Transcript - Interview: Ilia Calderon of Univision Interviews Joe Biden in Houston - February 26, 2021 | Factba.se

Note

00:00:00 - 00:00:00 ()

[The following transcript was provided courtesy of Univision. It was checked against the video and confirmed for accuracy. Transcript and video courtesy of Univision]

Ilia Calderon

00:00:00 - 00:00:14 ()

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Dr. Biden, for agreeing to have this conversation. The Hispanic audience will be very grateful to hear directly from both of you. So, thank you very much.

Jill Biden

00:00:14 - 00:00:16 ()

Ilia Calderon

00:00:16 - 00:00:30 ()

We are here at this food bank in Houston. Food banks are being the source for many affected by the pandemic the only way they have to bring food to the table, to bring food to their families.

Ilia Calderon

00:00:30 - 00:00:49 ()

Mr. President, you promised a check for the families that are in need of that financial help. When exactly are they going to receive the $1,400 check? And for undocumented immigrants that are not going to receive this relief, do you have any plans to help them?

Joe Biden

00:00:49 - 00:01:07 ()

Well, two things. One, I can't guarantee when the check will come because Congress has to pass it. So, I'm waiting for the House of Representatives to vote on my package as well as the Senate to vote on. But I expect that they will be getting it within a couple of weeks after the bill is passed in the House and Senate, that I can sign.

Joe Biden

00:01:07 - 00:01:20 ()

I expect they'll be getting a check for $1,400 shortly after that. Meaning within a couple of weeks after that. So, it could be another three weeks or so before someone would get a check.

Ilia Calderon

00:01:20 - 00:01:27 ()

And to help the undocumented immigrants, many of them essential workers that are not going to receive the relief. Do you have any plans for them?

Joe Biden

00:01:27 - 00:01:49 ()

Well, I do. Number one, I want to make sure they all are able to get vaccinated and so they're protected from COVID. Without ICE or anyone else interfering, they should not be arrested for showing up, for being able to get a vaccination. We're also making sure that they're going to be able to have enough food.

Joe Biden

00:01:49 - 00:02:09 ()

I propose in the legislation, not just these food banks, but increasing snap payments and other payments that are the things that allow people, 40 percent of the children in America are going hungry and a lot of them are in communities of color, Hispanic communities, and black communities, as well as Asian Pacific.

Joe Biden

00:02:09 - 00:02:40 ()

So, we have to focus on making sure they have opportunities because they're making significant contributions. Well look at the number of people who are engaged in dealing with the pandemic, who happen to be children, who are dreamers. There are thousands of them. So, I've been focusing on what we do to keep families together and to treat people humanely while they're here, particularly the people who are helping everyone else stay around and alive.

Ilia Calderon

00:02:40 - 00:03:05 ()

The vaccination process is going well. More than 50 million people have received the vaccine. But you also mention the black community and the Hispanic community and how badly they have been affected by this pandemic. Just a few of them have been vaccinated compared to the larger population. Some of them don't believe or are afraid of the vaccine.

Ilia Calderon

00:03:05 - 00:03:14 ()

Can you guarantee that those communities affected are going to receive the vaccine? And can you assure them that is safe to be vaccinated?

Joe Biden

00:03:14 - 00:03:39 ()

I can assure them it's safe, number one, and I can assure them I'm doing everything to make it possible, to make it easier for them to get access to the vaccine. Making sure that mobile units go in communities. We're going from here to look at a site at a major stadium that's in a mixed area so they can get in an automobile and drive and walk and drive through and get the vaccination, get the vaccination if it's available to you.

Joe Biden

00:03:39 - 00:04:02 ()

But I promise you, that's why, for example, I provided for community health centers to have direct access federally to vaccinations. That's why I provided for literally thousands more vaccinators. We had to increase the supply of vaccines. Plus, we had to get a lot of people who were not available up to now to come and put the vaccination in someone's arm.

Joe Biden

00:04:02 - 00:04:25 ()

And we're focusing on communities that have been left behind, including rural communities, as well as inner-city and communities that relate that don't have. Look, if you're a 65-year-old woman living alone and you want to get in line to get a vaccine at the local pharmacy, you may be three miles away and have no come, no way to get there.

Joe Biden

00:04:25 - 00:04:27 ()

And so, we're doing everything possible.

Jill Biden

00:04:27 - 00:04:52 ()

And for communities of color, I think it's all about trust. And I think during our campaign, I think we tried to build that trust and when we were elected and we're trying to get out the information through the churches and through the leaders in the Hispanic communities and in the African-American communities, that it is safe and that you have to believe in the science.

Jill Biden

00:04:52 - 00:04:59 ()

And that's why we go to their leaders and also we have Dr. Fauci. I mean, it's all based on science.

Joe Biden

00:04:59 - 00:05:00 ()

And that's why we're with you.

