briefing to talk about the guidelines to implement funding for the semi conductor industry. the secretary also took questions about president biden's recent remarks on members of congress support for former president trump. [inaudible conversations]

>> hi, everyone. good afternoon. welcome back. i know you are excited to be back with us. i'd like to introduce secretary raimondo who's been here many times before and we are excited to have her back to announce the next step the department of commerce is taking to implement the $50 million of the chip act funding so with that i will turn over. >> thank you. hello, everybody. it's great to be here, and this

is a very exciting day for those of us that are obsessed with ann excited about the chips. thanks to president biden's leadershipde into the bipartisan work in congress, we now have an incredible opportunity to unleash the next generation of american innovation, protect our national security and preserve our global economic competitiveness. as we have talked about for decades in the united states, our innovation ecosystem and investments in innovation have been in decline and today begins a chapter in revitalizing innovation and research and development and today we begin to reverse the decline and lead the world again and semi conductor innovation and research and development. chips for america as the bill is called represents a historic investment in our domestic manufacturing industry which has critical implications for the economic and national security.

with thisou funding, we will mae sure the united states is never again in the position where our national security interests are compromised or key industries are immobilized due to our inability to produce essential semi conductors here at home. this past year we saw the impact of the shortage on american families when car prices drove a third of inflation because of the lack of chips. factory workers were for the load, appliances were often unavailable all because of the lack of semi conductors. and as our economy and military become more reliant on technology, it's that much more essential that we develop a strategy witha valued outcomes into structures that enable us to plan for an economy and manufacturing infrastructure that positions us to compete today and into the future. so i want to take the next few minutes to lay out for you where we are and how the department of commerce plans to implement the

$50 billion in funding that we will be overseeing. so, with the funding we are setting out to achieve four primary objectives. first, to establish and expand domestic production of leading-edge semi conductors in the united states. today the unitedhe states consus more than 25% of the world's leading edge chips and produces zero of those. number two, we want to build a sufficient andnd stable supply f mature semi conductors. we consume 30%, produced 13%. we need to fix that. number three, invest in research and development to ensure the next-generation technology is developed and produced right here in the united states and number for the process of doing all this we will create tens of thousands of good paying manufacturing jobs and more than 100,000 construction jobs.

this will ensure the pipeline orfor these jobs expands to include people who have historically not had a chance to participate in this industry, including women, people of color, veterans and people in rural areas and that is required in the statute and we will carry sout congress' intent. to achieve these goals, chips for america will support three distinct initiatives. two of those initiatives which total $39 billion will make investments in domestic chip manufacturing here in the united states. first we will make large-scale investments in leading-edge manufacturing. chips for america will target approximately $28 billion in manufacturing incentives to establish domestic production of leading-edge logic and memory chips that require the most sophisticated processes available today. second we will invest about

$10 billion in new manufacturing capacity for mature or current generationur semi conductors. this will help us increase domestic production across a range of chips including those that are used in cars, medical devices, communication technologies and the third day and finally, we are going to make historicll investments to strengthen america's research and innovation leadership. $11 billion, and this is not as talked about. we always focus on the incentives for the companies but in many ways this could be the most exciting piece of what we're doing. $11 billion will go to research and development programs including the creation of the national semi conductor technology center. in terms of timelines, we expect to be in ati position to receive applications from companies no later than february of 2023 so we are targeting 2023 to put the notice of funding opportunity on the streete so companies can

begin to apply. our priority is funding applications for incentive programs. it will be put out on a rolling basis and we will evaluate each application one at a time. before i close, i want to take a second to send a very clear message about how we plan to protect taxpayer dollars in this program. this isn't a blank check for companies. this isn't for them to pad their bottom line. there are guardrails and the department of commerce intends to be vigilant and aggressive in protecting taxpayers. funds cannot be used for buybacks. funds are not intended to replace private capital. that is key. we are going to look at every nickel of taxpayer money. the funds are only used to fill the gaps and secure other funding as loann guarantees, not to replace private capital.

