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NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, everybody.
00:21So many jokes.
00:22But...
00:23No, it's just you and Jackie are missing.
00:26Oh.
00:27Okay, Jackie.
00:28All right.
00:29I got the memo.
00:31So I want to say, start by saying that today is the Biden-Harris administration 500th briefing.
00:38Yay.
00:39I know you guys are excited.
00:42And then from now until the end of our term, we will do 500 more.
00:47I'm just kidding.
00:48Can you imagine?
00:50Anyway, guys, all kidding aside.
00:54So we've shared a lot of moments together and important exchanges.
00:58We are proud to be a White House that understands the importance of the role you all play.
01:03As President Biden has said, a free press is a pillar of our democracy.
01:08And so really happy to do this exercise with you almost every day from here, from this
01:13podium behind this lectern.
01:15And really, the freedom of the press is so incredibly important.
01:18And I think what we do almost every day shines a light to the world of how democracy works.
01:25So thank you.
01:26Thank you all for participating in that.
01:30And we appreciate the journalistic work that you all do.
01:33Today the Senate took a major bipartisan step forward in making our kids safer online.
01:40As our nation grapples with an unprecedented youth mental health crisis, there is undeniable
01:45evidence that social media and other online platforms have contributed to it.
01:50As the President said today in his statement, our children are subjected to a wild West
01:56online with virtually no limits of regulation, and it's past time to address that.
02:02It's exactly why he has made tackling the mental health crisis a key priority of this
02:07unity agenda for the nation.
02:09It's an issue that cuts across politics and affects red states and blue states, and it's
02:14why the administration has invested historic resources, launched new tools to ensure people
02:19can just can get the help they need, and has consistently called on Congress to work
02:26together in a bipartisan way on solutions.
02:29This bill does what the President called for in his first State of the Union address.
02:35It strengthens privacy protections, bans targeted advertising to children, and demands tech
02:41companies stop collecting personal data on our children.
02:46As the President said, our kids have been waiting too long for the safety and privacy
02:50protections they deserve and which this bill provides.
02:55And he is pleased with the overwhelming bipartisan vote in the Senate and encourages the House
03:01to send this bill to his desk for his signature without delay.
03:06We continue to pray for the thousands of Americans under mandatory evacuations orders as wildlife
03:11continues while fires continue to devastate communities across the western United States.
03:18The President has been briefed on the fires, including the Park Fire in California and
03:22the fires in Oregon.
03:24As of July 30th, over 7,000 federal personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and the Department
03:29of the Interior are on the ground across California and the Pacific Northwest helping fight the
03:37blaze and keep people safe, including more than 620 personnel assigned to both the Park
03:42and Borough fires in California.
03:44Numerous firefighting air tankers are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow,
03:53and the Department of Defense has mobilized four of its C-130 modular airborne firefighting
03:58systems to support fire suppression efforts.
04:02DOD has also begun training National Guard troops, should they be requested by governors,
04:09to assist with fire suppression.
04:12And they are supporting California State National Guard operators' early and rapid detection
04:18of new fire starts.
04:20Additionally, FEMA has issued several fire management assistant grants to help reimburse
04:26states for firefighting costs.
04:28As always, we stand ready to provide further support as needed.
04:32Today, the 59th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, two programs that have given tens
04:38of millions of Americans the security and dignity of affordable health care coverage.
04:43Nearly 140 million Americans benefit from these programs, yet still Republicans in Congress
04:49have proposed budget cuts and slashes to these critical programs and endorse extreme policies
04:56of Project 2025 that would slash Medicaid funding and cut Medicare benefits like the
05:03President's Medicare drug price negotiation program.
05:07The contrast is clear.
05:08The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to protecting and strengthening these programs,
05:13like making sure children and pregnant women covered by Medicaid have coverage for a full
05:18year.
05:19And we are committed to making health care more affordable and accessible for all, including
05:25the 1 million people newly covered under the ACA's Medicaid expansion since the President
05:30and Vice President took over.
05:33Think about the Inflation Reduction Act and what that does.
05:36It allows Medicare to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs, caps out-of-pocket
05:42drug costs at $2,000 per year, saving Medicare beneficiaries thousands of dollars annually,
05:50and provides Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries with free vaccines.
05:54And under President Biden and Vice President Harris, more people have health insurance
05:59than ever before.
06:00So today, we recognize the anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid.
06:05We affirm our commitment to build on this program, protect access to these programs
06:10from Republican elected officials, extreme attacks.
06:14With that, I appreciate your patience.
06:16Colleen, how did you...
06:17What time did you get home last night?
06:191.45.
06:201.45.
06:21Okay.
06:22All right.
06:23Let's do this.
06:24It's been a rough morning.
06:25Matt?
06:26Too busy, Matt, back there.
06:27So, can you give us an update on where the U.S. stands on the Venezuela elections?
06:34In particular, I know the President is speaking with President Lula Brizil later, but just
06:40wondering if there's any progress on how the U.S. is trying to decide what to do.
06:46So a couple of things.
06:47I believed right before I walked out, a statement from the National Security Council spokes
06:52went out.
06:53So I'll certainly refer you to that.
06:54But just to give you a little bit of what was in that statement, obviously, the U.S.
06:59has been closely monitoring Venezuela's presidential election that took place on Sunday and the
07:04subsequent announcements by Venezuela's National Electoral Council.
07:07So first, let me say that the U.S. applauds the Venezuelan people for their courage and
07:12commitment to democracy by participating in this election in the face of repression and
07:18adversity.
07:19So we continue to call on Venezuela's electoral authorities to release full, transparent,
07:24and detailed voting results, including by polling stations as well.
07:30This is especially critical given that there are clear signs that the election results
07:36announced by Venezuela's National Electoral Council do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan
07:41people as it was expressed at the ballot box on July 28th.
07:47We are also reviewing other electoral data shared by civil society organizations and
07:52the reports of international election monitors.
