Secret agent: White Dwelling holds press briefing | NBC News

Multiple gunmen opened fire during the chief's Super Bowl Parade in Kansas City killing two innocent people and wounding more than 20 including several children we pray for the families who lost L ones and we wish a speedy recovery to those who suffered injuries since this horrific shooting yesterday the president has received regular.

Updates from his team and Senior White House staff have been in touch to it state and local leaders we also thank both Federal and local law enforcement and other First Responders for springing into action to prevent the further loss of life as president's statement said yesterday the Super Bowl is the most unifying event in.

America nothing brings more of us together for this celebration to be turned to tragedy yesterday in Kansas city cuts deep in the American soul but the Kansas City shooting was not only the only deadly shooting in America yesterday three police officers were shot in the line of duty in Washington DC and another school shooting took.

Place at Benjamin Mays high school in Atlanta yesterday also marked six years since Parkland and Tuesday marked one year since the shooting at Michigan State University we've now had more m shootings in 2024 than have than there have been days in the year got to think about that.

One through executive action and implementation of the bipartisan safer Community communities act the president has taken action to keep guns out of dangerous Hands by expanding red flag laws enhan enhancing background checks and cracking down on gun trafficking while also making historic investment in violence prevention but as we all know.

It is not enough Congress must Act Congress needs to act and it is shameful that we have not seen more action on this we need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines require safe storage of guns pass a national red flag law enact Universal background checks and invest in proven solutions that reduce.

Violence we know these actions can save lives and our communities literally can't afford to wait now on another note you saw an announcement today uh we are a excited to announce that President Biden will welcome president Duda prime minister Tusk of Poland to the White House on March 12th for a joint meeting the.

Meeting coincides with the 25th and 25th anniversary of Poland's accession to Nato and underscores the United States and Poland's Ironclad commitment commment to the NATO alliance which makes us all safer they will discuss our support for Ukraine as well as the strong us polish strategic energy security partnership its Rob its robust.

Economic relationship and the United States and Poland's shared commitment to democratic values and with that I will turn it over to the Admiral uh who's here to share some newly available inform information that has captured uh Washington's attention as you all know Admiral thank you afternoon.

Everybody I know that chairman Turner's letter to house members and his subsequent post on social media about a national security threat has prompted a lot of questions why I am limited by how much I can share about the specific nature of the threat I can confirm that it is related to an anti-satellite capability that Russia is developing I.

Want to be clear about a couple of things right off the bat first this is not an active capability that's been deployed and though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety we are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on.

Earth that said we've been closely monitoring this Russian activity and we will continue to take it very seriously President Biden has been kept fully informed and regularly informed by his National Security team including today he has directed a series of initial actions including additional briefings to Congressional leaders direct.

Diplomatic engagement with Russia with our allies and our partners as well and with other countries around the world who have interests at stake the intelligence Community has serious concerns about a about a broad declassification of this intelligence they also assess that starting with private engagement rather than.

Immediately publicizing the intelligence could be a much more effective approach we agree with that which is consistent of course with the manner in which we have conducted downgrades of information in the past this Administration has put a lot of focus on doing that in a strategic way a deliberate way and in particular when it comes to Russia and.

There's two things that we always do first when we consider about downgrades one we work with the intelligence Community to conduct a thorough scrub of that intelligence to make sure that we are protecting sources and methods and two we sequence our private diplomacy with our public disclosure to ensure the maximum effect in keeping with that.

Approach our national security adviser Jake Sullivan is meeting this afternoon with house leadership and committee chairs and rankers this afternoon to brief them on the latest intelligence and our analysis of it and we will brief the Senate when they are back in session on the 25th of February I'm not going to get ahead of those discussions as I said.

We make decisions about how and when to publicly disclose intelligence in a careful deliberate and strategic way and a way way that we choose we're not going to be knocked off that process regardless of what in this particular case has found its way into the public domain I can assure you that we will continue to keep members of Congress as.

Well as our International partners and all of you and the American people as fully informed as possible nothing is more important to President Biden than the Safety and Security of the American people that's his top priority and it's going to remain front and center as we continue to determine the best next steps now if I could just briefly I want.

To share a few words about the battlefield situ situation in Ukraine where the fighting is incredibly intense in the East particularly in a city called adka it's a city that we've talked about several times before unfortunately we're getting reports from the ukrainians that the situation is critical with the Russians continuing to.

Press Ukrainian positions every single day abiva is at risk of falling into Russian control in very large part this is happening because the Ukrainian forces on the ground are running out of artillery ammunition Russia is sending wav W after wave of conscript forces to attack Ukrainian positions and because Congress has yet to pass the.

Supplemental Bill we've not been able to provide Ukraine with the artillery shells that they desperately need to disrupt these Russian assaults now Russian forces are now reaching Ukrainian tens trenches actually in eviva and they're beginning to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses the cost of inaction by the Congress is Stark and.

It's being born on the shoulders of Ukrainian soldiers we need Congress to pass the National Security Supplemental bill without further delay if House Republicans do not act soon what is happening and AD divka right now could very well happen happen elsewhere along that front so again we need Congress to act right away.

Questions thank you um addressing the matter that you addressed in your copper uh can you address whether the United States has the capability to defend against the Russian anti-satellite system that they're developing I would tell you that um this is still a development I'm sorry it's still a capability they're developing we.

