Transcripts For CSPAN2 Natl 20240702

Israel karine good afternoon, everybody. Good to see everyone. Couple things at the top before i turn it over to the admiral. As the conflict between israel and hamas continues, President Biden has made it a top priority to ensure that the Palestinian People receive urgently needed humanitarian aid. This is something he has been actively engaged on over the past week, including calls with president sisi of egypt and meetings and calls with Prime Minister netanyahu. We are glad to see the first convoys of humanitarian assistance over the weekend across the border into gaza and reach palestinians in a neat. And we are grateful for partners involved in these efforts. It is important to keep rafah crossings in operation and aid flowing without diversion from hamas. Humanitarian assistance remain a critical and urgent need for palestinians in gaza. We know, and we understand this, that much more is needed, and this will remain a priority for us in the days and weeks ahead. I also wanted to say a few words about the supplemental request that we detailed to all of you on friday. Under President Bidens leadership, we have rallied a Global Response to putins invasion of ukraine and provided aid following hamass barbaric tourist attack terrorist attack. We now need to congress to provide Additional Resources that will support allies and partners in their fight against tyrants and terrorists. The supplemental the president put forward is for an American Industrial base to ensure that american readiness, american economy, creates american jobs, supports israel as it protects itself against hamas, helps ukraine defend against putins brutal invasion, provides humanitarian assistants to civilians devastated by putins invasion and hamass horrific attacks, strengthen security in the in the pacific, provide alternative financing by the prc, and fights the flow of fentanyl. The world is watching and the American People expect their leaders to come together and deliver on these priorities. We will work with members of both parties to address these needs in a bipartisan agreement in the weeks ahead. With that, admiral john kirby from the National Security council is here to answer any questions you have on israel and any other foreignrelated items. Admiral . Adm. Kirby afternoon, everybody. Just to recap events from the past few days, good to catch up after the weekend. On friday we successfully secured the release of two americans taken hostage by hamas during the horrific terrorist assault on the seventh of october, and the president had a chance to speak with them and their families. They met in tel aviv, family members of others who have been taken hostage. We have no higher priority than the safety of americans being held around the world and we will continue around the clock to see if we can get them home to their families where they belong. It is literally an hourbyhour effort here at the white house and that the state department to find out where these folks are and to try to make the effort to get them out and get them back. As karine just spoke about, first convoys over the weekend of humanitarian assistance across the border was able to reach palestinians in need. As she also said, we will continue those efforts going forward. It is important that the aid be sustainable, and that is what we are focused on. Over the weekend the president received briefings from his National Security team on all the latest of elements. Yesterday, as you know, he completed calls to Prime Minister netanyahu, his holiness pope francis, and the leaders of canada, france, germany, and the united kingdom. Im sure you saw the joint statement from those leaders that they release last night. I want to reiterate it, but hopefully i wont reiterate it, but hopefully you can take from that unanimity on israels right to defend itself against terrorism while adhering to International Humanitarian law including the production of civilians. Protection of civilians we have seen over the course of the last week but over the last couple days and weekend an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by iranianbacked proxy groups in iraq and syria. We are concerned about the potential for any significant escalation of these attacks in the days ahead. At the direction of President Biden, the secretary of defense has ordered the military to take steps to prepare for this to ensure that we are postured to properly in terms of being able to defend our forces and respond decisively as needed. The secretary of defense has directed to Carrier Strike groups to the region, and we are sending air defenses to u. S. Air bases in the region. We know these goods are supported by the irgc groups are supported by the irgc regime. We know iran continues to support hamas and hezbollah. And we know iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict for their own good, for that of iran. We know irans goal is to maintain some level of deniability, but we are not going to allow them to do that. We will not allow any threats to our interests in the reason to go unchallenged. We demonstrate it last week that we have and will use the military capabilities available to us to protect and defend those interests. Those cap abilities are getting bigger and better every day fora. As President Biden has said, i message to any hostile actors is simple, dont do it. Reporter john, is it your view that the israelis should begin their gaza defensive when they feel ready . Adm. Kirby it is our view that the Defense Forces need to decide for themselves when to conduct operations. We are not in the business of dictating terms to them and we are certainly not in the business at the white house of previewing any future operations one way or the other. That would be inappropriate. Reporter secondly, you said iran is actively facilitating these acts. What exactly are they doing . Adm. Kirby their support for these iranbacked proxies is no secret. It is pretty open. They have made no secret of it. Funding, resourcing in terms of providing the rockets and the munitions that they fire, training for some of these guys. I mean, theres a connection between these groups and the irgc, a very direct connection. Reporter we have reported that the