Stare: White House holds press briefing | NBC News

To host t-shock of Ireland for a bilateral meeting as you all know this is a long-standing annual tradition the leaders of our countries and is is an opportunity to reaffirm the close and enduring partnership between the United States and Ireland and the strong connections between our peoples the president and t-shock discussed our.

Country shared commitment to supporting Ukraine and in the face of Russian aggression and the president commended the people of Ireland for opening their homes to welcome and support over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees who have fled Russia's brutal invasion they also discussed our Global issues including the urgent need to significantly.

Increase deliveries of humanitarian assistance to Gaza the two leaders welcome the recent restoration of the NN irelands executive and and assembly reaffirm the critical role these institutions play in preserving the gains of the Belfast Good Friday agreement which has been essential to peace and progress in Northern Ireland.

This afternoon the president traveled to the capital for the annual friends of Ireland luncheon as you've heard the president say many times the bond between the United States and Ireland has grown deeper and stronger over the years we look forward to continuing to build a vibrant future for Irish for us Irish relations which is is something.

That you all know is very important to President Biden who is a proud descendant of the Bell BWI bltz pardon me of County Mayo and the finans of County lath Sunday marks St Patrick's Day and also my mom's birthday thank you thank you so much thank you thank you so much happy birthday Mom and the president will.

Deliver remarks at a celebration here at the White House as part of our annual tradition and now if you give me another moment here I also want to address a heartbreaking development in the tragic loss of next benedict for parents across the country and I know for many of you here and some of you watching many of you watching including myself the cause.

Of next death was devastating to learn as the president said yesterday every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities bullying is completely unacceptable and it is an all it is on all of us to take reports of bullying seriously there's always.

Someone you can talk to if you're going through a hard time and need support the president and his administration launched a 988 line to help and we have a line dedicated to serving lgbtqi plus young people that can be reached by dialing 988 and pressing three I want to close by saying that lgbtqi plus young people across the.

Country you are loved exactly as you are as the president has made very clear and you should know this the Biden Administration Biden Harris Administration has your back now uh this morning the president released a statement marking the International Day to combat islamophobia in his statement the president.

Recognized the violence and hate that Muslims worldwide too often face because of their religious beliefs and the Ugly Resurgence of islamophobia in the wake of the devastating war in Gaza put simply islamophobia has no place in our nation that's why in 2022 the president asked his team to establish an interagent polic inter agency policy.

Committee to counter anti-Semitism islamophobia and related forms of bias and discrim ation we are also currently drafting the first ever National strategy to combat islamophobia and related forms of bias and discrimination and we want to continue to implement the national strategy to counter anti-Semitism amidst the serious.

Increase in anti-Semitism and to advance the White House initiative on hate motivated violence put simply we are taking concrete steps to make real for all Americans the promise of America and we affirm our commitment to do all we can to put an end to the vicious hate of islamophobia here at home and around the world now for more than a year the.

United States has engaged Haitian stakeholders across the political Spectrum CARICOM and other International Partners to support Haitian Le efforts for a peaceful transition of power since February 29th the urgency of the support for Haitians has inity and political situation on the humanitarian front the United.

States Remains the single largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Haiti with over $170 million since October 2022 including the additional 58 million we announced just this week alone 33 million on Monday and 25 million today with our assistance un agencies and NGO Partners provide life-saving assistance to more than 1.5 million Haitians on the.

Community can immediately provide the Haitian National Police to help them restore security we are working expeditiously with International partners and Congress to expedite the deployment of the Kenyan Le multinational support security support mission to which we have contributed a total of $300 million to bolster the H.

H&ps capabilities that's the Haitian National Police the H hnps capabilities that's the haian National Police National Security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke today to his Kenyon counterpart Monica Juma reaffirming a shared commitment to supporting the Haitian people and Expediting the.

Multinational security support mission to assist to the h&p we have surged law enforcement resources to counter Firearms trafficking and the justice department has prosecuted those responsible for smuggling Firearms into Hai on the political political front Haitians from across the political spectrum and segments of society.

Including religious leaders Business Leaders and Civil Society made tough compromises which resulted in a Haitian driven declaration released by CARICOM just this week that declaration outlined The Contours of an inclusive broad transitional presidential Council the TPC will name an independent permanent election Council which was dissolved in.

2021 we applaud hey for creating a road map to establish a new permanent electoral Council to support free and fair elections and strengthen its Democratic institution a lot of work ahead lies a lot of work ahead lies lies ahead pardon me and the United States remains committed to supporting the people of Haiti on the humanitarian.

And security and political fronts with that I'll turn it over to my colleague Admiral John Kirby who's going to talk about Russia and and Iran thank Ukraine as you all know uh we have expressed serious concerns from this Podium that Russia is seeking to acquire close- range ballistic missiles from Iran to enable its brutal war in.

Ukraine uh and that Russian negotiations to acquire those close-range ballistic missiles have been active and they've been advancing today I just want to call your attention to a joint statement we released this morning by the United States and other G7 countries warning Iran not to go forward with the saale of.

Close-range ballistic missiles to Russia G7 statement reads in part and I quote were Iran to proceed with Pro providing ballistic missiles or related technology to Russia we are prepared to respond swiftly and in a coordinated manner including with new and significant measures against Iran and quote so we're speaking with one voice here on this.

Matter from the United States Canada Japan the EU France Germany and the United Kingdom now shifting gears next week United States will be sending a highlevel delegation to the summit of democracy that will be led by Secretary of State Anthony blinkin the US delegation will also include senior US.

