Karine Jean-Pierre White House Press Briefing on 9/09/24

Hi, everybody. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Okay. I have a couple of things at the top. Please bear with me. On Saturday, a suspect shot and injured five individuals along Interstate 75 in Kentucky and is still at large. We are praying for those who were injured and wishing them a speedy recovery. The president was briefed over the weekend and he urges residents to remain vigilant and listen to local officials as they continue to investigate. The administration is in touch with state and local officials, and federal law enforcement is supporting the local investigation and efforts to apprehend the suspects.

(00:48)
Next, we are praying for the thousands of Americans under mandatory evacuations under orders out west. Senior administration officials are monitoring the fires, including the Lyon Fire in California and the Davis fire in Nevada, and are in close touch with state and local leaders to ensure they have the resources that they need. Over 7,000 federal personnel are supporting local firefighting efforts across multiple states. Residents in the affected areas should remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local officials, especially those who have been ordered to evacuate. President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is healthcare, period. But for millions of Americans, care for mental health and substance use conditions is still hard to find and hard to afford. Today the Biden-Harris administration is taking a step forward, changing that by placing new requirements on health plans that will improve and strengthen access to mental health care for 175 million Americans with private health insurance. For the president, it’s simple. If you have a mental health crisis, you should be able to access the care that you need the same way you access care for a broken bone or a heart attack. Addressing mental health crisis is a key priority for this president, for this administration, and the steps being taken today will dramatically expand access to mental health care in America. And finally, later this afternoon, the president will be joined by elected officials and advocates to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and mark Disability Pride Month. One of the president’s first acts as a U.S. senator was co-sponsoring the Rehabilitation Act, which banned discrimination on the basis of disability by any entity funded by the government and paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have carried the same commitment to ensuring disabled Americans are treated with dignity, respect, and inclusion, and are able to live and thrive in their communities. Under this administration, the Biden-Harris administration, Americans with Disabilities have seen historic increases in employment and earnings, and the administration has taken significant steps to protect civil rights and promote full participation in society. And that work will continue.

(03:38)
With that, I will turn it over to my colleague, Admiral John Kirby, who’s here to take some questions on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s report released yesterday on the Afghanistan withdrawal. With that, Admiral.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. As you saw today, House Republicans released their investigation report into Afghanistan withdrawal. This comes, of course, two years after their first report, and this one says little or nothing new. We’ve already issued comment about the one-sided partisan nature of this report, so I’m not going to belabor that right now, but I do think a brief rundown of actual facts is important. First, on the very day this administration took office, the Taliban was in the strongest position it had been in years, and the Afghan government, the weakest. The Trump administration cut a deal called the Doha Agreement that mandated a complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan – and yes, that included Bagram Air Base – by the end of May 2021. That deal also released 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison. 5,000 fighters. In return, the Taliban agreed not to attack U.S. troops, which is a good thing because the former president reduced our presence in Afghanistan from about 14,000 down to 2,500.

(04:56)
As General Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command said himself in testimony, the Doha deal had a “really pernicious effect” on the Afghan government and military. As we saw, it demoralized them and it disenfranchised them. They knew right then and there that America was on its way out. Indeed, in October of 2020, then President Trump ordered his military to rush the exit from Afghanistan and have everybody leave by Christmas of that year. President Biden for his part faced a stark choice when he came to office. Abide by the flawed agreement and end America’s longest war or blow up the deal, extend the war, and see a much smaller contingent of American troops back in combat with the Taliban. He chose the former and he was able to buy additional time to prepare for that withdrawal all the way into the summer. And we as a nation are safer for it.

(05:51)
Any and every discussion about what happened in Afghanistan has to start right there. Sadly, the report does not dwell on it. Now, there are some other falsehoods, too many to mention, but a few do stand out and I would like to tick them off if you don’t mind. One, there was in fact planning for evacuations, planning that started in the spring of 2021 and included all the requisite agencies. In fact, the Department of Defense pre-positioned military units in the region so that once a decision had been reached to evacuate, they would be poised to respond in a timely fashion. Two, there was no fine-tuned assessment of how fast things would unfold in August of 2021. It all moved a lot faster than anyone anticipated. As the Taliban moved in, Afghan forces stopped fighting and the Afghani government fled. As then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said, “Nothing that I saw indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days.”

(06:49)
Three, there was no point in securing Bagram Air Base for use during the evacuation. Doing so would not only have required thousands of additional US troops, but also would’ve required a dangerous trek by evacuees over Taliban-controlled territory, making the evacuation even more difficult to execute than it already was. Four, there was no handover of US equipment to the Taliban. That equipment had been provided to Afghan security forces appropriately and with congressional approval over the course of two decades of war. That equipment was left by those Afghan forces when they surrendered or stopped fighting. And five, there was no deception, lying, or lack of transparency by this administration either during or after the withdrawal. We did the best we could every day to keep the American people informed of what was happening. We conducted our own after action reports and shared those too with the public. And as I mentioned, we cooperated extensively in this investigation and we continue to work with the War Commission.