Are still analyzing the information that's available to that I would not uh speak definitively about our U our strategic deterrent capabilities one way or the other we just don't we don't talk about that publicly but we're taking this Potential Threat very very seriously and we are examining what the the best next steps are and what our.

Options might be I want to re reiterate it is not an active capability and it has not yet been deployed okay thank you Admiral um when was the president first informed of this threat and what's been his level of Interest or concern I I I don't have a specific date on the calendar he has been kept informed throughout and um uh our.

General knowledge of Russian pursuit of this kind of capability uh goes back many many months um if not a few years but only in recent weeks now has the intelligence Community been able to assess with a higher sense of confidence um exactly how Russia continues to pursue it and the so the president has been briefed on this developing.

Capability really from the outset and has been kept in formed uh throughout and they say as I said today including today from his National Security team there's a term that's been tossed around in the last 24 hours or so so I want to seek some clarity from you is it a nuclear weapon a nuclear powered weapon or a nuclear capable weapon.

I I'm not going to be able to go into any more detail than I did in my opening statement it is an anti-satellite capability that they're developing and beyond that I will not go you've spent some time though around nuclear material or weapons in your previous military career what the heck is nuclear capable what is nuclear capable I mean I.

Guess it depends on the the purpose of the of the device we're we're talking about I mean we we talk about making sure that Australia has nuclear powerered capable submarines um and of course there's so nuclear energy can be used for propulsion in an engineering sense um it can also be used as a weapon so nuclear capable could be either of.

Those I I uh am not going to get into any more detail about this particular capability uh than I have already it's just not not prudent to do that as I said we work on downgrades of intelligence in a strategic deliberate way we're not going to get knocked off that approach regardless of what's out there thanks thank you John um your.

Statement just now seemed to push back on Turner's call for the administration to declassify this information um and the fact that he made that desire public but the intelligence committee put out an notice about an hour ago that the language was uh pre-approved by the Biden Administration so are you saying that uh the language that he put out in.

His statement on social media was outside of what odni approved what I'm going to tell you Jackie is that and you've seen us do this uh certainly since uh U early Fe early 2020 uh 2021 when uh when uh I'm sorry 22 when Putin invaded Ukraine we have been very careful and deliberate about what we decide to declassify downgrade and share.

With the public um and there's a process Jackie it starts with an analysis of whether information can be downgraded safely without violating sources and methods without putting it in Jeopardy our ability to continue to collect information and intelligence then usually there is a an engagement strategy that goes along with that where.

You talk to allies and partners uh maybe the country in question certainly members of Congress you do that through uh intense internal diplomacy and then and only then when that's complete you work with the intelligence community on specific language to downgrade what I would tell you in this case and Jake mentioned this yesterday we had already.

Begun that process process of analyzing it of making sure we weren't violating sources and methods informing members of Congress the president directed the team to to to start to inform uh allies and partners including uh not not that Russia's a allying partner but to include diplomatic engagement with Russia on this and then we would.

Eventually get to a point where we would downgrade and declassify so we were already on the sort of the Arc of that that that process uh when yesterday um this information uh regrettably found its way into the public domain um uh in advance of our ability to do this according to process regrettably though if the administration had been working.

With with the committee to approve language that would make all this known to all members of Congress if there's an if there's a presumption here that somehow the administration gave a green light for this information to get uh public yesterday that is false that is not true that did not happen we were eventually going to get to a point where.

We were going to be able to share it with the American people and we still will as appropriate as I said in my opening statement we'll keep you as informed as we can now's not that time for us to go into any more detail than this officials push back on the characterization that uh allies and partners had not been informed and said.

That they had been informed when did that happen are in the process again which is why we're not going to be downgrading everything here today we are in the process of Consulting with allies and partners we are in the process of engaging with Russia about this and we think know it's a crazy thought here but we kind of think it's important to.

Follow that process and do it the right way rather than just rush to put something out in the public domain okay go ah John when we talk about the potential to satellites satellites can be used to drive everything from weather forecasting to Wars you say this is something that would not impact those of us on Earth.

Why should Americans be concerned about a Russian capability that would Target satellites any anti-satellite capability um should be of General concern because you're right there are private and public satellites circling the Earth every day they do a number of things well you talked about um you talked about some of them there Communications.

Um command and control transp concern what's theological concern Financial commercial concerns there's a lot of things the satellites do for for the whole population of uh of Earth and so any capability that could disrupt that and that could therefore have um some impact on Services here uh on Earth and across the world should be of concern to.

Anybody I think and including the fact that we have astronauts uh in often times in in low orbit that that could be at risk from an anti-satellite capability so you're talking about potential human life we heard from leading lawmakers including those on the house intelligence committee saying among other things that this is not a uh.

Immediate term threat this is not an imminent threat it is a medium to long-term threat when we talk about medium to long-term threats who Americans can feel comfortable with the state of this information what does that mean what time frame are we talking about in terms of the concern I hope you'll understand I'm not going to get.

Into too much more detail than I already have I mean as I said I I'll stick I'll stick with what I said it is not an active capability that is yet deployed okay Mar we're going to get around thanks K I appreciate it heard at some members of Congress describe Turner's actions as Reckless given how you started this briefing is that how you.

Would characterize what he did yesterday I would just tell you that uh we have followed a very rigorous process about how to determine whether information can be and should be downgraded and shared publicly um we were we are were and are in the process of that with this particular capability and as I said in my opening statement we're not going to.

