Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Biden Unveils Economic Team Tasked with COVID Recovery. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 01, 2020 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:00:01]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: The prime minister is expected to get this vote through, but it might be a very long night.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Thanks so much for joining us. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hi there, I am Brianna Keilar, and I want to welcome viewers in the United States and around the world.

We are right now keeping an eye on President-elect Joe Biden who is about to introduce his economic team that is tasked with the coronavirus recovery. I want to go now to Jeff Zeleny who is there in Wilmington, Delaware, to tell us a little bit. Jeff, just so we were watching that live as they were getting everything sanitized for this event, what are we expecting to hear?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, that is a sign that this is going to begin momentarily. But what we're going to hear again today on the economy is a stark contrast with the Trump administration. We are, of course, going to see at the center of this new economic team is Janet Yellen. Of course, she served as the chair of the Federal Reserve, but this is going to be a very different role as treasury secretary, a political role where she will have to work with members of Congress.

And you can see the rest of the at least top members of the economic team who we're told are going to be on stage with President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. And they are going to layout their starkly different view, the economic view, than the Trump administration. They are going to talk about how they need government spending, they need government programs to help the workers. So that is what is going to be the focus of this.

And income inequality has been something that Janet Yellen has talked about for years and years, back when it was controversial when she was leading the Fed, she was talking about income inequality. She said, look, this isn't about politics, it is a matter of the economy. So she will be talking about that as well.

But, of course, all of these nominees we're about to see on stage will require Senate confirmation, and that is an open question for at least one of them at this point, and that is Neera Tanden. She's nominated to lead Office of Management and Budget, a critical role in any White House. And Republican senators have already voiced objections to her saying she will not be confirmed.

So we will see, of course, what the balance of power is in the Senate. That, of course, is dependent upon those Georgia Senate runoffs. But for now, at least, Brianna, we are going to see a very different economic world view, one much more focused on workers, on the labor idea of the economy rather than tax cuts and regulation cuts. So that is something that is going to be much different.

So, really, we are a week after the presentation of the national security team where we saw a starkly different world view with America First. We're going to see that today on the economic front with a very, very different view of how the Biden team views the economy.

KEILAR: All right, Jeff, thank you so much. We'll be watching this with you as soon as it gets under way there in Wilmington.

I do right now want to bring in our Chief Business Correspondent, Christine Romans, as well as our Economic Commentator and Opinion Columnist at The Washington Post, Catherine Rampell.

Christine, I want to start with you here. What does this mean for a COVID relief bill? This is an area where Congress has not been able to find agreement. It is needed more than ever by Americans. How is this going to take shape under this team of Biden's?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And will it happen even before, will there be a lame duck kind of COVID rescue extension here? That's the big question we're talking about on Capitol Hill here Today.

Look, we know, Brianna, it's absolutely necessary. We're looking at a world here where the virus is raging actually at its worst, and all of those financial aid instruments that were extended to the American workers, the American people, to the person who's out of work, those are going away one by one. So we're really -- the net is gone here, honestly, and that is the big impetus for Congress at this moment right now, and also this new administration coming in.

KEILAR: And, Catherine, I'm sort of struck by thinking back to 12 years ago, we were in the middle of the financial crisis, and the Obama/Biden term was about to begin as they were going to be dealing with an economic catastrophe. Here we are again, another economic catastrophe and a recovery that is required. That is part of the, I guess, perspective that Biden certainly will bring to this.

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS COMMENTATOR: Yes. So it has been pretty bad luck for incoming Democratic administrations, certainly. I remember talking with members of the Obama team, I guess it was in 2009, talking about how they have these big ambitious plans for reforming health care, which they ultimately did, and on other kinds of pie in the sky ideas that they wanted to come in and make transformative change, and their frustration because at the time they were so preoccupied with just trying to put the fires out.

And as I said, ultimately, they did get to some of those other agenda items but it took awhile because there was just this ongoing crisis. [13:05:03]

And the Biden team is confronting the same challenges. I mean, obviously, it is a crisis borne of a different kind of catastrophe, not a financial crisis, but now one borne of a public health crisis. But their first and foremost job is to find ways to extend relief to American households, to small businesses that are struggling. And a lot of that is going to have to come through Congress.

There are some executive actions that the Biden team could take once the president is in office, but they're limited.

KEILAR: And, Christine, I mean, the expectation unless, of course, we are watching Georgia to see what happens with the runoff elections there, but this could very well -- actually, if you guys can stand by, let's listen in right now to the president-elect.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for being here. I hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe Thanksgiving, even if it was far from the traditional large gathering of family and friends, apart from many we loved. But I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

And I know times are tough, but I want you to know that help is on the way. Last week, I announced nominations and staff for critical foreign policy and national security positions. A first rate team is going to keep us safe and secure.

