Transcripts For CNN CNN Newsroom With Brianna Keilar 20240711

But i think that the idea now is that we have to hit back hard, we have to hit back strong if were going to finally put this dual crisis of the pandemic and the economic pain that is engendered behind us. With respect to larrys point, one thing is just wrong, which is that our team is dismissive of inflationary risks. Weve constantly argued that the risks of doing too little are far greater than the risk of going big. Providing families and businesses with the relief they need to finally put this virus behind us. Second, i want to quote fed chair Jerome Powell who strongly reiterated this view the other day, i think it was just a week or so ago, that inflationary risks are also asymmetric right now. Im much more afraid of people losing their careers and life that they built because they dont get back to work in time. Im more concerned about what that will do not just to their lives but to the American Economy. Im more concerned about that than which exists with higher inflation. In our view, the risks of doing too little far outweigh the risks of doing too much. Reporter the senate went forward with a measure that did not include an increase in the minimum wage. Has President Biden come to a determination that thats not going to be a part of the final package in order to get this passed, in order to get the democratic support he needs . The president has consistently argued that a minimum wage, 15 an hour, is essential to make sure that many who are suffering are not toiling with a minimum wage of 7 per hour, and say the federal minimum wage. This idea that somehow and ive heard this in many questions this idea that the minimum wage is somehow octagonal with this package doesnt make sense to me. This package is for the people working through the pandemic. I have one other point i want to make, though, getting back to the argument with larry. This is key from my perspective as an economist who, throughout my career, has been motivated and concerned. I think the theme of my work has always been making sure that this economy, that our economy, the American Economy provides ample opportunities for people from all walks of life, from all parts of the income scale, men and women, persons of color, communities of color have the opportunities they need to realize their potential. And right now there is deep unused capacity in this economy which is targeted by the American Rescue plan. There are 10 million unemployed people. There are 2. 5 million fewer women in the labor force than last year. Black and hispanic Unemployment Rates are 9 . We have a job market in a stall. The risk is an inflationary risk which motivates us to go big or go home. The cost of an action of not addressing these risks are too steep and too costly to these vulnerable groups relative to the likelihood of overheating. Thats the way i think about it. Reporter thank you. One more followup from the other chkristen. The White House Economic Team, is there anyone on the team that is concerned that the 1. 9 trillion is too big, is too much, or is everybody in agreement . The White House Economic Team is in complete consensus on the urgency of the need for this American Rescue plan and in complete solidarity on the calibration of this plan, that its of the magnitude to meet the challenges we face. Again, with respect to larry and his piece, its just flat out wrong that our team is, quote, unquote, dismissive of any inflationary risks. Janet yellen is our treasury secretary. She knows a little about inflationary risk and has tracked that forever. I just quoted Jerome Powell whose job is to manage that risk against the job market, against the risk of unemployment, against the risk of people getting stuck in joblessness so they cant get out and get back into the job market against a risk of scarring in the community, meaning not doing enough about current damages so they can be permanent damages and people cant get back in the labor environment, and that businesses fail because we havent taken the steps to get them through to the other side of the crisis. The team has all of our oars in the water pulling exactly in the same direction on that. Reporter not to belabor this point, but larry also raises some questions about your future agenda. He notes that you will have committed 15 gdp with absolutely no increase in public investments. Is this a concern Going Forward . Where will you find the money to build back better as the president s promised . I think the way President Biden talks about this is not just resonant but also follows an economic logic that i think is very strong. Rescue recovery. The American Rescue plan gets this economy and the families and the businesses in it to the other side of this crisis by finally controlling the virus, producing and distributing the vaccine and giving people the relief they need to get to the other side. But simply getting back to where we were is a bar thats far too low for the bidenharris administration. Thats where Building Back better in the Recovery Plan comes in. These are structural changes. By the way, many of which, as the president has said, permanent programs should be paid for. So these are structural programs that not in a cyclical sense dealing with getting to the other side of the crisis but deal with the structural challenges we face in climate, in education, in care, in poverty and racial discrimination, and i am at infrastructure. I am wholly confident in this president and this administrations ability to go forth and make a strong case for rescue now, get the economy to the other side of the crisis, pursue the recovery, the Building Back better agenda. As i say, im confident about that. One point and then ill stop. Infrastructure, i get asked about this a lot. The prelimin the implication of the question is a democratic one, well, you wont get support on that. I was testifying a year or two ago in the house, and when i finished my testimony, a couple republicans, and i wont name them because this was a private moment, pulled me aside and said, hey, democrat, come here. They said, we want to do infrastructure, but we cant do it because our boss, president trump, doesnt have a plan. The plan was really an asterisk. I guarantee you, there are politicians on both sides of the aisle who are champing at the bit to make investments in public goods in this country to do an Infrastructure Bill that repairs not just maintenance but gets into clean energy, into broadband, into the kinds of investments that youve heard the president talk about. So i am confident that we work on rescue now, well get to recovery next. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. People often ask me what my favorite part of the job is, and its when i get to call people like Jared Bernstein to talk, and thats how it should work. I have a couple items at the top to go over and update you all on. First, at 3 00 p. M. This afternoon, Vice President harris will hold a meeting with leaders across the country to discuss the rescue plan. They will share ongoing experiences with this crisis, ask the Vice President questions and discuss how Small Businesses in their community are fairing right now and what they need. A brief note on the tragic deaths of two fbi Special Agents earlier this week, acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson will lead special agent lauras service on monday and the other special agent on sunday. Dr. Randall will accompany them. Tomorrow the white house will launch a new effort for the president to regularly communicate directly with the American People. This is a question one of your colleagues asked earlier this week. There is a timehonored tradition in the country to la hearing from the president this way, to weekly fireside chats to a president ial radio address. President biden will continue that tradition and we expect it to take on a variety of forms. She will be having a chat with a woman who lost her job because of the pandemic. Look for that on the white house digital channels. Finally next week the president will be engaging with bipartisan groups on the American Rescue plan and other key priorities, including current Vaccine Distribution and National Security. On monday he will virtually tour a vaccination center. On wednesday he will visit the pentagon to meet with the secretary of defense. And on thursday President Biden will visit the National Institutes of health. So with that, speak. Reporter jen, a couple questions for you. Why is the president going to delaware this weekend . He is from delaware and has a home there, and is going to spend the weekend with his wife and family there. Reporter as you know, in the White House Briefing a couple hours ago, there is a big x over airplanes and people should avoid travel. Is there an extension to that . He is ensuring that people take steps not to make others vulnerable in our effort to get the pandemic under control. As you know, any president in the United States, democrat or republican, obviously takes air force one, a private plane, when they travel. Delaware is his home and he looks guforward to spending the weekend there and have time with his family. Reporter has he been proceeding with regular tests for the coronavirus while hes been here at the white house . We havent seen since the transition on his testing. Im happy to get back to you on that and provide an update. He has, as you know, received a second vaccination which was done in public. Reporter a couple weeks ago, you were asked about the president s policies toward federal executions. Does the president plan to put in place a blanket federal moratorium again . The president has spoken about his opposition to the Death Penalty in the past, but i dont have anything to predict for you or preview for you in terms of additional steps. Reporter another one, im sorry. Its okay, its friday, we have to get everything out. Reporter when did the president recognize that continuing to negotiate with republicans wasnt going to lead anywhere and he had to embrace his proposal and get it on the train before it leaves the station. It seems the time for negotiation is over, and its time for the president to get this passed. I wouldnt say thats an accurate characterization of his view or the view of any of us. Just to note, even as the package is moving through a reconciliation process, there is a great deal of time. The process enables time for negotiations through committee work, which will happen next week, and also the majority of Reconciliation Bills in the past have been bipartisan. So we certainly are hopeful that there will be opportunities for amendments from republicans, amendments from others across the board to be a part of this process moving forward. Reporter if i could actually just follow up with you and just read some of what President Biden said today, he said, if i have to choose between helping americans who are hurting so badly or getting bogged down on a lengthy negotiation or compromising on a bill thats not up to the crisis, thats an easy choice, im going to help the American People who are hurting now. Has he resigned himself to the fact that hes going to have to use reconciliation and move forward without 60 votes . Congress would use that process. Its a parliamentary procedure, and just when a bill becomes a law, if there is an opportunity to move forward with a bipartisan package, at any moment, that can happen. Again, i believe its 18 of 24 that bipartisan Reconciliation Bills have been bipartisan. A bipartisan bill has 52 votes, 54 votes, 56 votes. But we are not going to sit here and wait for an ongoing negotiation where frankly we havent received an offer in return, right, or a Response Offer to what the president has proposed because the American People need the relief now. Reporter it seems as though he has resigned himself to the fact there will not be 60 votes in the senate to pass. The president listens to the American People who frankly is not worried what parliamentary procedure gets them relief, gets shots in peoples arms and reopens schools. He is certainly hopeful there is opportunity for this bill, whatever form it takes, to have bipartisan support. There is an opportunity to do that. History shows thats precedent. If ik could ask you on forein policy, there is going to be a principals meeting on iran today. President biden so far has not moved forward with negotiations over an iran deal. When is the time frame for that to happen, and does he think hell be able to get democrats on board with this, jen . They were quite critical in 2015. You asked this question first, and smartly, so on this meeting today, and i know that the Interagency Process is a little foreign in this building and in the government because of the