Going to get knocked off that process we're not going to be uh we're not going to have our hand forc to get out there faster and further uh than we think is appropriate are you concerned that all members of Congress now have had access to this classified intelligence uh that that's really for U chairman Turner to speak to since he made that decision to.

Make it available to all members of Congress um uh this is based on that doesn't consider initi look well again let chairman Turner speak to his decision about uh how to to share the information uh it is based on information that we again are still in the process of analyzing and sharing with allies and partners and um and and.

We're just not at a point right now we don't believe we should be at a point right now um to be too forthcoming in all the details of it as we work through this process but as I said uh as we do with every other downgrade we'll get to a point certainly where we can we'll share with you as much as we can but just to clarify it up on Jackson's Point.

Since the chairman is now saying that some language was cleared with the administration can you tell us what exactly he worked on with the administration and how wide that clearance was no I'm not going to I'm not going to get into that and I'm not going to speak for um for uh for how he uh came to make uh this decision we have.

A process we're going to stay on that process thanks thanks Admiral um the Kremlin spokesman said today that uh the bringing up this issue of the Russian anti-satellite capability is a a ploy by the White House to pressure republicans in Congress to uh to pass the supplemental and get Aid to Ukraine uh what's what's your reaction to that.

Claim Ro I just one more thing if I may thank you for the answer um the um um uh last uh last night the leaders of Australia Canada and New Zealand issued a statement um warning Israel against any offensive in uh in Rafa uh saying could be devastating and catastrophic um these are some of the.

Closest US allies and part of the part of the five eyes group obviously um can you tell us why the United States um thinks differently to them and still feels that um it's possible that Israel can offer you know that may be able to offer a credible plan uh for an offensive that can protect civilian I don't see a whole heck of a lot of gap.

Between what they what they've been saying and what we've been saying I mean um I can't speak for them I can just tell you that we continue to believe that under the circumstances without a credible plan as the president said to account for the more than a million Palestinians that are down in Rafa make sure that they're have a place where.

They can be safe and secure and out of Harm's Way without that credible plan a major operation in Rafa would be a disaster we we we we agree with that and we're continuing to talk to our Israeli counterparts about what that plan might look like okay John um thank you listening going back to what you were saying to Peter about satellites.

Life as we know it Revol why would it go up higher it's difficult to answer that question at this point when we're talking about uh a capability that we don't believe is active and not deployed uh we will engage directly we plan to engage directly with the Russians about this uh and uh as well as allies and partners and as I said we'll continue to.

Work through what uh our next steps and our approaches might be I don't want to minimize the potential here for disruption should there be um uh uh an anti-satellite capability of of any significance it could affect Services here on Earth there's no question about that that's why we are taking this so seriously so and lastly um as we're.

Dealing with this and and looking at the complicated relationship that the United States has had with Russia and you say you're going to go into conversations do you really trust Russia when it comes to the satellite there's there's no issue of uh it's not about trusting uh and I think I think I think our record on dealing with with Russia appropriately I.

Think is pretty well established we don't it's not about blind trust with Russia in fact it's quite the quite the opposite is it trust to verify look it's we certainly we're not we're not in a position where we're trusting what's coming out uh of Russia what they say we watch what they do uh and we analyze what they do and then we make our own.

Decisions our own policy decisions about what we're going to do uh based on on on their actions or their or their inactions thank you k uh John staying on Russia before I move on to the Indonesian election but on a slightly different track uh Vladimir Putin said that a Biden Administration would be more stable and better than a trump.

Administration your reaction I think Mr Biden no I'm sorry I I think Mr Putin knows very well uh what this Administration has been doing to uh to counter russan Mal Russia's malign influence around the world and certainly what they've been doing inside Ukraine um uh We've demonstrated over and over.

And over again uh uh how willing we are to to push back uh on what Russia's doing again particularly in Ukraine and um Mr Putin should just stay out of our elections and on the Indonesian election the candidate pra subbiano has claimed Victory a couple of questions number one when does the administration plan to congratulate him are you planning to.

Wait for official accounts to come out which could be days or weeks and number two this was an individual who was banned from entering the United States for many years due to allegations of human rights violations including the abduction and torture of pro-democracy activists during the 1998 ouster of his then uh father-in-law president Sarto so.

Is the administration comfortable working with a person with such track record uh we'll uh we'll make our congratulations known at the appropriate time um I don't have uh I couldn't give you a date certain or a Time certain for that that as I understand the results are still coming in um and the we we will respect the vote and.

The voice uh of of the Indonesian people so but just just to clarify though the Trump Administration did Grant uh pranto who was then uh Indonesia's defense minister in 2020 uh and invited them invited him to the US because of concerns that Jakarta may be veering too close to Beijing um I wanted to know what the Biden administration's View is.

Of balancing between American human rights values uh and geopolitical expediency I think the only way I can answer that question is to reiterate that human rights civil rights have been at the Forefront the very Foundation of President Biden's foreign policy there's not a conversation he has anywhere in the world with foreign leaders where.

He's not raising issues and concerns about human rights and civil rights that's not going to change and you can take one more question on the uh house Foreign Affairs committee today uh hearing today on the Afghanistan withdrawal accusing the Biden administration of Reinventing the Doha agreement and creating conditions that.

Are right for a Taliban take over could you give a reaction we have talked and briefed uh at Great length uh about the situation we found ourselves in when we came into office and a Doha agreement uh that was that was uh agreed to by the previous administration I would point you to every public comment and testimony that we have done before I I.

