WEBVTT 00:05.890 --> 00:07.390 Good afternoon everybody . 00:11.330 --> 00:14.810 Okay . Just two quick things at the top . 00:14.820 --> 00:17.042 We've seen the breaking news reports of 00:17.042 --> 00:20.070 the tornado damage in selma First our 00:20.070 --> 00:22.080 hearts and thoughts go out to the 00:22.080 --> 00:24.870 summer community and everyone impacted 00:24.880 --> 00:27.320 by the storm . Our team here is 00:27.320 --> 00:29.780 monitoring and assessing the situation 00:29.780 --> 00:31.724 and reaching out as appropriate to 00:31.724 --> 00:34.270 local and state officials to offer our 00:34.270 --> 00:36.750 support . And and before I start and 00:36.750 --> 00:38.917 turn over to my colleague who is going 00:38.917 --> 00:41.150 to be giving you all a preview of the 00:41.170 --> 00:43.226 pilot that the President is going to 00:43.226 --> 00:45.337 have with the Japanese Prime Minister 00:45.337 --> 00:47.530 and also do a preview of next Tuesday 00:47.540 --> 00:49.980 with the President's bilott with the 00:49.990 --> 00:52.157 Prime Minister of Netherlands . I just 00:52.157 --> 00:55.170 want to say a couple of things um and 00:55.180 --> 00:57.950 make sure that everyone saw this . It's 00:57.950 --> 01:00.750 a statement from Richard Sauber . His 01:00.750 --> 01:02.861 statement reads as the president said 01:02.861 --> 01:04.990 he takes classified information and 01:04.990 --> 01:07.710 materials seriously . And as we have 01:07.710 --> 01:10.160 said , we have cooperated from the 01:10.160 --> 01:13.240 moment we informed the archives that a 01:13.240 --> 01:15.740 small number of documents were found 01:15.750 --> 01:18.900 and we will continue to cooperate , we 01:18.900 --> 01:20.733 have cooperated closely with the 01:20.733 --> 01:22.690 Justice Department throughout its 01:22.690 --> 01:25.090 review and we will continue that 01:25.090 --> 01:27.890 cooperation with the special Counsel . 01:27.900 --> 01:31.440 We are confident that a thorough review 01:31.440 --> 01:33.440 will show that these documents were 01:33.440 --> 01:36.200 inadvertently misplaced and the 01:36.200 --> 01:37.978 president and his lawyers acted 01:37.978 --> 01:40.940 promptly upon discovering of this 01:40.940 --> 01:43.960 mistake with that my colleague is here , 01:43.970 --> 01:45.692 john Kirby to talk through the 01:45.692 --> 01:47.748 bilateral morrow and also with Japan 01:47.748 --> 01:49.914 Prime Minister and also the pilot with 01:49.914 --> 01:52.026 the Prime Minister of the Netherlands 01:52.026 --> 01:51.600 next Tuesday and then I'll come back . 01:52.340 --> 01:56.160 Okay , that's news here 01:56.160 --> 01:58.770 buddy , I think tomorrow , you know , 01:58.770 --> 02:00.826 President biden's gonna be welcoming 02:00.826 --> 02:03.048 the Prime Minister of Japan here to the 02:03.048 --> 02:05.103 White House . He's looking very much 02:05.103 --> 02:07.048 forward to that . Two leaders have 02:07.048 --> 02:09.270 already gotten to know each other quite 02:09.270 --> 02:11.381 well during in depth discussions over 02:11.381 --> 02:13.381 last year cambodia at the East Asia 02:13.381 --> 02:15.603 summit and in Tokyo for their bilateral 02:15.603 --> 02:17.659 meeting in the quad summit in May of 02:17.659 --> 02:19.603 2022 as well as through their work 02:19.603 --> 02:22.580 together at the G seven . Since taking 02:22.580 --> 02:24.691 office , President biden has invested 02:24.691 --> 02:26.858 in our alliances to better equip us to 02:26.858 --> 02:28.969 collectively take on the 21st century 02:28.969 --> 02:31.080 challenges we face whether that's the 02:31.080 --> 02:32.969 Dprk s pursuit of weapons of mass 02:32.969 --> 02:34.990 destructions , uh weapons of mass 02:34.990 --> 02:37.101 destruction and ballistic missile and 02:37.101 --> 02:39.323 the ballistic missile program , china's 02:39.323 --> 02:41.212 assertiveness in the indo pacific 02:41.212 --> 02:43.212 region uh and globally or of course 02:43.212 --> 02:45.268 Russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine . 02:45.268 --> 02:47.434 Now on each of these challenges uh and 02:47.434 --> 02:49.212 on many more Japan has proven a 02:49.212 --> 02:51.323 steadfast ally , ready to step up and 02:51.323 --> 02:53.212 do its part to advance our shared 02:53.212 --> 02:55.490 national security interests and values . 02:55.490 --> 02:57.657 I'm just gonna set a little bit of the 02:57.657 --> 02:59.768 backdrop here for for this particular 02:59.768 --> 03:01.657 visit last month , Prime Minister 03:01.657 --> 03:03.768 Kishida released Japan's new national 03:03.768 --> 03:05.712 security strategy and committed to 03:05.712 --> 03:08.465 boosting Japan's defense spending to 2% 03:08.475 --> 03:10.905 of their G . D . P . Uh and that 03:10.905 --> 03:12.915 includes investments in new defense 03:12.915 --> 03:14.859 capabilities and that's a historic 03:14.859 --> 03:16.900 commitment by Japan Prime Minister 03:16.910 --> 03:19.220 Kishida will arrive in Washington after 03:19.220 --> 03:21.800 a set of extensive actually has arrived 03:21.810 --> 03:24.090 after a set of extensive discussions 03:24.100 --> 03:26.210 with european partners from Italy to 03:26.210 --> 03:28.710 the U . K to France of course to Canada . 03:28.720 --> 03:30.942 Uh and he and President biden are gonna 03:30.942 --> 03:32.887 have the opportunity to debrief on 03:32.887 --> 03:35.109 those discussions as well . And then of 03:35.109 --> 03:37.331 course yesterday he saw the two foreign 03:37.331 --> 03:39.498 ministers and two defense ministers of 03:39.498 --> 03:41.220 our countries get together and 03:41.220 --> 03:42.942 announced some significant new 03:42.942 --> 03:45.415 improvements to the alliance upgrades . 03:45.415 --> 03:47.359 In fact , U . S . Force posture in 03:47.359 --> 03:49.193 Japan which will now include the 03:49.193 --> 03:50.971 stationing of a marine littoral 03:50.971 --> 03:53.193 regiment in Okinawa as well as advanced 03:53.193 --> 03:55.535 capabilities . From intelligence 03:55.545 --> 03:57.955 collection analysts analysis to two 03:57.955 --> 04:00.585 anti ship capabilities . We modernize 04:00.585 --> 04:03.185 the alliance by announcing that attacks 04:03.185 --> 04:06.495 to from and within space could lead to 04:06.495 --> 04:09.055 the invocation of Article five of the 04:09.055 --> 04:11.590 US Japan security treaty , expanding 04:11.590 --> 04:13.590 bilateral exercises between our two 04:13.590 --> 04:15.701 countries and training which includes 04:15.701 --> 04:18.530 in Japan's in Japan's Southwest Islands . 04:18.540 --> 04:20.651 And of course , deepening cooperation 04:20.651 --> 04:22.651 in the region to include trilateral 04:22.651 --> 04:24.762 training and exercises with Australia 04:24.762 --> 04:26.762 and increasing cooperation with the 04:26.762 --> 04:28.540 Republican Republic of Korea on 04:28.540 --> 04:30.373 ballistic missile defense , anti 04:30.373 --> 04:32.707 submarine warfare and maritime security . 04:32.707 --> 04:34.818 All these moves are not only going to 04:34.818 --> 04:36.762 strengthen our combined ability to 04:36.762 --> 04:38.818 defend Japan but also will allow the 04:38.818 --> 04:40.818 United States and Japan together to 04:40.818 --> 04:42.929 provide for peace and security in the 04:42.929 --> 04:44.707 indo pacific region and bolster 04:44.707 --> 04:46.929 deterrence in the region and globally . 04:46.929 --> 04:48.929 Now , I do think that tomorrow will 04:48.929 --> 04:50.540 also give President biden an 04:50.540 --> 04:52.429 opportunity to discuss with Prime 04:52.429 --> 04:54.484 Minister Kishida progress that we're 04:54.484 --> 04:56.651 gonna be able to make together in this 04:56.651 --> 04:56.330 coming year on a range of national 04:56.330 --> 04:58.700 security economic issues . Japan , I 04:58.700 --> 05:00.756 think , you know , holds the G seven 05:00.756 --> 05:02.922 presidency , they've just taken a seat 05:02.922 --> 05:04.978 on the U . N . Security Council . Uh 05:04.978 --> 05:07.033 and while we're gonna be hosting the 05:07.033 --> 05:09.200 Apec this year , as well as seeking to 05:09.200 --> 05:11.422 make swift progress on the indo pacific 05:11.422 --> 05:10.750 economic framework , there's a lot of 05:10.750 --> 05:12.972 overlap there and we're looking forward 05:12.972 --> 05:15.194 to that . We'll discuss how we're going 05:15.194 --> 05:17.361 to align these agendas going forward . 05:17.361 --> 05:19.306 So tomorrow's program we expect is 05:19.306 --> 05:21.250 gonna be a full one . But from our 05:21.250 --> 05:23.472 perspective , the message is absolutely 05:23.472 --> 05:25.639 clear , Japan is stepping up and doing 05:25.639 --> 05:27.694 doing so in lockstep with the United 05:27.694 --> 05:29.417 States , our investment in our 05:29.417 --> 05:31.639 alliances . I was paying huge dividends 05:31.639 --> 05:33.861 and we look forward to celebrating that 05:33.861 --> 05:35.917 tomorrow . Speaking of alliances and 05:35.917 --> 05:37.861 partnerships , I'm also pleased to 05:37.861 --> 05:40.083 announce that next week President biden 05:40.083 --> 05:42.250 will welcome Prime Minister Mark Rutte 05:42.250 --> 05:41.970 to of the Netherlands to the White 05:41.970 --> 05:44.210 House on Tuesday the 17th to further 05:44.210 --> 05:46.266 deepen the historic ties between our 05:46.266 --> 05:48.377 two nations as strong NATO allies and 05:48.377 --> 05:50.543 global partners . Uh These two leaders 05:50.543 --> 05:52.377 are going to reaffirm our shared 05:52.377 --> 05:54.377 efforts to strengthen transatlantic 05:54.377 --> 05:56.599 security and economic prosperity . They 05:56.599 --> 05:58.710 will discuss our steadfast support of 05:58.710 --> 06:00.877 Ukraine and the Netherlands has been a 06:00.877 --> 06:02.599 very key supporter of security 06:02.599 --> 06:04.488 assistance in Ukraine . In fact , 06:04.488 --> 06:07.590 they've already provided a billion 06:07.590 --> 06:09.923 dollars of that and are committing more , 06:09.923 --> 06:12.090 sorry , almost three billion committed 06:12.090 --> 06:14.710 and committing almost a billion more 06:14.710 --> 06:16.821 going forward . They're gonna be able 06:16.821 --> 06:18.932 to discuss all that cooperation going 06:18.932 --> 06:21.099 forward on critical technologies and a 06:21.099 --> 06:23.300 shared vision for uh a swift end to 06:23.300 --> 06:25.522 this to this war in Ukraine . They also 06:25.522 --> 06:27.578 plan to talk about a range of issues 06:27.578 --> 06:29.578 that are essential to strengthening 06:29.578 --> 06:31.744 democracy , whether that's respect for 06:31.744 --> 06:31.390 human rights rules based international 06:31.390 --> 06:33.690 order around the world and including as 06:33.690 --> 06:36.040 co host of the upcoming second Summit 06:36.040 --> 06:38.262 for democracy . So a big week next week 06:38.262 --> 06:40.318 two with a very key ally and partner 06:40.318 --> 06:43.720 we're looking forward to that and john 06:43.730 --> 06:46.060 I understand that the leaders will be 06:46.070 --> 06:49.340 focused on deterring uh from china as 06:49.340 --> 06:51.340 well as other adversaries including 06:51.340 --> 06:53.640 Russia nuclear powered adversaries , 06:53.640 --> 06:56.520 North Korea Russia china . But what 06:56.520 --> 06:58.687 would the leaders be thinking about in 06:58.687 --> 07:00.742 terms of this latest reaction , this 07:00.742 --> 07:02.798 latest announcement from South Korea 07:02.798 --> 07:04.909 saying that they're open to acquiring 07:04.909 --> 07:07.585 nuclear weapons ? Will President Biden 07:07.585 --> 07:09.696 and Prime Minister Kishida be focused 07:09.696 --> 07:11.807 on this ? And does the administration 07:11.807 --> 07:13.752 believe that a nuclear South Korea 07:13.752 --> 07:15.418 contradicts U . S . Policy of 07:15.418 --> 07:17.215 denuclearization in the entire 07:17.215 --> 07:19.326 peninsula . The United States remains 07:19.326 --> 07:21.326 committed . President biden remains 07:21.326 --> 07:22.771 committed to the complete 07:22.771 --> 07:24.937 denuclearization of the peninsula . Um 07:24.937 --> 07:28.835 And uh and that hasn't changed uh 07:29.460 --> 07:32.630 that Republic of Korea has made clear 07:32.630 --> 07:34.680 that they are not seeking nuclear 07:34.680 --> 07:36.920 weapons but what we are going to seek 07:36.930 --> 07:40.380 jointly together with them are 07:40.390 --> 07:43.320 improvements uh in extended deterrence 07:43.320 --> 07:45.540 capabilities . Uh So we're gonna move 07:45.540 --> 07:48.230 forward on that while we have you here , 07:48.240 --> 07:50.650 Ukraine has confirmed that they will be 07:50.650 --> 07:52.930 receiving tanks from the U . K . As 07:52.930 --> 07:56.210 well as Poland . Um And during 07:56.220 --> 07:58.450 President visit , I think President 07:58.460 --> 08:00.460 biden made it clear that the reason 08:00.460 --> 08:02.571 that the U . S . Is not providing all 08:02.571 --> 08:04.627 the weapons that Ukraine is asking , 08:04.627 --> 08:06.793 including these kinds of you know , um 08:06.793 --> 08:10.130 uh tanks is to ensure that the U . S . 