Government officials from the NSC from usaid and of course from the state department at the summit being hosted by the Republic of Korea we're very grateful for their leadership in that regard um the US will host a high level event on the misuse of commercial spyware and this is this is a significant priority for the Biden.

Harris Administration our event will for the first time convene some of the most senior government officials around the world with those from Civil Society from the private sector and even from those who have been directly affected by the nefarious effects of commercial spyware we're looking forward uh to the conversations at the summit and to.

Continuing the important work of strengthening Democratic resilience worldwide thanks call thanks um John can you say anything more um specifically on what possible sanctions would be levied um I'd heard maybe they were mulling flight I don't know Bing flights I know you're going to say no but just if you can all.

Right no I'm not I mean you know we don't preview sanctions coling but um but but clearly uh we're looking at a range of options here and without question additional sanctions would be on the table of those options What stopped Iran from going forward with ballistic missile sails to Russia already why why the delay what's.

Happening well I can't speak for the mullers I wouldn't do that or for the supreme leader um we know they've provided drones not only drones the drones themselves but the but the ability to manufacture drones organically inside Russia um and this is a burgeoning defense relationship that we've been watching very very closely.

We've talked about it many times here um they have we haven't seen them move forward other than the negotiation process actively advancing and um we really wanted to to set down a marker here for Iran and for Russia uh that there will be swift consequences for them to do that what what's in the what's in their calculus I couldn't say.

But this would be obviously um not just really bad for the people of Ukraine but also bad for people in the Middle East because Iran's hoping to get something out of this too it's not just about sales of of ballistic missiles to Russia they're hoping to get Russian military technology for themselves thanks Admiral does President.

Biden want to see new elections in Israel and for prime minister nany to no longer remain in power that's going to be it for the Israeli people to decide so what about uh beyond what he said in the Oval Office that the president find uh good about Senator schimer speech well president spoke about the the passion with which uh leader Schumer.

Made that speech and the president said that he knows that those remarks uh they resonate uh with many Americans out there U for our part we're going to keep supporting Israel in their fight against tamas we're going to keep urging them to reduce civilian casualties and we're going to keep working to get a temporary ceasefire place so we can get the.

Hostages back home with their families and more additional Aid into the people of Gaza the Netanyahu government says it has approved uh an operation military as well as uh evacuating of civilians uh for Rafa what is the administration's expectation about knowing what's in that plan what comes next what do you know at.

This point we haven't seen it uh we certainly would welcome the opportunity to see it and as we've said Kelly we uh can't support uh a major offensive in Rafa that doesn't also include a credible achievable executable plan uh to take care and to for the Safety and Security of the the more than a million gazin that are seeking refr in Rafa to.

Move in right now in a major way without uh a proper accounting for all those people uh would as we've said be a disaster and so we're going to keep talking to the Israelis about this again we we uh if they've got that plan we certainly would welcome the opportunity to see it thanks K John you guys are issuing this warning to Iran two days.

After renewing a waiver that unlocked $10 billion in Frozen funds don't don't you think Iran is paying more attention to the actions of this Administration than the words can't speak for the mullers of they're paying attention to or not Jackie I would remind that this sanctions waiver is renewed or up for Renewal every 3 months it's a quarter.

Thing um it's a sanctions package that was actually put in place by the previous administration by President Trump and his team that allows for Iraq to be able to work its way off of Iranian energy uh so that they can keep the lights on and we're continuing to work with our Iraqi Partners about how to do that but right now they still are.

Dependent for a lot of energy from coming from Iran and so we don't want to penalize the Iraqi people for efforts that they're still trying to get to to wean off of that and I would remind you everybody and we've talked about this before I think three months ago we probably talked about this before none of this money goes to the mulles none of.

This money goes into tyan the sanctions relief that is provided actually go goes to vendors that provide humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people so not only do the Iraqi people not suffer because of this the Iranian people aren't going to suffer because of this wouldn't it be though the Iranian people who would suffer as a result of the.

Teeth in the warning I mean you say you're saying you would suspend flights of Iran air to Europe if Iran supplies ballistic missiles to Russia I say that press report said it's not but it's not like you know the Iola flies commercial I mean that's the Iranian people would be the ones who' be harmed by that if that comes to pass it's also not like.

The the regime and the irgc are s thinking this is some sort of windfall like they're going to like this is somehow going to make a big difference in their support for terrorist networks in the region I mean they continue to support Hezbollah Hamas the houthis I could go on and on on um that hasn't changed since 2018 when these waivers.

Have been have been passed by this Administration and the previous one wait now hold on a second so we this is you're talking about one of the most heavily sanctioned countries on the planet and we're still going to look at additional options if we need to we've been nothing but clear and direct and quite frankly forceful in pushing back.

On Iran's activities in the region in the last three months alone since the last renewal you had an Iran back proxy killed three American soldiers in a drone attack in Jordan the booies in in the Red Sea firing anti-ship and ballistic missiles suicide drones uh commercial vessels and navy ships you had you know three atomic bombs uh.

Apparently could be built in Iran with uh Ur uranium's been enriched to that extent Lincoln today addressing that very issue in Vienna saying there's still an issue of the iae inspectors I mean what have they done in the last three months to justify another renewal of this waiver it's a renewal that we go through every quarter uh we it's it's.

Really about not penalizing the Iraqi people and the fact that they're still heavily dependent on Irani Iranian energy but in the last three months look what else we've done we've gone after houti capabilities ashore we've got a coalition of ships in the Red Sea protecting against houie attacks on shipping there we have struck back and.

