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>> good evening, in just a few moments, now president biden is expected to talk and take questions from reporters about his summit meeting this afternoon with china's president xi jinping. the schedule for the press conference has shifted throughout the evening but it is now expected to begin very shortly and the two leaders spoke for about four hours today, at a mansion just outside of san francisco. in conjunction with apec. the asia pacific economic cooperation forum being held in that city. senior american officials saying the two leaders agreed to take steps to curb fentanyl production and restore communications between their two respective military's. president xi, for his, part saying afterwards, quote, planet earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed. adding that one country turning its back on the other is not an option. cnn's m.j. lee is at the summit

location for us, cnn's david culver is in san francisco, he reported from china in three years, during the pandemic -- also cnn contributor and biden biographer evan osmosis, former israeli ambassador -- cnn correspondent dana bash. mj, what is the white house saying about how the summit went? >> well, you know, anderson, as we await president biden to come out any moment now for this solo press conference, i think it is abundantly clear that's when he comes out he is going to herald this summit as having been a success. it is clear that he is going to point to a few of the deliverables that the administration had laid out leading into the summit. namely, the reestablishment of the military to military communications between the two countries. and then this significant announcement on cracking down on fentanyl. but i think in the bigger picture, the president is likely to say that he has achieved sort of the

overarching goal of hitting a reset on u.s. china relations. both leaders only heard them speaking at the top of the summit making very clear that they agree that these are two countries with serious conflicts and areas of disagreement, that what they do agree on is that a two countries must be able to have diplomacy, there must be communication between the two countries. so that they can avoid any misunderstandings. and really dangerous situations where crises might erupt. so i think that we are expected to hear president biden talking about this in terms of sort of the success coming out of this. that is not to say that these conversations did not touch on tough issues, areas of disagreement, but again, i think it is abundantly clear that in terms of the big picture goal of hitting a reset on u.s. china relations, president biden and everyone on down, we are expected to hear say that that goal was achieved. and that there is going to be more conversations, but this is

just the beginning of more conversations and more diplomacy in the months to come. >> david, how is the chinese media describing this? because china and its media have been railing against the u.s. for years? i mean, this does seem to be all of a huge shift? >> it was a major shift, anderson. today, i had to go through some of the chinese state media articles, multiple times, just to make sure i was reading it right. because certainly in the years i was living there, 2019 up until last year through the height of the pandemic, it was nothing positive towards the u.s., and what we have seen in the past 24 hours as almost a growing blowing u.s. pro -- and even though those reading that within china where a bit confused. in fact, commenting on social, media noticing the tone shift and how dramatic it was within their own country. but taking all of that aside, i am really curious to see how they are going to portray it in the days to come. because that will indicate where the chinese communist party is, perhaps, trying to lead the narrative to go from here.

and you hear the from u.s. officials, and perhaps a fresh start. i don't want to come across as pessimistic on this, but deliverables have to come into action. and china has agreed to things in the past, and they can take steps towards something like cracking down on fentanyl, or perh beten the two countries militaries, which sounds great. and they're certainly using all the right words and some of these chinese state media -- we note that are coming outreach now. you have to see the action follow it. three times the size of new york city. i was living in the midst of that. so when they want to do something, they can. and they can do it quickly, it's very different from the u. s. where there is a lot more bureaucracy, you have to get a public comment, and the chinese way of doing things, if the party decides to go a certain

direction, if xi jinping wants to do something specifically it will happen, anderson. >> in terms of fentanyl, i mean, you know from reporting on the fentanyl pipeline from china, in terms of what china could actually do, how significant could it be? >> so, when we think about fentanyl coming into the u.s., the direct link is mexico at the southern border. you and i have talked about this in recent months, and that is a huge concern, we spent some time in sinaloa with the mexican army as they were trying to bust some of the labs, interestingly enough after we did that report, mexico's president said that they don't make fentanyl in mexico. and then reached out to president xi asking for help when it comes to the ingredients to make fentanyl, what is known as the precursor. that is the source of it all. and that is within china, and it is really easily acceptable, our investigation -- showed how you can just log on to wechat, communicate with some of those folks representing some of the precursor productions, and you can place an order and have it shipped anywhere in the world that you want. it must be going to mexico. and even some of those folks

who are working for this production, family it will provide a how to guide and making fentanyl. so this is going to take this on chinese government doing a serious crackdown. again, anderson, if they want to do it, they can do that. >> dana, in terms of, it looks like we have some activity, we saw secretary antony blinken getting seated. so it looks like the president is very close. and terms of president biden taking reporters questions tonight, the stakes are very high for him, not just on china but the middle east, his reelection. >> all of it! this is very rare. and when i say this, just having a press conference. so it is going to be an opportunity for the reporters like mj and others who cover him on a regular basis to ask him, of course, about china, and about what we are hearing from david and mj. but a lot of questions about the u.s. policy and stance towards the middle east. and also, as you mentioned, the very [inaudible] place he seems to be, according to every