And today, I have the pleasure, the pleasure, of announcing key nominations and appointments for the critical economic positions in the administration. A first rate team that's going to get us through with this ongoing economic crisis and help us build the economy back, not just build it back but build it back better than it was before, a team that's tested and experienced, and includes groundbreaking Americans who come from different backgrounds but share my core vision for economic relief here in the United States of America.

And given a fair shot and an equal chance, there's nothing, we all believe, there's nothing beyond the capacity of the American people. Let's not forget who built this country, working class, middle class people built this country, and unions built the middle class.

And from the most unequal economic and job crisis in modern history, we can build a new American economy that works for all Americans, not just some, all. We need to act now though and we need to work together. You know, in the weeks since winning the election, Vice President Harris and I have covered meetings with a number of people.

We convened meetings with labor leaders and CEOs at the same time, mayors and governors of both political parties. There's a consensus out there that as we battle the COVID-19 disease, we have to make sure that business and workers have the tools, resources and guidance, and health and the safety standards to be able to operate safely.

The goal is simple, to keep businesses and schools open safely. And for millions of Americans who have lost their jobs or hours, and they had to claim unemployment, we have to deliver them immediate relief. That includes affordable health care for millions who have lost it and are in danger of losing it, child care, sick leave, family leave, so workers don't have to choose between work and family, relief from rent and student loans.

We need to support small businesses and entrepreneurs who form the backbone of the communities that we live in that are teetering on the edge. You know, there's an urgent need to fund state and cities so the frontline workers on jobs can stay in the jobs.

You know, the founders are pretty smart. I could have gotten this from the future secretary of the treasury. There's a reason states and localities have to have a balanced budget but we're allowed federally to run a deficit in order to deal with crises and emergencies, as we have in the past, and we have to keep vital public services running. We have to give aid to local and state governments to make sure they can have law enforcement officers, firefighters, educators, as we did in the recovery act of 2009.

And right now, the full Congress should come together and pass a robust package for relief to address these urgent needs. But any package passed in a lame duck session is lucky to be at best just a start. My transition team is already working on what I'll put forward in the next Congress to address multiple crises we are facing, especially our economic and COVID crisis.

And the team I am announcing today will play a critical role in shaping our plan for actions starting on day one and move fast to revive this economy.

[13:10:00]

They're going to help me, help us, help the country layout my build back better plan, a plan that an independent analysis from Moody's, a well respected Wall Street firm, projected it would create 18.6 million jobs. It's based on a simple proposition, reward hard work in America, not wealth. It is time to invest in infrastructure, clean energy, climate change, manufacturing, so much more that will create millions of good paying jobs.

It is time we address the structural inequities in our economy that this pandemic laid bare. Economists call this current economy in recovery K-shaped. Well, like the two lines coming off a K, some people are seeing their prospects soar upward while others are watching their economic prospects drop sharply.

For those at the top, jobs have come back, the wealth is rising. For example, luxury home sales are up over 40 percent compared to last year. But for those in the middle and the bottom, it is a downward slide. They're left figuring out how to pay the bills and put food on the table. Almost one in every six renters was behind in rent payments as of October.

Let me be clear, with this team and others, we'll add in weeks ahead that we are going to create recovery for everybody, for all. We're going to get this economic moving again. We're going to create jobs, raise incomes, reduce drug prices, advance racial equity across the economy and restore the backbone of this country, the middle class.

Our message to everybody struggling right now is this, help is on the way. My dad, you heard me say this before, when he lost his job in Scranton when I was a kid, and we eventually moved the family not far from here, Claymont, Delaware, which is in the outskirts of Wilmington. He used to say, Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck, it's about your dignity, it's about respect, your place in the community. It's about being able to look at your kid in the eye and say, honey, it's going to be okay and mean it.

He also used to say, Joey, I don't expect the government to solve my problems, but I do expect them to understand my problems. This team understands.

For secretary of treasury, I am really pleased to be able to nominate Janet Yellen. No one is better prepared to deal with these crises. I wish it weren't as much of a crisis, future secretary. But she will be the first treasury secretary who also chaired the Federal Reserve, vice chair of the Federal Reserve, and chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisers.

Janet is one of the most important economic thinkers of our time. She has spent her career focused on employment and the dignity of work, which is really important to me and to all of us. She understands what it means to people and their communities when they have good, decent jobs. Respect will be looked at by neighbors and being respected, it matters means a lot to them.

And respected across party lines and around the world by Main Street and Wall Street, an educator, mentor, above all, the daughter of a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood who never forgot where she came from. Her husband, George, is pretty good too. He's won a Nobel Prize, but he's the one that married up.

