WEBVTT 00:02.069 --> 00:04.380 Please continue . It was like 00:04.389 --> 00:06.611 interesting conversations going on . Um 00:06.611 --> 00:09.020 I don't have anything to kick us off so 00:10.159 --> 00:13.460 that uh I actually , I have a lot but 00:13.470 --> 00:17.190 nothing related . I talk to that the 00:17.200 --> 00:20.120 bang as it were . So I'll defer ok , 00:20.950 --> 00:23.780 who else wants to go ? Uh any update on 00:23.790 --> 00:26.569 hostages uh movements , ongoing 00:26.579 --> 00:29.559 negotiations ? Anything ? Uh I don't 00:29.569 --> 00:31.847 have an update on hostage negotiations . 00:31.847 --> 00:33.625 I think as you know , I've been 00:33.625 --> 00:35.736 reluctant to talk about the status of 00:35.736 --> 00:35.669 negotiations from this podium uh 00:35.680 --> 00:37.560 because we've uh it has been our 00:37.569 --> 00:39.639 position that anything that we say 00:39.650 --> 00:41.860 about hostage hostage negotiations can 00:41.869 --> 00:43.925 jeopardize our work to try to secure 00:43.925 --> 00:45.869 the release of hostages . So I , I 00:45.869 --> 00:48.091 don't have anything to say . Other than 00:48.091 --> 00:49.869 that , it continues to be a top 00:49.869 --> 00:49.240 priority for everyone in this 00:49.250 --> 00:51.417 administration . The secretary has had 00:51.417 --> 00:53.639 a number of calls about this very um uh 00:53.639 --> 00:55.861 matter with his foreign counterparts in 00:55.861 --> 00:58.028 the last few days . And of course , it 00:58.028 --> 00:57.909 was a subject that he worked on a great 00:57.919 --> 00:59.975 deal during his recent travel to the 00:59.975 --> 01:01.808 region . But I , I don't want to 01:01.808 --> 01:05.150 discuss any details . Um any uh word on 01:05.160 --> 01:08.910 the sanctions waiver expiring today for 01:08.919 --> 01:12.360 Iran . So I don't have a comment to 01:12.370 --> 01:15.180 give on uh the expiration of the waiver 01:15.190 --> 01:17.419 at this time . But I would remind you 01:17.529 --> 01:19.640 of a few things with respect to these 01:19.640 --> 01:21.751 waivers in general . And that is that 01:21.751 --> 01:23.918 number one , there are 20 waivers that 01:23.918 --> 01:27.029 have been issued for the payment from 01:27.040 --> 01:30.440 Iraq for Iranian electricity imports . 01:30.730 --> 01:32.730 They go back to 2018 . They started 01:32.730 --> 01:34.841 during the Trump administration , all 01:34.841 --> 01:37.008 in each of these waivers . It has been 01:37.008 --> 01:39.129 the case that none of this money goes 01:39.139 --> 01:41.360 to Iran . It is , it is held in 01:41.370 --> 01:43.592 accounts that are restricted where they 01:43.592 --> 01:45.720 can only be used to pay for food , 01:45.730 --> 01:47.786 medicine , humanitarian purposes and 01:47.786 --> 01:50.008 other non sanctionable activities . And 01:50.008 --> 01:52.008 it has been consistent with several 01:52.008 --> 01:54.519 policies that we have one to try to 01:54.709 --> 01:57.250 reduce Iran's leverage over Iraq and 01:57.260 --> 02:01.010 two to try to Wean Iraq from 02:01.019 --> 02:03.241 Iranian energy independence . We've had 02:03.241 --> 02:05.408 a number of policies we've worked with 02:05.408 --> 02:07.352 to try to , to ensure their energy 02:07.352 --> 02:09.408 independence , but in the meantime , 02:09.408 --> 02:11.463 they continue to buy Iranian Iranian 02:11.463 --> 02:13.463 electricity . And so we have in the 02:13.463 --> 02:15.630 past , as has the Trump administration 02:15.630 --> 02:17.839 issued waivers to allow these funds to 02:17.850 --> 02:20.017 move to restricted accounts where as I 02:20.017 --> 02:19.990 said , they can be used for 02:20.000 --> 02:22.222 humanitarian and other non sanctionable 02:22.222 --> 02:24.333 purposes . Is there any concern about 02:24.333 --> 02:28.210 the potential optics of I guess 02:28.220 --> 02:31.479 extending the sanctions waiver while um 02:31.679 --> 02:35.279 Ronnie and proxy groups or are uh 02:35.869 --> 02:38.036 hacking us assets in the Middle East ? 02:38.036 --> 02:40.036 We don't worry about optics . We're 02:40.036 --> 02:42.147 worried about reality and the reality 02:42.147 --> 02:44.258 is that these funds , as I said , can 02:44.258 --> 02:46.480 only be used for humanitarian and other 02:46.480 --> 02:48.702 non sanctionable purposes . And when it 02:48.702 --> 02:50.813 comes to holding Iran accountable for 02:50.813 --> 02:52.980 its destabilizing activities , I would 02:52.980 --> 02:52.809 remind you that we have imposed more 02:52.820 --> 02:55.190 than 400 sanctions on Iran . Since the 02:55.199 --> 02:57.255 outset of this administration in the 02:57.255 --> 02:59.477 past few weeks , we have taken a number 02:59.477 --> 03:03.110 of actions to ensure deterrence And to 03:03.779 --> 03:06.270 the Pentagon has conducted strikes 03:06.279 --> 03:08.446 against Iranian backed militias and we 03:08.446 --> 03:10.612 will continue to hold Iran accountable 03:10.612 --> 03:12.612 for its destabilizing behavior in a 03:12.612 --> 03:14.580 number of manners . Sorry . 03:16.500 --> 03:18.759 Um You don't worry about optics , you 03:18.770 --> 03:21.339 worry about reality aren't optics ren 03:22.619 --> 03:25.250 No , no , not that . I mean , that 03:25.259 --> 03:27.037 we're gonna get into a bit of a 03:27.037 --> 03:29.148 metaphysical debate , but I would say 03:29.148 --> 03:31.370 I'm not gonna work about this but , but 03:31.370 --> 03:33.592 you know what you see is what you get . 03:33.592 --> 03:35.703 That's reality , right ? No , I would 03:35.703 --> 03:38.119 say what's real , what you see is what 03:38.130 --> 03:40.960 you get , what the optics in the term . 03:40.970 --> 03:43.026 I mean , the optics is people taking 03:43.026 --> 03:45.240 this and misinterpreting it and saying 03:45.250 --> 03:47.472 it's something that it's not , which is 03:47.472 --> 03:49.583 what's happened in the past when it's 03:49.583 --> 03:51.750 come to these waivers . And I'm making 03:51.750 --> 03:51.009 very clear that these waivers are 03:51.020 --> 03:53.131 something that have dated back to the 03:53.131 --> 03:55.131 Trump administration . What is it ? 03:55.131 --> 03:57.187 What is it that it is not ? What are 03:57.187 --> 03:59.445 you saying ? I will say what it is and 03:59.455 --> 04:02.125 I will let those who tend to talk about 04:02.134 --> 04:04.134 these waivers over and over again , 04:04.134 --> 04:05.856 they have , they can speak for 04:05.856 --> 04:08.078 themselves . Well , ok . Are you saying 04:08.078 --> 04:10.134 that this is an absolute straight up 04:10.134 --> 04:12.245 renewal of what of what has been done 04:12.245 --> 04:14.412 in the past ? And there are no changes 04:14.412 --> 04:16.523 to it . It doesn't allow the Iranians 04:16.523 --> 04:19.545 to convert money from Iraqi Dinars into 04:19.554 --> 04:22.054 Euros . So I am not going to speak to a 04:22.065 --> 04:24.635 new waiver . One has not been issued at 04:24.644 --> 04:27.619 this point . I'm speaking . So if we 04:27.630 --> 04:29.574 get to the point where we can talk 04:29.574 --> 04:31.686 about a new waiver , I'll be happy to 04:31.686 --> 04:30.660 come in and talk about the specifics . 04:30.670 --> 04:32.892 But all of our waivers in the past have 04:32.892 --> 04:35.114 made very clear that the funds are held 04:35.114 --> 04:37.226 in accounts not in Iran and available 04:37.226 --> 04:38.892 only for humanitarian and non 04:38.892 --> 04:40.781 sanctionable purposes . But , and 04:40.781 --> 04:42.837 you're saying that should there be a 04:42.837 --> 04:44.809 waiver this afternoon ? It will be 04:44.820 --> 04:46.876 exactly the same . I am not going to 04:46.876 --> 04:48.820 talk about . I'm not going to talk 04:48.820 --> 04:50.931 about things that have not happened . 04:50.931 --> 04:50.399 I'd be happy to , I won't be here 04:50.410 --> 04:52.577 tomorrow , I'll be here Thursday . I'd 04:52.577 --> 04:54.299 be happy to talk about if , if 04:54.299 --> 04:56.521 something has happened by the next time 04:56.521 --> 04:55.959 at this podium , I will happy be happy 04:55.970 --> 04:58.192 to talk about it . All right . And then 04:58.192 --> 04:59.970 what , what about the , the fil 04:59.970 --> 05:03.170 argument that you heard a lot with 05:03.179 --> 05:05.512 money from South Korea for the hostages ? 05:05.739 --> 05:08.390 Um Why is that ? Why is that uh 05:08.399 --> 05:10.940 argument wrong ? So I I will say we 05:10.950 --> 05:13.117 have heard this a lot . I've addressed 05:13.117 --> 05:15.170 it a lot . So with respect to the 05:15.179 --> 05:17.980 Iranian regime , it has always funded 05:17.989 --> 05:20.156 destabilizing activities . It has done 05:20.156 --> 05:22.378 that . First and foremost , it's one of 05:22.378 --> 05:24.267 its top priorities . It does that 05:24.267 --> 05:26.211 whether it receives , whether it's 05:26.211 --> 05:28.480 people receive humanitarian benefits or 05:28.489 --> 05:30.829 not . Uh to the extent that the Iranian 05:30.839 --> 05:32.950 people have greater access to food or 05:32.950 --> 05:35.010 medicine as a result of money convey 05:35.019 --> 05:37.241 covered by this waiver , that's food or 05:37.241 --> 05:39.408 medicine that otherwise would not have 05:39.408 --> 05:41.463 been available to them . And I would 05:41.463 --> 05:43.630 say again , this is a policy that goes 05:43.630 --> 05:45.741 back to the previous administration . 