alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice. and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we are moments away from jen psaki's daily briefing as the president prepares to take his first trip since the inaugural to push his top priority, the covid relief package. joining me, chief white house correspondent and "weekend today" co-host peter alexander in the briefing room and "new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker. the priorities now as we understand that despite the congressional recess, that package is moving through committees. what is the president now

thinking he can get that perhaps he wasn't so sure of before? >> reporter: exactly right. in some ways, this is the sort of post-impeachment retrial on covid relief for joe biden make his first domestic trip to head to wisconsin and milwaukee today where he'll make the case why those in washington need to support this bill. right now it's clear they should have enough democrats to follow through give or take joe manchin, some moderates as it relates to issues like $15 on minimum wage. the president would like to pressure republicans to get on board as well. that's why he's headed to wisconsin for a town hall. it's part of a week focusing on this issue. on thursday, he'll be heading to michigan, kalamazoo to a manufacturing site in that state for pfizer, workers helping produce the vaccine. at this point, it remains a $1.9 trillion package that joe biden is pushing, $,400 in direct payments among the key elements

although there is a night over how that payment will be targeted. today we'll hear from jen psaki, following a series of news making headlines over the weekend. of course the conclusion of the trial with former president trump being acquitted here. on that topic, we heard from the former senate majority leader, now senate minority leader mitch mcconnell saying it is on this issue of covid relief that he believes it will help unify his party in spite of the divisions exposed as a function of the acquittal and conviction, mcconnell saying the opposition should bring republicans tomorrow. andrea? >> and to peter baker, is there any hope in the white house that they can actually get some republican votes? the president has met with republicans including mayors, local officials he's trying to get on his side. does he think that he has to make more compromises or is he now just trying to go it alone?

>> i don't think they're holding out much hope for the idea they'll get a lot of republican votes at this point. they've moved on spinwise to say this is a bipartisan package because they have republican support in various opinion polls showing that there's a substantial majority of the american public that is in favor of this package. so you already see moving the goal posts in that sense to say it doesn't mean we're not bipartisan even if most republicans vote against this. the lesson they took from the obama experience 12 years ago was waiting for republican support and compromising on the scale of the package in the end was a mistake, they believe, in 2009, and they don't plan to repeat it this time. >> peter alexander, getting a better sense from both the president and congressional democrats about the immigration reform bill coming later this week. >> reporter: exactly right. this is not the only issue.

covid relief is on this administration's plate right now. we are learning later this week they're expected to announce this immigration reform plan that would include among other things an earned path to citizenship for the 11 million-plus undocumented immigrants in this country. it would focus on sending additional technology resources to the border in place of that wall donald trump was so favor of, this administration pushing for a different route which would be technology to help avoid future crossings of undocumented immigrants coming into the country, and beyond that, that they would expand the refugee settlements here. under the trump administration, the allowance of refugees in this country had been shrunk dramatically, the biden administration pushing to expand that as they anticipate this bill to be rolled out later this week. it raises the issue of political capital. it's a lot of big policy priorities for the administration, some of which they could do in part through eshd, others like immigration

that require legislation, but fundamentally they need to get the covid relief one done before they can focus more broadly on these others, even as we hear the early rumblings about jobs plans, infrastructure, and immigration. >> and peter baker, big question in terms of the -- i think we're getting some feedback here so let me ask you as quickly as possible, big question about the question of the impeachment trial and whether or not the impeachment trial has permanently changed the republican party or this white house and how they go ahead. we apologize for getting an echo effect here. we're fixing that now. >> yeah. i think the first week that the biden presidency doesn't have trump looming over them in quite

the way they have for the first month, right. in other words, we don't have an impeachment trial now hanging there. trump has receded at least for the moment to his estate in mar-a-lago. it's not that he will stay quiet for long. we presume he'll come back out. biden finally has the the center stage to dominate the conversation and force congress to respond yea or nay on the priorities he'll set looking backwards at the last four years. that doesn't mean it will be easier for him. in some ways it's harder because the things that kept the democratic coalition together was the mutual animosity toward former president trump. no longer having that impeachment trial on the stage means that they begin now to focus on the different issues and priorities they have, sometimes in conflict with each other. so i think this is, you know, an important week for president biden to set a tone and to set a direction for where he's planning to take us. he's going to obviously have that town hall meeting tonight in wisconsin.

he'll be on the road to michigan late they are week. as peter alexander said, covid has to be the number-one priority even as they talk about other issues like immigration. >> peter alexander, peter baker, than you both so much. and house speaker nancy pelosi pushing ahead with plans to form an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the january 6th attack on the capitol. legislation to form that commission could come as early as this week. in a letter to democrats monday, pelosi notes that additional security may be needed for lawmakers after a review by retired general russel honore after the capitol police union voted overwhelmly they have no confidence in their senior leadership after the riot and are calling for resignations. joining me now nbc news capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell. leigh ann, when we talk about 9/11-style commission, having covered that, that was a lengthy, very detailed endeavor as to what went wrong, what conspiracies might have been involved, what warnings were

