energy.

>> secretary holland has worn many hats. throughout her career she served as a tribal administrator and was the first person -- first woman elected to the board of administrators. she also became the first native american woman to be elected to lead a state party. in 2018 she became one of the first native american woman -- women to serve in congress. she joins us today on the second debbie climate summit to underscore our commitment to

collecting -- two protecting public lands. happy to take a couple of questions because she has a part out. >> thank you so much, jen. good morning everyone. thank you so much. thank you for inviting me to be here today. i want to start off by wishing everyone happy national park. i hope you had a chance to get out and experience your public lands this week. the white house is national park , so technically we are celebrating right now. i always wanted to be a national park ranger, and while i did not that job, tomorrow night i get

the chance to swear in junior rangers. i think you can find the link on the website. i was happy also to celebrate this morning as we announced 16 new listings to the underground railroad and freedom program. i'm eager to ensure that the next -- national treasures help tell a more inclusive and accurate story of our nation. this week has brought significant news on climate action and issues impacting tribal communities. we have no shortage of work i had. president biden that ambitious goals to make sure america and the world meet demands to -- to combat the climate crisis.

it will take all of us in the best available science to make it happen. the interior department is in a unique addition to be a leader of putting our nation on a path to achieve net zero emission and benefit underserved communities. we have taken steps in the past -- restore balance and create jobs, and revitalize raymond in coal communities -- revitalize land in coal communities. i believe just as biden does that we must engage tribal nations with a government approach, and one need not look

further after the first lady's trip to indigenous land. if we are going to make sure the native american and alaska native immunities drive, that struggle sovereignty is respected and strengthened, and we are truly to repair the relationship, that means every federal agency needs to be thinking about our obligation to indigenous people. being the first native american to serve the cabinet is not lost on me. on monday, i delivered remarks on behalf of the u.s. of the form on -- forum on indigenous issues.

i talked about how we are putting the full weight of our federal government behind a cross departmental missing and murdered unit. yesterday, ayanna here is we forward to implement the not invisible at. reducing violent crime against indigenous and later today susan rice and i will convene the first white house counsel native american affairs using biden administration. i am ready to roll of leaves and get to work across the cabinet. last: i've known for a family farms, ranchers, and hunts.

these experiences underscore lab here in tier know we can make different. >> opinion you give us an update on the moratorium for? >> the pause on new leases still in effect. that means existing leases are still in. we are issuing permits on those land and when we finish the review, who's had a gas and oil

form, too many folks across the country when he was done -- when that will be used -- when that review was done. i cannot say exactly when it will be included. it is mostly getting everyone's. we want to make sure everyone's voice and single. we've heard -- --

>> we have heard the -- >> i met with those legislatures when i was in utah. legislators legislate, and i think they should move ahead with legislation if that is what they want to do. we will get the report done for the president and ended to the white house, and it will really be the president's decision -- and send it to the white house, and it will be the president's decision. we've talked to ranchers, farmers, children who use those lands, and outdoor economy folks

, and we want to make sure we include everyone's voice. that is the report that will go to the president and then he will decide. >> is that the issue that you will be addressing in this domestic counsel? >> this is our first meeting, so what we will do initially is dying committees to eat cabinet secretary, and it will be up to them to look at the topic. of course we care deeply about this issue, it is one many are suffering from and i appreciate you mentioning that, but once we get a clear path of where we are going with counsel, we will certainly that you'll know.

>> going back to your cause the national parks, any reason why they are still at reduced capacity when we know that gathering outside -- is a few -- and less of a chance of contracting covid. >> we know there are a lot of vaccinations happening. our country is safer. but, we are just not quite there yet. we will continue monitoring the situation, we need everyone to their masks on and social distance. >> what is your plan for restarting the gulf of mexico? >> there is not a moratorium on

new leases. when we have done, right now permits are still being issued. there are still ongoing leases that are have -- happening. >> thank you. >> nice to see you all. >> a good thing to celebrate. >> as you know, president biden just included a world climate summit. on the first day he and united states will target reducing commissions -- emissions. he underscored america's

commitment to rating human jobs. we also want to lead the way our government -- some examples of our insulin the gsa -- examples include, the department of transportation is a comprehensive code -- approach including expanding access to charging statement -- stations. the department of defense will -- all major installations outside the continental united states within 24 month.

