Transcripts For MSNBCW Chris 20240702

News reporting about whether shes picked up the phone and tried to call him. Plus, economic frustrations at a boiling point, when buying a home feels impossible and Concert Tickets are getting more and more out of reach. The new moves to help consumers from both the Justice Department and some folks here at nbc news. And the big border pushed by democrats, by congress, and the white house, and the major implications for republicans in the 2024 election. But we begin with that stunning aboutface in the president ial race. Nikki haley has called donald trump unstable, unhinged, and unqualified to be president. Now in her first public appearance since ending her campaign, she says shell help put him back in the white house. Ly be voting for trump. Having said that, i stand by what i said in my suspension speech. Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me. And not assume that theyre just going to be with him. Well, trump will have his first chance to reach out to voters tonight as he heads to the south bronx in heavily democratic New York City for a rally. That, of course, is a state where haley won nearly 13 of the vote in the republican primary last month, despite having been out of the race for weeks at that point. Joining us now, tim miller, former Communications Director for jeb bushs 2016 campaign, and an msnbc political analyst. Philip rucker of the Washington Post editor, and nbcs Vaughn Hillyard with me here in studio. Okay, vaughn, donald trump has a history of never forgetting, but also sometimes seeming to forgive people who then come back, sometimes crawling into the fold, right . I understand youve got some new reporting about whats going on now. Right, donald trump is always eager to welcome his old enemies back into his camp, and in a way, you know, thats where Nikki Haley Last Night in her announcement there at the Hudson Institute turned heads because along with our colleague ali vitali, were reporting that Trump Adviser and nikki haley adviser are both telling us that the two individuals, nikki haley and donald trump, the old republican rivals have not spoken since she dropped out of the Republican Primary On March 6th of this year. She did this on her own accord. The trump camp has not heard from nikki haley directly and for Donald Trumps efforts, he has not tried to, you know, extend an olive branch and bring her on board. She did this all on her own. I want to let you listen a little bit more to how shes justifying her support of donald trump. Take a listen. I put my priorities on a president whos going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account. Who would secure the border, no more excuses. A president who would support capitalism and freedom. A president who understands we need less debt, not more debt. Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I have made that clear many, many times. But biden has been a catastrophe. Nikki haley setting this up as a choice of biden or trump, much like the echoes that we heard from 2016 when marco rubio and ted cruz and others were making their justifications for why they were supporting the man who one time attacked them. Was she the u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations and am i misremembering, has donald trump kind of sided up to leaders of russia, north korea, china . Whats in this for her . Yeah, youre not misremembering. This is whats happening here, its pretty simple. Nikki haley thinks shes the future in the republican party. She looks at liz cheney, she looks at adam kinzinger, and if she decides to strongly oppose donald trump and maybe eventually endorse biden, she wont have a future in the party. And so what she decided is that she wants to have a future in the party, and shes backfilling the rationale from there. As you point out, like those Rationale Points are preposterous. The idea that i want someone whos going to stand with our allies so im going to support with donald trump whos just bleeding this morning about how he wants to work with putin this morning on his social media feed. I want to lower the debt, donald trump increased the debt more than any president. Going to be with donald trump because i want somebody for capitalism. Like companies arent getting Record Profits right now. If immigration is your number one issue and a Strong Border and youre for deportations, mass deportations, then that would at least make sense as a reason to support donald trump, but all the rest of those reasons are just kind of back fillin logic to get the politically expedient result for her, and i think its as simple as that. It continues a tradition of politicians who they themselves have been trashed by donald trump. He liked to call her bird brain, whose families have been trashed and or lied about by donald trump, still come back, and her aboutface comes after she said quite a few things about him as well, and i just want to remember, remind folks exactly what she has said about donald trump. Listen. Times change, and so has trump. Hes gotten more unstable and unhinged. If you mock the service of a combat veteran, you dont deserve a drivers license, let alone being president of the United States. Weve seen him get confused. He was confused about me having something to do with keeping security away from the capitol. He was confused when he said biden was going to run us into world war ii. Hes not qualified to be the president of the United States. So look, i mean, its not, as you know, tim, unusual for someone who runs against somebody to, you know, speak not nicely or to criticize the guy or woman on the other side. This is different, and the New York Times reports there were a few audible sighs of disappointment when she said she would vote for donald trump, so the key question is how many of her followers might actually take her lead . Yeah, i think thats the