hesitant to work on his campaign. i am 72 and have worked on dem campaigns since i was 16. i will not be working for his campaign this time. i have questions about whether i will be a noncommitted vote, since i definitely do not want trump, so i am conflicted. but his stance on israel since he was a senator has been unbridled support, unbridled support of israel that has caused that constant expansion and building of illegal settlements in the west bank. and that is what has exacerbated this condition, the conditions for the palestinians, for decades now. i do not respect biden on that at all. he uses a lot of words but does not stand by them, does not care about the palestinians at all. so i want to ask you guys to have -- last night on msnbc,

have -- last night on msnbc, >> we'll leave this to take you live to the white house press conference. we'll have update after the hamas acceptance of a cease-fire deal negotiated by qatar and egypt. >> good afternoon, everybody. as was noted there has been a response by hamas to the hostage deal and we're currently reviewing that response and discussing it with our partners in the region. director burns is there and working this real time on the ground. i won't be able to comment any further on this until we know where things stand. i hope you can understand that. i know everybody's curious about what's in the response and what the israeli reaction is to it. i'm not getting ahead of the process. we want to get these hostages

out and a cease-fire in place six weeks and increase humanitarian assistance and the last thing i want to do is say anything at this podium that will put that process at risk. regardless, as we said before, we still believe reaching an agreement is an absolute best outcome, not only for the hostages but the palestinian people and we won't stop working to that outcome. as you know, the president talked with prime minister netanyahu this morning and lasted 30 minutes and was constructive. the president reaffirmed his message on holocaust remembrance day. the two leaders discussed the shared commitment of israel and the united states and remembered the six million jews who were systematically targeted and shattered in the holocaust and to formally act against anti-semitism and all hate-fueled violence. they talked about securing a hostage deal through these ongoing talks today. during the call at the president's urging, prime minister netanyahu reaffirmed

the crossing is back home for humanitarian assistance for those in need. i want to take a moment to address the latest reports out of rafah which also was a topic on the call. i'll reiterate again we cannot and will not speak for i.d.f. operations but we've made clear our views about operations in rafah that can potentially put more than innocent people at risk. during his call with prime minister netanyahu the president made clear and also made clear the hostage deal is the best way to avoid that sort of an outcome while securing the release of those hostages. i said those conversations continue. there's one more thing. president biden hosted his magesty king abdullah ii for lunch at the white house and probably just wrapped up recently. they discussed the strong partnership between the united states and jordan. they also spoke about the situation in gaza, of course, including efforts to secure the hostage deal and get more

humanitarian assistance into the civilians of gaza. we'll have a more detailed readout of that conversation here very, very soon but just don't have it right now but you'll see it shortly. reporter: as far as you can tell, which proposal did hamas accept? john: i'm not getting into that, steve. reporter: is the issue over how long a cease-fire would last? john: you're asking me for the parameters on the response of the deal itself and i'm not going to do that. reporter: lastly, israel called on people of rafah to evacuate, does that prestage a full-scale assault. john: i'm not speaking for i.d.f. operations or their intentions or plans. they should answer those kinds of questions. what i can only reiterate is that we've been consistent and the president was consistent this morning that we don't support ground operations in rafa that would put the majority or any of the civilians there at

any greater risk because we want to see their safety and security allowed for. reporter: noting your caveat at the top, are you able to say whether hamas has agreed to something that hasn't been discussed over the last several days? john: again, without getting into the details of it, and director burns is still talking to partners about this. there have been ongoing negotiations and talks here for weeks, and the director traveled recently to see if we can't bring this thing home. and again, without speaking about the details of the responsible by hamas, i think it's safe to conclude that that response came as a result or at the end of these continued discussions that director burns was a part of. reporter: when do you think you will have a better sense of what's happening and when will you get a readout from director burns, later today or tomorrow? john: the president has been briefed on the response. he's aware of where the situation and where the process is.

what you're asking me is when are we getting a final, you kno. there's a process that has been worked in the past and will be worked this time. you get a response by hamas. we'll have to evaluate that and see what's in it. certainly the israelis must have a chance to look at this and evaluate it and director burns, as we speak, literally as you and i are talking is having conversations with the partners in the region. it would be great, i'm sure we'd all like to have an answer as soon as possible but i don't want to get ahead of the process. reporter: on the readout, when has the pathway been reopened? john: it should be reopened very soon. prime minister netanyahu committed to opening it. at 2:30 is it open, i don't know. but he reassured the president it will be reopen and it had been closed several days.