05:45.741 --> 05:45.290 The previous administration apparently 05:45.299 --> 05:47.820 decided that it was worthwhile to have 05:47.829 --> 05:50.850 this money uh uh spent for the benefit 05:50.859 --> 05:53.081 of the Iranian people with whom we have 05:53.081 --> 05:55.026 no quarrel , our quarrels with the 05:55.026 --> 05:57.026 Iranian regime . It's destabilizing 05:57.026 --> 05:59.220 activities . Uh And so our , what we 05:59.230 --> 06:01.399 see is an Iranian regime that whether 06:01.410 --> 06:03.350 these waivers are issued or not , 06:03.359 --> 06:05.581 whether their people benefit from these 06:05.581 --> 06:07.970 monies or not continues to fund hostile 06:07.980 --> 06:10.339 activities that has not changed . Uh It 06:10.350 --> 06:12.683 has not changed going back years . Well , 06:12.683 --> 06:15.959 if whether or not they benefit from , 06:15.970 --> 06:18.137 from this money , isn't that the whole 06:18.137 --> 06:20.399 point ? The whole point is that is that 06:20.410 --> 06:22.521 they're supposed to . But the problem 06:22.521 --> 06:26.140 is , and the argument against this is 06:26.149 --> 06:29.010 that the Iranians are going to spend 06:29.019 --> 06:30.908 the same amount of money on their 06:30.908 --> 06:33.160 people as they did before . But now 06:33.170 --> 06:36.799 they got another . So I 06:36.829 --> 06:39.630 don't accept that argument . What we 06:39.640 --> 06:41.807 believe . You know , you know what I , 06:41.809 --> 06:43.698 what we believe is the Iran , the 06:43.698 --> 06:45.753 Iranian regime is going to spend the 06:45.753 --> 06:47.865 same amount of money on destabilizing 06:47.865 --> 06:50.087 activities because it always has and we 06:50.087 --> 06:51.809 will take actions to hold them 06:51.809 --> 06:53.809 accountable for those destabilizing 06:53.809 --> 06:55.531 activities as we have from the 06:55.531 --> 06:57.753 beginning of this administration . What 06:57.753 --> 06:57.355 we have seen is that when these waivers 06:57.365 --> 06:59.532 have been issued , that money has been 06:59.532 --> 07:01.532 used for the benefit of the Iranian 07:01.532 --> 07:03.587 people . Period . Yes . And then the 07:03.587 --> 07:05.809 money that they had inside of Iran that 07:05.809 --> 07:07.865 would have been spent on this and is 07:07.865 --> 07:09.754 then freed up . You are making an 07:09.754 --> 07:12.032 assumption that the Iranian government . 07:12.032 --> 07:14.254 No , no , just let me finish you making 07:14.254 --> 07:16.476 an assumption . And when you say that , 07:16.476 --> 07:18.698 that the Iranian government is choosing 07:18.698 --> 07:20.865 the benefit of its people over funding 07:20.865 --> 07:20.791 terrorism and funding other 07:20.851 --> 07:23.018 destabilized actions . That's not what 07:23.018 --> 07:25.073 we've seen . We've seen them . We've 07:25.073 --> 07:27.129 seen , no , no , I'm not . I've seen 07:27.129 --> 07:28.962 them as a first priority to fund 07:28.962 --> 07:30.962 destabilizing activities . We think 07:30.962 --> 07:30.842 increasing the amount of money that 07:30.851 --> 07:32.907 flows for the benefit of the Iranian 07:32.907 --> 07:35.129 people is something that's worthwhile . 07:35.129 --> 07:37.295 And again , this is the money that was 07:37.295 --> 07:39.073 paid that Iraq owes to Iran for 07:39.073 --> 07:42.130 electricity that Iran delivered . I you , 07:42.170 --> 07:44.410 you're twisting it at 100 and 80 07:44.420 --> 07:47.339 degrees . I think the , the opposite of 07:47.350 --> 07:49.406 what I , I'm not saying that they're 07:49.406 --> 07:52.079 not gonna spend any of this money on 07:52.130 --> 07:54.241 food and medicine and that's all this 07:54.241 --> 07:57.429 money can be spent on . Yeah . But that 07:57.440 --> 08:00.049 means that they have X amount of 08:00.059 --> 08:04.010 dollars more you in their own that 08:04.019 --> 08:06.241 they can , that they can spend only dab 08:06.489 --> 08:08.799 activity only if you , only if you 08:08.809 --> 08:11.031 assume they were going to fund food and 08:11.031 --> 08:13.253 medicine and other activities . And I'm 08:13.253 --> 08:15.476 saying that's not a necessarily correct 08:15.476 --> 08:15.359 assumption they could make the choice 08:15.369 --> 08:17.536 to . You said that they were and you . 08:17.536 --> 08:19.480 But also that even though they are 08:19.480 --> 08:21.647 spending that money that they're going 08:21.647 --> 08:23.702 to still fund destabilizing , I said 08:23.702 --> 08:25.480 their first priority is to fund 08:25.480 --> 08:27.647 destabilizing activities . That is why 08:27.647 --> 08:29.813 would you give them because this money 08:29.813 --> 08:31.869 will not give them money . But , but 08:31.869 --> 08:31.839 why would you , why would you do ? I 08:31.850 --> 08:34.072 feel like we're arguing in circles here 08:34.072 --> 08:36.294 a little bit . That's not for the first 08:36.294 --> 08:38.294 time . No , it's not . And this has 08:38.294 --> 08:40.429 gone back for several administrations 08:40.440 --> 08:43.270 now because I don't understand your 08:43.280 --> 08:45.450 argument that you can be so sure that 08:45.460 --> 08:47.682 none of this money is going to increase 08:47.682 --> 08:50.619 the amount of cash that Iran spends to 08:50.630 --> 08:52.630 destabilize the region because Iran 08:52.640 --> 08:54.869 does not when , what we see is when 08:54.880 --> 08:57.102 making its choices for how to spend its 08:57.102 --> 08:59.269 money . Iran , the Iranian regime does 08:59.269 --> 09:01.380 not choose to feed its people first . 09:01.440 --> 09:03.330 They choose to fund destabilizing 09:03.340 --> 09:05.659 activities first . They always have as 09:05.669 --> 09:07.891 far as we can tell , they always will . 09:07.891 --> 09:10.002 So when we're looking at this money , 09:10.002 --> 09:12.369 we see the benefit to allowing these 09:12.380 --> 09:14.380 funds to move again , to restricted 09:14.380 --> 09:16.436 accounts where they can only benefit 09:16.436 --> 09:18.269 the Iranian people . All right , 09:20.799 --> 09:23.450 you can see how you can and I don't , I 09:23.460 --> 09:25.571 don't understand how you can't , what 09:26.690 --> 09:28.634 we don't understand each other . I 09:28.634 --> 09:29.690 think . Go ahead . 09:34.159 --> 09:36.650 Oh , I don't think we're allowed to . I 09:36.659 --> 09:38.826 think we're stuck with each other . Go 09:38.826 --> 09:41.103 ahead . No , let me , let me go . I'll , 09:41.103 --> 09:43.270 I'll come to you go , Jen had her hand 09:43.270 --> 09:45.492 up . Iiii I will come , I will , I will 09:45.492 --> 09:47.659 come . Ok , going back to the hostages 09:47.659 --> 09:49.659 though . Uh The president gave some 09:49.659 --> 09:51.770 indication of optimism that a deal is 09:51.770 --> 09:53.715 gonna be done . What is under look 09:53.715 --> 09:55.937 because we continue to work for it . Um 09:55.937 --> 09:58.048 We are always hopeful that we will be 09:58.048 --> 10:00.159 able to be able to secure the release 10:00.159 --> 10:02.492 of , of not just the first and foremost , 10:02.492 --> 10:04.659 the American citizens , but all of the 10:04.659 --> 10:04.510 hostages that are held , certainly all 10:04.520 --> 10:06.631 the civilian hostages , the women and 10:06.631 --> 10:08.853 Children who have been uh now prisoners 10:08.853 --> 10:11.780 for more than a month . Um So as long 10:11.789 --> 10:14.011 as there is a possibility to bring them 10:14.011 --> 10:16.122 home , we will work to do it . I just 10:16.122 --> 10:18.345 don't want to talk about the underlying 10:18.345 --> 10:20.511 details that leads us to believe there 10:20.511 --> 10:22.678 is still a possibility if there's been 10:22.678 --> 10:24.845 any concrete movement towards that end 10:24.845 --> 10:26.678 towards an agreement , there are 10:26.678 --> 10:28.789 ongoing discussions . I don't want to 10:28.789 --> 10:30.956 characterize where you say whether any 10:30.956 --> 10:30.909 sort of iteration of a deal would 10:30.919 --> 10:32.863 include all 10 Americans who are . 10:32.863 --> 10:35.086 Again , I don't want to talk about what 10:35.086 --> 10:37.252 the contours of a deal might be before 10:37.252 --> 10:40.000 we've even reached an agreement . I 10:40.010 --> 10:43.320 will , I will , I will finish . I will 10:43.349 --> 10:45.349 comment . Is it still the case that 10:45.349 --> 10:47.516 there is not a formal assessment being 10:47.516 --> 10:47.400 done by the US government into whether 10:47.409 --> 10:49.520 Israel is adhering to international . 10:49.789 --> 10:52.950 As I said yesterday , we monitor the 10:52.960 --> 10:55.182 use of our weapons . We monitor all the 10:55.182 --> 10:57.404 actions that Israel takes as we monitor 10:57.404 --> 10:59.516 actions in any conflict . But I'm not 10:59.516 --> 10:59.020 going to speak to internal 10:59.030 --> 11:01.141 deliberations , but there's no formal 11:01.141 --> 11:03.363 assessment . I'm just not , there's not 11:03.363 --> 11:05.474 an formal assessment that's been made 11:05.474 --> 11:04.950 and I'm not going to speak to internal 11:04.960 --> 11:07.071 deliberations inside the department . 