Education and Budget Committee assignments that she holds. Moments ago democrats said this about House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy. Why would Kevin Mccarthy continue to associate himself and the republican conference with someone who leader Mitch Mcconnell has characterized as a cancer . The last time i checked, cancers need to be cut out and not allowed to metastasize. And Kevin Mccarthy has the ability to do the right thing he should. But greene will not be the only urgent topic the republicans will need to address when they meet here in a few hours. Wyoming congresswoman liz cheney is on the fence of being ousted for voting to impeach former President Trump in his second impeachment. She has been shoring up support behind the scenes. That includes from Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell. Republicans are facing a critical reckoning. Will they encourage, quoting one gop senator, the coux of their party or those who vote their conscience like liz cheney or try to get away with doing both . We have cnn Congressional Correspondent jessica dean and jamie gangel. They were not able to come to an agreement about greene late this morning. Tell us what happened. Well, we know that as a result of that conversation between House Majority leader steny hoyer and House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy that democrats decided to move forward with this resolution that they will put to a full house vote tomorrow to strip congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene from her Committee Assignments. The two were talking in hopes from Kevin Mccarthys side that perhaps they could strike a deal, perhaps she could be stripped from one committee that would be the education and Labor Committee and not the Budget Committee. But it turns out they were not able to make a deal. Thus, democrats are moving forward in their actions. So what does that mean . That means later today there will be a House Rules Committee im told by representative Taylor Greenes spokesperson that its undecided if she will talk on her behalf. She is allowed to speak at that meeting on her behalf. And then that will go to a full house vote tomorrow where it only needs a simple majority to pass in the house. Now, go back to House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy for a second. Because he could still act. We dont know what hes going to do. He and Marjorie Taylor greene had a long conversation last night that went late into the night. The Steering Committee was involved. Thats who would decide on the republican side whether or not to strip her of her Committee Assignments. She didnt take any of our questions yesterday. I was trying to ask her questions. She didnt answer anymore then. So it remains to be seen if republicans will act before the democrats do. And one more thing to keep in mind. People on both sides of the aisle do say, look, this would be setting quite a precedent. Stripping someone for their Committee Assignments for things they said or did before they were put into office. So there is talk about what that will do down the line. But thats where we stand right now. Democrats making this first move to strip her from her Committee Assignments, and then republicans waiting to see what House Minority leader Kevin Mccarthy will do. And there is growing agitation from some republicans for him to be decisive. This waffling, him not making decision is really starting to bother some of them. They worry its going to elevate the more fringe parts of their party. Yeah, its an interesting argument. The Precedent Argument i think it might be a little more clear if she disavowed some of these things she said. She hasnt. So i wonder how important Something Like that might be in this meeting that were expecting to hear about. Were not expecting to see it or hear it. But what should we expect out of this scheduled gathering of the house gop conference . It your point not only has she not only disavowed it. But her twitter feed looked like something donald trump might do, no apologies. But just to follow up on minority leader Kevin Mccarthy, just before we went on the air i got a phone call from a very influential republican Fundraiser Blasting Kevin Mccarthy for not removing her from these committees. The source said to me, this is a huge embarrassment, quote, a failure of leadership. He has lost control. You dont speak to Marjorie Taylor greene. You take her off the committee. So, weve been talking a lot about how the Republican Party is facing a reckoning. My sources are saying that Kevin Mccarthy is also facing a reckoning on his leadership. The other thing were going to see this afternoon at the 4 00 meeting is what happens with the third ranking republican in leadership liz cheney. And i think it is likely we will see a vote. Because Freedom Caucus members like jim jordan, matt gaetz, andy biggs would like to see her removed from her leadership position. I dont expect that she is going to be backing down at all on her vote for the impeachment. My understanding is from sources close to her that she sees that this is about the constitution, not about politics. Real quick, jamie, does it seem like there are enough votes in the house gop conference to get rid of her from that post . Its a good question. We dont know. But heres the thing. The Freedom Caucus has been saying to reporters, we have a hundred signatures, we have 120 signatures. But they havent produced any signatures at all. And this could be