reporter: the director of the world food program said northern gaza is in a, quote, full-fledged famine, is that the opinion of the u.s. government as well? john: the u.n. has not declared a famine in gaza at large but don't want to understate the degree of need here and the dire situation that so many people in gaza are in particularly with respect to food and water. so it is not a great situation clearly and why again, we're working so hard to get this deal in place so we can keep that humanitarian assistance up at a higher level. reporter: i understand you don't want to get into specifics but is this the hamas' final offer, is there room to negotiate? john: it will depend on the evaluation and the israeli's evaluation of the response and where we go from here. reporter: the israelis are already warning people to evacuate gaza. if they go through this operation, is the u.s. willing to consider putting limits or conditions on israel? john: i won't get ahead of where he were now in the process,

marion and won't speak to hypothetical operations that haven't happened yet. we'll have to see what transpires. the president was very direct and consistently so this morning, that we don't want to see major ground operations in rafa that put these people at greater risk. reporter: a month ago the u.s. said israel needs to change their approach and didn't take steps to address the humanitarian crisis. is it possible the u.s. could change course if the humanitarian process isn't improved? john: of course. we always have the right to adjust our policies as appropriate and that has not changed, no. reporter: presumably an operation in rafa would jeopardize the cause to democracy the crisis? john: we've been direct and consistent in our views and concerns about operations in rafa. reporter: does the u.s. have any sense whether israel is inclined or not inclined to accept this deal? john: i won't speak for the israelis. reporter: the president and

prime minister spoke earlier today, was this specific framework discussed and did the president encourage, put pressure on the prime minister to accept this framework? john: you're talking about what hamas said they responded to? just so you have the tiktok here, when they were talking this morning, we did not have news hamas responded. that news broke after the call. that said, as i mentioned in my opening statement, of course they talked about the hostage deal and the importance of getting it secured. reporter: you're saying when the two leaders spoke hamas had not yet -- the president had not specifically asked the prime minister -- john: it would be wrong to conclude the call this morning was about having the israelis accept the hamas response. the hamas response hadn't happened yet. reporter: did you broadly encourage the prime minister to look at the appeal? john: as he has consistently with prime minister netanyahu urge we get this deal secured.

but it wasn't a pressure call or about twisting his arm towards a certain set of parameters. director burns is in the region having these conversations with the israelis and the came fares and egyptians as we speak and that's the forum for working out the parameters of it but the president clearly talked to the prime minister about clearly getting a deal done. reporter: what is the president's position on rafah? john: i can't answer it different than with mary. we have been clear we don't support a ground operation in gaza and operations in general that put at a greater risk more than a million people sheltering there. the question now is a hypothetical. we're aware they dropped leaf lets and warning people to evacuate. i'll let them speak to their operations and intentions. nothing's changed to where we

are with respect to operations in rafah. reporter: you know they're asking people in the area to evacuate and the possibility of a limited rafa operation is on the table. i'm asking, does the president believe israel can execute a limited operation into rafa while adequately protecting the lives of civilians there? john: the president doesn't want to see operations in rafa that put at greater risk the more than a million people seeking refuge there. reporter: so you support a limited operation in rafa? john: i think i've answered the question. reporter: picking up on the time line, so prior to hamas saying that they accepted this proposal, what, as you understood them to be, were the sticking points for either hamas or the israelis in the deal that had been on the table? john: i'm not getting into that. reporter: did it involve rafa? john: i'm not talking about the parameters of the proposal that was worked before this hamas response, and i'm certainly not going to talk about the response right now. i do understand the curiosity and you guys are all asking

exactly the right questions, all very fair. but i really do hope you understand the last thing i would ever want to do from this podium to say something that could put this sensitive process at a greater risk. we're at a critical stage right now. we got a response from hamas. director burns is working through that, trying to assess it and working with the israelis. my goodness, i don't know if gets more sensitive than right now and the worst thing we can do is speculate what's in it. reporter: one more thing on rafa. what was your understanding the israelis were only evacuating part of rafa at this time. john: you'll have to talk to the israelis. reporter: previously you said several times the call is in the court of hamas, previous stages of negotiations. would it be fair to say the ball is in israel's court? john: it will depend what the response actually says and the conversation we have with the israelis where we go from here. reporter: one other thing, do you have any sense the israelis