last four years, so this is a Principals Committee meeting. Were not going to confirm every one of these, but for the sake of educating everyone, not in this room but people who are watching, the focus is broadly on the middle east. Im sure iran will be part of the discussion as its an important issue and important priority for the president and for many of our partners and allies around the world. But this is not a decisional meeting, its not a meeting where policy will be concluded and its not a meeting that the president of the United States will be attending. This is a normal part of the Interagency Policy Process just as there are meetings about immigration, criminal justice, the economy every day across government. Reporter understood. Given that you say iran will be raised in this meeting, is there a timeline for when President Biden would like to try to come back to the table and get a deal under the Iran Nuclear Agreement . Thats really up to iran. If iran comes back in full compliance with the obligations under the jocpa, the Iran Nuclear Deal for people who dont like acronyms, i personally hate them, but then iran would do the same that also addresses other areas of concern. But that will be done in partnership with our p5 plus 1 partners. I know i keep saying this, but were only two and a half weeks into the administration. This is how the Administration Policy should work where senior members are meeting about a range of issues in the middle east, but otherwise its in irans court to comply. Go ahead. Reporter thank you, jen. One more Foreign Policy question. During President Bidens big Foreign Policy address yesterday, he didnt really mention afghanistan. Why not, and where is he on the whole withdrawal of u. S. Troops from that country . I appreciate your question because it was not meant to be a comprehensive Foreign Policy speech. He will have a lot more to say about Foreign Policy and his approach to National Security in the weeks ahead, but there were a lot of topics that werent discussed because it wasnt designed to give the Overarching Biden Doctrine or give his comprehensive view on every issue globally. In part because there are Administration Policies that aren going, as is consultations with members of congress. So there is nothing i have in terms of an update as it relates to afghanistan at this point in time, but he will have more to say on Foreign Policy in the weeks ahead. Reporter what is being done, what could be done to provide Covid Testing to migrants at the border . Because right now the u. S. Customs and Border Protection is saying theyre having to Catch And Release some migrants without giving them any kind of covid test before theyre entering the community. So what is being done, what could be done . Are you suggesting theyre letting people in across the border without testing them, or tell me a little bit more. Reporter theyre having to, because of the Executive Order that the president signed earlier this week which one . Reporter rescinding president trumps policy which stopped Catch And Release. Theyre saying that theyre having to provide theyre having to release some migrants into the community before they know for sure they do not have covid, and theyre worried it could spread in the community. Is there anything being done at the federal level to make sure that this is not contributing to the spread of coronavirus in this country . Well, certainly the reason we put in a number of protections in terms of travel and otherwise is to keep the American People safe, but i havent seen that report. I cant validate the accuracy of it, but i would certainly point you to the department of Homeland Security for more specifics about whats happening at the border. Go ahead. Reporter thank you. You continue to say that youre hopeful that republicans will still get on board and achieve bipartisanship. We havent Seen Movement on the republican side. The fundamental differences remain the same. What Gifrz Yves You Hope and opm that the republicans will come around here . The fact that most americans support this package. That would bring relief to americans, get shots in the arms of American People and help reopen schools. Those are not democratic ideals, they are not republican ideals, they are american ideals. We still keep the door open to seek ideas, ideas to make the package stronger from any republican or other democrats who want to bring them forward. Given the president s remarks earlier and his change of tone, it does seem that he is okay if this goes forward with democratic support despite his hopes and his calls for unity. The president ran on unifying the country and putting forward ideas that would help address the crises were facing. He didnt run on a promise to unite the democratic and Republican Party into one party in washington. This package has the vast majority of support from the American Public. This is something that people want. They want to see it passed. They want these checks to get into communities, they want this funding to go to schools. They want more money for Vaccine Distribution. He is certainly not i wouldnt draw that conclusion. He is somebody who is keeping the door open. He will remain engaged with republicans in the days ahead. As you know from covering the hill, there is still several steps in the process here to move it forward. We saw even some actions last night in votearama, which is my favorite term of the week, where there was bipartisan support for ensuring the checks were targeted. There was bipartisan i know somebody asked a question about minimum wage earlier. There was actually bipartisan support on that, including from senator Bernie Sanders for making sure it wasnt implemented immediately. There is bipartisan support for helping Small Businesses. There is disagreement, certainly, on the size, but there is a shared view that the American People need relief, and it is our responsibility to keep the door open to any good ideas that come forward. On the minimum wage, do you feel that this bill is your best shot at getting this through, getting through a hike . Does it become more difficult Going Forward if you cant get it done now . I dont want to get ahead of where we are in the process, but the president believes increasing the minimum wage is something that would help american families, and it is essential to helping people who are struggling and something