key flaw in what she said, actually, that very phrase. My followers. She said millions of my followers that donald trump needs to reach out to. Nikki haley has like thousands of followers, maybe hundreds, maybe tens. It isnt like a huge nikki haley fan group out there. She has some but not very many. Most of the people that voted for her were voting for her because she was the vessel for them to express that they are unhappy with donald trump, that they dont want donald trump to be the republican nominee. Those people are like me, left the party and were hoping for a full change and will vote for biden. Some will vote for her because they dont like trump, they want somebody else, but they also dont like biden. That latter group is the key group biden is going to have to reach out to. These were not Nikki Haley Super fans. Theyre diverse. Some of them are very conservative, some are very moderate. Joe bidens going to have to find a way to get to them without nikki haley. I think thats very possible because this isnt like theres some cult of nikki haley out there. Thats a very small group thats not that relevant. The Biden Campaign did release a statement saying nothing has changed for the millions of Republican Voters who continue to cast their ballots against donald trump in the primaries and care deeply about the future of our democracy. Some of them, maybe even those critical true independent voters, where do you think they go now or maybe a better question is do we know where the Biden Campaign is in terms of strategy to win them over . Yeah, well, theyre certainly up for grabs for the reasons that tim just articulated and the most telling sign is as these primaries continue, there are elections in a lot of these states week after week. Theres no active republican primary going on right now. Obviously nikki haley is on the ballot, but shes not an active candidate, and yet still in these states, youre seeing 10 to 20, sometimes more than 20 of the republican electorate going for nikki haley, and thats purely a raw protest vote against trump, and so those are the voters that biden will be trying to win over over the course of the next few months. You already see the Biden Campaign trying to win over some of nikki haleys financial supporters, her big donors, trying to court them, and i think youll see at the Democratic National convention in August A Real Push to try to make the case for why the biden tent should be expanding to take in some of those traditionally Republican Voters who cant stomach donald trump as their nominee again. Any sense, vaughn, of what trump might say tonight. Hes got a big rally. What are the chances he brings this up and happy to have her back over where he thinks she should have been in the first place. Interestingly, the question is i think does he give her even a shout or a head nod or give her any sort of acknowledgment. Look, he hasnt dedicated even one single i mean, a lot of people im sorry to interrupt you, but a lot of republicans when they change their minds about donald trump make a trek to him often at marmaralago, right and she hasnt picked up the phone. He hasnt even posted anything on his social media account since she made that announcement last night. For donald trump, people come back to him because thats where the Power Structure is within the republican party. We have seen that time and again, and look, he offered her a Cabinet Position one time. Could he offer it again . She may have to do a little bit more and theres a republican National Convention in july that you could very well expect to see nikki haley being there. Again, if she actually has the interest of running again herself. So phil, Congressman Richie Torrez who represents most of the south bronx where donald trump will be tonight. This is an economically challenged largely black and hispanic area. He told msnbc how he thinks his district will respond. Im confident the people of the bronx are not going to buy the snake oil hes selling. His presidency was a catastrophe for the bronx. His mismanagement of covid left a death toll of more than 7,000 in the bronx, which is greater than the combined death count of pearl harbor and 9 11. So instead of holding a rally, he should be apologizing to the people of the bronx for the damage hes done. Is that the message, phil, that biden and the democrats need to put out there . Well, theyre certainly trying to. I mean, biden and the democrats are having to play defense at a moment like this to try to hold onto as many black and latino voters as they can, as trump makes this play in the bronx tonight. But just keep in mind, even though the rally is going to be taking place in the south bronx, many of those supporters there for trump could well be coming from other parts of the state, even from other parts of the broader region. Theyre certainly parts of the New York City metro area that are more trump friendly like Staten Island and long island than the south bronx. So i dont think this is necessarily hes only going to be speaking to people of congressman torress district. Phil rucker, Vaughn Hillyard, thanks so much, tim miller, youre going to stay with me. In 90 seconds, a harsh Reality Check on just how tough it really is to buy a house in america and how that could affect the way people vote in november. Affect the way people november with chewy, its never been easier to get their favorite toy delivered again, come on, let go. And again, and again. Good luck. Get whatever they love delivered right on time. Save 35 on your first autoship order with chewy. Oh, yeah, man. Get whatever they love delitake it from yourme. Inner child. What you really need in life is some freakin torque. What . The dodge hornet r t. The totally torquedout crossover. Ill be honest. By the end of the day, my floors. Yeesh. But who has the time to clean . Thats why i love my swiffer wetjet. Its a