DIRECTO: EEUU a días del debate Trump-Kamala, ataques de Israel y presión de Zelensky

hi everybody good afternoon good afternoon um okay I have a couple things at the top please bear with me so on Saturday a suspect shot and injured five individuals along Interstate 75 in Kentucky and is still at large you 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 next we are praying for the thousands of Americans under mandatory evacuations under uh orders uh Out West Senior Administration officials are monitoring the fires including the lion 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 they need over 7,000 Federal person Personnel are supporting local firefighting efforts across multiple States residents in the affected area 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 Health Care is a right not a privilege and the mental health care is Health Care period but for millions of Americans care for mental health and sub sub use conditions is still hard to find and hard to afford today the Bayern 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 ACC 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 uh will will be joined by elected officials and Advocates to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act and Mark disability prize month one of the president's uh First Act acts as a US senator was co-sponsoring the Rehabilitation Act uh which banned discrimination on the basis of disability by any entity funded by the federal government and pave the way for the Americans with Disability 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 able to live and thrive in their communities under the president uh under this Administration the Bayan 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 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 afternoon everybody you saw today House Republicans release 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 agement that mandated a complete us withdrawal from Afghanistan and yes that included b a base by the end of May 2021 that deal also released 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison five thousand fighters in return the Taliban agreed not to attack US troops which is a good thing because the former president reduced our presence in Afghanistan from about 14,000 down to 2500 as general Frank McKenzie former commander of us Central Command said himself in testimony the Doha do Doha deal had a quote really pernicious effect unquote 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 lead 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 any and every discussion about what happened in Afghanistan has to start right there sadly the report does not dwell on it now there's some other falsehoods too many to mention but a few do stand out and I'd 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 respond in a timely fashion two there was no fine-tune 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 GH government fled as then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Millie said quote nothing that I saw indicated collapse of this Army and this government in 11 Days end quote two I'm sorry three there was no point in securing B air base for use during the evacuation doing so would not only have required thousands of additional US troops but also would have 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 afghans 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 it 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 extend ens L uh in this investigation and to Contin and we continue to work uh with the war commission 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 are tragically taken during the withdrawal especially at Abby gate on the 26th of August of that year and it doesn't mean that we don't still look with a 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 sadly 2,461 of them did not make it home and many 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 ranker over the withdrawal to remember that take some question 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 uh but I would point you to what we've said in the past that that any such provision of that kind of Technology uh would not only have a a delarius effect on the ukrainians ability to continue to defend themselves and certainly on the lives and livelihoods of ukrainians uh but could depending on what the deal how it's consummated um uh have equally deleterious effects on the Middle East um and in Iran that already has uh an improving ballistic missile program uh we we could only assume would want to stand a gain from some sort of partnership with Russia to improve their 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 on than to try to get this deal and we still I think I just drew on myself I think um I think uh we we know how urgent this is and um 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 thanks Admiral a couple things firstly on Afghanistan so are you would you argue that the withdrawal is a success or do you admit that there were failings involved in that we have I pointed to the after Action Report where I think we've been very clear uh about uh the planning efforts and the execution of the of the plan no plan of any operation whatsoever ever goes uh exactly according to the dictates by which you laid it out um clearly there were moments of great violence and there were uh uh moments of of of mission execution that didn't go exactly the way we wanted it to go I mean I'm not nobody's walked away from that um but in the main we were able to get 120 some 120,000 some odd uh folks out of there safely with an airplane taken off about once every hour um and again we've laid it all out in an after action report that the state department did that the Department of Defense did that we did here and soorry just very briefly on on the point about um K st's visit and uh and Gaza I mean are is the president going to be pressing prime minister starm to perhaps reverse his decision on the armed sales or or conversely might he be seeking some advice about me you know about how you know the US might do that and we're looking forward to the visit there's an awful lot to discuss I think you can expect uh 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 uh arms Provisions to uh to Israel we respect that that's for them to speak to this is about how we move together uh as principal allies and and good friends on a range of foreign policy issues and I think it's fair to say