that workers certainly deserve. We will leave it to the democrats and republicans in congress to see if this is possible through the parliamentary process of reconciliation. Go ahead, karen. Reporter to follow up on that in the quote that kristen read but i also want to come back to a vaccine question. The president said its a matter of getting help to americans who are hurting or getting bogged down in negotiations. Hes been in negotiations for many years. What does bogged down mean . It means bogged down. Im not going to set a timeline. I understand the desire and interest in that. Urgency means he is pleased to see that members of congress, that leader schumer and Speaker Pelosi are moving this faorward rapidly. That there is a fire under the b bellies of people in congress to get this ghoing in a couple weeks. That is the timeline. He is going to continue for urgency since its hard for americans to plan. We are at the brink of spending out the package from december. 600 billion of that has already been spent out and a lot of it is going to be spent out in the coming weeks. There is going to be a need for additional relief in all of these categories, so, hence, the urgency. But i dont have an exact deadline or due date. Reporter were hearing about frustration across the country with people trying to navigate the system. Theyre signing up on multiple websites through multiple means with the hope of winning the lottery and getting a vaccine appointment. What is the president doing now to address the challenge for so many americans, and why cant there be a system to sign up and wait your turn . We agree completely. It is extremely confusing around the country, in states and localities. The American People trying to do their jobs, homeschool, balancing everything theyre balancing right now, they just want to go on a website and sign up for the vaccine. One of the steps were taking is, of course, working with pharmacies to distribute about a million doses in order for americans to be able to do that in certain communities. Obviously that number is going to be increased over time. Thats one way. There are large plans through fema to set up large vaccination sites. That is something that is starting to be underway this week. But our focus is very much on increasing communication, ensuring exactly as you said, that the American People know how, when they can get their vaccine, and we fully agree theres been a lack of communication, confusion, and we are trying to work out of that hole, but were only two and a half weeks in here, so its in process. There could be healthcare. Gov but for vaccines. Could you do a Federalized System . As is andy slavitt from the he healthcare. Gov days. They are talking every day about ways to make this accessible, clearer to the American People, and they just want to do it in a way thats effective, efficient and reaches local communities where people are trying to get vaccinated. I know you refrained from giving a timeline on the covid relief bill and its passage, but an hour ago Speaker Pelosi said absolutely when asked if the covid stimulus would pass by march 15th. Do you also share that confidence that it would pass by midmarch when those Unemployment Benefits run out . Never doubt Speaker Pelosi on anything she says. Thats kind of the lesson ive learned in washington. She is a powerful and fierce force up there. Were not going to set a timeline from here. It is a bill that would be passed by congress, of course. Speaker pelosi is the speaker of the house, so certainly we would defer to her, and the president looks forward to signing the bill when it comes to his desk. You feel an urgency to get it passed by then . We feel an urgency to get it passed as quickly as possible of the i think youre referring to the Unemployment Cliff that will hit in march, but we would like to see action as quickly as possible, as weave been saying. Im not going to announce a deadline here, but obviously were working with Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi every day. Reporter happy friday. Engaging with china, yesterday President Biden said he would work with allies. Also yesterday french president macron said they need a relationship with china. This one to me is counterproductive, end quote. What exactly does President Biden expect from the u. S. Allies . From our u. S. Allies . Well, were going to work in close consultation, of course, and partnership with our u. S. Allies on a range of issues. We talked about iran a little bit earlier in the briefing. Of course, strategic competition with china is part of that. But i can really only speak for what our policy is here from this white house and the United States. This administration sees the United States as engaged in strategic competition with china and technology is a central domain of that competition. We should have no illusions of chinas objectives which is to undercut americas longstanding technical advantage and undermine our technologies and industries of the future. The National Securities and consequences that have allowed that to happen are simply unacceptable. Thats what the president conveys in his conversations with our allies. He is making major adjustments in research and development as well as supply and security, and well leverage as much as possible to maintain interests. Obviously he will communicate that to allies and partners as hes having engagements with them. Do you have a second question . Reporter asianamerican women actually have the highest jobless rates for the past six months, and our reports indicate thats because of racism during the pandemic against them. So other than sign the memo, what can President Biden do to refuse racism against asianamericans and helping them find a job to deal with their Current Situation . Certainly one of the things he can do is speak out against racism of any form, but also how it impacts a raping of communities. Asianamericans, of course, communities of color, and one of the factors weve seen in data about covid, of course, is that the pandemic has had an undue impact on many communities, including many communities of color. I dont have the exact data on asianamerican communities specifically, though im happy to check on that. But, you know, his focus is on getting the pandemic under control in order to help provide a bridge to Economic Relief and recovery, and thats one of the ways he