the epa will fund $1 million grant cooperative agreement to educate communities. it is a cross government approach. i want to highlight that today department of education and not plans to distribute 800 million dollars in funding. the department also took serious steps -- american rescue planned elementary and secondary school over the -- breast relief funds for the reopening of schools and address the gaps exacerbated by the pandemic. alternately, shut now showed a broad range of flexibility that will allow walls and child their institution to serve healthy wills for free for all kids 2022

-2023 school year. slope -- for lots of kids, school meals are the healthiest meals they can zoom all day. of the school meal programs, including a strong emphasis on providing and vegetables, milk, and whole-grain. one in seven families struggling to put food on the table, the number of american household then they are behind ranked or did not have enough to -- last week. obviously there is a lot more to go and a lot more work to done.

finally, a preview of the head. i choose a, -- on wednesday the president will address joint session of congress to layout the american family land, a significant number of details that we discussed, including expanding access to health here and putting into waste police reform. he and first lady travel georgia highlight -- while there he will produce. morale. on friday he will have additional out-of-town travels to have more tea chose. we announced this morning the president will travel to belgium in june for his first overseas

trip as president. he looks for two revitalizing our alliance to address global challenges and better secure american interests. he will attend a sunday longwall june 12 june 13. we will also participate in the u.s. new summit. >> the president announced this week, was out the investments in the infrastructure proposal, can those be achieved? and is there some red with publicans to make that happen.

so include legislation, the american jobs and, but there are additional legislative options, executive options are also on table and of course working with the private sector to continue to take additional steps forward. we have every intention of getting the jobs and passed and signed into law. there was a within counter proposal yesterday. we expect those to happen over the course of the next several days. reporter: is the president speaking today with president erdogan, and president erdogan

said earlier this week that if president biden went forward with his pledge to recognize the armenian genocide, it would hurt u.s.-turkey ties. how much does president biden need turkish cooperation in afghanistan? sec. psaki: i understand your line of questioning. in this particular area, i don't have any calls to report to you. we will certainly provide a readout if there is a call. in terms of delivering on his campaign pledge, i don't have anything to preview for you on that front either. i expect to have more in the coming days. reporter: regarding the republican counter offer, now that you have had a chance to peruse it, is there any public

reaction? sec. psaki: only a day. as we said yesterday, the president's only redline is in action. we want to get ideas from both sides of the aisle. we are reviewing the proposal. we are starting to have conversations at the staff level today. we expect those to proceed through the course of next week. we will ask questions and exchange additional ideas. this is a good start and we look forward to having the conversation moving forward. reporter: do you have a different response to this counter offer than you did to the counter offer on the american rescue plan? sec. psaki: the american rescue plan was a plan and proposal meeting what we felt was a crisis situation, which was getting the pandemic under control and putting millions of american back -- americans back to work. the president felt and i have

said many times that there was an urgency in moving that forward and the size of the package needed to meet the moment. there are many mechanisms for how his ideas can move forward. they can be worked through negotiating with democrats and republicans. there are a lot of ideas, including the bill senator shuna -- senator schumer has put forward, where we feel there is overlap. we do think the process will be different. there is more time to move forward. there is more time to discuss and negotiate and we will take advantage of that. reporter: it has been widely reported that you will not be including health coverage expansion in the family plan. why did the white house decide not to include that in this

plan? sec. psaki: the president is still making final decisions, as is his prerogative, over the coming days. when the final decisions are made, that will be part of that as well. he will speak in his speech about expanding access to health care. we have an -- we have opened the enrollment period for the affordable care act. he included subsidies and the american rescue plan to make it even less expensive. the american families plan and his speech on wednesday will not represent the totality of every priority item for him and every item on his agenda that he wants to move forward with. reporter: are there any plans to

send any of the u.s. stockpile of astrazeneca to india? sec. psaki: first, the united states offers our deepest sympathy to the people of india who are clearly suffering during this global pandemic. we are working closely with indian officials at all levels to find ways to help address the crisis. we have made vaccine cooperation a priority. india is one of our partners in discussing vaccine creation and distribution for the future. we have provided or billion dollars to covax -- $4 billion to covax and we have provided india with relief supplies, pandemic training, and ventilators, which is part of our effort over the course of time to help them prepare for pandemics in the future and deal with the current one we are facing. there are ongoing discussions.