that um that as part of this meeting on Friday it will focus heavily on an extended agenda of uh foreign policy issues expanded agenda thanks GRE Admiral um there have been requests or there have been signals from Ral 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 of the Brier Administration been invited to tomorrow's gold medal ceremony for the families of the 13 service members there will be there will be quite a a few from the Department of Defense uh both in terms of active duty admal and Generals and civilian political appointees and high leadership positions that'll be there and on the going back to sort of accountability and 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 inter agency effort uh to get those 120,000 people out and to uh make sure we removed our diplomats and our military personnel safely um as I said anded not everything went according to plan nothing ever does um and we mourn the loss of of those 13 lives at abig gate every single day here their sacrifice doesn't doesn't uh is not forgotten um but again uh we 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 uh Mundo Gonzalez is now in Spain seeking or expected to be granted political Asylum there's been a lot written reporting 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 ter would begin even though 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 his way I don't get into hypotheticals one way or another about Mr Gonzalez and what his future might might be he wouldn't have had to seek political Asylum if he wasn't accused of trumped up ridiculous charges um and uh and forced in that manner to to flee his own country what needs to happen next is Mr Maduro needs to heed the call of 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 um we have in the past you've seen uh levied sanctions against Mr madoro 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 Venezuelan haven't seen that play out I mean obviously we'll watch 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 venez joh China said that they'll be holding joint Naval Air drills with Russia starting this mon what's the level of concern from the administration that these two countries are are cooperating is this a sign of deepening cooperation I think it is sure um we've been watching this defense relationship grow and deepen over the last couple of years to include the uh the exercise of their militaries and both air at sea even on the ground uh so so we'll watch it like we all like we watch all exercises uh but uh I don't 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 around the world um 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 a a part of their their um their regimen uh so we'll watch it and and monitor but uh but there's no uh you know there's no dramatic imminent concern about it all right just a couple more go ahead thank you John firstly on China there are rack of bills up for vote in Congress this week um that have to do with keeping China from accessing uh 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 in a Paris ad let's see where it goes I don't talk I don't like to talk about draft legislation one way or the other okay well let's talk about Afghanistan then um 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 do you me a minute um he argues that the withdrawal from Afghanistan has in fact made the United States more susceptible to terrorism because of those prisoners released from barram 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 boy just go on centcom's website look at the press releases that they sent every time they take out a leader of Isis or an al- Qaeda leader uh we have proven the case about Over the Horizon counterterrorism capability to a fairly 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 keep trying to improve and we are um I think it's also important to look at what else is going around the world you know who who would have loved for us to be stuck in Afghanistan for another 20 years as President Putin president shei they would have 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 um those more modern and relevant threats to our national security posed by by nation states and non- nation states around the world but as for counterterror 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 uh 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 uh of the exchange um and that has made it uh more difficult for us to get there I'm sorry your second question was would you still characterize the deal is on the verge we still believe that um even for the the the new amendments that Hamas has made that uh that it's still worth an effort to try to see if we can't get back into it ceasefire negotiation but we're not there right now 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 a a a miscommunication Kelly what 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 NC meeting thanks John um the American citizen who was killed in the West Bank on Friday iay has the president had a chance to speak to her family at all um and do you have any sense of uh where the investigation stands sign of that you all had asked um for the vault to get rolling on an investigation to her death do you know there any updates on that he has not spoken to the family uh as of yet I don't have a call to to to talk about today obviously we continue to mourn with with her family of course um the Israelis have uh reached out made sure that we knew that they uh were promptly investigating this um as I understand it from just before I came out here they are moving swiftly on this investigation and will soon we think uh in coming days be able to present their their findings and conclusions we obviously hold our judgment till we see that we've called for a complete thorough Swift and transparent investigation we'll we'll see we'll see what they learn okay fin question oh hi thank you um do you have any response uh to Russian drones violating uh NATO member states of um lvia and Romania weekend I think you talk about reports that parts of drones I think have landed in Alli territory if you will this is uh 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 um but uh but it's just it's just underscores the 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 you okay all right hi Chris it's been a while it actually has been a while right it actually all right um question uh first of on the war and Goa un Secretary General said the UN was willing to monitor any ceasefire deal