overlooked, how to make changes, change the structure of our government in terms of the intelligence agencies created the director of national intelligence, the new homeland security large department encompassing a lot that had been in other departments before that. so we don't even know what they're considering in the resolution. they have to pass the legislation to even create this commission. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. and how all-encompassing the 9/11 commission, this seems to be what nancy pelosi is thinking about for this january 6th as well. we are told by a source, senior democratic aide, that they are going to move quickly, that they could have this legislation setting up this commission as early as this week. as far as speaker pelosi is concerned, she doesn't see much difference from the 9/11 commission and 9/11 to the january 6th. in her letter she sent to her

colleagues last night, the only distinction she mad was that 9/11 was a foreign terrorism event, and she called january 6th a domestic terrorism event. she wants all of the resources, all of the heft that she can put into this bipartisan commission to figure out what went wrong, not just on that day but an all-encompassing investigation. there's a lot of investigations that are currently happening about january 6th including the one by retired lieutenant general honore, and the difference is that one is looking forward, how to secure the capitol complex. it's focusing on security only. i'm told that the january 6th-style commission will look backwards at everything that happened leading up to that day. andrea? >> there is a new civil lawsuit by the naacp and congressman bennie thompson suing the former

president trump, donald trump, the proud boys for allegedly conspireing to incite the capitol riot. and that could lead to depositions, to discovery procedures, our legal experts tell us. you know, if it proceeds, they could have access to others and if there are people who are leaders of the proud boys and the oath keepers to what people knew in advance and presumably what members of congress may have known given all those suspicions. >> reporter: that's absolutely right. it's based -- this lawsuit is based on a post-civil war law from 1871 regarding the ku klux klan. and they're using that law to file this lawsuit. it's also a big signal that members of congress are not done with the former president. they say in their suit that because the senate abdicated their responsibility and failed to convict the former president, they are now going to take it

into their own hands and try to move this through the court system, andrea. >> thanks so much, leigh ann caldwell. thanks to you. a lot of fallout from the impeachment trial and reactions afterwards. joining me now, jim messina, former white house deputy chief of staff to president obama and david jomly, former republican congressman from florida, a republican party deeply divided. you saw the effect of those divisions with the different ways that kevin mccarthy reacted afterwards and going to mar-a-lago as well as of course mitch mcconnell's voting to acquit and then giving that denunciation, no other way to call it, of the former president and his behavior before, during, and after the actual riot. jim, let's talk about the effects also in local parties. state party in north carolina unanimously censured richard berg, retiring as the senator,

for his vote to convict. and he has responded to that by saying, "it is truly a sad day for north carolina republicans. my party's leadership has chosen loyalty to one man over the core principles of the republican party and the founders of our great nation." you're also seeing senators toomey of pennsylvania, susan collins of maine, facing possible censure votes and what happened in louisiana immediately afterwards, within two hours of their votes, of bill cassidy, the senator from there was censured. how do you see this playing out around the country against the seven republicans? only one is up this year, andmu senator who voted to convict. >> it's a crazy time inside the republican party. you had one leader of the pennsylvania republican party saying that they didn't send toomey there to vote his conscience or, quote, do the right thing. they sent him there to represent

the party, which is exactly wrong, as you know. the united states senators putz their hand on a bible and take an oath to uphold the constitution, which is what these folks thought they were doing when they cast these votes. what we are seeing are the opening salvos in the 2024 presidential election with everyone trying to position themselves and the party and try to garner support of president trump and his supporters. it's a sad moment after january 6th, you thought both parties could come together and agree to put this moment behind us. instead, you have ron johnson, the senator from wisconsin, who is up for re-election, questioning whether it was even an armed insurrection, saying he didn't think it was. that would be a big surprise to the five people who died and all the members who were, you know, evacuated and trapped in hallways and closets. so, you know, you continue to see these folks saying absolutely crazy things in a silly 'tempt to appeal to a base

of the republican party that isn't as big as they think it is. >> well, let me play some of that ron johnson radio interview, because it's pretty extraordinary. this of course the wisconsin republican senator who was the chairman of the homeland security and still ranking on that committee. this is what he had to say. >> the fact of the matter is this didn't seem like an armed insurrection to me. if that was a planned armed insurrection, then, man, you really have a bunch of idiots. the one guy in the senate chambers there, he had plastic wrist ties. what was he expected to do? literally go up to mike pence and capture him? >> david jolly, what do you say to someone like ron johnson? >> yeah, the answer to senator johnson's question is, yes, that's exactly what that man thought he might be able to do, which is why he is now facing federal charges. you know, senator johnson's

comments, andrea, are very indicative of the identity crisis within the republican party right now, and it's just that, an identity crisis. it's not an electoral crisis. from the outside looking in, we're saying how can republicans behave this way? republicans aren't really engaging in self-reflection because they don't see this hurting them that badly at the ballot box. but it is remarkable to see one of the go major parties today having debates not around ideological issues, not around the left-right spectrum we've seen in the past within the republican party but around these fundamental questions of defensive democracy and recognition of facts. and somehow the litmus test for new republican leaders is whether or not they put party before country and whether they are willing to subscribe to these alternative facts. culturally, i wonder what that means. our major political parties have a major influence on the cultural native and to see this one succeed on this narrative regarding the constitution and

