he and his wife had worked all their lives and had done well and they still get a $1400 check. my question is -- is the president, the only way he can pay for these tax cuts and infrastructure and coronavirus giveaway, isn't it a fact that they are going to go after 401(k)s and pension plans? which i understand, there is something like $67 trillion invested where old people and young people have put their money into these plans? that is the only thing that is solvent right now. social security is burnt. the economy in the tank. he has to have some place where he can go and know that the money is there. mr. president, are you going to go after people's pension plans? host: brian, hamilton, virginia, independent. caller: similar to what the previous gentleman said, in a way. seems the democrats tend to tax-and-spend. it goes to your previous guest too. they want to raise taxes on corporations, on the wealthy. they could tax both of them at 95% and they would still to find -- they would find a way to spend every nickel of it and still go into deficit. i wish they could get off of that. the last time we had a balanced budget was under clinton. i am not a big democrat. you cannot just print money. it has gotta stop somewhere. this top 1% already pay 60% of personal income taxes. should they pay more? sure. corporations will raise prices. that is the way it is is. if you have owned a business, you know that. if you get taxed, you cannot print money. only the government can. host: the president's news conference today at 1:15 p.m. eastern. caller: my topic is on the postmaster general. i cannot believe how complicated this is. talk about voter suppression. i'm not sure if president trump appointed this fellow but in order to get rid of him, a group of governors have to vote him out. president biden can appoint these governors. when you look at voter suppression, this fellow and president trump, it is like absentee voting versus not in person boating or whatever his comparisons were, they are both the same -- in person voting or whatever his comparisons were. when you are slowing down the mail, taking away mailboxes, laying off postal workers -- we are in a pandemic. being able to do absentee voting is absolutely essential when you're talking about voters rights. host: thanks for that. postmaster general louis dejoy, promoted by president trump, a major campaign contributor to the president. he released a 10 year plan for the postal service. we will talk about that more in depth on monday on this program from 8:00 to 8:45 a.m. eastern. this morning, what you would ask president biden at his news conference today. rich, marion, ohio. caller: great discussions going on. why we are giving money through the imf to china and russia? is there some way they can get through the back door while we help developing countries, they split the stack of money up and everyone gets the same except china and russia get more of the developing countries. i don't think china is a developing country anymore. the other problem on payments -- we got into the housing problem where people get a balloon payment, pay really cheap and all of a sudden interest rates went up and they would lose the house. that was bad personally but almost blew up the financial system. i am afraid we got low interest rates and we really have to watch out we are not in a balloon payment. host: one of the issue certainly to come up is the situation at the u.s. mexico border. the headline from cnbc. the vice president will oversee the effort to resolve problems at the u.s. mexico border. president biden making the announcement yesterday at the white house. [video clip] >> i can think of nobody who is better qualified to do this than the woman who ran the second largest attorney general's office in america in the state of california and has done a great deal of work on human rights and fighting organized crime in the process. it is not her full responsibility but she is leading the effort. the best thing to do is to put someone, who when he or she speaks, they don't have to wonder about is that where the president is? when she speaks, she speaks for me. doesn't have to check with me. she knows what she is doing. madam vice president, thank you. i gave you a tough job. your smiling. no one more capable of trying to organize this. >> thank you mr. president, for the confidence in me and there is no question this is a challenging situation. as the president has said, there are many factors. while we are clear people should not come to the border now, we also understand we will enforce the law and that we can chew gum and walk at the same time. let's address the root problems that cause people to make the trek. host: asking you what you would ask the president during the news conference today? 1015 a.m. this morning, we will take you live to the senate committee, hearing testimony from deanne criswell, before the homeland security committee, live coverage here on c-span. the president's news conference today at 1:15 p.m. eastern, live on c-span, c-span radio app and on www.c-span.org. one more to tell you about in the afternoon. mark zuckerberg, the google ceo and the twitter ceo testify on combating online misinformation and disinformation, a joint subcommittee virtual hearing at noon eastern today, over on c-span3. we are also carrying that on www.c-span.org. on their testimony today, a story ahead of that from usa today. ag's callout vaccine misinformation. a dozen state attorneys general called on twitter to take more aggressive action against lies that undermine public confidence in covid vaccines. their testimony today live on c-span3. text from rick in montclair, california, on the question he would ask the president. why he opened the border? caleb, memphis, tennessee, democrat. caller: hi. i would like to ask the president if he would be willing to commit to be more aggressive with his economic policies? the pandemic has worsened things. these are not new problems. these are not new deficits. they are just bigger. his