WEBVTT 00:00.140 --> 00:03.260 Yeah . Hi , everyone 00:04.040 --> 00:06.460 support it . Good afternoon . 00:09.640 --> 00:11.807 Okay , just a couple items for you all 00:11.807 --> 00:14.090 at the top . Another update on the 00:14.100 --> 00:16.850 hurricane . The continuing focus on the 00:16.850 --> 00:19.570 ground is On power restoration is 00:19.570 --> 00:21.348 nearly one million customers in 00:21.348 --> 00:23.514 Louisiana . More than 40% of the state 00:23.514 --> 00:25.737 remain without power in the middle of a 00:25.737 --> 00:27.959 heat advisory . While progress has been 00:27.959 --> 00:30.070 made in Mississippi since yesterday , 00:30.070 --> 00:32.292 30,000 customers , they're still do not 00:32.292 --> 00:34.459 have electricity and power restoration 00:34.459 --> 00:36.403 in parts of Louisiana and parts of 00:36.403 --> 00:38.403 Louisiana could take weeks as crews 00:38.403 --> 00:40.570 assess the full extent of power system 00:40.570 --> 00:42.459 damage . To help accelerate these 00:42.459 --> 00:44.681 efforts , the president spoke with CeoS 00:44.681 --> 00:46.848 of the largest energy companies in the 00:46.848 --> 00:46.690 gulf coast yesterday and committed the 00:46.690 --> 00:48.801 full weight of the federal government 00:48.801 --> 00:50.857 to providing resources wherever they 00:50.857 --> 00:52.801 are needed . As part of that , the 00:52.801 --> 00:54.857 federal government is sharing aerial 00:54.857 --> 00:57.079 and satellite imagery to support damage 00:57.079 --> 00:56.600 assessments , helping with debris 00:56.600 --> 00:58.433 removal and traffic control . So 00:58.433 --> 01:00.544 restoration workers and equipment can 01:00.544 --> 01:02.711 get access to down wires and poles and 01:02.711 --> 01:04.878 expediting permitting for rerunning of 01:04.878 --> 01:06.544 transmission cable across the 01:06.544 --> 01:08.656 Mississippi river and for standing up 01:08.656 --> 01:10.878 transmission towers . Federal personnel 01:10.878 --> 01:12.822 from D . O . E . The Army Corps of 01:12.822 --> 01:14.989 Engineers and across government are on 01:14.989 --> 01:17.322 the ground assisting efforts along with , 01:17.322 --> 01:19.211 as I've noted previously , 25,000 01:19.211 --> 01:21.433 Lineman lack of power and damage to the 01:21.433 --> 01:23.267 health health care facilities in 01:23.267 --> 01:25.600 Louisiana remains a significant problem . 01:25.600 --> 01:27.711 We are prioritizing the deployment of 01:27.711 --> 01:29.767 generators to locations most in need 01:29.767 --> 01:31.830 and about 1800 patients as of today 01:31.830 --> 01:33.886 have been evacuated from health care 01:33.886 --> 01:36.052 facilities with the help of additional 01:36.052 --> 01:38.386 ambulances that were pre staged by fema . 01:38.390 --> 01:40.700 Uh Self service also remains an issue 01:40.700 --> 01:42.811 as it has been over the course of the 01:42.811 --> 01:45.580 last a couple of days and FCC is 01:45.580 --> 01:47.802 working directly with wireless carriers 01:47.802 --> 01:49.969 and has deployed staff to Louisiana to 01:49.969 --> 01:52.640 prioritize recovery efforts . We know 01:52.640 --> 01:54.696 this has been incredibly difficult , 01:54.696 --> 01:56.918 continues to be for many people who had 01:56.918 --> 01:59.140 to evacuate because of the storm and we 01:59.140 --> 02:01.307 continue to encourage individuals from 02:01.307 --> 02:03.362 impacted areas in Louisiana to apply 02:03.362 --> 02:05.307 for federal assistance . more than 02:05.307 --> 02:07.307 31,000 households in Louisiana have 02:07.307 --> 02:09.140 already received a one time $500 02:09.140 --> 02:11.307 payment to support critical needs as a 02:11.307 --> 02:12.918 result of the major disaster 02:12.918 --> 02:15.140 declaration of the President approved . 02:15.140 --> 02:17.307 I'd also note this just went out , but 02:17.307 --> 02:19.529 in case you haven't seen it on friday , 02:19.529 --> 02:21.362 the president will travel to new 02:21.362 --> 02:23.307 Orleans Louisiana to serve a storm 02:23.307 --> 02:25.529 damage from hurricane IDa and meet with 02:25.529 --> 02:25.380 state and local leaders from impacted 02:25.380 --> 02:27.602 communities . We're just finalizing the 02:27.602 --> 02:29.769 details of the strip so as more become 02:29.769 --> 02:32.240 available or share them with all of you 02:32.250 --> 02:34.660 also wanted to note that today , 02:35.640 --> 02:37.690 uh Federal , the White House and 02:37.690 --> 02:39.857 agencies across the Federal government 02:39.857 --> 02:42.023 including hud Treasury and the Federal 02:42.023 --> 02:43.690 Housing Finance Authority are 02:43.690 --> 02:45.690 announcing steps that will create , 02:45.690 --> 02:47.912 preserve and sell approximately 100,000 02:47.912 --> 02:49.968 additional affordable homes over the 02:49.968 --> 02:52.023 next three years with an emphasis on 02:52.023 --> 02:54.134 lower and middle ends of the market . 02:54.134 --> 02:56.023 Uh These steps leverages existing 02:56.023 --> 02:58.023 authorities and dedicate additional 02:58.023 --> 02:59.912 resources to affordable housing . 02:59.912 --> 03:01.857 Specifically , they will boost the 03:01.857 --> 03:03.857 supply of quality affordable rental 03:03.857 --> 03:05.746 units by increasing the financing 03:05.746 --> 03:07.912 available through hud Treasury and F . 03:07.912 --> 03:10.134 H . F . A . Programs for affordable and 03:10.134 --> 03:12.357 targeted housing production , including 03:12.357 --> 03:11.930 a relaunch of the federal financing 03:11.930 --> 03:14.140 banks risk sharing program , expanded 03:14.140 --> 03:16.084 support for low income housing tax 03:16.084 --> 03:18.084 credit and increasing access to the 03:18.084 --> 03:20.140 capital magnet fund boost . And this 03:20.140 --> 03:22.251 will boost the supply of manufactured 03:22.251 --> 03:24.362 housing and 2 to 4 unit properties by 03:24.362 --> 03:26.696 expanding financing through Freddie Mac , 03:26.696 --> 03:28.918 which along with existing policies will 03:28.918 --> 03:31.251 enable more americans to purchase homes . 03:31.251 --> 03:33.307 Uh Last item , sorry , there's a lot 03:33.307 --> 03:35.307 going on uh today . Uh uh Today the 03:35.307 --> 03:37.196 White House Treasury and code for 03:37.196 --> 03:39.418 America Civic technology , non profit , 03:39.418 --> 03:41.473 announced the launch of a new mobile 03:41.473 --> 03:43.696 friendly and bilingual child tax credit 03:43.696 --> 03:45.584 CTC . Sign up tool that is mobile 03:45.584 --> 03:47.640 friendly and available in spanish to 03:47.640 --> 03:47.490 make it easier , even easier for more 03:47.490 --> 03:49.820 americans who do not regularly file 03:49.820 --> 03:52.630 taxes to claim their child tax credit . 03:52.630 --> 03:54.574 And as you know , this has been an 03:54.574 --> 03:56.741 ongoing effort of this White House and 03:56.741 --> 03:58.686 the administration to breach every 03:58.686 --> 04:00.686 single person we can who's eligible 04:00.686 --> 04:02.797 even if they are non filers , we will 04:02.797 --> 04:04.852 link this new tool through child tax 04:04.852 --> 04:06.908 credit dot gov . Well , the code for 04:06.908 --> 04:08.741 America tool is an important and 04:08.741 --> 04:10.519 necessary resource to help more 04:10.519 --> 04:12.352 families as taxis . And Treasury 04:12.352 --> 04:12.210 remains committed to creating a 04:12.210 --> 04:14.230 permanent , fully resourced , multi 04:14.230 --> 04:16.397 lingual and mobile friendly government 04:16.397 --> 04:18.820 Sign up tool that is a process that is 04:18.820 --> 04:22.510 underway . That is all I have to 04:22.520 --> 04:24.687 highlight for you this morning or this 04:24.687 --> 04:26.742 afternoon . Go ahead . Kick us off . 04:26.742 --> 04:28.909 Great thanks jen two subjects first on 04:28.909 --> 04:30.687 covid in Louisiana . State data 04:30.687 --> 04:32.909 suggests that about 10% of hospitalized 04:32.909 --> 04:35.240 patients are vaccinated . Is it still 04:35.250 --> 04:37.650 accurate to call covid pandemic be 04:37.650 --> 04:39.800 unvaccinated and could that phrase 04:39.800 --> 04:41.967 that's been deployed frequently by the 04:41.967 --> 04:43.300 White House possibly be 04:43.300 --> 04:45.078 counterproductive at this stage 04:45.078 --> 04:47.244 protecting some women ? Well , I would 04:47.244 --> 04:49.244 say first we continue to track data 04:49.244 --> 04:51.467 closely through the C . D . C . And all 04:51.467 --> 04:53.689 of our health care . Health and medical 04:53.689 --> 04:55.689 experts who do show that across the 04:55.689 --> 04:57.911 country the vast vast majority of those 04:57.911 --> 04:59.967 who are hospitalized , vast majority 04:59.967 --> 05:01.856 are individuals who have not been 05:01.856 --> 05:03.911 vaccinated . That has not changed in 05:03.911 --> 05:06.022 any health and medical expert whether 05:06.022 --> 05:08.078 it's dr Fauci dr Collins dr Wolinski 05:08.078 --> 05:11.020 will tell you that vaccination is very 05:11.020 --> 05:12.631 effective in protecting from 05:12.631 --> 05:14.742 hospitalization and death and serious 05:14.742 --> 05:16.853 illness . That is our objective is to 05:16.853 --> 05:18.687 save more lives . So that hasn't 05:18.687 --> 05:20.520 changed our messaging secondly , 05:20.520 --> 05:22.590 obviously in texas with the law with 05:22.600 --> 05:24.822 regard to abortion , the president said 05:24.822 --> 05:26.878 in a statement , he will protect and 05:26.878 --> 05:28.933 defend roe versus morning . How does 05:28.933 --> 05:31.720 the administration do that ? Well , uh 05:31.730 --> 05:33.508 we put out a statement from the 05:33.508 --> 05:35.508 president this morning , but let me 05:35.508 --> 05:37.619 just reiterate some of the key points 05:37.619 --> 05:37.150 and I will of course answer your 05:37.150 --> 05:39.150 question as the president said this 05:39.150 --> 05:41.370 morning . It's extreme texas law 05:41.380 --> 05:43.491 blatantly violates the constitutional 05:43.491 --> 05:45.658 right established under roe v wade and 05:45.658 --> 05:47.769 upheld as precedent for nearly half a 05:47.769 --> 05:49.936 century ? It will significantly impair 05:49.936 --> 05:52.102 women's access to the health care they 05:52.102 --> 05:54.269 need , particularly for communities of 05:54.269 --> 05:56.547 color and individuals with low incomes . 