07:56The United States stands on the side of the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people,
08:02including supporting their right to express their views freely and without reprisal.
08:07So that is where we stand, and again, we're just going to not get ahead of that, but we've
08:13been very clear, very clear about the election results.
08:16Can you help us understand a little bit about what the president was talking about last
08:20night?
08:21He was asked when he'd go campaign for Vice President Harris, and he said, well, I did
08:26today.
08:27Was there a campaign element to yesterday?
08:32Was he sort of talking broadly?
08:33I just wondered if you could help us understand that.
08:36So as you know, the president gave a little – is this when he – when we came back
08:40at 1.15 a.m.?
08:41Okay.
08:421.15 a.m. on the South Lawn, the president took a couple of your colleagues' questions.
08:48I think he was – I did not ask him about that particular answer.
08:52My guess is he was speaking more broadly.
08:54Look, at the end of the day, I'm not going to speak for the campaign, not going to speak
08:58to the president's campaigning schedule.
08:59That is something for the campaign to speak to.
09:02But they are partners in this administration, the president and the vice president.
09:06As you know, we announced SCOTUS reform in – at LBJ – LBJ Library just yesterday
09:13in Austin, and that was an important moment.
09:16That was an important moment to talk about where we are today, and the president met
09:19the moment talking about how no one is above the law here and how important the rule of
09:24law – I just started the top of the briefing talking about how it's so important to have
09:29the freedom of the press, right, and how we've had our – this is the 500th briefing.
09:34It is also important for our democracy.
09:36And so obviously the president was – and the vice president were partners in making
09:42that announcement in the sense of how they were going to move forward, of the three things
09:46that he laid out on what reform looks like for this administration.
09:51As it relates to the campaign, I don't have anything specific to share, but this is certainly
09:57the Biden-Harris administration, and everything that we have done the past three and a half
10:02years, we want to continue to do moving forward and continue to work on behalf of the American
10:07people.
10:08Okay.
10:09Thanks, Doreen.
10:10Last night the president said he's been talking to the vice president about her potential
10:13running mate.
10:14Could you just explain how often they've been talking to each other and when's the
10:18last time they spoke?
10:19So I'm going to be super careful not going to speak to the running mate or anything like
10:26that.
10:27I'm not going to go beyond what the president shared.
10:31What I can say is the – and I have said this before – the president and the vice
10:34president talk regularly.
10:36They actually spoke about a day or two ago.
10:41They stay in touch, and that's going to continue as they – not just because, obviously,
10:48the vice president is running, but that's going to continue because, as I said, she's
10:51a critical partner in what they do.
10:53But they do speak regularly, and I can assure you.
10:56Is there any color you could add about the kind of conversations, if there's counseling
11:02the president, advice he's been sharing with his vice president?
11:06So I'll say this.
11:09The president has been in the public service, as you know, for more than 54 years as a senator,
11:15as vice president.
11:16He had the role, as you all know, for eight years as vice president, and now he is president
11:21for three and a half years and six more months of his term.
11:26And I think as a leader of the Democratic Party as well, I think he always offers up
11:35advice, any type of – a little bit of wisdom that he has with experience on these multiple
11:43fronts that he's been able to lead this country.
11:47And so I think he's – that is certainly a role that he plays as well with the vice
11:51president.
11:52I'm not going to speak to the campaign, but certainly when the vice president became vice
11:56president herself, he offered his advice, his opinion, and also I would say was a mentor
12:03to her, but certainly not going to go beyond that.
12:07And where is the president when it comes to picking a new Secret Service director?
12:10Is this a very short list?
12:12Is he really broadening this search?
12:14Yeah, I think I was asked this question yesterday or very recently.
12:17Look, the president understands how important it is to fulfill this role, to have someone
12:24who's experienced, and so he's taking this very seriously, like he does any other appointment
12:29that he makes within the administration.
12:32We don't have anything for you on timing, on timeline, we don't have a personal announcement
12:36for you today, but certainly the president's taking this very seriously, and when we have
12:41locked in someone ready to make that announcement, we'll – certainly you all will know about
12:45it.
12:46Go ahead.
12:47You – you, like, ruined the first row.
12:48What did I – oh, I'm sorry.
12:49I apologize to you and to everyone for that.
12:50It's always Reuters.
12:51It's always – it's always Reuters.
12:52Last time it was Steve.
12:53I take full blame for that.
12:54But we love you anyway.
12:55The Israeli strikes in Lebanon today, do you view them as escalatory?
13:08Do you think they're an appropriate response to what we saw previously?
13:12So obviously we are aware of the reports out there that the IDF just conducted a strike
13:17against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and I leave it to Israel to speak for their own military
13:24operations.
13:25I do not have an immediate comment, as this just happened, literally just happened a few
13:30minutes before I walked out.
13:32So I'm going to leave Israel to certainly IDF, as they have been doing, to respond to
13:36this, and just don't have an immediate comment at this time.
13:39And then just to follow up on Colleen's question earlier, the Lula call today, is
13:44there –
13:45Oh, yeah.
13:46I didn't – I'm sorry, Marlene.
13:47I didn't touch on that.
13:48Is there any expectation that there's going to be some prep as far as sanctions are concerned
13:52or is – I mean, is there – what is the Venezuela content of that call?
13:56Oh, okay.
13:57So let me just say, and I think we shared this with all of you, that the President was
13:59going to be speaking with the President of Brazil, and so they're going to discuss
14:03a number of issues.
14:04And like we normally do, we will certainly have a readout for all of you.
14:09So look, we are – as it relates to Venezuela, we are obviously in the process of evaluating
14:14the Maduro and his representatives due next, and we will respond accordingly.
14:20And so while I have nothing to announce today as it relates to sanctions or moving forward,
14:24we will continue to assess our calibrated sanctions policy towards Venezuela in light
14:30of overall U.S. interest, the actions and non-actions that are taken by Maduro and his
14:36representatives, and the overall direction of our broader U.S. bilateral engagement with
14:41Venezuela.
