>> the house approd ban that could lead to the ban of take cap if his china-based owner doesotell its sta. democraticepresentative crockett of texas vod more thans use tiktok. the associated press writes its proscts arethe chinese governmeh could demand access to the data of tikk's consumers in the u.s. any time once. the stories stems from a set of laws that compel organization to assist with intelligence gathering. democratic leader hakeem jeffries held a news conference with reporters, answering their questions on a variety of topics including the tiktok bill. this is about 20 minutes.■k

mr. jeffries: good morning, everyone. house democrats will continue to work with president biden to create an economy that works for everyday americans to lower costs, continue our fht for better paying jobs, safer communities and of course to defend democracy and fight for reproductive freedom. a budget was released that will lower costs for everyday americans and build on the work that has already been done to drive down the gh lifesaving prescription drugs for millions of americans.

economy from the middle out and the bottom up that is focused on growing e ss and all those who aspire to be part of the middle class throughout america. s? most importantly, president biden and house democrats are focused on protecting and strengthening social security. notwithstanding what the former president down in mar-a-lago had to s social security and medicare. these are not entitlement programs. social security and medicare are american people work hard for throughout their entire lives and pay in to with the promise that as they become older

americans, they'll have access to■ social security and medicare so they can live a life with dignity and respect. social security and medicare are quintessential parts of the american dream. donald trump and the extreme maga republicans want to end social security and medicare as we know it. it's not a secret. they have said it publicly over and over and over again, including this week. and that will establish a clear contrast between president biden andre going to fight to protect and strengthen social security and medicare and extreme maga republicans who want to take these things away just like they ended roe v. wade and reproductive freedom for tens of millions of americans all across america. if it can happen@o roe v. wade,

then of course extreme maga republicans will continue to try to in the united states of america that we believe were untouchable and we're going to push back aggressively against it. questions? >> the house just passed the tiktok bill, how do you want the senate to handle it? mr. jeffries: it has to pass the bill in a decisive and bipartisan fashion and it's no o evaluate the merits of the legislation. i don't support a ban on tikk. the legislation did not ban tiktok. it's simply a divestiture of tiktok so the social media platform can be owned by an american company that would

protect the the privacy of the american consumer from malignant foreign interests like the chinese communist party. reporter: chris consumesoald waf passing the tiktok bill in the senate saying it's more urgent the house passes the taiwan, is. any concern about the senate either trying to hold this bill hostage for that one, slowing things down so tht forces the house to. mr. jeffries: i agree with mr. consumes that if our republican colleagues care about the broad and national security interests, the house republicans could bring the bipartisan comprehensive national security bill which would provide support

for our democratic allies and israel, ukraine and in the indo-pacific to counteract the chinese communist party and at the same time provide humanitarian assisnce to civilians in gaza and other parts of the world who are in harm's way through no fault of their own. if my republican colleagues care about the broadest set of national security challenges that the american people face, the most significant thing they can do is to put the bill on the floor for an up or down vote. and we all know it would pass with substantial democratic support. re the senate should hold the tiktok bill hostage until the house takes care of the other bill? mr. jeffries: who am the senate what to do in terms of their own agenda. they pass bills and consider it over to us for consideration and we pass billsnds now in the couf the senators and i trust leader chuck schumer.porter: so yesters

speaker johnson and -- [indiscernible] did speaker johnson indicate an? mr. jeffries: speaker johnson continues to maintain he understands the importance of passing the national security bill and fundingxé the ukrainian effort which has been brave and valiant. we cannot allow vladimir putin to succeed in ukraine as it will undermin security interests and that of the west, nato, and democratic allies throughout the world. we'll see what happens. i think the clock is ticking,

and we have to get the bipartisan national security bill over the finish line before we leave town next friday, march 22. before we leave wn it's reckless to do otherwise. reporter: some of the members felt the bill was rushed to the floor for tiktok. are you concerned and do you feel like the process was rushed? mr. jeffries: as i indicated in my statement, there were very principled objections raised by timing and process and i have no disagreement with them. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. now, byte dance is not die vest from tiktok and the app could be banned in the u.s. what is your message to american citizens whose jobs mayat talkio heavily rely on tiktok to earn a living? mr. jeffries: i do not support .