05:56.547 --> 05:58.769 It also deputize is private citizens to 05:58.769 --> 06:00.936 bring lawsuits against anyone who they 06:00.936 --> 06:03.047 believe has helped another person get 06:03.047 --> 06:05.213 an abortion , which might even include 06:05.213 --> 06:07.380 family members , health care workers , 06:07.380 --> 06:07.190 front desk staff at a healthcare clinic 06:07.200 --> 06:09.367 or strangers with no connection to the 06:09.367 --> 06:11.450 individuals . This further isolates 06:11.450 --> 06:13.561 individuals who are facing this tough 06:13.561 --> 06:15.672 choice . And I would note , for those 06:15.672 --> 06:17.894 of you who didn't see people who report 06:17.894 --> 06:19.990 who who these private citizens could 06:19.990 --> 06:22.110 get up to $10,000 for reporting 06:22.110 --> 06:24.221 somebody who is seeking an abortion . 06:24.221 --> 06:26.860 So our focus on the president's focus 06:26.940 --> 06:29.610 is to reiterate our deep commitment to 06:29.610 --> 06:31.554 the constitutional right of course 06:31.554 --> 06:33.666 established by roe v wade nearly five 06:33.666 --> 06:35.888 decades ago and to continue to call for 06:35.888 --> 06:37.943 the codification of Rose , something 06:37.943 --> 06:40.110 that the president talked about on the 06:40.110 --> 06:42.110 campaign trail . The Vice president 06:42.110 --> 06:44.277 talked about on the campaign trail and 06:44.277 --> 06:44.250 this highlights even further the need 06:44.250 --> 06:46.570 to move forward on that effort . But 06:46.770 --> 06:48.910 it's true one on probably in 06:48.910 --> 06:52.260 Afghanistan Cleveland boosters , 06:52.560 --> 06:55.130 President biden has pledged to follow 06:55.130 --> 06:57.297 the science in the fight against Covid 06:57.297 --> 06:59.800 though some experts have expressed some 06:59.800 --> 07:02.440 concern the decision to make boosters 07:02.450 --> 07:04.617 widely available in september is a bit 07:04.617 --> 07:06.728 premature and that it was made before 07:06.728 --> 07:08.839 health experts were able to fully way 07:08.839 --> 07:10.950 in . So here's my question . What can 07:10.950 --> 07:12.783 what can you tell people who are 07:12.783 --> 07:15.140 concerned that the desire to get ahead 07:15.140 --> 07:17.362 of the virus has actually put us out in 07:17.362 --> 07:20.270 front of the science instead ? Well , 07:20.280 --> 07:22.113 first of all we always leave the 07:22.113 --> 07:24.280 science and let me just reiterate some 07:24.280 --> 07:26.391 things for anyone who is expressing a 07:26.391 --> 07:28.502 concern . This was a decision made by 07:28.502 --> 07:28.360 and announced by the nation's leading 07:28.360 --> 07:30.582 public health officials . Everyone from 07:30.582 --> 07:32.749 Dr Rochelle walensky , the head of the 07:32.749 --> 07:34.770 CDC Dr Janet Woodcock , Acting FDA 07:34.770 --> 07:36.910 Administrator Commissioner Dr Francis 07:36.910 --> 07:38.966 Collins and I . C . N . H . Director 07:38.966 --> 07:41.077 and Dr Fauci director of the National 07:41.077 --> 07:43.077 Institute of Allergy and infectious 07:43.077 --> 07:45.188 diseases . Uh They reviewed mountains 07:45.188 --> 07:47.410 and mountains available data on vaccine 07:47.410 --> 07:49.299 effectiveness and made a clinical 07:49.299 --> 07:51.466 judgment that boosters would be needed 07:51.466 --> 07:53.577 and announced a plan to begin them in 07:53.577 --> 07:55.743 september subject of course to the F . 07:55.743 --> 07:57.799 D . A . And C . D . C . Processes to 07:57.799 --> 07:59.743 continue . We also know that there 07:59.743 --> 08:01.966 needs to be uh there needs to be a plan 08:01.966 --> 08:03.966 in place to implement these booster 08:03.966 --> 08:06.077 shots around the country . But I will 08:06.077 --> 08:08.299 tell you that this was a recommendation 08:08.299 --> 08:10.299 made by our nation's leading health 08:10.299 --> 08:09.740 experts based on mountains and 08:09.740 --> 08:11.962 mountains of data . Uh There will still 08:11.962 --> 08:14.073 be a final piece of this process that 08:14.073 --> 08:15.796 will be seen through . But our 08:15.796 --> 08:17.962 responsibility and our objective is to 08:17.962 --> 08:20.184 save more lives , protect more people . 08:20.184 --> 08:22.351 And as soon as this data , the science 08:22.351 --> 08:22.290 made clear that boosters would help do 08:22.290 --> 08:23.901 that . We wanted to put that 08:23.901 --> 08:26.123 information out to the public september 08:26.123 --> 08:29.300 20th date . Uh is that firm that state 08:29.300 --> 08:31.633 to roll out those wrists that firm date ? 08:31.633 --> 08:34.080 Well , it's based on impending the 08:34.090 --> 08:36.368 final subject to the final F . D N . C . 08:36.368 --> 08:38.423 D . C . Processes . Yes . Okay . And 08:38.423 --> 08:40.312 one on Afghanistan , there's some 08:40.312 --> 08:42.201 reporting that we like to confirm 08:42.201 --> 08:44.368 regarding a I'll call in june and july 08:44.368 --> 08:46.312 rather between President Biden and 08:46.312 --> 08:48.368 former Afghanistan President Ghani , 08:48.368 --> 08:50.090 one that both leaders appeared 08:50.090 --> 08:52.090 completely unaware that the taliban 08:52.090 --> 08:54.090 would take over . And secondly that 08:54.090 --> 08:56.146 they discussed plans to project that 08:56.146 --> 08:58.550 Afghan forces were still in control . 08:58.560 --> 09:01.140 Can is that accurate ? Can you tell us 09:01.140 --> 09:03.251 a little bit more about that ? Well , 09:03.251 --> 09:04.973 I'm not gonna get into private 09:04.973 --> 09:06.918 diplomatic conversations or leaked 09:06.918 --> 09:09.140 transcripts of phone calls . But what I 09:09.140 --> 09:11.251 can reiterate for you is that we have 09:11.251 --> 09:12.918 stated many times that no one 09:12.918 --> 09:15.440 anticipated . Uh The vast majority , I 09:15.440 --> 09:17.162 should say there may have been 09:17.162 --> 09:19.162 individuals and agencies so I don't 09:19.162 --> 09:21.384 want to eliminate that option . But our 09:21.384 --> 09:23.440 national security team and no one in 09:23.440 --> 09:25.790 Congress or I would say most people out 09:25.790 --> 09:27.790 in the public anticipated that the 09:27.790 --> 09:29.957 taliban would be able to take over the 09:29.957 --> 09:32.123 country as quickly as they did or that 09:32.123 --> 09:34.123 the Afghan national security forces 09:34.123 --> 09:36.290 would fold as quickly as they did . So 09:36.290 --> 09:38.346 even the content of the reporting is 09:38.346 --> 09:40.512 consistent with what we have said many 09:40.512 --> 09:42.290 times publicly . I'll also note 09:42.290 --> 09:44.346 something that the president said in 09:44.346 --> 09:46.401 his press conference around the same 09:46.401 --> 09:48.568 time of this reported phone call , the 09:48.568 --> 09:48.230 Afghan government and leadership has to 09:48.230 --> 09:50.341 come together . They clearly have the 09:50.341 --> 09:52.452 capacity to sustain the government in 09:52.452 --> 09:54.674 the place . The question is , will they 09:54.674 --> 09:56.952 generate the kind of cohesion to do it ? 09:56.952 --> 09:59.008 What the President conveyed publicly 09:59.008 --> 10:00.786 and certainly privately as well 10:00.786 --> 10:02.897 repeatedly to Afghan leaders , as did 10:02.897 --> 10:05.119 our national security officials is that 10:05.119 --> 10:07.063 it's important that the leaders in 10:07.063 --> 10:09.119 Afghanistan do exactly that lead and 10:09.119 --> 10:11.341 show the country that they are ready to 10:11.341 --> 10:13.230 continue to the fight against the 10:13.230 --> 10:15.341 Taliban . That they have the will for 10:15.341 --> 10:17.508 the Afghan national Security forces to 10:17.508 --> 10:19.730 continue that fight even as our U . S . 10:19.730 --> 10:21.674 Forces leave the President at that 10:21.674 --> 10:23.563 point in time have some sort of a 10:23.563 --> 10:25.510 perception that even though former 10:25.510 --> 10:27.677 President Afghanistan didn't have that 10:27.677 --> 10:29.732 confidence in the Afghan forces . Is 10:29.732 --> 10:33.590 that why maybe he was pushing Ghani to 10:33.600 --> 10:35.711 be more stirring to be more confident 10:36.340 --> 10:38.673 the President has consistently conveyed . 10:38.673 --> 10:41.010 And I just noted an example publicly 10:41.020 --> 10:43.550 that the Afghan leadership at the time 10:43.560 --> 10:45.730 needed to do exactly that lead . They 10:45.730 --> 10:47.841 needed to come together in a cohesive 10:47.841 --> 10:49.841 manner . They needed to be united . 10:49.841 --> 10:52.063 They needed to show the country and the 10:52.063 --> 10:54.230 Afghan people they were going to fight 10:54.230 --> 10:54.020 and they were going to lead through 10:54.020 --> 10:55.909 this transition , even as U . S . 