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RUSSIA / NORTH KOREA WH PRESS BRIEFING OCTOBER 23RD 2024 Forbes Breaking News: White House Holds Press Briefing Amid Reports Of North Korea Sending Troops To Russia PLAY YOUTUBE VIDEO Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBR9BkBlTMc Peter Burgess COMMENTARY In my view, Biden has been one of the best US Presidents in a very long time ... maybe ever! I like to compare Biden to Presidents Eisenhauer, Kennedy and Johnson combined ... which is a massive accomplishment on Biden's part. Given this ... it seems to me that Kamala Harris will prove to be pretty good as well! On the negative side ... there is the stupidity of a big part of the electorate. Trump supporters don't seem to understand that the Presidency is not a 'part' in a reality show, but it something that has real world consequences that can be critically important! This press briefing is a strong reminder that there are a lot of pressure points around the world. It is a very bad idea for the electorate in the United States to operate on the basis that what is going on outside the USA has no impact on them. Hopefully these people will 'wake up' before it is too late ... but that may not happen. Though the people of North Korea are desperately poor, their industry and technological base is quite advanced and their production of military hardware quite sophisticated. It is worth remembering that before the Korean War, it was the North of Korea that was industrialised and the South was mainly an agricultural economy. 60+ years later, the South has industrialised and some parts of the North economy have modernised, especially anything to do with military hardware. It is not 'good news' for the world that Russia and North Korea seem to be finding 'common cause' in their collaboration against the West! Peter Burgess
JUST IN: White House Holds Press Briefing Amid Reports Of North Korea Sending Troops To Russia Forbes Breaking News 3.7M subscribers Oct 23, 2024 On Wednesday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held a White House press briefing with Admiral John Kirby. Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more: https://account.forbes.com/membership... Stay Connected Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: / forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: / forbes More From Forbes: http://forbes.com Transcript 0:03 all right good afternoon everyone I have just one thing at the top and then I'll hand it over so today as part of the White House initiative on women's health research first lady Jill Biden announced $110 million in awards from the advanced research projects Agency for health for health arer H to accelerate transformative research and development in Women's Healthcare these new arer H awardees will spur Innovation and Advance bold solutions to diseases and conditions that affect women uniquely disproportionately and differently in less than a year since the president and the first lady launched the effort the White House initiative on women's health research has galvanized nearly one nearly a billion dollars in funding for women's health research and now I'm going to turn it over to my NSC colleague Admiral John Kirby who will talk to you more about the news of North Korea Korean soldiers traveling to Russia uh today's 1:06 historic announcement of the of the use of Frozen Russian Sovereign assets to support Ukraine and other foreign policy matters adir afternoon everybody so uh just before uh a kick off on those issues uh I do want to start by extending our thoughts to the victims of the horrible terrorist attack in anchora Turkey this morning our pressure with all of those affected and their families and of course also the people of turkey at this very difficult time now Turkish authorities as they said are investigating this as a possible terrorist attack and while we don't yet know the motive uh or who is exactly behind it we strong strongly condemn this uh this act of violence now I think as you have all heard earlier this morning we have seen the public reporting indicating that North Korean soldiers are traveling to Russia to fight against Ukraine we're working closely with our allies and partners to gain a full understanding of this 2:03 situation but today I'm prepared to share what we know at this stage we assess that between early to mid October North Korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into Eastern Russia we assess that these soldiers traveled by ship from the wson area in North Korea to vladas Russia these soldiers then traveled onward to multiple Russian military training sites in Eastern Russia where they are currently undergoing training we do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military but this is a certain certainly a highly concerning probability after completing training these soldiers could travel to Western Russia and then engage in combat against the Ukrainian military we have brief the Ukrainian government on our understanding of this situation and we're certainly Consulting closely with other allies part partners and countries in the region on the implications of such a dramatic move 3:03 move and on how we might respond I expect to have more to share on all of that in the coming days for the time being we will continue to monitor this situation closely but let's be clear if North Korean soldiers do enter into combat this development would demonstrate Russia's growing desperation in its war against Ukraine Russia is suffering extraordinary casualties on the battlefield every single s Le day but President Putin appears intent on continuing this war if Russia is indeed forced to turn to North Korea for Manpower this would be a sign of weakness not strength on the part of the Kremlin it would also demonstrate an unprecedented level of direct military cooperation between Russia and North Korea with security implications in Europe as well as the indopacific as we have said before Russia's cooperation with the North Korean military is in violation of multiple un Security Council resolutions which prohibit the procurement of Arms from North Korea and Military Arms 4:05 training this move is likewise a violation at President Biden's Direction