the funds are intended to help companies maximize the scale of their projects. we are going to be pushing companies to go big and be bold so if a company already has funding now for 10 billion-dollar projects, we want them to t think bigger and convince us how they can go from 10 billion to 50 billion with use of the taxpayer financing. we the commerce department has the ability to claw back money and maketo no mistake about it e will use that authority if after giving the money to a company they failed to start their project on time or complete on time, fail to meet the commitments that they've made. we will also implement the guardrails to ensure those who receive the chip funds cannot compromise national security. they are not allowed to use the money to invest in china. they can't develop leading-edge technologies in china.

they can to send technology overseas. these are some of the most stringent taxpayer protections and guardrails we've ever had and of the american people are counting on us to get it right and it's the responsibility we take very seriously. i will just end by thanking the president and congress for their leadership. no one has done more to revitalize the manufacturing of then president biden and chips for america is a key component of that work. orwith this we are going to jumpstart the high tech manufacturing and economic growth and create the kind of jobs that will create opportunity for americans, high wage jobs we want our children toh have. we will revitalize the ecosystem thatte for decades has been withering and we will add a rocket fuel to our global competitiveness and ensuring that america maintains its status as a leader for generations to come. first and foremost this is about

protecting the national security and providing a blueprint for long-term economic prosperity. weos are excited people say to e secretary, the chips past. what do we do now, we get to work and we decided to do that work. >> on the point about protections a huge sum of money, universal. [inaudible] walk me through how this works ensuring the companies don't have leverage given how much -- >> today we put out the strategy document which i'm sure you've read every word of. we put out the document that sets forth the principles and criteria at a high level and now

we begin the work of putting forth between now and february more granular criteria with strings attached. so, what we know is companies who receive the funding can't use the funds to invest in other countries or for stock buybacks. companies that receive the funds can have the advanced facilities in china -- a team at the commerce department of experts. we ares. going to have folks tht haveng a history of these negotiations from the private sector, semi conductor industry experts and we are going to negotiate these deals one at a time and really to prove to us

we arehe going to need proof frm them in the form of financial disclosures and capital investment plans. prove to us the money is absolutely necessary to make these investments. they are not going to get any more than necessary to make thee investments and as i sit in the beginning this is money to make them more profitable or pad the bottom line. toto make the investments and ao invest in the community. >> on different topics, reviewing the situation with tick-tock when do you expect that will resolve itself and will the administration take any action and how well we address security concerns? >> reit's under review and i hae nothing more on that today.

>> that wouldn't preclude the administration on some good where does that stand right now? >> i have nothing on that. it's been in the public domain for quite some time. it's fair to assume it's not going to happen before the midterms? >> i don't have anything else to say. it felt on-topic, go ahead. >> you talk about this stringent review and information posted by february. how quickly is an american going to get hired with this money and how quickly before somebody is buying a phone with one of these american-made chips? >> great question. you've already seen chip

companies making big announcements. micron is announcing a facility. i was just in new hampshire on sunday breaking ground on a new facility. intel announced a new facility. of these investments have been made by these companies because the act passed and they have confidence now that the money out the door so i can't answer you, you know, how quickly exactly a specific chip is going to come but you are already seeing it. they've made an announcement to 5 billion in texas, so i would say immediately the effects are immediately being felt. in terms of our process, february like you said we will begin the process. i think i'm going to hope to start putting money out the door next spring to specific companies. there is going to be a range of

projects. they will be smaller simpler projects may be for an expansion of existing facilities and then there will be very large complex leading-edge projects. i think you could see in the spring ofin next year some of te smaller money going out the door. >> you listed a very stringent listli of criteria. can't be invested in stock buybacks, can't be made or sold in china unless -- a bunch of other things. do you know if companies existkn right now that are willing to meet those demands you checked that before you published? >> yes. they are ready to gond with whas there? >> yes. >> do you have the money necessary to hire those negotiators? [inaudible] make a big government investment multi million dollars and then the money is mismanaged.

>> what we are doing right now is were are in the process of hiring about 50 people. we do have the money. they will be experts and i have absolute confidence we will be able to do this. also the answer to the first question is again, micron wouldn't be announcing a massive expansion in idaho if chips were not passed so yes they know the strings attached and yes they will operate under those strings. >> final question. >> cank you talk more about the nsprotections over the guardrais from doing work with china? the administration was pushing back on intel's plans to boost silicon production in china. has that kind of plan stopped and will that prevent companies like intel from getting this kind of funding? >> as i've said if they take the

money they can't use it to invest in china were building leading-edge free period of ten years if they expand its only to serve the i chinese market and y the way, if they take money and then do any of those things we will pull back the money. >> is there some type of clause they will be able to start this production now or does the fact they've already announced this allow them toou continue with those plans? >> it's going to be on a case-by-case basis. here's what i can tell you the number one objective of implementing this is to protecta america's national security. every deal we do, every criteria that we evaluate it's going to be with a lens toward protecting national security so we won't allow anything to happen that we think undermines our national security. >> thanknk you, secretary.

