+(

' ' hi and believe me, there there are days where i'm like, oh, my god i can't talk anymore. criminal trials of. but this moment, especiallypened before. no president has ever been sitting in a court the subject. he's the defendant in a criminal trial. and communicate about it and expin ability. i will tell you, the people in here know who andrew weissman is. first, you do my point here. i've gotten to know all of these like amazing lawyers like him, a wonderful human being, which will not surprise me at all. i get more dms about him and whether single all sorts of that. 's this is the time we're living in.

everyone, everybody wants more us understand it. but yeah, we do talk so much about trump, but i also think that is a big part of the story right now that is the threat we're facing is when do you worry? you know in you think about what's on your show or just this balance identifying and tal yeah. and then also like joe biden has done a bunch of really impthings. you've worked on a whole bunch of them and all the polls show that no one, perhaps any of the people in this know what they were.ah. and so we deal with this on positive america all the time. it's just like, how old are you? yeah. how do you think about that when you put your show together? well, think about it. as much as i like him personally and it's not my responsibility to tell the story of his accomplishments, i do. and this is hard for any president to hear. he has had more legislative e any president in modern history. right. he's done a lot of things that are hugely impactful of you want to tell that story. and those weregs to get accomplished. to me, now is not the moment for it.

is the moment to draw the contrast with trump it do but how i think about the showe moments that show something the political climate choice. so we talked about the wisconsin event that he did a week ago where he went foxconn where trump had promised jobs and didn't deliver on t jobs and i thought that was like a good example, a kind of event that will break through right. but we think about it in terms of how we canto light things that aren't always covered but not think of it as it's sure people understand the eighth page of the ira. viewers. are neily looking for right. and we'll take a question for the audience here. he's talking about your first white house briefing. u prepare and did anything happen that you didn't expect? oh, god, i'm nervous for you. yes, i was really nervous first of all, because of the insurrection and it was just couple of weeks after that, most ofashington on lockdown. we actually had to meet at the national zoo to go to the white house. vxthat which is kind of crazy we

also had double masks on because g binder. i was rolling through the stuff i tell the story i the book about how the night before i knew because sat in so many briefings, i'd sat in like i had almost every office in, and press teams before i was the press secretary, thae going to ask me, i saw as my role and i would ever lie to the press. it sort of fare even important when you're thinking about follow ing the trump administration and in conversation with the president during the during the transition where was like i'm kind of a prepper if i go it's very obvious at this point that who did i learn that from this person who worked his tail off even he pretends now he's like a cool pod bro, but he still works works his tail off. but anyway i was so nervous in that first meeting, the firstiefing because was like he's going to ask me about like the south china sea and like different counties in the country. i didn't know, but the most thing to him was that i take the temperature down in the briefing room out of the room and make it more

of a room fornformation in not allowing propaganda, but information. and this is importantse i went into the briefing that day one, we made a decision to do a briefing on the first day to send a message i don't think had been done before, maybe, but not often because it' in the buildings. yeah. we yeah we certainly in india we took a week before we did it. yeah. yeu know nine. exactly. and so you didn't follow trump so there was not. yeah, but we until noon. but before that briefing i kept most important thing i could do was was thee answered that question. so i was very nervous. there's this video footage because jennifer palmieri was working at the circus she circus. they were there doing backstage stuff. and there's this video footage of crane and i kind of shimmying walk in. so it was just like shaking the nerve nerves off. i had had like a billion cups of coffee. i didn't sleep that first night wise but i really thoughts the first it was the first day where i was if confidence in the fbi director and of of the things i had not discussed that with him, it's like you'd assume. yes, h't know

and you shouldn't speak his behalf unless you've talked to himknow. and i kind left the door open so that was a littlethe first day. so that was a little. yes. in one of the things you write a lot about is one of the responsibilities forpress secretary, is people you work for a politician or anywhere in your life. is you have to be willing to give people all bad news. yeah right. write a lot about this. one of the stories you tell is when you had to tell me you were leaving the white house the first time. i don't know that that's a dramatic bad story. what it was for told, me and i could knew from the look the first thing her mouth i knew what was happening. i knew. i think i say that in the bo i could tell and i was jen writes in the book, i was on my way on vacation for like the first vacation you'd taken in in five years. and that was very rude of me. i'm nice. they came at thee worst summer of at that time of our because it was the summer that we stuck in that fight with thethe debt ceiling got to be almost obama's approval as consequence of that it almost killed both of