Don't want to I don't think I need to relitigate that uh the president was faced with a stark Choice given the decisions that President Trump made about uh exiting uh Afghanistan um so um Martin griffus the UN Aid agency uh Chief today said in an interview with SK news that Hamas is not a terrorist organization he later.

Clarified that it is not on the list of groups that the United Nations has of terrorist organizations what's the word from Washington from the White House about those comments by Martin Hamas is a terrorist organization we've said so it is it just is and you don't have to look any further than what they did on the 7th of October to see it in Stark.

Terms and my goodness take a look at their Manifesto even the one that's so-called watered down in 2017 there's no doubt they just want to wipe Israel off the face of the map this is a terrorist organization pure and simple period is it helpful I mean do you find you know have you reached out to Griffith to that we've done any reaching.

Out do I think we need to we have made very clear our views of what Hamas is okay and then I just wanted to follow up um Israel's Finance Minister has ordered these flower shipments uh not to go into Gaza because they were going through unra over the weekend a senior Administration official said that there was hope that those flower shipments.

Including a very large US shipment could actually be delivered it would feed something like 1.4 million Gins over 6 months what is the status of that what can you do to ensure that those shipments get in I I wish I could tell you that that flower was moving in but I can't do that right now and all I can tell you is that is absolutely critical.

Um as a staple for the Palestinian people and we're going to keep working uh with our Israeli counterparts to see if we can get that Port open to that flower it's it's absolutely vital they committed to allowing it in we want to make sure that happens did nanyo assure the president of the weend that that was going to happen I don't have anything.

Specific from the call that they had about that particular issue but believe me uh we're mindful of the comments made uh by members of the cabinet about uh flower and the ashdod port and we are working it very very hard it's critical that that flower get to people in need and then just one more on the anti-satellite weapon capability so in.

2007 the Chinese destroyed a satellite on orbit smoothered into many you know Distributing a lot of debris um you know it at that point there was a demonstration of a US anti-satellite capability um that was groundbased basically using um a weapon on the ground to uh destroy a satellite that was uh going to be going falling to.

Earth that posed some danger um can you say whether the weapon the new capability that the Russians um have developed is in fact space based and or does it involve some test of a weapon that is u based on the ground it would be U it it would be space based and it would be a violation of the outer space treaty to which more than 130 countries.

Have signed up to including Russia um if I could Circle back to the direct diplomatic engagement have has that contact actually been made now with Russia on what level are these we in the process of that you on what level is it what state what defense we've reached out to we we reached out to the Russian side um but we have not secured actual.

Conversations at this point and then you talk a lot about um when you're thinking about declassification a that you need to be concerned about not revealing sources and methods the way that this was rolled out yesterday is there any concern that sources and methods have already been compromised we're asking ourselves that very question right now.

Um because we want to be uh able to make sure we're not uh or that in any way shape or form uh anyone uh could potentially compromise sources and methods so we're working our way through that analysis right now with the intelligence community and if I cut really quickly on Israel it's our understanding that the CIA director Bill.

Burns travel to Israel to meet with Netanyahu today what was his message to I make it a golden rule not to speak to the CIA director's travel I'd have to refer to his staff on that but I will tell you just in general speaking I'm not going to talk about his travel but um he has been uh very deeply involved in helping us with the hostage deal.

Negotiations and that work will continue and we are uh very much shoulder to the wheel to see if we can get something done um joh you said that uh the administration is in the process of reaching out to Russia about this issue I'm just wondering if if the uh chman Turner's actions any way complicates those discussions for you it more.

Difficult we'll have to see in the back way in the back thank you thank you Karen uh I have two questions for you John on a Polish leaders visit to the White House next month on March 12th 1999 three countries uh were um admitted to Nato Poland Czech Republic and uh Hungary why President Biden invited only leaders from Poland and the second.

Question why he invited both leaders the Prime Minister and the president this is quite unusual two leaders from one country especially that the President Biden has had not in invited the former prime minister of Poland uh to the White House he only met with the vice president hiris this is a great opportunity to celebrate the 25th.

Anniversary of Poland coming into the alliance it's also a terrific opportunity to show our gratitude for everything that Poland has done not just as a great NATO Ally and they are uh but everything they've done to help support Ukraine including security assistance and hosting more more than a million I think it's a million and a half uh.

Ukrainian citizens on their soil they've been generous uh they've been spirited theyve been strident in the support of the alliance and in Ukraine and the president's looking very much for forward to to seeing both leaders here in Washington DC quite both at the same time quite unusual right this was this was a all all done in consultation with.

Our uh our polish counterparts in terms of uh of how we were going to structure this meeting and again the president's very excited very much looking forward to it start wrapping it up go thank you uh now that the Pakistani elections are over uh several us Congressmen have raised the concerns about the way it has been handled they said it's not free and.

Fair does the White House believe that the Pakistan elections were not free and fair and the people's mandate has not been respected there we're concerned uh and we share concerns about the some of the reports that we've heard coming out of Pakistan in terms of intimidation uh voter suppression uh that kind of thing and so we are we're watching this very.

Very closely uh uh and as I understand it um votes are still being tallied so International monitors are still uh taking a look at uh at those talles I I'm not going to get ahead of that process and secondly in last several weeks several indianents and Indian American students have been attacked throughout the country there concern.