a recorded vote, but its more likely to be a secret ballot. Right now my sources do not think they have the votes to remove her. Interesting. So there will be republicans who maybe did not vote to impeach donald trump, but they will back liz cheney in her ability to have done that. Thats very interesting. Jamie gangel, jessica dean, thank you so much to both of you. Thank you. House republicans will be meeting here in a few hours to decide the fates of congresswomen liz cheney and Marjorie Taylor greene. Cheney, a member of gop house leadership for joining several other republicans to vote to impeach donald trump a second time. Greene, the gops most well known new member of congress for her past comments and actions propagating Conspiracy Theories and lies with little remorse for them now that she is in congress. Usually Senate Republicans would mind their own beeswax about what is going on on the other side of the dome, but theyre speaking up because this moment isnt just about the house, its about the future of the Republican Party. Minority leader Mitch Mcconnell in the Senate Without using her name calling Taylor Greene and her loony lies a cancer on the party. North dakota senator kevin cramer says personally id have a hard time supporting her positions on the School Shootings being staged and being on the Education Committee. Real authority has moral authority, he said. Senator marco rubio says anyone who argues the Parkland School shooting, which, of course happened in his state, was actually a false flag operation perpetrated to mobilize public support in opposition to gun rights as Taylor Greene does, is, quote, either deranged or a sadist. Rubio stated those were real families, those were real children that died. His florida colleague rick scott who was governor of florida during the shooting says that her comments are completely wrong and very disappointing. Completely wrong and very disappointing is what you might say when you accidently get someone elses takeout order, someone spinning a Conspiracy Theory about the Worst High School shooting in u. S. History, then confronting a kid who survived it is unconscionable. South Dakota Republican senator john thune says of the house gop, quote, do they want to be the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility, free markets, peace through strength and prolife . Or do they want to be the party of this is theories and qanon . But her views were long known before she was elected in november. Its certainly a question that many republicans couldve asked during the trump era. Someone who did speak up then, senator mitt romney. He says, quote, our big tent is not large enough to both accommodate conservatives and kooks. That starts with senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump Sycophant and apologist are trying to learn more. I want to know what the facts are. These are not accurate postings. Theyve been manipulated. Is it accurate . I dont know. I havent seen the videos. Now some of these incidents are on video. And the congresswoman does not allege they were manipulated. Some of these comments are on her social media accounts, though she has tried to cast doubt by saying other people have access to her accounts, among the things that Marjorie Taylor greene is responsible for, she pushed Qanon Quackery that trump was the leader who would take out a Satanic Pedophile Cult in government and hollywood. She is a 9 11 truther. She questioned the attack of the pentagon saying there is never any evidence of a plane going into it. Shes accosted a parkland survivor of one of the biggest mass School Shootings in u. S. History after questioning whether the Attack Waslsflag op out to mobilize action against gun rights after her Committee Assignments were at risk when she said, quote, these are not fake. And then before joining congress she appeared to endorse the execution of Speaker Pelosi and other democrats. She suggested the 2018 midterms when the first two muslim women in congress were elected were part of a, quote, islamic invasion of our government. She thats called george soros a nazi. She falsely claimed barrack obaa is a muslim. If this were a democrat, Lindsey Graham would be banging his gavel and booking his appearances on fox with more speed than maverick and goose. May he rest in peace. Then there are the senators who play dumb, Chuck Grassley says he doesnt know enough about her. He says, quote, there is 435 members of the house i have a hard time Keeping Track of what 100 senators are doing, so you have to ask somebody thats followed it better than i have. When cnn started to read greenes comments he said i dont want to comment on your interpretation of her comments, i want to hear what she said. If crazy is infiltrating the party that you are in, that youre a leader of, better study up, dont you think . Now rubio and others are trying to blame the media for elevating Conspiracy Theories even though it was republicans who elevated this dangerous nonsense from the white house to congress, despite knowing that Taylor Greenes gakry, some highprofile republicans endorsed her candidacy anyway. As President Donald Trump called her a future republican star and a winner. The house Freedom Caucus gave her the stamp of approval. Greene said i started getting phone calls from the most conservative members in the house Freedom Caucus. Heres jordan in his own words. Marjorie greene is exactly the kind of fighter needed in washington to stand with me against the radical