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Understanding 9/11tv WH Press Secretary Public Engagement Dir. Hold Press Briefing CSPAN May 16, 2024 7:53pm-8:54pm EDT
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to download it or visit our website. c-span now, your front row seat to washington any time, anywhere. >> the house will be in order. >> this year c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress. since 1979, we have been your primary source for capitol hill providing coverage of government. taking you to where the policies are debated and decided all with support of america's cable companies. c-span 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> white house press secretary addressed reporters' questions to exert privilege over audio recordings with special counsel robert hur.
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white house steven benjamin talked about the 70th anniversary to talk about brown versus board of education. this is about an hour. >> madam president, that's
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right. try to be good. call out people. good afternoon. as president biden said during his campaign, no one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana. that's why in 2022, president biden requested that domplet o.j. review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. today the administration is taking a major step towards reclassifying from a shul one to schedule 3 under federal law. marijuana will no longer hold the higher level classification it currently holds over fentanyl and meth, drugs driving our nation's overdose epidemic and remove barriers to critical research. this is based on the work president biden has done on
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offenses for simply he possessing marijuana. his pardon for simple possession in october of 2022 and december of 2023 lifted barriers to housing, small business loans for thousands of americans. the reality is while white, black and brown people use it, black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted at higher rates. the president's actions today further his commitment to reverse longstanding injustices and right historic wrongs. next, i want to talk as part of our series of engagements this week and marking the 70th anniversary of landmark decision brown v. board of education. today, president met with families at the white house and
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generallings bennett, a plaintiff, boiling v. sharp that was argued along side and cheryl brown henderson one of the daughters of the lead plaintiffs, oliver in the browned very board. it represents litigation from the five cases that were combined under brown v. board of education and heard before the supreme court and naacp president and other members of the naacp were critical for fighting for these freedoms. the president was proud to participate in this meeting and honor the legacy who paved the way for progress and hard-fought rights for plaque americans and highlighting his vision on how we continue to build on these freedoms. joining us today to say more and make some new about this
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administration's to erase our senior p president, former mayor of columbia, south carolina. >> thank you, my friend. i miss being there. it's an existence at times. today at the white house recognizing commemorating the 70th anniversary of the landmark decision brown versus board of education becoming the law up ending decades of discrimination. president biden and vice president harris will continue their upstanding effort the honor to pave the way for hard-fought rights for african americans. he met with the plaintiffs and their families.
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in the oval office. he commended for changing our nation for the better and continue to move us closer to the promise of america. families from each of the five cases that were consolidated in brown v. board were present. tomorrow, the president will deliver remarks in washington, d.c.. he and the vice president, a proud member of the sorority will meet with leaders historically black fraternities and sore roits. and deliver a commencement address at morehouse college where the faculty gave him an honorary degree. president biden and vice president harris is the first hbcu graduate to serve as vice president and knows firsthand
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the value of hb krmp u's and pleased to announce that the biden-harris administration has invested $16 billion in historically black colleges and universities. a president biden has also canceled $160 billion, providing significant relief to borrowers with impact on black borrowers. the largest increase in a decade, helping students from low and middle income backgrounds pursue their dreams of a post secondary education. more than 60% are federal aid recipients. this is only a snapshot of what this administration has delivered as president biden and vice president harris have leveraged the full force of the government since their first day
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in office. as a result of their leadership black household family wealth is up 62%, more than 2.5 million jobs have been created for african-americans and in 2023 we had the lowest unemployment elected on the record, and that remains consistently low. unemployment at 4% for the entire nation for 24 months running. more than happy to take your questions, i think. >> you recently met with students and faculty at morehouse college. can you talk to us about the concerns they shared? dir. benjamin: i will do my best to be clear and transparent, because i also promised the students i would keep our conversations is once again as i could, but we get out across the country and spend at least two days of every week on the road somewhere, doing what my
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grandmother and other loved ones might have said, god give you two ears were reason. i wanted to hear what they want to do here under very special commencement date. four years ago many of them were denied a commencement because of the pandemic, the greatest pandemic since 1918, and wanted to make sure the president's goal to center the students and have a chance to discuss the real issues of the world they might have to address as leaders going forward was important, so we sat there and talked about everything. we talked about the affairs of the world. many of them wanted to talk about the middle east at war. we talked about reconnecting communities and the $160 million going to a project in atlanta working to undo the damage done by previous infrastructure investments and how it is reconnecting the community.
