The President discussed a myriad of issues, from rising gas prices and inflation to the southern border, while giving new details on negotiations over his economic agenda

At the end of tonight’s town hall, President Biden was asked what was something that people didn’t know about Gen. Colin Powell, who died this week and whom the President considered a close friend.

Biden said that Powell had “enormous integrity,” calling him “one of the few serious, serious players I’ve dealt with over these years.” 

“When he made a mistake, he acknowledges it. He said, ‘I acknowledge — I was wrong,'” the President said.

On the lighter side, Biden told Anderson Cooper a story about the time that he and Powell raced Corvettes on a Secret Service racetrack.

Biden said that he won the race but only because Powell “was worried I was going to crash into him.” 

President Biden tonight said he will consider visiting the southern border, suggesting he has not visited so far because he has been busy visiting the sites of disasters around the country.

Biden noted that he has travelled the country and the globe since taking office in January, adding he has “not had a whole lot of time to get down” to the border. 

“I have been spending time going around looking at the $900 billion worth of damage done by hurricanes and floods and weather and traveling around the world,” he said.

Earlier in the exchange Biden also defended his decision to keep in place Title 42, a policy of former President Donald Trump’s which allows immigration officials swiftly return people who cross over the border in order to limit the spread of Covid-19.

“We have maintained that because of the … continued extent of Covid in those countries from which people are coming,” he said. “It is very, high. So, we maintained the policy.”

“We are not sending back children, we send back adults, and we send back large families but we don’t send back children in that circumstance,” he added.

President Biden was asked about changing the filibuster so that Democrats can pass the voting rights legislation.

The President said getting into a debate over the filibuster right now will cost him votes on his economic agenda.

“Here is the deal, if, in fact, I get myself into at this moment the debate on the filibuster, I lose at least three votes right now to get what I have to get done on the economic side of the equation, foreign policy side of the equation,” he said.

Biden said that in the meantime they should bring back a rule where lawmakers have to physically hold the floor “immediately.”

Biden added that he believes we are at the point where moving forward “we fundamentally alter the filibuster.”

In an answer to a follow-up question, Biden said he would entertain the possibility of doing away with the filibuster on the voting rights issue “and maybe more”

The fight over voting rights has once again put the filibuster front and center. President Biden was just asked about the Senate procedure during his town hall event.

Senate Republicans blocked another voting rights bill Wednesday, as some on the left call to change the chamber’s rules to allow the Democratic Party to unilaterally change federal election law. The vote was 49 to 51.

Amid the Republican blockade, Democrats on the left have also increasingly called on their party’s senators to gut the Senate’s filibuster rule requiring 60 votes to advance most legislation.

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman, a Senate Democratic candidate, said in a statement, “every Democratic Senator who votes in favor of this bill today, but won’t support getting rid of the filibuster, is engaging in performative politics, and is content with the GOP’s complete assault on our democracy.”

But what is a filibuster, and why do Democrats want to change it? The short version of the story is that Democrats want to reinterpret Senate rules so they can use just 50 votes to pass things like the voting rights bill or Biden’s massive infrastructure package.

According to the Senate website — which has its own glossary — a filibuster is this: “Informal term for any attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length, by offering numerous procedural motions, or by any other delaying or obstructive actions.”

These days, it’s shorthand for anytime senators demand a supermajority to cut off debate and move to an actual vote on just about anything.

When people talk about ending the filibuster, what they really mean is reinterpreting Senate rules around cloture so that legislation could pass by a simple majority instead of being held up by a minority.

Because Democrats have only 50 votes right now, every one of them needs to be on board to change the Senate rules — and they could be changed back in the future. Currently, moderates like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia are not in favor of changing it.

Read more about the filibuster here.

Watch the moment:

CNN’s Zach Wolfe, Daniella Diaz and Alex Rogers Kate Sullivan contributed reporting to this post.

President Biden, when asked about Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s stance on Build Back Better, said that Sinema is “supportive” of his environmental agenda but added it “breaks down” over Sinema’s reluctance to increase taxes “a single penny.” 

Biden added that he is continuing to work with the senator to reach a point where can present a “serious piece of legislation” for the American people.

As for how they’d get there, Biden said there were down to “four to five issues” he’s not going to discuss on national television. 

Biden said it appeared unlikely he would get corporate tax hikes included in the plan amid opposition from Sinema. 

A White House official added on Biden’s comments: “The President was referring to the challenge of having the votes to move forward on raising the corporate rate, not to the ability to raise revenue through a range of other tax fairness proposals, which Senator Sinema supports.”

President Biden said emergency responders should be mandated to receive the Covid-19 vaccine and possibly risk losing their job if they refuse.

“I’m wondering where you stand on that should police officers emergency responders be mandated to get vaccines and if not, should they stay at home or be let go?” CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked the President.

“Yes, and yes,” Biden said matter-of-factly.

Biden noted that he held out before going all-in on mandatory vaccines, but the scientific data ultimately forced his hand.

“I waited until July to talk about mandating. I tried everything else possible. The mandates are working,” he said.

The President went on to note that there are two angles regarding the vaccine that bother him in particular.

“One, are those who just try to make this a political issue,” he said, adding, “The second one is the gross misinformation that’s out there.”

President Biden was asked when he thinks gas prices will start to come down. He said he expects the price to stay high into next year.

“My guess is you’ll start to see gas prices come down as we get … into next year, 2022. I don’t see anything that’s going to happen in the meantime that’s going to significantly reduce gas prices,” he said.

Biden said the high price of gas at this time is due to a number of factors, some of which have to do with foreign gas production.

President Biden tonight said he thinks that vaccines will be approved and widely available for children soon, but added the caveat that will he allow the nation’s health and science agencies to make an independent determination.

“The expectations are, they should be ready in the near term,” said Biden, when asked by a mother of two young boys when they might be deemed safe for children and made available.

Earlier this week, the White House on unveiled its plans to roll out Covid-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11, pending US Food and Drug Administration authorization.

On distribution, Biden said there are already 800,000 vaccination sites across the country which could administer vaccines to eligible children.

“There will be plenty of places to be able to get the vaccine, if, and when, it is approved,” he said.

Biden, however, went out of his way to contrast himself with former President Donald Trump’s administration, saying he would not put pressure on agencies charged with approval.

“I want to make it clear, unlike past administrations, science will dictate this,” he said.

President Biden was just asked Covid-19 vaccines for kids. The White House on Wednesday unveiled its plans to roll out Covid-19 vaccines for children ages 5 to 11, pending US Food and Drug Administration authorization.

The Biden administration has secured enough vaccine supply to vaccinate the 28 million children ages 5 to 11 who would become eligible for vaccination if the vaccine is authorized for that age group and will help equip more than 25,000 pediatric and primary care offices, hundreds of community health centers and rural health clinics as well as tens of thousands of pharmacies to administer the shots, according to the White House.

“We know millions of parents have been waiting for Covid-19 vaccine for kids in this age group. And should the FDA and (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) authorize the vaccine, we will be ready to get shots in arms,” White House Covid-19 response director Jeff Zients told reporters at a White House Covid-19 briefing on Wednesday.

Zients continued: “Kids have different needs than adults and our operational planning is geared to meet those specific needs, including by offering vaccinations in settings that parents and kids are familiar with and trust.”

The administration is also launching a partnership with the Children’s Hospital Association “to work with over 100 children’s hospital systems across the country to set up vaccination sites in November and through the end of the calendar year,” the White House announced.

The administration also plans to help make vaccination available at school and other “community-based sites” with help from Federal Emergency Management Agency funding.

Read more here.