Good afternoon, folks. Thanks for being here. Earlier today, the November jobs report was released, and it was grim. It shows an economy that is stalling and remain in the midst of a -- we remain in the midst of one of the worst economic and job crises in modern history. But it doesn't have to stay that way. If we act now -- now, I mean now we can begin to regain momentum and start to build back a better future. There's no time to lose. Millions of people have lost their jobs or had their hours slashed. They have lost their health insurance or are in danger of losing their health insurance. One in every six renters is behind in rent. One in four small businesses can't keep their doors open. And there's a growing gap in black and Latino unemployment, and the gap remains much too large, and it is deeply troubling that last month's drop in overall unemployment was driven by people who are dropping out of the job market not because more people were being hired, dropping out of the job market all together. They have lost hope of finding a job, or they are taking full-time caregiving responsibilities as child centers remain closed, and their children learn remotely. Over the past three months, 2.3 million more people are long-term unemployed, meaning for 23 weeks or more. By five, the largest increase on record. This is a dire jobs report. It is a snapshot I might remind you up to mid-November before the surge in COVID cases we predicted. Many predicted, and the deaths rise that we have seen in December as we head into a very dark winter ahead. For example, since October, cities are down 21,000 educators just as schools need -- schools need more help in fighting against the pandemic. A couple of days ago, I spoke with school cross -- crossing guard, a server, a restaurant owner, and a stagehand. Good people, honorable people, decent, hard-working Americans from across the country who reminded me of my dad, who lost his job in Scranton and eventually moved our family to Delaware just outside of Wilmington, a place called Claymont. He used to say, you've heard me say it before, Joey. I don't expect the government to solve my problems, but I expect them at least to understand my problems. The folks I'm talking about the folks out there aren't looking for a handout. They just need help. They are in trouble through no fault of their own. Nothing they did caused them to have hours cut or lose their job or drop out of the market. What they need they need us to understand we are in a crisis. We need to come together as a nation. We need the Congress to act and act now. If Congress and President Trump failed to act by the end of December, 12 million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits they rely on. Merry Christmas. The employment benefits align them to keep it on the table to keep the lights on and the heat on, pay their bills. Emergency paid leave will end, the moratorium on evictions will expire. States will lose the vital tools they need to pay for COVID testing and public health. Put yourselves in that position, anybody listening. Laying awake at night wondering what's going to happen tomorrow, it's going to be harder for states to keep children and educators safe in schools to try to provide assistance to keep small businesses alive. States and cities are already facing large, large budget shortfalls this year again through no fault of their own. They have Artie laid off more than 1 million workers; even more teachers, firefighters, cops will lose their jobs unless federal government steps up now and all of this weakens our ability to control the virus if we don't step up now. Emergency paid leave reduces the spread of COVID because it allows people to stay home when they are sick. States and cities need funding to direct their COVID response, which is the only way we are going to end the economic crisis as well. The only way we're going to get people back to work. I'm not alone in saying this situation is urgent. If we don't act now, the future will be very bleak. Americans need help, and they need it now, and they need more to come early next year, but I must tell you I am encouraged by the bipartisan efforts in the Senate around $900 billion package for relief. It's a bipartisan effort. Congress -- if Congress as they work out the details of this relief package they're going to have to focus on resources for direct public-health responses to COVID-19. We need meaningful funding for vaccines now, so don't lose time and leave people waiting for additional months. We need serious funding for testing now. We need to ramp up testing to allow our schools and businesses to operate safely. The sooner we pass the funding, the sooner we can turn the corner on COVID-19. You know, in the weeks since this election ended, there were questions about whether Democrats and Republicans could work together, and I know many of you are skeptical about my view that they will and can. Right now, they are showing they can. Congress and President Trump have to get this deal done for the American people but any package passed in the lame-duck session is not going to be enough overall. It is critical, but it's just a start. Congress is going to need to act again in January. Earlier today, I consulted with a number of my economic team, most of which have been announced by now, and Vice President Harris and I announced that team last week. As we inherit the public health and economic crisis, we are working on a plan that we will put forward for the next Congress to move fast to control the pandemic, to revive the economy, and to build back better than before. We hope to see the same kind of spirit of bipartisan cooperation as we are seeing today. Our plan is based on the input from a broad range of people the vice president-elect, and I have been meeting with since winning