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we talked about wealth creation. each and every one of these young men were exceptional. five students all graduating seniors are off to do great things at institutions and great races of work for faculties and they shared individually what was important to them, but they wanted to make sure we were centering the young people, and the president did that on sunday. we talked on a range of issues. i have a college-age daughter who also attends an hbcu and a 17-year-old as of today. happy birthday, jordan. he is a real politician in the family. but their concerns and interest areas were not dissimilar from the two teenagers who live in our household. reporter: do you or the president have any concerns
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about the president's address overshadowing the commencement? dir. benjamin: obviously what will be most important are the words that the president articulates, and he feels very deeply about what this means to these young men. morehouse is a unique institution. some of you are familiar with the great legacy, probably the only place in the country that that many amazingly talented young men are being trained for leadership in the world. young black men know that the goal will be to use this as an opportunity to continue to elevate amazing work that has been done at morehouse over the last 1.5 centuries. reporter: i do wonder what kind of reception do you expect the president to receive it morehouse? does he plan to have direct engagement with students or faculty there? a lot of them i have talked to said we do not just want a
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campaign speech at us but talk to lessee. dir. benjamin: i am sure the president will have a chance to engage with the faculty, staff, and students while he is there, and i know he looks forward to it. reporter: went to kind of reception do you expect him to receive? dir. benjamin: it is so important to realize that no community is monolithic. even some of the range of opinions that we received last friday, and then i have heard speaking with literally dozens and dozens of folks just about this speech over the last several days, people have different thoughts about what they might want to hear. i know the president is very focused on centering these young men and what this transition of life means to them, so we listed it very closely. we receive those messages and share them with the president and his speechwriting team.
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reporter: happy birthday to your daughter. does the president share morehouse college's belief that the ceremony should be halted if there are protester disruptions? dir. benjamin: i will let morehouse handle morehouse, and dr. thomas has been wonderful to work with those we prepare to the commencement. the president has been very clear. we live in an amazing country where you have government and estate that personifies the importance of the right to free speech, and you do it well and the right to free speech extends to those who wish to protest, and we respected that and makes a point to lean in when there are protesters in the same space . as long as they are peaceful protest that do not disrupt the amazing moment for each of those graduates there today, i think
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we will consider it a success. reporter: did the white house consider canceling the speech once you learned there might be protest? dir. benjamin: not that i know of. reporter: thank you. recent polls show donald trump and joe biden that connect. do you think the president of las vegas message -- the president's message is resonating with voters? dir. benjamin: i spent a great deal of time on the ground. this is a wonderful set of democracy, d.c., the heart of the republic, but getting out and listening to people and hearing the impact of president biden's and vice president harris's policies and for my opinion as to where everyday americans stand.
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i have had a chance to be in arizona, nevada, illinois, south carolina, georgia, new york, new mexico, illinois, michigan, wisconsin, georgia and listen to people talk about the impact of amazing things like criminal justice reform and social reforms. in fact, creating access to capital and creating economic opportunity leading to not just precipitously low unemployment rates, but the greatest increase in black on to businesses in 30 years. how we are not just talking about history like we are doing today with the browned and related case, but how when did the president is making history every single day. that is what i get from people, and we will continue to focus on making history on this side of the table by leading through go
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to government and the leadership of the president and vice president. reporter: is there a connection between the investments you talked about today and the hbcu community and the things he would been hearing from your travels, from the concerns that have been expressed by students and communities across the country. is there a link between the investments and what you have been learning? dir. benjamin: the $16 billion number is an updated number, but the previous total shared publicly was $7 billion, which is also a record. this is consistent with the president's theory clear commitment to make sure that not only do we declare that equity is a central theme, sacrosanct to the core of this administration, but that we also put in place letters to opportunity as he seeks to build