10:55.909 --> 10:57.631 Forces left . That is entirely 10:57.631 --> 10:59.464 consistent with what he has said 10:59.464 --> 11:01.798 publicly throughout Clinton . Thank you , 11:01.798 --> 11:03.909 jen one on Afghanistan , one on covid 11:03.909 --> 11:06.350 as well With a few colleagues of mine 11:06.350 --> 11:09.790 have determined that roughly 17 Afghan 11:09.790 --> 11:11.901 refugees to military installations in 11:11.901 --> 11:14.640 five states here As of as of Tuesday . 11:14.640 --> 11:16.529 Well , another 40 remaining bases 11:16.529 --> 11:20.200 overseas . Um , curious how many of 11:20.200 --> 11:22.370 those Afghan evacuees have other 11:22.370 --> 11:24.426 countries committed to resettling or 11:24.426 --> 11:26.426 what is the status of those ongoing 11:26.426 --> 11:28.370 conversations ? And will the us we 11:28.370 --> 11:30.426 settle or otherwise ? Will the us we 11:30.426 --> 11:32.592 settle all of those 40,000 here in the 11:32.592 --> 11:34.580 United States ? Well , um , not to 11:34.580 --> 11:36.913 refute the reporting of your colleagues , 11:36.913 --> 11:39.080 but just to note , uh the Secretary of 11:39.080 --> 11:41.080 Defense just confirmed , it's about 11:41.080 --> 11:43.370 20,000 who have come into the United 11:43.370 --> 11:45.259 States at a briefing earlier this 11:45.259 --> 11:47.481 afternoon . Uh there is capacity and we 11:47.481 --> 11:49.700 are working towards capacity At our 11:49.700 --> 11:52.530 military basis for up to 50,000 . Uh 11:52.540 --> 11:54.651 and again , this is not a place where 11:54.651 --> 11:56.651 people would live . This is a place 11:56.651 --> 11:58.651 where people would go uh they would 11:58.651 --> 12:00.873 receive medical care and assistance and 12:00.873 --> 12:03.096 get connected with refugee resettlement 12:03.096 --> 12:05.207 organizations uh that are uh played a 12:05.207 --> 12:07.318 vital role uh as refugees come to our 12:07.318 --> 12:09.484 country from wherever they come around 12:09.484 --> 12:11.540 the world . We are also working with 12:11.540 --> 12:13.207 third countries on what their 12:13.207 --> 12:15.262 capacities are . I can't give you an 12:15.262 --> 12:15.070 exact breakdown now . It's a very 12:15.070 --> 12:17.292 important question , but that's exactly 12:17.292 --> 12:19.070 what our Department of homeland 12:19.070 --> 12:21.070 Security , what our diplomatic team 12:21.070 --> 12:23.181 will be working through in the coming 12:23.181 --> 12:25.014 days . And I'm certainly will be 12:25.014 --> 12:24.970 providing updates as we have that 12:24.970 --> 12:27.330 established talked about this a little 12:27.330 --> 12:29.552 bit others have as well . But there are 12:29.552 --> 12:31.608 of course concerns among lawmakers , 12:31.608 --> 12:33.980 experts have practice Hussein previous 12:34.540 --> 12:37.200 arrivals of large numbers of refugees 12:37.200 --> 12:39.311 from different parts of the world and 12:39.311 --> 12:41.256 that really there may be a handful 12:41.256 --> 12:43.478 small handful who are eventually deemed 12:43.478 --> 12:45.478 a security risk of some kind . What 12:45.478 --> 12:47.850 reassurances can you make about the 12:47.850 --> 12:50.300 screening process and the attempts to 12:50.300 --> 12:52.189 make sure that somebody like that 12:52.189 --> 12:54.244 doesn't make his or her way here ? I 12:54.244 --> 12:56.356 can absolutely assure you that no one 12:56.356 --> 12:58.356 is coming into the United States of 12:58.356 --> 13:00.300 America who has not been through a 13:00.300 --> 13:02.522 thorough screening and background check 13:02.522 --> 13:04.540 process . And uh there are many 13:04.540 --> 13:06.651 individuals as you noted who have not 13:06.651 --> 13:08.873 been through that process and they have 13:08.873 --> 13:10.818 gone to lily pad countries as that 13:10.818 --> 13:13.040 process has been completed . It doesn't 13:13.040 --> 13:15.040 mean that that's because there is a 13:15.040 --> 13:17.262 flag . It means they have not completed 13:17.262 --> 13:17.130 their paperwork and we were working to 13:17.130 --> 13:19.297 save tens of thousands of people hence 13:19.297 --> 13:21.130 we evacuated them to these third 13:21.130 --> 13:23.730 countries . Covid is there any update 13:23.730 --> 13:27.230 on the U . S . Decision to keep 13:27.230 --> 13:29.341 Europeans and Canadians from visiting 13:29.341 --> 13:31.397 the United States . There were a few 13:31.397 --> 13:33.508 public messages from ambassadors here 13:33.508 --> 13:35.674 in Washington and the eu ambassador in 13:35.674 --> 13:37.619 the polish ambassador among others 13:37.619 --> 13:37.470 saying the time has come for 13:37.470 --> 13:39.526 vaccinating Europeans to be a lot of 13:39.526 --> 13:41.470 entry into the United States . Our 13:41.470 --> 13:43.414 people deserve to be reunited with 13:43.414 --> 13:45.581 loved ones and have the opportunity to 13:45.581 --> 13:47.692 visit this great nation . I know this 13:47.692 --> 13:47.030 is something a lot of people worry 13:47.030 --> 13:48.919 about this , curious if there's a 13:48.919 --> 13:51.141 status report , we certainly understand 13:51.141 --> 13:54.010 that and relate to that and know that 13:54.020 --> 13:56.160 people are eager to be reunited with 13:56.160 --> 13:58.660 loved ones . And um that is something 13:58.670 --> 14:00.892 that's impacting many people around the 14:00.892 --> 14:04.030 world . Um , I would note that um we 14:04.030 --> 14:06.086 are right now working across federal 14:06.086 --> 14:08.141 agencies to develop a consistent and 14:08.141 --> 14:10.252 safe international travel policy that 14:10.252 --> 14:12.252 has obviously been ongoing for some 14:12.252 --> 14:14.363 period of time . That includes travel 14:14.363 --> 14:16.530 from europe and other countries around 14:16.530 --> 14:18.697 the world . And it is one that we want 14:18.697 --> 14:20.697 to be equitable . We wanted to have 14:20.697 --> 14:22.641 standard requirements . So there's 14:22.641 --> 14:24.697 clarity and so there's equity across 14:24.697 --> 14:26.586 how we approach it . Uh This will 14:26.586 --> 14:28.641 involve of course efforts to step up 14:28.641 --> 14:30.863 protecting the american people . It may 14:30.863 --> 14:30.860 also involve ensuring that over time 14:30.860 --> 14:33.027 foreign nationals coming to the United 14:33.027 --> 14:34.860 States are fully vaccinated with 14:34.860 --> 14:37.027 limited exceptions . No decisions have 14:37.027 --> 14:39.138 been made yet , but that is a process 14:39.138 --> 14:40.804 that's ongoing . We certainly 14:40.804 --> 14:42.804 understand the interest in uh being 14:42.804 --> 14:44.804 resolved and completed . Go ahead , 14:44.804 --> 14:47.027 Jack . It's been a couple days since US 14:47.027 --> 14:49.193 troops left Afghanistan . I understand 14:49.193 --> 14:51.304 you have continued to say the mission 14:51.304 --> 14:53.249 will continue to bring people home 14:53.249 --> 14:55.660 through diplomatic in other ways . 14:56.740 --> 14:58.962 Yesterday , you guys at the White House 14:58.962 --> 15:01.018 didn't have an answer on whether any 15:01.018 --> 15:03.296 americans or refugees have made it out . 15:03.640 --> 15:06.950 Is there an answer today ? Well again , 15:06.950 --> 15:08.839 this is an operation that's being 15:08.839 --> 15:11.061 overseen by our State Department from a 15:11.061 --> 15:12.950 diplomatic front ? Um they have a 15:12.950 --> 15:14.783 briefing today . Uh if there are 15:14.783 --> 15:16.950 updates to provide , they will provide 15:16.950 --> 15:19.117 them . But what we are working through 15:19.117 --> 15:19.040 uh and what we knew would not 15:19.040 --> 15:21.050 necessarily be operational the day 15:21.050 --> 15:23.380 after our departure are a couple of 15:23.380 --> 15:25.270 steps . One is how we can get the 15:25.280 --> 15:27.410 airports operational . Again , we're 15:27.410 --> 15:29.632 working with uh the Qataris , the Turks 15:29.632 --> 15:31.688 and others who are being partners in 15:31.688 --> 15:33.854 this effort . The civilian side of the 15:33.854 --> 15:36.600 airport had a lot of destruction to it 15:36.600 --> 15:38.490 and we need to make repairs in 15:38.490 --> 15:40.490 partnership with them so we can get 15:40.490 --> 15:42.601 airports and airplanes , I should say 15:42.601 --> 15:44.657 up and running that will have a huge 15:44.657 --> 15:46.823 impact once that is up and operational 15:46.823 --> 15:49.046 the other pieces overland efforts . Now 15:49.046 --> 15:51.046 some of this is there are there are 15:51.046 --> 15:53.157 steps as we have seen over the course 15:53.157 --> 15:53.130 of the last few weeks where individual 15:53.130 --> 15:55.850 american citizens are able to depart 15:55.860 --> 15:57.830 without conveying that they have 15:57.830 --> 15:59.997 departed yet . So what we are doing is 15:59.997 --> 16:02.163 we are tracking and staying in contact 16:02.163 --> 16:04.330 with all of the american citizens , we 16:04.330 --> 16:06.580 are aware of on what our plans are , 16:06.580 --> 16:09.410 what the progress is and what the as we 16:09.410 --> 16:11.521 have updates on the timeline for when 16:11.521 --> 16:13.743 they can be able to depart . Is there a 16:13.743 --> 16:15.750 sort of a time frame where if there 16:15.760 --> 16:17.482 isn't an update from the State 16:17.482 --> 16:19.538 Department , there might be a course 16:19.538 --> 16:21.760 correction . I asked them today if they 16:21.760 --> 16:23.816 had any updated numbers and nobody's 16:23.816 --> 16:23.490 gotten back to me understand the 16:23.500 --> 16:26.270 briefings coming up . But is there a 16:26.270 --> 16:28.790 time frame where you guys will readjust 16:28.800 --> 16:31.022 of course correction ? In what way ? In 16:31.022 --> 16:34.110 terms of if we cannot say for whatever 16:34.110 --> 16:36.540 reason how many people have been able 16:36.540 --> 16:38.640 to leave since the U . S . Forces 16:38.650 --> 16:41.240 withdrew and we're not able to measure 16:41.240 --> 16:43.462 that we're not able to publicly release 16:43.462 --> 16:46.350 that . Is there a plan to do something 16:46.360 --> 16:50.040 else so that that Movement can happen ? 