WEBVTT 00:02.740 --> 00:03.740 everyone . 00:06.540 --> 00:10.060 Okay , a couple of items for all of you 00:10.060 --> 00:13.110 at the top as the country recovers from 00:13.110 --> 00:15.550 this once in a century pandemic uh , 00:15.550 --> 00:17.570 and economic crisis , The private 00:17.580 --> 00:19.524 businesses that make up our supply 00:19.524 --> 00:21.691 chains and get goods to businesses and 00:21.691 --> 00:23.802 the american people have struggled to 00:23.802 --> 00:25.802 keep up . We've talked about this a 00:25.802 --> 00:27.802 fair amount in this briefing room . 00:27.802 --> 00:30.136 This is not just happening here at home , 00:30.136 --> 00:29.480 but all around the world as Covid has 00:29.480 --> 00:31.660 led to shutdowns and disruptions at 00:31.660 --> 00:33.920 ports and factories around the world . 00:33.920 --> 00:36.087 In june , the White House launched the 00:36.087 --> 00:38.253 supply chain disruptions task force to 00:38.253 --> 00:40.031 address short term supply chain 00:40.031 --> 00:42.142 bottlenecks And after working closely 00:42.142 --> 00:44.309 with the leaders and companies at that 00:44.309 --> 00:46.142 port on potential solutions , we 00:46.142 --> 00:48.309 announced a new port envoy to the task 00:48.309 --> 00:50.420 force in august solving this issue is 00:50.420 --> 00:52.476 going to require cooperation between 00:52.476 --> 00:54.698 the private sector , including rail and 00:54.698 --> 00:56.809 trucking ports and labor unions . And 00:56.809 --> 00:58.698 so tomorrow the president will be 00:58.698 --> 01:00.920 meeting with the leadership of the port 01:00.920 --> 01:03.142 of Los Angeles , the port of Long Beach 01:03.142 --> 01:03.080 and the International Longshore and 01:03.080 --> 01:04.920 warehouse union to discuss the 01:04.920 --> 01:07.087 challenges at ports across the country 01:07.087 --> 01:09.320 and actions each partner can take to 01:09.320 --> 01:11.520 address these delays . The 01:11.520 --> 01:13.298 administration will also hold a 01:13.298 --> 01:15.520 roundtable tomorrow with private sector 01:15.520 --> 01:17.687 companies including walmart ups , home 01:17.687 --> 01:20.190 depot to discuss how the largest cargo 01:20.190 --> 01:22.079 owners and shipping companies can 01:22.079 --> 01:23.523 address congestion in the 01:23.523 --> 01:25.634 transportation and logistics . Supply 01:25.634 --> 01:27.746 chain will also have a briefing later 01:27.746 --> 01:29.857 this evening with all of you um , and 01:29.857 --> 01:31.968 people who are not in this room right 01:31.968 --> 01:33.968 now to give you more details on any 01:33.968 --> 01:36.460 announcements for tomorrow . Um I also 01:36.460 --> 01:38.627 wanted to note , I had one more item . 01:38.627 --> 01:40.793 Maybe I'll get back to it at the end . 01:40.793 --> 01:42.960 It's also jenny , Leonard's birthday . 01:42.960 --> 01:45.071 So I'll just note that happy birthday 01:45.071 --> 01:46.904 to jenny . Um there's gonna be a 01:46.904 --> 01:49.127 bilateral meeting with the president of 01:49.127 --> 01:48.770 kenya later this week . I'll get you 01:48.770 --> 01:50.826 more details after the briefing . Go 01:50.826 --> 01:53.560 ahead . Thanks john it's remote . 01:54.140 --> 01:56.680 Obviously . Go ahead . Is the 01:56.680 --> 01:59.990 administration going to sue texas over 01:59.990 --> 02:02.157 the opposing the order for the vaccine 02:02.157 --> 02:05.330 mandates and is there a risk that kind 02:05.330 --> 02:08.420 of uh huh of the OSHA efforts 02:08.430 --> 02:10.820 essentially get tied up in litigation 02:10.830 --> 02:13.163 rather than having the immediate effect ? 02:13.340 --> 02:15.650 Well josh these requirements are 02:15.650 --> 02:18.870 promulgated by federal law . So when 02:18.870 --> 02:22.370 the president announced his vaccine 02:22.380 --> 02:24.700 mandates for business is that of course 02:24.700 --> 02:26.811 we're waiting on OSHA regulations for 02:26.811 --> 02:29.730 as the next step . Um that was pursuant 02:29.730 --> 02:31.950 to federal law and the implementation 02:31.960 --> 02:33.682 of federal law because it's an 02:33.682 --> 02:35.793 executive order . So our intention is 02:35.793 --> 02:38.260 to implement and continue to work to 02:38.260 --> 02:40.770 implement these requirements across the 02:40.770 --> 02:43.080 country , including in the states where 02:43.090 --> 02:45.201 there are attempts to oppose them . I 02:45.201 --> 02:47.034 will say , since you gave me the 02:47.034 --> 02:48.979 opportunity . Um Governor Abbott's 02:48.979 --> 02:51.360 executive order banning mandates and I 02:51.360 --> 02:53.138 would also note announcement by 02:53.138 --> 02:54.971 governor to santa's this morning 02:54.971 --> 02:57.138 essentially banning the implementation 02:57.138 --> 02:59.580 of mandates a fit a familiar pattern 02:59.590 --> 03:01.590 that we've seen of putting politics 03:01.590 --> 03:04.040 ahead of public health . Over 700,000 03:04.040 --> 03:05.873 American lives have been lost to 03:05.873 --> 03:08.230 COVID-19 including more than 56,000 in 03:08.230 --> 03:11.950 Florida . And over 68,000 in Texas and 03:11.950 --> 03:13.839 every leader should be focused on 03:13.839 --> 03:15.894 supporting efforts to save lives and 03:15.894 --> 03:17.894 end the pandemic . Why would you be 03:17.894 --> 03:20.117 taking steps that prevent the saving of 03:20.117 --> 03:22.283 lives ? That make it more difficult to 03:22.283 --> 03:24.600 save lives across the country or in any 03:24.610 --> 03:26.554 state ? And I would also note that 03:26.554 --> 03:28.777 vaccine requirements have been standard 03:28.777 --> 03:30.943 in both the lone star state texas , in 03:30.943 --> 03:32.777 case you're not familiar and the 03:32.777 --> 03:34.888 Sunshine State florida in schools for 03:34.888 --> 03:37.221 decades , whether polio measles , mumps , 03:37.221 --> 03:39.277 rubella , the chickenpox , there are 03:39.277 --> 03:41.277 vaccine requirements that have been 03:41.277 --> 03:43.610 implemented for decades in these states . 03:43.610 --> 03:45.860 Uh So these decisions that put these 03:45.860 --> 03:48.290 two leaders out of step with both 03:48.300 --> 03:50.730 longtime requirements , history of 03:50.730 --> 03:53.290 vaccine mandates but also many business 03:53.290 --> 03:56.440 leaders in their states uh and many 03:56.450 --> 03:58.394 businesses that are based in their 03:58.394 --> 04:00.561 states , including Disney and American 04:00.561 --> 04:02.728 Airlines uh that are these leaders are 04:02.728 --> 04:04.894 taking steps to help boost vaccination 04:04.894 --> 04:04.880 rates , reduce deaths , 04:04.880 --> 04:06.420 hospitalizations , reduce 04:06.420 --> 04:08.253 hospitalizations and expands the 04:08.253 --> 04:10.680 country's labor pool . So bottom line 04:10.680 --> 04:12.902 is we're going to continue to implement 04:12.902 --> 04:14.847 the law which the president of the 04:14.847 --> 04:16.736 United States has the ability the 04:16.736 --> 04:18.847 authority the legal authority to do . 04:18.847 --> 04:21.013 Uh And we're going to continue to work 04:21.013 --> 04:23.280 to get more people vaccinated uh to get 04:23.280 --> 04:25.336 out of this pandemic . The president 04:25.336 --> 04:27.558 will use every lever at his disposal to 04:27.558 --> 04:29.724 do that . And then secondly , the jobs 04:29.724 --> 04:33.200 report today indicated that nearly 3% 04:33.200 --> 04:35.533 of US workers quit their jobs in August , 04:35.533 --> 04:38.260 That's 4.3 million people . Does the 04:38.260 --> 04:40.204 administration believe that people 04:40.204 --> 04:42.149 quitting is positive because those 04:42.149 --> 04:44.371 people will get new jobs to pay more or 04:44.371 --> 04:46.538 negative because of the gravity of the 04:46.538 --> 04:49.250 Delta area . Well I would say that 04:49.260 --> 04:51.316 there are different circumstances as 04:51.316 --> 04:53.149 you know josh dependent that for 04:53.149 --> 04:55.371 different people's lives . Um And there 04:55.371 --> 04:57.204 are certainly uh what we've seen 04:57.204 --> 04:59.260 through the pandemic on the positive 04:59.260 --> 05:02.440 note is that people have uh made more 05:02.450 --> 05:04.450 decided they have more choices that 05:04.450 --> 05:06.617 they can make . Um They have taken the 05:06.617 --> 05:08.970 period of the pandemic too . Uh maybe 05:08.970 --> 05:11.026 seek different forms of employment , 05:11.026 --> 05:13.192 different formats of that employment , 05:13.192 --> 05:15.414 maybe it's some of its remote working , 05:15.414 --> 05:17.526 maybe it's all remote working , maybe 05:17.526 --> 05:19.748 they're changing industries in a career 05:19.748 --> 05:21.859 paths and some of that uh some of the 05:21.859 --> 05:23.803 numbers of people departed leaving 05:23.803 --> 05:25.914 their jobs is attributed uh to that . 05:25.914 --> 05:28.300 Um There are also conditions , so I 05:28.300 --> 05:30.467 can't give you the exact breakdown , I 05:30.467 --> 05:32.467 guess , I'm just conveying that are 05:32.467 --> 05:34.689 economists uh feel that all our true um 05:34.689 --> 05:36.800 There are some conditions where women 05:36.800 --> 05:38.770 have left the workforce because of 05:38.780 --> 05:42.540 child care needs of of uh ones they 05:42.540 --> 05:44.484 can't afford , they don't have the 05:44.484 --> 05:47.590 ability to pay . Uh And because of 05:47.590 --> 05:49.480 fears of going into companies or 05:49.490 --> 05:53.320 industries or or jobs where they 05:53.330 --> 05:55.560 fear that they are not the conditions 05:55.570 --> 05:58.830 to be safe . So uh it depends really 05:58.830 --> 06:00.870 josh . I think it's some some are 06:00.880 --> 06:03.520 positive conditions and some are more 06:03.520 --> 06:05.742 because there haven't been uh steps put 06:05.742 --> 06:07.853 in place everywhere in every industry 06:07.853 --> 06:09.853 that can make people feel safe . Go 06:09.853 --> 06:12.170 ahead First . On the G 24 with the 06:12.180 --> 06:14.150 president this morning regarding 06:14.150 --> 06:16.970 Afghanistan , the U . N . Said on 06:16.980 --> 06:20.690 monday that millions of dollars of aid 06:20.690 --> 06:23.530 are needed to stave off a humanitarian 06:23.530 --> 06:25.840 crisis there . So the Eu responded by 06:26.010 --> 06:28.232 making a new commitment on that front . 