Transcripts For MSNBC MTP Daily 20240711

Vows not to dilute, dither or delay that legislation. The white house focuses today on immigration as President Biden prepares to sign a series of executive actions, including Assembly Task force to reunite families separated at the border during the Trump Administration. Welcome to tuesday, its Groundhog Day, the longest Groundhog Day any of us have ever experienced, isnt it, anyway, it jen psaki will hold her briefing the house Impeachment Managers have filed their pretrial brief this morning as well. Well get to both of those in a moment. The Daily Briefing comes after President Biden met with ten of the most moderately minded Senate Republicans, not necessarily an ideology but perhaps in tone last night at the white house. The that meeting they proposed a covid relief deal that they probably knew biden could not support and biden probably knew they wouldnt be able to stay united on that anyway. Case in point, its not every day you see Mitch Mcconnell publicly renouncing or praising Republican House members of the house of representatives. Last night he did both. He called out the Beliefs Marge Retailor Green has become the avatar for, denouncing them as loony lies and conspiracy theories. He defended the number three House Republican leadership liz cheney who has come under fire from her caucus for voting to impeach donald trump. Mcconnell called cheney a leader with convictions and the durj courage. Heres the problem. Ask yourself, how many republicans right now elected would be willing to publicly sign on to those kinds of statements . Especially after trump has signalled his embrace of greene and his rejection of cheney. Right now rank and file republicans with their words, deeds and actions have made it clear that it is donald trump that is the closest thing they have to a leader in this party, despite his incitement of a siege on the capitol that threatened their lives and attempted to upend this constitutional democracy. So what does that mean for the actual leaders of the Republican Party right now . The ones who hold those titles, like Mitch Mcconnell and Kevin Mccarthy. We dont know for sure and they dont seem to know either. Both of them have the same goal of winning back power in 2022 but theyre going about it in fundamentally different ways. Mccarthy is embracing trump, mcconnell, particularly after the Georgia Senate runoffs, not so much. Joining me from the white house is nbcs chief White House Correspondent kristen welker, and from capitol hill leigh ann caldwell. Kristen, lets start with covid relief and the talks biden has had back to back, the ten republicans and then today with the Senate Democratic caucus. Whats been the message . Is there are they are we officially in a moment where we can say theyre negotiating with republicans . Or are they just talking . Reporter i think theyre talking, chuck, with the intention to keep talking. I am told these talks are going to continue right through the moment that this legislation is passed because its my sense that the white house is just not going to back off of its 1. 9 trillion proposal. And speaking to officials here just moments ago they reenforced what we have heard from President Biden from the start which is that he got to that number because he believes thats whats necessary to get the vaccine rollout to where it needs to be, to get the aid that state and local governments need, and to get those direct checks to americans. Now, again, just to put this into context, republicans with whom the president met yesterday here at the white house are proposing something thats less than a third of his overall package. The white house just doesnt think that it gets there, gets to what the American People need. Having said that, though, chuck, i think youre going to hear a lot more about reconciliation today, that is that maneuver that would allow democrats to move forward with a simple majority and without republican support but i think what you are going to sesa an all Hands On Deck Push to try to get some republicans to support the final piece of legislation that is passed even if its not through 60 votes, even if they have to use that measure of reconciliation, chuck. You know, kristen, did does the white house have an idea of those ten republicans, you know, they came together on a deal that i assume that the tenth republican wasdo they kno are comfortable at a trillion or, you know, is this a case where the coalition among those republicans is extraordinarily fragile . It is extraordinarily fragile, chuck, and look at the fact that there were ten republicans with whom President Biden met yesterday, and Republican Leadership is not a part of this effort . And so i think youre right about that. And there might be some areas of negotiation around the margins. For example, theyre not that far off when it comes to those direct payments. 1,400, thats what the white house is proposing versus a thousand, thats what Senate Republicans are proposing, is there an area for them to meet in the middle there, potentially, but theres so many other key sticking points, chuck, and thats where that Coalition Gets very fragile and again meeting here at the white house without Republican Senate leadership, chuck. Right, yeah, those ten republicans have a much weaker hand than they realize, much weaker hand since theres no room for error, no member of leadership, and no garn teen mike rounds, todd young, the political pressure they could feel in their home states. It is understandable if democrats are skeptical they can go all the way with these ten republicans. Kristen welker, at the white house. Thank you. Let me move to leigh ann caldwell. I want to shift gears away from the covid debate, and more of whats going on between mcconnell and