administration has been urging israel to delay a Ground Invasion. Can you tell us whether other countries are making the same request . Is there a quite a knitted effort . Coordinated effort . Adm. Kirby i wont speak for other nations and what communication they have with israel. We have since the early hours maintain a level of communication with our israeli counterparts to ascertain their intentions, their strategies, their aims, to see what their answers are to the kind of tough questions that any military ought to be asking before you launch any major operation. Have you thought to the branches, have you thought to the unintended consequences . We are in active conversation about that. Reporter we have seen a number of leaders travel to israel or commit to traveling to israel, of course the president himself. Is your understanding that they would not be a Ground Invasion as long as there is a head of state in the country . Adm. Kirby that is a question for israeli officials to speak to, mj. I just dont want to be in a position where i am speaking for the israeli Defense Forces. Reporter another quick topic why is it that people currently are not able to leave gaza right now . Do you have an explanation as to why that humanitarian core door for people to exit gaza isnt open . Is the obstacles of hamas, is it the egyptians . Adm. Kirby i think there is a lot of factors going into why there is no exit out. We are glad stuff is going in, but we still want to see safe passage out, particularly for the several hundred american citizens we know are in gaza and want to leave. Ambassador satterfield is working this very, very hard. There is a number of factors. Security egyptian officials have spoken to this. Theyve got legitimate secreted concerns, and again, we need to work through that. Reporter admiral, can you tell us the latest on the status of hostages and the work to try to release additional hostages . Do you see i those being held who might be the next do you see a category of those being held who might be next to be released . Can you get a sense of what that picture look like . Adm. Kirby i wish i could, kelly, i really do. These are all great questions, but where we are in the process makes it impossible for us to quickly detail the efforts going on. We are grateful for all the help we got, and we got help getting those two americans out, the mother and daughter. We are grad they are ok and are going to be reunited with the family and come back home. There are a bunch of others that arent. Small group we still think are americans, and then there are dozens and dozens from other countries, obviously israel as well. Theres a lot of effort going on, a lot of conversations and discussions with partners in the region, and it is best if we dont detail that. Reporter do we have a word on the number of americans, handful, as many as 10 . Adm. Kirby i want to be careful because the numbers have fluctuated since last time i talked to you. We are glad to know that the number is down by two, obviously, but we still have about 10 unaccounted for americans, and it is not exec liquor to us where those 10 people are. It is not exactly clear to us whether 10 people are. I would still categorize it as a handful. I know that is not the specificity want, but that is the detail i should get. Reporter there is a dual national from maryland who went to serve in the idf who was killed in action. Can you speak to that situation, if the president has reached the family or has intention to do that . Adm. Kirby we certainly offer our deepest condolences to the family. There it that is news no mom and dad ever want to get. I dont have any communication to speak to one way or the other, but our thoughts and prayers go to the family. Reporter john, on a posthamas gaza, if that were to happen, is there anything you could share about what conversations the u. S. Is having on what the posthamas gaza would look like . Adm. Kirby that is going to be a conversation that israeli officials need to start having monks themselves. Amongst themselves. Without speaking for them, i dont think im going to far to say that the focus right now is ongoing after hamas, where they are in gaza, getting him into terry and assistance in, getting people out getting humanitarian assistance in, getting people out. The focus of our israeli counterparts is on prosecuting these efforts against hamas. The issue of governance in gaza is certainly not an important, but i wouldnt speak for the ash not u is not unimportant, but im not speaking for the israelis on what that would look like. Reporter [indiscernible] adm. Kirby we have talked to the israelis about their strategy and that includes longterm issues that are out ahead of them. But i think you can understand, appropriately right now, the focus is on the operational picture. Reporter on the normalization process, can you save it saudi arabia has provided a list of requests of what it might like to see for the talks between saudi arabia and israel . Adm. Kirby im not tracking or aware of a specific threat. Youre talking postoctober 7. Im not aware of a new list or homework assignment they submitted. We believe those talks are important and we still want to pursue normalization. We understand that both in israel and of course in reality there is a different of course in riyadh there is a different focus, but we have every intention of keeping that going. Reporter thank you, admiral. What kinds of humanitarian aid wouldve the u. S. Like to see reaching the palestinians before israel launches a Ground Invasion . Adm. Kirby can i bifurcate that question . Im not going to sit here and is and there is going to be some sort of Ground Invasion assume there is going to be some sort of Ground Invasion, and im certainly not speaking to some hypothetical timing. Lets talk humanitarian assistance at large you heard karine, we are getting food, water, medicine into gaza. Not enough. There has been three convoys a little less than 60 trucks. That is a good start, it is just a start. We want to see it keep going and over the coming days you will see convoys of trucks getting in. But fuel is also an issue. We know you need fuel to run the Power Generators and hospitals, you need fuel to run the pumps and the desalination