Among their p as you know the India S one of the largest number of students the US there's some concerns in India and the parents that the US is no longer safe could not be longer safe for their students andant to send the kids here what's the message today there's no excuse for violence uh certainly based on uh on race or or gender or uh or.

Religion or any other Factor that's just unacceptable here in the United States and the president this Administration has been working very very hard uh to make sure we're doing everything we can to work with state and local authorities to try to thwart and disrupt those kinds of attacks uh and make it clear to anybody who might consider them uh that.

They'll be held properly accountable good answer John you mentioned the outer space treaty uh several questions ago and uh that is as you said in force but Russia has pulled out of uh several uh Arms Control treaties in the last few years uh is the administr confident that this treaty is not going to go the same way that uh that there's faith in the.

Russian government to not uh unilaterally uh violate the treaty and if they do will the US pull out of the treaty to keep Pace whether what Russia does with its treaty requirements is up to Mr Putin to decide um I can't answer that question and I'm not going to get into a hypothetical about what we would do or what we wouldn't do um we are.

Engaging we're we're going to engage with Russia we're going to engage with our allies and partners we are a signatory to that treaty we take our obligations under that treaty very seriously and we have no intention of violating it there's been some speculation that uh the spur for uh developing this uh this weapon uh is has.

Been the use of satellite us launched satellites uh from SpaceX for uh by Ukraine uh Starling satellites uh is is there any truth to that is there anything that you can say on whe this this that's the motive here no I'm not going to get into any of the intelligence analysis as I said we're still working our way through this we.

Still have to brief members of Congress allies and partners um I'm not going to get into that all right last question uh you had mentioned uh regarding this uh Russian uh situation that uh the information that was disclosed made its way into the public domain well that was chairman Turner have you ever had a situation before where a chairman of an.

Intelligent committee has disclosed publicly information of this nature or or any other uh Intel information that normally stays within committee I I I don't know of a of a similar instance here um uh but as I look back at the news coverage yesterday just to be clear um much of the reporting uh about the supposed alleged details of this.

Capability came from Anonymous officials thank you so much ad appreciate it thank you John thank you thank you thank you all right Darlene thank you do you have anything uh to share on a lockdown at malstrom Air Force Base in Montana uh no that's the first I'm hearing about that so I would have to look into that and get back to you on that uh secondly.

In Venezuela the government today ordered the local un office on human rights to close up and gave its staff 72 hours to leave uh is there any reaction from the US to that so I don't have any reaction at this time uh obviously that's something that we are concerned about and and obviously going to continue to monitor I just don't have an.

Immediate reaction to that at this time final question uh the chair the CEO of Ford Jim Farley was at an auto conference in New York today he said the company will have to uh rethink where it builds future Vehicles after the long uh UAW strike um could this be a downside of Union negotiating such a big contract and is.

There anything uh the White House or the US can do to keep uh jobs from going moving south he's talking about moving autom manufacturing out of the US after the uwri let me just say that the president has takes that very seriously that's one of the reasons if you think about the chips and science act and other uh um legislation that historic.

Pieces of legislation that the person has been able to get passed and obviously he signed into law bringing manufacturing back to the US creating more than 800,000 manufacturing jobs under this Administration obviously is something that he takes really seriously he believes in uh made in America he believes in.

Investing in America uh so always we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that continues as it relates to the beginning of your question the president is a union guy he believes that collecting bargaining is the is the right of union workers he believes that it is uh it is important just like the UAW was able to uh they were able to.

Negotiate uh for their historic contract they should be able to that they should be able to ask for better benefits and better wages uh you know and so that is something that the president is always going to uh speak for uh and is going to stand up for uh and uh you you hear him say this all the time uh unions build the middle class and he believes that uh.

And as it relates to manufacturing he has proven he has proven through chips and science act um and other as I me as I mentioned other policies out there that bringing back uh manufacturing here into the US is important it's critical creating good paying jobs here in in the US is important it's CR it's critical we have to build an economy from the bottom.

Up middle out thanks appreciate we've seen estimates from some experts at the new policy announced by the pr of Ed um uh opening up the possibility of debt relief before uh borrowers could reach actually tens of millions of borrowers but it could still be a while off still in the rule making phase potentially.

More lawsuits so what's your message to borrowers right now we looking at this news you know how should they be looking at this process can they get their hopes up so I'm not going to get uh I'm not going to get ahead of of uh commenting on what C CBO is going to say I'm not going to do any projection from here the president has been very clear it's kind.

Of in line of what I said to Darlene about the importance uh the importance for of fighting for Americans the importance of making sure that we give them a little breathing room that's what the president believes and when it comes to his student debt relief that is that we see there are families across the country that's crushed by student Le and.

That shouldn't be and it prevents them it prevents them from moving for uh moving forward with buying a home you know starting a family and so it is important that uh we the president believes it's important that we do everything that we can uh to do that uh he has launched the most affordable income-driven repayment plan ever that's.

Important and he'll continue to fight to deliver uh to Rel to give relief to borrows across the country so that's not going to stop him I hope that that's what Americans continue to hear that he's going to do everything that he can uh to make sure that we give Americans a little bit more breathing room how confident is the White House that this.

New rule making approach will hold up in court so look we uh we believe that this will stand up in court uh we believe that uh uh that's one of the reasons why obviously uh the department of uh of Education published this new proposed regulatory tax uh and so we're very confident we're very confident that uh that that will occur uh but it doesn't.