06:28.232 --> 06:29.954 Did the president make any new 06:29.954 --> 06:32.177 commitments as far as what humanitarian 06:32.177 --> 06:33.954 assistance ? Well , we recently 06:33.954 --> 06:35.732 announced nearly $64 million in 06:35.732 --> 06:37.843 additional humanitarian assistance in 06:37.843 --> 06:40.066 advance of today . I should say for the 06:40.066 --> 06:42.010 people of Afghanistan , The United 06:42.010 --> 06:43.621 States is the single largest 06:43.621 --> 06:45.510 humanitarian donor in Afghanistan 06:45.510 --> 06:47.780 providing nearly 330 million this year 06:47.790 --> 06:49.846 alone . And we will continue to take 06:49.846 --> 06:52.068 steps to alleviate the suffering of the 06:52.068 --> 06:54.234 Afghan people and call on other donors 06:54.234 --> 06:56.401 to step up their contributions to help 06:56.401 --> 06:58.457 deliver critical assistance . So the 06:58.457 --> 07:01.230 recent 64 million brought us up to 333 07:01.230 --> 07:03.341 and makes us far and away the largest 07:03.341 --> 07:06.580 donor and any change to the policy 07:06.580 --> 07:08.490 about not unfreezing the central 07:08.490 --> 07:10.800 banking assets that would be available 07:10.810 --> 07:12.977 in Afghanistan . There hasn't been any 07:12.977 --> 07:15.199 change to the policy now . And then one 07:15.199 --> 07:17.254 of the things I was wondering if you 07:17.254 --> 07:19.900 had an update on the Vienna talks and 07:19.910 --> 07:22.021 um kind of where that stands . I know 07:22.021 --> 07:24.132 that there's conversations today with 07:24.132 --> 07:26.132 the Israeli government , you know , 07:26.132 --> 07:28.243 where do you see that restarting soon 07:28.243 --> 07:30.610 and where is that ? Uh Well , we of 07:30.610 --> 07:33.160 course keep our partners abreast of our 07:33.160 --> 07:35.160 efforts to pursue a diplomatic path 07:35.160 --> 07:37.160 forward as it relates to the P five 07:37.160 --> 07:39.120 plus one talks with Iran . Um so 07:39.120 --> 07:41.398 certainly it was a topic of discussion . 07:41.398 --> 07:43.509 I don't have a full readout quite yet 07:43.509 --> 07:46.070 as it was happening earlier today , but 07:46.080 --> 07:48.191 in terms of where things stand , that 07:48.191 --> 07:50.390 continues to be our preferred path are 07:50.390 --> 07:53.090 preferred choice . We believe diplomacy 07:53.090 --> 07:55.257 is should always be the first option . 07:55.257 --> 07:57.312 Uh and I think you may have all seen 07:57.312 --> 07:59.590 Secretary of State convey this weekend , 07:59.590 --> 08:01.810 that time is not unlimited . Um and 08:01.820 --> 08:04.042 that remains the case , but we continue 08:04.042 --> 08:06.300 to pursue pursue those negotiations are 08:06.310 --> 08:09.050 team remains prepared to return for 08:09.050 --> 08:11.106 another round of discussions , but I 08:11.106 --> 08:13.050 don't have an update on when those 08:13.050 --> 08:14.883 might occur , go ahead . And the 08:14.883 --> 08:17.050 President's view where the talk on the 08:17.050 --> 08:19.328 reconciliation package stand right now . 08:19.328 --> 08:21.328 Well , as I think you heard speaker 08:21.328 --> 08:23.550 Pelosi convey this morning uh as well , 08:23.550 --> 08:25.772 I mean the president's views that we're 08:25.772 --> 08:27.772 continuing to make progress , we're 08:27.772 --> 08:29.994 having important discussions about what 08:29.994 --> 08:31.994 a package that is smaller than $3.5 08:31.994 --> 08:34.106 trillion dollars would look like . Uh 08:34.106 --> 08:36.328 those conversations have to happen with 08:36.328 --> 08:36.260 a range of members . Uh those are 08:36.260 --> 08:38.450 happening both at a senior staff level 08:38.540 --> 08:40.596 and also with the president over the 08:40.596 --> 08:42.596 course of the last several days and 08:42.596 --> 08:44.818 weeks , those will continue obviously . 08:44.818 --> 08:47.720 Um we want to get to a point , uh , we 08:47.720 --> 08:49.910 are at a point , I should say where 08:49.920 --> 08:52.198 there are choices that need to be made . 08:52.198 --> 08:54.309 That's the point we're at now um , be 08:54.309 --> 08:56.309 given , there will be fewer dollars 08:56.309 --> 08:58.476 that will be spent . So , but a lot of 08:58.476 --> 09:00.364 those conversations are happening 09:00.364 --> 09:02.531 behind the scenes at the staff level . 09:02.531 --> 09:04.698 You Senator Manchin and Senator Center 09:04.698 --> 09:06.753 that need to make a counter offer of 09:06.753 --> 09:08.976 what they want this to look like . It's 09:08.976 --> 09:11.198 more of an ongoing conversation than it 09:11.198 --> 09:13.310 is a passing back of dramatic paper 09:13.310 --> 09:15.366 every couple of days . So there's an 09:15.366 --> 09:17.643 ongoing discussion with Senator cinema . 09:17.643 --> 09:19.699 Senator Manchin . There's an ongoing 09:19.699 --> 09:21.810 discussion with a range of members of 09:21.810 --> 09:23.977 Congress , uh , range of democrats , I 09:23.977 --> 09:26.199 should say about what this looks like . 09:26.199 --> 09:28.780 And again , as speaker Pelosi alluded 09:28.780 --> 09:30.947 to this morning or said this morning , 09:30.947 --> 09:32.669 This is really the point where 09:32.669 --> 09:34.669 decisions need to be made , choices 09:34.669 --> 09:36.836 need to be made . Uh , the president's 09:36.836 --> 09:39.002 preference is the same as the speakers 09:39.002 --> 09:41.058 preference . We , he proposed a $3.5 09:41.058 --> 09:43.280 trillion dollar package . He proposed a 09:43.280 --> 09:46.260 broad range of um initiatives that 09:46.340 --> 09:48.920 will lower costs for the american 09:48.920 --> 09:51.160 people , whether it's childcare , elder 09:51.160 --> 09:54.290 care college invest in the climate . 09:54.390 --> 09:56.501 And no matter how you cut it though , 09:56.501 --> 09:58.612 his views , we can still do something 09:58.612 --> 10:00.668 historic and that will fundamentally 10:00.668 --> 10:02.668 change , change the economy for the 10:02.668 --> 10:04.834 american people and several challenges 10:04.834 --> 10:04.740 facing the White House right now . I'm 10:04.740 --> 10:06.796 not just getting democrats united on 10:06.796 --> 10:08.907 the President's domestic agenda , but 10:08.907 --> 10:11.210 also skyrocketing gas prices about jobs 10:11.210 --> 10:13.432 report . Last week , we've seen several 10:13.432 --> 10:15.488 issues and including the President's 10:15.488 --> 10:17.821 poll numbers seem to be reflecting that . 10:17.821 --> 10:19.710 So how is he viewing all of these 10:19.710 --> 10:19.360 challenges that are facing the White 10:19.360 --> 10:21.950 House right now ? Well , he won has an 10:21.950 --> 10:24.061 incredible team that's working on all 10:24.061 --> 10:26.230 these issues that one time . Uh , and 10:26.240 --> 10:28.570 his views , his responsibilities to 10:28.570 --> 10:31.260 continue to uh forge ahead every day 10:31.260 --> 10:33.371 and to work to address the challenges 10:33.371 --> 10:35.427 the american people are facing . You 10:35.427 --> 10:37.204 didn't mention Covid , but that 10:37.204 --> 10:39.371 continues to be on front and center on 10:39.371 --> 10:41.316 the minds of the american people . 10:41.316 --> 10:43.316 People , I want to return back to a 10:43.316 --> 10:45.482 version of normal uh , they want to go 10:45.482 --> 10:47.538 back to uh , knowing that their kids 10:47.538 --> 10:49.649 are safe at school , that they can go 10:49.649 --> 10:51.704 to their workplaces , that uh , they 10:51.704 --> 10:54.070 don't have to fear for their safety uh , 10:54.080 --> 10:56.150 in communities . He understands that 10:56.160 --> 10:58.049 that's what he's working on every 10:58.049 --> 11:00.160 single day . I would say that he also 11:00.160 --> 11:02.910 recognizes that right now , getting 11:02.920 --> 11:05.087 something done for the american people 11:05.087 --> 11:07.350 working with members to members of 11:07.350 --> 11:10.030 Congress to do exactly that uh , to 11:10.040 --> 11:12.490 forge a path forward , to unite the 11:12.490 --> 11:14.546 Democratic Party is what people have 11:14.546 --> 11:16.770 elected him to do uh , to address the 11:16.770 --> 11:18.881 challenges we're facing over the long 11:18.881 --> 11:21.048 term . So I promise you , we don't get 11:21.048 --> 11:23.159 too glum around here , even if things 11:23.159 --> 11:25.270 look challenging our our view and his 11:25.270 --> 11:27.780 view is that he was elected to continue 11:27.780 --> 11:30.000 to press forward and address the 11:30.000 --> 11:31.944 challenges the american people are 11:31.944 --> 11:33.889 facing go ahead . And uh , speaker 11:33.889 --> 11:36.000 policy said in a letter last night to 11:36.000 --> 11:38.167 house colleagues that the overwhelming 11:38.167 --> 11:40.389 guidance she is getting is that members 11:40.389 --> 11:42.500 of Congress want to do fewer things . 11:42.500 --> 11:42.420 Well , when it comes to the 11:42.420 --> 11:44.642 reconciliation package price tag , even 11:44.642 --> 11:46.864 what gets included , does the president 11:46.864 --> 11:48.864 support that approach ? Doing fewer 11:48.864 --> 11:51.031 things ? Well , well , she also gave a 11:51.031 --> 11:52.976 full press conference this morning 11:52.976 --> 11:55.087 where she addressed this . So I would 11:55.087 --> 11:54.770 point you to that . And what she said 11:54.770 --> 11:57.030 in that Press conference was if there 11:57.030 --> 11:59.141 are fewer dollars to be spent , there 11:59.141 --> 12:01.197 are choices that need to be made and 12:01.197 --> 12:03.570 the President Agrees . And that's uh , 12:03.580 --> 12:05.580 fundamentally true . Of course , if 12:05.580 --> 12:07.802 it's smaller than $3.5 trillion , which 12:07.802 --> 12:09.802 we know it will be , then there are 12:09.802 --> 12:11.969 choices that need to be made . But the 12:11.969 --> 12:14.024 President's view is that a bill that 12:14.024 --> 12:16.110 doesn't pass means nothing changes . 12:16.120 --> 12:18.342 And the challenges we're facing are too 12:18.342 --> 12:20.564 urgent to do nothing . So that's why at 12:20.564 --> 12:22.787 this point we have to do is work with a 12:22.787 --> 12:24.842 range of members who have a range of 12:24.842 --> 12:27.009 views about what should be included in 12:27.009 --> 12:29.320 a package , what what , you know , what 12:29.320 --> 12:31.376 is a priority to them so that we can 12:31.376 --> 12:33.730 make some fundamental changes were we 12:33.730 --> 12:36.570 are focused on the impact . Uh , and 12:36.570 --> 12:38.737 that's what we're keeping our eye on , 12:38.737 --> 12:40.959 I was concerned that with the House and 12:40.959 --> 12:43.181 Senate are reasons right now that talks 12:43.181 --> 12:45.348 will stall without having lawmakers in 12:45.348 --> 12:47.570 Washington . The good news is there are 12:47.570 --> 12:49.626 phones and we are quite used to zoom 12:49.626 --> 12:51.737 conference calls this day and age and 12:51.737 --> 12:53.959 those have continued through the course 12:53.959 --> 12:53.910 of weekends , through the course of 12:53.910 --> 12:56.800 nights even as members have been away . 