Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, March 12, 2021

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

12:27 P.M. EST

MS. PSAKI: Well, we are ending the week with a very special guest, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. He’s our first repeat guest here — must be a lot going on in this world. He’s going to give us a readout of the Quad meeting that took place this morning and also, of course, answer some of your questions.

So, with that, why don’t you take it away.

MR. SULLIVAN: Thanks Jen. Good to see everybody today. So, as Jen said, this morning the President hosted the first ever Quad Summit — the first time that this group gathered at the leaders’ level. Of course, they gathered virtually because of the constraints of COVID-19.

Each of the leaders independently, in the course of the meeting, referred to this event as “historic” because it cemented a group of strong democracies that will work together going forward to secure a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The President noted in his opening remarks that this is the first multilateral summit he’s hosted since taking office, and that’s on purpose. It reflects his view that we have to rally democratic allies and partners in common cause and his belief in the centrality of the Indo-Pacific to the national security of the United States.

During the meeting, the leaders addressed key regional issues including — excuse me, including freedom of navigation and freedom from coercion in the South and East China Seas; the DPRK nuclear issue; and the coup and violent repression in Burma. The President and his counterparts also spoke to the competition of models between autocracy and democracy, and expressed their confidence that, despite setbacks and imperfections, democracy is the best system to deliver for people and to meet the economic, social, and technological challenges of the 21st century.

And I have to say that, over the course of the meeting, a sense of optimism for the future, despite the hard times we’re in, was on full display.

The four leaders did discuss the challenge posed by China, and they made clear that none of them have any illusions about China. But today was not fundamentally about China. Much of the focus was on pressing global crises, including the climate crisis and COVID-19.

And with respect to COVID-19, these four leaders made a massive joint commitment today: With Indian manufacturing, U.S. technology, Japanese and American financing, and Australian logistics capability, the Quad committed to delivering up to 1 billion doses to ASEAN, the Indo-Pacific, and beyond by the end of 2022.

The leaders also agreed that they would meet in person before the end of the year, and they launched a set of working groups, including an emerging technology group that will help set standards in key technologies like 5G and artificial intelligence, and another on cyber that will help our four countries meet this growing threat.

These groups will deliver results by the time of the summit I’ve just referred to that will happen before the end of the year.

The Quad, at the end of the day — at the end of today is now a critical part of the architecture of the Indo-Pacific. And today’s summit also kicks off an intensive stretch of diplomacy in the region. Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin will travel to Japan and Korea to meet with their counterparts in a two-plus-two format. They’re getting on the road this weekend.

Secretary Austin will go on to India from there. Secretary Blinken and I will subsequently meet the senior Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska. And we will have other high-level meetings and visits in the coming weeks with leaders from the Indo-Pacific that will be announced soon.

Just a word on Anchorage before I turn to your questions. We’ve spoken a lot about our fundamental strategy of establishing a position of strength in the early going. And after the work of the past 50 days, Secretary Blinken and I will enter the meeting with senior Chinese representatives from a position of strength.

President Biden has signed into law the American Rescue Plan, and the OECD has now projected that our economic growth will be the highest in decades and will help power global economic growth. We’re ahead of schedule on the President’s ambitious goal of 100 million shots in 100 days. We’ve launched a bold effort to secure our critical supply chains. We’ve reclaimed our place in key international institutions. And with the current presidency of the U.N. Security Council, we passed a strong statement on Burma just this week.

We’ve revitalized our alliances in Asia and Europe. Last week, with the Europeans, we agreed to a pause in tariffs in the long-running Boeing-Airbus dispute. And we executed a strong joint response to Russia’s poisoning of Aleksey Navalny. We’ve begun deep consultations with our European partners on a common approach to our concerns with China.

In Asia, just in the last few days, we’ve reached new hosting agreements for our troops and our bases with both Korea and Japan. And now we’ve taken the Quad to a new level.

So make no mistake: Today is a big day for American diplomacy, this summit is a big deal for the President and for the country, and we’re looking forward to the work ahead.

And with that, I would be happy to take your questions. Yeah.


 * Q Thank you, sir. Jennifer Jacobs from Bloomberg News.  In the Quad meeting this morning, did the President and his counterparts discuss the cyber-attack on the Microsoft Exchange?  And also — I’m also wondering if they discussed the chips shortage — the shortage of semiconductors.  And was there any solution to that?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: Without getting into too much detail, they discussed both recent cyber-attacks and semiconductors in the course of the conversation today.  And indeed, the leaders agreed, as part of the Emerging Technology Working Group, to look at this supply chain question — including as it relates to semiconductors — to make sure that we don’t have shortages of critical materials going forward, whether it’s semiconductors or rare earths.