08:10.130 --> 08:12.800 Is avoiding an escalation to the war 08:12.810 --> 08:15.290 and ensuring NATO unity . Does the 08:15.300 --> 08:17.467 President believe that UK and Poland's 08:17.467 --> 08:19.820 decision to provide tanks to ? Ukraine 08:19.830 --> 08:22.475 will work against the President fully 08:22.475 --> 08:24.642 supports those decisions and those are 08:24.642 --> 08:26.808 sovereign decisions that those nations 08:26.808 --> 08:28.642 make about this kind of security 08:28.642 --> 08:28.475 assistance they provide . That's been 08:28.475 --> 08:30.642 the case throughout this entire length 08:30.642 --> 08:32.535 of the war . We respect that 08:32.535 --> 08:35.035 sovereignty and we certainly are 08:35.045 --> 08:36.925 grateful for all the additional 08:36.925 --> 08:38.981 security assistance that nations are 08:38.981 --> 08:40.703 providing . I talked about the 08:40.703 --> 08:42.814 Netherlands , they've provided uh air 08:42.814 --> 08:44.592 defense capabilities as well as 08:44.592 --> 08:46.647 howitzers . Um So we're grateful for 08:46.650 --> 08:48.761 and but these are decisions that they 08:48.761 --> 08:51.110 have to make the President believes and 08:51.110 --> 08:53.332 these announcements , I think reinforce 08:53.332 --> 08:56.240 this belief that there is terrific 08:56.250 --> 08:58.030 solidarity by the international 08:58.030 --> 09:00.086 community behind Ukraine and finding 09:00.086 --> 09:02.363 ways to support Ukraine just next week , 09:02.363 --> 09:04.586 uh Secretary of Defense will be hosting 09:04.586 --> 09:06.752 yet another contact group meeting over 09:06.752 --> 09:10.020 in europe to contribute or find ways to 09:10.020 --> 09:12.020 contribute more security assistance 09:12.020 --> 09:14.242 from more partners . Uh Those have been 09:14.242 --> 09:16.464 very very successful . So the President 09:16.464 --> 09:18.409 believes that these that all these 09:18.409 --> 09:20.187 decisions are actually mutually 09:20.187 --> 09:22.353 reinforcing of a larger issue here and 09:22.353 --> 09:24.464 that is solid international community 09:24.464 --> 09:26.705 support behind Ukraine visit tomorrow . 09:26.705 --> 09:28.927 If there is , there's gonna be any more 09:28.927 --> 09:30.983 announcements outside of the defense 09:30.983 --> 09:32.983 aspects of this . I'm not gonna get 09:32.983 --> 09:34.816 ahead of the meeting that hasn't 09:34.816 --> 09:36.927 happened yet . I'll let the president 09:36.927 --> 09:39.094 summarize it , we'll have , we'll have 09:39.094 --> 09:41.261 a read out of I'm Japan question since 09:41.261 --> 09:43.210 we have you here john um and an 09:43.210 --> 09:45.900 organization called hostage aid 09:45.900 --> 09:48.000 worldwide has sent a letter to the 09:48.010 --> 09:50.810 president asking for a meeting with him 09:50.820 --> 09:53.750 regarding the hostages have been held . 09:53.760 --> 09:55.982 What you are nationals who've been held 09:55.990 --> 09:58.046 all over the world , particularly in 09:58.046 --> 10:00.157 Iran until now . They have not got an 10:00.157 --> 10:02.340 answer . You know why the White House 10:02.340 --> 10:06.115 has not given them the attention we 10:06.115 --> 10:09.315 take each case uh seriously and we take 10:09.325 --> 10:12.635 each case individually and just to be 10:12.635 --> 10:15.745 clear dual national citizenship has 10:15.745 --> 10:17.856 nothing to do with it . If you have a 10:17.856 --> 10:19.967 blue passport , if you're , if you're 10:19.967 --> 10:22.134 an american citizen , whether you're a 10:22.134 --> 10:24.078 citizen of another nation or not , 10:24.078 --> 10:26.023 doesn't matter , that means you're 10:26.023 --> 10:27.801 gonna be treated the same . All 10:27.801 --> 10:27.675 americans are treated the same 10:27.685 --> 10:30.120 regardless of whether they have the 10:30.130 --> 10:32.352 citizenship and another nation , Paul , 10:32.352 --> 10:34.590 Whelan is a great example of that . So 10:34.600 --> 10:36.600 we work each case individually , we 10:36.600 --> 10:38.800 work each click case seriously and we 10:38.800 --> 10:41.022 try to keep the families as informed as 10:41.022 --> 10:43.480 possible . I won't speak to specific 10:43.480 --> 10:45.720 meetings that that have or have or have 10:45.720 --> 10:48.350 not occurred . Um , when we get 10:48.350 --> 10:50.461 requests for meetings , we take those 10:50.461 --> 10:52.517 seriously to uh , and do the best we 10:52.517 --> 10:55.140 can to accommodate . And certainly uh , 10:55.150 --> 10:58.480 we want to make sure that um , that in 10:58.480 --> 11:00.647 our communications with family members 11:00.647 --> 11:02.424 that we are not doing or saying 11:02.424 --> 11:04.313 anything . That actually makes it 11:04.313 --> 11:07.590 harder for us to establish a release 11:07.590 --> 11:09.646 mechanism for them . And , and , and 11:09.646 --> 11:11.646 you have to be mindful of that when 11:11.646 --> 11:13.650 you're in the public talking about 11:13.650 --> 11:15.872 these cases that you , you've got to be 11:15.872 --> 11:17.650 careful that you're not putting 11:17.650 --> 11:19.928 anything out there in the public space . 11:19.928 --> 11:22.150 That could make it harder . So each one 11:22.150 --> 11:23.983 is reviewed individually and and 11:23.983 --> 11:26.094 sincerely and if and if a meeting can 11:26.094 --> 11:28.206 be done and should be done , then you 11:28.206 --> 11:27.620 know , then we certainly will work to 11:27.620 --> 11:28.730 accommodate that . 11:31.720 --> 11:34.090 We're , we're familiar with the letter . 11:34.090 --> 11:36.201 I don't have a response to the letter 11:36.201 --> 11:38.312 for you . I wouldn't do that from the 11:38.312 --> 11:40.090 podium . Will certainly respond 11:40.090 --> 11:42.312 appropriately . Conus on the agenda for 11:42.312 --> 11:44.368 tomorrow john , I won't get ahead of 11:44.368 --> 11:46.312 the President's uh discussion with 11:46.312 --> 11:48.312 Prime Minister . Kishida James were 11:48.312 --> 11:50.840 certainly the President is aware of 11:50.850 --> 11:53.890 lieutenant circumstances in Japan , um , 11:53.900 --> 11:56.780 as his leadership across the military 11:56.780 --> 11:59.250 and the Defense Department . Um , but 11:59.260 --> 12:01.427 I'm not gonna , I won't preview or get 12:01.427 --> 12:03.316 ahead of the President's specific 12:03.316 --> 12:06.480 agenda . Can you give us your reaction , 12:06.480 --> 12:08.480 the President's reaction to reports 12:08.480 --> 12:10.700 that Russia is building up its forces 12:10.710 --> 12:13.330 in the east ? What's the sig of that 12:13.330 --> 12:15.441 And where do things stand in terms of 12:15.441 --> 12:18.000 any potential effort to try to get the 12:18.010 --> 12:20.300 two sides to sit down at the table in 12:20.300 --> 12:22.960 the east of you inside Ukraine inside 12:22.960 --> 12:26.120 Ukraine . Yes . And we've obviously 12:26.120 --> 12:28.640 been watching very closely uh military 12:28.640 --> 12:30.751 operations , particularly in the east 12:30.751 --> 12:32.751 of Ukraine , the area . Um and as I 12:32.751 --> 12:34.750 said , even from from here in the 12:34.750 --> 12:36.694 briefing room , the violence , the 12:36.694 --> 12:38.861 fighting in areas around back mood and 12:38.861 --> 12:42.010 now this town called has been uh has 12:42.020 --> 12:44.610 has been significant and severe and the 12:44.610 --> 12:47.300 fighting has been sharp between both 12:47.300 --> 12:49.760 sides . We've talked about in back mood 12:49.760 --> 12:52.440 specifically . This is largely private 12:52.440 --> 12:54.607 military contractors . It's mr Prakash 12:54.607 --> 12:56.607 in largely in the Wagner group that 12:56.607 --> 12:58.496 have been involved in much of the 12:58.496 --> 13:00.718 ground fighting there , but it has been 13:00.718 --> 13:02.773 vicious . Uh and that's why uh , get 13:02.773 --> 13:04.940 going into the winter knowing that the 13:04.940 --> 13:06.940 fighting isn't slowing down there , 13:06.940 --> 13:08.996 that that we have been so focused on 13:08.996 --> 13:08.660 providing additional security systems 13:08.660 --> 13:11.030 to Ukraine just last week , announced 13:11.030 --> 13:13.197 for you . You know , nearly $3 billion 13:13.197 --> 13:15.363 worth of , of systems . And there will 13:15.363 --> 13:17.363 be more coming kristen . Um I can't 13:17.363 --> 13:19.141 speak to Russian intent here or 13:19.141 --> 13:22.440 specific unit movements or or what 13:22.440 --> 13:24.662 their goals are . I wouldn't I wouldn't 13:24.662 --> 13:26.496 presume to speak for the Russian 13:26.496 --> 13:28.551 Defense Ministry ? I would just tell 13:28.551 --> 13:30.718 you that as they continue to literally 13:30.718 --> 13:32.670 throw bodies at the fighting in ? 13:32.950 --> 13:35.172 Because they have lost an extraordinary 13:35.172 --> 13:37.810 amount of largely convicts in this 13:37.810 --> 13:39.866 fighting as they continue to do that 13:39.866 --> 13:41.977 they need to know and understand that 13:41.977 --> 13:44.199 the United States as well as our allies 13:44.199 --> 13:46.310 and partners are going to continue to 13:46.310 --> 13:48.254 make sure that Ukraine Ukraine can 13:48.254 --> 13:50.310 defend itself in that area and do so 13:50.310 --> 13:52.532 effectively . And I mean , I don't mean 13:52.532 --> 13:54.810 to belabor this , but look at the area , 13:54.810 --> 13:54.020 right , This is the Donbass area . 13:54.020 --> 13:56.076 We've talked about this , it's a lot 13:56.076 --> 13:58.298 like Kansas , it's farmland , it's open 13:58.298 --> 14:00.353 ground . And so we want to make sure 14:00.353 --> 14:02.298 that we are providing the kinds of 14:02.298 --> 14:02.150 capabilities to Ukraine to be able to 14:02.150 --> 14:04.317 succeed in an environment . That's why 14:04.317 --> 14:06.483 Bradley fighting vehicles were part of 14:06.483 --> 14:08.706 the package that Crane announced . Um , 14:08.706 --> 14:10.872 that's why the pentagon will very soon 14:10.872 --> 14:13.094 be uh , D O . D and and our allies will 14:13.094 --> 14:15.317 be starting some combined arms maneuver 14:15.317 --> 14:17.428 training outside of Ukraine for up to 14:17.428 --> 14:19.594 battalion level units of the Ukrainian 14:19.594 --> 14:21.928 armed forces to Help them in this fight . 14:21.928 --> 14:24.094 Just try one more . We're gonna direct 14:24.094 --> 14:24.093 99% of our questions about the 14:24.103 --> 14:27.893 classified documents . I have one for 14:27.893 --> 14:30.453 you . Has there been an assessment 14:30.453 --> 14:32.564 about any potential national security 14:32.564 --> 14:34.342 risk of having these classified 14:34.342 --> 14:36.397 documents in the president's private 14:36.397 --> 14:38.509 think tank here in Washington and his 14:38.509 --> 14:40.453 home in Delaware . That would be a 14:40.453 --> 14:42.675 question for the the Justice Department 14:42.675 --> 14:44.564 because they are conducting their 14:44.564 --> 14:46.564 conducting a review . Now , you saw 14:46.564 --> 14:48.397 that they've announced a special 14:48.397 --> 14:50.620 counsel that issue would be for them to 14:50.620 --> 14:52.453 speak to broadly to the national 14:52.453 --> 14:54.175 security concerns about having 14:54.175 --> 14:56.453 classified documents in private spaces . 14:56.453 --> 14:58.564 President has spoken to how seriously 14:58.564 --> 15:00.564 he takes the handling of classified 15:00.564 --> 15:04.120 documents and he , 15:04.520 --> 15:06.576 somebody who is aware of the process 15:06.576 --> 15:08.810 myself did exactly the right thing 15:08.820 --> 15:10.960 which is to have them immediately 15:10.970 --> 15:13.960 turned over and that's , that's where 15:13.960 --> 15:16.071 this appropriately lies . And again , 15:16.071 --> 15:18.293 the Justice Department would be , would 15:18.293 --> 15:20.349 be the place to go to to answer your 15:20.349 --> 15:23.220 question . That's one question on Japan 15:23.220 --> 15:25.980 that maybe 100 Ukraine on Japan . Um , 15:26.840 --> 15:28.760 are you , are they going to be 15:28.760 --> 15:32.330 discussing the semiconductor exports to 15:32.340 --> 15:34.980 china and efforts to restrict those 15:34.990 --> 15:37.250 exports ? Is that going to be a topic ? 15:37.260 --> 15:40.210 And is it you see this as very 15:40.210 --> 15:42.377 important to have a country like Japan 15:42.377 --> 15:44.599 join those efforts to have some sort of 15:44.599 --> 15:47.130 chips control . It's not a band but to 15:47.140 --> 15:50.170 have efforts in that area to again , I 15:50.170 --> 15:52.337 want to be careful not to get ahead of 15:52.337 --> 15:54.503 President biden . I think as I alluded 15:54.503 --> 15:56.614 to , it's going to be a very full and 15:56.614 --> 15:58.726 robust agenda . But I think it's safe 15:58.726 --> 16:01.610 to say that when it comes to issues he 16:01.830 --> 16:03.500 discusses routinely with his 16:03.500 --> 16:05.278 counterparts bilaterally and in 16:05.278 --> 16:07.500 multilateral settings , supply chains . 