are currently using this threat towards the start of an operation in rafa as a means of putting pressure on hamas at this stage of the negotiations? john: you'll have to talk to the israelis about their intentions. reporter: you said you did not know the news during the call but were you surprised by hamas saying that they've reached a deal or are agreeing to the agreement? john: it wasn't like we had a head's up about it. we knew that, as i said publicly, they had a proposal in front of them, and as was -- as i was just reminded the fact i said many times, it was -- the ball was in hamas' court and we certainly knew they had it before them and we were waiting on word. we had hoped there would be word soon and certainly hoped there would be word today but did we know the exact moment al jazeera

had news to break the response, no, we didn't know at that moment. >> are you encouraged you are at this sensitive point? john: we'll be encouraged when we get a deal in place and start seeing hostages get back to their families. that would be encouraging. >> what role if any do you feel the leaflets and the pressure -- the announcement of evacuating, do you think it had any role in triggering hamas? john: i don't think we know that. reporter: can you talk about the time line the administration understands it and the evacuations, how much time do people have to leave? did you put any demands on the israelis in terms of how those evacuations are to take place under the parameters you're talking about? john: you're asking questions of the israelis what the intentions are here and what the larger purpose of this evacuation is and sort of where they're wanting to go. i think to answer your question, you'd really have to go to the israelis to speak to their

military operations and plans. i'm not getting ahead of that. but are we curious about the timing and the intent and where they're going? yes, absolutely. and the president expressed our curiosity about that on the call today. >> more than curiosity, are you expressing what you want to see happen in terms of those evacuations and how they take place and whether israel is prepared for people moving around? john: i would just say again, without -- i don't want to get ahead of operations that haven't happened or speak to the israeli military. i can just say that we don't want to see operations in and around rafa that make it harder for the people seeking refuge there and shelter to be safe and secure. and we have made that privately to the israelis and the president did it with the prime minister today and certainly made it public. we've been very consistent about that.

reporter: john, noting everything you said about the concerns expressed by the u.s., about the risk to palestinians in gaza with a full-scale operation, is the u.s. still aligned with israel in its intention to eliminated terrorist threat posed by hamas? john: of course. reporter: is there any feeling that hamas may be trying to trick the public in some way? you heard and is really official commenting on this latest proposal as a trick. and there's been a lot of pressure to -- go ahead. john: sorry, i'm listening. reporter: there's been pressure on the administration to make sure that the palestinians are being served and the u.s. support for israel isn't overhanded and you had the report come out earlier today or yesterday that the u.s. was potentially weighing withholding

an arms shipment to israel. is there any concern hamas is trying to capitalize on that public pressure and you know, say a trick as israeli officials put it? john: there's no possible way i could answer that question unless i got within the ears of there sinwar. that's a great question for him. it's interesting, i stand up here and answer questions and careen, matt miller, the pentagon, and the president does. prime minister netanyahu does and you know who hasn't answered a single question about his intentions or the games he's playing or where he intends to take this, mr. sinwar, the head of hamas. it's time he answer these questions and come clean what his intentions are. i don't know. all i know is we have a response. bill burns is looking at the response and talking to the israelis about it and see where

it goes. hopefully, hopefully whatever is in this thing hopefully it can lead to those hostages getting out real soon with their families and where they need to be. as each day passes, their lives get further at risk so time is really of the essence here. reporter: noting your answer, is it still a good idea to try to negotiate with terrorists then? john: it's not like we sit down pie in the sky and say hey, today is a good day, let's negotiate with terrorists. you have to negotiate with who you have to negotiate to get people back with their families. frankly, if there's a better idea to get the hostages home to their families, we'd love to hear it. and i don't think there's a way to do, there's no other way to do it but negotiate through qatar to get the hostages home to their families and sometimes you have to sit across the table with some really bad folks you'd rather not have to do so but they've got those hostages and we want them back.

reporter: does the u.s. back israel's intentions to go after hamas? john: we support them to eliminate the threat. jackie, you're not going to eliminate an ideology with military operations but does israel have the right and responsibility to eliminate the threat they suffered october 7? absolutely. and we've been nothing but steadfast on that. reporter: john, speaking about a tiktok, what prompted this morning's call? john: you heard me say many times, they talk as appropriate. and given where we were in the hostage deal negotiations, given where we were with humanitarian assistance and karem shalom shut down several days and the expectations in rafa, this made all the intentions in the world for the president and prime minister netanyahu speak?

