as you know, you know this area really well, ryan, invest in china. you have to have a 51% chinese owner. you have to make sure that you do by their rules and you can't. you don't have the authority and you have to provide all access to all the data and information you have. there was a while there, as you recall, the last administration and other administrations where the access to that market was enticing enough to get companies to come in because they had access to over a billion people in the a market. not a billion, but a lot of people in the market. and so they were doing it. but that that got curtailed when we started saying we're going to play by the same rules. for example, the idea they don't abide by the international rules related to subsidizing products by the government funding. so guess what? they're not going to be able to export their electric

vehicles to the united states without a significant tariff. others are doing the same thing around the world. but it is a concern. it is a concern that you have both china, south korea and north korea. russia iran, countries that are not necessarily coordinated in the past looking to figure out how they can have impact up th impact. yes, i do, but i'm not prepared to talk about the detail of it in public. uh- and i think you'll see that some of our european friends are going to be curtailing their investment in russia. i mean, excuse me, in in china, as long as china continues to have this indirect success, help to russia

in terms of being able to help their economy as well as as well as help them in as a consequence of that, their ability to fight in, in, in ukraine. the other thing that we talked a lot about is that and i raised it, and i didn't hear any. i can't swear that everyone agreed because not everyone got to talk about it. but we haven't. we need a new industrial policy in the west, for example, we talked about how both the eu as well as nato has to be able to begin to build their own munition capacity, has to be able to generate their own capacity to provide for weapons and the ability to came as a surprise to some of us how we had fallen behind in the west in terms of the ability to

construct new material, new weaponry, new new everything from from vehicles to weapon systems. and so one of the things that came out of this was, we're going to be meeting again with a number of my colleagues, my european colleagues is what do we do to increase the capacity of the west, particularly in europe and japan, to be able to generate kind of ability to produce their own weapon systems, not just for themselves, but to be able to generate that. it's the same. that's that's what russia is trying to figure out, that they went to china and they didn't get the weapons, but then they went to north korea. but we're going to be in a position where the west is going to become the industrial base for to be able to the ability to have all the defensive weapons that we need. that was a discussion as well

>> you answered on whether you would be ready to go deal with putin and xi 2 or 3 years from now. >> i'm ready to deal with them now. and three years from now. look, the. like i said dealing with xi right now and direct contact with him. i have no good reason to talk to putin right now, there's not much that he is prepared to do in terms of accommodating any change in his behavior. and, but there isn't any world leader. i'm not prepared to deal with. but i understand that your generic point is, is putin ready to talk? i'm not ready to talk to putin unless putin's ready to change his his behavior. and the idea look, putin's got a problem first of all, in this war that

he is supposedly have won. and by the way, i think don't hold me to the exact number, but i think the russia had 17.3% of, of ukraine that they've conquered now at 17.4. i mean, in terms of percentage of territory, they've not been very successful. they've called horrible damage, loss of life, but they've also lost over 350,000 troops, military killed or wounded. they have over a million people, particularly young people with technical technical capability, leaving russia because they see no future there. they've got a problem. but what they do have control of is they are very good at controlling and running. the public outcry that relates to how they use mechanisms to communicate with people. they lie like hell to the constituencies. they lie like hell about what's going on. and,

and so the idea that we're going to be able to fundamentally change russia in the near term is not likely. but one thing for certain, if we allow russia to succeed in ukraine, they're not stopping in ukraine. i recommend. i know you know this because you've you've written about it. read putin's speech after they moved in, what it was all about in kyiv. it wasn't about just anyway read what his objective is. and anyway. but. so i think that, i'm prepared to talk to any leader who wants to talk, including if putin called me and wanted to talk. last time i talked to putin was trying to get him to work on an arms control agreement relating to nuclear weapons and space. that didn't go very far. so my point is, i'm prepared to talk to anybody, but i don't see any inclination there is an

inclination on the part of the chinese to keep in contact with me, because they're not sure where this all goes. and look what's happened in asia. we have strengthened the asian pacific area more than anybody else has. we you know, we just put together with today we had i brought on i asked our nato allies that we bring on a group from the south pacific, australia, new zealand, japan, australia. i already mentioned australia and i met twice. now i think with the 14 leaders of the pacific island nations and we've slowed down what's going on there? we slowed down china's reach, but there's a lot of work to do. this is a moving target and i don't take it lightly. assam from npr >> thank you, mr. president.