the United States continues to Serge security assistance to Ukraine in just the past week which I think you've seen the United States has announced more than $800 million in security assistance to meet Ukraine's urgent Battlefield needs now looking ahead the United States is on track to provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional air defense interceptors dozens of Tactical Air Defense systems additional artillery significant quantities of ammunition hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles and thousands of additional armored vehicles all of which will help keep Ukraine effective on the battlefield and in coming days the United States will announce a significant sanctions trunch targeting the enablers of Russia's war in Ukraine located outside of Russia the Ukrainian military continues to fight bravely and effectively and President Biden is determined to provide Ukraine with the support that it needs to 5:00 Prevail to that end the president announced today that of the $50 billion that the G7 committed to loan Ukraine back in June the United States will provide a loan of 20 M uh$ 20 billion the other 30 billion in loans will come from a combination of our G7 Partners including the European Union the United Kingdom Canada and Japan now this is unique never before has a multilateral coalition Frozen the assets of an aggressor country and then harnessed the value of those assets to fund the defense of the grieved party all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity these loans will support the people of Ukraine as they defend and rebuild their country and it's another example of how Mr Putin's war of regression has only unified and strengthen the resolve of G7 countries and our partners to defend shared values um and yep that's it thank you sorry I had an extra page in there and I wasn't sure where it was going so um does thee is the assessment that the presence 6:04 of North Korean troops can have a meaningful trajectory um on the the war um and then secondly you've said earlier even um that shows a sign of desperation on the Russians but does it also demonstrate North Korea's commitment to this burining alliance with Russia and is is is that in of itself of broadening and discouraging concern for America so on your first question too soon to tell om uh what kind of an impact these troops can have on the battlefield because we just don't know enough about um what the intention is in terms of using them um so I think that's why I said the top we're going to monitor this and watch it closely to your second question yeah absolutely as we've also said yes I've called this a sign of desperation and a sign of weakness it's not like Mr Putin's being very honest with the Russian people about what he's doing here I mean Mr pesov as spokesman 7:04 just the other day de denied knowing anything about it um but uh but we have also talked many many times about the burgeoning and growing defense relationship between North Korea and Russia and how uh Reckless and dangerous we think that is not only for the people of Ukraine and clearly we'll watch to see what this development means for them but also for the indopacific region thank you uh with the US diplomats in the region uh Mr hin in Lebanon and the secret of State in Saudi Arabia now before Israel do you be do you believe there is a chance now for the ceasefire to be back on the table and do you believe that with the demise of Mr senir and Hassan Lala you have better chances or Worse chances for somebody to negotiate with the seafire you're talking about I'm assuming is with Gaza I mean you have livon and you have Gaza implementation 1701 and in I mean look the short answer to your question n is 8:03 is yes and we wouldn't be we wouldn't be engaged in this uh these diplomatic efforts if we didn't think there was still uh an opportunity here to get a ceasefire a ceasefire for Gaza that brings to hostage his home and increases humanitarian assistance and certainly uh a ceasefire between Israel and and Hezbollah and as for the the implication that the the deaths of the two leaders Nala and senir as President Biden said last week that does open up We Believe opens up should open up an opportunity to try to get there but I don't want to sound too sanguin here uh I'll let secretary blinkin speak for his travels he's still on the road he talked about it a little bit today that you know they had good constructive conversations specifically with respect to to Gaza while he was in Israel but there's still a lot of work before us okay and one more quickly um the number of being civilians killed in Gaza was 779 in the last 20 days especially in 9:00 jabalia and the total number is 100,000 between the dead and the wounded 90% of Gaz is destroyed because the US still believe that Israel's strategy in Gaza is working and do you still support it we still support Israel's uh right and responsibility to defend itself uh against these threats including the continued threat of Hamas and we still urge Israel uh to be mindful ever mindful of Civilian casualties and the damage to civilian infrastructure and we're going to continue to work with them to that end has the US made an assessment about the type of weapons training or what type of training that North Korean soldiers are undergoing in Russia that can potentially be used in Ukraine and does this represent a new type of an agreement uh in terms of an information sharing agreement between the North Koreans and the Russians I don't believe we have a very specific assessment at this time of the exact nature of all the training there's 10:03 there's a three sites that we assess right now that the this first tranch of about 3,000 are being trained um I I think I could go so far as to say that at least in general terms it's it's it's basic kind of combat training um and familiarization I think I'll go I could go as as far as that and no further but as I also said we're going to monitor this and watch this closely and obviously if we have more information that we can share with you we certainly will um to your second question about information sharing as I've said before an answer to honor we have been watching this relationship grow and deepen now for many many