single poll. not just national polls. but key battleground states where he is, vis-à-vis the presumptive front-runner on the republican side. and that is donald trump. so a lot of opportunity, hopefully, for many reporters to get questions. because it is so rare that that happens with this president. >> evan, i want to talk to you about the shift in tone by china towards the u.s.. you recently wrote a really fascinating piece for the new yorker, titled china's age of malice. -- malaise. is, that i mean, what is driving china to do this? >> yeah, that is a key piece of the puzzle. in some ways xi jinping was coming into this summit, you know, in a much weaker position that he was a year or so ago. there was a time when it felt as if he was riding high, he had just installed all of his loyalists into senior ranks of the government. but now, of course, the chinese economy is struggling, as many people know. but also more broadly, and this

is one of the things i sensed on the ground when i was a recently, there is really a sense of frustration, one of the words people using chinese is that they feel disheartened, it is a big deal. and that is a big change from where it was when he came into office a decade ago. and i think that that puts him a little off balance, he came into the room today, you heard him making very clear indications that he wanted this summit to be a success. david, a moment ago was describing how the positive message in the chinese media, it's not by accident, the message has already come down before they even met. they wanted this to be a success as much as the americans did. >> and yet, there's a lot of issues that are extraordinarily difficult for the u.s. and china to agree on. >> yeah. that's really -- the short term fact is that they came out of here with a productive, successful, civil meeting. the long term fact is that they are still arrayed across a whole range of issues on very opposite terms. i'll give you one fascinating detail from the opening remarks today. xi jinping, when he was just framing the meeting, he says that he does not share the view

that these two countries are in a competition, which is, after all, at the core of how the united states sees it. but the chinese would rather not have a competition. they would rather the united states, frankly, move out of the way, take on a smaller role in the middle east, in ukraine, in taiwan. and that is a core disagreement between these two. and that's not going away. that's what you need now. the infrastructure of things like military to military communications to try to manage on a day-to-day basis. >> mj, dana was talking about how rare it is to have a press conference with president biden. how long has it been, and how long is this expected to be? do we know? >> yeah. this is just the third solo press conference that the president is taking part in this year. it's certainly rare for reporters covering him regularly to get this kind of open and formal opportunity to ask him questions. one thing that i just wanted to note, just jumping in on what

evan was noting before, just based on our reporting, i think it is clear that u.s. officials would sort of carefully and privately say that the dynamics at play for president xi back at home, domestically, probably had a lot to do with the interactions that we saw playing out tonight between the two leaders. of course, u.s. officials are very attuned to the fact that there are serious economic problems that president xi is facing at home, and our reporting is that in the months of planning that went into the summit, that there was a level of anxiety and a level of concern about how this would look for a president xi as he was visiting the u.s. for just a couple of days. you know, this is not unusual, of course. we are talking about a foreign trip for the leader of china. but u.s. officials involved in the planning of this summit

saying that that level of concern and the attention to detail, down to where he would sit, what he would see when he looked at the window, that it really was sort of unprecedented. so again, i think that u.s. officials might argue that the dynamics that are at play for president xi back at home had very much to do with the sort of decision to engage u.s. officials in this way right now. and that maybe u.s. officials sort of took advantage of the opportunity here when that was available to them, taking into account the fact that they can make the case to their chinese counterparts when, if you did x, y and z, it could be to your benefit, particularly on the economic front, anderson. >> david, what is the benefit to china of if there is going to be a shift in tone, a shift in relations? >> yeah. and if they're gonna take any action, you can bet they're gonna want something in exchange. that's gonna have to be something that the u.s. goes forward with. and as evan pointed out, it's a struggling economy. it is a really tough situation

right now. youth unemployment at an all-time high. you've got a housing market there that's in crisis. so what president xi is trying to do in many ways is trying to figure out how he can boost his economy, perhaps relying on american companies, and perhaps even wooing them to go back. many, i can tell, you left not only during the pandemic, but in the months after, because of beijing's crackdown on corporations. the government was -- going after and writing offices of american companies in shanghai. so now, you have, just a couple hours from now, president xi open -- hosting a welcome xi dinner, and it's being put on by u.s. based organizations that focus on u.s. china relations, and in part focused on bettering business relations. this is a dinner in which president xi is hoping to rub elbows with some of these folks, and convince them to bring back to china if they've left, or expand reach within china. the issue that these businesses have is, can we trust you, president xi? can we trust that the government isn't gonna go forward with another crack down?