Forcefully against some of these militia groups in Iraq and Syria we continue to have sanctions in place uh uh significant sanctions on the Iranian regime for multiple reasons protested they're you know going after protesters forer terrorist networks their nuclear program I mean there's a lot of sanctions in place and oh by the way.

We're still conducting interdiction operations at Sea to try to prevent their shipment of of material and arms to some of these groups so the idea that we're just laying back and not doing anything on Iran just doesn't doesn't just flies in the face of the of the facts thank you Admiral so you said the US has not seen a plan to protect.

Civilians in Rafa yet net Yahoo has already authorized an invasion of Rafa and that is exactly the scenario that the president said would be a red line so how is the US going to respond as far as I know uh that they there's not been an operation in Rafa uh what we've seen today is the prime minister's office saying that they have have seen a plan.

That accounts for the operational aspect the military aspect and the evacuation aspect as I said to Kelly we welcome an opportunity to look at that plan we still can't get behind a plan and we won't get behind a plan that doesn't properly account for those million and a half refugees in Gaza who need a place to go where they can be safe from the.

From the fighting look uh Israel has a right to go after Hamas wherever they are we get that we're going to continue to support their opportunity to do that but as we've said a hundred times if not more they have a special obligation as well to look after the Safety and Security of the of the innocent people of Gaza who are getting caught up in.

This conflict a conflict that was started by Hamas does that signal a turning point in the relationship though that the White House has not been briefed on this you still haven't seen a plan to all no no no and we talked about the president saying to speak was good and you said Senator Schumer showed a lot of passion did the president mean.

The substance of the speech was good or he was just talking about the passion at the president's comments oh I wanted to thanks green uh Ed I wanted to Pivot to Haiti real quick um on Jake Sullivan's conversations with his Kenyon counterpart Karine said there was a shared commitment I wonder if you can expound on what that means in in.

More tangible terms and and on the topic uh the ad urges the speedy other side of that you know confirmation uh what are his next steps you know when does he arrive in hati what what does that look like in the days coming forward I'd have to refer to my colleagues at the state department to speak to the now the ambassador's travel.

Plans and I I no doubt that he's going to want to get down there as soon as possible and get started I mean he's obviously been eager to to get confirmed and we're really really grateful that he got confirmed and he'll be in place that'll make a big difference down there but again the state department can speak to that as for shared commitments um and.

I do believe Karine actually covered quite a bit of this in in her opening statement we have a shared commitment with the with the Haitian people and certainly uh with the Haitian National Police to make sure that they have what they need um to better enforced security and stability in Haiti which is being obviously torn aunder by these by these.

Uh gangs and these criminal groups uh we have a shared commitment as Karine said to see a political transition here uh that is smooth that is uh uh that is credible uh to uh to a new government that uh that can represent the Haitian people and to look after their interests and of course they they just want the same as anybody would.

Want they want to live in peace and security they want a future for their kids and we want to help them from a political perspective get there um and then again again also Karine mentioned this the the multinational security support Mission we want to make sure we're continuing to work with uh our Kenyan Partners about that we want to.

Make sure that the Kenyans have what they need to be effective I and successful in this Mission and so we're talking to them and of course the Haitian government about that as well thanks John what is the White House view of the latest Hamas proposal which is uh 700 to 1,000.

Palestinian prisoners uh including 100 hardened prisoners in exchange for women children the elderly and Ill hostages I would say the proposal that was put forward is certainly within the bounds of in Broad brush struges uh within the bounds of the deal that we've been working on now for several months I.

Don't want to go into more detail than that Nancy because I don't want to negotiate here in public the fact that there's another delegation now heading to Doha the fact that uh this proposal is out there that are conversations about it that's all good that's all to the good now whether it ends up looking like that I don't know that's what the.

Team will will will work on and we we'll stay engaged that's interesting because the Israeli Prime Minister called it unrealistic but from the White House point of view the broad that's we think it's in the broad brushstrokes of of the deal that we've been talking about but the devil's in the details and as I said before nothing's negotiated until.

Everything is negotiated and without getting into the specifics of of these press reports I can just tell you that we're we're glad that the conversations are going more broadly do you believe it sounds like like you're saying that things are moving in the right direction in general we think look the fact that they're that we still have active.

Conversations and now another chance to meet in Doha that's all to the good now I know for the families out there it's just another set of agonizing days to wait and we understand that too so I I don't want to we're cautiously optimistic that things are moving in a good direction but that doesn't mean that it's done and we're going to have.

To stay at this till the very very end um Admiral uh I just go back toan maybe I'm I'm I didn't hear correctly but those Clos Ranch ballistic missile the does the administration thing would be used in Ukraine by Russia is there any e recent evidence that Iranian weapons have been used in the war in Iran in Ukraine drones heck yeah drones.

By the hundreds Iranian drones have been used to kill in ukrainians and hit Ukrainian infrastructure to hit in Ukrainian defense industrial base absolutely yes Iranian weapons have been used in Ukraine without question we haven't seen a consummation of this particular deal which is why the G7 is warning against the consequences of it.

Uh and a question on the the t- shu's visit uh when he came out at the stake out and he talked to us and he said and I'm quoting none of us like the US uh to see the American weapons being used in the way they are this is not self-defense is it AAL we we've talked about this before uh Israel has a right to defend itself against a still viable.