us like it was a brutal experience. yeah, but inter excellent. terrible. but jen told me and i took it on board. but it so like jen leaving and you had every right to leave. you had do it. and i was i you wellecause was was so refused to interview anyone else for the job for like four months or even a conversation with anybody about replacing jen that eventually david plouffe, who was a senior adviser ithe whuse, that i had sat me. i was like, i don't know what's wrong with you, but you have to solve this. because i was i no one replaced you. i just had to do all the wor terrible. but talk a little bit about some of the times you've had to book about president biden. yeah. meeting with president biden and dr. jill biden, i asked her, you know, what can i do to best serve both of you if i'm in this job? and she said, we've had we've gone through a lot in our lives. and i just need you to alwaystell us the truth. and that stuck with me, because

you do news when you are the and i that stuck with me and sat with me the summer working for president biden when during thedrawal of afghanistan was my the worst period of time during my time for him for reasons. certainly the day where we lost men and wod been during the attack on abby gate was the worst day in days after that president biden her with him in many of these moments, an through a lot of trauma and in his life. and he often goes to stories of his loss of his son, which happened just a few years, the loss of his wife and, his daughter, because when he them what helped him was people with him. their loss that doesn't help everybody who's through loss. grief is different for everyone. and so he had gone to the men and women who had lost their lives to afterwards. some of the families that all came and said they didn't appreciate that had talked about his owndidn't

that didn't help him that's their right that's the point that's part of why i tell story in the book. but i had to that n times writing a story about that so i had call them on aaturday and say deliver that news and basically said the new york times is writing this story. here's how we've managed story. they're writing that some of these families felt offended that you and upset that you had brought up your stories of your own loss and his really credit to him was the phone kind of went quiet for while and i was like, sir, are you still there? you still there? and he said, i's what he said is. there anything is there is anng else that's a tough because the story is going to be harsh. is warranted it's from people who had just been through the lives and you're telling someone who had lost two of his children fe sharing of grief was not helpful but it moments where you're working for somebody and, you know, in other aspects of your life to to be able to deliver tough news and

and so that's kind of part the lesson of that. and certainly that moment has stuck with me. you know it's i was really struck by you telling that because like that it i think it's beenst couple of years but this was a big part big discussion in they in this convention speech when we talked about beau is it that empathy and ing is what president it's sort of his brand. it's what he's known for like.house, myice was like west wheatley, white house staff. i don't know. th is st true, but back when we were there pre-covid you could after the president had gone home gone back that home ivy down the hallway to his houseprivate tours of the west wing. and my office was at the very oval office at the time and vic leave in that day. and so say 15 times over the course of the two years i sat in thatuld walk out of i could hear president biden and vice president biden someone like would shoulder about something had happened. their lives slip or a loss of a family member, you know, cancer,

all these things and i always wondered, like, how did they get to that conversation so quickly? like they were just in the hallway. but it's just like that is who he is. i can only imagine how hard that was to tell to tell him that l thing in his had not the othat but yeah that is part of him and you when i him first of all when that when the biden team and they reached out to me about the potential for me toto interviewed for the job at the end of my job interview job interview with him, he was like, well, thanks for doing this. and i was like, okay, i don't know thank you. it, you know my, it was stuck with me about him. it wassomething people don't always see. but i hadknow if you should consider me for this job. he doesn't really know me very well. think could i did at the state department, other places there's to the voice of someone. and i will say about him, you know i was a little more comfortable in my own skin. i was early on working for obama. so i knew that i wanted i needed to build tha trust him. but a couple of weeks into

working for him, i was in the oval office and. i was giving an update on reporters and what they were asking about. ul in the oval office. and i said to him, i know this isn't something you should say that comes out of your should, but i said, i feel like i've known you for a because has this level of kind of empathy, but also kind of a down to earth ness, manyomts that is disarming in a different way than're very, very different but and people always see. what was the differences god. oscar and felix? i don't know this.l them that. you know i the thing of the perception this goes to kind of our early meetings with him is the perception of president obama is often that he is like this massive extrovert. right because. he's such a brilliant orator. i mean his speech he gave at the convention is still the st anyone to do a better one. and he has this nuanced way of talking issues that has led me so many times. i'm sure i'm alone in this room