i don't have anything more to preview, but we are in touch with them about how we can help them get through this. reporter: back to infrastructure, we saw the white house at least consider the proposal on the corporate tax rate. is that more of a starting offer? sec. psaki: the president's proposal in the american jobs plan was about modernizing our infrastructure. the tax component was about how to pay for it. we are open to a range of options, but it will not be on the backs of the american people. this relates to the capital gains rates and the top margins you are seeing reported out there. people making under $400,000 a year should not and will not have their taxes go up.

if you look at the proposed numbers, which are consistent with what he talked about on the campaign trail when he was running for president, it will affect people making more than $1 million a year, which is three out of every 1000 taxpayers. so he has some bottom lines of where he will not budge on individual numbers and who will be impacted, but he is also open to discussion. reporter: we have seen a proposal for ending the child tax credit. sec. psaki: you mean extending it? it's not permanent, so it would be either extending it or making it permanent. what i am trying to clarify is

that it is not currently permanent. the question is whether it would be permanent, and the president absolutely feels the child tax credit provides essential funding and health to people -- help to people who need help the most. that is why in the american rescue plan he increased it from $2000 to $3000 per child and $3600 for children under six. it's the single largest contributor to cutting child poverty as evidenced by the chart we put up. he is looking into expanding it, and that is under consideration. it's not currently permanent. so we are talking about how long it would be extended. we are quite open -- we think the child tax credit is valuable. it's had a huge impact on poverty and reducing the level

of poverty in our country and helping women get back into the workforce. what we are determining is what we can do about the cost. it's about a billion dollars a year, so we have to figure out how to pay for it and that's part of the discussion. reporter: we have seen so many mobile clinics rely on the j&j shop because you don't have to keep it cold. so mobile clinics have not been operational during the pause. how hard is it to get pfizer, dharna -- pfizer and moderna into the mobile clinics? sec. psaki: i'm happy to check if that's a factor. what i understand is the biggest factor is that we are at a point where 52% have received at least their full -- first dose.

we are getting to a point where we are entering a new phase where it gets more challenging. it's less of a supply issue and more of a -- it's incumbent upon us to meet people where they are. that's the biggest challenge in terms of the numbers at this point in time. if you're asking about getting the during -- getting moderna and pfizer into mobile units, i will have to check with our team on how they see that having an impact. obviously, they are continuing to adjust the means in which we are getting two communities. we make adjustments based on what we think will be most effective. obviously, the massive increase at pharmacies is a reflection of that. reduction at some vaccination sites. and we are investing insights

where it's most impactful to invest. we have been investing in community health centers, primary care physicians, pharmacies, but i will check with our team area reporter: -- with our team. reporter: with the president's trip in june, that will be the first time a president has traveled internationally since the start of the pandemic. is he going to lift travel restrictions to europe? sec. psaki: i cannot make a prediction on that. that is based on the recommendations of our health and medical team. i don't have anything to predict on that front. reporter: have there been conversations about whether everyday americans can start resuming that kind of travel? sec. psaki: most americans are slightly different than the president of the united states taking a diplomatic trip on air force one then whether it is

safe for everyone to travel internationally. obviously, everyone wants international travel to reopen, but those conversations are between health and medical experts and they will make an evaluation based on what they think is safe for the american public. reporter: there have been a lot of questions related to climate and what the president wants to see by 2030. to get to his goal, more than half the new cars and suvs being sold would need to be electric. right now, it's about 2%. is that something the president agrees with, that they need to be half electric 2030 -- by 2030? sec. psaki: that is not a goal or number he said because he feels there are a number of ways to get there. there are additional ways,

