there are lots of obstacles for this white house and this all comes as the white house is expected to unveil details about the rollout of its 500 million free at home tests that the president promised last week. so how far will that go to show the american people that his administration is trying to make a difference and set the record straight on what to believe? yeah, happy new year, fred, happy new year, margaret. i agree with margaret that everything for this white house in 2022 has to do with looking down the road, seeing around the bend, having a plan for what they see and clearly executing on it in realtime. what plagued the administration in 2021 was too often they were seen as being caught offguard by events. so whether it s the build back better bill, trying to resuscitate that, or if it s dealing with covid, they have to act more decisively and they have to anticipate. they should have had these 500
with uncertainty in the economy and raising inflation. don t forget, all of this is happening as coronavirus cases surgery to all time highs. here to talk about all of this now managing editor for axios ma gr greta margaret talev and david swirly. i m going to say hopeful new year instead of happy. all right. margaret, let s begin with you. what has to be the president s priority right now as we get this year started? i mean, fred, on a very basic level i can biden s biggest challenge and biggest priority is how to get accurate information to all americans. the economy obviously is the thing that most americans are worried about, combined with coronavirus, the two are inextricably intertwined at this moment, but for the president the truth is that the economy actually is growing and that
metaphors here, but if you can t get a touchdown you have to get a field goal, you can t go into the locker room with a goose egg. all right. i think you summed it up well. david swerdlick, margaret talev, thank you so much. thanks. now that ghislaine maxwell is facing a potential life sentence in jail for sex trafficking, will she cooperate with prosecutors to implicate other high profile people involved in her crimes? we will discuss that straight ahead. but first, a quick programming note. tomorrow on cnn carole king and james taylor in an unforgettable concert film just call out my name tomorrow 9:00 p.m. on cnn. we will be right back. some of my best memories growing up, were cooking with mom. she always said, “food is love.” so when she moved in with us, a new kitchen became part of our financial plan.
biden spoke with putin again this week, margaret. so how much could that situation impact biden s domestic priorities? i mean, they really are separate issues, but if vladimir putin were actually to decide to go for it and invade ukraine, it would force biden s hand and nato s hand and all the western allies hand to do what they ve been threatening to do which is really bring down the hammer on sanctions. that would on the one hand be a distraction from biden s domestic agenda on the other hand it could give the american president an opportunity to reassert leadership skills abroad if he responds decisively. coming out of afghanistan, again, there was this expectations setting flub where americans did not understand that this was going to be a very, very bumpy exit because the white house didn t prepare americans messagingwise.