JUST IN: White House Holds Briefing After NYPD Clears Columbia Encampment, Makes Nearly 300 Arrests

I just have a couple things at the top and then we'll get going on May 7th the president will travel to Capitol Hill to deliver the keynote address at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's annual days of remembrance ceremony during the days of remembrance we remember and mourn the 6 million Jews who were systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II the president will also discuss our moral duty to combat the rising scourge of anti-Semitism and the bayen Harris administration's work to implementing the first ever National strategy to counter anti-Semitism to make real the promise of never never again today Florida's extreme six- week abortion ban takes effect that's before many women even though they're pregnant we should all be concerned that this extreme abortion B will put desperately needed Medical Care even further Out Of Reach for millions of women in Florida and across the South but it's not just Florida and it's not just abortion under care under attack here we are seeing the devastating impacts on women's reproductive Freedom since row was overturned in States across the country Women's Health and lives now hang in the balance 21 states have abortion bans in effect in nearly all of these states doctors can be charged with a Fel felony for simply doing their jobs one in three women in America now live in states with extreme abortion banss over 380 bills restricting access to abortion care were introduced in States houses just last year at the federal level Congressional Republicans have proposed three three National Abortion bans ivy f is under attack contraception is under attack and women and families are fearful that their deeply personal medical data could be used against them all of this chaos and Devastation was made possible by the former president who worked very hard and got it done to overturn roie Wade President Biden and vice president Harris stand with the vast majority of Americans who believe that the right to choose is fundamental and that Health Care decision should be made by a woman with the help of her doctor not politicians they will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of roie wade into federal law the only way to ensure every woman can access the care she needs regardless of what state she lives in uh the reason we started early I know a lot of people were asking is because I I have a meeting with the president at about 1:30 or so and so I'm going to try and get to everybody's questions or as many questions as possible with that I know I said it and I was like oh Darren there's oh darn there's Rosen in the back to wit Mr two wit in the back Qui um understand uh SEC BL in the region right now but has the president has the White House got any indications for how Hamas might respond to this uh the ceasefire uh proposal and how con what is the level of concern with in the administration that Hamas responding the negative so our position remains and we are going to be very consistent of what we've been saying is that we believe that uh there should be a ceasefire as part of this hostage uh hostage deal and it should happen immediately immediately and there has not yet been a response from Hamas as you know uh we believe that all efforts need need to be brought to bear to convince uh Hamas accept that the proposal immediately and have made that clear to our partners in the region as you just stated secretary blinkin is in the region meeting uh with uh uh with our regional partners he is going to uh be holding an on the record oppressor uh in in the 1:00 hour where he's going to be talking about the humanitarian Aid that we've been able to uh get into uh get into Gaza uh for the people of Gaza the all important humanitarian Aid as you know that it's a a dire situation there so he'll speak to that and and Hamas should just not continue to get in the way of much needed relief for the people of Gaza they need to move move forward and and uh and move forward with this deal and that is going to be this deal is also going to obviously create an opportunity to get more of that humanitarian Aid and let's not forget the innocent people who they took hostage over 200 uh and that includes Americans they need to come home to the to their uh to their families their loved ones uh and we have also American hostages uh that are part of that uh part of that uh we're part of that 200 as you all know so Hamas needs there's a deal at the table on the table Hamas needs to take it and then here at home there's been some dramatic uh images uh really across the country over the last 24 48 Hours especially the Columbia at UCLA last night University of Madison Wisconsin um other campuses um has the president been monitoring this and why have we not heard directly from the president about uh these protests that have taken over inss of Higher Learning across the country the police responses uh instances of violence why have we that Hur directly from the president so just a a couple of things the president is is being kept regularly updated on on what's Happening uh as you just stated across the country he is monitoring the situation closely so is his team uh and I would just add that no president no president has spoken more forcefully uh about combating anti-Semitism than this President let's not forget in 2017 he was very clear what we saw the anti-semitic vial that we saw in Charlottesville on the streets of Charlottesville he called that out he call that out and one of the reasons he stepped into the 2020 election is because of what he saw is because he wanted to uh he wanted to speak out and speak against what we were seeing in this country at that time uh democracy was under attack our freedoms were were under attack and we're still fighting for that uh today obviously