including that impact a lot of sectors from electricity, transportation, buildings, industry, and land. there are a lot of pathways to reach this goal. some will be done through legislation, through laws that will be put in place. some will be done to incentivize investment in areas like electric vehicles and electric charging stations, which is already happening in the private sector. a lot of car companies will tell you this is where the future of their industry is going anyway. but we want to incentivize and make that something we can jumpstart. there are a lot of options to get there. this is one pathway. reporter: on the emergent facility in baltimore that has been plagued with issues, regulators conducted a study and found they had poorly trained staff that resulted in

contamination of what could amount to millions of johnson & johnson doses. this is a company that got 630 million dollars from the federal government under the trump administration. is that a contract you are willing to keep or is that a discussion about canceling the contract and no longer working with this company? sec. psaki: i think some astrazeneca doses came from there that have gone to other countries. we believe, for the u.s., i will say to take some criticism off the former administration, there are a limited number of any factoring facilities that have the capacity -- as you know -- that have the capacity and ability to produce a vaccine like this.

there is no question that emergent has not met those bars. in terms of future contracts, i don't have anything to predict on that front. reporter: so, you are still going down the path for this facility to get approved by the fda? sec. psaki: again, they have to make changes. the fda is working closely with them. if they make changes and meet the bar, that is a different story. reporter: will the first lady be attending the presidents joint address next week and will she bring a guest as has been traditional? sec. psaki: it will be a little different because there are limited number of people in the capital, and that will be determined by the speaker's office, who will attend and who

will have to watch virtually. most if not all of our staff will be watching virtually. dr. biden will be -- as to whether dr. biden will be there in person, i will have to check on that. there will not be the traditional box. we are determining how we can engage the public and highlight some of the incredible stories of people who have been helped by the president policies, but it will not look like or feel like what past joint addresses have. reporter: is it the presidents preference that people be vaccinated? sec. psaki: i would send you to the speaker's office. they are determining attendance requirements. reporter: any update on neera tanden's appointment to the administration? sec. psaki: the president remains committed to taking

advantage of her talents. i don't have any calls to read out. i will check and see if he has had a conversation with any of those families. reporter: on india, can i ask if the u.s. is helping specifically with the shortage of oxygen? sec. psaki: let me check on that. we have provided a range of funding over time. we are likely one of the world's largest contributors to india in terms of their health needs. it has gone to a range of supplies and training, but i will check on oxygen specifically. it's an ongoing discussion, so that may be part of that. reporter: the european union said today that it is close to

finishing a contract with pfizer which would be the largest contract for vaccines for the coming year. is the u.s. in talks with pfizer to get more vaccines post 2021? sec. psaki: i don't have any contract discussions to read out. i can assure you that he is over preparing and over supplying the united states. obviously, we are cognizant about needs in the future. but i probably won't have anything to follow-up with you on. reporter: yesterday, the stock market dipped a little bit in response to reports about your climate plans. what is the white house response

to that? are you concerned about wall street's support of these policies? sec. psaki: i have been doing this long enough not to comment on movement in the stock market. i can just tell you that it went up -- back this morning. reporter: there is disagreement among congressional democrats about how to use the savings from lowering the cost of prescription drugs. is that something the white house is going to take a position on or will you see democrats work that out? sec. psaki: the president absolutely wants to lower the cost of prescription drugs and knows the burden on american seniors. he discussed that on the campaign trail. i expect we will be in discussions about what the plans are and what the options are,

but we are not at that point yet. reporter: on the border, the administration has demonstrated the border is not open. they refer to a trump policy. i want to know what is the white house's message to groups who are largely supportive of this white house about the concerns over furthering this trump policy? sec. psaki: we are still in the middle of a global pandemic. keeping the american people safe and ensuring that we are taking responsible steps as it relates to the pandemic is front and center for the president. at the same time, we absolutely believe we should be a country and are a country that wants to treat people humanely, as

evidenced by our efforts to treat children who come to this country who are under 18 as unaccompanied children in a manner that is not the same as the former administration. we understand, we have heard the frustration about this issue, but the presidents objective is to keep systems in place, policies in place,, policies -- to implement policies around the pandemic. i can't make a prediction around that. that will be based on what the evaluation is by health experts. reporter: can i ask a follow-up on the turkey question? turkey is a nato member. what consideration is the administration taking of the concerns turkey has about this

