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WH: "Important" To Biden That Minimum Wage Be Raised; House Dems Dismiss Trump Team's First Amendment Argument. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired February 08, 2021 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've only -- I know I can't say this forever, but we've only been here two-and-a-half weeks. He has not called every global leader yet. He has not had engagements with all of them. And I am sure he will do more of that in the weeks ahead.

QUESTION: But he has spoken to President Putin, who is somebody who is quite an ally.

PSAKI: Certainly not.

QUESTION: So -- and that was more than a week ago at this point.

PSAKI: Yes, but he had that conversation in part because there was a timeline for new START, and the deadline that was approaching with new START. And during that conversation he made very clear that there are significant concerns he has, the administration has about the reported actions of the Russian government.

But for the most part his other calls have been with partners and allies in the region and in Asia and in Europe as well, at this point in time.

QUESTION: And then something else, Ron Klain said on January 21st that the administration was going to try to build what he described as a national clearinghouse for information about the the COVID vaccine. Is something like that being built in the administration? And if so, how long do you think that's going to take? People are really struggling to find information about their state, their county, and, you know, there is so much difficulty in the vaccination process.

PSAKI: You're right: There is a great deal of confusion. And one of the focuses we have had is trying to alleviate that confusion. And part of that has been through working with governors and local elected officials. One of their biggest requests has been to have more of a heads-up on how much vaccine supply there would be, of course to increase vaccine supply. We've worked to do both, to give -- ensure that there is thorough planning time for vaccine allocation, increases in allotments, as supply allows, and of course deploying government resources to sites where they are needed.

We're looking at a host of measures that could help us achieve our goal, of course, of getting 100 million vaccines in the arms of Americans in the first 100 days and also ensuring that we're reaching communities where there are higher levels of vaccine hesitancy but the president -- and the president has directed his team to do -- use whatever tools and resources necessary to get the job done.

So there are a range of options under consideration but I don't have any updates for you on that particular proposal. Certainly a lot of people would love that but we're -- we're looking to prioritize how we can be most impactful as quickly as possible and working with states and governors to make those determinations. Go ahead, Anne (ph).

QUESTION: Thank you. On -- back on impeachment, you mentioned that the president will be in close contact with Senator Schumer. Do you expect that to be daily? At -- have they -- for example, have they spoken since he's gotten back from Delaware? Do you -- like, will that be a regular way that -- that the president is briefed on -- on the progress of the impeachment trial?

PSAKI: I don't expect that would be a primary topic. I actually expect it would be more about the American Rescue Plan and progress being made on that front. There are, of course, mark-ups happening this week, more on the House side, and the president has remained in close touch with Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer very regularly over the course of the last few weeks and I expect that would continue.

QUESTION: Do you expect that they will have any strategy discussions at all as the trial is unfolding?

PSAKI: I don't expect that would be a primary point of discussion of their conversations.

QUESTION: ... you -- you said that he's not -- he's busy (ph), he's not going to be spending moment by moment attention to it this week but will he get a daily update for -- perhaps more frequently than that from White House staff?

PSAKI: I don't expect that will be a primary focus for him this week or of his senior staff either.

QUESTION: I have another (ph) foreign policy discussion, following on Katie's (ph) question that -- about Iran. When the president ruled out dropping U.S. sanctions immediately, he didn't then go on and -- and talk about some of the other strategies that are -- that are out there, including, for example, that the United States might drop its objections to Iran receiving an IMF loan -- a COVID-related IMF loan, other couple of ideas that would allow Iran to get some economic benefit that would -- that would not be sanctions and maybe grease the wheel for negotiations.

Does the president have a view on that -- on those strategies and were they part of the discussion at the principals meeting on Friday?

PSAKI: I -- I am not going to rule -- read out our principals meeting, which was primarily focused on a range of issues in the Middle East. Of course, Iran was a topic of discussion -- was expected to be a topic of discussion. I think during the interview, the president was asked about whether he would roll back sanctions and he conveyed no, that it's -- the ball's in Iran's court. It wasn't a more extensive conversation than that during the interview and that's long been his position. So that really is the next step in terms of engagement with Iran from here.

[12:35:00]

QUESTION: But that is not ruling it out necessarily, that -- that there might be other ways to -- to -- help Iran get back to the table, that would be sort of dropping U.S. sanctions?