12:56.810 --> 12:59.050 Um , and we anticipate those will 12:59.060 --> 13:01.227 continue at full speed over the coming 13:01.227 --> 13:04.780 days back to texas . Um , what is the 13:04.790 --> 13:06.846 President's message to businesses in 13:06.846 --> 13:08.957 texas ? You mentioned several of them 13:08.957 --> 13:11.068 who are faced there now when it comes 13:11.068 --> 13:13.290 to what the federal guidance is now and 13:13.290 --> 13:15.346 now with the state executive order , 13:15.346 --> 13:17.457 what would the president say to those 13:17.457 --> 13:17.170 companies as their determining what 13:17.170 --> 13:19.337 they should be doing right now for the 13:19.337 --> 13:22.190 vaccine mandates ? Well , we know that 13:22.190 --> 13:25.800 federal law overrides state law . I 13:25.810 --> 13:28.500 would note that earlier when we put out 13:28.500 --> 13:30.790 our guidance on the President's 13:30.800 --> 13:32.890 announcement about mandates several 13:32.900 --> 13:35.380 weeks ago , he made clear it made clear 13:35.380 --> 13:37.670 that , um , again , as I said earlier 13:37.680 --> 13:39.902 requirements are promulgated , pursuant 13:39.902 --> 13:41.736 to federal law and supersede any 13:41.736 --> 13:43.458 contrary state or local law or 13:43.458 --> 13:45.569 ordinance . Additionally , nothing in 13:45.569 --> 13:47.940 this guidance excuses non compliance 13:47.940 --> 13:49.773 with any applicable state law or 13:49.773 --> 13:51.607 municipal ordinance . We put out 13:51.607 --> 13:53.773 guidance several weeks ago , conveying 13:53.773 --> 13:55.996 that clearly , but fundamentally beyond 13:55.996 --> 13:57.551 the legal aspect , which is 13:57.551 --> 13:59.900 unquestionable in our view . The 13:59.910 --> 14:02.021 question for any business leader is , 14:02.021 --> 14:04.021 what do you want to do to save more 14:04.021 --> 14:06.132 lives in your company's , how are you 14:06.132 --> 14:08.021 going to create a workforce where 14:08.021 --> 14:09.910 people feel safe to go into their 14:09.910 --> 14:12.080 workplaces ? What is fundamentally in 14:12.080 --> 14:14.191 the interests of your businesses over 14:14.191 --> 14:16.191 the long term ? And we've seen from 14:16.191 --> 14:18.413 economist after economist , and frankly 14:18.413 --> 14:20.580 many business leaders who have already 14:20.580 --> 14:22.469 worked to implement mandates that 14:22.469 --> 14:24.469 implementing these mandates creates 14:24.469 --> 14:26.524 certainty . It reduces the number of 14:26.524 --> 14:28.524 people who are out of work sick and 14:28.524 --> 14:30.691 worse . Uh and that is good ultimately 14:30.691 --> 14:32.636 for businesses , it's good for the 14:32.636 --> 14:34.580 economy . But also saving lives is 14:34.580 --> 14:36.524 something fundamentally . Business 14:36.524 --> 14:38.747 leaders can do by continuing to work to 14:38.747 --> 14:40.913 implement these mandates , but I would 14:40.913 --> 14:43.136 note that a lot of these businesses are 14:43.136 --> 14:42.430 doing them on their own to date , were 14:42.430 --> 14:44.597 still the OSHA in terms of the federal 14:44.597 --> 14:46.652 level . Uh the OSHA requirements are 14:46.652 --> 14:48.874 the next step , which we expect to have 14:48.874 --> 14:50.819 soon go ahead . Clearly , Governor 14:50.819 --> 14:52.597 Abbott knows that federal rules 14:52.597 --> 14:54.708 supersede state rules . So why do you 14:54.708 --> 14:56.763 think he did this politics ? Can you 14:56.763 --> 14:58.930 elaborate ? Well , I think it's pretty 14:58.930 --> 15:00.930 clear when you make a choice that's 15:00.930 --> 15:03.370 against all public health information 15:03.370 --> 15:06.230 and data out there , that it's not 15:06.230 --> 15:08.286 based on what is in the interests of 15:08.286 --> 15:10.640 the people you are governing . Uh it's 15:10.640 --> 15:12.696 perhaps in the interests of your own 15:12.696 --> 15:14.918 politics . I know you said that there's 15:14.918 --> 15:17.084 gonna be a background briefing later . 15:17.084 --> 15:19.196 But is there anything you can tell us 15:19.196 --> 15:20.973 about the stakeholders that the 15:20.973 --> 15:23.029 president is meeting with tomorrow . 15:23.029 --> 15:25.730 What the administration can do is doing 15:25.740 --> 15:28.018 about some of these supply bottlenecks . 15:28.018 --> 15:30.184 Sure , Well , we're taking a number of 15:30.184 --> 15:32.240 steps , which I'm happy to outline , 15:32.240 --> 15:34.407 but let me , let me focus on the ports 15:34.407 --> 15:34.130 because that's clearly what a focus 15:34.130 --> 15:35.797 will be tomorrow . One of the 15:35.797 --> 15:37.963 challenges we're having is , as you've 15:37.963 --> 15:39.908 all seen and shown on many of your 15:39.908 --> 15:42.960 networks and others have reported on is 15:42.970 --> 15:46.920 um , the delay of goods getting 15:46.930 --> 15:49.400 through to our ports , enabling them to 15:49.410 --> 15:51.580 get to people in the country . We know 15:51.580 --> 15:53.636 that's one of the bottlenecks in the 15:53.636 --> 15:55.747 supply chain . Now , the supply chain 15:55.747 --> 15:57.524 bottlenecks , range industry to 15:57.524 --> 15:59.358 industry , but we certainly know 15:59.358 --> 16:01.770 addressing um , that those bottlenecks 16:01.770 --> 16:05.500 at ports could help address what we see 16:05.500 --> 16:07.611 in many industries across the country 16:07.611 --> 16:09.778 and frankly are leading people who are 16:09.778 --> 16:11.944 preparing for holidays for christmas , 16:11.944 --> 16:14.880 whatever they may celebrate birthdays , 16:14.890 --> 16:17.950 um , to uh , to order goods and get 16:17.950 --> 16:19.894 them to people's homes . So , uh , 16:19.894 --> 16:22.006 that's what he'll focus on tomorrow , 16:22.006 --> 16:24.228 is to talk about what we're gonna do on 16:24.228 --> 16:26.450 ports . Something that has been a focus 16:26.450 --> 16:28.617 of his for months now and , and he's a 16:28.617 --> 16:30.672 hired people to help address that go 16:30.672 --> 16:32.894 ahead . And then I want to follow up on 16:32.894 --> 16:34.894 an earlier question . You reference 16:34.894 --> 16:37.061 speaker Pelosi's press conference this 16:37.061 --> 16:39.061 morning ? Yeah , it seemed like she 16:39.061 --> 16:41.172 somewhat backtracked from her message 16:41.172 --> 16:43.339 yesterday about what , you know , sort 16:43.339 --> 16:45.561 of path democrats would need to take if 16:45.561 --> 16:45.190 there are fewer dollars . It seemed 16:45.190 --> 16:47.412 like she was indicating that programs , 16:47.540 --> 16:50.330 uh fewer programs done well would be 16:50.330 --> 16:52.497 the preference . But then this morning 16:52.497 --> 16:54.608 said that the first thing to go would 16:54.608 --> 16:56.774 be the timeline . So has the president 16:56.774 --> 16:59.140 given any sort of a push in either 16:59.140 --> 17:02.130 direction on this ? This is all part of 17:02.130 --> 17:05.260 the discussion . And I will let you uh 17:05.270 --> 17:07.270 convey our ask questions of speaker 17:07.270 --> 17:09.437 Pelosi yourself . She's as we see , so 17:09.437 --> 17:11.326 this morning more than capable of 17:11.326 --> 17:13.326 speaking on her own behalf . Um but 17:13.326 --> 17:15.548 what she was conveying is that while it 17:15.548 --> 17:17.659 was the preference , her preference , 17:17.659 --> 17:20.080 the President's preference to have the 17:20.080 --> 17:22.460 initial package proposed . What our 17:22.460 --> 17:26.170 focus now is on is building a real 17:26.170 --> 17:28.226 tangible package that can become law 17:28.230 --> 17:30.452 and is going to make a transformational 17:30.452 --> 17:32.452 difference in people's lives . So I 17:32.452 --> 17:34.508 understand and we all know why we're 17:34.508 --> 17:37.210 talking here about the size and the 17:37.210 --> 17:40.720 cuts , etcetera , but a cut . Uh it's 17:40.720 --> 17:42.980 not a cut . Just because someone once 17:42.980 --> 17:45.036 proposed something bigger on paper , 17:45.036 --> 17:48.880 it's not a it's not a bill or a policy 17:48.880 --> 17:51.102 that's going to change lives if nothing 17:51.102 --> 17:53.047 has passed . And that's what we're 17:53.047 --> 17:55.269 working through . There's a lot of ways 17:55.269 --> 17:57.436 to do that . And that's the discussion 17:57.436 --> 17:59.602 she's having with her caucus . And the 17:59.602 --> 17:58.690 president is of course playing a 17:58.690 --> 18:00.690 prominent role in president doesn't 18:00.690 --> 18:03.050 prefer than one avenue or the other . 18:03.740 --> 18:05.962 The president wants to make fundamental 18:05.962 --> 18:07.907 change in our economy and he feels 18:07.907 --> 18:10.100 coming out of the pandemic is exactly 18:10.100 --> 18:12.211 the time to do that . And if we don't 18:12.211 --> 18:14.730 do it . Now , if we don't address the 18:14.740 --> 18:16.684 cost of child care . To go back to 18:16.684 --> 18:18.796 josh's question earlier , If we don't 18:18.796 --> 18:20.870 address the climate crisis , if we 18:20.870 --> 18:23.350 don't ensure that universal pre K is a 18:23.350 --> 18:26.920 reality now , we're not going to have 18:26.920 --> 18:29.087 the same opportunity to do it for some 18:29.087 --> 18:31.253 time . And I want to get to the supply 18:31.253 --> 18:32.809 chain issues . Is there any 18:32.809 --> 18:35.050 consideration of potentially lifting 18:35.060 --> 18:39.020 trump era tariffs to give some 18:39.020 --> 18:41.370 sort of an immediate relief to this 18:41.370 --> 18:43.426 problem ? I know that the task force 18:43.426 --> 18:45.703 been talking about long term solutions , 18:45.703 --> 18:47.648 but that's something that uh trade 18:47.648 --> 18:49.648 representatives of business leaders 18:49.648 --> 18:51.870 have suggested could have a real impact 18:51.870 --> 18:53.981 right now . Well , the task force has 18:53.981 --> 18:56.148 actually been talking about a range of 18:56.148 --> 18:58.314 steps that need to be taken on . And I 18:58.314 --> 19:01.000 think as you saw by our announcement or 19:01.000 --> 19:03.111 our ambassador ambassador ties speech 19:03.111 --> 19:05.540 last week , um we are open to 19:05.550 --> 19:07.980 considering policies are continuing 19:07.990 --> 19:10.470 limited some policies if they are in 19:10.470 --> 19:12.526 the interests of the american people 19:12.526 --> 19:14.692 and the interests of our economy . But 19:14.692 --> 19:16.859 ultimately , what we're seeing is that 19:16.859 --> 19:18.840 um and what he'll be talking about 19:18.840 --> 19:21.750 tomorrow is that the ports and the 19:21.750 --> 19:23.930 ability to move goods through ports is 19:23.930 --> 19:26.152 certainly one of the big bottle necks . 