WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING - STIX
WHITE HOUSE REGULAR DAILY PRESS BRIEFING - STIX
TRANSCRIPT: White House Briefing with Press Secretary Josh Earnest
DC SLUGS: 1230 WH BRIEF STIX RS37 73 & 1230 WH BRIEF CUTS RS38 74
DISC# 117 / 131 & 143
NYRS: WASH-3 / WASH-4
EARNEST: Good afternoon, everybody.
12:56:46 It's nice to see you all. Let's get settled in for this afternoon.
I do not have any announcements at the top, Josh, so let's go straight to your questions.
QUESTION: Thanks, Josh.
Speaker Boehner has announced that Pope Francis will deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress in September, becoming the first pope to do that.
I was wondering, does the White House have any reaction to that? And was that visit coordinated with the White House?
(LAUGHTER)
12:57:13 EARNEST: Didn't have to used to ask those questions did we?
QUESTION: Right.
EARNEST: I can tell you that the president and his team here at the White House have been anticipating a visit from Pope Francis here to the United States for quite some time. And even as far back as the president's visit to the Vatican, where he first met Pope Francis, talked about how eager he was to welcome the pope to the United States.
So, the president is certainly looking forward to his visit.
QUESTION: There's some talk on the Hill about this new authorization for use of military force that the administration is seeking. Speaker Pelosi was talking about negotiations around a three year agreement that would focus on Islamic State militants.
I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on how that AUMF is shaping up, and on that -- specifically on that three year time frame?
12:58:05 EARNEST: Well I think Josh, any time you see detail starting to leak off the Hill, it's an indication that there have been an increasing number of conversations between administration officials and officials on Capitol Hill.
That is follow up from some of the work that grew from the bipartisan leadership meeting that the president convened here at the White House two or three weeks ago, where they discussed the -- essentially the idea that the administration would work with Democrats and Republicans on the Hill on a piece of language that the White House could submit to Capitol Hill.
And that work is ongoing. They've made important progress in that regard.
And as I mentioned yesterday at the briefing, I would anticipate that we'll have specific language that we'll send up to Capitol Hill relatively soon.
I believe at that point we would be in a position to make that language public, and then I'll be in a -- in a better position to actually discuss what's included and why it's included.
QUESTION: Do you have a -- a position about whether the original AUMF that was used for Iraq from back in 2002, whether that should be repealed as part of having a new AUMF?
12:59:11 EARNEST: I think the president has made the case previously that he does support the repeal of the 2002 AUMF, and this was in the context of a speech that he gave a year or two ago, talking about the need to review some of these policies that have the -- I think the unintended effect of keeping the United States on sort of this permanent war footing.
And the president has talked about how he wants to place a priority on trying to reform some of those policies in a way that acknowledges that we don't have to be on sort of this permanent war footing.
I mean, some of these are steps the president obviously can take on his own, such as you know, winding down the troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
12:59:50 EARNEST: And we obviously have made substantial progress in that regard. That you know, when the president took office, there were 180,000 military boots on the ground, American military boots on the ground, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that number now is less than 15,000.
So, there are some steps the commander-in-chief can take on his own. There are other -- other policies that require some legislative action, and you've noted one of them.
QUESTION: And the leaders of France and Germany are headed to Kiev, if they're not already there, with a new peace proposal that seems to be getting some positive initial reaction from Russia.
They also seem to be not too keen on the U.S. sending or considering sending lethal assistance to Ukraine.
So I'm wondering if -- what -- what the U.S. feels about this new peace proposal from France and Germany, you know, particularly in the context of Merkel coming here next week and these -- these discussions about whether to send lethal aid.
And I'm also interested -- if you have anything on that magical piece of paper that you would like to share with us...
(LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: ... feel free to do so.
EARNEST: It's -- it's purely administrative...
(LAUGHTER)
EARNEST: The...
QUESTION: Did you just resign?
(LAUGHTER)
13:01:04 EARNEST: That better not be the case.
The -- let me say a couple of things on this.
The first is that the United States has been saying for some time that it will -- that it's a diplomatic negotiation that's required to bring this conflict in Ukraine to an end. This is not something that's going to be solved or resolved militarily but rather -- rather through diplomatic negotiations.
So we certainly are encouraging and supportive of -- of ongoing efforts to try to find a peaceful diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.
One concern that we have, however, is that previous diplomatic efforts have resulted in agreements that the Russians and the separatists that they back in eastern Ukraine didn't live up to, that there were commitments made in the context of the Minsk agreement that was signed, I believe, back in September.
13:01:58 Those commitments included things like withdrawing all troops and weapons from eastern Ukraine and establishing effective international monitoring of the international border between Ukraine and Russia, returning control of Ukraine's side of the border to the central government in Kiev, freeing all of the hostages and working toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
That is -- I'm just going to do the math here -- I think that is five or six different specific provisions of the Minsk agreement, and the separatists haven't lived up to one of them -- hasn't lived up to a single one of them. And that is an indication that we need serious engagement from the Russians and the separatists, the likes of which we've not seen before.
So we're going to continue to be supportive of ongoing efforts to try to find a diplomatic resolution to this situation, while at the same time, we're going to continue to urge the Russians and the separatists that they represent to live up to the diplomat agreements that they make. And that ultimately is the way that this situation can and should be resolved.
13:02:59 To that end, there is -- I think just sort of looking at the public schedule of members of the president's national security team, you can tell that there is deepened engagement on this issue right now.
Secretary Kerry is in Kiev right now as we speak. He did a news conference a little earlier this morning, Eastern Time, with -- I believe it was with the Ukrainian president while he was over there. I know that he's meeting with a number of senior officials.
Over the weekend -- you know that the vice president's currently on his way to Europe. He'll be participating in the Munich Security Conference, as he's done in years past, and while he's there, he's going to meet with Ukrainian President Poroshenko as well as other European leaders.
And then, of course, on Monday, as we previously announced, the president is planning to convene -- convene a meeting with German Chancellor Merkel while she's here in the United States.
So there is -- while not -- their -- their entire meeting will not be devoted to just the situation in Ukraine, but that certainly will be a substantial part of their discussions.
QUESTION: Sure.
So -- so focusing on that meeting, then, with Chancellor Merkel, you've talked frequently about the -- the importance of staying in -- in lockstep with our European partners on this issue, you know, especially when it comes to the pace at which we mover forward with sanctions, but the Europeans really seem like they really don't think it's a good idea for us to be sending -- to be putting more weapons in its conflict.
So if -- if Chancellor Merkel comes here next week and says to the president what she's said publicly, which is that Germany's not going to be sending lethal -- lethal assistance and they don't think that it's a good idea, will the president still have that option on the table and consider sending it regardless?