11:07.190 --> 11:09.390 All right now , thank you for your 11:09.409 --> 11:11.700 patience . Such as it is , I can wait 11:11.770 --> 11:15.580 all day . A Hamas spokesman 11:16.130 --> 11:19.039 suggested that they will release 70 11:19.049 --> 11:23.039 hostages for a five day pause . Would 11:23.049 --> 11:25.320 that be acceptable ? I think you'll 11:25.330 --> 11:27.552 understand . I'm not going to negotiate 11:27.552 --> 11:29.886 in public about such a sensitive matter , 11:29.886 --> 11:32.052 but I mean , you can ask it a bunch of 11:32.052 --> 11:34.052 different ways . I'm , I'm just not 11:34.052 --> 11:36.386 going to take up a negotiation question . 11:36.386 --> 11:38.552 Can you update us on the status of the 11:38.552 --> 11:40.774 pauses ? You know , we have had a pause 11:40.774 --> 11:42.774 or is that , is that ongoing or did 11:42.774 --> 11:44.830 that stop what's going on ? I mean , 11:44.830 --> 11:46.941 from what we see and read and so on , 11:46.941 --> 11:48.886 there are no pauses taking place . 11:48.886 --> 11:50.997 There are pauses there taking place . 11:50.997 --> 11:50.469 So the secretary , this is something 11:50.479 --> 11:52.590 the secretary pushed for when we were 11:52.590 --> 11:54.312 in Israel . He had very direct 11:54.312 --> 11:56.423 conversations with the Prime Minister 11:56.423 --> 11:58.423 about it . You saw him come out and 11:58.423 --> 11:58.349 talk about those conversations 11:58.359 --> 12:00.526 afterwards . And then over the week 10 12:00.526 --> 12:02.526 days after we left Israel , you saw 12:02.526 --> 12:04.581 Israel begin to implement pauses and 12:04.581 --> 12:06.692 every day they announced pauses uh uh 12:06.692 --> 12:09.094 in areas to allow the evacuation of the 12:09.104 --> 12:10.771 evacuation of civilians along 12:10.771 --> 12:13.104 humanitarian corridors . We said before , 12:13.104 --> 12:15.382 we think the pauses ought to be longer . 12:15.382 --> 12:14.934 We will continue to engage in 12:14.945 --> 12:17.167 conversations with that about that with 12:17.167 --> 12:19.278 the government of Israel . And , uh , 12:19.278 --> 12:21.612 you know , uh , one more thing , I mean , 12:21.612 --> 12:23.723 since Sunday , Sunday morning there , 12:23.723 --> 12:26.015 Saturday night here , we have not seen 12:26.215 --> 12:27.993 any figures released from Shiva 12:27.993 --> 12:30.215 Hospital because it's completely out of 12:30.215 --> 12:32.215 service . Uh The last camp was like 12:32.215 --> 12:35.549 1180 11,087 something like that . Do 12:35.559 --> 12:38.239 you have any way of keeping track of 12:38.250 --> 12:40.417 the number of Palestinians killed ? We 12:40.417 --> 12:42.306 don't , we don't have an accurate 12:42.306 --> 12:44.306 assessment or an assessment that we 12:44.306 --> 12:46.528 know to be accurate about the number of 12:46.528 --> 12:48.750 Palestinians who have been killed . But 12:48.750 --> 12:50.806 as the secretary said last week , we 12:50.806 --> 12:50.770 know that far too many innocent 12:50.780 --> 12:52.989 Palestinian civilians , but with the 12:53.000 --> 12:54.510 hospitals out of service 12:57.200 --> 12:59.422 is there , are we likely to know what's 12:59.422 --> 13:01.422 going on ? I don't know how I could 13:01.422 --> 13:03.422 speak to that from here . I want to 13:03.422 --> 13:05.478 talk about , I want to ask about the 13:05.478 --> 13:07.700 West Bank , but I can wait . Go ahead . 13:07.700 --> 13:09.922 Ok . On the West Bank very quickly . Uh 13:09.922 --> 13:12.089 You know , there's , there's a rampage 13:12.089 --> 13:14.256 going on by the army , by the settlers 13:14.256 --> 13:16.367 and so on last night , they went into 13:16.367 --> 13:18.033 TJ and so on , they killed 12 13:18.033 --> 13:20.144 Palestinians or 10 Palestinians . The 13:20.144 --> 13:22.033 number has exceeded 200 since the 13:22.033 --> 13:24.256 beginning since October 7th and so on . 13:24.256 --> 13:26.033 I mean , just to , are you guys 13:26.033 --> 13:28.256 concerned , are you doing anything ? We 13:28.256 --> 13:30.422 are sure that things don't really blow 13:30.422 --> 13:32.589 out . We are very concerned about this 13:32.589 --> 13:32.340 issue . You've heard the secretary 13:32.349 --> 13:34.516 speak to this . He spoke to it when we 13:34.516 --> 13:36.571 were in Israel . In fact , um uh the 13:36.571 --> 13:38.682 secretary has made very clear that we 13:38.682 --> 13:40.405 condemn extremist violence and 13:40.405 --> 13:42.460 harassment against Palestinians . He 13:42.460 --> 13:44.682 had a very direct conversation with the 13:44.682 --> 13:44.669 Prime Minister about it . What he said 13:44.679 --> 13:46.901 to the Prime Minister and other members 13:46.901 --> 13:49.068 of the Israeli War cabinet is that the 13:49.068 --> 13:51.235 extremist violence against settlers is 13:51.235 --> 13:52.957 unacceptable that we think the 13:52.957 --> 13:55.123 government needs to do more to rein it 13:55.123 --> 13:55.039 in and they need to do more to hold 13:55.219 --> 13:57.441 people accountable and we will watching 13:57.441 --> 13:59.497 to see what steps they take , but it 13:59.497 --> 14:03.135 has accelerated . I'm telling you , we 14:03.145 --> 14:05.312 expect them to take action and we will 14:05.312 --> 14:07.312 be watching to see that they do . I 14:07.315 --> 14:10.275 told Libya I'd come to her next on the 14:10.784 --> 14:13.494 hospital . I know you and others in the 14:13.505 --> 14:15.561 administration have spoken generally 14:15.561 --> 14:17.394 about information you have about 14:17.394 --> 14:19.394 hospitals and Hamas operating under 14:19.394 --> 14:21.338 them is the US taking any steps to 14:21.338 --> 14:23.394 declassify to share more information 14:23.394 --> 14:25.116 about what it has specifically 14:25.116 --> 14:27.320 regarding . So I don't want to talk 14:27.330 --> 14:29.609 about what we may or may not declassify 14:29.619 --> 14:31.830 before we take any action . Just as I 14:31.840 --> 14:33.618 don't really want to talk about 14:33.618 --> 14:35.784 intelligence matters from the podium . 14:35.784 --> 14:37.951 As I said yesterday , as you heard the 14:37.951 --> 14:40.118 national security adviser say over the 14:40.118 --> 14:42.340 weekend and as the secretary has spoken 14:42.340 --> 14:44.507 to , we do know uh that Hamas has used 14:44.507 --> 14:46.673 uh hospitals as command centers and it 14:46.673 --> 14:48.729 has buried its tunnels under command 14:48.729 --> 14:50.840 centers . And I want to say something 14:50.840 --> 14:53.118 about hospitals that , that , you know , 14:53.118 --> 14:55.173 number one , we want hospitals to be 14:55.173 --> 14:57.396 protected . Um We don't want to see any 14:57.396 --> 14:59.507 civilians and certainly not babies in 14:59.507 --> 15:01.229 incubators or other vulnerable 15:01.229 --> 15:03.396 populations uh caught in a crossfire . 15:03.396 --> 15:05.118 Um We want Hamas to stop using 15:05.118 --> 15:07.062 hospitals as a command post . That 15:07.062 --> 15:09.229 would be the easiest way to solve this 15:09.229 --> 15:11.284 problem if they would stop using the 15:11.284 --> 15:11.200 civilians that are in hospitals as 15:11.210 --> 15:13.432 human humanitarian shields . But then I 15:13.432 --> 15:15.654 would also say that we want there to be 15:15.654 --> 15:17.432 safe evacuation for patients at 15:17.432 --> 15:19.654 hospitals so they can get out of harm's 15:19.654 --> 15:21.766 way . We would support an independent 15:21.766 --> 15:23.988 third party or respected third party to 15:23.988 --> 15:26.210 conduct those evacuations . We know the 15:26.210 --> 15:28.432 government of Israel would support such 15:28.432 --> 15:30.488 a step as well . They have said that 15:30.488 --> 15:29.950 they would support such a step . The 15:29.960 --> 15:32.182 question is , will Hamas allow patients 15:32.182 --> 15:34.349 to be evacuated from hospitals or will 15:34.349 --> 15:36.293 they continue to use them as human 15:36.293 --> 15:38.460 shields ? We think an appropriate step 15:38.460 --> 15:40.682 would be to support those evacuations . 15:40.682 --> 15:42.516 So , babies and other vulnerable 15:42.516 --> 15:42.190 populations are not in harm's way . 15:42.200 --> 15:44.979 Well , on that front , so one has a 15:44.989 --> 15:47.299 third party candidate been identified 15:47.309 --> 15:49.476 to effectuate those kind of . And then 15:49.476 --> 15:51.698 on the Hamas front , has the US made an 15:51.698 --> 15:53.753 appeal through the Qataris or anyone 15:53.753 --> 15:55.976 else to do exactly what you just said . 15:55.976 --> 15:57.865 So we are in a number , we are in 15:57.865 --> 15:59.587 conversations with a number of 15:59.587 --> 16:01.642 humanitarian organizations and third 16:01.642 --> 16:03.865 parties about this very topic . I don't 16:03.865 --> 16:06.198 want to speak to those issues in detail , 16:06.198 --> 16:05.575 but it is very much something that we 16:05.585 --> 16:08.215 would support . And I will just say 16:08.234 --> 16:10.724 generally we have , we have sent 16:10.734 --> 16:12.567 messages through the Qataris and 16:12.567 --> 16:14.456 through other counterparts in the 16:14.456 --> 16:16.678 region to Hamas . That of course , just 16:16.678 --> 16:16.244 as we've said , they should release the 16:16.255 --> 16:18.088 hospitals that they should allow 16:18.088 --> 16:20.369 evacuation of wounded civilians and 16:20.380 --> 16:22.213 stop using them as human shields 16:22.213 --> 16:24.324 specifically on the babies just given 16:24.324 --> 16:26.380 the urgency and the fragility of the 16:26.380 --> 16:28.158 lives at stake there . I mean , 16:28.158 --> 16:30.269 conversations are one thing , but are 16:30.269 --> 16:32.491 you really pushing the gas pedal here ? 