The first such test of the Biden Administration. The first for north korea also in more than a year. Then, of course, is the ongoing crisis at the southern border. Were going to get a live update from one facility handling Migrant Children, and were told its one of the most overcrowded facilities of its kind in the entire country. Situation at the border being compounded by another major crisis, the pandemic. President biden expected to make some major announcements on that front, including one that could affect underserved communities. And we could also get a little bit more clarity on another major issue that the white house is facing, how to reduce gun violence in this country. President biden suggesting he may take some executive action, and of course, that comes as the suspected shooter in mondays mass shooting in boulder, colorado, just made his First Court Appearance. Well have a live update in a few moments. Our Team Following all of these major stories. Peter alexander at the white house ahead of the News Conference. B soboroff is in yuma. Den dilanian is with us, tracking the missile test, and Garrett Haake is on capitol hill. Ken, lets start with you and the new north Korean Missile test. The newest challenge for the white house, the first of its kind for this white house. What do we know at this hour . Good morning, craig. Earlier thursday, korea time, north korea fired two shortrange Ballistic Missiles int the sea of japan, and this presents an early challenge for the Biden Administration. But its also part of a pattern by north korea, which over the last four presidencies has tested the new president by testing a weapon at the beginning of his term. And in fact, at the beginning of Barack Obamas second term, north korea tested a nuclear bomb. So this isnt quite as bad as that, and in fact, these missiles are not the kind that could hit the united states. Theyre not longrange Ballistic Missiles, but north korea has those. What this shows is all that public summitry during the Trump Administration didnt add up to much, because all the while that was happening, north korea was improving its Ballistic Missiles and now its making noise, trying to get attention from a Biden Administration that tried to play down the north korea issue. Wants to keep it out of the news. In fact, last weekend, there was a lesser test of a nonballistic missile. The Biden Administration didnt even acknowledge it. It had to be dug out by reporters. This is a thorny problem for a Biden Administration that is still reviewing its north korea policy, Trooingtrootrying To De what direction to go, but theres no good answer to this vexing problem. We have the Saber Rattling there on the korean peninsula. Also, of course, the pandemic. The southern border, two deadly Mass Shootings in the span of six days. Peter alexander, lets talk about what we know about what President Biden is expected to announce this afternoon. Your team at the white house has some new reporting on that front, i understand. What do we know . Yeah, craig, thats exactly right. Senior white house official telling me that today in his opening remarks before this News Conference begins in earnest, President Biden will announce his new Vaccination Goal of 200 million shots in american arms in his first 100 days. Youll remember the u. S. Hit the 100 million mark, which was his initial goal, on day 59, last friday. Were now day 65, and the pace right now is about 2. 5 million a day. Of course, thats the topic of conversation the white house would like to focus on. They say its the most important issue to americans. Coronavirus and the economy, but since the white house announced this News Conference eight days ago, obviously, there have been a series of other issues that have become so dramatic and significant that we have been focusing on them. Among them, those Mass Shootings that have taken play, the new tensions with china and russia and obviously as you just reported, north korea as well. And beyond that, the topic of bipartisanship and the president s discussions as it relates to the filibuster, which would, as we know, require you to only have a simple majority, only 50 votes needed to pass some of the president s agenda. Those are some of the key topics today, but i suspect he would be pressed heavily on immigration. To that point, peter, we know that Vice President harris has now been tasked by her boss to lead the effort to try to stem migration across the southern border. What more do we know about precisely what her role is going to be . Well, this is a significant role for her to take place. Obviously, we had been waiting to see exactly what would be her portfolio, and this is a real acknowledgment by the white house of the severity, the complexity of the situation there. Shell be overseeing, as you note, this effort to try to stem migration to the southern border, which the white house views, according to officials here, as a variety of issues they need address. One, what they do with the conditions at the border, how they can deal with that overwhelming number of unaccompanied Migrant Children, migrants in general who are arriving at the border and also how to deal with the root causes more broadly in mexico and the northern triangle, places like el salvador, guatemala, and honduras. Kamala harris, the Vice President herself, acknowledging this is a challenge. The white house doesnt want to describe it as a crisis, but im certain that the president will be pressed today by reporters about whether they did enough, whether they were prepared for this issue before they rolled back some of the trump era policies. To that thought, there