PSAKI: Well, again, I think his view is that the ball is in Iran's court to come back into full compliance with the JCPOA and that that would be the basis for the United States doing the same and then using that as a platform to build a longer and stronger agreement, but that is really the next step, in his view, in the process.

QUESTION: I have one more very quickly on the Post Office, if -- if -- if I could. On time, first class mail delivery dropped to 38 percent in December of this year, from 92 percent the year before. Does the president have a view on whether the postmaster general should keep his job and if he would like to see the postmaster general removed? Would he move to change the make-up of the governing board that could make that happen?

PSAKI: Well, as I understand, there are a number of openings right now on the governing board of the Post Office -- or vacancies, I should say, that would of course work their way through a personnel process. I don't think I have anything more for it -- on this for you but I can follow up with our team and see what more we can report out. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Back on the subject of the COVID checks, Bernie Sanders said it would be absurd to lower the threshold -- the income threshold and some other Democrats have raised the prospect that doing so could lead to a political backlash, given voters in Georgia were explicitly promised this aid by the president and they didn't really have any reason to believe that fewer people would qualify for that aid under the Democrat plan.

So I'm wondering if that's something you guys are concerned about and how you would address that criticism?

PSAKI: Well, the president proposed the $1,400 checks to make -- to -- to come -- plus $600 is, of course, $2,000 because he was -- felt it was important and vital to get that direct relief to as many Americans as possible and target that relief to the Americans who need help the most, and that's how his original plan and proposal was designed.

He's also said, and I've said many times from here, that the final plan will look different from what the plan he proposed in his joint session address. It's still working its way through Congress and I don't think a conclusion has been made yet on the exact level of targeting. And when it does, we're happy to have a conversation about that, but part of this is -- is, you know, an opportunity for members of both parties and members that -- who are across the political spectrum, of course even in the Democratic Party, to weigh in on what the path forward should look like. Go ahead, in the back.

QUESTION: Thank you, Jen. A little bit of follow up on a Iran and China question. What does President Biden consider the biggest threat to the U.S. national security?

PSAKI: Overall in the world?

QUESTION: Yeah.

PSAKI: Well, I -- I'm -- I'm not sure I'm going to define that for you in this moment. There are a range of threats that he's talked about in the past and I'm sure he'll have more to say on his national security approach and strategy in the -- in the weeks ahead.

QUESTION: And I have one question -- last week, a report made by NGOs and universities were sent to the White House, recommending that the United States break negotiations on trade and others with Brazil over climate and human rights violations.

And likewise, some Democrats on the Hill already had expressed the same opposition to expand economic -- economic partnership with Brazil. Is the White House paying attention to those reports and to what's happening in Brazil?

PSAKI: We certainly are paying close attention to what is happening in Brazil. Obviously we share a vibrant partnership that spans two centuries of mutual interest and shared values and we, you know, have even announced in recent days -- you know, on -- on February 5th, the United States government, through the U.S. -- through USAID, announced it has delivered an additional $1.5 million in emergency COVID response in Brazil, and we, of course, remain, you know, closely engaged in these -- in what is a significant economic relationship.

PSAKI: We are by far the largest investor in Brazil, including in many of Brazil's most innovative and growth-focused companies, and we'll continue to strengthen our economic ties and increase our large and growing trade relationship in the months ahead.

QUESTION: Well, Jen, and the policies of the Brazilian president and President Biden on just many issues -- (inaudible) others -- other ones are very different. How can they work together?

[12:40:00]

PSAKI: Well, just as is true in many of our relationships, we look for opportunities to work together on issues where there is joint national interest, and obviously, there's an -- a significant economic relationship, and we will not hold back on areas where we disagree, whether it's climate or human rights or -- or otherwise. And so that will be the path forward with our relationship with Brazil, as well.

Go ahead, Yamiche.

QUESTION: Thanks so much. Three questions. The first is what should Americans take away from the fact that President Biden campaigned on unity, talked about unity, got into office -- about two weeks in, has decided -- all but has decided to -- to go with a process where Democrats can pass a $1.9 trillion plan without the support of Republicans? I know that there are Republicans across the country that the Biden office (ph) pointed to, saying they support this bill. But there is this -- there is the fact that Democrats don't have to have Republican support in Congress for this bill, and the president is seemingly supporting that process. So I'm wondering what people should take away from that. And will that definition of bipartisanship be the one that -- that is going forward with this White House?

