Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre 5/16/24

We'll wait for... I don't want to call her out, but...

Madam President?

Madam President, that's right. Just trying to be good. Not call out people. All right, good afternoon. As President Biden said during his campaign, no one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana. That's why in 2022, President Biden requested that DOJ and HHS review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. Today the administration is taking a major step toward reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule 1 to a Schedule 3 drug under federal law. If finalized, marijuana will no longer hold the higher level classification it currently holds over fentanyl and meth drugs driving our nation's overdose epidemic. And it will remove burdensome, longstanding barriers to critical research. This announcement builds on the work President Biden has already done to pardon a record number of federal offenses for simply possessing marijuana. His categorical pardon for federal offenses of simple possession in October 2022 and December 2023, lifted barriers to housing, small business loans and more for thousands of Americans. (01:35) The reality is, while white, black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionately higher rates. The president's actions today further his commitment to reverse longstanding injustices and to right historic wrongs. Next I want to talk about as part of our series of engagements this week we are marking the 70th anniversary of the Landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. Today, President Biden met with plaintiffs and their family members at the White House. Among those the president met with include Adrienne Jennings Bennet, a plaintiff in one of the original cases, Bolling v. Sharpe, that was argued alongside Brown v. Board and Cheryl Brown Henderson, one of the daughters of the lead plaintiff Oliver L. Brown in the Brown v. Board. (02:37) The delegation represents litigants from the five cases that were combined under Brown v. Board of Education and heard before the Supreme Court as well as the NAACP President Derek Johnson and other leaders of the NAACP were critical in fighting for these and other hard won freedoms for black Americans. The president was proud to participate in this meeting and honor the legacy of those who paved the way for progress and hard fought rights for black Americans, while highlighting his vision for how we must continue to build on these freedoms. Joining us today, as you can see from my right to say more and make some news about this administration's work to advance racial equity and opportunity for black Americans as senior advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement, the former mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, Mayor Steve Benjamin. Thank you so much for coming again. The podium is yours.

Karine, Thank you so much. Thank you my friend. I miss being mayor y'all. I think it was a much simpler existence at times. Today at the White House, as Karine mentioned, we're recognizing, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown versus Topeka Kansas Board of Education. Becoming the law of the land, upending decades of discrimination since 1896. President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue their longstanding effort to honor the legacy of those who paved the way for progress and hard fought rights for African-Americans. This morning he met with the plaintiffs and the families as Karine mentioned in the Oval Office. During the meeting, he commended them for changing our nation for the better and committed to continuing his fight to move us closer to the Promise of America. Families from each of the five different cases that were consolidated in Brown v. Board were present today. (04:35) Tomorrow the president's going to deliver remarks at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington D.C. Here he and the Vice President, a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. We'll also meet with the leaders of Divine Nine historically black fraternities and sororities. On Sunday, May 19th, the president's going to deliver the commencement address at the 140th Morehouse College commencement in Atlanta, Georgia, where today the faculty voted to confer upon the president an honorary degree. President Biden and Vice President Harris, who also, as we all know, serves as the very first HBCU graduate, first to serve as Vice President of the United States, they know firsthand the value of HBCUs and I'm proud and very pleased to announce today that the Biden-Harris administration has invested more than $16 billion in historically black colleges and universities, which is unprecedented. A record amount. President Biden has also canceled $160 billion in student loans for over 4 million Americans providing significant relief to all borrowers with significant impact on black borrowers. Increase the amount of maximum Pell grants as well by $900, the largest increase in a decade. (05:53) Helping students from low and middle income backgrounds pursue their dreams of a post-secondary education. Nearly 60% of African-American students are federal financial aid recipients with an average award of nearly $5,000 per student. This is only a snapshot of what this administration has delivered. As President Biden, Vice President Harris have leveraged a full force of the federal government to advance racial justice and build economic opportunity since their first day in office. As a result of their leadership, black household family wealth is up 60%. More than 2.5 million jobs have been created for African-Americans, and in 2023 we hit the lowest black unemployment data on record and that remains consistently low as we've seen across the country, unemployment under 4% for the entire nation for 27 months running. Very happy to be here with you. More than happy to take your questions, I think.

Thank you so much for being here. So you recently met with students and faculty at Morehouse College. Can you just talk to us about the concerns they shared and how you responded?

Sure, and I'll do my best to be clear and transparent because I also promised the students I would keep our conversation as closely as I possibly could. But in every day as director of public engagement here, we get out across the country. I try to spend at least two days of every week on the road somewhere doing what my grandmother and other loved ones might say, God gave you two years and one mouth for a reason. You listen twice as much as you talk. And really wanted to lean in with these young leaders to hear what they wanted to hear on their very special commencement day. Many of you know that four years ago, many of them were denied a commencement because of the pandemic, the greatest pandemic since 1918. And wanting to make sure that the President's goal to center these students and have a chance to discuss the real issues of the world that they might have to address as leaders going forward was important. (07:50) So we sat there, we talked about everything. I mean, we talked about the status of the world. Certainly many of them want to talk about the Middle East and war. We talked about reconnecting communities and the amazing $160 million going in just up the street, the Stitch Project in Atlanta, working to undo some of the damage done by previous infrastructure investments and how it's reconnecting in a very reparative and restorative way, the street of Auburn community. We talked about wealth creation. (08:20) Each and every one of these young men who I will say were exceptional, five students, all graduating seniors, going off to do great things at... Find institutions and great places, work for faculty members and two administrators shared individually, one by one the things that were important to them to try and hear. But the common thread was they wanted to make sure we were centering the young people and the President did that on Sunday. But we talked on any range of issues. I have a college aged daughter who also attends HBCU and a 17-year-old as of today, happy birthday, Jordan Grace Benjamin, who is plotting world domination and takeover as we speak. She's a real politician in the family, but their concerns and interest areas were not dissimilar from the two teenagers who live in our household.