can we trust that we're gonna get any profit we make in china out of china? these are complicated situations that i think folks will be hesitant, certainly within the business world, for many years they saw a lot of money coming out of china, and saw it as a really opportunistic place to be doing business. now, they're not so sure. so that dinner, by the way, it's gonna be happening tonight, anderson, it's really controversial. u.s. lawmakers are weighing in on this. you have the chairman of the house select committee that this is an unconscionable that dinner because of the price that it will cost for those who want to pay to attend. and that's $40,000 -- one seat at the table with president xi. they're looking into this, they want names. >> ccp is the chinese communist party. when president biden spoke in

tel aviv, at the u. n. i. spoke that day, you were very effusive about his support for israel. have you, do you see any shift in the administration's stance? obviously the administration is under pressure from different quarters -- >> yes i think it's good to be with you, anderson. and they've shifted a bit on the humanitarian pauses, humanitarian corridors. the israeli government has now tried to meet the president halfway on those measures, understanding that the president is under that type of pressure. but on the crucial, crucial issue of the cease-fire, the president and his administration have not wavered a bit, they understand that the cease-fire means hamas wins, hamas gets away with mass murder. and they realize that a cease fire for israel it's something close to death. i, mean we will not be able to restore internal security or restore our regional deterrence. iran will internalize that they can get us with impunity, and the international community will impose a cease-fire. so i don't know how israel becomes the, you know, remains habitable after that point. so there the president, secretary of state have really stood steadfast, john kirby getting up every night for the

press, the white house press court and saying that we are against a cease-fire. and i think that it's now also a bipartisan support, as we saw in the mass rally yesterday in washington. >> dana bash, i mean, mj was saying that this is the only the third press conference that he has been involved with, i think she said this year. it is, it's a small amount. obviously, there is a lot of questions about his stamina, his abilities and there's going to be a lot of people watching this to look at that, and to see how he answers questions? >> yes. no question, whenever president biden is asked about those issues, something that there is nothing you can do, about which is his age. his answer is watch me. and this is an opportunity for the american people, people

around the, world to actually do just that. to watch him. much more importantly, to really [inaudible] on the very, very big issue before him in his presidency in this country, internationally like you just talked about with ambassador oren. i mean, certainly he has been very steadfast when it comes to israel. [inaudible] with xi jinping. but also, a lot of eyes on him, less than a year away from his reelection. a lot of questions about domestic issues, unclear if he's going to get those questions about the economy, about the economy doing better, even this week we saw numbers where the they matter the most to people. the price of, eggs the price of other goods. they are better, the inflation numbers are going down. so why don't people credit him with that? those are the messages that if he does give a lengthy press conference, those reporters

will be able to talk to him about that. not just international, not just the raw political, but some of the policies that he is hoping he can get reelected on. and he has been trying to do it more and more, a chance to make his case. but again, get some probing questions from those who cover him every day. >> yes, in terms of what the u.s. can do for china, or china would be looking specifically from to the u.s. for, what do you think is top of the list? >> well, we know what china wants, i think, you know, it's not, it's a meaningful fact that xi jinping has left this meeting and gone directly to that banquet with business leaders. you know, a big reason for this whole visit was that she xi jinping wanted to essentially go out into the world and signal to the global business community to investors who have gotten very nervous about china, that he gets it. that he is, in a sense, but he recognizes that he needs to show that he is paying attention to the economic troubles at home. and that he is not pursuing a

conflict with the united states. which, after, all would be a disaster for the world. and for the world economy. so, on some level, his presence here is a sign that he is willing to acknowledge the scale of concern. but i think in terms of specifics, look what he would really like this for the united states to say that we are not going to impose further restrictions on high technology exports to china. that would go into advanced chip semiconductors, a. i.. he is not going to get. that the united states is, at this point, not backing off from that strategy. that is a major piece of how biden imagines the future of this relationship. and so they have to come sort of accommodation. >> obviously, the issue of taiwan's a big, big disagreement point between u. s. and china? >> it is, in some ways it is the core point of contention. in some, ways actually, what this meeting was about was not

changing their position, it was about underscoring how emphatic the united states is about two big things. one, it is not actually supporting independence for taiwan. it supports the status quo, the self governing status that taiwan has right now. also indicating that the united states is not backing off to fainting taiwan in the event of an attack. it is a really precise balance between -- one of the key reasons why they wanted to have this meeting. there's a real fear in beijing, i heard of when i was there, you heard from chinese visitors, and they think the united states is moving towards supporting independence in taiwan. if it happened, it would be, from china's perspective, a five alarm fire. and joe biden wanted to send a very clear message that, no, our position has not changed. we will defend taiwan, and we wanted to stay in the safe status that it enjoys right now. >> david culver, as we await for president biden to make remarks, and take questions.

