so we want to get now straight to jeff zeleny at the white house. so, jeff, in nantucket where the president is. what are you learning about travel bans and all of this news? >> reporter: that is right, alisyn. we're learning that president biden moments ago has issued a travel ban here to the united states from south africa and seven other countries in africa on the continent of africa. the white house said they are following this very carefully. the president was briefed about this new variant just a short time ago here on nantucket where he's spending his thanksgiving holiday with his family. and quite frankly officials are just trying to get a handle on how dangerous this new variant is. one official telling us just a few moments ago, quote, our scientists and public health officials are working quickly to learn more about this variant. so pretty basic vague language there but we do know that significantly the president now joining other countries in banning travel to the u.s. from south africa and seven other countries on the continent of afric

jeff zeleny, appreciate your time. >>> brianna keilar picks up our coverage right now. have a good day. >>> good afternoon, i'm brianna keilar. breaking right now in england, after sustained calls to respond to harry and meghan's explosive interview with oprah winfrey where they unveil open applications of racist treatment and neglect inside and outside the royal palace, buckingham palace has put out a statement saying they are saddened with what has happened. max foster is here with their statement. max, tell us

jeff zeleny traveling with the president. jeff joins us now live from brussels. another big day before i think the most anticipated moment of this trip, jeff. >> reporter: good morning, john. president biden is holding that final series of meetings with european leaders here in brussels before he makes his way to geneva, but at every stop along this tour, tomorrow's summit with vladimir putin loomed large. the president last night pushed back on the criticism that he is elevating vladimir putin by having a summit with him. he said every world leader thanked him for holding that high stakes meeting. >> he's bright. he's tough. and i have found that he is, as they say, when you used to play ball, a worthy adversary. >> reporter: president biden sizing up vladimir putin before their high stakes meeting in switzerland tomorrow. >> i am going to make clear to president putin there are areas where we can cooperate if he chooses. and if he chooses not to cooperate and acts in a way that he has in the past relative to cyber security and some other activities, then we wil

lot's get more from cnn's jeff zeleny. jeff, you've been working your sources. what have you been hearing? >> wolf, as we know, president biden has been traveling to geneva. he's described vladimir putin as an adversary. can they establish a more productive stable relationship with vladimir putin? that's what they're looking to determine. we do know cyber attacks will be a central theme of this conversation. president biden will press the russian president on the attacks on the critical nation's infrastructure back in the u.s. but, wolf, we heard president biden describe vladimir putin as a worthy adversary. when you step back and look at the history of all of this, president biden has spent his life's work in the foreign policy sector. he has met with vladimir putin before as vice president and he's spoken with him twice on the telephone since taking office, once in january, once in april. but this face-to-face meeting t white house believes president biden was behind this. he said he wanted to have a face-to-face conversation to see if he could have a producti

jeff zeleny, who i'm not sure can hear us this morning, along with the d.c. metro area who lost their hearing overnight from the fireworks. great to have you here. there is nothing on earth like going from the euphoria of inauguration day to the reality of governing and it happens like that and the biden team, the biden administration has big plans starting now. >> reporter: good morning, john. you know, the changing of the guard happened really instantaneously. there were no inaugural balls like there typically are so president biden got to work. just hours after he got sworn in he was sitting in the oval office signing the executive orders, as you said, and he talked about ending this uncivil war. he talked about the importance of truth in america. so certainly this is the first full day of his administration but yesterday he got started in a hurry. with a stroke of a pen, president joe biden talked about the problems in america. >> no tame to waste. get to work immediately. >> reporter: the new president signing 17 different actions, launching a 100 day ma

jeff zeleny there at the site. the kremlin says that vladimir putin was in a constructive mood, their words, head sping i the meeting with president biden. matthew chance covered russia for some time. listen, countries in situations like this, they both color both the expectations in advance and how things are playing out during the day. but how did russia characterize president putin's expectations going into this meeting with president biden? >> they set the bar pretty low, jim. as the white house did, in fairness. they said that, you know, look, the fact there's a meeting taking place at all, given the poor state of relations between moscow and washington was in itself an achievement. and i think there is a sense in which vladimir putin is going to take that win because i think one of the overriding things that he wants out of a summit like this is to show that he is a global leader on the international stage. we saw those incredible scenes earlier on today with the two presidents along with -- three presidents

