Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre En Route Manchester, NH

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Manchester, New Hampshire

2:06 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hey, guys. Hi. Hi. I'm sorry. Hi, everybody. All right. Just a quick thing on New Hampshire at the top. So, as you know, the president is going to be joined by Senator Bernie Sanders to discuss the work the Biden-Harris administration has done to cut health care costs.

Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which every single congressional Republican voted against, health care is more accessible and more affordable than ever before.

You will hear directly from President Biden today, who will discuss a new report that shows that nearly 1.5 million Medicare enrollees saved $1 billion on prescription drugs in just the first half of 2024 thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.

For years, Republican elected officials, including the previous administration, have tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which gives millions of Americans accessible - acc- - pardon me, access to quality, affordable health care.

Congressional Republicans have also proposed extreme budgets that would rip aw- - rip coverage away from millions of Americans while doing Big Pharma bidding - Big Pharma's bidding to drive up prescription drug costs, eliminate the $35 cap on insulin, and get rid of the cap on out-of-pocket drugs.

Despite these attacks, President Biden and Vice President Harris remain focused on expanding access to health care and lowering prescription drug costs for families. And you'll hear more from this president - from the president this afternoon.

With that, go ahead.

Q On the unauthorized release of classified documents, does the fact that the FBI is investigating suggest they believe it was an internal leak and not a hack?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, what I can just say - as you just stated in your question to me, the FBI is investigating this.

I'm not going to get into details or specifics. I'm going to let the, you know, authorized personnel who are looking into it speak to this. So, again, I would refer you to those - to those specific agencies. I just don't have anything more to add. I'm going to let the FBI do their job and do what they need to do to get to the bottom of it.

Q Another question. On the - the seniors saving a billion dollars, does that take into account some of the higher premiums that have been reported for drug plans this year as a result of drug caps and the administration pulling billions of dollars from Medicare - the Medicare Trust Fund?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm sorry. I'm having a little bit of a hard time hearing you. So, you said -

Q As far as the - the billion dollars that seniors are saving -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - does that take into account the - the result of drug caps, as well as pulling from the Medicare Trust Fund?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, it's a good question. Let me - I don't have the specifics to that - of the billion dollars. Obviously, it's saving Americans a lot on prescription drugs - a billion dollars, as I just stated - so I think that's really important, and that's what we wanted to note. The president will certainly share more.

I don't have the specific on that particular question about caps, so I can talk to the team and get back to you. But I think the - the most important thing here to note is that because of the Inflation Reduction Act, because of the work that this administration has done to lower costs on drug - on drug pres- - on prescription drugs, you're seeing the results of that.

Again, the Inflation Reduction Act - only Democrats voted for that; Republicans went against it. And now you have Medicare, who are - who's able - Medicare is able to really negotiate lowering cost prices. And I think it's a win. This is a win for Americans across the country.

This is what you're going to hear from the president. Senator Bernie Sanders - obviously, he can speak for himself - has been a huge advocate of low- - lowering drug costs. So, I think it's important. This report obviously shows a really critical number that matters, and I think - and connected that - connecting that to the Inflation Re- - Reduction Act. It - it's a big deal. It's a really big deal.

At that particular, specific question, I'm going to have to ask the team to get back to you on that.

Go ahead, Jeff.

Q Karine, the president told us on Friday, I believe, that he was aware of plans by Israel to respond to Iran, but he didn't give us any details about that. Can you - and I'm not expecting you to give details -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - although you'd be welcome to.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.)

Q But my question is: Is the fact that Secretary Blinken is in the region right now - is that delaying a response by Israel?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, a couple of things, and as - you're right, I'm not going to - to go beyond what the president said, and I said this before - I've said in a briefing room a couple of times: We're not going to preview - we don't want to preview anything for the Iranians. That's not something that we're going to do from here. And at the end of the day, it's Isr- - the Israeli government. It is their - it's their military operation; they have to respond to that.

Obviously, we have continued to show our support for Israelis' security. That continues to be ironclad.

And they - they live in a region - as you've heard us say many times - in a neighborhood that's incredibly tough, and they have to deal with threats, and they have to be able to, certainly, protect themselves and react to those threats, obviously.

As it relates to - so - so, that's that piece, right? So, they have to speak to that - the timing. That includes the timing, what is it going to look like. They have to speak to that.

Look, you know, you've seen the secretary go to the region multiple times, especially since October 7th of last year. And there - it's - it's diplomacy, obviously. It's an opportunity to talk to - he's in Israel today, but also to talk to our allies and partners in the region about what can we do to de-escalate tensions. That is something that we are very focused on: what can we do to stop the war, obviously, in Gaza, to get more humanitarian aid. And we have seen an uptick in humanitarian aid over the last couple of days. And so, that's really critical and important.

So, what he's doing in the region is important to what we're trying to do - right? - getting to that de-escalation, but also a long-lasting peace.

I'll - I'll let the State Department - which they've spoken to a couple times already about his trip, about the meaning of it, where he's going, what he's going to do. Again, obviously, he's in Israel today.

But I - I can't really - I can't really dictate or speak to how Israel is going to move forward, their timing of it, their military operation. That's something for them to speak to.

But what Blinken - Secretary Blinken is trying to do is important to, I guess, the - the long-term goal here and what we're trying to get, but also ending the war in Gaza and getting that humanitarian aid.

Q Just on Israel as well. Donald Trump confirmed that he spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Is the White House concerned at all about them having continued communications?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I'm - I'm just not going to speak to that.