14:42And so again, don't want to get ahead of where we are at this time.
14:46Yeah, Daniel.
14:47Thanks, Karine.
14:49Just going back to Israel, if I may.
14:52Kirby said yesterday that fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah were exaggerated.
14:57Is that still the White House's assessment after today's strike?
15:00So we do not believe that an all-out war is inevitable.
15:04That is not something that we believe, and we believe that it can still be avoided.
15:09This is a President – you've watched him the last three and a half years.
15:12He believes in diplomacy, diplomatic solutions, especially as we're talking in this moment
15:17along the blue line.
15:18That is true as well.
15:21And so – and that will end these attacks if we have some diplomatic kind of solution
15:26from Hezbollah once and for all and allow Israel and Lebanese citizens on both sides
15:31of the border to return to their homes and live – and live in safety.
15:36And that's what we want to see.
15:38So that's what we believe.
15:39There's a diplomatic solution here, and that's what we're trying to get to.
15:42Will the White House be reaching out again to Israel in the wake of this strike to –
15:47So, look, I don't have any, again, immediate reactions to this or immediate comments from
15:53us on this.
15:54We regularly talk to our counterparts here, regularly talk to our Israeli counterparts,
16:01our government, our counterparts there – our counterparts there.
16:04And so that will continue.
16:06That is a regular daily conversation.
16:07I just want to be really mindful I just don't have an immediate comment to today.
16:12Okay, Ayesha.
16:13Thanks, Jane.
16:14So what reason do you and the President have to believe that there is a diplomatic solution
16:20here?
16:21Because we have to continue to be optimistic here.
16:25I think it's important to have a diplomatic solution.
16:28We do not want to see an escalation.
16:30We do not want to see an all-out war.
16:32Those conversations happened, diplomatic conversations.
16:35Obviously, I'm not going to get into private discussions from here, but it is important.
16:41It is important for the people of Israel.
16:43It is important for the Lebanese people to live in safety, to get back to their homes,
16:48and that's what we want to see.
16:50And then, following up on something else the President said yesterday when he was asked
16:53about Supreme Court reform, what did he mean when he said that Speaker Johnson is dead
16:59on arrival?
17:00So, look, he actually addressed this right in his speech, in his remarks yesterday.
17:06He went right to it and talked about how his idea, basically, was dead on arrival,
17:13the Speaker's idea.
17:14He actually talked about it, and he said what the Speaker – he reiterated what the Speaker
17:19said about the SCOTUS reforms announcement, and then he said that his idea was dead on
17:25arrival.
17:26So I would just refer you to the President himself and how he addressed this directly
17:31during his remarks when he was at LBJ Library.
17:34So he misspoke?
17:36I don't think he misspoke.
17:37I think he cleared what he meant specifically so people understood.
17:42I would not say he misspoke.
17:43I think he –
17:44But initially, when he said, I think that's what he is.
17:47Look, let's be very clear.
17:49He spoke while he landed, while he was – after we landed, getting off the Air Force One,
17:55and he gets shouted questions, and he responded.
17:58He just wanted to be really clear what he meant by dead on arrival.
18:01Those – you've been there.
18:02You know how it happens.
18:03It goes back and forth.
18:05People can't really hear him sometimes.
18:06He can't hear you all.
18:08And that is something he wanted to make sure he was clear on his statement, but that was
18:12always his intent when he answered that question.
18:16Yeah.
18:17Thank you, Corrine.
18:18Is this Supreme Court proposal just an election year gambit?
18:23I will say this.
18:26I think if you read the Washington Post op-ed that the President put out yesterday, if you
18:30listened to his speech, he was reacting to what SCOTUS has been doing over the past – not
18:37just past couple of weeks, but certainly in the last two years, starting from Dobbs and
18:40so many other important decisions that have come out of the Supreme Court.
18:47The Dobbs decision certainly was something that we talked about just two years ago, and
18:52he had a commission to take a look at the Supreme Court.
18:56He certainly appreciated the commission and what they did and the work that they've done.
19:00But when you have a Supreme Court – and the President actually gave examples of what
19:07the decision of immunity that they made recently, what that means for the President of the United
19:12States.
19:14And what we're seeing right now is not normal.
19:17And majority of Americans agree with us.
19:19We're seeing that the Supreme Court is not normal.
19:23And the President spoke to that at length.
19:26He went to the LBJ library because of the historic nature of that library, the 60th
19:32anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
19:34And there's so much here that's at stake.
19:37And so that's why he wanted to do this.
19:40This is about the right thing to do.
19:42This is about meeting the moment that we're in.
19:43This is about reacting to what the SCOTUS did.
19:48He said in his op-ed, American democracy is founded on the rule of law.
19:52No one, not the President, not the Supreme Court, are above the law.
19:56And in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, for example, it grants presidents immunity
20:02for crimes committed in office and gut fundamental freedoms recognized for more than 50 years.
20:08And so he wanted to take action on that.
20:11And you know –
20:12But why would he not then read in top Democrats, including the Senate Judiciary Chair, about
20:19this effort?
20:20Here's the thing.
20:21A majority of Americans want to see this.
20:24They want to see some form of reform.
20:26And the President certainly wants to make sure that he is aware we're a majority of
20:30Americans.
20:31I will say – and I talked about this a little bit yesterday when we were in a gaggle – a
20:34range of conservative legal experts and Republican elected officials have voiced support, for
20:39example, term limits, which was part of what the President laid out yesterday.
20:44For example, last year, a bipartisan group of legal experts, including retired judges
20:48and Charles Freed, Ronald Reagan's solicitor general, endorsed term limits for the Supreme
20:53Court.
20:54Stephen Calabresi, the chairman of the Federalist Society who served in the administrations
20:58of Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, he also endorsed term limits.
21:02You had Marco Rubio, a senator right now, a current senator, endorse this as well, along
21:08with other congressional Republicans.
21:11So there is bipartisan support for this.
21:14I want to try to understand how we got to this in the last week, because you brought
21:19up the President's commission.