(07:50)
Ending wars is more difficult than starting them. President Biden knew that. He acknowledged that. But it doesn’t mean that the decision to end this one was wrong or that the withdrawal wasn’t conducted as professionally and as bravely as was humanly possible given the circumstances. It doesn’t mean we don’t grieve and mourn with the families of those whose lives were tragically taken during the withdrawal, especially at Abbey Gate on the 26th of August of that year. And it doesn’t mean that we don’t still look with awe and admiration at the many thousands of men and women who waged this war over the course of 20 years. Troops, diplomats, intelligence experts, contractors, and civilian employees from this and dozens of other nations. They accomplished the mission for which they were sent to Afghanistan. They helped make us a safer nation.

(08:38)
Sadly, 2,461 of them did not make it home. And many of those who did still struggle with the wounds of war, seen and unseen. As the President has said, we owe them and their families a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid. But now that the war is over, our nation can better focus on other pressing national security interests around the world. We would do well in all this partisan rancor over the withdrawal to remember that. Let me take some questions.

Thanks, Admiral. It’s been reported that Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine. Can you confirm that this transfer happened and how concerning is this?

I cannot confirm the reports that the transfer has happened, but I would point you to what we’ve said in the past that any such provision of that kind of technology would not only have a deleterious effect on the Ukrainians’ ability to continue to defend themselves, and certainly on the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians, but could, depending on how it’s consummated, have equally deleterious effects on the Middle East. And Iran, that already has an improving ballistic missile program, we could only assume would want to stand to gain from some sort of partnership with Russia to improve their capabilities in the region. And of course, given all their destabilizing activities, that’s a dangerous outcome.

And is the White House prepared to increase pressure on Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal, potentially doing something similar as the United Kingdom in terms of withholding more weapons?

I can’t think of anything we haven’t put more pressure on ourselves than to try to get this deal. I think I just drew on myself. We know how urgent this is and we’re working night and day to try to see if we can get a deal in place. Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now.

Thanks, Admiral. A couple of things. Firstly on Afghanistan, would you argue that the withdrawal is a success or do you admit that there were failings involved in that?

I’d point you to the after action report where I think we’ve been very clear about the planning efforts and the execution of the plan. No plan of any operation whatsoever ever goes exactly according to the dictates by which you laid it out. Clearly, there were moments of great violence and there were moments of mission execution that didn’t go exactly the way we wanted it to go. Nobody’s walked away from that. But in the main, we were able to get 120,000 some odd folks out of there safely with an airplane taken off about once every hour. And again, we’ve laid it all out in an after action report that the State Department did, that Department of Defense did, that we did here.

And so just very briefly on the point about Keir Starmer’s visit and Gaza, is the president going to be pressing Prime Minister Starmer to perhaps reverse his decision on the arms sales? Or conversely, might he be seeking some advice about how the U.S. might do that?

We’re looking forward to the visit. There’s an awful lot to discuss. I think you can expect the Prime Minister and the President to talk about what’s going on in Ukraine, what’s talking about the Middle East, even in the Indo-Pacific. This isn’t about twisting arms or trying to change minds. The British government has made their determination about arms provisions to Israel. We respect that. That’s for them to speak to. This is about how we move together as principal allies and good friends on a range of foreign policy issues. And I think it’s fair to say that as part of this meeting on Friday, it will focus heavily on an extended agenda of foreign policy issues. Expanded agenda. Okay.

Thanks, Karine. Admiral, there have been requests or there have been signals from Congressional Republicans they’d like to continue this investigation into what happened in Afghanistan. Has the White House received any more requests for people to testify? Would they entertain them?

I’m not aware of any additional requests for more testimony.

Has anyone from the White House or the broader administration been invited to tomorrow’s gold medal ceremony for the families of the 13 service members who died?

There will be quite a few from the Department of Defense, both in terms of active-duty admirals and generals and civilian political appointees in high leadership positions that’ll be there.

And going back to accountability and after action, was anyone ever held accountable by the president directly for what happened with the withdrawal in Afghanistan? And if not, remind the audience why not.

We have all held ourselves accountable for the progress of the withdrawal across the administration, and it was a true interagency effort to get those 120,000 people out and to make sure we removed our diplomats and our military personnel safely. As I said, Ed, not everything went according to plan. Nothing ever does. And we mourn the loss of those 13 lives at Abbey Gate every single day here. Their sacrifice is not forgotten.

But again, we hold ourselves all accountable for that/

One other part of the world because there’s been some movement regarding Venezuela. Just in the last day, the opposition candidate Mundo Gonzalez is now in Spain seeking or expected to be granted political asylum. There’s been a lot written, reported in the last few days about what the administration may or may not be trying to do to get Maduro to leave by the end of the year before his next term would begin. Even though the US and others don’t necessarily think he has. What is the latest on what the US is trying to do and would they ever help Gonzalez come back to Venezuela?

