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The Lead with Jake Tapper

First News Conference: Biden Drilled With Questions on Migrant Children, Voting Rights, North Korea Launching Missiles, Gun Control; Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) is Interviewed About Biden's First News Conference. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired March 25, 2021 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:06]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We begin with the national lead. Sixty-five days into office, President Joe Biden today gave his first solo news conference as he is facing crises on several fronts, threats both foreign and domestic.

The president upgrading his goal of vaccinating America, now promising 200 million shots in his first 100 days after blowing by his original goal 42 days ahead of schedule of 100 million.

But Biden spent most of the hour on something of defense, drilled with questions of crisis on the border and breaking promises of transparency as migrant children suffer in these cramped, ill-equipped facilities.

On North Korea firing missiles, on how he plans to break or get around potential gridlock in the Senate.

When it comes to protecting voting rights as state Republicans look to retract them, an effort today visibly heated President Biden said that makes him sick.

And, of course, further restrictions on gun ownership or expanded background checks after yet another mass shooting in America, the massacre of ten innocent people in Boulder, Colorado.

Now, whether Republicans get on board on this issue, or infrastructure or climate change or anything else, well, President Biden said that's up to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All I know, I've been hired to solve problems, to solve problems, not create division.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Jeff Zeleny now reports from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this first news conference since taking office, President Biden set a new goal of reaching 200 million vaccinations before his first 100 days in office.

BIDEN: No other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we were doing. I believe we can do it.

ZELENY: As questions in the East Room of the White House turns from COVID to a crisis on the border.

BIDEN: Is that acceptable to me? Come on.

ZELENY: The president decried the crowded conditions in detention centers at the border as unacceptable and insisted his administration was working to control the surge of migrants coming to the U.S. Yet, Biden said he would treat unaccompanied minors humanely, which he said his predecessor did not.

BIDEN: If an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we're just going to let them starve to death and stay on the other side, no previous administration did that either except Trump. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it.

ZELENY: Biden vowed to restore the American economy through his Build Back Better plan, pledging to go big on infrastructure and sweeping domestic programs including education. He pressed Congress to act on gun safety and to protect voting rights, blasting the filibuster as a relic of the Jim Crow era. He opened the door in changing Senate rules to end obstruction and achieve his agenda.

BIDEN: It's being abused in a gigantic way. And, for example, it used to be, you had to stand there and talk and talk and talk and talk until you collapsed. And guess what? People got tired of talking and tired of collapsing.

ZELENY: He took aim at Republican efforts to severely restrict access to voting, happening in states across the country and on Capitol Hill.

BIDEN: What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick.

ZELENY: For the first time, Biden said that it was his intention to seek a second term in 2024.

BIDEN: My plan is to run for re-election. That's my expectation.

ZELENY: When pressed by CNN's Kaitlan Collins, the president, now age 78, said he also respected fate.

BIDEN: I haven't been able to plan 4-1/2, 3-1/2 years ahead for certain.

ZELENY: On foreign policy, Biden said he was nearing a decision on whether to wind down the 20-year war in Afghanistan or keep at least some troops in place in hopes of avoiding the Taliban takeover. BIDEN: We will leave. The question is when we leave.

REPORTER: Sir, do you believe, though, it's possible we could have troops there next year?

BIDEN: I can't picture that being the case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (on camera): Now, as for the rest of the Biden agenda, as he works with the senate, Jake, words on the filibuster were very interesting. Of course, filibuster means that you need 60 votes t pass any major piece of legislation which Democrats, of course, do not have. But the president clearly keeping an eye on that, and he said if there's more chaos going forward, to ratchet up his pressure even more, to urge Democrats to change those Senate rules -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny live at the White House for us, thank you so much.

Let's discuss with former Republican Congresswoman Mia Love and former Obama administration official Van Jones.

Van, you heard President Biden say there he will not let unaccompanied children, migrants stay on the other side of the border and starve. Obviously, as humans, we applaud the empathy, but others are accusing him of essentially encouraging more of this migration, more of this journey because of his humanity and border facilities, right now, are overwhelmed.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that Biden, if you listen to his full comment, did a really good job of pushing back on a couple of fictions.