Threat by Hamas a group that wants to do October 7th again and again and we are continuing to support the Israeli Defense Forces as they go after that how they go after that threat matters and that's the context of the conversations that we've been having at all levels including at the president's level with our isra counterparts about how they.

Execute and prosecute these operations we want to see the right number of Civilian casualties is zero we want to see the numbers come down we want to see the damage to infrastructure come down we want to see more humanitarian assistance get in um it looks like Putin's going to win a new.

Tournament White House ready to White ready for another it's going to be a real nail biter isn't it look um we'll watch this and monitor it and see how it comes out I mean the the idea of free and fair elections in Russia is a is a misnomer uh but we'll we'll see what happens this weekend thank you John I have a couple of things for you um you.

Just referenced uh meeting in Doha I'm sorry if I missed this but are you confirming that the US is sending a delegation to Doha for them we will not be uh we will not be participating in this particular delegation to Doha but there is a meeting in Doha of the of the of the counterparts is there a reason that a US delegation is I we have been.

At this MJ literally every day I mean believe me were involved in all these conversations the fact that we're physically not going to have a delegation there should not be taken as any kind of signal that this isn't a serious positive move forward we think it could be and has the White House asked the Israeli government to see its.

Uh Rafa plans we have uh made it clear to our Israeli counterparts that we would welcome the opportunity to see their their plans well that's a sovereign country and these are their military plans and um certainly they they should speak to them appropriately so we're interested in speaking for the IDF but we've made it clear we would.

Welcome the opportunity to see it and just circling back to one thing you said earlier um does the US think that there is an achievable and executable plan to use your language that guarantees the safety of civilians in Rafa before a major military incursion into the area I think I kind of answered that already though I mean you think that's.

Logistically and physically possible given how many people are in that region I guess it would depend on the plan uh make no mistake about it that's a that's a tall order you're talking about more than a million folks probably about million and a half and um in a strip of ground that's 12 miles wide I mean there's not a lot of places for them to.

Go so um having our own experience at at doing non-combatant evacuations and and uh Urban Warfare uh points to certain lessons about um about how this can be done and what some of the pitfalls are I won't get into that here from the podium but um accommodating for a million and a half people in a confined Urban environment uh with not a lot of.

Geography is a very very tall order for any military to do and can I just ask you to clarify one more thing when the president used the red line language last weekend was he saying that Israel going to Rafa period was considered a red line or did he mean Israel going into Rapa without a civilian evacuation plan in place that that would be.

Crossing a red line I I I'm not going to parse the president's words again we've been very consistent M that uh we the United States can't support an operation in Rafa that doesn't include a executable plan for the Safety and Security of the million and a half gazen refugees that are down there at Rafa that that that has to be factored in and.

Baked in and has to be accommodated that's that's our view and that the president was restating view John I'm humanitarian the Gaza the humanitarian ship Open Arms arrived in Gaza today with about 200 tons of Aid do you see that as a oneoff is it something that could be replicated more I mean it's been described as a a pilot project and.

Difficult for me to speculate what the future is going to be on that um any assistance any food any humanitarian Goods that can get to the people of Gaza is good for the people of Gaza no matter what the size is but we're constantly looking for multiple opportunities to get it in I.

Mean obviously still the Israelis opened up 96 gate there are other Crossings in the Gaza we would like to see them open up cuz trucks by the ground is the best way to do this by volume we're working on this temporary Pier uh that uh that could allow for additional shipments by sea there's just no really good port on the gazen coast so I mean whether it's a.

One-off or not I don't know we certainly would like to see more Aid get in more quickly from a variety of different ways has the B Administration asked countries like France to stop talking about sending troops to Ukraine no but would the US oppose Any Nation sending troops to those are sovereign decisions that a nation has to make I can just.

Speak for this Sovereign Nation and this commander-in-chief and he's made it clear that we will not put uh us boots on the ground thank you Curry and thank you John I have a question on Indo Pacific and then Ukraine so an Indo Pacific Fiji just decided to uphold the policing cooperation.

Agreement with China uh we know the B Administration be working with the Pacific Islands for a few years right now uh but it seems that country is still cozy with China uh is United States losing the competition over there we don't ask countries to choose between us and China they got to make their own decisions these are sovereign decisions.

As well um we are deepening our partnership with Pacific Islands countries and we're going to continue to do that across a range of of capabilities not just military security capabilities but each each nation has to decide for itself we are not asking people to choose between the United States and China we have a bilateral.

Relationship with China which we greatly value and um as you saw in the fall when we're went to San Francisco regarding the uh allies in the Indo Pacific we know Japan of course is a trustworthy Ally but we're also seeing President Biden s hosing the Japanese company n steel to purchase the US steel so if Japan is not TR worthy enough to invest.

In United States uh who else is the the relationship with Japan is extraordinarily strong is one of the strongest alliances we have in the world five of our seven treaty alliances are in the Pacific and that's that's that's a key one and I think you're going to see it uh you're going to see the the the power and the promise of that.

Alliance in full flower here when prime minister kashida comes for the state visit there is an awful lot to talk about uh president is also being about making sure that steel workers in this country know that he has their back and he's made his he made his views known on this potential uh merger but that doesn't take away one bit from the.

Terrific relationship that we have now and will continue to have with Japan Le on Ukraine um sorry at least 20 people were killed and dozen injured in Russian double strike on Odessa uh why can the United States do to ensure Ukraine that needed air defense capability is going forward given right now the Congress sit your question should have been what can.

