[Norah O'Donnell of CBS Evening News conducted an interview with Joe Biden on February 5, 2021. It aired in four parts on February 5, 2021, on CBS' Face the Nation on February 7, 2021, during the Super Bowl pre-game show the same day, and a less edited segment that aired on February 8, 2021. The full edited interview, in a very different order, was released on February 8, 2021 on YouTube. This transcript has been updated to reflect the end-to-end order as released on February 8, 2021, which also appears to show some edits. It is presented as released in its final version.] Welcome back. We're here at the White House with the President of the United States. Mr. President, thank you. Great to be with you, thank you. This Super Bowl is going to be unlike any other. I mean, about 25,000 fans in the stands. Yeah. Do you think a year from now there will be a Super Bowl where you can -- they can play in front of a full stadium? It's my hope and expectation, if we're able to put together and make up for all the lost time fighting COVID that's occurred -- that we'll be able to watch the Super Bowl -- with a full stadium. [Edit in Video] The Super Bowl is just one of those great American celebrations. And all those house parties, all those things that aren't happening. But God willing -- we're gonna be -- be able to celebrate it all as usual a year from now. But there may be some house parties happening. Oh, I'm sure there are. I know it's hard. It was hard at Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year's. But, you know, I hope people, if you're watchin', be careful. Be careful. [Edit in Video] People want to know when things are going to get back to normal. Yup. And the road ahead is pretty daunting. To get herd immunity, Dr. Fauci has said you have to have at least 75% of Americans vaccinated. We did the math and at the current rate of 1.3 million doses a day, it's gonna take almost a year to get there. That's -- Can we wait that long? No, we can't. That's why -- one of the disappointments was -- when we came to office, is the circumstance relating to how the administration was handling COVID was even more dire than we thought. The Trump administration? The Trump administration. We thought they had indicated there was a lot more vaccine available, and didn't turn out to be the case. So that's why we've ramped up every way we can. I got a call through Commissioner Goodell saying we could have all 32 NFL stadiums available for mass vaccinations. We are -- Are you gonna use them, NFL stadiums to vaccinate? Absolutely -- we will. And, I mean, let me put it this way -- I'm gonna tell my team they're available and I believe we'll use them. Look, it was one thing if we had enough vaccine, which we didn't. So we're pushing as hard as we can to get more vaccine manufactured. You're President of the United States, Commander-in-chief. Can you do something in terms of going to Moderna, going to Pfizer saying "we need more production?" Yes. I think, because we've already done it. But the idea that this can be done and we can get to herd immunity much before the end of next -- this summer, is -- is very difficult. And then the other thing I'm very concerned about, and we've talked about this before, is making sure that the most damaged and hurt neighborhoods and people -- Hispanics, people of color, African-Americans, et cetera, they're dying at much higher rates, they're getting the COVID at much higher rates than white Americans, and there is also an understandable inhibition on the parts of some of those communities to not trust the government. One of the good things is, the vaccine's tested here in the United States -- [Edit in Video] Let's turn to schools. Sure. About 20 million American children have not been in the classroom for nearly a year. I know. There's a mental health crisis happening. There really is. Women are dropping out of the workforce. Is this a national emergency? It is a national emergency. It genuinely is a national emergency, and women are dropping out of the workforce because they either have to stay home with their children, or if they had a job, go to work, and what do they do? Child care is extremely expensive. That's why one of the things in the proposal I put together provides for child care as well. Do you think it's time for schools to reopen? I think it's time for schools to reopen safely. Safely. Teachers want to go back. My wife's a teacher. They want to go back to school, but what they are initially told, and what the science seem to dictate is: you have to have fewer people in the classroom. You have to have ventilation systems that have been reworked. You have to have more school buses because not as many kids can get on one school bus. You've got to have sanitation and, in the, everything from the dining room to the lavatories. Our CDC commissioner is gonna be coming out with science-based judgment, within, I think as early as Wednesday as to lay out what the minimum requirements are. I made a commitment that we try to get K-8 back to school by the end of this 100 days. There are teachers unions across the country though that are resisting efforts to open classrooms. Mike Bloomberg -- you know Mike Bloomberg -- Yup. He has said "It's time for Joe Biden to stand up to teachers unions because kids are the most important things." Is that gonna happen? They are, and I have. I've met with the teachers unions. They want to go back to school. They need some guidance. [Edit in Video] It's so hard with kids not being able to play sports now, a lot of kids. It really is. I think about the price, so many of my grandkids and your kids are going to pay for not having had the chance to finish whatever it was. That graduation where you didn't get to walk across the stage. I think -- they're going through a lot, these kids. Let's talk about your American Rescue Plan. Yes. You've said you're not compromising on the $1,400 checks. No. You made that promise, you're sticking to it. So the big question is who gets the check— Exactly right. Is it someone who makes up to $50,000? Or is it someone who makes up to $75,000? I'm prepared to negotiate on that. But here's the deal: middle class folks need help. But you don't need to get any help to someone making 300,000 bucks or $250,000. So it's somewhere between an individual making up to $75,000 and phasing out, and a couple making up to $150,000 and then phasing out. But again, I'm wide open on what that is. [Break in Interview] You