21:20His commission also found on term limits that a statutory change for term limits, for instance,
21:27would be inherently unstable, underscored constitutional doubts, said that the composition
21:34would create – generate greater uncertainty and distress.
21:36The President himself, on the campaign trail in 2020, said about term limits, presidents
21:43come and go.
21:44Supreme Court justices stay for generations.
21:45I'm not trying to change that at all.
21:47It was two different days he spoke to this.
21:49So how did we get there?
21:52First of all, he appreciates the commission, he appreciates the work that they've done.
21:57Their job was to give the President some thoughts and ideas, and obviously the President makes
22:01the final decision on how he wants to move forward.
22:03We have to look at what the Supreme Courts have done.
22:06Wait, wait, wait.
22:07That was 2021.
22:08You've got to let me answer the question.
22:11I'm not done.
22:13Let me finish the question.
22:14In the past several weeks, the actions that the Supreme Court has taken in undermining
22:19democracy and the rule of law, that's important.
22:23The President felt he needed to address this.
22:25Remember, we were supposed to go to LBJ Library two weeks ago, and we went two weeks ago this
22:31past Monday, yesterday.
22:33And so the President still wanted to move forward, still wanted to make sure he addressed
22:38this important issue.
22:39I mean, just the past few weeks, these past...
22:41He's not endorsing eliminating the filibuster, then?
22:43I mean, look, he laid out the three ways that he wants to move forward.
22:48We're going to have, hopefully, a healthy debate with Congress on what this is going
22:53to look like.
22:54This is going to be legislation that we want to move forward with.
22:59And I will say this.
23:01One of the reasons the President ran in 2020 was because of what he saw in Charlottesville,
23:06was because of the fear of wanting to make sure that we protect the soul of our nation.
23:12That was part of it.
23:13And just look at what's happened the last several years and the actions that the Supreme
23:20Court has taken.
23:21I mean, this is a President that was on the Judiciary Committee for almost the 36 years
23:28that he was President, right?
23:29If you think...
23:30Yes on the filibuster?
23:31I actually answered this.
23:32I said, we're going to have a healthy debate with Congress on what this is going to look
23:36like.
23:37The President laid out the three ways that he sees moving forward.
23:40There's not going to go beyond those three measures that he's laid out, but we're going
23:44to have a healthy debate.
23:45And that's what's important here.
23:47The filibuster's no question.
23:48I just said, we are going to...
23:50The welcome's a question, not a question.
23:53We welcome a healthy debate on how to move forward.
23:56He put forth three ways to move forward on this, on really dealing with SCOTUS reform.
24:02And I just laid out some conservative legal experts who agree with us, at least on the
24:08term limits.
24:09They've been very clear as well.
24:12Former President Trump did an interview where he said that maybe being called a threat to
24:17democracy was a cause of his being shot.
24:21How would the President respond to that?
24:23What I will say is the President has always been very clear when it comes to violent political
24:29rhetoric.
24:30There is no place, no place here in this country, in our nation for it.
24:37He's always spoken about that.
24:39He's spoken about that for the past several years throughout his career.
24:45And right after the assassination attempt, the President said, he even made an address
24:54in the Oval Office and talked about lowering the temperature.
24:57He talked about getting to the bottom of this, having an independent investigation and how
25:03important it was to do just that.
25:07And I talked about Charlottesville.
25:10We saw how the President spoke against January 6th.
25:14The day that, and I remember this, the day that January 6th happened in 2021, the President
25:20was then President-elect.
25:22He was supposed to talk about the economy.
25:24He took that opportunity to denounce what happened.
25:282,000 people went to the Capitol, a mob went to the Capitol, officers, law enforcement
25:35officers were harmed.
25:37Some of them lost their lives afterwards.
25:40And he condemned that.
25:41He condemned the political violence.
25:43And they were doing that because they were trying to overturn free and fair elections.
25:47When Paul Pelosi was attacked by a hammer, the President also spoke out about violent
25:55political rhetoric and where we will, you know, what happened, how horrific that was.
26:02And violence has no place, no place in this country.
26:06So if anything, this is a President who has been constantly and proactively called out
26:11on all Americans to come together and oppose political violence, regardless of our views,
26:15regardless of our views.
26:17He's had a little more than a week now to contemplate his change in status, not being
26:22a candidate, but being the sitting President.
26:24Has he described to you ways he wants to use the time, perhaps differently, since he doesn't
26:28have the campaign obligation?
26:30Yeah, I think, look, we have six, six more months left.
26:36And the President is certainly very much thinking through what that's going to look
26:42like as far as delivering for the American people.
26:45His job doesn't stop.
26:47It continues.
26:48We've had an unprecedented record for three and a half years on things that we were able
26:52to accomplish, whether it's the economy being the strongest, having the strongest economy
26:56in the world, leading the world, whether it is foreign policy, making sure that we are,
27:04again, rebuilding those relationships with our partners and allies.
27:07That's something that he's been able to do.
27:10Health care, I just talked about Medicaid and Medicare at the top.
27:13There are many ways that the President wants to continue.
27:15The Supreme Court reform announcement that he made was also a really important.
27:19A majority of the Americans care about that.
27:21You will hear more from this President.
27:23He will articulate what the next 180 days or so or less looks like.
27:29He is going to take this very seriously.
27:31Do you see less travel often?
27:33It's an official event and campaign coinciding, so would he be based here more, do you anticipate?
27:39I think Matt was asking me this question in a gaggle yesterday, recalibrating, and yes,
27:44there's a little bit of recalibrating here.
27:47That is the honest truth.
27:48We're trying to figure out what that's going to look like.
27:51The President is thinking about this in the way that he does, on behalf of the American
27:57people, putting them first.
27:59We'll have certainly more to share.
28:01Obviously, the President enjoys being out there, talking directly to the American people.
28:05I think that's one of the ways that we are more effective, right, when the President
28:09gets out there.
28:10Can't speak to the campaign.