to be like, oh, i wish i could call him and ask him about this. i wonder what he thinks about it. he, he. but the thingi would say, an introvert. i mean, he gathers his sicen energy being alone. right. he book know i mean he's not so he has this perception that's all the perception of him is so different from how he actually is is kind of a cerebral person he's extremeleffiyways efficient. and how he does like briefing preptter go in there like four points because you've got about 4 minutes. and like if he's something you're saying he'll ask a follow up and if he'll like keep walking with a cup coffee in his hands. right. so know over time there's an biden is an extrovert in a way that is it's true. we actually when we were going trips, trips when you go i mean, you're on force one, it's very cool. it is amazing. but it can be tiring, especially when you, the president, you're e doing everything else at the same time whatever's happening around the wtrying to get through an early couple of months, we were like,

he does'u know, we did. we brought a bunch of members of congress and elected officials on the plane so he could come hang out with them. that would obama's like worst night that would be punishment he's like it's like it would be like airable. but for joe biden and we realized he had like a bigger was like talking to people and engaging with people. and that's how he and it's such a difference the other thing is obama's he's like storyteller of so you could be in there in the oval office. ben labolt, who's our friend, is communications. after i told him this, before he took the job i like you're going to love him. he's great. i was like just warn you, you may be in the oval office like 5 hours time. press secretary, i would in there for a mog prep, you know hear if he was doing a press conference or just to get his feedback osomething. usually with obama that would be like 15 minutes at most. sometimes two or 3 hours. and i would say, sir i would like, are you going? i, i have to do briefing. that's my job. that's my job here. i've got to go do the press briefing. he's like, time in scranton, you know

and the thing likeou even like i would lose my mind that situation because you,z have leave your cell phone in a cabinet by the oval office. so likeíxre with the president, you know, nothing horrible is happening because someone will come in a war did not award that without someone informing you of that. but like, you know, you could feel your emails just up piling up like a yeah. and then you have to go deal with when you get back. yes. s differences i would say. soli thi week, president biden and donald trump to yesterday that's not a lot of time to that debate prep it's hard even for the most efficient presidents what uses they have to be president. yeah you have to be president at the same time right there is the world does nottop. questions from jake tapper, much probably to jake tapper chagrin, but that's h works. biden like when you say he you know you're in thehours sometimes if he i went when i was the white house communicatio director i went a couple of times to joe biden prep for

sunday shows and i would i did all 7 hours long. exactly i did all of obama's perhaps for like six years. i was always in charge of being the person who because i was equally impatient, who sort of ran th these things. boom, boom. you stop talking, you go and i did it. and you're like, yeah, boom. if somebody is talking and obama is leaning back and mayday. yeah, you know, i wrap thi they say, but i went to a joe biden prep for like a seven minute meet the interview and i was like like two and a half hours. again. yes. what are knowing him as you do and just the studio, as you point out, you haven't worked there for two. what do you think the process is going to b to navigate that process over the next six weeks here? well first of aleb prep, you actually practicing this practicid someone else playing the person. they build a replica of the stage match, the temperature of what the room is supposed to be. yeah. like thas. now, ron klain, he's. ron klain is amazing he may seem like a he's a tough is run more debate preps than anyone

ev. maybe. i don't know. he's run like every debate prep he's done well. he worked with first worked for ron on the gore campaign and he i don' debate properties intimately involved in that. yeah he did both of obama's he hillary's he did biden's. yeah. okay so he's a very he has also known president biden decades and he him, stop, stop talking,% there are five people on the planet who can do that. and he's one of tm_ say. which one of them? i think the challenge for presiden he's a prepper in sense that he often thinks that people will judge him for not having data point on every a['m like burn those cards because he best when he is just engaging in the empathetic way that we've all we've just described. so that's to be the thing to unravel from because everything you do with debate prep is you prep all the answers to the questions. a huge q&a document out, but the debate with donald trump is not to be like who knows more about how many bridges there are.