quick and easy way to get my floors clean. Wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. Look at that swiffer wetjet. With fastsigns, Create Factory Grade visual solutions to perfect your process. Fastsigns. Make your statement™. The American Dream of buying a home is feeling less and less attainable. U. S. Housing sales took another major hit last month with buyers facing higher Mortgage Rates and soaring housing costs. This headline is just mind boggling. California, for the First Time Ever the median price of a home has surpassed 900,000. And its a national trend. Our exclusive new nbc news Home Buyer Index lets you look at where you live or maybe where youd like to live and then it lays out what the challenges are and what buyers can afford. For example, garfield county, colorado, one of the most difficult counties to buy a home in the entire country. Our index shows the median cost has shot up by 300,000 just since 2018, while buying power has tanked. Nbcs business and data correspondent brian cheung is here to break it all down for us, tim miller is still with me. Brian, i find this fascinating. I found myself looking at the map for maybe longer than i should have today. What are potential buyers seeing right now . How does it look nationally and how does that compare to previous years . Theres a lot of really cool data in this brand new Home Buyer Index. Mortgage rates having risen from 6. 4 to 7 . This was 2 or 3 in 2020. The median price of a home has gone up during that period of time, despite the fact that Borrowing Costs are higher. There are a number of other factors as home buyers know when it comes to the affordability of buying something. Unemployment rates in the area, do you have a job . What does your income look like . Whats the availability of homes at all . Nbc news put it all together in one Home Buyer Index, which is scored from zero, least difficult to buy a home, to 100, most difficult, and right now as of april, the most updated data is at 82. 4 nationally. For reference it was around 50 in 2020. Its a lot harder to buy a home as anyone looking at Zillow Listings would know. I like to say this at least once a month to remind people, its the economy, stupid. People who are doing well say they cant move up to a nicer house because of Interest Rates. Maybe they have a 2 or 3 mortgage, right, somewhere in that range, now 7. Their kids tell them they have no hope of buying a house. For democrats can issues like abortion, democracy, trump, and i use that word in the not in the donald sense, how voters feel about their own circumstances, can they be more important to people if their kids say they cant buy a house ever . Yeah, it can be more important. We saw this in the midterms where some candidates on the right were too crazy and it overshadowed concerns about the economy. A lot of times people ask, all the Economic Indicators are up. Why arent people feeling it . Why arent people giving biden credit for it. A big part of that is what were talking about about housing. If people want to move to another house, they feel like they cant because of Interest Rates and housing prices. People feel like they have limits on their aspirations. I do think that part of this is talking about building more, we need to build more. They talk about building with manufacturing. We need to build more houses in this country. And then the other thing is this is why taming inflation is so important. You need to tame inflation first before Interest Rates can come down. I think those other issue can matter. Its not a one or the other, but the democrats are going to have to have a message on both of these things. Brian, i mentioned a map, and if people want to learn more about this, dont leave us yet. We have much more to talk about. But its all on nbcnews. Com. But are there signs of relief anywhere . Because i was just looking where i live, where my Family Members live, but if youre making choices about say maybe there it is. Theres the map. Tell us, if you will, if there are signs of relief anywhere. Its going to depend on where you are. When we talk about the the most difficult versus the least difficult counties to buy a home, according to our index, which you can play around with online, the most difficult areas are going to be parts of western colorado, as of april, these are near the ski destinations. The least difficult areas are going to be those more rural areas in the heartland, kentucky, arkansas, michigan as well, but again, when you take a look at the overall picture within the context of the election going on. This is a map of that Home Buyer Index the darker green areas are more difficult, a higher number on the difficulty index. What are some states where youre seeing a lot of deep green. Youre seeing it in michigan, in wisconsin, in arizona as well, right . With the hot phoenix housing market. These are all areas of focus. Can politicians do much about Housing Supply on a local level, certainly, but all this wraps into the overall perception of the economy, which does remain a very Hot Button Issue going into november. Yeah, so tim, lets talk about messaging because, look, im not an economist, and brian can certainly weigh in, but you know, lets say they start to turn a little bit, Mortgage Rates maybe start to come down. Were not going to go back to 3 by the time people go to the voting booths, right . So how do you message this if youre joe biden . Things are moving in the right direction, right . And that i was dealt a catastrophe by donald trump and thats what he really pretty much has been saying, though. Whats that . Isnt that what he has tried to say, though . It has been what hes been trying to say. Has it gotten through . Has he really been working on this . I dont really think so. I dont think theyve had their megaphone out on this. Thats what theyve got to do. I think theres an attack