19:26.152 --> 19:28.208 That's what well he'll be addressing 19:28.208 --> 19:30.208 now , there are other issues in the 19:30.208 --> 19:32.374 supply chain , including manufacturing 19:32.374 --> 19:34.430 and international manufacturing hubs 19:34.430 --> 19:36.597 where the issue there is the number of 19:36.597 --> 19:38.708 people who aren't showing up for work 19:38.708 --> 19:40.930 or factories that are shut down because 19:40.930 --> 19:42.930 of Covid . We are still the world's 19:42.930 --> 19:45.152 largest supplier of vaccines , know how 19:45.152 --> 19:47.319 manufacturing capacity to help address 19:47.319 --> 19:49.374 that . We've seen different types of 19:49.374 --> 19:51.430 supply chain issues as it relates to 19:51.430 --> 19:53.541 lumber as it relates to chips . There 19:53.541 --> 19:55.652 are different solutions for different 19:55.652 --> 19:57.874 industries and we're working to address 19:57.874 --> 19:59.930 all of them at the same time . There 19:59.930 --> 20:01.763 are some people who say that the 20:01.763 --> 20:03.874 president should be pressuring unions 20:03.874 --> 20:05.930 to loosen work restrictions that are 20:05.930 --> 20:08.097 keeping . For instance , truck drivers 20:08.097 --> 20:10.319 limited on their hours behind the wheel 20:10.319 --> 20:12.541 or these ports operating at a less than 20:12.541 --> 20:14.708 full capacity . What's the White House 20:14.708 --> 20:16.763 answer to that ? I would say we have 20:16.763 --> 20:19.060 taken steps at times when warranted to 20:19.140 --> 20:21.860 loosen restrictions as you , as you saw 20:21.860 --> 20:24.350 in reaction to some natural disasters 20:24.350 --> 20:26.572 we've had over the course of the year . 20:26.572 --> 20:28.628 Ultimately , the president's focuses 20:28.628 --> 20:30.460 addressing the needs , uh the 20:30.460 --> 20:33.330 challenges and uh the threats to the 20:33.330 --> 20:35.690 american people of to their well being 20:35.690 --> 20:38.500 to their economic well being . Um and 20:38.510 --> 20:40.732 he'll consider a range of options . But 20:40.732 --> 20:42.954 again , the supply chain task force has 20:42.954 --> 20:44.899 been working for months to address 20:44.899 --> 20:46.843 these issues . What's his answer ? 20:46.843 --> 20:48.788 What's the White House response to 20:48.788 --> 20:51.010 people who say that scene mandates have 20:51.010 --> 20:53.121 reduced the workforce and contributed 20:53.121 --> 20:55.066 to this problem . Well , I know uh 20:55.066 --> 20:57.630 world renowned business travel and 20:57.630 --> 20:59.741 health experts , Senator Ted Cruz has 20:59.741 --> 21:02.120 made that point . But um I wouldn't say 21:02.120 --> 21:05.260 that that is widely um uh 21:05.270 --> 21:08.750 acknowledged or echoed by um 21:08.760 --> 21:10.871 business leaders who have implemented 21:10.871 --> 21:13.560 these mandates by health experts who 21:13.560 --> 21:15.782 have conveyed the way to get out of the 21:15.782 --> 21:17.940 pandemic is to uh ensure that we are 21:17.940 --> 21:20.051 doing exactly the steps the President 21:20.051 --> 21:22.051 has announced and we are working to 21:22.051 --> 21:24.051 implement . Uh it doesn't mean this 21:24.051 --> 21:26.218 isn't hard and challenging . Of course 21:26.218 --> 21:28.440 it is . We're in the middle of a global 21:28.440 --> 21:30.607 pandemic . But ultimately , the job of 21:30.607 --> 21:30.160 the president of the United States is 21:30.160 --> 21:32.400 to lead is to follow the advice of 21:32.400 --> 21:34.630 health experts is to ensure that he is 21:34.630 --> 21:36.741 protecting the lives of people across 21:36.741 --> 21:38.741 the country . So I know there was a 21:38.741 --> 21:40.963 little um hubbub over the course of the 21:40.963 --> 21:43.000 last few days about uh Southwest 21:43.000 --> 21:45.000 Airlines , we now know that some of 21:45.000 --> 21:47.056 those claims were absolutely false . 21:47.056 --> 21:48.833 And actually the issues were uh 21:48.833 --> 21:50.611 completely unrelated to vaccine 21:50.611 --> 21:52.778 mandates . But again , what we've seen 21:52.778 --> 21:55.000 business to business across the country 21:55.000 --> 21:57.111 is this is the way to save lives , to 21:57.111 --> 21:59.222 create more certainty . It's good for 21:59.222 --> 21:58.940 the economy and it's something we're 21:58.940 --> 22:01.162 looking forward to implementing , given 22:01.162 --> 22:03.051 how important the vaccine mandate 22:03.051 --> 22:05.218 policy is for the administration , Why 22:05.218 --> 22:07.051 is it taking so long to get that 22:07.051 --> 22:09.770 rulemaking in place ? And it seems like 22:09.770 --> 22:11.937 a fairly discreet set of issues that , 22:11.937 --> 22:13.826 and I know there's an interagency 22:13.826 --> 22:16.400 process , but hasn't there been a 22:16.410 --> 22:19.350 vacuum left . It gets filled by actions 22:19.350 --> 22:22.570 by governors or by dissent among union 22:22.570 --> 22:24.960 workers or whatever , by not having the 22:24.960 --> 22:27.720 clarity of rulemaking that we were told 22:27.720 --> 22:29.950 was coming weeks ago . Well , I think 22:29.950 --> 22:32.061 at the time just last month , we said 22:32.061 --> 22:34.710 it was coming in weeks . That remains 22:34.720 --> 22:36.720 the case . And when it's out , that 22:36.720 --> 22:38.664 will be accurate . But also , uh , 22:38.664 --> 22:40.720 there isn't a big historic precedent 22:40.720 --> 22:42.998 for this and we want to get right . Um , 22:42.998 --> 22:45.109 and the team at OSHA , the team , the 22:45.109 --> 22:47.220 Department of Labor , wants to get it 22:47.220 --> 22:49.442 right , wants to be able to create some 22:49.442 --> 22:49.190 clarity for businesses around the 22:49.190 --> 22:51.440 country . I would say that requiring 22:51.440 --> 22:53.640 and mandating for businesses of 100 22:53.640 --> 22:56.160 people are over vaccines is not a small 22:56.160 --> 22:59.970 task . That is a big bold proposal idea 22:59.970 --> 23:02.192 and something that we want to implement 23:02.192 --> 23:04.192 with as much clarity as we can . We 23:04.192 --> 23:06.192 know , there will be questions even 23:06.192 --> 23:05.940 after these rules are put out , we 23:05.940 --> 23:09.060 understand that , but that's , that's 23:09.060 --> 23:11.171 why we wanted to take a little bit of 23:11.171 --> 23:13.504 time , Not too much time to get it done . 23:13.504 --> 23:15.393 Can you describe what's happening 23:15.393 --> 23:14.990 behind the scenes or they're a group of 23:15.000 --> 23:17.222 people who are , this is the only thing 23:17.222 --> 23:19.278 they're working on each day or where 23:19.278 --> 23:21.389 does this full on the priority ? It's 23:21.389 --> 23:23.389 getting . It's , well , it's a good 23:23.389 --> 23:25.611 question because I think it's important 23:25.611 --> 23:25.330 for people to understand that OSHA 23:25.330 --> 23:27.163 under the Department of Labor is 23:27.163 --> 23:29.330 working on these regulations . This is 23:29.330 --> 23:31.552 not something that is being done out of 23:31.552 --> 23:33.552 the White House , they are the ones 23:33.552 --> 23:35.663 working through this as they should . 23:35.663 --> 23:37.886 And I can't give you any expectation of 23:37.886 --> 23:39.997 when they will be finalized . They'll 23:39.997 --> 23:42.163 be a public rulemaking , uh they'll be 23:42.163 --> 23:44.386 made public so everybody can see them . 23:44.386 --> 23:46.608 There'll be a comment period , as there 23:46.608 --> 23:48.608 always are for regulations , have a 23:48.608 --> 23:50.774 long relationship with labor unions of 23:50.774 --> 23:52.886 various types and in that community , 23:52.886 --> 23:54.997 whether they're professional athletes 23:54.997 --> 23:57.108 in a labor union or law enforcement , 23:57.108 --> 23:59.274 there are some people who are speaking 23:59.274 --> 24:01.441 out against the vaccine mandates , and 24:01.441 --> 24:01.380 one of the things they're saying it 24:01.380 --> 24:03.658 should be a part of collective bargain , 24:03.658 --> 24:05.769 how does the president view that when 24:05.769 --> 24:07.991 it comes to these requires ? You know , 24:07.991 --> 24:10.410 the president is a huge supporter 24:10.420 --> 24:12.309 throughout his lifetime in public 24:12.309 --> 24:14.910 office for labor unions , the roles 24:14.910 --> 24:18.100 they play for collective bargaining for 24:18.110 --> 24:20.221 the role they play in standing up for 24:20.221 --> 24:22.550 workers workers rights . Um I would 24:22.550 --> 24:24.717 note though , we're in the middle of a 24:24.717 --> 24:26.828 pandemic here , and what we're trying 24:26.828 --> 24:28.772 to do is we're trying to save more 24:28.772 --> 24:30.772 lives without delay . Understanding 24:30.772 --> 24:32.828 there is a process for rulemaking as 24:32.828 --> 24:34.994 there should be , but we're working to 24:34.994 --> 24:37.217 implement these as quickly as we can so 24:37.217 --> 24:39.328 that businesses can have certainty so 24:39.328 --> 24:41.550 that workers can have certainty so that 24:41.550 --> 24:43.717 people can return to the workplace who 24:43.717 --> 24:45.661 are fearful so that we can work to 24:45.661 --> 24:47.830 return uh to uh closer to a period of 24:47.830 --> 24:50.490 closer to normal . Um So he always 24:50.490 --> 24:53.050 welcomes the input the the views of 24:53.050 --> 24:55.106 labor unions and certainly has heard 24:55.240 --> 24:57.430 their their concerns in this regard , 24:57.440 --> 24:59.384 but I think it's also important to 24:59.384 --> 25:01.551 remember in the middle of a pandemic , 25:01.551 --> 25:03.773 Go ahead to questions on diplomacy , on 25:03.773 --> 25:05.773 the G 20 call this morning . It was 25:05.773 --> 25:07.829 reported that neither Vladimir Putin 25:07.829 --> 25:09.950 nor Xi Jinping were on the call . Was 25:09.960 --> 25:12.016 