if it was, we'd be in great. yes. or we'd it's going to be so much about theink, and also about little bit of the needling, i thinksotage i think done a good and interesting job what they've done on social media. the campaign and they've been quiteggressive and he has been in needling trump a little bit getting under his skin they're gure out the right way to do that during debate. that's not like viewers aren't a there is a line there between and seeming like him right. corrt. which i mean obviously they're smarter than i am, but they're going to know about that line. butjust to make him look bad, it's to make look bad in contrast and make your contrast you in contrast with so that's the challenge. they'll pre back and forth and all of the things, but but i challenge is going to be letting go of laundry list o accomplishments of which he has many and data points that pre accomplishments because that is not winning any debate iing dynamic as the incumbent president always loses the first debate obama lost it was not good kerry obama's was

teible yes kf george w bush lost the first one. billntlogreat against bob dole and because the er it just did 700 primary debates and the previous president hasn't debated anyfor four years and they've been a situation where every person stands up and they enter a room to the world debating trump hasn't debated in four years, right? so that'll be an very. much, very much. and like what now, are you skeptical it' happen. no, i actually i' curious. you all want to know what he thinks. i mean, you are on america with tommy on wednesday and you said you were skeptical and headlines were written everywhere. jen psaki skeptical debates. i mean, you should they think is every for mike the salesman in the greater tri-state area knows like no deals done with donald trump. yeah chuck good sign. yeah to have to believe it is in their strong interest to debate. what about the details though, that the biden team put out.

i think it was i think that those are agree think that was in the offer from the formica salesman has questions yes and well, he has questions about the rfk jr part of it. but the no studio and there's talk after the but i think on the specifics of the microphone issue, one of thewas for the microphone of the non person not answer the question to be off. yeah so interrupt i know that's a good fighting for censorship of crowding for turning th that's the only reason i'm a skeptic is because trump feel you kw h'li of a regular out. i mean theoretically he co prison. yeah there'si'm just saying of andrew weissman was here he mig such yes there's going to be like an edgy i even know the outlet that will do it. politico i know you like. can there be a debate in prison? yes, that's about all right. we have a question. the audience here, i'm an audience member says iterning in the white house office of digital strategyall it as they call it. how you go. no, go ahead. is are you just just a big odiase

fan. oh, i love it. yo intern when dan and i started in the white. even though we and hip obviously we called the office the r yes. right. the new media team. yes. just to tell you how hare. we were there when it changed to office of d. it's true. the question is, how can we effectively communicate effectively, other with more peoplele have reduced attention spans? media has changed so much, particularly young v i think is the question. yeah what this is like the bazillionla every media organization and outlet in the world is trying to figure i'm a believer that you can't take yourself of i'm working through my own analogysocial platforms, even i different tick tock. yes. concerning china the whole thing is concerning facebook the lack of the spread of dissent. all these things are concerning. but you have to still use them to com facebook actually is not how you communicate with young people. obviously if i'm just using as an example that so that think is

one thing that sometimes people till debating like should we all just not use these platforms to just send a sign a message that they're all bad, no, we need to use them to communicate with campaign is doing that, i think is interesting and you don't always day is using the digital social media platforms is a form of organizing, right? so it's not just like speaking at psi to engage with people, which quite effective and we know from even our olden times that like neighbor to neighbor engagement or trusted sources are often people, you know, or friends or things like that. i still think it can be used as tool in that way in terms of reaching people. i mean, i of the biggest platforms. they have an with young people have younger audiences have not quite figured out how to usems beyond like linear television quite yet right or prints that is a delivery mechanism issue it's not th think there's like a an outdated ness of how mostmedia organizations are using media platforms. i n'k that solves entirely, but i think that is a place where there's opportunity and would he provide like a

greater stream of accurate information tobut dan believes there should be more progressive mediand that this is true also. that is also true. yes,say is i could not agree more looking the upcoming election, what is the biggest challenge? democrats and republicans.hmm. there was a there was a semicooh okay. i think for democrats, it's the home for a range of rsethey're with the president about any range o because feel disillusioned old school two things that i think are a challengee economy is very difficult. i've done it over the course of time it's also even difficult when you are the person sitting white house and in the oval office because you are blamed for things that people feel frustrated about in their everyday life. you may be responsiblemay not be able to control of it either. and when people system and failure to deliver on them, they want change. and change is not the sitting in