[16:05:04]

One is that people are coming because Biden is such a good guy. I think he pointed out that, you know, pre-COVID, this kind of surge was an annual occurrence and is an annual occurrence no matter who's in the White House because of conditions back on home countries.

I think, look, it's a tough situation he's in. I wish he was more transparent. I think he should let the cameras in. I think it would actually bring out the best in the American people to push us toward resolving this in a comprehensive way. So, he's making a mistake by not having the cameras in there.

But we have a complicated relationship to immigration. We are an nation of immigrants and laws, and I think Biden stuck up for our humanity as well as our laws today.

TAPPER: And, Congresswoman, President Biden placed a lot of blame for the current border crisis on the Trump administration. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: Does anybody suggest there was a 31 percent increase under Trump because he was a nice guy? And he was doing good things at the border? That's not the reason they're coming.

He dismantled all the elements that exist to deal with what has been a problem and has been continued to be a problem for a long time.

So, what we're doing now is attempt to rebuild -- rebuild the system that can accommodate what is happening today, and I would like to think it's because I'm a nice guy but it's not. It's because of what's happened every year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It is a complicated issue. It has to do with violence, poverty and natural disasters in Central America but it also has to do of his less draconian immigration policy.

MIA LOVE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. And, you know, there's going to be a point where he's not going to be able to blame the -- his -- President Trump on some of these issues. He's going to have to take the lead on some of these things.

I do agree with Van Jones there that he should let people in on the borders. I think it would actually help him, so he could have a before and after. He could say look, this is what's happening on the borders now and this is what our administration is doing to change it.

It's a very complicated issue. But he can't get away from the fact that the young man they talked about, the 9-year-old little child that walked over from Honduras, when they finally got ahold of his mother, she said it was because -- she sent him there because she knew that President Biden wasn't going to turn him back.

So that -- there's a line between compassion and also making sure you're not incentivizing more and more people at the border.

TAPPER: Yeah. No, it's tough -- it's a tough balance. Obviously, when the Trump administration would send the kids back or not let them cross, that didn't eliminate the problem of undocumented migrants. It just made them Mexico's problem.

Van, President Biden was also asked about Republican legislatures in many states working to pass laws to further restrict voting. A lot of this is based on the big lie that there was this election fraud that there was not. Take a listen to his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick. Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line, waiting to vote, deciding that you're going to end voting at 5:00 when working people are just getting off work. I'm convinced that we'll be able to stop this, because it is the most pernicious thing. This makes Jim Crow look like Jim eagle. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The president, Van, seemed to be pretty worked up about this. But the House bill that would push back some of these Republican measures, the House bill cannot get through the senate. It does not have the votes. Certainly doesn't have 60 votes.

JONES: Right. You saw Biden at his best, sticking up for American democracy, and the right to vote, and basic decency. And on stuff like that, he's actually driving a wedge between Republican politicians and Republican voters. Even Republican voters by the polls don't approve of a lot of this stuff which has nothing to do with voter fraud. It's just making it harder for working people and people in general harder to vote. So, I think he's at his best there.

Look, at some point, there has to be some kind of a grand bargain on voting. Right now, you have both sides that won't accept the next round of elections. If the Democrats lose, they're going to say voter suppression. If Republicans lose, they'll say voter fraud.

At some point, you got to bring parts at the table. What can you do to give some affirmation to the people who want maybe a little more voter identification without all this other stuff and then do something about the voter suppression? There is some deal that can be struck here. But right now, both sides are in their corners and it doesn't look good.

TAPPER: I know a Republican congresswoman who was elected several items in an entirely vote by mail state, and her name is Congresswoman Mia Love.

[16:10:02]

LOVE: Right. And, you know, it's really interesting, because this -- this is not impossible. These things actually happened. I mean, we worked with President Obama on trade issues. And that was a place where we were able to work together, and get people together and stay on the same side.

I remember a baseball game where Republicans were cheering for President Obama and Democrats were actually booing him on some of these trade issues. We did it again with criminal justice reform.

So, I want to just say, we can't lose hope here. There are some issues like voter suppression, issues that we can actually deal with, if we're sincere about putting a politics aside and giving people the most opportunities, the best chances of going out and being able to vote and voice their concerns. That can actually happen. We can do that. And both sides would benefit from that.