is new reporting from nbc news that in early december, after president elect biden won the election, that members of his Transition Team and career Government Officials warned the Trump Administration that more needed to be done to expand their capacity to deal with this anticipated surge of migrants, but that nothing, according to these officials, was done until just before the inauguration. One Transition Official who is not serving in the Biden Administration says that members of the Trump Administration were, quote, sitting on their hands. Craig. All right. Jacob soboroff there at the border in arizona, getting a firsthand look at a topic that according to peter the president is going to be facing a lot of questions about here when this News Conference starts. White house sent a group of senior officials and lawmakers to the border in texas, jacob, as you know. Nbc accompanies them inside the facility. How is this administration faring in its vow of a more humane approach so far in your estimation . Well, its a long way from rhetoric, i think, to reality, craig, and we see that not just in south texas where by far the facilities are most overcrowded, but across the southwest border. Here in the yuma sector of the Border Patrol, as of this morning, according to data obtained by nbc news theyre at 489 capacity. That is a humanitarian crisis inside facilities like the ones at this Border Patrol complex. These are jails, theyre not meant for children. The conditions we have seen many times over the years, whether its in the obama administration, the Trump Administration, and now the Biden Administration. And the idea is to get children out as fast as possible, but as peter mentioned, we reported that health and Human Services under the Trump Administration had asked both Career Officials and Biden Administration Transition Officials to increase capacity, to get kids out of facilities like the one im standing in front of, as fast as possible. But those requests were not taken into consideration, at least not acted upon by alex azar, the secretary of health and Human Services under President Trump until january 15th, 2020, and we got a lot of political junkies out there. Theyll know thats five days only before the inauguration of joe biden as president of the united states. And thats not a lot of time to get a system up and running when you know you have an unprecedented number of Migrant Children coming into the country. Jacob, earlier on the today show, i asked cdc director dr. Wolensky about Covid Concerns specifically in the government facilities like the one youre standing in front of. This is part of what she told me. I think we all recognize that the cbp facilities are not equipped to handle the numbers they have. Theyre not equipped to handle all of the children that are coming in, and were working really hard with the administration to insure that those children get to Safe Environments where there are case workers and teachers to help them. And all of those environments the cdc is working really closely with the administration to insure safe covid practices. I mean, jacob, you saw the number of the kids there and adults. Its very difficult when youre overcrowded like that to be outside the threefoot range that the cdc recommends now. Based on what you have seen, folks youre talking to, how difficult is it going to be for the government to insure that Safe Practices are being followed in these facilities that are so crowded . When you have children sleeping next to each other on whether its concrete or linoleum floors or mats under mylar blankets within two or three feet of each other, thats not social distancing. And it seems to be while there are Testing Protocols in place in places like the rio grande valley, its not clear if those protocols are right now throughout the southwest border. That said, you know, Gabe Gutierrez reported yesterday when he went inside as art of the first crew inside the facility, they do test upon intake every child at those facilities, and they do isolate the covid positive cases in order to make sure that it doesnt spread throughout the facility. And that is why actually that facility was undercapacity yesterday. They had about 700 something children there when they have bed space for 900. Thats because theres Bed Space Set aside in negative Pressure Rooms for children who have tested positive so it doesnt spread beyond those facilities. Garrett, on the issue of immigration, thats going to come up at the News Conference this afternoon. We also know that theres this Bipartisan Group of 16 senators who met to talk about immigration on wednesday. What more do we know about that meeting, and what more to we know about what came out of it and what more do we know about how involved this white house is going to be with Immigration Reform . The reality is the white house may have to go it alone on Immigration Reform. The congress is nowhere near sending anything to this president s desk. That meeting the other day was largely just to discuss kind of the parameters, to find out among democrats and republicans, is there anything they can Work Together on. John cornyn, republican of texas, put it pretty well the other day. He said on immigration, its the issue on when the senate has never failed to fail. So they have a long history of not getting much done on this issue. I can tell you, chuck schumer, the majority leader, has been kind of ramping up to a Press Conference of his own that hes about to hold any minute now. Hes been talking about all of the things the senate has accomplished under democratic leadership, all the things he wants to do when they come