brian: good to be with you all today. i want to do make a couple of months -- points on our current economic situation. happy to take questions you have. first, the context on our economic recovery. we have learned based on data that in 2021, our economy experienced the largest single drop in the unemployment rate on record, 3.9%. the most jobs created in any year on record, six 4 million. the strongest economic growth of any year in nearly four decades coming in between 5% and 6% over the course of 2021, and real household income, taking into account price increases, increased in 2021. to repeat that. largest decline in unemployment. most jobs created. strongest economic growth in 40 years. second point, we got december price data. i would note that we saw a welcome deceleration in the rate of price increases and a number of respects. in the headline data, we saw a decline month-to-month to 0.5% down 0.8%. it still too high, but moving in the right direction. as i think i say every time, and if i don't it's a mistake, we never indexed too heavily on any individual one month, but i would note we saw in prices from november to december decline in the rate of growth for food at home, food people buy the grocery store, and we saw a drop in the price of energy at the gas, and -- gas pump and natural gas. many of you have focused on the annual 7% rate, if we are trying to look at where we are headed, the month-to-month changes are more instructive and most forecasters project we will see moderation in price increases over the course of 2022. the third point is the global context for this data both on prices and economic. we are seeing the price increases are a global phenomenon, that reflects the nature of the global challenge of coming through a pandemic crisis and pandemic-affected recovery. over the past six months, price increases in the u.s. and europe have run and that -- internet. december saw the highest recorded on record. germany saw the highest reunification. while there are differences, this is a global phenomenon driven by global issues. the fourth point, given the unique strength the united states economic recovery, growth and labor market, we are well-positioned to attack the challenges head-on and that is exactly what the president and this administration are doing. it is his principal focus when it comes to the economy, as he laid out on friday. his approach is grounded in the premise that the right way to do this is build on the economic successes we have seen. that means with respect to what we in the administration and congress can do is to focus on how we can expand the capacity of the economy, produce more goods and services cheaply and easily across the country, get more people working and get to the strong, sustainable growth we are beginning to see, and if we can address these present challenges. the president has outlined a specific three-part plan to do that around him sticking supply chains, protecting consumers, promoting competition and trying to reduce some of the most significant costs american families face. i'm happy to talk about policy details behind that plan in general, but to summarize, we have a historically strong economic growth and labor market outcomes, we have seen welcome deceleration but price increases are still too high. a global phenomenon happening everywhere, but we are well-positioned against that challenge and that is the president's focus. >> the white house and other economists were talking about inflation being transitory. at least the expectation was it would be well taken care of by now. what did you get wrong, what economists get wrong, and why should americans be confident when you say prices are going to get better? brian: if we look at the situation earlier in the year, a number of projections and forecasts have come differently than we anticipated. if you look at employment, virtually no one was projecting we would see unemployment fall as quickly as it has. i think we have seen a number of unanticipated outcomes. when it comes to prices, it's a global phenomenon, it is connected to the pandemic and the issues that has raised. certainly the supply chain challenges that have evolved over the course of time through the delta variant and over the course of the fall have been issues we have had to tackle head-on. nomenclature aside, we find ourselves in the position now where we are looking forward and most folk arrestors -- forecasters are projecting price increases will moderate. our focuses are, what steps can we take to ensure that out him and try to help accelerate relief where we appropriately 10. when it comes to something like the supply chain challenges, those manifested more significantly than people were anticipating over the course of the summer and fall, both because of covid factors but buying behavior of retailers and freight movers. we went into action to try and help address those issues and the bottlenecking we were seeing at ports. made very significant progress on that. at the same time, we still have work to do on that front which is why this month we will take additional steps if ports across the country. we are going to stay at that and other issues and we believe that is the best way we can help to expand the economy's capacity to deliver goods and services. >> the supply chain is the reason for the incorrect forecast? brian: our focus now is assessing where we are in trying to address the issues in front of us. as i said, this has been a unique year and we find ourselves in a uniquely strong economic position, we have price increases that we need to tackle and that is our focus. >> thank you for being here. i have a quick question on some practical matters. are you taking