It's not going to stop uh the president trying to figure out more ways more ways to continue uh to make sure we give relief to bars across the country and last can you just tell us any more about what we should expect to see um tomorrow when the president visits East pal no it's a good question obviously we'll have more to share later today as we put.

Out uh the daily guidance uh as you know and I've stated this before uh the president as you all know is going to go to East palistine obviously but he is going at the at the invite of the mayor uh the president's going to hear directly from uh the people of East Palestine uh this is a trip that he has been wanting to make but wanted to make.

Sure that it was the right time to do obviously when the derailment happened uh uh the federal federal agencies were on the ground within hours and and many of them have continued to be there whether it's the EPA or FEMA uh and so that's what you're going to see we'll have more details to share later today uh but you will see a president uh that.

Is uh that goes out there whether it's a red state blue State Urban America uh Rural America to hear and make sure that he is a president for all uh especially when uh they're dealing with uh this um uh you know this awful awful event that happen specifically in this community and look one of the things that we've heard from this community they do not.

Want to be uh just known for one event right but at the same time we have to be there for them we have to hold a norlex suff accountable which is what we're going to do uh the Department of Transportation obviously continues to do that um and he will be on the ground and he will hear directly directly from the community get Onre GRE um so I just.

Wanted to follow up on on the on the clas City Chiefs shooting does the president often gone to the site of shootings is he planning to go to Kansas City to sort of griet with the people there in in person and well what I could say is obviously um let me just say and I I've already offered up our obviously our prayers for the families uh who lost.

Their loved ones and to the victims obviously as well many of them are children and it is one thing I can say for sure as the president uh is devastated by this and also frustrated it is frustrating to continue to talk about and put out for him him to put out a statement or for me even and I'm sure for all of you to cover another shooting.

Uh and this gun violence epidemic is is you know uh really destroying our communities it's having an effect of our communities and he is going to do everything that he can uh to continue uh to move forward with protecting our communities but Congress needs to Act Congress needs to act this is a president that has taken two dozen.

Executive actions on this particular issue obviously we passed a historic piece of legislation in a bipartisan way uh uh just about 2 years ago it is time for Congress to do more we need them to do more uh as it relates to travel to Kansas City I don't have anything to to read out to you at this time or anything to announce uh but yes it's important to.

Go to the communities uh when it's needed uh obviously when they have had such tragedy but what is also important is Congress needs to act this cannot continue we cannot continue to you see this epidemic as I mentioned several children were part of this shooting when you hear that gun violence is the number one killer of our.

Kids here in in the US that's not okay on that issue president planning to speak to the victims and or the families of the survivors and then I have another group no no totally understand look don't have anything to to read out on that the president's keep is keeping uh regularly updated by his team uh obviously uh they're going to continue.

Their investigation on the ground and we're offering all all support needed to uh to law enforcement and also uh obviously the community uh but again this is something it is incredibly frustrating it is incredibly frustrating we need to see more here we need to see more from Congress can you also um confirm delete.

Sing is return to the White House delete sing the oh I I can't confirm that I don't have anything for you on that yeah you might know more than I do actually Kansas City clarification you could hear what she said what did she ask the leip Singh she asked if the leip Singh has come back to the to the White House I just don't have anything on or is coming.

Back I just don't have anything for you my yes I don't have anything for you at the quick clarification on what you said about Kansas City at the beginning because I've heard from a few people who were watching live as you said it and according to the transcript you said two people have died the reports are one did you know you have different information.

I did not know I have different information from what I've been told from the team the number that we have is two and I can go back to make sure but that is what I've been told from the team okay that's a different totally understand Ed totally understand and I'm happy to to make sure uh to clarify that for all of you but that is what I was.

Told about for my team okay no problem um tomorrow marks one year since the president's last physical so can you give us any type of sense of timing for when the next physical will it will happen I don't have a timeline for you it will happen hope I don't have a timeline it will happen and like we have done in the last.

Two years it will be transparent we will have in the a memo for all of you I just don't have anything for you at this time it will happen and last year you gave us about a 2 weeks notice on February 1st you told us it would be February 16th so should we anticipate that you're going to give us that amount let me I will double check with the team on this I.

Don't have a timeline for you at this time so just don't want to get ahead ahead of of what's going on uh obviously uh uh with the teams I just don't have anything more to share at this time but he will have one he will have it uh he will have a obviously a physical uh we will be transparent uh just like we have been in the last two years uh and we uh.

Obviously uh we'll we'll provide his health records and all of the information as we've done in the last two years okay yeah on Tuesday President Biden came up and he said I'm not going to answer your questions today I will answer them tomorrow and the day after uh what was he talking about well he was.

Outside yesterday and he took questions from some of you and what about today today I don't have anything to share on his that beyond what you all know uh don't have anything to add on his public schedule okay and at the risk of tripping over the Hatch Act um is that what I do trip over the hatch no all over for you um Nikki Healey.

Recently made a pronouncement about President Biden's near-term plans and I'm hoping to get your response I will quote what she said over the weekend at an event quote my bet is 30 days from now I don't think Joe Biden's going to be the nominee you're going to have a female president of the United States it's either going to be me or it's going.

To be kamla Harris I'm going to be very careful here as you just stated there is a Hatch Act I am a federal employee uh I cannot speak to uh Nikki Haley's uh I don't know magic ball that she may have or whatever it is that she's trying to predict I'm just going to be super super careful here uh and the president uh is.