cnna jeff zeleny joins us from the white house. jeff, the decision in afghanistan sounds very troubling. will president biden address all of that? >> reporter: alisyn and victor, we're told he will address the condition in afghanistan but will also address what he believes is no longer in the national security interest of the united states to remain engaged in the longest american war in afghanistan. of course, he's the fourth u.s. president to deal with afghanistan, 20 years nearly to the month after this began, of course, in the wake of 9/11. this war began. so president biden today will not call an immediate end to it, but this has been happening day by day, week by week. more than 90% of u.s. combat troops already leaving or in the process of doing so. so we're told that president biden will say that he does not believe it is worth it for another generation of american young men and women to engage in an intractable civil war. he will be pressed on the safe passage for afghan interpreters, these men and women, largely men, who

jeff zeleny, cnn, the white house. >> as jeff zeleny mentioned, republicans haven't made it easy for the senate to vote on the relief bill. they forced clerks to read the entire document aloud. they say the bill is too big and to expensive to rush through. >> i feel bad for the clerks who have to read it, but it's just important. so often we rush these massive bills that are hundreds if not thousands of pages long. you don't have time. nobody has time to read them. so start considering something we haven't even read. at a minimum somebody ought to read it and this would give everybody time quite honestly, the clerks read it, our staffs will have time to consider what the provisions are, to start crafting memos. >> i think what senator johnson is doing, i should let him speak for himself, but what i see he's doing is making sure we communicate very clearly that the $1.9 trillion plan has good objectives but it's massively misdirected. a lot of the spending is not going where it's needed, that it's wasteful, that it's adding debt to our next generations and senator johnson wants to mak

jeff zeleny, thank you. let's head to los angeles. the los angeles unified school district, the second largest school district in the country. this is a big step. >> what we were expecting to find out today is the board of education is holding a meeting that they just put together to vote on this very idea. they would like to require all students 12 and older to be vaccinated to be on campus. they then want everyone to be vaccinated by the time they get back to school in january for the second semester. they say they do have a lot of hurdles getting people vaccinated but they believe they can do that. take a listen to one board member as she talks about this. >> we anticipate at least 150,000 vaccine doses needing to be administered, potentially more depen@'g on the information we're getting from our students and families. but we have the doses in l.a. county, and we have the staff capacity and the time and a week by week plan working with our school, staff, and community partners to get this done by the end of first semester. >> and

we saw the breakdown a little bit from my colleagues, jeff zeleny. we're talking about -- if we talk just about highways and roads and road safety, that's about $135 billion as it breaks down. is there enough in there to be more than just a band-aid? >> oh, no, erica, look, the important thing about this package as your colleague just described, it starts a much needed and long overdue discussion about renewing the federal government's leapership in the area of infrastructure and the amount of investment included in the president's plan, it would certainly allow and elevate the federal government's ability to start tackling some of the problems. is it going to automatically solve everything? that just can't happen. it will have to be a process that is done incrementally over time and that's not going to start unless the ball on this package or something very much like it starts to get rolling. >> in terms of the getting that ball rolling, you have unique perspective because you have decades of experience now in the industry that you are involved in,

. >> let's bring in our chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny and from the "new york times" david sanger. jeff, the key question is where is the president? >> well, poppy, we know that he is in camp david, not far from washington. what was supposed to be his august vacation, but we also know many presidents in the past, august has a way of intruding on vacations. so the president iss engaged an get getting briefings ands of now he's not scheduled to speak in the coming hours or even today. >> that could change. but less important of when he's going to speak is what he's going to say. and that is one of the reasons for a delay. there is very little that he could say that is good news. he is the commander-in-chief, there was a clearly an intelligence problem with his team and that is behind the delay having him address the nation on this. they do not know exactly what he is going to say. it has been six days since we've heard from president biden on afghanistan. and things have changed dramatically there as we can see. that is an understatement of the highest proportions here

jim. >> jeff zeleny just across the lake from the location of that on going summit meeting. let's bring in cnn white house reporter tash yeah bertrand as well as chief international correspondent for cnn, clarissa. each side has its own definition of success and failure. as you go for biden and for putin, what cots tuts a win? >> i think for the biden administration it's a heavier lift. president putin simply by standing up next to president biden, the most powerful man in the world, that's already a win for him from a public relations point of view. i think he will feel actually he needs relatively little to get out of this summit. don't forget, he was not the one who requested it. for the biden administration with the close analysis and some criticism that they have faced, they want to show something to come out of this. no one is expecting it to be a tangible deliverable in terms of, oh, we'll solve the cyber thing or alexey navalny will be released or aggression in ukraine will come to an end, but there still needs to be something to explain why this was necessary at thi

