Trump announces new impeachment legal team

Ahead of signing executive actions tackling climate change, Biden delivered remarks from the White House State Dining Room and was joined by Harris, along with former Secretary and State and now presidential envoy of climate John Kerry and national climate adviser Gina McCarthy, who had just come from briefing reporters.

"Today is climate day at the White House and -- which means that today is jobs day at the White House," Biden began. "We're talking about American innovation, American products, American labor. And we're talking about the health of our families, and cleaner water, cleaner air, and cleaner communities. We're talking about national security, and America leading the world in a clean energy future."

Biden said his plan provides "concrete, actionable solutions" not "pie in the sky dreams" to address problems plaguing the country, including extreme weather and poor air quality.

"Just like we need a unified national response to COVID-19, we desperately need a unified national response to the climate crisis because there is a climate crisis. We must lead global response," he said, drawing a contrast with the Trump administration's isolationist approach.

As he did on the campaign trail, Biden said he wanted to "be clear" that he would not ban fracking but that the executive order he was signing would help create new jobs among other climate-focused initiatives.

"This is a case where conscience and convenience cross paths, where dealing with this existential threat to the planet and increasing our economic growth and prosperity are one and the same," he said.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry -- the nation's first ever special presidential envoy for climate -- discussed the climate plan and the impact it will have on jobs in a press briefing with reporters Wednesday ahead of Biden signing climate-focused executive actions.

In response to a question from ABC News' Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega, Kerry said that efforts to improve climate will not come at the expense of American workers.

"Unfortunately, workers have been fed a false narrative -- no surprise, right? -- for the last few years," Kerry said in a nod to the Trump administration. "They've been fed the notion that, somehow, dealing with climate is coming at their expense. No, it's not. What's happening to them is happening because other market forces are already taking place."

Pressed later on the cost of the the Biden administration's plans, Kerry said it costs "a lot more" to dismiss climate change than it will to address it now.

"There are countless economic analyses now that show that it is now cheaper to deal with the crisis of climate than it is to ignore it," he said.

Former Secretary of State and now the nation's first ever climate envoy, John Kerry, along with Biden's national climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, joined together in the White House press briefing room Wednesday ahead of Biden signing executive actions on climate change.

"This executive order establishes a White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, and it directs everyone who works for the president to use every tool available at our disposal to solve the climate crisis. Because we're going to take a whole of government approach. We're going to power our economy with clean energy," McCarthy said.

The duo discussed the urgency of addressing climate change and the need for global intervention -- in a stark contrast with the priorities of the Trump administration.

"We could go to zero tomorrow, and the problem isn't solved. So that's why today, one week into the job, President Biden will sign this additional executive set of orders to help move us down the road, ensuring that ambitious climate action is global in scope and scale, as well as national -- here at home," Kerry said.

Kerry also detailed the plans to further the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement at another meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, in April.

Biden's top coronavirus advisers -- including Chief Medical Adviser on COVID-19 Dr. Anthony Fauci, new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients -- have wrapped their first public briefing on the White House's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In contrast with the Trump administration, the Biden administration has pledged to aim for three virtual, public briefings with health experts each week in an effort to be more transparent in their response. Biden is also branding his COVID-19 response team an "equity" task force, chaired by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.

In another change promised by the Biden White House, an American Sign Langauge interpreter was also present for the briefing.

After a bit of a rocky start, with Fauci and other speakers having microphone issues, the briefing proceeded for nearly an hour and focused largely on vaccine distribution.
The president's advisers wouldn't entertain questions on what they will do if Congress doesn't give them the money they need -- insisting it is absolutely critical.

Unlike the predictions given by former President Donald Trump, theirs were not rosy, citing death forecasts that could climb past half a million next month and vaccines still in short supply even as the daily numbers of shots have climbed to 1.6 million.

"It will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one," said Andy Slavitt, another Biden adviser. "Any stockpile that may have existed previously, no longer exists."