do something the White House is interested in perhaps taking them up on that offer say that one more time Secretary General said un would monitor any ceasefire deal is what's interested in taking them up that offer look as you know there is uh and the Admiral just spoke to this as well we're continuing to have those conversation uh we uh continue to want to make sure right that we uh get these hostages home uh we want to make sure that we have an end to this war that's what the president has said uh and so we are pursuing certainly uh all efforts is something that the president said to secure a deal that would release again the hostages that are being held by Hamas we cannot forget that the murder of the six hostages by Hamas and uh has actually put us in a place where um uh this is incredibly even the urgency is even more clear right and the new demands they've made have called into questions right Hamas is Readiness to do any deal at all and the sincerity of of the negotiations and that's what we see so even so even though we're hearing that we want to continue to to talk about the next steps with our co-mediator this is Egypt and Qatar and that's what we're doing that's the focus that's what the president believes in order uh the pa the best path forward is to get this hostage deal and that's what the president wants to see uh the vice president is preparing for a debate uh tomorrow night with Donald Trump uh has the president spoken to the vice president about the upcoming debate uh and also is he playing to Wasington right so I can say and I think I I confirmed this last week in either a gaggle or at the briefing uh which is that the president is going to watch the debate he's looking forward to watching the debate uh as I'm not going to uh preview or or confirm any conversations between the president and the vice president as you know they speak often uh 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 in New York what is he what is he watching for me I'm I'm not going to get into into details uh but he'll be watching he'll be obviously supporting the vice president uh in her debate I just don't have anything else to add to that thank you thank you can you confirm reports that the president is hoping to establish a US Sovereign weal fund and give any estimated time of announcement for that so I don't have certainly don't have anything to to announce from from here uh but um uh look the president has worked uh to unlock Investments here at home uh and abroad that benefit our economic uh our economy right the economy and also our national security uh that is something that the president has worked to do uh for in the past three and a half years I just don't have anything to announce at this this time thank you uh 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 V threat on the House Republicans proposal but with that Deb on arrival in the Senate so a couple of things I think the sap that I think the sap went out so certainly would uh uh would would uh uh direct you to that uh that came out of the this Administration but with the end of the fiscal year rapidly approaching obviously by the end of this of this month September uh Congress needs to pass a short uh term continuing resolution to provide more time to pass full year funding bills uh 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 keep the government open and provide that emergency funding for disaster needs I just talked about that at the top uh about the needs that we're 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 uh the proposal from House Republicans is not a solution it's just not uh it contains a partisan poison bill would erode our National Defense undermine our competition with China fail our veterans and seniors abandoned communi struck by disasters and hurt programs that support small businesses while making healthy tax cheats pay what they owe so House Republicans should stop wasting time I've said this many times before repeat it uh 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 Celina 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 um I'll take your the first question uh om ledge Affairs office are in close touch with house and Senate uh leadership uh on the need to pass a short-term uh CR to keep the government open uh and I laid out what it would do if we didn't and what it would aode example for our national security as we we just had the National Security Council rep here uh we're coordinating with Democratic Leadership on the best path forward for a short-term CR and so this is something that uh again they need to do right away they they've done it before many times before in a bipartisan way it is their number one job uh again om in our ledge Affairs office and to your second question uh the president speaks regularly uh 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 both basic part of their job is to keep the government open so they know this they don't need to hear from the 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 gonna uh I'm not going to detail any private conversation that the president and the vice president uh has whether it's debate or not debate uh it's not something that I'm going to do uh at all but um I don't 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 uh 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 uh the president will definitely be watching I know I will I know you all will I don't have anything beyond that yeah Jack thank you Karine 31% of good job one thank you it had wings and now it's dead um 31% of I killed a bug you're welcome it was very it was very dramatic I know and the job was done the job was indeed done you got the job done for surek you uh 31% of registered voters said in a New York Times Sienna 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 uh questions you would have to ask the campaign uh and that is for them to to speak to uh and what I will say is um what I can say is that uh 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 a once in a generation pandemic it was isolated from the world stage crime was up uh the middle class was sideline uh we saw an Insurrection an Insurrection on January 6 in 2021 that the former president LED and so and you think about today where we are today three and a half years later we have we're leading uh the strongest economy in the world uh you hear the comeback stories in places like Milwaukee uh to Dayton to Scranton Pennsylvania and so we are 