16:32.491 --> 16:34.658 We could not agree more . Look , we to 16:34.658 --> 16:36.713 state matters like we do not control 16:36.713 --> 16:38.658 what Hamas does . Uh We would like 16:38.658 --> 16:40.991 Hamas to just move out of the hospitals . 16:40.991 --> 16:43.102 As I said , that would be the easiest 16:43.102 --> 16:45.324 way to solve this issue . Um but absent 16:45.324 --> 16:47.324 that if they refuse to remove their 16:47.324 --> 16:49.491 command centers from hospitals as they 16:49.491 --> 16:51.324 seem likely to do , they've been 16:51.324 --> 16:53.324 burying their command centers under 16:53.324 --> 16:55.491 hospitals for years . The step that we 16:55.491 --> 16:55.109 think would be appropriate for them to 16:55.119 --> 16:57.341 take would be to allow evacuation . And 16:57.341 --> 16:59.563 yes , we would very much encourage them 16:59.563 --> 17:01.730 to do . Will they do it ? We have seen 17:01.730 --> 17:03.786 them , one of their prime strategies 17:03.786 --> 17:06.130 has been to use civilians as human 17:06.140 --> 17:08.307 shields , not just in hospitals but in 17:08.307 --> 17:09.973 other civilian infrastructure 17:09.973 --> 17:12.196 throughout Gaza . So we would certainly 17:12.196 --> 17:14.189 hope that they would . Um And if I 17:14.199 --> 17:16.421 don't , I think it speaks to their true 17:16.421 --> 17:18.310 motivations here . I have another 17:18.310 --> 17:20.477 question that's in the region but sort 17:20.477 --> 17:20.040 of ancillary to everything that's going 17:20.050 --> 17:22.239 on . So I impose it or you can come 17:22.250 --> 17:23.959 back , come back . Thank you 17:25.479 --> 17:27.800 hostages . Um I know you don't want to 17:27.810 --> 17:29.866 talk about details , but some of the 17:29.866 --> 17:31.921 information that was leaked out that 17:31.921 --> 17:34.032 basically they were released 80 women 17:34.032 --> 17:36.969 and Children in return for women and 17:36.979 --> 17:39.201 Palestinian Children who are in Israeli 17:39.201 --> 17:41.312 jails . Can you take this question if 17:41.312 --> 17:43.646 you don't know the answer , please ? No . 17:43.646 --> 17:45.868 Can you please tell us if Israel if you 17:45.868 --> 17:47.535 are aware that Israel holding 17:47.535 --> 17:49.701 Palestinian Children in jail ? I think 17:49.701 --> 17:52.280 that question , I am just not going to 17:52.290 --> 17:54.234 speak to hostage negotiations with 17:54.234 --> 17:56.179 respect to that factual question . 17:56.179 --> 17:58.401 That's a question for the government of 17:58.401 --> 18:00.512 Israel , but as it relates to hostage 18:00.512 --> 18:00.199 negotiations , I'm not going to speak 18:00.209 --> 18:03.119 to that at all ? Ok . Uh The Israeli 18:03.130 --> 18:05.219 Foreign Minister said that the 18:05.229 --> 18:08.640 Secretary General Mr Antonio is not 18:08.650 --> 18:11.219 qualified to lead the UN or the world . 18:11.229 --> 18:13.609 Do you agree with him ? And how do you 18:13.619 --> 18:15.730 differentiate between somebody who is 18:15.730 --> 18:18.140 obviously being critical of Israel and 18:18.150 --> 18:20.729 people who gonna be labeled as 18:20.739 --> 18:22.739 anti-semitic ? How can we have this 18:22.739 --> 18:24.572 debate where there is legitimate 18:24.572 --> 18:26.829 criticism of Israel and not being put 18:26.839 --> 18:28.617 in the category that people are 18:28.617 --> 18:30.728 anti-semitic . So with respect to the 18:30.728 --> 18:32.839 first one , I will let um the foreign 18:32.839 --> 18:35.117 Minister speak to his own own comments , 18:35.117 --> 18:34.900 but I'll say we support the work that 18:34.910 --> 18:36.910 the UN has done to get humanitarian 18:36.910 --> 18:39.849 relief um into um uh into Israel . 18:39.859 --> 18:42.026 We'll continue to work with the UN and 18:42.026 --> 18:44.137 its various agencies to try to get uh 18:44.137 --> 18:46.359 work uh relief into , into Israel . And 18:46.359 --> 18:48.303 that includes with , of course the 18:48.303 --> 18:50.415 Secretary General and with respect to 18:50.415 --> 18:52.248 the first question , of course , 18:52.248 --> 18:54.248 criticism , legitimate criticism of 18:54.248 --> 18:56.470 Israel is appropriate just as criticism 18:56.470 --> 18:56.369 of any government is appropriate . Uh 18:56.380 --> 18:58.689 We welcome uh uh criticism of our 18:58.699 --> 19:00.755 government . Uh uh I won't speak for 19:00.755 --> 19:02.810 other governments . Obviously , many 19:02.810 --> 19:04.810 governments don't welcome such such 19:04.810 --> 19:06.810 criticism around the world . Um But 19:06.810 --> 19:06.030 that's a different matter than 19:06.040 --> 19:07.984 anti-semitism , which we very much 19:07.984 --> 19:10.207 abhor and condemn . And finally , there 19:10.207 --> 19:12.318 is a lawsuit . I don't know if you're 19:12.318 --> 19:14.373 aware of it against the Secretary of 19:14.373 --> 19:16.484 State , the president and the defense 19:16.484 --> 19:18.540 secretary in New York . It was filed 19:18.540 --> 19:20.651 yesterday in a federal court and they 19:20.651 --> 19:22.707 saying basically that they failed to 19:22.707 --> 19:25.050 prevent an aid in genocide in Gaza . 19:25.069 --> 19:27.439 Are you aware of this , of this ? I've 19:27.449 --> 19:29.671 seen the , I've seen the litigation but 19:29.671 --> 19:31.782 we don't comment on litigation . I'll 19:31.782 --> 19:33.838 refer that to the justice department 19:33.838 --> 19:37.150 for comment . Thank you . Set to vote 19:37.160 --> 19:40.030 on a budget today without any aid for 19:40.040 --> 19:42.209 Israel or Ukraine . How concerned are 19:42.219 --> 19:44.219 you about that ? And when does this 19:44.219 --> 19:46.619 become critical ? So we are at a 19:46.630 --> 19:48.741 critical point with respect to aid to 19:48.741 --> 19:50.519 Ukraine . The Pentagon has said 19:50.519 --> 19:52.408 publicly that they have exhausted 19:52.408 --> 19:54.574 somewhere around 95% of their funds to 19:54.574 --> 19:56.741 provide security assistance to Ukraine 19:56.741 --> 19:58.630 security assistance . That's very 19:58.630 --> 20:00.741 important . We think it's urgent that 20:00.741 --> 20:02.939 the House pass the supplemental 20:02.949 --> 20:05.270 requests that we made not just to fund 20:05.280 --> 20:07.479 security assistance to Ukraine , not 20:07.489 --> 20:09.750 just to fund security assistance to 20:09.760 --> 20:11.427 Israel , but also to fund the 20:11.427 --> 20:13.482 humanitarian assistance that we have 20:13.482 --> 20:16.729 requested for the people of Gaza , 20:16.739 --> 20:19.017 which we think is critically important , 20:19.017 --> 20:21.072 both for their safety and well being 20:21.072 --> 20:23.072 and for Israel's long term security 20:23.072 --> 20:27.030 interests is headed back to 20:27.040 --> 20:29.262 the region . Any particular message she 20:29.262 --> 20:31.540 is carrying on behalf of the secretary , 20:31.540 --> 20:33.540 I think you'll see her continue the 20:33.540 --> 20:35.762 work that the secretary launched in his 20:35.762 --> 20:37.651 two trips to the region trying to 20:37.651 --> 20:39.762 achieve many of the same objectives . 20:39.762 --> 20:41.818 One to ensure that Israel is able to 20:41.818 --> 20:43.929 defend itself against terrorism while 20:43.929 --> 20:46.151 respecting humanitarian law that we are 20:46.151 --> 20:48.262 trying to secure the release of hosts 20:48.262 --> 20:50.286 that we are trying to secure the 20:50.296 --> 20:52.463 delivery of humanitarian assistance to 20:52.463 --> 20:55.286 Rafa and facilitate the departure of 20:55.296 --> 20:57.352 American citizens from Rafah . There 20:57.352 --> 20:59.706 are now over 600 American citizens and 20:59.715 --> 21:01.771 lawful permanent residents and their 21:01.771 --> 21:03.882 family members who have departed Gaza 21:03.882 --> 21:05.604 through Rafah Gate . There are 21:05.604 --> 21:07.659 somewhere , there are a little under 21:07.659 --> 21:09.937 1000 that we know of that are left now , 21:09.937 --> 21:09.306 we hope whose departure we hope to 21:09.316 --> 21:11.562 facilitate over the coming should they 21:11.572 --> 21:13.628 wish to depart ? And of course , you 21:13.628 --> 21:15.461 will continue to work to try and 21:15.461 --> 21:17.572 prevent the conflict from spreading , 21:17.572 --> 21:17.411 which has been one of our top 21:17.421 --> 21:19.699 objectives from the outset . Thank you . 21:19.699 --> 21:21.810 And back to Iran . I want to bring up 21:21.810 --> 21:23.754 to a quote from the secretary this 21:23.754 --> 21:25.865 morning . He said in a statement that 21:25.865 --> 21:28.032 Iran's support primarily through I RGC 21:28.032 --> 21:30.302 enables Hamas and PS terrorist 21:30.312 --> 21:32.145 activities including through the 21:32.145 --> 21:34.041 transfer of funds and operational 21:34.052 --> 21:36.219 training . I assume you still stand by 21:36.219 --> 21:38.496 this statement . And that's absolutely . 