Uh obviously um you you know his intentions for 2024 I'm just going to be be very Mindful and he doesn't have any plans uh in the next 30 days to president stage left I'm not sure what crystal ball she's looking at but it's not the one we have I'm going to keep going go ahead um go ahead go ahead so uh Kansas City.

Police Department uh has said that the shooting yesterday was a result of a dispute between uh that involved two juveniles I'm just wondering given the fact that Congress doesn't appear likely to act anytime soon are there any tangible steps the administration can take to help keep guns out of the hands of teenagers particularly given that.

These happen in kind of neighbor neighborhoods all over the country no it's a good question that's why we say we need to do more that is exactly why we say we need to do more we need Congress to do more uh and I know your question about Congress we have to put the pressure uh we were able to pass a bipartisan piece of legislation that the.

President signed into law obviously two years ago so they took the first step they need to take another step uh and uh there there is executive action there is obviously the office of of anti-gun violence that we started here it's a historic office that's going to do everything that we can to help communities as they're dealing with.

These types of tragedies to make sure we're moving faster uh and uh with the um uh the bipartisan uh law on uh the saor communities act make sure things are moving at a a rapid pace and so that is kind of the goal of of the office but we actually need Congress to do more we have to we have to and we have to put the pressure on them to do that if I'm.

Not mistaken it's already illegal in most places for people under 18 to have guns is this an Enforcement issue is is it that law enforcement needs to step up to get I mean look there are many issues right uh obviously law enforcement issues there are many issues that need to be addressed and that's why Federal Federal legislation is important to this.

As well uh but look we're going to um um I'm not going to get ahead of what the investigation is on the ground what they're looking into but it's a problem it is devastating it is devastating for once again to talk about a shooting and it's not the only shooting that happened this week or yesterday even uh and so we have to get Congress to act we have to.

Get Congress uh to make sure that they're continuing uh to do the work that they started right if you think about high-capacity magazines that needs to that assault weapons we need to ban those uh safe storage of guns that needs to be something that uh we continue to require uh pass a national red flag law uh we see those in certain States but we.

Need that on a national level uh we need to enact universally background checks all of those things that I just laid out as you're asking me this question is going to have an effect and so we need to see those uh those uh items uh dealt with by Congress we need to see legislation that is one of the that one of the solutions uh to reduce violence.

Missouri also has very LAX gun laws Statewide is this also an issue at the State Legislative level that that the state legislators aren't we believe yes obviously it's an issue at State Legislative levels but we've also lifted up some of these states that have done the extra extra actions right to make sure that their state is protected but.

We also need Congress to act so we can see a national red flag law so we can see a a ban of assault weapons right so we can see high-capacity magazines also banned these are all important these are the things that I just listed out is going to save lives got April GRE um on that subject as you're passionate from the podium about this and this is an.

Election year do you expect the president to lean in to push Congress to to act on gun legislation gun reform Etc um leaning in on a consistent basis this year I mean I think we've been pretty consistent on leaning in on what we're seeing in communities gun violence that we we're seeing in communities uh we've been pretty consistent on calling out.

Congress uh I mean this is the second time this week that I've talked about a shooting I think maybe even the third time this week that I've talked about a shooting that's occurred whether it's an anniversary or an active shooting that just happened that day and every time every time I'm at the podium every time.

I talk about this these devastating events I talk about what the president has done I talk about what Congress he's been able to do with Congress and I've talked about what are the next steps and so look we have seen from Americans across the country gun violence is an issue that is important to them that's why the president took uh took historic.

Actions that's why we have that bipartisan safer communities act that's now law those things are important but we need to do more we need to do more and that is for Congress to do more can you imagine the first two years of of the president's Administration he did two dozen more than two dozen actions that's unheard of but that also shows.

You how committed he is to trying to stop this epidemic to stop if that doesn't show commitment from this President I don't know what else and then having bipartisan conversation to pass the first first anti-gun violence law in 30 years in 30 years I think the president has shown his commitment to this issue what we need is Congress to.

Take another step with us is this a third rail issue during the presidential election season you think for the president a third rail issue in what way meaning um it's polarizing the gun issue is very it's it's it's a very sensitive issue um you have Republicans and the gun lobby who will go dress yeah against you but look we we were able to do.

Bipartisan legislation right almost two years ago we were able to do that so obviously we have their attention obviously there's some care about what's happening in our communities but we need to take them take let get them to take a step further right the gun lobbies cannot own this right right they we cannot allow them uh to to uh to take.

Away our rights or our you know our ability to save lives we got to save lives here children children were part of what we saw yesterday it's not okay and lastly um East Palestine Ohio the president's traveling there I can't help but think about when Obama went to Flint Michigan and he drank water there I can't help about Jackson Mississippi and.

Some of the officials drinking water there it's two totally different situations with the water but are you expecting the Optics of the president drinking water tomorrow I can say this that the president has no concerns with drinking uh drinking the water uh in East Palestine the EPA uh is uh confident that the drinking water is.

Safe I'm sure some of you might remember when the EPA administrator uh rean uh was was there one of the many times that he's visited he drank uh the Water there last year uh so uh we have no concerns okay thanks Marine um the Senate's on recess they're not back until the 26th the house will go on recess until the 28th and there's a government funding.

Deadline coming up on March 1st does the White House want to see Congress cut recess short and come back and deal with spending bills ahead of that deadline I mean you you just said something that's very true like the house decided to leave early and they went on recess uh that's what they decided to do while there are important issues in front of.

