treasury securities. trillions of dollars that banks and foreign governments hold as investments. if the government stops paying interest on the debt, that's a default. it's like you not paying your mortgage. it causes all kinds of disruption. wall street has had its eyes closed, eyes are opening, you will see changes as a result of it. host: in the meantime, what is the treasury department doing and how much time is left on the clock? guest: they have got a few months and it has become a part of washington ritual

we now have three weeks of mega floods.

some of the most acute floods in california's history. the scale and the scope is hard to understand unless you get out and that's what i couldn't be more grateful for the president taking the time to come out to the state of california to take a look at the damage. i think in moments like this, just looking at the damage but really reflecting on the spirit of pride and community of coming together. i can say this because i have the mic. one of the things that admire and the american people admire is the empathy, care, and compassion. when you see that demonstrated in times like this and if you have any cynicism about the world we are lady -- living in i challenge you to spend a little time with the president of the united states and people directly impacted by these kinds

of experiences. it reinforces and distills a sense of well-being for me as governor for the state of california but more importantly i think it gives all of us a little bit more confidence and faith in the future for the world we are trying to build. i want to say this before i bring up the president, this has been challenging. 21 lives have been lost. that does not include the five-year-old boy. we have 200, over 200 search and rescue folks out there. the only thing they found was a shoe, the one nike shoe. we won't give up until we find kyle. hopefully by miracle of miracles he will be ok. but 21 known deaths so far. this conveyor belt going back 22 days, trillions of gallons of

water, we estimate over 1400 heroic rescues. i say this often about politics unlike baseball you don't get credit or saves. 93 agencies, local, state, regional, federal agencies coming together and doing heroic work. what you expect from fema, and folks that we expect calfire and local police, fire, and sheriffs but our conservation corps. to prevent, to save lives that was our number one priority closing for now talking about turning the page and we are talking about being here when all of you are gone. when the cameras are gone, all the attention, spotlight, that is when california is at its

best that we could not do that without federal support. final words, on january 4 we declared a state of emergency. four days later before i could even requested, chief of staff, president of the united state reaches out and says, yes. in anticipation of what i had yet to request and that was the presidential declaration. i checked my voicemail, the president had already left a voice will say what do you need? four days after that, we requested a major disaster declaration. we sent out the fema director, after just a few days, detailed assessment, over half a dozen counties included. trust me, that matters. when you cynical again around government, relationships, when you feel like things have frayed, have become to

polarized, consider these moments and spirit of collaboration and cooperation and who we are. invest, of course, i think who we are in america is represented in the present i'm honored to welcome to his podium. mr. pettit, it is an honor to have you back here, ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [applause] pres. biden: governor, soon i have to stop taking these helicopter rights. if anybody doubts the climate is changing, they must have been asleep for the last couple of years. i want to thank you, governor. you and i and the vice president have been in close touch since before the storm hit.

we told the governor that we do everything we can, what ever he needs. he has been through a whole hell of a lot. we had flights up and down the state for the wildfires, the damage done, it has been astounding what you have done and i want to say what i said then, i want to say again. the federal government is not leaving his responsibility until it is all fixed. i want to thank you and the county supervisor and local officials, first responders for all that you have done and all you have been dealing with to try to protect your constituents in a way that gives them some, i guess may the think that is a sense of hope. that everything can be done. and i want to thank the entire california delegation for

working with my administration. thank you for being with me today and, you know, we did aerial tour of the damage. unlike when we did the aerial tour of the fires, it's not as obvious from the air just how much damage has been done. we flew over the entire area, parts of the state, they have more rainfall in a single day and they get in an entire year. drenching rain, powerful wind, landslides, floods, but you don't feel it until you walk the streets or when you are able to walk. toppling thousands of trees, 20 -- 200,000 customers lost power. now it is less than 5000 but there are still 5000 people who don't have power. we have to get it done 20.

100 50,000 people were under evacuation orders. now it is down to 1400 and 300 people are still in shelters. tragically, 21 people died and we are still trying to find, the little boy. the fact is jill and i have him in our prayers. while the situation is still treacherous, we are optimistic that the worst part is behind. the waters recede we will see the fuller extent of the damage, the homes, the businesses. we know some of the destruction is going to take years to fully recover and rebuild but we have to rebuild, we have to rebuild better. last week i signed an expedited

major disaster declaration for the state of california. right now, more than 500 employees of fema are out here and other federal agencies on the ground trying to help people. supplies for 100,000 meals, 100,000 liters of water, 20,000 blankets, 10,000 cots for shelters. there will be disaster recovery centers in every impacted area including santa cruz and merced where survivors can apply for assistance. the army corps of engineers is helping to remove heavy debris safely and monitoring reservoirs in the central valley and the sea of disco bay area.

i've instructed my administration to bring every element of the federal government together with the help of immediate needs and long-term planning to do both. in terms of infrastructure there have to be significant changes to be made. the federal government will help to get that done. the department of agriculture is helping farmers with loans and grants if they lost livestock more their crops are washed away . the small business administration, along the. is devastating but they are going to get help. help local businesses to get loans so they can recover. if you don't have insurance or if you are underinsured, fema is going to get you started with home repairs replacing lost or damaged property. to apply for assistance from fema, you can go online to disaster assistance.gov.

you can also sign up in person for disaster recovery centers in the coming days. there will be seven centers open across the state. fema will deploy teams to the communities that need them the most. you can go to the fema website to find that location. like i have said in other disasters, the key is building back stronger. since i became president, we have spent $9 billion in disaster assistance to california for the extreme weather events. these weeks have shown the compounding effect of the disasters. for example, places that were ravaged by wildfires are now at a high risk of landslides. extreme weather caused by climate change means stronger and more frequent storms, more intense drought, longer wildfire season's all of which threaten

communities across california. we have to invest in stronger infrastructure. i signed a law year ago and more than $16 billion for more than 480 projects across the states are making the california power grid more resilient, building stronger levees, clearing hazardous fuels and re-forcing lands to protect against wildfires. together we can better prepare for future disasters, reduce the damage they cause, and the people's lives and livelihoods that are affected. the people in california, the country is here for you and with you. we are not leaving until things are built back better than they were before. we can recover from storms, we

will be with you every step of the weight. god bless you all and may god protect our first responders who we owe more than i can take time to talk about today. thank you thank you thank you. [applause] i will answer the question but here's the deal. quite frankly, what bugs me is that we have a serious problem we are talking about. we're talking about what's going on and american people don't quite understand why you don't ask me questions about that. having said that, what is your question? reporter: [indiscernible] pres. biden: they found a handful of documents were filed in the wrong place. we immediately turned them over to the archives of the justice department.

we are fully cooperating and looking forward to getting it resolved quickly. i think you will find there is nothing there, i have no regrets, i am following with the lawyers have told me to do. is exactly what we are doing. there's no there there. [indiscernible] >> thank you. be careful. this way.

>>ma the 50th march for life rally. beginning a new eastern friday on c-span. watch online on c-span.org. >> the state of the union is strong because you the american people are strong. >> president biden delivers his annual state of the union address at landing his priorities to congress. we will also hear the republican response and take your phone calls, texts, and tweets. watch on c-span, c-span now or c-span.org. >>