but it he hasn't just done that by speaking as you heard from my topper he's taking action he's taken action by moving forward with the first ever US national strategy to counter anti-Semitism more than a hundred uh new actions uh have were introduced obviously in that strategy and that is how seriously this President takes it uh and I think what's important here is that he's taken action on this issue and just quickly does the president support those police clearing operations like we saw in New York we see some some of these other college campuses look we've been very clear on that uh Americans have the right to peacefully protest they have the right to peacefully protest as long as it's within the law and that it's peaceful uh Force forcibly taking over uh building is not peaceful it's just not students have the right to feel safe they have the right to learn they have to right the right to do this without disruption and they have a right to feel safe on campus as I just said they have a right to attend their commencement without feeling uh feeling unsafe and what we're seeing is a small percentage of students uh that's what we're seeing they should not be able to disturb or disrupt and the academic experience that students have so look that's what uh that's how we see things it is important that uh students and communities feel safe here and at the same time we are going to be really forceful here and continue to underscore how anti-Semitism is hateful speech it is wrong it is abhorent and we're going to continue to call that out thanks great um to follow on that has anyone from the administration been in touch with administrators leaders at Columbia or any of these iiv ities that are seeing these protests I I don't have any calls to read out at this time obviously we're closely monitoring uh the situation uh we're getting regularly regular updates uh and uh we're just going to I'm just going to keep it there I just don't have anything to share as far as calls or readouts on another topic has the White House received the recommendation from the DEA to reclassify marijuana from schedule one drug to a schedule 3 drug can you comment on confirm that so here's what I can say I can say as you know last year I believe in early fall the president asked HHS uh and Department of Justice to look at reclassifying marijuana and to go to go through that process there that process continues uh D doj is looking into that I just want to be really mindful there they're moving with that process don't have anything more to say uh and so we'll just leave it there but you can't confirm that it's now at om for the next I cannot all I can tell you is I would refer to doj and what the president directed uh HHS and Department of Justice to do is to look at the classification of marijuana and let's not forget this is something that the president uh talked about during his campaign and he said no person no American who uh possess uh marijuana uh only possesses marijuana should be go to jail it is affecting communities across the country including communities of color and so this is why he he uh he asked uh HHS and Department of Justice to look into this and that's what they're doing you mentioned campaign is this something the White House thinks can help the president right now in an well I'm talking about the campaign I I I appreciate that but I'm talking about uh uh the campaign and uh his Campa he this is a commitment a promise that he made when he decided to run back in 2019 and he uh was very clear why it was important he believed to ask uh Department of Justice and HHS to review this and that review continues and so don't want to get ahead of what doj is how they're moving forward okaya k um as the administration considers bringing Palestinians here to the us as refugees do you know how many people that the US hopes to relocate and secondly given the challenges getting in and out of Gaza will the US assist in physically bringing Palestinians here so let me just first start saying that we just don't have anything to announce at this time uh but I do want to lay out a little bit and take a step back of what uh what we've been able to do since the beginning of the conflict right we uh have helped more than 1,800 American citizens and their families leave Gaza many of whom have come to the United States many of that 18,000 is here and the president has said and as in his with his Direction uh we have also helped and will continue to help some particularly vulnerable individuals uh such as children with serious health problems and children who were receiving treatment for cancer get out of Harm's Way and receive Care at nearby hospitals in the region uh and let's not forget the the president this this Administration continues to to be the largest contributor of humanitarian assistance this is something that the secretary is going to be talking about in this hour of the secretary uh I'm sorry the humanitarian assistant going into Gaza to address the conditions the humanitarian conditions in Gaza obviously as we know they are very dire and we are pressing hard to get more urgently needed Aid into more people as soon as possible that's why this hostage deal is so critical besides of course getting the hostages home but also creating an opportunity to get that more addition humanitarian Aid in and would lead to a ceasefire now in terms of the refugee admissions program which is what I believe you're asking me about we are constantly evaluating policy proposals to further support Palestinians who are family members of American citizens and may want uh to come to the United States so we're evaluating it I don't have anything uh to announce at this time and then uh quick one on um Communications with protests and people related to protests has the president spoken to Mayor Adams since the NYPD became involved in dealing with them you know