Biden wants Congress to take action on gun reform

Biden spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Monday about committing to "work closely together to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," according to a White House news release.

They also spoke about renewing their partnership on climate change, rebuilding the global economy and preventing global terrorism. They also discussed the apparent military coup in Burma, committing to democracy in the country.

"The President underscored his desire to defend democratic institutions and norms around the world and noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is the bedrock for the U.S.-India relationship," according to the press release. "They further resolved that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld in Burma."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that discussions over who should receive $1,400 stimulus checks as part of the COVID relief package are ongoing, but made it clear that Biden would be unlikely to support any income threshold lower than $60,000.

"So his view is that a nurse, a teacher, a firefighter, who's making $60,000 shouldn't be left without any support or relief either. It's just a question of sort of where the scale up looks like -- what it looks like in a final package, but it's still being negotiated at this point in time," Psaki said.

When pressed on Sen. Bernie Sander's, I-Vt., assessment that it would be "absurd" to lower the threshold on who should receive the $1,400 checks, Psaki declined to answer, but said that once a threshold was found they would be glad to have the discussion. 

Psaki also offered insight into the ongoing negotiations.

"In the last week alone, our legislative affairs team had done more than 300 calls with members and staff on the Hill, including 40 calls with Republicans or bipartisan groups," Psaki said. "And you can expect that the president will engage, throughout the course of this week, with a range of stakeholders including business leaders, mayors and governors."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

White House press secretary Jen Psaki weighed in on the Democratic proposal to provide between $3,000 and $3,600 in child care tax credits to families, noting in a press briefing Monday that Biden had included a tax credit in his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan, and supports the proposal put forward by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass. 

"(The) president supports the proposal that Rep. Neal and others have put forward to ensure that there is money in the package that helps bring relief to families in the form of a child tax credit." Psaki said. "That’s something he certainly would support.”

But when asked if Biden would seek to make the credit permanent, Psaki indicated that would not be, saying it's "emergency funding that will help people get through this period of time."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Former President Donald Trump's legal team filed a 78-page trial brief Monday morning, ahead of the Senate impeachment trial. The brief asks the Senate to dismiss the charges, stating their belief that holding a trial is unconstitutional in the first place and also asserting that Trump was engaging in political speech protected by the First Amendment.

"His political speech falls squarely within the protections of the First Amendment under clear Supreme Court precedent (as fully discussed below), and he thus cannot be convicted by a Senate sworn to uphold the Constitution," Trump's lawyers wrote in the brief.

House impeachment managers promptly filed a five-page response to the brief and called his free speech argument "utterly baseless."

"The evidence of President Trump's conduct is overwhelming. He has no valid excuse or defense for his actions," the impeachment managers wrote. "And his efforts to escape accountability are entirely unavailing."

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders