WASHINGTON D.C., DC — On his 64th day in office, President Joe Biden held his first press conference, taking questions from nine reporters on issues ranging from the southern border to his views on filibusters.
Here's a breakdown of the topics that came up at the widely-viewed Q&A on March 25:
Biden says access will be provided to border facilities, but doesn't give timeline
President Biden said plans are underway to provide journalists access to border facilities, but didn't provide a timeline on when that would happen.
"I will commit to transparency... as soon as I'm in a position to be able to implement what we're doing right now," Biden said Thursday, when pressed if journalists would be provided access to facilities where children are staying in crowded conditions.
"This is being set up and you'll have full access to everything once we get this thing moving," he added.
CNN, among other media outlets, has repeatedly asked for access to Customs and Border Protection facilities and Health and Human Services facilities.
Under mounting pressure to provide access to facilities, a group of White House officials and members of Congress toured a facility holding unaccompanied migrant children in Texas on Wednesday in the company of a news camera. After a congressman released photos of one Border Patrol overflow site in Donna, Texas, earlier this week, the administration released footage and still photos of the space.
But the administration still hasn't provided full access to other sites set up to care for unaccompanied migrant children or Border Patrol facilities, where children have been staying for prolonged periods of times in overcrowded and jail-like conditions.
Biden added he hasn't gone down himself because he doesn't want to "become the issue."
Texas facility 'totally unacceptable'
Biden said that overcrowding at the Donna facility is "totally unacceptable."
ABC News' Cecilia Vega asked the President: "What is your reaction to these images that have come out from that particular facility? Is what's happening inside acceptable to you, and when is this going to be fixed?"
"That's a serious question, right? Is it acceptable to me? Come on," Biden responded.
The President continued: "That's why we're going to be moving a thousand of those kids out quickly. That's why I got Fort Bliss opened up. That's why I've been working from the moment this started happening to try to find additional access for children to be able to safely -- not just children, but particularly children -- to be able to safely be housed while we follow through on the rest of what's happening. That is totally unacceptable."
Biden said he would not turn unaccompanied minors away when they show up at the border.
"The idea that I'm going to say, which I would never do, 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," Biden said.
Biden says he agrees with Obama that filibuster is 'a relic of the Jim Crow era'
Biden told CNN's Kaitlan that he agreed with former President Barack Obama that the filibuster "was a relic of the Jim Crow era" but added that his immediate focus was on addressing the abuse of the rule first.
"At John Lewis' funeral, President Barack Obama said he believed the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Do you agree?" Collins asked.
"Yes," Biden answered.
Pressed by Collins on why then not to abolish it, Biden answered, "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. It's been abused from the time it came into being, by an extreme way in the last 20 years. Let's deal with the abuse first."
When Collins noted it sounded like he was moving closer to supporting eliminating the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote threshold to end debate on legislation, he responded, "I answered your question."
Earlier in the news conference, Biden said the rule was being "abused in a gigantic way" and suggested he "strongly" supports moving back to the original process of the filibuster. He also said he has an "open mind" on the use of the filibuster for certain topics, including voting rights, a key legislative priority for him that does not currently have the votes to pass.
Biden touts vaccination progress and sets a new goal
During the news conference, Biden highlighted surpassing his initial goal of getting 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses in arms in his first 100 days in office. He also announced a new vaccine goal: 200 million doses in arms in his first 100 days, something his administration is already on pace to do.
"On December 8, I indicated that I hoped to get 100 million shots in people's arms in my first 100 days," Biden said in his opening remarks. "We met that goal last week by day 58 -- 42 days ahead of schedule. Now, today I'm setting the second goal, and that is, we will -- by my 100th day in office -- have administered 200 million shots in people's arms. That's right, 200 million shots in 100 days."
He added, "I know it's ambitious -- twice our original goal -- but no other country in the world has even come close, not even close to what we're doing. I believe we can do it."
On school reopening, Biden cited a report out this week from the Department of Education that shows nearly half of K-8 schools are open, a step toward his goal of getting a majority of K-8 schools fully open in the first 100 days.
"Not yet a majority, but we're really close, and I believe in the 35 days left to go we'll meet that goal as well," he said.
He also noted that more than 100 million $1,400 economic impact payments have landed in Americans' bank accounts as a result of the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package. Approximately 127 million stimulus payments worth around $325 billion have been sent to Americans under the American Rescue Plan, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.
Biden also said he saw hope for the economy, noting that "a majority of economic forecasters have significantly increased their projection on the economic growth that's going to take place this year" to over 6% GDP growth. He also pointed to Thursday's unemployment numbers. Claims fell by nearly 100,000, Biden said, "the first time in a year the number has fallen below the pre-pandemic high."
Biden: It will be 'hard' to meet deadline for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan
Biden said it will be difficult for the US to meet a May 1 deadline for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
"It's going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline," he said.
Biden said his administration was consulting with NATO allies and the Afghan government about a withdrawal plan, and said that it was not his "intention" to remain in Afghanistan for a long time.
"We are not staying for a long time," he said. "We will leave. The question is when we leave."
Asked if US troops would be in Afghanistan next year, Biden said, "I can't picture that being the case."
CNN has previously reported that the Biden administration is considering a six-month extension for American troops in Afghanistan.
The decision to withdraw by May 1 has found Biden weighing competing instincts: to wind down the 20-year war in Afghanistan, a position he's held for more than a decade, or to remain in the hopes of avoiding a Taliban takeover.
Most officials and those involved in US policy toward Afghanistan believe it unlikely that Biden will order all troops out of the country by the May 1 deadline established in a peace deal the previous administration struck with the Taliban.
Among those advocating against a withdrawal, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been the most ardent, suggesting that pulling American troops from Afghanistan now could cause the government in Kabul to collapse and prompt backsliding in women's rights, according to people familiar with the conversations. Milley has argued his case in very strong terms during some meetings of top-level national security officials.