understand the question don't have anything to read out as far as a conversation with the mayor uh from the president uh but I think we've been very very clear uh about what we're seeing on the ground I've been answering these questions for the past couple days thank you um you said the president is monitoring the situation is he aware of the reports that a fair number of the people arrested on several campuses are not students look that is something for obviously local government uh to speak to local government pardon me local um local police uh and law enforcement to speak to and what they're seeing and what they're reporting that is something that I can't speak to at this time I've heard that reporting but that is something for them to to speak to at this time but he's not aware of that well he's getting regularly updated on the situation uh and what and monitoring so I assume that he's getting that's part of his update but he is getting regularly updated on what's Happening uh across the country and campuses thanks GRE uh because it's Federal Reserve decision day I thought it' be an opportunity to ask for an updated view on the administration's view of Central Bank Independence but specifically because the president has in recent months twice at least talked about the direction of interest rates I want to clarify what is the administration's position on that fine line between directing the FED versus predicting their actions so look the president is very very clear we've been clear since the beginning of this Administration uh and we believe that the Federal Reserve is independent uh it is important that they have their independence as they're making that very important monetary policies uh that they have to make and so the president believes in Independence uh when the president has spoken about that and I think I've said this whether in a gaggle or here at the podium he's reflected a public interpretation of recent data that's what he's speaking to but as far as the independence of the Federal Reserve we we are very uh much uh very clear on that the independence uh is is good for the Federal Reserve Independence is good for economics uh and it benefits workers it benefits families it benefits businesses and so that's what we want to continue to make sure that they have their independent so they can make those really important decisions quick one separately I want to get the White House reaction to the news that Tesla has eliminated almost all of its supercharger unit that was setting up the EV battery of plants across the US how I mean how do you think this impacts the goal of bringing 500,000 of those units to us soil look so when it comes to uh any type of private company decisions obviously that's something that they have to make uh that the decision on uh what I will say broadly is that we you know we brought together public and private sectors uh to build a convenient and reliable National charging Network that everyone can use and so since this President since the Biden Harris uh Administration uh more than 40 EV charging infrastructure companies have announced new or expanded manufacturing facilities in the US and so this is evolving and competitive market where multiple companies are playing leading roles here it's not just one company uh but so want to be really careful on on a on a private company's uh Personnel decision or any uh type of uh decision that they have to make on behal behalf of their business but we have believe that we have brought together both sides the public and and private sector uh to really deal to really speak to this and deal with this good gate thanks Ken um I wanted to follow up on a previous question I was asked and respectfully you didn't quite answer it uh the question was why hasn't the president been more forceful in talking about the protest you talk about how he's talked about anti-Semitism specific on the protest why hasn't the president been more forceful that I hear the question G but respectfully the president has been what the no other president has spoken about anti-Semitism than this president but that's not that's not the question it's the protest and I'm but I'm answering it in the way that I believe uh is the best way to answer your question which is the president has been very very clear he's been clear about this he's taken action he put forth a a strategic plan to deal to counter anti-Semitism more than 100 new actions and not just taking actions but is actions that across the administration this is a whole of government process right we have the Department of Homeland uh security that's involved we have the Department of Education that's involved we want to make sure that we are dealing with this not just words not just speaking out but taking action and so look the president um is going to continue to monitor this obviously is going to continue uh to get regularly updated on this uh we have spoken from this Administration you've heard from the vice president you've heard from the second gentleman you've also heard from this president who has taken questions on this uh and what we believe and we're very clear on this is that peacefully protesting within the law is something that every American should have the right to do and we are also going to call out any type of anti-Semitism that we are hearing that we are seeing the hate that's something that we've done not just throughout this ation this president has done that throughout his uh his political career and he's going to we're going to certainly continue uh to do that um and so look that's kind that's where we stand I think that is a very forceful place to be when we say we have taken action we have taken action here you you mentioned that the president has taking questions on this again respectfully he he hasn't he did take a question where he said he condemns those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians I know you've been asked about that but since you brought up Charlottesville what do you say to those critics who say that he is trying to have it both ways that he's um essentially you know trying to talk about both anti-Semitism and what's going on with the Palestinians I would say to those critics is no he's not doing a both sides uh scenario here when you think about Charlottesville you think about the the the vile anti-Semitism that we heard on the streets of Charlottesville right here uh in Virginia right not far from here the president and many of us wanted to make sure that was called out somebody died a young woman lost her life and when the president saw that it put him in a situation or he believed it was the right thing to speak against that he wrote an oped that was in the Atlantic because about that about that he decided to run because of what he saw in Charlottesville and that was just vile nasty rhetoric and you had uh you know former president talk about both sides there was no both sides here none absolutely none as it relates to the Palestinians he was talking about the humanitarian a dire humanitarian situation that we're currently seeing I just mentioned the secretary secretary blinkin is going to be talking about the humanitarian Aid that we are trying to get into Gaza for the people of Gaza we're trying to get this hostage deal done so that we can get hostages home and create an environment to get humanitarian Aid that would lead also the would lead to a ceasefire those things are not the same they are just not the same fundamentally not the same and it is in bad faith it is in bad faith to say that goad an oh um a similar question um but I believe you addressed it I am also just curious what are you meeting with pus about fair enough um well as you know the president's going to go to North Carolina tomorrow so that's going to be an important trip uh and so so we'll be discussing that okay go ahead yeah oh great okay uh these protests that have been going on college campuses we're hearing that some of them are starting to wne a little bit but they're not just a one- day protest this has been going on for quite some time is there some concern within the Biden Administration that this may be eroding uh public view if the court of public opinion may be uh turning against uh what the president standing for and that maybe they're not hearing the anti-Semitism message I mean we have been very consistent from this Administration about anti-Semitism calling out hateful speech anti-Semitism is hateful speech calling out hateful rhetoric uh violent rhetoric that is something when it pops up when we hear about it from this Administration we've been pretty consistent on calling that out that should not be uh we should not be seeing this on in campuses in communities it should not be part of the political discourse I think we've been very clear during throughout this Administration before this Administration throughout this president's uh career we have to call that out uh I can't speak to polling I can't speak to uh what is weighing uh in this poll what I can speak to is what this President is going to continue to do and what this Administration is going to continue to do is call out call out this hateful speech including anti-Semitism again which is hateful speech it is abhor we got to call it out okay K what's your current assessment of the risk to the US uh milk and meat Supply from the bird flood epidemic in cattle yeah so uh I know that uh um uh the Department of Agriculture has been on top of this uh I know that they are not seeing any uh any concerns uh to uh to milk or any uh of the cattle or the meat or meat that we're being that we're consuming uh well I don't consume a meat but some of you all out there um and so uh obviously they are taking this very seriously they're monitoring the situation as far as uh uh as far as we understand it to be is that uh they believe that uh milk and and consuming meat is safe and from a uh an inflation standpoint is there any concern that there might be Supply disruptions in that area that might lead to higher prices well as you know uh you know what because of the pandemic there was a supply chain disruption the president took action the American Rescue plan which only obviously Democrats voted for the president sign help deal with uh supply chain there is a a task force uh that was created to deal to make sure that during the pandemic that supply chain was dealt with in a way so that we can get out of this pandemic get our the economy uh get back on our feet with the economy uh look this is something we're going to monitor I don't have anything to share uh on on on the question of inflation we're obviously we're going to continue to closely Monitor and then on another subject the the flooding in Kenya I'm curious if there's any um relief that's planned from the admin Administration and whether it's affecting plans for the state visit later this month yeah a couple of things on that uh so obviously we extend our deepest uh condolences to the families loved ones and communities who have been impacted by the catastrophic flooding in East Africa obviously not just Kenya over the past month the US is supporting some response efforts particularly through the US Agency of International Development usaid a bureau of humanitarian assistance uh for example in Kenya us us Aid has provided $600,000 to Kenya Red Cross Society the government of Kenya's lead responder for emergency flood response uh that's in addition to more than $40 million that usaid has provided to humanitarian organizations in Kenya who also have flexibility to respond to the current floods this year so we continue to offer our uh continued and and Resolute support uh to all who have uh been impacted and are closely monitoring the situation it we do not see this impacting uh