Oh, my God. Oh, my goodness. I wonder why. Good afternoon, everybody. Happy Friday. Don't say things. Don't get exciting in here sometimes. I really. There's no introduction that really is needed here. I have a special guest. As you can see, Mark Hamill has decided to join us on this wonderful Friday, and I am really excited to turn it over to Mr. Hamill. Here we go. Just okay. How many of you had Mark Hamill will leave the press briefing on your bingo card hands? Yeah, me either. And I just got to meet the president. He gave me these aviator glasses. Mean, I love the merch. Love it all. But listen, I just wanted to say I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president. The most legislatively successful president in my lifetime. And, you know, I don't have to go through the list. The bipartisan infrastructure law, the packed act, the chipsets, all of that inflation. 15 million jobs, it's all good. I mean, I was really thrilled to meet the entire staff because, you know, it's not just one person. It's like a a composite endeavor. And all these people, my goodness. You know, I mean, I have no idea. I had no idea just what went into what is on his plate on a daily basis. So that's pretty much it. I'm open to questions, although no Star Wars questions, please. But I want to say once again how grateful I am. And it just shows you that one person can be so influential and so positive in our lives. And again, thank you so much. And Peter Baker, I loved your book yes. Wow. Thank you all for being here. What did you ask? What did you talk about with the president? Well, first of all, I only expected to be there for like 5 minutes he showed us all his photographs. And, you know, it was really amazing to me because, you know, I was I was invited to the Carter White House and I came and then I came to the Obama White House. But I never was invited into the Oval Office. And it was a large gathering. So this one was really extra special. All right. So, yes, I'm going to have Star Wars to you, sir. Well, you know, I called him Mr. President, he said, you can call me Joe. And I said, can I call you Joe Obi-Wan Kenobi? And he like that. But listen, I'm not really here to dominate. I have to turn it back over to our wonderful press secretary, Curry, Sean Pierre. So thank you all so much. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, so glad to be here. You got to get those shades. I think this is your nephew, Mark. Thank you, guys. Thank you. No one ever claps for me when I get off the podium. Just say I know the unexpected, expect the unexpected. I don't even know where to go from there. But I do have now I feel very by myself. It's let the team in. Thank you. Thank you, Sam, for joining. All right. Okay. I do have a couple of things before we get into turnout. Turn it into some serious business and take your questions. Thank you so much for indulging us today. We thought that might be a nice thing to do for you all to to see Mark Hamill as he was here, as you just heard visiting from with the president. President Biden, president here today. So today marks World Press Freedom Day and occasion that highlights the importance of a free press, both of our democracy here in the United States and for our societies around the world from exposing corruption and human rights abuses to covering communities and conflicts the world over. General journalists risk their lives every day in the pursuit of truth, in the pursuit of truth. In a statement this morning, President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to support and take action in defense of media freedom. The Biden-harris administration has already launched a robust government wide campaign and built a coalition of countries to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware, which has been misused against journalists and continues to provide legal and other support for media who face persecution around the world. The president also called again for the immediate, unconditional release of all journalists who have been detained around the world, including The Wall Street Journal's Evan Garcia with Gersh Kovic, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty's, Elsa Kama, Shiva and of course, Austin Tice in Syria. In the coming weeks, the president will take executive action in response to the global crackdown on press Freedom Declare declared a grave threat to national security and authorize measures including sanctions and visas, bans against those who attempt to silence the press. The United States stands by media around the world and will continue to do our part to support their important work. Today, we also have another important day event happening later today. The president, President Biden, is naming 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors. We're honored to have these individuals or members of their families come to the White House today to celebrate their service. President Biden often says there is not nothing beyond our capacity when we act together. These 19 Americans consistently demonstrated over their careers the power of community, hard work and service Finally this morning, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona sent a letter to schools addressing the sharp rise in anti-Semitic hate on college campuses. His letter made clear to schools that not only is anti-Semitism abhorrent and unacceptable, it is also discrimination prohibited under Title six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Secretary Cardona reminded schools that the Department of Education provides a number of resources, including trainings, technical assistance, to ensure that school environments are free of discrimination. His letter comes one day after President Biden spoke to this very subject. As you all know, Americans have a right to free speech and peacefully protest. But but breaking into buildings, destroying property and shutting down campuses is not peaceful protest. There is also no place on college campuses or in America for anti-Semitism. This administration will continue to defend free speech while standing up for the rule of law. And Josh, good to see you. Good to see you, Kareen. May the force be with you or tomorrow the fourth be with you, however you want to look at it.