back from the twoweek recess, and nowhere on the list was there anything about pursuing the immigration measures that have already passed the house. Its going to be a heavy lift to get anything through the senate to the president s desk on that issue. Garrett haake, you mentioned senator schumers News Conference. You have to get going to that, so well excuse you. Thanks as always for your service. Bl alexander, i want to come back to you for a moment here. On the issue of gun reform specifically, the president did suggest in some comments on tuesday that after boulder, after the mass shooting there, again, just six days after the mass shooting in atlanta, that hes looking at executive actions. Any chance we might hear more about that this afternoon . I think hell be pressed on the issue of guns and whether he is willing to go it alone with democrats only in congress, whether hes only going to be able to do it by executive orders, executive actions, as you know well, those dont accomplish nearly as much as legislative action would, but this has been a decisive issue for so long, and its become this awful ritual we have seen In Washington, where theres a mass shooting somewhere in the country, americans are outraged. They demand action, and nothing happens here. So the question is how much capital hes willing to put into that or whether he has to do it on his own, putting capital into it on congress would potentially require blowing up the filibuster. I dont anticipate youll hear any announcements on that issue today, but its certainly one theyre focused on, in spite of the fact President Biden said in his first day in office, he would announce legislation on this issue which he has not yet done. Peter alexander at the white house, ahead of President Bidens first News Conference. Jacob soboroff there in yuma, and ken dilanian, a big thanks to all of you. We continue to follow that Breaking News out of colorado we just alluded to. Last hour, the suspect, the 21yearold suspect in mondays Deadly Supermarket Shooting appeared in court for the first time. Steve patterson is outside that courthouse. Steve, what did we learn from the First Court Appearance . Craig, 21yearold ahmad alissa faces ten counts of first degree murder. The judge ruled and reaffirmed he will be held without bond. Inside there, i want to give you a wrinkle, the defense waiving the right to a speedy 35day preliminary hearing, instead opting to ask the judge for an additional 60 to 90 days, essentially to get their case together. That was granted. Inside there, you see the images. A little color here. The defendant, the suspect, we didnt know if he would appear from jail or court. You see him there, physically in court, wearing that blue jail smock, the face mask, to protect from covid. A speedy hearing, maybe about five to six minutes or so. Outside, the d. A. Did give us a quick, very quick briefing on some of the proceedings. Two things to note. One is that investigators are still processing the scene at the supermarket, and two, they say additional charges will come in the days to follow. Want to play for you exactly what was said. Listen to this. We have filed ten counts of murder in the first degree and one count of attempted murder in the first degree for one of the Police Officers who had responded to the scene. Additional counts will certainly be filed in the next couple weeks. We dont know what those additional counts are. They would not elaborate on them. One other thing to note, The Public Defender in this case representing the defendant was also The Public Defender in the planned parenthood shooting, also The Public Defender in the Aurora Theater Mass Shooting as well. Some experience on highprofile cases as this moves forward. Back to you. Steve, did that public defender offer any sort of possible explanation or defense, anything preliminarily . I ran up to him after he was leaving court. I asked him very plainly if he felt that his defendant was able to stand trial, was mentally competent to stand trial. He gave me no comment. Steve patterson in boulder, thank you. As we mentioned, the pandemic will be front and center at President Bidens first formal Press Conference. One big thing we expect to hear is a new Vaccination Goal. But the rate of new infections threatening the progress were seeing in much of the country. Coming up, what the cdc director told me about that. Ching. The p. With tremfya®, adults with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. Tremfya®. Emerge tremfyant™. Janssen can help you explore cost support options. Mm. [ clicks tongue ] i dont know. I think they look good, man. Mm, smooth. Uh, they are a little tight. Like, too tight . Might just need to break em in a little bit. You dont want em too loose. For those who were born to ride theres progressive. 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And more than 46 million adults overall are now fully vaccinated. But covid cases are rising in at least 17 states now. On wednesday, we saw another 74,000 new covid cases. We saw 1200 new deaths. This is what cdc director dr. Rachelle wolinski told me about the rise in cases a short time ago on today. The question continues to be are we turning a corner . How will we know . How are we quantifying success, dr. Wolensky, when we see a daily case count of what, 20,000, 30,000 . You know, its hard to put a number on that. What worries me is the steady flow of 50,000, 60,000, and we continue to see that even today. What we do know is that were vaccinating people at 2. 