The Congress do to ensure they can pass the supplemental bill so we can get critical air defense capabilities to Ukraine thank you Ken Vladimir Putin said that uh Russia is going to launch a nuclear power unit or some kind of a nuclear stuff into the space so should the United States take it seriously as a serious threat and are.

There any ways to deter Putin in I haven't heard that particular comment so uh I can't I I haven't heard him I haven't heard that actually been said but just broadly speaking your question is do we take it seriously yeah obviously we do I mean the the nuclear R rhetoric coming out of Moscow not just from Putin but.

From lavro and pesov and others U is is worrisome and you have to take it seriously with a nation with that kind of capability I would just tell you couple of things one we monitor it very very closely and we've seen nothing that has caused us to believe we need to change our own strategic deterrent posture all right just a couple more uh.

Thank you I'm uh Congress is still uh debating uh raising the cap on uh on visas for uh Afghan allies uh who many of whom are are still waiting to get into the country and waiting in pretty hospitable places uh what's the administration's position on the number of visas that uh the president wouldn't like included Republicans to trying to.

Keep it down under 4,000 and uh if they don't get this into the upcoming Appropriations bill is there a plan B we I think I talked about this a little bit yesterday uh we think that by end of summer we'll probably at the rate where processing sivs will go will blow through the 7,000 we have left and we're asking Congress for 20,000 more and we.

Think that that will uh uh really be able to help us get uh all those worthy SIV applicants safely out of Afghanistan how hard is the president willing to fight for that 20,000 number he has been clear since the beginning um he may have ended the war in Afghanistan we never ended our commitment to our Afghan allies he is 100% committed to doing.

Everything he can and the rest of the administration as well on working with Congress to get those SIV Visa applic uh Visa allowances in place so we can get those Afghans back out out of Afghanistan thank you so much um a question about the htis they have warned that they will expand their operations and start attacking the ships taking the.

Longer route the the one going around uh the Cape of Good Hope so how serious is this threat in your view and also how actively is Iran supporting the houis right now they're still supporting the houis they're still providing all capabilities we keep working to degrade those capabilities and we take those threats seriously we have.

To thanks thanks adir uh there's a report that Israel is exploring using an International Private Security contractors to try and help protect International humanitarian Aid going into Gaza is that something that the US would support first of all that would be up for the Israelis to speak to about how.

They might want to help with the security of of um humanitarian assistance that comes in by sea and then further distribution Inland again that would be from something from that what I can tell you is that as we are already starting to the first uh the first components of this temporary perod it's called a joint Logistics over the shore.

Capability um and those are just starting to move from the East Coast over there it's going to take some time to get in place and while we have that time before they get to we are working with uh allies and partners including the Israelis about the details of of uh how that temporary Pier uh will be supported how the aid that gets to the.

Pier and gets to the people of Gaza how that happens all of that is still being discussed we're just not we're not the point where we have final answers for that and then just to follow up on MJ's question you said that you would welcome the opportunity to review this but is it your expectation that you will get that opportunity to see this we would welcome.

The opportunity to see it good Phil thank you this week the Russian foreign Ministry included Jeff Seldon a vaa reporter and its latest round of sanctions and earlier this month the Russian interior Ministry issued an arrest warrant for Washington examiner columnist Tom Rogan who is us citizen uh what's the administration's response to.

This effort with Moscow to intimidate and Target us journalists sadly it's insistent with the the kremin approach to particularly journalists um and uh and the Crackdown by the kremin on free speech and speech in fact that that Mr Putin finds offensive or inimical to his own um selfish interests um so it it's I think just another reminder and I think.

It underscores um first of all the danger to uh Americans who may be in Russia and the need not to be there but also um the the real danger of an autocrat like Putin and uh and what he's really after here thanks sir uh Ro you have the last question thank you so much Karen hi John uh two questions John one of the Russian election uh including.

Those who are are taking place in Ukrainian territories which are illegitimate you the United States recognize the and uh the on Haiti uh as you were saying the White House is ready to support the transition in Haiti but how can the US help with this transition or how effective can be the help the three.

$300 million uh be effective when it's not even clear who is in control and is the White House concerned that the gangs could take over the country the The Gangs already have an awful lot of influence uh and Power in certain places particularly Port of Prince there are parts of the of the country that are not uh suffering the instability that these.

Gangs and and criminal thugs are are perpetrating on the on the Haitian people how much more I mean again uh as Karine said right at the top we're very committed to this and we're going to stay committed to it and we just announced another 25 I think $25 million today in humanitarian assistance and I suspect you'll see more coming from the.

United States not just from us though but from some of our allies and partners uh as well um the the situation on the ground is dire we understand that and we're doing everything we can to support a truly International effort uh to uh to better improve security and stability for the Haitian people but it could take some time we're going to stay committed.

To it thanks thank you so much thank you a new map all right Colleen what you got um so speaker Johnson has said that he would be willing to put forward uh Ukraine funding and Israel funding once the shutdown uh situation is ended I wondered if he has communicated that to.

The White House that's the White House's understanding and um you know how you think the proceeding will be so obviously we've seen those reports um and I'll say this you know we've said repeatedly the house needs to uh move forward at the bipartisan National Security Supplemental which let's not forget passed an overwhelming uh fashion.

In the Senate and they need to put that in the on the floor we know that if they put that on the floor if the speaker puts that on the floor it would get it would get overwhelming by partisan support we need to make sure that we continue to stand with Ukraine as it defends against Russia's brutal Invasion we have to continue to do that to stand.