And do you or the president have any concerns about the President's address overshadowing the commencement as we've heard from some students publicly?

Sure. No, obviously, I think what's going to be most important are the words that the president articulates. And I know that he feels very deeply about what this means to these young men, and I say young men, many of you know that Morehouse is a unique institution. Some of you who are familiar with the legacy of the Great School is probably the only place in the country, if not the world right now, but that many amazingly talented young men are being trained for leadership in the world at one time. Young black men know that the goal will be to make sure that we use this as an opportunity to continue to elevate the amazing work that's been done at Morehouse over the last century and a half.

Yeah. [inaudible 00:09:59]. I do wonder what kind of reception do you having been there expect the president to receive at Morehouse? Also, does he plan to have any direct engagement with students or faculty there? A lot of them that I've talked to have said, we don't just want a campaign speech or a speech at us, but we want to be able to talk policy or talk about their issues.

Sure. I'm sure the president will have a chance to engage with faculty staff and students while he's there, and I know that he looks forward to it. Did I answer that question?

Yeah. Well, the first one, having talked to students at Morehouse, what kind of reception do you expect him to receive?

Sure. It's so important to realize that no community is monolithic. Even some of the range of opinions that we received last Friday and that I've heard from speaking with literally dozens and dozens of folks just about this speech over the last several days. People have different thoughts about what they might want to hear. I do know that the President, again, is very focused on centering these young men and what this transition in life means to them. So we listen very closely. We've received those messages and we shared those with the president and his speech writing team.

I'm Nancy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Happy birthday to your daughter.

Thank you.

Does the president share the President of Morehouse College's belief that the graduation ceremony should be halted if there are protests or disruptions?

I'm going to let Morehouse handle Morehouse and let Dr. Thomas, who's been wonderful to work with as we prepare for the commencement. I'll let him speak for Morehouse College. The President's been very clear. I mean, we live in a amazing country where you have three estates of government and you have a fourth estate that personifies the importance of the right to free speech and you do it well. That right to free speech extends to even those who wish to protest and he respects that. And he makes it a point to lean in when there are protesters in the very same space. So we'll respect that. I think as long as they're peaceful protests that don't disrupt the amazing moment that is for each of those graduates there today, I think we'll all consider this a success.

Did the White House ever consider canceling the speech once you learned that there likely would be protest?

No, not that I know of. I'll defer that to someone else. No, ma'am.

Hi, Mr. mayor. Thank you. Recent polls have Joe Biden, Donald Trump, neck and neck among black voters. Hope we stay away from the Hatch Act, but do you think that the President's message is resonating with black voters?

Well, you have no responsibility to stay away from the Hatch Act, but I do. So I appreciate that. As I mentioned, I spend a great deal of time on the road. I mean, this is a wonderful citadel of democracy, D.C, the heart of the Republic. But getting out and listening to people and hearing the impact of President Biden's and Vice President Harris's policies on helping change their lives inform my opinion as to where just everyday Americans stand. We're not going to talk politics. (13:18) And I've had a chance to be... Gosh, in Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, South Carolina, Georgia, New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, just in the last several months and listening to people talk about the impact of amazing things like the criminal justice reforms and social reforms, the president's led on how... In fact, while creating access to capital and creating economic opportunity leading to not just these precipitously low unemployment rates, but the greatest increase in number of black-owned businesses in 30 years. How we're not just talking about history like we are doing today with the Brown and related case defendants, but how indeed the president's making history every single day. That's a feedback I get from people, and I think we're going to focus, continue on making history on this side of the table by just leading through good government and the leadership of the president and the vice president.

Okay. Is there a connection between the investments that you talked about today in the HBU community and the things you've been hearing from your travels? Some of the concerns that have been expressed by students and communities across the country, especially in the last several months of the Israel-Hamas war? Is there a link between the investments and what you've been learning?

Sure. No. The $16 billion number that we're releasing today is new. It's an updated number, but many of you may remember that the previous total shared publicly was $7 billion, which was also a record, long before the last several months. This is consistent with the president's very clear commitment

Commitment from day one of the administration to making sure that not only do we declare that equity is a central theme sacrosanct to the core of this administration, but that we actually put in place real ladders to opportunity as he seeks to build an economy from the middle out, and bottom-up. I mean, so this is nothing new. This is entirely consistent with the work that the president has been doing in day one; a whole-of-government approach, a whole-of-society approach that's yielding fruit.