16:50.050 --> 16:52.440 Well today is September 1st we ended 16:52.440 --> 16:54.760 our presence in Afghanistan yesterday 16:54.760 --> 16:57.070 or on the 31st in Afghanistan . What we 16:57.070 --> 16:59.181 said at the time and remains the case 16:59.181 --> 17:01.530 is that we are focused on operationally 17:01.530 --> 17:03.697 moving forward on a number of fronts . 17:03.697 --> 17:05.863 There's the diplomatic front , we have 17:05.863 --> 17:08.030 more than half of the countries in the 17:08.030 --> 17:09.752 world who have agreed that the 17:09.752 --> 17:11.919 expectation we are going to press upon 17:11.919 --> 17:14.141 the Taliban is that people will be able 17:14.141 --> 17:16.141 to freely move depart the country . 17:16.141 --> 17:16.120 There was a U . N . Security Council 17:16.120 --> 17:18.730 resolution signed or past I should say 17:18.740 --> 17:20.629 just two days ago and now we were 17:20.629 --> 17:22.851 operationally working on both airplanes 17:22.851 --> 17:24.740 so that can depart or getting the 17:24.740 --> 17:26.962 airport up and operational and overland 17:26.962 --> 17:29.184 departures at the same time . We are in 17:29.184 --> 17:31.240 touch with every american citizen we 17:31.240 --> 17:33.760 have contact with about our efforts and 17:33.760 --> 17:35.871 our commitment to get them out of the 17:35.871 --> 17:37.927 country . I'm not sure what a course 17:37.927 --> 17:40.149 correction would look like that is what 17:40.149 --> 17:42.371 our efforts are at this point in time . 17:42.371 --> 17:44.482 36 hours after our lot are just about 17:44.482 --> 17:46.704 two days after our last planes depart , 17:46.704 --> 17:48.704 we're hearing about journalists who 17:48.704 --> 17:51.040 were left behind . Fox confirmed that a 17:51.050 --> 17:53.510 number of journalists working for us , 17:53.510 --> 17:55.540 agency for global media , federally 17:55.550 --> 17:59.030 funded agency , Congress , uh including 17:59.040 --> 18:00.984 radio for europe and Radio Liberty 18:00.984 --> 18:03.151 journalists were left behind and we're 18:03.151 --> 18:05.373 now also hearing from some senior State 18:05.373 --> 18:07.429 Department officials that there were 18:07.429 --> 18:09.596 constraints getting people through the 18:09.596 --> 18:11.484 gates at HK area that some of the 18:11.484 --> 18:13.830 communication methods to contact people 18:13.830 --> 18:16.350 were Available to so many that they 18:16.350 --> 18:19.270 were instantly ubiquitous that those 18:19.270 --> 18:21.492 priority groups could not get through . 18:21.492 --> 18:23.714 Was that a contingency that was planned 18:23.714 --> 18:25.492 for local Jackie . I think it's 18:25.492 --> 18:28.010 important to remember again . 120,000 18:28.010 --> 18:31.310 people made it out of the airport and 18:31.310 --> 18:33.890 out of the country and our commitment 18:33.900 --> 18:36.067 to people who want to evacuate want to 18:36.067 --> 18:38.730 leave American citizens journalists 18:38.740 --> 18:40.990 afghan partners who have stood by our 18:40.990 --> 18:43.880 side is enduring and remains let me I 18:43.880 --> 18:45.880 know there's been some reporting on 18:45.880 --> 18:48.102 this . So let me give you just a couple 18:48.102 --> 18:50.102 of examples because now we can talk 18:50.102 --> 18:52.269 about this of some of the ways that we 18:52.269 --> 18:54.436 work to get american citizens out . Uh 18:54.436 --> 18:56.269 one the most used method was the 18:56.269 --> 18:58.158 mustard point or what we call the 18:58.158 --> 19:00.213 mustard point . The State Department 19:00.213 --> 18:59.980 would blast notifications through a 18:59.980 --> 19:02.210 variety of channels . Two american 19:02.210 --> 19:04.154 citizens telling them to meet at a 19:04.154 --> 19:06.266 specific location from which we would 19:06.266 --> 19:08.266 either bus them into the airport in 19:08.266 --> 19:10.432 convoys or people on foot . We offered 19:10.432 --> 19:12.377 multiple opportunities for each of 19:12.377 --> 19:14.543 these muster points at various times . 19:14.543 --> 19:16.488 Each with multiple transits to the 19:16.488 --> 19:18.432 airport . The majority of american 19:18.432 --> 19:20.432 citizens who got out were evacuated 19:20.432 --> 19:22.410 exactly this way . We also talked 19:22.420 --> 19:24.587 people through one on one walking into 19:24.587 --> 19:26.476 the airport with State Department 19:26.476 --> 19:28.698 officials on the phone on the other end 19:28.698 --> 19:30.364 of the phone the whole time , 19:30.364 --> 19:32.087 facilitating safe passage past 19:32.087 --> 19:34.309 checkpoints . This was incredibly labor 19:34.309 --> 19:36.364 intensive but effective at resolving 19:36.364 --> 19:38.531 problems on the ground . One by one in 19:38.531 --> 19:38.530 challenging environments in limited 19:38.530 --> 19:40.530 cases and some of this was reported 19:40.530 --> 19:42.308 where people were trapped or in 19:42.308 --> 19:44.419 immediate danger . Us security forces 19:44.419 --> 19:46.641 went beyond the wire . Sometimes even a 19:46.641 --> 19:48.808 helicopter to pick people off safely . 19:48.808 --> 19:50.919 We didn't talk about these much these 19:50.919 --> 19:53.086 hello hops at time at the time because 19:53.086 --> 19:55.308 they were dangerous missions . We don't 19:55.308 --> 19:55.180 want to create the expectation that 19:55.180 --> 19:57.069 would be sending a helicopter for 19:57.069 --> 19:58.680 everyone who wanted to leave 19:58.680 --> 20:00.902 Afghanistan . So I note those because I 20:00.902 --> 20:03.069 think it's important to understand the 20:03.069 --> 20:05.124 steps and the roles that are U . S . 20:05.124 --> 20:07.291 Military on the ground took far beyond 20:07.291 --> 20:09.402 just checking people off on a list of 20:09.402 --> 20:11.180 the gate to ensure we could get 20:11.180 --> 20:13.402 american citizens , our afghan partners 20:13.402 --> 20:15.569 and others out and we will continue to 20:15.569 --> 20:15.220 those efforts through the means . I 20:15.220 --> 20:17.387 just don't , I just wanna put a pin in 20:17.387 --> 20:19.553 that report . Was the president in any 20:19.553 --> 20:21.664 way pushing a false narrative in that 20:21.664 --> 20:23.609 call with the Afghan president . I 20:23.609 --> 20:25.720 think it's pretty clear , again , I'm 20:25.720 --> 20:27.609 not going to go into details of a 20:27.609 --> 20:29.776 private conversation , but what we saw 20:29.776 --> 20:31.942 over the course of the last few months 20:31.942 --> 20:33.998 is a collapse in leadership and that 20:33.998 --> 20:36.220 was happening even before gone and left 20:36.220 --> 20:38.276 the country . What the president has 20:38.276 --> 20:40.164 conveyed repeatedly privately and 20:40.164 --> 20:42.220 publicly is you need to stand up and 20:42.220 --> 20:44.387 lead your country and that's something 20:44.387 --> 20:46.498 he said at a press conference in July 20:46.498 --> 20:48.553 in public form as well . Go ahead by 20:48.553 --> 20:50.498 just 48 hours . Thank you for your 20:50.498 --> 20:52.387 mouth . It's all running together 20:52.387 --> 20:54.442 Leaving Afghanistan , we've talked , 20:54.442 --> 20:54.380 we've learned a lot more just in the 20:54.380 --> 20:57.050 last a few hours about the nature of 20:57.050 --> 20:59.106 the cooperation we saw over the last 20:59.106 --> 21:01.217 2.5 weeks between the Taliban and the 21:01.217 --> 21:03.106 American forces on the ground . I 21:03.106 --> 21:05.161 wonder if you could speak to whether 21:05.161 --> 21:07.217 since in the last 48 hours there has 21:07.217 --> 21:09.439 been any continued form of interactions 21:09.439 --> 21:11.272 between the us and the Taliban . 21:11.272 --> 21:13.217 Obviously not much more diplomatic 21:13.217 --> 21:15.439 capacity . Well , again , this would be 21:15.439 --> 21:17.272 an effort that would be overseen 21:17.272 --> 21:19.106 underneath the leadership of the 21:19.106 --> 21:20.939 Secretary of State and the State 21:20.939 --> 21:22.994 Department . It will be necessary to 21:22.994 --> 21:24.994 have some form of communication and 21:24.994 --> 21:26.828 coordination with the taliban to 21:26.828 --> 21:28.883 continue to evacuate people from the 21:28.883 --> 21:30.939 country . They oversee Afghanistan , 21:30.939 --> 21:32.939 the majority of large swaths of the 21:32.939 --> 21:35.161 country . I will note that we had prior 21:35.161 --> 21:37.328 conversations or methods of engagement 21:37.328 --> 21:39.494 even before the last couple of weeks . 21:39.494 --> 21:41.606 So it's obviously a different form at 21:41.606 --> 21:43.828 this point in time that will continue . 21:43.828 --> 21:46.050 That's part of what the President asked 21:46.050 --> 21:45.920 the Secretary of State and the State 21:45.920 --> 21:48.200 Department to pursue . Obviously 21:48.350 --> 21:50.640 stopped last night . So I don't know if 21:50.640 --> 21:52.862 we will ever recognize their government 21:52.862 --> 21:54.862 as legitimate covered Afghanistan . 