mccarthy. And i guess its this. Did Mitch Mcconnell throw a wrench into Kevin Mccarthys plans for this week . Or did he provide him cover for what Kevin Mccarthy would like to do this week . Reporter thats an interesting take, chuck. Im not totally sure. What we know is it is a dramatic contrast between what Mitch Mcconnell has said about the dynamics of the Republican Party and what Kevin Mccarthy has said as well. I think that mcconnell is trying to, of course, win back the majority in 2022 and hes worried about the path that House Republicans continue to go down understanding that that is a threat to the Senate Majority for republicans moving forward. But i dont even know that all Senate Republicans are on the same page as mcconnell. I spoke to senator rick scott of florida who is the new chairman of the Republican Campaign committee, and i asked him about Marjorie Taylor greene and if someone like her is problematic for his goal of winning back the majority and he dodged on the question. He said what she said about parkland, was untrue. But he said the issues of 2022 are going or the issue the campaign on 2022 is going to be about the issues. He wouldnt comment specifically on if people like her should be part of the party, and one thing thats notable among House Republicans, of course they have different districts and different dynamics, but theres a ground swell of people a couple weeks ago who wanted to oust liz cheney from her Conference Share position and the stunning silence you hear from House Republicans on what they should do with Marjorie Taylor greene is a really loud signal to, you know, republicans and democrats and the rest of the country. Leigh ann i want to enforce that point. What mcconnell said about liz cheney, and what Kevin Mccarthy said about liz cheney, look, i support her, but i also have concerns. I do think she has a lot of questions she has to answer to the conference. Are we really seeing, is Kevin Mccarthy going to punish liz cheney and not Marjorie Taylor greene . I dont personally see how he does that now but he has been absolutely silent on Marjorie Taylor greene. Weve heard from we finally confirmed at the very end of last week on a late friday night that he was actually going to sit down and meet with her. They havent detailed when that meeting is going to take place. What his message is going to be. And hes getting a lot of pressure from democrats to remove her from those committees. The democrats are moving forward, perhaps, with this resolution on the floor to do that. But what theyre telling us, democratic sources, is that is a way to put pressure on mccarthy to act on his own. We know the number two democrat steny hoyer smoke with mccarthy about getting her off of those two committees but mccarthy hasnt said anything publicly, he hasnt admonished and he hasnt said hes going to punish her in any way, chuck. Shes not going down without a fight. If you have donald trump on speed dial, and you regurgitate what trump told you and he doesnt counter it, since hes not on twitter, she looks like she has trumps proxy. Its an interesting spot for Kevin Mccarthy. Leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill, thank you. Lets turn to someone familiar with the House Republican caucus, former Virginia Republican congressman denver riggleman, and i say former at this point because i dont know if youre a former congressman or a former republican. But right now hes the chief strategist at the Network Contagion institute. Good to see you again. I know where you fall on this. You have been very clear eyed about this qanon nonsense. But you know this House Republican conference. Would you rather be liz cheney or marge rooe taylor green. As far as votes, id rather be Marjorie Taylor greene. Theres an old saying if youre stupid, youre stupid like a fox. And shes become very famous by pushing this bit of nonsense. And i say bit of nonsense as an understatement. She is sort of the verbal equivalent of getting famous through a sex tape. Shell say anything and do anything to get any type of press coverage. When you see even lately, as soon as recent as December Of 2020 she was defending qanon after a Business Insider article. Im not quite sure, at what point that we have more people starting to speak up but it comes to one thing, i dont know if anybodys mentioned this, but ill mention it to you, i think its polling. Youre seeing the differences between mcconnell and mccarthy is based stop the steal messaging is playing with the base. And Marjorie Taylor greene is playing with the base a lot better than liz cheney. So youre basically outlining that the Incentive Structures are broken here, or at least on the opposite side, Mitch Mcconnell has to win 50 races, plus one, or 51, statewide races, and so that means theres some suburban communities youve got to win, he is in one place. Kevin mccarthy might only have to win about ten districts that voted for joe biden to become speaker of the house. So what youre saying is the Incentive Structure is basically all on the side of who can more successfully run a base first strategy. Fund raising, polling, messaging. If you win on stop the steal or Election Integrity messaging or protrump messaging, if youre completely political. Im taking morals out of the equation, because you do know where i stand. I find it ridiculous to think this way, the gop could pick up seats in 2022, especially with the enthusiasm youll have on stop the steal messaging, only two years away, or less, campaigning starts now. Thats how the house of representatives work. When you look at the conference, what do they need to get liz out, 140 votes, whether theyre 211 there, they might come close, i dont think theyre going to do it. But right now with the Impeachment Articles using liz cheneys