facilities so people can drink fresh, healthy water. That is another thing we are working on. Reporter whether or not there is a Ground Invasion, do you view humanitarian aid getting there first is important . Adm. Kirby whether or not there is a Ground Invasion, we believe humanitarian assistance flowing to the people of gaza is greatly important, and he needs to go as soon as possible and as much as possible. Reporter where does the president stand on this . There was confusion over the weekend about whether or not he had said that, yes, he does want israel to wait until humanitarian assistance can get to the Palestinian People before any invasion. Adm. Kirby we have been Crystal Clear with our partners in the region including israel that we want to see humanitarian assistance flow. There is no change to our pastor on that as allposture on that as all. We are not dictating military terms to the israeli Defense Forces. They have a right and responsibility to go after these terrorists, and they will do it in a way that they believe is appropriate to the threat. We are definitely going to support them in terms of providing the capabilities for them to continue to prosecute Hamas Terrorists. In fact, Security Assistance has continued to flow over the course of the weekend and it will. But we are not dictating terms. Reporter the u. N. Secretarygeneral, the European Union policy chief, have called for a ceasefire. Will we see the United States calling for humanitarian ceasefire . Adm. Kirby what we want is for israel to have the tools it needs to defend itself and go after hamas and that human attorney assistance keeps flowing. It started at humanitarian assistance keeps flowing. It started and it is a good thing. Reporter you mentioned the joint statement yesterday where several western alliance asked israel to protect civilians. The death toll gaza is rising sharply. Are israelis listening adm. Kirby we are not going to parcel out each and every event that happens on the battlefield, especially since we are not there. There hasnt been a conversation we have had with israeli counterpart and we have had them at all levels where we are not talking about just what they want to do, but how they want to do it. Reporter john, i reported that the u. S. Was urging israel to delay a Ground Invasion the day after officials here issued statements denying that was the case. Other outlets have started to report the same information that i had. Today you are not confirming any of those reports. My question is arent you at all concerned that if the u. S. Is not clear with the public about what we are asking or suggesting to israel that they do here, that that is going to complicate getting this aid package through congress . You guys are asking for 105 billion, a portion of this goes towards israel. Are you concerned that not being clear with folks about what the u. S. Is advising israel to do will hamper support in congress for this aid . Adm. Kirby we have been clear and consistent about our support for israel and their ability to defend themselves, jackie can we have been very clear and consistent about the fact that we will provide Security Assistance so they can do that, we have been clear and consistent about the need for mentoring assistance to flow and clear and consistent about our desire to get people out of gaza as well as get hostages home. We have been consistent throughout and that includes with members of congress. Yes, we are going to need congressional support to continue to support israel. We have got enough appropriations available to us a while longer. How long is that while it is going to depend on the expenditure rate and the kinds of operations they are conducting. So we desperately need congress to act on the supplemental request. Reporter but with questions about the israelis and their strategy, are you liking their answers they are giving you . Adm. Kirby im not going to comment these have been clear and consistent conversations making sure they have what they need and they are thinking through we are asking them what their answers are to the cancer questions that any military out to be asking kinds of questions that any military ought to be asking as they connect the operations. Reporter how are you going to convince people that this is not going to get into hamass hands when, for instance, we saw fraud with covid relief money in the u. S. , and we are now talking about securing an understanding with hamas, a terror group, about how this human entering aid should be used . How can you convince people that that is going to be a worthwhile, necessary, and secure endeavor . Adm. Kirby we certainly share concerns about any divergenc of humanitarian assistancee for hamass purposes. Fuel is a good example. They need fuel to electrify and power their tunnels. We understand that. We are not blind to the potential concerns here over divergent, which is why ambassador satterfield is on the ground. The whole purpose is to make sure the humanitarian assistance can get to the Palestinian People. We have seen no indications as of today that any of the trucks karine talked about, any of the materials have been diverted to hamas or been absconded by hamas. In fact, every indication has been that it has in fact gone to the Palestinian People, who are in desperate need for it. I would remind folks that we have trusted partners on the ground, humanitarian aid organizations, and the u. N. Relief agencies on the ground and they very much are taking a personal stake, professional and personal stake, in making sure that that aid is getting where it is needed. We are going to watch obviously we are going to watch this closely. We dont want to see hamas benefit anymore than anybody else does. Reporter how does the u. S. Go about knowing that it is the aid is getting to who it is supposed to get to and not hamas . Second, can you confirm that the president has sent Lieutenant General and other folks to advise the israelis . Adm. Kirby on your first question write these down because im going to probably forget but on your first question, we are working with trusted partners on the ground, including the u. N. That is the way we do it in so many countries around the world, we dont have a footprint any regions inthe