21:38.496 --> 21:40.385 And I think you're referring to a 21:40.385 --> 21:42.608 statement he made imposing sanctions on 21:42.608 --> 21:44.774 Hamas to prevent it from accessing the 21:44.774 --> 21:46.885 financial system , which is the exact 21:46.885 --> 21:48.941 kind of sanctions we have imposed on 21:48.941 --> 21:50.496 Iran over 400 times in this 21:50.496 --> 21:52.496 administration to prevent them from 21:52.496 --> 21:52.420 conducting these destabilizing 21:52.430 --> 21:54.652 activities . But the argument is that I 21:54.652 --> 21:56.819 deluding ourselves when expecting that 21:56.819 --> 21:58.986 the regime of terrorist , I should say 21:58.986 --> 22:00.708 of that nature . I guess it 10 22:00.708 --> 22:02.708 additional billion dollars will act 22:02.708 --> 22:05.025 differently . So I think you are , you 22:05.035 --> 22:07.257 are misstating several facts , they get 22:07.257 --> 22:09.424 their hands on zero additional dollars 22:09.424 --> 22:11.591 as a result of these waivers . Again , 22:11.591 --> 22:13.757 none of these funds are sent to Iran . 22:13.757 --> 22:15.868 They are held in third party accounts 22:15.868 --> 22:17.979 outside Iran and can be used only for 22:17.979 --> 22:19.924 not for humanitarian and other non 22:19.924 --> 22:22.091 sanctionable purposes for the benefits 22:22.091 --> 22:22.015 of the Iranian people . But there is no 22:22.025 --> 22:24.405 concern whatsoever and that Iran might 22:24.415 --> 22:26.810 get emboldened by this action . You 22:26.819 --> 22:28.597 think Iran is going to get more 22:28.597 --> 22:30.708 emboldened than it is already because 22:30.708 --> 22:30.650 of this action . These are sanctions 22:30.660 --> 22:32.493 that have been going , these are 22:32.493 --> 22:34.493 waivers that have been issued going 22:34.493 --> 22:36.327 back to 2018 . We have seen Iran 22:36.327 --> 22:38.438 continue its destabilizing activities 22:38.438 --> 22:40.549 throughout that time just as they did 22:40.549 --> 22:40.349 before the Trump administration issued 22:40.359 --> 22:42.415 the first of these waivers in 2018 , 22:42.415 --> 22:44.137 which is why we have held them 22:44.137 --> 22:46.137 accountable through strikes against 22:46.137 --> 22:48.303 their proxy militias in the region and 22:48.303 --> 22:50.526 through the sanctions . I just referred 22:50.526 --> 22:49.989 to as well as a number of other 22:50.000 --> 22:53.680 measures . I think you're 22:53.689 --> 22:57.270 about to . I just , I just do not 22:57.280 --> 22:59.949 understand why you , why it is that 22:59.959 --> 23:03.189 you're so , you know , singlemindedly 23:03.199 --> 23:06.880 refusing to uh except 23:06.949 --> 23:10.310 understand at least the the argument 23:10.319 --> 23:13.500 that this money , this money is going 23:13.510 --> 23:16.319 to be able to be used by Iran and that 23:16.329 --> 23:19.449 when they do use it and they use $1 23:19.459 --> 23:22.939 million to buy medicine from of of this 23:22.949 --> 23:25.810 money that , that frees up another 23:25.819 --> 23:27.930 million dollars that they , that they 23:27.930 --> 23:29.930 would have , they would have had to 23:29.930 --> 23:31.986 spend on this , you know , without , 23:31.986 --> 23:33.986 without the , the cyclist labor , I 23:34.189 --> 23:36.560 understand they can use that . So I 23:36.569 --> 23:38.791 understand the argument . I don't agree 23:38.791 --> 23:40.902 with it . And here's why if they were 23:40.902 --> 23:43.013 sitting on that $1 million they would 23:43.013 --> 23:44.736 use it for their destabilizing 23:44.736 --> 23:46.847 activities to fund terrorism and deny 23:46.847 --> 23:48.958 medicine to their people . That's the 23:48.958 --> 23:51.180 point I'm making . And so to approve $1 23:51.180 --> 23:53.347 million of say medical transactions to 23:53.347 --> 23:55.569 benefit the Iranian people , we believe 23:55.569 --> 23:57.458 those are benefits to the Iranian 23:57.458 --> 23:59.236 people that they would not have 23:59.236 --> 24:01.402 otherwise the lost cause . Then you're 24:01.402 --> 24:01.119 just saying that they're going to , I 24:01.130 --> 24:04.540 think that activity , I think the 24:04.550 --> 24:06.719 waiver or not . I think that I think 24:06.729 --> 24:08.840 they are going , they have shown that 24:08.840 --> 24:11.062 they are going to conduct destabilizing 24:11.062 --> 24:13.229 activities . They were doing it before 24:13.229 --> 24:15.451 2018 when the Trump administration gave 24:15.451 --> 24:17.451 them the first , which is why , but 24:17.451 --> 24:17.290 which is why we have an entire set of 24:17.300 --> 24:19.920 policies to hold them accountable for 24:19.930 --> 24:21.986 those destabilizing activities . And 24:21.986 --> 24:24.152 part of our policy has always been not 24:24.152 --> 24:26.319 to penalize the Iranian people . There 24:26.319 --> 24:28.319 is no country in the world where we 24:28.319 --> 24:30.374 deny access to food and medicine and 24:30.374 --> 24:32.486 where our sanctions uh uh target food 24:32.486 --> 24:34.486 and medicine and other humanitarian 24:34.486 --> 24:36.652 goods to the people . That's true with 24:36.652 --> 24:35.739 respect to Russia . It's true with 24:35.750 --> 24:37.583 respect to Iran . It's true with 24:37.583 --> 24:39.694 respect to every country in the world 24:39.694 --> 24:41.750 and it always has been , that is the 24:41.750 --> 24:43.861 policy of the United States on this , 24:45.900 --> 24:48.650 the waivers timing and second , did 24:48.660 --> 24:51.910 Iran help in preventing Hezbollah from 24:51.920 --> 24:54.959 launching a full war against Israel ? 24:55.150 --> 24:58.319 And third , did Iran receive the $6 24:58.329 --> 25:01.459 billion that South Korea transferred to 25:01.469 --> 25:03.640 it through Qatar ? So three things 25:03.650 --> 25:06.369 again , um the timing of waiver hasn't 25:06.380 --> 25:08.380 been issued at this point . I'll be 25:08.380 --> 25:10.436 happy to talk more about a waiver if 25:10.436 --> 25:12.547 and when it has been issued . But the 25:12.547 --> 25:11.829 timing is that the waiver , the 25:11.839 --> 25:13.783 previous waiver expires today . So 25:13.783 --> 25:16.117 that's the , the with respect to timing , 25:16.117 --> 25:18.172 with respect to Hezbollah . Um I , I 25:18.172 --> 25:20.117 will just , I won't speak for what 25:20.117 --> 25:22.228 actions Iran has taken . I will speak 25:22.228 --> 25:21.920 for the United States and we have sent 25:21.930 --> 25:24.400 very loud and clear messages that we 25:24.410 --> 25:26.577 think that any party hostile to Israel 25:26.577 --> 25:28.743 should not enter this conflict . Um uh 25:28.743 --> 25:30.849 We have sent public messages of that 25:30.859 --> 25:32.803 effect . You've seen the president 25:32.803 --> 25:34.859 speak to it and we have sent private 25:34.859 --> 25:36.859 messages to that effect . Uh And we 25:36.859 --> 25:39.026 hope that uh they will be received and 25:39.026 --> 25:38.500 if they're not , we will be prepared to 25:38.510 --> 25:40.729 take action . Um And with respect to 25:40.739 --> 25:42.795 the third question , uh I understand 25:42.795 --> 25:44.961 that none of that money has yet yet to 25:44.961 --> 25:47.520 be spent . And did you ask Iran to ask 25:47.609 --> 25:49.776 Hezbollah not to launch a war , a full 25:49.776 --> 25:51.887 war on that ? I'm just not gonna talk 25:51.887 --> 25:53.998 about messages other than to say that 25:53.998 --> 25:56.053 we have made very clear publicly and 25:56.053 --> 25:58.165 through private channels . Um that no 25:58.165 --> 25:59.998 co no party should escalate this 25:59.998 --> 26:03.939 conflict . Um No , no , no , we uh 26:04.869 --> 26:08.189 could we talk uh just get an update on 26:08.199 --> 26:10.459 um the Russian American journalist for 26:10.469 --> 26:12.525 radio free Europe radio liberty . Uh 26:12.525 --> 26:15.670 Also Komba , um her husband is calling 26:15.680 --> 26:17.847 for her to be designated as wrongfully 26:17.847 --> 26:20.670 detained . Um Can we expect such a , 26:20.680 --> 26:22.847 such a designation ? You know , in the 26:22.847 --> 26:24.958 case of Evan Gershowitz also detained 26:24.958 --> 26:26.902 in Russia , it happened within , I 26:26.902 --> 26:28.902 think 10 or 11 days . Um You know , 26:28.902 --> 26:30.847 what , what's the , the hold up of 26:30.847 --> 26:32.902 getting a determination ? So I don't 26:32.902 --> 26:32.729 have any update . We continue to 26:32.739 --> 26:34.989 request consular ac uh access for her 26:35.000 --> 26:37.056 and it has not yet been granted . Um 26:37.056 --> 26:39.111 And I would just say with respect to 26:39.111 --> 26:41.180 wrongful uh detainees , every 26:41.189 --> 26:43.829 circumstance is different . Um We look 26:43.839 --> 26:45.783 at each of these and try to make a 26:45.783 --> 26:48.117 determination as , as quickly as we can , 26:48.117 --> 26:47.619 but we have to gather all the 26:47.630 --> 26:49.519 appropriate facts before making a 26:49.519 --> 26:51.630 determination . And I , I don't think 26:51.630 --> 26:53.741 anyone should read into the amount of 26:53.741 --> 26:55.797 time it takes in one case versus the 26:55.797 --> 26:58.130 amount of time it takes in another case . 26:58.130 --> 27:00.241 Uh uh what our , our determination is 27:00.241 --> 27:02.241 going to be or what our priority is 27:02.241 --> 27:01.439 going to be . It's just that every , 27:01.449 --> 27:03.979 every circumstance is different . So is , 27:03.989 --> 27:06.045 is it just to confirm that there's a 27:06.045 --> 27:08.410 process underway to determine ? Yes or 27:08.420 --> 27:10.587 no , we always , we all , I don't want 27:10.587 --> 27:12.698 to speak to a formal process , but we 27:12.698 --> 27:14.920 always look at these cases overseas and 27:14.920 --> 27:17.142 determine whether we should make such a 27:17.142 --> 27:16.849 look at whether we should make such a 27:16.859 --> 27:19.026 determination or not . And you haven't 27:19.026 --> 27:21.192 had any access . We have not , haven't 27:21.192 --> 27:23.526 been formally informed of her detention . 