coronavirus test that promises 99% accurate results in 15 minutes delivered to your smartphone. the country emerging from its deadliest month, 99,000 people killed since january. scientists agree the improvement is real, but the risk is the same as it ever was. relaxing too soon. the more transmissible and potentially deadly variants are gaining more of a foothold here in the united states, and doctors warn those numbers could very well turn for the worse again. vaccines, we know, will end this pandemic, but the question is how long will it take, and can the biden administration speed up the distribution plan enough to outrun the virus. >> you need to get vaccinated when it becomes available as quickly and as expeditiously as possible. not only are you going to protect individuals from getting disease, not only are you going to protect them from getting infected, but you are going to prevent the emergence of variants here in our country. >> let's walk through some of the latest numbers, and again, some of them are encouraging, although from a high baseline, if you will. if you look at this mammogram right here, 37 states in green. that means 37 of the 50 states reporting fewer infections now compared to a week ago. that's trending in the right direction. only two trending up and 11 holding steady. so states holding steady are going down on a large part from a high baseline, but the numbers are improving. here's how you can see that. this is hospitalizations. see the blue line? starting to come down from that horrific peak of more than 130,000 americans in the hospital, coming down. the movement of cases now below 55,000. approaching 250,000 on some cases and coming down there to 300,000 during the peak, so the case situation is coming down as well. however, we're just coming out of -- we're beginning february. if you look back on january, by far 77,000 here, 95,000 here. you have to go back to the beginning, 61,000, by far the deadliest month from the coronavirus which tells you it is very important that the progress that is beginning to be recorded be continued. if you look at the positivity map, you're still looking at 19 states across the country with a positivity rate above 10% or higher. all the public health experts, we've been at this for months, say get it to 5% and then try to shut it down. still 19 states dealing with 10% or higher. this is the map that matters the most to the biden team, trying to get the percentage of americans who receive the vaccine up as quickly as possible, especially with the new variant spread. this is the population with the first dose administered. alaska 20%. this is the challenge. 49 million, 50 million if you round up distributed. if you're a state and you get the doses, do you hold a second dose for somebody three weeks down the road or put them in the arm and count on a supply coming? dr. fauci says they're doing well, they need to do more. >> the first priority will always be for the people who got their first doses to get their second doses. and then additional doses will be given to the next group of people who will get their first doses. in this way, there are no doses that are hanging around. >> with us to share his insights and his expert cease is dr. tom englesby. he's the director of security at the institute of public health. doctor, when they took over on january 20th, they said the first doses had been administered, meaning half the supply was on the shelf. essentially what they're telling gove governors is, trust us. put those shots in people's arms and you will get the second dose. why is that so important? >> it's important because the more we're using vaccines that people have on hand, the more we're going to get vaccinated. it's understanding why states were cautious to use the vaccine and wondering if they would get the second dose on time, but i think what we're seeing the last couple days is more stability being predicted in a three-week period looking ahead, so i think what we heard in the briefing today was please have confidence that the doses are going to be stable in delivery and please use the doses you have to get people vaccinated, and that's a very good thing. >> you had an interesting twitter thread going through the challenges of the moment, and this was part of it. one of the things you tweeted was more variants around the world means there will be continue to be this virus unless there is global vaccination everywhere. we have to be part of the global vaccination effort, too. i see some tension, right? how fast does the united states have to develop more vaccines so it can both meet the need here at home and be a good global citizen? >> yeah, the u.s. obviously -- we've had more cases and more deaths than any country in the world for a whole number of reasons. so we have to rapidly vaccinate the united states and do it equitably and around the country. but we have to talk and chew gum at the same time, or walk and chew gum at the same time. we have to be a big part of the international effort. i think what the administration has been saying in the last ten days is that everything is on the table. they are in conversations with every vaccine manufacturer. they are talking to the ones that are already making the vaccine to others that could help, and so we should be looking at all the international efforts that are going on. it may be that we are a financial contributor, it may be at some point we are a vaccine contribut contributor, but we need to be having those conversations just as we're vaccinating our own people right now. >> and if there's less disease out there, the disease can't change and mutate as much. one of the conversations you and i had, sadly, almost a year ago now is the lack of testing. andy slavitt says he believes they have a new deal because hhs is going to speed up testing. >> these are over the counter, self-performed test kits that can detect covid with roughly 95% accuracy within 15 