left. And drain the swamp. Former Chief Of Staff Meadows Feined ignorance about the group last year. I dont know anything about it. I dont even know that its credible. If we want to talk about conspiracies, lets get back to talking about how the fbi and others within the fbi spied on the trump campaign. It is just not believable. Because the white e i had Label Conspiracy a potential domestic Terror Threat long before this. The georgia Republican Party congratulated Taylor Greene on her primary win. House minority leader Kevin Mccarthy put his feet on both sides of the line at the time. Let me be very clear. There is no place for qanon in the Republican Party. I do not support it. And the candidate you talked about has denounced it. He was so fired up over this willing to take a stand that he remained neutral in her primary. And now hes at the center of this mess. But the perfect example of how republicans normalize this, listen to republicans arkansass republican governor. Shes long embraced Conspiracy Theories like qanon, voiced support for executing nancy pelosi. Is she fit to serve, and should she be on the Education Committee . Well, first of all, the people of her district elected her, and that should mean a lot. They elected her and shes going to run for reelection and shell be accountable for what she said and her actions. Given her history, is she fit to serve . Im not going to answer that question as to whether shes fit to serve because she believes in something that everybody else does not accept. I reject that. Two things here. When you cant draw a line on someone over their support of murdering an elected leader, do you have the courage to draw a line on anything . And also mccarthy kept saying that voters will hold her accountable for her actions. She was elected despite her belief for some voters perhaps because of her beliefs. But the award for most creative and most absurd in these remarks from republicans comes from Senate Republican talking about this conspiracy chaos. And it belongs to newcomer tommy tuberville. When cnn asked him to comment, he said this. I havent even looked at what all shes done. Id have to hold back a statement on that. This weathers been a little rough looking at any news or whatever. Since she is following the weather so closely, he knows that it is cloudy with a 100 chance of b. S. In alabama today and that lowpressure system might be swinging all the way up to washington, d. C. Today. Ahead, an alarming new study shows how younger adults are responsible for most of the spread in this pandemic. Plus, as the Capitol Police officer who died during the siege is honored today, the investigation into his murder is hitting obstacles. And the constitutional expert who testified in Donald Trumps first Impeachment Trial reacts to the defense in his impending second Impeachment Trial. This is cnn special live coverage. Charlotte charl every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, Delicious Fage total yogurt. A somber ceremony today on capitol hill honoring fallen Capitol Police officer brian sicknick, who died as a result of injuries he sustained in the january 6th insurrection. Sicknicks remains today Lying In Honor in the capitols rotunda, which is a privilege typically reserved for government leaders. Among the attendees at todays ceremony, Vice President kamala harris. And we have been learning quite a lot about this officer here in recent weeks. He was from new jersey. He had volunteered for the new Jersey International guard when he was just a teenager, deploying to the middle east before being honorably discharged and becoming a police officer. Sicknick was living his lifelong dream of being in Law Enforcement when he died at age 42 following the siege on the capitol. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke in the Capitol Rotunda before sicknicks colleagues and his family. Our promise to brians family is that we must never forget his sacrifice, the harsh artillery of time. We will never forget. Sicknicks family releasing a statement thanking congressional leadership for bestowing this historic honor on our fallen american hero. And a month after the deadly attack, investigators are struggling to build a federal murder case in the death of officer sicknick. Lets bring in cnns Whitney Wild On this story. Whitney, what are the obstacles here . Well, theres just a lack of evidence. Thats the bottom line here. Theres a little we know but a lot we dont know. We know that he was in the riot. We know he sustained injuries, then went back to his office where he collapsed. We also know he died the next day. But other than that, brianna, the cause and manner of death has not been released. Further, there had been some earlier reporting that he had perhaps been hit with a fire extinguisher. We now know from Law Enforcement sources who were saying that medical examiners didnt find any evidence of blunt force trauma. Further, they have been combing video frame by frame. But theyre having a hard time finding any moment he would have sustained an injury from a rioter. So theyre just having a hard time figuring out how exactly he died. There is one theory that he perhaps interacted with a chemical irritant, that that mightve contributed to his death. But again there is no video to show the exact moment when that would have happened to pinpoint whos responsible. And then finally, brianna, whats making this all much more complicated is the possibility or at least the consideration that if he had a