in terms of the precursor chemicals involved, the precursor ingredients for fentanyl, is there a, i mean, for some of those chemicals, is there legitimate reasons for them to be manufactured? i, mean how easy is it for, i mean, are we talking about shutting down factories in china? or just the distributions of supply networks? >>, it's a fair point, because there are a long list of chemicals that you can look at here that would be used to create fentanyl. and i'm not going to give a how to hear, but certainly there are some that can be used for other things, and are used for things better earned in everyday life, he denial polling, such as that. what you have to look at is the quantities, so the way it was likened to me by one federal investigator was that if somebody is going into cvs and picking up one pack of certified, maybe a couple of

packs, all right -- >> david culver, thank you. we'll check back with everybody after. let's listen. >> please, have a seat. as you, know i just concluded several hours of meetings with president, xi i believe they were some of the most constructive and productive discussions that we have had. i've meeting with president xi since both of us were vice president over ten years ago. our meetings have only been candid and straightforward, we haven't always agreed, but they have been straightforward. and today, building on the ground work we layed over the past several months in high-level diplomacy between our teams. we have made some important progress i believe. first, i am pleased to announce that after many years of being on hold, we are restarting cooperation between the united states and prc on counter narcotics. in 2019, you may remember, china took action to greatly reduce the amount of fentanyl shipped directly from china to the united states. but in the years since that

time, the challenges evolved from finished fentanyl to fentanyl chemical ingredients and pill presses. which are being shipped without control. by the way, some of these pills are being inserted in other drugs like cocaine, and a lot of people are dying. more people in the united states between the ages of 18 to 49 die from fentanyl then from guns, car accidents, or any other cause, period. so today, with this new understanding, we are taking action to significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals and pill presses, from china to the western hemisphere. it's going to save lives, and i appreciate president xi's commitment on this issue. president xi and i tasked our teams to maintain policy and law enforcement cooperation going forward to make sure that it works. i also want to start thank the bipartisan congressional delegation to china, led by leader schumer in october, through supporting efforts so

strongly. secondly. and this is a critically important thing. we are resuming military to military contact, direct contact. as a lot of you press following this, that's been caught, often it's been worrisome. that's all accidents hop in. misunderstandings. we are back to direct communication, and -- vital miscalculations on either side can cause real, real trouble with a country like china. or any other major country. and so i think we are making real progress there as well. thirdly, we are going to get our experts to discuss risk and safety issues associated with artificial intelligence. as many of you travel with me around the world, almost everywhere i go every major leader wants to talk about the impact of artificial intelligence. these are tangible steps in the

right direction to determine what's useful and what's not useful, what's dangerous and what's acceptable. moreover, there are evidence of cases that i made all along, the united states will continue to compete vigorously with the prc, but will manage that competition responsibly, so it doesn't veer into conflict or accidental conflict. and where it's possible, where our interests are coincide. we are gonna work together would like we did on fentanyl. that's what the world expects of us, the rest will expect not just people in china and the united states, but the rest of the world expects that from us. and that's with the united states is gonna be doing. today, president xi and i also exchanged views on a range of regional and global issues. including russia's refusal and brutal war to stop the war and brutal war of aggression against ukraine and conflict in gaza. as always. i raised areas of the united states with concerns about the prc's actions, including

detained and exit banned u.s. citizens. human rights and corrective course of activities in the south china sea. we discussed all three of those things, i gave names of individuals that we think are being held, and hopefully we can get them released as well. no agreement on that, no agreement on that. i also stress the importance of peace and stability in the taiwan straits. it's clear that we object to beijing's non market economic practices and disadvantage, that disadvantage american businesses and workers. and we will continue to address them, i named what a number of those were. i welcome the positive steps that we have taken today, it's important to see that we are implementing approach -- we are talking to key competitors, and talking, being one with one another, there is no misunderstanding. as a key element to maintaining global stability and delivering for the american people.