21:54.862 --> 21:57.084 You've talked a lot about the pieces of 21:57.084 --> 21:59.140 points of leverage That the US holds 21:59.140 --> 22:01.084 over the Taliban . Is that one the 22:01.084 --> 22:02.973 points of leverage recognizes the 22:02.973 --> 22:02.850 taliban . Is that something that's even 22:02.850 --> 22:05.090 under consideration ? There's no rush 22:05.090 --> 22:07.201 to recognition from the United States 22:07.201 --> 22:09.423 or any country we've spoken with around 22:09.423 --> 22:11.534 the world . It will be very dependent 22:11.534 --> 22:13.479 on their behavior and whether they 22:13.479 --> 22:15.701 deliver on what the expectations are of 22:15.701 --> 22:17.646 the global community on abortion . 22:18.140 --> 22:20.196 We've seen in the number of states , 22:20.196 --> 22:22.251 Republican led states , an effort on 22:22.251 --> 22:24.418 voting rights , for instance , to pass 22:24.418 --> 22:26.362 similar legislation throughout the 22:26.362 --> 22:28.473 country on voting rights . What's the 22:28.473 --> 22:30.473 level of concern at the White House 22:30.473 --> 22:32.696 that the decision on texas specifically 22:32.696 --> 22:34.696 will lead to a similar raft of laws 22:34.696 --> 22:36.751 across the country ? And what is the 22:36.751 --> 22:36.680 recourse for the White House at a 22:36.690 --> 22:38.746 federal level to help prevent this ? 22:38.746 --> 22:40.801 Well , the step that can be taken is 22:40.801 --> 22:42.912 for this is the codification of wrote 22:42.912 --> 22:44.857 something the president , the vice 22:44.857 --> 22:46.801 president has called for and would 22:46.801 --> 22:48.801 require Congress to act on . I will 22:48.801 --> 22:48.750 note that certainly we've seen this is 22:48.750 --> 22:50.917 not the first threat to row we've seen 22:50.917 --> 22:53.139 in a state across the country . It's an 22:53.139 --> 22:55.194 extreme threat . And again , I would 22:55.194 --> 22:57.028 just note this is offering up to 22:57.028 --> 22:58.917 $10,000 to individuals who report 22:58.917 --> 23:01.250 someone who is going to get an abortion . 23:01.250 --> 23:03.250 I mean , that is what we're talking 23:03.250 --> 23:05.361 about here . So , and and beyond that 23:05.361 --> 23:07.528 as I've already outlined . Uh so yes , 23:07.528 --> 23:09.750 of course it's a great concern . Uh and 23:09.750 --> 23:11.917 but and of course it's a great concern 23:11.917 --> 23:14.139 because this is not the first time that 23:14.139 --> 23:16.250 there have been efforts by uh some in 23:16.250 --> 23:18.250 the country to prevent a woman from 23:18.250 --> 23:20.194 having the right to choose a quick 23:20.194 --> 23:22.390 follow up on the left ? Uh huh . Is 23:22.390 --> 23:24.334 there no concern here at the White 23:24.334 --> 23:26.410 House that china actively try to 23:26.410 --> 23:28.710 undermine the US leverage that it has 23:28.710 --> 23:30.599 with the Taliban and particularly 23:30.599 --> 23:32.599 providing the kind of access to the 23:32.599 --> 23:32.350 global marketplace . You talked about 23:32.350 --> 23:34.580 you ? Well , first , I would say that 23:34.590 --> 23:36.590 China doesn't have that capacity on 23:36.590 --> 23:38.870 their own . Uh and that there is there 23:38.870 --> 23:40.981 are more than 100 countries A U . N . 23:40.981 --> 23:43.092 Security Council resolution China did 23:43.092 --> 23:45.092 abstain from , but they didn't vote 23:45.092 --> 23:47.590 against uh that calls on presses the 23:47.590 --> 23:50.140 taliban to allow for safe passage of 23:50.140 --> 23:52.690 people uh in the country than those who 23:52.690 --> 23:54.940 want to leave Afghanistan . So , uh 23:54.950 --> 23:57.061 china is going to have to think about 23:57.061 --> 23:59.117 what role they want to be seen as in 23:59.117 --> 23:59.100 the world in this moment as well . Let 23:59.100 --> 24:01.156 me ask you this , the President said 24:01.156 --> 24:03.670 yesterday , we are not done with ISIS K . 24:04.160 --> 24:07.420 Senator Kaine before the taliban 24:07.420 --> 24:09.420 takeover of Afghanistan was talking 24:09.420 --> 24:11.364 about working toward a new sort of 24:11.364 --> 24:13.253 superseding a U . M . F . Is this 24:13.253 --> 24:15.476 something the White House is interested 24:15.476 --> 24:17.809 in working with him on ? So that ISIS K . 24:17.809 --> 24:17.120 Specifically mentioned in a 24:17.120 --> 24:19.342 congressional authorization for the use 24:19.342 --> 24:21.342 of force . We have said in the past 24:21.342 --> 24:23.453 that we're interested in working with 24:23.453 --> 24:22.830 Senator Kaine on that and that 24:22.830 --> 24:24.886 continues . I will note that in this 24:24.886 --> 24:27.730 case ISIS K . Attacked and killed 13 24:27.730 --> 24:30.160 members of our armed forces . We have 24:30.160 --> 24:32.590 every right self defense to continue to 24:32.590 --> 24:34.812 go after ISIS K . And the president has 24:34.812 --> 24:36.812 made clear that's what he wants the 24:36.812 --> 24:38.701 military to continue to do future 24:38.701 --> 24:40.923 strikes on ISIS K . Will be in the vein 24:40.923 --> 24:42.923 of self defense . Again , these are 24:42.923 --> 24:45.034 authorities that the military already 24:45.034 --> 24:47.200 has , but we also are open to and and 24:47.200 --> 24:49.256 look forward to working with Senator 24:49.256 --> 24:51.367 Kaine and others in Congress who look 24:51.367 --> 24:53.422 forward to who are looking to update 24:53.422 --> 24:55.700 the 20 year old A U . M . F . Go ahead . 24:55.700 --> 24:57.867 Just two questions . Um there's a bill 24:57.867 --> 24:59.978 in Congress called the women's health 24:59.978 --> 25:01.867 protection act that would protect 25:01.867 --> 25:03.922 abortion access from state laws like 25:03.922 --> 25:06.144 the one in texas . Does President biden 25:06.144 --> 25:08.089 support that I'd have to look more 25:08.089 --> 25:10.089 closely at the specifics of the law 25:10.089 --> 25:12.200 obviously protecting uh codifying roe 25:12.200 --> 25:14.422 protecting a woman's right to choose is 25:14.422 --> 25:13.970 something the President is committed to . 25:13.980 --> 25:16.091 But I don't know how the specifics of 25:16.091 --> 25:18.258 that law of that bill , I should say . 25:18.258 --> 25:20.036 And then just certainly has the 25:20.036 --> 25:22.036 president met with either a federal 25:22.036 --> 25:24.258 chair drone , Powell or Little Brain or 25:24.258 --> 25:26.424 one on one in recent weeks . I have no 25:26.424 --> 25:28.536 meetings to report to you or read out 25:28.536 --> 25:30.647 for you . A broad question about this 25:30.647 --> 25:32.813 Lynskey meeting that's underway . Just 25:32.813 --> 25:35.036 the events demands phone calls that led 25:35.036 --> 25:37.147 up to the 2019 impeachment . I'm just 25:37.147 --> 25:39.313 wondering , did they factor in any way 25:39.313 --> 25:38.640 into the way the White House prepared 25:38.650 --> 25:40.650 for this meeting ? Specifically the 25:40.650 --> 25:42.761 fact that Hunter biden was a key part 25:42.761 --> 25:44.817 of those conversations with the last 25:44.817 --> 25:46.817 administration and Zelinsky and the 25:46.817 --> 25:46.650 President biden expect in any way , 25:46.650 --> 25:48.761 shape or form to address that dynamic 25:48.761 --> 25:52.310 in today's meeting ? No Jeff uh jen 25:52.340 --> 25:54.340 does the White House , Is the White 25:54.340 --> 25:56.396 House satisfied with Opec's decision 25:56.396 --> 25:58.880 today to continue a gradual increases 25:58.880 --> 26:01.102 in output . And can you give us a sense 26:01.102 --> 26:04.730 of what communication or contact the U . 26:04.730 --> 26:06.841 S . Has had with members about that . 26:06.841 --> 26:08.952 It's a great question , Jeff . I will 26:08.952 --> 26:10.730 have to talk to brian decent or 26:10.730 --> 26:13.008 economic team about our exact reaction . 26:13.008 --> 26:15.008 I want to get that right . And also 26:15.008 --> 26:14.800 whether we're satisfied with the 26:14.800 --> 26:16.800 actions they announced . I will get 26:16.800 --> 26:18.967 that to you and anyone else interested 26:18.967 --> 26:18.350 after the briefing . Did you have 26:18.350 --> 26:20.183 another question what Dolinsky ? 26:20.183 --> 26:23.450 President Zelensky 70 today that he was 26:23.460 --> 26:25.349 eager to hear . President biden's 26:25.349 --> 26:28.540 vision for Ukraine's chances of joining 26:28.540 --> 26:30.930 NATO . And he also said he'd like time 26:30.930 --> 26:33.000 frame for them . What is President 26:33.000 --> 26:35.167 biden's vision right now ? And does he 26:35.167 --> 26:37.389 have a time frame ? Well , I think it's 26:37.389 --> 26:39.556 important for people to understand not 26:39.556 --> 26:41.500 you necessarily , but everyone out 26:41.500 --> 26:43.667 there that this is not a decision that 26:43.667 --> 26:45.722 the United States makes , right . We 26:45.722 --> 26:47.889 continue to support uh and we continue 26:47.889 --> 26:50.000 to call for ensuring that NATO's door 26:50.000 --> 26:52.111 remains open . Two aspirins when they 26:52.111 --> 26:53.833 are ready and able to meet the 26:53.833 --> 26:55.556 commitments and obligations of 26:55.556 --> 26:57.667 membership and contribute to security 26:57.667 --> 26:59.667 in the euro atlantic Area . This is 26:59.667 --> 27:01.667 NATO membership , right ? Um and we 27:01.667 --> 27:03.889 reaffirmed and our allies reaffirmed in 27:03.889 --> 27:06.690 the June 2021 NATO summit communique 27:06.700 --> 27:08.644 that we support Ukraine's right to 27:08.644 --> 27:10.700 decide its own future foreign policy 27:10.700 --> 27:12.922 course free from outside interference , 27:12.922 --> 27:14.922 including with respect to Ukraine's 27:14.922 --> 27:16.978 aspirations to join NATO . There are 27:16.978 --> 27:19.144 steps that Ukraine needs to take their 27:19.144 --> 27:21.144 very familiar with these efforts to 27:21.144 --> 27:23.367 advance rule of law , reforms modernize 27:23.367 --> 27:25.200 its defense sector uh and expand 27:25.200 --> 27:27.256 economic growth . Those are steps uh 27:27.256 --> 27:29.400 that aspirin countries like Ukraine 27:29.400 --> 27:31.550 need to take in order to meet NATO 27:31.550 --> 27:33.383 standards for memberships and we 27:33.383 --> 27:35.328 certainly support their efforts to 27:35.328 --> 27:37.272 continue to do that . What was the 27:37.272 --> 27:39.494 first day in very many of their funding 27:39.494 --> 27:41.272 together at this point that the 27:41.272 --> 27:41.160 President did not have a meeting in the 27:41.160 --> 27:42.993 situation room with his national 27:42.993 --> 27:45.049 security team ? I know there's stuff 27:45.049 --> 27:47.271 not on the schedule for public schedule 27:47.271 --> 27:49.493 but does the president view this moment 27:49.493 --> 27:51.716 as a time where he can kind of shift at 27:51.716 --> 27:53.827 least some of his focus to the myriad 27:53.827 --> 27:53.360 of other issues that are on his plate 27:53.370 --> 27:55.592 that he wants to focus on or has wanted 27:55.592 --> 27:57.481 to focus on before the withdrawal 27:57.481 --> 27:59.537 became such a condition . Well , you 27:59.537 --> 28:01.537 receive a PDB this morning as is of 28:01.537 --> 28:03.648 course standard for most presidents . 