And when you talk about this kind of investment and you're meeting with groups of students who feel frustration, does it make a difference?

So I will cross the line maybe back to the first question, just briefly. As we went through. It is always important, again, if you're going to listen, you have to listen. You can't come and talking. And you listen, you receive where people are and you get into a real public narrative; the story of you, the story of me, and kind of where we go from here. And when you see opportunities to share these successes, and I'm not going to sit here and go through a tick list, but in every single corner of American society, you think about the President's leadership, the greatest pandemic since 1918, the greatest economic disruption many of us expected maybe, since 1929, the greatest social arrest we saw after the murder of George Floyd, since 1968, all wrapped up into a moment that that post-Charlottesville propelled this genuinely good man to decide he wanted to help lead his country. That's all part of what has become the Biden-Harris agenda. (16:41) And they've been leading from the front. As I go through those issues, and I did it last Friday with those amazing young leaders, heads were nodding. People were very much appreciative of receiving the information and I know were planning to go and share with others.

Mr. Mayor, I just wanted to circle back to the meeting today in the Oval Office. The people who were there with President Biden came out and spoke with us briefly afterwards, and a few of them mentioned the work that still needs to be done and how schools are, in many parts of the country, still effectively segregated. Did the president have anything to say about that in terms of continuing work? And did he respond to you, a parent asked that a holiday be made out of the anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education?

That request came up in our meeting before the meeting as well, from one of the families of the litigants. I mean, it's important to note that the first major national holiday established in decades Juneteenth the President, that's his legislation. The establishment of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Memorial in Illinois and Mississippi. Also because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris leadership, the passing of the Emmett Till Anti-lynching bill. Even some of the tough left to do, hopefully the passage of the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act someday, each of the elements that those bills are part of the President's Executive Board as it relates to federal law enforcement agencies. (18:15) In this conversation, and I'm not sure, one of the speakers they may have mentioned, the President also talked to her mother, a 103 year old litigant as well by phone. There's an acknowledgement every day with our President, that we're not where we ought to be, but we're certainly not where we used to be. And every moment you have to celebrate the successes we've had celebrating diversity of this country, and how we move forward together is a moment to celebrate. Still a lot of work to be done, but it's only going to happen with truly inspired leadership like we're getting from President Biden and Vice President Harris.

Thank you and thank you Mayor Benjamin. The Morehouse Commencement Ceremony has been described as, "Solemn," "Steeped in tradition," you just described it as, "Unique" and I'm wondering how the nature of the ceremony factored into the White House's decision to have President Biden speak there, at a time when there's volatility on campuses nationwide?

Sure. Morehouse and all the other HBCUs, I served as a trustee at Benedict College, another proud historically Black college in Columbia, South Carolina. Again, my daughter also attends, she'll tell you, because she wears Spelman on her chest all day every day. She's a Spelman woman. Morehouse is unique, but I dare say that every institution of higher learning is unique. And HBCUs, yes, are solemn places. Almost every one of them, but most of them birthed after one of the darkest periods in world history and certainly the darkest period in American history. So when you step onto those grounds, you're always stepping into someplace special. The President was invited to come to Morehouse, voted on by the faculty today, to indeed receive an honorary doctorate, which we confirmed on Sunday. And I think, yeah, it's a special place and having a chance to speak very directly to this very unique group of talented young men and women who, young men and their families who are going to go out and help change the world. Yeah, I'm sure it did fact in his decision to make the move down there.

The President of the United States receives multiple invitations to speak at multiple universities every single year, and I'm wondering if you think that even with the possibility of protests, that there's an expectation of potentially a calmer reception at Morehouse than elsewhere?

I'll tell you, Morehouse is an amazingly special and dignified place. Yes, he does receive a lot of invitations, but this president has also been very intentional over the course of his career and certainly his presidency to always make sure he makes time to go to HBCUs. He delivered the commencement address at Howard last year, he's been an SC State's commencement address. He's obviously spoke to the president of Delaware State where President Biden will tell you that he got his political start decades ago, spoke to Dr. Allen today, and obviously it's special to him, and he realizes that not only a speech, but more importantly the $16 billion in resources to support this amazingly talented group of young leaders that he doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk.

Okay, I'm going to start wrapping it up. Go ahead. Go ahead.

A question on a question on the Oval Office meeting and then wanted to follow up on something else you said. Had the President met with the families involved in the Delaware case prior to today's Oval Office meeting or was this his first time meeting them?

It was interesting, and obviously this is my first time in the same space with each of them and he spent a significant amount of time with the Delaware families. One of the ladies, a daughter of one of the litigants indicated that the President had spent several moments on their couch over the course of his career. So he was very familiar with the case, he knows the case, but he engaged with the families in the past.

And then on the question of enthusiasm for the president and the African American community, what do you chalk that lethargy up to?

I will tell you again, I can only speak, Francesca, to my experience. And when I get out there and we talk to people about the amazing successes of the administration and the leadership of the President and Vice President, people are psyched. I mean, they're happy about these meaningful developments that are helping change the lives of people all across this country. And that's a campaign job, our job here is making sure we share the news and hopefully in partnership with each and every one of you, that the news gets out to all the places in this very different world in which we live, in which people receive their news. So I'm looking over [inaudible 00:23:06] a third question, Francesca.