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an economy from the middle out and bottom up, so this is nothing new. this is entirely consistent with the work the president has been doing since day one, a whole of government approach and a whole of society approach that is baring for. reporter: when we talk about this kind of investment in your meetings with a group of students that feel frustration, does it make a difference? dir. benjamin: i will cross the line back to the first question briefly. if you were going to listen, you have to listen. you cannot come in talking, and you listen and receive where people are and get into a real public narrative. the story of you and the story of me it were real from here. i will not go through a list, but every single corner of american society, you think about the president's
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leadership, the greatest pandemic since 1918, the greatest economic disruption many of us expected since 1929 and the greatest social unrest since 1968 all wrapped up into a moment that propelled his genuinely good man to decide he went to to help lead his country. that is all part of what has become the biden-harris agenda, and they have been leading from the front. as i go through these issues, people were very much appreciative of receiving information that we are planning to share with others. reporter: to go back to the meeting today, the people who were there with president biden came out and spoke with this briefly afterwards, and a few of them mentioned the work that still needs to be done. does the president to have
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anything to say about that in terms of continuing work? [indiscernible] dir. benjamin: that request came up in the meeting and before the meeting as well from one of the families of the litigants. it is important to note the first major national holiday established in decades is juneteenth. the president, that is is legislation. the establishment of the emmett till memorial in mississippi because of joe biden and kamala harris's leadership of the antilynching bill. even some of the tough things left to do, the passage of the george floyd just is in -- juscti -- justice in policing act.
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in his conversation, one of the speakers they may have mentioned, the president talk to her mother, a 103 year old litigant by phone. there is an acknowledgment everyday by our president that we are not where we ought to be, but we are not where we used to be, and every moment you have to celebrate the successes we have had, celebrating the diversity of this country and how we move forward together is a moment to celebrate. it is only going to happen with truly inspired leadership like we are getting from president biden vice president harris. reporter: the morel's ceremony has been described as solemn, steeped in tradition. i am wondering how the nature of the ceremony [indiscernible] at a time when there is volatility
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on campuses nationwide? dir. benjamin: morehouse and altogether hbcus -- i served as a trustee at benedict college. and again, my daughter also attends -- she will tell you because she wears spellman on her chest all day every day. morehouse is unique, but i daresay every institution of higher learning is unique, and hbcus are solemn places. one of the darkest periods in world history, so when you step out of those grounds you always step into someplace special. the president was invited to come to morehouse, voted on by the faculty today to receive an honorary doctorate, which we conferred on sunday, and it is a
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special place, and having a chance to speak directly to this very unique group of talented young men and their families were going to help change the world. reporter: the president of the united states received multiple invitations to speak at multiple universities every single year, and i'm wondering even with the possibility approach as there is an expectation of a calmer reception add morehouse than elsewhere. dir. benjamin: morehouse is it especially dignified place, but this president has been intentional over the course of his career and his presidency that he makes time to go to hbcus. he delivered the commencement at howard last year. we spoke to the president of delaware state where president biden will tell you he got his political start. obviously it is special to him, and he realizes that not only a
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speech, but more importantly the $16 billion in resources to support this amazingly talented group of young leaders, he does not just off the talk, he walks the walk. reporter: a question on the meeting. at the president met with the families involved in the delaware case prior to the meeting or was this his first time meeting with them? dir. benjamin: this was my first time in the same space with each of them. he spent a significant amount of time with delaware families. a granddaughter of one of the litigants indicated the president had spent several moments on their couch over the course of his career, so he was familiar with the case. he has engaged with the families in the past. reporter: question over the
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enthusiasm within the african-american community for the president. dir. benjamin: i can only speak to my experience, and when i get up there and we talk to people about the amazing successes the administration and leadership and the vice president, people are psyched and having about these meaningful developments that are helping change the lives of people all across this country. they have got to make sure -- and that is a campaign job. our job here is making sure we share the news it in partnership with each and everyone of you that the news gets out to all of the places in this very different world in which we live. reporter: you are saying you trust the polling were support is down for the president?
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dir. benjamin: i can tell you i do not follow the polls. reporter: [indiscernible] there was a different movement happening after the supreme court ruling that created this anti- dei and equity movement. does the president believe he has leaned in enough on this issue? dir. benjamin: he has one speech tomorrow at the naacp and several speeches this weekend. the president is unapologetic about not only the principle of equity being a core value to him , but also gives administration, but he continues to make sure that consistent with his very
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first executive order that every piece of policy that comes out of the administration as well as each of the cornerstones of laws and acts, the inflation production act, the infrastructure act, the jeppesen sciences, did each of those bills have the same core of equity. $76 billion this year for minority owned businesses, record amounts in the black community and latino community as well, so he is not stepping back on his commitment to equity , and continues to lead in and expects his administration to do the same. reporter: i want to follow up on comments. you just mentioned the $76 billion in contracts for minority businesses. it can you talk about what that looks like specifically?
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my second question is, earlier you were talking about we are not where we want to be, but we are not where we used to be. specifically, when the question was asked, what are the policies and executive orders we can see coming from the president that can address some of these inequities in education? earlier i was talking about how we are seeing resegregation in some of the schools. what would it take the administration to reverse that? dir. benjamin: i will try to make it the answer as concise as possible, but you can tell i believe very much so in data and good data. the challenge that we face at the height of the pandemic,
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recognizing that most of our education systems across the country are funded, property taxes, local resources not dedicated at the level they are to receive even sometimes in the same town or the same state and that can make things particularly a challenge. the world that the president led on a long with the vice president to make sure we are investing not only in hbcus, but also on the american rescue plan title i schools receiving $131 billion, making sure we are protecting high poverty schools from reductions. it is what he does every day. when i talk about not being where we used to be and not being where we ought to be, there is this idea -- and he talks about is often, about the idea of america.
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the idea is that we all aspire to be a more perfect union. every once in a while, you tried big leaps forward. brown the -- v board was a big leap forward, but the everyday struggles of the hard work. that is the hard work that this president has decided he will lead into every single day. some days we will make strides. it is three and out, sometimes it is inches. it takes intestinal fortitude and leadership and division, the fact that we are stronger when we are together, that diversity is our strength, and it is something the president and vice president are very proud of. thank you for having me. sec. jean-pierre: ok. all right.
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>> [indiscernible] advocacy the letter from the white house talked about the reasons. the white house is concerned it could be politically damaging. sec. jean-pierre: the transcripts, as you all know, are already back there. the second piece is the attorney general made it clear that law enforcement files like these need to be protected, and so the president made his determination at the west of the attorney general, so want to make that second point that i made really clear. the department of justice and white house counsel's office and provided extensive written letters. like you have seen, so when it comes to anything further or any
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specifics, i would refer you to my colleagues at the white house counsel office, but just to make that second point to get a very clear, this was taken by determination at the request of the attorney general and wanted to make sure the attorney general wanted to make sure law enforcement files like this be protected. reporter: [indiscernible] sec. jean-pierre: i don't want to dive into the specific point that you weren't making. i would have to refer you to our council's office on that, but there were determinations the president took seriously on behalf of the request from the attorney general, and that is how his decision was made. reporter: on the issue of the slovakian prime minister, now that it is more clear this was a
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politically motivated attack, i am wondering if the white house has more to say? sec. jean-pierre: don't want to go beyond what i said here at the lectern yesterday. obviously we wish him a speedy recovery. do not want to get beyond that, and i'm glad that he is doing ok. reporter: just to follow up, speaker mike johnson said resident biden [indiscernible] sec. jean-pierre: the transcripts are already up there. they have been released to the public. the public as an opportunity to hear directly from the president and what exactly the president said. the attorney general made it clear that law enforcement files like these need to be protected, and that was the determination to make. any specifics, i would refer you to my colleagues, but that was the determination made and anything more than that i would
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work for to my colleagues. reporter: hearing something and reading it is very different, and if the transcript is already up there why is it different? sec. jean-pierre: the determination was made by the president at the request of the attorney general, so we took that very seriously, and said -- and so that is what i would say. reporter: president xi jinping is meeting at a summit with president vladimir putin. what is your assessment? sec. jean-pierre: there was a joint statement put out. we do not see anything new here, and i will reiterate what i said yesterday, which as we find it unacceptable that chinese companies are helping putin wage this war against ukraine, and if china reports to support peace in europe it cannot continue to feel the biggest threat of european security. that is not just coming from us.