28:03.648 --> 28:05.814 Um and those will certainly continue . 28:05.814 --> 28:07.926 Uh Look , I think the president knows 28:07.926 --> 28:10.050 that uh he's responsibilities and the 28:10.050 --> 28:12.600 multiple crises he will continue to 28:12.600 --> 28:14.711 have to face as president are part of 28:14.711 --> 28:17.220 his job description . Uh And if there 28:17.220 --> 28:19.860 is a meeting warranted in the situation 28:19.860 --> 28:21.693 room with his military leaders , 28:21.693 --> 28:23.304 National security team about 28:23.304 --> 28:25.304 Afghanistan or any other issue , of 28:25.304 --> 28:27.582 course he's going to be there for that . 28:27.582 --> 28:29.527 But he also knows that part of his 28:29.527 --> 28:29.370 commitment to the american people is 28:29.380 --> 28:31.491 getting the pandemic under control is 28:31.491 --> 28:33.491 addressing the hurricane and making 28:33.491 --> 28:35.380 sure that people in Louisiana and 28:35.380 --> 28:37.380 Mississippi and other states in the 28:37.380 --> 28:39.602 gulf coast . No , he's doing absolutely 28:39.602 --> 28:41.658 everything in his power to make sure 28:41.658 --> 28:43.880 they have power . I didn't even mean to 28:43.880 --> 28:45.880 say it like that . But uh and so he 28:45.880 --> 28:48.102 knows that he has to do multiple things 28:48.102 --> 28:50.550 as president in order to govern the 28:50.550 --> 28:52.772 country . Uh So yes , of course he will 28:52.772 --> 28:54.717 continue to work with his national 28:54.717 --> 28:56.661 security team on a range of issues 28:56.661 --> 28:58.606 whether it's follow ups diplomatic 28:58.606 --> 29:00.606 efforts in Afghanistan or of course 29:00.606 --> 29:03.180 he's right now meeting , having a 29:03.180 --> 29:05.458 meeting with the leadership of Ukraine . 29:05.458 --> 29:07.569 But he also knows he has a commitment 29:07.569 --> 29:09.569 to address a range of issues to the 29:09.569 --> 29:11.736 public and he'll continue to do that . 29:11.736 --> 29:13.902 The State Department briefed reporters 29:13.902 --> 29:15.902 earlier today saying that totally , 29:15.902 --> 29:18.124 they thought a majority of folks in the 29:18.124 --> 29:20.069 pipeline did not get out . I'm not 29:20.069 --> 29:22.124 minimizing the 100 plus 1000 afghans 29:22.124 --> 29:24.124 that did get out . But is there any 29:24.124 --> 29:26.236 particular specific frustration given 29:26.236 --> 29:28.458 the president's commitment to those who 29:28.458 --> 29:30.791 helped american personnel on the ground ? 29:30.791 --> 29:32.902 The majority were not able to get out 29:32.902 --> 29:35.124 of the country . Well , first , I would 29:35.124 --> 29:37.069 say that of the numbers and I know 29:37.069 --> 29:39.236 there had asked a question of this and 29:39.236 --> 29:38.180 you all of us have been asking 29:38.180 --> 29:40.124 understandable questions about the 29:40.124 --> 29:42.236 breakdown of numbers of people coming 29:42.236 --> 29:44.402 out and that is information we hope to 29:44.402 --> 29:46.930 have for you very soon . But 77% of the 29:46.930 --> 29:49.097 people who were evacuated were afghans 29:49.097 --> 29:52.040 at risk . S ivy applicants . P one P 29:52.040 --> 29:54.096 two applicants , obviously there's a 29:54.096 --> 29:56.096 range of programs and the different 29:56.096 --> 29:58.318 names of them mean virtually nothing to 29:58.318 --> 30:00.373 most people in the american public . 30:00.373 --> 30:02.540 But uh that is a number that stuck out 30:02.540 --> 30:04.818 to me uh from the largest airlift in U . 30:04.818 --> 30:07.040 S . History . Are there more people who 30:07.040 --> 30:09.318 want to leave Afghanistan ? Absolutely . 30:09.318 --> 30:11.207 Are there more people who will be 30:11.207 --> 30:13.484 eligible for our programs . Absolutely . 30:13.484 --> 30:15.707 And that's why we are so focused on the 30:15.707 --> 30:17.818 diplomatic efforts that are being led 30:17.818 --> 30:20.040 by the the State Department , including 30:20.040 --> 30:22.207 a presence in Doha , including efforts 30:22.207 --> 30:24.373 to engage with the Taliban , including 30:24.373 --> 30:26.540 efforts to work with the international 30:26.540 --> 30:28.818 community to make clear what we expect . 30:28.818 --> 30:30.984 What is also true is that every person 30:30.984 --> 30:33.207 who wants to leave Afghanistan and come 30:33.207 --> 30:35.429 to the United States is not going to be 30:35.429 --> 30:37.596 able to do that . Uh And that is a sad 30:37.596 --> 30:39.762 truth , but it is it is something that 30:39.762 --> 30:41.651 it's important for people to also 30:41.651 --> 30:43.710 understand . But I will say we still 30:43.710 --> 30:45.432 want freedom of evacuation and 30:45.432 --> 30:47.766 movements for people who want to depart . 30:47.766 --> 30:49.877 Go ahead . Thanks as female continues 30:49.877 --> 30:52.470 to roll out aid in the southeast . Um 30:52.610 --> 30:54.832 and we just look at the historic nature 30:54.832 --> 30:56.999 of hurricane IDa is the administration 30:56.999 --> 30:58.888 forcing at all looking at ways to 30:58.888 --> 31:01.054 proactively identify people who May be 31:01.054 --> 31:03.054 eligible for disastrous . Is that's 31:03.054 --> 31:05.221 just given the process of applying how 31:05.221 --> 31:07.054 business maybe for someone going 31:07.054 --> 31:08.999 through these circumstances . What 31:08.999 --> 31:11.110 we're trying to do is make it as easy 31:11.110 --> 31:13.221 as humanly possible , providing phone 31:13.221 --> 31:15.221 numbers , providing websites . As I 31:15.221 --> 31:17.221 noted there about 31,000 people who 31:17.221 --> 31:19.443 have already received Uh checks from or 31:19.443 --> 31:22.630 30,000 or 31,000 I think I said uh from 31:22.630 --> 31:25.120 one of these programs . Uh so what we 31:25.120 --> 31:27.240 have done and I've been giving quite 31:27.240 --> 31:29.590 extensive toppers on this each day to 31:29.590 --> 31:31.757 make sure you have all the information 31:31.757 --> 31:33.812 you need is we set up quite a bit of 31:33.812 --> 31:36.660 preemptive resources in the region . I 31:36.660 --> 31:38.549 know you're asking about economic 31:38.549 --> 31:40.604 assistance and obviously we've we've 31:40.604 --> 31:42.549 worked to get that out the door as 31:42.549 --> 31:44.716 quickly as we can , but also to set up 31:44.716 --> 31:46.660 generators , food , water , fema , 31:46.660 --> 31:48.920 resources , using all the resources of 31:48.920 --> 31:51.087 government even before the storm hit . 31:51.210 --> 31:53.321 That is something that we tried to do 31:53.321 --> 31:55.690 to reduce the impact , save lives , 31:55.800 --> 31:57.689 make sure we're helping people as 31:57.689 --> 31:59.689 quickly as possible . And then just 31:59.689 --> 32:01.911 given President this trip on friday but 32:01.911 --> 32:04.022 90 Around 90% of New Orleans is still 32:04.022 --> 32:05.744 basically without power . What 32:05.744 --> 32:07.967 precautions are you taking to make sure 32:07.967 --> 32:10.133 that his trip to the city is not going 32:10.133 --> 32:12.078 to take away from really efforts . 32:12.078 --> 32:14.244 First of all , we absolutely would not 32:14.244 --> 32:14.130 go if it would take away from relief 32:14.130 --> 32:16.297 efforts . And this is a trip that will 32:16.297 --> 32:18.186 be that is being planned in close 32:18.186 --> 32:20.408 coordination with leaders on the ground 32:20.408 --> 32:22.519 to ensure it's the right time to go . 32:22.519 --> 32:24.686 But we are not going to go to any part 32:24.686 --> 32:26.686 of the state or visit any community 32:26.686 --> 32:28.790 where we would take away from relief 32:28.800 --> 32:31.133 and restoration efforts . I'd also note , 32:31.133 --> 32:33.310 as I said , Uh , at the beginning of 32:33.310 --> 32:35.254 this briefing , the president also 32:35.254 --> 32:37.199 spoke with the ceos of the largest 32:37.199 --> 32:39.143 energy companies in the Gulf coast 32:39.143 --> 32:41.366 yesterday and committed the full weight 32:41.366 --> 32:43.532 of the federal government . We know he 32:43.532 --> 32:43.160 knows how important it is for people to 32:43.160 --> 32:44.938 get power back on . That is air 32:44.938 --> 32:47.380 conditioning at a time where it's 90° 32:47.390 --> 32:49.570 right . That is , people being able to 32:49.570 --> 32:51.626 be in their homes , maybe they're in 32:51.626 --> 32:53.737 hotel rooms right now and they can go 32:53.737 --> 32:55.959 back , There's a range of reasons why , 32:55.959 --> 32:58.126 of course turning the power back on is 32:58.126 --> 33:00.070 vital to the people of the state . 