president disappointed by that ? And 25:12.016 --> 25:14.182 does he feel it was a fruitful meeting 25:14.182 --> 25:16.293 without it was a meeting organized by 25:16.293 --> 25:18.460 the Italians . Uh So I would certainly 25:18.460 --> 25:20.571 point you to them for confirmation of 25:20.571 --> 25:23.500 who may or may not have attended . But 25:23.510 --> 25:25.677 I would note that it is still fruitful 25:25.677 --> 25:27.677 of course to have an opportunity or 25:27.677 --> 25:29.677 this is how the president use it to 25:29.677 --> 25:32.490 discuss um the efforts to work together 25:32.490 --> 25:35.940 on counterterrorism , uh work on two , 25:35.950 --> 25:38.172 including against the including against 25:38.172 --> 25:40.117 threats from ISIS K to ensure safe 25:40.117 --> 25:42.339 passage for those foreign nationals and 25:42.339 --> 25:44.283 Afghan partners with documentation 25:44.283 --> 25:46.450 seeking to depart Afghanistan . Uh And 25:46.450 --> 25:48.561 during this call , uh the leaders who 25:48.561 --> 25:50.728 did attend reaffirmed their collective 25:50.728 --> 25:50.530 commitment to provide humanitarian 25:50.530 --> 25:52.419 assistance directly to the Afghan 25:52.419 --> 25:54.308 people , something that was noted 25:54.308 --> 25:55.863 earlier through independent 25:55.863 --> 25:57.919 international organizations . And we 25:57.919 --> 25:59.808 are committed to working with our 25:59.808 --> 26:02.086 partners to do exactly that . So again , 26:02.086 --> 26:04.141 I would it was it was a call or is a 26:04.141 --> 26:06.310 meeting organized by the Italians . 26:06.310 --> 26:08.980 They can confirm the list of attendees , 26:08.980 --> 26:10.924 but the president did see it as an 26:10.924 --> 26:12.647 opportunity and a constructive 26:12.647 --> 26:14.869 opportunity to discuss counterterrorism 26:14.869 --> 26:16.591 efforts and efforts to provide 26:16.591 --> 26:18.813 international humanitarian assistance , 26:18.813 --> 26:20.869 victoria Nuland is now in Moscow for 26:20.869 --> 26:23.091 meetings with the Russians . What's the 26:23.091 --> 26:23.040 White House's assessment of how those 26:23.040 --> 26:26.230 talks are on democracy ? I'd really 26:26.230 --> 26:28.452 pointed to the State Department on that 26:28.452 --> 26:30.910 steve . I I I would I would guess that 26:30.910 --> 26:32.799 she's having quite constructive , 26:32.799 --> 26:35.021 productive meetings on the ground while 26:35.021 --> 26:37.243 she's there . I know she's meeting with 26:37.243 --> 26:39.410 a range of leaders on the ground , but 26:39.410 --> 26:38.490 I don't have more details from here . I 26:38.490 --> 26:40.490 pointed to the State Department for 26:40.490 --> 26:42.657 that , joe Donnelly has been picked by 26:42.657 --> 26:42.550 the president to be the next ambassador 26:42.550 --> 26:44.606 to the Holy See the Vatican . Why Mr 26:44.606 --> 26:47.420 Donnelly . Uh Mr Donnelly is someone 26:47.420 --> 26:50.100 who has a long record in public service . 26:50.110 --> 26:54.020 Uh he's somebody who has the 26:54.030 --> 26:55.974 President feels will represent the 26:55.974 --> 26:58.030 United States and our interests . Um 26:58.030 --> 27:00.252 quite well . Uh as bad as Ambassador to 27:00.252 --> 27:02.363 the Holy See and he's looking forward 27:02.363 --> 27:04.586 to his confirmation . It meets with the 27:04.586 --> 27:06.641 Pope later this month . What does he 27:06.641 --> 27:06.430 hope to discuss ? I don't have any more 27:06.430 --> 27:08.486 details on the trip . I'm sure we'll 27:08.486 --> 27:10.430 have some soon . Go ahead . Have a 27:10.430 --> 27:12.710 climate question . What is the minimum 27:12.720 --> 27:15.790 that the President wants Congress to do 27:15.800 --> 27:17.800 or give him before he goes to these 27:17.800 --> 27:19.578 important international climate 27:19.578 --> 27:21.689 meetings and if they can't pass build 27:21.689 --> 27:23.856 back better by the time he has to go , 27:23.920 --> 27:25.809 does go into these meetings empty 27:25.809 --> 27:27.960 handed , undermine US leadership on 27:27.960 --> 27:31.750 climate . Well , I would say first , um 27:31.760 --> 27:33.871 I don't have a new deadline to convey 27:33.871 --> 27:36.550 from here . Um what is clear , but what 27:36.550 --> 27:38.606 you're asking about , I think is how 27:38.606 --> 27:40.772 the international community will react 27:40.772 --> 27:42.994 to what's happening domestically . Just 27:42.994 --> 27:45.050 to kind of break down the question , 27:45.050 --> 27:46.939 what I think is very clear to the 27:46.939 --> 27:46.510 international community . They can all 27:46.510 --> 27:48.510 speak for themselves too , is that 27:48.520 --> 27:50.353 President biden came into office 27:50.353 --> 27:52.460 absolutely committed to regaining 27:52.460 --> 27:54.610 America stayed at the table uh , in 27:54.610 --> 27:56.777 international diplomacy , including in 27:56.777 --> 27:58.777 climate . One of the first steps he 27:58.777 --> 28:00.832 took was to rejoin the paris climate 28:00.832 --> 28:02.999 agreement . He has taken steps that he 28:02.999 --> 28:05.277 could take of his own accord here , uh , 28:05.277 --> 28:07.277 working with car companies and auto 28:07.277 --> 28:09.443 manufacturers to ensure we're reducing 28:09.443 --> 28:11.554 greenhouse gas emissions even without 28:11.554 --> 28:13.443 congressional action . And he has 28:13.443 --> 28:15.540 proposed a bold , ambitious climate 28:15.540 --> 28:17.762 agenda here in the United States , that 28:17.762 --> 28:19.984 he's working to move through Congress . 28:19.984 --> 28:22.207 So his commitment to these issues , his 28:22.207 --> 28:24.980 dedication to uh , to taking action 28:24.980 --> 28:27.147 here domestically . So that the United 28:27.147 --> 28:29.424 States can be a leader internationally , 28:29.424 --> 28:31.202 should be unquestionable on the 28:31.202 --> 28:33.091 international stage . And I think 28:33.091 --> 28:34.924 that's the message will convey , 28:34.924 --> 28:37.091 regardless of where the package stands 28:37.091 --> 28:39.313 we want . We intend to get it . But I'm 28:39.313 --> 28:41.369 not going to set a new timeline ? Go 28:41.369 --> 28:41.230 ahead . Sure . The White House 28:41.230 --> 28:43.341 announced that joe biden is headed to 28:43.341 --> 28:45.063 Virginia to campaign for terry 28:45.063 --> 28:47.063 mcauliffe . Can you have a sense of 28:47.063 --> 28:49.174 what joe biden will be doing over the 28:49.174 --> 28:51.397 next couple of weeks in Virginia or the 28:51.397 --> 28:51.330 campaign for mcauliffe has even asked 28:51.340 --> 28:54.800 to come . I don't have any updates on 28:54.800 --> 28:56.856 travel I would expect . We will have 28:56.856 --> 28:59.990 more to convey soon about his plans to 28:59.990 --> 29:02.730 support uh the election of former 29:02.730 --> 29:04.952 Governor McAuliffe and one more just on 29:04.952 --> 29:06.952 the G-20 this morning . I wonder if 29:06.952 --> 29:09.150 there was any sense of frustration on 29:09.150 --> 29:11.550 the part of our allies or a sense that 29:11.550 --> 29:13.920 the us has an obligation to do more 29:13.930 --> 29:15.819 because of because because of our 29:15.819 --> 29:17.930 withdrawal from Afghanistan , can you 29:17.930 --> 29:20.041 give any more on that more than being 29:20.041 --> 29:22.208 far and away ? The largest provider of 29:22.208 --> 29:24.800 humanitarian assistance ? I would point 29:24.800 --> 29:26.800 you to our allies . I haven't heard 29:26.800 --> 29:28.911 them have that complaint . Go ahead . 29:29.340 --> 29:31.396 Thanks jen , as the price type comes 29:31.396 --> 29:33.451 down on the reconciliation package , 29:33.451 --> 29:35.618 are you all , are there certain papers 29:35.618 --> 29:37.396 that you are also becoming more 29:37.396 --> 29:39.507 amenable to negotiating on then ? For 29:39.507 --> 29:41.562 instance of staying at the corporate 29:41.562 --> 29:43.784 tax rate . Now for instance , are there 29:43.784 --> 29:46.110 policies like that that you are coming 29:46.110 --> 29:49.780 down ? Mm Well , I would say that 29:49.790 --> 29:53.080 um because the package will not be $3.5 29:53.080 --> 29:55.191 trillion as you all know , it will be 29:55.191 --> 29:57.358 smaller as everyone has acknowledged . 29:57.358 --> 29:59.469 You won't need the same number of pay 29:59.469 --> 30:01.580 for us . Obviously it doesn't require 30:01.580 --> 30:01.330 mathematician . I think that's why 30:01.330 --> 30:03.497 you're asking the question . Um but in 30:03.497 --> 30:05.608 terms of what those look like , There 30:05.608 --> 30:07.552 have been a range of proposals the 30:07.552 --> 30:09.663 president has conveyed he supports as 30:09.663 --> 30:11.497 it as it relates to pay for us . 30:11.497 --> 30:13.497 Ultimately he wants to make the tax 30:13.497 --> 30:15.219 system more fair , raising the 30:15.219 --> 30:17.219 corporate rate , asking the highest 30:17.219 --> 30:18.997 income americans to pay more is 30:18.997 --> 30:21.120 certainly part of part of what he has 30:21.120 --> 30:23.231 proposed , but that's all part of the 30:23.231 --> 30:25.287 discussion as we speak earlier . You 30:25.287 --> 30:27.453 just said that if you all don't act on 30:27.453 --> 30:29.620 some of the social spending , your not 30:29.620 --> 30:31.787 going to have the opportunity to do it 30:31.787 --> 30:33.953 for some time . Was that a speculation 30:33.953 --> 30:36.009 on the midterms or what did you mean 30:36.009 --> 30:38.231 that up ? No , no , it was not . It was 30:38.231 --> 30:40.470 conveying that this is a moment coming 30:40.470 --> 30:43.870 out of a pandemic to uh change 30:43.870 --> 30:46.030 fundamentally how we invest in our 30:46.030 --> 30:48.141 workforce , how we invest in american 30:48.141 --> 30:50.340 families , how we think about what our 30:50.340 --> 30:52.940 priorities are in the United States is 30:52.940 --> 30:55.107 our priority . Making sure that people 30:55.107 --> 30:57.273 can afford child care so that they can 30:57.273 --> 30:59.607 join the workforce . Is it or is it not ? 30:59.607 --> 31:01.718 Is our priority doing more to address 31:01.718 --> 31:04.051 the climate crisis ? Is it or is it not ? 