democracy i think is a broader national conversation for us in the years forward. >> as a former congressman, i have to ask you about adam kinzinger, the republican congressman from illinois, whose family disowned him, writing to him, according to "the new york times," two days after mr. kinzinger called for removing mr. trump from office, did not have a vote on impeachment in terms of the senate trial, following the january 6th riot at the capitol, 11 members of his family sent him a handwritten two-page letter saying he was in cahoots with the devil's army for making a public break with the president. oh, my, what a disappointment you are to us and to god, they rote. you have embarrassed the kinzinger family name. this is a man who is not only an elected member of congress, a military veteran. david, to you and to jim, what do you say to something like this? >> yeah. look, i know adam. adam kinzinger deserves our support, the support of democrats as well for saying the

right thing. he will resolve the family issues. in that interview, he says he's not too worried about it. but it is indicative of a comment jim referred to earlier, this theme, this narrative that republicans are supposed to support a republican president regardless of the behavior of that president. it's what we saw over 40 senators do in the impeachment acquittal vote on saturday and it's what we're seeing in the case of one member's family as well as in state committees. it is a narrative the republicans now own. in many ways it's exactly what george washington warned us about, about the emergence of parties and factions that begin to put that loyalty above loyalty to country. >> and jim messina, i'm going to have to interrupt because jen psaki has come out for the white house briefing. >> maybe not in this room but in general. what are we focused on next? if answer is the president's going to continue working on getting the american rescue plan passed. that is his top priority.

he is traveling to wisconsin later this evening as you know to have a conversation, engage with the american people about his plans to get the pandemic under control, to put people back to work, and congress is continuing to do their job. over the course of the coming weeks we're looking forward to making progress. there's also news out this morning about a foreclosure moratorium extension. some of you may have seen that. the covid crisis has triggered a housing affordability crisis with more than 10 million home owners behind on mortgage payments and communities of color at even greater risk of eviction and foreclosure. today the administration is taking another step to bring urgent action, relief to the american families struggling to keep a roof over their heads. so something the president talked about on day one. we talked about on day one. but today the departments of housing and urban development, veteran affairs and agriculture

announced they will extend and expand the foreclosure relief programs building on the steps president biden spoke about a couple of weeks ago. these critical protections were due to expire in march. the foreclosure moratorium and the mortgage forbearance enrollment window will be extended through june 30th. the administration will also provide up to six months of additional mortgage payments to forbearance for borrower who is entered forbearance on or before june 2020. these actions will bring needed relief to the 2.7 million home owners in forbearance and extend forbearance options for another 11 million home owners with government-backed mortgages across the country. it remains critical that congress pass the american rescue plan to deliver more aid to struggling homeowners. as we speak or maybe a little earlier, depending on when the call wrapped, jeff zients had a

call with a number of governors, our covid response coordinator, of course, providing them with key updates on our pandemic response as well as hearing from them about the work they're doing on the ground. as part of that call, he announced that we're increasing the vaccine supply to 13.5 million doses per week. that will go out to states. this is a 57% increase from the amount states received when the president was inaugurated, so since then obviously announced a couple of increases over the course of time. we're also announcing that we're doubling the supply to our pharmacy program. when we announced that, we said it would be building over time, so this -- today's announcement amounts to 2 million doses going to local pharmacies this week, and this program will expand access in neighborhoods across the country so that people can call and make an appointment and get their shot conveniently and quickly. eventually as supply increases more than 40,000 pharmacy

locations nationwide will be providing covid-19 vaccines through this program. this is a critical, critical part of our plan. second to last item, last but certainly or second to last but not least, we opened healthcare.gov as we planned and a special enrollment period through may 15 toth provide all americans the opportunity to sign up for health insurance. they can go to healthcare.gov. nearly 9 million americans are qualified. finally, a brutal arctic mass impacted the central united states in weekend bringing freezing rain, sleet, and snow from texas to the mid-atlantic. saturday night texas governor greg abbott requested a federal emergency declaration due to the storm. liz sherwood randall called governor abbott on sunday to let him know the president had immediately granted his request

to help meet the state's mass care and shelter needs. yesterday liz additionally called the other governors in the storm's path on behalf of the president including governor ivey of alabama, governor john bell ed wards, governor laura kelly, governor reeves of mississippi and governor kevin stitt of oklahoma. she expressed the president's strong commitment to ensure the federal government proactively does everything it can to support state and local officials in preparing for and responding to the events that impact our citizens. we will of course continue to monitor the storm updates in the days ahead. with that, go ahead. >> president has official events before he leaves this afternoon. give us a sense of what he's been doing today. and has he reached out to governors in those affected states affected by the storm? >> the president has been kept abreast as i noted of the events and provided updates, regular updates on the storm and the

progress and of course the emergency declaration. i don't have any calls straight out, but i expect he will be involved personally, and if we have calls that he's making himself, we will provide that information to all of you. in terms of what he's spending his day doing, he's continuing to have meetings with his policy teams and experts about his plans to bring relief to the american people and public. and, you know, he's remained focused on that today behind the scenes before he travels to wisconsin for a town hall later this evening. >> on the vaccine announcement, any discussion of this weather affecting the vaccine distribution? what steps is the federal government taking to ensure there's no spoilage of those vaccines? >> you're right that we monitor obviously weather, mother nature can sometimes impact and requires contingency planning, something our team is quite focused on. our covid-19 response team is also in close touch with state