the white house ever. haat i think is a challenge for the republicans. i mean, trump is like a benefit and a challenge at the same time because he is obviously has a hold on the base people. but, you know, we always say people say nothing. he says ever. and it's all baked in. it's like, i don't know i don't know that we know everything's baked he's a person who feels more at risk saying something so crazy, so offensive, doing something that it turns people ey have no control over that as much. he is also energizing and you know, campaigning as the aggrieved and taps into the aggrieved. so i don't know. i would think. what do you think? i biggest for democrats is the economy. just, you know, in that new york times siena poll quarters of the economy is fair report yes numbers are worse among. young voters, hispanic voters and black voters. the three groups that those polls at least suggests where are having some struggles with the in that poll 30% of voters say t economy the

economy and or inflation is the single issue that willost. that is twice as big as, almost three e abortion, immigration are the two others that reached double digits. the restaurant si and it's like kind of that simple is that people have to feel either better about the economy or worse about what donald trump would do economy and i k thinprobably easier than the former yes to communicate at this point because we we're less than six months out and it's alarming as it is. and it even as things get people's like the economy getsad about the economy is like a lagging. ande even some, you like a historically significant change in inflation over the next five months won't necessarily may not. it could hopefully, but may manifest itself politicallyby the by the time people are right? yeah, that's right. you can also tell people they feel about the economy. yeah, theyone of the things you talk about a lot, the bo is sort of your interactions with reporters right? yeah, it's been a huge part of it. you are very gracious to reporters and your dealings with and you talk about it and you

talk in the book a lot about being very understanding as possible of are and how their lives and that like and you bring i personally incapable of like a real view. everyone's operating as much as possible in goofa but the majority majority majority of like real traditional reporters don't cover the white house are trying to do thest job they can. yeah. really hard. often poorly paid. hmm. situations when you look at how just curious from that perspective. right. and how you've dealt with reporters, what your take is on the feud between the new york timeand the white house. now, who've, you know, i think that and it could be this feud one way right from the it's right right. it seems ae way thing it kind of i was giving you an out there but no i me some of the reporting i think. but i think it biden to send a picture of him like signed and he sent a picture of

him and one of the people who worked in the eleva which i don't know upset them but the guy from therom the documentary. i think that i not have been an ad publicly fighting the times. that's just not style. it doesn't mean it's the wrong thing because i that that is a winning public argument. it looks, you still understand why they did it because there's huge frustration of the type ofng, the what they see as biased reporting trump, not friendly, friendlier to trump than is joe biden. this whole it exposes is this challenge in media rig live a challenge, you don't live as a challenge which is this notion that you ca you to kind of the threat that trump poses as side right and to the threat that he poses to democracy and to our country should be universally viewed right not that is not about like

the new york straight down the middle journalist saying this plan is better than that is a friendlier candidate than that friendlier candidate. it's like an existential. so in some of their answers what jonathan wrote a book to his credit where he ou no, he is like reporter that you wouldn't quescause he's tough but he called it out and i think moment people a lot of these media organizations and reporters are tanding in history in this moment is the question today. what do you miss most about what is an audience? gotcha. do you miss most about working in the white house? gosh, it's funny to say this out loud, but i worked in the white house more than any other job i've ever had in my adult life. three different times for two different president, three and. so there's a familiarity and understand of the operations of it and the flow of it and the people. i mean, down to like the people who work in the r desk, all these sorts of things. the rotas, the, you know, rece the states is what they're called. the ruth. i know. so there that i miss because

it's like what ii knew that the people working government and i mean i worked of years too. it's not where there's civil and foreign service officers who are not partizan all. but these are like people who know are trying to do good on an everyday basis. and you know what motivates. and so i that and so transitioning i's a transition early on the first night i did election night in 2022, i was snacks because i was like, i don't know, like anybody like i'm like, yeah, i don't have friends. so, you know, i missed that familiarity and i miss the people. follow up question from the audience. what do you miss the least? oh, my god. what i miss the least is beingkind of on call at everythin day. and you couldn't walk away. and this is still fear i mean you tell me i've met two years out. like at some point you'll get ove't bring my phone out here, not looking at my phone. i'm not going to bring it when i'm so train what if somebody what if i get an i'm like nobody's text it's it's fine i can get