reporter: when was the call set up, this morning or yesterday after the rocket attack killed the three israelis? john: the initial planning of the call took place late in the weekend is what i'd say. reporter: on a different topic, why did the u.s. halt an ammunition shipment to israel last week? john: i've seen the press reporting on this but all i can tell you is that jackie's question, our support for israel's security remains ironclad and i'm not getting into the specifics of one shipment over another. reporter: nbc is reporting it included 2,000 bombs that may have been used in rafa. did concerns over rafa and what the israelis could use this ammunition for, did that play or involve in halting that shipment? john: i don't have a better answer for you other than the one i just gave you. reporter: i'll go with that question one more time. did the united states put a pause on arms shipments to israel? is that reporting correct? john: i'm not going to confirm that for you.

reporter: i just want to ask another topic -- same topic, different question. over the weekend, the queen of jordan said in an interview the united states is giving the world mixed messages. offering expressions of concern and support for gaza in addition to providing arms to israel. can you comment at all on the critique of the united states position? john: i'm not going to -- i don't think it would be appropriate to get into a back and forth here from the podium on this. we have said that two things can be true at once and they are. israel has a right and responsibility to defend itself and while continue to provide for their security and help them with that. and statement, they have a right and obligation to be careful about casualties and getting more humanitarian assistance in and why we're working hard on this hostage deal and why the american president and the united states continue to lead the world in terms of actually

making a difference in that outcome, making life better for the palestinian people. no other country is doing more than the united states to try to increase that assistance and get the cease-fire in place. reporter: the israelis stopped broadcast of al jazeera over the weekend, can you suggest whether that's an appropriate action for the united states ally? john: we don't support that action as was said on world press day. the work of independent journalism around the world is vital and important to inform citizenry and the public but also important to inform the policymaking process so we don't support that at all. reporter: did the president bring it up at all in the call? john: the focus of the call was on the hostage deal and rafa. you saw, i think i put a statement out this morning on that. so we have officially reacted to it. reporter: thank you both.

can you comment about the discussing of the banning of al jazeera by israel. we just saw the freedom of press here in the united states and across the globe and then this decision came. [inaudible] john: we raised this issue and made a public statement on it. reporter: on rafa, has israel presented or provided the administration with a comprehensive plan? john: no. reporter: i want to take you back to this report on whether shipments. are the reports wrong? john: i'm not going to confirm. as i said our security commitments to israel or iron clad. the president pushed very hard to get the supplemental funding so we could continue to help israel with its security needs. reporter: i appreciate the

ambiguitiness. john: i can't help you appreciate my answer but the answer isn't going to change. reporter: what's the definition of an assault or attack in rafa in view of the white house that would be seen? john: there hasn't been an assault or attack. it's a ground operation at this time. let's not get ahead of where we are. the president did express again our concerns about operations in rafa that would put at risk these people trying to find shelter there. i think it would be a futile exercise for me to get up here and give you a laundrie list of what would or would not compose some sort of ground operation in rafa. we have to -- well, let me put it another way, the i.d.f. has to speak what their intentions or plans are. reporter: it's still ground operation instead of missiles

landing over rafa tonight is what we're hearing. john: doesn't matter whether it's missiles or rockets, things that kill innocent people, that's not ok. and again, the president made it clear we don't want to see operations in rafa that put at risk those million and a half people that are there. reporter: how did the president bring his ongoing attempts to make sure the deal comes together? john: that's sideways to talking about the parameters of the deal. i appreciate that. reporter: i'm more generally interested in what they need to work on? john: excellent. i'm sorry i impugned your question. he's very grateful for the work that director burns and the whole team has been doing to try to get us to this point, but it only really matters if we can get the deal in place. i'm sure director burns would agree with me on that and those hostages can get home but he's done terrific work thus far and i know that he wants to see this