13:04:40 EARNEST: Well, the president is going to make a decision that he believes is in the broader national security interest of the United States, and part of that is understanding what sort of impact the decisions that we make have on our allies.
And so the president is, of course, going to reserve the right to make the decision about our broader strategy from the standpoint of the United States vis-a-vis Ukraine.
The president, though, has -- has indicated a desire to work closely with our allies, and certainly the success that we have enjoyed so far in instituting a -- an economic sanctions regime against Russia has depended upon very close coordination with our allies in Europe. There's no doubt about that. The sanctions regime that we've put in place, working in lockstep with our European allies, has required close consultation and cooperation with Europe.
The reason for that is the economic ties between Russia and Europe are much deeper than the bilateral economic ties between the United States and Russia. So, being able to act in coordinated fashion has been the key -- has been the key to the success of that sanctions regime.
But certainly, the president takes very seriously the views of our allies and is going to consult very closely as we evaluate any needed strategic changes ahead.
OK?
Julia, welcome to the White House beat. I understand that you'll be joining us more regularly.
QUESTION: Thank you. Yes, thank you.
Among the many departure announcements yesterday, we learned that FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg is stepping down. What can you tell us about how you anticipate a confirmation of someone to take her place, especially considering Republicans who would have to confirm someone have been somewhat critical of the FDA and wanted to whittle down on its regulatory authority?
13:06:26 EARNEST: Well, Julia, I can tell you that the president certainly appreciates Dr. Hamburg's tireless service over the last six years. There are a number of issues that she has grappled with over at the FDA and the professionalism that she's brought to that job has -- has made her very effective as the leader of that agency. She's leaving a legacy of advancements that include biomedical innovation, modernizing the food safety system, and reducing death and disease caused by tobacco. She's got quite a legacy that she's leaving.
As it relates to her successor, I don't have any announcements on that at this point. Certainly, the president will be focusing on somebody that has, you know, the kind of impeccable medical and scientific credentials that they can bring to the job. And when we have more to announce on this, we'll let you know.
I mean, I guess I'll just say, you know, one other thing, that when -- you know, when the president does make an announcement, you know, we're confident that that individual will -- that he will appoint the kind of individual that will merit strong bipartisan support in the Senate.
QUESTION: Thanks.
And there's been a major hack into insurer Anthem. There are about 80 million accounts that had information stolen. How big of a deal is this? Has the president been briefed? And also since Anthem has a large federal employer (sic) population, I was wondering if anyone at the White House happened to be affected.
13:07:54 EARNEST: Julia, I can tell you that we're certainly aware of these reports. The FBI is leading an investigation to determine what exactly happened and to try to determine the -- the scope of the impact. So for specific questions about this incident, I'd refer you to the FBI. I don't have any information to share in terms of the individual impact or the individuals who may have been affected by this incident.
It does -- it does serve as a useful opportunity, though, for me to remind you of two things. The first is we did spend some time a couple of weeks ago talking about the specific legislative proposals that have been put forward by this administration to try to address cybersecurity.
And there are some important steps that are included in that legislation that would improve the federal government's response to situations like this, and would improve coordination between law enforcement authorities, private industry, and consumer advocates to ensure that all the necessary steps are taken to both harden the defense of organizations that are directly affected; to communicate information about the intrusion to make sure that similar tactics that may prove damaging in one scenario can't be used against other companies.
13:09:13 And then we also want to make sure that we have a codified system for making sure that consumers are properly informed and educated about what steps they can take to safeguard their data.
So, there's a lot of important work that needs to be done around this in the United States Congress. The good news is this is not an ideological kind of issue and that there are Republicans who have indicated that they also understand just how serious this is.
So, we are hopeful that by working with Congress, we can make some important progress and take some steps that would actually safeguard the American people and their data.
13:09:48: EARNEST: The last thing is that it's just a reminder that there will be quite extensive discussion of these kinds of issues at the cyber summit that the administration is hosting out at Stanford University next week. And so we're looking forward to the opportunity to convene meetings with leaders in private industry, leaders in the tech sector who have some expertise around some of these issues, government officials, not just at the federal level, but also at the state and local, who all have equities in dealing with this rather complicated policy issue.
13:10:23: But the consequences for us dealing with this policy issue are significant.
And certainly the president and his administration take it very seriously and are hopeful that we'll see others on the other side of the aisle also take it seriously as well.
OK. Margaret?
QUESTION: Thanks.
The president met with a group of Muslim leaders yesterday, but the White House hasn't released (inaudible) I'm just wondering if you can talk us through why. Is it -- was it considered a private meeting, or are there concerns of, you know, I don't know. What's the deal?
EARNEST: I don't have a list of those who attended, but let me see if I can try to extract some more information from you -- or from them, for you.
QUESTION: That would be great, thanks.
I just wanted to do clean up on a couple of things. On AUMF you were saying that you could expect the language, you know, reasonably soon. I mean, do you think...
EARNEST: Relatively soon, I think is what I said, yeah.
QUESTION: Would you rule out, like, the end of this week?
EARNEST: You mean as in tomorrow?
QUESTION: Right.
13:11:16 EARNEST: I am -- I wouldn't necessarily rule it out. I don't think it's going to be tomorrow, but these -- these kinds of plans often have a way of changing.
So, I think relatively soon is probably the best guidance I can offer at this point.
QUESTION: OK. And if I can do BBgate or speechgate, or whatever you want to call it, it's a two parter. Is Nancy Pelosi still talking about whether she may boycott that speech? And I'm just wondering if you could give us some more clarity about the White House and president's thinking on whether this is an appropriate individual decision for Democrats, whether you're offering any guidance when people call to ask.
What is -- and also, what does he think about the fact that this has caused so much controversy?
13:12:01 EARNEST: Well, as I mentioned yesterday, the president does believe it is the -- it is up to individual members of Congress to make their own decision about whether or not to attend.
You know the -- the concern that we have exhibited here is not just about the departure from protocol in terms of extending the invitation, but also the president believes very firmly in continuing an important tradition, which is to ensure that the strong relationship between the United States and Israel is protected from partisan politics.
That we shouldn't allow the relationship between our two countries to be reduced to a relationship between two political parties. And that is -- that is something that the president's concerned about. And frankly, the seriousness with which the president considers this principle is what's driving the decision to not meet with the prime minister when he's here.
As you know, when the prime minister is in the United States during the first week in March, he'll be up for an election that's scheduled for just two weeks later back in Israel.
And the president is conscious of ensuring that we don't leave anybody with the appearance or even with the appearance of somehow interfering in that election by weighing in on one side or the other.