and local governments across the country. we're monitoring the situation in texas very closely. obviously, fema is running point on a number of the operational pieces, but while i don't have an update now, it's something we're mindful of and we contingency plan to ensure people are getting the doses they need in an appropriate time line. >> thompson finaled a civil suit against former president trump, expected to be a slew of civil suits against the former president and others involved in the january 6th insurrection. does president biden have any response to that, and does he support efforts like that to use the civil courts to hold president trump accountable? >> you know, he certainly supports the rights of individuals, members of congress and otherwise, to take steps through the judicial process. but i don't think we have a further comment on it than that. go ahead. sorry. to you. i promised. >> just on foreign policy,

first, there was a rocket attack in iraq yesterday. >> mm-hmm. >> and iraqi officials have said that the group that took responsibility for that attack has ties to iran. my question is, one, whether you've made that determination as well, and, two, what kind of retaliation is being considered? >> sure. appreciate the question. we're still working through attribution with ouraqi partners for this attack that's a priority. i will convey we are outraged by last night's iraqi attack in the iraq/kurdistan region. the attacks killed one civilian contractor and injured several members of the coalition including one american service member and several american contractors, and we offer our condolences to the loved ones of the civilian contractor killed. the people have suffered too long from this kind of violence and violation of their

sovereignty. i think the state department sent this update, but secretary blinken as reached out to offer assistance with the investigation and to help hold accountable those responsible for this attack. but we have not determined attribution at this point. >> do you expect that that would be retaliation once that declaration is made? >> well, as always, the president of the united states and the administration reserves the right to respond in the time and manner of our choosing, but we'll wait for the attribution to be concluded first before we take any additional steps or obviously have any additional announcements. i will convey to you that obviously diplomacy is a priority with this administration and something that is front and center tour engagement with our global partners around the world and certainly these calls are evidence of that. but that will always be a part of our strategy as well. >> to the point of diplomacy, one thing that germany has asked for is some relief as far as the

pipeline. i'm curious if you have an update on that, whether bide listen consider waving the ability to do sanctions. >> well, our position on north stream has been very clear and remains unchanged. president biden has made it clear it's a bad deal because it divides europe, it exposes eukaryote and central europe to russian manipulation and it goes against europe's own stated security goals. we're continuing to monitor activity to certify the pipeline and if such activity takes place we'll make a determination of the applicability of sanctions. importantly, sanctions are only one of many important tools to ensure energy security, and we will do this all in partnership with our allies and partners. but our position has not changed on the deal. go ahead. >> the president is changing gears this week obviously looking beyond the hill to get

out and sell this plan to this person people. has he decided he recognizes he's not likely to get republicans in washington on board? >> he certainly wouldn't agree with that. i would say that the president's view of the package -- well, one, i would say first, the president has not shifted gears. he has been focused every single day, even as others have not, which is understandable, on engaging with partners, stakeholders, people who agree with him, people who don't agree with him, on getting this package through. this is an opportunity as you noted to go out and have a conversation with the people of wisconsin, people who agree with him, disagree with him, but if you look at the polls, they are very consistent. the vast majority of the american people like what they see in this package. and that should be an indication or should be noted by members of congress as they consider whether they're going to vote for it or not. >> so is he hoping these visits will help build pressure on members of congress? >> no. his objective is to make sure he

is engaging directly with the people who are impacted by the pandemic or impacted by the economic downturn, who are worried about whether they're going to gate shot, who don't know where to get information, who are worried about whether they're going to be able to put food on the table. that's the focus of this trip. obviously, republicans in xong will have to make their own choice about whether they support the final package. it's still working its way through congress. but the vast majority of the public supports it, including the vast majority of most members' constituents, so it's a question for them. >> on another topic, would the president sign legislation to create a commission to investigate the january 6th attack? >> well, i saw an announcement, i believe it was yesterday, if i'm remembering correctly, by speaker pelosi or some comments, i should say. it's of course congress' decision to form this commission. but it's one the president would support. and president biden has made clear his views on the tragic events of january 6th, including

where responsibility for them lies. he backs efforts to shed additional light on the facts to ensure something like that never happens again. in addition to the recently announced desire to put together a commission or form a commission, we'll continue to work with congress to identify measures that the federal government can take going forward to prevent violence we saw on january 6th. as you know, probably maybe there's a number of hearings upcoming in the coming weeks and we'll be cooperative with those. >> what would he hope to learn from a commission? we saw a thorough airing of the events last week. >> again, i don't think the tenets of the commission have been formed. that's up to congress to do. we have a role to play in the federal government, of course, with ongoing investigations out of the department of justice. but he supports efforts to move forward with it, the desire to have one, certainly understanding and knowing how much the events on the 6th impacted members sitting on the hill. go ahead. >> jen, the president, yourself have frequently cite kwhad you describe as the failures or the

shortcomings of the trump administration as it relates to their response to covid. we're now nearly a month into this administration. does the biden administration now own the coronavirus response? >> well, certainly the president of the united states owns the response to the covid pandemic. that's why he is focused on it every single day. however, it's important for the american people to know what we inherited when the president came into office. and what he inherited was not enough supply, not enough vaccine nay or thes, not enough places for vaccinations to happen, communities had been left to fend for themselves. that's what he's been working on. if he were standing here, he would say that's the issue he wakes up every morning and is focused on. addressing it is on the minds of the american people. he's the president, it's his responsibility to focus on it. >> back to the impeachment trial that wrapped up.