in the months ahead, we are going to continue to preserve and pursue high level diplomacy with the prc, in both directions. to keep the lines of communication open, including between president xi and me. he and i agreed that either one could pick up the phone, call directly, and talk immediately. and that is, now i'd like to be able to take some questions. and i am told that dimitri, at the financial times, has the first question. >> thank you, as an irishman, i apologize for bringing the rain. >> holy god, i would've called on you if i'd known that. i'm teasing, go ahead. fire away. >> president biden given that america is playing a key role in two major global crises, ukraine and in gaza, does that alter your previous commitment to defend taiwan for any chinese military actions, and did xi jinping outline the conditions under which china would attack taiwan? >> look, i reiterated what i have said since i have become president, and what every

previous president of late has said. that we maintain an agreement that there is one china policy. and that i am not going to change that, it's not gonna change. that's about the extent to which we discussed it. , next question, sorry, bloomberg? >> it appears among other issues, that your agreement with president xi over fentanyl will require a lot of trust and verification to ensure curbing those drug flows, i'm wondering, after today, and considering all that you have been there in the past year, would you say, mister president, that you trust president xi? and secondly if i could, on taiwan, you have, you and your administration have warned president xi in china about interference in the upcoming election. i am wondering what the consequences would be if they do in fact interfere in the election? >> well, i may have had that

discussion, and i made it clear didn't expect in the interference. any little. any at all. we had that discussion as he was leaving. look, do i trust him? i trust but verify as the old saying goes, that's where i am. and, you know, we are in a competitive relationship. china and the united states. but my responsibility is to make it, make this rational and manageable. so it doesn't result in conflict. that is what i am all about, that's what this is about, to find a place where we can come together and where we find mutual interests that, most importantly, for my perspective, they're interests for the american people. that's what this is about. and that is exactly what we'll do. you know, we are in a situation where we agreed that fentanyl

as precursors will be curbed substantially, and the pill presses, that is a big moment. they are doing, by the way, you know, i guess i shouldn't identify where it occurred. but john, i know two people near where i live that their kids literally, as i said, it will gifted. someone had inserted in, whether the young man did or, not inserted in drug he was taking, fentanyl. again, i don't, i hope you don't have any experience with knowing anyone. but this is the largest killer, people in that age category. and, you know, i guess the other thing i think is most important is that since i spent more time with president xi than any world leader has, just because we were vice presidents, his president was president, --

i'm not making a joke, president who. and president obama thought we should get to make no one, another -- president of the united states to be walking with a vice president. so we met, if i'm not mistaken, i think it was 68 hours of just face to face, justice and a simultaneous interpreter. so, i think i know the man, i know his modus operandi. we have disagreements, he has a different view than i have on a lot of things. but he has been the street. i don't mean that it's good bad or different, he's just been straight. and so, you know, we, as i said, the thing that i find most assuring is that he raised, and i fully agree, that either one of us has any concern, mister ambassador, any concern about anything between our nations or

happening in our region. we should pick up the phone and call one another, and we'll take the call, that's an important progress. >> i think it's cbs, but i can't remember who at cbs, i'm sorry. >> mister president, -- >> sorry. i apologize. >> [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible] if that does not count [inaudible] and what does. issue a warning [inaudible] >> first of all, none of it did end up in the conflict. number one. number two, remain recall, i did a few little things like at the quad together, allow australia to have access to new

submarines. moving in a direction to work with the philippines. so, our actions speak louder than our words. we understand that. >> [inaudible] one more question about [inaudible] al-shifa hospital. [inaudible] contain and take out hamas that is there? >> [inaudible] must protect hospitals. [inaudible] a target against the number of civilians inside the hospital, is the operation [inaudible] >> look, we discuss this, by the way. but we can't let it get out of control. here's the situation, you have a circumstance where the first war crimes being committed by

hamas by having their headquarters, their military, hidden under a hospital. that's a fact, that's what's happened. israel did not go in with a large number of troops, did not, raid not rush everything down, they have gone, and they've gotten with their soldiers carrying weapons. they were told, let's be precise, we have discussed the need for them to be incredibly careful. you have a circumstance where you know there is a fair number of hamas terrorists, hamas has already said publicly that they plan on attacking israel again, like they did before, through -- women and children bringing alive. and so the idea that they are going to just stop and not do

anything is not realistic. this is not the carpet bombing, this is a different thing. we are going through these, tunnels they are going to the hospital. and if you notice, i was mildly preoccupied today, and i apologize, i didn't see everything. but what i did, see whether i happen to have it confirmed yet, i am, as my team, and to answer the question, but what happened is that they are also bringing in incubators, they are bringing in other means to help people in the hospital. and they have given the doctors and, i'm told, the doctors and nurses and personnel an opportunity to get out of harm's way. so this is a different story then, i believe, was a crime before it indiscriminate bombing. what do we got? washington post? >> i think that's right we. >> [inaudible] 11,000 palestinians [inaudible]