jeff zeleny in portage, michigan. we'll continue to monter the trip. >>> next, i will speak with a family of a south dakota man struck and killed by a car while walking on the side of the highway. the state's attorney general was behind the wheel. details ahead why he's only details ahead why he's only charged with misdemeanors. cer. or it isn't. it's either testing an array of advanced safety systems. or it isn't. it's either the peace of mind of a standard unlimited mileage warranty. or it isn't. for those who never settle, it's either mercedes-benz certified pre-owned. or it isn't. the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event. now through march 1st. shop online or drop by your local dealer today. hey, you! nice smartphone. you should switch it to tracfone wireless to get more control over your wireless plan. they give you unlimited carryover data — you pay for your data, you keep your data. really? yeah, you just swap your sim card (whistles) you can also keep your phone, keep your number, keep your network,

more tonight from cnn's jeff zeleny. >> i'm historically an independent voter. i have voted every which way you could vote. >> reporter: amy dodson is not defined by political labels. >> i was not a fan of president trump. i didn't vote for him, and i didn't vote for biden, but i did vote. >> reporter: that makes her an important wild card in virginia, where she cast her vote early this week for one reason above all. >> what led me to vote for glenn youngkin this time around was education. >> reporter: education is a central issue in the final stretch of the closely watched virginia governor's race where the power of the parents movement is suddenly front and center. >> you work for us. >> reporter: in dueling tv ads -- >> terry mcauliffe, putting politics over parents. >> glenn youngkin would bring donald trump and betsy devos' education policy to virginia. >> reporter: terry mcauliffe, the state's former democratic governor, and glenn youngkin, a republican businessman, are locked in a bitter fight over the role of government in schools. >> my name is amy dods

i want to get to jeff zeleny there at the white house. the big headline here, jeff, is that the vice president is being tasked by president biden to really be the point person when it comes to immigration, to stem the influx of migrants coming across the border and deal with the factors driving them away from mostly northern triangle countries. >> reporter: that is the key headline here. vice president hearris is gettig this new assignment, first and foremost, to address the surge in unaccompanied minors that the administration is dealing with, really has been dealing with for several weeks. one key point of this, this means that president biden is elevating this. this white house is taking this very seriously. they know that immigration is an issue that can spiral and certainly complicate other matters. so this is showing that they're taking it seriously. he also said, look, when she speaks, it's clear to those countries that she is speaking to me. she does not have to get to the president's word on this. so this is important in a couple

let's begin with jeff zeleny in

jeff zeleny live for us in england. >> i think it was jeff's birthday yesterday. >> a happy birthday belated birthday to jeff zeleny. >> if it wasn't his birthday, let's just salute him anyway. >>> work continues at home and on capitol hill on the infrastructure plan. this bipartisan group of ten senators last night announced they have a framework for a deal that maybe, they hope, could appeal to democrats and republicans. let's bring in cnn senior political analyst mark. talk to me about what we know is in this deal. >> what we do know is five democrats and five republicans have come together. as you said, $578 billion in new spending. it will cost $957 billion over five years, $1.2 trillion over eight years, no tax increases. he cut it down to 1.7 and now we're looking down at 1.2. so it's nowhere near where the white house wants it. >> and to be clear, we don't know what this money is on exactly, nor do we know how they pay for it with no tax increase. those details will be very important. >>> before the announcement of this deal, a whole lot of democrats came out and said, enough

jeff zeleny is traveling with president biden. he's been meeting with the british prime minister as well as their wives. they took a trip down to the waterfront. the newly married boris johnson with his kwife carrie. what are they planning to do? >> these are the first moment here's. of we're seeing president biden meeting with prime minister boris johnson and their wives, walking maskless here at the the opening full day of president b biden's first trip abroad. after the pleasantries were xpafrpg exchanged, they reviewed the atlantic charter. it was signed by fdr and winston churchill. and they're going to be making revisions to that, bringing it into the more modern day threats if you will. and agreements and values. but we'll see that full document a little later after their meeting. but we heard president biden saying, look, this is gorgeous here pt i would like to stay. he noted it was the first time he's been here as president. not the first time he's visited this part of england overall. so we're going to get a better sens

jeff zeleny is standing by. only moments ago we all heard it, the president was asked directly if he took any responsibility for the election outcome last night in virginia. tell our viewers what he said. >> wolf, president biden stopped short of taking any personal responsibility as the leader of the democratic party after last night's very dispiriting win for democrats in new jersey, potentially and the loss in virginia. the president talked about the divide in his party. he talked about the need to get the agenda through but he did not do any deep soul searching for what may have led voters to turn against him in states he won overwhelmingly just a year ago. but again, he did call for congress to act. >> what i do know is, i do know that people want us to get things done. they want us to get things done. and that's why i am continuing to push very hard for the democratic party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my build back better bill. i think we should have passed before election day. but i'