preexisting medical condition, that could complicate the prosecution here. We dont know if thats the case. But its one of the things prosecutors are thinking about as they try to comb through the very little evidence they have. And the bottom line here is that while hes lying in state, there is this openended question of will anyone see justice for his death, brianna . All right, certainly its not a closed case yet, so we will know that youll keep an eye on that. Whitney wild, thank you so much. In their 80page pretrial brief, they say donald trump is personally responsible for inciting the deadly attack on the capitol. A 14page filing that says, quote, The 45th President believes and there are avers that as a private citizen, the senate has no jurisdiction over his ability to hold office and for the senate to take action on this averment would constitute a Bill Of Attainder. All right, youve got to explain this to us. Because i do want our viewers to know you are one of three constitutional scholars called to testify in the first trump impeachment inquiry. As you have the expresident s lawyers here saying that if the Senate Proceeds with the trial, it is a bill of attiander, what is a Bill Of Attainder . Its a red herring in these circumstances. A Bill Of Attainder is a rarely heard of concept. It goes all the way back to england before the constitution. Its basically when the legislative body picks some one person out or a group of people and announces that they are going to punish them and without a trial. It does it bypassing a bill both houses have to pass it and then it being signed by the president in the United States or agreed to by the king in the old english system. And thats of course not whats happening here. This is an impeachment which is not a Bill Of Attainder. Part of what makes it an imimpeachment is that the president of the United States has nothing to do with it. The impeachment is voted by the house, and then its voted on by the senate and it never goes to the Executive Branch unlike a bill. Thats the most simple way to explain why this is not a Bill Of Attainder, although there are other reasons. You say this is just a bizarre legal argument. Why is that . It looks like trumps lawyers are just doing anything they can to throw around some constitutional sounding language to distract attention from the main Impeachment Charge here, which is that the president s systematically subverted democracy over a course of months and that that culminated in incitement of the attack on the capitol. Thats a very serious charge. So if youre defending donald trump you want to distract Atte Attention from it as much as you possibly can. And that means throwing around somewhat indefensible ideas like you cant try the president after hes out of office. And it also means throwing in somewhat goofy outlandish language like the idea that doing so would be a Bill Of Attainder. What about the Defense Argument saying that the trial should be dismissed because the constitution, quote, requires that a person actually hold office to be impeached . Is there a precedent here . Well, first of all, the constitution doesnt require that. You can read the constitution. It doesnt say anything of the kind. The constitution does say that if youre in office you can be removed and you can be barred from further office. But its silent on the question of trying people after the fact. And thats because it was ordinary at the time of the framing of the constitution to try Public Officials after they were out of office. Virginia, for example, in fact had a rule in place that you could only impeach the governor once he was no longer the governor. They actually almost used that against Thomas Jefferson who had been the governor of the state. So, the framers were not saying that you could only do an impeachment in a trial of a sitting president. They were saying you could also do one of a sitting president in addition to doing someone out of office. So there is a precedent. Thats very interesting. You break that down very clearly. In their brief, trumps lawyers insist the former president s remarks are protected by the First Amendment. Are they . No. If donald trump were being tried criminally, he could argue that his conduct did not count as incitement under the First Amendment. And there is a rule, Supreme Court case called the brandenburg case that says if youre going to be convicted of a crime of incitement, the government has to show beyond a reasonable doubt that your actions or your words rather were directed in incitement and imminently caused incitement. Now that might actually be true of donald trump. If you read what he said as inciting the crowd and the crowd did subsequently go and commit an act of violence you might even be able to try him criminally. That would probably be a closed case. But that Legal Standard doesnt apply in impeachment. The impeachment requires the high crime and misdemeanor, which means a political crime, not a crime thats in the statute books. So the First Amendment doesnt protect Donald Trumps speech in that way. We dont really know whats going to happen with witnesses in this Impeachment Trial. Do you think theyre going to be called, and if they are, who do you think should be called . You know, i think its very possible that they wont be called. The case that the House Managers Made is pretty selfexplicatin. You get a lot of what you need to know about the events that took place, basically everything thats alleged against the president