I don’t get into hypotheticals one way or another about Mr. Gonzalez and what his future might be. He wouldn’t have had to seek political asylum if he wasn’t accused of trumped-up, ridiculous charges and forced in that manner to flee his own country. What needs to happen next is Mr. Maduro needs to heed the call the international community and quite frankly, the Venezuelan people. And release the data, so that the whole world can see what the Venezuelan people, who they voted for, and that their democratic aspirations are met. We have in the past you’ve seen, levied sanctions against Mr. Maduro and his regime. I don’t have any announcements today, but I can tell you we’re constantly looking at what our options could be going forward, depending on the decisions that Maduro makes.

And does the White House anticipate any surge in illegal border crossings or attempts to do so because of the instability of Venezuela?

I haven’t seen that play out. I mean, obviously we’re watching this as closely as we can. As you well know, the numbers of the southern border have reduced and reduced significantly in the past months. But have not seen any indications of a surge coming out of Venezuela.

China said that they’ll be holding joint naval air drills with Russia starting this month. What’s the level of concern from the administration that these two countries are cooperating? Is this a sign of deepening cooperation?

I think it is, sure. We’ve been watching this defense relationship grow and deepen over the last couple of years to include the exercise of their militaries in both air, at sea, and even on the ground. So we’ll watch it like we watch all exercises. But these are two nations that don’t have a long history of working well together. Certainly not militarily. These are two nations that don’t necessarily fully trust one another, in the region or beyond, around the world. So I see no reason for us to change our own military posture or deterrent posture as a result of this exercise. This is a long planned exercise. It’s part of their regimen. So we’ll watch it and monitor, but there’s no dramatic imminent concern about it.

All right, just a couple more. Go ahead.

Thank you, John. Firstly, on China, there are of bills up for vote in Congress this week that have to do with keeping China from accessing the Inflation Reduction Act funding, that limit their EV market, that try to counter their influence on culture. Are these things that the administration supports and do we expect to see these carried through in a Harris Administration?

Well, let’s see where it goes. I don’t like to talk about draft legislation one way or the other.

Okay… Well, let’s talk about Afghanistan, then. Chairman McCall drew a direct line and countered something you just said, which is you said “They helped make us a safer nation.” He believes that the withdrawal from Afghanistan…

[inaudible 00:17:37].

Do you need a minute?

(17:42)
He argues that the withdrawal from Afghanistan has in fact made the United States more susceptible to terrorism because of those prisoners released from Bagram. What can you say to the American people to assure them that this administration is trying to keep them safe and how safe are they?

Well, just go on CENTCOM’s website. Look at the press releases that they send every time they take out a leader of ISIS or an Al-Qaeda leader. We have proven the case about over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability to a fare-thee-well. Now that doesn’t mean we’re sitting back resting fat, dumb and happy. That’s the kind of capability you have to keep working at and keep trying to improve. And we are.

(18:15)
I think it’s also important to look at what else is going around the world. You know who would’ve loved for us to be stuck in Afghanistan for another 20 years is President Putin, President Xi. They would’ve loved that. But now because we’re not in a ground war in Afghanistan, a ground war for which the original mission had long since been accomplished, we’re able to focus on those more modern and relevant threats to our national security posed by nation states and non-nation states around the world. But as for counterterrorism capability, again, we have proven time and time again that we are able to monitor the threat and deal with the threat, sometimes in near-real time if need be. Not taking it for granted, not saying we don’t always have to keep sharpening it, but believe me, we’re focused on it.

All right. Just a couple more. Go ahead.

Administration officials have said that after the six hostages were killed earlier this month, that Hamas changed the terms of the deal. Did Hamas explicitly tell mediators that there are new terms, that they want more prisoners released? And would you still characterize negotiations as on the verge of a ceasefire and hostage deal?

To your first question, yes. Hamas did change some of the terms of the exchange. And that has made it more difficult for us to get there. I’m sorry, your second question was?

Would you still characterize the deal as on the verge?

We still believe that even for the new amendments that Hamas has made, that it’s still worth an effort to try to see if we can’t get back into a ceasefire negotiation. But we’re not there right now.

Kelly?

Sir, there’s a report that the president’s convening his national security team on this issue today. Obviously it’s not on his public schedule. Is there anything more you can say about who he’s bringing in or what he’s doing? Or is this part of the ongoing conversation?

I think there was a little bit of a miscommunication, kelly. What was being referred to was his normal presidential daily briefing, where he’s presented with the intelligence of the day and has a chance to speak to some members of his national security team when he does that. It was not a major NSC meeting.

Thanks, John. The American citizen who was killed in the West Bank on Friday, Aysenur Eygi. Has the president had a chance to speak to her family at all? And do you have any sense of where the investigation stands? I know that you all had asked for the ball to get rolling on an investigation to her death. Do you know if there are any updates on that?

He has not spoken to the family as of yet. I don’t have a call to talk about today. Obviously, we continue to mourn with her family, of course. The Israelis have reached out, made sure that we knew, that they were promptly investigating this. As I understand it from just before I came out here, they are moving swiftly on this investigation and will soon, we think, in coming days, be able to present their findings and conclusions. We’ll obviously we hold our judgment until we see that. We’ve called for a complete, thorough, swift, and transparent investigation. We’ll see what they learn.

Okay. Final question. Go ahead.

Oh, hi. Thank you. Do you have any response to Russian drones violating NATO member states, Latvia and Romania, the weekend?

I think you’re talking about reports that parts of drones I think have landed in Allied territory, if you will. This is unfortunately not a new development. It has happened over the course of the war in Ukraine, where missile fragments or drone fragments sometimes get caught up in the combat and air combat and land in a neighboring nation. We watch that closely, as you might imagine. We’re in close touch with our allies and partners about that. But it just underscores the danger that Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine has now caused to the whole European continent. And the fact that the security landscape has changed, not is changing, not will change, but actually has changed. Which is why we’re doing everything we can to make sure Ukraine can defend itself.

All right. Thank you so much, Admiral.

Thank you.

Thanks, John.

Thank you, guys.

Okay. All right.

(22:21)
Hi, Chris. It’s been a while. It actually has been a while, right?

It actually has been.

All right.

Question, first off, on the war in Gaza… The UN Secretary General said the UN was willing to monitor any ceasefire deal. Is this something the White House is interested in? Perhaps taking them up on that offer?

Say that one more time? The UN

The UN Secretary General said the UN would monitor any ceasefire deal. Is the White House was interested in taking them up on that offer?

Look, as you know, there is… And the Admiral just spoke to this as well. We’re continuing to have those conversation. We continue to want to make sure that we get these hostages home. We want to make sure that we have an end to this war. That’s what the president has said. And so we are pursuing, certainly, all efforts, is something that the president said, to secure a deal that would release, again, the hostages that are being held by Hamas.

(23:10)
We cannot forget that the murder of the six hostages by Hamas has actually put us in a place where this is incredibly, even, the urgency is even more clear. And the new demands they’ve made have called into questions Hamas’s readiness to do any deal at all and the sincerity of the negotiations. And that’s what we see. So even though we’re hearing that, we want to continue to talk about the next steps with our co-mediators. This is Egypt and Qatar, and that’s what we’re doing. That’s the focus. That’s what the president believes in order. The best path forward is to get this hostage deal. And that’s what the president wants to see.

The vice president’s preparing for a debate tomorrow night with Donald Trump. Has the president spoken to the vice president about the upcoming debate? And also is he planning to watch it tomorrow night?

So I can say, and I think I confirmed this last week in either a gaggle or at the briefing, which is that the president is going to watch the debate. He’s looking forward to watching the debate. I’m not going to preview or confirm any conversations between the president and the vice president. As you know, they speak often. The president is incredibly proud of the vice president. I just don’t have anything to share beyond that. But he will be watching. We’ll be watching in New York.

And what is he watching for?

I’m not going to get into details, but he’ll be watching. He’ll be obviously supporting the Vice President in her debate. I just don’t have anything else to add to that. Thank you. Go ahead.

Thank you. Can you confirm reports that the president is hoping to establish a US Sovereign Wealth Fund and give any estimated time of announcement for that?

So I certainly don’t have anything to announce from here. But look, the president has worked to unlock investments here at home and abroad that benefit economic, our economy, right? The economy and also our national security. That is something that the president has worked to do in the past three and a half years. I just don’t have anything to announce at this time.

Thank you. With Congress back today, can you just give us the broad White House view on the state of government funding negotiations? And obviously you issued the veto threat on the House Republicans proposal, but with that dead on arrival in the Senate-

So a couple of things. I think the SAP went out, so certainly would direct you to that. That came out of this administration. But with the end of the fiscal year rapidly approaching, obviously by the end of this month in September, Congress needs to pass a short-term continuing resolution. To provide more time to pass full-year funding bills. We urge Congress to do this quickly, to pass this quickly, to keep the government open. It is really easy. It’s like their number one job. They know how to do this to keep the government open and provide that emergency funding for disaster needs. I just talked about that at the top, about the needs that we’re having just right now out West. As they have done on a bipartisan basis. They’ve done this before many times in the past. They need to get this done.

(26:15)
The proposal from House Republicans is not a solution. It’s just not. It contains a partisan poison bill, would erode our national defense, undermine our competition with China, fail our veterans and seniors, abandon communities struck by a disasters, and hurt programs that support small businesses while making wealthy tax cheats pay what they owe. So house Republicans should stop wasting time. I’ve said this many times before, repeat it at this podium. And to do their jobs for the American people by keeping the government open. It is a simple job. It’s their number one job as Congress, is to keep the government open. And we believe it should be with a short-term CR.