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 uh and look uh and the president certainly agrees with her he agrees with her you know her her leadership her policy decisions uh he agrees with her when it comes to making sure that uh you know uh we need to make sure that we stop what mag Magics right when you think about the the $4,000 ta tax and tax hike on working Americans you mentioned project 2025 that's something Republicans support is a radical radical idea A rad radical policy agenda that's going to that's going to do more harm to the American people Trump has repeatedly disavowed it distanced himself from it I mean and I said Republicans that's something that Republicans support so this is not um anymore being cast as something thing that Trump Embraces you just get that straight I mean look you're you you asked me a couple things you asked me about the contrast why she continues to make the contrast you have to talk to the campaign on what 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 in to the administration where we are today and that's because of this leadership of this Administration the Bayern 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 farmer uh which is something that that many elected officials tried to do and couldn't get done the bayen 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 Republic an are pushing and that's what I can lay out for you to the campaign but the campaign's not holding regular briefings they don't have a forum Q&A for like we have here spokes for theist I literally just I just answered your question on why the contrast could 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 don't think it was the question I asked but I do appreciate the answer no you asked me you asked me why the the vice president's campaign the Harris campaign is not doing X Y and Z I said to you you gotta you got to talk to the the vice president's campaign and that is there's the hatack I gotta be mindful to that you know that that is I can't answer that question one different 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 got to do is look at the record and what we have been able to do in the past three and a half years the Bayern Harris administration's been able to do you think about the economy you think about health care and you think about these really important uh generation changing uh legislation that are not laws obviously I just talked about beating big farmer 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 so uh to be clear uh Lauren CLA on on medical care and and pharmaceutical drugs and also energy bills right that's two really big part of the inflation uh reduction act the president the president is not going to be labeling uh the vice president she has her policies uh that she is obviously that he's in lined with uh that they that she has put forth in the past week or so uh he supports her uh 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 and said she's in fact uh 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 to 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 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 lined with her on right and we're talking about strength in the middle class that's what we believe her Pol her bold policy agenda continues to do and that's important you hear the president talking about building a 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 thinking we're talking about like tax cuts for working people fighting corporate pricing G gouging lowering costs having the wealthy pay their fair share we're in lined we're in line with uh with what the vice president is putting forth her bold policy agenda to make sure that we do not leave people behind 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 and her leadership wait did I just did I just call on you okay let me just try and get other people go go the Congressional Black Coffee is today released um is Corporate accountability report on diversity equity and inclusion like askes 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 uh does Administration have a reaction to this report have they engaged with the CBC or advise 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 this Administration believes how diversity is our strength you hear the president say this uh and that is something that the president believes and that is true whether it's in schools or military or businesses it is important uh and it is true for our government uh where he has assembled the most diverse presidential Administration in history that is something that this President uh and this vice president has done and just a couple of things in June when senior White House officials uh they were able to welcome business executive and civil rights leaders to the White house for of 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 a Pathways to opportuni so this is an Administration that understands that it is important uh 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 including Ed 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 right 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 we haven't gone through the study uh what we can say we believe diversity is indeed our strength it is important uh to continue to do that that work and that's what you're going to see from this Administration topic uh CBC is also as you know hosting their annual legislative conference this week uh and the president is hosting a Black Excellence brunch on Friday was that intentionally planned for this week with CBC um and was this in was what can you share about the president's remarks that he will be giving yeah so um not gonna get ahead of his remarks the president's looking very much forward to uh holding that brunch here the black Excellence brunch here on the South Line on on Friday as you just said uh but I I could share a little bit just more broadly you can expect the president uh to speak about the enormous contribution that black Americans have made to this nation uh you've heard the president say that before as well and and continuing uh 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 uh that is something that the president certainly I think will touch on uh and you'll you will hear more from him on Friday is the president or vice president attending the Phoenix Awards and give remarks this year they to share in a couple of days we'll have more to share go ahead sir go ahead sir go ahead sir yeah on Mental Health parity