Antony Blinken today unveiled the Biden  administration's top foreign policy  

priorities, topping that list, containing COVID-19  and melding foreign policy with domestic policy.

I spoke with Secretary Blinken moments ago.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken, welcome to the  "NewsHour." Thank you very much for joining us.

The world looks a lot more complicated  today, I think it's fair to say,  

than it did just a few months ago. There are  problems bubbling up just about everywhere.  

And in your statement today, you made a clear  focus on American workers right here at home.

Explain how that connects to what the  U.S. challenges are around the world.

TONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary  of State: Well, first, Judy,  

it's great to be with you.  Thanks so much for having me.

And what I tried to do today is to really  lay out the president's priority that our  

foreign policy has to have the American people  first and foremost in mind. And he's basically  

asked us to make sure that, in anything we're  doing around the world, the first question  

we ask ourselves is, how is this going to  make life a little bit better, a little  

bit more secure, a little bit more prosperous, a  little bit more hopeful for our fellow citizens?

And of course, the economic  aspect is critical to that.  

But this has to be a foreign policy that's  grounded in making a real difference in  

the lives of Americans. That's the  first question we ask ourselves.

JUDY WOODRUFF: You said today that  the first priority has to be around  

COVID-19, making sure that the world addresses it.

But, as we know, the country where it originated,  China, has not been transparent. And right now,  

China is taking the lead in supplying vaccines  to poorer countries. So, I know many people  

are looking at this and wondering if the U.S. is  ceding its leadership in COVID to China, which is  

a country your administration is calling the chief  threat to the United States in the coming years.

TONY BLINKEN: Well, you're right,  Judy, that China has not been  

fully and effectively transparent, either at  the start of this crisis, when it mattered most,  

or even today, as investigations are going forward  trying to get to the bottom of what happened.

And it is vitally important that we see  real transparency, we see real access  

for international experts where it counts, we see  real information-sharing, not just with regard to  

the past, but, critically, going forward to make  sure we can avoid another pandemic in the future.

We're leaning in. The United States is leaning  in on dealing with this, of course, both at home,  

where we're making very significant progress. You  heard the president address that just yesterday,  

but also around the world. We have  joined this COVAX arrangement.

We're contributing billions of dollars to creating  greater access to vaccines. And I think, as the  

months go on and as we vaccinate our own people  and make sure that every American is protected,  

we will also be engaged in helping the world  get vaccinated, because, at the end of the day,  

we will not be fully secure until the  world is vaccinated, not just Americans.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Another China  question, Mr. Secretary.

The U.S. has said that China is guilty of genocide  when it comes to the Uyghur minority population  

in that country. If that's the case, what  should the penalty be? China denies it.  

But what should the penalty be for that?

TONY BLINKEN: When it comes to specific  issues like the -- like the Uyghurs,  

I think there are a number of things  that we can and should be focused on.

We have got to make sure that products  and technology being exported to China,  

whether it's by us or anyone else, can't be  used for repressing their minority populations.  

Similarly, if products are being made as a  result of forced labor, including from Xinjiang,  

we shouldn't be buying those, and we  should get other countries to do the same.

And, of course, we should make  sure that the world is speaking out  

with one voice in opposition to what's happening.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So much to ask you about,  

Mr. Secretary. I'm going to try to fly  through several more parts of the world.

But Iran is next. As you know, just  a few days after the United States  

launched an attack on Iranian-backed militias  

in Syria because of their attack on a -- on U.S.  forces based in Iraq, Iranian-backed militias  

have again today fired a rocket attack on U.S.  forces at a base in Iraq, another attack by them.

What should the penalty be for Iran?  How should they pay the price for this?

TONY BLINKEN: Well, Judy, we have made very clear  that -- and President Biden has made very clear  

that his first and most important obligation  

is to protect the lives and safety of  Americans, as well as our partners.

And in the case of the earlier attacks, the first  thing we did was to make sure we understood who  

was responsible. And that took some time. And then  we worked very closely with our Iraqi partners  

to make that determination,  and then to take clear action  

to demonstrate that these things  could not go forward with impunity.

Now, you're right. We have another attack in  the last 24 hours. The first thing we have to  

do is get to the bottom of it and find out, to the  best of our ability, who, in fact, is responsible.

And then I think the president's been very clear  

that we will take appropriate action in  a place and at the time of our choosing.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Will that have any bearing on  the attempt by the United States to get Iran  

back to the negotiating table when  it comes to the Iran nuclear talks?

And is the U.S. prepared to relieve Iran of  some sanctions in order to get them back?

TONY BLINKEN: So, with  regard to the nuclear talks,  

when we pulled out of the nuclear  agreement, the so-called JCPOA,  

that had put Iran's nuclear program in a box,  Iran then started to break out from that box.

And it is now in a position where it is closer to  having the ability to produce fissile material for  

a nuclear weapon on short order, in a matter of  months. The agreement had pushed it past a year.

So, we have real interests in trying to  put Iran back into that box. And diplomacy  

is the way to do it. We have made clear  that the path of diplomacy is open.  

The European Union, which is one of  the parties to the original agreement,  

invited all of the other parties, our  European partners, Russia, China and Iran  

and us, to come to start to talk about the  possible return to the nuclear agreement.