also want to raise the minimum wage to $15. Is that something you would be willing to negotiate on in order to get Republican support? Well, apparently, that's not going to occur because of the rules of the United States Senate -- So you're saying the minimum wage won't be in this -- My guess is it will not be in it. But I do think that we should have a minimum wage, stand by itself, $15 an hour and work your way up to the fifte -- it doesn't have to be boom. And all the economics show, if you do that, the whole economy rises. I am prepared, as president of the United States on a separate negotiation on minimum wage, to work my way up – from -- what it is now, which is pain -- look, no one should work 40 hours a week and live below the poverty wage. And if you're making less than $15 an hour, you're living below the poverty wage. But that may not be in your American Rescue Plan? No. I put it in, but I don't think it's going to survive. Let's turn to the impeachment trial. President Trump's impeachment trial. If you were still a senator, would you vote to convict him? Look, I ran like hell to defeat him because I thought he was unfit to be president. I've watched what everybody else watched, what happened when that -- that crew invaded the United States Congress. But -- I'm not in the Senate now. I'll let the Senate make that decision. Well, let me ask you then something that you do have oversight of as president. Should former President Trump still receive intelligence briefings? I think not. Why not? Because of his erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection. I mean you've called him an existential threat. You've called him dangerous. You've called him reckless. Yeah, I have. And I believe it. What's your worst fear if he continues to get these intelligence briefings? I'd rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have that -- the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all, other than the fact he might slip and say something? [Break in Interview] The U.S.-China relationship is probably one of the most important in the entire world. Why haven't you called Xi Jinping? Well, we haven't had an occasion to -- to talk to him yet. There's no reason not to call him. I probably spent more time with Xi Jinping, I'm told, than any world leader has because I had 24, 25 hours of private meetings with him when I was vice president. Traveled 17,000 miles with him. I know him pretty well. There's a lot to talk about? A lot to talk about. A whole lot to talk about. Ans as I've said to him in the past. And – he's very bright. He's very tough. He doesn't have – and I don't mean it as a criticism, just the reality, he doesn't have a democratic, small D, bone in his body. But he is, um, the question is, I've said to him all along, that – we need not have a -- a conflict. But there's going to be extreme competition. And – I'm not going to do it the way that -- he knows this -- and that's because he's sending signals as well, that I'm not going to do it the way Trump did. We're going to focus on international rules of the road. Will the U.S. lift sanctions first in order to get Iran back to the negotiating table? No. They have to stop enriching uranium first? [Nods his head "Yes"] Let me turn to your son, Hunter Biden. He has written a memoir -- He has. -- to be published in April. So have you read it? So proud. I have. I've only gotten halfway through it. I'm so damn proud of him. He has enormous talent. He's a brilliant young man. I'll bet you there's not a family you know that didn't have somebody in the family who had a drug problem, or an alcohol problem, and he's gone through hell. I didn't even know it was being written until about a month and a half ago, and knew nothing about it 'til about five days ago. He thinks it's a way to help other people. I mean, this is a guy who when he's three years old, was pinned in the car with his dead sister and dead mother, his brother. But the honesty with which he stepped forward and talked about the problem and the hope that -- it gave me hope reading it. I mean it was like my boy's back. you know what I mean. He's -- anyway, I'm -- I'm sorry to get so personal. No, I ask the question, so thank you for answering it. Mr. President, you've certainly been around the White House for a long time. You've walked into the Oval Office, you were vice president for eight years. But did it feel a little different when you walked in as president the United States and sat down on the other side of the Resolute Desk? Um, you know when I felt different? When I walked through the front doors of the White House, um, after being sworn in. There was that picture of you em -- embracing -- Yeah. -- the first lady. Yeah. You know, President Clinton and I used to talk about how, who -- who's read the most biographies of presidents. He's probably read more than I, but I've read a lot of them, and I've always thought about presidents in terms of Abraham Lincoln up there, or, you know, Franklin Roosevelt or George Washington, and I thought to myself: how in God's name could I -- co -- can I, you know, do --compare myself to them? But then, I realized, I know eight presidents. I've served eight term. I know them. They're all really fine men, and you know their strengths and their weaknesses and it -- and it gave a little more of, well, you know, no I -- don't get me wrong, I think it's an incredibly challenging job, and I'm extremely flattered to have a chance to do it, and I hope to God I live up to it, but it seemed to make it more life size. [Break in Interview] So, many people may not know that you were once a pretty good receiver yourself back in the day. I had wild dreams. It wasn't to be president. I thought I could be a flanker back in the NFL. But as a former receiver, which quarterback would you rather have throw to you? Tom Brady or Mahomes? Obviously, Brady's a great quarterback. Mahomes seems like he's got a lot of potential, and so, I'd probably take a shot with the young guy I didn't expect as much from. You thinking the Kansas City Chiefs may win? Well, I didn't say that. I -- I don't know who's gonna win. I think they're both great quarterbacks. One is just a younger version, potentially, of an old, great quarterback. Not old. In NFL terms, old. [Laughs] [Break in Interview] Mr. President, thank you for joining us. Enjoy the game. Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. I'm Norah O'Donnell, CBS News, The White House.