So, you know, the president takes these issues very seriously, and you know, but ultimately, those kinds of decisions about -- about whether or not to attend and what sort of impact that might have on an ongoing election in another country, or what kind of signal that might send, is a decision that every individual member of Congress needs to make for -- for themselves.
QUESTION: And -- but has he gone as far as to say that he doesn't really think that the prime minister should go make a speech, or have you guys drawn a line before saying that?
13:13:41 EARNEST: We have not said that.
QUESTION: And you're not saying that now.
EARNEST: I'm not saying that now.
QUESTION: You could say that now if you wanted to.
EARNEST: I could say that now.
QUESTION: As far -- just to clean up on Josh's question, he knows the pope's coming, and so he probably is not shocked that the pope is addressing Congress, and he's probably fine with it, but was there any coordination this time around? Is there any effort by the speaker's office to make that sort of good faith gesture to say, "look, no hard feelings, let's coordinate on stuff."
13:14:07EARNEST: Well, I don't know. I can't speak to all of the conversations that may or may not have occurred in advance of that specific invitation, but certainly the president and the team here was aware of the -- of the pope's intent to travel to the United States and an attempt to spend some time in Washington, D.C.. I know that there are still some details of that schedule that are getting locked down, so I don't want to get ahead of any announcements that may be planned by the Vatican.
All right. Justin.
I understand you announced a new job today.
QUESTION: Moving up a couple rows.
EARNEST: Oh. Congratulations.
QUESTION: Thank you, appreciate it.
I wanted to ask about Jordan first. Nancy Pelosi today backed the Senate Armed Services Committee -- the entire committee sent a letter to the White House yesterday urging more aid for Jordan. I know you were asked about this yesterday, and you said it would depend on a specific request from Jordan, and so I'm wondering if you might have any more details on has that sort of request been made, and if so, if the administration was working to fill it?
13:15:09 EARNEST: Well, what -- what I know Justin, is that -- that the United States has a very deep security relationship with Jordan and that involves providing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in security assistance to the Jordanians.
And much of that security assistance is in the form of military equipment and some of which has been used to contribute to the broader international campaign against ISIL.
I know that there had been some interest in the -- expressed by the Jordanians and others to try to expedite assistance that was already in the pipeline. This is not an uncommon request from -- from other countries with whom we have security relationships. And that's -- so that's something that we're always working on.
But I can tell you we're always looking for ways that we can deepen our relationship with Jordan. And I can tell you that while the king was here on Tuesday there was the signing of a memorandum, a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Jordan that would extend our security situation -- or our security relationship into 2017 and would guarantee the provision of security assistance on the order of about $400 billion a year.
So it's a substantial commitment of military assistance. And it's one that is not just a short-term relationship, but one that is a long-running one and one that we acted to extend while the king was visiting earlier this week.
QUESTION: And I just wanted to ask about the status of DHS funding. Obviously, the Senate has been voting on blocking the House bill. Mitch McConnell says that he expects to kind of work out a deal in the next couple weeks.
And so, I'm wondering, has it gotten to the point where you have been having conversations with Republicans about possible sweeteners as a deal that might make it more palatable to Republicans to get it through both the House and the Senate?
13:17:11: EARNEST: I'm not aware of any specific conversations like that. The Congress has a responsibility to pass funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
And, as you've heard me say before, it's not really -- it's difficult to imagine a scenario in which there's a good time for us to muck around with funding for the Department of Homeland Security, but now seems like a particularly bad time to do so.
And so, we're hopeful that Republicans will embrace the responsibility that they have now that they're in control of the United States Congress to use the power of the purse that our founders gave to them to make sure that our Department of Homeland Security is fully and properly funded.
We certainly don't want to have a scenario where we have men and women in uniform, our federal law enforcement officers, people who are responsible for protecting our ports, people who are responsible for protecting our transportation system and particularly our air transportation system. Those individuals shouldn't have to go without a paycheck. And I can't imagine why anybody would think that would be anything but bad for our national security.
So we're hopeful. You know, Republicans have a couple weeks to figure this out. And we're hopeful that they will.
13:18:21 I mean, I'll just remind you. I don't really like to stand up here and say I told you so, but we did spend some time last fall where I noted that I felt like it was going to be -- put Republicans in a really difficult situation to threaten funding for the Department of Homeland Security merely over a political disagreement.
But unfortunately that seems to be the situation in which Republicans find themselves. And I think they're finding that certainly the vast majority of Americans don't find this to be a particularly persuasive argument that they're making. So, we're hopeful that they're just gonna put politics aside, focus on their core responsibility to actually fund the United States government, particularly critically important functions like homeland security. OK?
John (ph)?
13:19:06 JON KARL QUESTION: Josh, first I have a quick question on the meeting with the Muslim leaders. Why was the decision made not to allow any press coverage of that meeting?
EARNEST: Well, you know, John (ph), the president has many meetings at the White House, and certainly not all of them include some press coverage.
So we did, however, want to make sure that we were as transparent as we could be about the fact that the meeting was taking place. And I understand that there was a blog post put up that sort of characterized the discussion that occurred. But there was no -- no pool spray planned. There was a pool spray earlier in the day that all of you had with the president when he was meeting with some -- with those DREAM Act folks.
QUESTION: Right.
EARNEST: So.
QUESTION: And a question on Saudi Arabia in light of these allegations that have been made by Zakarias Mousaui (ph) that the Saudis helped finance and had contact with the 9/11 hijackers.
What is the White House position on those -- that section of the 9/11 report that has been classified, that may or may not shed some light on this issue?
EARNEST: Well, John (ph), I can tell you that the administration response to a specific congressional request, last year ask the intelligence community to conduct a classification review of that material. And we did so in -- in keeping with the standard procedure for determining whether or not it's appropriate to release classified material, and all I can tell you is that that process is ongoing.
QUESTION: Do you have a sense of when that process will be finished?
EARNEST: I don't have a timeline for when that classification process would be completed.
QUESTION: And what do you make of these allegations? Obviously, they come from a, you know, convicted terrorist, but does the White House believe there's anything to this suggestion that the Saudis may have been more involved?
13:20:47 EARNEST: Well, John, I'm not going to comment on -- on those assertions from somebody who, as you point out, has been convicted of very serious terrorism charges. I'm just going to reiterate something that we have said many times and I think that was on display when the president stopped in Riyadh on his way back from India last week, and specifically, that is that the United States and Saudi Arabia maintain a strong counterterrorism relationship is a key element of our broad and strategic partnership.
QUESTION: OK.
And then a question on the departures. Obviously, Pfeiffer, Palmieri, Podesta, a lot of people -- just names beginning with P, I guess -- but -- but is...
EARNEST: And readily identifiable by one name...