asma khalid with npr. i have two questions. earlier, you spoke about the ceasefire plan between israel and hamas. we're now looking at ten months of war. and i'm curious if there's anything that you feel personally, you wish you would have done differently over the course of the war. and then, secondly, if i may, i wanted to ask you about your presidential campaign. i remember covering your campaign in 2020, and there was a moment where you referred to yourself as a, quote, bridge candidacy, a transition to a younger generation of leaders. i want to understand what changed. >> two things. let's go back to when you talked about what i have changed. anything that's happening with israel and the palestinians and the palestinian movement. the answer is you recall from the very beginning, i immediately went to israel, but i also got a meeting in contact with al-sisi in egypt. i met with the king of jordan. i

met with. i met with most of the arab leaders to try to get a consensus going as to what had to be done to deal with getting more aid and food and medicine into into the gaza strip. and pushed it really hard. and israel occasionally was less than cooperative. number one, the israeli war cabinet. i've been i've been dealing with israel since golda meir. i saw some of the reporters around here come to me all the time, have heard me say this. the last first time i met with golda meir, i sat across from her in her desk and her assistant was rabin sitting next to me. that's how far back i go. i know israel well, and i support israel. but this war cabinet is one of the most conservative war cabinets in the history of israel. and there's no ultimate answer other than a two state solution here. and so what i was able to be

done in terms of the plan i put together, was it would be a process for a two state solutio, and we get the arab nations to particularly from egypt all the way to saudi arabia, to be in a position where they would cooperate in the transition so that they could keep the peace in gaza without without israeli forces staying in gaza. the question has been from the beginning, what's the day after in gaza and the day after in gaza has to be the and the end of the day after. it has to be no occupation by israel and the gaza strip, as well as the ability for us to access, get in and out as rapidly as you can, all that's needed there. i've been disappointed that some of the things that i've put forward have not succeeded as well. like the port reattached from cyprus. i was hopeful that would be more successful, but that's why i

when i went to israel immediately after the massacres that occurred as the hands of hamas, that i the one thing i said to the israelis and i met with the war cabinet and with bibi, don't make the same mistake america made after bin laden. there's no need to occupy anywhere. go after the people who did the job. you may recall i get still get criticized for it, but i was totally opposed to the occupation and trying to unite afghanistan. once we got once, once we got bin laden, we should have moved on because it was not in our. no one's ever going to unite, unite that country. i've been over every inch of that, not every inch the entirety from the poppy fields all the way to the north. i sai, don't make the same mistake we made. don't think that's what you should be doing is doubling down. we'll help you find the bad guys. sinwar and company and i and all this criticism about.

i wouldn't provide when the weapons they needed. i'm not providing them 2,000 pound bombs. they cannot be used in gaza or any populated area without causing great human tragedy and damage. but we remember what happened when you had the attack on israel from with rockets and ballistic missiles. i was able to unite the arab nations as well as as well as europe. and nothing happened. nothing got hurt. it it sent an incredible lesson to what was going on from the middle east. so there's a lot of things in retrospect, i wish i had been able to convince the israelis to do. but the bottom line is we have a chance now. it's time to end this war. doesn't mean walk away from going after sinwar and hamas. and if you notice, you know better than most. there is a growing dissatisfaction in on