28:12That's something that the campaign can speak to, but the President wants to get out there.
28:15He wants to speak directly to the American people.
28:17He wants to continue to deliver, and you will hear him articulate that more, I would predict,
28:24in short order.
28:28You saw the President meet briefly with Congressman Doggett of Texas on the tarmac yesterday.
28:33I wondered if you just had a readout of that conversation, given Doggett's status as the
28:38first Democrat to call for him to withdraw.
28:42Just broadly speaking, is the President's relationships with some of these members affected
28:47by them if they were among the 30 or so to call for the President to withdraw before
28:53his visit?
28:54You kind of answered that question yourself.
28:55I think President Doggett was there on the tarmac, greeting the President.
28:59I'm not going to go into private conversations, and that's something that I do and will do
29:04from here.
29:05We've done for the past three and a half years, so we're going to continue with that.
29:09But I mean, I think you saw them greet each other, but I mean, this is a President, and
29:16I said this many times, he believes in reaching across the aisle, for example, and working
29:22with Republicans who say he can't get things done, right?
29:26This is a President who understands that the Democratic Party is big, and there are many,
29:31many thoughts, and that's what makes our party, I think, so unique and important because we
29:36have different ideas, because we have different thoughts.
29:39And the President understands, you know, they had their opinion, there were Democrats who
29:44had their opinion, he obviously had his, and he appreciated we were able to have an unprecedented
29:52historic record because of the relationships that he's had with these Democratic members.
29:57I don't think that will change.
29:58I don't think that will change.
29:59Going back to the Venezuelan election.
30:00Are you new to the?
30:01Yes, I'm Stephanie.
30:02Hi, Stephanie.
30:03Hi.
30:04Stephanie from Bloomberg.
30:05Nice to see you.
30:06Is this your first time in the briefing room?
30:07No, this is my first time.
30:08Okay.
30:09I'm asking a question.
30:10Oh, okay.
30:11So thank you for that.
30:12All right.
30:13Here we go.
30:14Going back to the Venezuelan elections.
30:15Sure.
30:16Is the President using the call with Lula as an intermediary to deal with the election
30:21results?
30:22And what kind of assurances is he looking for from his Brazilian counterpart about Maduro's
30:26promises to release the President?
30:28So they're going to be, I believe, speaking shortly, if it hasn't started, with the President
30:33of Brazil.
30:35They're going to talk about a wide range of issues, obviously.
30:38We'll have a readout.
30:39Don't want to get ahead of that conversation, ahead of that call.
30:43I think I have said before, and we have said here, that the world is watching.
30:48We're not going to get ahead of the process.
30:51I think you saw the statement from NSC spokes.
30:54You heard what I said at the top.
30:56And so, you know, and I'll add, you know, other leaders across the country has also
31:05called on full and detailed tabulation votes to be released.
31:10And so we've expressed our concerns and not going to get ahead of the readout that's going
31:15to come out from the President after his conversation with the President of Brazil.
31:20But the world is watching, certainly.
31:21Does the administration have a reaction to the arrest of Venezuelan opposition figures?
31:28Look, I'll say this.
31:30Any political repression or violence against protesters or the opposition is obviously
31:36unacceptable.
31:37The United States supports the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people and their
31:42right to express their views freely and without reprisal.
31:45And so that's where I'll leave it there.
31:48Get, get, sorry, get April.
31:52I know, I know, I know the mask threw me off.
31:56Moving on.
31:58Yes.
31:59Karine, why is President Biden not going to the NABJ convention after originally thought
32:06and is the Vice President going this week to the NABJ convention?
32:11So the NABJ convention decision was done by the campaign.
32:14So I would have to refer you to the campaign on, on both of your questions about the President
32:21and the Vice President, as obviously the President is no longer a candidate.
32:25So I'm assuming that played a role into it.
32:27As far as the Vice President, you would have to ask the campaign about her.
32:30This is something typically during an election year that presidential candidates do take
32:35part of.
32:36Is this something that is overshadowed because of recent controversies?
32:40I mean, is the White House paying attention to the recent controversy about Donald Trump
32:47going there tomorrow and what you can tell us?
32:52So look, I'm certainly not going to comment on the former president's campaign stops.
32:57That's a campaign stop for him.
33:00And the NABJ, they make their own decisions on guests.
33:04So certainly that's for them to speak to.
33:05But I can say more broadly about us and how we as an administration, taking away the campaign
33:11just as an administration, what we've done for the last three and a half years, we appreciate
33:16the importance of speaking to all Americans, including African Americans, black Americans
33:21as well.
33:22That's why we have, we have always been very, you know, very direct and very focused on
33:29speaking to both local and, and national black owned outlets.
33:33That is something that not just the president and the vice president has done.
33:37Many of his senior, their senior folks have done as well, senior White House officials.
33:42And so we understand the importance of black Americans to hear directly from this administration.
33:48And we have done that and not just black Americans, but all Americans.
33:52And so that is certainly something that we will continue to do.
33:55And we take that very, very seriously.
33:58As far as the NABJ, that is something for them to speak to and the campaigns to speak,
34:03speak to directly.
34:04Again, Michael.
34:05Three.
34:07I want to talk about Israel and Gaza.
34:10The regional director for the World Food Program said right now the biggest challenge is we
34:13don't have enough crossing points to bring the food in.
34:16We need road access.
34:17We need the rapid crossing to reopen again.
34:19We need current Shalom to work better.
34:21We need law and order.
34:22Did the president bring that up with Netanyahu in his meeting last week?
34:26Look, I don't have anything more to read out to you from what we put out from our readout
34:32of their conversation.
34:33I will say this.
34:35This is why it is so important to get that hostage deal.
34:39This is one of, obviously, one of the main point of conversations that the president
34:43had with the prime minister.
34:46The president understands how important it is to get a ceasefire.
34:48He understands how important it is to get that, continue to get humanitarian aid into
34:55Gaza.
34:56That is something that the United States has led in that effort.