(LAUGHTER)
EARNEST: ... which makes them rock stars.
QUESTION: We're doing it alphabetically.
QUESTION: But that's -- that's a lot of -- that's a significant percentage of the president's senior advisory team here at the White House leaving at roughly the same time.
Is there a sense that people are kind of running for the exits for the -- you know, the rest of this presidency, and what's the president going to do about replacing them?
13:21:52 EARNEST: Well, Joe, I can tell you that, you know, the three individuals that you named are people who have made substantial contribution to the president's success here in his presidency, and they have made contributions that are difficult to measure on a whole range of issues. So there's no denying the fact that these are people who've served the president and the American people exceedingly well while they've been here.
One of their principle accomplishments was to build a team here at the White House that has been very successful in ensuring the president's success in executing on the kinds of strategic decisions that have -- that have been really good for the country.
And even in just -- in the last several months, we've seen the president take the kinds of steps, whether it's, you know, securing a historic agreement with China to taking -- announcing executive actions on bringing greater accountability to our immigration system.
There're a whole host of things, particularly in the last few months, where the president has demonstrated and built up some momentum, and the team that -- that those individuals have built are largely responsible for that success.
And they -- I -- I think when you get a chance to speak to all of them, each of them will tell you that this team is poised to continue that success and to build on that momentum. And I think they would also say -- and from covering White Houses in the past, I think you have a good sense of this too -- is that particularly near the end of -- you know, the last couple of years of a presidency, that an infusion of fresh legs and different perspective can be a really useful thing.
And so I think the president and Dennis will take very seriously the responsibility that they have to -- to replenish the -- the leadership, to work with the team that's already in place to continue the president's success.
QUESTION: Specifically on Pfeiffer and Podesta, will -- will those two jobs be -- I mean, obviously, we'll have a new communications director coming in -- but will those two jobs be replaced with similar job responsibilities?
13:23:55 EARNEST: Mr. Podesta will be replaced by Brian Deese, who's been the deputy director at -- at OMB.
So as -- I think I'd be the first to admit that it's impossible to replace John Podesta, but certainly, Brian will be stepping in to fill his shoes and take on many of the responsibilities that John filled while he was here. And I -- I think -- you know, the president has spoken to the fact that he's excited about Brian taking on these kinds of responsibilities.
As it comes to replacing Pfeiffer and the impossibility of doing precisely that, there is still an ongoing discussion about how exactly to -- to do so much of the work that Dan did around here.
OK? Michelle?
QUESTION: Several people now, family members of 9/11 victims, have said that President Obama told them personally that he wanted to release these classified pages, that he would do that soon.
So in -- we know that it's going through this -- this lengthy process, but does he still in principle agree with declassifying those pages?
13:24:53 EARNEST: Well, Michelle, I'm not going to read out any private conversations that the president may have had.
But I will tell you that in response to these kinds of requests, the administration has moved forward with asking the intelligence community to conduct a classification review of this material, and that is standard operating procedure when the government is considering releasing classified material. We certainly want to make sure that by releasing material that we're not going to create additional problems or vulnerabilities for our national security system. We don't want to reveal sources and methods, for example.
So that review is ongoing and that is part of, like I said, the standard operating procedure for when the -- for when the administration is considering a request to release classified information. And that review is ongoing. QUESTION: (inaudible) saying that -- you're not saying that the moving forward is an indication of his support of declassifying it? Or are you?
EARNEST: What I'm saying is that the -- there is a process in place for evaluating whether or not it is possible to release this information without harming national security. And I'm confident that the president would, while being a stalwart advocate for transparency, would not be supportive of releasing information that could harm our national security.
QUESTION: But several people have said sort of the same thing about what the president told them, you can't say whether he did indeed at the time say those things to those family members?
13:26:17 EARNEST: I'm not going to read out any private conversations the president may have had.
QUESTION: OK, sorry. And on Ukraine, several months ago, whenever lethal aid was asked about, the administration would always say, well, there's a serious concern about not fighting a proxy war or escalating the situation. Obviously, that's a serious concern to the point that at the time, lethal aid would not be considered.
Well, now that it is being considered, has something trumped the risk that is still the same of either escalation or for the proxy war?
13:26:49 QUESTION: Well, that's a good question. And I think what I can say is that it's indicative of the kind of commitment that this administration has to regularly reevaluate and reassess our strategy for accomplishing something. And we do that -- we do that in a variety of areas and this is something that we're constantly focused on, is making sure at every turn that we have a strategy that optimizes our likelihood of success.
And what we have seen over the last several months when it comes to Ukraine is a -- is the success of a strategy of putting intense pressure on -- on the Putin regime by putting in place sanctions. And we've seen that those sanctions that have had a pretty devastating impact on the Russian economy. That's, of course, been coupled with, you know, falling energy prices and other things. And that success would not have been possible without the close cooperation and coordination with our allies and friends in Europe.
But, you know, it has not resulted in the kind of -- of decision- making that we would like to see from the Putin regime that would cause them to actually live up to the kind of commitments they made in the context of the Minsk negotiations. So, that's, you know, that's part of why, you know, we're considering, you know, a wide range of things as it relates to our -- to our strategy.
And, you know, certainly one of the things that we believe is necessary, based on this, you know, constant reassessment is that there is additional economic assistance that can be provided. And that's why the administration early this year put forward a specific request to the Congress to pass legislation that would offer up an additional $1 billion in loan guarantees to the -- to the Ukrainians; to offer up that financial assistance.
The Ukrainian economy has also been destabilized by the activities of the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. So, you know, this is a multifaceted strategy that we're considering very carefully here.
QUESTION: Does the risk of things escalating because of (inaudible) still exist in the administration's opinion?
13:28:57 EARNEST: Well, the -- the concern that we have is, two things. One is the president -- and the president mentioned this in the news conference that he hosted with Prime Minister Modi in India, where the president noted that we were going to -- that this conflict was not going to rise to the level of a military confrontation between the United States and Russia.
The president's been very clear about that. So there are things that we are going to continue to avoid. But, you know, one of the concerns that we have about providing military assistance is it does contain the possibility of actually expanding bloodshed. And that -- that's actually what we're trying to avoid.
The whole reason that we are trying to encourage both sides to sit down and hammer out a diplomatic agreement is to end the bloodshed and end the escalating conflict in that -- in that country. And the fact is, we have seen the Ukrainian government live up to a lot of those agreements and at least try to implement them, but those efforts have been entirely undermined by Russian-backed separatists with the full support of Russia completely ignoring those commitments that they made just a few months earlier. OK.
April?
QUESTION: Josh, I want to ask you a question about Boko Haram. What is the relationship between the United States government and the Nigerian government at this time, particularly as it relates to the fighting against terror in Nigeria with Boko Haram?