27:23.526 --> 27:25.748 As far as I'm aware , it's possible the 27:25.748 --> 27:27.803 embassy had something today that I'm 27:27.803 --> 27:27.199 not aware . But as far as I'm aware , 27:27.209 --> 27:31.020 we have not . And uh is the department 27:31.030 --> 27:34.359 offering any the Princeton 27:34.369 --> 27:36.739 researcher um video of her surfaced 27:36.750 --> 27:38.972 yesterday has the us authenticated that 27:38.972 --> 27:40.972 video . So we've seen the video , I 27:40.972 --> 27:42.694 don't think we have any way to 27:42.694 --> 27:44.806 authenticate it but um uh we strongly 27:44.806 --> 27:47.139 condemn her abduction as we have before . 27:47.139 --> 27:48.972 Um uh We know she was conducting 27:48.972 --> 27:51.083 research in Baghdad at the time uh of 27:51.083 --> 27:53.083 her abduction . Uh she's affiliated 27:53.083 --> 27:55.250 with a higher education institution in 27:55.250 --> 27:57.306 the United States . And I would just 27:57.306 --> 27:59.528 say as is always the case when you have 27:59.528 --> 28:01.861 hostage videos or videos of people that , 28:01.861 --> 28:03.750 that are have been abducted . You 28:03.750 --> 28:05.694 should not take the claims made in 28:05.694 --> 28:07.917 those videos at face value . Um And you 28:07.917 --> 28:07.780 have to consider the source of those 28:07.790 --> 28:09.623 videos and understand that their 28:09.623 --> 28:11.679 captors may have ulterior motives to 28:11.679 --> 28:15.099 say the least . All right , go ahead 28:17.560 --> 28:19.449 misinformation which is spreading 28:19.449 --> 28:21.616 widely across social media yesterday . 28:21.616 --> 28:24.010 Um The ID F posted the ID F spokesman 28:24.020 --> 28:25.909 posted a video in the basement of 28:25.909 --> 28:28.076 Fransi Children hospital pointing to a 28:28.076 --> 28:30.187 random calendar and he said that this 28:30.187 --> 28:32.131 is evidence of hostage keepers and 28:32.131 --> 28:34.353 terrorist names and it was debunked and 28:34.353 --> 28:36.489 showed that it was like a regular um 28:36.500 --> 28:38.829 calendar . More of these are being 28:38.839 --> 28:41.290 spread like , um a nurse being said 28:41.300 --> 28:43.599 that she was in the hospital and it was 28:43.609 --> 28:46.569 later debunked to be like um an Israeli 28:46.579 --> 28:48.523 actress . Does this administration 28:48.523 --> 28:50.801 examine misinformation why they spread , 28:50.801 --> 28:52.912 especially from the Israeli part ? Um 28:52.912 --> 28:54.912 Because we heard , we heard here on 28:54.912 --> 28:57.023 this podium repeatedly , you , you're 28:57.023 --> 28:59.079 saying that the number of killed was 28:59.079 --> 29:01.439 1400 when it was 1200 . Do you ask that ? 29:01.449 --> 29:03.671 Do you , do you ask and look into these 29:03.671 --> 29:05.616 information and evidence or do you 29:05.616 --> 29:07.782 leave them blindly ? We , we look at a 29:07.782 --> 29:09.838 number of different claims . I don't 29:09.838 --> 29:09.390 know if that information about the 29:09.400 --> 29:11.622 counter has been debunked . I read in a 29:11.622 --> 29:13.849 prominent American newspaper today that 29:13.859 --> 29:16.469 in fact , it showed on that calendar , 29:16.609 --> 29:20.160 use the name for October 7th that Hamas 29:20.170 --> 29:23.770 uses . I have no way to hold on . Let 29:23.800 --> 29:27.630 me just let me , let me make my 29:27.640 --> 29:29.439 point . I have no way of either 29:29.449 --> 29:31.671 verifying or debunking that information 29:31.671 --> 29:33.790 and it goes to the point , please . I 29:33.800 --> 29:35.689 did not interrupt you when you're 29:35.689 --> 29:37.911 asking a question , there was plenty of 29:37.911 --> 29:40.022 time for people to ask questions . It 29:40.022 --> 29:39.640 goes to the point I was making 29:39.650 --> 29:41.761 yesterday that in the fog of war from 29:41.761 --> 29:43.983 thousands of miles away at the podium , 29:43.983 --> 29:45.706 I have no way to independently 29:45.706 --> 29:47.872 adjudicate the various claims that are 29:47.872 --> 29:49.928 being made , I will come back to the 29:49.928 --> 29:51.872 core principles that we state , um 29:51.872 --> 29:54.150 which is that we expect Israel to , to , 29:54.150 --> 29:56.317 you know , we go that we expect Israel 29:56.317 --> 29:58.539 to operate with respect to humanitarian 29:58.539 --> 30:00.706 law . And I do want us to , to restate 30:00.706 --> 30:02.594 the broader point with respect to 30:02.594 --> 30:04.706 hospitals that I said earlier , which 30:04.706 --> 30:07.560 is Hamas has long held has has long 30:07.569 --> 30:09.949 used hospitals as command centers . I 30:09.959 --> 30:12.181 can't speak to every individual claim . 30:12.181 --> 30:14.348 I'm not going to speak to intelligence 30:14.348 --> 30:16.570 that we have and I can't adjudicate the 30:16.570 --> 30:16.469 various pieces of information from here 30:16.479 --> 30:18.646 when I'm thousands of miles away . But 30:18.646 --> 30:20.701 I think it's fairly well known and , 30:20.701 --> 30:22.812 and if not accepted , I would hope it 30:22.812 --> 30:25.090 would be . The Hamas uses civilians as , 30:25.090 --> 30:27.423 as , or uses civilians as human shields . 30:27.423 --> 30:29.535 And I'm a little surprised that there 30:29.535 --> 30:29.099 are people that continue to challenge 30:29.109 --> 30:31.220 that claim despite the evidence going 30:31.220 --> 30:33.650 back years from well before October 7th 30:33.660 --> 30:37.150 that Hamas has used mosques and schools 30:37.219 --> 30:40.969 and other civilian infrastructure as in 30:41.130 --> 30:43.619 a , as , as um uh infrastructure for 30:43.630 --> 30:45.890 its own terrorist purposes . But my 30:45.900 --> 30:48.122 question is about misinformation . Like 30:48.122 --> 30:50.380 we , we heard a lot of uh reporting 30:50.390 --> 30:52.557 that you can see the accent . It's not 30:52.557 --> 30:54.557 like a proper Arabic accent . We've 30:54.557 --> 30:56.723 seen that is like so easy to know that 30:56.723 --> 30:58.670 it's dates , it's days , it's not 30:58.680 --> 31:00.902 anything , there's nothing on it . II , 31:00.902 --> 31:02.810 I am just not able to speak to 31:02.819 --> 31:04.652 individual claims of course , we 31:04.652 --> 31:06.708 monitor all this and we try to reach 31:06.708 --> 31:08.939 our own factual determinations uh as we 31:08.949 --> 31:11.116 do in any conflict . Ok . And , and on 31:11.116 --> 31:13.171 Lebanon yesterday , a group of media 31:13.171 --> 31:15.338 journalists was a target to an Israeli 31:15.338 --> 31:17.393 airstrike on the southern borders of 31:17.393 --> 31:19.727 Lebanon a month ago , a month ago today , 31:19.727 --> 31:21.616 like uh also an Israeli airstrike 31:21.616 --> 31:24.979 killed a Reuters correspondent . So do 31:24.989 --> 31:27.211 you have any comment on that ? We mourn 31:27.211 --> 31:29.433 the loss of every civilian life in this 31:29.433 --> 31:31.489 conflict , whether they be Israeli , 31:31.489 --> 31:33.711 whether they be Palestinian Lebanese or 31:33.711 --> 31:36.859 citizens of any other country . And 31:36.869 --> 31:39.036 I've spoken to the before we know that 31:39.036 --> 31:41.091 journalists put themselves in harm's 31:41.091 --> 31:43.313 way to bring the truth to people around 31:43.313 --> 31:45.480 the world and we commend them for that 31:45.480 --> 31:47.591 activity . Uh It's one of the bravest 31:47.591 --> 31:49.647 acts you can ask anyone to do and of 31:49.647 --> 31:51.813 course , when a journalist loses their 31:51.813 --> 31:54.036 life , we are deeply sorry for that for 31:54.036 --> 31:56.939 that having occurred . You know , you 31:56.949 --> 31:59.229 say that you can't adjudicate every 31:59.239 --> 32:01.239 example . This is very similar to a 32:01.239 --> 32:03.380 discussion we had about about uh 32:03.979 --> 32:06.201 civilian losses in , in , in airstrikes 32:06.201 --> 32:08.257 as well . But just to point out that 32:08.257 --> 32:10.670 they admit that the department has , 32:10.680 --> 32:13.250 you know , the Global Engagement Center 32:13.260 --> 32:15.430 that , that is constantly putting out 32:15.439 --> 32:17.849 material about governments around the 32:17.859 --> 32:20.530 world , you know , doing this 32:20.540 --> 32:23.189 information , this information is that 32:23.199 --> 32:25.255 something that you would look at and 32:25.255 --> 32:27.532 you know , there's some examples there , 32:27.532 --> 32:29.755 there are other examples that have come 32:29.755 --> 32:31.921 out of the Israeli government if Hamas 32:31.921 --> 32:33.977 as well . But , you know , if we saw 32:33.977 --> 32:36.255 examples of disinformation , of course , 32:36.255 --> 32:38.255 it's something we would look at and 32:38.255 --> 32:38.189 call out . But you do have to remember 32:38.199 --> 32:40.310 the fog of war and then in the fog of 32:40.310 --> 32:42.532 war , everyone makes mistakes . I'm not 32:42.532 --> 32:42.140 saying that's what happened here . As I 32:42.150 --> 32:44.261 said , I have no way to independently 32:44.261 --> 32:46.150 determine myself , but there is a 32:46.150 --> 32:48.372 difference between uh uh governments