this election last month labor leaders, the leading CEOs in the country, mayors and governors of both parties, parents, educators, workers, small-business owners. There is a consensus that as we battle COVID-19, we have to make sure that businesses and workers have the tools, the resources, and the guidance health and safety standards to keep businesses and schools open safely. It can be done because here's the deal the fight against COVID won't be won by January in January alone. To truly end this crisis Congress is going to need to fund more testing as well as a more equitable and free distribution of the vaccine. We need more economic relief to bridge through 2021 until this pandemic, and economic crisis are over. And then we need to build back better. I've said it before an independent analysis by Moody's, a well-respected Wall Street firm, projects that my Build Back Better plan will create 18.6 million good-paying jobs. It is based on a simple premise reward work in America not wealth. We are going to invest in infrastructure, clean energy, manufacturing, and so much more. We will create millions of good-paying American jobs and get the job market back on the path to full employment. This will raise income, reduce drug prices, advance racial equity across the economy, and restore the backbone of this country, the middle class. Look, the bottom line it's essential we provide immediate relief for working families and businesses now, not just help them get to the other side of this painful crisis but to avoid a much broader economic cost due to long-term unemployment and businesses failing. By acting now, even with deficit financing, we can add to growth in the near future. In fact, economic research shows that with conditions like the crisis today, especially with such low interest rates not taking action, the action I'm proposing will hurt the economy, scar the workforce, reduce growth and add to the national debt. Look, I know times are tough, and the challenges are daunting, but I know we can do this. We can create an economic recovery for all, for everybody. We can move from crisis to recovery and to resurgence. For the Lord's sake, this is the United States of America. We've done it before and we'll do it again. We will. I promise you. So I thank the bipartisan group that's trying to put something together right now. We're going to need more bipartisanship as we move on. God bless you guys and the women who are doing this. God bless our country and may God protect our troops. I'll stop there and I'll be happy to take some questions. Mr. President-elect, one of the biggest tasks that you will have when you enter office is distributing a vaccine. Your team has started to meet with the Trump administration to learn of their plans as you are set to inherit this task. Are you satisfied with the current plans that are underway for distributing that vaccine? Do you feel that the federal government is doing enough at this point and what steps do you think need to be taken between now and when those first vaccines go out? Well, there's a lot more that has to be done. They've clued us in on their planning, on how they plan to distribute the actual vaccine to the various states, but there is no detailed plan that we've seen, anyway, as to how you get the vaccine out of a container into an injection syringe into somebody's arm and it's going to be very difficult for that to be done and it's a very expensive proposition. For example, you know, we agree with their priorities that they've laid out so far, I do at least. My team is looking at it of dealing with first responders and -- and those in nursing homes and in-home care. The first people on the list. But we also have to realize that we are in a situation where there has to be some equity in the way this is to be distributed and that requires, for example, right now we're in a situation where you have, you know, the leading cause of death for all Americans this week is -- is COVID-19. For blacks and Latinos are three times as likely to die if they get COVID-19. And so the communities of color, it's a mass-casualty event. And so we've got to figure out how we make sure we get the vaccine to those communities delivering the large amounts of the vaccine to the Walmarts and the -- and other major drug chains is -- does not get you into a lot of these neighborhoods and it doesn't guarantee that it gets around. So we've got a lot of work to do and -- and there has to be the equity side of this has to be an important part of distribution. In addition to that, the cost of actually getting the serum into a -- injection into a needle into somebody's arm costs a lot of money. It takes a lot of people. It takes a lot of folks to be able to get that done. And we have to have a much better way than we've seen thus far as to how it's distributed. In some states, like the governor of Utah, said just deliver it to the capital, I can take care of it, in our conversation. Well, that could be true, but in large states like California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, et cetera, it's -- it's not that easy. There has to be an overall plan. That's what we're working on right now and that's why I asked Dr. Fauci to stay on and to be my chief advisor on this issue but also to be part of a COVID team. And on your cabinet, you are facing a lot of pressure to add more diversity to your administration. You have civil rights groups and lawmakers pushing you to do this, to make sure that you make good on your promise. And you look at your cabinet announcement so far and they have included some diverse figures, but I specifically want to hone in on those big four. And so far, when it comes to Secretary of State and Treasury, you have nominated a white man and a white woman. So looking at attorney general and the Department