plan to raise taxes on people with incomes over $400,000 sounds great and might get him money he will need to fund bills he wants but it is not going to be a long-term solution. i would love to see him commit to something like elizabeth warren's wealth tax, for example. host: clarence, nashville, tennessee. caller: thank you. i would ask the president what thought he gave to his resolution to stop the programs the trump administration had put in place on immigration? it turned into a total disaster. thank you. host: sergio, pompano beach, florida, independent. caller: good morning. i would ask president biden, -- [indiscernible] -- what they have done to us. also, any more new nominations for positions. host: glad you pointed that out. there is a story about the administration being behind on a number of positions. from the wall street journal this morning, many key security posts still unfilled. president biden has yet to name hundreds of administration officials requiring senate confirmations to military, diplomatic and intelligence posts, making it unlikely his security agencies will be fully staffed until fall, officials say. thelma, california, putnam bill, excuse me, indiana. thelma in indiana, go ahead and join us on the republican line. caller: i would like to ask mr. biden, acting president biden, why did he let all of those illegal immigrants come into the u.s. unchecked with the virus and putting all these kids in different places, like obama did ? not only that, he let the illegals come in and now they are trying to take the guns. that is their agenda i think. somebody needs to stop what is going on in washington dc. host: california, doris, democrat. caller: good morning. i would ask president biden, if in fact you are a humanitarian, what have you done as of this moment and plan to do about the situation in yemen and america's relationship to saudi arabia and the support of the starvation of the children? what has he already done to resolve that? host: from politico. biden discovers there is no way to script the presidency. when the white house announced joe biden would hold his first news conference, the president have embarked on a victory tour across the u.s. touting a legislative package he had hoped would control the pandemic and revive the economy. nine days later, as he prepares to take questions at the white house, his administration is facing criticism and his failure to release a plan to curb gun violence and the lack of sufficient asian american representation in the cabinet. aaron, baltimore, democrat. caller: i would ask if he has considered having a program of encouraging people to buy bonds to support this debt. the pandemic is just as serious of a crisis is when we go to war. the solution in the past has been to encourage bonds. i would be willing to. a lot of people would be willing to kick in to help support the $1.9 trillion. host: comments on social media. send us a text at (202)-748- 8003. send us a tweet, @cspanwj. question from carlene for the president. will you please get rid of the filibuster? mark says, should washington dc become a state? should they pack the supreme court? why do you continue to wear a mask when no one is near you? mark on facebook says, you carefully studied the keystone shutdown. why is it so important? kirk asks, how are we responding to the cyber war being waged on us by russia and china? why doesn't he close the borders until the pandemic is under control? illinois. caller: good morning. great segment. question for the president. and the vice president. why can't the embassies in the central american countries play a larger role in processing the aliens who want or need to emigrate to the u.s.? host: quick question, jane, great question. thank you for calling. a world report from the u.n. on the guardian this morning on starvation. 30 million people, one step away from starvation. acute hunger is likely to soar in more than 20 countries in the next few months, according to the u.n. families in yemen and south sudan are already in the grip of starvation, according to a report on hunger hotspots published by the food and agriculture organization and the world food program. estimated 34 million people struggling with emergency levels of acute hunger known as ipc, meaning they are one step away from starvation. brian, rockville, maryland, independent. caller: i would ask the president to work with the senate and the house to stop putting bills together -- too much pork. have specific independent bills for each issue instead of adding other things. host: ok. on twitter. how can the federal government stop the barrage of voter suppression laws by republicans across the nation? more of a regional story. notable from the washington times this morning. governor northam, virginia, signs law banning death penalty. virginia, first state in the south to abolish the practice. the commonwealth, virginia, has the highest rate of executions, nearly 1400 during its colonial days, 113 executions since capital punishment was reestablished by the supreme court in 1976. shirley, ohio. caller: three things. thank you for c-span. first. please, let the reporters, news media, whoever, go into the camps and see what is going on with those children? he owes the children and the people of the u.s. that. please get rid of the filibuster . if he does not, the likes of mitch mcconnell and joe mentioned has turned into a junior mitch mcconnell and i believe he will get rid of the filibuster if the democrats were not in. host: quick one from paul, oklahoma city, republican. mute your volume. caller: good morning. congratulations, mr. president. i respect that. what do y'all think about gun control? i respect guns. it has gotten out of hand. ar-15, for instance. how about you only get to buy one instead 202-748-8000 for women. 