 * Q On this cyber-attack with Microsoft, can you give us a sense of all of the scope and scale of this — how it might compare to SolarWinds? And is this still ongoing?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: It is still ongoing, in the sense that we are still gathering information.  We are still trying to determine the scope and scale.  It is significant, but the precise number of systems that have been exposed by this vulnerability and have been exploited, either by nation-state threat actors or ransomware hackers or others — that is something that we are urgently working with the private sector to determine.


 * Q Can you declaratively say that the Microsoft Exchange hack was done by China?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: I’m not in a position, standing here today, to provide attribution, but I do pledge to you that we will be in a position to attribute that attack at some point in the near future.  And we won’t hide the ball on that; we will come forward and say who we believe perpetrated the attack.


 * Q You talked about diplomacy. I want to ask you about Iran right now.  What is the status of any talks with Iran, given they rebuffed the U.S.’s effort to meet with them?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: Diplomacy with Iran is ongoing, just not in a direct fashion at the moment.  There are communications through the Europeans and through others that enable us to explain to the Iranians what our position is, with respect to the compliance-for-compliance approach, and to hear what their position is.  And —


 * Q And if I could follow up —
 * MR. SULLIVAN: And we’re waiting, at this point, to hear further from the Iranians how they would like to proceed.  But from our perspective, this is going to be — you know, this is not going to be easy, but we believe that we are in a diplomatic process now that we can move forward on, and ultimately secure our objective, which is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and to do so through diplomacy.


 * Q As it relates to the — to Iran, is the U.S. not going to respond to the last round of rocket attacks that hit al-Assad? And we heard from the former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, in the last couple of days, saying the Ayatollah recognizes “only strength.”  Is the U.S. demonstrating weakness in terms of that relationship?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: So first of all, if you look at the pattern of attacks that took place over the course of 2019 and 2020 against American personnel and facilities — how frequently they occurred, what kind of damage they did — I’m not sure that the former Secretary is in a position to be trying to give us advice on the question of how to respond.


 * Q Thank you, Jake. Jonathan Lemire, with Associated Press.  On a sort of broader picture&colon; As a candidate, now-President Biden called Saudi Arabia a “pariah.”  He vowed a new approach on China.  He vowed to be tough on Putin.  You know, but as he’s — in his early days of his administration, both Republicans and Democrats alike have suggested that he’s taken a little more cautious, more conservative approach.
 * MR. SULLIVAN: Joe Biden is the ultimate optimist, and today was the ultimate testament to his optimism: pulling together, for the first time ever, the leaders of Japan, Australia, and India in a grouping that is going to allow the United States to drive forward its agenda, its interest, and its values more effectively going forward.  And to lift up democracy, as the signal — form of government that can deliver for people and meet the challenges going ahead.


 * Q Jake, Steven Portnoy, from CBS News Radio. Thanks for coming in and taking our questions.  I want to ask you a question about immigration diplomacy.  When he was Vice President, Joe Biden went to Guatemala in the summer of 2014. You were on that trip as his national security advisor at the time.  He went because of what was then an unprecedented surge of unaccompanied minors coming across the border.
 * MR. SULLIVAN: So, the President has made clear, and this administration has made clear, that we are going to pursue an effective and humane immigration policy and unwind what we believe was the ineffective and inhumane policy over the course of the last four years.  That’s point number one.


 * Q Just to follow up, do you really believe that message is being received clearly, in an “unrelenting” way? I mean, there was a young man quoted in the Wall Street Journal this week who said that this President seems more friendly to him than the prior one, and he believes he’ll be able to come to the United States on that basis.
 * MR. SULLIVAN: So this is, day by day, something that we need to be able to communicate from a range of different perspectives — from this podium, in the region itself, on the airwaves — and we will continue to do so as we go forward.


 * Q Just a follow to next week’s meeting with representatives from China. Do you think that tariffs and export controls targeting China will be part of the talks?  And what does China need to do for the U.S. to dial back on tariffs and export controls?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: I don’t expect that, for example, the phase one trade deal is going to be a major topic of conversation next week.  This is our effort to communicate clearly to the Chinese government how the United States intends to proceed at a strategic level, what we believe our fundamental interests and values are, and what our concerns with their activities are — whether it’s on Hong Kong, or Xinjiang, or in the Taiwan Strait — or, frankly, the issues that we heard today from our Quad partners: their coercion of Australia, their harassment around the Senkaku Islands, their aggression on the border with India.
 * MS. PSAKI: We can do one more here, guys.
 * MR. SULLIVAN: Yeah.