(26:57)
Kathleena…

On that point about government funding, how is the White House engaging with the Hill on this? And does the President have any plans to meet with congressional leaders in the coming days?

So I’ll take the first question. OMB, Leg Affairs Office are in close touch with House and Senate leadership on the need to pass a short-term CR to keep the government open. And I laid out what it would do if we didn’t and what it would erode. Example, for our national security, as we just had the National Security Council rep here. We’re coordinating with Democratic leadership on the best path forward for a short-term CR.

(27:33)
And so this is something that again, they need to do right away. They’ve done it before, many times before, in a bipartisan way. It is their number one job. Again, OMB and our Leg Affairs Office.

(27:44)
And to your second question, the president speaks regularly with congressional leaders and gets updated regularly as well from his staff. And Congress knows how to do this. They do. They know how to do this. This is the most basic thing, most

… Most basic part of their job is to keep the government open. So they know this, they don’t need to hear from the president on this directly. They know this, they know this and they can do it in a bipartisan way as they have in the past.

And on the debate, when’s the last time that President Biden spoke to Vice President Harrison? Do they plan to speak again before she takes the stage tomorrow night? And just anything you could share about the advice or words of encouragement, or just what those conversations have been like?

I’m not going to detail any private conversation that the president and the vice president has, whether it’s debate or not debate. It’s not something that I’m going to do at all. And I don’t have a readout of the last conversation that they’ve had. What I can say is that he’ll be watching. He supports, obviously, the vice president, is very proud of her, and I just don’t have anything else to add.

And will the president be watching with staff or his family tomorrow night?

The president will definitely be watching. I know I will. I know you all will. I don’t have anything beyond that. Go ahead, Jacqui.

Thank you Karine.

31% of-

Good job on…

Thank you. It had wings and now it’s dead. 31% of… I killed a bug. You’re welcome.

It was very dramatic.

Someone had to it.

I know. And the job was done. The job was indeed done.

Thank you.

You got the job done, for sure.

Thank you. 31% of registered voters said in a New York Times CNN poll that they still need to learn more about Vice President Harris. So why is she spending so much time trying to define Trump and link him to Project 2025 rather than define herself?

I mean look, those questions, obviously those are campaign questions. You would have to ask the campaign and that is for them to speak to. And what I will say is, what I can say, is that as far as contrast, a contrast can’t be more clear. It couldn’t be more clear. If you think about four years ago, America was reeling. It was reeling, in once in a generation pandemic, it was isolated from the world stage. Crime was up, the middle class was sidelined. We saw an insurrection, an insurrection on January 6th in 2021 that the former president led.

(30:21)
And you think about today, where we are today, three and a half years later we are leading the strongest economy in the world. You hear the comeback stories in places like Milwaukee, to Dayton, to Scranton, Pennsylvania. And so we have done what people said we couldn’t do, which is turn the economy around, turn the country around, be a leader on the world stage. And I think it’s important for Americans to know and to be reminded where we were and where we are. And the president certainly agrees with her. He agrees with her, her leadership, her policy decisions. He agrees with her when it comes to making sure that we need to make sure that we stop, MAGAnomics. When we think about the $4,000 tax hike on working Americans. You mentioned Project 2025, that’s something Republican support is a radical, radical idea, a radical policy agenda, that’s going to do more harm to the American people-

Trump has repeatedly disavowed it, distanced himself from it. I mean-

I said Republicans. That’s something that Republicans support.

So this is not anymore being cast as something that Trump embraces? Can we just get that straight.

I mean look, you asked me a couple of things. You asked me about the contrast, why she continues to make the contrast. You have to talk to the campaign on her strategy and how they’re moving forward. I laid out for you, the contrast could not be more clear. Where we were when we walked into this administration, when the president walked into the administration, where we are today. And that’s because of this leadership of this administration. The Biden-Harris Administration. Project 25 is something that Republicans, not going to speak to the president, the former president on this, but that Republicans are pushing. It’s a radical idea. We’re talking about more radical abortion bans, cuts to law enforcement, cuts to education, repealing Affordable Care Act and repealing the Inflation Reduction Act. Which by the way, beats big pharma. Which is something that many elected officials tried to do and couldn’t get done. The Biden-Harris administration tried to get it done. That’s what I can speak to. And that’s just a reality, that’s what’s in that agenda, that’s what Republicans are pushing and that’s what I can lay out for you.

[inaudible 00:32:45] for the campaign, but the campaign’s not holding regular briefings. They don’t have a Q&A forum like we have here-

I can’t talk to you about that [inaudible 00:32:52]-

Spokesperson for the Biden-Harris administration.

I literally just answered your question on why the contrast couldn’t be more clear. I just answered your question about Project 25 and what it’s trying to do and what Republicans are supporting. I just laid that out.

I don’t think it was the question I asked, but I do appreciate the answer.