No, I just wanted to ask, are you saying that you distrust the polling that shows the President's support among the African-American community is lower than it was this time four years ago?

I can honestly tell you that I don't follow the polls.

Okay, yeah.

[inaudible 00:23:21] Brown v. Board not only ended, "Separate but equal," but it was a reverberation for the civil rights movement. Similarly, there's a different movement happening after the Supreme Court ruling in Harvard vs. Student Welfare Admissions With Affirmative Action that has created this sort of, seemingly this anti-DEI, anti-equity movement that has impacted schools, businesses, and even this administration's ability to implement some of his policies. Does the president believe that he has been in enough on this issue and how much can we expect him to speak to that in tomorrow's speech?

Sure. Well, he has one speech tomorrow at the NAACP and then obviously has several speeches this weekend. The President's unapologetic about, not only the principle of equity being a core value to him, but also his administration, but he continues to make sure that, consistent with his very first executive order, that every piece of policy that comes out of the administration, as well as each of the cornerstone laws and acts; the Infrastructure bill, Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS bill, and also the American Rescue Plan, that each of those bills have the same core of equity and it's led to record amounts of contracting, I think 76 $billion this past year for small minority owned businesses, record amounts in the Black community and the Latino community as well. So he's not stepping back on his commitment to equity and continues to lead in and expects his administration to do the same.

All right. Okay. Go ahead Ebony. We got last question.

Okay. I want to follow up on just two comments. One, you just mentioned the 76 billion in contracts for minority businesses, but can you talk about what that looks like for Black businesses, specifically?

12.1 billion.

Wow. 12.1 billion. And then my second question is, earlier you were talking about that we aren't where we used to be, we're not where we want to be. Specifically when the question was asked, what are the things, or are there any orders or policies, executive orders that we can see coming from the president that can address some of these inequities in education? When we were at earlier, I was talking about how we are seeing re-segregation in some of the schools. How can the administration, or what could be to come from the administration to reverse that? Because there's been a reversal in many areas?

Yeah. I'll try to make the answer as concise as possible, but as you can tell, I believe very much so in data and good data. The challenge that we faced at the height of the pandemic, recognizing still the way that most of our education systems across the country are funded; property taxes, local resources, not necessarily dedicated at the level that they ought to receive even in sometimes in the same town or the same state, can make things particularly challenging. The work that the President led on along with the vice president to make sure that we're investing not only in HBCUs record amounts for day, but also under the American Rescue Plan, Title I schools receiving $130 billion in funding for maintenance of equity requirements, making sure we're protecting high poverty schools from deductions in state and local funding. (27:02) I mean, it's what he does every day when I talk about not being where we used to be and also not being where we ought to be, there's this idea, and he talks about it often, you've heard him say it a million times about the idea of America. The idea is that we all aspire to be a more perfect union, which means every once in a while you could take big strides, big leaps forward. Brown v. Board was a big leap forward. Today's announcement of 16 billion for HBCUs is a big leap forward, but the everyday struggles, that's the hard work. That's the hard work that this President has decided that he's going to lean into every single day. Some days we'll take strides, every once in a while, it's three and out, sometimes it's inches. But we're making progress towards that more perfect union, and it takes intentional fortitude and leadership and vision of the fact that we're stronger when we're together, that diversity is our strength and it's something that other President and Vice President Harris are very proud of. Thank y'all for having me. All right?

Thank you Mayor. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Okay, so, oh wait, let's give him a second to... All right.

Two topics, if I may. First, President Biden decided to block the release of the audio of his interview with the special counsel and obviously the letter from the White House counsel laid out the reasons about the concerns of being used for equitable purposes. But that seems to imply that the White House is concerned that these could be politically damaging, so why not just release them, especially with this White House's commitment to transparency?

For one, the transcripts, as you all know, is already out there. I think the second piece of this too to note is that the Attorney General made it clear that law enforcement files like these need to be protected, and so the President made his determination at the request of the Attorney General. So just want to make that second point that I made really clear. (29:02) The Department of Justice and the White House Counsel's Office have provided extensive written letters. As you all know, I'm sure some of you have read this, on this issue, and like I said, that you have seen. And so when it comes to anything further or any specifics, obviously, I would refer you to my colleagues at the White House Counsel's Office. But just to make that second point again very clear, this was taken by determination Presidential determination at the request of the Attorney General and the Attorney General wanted to make sure that that law enforcement files like these must be protected.

But does the White House feel that the recording, the audio could be politically harmful, since that point was also raised in the letter?

So I don't want to dive into the specific point that you're making about the politics. I would have to refer you to our Counsel's Office on that. But there were

The determination that the president took very seriously on behalf of... Obviously at the request of the attorney general, and that's how this decision was made.

And on the shooting of the Slovakian prime minister, I know the president released a statement yesterday, but now that it looks more and more clear that it appears to have been a politically motivated attack, I was wondering if the White House had more to say on that front of those potential motivations.