 * Q Taiwan’s foreign minister has said he wants to see more security cooperation with the Quad. Do you see the Quad, in coordination between the different nations, as a way of perhaps increasing the potential cost to China of any move against Taiwan?  And did Taiwan and its status come up in your discussions this morning?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: So the way that we look at this is that the Quad is not a military alliance; it’s not a new NATO, despite some of the propaganda that’s out there.  What it is, is an opportunity for these four democracies to work as a group, and also with other countries, on fundamental issues of economics, technology, climate, and security.


 * Q One more from Reuters. Please, Jake.
 * MR. SULLIVAN: Sure.


 * Q Thank you. We’re —
 * MR. SULLIVAN: For Reuters.


 * Q For Reuters. Thank you.  (Laughter.)  We’re reporting that India is likely to block its mobile carriers from carrying — or using telecoms equipment by Huawei.  Is that something that the United States welcomes?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: The United States has expressed its concerns about Huawei and the relationship between Huawei and elements of the Chinese government and military apparatus.  And so this is a sovereign decision for India to make, but we certainly think it’s consistent with the decisions that we’ve made and advocated as well.


 * Q And just a follow-up on the vaccines. We also have reporting from India that the temporary U.S. ban on exports of key raw materials for vaccines could affect the objective of quickly ramping up production.  Is the U.S. open to easing that ban?
 * MR. SULLIVAN: So, first, the President had the opportunity to speak with the Prime Minister about this bold initiative that we’re undertaking, and we feel very good about our ability to execute against that.

MS. PSAKI: Thank you, Jake.

Okay. I just have a couple of items at the top. Given all of the news, and then in the speech last night, I just wanted to just give a brief overview of some of the announcements the President made about how we were going to — that give more detail, I should say, on how we’re going to meet his commitment of — of course, of directing states to ensure that every American is eligible to receive the vaccine by May 1st, how we’re going to expedite it, and how we’re going to get to the point where we are having July 4th barbecues.

So, first, he announced the plans to deliver vaccines directly to up to 700 additional community health centers that reach underserved communities, bringing the total number of community health centers participating in our federal vaccination program to 950. And this is hugely important as we’re talking about addressing access, vaccine hesitancy, meeting people where they are in communities, because these health centers are trusted places in many communities where people go and they get regular health services, and so this will dramatically increase that.

He is going to — we’re going to double the number of pharmacies participating in the Federal Pharmacy Program. When we first announced this, if you all remember, we announced that it was a pilot program, and we were going to see how it went. It’s extremely successful, and it has been very effective around the country. And so now the vaccine will be available at more than 20,000 pharmacies across the country.

He will also more than double the number of federally run mass vaccination centers to ensure that we’ve reached the hardest-hit communities. And he talked about this in the speech, and we’ve seen these in communities across the country, and many of you have covered this where you can drive up in your car with your family members, get the vaccine, and it is a quite an efficient — and they can reach often thousands of people in these vaccination sites.

And also announced the deployment of more than 4,000 active-duty troops to support vaccination efforts, bringing the total to over 6,000 in all. So that’s obviously a significant increase. And expanded vaccinators — the people who can give these vaccines — to dentists, optometrists, paramedics, physician assistants, veterinarians, and many more.

So, the last piece — and I announced much of this yesterday, and I think you’re all quite familiar with what he’s doing next week, but in the — in the — for tradition here, next week, the President, Vice President, First Lady, and the Second Gentleman will hit the road to talk to the American people about the benefits of the American Rescue Plan.

On Monday, he will host an event at the White House on the implementation of the American Rescue Plan.

On Tuesday, he will travel to Delaware County, Pennsylvania, as part of the “Help is Here” tour to amplify the American Rescue Plan.

And, on Friday, the President and the Vice President will travel to Georgia to continue engaging with Americans about how they will benefit from the Rescue Plan.

Jonathan, go ahead.


 * Q Thank you, Jen. A number of influential New York lawmakers, including Representatives Nadler and Ocasio-Cortez, have now called for the resignation of Governor Cuomo in light of new allegations of harassment, including one that was referred to law enforcement.  My first question is simply this&colon; Does the President believe the governor should resign?
 * MS. PSAKI: The President believes that every woman who’s come forward — there have now been six, I believe, who have come forward — deserves to have her voice heard, should be treated with respect, and should be able to tell her story.  There also is an independent investigation that is ongoing, of course, in the state, with subpoena power overseen by the attorney general, and he certainly supports that moving forward.