33:00.070 --> 33:02.348 We've seen some success in Mississippi , 33:02.348 --> 33:04.459 but he is pressing on that with every 33:04.459 --> 33:06.459 lever of the federal government . A 33:06.459 --> 33:08.730 quick question on the rebuilding of the 33:08.740 --> 33:11.073 goal . And also the infrastructure bill . 33:11.140 --> 33:13.196 Steel prices have doubled the United 33:13.196 --> 33:15.362 States in the last six months . Is the 33:15.362 --> 33:17.529 administration ready to remove tariffs 33:17.529 --> 33:19.529 on steel in order to bring down the 33:19.529 --> 33:21.473 cost for the rebuilding effort ? I 33:21.473 --> 33:23.473 don't , I know there's obviously an 33:23.473 --> 33:25.529 ongoing review of a range of tariffs 33:25.529 --> 33:27.696 have nothing to report on that at this 33:27.696 --> 33:29.918 point in time . Uh , we're right now in 33:29.918 --> 33:32.029 the stage of recovery , there will be 33:32.029 --> 33:34.084 an extensive rebuilding stage and we 33:34.084 --> 33:36.140 will continue to look for a range of 33:36.140 --> 33:38.196 ways . We can provide resources from 33:38.196 --> 33:40.307 the federal government to play a role 33:40.307 --> 33:39.890 in that . But I don't have anything to 33:39.900 --> 33:41.678 preview at this point in time ? 33:41.678 --> 33:43.678 Speaking of the tariff review , but 33:43.678 --> 33:45.900 when can we expect the results of china 33:45.900 --> 33:47.900 tariff review ? And are you worried 33:47.900 --> 33:47.730 about customers paying higher prices 33:47.740 --> 33:49.796 for imported products at a time when 33:49.796 --> 33:51.962 the supply chain department around the 33:51.962 --> 33:54.129 world ? Well , as you know , we have a 33:54.129 --> 33:56.184 very aggressive and ambitious supply 33:56.184 --> 33:58.240 chain effort to address challenges . 33:58.240 --> 34:00.407 We're seeing in the supply chains . We 34:00.407 --> 34:02.407 also were impacted or supply chains 34:02.407 --> 34:04.573 around the world were impacted a great 34:04.573 --> 34:06.740 deal by Delta . Uh , and we're working 34:06.740 --> 34:08.573 in part to address and help many 34:08.573 --> 34:10.796 countries recover from covid so that we 34:10.796 --> 34:12.962 can get supply chains up and running . 34:12.962 --> 34:15.129 But um , I don't have any timeline for 34:15.129 --> 34:16.851 you on one that review will be 34:16.851 --> 34:19.073 completed . I will note that we look at 34:19.073 --> 34:21.296 our relationship with china and all the 34:21.296 --> 34:21.080 components , uh , through a 34:21.090 --> 34:23.034 comprehensive package . Go ahead . 34:23.034 --> 34:25.201 Thank you . What on Ukraine and one on 34:25.201 --> 34:26.923 abortion on Ukraine , when the 34:26.923 --> 34:28.868 president was in brussels , he was 34:28.868 --> 34:30.923 asked about Ukraine getting into the 34:30.923 --> 34:33.090 NATO membership action plan and at the 34:33.090 --> 34:35.090 time , he said school's out on that 34:35.090 --> 34:37.368 question . I know the meetings ongoing , 34:37.368 --> 34:37.110 but was that expected to come up in the 34:37.110 --> 34:38.943 meeting ? And is the president's 34:38.943 --> 34:41.350 position still the same again , as I 34:41.350 --> 34:43.406 noted a little bit earlier , there's 34:43.406 --> 34:45.461 specific steps , uh , the Ukrainians 34:45.461 --> 34:47.350 need to take in order to meet the 34:47.350 --> 34:49.440 requirements of NATO membership . We 34:49.440 --> 34:51.496 support the efforts of the Ukrainian 34:51.496 --> 34:53.662 leadership to work exactly toward that 34:53.662 --> 34:55.551 and we support the efforts of any 34:55.551 --> 34:58.790 aspirin who wants to join NATO who is 34:58.800 --> 35:00.744 working to meet those objectives . 35:00.744 --> 35:02.633 Certainly we expect . And I think 35:02.633 --> 35:04.411 they've said publicly they were 35:04.411 --> 35:06.467 planning to raise it will see . Um , 35:06.467 --> 35:08.680 but but that has not changed an 35:08.680 --> 35:11.190 abortion . Some activists today noted 35:11.190 --> 35:13.357 that the statement you put out put out 35:13.357 --> 35:15.301 on behalf of the President did not 35:15.301 --> 35:17.470 offer any specific agenda of what's 35:17.470 --> 35:19.526 next or against specifically how the 35:19.526 --> 35:21.414 administration plans to push back 35:21.414 --> 35:23.303 against the texas law . So I just 35:23.303 --> 35:25.359 wanted to give you a chance if there 35:25.359 --> 35:27.526 are any specifics or internal planning 35:27.526 --> 35:29.414 to share that now . Well , as the 35:29.414 --> 35:31.414 president committed on the campaign 35:31.414 --> 35:33.359 trail and remains committed to now 35:33.359 --> 35:35.526 codifying roe v wade as the law of the 35:35.526 --> 35:37.803 land is something that congress can do . 35:37.803 --> 35:39.914 He will continue to push them to do . 35:39.914 --> 35:42.137 And that is a specific course of action 35:42.137 --> 35:44.303 that can be taken to help protect from 35:44.303 --> 35:43.800 these type of lawsuits in the future . 35:43.810 --> 35:46.210 Is there anything else Bianna ? I can't 35:46.210 --> 35:48.377 speak to any actions of the Department 35:48.377 --> 35:50.432 of Justice . They're independent . I 35:50.432 --> 35:52.599 don't have anything to preview on that 35:52.599 --> 35:54.543 front . Good as the administration 35:54.543 --> 35:56.710 explored whether grant afghans live in 35:56.710 --> 35:58.988 the United States , including refugees , 35:58.988 --> 36:01.210 temporary protected status TPS status . 36:01.210 --> 36:03.266 Well , many of them are here through 36:03.266 --> 36:05.432 because they were eligible for S . I . 36:05.432 --> 36:07.543 V . Programs are eligible for refugee 36:07.543 --> 36:09.599 programs or a range of programs that 36:09.599 --> 36:11.266 were in existence specific to 36:11.266 --> 36:13.432 Afghanistan . Uh So I'm not uh I don't 36:13.432 --> 36:15.599 have anything to preview on that front 36:15.599 --> 36:15.130 or I'm not aware of a consideration of 36:15.130 --> 36:18.320 that . God , Thank you . President 36:18.320 --> 36:21.670 Pardon ? Uh will be 79 years old on 36:21.670 --> 36:24.210 November 20 during the campaign . There 36:24.210 --> 36:26.680 was a lot of talk about how old it is 36:26.690 --> 36:29.040 and how uh he would not be able to 36:29.040 --> 36:31.820 survive in at the White House , 36:31.820 --> 36:34.090 especially in time of crisis . But 36:34.090 --> 36:36.312 we've seen him during this crisis ? The 36:36.312 --> 36:38.423 covid crisis ? The hurricane crisis . 36:38.423 --> 36:40.534 The Afghanistan crisis . Do you think 36:40.534 --> 36:43.080 that people should those who call him 36:43.080 --> 36:45.780 stupid Joshua apologize to him ? I 36:45.790 --> 36:47.957 think we're looking for an apology . I 36:47.957 --> 36:50.080 think we're looking for allowing the 36:50.080 --> 36:52.080 president continued to adjust dress 36:52.080 --> 36:54.136 multiple crises at a time , which is 36:54.136 --> 36:56.247 exactly what he's been doing over the 36:56.247 --> 36:58.247 past few weeks . Go ahead . I think 36:58.247 --> 37:00.469 we've got to keep going to come back to 37:00.469 --> 37:02.691 texas again on one of those specifics , 37:02.691 --> 37:04.747 advocates are calling frustration to 37:04.747 --> 37:07.270 lift restrictions on the abortion pill 37:07.270 --> 37:09.580 As more states as was mentioned , are 37:09.580 --> 37:11.720 expected to follow texas is lead . Is 37:11.720 --> 37:13.942 the administration going to do that ? I 37:13.942 --> 37:16.053 think that's a decision that would be 37:16.053 --> 37:18.164 made by FDA . No . So that would be a 37:18.164 --> 37:20.530 decision made by FDA . Still working 37:20.540 --> 37:22.318 through the process . FDA is an 37:22.318 --> 37:24.429 independent , is an agency that makes 37:24.429 --> 37:26.540 their own decisions . Also , this has 37:26.540 --> 37:30.440 prompted many democrats too . Uhh look 37:30.440 --> 37:32.720 back at whether the Supreme Court 37:32.720 --> 37:34.831 should be reshaped as the President's 37:34.831 --> 37:36.998 position changed on that expanding the 37:36.998 --> 37:38.831 court . As you know , there's an 37:38.831 --> 37:41.670 ongoing court court reform committee 37:41.670 --> 37:43.837 that has been meeting . It's a diverse 37:43.837 --> 37:46.003 group . They're considering a range of 37:46.003 --> 37:48.170 issues and topics , including what the 37:48.170 --> 37:50.114 future of the court looks like . I 37:50.114 --> 37:49.850 think the President will wait for that 37:49.850 --> 37:51.961 process to complete before making any 37:51.961 --> 37:54.072 evaluations . Have you following some 37:54.072 --> 37:55.961 of these are there steps that the 37:55.961 --> 37:58.072 administration is taking right now to 37:58.072 --> 37:59.739 work with Congress to advance 37:59.739 --> 38:01.517 legislation . You're saying the 38:01.517 --> 38:03.739 president will continue to call for the 38:03.739 --> 38:03.560 qualification of Rome . But is there 38:03.560 --> 38:05.504 something that this White House is 38:05.504 --> 38:07.671 actually doing right now on the hill ? 38:07.671 --> 38:09.838 Well , it requires members of Congress 38:09.838 --> 38:12.004 themselves to voting to codify right . 