world we dont have a footprint. We are not on the ground to personally inspect these things, but we have trusted partners on the ground including the u. N. And eight organizations who will report what they are saying aid organizations will report what they are seeing. We are staying in close touch with them. We all share the same desire, that hamas not be able to divert any of this stuff for their purposes. It is not just the United States. The whole International Community has a stake and making sure that the people of gaza get this food, water, medicine, and other vital needs met. On your second question, wh at i can tell you is that there are a few relevant military officers with experience, the kind of experience that we believe is appropriate to the sorts of operations that israel is conducting and may conduct in the future, to go over there and share perspectives from their own experience and ask hard questions, the same hard questions we have been asking of our israeli counter parts since the beginning. Reporter any adm. Kirby a few. Reporter thank you, admiral. Israel has repeatedly said its top priority is to destroy hamas. What is americas top priority . Are the two countries on the same page . Adm. Kirby americas priority, i think present biden was clear when he was over there, to make sure israel has the capacity to go after Hamas Terrorists and to make sure it humanitarian assistance goes in and to make sure we can get innocent civilians who want to leave gaza out including american civilians. Reporter can you outline how this would complicate getting the remaining hostages out and impact american strategy . Adm. Kirby again, i dont think it is wise for me to get up here and do a bunch of speculation, hypothesizing about operations that havent happened yet. Well let the israelis speak for themselves and what operations they are going to conduct. All i can tell you is that they have what they need to do it and that the human attorney assistance keeps flowing humanitarian assistance keeps flowing. Reporter can you identify three Top Priorities for america . Israels top party is destroying hamas top priority is destroying hamas. Adm. Kirby we agree that the top priority has got to be going after hamas. There is no daylight here. We also think it is important for humanitarian assistance to flow and for is to get back to their families. We are working and for hostages to get back to their families. We are working on all three of those things. Reporter are you tracking the new report that hamas is working to transfer 50 israeli hostages . Can you comment on that . Adm. Kirby no, i cannot. Reporter some have expressed concern over escalation particularly with iran, and irans foreign minister warned anything would be possible at any moment and the region would get out of control. Have you seen any indication that iran is planning to further expand its conflict more so than we have seen . Adm. Kirby we know that they are supporting these groups, we know they supported hamas and hezbollah, we know they are monitoring these events very closely and in some cases urging on some of these groups, and that is why i made it clear the president does not want to see this conflict widen. We have added additional military capability into the region to deter any such action. And we will act appropriately to protect and defend our National Security interests in the region. You saw that just last week when a guided missile was shot down, guided missiles and drones potentially on their way into israel. We take those response villages seriously, and anybody else in the region onto be paying attention to that. Reporter do you have an update on whether iran was darkly involved directly involved some israeli people say they have evidence, but they have not presented any evidence. Adm. Kirby we are in the same place we were, we know theres complicity by iran. Hamas would not be able to function or exist without iran. I cannot stand here before you and say we have seen a particular piece of intelligence that shows that they were participating in or directing what happened on october 7. Again, nobody is doubting, nobody is walking away from the fact that iran does bad things with bad people in that part of the world. Reporter how does the white house see chinas role in the israelhamas conflict, and what is direction to china sending six warships to the middle east . Adm. Kirby i will let china speak to its Foreign Policy in the region and whatever they are i have seen them call for both sides to ratchet down the violence. Weve been clear about where we are. We are on israels side here. Israel needs support to go after Hamas Terrorists and that is not going to change. Reporter on the adm. Kirby i know nobody ago conversations we have had bilaterally with either country thus far. Reporter speaking of americans in gaza, some are being told by the state department and the administration to go to the border saturday there were told to go to the border but they cannot leave. Are you still advising americans to go to the border . What is the hold up there . Adm. Kirby you will have to talk to the state department. I cannot speak to the communication theyre having with american citizens there. When i can tell you is that we are working very, very hard to get them out of gaza, again, through rafah. Master satterfield literally is working this as you ambassador satterfield literally is working this as you and i are speaking right now. You want to get them out, we want to have them available as close by as possible so that can be effected in a very efficient way extra what specific messages the state department is sending, you have to talk to them. Reporter speaking of what President Biden said on friday on the fundraiser, he talked about the hamas attack being carried out to disrupt the normal relation between israel and saudi arabia normalization efforts between israel and saudi arabia. Can you comment on what he meant by that, and is that the administrations position . Adm. Kirby we certainly cant discount that that could have been a goal here. Look, hamas wants to wipe israel off the map. They want to kill as many israelis as they can. That was the purpose of october 7, to just take life. And it is perfectly possible that