So don't want to go beyond what I said here at the lectern yesterday. Obviously, we wish him a speedy recovery. Don't want to get beyond that, and I'm glad that he's doing okay. He's doing better.

Thanks, Karine. Just to follow up on what Sung Min was asking for, Speaker Mike Johnson said that President Biden is "apparently afraid" for citizens to hear his interview with special counsel, Robert Hur. How has the White House responded to that?

I would say the transcripts are already out there. They've been out there. They have been released to the public. The public has an opportunity to hear directly from the president or to read and what exactly the president said. The attorney general made it clear that law enforcement files like these need to be protected and that's the determination that was made. Anything further, anything specifics, I certainly would refer you to my colleagues, but that was a determination that was made. And again, anything more to that I would refer you to my colleagues.

You talked about the transcripts being released, but as you know, hearing something and reading it is very different. And if the transcript is already out there, why is it different to have the audio there?

Like I said, there were determinations that the president that was made by the president at the request of the attorney general, and so we took that very seriously. The president took that very seriously and so that's what I would say to your question.

Just one more question on another topic.

Sure.

Was Xi Jinping meeting with Vladimir Putin at the summit in Beijing? They pledged to deepen their strategic partnership. What is the US assessment of the current Russia-China relationship?

So I know that there was a statement. Obviously that was a joint statement that was put out. Look, we don't see anything new here. I will reiterate what I said yesterday, which was we find it unacceptable. The Chinese companies are helping Putin wage this war against Ukraine. We've been very clear about that. And if China purports to support peace in Europe, it cannot continue to feel the biggest threat of the European security. And that's not just coming from us, it's coming from NATO, the EU, the G7 partners. They've put out statement about this as well. So look, the statement is nothing new. It's more of the same. And we've been very clear where we stand on this. Jeff.

I'd like to follow up on that actually. You said the statement is nothing new. It was pretty anti-American. Whether it's new or not, is it concerning to the White House?

Again, we don't see anything new with this. We've seen this before. I get the point that you're making. We've seen this type of bilateral statement from those two countries. We have been very clear about this. And it's not just us. You've heard from the EU, you've heard from the G7 partners, you've heard from NATO. All of the allies and partners that I just mentioned, we've been very clear on making sure that we do everything that we can to give the brave people of Ukraine who are fighting Putin's aggression, the security assistance that they need. (33:14) And that's what was so important to get that national security supplemental. You heard us announce $1 billion on the day that it became law, that National Security Supplemental to get that funding out. You heard from Secretary Blinken who was just in Ukraine and talked about giving more of that security assistance. So we've all been clear. This two bilateral relationship, obviously, they stand out as two countries who are, as I said, put out the statement. But that is not the position, not just the position of the US. (33:47) They heard it from G7, NATO, the EU. We've been very, very clear about that and we're going to continue to stand by Ukraine as they fight for their freedom. They fight for their democracy.

Does the White House slash just the United States have any leverage to dissuade China from supporting Russia as much as it is?

Look, I mean, we've been very clear publicly, we've been very clear privately and we'll continue to do that.

That doesn't answer my question. You're saying you've been very clear. What kind of leverage do you have to change this?

Here's what I say, Jeff. When you have the EU, you have the G7, you have NATO all saying what we are saying right now, which is we're going to protect or continue to help Ukraine defend itself. That says a lot. We're talking about partners and allies here who mount a pretty strong force here in saying that we're going to continue to support Ukraine. I mean, I think that says what you need to know.

There's just nothing more you can do about China.

I mean, look, I'm not going to talk about bilateral relationship. I said this yesterday. What I can speak as to what we've reiterated over and over again is that it is unacceptable for Chinese companies and how they're helping Putin wage this war against Ukraine. We've been pretty clear about that. But the fact that this is the president that has been able to bring NATO together, right? Been able to make NATO the more stronger than it's ever been. That's important. (35:19) The fact that he's been able to bring more than 50 countries together in order to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs to fight against Putin's war, that says a lot. That says a lot about this president's leadership and that says a lot about where other countries are. I mean, our partners and allies came together in support of Ukraine and we're going to continue to do this.

Thank you, Karine. Republican Senator Mitt Romney said in an interview overnight that he believes that President Biden should have pardoned his predecessor from federal charges. And Romney argued that it's now been a win-win for Trump in his campaign and in his public profile that he's been able to use these charges to his benefit.

I'm not going to speak to pardons from here. I'm just not, especially for a candidate for a 2024 election. I'm just not going to speak about it from here.

[inaudible 00:36:10] is obviously a presidential power.

I'm just not going to speak about it from here. Okay.

Karine, the bureau labor system yesterday released inadvertently some CPI data about 30 minutes before they were supposed to came a month after it was demonstrated that an economist had been talking to Wall Street firms and a couple years after there was some suspicious trading activity. So I'm wondering what level of concern you guys have, how confident you are in the BLS leadership, and if you think there should be an outside investigation.

And to your question, it was an inadvertent leak yesterday by BLS and there was a statement that they put out. BLS has alerted the Office of Management and Budget and DOL's office of the inspector general of the incident. BLS takes its data seriously and security obviously seriously and is conducting a full investigation into its procedures and controls to ensure the incident is not repeated. BLS can obviously speak more into their investigation. We have the president. We have confident that this will get done.