can help address that. Go ahead. Reporter thank you, jen. I have two rather quick questions and then a little bit more meaty one, if thats okay. I like the setup so i know what to prepare for. Go ahead. Reporter the first quick one, i offer it as a yes, no or maybe, perhaps. I never liked those questions, but go ahead. Reporter will President Biden use the power of the bully pulpit to help cajole teachers who are unwilling to go to school to go back . One, i reject the premise of the question. I have teachers in my family, as im sure many of you do. They are the first people to tell you that being teaching in the classroom and being able to engage with kids in the classroom or middle schoolers or High Schoolers in the classroom makes their job more enjoyable, makes them more effective at what they do. The president is absolutely committed to reopening schools. He wants them not just to reopen but to stay open, and he wants to do that in a safe way. Were going to rely on cdc guidance which, again, is not officially out yet to determine the best way to do it. But there are several mitigating factors that weve seen in data to date that will help make it safe. Of course, vaccines are part of that, but so is masking, so is social distancing, so ensuring that schools have the ventilation and the facilities that they need in order to do it safely. Thats our focus. So the president s focus is on and thats one of the reasons why hes out advocating for the American Rescue plan. Part of that is funding so schools can do exactly that. It sounds like a yes with an asterisk. If you are the spokesperson for the white house, you can certainly say that, but you are not. You can ask another question. Reporter My Second Question is the omb in the Justice Department made it so seattle and portland would not get federal grants. There were violent protests. Has the Biden Administration decided to reverse those grants for these cities . This is from the trump administration, youre asking about . Reporter yes. We are a new administration. Were reviewing our own policies and charting our own path, but i dont think im going to have comments from a year ago from the prior administration. Reporter the president quoted in december, quote, my son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict where there is appropriate concern in government. There were reports that the president s son still owns a 10 stake in entities. Do you know anything about that investment . He is a private citizen, and i would point you to him or his lawyers on the outside for any update. Go ahead. Reporter i have two questions. Jared bernstein was talking about the checks and when they would phase out. He said people making over 300,000 should not get those checks. We heard Susan Collins talk about the checks ending with 55,000. When will we know who is phased out . There is an active discussion. A final conclusion has not been made, as jared was saying. Those discussions are happening with democrats and republicans. The president is firm on the necessity that people receive, who are eligible, 1400 checks. Hes not movable on that becoming smaller. But there is a discussion, as jared said, about the phaseout and what that looks like. Now, that doesnt mean that Somebody Making that its a dead cutoff. It means that it will be phased out to slightly less than that amount at whatever the cutoff is. Those are ongoing discussions and a final decision has not been made. Reporter finally, theres been a lot of discussion, President Biden talked about the Stimulus Lessons that they learned. What are the other things that the president has drawn lessons from . Was it the auto bailout . There were so many other things p people were dealing with, and how is he applying that to this situation today . I have not had an indepth discussion with him about the obama impacts. There are a number of us who served in the prior administration. Of course, there are lessons about ensuring we act swiftly when the American People need relief, looking for bipartisan support, which is something certainly the former administration also did. There are also lessons weve learned about how we sell the packages that were putting out there to the public, and thats one of the reasons why we bring in some of our economic officials or policy experts, so that they can help lay out for all of you and hopefully for the public the thinking behind how packages are designed, and also that we need to continue thinking about how to break down these packages for the public as expanding what were doing. Its a package that has funding to reopen schools, it ensures that cops and firefighters can stay in their jobs, its a package that gets vaccines in the arms of americans, and its a package that americans who are concerned about putting food on the table can do that. Those are some of the lessons, but i dont have anything more on what he specifically has drawn from it. Reporter it seems he doesnt want to wait for republicans forever. It seems he wants to move quickly. The president wants to move quickly as he talked about back on the campaign trail, too. American people need relief now. We dont have the luxury of waiting months to deliver that relief to them. That is about reacting and responding to the needs of the American Public at this moment in time and the crises were facing. Reporter id like to follow up on the issue of school reopening. Dr. Walensky had said in a previous briefing there is increasing data to ensure that schools can safely reopen and it can safely reopen without teachers getting vaccinated. You then said the official cdc guidance is not out yet. But there is some urgency to this, and schools are Making Decisions now about how and when to reopen. Does the Biden Administration have an assessment today about whether schools can reopen with or without teachers getting vaccinated . The guidance will come officially from the cdc, as dr. Walensky who leads the cdc would certainly convey to you. What we are all conveying, which i did a few minutes ago, conveying that there is a lot of data. Were looking at vaccines as a way to keep teachers and the American Public safe, but we also need to look at other mitigation steps, including masking, social distancing, proper ventilation in schools, and the urgency should prompt democrats and republicans, Many Democrats are, to come together and support the American Rescue