took place in public. None of it was private. So it doesnt require the kinds of testimony of putting the picture together that we had, for example, in the last impeachment. So i think thats probably the way its going to go. I think it will be fine to have witnesses and i think its a bad precedent to have trial with no witnesses like last time. But that was because the Senate Republicans wouldnt allow there to be any witnesses. This time the senate is in democratic hands and they have to make a strategic choice of whether witnesses will strengthen their case or not. All right, we will be watching. I know you will be watching very carefully. Noa noah thank you very much. President biden meeting with Senate Democrats just a short time ago as the party moves forward on their covid Relief Package without republicans. Plus, new audio of what biden told House Democrats about the amount of stimulus checks that would be going out. And a new study shows how younger adults are responsible for most of the spread in this pandemic. [ Engine Rumbling ] [ beeping ] [ engine revs ] uh, you know theres a 30minute limit, right . Tell that to the rain. [ beeping ] for those who were born to ride, theres progressive. soft music announcer ] this is chet. He loves monday through friday but lives for the weekend. Hes put some miles on his truck and now, its time for something new. So he came to truecar and saw what other people paid for the same truck he wants. Now, he can recognize a great price. Truecar was so easy, chet was in and out and got right on back to the life he loves. Before you buy a car or truck, see what others paid for it with truecar. If you have. Moderate to severe psoriasis,. Little things. Can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats Plaque Psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea,. Nausea or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts. Or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Upper respiratory tract infection and. Headache may occur. Tell your doctor about your medicines, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Several new Coronavirus Developments today as some Teachers Unions resist returning to inperson instruction before teachers are vaccinated. The head of the cdc said this during the White House Coronavirus briefing. There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely. Also during that briefing, the white house covid19 coordinator called on congress to pass additional funding to ensure schools have the resources necessary to support reopening. And new today, tragic new projections, by the end of this month the cdc predicts that the number of deaths in the u. S. Related to covid19 will be between 496,000 and 534,000. For more, head lines on coronavirus, lets check in now with our correspondents around the world. Im scott mclean in london where scientists are not only finding new cases of the South African variant, they are also finding a specific mutation in other strains of the virus that lab Research Suggests could make the virus more vaccine resistant. There is also new research on the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine that supports the british governments controversial decision to space vaccine doses out by 12 weeks rather than the usual six. The Research Shows that one dose of the vaccine is still 76 effective even after three months. That same Study Suggests that the vaccine not only prevents people from getting sick but also prevents them from transmitting the virus to others. Im Jacqueline Howard in atlanta. A new study says that there is one age group tied to most of the spread of covid19 here in the United States as of october. Thats younger adults ages 20 to 49. Heres what the study found. The new study says that younger adults accounted for 72. 2 of Coronavirus Infections after schools reopened in october. Meanwhile, less than 5 originated from children 9 and younger. Less than 10 from teens ages 10 to 19. This new study is published in the journal science. Im selena in tokyo. Tokyo olympic organizers unveiled their playbook for how to hold their games in the middle of a pandemic. Participants are encouraged to get vaccinated, but it wont be mandatory. Organizers are relying on other precautions to reduce transmission risks. It includes rules like Wearing Masks as much as possible, social distancing, and supporting athletes by clapping, not singing or chanting. Athletes and officials arriving have to download a government Contact Tracing app and be tested before and after arrival. This is as doubt grows around whether japan can successfully hold the olympics. The country is dealing with the worst wave of covid since the pandemic began. Thank you to all of our correspondents for those stories. And lets stand by now to hear from the white house after President Biden tells democrats the gop Covid Relief Proposal is, quote, not in the cards. Our hopes for a bipartisan path forward dwindling here. Plus, a husband and father in alabama, a young husband and father, testing negative multiple times before being diagnosed with the uk covid variant. He died yesterday, and his wife is going to join us coming up. Liberty mutual customizes wait. Am i in one of those Liberty Mutual commercials where they stand in front of the Statue Of Liberty and talk about how Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need . Uhhh. Yes. Huh. What happens in this one . Seagulls. Oh, i like it. How are you doing . Seagulls Sounds