of Defense, would you commit to nominating a person of color for those positions? Look, it's each one of these groups job to push, push their leaders to make sure there's greater diversity. What I can promise you is when this is all said and done, you'll see everyone that I've announced and there's going to be in the next several weeks. We'll have it all out there. You're going to see significant diversity. I'm not going to tell you now exactly what I'm going to do in any department, but I promise you it will be the single most diverse cabinet based on race, color, based on gender that ever existed in the United States of America.Question So no commitment on those spots? A commitment of what I just said. It will be the most diverse cabinet and the main spots in both White House as well as in cabinet positions.Question Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President-elect. You just said a couple of minutes ago that there's no time to waste when it comes to economic stimulus, but Democrats and Republicans have been in a stalemate for several months as they have been negotiating and trying to talk about what kind of stimulus to put together. You were elected by more than 80,000,000 people to try to break that logjam. Can you talk about specifically what you have done over these past several weeks to actually work with Democrats and Republicans speaking to congressional leaders to get them to agree on a stimulus package? And what do you say to people like Senator Sanders on the left flank of your party who've come out against the stimulus program already? They have said that this $900-billion deal is not good enough. Well, it would be kind of stupid for me to tell you what I did, wouldn't it? Because it would be kind of hard to do it again. I told you all that I was confident we'd get a bipartisan agreement on this stuff and I think we will not just on this package, but I think beyond. And the last thing I'm going to do is tell you strategically how I go about this. I remember I used to get asked the same thing when I was putting together significant deals between Democrats and Republicans when I was a senator and vice president. It's just not a very smart thing for -- it's like me asking you tell me how you get your sources and how did you get those sources you got in order to get that story. That would be ridiculous for you to tell me or your colleagues how you did it. All I can say is I'm confident there are a sufficient number of Democrats and Republicans in the United States Senate along with significant votes coming out of the House of Representatives to put together a serious package that will keep us from going off the edge here, provide the kind of resources we've needed immediately. It's not going to satisfy everybody, but the option is if you insist on everything, you're likely to get nothing on both sides. And so I think they are on their way to being able to come up with a package that meets the basic immediate needs that we have, but I've made it real clear, it's just a down payment. This is not the end of the deal. So I've been relatively good at negotiating over my career because I never, number one, revealed something somebody doesn't want me to in the deal and number two, because I always keep my word. There are a number of progressives, including Senator Sanders who have criticized this deal in part because it does not include the $1200 checks that were in the last deal. What do you say about that? They say that the American people who are hurting, maybe not the small businesses, but just the everyday families, they don't have anything in this deal. They're not getting any of the stimulus that's in this $900 billion package. Well, that's not what I understand, but I think it would be better if they had to the $1200. I understand that may be still in play. But I'm not going to comment on the specific details. The whole purpose of this is we've got to make sure people aren't thrown out of their apartments, lose their homes, are able to have unemployment insurance, there can continue to feed their families on as we grow back the economy, be in a position where they provide for help to localities so they're not continuing to layoff school teachers and firefighters, et cetera, first responders and to make sure we're in a position that we were able to generate to the kind of growth that it, as a consequence of this by allowing it costs a lot of money to keep schools and businesses open on the COVID side of the equation. They're all pieces should be in there. There's much more. If I were writing it, you know, I think the proposal that, quite frankly, the HEROES Act that the House passed, that's what I would support. But you know, this is a democracy and there are -- you -- you've got to find the sweet spot where you have enough people willing to move in a direction that gets us a long way down the road but isn't the whole answer. Thank you Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President-elect. You're describing this compromise bill as a down payment, that you will push Congress to do more once you're in office, but this bill is already more than Republican leaders want to spend. What if this isn't a down payment? What if this bill is it? What are your options then to get Americans with additional relief? I never start off thinking that way. I always start off [Inaudible] we can get it done, and we'll get it done. But, it's been more than six months this fight has been going on. Mitch McConnell still hasn't even signed off yet on this compromised bill. What makes you so confident that you will be able to get Republicans to go big once you're in office? Well, because the country is going to be in dire, dire, dire straits if they don't. Have you reached out to Leader McConnell? Have the two of you spoken yet? We'll be in dire trouble if we don't get cooperation. I believe we will. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President-elect. You noted today that one in six renters are behind in their rent. Millions of Americans remain unemployed. You say the situation is urgent. When you come into office, you expect to pass executive orders dealing with those specific issues and also, do you at all plan to pass trillions of dollars of aid? Is that what you have in mind when you say we need to go big or we looking at millions of dollars? We're looking at hundreds of billions of dollars. And look, again, I've learned after hanging around in this business for a while, the last thing you'd do before you begin a negotiation is lay out -- lay down a drop dead marker and if it's not this, I'm not going to talk to you. I think there's a lot we can get done and I think people are going to see the overwhelming necessity. What's going to start to happen is a lot of folks who represent Republican districts are going to find that Republican neighbors are in real trouble as things get worse. They're going to find that there's an overwhelming need as these -- these numbers skyrocket. You remember my saying that I believe the experts, we'd had at least another 250 dead before the end of the year and they went, "Oh no." Guess what? Look what's happening. It's going to get much worse. It's going to get much worse. And, so I believe that there are enough Republicans who will join enough Democrats in the United States Senate to get a majority along with the House to get it done. And -- but, we'll see. We'll see. This is -- this is a step at a time. And, on executive orders? Well, I'd ask for executive orders that are totally within the purview of an executive. But, one of the things I don't like is I like people -- I don't like people saying that I can buy executive order or do the following things, which there's no basis in the Constitution to suggest it can be done. So, there's certain things I can do. I can issue executive orders, pulling back some of the executive orders that Trump put forward. But, I can't issue an executive order saying we're going to spend X billion dollars on this issue without getting a Congress appropriates and is responsible for distributing that money. And, then quickly on the coronavirus vaccine, you talked about getting it into African American and vulnerable populations. You've said yourself that you're willing to get the vaccine publically to get people to feel safe. But, there are people already telling me, "Well, President-elect Biden has good healthcare if there's some complications, he might have better healthcare than me, African Americans around the country." What more can you do to convince people that the vaccine is safe for them? And, does that mean you'll at all lean on any existing members of the corona task force? I know that you have committed to keeping Dr. Fauci, but is there Dr. Birx, is there anyone else that you might be leaning on to convince people? There are a lot of people I'm looking to convince people on the taskforce and the taskforce will continue to be expanded with really fine people. And, look, I think actions of presidents matter and I'm going to say something that I think the African American community and Latino community have known: I've never misrepresented anything to them. And, that if as you all keep pointing out, I'm the oldest president ever elected, although I'm actually only 47. But, all kidding aside, I think that my taking the vaccine and people seeing me take that vaccine is going to give some confidence. But, you know, I -- I said early on -- you may remember. I think you may have asked me the question. I may be mistaken. But, I said early on that I think one of the things that bothers me the most is by the wild assertions the administration is making about how this is going to go away and inject bleach and all those kinds of things. It was diminishing confidence across the board and the American people overall, but particularly in this administration with the African American and Latino community, what I heard from my friends in the community who are not but blocks from here as we stand, is that, "We're not going to be the guinea pigs. We're not going to be the guinea pigs." Well, the fact of the matter is that they won't be. You're going to see tens of millions of Americans taking the vaccine and you're going to see the president of the United States and three of the four living former presidents doing it publically as well. It's all about -- and look, it's going to take some effort to rebuild confidence in science because it's been so diminished in this administration thus far. So -- but, I will -- and by the way, in the meantime, I've got to make sure that the vaccine is both free and available and that any follow up on the vaccine is free and available that relates to any health complications from it. So, there's ways we can deal with some of these issues. "Biden has good healthcare, therefore but I don't have good healthcare," that's another thing we're working on from day one. I've been working on it at this moment. And, so my hope is that we can instill -- re-instill some confidence in being able to believe the president of the United States when he or she speaks. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President-elect. A lot of people are wondering what your inauguration is going to look like considering -- -- So am I. -- -- considering that you're still in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. So, I would like to hear what you envision for the inauguration. Do you expect a scale-down event? Are you still planning to take the oath on the West Front of the Capitol? Will there be a parade? Will there be balls? What do you envision for your inauguration? Well, first and foremost thing is we're going to follow, again, the science and the recommendation of the experts on keeping people safe. So, it is highly unlikely there will be a million people in the mall going all the way down to the memorial. I think we'll see -- we're in discussion with the House leadership and the Senate leadership as to what they plan for the inauguration, particularly those 200,000 spots they control. But, I think you're going to see something that's closer to what the convention was like than typical inauguration. First and foremost in my objective is to keep America safe but still allow people to celebrate, to celebrate and see one another celebrating. And, so we're in consultation. My team is in consultation with folks who help us put on the convention, as well as with our colleagues, Republican and Democratic colleagues, in charge of the inauguration. My guess is there probably will not be a gigantic inaugural parade on now Pennsylvania Avenue, but my guess is you'll see a lot of virtual activity in states all across America engaging even more people than before. But, that's in train now and -- and I'm not in a position to give you an example of exactly, you know, what it will look like. I -- but, I promise you, it'll be available either virtually or in person for many and my guess is, it'll still be some -- there will still be a platform ceremony, but I don't know exactly how it's all going to work out. The key is keeping people safe. I can't do a super version of the president's announcement in the Rose Garden nationwide. So, it's going to have to be more imaginative. But, I think -- like I said, I think the -- the convention we put on really opened up avenues that we never thought existed and I doubt there will be another Democratic -- at least the Democratic Convention, that it's straight like it always has been. I think we can include more people. People want to celebrate. People want to be able to say, "We've passed the baton, we're moving on, democracy has functioned." But, I wish I could tell you more, but as those decisions are made, they'll be announced. Okay, and I also wanted to ask you about your relationship with Senator McConnell. I know the two of you have a long history of actually working together on various deals. Have you talked to him since the election? And, given the partisan nature of Congress right now, how do you convince him that it's in America's best interest to work with you going forward? I don't think I have to convince him of that. He knows me. He knows I'm as straight as an arrow when I negotiate. He knows I keep commitments and I never attempt to embarrass the opposition. There's some things that I think are -- are just ready for the kind of compromise that Democrats and Republicans are prepared to engage in absent the president of the -- present president of the United States' attitudes on some of these issues: infrastructure, dealing with health issues, dealing with the fight against cancer, dealing with education. I think there is a number of things as I said before, we've got to take the vitriol out of politics. I know there's a lot of people on both sides who want to continue to go after and punish the opposition. I get that. I get the fact that an awful lot of Americans are disappointed I was elected president. Fortunately, there are 7 million more that were happy than disappointed, but I get that, and there's a lot of Democrats who are angry and want to strike back at Republicans. But I have said from the beginning I think I have conducted myself this way throughout my career. I learned that early lesson it's always appropriate to question other men and women's a judgment but never their motives. Once you question their motive, then, in fact, there's no way to get to go. You're in the pocket of the cement industry. Let's do a deal on highways with no possibility, and so when I have dealt with Mitch McConnell in the past as a vice president or as a senator, we haven't engaged in that activity. It doesn't mean we can get to an agreement. I'm not asking anybody to abandon their principles, but I do think it makes no sense to engage in vitriol in trying to get to a place where I can't believe that a majority of the Republicans don't understand we need a new infrastructure in America. If there is nothing to do with jobs or a green economy, there's too many bridges that are going to collapse, too many roads in disrepair, too many Republican states that every time it floods, they flood out their -- their water systems are polluted. It's just these are common problems, and I am confident it's going to be hard, and I am confident we can get to an agreement on a number of things that will be of consequence. Thank you all so very, very much. Is that it? Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. [Inaudible] vaccines the mandatory? No, I don't think they should be mandatory. I wouldn't demand it to be mandatory, but I would do everything in my power just like I don't think masks have to be made mandatory nationwide. I will do everything in my power as the president of the United States to encourage people to do the right thing, and when they do it, demonstrate that it matters. That's why I said in my inaugural speech I'm going to ask people to commit for 100 days to wear a mask, not because I'm asking it for any reason to punish-this is not a political issue. It has become one. But if people do it for 100 days in the middle of what will be still a raging crisis and the vaccine is able to be distributed, they are going to see deaths drop off the edge. They are going to see hundreds of thousands of people not getting sick; and my hope is they will be then inclined to say okay, it's worth -- it's worth the patriotic duty to go ahead and protect other people. Thank you all so very much. Are you going to Georgia? Yes.