34:59And so we want to see that.
35:01We want to see an influx of humanitarian aid.
35:05That's why we've been trying to do this by air, by sea, by land.
35:10And so conversations about the crossings, conversations on making sure trucks go through
35:15is certainly daily, regular conversations that our counterparts here have with the Israeli
35:22government and will continue to do that.
35:24But it is incredibly important to get this ceasefire deal.
35:28And we've been working on this 24-7.
35:30And I'll say this, and we've said this before, the gaps have certainly narrowed.
35:36And that's important.
35:37But there's still some work to do.
35:39And we're going to get to that work and try to make sure we do everything that we can
35:43to get this done.
35:44Is the U.S. worried that an increased Israeli focus on fighting in the north could lead
35:47to a worsening humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip?
35:50I mean, look.
35:53We believe that there's no need for this to escalate, right?
35:58We have said that.
35:59I said that at the top, answering to one of your colleagues answering a question.
36:05And look, we understand that the humanitarian situation is dire in Gaza.
36:10That's why the president of this administration has led in getting humanitarian aid in.
36:15That's why we're continuing to work on this hostage deal, get a ceasefire, and we're going
36:20to continue to do so.
36:21And obviously, it was an important conversation that the president had with the prime minister.
36:25Thank you, Karine.
36:26Two questions.
36:27The first is on those IDF strikes.
36:28I know that you said that the strikes just happened, so you can't comment specifically
36:29on those.
36:30But broader, on the trajectory of this conflict, it's been the goal of the U.S. not to have
36:31the war widened since October 7th.
36:32And President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu just sat down together last week.
36:33Was the president – was his team surprised by what's happened in recent weeks?
36:34And what's the message that you're trying to get across?
36:35And what's the message that you're trying to get across?
36:36And what's the message that you're trying to get across?
36:37And what's the message that you're trying to get across?
36:38And what's the message that you're trying to get across?
36:39So, again, I'm not going to get into immediate comment on the IDF strike.
36:57So that's not something I'm going to do at this time.
37:00And again, as we speak to escalation, potential escalation, the questions I've gotten about
37:07all-out war, we do not believe – we do not believe that an all-out war is inevitable,
37:12and we believe that it can be avoided.
37:15And that's why it's important to get to a diplomatic solution here.
37:19And so –
37:20But did the president get any sense during that meeting last week that a diplomatic solution
37:23was within reach?
37:25We want to work and focus on getting that diplomatic solution along the blue line, and
37:30that is important.
37:31We want to see these attacks from Hezbollah end and – for all and allow Israelis and
37:38also Lebanese citizens on both sides of the border to be able to return homes to their
37:44lives and to live in safety.
37:47And so that's what we want to be – that's what we want to be.
37:49And so diplomatic solution is the way that we want to see the direction of this.
37:54And we do not believe that an all-out war is inevitable here.
37:58But as it relates to the – obviously, the strikes that just occurred, I just don't
38:02have an immediate comment on this at this time.
38:05And then on the personnel front, President Biden obviously himself served as the vice
38:09president for eight years.
38:11He handpicked Kamala Harris for that role nearly four years ago.
38:15What level of input, if any, has he provided as she undergoes that same decision?
38:20Look, he was asked this question directly, the President, at 1.15 a.m. on the South Line.
38:25He responded to it, so I'm going to let the President's words speak for itself.
38:28I don't have anything beyond that.
38:29Go ahead, Karen.
38:30I'm going to try this, and knowing that you can't answer, but I'm going to ask
38:33you if you can ask her from the President's perspective how he feels about the vice president's
38:39first week-plus out on the campaign trail.
38:41Like, what does he think about the fundraising she's done, the events she's done, and
38:47what he has seen so far?
38:49I'll say – I'll say this.
38:53Obviously, the President – and also being mindful about talking about an election – obviously,
39:01the President endorsed Kamala Harris, the vice president, for a reason.
39:06He thought she would be ready on day one.
39:10This is someone who was a senator, who was an attorney general for the largest state
39:17in the country.
39:18She has been, obviously, a vice president for almost four years.
39:22She is immensely qualified.
39:26And the President, having been a senator and a vice president himself, understands what
39:31it takes – what it takes.
39:33And he sees that in her.
39:36So I would say he's not surprised.
39:38He's not surprised.
39:41And I'm going to leave it at that to not get myself in too much trouble.
39:44Is he watching any of the Olympics?
39:47Like, have you taken in anything?
39:49Is he like, my phone is blowing up, so – like, what has he been –
39:52You've been great so far.
39:53I'm so excited.
39:54I'm so excited.
39:55The Olympics have been so great.
39:56Look, the President and the First Lady are certainly proudly cheering on Team USA.
40:02As you saw, the First Lady traveled to – bless you – traveled to Paris to lead the delegation,
40:07the U.S. delegation for the opening ceremonies, and cheered on Team USA.
40:14And you saw her out there being very supportive.
40:17And so the President certainly is proud of all the athletes competing on behalf of the
40:23U.S., on behalf of our nation.
40:25And he's going to continue to cheer them on.
40:27Great.
40:28And following up on that, did the President see the Last Supper controversy at the Olympics?
40:31Do you know – did he see the – I don't have anything –
40:33The Last Supper controversy.
40:34I appreciate the question.
40:35I just don't have anything to share.
40:36Millions of Christians across the globe were offended by it.
40:37I understand.
40:38I understand.
40:39The President's a Christian.
40:40Was he offended by it?
40:41I just answered your question.
40:42I understand it.
40:43But was the President offended by it?
40:44I just answered your question.
40:45Can I just ask – did he see it?
40:46I just – I don't have anything else to add.
40:47Great.
40:49Thank you so much.
40:50I have a couple of foreign policy questions.
40:51But just to follow up on Jackie's question, if Supreme Court reform does not pass – and
40:55it seems unlikely under this Congress that it will – what does the President hope his
41:01effort will accomplish?