only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. As we await the White House Briefing, there is new reporting from our Gloria Borger about the standoff inside of the Republican Party over the fates of congresswoman liz cheney who supported Donald Trumps second impeachment, and Marjorie Taylor greene who refuses to apologize over her lies and Conspiracy Theory support. And glorias with us now to talk about this. Gloria, tell us about your reporting. What have you heard . I was speaking with a source whos familiar with discussions that are going on among very big republican donors. And this source says that mccarthys decision to stand back and effectively allow the democrats to bring a vote on her fate to the floor is what this source called potentially a careerending mistake. He said the donor base of his super pac will collapse now. The republican funders who he points out are very conservative but not conspiracyminded Wanted Mccarthy to handle this and to handle this quickly. And he also points out that hes angering republicans who really didnt want to have this huge public vote on this, that they would rather their leader had acted like a leader, stripped her of her Committee Assignments and not let this play out for a very long time. And our manu raju is also reporting that some republicans actually want liz cheney to apologize for her impeachment vote. Well, i dont think youre going to hear liz cheney apologize. The source that i spoke to, this same republican says, look, theres a case to be made that she might have given a heads up to people inside the leadership or inside the republican conference. There was no heads up on this. But youre not going to hear liz cheney apologize. It was a vote of conscience. The leadership did not whip this vote, meaning they didnt ask people to get in line one way or another. She voted her conscience. Theres no way shes going to apologize for what she considers to be a vote of conscience. You know, i do not think we will be hearing that she said that to house republicans. Gloria, great reporting. Thanks for sharing it with us. Were going to have Gloria Stand By because soon we are going to take the White House Briefing live as soon as it begins. Were expecting an update on efforts to pass this muchneeded covid relief bill. So stand by for that. Plus, the fbi raided the homes of two men who held a protrump rally near the capitol the day before the riot. What are investigators looking for . I just have a couple of items for you all at the top. I was a little worried about getting that mask off with the earrings. Successful, good start. Today President Biden joined the House Democratic caucus meeting by phone to discuss the American Rescue plan. The president made clear that the American Rescue plan was designed to meet the stakes of the Public Health and economic crisis and the president caucus agreed that a final package must address the crises working families, including housing, Food Insecurity and opening schools. The president also had the opportunity to meet in the Oval Office Just a few minutes ago with Leader Schumer and the democratic chairs of the Senate Committees with jurisdiction over the American Rescue plan. As part of his ongoing engagement with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. During the meeting they had a productive conversation on the status of legislative proceedings on the package. They were in agreement over the need to move swiftly to ensure that we get 1,400 direct payments to middle and workingclass americans as quickly as possible. That we need to take steps to get immediate relief to the americans who are struggling with Food Insecurity or facing eviction and that we need to provide more resources to get shots into arms faster. The president and the senators were also in agreement over the need to go big and to meet the challenges we face with a response that will get the job done in beating this virus and in protecting our economy from longterm damage. During the conversation the president and Democratic Leaders also agreed to continue working to find areas of bipartisan agreement in an effort to integrate ideas and make the process as bipartisan as possible. There have been lots of questions from some of you and others about the differences between the president s plan, the democratic plan, and the plan that has been proposed by ten republican senators. So i wanted to outline some of those specifics here for you. The president s plan would fulfill his pledge to finish getting 2,000 checks to hardhit americans and ensure that, for example, a Kindergarten Teacher making 60,000 a year isnt left without additional support. Their plan wouldnt provide that teacher with direct relief. The president s plan would give americans who are out of work through nofault of their own a 400 Weekly Supplement and the certainty that it would last through the worst of the pandemic. Their plan would give unemployed americans less money and therefore less certainty. The president s plan would keep hundreds of thousands of teachers, cops, firefighters, paramedics, and other public serve yapts on the job. Their plan offers no money to state and local governments to keep people on the front lines of this fight employed. The president s plan would also assist the millions of families who are behind on their rent and facing potential eviction. Their plan wouldnt offer any support to these families. The president s plan would provide targeted, immediate relief to families with children and Essential