minutes. they can be used if you feel symptoms of covid-19 and also for screening for people without symptoms. >> so help us walk through the sequence here. obviously priority 1, get the vaccine rollout accelerated so you get the rate of infection down, you get the rate of bad disease down in the country. you try to stop the variants. where does it become a big deal to have this over-the-counter, at-home testing capacity? >> it's a huge deal. this is the kind of thing people could use around the country to make sure they're not infectious on the way to school or to work to help protect big organizations from having outbreaks go on within them they don't know about. it could allow people to do it from their own homes or will allow people to do it from their own homes in high numbers so that not everyone is relying on these larger testing centers or pharmacies which may or may not have testing available near them. it really distributes testing to people in their own homes, is rapid, it's 95% sensitive. i think it's the kind of thing that we need to be driving to, and hopefully it will be the first of additional developments in terms of home testing, but it's a huge one. the announcement today was that the new grant was scaling up the availability of this test from 100,000 a month to 8.5 million a month in the coming months, and that's just great news. >> we'll watch as that one plays out. as always, dr. inglesby, grateful for your help walking through this. >> thank you, sir. it is day 18 of the new administration, and tonight is a test for the new president. president biden and vice president harris will meet at the white house with ten senators. the ten are offering a counteroffer to the covid stimulus package. the white house has signaled its willingness to scale down stimulus checks, but a bipartisan solution may not be easy to come by. listen to president biden last week. >> there is a legitimate reason that people say do you have the lines drawn the exact right way? should it go to anybody making over x number of dollars and why? i'm open to negotiating those sorts of things. >> i need to get relief to people, so the covid relief has to pass. >> here to share their insights, manu raju and julie pace of the associated press. everyone in washington is saying, this is a test. saying i'm in the senate, i can do business. the democrats saying it's way too small. can the president figure out is this enough to do business, or is it a courtesy to say, okay, we're moving on. >> he's willing to see if they could reach an agreement or whether that's just impossible. he wants to get a sense of whether this is moderate republicans and they're willing to have a dance here, or if they're going to say this is all weaver got and we're going to vote beyond anything in the scope of this. i think the biden administration is focused right now on speed. they don't want to waste any time in a negotiation that ultimately goes nowhere, so they'll make that decision pretty quickly, whether the republicans are in it for deep negotiations or just something to put on the table. >> and manu, you from the capitol hill perspective more recently than us in the sense of -- i don't mean this as any offense to the republican senators, they want to make a deal, but you can't believe everything you read. the senators wrote this morning, looking forward to meeting with potus, rob portman said. let's get this done. mitt romney from utah, i look forward to meeting with the president. it's a good thing that the parties sit down together, but we're asking the question in the context of how much would biden go down. let's ask it the way the new president is going to ask it, how much are you willing to come up? >> if they go up, those ten senators are on board with the $9.1 trillion package, some will not go up, say, a trillion, and that will be far less than what the democrats want, which is really a problem here for joe biden as he tries to court republican support. the less the republicans go up, the less republicans come on board. can they find some sort of middle ground consensus to get the votes out of the house, get the votes out of the senate? it seems doubtful, which is why it's pretty clear the direction they're going. they're going to have these discussions, they'll see what happens, but the democratic leadership is making it abundantly clear, they are prepared to move forward to get this passed by just democratic votes, moving with the budget process that will start this week, but there's still a few more weeks before they ultimately put the final legislative package on the floor of the house and the senate, so there will be a little bit of time, a couple weeks, to see if there will be some sort of bipartisan consensus, but it seems to doubtful on the road they're going, because they are just in two different universes right now about the scope of the package, and democrats clearly would be furious at joe biden if he went down all the way to what the republicans are talking about. >> i wouldn't bet anything -- i was going to say i wouldn't bet more than a nickel, but i wouldn't bet anything right now. julie, this is something we deal with because joe biden was in the senate for many years. in his own words, he thinks he can recapture some of the bipartisanship that existed back then, but he was also in the obama administration. ghosts of 2009, democrats push for robust response. we need to remember, yes, he was in the senate, yes, he genuinely would like to cut a deal with republicans, but he also served in the white house and he's been around town long enough to know these republicans are different. >> he has faced a lot of questions about whether he's naive about the realities of washington, about whether he is overstating both his own negotiating skills and also the willingness of republicans to actually work with his administration. that's why this issue of speed, i think, is going to be so important. he wants to