the west bank from the palestinians about hamas. hamas is not popular now. and so there's a lot of moving parts. i just have to keep moving to make sure that we get as much done as we can toward a cease fire, a cease fire, and get those. and by the way, look, look at the numbers. and in israel, i mean i my numbers are better in israel than they are here. but then again, they're better in a lot of other people here too. but anyway, >> candidacy in 2020, you refer to yourself as being a bridge candidate for a younger, fresher generation of democratic leaders. and i wanted to know what changed, what changed was the gravity of the situation. >> i inherited in terms of the economy, our foreign policy and

domestic division. and i think i won't put words in anybody's mouth. most presidential historians give me credit for having accomplished more than most any president since johnson, and maybe before that, to get major pieces of legislation passed. and what i realized was my long time senate had equipped me to have the wisdom of how to deal with the congress to get things done. we got more major legislation passed that no one thought would happen. and i want to finish it to get that finished. if tomorrow, if we had a circumstance where there was a lineup and i didn't, hadn't inherited what i did and we just moved things along anyway, it's going to change. >> last question. >> uh- haley bull scripts or no?

josh wingrove i'm sorry, was the next one. i'll do two more questions. >> thank you, mr. president. many of your colleagues, democrats in the hill, are watching tonight as they assess what they want to say about your candidacy. i'm wondering how you're thinking of this right now. it seems like your answer is clear, but they're watching how things go tonight, tomorrow in michigan, next week in texas, and nevada. are you thinking that way about whether how the next week or two goes would inform your am i using that way? are you thinking that way about how the next two weeks go? will that affect your decision, or are you fully determined on running in november as the party's nominee? >> i'm determined on running, but i think it's important that i. i allay fears by seeing let them see me out there. let me see them. you know, for the longest time it was you know, biden's not prepared to sit with

us unscripted. biden's not prepared to in any way. and so what i'm doing is and i've been doing i think we've done over 20 major events from wisconsin to north carolina to anyway, to demonstrate that i'm going out in the areas where we think we can win, where we can persuade people to move our way, or people already there and they looked at us. he is we have the most extensive campaign organization of anybody has had in a long, long time. we have well over 1000 volunteers knocking on doors, making phone calls, making tens of thousands of phone calls. we have headquarters. i forget exactly how many. i want to cite a number and then find out i'm off. but we have scores of headquarters and all in all the toss up states were organized. we're moving and i that's awful hard to replace in the near term. and so and here's the other thing. i was in the senate

a long time. very proud of what i've done in the senate. i was chairman of the foreign relations committee for a long time, and i was chairman or ranking member and chairman of the judiciary committee. i'm going to be going down to the johnson library on anyway. i'm going to be going around making the case of the things that i think we have to finish and how we can't afford to lose what we've done or backslide on civil rights, civil liberties, women's rights, that little button we have control guns, not gir mean, the idea we're sitting around, that's where kamala is so good as well. we're sitting around more children are killed by a bullet than any other cause of death. the united states of america. what the hell are we doing? what are we doing? we got

a candidate saying, promise the nra. don't worry. i'm not going to do anything. i'm not going to do anything. you got a supreme court. that is what you might call the most conservative court in american history. this is ridiculous. there's so much we can do still and i'm determined to get it done. it's about freedom. and by the, end this. well, i'm not going to do that. haley has it has to come up, too. but the. i remember i made a speech on democracy in philadelphia and independence hall, and i'm not being critical, just observing the bulk of the press. what the hell is he talking about? that for democracy? he did. democracy is not an issue. democracy is not an issue. except the polling data showed 60% of the people knew i was right. i thought i was right. am i asking you a question? you don't have to answer, obviously. but do you think our democracy is under