get across the finish line as much as we do. reporter: admiral, on a different topic. reports are that a u.s. soldier is detained in russia, he was stationed in south korea and traveled to russia on his own and accused of some sort of theft. is the administration aware of this report? john: yes. reporter: what can you tell us what happened? john: i can't say much now, it's a better question put to our d.o.d. colleagues but we're aware of this case. reporter: another matter related to russia. there's been threats from moscow the last couple days of striking british military facilityies and also doing their drills because of weapons that may be used in the conflict that potentially apply to oral lie countries as well, particularly the united states p. do you have a response to that? john: what i'd say, number one, it's reckless and irresponsible for the leader of a major

nuclear armed power to be saber rattling the way that he is with respect to the potential use for nuclear weapons. obviously, we monitor this and continue to monitor this and we have seen nothing despite the reckless conversation. and if official also are worried about their troops in ukraine getting hit with weapons from other countries, the easiest thing to do is just take your troops and leave. reporter: there are reports that israel is committing intense air strikes in russia right now. what would the timing mean to the president and the prime minister? john: you know something i don't know. i haven't seen those reports and can't confirm it. i'll go back to what i said. half a dozen if not more times

today, we don't support operations in rafa that put people at greater risk. reporter: thank you. i just want you to make it clear regarding the limit on the petroleum provided by north korea, is anyone trying to put a limit on the union sanctions of 500,000 barrels. but last week you said it was 165,000 barrels in march alone. so how many barrels were surprised generally? [inaudible] john: i didn't bring the barrel data with me today. reporter: the state department or spokesperson said sanctions

against this would be imposed this month and north korea oil tanker sanctions by the union is currently staying in chinese waters p. so is china included in sanctions this time or sanctions against russia and sanctions against china altogether? john: i will admit i will owe you yet another answer. i'll get back to you with something more detailed. i will only say to exit myself from this question gracefully is that we want everybody to enforce the sanctions that are against north korea appropriately and consistently and not everybody does p. and north korea has benefited from sanctions of asians in countries in the region and beyond the region. i'll leave it at that.

reporter: thank you very much. i had a question on russia and growing tides between china and russia. reportedly putin is visiting china and right before his visit last week we learned russian police raided homes of practitioners in russia, a gropers cuted in china and detained several of them. does the white house have a reaction to this and i have a follow-up. john: i haven't seen the reports of detention of these individuals. if they're true, that would be concerning to us. i would refer to you the state department to speak on that more than i can. once again, at large, we've seen china and russia try to grow closer together p. we believe a big reason for that is frankly the united states. and putting themselves in positions to either oppose our foreign policy objectives or be an obstacle to them in many different ways.

so it's concerning to us. the most specific concern we have right now is the fact some chinese companies are providing microelectronics and components so mr. putin can continue his defense industrial based developments and put weapons in the field that kill innocent ukrainians and again, we've made those concerns clear directly to our chinese counterparts and at the u.n. reporter: i just want to ask just a clarification first. within the senior administration or defense department, anybody? john: not that i'm aware of. reporter: it's a broader bilateral -- john: the president hosting him for lunch, they've done that in the past. look, i can't speak to his schedule while in town and i'm not aware of any other meetings. reporter: nothing bilateral here at the white house? john: no.

reporter: on the temporary pier, can you give us an update and if a cease-fire needs to be fully implemented? john: a cease-fire doesn't have to be in place for the pier to operate. it's a heck after lot easier if there's no fighting going on but doesn't have to be. in fact, one of the issues we're still working out is what the force protection laydown would look like and not just the people operating the pier but the material itself can be safe from any attack. as far as i know and again, you should go to the pentagon for more detail, essentially the pier itself has been constructed. it is not in place because last week they had some weather issues and weren't able to put it in place. shoe go to the pentagon for where it is rightthen you've god whether build a causeway so you can get to and from it. there's still a lot of work to be done to make it operational. that includes the force

protection laydown. but the short answer to the question is you don't need a ceasefire for it. karine: thank you, john. i do have a couple things at the top. wanted to get to the admiral at the beginning. so tomorrow the president will deliver remarks during the u.s. holocaust memorial museum's annual days of remembrance ceremony. you can expect the president to make clear that during these sacred days of remembrance, we honor the memory of the six million jews killed in the holocaust and we recommit to heeding the lessons of this dark chapter, never again. he will speak to the horrors of october 7, when hamas unleashed the deadliest day for jewish people since the holocaust. and he will speak to how since october 7, we've seen an alarming rise in anti-semitism in the u.s. and our cities, our communities and on our campuses. the president will touch on how his national strategy to counter anti-semitism is putting the