38:12.004 --> 38:13.671 But of course in the range of 38:13.671 --> 38:15.560 conversations we have from senior 38:15.560 --> 38:17.782 leaders in the White House , there's no 38:17.782 --> 38:17.590 question that this is a topic and will 38:17.590 --> 38:20.620 be a topic given the ruling , given the 38:20.620 --> 38:22.120 news this morning in these 38:22.120 --> 38:24.176 conversations with members and their 38:24.176 --> 38:26.287 staff vaccine rates . The White House 38:26.287 --> 38:28.509 covid team has been touting some pretty 38:28.509 --> 38:30.509 good numbers on vaccination rates . 38:30.509 --> 38:32.731 Jeff sign said the other day that there 38:32.731 --> 38:34.842 are four million more shots in august 38:34.842 --> 38:36.842 compared to july more first shots . 38:36.842 --> 38:38.787 What does the White House think is 38:38.787 --> 38:38.680 driving that right now ? And is there 38:38.680 --> 38:40.680 something specific that the federal 38:40.680 --> 38:42.458 government is doing to see that 38:42.458 --> 38:44.569 difference from july to august well , 38:44.569 --> 38:46.680 there's a bunch of different data and 38:46.680 --> 38:48.791 some of it is in your polling frankly 38:48.791 --> 38:50.958 from some of your news organizations . 38:50.958 --> 38:53.124 So I can't break it down for you . But 38:53.124 --> 38:55.124 what we've seen consistently as the 38:55.124 --> 38:57.180 three factors are mandates that have 38:57.180 --> 38:59.013 been put in place by companies , 38:59.013 --> 39:01.291 private sector institutions and others . 39:01.291 --> 39:03.624 Fear of Delta , which is understandable . 39:03.624 --> 39:06.070 People are seeing horrifying stories on 39:06.070 --> 39:08.460 local news , on national news of young 39:08.460 --> 39:10.460 people in some cases Children being 39:10.460 --> 39:12.870 hospitalized . Um , and that is scaring 39:12.870 --> 39:15.037 people which is we hate for that to be 39:15.037 --> 39:17.259 the scenario . But that is certainly we 39:17.259 --> 39:19.259 believe prompted more people to get 39:19.259 --> 39:21.370 vaccinated . It is also possible that 39:21.370 --> 39:23.880 the FDA final approval has prompted 39:23.880 --> 39:26.330 more people to get vaccinated but I 39:26.330 --> 39:28.330 don't have an exact breakdown . But 39:28.330 --> 39:30.386 certainly we've seen those as as the 39:30.386 --> 39:32.960 three biggest factors recently . Um God 39:32.960 --> 39:36.900 no thanks jim . How does the manner in 39:36.900 --> 39:39.810 which the evacuation was managed affect 39:39.810 --> 39:41.421 our relationship with the Eu 39:41.421 --> 39:43.643 considering some of the concerns on the 39:43.643 --> 39:45.977 pullout work ? Listen to when the U . S . 39:45.977 --> 39:48.143 Hasn't removed certain sanctions um at 39:48.143 --> 39:47.900 it under the trump administration . 39:47.900 --> 39:50.122 That's my first question . I'm not sure 39:50.122 --> 39:52.122 I told you understand your question 39:52.122 --> 39:54.289 with the last part was which sanctions 39:54.289 --> 39:56.511 that the U . S . Hasn't removed certain 39:56.511 --> 39:58.678 sanctions that were under the trump in 39:58.678 --> 40:00.678 Alabama or under who ? Well in Iran 40:00.678 --> 40:02.733 like sanctions on Iran . So that was 40:02.733 --> 40:04.920 that was an issue within the U . So 40:04.920 --> 40:07.087 some of those things about Afghanistan 40:07.087 --> 40:09.253 or something else I'm asking you about 40:09.253 --> 40:11.087 how does the manner in which the 40:11.087 --> 40:13.253 evacuation was managed ? How does that 40:13.310 --> 40:15.477 affect our relationship with you ? And 40:15.477 --> 40:17.588 then those are some other concerns as 40:17.588 --> 40:19.970 well ? Well I would say first that 11 40:19.970 --> 40:22.081 of the biggest group , one of the big 40:22.081 --> 40:24.303 groups we helped evacuate or uh some of 40:24.303 --> 40:27.190 the staff and partners from our allied 40:27.190 --> 40:29.246 countries and many of them in europe 40:29.246 --> 40:31.357 over the course of the last two weeks 40:31.357 --> 40:33.468 That was done by the U . S . Military 40:33.468 --> 40:35.412 in coordination with many of these 40:35.412 --> 40:37.950 countries to , we just signed a got a U . 40:37.950 --> 40:40.160 N . Security Council resolution passed 40:40.170 --> 40:42.337 in coordination with a number of these 40:42.337 --> 40:44.503 countries to make clear to the taliban 40:44.503 --> 40:46.503 what our expectations are . Three . 40:46.503 --> 40:48.559 These are many of the countries that 40:48.559 --> 40:50.614 work with us to help build a list of 40:50.614 --> 40:52.559 100 countries , more than half the 40:52.559 --> 40:54.670 countries in the world . Making clear 40:54.670 --> 40:56.726 we are united in what we expect from 40:56.726 --> 40:58.781 the taliban . So I would say that is 40:58.781 --> 41:01.114 evidence of us working closely together . 41:01.114 --> 41:03.337 What are we to make of the fact that as 41:03.337 --> 41:02.650 soon as we pull out , you see 41:02.650 --> 41:04.970 republicans discussing adding $25 41:04.970 --> 41:07.920 billion defense authorization act . But 41:07.920 --> 41:10.450 here unemployment expires on labor day 41:10.460 --> 41:12.571 for parents on student loans about to 41:12.571 --> 41:14.682 expire . And we're always talking , I 41:14.682 --> 41:16.682 hope you don't have money for human 41:16.682 --> 41:16.350 infrastructure . But we see this being 41:16.350 --> 41:19.250 put forward . You're absolutely right . 41:19.250 --> 41:21.550 I mean I would say first um it was not 41:21.560 --> 41:24.240 the number one factor but it did strike 41:24.250 --> 41:26.028 the president that we have been 41:26.028 --> 41:29.960 spending on average $300 million $300 41:29.960 --> 41:32.127 million dollars a day . We don't think 41:32.127 --> 41:34.182 that's something that most people in 41:34.182 --> 41:36.349 the public are tracking But it's a war 41:36.349 --> 41:38.516 we fought for 20 years , spending $300 41:38.516 --> 41:37.870 million dollars a day . I'll let you 41:37.870 --> 41:39.926 all do the math on that . So that is 41:39.926 --> 41:42.092 certainly a concern . And certainly as 41:42.092 --> 41:44.259 you noted , there are a range of areas 41:44.259 --> 41:46.370 domestically internationally to where 41:46.370 --> 41:48.314 we feel that money could be better 41:48.314 --> 41:50.481 spent . Good Two foreign questions for 41:50.481 --> 41:52.481 you . First of all of these mustard 41:52.481 --> 41:54.814 poison used in kabul to evacuate people . 41:54.814 --> 41:56.703 Were those used only for american 41:56.703 --> 41:56.620 citizens and permanent residents ? Or 41:56.620 --> 41:58.787 were they available to , you know , as 41:58.787 --> 42:00.898 I've used in vulnerable afghans . And 42:00.898 --> 42:02.564 also did the taliban give any 42:02.564 --> 42:05.120 assurances or assist in guaranteeing 42:05.120 --> 42:07.120 those people safe passage ? And did 42:07.120 --> 42:09.176 they make any stipulations about who 42:09.176 --> 42:11.453 could be evacuated under that specific ? 42:11.453 --> 42:13.690 Well , first , yes , we did use meeting 42:13.690 --> 42:15.960 at locations to get others evacuated as 42:15.960 --> 42:18.016 well . I'll let the State Department 42:18.016 --> 42:20.182 Defense Department go into any further 42:20.182 --> 42:22.404 details should they choose to . I would 42:22.404 --> 42:25.910 also note that uh well that was a way 42:25.910 --> 42:27.966 that a great deal number of american 42:27.966 --> 42:30.021 citizens were evacuated . There were 42:30.021 --> 42:32.243 also numbers who came of course through 42:32.243 --> 42:34.299 the gates , including afghans uh and 42:34.299 --> 42:36.132 vulnerable afghans who also came 42:36.132 --> 42:36.010 through the gates of the airport , 42:36.010 --> 42:38.020 especially the earlier days of the 42:38.020 --> 42:40.360 evacuation . And clearly as I noted of 42:40.360 --> 42:42.600 the more than 120,000 people who were 42:42.600 --> 42:46.580 evacuated , 77% of them uh were are 42:46.580 --> 42:48.680 at risk uh where people at risk or 42:48.690 --> 42:50.801 maybe that was the number that people 42:50.801 --> 42:52.912 come to the United , I gotta check on 42:52.912 --> 42:55.023 that number . But um that makes clear 42:55.023 --> 42:57.246 that the taliban . Yes , they did allow 42:57.246 --> 42:59.134 More than 100 and 20,000 people , 42:59.134 --> 42:58.590 including the vast majority of them 42:58.590 --> 43:00.757 vulnerable , vulnerable Afghans to get 43:00.757 --> 43:02.701 through . Whether we met them at a 43:02.701 --> 43:04.534 checkpoint , whether we got them 43:04.534 --> 43:06.757 through the gates . That is true . That 43:06.757 --> 43:08.923 does not mean we think the Taliban are 43:08.923 --> 43:11.146 good actors . We don't but we needed to 43:11.146 --> 43:10.880 work with them in coordination to get 43:10.880 --> 43:13.047 this done . And as a result it was the 43:13.047 --> 43:15.190 largest airlift in US history . Shot 43:15.200 --> 43:17.144 and Saudi Arabia . Just quickly on 43:17.144 --> 43:19.367 these reports that they've reached some 43:19.367 --> 43:21.589 military deals . Has the administration 43:21.589 --> 43:23.811 reached out to Saudi about what appears 43:23.811 --> 43:26.033 to be Riyadh's concern that they can no 43:26.033 --> 43:28.144 longer rely on Washington . We are in 43:28.144 --> 43:29.978 touch with a range of partners , 43:29.978 --> 43:32.089 including leaders in Saudi Arabia . I 43:32.089 --> 43:31.590 pointed to the State Department for any 43:31.590 --> 43:34.470 updated uh conversations with . Okay , 43:34.480 --> 43:36.536 thank you , everyone have a good day 43:36.536 --> 43:37.120 tomorrow .