jeff zeleny, enjoy it while you can. it looks beautiful there. thanks so much, jeff. >> sure. >>> well, the historic gathering of the world's top economic powers adds other chapter to the complex history of the g7. cnn's tom foreman is here to explain exactly who is in the club and what they do. >> reporter: the g7 is a short, but efficient abbreviation for the group of seven. and what it means is seven of the most powerful economies in the world, specifically, with a democratic focus. so, the united states, canada, uk, france, italy, germany and japan. that's the g7. and they get together to talk about these big issues. how do you get thrown out of the g7? well, what used to be the g8 and russia in there, they got thrown out because of 2014, they invaded crimea, and the leaders said that is not something we can support, you shouldn't have done that, russia out the door. it used to be called the library group. it was called because of a formal meeting of finance ministers at the white house in the library where they said, look, how can we help ea

let's get to jeff zeleny at the white house. and jeff, president biden strong words as he tries to walk a fine line on trump's impeachment trial. i find it fascinating he did not want to directly say how he would vote. >> erin, he has really always shied away from saying that. we've known for weeks he has not had the appetite for this impeachment trial. the fact of it matter is former president trump is going to essentially take all the oxygen not out of washington next week but also out of the legislative process which president biden is trying to work through to get his covid bill passed. so we know president biden is not thrilled about this, but he didn't have a choice. had he spoken out against it, there would have been, you know, massive turmoil inside the democratic party. house democrats were sitting in the capitol on january 6th. they experienced all this. they wanted to do something. they wanted to punish the former president. so president biden has watched all this quite frankly at a bystander. he's very comfortable to

back with me cnn's jeff zeleny, "washington post's" seung min kim. jeff, she's a close friend of the chief of staff ron klain. she was one of the early appointees' nominees announced by president biden biden. the votes are simply not there this hour. you have the president and his chief of staff trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat. the question is how long will they continue the search before they say not going to happen? >> and in this case that rabbit is senator lisa murkowski of alaska. she said there are times she's not indicated how she's voting, but there's also a question about democratic support. senator kyrsten sinema, democrat of arizona, has also not said how she'll vote. the reality is a couple things are going on here. one, the white house does not want to in the middle of all of these contentious confirmation hearings this week show defeat. they're trying to delay this process as long as possible. and they do believe that there is a legitimate argument that there is a double standard, a sexist double standard here that is coming up t

and basically said that this is going to take some time. >> david gergen, jeff zeleny, katherine lucy, thanks for joining us. >>> next, reaction to the breaking news to the other voting restriction bills now in the works. and later, david gergen's assessment of president biden's potential. we'll talk with documentary filmmaker ken burns who chronicled the public lives of teddy and franklin roosevelt, this moment in history and the new president's place in it. not all plastic is the same. we're carefully designing our bottles to be one hundred percent recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle, and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back. i have an idea for a trade. that completes the circle, oh yeah, you going to place it? not until i'm sure. why don't you call td ameritrade for a strategy gut check? what's that? you run it by an expert, you talk about the risk and potential profit and loss. could've used that before i hired

jeff zeleny, thank you so much, traveling with the president in rosemont, minnesota. and here to discuss is democratic congressman shawn patrick maloney of new york who is in charge of getting democrats elected to the house next year, holding on to majority who told "the washington post" that the white house message right now on the democrats' agenda isn't working. and i want to start there with you. the president is about to speak as we just heard from jeff zeleny trying to sell the bipartisan infrastructure bill, look ahead to the social safety net package he hopes will pass the senate. if the white house came to you and said, here, mr. chairman, write this speech that you think delivers the best message to help you keep the majority in the house, what would it be? >> well, the reason i said free joe biden is that i think joe biden has the voice of the working and middle class families like the ones so many of us grew up in. he understands what it's like for a family to struggle to live the american dream if your country has the back. i want him to be the messenger

jeff zeleny mentioned this. he did appear in front of reporters with the ukrainian president visiting. the ukrainian president did mention afghanistan but biden did not. biden wants to urn theturn the . he wants to put this in the rearview mirror but it's not going to be that easy, is it? >> it's not at all for lots of reasons. not the least of which as jeff said there are still americans inside afghanistan who want to leave and that is a very big priority not just for administration but for members of congress who are not going to let this issue die down any time soon. broadly, in terms of policy but certainly in the short term getting americans out, not to mention still potentially some afghans who i've talked to lawmakers who are still trying to figure out a way to work the system to let that happen. but just like jeff was saying, erin, i spoke with an administration official earlier who said the notion that we're -- we think we can just pivot away from afghanistan is quote unquote over cranked. they understa