uh enforcement's long been an issue and you know many plans haven't complied with requirements over the years um does the administration to plan plan to be more aggressive in terms of enforcement going forward on this well anything that's uh might be the legalities of it I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals this obviously an issue uh that's very important to us it's a great step forward uh when you when we talk about the mental health parity and it is it's a parity right Healthcare mental health should be Healthcare uh and so we're going to certainly uh continue to to uh make sure uh that effort um uh is a a key part of this Administration in the next four or five months uh any legal stuff I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals or anything like that but uh this will continue to be a priority that I can continue to be very clear on CAD kello how would you describe uh the way in which in briefings and in other White House communications since July 21st you referen the vice president more we hear now more Biden Harris Administration and if we look back it would have been much more focused on just the president so as you do that how do you describe the importance of you know in this official way talking about her and and linking her to the accomplishments I think it is important for Americans to know uh that the vice president has played a very big role in the success of this Administration over the last three and a half years uh 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 uh but we've been pretty consistent and saying uh that their partnership is important and how um uh how she has had um even a critical role if you think about some of these uh historic pieces of legislation where she was the you know she was that vote the vote that she made in the Senate uh uh helped pass that legislation and turn it into law the inflation reduction act for example uh and so um you know I think it is important to note uh 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 to make CLE to the American people that the vice president Harris has been here from day one obviously uh and has had a a leadership role uh and uh we'll 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 I I I don't want to get into murky murky Waters here by by getting into her her own strategy that is certainly something for for her to speak to uh but we want to make sure that people understand the American people understand uh 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 uh and uh and you know the president respects her leadership uh he respects her bold policy ideas as I was uh speaking to Jackie about back and forth moments ago uh and he supports that and U and I think it's important for the American people to be very understand that to be very very clear and that's one thing that we want to be very clear about from here go ahead in the back the Office of Management budget has asked federal agencies to start thinking about the transition um that regardless of where we are in a couple 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 um 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 government um how are you all thinking about what you want that to look like so let me just State this for so that folks who are watching understand because I know you all understand this um 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 a common process nothing nothing unusual there um I'm sure we will have more to share to your question uh but you know the president uh look when it comes to the job that he has had for the you know 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 uh and in order to have a um a successful government he has to have that leadership to make sure it's a successful government right it doesn't matter for him or whoever is next uh so I'm certain we'll have more to share uh but again it's not unusual the Pres 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 I agree with you I'm not disagreeing but that's not going to be what this President does has he given any specific guidance has your uh colleagues beun thinking about how you want to make it different and four years ago was not normal for a lot of reason you exactly right I'm not disagreeing with you and we do not want to go back there right we do not want that we do not want to repeat what we saw uh the last time around in the last Administration it's not 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 P 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 no problem good to see you wonder what the White House makes of former president Trump's comments through over the weekend saying when I win there's people who cheated in elections in20 24 will be prosecuted to the full extent of have you seen those comments the president seen those comments I could say I have not spoken to the president about uh those types of comments um uh and um look um and I want to be careful because obviously he's saying it as in his um campaign capacity uh but those that type of rhetoric is dangerous this is not who we are as a country this is a democracy and um and so that's what the president believes that type of rhetor rhetoric is coming from you know a former president uh is dangerous I mean we saw what happened on January 6 in 2021 2,000 people went to the capital 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 because 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 on uh voters and particular as a president makes some Outreach to block lawmakers I wonder if he's going to make some Outreach to block voters specifically know the campaigns both campaigns are working to do that in States like Georgia yeah 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 vice president going to talk directly to Black voters about the economic issues at hand so I got to be careful because you're asking me about a strategic play a campaign play when you're saying voters black voters in particular in your question here so I you would have to ask the campaign specifically on how they're going to do that what their outreach are going is going to be but in terms of the record and and I and I hear the question so I just want I just have to be really clear we respect uh hatch we respect the law here so I can't speak to a strategy here but it is what you have seen this President this Administration do cabinet secretaries this presid president uh uh obviously the Vice President in her official C capacity is