full force of the federal government behind protecting the

jewish community and that all americans must stand united against anti-semitism. he will reaffirm that we respect and protect the fundamental right to free speech, but there is no place on any campus or anywhere for anti-semitism. there is no place for hate speech or threats of violence against the jewish people. next today as part of the economic opportunity tour, vice president harris is traveling to michigan to announce $100 million in funding and resources for small and medium sized auto manufacturers and auto workers. the vice president will also announce actions to expand workforce training and improve job quality in the e.v. supply chain for decades. trickle-down economics drove manufacturers overseas, thanks to the biden-harris administration's investing in america agenda, companies are making historic investments in e.g murders ever recorded, under this president's leadership, president biden, violent crime is at a nearly 50-year low.

thanks to the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement and community leaders, americans are safer from violent crime today than they were a year ago. violent crime declined across every category in the first quarter of 2024 and murders are down 17%. let me be clear here, this reduction in crime is no accident. president biden and his administration are taking historic action to make our communities safer and give our law enforcement officers the tools they need to protect and serve. we are stopping the flow of illegal guns and making the largest ever federal investment in fighting and preventing crime through the american rescue plan, which every republican in congress voted against. but we can't stop now. through the safe america plan, the president is calling on congress to sreufpbt $37 billion -- to invest $37 billion to support law enforcement and crime prevention. every family deserves to live in

a safe community. with that. reporter: columbia university announced this morning that they're canceling commencement ceremonies and i'm wondering if the white house is concerned that the situation on college campuses is not calming down despite the president's best efforts. karine: i want to quote what the president said from last week. as you laid that out for me. here's a quote. peaceful protests in america, violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is. it's against the law when violence occurred. destroying property is not a peaceful protest. it's against the law. vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campus, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations, none of this is a peaceful protest. and it is unfortunate that a small group, a small group of people went too far and cost their classmates this important event. we've talked about it many times from here. when it comes to commencement day and speaking at commencement

events, this is something that the president has done for some time now and he understands that this is a moment of joy, a moment of celebration. and we feel for them. we feel for each of the graduates and we're going to continue to reiterate the president's comments and statements and what we've said from this podium, to call for protests peacefully and that's what we're going to continue to do. but we do feel for them, these are graduates who are going to miss out on incredibly important -- an incredibly important day of kphrepbsment. reporter: does the white house anticipate any issues or how are you preparing for any potential issues when he delivers the remarks at morehouse? karine: i'm not going to speculate on what might happen or not happen. obviously whether it comes to any type of -- when it comes to event and security, that's something that secret service is obviously going to deal with and figure that out on their end. but i'm not going to get into speculation from here. i'm going to reiterate what i just said about how the

president truly enjoys doing commencement speeches. he understands how important -- not just for the graduate but the families and the loved ones that are there, to celebrate a really truly important day. and so that's what we're looking forward to. as you know, the president's also going to go to west point and honor those who serve to protect our country. and will continue to do that obviously. that's what he's going to look forward to. really being there for the graduates and lifting them up in this moment. reporter: thank you. congressman khanna said that the president should and will be out visiting these campuses among the protests. is there any plan for him to get out there and talk to students right now? karine: no. reporter: and separately, g.w.'s president has called for metro police in d.c. to intervene, to dismantle what they've deemed an illegal encampment. and d.c. police have so far

refused to respond to that call. it's happening in the president's backyard. is there any reaction from the white house on what should happen? karine: so that is something that i'm going to leave to the local law enforcement and universities, that's for them to figure out, for them to work it through. they know what is happening on the ground and we've always been very clear about that. and will continue to be clear about that. we're going to continue to call for peaceful protests. and dissent cannot lead to disorder. and so we're going to continue to be very, very clear as the president has been, as i have been, and so many of us here in this administration has been. reporter: any idea why d.c. police would not respond to this call? karine: i would refer you to the d.c. police. that's something for them to speak to. reporter: lastly, on these reported plans for the u.s. to bring over palestinian refugees potentially, is there anything you can tell us about where we are in the works with that and -- i know it would have to -- depend on coordination with