back with us, cnn's jeff zeleny and seung min kim of "the washington post." jeff, this is a timeline that, you know, has emerged really very rapidly in the last couple of days. is it what the biden white house preferred? >> they would prefer to not have to deal with any of this, quite frankly, abby, but that's not the reality. we've always seen that president biden, for the last several weeks, did not have an appetite for impeachment. he knew he couldn't stop it, of course, but this is basically the best-case scenario. they want to try and get at least some of their nominees confirmed over the next two-week period. it allows -- it takes away the argument that this is being rushed and the president is not having time to build his team. so it was very interesting. for a while now, the white house and the transition officials before that said mr. biden is not playing a role in this, not focusing on the timing. but friday afternoon he answered a question in the state dining room. he says he supports senator mcconnell's plan to start this in february, and chuck sc

let's begin with jeff zeleny live from falmouth, england. jeff, after four years of president trump's america first agenda, we saw that repeatedly disrupt, cause some mellowdrama at events like this, even during the photo. a different tone. a different tack with president biden. what do we expect to see today? >> jim, good morning. we all remember that well. president trump arriving at these world summits and elbowing his way in, quite literally, in some of these photos. we're going to see president biden really in the next several minutes arriving at the summit site with other leaders of the g7. of course, this is -- he's been making the claim that america is back. now he has to prove it through these conversations, through these one on one meetings and group meetings. there's much on the agenda here. president biden has cast this as a very serious momentous time for the world. as it recovers or tries to recover economically and otherwise from the global pandemic. he said it's every bit as important and monumental as the post-war period. an

again, he will be here at the white house all day today. >> jeff zeleny, thank you so much. let's bring in john harwood. in that interview, john, with abc news the president appears both defensive and somewhat missing the point that the criticism right now isn't about the final decision to pull out of afghanistan, but the method of execution and what went wrong here. >> well, look, i think he is certainly defensive and i think that defensiveness is getting in the way of acknowledging mistakes that would be in his interests to acknowledge would help him get past this. on the other hand, i think he doesn't believe he is missing the point. he thinks his critics are. the point being that the immediate collapse unexpected which he acknowledges of the afghan government and security forces proves his point that this war was not worth continuing and that, second, under those circumstances, there is no way that you could avoid a mess. and then third, having gotten -- had the government collapse and had the scenes of panic and chaos ensue, that the military has in fact gotten control

jeff zeleny is back with us. also with us, natasha alford, the vice president of digital content and senior correspondent at the grio. jeff, how important is it, we are going to see concrete action from the biden white house today. how important is it, officials say, for them to be able to show, we are doing real things that will have a real impact right now? >> john, the first thing we are seeing here, the president is putting his attention and spotlight and bully pulpit behind coronavirus. we have not seen that over the last year of this crisis. we have not seen the trump administration doing that. we are seeing president biden doing that in every way he can. so that is behind the release of this report this morning, which really is something that, you know, we've all been living for the last year. we know that the vaccine distribution plan has not worked. we know that there are testing issues. we know there are challenges reopening the schools. what the biden administration is doing is shining a light and brin

and jeff zeleny sticks around with us as well. ambassador, i know that allies have been described as skeptical of the u.s. after everything that they've watched happen here over the past four-plus years. how do you think they received president biden's message today? >> well, clearly, i think this is a message they were hoping to hear of the united states that is on the one hand continues to be engaged in the world in order to deal, on the other hand, with all the major problems that we face together, and stressing the importance of diplomacy and working together with our partners and our allies to address these issues is important. at the same time, they've heard that before from president biden, most clearly in his speeches when he was in europe back in june, and they're waiting to see whether the action here at home that jeff talked about earlier is going to match the words that they heard at the u.n. general assembly. >> yeah, jeff, the poetry, as alisyn just read it, was the move from relentless war to relentless diplomacy, b

let's start with jeff zeleny at the white house. why don't we know how many americans are still in afghanistan? >> well, that has been a question that's been asked around washington for the last several days, and officials have been unwilling and, in fact, unable to put a number to it. but there's a good explanation. you have to register as a u.s. citizen when you go into afghanistan. so with the embassy, of course, before kabul fell just a few days ago, but you do not have to deregister. so the last several days have been chaotic. there have been charter planes leaving. 11 left last evening alone with the help of the u.s. military. so there could be some americans on those flights. in fact, there likely are americans on those flights. that's why there is not necessarily an exact accounting for how many americans remain in afghanistan. it's something that the state department, the pentagon, and here at the white house, officials have been trying to get a better estimate of that, but they do believe the numbers are dwindling and are