make it appear as though he is putting forth a good faith effort to talk with these republicans to see what their willingness is, but he doesn't want to hang around too long there. if it looks like these republicans are not willing to move significantly toward his position on this, he has to show his own party that he's willing to go it alone, that he's willing to do a deal that would only largely have democratic votes. because if he doesn't do that, then he risks losing some of his own party from the left. >> and if he does that, and that is everyone's expectation, that that is ultimately what will happen, he can only lose three or four votes in the house. nancy pelosi lhas a tiny majority. he can lose no votes in the senate, 50-50, kamala harris would have to break the tie. we see vice president harris doing interviews in arizona and west virginia, two senators, two that may be willing to talk about the package before. joe manchin didn't like it. >> we need to work together. that's not the way of working together, what was done. if ra person is making $250,000 i don't think they're in as much need as a person making 40 or 50. >> if you need to keep all 50 democrats, there he is at the end on the policy trying to negotiate the president office position, some of which president biden said, i'm flexible, i'm willing to talk about that, and he's essentially saying, hello, senator manchin. >> the white house thinking they could pressure a key democratic vote by going on television and saying one thing. joe manchin is not going to be persuaded by that, and i'm told there was a conversation that came from the white house calling joe manchin from that interview, clearly trying to mend fences. we'll see if he decides to hold a grudge going forward. policywise, he does believe those checks in particular need to be scaled down. the white house, it's not clear they're going to do what he's asking for, but they may have to, and we'll see what the left decides if they go in that direction. donald trump's impeachment and his presence hang over the gop. (soft music) (announcer) this is chet. he loves monday through friday but lives for the weekend. ♪ he's put some miles on his truck and now, it's 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. he is gone from the white house but trump chaos and disruption are still very much a thing. the second trump impeachment trial is a week away, and the president just hired new lawyers because his previous legal team quit rather than keep repeating trump's lies about election fraud. and the former president also looms large now in a big family feud among house republicans. they meet on wednesday. trump allies in the house gop want to remove congresswoman liz cheney because she voted to impeach the former president. plus there is debate about marjorie taylor greene, a lawmaker whose beliefs just don't belong in the senate, but her ties with the former president still stands. the impeachment trial starts a week from now, and five of his lawyers quit over the weekend because we're told he wanted them to go to the floor of the united states senate and say the election was stolen. not raise constitutional questions about whether you can impeach a former president, but to go to the floor of the senate and argue the lies, that the election was stolen. are they ready for this on team trump? >> it's hard to see how they could be given they have just a week with a new legal team to get in place here, but i think it shows the mindset this president has as we go into this trial. we have seen republicans try to coalesce around a procedural argument. they don't want to defend trump on the substance of his election lies and his encouragement of the rioters. on the 6th, they want to focus on the idea he's a former president, that they don't feel there's a constitutional ground here, but trump wants people on the floor to defend what he did and said. he does not want to walk away from this argument, false and disproven as it may be, that he actually may have won this election. and that is going to create a real tension between his legal team and the republican senators that he needs to go out there and vote to acquit. >> we will see, manu, the specifics of the argument put forward by david schoen, one of the new trump attorneys. he represented roger stone on his appeal. he said he met with epstein before his suicide and said he does not believe he killed himself. bruce castor denied to represent bill cosby. we'll see what they come to the floor with. is there, to julie's point, we do not expect them to stand up for the election lies anymore, but the defense, is that going to change the senate math much? >> i don't see it changing the senate math. if they were to go down and exclusively argue just conspiracy theories and lies and say things about the dominion voting system, changing votes to joe biden instead of donald trump, maybe that will -- that could change the calculus. i would be surprised if that's what these two attorneys are going to do. they probably have some level of personal integrity in going to the floor of the united states senate and saying -- telling the senators, make that constitutional argument and not rely on these lies that are completely debunked. if they make the case that, at least in part, that this is not constitutional, this would set a dangerous precedent, in the words of republican senators, that would be enough for them to acquit. that's all the republican senators i've been talking to want to hear, arguing that this should not go down, arguing that the senate majority or house majority could go after another president in the future if they would go this route because it will set a precedent. that's what they're going to argue. the democrats will have to make a case of why this is constitutional in their view, and why they would go after someone who is not in office anymore. but that's likely not going to be enough for most republican