 * Q A follow-up on this. In light of the investigation, in light that he has had some of his pandemic response powers taken away, does the White House still have faith in Governor Cuomo, if he remains in his position, overseeing the response to the pandemic in the state of New York?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, we certainly don’t want anyone in the state of New York to be penalized, meaning not have access to vaccines, to vaccinators; not have access to funding from the Rescue Plan.  And certainly we will continue to work with a range of officials to get that done and get it implemented.


 * Q Okay. And on one other topic.
 * MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.


 * Q There are more than 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the U.S. that can’t be administered here but could save lives in Europe and other places in the world if the company was freed from the obligation to deliver those doses to the U.S. government. The company has appealed to the administration to let them export those doses.  Why has the President not agreed?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, let me just take a step back here and explain, kind of, what’s going on here.


 * Q We just heard from Jake Sullivan talking about, on immigration, the need to have a consistent and continued message to communicate to migrants that the border is closed right now. We saw Ambassador Jacobson who says there has to be a message on the airwaves and in that region as well.
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, he did do an interview with Univision about two weeks ago and made that absolutely clear.  And I certainly expect he will look for the opportunity to do exactly that.


 * Q Is it working? Is it working?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, again, Peter, I think we know — we’ve seen the numbers that CBP puts out on a regular basis.  We know there are more children — children under the age of 18 who are, of course, coming across the border.  That is consistent with what our policy has been.


 * Q Let me ask you about the President’s speech last night. This was a speech about the anniversary — the last year since the pandemic began.  Of course, he spent a lot of time touting the success of vaccines, yet there was no mention of the President under whose administration these vaccines were developed.  Does former President Trump not deserve any credit on vaccines?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, the President himself and many people in our administration have conveyed that having — making the progress that was made — and we’ve said this publicly — that was made on these vaccines was a herculean, incredible effort by science and by medical experts.  And certainly, we have applauded that in the past, and we are happy to applaud that again.


 * Q And certainly, that’s on distribution and (inaudible). But on the development of vaccines, it was Operation Warp Speed that was invented, executed, initiated under the former President.  So, in the spirit of bipartisanship and unity last night — as opposed to the first comments, which spoke about the denials in the first days, weeks, and months — why not just say, “With credit to the previous administration and the former President for putting us in this position, we are glad that we have been able to move it forward”?
 * MS. PSAKI: That is an excellent recommendation as a speechwriter, but we had — the President has spoken to it in the past.  He has applauded the work of medical experts and scientists and the prior administration.  And what the purpose of last night’s speech was, was to give an update on what his administration has been doing, what he has done since he took out he took office, the progress that’s been made, what the work is ahead; provide a light at the end of the tunnel; and ask Americans to engage in the process so — and do what’s needed to be done so we can get to those July 4th barbecues.


 * Q And, in fairness, as he said, to bring all Americans together, which is why I asked.
 * MS. PSAKI: Of course that is.  But, you know, I would say that Americans are looking for facts.  They’re looking for details.  They’re looking for specifics.  And I don’t think they’re worried too much about applause from six months ago when the President has already delivered that publicly.


 * Q Thank you, Jen.
 * MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.


 * Q You just said that leadership starts at the top when it comes to getting COVID vaccines out. But when you describe the messaging on immigration, you’re talking about leadership from Ambassador Jacobson and many others, getting the word and —
 * MS. PSAKI: I don’t think that’s what I said.  But —


 * Q Well, you were explaining why President Biden is not out here talking —
 * MS. PSAKI: I actually — well, to be factual — because we’re all about facts —


 * Q Yeah.
 * MS. PSAKI: — I actually started by saying he did an interview with Univision just two weeks ago and that he would look for opportunities to continue to deliver that message clearly himself, but that there are a number of voices that are important and effective and can be heard in the region, and that we will certainly use a number of voices to communicate directly in the region.


 * Q So, we’ve heard from some folks down at the border — in Brownsville, Texas, specifically — of migrants who are being tested by some of the NGOs down there for COVID. They test 1,700.  At least 204 positive tests so far.  That’s over a 9 percent positivity rate — more than double the national average.  So, what is the federal government doing to prevent — to protect the citizens of a town like Brownsville, Texas?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, I don’t know where the — I’m not questioning the data, but I certainly would refer to CBP.  And I’m happy to get more specific data —


 * Q They are (inaudible). That’s what we’re getting the information.
 * MS. PSAKI: — officially from CBP data on the testing.