let's bring in white house correspondent jeff zeleny. what is the white house saying because of all of this? >> the white house is saying because of covid and privacy restrictions they are limiting access. they are promising more in the days ahead but we're getting our first look at one of these facilities which is really aspirational. it is, you know, sanitized, if you will, but that is the place where this administration is intending to take children after they are at the intake facility where rosa was at right there, so as we look through this video, it's coming in right now, you know, we're seeing some children in a dining hall and other spots where where they have been taken after coming into this processing center, so all of this is coming as the biden administration is scrambling to really deal with what is a surge of my grants at the southern border coming up from central america, and the president made a pretty big step today in appointing vice president kamala harris to take the lead on overseeing all of these efforts at the bo

and joining us dana bash and cnn's jeff zeleny. i went through the numbers, president biden comes into office, averaging 183,000 cases a day. down at 35,000 cases now. they believe they have this turning point. so you're the president of the united states and you have watched this during the trump days where, yes, you had a different president, a different team. i would say inattention or ignorance to the threat of the pandemic. but you still have to be worried even as you tell americans and even as he and the vice president walked in the white house grounds yesterday without masks, you have to be worried at this delicate moment. don't you? >> very worried, especially given how incredibly cautious this president and his team have been. not only with how they are communicating all of these guidelines up until now, but even how they act, you know, personally. we know, we've watched the president be in situations like when he addressed congress where he was in a place with largely vaccinated people, very careful to wear a mask. the vi

jeff zeleny at the white house tonight. jeff, good evening to you. so good to have you here this evening. so, this was a very tough day for the president -- for president biden. let's be honest. you know, the fda vote on widespread boosters. the crisis of migrants at the border that i just talked about. infrastructure hitting roadblocks. take us through what's gone wrong if -- i mean, that's -- i don't know. it may take you the entire newscast with what happened today. >> well, don, it is a long list but it reminds us that there are limits to a president's power, limits to what a white house can do. let's talk about the fda. i mean, the white house announced just a couple weeks that starting september 20th, next week, they thought that boosters could be allowed for every person who had received a vaccine. the fda said today, no. only 65 plus -- 65-year-olds and over can receive the vaccine. so that is a big shot to what the biden administration was, indeed, hoping for. but again, it shows the limitations of simply what this administration, what this

let's begin with chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny in falmouth, england. president biden meets with prime minister johnson later today. what can we expect? >> good morning, poppy. this is, of course, the first meeting between president biden and british prime minister boris johnson. so they certainly will be beginning their own relationship. the two countries have a special relationship. but it's also the relationship of the -- and the dynamics of individual leaders that really, you know, enlivens the country's relationship. we've got a sense from president biden as he arrived here last evening talking to american troops about the importance of democracy and why democracies around the world also so important as the rise of -- as autocrats are certainly happening. listen to what president biden said. it sets the tone for the rest of his week here. >> we have to discredit those who believe that the age of democracy is over as some of our fellow nations believe. we have to expose as false the narrative that the decrees of dictators can match the speed and sca

jeff zeleny is outfront live outside the white house. so, jeff, you know, i saw your questioning there of the press secretary, jen psaki. why did the president make this announcement today? does he truly believe that it will work in any meaning wafl? >> erin, the white house has been talk about this as you said really for a few weeks but the announcement was done today we are told because it was that coordination with five other countries trying to make a global announcement. shining a global light on this. and no coincidence, it's also right before the thanksgiving holiday. so the white house is definitely trying to show americans that they are on this problem. now, gas prices are not something that the president alone controls. of course. but they are a president's headache, regardless of which president is in office. and for president biden now, this is a central headache. with inflation certainly worrying this white house more than anything else we have really seen but the timing today was done to get this started. and energy secreta

and now, tonight, this point jeff zeleny is making. they are both in the northern virginia suburbs which in a state that went ten points for joe biden, went 60 points for joe biden. and glenn youngkin thinks he is going to pick up crucial votes there. i mean, that -- that's a pretty significant statement, just in and of itself. >> yeah. i mean, how many of those voters who voted for joe biden will now vote for glenn youngkin? i think that's -- that's the question. who portrays himself as kind of the suburban dad. he's very appealing. as we all know, for weeks and weeks and weeks, terry mcauliffe has tried to make glenn youngkin into donald trump. and um, i think that's really difficult. he's been very clever in the way he has navigated all of this. yes, donald trump has endorsed him and, yes, donald trump may get on a phone and talk about him tonight. um, but he has kind of kept him at arm's length while, at the same time, taking up conservative causes. talking about election integrity. rather than talking about the rigged election. >>