5 Million People per day, and were really starting to see the positive effects of that vaccination. We know that people who are over the age of 65, their Mortality Rates have come down traumatly from 60 in 1,000 in january to 1 in 100,000 now. Were getting early evidence this vaccine is working. What we really want to do is make sure that we can reach all of the population that can get the vaccine so that we can get that Mortality Rate down because were still seeing about 1,000 deaths a day. Way too many. Joined now by an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the university of Arizona College of medicine. Lets start with what we heard from dr. Walensky. How worried are you about the fact that this trend in cases could have on the progress were making with vaccines . Thanks for having me, craig. Yeah, i think thats a critical question. Vaccination clearly has really great data for preventing transmission and severe disease, but how quickly can we get people vaccinated before some of the ones who havent been vaccinated get sick . We know theres quite a bit of spring break travel, and remember, a lot of the downtrend from earlier in the winter was basically because everybody got sick from the holidays. Christmas, new years, thats why a lot of hospitalizations and therefore deaths happened. A lot of the down time is simply from that. So we know that Group Settings and vacationing together and traveling today can cause a surge, and the question is how much of a surge before people are vaccinated, and thats the real fear. Doctor, if 70 of the most vulnerable age group, the 65 and older crowd, if they have at least some protection from the virus through these vaccinations, shouldnt we be seeing those numbers come down even more . No, thats exactly right. I think its phenomenal 70 of that age group has been vaccinated. As you know, theyre the highest risk of getting severe disease and being hospitalized. I will say in all of the e. R. S i worked at in various states in the country, those hospitalizations have seem to come down. And im hoping that trend continues where we have fewer and fewer hospitalizations. But we just dont want to let our guard down. Were very close to the finish line. Which i didnt necessarily know we were going to be at just a few months ago, but i think were close to the finish line. We have remain vigilant until we get there. I want to ask about the revision from astrazeneca that its vaccine is 77 effective instead of 79 . If its approved for use in the united states, considering all the drama that surrounded the astrazeneca rollout so far, do you think it will be difficult for folks to get that vaccination instead of the moderna or pfizer or Johnson Johnson shot . There really has been a lot of drama. Thats a good way of putting it. A lot of it unnecessarily so. Im not sure why they werent more clear on thas messaging. Remember, the effectiveness of preventing severe disease and hospitalization is about 100 , even with astrazeneca. So it really has been phenomenal what the Vaccine Makers have been able to do, whether theyre talking about the mrna vaccines with pfizer or moderna, or the attenuated vaccines, astrazeneca and Johnson Johnson. Remember, it is very effective in preventing severe disease. As to why people get the astrazeneca one or not, that is to be determined. And most important thing is that people are willing to be vaccinated. And as everybody has said, the best vaccine for you is the one you can get the most quickly. President biden, as you know, expected to make announcements in the News Conference related to the vaccination effort, related to the fight against this virus. We surpassed the 100 million shot in 100 day goal last week. What do you want to hear from the president this afternoon . Well, i personally would love to hear a coordinated plan that we know hes going to be give aglot of money towards the efforts. Im glad that he has ability by fiat to help fund these types of things and i wish it could have been done sooner, but it will nice to be know how it will be allocated and what support will be given to providers to vaccinate the communities. A lot of it is going to go to, for example, underserved, rural, and minority companies, but how are we going to be able to convince them to get the vooet and how will we do the distribution effectively. Im sure we have a plan for that, but it would be nice to know on the ground as medical Health Care Workers how were going to be able to tell our patients to get the vaccine. I know in the state of arizona, we recently opened up vaccinations to everybody who is an adult, basically, within 20 minutes, all the appointments were booked up. If you give vaccines and give money but people cant get an appointment, it makes it hard. Those logistics would be very important. I would love to hear that. Doesnt do anything good if there are a bunch of appointments available, like you said, to your point, you cant get one. But 2. 5 million, 3 million folks a day getting shots in arms. That continues to be a reassuring sign. Doctor, thanks as always. Looks like you just got off your shift or youre just heading in so we appreciate your time. 30 minutes from now, the chiefs of facebook, google, twitter all testifying before congress for the First Time Since that insurrection on january 6th. Lawmakers want to know what these companies are doing to stop disinformation from spreading like wildfire. Im going to talk to a democratic congressman on that committee as he gets ready for that hearing. Are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas, or abdominal discomfort . Taking align can help. Align contains a Quality Probiotic to naturally help soothe digestive upsets 24 7. Try align, the pros in digestive health. 