months and um the the question that we're asking ourselves and we don't have an answer for right now is what does Kim Jong-un think he getting out of this and so you talked about 11:02 information sharing I mean there maybe that's part of this maybe it's technology maybe it's capabilities um we don't have a good sense of that but that's what's so concerning to us is is and not only the concern for the impact on the war in Ukraine but the impact that this could have in the Indo Pacific with Kim Jong-un benefiting to some degree can you talk about that just briefly like how significant is this for say region I think you mean indopacific until we have a better sense of what the North Koreans at least believe they're getting out of this as opposed to what they actually get it's hard to know and to put a metric on exactly what the impact is in the Indo Pacific but it is concerning it's been concerning certainly this development this this willingness of of Kim to literally put skin in the game here soldiers uh in Russia for the potential deployment and we haven't seen them deployed but for the potential deployment certainly would connote an expectation 12:01 that he thinks he's getting something out of this you mentioned that the US is discussing how we would possibly respond what are the possibilities for how the us could respond to this well for one thing we're going to continue to Surge security assistance um as I just mentioned in my my topper uh and you're going to continue to see the president has made it clear that we're going to continue to provide security assistance all the way up to the end of his administration for sure so you're going to see that continue to flow and we're talking to allies and partners about what the right next steps ought to be I'm not at Liberty today to go through any specific options uh but uh but we're going to we're going to have those conversations and we have been and China is a critical trading partner to North Korea what's the US assessment for how China is looking at all of this we don't know how president XI and the Chinese are looking at this one would think that um if you take their comments that face value about Desiring stability and security uh in the region particularly on the Korean Peninsula one would think 13:02 that uh they're also deeply concerned by this development um but U you can expect that we'll be uh we'll be uh communicating with the with the Chinese um about this and um certainly sharing our perspectives to the degree we can and and gleaning theirs and local South Korean press is reporting that according to intelligence these troops North Korean troops lack understanding of Modern Warfare such as drone attacks and it's antip iated there will be a high number of casualties when deployed to the front lines I I too soon to know I mean we we don't really know what they're going to be used for where they're going to if they're going to if they're going to deploy where they're going to deploy and to what purpose I can tell you one thing though if they do deploy uh to fight against Ukraine they're fair game they're Fair targets and the Ukrainian military uh will defend themselves against North Korean Soldiers the same way they're defending themselves against Russia soldiers um and so the the 14:02 possibility that there could be dead and wounded North Korean soldiers fighting against Ukraine is is absolutely real if they get deployed just to clarify something you said earlier about what Kim jungan possibly gets out of this as far as you know has he gotten anything in return well I mean from this particular move I can't speak to that MJ I I I don't think we have seen any specific uh you know quid quid pro quo with respect to this provision of troops but we know that that uh he and Mr Putin have again been growing in their defense relationship and we know Mr Putin has has been able to purchase North Korean artillery he's been able to get North Korean ballistic missiles which he has used uh against Ukraine um and in return we have seen uh some at the very least some technology sharing with North Korea um but what this particular development means means going forward we just don't 15:00 know we're going to have to watch that and do you know if this came about because Putin specifically first asked for help or whether it's that Kim jongin offered the help first don't know don't don't know what precipitated it but I think it's important to remember that in the three plus years that he's been fighting in in and around Ukraine Mr Putin and the uh his military has suffered 530,000 casualties and as we're speaking today he's losing casualties alone that's killed and wounded um 1,00,000 to 1200 per day now 530,000 is a lot I mean there were in the American Civil War there were like 620,000 killed just to put this into some perspective this is three years fighting in Ukraine 530 casualties is is a lot and he hasn't been fully transparent with the Russian people about this and he hasn't been 16:02 transparent at all with the Russian people about this particular move about bringing in North Korean soldiers so that he has to farm out the fighting to a foreign country I think speaks volumes um about how much his military suffering and and how uncertain he believes how untenable he believes his his situation is and I guess just if you had to guess how would the training what would the training even look like given the language barrier and once these North Korean soldiers are deployed like what would the command structure it's a great question I I wish we had an answer to it you're you're you're not wrong to highlight the language barrier I mean these are these aren't even similar languages they and uh they're going to have to overcome that it's not like they have uh a long productive history of working together as two militaries uh even at all um so that's going to be a challenge command and control is going to be a challenge and this is not a challenge that the Russians have even solved amongst themselves they're still 17:00 having command and control challenges Logistics and sustainment getting things to the battlefield keeping their troops in the field they haven't solve that for their own soldiers so they're going to have to figure that