siege based on this court? do you think democracy is under siege based on project 2025? do you think he means what he says when he says he's going to do away with the civil service, eliminate the department of education, make sure? i mean, we've never been here before. and that's the other reason why i didn't. you say, hand off to another generation. i've got to finish this job. i've got to finish this job because there's so much at stake. >> we've had some discussions over the past few days with your press secretary about the question of health exams, and you said you take a cognitive test every day in this job. are you open to taking another physical or test before the election? governor whitmer of michigan, for instance, said it wouldn't hurt to take a test. >> well, look, two things. one, i've taken three significant and intense neurological exams by

the neurological neurosurgeon, a neurologist. in each case, as recently as february. and they say i'm in good shape. okay. although i do have a little problem with my left foot because it's not as sensitive because i broke my foot and didn't wear the boot. but but but i'm good. i'm tested every single day about my neurological capacity, the decisions i make every day. you talk to my staff, all of you talk to my staff. sometimes my staff talks a lot, but the fact of the matter is, i don't think you have them telling you that all the major ideas we've undertaken haven't been, in part, initiated by me. i remember when the staff and i said, i'm going to go to south korea, we're going to get the chip. what are you doing? i'm going to get japan and korea back together again. after not essentially having hostilities toward one another since the end of world war two, i'm going to

move and see that we can expand it. you know, the only thing age does is help you with creates a little bit of wisdom. if you pay attention. and so the point i'm making is i think it's important that i if, if my if the neurologist tells me he thinks i need another exam by the way, i've laid every bit of the record out. i haven't hadn't had hidden a thing. you ought to ask trump for his. okay, i laid it all out. and every single day i'm surrounded by good docs. if they think there's a problem, i promise you we're even if they don't think it's a problem, they think i should have a neurological exam again. i'll do it. but no one's suggesting that to me. now and i'll ask you another question. no matter what i did, no one's going to be satisfied. did you have seven

docs? did you have two? would you have? did you do this? how many times did you. so i am not opposed that. my doctors tell me they should. i should have another neurological exam. i'll do it. but that's where i am. uh- haley. bull scripts. >> thank you, mr. president. you said you're making decisions on a day to day basis when it comes to support for ukraine. does that mean you have not closed the door on further considering lifting restrictions for u.s. made weapons inside russia? and if i may, your convention is coming up where your delegates are pledged to make you the official nominee. if they have second thoughts, are they free to vote their conscience? >> obviously, they're free to do whatever they want, but i get overwhelming support, overwhelming support. i won how i forget how many votes i won in the primary. overwhelming and so tomorrow, if all of a sudden i show up at the convention,

everybody says we want somebody else, that's the democratic process. it's not going to happen, even if that means they vote for someone else. sure. look i'll end this with this served in the senate a long tim. i understand the impetus of candidates running for local office, and whether they think the topic, they can help them or not. in my state of delaware, which was a very at least a purple, it was a red state. when i started in terms of we now talk red and blue. i uh- recall most of the democratic presidents winning my state when i was a candidate. the truth of the matter is, i understand the self-interest of a candidate if they think that, you know,

running with biden on top is going to hurt them, then they're going to run away. i get it. but so far, go and look at the polling data in their states, look at the in-depth and by the way, i think you'd all acknowledge and you're all experts. i'm not being solicitous about the president, your experts on this stuff. how accurate does anybody think the polls are these days? i can give you a series of polls where you have likely voters, me versus trump, where i win all the time when the unlikely voters vote, he wins sometimes. so bottom line is all the polling data right now, which i think is premature because the campaign really hasn't even started. i mean, it hasn't started in earnest yet. most of the time it doesn't start until after september, after labor day. so a lot can happen. but i think i'm the best i know. i believe i'm

the best qualified to govern, and i think i'm the best qualified to win. but there are other people who could be trump, too. but it's also start, start from scratch. and, you know, we talk about, you know, money raised. we're not doing bad. we got about $220 million in the bank. we're doing well. so with that, do you have any want to follow up on any of that? you just asked me. >> yes. you earlier explained confidence in your vice president. yes if your team came back and showed you data that she would fare better against former president donald trump, would you reconsider your decision to stay in the race? >> no. unless they came back and said, there's no way you can win me. no one's saying that. no poll says that. okay. thank you. this ends tonight. press conference.