you posted a statement late on saturday saying final vote, though it didn't lead to conviction, the substance of the charge is not in dispute. he cited mitch mcconnell believed that donald trump is guilty of gross dereliction of duty. so if he wasn't convicted through an impeachment trial via congress, via the senate, how should a president who commits acts that president biden says are not in dispute be punished? >> well, i think obviously there was a process that worked its way through the senate. that's why we put out a statement on saturday evening. >> do they support criminal prosecution? >> that will be up to the department of justice to determine. we're doing something new here and there's going to be an independent justice department to determine any path forward and any investigation, what that would look like. >> after the president's actions, mitch mcconnell left that door open to criminal prosecution. with actions like this, do they meet the bar for criminal prosecution? >> i am not going to speculate

on criminal prosecution from the white house podium. the president is committed to having an independent justice department. >> housekeeping around here, d.j. was suspended far week after comments he made to a male journalist. the president as you know on inauguration day said if you're ever working with me and i hear you treat another with disrespect, talk down to someone, i promise you i will fire you on the spot, no ifs, ands, and buts. he didn't fire t.j. on the spot. he has resigned. has the president's position on talking down or disrespecting others changed? >> i think the president leads by example, and i try to do the same. and on saturday when we announced that t.j. decklow had resigned his position, something we all agreed was the right path forward, i made clear that every day we're going to meet the standard set out by the president in treating others with dignity and respect, civility, and with a value for others through our words and

actions. he's no longer m ployed here, and i think that speaks for itself. go ahead. >> thank you. as you prepare to put out an immigration plan as soon as the end of this week, can you give us a little more information on the timing? and also, when it comes to the dreamers, can you give us any specifics on whether a potential pathway to citizenship can be part of it planned for that particular group? >> well, there certainly is part of the proposal that the president outlined, proposed on day one, is an earned path to citizenship, right, for 11 million immigrants who are undocumented immigrants living in the country. he's also somebody who believes in the rights of the daca recipients to be in the country. he was here during the of course obama/biden administration which he played an important role and supported that program. we've outlined the tenets of what we think the proposal should look like, which includes that but also includes funding to address the root causes,

includes investment in smart security, but congress will have to work through what it looks like moving forward and what components will be included in here or could be dealt with separately. how important will it be to this administration that this be one overarching large comprehensive package versus piece of an immigration plan that are broken up and passed separately? >> there is different points of view and different views from prominent and important advocates on this particular issue. but we're going to let the bill be presented formally at some point soon. i'm not going to get ahead of that process. certainly, the president feels that all of these requirements that are in the bill, these components of the bill are what makes it comprehensive. they all need to be addressed. that's why he proposed them together. >> does the president plan to resume these trump-era restrictions on immigration and work visas that have dramatically limited immigration if they're set to expire at the end of march.

will he let those expire naturally or address them before that? >> let me talk to our department of homeland security, likely a conversation that would happen in coordination with them. obviously, the president's view is that the approach of the prior administration was immoral but also ineffective in terms of addressing the many challenges of an outdated immigration system. but i don't have an update on those particular requirements. >> a question on afghanistan. has the administration decide wld to further troop withdrawals below 2,500? and if the decision hasn't been made yet, when do you expect one? >> i don't have any update on that front or a time line of when any additional decisions will be made. >> do you feel that the previous administration withdrawing troops so quickly tied this administration's hands? >> you know, i think the president is somebody who is not new to the global stage and certainly not new to the difficult decisions that need to

be made around issues related to afghanistan, issues related to the men and women who are serving and our own national security. so he's making decisions through that prism, but i don't have an update on what any time line will look like. go ahead. >> thanks, jen. first on the vaccine, you were talking earlier about how the president wanted to address the concerns of everyday americans with vaccine and the pandemic. one way that chief of staff was doing that last month was creating a national clearing house for vaccine information that would either be available online or somewhere else. can you update us on the progress of that? is that close to being rolled out? >> i don't have any update for you other than to convey that our team is always considering a range of options to make information more accessible, ensure more people, more of the american public know how they can get a vaccine, when they can get a vaccine, where they can go to get a vaccine. that's part of the reason the president is of course traveling to wisconsin. but i don't have any update for you on a clearing house or a