out here too if in fact they deploy we haven't seen that so there are there are some pretty big challenges they're going to have to overcome and I had a quick non Ukraine question um do you think that Donald Trump meets the definition of f fascist that I'm gonna yeah I'm not going to talk about that stuff uh John there there's concern among Democrats on the hill that uh Donald Trump's team has not entered into these critical transition agreements with the White House that could potentially in their words endanger National Security is that a concern of yours well look with the caveat then I'll I'm going to defer to Karine on anything to do with the election and um and the transition that's really for her all I'll say is that um uh no matter how things play out uh in the election the National Security Council under Mr Sullivan's leadership uh is and will make sure we're ready for 18:04 proper transition Handover and there are uh intelligence officials who have warned that uh foreign adversaries might be looking to stoke violence uh in the next uh 13 days ahead of the I saw the dni assessment yeah um what are you doing in preparation well we're working hard across the inter agency as you might expect we would to share information uh not only inside the at at the federal level but working very hard to make sure we've got good handshakes and and and information sharing uh at state and local levels as well that's the last thing we want of course is to see any violence um or protest activity that that leads to intimidation and that kind of thing so we're working hard again with local and state officials thank you so would North Korea's uh possible engagement in combat in Ukraine trigger a boulder move from the White House like decision to lift the restriction on usage of American 19:00 weapons yeah again number one we're monitoring this closely um and that's where we are right now I came and gave you a very honest assessment of exactly where we are and we just don't know uh if these troops are going to be deployed uh against Ukraine in combat and if so where when and how so number one we're monitoring this closely I don't have any policy decisions or options to speak to today um I can tell you the last thing I'll say is that there's been no change to uh the president's policy when it comes to what we're providing Ukraine um and and how they're using it than you John why not why not Greenlight the long range missiles uh for Ukraine's use which is zelinsky's number one ask as your sounding the alarm about what could have far-reaching implications if North Korean soldiers go into Ukraine well for one thing Jackie we don't exactly know what these guys are going to do what else could they be there for we don't know what they're going to do we don't know if they're going to deploy into combat or not we don't know if they do 20:02 and what strength we certainly don't have a sense of what capability they might be able to bring uh to the field with them doesn't it seem though like we were a couple years ago they were staged you had Russian troops staged on the Ukrainian border and this Administration was saying we don't know if they're going to go in we don't want to impose any sanctions we didn't do it ahead of time where why is there not a consequence first first of all let's not rewrite history Jackie we we were the first country to go out publicly and say here's what we think the Russians are going to do here's a timeline that is not true Jackie there was no preemptive sanction nothing Jackie that is not true it is true we didn't Levy sanctions originally because we were hoping that the threat of sanctions might deter or dissuade Mr Putin you lay sanctions on before the man makes a decision then he might as well just go ahead and do it and we and we did Levy sanctions on him heavy sanctions not just us but around the world number two we mobilized support for Ukraine even before Mr Putin decided to step across that line and no country no country has done more than the United States to make sure Ukraine is ready so to prevent this from 21:05 happening let me finish the second question then we'll get to your third one so let's not rewrite history the United States didn't sit idly by here we've been Ukraine's staunchest and most prolific supporter in terms of security assistance um and as for the policy decision uh the the president remains and we all remain in uh direct contact with our Ukrainian counterparts we're talking to the what what what they need as I said we've just announced $800 million more and there'll be more coming in security assistance I just don't have any policy changes to to speak to today why not you put a restriction on the type of Target that can be hit rather than the distance from a border that obviously Russia doesn't recognize and you've got training happening with North Korean troops I would assume on the types of military installations that would be fair game if that decision was made yeah we'll see we'll see we'll see what the and North Koreans decide to do here as I said earlier if these North 22:03 Korean soldiers decide to join the fight against Ukraine they will become legitimate military targets we got go yeah thank you um John would you still describe the Israeli operation in Lebanon as targeted I'm sorry the Israeli strikes on Lebanon would you still describe them as targeted again I'm not going to get into scorecarding each and every strike that the Israelis take I'll just say a couple of things they have a right to defend themselves there are legitimate threats uh that Hezbollah still poses to the Israeli people I mean rockets and missiles are still being fired at Israeli cities so let's not forget what Hezbollah continues to be able to do that's number one number two we have said many many times uh that we don't support uh daily uh you know strikes uh into heavily populated areas and that remains the case today we still pose you know daily strikes into densely populated areas and 23:01 we have had those conversations secretary blinkin has had that exact conversation when he was in Israel for the last couple of days we'll continue to press the Israelis on that so the interest from the frozen assets does it apply only to the European Union or also