any steps to help people afford food us to mark -- afford food? my colleagues are reporting on how people are finding shortages on the shelves, stuff that is there is more expensive, is there anything you can do to help families pay for that food? brian: i would say a number of things. one, when the president came into office, he prioritize passing the american rescue plan. the american rescue plan had historic investments in addressing food security for people who cannot afford food. as a result, we saw hunger in the united states decline in 2021. it also included the child tax credit. another resource going directly to families to help address the typical costs they face on a monthly basis. as a result, we saw child poverty fall by 35% to 40% over the course of 2021. as i mentioned, we saw a welcome deceleration and increase -- in the increase of food this month, and we are going to keep focus on ways that we can address the typical pocketbook issues that the american people face. this is one of the issues of why the core economic logic behind the build back better plan is important in this context. for working americans who are benefiting from a strong labor market and more job opportunities but also struggling with costs not only of food, but childcare, health care, the components of the build back better plan will directly address those issues by providing a tax cut to families, and reducing other salient cause. if they only had to pay 7% of their income in childcare, that would free up a lot of resources. >> in short of that passing, separately from what you have already done, is there anything new you can do to help the food situation? brian: what we have done is historic and has made a big difference. number two, our central economic priority is getting those elements in place and part of the urgency of that is to address precisely the challenges you are identifying. beyond that, we are looking at ways we can unstick elements of the supply chain that may be getting in the way of physical products getting to market. certainly, we have seen over the course of this fall, concerns about product shortages in particular categories. what we have seen overall if you look at retail inventories and grocery inventories, they are actually higher than they were pre-pandemic. that doesn't mean there is logistical challenges at the bottlenecks that may be localized. in to the degree we can work with private sector companies and helped ease the challenges in their supply chains, we will remain open to doing that. >> one question on the global challenge. can you talk about how much you believe china's latest round of lockdowns and zero case doctrine is having an impact on inflation? has the administration had any conversations with china about the factory workers? brian: there is no question that the global nature of the pandemic affects supply chains and has affected the flow of goods across economies. one of the things we did earlier this fall was set up what we call an early warning system, working with a number of companies that rely on sourcing input components or products from southeast asian countries. to identify where there might be covid outbreaks in those countries and work with the state department and cdc on the ground to do what we can to help to stabilize the situation and reduce the potential impact of a shutdown. with respect to china specifically, we are monitoring it very closely. as we assess the issue today, the lockdowns are most likely going to have an effect in china because the production in those areas -- the situation is fluid and something we are monitoring in real time. >> you said prices are expected to moderate. americans are setting their budgets to try and figure out how much things are going to cost them. how much longer should americans expect they will be paying inflated prices? brian: what i can say is in the context of a strong economy, most independent forecasters expect these prices to moderate over the course of 2022 and that is consistent with the administration's view. you have a president and the administration waking up every day thinking about the practical actions we can take to try and help accelerate that. unstick and supply chains, protecting consumers, making sure consumers are not being taken advantage of. >> at the end of 2022 it is moderated? brian: if you look at the projections by independent forecasters you would see moderation over the course of 2022 and you would get back to levels that are closer to pre-pandemic. in the short-term, i think we will focus on the practical steps we can take, folks working with congress, encouraging congress to take steps that would have real concrete impact for those families. delivering in practical ways. as we have seen with what we were able to get done in 2021 to deliver that relief, that can make all the difference and i can really help to bridge this gap. and help to get more people to work. we continue to face real challenges where parents and other caregivers in this economy want to get back to work but are held back because of the cost of finding a quality way to take care of a kid or elderly parent that is compounded by the pandemic, and us acting now to address those costs would not only provide peace of mind to those families, if every american family with kids knew they would not pay more than 7% in childcare would be a big benefit to the labor market by allowing more people to work as productively as they choose to. >> you mentioned the port measures you are taking. can you talk more about that? brian: we will go deep on ports. [laughter] i am thrilled. the first issue of the inland ports. the idea is simple, if you're having to upload all of the containers