website. >> sounds like that's only still under consideration. is that something that's not in the works at the moment? >> there are a range of options under consideration and their focus is on taking the steps that are the most effective and efficient and prioritizing those in the order through which they would help the american people. >> now on the situation in texas, beyond disaster relief, is the administration considering any actions to address not only texas' power grid but the power grid in the central united states that seems to struggle with the winter weather? i know texas is not part of the national power grid. is the administration looking at that situation and considering any actions in the short term to address it? >> i think our focus right now is ensuring that the millions of people across texas who are impacted by the storm get the relief they need. obviously, that's why the president and his homeland security adviser took very quick action over the weekend. clearly there are investments in the future in energy -- in

energy -- forms of energy, i should say, across the country. they'll need to plan for inclement weather, but i think that's a discussion and a conversation that's a little down the road. >> the fact that the texas grid is not part of the national system, was that alarming to anyone in the administration? would you prefer that there be a national grid that's all integrated? >> i would send you to the department of energy and others to answer that question. go ahead. >> thanks, jen. back to the trip, any particular reason wisconsin was chosen as the site of tonight's town hall? >> you don't like wisconsin? it's a little cold. >> it's lovely. but any pressure on the democrats in a state the president just won? why wisconsin? >> wisconsin is a state where clearly there are democrats, republicans, independents as we saw from the final outcome of the vote in november. people who have different points of view on a ring of issues. it was a state that -- where

people have been impacted by the pandemic, by the economic downturn. the president felt that he could have a good conversation with people about the path forward and also even people who disagree with him. not more complicated than that. >> the president's ambitions in terms of getting congress to pass gun control measures. in a statement over the weekend, the president said the time for action is now. you're asking congress to do a lot of things now. what is your timetable for action on what the president calls commonsense measures and the realistic hope you have it be pass both houses? >> well, we haven't composed a package at this point so it's hard for me to make a prediction about its likelihood of passing. i will say that the president is somebody throughout his career who has advocated for smart gun safety measures. he is not afraid to standing up to the nra. he's done it multiple times and won on background checks and range of issues. it is a priority to him on a personal level, but i don't have

a prediction for you or a preview for you on a time line of a package and certainly not what it would look like and how it would go through congress. >> one more question. last week you were asked a question about whether this administration sees saudi arabia or israel as allies to the united states. your answer was interpreted by some as something other than yes. i'll give you an opportunity to answer that question more directly now. >> well, first let me say on israel, i know there's been some questions about when the president will speak with prime minister netanyahu, which is i think the root of that question or how the question started. let me first confirm for you that his first call with the lead nor the region will be with prime minister netanyahu. it will be soon. i don't have an exact date for you, but it is soon. stay tuned. israel is of course an ally. israel is a country we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged not at the head of state yet level quite yet but very soon. but our team is fully engaged,

having constant conversations at many levels with the israelis. on saudi arabia, i would say, you know, we've made clear from the beginning that we're going to recalibrate our relationship with saudi arabia and that, you know, president biden, one of the questions there was also, just to go back to the context of it, whether he would be speaking with mbs. the president's counterpart is king salman, and i expect in an. appropriate time he would have a conversation with him. i don't have a prediction on the time line. but i'll also say we have -- saudi arabia is in a position where they are defending themselves from threats from the region. you know, they are -- they have critical self-defense needs, and we will continue to work with them on those even as we make clear areas where we have

disagreements and concerns. that's certain lay shift from the approach of the prior administration. okay. go ahead. >> does the president still plan to take executive action on gun violence? >> the president has a range of actions at his disposal. i think you were asking, steve, about a legislative package, which i know, but he hasn't ruled out either of those options, of course, but i don't have nick to announce for you in terms of what the next steps would be like. >> on texas, is there anything the white house can do to administer immediate relief to residents of texas right now? >> well, i think our team, our national security team in part led by dr. liz sherwood randle, our homeland security adviser, a position that did not exist in the prior administration, is in close contact, i should say, monitoring developments of the storm. the president is kept abreast of that as well, and we are engaged with them and what their needs are and what steps can be taken.

of course declaring a federal disacor declaration ensures you have access to national resources and i think that was a step that was welcomed by the governor. go ahead. >> a circle-back question. you said a few weeks ago that the white house would check to see if it was technically possible to release the visitor logs from the trump administration. is there any answer on that? >> i actually did answer that question. yes. >> what was the answer? >> the answer was it exists in the national archives so they would have access and you'd have to go to them for access to archives of their visitor logs from their period of time when the president trump was there. >> and then you said a gun package teshgs b deshgs on timing, not in the works yet. in terms of what's next, is the plan to still do a big buildback bill better next? do we know what's coming next. >> we're foxed right now on getting the american rescue plan

passed but the president is visiting with a ring of stake holders. he had a meeting last week senators about infrastructure. it's one of the areas where there's opportunity to work together. i think most people wouldn't argue that our roads, our bridges, our streets need to be rebuilt. but there are lot of different needs and policy objectives the president has. so we haven't yet determine determined what the next forward priority would be butgaing with policy teams. he's having discussions internally and with stake holders about what's next. go ahead. >> thanks, jen. a couple quick questions. there is opposition to decreasing the minimum wage as it's laid out currently in the proposal in the senate. is president biden hoping to i guess lengthen the period of time over which the minimum wage could be increased?