Look, as you know, we talk to the Israeli government on a regular basis on the - all the issues that I just laid out s- - in responding to Jeff. And we have a - a long friendship with the Israeli people, and we are committed to their security, obviously, as I've stated before. And I'm just not going to comment about the former president, who's now a candidate, talking - talking to the prime minister.

I would refer you to the prime minister directly if he has something more to say about that. And to the pr- - the former president.

Q Another one on the Middle East, Karine. La- - yes- - just yesterday, more than 60 people were killed in an Israeli strike on South Beirut. In one month, more than 1,500 people have died as a result of Israeli bombardments. Is this still a targeted operation?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, we have certainly seen the reports, and we're going to have co- - we're having conversations, as you know, as I just stated, on a regular basis with the Israeli government on - on this and - and obviously other matters.

Look - and - and I've said this before, we've said this before: Israel has the right and the responsibility to respond to threats, but obviously, they also have a responsibility that - that they - they make sure that a civilian ca- - one civilian casualty is too many, right? That they make sure that they do this in a way that we're protecting civilian lives and so - or - and so -and we've said this before: Israel must take every feasible precaution to prevent civilians during this - during this time, during this operation.

And so, we're - continue to - to talk to them. We're going to continue to have those discussion.

We do not want to see one civilian, you know, killed in this, right? We want to make sure that all lives are - innocent lives are protected here. And so, we're going to continue to have those conversations.

Q And on today's event, if I may. How confident are you that all the work that has been done on - on drug costs won't be undone by a future administration?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, so, look the Inflation Reduction Act is the law, as you know, right? And as I've stated many times, every single Republican voted against it. Obviously, they're trying to repeal it. And - and, you know - and it's something that's - we see it as an odd thing to do because it's - Democrats and Republicans see this as being very popular. And - and so - and what this law does: It delivers real benefits for Americans.

And like I said, today the president is going to announce that seniors have saved $1 billion - right? - in the last six months because of the Inflation Reduction Act.

And so, look, we're going to - I think when it comes to the president and the vice president, we put the American people first. We're focused on making sure that we deliver for them. The Inflation Reduction Act did just that, as it relates to health care costs. And obviously, the president is going to speak to this.

But it's the law. It's the law. And - and I think that's important to note as well.

Q Karine, what - what's the president's political message today when he stops by the campaign office two weeks before Election Day?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, as you know, I can't speak to politics from here. We do try to follow the law. But what I can speak to is his event - the official event that he's going to be doing.

Lowering drug costs - I think that's an important message to send to the American people. That's an important message to send to Americans: how much the Biden-Harris administration has done everything that we can to continue to lower costs as we try to rebuild the economy.

Let's not forget what the president and the vice president walked into. They walked into an economy that was in a downturn, and they were able to turn that around.

But we understand that people still feel it, right? Some people wake up in the morning and they're trying to figure out how are they going to pay for a cancer drug - right? - how are they going to pay for a drug that's going to save their lives. And here you see this president and this vice president actually take action.

We beat Big Pharma, which is something that many elected officials have tried to do. And this president and this vice president got it done.

So, that's the message, I would say, that the president is trying to send to Americans just across the country, that we're going to continue to fight for them. I'm not going to speak to - I would say stay tuned. You'll hear from the president later today.

Q Is there a reason why New Hampshire today?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I think, as the president says all the time, he's a president for all Americans. Doesn't matter if it's a red state, blue state. We have said, when you all ask me, "Well, how is the president going to get his message out," this is part of it, right? Going to a place like New Hampshire, or, last week, he went to Wisconsin, he went to Pennsylvania.

He's going across - across the country and making sure that the American people know what we have tried to do and - and are doing to make sure that we uplift Americans.

Anybody else?

Q There's a report out about political fundraising targeting elderly dementia patients. Is the president concerned at all that any fundraising in his name may have done that inadvertently?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Is it from one of the camp- - it's from the -

Q It was a CNN story today.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Was it the Republican campaign?

Q I think there is multiple.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I haven't seen that, so I can't speak to that. Look, more broadly - speaking more broadly here and not leaning into any campaign or any political ad, we have said, like, misinformation, we understand how dangerous that could be and that type of false information - how much that could be hurtful and harmful to people. And so, we've always called that out in the sense of, like, people have to be - be responsible.

And I can't speak to this particular political ad. I haven't seen it. And also, I just want to be careful to not speak to anything that is politically related to this election cycle.

Go ahead.

Q Has President Biden given officials a timeline to complete their investigation on the leaks - on the intelligence leak?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I would have to refer you to - as I just mentioned, the FBI is looking into it. I would have to refer you to them. I ca- - I don't have a timeline to speak to.

Q Well, I mean, he's only - you know, busy weeks ahead, you know, between the election and end of the year. There - you don't have anything more to add on that with timing?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Are you - do you mean the - the -

Q The investigation. Just for -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just can't speak to that. That is something that the appropriate authorities can speak to. FBI is in- - looking into it. I just can't speak to a timeline.

Yeah.

Q The president is scheduled to be in Wilmington this weekend. Is there any chance he's going to - you know, and Harris is supposed to be in Philadelphia. Is there any chance that they're going to appear together? Do you have anything to preview on that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: As you know, the president and the vice president has appeared together multiple times in the past several months or weeks and - whether it's campaign or official.

So, I don't have anything else to add beyond that, sp- - especially if you're asking me about a campaign event. But I will say stay tuned. Stay tuned.

All right, guys. Thank you so much.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Wow, that was quick. Okay. All right.

Q Quick and dirty.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.) Quick and dirty.

2:20 P.M. EDT

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