No, you asked me why the vice president’s campaign, the Harris campaign is not doing X, Y and Z. I said to you, you’ve got to talk to the vice president’s campaign. And there’s a Hatch Act, I’ve got to be mindful to that, you know that. I can’t answer that question, but-

I understand. How about I try one different way?

But I can talk to contrast. You asked me about contrast and I just laid it out.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Does President Biden define Vice President Harris as a progressive Democrat?

Look, the vice president has been a critical partner, a critical partner to this president. All you’ve got to do is look at the record and what we have been able to do in the past three and a half years, that Biden-Harris administration has been able to do. You think about the economy, you think about healthcare and you think about these really important generation- changing legislation that are not laws obviously. I just talked about beating big Pharma. That’s important. That was the Inflation Reduction Act that only Democrats voted for, now republicans want to repeal. They want to take that away, take that away, taking away lowering cost for the American people. And to be clear, lowering cost on medical care and pharmaceutical drugs and also energy bills, right? That’s two really big part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The president is not going to be labeling the vice president. She has her policies, obviously that he’s in line with, that she has put forth in the past week or so. He supports her, he believes in her leadership. And that’s what I can share with you.

We are allowing for a contrast with Trump, but not a contrast with other Democrats. Because Senator Bernie Sanders, for instance, said that he still views her as a progressive Democrat. He said that she’s in fact not abandoning her ideals, but making a pragmatic play toward the center to win the election. And that sends a chill down the spine of some people who might be in the middle or the center right, considering her. And when she’s been trying to position herself as a more moderate figure now than she was in 2020, where does she stand exactly?

So first of all, the Senator is going to speak for himself. That’s for him to speak to. I’m not going to get into a I agree or disagree with him. What I can tell you is this president believes in her leadership and believes in her bold policy agenda. That is something that the president is in line with her on, right? And we’re talking about strengthening the middle class. That’s what we believe her bold policy agenda continues to do. And that’s in important. You hear the president talking about building economy from the bottom up, middle out and strengthening the middle class. We’re in line. More economic opportunity. The president wants to see that. And we’re talking about the tax cuts for working people, fighting corporate pricing gouging, lowering costs, having the wealthy pay their fair share. We’re in line. We’re in line with what the vice president is putting forth. Her bold policy agenda to make sure that we do not leave people behind.

(36:16)
I’m not going to stand here and label the vice president. The senator has every right to say whatever he wants to say. What I can say is, the president agrees with her bold policy and agenda and her leadership. Wait, did I just call on you? Okay. Let me just try and get other people. Go ahead Gerren.

The Congressional Black Caucus is a corporate accountability report on diversity, equity, and inclusion. It asks corporate organizations to reaffirm their commitments to DEI, update on racial equity investments and work with the CBC to create legislative solutions that will help close the racial wealth gap. Does administration have a reaction to this report? Have they engaged with the CBC or advised them about this report at all?

So it just came out, we hadn’t had a chance to review the report. But you know this is something that this administration believes how diversity is our strength. You hear the president say this, and that is something that the president believes. And that is true whether it’s in schools, our military or businesses, it is important. And it is true for our government, where he has assembled the most diverse presidential administration in history. That is something that this president and this vice president has done. And just a couple of things, in June when senior White House officials, they were able to welcome business executive and civil rights leaders to the White House for a discussion on ensuring how Americans have access to economic opportunities. That wasn’t that long ago, just a couple of months ago. And at that event, business leaders joined civil rights leaders and congressional staff to share best practices and actions that will protect and create pathways to opportunities.

(37:57)
So this is an administration that understands that it is important to not leave any communities behind. And I think what we’ve been able to show these three and a half years, how those communities who have felt behind like they were left behind, are now included in the process. They’re included in our policies, they’re included in our legislation, they’re included in how we move forward even in executive actions. And this is the president that takes that very seriously. He also believes it’s important to have those different voices at the table, hence having a very diverse, the most diverse administration. And so while we haven’t gone through the study, what we can say, we believe diversity is indeed our strength. It is important to continue to do that work. And that’s what you’re going to see from this administration.

On another topic, CBC is also, as you know, hosting their annual legislative conference this week, and the president is hosting a Black Excellence brunch on Friday. Was that intentionally planned for this week with CBC? And what can you share about the president’s remarks that he will be giving?

Yeah, so not going to get ahead of his remarks. The president’s looking very much forward to holding that brunch here. The Black Excellence brunch here on the South Lawn on Friday, as you just said. But I could share a little bit, just more broadly. You can expect the president to speak about the enormous contribution that Black Americans have made to this nation. You’ve heard the president say that before as well. And continuing our efforts, as I just stated moments ago, about making sure that there are opportunities for all Americans, for all Americans, including Black Americans. So that is something that the president certainly I think will touch on and you will hear more from him on Friday.

Is the president or vice president attending the Phoenix Awards and giving remarks this year?

We’ll have more to share in a couple of days. We’ll have more to share. Go ahead, sir.

