his predecessor's policy legacy. the mask in the oval, another striking departure. pres. biden: the first order i'm going to be signing here relates to covid and it is requiring, as i said all along, where i have authority, mandating masks and social distance be kept. >> also among the orders, the return of the united states to

the paris climate accord. a reversal of the decision to leave the world health organization. the lifting of the ban on travel from some muslim majority countries. an immediate cancellation of the state of emergency that donald trump proclaimed in order to begin building a wall on the mexican border. these are actions done at the stroke of a pen. but other changes such as a new coronavirus really fail and immigration reform -- relief bill and immigration reform will require the participation of congress. in the senate, the new vice president swore in three new democrat senators. in a chamber now split 50-50, it is the 49th vice president who will have the casting vote. as a new senate majority leader takes over. >> today, the threat to our democracy from the presidency itself has ended.

but the challenges we face as a nation remain. in the wake of violence and division, hatred and mistruths. >> from the republican leader, warm words for joe biden, who came to this chamber as senator for delaware 49 years ago. >> i congratulate my friend from delaware, look forward to working with him as our new president. >> as it gets to work, the senate approves the first of the new cabinet appointments, avril haines is confirmed as director of national intelligence, marking a bipartisan start to the new senate. the renewal of an old tradition that had fallen into disuse in recent months, the first of what are intended to be daily briefings by the new press secretary. >> is objective and commitment is to bring transparency and truth back to government, to

share the truth even when it is hard to hear, and that is something i hope to deliver on as well. >> president biden and the first lady arrived at the lincoln memorial for the final event of this inauguration day, a day that took place in the shadow of a pandemic and the threat of political violence. ♪ but which ended in the celebration of what the new president promises is the beginning of a better and kinder era. ♪ >> let's bring in our guests in washington. we have the founder of the republican women for biden. and associate professor of international studies. also, in atlanta, a writer and

georgia organizer add southerners on new ground power. welcome to the program. in his inaugural address, president biden made a sweeping call for unity. he said, we must and this uncivil war that pits red against blue, conservative versus liberal. with america being as divided as it is right now, do you believe this is possible? >> i believe it is absolutely possible. the american experiment and is on that, that we are a different nation, we are one that is diverse, whether you talk about the geography, different demographics. much has been made about the new americans, people who look like myself, people who are kids of immigrants, and with this changing fabric of the country, i believe that now more than ever, we can look back to the words of our founders about how all of us can do our part to be

part of the great american experiment as it is often dubbed. i am hopeful, i believe this is the dawn of a new era, one that comes at a time where we need it most. this is a long time in the making. this division, one would argue it has always been this way, but what we saw over the last few years was an acceleration that let us to an uglier place for many of us, though many are sad today that their favorite is no longer in the white house, others of us, 81 million, are extremely excited for what is to come. joe biden, i believe, is the best person to lead us forward. he has faced great adversity and overcome it, wakes up every day with a smile. who better to lead this nation when we had so many dark days in the past and want to new days ahead? >> if we are talking about the polarization in american culture , the divisions in the united states, we need to talk about

the divisions over issues like racial justice and police brutality. what the president joe biden and vice president kamala harris have to do to overcome these divisions and can they be overcome? >> justin living through systemic racism -- just living through systemic racism every day can feel suffocating, also have a -- so to have it hurled at your face every day from facebook, twitter, from the oval office for four years is suffocating and dehumanizing. so right now, black americans are definitely feeling some sort of sigh of relief, taking a breath to be able to recognize that this transition of power is the start of something. right now, with racial injustice at the forefront of many issues that the bided/paris administration has to tackle, --

biden/harris administration has to tackle, we cannot settle of debts that the united states has owed for over 400 years without reparations they would we cannot do that -- reparations. we can take advantage of a democratically controlled senate and take advantage of this dawn of hope and a promise of correcting 400 years of racial injustice. we have to take advantage of that moment to be able to show decisively and definitively that this will be a moment where black women in black immigrants and black people broadly will have their efforts recognized as both a base and the face of the democratic party, as it has been said, but also as people who have meeting beyond representation. >> president biden did not waste any time in signing executive orders, trying to reverse some