Workers through an Emergency Expansion of the Child Tax Credit and the eitc. Their plan would deny relief to 15 million lowerincome Essential Workers. The president s plan together would reduce the number of kids living in poverty by 5 million this year and cut Child Poverty in half. Their plan would likely leave millions of additional kids out. Just as importantly, the president s plan would make sure we have every resource we need to defeat this virus and get life back to normal, including 130 billion to help ensure our kids can go back to school safely, 20 billion to mount a nationwide vaccination campaign, 50 billion for more or better testing and critical funding to improve our ability to track and defeat emerging covid19 strains. I know that was a lot, but its a lot of interest in this issue. Go ahead, josh. Thanks so much, jen. Two questions. President biden told House Democrats today that he considered the 1,400 direct payment a promise that he cant break. At the same time, a new analysis from the Penn Budget Model suggests that 73 of those payments would go into savings instead of be spent in ways that could boost growth. Im wondering whats more important to keep the promise or to ensure that the package does all it can to maximize growth . It can to maximize growth. I feel its majority of studies on the plan, include be independent from Jpmorgan Chase and brookings institution. The analysis our economy is near capacity. News to the millions of americans out of work or facing reduced hours and paychecks. This starting place means their model is way off. Our view is, were going to listen to governors. Listen to a broad range of economists. Listen to Health Experts on what is needed with the American People, what they need at this point in time. In one in seven American Families dont have the food to eat its clear there is a great deal of need for assistance. Secondly, the president is set to speak to the State Department tomorrow. How does he expect to change the tone with regard to refugees, china and russia relative to his predecessor . Well, first i would say that the president s visit tomorrow, which we rescheduled because of snow, is largely focused on his desire to thank the men and women who are Foreign Service officers, civil sevens, who are the heart and soul of that institution and frankly our government, and i worked there for two and a half years. Its an incredible place and many of them have had a challenging couple of years, but he will also, of course, talk broadly about Foreign Policy. How could he not, if there . This wont be a lay down of his vision for every issue and every Foreign Policy issue. He will have plenty of time to do that. I want to, expectations set to expect for tomorrow, also asking about the difference between his approach an russia and china. You know, i think on russia, his call to President Putin is a couple weeks ago. Two weeks ago . Its clear evidence of exactly that. When he called President Putin he did not hold back. He made clear that while there are areas where we can Work Together, say new start, in the interest of security of the United States, he has concerns about a number of areas of their reported interference. Whether in elections, in the hacking of the United States, solarwinds hacking, i should say. Reports of bounties on american troops. An ongoing review thats happening. He also stated in that conversation. So his engagement even directly with President Putin tells you a bit after the difference alone. On china, the president s view and the administrations view is that we need to work with our allies. We need to work with our partners to align how were going to approach our relationship with china and we need to approach that relationship from a position of strength. There are obviously key components of that relationship. Economics, strategic. But we are going to work closely with our allies. Hes having Thougse Engagements call outs and with democrats and republicans on the best path forward. Thanks, jen. The republican plan matches you up on the National Vaccine top line and also testing top line. You ticked through significant differences between this and i ask this daily at this point, but where is today good job. Where is the space . When differences are that significant across major components of what the president wants . Well, you know, an area where theres agreement to Work Together on is funding for small business. Thats something, of course, democrats and republicans want to do. Our view is that this bill itself is bipartisan. 74 of the public support it. Republican, democrat, independents across the country. There is agreement that its important to work with many republicans and democrats who fall on different parts of the political spectrum to put their ideas forward and consider them. Thats part of the conversation and part of the process now happening on the hill. We will see. We will see what proposals that improve the bill, that make it better, and certainly an openness to that. Several republican senators have said publicly that they believe the president is in a different place than his staff on this issue in particular. Hes more willing to deal, perhaps, than his staff. Is there daylight between the president and his staff on one point of absolutely not. Ive seen those reports. Many of l ludicrous. Ive sat in with the president on many of them and no one will tell him what to do or hold him back from his commitment to delivering relief to the American People and i