or 32:48.372 --> 32:50.539 individuals that make mistakes so that 32:50.539 --> 32:50.359 they make , you know , make claims that 32:50.369 --> 32:52.591 they then later have to update when new 32:52.591 --> 32:54.869 facts become available and intentional , 32:54.869 --> 32:56.702 deliberate misinformation over a 32:56.702 --> 32:58.647 sustained period of time . I guess 32:58.647 --> 33:00.829 people might say you have these parts 33:00.839 --> 33:02.617 of the department that call out 33:02.617 --> 33:04.839 governments for misinformation , but it 33:04.839 --> 33:07.006 tends to be governments that you are , 33:07.006 --> 33:09.061 that your adversaries , right ? So I 33:09.061 --> 33:11.117 guess , you know , you , you , you , 33:11.117 --> 33:13.228 you , you could show some willingness 33:13.228 --> 33:15.810 to , to make the same uh judgments when 33:15.819 --> 33:18.550 it comes to uh your friends . Like so 33:18.560 --> 33:20.890 if we saw a sustained deliberate 33:20.900 --> 33:22.956 misinformation campaign by Israel or 33:22.956 --> 33:25.067 any other government , of course , we 33:25.067 --> 33:27.289 would call it out . I will say it tends 33:27.289 --> 33:29.456 to be not democracies with whom we are 33:29.456 --> 33:31.289 allies and partners that conduct 33:31.289 --> 33:33.011 misinformation campaigns , but 33:33.011 --> 33:32.989 authoritarian regimes . So I think it's 33:33.000 --> 33:35.739 natural that uh you will see us calling 33:35.750 --> 33:37.540 it out more in uh in those 33:37.550 --> 33:39.661 circumstances , authoritarian regimes 33:39.661 --> 33:41.606 that don't have a free press uh to 33:41.606 --> 33:43.828 challenge the information being put out 33:43.828 --> 33:45.939 by the government . But if we see any 33:45.939 --> 33:45.609 kind of deliberate misinform uh 33:45.619 --> 33:47.730 misinformation campaign , of course , 33:47.730 --> 33:49.897 we would call it out with if it had no 33:49.897 --> 33:52.239 matter who it was . Ok . Go ahead . 33:53.430 --> 33:55.541 Yesterday , I asked you about Russian 33:55.541 --> 33:57.652 delegation , particular Russian dep P 33:57.652 --> 33:59.541 who will be present at the summit 33:59.819 --> 34:02.041 Leaders Summit in San Francisco . Turns 34:02.041 --> 34:04.910 out it is Alexei Ou who got sanctioned 34:04.920 --> 34:07.640 by the Eu last December for Russia's 34:07.650 --> 34:11.199 brutal uh actress in Ukraine . Do you 34:11.209 --> 34:13.320 have any issue with the fact that the 34:13.320 --> 34:15.487 Eu sanctioned Russian official will be 34:15.487 --> 34:17.598 in the same room with the president ? 34:17.598 --> 34:20.370 And uh so I will let the EU speak to 34:20.379 --> 34:22.435 their sanctions . I will say that as 34:22.435 --> 34:24.046 the host of APEC , we have a 34:24.046 --> 34:26.101 responsibility or I will say we take 34:26.101 --> 34:28.268 our host obligation responsibility and 34:28.268 --> 34:30.520 that includes hosting officials from 34:30.530 --> 34:32.697 all the members of APEC . But we do it 34:32.697 --> 34:35.239 consistent with us sanctions , policy 34:35.250 --> 34:37.489 and rules and regulations as a 34:37.500 --> 34:39.570 violation of eu sanctions . I'm not 34:39.580 --> 34:41.413 going to get into sanctions . Uh 34:41.413 --> 34:43.302 Questions . I will say we have an 34:43.302 --> 34:45.358 obligation as the host . There are a 34:45.358 --> 34:47.247 lot of , you know , uh we go , we 34:47.247 --> 34:48.969 attend one of the things about 34:48.969 --> 34:48.531 diplomacy is you attend a lot of 34:48.541 --> 34:50.430 meetings with people who uh whose 34:50.430 --> 34:52.485 policies you object to and sometimes 34:52.485 --> 34:54.763 you object to things that they've done . 34:54.763 --> 34:54.622 But we have a responsibility to conduct 34:54.632 --> 34:56.521 diplomacy on behalf of the United 34:56.521 --> 34:58.521 States . My second question uh uh I 34:58.521 --> 35:00.410 heard of tomorrow's congressional 35:00.410 --> 35:02.410 hearing . I'm just wondering if you 35:02.410 --> 35:04.632 have a preview of , we can say in terms 35:04.632 --> 35:06.854 of the future of you have a on one hand 35:06.854 --> 35:09.076 celebrating the victory , surrounded in 35:09.076 --> 35:11.299 a town surrounded by Russian army . You 35:11.299 --> 35:13.521 have Armenia is being bullied by Russia 35:13.521 --> 35:15.632 every single day saying that can't go 35:15.632 --> 35:15.305 anywhere . I'm not going to go anywhere . 35:15.365 --> 35:17.476 So is there any happy ending there in 35:17.476 --> 35:19.698 Europe ? I will just say what I've said 35:19.698 --> 35:21.809 before . I don't want to speak to the 35:21.809 --> 35:21.246 media . It's going to happen tomorrow . 35:21.256 --> 35:23.089 But I'll say that we continue to 35:23.089 --> 35:25.770 believe uh uh that , that uh uh people 35:25.780 --> 35:28.002 who have left Nagorno Karabakh have the 35:28.002 --> 35:30.020 right to uh uh to come home if they 35:30.030 --> 35:32.252 wish to do so . And that's a right that 35:32.252 --> 35:34.308 should be upheld . You go , go ahead 35:35.409 --> 35:38.729 and uh I asked uh Verant the other day 35:38.820 --> 35:42.270 when you were in Asia , then I asked 35:42.280 --> 35:45.340 the European desk . Uh and I want to 35:45.350 --> 35:48.070 ask you , ask you too , do you consider 35:48.080 --> 35:50.899 the occupation of Cyprus by you by your 35:50.939 --> 35:54.530 aly t an occupation or something else ? 35:54.850 --> 35:57.017 I'm sure you know the answer they gave 35:57.017 --> 36:00.330 me , they said to me , we believe the 36:00.340 --> 36:03.239 sovereignty and territorial integrity 36:03.270 --> 36:05.760 of all countries should be respected 36:05.770 --> 36:08.169 and protected . But they don't say if 36:08.179 --> 36:11.439 there is , if the occupation of Cyprus 36:11.449 --> 36:13.671 occupation , what is your position ? So 36:13.671 --> 36:16.850 we believe that we support a cypriot 36:16.860 --> 36:19.750 led un facilitated efforts to reunify 36:19.760 --> 36:21.816 the island as a bi zonal bi communal 36:21.816 --> 36:23.927 federation with political equality to 36:23.927 --> 36:25.927 benefit all cypriots as outlined in 36:25.927 --> 36:27.538 relevant un Security Council 36:27.538 --> 36:29.593 resolutions . That has been the long 36:29.593 --> 36:32.510 standing policy going back again . This 36:32.520 --> 36:34.631 is an issue we think that needs to be 36:34.631 --> 36:36.853 resolved through un facilitated efforts 36:36.853 --> 36:39.620 to reunify the island . Yeah , go ahead . 36:40.459 --> 36:43.600 Thank you . I have two questions . Uh 36:43.610 --> 36:47.600 two plus two ministerial meeting in 36:47.610 --> 36:51.080 India . After that uh Vino Quara 36:51.439 --> 36:54.489 Indian um foreign Ministry official , 36:54.629 --> 36:58.550 he stated of stable Bangladesh uh for 36:58.560 --> 37:01.050 the Indian subcontinent and raised 37:01.060 --> 37:04.300 concern over a rise in extremism with 37:04.310 --> 37:07.449 third country intervention . What will 37:07.459 --> 37:10.310 be really danger for India as well as 37:10.320 --> 37:13.949 for USA will eu differ from such 37:13.959 --> 37:16.709 Indian stance on Bangladesh . I just 37:16.719 --> 37:18.840 don't have any and I have the second 37:18.850 --> 37:21.310 one while US envoy repeatedly calling 37:21.320 --> 37:23.790 for dialogue between parties , ignoring 37:23.800 --> 37:25.967 the street violence between B and PJ A 37:25.967 --> 37:28.169 led blockade . Can the US guarantee at 37:28.310 --> 37:32.110 the end of such violence by Bnp Jad 37:32.350 --> 37:34.750 given past record of such violence by 37:34.760 --> 37:36.871 same group in Bangladesh ? So we have 37:36.871 --> 37:38.760 consistently said that we believe 37:38.760 --> 37:40.760 elections in Bangladesh should take 37:40.760 --> 37:42.816 should be free and fair and open and 37:42.816 --> 37:45.149 they should take place free of violence . 37:45.149 --> 37:47.371 Thank you so much . No , no , no , no , 37:47.371 --> 37:49.482 go behind you . Thank you . The Biden 37:49.482 --> 37:51.427 administration has been very clear 37:51.427 --> 37:53.427 about their China strategy and that 37:53.427 --> 37:55.593 hope to stabilize relations and reopen 37:55.600 --> 37:57.711 regular lines of communication in the 37:57.711 --> 37:59.878 near firm . Can you speak more to what 37:59.878 --> 38:01.322 the goal and hope of this 38:01.500 --> 38:03.444 administration is for the US China 38:03.444 --> 38:05.860 relationship in the longer term . So we 38:05.870 --> 38:08.092 have um uh you're right . We have the , 38:08.092 --> 38:10.770 the short term project which we started 38:10.780 --> 38:13.002 in June . Really when Secretary Lincoln 38:13.002 --> 38:15.224 traveled to Beijing was to re-establish 38:15.224 --> 38:17.447 the ability to have conversations . But 38:17.447 --> 38:19.659 that was not a goal in itself , it was 38:19.669 --> 38:21.836 a goal . So we could number one manage 38:21.836 --> 38:23.947 big geostrategic issues and make sure 38:23.947 --> 38:26.189 that uh uh when conflicts do arise , 38:26.199 --> 38:28.421 that we can talk to each other and make 38:28.421 --> 38:30.588 sure that uh uh we are both both avoid 38:30.588 --> 38:32.699 miscalculation . But it's also was to 38:32.699 --> 38:34.699 make tangible progress on bilateral 38:34.699 --> 38:36.866 issues between the two countries . You 38:36.866 --> 38:38.699 saw the secretary when he was in 38:38.699 --> 38:40.921 Beijing and then with his meetings with 38:40.921 --> 38:42.921 Wang Yi in Jakarta and his meetings 38:42.921 --> 38:44.921 with Wang Yi here just afterwards , 38:44.921 --> 38:46.866 press on several tangible issues . 