We said yes. Iran said no. We will see what  they do going forward. We have been clear  

that the path of diplomacy is open. The ball  is in Iran's court to decide if it agrees.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But, yes or no, the  U.S. considering lifting sanctions?

TONY BLINKEN: We have been very clear that  Iran has to come back into compliance with  

its obligations under the nuclear agreement.  And if it does, we will do the same thing.

And that would revolve -- that  would involve, if they do it,  

some sanctions relief. But, again, we're  a long ways from that. Unfortunately,  

Iran is moving in the wrong direction. It  continues to take steps that lift the various  

constraints of the agreement and is making its  program more dangerous, not less dangerous.

So, first and foremost, we want to see Iran  come back into compliance with its obligations.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Saudi Arabia, a lot  of attention there, as you know.

The U.S. intelligence community  report released just a few days ago  

putting the responsibility on the  crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman,  

for authorizing, directing the killing, the  murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The administration has imposed  sanctions, but not on the crown prince  

himself. President Biden said during the  campaign that Saudi Arabia would be a pariah,  

based on what happened. Has he blinked on this?

TONY BLINKEN: Let's look at what we did.

First of all, as you noted, we  put out a report, a report that  

was not written yesterday. It's been there for  well over a year. We released it. And that made  

clear, as you said, the responsibility  for the heinous murder of Mr. Khashoggi.

And, obviously, this has been reported before.  It's not that there were any very new facts in  

there that hadn't been reported. But it makes a  big difference when that comes out with the full  

imprimatur of the United States government behind  it. I think that, in and of itself, is important.

We sanctioned, including using  the so-called Magnitsky sanctions,  

some of the people directly involved in the  killing of Mr. Khashoggi. And, critically, we also  

denied visas to about 76 Saudis also involved.

And maybe most important going forward, because,  as much as this is about accountability for the  

past, it's trying to do everything we can to  make sure this never happens again in the future,  

we put in place a new rule, the Khashoggi ban,  that basically says that, if at the direction of  

a foreign government, an individual does anything  to harass, surveil or harm a political opponent  

of that country in the United States, that  person will not set foot in our country.

And that applies not just to Saudi Arabia. It  applies to the entire world. So, I think there are  

clear, demonstrative actions that we have taken  that not only shed a light on what happened in the  

past, but also put us in a stronger position going  forward to prevent it from ever happening again.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But when you combine that,  however, with the -- not holding him personally  

responsible, with not imposing sanctions against  Russia's President Vladimir Putin for the  

poisoning, and then again now the -- imprisoning  again of the chief -- the lead opposition leader,  

Alexei Navalny, does that send a signal that  the U.S. is waffling when it comes to abusing  

human rights, that human rights are not the  priority that this administration says they are?

TONY BLINKEN: Whether we like it or not,  we don't choose Saudi Arabia's leaders.  

They do. And the crown prince is likely to be in a  position of leadership for years, decades to come.

We have gone back to clear regular order. The  president engaged with the king. And various  

Cabinet secretaries have  engaged with their counterparts.

We deal, unfortunately, every single day  with leaders of countries who are responsible  

for actions we find either objectionable  or abhorrent, whether it's Vladimir Putin,  

whether it's Xi Jinping, whether it's any  others on a long list of people I can name.  

But we find ways to deal with them.

And the question I think we have to ask ourselves,  and we did ask ourselves, is, in terms of  

advancing not just our interests, but our values,  are we better off rupturing the relationship with  

Saudi Arabia or recalibrating it, as we  did? In terms of ending the war in Yemen,  

are we better off having recalibrated  the relationship or rupturing it?

I think the answer is clear.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Final question,  Mr. Secretary, Afghanistan.

As you know, the U.S. is scheduled to pull  troops finally out of that country after  

20 years of war in less than 60 days.  Today, the White House made public what  

it's calling its interim national security  strategic guidance document, which says,  

among other things -- and I'm quoting -- "The  United States should not and will not engage in  

forever wars that have cost thousands  of lives and trillions of dollars.  

We will work to responsibly and America's  longest war in Afghanistan, while ensuring  

that country does not again become a safe haven  for terrorist attacks against the United States."

What does that mean, exactly, in  terms of keeping troops there?

TONY BLINKEN: Well, that's  exactly what we're looking at now.

And we haven't made any decisions  about the May 1 deadline to withdraw  

the remaining roughly 2,500 troops that  are in Afghanistan, as well as, of course,  

partner troops, NATO forces that are  there. We're in very close consultation  

with our NATO allies, with all  of the countries in the region.

And what we're looking at very carefully is,  what further progress can and must be made on  

the agreements that, for example, we reached with  the Taliban under the previous administration  

and the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan  

are working on to see if the conditions  can be in place for a durable peace?

All of those things are what we're  looking at. We're making the effort  

to advance them. But, right now, we're  reviewing the question of our troop presence,  

and we're doing it in full consultation  and coordination with our allies.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Secretary of State Tony  Blinken with a very full plate, thank you.

TONY BLINKEN: Thanks, Judy. JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you so much for joining us.

TONY BLINKEN: Great to be with you. Thank you.