there were other to political go other geopolitical goals here, as the president alluded to, because normalization between israel and saudi arabia, you can see that that would not be in the interests of terrorist groups like hamas, it certainly wouldnt be in the interests of their backers in tehran. Reporter do you think that is the top reason they did it . Adm. Kirby i cant specify specifically the top reason. I am not in the minds of the terrorists. The president was singly laying out a real potential factor behind what they did. Reporter the president has spoken a lot about the work he has done in building a coalition behind ukraine, supporting ukraine. Is there any concerns that u. S. Support for israel and the civilian casualties rising in gaza, is there any concern that could undermine support for the u. S. Stance on ukraine, with brazil, asia, africa, who might be, in terms of their views on gaza . Adm. Kirby supporting both right now, both countries, is important to President Biden. That is why we submitted a supplemental request last week. It is important both get the support they need not just from the United States, but the International Community. We are dedicated to that outcome and we will stay dedicated to that effort. Reporter yes, i wanted to ask about if there is concerns in the administration regarding funding you put two Congress Given that leadership of the Republican Caucus have said they only want to approve a package for israel and a separate package for ukraine . Adm. Kirby i will let members of Congress Speak for themselves on how they want to move the supplemental request forward. We submitted it together because we believe all of it is important. Every dollar we asked for for the supplement of funding is of an urgent nature, and we urge congress to move on all of it as quickly as possible. Reporter thank you. With regards to american hostages, you noted there were conversations and discussions with partners in the region, and on friday after those two americans were thankfully freed, the president thanked israelis and qataris for their partnership on this work. Are the israelis and qataris negotiating with hamas on our behalf . Adm. Kirby i will not go into any more detail about the discussions and negotiations to get the american home. If i were to do that i might put at risk opportunities to get more people out, and im just not going to do that. Reporter theres been an uptick on the right among some republicans who have called for students or for nationals who argument foreign nationals who are devastating in these propalestine demonstrations or allegedly prohamas demonstrations to face deportation. Adm. Kirby you dont have to agree with every sentiment expressed in a free country like this to stand by the id the First Amendment and idea of peaceful protest, i will leave it at that. Reporter can you talk about the degree to which your efforts to get the supplemental funding and work on the crisis are complicated by the fact that we still dont have a speaker after all these days . Adm. Kirby it would certainly be helpful to have a speaker of the house. Procedurally, that is how you get new legislation to the floor. I will that House Republicans speak to their process and what they are doing. We know that there is significant bipartisan support for continuing to support ukraine, continuing to support israel. Both chambers, by the way. We know there is a lot of bipartisan support there. The president is urging congress to act as soon as possible. Reporter we have seen on the trip to northern israel lebanon, is hezbollah enters the war from the north front. The lebanese people have no power over driving the decision to enter or not. If a Militia Group like hezbollah dont listen to us, the lebanese based on hezbollahs actions . Adm. Kirby i didnt understand the whole question why do the lebanese people need to pay the price . Reporter do you think we are happy to see that happening in our home . Adm. Kirby look, we know they dont speak for the lebanese people, the vast majority of the people of lebanon, we know that, anymore than hamas doesnt speak for the aspirations of the vast majority of palestinians living in gaza. We have set from the very beginning, we dont want to see any act or take advantage of the situation to widen or deepen the conflict, and that certainly includes hezbollah. That is why the president has added additional military forces to the region and why more forces will be coming in the days and weeks ahead to deter any actor from widening or deepening this conflict. I understand the question. I dont think it is helpful at this stage to speculate about something that hasnt happened and hopefully will not happen. What i can tell you is we have Significant National scaredy interest in the region and we are going to work to protect and defend National Security interests in the region and we will work to protect and defend those interest against any actor who is thinking about entering in an widening and deepening this conflict ought to take a look at how seriously we are taking our response billys. Reporter can you understand what is the Job Description for these two ships . Is it only to supply military aid for israel, and to enter the war if anything would break in that region . Is there information regarding that matter . Adm. Kirby first of all, it is not two ships, it is two Carrier Strike groups. There is a lot of ships in a strike group, i can speak from experience on that one. You saw secretary of defense austin Nancy Eisenhower street group, still crossing announce the eisenhower street group, so crossing the atlantic, and will go to the middle east, the gulf region. They are there for two purposes. Im going to say it again and youre probably sick of me saying this, but it is true one is to deter any actor from widening, deepening this conflict, and two, making sure we are ready and able to defend our National Security interests in the region writ large. That is what they are there for. Reporter in regards to the emergency supplemental, you have spoken before about the emergency need for funding for ukraine. I was wondering if you could talk about what you see about the urgency for funding israel, why that portion of the aid you are requesting is so