 * Q Yeah.
 * MS. PSAKI: — of the testing — into ICE custody — migrants entering ICE facilities are tested upon intake and they’re quarantined if they test positive.  That’s one category, of course.


 * Q But based on what you have said before and our understanding of the policy, it’s just guidance that these migrants who test positive — many of them are instructed, “You should go and quarantine and isolate.” Do you know — does the administration know how many actually do versus how many actually just go off to wherever?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, I just wanted to convey — because I know you are asking a good question here — that’s — the very specific processes that are taken for each scenario.  And certainly there are, you know, with these indi- — with the individuals who are coming across, alternatives — who are treated with — I again noted, sometimes ankle bracelets as they come across, while they’re waiting for adjudication of their cases.  Those are the steps that are taken.  Those are the recommendations that are made.


 * Q And do you know if there are any administration discussions about vaccinating some of these migrants who are being held for much longer than normal — or much longer than in previous administrations to stop the spread in the shelters?
 * MS. PSAKI: It’s a really good question.  I would say, obviously, we’re focused on vaccinating, you know, eligible Americans in the country, but we do believe that eligi- — vaccinating as many people as possible keeps all of us safe and keeps all of us — and ensures the safety of all people living here, but I’m not aware of any plans.


 * Q And then, one other topic, quickly. Last night, in his speech, President Biden reiterated his goal.  He wants a majority of schools opened by his 100th day in office; that’s April 30th.
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah.


 * Q One day later — May 1st — he says that every adult is going to be eligible for the vaccine. We know that teachers have been prioritized —
 * MS. PSAKI: Right.


 * Q — everywhere. So why just the majority of schools as the goal, instead of a specific high percentage or, say, all schools?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, first, let me encourage you — you could even go cover it, I bet: The Secretary of Education is having a forum on schools and school reopening on the 24th — I believe it’s the 24th — of March.  There are a lot of steps that are being taken already by the Department of Education.  They’re issuing a guide book — a gui- — of best practices.  They’re already engaging with schools and school districts.  They’re requiring that any fu- — school that is going to have access to funding from the American Rescue Plan produces a plan within 30 days to reopen their school — the school district does, I should say.


 * Q And last one&colon; Would the White House be okay — or could the White House get behind a proposal for schools to remain in session fulltime through the summer?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, some school districts will decide to do that, and they can use funding from the American Rescue Plan to do that or to help ensure they can do that.  So it’s really going to be a decision made district — school district to school district.  And if that determination is made, we certainly support that, but that’s part of what Secretary Cardona will be working out with school districts.


 * Q Thanks.
 * MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.


 * Q Thanks, Jen. On the Fourth of July barbecues that you keep mentioning —
 * MS. PSAKI: Yes.


 * Q It’s obviously a symbolic goal, but how did you arrive at that date? Why the Fourth of July?  Is that the date by which you believe most adult Americans will be able to be vaccinated?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, we’ll have enough supply by the end of May — right?  — and it will be state to state.  So we did not want to give a conclusion of when everybody will be fully vaccinated because it really depends on a couple of factors, some of which are out of our control — right?  People who have concerns about the safety and efficacy of vaccines — we need to continue to redouble our efforts to address that.  Obviously some states will have faster timelines than other states.


 * Q So is it safe to say that, by July 4th, you think we’re in the ballpark where you could have most adult Americans vaccinated?
 * MS. PSAKI:  Well, I — again, many of the factors are out of our control, including individuals being willing to take the vaccine.  And that’s why it was so important for the President to convey that it is safe, it is effective.  Tell your friends and neighbors it’s safe and effective.  And that will be a factor here, and it is going to require Americans continuing to wear masks, continuing to social distance, getting the vaccine.


 * Q As the President mentioned last night, you’re also launching new tools —
 * MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.


 * Q — and making it easier to sign up, including a website.
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah.


 * Q Why wait until May to roll that out?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, there’s already a pilot program that is available in about a half-a-dozen states, and we’ve talked about expanding and building upon that.  A lot of states also have their own — their own websites where people can go.  And, of course, pharmacies, as you know — in a program we’ve massively expanded as part of the announcement last night — you can do scheduling through there.


 * Q Thanks, Jen. Back to AstraZeneca.  Can you say how big is that stockpile?  And then secondly, on that on — also on AstraZeneca — when does the administration expect them to seek the emergency use authorization — the EUA?
 * MS. PSAKI: Sure.  Both excellent questions.  I don’t have any prediction for when they will seek it; you probably just to have to ask them that question.  And I don’t have an update on the amount of supply.