at one location in creates a bottleneck. if you can push that product out to facilities inland then you can increase the throughput. we have taken steps at the port of savannah to open multiple ports and we have seen progress there. reduction in the backlog coming into the port of savannah. we are going to take action at the port of oakland, running the same play. working with the national port associations to work with andy port that sees that as an opportunity to deploy that and we have money we have been able to deploy associated with infrastructure legislation to try and help move that as quickly as possible. there is the issue around fees on import containers. just the threat of doing that was actually quite effective at getting the ocean carriers to move on their own and provide incentives to move that through. this month, they are focused on export containers, the empty containers that are sitting idle that need to be moved off and shipped off. they have announced they will impose those fees by the end of the month. as you know, part of the announcement is to give everyone an opportunity to figure out if there is a more efficient way to solve this. >> on december 3, you said the president [indiscernible] part of the reason is so people could face head-on the economic challenges. six weeks later we do not have a pick. what is the hold up? brian: i do not think it's having an impact. i think the most immediate issue on that score is the president's two nominees are now up in front of the senate, one had his confirmation hearing yesterday, the other will have hers tomorrow, and the senate moving expeditiously to confirm both of those nominees is important and we are grateful to the leadership of chairman brown and others for moving quickly, that is important. at the same time, we are working closely with congressional leadership to finalize those additional nominees and are confident we can move them on a schedule that will be in place at the approach the cadence, so i don't have any news for you today about that announcement, but -- >> is this part of the random process? brian: i think the president laid out his thinking in the context of announcing chairman powell and governor brainard for the positions he has nominated him to. i think that basic approach extends as well. expertise, independent judgment, proximity to their range of issues that the fed is facing. central among them is charting monetary policy that achieves a dual mandate. also, facility with other front and center issues like natural regulation and the financial threats associated with climate change. >> we mentioned you expect prices to moderate. how worried are you consumers are -- brian: it is a concern and that's why you heard the president on friday reinforce that the fed should and needs to have the independence to act to make sure prices do not become entrenched. if you look at the market, you have not seen a noticeable move in long-term and nation expectations as of recently, so it's a concern, but it's also part of why we think acting in the way we have laid out and respecting the independence of the fed is the right approach. for typical people who are working and thinking about their household budgets, for many of them, they have never seen a labor market that offers as many job opportunities as they have right now, for people in the bottom 40% of the income distribution, wage increases are up at historic levels which creates new opportunities. for many people, they are taking this opportunity to start new businesses and innovate. we have seen the rate of new applications for small businesses increased by 30%. that is an opportunity for those people and people they will employ, but also a real driver of innovation and a signal of the health and kind of economy and growth we can drive if we keep at this. the last thing i would say, for those folks sitting around the kitchen table thinking about this coming year, the largest single cost the families face our health care, child care, the cost of the home, and we have concrete, practical straightforward raise to deliver relief on those costs, and to do so in a way that were not demand, would not create inflation concerns, would be fully paid for, and the principal long-term economic impact would expand capacity by getting more people into the workforce. that is why our focus and work continues. i guess -- >> with the white house support adding a work requirement like senator manchin has discussed? brian: the president has expressed his views on that topic. i would say if you look at the child tax credit itself, 97% of the recipients of the child tax credit are working, and among the remaining 3%, the majority are grandparents for people with disabilities. i think you have a tool that is delivering relief to working families right now and in fact, what we have seen over the worst of 2021 as that tax cut was delivered to families, we saw labor force participation increase, meaning we saw more people get into the workforce. that is consistent with evidence historically and in other countries, where they have similar child allowances, you see no evidence of a negative impact, and in some cases a positive impact because it frees people up to work more. certainly, the president is focused on how to get more people working and make sure people have opportunities. the child tax credit is a very well designed tool to do that. >> does the white house think it's necessary as part of the package? brian: certainly, the child tax credit operates in a way that goes to working families and does not create any disincentive for people to work and if anything would help more families and people get into the labor market. >> the global