necessary right now. Adm. Kirby because if we dont get relief, john, we could potentially have a lapse in our ability to provide those kinds of munitions to israel. We had existing appropriations Funds Available to continue to support israel for a short time. Again, i cant be perfectly specific because a lot of it depends on the case of their operations and what they are going through. We need to make sure they have a preparations to replenish dod stocks. We have National Security interests around the world we have to meet and we have provided a lot from our inventory and we need to replenish that. It is vitally important. Just a foot a fine point on this just to put a fine point on this, the figure we asked for, just a little over 14 billion, was shortly after consultations with our is really kind of parts israeli counterparts. We didnt pull that number out of thin air. Reporter on the hostages, a spokesperson for hamas has suggested that hamas would release all of the hostages that are in gaza right now in exchange for a ceasefire. Do you view that as a credible offer . Adm. Kirby we cannot take anything hamas says with huge grain of salt. We dont take anything they say at face value. There is an idea to throw out there release them all now. They didnt do anything wrong. They are innocent civilians caught up in the conflict. Let them go now. I reckon eyes that is not going to happen, which is wiped i recognize that is not going to happen, which is why we will continue working with our partners in the region. Reporter can you confirm reports that the Chinese Foreign minister is planning to visit washington this weekend . I was wondering if you could tell us the objective of this meeting with the chinese adm. Kirby there have been discussions about potential meetings. Maybe as soon as this week. But i think the state department will have more to say about that later today. Reporter also on the incident with china, what message is the u. S. Sending to china about the incident that happened yesterday between china and the philippines . The incident between the philippines and china . Adm. Kirby what message are we sending to china . Reporter what do you say to china but this conflict . About this conflict . Adm. Kirby i am not aware of a collision, so i will have to go back to the team and get more information. Just broadly speaking, weve been very clear about the intimidating and frankly in some cases reckless behavior by the poa and Maritime Forces as well as the socalled coast guard in terms of bullying the navies and coast guards and Fishing Vessels of neighboring states. Its on acceptable and it needs to stop. But i cannot tell you about the specific event because is the first ive heard of it. Reporter with the Carrier Strike groups, will there be more forces in the days and weeks ahead can you outline what you are talking about . Adm. Kirby no. Reporter all right. [laughter] i want to know how that would be consistent with the president s promise on to 19th that he is getting out of there forever promise in 2019 that he is getting out of forever wars . Adm. Kirby the whole reason he is sending them there is to prevent war. It is all about deterrence. Sending naval forces and squadrons to the region, it is all about preventing war. Reporter can you give a timeline of what that would look like . Adm. Kirby no. Reporter there is no doubt that the u. S. Is known for human rights values around the world. Dont you think the u. S. Has delayed human rights with palestine from day one . Adm. Kirby no. I couldnt disagree more. Not at all. From the early hours of this conflict we made clear not just to our is really not a part israeli counterparts, but the American People and people around the world, we take life seriously. Go back to the first statement that the president made after the attacks of october 7 and see it right there, part and parcel with every conversation we have had, and we have been working, we have been spearheading the efforts to get the humanitarian assistance in. It came, the first truck convoys karine talked about came after President Biden spoke to Prime Minister netanyahu in tel aviv, and then coming home on air force one, to get that stuff moving. They had road repairs they had to do. It started flowing. No, sir, we have been working the issue of human and civil rights and protection for innocent life since the very beginning, and that is not going to stop. Reporter in some of those countries, some of these rallies were huge numbers. Dont you think President Biden needs to gesture towards peace instead of saying he can handle two wars at a time . Adm. Kirby from the beginning of this administration we have been working for a more integrated, cooperative, peaceful, stable, and prosperous middle east. I will not reiterate the list of accomplishments, but they are all there and i am happy to send you an email. We have been getting them to be a more stable, prosperous region. Obviously the attacks were horrific and the israelis have a right and responsibility to respond to those acts. I think everybody understands that. And we also understand the focus of the countries in the region, particularly israel, is going to be on that. Its our focus, too. It doesnt mean were going to give up or walk away from it. We still believe in the promise of a twostate solution and well continue to work for that. Matter of fact, the key to getting a twostate solution is normalization between israel and saudi arabia and well work on that as well. Reporter why is the president not focusing the last couple weeks his agent for two nation feuding and i feel like enough to win the war and the president was aiming towards normalization through two states. And that has been put down. Adm. Kirby i told you, sir, theres no desire to see a two state solution and theres no change in our efforts to get normalization between israel and saudi arabia as a steppingstone to a twostate solution but were not blind to reality. Right now israel is fighting to defend itself against Hamas Terrorists and were trying to help them do that. Right now the focus of the region is whats going on. Right now the president s focus, appropriately, is to deter a larger war so that we can get back to the table and we can move forward on