plan so we can get the funding we need. Many of them dont have the funding they need to reopen. Reporter do you know when the cdc will come out with that guidance . I would point you to the cdc for more specifics on that. Reporter do you have a sense at this point of when the Cabinet Nominations will go through . Obviously were right up against the impeachment trial. This is what you all didnt want to happen which is this delay. We dont know how long the trial will last. Im specifically curious about the Attorney General. You know youre eager to get him in. Any sense of that, and i assume the president has spoken with Senate Leaders about that. Is there anything that can be done . We are certainly hopeful that more of our Cabinet Nominees can move forward. We have seen a number of them move forward in the last couple of weeks, many with bipartisan support, with bipartisan votes. But youre right, getting the Attorney General through, Merrick Garland is vital not only to the president but should be vital to democrats and republicans in congress in order to have a leader who can oversee an american Justice Department and review any ongoing efforts or investigations that are happening there. This is an issue broadly that he has raised in the past with members of congress, and certainly there is an understanding about the importance of having his people in place, leading agencies, but i dont have anything specific for you to update on the timeline of an Attorney General being confirmed. And there is no specific timeline on when these might be done, just as soon as possible, no timeline . Reporter certainly as soon as possible. We are confident that the senate can walk and chew gum at the same time. As you all know, there was a delay this part because of the need to agree on a power sharing agreement. Obviously were past that. And certainly given most of the of the comments, including many Senate Republicans, about the qualifications of our Attorney General, the president s Attorney General nominee, and the value i think and hope we all share, were hoping they can move forward as quickly as possible. Reporter housekeeping about next week. You mention ed a couple things hes doing next week. Should we be expecting speeches like we saw yesterday at these i think jake mentioned hell be doing a round of visits, so should we be expecting a speech of that Event Next Week . Thats a great question. I dont think were fully cooked yet in the process. Certainly part of his effort is to thank Civil Servants and members of the military, of course, for the work they do every day protecting the American People. But in terms of what format the event will take, were not quite there yet in our planning process. The other thing about next week, you mentioned a couple things, but you didnt mention meeting with members of congress on the bill. I assume some of those meetings are going to happen next week. Can you tell us about any of those specific things . Will they come over here . Many of them will be on recess. But he will be engaged, of course, continue to be engaged with members of congress. Often those come together the day before, the night before, and we will, of course, keep you updated as those engagements happen or are planned for next week. Reporter the president s meeting on sunday, i expect that will be an opportunity to meet with people on the recovery. How will the president be watching the game and who will he be rooting for . Who will he be rooting for . Oh, boy. Thats my first way to get hate mail from one part of the country. There is a division among our senior staff, i will admit, on this particular question, but i wont name names. The president will be watching the game in delaware with his family, of course. His wife, dr. Biden. In terms of the interview, and as you know, cbs is hosting the super bowl this year and there is a long tradition of networks doing an interview with the president , so that will certainly be part of what you will see on sunday. He, of course, the anchor who is doing the interview will ask whatever the anchor wants to ask, thats how these things occur, but his objective is certainly to convey to the American People that he knows this time is difficult, he knows it requires a great deal of sacrifice, he is incredibly grateful to the health care workers, to the front line workers, to people who are working every day to keep us safe. And hopefully he will have the opportunity to reiterate the measures that we can take. Masking, social distancing, of course ensuring that people are getting the vaccine when theyre eligible to get the vaccine and update the publi efforts to do exactly that. Reporter i have a second one for a colleague. We saw a break with a saudi policy in the middle east, so will the president bring sanctions against the saudi government for the death of Jamal Khashoggi . Let me reiterate that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was a horrific crime. We are prepared to release a report with full transparency from congress. This is the law and well follow the law. The office of the director of National Intelligence would have further details, and i would refer you to them for additional specifics. We, of course, expect saudi arabia to improve its record on human rights. That includes releasing Political Prisoners such as womens rights, advocates for saudi jails. We were encouraged yesterday by the dual release of saudi citizens. We expect to see more progress in the coming months. As weve noted in a couple areas weve talked about, there is a long review of our policies. You saw the president make a review of our engagement in yemen which, fof course, is directly connected, but there will be ongoing discussions and reviews by our National Security team. I dont have any Policy Decisions to read out for you at this particular point in time. Go ahead in the back. Reporter i have two questions as well. In keeping with the economic theme of the day, my first question. Given the most recent job numbers and the continued unemployment and what you had to say today about particularly how minority communities have been affected, is this the right time to increase the number of refugees coming into the country and to also ease immigration and border restrictions . Well, the president fundamentally believes that having a humane and moral Immigration System in place strengthens our country, strengthens