Yeah. On mental health parity, enforcement’s long been an issue and many plans haven’t complied with requirements over the years. Does the administration plan to be more aggressive in terms of enforcement going forward on this?

Well, anything that might be the legalities of it, I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals. It’s obviously an issue that’s very important to us. It’s a great step forward when we talk about the mental health parity, and it is, it’s a parity, right? Mental health should be healthcare. And so we’re going to certainly continue to make sure that effort is a key part of this administration in the next four or five months. Any legal stuff, I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals or anything like that. But this will continue to be a priority, that I can continue to be very clear on. Go ahead, Kelly O.

How would you describe the way in which in briefings and in other White House communications since July 21st, you reference the vice president more? We hear now more Biden-Harris administration, when if we look back, it would’ve been much more focused on just the president. So as you do that, how do you describe the importance of, in this official way, talking about her and linking her to the accomplishments?

Look, I think it is important for Americans to know that the vice president has played a very big role in the success of this administration over the last three and a half years. And we have said this before, even before July 21st, how much of a partner, she’s been a critical partner. It is not the first time that we’ve said it. Maybe we’re saying it more to your point, but we’ve been pretty consistent in saying that their partnership is important and how she has had even a critical role. If you think about some of these historic piece of legislation where she was that vote, the vote that she made in the Senate helped pass that legislation and turn it into law. The Inflation Reduction Act, for example.

And so, I think it is important to note how much of a key partner that she’s been, and that’s something that the President wants us to do. He wants us to make clear to the American people that the Vice President Harris has been here from day one, obviously, and has had a leadership role and will continue to do that.

And do you see that as a part of her introducing herself to the country? Which is something her campaign is talked about. But again, in this official lane.

No, I get the official lane. Look, I don’t want to get into murky waters here by getting into her own strategy. That is certainly something for her to speak to. But we want to make sure that people understand, the American people understand that this continues to be a partnership. This is a partnership. And we’ve said that before. We’ve said that throughout the last three-and-a-half years. And the President respects her leadership. He respects her bold policy ideas as I was speaking to Jackie about back and forth moments ago, and he supports that. And I think it’s important for the American people to understand that, to be very clear. And that’s one thing that we want to be very clear about from here.

(43:14)
Go ahead, in the back.

The Office of Management and Budget has asked federal agencies to start thinking about the transition, that regardless of where we are in a couple of months and who wins, there’s going to be some kind of transition. How are you all thinking about that? How is the President thinking about that? Especially given, I know at the beginning of this administration, a frequent refrain from your office was, “We didn’t have a lot of help during the transition from agencies within the government, people within the government.” How are you all thinking about what you want that to look like?

So, let me just state this first, so that folks who are watching understand because I know you all understand this. What is happening right now is common. It is not unusual. It is something that every administration at this point who are clearly coming to the end of their administration have to do. So it’s a common process. Nothing unusual there. I’m sure we will have more to share to your question.

(44:09)
But the President, look, when it comes to the job that he has had for the last three-and-a-half years, almost four years, he takes that very seriously. He takes everything that he does, everything that comes out of this administration very seriously because it’s about the American people. It’s not about him. In order to have a successful government, he has to have that leadership to make sure it’s a successful government. It doesn’t matter for him or whoever is next. So, I’m certain we’ll have more to share, but again, it’s not unusual. The President’s always going to do what’s right for the American people, and this is part of that.

The last transition was, you’re talking about how it’s not unusual for government to start thinking about this, but the last transition was anything but usual.

Yeah, I agree with you. I’m not disagreeing.

[inaudible 00:44:58].

But that’s not going to be what this president does.

Has he given any specific guidance? Has your colleagues begun thinking about how you want to make it different? Four years ago was not normal for a lot of reasons.

You are exactly right. I’m not disagreeing with you and we do not want to go back there. We do not want that. We do not want to repeat what we saw the last time around in the last administration. It should not be about someone’s personal agenda. It should be about the American people. And I think if you’ve seen anything, especially these last past couple of months from this president is that he cares. He puts the American people first. And that’s how, in your question, that’s what he’s going to do. He’s going to do what’s right for the American people and how do we move forward in the way that we put them first? That’s the best that I can answer that for you.

Thank you.

No problem.

Karine, good to see you. I wonder what the White House makes former President Trump’s comments over the weekend saying, “When I win, those people who cheated in elections of 2020 and 2024 will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.” Have you seen those comments? Has the President seen those comments? And what do you think of them?

I can say I have not spoken to the President about those types of comments. And look, and I want to be careful, because obviously he’s saying it as in his campaign capacity, but that type of rhetoric is dangerous. This is not who we are as a country. This is a democracy. And so, that’s what the President believes, that type of rhetoric is, coming from a former president, is dangerous.