weekend's activity? sec. psaki: i understand the questions but i am not going to get ahead of the president and any decisions or announcements. any decisions the president makes on foreign policy take into account concerns expressed by allies and partners around the world. reporter: one more about immigration. as we approach 100 days, covid-19 was the biggest challenge this administration faced. but immigration was another one that took a lot of oxygen and political time. to you -- could you have done anything differently to address this challenge, not only with republicans but with some democrats? sec. psaki: there is no question we recognize this is a challenging issue and we knew it would be when the president changed the policy of the former administration when he came into

office. obviously, welcoming in or ensuring we have the capacity and are using resources to treat children humanely and make sure they are safe is a change from the last administration's policy that was going to do satisfy some who were supportive of the last administration, but not satisfy enough, as you alluded to in your question, some who think we should be welcoming many more across our borders. it is an issue, as you know. you have covered this closely. we recognize we were never going to satisfy everyone. the presidents objective has been to focus on the unaccompanied children, those who have been ripped from their parents arms, those who were being asked to take a treacherous journey back, to take steps there. he also wants to push for a comprehensive immigration reform providing pathway to citizenship , ensuring we are investing in and addressing the root causes in their countries. that is something he announced

on day one of his presidency. we are aware this is an issue that some supporters of the president and some republicans in congress are apparently licking their chops about how to make children a political issue. we don't see it that way. we are going to keep working with immigration advocates and groups out there to get this bill passed, to get the dreamers legislation passed. that's a big objective for the president. reporter: is the president aware of the shooting of andrew brown, a black man in north carolina, and does he believe body camera footage from the police officer should be released? sec. psaki: he is aware of it. i have not talked to him about his particular view on that. i believe he will leave that up to law enforcement and others to work out. obviously, there is a loss-of-life that is a tragedy. and we are thinking of the family members and the community

who have lost a loved one. there will be an investigation into this shooting, and we will look for the outcome of that. reporter: on infrastructure, you noted that the president will travel next week to georgia. immediately after his joint address, i guess what we are calling it this year. sec. psaki: it's a joint address in the first year of presidency. a little history note. reporter: how frequently do you expect the president and vice president to be traveling to sell this infrastructure package, especially now that all adult americans are eligible for the vaccine? sec. psaki: the president will travel thursday and friday. i expect he will have additional travel ahead of that. he and the first lady and the vice president and sec. general and will be traveling in the

weeks after the -- second gentleman will be traveling in the weeks after the address. i don't have a prediction of how many days. it depends. reporter: you have said the president would be meeting with bipartisan groups of lawmakers to talk about his infrastructure package. do you have any republican senators that the president plans to meet, maybe a summit he plans to have? sec. psaki: aside from the meetings he had last week? reporter: for his second infrastructure package. sec. psaki: it's not an infrastructure package. it's a family planning and health care package. he will continue conversations and i anticipate he will have more members of congress in in a bipartisan manner next week. next week he is going to be preparing for the joint address.

he will make some remarks. he is going to travel two days. so you could anticipate it would be after that. sec. psaki: so if there are republican senators such as marco rubio or mike lee who have said they support the child tax credit, even extending it, but they don't want to see permanent entitlements such as federal paid leave, will there be some sort of bridge for that divide? for things republicans are supportive of generally but don't want to see permanent entitlements. sec. psaki: senator romney also proposed his own child tax credit plan. you mentioned others who would support extending the child tax credit. we see that as an opportunity to discuss and seek bipartisan support on a tax credit we think would be beneficial to families across the country.

supporting children, getting women back in the workforce, i expect the president will continue to have these conversations. reporter: lawmakers from across new england are pushing for funding for high-speed rail lines between new york city and boston in the infrastructure package. i wonder if president biden's support of that idea and how does he envision his infrastructure plan will further the development of high-speed rail? sec. psaki: it will certainly be a part of it. sec. buttigieg talked about this a little bit. part of the conversation among members of congress is what the composition of grants are. some grants will go to individual projects. some will be competitive. some will be funding that goes to states. that is how transportation