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it is coming from nato, the eu, g-7 partners. the statement is nothing new, or of the same, and we have been a very clear where we stand on this. reporter: [indiscernible] isn't concerning to the white house? sec. jean-pierre: we don't see anything new with this. i get the point we are making. we have seen the bilateral statements from those two countries. we have been clear about this, and it is not just us. all of the allies and partners that it just mentioned, we have been clear on making sure we do everything we can to give the brave people of ukraine who were fighting putin's aggression the security assistance that they need, and that is why it was so important to national security
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supplemental. you heard us announce $1 billion on the day he became law that the supplemental could get the funding out. you heard from secretary blinken, who was just in ukraine talking about getting more security assistance, so we have been clear. these two bilateral relationships, obviously they stand out as the two countries who put up the statement, but that is not just the position of the u.s. they heard it from g-7, nato. we have been clear about that, and we will continue to standby by ukraine as they fight for their freedom and democracy. reporter: does the white house have any leverage to dissuade china from supporting russia as much as it is? sec. jean-pierre: we have been a very clear publicly and privately and will continue to do that. reporter: sank you up in a very
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clear does not answer my question. sec. jean-pierre: when you fte you, g-7 -- when you have the eu, the g7, nato saying that will help protect ukraine defend itself, that says a lot. we are talking about partners and allies who mount a pretty strong force here in saint will continue to support ukraine. that says what you need to know. i will not talk about bilateral relationships. what i can speak to is what we have reiterated over and over again is that it is unacceptable chinese companies and how they are helping putin wage of this war against ukraine. the fact that this is a president to was been able to make, bring data together emma make nato stronger than it is
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ever again, that is important. the fact that he has been able to bring more than 50 countries together in order to make sure ukraine has what it needs. it needs to fight against putin's work, that says a lot about this president's leadership anywhere other countries are. our allies came together in support of ukraine, and we will continue to do that. reporter: -- reporter: romney argued it will now be a win win for donald trump in his campaign and public profile. sec. jean-pierre: i'm not going to discuss pardons from here. i'm just not going to speak about that from here. reporter: the bureau of labor
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yesterday released inadvertently cpi data before they were supposed to. it came a month after [ indiscernible] i'm wondering what level of concern you have or how confident you are about the leadership? and if you think there should be an outside --? sec. jean-pierre: there was a statement they put out. vlf has the emergency office of management and budget and the inspector general, be a left takes its data seriously -- vlf takes its data seriously. it could speak more into its investigation, we have confidence that this will get done. reporter: [indiscernible]
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the u.s. today -- [ indiscernible] is the u.s. considering more sanctions? sec. jean-pierre: starting with your last question first. i'm not going to preview sanctions from here. do your point today about the department of treasury, they designated fire russian-based individuals and entities -- five russian based individuals and entities. this action builds on several sanction designations over the last year targeting the
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russia-dpl k military relationship, most recently in february 2024. these designations highlight our resolute opposition to these continued arms transfers. we condemn russia's veto of the un security council resolution that would've extended the mandate of the u.n. 1718 committee of experts, a body that documented violations of u.n. sanctions related to the dprk. we will continue to examine all possibilities to counter the deep -- the destabilizing partnership. reporter: and on israel by extension -- [indiscernible] will the u.s. continue operations against the houthis? sec. jean-pierre: we condemn them for these attacks and continue to take action to hold
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them accountable. we have been consistent in that. these reckless attacks have not only disrupted lowball trade and commerce but also has -- have taken the lives of international seafarers doing their jobs. we have taken a significant amount of houthi weapons. we will act as needed to degrade their capabilities. reporter: i want to ask you about this topic getting a lot of attention. the kansas city kicker, harrison butker told female graduates. the most important title that a woman could have is as homemaker. he also criticized the president as being a catholic that supports abortion rights.