Janet will be the first woman to hold this office. We might have to ask Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the musical about the first secretary of treasury, Hamilton, to write another musical about the first woman secretary of the treasury, Yellen. So that's what I'm working on now, Janet.

For director of Office and Management and Budget, I nominate Neera Tanden. You know, I have known Neera a long time, a brilliant policy mind with critical, practical experience across government. She was raised by a single mom on food stamps, an immigrant from India, who struggled, worked hard, and did everything she could for her daughter to live out the American dream.

And Neera did just that. She understands the struggles that millions of Americans are facing. And she will be the first woman of color from South Asia and I think that to lead OMB. We also have another woman that's going to be Vice President of the United States of America.

And so, look, being very serious, she will be in charge of laying out the budget that will help us control the virus and deal with the economic crisis and build back better.

[13:15:08]

But above all, she believes what I believe, a budget should reflect our values. Again, quoting my dad, for real, my dad, people would say Joey, let me tell you what I value. And I look at him as a high school educated guy, very well read. And he looked at me and said, don't tell me what you value, show me your budget, I will tell you what you value. That's what you're going to do for us, Neera.

As deputy secretary of treasury, I nominate Wally Adeyemo. Wally is -- you know, Wally, I don't know, I tell you what, Senator Warren really likes you. She highly recommended you. But I wasn't sure she worried that I stole you as well. But thank you for being willing to do this, Wally, a skilled leader and thinker on issues ranging macroeconomics to consumer protection, and from national security to international affairs.

I've worked with Wally during the great recession. That was my excuse to the senator, saying that's why I want to steal you. And I saw him tackle one big job after another. Deputy National Security Adviser to President Obama, Deputy Director for National Economic Council, former Chief of Staff to Elizabeth Warren, where he helped create the Consumer Protection Bureau, Financial Bureau, which has done so much good.

It's designed to protect consumers and working people from unfair, deceptive and abusive financial practices. And now, Wally will be the first African-American ever to hold this post in the highest ranking African-American in the treasury department's history.

An immigrant from Nigeria, as son of a nurse and an elementary school principal, Wally understands everything we do is basically for the people, for families, hard working people, to understand their struggles and most of all their dreams, and he understands both. I want to thank you, Wally, for being willing to do this.

For chairperson of Council of Economic Advisers, I nominate, notwithstanding, she was a distinguished professor at Princeton, I joke my children who went to Penn, used to always to kid about, but Cecilia CC (ph) Rouse, one of the most distinguished economists in the country, an expert on labor economics, race, poverty and education, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Obama, and adviser to President Clinton at the National Economic Council.

More than that, she's a proud daughter whose mom, a school psychologist, encouraged her to pursue economics, and her dad, one of the country's first African-American astrophysicists who dared her to dream. She's done both.

If confirmed, CC (ph) will be the first -- excuse me, the fourth woman to lead the Council of Economic Advisers and the first African- American ever to hold that post. And as CEA chair, she will serve as a member of my cabinet as well.

As a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, we also appoint Jared Bernstein, an old friend who was with me a long time, a brilliant thinker, quick wit, with a heart as big as his head, and a heart he got from his mom, an educator who raised him correctly.

A social worker turned economist, Jared is one of my closest economic advisers and friend. He served my chief economist during the vice presidency. He was there in that foxhole during the great recession with the economy on the brink and our country on our back. I couldn't think of anyone else who I would want to be by my side to face the challenges ahead.

Jared will be one of the leading voices of my administration on economic policy. I can always count on him to deliver straight from the shoulder as his hero, FDR, used to say, straight from the shoulder. But one thing I can assure you is working people always have a voice with Jared and this counsel.

As a member of Council of Economic Advisers, I appoint Heather Boushey. Heather, thank you for the help we had in the transition team and getting me here. She's one of the foremost economists working to make sure we build an economy that works for all Americans. The daughter of a union family, used to wonder she believes so deeply in the idea that leave no one out, leave no one behind in this economy.

During the campaign, I relied on her counsel on addressing structural inequities within the economy. And I will do so again as president because that's one of the central issues of our time.

To this team, thank you for accepting the call to serve again, to your families and to your -- thank them for their sacrifices, because it is a real sacrifice.

[13:20:01]

We could not do this without you. And to the American people, this team will always be there for you and your families. This is a family- oriented team. We've got to make sure ordinary people get a chance to do well, because they've never -- when given a chance, they've never, ever, ever, ever let the country down.

11 years ago, President Obama and I entered office during the great recession and implemented the recovery act that saved us from a great depression. I didn't see the map of America at the time, nor did he, in terms of blue states and red states. We only saw the United States of America. We work with everyone, for everyone. And we recovered and rebuilt together as one nation. Vice President Harris and I will do that all over again with an outstanding team. They're ready on day one.