on trump. The risk, trump wants to make it harder to build in the suburbs actually. Thats part of his plan. I think thats a more complicated message, but one worth trying, and tieing it to the nikki haley voters. If youre a Wall Street Journal reader, donald trump wants tariffs and wants to make it harder to build, maybe joe biden can reach some of them with that message. Its complicated for sure. Its going to be so interesting to see how they do that in the debate, brian cheung, tim miller, thank you both very much. Very cool stuff, brian. Up next, the Biden Administrations got a big new plan to shut down the border, but they cant do it alone. We have new and exclusive nbc reporting after this. Youre watching Chris Jansing reports only on msnbc. Youre watching Chris Jansing reports only on msnbc it seems. It would appear that it has begun moving towards us visionworks. See the difference. Smile you found it. The feeling of Finding Psoriasis cant filter out the real you. So go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a oncedaily pill for moderate to severe Plaque Psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. Its like the feeling of finding youre so ready for your closeup. Or finding you dont have to hide your skin just your background. Oncedaily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill. Dont take if youre allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. Sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. 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Ali vitali on capitol hill and monica alba from the white house. What are democrats doing today on the border . Reporter this is not the first attempt that weve seen from this senate and this congress to try to do something comprehensive on the border, but it is going to be the latest and, its going to end like the last one did, which is to say in failure. If you listen to the top democrat, Chuck Schumer, its the highlighting and spotlighting the issue that is the political point, watch. All those who have said for years we must act on the border, this is the chance to show youre serious about fixing the problem. I urge my colleagues on both sides to join us in moving forward today. The American People arent fooled. They know that the president s Summary Reversal and common sense border authorities is what started the crisis. Reporter so there you have the top democrat, Chuck Schumer urging his colleagues to get on board with this bipartisanly negotiated package that failed just weeks ago and then of course youve got the Top Republican Mitch Mcconnell saying that this is an outright political ploy. Hes not the only one saying that, and certainly the politics is the point right now as we see ourselves in an election year. Its the point right now for democrats, but its also what felled this package earlier this year, chris, because former President Donald Trump messaged to allies and Top Republicans on the hill that when this Border Compromise came together, which frankly, had more gains in it from a Policy Perspective than republicans had seen for a while in terms of a comprehensive negotiated package, trump came in and basically told them, lets leave this as a live ball in the election year, and thats partly a huge reason why republicans came and voted against it. Schumer certainly keen to highlight that as this is a huge issue in the upcoming election and one that democrats do need to find some energy and momentum around as voters generally see republicans as tougher on this issue. Okay, monica, whats the latest from the Biden Administration on this very divisive issue . Reporter well, the white house is certainly aware of that political vulnerability heading into november. We know for months the president and the white house has said their preferred route would have been that bipartisan border bill. Since that doesnt seem like its going to be going anywhere, the white house and the administration including various key agencies are now finalizing new details, we understand, on some Executive Action, which the president himself has been teasing for some time. This would include something that will allow him to temporarily shut down the border if necessary, if there are a certain number of crossings on any given day or a certain amount of time. This is something that would have been included in that legislation had it passed that would have given him the authority. If he does this through unilateral Executive Action, they are bracing for some legal challenges and the potential here that that is something that could be tied up in the courts for a long time. Theyre also evaluating some other Executive Action here as it relates to asylum. Weve seen a couple of different steps that the administration has taken to try to tighten that. There is this general awareness that its very hard to do some of this without mexicos cooperation, and they were scheduled to hold a key president ial election on june 2nd. So we know that if this Executive Action is going to happen and im told no final decisions have been made and the timing could shift, its most likely that it will come after we know the results of that election in mexico because theres depending on who wins there whether that administration would want to continue to work with the Biden Administration on some of these key provisions. That is why the president has waited until now, and for this to play out politically before he can take some of these steps. The administration and the white house has stressed what he can do through Executive Action really amounts to a bucket compared to what his legislation would have done if it had passed because of all the money it would have given to higher personnel, more funding, and then that ability, again, to just execute on more of the priorities. But still, the white house concedes that this isnt a situation where they feel they can do