13:30:27 EARNEST: Well, April, I can tell you that there continues to be an interdisciplinary team in Abuja, right now. These are -- these are government officials with a wide variety of skills and expertise, some of them in the military, who are offering counterterrorism assistance to the Nigerian government.
And we certainly are supportive of the efforts taken by the Nigerian government to try to combat this counter -- this terror threat that they face in their country.
Now, we have in the past and I'll do it again expressed concerns about some of the things that the Nigerian government has done in the name of counterterrorism that has trampled some of the basic universal human rights that we are very protective of in this country. And we have urged them, as they take these steps to address terrorism in their own country, to be respectful of the human rights of their people. But certainly we -- you know, we have an ongoing security and counterterrorism cooperating -- cooperation relationship with the Nigerian government, and that relationship continues.
QUESTION: (inaudible), that statement that you just made, what is the level of expectation from this White House as it relates to the upcoming elections in Nigeria as well as the finding any of the missing girls?
EARNEST: Well, certainly we want to assist the Nigerian government in carrying out -- or supporting them as they carry out an election that is free and fair and transparent, and ends with a result that reflects the genuine will of the Nigerian people.
QUESTION: Does that mean a change in government, a change in leadership?
13:32:02 EARNEST: No, that's a decision for the Nigerian people to make. And we certainly want to support the Nigerian government as they hold an election that is open and transparent and actually has a result that reflects the will of the Nigerian people.
You know, our efforts to support their -- the Nigerian-led operation to try to safely recover the Chibok girls is -- it continues. This is very, very difficult work and, you know, our concern about this continues.
QUESTION: I want to ask one last question on this. There's a lot of concern and a lot of conversation about ISIS. a lot of news stories about ISIS. But how does this White House look at ISIS versus Boko Haram? ISIS is more of a threat than Boko Haram or are they both kind of on the same equal footing as terror items affecting the world? How are they viewed?
13:33:00 EARNEST: Well, you know, April, I can send you to somebody at the National Security Council that may be able to give you a more thoughtful answer. But I'll take a crack at it.
And the way that the president views these kinds of things is through the prism of what's best for American national security and our security interests around the globe.
And that is how the president determines the appropriate level of the U.S. involvement in these efforts and it is how we evaluate the kinds of steps that we need to take, whether it's direct military intervention or otherwise, to try to help these countries counter these extremists that are operating in their -- in their country.
So I guess the point is, it's difficult to compare them because we consider each of them individually on a case-by-case basis and evaluate them by looking at what impact they have on American national security.
But if -- I can put you in touch with somebody in the National Security Council who may be able to give you a more detailed assessment than that. OK. Bill?
QUESTION: Regarding the Anthem (ph) data breach, the federal government spent $26 billion to help the health industry convert to electronic records, and the deadline was last month. And yet, the FBI says that the cyber security there is -- the standards are "very lax," their words. So after all that investment, why isn't the health care system security more robust?
13:34:25 EARNEST: Well, Bill, I can tell you that that conversion to electronic health records has saved money and saved lives. And that's the principal reason for doing that.
And so, you know, this -- this -- this issue of cyber security is something that industries all across the country and around the world are grappling with right now. This is a persistent problem in the financial industry. We know that the entertainment industry late last year had a rather high profile issue that they were dealing with.
And it is one that affects the -- the -- you know, the health care industry as well. And that's why it's so important for us to take a comprehensive approach to dealing with this challenge. And that's part of the goals of the legislation that we've put forward and hope that Congress will pass, and it's certainly the kind of thing that will be under discussion at the cyber security summit that the president's convening next week.
QUESTION: But those goals are not anywhere near translation of legislation.
13:35:23 EARNEST: Well, we -- we have put up -- we've put forward specific legislative language and sent it to Congress.
Now, I recognize that Republicans in Congress may have their own ideas about how they want to change legislation, but certainly, the president has been very forward leaning and aggressive in making exactly clear exactly what he believes this country can do to strengthen our cyber security defenses and better react when a cyber breach has been detected.
QUESTION: Does the administration believe that President Putin has Asperger's syndrome?
(LAUGHTER)
13:36:25 EARNEST: I saw -- I saw that report today. I -- I don't have any comment on that Pentagon report.
QUESTION: Well, I mean, this was -- this was a study done by an outside consultant for the Pentagon, which adds some credibility, apparently.
EARNEST: Well, I'm not saying it's uncredible, necessarily; I'm just saying that I don't have my own personal reaction to it.
QUESTION: Finally, Kerry said in Kiev that the president would decide soon on lethal assistance for Ukraine. What's soon?
EARNEST: I don't have any update in terms of timing for any sort of decision. There -- there's no decision that's been made at this point that I'm aware of.
But like I was telling Michelle, you know, we do have a posture of of -- continually, you know, reevaluating and reassessing the success and progress that we've made based on the strategies that are currently implemented, and part of that evaluation process includes raising the question about whether or not we need to make some changes to our strategy to make us -- to make it more effective. And that's something that we're doing on a continual basis.
But, you know, if there are any high-profile announcements to make around -- around those -- around that strategy, then we'll let you know.
OK? Ed?
QUESTION: Josh, on Pope Francis's speech to Congress, will Vice President Biden attend, or will he be out of the country?
(LAUGHTER)
EARNEST: The -- THE speech from the Pope, I know, is slated for September, and the vice president's schedule for that period of time has not been set but I...
QUESTION: But you'd anticipate he'd be there.
EARNEST: I would anticipate that he would be there.
QUESTION: So why can't you say the same about Prime Minister Netanyahu?
13:37:25 EARNEST: Well, the vice president's schedule for the first week of March is also not yet set.
But as I mentioned earlier -- I guess it was yesterday -- I noted that the vice president takes very seriously the ceremonial responsibilities that he has before the United States Senate. That's everything from participating in swearing-in ceremonies to participating in the convening of joint sessions of Congress.
Now, there has been at least one previous occasion during his tenure as the vice president where he's been unable to attend a joint session of Congress, because he was traveling overseas.
So when we have more details about the vice president's schedule for the first week of March, we'll certainly let you know.
QUESTION: Follow up on the -- the two questions you got about the meeting with Muslim leaders yesterday, we were specifically told that you would not release it yesterday, because they were private citizens who came in. Now, as you yourself noted, the president met with private citizens who were DREAMers -- you know, they're pretty young -- and he brought in TV cameras. We didn't get all their names, but they're private citizens as well.
And I'm sort of curious, is that under -- you suggested at the beginning that you might get the names, so...
EARNEST: Yeah, I'll see if I can do that for you.