back to them and you know there's like a you wait i would wake up in like a cold sw my phone blackberry, iphone, whatever. we did there. and there's you can never really ever be offna perino, of all people said to me that the thing about being on you have like know all things. you're under pressure. family you're actually off because like, what are you going to like? if you're like in a cabin in vermont, you're like anchoring a show. so that that has b kind a nice thing to be able to be present in a different way. there's this famous about dan bartlett, who was bush's communications dirr , and he eventually left the white house and he so after he left, he went golfing and. he ht h blackberry, him. and, like nine holes. he didn't get an email. and he called his wife and asked his wife to send him an email to test because he assumed he assumed his blackberry wasn't working. and it's like went right through. it's like, yeah, it i're kind of not in the know of all the things. i mean, that's what i missed too. cially moments of big crisis

in the jake sullivan's office or what's what's going on here? because when you' secretary, the communications director, you can do you to do that, to understand and youowr knowledge about how things work or kind of the players know the same level of detail of why a decision was. al night i really decided that i had to leave the white house was was i had gone to the movies with my now dinner first and she had to do an emergency call. she worke call at dinner because we had decided to she did she planned events for the white like is en decided there was an insane decision to potentially add in 24 hours, which you actually can. it's just impossible. she had do the call at 730 on dinner before the movie. then we went in movies and i had to leave the movie i had. then something happened and there was no reception in the movie theater, so i hato keep leaving every 15 minutes to walk into the lobby, to let my emails pile into my blackberry, respond to them, and then go back in. and theni went out. i realized that that conference

call, it started emergency council had to do that from the lobby. i was like, no more. can i do this anylike. yeah, that is what it is. good not liv true. but like you met like best actor. best professional perience. yes snow was a huge gift. we're down to our last question here. okay. what? erl communications staffer think life goal is to be the white house press secretary. whether you are secretary, a house member, you're council member like you look at that you want they call it the podium. yo wanted myself. and then i watched robert gibbs, obama's first answer he gave to briefings and i said to myself i cannot this i i'm a very in life with two children a much more calm person but i would have mur imagine me being yelled at by ed like get him starbursts or he and just like throw them into his. yeah, it was not good, but how did you. i mean, how did you manage?

how did you keep your calm up there with a bunch of people? peter doocy trying to get you upset a nightly basis or a daily basis? yeah well, i mean, on a serious note i remembered what the president had asked me to do. of course, you won't answer d i'll always have all the information, the goal. but the otherng the temperature down and not making it an environment that was venomous. now it mean you don't have discussions and debates and and and that's part of democracy. and you have them in there that was always sitting on my shoulder i also had this tactic that i used before i was the press secretary with reporters when they started getting escalatory or yelling and screaming, i just would pretend i was ané+ on asylum and like talk more calmly so was like this tactic that i developed time and i just used in the briefing room as well. and the last thing which i did, never did in the briefing room and i mentioned this in myna perino writes in her book about how the podium there was like a water i never used it. i don't know. i think i thought it wasnever brought water in

there from all the money in the world, just like i literally i would rather lose voice than were building water on cap. i was like, i can't. it's tomu she used to when were getting when the reporters were getting particularly uppity in the briefing room she would just put her hand in there andlip the bird. i didn't even know. im that. i never did that. but you kn aspiring press secretaries out there. i would say reading your book and really takint of lessons from me about how you very calmly dealt reporters was a real reminder how i really aspireo dealmall children like they. the more they escalate the the calmer you have to be. yes, it's so true. well jen, thank you so much, has been a great conversation. and thank all of you, too, for being here thanks. aki, author of say lessonsr joining us today, we encourage you to pick up a copy of jen psaki book here or at local bookstore, but especially and if you would like to support the club's effort in making virtual and in-person programing possible pleasviite at ww commonwealth

club dot org. take care so much everyone thankgood morning everyone.

thank you for joining us today to tnew the parent revolution. very excitinle to officially launch it here at