16:07.500 --> 16:10.030 Resilient supply chains to include uh 16:10.040 --> 16:12.290 with respect to high technology is 16:12.290 --> 16:14.850 always a part of the discussion , but I 16:14.850 --> 16:17.250 won't again get ahead of of what 16:17.250 --> 16:19.500 they're gonna say and Ukraine , I know 16:19.500 --> 16:21.611 you've said many times you don't want 16:21.611 --> 16:23.389 to talk about the intent of the 16:23.389 --> 16:25.556 Russians , but what do you mean ? It's 16:25.556 --> 16:27.611 not that I don't want to , I can't I 16:27.611 --> 16:29.833 mean the of the new assignment , if you 16:29.833 --> 16:33.600 could call it of and what does that 16:33.600 --> 16:36.490 say maybe about the Russian strategy as 16:36.490 --> 16:38.712 he's been named ? The new man in charge 16:38.712 --> 16:40.601 of the war efforts ? They've gone 16:40.601 --> 16:42.879 through quite a few leadership changes , 16:42.879 --> 16:44.990 haven't they , now , 10.5 months . Um 16:44.990 --> 16:47.400 And uh again I think Corinne said this 16:47.400 --> 16:49.289 very well yesterday we'll let the 16:49.289 --> 16:51.456 Kremlin speak to their decision making 16:51.456 --> 16:53.622 here . Um But but they've gone through 16:53.622 --> 16:55.456 a lot of leadership changes . Uh 16:55.456 --> 16:59.080 Clearly in an effort almost from 16:59.090 --> 17:02.210 very early on in an effort to overcome 17:02.220 --> 17:04.331 the sorts of difficulties they've had 17:04.331 --> 17:06.553 in this world difficulties which remain 17:06.553 --> 17:08.164 whether that's logistics and 17:08.164 --> 17:09.970 sustainment , uh I . S . R . 17:09.970 --> 17:11.637 Intelligence , surveillance , 17:11.637 --> 17:13.803 reconnaissance , the ability to gather 17:13.803 --> 17:15.914 information to communicate commanding 17:15.914 --> 17:18.081 control between units , certainly unit 17:18.081 --> 17:20.414 morale and cohesion and without a doubt . 17:20.414 --> 17:22.637 I mean , just look at what's been going 17:22.637 --> 17:24.359 on in the last couple of weeks 17:24.359 --> 17:25.970 battlefield performance . So 17:25.970 --> 17:25.960 interesting that they have now gone 17:25.960 --> 17:28.016 back to Gerasimov who was charged at 17:28.016 --> 17:30.370 the very beginning who is essentially 17:30.370 --> 17:32.537 the chief of their army staff , not an 17:32.537 --> 17:34.314 operational commander . It's an 17:34.314 --> 17:36.314 interesting selection I think , you 17:36.314 --> 17:38.481 know , they should speak to that . But 17:38.481 --> 17:40.592 I think it's indicative and shows the 17:40.592 --> 17:42.703 degree to which the Russians continue 17:42.703 --> 17:44.926 to struggle to get it right in terms of 17:44.926 --> 17:44.540 just leadership , command and control 17:44.540 --> 17:47.720 problems . Thank you so much . I had a 17:47.720 --> 17:49.609 question like tensions are rising 17:49.609 --> 17:52.820 against between Sweden and Turkey . How 17:52.820 --> 17:54.980 confident are you that these two 17:54.980 --> 17:57.140 countries can resolve these tensions 17:57.140 --> 18:00.040 and how confident are you that Sweden 18:00.050 --> 18:03.200 would be able to join NATO and we 18:03.200 --> 18:05.144 firmly support their ascension . I 18:05.144 --> 18:07.367 think , you know , that President biden 18:07.367 --> 18:09.533 made that very , very clear . Um , and 18:09.533 --> 18:12.870 so too does the vast majority of NATO 18:12.870 --> 18:16.040 nations . Um , I'll certainly let those 18:16.040 --> 18:18.040 two nations speak for themselves in 18:18.040 --> 18:20.151 terms of the discussions that they're 18:20.151 --> 18:22.207 having . You saw yesterday , Swedish 18:22.207 --> 18:21.990 officials said publicly that they 18:21.990 --> 18:24.310 believe that that these discussions are 18:24.310 --> 18:26.850 actually on a positive track . And we 18:26.850 --> 18:28.961 certainly hope that's the case on the 18:28.961 --> 18:31.239 classified documents . Have there been , 18:31.239 --> 18:34.260 you know , any other countries in touch 18:34.260 --> 18:36.482 with the administration expressing some 18:36.482 --> 18:38.570 kind of concerns about how secure 18:38.580 --> 18:41.470 classified documents are and how like 18:41.480 --> 18:43.536 confidential information about those 18:43.536 --> 18:45.647 countries could have circulated ? I'm 18:45.647 --> 18:47.702 not aware of any such discussions or 18:47.702 --> 18:51.190 concerns . Uh , thank 18:51.190 --> 18:55.040 you . Uh , the family and 18:55.050 --> 18:57.850 uh supporters of Russian dissident 18:57.860 --> 19:00.070 alexei Navalny are increasingly 19:00.070 --> 19:02.237 concerned about his health . In fact , 19:02.237 --> 19:04.459 even Russian doctors are openly putting 19:04.459 --> 19:06.348 their name to a letter . Is there 19:06.348 --> 19:08.348 anything you can do to let the know 19:08.348 --> 19:10.181 that we share their concerns and 19:10.181 --> 19:12.348 continue to believe that you should be 19:12.348 --> 19:14.514 immediately released , obviously , and 19:14.514 --> 19:18.030 short of that to make to insist that he 19:18.030 --> 19:20.480 gets proper medical care . Uh , so 19:20.480 --> 19:22.480 we've seen those concerns and share 19:22.480 --> 19:25.440 those concerns uh , and uh , we'll 19:25.440 --> 19:29.420 continue to make plain uh , those 19:29.420 --> 19:31.309 concerns to Russian authorities . 19:32.320 --> 19:36.150 Uh it's concerned that 19:36.720 --> 19:38.664 has fallen to the Russians , or it 19:38.664 --> 19:40.609 could be falling to the Russians . 19:40.609 --> 19:42.609 Can't confirm the reports that it's 19:42.609 --> 19:44.831 fallen . I mean , I've seen the Russian 19:44.831 --> 19:46.831 proclamations about this . Uh , the 19:46.831 --> 19:48.831 Ukrainians tell a different story . 19:48.831 --> 19:48.750 We're not on the ground . So I'm not 19:48.760 --> 19:50.982 we're not in a position to confirm it . 19:50.982 --> 19:53.480 Um , it's a small village in the Donbas , 19:53.490 --> 19:56.270 uh , we believe that the Russian 19:56.270 --> 19:58.740 interest in it um is sort of twofold 19:58.740 --> 20:02.420 one because they see it's uh 20:02.430 --> 20:04.597 securing it as key to their ability to 20:04.597 --> 20:07.880 hold and secure and then to hold . Um 20:07.890 --> 20:10.310 there's also salt mines there . So we 20:10.310 --> 20:12.310 also think that there's a bit of an 20:12.310 --> 20:14.643 economic incentive , particularly by mr . 20:14.643 --> 20:16.588 Precaution uh , to take possession 20:18.280 --> 20:20.930 advances in that area . I think , yeah , 20:20.940 --> 20:23.162 great question . I think we got to take 20:23.162 --> 20:25.051 a little , we got to keep this in 20:25.051 --> 20:27.730 perspective , uh , we don't know how 20:27.730 --> 20:29.563 it's gonna go . So I'm not gonna 20:29.563 --> 20:31.850 predict failure or success here . 20:32.940 --> 20:36.620 But even if uh both bach mood and 20:36.620 --> 20:38.676 solid or fall to the Russians , it's 20:38.676 --> 20:42.010 not going to make a it's not going to 20:42.010 --> 20:44.250 have a strategic impact on the war 20:44.250 --> 20:46.361 itself . And it certainly isn't gonna 20:46.361 --> 20:48.540 stop the Ukrainians or or slow them 20:48.540 --> 20:50.690 down in terms of their uh , their 20:50.690 --> 20:53.320 efforts to regain their territory . And 20:53.320 --> 20:55.487 I would remind , I mean , I know we're 20:55.487 --> 20:57.542 all focused on those two towns right 20:57.542 --> 20:59.653 now , but just again take a couple of 20:59.653 --> 21:01.709 steps back and if you look at what's 21:01.709 --> 21:01.040 been happening over the last 10.5 21:01.040 --> 21:03.151 months , particularly in the Donbas , 21:03.151 --> 21:05.262 towns and villages have swapped hands 21:05.262 --> 21:08.490 quite frequently . So , uh , my my last 21:08.500 --> 21:10.440 comment would be don't count the 21:10.440 --> 21:14.340 Ukrainians out . Thank you . I would 21:14.340 --> 21:16.690 like to follow up on taxes question on 21:16.700 --> 21:19.130 the thanks for Ukraine . Poland says 21:19.130 --> 21:21.297 that it will deliver the tanks only as 21:21.297 --> 21:23.970 a part as a of a larger international 21:23.970 --> 21:27.480 coalition . And it's encouraging other 21:27.480 --> 21:30.260 countries to join . So I'm wondering if 21:30.270 --> 21:33.000 President biden is considering joining 21:33.010 --> 21:36.140 this coalition by sending us Abrams 21:36.150 --> 21:39.310 tanks and if he is encouraging other 21:39.310 --> 21:41.880 countries , including Germany to do the 21:41.880 --> 21:45.450 same . I won't get ahead of 21:45.460 --> 21:47.571 decisions on security assistance that 21:47.571 --> 21:50.310 haven't been made yet . Um , uh , we 21:50.310 --> 21:53.720 have been , uh , I think very effective 21:53.730 --> 21:57.720 at providing security assistance that 21:57.720 --> 22:00.620 evolves with the way the war is evolved . 22:00.630 --> 22:02.686 Um , and you know , now , you know , 22:02.686 --> 22:04.797 two weeks ago , we were talking about 22:04.797 --> 22:06.852 patriots and air defense and today , 22:06.852 --> 22:09.019 you know , we're talking about armored 22:09.019 --> 22:11.520 vehicles and tanks . Um , so I won't 22:11.520 --> 22:13.687 get ahead of the President's decisions 22:13.687 --> 22:15.853 he's gonna make . As I said to Patsy , 22:15.853 --> 22:17.853 we're grateful for the support that 22:17.853 --> 22:20.187 other nations are , are , are providing , 22:20.187 --> 22:22.409 they each do it in their own way on a , 22:22.409 --> 22:24.576 in a size scale and scope and the pace 22:24.576 --> 22:26.687 that they're comfortable with , these 22:26.687 --> 22:28.853 are sovereign decisions and we respect 22:28.853 --> 22:28.790 that . The President . Zelensky has 22:28.790 --> 22:31.012 said he's interested in tanks . And now 22:31.012 --> 22:32.846 you have some countries that are 22:32.846 --> 22:35.123 showing a willingness to provide tanks . 22:35.123 --> 22:37.123 That's all to the good . The United 22:37.123 --> 22:37.020 States will continue to provide our 22:37.020 --> 22:39.790 security assistance in in the same way 22:39.790 --> 22:41.623 we have for the last 10.5 months 22:41.623 --> 22:43.957 working in lockstep with the Ukrainians . 22:43.957 --> 22:46.012 Um , and making sure that that we're 22:46.012 --> 22:48.068 meeting their needs as best we can , 22:48.068 --> 22:50.290 and if we can't that we're working with 22:50.290 --> 22:52.346 allies and partners to do the same . 22:52.346 --> 22:54.401 And and again , uh , you asked about 22:54.401 --> 22:57.890 this , the coalition or alliance , 22:57.900 --> 23:01.800 again , we believe that uh , 23:01.810 --> 23:03.977 there has been an incredible framework 23:03.977 --> 23:06.143 established already internationally to 23:06.143 --> 23:08.070 provide assistance . Security 23:08.070 --> 23:10.126 assistance specifically to Ukraine . 23:10.126 --> 23:12.348 And that's through this Ukraine Defense 23:12.348 --> 23:14.570 Contact group . There's another meeting 23:14.570 --> 23:14.000 next week . We're very excited about 23:14.000 --> 23:15.944 that . And looking forward to it . 23:15.944 --> 23:18.167 Because the President says that the war 23:18.167 --> 23:20.333 is in a critical point . If the war is 23:20.333 --> 23:23.090 at a critical point , why wait ? It 23:23.100 --> 23:26.250 takes time to train Ukrainians to 23:26.260 --> 23:28.538 operate those tanks . Nobody's waiting . 23:28.538 --> 23:30.482 Nobody's waiting . I mean , almost 23:30.482 --> 23:32.649 every two weeks like clockwork , we're 23:32.649 --> 23:34.593 getting up here and talking to you 23:34.593 --> 23:36.482 about billions of dollars of more 23:36.482 --> 23:38.649 assistance that are going to Ukraine . 23:38.649 --> 23:40.816 The United States is the leader of the 23:40.816 --> 23:42.649 world . We've almost $25 billion 23:42.649 --> 23:44.760 dollars since the start of this war . 23:44.760 --> 23:46.482 No other nation comes close to 23:46.482 --> 23:48.204 providing the kind of security 23:48.204 --> 23:50.149 assistance that we have . It's not 23:50.149 --> 23:49.990 about waiting . It's about working in 23:49.990 --> 23:52.157 lockstep with Ukrainians , making sure 23:52.157 --> 23:54.101 that we understand their needs and 23:54.101 --> 23:55.990 capabilities and delivering those 23:55.990 --> 23:58.212 capabilities the best way that we can . 23:58.212 --> 24:00.323 And when I say , we I don't just mean 24:00.323 --> 24:02.323 the US , I mean the big we uh , and 24:02.323 --> 24:04.434 sometimes those assets are now , it's 24:04.434 --> 24:04.180 gonna come from the United States . 