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does the president have a reaction? sec. jean-pierre: i have not had a chance to focus on this particular issue. i've heard some reports on this. the president will not back away from supporting women and reproductive rights, reproductive health care. it is important to do that and fight for all of our freedoms. and that is what you are seeing the president to hear he won't back away from that. i can't speak to the specific thing because i have not heard it in its entirety. look, you have a former administration that had said over and over again that they would do everything they can to get rid of rove a weight -- roe v. wade. we were successful in doing that. what that caused is chaos. it caused women do have to be in a position to not get the health
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care they need. that should not be where we are as a country. and then you have extreme republicans that continue to talk about how they want to put national abortion been. it is -- national abortion ban. it is causing chaos. you're saying a family cannot make a decision about ivf. the president wants to make sure that a woman has the right to make these incredibly difficult decisions about their health. i can't speak to those direct comments but what i can speak to is what the president has committed to and he has shown that over and over again and you have a vice president that has toured the country talking about how we have to protect our freedoms and freedoms of reproductive health. reporter: you cannot speak to the comments. [indiscernible]
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sec. jean-pierre: from this particular -- i have not heard this in context. i saw some reporting. so i want to be super mindful. the president sees commencement day as such an important moment for not just the students but for their families. and obviously their loved ones. to talk about the future. to talk about how, in the world we are in now, how do we move forward. you are seeing from this president on that message, and he understands how critical that message is especially one from the president, how much it matters. i don't want to get ahead of the president. he will speak his commencement address on his own. he has done this before. he'd has done this -- he has done this as a senator, vice president and now president.
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reporter: when of your colleagues at the state department said israel needs to do more to prevent settlers from sacking trucks of humanitarian aid bound for gaza. [indiscernible] is the president concerned that the prime minister's domestic political moods could be preventing him from cracking down on what is essentially aiding a famine? sec. jean-pierre: a couple things. i want to give an update on humanitarian aid that has gone into gaza. since april 5, more than 7000 trucks have moved into gaza. yesterday nearly 250 trucks
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moved into gaza both via --, one route and a new crossing in northern gaza peered we have seen trucks go in. that is important to note and that is because the president's push in relationship with the prime minister and insisting on pushing and saying, we need to get more aid into gaza because we know how dire the humanitarian situation is. however, we remain concerned about ongoing limited operations at the roff a border crossing and a new crossing as well as the ability of humanitarian partners to move within gaza to deliver assistance to the vulnerable people that need it. this level of aid remains insufficient and we want to continue to press israel to increase the level of assistance moving into gaza.
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i cannot speak to the prime minister -- the prime minister's domestic politics. i can only speak to what we are working and doing. reporter: i understand that you cannot speak to the prime minister's motivations. as the spokesperson for the president, i'm asking is the president concerned that prime minister netanyahu's mastic political situation may be 14 u.s. efforts to get aid in? sec. jean-pierre: we understand that what i laid out is not sufficient. we want to get more in. we continue to have conversations with israel. we have seen some progress. we need to get more in the president is committed to this. i know you have a follow-up your -- a follow-up. reporter: [indiscernible]
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the equally important situation is fuel. sec. jean-pierre: the pier is in place and will be operational in the coming days. the department of defense will have more specifics on that. we are confident that we can distribute this kind of aid into gaza. we continue to have conversations with the u.n. and the israelis and ngos to ensure humanitarian workers are protected and we can continue to get the eight end. reporter: you heard from the national security advisor days ago speak from this lectern that we are trying to do all we can from air, sea and land to get the humanitarian aid in. we understand how critical it is to get done. with the pier in place, in the coming days, we will get that
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moving and get the fuel in and aid in. we are still working on the land crossings. and i gave some updates on the trucks that have gone in to a new crossing that opened up here we are committed. the president is committed to getting it done. reporter: yesterday there was an interview with senator graham. [indiscernible] sec. jean-pierre: i cannot confirm jake's travel. reporter: [indiscernible]
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sec. jean-pierre: we have been very consistent about our long-term old for more peaceful, stable, prosperous and integrated middle east region and that remains a focus for this president and for the u.s. foreign policy. we will -- that is where we will always stand on that. we continue to have conversations on this issues including a pathway to a palestinian state which is the only way to establish a sustainable peace between the israelis and the palestinians. our immediate focus remains securing the release of hostages to make sure we get to a cease-fire and get the humanitarian aid in. that is our focus right now. we understand how important it is to get the hostage is to get the hostages home to their loved ones and get humanitarian aid in
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and got to a cease-fire. get michael. reporter: [indiscernible] sec. jean-pierre: pretty shameful. the president has been the most progressive, has done more on climate change than any other president. and so we are committed in dealing with the crisis and meeting our goals. you have heard from this president. and it is unfortunate. there are still climate deniers out there. there is still more work we need to do. we think it is shameful. reporter: the administration organized a deportation flight of 100 patients. how does the administration justify this given the situation on the ground there?