the uh State visit as you just mentioned on May 23rd uh but we're going to continue to offer our assistant and support good okay thank you Kareem the president in less than three weeks is going to be delivering commencement addresses at both Morehouse and West Point what sort of environment is the White House preparing for the president to encounter there so when you speak about environment security or anything like that that's something for the Secret Service to speak to I can't speak to that what I can say is the president is very much looking forward uh to speaking to graduates what mood does he expect to encounter on campus I you can't talk about well I mean look I don't want to get into hypotheticals here I you know the president is hoping to encounter and deal with and see uh family members and students who are thrilled and excited to be celebrating an important day he's going to be celebrating that day with them talking about their future you know uh hoping to deliver remarks that hit home uh for these graduates and and their families it's a special day it's a special day and so he's looking forward to doing that he did two uh two uh commencement speeches last year two before then uh before that before um before 2023 obviously and so this is something that he uh looks forward to doing I can't speak to the mood I can't speak to security situation I can't speak to that I can't get into hypotheticals I can speak to how important that moment is going to be and the president certainly looks forward to it but is it the White House's expectation that some of the the current frustration on campus will have subsided by that time and if so I don't have a crystal ball to look into and look into the future I I just don't I I I that is not something that I have the ability of doing what I can say is this is an important day this is an important month uh important month yes graduation month but an important day uh for these graduates and he's uh you know as the president tends to do when he speaks at graduation he's going to meet the moment and just to follow up on the question about some of the reports from police that the protesters that were arrested in New York were not students yesterday John Kirby said that um there was no intelligence to support the idea that there were bad actors involved in some of these protest does the intelligence still support that I'm just going to be really mindful I'm just not going to speak to that there's local local enforcement uh local law enforcement on the ground uh so I will uh I will speak to that uh I think what I can say more broadly this is a painful moment and we understand that for many communities and we know that these kinds of uh uh charge moments POS challenge es uh for law enfor enforcement and the president continues to believe as I've said multiple times that Americans have the right to peacefully protest within the law that is their right uh it is part of our freedoms here in America uh and at the same time we are going to condemn uh anti- anti anti-Semitism uh we believe that is hate speech we it is abhorent and we're going to continue to condemn that well with that said I mean does the president believe New York mayor Adams and leaders of Columbia University and City College of New York acted appropriately by having the protesters at those colleges colleges arrested and their encampments forcibly shut down that is a decision for colleges and universities to decide on the law enforcement if you think about uh local law enforcement they know what's going on in the ground they have a better sense of what's going on in the ground and obviously they have to make decisions uh we are talking about protecting students and making sure that they feel safe on campus we're talking about a small group of students who are disrupting that ability for students to have that academic experience that's what we're talking about here we believe and I will continue to say this Americans have the right to peacefully protest within the law that is incredibly important and we also have to condemn hate we have to get them anti-Semitism that is something that this President believes we also understand as I just stated uh to your colleague that many communities this is a painful time and as a very chared charge uh environment charge moments when you see those type of charge moments they do pose challenges for law enforcement but that is their decision to make but when we look Nationwide you know all these protests erupting a college campuses has the response you know been the appropriate response or has it been you know too harsh so look there's probably there's going to be local investigations there's going to be cases on this uh and I don't want to get ahead of that I can't go into every case here what I can say is in these charge moments we understand how difficult it is we understand how uh how painful it is in this moment and how uh because of that because of those of of that uh uh those charge moments it can be challenging for law enforcement at the same time students have to be allowed Americans have to be allowed to peacefully protest that is important that is part of our freedoms here in America we got to make sure that we continue to say that we believe in this Administration that we have to continue to say say that and call out any anti-Semitism uh that we see it is dangerous it is abhorent we got to call that out go ahead thanks on a different topic uh would the president encourage Democrats to help protect speaker Johnson from being ousted from his role of marjerie Taylor green were to make it on her threat to we've been very clear when it comes to um internal leadership discussions in Congress we just do not get involved uh that is for a democratic Democratic Leadership to speak to that's not something we get involved in thanks green um I'm wondering if the White House has any