 * Q Would you be able to follow up with us and just let us know how many doses are in that stockpile?
 * MS. PSAKI: I’m not sure we will have a number to provide, but I’m happy to check for you on that.


 * Q Hi, Jen. One question on last night.  The President said he’s directing states to ensure that all adults are eligible for the vaccine by May 1.  What more do states need to do to achieve that goal?  Because it sounded a little bit like he was putting the onus on states, but states are asking for more supply — right? — and they won’t be able to do that without more supply.
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, we wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t anticipate that we would have much more supply available — and that’s certainly part of the process — and we are providing that through state allocation, but also directly to pharmacies.


 * Q And I — they made that clear yesterday too, about the authority. I guess I’m just wondering&colon; Why does he need to tell states this is?  Is there a lag?  Were states not moving in that direction?
 * MS. PSAKI: I think it was making clear that this was his expectation of — it’s being a leader of governors and leaders in the country of when — and providing some clarity to the American public about when they can expect to be eligible.


 * Q Okay. And then one follow-up on AstraZeneca.  You’ve made very clear and the President has made very clear that the goal and the priority is Americans.  Do you — does he see any moral dilemma in sitting on some vaccine — we don’t know the exact amount — that has been approved elsewhere, that could be saving other people’s lives in other countries, while the process drags on for however long it will in the United States.
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, we don’t know and we don’t — can’t anticipate, as you know, when the process will conclude.  But I think his view is that his obligation — first obligation is to addressing what is still a crisis in our country.  Right?  And what is still a circumstance where — you know, yes, he outlined last night that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, but 1,400 Americans are dying every single day.  And he wants to have, as the leader of this country, maximum flexibility.


 * Q Just a follow-up clarification on the prioritization. So, last week — or earlier this month, the White House called on states to prioritize teacher vaccinations.
 * MS. PSAKI: Yep.


 * Q Now the White House is saying states should open up eligibility to everyone as soon as possible. So, what —
 * MS. PSAKI: By May 1st.  Yeah.


 * Q So, what does that mean right now for advising states’ priority groups? Should they be getting rid of them?  Should they keep them intact?  I mean, should they still be focusing on teachers right now?  And how do they — how do they square all this stuff, given, you know, that they’re saying that they have shortages of vaccines right now?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, I think, not — that there are some who are saying that and some who are not.  And obviously, we’ve been increasing supply nearly every single week; actually, every single week, we probably have been increasing supply.  And as you all know, we will also have more and more doses.  We have — we’ll have access to, as a fed- — as the federal government, to ensure that states are getting an increase in supply.


 * Q Jen, the President took pains last night in his speech to condemn attacks on Asian Americans. He called them “un-American” and “wrong”; they “must stop.”  Does the President believe that his predecessor had anything to do with the rise in attacks on Asian Americans?
 * MS. PSAKI: I think the President has spoken about the concerns he had about the rhetoric and the provoking of hate speech by his predecessor.  And I think he’s not made a secret about that.


 * Q Is there anything more the administration can do on this point? There’s a push on the Hill, I understand, to have a DOJ official take on this — this problem.  Is that something that the President would support?  And if — absent legislation, is there something he could do or order the Attorney General to do?
 * MS. PSAKI: You know, I think he would expect the Attorney General would make decisions independently about how to best address.  But — and I’m happy to talk with our policy team and see if there’s more.


 * Q Quick question about next week. This is the first Irish President in some time; any plans for St. Patrick’s Day even here at the White House?
 * MS. PSAKI: I expect we will have more to preview.  We are — of course, will be recognizing St. Patrick’s Day.  So — but I will have more to preview for you on what that looks like probably later in the weekend or early next week, as it’s being finalized.


 * Q Yeah, following up on the earlier questions about July 4th&colon; In order to reach that goal — I mean, is there a certain percentage of Americans that need to be vaccinated? Or if there’s no number, you know, what does the situation need to look like?  Do we need to continue on the pace that the country has been on in recent weeks?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, I think it’s important to note that this is — we’re not talking about a July 4th celebration on the Mall; we’re not quite there yet.  Right?  And we’re not talking about soccer stadiums being filled in communities across the country.  That might require something more like what you’re talking about.


 * Q Yeah, and another question&colon; The $350 billion in direct aid to state and local governments —
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah.