for example, getting it to $15 by 2030. is he looking to potentially extending the time line there to get more people on board? >> well, we'll let the process play out through the senate, through the house first, then through the senate as they're negotiating what the final components will look like in a package. the president put an increase in the minimum wage in the initial package because he thinks it's important for american men and women who are -- have a full-time job, working hard to have a decent wage and he thinks it's long past time to raise the minimum wage. but we'll let the process see itself through. i'm not going to negotiate what he'd be open to and not from the podium. >> another quick one. i wanted to clarify something. prime minister trudeau's office, after their call in january, he said they agreed to meet in february. i wanted to clarify. do they plan to meet in person or was that just, you know, the

phrasing was off? >> you can meet over video as we all know. i don't have any time line of a meeting to convey or to confirm for you, though i would anticipate for all of you that it will be a couple of months before the president has an in-person or an invite to a foreign leader to meet in person here at the white house. >> the last thing, spring training for baseball starts this month. >> so my husband tells me. >> has the white house or the biden administration been in touch with major league baseball to, you know, give recommendations about safety protocols, about whether it's safe to have a season at this point? >> i'm happy to check with your covid team and see if they've had any conversations. obviously, this is not the first season during the pandemic. i will check and see if there's any role we have to play here. go ahead in the back. >> thank you, jen. with president trump's impeachment behind us, do you

believe an impediment has been removed in terms of passing the covid relief act? was that a distraction for anyone on the hill or in the white house? >> it certainly wasn't for us. members of congress on the hill continued to do their job in having conversations at the committee level. it was obviously an important week in our nation's history. the president -- we put out a statement from the president on saturday and we understand why there was a focus on it from of course the media and also from many in the public. but we have said from the beginning that the president would remain laser focused on getting the american rescue plan passed. that's exactly what he did last week and what he'll continue to do this week. and we are pleased with the urgency we've seen from members of congress as well. go ahead. >> jen, does the president still plan to address congress this month as he has said he expectses to? and do you have any information for us about the time? >> we don't know where the february 23rd date came from. it's a great mystery.

itch not nancy drew-ed that one out yet. it was never planned to be in february and we don't have a date for a joint session at this point. certainly, the president looks forward to addressing the public. we remain in touch with leaders in congress about a time line and a format and what that would look like. obviously, it won't look like what it has looked like in the past that many of you have covered and i have attended where you all sit on the floor of congress and the president gives a speech because of covid. but we're not behind any time line because that date was never accurate. >> one more on immigration. there's a federal judge in texas who could soon decide the fate of the daca program for dreamers. if he moves to kill that program before congress addresses the issue, what is the administration prepared to do to shield this population from deportation? >> well, the daca program is important to the president. it is a program that he has long been committed to protecting and preserving and taking every step he can to do exactly that.

i'm not going to get ahead of a judge's ruling in texas, but we will certainly watch closely and if there's more to say after that, we will share it. go ahead. >> jen, mitch mcconnell said on the republican opposition to covid relief, he said this is going to help unify their party their party, he said i don't think many republicans will be up for many things coming out of this administration, do you remember what mitch mcconnell said about the obama administration, the single most important we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. so i guess my question is, what lessons were learned from then, and given mcconnell doesn't see any political incentive to work with democrats, can you work with someone who isn't motivated to work with you? >> well, the president is known senator mcconnell for some time and he's spoken with him a number of times, and he's certainly hopeful they can find a way to work together and addressing the challenges facing the american people. but i don't know if it's about lessons for us as much as, you know, the country is looking --

>> well, here's the thing, though, the country is looking for action. i mean, the country is looking for progress, for solutions on covid, on the economy. the package that the president has proposed has the support of almost three quarters of the public in most polls. so i'm not sure what numbers senator mcconnell is looking at. but the american people have been clear what they're looking for and if they make a decision, republicans in congress, senator mcconnell, to vote against the will of their constituents i would suggest you ask them why that's smart politically for them to do. go ahead in the back. >> good afternoon, so regarding the american rescue plan groups like pro-life groups, including the susan b. anthony list, very concerned that millions of u.s. taxpayer dollars will go to the abortion city in violation of the hyde amendment. we know where president biden stands on hyde amendment but

that being said can this administration right now guarantee if the american rescue plan is passed that no taxpayer dollars will go to the abortion industry? >> which opponent of the american rescue plan are you referring to? >> i'll pull it up right here, a $50 million funding increase for the title 10 program. $750 million for global health activities and billions in funding for community health centers, without applying the hyde amendment. >> well, the president's view on the hyde amendment is well-known, as you have stated in your question. he also believes that community health centers are a key part of addressing the pandemic, of ensuring that people in communities have access to vaccines, have access to treatment and information about making sure they're healthy and their loved ones are healthy. so that remains a priority to the president. he's shared his view on the hyde amendment, i don't think i have anything new for you. >> to follow up with it.