31:04.051 --> 31:06.273 And coming out of a pandemic is exactly 31:06.273 --> 31:08.218 a moment to do that . It was not a 31:08.218 --> 31:10.218 political uh it was not a political 31:10.218 --> 31:12.162 assessment . It was more about the 31:12.162 --> 31:14.162 moment we're coming out of now . Go 31:14.162 --> 31:16.329 ahead . Um Hi , so it's been six weeks 31:16.329 --> 31:18.384 since the drone strike in Kabul . Um 31:18.384 --> 31:20.496 and the administration said that they 31:20.496 --> 31:22.718 would consider um given conversation to 31:22.718 --> 31:25.010 the family who lost people , the only 31:25.010 --> 31:27.066 times reported today that no one has 31:27.066 --> 31:29.177 reached out to them . Can you say why 31:29.340 --> 31:31.396 it's really under the purview of the 31:31.396 --> 31:33.507 Department of Defense . I would point 31:33.507 --> 31:33.190 to them . I'm happy to check with them 31:33.190 --> 31:36.300 too and see if there's an update boston , 31:36.300 --> 31:38.300 marathon bomber , Dzhokhar Tsarnaev 31:38.300 --> 31:40.300 cases before the Supreme Court this 31:40.300 --> 31:42.244 week and the Justice Department is 31:42.244 --> 31:44.411 seeking to reinstate the death penalty 31:44.411 --> 31:46.300 in this case . Does the president 31:46.300 --> 31:48.522 support that approach ? And so how does 31:48.522 --> 31:50.578 that square with the current federal 31:50.578 --> 31:52.800 death penalty moratorium ? His campaign 31:52.800 --> 31:52.520 promise to try to outright eliminate 31:52.520 --> 31:54.798 the death penalty at the federal level ? 31:55.340 --> 31:57.673 I don't have anything more on this case . 31:57.673 --> 31:59.784 I'm happy to talk to the presidency . 31:59.784 --> 31:59.550 If there's more we can convey . I'd 31:59.550 --> 32:01.717 really point to the Department Justice 32:01.717 --> 32:03.383 go ahead . Is the White House 32:03.383 --> 32:05.328 considering any options outside of 32:05.328 --> 32:07.439 Congress before December to deal with 32:07.439 --> 32:09.439 the debt limit such as invoking the 32:09.439 --> 32:11.439 14th amendment . We had as had been 32:11.439 --> 32:13.550 reported , there had been a look at a 32:13.550 --> 32:16.110 range of options that had been um uh 32:16.120 --> 32:18.510 the decision or evaluation been made 32:18.510 --> 32:20.454 that there was not a viable option 32:20.454 --> 32:22.510 beyond working through Congress that 32:22.510 --> 32:24.510 has not changed . Um , So that will 32:24.510 --> 32:26.732 continue to be our focus . We will work 32:26.732 --> 32:28.954 of course with Leader Schumer with with 32:28.954 --> 32:30.899 Speaker Pelosi about what the path 32:30.899 --> 32:32.899 forward looks like The good news is 32:32.899 --> 32:34.899 that last week we saw that we could 32:34.899 --> 32:36.954 pass uh raising raise the debt limit 32:36.954 --> 32:38.899 Through regular order . That could 32:38.899 --> 32:40.677 happen in a bipartisan manner . 32:40.677 --> 32:42.621 Something that's happened 80 times 32:42.621 --> 32:44.732 prior to last week , but that is what 32:44.732 --> 32:46.954 we plan on pursuing calling Pelosi said 32:46.954 --> 32:48.954 today that she thinks the bill that 32:48.954 --> 32:51.066 would change the debt ceiling process 32:51.066 --> 32:53.232 by giving power to treasury to lift it 32:53.232 --> 32:55.121 has quote has merit . So does the 32:55.121 --> 32:57.066 administration think that Congress 32:57.066 --> 32:59.288 should pursue a bill like that ? Well , 32:59.288 --> 33:01.399 we have about , we have just a couple 33:01.399 --> 33:03.510 of weeks left before we need to raise 33:03.510 --> 33:03.420 the debt limit . Um So that's what our 33:03.420 --> 33:05.600 focus is on now . Uh There's plenty of 33:05.600 --> 33:07.656 time after that to have a discussion 33:07.656 --> 33:09.989 about what it looks like moving forward . 33:09.989 --> 33:12.156 There's no question that we don't want 33:12.156 --> 33:14.322 it to be a political football any more 33:14.322 --> 33:16.322 in the future . But right now we're 33:16.322 --> 33:18.322 focused on working with Congress to 33:18.322 --> 33:17.760 raise the debt limit . Go ahead . 33:17.890 --> 33:20.840 Thanks on inflation . And the supply 33:20.840 --> 33:22.618 chain disruptions that you just 33:22.618 --> 33:24.840 mentioned . Federal Reserve officials . 33:24.840 --> 33:26.690 Raphael Bostic said today that 33:26.700 --> 33:28.700 inflation may not be transitory and 33:28.700 --> 33:30.811 that it's becoming increasingly clear 33:30.811 --> 33:32.756 that quote that the future of this 33:32.756 --> 33:34.533 episode that has animated price 33:34.533 --> 33:36.700 pressures will not be brief . And by 33:36.710 --> 33:38.766 this definition , the forces are not 33:38.766 --> 33:40.877 transitory because the White House to 33:40.877 --> 33:43.043 believe that inflation is a transitory 33:43.840 --> 33:46.840 problem . Uh Well , I know the Federal 33:46.840 --> 33:48.840 Reserve comes , I understand he's a 33:48.840 --> 33:50.896 Representative , the Federal Reserve 33:50.896 --> 33:53.062 though and it is under their purview . 33:53.062 --> 33:55.229 Um but uh they do have regular updates 33:55.229 --> 33:57.451 on predictions of inflation and what it 33:57.451 --> 33:59.673 looks like in the coming year . I don't 33:59.673 --> 34:01.896 think they have revised that unless you 34:01.896 --> 34:04.007 tell me otherwise officially . Um the 34:04.007 --> 34:06.630 Oecd has also predicted that it would 34:06.630 --> 34:09.830 come down in the next year . But bottom 34:09.830 --> 34:12.320 line is our focus is on preventing 34:12.320 --> 34:14.376 inflationary pressures from being an 34:14.376 --> 34:16.542 issue in the future and that's why the 34:16.542 --> 34:18.376 president is committed to moving 34:18.376 --> 34:20.320 forward with his build back better 34:20.320 --> 34:21.990 agenda with his uh bipartisan 34:21.990 --> 34:24.460 infrastructure plan , investments on 34:24.460 --> 34:26.627 proposals that outside economists have 34:26.627 --> 34:28.682 said will help address this over the 34:28.682 --> 34:30.738 long term and then one more . Do you 34:30.738 --> 34:32.904 have any update for us on president by 34:32.904 --> 34:36.880 this meeting with G of china ? I 34:36.890 --> 34:39.001 don't have any update at this point . 34:39.001 --> 34:41.168 It's just something that we're working 34:41.168 --> 34:43.279 through and in discussions about at a 34:43.279 --> 34:45.446 staff level . Go ahead is really short 34:45.446 --> 34:47.230 concern about the to Jackson 34:47.300 --> 34:49.133 domesticated advisor that you're 34:49.133 --> 34:51.570 getting closer and closer to obtain a 34:51.570 --> 34:53.940 nuclear weapon . You think that doesn't 34:53.940 --> 34:57.560 biden will discuss a little operation 34:57.570 --> 35:00.880 on the table if Iran did not follow 35:00.880 --> 35:03.047 through with the negotiation with your 35:03.047 --> 35:05.820 diplomatic just taking place in Geneva . 35:05.830 --> 35:07.940 Well , our objective continues to be 35:07.940 --> 35:10.580 moving forward on a diplomatic path and 35:10.580 --> 35:12.691 there's no question that we're in the 35:12.691 --> 35:14.913 position we're in now because the prior 35:14.913 --> 35:17.024 administration creation pulled out of 35:17.024 --> 35:19.024 the Iran nuclear deal . Taking away 35:19.024 --> 35:20.802 that visibility into what their 35:20.802 --> 35:23.024 capacity what their capabilities were . 35:23.024 --> 35:25.136 But our focus is on working to see if 35:25.136 --> 35:27.600 we can return to another round of talks 35:27.610 --> 35:29.832 in Vienna . Beyond that , I'm not gonna 35:29.832 --> 35:31.943 get into hypotheticals , what does he 35:31.943 --> 35:33.832 think of the White House on Iraqi 35:33.832 --> 35:36.270 election does not have changed some uh 35:36.280 --> 35:38.470 Iran Iran groups are saying that this 35:38.470 --> 35:41.030 is not a fair election . So what is the 35:41.040 --> 35:43.690 thing of the White House ? Sure , thank 35:43.690 --> 35:47.060 you . Mm hmm . 35:48.440 --> 35:50.490 Uh so we congratulate the Iraqi 35:50.490 --> 35:52.490 government and having fulfilled its 35:52.490 --> 35:54.657 promise to hold earlier elections . We 35:54.657 --> 35:56.879 are pleased that the election days were 35:56.879 --> 35:58.934 largely conducted peacefully . We've 35:58.934 --> 36:01.101 seen the preliminary results announced 36:01.101 --> 36:03.323 by the Iraqi Independent High Electoral 36:03.323 --> 36:05.379 Commission yesterday and are waiting 36:05.379 --> 36:07.601 for the final certified results . These 36:07.601 --> 36:06.910 elections included hundreds of 36:06.910 --> 36:08.966 international monitors and observers 36:08.966 --> 36:10.743 from the U . N . And the U . In 36:10.743 --> 36:12.632 addition to thousands of domestic 36:12.632 --> 36:12.520 observers , we look forward to 36:12.520 --> 36:14.780 reviewing their reports once the final 36:14.780 --> 36:16.836 results are certified , we hope that 36:16.836 --> 36:19.002 the new council representative members 36:19.002 --> 36:21.058 will form a government that reflects 36:21.058 --> 36:23.224 the will of the Iraqi people and which 36:23.224 --> 36:25.447 can work to address Iraq's governance , 36:25.447 --> 36:27.613 security and economic challenges . Can 36:27.613 --> 36:29.724 you confirm that U . S . Personnel in 36:29.724 --> 36:31.558 Colombia have reported anomalous 36:31.558 --> 36:33.724 Huffington's that's being investigated 36:33.724 --> 36:35.558 as a syndrome . We don't confirm 36:35.558 --> 36:38.640 individual reports . What we do do is 36:38.640 --> 36:41.030 take every report that comes through 36:41.030 --> 36:43.310 our interagency quite seriously as 36:43.310 --> 36:45.560 we've talked about in here prior . Uh 36:45.570 --> 36:47.820 this administration has made um 36:47.830 --> 36:50.290 addressing Havana syndrome or anomalous 36:50.290 --> 36:52.512 health incidents , whatever you want to 36:52.512 --> 36:54.234 call them . Uh We have we have 36:54.234 --> 36:56.401 refocused the efforts on it after they 36:56.401 --> 36:58.623 had not been focused on for some time . 36:58.623 --> 37:00.740 That includes ensuring that the 37:00.750 --> 37:02.694 President signed a law last week , 37:02.694 --> 37:04.972 ensuring that health , that assistance . 