of the contentious policies of the trump administration. these are directives that will reverse the so-called muslim band, he has rejoined the paris climate accord, he ended the process of the u.s. withdrawing from the world health organization. how much it is going to help america standing on the world stage? -- america's standing on the world stage? >> these are very important signs, that the u.s. is ready again to work through international organizations, through multilateral organizations, for the good of the u.s. but also for the rest of the world. multilateralism is back and that is one of the main conclusions of the two acts, going back to the climate change agreement and stopping the withdrawal from the

world health organization. that is a very positive sign and many world leaders have greeted that with a positive note themselves. but the word out here -- the world out here also expects acts and not only words. we expect actions to show that the u.s. is really back and that some of the actions we saw until very recently will be changing under president biden. this is a moment of hope and i think that many people, many world leaders are believed to see a new kind of leadership. new old leadership in the sense of multilateralism in the u.s. >> mitch mcconnell has said he

looks forward to working with president biden whenever possible. he also said that if there will be disagreements, he looks forward to them being respectful disagreements. joe biden, he has said that he believes he understands the senate, he is a dealmaker, he can get beyond these contentious politics that exist right now. do you think that will be the case? is joe biden so well studied in the ways of the senate that he can reach across the aisle effectively and get legislation passed right now? >> the reason i thought joe biden was going to be the best person for this job is because of his experience in the senate, as well as in double of vice president. -- the role of vice president. he is not sitting in the oval office relishing the view, like many former presidents did, the awesomeness of being in the job. he is well acquainted. we saw on minute one and he hit

the ground running. many can be divided about how that worked looks, is it in the form of executive orders which both sides have had many disagreements about, about the role of the executive, and is expanding role? but looking at a president now who has this experience from the senate and who can be the negotiator in chief that we need , because right now, there is one huge task ahead of him, as well as the leaders in congress, and that is to negotiate a coronavirus relief package, something that brings economic relief as well as to do what is needed for the states to take care of its people. we are going to need tracking and tracing was a vaccine is properly distributed. waking up in the u.s. this morning, you may have been shocked to see that what we learned as americans is that the trump administration had literally no vaccination plan,

no plans to distribute, no plans to acquire it, no plans to manage it. we are starting at square one today. joe biden knows that. i believe he has assembled around him a competent team, a team of people who are experts in their fields. that was not something the trump administration did. he put loyalists as well as party favorites in a variety of roles, some nonsensical. one of the most nonsensical ones on day one was ben carson, a neurosurgeon who ran for president, who he appointed housing and urban development. it was things like that that did not make sense in the trump administration. i realize that is a small example, but it tells you that when a president leads, it matters how they lead, and i think right now, but we need the most is truly a plan in place to take care of the coronavirus pandemic because it has been

exactly one year it has been here. >> as an activist and organizer on the ground in georgia, as someone who worked hard to ensure that black voters came out and voted in this past election cycle, what did you hear most from the folks that you speak with? what do they want to see most from a bided/harris administration? -- biden/harris administration? >> many who organized with us leading to the victory had some of the same concerns that we are hearing joe biden address and many folks mentioned now. thank you for bringing up the importance of having a clear plan on covid vaccination, not justin the u.s., not justin mystically, but being able to use the u.s.'s power as a global force and global influence to be able to get that vaccine, also to low income countries who have

not had that access. we see the vaccines primarily go into more influential, more a fluent countries. we want to understand that injustice at home has been married to aggression abroad. that needs to go. that is to always be working intend on their head domestically, -- in tandem. domestically, what people are looking at is these triple pandemics we are dealing with. we are dealing with a pandemic of racism and white supremacy, which joe biden called out in his message probably more explicitly than we have seen many presidents do, he explicitly recognized the role of white supremacy and many united states systems, so what we need is no longer lipservice, but to see that action put into place, to see that lipservice turned into promises realized.

white supremacy is number one. i talked about reparations. the legislation and recommendations for the breed act are out there -- breathe act are out there. what policies that recognize the value a black lives can look like. we need the administration to understand it and put it in place, to champion it. we also know that covid is a number one factor in the ability of the campaign to win but also in what is happening across the world, we are see black folks in georgia, we are the number one demographic to pass away from covid-19. we are looking at racial injustice in that level as well, not justice systems like policing, but health care. how are we going to transform that system so black folks are