Ilia Calderon

00:05:00 - 00:05:08 ()

Dr. Biden, you are an educator, do you think it's time for kids to go back to school?

Jill Biden

00:05:08 - 00:05:23 ()

Absolutely. Absolutely. I'm a teacher, I'm teaching now, and no one wants to be in the classroom more than the teachers do and then their parents and then the children. So, we've got to get them back, but we have to get them back safely.

Ilia Calderon

00:05:23 - 00:05:27 ()

But when the teachers have any... Mr President, go ahead.

Joe Biden

00:05:27 - 00:05:55 ()

No, there's a way to do that. That's why in this act, in this legislation I submitted provides for the means to open those schools, particularly schools from kindergarten through eighth grade. Number one, we can get those open quickly. All we need to do is provide the help for the schools for sanitation, for smaller class sizes, for example, everything from bus drivers to the sanitation workers in the schools.

Joe Biden

00:05:55 - 00:05:57 ()

And so, we can do that and we can do it now.

Jill Biden

00:05:57 - 00:06:01 ()

And those educators should be prioritized.

Ilia Calderon

00:06:01 - 00:06:24 ()

That's important. Mr. President, in the five weeks you've been in office, you have been taking many actions to revert Trump administration's anti-immigration policy. But today, The Washington Post reports that your administration has plans to open tents at Del Rio, a town close to the border. Can you confirm that?

Joe Biden

00:06:24 - 00:06:52 ()

Well, I can confirm this is over. Right now, there are thousands of immigrants, thousands of unaccompanied children coming across the border. We've been able to place a significant number of women in licensed facilities throughout this country, shelters across the country. But what happened in Texas, they opened up one, one that was formerly used in the last administration.

Joe Biden

00:06:52 - 00:07:17 ()

Our hope and expectation is that it won't stay open very long, that we'll be able to provide for every kid who comes across the border safely to be housed in a facility that's licensed and what we're trying to do and we have literally hundreds of people doing now, connect them with families in this country, get them to the families that they came to see or they looking for.

Joe Biden

00:07:17 - 00:07:28 ()

And we've already connected thousands of them that way. And so that's what our hope is to unite these children with families while they wait to have a hearing.

Jill Biden

00:07:28 - 00:07:48 ()

And this administration is doing it in a humane way. And that's really important. I mean, we want to make sure that these children are safe, that they get mental health services, they get physical health services, they get an education. So, we are really concerned about these children.

Ilia Calderon

00:07:48 - 00:08:11 ()

For how long is the administration planning to have the kids in these facilities? Not only the tents that you mentioned, Mr. President, but also the other facilities that look like portable containers or I don't know, how can you call them, but really brings back memories from the kids in cages. And how is it different from it?

Joe Biden

00:08:11 - 00:08:28 ()

Well, it's much different in terms of more people there helping them. We have people that are in those facilities taking care of them. But my hope is they all are able to get out. All are able to get into licensed facilities and or be united with family members here in the United States.

Ilia Calderon

00:08:28 - 00:08:50 ()

Now, on another topic, I wanted to ask you about the U.S. intelligence reports on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination and I wanted to ask you, how far are you willing to go to press Prince Bin Salman in Saudi Arabia to comply with human rights?

Joe Biden

00:08:50 - 00:09:17 ()

I spoke yesterday with the king, not the prince. Made it clear to him that the rules are changing and we're going to be announcing significant changes today and on Monday. We are going to hold them accountable for human rights abuses and we're going to make sure that they, in fact, you know, if they want to deal with us, they have to deal with it in a way that the human rights abuses are dealt with.

Joe Biden

00:09:17 - 00:09:33 ()

And we're trying to do that across the world. But particularly here, this report has been sitting there, the last administration wouldn't even release it. We immediately, when I got in, filed the report, read it, got it, and released it today. And it is outrageous what happened.

Ilia Calderon

00:09:33 - 00:09:44 ()

Well, Mr. President, thank you very much. Dr. Biden thank you very much. I just wanted to ask you about the Cesar Chavez image behind your desk. Why this Cesar Chavez?

Joe Biden

00:09:44 - 00:10:06 ()

Two reasons. One originally, when I ran for the United States Senate at age 29 for the Senate, I supported the farmworkers, because we have a large, large agricultural population. That was a big issue. And Chavez was leading the effort. And I almost lost the election, because I was so vocal, number one.

Joe Biden

00:10:06 - 00:10:11 ()

But number two, I admired him, a number three, his granddaughter works for me.

Ilia Calderon

00:10:11 - 00:10:16 ()

Are we going to see your Dr. Biden very soon in a classroom?

Jill Biden

00:10:16 - 00:10:24 ()

Well, I'm already teaching virtually. So, I've been teaching since January. And when the schools reopen, I'm going to be there.

Ilia Calderon

00:10:24 - 00:10:30 ()

Well, thank you. Thank you to both of you for this conversation with Univision. Thank you so much.