With them to stand as they're fighting for their democracy as they're fighting uh for their freedom and it is uh you know Ukraine is losing ground you've heard us say this before you've heard this from the NC you heard it from my my colleagues there losing ground on the battlefield because Congress is not taking action and so we need them to.

Move we need them to put that on the floor we need to that to happen as soon as possible and we're going to continue to be very clear about that what happens you know as American support for Ukraine funding continues to sort of uh degrade how what else can the White House do to articulate the importance of it look we're going to continue to speak to it.

But here's the thing in Congress there's bipartisan support there's overwhelming by Parton support we saw that in the Senate and we know that to be true to be a fact in the house that's what we know and so we have to the president understands the important role that Americans that Americans play we as United States of America we play a.

Leading role in making sure that we're continuing to fight for democracy and the president will speak to that directly to the American people as he has in the past two years we know history shows us what happens if we do not stop a dictator it shows us what happens we know we know what could where we can end up and so and we understand.

Americans understand that they're smart enough to get that and so Congress needs to to move they need to act they're in action uh is you know leading to Ukraine losing ground in the battlefield we heard that from the CIA director the big four when they were here meeting with the president they heard that directly from the CIA director you know it it is.

Uh it is UN it is unfortunate that they're putting that the speaker is putting politics ahead of what our role should be which is fighting for democracy making sure that Ukraine has what they need for them to fight for democracy thanks green did the president have a chance to talk with with speaker Johnson at the LA today about Ukraine.

Aid and if so what was his message I have to say I have not uh touch based with the president so I I do not know if they connected and what if they did what their conversation was I don't have anything to share we try to keep those conversations very private obviously um what I will say I I don't think the president is always very clear what he.

Says publicly and in private right which is when it relates to obviously the National Security Supplemental it needs to be put on the floor the speaker needs to do this he didn't hear this just when the speaker was here the big four meeting with the president and the vice president he just didn't he didn't hear it just from the President right he.

Heard that from the other leaders as well his counterparts right his peers in Congress and they all agreed that we needed to move forward on this so the president's going to it it it really doesn't matter because the president's been very clear the speaker needs to put the National Security Supplemental on the floor it will get bipartisan support.

It will get overwhelmingly bipartisan support that's what we know that's what we understand and that's what we've heard from Congressional members thanks K so the majority of Palestinian American Arab American and Muslim organizations that the White House reached out to for a meeting this week rejected the invitation so what is.

The White House strategy on this and are there plans for the president to directly engage with these communities so look um the president as you know has had an opportunity uh to meet with u members of that Community uh not too long ago uh leaders of that Community the Arab American Community the Muslim American Community uh not too long ago.

And so um look what I will say is we understand that this is a difficult time that this is a painful time we understand that the events of October 7th uh that um you know that killed more than 12200 uh 1,00 Souls right took more than 12200 souls in Israel and also took uh Hamas the terrorist organization also as we know uh took hostage more than 200.

People uh and what that led to uh that war that led to is incredibly painful we understand that and so uh you know look we're going to continue to as you know uh the president um uh senior officials from the White House met with members of that of those those communities uh in in Illinois just yesterday and we're going to continue to.

Have those regular meetings to hear directly from them and uh and the president believes that's important to do to hear from those voices the majority of the groups at the White House reached out to for that meeting in Illinois rejected the request and when was the president's last meeting directly with communities what I mean.

Look I I I hear I hear what you're saying but but the point is that we the White House is actively engaging with the community and we have been and you know this you know that to be true we've been actively engaging with them regularly since October 7th and we're going to continue to do that I'm not going to speak to who attended that is.

Not for me to do from here because the point of those meetings actually is for them to be private uh for them to so we want to keep that private obviously so that so that members of that Community can speak freely uh and so as you know senior members of of uh of our Administration they were in Chicago yesterday they met with those.

Members members of the araba community Palestinian Community Muslim Community and this conflict is personal and painful for many many uh for many people and so again they're private and uh private meeting and we are committed to uh the participant that we so that they could speak freely and we think that's in incredibly important that's what we.

Can speak to where does the White House think the Tik Tok What what's going to happen to Tik Tok because even if the bill makes it to the president's desk the Chinese government needs to approve it which they're likely not to it could also face significant legal push back so what does the White House ultimately think is going to happen with Tik Tok I.

Mean I can't get into you know predicting here right uh what we have been very clear about is this bill is an important is important and we welcome uh this step in in uh in Ser in uh in ongoing uh efforts to address the threat posed by certain technology right services operating in the United States put uh these uh these Services put uh.

You Americans data at risk you heard the National Security advisor Jake Sullivan speak to this on Tuesday it is important for us uh to have an understanding right where this American data is going do they live here or do they live in China for example he said that right do is their ownership here or is it in China for example and so those are really.

Important and so that's why we welcome that bill this isn't a divestment bill it's not a ban uh not going to get into hypotheticals here it's going through the process we're going to offer uh technical support as it moves obviously from the house into the Senate uh but this we welcome this bill and we this is about our national security that's what.

This is about okay um there was a settle m in the National Association of realtor case that effectively ends the 6% commission I say that again can you start at the top there was a settlement in the National Association of Realtors case that effectively ends the six 6% Commission on house sales you know Biden the administration made a lot about fees.

And costs and consumer costs has the White House been tracking this this case and any reaction to the settlement uh so I can't speak to the settlement obviously you're talking about junk fees and how important it is that we yeah I'm not calling this a junk fee I'm just saying that you guys have been focused on consumer fees consumer costs this is.

