CNN town hall with President Biden

President Biden said emergency responders should be mandated to receive the Covid-19 vaccine and possibly risk losing their job if they refuse.

"I'm wondering where you stand on that should police officers emergency responders be mandated to get vaccines and if not, should they stay at home or be let go?" CNN's Anderson Cooper asked the President.

"Yes, and yes," Biden said matter-of-factly.

Biden noted that he held out before going all-in on mandatory vaccines, but the scientific data ultimately forced his hand.

"I waited until July to talk about mandating. I tried everything else possible. The mandates are working," he said.

The President went on to note that there are two angles regarding the vaccine that bother him in particular.

"One, are those who just try to make this a political issue," he said, adding, "The second one is the gross misinformation that's out there."

President Biden was asked when he thinks gas prices will start to come down. He said he expects the price to stay high into next year.

"My guess is you'll start to see gas prices come down as we get ... into next year, 2022. I don't see anything that's going to happen in the meantime that's going to significantly reduce gas prices," he said.

Biden said the high price of gas at this time is due to a number of factors, some of which have to do with foreign gas production.

President Biden tonight said he thinks that vaccines will be approved and widely available for children soon, but added the caveat that will he allow the nation's health and science agencies to make an independent determination.

"The expectations are, they should be ready in the near term," said Biden, when asked by a mother of two young boys when they might be deemed safe for children and made available.

Earlier this week, the White House on unveiled its plans to roll out Covid-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11, pending US Food and Drug Administration authorization.

On distribution, Biden said there are already 800,000 vaccination sites across the country which could administer vaccines to eligible children.

"There will be plenty of places to be able to get the vaccine, if, and when, it is approved," he said.

Biden, however, went out of his way to contrast himself with former President Donald Trump's administration, saying he would not put pressure on agencies charged with approval.

"I want to make it clear, unlike past administrations, science will dictate this," he said.

President Biden was just asked about Covid-19 vaccines for kids. The White House on Wednesday unveiled its plans to roll out Covid-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11, pending US Food and Drug Administration authorization.

The Biden administration has secured enough vaccine supply to vaccinate the 28 million children ages 5 to 11 who would become eligible for vaccination if the vaccine is authorized for that age group and will help equip more than 25,000 pediatric and primary care offices, hundreds of community health centers and rural health clinics as well as tens of thousands of pharmacies to administer the shots, according to the White House.

"We know millions of parents have been waiting for Covid-19 vaccine for kids in this age group. And should the FDA and (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) authorize the vaccine, we will be ready to get shots in arms," White House Covid-19 response director Jeff Zients told reporters at a White House Covid-19 briefing on Wednesday.

Zients continued: "Kids have different needs than adults and our operational planning is geared to meet those specific needs, including by offering vaccinations in settings that parents and kids are familiar with and trust."

The administration is also launching a partnership with the Children's Hospital Association "to work with over 100 children's hospital systems across the country to set up vaccination sites in November and through the end of the calendar year," the White House announced.

The administration also plans to help make vaccination available at school and other "community-based sites" with help from Federal Emergency Management Agency funding.

Read more here.

President Biden acknowledged that the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic and a challenging economy has many Americans feeling disheartened.

The President told the live audience that as things in the country improve, spirits will be lifted.

"A lot of it has to do with us getting back on our feet. Getting back on our feet, in terms of our attitudes about what the future looks like for us."

Asked by host Anderson Cooper what Biden could offer those currently struggling, the President assured viewers that they aren't alone.

"There's plenty of help. Being down, having some problem, in terms of needing some advice, if you have a broken spirit, it's no different than a broken arm," he said, adding, "They shouldn't be ashamed of it. They should seek the help. There is a lot of people who can help."

With Thanksgiving roughly a month away, and Christmas to follow shortly thereafter, Biden noted that the calendar could add to Americans' stress.

"How often do I get asked the question, 'What's Christmas going to be like? How about Thanksgiving? Will it be okay? What is going to happen? Will I be able to buy gifts for my kids?'" revealed Biden, noting, "There's a lot of anxiety people have."

Watch the moment:

President Joe Biden this evening said he would call on the National Guard to help solve the supply chain crisis.

"Yes, absolutely, positively I will do that," he said, when asked by Anderson Cooper if he was prepared to call up the National Guard.

Biden then said he would specifically consider calling up the National Guard for trucking to help solve a shortage of drivers.

"The answer is, 'yes,' if we can't move, increase the number of truckers, which we are in a process of doing," he said when pressed by Cooper, who is moderating the town hall.

After Biden's comments, a White House official said the administration is not actively considering deploying the National Guard to help ease the supply chain gridlock.

“Requesting the use of the National Guard at the state level is under the purview of governors and we are not actively pursuing the use of the National Guard on a federal level," a White House official told CNN. 

President Biden this evening repeatedly name-checked Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who has created steep hurdles for Democratic leadership attempting to move spending bills through Congress, but also called the West Virginia senator "a friend" and expressed optimism he would eventually support the bills.

Biden started by expressing frustration over Manchin's resistance to Democrats' Medicare plans saying, "Mr. Manchin is opposed to that," adding he is "not interested" in proposals to lower the cost, which is his main concern.

Biden also noted Manchin's resistance to proposals for free community college, one of Biden's key campaign promises, telling Anderson Cooper that Manchin "has indicated that they will not support free community college."

On the environment, Biden also described Manchin's concerns for the coal industry which is a large economic driver in West Virginia.

The President did, however, offer some kind words for the moderate senator, calling him "a friend," and suggesting he'd eventually support the proposals.

Watch the moment:

President Biden was asked about his plan to combat climate change to ensure a future for the next generations. Biden said, "The existential threat to humanity is climate change." 

He noted that one of the first things he did once he took office was rejoin the Paris climate accord.

"And when President Trump pulled out of the Paris accord, which when I was with the Obama administration we helped negotiate, the agreement was that we could not — if we reached beyond 1.5 degrees celsius increase in temperature we're gone. Not a joke. Not a joke ... First thing I committed to do is rejoin that accord. Number one."

Biden said that in the next few weeks he will be traveling to Scotland for the COP26 summit on climate change being put on by the United Nations.

"I'm going off to COP26 in Scotland ... and I'm presenting a commitment to the world that we will in fact get to net zero emissions on electric power by 2035 and net zero emissions across the board by 2050 or before. But we have to do so much between now and 2030 to demonstrate what we're going to do."

President Biden laid out in the most specific terms to date what will be — and what won’t be — included in a compromise budget measure that contains the bulk of his sweeping domestic agenda.

Speaking at a CNN town hall, Biden said a paid leave provision had been whittled down to four weeks, down from Biden’s goal of twelve weeks.

He said it would a “reach” to include dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare, a key priority for progressives, saying it was opposed by Sen. Joe Manchin — and that he believed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was against it as well. Instead, he said he was working to include an $800 voucher for dental coverage, and was still negotiating vision coverage. 

He flatly said he was opposed to work requirements for the child tax credit, which Manchin has favored.

And he acknowledged that tuition-free community college was unlikely to make it in the final bill, saying instead an expansion of Pell grants could help drive toward expanded higher education.

The details of the plan emerged in the midst of final-stage negotiations among Democrats, who have spent weeks sparring over what to include in the large spending package.

Biden was frank in describing the power of individual senators in the ongoing talks.

“Look, in the United States Senate, when you have 50 Democrats, every one is the president,” he said.