senators. >> an immediate challenge for house republicans, anyway, julie pace, is this effort by loyalists of the former president, trumpee house republicans who want to get rid of liz cheney from her position because she's one of the republicans who voted to impeach. there is more fervor to punish liz cheney than there is to punish marjorie taylor greene who has said things semitic, who has said nancy pelosi should be taken down. listen to a republican, a conservative, who says we have a problem in the family. >> you do have two factions in the party right now. it feels very divided. we've seen that in the democratic party, too. i'm very firm and very strong, even against members of our own party, because we don't have moral authority to point fingers to the left if we don't take accountability and responsibility for ourselves. >> why is it there is more fervor to punish liz cheney for a vote that she thought was a vote of conscience than go after somebody's views who are reprehensible? >> it's a great question. i think it says a lot about where republicans, certainly in the house, are right now, that they feel more concern politically in condemning somebody like marjorie taylor greene than they do in allowing liz cheney from a storied, conservative, republican family to remain in a leadership post. i think that republicans have to really grapple with what that says right now. greene is a conspiracy theorist. she has said things that are really outside the bounds of what most americans would accept from their members of congress, but a lot of americans in some of these districts that some of these republicans want to hold onto seem at least open to allowing this to continue, and i think -- republicans, to mace's point, you have to grapple what that says about them and their ability to point a finger anywhere else if you're willing to allow that type of conspiracy and those types of statements to exist within the mainstream of your party. >> yeah, they need to -- they have a woman in their midst who just basic common courtesy and decency doesn't belong in any civilized club, sorry. she just played kevin mccarthy, the leader, that he went to kiss the ring of president trump, and then she gets in a phone call with trump and tweets out over the weekend how great it was and how much he supports her. republican commentator used to work with them over the years. it's one thing to have party unity, but at some point there has to be boundaries. does leader mccarthy understand the mess that is in some ways his own making? >> he's trying to please all factions within his conference, which has been the problem of mccarthy and his handling of this all along. he criticized donald trump, saying he bore responsibility on january 6, then he walked that back, went back down to florida, kissed the ring there, tried to get back in donald trump's good graces. he supports liz cheney staying in that position, but he also says he has concerns, that this will be a discussion they'll have to talk about. he he has not come out publicly with what marjorie taylor greene said, he said through a spokesperson that he has concerns and they'll have to have a conversation. you can see how he navigates himself without taking a strong position one way or the other. the majority of this conference supports donald trump very much so. the majority still voted to overturn the election results even after rioters stormed the capitol, so it's clear where his conference is going which is why he's trying to play the middle here. >> there is no middle on that question, no middle. we're waiting for the daily white house briefing by jen psaki. plus, the president's novel definition of bipartisan. ♪ ♪ at wayfair... you can spend less on sofas that bring the whole family together. no matter what you need for your home you can spend less and get way more. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy, even a term policy, for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized that we needed a way to supplement our income. our friends sold their policy to help pay for their medical bills and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, we'll take you live to the white house to press secretary jen psaki. >> first over the weekend, the president's homeland security adviser, dr. liz sherwood randall, conducted a fema call with the national weather service on the storm system moving toward the mid-atlantic region. it's not just moving toward, i think it's clear it's here if you look outside our window on the eastern seaboard. liz joined the fema operations briefing yesterday and remain in regular contact with the fema response team about changes in the storm forecast and any need for federal assistance. the white house wanted to assess the possible impact and determine any early action that the federal government could take to support communities across many states likely to be affected. liz also proactively called governors in states in the storm's path overnight and into today, and she will remain in close touch. those include governor cuomo, governor murphy, governor wolf, governor kearney as well as mayor de blasio. she pushed intent in preparing and responding to any emergencies. also, as many of you have noted, the president spoke with senator collins yesterday, as you all know, invited her and other senate republicans to the white house later this afternoon. this meeting is part of the president and his administration's, our administration's, close and ongoing engagement with members of both parties on capitol hill and on the american rescue package. we've underscored the economic and health challenges our country faces, issues he will, of course, be reiterating today, and a move to address them with a package that's big enough to get schools safely reopened, give families and struggling communities a bridge and deliver on his promise to speed up vaccine delivery and defeat the virus. it's important to remember that