guarantee americans who don't want tax dollars funding abortion, can the administration guarantee those tax dollars won't be --? >> as i've just noted, three quarters of the public supports the components of the package, wants to see the pandemic get under control, wants to see people put back to work, vaccines in arms. so i think that answers your question. okay, we're going to move on. go ahead in the back. >> a couple of days the president will address the munich situation. one point you repeat, would like to better understand what he means with foreign policy for the middle class. to uphold donald trump's -- in the case of aluminum from the uae, the biden administration used the same reasoning as the trump administration. >> i can assure you that the president -- this president does not have -- is not looking to the last presidency as the model for his foreign policy, moving forward. president biden has been working in the global arena for decades, and what he means by foreign

policy for the middle class is ensuring that our team working on economic issues, our team working on national security issues, our team's thinking about how policies impact the american people, are talking and that we make decisions and make policies through that prism. we are certainly reviewing a range of terrorists that have been put in place by the past administration, i don't have any updates on that for you, but what the president is speaking to is the importance of contemplating, integrating our domestic and national security teams and the policymaking and the process that they go through and his view, that we are stronger globally if we take care of our house here at home. so that is part of his objective as well. go ahead. >> thanks, jen. when president biden and governor andrew cuomo met last week, did they speak about the delayed release of data on the covid-19 vaccine coming to new york? >> the focus of the meeting was

on the president providing an update on his plans to help get the pandemic under control, to discuss with them the american rescue plan and in a large group meeting, have a discussion about what the challenges were that were facing governors and mayors. you've heard mayors come out here, no, that was not a focus of their conversation or topic. >> a lot of people including dr. fauci have felt side effects from the covid vaccine. did the president or vice president have side effects? >> i don't have any updates. they got their vaccines several weeks ago. they did that in public. i can check if there's an update from any side effects weeks ago. >> i have a question from a colleague. >> sure, go ahead. >> thanks, this question is from thomas burr with news nation. the president's flying to michigan to tour the pfizer plant and see the covid vaccine. what is the administration doing now almost a month into office to increase vaccine availability, and how many white house staffers have been vaccinated? >> we provided an update a

couple of -- maybe a week ago or so and our focus is on being as transparent as possible with our efforts to vaccinate senior staff and other staff around the white house complex. we have a limited footprint as well here because every staffer is tested on a daily basis as well. i think we said the objective was to have hundreds vaccinated by the end of february. i can double check if that's the latest update on that particular front. what was your -- sorry, what was your other question? >> what is the administration doing now to increase vaccine availability? >> to the american public? >> yes, now almost a month into the administration. >> well, we're taking a couple of steps, one is we're increasing supply, obviously the president took the step of purchasing enough vaccines to ensure we have vaccines available to vaccinate every american by the end of july. he's also -- we've also increased by 57% the vaccine supply that's going out to

states. we've also taken steps to increase the number of vaccinators we have, people who can actually put those shots in arms so that includes deploying members of the national guard, taking steps including ensuring that retired nurses and doctors can be a part of the vaccination crew that is -- vaccinator crew i should say that's putting shots in arms so we've increased the number of vaccinators and we've increased the number of vaccination sites, partly by putting a plan in place to have several hundred community health centers, where vaccinations can be distributed, working with states on mass vaccination centers, working with pharmacies as we announced earlier, as i announced earlier in the briefing, i should say, to get vaccines in the hands of pharmacies which 90% of the public lives within five miles of a pharmacy. there are a number of steps, but the foe sus is on those three components, increasing supply, vaccines, increasing vaccinators, the people who can put those vaccines in arms and increasing vaccination locations so people know where to go.

>> wanted to follow up on the president's appearance before a joint session in congress in his primetime address in january, reading from prepared marks, next month in my joint session i will lay out my plan. it feels like he did say it was going to be -- >> what i was referring to is there was reporting on february 23rd and i don't know where that date came from, which has never been accurate. >> never going to be in february? >> the february 23rd was just an inaccurate date. no one's fault. created confusion, i was trying to clarify. obviously the president looks forward to speaking to a joint session, we don't have a date when that will be and it will look different because of covid and we want to be safe and project that safety in our responsibility of projecting that to the american public. >> a specific reason it was potentially delayed from what the president himself thought last month? >> there's not, and he conveyed, you know, he is looking forward

to providing more details on a jobs package and, you know, next steps in his agenda and he still is looking forward to doing that and we don't have a date yet to announce for all of you. >> thank you, everybody. have a good day. >> thank you. and jen saw see leaving the podium, we've seen a briefing that's gone about 40 minutes. joining us now is peter alexander, i think, is there. sorry, i don't think we have time. sorry, we heard her at least respond to the fact that mitt romney and tom cotton have a new proposal for the minimum wage and she said that the wants to see what comes out of congress. we also heard her talk about peter alexander's question about whether or not the president now has to own the covid rollout, she said well don't forget what

he inherited. that does it for this abbreviated edition of "andrea mitchell reports," remember to follow the show online on facebook and twitter at "mitchell reports," chuck todd is up next with "mtp daily" only right here on msnbc. ♪♪ welcome to tuesday, it is "meet the press daily" and i'm chuck todd, the white house's daily briefing has just wrapped and with the former president's impeachment behind us, washington's focus now turns towards the current president and the daunting challenges ahead of all of us, beginning with the pandemic. the white house is looking to turn the page on trump by renewing its push for speedy passage of his massive $1.9 trillion covid relief package, press secretary jen psaki said moments ago