Kind of in line with those things we're seeing that effectively this 6% commission is going away look I'm going to be very careful cuz I don't know much about this case so I don't want to speak to this case but I can speak more broadly to what the president has tried to do right he's trying to make sure that consumers uh don't get taken.

Advantage of by corporations he's made that very very clear that's why we speak to junk fees that's why there's a competition Council and that's why we try to find out find out ways to save Americans money you know we're talking about billions of dollars billions of dollars that Americans have to pay because of these junk fees because we.

Don't we see cooperation cooperation not passing on uh their uh you know their uh their wealth what theyve been able uh to incur uh to to the consumers so look it is very important the president has always said he's going to stand up for Americans uh and uh he believes corporations obviously should pay uh their Fair uh their fair share here and.

Uh and not not treat Americans like suckers he has said that over and over again and so I can't speak to this particular case but obviously this fits in more broadly in what this president has been trying to do on on Biden's opposition to the proposed purchase of us steel wondering if his comments were as a a citizen or as somebody or or a.

Sign he's going to use his authority to actually block the deal say that one more time you wonder I'm wondering whether he Biden yesterday made a statement about opposing the US deal uh purchase I'm just wondering whether this more simply is that a sign that he's going to use some executive authority to actually block the deal so look what I.

Can say is this um when it comes to American owned and operated us steel companies uh they're incredibly vital to our supply chains and our national and economic security that is what you heard from this president when we put out a statement on this uh and so look the president has always said he has Ste.

Workers back and he's certainly committed to the iconic American steel companies remaining in America this is why he's done the work that he's done to make sure that manufacturers come back to this country that we've created more than 800,000 jobs American American in American manufacturing jobs and so that's what the president's focus is.

Always going to be make sure that he puts Americans first here last question lot of bad headlines around Boe um some news today wondering if if the White House thinks Americans should be concerned about flying commercial boing Airlines so as you know there are investigations happening uh by the uh NTSB so I would have to refer you to.

Them uh on the specifics as it relates in this particular instance to Alaska Airlines FAA is also conducting uh its own investigation and and audit of uh of Boeing look we take this very seriously the F FAA takes this very very seriously uh but there's investigations happening uh FAA and we stand by FAA and the actions that it is going to that is.

Taking to increase uh o uh safety oversight of Boeing and so I'm just going to leave it there but NTSB certainly will have more uh to share because it is their they are independent agencies that's looking into it good J just um following up on that I know I've asked you this question in the past but given the additional Boeing related.

Headlines recently does the president still believe that it is safe for Americans to get on Boeing airplanes so look what our commitment is is to make sure that we want to put the safety of Americans first and that's what FAA is doing uh and they taking actions We Stand by those actions to increase safety obviously and oversight of Boeing.

And I think that's important there's investigations that's still continuing by nstb NTSB pardon me and also FAA uh and so you know we're going to do the FAA is going to take the action to do what they can and everything that they can uh to make sure that it is safe and take those actions I don't have anything else to share beyond that but would he.

Tell the American people though obviously there's a lot of concern right now and nervousness that it is safe to get on a I think what he I think what Americans should know is that FAA is doing everything that it's it can to make sure that Americans feel safe they are taking the actions We Stand by those actions to make sure that there is there.

Is increased safety oversight of Boeing and that's what the Americans the American people should feel reassured by that FAA is doing everything that they can to make sure that we get to the to to the bottom of it just on topic um CNN reported yesterday that uh some Democratic senators have told the White House that there aren't enough votes in.

The Senate including support among some Democrats to confirm the president's judicial nominee adal manangi uh where do you think his nomination goes from here look I'm not going to get into speculation obviously the president uh put forth mangie because he believed uh that uh he was the right person for uh the job uh he was uh uh you know has the.

Experience uh to to get the job done on behalf of the American people he stands by certainly stands by uh his appointment I just don't have anything else to share about how this is going to turn out uh but certainly we we support uh his continued process and we think that Congress needs to move and make sure that he gets uh he gets uh he gets.

Uh confirmed does the president himself believed that Mr Mani was targeted for being Muslim American look that is something that Congress needs to speak to themselves really that is a question for them the White House has said that I'm just wondering if the president believes that I mean look we've been very clear it is if that is the case.

That's unfortunate that shouldn't be that shouldn't be uh he is he has the experience to do the job that's why the president put him forth and if that's the case that's certainly shameful go ahead thanks Karan uh two questions for you has President Biden had a chance to speak with Senator Schumer since his speech yesterday that he called him uh I.

Don't have a a a conversation to read out to you at this time following up on Selena um you know we reported a lot on a a meeting that the president held with some uh Arab American and Muslim leaders in late October is there another meeting that the president himself personally took part in since that I don't have another meeting to read out to you but.

Look I think it's important that senior uh senior officials in the White House have had regular conversation regular meeting with the communities right with the Arab Community Muslim Community and Palestinian Community I think that's important that we continue to hear directly from them uh we want to hear uh what what they are feeling how how.

They're feeling about this situation we understand that is it is incredibly painful uh for them uh and so uh we're going to continue to keep those lines of communication open uh you just saw you you you're aware you all know that uh uh there was a meeting in Chicago there was a meeting in Michigan and there's been others uh and so so look the president.

Gets Fe gets uh gets a read out of those meeting he hears directly uh from the officials who have sat down and had uh uh these important uh critical conversations we try to keep them private because we want to make sure uh the leaders who are attending uh these meetings can feel can feel uh freely to say have the freedom to say what it is.