PSAKI: Well, the president ran on unifying the country, not on creating one political party. But I will note that 16 of the last 21 reconciliation bills that have gone through Congress have been bipartisan, and certainly, there's opportunity for Republicans to not only offer an amendments as it's going through the House committee process, and then we'll go through the Senate committee process following that, but they will have the opportunity to, of course, vote for a package that will -- that the vast majority of the American people support.

So you know, the president is -- is -- his first priority is getting relief to the American people. But the vast majority of the public -- Democrats, Republicans, independents are with him in that effort. There's a long history of bipartisan support for reconciliation bills, a parliamentary process. Again, I don't think the American people are particularly worried about how the direct relief gets to their -- into their hands. And you know, that -- if that's the process that move -- it moves forward through, which seems likely at this point, the president would certainly support that.

QUESTION: I have a question also on impeachment. I know the president, you say, isn't going to be watching it, but there are going to be millions of Americans who will be watching it. I wonder what the president's message is to Americans, especially the ones that are still mourning the loss of -- of people who died in the Capitol who are still wondering whether not the president -- former President Trump will be possibly acquitted in the -- in the trial, even if he -- even if Biden doesn't look -- President Biden doesn't want to say whether or not President Trump should be convicted. I just wonder if the White House has any message to Americans who are gearing up for a good -- what could be a tumultuous and dramatic two weeks.

PSAKI: Well, the president's focus is on delivering what those millions and millions and millions of Americans care deeply about, which is getting the pandemic under control, putting 10 million -- you know, putting millions of Americans back to work, getting vaccines in the arms of Americans, reopening schools. And he has been clear that he views the events of January 6th as a horrific attack on our democracy. He put out a statement -- we've put out a statement from him, I should say, when the House voted. But he's going to leave it to the Senate to determine the path forward here. That doesn't change -- you know, in -- in his view, is that he was elected to deliver on the promises he made on the campaign trail, so that's what he's going to keep his focus on in the weeks ahead.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: (inaudible)...

PSAKI: Oh, go ahead, Yamiche.

QUESTION: So even if the GOP can offer amendments, that doesn't mean that they have to listen to them or accept them. So I'm wondering then if Republicans have to just accept what the Democrats have approved. I just wonder if you could talk a bit more about this definition of bipartisanship, because there is this -- I know you're saying that Democrats -- and -- are giving Republicans the opportunity, but there's still this -- this idea that the Democrats are -- in two weeks in, are going it alone.

PSAKI: Well, again, 16 of 21 reconciliation bills in the past have received bipartisan support, and the ideas in this package, the proposals in this package have broad support from Democrats, Republicans and independents across the country. So I would pose the question back to Republicans: Why aren't you supporting what the vast majority of the public supports? I'll leave it at that.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: I have a question about the military (inaudible)...

PSAKI: Oh, sure, go ahead.

QUESTION: ... completely different but...

PSAKI: That's OK. We can switch topics. That's fine. Go ahead.

QUESTION: A completely different topic, which is Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote his first memo on January 23rd, that the president had ordered a 90-day commission to produce (ph) solutions to sexual assault in the military. I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about if that's a White House commission, a Defense commission, who picked the commissioners -- anything what you can say about that commission that's supposed to be looking at sexual assault in the military.

PSAKI: I believe it's a commission at the Department of Defense. It's certainly an initiate the president of the United States supports. But I would send you to the Department of Defense for more specifics about the timeline and membership.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Speaking of commissions, with the -- the -- some of the crises that the nation has faced in recent months -- you've got COVID, more than 400,000 Americans dead; January 6th, the attack on American democracy. There have been calls for a 9/11-style commission to write the official histories of those events. Would -- is that something that the president would support?

[12:45:00]

PSAKI: Of the COVID commission?

QUESTION: Or 9/11 -- I'm sorry, or January 6th (inaudible).

PSAKI: Well, you know, a determination of that kind would be made by Congress, as you well know, and his focus at this point in time is on addressing the crisis in this moment, right, which is ensuring that more Americans get shots in their arms; that we are getting the pandemic under control. There has been a report by HHS looking at the prior administration's handling of the COVID crisis, and we've also not held back in areas where we felt that it was handled in a way that impacted the lives of millions. So -- but at this point time, our focus is really on getting the pandemic under control, and we'll leave that decision up to Congress.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Two quick ones, one is of the day (ph). Has President Biden reached out to anybody from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? And if not, is that something that's going to happen today?