24:04.510 --> 24:06.566 Sometimes they're going to come from 24:06.566 --> 24:08.677 other nations and maybe that's better 24:08.677 --> 24:10.843 for the Ukrainians either because they 24:10.843 --> 24:13.010 can get there faster or because it's , 24:13.010 --> 24:15.010 it's a capability that they're more 24:15.010 --> 24:17.177 comfortable using and won't need quite 24:17.177 --> 24:16.800 as much training and operation and 24:16.800 --> 24:18.800 maintenance on it . There's lots of 24:18.800 --> 24:20.800 reasons that lots of things that go 24:20.800 --> 24:24.570 into these decisions . Yeah , I was in 24:24.570 --> 24:26.490 fact , not that we don't always 24:26.490 --> 24:28.160 appreciate your parents . 24:29.770 --> 24:33.530 It's fine with me . 24:33.530 --> 24:35.720 I will deport . All right , thanks 24:35.720 --> 24:36.720 everybody . 24:40.390 --> 24:42.210 Oh my goodness , 24:43.510 --> 24:47.240 wow . Justin , Justin did not 24:47.240 --> 24:51.130 hold back at all . I think you did that 24:51.130 --> 24:53.463 on the plane last week two . I remember , 24:53.463 --> 24:55.920 I'm keeping track , I'm keeping track . 24:55.930 --> 24:59.320 Um All right , 24:59.330 --> 25:02.970 chris it's yours classified documents 25:02.980 --> 25:05.550 first President to be interviewed by 25:05.560 --> 25:08.320 federal investigators . So , first , 25:08.320 --> 25:10.376 let me just say , I'm just not gonna 25:10.376 --> 25:12.209 get into hypotheticals . This is 25:12.209 --> 25:13.987 something for the department of 25:15.420 --> 25:18.950 its ongoing review . Right ? You're 25:18.950 --> 25:21.172 asking me about something in the future 25:21.172 --> 25:23.394 and I am telling you that I'm not going 25:23.394 --> 25:23.360 to get ahead of what the Department of 25:23.360 --> 25:25.471 justice is going to decide . Look , I 25:25.471 --> 25:27.582 want to reiterate what you heard from 25:27.582 --> 25:29.693 the President today . It is important 25:29.693 --> 25:31.860 for the american people to know . This 25:31.860 --> 25:33.860 is that the President has said , he 25:33.860 --> 25:35.582 takes classified documents and 25:35.582 --> 25:37.638 information very seriously . This is 25:37.638 --> 25:39.749 something , as you all know that he , 25:40.110 --> 25:42.810 that he will not shy away from saying , 25:42.810 --> 25:45.088 it has continued to say this this week . 25:45.088 --> 25:47.310 And again , he was surprised that these 25:47.310 --> 25:49.421 records have been found . He does not 25:49.421 --> 25:52.130 know what's in them and his team , once 25:52.130 --> 25:54.480 they identified that these documents 25:54.480 --> 25:57.210 were were there , they immediately 25:57.250 --> 25:59.260 reached out to the archives of the 25:59.260 --> 26:01.149 Department of Justice and did the 26:01.149 --> 26:03.204 rightfully so did the right thing by 26:03.204 --> 26:05.880 turning that over and they have been 26:05.880 --> 26:08.670 cooperating very closely with the 26:08.670 --> 26:10.726 Department of Justice . You actually 26:10.726 --> 26:13.100 heard uh , a G Attorney General Garland 26:13.100 --> 26:16.190 say today that they heard from his team 26:16.200 --> 26:18.820 really shortly after the discovery . Uh , 26:18.830 --> 26:20.941 and so you know , I just want to make 26:20.941 --> 26:22.997 sure that this is understood that he 26:22.997 --> 26:25.860 takes this very seriously seriously . 26:25.870 --> 26:28.037 Uh , this is the kind of thing because 26:28.037 --> 26:29.870 government employees to lose his 26:29.870 --> 26:32.037 security clearance . This is a serious 26:32.037 --> 26:34.203 matter . As said , was the President's 26:34.203 --> 26:36.203 sloppy handling classified material 26:36.203 --> 26:36.080 after multiple locations were 26:36.080 --> 26:38.136 classified doctrines . Look , I said 26:38.136 --> 26:39.913 this in my , I said that in the 26:39.913 --> 26:42.080 statement , it's in the statement of , 26:42.080 --> 26:44.191 from his lawyer Richard Sauber and at 26:44.191 --> 26:46.247 the end , he said , we are confident 26:46.247 --> 26:48.469 that they are thorough review will show 26:48.469 --> 26:50.691 that these documents were inadvertently 26:50.691 --> 26:52.691 misplaced and the President and his 26:52.691 --> 26:54.802 lawyers acted promptly upon discovery 26:54.802 --> 26:57.024 of this mistake . I'm going to leave it 26:57.024 --> 26:56.540 there . That's what his lawyer said . 26:56.550 --> 26:58.717 But again , this is something that the 26:58.717 --> 27:00.828 President takes very seriously and we 27:00.828 --> 27:03.050 have been coordinating , they have been 27:03.050 --> 27:05.106 coordinating , his lawyers have been 27:05.106 --> 27:07.050 coordinating very closely with the 27:07.050 --> 27:09.050 Department of Justice . His initial 27:09.050 --> 27:11.217 statement came on monday the President 27:11.217 --> 27:13.050 on Tuesday Mexico City . All the 27:13.050 --> 27:12.920 conversations about the document in the 27:12.920 --> 27:14.698 office . However , according to 27:14.698 --> 27:16.809 Attorney General , doctors were found 27:16.809 --> 27:19.031 in december 20th Wilmington's . Why was 27:19.031 --> 27:21.031 that not immediately addressed ? Is 27:21.031 --> 27:23.142 what was being transparent about that 27:23.142 --> 27:22.910 if that was already known and not 27:22.910 --> 27:25.570 discussed up front . So just you said 27:25.570 --> 27:27.570 transparent . I want to say that we 27:27.570 --> 27:29.626 have been transparent here . That is 27:29.626 --> 27:32.010 why the minute that his lawyers found 27:32.010 --> 27:34.430 those documents , they reported it , 27:34.430 --> 27:36.652 they reached out to the archives in the 27:36.652 --> 27:38.874 Department of Justice and they did that 27:38.874 --> 27:41.100 voluntarily and they were not compelled 27:41.100 --> 27:43.156 to do it . They did it voluntarily . 27:43.156 --> 27:45.322 Now , I want to step back a little bit 27:45.322 --> 27:47.600 as you're asking me about the timeline , 27:47.600 --> 27:47.420 look , the lawyer said , we have been 27:47.420 --> 27:49.587 working closely with the Department of 27:49.587 --> 27:51.753 Justice and coordinating a search that 27:51.753 --> 27:53.531 was still ongoing to ensure any 27:53.531 --> 27:55.753 additional documents were in the proper 27:55.753 --> 27:57.809 possession of the government . After 27:57.809 --> 28:00.310 that search , uh , after the search 28:00.310 --> 28:02.520 concluded last night , we released a 28:02.520 --> 28:04.520 statement disclosing the facts from 28:04.520 --> 28:06.464 that search , as you all know this 28:06.464 --> 28:08.520 morning . Uh this is all part of the 28:08.520 --> 28:10.576 Justice Department process . And you 28:10.576 --> 28:12.576 heard the Attorney general speak to 28:12.576 --> 28:14.630 this today . So we are being very 28:14.630 --> 28:17.620 careful to be fully cooperative with 28:17.620 --> 28:19.842 the Department of Justice and providing 28:19.842 --> 28:22.410 details as appropriate as part of that 28:22.410 --> 28:23.080 process . 28:24.600 --> 28:28.350 Because and I and I 28:28.360 --> 28:30.360 actually answered that question . I 28:30.360 --> 28:32.193 said because there was a process 28:32.193 --> 28:34.360 happening that was currently ongoing . 28:34.360 --> 28:36.527 And uh , and I'll refer you back to my 28:36.527 --> 28:38.749 comments that I made . Uh just a couple 28:38.749 --> 28:40.749 of things I want to clarify just to 28:40.749 --> 28:40.140 make sure that our reporting is as 28:40.140 --> 28:42.830 accurate as possible . The Special 28:42.830 --> 28:44.941 Counsel's , the White House Counsel's 28:44.941 --> 28:46.774 statement this morning said that 28:46.774 --> 28:48.997 documents were found in the President's 28:48.997 --> 28:51.108 Wilmington residents garage and in an 28:51.108 --> 28:53.274 adjacent room . But when the President 28:53.274 --> 28:52.690 mentioned this himself in person 28:52.690 --> 28:54.746 earlier , he said they were found in 28:54.746 --> 28:56.634 storage areas and in his personal 28:56.634 --> 28:58.857 library . So can you just clear this up 28:58.857 --> 29:00.968 which room , where were the documents 29:00.968 --> 29:03.134 found in his residence . Okay . So let 29:03.134 --> 29:02.670 me just step back because I know all of 29:02.670 --> 29:04.781 you will have a lot of questions . So 29:04.781 --> 29:06.781 I'll laid this out very clearly and 29:06.781 --> 29:08.892 precisely , I don't want clearly want 29:08.892 --> 29:10.948 to make sure no one is confused . As 29:10.948 --> 29:13.059 you just said , mary , as soon as the 29:13.059 --> 29:12.480 President's lawyers found these 29:12.480 --> 29:14.647 documents , they immediately contacted 29:14.647 --> 29:16.869 archives and Department of Justice as I 29:16.869 --> 29:19.036 said many times already to ensure that 29:19.036 --> 29:18.830 they were handled properly . The 29:18.830 --> 29:21.140 President has said this , we are being 29:21.140 --> 29:23.210 fully cooperative with Department of 29:23.210 --> 29:25.266 Justice throughout this process . As 29:25.266 --> 29:27.432 part of the President's lawyers looked 29:27.432 --> 29:29.377 through the places where documents 29:29.377 --> 29:31.099 could have been stored and the 29:31.099 --> 29:33.432 Counsel's office released ? As you said , 29:33.432 --> 29:35.377 a statement explaining that . So I 29:35.377 --> 29:37.599 would refer you back to the statement . 29:37.599 --> 29:39.821 I don't have anything more to say . But 29:39.821 --> 29:41.877 that search was completed last night 29:41.877 --> 29:43.877 and now this is in the hands of the 29:43.877 --> 29:45.988 Justice Department . So look , I want 29:45.988 --> 29:45.810 to be very prudent here as I said 29:45.810 --> 29:48.260 yesterday as you all have reported over 29:48.260 --> 29:51.320 and over again . So about any questions 29:51.330 --> 29:53.497 about this , any specifics , there's a 29:53.497 --> 29:55.552 review going on and I would refer to 29:55.552 --> 29:57.719 Department of Justice or my colleagues 29:57.719 --> 29:59.830 in the Counsel's office . But again , 29:59.830 --> 30:01.886 I'm just not going to go beyond what 30:01.886 --> 30:03.997 the President said . We just laid out 30:03.997 --> 30:06.219 where we just laid out the process that 30:06.219 --> 30:09.820 was taken . I'm just 30:09.820 --> 30:12.042 saying I'm just saying I'm not going to 30:12.042 --> 30:14.264 go beyond what the President said . I'm 30:14.264 --> 30:16.370 not gonna I completely mary I 30:16.370 --> 30:18.600 completely understand . I just want to 30:18.600 --> 30:20.600 be very careful because there is an 30:20.600 --> 30:22.656 ongoing investigation . I want to be 30:22.656 --> 30:25.480 prudent here and make sure if you have 30:25.490 --> 30:27.657 any additional questions about where , 30:27.657 --> 30:29.657 where things were found . Again , I 30:29.657 --> 30:31.712 refer you to the statement , I'm not 30:31.712 --> 30:33.823 going to go beyond what the President 30:33.823 --> 30:35.990 said . The President said Tuesday . He 30:35.990 --> 30:35.790 was surprised to learn about the 30:35.790 --> 30:38.012 documents at the penn biden center that 30:38.012 --> 30:39.846 he didn't know what was in these 30:39.846 --> 30:41.901 documents . He didn't sort of repeat 30:41.901 --> 30:44.012 that this morning about the documents 30:44.012 --> 30:46.234 found at his residence . So was he also 30:46.234 --> 30:45.460 surprised to learn that they were 30:45.460 --> 30:47.682 classified documents at his residence . 30:47.682 --> 30:49.860 And does he know any information ? So 30:49.880 --> 30:52.760 he again , he was surprised that the 30:52.770 --> 30:55.480 that the documents were there and that 30:55.480 --> 30:58.290 is that is also in line with what we 30:58.300 --> 31:00.580 what we shared this morning . And again 31:00.580 --> 31:02.636 he takes this very seriously when it 31:02.636 --> 31:04.802 comes to classified information . When 31:04.802 --> 31:07.250 it comes to uh classified documents and 31:07.260 --> 31:09.427 again it still stays the same . He was 31:09.427 --> 31:11.649 surprised that the records were found . 31:11.649 --> 31:13.704 He does not know what's in them that 31:13.704 --> 31:15.760 has not changed . And again his team 31:15.760 --> 31:17.760 when they identified that they were 31:17.760 --> 31:19.871 that they that they were there . They 31:19.871 --> 31:22.204 immediately reached out to the archives , 31:22.204 --> 31:24.204 reached out to doj just as they did 31:24.204 --> 31:26.371 last night . And and as we have pretty 31:26.371 --> 31:28.593 much laid out previously , just because 31:28.593 --> 31:30.704 much has been made of the differences 31:30.704 --> 31:32.871 here between what you are have handled 31:32.871 --> 31:35.038 these these documents and the way that 31:35.038 --> 31:37.204 the former president handled documents 31:37.204 --> 31:36.720 that were taken from the White House . 