the size of the package was designed with the size of the crisis. dual crises, as we've said. and i wanted to just call out a couple of economists and some economic data that we've seen over the last several days. a new report by the brookings institution estimates that with the american rescue plan, we could boost gdp by 4% and return our economy to pre-covid lefvel by the end of 2021. a separate analyst by moody's said we would recover our economy back to full employment one year faster. the imf chief economist said their preliminary analysis found that it could boost the economy by 5% in three years. just today the u.s. conference of mayors sent a letter to congressional leadership urging them to take immediate action on the american rescue plan. this letter was signed by over 400 mayors. i know there is a lot going on so wanted to highlight it for you. in west virginia, governor jim justice, also a republican, said in interviews today that he agrees going big with this is critical. i'm going to circle back. i hate to disappoint conservative twitter but i'm going to circle back on a number of things as we often do directly. but hurricane maria funds which was a question asked last week. the president has made clear that it's a priority for his administration to release this funding. we are working to do so, so that is in process. on the white house fence, which a couple people asked about, i believe it was on friday, our goal, the president and the vice president's goal, is for the secret service to adjust the perimeter as soon as it makes sense from an overall security standpoint. we are working closely with them on that, and they , of course, would be in the lead on that front. and the last piece i just want to give a quick update on, there is a question of the white house's support for troops. of course, we support the whole of government pandemic response that is catering to the unique issues and needs of our states. fema is working in strong partnership with states to get a handle on their needs and accordingly have requested significant manpower in some cases for this unprecedented pandemic response effort. i expect we'll have more on this as the days continue this week on how they will be utilized. with that, let's go. darlene, welcome to the briefing room -- you've been here many times before, but it's our first engagement here. go ahead. >> reporter: on the president's meeting today with the senators, can you give us a sense of how he views that meeting? is he going to be negotiating? is he going to be prepared to counter anything the republicans might offer, or is it just a session where they asked to meet with the president and he's simply giving them an opportunity to voice their concerns? >> well, the president has been clear since long before he came into office that he's open to engaging with both democrats and republicans in congress about their ideas. and this is an example of doing exactly that. so as we said in our statement last night, it's an exchange of ideas, an opportunity to do that. this group obviously sent a letter with some outlines, some top lines of their concerns and their priorities, and he's happy to have a conversation with them. what this meeting is not is a forum for the president to make or accept an offer. so i think that's important to convey to all of you. and in his view, it remains what was stated in the statement last night, but also what he said on friday, which is that the risk is not that it is too big, this package, the risk is that it is too small, and that remains his view and one he'll certainly express today. go ahead, darlene. >> reporter: so what would you say is more important to the president at this point on this test? is it going big or going bipartisan? it seems like he can't have both. >> well, i think the president believes we can, and there is a historic evidence that it is possible to take a number of paths, including through reconciliation, if that is the path that's pursued, and for the vote to be bipartisan. but it's important to him that he hears this group out on their concerns, on their ideas. he's always open to making this package stronger, and he also, as was noted in our statement last night, remains in close touch with speaker pelosi, with leader schumer, and he will continue that engagement throughout the day and in the days ahead. >> reporter: you mentioned that president biden's covid relief package is designed to be commensurate with the crises. this group of ten republicans, what they're offering, as you know, is more than a third less. the top line number, the 600 billion is more than a third less of the 1.9 trillion the president says he wants. given that, do you see that as a serious attempt to compromise on their part? >> i appreciate the opportunity to give more comment on their proposal. i think they put their ideas forward. that's how the president sees it. he felt it was, you know, an effort to engage and engage on a bipartisan basis, and that's why he invited them to the white house today. but his view is that the size of the package needs to be commensurate with the crises we're facing, the dual crises we're facing, hence why he proposed a package that's $1.9 trillion. >> does the president plan to invite democrats into the oval to have these similar conversations? >> i can promise you, we're less than two weeks in, there will be many democrats in the oval office. this is just part of our ongoing effort to engage directly. >> reporter: asking that again in a slightly different way, there are democrats who see that the first meeting the president is having face to face with lawmakers is with republicans and not democrats. why is the white house doing that? >> are there any specific democrats you want to call up? >> reporter: no, but it's been talked about. >> just people talking about it in the hallways? >> reporter: sure. >> i can assure you that speaker pelosi and leader schumer have been in