response to the reports of violent clashes on UCLA's campus last night uh that there were there was a group of counter-protesters that tried to forcibly uh dismantle the prop Palestine encampment and The Clash that resulted afterwards so look what I can say more broadly any form of violence we are going to denounce we're going to call out violent rhetoric uh any type of uh uh violence we have to call out that doesn't change anything we're going to continue to do that okay yeah uh on that trip to North Carolina uh does the president plan to visit the victims of Charlotte's mass shooting don't have anything to share at this time we'll have more later uh go ahead John uh just just a follow a follow up with that question uh which one North Carolina North Carolina okay yeah North Carolina so already on the schedule is the visit to Wilmington North Carolina it's expect Ed that the president will also travel to Charlotte as well has the president reached out to the families of those law enforcement uh individuals who were killed in that tragic incident here's what I will say I I don't have any uh any details to share with you at this time but the president as you saw this in his statement yesterday and he talked about the four four Law Enforcement Officers they were Heroes uh who made uh the ultimate sacrifice that's what you see uh when they put on uh the uniform and the badge every day they are putting their lives uh on the line and they made the ultimate sacrifice so obviously we pray for for them we pray for their families and others who were um who were injured as a result of the senseless violence senseless violence and so we're continue we'll continue to keep them in their prayers as it relates to North Carolina tomorrow I just don't have anything to share at this time okay um I have a question on uh Elon musk's China visit he concluded a surprise visit recently meeting with senior Communist Party officials and made some deals with uh to work with the Chinese technology companies is the White House um worried um that the US Advanced electric vehicle technology will be in um China's hands and would the administration look into the deal of fa is and National Security I I'm going to be really careful Elon Musk is a private citizen I'm just not going to speak to his travels from here I'm just not going to speak to it okay good Adam thanks um I wanted to follow up once more on gab's question because I think the way that you responded leaves maybe the impression that the White House views anti-Semitism as synonymous with the protests as a whole that's only I was very clear about there's a small number of students who are causing the disruption and I've been very clear about that and we have to make sure that we create a safe environment a safe environment is created uh for students to to learn for students to be able to go to graduation I've been very clear a small number of students so so maybe the specific question sure what what do the White House how do they how does the White House view the protests themselves the causes behind them the frustrations behind them how do does the White House view those as legitimate so look Top Line here every every American has the right to peacefully protest within the law that is something that we believe uh seizing buildings taking over buildings is not peacefully protesting I think we've been very very clear about that uh that is not peace pefully protesting uh students have the right to attend class and feel safe and feel like they are in a safe campus environment that's what we want to see and I've also said over and over again we believe that it is a small percentage of students who are causing this dis disruption and they're causing A disruption that uh that really takes away from students academic experience might take away for some their commencement experience which is supposed to be a really important day for many of these graduates and so at the same time we're going to continue to underscore that anti-Semitism should be called out it is hate speech and that should not be allowed not on college campuses not in communities not in a political discourse and so been very clear about that and we're going to continue to do so in terms of you know the causes that are driving these protests the frustration with the war in Gaza frustration with us support for Israel in this offensive does the White House view the drivers of these protests as legitimate we believe and understand understand that this is a painful moment for many communities we get that I mean we've say that over and over again that's why the president and Senior White House officials here have had multiple conversations with members of that of those communities to hear from them to listen to them and we also believe people have the right Americans have the right to peacefully protest that is part of what freedoms here in America that's what it all means it is important to be able to peace protest within the law hate speech should not be allowed we should condemn that that's what this Administration has always been consistent about and clear about and we're going to continue to do that go ahead thank you GRE some of these encampments they have matching tents we're being told that there are professional outside agitators involved we don't know if they're being paid to se chaos by domestic folks or foreign entities does President Biden want his administration to find out who is funding some of these proests what I can say I I you know um I cannot uh I cannot speak to uh the organizations that are being reported that's on the ground that is not something for me to speak to uh that is obviously something that local governments uh local officials I keep saying local government local officials are uh going to uh speak to they'll have better information uh on that uh what we have said and I don't think I've iterated that yet