egypt. which so far has been resistant to cooperate on this. what can you tell us about these plans? karine: i don't have anything further to announce. i was asked this couple a question of times last week, i don't have anything to share. reporter: the speech tomorrow is, it a broad brush speech or will he get into specifics of the gaza conflict? karine: i'm not going to get ahead of the president too much. obviously it is a day of remembrance. you know the term. as i just stated at the top, never forget. or never again. so certainly the president will talk about that day and how horrific it was for the jewish american, jewish community. i just don't want to get too afar ahead. obviously it's an important day for not just jewish americans but americans more broadly. reporter: thanks. givingen the key role that jordan played over the last several months in the middle east, especially on humanitarian aid, and the day's developments, there was obviously a lot of news value to the king's visit today. why didn't we see the president and the king together for a photo op? why was that closed to the

press? karine: we try to do everything we can to give you all as much access, give the press as much access. it is sometimes the visitor, the visiting country, they have their own requests and we try to certainly accommodate their request as well. and so, look, we will try at every turn at all of these events to make sure that there's press access and this particular instance, as it was a private lunch, and we tried to also accommodate the visitors that come here as well. reporter: so the king did not want to do anything on camera? karine: i would leave it up to the king and his team to speak to that. but again, we try to also accommodate the visiting country as well. reporter: is there any news from the israeli side on this -- where things stand? should we expect to hear from the president today or this evening on this? karine: i don't have anything of note or any changes to the president's schedule at this time. obviously if there are any

change, you all will be one of the first if not the first to know. just don't have anything at this time. the president was going to speak tomorrow, so i'd stay tuned. reporter: i just wanted to go again at the speech the president is expected -- is giving tomorrow. just given the context in which he's giving it, where there's 34,000 people have died in gaza, he's going to be talking about never again and a genocide and he's protested almost everywhere he goes, you know, with that moniker of genocide joe. i'm just wondering, how is he going to sort of thread the needle of addressing a genocide that happened quite a while ago while there are some people who are saying that there's one happening right now that he bears some responsibility for? and i understand that that's not the view of the administration, but it's still a very tricky

line to walk. i'm just wondering if you can share any sort of thought as to whether he may be trying to send a subtle phaepbg with the speech at all -- message with the speech at all or if there's a nod to the broader context? karine: i'm going let the president speak for himself. i gave a broad stroke of the day and how important it's going to be for the president to speak on this day of remembrance, this ceremony. so just going to be really mindful there. the president understands that this is an incredibly painful time. we've said that over and over again and we understand that. he also respects the right of all americans to peacefully protest. and also with the understanding and the knowledge of having those conversations, those sometimes really tough conversations, with community leaders, and we have done that. on the white house, you've heard from senior white house officials or we've talked about

senior whose officials going a-- us who officials going -- white house officials going across the country and having talks with leaders about this painful moment. i would also say this is why this hostage deal is so important. this is why we continue to work around the clock, this is why director burns is there meeting, obviously meeting -- continuing to meet with partners in the region to try to get to this deal so we can get that all-important humanitarian aid, get that ceasefire that is much-needed. and also make sure that we get the hostages home. american hostages are part of those hostages and we need to get them home to their loved ones. that's what we're going to continue to do. the president will speak for himself tomorrow so i would say tune in. listen to what he has to say. but we understand how painful this is for many, many communities across this country. thanks -- reporter: -- any of those communities you mentioned, as

he's working on this speech, have any of those communities had any input -- karine: i can't speak to that question about input from communities. but the president understands how important this moment is. and i would say this is a president that tends to meet the moment when it comes to speeches and remarks like these. he understands what's going on. he has his fingers on the pulse as far as what people are feeling and so -- just not going to get beyond that around i would say tune in -- that and i would say tune in. reporter: what's your response to kristi noem's comments implying that commander should be put down? karine: when we learned last week, obviously like all of you, in her book that she killed her puppy, you heard me say that was very, very sad. we find her comments from yesterday disturbing. we find them absurd. and this is a country that loves dogs. and you have a leader talking

about putting dogs down, killing them, and that's a disturbing statement to say. a i would say to her she should probably stop digging herself into a hole. thanks, everybody. reporter: where is commander now? karine: so commander -- we said this back in the fall. commander is living with family members. reporter: where? karine: in delaware. yes. we said this before. all right. thanks, everybody. see you tomorrow. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accucy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cae satellite corp. 2024] >> votes are expected to be held arnd 6:30 eastern. live coverage of the u.s. house when lawmakers return here on

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