Thank you. Two topics I'd like to add.

Sure.

Briefly on what we were talking about with Ukraine. The US today, the Treasury Department has announced sanctions on Russian entities for facilitating weapons transfers between North Korea and Russia. Also today then the chair of the NATO military committee said that Russia was outstripping Western powers in increasing their defense industry capacity. How big an impact are these sanctions realistically likely to have? And is the US considering more sanctions that target the Russian defense industry more directly?

Well, starting with your last question first, I'm not going to preview sanctions from here. That's not what we do. But I can say that to your point today, the Department of Treasury designated five Russia-based individuals and entities connected to the transfer of military equipment and components from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK to Russia. This action builds on several sanctions designations over the past year, targeting the Russia-DPRK military relationship most recently in February 2024, just a couple months ago. (38:25) These designations highlight our resolute opposition to these continued arms transfer. We condemn Russia's veto of the UN security council resolution that would have extended the mandate of the UN 1718 committee panel of experts, a body that documented violations of UN sanctions related to the DPRK. We will continue to examine all possibilities to counter the destabilizing Russia-DPRK partnership, but I'm certainly not going to preview sections from here.

Okay. And one on Israel by extension. The Houthis have threatened more actions against ships that they claim are heading for Israel, potentially even in the Mediterranean. Will the US continue operations against the Houthis if these attacks restart?

So look, obviously, we condemn Houthis for these attacks and continue to take action to hold them accountable. We've been pretty consistent in doing that for the past several months. These reckless attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis have not only disrupted global trade and commerce, but also taken the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs. So we have taken significant amount of Houthi weapons. Our military is regularly destroying Houthi missiles when they're being loaded and prepared to launch, but before they can actually be fired at commercial ships as well, we will continue to act as needed to degrade the Houthi capabilities. You have again seen us do this for the past several months, and so we are committed to doing that. Okay, Karen.

Thanks, Karine. I want to ask you about a topic that's getting a lot of attention. The Kansas City Chiefs kicker, Harrison Butker is facing criticism for his recent commencement address where he told female graduates that the most important title a woman can hold his homemaker. He was critical about surrogacy, IVF, and Pride month. And he also criticized the president for being a Catholic who supports abortion rights. Has the president seen those comments? Does he have a reaction to that?

The president has been pretty busy today, so I haven't had a chance to focus on this particular issue. I think I've heard some reports on it. Look, the president is not going to back away from supporting women and reproductive rights, reproductive healthcare. It is important to do that. It's important to fight for all of our freedoms, and that's what you're seeing the president do. He's not going to back away from that. Look, I can't speak to this specific thing because I haven't heard it in its entirety. (40:49) But look, you have a former administration that had said, a former president that said over and over again that they were going to do everything that they can to get rid of Roe V. Wade, was successful in doing that by putting forward judges that made that happen. We saw the Dobbs decision in 2022. And what that caused is chaos. It caused women to have to be in a position to not get the healthcare that they need. (41:22) I mean, that should not be where we are as a country. It should not be. And then you have extreme Republicans that continue to talk about how they want to put national abortion ban. It's causing chaos. It's causing chaos for women. It's causing chaos for families. When you're saying that a family can't make a decision on IVF, that's not what this president is about. He wants to make sure that women have the right to make these incredibly difficult decisions about their healthcare so families could make a decision about how they want to build and move forward with building a family. (41:54) So I can't speak to those direct comments, but what I can speak to is what the president is committed to and he has shown that over and over again. You have a vice president that has toured the country talking exactly about that, about how we have to protect our freedoms and freedoms of obviously reproductive health as we're speaking right now.

I know you said you can't speak to the comments, but as the president gets ready to give his own commencement address, but does he think a message like that is appropriate at a commencement address.

From this particular... Look, again, I haven't heard this in context. I saw some reporting. So want to be super mindful. Look, the presidency's commencement day as such an important moment for not just the students but for their families, obviously their loved ones, to talk about the future, to talk about how in the world that we are in the world that we're in now, how do we move forward? And you'll hear themes from this president on that particular message, and he understands how critical and important and how those message, especially a message from the President of the United States, how much it matters. (43:00) I don't want to get ahead of the president. He's going to obviously lay out and speak to his commencement address on his own. But he's done this many times before. When he's given commencement address as a senator has done it obviously as vice president and now president. And this is an incredible important, impactful moment.

Thank you, Karine. Just now, one of your colleagues at the State Department said Israel needs to do more to prevent settlers from sacking trucks of humanitarian aid down for Gaza. The people who were doing this sort of thing are supporters of Prime Minister Netanyahu. The far-right parties are part of his coalition. Is the president concerned that the prime minister's domestic political needs could be preventing him from cracking down on what is essentially aiding a famine?