funding has worked in the past and we expect it to be a combination. that will be part of the discussions happening moving forward, no question, as a person who grew up in new england, there will be many advocates for that from the new england delegation, but we are not right at that point. that's part of the nitty-gritty decision-making and discussions happening now. reporter: as a huge rail supporter, can you clarify if it is his goal that the infrastructure package will either advance or start a new high-speed rail line in the u.s. ? there is only one under construction right now. sec. psaki: as you know, as you alluded to, the president is a big fan of amtrak himself. but we have to work through with congress where the mechanisms are for funding, so that is part of the discussion and

nitty-gritty negotiation happening in the coming weeks. reporter: does the president plan to visit ireland when he makes his trip to the u.k.? sec. psaki: the confirmed parts of his trip at this point in time i announced. i don't have anything additional to add but the trip is still two months again, -- two months away . if we have more components to announce, we will do that, but there is not currently a stop planned in ireland. reporter: question about refugee admissions. the administration has until may 15 to decide if it is going to revise upward the cap on refugee admissions. what would sec. psaki: we have every intention of providing the president has every intention of

providing an updated number that will be significantly higher than last week because the intention he was trying to convey last week was that we were resuming flights and overturning the policy of preventing refugees from applying from parts of the middle east and africa but i won't get ahead of the process. we are assessing what is possible and that through our policy and legal process and we will have an update in advance of may 15. reporter: that number was communicated to congress and as a cap limit, not a limit. why not go up to the company and not limit. sec. psaki: i will take that into consideration. you are right in that this cap is historically aspirational. if you look back most administrations don't meet the cap but it is sending a mental about the fact -- a mental that

we welcome refugees and we want to get or muscles in our refugee processing system in the country and around the world. there were limitations this year that were unique to this because of covid and the fact that the systems were decimated under the last administration. we have to look at that. i think it an important point that i would highlight that often this is an aspirational goal and one we are trying to reach to send a message about who we are as a country. reporter: does the bidden administration see -- biden see that as a long stormy solution to -- long-term solution of people coming illegally because they don't have other legal avenues. do they see increasing the number of people allowed in the refuse gentlemen program -- refugee program as a number to resolving the issue. sec. psaki: i don't know we see

it through the same prism like that. the president's objective has always been consistently from february through last week welcoming 125,000 by the end of in connection fiscal year -- by next fiscal year so we are talking about the cap for this fiscal year and we have been dealing with challenges but war assessing that. we will have an increased number very soon. as you know a lot of refugees are coming from all around the world. from africa, middle east, many parts of the world. so, while it is all related because it is representing who we are as a country and welcoming people who are freeing persecution and challenging circumstances, i don't think he sees it exactly through that. reporter: do you have an updead of the number admitted. sec. psaki: the last few weeks i think that we have numbersment i'm happy to get them to you

because of flights resuming and we have seen an uncrease the -- an increase. reporter: a couple of years ago before president biden said he thinks boris johnson is a physical and emotional clone of donald trump. does he still hold that view? i don't having in yet to preview about the agenda. a lot depends on what the world looks like then but we have a range of issues it discuss with or partners in the u.k. as we get closer we will have more to say and the president's meeting with him as a fellow global leader and it certainly sends a message about the special relationship we've with the united kingdom.

reporter: at night toe president trump liked to claim he was getting night at the to pay more. does this administration think president trump has some credit for that and his approach this administration will continue? sec. psaki: i know he said he inhaven'ted that but the objective is encouraging members of nato to pay more. reporter: is president bidden wanting to meet the can queen? sec. psaki: wouldn't you want to meet the queen. we are finalizing the details of the trip and i understand the interest. i'm interested as well myself. well have more to share with you as the final details are put together. reporter: does it change the

administration perspective about the climate deal and possible assistance related to the zone? sec. psaki: reaching car been neutrality by 2050 with no preconditions as announced and the commitment it double funds for enforcement are steps to eliminate illegal deforestation. so we're pleased he recognized the important rule of the private sector it find solutions. we agree with the involvement of indigenous people and protecting standing forests and with his recognition of the role of the private sector in helpings find solutions. we look forward to continuing to

work with brazil to continue the dialogue and his announcement was a good step. reporter: does it change the perspective about for assistance to protect the zone? sec. psaki: i have nothing to preview in terms of that but his announcement and pronouncementsen received positively here. i imagine there will be lots of discussion from our climate envoy and others who are leading this effort. reporter: would now be a good time to call the brazilian president if sec. psaki: i don't have any calls to preview. there are a number of officials who are leading the efforts for follow-up. it is significant that we had 40 global leaders here the last two days virtually discussing this. reporter: today the discussions center around clean energy.