statement today, thats not going to help her. Im close to liz cheney. She suns, she has courage to do this. But Marjorie Taylor greene, its an ambivalent outcome after this conference meeting, whether it has to do with Marjorie Taylor greene or liz cheney. You are one of the republicans that understand very well how the trump world has taken hold of the state party apparatus. And these Congressional District apparatuses and the Committee Member elections that maybe a lot of people didnt Pay Attention to, in the suburbs, but, boy, theyve taken over. Theyve taken over these State Parties and its gone from, youve got the qanon, the false Flag Business and the oregon Republican Party, the qanon leader, the hawaii republican leader who was a qanon person, the bizarreness of the arizona Republican Party, what happened in your Congressional District and we saw the whole corey stuart mess. Is this the core cancer. Yes, its a rot. I talked to people leaving the party and theyre well im still a conservative, but theres no way i can stay in the party. Theres not that many, chuck, theres more people attracted than away. Moths are drawn to a flame. If you gave somebody a choice, all afternoon you can go to a library or a circus. People are going to watch the elephant playing a trumpet. Thats the way it is. Like i was talking about earlier, getting famous by pushing to the edges of the fringes seems to be the way of doing things, the issue you have, and what ive been begging people to look at, if its just information and propaganda, and we cant have a a Policy Discussion, we are doomed when it comes to getting anything done that crosses the aisle. Its very difficult. Listen, i just went to a store the other day, and you know what they had taped to it, you cannot enter unless youre wearing a mask, it said you cannot enter if youre wearing a mask. That was the difference in a store i went to here in central virginia. This is not going away. Looking at the data, the chatter, i think youre seeing a quiet rage out there on the gop side in some districts. Would you blame joe biden, though, for not wanting to for believing if he sits here and tries to negotiate across the aisle that i look at todd young, jerry moran, and mike rounds, theyre solid, i think theyre have good intentions but they come from states that are probably going to punish them if they even vote once or twice with joe biden. How do democrats negotiate with republicans across the aisle . Thats probably the best ploy, chuck, they cant vote yes on this or theyre going to get tossed out. They cant do it. And thats the issue that you have completely i can me and you, chuck, could have a Policy Discussion on the Executive Orders i disagree with, you know i lean right, Everybody Knows that, but i dont lean stupid. If you look at the politics of this, i dont see why joe biden wouldnt negotiate. Its not because policy might be good, it might be bad, its because the districts are polling that way. Kevins not stupid. Hes seeing that completely political. Hes seeing there might be more enthusiasm for stop the steal messaging than bipartisan governance messaging. Denver riggleman, you were talking adam kinzinger. Hes trying to reform the party within. You saw it as a new third party. You going to won third party for governor this year . After the anger ive seen in the people running and what theyre saying its hard not to. Again, i said this before, my wife would tackle me from the adjoining room, youd see violence on this end of the camera. Ive got a lot of decisions to make with the family. Its difficult to sit and watch this from the outside and seeing what adams going through, do i stay and go back and run as a republican from the inside, i dont know, i just dont know. Silence is not golden in this case. No, it is not. Say what it is. Denver riggleman, former congressman from virginia, thanks for coming on. The winter storm slamming the northeast is causing problems in the fight against coronavirus, a bunch of Vaccine Sites had to close temporarily. Obviously. Due to the storm. How much of a setback is it and what do people with appointments do now . All of that is next. Plus, impeachment 2. 0. King trump and house Impeachment Managers lay out their cases ahead of next weeks trial. Stick with us. Eks trial stick with us. Go talk to him. Yeah, no. Plus its not even like hed be into me or whatever. This could be hi. You just moved in, right . I would love to tell you about all the great savings you can get for bundling your renters and Car Insurance with progressive. Oh, i was just oh, tammy. I found your retainer in the dryer. My plaque psoriasis. The itching. The burning. The stinging. My skin was no longer mine. My psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen. Painful. 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This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities, and its an important component to delivering vaccines ic tably. Welcome back, that was the white house covid19 response coordinator jeff zients announcing vaccines will be shipped to pharmacies directly, expediting gets shots in the arms. Fema will be reimbursing states for ppe costs going back to the beginning of the pandemic, an estimated 3 billion to 5 billion of money injected in the states. That could have interesting covid relief bill impact. The u. S. Is trying to ramp up Vaccination Efforts up to 1. 