Them that they're just not dealing with that's the house leadership they made that decision uh and you know and it's kind of uh it's kind of unfortunate we need them to do the people's business uh they have a really important uh National Security Supplemental in front of them uh that they should take up that if put on the floor it would get bipartisan.

Support uh there was a border deal that bipartisan border deal that was that came out of the Senate they the the house leadership speaker more specifically did not want to deal with it he he killed that bill I mean there are issues upon issues that they can deal with and they refuse to instead they went and impeached secretary mycus.

On a baseless baseless shameful uh shameful way and so look they left early that's for the that's for for them to speak to but that's not what we're we want to see here we want them to take action and actually move forward on on behalf of the of the American people the Senate's out too are you concerned that they're cutting this too close to get.

Government like how worded are you about a shutdown in aate March we believe uh we're always concerned about a shutdown and but we believe that Congress more both house and the Senate obviously is their job to keep the government open and we want them to do that we want them to continue to keep the government open it is their basic basic duty to do that.

Uh and so that's what we want to see that's what we want to see and they should act sooner not later okay John thanks a lot Karine the other day you were talking about the crime rate across the country and you were absolutely correct in saying how the crime rate has gone down in in several large cities New York and Chicago but here in the.

District it is not there were 274 homicides here in the district of Colombia in 2023 that's the highest murder rate in more than two decades since 1997 this is the president's home at least a few days a week what can he do uh personally about reducing the level of crime that we're seeing here in the.

Nation's capitals so let me just be very clear all violent crime not just here all violent crime anywhere is completely unacceptable we just want to make that very clear here um you know every Community uh in this country should feel safe uh want to be want to be safe uh and so that's important but I will say this you know Congressional Republicans.

They don't seem to feel that way and I say this because the president has taken action from the first piece of legislation that he signed into law American Rescue plan only only Democrats voted for that Republicans didn't vote for that there was billions of dollars in that plan to deal with crime to make sure there were law more law enforcement.

In communities uh to make sure that communities are able to uh to to keep uh to keep families and Americans safe they didn't vote for that and we're talking about uh we're talking about billions of dollars to federal state and local governments and they didn't vote for it and so uh look I just talked about the bipartisan.

Gun safety legislation he was able to secure that he took that very seriously worked with in one in in that particular Instinct work with both sides of the aisle to get that done something we hadn't seen again in 30 years uh just last month the Department of Justice committed more Federal prosecutions uh Pro prosecutors agents and analysts to.

Fighting gun crime uh in DC that matters that's an action that the Department of Justice took uh so look we need to do more uh but the president has taken this very seriously from the first couple of months of his Administration signing that American Rescue plan and getting billions of dollars into communities was indeed incredibly important again.

Republicans did not sign that they did not they did not vote for that so it's just a republican issue the the large number of homicides that we're seeing here in the district there's nothing that's not the question you asked me you asked me wait wait no you asked me what else can the president do I laid out what the president did I also called out.

Republicans for not doing enough for not being working with the president on trying to actually deal with an issue that's what you asked me that's what I answered go ahead Ed go ahead than two very different uh questions one um on China and the southern border more than 20,000 Chinese migrants have illegally crossed the southern Border in 2024 and.

The vast majority according to the National border patrol council president have been single men of of military age what kind of national security issue is this given China's hacking of us infrastructure the uh spying that they do and the other aggressions so if we take that very seriously what's happening at the border every everybody.

Uh we try to uh make sure that um uh uh you know as it as it relates to um uh unlawful unlawful uh Crossings uh we certainly uh do everything that we can uh to make sure uh that that uh uh that we deal with that in a real way look the DHS has fully mobilized their agency to deal with what's happening we saw in January we saw a 50% drop uh from the.

Month before of uh of illegal entries that matters and so this is why to your question this is why it was really important to get the border security uh negotiation done we understand there's a challenge at the border we understand we need to do more we understand that there's an immigration system that has been broken for decades we had a.

Bipartisan agreement we wanted Congress in the house to pass that to move that forward and they didn't and they didn't uh and so DHS is fully mobilized uh is doing since May of last year they have been able to uh they have been able to remove more than more than 500,000 uh illegal Crossing and so that is something that they're going to.

Continue to work really hard the president has added more uh CBP more uh more Patrol uh officers On the Border but you know we need more we understand we need more um and on the student loans uh things you did the CBO director testified on Capital Hill uh yesterday saying that the fiscal policy currently is unsustainable then he went on to say.

That the changes to the save program uh for forgiving more student loan debt would cost taxpayers more than a hundred billion dollar why is it worth all taxpayers to burden this cost so look the CB I'm not going to get ahead of a CBO pro pro projection I'm just going to be really careful here what the president has said over and over again.

And I just went back and forth with one of your colleagues on this he wants to make sure that we give Americans a little bit more breathing room that is important to this President we understand what student loans do for families it crushes families it crushes Americans so he wants to continue to do everything that we can to make sure that.

They have that breathing room and so it's not going to stop him uh and we believe the actions that we take I think that's one of the questions that I got from your colleagues it we believe that it has uh it has legal legal um standing so that it can we can move forward with them but look it is an important issue it is an issue that Americans care about.

And we're just not going to stop moving forward on them thanks okay all right all right bye everybody I'll see you on the road whoever's going to Ohio with us

Sharing is caring!