sanjay gupta is with us and jeff zeleny as well. sanjay, this proof positive that the biden team understands that the most important job is for them to accelerate the vaccine rollout, not only distribution but getting shots into arms. jeff zients saying they will start a rollout program of 1 million doses next week at pharmacies around the country. 1 million doses a modest amount to get started but the idea they have gone into a new phase that they will start next week with doses going to community pharmacies around the country. how much of a difference might that make? >> i think the idea will make a big difference. to your point, the number itself is very hodmodest. there's a couple things that we learned or have been reminded of over the last couple of months now, last several weeks at least. pharmacies is where people often go. this is what people are familiar with, especially local neighborhood pharmacies. we saw evidence of just how well that has worked in west virginia, for example. we also know pharmacies can have incredible

jeff zeleny, stand by. right now, i want to go live to afghanistan. our chief international correspondent clarissa ward who is doing an amazing job for us. continues to report on what's happening on the ground in kabul. clarissa, you're there in kabul. first of all, what's your reaction to what we just heard from the president of the united states? >> well, i think my reaction is less important than what i would imagine the reaction will be of many afghan people, which is, if this isn't a failure, then what is? because the scenes that we have been seeing throughout the day, the desperation, the complete chaos, shots being fired, tear gas, the nightmare that has become many afghan people's living reality is ongoing. and there isn't an end in sight. i do think that afghan people will also latch on to that sort of glimmer of a commitment that we heard there, that i believe he said 50 to 60,000 was the total that he thought of afghan nationals who have worked closely with the u.s., that there was a commitment to ensure that they would be safely taken or g

i want to go to jeff zeleny at the reflecting pool right now. jeff, president-elect biden, something that he has so deeply desired for so long, he is now hours away. he is going to be the resident of the white house, right, after years of being so close. what is his mindset tonight? >> erin, his mindset tonight, i'm told, is one of optimism and realization of the challenge that is indeed in front of him, and i am still here at the reflecting pool, and you can still see the lights illuminated behind me here. 400 lights, representing the 400,000 americans who have died just in the last year of covid, and as we saw president-elect joe biden said to heal we must remember. he said healing is so important for the nation, so that is what he is thinking tonight going into, you know, the eve, the final hours before he becomes president. he is at the blare house tonight, just across pennsylvania avenue from the white house. just really about a block or two away from president trump. so an extraordinary proximity, if you will, but the two men will not spea

cnn's jeff zeleny decided good time to visit. joins us live from scottsdale. >> reporter: there's no question the future of president biden's agenda really rests on every democratic senator, but particularly these two here in arizona. it is going to really determine the shape and the scope of the biden agenda. it's the balance between pragmatism and progressive ideas, the white house has its eye on arizona. >> i don't see it as too progressive. >> reporter: mila is talking about president biden's agenda. from her perspective as mayor of superior, arizona. >> i think that he's had to be very bold to make sure the country can recover from the pan. >> reporter: the outlook for the president's ambitious plans run straight through arizona and depends on the support from the state's two democratic senators, kyrsten sinema, and mark kelly, clashing with the people who helped elect them. >> and you must deliver -- >> reporter: latino groups are voicing frustration over kelly's comments on immigration and how he questioned whether the adm

let's bring in our guest, jeff zeleny at the white house. also with us, cnn chief political analyst, dr. gloria borger, and dr. hotez, and jerome adams. dr. hotez, what's your biggest take away from this press conference today? >> it's his emotion, and exhaustion and frustration that we have not been able to get the country fully vaccinated, by that not only three doses but so much of the country has been infected, recovered, refusing to get vaccinated on top of that. so much of the country is not vaccinated and is completely vulnerable. he recognizes the stark reality that since june 1 of this year on 200,000 americans have needlessly lost their lives because they refuse to get vaccinated. he knows that numbers could easily double. we could be up to a million american lives lost by the end of first quarter in 2022. and so a doubling of that 200,000 unvaccinated since june to 400,000, and so you know, i heard a note of anger, a note of frustration, and i feel -- and i sympathize with that because it has been exhausting trying to convince the

our chief national affairs correspondent is jeff zeleny. he joins us live. jeff, good evening to you. this voting rights battle is heated. president biden is calling the push by republican state legislatures to restrict voting rights, and i quote here, sick and unamerican. but is it his number one priority given what we saw happen in georgia? >> it is not his number one priority but he explained. why during that news conference earlier today. he did say that presidents must select the timing of issues for a reason. he did talk, he was certainly more animated about voting rights than anything else he talked about. he did call it un-american, as you said. he also called it pernicious and used the example that it would be criminal behavior to give an older voter a glass of water as she waited in line to cast a ballot. so he said it was his plan to really explain these laws happening in georgia and many states across the country. he said he does not believe rank and file republicans actually support them. republican officials and elected officials, he said, do.