our economy, and many, many Business Leaders across the country have said exactly the same thing. The most powerful step that can be taken now is to pass the American Rescue plan, because that is a step that economists across the board have said will help expedite economic recovery, help expedite getting people back to work, and without it, we will be years behind, according to a lot of economic data, where we need to be. Reporter and on the Public Health aspect of it considering the coronavirus numbers are still where they are, the president has enacted more Travel Restrictions, including south africa. How does that pay into the equation of the Refugee Policy . Im not understanding the translation. Reporter considering the coronavirus numbers that were doing more restrictions on travel, does that not also affect Refugee Policy and immigration, bringing more people into the country, sort of following up on kristins the Refugee Policy is increasing the cap. It doesnt change what our Travel Restrictions or travel policies are. Those are put in place to keep the American People safe. But those are not meant to do anything other than take necessary steps at this moment in time based on the advice of health and medical experts on where we need to restrict travel from. Obviously, when its safe to undo those restrictions, our health and medical team will advise us on exactly that. Reporter and My Second Question, this is going to the pentagon. This week the secretary of defense announced a standdown for the military to discuss extremism and extremist idealogy. Why would the military need to stand down from enemies foreign and abroad to have these discussions . Well, my bet is that Secretary Austin and my friends john kirby would disagree with your assessment there, but the president has tasked an overview and a review of Domestic Violence extremism in the country. Thats coming direct from him happening in the white house. I know my jfriend john kirby ha a briefing in the white house, and i would encourage you to ask him about his plans. Reporter there was a meeting on domestic terrorism yesterday. I think people want to know how did this administration define the term Domestic Terrorist . In what way . Reporter does that include antifa . How do you set parameters for dm Domestic Terrorist . Ive answered a version of this question a couple times before, but i know everybody is not in the Briefing Room every day. We have a review done by our National Security team, something tasked, again, to take a review of domestic violent extremism. We will have incidents across the board. When they have completed that review, im sure they will have more to say on it. Reporter just one quick Foreign Policy question. You know, just talking about iran and china and the need to have allies that are willing to go into those kind of stormy issues with you, there has been a point made that President Biden will have a discussion with the economic adviser on trade tariffs. I wonder if that would give you a united front going into some of these issues. Sdplz i know there is a lot of interest on trade tariffs. I dont have anything to follow up with you on now, and if there are provide you with a statement. And reopening schools. Does the white house believe she should hold off reopening until the cdc guidelines are out and the American Rescue plan is passed . Well, i think some schools are looking for that guidance, and also looking for funding. Obviously, different jurisdictions make decisions, but we are hopeful that when the cdc guidelines are out that will provide some advice from, more than that, specific guidance from our health and medical team, the expertise of dr. Walensky and her team xcty when what mitigation steps can be taken to open schools up safely, whether sthey should be opened, no recommendation for guidelines . Trying to clarify not getting ahead of what the guidelines are. Different jurisdictions make different sddecisions. Waiting for funding to reopen schools safely, make sure teachers are safe, students are safe and families can feel confident in their kids being at school. Go ahead. Thank you. Following up on one of the questions from earlier and then i have a Foreign Policy question too, but is there any update on the state of a largescale public sort of p. R. Media campaign supporting the Vaccination Effort . Or is it difficult to do that without knowing whether or not the inventory is sufficient enough to actually tell people to go to cvs or walgreens or wherever theyre maybe supposed to go . Certainly part of our commitment is launch a Massive Public affairs campaign, something we talked about a little in here. Takes a little time to get all your ducks in a row and get that going, but part of what were also trying to do is utilize our experts to be out there publicly, do these briefings three time as week, to, as asked about earlier, provide more accurate and clear information to governors to also communicate with communities and empower local doctors and medical staff, a lot of officials doing local television interviews. Preparing for a widespread, largescale Public Campaign also a number of members of our team doing everything we can to communicate effectively and efficiently on this particular issue. And the Foreign Policy question. Sometime overnight during the voterama in the senate just wanted to use that word. I know it. But there was a 973 vote in favor of supporting the location of the u. S. Embassy in jerusalem. Is there a position in terms of the Biden Administration as to whether or not the trump administrations actual implementation of the Jerusalem Embassy act should be maintained or whether it might move back to tel aviv . A. A great question. I havent talked about that. I will address that and circle back to you. Thank you, everyone. Happy friday. Friday briefing from the pr white house. And price tag on the American Relief act, almost 2 trillion against republican criticism there and seems firm in going without republican support and proceeding with only democrats on this. I do want to bring in cnn chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, chief Business Correspondent Conshristine Roma and Chief Policy Officer for the u. S. Chamber of commerce. Neil, i know you have something to say whether the bipart sand but sandbie partisan but going to Kaitlan Collins first. Reporter basically without saying