PSAKI: It's very exciting, the outcome of the Super Bowl, I guess, if you're a fan of the Buccaneers. But we will be inviting -- I don't have an update for if it's happened yet, but I do have an update that -- that we look forward to inviting the Buccaneers, as well as the 2020 NBA champions, the Lakers, to the White House when it is COVID- safe, but I don't know when that will take place yet.

QUESTION: Thank you. And on immigration, there's new reporting that ICE is going to get some new guidance to no longer focus on deporting illegal immigrants who've been convicted of DUI, simple assault, solicitation, drug-based crimes, among other things, and I'm curious how that is in the interest of public safety.

PSAKI: Well, first, it's guidelines that would be put out by the Department of Homeland Security, and I'd certainly send you to them. They have a confirmed secretary now. But the priority for the enforcement of immigration laws will be on those who are posing a national security threat, of course, a public safety threat, and on recent arrivals. Nobody is saying that DUIs or assault are acceptable behavior, and those arrested for such activities should be tried and sentenced, as appropriate, by local law enforcement. But we're talking about the prioritization of who is going to be deported from the country.

QUESTION: And more broadly, would this be what Biden was talking about in the debate, where he said in the Obama administration, they didn't do enough to reform the immigration system because he was just vice president, but that if he was president, things would change? Is this the kind of change that he was talking about?

PSAKI: Well, I think the kind of change he was talking about was putting forward an immigration bill at a time where modernization of immigration is long overdue, that addresses not only a pathway to citizenship but puts in place smart security measures and addresses the root causes of these issues in the countries in Central America.

So I think that's primarily what he was referring to, but also prioritization -- which again would be up to the Department of Homeland Security to ensure our focus is on the individuals who pose the greatest national security threat, is also something he's long supported.

Go ahead, Kaitlan.

QUESTION: Sorry. You think we can -- I (ph) just wanted it to be clear.

PSAKI: Yeah.

QUESTION: The president, former President Trump has not requested any intelligence briefings, right?

PSAKI: Not -- not that I'm aware of, but you -- I would point you to the intelligence community and the ODNI for more specifics.

QUESTION: And a follow-up on that, why -- is there a reason Morgan Muir is no longer leading President Biden's daily intelligence briefings?

PSAKI: I believe he is overseeing the process of preparing materials...

(CROSSTALK)

PSAKI: ... but I don't have any more details. I'd point you to ODNI on that as well.

QUESTION: OK, so there's no reason you know of that he's not leading the in-person briefings? He's assembling the daily briefings (ph) but not leading them in person?

PSAKI: Yeah, which is a very important role to play and very labor- intensive, but I would point you to them for more specifics on the briefings and who will be providing the briefings.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Thanks, Jen. I have two questions, one is a quick follow on impeachment.

PSAKI: Sure.

QUESTION: Aside from the particulars of this case, does President Biden think it's constitutional to impeach and convict a former president who is no longer in office?

PSAKI: I'm just not going to have any more for you on weighing in on impeachment. I appreciate the -- it's a big story, but our focus is on the American Rescue Plan and delivering for the American people.

QUESTION: I do have a COVID...

PSAKI: Yeah.

QUESTION: ... COVID crisis-related question... PSAKI: Go ahead.

QUESTION: ... because the attacks on the Asian-American community continue to rise. And over the weekend, there were some videos that went viral because elderly Asian-Americans were really attacked and -- in a way that is difficult to watch.

And I wonder, other than the presidential memorandum, is President Biden going to take any further actions to address this problem, or -- and has he seen the videos?

[12:50:00]

PSAKI: I'm not aware that he's seen the videos, but he is concerned about the discrimination against, the actions against the Asian- American community, which is why he signed the executive order and why he's been outspoken in making clear that, you know, attacks, verbal attacks, any attacks of any form are unacceptable and we need to work together to address them.

But obviously the executive order is something he did very early in his administration -- it's still early, but even earlier -- because he felt it was so important to put a marker down.

QUESTION: Is there anything more than can be done, like offer DOJ or FBI assistance to local law enforcement authorities? I mean...

PSAKI: I'd certainly defer to -- you know, we would support, of course, additional action on the local level or federal level, but I would send you to DOJ or FBI for any further specifics on that.

Thank you, everyone, see you tomorrow.