phenomenon -- what do you make of statements that the pandemic will not be the number one public enemy for the global economy, but inflation and how central banks could be the number one mr. deese: they interlinked -- are interlinked. that has been true and a feature of our economic recovery for the last year and a half. to the first question, the more effective we are as a global community, at working to contain the pandemic and get it under control and reduce the impact on people and individual health but also economic operations and supply chains in otherwise so we can more quickly normalize supply chains and address the price increases, which are decidedly a global phenomenon, so i don't think it is an either/or. i think there is an urgent and compelling priority to address the covid pandemic globally, which is why you see this administration and the president acting across the board for vaccines to the other support we are providing globally, and the more effective we are at doing now, the more broadway for the global economy to grow while mitigating the crisis. ms. psaki: i have nothing at the top. i will jump around to people who have not got an a question but i will start with alex to kick us off. alex: i have questions about inflation. we talked about needing to address supply chains. he has taken no steps and we are seeing high inflation. is this an issue that shows the strict limitations of the presidency and the executive branch? is this an issue the president cannot solve. ms. psaki: you heard brian talk about this a bit. is a multi pronged challenge. we talked about the steps we are taking and there is no question those have been impacted by the pandemic with regards to supply chain challenges and a huge increase of demand and retail purchases online we saw across the fall. that is one challenge we have been attacking had on. we also know there are specific industries like the auto industry that account for one third of what we are seeing in terms of inflationary increases and price increases. if you look at the purchases of cars, one of the biggest issues is chips and a lack of manufacturing capacity in the united states. of course, that has been impacted by the pandemic and other issues but one of the things we have pushed for his congress to move forward in taking steps to support and. bolster our competitiveness here. that includes. $50 billion in funding for chips manufacturing. i would also say that that would help ensure manufacturing in the future is the capacity increased at home so we are less dependent on the world's supply chain. this speaks to the multi pronged components that impact the supply chain and price increases people have seen, the american public has seen across the country. alex: do you have an update on how the iran talks are going over the jp coa -- jpcoa? ms. psaki: this has certainly been happening. right now, on monday, january 3, the eighth round of negotiations commenced in vienna. those are ongoing. what we are looking at, and what we were -- would like to remind the public of, is why we are at this point right now. most importantly, another thing we are looking at, iran's increased capability and capacity. there aggressive actions they have taken around the world would be happening -- would not be happening if the former had not recklessly pulled out of the nuclear deal with no thought as to what might come next. if you look at the impact, the fact the former president ripped at the nuclear deal meant iran's nuclear program was no longer in a box. no longer had the tight restrictions on nuclear activity and where we are at as the negotiations are ongoing, and as we conveyed in december, that we were a bit frustrated by the lack of seriousness negotiators came to the table. they came back and we are back at the table again. because of the last administration pulling out of the nuclear agreement, iran's program has been rapidly accelerating. iran attacked our partners in the gulf and u.s. troops in iraq. the united states has become totally isolated internationally. what we have been working to do is rebuild those relationships, our partnership with countries around the world, get back to the table so we can have that increased capacity and ability to see what is happening with the program, but right now, negotiations are ongoing and we are eager to see the diplomatic path forward. >> on voting rights, you guys talked about the president's actions this week, putting his whole presidency behind the issue. if that does not pass, what does it say about his presidency and political clout, and what would you say to democratic voters who have seen not just one failure but build back better, the second legislative failure in a month? ms. psaki: what i think we would say to any american, democratic or not, is the majority of the public elected the president to do hard things and fight for hard things, including issues that may feel like an uphill battle, that are vitally important to protecting fundamental rights for the american public. every single major legislative effort the president has undertaken, that he has been a part of, has been subject to speculation and criticism about whether it would happen or not, and if the president paid attention to that, he would not have run for president to begin with. his view, and i think the view of many in the senate and many americans, including the activists you record the -- reference, is that it is time to fight and protecting people's fundamental rights is a defining moment that will divide everything before and after, one of the most fundamental rights that all others covet, the right to have your broke counted, is at risk, and he is going to be working the phones, and