3 million doses a day but the Winter Weather on the east coast has stalled vaccinations in at least eight states forcing some sites to close all together and thousands of appointments to be cancelled. Ellison barber has more. I have to say, normally you say this happens, government closes, delay a day. Drivers license appointment, theres all sorts of appointments you have with the government on any given day but given how difficult its been to get these vaccine appointments, how organized is the state of new jersey to get this done right . Reporter i mean, it is a big deal. As you said, these appointments arent easy to come by and this is impacting thousands of people. You can see the sign over my shoulder, vax center closed. Six sites like this one across the state of new jersey closed yesterday and today. Some of them were closed because there was a shortage of a Vaccine Supply but most of them are closed and were closed yesterday because of the weather. Somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 new jerseyans had their appointments yesterday and to do. When we spoke to officials overseeing these megasites with the new Jersey State Police assured us when they notified those people that their appointments were cancelled they were given an option immediately to reschedule it. They say they are confident they can get all of those people back in line and vaccinated in the coming days. The goal here in new jersey is to vaccinate about 4. 7 million new jerseyans within six months despite these delays. Officials here tell me they think if they get the supply from the federal government that they can still hit that goal even though they admit it is a lofty one. Chuck . Im curious, the government doing this direct shipping, what did you hear locally . Is that something theyre anxious to see happen, or is there nervousness that things are changing yet again . Reporter i mean, theyre watching all of it and i will say when i was speaking to one of the colonels with the new Jersey State Police and in this state they oversee all of these mega sites, not always the case in other states, but thats their role here, he did seem optimistic about moving ahead with this. Hes still very confident he feels like they are moving in a direction where their goals in terms of vaccinating people in this state are still achievable despite all of the different moving parts, be it locally or federally. Chuck . I would say thats the best news, ellison, youre not being snowed on in this instance. Maybe this means that today will be the last day that site is blocked there, anyway. Ellison barber from a mega site in northern new jersey. Ellison, thank you. Joining me now is the founder and ceo of advancing equity, a yahoo news medical contributor, imlike were all a broken record here, especially our conversation is a broken record, i think, when it comes to this equity issue, first when it came to testing and then when it came to covid targeted relief and now when it comes to vaccinations. Were still lacking a ton of data, were still not tracking the data when it comes to what were whos getting vaccinated right now in so many states. Do you see any evidence that the biden teams turning this around . Well, thanks for having me, chuck, you know, i mean, at least the biden team has a Health Equity task force that is led by dr. Nunez smith who is an expert on equity and very much aware of the issues at hand and hopefully working very diligently to address them. This news about shipping to the pharmacies definitely great to have other Access Points for vaccine delivery. But remember, many cities, vulnerable communities, have Pharmacy Deserts where there are not large chain pharmacies, like a walgreens or a cvs. While its great news we still need for more accessible vaccination Distribution Points that are in communities. Have you looked, by the way, at what West Virginia has done . They didnt use the recommendations of the federal government, and they seemed to have a better local pharmacy supply chain frankly than any other state in the union. Have you taken a look as to whey theyre doing so well . No, no, i tell me a little b about what their program is . No, i mean, thats well, the one thing you just mentioned is this issue of Pharmacy Deserts and that they have oh. They have created their own very localized pharmacy distribution network. And something that they had activated in the past. It i just wonder if we look at it there, and granted West Virginia is not as diverse as other states, is that a blueprint, particularly, for rural for some rural states . Yeah, i will say the more local the efforts, the better. The fact is, is that most of the Vaccine Distribution occurs at the local level. So if we can get it, for example, into local pharmacies, or into Community Centers or schools, that is more ideal than having it accessible at hospitals, and large chain pharmacies, and i think thats where the direction where a lot of states are trying to go right now. When it comes to getting communities of color to trust the vaccine, particularly africanamerican communities, kareem abduljabbar, obviously one of the alltime greats in the nba, is endorsing the idea of letting some current nba players jump the line, beyond the vaccine, as a way of being someone in the community that can send the message that these vaccines are safe and i know look, theres a lot of debate because weve seen a lot of look at washington, d. C. , the wealthier your community is, the more vaccines you seem to get. So that sends a mixed message, where are you on that, dr. Blackstock . I was interviewed for a piece about this for the Washington Post and i was really surprised when the commissioner mentioned it. While i think that having celebrities and athletes do advocacy around the vaccine is really important, i do think that giving the vaccine to young, healthy individuals when we have elderly people in the country who have not been vaccinated yet, i think that sends a really bad message, especially in light that the professional teams have access to testing earlier on in the pandemic, when many other communities did not. And so i think the role for our athletes, yeah, i agree, they should be engaging in advocacy efforts but they should not be cutting the line to receive vaccination. Dr. Uche blackstock, appreciate you coming on and sharing your expertise with us, thank you very much. Thank you. You got it. Weve got a live look now at the white house where press secretary jen psaki is set to brief reporters. Any moment now. Once she begins speaking well take you to the start to have that briefing live. 