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Kings hawaiian sliced bread makes everything better Angelic Choir and heres mine mom and dad left costa rica, 1971. And in 1990, they opened lrazu. When the pandemic hit, pickup and delivery was still viable. That kept us afloat. Keeping our diners informed on google was so important. The support from our customers, it honestly kept us going. I will always be grateful for that. Now, the ceos of google, facebook, and twitter will be facing some sharp questioning about the companies roles in the spread of disinformation ahead of the january 6th attack. Promises to be a very interesting hearing, not just because the questions are coming from the very people who were targeted back on january 6th, but also because theyre coming from some of the very people who were tweeting hashtag stopthesteal. I want to bring in ben collins. He covers the dark underbelly of the internet for nbc news, and congressman peter welch, a democrat from vermont, seems to be enjoying a nice cup of coffee or tea. Hes going to be taking part in todays virtual hearing. Ben, let me start with you because i mentioned disinformation on the election and the stop the steal hashtag. But were also talking about lies and Conspiracy Theories about covid. And the vaccines. These companies have all said in the past theyre trying to crack down. How can lawmakers get them to do more . Well, first, the companies have to acknowledge that this is the point. The point of their social networks. Very frequently is to drive people to extremes. You know, whether that extreme is to buy more stuff or that extreme is just to get people reengaged with content. When that happens with extreme political opinions, you know, that kind of content can drive people to reallife action. Thats what we saw on january 6th. What lawmakervise to do, which i have not yet seen frankly from lawmakers in any of these hearings is get these companies to admit this is what the point of the product is, to get people addicted to the internet, addicted to fear, and then to get people to engage in reallife action based on that fear. Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg expected to suggest that the government require companies to have a system for identifying and removing unlawful content. How far would that go to help . You know, facebook really wants regulation that they can have a part in crafting. Because otherwise, you get a mess like what happened in australia, where facebook because of legislation in australia, literally shut down news from facebook for months. This also theyre trying to regulate themselves across all these Different Countries and try to find geoffense themselves into spaces so theyre not breaking the law all throughout the world. So theyre trying to create legislation that works for them. And thats why, you know, youll see ads from facebook about this right now saying look, we want laws. We want rules that work. They will try to craft rules that work for them. But lawmakers, again, they have to look at the deep seeded issues and treat the disease, not the symptom. Congressman welch, this is the first time youll see these executives there on the hill since the insurrectionists stormed the capitol. What do you want to hear from them . What do you plan to ask, congressman . You know, frankly, its more than admit. We have to act. The amplification that occurs by the algorithms they design of misinformation, of hate speech, thats known. So im not looking for them to admit it. They should, but im looking for us to do something about it. The fact is that these three companies have a market cap of over 2. 2 trillion, and they didnt exist a few decades ago. And the social media is so engrained in our life now that what has happened is that we have not caught up with some of the downside consequences. And thats the Algorithmic Amplification of disinformation. Its election interference. Its privacy concerns. Its news deserts, local news deserts all around the country, and of course, its competition issues. So my view is that congress is not suited to do oneoff on privacy or Algorithmic Amplification. What we have to do in order to get our hands around this is face the question, should private executives like Zuckerberg Or Dorsey be making these important Public Interest decisions . They took the president off of their platforms. Or should decisions about how we deal with algorithms or moderating content, should they be made not by private executives accountable to shareholders but by Public Officials accountive to the public. We have to create an agency who is charged and staffed with addressing these issues that are now threatening our democracy. The broadcast industry, of course, regulated by the fcc. It sounds like youre suggesting something similar for social media. Is that an accurate comparison . Thats exactly accurate. You know, the fcc is dealing with issues, and it does use regulation, but what you have is that being done by an agency authorized by congress and by members of Congress Like me, who are accountable to voters, as opposed to private executives like dorsey and zuckerberg, who are accountable to shareholders. Ben, this is your area of expertise. Do you have a question for the congressman . Yeah, congressman, i have a question generally about how you deal with people on the other side of the aisle here. Who, you know, there is an issue that we have where lies spread faster than the truth on social media. This is known. You saw this in npr yesterday. They reported one of the you know, in each of the last several days, Vaccine Misinformation travels further than real facts on the vaccine. So