 * Q You know, state and local governments, right now, are going through their budgeting processes. When might they be — you know, has the White House been able to determine when they’ll be able to start getting money from that aid?  Will it be in one large chunk for municipalities and states, or will it be over a staggered time?  What have you been able to determine through the Treasury Department?
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah, that’s a great question.  I know Treasury is working hard at ensuring that this money is getting out the door — that the — portions of the money they’re overseeing.  But I’d have to talk to them more about how that will be implemented or pushed out specifically, and kind of what the timeline for that will be.


 * Q Yeah, and one more final question. Under the American Rescue Plan and the $1,400 checks that Americans will receive, there are currently no protections to prevent debt collectors from seizing stimulus checks.
 * MS. PSAKI: I haven’t talked to our legislative team about that.  I know there were a number of adjustments made, post the implementation of the package in December, to adjust and address issues like non-filers having access, ensuring that we were reaching people who weren’t reached and were eligible.  So I would have to talk to Treasury about whether they have a concern about this at this point in time or whether protections have been put in place.


 * Q Oh, and one more. I forgot about the — the 4,000 military personnel that the federal government had plans on extending for the acceleration of vaccines&colon; Has it been determined where they are going?  Is it to help with vaccination centers, mega sites?  Can you talk more about the deployment of those soldiers?
 * MS. PSAKI: They typically help in all sorts of locations where help is needed — and determined in coordination with local governors and local elected officials and folks who are overseeing these centers.  So it’s really case-by-case and state-by-state, but I don’t have a breakdown of where they’ll be going quite yet.


 * Q Last night, the President again said more Americans have died from COVID-19 than died in World War One, World War Two, the Vietnam War, and now adding 9/11. The numbers don’t bear that out.  So why has he said that again for a second time?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, I think it’s — I’ll have to check on that specifically for you.  I don’t have the numbers all in front of me either, but if it’s important to you, I will follow up with you after the briefing on it.


 * Q Well, he’s been called out for it once before. So it was a surprise — we know he did a line-by-line edit, so it was a surprise that it went in again.
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, I’m glad you’re focused on the important business.  But I’m happy to check on it for you.


 * Q Hi, Eric Philips with CBN News. Thanks for taking my questions.  Wanted to know, first of all&colon; Considering the challenges at the southern border right now, what specifically can faith-based organizations do to help meet that challenge?
 * MS. PSAKI: That’s a great question.  I mean, faith-based organizations are an incredibly important part of the NGO community, as you know, as it relates to addressing immigration in a humane way, and oftentimes helping to find — helping to connect these unaccompanied children with safe and vetted homes or sponsor homes; that’s a key role that they play.  They also play a key role in, you know, working with local communities on addressing needs that come up — NGOs broadly, but many of them are faith-based as well.


 * Q When it comes to the vaccine — when it comes to the vaccine, the administration is saying, “Hey, get vaccinated as soon as you can with the vaccine that’s available to you first.”
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah.


 * Q But what do you say to a significant segment of the population that has a moral problem with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because the company uses cells from aborted fetal tissue in its manufacturing process?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, I know that the Vatican has conveyed that all three vaccines are safe and effective, and I know that is a powerful authority for many who are close to their faith.  But that is something that has also been conveyed by health and medical experts.


 * Q Lastly, I just wanted to ask you&colon; How is temporarily tightening War Power restrictions in places like Somalia, Yemen, and Libya going to be beneficial to the U.S., whereas ambassadors in those places used to be able to give the go-ahead, now the White House has to, at least for now, give the green light before these actions can be taken?
 * MS. PSAKI: Sure.  Well, it was important to the President and our national security team that we take a moment to review the use of these powers — authorities over the last several years.  It’s not forever, but they wanted to take a moment to do that review at the beginning of an administration and make a determination about how to best approach it moving forward.  So that’s what it’s a reflection of.


 * Q Thank you.
 * MS. PSAKI: Okay.  Go ahead.


 * Q Thanks, Jen. One on vaccine hesitancy and one on gun control.
 * MS. PSAKI: Sure.


 * Q So, the latest poll in-house at Yahoo saw that 44 percent of unvaccinated Republicans said they would never get vaccinated. This is higher, we found, than any other group or crosstab.  Are you worried that the vaccine hesitancy from these Republicans — they’re white Republicans — will make it harder for President Biden’s goal to vaccinate all adults by summer?
 * MS. PSAKI: Well, we’re concerned about vaccine hesitancy in many communities across the country because we — we are going to get to the point, clearly, where we have enough supply for — to vaccine every American — every adult in this country, and it will get to the point where we have more vaccines than people who want to take the vaccine.  And we — we see that on the horizon.