close contact directly with democrats and the senior team. also members of our senior team have been in touch with democrats across the political spectrum, and that will continue. there will definitely be democrats part of the conversation here today in the white house. >> reporter: you said the scale of what must be done is large. is $600 billion considered large? >> i think our statement made clear that the president believes the risk is not going too small, but going not big enough. and that his view is that the size of the package needs to be commensurate with the crises we're facing. that's why he proposed 1.9 trillion. there is obviously a big gap between 600 billion and 1.9 trillion, i don't believe any of us are mathematicians, but clearly the amount needs to be closer to what he proposed than smaller. >> reporter: you called that relief check enough to open schools, help small businesses and families. a lot of that isn't in the republican proposal. so why have this meeting at all if they're not even going to take seriously what he is proposing? >> well, again, this is an excha exchange -- an opportunity to exchange ideas, to have a conversation. that's why he invited them over here to the white house. he outlined the specifics of what he would like to see in the package andin his prime time sph a few weeks ago. there are some realities as we look at what the american people are going through right now. 1 in seven families don't have enough food to eat. we don't have funding to reopen schools. we don't have enough money to ensure we can get the vaccine in the arms of americans. so there are some real impacts which he will certainly reiterate as he has publicly and privately in many conversations, but they've put forth some ideas, he's happy to hear from them, but he also feels strongly about the need to make sure the size of the package meets this moment, and feels the american people expect that of their elected officials as well. >> reporter: the statement the president put out, he says, the united states are standing with the people of burma in this difficult hour. is that perhaps a message to china? >> i think it's a message to all countries in the region and countries who, you know, will be asked to respond or to consider what the appropriate response will be in reaction to the events that have happened over the past couple of days. go ahead. >> reporter: on friday we heard the president come out and say he wants to pass this bill with support from republicans if we can get it. it has to pass, no ifs, ands or buts. that "if we can get it" part, do we recognize he may have to abandon his hope of bipartisanship? >> it's hardly abandoning bipartisanship. we're still in a phase of covering congress, what the process would look like on the budget budgetary front this week. schumer and pelosi have both said they would like it to be bipartisan. we'll see what comes out of this meeting today, and if there's good things to put forward, we'll put them forward. even in the parliamentary process that the congress will decide, it moves to a reconciliation, republicans can still vote for that. >> reporter: you mentioned that republicans can still vote for the bill even if it's done through reconciliation, but it doesn't satisfy that promise because it's not true compromise. >> well, i think that the one in seven american families who can't put food on the table and the teachers who are waiting to ensure their schools have the ventilation, the ppe, the testing they need, they will tell you that they expect their members to meet this moment. and we saw this as a good faith proposal they've put forward, good faith effort to have a discussion. the president is inviting them here in good faith, and we will see where it goes from here. >> what is the president's message to senators like portman, who will be here today, who seem to warn if we can't get unity on this issue, it will be harder to achieve unity down the road on other issues? >> the president is sure that getting food on people's tables, helping the schools, is not just a democratic issue. republicans said they're committed to these issues, too, and that's why he wants to have a conversation. >> reporter: i want to ask you about gamestop. some lawmakers have proposed legislative reforms like restrictions on short selling and financial transaction tacs that president biden supported during the 2020 campaign. i want to ask you if they would support something like that. >> obviously this is under the purview of the fcc in terms of their review and monitoring, but this is -- there is an important set of policy issues that have been raised as a result of market volatility in recent days, and we think congressional attention to these issues is appropriate and would welcome working with congress moving forward as we dig into these further policy issues. but i don't have anything further to predict for you other than we certainly welcome the opportunity to work with members who have proposed ideas. >> reporter: has there been any direct engagement with members so far on what they've proposed? >> i don't have anything for you on that front. obviously we're involved in negotiations every day on a number of issues, but i don't have for you on that. >> reporter: so there are no confirmed members right now on the financial oversight council. is it the white house's view that that lack of officials in place is affecting your administration's approach to this situation? >> well, again, the fcc is looking carefully at recent activities, and if they're consistent with investor protection in fair and efficient markets, that's where we think the purview is and the focus is at this point in time. go ahead. >> reporter: i want to follow up on the meeting with the republicans and then a follow-up on that question as well. what is the timeline the president sees for these negotiations to end? how urgent is this if these benefits are going to end in the