that we try to go out there right we go out there we meet the American people where they are we talk about what this 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' talked about how we're leading uh the economy in in in the world right the strongest economy in the world and uh it is not done by accident it was not by accident right 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 right we're able to do that put shots in arms right so we can deal with the once in a generation pandemic it was not easy but we were able to get this done now do we understand that some Americans are not feeling that yeah we get that you 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 weeks ago or just last week no no a couple weeks ago talk about um how um uh you know the drugs that are going to be lowered in cost uh because they were able to beat big farmer and so now Medicare is able to do those NE that matters that matters to Americans so we're just going to have to continue to talk about it let Americans know I can't speak to the campaign strategy that's something that they'll 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 uh and the economy Health Care climate change uh even on the on the world stage and how we're being in our leadership and how we're leading in that way and so you know it continues we're going to continue to do that be out there okay um 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 um so what we're going to continue to do is continue to monitor uh and help states where it's needed right assistant assist where it's needed I don't have an update for you but obviously our number one priority uh when it comes to the pandemic office uh and also um other other White House offices and what we're trying to do here is we want to make sure that American people feel safe uh in communities out there and so we're going to monitor it I don't have an update for you at here at this time but we take this very very seriously I think we're gonna start wrapping up go ahead go ahead Ed I want ask you about jobs so the Biden Harris Administration the Biden Harris Administration has been touting manufacturing jobs for the P 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 uh what we 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 uh and so we can't lose that as well uh a couple of things you know manufacturing investment has uh hit all-time highs for six consecutive quarters that's important uh Factory construction has more than doubled to an all-time high uh and it also it takes time for factories to build uh and uh to be built and also manufacturing jobs to be created and so what we what we created but we've created over 1.6 million jobs in manufacturing and construction so you got to put this all into context and we've seen businesses invest more than $900 billion dollar 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 uh 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 one something that you can see from this Administration so so you need more time is there a time frame as to when those jobs will materialized I don't have a time frame for you but what I can say is we got to take them all into context right we do like data is important we pay attention to reports but we can't miss what we've seen the last six months right consecutive six months as well we can't discount the investment that this Administration has been able to make into manufact facturing right 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 that this particular question that you're asking me about manufacturing jobs all right everybody thank you so much thank you so much e hello everybody I welcome all my colleagues colleagues members of administration outside the administration made this happen I was I want to say one thing of the outset I never thought that having been in the senate for so many years as well vice president 12 years for years years have to worry about want to eras history eras history what we can't read what we can't write and uh what I'm excited about down specific this we're rewriting history all history written what happened so our children our grandchildren everybody understand what happened can still Happ fact something happened here similar recently and so you know thank especially thanks to duckor way look um you know over 100 years ago this week a m not far from Lincoln's home on leash the race R Springfield and that shocked the of the nation shocked thetion these folks work so hard to make sure a lot of people forgot railroad tracks a lot going on there people forgot [Music] I also sparked the creation of the NAACP here today one the most important organizations this country by signing this designation for Springfield 1908 GRE right National mon remind us of we have we have no Safe Harbor unless we continue what happened what happened really important you know as you've heard me say when I had an operation years ago theor said told me about my chance said you know optim we can't let these things thank all right there you [Applause] go2 I did Mr pres actually uh we started it even before then but we really gained Steam and got it pass out of the Senate and it's been stuck in the house and so I just want to thank everybody here who came together to work so hard because this is such an important part of our nation's history what the Midwest has done what the Midwest has done in terms of the part of the Civil Rights Movement so much of what happened in the South started and were supported through places in Chicago and in Springfield and I'm so proud that Springfield Illinois is home to the beginning of the end of ACP good things can come out of bad things as long as you don't forget what happened thank you Mr President not the only in America my hometown of East St Louis Illinois had one as well the difference here was it was the home of Abraham Lincoln this moment in history people reflected on the fact that stunn and outrage I think this happened Mr Lincoln's Hometown I think that's what inspired the presid that's why it has National significance connection with Lincoln drove home point racis I would just add again appreciation to you Mr President for honoring this moment in history for Springfield and just the unanimous support for the commun this is a happy day for us that we have so much more work to do in our community and for equality and Justice we still have a lot of work to do you know I got involved in politics because this my state slave state I