31:36.920 --> 31:38.850 When the FBI went , the FBI sorry 31:38.850 --> 31:40.961 garland said when the FBI went to the 31:40.961 --> 31:42.683 location being the President's 31:42.683 --> 31:44.906 residents and secured these documents . 31:44.906 --> 31:47.072 Did the FBI just retrieve documents or 31:47.072 --> 31:49.183 was there a search of the residence ? 31:49.183 --> 31:51.294 Again , I'm just not going to go into 31:51.294 --> 31:53.294 the particulars or the specifics of 31:53.294 --> 31:55.461 what the Department of Justice did . I 31:55.461 --> 31:57.683 can speak to what we have done and what 31:57.683 --> 31:59.739 is already out there ? We laid out a 31:59.739 --> 32:01.906 statement pretty extensive on monday . 32:01.906 --> 32:03.961 We've been laid out a statement this 32:03.961 --> 32:06.017 morning on what was found last night 32:06.270 --> 32:08.270 and just not going to go beyond . I 32:08.270 --> 32:10.103 would refer you to Department of 32:10.103 --> 32:12.220 Justice to give you the specifics on 32:12.220 --> 32:14.053 that . As you know , there is an 32:14.053 --> 32:15.998 ongoing process . There's a review 32:15.998 --> 32:19.640 currently occurring . Can you shed any 32:19.640 --> 32:21.930 light on how the documents got to these 32:21.930 --> 32:24.900 places ? There's an ongoing process . 32:24.910 --> 32:27.130 It's being reviewed . Don't have any , 32:27.140 --> 32:29.362 don't have more to share . I'm going to 32:29.362 --> 32:31.584 let the Department of Justice uh answer 32:31.584 --> 32:33.584 any questions as they're looking at 32:33.584 --> 32:33.410 this . 32:37.250 --> 32:40.640 I'm not going to get into the decisions 32:40.650 --> 32:42.872 that were that was made by the Attorney 32:42.872 --> 32:45.039 General . I will say this . And you've 32:45.039 --> 32:47.150 heard me say this many times before . 32:47.150 --> 32:49.317 This is the President that believes in 32:49.317 --> 32:51.094 the independence of the Justice 32:51.094 --> 32:51.070 Department . This is something that he 32:51.070 --> 32:53.390 has been saying since the campaign . 32:53.390 --> 32:55.501 And you've heard me say this over and 32:55.501 --> 32:58.000 over and restoring that independence . 32:58.010 --> 33:00.121 So look , we we have been very , very 33:00.121 --> 33:02.420 careful here not to appear from the 33:02.420 --> 33:04.642 White House to influence their decision 33:04.642 --> 33:08.200 making on on any number of 33:08.210 --> 33:10.377 issues as you've heard me say over and 33:10.377 --> 33:12.654 over again . I've said this many times . 33:12.654 --> 33:14.877 I'm sure someone has counted the amount 33:14.877 --> 33:16.710 of times that I've said that the 33:16.710 --> 33:18.766 Department of Justice is independent 33:18.766 --> 33:18.760 and we respect their independence . I'm 33:18.760 --> 33:22.400 certainly not going to comment on 33:22.410 --> 33:26.080 or give my opinion or are we going to 33:26.080 --> 33:28.191 give our opinion on what the attorney 33:28.191 --> 33:30.413 general laid out today ? Does the White 33:30.413 --> 33:33.170 House make of comparisons between 33:33.180 --> 33:35.970 President Biden's handling of documents 33:36.130 --> 33:38.186 and former President trump . I'm not 33:38.186 --> 33:40.352 going to get into politics from here . 33:40.352 --> 33:42.519 What I can say is what I've laid out , 33:42.519 --> 33:44.686 which is the President takes this very 33:44.686 --> 33:46.630 seriously . He does . He said this 33:46.630 --> 33:49.400 twice and he did not know that the 33:49.400 --> 33:51.733 records were there when they were found . 33:51.733 --> 33:54.280 He does not know what's in them and 33:54.290 --> 33:56.490 what he did . And what his team did is 33:56.490 --> 33:59.190 the minute that they that the documents 33:59.190 --> 34:01.246 were there , they reached out to the 34:01.246 --> 34:02.968 archives , they reached out to 34:02.968 --> 34:04.968 Department of Justice and I'll just 34:04.968 --> 34:07.023 leave it , leave it , leave it there 34:07.023 --> 34:08.634 and I'll leave you all to to 34:08.634 --> 34:10.690 pontificate and do your punditry . I 34:10.690 --> 34:13.000 will not do that from here . In the 34:13.000 --> 34:15.550 second set of documents completed . The 34:15.560 --> 34:18.760 ongoing review by the President's legal 34:19.340 --> 34:21.507 team last night . Does that mean there 34:21.507 --> 34:23.673 are no other locations where documents 34:23.673 --> 34:25.673 could be stored ? There is no other 34:25.673 --> 34:27.840 search underway at this moment in time 34:27.840 --> 34:29.840 for documents . So , as as I'm just 34:29.840 --> 34:31.729 gonna again , that that statement 34:31.729 --> 34:33.896 pretty much lays lays that lays it out 34:33.896 --> 34:37.330 that they they have uh as far as the 34:37.340 --> 34:39.507 lawyers , they look through the places 34:39.507 --> 34:41.673 where documents could have been stored 34:41.673 --> 34:43.673 and the counsel's office released a 34:43.673 --> 34:45.729 statement on that Now . It is in the 34:45.729 --> 34:49.280 hands of the special counsel . You 34:49.280 --> 34:51.558 should assume that it's been completed . 34:51.558 --> 34:55.550 Yes . Review was underway when you guys 34:56.150 --> 34:57.983 statement about the first set of 34:57.983 --> 35:00.094 documents and the review was underway 35:00.094 --> 35:02.039 when the President spoke about the 35:02.039 --> 35:04.039 first set of documents , you're now 35:04.039 --> 35:03.340 saying that you didn't talk about the 35:03.340 --> 35:05.284 second set of documents discovered 35:05.284 --> 35:07.660 almost a month prior because the review 35:07.660 --> 35:10.270 was underway . I don't understand . It 35:10.270 --> 35:12.640 doesn't make any sense the entire time . 35:12.640 --> 35:14.807 The only difference was that reporters 35:14.807 --> 35:16.807 had information on the first set of 35:16.807 --> 35:18.862 documents and therefore you chose to 35:18.862 --> 35:20.862 exclude the second set of documents 35:20.862 --> 35:20.470 until reporters got information on a 35:20.470 --> 35:22.690 second . Let me confuse you for a 35:22.690 --> 35:24.801 second Phil Look , we're trying to do 35:24.801 --> 35:27.134 this by the book . And I said yesterday , 35:27.134 --> 35:29.650 this was under review by the Department 35:29.650 --> 35:32.750 of Justice . And the process is as such . 35:32.760 --> 35:35.290 When the when the President's lawyers 35:35.290 --> 35:37.960 realized that the documents existed 35:37.960 --> 35:40.220 that they were there , they reached out 35:40.230 --> 35:42.341 to the archives , they reached out to 35:42.341 --> 35:44.619 the Department of Justice . Rightfully . 35:44.619 --> 35:46.563 So may I add , that is what you're 35:46.563 --> 35:48.786 supposed to do as lawyers . That's what 35:48.786 --> 35:50.690 they did and they have fully been 35:50.690 --> 35:54.090 cooperating with with the Department of 35:54.090 --> 35:55.979 Justice . And again , I said this 35:55.979 --> 35:58.090 earlier in answering a question . You 35:58.090 --> 36:00.146 heard from the Attorney General . He 36:00.146 --> 36:02.257 said shortly after the documents were 36:02.257 --> 36:05.100 discovered . They we did outreach . The 36:05.110 --> 36:07.960 President's lawyers did outreach to the 36:07.960 --> 36:10.127 Department of Justice and archivists . 36:12.430 --> 36:14.708 I'm telling you that there's a process . 36:14.708 --> 36:16.930 I just laid out what the process is and 36:16.930 --> 36:19.097 I'm telling you that we were trying to 36:19.097 --> 36:20.986 do this by the book and it was an 36:20.986 --> 36:23.152 ongoing process . I'm not going to get 36:23.152 --> 36:25.750 beyond that . But that is how this 36:25.750 --> 36:26.220 works . 36:29.910 --> 36:31.854 This information for more than two 36:31.854 --> 36:35.520 months . We are 36:36.170 --> 36:38.510 seeking information and I appreciate 36:38.510 --> 36:40.732 and understand why the press office can 36:40.732 --> 36:42.399 only say so much . So help us 36:42.399 --> 36:44.066 understand this . Who are the 36:44.066 --> 36:46.177 President's personal counsel that the 36:46.177 --> 36:48.343 Attorney general referred to today ? I 36:48.343 --> 36:50.454 have to get I was asked that question 36:50.454 --> 36:52.510 earlier . Let me get back to you . I 36:52.510 --> 36:54.510 actually don't have that answer . I 36:54.510 --> 36:56.677 think I know who it is , but I want to 36:56.677 --> 36:56.420 make 100% career . 37:00.190 --> 37:03.640 Uh so look again , 37:03.650 --> 37:06.300 I don't want to I want to say the right 37:06.310 --> 37:09.530 thing from here . So we would have to I 37:09.540 --> 37:11.596 would have talked to the White House 37:11.596 --> 37:11.450 Counsel or you would have to reach out 37:11.450 --> 37:13.394 to the White House Counsel to talk 37:13.394 --> 37:15.506 about . Who is his personal lawyers ? 37:15.506 --> 37:18.190 Who are the first set of documents were 37:18.190 --> 37:20.190 found in november at the penn biden 37:20.190 --> 37:22.357 center here in Washington . Why did it 37:22.357 --> 37:24.730 take until yesterday ? Until this 37:24.730 --> 37:26.990 morning . Apparently for whoever it was 37:27.000 --> 37:30.060 to inform robert lauch that that final 37:30.070 --> 37:32.210 document was found was that because 37:32.210 --> 37:34.321 there were press reports earlier this 37:34.321 --> 37:36.266 week again , there was that nobody 37:36.266 --> 37:38.700 would find out again because there is a 37:38.700 --> 37:40.710 process and ongoing process that is 37:40.720 --> 37:43.540 occurring . We did this by the book . 37:43.550 --> 37:46.280 And what I mean by that is the moment 37:46.290 --> 37:48.346 that the lawyers discovered that the 37:48.346 --> 37:50.568 papers were there or the documents were 37:50.568 --> 37:52.346 there . They reached out to the 37:52.346 --> 37:54.068 archives , they reached out to 37:54.068 --> 37:55.790 Department of Justice and they 37:55.790 --> 37:57.901 immediately rightfully so reached out 37:57.901 --> 38:00.123 to them to let them know what what they 38:00.123 --> 38:02.770 had discovered and that is the process . 38:02.780 --> 38:05.080 Uh that is what we , that that is what 38:05.080 --> 38:07.950 his lawyers did . Uh And again it's an 38:07.960 --> 38:10.071 ongoing process as you stated in your 38:10.071 --> 38:12.182 question . I am limited in what I can 38:12.182 --> 38:14.071 say it is now in the hands of the 38:14.071 --> 38:15.904 Department of Justice . They are 38:15.904 --> 38:17.738 reviewing this as you know , the 38:17.738 --> 38:19.793 special counsel was announced by the 38:19.793 --> 38:22.016 attorney general and so I will leave it 38:22.016 --> 38:24.127 there . What was the president trying 38:24.127 --> 38:26.293 to say when he referenced his corvette 38:26.293 --> 38:26.030 earlier today because it sounded like 38:26.030 --> 38:28.450 he was implying that because his garage 38:28.450 --> 38:30.810 is a safe place for his car . The 38:30.820 --> 38:34.440 documents were safe and 38:34.450 --> 38:36.672 therefore it was if it was safe for the 38:36.672 --> 38:38.839 car it was safe for the documents . Is 38:38.839 --> 38:40.950 that what he meant ? Look , I'm going 38:40.950 --> 38:42.950 to just leave his statement as is I 38:42.950 --> 38:45.117 think you your colleagues was having a 38:45.117 --> 38:47.339 back and forth with the president . You 38:47.339 --> 38:49.339 can read the transcript of what was 38:49.339 --> 38:49.160 asked of him and why he responded that 38:49.160 --> 38:51.216 way . I'm just not going to get into 38:51.216 --> 38:53.216 specifics you talked about . We are 38:53.216 --> 38:56.790 being transparent . Who's 38:56.790 --> 38:58.623 we and what is the definition of 38:58.623 --> 39:00.679 transparent in this case ? Is it the 39:00.679 --> 39:02.846 lawyers being transparent legally with 39:02.846 --> 39:05.068 the archives and the Justice Department 39:05.068 --> 39:07.123 or is it the White House large being 39:07.123 --> 39:09.234 transparent with the general public . 39:09.830 --> 39:11.719 And I've said this multiple times 39:11.719 --> 39:13.941 already . We take this very seriously . 39:13.941 --> 39:16.274 The president takes this very seriously . 39:16.274 --> 39:18.441 He was not aware that the records were 39:18.441 --> 39:20.552 there . Uh he does not know what what 39:20.552 --> 39:22.490 is in the documents . Again , 39:22.500 --> 39:25.050 classified information , classified 39:25.060 --> 39:27.060 documents . He takes very seriously 39:27.060 --> 39:29.850 when they were discovered and this is 39:29.860 --> 39:32.460 the right thing to do right . His 39:32.460 --> 39:35.470 lawyers reached out immediately to the 39:35.470 --> 39:37.303 archivists . They reached out to 39:37.303 --> 39:39.470 Department of Justice to let them know 39:39.470 --> 39:41.414 that the papers or the documents . 