those key diplomatic steps. Thank you. Try to keep john as long as we can but the president will be starting his event pretty soon and if folks have any additional questions, im happy to take them. Reporter on the state visit was there any thought of postponing because of the war in the middle east and more broadly, is there any concern that a celebration though were tone deaf with israel and gaza . Karine weve seen these reportings and we believe theres no more important time than now to have our state visit with the australians and to demonstrate of course our strength and partnership in alliances as we continue to have conversations with our partners, have conversations with our allies, right . As we are continuing to see the invasion that continues in ukraine. So having these conversations with one of our allies like australia is incredibly important. So thats what youre going to see. Youre going to see two leaders come together to talk about the partnership theyre hoping to continue to push forward. So look, it doesnt stop the work the president has continued to do, whether its the diplomatic conversations, these important bilateral visits or domestic issues right here in this country. So the president , as hes been doing, will continue to do the work of the president , to do the work of the commander in chief and this is no different. Reporter one more. U. A. W. Expanded its strike today. Is it time for team sperling and acting secretary sue to be on the ground in detroit . Karine they have been to detroit the past couple weeks and have been closely engaged in the u. A. W. And the big three. Obviously theyre not part of the conversation but theyre offering assistance the u. A. W. May need. The president believes collective bargaining is incredibly important, for both sides to come together and continue to have those negotiations and continue to have those conversations and were here to assist in any way and we have been. We have been doing that. But again, collective bargaining so that hopefully theres a winwin agreement and its done in good faith. And weve seen it in the past two years under this Administration Work out in different scenarios and what were hoping to continue. Go ahead, m. J. Reporter will the president meet with is a is man that walls from the synagogue in detroit . Karine obviously our hearts go out to the families there. It is a devastating news story and the president like everyone else is paying close attention and saw those reports. I dont have anything else to add. Obviously the Investigation Continues and we are willing to assist in any way. I dont have anything else beyond that. Reporter what is the level of concern right now about the potential rise of antisemitism in light of everything going on in israel . Karine a couple of things. Look, we have not seen any Credible Threats. I know theres been always questions about Credible Threats and so i just want to make sure that thats out there. Muslims and those perceived to be muslim have endured a dispore portionity number of hatefueled attacks and President Biden understands many palestinian american loved ones and neighbors are worried about the hate being directed at their communities and something you heard the president speak to in his address last thursday, so one of the things the president has done is directed his Team Homeland Security Team to prioritize prevention and disruption of any emerging threats that could harm the jewish, the Muslim Americans or any other communities and thats something the president has sought to do since day one. As you know, the president ran on protecting communities but obviously bringing people together, protecting the sole of the nation. Thats something the president takes very, very seriously. And were going to continue to denounce any sort of hate towards any american here so thats what were going to continue to be steadfast on. Again, he has advised his homeland Security Team to make sure theyre on top of this. Reporter are there specific deliberations youre expected to get with australia . Karine i dont want to get ahead of the deliverables on wednesday but well have these background calls on the n. L. C. Leads and well have more on the priorities and agenda and what were looking to do. Reporter i know john kirby addressed the protests on College Campuses and appreciate the president respects First Amendment rights to protest but does the president view antiisrael protest and sentiment on College Campuses as antisemitism . Karine look, im not going to get into what is happening across the country at different universities and specifics, as the admiral said First Amendment rights is peaceful protest and part of our democracy, being able for folks to be able to express their feelings. Im not going to get into any specifics on that. The president has been very clear in wanting to make sure that jewish americans, wanting to make sure that other americans, muslims, are protected here and what he believes in, that they have the right to live their lives and feel protection and to feel like theyre able to be part of a community. The president has been very, very clear on denouncing any type of violence. So as it relates to peaceful protesting, the people have the right to do that. But were just not going to get into blow by blows of whats going on across the country. The president has been very clear, very clear. Reporter not blow by blow but the president said silence is complicity so if theres anti antisemitic letters sent by students or protest sentiment karine of course the president is against antisemitism. Of course. This is a president youve heard me say wants to protect communities, whether its the jewish community, the afroamerican community, the palestinian community, this is someone who is going to speak out against antisemitism, of course. But youre kind of conflating the two and youre asking me about protest. Reporter a lot of the protests, youll hear antiisrael comments and karine were always going to denounce antisemitism but at the same time people have the right to peacefully protest but we in this administration are going to always denounce antisemitism and any form of hate, any form of hate, whether its against the jewish community, antisemitism against the Arab