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Were carefully designing our bottles to be one hundred percent recyclable, including the caps. Theyre collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. That completes the circle, and reduces Plastic Waste. Please help us get every bottle back. Welcome back, both the houses Impeachment Managers and former President Donald Trump have formally laid out their Impeachment Trial Arguments this morning in a pretrial brief. The house Impeachment Managers say the former president s responsibility for what unfolded last month was unmistakable. Quote, trump summoned a Mob To Washington exhorted them into a frenzy and aimed them like a loaded gun. Trumps legal Team Released its written answers, arguing he cant be impeached because hes no longer president and his comments at the january 6 rally before the attack on the capitol were within his First Amendment rights. Lets bring in our nbc correspondent hallie jackson. What we expected from the house Impeachment Managers, not a surprise. The question was going to be how were the former president s lawyers going to couch their argument, and it appears to be that theyre not going to argue the Election Results themselves, though we dont know for sure once the trial gets going, but and we knew theyd make the constitutional argument about whether he could be convicted. Its this First Amendment argument. This one feels like, shall we say, a very loose interpretation. Well, and it is going to be up to interpretation, chuck, the people the senators who are going to be there next week, listening to these arguments as they go on, that when donald trump said things like go and fight like hell, was he speaking metaphorically or was he speaking literally . Thats the crux of this. I will tell you the past 24 hours ive been talking to sources close to the president , the former president s legal team with knowledge of this and the expectation as we saw that this, you know, formal response from the team would largely focus on this issue of jurisdictionality, constitutionality, the idea that you cant impeach somebody no longer in office, a theme we see again and again. Theres also the free speech element. By will tell you one of the things ive been looking for if you and i had talked about this a week ago would have been a surprise. Listen, donald trump wanted his initial team of lawyers to get out there and talk about false claims of Election Fraud. To center their argument based on reporting our team has done, to center their arguments on that exact issue. You know what words you dont see in this response filed today, chuck, you dont see arizona or wisconsin or georgia. These are all things that im told, as of even last week, the former president wanted his lawyers to talk about. Thats why they left, chuck, thats why that he has two new lawyers came in, one of them david schoen had been working with the team prior to the dissolution of the initial legal team. There are a couple fleeting references to the idea that donald trump is still keeping up these false claims of fraud. He still cant admit that, in fact, he did not win by a landslide. Chuck, you know, i know, you know, everybody who looks at the numbers, donald trump not only did not win the election, he did not win by a landslide. And yet in this response his attorneys say he does not acknowledge that that is factually inaccurate. There are fleeting references to the things that donald trump simply cannot even now, even today, even sitting in south florida, let go of. But overall, this is an argument that comports with what i think, chuck, a lot of Senate Republicans wanted to see, including republican allies. Of the former president s. Like senator Lindsey Graham who very publicly even as of last week was saying focus on the constitutionality argument. Senator rob portman saying hes got to focus on the constitutional argument piece. Thats effective for republican senators. Listen, well wait and see how this goes next week but if it spirals into claims of Election Fraud that arent true, it will put these republican jurors in a real tough position, chuck. Well, i was just going to say, do they at all worry that if they that if they say in their brief, as you just reported, that the president , you know, believes what he believes, essentially, that, you know, no amount of facts, no amount of courts denying him hasnt changed his mind, well how does that help his case . Doesnt that paint a picture of somebody whose State Of Mind can be called into question . I dont know, chuck, that there is a way around that because donald trump is not going to come out, even on based on the reporting that ive done, even on the eve of his Impeachment Trial saying, well, youre right, its all fair, its good and acknowledge what is actually the reality of it. That would be so out of character, so sort of shocking for donald trump to do that. It just does not seem in the realm of possibility, it reads to me, looking at this response, like in some ways the attorneys had no choice but to say that. In other ways you could argue they almost won this discussion with donald trump. So much of this brief really is focused on the piece of this thats Ineffect A Political Strategy and could be a legal strategy, to argue that you cant impeach somebody whos no longer in office. Okay, but hes now basically