>> i'm sorry, you are breaking up, i didn't -- >> israel's war in gaza has killed more than 11,000 palestinians just over in a month, and created a humanitarian disaster. israeli officials have said that this war could go on for months or even years. how do you communicate it to prime minister netanyahu any sort of deadline or timeframe for how long you are willing to support israel in this operation? are you comfortable with the operation going on indefinitely, and is there any deal underway to free hostages? thank you. >> yes, no, working backwards forward. look, i have been deeply involved in moving on the hostage negotiations. and i don't want to get ahead

of myself here, because i don't know what has happened over the last four hours, but i have, we have gotten a great cooperation from countries, i've spoken with them as well, a number of times. i think that the pause that the israelis have agreed to, it's down to, it's not too much detail, i know mister secretary, i'm gonna stop, but i am mildly hopeful, i am oddly hopeful. and with regard to one is this gonna stop? i think it's gonna stop when the, one hamas no longer maintains the capacity to murder and abuse and just do horrific things to the israelis. and they still think that at

least have said this morning mr. thought they could. i guess the best way for me to say it is that i take a look, the idea of israeli defense forces, technologies they have an obligation to use as much caution as they can in going after their targets. it's not like the russian hospital knocking down doors, you know, pulling people aside and shooting people indiscriminately. but how moss, as i said, they plan on attacking israelis again. and this is a terrible dilemma. so what do you do? i think that israel is also taking risks themselves about their folks being killed, 1 to 1 going through these hospital rooms. hospital holes, but one thing has been established, it's that hamas does have a headquarters, weapons, material, below this

hospital, and i suspect others. but how long is going to last? i don't know, look, i made it clear to the israelis that -- but i think the only answer here is a two state solution, that's real. we've got to get to the point where there is an ability to be able to even talk without worrying about whether or not we are just dealing with, they are dealing with hamas, it's going to engage in the same activities that they did over the past, on the seventh. so, i can't tell, i'm not a fortune, teller i can't tell you how long it is going to last, but i can tell you that i don't think it will and and still there is a two state solution, i made it clear to the israelis, i think it is a big mistake for them to think they are going to occupy gaza and maintain gaza, i don't think that that works so i

think you are gonna see efforts to bring along, well, i shouldn't go into anymore, because there is things that i've been negotiating with. arab countries and others for about what the next steps are. but, anyway. thank you all very much. appreciate it. >> thank you, descends the press conference. >> [inaudible] >> and so they plan on doing the same thing, again which they did. they did it at the seventh. they are gonna do, what they want to go in and slaughter israelis, they want to do it again, they have said it out loud, they are not getting about it. they are not backing off, and so i just ask rhetorical question, i wonder what we would do if that were the case. >> [inaudible] >> what i meant as i was doing everything in my power to get

you out, coming to help you, get you, o'donnell means any military to get them. is that what you thought it might mean? no, no, no, i was not talking about the military. i was talking about, you are on our minds, every single day. five, six times a day, i am working on how i can be helpful, and getting hostages released and have a period of time where there is a pause, a pause long enough to let that happen. and there is somewhere between 50 and 100 hostages there, we think. >> sir, a three year old american child is one. >> you are darn right it is. that is why i'm not gonna stop until we get there. >> [inaudible] >> president biden speaking to -- >> it [inaudible] >> hamas is a command center under al-shifa hospital? >> no, i can't do that, i won't. >> do you feel absolutely confident based on the evidence that. >> yes, yes. >> mister president, after

today, would you still report to president xi as a dictator, this is a term that you have used earlier in the year. >> look, he is, a dictator in the sense that he's a guy that runs a country that [inaudible] anyways. >> he spoke to reporters after roughly four hours, back now with the panel, dana first of all what do you make of the presidents remarks just now he spoke about fentanyl pill presses, about getting china cooperation on cutting down fentanyl pill presses, precursor movement on precursor chemicals, you talk about direct military to military contacts. between the u.s. and china, as well as addressing risk of artificial intelligence. -- >> particularly given the fact

that during his campaign in 2020, then vice president biden talked a lot about what he repeated today, which is how many hours he had spent with xi jinping and how much he knew him, the fact that he could use that if he came president. well, today was a really important test of the history they have together. and yes, there wasn't a huge breakthrough on economics and other issues that have been dividing these two countries compete with one another for decades. but on the basics, i mean, fentanyl was one thing you mentioned, anderson. just take the fact that now there is communication reopened between the two countries militaries.