there are people on the other side of the aisle here who benefit from an ecosystem where lies and innuendo are better than the truth for them. How do you handle that and how do you handle these hearings always devolving into some sort of both sidesism. Thats why we i think we need an agency. On the republican side, its much had more about cancel culture as they see it. On our side, its much more about the disinformation and the amplification of the lies and how that affects public policy, whether its a raid on the mob insurrection on january 6th or its the Conspiracy Theories about the vaccine. And frankly, congress isnt, i dont think, suited to deal with these on a oneoff basis because it becomes a freeforall in these hearings. In the past, when we have had the emergence of, for instance, wall street in the 30s, and there was an enormous amount of insider trader, bogus information given to potential purchasers of stock, we created the securities and exchange commission. And it had a Public Function of protecting Public Interest. We didnt leave it to the Wall Street Brokerage houses to do that. And i think thats where we have to go here, because my republican colleagues, i think if theyre saying why does dorsey get to take trump off of twitter, thats a fair question, because whos next . But on the other hand, its not up to the private individuals like dorsey. It should be up to the public that establishes what the rules of the road are that are in the Public Interest as opposed to the private benefit of shareholders of facebook or twitter. I enjoyed this conversation. Congressman, thank you for knrour time. Ben collins, thanks for your time as well, as always. Were just days away from Opening Statements in the Derek Chauvin murder trial. One of the biggest issues looming over it, whats happening with Police Reform . The effort to defund the police in minneapolis. We have new reporting on that. And again, in less than two hours, President Biden holding that first formal News Conference from the white house. His former top aide, Adrienne Elrod standing by for a preview, how hes getting ready, what hes focused on, and why hes waiting two months for this moment, next. S moment, next clearly, nothing melts like velveeta. Dad, its a video call. Cleahold the phoneelts in front of you. Hows that . Get. Get mom. [ding] power e trade gives you an awardwinning app with 24 7 support when you need it the most. Dont get mad. Get e trade and start trading today. Starting today, nobody has to settle for less than the very best. Because only verizon gives you 5g from americas most Reliable Network at no extra cost. 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This is the benefit of blue. Im jayson tatum check out my subway sub with Delicious Turkey and crispy bacon. It will help you hit shots from anywhere, unlike those other subs. My sub has steak. Wait, what did he say . Steak choose better be better and now save when you order in the app. Subway eat fresh. Just moments ago, a white house staffer tweeted this look at the preparations that are under way in the east room ahead of President Bidens First Official News Conference. Its an idea of what we will see when things get under way at 1 15 this afternoon. You can see they have made accommodated to achieve social distancing there. Adrienne elrod is with us, democratic strategist, former senior aide on the biden harris campaign. Always all to have your perspective. Before we jump into specifics, i want to ask a Big Picture Strategy Question here. This is from the atlantic. Theres a piece in the atlantic i want to ask you about on wednesday, quote, biden isnt talking for a reason, and quote, its a conscious calculation that people dont need or want to hear from the president on an hourbyhour basis. That they will be satisfied if he can revive the economy and end the pandemic. With that in mind, has that been part of the strategy, you think, that would explain why we havent heard or seen the president take questions in this sort of setting so far . Well, i think there is some truth to that, craig, because you know, first of all, we have this in your face president , donald trump, for four years that was completely exhausting. You know, who was talking to the press constantly and also not always in the best way. So i think thats part of the strategy, but we have also got to keep in mind, President Biden has been talking to the press for a long time. Hes been doing Media Availabilities in the white house, you know, oftentimes having pool sprays after meeting or before meeting. Its not like this white house hasnt been taking questions. Jen psaki has been Holding Daily briefings, something is new given the fact that the Trump Administration was not doing that tward the end. They were very sporadic. So the white house has been very transparent and very open and has a very congenial relationship with the press, but look, i think they realize its time to have a conversation, to have the president having a direct open conversation with the members of the White House Press corps today. Thats what youre going to see happen, and hes got a lot to be proud of, and i think hes going to be touting some achievements and also taking a bevy of questions that reporters are eager to ask. A number of those questions, im sure, will be related to whats happening at the border right now. If you were still advising the team there, how would you advise the president to approach answering those questions about the surge at the border . Well, you know, craig, you have to be open. You have to be transparent about whats happen down there. As the president noted yesterday, Vice