>> thanks, everybody concludes respectfully earlier. >> you misspoke in your opening answer. you referred to vice president harris as vice president trump. right now, donald trump is using that to mock your age and your memory. how do you combat that criticism from tonight's listen to him. >> this concludes tonight's press conference. thank you everybody. >> thanks, everyone. >> one more extraordinary moment in this presidential campaign and then we say this often and we can't overstate it. that every day in the spotlight is another critical test for president biden in this electio, having given the debate performance that he did that was so highly criticized afterwards. the moments during that debate, obviously, a lot of criticism for the former president, donald trump in that debate as well. but it's the president who must now make the case before the american people. and in front of

fellow democrats that he is the best person to be the nominee for their party moving forward. he took questions from ten reporters there, about 50, 55 minutes or so, also gave comments right at the top. this was wide ranging. he talked about the success of the nato summit this week, inflation numbers coming down just today, the economy, how many jobs he's created, manufacturing jobs, microchips. he talked about china. he talked about russia, israel, the gaza war, of course, the war in ukraine, the situation with vladimir putin took a number of questions. he was asked about himself, and he did acknowledge the debate performance, calling it a mistake, i don't know whether he was talking about the debate as a whole or one particular moment or a couple, but he did use that word in describing the highly critiqued debate that first debate that the white house, the president biden had asked for earlier in the cycle than than ever before in modern politics. he talked about the debate. he talked about the debate. that's coming up in september, the next debate scheduled to be here on abc. he gave an indication he

has every plan to be there and to debate former president donald trump again. he was also asked about vice president kamala harris, a number of times. he was asked if the situation changes. is she ready to be president on day one? he was unequivocal on that every time he was asked, at one point saying, look at her. what she has said about freedom of women's bodies, the message she has been delivering across this country this election cycle. he said any issue to come across the table for her, that she was a first rate prosecutor, senator and that she is ready to be president, he said otherwise he would not have selected her four years ago in the first place. let's get right to mary bruce, our chief white house correspondent. mary, what's first reaction from your sources inside the white house, inside this campaign? >> well, david, the white house, a source telling me they feel he knocked it out of the park, that he showed certainly his sophistication on a broad range of issues, including fielding all of those foreign policy questions. they feel that he had a good night here. the question is whether any of that is going to be enough, because the president certainly here is

digging in. he doesn't seem to want to face that growing chorus of dissenters that we are hearing on capitol hill that continues to grow, insisting that, yes, he just needs to continue to show them that he can do this in these unscripted moments. but david, the president dismissing still much of their concern and those answers have not yet been given to many democrats. >> rachel scott live in washington. you've been chasing down lawmakers. any of them convinced tonight with this performance? >> one democrat i put it to me this way, david, that this is a complicated scenario, that this eases concerns, that it does not erase them. yet another democrat, congressman jim himes, has come out calling for the president to step aside tonight, democrats telling me that they groaned and cringed when the president said vice president trump instead of vice president harris. but every democrat that i talked to tonight said they cannotre in this scenario.in this >> david: jon karl, former speaker nancy pelosi saying he needs to make this decision, time is running short. he seemed to indicate that the decision is made. >> he sure did, david. he took a wide range of questions, complicated issues, did fairly well on all of that,

but i think nothing changes the bottom line, and that is that many democrats think he just can't win in november. and there needs to be a change. >> david: jon karl in washington. jon, thank you. rachel, mary. that is our coverage of president biden for now. for many of you, "world news tonight" is next, and the espys, in their entirety, right here on abc. good night. president biden, the nato summit in washington, and one more critical test tosive his campa campaign. his first solo news conference in eight months and the new abc news/"washington post" poll tonight, what it shows from this race between president biden and donald trump. it is a tied race even with the debate. and th