38:46.866 --> 38:48.977 Making progress on fentaNYL is one to 38:48.977 --> 38:51.143 stop the export of precursor chemicals 38:51.143 --> 38:52.921 from China that are turned into 38:52.921 --> 38:55.032 fentaNYL and have killed millions and 38:55.032 --> 38:56.921 millions of America reestablished 38:56.921 --> 38:59.088 military to military ties . Is another 38:59.088 --> 38:58.554 the secretary has pressed very hard for 38:58.564 --> 39:01.405 both of those and it is that exact type 39:01.415 --> 39:03.582 of bilateral issue that we are looking 39:03.582 --> 39:05.637 to make progress on as well as uh an 39:05.637 --> 39:07.582 ability to work together to reduce 39:07.582 --> 39:09.582 tensions on larger strategic global 39:09.582 --> 39:12.340 issues . Go ahead . No , go ahead . Go 39:12.350 --> 39:15.159 ahead . Yeah , no behind you . 39:16.310 --> 39:18.770 Question one last two questions first . 39:18.780 --> 39:21.689 Uh If there are any contacts planned 39:21.699 --> 39:24.409 between the US delegation to A A and 39:24.419 --> 39:27.270 the Russian delegation . Uh and another 39:27.280 --> 39:31.189 question , uh uh one of the recent 39:31.199 --> 39:33.540 interview by Russian Deputy Foreign 39:33.550 --> 39:36.080 Minister , Sergey who said that while 39:36.090 --> 39:39.479 Russia doesn't intend to push 39:39.489 --> 39:42.080 relations between Washington and Moscow 39:42.090 --> 39:44.790 into abyss , it doesn't rule out that 39:44.800 --> 39:48.350 Washington can either lower diplomatic 39:48.360 --> 39:51.820 level or break the relations . II , I 39:51.830 --> 39:53.830 don't understand . What do you mean 39:53.830 --> 39:55.997 lower the dip , what do you mean lower 39:55.997 --> 39:59.179 the diplomatic level or maybe um 40:00.409 --> 40:03.149 will all ambassador or ? Oh , IIII , I 40:03.159 --> 40:05.270 don't want to speak II , I don't want 40:05.270 --> 40:07.381 to speak to that . I will say um with 40:07.381 --> 40:09.326 respect to the first question , uh 40:09.326 --> 40:11.548 There are no , I , I'm not aware of any 40:11.548 --> 40:13.603 meetings scheduled between us and uh 40:13.603 --> 40:15.770 the Russian government uh at a pe C um 40:15.770 --> 40:19.159 go ahead destabilizing 40:19.169 --> 40:21.219 activities . 45 members of Congress 40:21.229 --> 40:23.451 have sent a letter to Secretary Blinken 40:23.451 --> 40:25.909 asking him to put pressure to Turkey 40:25.969 --> 40:28.979 about stopping facilitating Hamas . We 40:28.989 --> 40:30.822 know your position that you have 40:30.822 --> 40:32.822 expressed it to the allies that you 40:32.822 --> 40:34.933 don't want them to support Hamas . My 40:34.933 --> 40:37.156 question is , have you taken any action 40:37.156 --> 40:39.045 to ensure that a NATO member like 40:39.045 --> 40:41.156 Turkey will not support the terrorist 40:41.156 --> 40:43.156 organization that at the very right 40:43.156 --> 40:45.267 moment is attacking a major ally like 40:45.267 --> 40:47.489 Israel . Let me say two things . Number 40:47.489 --> 40:47.020 one , we have made very clear our 40:47.030 --> 40:48.974 position that there can be no more 40:48.974 --> 40:51.030 business as usual with Hamas . Since 40:51.030 --> 40:53.141 October 7th , we have long designated 40:53.141 --> 40:55.141 Hamas as a terrorist organization , 40:55.141 --> 40:57.363 there are other countries that continue 40:57.363 --> 40:59.530 to conduct conversations with them and 40:59.530 --> 41:01.641 have relationships with them . And we 41:01.641 --> 41:01.310 have made clear the position of the 41:01.320 --> 41:03.209 United States which is that there 41:03.209 --> 41:05.209 shouldn't be such business as usual 41:05.209 --> 41:07.376 moving forward . At the same time , we 41:07.376 --> 41:09.598 have recognized that Hamas continues to 41:09.598 --> 41:11.764 hold American citizens and citizens of 41:11.764 --> 41:13.764 Israel and citizens of Thailand and 41:13.764 --> 41:16.098 citizens of other countries as hostages . 41:16.098 --> 41:18.320 And it's useful for countries that have 41:18.320 --> 41:20.320 relationships with Hamas now to use 41:20.320 --> 41:22.209 those relationships to try to get 41:22.209 --> 41:24.320 hostages released just as it's useful 41:24.320 --> 41:26.376 to use those relationships to try to 41:26.376 --> 41:26.274 get Rafah Gate reopened , which we have 41:26.284 --> 41:28.562 done to get humanitarian assistance in , 41:28.562 --> 41:32.485 into flowing to get American citizens 41:32.495 --> 41:34.717 and others , the ability to leave . But 41:34.717 --> 41:36.884 long term , our position is very clear 41:36.884 --> 41:39.051 that there can be no going back to the 41:39.051 --> 41:41.217 days before October 7th and J and then 41:41.219 --> 41:43.441 we'll close out . We're told there were 41:43.441 --> 41:45.663 migration talks between the US and Cuba 41:45.663 --> 41:47.830 here this week . Is there anything you 41:47.830 --> 41:49.886 can share ? I have to take that back 41:50.790 --> 41:53.479 widely divergent things . One , just on 41:53.489 --> 41:57.429 the uh the whole dissent issue . Um 41:57.439 --> 42:00.739 The Secretary's Department Wide note 42:01.129 --> 42:04.520 saying yesterday , um was that written 42:04.530 --> 42:07.969 or sent out of concern that things are 42:07.979 --> 42:10.560 kind of spiraling out of control or was 42:10.570 --> 42:12.792 it simply because it was the first work 42:12.792 --> 42:16.540 day since we got back the trip ? And 42:17.260 --> 42:19.260 it was , what is the concern it was 42:19.260 --> 42:21.427 sent because it was it's the second of 42:21.427 --> 42:23.610 two emails . The first one was sent 42:23.620 --> 42:25.842 after his first trip to the region when 42:25.842 --> 42:27.620 he came back and updated uh the 42:27.620 --> 42:29.842 workforce on the work that he was doing 42:29.842 --> 42:31.953 and what our policies are and what we 42:31.953 --> 42:31.149 are trying to achieve , what he was 42:31.159 --> 42:33.215 trying to achieve through his travel 42:33.215 --> 42:35.270 through the region and be uh because 42:35.270 --> 42:37.215 this is such an important piece of 42:37.215 --> 42:39.381 diplomatic work to the department that 42:39.381 --> 42:39.360 touches not just one bureau in the 42:39.370 --> 42:41.537 department , but multiple bureaus that 42:41.537 --> 42:43.759 was appropriate after the first trip to 42:43.759 --> 42:45.648 send an update and thought it was 42:45.648 --> 42:45.409 appropriate after the second trip to do 42:45.419 --> 42:47.308 the same . And of course , he did 42:47.308 --> 42:50.760 address um uh in that email that the um 42:50.770 --> 42:53.219 uh all the issues underline our policy 42:53.229 --> 42:55.340 and made clear people understood what 42:55.340 --> 42:57.396 our policy is just as he has done in 42:57.396 --> 42:59.507 meetings he's had with uh a number of 42:59.507 --> 42:59.080 different employees in the department . 42:59.090 --> 43:01.312 Not , not , not just just so . So there 43:01.312 --> 43:03.534 isn't . So there's not a , a particular 43:03.534 --> 43:06.120 concern that uh you know , unity or 43:06.129 --> 43:08.429 cohesiveness of the building is , is uh 43:08.479 --> 43:12.010 is shredded . No , as I said yesterday , 43:12.020 --> 43:14.187 we think that the diversity inside the 43:14.187 --> 43:16.409 department is actually a strength , not 43:16.409 --> 43:18.520 a weakness . Ok . And it's still your 43:18.520 --> 43:18.280 understanding that there's only one 43:18.290 --> 43:20.457 person who has resigned as a result of 43:20.459 --> 43:23.270 the protest . As far as I'm aware , the 43:23.280 --> 43:25.613 one resignation has been very public is , 43:25.613 --> 43:27.558 is the only one that I am at least 43:27.558 --> 43:29.939 aware of or that with respect to our 43:29.949 --> 43:32.645 policy . Ok . And then on a completely 43:32.656 --> 43:35.295 different subject today in San 43:35.305 --> 43:37.416 Francisco . And I think it might have 43:37.416 --> 43:39.472 already happened . The secretary was 43:39.472 --> 43:41.694 meeting with the Japanese and the South 43:41.694 --> 43:43.861 Korea . I think it hasn't happened . I 43:43.861 --> 43:43.426 think it's later today . Oh , ok . Well , 43:43.436 --> 43:45.436 I'm just curious . I mean , is that 43:45.436 --> 43:47.547 just because they're there because he 43:47.547 --> 43:49.769 just met with them , this is to conduct 43:49.769 --> 43:51.547 a trilateral , he met with them 43:51.547 --> 43:53.436 separately last week . This is to 43:53.436 --> 43:55.325 conduct a trilateral meeting as a 43:55.325 --> 43:57.158 follow on to the summit that the 43:57.158 --> 43:59.436 president held at Camp David in August . 43:59.436 --> 44:01.658 And , and are you expecting anything to 44:01.658 --> 44:03.658 come , come from this or is it just 44:03.658 --> 44:05.769 kind of like a signal ? I think we'll 44:05.769 --> 44:07.936 talk about a number of issues that are 44:07.936 --> 44:10.103 important in the relationship . We may 44:10.103 --> 44:09.261 have some announcements coming out of 44:09.271 --> 44:12.201 it . Stay tuned . We just stay tuned . 44:12.211 --> 44:13.771 All right . Thanks everyone . Thank you .