39:41.414 --> 39:43.414 Assistant archivist for the Justice 39:43.414 --> 39:45.637 Department because the Attorney General 39:45.637 --> 39:47.692 this morning said that the attorneys 39:47.692 --> 39:47.220 reached out to the archives , it was 39:47.220 --> 39:48.220 only later , 39:50.200 --> 39:53.800 I will leave it , I will leave it to 39:53.800 --> 39:55.689 what the Department of Justice is 39:55.689 --> 39:57.800 laying out what we are saying that we 39:57.800 --> 39:59.689 reached out to the archivist . We 39:59.689 --> 40:01.744 reached out to Department of Justice 40:01.744 --> 40:03.856 that is what is the right thing to do 40:03.856 --> 40:06.090 in this case and not . And and and so I 40:06.090 --> 40:08.950 can finish here um what has been 40:08.950 --> 40:11.500 transparent in this as well is that the 40:11.500 --> 40:14.210 White House Counsel has let has laid 40:14.210 --> 40:17.780 out in detail on monday to all of you . 40:18.110 --> 40:21.860 First of all , I can't talk about this , 40:21.860 --> 40:24.082 right , because it is the Department of 40:24.082 --> 40:26.138 Justice is reviewing it . There is a 40:26.138 --> 40:28.193 review happening ed right , you know 40:28.193 --> 40:30.360 this , we just heard from the Attorney 40:30.360 --> 40:32.304 General . There is a review . I am 40:32.304 --> 40:35.670 limited in what I can say to this . I 40:35.680 --> 40:37.680 think you should I think you should 40:37.680 --> 40:39.847 reach out to the White House Counsel . 40:40.640 --> 40:44.080 Ok , ok . I am saying to you that we 40:44.080 --> 40:46.302 have put out lengthy statements and you 40:46.302 --> 40:48.413 can reach out to them as you all have 40:48.413 --> 40:50.580 been doing and I will leave it there . 40:54.670 --> 40:57.040 They have been they have been talking 40:57.040 --> 40:59.096 to you all pretty regularly the last 40:59.096 --> 41:01.100 couple of days uh we have put out , 41:01.100 --> 41:03.267 they have put out a lengthy statements 41:03.267 --> 41:05.760 on this , I just read out what Richard 41:05.760 --> 41:08.190 Sarver had to say and I would refer you 41:08.190 --> 41:10.079 to the White House Counsel . I am 41:10.079 --> 41:11.968 limited in what I can say because 41:11.968 --> 41:14.300 because the Department of Justice we 41:14.300 --> 41:16.250 see them being independent when it 41:16.250 --> 41:19.040 comes to these types of issues and so 41:19.050 --> 41:21.050 I'm not going to go beyond what the 41:21.050 --> 41:23.161 President said said and I'm not going 41:23.161 --> 41:25.272 to go beyond what the lawyer said . I 41:25.272 --> 41:27.272 have to go around . You've asked me 41:27.272 --> 41:29.383 about me and there's gonna be a limit 41:29.383 --> 41:31.439 in transparency . Public , non legal 41:31.439 --> 41:33.661 transparency and what can be shared and 41:33.661 --> 41:35.883 said , I disagree . There has , I agree 41:35.883 --> 41:37.828 that there has not been a limit of 41:37.828 --> 41:40.130 transparency that is that is that is 41:40.130 --> 41:41.797 there has not been a limit of 41:41.797 --> 41:43.574 transparency that I will I will 41:43.574 --> 41:46.370 disagree with you on that Justin Justin 41:46.370 --> 41:50.000 thanks , I did want to follow up on and 41:50.050 --> 41:52.490 we're asking which is putting aside the 41:52.500 --> 41:54.500 question of whether the President's 41:54.500 --> 41:56.667 lawyers acted properly and handing the 41:56.667 --> 41:58.889 documents over . There's this lingering 41:58.889 --> 42:00.667 question of why there wasn't an 42:00.667 --> 42:02.722 acknowledgement of the second set of 42:02.722 --> 42:04.833 documents earlier this week . And you 42:04.833 --> 42:06.778 said that you're working through a 42:06.778 --> 42:09.000 process and going by the book . And I'm 42:09.000 --> 42:11.222 what I'm curious is it if you're trying 42:11.222 --> 42:13.278 to sort of hint at the idea that the 42:13.278 --> 42:15.278 Justice Department asked you not to 42:15.278 --> 42:17.389 reveal the second set of documents or 42:17.389 --> 42:19.222 you were told in some way not to 42:19.222 --> 42:19.100 disclose anything that had not been 42:19.100 --> 42:21.322 made public . I would not jump to those 42:21.322 --> 42:23.489 two conclusions . That is not what I'm 42:23.489 --> 42:25.656 stating . I am genuinely saying to you 42:25.656 --> 42:27.878 there is an ongoing process that we are 42:27.878 --> 42:29.878 going to follow and I am limited in 42:29.878 --> 42:32.044 what I can say from here . That is why 42:32.044 --> 42:34.156 my White House counsel colleagues are 42:34.156 --> 42:36.750 that we refer to them these past couple 42:36.750 --> 42:38.861 of days . Now this is in the hands of 42:38.861 --> 42:41.083 the Department of Justice as well as as 42:41.083 --> 42:43.306 you all heard from the Attorney General 42:43.306 --> 42:46.440 himself , I guess I remain confused . 42:46.450 --> 42:48.506 If the Justice Department didn't ask 42:48.506 --> 42:50.617 you not to disclose these documents . 42:50.617 --> 42:53.340 Why on one day as this news was coming 42:53.340 --> 42:55.700 out Tuesday as I was talking about it . 42:55.710 --> 42:57.821 You didn't say . Here's everything we 42:57.821 --> 43:01.390 know at this point . You know the first 43:01.390 --> 43:03.334 that was found at the center . The 43:03.334 --> 43:05.480 second set was founded his office for 43:05.490 --> 43:07.490 searching to make sure that there's 43:07.490 --> 43:09.712 nothing else because there's an ongoing 43:09.712 --> 43:11.823 process and you heard directly from , 43:11.823 --> 43:13.934 from the attorney general today . And 43:13.934 --> 43:16.101 that is the process . That is how this 43:16.101 --> 43:18.101 is going to go . It is not going to 43:18.101 --> 43:20.323 come from here from me at this podium . 43:20.323 --> 43:22.546 It is going to come from the Department 43:22.546 --> 43:24.768 of Justice and that is just the process 43:24.768 --> 43:26.823 that's happening currently bad about 43:26.823 --> 43:25.970 chasing Kirby from the room . So I'm 43:25.970 --> 43:28.192 gonna ask you one thing , not about the 43:28.192 --> 43:30.192 special counsel . Now you can't you 43:30.192 --> 43:32.414 can't now ask a question that you could 43:32.414 --> 43:34.470 have asked the Kirby . It wasn't for 43:34.470 --> 43:36.414 Kirby for you . You got a question 43:36.414 --> 43:38.248 yesterday actually about Moderna 43:38.248 --> 43:40.470 raising the prices of the Covid vaccine 43:40.470 --> 43:42.581 and said that you take the question , 43:42.581 --> 43:44.803 did I actually did . And Michael is not 43:44.803 --> 43:46.581 here . I was gonna provide this 43:46.581 --> 43:48.920 information to him today . So I don't 43:48.920 --> 43:51.142 want first , I don't want anybody to be 43:51.142 --> 43:53.253 confused here . As you know , this is 43:53.253 --> 43:55.476 incredibly important . So you can go to 43:55.476 --> 43:57.587 90,000 locations and get a Moderna or 43:57.587 --> 44:00.430 any Covid 19 shot for free . That is 44:00.430 --> 44:02.760 currently what folks can do and they 44:02.760 --> 44:05.000 are our best protection against the X . 44:05.000 --> 44:08.440 B . B 1.5 right now . So please if you 44:08.440 --> 44:10.496 haven't , please go get your shot as 44:10.496 --> 44:12.551 you've heard from me as you've heard 44:12.551 --> 44:15.240 from our covid 19 team here has been 44:15.240 --> 44:17.470 very clear on why this is important and 44:17.470 --> 44:20.230 why folks get their shots when as it 44:20.230 --> 44:22.286 relates to the question what Senator 44:22.286 --> 44:24.230 Sanders is talking about is future 44:24.230 --> 44:27.170 shots and the process of moving forward . 44:27.180 --> 44:29.390 Moving toward a commercial market for 44:29.390 --> 44:32.100 covid shots . So we share this concern 44:32.100 --> 44:34.480 that those shots should be affordable . 44:34.550 --> 44:37.110 That is something that we , we share 44:37.110 --> 44:39.480 the concern with Senator Sanders . The 44:39.500 --> 44:41.800 price hike here is hard to uh , to 44:41.800 --> 44:45.190 understand or to justify . Again . 44:45.200 --> 44:48.020 We we we do have those concerns as well 44:48.020 --> 44:49.964 and we believe that shot should be 44:49.964 --> 44:52.187 affordable . We had to have a couple of 44:52.187 --> 44:54.298 basic geography questions You may not 44:54.298 --> 44:56.464 be able to answer , but is the library 44:56.464 --> 44:59.650 room adjacent to the garage ? Again , I 44:59.660 --> 45:02.230 don't have any any of this information 45:02.230 --> 45:04.397 that I can provide . I would , this is 45:04.397 --> 45:07.860 under review . I would , I would uh 45:07.870 --> 45:09.926 refer you to Department of Justice . 45:09.926 --> 45:12.148 I'm just not going to go into specifics 45:12.148 --> 45:14.370 here . Not something that I can do from 45:14.370 --> 45:16.592 here is the President's corvette stored 45:16.592 --> 45:18.759 in the garage where the documents were 45:18.759 --> 45:21.870 found . Just I will basically repeat 45:21.870 --> 45:24.037 what the president said . His corvette 45:24.037 --> 45:26.037 is in the garage . I'm not gonna go 45:26.037 --> 45:28.148 beyond what the president said And on 45:28.148 --> 45:31.460 the transparency issue . Um would you 45:31.470 --> 45:34.570 um admit that earlier this week the 45:34.570 --> 45:36.237 White House shared incomplete 45:36.237 --> 45:38.403 information . I think that when we all 45:38.403 --> 45:40.459 heard Merrick Garland say that these 45:40.459 --> 45:42.570 documents of the residents were found 45:42.570 --> 45:44.348 on december 20th that they were 45:44.348 --> 45:46.459 notified . That was pretty surprising 45:46.459 --> 45:48.514 to all of us based on the statements 45:48.514 --> 45:50.459 that you and the president and the 45:50.459 --> 45:52.681 counsel's office had made . Well , as I 45:52.681 --> 45:54.514 just said that as you saw in our 45:54.514 --> 45:56.514 statement , the documents that were 45:56.514 --> 45:58.348 found last night where they come 45:58.348 --> 46:00.070 completed . Uh the search with 46:00.070 --> 46:02.237 documents being found last night . And 46:02.237 --> 46:04.348 then this morning we put out , we put 46:04.348 --> 46:06.403 out , you heard from the White House 46:06.403 --> 46:08.626 Counsel . Uh we put out the information 46:08.626 --> 46:11.300 on specifically what was found last 46:11.300 --> 46:13.467 night . The search was continuing . It 46:13.467 --> 46:15.467 was ongoing . The process , as I've 46:15.467 --> 46:17.990 been saying was ongoing and the search 46:17.990 --> 46:20.046 is clearly complete and therefore we 46:20.046 --> 46:22.323 shared the information with all of you . 46:22.323 --> 46:24.490 Again , this is an ongoing process . I 46:24.490 --> 46:26.546 would refer you to the Department of 46:26.546 --> 46:28.434 Justice or any other specifics or 46:28.434 --> 46:30.490 particulars uh even on timeline . Uh 46:30.490 --> 46:32.490 any other questions that you have ? 46:33.680 --> 46:35.890 I'm gonna go back 46:36.180 --> 46:40.160 uh a 46:40.170 --> 46:42.003 couple of questions . But is the 46:42.003 --> 46:44.114 President confident you said that the 46:44.114 --> 46:46.281 search has been completed ? But is the 46:46.281 --> 46:48.392 President confident that there are no 46:48.392 --> 46:48.340 additional documents , classified 46:48.340 --> 46:50.229 markings that remain in any other 46:50.229 --> 46:52.860 additional locations ? I can just refer 46:52.860 --> 46:55.027 you to what his team said . The search 46:55.027 --> 46:57.027 is complete . Uh He is confident in 46:57.027 --> 46:59.193 this process and I will leave it there 46:59.193 --> 47:01.304 and and they've been cooperating very 47:01.304 --> 47:03.582 closely with the Department of Justice . 47:03.582 --> 47:05.582 And we've gotten a statement at the 47:05.582 --> 47:05.230 White House . Did not get advanced 47:05.230 --> 47:07.452 notice that Garland was pointing . That 47:07.452 --> 47:09.452 is correct . When did the President 47:09.452 --> 47:12.180 learn ? How did he learn ? Was it from 47:12.180 --> 47:14.236 the press conference ? Did you get a 47:14.236 --> 47:16.402 heads up before that ? We learned from 47:16.402 --> 47:18.569 the press conference ? The President , 47:18.569 --> 47:20.624 we were not giving a heads up and we 47:20.624 --> 47:22.624 learned from the press conference . 