(46:51)
I mean, we saw what happened on January 6th in 2021. 2,000 people went to The Capitol. You all, some of your colleagues reported on this, some of your colleagues were there, law enforcement members were attacked. It was a dark day in our country. Our democracy was attacked. And they went there because they were told that they should overturn an election, a free and fair election where dozens, dozens of Republican judges said that it was indeed a free and fair election. And so, that type of rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable and that is not what this president believes.

Just a quick question-

Yeah, sure.

On voters in particular. As the President makes some outreach to lawmakers, I wonder if he’s going to make some outreach to black voters specifically. Both campaigns are working to do that in states like Georgia, and perhaps some of that economic message is getting lost with some black voters. If you talk to them, they have a different picture of the Trump economy than they do the Biden economy, so to speak. How’s the President, the Vice President, going to talk directly to black voters about the economic issues I had?

So, I’ve got to be careful asking me about a strategic play, a campaign play. When you’re saying voters, black voters in particular in your question here. So, you would have to ask the campaigns specifically on how they’re going to do that, what their outreach is going to be.

But in terms of the record [inaudible 00:48:26]?

And I hear the question, so I just have to be really clear. We respect Hatch Act, we respect the law here, so I can’t speak to a strategy here. But what you have seen this president, this administration do, cabinet secretaries, this president, obviously the Vice President in her official capacity is that we try to go out there, we go out there, we meet the American people where they are. We talk about what we have done in this administration over three-and-a-half years. We talk about how we’ve been able to rebuild the economy. We talk about how we’re leading the economy in the world, the strongest economy in the world. And it is not done by accident. It was not by accident. It is because the President and Democrats in Congress, when you think about the American Rescue Plan, which helped turn things around, put checks in pockets, we were able to do that, put shots in arms so we can deal with a once in a generation pandemic. It was not easy, but we were able to get this done.

(49:25)
Now, do we understand that some Americans are not feeling that? Yeah, we get that. We understand. That’s why the President is going to continue to talk about ways to lower cost. You saw the President and the Vice President recently a couple of weeks ago or just last week? No. No, a couple of weeks ago, talk about how the drugs that are going to be lowered in cost because they were able to beat Big Pharma. And so now Medicare is able to do those. That matters. That matters to Americans. So we’re just going to have to continue to talk about it. Let Americans know.

(50:00)
I can’t speak to the campaign strategy. That’s something that they’ll speak to. But the President believes it’s also his job to communicate directly with the American people, and to let them know what we’re doing. The economy, the healthcare climate change, even on the world stage and our leadership and how we’re leading in that way. And so we’re going to continue to do that, be out there.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Recently the US identified the first case of H5N1 in a person that had no known animal contact. And I wonder if that changes the posture of the White House’s Pandemic Office? Or if there’s any updates as to how the administration is tackling this outbreak?

So look, we take all of this very, very seriously. So what we’re going to continue to do is continue to monitor and help states where it’s needed, assist where it’s needed. I don’t have an update for you. But obviously our number one priority when it comes to the Pandemic Office and also other White House offices. And what we’re trying to do here is we want to make sure that American people feel safe in communities out there. And so we’re going to monitor it. I don’t have an update for you here at this time, but we take this very, very seriously.

(51:20)
I think we’re going to start wrapping up. Go ahead. Go ahead, Ed.

Thanks, Karine. I want to ask you about jobs. So the Biden-Harris administration-

Sorry.

The Biden-Harris administration has been touting manufacturing jobs for the past year. But the last jobs report showed that manufacturing lost 24,000 jobs. And the trend over the past three months has been a loss of 11,000 jobs per month on average in manufacturing. So why is it going the wrong direction?

So look, we pay attention obviously to all these reports. What we also want to do, yes, we pay attention to reports, we pay attention to data, but we also want to make sure it’s taken into context, and so we can’t lose that as well. A couple of things, manufacturing investment has hit all-time highs for six consecutive quarters. That’s important. Factory construction has more than doubled to an all-time high. And it also, it takes time for factories to build, to be built and also manufacturing jobs to be created.

(52:18)
And so, we’ve created over 1.6 million jobs in manufacturing and construction. So, you’ve got to put this all into context and we’ve seen businesses invest more than $900 billion in manufacturing and clean energy. And one analyst said, and I quote them, “After years of inaction, America is now building factories at a rapid rate.” And that is because of what we’ve been doing, which is investing in America. And there’s always more work to be done. And that’s something that you can see from this administration.

So you need more time. Is there a timeframe as to when those jobs will materialize?

I don’t have a timeframe for you, but what I can say is we’ve got to take them all into context. We do. Data is important. We pay attention to reports, but we can’t miss what we’ve seen the last six months. Consecutive six months as well. We can’t discount the investment that this administration has been able to make into manufacturing. We can’t discount the 1.6 million jobs that have been created. That is important. The $900 billion in investment, we can’t discount any of that, right? That has to be put into the context as we’re looking at this particular question that you’re asking me about manufacturing jobs.

(53:27)
All right, everybody, thank you so much. Thank you so much.