I mean, one thing we do know is that the -- the names will be included in the waves records that are released that are on that regular process.
QUESTION: Many months down the road, but...
EARNEST: Yeah.
So they -- they will, at least some point, be released. Let me see if I can get them released sooner.
I know that at least a couple of the individuals who participated in that meeting have spoken publicly about their participation in the meeting, so you know at least...
QUESTION: But doesn't that make it -- just put the list out there, right?
EARNEST: Well, that's what I told you (OFF-MIKE).
QUESTION: Last night, the White House told us they wouldn't put it out. I just want to put that on the record.
EARNEST: OK.
QUESTION: OK. Two quick things.
Jordan -- when Justin asked, I -- I still didn't hear a direct answer, like yesterday.
So will the president help approve more weapons to Jordan?
13:39:07 EARNEST: Ed, we have this continuing security relationship with Jordan...
QUESTION: But there's a crisis right now. Bombs are being dropped in Syria.
I understand the long term, but the king went back there and said, "There's a crisis. We're going in."
So will the president approve it?
EARNEST: Well, Ed, this is a -- the United States remains committed to ensuring that we stand shoulder to shoulder with our partners in Jordan at this very serious time. And it is clear that because of the terrible violence that was released via video yesterday, that -- that that nation is going through a very difficult time, and they can count on their partners in the United States to stand with them at that very difficult time.
And if that means ensuring that they are getting the security assistance that were promised, they can count on the president of the United States being a strong advocate for making sure that they get that assistance that they need.
QUESTION: And to put a finer point on what Justin said about Nancy Pelosi, she said, quote, "I believe the administration should move quickly to give more capacity to Jordanians." So that's why this is not the president's critics on the Hill saying you're slow afoot. It's the top Democratic leaders saying "let's go."
13:40:19 EARNEST: Well, Ed, what I can tell you is that the president will continue, as he has in the past, to be a strong advocate for making sure that the United States is doing all that we can and all that we should and all that we promised we would do to show our support for the Jordanian people, including providing needed security assistance.
QUESTION: Last one, Susan Rice tomorrow is giving a speech about laying out the sort of official national security strategy. Last time this was done was in 2010. And the news reports at the time when the actual speech was looked at said that the point of it was -- the administration's strategy basically was that the U.S. needed to focus on a broader agenda, and not just organize national security policy around counterterrorism.
And that you had to focus on managing threats, use less American power, and not just focus on counterterrorism.
In retrospect, was that naive five years later?
13:41:10 EARNEST: No, I think that -- not at all. In fact, I think, you know, one clear piece of evidence to indicate that that strategy has enjoyed some success is the success that the administration has had and that the president has had in building and leading a coalition of more than 60 nations to take the fight to ISIL and degrade and ultimately destroy them.
That it's not exclusively American planes that are dropping bombs on targets in Syria and Iraq; that we welcome the participation of our allies in Europe, but also some of our allies actually in the region who are working side by side with American military pilots to strike targets on the ground; that we are working closely with Saudi Arabia, for example, to -- to -- to get to work on a program that would train and equip moderate Syrian opposition fighters so that they can take the fight on the ground to ISIL.
And I think that is an indication of how we can use American influence to protect American national security interests.
Now, of course, and I had this conversation with Michelle (ph) a bit yesterday, of course the United States military is taking a leadership role. And they are shouldering most of this burden. But by making sure that we're including our partners that also have significant military capabilities, we can reduce the strain and burden on the American military and on the American taxpayers, by the way, but also do that in a way that gets them more bought-in on this fight. So the United States is not standing alone countering this threat, but that we actually have countries all around the world that are contributing to this effort to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.
QUESTION: Thanks, Josh.
On the AUMF (inaudible).
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
EARNEST: Go ahead, Chris.
QUESTION: On the AUMF, you said you wouldn't rule out tomorrow, at least you said it would be relatively soon. John Boehner told us this morning that he thought that they would get it within a couple of days. Is the language done?
13:43:05 EARNEST: I can tell you that the language is still the subject of ongoing discussions between administration officials and Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill. You will recall that the goal here was to ensure that we submitted legislation that could attract bipartisan support. And to that end, what we have done is try to consult with Democrats and Republicans in advance of submitting that language so that we could have some reasonable degree of confidence that the legislation would get exactly that kind of support, both from Democrats and Republicans.
QUESTION: So it's not settled?
EARNEST: I think it's fair to say that we have made substantial progress since the president convened that meeting a couple of weeks ago where this -- where this was discussed.
QUESTION: The other thing that John Boehner said today was that it was going to be incumbent upon the president to make the case about why we have to fight this fight. And he suggested that actually passing the authorization -- I'm going to quote him -- "this is not going to be an easy lift." Does the White House anticipate that this is going to be tough to pass?
13:44:05 EARNEST: Well, I -- I would anticipate that when we're talking about an issue as weighty as an authorization for the commander in chief to use military force, that these are very serious issues and that people have some very strongly held views about it. And so I would anticipate that there will be a very robust debate. And let's face it, things that aren't that serious have a hard time getting through the United States Congress these days.
So when we're talking about something as weighty as an authorization to use military force, I would anticipate that it will require substantial effort from certainly the leaders in both parties in both chambers of Congress. But I think, as evident from the robust consultation that has taken place between the administration and Capitol Hill, that the administration is also committed to dedicating some resources to the passage of this new AUMF.
And the reason for that, and it's important that people don't lose sight of this, the president believes it sends a very powerful signal to the American people, to our allies, and even to our enemies, that the United States of America is united behind this strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL; that across branches of government and even across political parties, even in this divided time in our nation's political history, at least, that Democrats and Republicans are committed to this very important task.
QUESTION: Do you expect, even though there will be some robust debate, it will get done?
EARNEST: Well, I'm not gonna make a prediction like that. What I will make a prediction is that -- that we are gonna work very closely with Democrats and Republicans to try to move this through both houses of Congress.
But I'll let people who are much more astute analysts of congressional action give you an approximation of the likelihood of the passage of a new AUMF.
QUESTION: And, I just want to ask you about the visit by Benjamin Netanyahu and that fact the president is not going to be meeting with him. It certainly looks like he's likely to win re- election, even before this happened. So, we're sort of anticipating. How problematic is this for the president, shall we say less than cozy relationship with Mr. Netanyahu, and has this been damaging overall to U.S.-Israeli relations?
13:46:15 EARNEST: Well, let me just state at the beginning that I'm -- that I'm not gonna speculate about the outcome of the election because, again, I wouldn't want even my uninformed speculation about Israeli politics to be construed as interfering in that -- in that election in any way.
But what I can talk about is the relationship between the -- between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu. And I think what is clear from the public statements of both men is that the counterterrorism and security relationship between our two countries has never been stronger.