 * Q And to follow up on that, we’ve heard a lot from the administration on very specific plans about, like you said, black and brown communities and how they’re being disproportionately affected. But is the White House thinking of how to reach Republicans who will not take the vaccine?  You talked about the ad; former President Bush was in it.  Of course, notably, former President Trump was not there.  Is there outreach to Trump or to any other high-profile Republicans to talk to these Republicans who say they will never take the vaccine (inaudible)?
 * MS. PSAKI: I guess what I’m trying to say, but maybe not clearly enough, is that we recognize, as a Democratic administration with a Democratic President, that we may not be the most effective messenger to communicate with hardcore supporters of the former President.  And we have to be clear-eyed about that.


 * Q When should we expect to see, you know, any collaboration from the White House and high-profile Republicans, like, you know, on Twitter, on Instagram — anything like that — to speak to these communities, just as there with other black and brown people?
 * MS. PSAKI: Let me try this again.  So —


 * Q No, I know what — I’m hearing you. I just want to get very specific about — the outreach to black and brown communities is very specific.
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah.


 * Q Is there going to be very specific Republican outreach?
 * MS. PSAKI: What I’m — so what I’m conveying is we are focused on how do we address the root issues and the way — the approach that will solve the challenge here.  And what I’m trying to get at is that accessibility — it may not satisfy this conservative Republican and this famous Democrat working together.  That may happen.  Right?


 * Q Jen, one question on gun control.
 * MS. PSAKI: Sure.


 * Q Yesterday, two Democratic-supported bills about gun control passed through the House; now it moves to the Senate. I’m curious what the White House’s outreach is going to be to Senate — senators to try to get 60 votes for these two, kind of, very important — specifically for progressives — legislation on gun control?
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah.  Well, first, gun safety measures and putting in place background checks is something the President has been personally committed to for many years of his career.  He thinks it is long overdue.  It is steps that will help save lives, keep communities safe, children safe, schools safe.  And he has fought against the NRA many times and won a few of those times, as well.


 * Q Thanks. I have another question about state aid under the American Rescue Plan.  We’re coming up on a month out from the Texas blackouts, snowstorm.  Can Texas use this state aid under this Rescue Plan to weatherize its grid?  It’s something that the Speaker of the Texas House wants to do.  He says, well, the federal help was intended “for recovery from [of] a disaster, and this is a disaster.”
 * MS. PSAKI: Todd, I’ll have to — I’ll have to check on the technicality of that, and I can do it in the same way when I’m following up on the questions I will go back to the Treasury Department on.  I’m not sure if there are limitations in the use of it.  Obviously, it’s intended broadly to ensure we’re keeping cops, firefighters, others on the beat.  But I am happy to check and see if there’s flexibility in there.


 * Q You wouldn’t want whose cops to be cold.
 * MS. PSAKI: Yeah.


 * Q Governor Abbott said today that there’s a mass vaccination clinic next week for Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley. And he’s saying that that is coming in response to the pressure that he has put on the administration.  How many frontline workers have not gotten shots?  And was this a response to —
 * MS. PSAKI: How many Border Patrol agents have not received shots?  You’d have to ask them that specific question.  What I was conveying is that it’s a priority.  We’ve made it a priority.  DHS has made it a priority.  I think that existed prior to Governor Abbott pressure.  I’m not sure what format the pressure it took, but we certainly are happy that he’s happy to hear that we’re vaccinating Border Patrol agents.


 * Q Totally unrelated question. There was a bill filed a couple days ago by a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen called the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.  I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it.  It’s the one that would give news organizations a temporary exemption from anti-trusts so that they could collectively bargain with Facebook and Google, like the Australia law.  Does the administration have a position on that?
 * MS. PSAKI: I’ll have to check.  Sounds interesting.  I want to know the answer.  I will check and see if we have a position on it.


 * Q Considering that the U.S. has much better success rates in terms of COVID vaccinations than the European Union, is there an exchange between the U.S. and Brussels? And what kind of advice would you have to the Europeans to do it better?
 * MS. PSAKI: We absolutely are coordinating, discussing, sharing best practices.  And, of course, addressing the global pandemic is something that comes up in nearly every conversation, if not every conversation, the President, our Secretary of State, National Security Advisor have at every level.


 * Q Thank you, Jen.
 * MS. PSAKI: Thanks, everyone.

1:30 P.M. EST