explicitly he is prepared to go it alone with only democratic support. Strongest comments by the president what the bill would look like, whats going on and a few days ago had republicans in the oval office. Said the other day, i believe yesterday, he believed they could still get republican support for this bill, but now is saying that republicans are not offering any of, or what they are offering is too little. You saw jen psaki asked about that there. The Kwwhite House not saying, y, they are. Talking about moving quickly. You saw President Biden say it earlier. Didnt want to get bogged down in a negotiation that would take forever. The grim jobs report only 6,000 jobs added to the private sector in january he says puts fresh urgency behind the bill and the need to get it passed quickly. Solidifying wa was slowly building up this week. Getting closer and closer to having this bill only furnished by democrats and likely only supported by democrats. One big thing twieveryone wants know, what the stimulus will look like. 1,400. Not coming down on that. Jen psaki, thats newsworth, havent made a decision how it will be targeted. Theyre reviewing it, not come to conclusion yet. The checks will be 1,400 but dont know who is qualifying for them yet and how its going to phase out. Neil, important to note, that you of the u. S. Chamber of commerce are warning the white house and Warning Congress to not have this be the effort of just democrats. What do you say to what you heard in the briefing today . Well, i think were hearing a false choice presented. The idea that either you go bipartisan or go past. Reconciliation almost everyone who is talking about the timeline. Heard it discussed just now in the press briefing. Assuming a midmarch enactment. A month from now. A little over a month from now. Thats not exactly fast. In fact, probably get a faster deal enacted into law if republicans and democrats would sit down and negotiate. If you look at the president s proposal and look at what Ten Senate Republicans put together, the differences between them can be bridged. Simply takes sitting down and working through the differences. Christine what do you think about that . Look, i think theres a real fire burning in the American Economy right now. Outside of the politics thats happening in washington and the record highs on wall street, main street is still down 9. 9 million jobs since this crisis began. We know that the effect is uneven. Its been the lowest income workers, its been women of minority really hurt by this and just need a bridge between now and when the virus can be eradicated. Thats really what fixes this, the virus being eradicated. Thats not happening tomorrow. You can see by that. This is not a super recovery. Now a Resource Consquare Root Recovery Limping along. Too many out of work, too many people relying on the government to pay the bills. 18 Million People getting some sort of jobless check that runs 0 ut in march. Kaitlan, you heard neil say. These are issues that democrats and republicans should be able to bridge. What are your sources at the white house telling you about why they seem to be, you know, gearing in on going it without republican support here . Do they think these cannot be bridged . Well, youve heard what President Biden said basically, he doesnt have the conscience to go for a smaller package. You saw in his top economic adviser came out with jen psaki. Criticism that came from Barack Obamas former economic adviser earlier saying biden was ricking going too big and doing too much. Talking inflation potentially given how big and the size of the scope what the Stimulus Package would be but the white house doesnt feel like republicans will come onboard. Said time and time again they are willing to sit down with republicans. Some ways to negotiate and compromise. One thing is targeting these checks. Something even centrist democrats had problems with, even people like Susan Collins as well. Theyre willing, seems to move in small ways, like targeting the checks. Something of that nature, but they do not seem to be ready to budge in any sense on the bigger aspects of this bill. The size of the stimulus checks, the size of the bill in and of itself. President biden doesnt expect to come down far from that 1. 9 trillion price tag. The way theyve been framing it this week is saying, well, its going to be a bipartisan bill, not because any republicans supportbut because there is support for it throughout the country. So thats what they repeatedly turned back to. Thats a question that they will have to deal with. A lot of talk has been whats happened in 2009 and how they did not go big enough then on the stimulus when it was, of course, barack obama and joe biden in office. Youve heard that from a lot of people. Thats at the forefront of these discussions and something that is in the back of their mind and theyre going through this and weighing the risk how big theyre going to go. So they seem pretty clear this is how theyre moving forward. It doesnt seem like republicans are going to be onboard. You didnt hear President Biden saying today we might get some republicans. Only saying republicans are not offering enough and still going to move forward. And, you know, neil what do you say to that . Listening to analysts, there is a risk in having a price tag that is too small here, and really not throwing enough water at the fire, and you say that they should be able to bridge these differences, but there does not seem to be i dont know. I dont see it. Let me give an example. One of the bigger portions of the president s 1. 9 trillion proposal is extending Unemployment Insurance through september 30th. End of the fiscal year. Thats a fine date to pick. When a lot of programs sunset but simply a date they picked. Senate republicans proposed to extend it through june. The real answer ought to be to extend Unemployment Basis on the Unemployment Rate and what the economy and the pace of the recovery and the pace of defeating covid, let that determine the final price tag. Thats a compromise between where the president is and where Senate Republicans are that could be done and doesnt delay any benefits getting to anyone right now. The fact, it will ensure benefits are there when they need them without anymore artificial cliffs like were expecting in march. Those of the Middle Grounds we see between Senate Republicans an