reporter: i'm curious, are there any changes the democrats have discussed how it is fdo you thin bipartisan support and have the leadership discussed it between the four corners? mr. jeffries: there are ongoing the appropriations level to see if an agreement can be reached. so i'm going to defer to rosa delauro who i have full faith and confidence in in terms of her ability to navigate the challenges that remain in all of the outstanding appropriations issues and things are moving in the right direction and hopefully will get russian well in advance. on the unrwa issues and a host of other issues before next friday.■q■ñ

ryan: on gaza, people think the president needs to cut off military supplies to war unless israel opens up the spigot of humanitarian aid and allows truck to get through so we're not doing care drops. do you believe the president is obligated under the law to cut off those military weapons for israel until the aid is allowed to flow freely to gaza. mr. jeffries: it's the president's persp going to continue as is his constitutional responsibilities to take care the laws are faithfully executed and as he indicated will contie to support israel's right to defend itself. and our commitment to israel is ironclad while at the same timee hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in so that we can help the innocent

civilians in gaza who are in harm's way through no fault of their own as well as civilians in other theaters of war across the country, across the world. reporter: heard from somere word given the lobbying campaign that is perceived with this tiktok vote, young voters will believe it's a ban whether it is or not and will punish the democratic party for joining it in force given that they overwhelming vote for democrat selections. is that a valid concern that there will be a backlash from young voters with this? mr. jeffries: i don't support a tiktok ban and i have every confidence in the world that as this legislation goes to the senate that tiktok will remain available to those who continue to enjoy the platform at this

very moment. reporter: looking ahead to the new york presidential primary, are you to be a large uncommitted or blank vote in the democratic primary? mr. jeffries: no, i wasn't concerned about that in advance of president biden's state of the union address and i certainly am not concerned about it now. president biden, as they say down south, showed up and showed out. he gave an incredible performance, it was strong and serious and substantive and filled with energy at a high level from the beginning through the middle and all the way through the very end. and when i've been back at home as well as on the road, the enthusiasm that i've seen from pr has increased significantly. it was high before among many base democrativotersut increasen

discernible ways subsequent to president biden's strong performance at the state of the union. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. back to ukraine and national security supplemental, it does seem like we're at a stand still here and i'm wondering if there's any push that you're able to able to make, with discharge commissions and obviously the senate bill is an option. what else can you do as democrats to move this knowing that the speaker is not willing at this point to engage in the discharge or engage in putting it on the floor. mr. jeffries: i would take issue politely with the notion thereg. one has 15 signatures, the other is about at 180.

that's not dueling discharge petition, it's a reaffirmation the only clear path is to put the bipartisan comprehensive senate passed bill on the house floor for an up or down vote and it will pass overwhelmingly with democrats and repub forward. and this week further validated that dynamic. we cannot allow ukraine to be will happen is that american lives are likely to be on the line, unless we were to believe that if putin wins in ukraine, he stops there. when he didn't stop in georgia .

breaking news. he's not stopping in ukraine. if he's be successful. and in that neighborhood, it's filled with nato allies, including poland,■b which is one of the reasons why president duda was so strongly supportive of making sure we continue to support the ukrainian effort. because democracy and the free world are on the line against democracy and tyranny. it's time for my house republican colleagues who believe that is the right thing to do to break with the pro putin maga extremist are ascendant in their conference and partner with us to do the right thing and support an up or down vote

on the national security package that was passed by the senate. reporter: to follow-up if i could, theou the military committee yesterday launched a reinvestigation of the january 6 investigation and planning a series of hearings, is that something the democrats are supporting? can you talk about what you see ming from this work? mr. jeffries: the effort to convince the american people that the january 6 insurreio was not a violent riot inspired by the former president as part of an effort to halt of power is just another extreme maga republican political stunt. at what point my republican colleagues choose to actually focus on issues that matter? from the very beginning of this congress, house democrats have made clear we're going to find

bipartisan common ground on any issue with our republican colleagues whenever and wherever possible in order to solve problems for hard-working american taxpayers. we need less chaos in washington, d.c. and more common sense.■7 and i don't know why my republican colleagues continue e american people, we should be putting people over politics and that's what house democrats will continue to do, focus on affordability, lowering costs, being able to access affordable housing, addressing the challenges at theor and fixing our broken immigration system. these are the issues we should be focused on. the january 6 situation was a violent insurrection that the american people could see and watch in real time with their own

this political stunt in trying to convince the american people that the violent insurrection was legitimate political discourse for a normal tourist visit is a joke. it's embarrassing. what's wrong with these extremists? you keep losing elections. it's not working. partner with us. let's solve problems on0-le. thank you, everyone. last question, sorry. reporter: yes. thank you. i wanted to follow up on the situation in gaza. president biden said over the weekend an israeli invasion of rafah would be a red line. israel rorts there a remaining commanders and brigades in rafah and they need to carry out an operation to eliminate them. mr. jeffries: what we have to do is make sure hamas is decisively defeated.

it's a brutal terrorist organization. and unless we defeat hamas, there is no possibility for just and lasting peace. but at the same time, we have to make sure we get the hostages out and assistance in to gaza decisively. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023]

>> friday night, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly roundup of c-span's campaign coverage. a5