37:04.972 --> 37:07.139 Medical assistance funding for medical 37:07.139 --> 37:09.250 assistance was provided to anyone who 37:09.250 --> 37:11.250 needed it uh that we have a process 37:11.250 --> 37:13.250 within key agencies to ensure we're 37:13.250 --> 37:15.472 addressing it uh and making sure people 37:15.472 --> 37:17.583 get the assistance they need . But we 37:17.583 --> 37:19.806 are still in the attribution phase that 37:19.806 --> 37:21.972 is still being considered and we don't 37:21.972 --> 37:24.083 confirm individual incidents on texas 37:24.083 --> 37:26.028 unrelated issue . You talked about 37:26.028 --> 37:27.917 continuing on with implementation 37:27.917 --> 37:30.083 should we expect the administration to 37:30.083 --> 37:32.306 make legal filings in texas challenging 37:32.306 --> 37:34.028 Governor Abbott's order as the 37:34.030 --> 37:35.919 administration moves forward with 37:35.919 --> 37:38.086 implementation of the OSHA role and of 37:38.086 --> 37:39.863 the federal mandate for federal 37:39.863 --> 37:41.697 employees . The next step is the 37:41.697 --> 37:43.808 regulations coming from OSHA in terms 37:43.808 --> 37:45.752 of legal action , I'd point to the 37:45.752 --> 37:47.808 Department of Justice . I don't have 37:47.808 --> 37:47.160 anything to predict on that front . 37:47.170 --> 37:50.020 Thank you . It's been a bit so I hope 37:50.020 --> 37:51.742 to ask you quickly about three 37:51.742 --> 37:53.798 different subject areas . That's all 37:53.798 --> 37:56.020 right . The first subject area is we at 37:56.020 --> 37:58.076 the New York Post reported on Friday 37:58.076 --> 38:00.298 that the first son had sold five prints 38:00.298 --> 38:02.780 of his artworks for $75,000 each and 38:02.780 --> 38:05.500 that a team of lawyers is reviewing the 38:05.510 --> 38:07.677 prospective buyers who are going to be 38:07.677 --> 38:09.677 allowed into an upcoming new york . 38:09.677 --> 38:11.566 Show . Um That seems to suggest a 38:11.566 --> 38:13.454 departure from uh the White House 38:13.454 --> 38:15.677 brokered agreement where the purchasers 38:15.677 --> 38:17.677 of the anonymous , I was hoping you 38:17.677 --> 38:19.677 could say the White House knows who 38:19.677 --> 38:19.630 purchased the pipe prince and whether 38:19.640 --> 38:21.610 there is indeed a departure to the 38:21.620 --> 38:23.398 arrangement that there would be 38:23.430 --> 38:25.486 anonymity here . I know this is your 38:25.486 --> 38:28.290 favorite topic , but again , it still 38:28.290 --> 38:30.560 is the purview of the gallerist . We 38:30.560 --> 38:33.170 still do not know and will not know who 38:33.170 --> 38:35.590 purchases any paintings and the 38:35.590 --> 38:37.534 president remains proud of his son 38:37.770 --> 38:39.881 White House . Uh did you have another 38:39.881 --> 38:42.048 question on something else ? Otherwise 38:42.048 --> 38:43.937 we're gonna move on to some other 38:43.937 --> 38:43.580 topics . What's going on in the world ? 38:43.640 --> 38:45.570 So about build back better in tax 38:45.570 --> 38:47.514 policy . I'd like to ask you about 38:47.514 --> 38:49.540 proposed tax increases and proposed 38:49.820 --> 38:51.970 tighter tax enforcement . President 38:51.970 --> 38:54.360 biden often describes raising taxes on 38:54.360 --> 38:56.527 higher incomes as a matter of fairness 38:56.527 --> 38:58.638 and enforcing current tax policy is a 38:58.638 --> 39:00.582 matter of people paying their fair 39:00.582 --> 39:02.693 share . But republicans in Congress , 39:02.693 --> 39:04.693 led by Representative Jim Banks are 39:04.693 --> 39:06.638 pointing to a recent Congressional 39:06.638 --> 39:08.693 Research Service report , which they 39:08.693 --> 39:10.916 say underscores that President biden uh 39:10.916 --> 39:12.916 allegedly owes $500,000 in Medicare 39:12.916 --> 39:15.370 taxes that he didn't pay by allegedly 39:15.380 --> 39:17.980 improbably categorizing $13 million in 39:17.980 --> 39:20.202 income routed through s corporations in 39:20.202 --> 39:23.960 2017 and 2018 . So uh tax law 39:23.960 --> 39:26.127 expert robert Willens , who teaches at 39:26.127 --> 39:28.238 Columbia University said , quote , in 39:28.238 --> 39:30.580 my case , in my view , the case can 39:30.580 --> 39:33.040 easily be made and quote by the I . R . 39:33.040 --> 39:34.984 S . That President biden owes back 39:34.984 --> 39:37.690 taxes under current law . So as he 39:37.700 --> 39:39.589 campaigns for this is a very long 39:39.589 --> 39:41.700 question . I think I know what you're 39:41.700 --> 39:43.811 getting at . This has been debunked . 39:43.811 --> 39:46.033 As you probably know also he's released 39:46.033 --> 39:48.256 many , many years of his tax returns so 39:48.256 --> 39:50.490 people can check them out . Okay , go 39:50.490 --> 39:52.900 ahead . George , go ahead , Go ahead . 39:52.910 --> 39:55.077 I think we're going to move on to some 39:55.077 --> 39:57.243 more topics . Go ahead . George follow 39:57.243 --> 39:59.243 on your answer about the challenges 39:59.243 --> 40:01.299 specifically The calendar . There 50 40:01.299 --> 40:03.577 days between now and December was like , 40:03.577 --> 40:05.632 is there a calendar up here ? Okay , 40:05.632 --> 40:07.799 surprise . I was thrilled to hear it . 40:07.799 --> 40:09.632 But go ahead . There are 50 days 40:09.632 --> 40:11.688 between now and December three . You 40:11.688 --> 40:13.688 lose a week to foreign travel , you 40:13.688 --> 40:15.743 lose a week to thanksgiving . That's 40:15.743 --> 40:17.700 not a lot of time for funding 40:17.700 --> 40:19.811 government raising the debt limit and 40:19.811 --> 40:21.867 your to build talk were saying about 40:21.867 --> 40:24.050 the time pressure and the calendar 40:24.060 --> 40:27.000 challenge of getting sure . Well , 40:27.010 --> 40:29.232 George , I think it's going to be quite 40:29.232 --> 40:31.232 a busy week after thanksgiving . So 40:31.232 --> 40:33.232 everybody get ready , get your rest 40:33.232 --> 40:35.343 during that period of time . Look , I 40:35.343 --> 40:37.399 think , um , Congress can get things 40:37.399 --> 40:40.110 done uh , quickly and rapidly . Often 40:40.110 --> 40:42.820 they do it under time pressure . We 40:42.820 --> 40:44.960 certainly understand that uh , you're 40:44.960 --> 40:47.130 right . That time is not unlimited and 40:47.130 --> 40:50.270 we want to move , not just of course 40:50.280 --> 40:52.502 keeping the government open and funding 40:52.502 --> 40:54.669 the government as we should . Uh , but 40:54.669 --> 40:56.724 also raising the debt limit and also 40:56.724 --> 40:58.724 getting the president's agenda move 40:58.724 --> 41:00.780 forward and across the finish line . 41:00.780 --> 41:02.947 And so , uh , that is going to require 41:02.947 --> 41:05.060 a lot between now and uh , at the end 41:05.060 --> 41:07.890 of the year . Um , but um , you know , 41:07.890 --> 41:10.057 we recognize the challenge of timing , 41:10.057 --> 41:11.834 that's why there's so much work 41:11.834 --> 41:14.057 happening behind the scenes , even when 41:14.057 --> 41:15.946 people , even when congress is in 41:15.946 --> 41:18.168 session , there's calls , there's video 41:18.168 --> 41:20.001 conferences and we're constantly 41:20.001 --> 41:22.223 working here to move all of these parts 41:22.223 --> 41:24.390 of the agenda forward . There are some 41:24.390 --> 41:26.334 things that could happen quickly . 41:26.334 --> 41:28.446 Congress could just vote to raise the 41:28.446 --> 41:28.370 debt limit and up or down vote . It 41:28.380 --> 41:30.380 would just be really quick . That's 41:30.380 --> 41:32.102 possible . Same on funding the 41:32.102 --> 41:34.213 government . All of that can happen . 41:34.213 --> 41:36.269 Um , and then we can move forward on 41:36.269 --> 41:38.158 key components of the president's 41:38.158 --> 41:40.269 agenda that will fundamentally change 41:40.269 --> 41:42.324 the economy and make the lives of so 41:42.324 --> 41:44.380 many people in this country better . 41:44.380 --> 41:43.510 You should go ahead . All right , 41:43.520 --> 41:45.860 Thanks jen . First question is what 41:45.870 --> 41:47.759 role does president biden see for 41:47.759 --> 41:50.590 himself in helping democrats figure out 41:50.590 --> 41:52.510 what to take out of the bill . I 41:52.510 --> 41:54.621 understand that you don't want to say 41:54.621 --> 41:56.621 whether or not he agrees with nancy 41:56.621 --> 41:58.732 Pelosi , House speaker nancy . Pelosi 41:58.732 --> 42:01.066 saying fewer things should be done well , 42:01.066 --> 42:00.490 but I wonder what does he want this ? 42:00.500 --> 42:02.600 Is he actively giving people here's 42:02.600 --> 42:04.767 what I want to see in this bill . Does 42:04.767 --> 42:06.767 he see that as his role ? Well , he 42:06.767 --> 42:08.550 sees his role as doing what the 42:08.550 --> 42:11.660 american people sent him to uh , the 42:11.660 --> 42:14.210 White house to do , which is to find 42:14.210 --> 42:16.620 common ground . Um , so that we can 42:16.620 --> 42:18.676 move forward with an agenda that the 42:18.676 --> 42:20.980 american people , uh , demand we pass . 42:20.990 --> 42:24.070 And um , you know , his view is also 42:24.070 --> 42:26.920 that , um , building a real tangible 42:26.920 --> 42:29.870 package , um , is what our focus is on 42:29.880 --> 42:32.600 right now . It is not about dismantling 42:32.600 --> 42:34.790 a hypothetical package , it is about 42:34.790 --> 42:38.590 how we build the best package based on 42:38.590 --> 42:41.040 the idea as he's proposed , that can 42:41.040 --> 42:43.310 fundamentally change people's lives and 42:43.310 --> 42:45.740 make them better . So he's going to be 42:45.750 --> 42:47.694 of course actively involved in the 42:47.694 --> 42:49.861 discussions as he's been , has been at 42:49.861 --> 42:52.010 every point in this discussion . But 42:52.010 --> 42:54.177 again , you know , his view is that an 42:54.177 --> 42:56.399 alternative to a deal is a hypothetical 42:56.399 --> 42:58.510 bigger planets nothing , and we can't 42:58.510 --> 43:00.510 afford to do nothing . So what he's 43:00.510 --> 43:02.677 trying to do is move everybody forward 43:02.677 --> 43:04.732 toward a unified path so that we can 43:04.732 --> 43:06.899 make some big changes for the american 43:06.899 --> 43:09.010 people . It is inappropriate thing to 43:09.010 --> 43:10.788 say . I want climate change and 43:10.788 --> 43:12.843 childcare , definitely the and other 43:12.843 --> 43:15.010 things might need to be cut in the way 43:15.010 --> 43:14.520 that House speaker nancy Pelosi 43:14.520 --> 43:16.520 essentially said today , or does he 43:16.520 --> 43:18.631 think that it has to be the lawmakers 43:18.631 --> 43:20.964 that decide what comes out of this bill ? 