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sec. jean-pierre: we are urgently trying to work with the international partners and congress to expedite -- we have contributed 300 million dollars to that mission and we want to bolster the haitian police with what is going on on that front. we also led in humanitarian assistance with over $170 million since october. we understand the situation in haiti is dire. we are clear eyed that the economic, political and security are key drivers. we are closely monitoring the situation and the routes frequently used by migrants to reach our borders.
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migration flows through the caribbean at this point remain low. we are always planning for contingencies. i cannot speak to this particular incident. i've not spoken to the team about this yet. we got how dire it is there. that is why we are moving up our humanitarian assistance leading world and trying to get the mns off in place to get support to the haitian police in dealing with the dire situation happening. reporter: israeli defense minister yesterday publicly pressured the prime minister on his strategic endgame after the were calling for an establishment of a covering -- a governing entity and gaza. today he is saying what secretary blinken has been saying. this is the first time he is
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saying publicly something we have known privately from israeli defense officials for quite some time. i'm wondering about the timing -- everyone is saying the same thing. sec. jean-pierre: i'm going to let others do an analysis of the speech. we have been clear that when it comes to the future of gaza, we do not support a reoccupation of gaza by israel. we do not support hamas governance and gaza. that is where we have been. and we will continue to be there. as you just stated in your question, jake sullivan was clear about this recently. we discussed this with the israelis. we will continue to have that conversation. i'm not going to analyze that speech pure i'm not going to
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speak to timing. we continue to have those conversations with the israelis as we have been. we have made our point and our stance clear. you heard it from jake sullivan recently. reporter: [indiscernible] we have to continue to be hopeful. we will continue to work around the clock to get this done. this could all end today if hamas released the wounded, the women. and we said this. the elderly. it could end today. we are determined to get those hostages home. we are determined to get to a cease-fire and get more humanitarian aid in and we have to be optimistic and hopeful.
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reporter: [indiscernible] sec. jean-pierre: what i will say is that we continue to monitor. i will repeat what jake sullivan said. nothing has changed since he was here on monday. we made our case clear about a potential major military operation in rough. we have concerns -- in rafah. we have concerns about that. we have been told by the israelis -- we will continue to have those constructive meetings . not just the virtual meetings but on a daily basis we are talking with the government. reporter: the deputy director of
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ice is telling us two jordanian nationals are in removal proceedings now. does the white house think this might have been a failed terrorist attack? sec. jean-pierre: i will be mindful that these jordanians remain in ice custody. i cannot dive in. this is a law enforcement matter. reporter: something different -- have you heard that vice president harris is telling friends she may go back to california and run for governor if the election does not go her way? sec. jean-pierre: that is news to me. i would say this. the vice president has been a great partner to this president. he is appreciative of the work she has done. it is impressive what she has
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been able to do on these tours on reproductive rights, gun violence across the country. she has been an amazing partner and the president appreciates her leadership. that is all i will say to that. reporter: why is president biden celebrating today the dow reaching 40,000 if his position about the stock market is that is not how i judge our economics? sec. jean-pierre: we have long said that the stock market is not the economy. it is clear that the president's economic plan is working and growing the middle class. spurts in manufacturing crude is creating jobs. -- is creating jobs. record stock market highs under
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president biden is good for retirement and helps wealth. we would never root for a stock market crash or for americans to lose their jobs. but, obviously, the stock market is not the economy. we believe the president's economic plan is working. i think we should be grateful for that. thank you, everybody and i will see you tomorrow. >> earlier today, the chair of
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the fdic, martin gruenberg and michael barr appeared before the senate to testify on an independent investigation that found continued sexual -- harassment at the agency. watch at 9:00 eastern on c-span. c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> joining us now is a professor of law, civil rights and social justice at georgetown university. the author of a book, "white space, black hood." it has been 70 years since the supreme court gave its decision in brown v board of education. what has been the lasting impact? >> the most lasting impact is that brown captured the imagination of a new generation of young
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