QUESTION: Thank you.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: The White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki ending a 43-minute briefing at the White House, day 20 of the Biden administration and still a lot of topics covered because there are so many compass points being reset in the Biden reset here in Washington, questions about getting around back into the nuclear agreement and maybe back into the table, questions about priority number one for the new President, his COVID relief package on Capitol Hill.

A number of questions about the new President's views, as this week will be dominated and probably into next week as well by the second impeachment trial of his predecessor, Jen Psaki, the Press Secretary repeatedly, adducting trying to leave to the Senate questions about impeachment.

Some important developments when it comes to the negotiations, they will continue, action will continue on the House side this week, even as the Senate impeachment trial begins on this. Let me bring in my colleague Manu Raju and Kaitlan Collins is leaving the briefing room. She'll join us shortly. It's interesting to listen to the pieces here. The House is going to try to put this together, a child care credit, $3,360, Democrats think that's important. There's still a debate about whether they can have a $15 federal minimum wage in this.

The new President of the weekend angering progressives in an interview, in which he said he thought it would get thrown out of the bill. But the progressive say they still want to keep it in there. Also, in addition to the details, stimulus checks and the question about who gets those and who doesn't targeting on income level, the details and then the strategy, all these questions about, well, aren't you going to reach out to Republicans? And she's essentially saying, no, if they come our way, we're willing to listen, otherwise, we're going to talk to governors and mayors and business leaders and people around the country. We're not going to get bogged down in the Washington debate.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And that's been clear from -- for weeks. This is the direction that Democrats are heading that they were going to move on their own without Republican support. The White House has suggested that perhaps there could be some Republican support Biden late last week suggested that wasn't going to be the route.

It's pretty clear that finally the White House is on the same page what the Democrats are rhetorically, even though it was pretty clear where they were going strategically. What was also interesting here was Jen Psaki trying to walk back a bit and cleanup remarks from Joe Biden about the minimum wage hike. That suggested to increase it to $15 an hour. He said very clearly, he believes that the federal minimum wage would violate Senate rules and doing it through this budget process that could allow them to pass it on a party line vote.

He said that. He is a senator of 36 years. He knows rules of the Senate. But she said let's not get ahead of the process here. There's a process that could play out. It was very surprising that he said that on Friday, because that is an internal inside the Senate debate that needs to happen has not happened yet with the Senate parliamentarian who makes the rules about who essentially interprets the rules and decides what can be in this package.

Joe Biden seemed to be pulling the plug on that earlier. Psaki saying, look, we're still hadn't discussed that going forward. That is going to be one of the key questions here about whether they can keep the progressives on board and not angered them, and can they get the Senate who are trying break?

KING: And let's dig out on this point because it's important both in terms of the substance of the bill, whether you're watching around the country, whether you support or don't support it. It's important -- it's also important, again, you're watching a new President, his relationship with his own party, because Democratic unity is absolutely essential here, if you assume especially on this first big package, they may get no Republican votes, maybe a couple but they may have to operate from the assumption of none.

Bernie Sanders even as you're listening to Jen Psaki issued a statement saying we are never going to get 10 Republicans to increase the minimum wage through regular order. The only way to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour now is to pass it with 51 votes through budget reconciliation. That is an arcane Senate process, but you don't need 60 votes like you do on most legislation if you do, that is Bernie Sanders view.

As you noted, our Kaitlan Collins during the briefing asked Jen Psaki about that interview with CBS, which left her a lot of progresses. I'm not thrilled with the new President. They're still, you know, getting along and everything, the idea would being leave that to us. Please don't say this quickly. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: When President Biden told CBS that he did not think it was going to survive, what was -- who would have told him that he -- it wasn't going to make it very likely.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, the President was in Congress for -- in the Senate for 36 years. Again, it still has not worked its way through the process. And that can take a bit of time. And we certainly defer to the parliamentarian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Kaitlan Collins is outside of the briefing. She joins us now from the White House. And so, we defer to the parliamentarian. Look, they're 20 days into this. That was the Press Secretary saying, essentially from my translation, we wish the President had answered that question like a senator. We wish he had left it to go because Joe Biden is absolutely right. It is a question about Senate rules. The parliamentarian may throw it out. But progressives wish that he had just stayed silent on the subject and said, let them fight it out on the Hill.

