5 things to watch during CNN’s town hall with Joe Biden

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 now makes up more than 80% of sequenced samples in the United States.

The White House has faced hurdles in figuring out how to successfully address vaccine hesitancy among the American population and has warned that the current pandemic is one of the unvaccinated, who make up the majority of Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths.

Now, the administration also faces questions about whether to bring back more preventative measures, whether Americans will need a Covid-19 booster vaccines and when international travel will recommence.

Infrastructure and Biden’s legislative agenda

After riding high off the passage of the American Rescue Plan in March, the Biden White House has since been zeroed-in on infrastructure as its top legislative priority.

During the President’s trip to the battleground state of Ohio on Wednesday, Biden is likely to try to make the case for his infrastructure agenda — much like he has done in other key states and the Midwest in recent months, touting his so-called “Blue Collar Blueprint for America.”

The White House had indicated that they supported Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer bringing forward Wednesday’s vote. But Republicans said that the New York Democrat wasn’t going to have the votes if he plowed ahead.

Democrats, meanwhile, are well underway in planning their own infrastructure proposal as part of the reconciliation process.

The White House has indicated that the only disagreement among the bipartisan group is pay fors, with discussions about that being ongoing. But keep in mind that disagreements about financing government spending are the reason why every other infrastructure negotiation over the past decade has fallen apart.

The economy

The US economic recovery from the pandemic is chugging along, but it’s not yet at pre-pandemic levels — marking a major challenge the President will likely have to address Wednesday night.

Expect him to make an argument similar to the one he made on Monday during a speech at the White House, when he directly confronted inflation concerns and touted six months of economic growth under his administration.

Biden has argued that recent price increases are temporary. He also said this week that no serious economist is suggesting there’s unchecked inflation.

But economic anxieties about the Delta variant and inflation are making an impression on investors.

This past Monday was the worst day for the Dow since a 943-point drop in late October, and it was the biggest decline this year. The markets, however, have since rallied.

Cybersecurity

These hacks have had real life consequences for everyday Americans. Many have observed the cost of affected goods increase or have found out about their private information being compromised. And on Wednesday, the President may be asked about what his administration will do to stop these attacks from happening in the future.

Over the last several months, the Biden White House has urged Russia to take action to stop criminal actors in the country from engaging in cybe attacks. But on Monday, the US also launched a new offensive against China, joining a coalition of international allies in accusing China of using “criminal contract hackers” to carry out malicious activities around the world — including through a massive hack of Microsoft’s email system.

The Afghanistan withdrawal and foreign policy

Biden announced earlier this month that the military drawdown from Afghanistan would be finished by the end of August.

The President and his administration have continued to defend the pace of the US withdrawal from America’s longest war. But the decision to exit the country has become a pressure point as the Afghans face the increasingly likely potential that the Taliban will overwhelm the current government and retake control of the country.