you have to pick your poison here, either hes a congenital liar or hes not living in reality. I dont know if either answer is a good one for them at this point, anyway. Hallie jackson, with the latest on the Impeachment Trial, hallie, thank you very much. As we wait for the White House Briefing to get under way here later today President Biden is going to attempt to undo more of his predecessors a cs On The Issues of immigration but later today we expect President Biden to sign three more Executive Orders, aimed at rolling back the Trump Administrations immigration practices, one of those orders will establish a task force to reunite children separated from their parents under Donald Trumps Zero Tolerance policy. Jacob soboroff has covered this. Theres a lot that these orders will begin the process to do but theres a lot that these orders are essentially more aspirational, until a lot more work is done inside dhs, and perhaps in congress. So whats what impacts immediate and what impact is going to take a while . That is the exact worry, chuck, from advocates and lawyers that not only work with separated families, but want to see a resolution on the remain in mexico policy, see the public charge rule implemented by the Trump Administration, taken back. But and very specifically on the separated families and the promised Reunification Task force advocates want to hear and believe that this will go broader than the case thats currently in the federal court system which has mandated the reunification of the families and of course President Biden promised that he was going to set up this task force, he said during the debate with kristen he believed this was criminal and what we understand is that the scope will cover the remaining separated families and not only the 611 the government has not been able to reach or locate at this point, and that includes one father and son ive spoken with back in the fall, they were waiting for this, the fathers in honduras, the son is up in california. I want you to understand what theyre going through as they await this announcement today. You have a birthday coming up. Yeah. How old are you going to be . 9. Are you hoping to get anything for your birthday . Yeah. What do you think youre going to get or what do you want to get, buddy . My dad. You want to get your dad for your birthday . That would be a nice present, huh, bud . Yeah. Thats alvaro jr. , he has learned to speak establish, hes now almost double digits as they say with kids. If i was in the room, i would ask the white house why do they not intend to offer relief to families that were reunited after separation and deported or reunited abroad and want the opportunity to come back, if it truly was criminal, as the president said, you know, why dont we see a broader scope of relief in this Executive Order . Jacob, im curious, what youve covered this so long, you know which policies can be undone and i think at this point you probably know which policies trump put in there that would be hard to undo. Which do you think are going to be the hardest policies for the biden folks to undo that trump put together . Well, the one that they have not offered up much information on, chuck, is title 42. Under the cover of Coronavirus The Trump Administration blocked people from entering this country and having access to due process or legal counsel, over 100,000 people were immediately expelled from the country under the cover of coronavirus, same with the remain in mexico policy and program. Tens of thousands of people made to wait in some of mexicos most dangerous cities those are serving the same underlying policy goals as the family separation policy, dismantling overall of the american asylum system. I think they believe that legally these are things that are tough to undo quickly. The challenge there is these are things that President Biden said as a candidate he was going to do and there are many people, not just Tens Of Thousands of migrants waiting at the border or in home country for answers but also the advocates that work on their behalf and believe when they endorsed him these are promises he was going to keep, and early on in the administration. You know, jacob, its hard for those impacted. The department of Homeland Security was so gutted by donald trump its leadership was so messed with, and its not even clear how many orders were legally done, given, that this is going to take time to figure out how to get dhs as a workable and lawful agency again. Jacob soboroff, always on the Immigration Story for us, as always, sir, thank you. Up forward. Our own trymaine lee dives into this pivotal National Conversation in this time of deep division. He needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. 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Ask your Healthcare Provider about kesimpta. Dramatic results. Less rms drama. Apps are used everywhere. Dramatic results. Except work. Why is that . Is it because people love filling out forms . Maybe they like checking with their supervisor to see how much Vacation Time they have. Or sending corporate their expense reports. Ill let you in on a little secret. They dont. By empowering employees to manage their own tasks, paycom frees you to focus on the business of business. To learn more, visit paycom. Com got my hair got my head got my brains got my ears got my heart got my soul got my mouth i got life white house welcome back. We are tap dancing here, we are less than, i think, 90 seconds away from the start of jen psakis White House Briefing. I hate to do this to you but my colleague trymaine lee can you hear us now, the next chapter he joins me. I hate having to start this knowing i might have to cut you off midstream for the briefing. Ill shut up. Tell me why we should watch this tonight. Can