nothing, even though they are happy to see that some of the border members have come down in recent months and they have aid that that is also in part to what mexico has stepped up enforcement wise, and they want to see that continue too, chris. Monica alba, and ali vitali, thank you. New escalations in the israelhamas war after a dozen palestinians consider killed and more than two dozen wound instead a twoday Idf West Bank operation. Those details next. Ank operation. Those details next d me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. When kenya declared its independence, president Lyndon Baines johnson who a letter, and he said may the responsibilities of freedom wake the best that is in you. Today we mark 60 years of partnership between our democracies, and were fulfilling that wish together and were continuing. I truly believe it has brought out the best in both of us, not only in kenya and america but Around The World, its had a positive impact. But through our partnership, were continuing to meet our responsibilities in four key areas. First, im proud to announce were working with congress to designate kenya a major nonnato ally. Thats a fulfillment of years of collaboration. Our joint Counterterrorism Operations have degraded isis and al shabaab across east africa, support for ukraine has rallied the world to stand behind the u. N. Charter, and our Work Together on haiti has helped pave the way to Rusin Stability and insecurity. I want to thank you, mr. President , kenyas leadership for promoting National Security to Support Mission in haiti. Our new Global Partnership is going to build on all this progress, and were going to make new challenges with more resources. And its going to strengthen the security of our countries and our countries Around The World. Second, well deepen our economic cooperation, both president ruto and i have focused on growing economies, are growing economies and growing them from the bottom up and the middle out and the bottom up. And when that happens, everybody does well, not the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well. Thats true in kenya. Thats true in america, and thats true Around The World. Right now many countries debt stands in the way of growth. Too many nations are forced to choose between development and debt, between investing in their people and paying back their creditors. So today were launching the nairobi washington vision. This initiative is going to bring together International Financial institutions and nations from all Around The World to mobilize more resources for countries saddled with debt, to open more opportunities to the private sector financing, and to promote transparent, sustainable and affordable lending practices. These are big goals. Its going to take time to see lasting progress, but were providing 250 million, the United States is to the world bank and a Crisis Response window. In the coming weeks, the United States is going to make an additional 21 billion available to the International Monetary fund. Today im proud to announce there will be 250 billion in new Lending Capacity in multilateral banks like the world bank to help low income nations invest in their development and tackle growing challenges. This is supported by the United States and many other countries as well. Next, were launching a new era of technological cooperation between the United States and kenya. That means new partnership, new partnerships with industry, artificial intelligence, Semiconductors And Cybersecurity company. New initiatives to expand affordable internet all across east africa, new Education Programs are going to bring kenya students to the United States to study in the s. T. E. M. Field, and im proud to announce that im working with congress to make kenya the first country in africa to receive funding through the chips and science act, which has served us well. This funding would link their Supply Chains to the United States and to our partners, and Spur Innovation that extends from Silicon Valley in california to Silicon Savannah in kenya, which by the way is already a 1 billion tech company, already A Billion Dollar tech hub. Finally, were ensuring democracy delivers for our people. That includes kenyas Diaspora Community here in the United States. Two years ago our nations first black Vice President , president kamala harris, launched the nations first president ial Advisory Council on African Diaspora engagement. Were building on her work to strengthen longstanding bonds between our people. I also want to thank you, mr. President , for taking action to implement the longawaited Public Benefits organization act. This provides historic protections for Civil Society and ngos all across kenya. Like you, i believe the future is going to be won by countries that have unleashed the full potential of the population, including Civil Society, women, and young people. I look forward to working together to implement this act and jump starting anticorruption reforms to bind our nations together. Let me close with this. Taken together, these are our responsibilities kenya and america must meet in the years ahead, meet them together as partners for security, for prosperity, for innovation, and most importantly for democracy. I know these responsibilities will wake the best in us, and i know it will not only bring our nations together, but i want to thank you, again, mr. President for being here and knowing we have even bigger dreams in the operation of our countries. The floor is yours. Thank you, mr. President , and i want to in a very, very sincere way thank you, mr. President , for inviting me to make this visit to the United States on behalf of the people and government of kenya. I also take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude for the warm welcome we have received on arrival and the excellent hospitality of the American