that's a big deal, because it was blown open thanks to a couple of things, including the fact that china sent a spy balloon floating over america for a long time. so it's obvious that he's trying to be hopeful, but also pretty clear that there's a lot of work to do. and anderson, if i may, on israel, it was really striking how much he is staying the course saying multiple times that hamas -- israel again, and they must be destroyed, must be taken off the table. because if not, they will reconstitute, and they will do exactly what they promised to do, giving no timeline to the end of this war except for when hamas is fully destroyed. and i thought that was really noteworthy, because obviously, he is facing a huge increasing pressure to call for a

cease-fire. he's not going there at all, not even close, in his comments tonight. >> let's bring in an ambassador, former ambassador michael ordin. ambassador, i'm wondering, to dana's point, what do you make of the president's comments about israel? >> i couldn't agree more. it is extraordinary. at least half the questions from the press choir were not about u.s. china's relationship, but rather better merica's policy towards israel and the gaza conflict. i think, you know, in contrast to what has been said in recent days, that america's policy towards this conflict has weakened americas position in the world. on the contrary, i think the president comes into this meeting with xi in a position

of power. -- willing to project power again on a massive scale. these two very large striker voices -- willing to stick by an ally in the face of growing international pressure. i think it sends a message about america's commitment to taiwan. i think it says something about america's ability to protect our -- power again. -- much stronger because of his position, and then he reiterated it tonight in the face of these very, you know, very pressing questions from journalists, saying are you gonna put a time on this? are you gonna agree to a cease-fire? he said no. he stuck by his position, did not give an inch. and i think that strengthens america's position vis-ã -vis china, i think it strengthens america's position vis-ã -vis russia and the entire world. everyone wants to know where america -- gonna be able to project that power. very powerful, i thought. >> that's true. he did seem to -- he made two remarks that i think are gonna catch attention. -- 50 to 100 hostages we there. that's lower than the 240 number. obviously, nobody knows how many hostages there are, because none of these groups, hamas, islamic jihad, others who may be holding hostages,

have given any proof of life. so there's plenty of people who are missing. it's not clear if all those people are being held hostage. i'm wondering what you make of that number. also, he seemed to say something about israel having agreed to a pause, and then he stopped himself looking at the secretary of state, antony blinken. i don't know -- the pause the israelis have agreed to, i assume he's talking about any potential pause that might be part of a deal for hostages coming out, being negotiated with qatar. >> that's the way i understood it, anderson. they're a lot of press reports about a proposal to have a pause, 3 to 5 days. it's quite clear, to release a certain number of hostages, young people, sick people, and old people. the israeli government has firmly denied or refused to comment about it. i think that's what the president was referring to. the absolute number of hostages

remains around 240 >> -- president biden just doubled down on referring to president xi as a dictator. wondering what you made of his remarks tonight with. >> it's hunted like he had stepped away from the mic a bit when he was asked that. i was trying to listen closely. so he did clarify that he stood by that title. i think that's gonna be interesting. in a sense, anderson, i want to see what, if anything, state media will do with that in a day or so. and the reason i say that is if they choose to totally ignore it and not make any mention of it, it's just split the narrative coming from the top, from president xi jinping, is to stay focused, stay the course on trying to keep these relations warm, and to move in a direction of open and honest communication, as they'd like to describe, mutual trust. if they start to make a big deal about it in coming days, it would suggest that there are still issues with this relationship, that it is far

from rosy, and that there is, perhaps, gonna be more division to come. so i'm curious to see what will be made of that in the coming days. >> mj lee, i want to go to you. i believe you're the one who asked the question. it was off mike, so it was hard for viewers here. just explain what you asked and what he said. we >> yeah. the question that i asked president biden, one of the questions -- is whether he still considers president xi a dictator given that this was a comment that he had made earlier this year. and given that, obviously, the two sides have said that there was a lot of progress made in the relationship, and president biden said yes, he still is, but that hasn't changed, i thought that was incredibly noteworthy. sort of signaling that even while there is some progress on building up those diplomatic channels and making sure that there is an improvement in the two countries relations, but there are some things that are fundamental to china that he isn't going to forget. he also said when he was asked

by a different reporter, whether he would trust xi jinping, he said he believes in the ethos of trust, but verify. i thought that was incredibly noteworthy. and anderson, something else that really struck me during this 20 minute press conference is how much we are seeing president biden and the biden administration having to answer questions about israel and israel's conduct in the israel-hamas war. we saw the number of questions he received from reporters about the civilian death toll in gaza. of course, i asked him a question at the and about whether he feels confident that there is a hamas control center under the al-shifa hospital, and he said yes, he does feel confident, but he can't get into the details. and i think, you know, everywhere we go, you are really just seeing signs of how much this conflict is following the president around. you know, when i walk into the white house every day from my job, it is pretty typical to be able to hear protests of some