43:20.964 --> 43:23.131 Well , that's not what I heard her say 43:23.131 --> 43:25.076 today , but again , she she can of 43:25.076 --> 43:27.242 course , more than capable of speaking 43:27.242 --> 43:29.464 for herself . Um , but what I heard her 43:29.464 --> 43:31.520 say today is that , um , a bill that 43:31.520 --> 43:33.409 doesn't pass means nothing . It's 43:33.409 --> 43:35.631 nothing . So what you need to do if you 43:35.631 --> 43:37.631 want to get all those things done , 43:37.631 --> 43:39.742 make a historic investment in climate 43:39.742 --> 43:41.798 change , if you want to address some 43:41.798 --> 43:43.631 fundamental inequalities in this 43:43.631 --> 43:45.798 country , If you want to cut costs for 43:45.798 --> 43:47.964 the american people , you need to find 43:47.964 --> 43:50.131 common ground . It doesn't mean you're 43:50.131 --> 43:49.720 going to get everything you want . 43:49.730 --> 43:51.952 President knows that speaker knows that 43:51.952 --> 43:54.119 that can be , you can have a moment of 43:54.119 --> 43:56.174 disappointment on that as well , but 43:56.174 --> 43:58.790 ultimately his role is to work to bring 43:58.790 --> 44:01.320 people together to find a unified path 44:01.320 --> 44:03.376 forward so that we can get something 44:03.376 --> 44:06.070 historic done a quick follow . A quick 44:06.080 --> 44:08.358 other question , which is this weekend , 44:08.358 --> 44:10.580 we saw former president trump go to the 44:10.580 --> 44:13.100 rally in Iowa make all sorts of claims 44:13.100 --> 44:15.267 that are clearly not true . But we saw 44:15.267 --> 44:18.110 high profile GOP officials there 44:18.110 --> 44:20.166 including chuck Grassley who was the 44:20.166 --> 44:22.277 longest serving senator in congress . 44:22.277 --> 44:24.443 What does the president make of what ? 44:24.443 --> 44:26.277 Not only what president , former 44:26.277 --> 44:28.277 president trump is saying , but the 44:28.277 --> 44:28.250 fact that there are GOP lawmakers , 44:28.260 --> 44:30.316 elected officials who are willing to 44:30.316 --> 44:32.371 still stand by him um , and go up in 44:32.371 --> 44:34.593 front of these crowds with these claims 44:34.593 --> 44:36.390 that are clearly false . The 44:36.390 --> 44:38.279 president's focuses on working to 44:38.279 --> 44:40.446 deliver for the American people . Uh , 44:40.446 --> 44:42.334 he didn't watch the rally , I can 44:42.334 --> 44:44.501 assure you of that . I'm not sure he's 44:44.501 --> 44:46.723 even seen clips of the rally . He looks 44:46.723 --> 44:48.890 for a way of course he's worried about 44:48.890 --> 44:51.057 the threat . I think he's talked about 44:51.057 --> 44:53.279 what we saw in January six , the threat 44:53.279 --> 44:55.168 of one of the darkest days in our 44:55.168 --> 44:57.112 democracy . What we've seen in the 44:57.112 --> 44:59.168 blind blind people blindly following 44:59.168 --> 45:01.168 what we know are debunked sometimes 45:01.168 --> 45:03.334 conspiracy theories , the spreading of 45:03.334 --> 45:05.334 misinformation , whether it's about 45:05.334 --> 45:07.334 democracy or Covid , of course he's 45:07.334 --> 45:10.040 concerned about that , but the best 45:10.040 --> 45:12.160 role he can play . The most important 45:12.170 --> 45:15.200 thing he can do is to work to lead the 45:15.200 --> 45:17.311 country , to bring people together in 45:17.311 --> 45:19.533 areas where we agree to get things done 45:19.533 --> 45:21.422 to deliver , to show the american 45:21.422 --> 45:23.422 people that government can work for 45:23.422 --> 45:25.478 them . And that's what he's going to 45:25.478 --> 45:27.644 spend his time and energy focused on . 45:27.644 --> 45:29.867 Go ahead . Thank you . So you said june 45:29.867 --> 45:31.978 the supply chain disruption tax force 45:31.978 --> 45:34.200 was assembled . I'm just curious why it 45:34.200 --> 45:36.311 took so long for the President to get 45:36.311 --> 45:38.422 together to port heads as well as all 45:38.422 --> 45:40.478 the shipping companies to figure out 45:40.478 --> 45:42.589 what's wrong with the supply chain uh 45:42.589 --> 45:44.644 since it's been an issue for most of 45:44.644 --> 45:46.811 the year . Well , I would say that the 45:46.811 --> 45:48.811 president has the supply chain task 45:48.811 --> 45:51.033 force has been working around the clock 45:51.033 --> 45:53.200 for months and months now to address a 45:53.200 --> 45:55.311 range of different issues that we see 45:55.311 --> 45:57.533 in the supply chain . And as you know , 45:57.533 --> 45:59.756 because you cover this pretty closely , 45:59.756 --> 46:01.811 um there are issues at the ports and 46:01.811 --> 46:04.144 addressing the bottlenecks at the ports , 46:04.144 --> 46:06.311 Those have been on the rise recently , 46:06.311 --> 46:05.490 but it's something that he's been 46:05.490 --> 46:07.712 working on and his team is born working 46:07.712 --> 46:09.434 on . There are also a range of 46:09.434 --> 46:11.601 different issues in the supply chain . 46:11.601 --> 46:13.490 It's not just domestically , it's 46:13.490 --> 46:15.434 globally as well . It's one of the 46:15.434 --> 46:15.330 reasons we've been . Of course it's 46:15.330 --> 46:17.590 morally right to but such a huge 46:17.590 --> 46:19.812 contributor to the global effort to get 46:19.812 --> 46:21.868 the pandemic under control to ensure 46:21.868 --> 46:23.646 we're making sure manufacturing 46:23.646 --> 46:25.701 facilities are staying open . That's 46:25.701 --> 46:27.868 why he's pressed so hard for the chips 46:27.868 --> 46:29.590 legislation to ensure that the 46:29.590 --> 46:31.757 semiconductor shortages something that 46:31.757 --> 46:33.812 doesn't halt production for the auto 46:33.812 --> 46:35.923 industry . So it's not just one issue 46:35.923 --> 46:38.090 in the supply chain as you will know , 46:38.090 --> 46:40.201 it's multiple issues . That's why the 46:40.201 --> 46:42.090 team has been working for several 46:42.090 --> 46:44.201 months to address it . And tomorrow's 46:44.201 --> 46:43.840 another opportunity . We've done 46:43.840 --> 46:46.270 several supply chain events to lift 46:46.270 --> 46:48.326 this up and tell the american people 46:48.326 --> 46:50.680 what we're doing to help address the 46:50.680 --> 46:53.230 bottlenecks . Are we behind her present ? 46:53.230 --> 46:55.452 Behind the curve has been trying to get 46:55.452 --> 46:57.397 in front of this issue . He's been 46:57.397 --> 46:57.390 working on these issues for months . I 46:57.390 --> 46:59.557 mean , I know it's been up in front in 46:59.557 --> 47:01.612 the news in the last few weeks . But 47:01.612 --> 47:03.723 these are issues the president's been 47:03.723 --> 47:05.723 focused on since he took office and 47:05.723 --> 47:08.240 that's why he had dedicated team both 47:08.240 --> 47:10.462 in the N . E . C . In the Department of 47:10.462 --> 47:12.462 Treasury across the inter agency to 47:12.462 --> 47:14.407 help address these issues . It's a 47:14.407 --> 47:16.629 fundamental challenge as the economy is 47:16.629 --> 47:18.462 turning back on and one has been 47:18.462 --> 47:20.407 focused on from the first day . Go 47:20.407 --> 47:22.351 ahead then I had a couple of quick 47:22.351 --> 47:24.184 timing sure questions on the FDA 47:24.184 --> 47:26.240 commissioner . I know we keep asking 47:26.240 --> 47:28.129 you about this one . You have any 47:28.129 --> 47:30.240 update . And can you address concerns 47:30.240 --> 47:32.129 about morale and stability of the 47:32.129 --> 47:34.240 agency ? Since this is taking so long 47:34.240 --> 47:36.129 to get a nominee ? Have you heard 47:36.129 --> 47:38.240 there's morale and stability issues ? 47:38.240 --> 47:40.296 Yeah , there has been reporting that 47:40.296 --> 47:42.518 you know , just the lack of a permanent 47:42.518 --> 47:44.740 commissioner . People feel there is non 47:44.740 --> 47:46.684 stability there . Obviously we saw 47:46.684 --> 47:46.650 concerns come to service about moral 47:46.650 --> 47:48.761 when it came to the decision over the 47:48.761 --> 47:50.790 boosters with two of the vaccine 47:50.790 --> 47:53.060 officials resigning . Um So yeah , 47:53.070 --> 47:55.014 there has been reporting for a few 47:55.014 --> 47:57.237 months around concerns . Well , I would 47:57.237 --> 47:59.181 just to quote nancy Pelosi speaker 47:59.181 --> 48:01.403 nancy Pelosi again , an anecdote is not 48:01.403 --> 48:04.420 the basis of data . So I would say one 48:04.430 --> 48:07.160 we are very focused on um ensuring 48:07.160 --> 48:09.880 there's an FDA commissioner uh in place . 48:09.890 --> 48:12.168 Uh nominating exactly the right person . 48:12.168 --> 48:14.334 I don't have an update on the timing . 48:14.334 --> 48:16.334 I understand why you all are asking 48:16.334 --> 48:18.446 about that , but I'm not going to get 48:18.446 --> 48:20.501 ahead of the president . I will also 48:20.501 --> 48:22.334 note that the FDA and any of our 48:22.334 --> 48:24.557 agencies are full of career employees , 48:24.557 --> 48:26.557 talented officials who many of them 48:26.557 --> 48:28.890 have worked at these agencies for years , 48:28.890 --> 48:31.250 if not decades who have moved forward 48:31.250 --> 48:33.300 on the approval of vaccines . The 48:33.300 --> 48:35.467 approval of boosters . The approval of 48:35.467 --> 48:38.760 um you know , a range of of 48:38.770 --> 48:42.080 of treatments uh that can help save 48:42.080 --> 48:44.770 lives in the public . So they also 48:44.770 --> 48:46.770 deserve credit for for what they've 48:46.770 --> 48:48.992 done . But I would say the overemphasis 48:48.992 --> 48:51.620 on a nominee takes away in some ways 48:51.620 --> 48:53.564 unintentionally from the fact that 48:53.564 --> 48:55.620 there are people who are doing their 48:55.620 --> 48:57.676 jobs every day and we have an acting 48:57.676 --> 48:59.787 FDA commissioner doing that as well . 48:59.787 --> 49:01.787 Um And another thing we keep asking 49:01.787 --> 49:03.787 about the President's physical last 49:03.787 --> 49:05.787 month . You said it would be soon . 49:05.787 --> 49:07.953 We're now in october . Do you have any 49:07.953 --> 49:10.064 update ? And why is it taking so long 49:10.064 --> 49:12.231 as the president just very busy ? Does 49:12.231 --> 49:14.342 he ? You know , he is very busy , but 49:14.342 --> 49:16.453 it is standard for every president to 49:16.453 --> 49:18.676 get a physical , he will get a physical 49:18.676 --> 49:20.731 to when when he gets a physical , we 49:20.731 --> 49:20.420 will make all of that information 49:20.420 --> 49:22.740 available to all of you . Okay . Thanks 49:22.740 --> 49:25.650 every . Yeah . Absolutely . Thanks 49:25.650 --> 49:27.400 everyone .