middle of march? how much time is there to have these kinds of meetings with democrats and others who may want to take part? >> it's incredibly urgent. as you noted, there are -- there are timelines coming up, i should say, in terms of when the americans who are applying for unemployment insurance will no longer be able to get access. as i noted earlier, one in seven american families can't put food on the table. we need to plan for how we're going to get more vaccines in the arms of americans. we need to have funding to help public schools have the preparations need to ed to reop. there is urgency. this is what the president is spending his time on as evidenced by the meeting today. there is still time to make changes, to continue to have a discussion, and that's why we're kind of escalating the number of meetings and engagements we're having through the course of this week. >> >> reporter: in the statement the president put out, he said immediate view of our sanction and see authorities followed by appropriate action. is the appropriate action solely related to sanctions or what other response may be on the table? >> i think that's why that was called out in the president's comments. as you know, we removed sanctions -- the united states, i should say, removed sanctions on burma in the past decade based on progress toward democracy. there was verbiage on that progress in the sanction's laws and authorities followed by appropriate action. that's why he called it out. i don't have any additional steps beyond that to predict for you at this point in time. go ahead. >> there is a $10,000 cap on state and local tax reductions in the covid bill. does the president support those assertions, and more broadly, does he support a general repeal of that deduction? >> the president supports democrats and republicans putting good ideas forward, and having a discussion about them, and determining how we move forward with urgency to get this plan passed. but i'm not going to negotiate from here. >> reporter: senator manchin was a little upset with some comments the vice president made on a local television show. has the white house reached out to him in any way to clear the air? >> we've been in touch with senator manchin as we have been for many weeks and will continue to be moving forward, and not only is he a key partner to the president and to the white house on this package but on his agenda. we will remain in close touch with him. >> reporter: in regards to myanmar, what efforts are being made to forge partnerships with britain, and has the president had any such discussion? >> we have had intensive consultations at multiple levels with allies and partners in the region and around the world. i would expect many of those would come through the state department, so i would certainly refer to them for more specifics. hans? >> when you said you might take action, you referred to it as burma and myanmar. in the president's statement right now he only uses burma. is that indicative of a formal shift by the united states government as to how we are to refer to that south asian country. >> our policies use burma, but we use myanmar in certain communications. for example, the embassy website was first to miyanmar, because they are dealing with officials in the public. >> so there's no official change. you last night used both and the president used burma four times. was he meaning to be discourteous? >> i don't think that's the conclusion you should draw. obviously he is watching this closely as evidenced by his statement. go ahead. >> reporter: when you said there is still time for negotiation, can you be a little more specific? is the president going to give this one week, two weeks, to try to come up with a bipartisan solution? and secondly the cbo said the economy should report to pre-pandemic legislation, so how does that affect your negotiations? >> on the first, i'm not going to give a deadline here other than to say it is urgent we move forward for all the reasons we've already been discussing, including the need to ensure families can put food on the table, the need to ensure we have a time to plan for getting schools the necessary funding to reopen, it is need to ensure we can get vaccines in the arms of americans. as many of you know who cover congress, there is a process here this week. there is still time here for changes to be made. that is what i was referring to. on the second question -- sorry, can you repeat the second question one more time? >> the cbo, their prediction the economy would return to pre- pre-covid? >> it was designed to achieve certain goals, getting shots in the arms of americans, helping people going hungry and the nearly 7 million people facing possible eviction during the pandemic. the ceo's progression of growth a measure of each of these things, it is a measure of how each american family is doing or whether we can get vaccines in the arms of people. it answered a different question, i should say. our focus is on what the american people need to get through this crisis, which is why we're pushing for this piece of legislation. go ahead. >> reporter: on school reopening, the democratic mayor of chicago has said it's safe to reopen schools. they've invested 100 million into safety measures, but the teachers remain on the verge of striking. s does the white house agree with the mayor if enough funding has taken place that children should return to schools? >> the president has a lot of respect for mayor lightfoot. dr. biden, his wife, is a teacher. he trusts the mayor to work this out. they are working to ensure the health and safety of students and teachers and they'll get the money they deserve. we're hopeful they can reach common ground as soon as possible. >> chicago and other cities are meeting in terms of these negotiations and getting kids back to school? >> we certainly remain in touch with a range of parties, but again, we hope they can come to common ground