That they uh want to tell us and want to share with us so we try to keep those meetings as private as possible there any plans for president to take part in another one I don't have on the present schedule as it relates to a meeting uh with the leaders he has met with the leaders as you know and he feels that is incredibly important uh for his uh White.

House to continue to have those conversations goad thanks for um regarding the vice president's trip yesterday to the plan parent athletic in Minnesota the president has spoken uh very often about how reproductive freedom is at risk so I'm just wondering why it was the vice president that made this trip to this Clinic instead of the.

President and are there any plans for the president to go himself I think it's I think it's important uh just to note that um let's not forget the vice president has been on a tour right she's been on a tour around the country since the beginning of this year uh to go to important critical states to talk about what we're seeing to talk about what.

Republicans extreme Republicans are doing across the country in these state legislatures right trying to uh take away a woman's right to choose Reproductive Rights and so it is uh it is something that we the proud the president even said in his state of the union he lifted up the vice president for the work that she's done but if you.

Think about the state of the union and that I brought it up it is the first domestic policy that he brought up during the state of the union is abortion right is reproductive health care that was the first thing that he talked about and lead into and we are going to continue to stand with majority of Americans on this where they are we.

Have to continue to fight for women's freedoms and so that's what you see the vice president do the president said that to over 30 million people who watched the first domestic policy that he leaned into that he talked about extensively and he'll continue to do that what you saw yesterday is part of what the vice president has been doing.

For the first couple of months obviously in this uh in 2024 which is continuing to go to key States uh where women are affected affected by uh these uh these laws and we see we see in Congress uh Republicans and Congress have introduced three pieces of legislation that will ban abortion nationally and we are not going to stand for it we're not going to.

Stand for it k sorry uh on Monday the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in Murthy vers Missouri um which argues that the administration can have overstepped in course social media companies into taking down posts I'm wondering if you all are worried about what this case.

Might mean for your ability to communicate with social media companies in the future so I'm going to be really mindful here I'm going to refer you to Department of Justice and their briefing of this case and that's why I'm going to have to leave it for now just to follow up on an earlier question about Boe the president flies.

On uh Boe aircraft uh anytime he leaves Washington is he concerned that the uh aircraft he flies on uh might not be said no he's not concerned so why so why can't uh he say that uh Boeing aircraft in general are safe and that American should be uh confident I want to be really mindful as you know there's an an a an investigation happening uh FAA is.

Doing everything that they can to increase security can increase safety uh for Americans uh and so just want to leave it there obviously this is a major major uh uh priority for FAA uh to make sure that Americans feel safe and so that's going to be his his his Focus go ahead Ed thanks green uh so treasury secretary J Yellen told me on Wednesday.

That she does not see a smooth path down for inflation I'm curious how bumpy a road will it be before we see all prices Then Fall so just want to just going to reiterate a little bit of what she said here she said inflation is down 2/3 from its peak and the trend this is a quote the trend is clearly favorable end quote she expects it to continue to decline.

With a strong Market in economy and also want to uh remind you what caused inflation we know that inflation was caused by Supply chains that broke down because of the pandemic Russia's raw in Ukraine we know that uh caused uh oil prices to Skyrocket our economy was disrupted by so many ways because of the pandemic that's what caused uh inflation.

And so because the president took action very early on in his presidency to make sure that Americans got vaccinations uh and to make sure that we fix and strengthen the supply chain he took historic actions on oil so that prices gas prices could go down and so we have an unprecedented economic uh recovery here that is uh that is important to.

Note uh but I do want to be really really clear we have seen inflation go down by 23 at from its peak and so want to make sure that it is clear what she said and what the data also shows but 2third from its peak its peak was a year and a half into President Biden's office or into into his term he also canceled the Keystone Pipeline which ALS Al.

Sparked in we passed $5.8 trillion in spending which also pushes inflation but my question is how much longer will it be for Americans to to then bring down all prices so look because the president's unprecedented actions that he took as it relates to the oil we saw gas prices go down which is important at the tank to Americans across the country.

And that was something that the president took really seriously because he knew what Americans were dealing with he wanted to give them a little bit of a breathing room and we have to be we have to also you you're a data guy you pay attention to the data the fact that it went down 2/3 matters uh and so what the president's going to continue to do is.

Making sure that we lower cost right he that is the number one part of his economic plan to continue to lower cost for Americans and we're going to continue to do that look the pandemic the supply chain uh what we saw Putin do in Ukraine right that caused inflation to increase and in every part of what I just said said what I just laid out out.

The president has taken action on and so he's going to continue to do everything that he can to low to low cost for Americans what does the president think about Bernie Sanders Senator Bernie Sanders plan for a 4-day work week with the same level of of income so look I'll say this uh the president has a a very good working relationship with Senator.

Sanders we've got to we've got we've been able to get some historic pieces of legislation done on behalf of the American people uh we will review uh that piece of legislation I don't have anything else to add from that what about the cross yeah thank you I didn't hear you mention someone asked about a deal name.

G being nominated um out of New Jersey is the White House doing anything specific to get him across the finish line given his nomination has been pending for a while now so we are in continuous conversations with member of Congress and their staff and that's what we normally do uh we think it's important to get him through and we're.

Going to to make sure that uh that the that that happens uh and so we think it's important that happens has there been any personal appeal from White House staff or certain calls you can read out I'm not going to get into uh specifics on our conversations with uh with Senators obviously it's important we believe it's important to to get.

Manie through uh we think he is more than experienc uh to uh to have this role and um so we encourage uh the Senate to move quickly on this okay thanks everybody

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