People. My visit provides us, mr. President , with the opportunity to celebrate 60 years of bilateral relations rooted on shared values of freedom, democracy, rule of law, equality, and inclusivity. My visit takes place at a time when democracy is perceived to be retreating worldwide. The accelerating drift towards regimes indifferent to Democratic Values is a deep concern to us, and i believe it is time the u. S. Working with kenya deploys its capabilities and rally likeminded democratic countries to set up the cause for democracy. During our discussions, we agreed on the significant opportunity for the u. S. To radically recalibrate its strategy and strengthen its support for africa as discussed at the u. S. Africa Leadership summit by enhancing its investment in the institutions of african integration and increasing support for peace and security. As we take this historic step of elevating our partnership to be more effective in addressing global challenges, it is important for us to appreciate that many countries in africa, including kenya are struggling with an overwhelming convergence of multiple shocks including extreme climate events, Debt Distress, and the disruptive upheaval in europe and The Middle East whose cumulative impact is to divert National Resources from investment in people and Economic Growth into managing climate induced crisis and suffering debt. For this reason, i have underscored the imperative for our partnership to facilitate recovery from this crisis, and particularly for the United States of america to take a leading role in a comprehensive Debt Resolution frameworks. By doubling contributions to the concessionary financing Window Of The World Bank and also to work with the imf on rechannelling fdr, to institutions like the Africa Development bank to further leverage on private sector funded to support countries. Unless this is done and done immediately, the values of freedom, democracy, and rule of law are in great jeopardy. Peace and security in the Horn Of Africa and the great region i express optimism that kenya and the u. S. Will innovatively design appropriate defense and Security Frameworks to help kenya and the state and the region in general to deal with the peace and security challenges that are undermining human wellbeing. Slowing down development, and also having a negative impact on democracy. We affirmed our mutual commitment to the stabilization of haiti through the multiNational Security Support Mission. The kenya u. N. Climate and Clean Energy Industrial partnership we have just committed to is an encouraging milestone on our collective journey and builds on the Paradigm Shift we have inaugurated at the summit in nairobi last year. Accordingly, africas Resource Potential is a huge opportunity to deploy u. S. Technology and investment to catalyze unprecedented growth through green industrialization. Weve also agreed to hasten the renewal of the Africa Growth and opportunities act to sustain the rising momentum of our investments and exports in the manufacturing space. Similarly, we agreed to undertake sustainable grooet groan by facilitating our trade Ask Investment partnership along side the renewal of our goal. During our discussions, i witnessed firsthand President Bidens and the u. S. Governments determination to make our Partnership Work and resolve to spread and deepen the roots of freedom, democrat, security, and prosperity throughout the world. As my visit comes to a close, i am confident that our engagements have laid a Solid Foundation for us to continue the good work we have begun with stronger faith and greater hope for success because in joe biden, kenya and africa have a strong and committed friend. I thank you. Thank you, president , you do have a friend and a billion people, the idea we can ignore it makes no sense at all. First question, michael willner, mcclatchy. Thank you, mr. President. Two questions, if i may on no, one. [ laughter ] im going to do my level best on haiti and on israel. Your administration went on a worldwide search for security forces, bangladeshi, canadian, chilean, any but American Forces to stand up this multiNational Security Support Mission for haiti before kenya stood up to lead. Can you explain why it is that you believe on the one hand that this mission is so critical and on the other, why it is that you have categorically ruled out contributing u. S. Forces to this effort . Is it your goal to beat back haitis gains or to contain them . And on israel, does the United States one question, ill answer your question. The question the question with regard to haiti is we concluded that for the United States to deploy forces in the hemisphere just raises all kinds of questions that can be easily misrepresented about what were trying to do. And be able to be used by those who disagree with us against our against the interest of haiti and the United States. So we set out to find a partner or partners who would lead that effort that we would participate in, not with American Forces but with supplies and making sure they have what they needed, and so, you know, im very grateful to president rutos leadership here, but kenyas willingness to lead this matter matters. Not the only country, but youre leading this effort, and theres going to be u. S. Forces not on the ground, were going to supply logistics, intelligence, and equipment. Some equipment has already arrived, and kenyas stepping up with police and other countries plan to as well. The United States is going to support the collective effort here, and of course kenya wont be going it alone. Were working with congress to are provide 300 million to mss mission and an additional 60 million for equipment assistance, and we have also we have received and are continuing to bring major contributions from other partners in as well. President ruto and i agree that haitian people deserve better. They