soon. >> reporter: and on the overall covid relief package, in terms of understanding what, you know, the white house means by bipartisan, would you consider a bill bipartisan if it doesn't have republicans supporting congress, but it has support among republican voters? >> i think you touched on an interesting point which is that 74% of the public, according to recent polls, support this package and key components of this package. we just saw the republican governor of west virginia come out earlier today and advocate for a big package. so when the president talks about unifying the country and bringing the country together, he's not suggesting that he is going to make one party out of the democratic and republican parties in congress. but he is meeting with republicans today, ten republicans who have sent this letter, because he feels they made a good faith effort to put the top lines of a proposal forward, and he wants to have that engagement and encourages that sharing of ideas. so i don't think it's an either/or, but i think it's a both, and we certainly feel that the components that are in this package are the basis of what should garner bipartisan support. >> reporter: based on the poll you cited, if there is not enough republican support, is that based on the measures mo moving forward? >> i will let you be the judge of that. >> reporter: i'm here for a reporter who couldn't be here because of social distancing. this is for the "washington post." what kind of preparations went into vice president harris' interviews last week? >> i'm not sure what your question is. >> reporter: what type of preparation went into vice president harris' interviews? >> like how did her team prepare her? >> reporter: was it a white house strategy to put pressure on politicians in west virginia? >> our focus, the bottom line is our focus is communicating with the american people about how the american rescue plan can help put food on the table, can help ensure we can get vaccines in the arms of americans and help send kids back to school. that's our overarching objective with all the things we do. >> we're certainly in touch with senator manchin and his team as we have been for some time and will continue to be, and he's an important partner as we look to move forward on this package and, of course, all the gagenda. >> the proposal they've put forward would take the over 300 million in aid to states and local governments that biden has put forward and zero that out where there would be no aid in that proposal to state and local governments. is that a non-starter for president biden? can he even move forward with a proposal like that? >> there is a reason that fu funding was in the initial proposal. sometimes the definition of calling it state and local means people don't know what it means. i'm not suggesting you've done that, we've probably shorthanded it, too. that is funding for firefighters, for local communities, for enabling them to help get through this period of time. i'm not going to outline for you what the red lines are from the podium when there's discussions that are ongoing, but, again, the reason that each component was put in the package is because economists, health experts, many that the president and others consulted with felt there were essential components to help get the american people through this period of time. >> reporter: republicans refer to a jp morgan report that most have not had a drop in revenue. there's a question of whether that state relief is needed in this package? >> our focus is not on jp morgan reports, but what local states and governments are telling us they need to ensure people in their districts, resources in their districts, the people who are making government function in their districts, have the resources and funding that they need. >> reporter: two questions. the first is, does the president support house democrats moving forward with the process of reconciliation? today there is reporting they're waiting for guidance from the white house. >> the president noted in his statement last night that he's grateful for the urgency and pace at which they're moving. as you know, this process can take a little bit of time, but he certainly supports them moving forward to move a package ahead. but, again, the process through, the mechanics through which they move is up to them. he's leaving it up to them. he believers there is still room for bipartisan support for this package, which is why he's having this meeting today and why he'll remain very engaged himself and why he's asking the senior team to remain very engaged in the days ahead. >> reporter: as part of that reconciliation, is there a timeline this white house is looking at to say, okay, now we have to move forward. you keep talking about how urgent this is. i'm wondering if there is a deadline in the president's mind saying, okay, we have to move forward. >> urgent means urgent. this is a focus of the president, the vice president, his senior team. hence he's having a group of republican leaders here today. he'll continue to be engaged with not just speaker pelosi and leader schumer but other members of our team. the fact he's spending so much time on it, and his team is, shows you the priority here. >> reporter: there was a covid briefing today, but one statistic that really stood out to me and probably a lot of americans is about 47% of vaccinations are coming in with no racial data. i'm wondering if the president has a fix for that, if there is a legislative or policy change that will be made, because i wonder how you ensure that the vaccine is given equitably if you don't know who is getting it. >> first, you know, the racial disparities and the impact of this pandemic are not lost on the president, and that's one of the reasons he asked dr. ma marcella nunez-smith to address this issue on the disproportionate at peculiarities of people of

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