President harris is going to be taking the helm for the administration on the challenges at the border, so i think youll expect to hear a lot about what that means and what her role is going to be. But look, this is something the white house is dealing with. They certainly inherited a mess from the Trump Administration. They are, you know, i think somewhere in the mid60 day range of being in the white house, so they have got some time to work this out, but i think theyre prepared for those questions and i think the president is going to give the answers that reporters are looking for. Vice President Biden has been tapped to lead the administrations response there at the border. What do you make of that decision . How do you see that playing out . Incredibly smart decision. I mean, on a number of fronts. First of all, this is President Biden showing hes giving one of the most pressing issues that this administration is dealing with to his immediate right hand. You know, he has such a congenial relationship and such a partnership with president obama. He certainly has the same thing with Vice President harris, and i think one of the things that is the most demonstrative of that partnership is the fact that he is tasking her with one of the most pressing issues that is frankly going to be facing this administration and facing the American People for quite some time. How do we deal with this crisis, im sorry, this challenge at the border. So you know, i think youre going to expect him to answer some questions about what exactly does that role entail, you know, obviously, youve got the director of homeland security, who will have a significant role. You have other members of the administration, but really, what does this cohesive arrangement between different Cabinet Secretaries and of course the Vice President , what exactly does that arrangement entail . Adrienne elrod with a preview of what we can expect to hear from the president in his first formal News Conference at 1 15. Thank you as also. Thank you, thank you. This week breaks a nearly twocenturylong streak for boston. Kim janney is that citys first female and first black mayor in boston history. She replaces marty walsh who was just sworn in as the president s new labor secretary. I spoke a time talking to kim janey on whats going fee her focus. My focus is on recovery, reopening, and renewal. What is clear is that we cannot go back. We have to go better. And we need a more equitable boston. She will serve as acting mayor until the november election. Shes not confirmed just yet. 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Every potential juror for the trial was asked about it. We are joined this morning to take a look where that fight to defund the police stands. What has changed there, if anything . Reporter the mayor was just talking a little about this in the Press Conference still on going. Its a Weekly Press Conference he has. When you go around the city of minneapolis, much has changed since the death of george flied floyd. You see the fencing around the courthouse. On Defunding The Police, it depends who you ask. It started with a promise in a park. Minneapolis city council Fighting Radical Reform less than two weeks after the death of george floyd. Reporter the majority supporting that idea. Defund the police. Still unfulfilled today. Reporter what happened . We have taken 5 of the budget and allocated it towards other programs. Reporter there has been progress. There has been a ban on neck restraints. After much political pressure, the mayor agreed to nearly 8 million in budget cuts shifting to Mental Health initiatives. And they moved to amend the charter replacing the Police Department with a more wholistic department of safety. Incremental steps short of the radical reform. They said they were going to defunded the police and backed out. Reporter you Saw In The Park that day they said defunded the police. Im not satisfied. I think we could make deeper investments. But for some they think Defunding The Police could be dangerous. Lets look at the facts. Across minneapolis homicide rates soared to multiyear high, a pattern mirrored in other large cities, but this spike was met with a thinner police force, the department down nearly 200 officers from last year, the result of retirements, resignations and more than 100 officers taking extended leave. Defunding the police right now is positively insane. And to me it was a gimmick when there were other things they could have implemented and got some of what they desired. I want to ask them to reclaim their imagination and dream of a Public Safety system that can keep people safe and also not murder people. Reporter a Community Divided over reforming a Current System or drastically recreating. You remember the settlement for the familiar little of george floyd. On that same day they passed a measurehaveivi of voters. Thank you. Thats going to do it for me. Yu thats going to do it for me to pay for bites of this. With this. When kids wont eat dinner, potato pay them to. Oreida. Win at mealtime. We started with computers. We didnt stop at computers. We didnt stop at storage or cloud. We kept going. Working with our customers to enable the kind of technology that can guide an astronaut back to safety. And help make a hospital come to you, instead of you going to it. So when it comes to your business, you know well stop at nothing. 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The white house had planned this as a victory lap with passage of his covid relief act. Instead, there have been two Mass Shootings, one with persistent racism towards asian americans. And at the