a lot of discussions about solar energy. with president biden consider bringing become the solar things at the white house? sec. psaki: i will have to see who makes that but we are pro this so i will see where we stand on that. reporter: we didn't hear were about the connection and about 70% starts with the deforest as. what is the biden station doing to reduce the risk of future prance from -- pandemics from the zone? sec. psaki: addressing deforestation is not just a climate issue, it is also a health issue and we aren couraged by the announcements made by the president yesterday

and we will continue to work with a range of countries and international forums to ensure the world is preparing for preventing the next pandemic. reporter: there are discussions about the specific point so would the with us support global deforestation it prevent future pandemics? sec. psaki: there will be discussions with the brazilens and leaders who standed yesterday. others who are running points on this. i don't having in it get ahead on that. reporter: does the president still have a plan to have a statement on [indistinct conversation] sec. psaki: i expect he will have a statement for the day but i don't having in about the accountant. reporter: [inaudible] they want

to discuss the effort to rjoin the nuclear review. how does the white house view this visit and is it likely to change it administration as position? sec. psaki: no, but he will say within this there are ongoing discussions or negotiations should say that are happening now. they are indirect on the potential for a diplomatic passport on a nuclear deal. while we knew they would be cooling we are encouraged that there are conversations and they are still happening. as it relates it israel we have kept them abreast of the discussions or our intentions.

as we have been doing over friday we welcome someone had accountant be her physically so this is natasha lindstrom of the pittsburgh review. is today your birthday? oh, we can't hear you. >> i have it, sorry. sec. psaki: happy birthday. how can we help you or what questions do you have? >> i was going to say to the press corps but that is not how it works. >> can you put a spotlight on problems troubling nursing homes including some that are understaffed and having poor infection control. and there's been a trend of

things aoepbdz by shell companies snapping up crash strapped facilities. and it makes it difficult to figure out who is in control and the budgets are federal taxpayer dollars legislation to improve quality has been having bipartisan support including bills by the pennsylvania senators and pat toomey. we have seen an increase in scrutiny and one of the more egregious cases a investigation is under way in some counties in our region. can you elaborate on what condition create actions are being taken or will be taken on

interrogatory, law firm investigative or other fronts to ensure accountability and transparency in the long-term care sector? how can we say operators are doing with there should be doing it improve care. sec. psaki: thank you. i think there is no question the impact on seniors in facilities especially early days of the pandemic we there were not the preparations in place and not systems in place, when loved ones couldn't even engage with or reach their members who were in facilities. it exposed what a problem we've. as you noted there is legislation that is in congress and certainly we will look forward to looking at that more closely. i expect as we're getting it the state where the pandemic is hopefully under control that is the objective we'll all look and

reflect on what changes should be made for the future to be better prepared to take better care of seniors. in terms of regulatory action i'm not in a position to get ahead of that. i'm happy to see if dollars teug week expect it but i think you have identified a challenging issue that is not only a problem in pittsburgh and with respect pennsylvania and parts of pennsylvania but we are seeing in states across the country. reporter: there's a lot of blame blaming dorn -- donor prarts and trying to make issuer meaningful chang happens. a lot of problems were exacerbated by the pandemic but existed with the lack of transparency. sec. psaki: you are right. it is both. it is not one or the other. there are responsibilities that the state has because they have

funding in these areas but there is a responsibility of the federal government to look at d states and see challenges and what book do better by -- what we can do better by seniors and i think it is a partnership in both moving forward. thank you. happy birthday. hope you have a wonderful celebration and thanks for joining us. thank everyone. as i promised yesterday i promised snacks. i didn't bring them here but my mother-in-law made home made chocolate chip cookies and we will do it in a covid safe way. thanks, everyone. have a great weekend.