47:23.570 --> 47:25.626 Look , he was at a funeral . To your 47:25.626 --> 47:27.737 point , maybe one of his , one of his 47:27.737 --> 47:29.848 senior advisers may have told him , I 47:29.848 --> 47:31.959 actually don't know specifically when 47:31.959 --> 47:34.070 he knew . But what I can say to you , 47:34.070 --> 47:36.126 he was we were not giving a heads up 47:36.126 --> 47:35.630 that I can confirm , as you all know 47:35.630 --> 47:37.852 already , Have you had a chance to talk 47:37.852 --> 47:40.350 to him ? I have not had a chance to 47:40.350 --> 47:42.572 talk to the President about this or his 47:42.572 --> 47:45.520 reaction . Um , does the White House 47:45.520 --> 47:47.900 feel like House republicans have a 47:47.900 --> 47:51.270 right to conduct an investigation on 47:51.280 --> 47:53.224 documents issue ? They of course , 47:53.224 --> 47:55.280 started started sending requests and 47:55.280 --> 47:55.210 saying they're going to look into this . 47:55.220 --> 47:58.590 Um does that fall in the realm of sort 47:58.590 --> 48:00.757 of legitimate requests from from House 48:00.757 --> 48:02.868 republicans ? Look , I'm not going to 48:02.868 --> 48:05.090 speak to the what the House republicans 48:05.090 --> 48:07.201 decide to do ? What I can speak to is 48:07.201 --> 48:09.368 that we are the President's lawyers is 48:09.368 --> 48:11.534 complying and they are working on this 48:11.534 --> 48:13.701 with the Department of Justice as they 48:13.701 --> 48:15.812 have been . Again , this is something 48:15.812 --> 48:18.034 that the President takes very seriously 48:18.034 --> 48:20.368 when it comes to classified information . 48:20.368 --> 48:19.550 When it comes to classified documents , 48:19.560 --> 48:22.180 I'm just not going to go into what what 48:22.190 --> 48:24.360 the republicans on the House do or 48:24.360 --> 48:26.527 don't do , and then just separate from 48:26.527 --> 48:28.471 from this . I was wondering if the 48:28.471 --> 48:30.471 White House had any thoughts on the 48:30.471 --> 48:32.471 Senate primary in California that's 48:32.471 --> 48:34.360 shaping up . So as you know , the 48:34.360 --> 48:37.230 president uh sees Senator Feinstein as 48:37.230 --> 48:40.330 a longtime friend and also a colleague 48:40.330 --> 48:42.340 who he deeply respects and has 48:42.340 --> 48:44.507 collaborated on his historic pieces of 48:44.507 --> 48:47.230 legislation over the years and such as 48:47.240 --> 48:49.129 the last federal ban on assault , 48:49.129 --> 48:51.400 assault , assault weapons . So he 48:51.400 --> 48:53.590 respects the talented officials in 48:53.590 --> 48:55.770 California who are expressing interest 48:55.770 --> 48:57.850 in running for her seat . And we are 48:57.850 --> 49:00.560 prohibited from here as you know about 49:00.570 --> 49:02.737 talking about campaigns or elections , 49:02.737 --> 49:04.848 not something that I can do from from 49:04.848 --> 49:06.403 the podium . So it would be 49:06.403 --> 49:08.514 inappropriate for me to weigh in with 49:08.514 --> 49:10.403 more specifics on any forthcoming 49:10.403 --> 49:12.514 Senate race , including including the 49:12.514 --> 49:14.737 one in California . But clearly he sees 49:14.737 --> 49:17.014 her as a longtime friend and colleague . 49:17.014 --> 49:19.126 Yeah . The president , when he was in 49:19.126 --> 49:21.170 Mexico city and asked about the 49:21.180 --> 49:23.450 classified documents that were found in 49:23.460 --> 49:25.404 in the private office of the biden 49:25.404 --> 49:27.960 center said that he didn't know what 49:27.970 --> 49:30.900 the documents contained what was in 49:30.900 --> 49:33.011 them . Is that the case also with the 49:33.020 --> 49:35.870 documents found uh his wellington 49:35.880 --> 49:37.991 residents that he didn't , he doesn't 49:37.991 --> 49:40.530 know what those documents involved 49:40.550 --> 49:42.606 already answered the question and he 49:42.606 --> 49:44.772 does not know . He's not aware of that 49:44.772 --> 49:46.883 the doctor . The records were there . 49:46.883 --> 49:49.106 I'll come over . Sorry , could you just 49:49.106 --> 49:51.161 clarify a little bit more about when 49:51.161 --> 49:53.328 you say that we inform the archives of 49:53.328 --> 49:55.550 the Department of justice immediately . 49:55.550 --> 49:57.772 Since this happens in various points in 49:57.772 --> 49:57.580 time . What exactly was said at this 49:57.590 --> 49:59.812 juncture because it seems to me there's 49:59.812 --> 50:02.146 some conflict there and some look again , 50:02.146 --> 50:04.034 I will refer to the Department of 50:04.034 --> 50:06.146 Justice . What I can tell you is that 50:06.146 --> 50:07.868 his lawyers reached out to the 50:07.868 --> 50:10.146 archivist to the Department of Justice , 50:10.146 --> 50:12.257 which is what you're supposed to do , 50:12.257 --> 50:12.090 which is the right thing to do . I'm 50:12.090 --> 50:14.690 not gonna get into specifics of of who 50:14.700 --> 50:16.700 who they reached out to . First . I 50:16.700 --> 50:18.644 would refer you to the White House 50:18.644 --> 50:20.756 Counsel to get more specifics . It is 50:20.756 --> 50:22.756 an ongoing process . Uh And I would 50:22.760 --> 50:24.871 again refer to either the White House 50:24.871 --> 50:26.871 Counsel , Department of Justice for 50:26.871 --> 50:29.038 that for that specific question . Just 50:29.038 --> 50:31.149 a couple of outstanding clarification 50:31.149 --> 50:33.260 before I get to questions . Um Salver 50:33.260 --> 50:35.482 said there were documents in the garage 50:35.482 --> 50:37.649 and one document in an adjacent room . 50:37.649 --> 50:39.482 Merrick Garland said the doj was 50:39.482 --> 50:41.482 informed of one additional document 50:41.482 --> 50:43.260 this morning . Is that the same 50:43.260 --> 50:45.371 document ? Additional document in the 50:45.371 --> 50:47.427 document ? So let me just say during 50:47.427 --> 50:49.593 the review . And this is so that folks 50:49.593 --> 50:51.482 know the lawyers discovered among 50:51.482 --> 50:53.704 personal and political papers . A small 50:53.704 --> 50:55.538 number of additional Obama biden 50:55.538 --> 50:57.704 administration records with classified 50:57.704 --> 50:59.482 markings . All but one of these 50:59.482 --> 51:01.593 documents were found in storage space 51:01.593 --> 51:01.310 and the President's Wilmington's 51:01.310 --> 51:04.470 residents uh garage . One document 51:04.470 --> 51:06.581 consisting of one page was discovered 51:06.581 --> 51:08.692 among stored materials in an adjacent 51:08.692 --> 51:10.803 room . No documents were found in the 51:10.803 --> 51:12.859 Rehoboth Beach House . Look , I just 51:12.859 --> 51:14.637 want to underscore that this is 51:14.637 --> 51:17.240 something again , that , that the 51:17.250 --> 51:20.020 President takes very seriously . Uh it 51:20.030 --> 51:22.620 underscores how we executed the search 51:22.620 --> 51:25.610 with the doj uh to to make , to make 51:25.610 --> 51:27.666 sure that they continued cooperating 51:27.666 --> 51:29.930 fully with the review . And I think 51:29.930 --> 51:32.740 that is what we are trying to be to be 51:32.740 --> 51:35.200 very clear about is that we have been 51:35.210 --> 51:37.180 the President's lawyers has been 51:37.180 --> 51:39.990 cooperating fully fully . I'm not going 51:39.990 --> 51:42.670 to get into the specifics as to uh you 51:42.670 --> 51:44.837 have the statement , I would refer you 51:44.837 --> 51:46.948 to the President's lawyer or anything 51:46.948 --> 51:49.170 else specific on this or the Department 51:49.170 --> 51:51.226 of Justice because they are actually 51:51.226 --> 51:53.392 reviewing this currently to go back to 51:53.392 --> 51:53.120 something we're trying to pin down 51:53.120 --> 51:55.120 yesterday . Can you tell us today ? 51:55.120 --> 51:56.898 When did the President find out 51:56.898 --> 51:58.898 initially about that first batch of 51:58.898 --> 52:01.120 documents and then the second batch are 52:01.120 --> 52:03.287 reporting says he was told on november 52:03.287 --> 52:05.453 2nd , Is that true ? So what I can say 52:05.453 --> 52:07.564 to you is that the President has been 52:07.564 --> 52:09.930 kept uh has been kept informed by his 52:09.930 --> 52:12.520 counsel throughout this process . I 52:12.830 --> 52:14.920 don't have a specific date but I can 52:14.920 --> 52:16.976 tell you that the President was kept 52:17.250 --> 52:19.710 informed throughout . Don't have a 52:19.720 --> 52:21.831 timeline to share for you right now . 52:21.831 --> 52:23.887 Again , this is under ongoing review 52:23.887 --> 52:25.998 and so want to be careful and prudent 52:25.998 --> 52:28.220 on what I share here at the podium when 52:28.220 --> 52:30.276 the search started and why they were 52:30.276 --> 52:32.442 searching in the first place . Was the 52:32.442 --> 52:32.060 President concerned that there may be 52:32.060 --> 52:34.760 classified documents them off ? What 52:34.760 --> 52:36.982 sparked this again ? I'm just not going 52:36.982 --> 52:39.149 to go into details from here . I'm not 52:39.149 --> 52:41.316 going to go into specifics from here . 52:41.316 --> 52:43.800 This is undergoing on this review is 52:43.800 --> 52:46.380 continuing its ongoing . I would refer 52:46.380 --> 52:48.602 you to Department of Justice . You have 52:48.602 --> 52:50.602 said repeatedly , the President has 52:50.602 --> 52:52.824 said he takes classified documents very 52:52.824 --> 52:54.880 seriously . If that's the case , why 52:54.880 --> 52:56.991 were these classified documents being 52:56.991 --> 52:59.269 stored in his garage ? Look again . Um , 52:59.269 --> 53:01.324 and not just me , he has said this . 53:01.324 --> 53:03.324 You've heard the President say this 53:03.324 --> 53:05.436 twice already . Um and he's said this 53:05.436 --> 53:07.213 before classified documents and 53:07.213 --> 53:09.047 information . He takes that very 53:09.047 --> 53:13.010 seriously . And you see , I'm 53:13.010 --> 53:17.000 not going to go into uh into into 53:17.000 --> 53:19.056 what he thinks or how he feels about 53:19.056 --> 53:21.111 what is currently happening ? What I 53:21.111 --> 53:23.111 can say for sure . When it comes to 53:23.111 --> 53:25.800 this specific issue about classified 53:25.800 --> 53:27.411 documents , about classified 53:27.411 --> 53:29.244 information , he takes that very 53:29.244 --> 53:31.356 seriously . He did not know , right . 53:31.356 --> 53:33.633 He did not know the records were there . 53:33.633 --> 53:35.800 He was surprised that the records were 53:35.800 --> 53:37.911 there . So let's be very clear . That 53:37.911 --> 53:40.078 is something that the President shared 53:40.078 --> 53:42.244 with all of you on the world stage and 53:42.244 --> 53:44.411 also recently today . Uh and uh and so 53:44.411 --> 53:47.090 what he , what occurred was as I've 53:47.090 --> 53:49.146 said multiple times before , is when 53:49.146 --> 53:51.312 his team identified that these records 53:51.312 --> 53:55.240 existed , they did , they , they handed 53:55.240 --> 53:57.407 them over to the archives and also the 53:57.407 --> 54:00.140 Department of Justice one more . Do you 54:00.140 --> 54:02.940 acknowledge that the fact that the 54:02.950 --> 54:05.650 White House did not revealed this to 54:05.650 --> 54:07.872 the public despite the fact that you've 54:07.872 --> 54:10.094 known about it for months undercuts the 54:10.094 --> 54:11.706 President's promise of being 54:11.706 --> 54:13.983 transparent . But but here's the thing , 54:13.983 --> 54:16.500 they were transparent . There was there 54:16.500 --> 54:18.720 was transparency in doing what you're 54:18.720 --> 54:21.360 supposed to do when these items were 54:21.360 --> 54:25.310 discovered . People look I'm here 54:25.310 --> 54:27.254 standing in front of you and these 54:27.254 --> 54:29.421 questions , right ? The President took 54:29.421 --> 54:31.310 two questions this week on this . 54:31.310 --> 54:33.440 You've heard we let me just answer 54:33.450 --> 54:35.339 you've heard from the White House 54:35.339 --> 54:37.780 Counsel who put out multiple statements 54:37.790 --> 54:40.600 on this . And so again this is an 54:40.610 --> 54:43.620 ongoing process . We want to respect 54:43.630 --> 54:47.070 the process and we have laid out very 54:47.070 --> 54:50.900 clearly what occurred uh and again , I 54:50.910 --> 54:53.021 don't want to get ahead of this . The 54:53.021 --> 54:55.243 Department of Justice . You you all can 54:55.243 --> 54:57.410 well we'll get your questions answered 54:57.410 --> 54:59.990 from them during during this , during 54:59.990 --> 55:02.101 this time . And so I would just refer 55:02.101 --> 55:04.323 you to Department of Justice and now as 55:04.323 --> 55:03.990 you all know , there's a special 55:03.990 --> 55:06.450 counsel . Thank you Karine . Another 55:06.450 --> 55:10.390 one on garage gate . What is 55:10.390 --> 55:12.290 the White House trying to hide ? 55:14.780 --> 55:18.230 Someone gave the President a statement 55:18.240 --> 55:21.350 to read on Tuesday that was incomplete 55:21.360 --> 55:24.640 at best , misleading at worst . Who ? 