TAPPER: Well, in the Tapper administration, you two would chair the panel and I would take all your recommendations. Thanks so much. Van Jones, Mia Love, really appreciate it. Good to see both of you.

President Biden also made news about the timeline for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. And he had a warning for North Korea. We're going to talk about Biden's approach to foreign policy with a congressman who served in the military.

Plus, how these issues and more are already defining Biden's presidency. That's next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:24]

TAPPER: And we're back with our politics lead.

Today, President Biden would not committee to withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1st under a deal struck by President Trump with the Taliban.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: It's going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline, just in terms of tactical reasons. Hard to get those troops out.

We've been meeting with our allies, those other nations that have NATO allies, who have troops in Afghanistan as well. And if we leave, we're going to do so in a safe and orderly way.

REPORTER: Do you believe it's possible we could have troops there next year?

BIDEN: I -- I can't picture that being the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now to discuss, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. He's an Air Force pilot who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, currently serves in the Air National Guard.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

You criticized President Trump when he announced his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, what's your take on President Biden's remarks? He didn't commit to May 1st, but he seems to suggest U.S. troops will be gone by next year.

REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): Yeah. Hey, Jake, I think it's a difficult decision. And I think it's going to be a difficult thing to talk about, because, frankly, I think they need to stay. I think it would probably behoove the president to just say, what, we're going to leave we can under conditions of peace, once the Taliban agree and actually follow through their agreement?

But, you know, the fact is that 2,500 troops there are projecting some combat power, training, stiffening the spine of the Afghan people who want us there, when there's 5,000 NATO soldier.

So, I think he certainly implied that he would be out this year. I just have a hard time actually seeing that occurring and I wish he would just kind of take that bull by the horns and tell the American people why. I think the American people would certainly be supportive if they heard the right reasons.

TAPPER: Well, obviously, Biden has to weigh this decision to withdraw with the prospects of Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. And you obviously fear that would make the U.S. less safe.

But what about the counterargument that like we can't be there forever unless you actually think that Afghanistan should be like our bases in Germany, or Japan, or Korea?

KINZINGER: Yeah, look, I mean, I agree, we can't be there forever. And I think a real disservice was done by these people that call Afghanistan a forever war. The reality is even the prior presidents said that it's not a war, it's a peacekeeping mission. We have peacekeepers still in Kosovo.

And so, while we would like a better situation there, the reality is that America's presence and NATO's presence is what stiffens the spine of the Afghan forces to do the bulk of the fighting. The second we leave, if that government collapses, which would be fairly likely when we left, not only would you have a Taliban takeover, you'd have a safe haven for terrorist groups to organize and plan, which is what they desperately want, not to mention all the rare earth minerals there that the Chinese would love to exploit.

So, yeah, it's not the best situation, but let's think about it. There's not a 150,000 American troops there. This is exactly the kind of 21st century fight where we're enabling and emboldening friendly forces to do the fighting on our behalf.

TAPPER: And we have similar situation, although with more forces than that in South Korea. President Biden was also asked about North Korea, the fact that North Korea launched two ballistic missiles yesterday, which was its second weapons test in less than a week.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: There will be responses if they choose to escalate. We will respond accordingly. But I'm also prepared for some form of diplomacy. But it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This seems much more in alignment with your kind of view of North Korea than what Trump attempted.

KINZINGER: Yeah. I think this is spot on. I mean, the reality is, it's going to be a diplomatic solution. Nobody wants a war on the Korean peninsula. Not North Korea. Of course, not us.

It's going to take Chinese pressure, Russian pressure, American pressure, allied pressure, to get to that denuclearization. But I think the president is right in this cautious approach making it clear, look, we will respond if you provoke us, but we don't seek war and you shouldn't either. It's very different than going to the DMZ, jumping over and, you know,

gallop with Kim Jong-un.

[16:20:04]

And acting like a nice handshake and a smile is going to solve that problem. It actually didn't. In fact, I think it made quite worse and it made Kim Jong-un, frankly, a player on the world stage that he doesn't deserve.

TAPPER: It also made him, I think, eager for attention, which might be the reason we've seen these missile tests.