the US assets uh it is um it's for all the Frozen uh assets also in the US I I I believe so I this morning I thought the Le Singh said just European Union so I wasn't sure okay you know what let me take the question when I can't even balance my checkbook at home so thank you I wanted to ask about K specifically with um the North Korean troops in Russia Russia and North Korea have this Mutual Security pack if they were to use North Korean troops against ukrainians in curse would it be legitimate to try to reclaim Sovereign territory or would that be seen as an escalation in the war yeah I don't want to get ahead of where we are right now and hypothesize what these troops may or may not be doing and if the Russians are 24:02 going to deploy them where they're going to deploy them whether it'll be inside Russia or inside Ukraine let me just please go back to what I said before if these North Korean troops are employed against Ukraine they will become legitimate military targets Jan you have the last one thank you very much out ofat thank you this seems like a fair day for J on same same topic on North Korea the chairman of the house intelligence committee recently sent a letter to President Biden requesting a bing regarding the seriousness of North Korea's troops deployment and the neglect of the Korean Peninsula issue what is the White House response to this well wond respond as as appropriate to the chairman and we won't 25:01 do that from the podium here in the briefing room we'll do it appropriately with him and his staff uh I'll just say and hopefully my being here today and the my statement at the top should reflect how seriously we're taking this issue and how closely we're going to monitor it we recognize the potential danger here and we're going to be talking to allies and partners including the ukrainians about what the proper next steps are going to be but as for our response to the chairman I'll let that stand in legislative channels just quick one uh your colleague said that the state department briefing that the United States does not reflect other countes intelligence analysises so what is your assessment of intelligence cooperation with allies what what did my colleague at the state department say said that uh at the briefing that the United States does not reflect other countries intelligence 26:01 analyst about about the North Korean TR North Korean troths I just shared with you that today's opening statement was a downgrade of us intelligence of what what we're seeing um and I think you can see similarities between what I said today and what our South Korean counterparts have have said Ukrainian intelligence has has released information very very similar and again we're you know today isn't the end of this conversation it's it's quite frankly the beginning of the conversation that we're going to be having with allies and partners including through the intelligence Community thank you so much Admiral thank you go ahead TOA thank you thank you give me one second let's let too take I know he's been waiting patiently on the sides sideline um uh we don't have much time because I have to be in the oval in about 20 minutes but go ahead asked about the McDonald's outbreak the cold outbreak and this follows a couple of big ones that we've seen over the summer including Forest 27:03 head I think there's another Nationwide one um is President tracking this and more importantly how confident should Americans feel about the food supply right now so what I would say is the administration's top priority its top priority is to make sure that Americans are safe uh and so we are uh taking this very seriously we're monitoring the situation CDC as it relates to McDonald specifically is working to determine the course of the outbreak as we speak as you asked me about the Eola eoli outbreak and so what I would suggest is that families they need to and they must uh follow the latest CDC uh guidance obviously we're aware the president is is also aware um and going back to this particular outbreak with McDonald's I understand that the company has halted sales of product uh to protect customers and uh CDC is certainly in touch with uh with local authorities to to prevent infection so look we're always concerned we hear these types of um these types of uh situations right outbreaks and so and 28:05 the president wants to make sure that the American people are safe so uh it is a is certainly a priority for us and CDC is on top of this and looking into it just one more um any reaction to Jill Stein asserting the US and UK have uh blocked peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine I've not seen those reporting I'm not going to respond to uh a political candidate in for a factual thing I not even seeing the comments that you were mentioning to me so I I can't give you an honest response from here so goad J um Kine what did the president mean when he said last night about Donald Trump we got a locking CL so look uh and the president spoke to about this very clearly uh as well in his statement and he and he said uh he meant lock him out politically politically uh lock him out that's what he said and that's what we have to do that was the part of his quote that he said last night while he was in in New Hampshire look let's not forget this is 29:02 a president that has not never shied away from being very clear and laying down what is at stake uh in this election I'm going to be really Mindful and not speaking about 2024 uh election uh that's just a less than two weeks away uh but just is just speaking to what the president said last night uh he made clear he made very clear yesterday that he was referring to defeating uh to defeating Donald Trump that is what he was talking about he said politically politically lock him uh lock him uh out that is what he was referring to well he first said twice lock him up so you're saying when he said lock him up he meant to well it's not what I'm saying it's what he said he said to the right exactly he clarified himself he wanted to make sure that things were put into context he wanted to make sure that it while we are you know while not just New Hampshire sure uh folks that were there were going to see it but also the Americans who are