deserve peace and security, and i thank him for taking on this responsibility, but we have his back and were there all the way. I do have a question for you, president ruto, but before i do i do very briefly have a question on whether the United States has any evidence at all that would substantiate the icc prosecutors specific allegations against israeli leaders that they are using starvation as a tactic of war in gaza or exculpatory evidence for that matter. And if you would commit to releasing that information before any potential issuance of icc arrest warrants. And president ruto, at the the mission that kenya is about to lead in haiti is obviously a Support Mission that is wellknown, but the fact is that haitis National Police have been internationally funded and trained for some time and nevertheless, have obviously failed to beat back these gangs. Will kenyan forces in partnership with the mss be out front in the fight against these gangs, or will they be a static force behind the hnp, and are you concerned about casualties among the kenyan forces . Thank you very much. Kenya believes that the responsibility of peace and security anywhere in the world including in haiti is the collective responsibility of all nations and all peoples who believe in freedom, selfdetermination, democracy, and justice, and it is the reason why kenya took up this responsibility because we have been participating in peacemaking, and we have been participating in peace keeping. Over the last 40 years in 47 countries including very difficult neighborhoods like what you are going to face in haiti. We are going to take up that responsibility alongside the haiti police, and we have clear Modus Operandi how we are going to relate with the situation on the ground that has been agreed and of the United Nations framework. So we are looking forward to this deployment because we believe that the women and children in haiti deserve peace like all other women and children and people Around The World. Look, we may have opposition going on in the icc. You guys never keep the deal , but thats okay, that you know, weve made our position clear on the icc. We dont think the we dont recognize the jurisdictions, the icc the way its being exercised, and its that simple. We dont think theres an equivalence between what israel did and what hamas did. Okay. Next do i ask the next question as well . Let me ask from kenya for the next question. Thank you, mr. President , thank you, one question, and this is on haiti. President biden, kenya is rather late doing the heavy lifting in somalia, south sudan, the democratic republic of the congo, washington has committed millions of dollars for the cause in haiti. Isnt it ironic that while america is ending its forever wars in afghanistan, the latest in 2021 under your leadership when you took from kabul and that youre committing kenya to another foreign war, 12,000 kilometers from nairobi. Why the dichotomy, ending the forever wars, yet youre committing kenya to haiti . Can you explain that . Very easily. Theres a reason why afghanistan has been known as the graveyard of empires. The likelihood of anybody uniting afghanistan is highly, highly, highly unlikely number one. Number two, there are ways to control isis other than occupying afghanistan. It was an unnecessary need. Now, with regard to haiti, haiti is in a area of the caribbean that is very volatile. Theres a lot going on in its hemisphere, and were in a situation where we want to do all we can without us looking like america once again is stepping over and deciding this is what must be done. Haitians are looking for help as well as the folks in the caribbean are looking for help, and so we checked out with a number of other countries. The one who stepped up was haiti. We committed to provide with all the intelligence and equipment and the like to haiti, and so its a logical thing, and you have a first rate capability, and you keep your word. Thats an important dynamic. I agree with President Biden about kenyas participation in haiti is not so much about what happened in the past. Its about what we believe in, the peace and security of humanity and we dont find that the u. S. Is committing kenya because the u. S. Cannot commit kenya. I am the president of kenya. Its me to make that decision, and its the people of kenya to commit their own troops, using their own structures. Weve gone through the processes in kenya, parliament has approved. We have a clear mandate. We have a clear framework, and it is us, the people of kenya who made this decision in the interest of serving peace and stability as a responsible Global Citizen and understanding that insecurity, instability anywhere is insecurity and instability everywhere. And by the way, you asked about youre implying we werent doing anything anywhere else, we kind of occupied Around The World, but were also engaged in congo, in the neighborhood, and the United States is the largest humanitarian donor, providing 375 million in humanitarian funding just this year, support for more than 6 million displaced people from the drc. So we are engaged in more than one place. Followup to my president ruto. You said that kenya is committed and you said its based on humanitarianism, helping haiti out. But can you explain the geopolitical goal, 12,000 kilometers away from nairobi, when schools in the counties of baringo have not yet opened because of the problem. Yet you are committing our National Police force to haiti and where is the priority, this been one of your major pillars talking about security and to the extent this even the Defense Cabinet Secretary talked about the deployment if need be the Kenyan Military or the special personnel to make sure that schools go to schools why are you committing to haiti when we have a problem back home. Is it an irony that youre putting the fire in the neighbors home when our own