point you to the fact he talked about the importance of going big on a package back to the campaign. He talked about the importance of meeting this moment back to the campaign. So that is certainly his commitment and exactly what hes working to deliver on. One quick one on vaccines. Talked about last week i believe Defense Production Act. Uhhuh. Options around the table, you Guys Working Through its been launched, just a couple of areas. Vaccine supply. Uhhuh. Is the Defense Production Act being utilized on that front and if not a timeline remaining on the table now to billionster these issues you identified at a problem right now . Absolutely. Its on the table. The reason the president invoked the Defense Production Act was because he wanted to have a range of options for any moment where there was a reduction in supply on, on on, you know, materials, on ppe, on syringes and at the appropriate time we can certainly use it for that. But right now our focus is on working with pfizer and moderna. We have confidence in their ability to produce the number of vaccines that the government has ordered. On the timeline that we have committed to, and so that means we would have enough vaccines here to be able to vaccinate every american by the summer. So our focus is really more on evaluating our team, evaluating where there are needs for supplies and materials that would help deliver the vaccines into arms of americans. Go ahead. You saw the president say earlier, he still thinking trying to get republican support. Asked about that a while. Not go for the 1. 9 trillion number got going to happen. Give a specific example of something that demonstrated differences . You didnt mention that he seas the 350 billion for states and localities . Is that something that is considered negotiable by the white house . Well, id be interested, i didnt see and guess im asking you a question what senator romney said whether they would propose any funding for state and local . Most recent report says average states only 1 10 of the revenue and should be adjusted. They are not proposing any. I would suggest given that they also supported 160 billion or 180 billion in a package that moved forward under the Trump Administration thats a place we would certainly welcome an offer from their end on what state and local funding needs support. One other Economic Relief related to the pandemic. A fullpage ad in the New York Times put there by certainly prom nan women calling on the biden add aminiadministration, law fplan for moms . On friend zoom calls, the impact of the pandemic on working moms across the country, and what the president has certainly, hes concerned about, as we all are, the fact this is a disproportionate impact on communities of color, on women of color many of them working on jobs as Frontline Workers and playing vital roles in industries across the country. Its an issue that secretary yellen, his economic team, are focused on and will be looking for ways to help with these. And the president said yesterday he hasnt had a chance to contact the families of the fbi agents killed in south florida. Has he been able to do that yet . We will followup with you after the briefing. I did not have a chance to ask about that before coming out today. And the proud boys, Terrorist Organization putting them a little side al qaeda, isis and al shabaab. Does the u. S. Plan to do the same . I had seen that before i came out and asked our team to make sure we are had a little guidance on that for all of you. Of course, we have a review under way. A Domestic Tileant Extremist Review underway to look at violence and this type of concerning group active tity acs the country. Well wait for that group to con clute before making determination. Its ongoing and when concluded well have more to say about our view. Go ahead. Thank you, jen. The Top Republican on the House Armed Services committee is asking you to apologize for the comments made about the space force. Will you apologize . I did send a tweet last night. Maybe youre not on twitter or them, that said we invite members of space force here to provide an update to all of you on all the important work theyre doing and look forward to seeing continued updates from there team. Big picture here. Does the space force have the full support of the Biden Administration . Or is the president at some point perhaps going to try to get rid of it or in some way diminish it . Absolutely they have the full support of the Biden Administration, and we are not revisiting the decision to establish the space force. The desire for the Department Of Defense to focus greater attention and resources on the growing Security Challenges in space has long been a bipartisan issue and formed by numerous administrations and thousands of men and women probably serves in the space force. You know it was established by congress and any other steps would actually have to be taken by congress. Not by the administration. One other space question. Nasas artemis program, the program to return american astronauts to the moon by 2024. What is the president s plan . What is he going to do with that program . Is he going to keep it intact . I am personally interested in space. A fascinating area of study but have not spoken with our team about this particular program. Let me see if i can get you a more informed overview of that. One more question. Sorry. About the president s comments last night as he was paying his respects to the fbi agents that lost their lives, or wer