watching and pay 30:02 attention to what the president is saying he wanted to put it into context and he himself this is not me this is the president himself going back to explain to explain to say that he was talking about politically politically uh locking him out um is the president um aware of John Kelly's assertion that Donald Trump uh meets the definition of a fascist um and that Trump wanted the kinds of generals Hitler had I mean look you have heard from this President over and over again about the threats uh to democracy and the president has spoken about that you've heard from the former president himself saying that he is going to be a dictator on day one this is him not us this is him and it's not just all this not just us the White House saying this uh you heard it from officials former officials that worked for the former president say this as well so you know do we agree I know that 31:03 the the vice president just spoke about this do we agree about that determination yes we do we do uh let's not forget I will point you to January 6 what we saw in January 6 2,000 people were told to go to the capital to undo a free and fair election by the former president it was a dark dark day in our democracy and a dangerous one we have people who died because of what happened on January 6 and you know we cannot forget that we cannot forget that uh and so and I will add I will add this that um and I can't believe I even have to say this but our nation's veterans are heroes they are heroes they're not losers or suckers they are heroes and to be praising Adolf Hitler is dangerous and it's also disgusting so just to be 32:00 clear when you said we do agree President Biden believes that Donald Trump is a FAS I me yes we have said he said himself the former president has said he is going to be a dictator on day one we cannot ignore that we cannot uh and we cannot ignore or forget what happened on January 6 2021 that is real real people were affected by by this law enforcement who were trying to protect protect the capital protect law uh elected officials in the capital Congressional members Senators house members their lives were ruined because of that day because 2,000 people again 2,000 people were told by the former president to go there to find the former vice president to stop a free unfair election that is what that is what happened some of you some of your colleagues were there reported it and saw it for your yourself we cannot forget that okay you 33:02 talk about the context of the president's comments yesterday I want to put them in the Fuller context as well the president went to New Hampshire to make a policy argument against Republicans on the issue of prescription drugs but the majority uh more of his comments yesterday were really some of the most dire warnings we've heard from this President yet about a return to a Donald Trump presidency and what it mean would mean for this country he talked about world leaders pulling him aside saying can't win he talked about um the concern what it would mean for future generations of America How concerned is the president about at this point about the state of the race is he worried that Trump is on a path to Victory so look I'm not going to talk about the state of the race you heard from the president you just laid out very clearly about what the president talked about yesterday uh in New Hampshire he laid out what his thoughts were he laid out what the stakes are for this country uh and this is somebody who cares clearly very deeply about the future of this country and so I'm not going to get into what he 34:01 thinks about this the race in this current moment that is not something that I'm here to do I am not I am no longer a political pundit I am the White House Press Secretary I speak for the president but obviously I cannot speak to uh the 2024 election and you did talk about something else right when you talked about what he went to do on the official side and I would read you some quotes here some headlines that we that we saw in New Hampshire today from New Hampshire press which I think is really important Biden saying Sanders help prescription drug cost savings at New New Hampshire event another one Biden and Bernie Sanders highlight lower prescription drug cost in New Hampshire stop that is important the president wanted to go to New Hampshire to talk about what he and the vice president have been able to do in more than three and a half years lowering prescription drugs beating big farmer he talked about the inflation reduction act by the way no Republican voted for that now it is popular with Democrats and Republicans and this is something that is going to change people's lives and so that's what he was there for he talked about let's not forget what they've been other 35:02 things they've been able to do whether it's the bipartisan gun violence protection being able to do that in a bipartisan way and dealing with covid that put our economy in a downturn and this president has been able to empower empowering the economy and we are now leading as a country in the world when it comes to the economy so I think he was able to do both things I think he was able to speak his mind on on the political you know nature of where we are right now which he can obviously he spoke to and I think people in New Hampshire got a sense of what the president is trying to do on behalf of them and talking about Lan cost we saw that in the New Hampshire papers so it broke through and I think that's important you were with the president last week in Germany when he says he had these conversations with world leaders expressing their dire concern about the election here what has been his response to those world leaders I'm not going to get into private diplomatic conversations uh and I will just leave it there I'll ask you we uh NBC News is reporting that the vice 36:02 president's likely to spend election night here in Washington perhaps at her Al Mo of Howard University do we have understanding yet of where the president will be and when how he plans to vote as soon as you all know uh we certainly will share that with all of you um I will say is that the president is certainly looking forward uh to Casting his ballot uh in Delaware and