you hear us now on nbc news. Com, basically after four years where american issues of race and racism were brought to bear and black folks helped elevate joe biden and Kamala Harris to the white house. What is owed to black people. Joe biden said hed have The Backs Of Black America and now we have this conversation about how we move forward and what this looks like. Well done trymaine in a shortened tease there. Be sure to watch that tonight, heres jen psaki. Rebuild and strengthen our immigration system. These actions are centered on the basic premise our country is safer, stronger and more prosperous with a fair, safe and orderly immigration system. Todays actions da a number of things, the First Executive order creates a task force chaired by the secretary of Homeland Security, to reunify families, which will work across government to find parents and children separated by the prior administration. The second Executive Order develops a strategy to address the root causes of migration across our borders and creates a humane asylum system, including Directing Dhs to take steps to end the Migrant Protection Protocols Program which had led to a humanitarian crisis in northern mexico. And the third Executive Order promotes immigrant integration and inclusion and ensures that our Legal Immigration system operates fairly and efficiently by Instructing Agencies to review the public charge rule and related policies. As many of you also may have been on the Briefing Call we had a little bitnot, we have announ covid coordinator, i should say, that starting on February 11th, the federal government will deliver to select pharmacies across the country additional vaccine thats coming online next week. This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities and is an important component to delivering vaccines equitably. More than 90 of americans live within five miles of a pharmacy. And i dont know about you, my motherinlaw, my family callsiw they can call the cvs and figure out when they can get their vaccine. This is a limited launch of the program, but supply will ultimately go up to 40,000 pharmacies nationwide. Second, we continue to work to ensure states, tribes, and territories have the resources they need to turn vaccines into vaccinations. President biden has already directed fema to fully reimburse states for the cost of National Guard personnel and other emergency costs. And today we go further by fully reimbursing states for the Eligible Services they provided at the beginning of the pandemic in january of 2020. That means that states will be fully repaid for things like masks, gloves, mobilization of the National Guard. And they can use the Additional Resources for Vaccination Efforts and Emergency Supplies moving forward. This Reimbursement Effort is estimated to total 3 to 5 billion and is only a share of the resources that states need to fight this pandemic, which, as weve talked about before includes testing, genomic sequencing and mass vaccination centers. Last, we announced that we would increase weekly Vaccine Allocation to the states for the next three weeks by an additional 5 . Following last weeks 16 increase. So we have increased supply by more than 20 since the president took office just about two weeks ago. These actions speak to the daily work we are doing for the response americans deserve. Last night the president had a meeting with ten republican senators. Hes meeting right now with the Senate Democratic caucus over video to further discuss the American Rescue plan. And well have a readout on that later this afternoon that we will send out. He, last night during the meeting, he welcomed the opportunity to have a Constructive Exchange of ideas over how we can improve the American Rescue plan. He plenged that he would bring people together when he ran for president. Last night was an example of doing exactly that. A new poll yesterday by Yahoo And Ugov Show that this plan has already garnered bipartisan support among the American People. He also reiterated, or we would like to reiterate, i should say, the urgency of acting quickly on the package. You all asked yesterday about the cbo reports, new analysis that came out by the cbo, that report showed also that without action our economy wont reach prepandemic levels until 2025. Thats too long. So our goal with moving this package forward is making it faster. I have a couple of additional readouts or followups from some questions that have been asked in here over the last several days. Somebody asked earlier i think it was last week about puerto rico. Today theres an update i have. The administration is releasing 1. 3 billion in aid allocated by congress to puerto rico that can be deployed to protect against future climate disasters in partnership with the Puerto Rico Department of housing, the administration is also working to remove onerous restrictions put in place by the last administration on nearly 5 billion in additional funds. Someone also asked yesterday about how President Biden keeps in touch. Theres a number of ways. But he receives Correspondence Letters in his briefing book every night as past president s have done. He also regularly connects with americans on the phone. Weve put out some videos of that and well continue to do that moving forward. And as you also know he attends his typical routine of attending public mass every weekend which is something he did as President Elect and something he will do clearly respecting Covid Protocols moving forward. There was also a question, sorry, a couple followups here, about the president s engagement with the Capitol Police officer who lost i think ed you asked this question perhaps, about the Capitol Police officer, officer sicknick, who had lost his life in the events of january 6th. As you