Community or the palestinians. Well denounce any form of hate that comes towards those communities. As it relates to peaceful protests, people have the right to do that but this is an administration, obviously, thats going to be very forceful and very clear about denouncing antisemitism. Reporter new harbor harris poll came out and showed a slim majority, 51 of 1824yearolds in the United States think that the violence in israel can be justified by the grievance of palestinians. I know youve been unequivocal in saying the president will denounce antisemitism. Karine and he has. Reporter is there anything in particular the administration is planning to do to take this argument to those College Students or those generations who seem to be open to the idea there are two sides to this thing . Karine i dont have anything to lay out on any specific conversations or outreach that the president is going to do to students. As you know, we have an office of Public Engagement here. We have other offices here at the white house that is constantly engaging with communities including the young community. I dont have any specifics to your question on the president s schedule to do that. Karine go ahead, way in the back. Reporter when it comes to these different wars, admiral kirby made it clear deterrence, right, the strike groups in the new england journal of medicine so no one else the mediterranean so no one gets involved but didnt seem like our deterrence with russia didnt work and also with north korea the stockpile didnt work and in the middle east our deterrence didnt work, what are we doing to make sure our deterrence actually has teeth . Karine actually in ukraine as you mentioned, remember the first days of that war, russia was supposed to take down and take over keyive but because of what this president was able to do has brought together more than 50 nations with our allies and partners and also to continue to provide the assistance ukraine has now to fight off, right, fight off whats going on in their country. Its been impressive. You all reported how impressive the ukrainian people have been. Thats going to continue, thats going to continue, the support to ukraine and why we put forth the supplemental request last week to hopefully continue to give those Security Assistance to ukraine. And look, as it relates to israel, the admiral spoke to that on what were trying to make sure that israel has what it needs to defend itself. And were going to continue. Lets not forget the humanitarian aid that has to go into gaza. Thats something remember, the admiral said this, the president went to israel and had the conversation with the Prime Minister and also had conversation with president cici and look what hes been able to do, weve seen mull mihm convoys go multiple convoys go in and provide aid. Of course the president will make sure that were there for our partners and allies. That will continue. That will not end. And thats what youre seeing the president do every day. Reporter i want to follow up. I understand you say hes rallied the troops and brought allies together and that all makes sense but i guess the origin of my question is why arent we doing a better job of preventing these wars in the first place . Karine what were doing, and the admiral spoke to this, of course he talked about the middle east and of course our goal has always been a prosperous middle east, a peaceful middle east. He literally went into speaking about what the goal has been and what were going to continue to do, make sure that there is peace, make sure that we bring our allies and partners together. That doesnt stop. But at the same time, if russia is going to invade ukraine, we have to be there for ukraine, right, trying to take over their sovereignty and their democracy. We have to be there. If we have to be there for israel as they fight, fighting off a terrorist organization, right, innocent people are being killed. So the president is going to be there for that. Look, it doesnt stop us, deter us from what were trying to do more broadly in having these diplomatic conversations. You saw, as i mentioned to one of your colleagues, australia is coming and well continue that conversation on how were going to help ukraine and continue to be partners and allies. But look, were going to do the job at hand is what the president is focused on. Reporter we havent run in this briefing, mainly covering Foreign Policy, the president s event he has coming up which is on a domestic investment part of his agenda, does the president see any frustration in the fact that so much of the attention is on Foreign Policy, that the domestic agenda is sort of less in the news on a daytoday basis particularly with whats going on in the middle east or is that just the reality of the way the world is. Karine its the reality of where we are and whats being reported by all of you. Its just the reality of where we are. It doesnt stop the president , like you said, for today, making announcements important to the American People. The American People want us to see them delivering, whether its the economy, whether its health care, whatever issues that is important to them. The president is going to make a big announcement in a couple minutes that you all have reported, and actually has gotten great coverage on what hes trying to do and well be announcing today. And look, you know, it doesnt stop the president from doing the job that he has to do every day. Youve seen him do that, whether its Foreign Policy, whether its domestic issues, we try to hit that every day. You hear the president talking about that every day. There are incredibly important issues that are top of mind for americans that the president is not going to stop talking about. As you know, the president has multiple things to do all at wops and what youll see him do today and what youll see him do wednesday when he welcomes the australian Prime Minister and what you saw him do last week when he went to israel. And not just that, had conversations with the president of egypt to make sure things are moving forward and making sure were getting that humanitarian aid into gaza. None of that stops. All right. Thanks, everybody. See you tomorrow. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2023]