41:02Is it to get the American people used to the idea of the need of reform?
41:08Is it a message to Justice Roberts?
41:10What does he think this could have – this would lead to?
41:13I will say majority of the American people support and want to see reform, right?
41:21They want to see this.
41:22This is where majority of Americans are.
41:24And I will say this.
41:25The President and the Vice President believe that the rule of law is the foundation of
41:30our democracy.
41:31It is the foundation of our democracy, which is why the President took action yesterday
41:36and he's calling on Congress to do the same.
41:38Now what we welcome is a debate, as we've seen as many times as the President introduced
41:44legislation or some ideas on how the direction of legislation that's important to the American
41:49people.
41:50We see a healthy debate.
41:51I listed out moments ago when I was having a back-and-forth with Jackie here, conservative
41:57legal experts who support, for example, term limits.
42:01And so I think that was important to know.
42:03Senator Marco Rubio, who I also mentioned, who's obviously a current senator in the
42:08U.S. Senate, supports term limits.
42:11So there are ways that we can work together.
42:13I'm not going to get into what that legislation is going to look like.
42:17We're going to have a healthy debate.
42:19We think that's important.
42:20But we're talking about the rule of law here.
42:22We're talking about the rule of law, which is the foundation of our democracy.
42:26The President is going to say something.
42:27The President is going to make sure that is protected, as he has done.
42:32That is one of the reasons he decided to run.
42:35That is one of the reasons of the work that we were able to do.
42:402022, the rule of law, democracy, was one of the top issues that Americans cared about.
42:45Would it also be a message to Justice Roberts?
42:48I'm not going to get into messages to the Chief Justice.
42:54That's not what we're talking about here.
42:55We're talking about the right thing to do.
42:58We're talking about the right thing to do here.
43:00And on the foreign policy side, there's reporting that North Korea could conduct another nuclear
43:04test to coincide with the U.S. election, the presidential election.
43:09How concerned is the administration about this?
43:11Is this a real threat?
43:12Do you have a message to Pyongyang?
43:13I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals from here.
43:15What's your next question?
43:17On today's sanctions on Iran that Treasury announced, individuals and entities related
43:23to its ballistic missiles and drones program, can you speak about the timing?
43:27Today, the Iranian new president is being sworn in by the parliament.
43:31So look, what I can say, this is something that the Department of Treasury did.
43:34They announced new sanctions, as you just said, targeting five individuals and seven
43:37entities based in Iran, the PRC, Hong Kong, that have facilitated procurements behalf
43:45of Iran's military forces.
43:48The designated entities have been involved in procuring key components of Iran's ballistic
43:53missiles and UAV program.
43:56These sanctions are part of, you've heard us talk about sanctions before, especially
44:00in the last three and a half years.
44:01They're part of our ongoing efforts to counter Iran's destabilizing activities, including
44:08its arming of proxies in Middle East and its enabling of Russia's war in Ukraine.
44:13You've heard talk about this.
44:14Again, this is part of announcements that we, ongoing efforts that we've had here in
44:20this administration, and that's how I would view it.
44:22Nothing specific on the timing?
44:23It's ongoing.
44:24These have been ongoing sanctions that we've had throughout this administration.
44:28Yeah.
44:29Okay.
44:30Go ahead.
44:31Okay.
44:32Has the President met with leaders Schumer and Jeffries about legislative priorities for
44:33the remainder of this six months, as you discussed?
44:40Yeah.
44:41Don't have any meetings or conversation at this time to read out or lay out on conversations
44:47specifically on the next six months.
44:49But again, this is something that the President's taken very seriously.
44:52He wants to continue to deliver on behalf of the American people.
44:56That's what you're going to see him do in the next six months.
44:58He will articulate this on what this is going to look like specifically, what he's going
45:02to focus on.
45:03And I think what you saw yesterday was a clear indicator of that.
45:07You mentioned he'll be giving remarks at some point, sort of articulating the vision for
45:10the next six months.
45:11Yeah.
45:12Any timeline on when that might happen?
45:13I don't have any timeline.
45:14I said he will articulate that.
45:15We'll see what that looks like.
45:17But look, he wants to certainly – and I think this is a little bit of Kelly O's question
45:22to me – he certainly wants to get out there.
45:25He wants to continue to talk directly to the American people.
45:28And again, just bringing in my friend Matt Fiser here, there is a recalibration here.
45:33We're trying to see what that looks like, what that's going to look like, what he wants
45:38to focus on.
45:40And so just give us a second.
45:42We have a lot to focus on.
45:43But I would also say there's these historic pieces of legislation, whether it is the bipartisan
45:52infrastructure legislation.
45:53As we know, there are thousands of projects out there that we want to make sure that gets
45:56implemented.
45:57There's the Inflation Reduction Act.
45:59There's Medicare, who continues to negotiate with big pharma.
46:02We want to make sure that on medication, on drugs that are important, making sure that
46:06the prices go down.
46:07We're going to continue to do that.
46:09There's the Chips and Signs Act, where that's going to bring investments into this country.
46:14We want to see those big pieces of legislation that are obviously are now laws, acts, that
46:21we want to see implemented.
46:23And so that's always been a priority of this president.
46:26And so that's certainly going to continue to be so.
46:29I know I keep cutting.
46:30I know.
46:31This is like the second time.
46:32I know.
46:33I conjured you up to ask a question.
46:35I've called your name out many times today.
46:38Since we're watching that recalibration in real time, do you have a sense on what
46:44the president is doing today, like what his schedule is like today or for the remainder
46:48of the week?
46:49No, and I appreciate that question.
46:50I have something to share with all of you.
46:52And I said he's going to continue, the president is going to continue to work for the American
46:55people day in, day out.
46:57That does not change.
46:58It is extremely important to him to continue building on his accomplishments and finish
47:02the job.
47:03You saw him on the road yesterday for over 12 hours in Texas, and he spoke with reporters
47:08I've been mentioning many times during this briefing at 1 o'clock, 115 in the morning,
47:15taking some questions.