home is on fire . Thank you very much. I made a commitment to the people of kenya to sort out insecurity in the north rift. I have followed that with action. As we talk, there are 3,000 Military Officers in the north, 2,000 police officers. We have renovated the first 15 schools and completed. We have reopened to schools already that were closed in the north rift, and that exercise is ongoing. We have made tremendous progress in making sure we have secured at home. That has not taken away our responsibility, even as we were deploying troops and policemen in our own country in north rift to sort out the problem we still deployed a thousand troops because that is our neighborhood. We have 5,000 troops in somalia because equally that is our responsibility, and haiti should not be an exception. Thats why deploying a thousand security men to haiti speaks to the same belief and commitment to peace and security. Next question from april ryan. Mr. President , President Biden, and president ruto, when you talk about haiti, president ruto you said haiti is a collective responsibility for all nations and for you President Biden, president ruto, do you believe these nations can break the back of this militia that has gripped the nation there and also when it comes to congo, thank you, mr. President , for bringing up what the United States is doing for the congo, especially as that flag was behind you at morehouse, mr. President , could you tell me what the African Union is doing as well as kenyas doing when it comes to the humanitarian crisis in the congo . Thank you. What was my question . Sir, your question was haiti, can the United States and kenya or the nations collectively break the backs of this coordinated militia that has the grips of the nation . Thank you. Yes. The very way were doing it. Were not talking about a thousand person army thats made up of trained this is a crisis. Its able to be dealt with, and we think we can deal with it this way with an international approach with haiti leading the way and us providing the intelligence as well as equipment. Gangs and criminals do not have nationalities. They have no religion. They have no language. Their language is one, to deal with them firmly, decisively within the parameters of the law, and thats why were building a coalition of nations beyond kenya and the u. S. Many who are making contributions towards the force in haiti to secure that country and to break the back of the gangs and the criminals that have visited untold snufrg suffn that country. On drc, the East African Community and kenya are seized. I just told you that kenya had a thousand troops in haiti. We now have another 800, not in haiti, but in drc. We now have another 800 troops. We are going to be having a meeting with the East African Community. I did send my minister of my foreign minister, they had a conversation and shortly we will be looking at how to begin the dialogue process, another Nairobi Process because we believe there is no Military Solution to what is going on in drc, but instead dialogue should be able to give us the necessary momentum and outcomes that would settle the matters in eastern drc. So both the au, the East African Community and kenya as a country are seized of that matter. We know that the humanitarian crisis in eastern drc has displaced close to 7 Million People and i want to thank the United States of america for stepping in with the humanitarian support for that region because it is a collaboration of Different Countries in different ways to deal with that situation. The rest of us are committing troops. We are committing our deploying our infrastructure to facilitate the resolution of the matters in drc. Is that it . Let me ask nancy gutu from kenya, she is here. Okay, nancy. Mr. President , africa is asking america to lead the way and double its contribution to the world Banks Development international assistance, assessing finances Debt Distress and to tackle climate change. What is your commitment of this . Thank you. Im sorry, i didnt catch all your question. Sorry, im saying africa is asking america to lead the way and double its contribution to the World Bank International Development Assistance to help developing countries. Yes. To access financing to alleviate Debt Distress and to tackle climate change. What is your commitment on this . Remain a major commitment to this, number one. The United States has long championed International Financial institutions that provide low cost concessional resources to the poorest developing countries including from the imf. To that end, my administration helped design and did establish the imfs new initiative that provides low cost funding for countries that are taking steps to enhance their resilience. Important partners in africa have the capital to ensure they have the capital they need to invest in their futures. We heard them, and we stand with them. Now, thats why weve worked with congress to enable the United States to make available in the coming weeks up to 21 billion in new lending resources to the imf, trust fund that provides concessional lending to the poorest countries. Its a little like a, you know, having to go when youre in debt, having to go and find someone to help you out. Thats what this is about. We believe supporting friends and this partnership is happy were happy to do our part, and look, weve also doubled our commitment to the ida, and im proud the United States is the biggest donor of the ida in this cycle and proud to be working with alongside kenya to support robust financing and policy thats going to help the most Vulnerable Countries address their investment needs. Theres debt and theres growth. You got to deal with the debt before you deal with the growth, and so were trying to use International Lending organizations to be able to provide that capability so people can grow. Thats what its about. Whoa