So look, a couple of things. I do want to give an update on humanitarian aid that has gone into Gaza. I think it's important. Since April 5th, more than 7,000 trucks have been moved into Gaza. So that is an update. Yesterday, nearly 250 trucks moved into Gaza, both via Kerem Shalom. So that is open. So that is important as you all know, in Southern Gaza and a new crossing, Erez West in Northern Gaza. So we have seen trucks go in and I think that's important to note, and that's because of the president's push and relationship with the Prime Minister and insisting in pushing and saying, "We need to get more aid into Gaza because we know how dire the humanitarian situation is." (44:47) However, however with saying all of that, we remain concerned about ongoing limited operations at the Rafah boarding crossing and also the Erez crossing. I know I just mentioned that's a new crossing, but we want to get more in

As well as the ability of humanitarian partners to move within Gaza, to deliver assistance and fuel to the vulnerable people who need it. This level of aid remains insufficient, and we want to continue to press Israel to increase the level of assistance moving into Gaza. I cannot speak to the prime minister domestic politics, that is for him to speak to. What I can speak to is what we have been working on doing, and how much we understand the importance of getting that humanitarian aid in, and that's what we've been doing.

I understand you can't speak to the prime Minister's motivations. What I asked you, as the spokesperson for the president, is the president concerned that Prime Minister Netanyahu's domestic political situation may be imperiling U.S. efforts to get more aid in to Gaza?

What I'm saying is that we understand what I just laid out is not sufficient. We want to get more in. We are continuing to have those conversations with Israel, and we have seen some progress. We need to get more in. The president is committed to that, and that's what you have seen from this president. That's what I will speak to. Go ahead, Nadia. No, I know you have follow ups. Go ahead.

I just want to follow up, since you have updated us, actually, on the humanitarian aid, but equally as important an issue is the fuel. Now, the UN agencies are saying that no fuel, it's impossible to get fuel into Gaza, and it's vital for the hospitals. What efforts are the White House leading to push the Israelis to allow fuel in?

As you know, the pier is in place, which is very important. It'll be operational in upcoming days. That's important, and obviously, the Department of Defense will have more specifics on that. We're confident that we're going to be able to distribute this type of aid, to get that in to Gaza. We continue to have conversations with the UN and the Israelis, and also NGOs, to ensure humanitarian workers are protected, and we continue to get that aid in. You heard from the National Security Advisor just days ago, speak from this lectern, to say that we are trying to do everything that we can from air, sea and land to get that humanitarian aid in. We understand how critical that is to get done. (47:11) This pier is now in place. In the next couple of days, coming days, we'll get that moving, and that is one way, obviously, we're going to get that fuel in, get the aid in. Obviously, we're still working on the land crossings, and as you just heard, I gave some updates on the trucks that have gone in to a new crossing that just opened up, in obviously, Kerem Shalom. We are committed, this president is committed in getting that done.

I have one more question. Yesterday, I did an interview with Senator Lindsey Graham, and he said, basically, that a defense and security comprehensive package with Saudi Arabia could happen sooner than later. He suggests that actually, it could happen under a Democratic administration, and he's willing to help the president to deliver it. We know Jake is going to the region. Can you just-

Well, I can't confirm Jake's travel, but go ahead.

That's all right. Well, we can confirm it.

I cannot confirm it from here. I appreciate that.

Can you weave this in, and basically, tell us if the White House believes this deal could happen? Later on, link it obviously to what happened in Gaza and the [inaudible 00:48:21].

Well, we've been very consistent about our long-term goal for more peaceful, stable, prosperous and integrated Middle East region, and that remains a focus for us. That remains a focus for this president. That remains a focus for our U.S. foreign policy. That will always be where we stand on that, and we continue to have conversations on these issues, to include the need of a pathway to a Palestinian state, which is the only way to establish a sustainable peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. We've been, again, very consistent about that. Our immediate focus remains to securing the release of hostages, to make sure that we also get to a ceasefire, create an environment where we're getting more humanitarian aid in. Obviously, that's our focus right now, because we understand how important it is to get those hostages home to their loved ones and to their families, to get that humanitarian aid in, and to get to a ceasefire. We want to see that. We want to get to a ceasefire. Go ahead, Michael.

Thanks Karine. The governor of Florida signed a bill today that effectively erases all references to climate change in Florida law. Do you have a response?

That's pretty shameful. The president, as you know, has been the most progressive, has done more on climate change than any other president. We are committed in dealing with this crisis, and meeting our goals, and you have heard from this president, it is unfortunate. It is unfortunate that there are climate deniers still out there. There's a lot more work that we need to do, and we think that's shameful.

The administration also today organized a deportation flight of 100 Haitians to Haiti. How does the administration, at this point, justify deportation flights to Haiti, given the situation on the ground there?

You've heard from us many times, we are urgently working with the international partners and Congress to expedite the deployment of the Kenyan-led multinational security support MSS mission, as you've been hearing. We've contributed $300 million to that mission, and we want to bolster the Haitian police, what's going on on that front. We've also led also in humanitarian assistance, with over $170 million since October 2022. We understand the situation is dire in Haiti. We understand that, and we are clear-eyed that the economic, political security and stability are key drivers for migrants around the world obviously, as you all know, you've been tracking what's going on in Haiti. We are closely monitoring the situation, and the routes frequently used by migrants to reach our borders, and would stress that, at this time, irregular migration flows through the Caribbean remain low. (51:21) That said, we are always planning for contingencies, and we believe that is important as well. I can't speak to this particular incident, I have not spoken to the team about this yet, but we get how dire it is there, and that's why we've tried to move up our humanitarian assistance here, leading the world in getting that humanitarian aid. We're trying to get the MSS in place so that we can give the support to the Haitian National Police in dealing with the dire situation that's happening. Okay, ahead Patsy.