kind that is related to this conflict. it wasn't that long ago that the entrance to the white house had fingerprints, hand prints that were supposed to mimic bloodstains with words like genocide joe. and here in san francisco, while the president has been here to attend the apec summit, just last night, when we were walking around the city of san francisco, we saw a really sizeable rally protest. a pro palestinian protest. and many of the signs specifically mentioning president biden. so i think this moment here sort of captures and really brings to light how many questions president biden himself -- u.s. officials are getting about this conflict, as increasingly, people, including in his own administration, are starting to voice serious, serious concerns about israel's conduct. and anderson, if i could just note one more very interesting moment that stood out to me,

and helpful, because i was sitting so close to the front row -- i was in the second row, the first row of reporters, in this press conference, when president biden was asked about the ongoing hostage negotiations, he said that he was mildly hopeful. we started to talk about a pause that israel may have agreed to, and then he looked over at secretary of state antony blinken who was sitting right in front of him, and made some remark of how perhaps he shouldn't get too much into the detail, and secretary blinken shaking his head, shaking his head no, definitely do not get into too much of the details. i thought that was a really interesting moment that captured just how sensitive these negotiations have been. the president, of course, has been sort of optimistic all along, at least in what he has said in his public remarks, but he will ultimately end up

seeing these american hostages and others get out, but these negotiations are ongoing, and you can tell, just from that very interaction, that those talks have been incredibly, incredibly sensitive. >> i'm wondering what stood out to you in the presidents remarks. and also given that you've written -- you've done a study of president biden, you would a great biography of the president, talk about what you saw and how he performed. >> yeah. i was struck by his returning several times to this idea of being blunt. you know, he said it on a range of issues. talking about china, he said the importance is for us to be blunt with one another so there's no misunderstanding. it's especially important when it comes to china, because xi jinping has consolidated so

much power at the very top. but frankly, the biden administration isn't confident that when they go through other channels, that they're getting a clear message to him. and so, he said this rather unusual thing. tonight, he said we talked about the idea that i should be able to pick up the phone and call him, and he should be able to pick up the phone directly and call me. i will take the call. i mean, that is, if there is a court concept in biden's diplomacy going across decades and across issues, it's the idea of being candid. being clear. perhaps even a bit too candid sometimes. mj was drawing attention to a moment when he almost perhaps said something that there is still working through privately. he was also candid when he talked about what he discussed with bibi netanyahu and the israeli government. the idea that in his mind there will not be an ultimate solution here and celebrates a two-state solution. so he's not shying away from the points of disagreement in any of these crucial issues. it just highlights, frankly, how broad range of complex issues this administration is contending with at one time. >> yeah. dana, certainly, his talk about

a two state solution, obviously, is at odds with the number of members of the netanyahu government. including the prime minister. >> currently, it seems as though that is true. i interviewed the prime minister over the weekend, specifically on the notion of a post -- what gaza would look like after the war, and whether he would support the palestinian authority going in there. he pushed back on the notion that -- the capability to do it, because of all the negative attributes that have been pretty well documented. he said there needs to be a civilian leadership that's reimagined. it doesn't necessarily mean no two state solution, it just means the p. a., which is the entity that the biden government, the biden administration very much says should go in, back into gaza, even though they were there for not very long before hamas ended up taking over in the mid 2000s. so yes, he is pushing that, and i think if you take a step back, you mention this again tonight, anderson, it's because he wants to make very clear that israel has no business staying in gaza

after the war. there should be no occupation at all by -- he didn't say israeli troops, but by israel. and i think he meant was governing. >> how do you think the president's comments about a two state solution are gonna be felt or perceived by netanyahu and his government? >> maybe by members of the government, not particularly thrilled. let's talk about the israeli public in general. i think the public will be open to any realistic venue that will change the status quo, perhaps a peaceful resolution. there's an amount of skepticism on the israeli public, and i'm talking about people on the center in the center left -- head of the palestinian authority right now is in the

18th year of his four-year term. you won't stand for reelection because he knows how much would win on the west bank as well -- a palestinian state there, it could turn into gaza, and it's gonna be 20 times worse because it's the longest border that israel has, and put most of israel not just an rocket range -- legitimate and stable leadership there that is willing to sign on the dotted line on a peace agreement and actually keep it, and keep it in a peaceful way, and convince the israeli public of that. i think it's worth exploring, and i would wish the president the best of success with it. it won't be an easy task. but people have tried it in the past. i think the israeli public will be open to any opportunity for peace. >> i appreciate your time. all our panelists as well. we'll be right back.