In fact, it's the prime minister himself who said that the level of security cooperation between the United States and Israel is unprecedented. And that reflects a commitment from people on both sides of this relationship working together to pursue the national security interests of both their countries.
It's in the interest of the United States of America for the United States to have a strong security relationship and security partnership with Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East. It's also important to the people of Israel that they have a strong and functioning security relationship with the United States.
13:47:29 Just last year, when innocent Israeli citizens were in the line of fire from extremists in Gaza who were firing rockets across the border, the United States acted to ramp up our assistance to the Israelis and provide additional funding for the Iron Dome program so that that program could be resupplied. And the Iron Dome program is the program that's used to shoot down rockets that are destined for Israeli population centers.
So, you know, there is an important relationship between our two countries. And both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama have succeed in ensuring that that strong relationship continues to serve very well the populations of both our countries. OK?
So, what Mr. Schultz (ph) has passed to me is that apparently, Justin, in answering your question, I misspoke. And I don't actually remember even misspeaking, but apparently I did.
So, I noted that the United States and Jordan earlier this week, just two days ago, had signed a memorandum of understanding between our two countries. Apparently I said a billion when I meant to say million.
But the memorandum of understanding relates to $300 million to $400 million a year -- million dollars a year -- in security assistance through 2017. Apparently I said billion, and I regret the error.
So, J.C.?
QUESTION: What's the difference, really?
(LAUGHTER)
Back to the Arabian Peninsula. Does the situation in Yemen, which we haven't really discussed in about a week, raise the threat level to the United States? And does it raise the threat level in the region? And can you update us on the situation there vis-a-vis the U.S. presence?
13:49:07 EARNEST: I assume you're asking the question because of some of the reports overnight about an operation that may have taken out a senior AQAP leader and some other fighters there.
QUESTION: Among other (inaudible).
EARNEST: Right. I -- I know that the -- that the reporting speculated on U.S. involvement. And I'm just -- as in previous cases where these kinds of things have been reported, I'm just not gonna be in a position to comment on them.
But what I can say is that the president's been very clear about the need to continue our counterterrorism operations in Yemen. Those operations -- those counterterrorism operations continue.
I know there's also been some reporting that speculated that the coordination between the United States and Yemen had been stopped, in light of the political instability there. Those reports were inaccurate. The United States and Yemeni national security officials continue to coordinate on these efforts.
And they do reflect that AQAP continues to be one of the, if not the most dangerous Al Qaida affiliate out there, that they have substantial capabilities when it comes to bomb-making, and they have carried out dangerous attempts to strike the U.S. homeland.
And so we continue to be very cognizant of that threat, and we continue work vigilantly with the Yemeni national security officials to counter that threat.
But as it relates to specific reports on specific operations, I'm not in a position to comment on them.
QUESTION: Do you have anymore information on the possibility that they could be -- the Houthis, in fact, could be taking direction from Tehran?
13:50:40 EARNEST: Well, what I've said about this in the -- in the past, J.C., I believe still applies, which is that we are concerned about some of the ties between that movement and the Iranian regime, but we have not -- we don't have clear evidence, at least the last time that I talked about this with our national security team, that Iran is exercising any sort of command-and-control authority at this point.
QUESTION: Thank you.
EARNEST: OK? Alexis?
QUESTION: Josh, just to follow up on the lethal-aid-to-Ukraine question, is President Obama expecting to be influenced by Chancellor Merkel's stated position on this since he will be seeing her next week and the vice president will be seeing her? Is -- is the position of the German chancellor on this question a major influence to the president's own decision about whether the U.S. should be helpful?
13:51:38 EARNEST: Well, Alexis, I don't want to read out any sort of -- any private conversations between the president and Chancellor Merkel.
You'll recall that on our flight back from Saudi Arabia, I believe, that the president did have the opportunity to speak on the telephone with Chancellor Merkel. I don't know if that was on the flight from India to Saudi Arabia or from Saudi Arabia on the way back. But last week, the president, on Air Force One, did have the opportunity to visit with her.
And, you know, the president speaks with the chancellor quite frequently on a wide range of issues, not just, you know, the conflict in Ukraine but on the economic situation of the E.U., particularly as it relates to -- to Greece. There're a whole host of other areas where the United States and Germany cooperate very closely.
And I think that is an indication to you that the personal opinion of the German chancellor matters a great deal to the president.
And he values her advice and insight, he certainly wants to understand her perspective when it comes to the impact that U.S. decisions could have on Germany and on the people of Germany, and that is why it's critical that they have the kind of -- of relationship where they can speak frankly with one another and where they can faithfully represent the views of their people and advocate for the best interest of their two countries.
And so often what they find when they talk is that the national security interest of the people of Germany are very cleanly aligned with the security interest of the United States and the people of this country. And that's what makes us such close allies, and that's why the president's looking forward to her visiting the White House next week.
QUESTION: And can you say whether the president's assessment of this question might conclude in time for him to join the chancellor in talking about this -- Washington next week?
EARNEST: Well, I don't have any -- any previews to offer of their discussion.
QUESTION: Can you say what access the media will have to (OFF- MIKE)?
EARNEST: We're working through it. I believe that we are looking at doing a news conference that day, so maybe you'll have -- maybe you'll have the opportunity to ask her about the discussion.
QUESTION: And one other question about the president's meeting with the Muslim leaders -- I don't know what you want to call them -- can you describe how the president wants to use that conversation -- the discussion that he had in the context of a summit on violent extremism?
How will it help him in his thinking and to use practical mechanisms, either through that summit or follow-ons to the summit, to accomplish some of the goals he's already stated.
13:54:05 EARNEST: Well, as you saw -- as you probably saw from the readout that we did from the meeting, the conversation was rather broad. It didn't just focus on our ongoing counterterrorism efforts or our efforts to try to counter radicalization attempts by extremist groups, that there was an opportunity for the president to have a pretty wide-ranging discussion with them about middle-class economics, about the importance of signing up for -- for health care, if you don't have it, before the February 15th deadline at healthcare.gov <http://healthcare.gov/>.
There were a whole range of -- of topics that they discussed, but certainly, this is one of them.
And, you know, one of the benefits of convening this summit on countering violent extremism is that we can bring together leaders in law enforcement and leaders in communities across the country, including leaders in the Muslim American community, to talk about what we can do to try to counter the radicalizing messaging from extremist organizations.
These kinds of extremist organizations, because of technology, have more opportunities than they previously did to try to get inside the minds of vulnerable young people in this country. That's true in the Muslim community, but it's true in -- of all young people all across this country.