Thank you, Karine. Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, yesterday publicly questioned Prime Minister Netanyahu on his strategic endgame of the war, calling out for an establishment of a governing alternative in Gaza that's not Hamas, but also not Israeli military role. To me, he is basically saying what Jake Sullivan and Secretary Blinken have been urging for the same things this week. Even though this is the first time that Gallant is saying it publicly, this is something that we've known privately from Israeli defense officials for some time now. I'm just wondering about the timing of this, how Jake and then Secretary Blinken, and then Gallant are all saying the same things this week. Was there any coordination of any sort?

I'm going to let others do an analysis of the speech. That's not something I'll do from here. We've been very clear that when it comes to the future of Gaza, we do not support an Israeli reoccupation. We've been clear from this podium, from obviously behind this lectern, and we obviously do not support Hamas governance in Gaza. That's where we've been. We'll continue to be there. That underscores the importance of having a clear and concrete plan for the day after the conflict in Gaza. As you just stated in your question to me, Jake Sullivan, our National Security Advisor, was very clear about this very recently. (53:08) We have discussed this with the Israelis, and so we'll continue to do that, to have that conversation, but I'm not going to analyze his speech, and speak to-

My question was about timing, though.

I'm not going to speak to timing, I'm not going to give an analysis on it. We'll continue to have those conversations with the Israelis, as we have been, and we've made our point, and we've made our stance pretty clear on that. You heard that from the National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, very recently, at this lectern.

Just more broadly, on the ceasefire itself, it appears to be in deadlock right now. At this point, is the president still confident that his strategic end goal, to end the violence in Gaza and then what happens the day after, can align with that of Israel and Hamas?

Look, we have to continue to be hopeful. This is a president that's optimistic, that's hopeful. We're going to continue to work around the clock to get this done. This could all end today if Hamas would release the wounded, the women, and we've said this over and over again, the elderly, it could end today. We're determined to get those hostages home. We are determined to get to get to a ceasefire, to get more humanitarian aid in, and we have to be optimistic. We have to be hopeful here. [inaudible 00:54:18], all right.

Israel said today that additional troops will enter the Rafah area, and that it's operation there will intensify. Do you have a comment on that?

What I will say is that we are continuing to monitor, I'm just going to repeat what Jake Sullivan said from this podium. Nothing has changed since he was here on Monday. We're continuing to monitor. We made our case very clear about a potential major military operation in Rafah. We have our concerns about that. We've made that clear to our Israeli counterparts. We'll continue to do that. What we have been told by the Israelis, and what we have seen, is that these are targeted, what we're seeing in Rafah, targeted operations. We're going to continue to have those, we believe, constructive... these meetings that we've had have been constructive, not just in those two virtual meetings, but on a daily basis. We certainly are talking with the Israeli government. All right, you have the last one.

Thank you. The deputy director of ICE is telling us that two Jordanian nationals are in removal proceedings now after posing as Amazon delivery drivers to crash the gates at Quantico. Does the White House think this might've been a failed terrorist attack?

I'm going to be really mindful. These two Jordanians that you're speaking of remain in ICE custody, and given that it is an active law enforcement matter, I would have to refer you to ICE. I just can't dive into this, because again, this is in law enforcement matter.

Something totally different.

Oh gosh, where is this going?

Have you heard?

Oh, no.

That Vice President Harris is telling friends that she may go back to California and run for governor if the election does not go her way.

That is news to me. I would say this, the vice president has been a great partner to this president. He is appreciative of the work that she has done. It is impressive what she's been able to do on these tours that she has done on reproductive rights. Her leadership on gun violence, to fight gun violence across the country, prevention obviously, leading in the first historic office coming out of the White House. She has been an amazing partner, and the president appreciates her, appreciates her leadership, and that's all I'll say to that. Oh, gosh.

Last one. Why is President Biden celebrating today the Dow reaching 40,000 if his position, dating back to 2021, about the stock market is, "That's not how I judge whether or not we have economic growth."

While we have long said that the stock market is not the economy, and we have said that, to your point, it's clear that what we'll say is that President Biden's economic plan is working. It's growing the middle class, as you hear us talk about all the time, spurs investment in manufacturing, created almost 800,000 jobs in this administration alone in infrastructure, and outperform other countries. That's what the president has been very focused on. Record stock market highs under President Biden are good for retirement accounts and household wealth, and that is just a fact. We would never root for a stock market crash, or for Americans to lose their jobs. That's something that we would never root for from here. Obviously, the stock market, again, is not the economy, but we believe that President Biden's economic plan is working, again, growing the middle class, and I think that's a good thing. I think we should be really grateful for that for the American people. Thanks everybody. I'll see you tomorrow.

Thank you.