>> thank you. thanks, everybodys, and a secretary. i have one thing at the top and then you all know we probably have about 30 minutes or so for the next event. i want to take a moment to acknowledge the attack in canada over the weekend. it's senseless into devastating. i won't get ahead of the canadian law enforcement as they continue their work. our thoughts are with the victims of this horrific attack. we stand with canada and all those affected by this tragedy and condemn this senseless violence.

[inaudible] >> he's going to speak to her o later today this afternoon. he's planning to call her to congratulate her, the new prime minister, so that's going to happen later this afternoon. >> another one of the fatal shooting i wanted to know the white house reaction to the conclusion and then also whether it is acceptable to the president that no one will be held accountable. >> i know this report came out yesterday as it was reported by the defense forces asy you just said we have extended our deepest condolences toto the family, a renowned palestinian american journalist who was killed in the west bank and we strongly condemn this killing is aswe have for the past several months. sheo was an inspiration to millions and a friend to many in

the u.s. government. her death is a great loss and tragedy. we continue to call on all sides to maintain calm and avoid further escalation. as you just mentioned and i just said, it was reported yesterday that the israeli defense forces had concluded that the investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death and stated that there was a high possibility that her death was accidentally hit by idf gun fire. we welcome the review of this tragicen incident and underscore the importance of accountability in the case such as policies and procedures to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future. our thoughts remain with the family as they grieve this tremendous loss. not only was she in american citizen as i mentioned, she was a fearless reporter whose

journalism and the pursuit of truth earned her the respect of audiences around the world. [inaudible] evenen after president zelenskyy said he asked not to take that step. why does the president think that? is it about keeping the diplomatic channels open? >> as the president has said, and as we do think as well, it is not the most effective or strongest path forward as we have said many times to hold russia accountable. this designation could have unintended consequences to ukraine and the world. forr example according to humanitarian expert and ngos we've spoken to, it could seriously affect the ability to deliver in areas of ukraine and could drive critical humanitarian actors away to help

mitigate the global food crisis. it's led to the million tons of ukrainian experts reaching those on the horn of africa. it would also undercut unprecedented multilateralun conditions to holding putin accountable to support ukraine at the negotiating table. so - we do not think this is the most effective way to go where the strongest path forward. >> about inadvertently punishing allies into the trade relations. we put in place a severe consequences to impose such designation the sanctions export oucontrols affect efforts from e

global e economy or that are having a significant impact, so that's the way we've kind of scene with the work that we've alreadyav done. russia defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in more than a century. as we've said we are choking off their military supply chain for example russia has to rely on north korea, as you all heard, and iran for their equipment. and just last week, the g7 committed to implement a price cap to push down the price of putin's oil and stop him of his main source of revenue to fund this war. so our course of support, we of course, are going to support using further tools that will work to promote accountability for russia's war against ukraine, and so that's going to be our focus as we move forward. >> when the president speaks with of the new prime minister of the unitedis kingdom, well he discuss the northern ireland arrangements? is there an expectation that he will call on the pre- minister

to delay implementation in the protocol bill that would allow the unitedki kingdom to override of the provisions in the agreement between northern ireland and the republic of ireland? >> i'm not going to get ahead or speak to what the president might say or will say on the call.sa i will say this, they will have a readout after the call later this afternoon. but he has been clear about his continued interest in northern ireland. our priority remains protecting the gains of the belfast good friday agreement and preserving peace, stability and prosperity for the people of northern ireland. i'm not going to get ahead of what the president will say. >> the uk is obviously going through some serious economic concerns. they have an energy crisis that's been going on. is there any room for a, assistance for more to be done in terms of supporting and lowering energy costs? >> you've heard us say this, that s what we see russia is dog