the vice president will work the phones. the president is heading to the hilt to speak to the caucus tomorrow and to make the case that you heard him make publicly directly to members. i think that is evidence he will fight even when it is hard. go ahead. >> if i could ask a few questions on covid testing, three weeks ago, you and i had an exchange in this room. ms. psaki: it sounded serious. i don't remember that way. [laughter] >> i've posited of on some questions you could not answer about when the test would be available, how many americans would be able to order per family, when they would be rolling off the factory, but delivered to people in their hands. it is 3.5 weeks later. are there any expectations? ms. psaki: we have put out steps that have been taken since that point. including a number of contracts have been signed, a request for proposals put out. it was important for us to take the time to assess and work closely with manufacturers and distributors to understand what they can ship and by when. it is important when the website goes up that people get what they order. that is what we have worked on. a number of those contracts have been signed. we expect that the first delivery of these contracts will be arriving by early next week, which is a good sign. we expect to have details that we put out on the website, as well as the hotline later this week. more specific, those of the questions you have asked. the american public can expect that later this week and we also expect to have all contracts awarded for the 500 million over the course of the next two weeks. that is the status of where things stand. i would also note that in that period, we have been distributing 50 million tests took community and rural health centers. . we have expanded testing capacity, including in d.c., new york, philadelphia, new jersey, and other places impacted. we announced additional funding and testing capacity to schools. the president will tomorrow provide an update on covid on our ongoing effort despite the virus and providing an update on more of what we will continue to do. that is what we can expect but we have made a great deal of progress in the last two weeks. >> is it fair to say that with half of january finished and the first of the dose is beginning by next week, there is no way 500 million tests will be delivered and in the hands of americans by the end of the month? ms. psaki: that is why we said at the time we would begin to get these tests, and they would begin to go out to the american public in january. we are on top of that. >> the second question goes back to the summer. one thing you said repeatedly is that the reason for the steps is because there was the capacity in the system to produce the test that they would be more available now. in the summer, when demand dropped off, americans were more interested in getting vaccinated and the cdc was saying if you are vaccinated, you don't need to test. demand dropped off understandably. why didn't the administration do what the federal government does in many emergencies, which is to create a government market for tests and say the test makers in may and june of last year, we will guarantee them, keep manufacturing them, don't stop? why didn't the administration do that so we would not have been in a position in fall when omicron hit, to have a number of tests? ms. psaki: there were steps and decisions that were made in the summer, including steps we took in the early fall, which were to use defense production act to $3 billion worth to invest in the testing market. we expanded, part of a result, the testing capacity by four times, quadrupling the size of it. we took a number of steps through that period of time to expand the number of tests on the market. fda has their own process but there are nine tests. there were half of that number in the summer, so there were a number of steps over the course of time, not just in december or post omicron, to build testing capacity. karen: you mentioned the president will give an update. can you give us more details? will there be an major announcement? what will he talk about? ms. psaki: at every step in the process and frequently, the president provides updates on how we build on our capacity, right? whether that is vaccine distribution or capacity, testing capacity and ppe, he will build on that tomorrow. i don't have anything specific to preview for you in terms of the components. let me give you a sense of kind of what we have been doing to address what we have seen, straining hospital capacity as we have seen with omicron in recent weeks surging. he will talk about this tomorrow and build on it is my point. we have helped 38 states and territories and deployed 21 hundred federal personnel and ventilators, and lenses, and critical surprised. that national guard has been activated, paid for by the federal government. military doctors and nurses in the hundreds are in the ground in several states, with more to follow. we are building on that. this is an addition to the hundreds of fema and hhs staff. we share 5.5 million ppe from hospital gowns to n95 to gloves in the last two weeks alone. we have invited our fema administrator for an update. hopefully, we will do that but the end of the week. we have been deploying a number of federal resources and the fighter -- president was hard about steps to build on that tomorrow. karen: on testing, last year, the administration announced $10 billion going to schools for testing. the president brought up the president brought up that $10 billion last week and a statement about keeping schools open. the administration announced 10 million tests for months will be going to schools today. what is an accounting --what is accounting for the $10 billion? is that money gone? ms. psaki: the funding and money went to states to distribute to local school districts. that is how it essentially functioned. with the announcement today, i'm happy to check on that specific. with the announcement today, it reflects, it's our desire and commitment to keep schools open and do everything to helps keep schools open from the federal government. a number of schools and nearly every state across the country made arrangements with testing providers to provide schools with tests using that $10 billion in fines but it has been used in different ways from district to district. this is a reflection, consistent with our approach against the pandemic, to build on what we know works, and a reflection of our commitment to help school districts stay open. >> two questions for you. i want to follow up on the president's visit to georgia yesterday. that is one of our markets where covid restrictions have passed. the center for justice has 100 more bills pending this year across the country. does the president feel powerless right now to stop voter restriction bills from passing at the state and local level? ms. psaki: we have to take the president believes we need to take a multifaceted approach. he does not feel powerless but thanks one of the most effective rules -- roles we can pray is advocating for congress to pass two new pieces of voting rights legislation to protect -- put in place a baseline of protections for states across the country. there is not that inconsistency. georgia is one of the states -- 19 states that have passed laws putting in place restrictions to make it harder to vote. more to come. it is important to move forward with legislation on the federal level. >> last month, they had a large conference in new orleans. researchers -- we met a homeowner who lost his house to hurricane ida. his grandmother lost her house to hurricane katrina. he blames climate change. he wants action now. today, the white house announced measures but the washington post reported sunday 300 that would impact the environment at the energy department or delays. the president's climate plan is stuck in the senate at the moment. does the president have a sense of urgency about climate? if so, how was it not just important but urgent to the president? ms. psaki: i would say that the president is eager to get climat e legislation passed. there is a historic investment, largest ever in addressing the crisis in his build back better plan. he wants to get that across the finish line but he is not waiting for congress to act. that is why he has taken steps to tackle super gluten, hsc's, methane in glasgow, autoworkers in plants to boost electric vehicles, put america on track to ensure zero omissions for cars within the decade. he will continue to take steps that she has taken a number of stacks --he has taken a number of steps to address the climate crisis and of course, he wants to get this legislation finished. the point you raised is interesting. there is a startling statistic that one in three americans are impacted by extreme weather across the country. you referenced the storms that have taken place in the northeast and the northwest. it is devastating peoples homes and communities. it is also devastating local economies. it is a reminder of why it is so important to act on climate. >> he believes that is urgent. ms. psaki: absolutely. >> on build back better, there was discussion over whether it would help or hurt the inflation situation. there was no reference to the american rescue plan, so i wanted to know the view on the white house on the role they play in the situation on inflation. ms. psaki: i would say that your colleagues here who are frequenting this briefing room heard us say more times then i can count the role of a number of economists advocating for build back better passing because of the impact it would have on lowering costs and addressing inflation. ultimately, how the american people experience inflation is costs rising, whether it is the cost of meat, which we say has a range of reasons for it, for the cost of foods they are purchasing. our objective is lowering costs and some of the biggest costs are childcare, health care, elder care, issues that are addressed in build back better. >> strongly considering options to make more high-quality masks available to all americans but i don't think they got into that. can you share the options you guys are looking at? ms. psaki: i don't have more details. i would echo what was said. we are strongly considering that and certainly want to ensure that everybody has the necessary protections as we continue to fight the virus. let's see, go ahead, jonathan. jonathan three years ago:, our new jersey college student was murdered. legislation to require right hailing services match rides with passengers is awaiting white outs -- house signoff. would the president be willing to met -- meet with her parents? ms. psaki: you are referring to sammy's law and i remember that story well. i don't remember anybody who wasn't deeply impacted. we are committed to ensuring the safety of all passengers, including those in rideshare, and work closely with congress to ensure right --oversight to protect parents from the tragedy sammy's parents have gone through and her friends and community. members of the administration continue to be in touch on this issue. we thank them for their advocacy. in terms of meeting with the president, i don't have anything to preview. >> accelerating the pilot program for age 21 to drive across state lines. safety experts say it hurts truck safety. wise the administration prioritizing that issue over other safety