And to the United States Senate, I hope those outstanding -- these outstanding nominees will receive a prompt hearing and that we will be able to work across the aisle in good faith and move forward as one country. So let's begin the work to heal, to unite, to rebuild an economy for all Americans. They deserve and expect nothing less.

Thank you. May God bless you and may God protect our troops.

I now turn this over to the new team, starting with our next secretary of treasury, Janet Yellen. And, again, Janet, thanks for accepting this. I appreciate it.

I think they're going to clean this off for us here.

I put it in my book. (INAUDIBLE) my mask.

JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY NOMINEE: Thank you, Mr. President- elect and Madam Vice President-elect. It is my great honor to have this opportunity to serve and the American people and to join this incredible economic team at this moment of great challenge for our country.

Mr. President-elect, when you reflect on what your father taught you about how a job is much more than a paycheck, I hear my own father who raised our family in working class Brooklyn. When he graduated from medical school during the great depression, he looked for a home and a place to hang his shingle near the Brooklyn docks. Back then, Bush terminal on Upper New York Bay was a thriving hub for manufacturing and transportation, and for the union workers whose livelihoods depended on them.

Knowing they didn't have cars, he found a place near a bus line. He started his family practice in the basement where we lived on the floors above. At the end of the day, he would talk to me, my brother and my mom about what work meant to his patients, our friends and neighbors, especially if they lost a job, the financial problems, the family problems, the health problems, the loss of dignity and self worth.

The value of work always stuck with me, so much so that I became an economist because I was concerned about the toll of unemployment on people, families and communities. And I've spent my career trying to make sure people can work and achieve the dignity and self-worth that comes with it.

Mr. President-elect, I know you've done the same. I saw that understanding during the last great recession and the recovery act that followed. And now we're facing historic crises again. The pandemic and economic fallout together have caused so much damage for so many and have had disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable among us.

Lost lives, lost jobs, small businesses struggling to stay alive are closed for good, so many people struggling to put food on the table and pay bills and rent. It's an American tragedy. And it is essential we move with urgency.

[13:25:00]

Inaction will produce a self-reinforcing downturn causing yet more devastation.

And we risk missing the obligation to address deeper structure problems. Inequality, stagnant wages, especially for workers who lack a college education, communities that have seen industry disappear with no good jobs replacing lost ones, racial disparities in pay, job opportunities, housing, food security and small business lending that deny wealth-building to communities of color, gender disparities that keep women out of the workforce and keep our economy from running at full force.

It's a convergence of tragedies that is not only economically unsustainable but one that betrays our commitment to giving every American an equal chance to get ahead. But I know this team will never give up that commitment.

As you said before, Mr. President-elect, out of our collective pain as a nation, we will find collective purpose to control the pandemic and build our economy back better than before, to rebuild our infrastructure and create better jobs, to invest in our workforce, to advance racial equity and make sure the economic recovery includes everyone, to address the climate crisis with American ingenuity and American jobs, working together with the outstanding national security and foreign policy team you announced last week to help restore America's global leadership.

And above all, we share your belief in the American dream of a society where each person with effort can rise to their potential and dream even bigger for their children. I pledge as treasury secretary to work every day towards rebuilding that dream for all Americans. And to the great public servants of the treasury department, I look forward to working with you and Wally to rebuild the public trust.

To the American people, we will be an institution that wakes up every morning thinking about you, your jobs, your paychecks, your struggles, your hopes, your dignity and your limitless potential. Thank you.

BIDEN: Thank you.

NEERA TANDEN, OMB DIRECTOR NOMINEE: Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect, I am humbled and honored by the trust you've placed in me to work with this talented team on behalf of the American people. I am especially proud to work alongside leaders who understand that budgets are not obstructions, they are a reflection of our values, they touch our lives in profound ways and sometimes they make all the difference.

Like the vice president-elect's mother, Shyamala, my mother, Maya, was born in India. Like so many millions across every generation, she came to America to pursue a better life. I was raised in a suburb of Boston, a middle-class kid. But when I was five, my parents got divorced and my mom was left on her own with two young children, and without a job.

She faced a choice, return to India where at a time divorce was stigmatized and the opportunities for her and her children would be limited, or keep fighting for her American dream. She stayed. And America came through for her when times were tough. We relied on food stamps to eat. We relied on Section 8 housing vouchers to pay rent. We relied on the social safety net to get back on our feet.

This country gave her a fair shot to reach the middle class and she made it work. She got a job as a travel agent and before long she was able to buy us our own home in Bedford, Massachusetts, and eventually see her children off to college and beyond.

[13:30:10]