know, or many of you may know, the president spoke with members of his family shortly after his passing to express his condolences and sympathies to their tragic loss. I dont have anything to update in terms of his schedule tomorrow, but i expect we will have more of an update on that in the next 24 hours certainly. Finally, i think finally, i know this is a lot at the top. We can confirm that the president will visit the State Department now on thursday. That was originally planned earlier this week. We had to move things around because of snow, where he will thank the men and women of the National Security workforce for their service to our country, and deliver remarks about reclaiming americas role in the world. Sorry, i did actually have one more item. As you all have seen reports this morning of the fbi confirmation that two fbi agents are deceased and are wounded in a shooting in florida. The two wounded agents were transported to hospital and are in stable condition as some i think have reported. President biden was briefed this morning by Homeland Security adviser liz sherwood randall. This is obviously a terrible tragedy. I expect youll hear more from the president later this afternoon when he speaks to all of you. I know that was a lot. With that, lets kick us off. Wonderful. Thank you, jen. Two questions. Congressional democrats are moving forward with covid relief with Legislation Set to hit the House Budget Committee by february 16th. What kind of time line does that create for you with regard to talks with republicans . Well, as many of you who have covered capitol hill know, there is a process. The Budget Reconciliation Process is a lengthy one. Because i suspected that people would want to talk about the meeting last night today, i just wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about that process and where we see there being opportunity. So, first, as you know, once a budget well, maybe you know but a lot of people watching do not know, that once a Budget Resolution is passed, the house and Senate Negotiators will work to develop a Reconciliation Bill that can pass through the house and senate. At several points in this process as we look to the weeks ahead, republicans can engage and see their ideas adopted. At any point in the process a bipartisan bill can pass on the floor. So just creating the option for reconciliation with a Budget Resolution does not foreclose other legislative options. Second, republican ideas can be adopted during the Reconciliation Negotiations and it is likely that several bipartisan ideas maybe or we are certainly hopeful of that. And, third, republicans have the ability to offer amendments both during the Budget Resolution and instruction phase of the process and then later during the reconciliation phase. And in that way can ensure their ideas are heard. And i did all of that because i think its important, theres been some misunderstanding about how this process works, and i think there was some view that the final vote was this week. You all know thats not the case. There is some time, thats why the president is engaging why he did with republicans last night, democrats today, and why hes conveyed that he would like to continue doing that in the days ahead. Secondly, moscow court sends Alexey Navalny to prison for two and a half years for violating his probation for going to germany to recuperate from being poisoned. Does the white house plan any additional steps in response . Well, you may not have seen this because i think it just came out, but secretary of state tony blinken put out a statement in response to the sentencing. I will just let me reiterate some of the pieces from here. We are deeply concerned by russian authorities efforts, decision, i should say, to sentence opposition figure Alexey Navalny. Mr. Navalny is entitled to the rights provided in the russian constitution, and russia has International Obligations to respect Equality Before The Law and the rights to Freedom Of Expression and peaceful assembly. We reiterate our call for the russian government to immediately unconditionally release mr. Navalny as well as the hundreds of other russian citizens wrongfully detained in recent weeks for exercising their rights. I will say so to your specific question there is an ongoing review. We announced i think it was early last week of a number of the, you know, reported or concerning actions i should say by the russian government which includes the treatment of Alexey Navalny. It includes a full assessment of the solar winds hack. It includes a review of the reports around bounties on troops. And it also includes reports of an assessment of engagement in the 2020 election. Thats an ongoing review by the National Security team. When they conclude that, that will launch whatever Policy Process to determine what steps we will take from here. On the relief bill, democrats are moving ahead with this process. You all are still hopeful that you can get bipartisan support. But youve also made it clear that youre not going to slim down this bill significantly. So where right now is the greatest potential for compromise to try and achieve that bipartisanship . Well, youre right, mary, that i think and this was evident in the discussion last night. It was, as we said in our readout and i think as Senator Collins also said, it was civil, it was constructive. This is how democracy should work. We should be engaging democrats and republicans should be engaging with each other. But there certainly is a gap between where we are and where the proposal, the republican proposal that was discussed last night was. There are some, you know, bottom lines i think the president has which he has conveyed in the meeting last night and reiterated to us this morning, which is, to put it simply or