55:26.110 --> 55:28.054 So I have read out the President's 55:28.054 --> 55:29.777 statement . I have read it out 55:29.777 --> 55:31.832 yesterday and what he said . He said 55:31.832 --> 55:34.310 that he will , he respects or he takes 55:34.310 --> 55:36.366 classified information and documents 55:36.366 --> 55:38.532 very seriously . That's what he said . 55:38.532 --> 55:40.643 He said that he did not know that the 55:40.643 --> 55:42.754 records were there . He does not know 55:42.754 --> 55:44.977 what's in them . He said that you heard 55:44.977 --> 55:47.960 from him directly on this and his team 55:47.960 --> 55:51.520 has been cooperating fully fully . And 55:51.520 --> 55:53.631 not only that again , I'll say this . 55:53.631 --> 55:55.798 The attorney general said this himself 55:55.798 --> 55:57.798 that he heard from the team shortly 55:57.798 --> 56:01.290 after . So we have laid out , laid out 56:01.300 --> 56:03.760 uh , what has occurred here . You've 56:03.760 --> 56:05.927 heard from the White House Counsel ? I 56:05.927 --> 56:08.410 just read the statement from , from his 56:08.410 --> 56:11.980 lawyer and again , uh , you know , we 56:11.990 --> 56:14.020 take this very seriously and the 56:14.020 --> 56:16.187 President does as well . When will the 56:16.187 --> 56:18.850 White House release a love of visitors 56:18.860 --> 56:21.400 to the Wilmington's House ? You know , 56:21.410 --> 56:23.570 um peter you've this question or your 56:23.570 --> 56:25.570 colleagues have asked this question 56:25.570 --> 56:27.730 before . Let's not forget what we did 56:27.730 --> 56:29.397 here in this White House . We 56:29.397 --> 56:31.341 instituted something that the last 56:31.341 --> 56:33.286 administration got rid of which is 56:33.286 --> 56:35.410 putting out the White House , making 56:35.410 --> 56:37.632 sure that there was a White House log , 56:37.632 --> 56:39.577 extensive White House log . So the 56:39.577 --> 56:41.410 american people got to see again 56:42.590 --> 56:45.260 classified material . Again , I am 56:45.260 --> 56:47.371 telling you we did something that the 56:47.371 --> 56:49.593 last administration got rid of which is 56:49.593 --> 56:51.760 instituting the White House logs . Did 56:51.760 --> 56:53.760 you ask the last administration why 56:53.760 --> 56:55.927 they got rid of the White House logs ? 57:01.500 --> 57:03.810 President was calling the gentleman who 57:03.810 --> 57:05.921 wanted to ask a question that was not 57:05.921 --> 57:06.921 related to this 57:12.180 --> 57:15.790 regulation in Washington state . We've 57:15.800 --> 57:18.050 got the chairs of both the Senate and 57:18.050 --> 57:20.360 the House Commerce committees and 57:20.370 --> 57:22.537 congresswoman McMorris Rodgers put out 57:22.537 --> 57:24.814 a statement saying essentially , great , 57:24.814 --> 57:26.940 let's do it . Let's put forward this 57:26.950 --> 57:30.320 bill that passed for committee almost 57:30.320 --> 57:33.080 unanimously last Congress , the uh data 57:33.080 --> 57:35.302 privacy protection Act . I just want to 57:35.302 --> 57:37.413 know if the President supports in the 57:37.413 --> 57:39.358 White House supports that . So the 57:39.358 --> 57:41.413 President has long called for strong 57:41.413 --> 57:43.636 privacy protections . That is something 57:43.636 --> 57:45.802 that he's been doing . And calling for 57:45.802 --> 57:47.691 since almost the beginning of his 57:47.691 --> 57:47.610 administration . We are heartened to 57:47.610 --> 57:50.650 see bipartisan cooperation continue on 57:50.650 --> 57:52.761 this important issue on this critical 57:52.761 --> 57:54.817 issue , as the President said in his 57:54.817 --> 57:56.650 Wall Street Journal . And as you 57:56.650 --> 57:58.706 mentioned , as you were referring to 57:58.706 --> 58:00.928 the op ed that that came out recently , 58:00.928 --> 58:03.094 democrats and republicans need to come 58:03.094 --> 58:04.928 together to pass serious federal 58:04.928 --> 58:06.817 protections for americans privacy 58:06.817 --> 58:08.650 including the strongest possible 58:08.650 --> 58:10.650 protections for minors . That means 58:10.650 --> 58:12.539 clear limits on how companies can 58:12.539 --> 58:15.080 collect use and share highly personal 58:15.080 --> 58:17.420 data . We welcome to your question , we 58:17.420 --> 58:19.364 welcome the partnership of Senator 58:19.364 --> 58:22.170 Cantwell Chairwoman McMorris Rodgers , 58:22.180 --> 58:24.690 congressman pallone and others in 58:24.690 --> 58:27.070 getting a bipartisan product to the 58:27.070 --> 58:29.590 President's desk desk that protects our 58:29.590 --> 58:32.400 privacy and also protect the privacy of 58:32.400 --> 58:34.289 our Children . We think this is a 58:34.289 --> 58:36.622 critical important issue . Uh and again , 58:36.622 --> 58:38.790 we'll continue to that has been 58:38.790 --> 58:40.457 specifically pushed back from 58:40.457 --> 58:42.580 California . Lawmakers worried about 58:42.590 --> 58:44.812 preempting state laws like California's 58:44.870 --> 58:46.981 president believe that it's important 58:46.981 --> 58:48.814 to have a strong like a national 58:48.814 --> 58:50.814 standard for data privacy , even if 58:50.814 --> 58:52.814 it's weaker than individual state . 58:52.814 --> 58:54.981 Look , I don't have , I don't have any 58:54.981 --> 58:56.981 news to make about specifics of the 58:56.981 --> 58:58.870 pieces . That's what the specific 58:58.870 --> 59:00.981 pieces of the legislation . I'll just 59:00.981 --> 59:03.203 say , I'll just say this , we work , we 59:03.203 --> 59:05.092 look forward to working with both 59:05.092 --> 59:07.610 parties and both houses to get privacy 59:07.610 --> 59:10.290 and other tech legislation done . We 59:10.290 --> 59:12.346 think again , it's important for the 59:12.346 --> 59:14.250 protection of the protection . 59:14.260 --> 59:16.427 Protection of privacy is important for 59:16.427 --> 59:18.760 americans across the country . But also , 59:18.760 --> 59:21.530 let's not forget our Children was the 59:22.860 --> 59:26.160 thank you . Thank you . Thank you . I 59:26.170 --> 59:28.392 have a couple of questions here , but I 59:28.392 --> 59:30.559 wanted to follow up quickly . You have 59:30.559 --> 59:32.614 said repeatedly that the President's 59:32.614 --> 59:34.726 lawyers did the right thing . But you 59:34.726 --> 59:36.837 also said earlier during the briefing 59:36.837 --> 59:39.003 of the President's lawyers immediately 59:39.003 --> 59:38.770 reached out to the National Archives , 59:38.780 --> 59:40.558 uh , that quote , they were not 59:40.558 --> 59:42.391 compelled to do it . They did it 59:42.391 --> 59:44.650 voluntarily . Is it the position of the 59:44.650 --> 59:47.930 White House that legally the President 59:47.960 --> 59:50.127 just held onto these ? That's not what 59:50.127 --> 59:52.182 I'm saying . I'm saying they did the 59:52.182 --> 59:51.890 right thing period . I wouldn't read 59:51.890 --> 59:54.057 into it . I'm saying that they did the 59:54.057 --> 59:56.279 right thing and they did it voluntarily 59:56.279 --> 59:58.279 because it is the right thing to do 59:58.279 --> 01:00:00.446 when you find these types of documents 01:00:00.446 --> 01:00:02.668 to indeed reach out to the archives and 01:00:02.668 --> 01:00:04.946 reach out to the Department of Justice . 01:00:04.946 --> 01:00:07.390 So they and , and outside of that they 01:00:07.390 --> 01:00:11.140 have been cooperating very closely with 01:00:11.150 --> 01:00:13.039 cooperating very closely with the 01:00:13.039 --> 01:00:14.706 Department of Justice . It is 01:00:14.706 --> 01:00:16.400 rightfully so they did this , 01:00:19.810 --> 01:00:23.680 they did it , they did 01:00:23.680 --> 01:00:25.847 it . They did the right thing . That's 01:00:25.847 --> 01:00:28.069 it . I wouldn't I wouldn't go into down 01:00:28.069 --> 01:00:30.291 into rabbit hole on this . They did the 01:00:30.291 --> 01:00:32.236 right thing by reaching out to the 01:00:32.236 --> 01:00:34.180 archivist and to the Department of 01:00:34.180 --> 01:00:36.347 Justice , the White House , classified 01:00:36.347 --> 01:00:38.513 documents made before they ended up in 01:00:38.513 --> 01:00:40.624 his home in Delaware or in the office 01:00:40.624 --> 01:00:42.680 for instance , can you rule out that 01:00:42.680 --> 01:00:44.902 there was a third stop between a secure 01:00:44.902 --> 01:00:47.070 location and the garage ? Again , I 01:00:47.070 --> 01:00:49.403 would refer it to Department of Justice . 01:00:49.510 --> 01:00:51.510 There was a question that was asked 01:00:51.510 --> 01:00:54.530 about the visitor logs with regards to 01:00:54.530 --> 01:00:56.641 folks who have come in and out of the 01:00:56.641 --> 01:00:58.863 President's home in Delaware . Does the 01:00:58.863 --> 01:01:00.919 administration have any idea between 01:01:00.919 --> 01:01:03.030 the garage and the biden pen office ? 01:01:03.040 --> 01:01:06.930 Um , just how many people could have 01:01:06.940 --> 01:01:09.218 gotten their hands on this or you know , 01:01:09.218 --> 01:01:11.107 or we assume that the White House 01:01:11.107 --> 01:01:13.218 doesn't have an estimate that there's 01:01:13.218 --> 01:01:15.440 an ongoing review on this . And I would 01:01:15.440 --> 01:01:17.496 refer to the Department of Justice . 01:01:17.496 --> 01:01:19.551 And then , you know , just finally , 01:01:19.551 --> 01:01:21.773 the President has said that his lawyers 01:01:21.773 --> 01:01:23.996 have advised him not to ask what was in 01:01:23.996 --> 01:01:26.051 these classified documents . I don't 01:01:26.051 --> 01:01:25.970 understand the purpose of that . He's 01:01:25.970 --> 01:01:28.670 the President United States because 01:01:28.670 --> 01:01:30.781 we're trying to do this by the book . 01:01:30.781 --> 01:01:32.503 We're trying to do this in the 01:01:32.503 --> 01:01:35.080 appropriate way . And so that's what I 01:01:35.080 --> 01:01:37.330 would say to you . We have , we have 01:01:37.340 --> 01:01:40.050 his team has been complying right 01:01:40.060 --> 01:01:43.130 cooperating with with Department of 01:01:43.130 --> 01:01:45.241 Justice and I will leave that there . 01:01:45.241 --> 01:01:47.241 I'm not going to go beyond the book 01:01:47.241 --> 01:01:49.408 says that he can't look at this . What 01:01:49.408 --> 01:01:48.920 would compel him or push him in that 01:01:48.920 --> 01:01:50.642 direction ? Because he said it 01:01:50.642 --> 01:01:53.070 repeatedly . What I guess as he tries 01:01:53.070 --> 01:01:55.181 to do this by the book as he tries to 01:01:55.181 --> 01:01:57.070 do the right thing . What are his 01:01:57.070 --> 01:01:59.126 lawyers looking at that says , don't 01:01:59.126 --> 01:02:01.126 look at this classified information 01:02:01.126 --> 01:02:03.014 that there's a process here . The 01:02:03.014 --> 01:02:05.181 process is that when the lawyers found 01:02:05.181 --> 01:02:07.181 that these documents existed , they 01:02:07.181 --> 01:02:09.403 reached out to the archive and also the 01:02:09.403 --> 01:02:11.403 Department of Justice . That is the 01:02:11.403 --> 01:02:13.626 process and they have been uh they have 01:02:13.626 --> 01:02:15.459 been cooperating closely working 01:02:15.459 --> 01:02:17.770 closely with the Department of Justice . 01:02:17.780 --> 01:02:19.558 And now , as you've heard , the 01:02:19.558 --> 01:02:21.780 Attorney general made a statement today 01:02:21.780 --> 01:02:23.947 and so I would refer you to them . All 01:02:23.947 --> 01:02:26.250 right , everybody thank you . Oh , go 01:02:26.250 --> 01:02:28.417 ahead steve . In the last six months , 01:02:28.417 --> 01:02:30.830 the FBI has had to visit the home of 01:02:30.830 --> 01:02:32.830 the current and former president to 01:02:32.830 --> 01:02:34.997 collect classified material . Does the 01:02:34.997 --> 01:02:36.886 federal government have a records 01:02:36.886 --> 01:02:38.830 retention problem that needs to be 01:02:38.830 --> 01:02:38.610 addressed ? Look , I'm not going to get 01:02:38.620 --> 01:02:40.800 into the politics of this or the 01:02:40.800 --> 01:02:42.900 specifics of this . All I can say is 01:02:42.900 --> 01:02:44.956 the President has been very clear on 01:02:44.956 --> 01:02:47.067 this . He takes this very seriously . 01:02:47.067 --> 01:02:49.690 Again , he was surprised that the 01:02:49.700 --> 01:02:51.811 records were there that the documents 01:02:51.811 --> 01:02:54.033 were there . He does not know what's in 01:02:54.033 --> 01:02:56.144 them . His team did the right thing , 01:02:56.144 --> 01:02:58.144 right , Which is as the moment that 01:02:58.144 --> 01:03:00.422 they realized the documents were there . 01:03:00.422 --> 01:03:02.422 They reached out to the archive and 01:03:02.422 --> 01:03:04.589 they reach out to the doj . I will see 01:03:04.589 --> 01:03:07.990 you all tomorrow . Thank you everybody .