And so one of the things that we're going to do in the context of that summit is spend some time talking to law enforcement leaders and leaders in communities across the country, including the Muslim American community, about some of the best practices that they have implemented to try to safeguard their communities.
And we want to create a scenario where we can identify these best practices and communicate them to communities all across the country. And certainly, we're going to value the kind of input that we get both from law enforcement, but also from community leaders, both of whom have a really clear interest in protecting the people in their community.
OK? Jared?
QUESTION: Josh, in addition to being a spiritual leader, the Pope is also a head of state. Was there any departure from protocol in the invitation in September?
EARNEST: Not that I'm aware of.
QUESTION: On the authorization for the use of military force, you've said "reasonably soon and relatively soon," a semantic difference of which I was not aware.
EARNEST: Neither am I. There's none intended. QUESTION: OK. What is the package that the president will be delivering reasonably or relatively soon? Because we've talked about -- you've talked about a dissatisfaction with the 2001, 2002 AUMF. You've also talked about the need -- the express need for a new document governing the Iraq and Syria actions. And there's also been a repeal.
Will this be three separate documents? I guess the -- the thrust of the question is: Will there be repeal language also submitted? And will there be another umbrella document, another umbrella authorization to replace the 2001, 2002, which the president has thus far relied on for the actions in Syria?
13:56:58 EARNEST: The -- you asked a series of questions there, none of which seemed illegitimate to me. But the vast majority of them will be -- will be...
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
EARNEST: Not a compliment, just an observation.
The -- many of those questions will be much easier to answer after we've made an announcement. What you can expect is specific legislative language that Democrats and Republicans have worked with the administration to produce. And we're hopeful that that -- that that language will earn majority support in both the House and the Senate, and will attract the support of both Democrats and Republicans in building that majority.
What exactly is in the -- is in the content of that language is something that we'll -- something that I'll be in a position to discuss with you after that language has been released.
There is one element of your question, though, that I did want to clarify, which is that at one point you described the president needing some additional authorization. And the fact is, the president does believe that the military force that he has already authorized was -- was something -- the military force that the president has already ordered was already authorized by the United States Congress under the 2001 AUMF.
So, this is not a matter of -- of legal necessity. It is a matter, however, of the president's desire to send a very clear signal to the people of this country, to our allies and to our enemies, that the United States of America and our political system is united behind the strategy to degrade and destroy ISIL that the president has laid out.
QUESTION: Despite the fact that the president in something that wasn't in the prepared remarks, but was in his statement in the State of the Union saying we need that authorization.
13:58:45 EARNEST: And I think that was an attempt to make the case to members of Congress. It did not reflect a change in our legal analysis, but rather him urging that the broader operation would significantly benefit from this kind of bipartisan show of unity.
QUESTION: Let me just ask it one other way, which is: Should the document that we'll get soon be something that's specifically just for ISIS in Syria and Iraq? Or will it more largely address the authorizations that have governed the president's actions so far?
EARNEST: Stay tuned.
QUESTION: OK.
EARNEST: Mark?
QUESTION: Josh, over at the prayer breakfast today, President Obama offered a public welcome, public greeting and even public words of praise for the Dalai Lama. What should Chinese leaders take from that?
13:59:40 EARNEST: Well, the president has on previous occasions had the opportunity to meet with the Dalai Lama here at the White House. The -- the two leaders did not meet on His Holiness's visit to the White House this time.
The -- but, you know, I think the president's respect for and appreciation of the Dalai Lama were pretty clearly articulated in the remarks that he delivered today and it's not different from the -- the sentiment that the president has previously expressed in the context of meetings that he's hosted with the Dalai Lama on previous visits to Washington.
You know, the -- the -- as longstanding as the president's appreciation for the Dalia Lama is, so is the Chinese government's objections to those kinds of interactions.
But -- but, you know, that -- we're certainly cognizant of that impact, but it hasn't changed the president's view.
QUESTION: Was the Dalai Lama here this week at the White House? Is that what you were saying?
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... meet with the president?
EARNEST: No, I was saying he did not.
QUESTION: He wasn't at the White House?
EARNEST: Not that I'm aware of, no.
(CROSSTALK)
EARNEST: I'm sorry?
QUESTION: You said the White House, instead of maybe Washington. You said White House.
14:00:48 EARNEST: OK. Sorry about if I was unclear. The president did not meet with the Dalai Lama on this visit to Washington.
QUESTION: And will not?
EARNEST: And will not.
QUESTION: OK.
EARNEST: Sorry about that, Mark.
QUESTION: Thanks, Josh.
EARNEST: Byron (ph), I'll give you the last one.
QUESTION: Thanks, Josh.
Can I follow on the AUMF? What is the president going to do to get this across the finish line? Do you have a legislative strategy mapped out? And how much will the president personally be involved?
14:01:14 EARNEST: Well, Byron (ph), I would say that the key part of our legislative strategy is one that's being executed right now, which is to work very closely with Democrats and Republicans in both the House and the Senate to put together language that we believe and that they believe can attract a bipartisan support in Congress.
And, what the president's interested in is not just passing this AUMF, but being able to demonstrate some bipartisan support for it. And that is a critical part of our efforts.
Because, again, the goal here is to demonstrate clearly to the American people, to our allies and to our enemies that there is strong support for this commitment to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.
And so, you know, the core of this strategy is coordinating on the front end to make sure that we have the kind of language that Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill feel like they can support. And after this legislation is submitted, then we will -- you know, we're gonna work closely with Democrats and Republicans to try to move this across the finish line.
QUESTION: Is there a staffer at the White House who's taking responsibility for this, the negotiations with Congress? Is there a point person?
14:02:15 EARNEST: Well, there are -- I don't think there is a point person that I would describe to you, but certainly you can imagine that there are officials in the counsel's office, obviously our Legislative Affairs Department is keenly interested in this, as are members of the national security team.
So we've got a large number of people who are working on this effort, And I think what you could also expect, Byron (ph) is that -- that those members, both the lawyers, the leg. affairs team and the members of the national security team will remain engaged in this effort. So if there are specific questions that members of Congress have about the language and they want to talk about somebody on the national security team about it, they'll get those phone calls returned. If they have a more legalistic question that they would like to ask, we can certainly put them in touch with a lawyer who understands the legal argument that the -- that the administration supports.
But, you know, we're gonna continue to stay engaged even across the wide variety of people who are involved in this -- in this ongoing effort.
QUESTION: One last question: When the president and Chancellor Merkel spoke, did they discuss her diplomatic efforts with Russia in that call?
EARNEST: I don't have anything to add to the -- to the readout of that call that we put out. So I can pull that readout for you and give you a chance to take a look. OK?
Thanks a lot, everybody. Have a good day.
END