so once we have the full information on what his day is going to look like or what the last coup days leading up to November 5th will look like we certainly will share that with all of you since we're talking about scheduling it is um traditional for the president to hold a press conference oh boy I knew that was can't stop one you were you were you weren't here for the the the the drop by were you here for the drop yes I was it was great we'd love to see him again um so and you know what he had a really good time he enjoyed he enjoyed it so just an open invitation for the president to follow tradition and do a press conference after the election which I think is standard and important I I totally hear that Tam and and I know it is a tradition uh I I don't want to 37:04 get ahead of what the schedule's going to look like as we know uh in less than two weeks we will have an important election obviously I'm not speaking about that election specifically but um we want to um uh share we will share more as we get closer and we we certainly are tracking that tradition and we'll certainly have more to share are we going to see him with the vice president much in the next couple weeks I I I know you all have asked asked this question of him you've asked this question of me they have uh as you know campaigned together they've done official events together uh in the past just a couple of weeks uh they speak regularly uh and uh and I would say the president you've heard the president just you know tout uh how proud and how he thinks she will be a great leader on day one which is he also said in 2020 which is why he chose her as his running mate and he has said as well which was the best decision that he's made um and understands that she's going to cut her own path said this himself just last week when he was in in Philadelphia um 38:03 don't have anything to share again on the schedule I know this is all part of a scheduling question uh and we certainly will have more to share as the days uh as the days as you know I mean one day is like an eternity in in this space as you know uh and so less than two weeks is feels like so far away so we will have more to share for sure get I just want to follow up on MJ's question so did the president actually read former Marine General Kelly's comments or listen to them and did you you know how he reacted after so I mean look I just gave a really good I think a good sense of um the what the president has said uh about our reaction here uh from the White House the president is aware uh of John Kelly's comments uh and I gave your reaction as part of the as as the President's White House Press Secretary and what I'm saying to you today is something that the president has said over and over and over over again and repeat it and let's not forget the words that we have heard from the former president and it matters here because we're talking about our democracy we're talking about what's at 39:07 stake here with our democracy and uh when you have a former president saying that they will be a dictator on day one that is something that we cannot forget and so um you know the president has spoke spoken about this and given speeches on this uh and that's why I continue to point to January 6 20221 uh 2021 because it was uh it's something that we cannot forget A Dark Day on non-democracy a dark day of non-democracy because of what was uh what what occurred what occurred was the president surprised by any of the comments count no not at all I mean again the president has made comments and spoken about this over and over again so no I will say no go ahead thanks green um Elon Musk has been you know campaigning with former president Donald Trump um and he is offering $1 million to voters I just was wondering um has the president expressed any 40:04 concern to you know this interference by Elon Musk and I don't know if if he you know his the administration maybe has any plans or has discussed maybe how to sort of maybe move forward with what's what Elon Musk is doing with on this particular uh question I'm going to have to refer you to the FEC uh just have to be that one I I that's a place that I'm going to have to refer you I can't speak to it beyond that but has the president mentioned it at all he's aware of it he's aware of it that I can tell you I just can't speak to it beyond that I have to refer to the FC talk uh and you've taken questions today and obviously throughout the the presidency President Biden has talked a lot about Democratic institutions I'm just curious if between now and election day the president's going to speak some more broadly about the um confidence in in the votes being counted accurately well president's T talk talked about this he believes in our institution uh he believes in and this will be a free 41:02 and fair election he's talked about this we have to give the American people who some of them are voting right now to make sure that they have the confidence in their vote and how important it is uh to cast their vote I'm not going to go beyond that uh but uh I think the president has been very clear about that but you don't we talk about schedules or something sort of like a big sort of because he's done these types of addresses on issues like this before so I'm just curious if like this a time to no I hear you and I hear you're talking about the moment that we're in and if the president's going to speak about it in a more formal way in in remarks in the speech I don't have anything to share with you but he's been very clear uh about having the confidence in our institutions uh and so I'll leave it there just want to ask you briefly about uh Congressional Outreach uh for the 10 billion that would be military aid has the White House started at that process reaching out to members of Congress to get their Buy in uh to kind of help expedite this process I mean we're in regular touch with uh Congressional members uh about any type of initiative that we're trying to push through 42:02 especially if it involves uh Congress obviously I don't have anything to to read out to you at this time uh but we are in regular conversation about a a Marriot of things uh when it comes to legislation things that we're trying to push forward again uh