47:16Look, he has a call with the president of Brazil today, which will have a readout, as
47:20I mentioned, a completed readout once we are done.
47:23Once he's done having that conversation, the president will receive his regular presidential
47:26daily briefing.
47:27He's going to do that this afternoon and meet with his national security team.
47:31And tomorrow, the president will be briefed on the implementation of important provisions
47:34of the Inflation Reduction Act, and we will actually have more to come on that.
47:38So stay tuned.
47:39We'll have more on that later today.
47:41He will also receive a briefing from senior officials on the administration's new actions
47:46on ongoing work to crack down on drug trafficking, traffickers smuggling deadly drugs, including
47:51fentanyl, into the United States in efforts to beat the global opioid epidemic.
47:57And I should have mentioned this before, as when I was asking about the vice president,
48:01he will indeed see the vice president tomorrow.
48:03He will have lunch with her tomorrow, as they regularly do, as I said.
48:07They stay in regular contact, as she is a critical partner for him in how he moves forward
48:13in this administration.
48:14All right.
48:15Okay.
48:16Go ahead.
48:17Thanks.
48:18Thanks, Creed.
48:19So the national debt crossed $35 trillion for the first time ever.
48:24The amount being added to the debt seems to be increasing at a growing rate.
48:28Today we talked with Fitch, and they told us, the credit rating agency, and they told
48:32us that large fiscal deficits and increasing debt burden were key factors to the downgrade
48:37that the U.S. had last year.
48:39Is the president worried about another downgrade, because our spending is more than the money
48:43we're taking in?
48:44Yeah.
48:45So let me just tick off a couple of things, if I may, and want to be super clear about
48:49this.
48:50The president signed a $1 trillion deficit reduction into law, and his budget would lower
48:56the deficit by another $3 trillion by making billionaires and biggest corporations pay
49:01their fair share and cutting spending on special interests.
49:04That was an action that the president did.
49:06The prior administration increased the debt.
49:08Let's not forget what the prior administration did, by a record $8 trillion, and didn't sign
49:13a single law to reduce the deficit.
49:16And that's what we're dealing with right now.
49:19And on top of that, you have congressional Republicans that continue to want to blow
49:22up the debt, again, with $5 trillion more in Trump tax cuts, while making hardworking
49:29families pay the price by cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Affordable Care Act.
49:38And we want to do the opposite, right?
49:40The president's economic agenda, we want to make sure that we put middle-class families
49:44first, hardworking families first, and congressional Americans want to give more tax cut to the
49:49rich, to the billionaires, to the corporations.
49:52So the president's taken action to try and lower the deficit, and Republicans want to
49:58balloon that.
49:59And $8 trillion, $8 trillion from the last administration, and they did nothing, nothing
50:04to try to make sure that we lower the deficit.
50:06But, so you're saying that we crossed $35 trillion because former President Trump's
50:11administration, I mean, that was four years ago.
50:13You know, the debt keeps increasing.
50:15Yeah.
50:16You know, at what point?
50:17The fact is, the fact is, $8 trillion was what the increase in debt, was what the last
50:24administration did, the Trump administration.
50:26They didn't put forth.
50:28They didn't put forth any type of legislation to counter that.
50:31They didn't.
50:32They just let the debt balloon by $8 trillion.
50:35That's what they, but that's what they did.
50:37The president, but what I, and what I'm saying to you is, like, we can't, we can't discount
50:42what happened in the last administration, and we can't discount what this president
50:46is trying to do to make sure that we address this.
50:50$1 trillion in deficit reduction into law, that's what the president signed.
50:56And that would lower the deficit by three, another $3 trillion by making billionaires
51:01and the biggest, the biggest corporations pay their fair share.
51:05Republicans are offering the opposite of that.
51:08So I think policy matters.
51:10What we've been able to get done matters.
51:12I'm not discounting what you're saying.
51:14I'm just saying the president is actually working to make, to lower the deficit, and
51:20Republicans want to do the opposite.
51:21That is where we are when we think about the policy.
51:24That is where we are.
51:25And I think that matters as well.
51:27I know I have to get going.
51:29Go ahead, sir.
51:30Thanks, Corrine.
51:31You, in the beginning you mentioned the importance of press freedom, like the, like the case
51:36of Evan Gershkowitz, Austin Tice, Yu Yu Dong.
51:40We see that the press freedom itself is extremely important issue worldwide.
51:46In the case of Mongolia, considering the fact that the foreign minister of Mongolia visited
51:50just seven days ago, it seems like the, there's an increased fear of the degradation of press
51:58freedom within the country.
51:59In the case of UNRCEF, NARAN, Mumbai, Cholendorj, it is a big concern.
52:06Is the, with the increase of U.S.-Mongolia relations in the upcoming future, is press
52:12freedom, is the issue of press freedom going to be mentioned a lot more into the conversation?
52:17And then also at the same time, given the fact that it seems the Kremlin or Beijing
52:21influence has reached into the country, would this be a point of concern for the Biden administration?
52:26I think we, the last point, I certainly, we've spoken to that at length about certainly our concerns.
52:32Look, when it comes to the freedom of the press, this is something that the President
52:36is never afraid to talk about with any, with any world leaders or leaders more broadly.
52:43That is something that he has done.
52:45He's had those conversations.
52:46He certainly has said it publicly, and what he says publicly, he certainly says privately.
52:51Not going to get into specifics of conversations of that particular relationship, but he understands,
52:56he understands the importance, the importance of the freedom of the press.
53:01It is important to have that.
53:02It is part of our democracy.
53:04We've been talking, kind of the theme of this briefing has been democracy, right, and being
53:08able to be able to lead on that as a country.
53:12And that's what we've been doing here, and we're going to continue to do that.
53:16And again, he's going to have those conversations.
53:20He's going to say what we're saying publicly, certainly privately as well.
53:22All right, guys, I'll see you tomorrow.
53:24Thank you, everyone.