susan glasser, jeff zeleny, thank you for that reporting. appreciate it. >>> while the president is overseas, here at home his priorities from infrastructure to voting rights have run smack into the middle of a 50/50. we learned the trump justice department seized cell phone data from the former president's political enemies, their families and sitting members of congress. joining me now exclusively is the house speaker nancy pelosi. thank you so much. nice to see you in person as we come out of the pandemic. i want to start where i just left off, the news about the justice department during the trump administration, subpoenaed apple for data from democratic members of the house intelligence committee, their staff, some of their families. so, do you know how many members had their data subpoenaed, any subpoenaed for you or from you or your staff? >> well, good morning. congratulations to you on the show. >> thank you. >> before i answer that, i just want to say i'm wearing orange because this is the color of gun violence prevention. last nig

let's go to jeff zeleny at the white house for us. what's the latest, jeff? >> the senate is hours away from beginning debate on that covid relief bill. the white house is focusing intensely on keeping the democratic coalition together, who will receive those stimulus checks if this is passed. all of this comes as president biden had some strong words for states that are opening back up. >> thanks for coming in. >> reporter: president biden striking a compromise tonight with moderate democrats to limit the americans eligible for a stimulus check in homes of pushing the covid relief bill across the finish line. as the senate begins to debate the measure, the white house agreeing to limiting the spending. people earning more than $80,000 or household incomes over $160,000 would no longer get a $1,400 check. >> these masks make a difference. >> reporter: in the oefbl office today, the president blasting officials in texas, mississippi and other states that are lifting all covid-19 restrictions. the last thing we need is that in the meantime everything is fine. t

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here's jeff zeleny with all of that. jeff. >> reporter: the justice department is looking into a new georgia law restricting voting rights, part of the still simmering backlash of his defeat of donald trump. >> they passed a law saying you can't provide water for people standing in line while they're waiting to vote. >> reporter: it's the latest real world fallout from the so-called big lie, the unsubstantiated claims about widespread voter fraud that the former president and many under him are still peddling. the order signed by governor brian kemp made a provision making it a crime to bring food or water to people standing in line to vote. it comes after biden and two senate democrats brought to victory which caused them their senate majority. >> you don't need anything else to know this is a punitive designed to keep people from voting. >> reporter: it must end, he added. we have a moral and constitutional obligation to act. the question is how and when. across the country republican lawmakers in 43 states are conside

let's bring in kaitlan collins and jeff zeleny in atlanta. jeff, first to you. what do we know about the meeting that the president and vice president are in right now? >> reporter: we know president biden and vice president harris have been meeting for more than an hour with seven community members including five state leaders here in georgia. they're in the building behind me here on the campus of emeory univ university. it's running a bit long, but we know that president biden is going to be delivering remarks after this meeting. and percentages la, i'm told he's going to condemn more forcefully the rise of violence we've seen here in georgia and across the country directed at asian-americans in the last year during the coronavirus pandemic. president biden is also urging congress to pass the covid-19 hate crimes act. the white house is trying to draw a focus here. the question hanging over a lot of this is some of the community leaders have been telling us all week they want the president and white house to speak more forcibly that this was indeed a hate cri

>> jeff zeleny is joining us now from capitol hill. what else do senators are expecting to hear from donald trump's legal term. >> they want to know what president trump was doing in the hours of january 6th. we have seen a tweet, we have seen a statement but the rest of the hours, our reporting shows he was cheering on the insurrectionists, that's something many senators twoont know what he was doing to fill in some of those blanks. a big question hanging over the defense trump's legal team is how much they talk about this stolen election. those are falsehoods from the president. it changes the whole legal team over that specific matter. he wanted his lawyers to focus on that. >> we are hearing this is a much more shorter affair and using only three or four hours of 16 hours allotted. this could be wrapped up by the end of the week. anderson. >> jeff zelleny. >>> let's get john harwood and our jim acosta. jim, you have new reporting on what to expect tomorrow from the defense. >> i spoke with bruce castor, he says they were cutting pa