certainly that is important to the American people I just don't have anything to share at this time just a quick 2024 question you said the president's going to vote it's a scheduling question will he vote you guys are very into sched I know schule early voting starts in Delaware obviously uh this week and will he vote early beforee as as soon as we have something to share I I will certainly share that I I appreciate the effort here um the president I could say for sure the president is looking forward to Casting his ballot uh and when we have more to share about his schedule I mean we're not the president can't not just go vote not for you guys not to know right so you guys follow him wherever he is which is good which is a good thing go ahead thanks Kine uh the former president described the vice president as lazy as hell yesterday uh she had a day when she was not on the campaign 43:05 Trail I was going to give you an opportunity to respond to that uh I would check the source pay real close attention to who's saying that that's all I'll say okay another question about the vice president's interview with NBC she talked she was asked about whether there should be any concessions on the issue of abortion and the situation say that one more time she was asked whether or not there should be concessions on the issue of abortion the scenario being a potential divided government like we have now whether or not she would be willing to offer concessions things like religious freedom on the issue of abortion and I wanted to see meaning like once she's in office yes oh look I'm not going to I'm not going to get into hypotheticals it's not that is something that certainly you know when she be when she is in office and becomes and all of the things happen I'm not going to get into hypothetical she's going to make her own decisions and decide what's best for the American people I can't speak to that at this time not going to get into hypotheticals uh what you know and what you have seen from this President and this vice 44:05 president is their commitment to continue to fight for women's rights uh and continue to call on Congress uh to uh uh to um you know to reinstate roie Wade uh make sure that legislation is put out there voted on and so he would sign that obviously if that were to happen uh and so that is what they he both have asked for it that is what we've been saying during this Administration and she has been obviously a passionate uh fighter on that issue uh understanding what this means to women understanding what this means to people's rights and freedoms uh and so has this President and so that's what we're going to continue to see uh you just you just heard uh us I get all the days all the days come together recently talk about how we're expanding uh in the ACA for contraception because under understanding how that how important that is uh to women and families or or women and Americans who 45:02 are trying to make uh decisions on their family or how to move forward and they should have that right uh and so and that freedom and so again that action shows you the commitment um from the and I hope the American people from the Biden Harris Administration what she's going to do next how she's going to govern that's not for me to say one other question from the interview she was asked whether or not sexism would come into play in this election she said I don't think of it that way obviously the former president Barack Obama said that he did believe that sexism was coming into play uh in this election what does the president think about uh I'll say this um uh clearly the vice president spoke to this and this is her campaign and she's she's she's going to say how she sees uh uh things um the president has always said and will continue to say um uh that she is ready to lead on day one uh and you don't have to just look at her record uh with him as a critical 46:02 partner over the last more than three and a half years as vice president but as Senator as attorney general as district attorney uh she is someone that has always fought for Americans fought for people whether it is citizens in California or more broadly obviously and I think that's what the American people I know that's what the American people want to see they want to see a fighter and that's what the president sees in her and again just looking at what we've been able to do in the more than three and a half years when it comes to U trying to beat back Co and make sure that we all could come together in this room again without masks and make sure that was a strategy to deal with this pandemic turn the economy around uh because of this pandemic uh make sure that uh uh you know schools were open businesses were open now we have a record number of people applying to open up small businesses they're doing that because they believe that the economy is working for them nobody wants to open a small business if they don't think the 47:01 economy is working is is working for them uh now there's always a lot more work to be done and we're going to continue to do that work you saw what the president did with Senator Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire and conquered New Hampshire answering and L and laying out uh what the what the inflation reduction act has been able to do saving people a billion dollars because of that inflation reduction act which I may add uh Republicans did not vote for they did not vote for it I I have to get I'm getting the pull here good John thanks a lot K what's the level of concern that the Administration has about election interference specifically from Russia I mean we spoke to that we've laid out we made an announcement on what we were seeing from Russia on Election interference we sent a very clear message on that just a couple of weeks ago so obviously that is something that continues to be a concern we will speak loud and clear about that as we did just a couple of weeks ago uh but we also want Americans to know that to trust uh the institution and that's what the president is going to continue to say uh and uh and and also continue to lay out the stakes what's at Stakes okay thanks everybody hopefully see you on the road

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