202-748-8001 for men. this is dana. carlsbad, california. caller: i like to have megan rapinoe on there. she is perfect for this. if you look at what the women's market in -- brought in it is hundreds of millions of dollars less than what the men soccer team brought in. it all comes down to how much you are worth. you can advertise something that advertises $100 million in something that brings in $500 million. that is human reason that make more. they bring in a lot more revenue in commercials, for products and jerseys -- i can go on and on about that. that is a simple one. as far as women making less money, women right now have the most degrees in the country, the highest positions in the country if you look at the numbers. women are making great numbers. you never see the women that are at the top of these corporations playing this card, saying that women make less. women are just as good as men. there in the right spot, that is all there is to it. host: i hear what you save about the soccer team, but how do you explain the differences, particularly in degree fields, like a registered nurse or financial manager -- how do you resolve that those averages are fairly notable? caller: well, if you look at how many women are nurses, there are a lot more women that will get a job before a man will get. not all men raise. kids the majority of women raise kids. of course they will not be in the workplace. i don't know any men -- i have four granddaughters, i am all for women. there is no way i would let any kind of discrimination mess with my granddaughters, but i hear the debate all the time and if you looking up and get down into the nitty-gritty, you will see that women are actually making more than men. host: spring texas. brick. hello. caller: i think the first caller made the first -- made all the points i have been making succinctly. i have been a viewer of c-span since 1979. if you would allow me, i -- i would like to get to two things. iron sharpens iron. please put two viewers with dissenting views on. host: we will later today talking about the affordable care act. we do it on a regular basis. we did it yesterday with the rules committee. caller: thank you so much. i appreciate you bill, i really do, and the entire staff there. secondly, there was a full-court press about the border situation when trump was president. it has only gotten worse has only gotten -- why don't we get it with the same enthusiasm for biden? i think a bias is being shown. look over that and see if you don't all agree. it is hypocritical to drop that issue entirely and say we're going on to new business. host: we are certainly likely to your more about the border situation. the president appointing the vice president as the point person on border issues. yesterday, part of president biden's day including hosting the women's soccer team unequal payday. we will show that to you in just a moment. will go to dale in nicholson, pennsylvania. caller: because i am on c-span. it is a known fact that women are smarter, quicker learners and all the rest when you are in high school, but by the age of 20 or 25 they quit learning, so i think the pay gap is about right. host: what you mean women quit learning between 20 and 25? is that true of men as well? caller: no, men with their life expands, they keep on learning. women slow down. host: what kind of study? where are you reading a study like that? caller: i guess that is my study. host: president biden at the white house hosting the soccer team and others for equal pay day. until he had to say. [video clip] president biden: nearly every job, nearly 97 -- 90% of occupations, women still earn less than men. for a api women, it is $.87 per dollar. for black women, it is $.63. native american women, $.60. hispanic women, $.55. it does not matter if you are an electrician, an accountant, or part of the best dam soccer team in the world, the pay gap is real, and this team is living proof you can be the very best at what you do and still have to fight for equal pay. you know, as jill mentioned, this pandemic has only exacerbated the problem. women are on the front lines as essential workers, particularly women of color at farms, factories, grocery store workers, but they are still earning less. more than 2 million women have dropped out of the workforce since the pandemic started. and now with the lowest rate of less labor participation in the workforce that we have been in 30 years. let me say that again -- the lowest percent of women in the workforce. and you go back to 30 years to get to where we are today. a lot of that is because so much extra weight of caregiving and responsibilities. falling on their shoulders it causes women to miss work, cut hours, leave their jobs, care for their children. announcer: we will leave this recorded program at this point. we will take you live now to the white house for president biden's first news conference. and afterwards we will get your reaction. announcer: tonight we take you to the white house where president biden holds his first news conference since taking office over two months ago. he is expected to field questions from reporters on a variety of topics including the covid-19 pandemic, the federal response, the economy, and matters of foreign policy. thank you for joining us on c-span. we have heard there is a two minute warning. he is in the east room of the white house and we will show you today's press conference that will be live in its entirety starting soon. admittedly after that, we will get your reactions from the comments of president biden, including what you want to hear from him, thoughts and themes of the first conference, and you can give us your reactions on a variety of fronts on c-span, c-span.org, and our radio app. we will see president biden in a few minutes from the east room as he takes questions in his first formal press conference as inauguration day. live coverage here on c-span. pres. biden: please, please, sit down. thank you. thank you. good afternoon. for a to questions, want to give you a progress report to the nation on where we stand 65 days into our office year. vaccinations and a few other top priorities of the american people. first, on vaccinations, on december 8, i