The president is, obviously, facing multiple crises right now, not just Afghanistan, North Korea, but also at the border, coronavirus, gun violence. So far, his agenda has gotten little support from the Republicans.

Do you think there is room where you could work with President Biden and the Democrats on any of these issues? For instance, let's say infrastructure?

KINZINGER: Yeah, certainly. You know, what I understand about the infrastructure bill that's coming is way beyond infrastructure, which to me is disappointing. I think there's a number of Republicans that would love to do an infrastructure bill, talk about how to pay for it, you know?

I think you once you go over it, it's just going to raise corporate tax rates, that's going to be tough, because right now, infrastructure is funded by the gas tax. So, we have to have a discussion about that, you know, using the roads you're driving on, or paying the roads you're driving on.

We're willing to do it, but if it now gets lumped with all these other kind of wish list, there's no doubt there can't be bipartisanship. And I think it's unauthentic and ungenuine then to say, boy, we have no Republican on this, because there's just literally no attempt to gain Republicans.

You can try to ram it through yourself, that's totally right. If you want bipartisanship, there's a number of us willing to have a serious engagement on some of these issues.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, thanks so much. Good to see you again.

KINZINGER: You, too, Jake. See you.

TAPPER: What President Biden had to say about Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate after working with the Republican when he was in the Senate for so long. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:26:32] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Barack Obama said he believed the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Do you agree?

BIDEN: Yes.

COLLINS: If not, why not abolish it, if it's a relic of the Jim Crow era?

BIDEN: Successful electoral politics is the art of the possible. Let's figure out how we can get this done and move in the direction of significantly changing the abuse of even the filibuster rule first.

COLLINS: It sounds like you're moving closer to eliminating the filibuster. Is that correct?

BIDEN: I answered your question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: President Biden has the slimmest of majorities in the House and Senate from immigration to voting rights, to guns, abolishing the filibuster, the 60-vote requirement to proceed to a vote in the Senate. That may be the thing needed to help him get his agenda passed. That's exactly what progressives argue, and that's exactly what he alluded to at his first solo news conference today.

Let's discuss with our experts.

And, David, it certainly sounds like Biden is leaving the door open to getting rid of the filibuster based on that exchange with our own Kaitlan Collins. What did you make of it?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: What I make of it is that he's trying to be as direct as possible without flat-out saying, hey, I don't have the votes. You know, he spoke to the abuse of the filibuster and his frustrations with it. He talked about reforming it to add a standing filibuster so people could stand on -- would have to stand on the floor to hold the floor in a filibuster. It's a way of reducing the abuse of the filibuster.

But he also said, hey, I know how to count votes in the Senate and we don't have the votes. And he does not have the votes. And that's likely to be the reality throughout these next -- certainly these next two years. You've got a couple of Democrats who are not for it.

So, that does create challenges for him on questions like guns and on voting rights and some of the things that are very, very important to the country, I would argue, but also to the progressive base. But the reality is the reality. And what Biden kept coming back to is I'm here to get things done. That's why people sent me, and he wanted the principle focus to be on the virus, on the economic issues. That's where he thinks he's going to be judged. And, you know, he basically emerged from this press conference with the story being the progress -- you know, the real news was progress that was being made on the virus. So, I would think they were pretty happy with both the way he parried that question and the fact that they got the story they wanted and not the story they didn't.

TAPPER: And, Maggie, the president has his choice. He can get things done that are small or he can support Democratic legislation that's very ambitious but won't even get Joe Manchin's vote much less a Senate Republican.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that's right. Though, Jake, I think it's worth noting I think they think, and I think with reason, that what they've accomplished so far is not small. And particularly with the stimulus, although it's not a long-term durable program, it was a big deal bill and they were happy to have gotten that done.

But in terms of, you know, going forward, yes, I think they're not looking for incremental progress. I think they are looking to try to do something big. I think that David is right, that at the end of the day, Biden can do the math. I think he has a sense of not only what votes are not there, but what is it worth it to him to antagonize people further right now in this moment over something that is just not going to happen.

TAPPER: And, David, Biden -- he presents himself, he sold himself to the American people as the bipartisan guy who can solve problems, he can reach across the aisle. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he hasn't spoken to Biden since inauguration.

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