no longer at the brunt of every issue? that extends to climate change, extends to things like monthly cash assistance. we need support for small businesses. we are looking at high hopes for the biden/harris administration and we need that policymaking to continue to be bold and relentless. >> from your vantage point, where in the world will joe biden face his biggest challenges as president? on the foreign policy front, which countries will pose the biggest obstacles for his administration? >> china is the first challenge that president biden will have to face. china has experienced some freedom. there is no such thing as void of power. with the withdrawal of the united states from the world stage under president trump, or

at least a different way of acting on the world stage, china started advancing its interests in a bold way. we see china president, we see -- china present, we see regional powers. you asked where are the first main challenges. i see china as a main challenge. i think president biden will be working with japan and south korea and the allies -- he mentioned yesterday and he has been mentioning over and over. to strengthen the alliance with the u.s. with asia -- the u.s.-made allies in asia -- u.s. made allies in asia to compete with china. this is something we continue.

china is a challenge. the other challenge is in our region and i mean iran. iran is certainly -- when president biden was vice president, he was part of the obama administration that managed to strike a promising deal with iran, a deal that president trump left very shortly after becoming president. now, we hear anthony blinken saying a couple days ago that the u.s. will be going back to the agreement with iran if iran agrees again to the agreement. there are conditions there, but this is an important condition.

one area i don't see president biden giving a let of attention -- a lot of attention, despite the statements of old appointees is the israeli-palestinian conflicts. i think jess like the obama administration, -- just like the obama administration, the biden administration will steer the conflict because it is a minefield and it will be harder for them to make a difference. it could be easier to make a difference with iran. it could be easier to establish -- >> i'm sorry to interrupt. let me get back to you in a minute specifically about iran because we are starting to run out of time. kamala harris became the first

black american and first-person of south asian dissent to hold office -- descent to hold the office of vice president. what does this say about where america is at right now and doesn't it make you hopeful? >> it is a moment of -- i am speechless. i see this woman ascend to power in the role that before her had been nothing but older white men. there is nothing wrong with older white men, but we as a country put people in boxes too much, so while i applaud that she is the daughter of immigrants, her mother is from india like my parents are and sisterly from, i can say that is a great thing, but i can also say, let's look at who she is as a person. as the first woman in that role, that is a fantastic thing, but beyond that, she comes with the most judicial experience of any former vice president, any vice president that has held this role has never had what she has.

i think we ought to start to look at people for who they are rather than the things they cannot change like gender, ethnicity, the color of their skin. i look forward to this era where we could celebrate her for who she is. while also applauding those many firsts that are important. i am jubilant, i have two daughters myself, they will never have grown up in an era where there was not a woman in such a high position of power. this was a long time coming. we needed it. i think she will be an incredible partner to joe biden in this journey. i voted for joe biden and i wanted trump out at all costs, but that does not mean i won't hold joe biden as well as kamala harris accountable during the term. nobody gets a free pass in that is america. we have the right to criticize our leaders and it is a beautiful thing, that is what this republic is about. >> i'm sorry to interrupt, we

have a minute left. i want to talk quickly about another challenge that joe biden is facing. there are millions of americans who don't believe he won the election. how is that going to undermine his legitimacy as president going forward? >> the last time we spoke, we address that in the sense that we know that this violent response on capitol hill to the outcome of the election, as well as the response we are seeing across the nation with people rioting and trying to take a siege on state capitals across the u.s., is a response to black people and other people of color actually using our voice, overcoming the barriers that have kept us out of american systems of democracy and using that to make a decisive stance on where we need to go and what we will not accept from the u.s. government.

so that response is to be expected. when you are used to getting whatever you want for many years and being told by the head of state that you are special, even when your riots, that you are loved, even when you are denigrating other officials and entire groups of people in the united states, it was a delusion and we are seeing many of those same people, they are still disillusioned on qanon and other sorts of pro-trump message boards and online, that misinformation that was being spread, this is a reckoning and allies have to stop and i think they are starting to realize that maybe these were lies, maybe we were wrong. if anything, they are licking their wounds and others are grasping for straws. but we have definitively seen silence from the majority of the trump camp, so i hope that going forward, we can see some sort of

unity in the form of accountability, but also on understanding that free and fair elections where people of color are able to show their power that we have been owed for 400 years are not a threat. >> we have run out of time so we are going to have to leave the conversation there. thank you to all of our guests. and thank you for watching. you can see the program again by visiting our website and for further discussion, go to our facebook page. you can also visit the conversation on twitter. for me and the whole team here, bye for now. ♪

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