[12:55:23]

COLLINS: Well, and that process is still happening on the Hill. That's what's so surprising about the answer is that the Senate parliamentarian had not actually weighed in on this yet. So of course, there were the indications but even Senator Bernie Sanders, who of course, right now is chairing the Budget Committee. When he was asked about this yesterday, he noted that first. He was saying the Senate parliamentarian is still working on that. He said he has a roomful of attorneys who are working on this very question and pushing the parliamentarian to actually get this to and be included in that. So that's what was so surprising what President Biden's answer was.

And so you saw there, Jen Psaki saying, simply citing his time in the Senate not explaining, you know, if there was someone who got to the President in recent days and indicated that it's unlikely that $15 federal minimum wage would survive in this COVID relief package. So it still seems to be an open question on how this is going to go forward. But Biden seemed to dash a lot of hopes that it could still be make it in there with this answer that he gave to CBS.

So that is still something that remains to be seen whether or not they're going to do this, of course, the other question has been about something that hasn't happened, I believe, since the 1970s, which is that a vice president could potentially overrule the parliamentarian. The White House set seemed to be unaware of any of that potentially happening. It doesn't seem to be a conversation that they are having behind the scenes, John.

KING: They're trying to stay out of the Senate or process decisions, but they may have no choice once the trial gets underway. It's an excellent point. Kaitlan, standby.

Welcome to the complicated week in Washington, a lot going on with the Biden agenda. But at the top of the hour, we told you about this. This is the Trump team's final trial brief of the impeachment. And during the briefing, the Democrats filed a much smaller response. They filed a more lengthy briefing last week. And Manu Raju, the Trump team says this is unconstitutional. The Trump team says Democrats are politically persecuting the President. The Democratic house managers meeting the prosecutors responded with their brief during the hour. And this is one piece of it.

When President Trump demanded the armed, angry crowd at his Save America Rally, fight like hell or you're not going to have a country anymore. He wasn't urging them to form political action committees about election security in general. This is not a case about protected speech. The House did not impeach President Trump because he expressed an unpopular political opinion. It impeached him because he willfully incited violent insurrection against the government.

So now the cases are clear. And the House manager is essentially shoving back very strongly and forcefully against the President's, former President's defense argument, which is largely more political.

RAJU: Yes. And they were trying to push back on the specific factual comments that the President's legal team made last week suggesting that his comments were protected speech when he went to the rally goers and he said things like, if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. That's what the Trump legal team said. That's protected speech. It's political speech. There's nothing wrong with that.

They're saying this is not a case about protected speech. So it's trying to dispute that. They're also making it pretty clear here it's -- as we've been hearing subpoenaing Donald Trump simply just does not seem to be the way that they are going in this. Donald Trump we know he has declined to come and testify before this, despite the invitation from the House Democrats. But they're saying they're going to use his decide -- decision not to testify against him in this trial. They make that clear in this new brief today.

It's just another indication, we're looking at a probably speedy process her, speedier than the 21 days of 2020. Potentially, we can see an acquittal vote as soon as next week, sometime.

KING: You say speedy, more speedy than the 21 days. We don't know exactly how long everyone expects runs this week, and sometime into next week, whether it takes a whole week or not. What is the significance of waiting? We expect word today on this Leader Schumer and Republican Leader McConnell briefing on the rules, that's -- it's a procedural but necessary to go forward.

RAJU: Yes. And that will really specify how long this will go. One of the big, as we know that we're going to begin the debate tomorrow over whether this is a constitutional process or not. There's going to be actual vote in the Senate to affirm its constitutionality. That'll be interesting to see if there any more Republicans who believe it's constitutional. We know that five do right now will anymore agree to do that, though that will move forward at that point, then we expect to be up to 16 hours each side will have to make their case.

So that takes it towards the end of the week, early next week. And then senators have time to ask questions. And then we'll see senators make speeches on the floor, ultimately the conviction vote. But the big question, they did not say whether or not they would get witnesses yet. They said that's -- that is an open option for them and a vote would happen if they were to go that route. At the moment it does not seem likely though, they would ever go to the witness route.

KING: The moment does not seem likely. And, again, the trial starts tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., so 24 hours from now plus 30 seconds or so, begins with a debate about constitutionality, the first vote tomorrow afternoon and then we go forward with a trial presentation, still waiting for the rules agreement there. Again, fascinating to watch that White House briefing where Jen Psaki, the Press Secretary, is trying to keep the new President out of this debate about his predecessor, the former President. We'll see if that can continue throughout the week when the Senate has to make some key decisions.

[13:00:07]

Appreciate your time today.