measures such as emergency braking and speed controlled devices? ms. psaki: we are very mindful of safety. the reason this was included in the infrastructure act is we need to address the shortage of drivers, impacting the transferring of goods and cost of goods on the shelves. but we are ensuring this is implemented in a way that sets a high bar for safety and equality. a princess shift --this ensures training programs are finding standards and includes paid on-the-job training. all pilot participants in the program have to be trained on trucks equipped with cameras, automatic emergency brakes, and speed limiters. we want to make sure we address the need to have more drivers to lower the cost for americans across the country and move more goods. did i get to everyone so far? go ahead. >> yesterday, in georgia, the president briefly mentioned the provisions that deal with gerrymandering and getting money out of politics. this polls better than protecting the right to vote. throughout this process, the president has been focused on the right to vote. why doesn't he talk about gerrymandering more and getting money out of politics, which seemed to be quite popular? ms. psaki: first, what the president's objective was, going into the speech yesterday, was to make very clear to the american public what was at stake and exactly what it means when we say your vote is being suppressed across the country, because sometimes, this is what is on his mind. we shorthand and talk about legislation or the status or meeting with this person or that person, and the american people glaze over because that doesn't mean anything to them. the objective in the speech yesterday for him was to spend the majority of time talking about what the impact was, why this was such a dire issue, and what was at stake and why was it important to potentially make changes to senate rose to get this legislation passed? i would not read into the differences of legislation. he cares deeply about both of these pieces and wants to sign them both. go ahead. go ahead. >> senator romney today said the speech the president gave was going down the same road as president trump and casting doubt on the reliability of american elections. ms. psaki: with all due respect to senator romney, anybody would note a night and day difference between fomenting an insurrection depending on the bunk lies and election -- making objective, true statements, what the president made about the effects of a coordinated, nationwide effort to undermine the constitutional right to vote. i know there has been a lot of claim of the authentic nature of the speech yesterday, which is hilarious on many levels, given how many people sat silently. in our view in the president's view, what is far more effective is the effort to suppress people's basic rights to exercise who they want to support intellect. it is not partisan and that is why he gave such a strong speech yesterday. ms. psaki: -- >> health experts have urged americans to upgrade their masks. why are they pushing for this wired -- wider availability of masks? >> there is no shortage of masks. my colleagues make clear that we have strong stockpiles of 750 million masks that we have at our disposal. widely available. what the cdc director is invade desk because -- has conveyed is they are trying to address and answer these questions on the right side. their guidance is a well fitted mask but we are trying to respond to what people need across the country and make sure they get supplies where they need them but there is no shortage that is a wide 750 million masks we have available. >> your response to mitch mcconnell goal --who accused the president of shouting at 50 senators and calling them racist. ms. psaki: i know the president was asked about this and said a version of this. he said he considers mitch mcconnell a friend, and that is true. that is why it is more disappointing someone has -- who has advocated for voting rights in the past and wrote about it in his book, has talked about it publicly and repeatedly voted for the extension of voting rights protection, is on the other side of this argument now. i think there is evidence that to us and the president, what is more irresponsible and unbecoming is the coordinated effort by republicans across the country to perpetuate the big lie, make it more difficult to vote. we have seen evidence of that in 19 states who passed 34 laws attacking voting rights, why he is standing up and making the case he made yesterday. go ahead. happy to talk about it anytime. no, no, no sorry. >> i district judge dismissed an antitrust complaint yesterday. i'm wondering if you have a view on that. is not something the white house things should happen? ms. psaki: we welcome the district courts decision which allows the ftc antitrust lawsuit against facebook to move forward. the decision is a testament to the skill and determination of the federal trade commission, staff, and experts. the american approach has been to expose our main tech firms to more competition. the president supports that and talked about that publicly a number of times. that is the key for innovation and success. he has been clear we need more competition in the tech industry. there are a range of pieces of legislation, many bipartisan, in congress. that is encouraging. in july, the president signed an order on competition, which calls on federal agencies like the department of justice and the ftc to use existing tools to tackle these problems. we will not preach what it looks like. there is a legal case. certainly, we are encouraged by the district courts decision. thanks, everyone. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> >> we are joined by brad sherman .