from here is that the doj and FBI is going to continue to offer support uh to universities and colleges uh with in respect to federal laws uh so that is something that the doj and FBI is doing as far as uh local organizations and what is all being reported on the ground that is something that I'm that local uh law enforcement I'm certainly is looking into and I understand that President Biden historically has spoken very forcefully about anti-Semitism but this week he's not he's Mia is he that worried about losing the youth vote with these protesters I'm going to be mindful you're talking about youth vote you're talking about 2024 noort young people I I'm I I have to say what I have to say and just give me a second uh so I'm not going to speak about somebody's doorbell is that a doorbell alarm an alarm okay all right um and I I'll speak more broadly I can't speak to you youth PE Youth and support and voters that's not something I can do from here uh the president uh has taken a lot of policy actions here uh that he knows that young people care about and a lot of those actions are popular with those young folks whether it's giving a little bit of breathing room with student debt relief so we made an announcement today matter of fact and we are going to continue to do that because we think it's important as families or as an American and you coming out of college and you want to build a family by home uh you have the opportunity to do that and not be crushed by student debt the president understands how important it is to deal with that issue climate change something that young people really truly care about one of the crises that the president said he came into having to deal with was the climate change crisis as the president has taken more have taking aggressive aggressive action to deal with climate crisis you look I can't speak to um I can't speak to youth voters or their support what we're going to do is continue to take actions that we believe helps all Americans in all communities you mentioned what he said in 2017 after Charlottesville he said about Trump's response then Charlottesville for me was a moment where I thought silence would be complicity yeah so how does he explain how you explain his silence this week the president has not been silent on this issue when it comes to hate speech anti-Semitism he started wait he started he launched the first ever anti-Semitism uh to uh strategy to counter anti-Semitism something that no no other president did no other president a a school building on at an Ivy League campus got Tak over and we call that out and we said that is not peacefully protesting taking over a building at a university is or a college is not peacefully protesting and we've been very clear we've been very clear taking more than a 100 new actions to deal with anti-Semitism in this Administration no one has ever done that before not any other Administration has ever done that before talking we're going to continue we're going to continue we're going to continue to do the work and it's not just here in the white house we're talking about doj we're talking about uh Homeland Security right we're talking about Department of uh Department of Education talking and and working with campuses and colleges to deal with this issue we have seen a uptake in anti-Semitism in the last certainly several months in the past year and we have to call that out and it is not okay it is not okay go ahead Phil thank you uh two quick questions here you've made the distinction between the president's support for peaceful protest and say less than peaceful protest I'm I'm curious uh what is the president's view what is the view from the White House on some of these college campuses where we've seen the US flag torn down and the Palestinian flag replace it what I will say uh is this um Americans have the right to peacefully protest within the law Within the law uh and uh we have to we have to also uh respect uh that uh you know we cannot disturb campuses uh in the way of taking over buildings uh in the way that we have seen that is not peacefully protest it's just not uh and you know look we have seen some really vile hateful uh hateful language used against the Jewish Community Jewish Americans in this country uh it is a dangerous time for that community and we have been very clear about what we need to do uh to fight uh that hate but also condemn that hate and so we're going to continue uh to do that and as it relates to what's happening obviously the actions that colleges and universities are are taking obviously it's up to them they're on the ground uh but we're going to continue to to call that out zooming out just a little bit here um you know not all of these protesters have expressed anti-Semitism but some have and I'm I'm curious does the president believe that perhaps some of these universities that higher education has gone off the rails that you know something more fundamental has gone wrong on these college campuses I mean I wouldn't go that far and I've been and you said it in your question to me is it a small percentage of students who are causing this disruption and students should be feel safe to go to school they should be feel safe to be able to have that all-important academic experience they should be able to have and have their commencement and be able to have their families and loved ones show up for them on that important day and I wouldn't go that far in your question uh because as I stated and you stated and we believe it's a small number of students who are causing this disruption uh and if they're going to protest Americans have the right to do it in a peaceful way within the law and we're going to continue to call out hateful speech as we have been thanks everybody thanks everyone

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Length: 41min 10sec (2470 seconds)

Published: Wed May 01 2024