-- and we've been clear about this -- they are using energy, web and rising energy and its one of the things that has been out there that shut down the pipeline of the nordstrom. the sanctions we impose stand in the way of the pipeline from continuing obligating. so the u.s. and europe have been collaborating to ensure sufficient supplies are available. as a result of the efforts, they will be full by the critical winter heating season, so we have work to do. but we are working closely with our allies on w this. >> is there any status update on the u.s. and uk trade negotiations and do you expect that to be a topic? >> i don't have any updates on that. again, i'm not going to get ahead of what's going to be the call, on what the president is going to say to the pre- minister. we certainly will have a readout for all of you once it is done. >> just one question. the president tweeted earlier

today, and i want to be clear about every threat. [inaudible] but doesn't talk about any steps of the maga republican. but he talked about how it back to the agenda on the inflation reduction act or the recovery act, and more broadly he talked about how the republican party isn't your grandfather's republican party, the whole partyy has changed. can you talk about what group of people does heha think are maga republicans and when he says not one does he mean every republican in congress is essentially a maga republican? >> he's been clear when he talks about the old trust maga republicans and the leadership in the republican party. one of the first times, he actually used the term to talk about rick scott's plan, which

was to your point, using an agenda that they had, which was to put medicare and social security on the chopping block. for him, that was an extreme measure, that's taking away something that if you're thinking about it, medicare, social security, very popular. that's the majority of americans support that. as as well as the inflation reduction act. the majority of -- republicans, democrats and independents support those policies, and you have leaders in the republican party who are offering extreme agenda. so that'sha what he means. and i will just quoted the president on friday. he took actually peter's question, the only reporter he took a question from on friday. and he said, in answering your question about this -- '[laughter] i'm only saying that because peter felt a certain way that i didn't take his question friday. [laughter] but the president did take your

question that day. [laughter] okay, so when people voted for donald trump, this is president biden, and support him now, they were not voting for attacking the capital, they were not voting for overruling an election. they were voting for the philosophy he put forward. so i'm not talking about anything other than it's not only happening here to other parts of the world, where there is a failure to recognize and condemn violence whenever it is used for political purposes, failure to condemn and attempt to manipulate electoral outcomes, failure to acknowledge when elections are won or lost. so that is from the president when he is talking about the leadership, he is talking about the leadership who put out reextreme agenda. also, talking with, and what i just laid out in malta condemning violence when there

is violence v out there. >> just a follow-up. you can talk about what people meant o' didn't mean by voting in the 2020 election, but there are lots of republicans, just regular republican voters who do support, for example, rick scott's ideas about what to do with of the budget or what to do with social securityy or the program. there's lots of republican voters who do agree with the president that they think the election was, the former president, i mean, -- so does he consider, does the president consider all those people who support these extreme agendas that he is talking about to be the maga republican? >> he's been clear that he's talking about officeholders. he's talking about elected officials who have these ultra maga republican agendas, and he's been very clear about that. look, here's the thing. the point that we are making is the majority of americans

support medicare. the majority of americans support social security. the majority of americans support our democracy and want to protect our democracy, want to protect our freedom and protect our rights. and that's who the president is going to continue to stand up for and fight for. i'm going to tryon to call on people i haven't called on yet. go ahead. i don't have a lot of time. >> following up on the question about russia into the spresident's decision. [inaudible] is that a final decision? >> yes it is.s. i will let his words stand for himself. he answered it pretty simply. i laid out why we think it wouldn't be the strongest path forward. i laid out three reasons and also we want to make sure that ukraine has what it means to go to the negotiation table. it's very important that we give

them the strongest negotiation arm that they can have. [inaudible] >> i can't speak to private conversations on this that the president has had with members of congress or president zelenskyy. they spoke recently and we laid out a readout of how the conversation went and what we discussed. i just said i can't speak to what conversations the person had with members of congress. >> when he made the determination -- >> i don't have a timeline on when he made that decision. he was asked that directly yesterday. he inserted that very straightforward. i just laid out what our concerns are..

>> has the president or anyone in the administration been briefed on the intelligence community's assessment on the documents? >> no. >> is there a protocol for that given that we are talking about --ve >> again, and i've said this many times at this podium, we've said this many times on your airwaves, which is we are just -- we get the interest didn't understand. we are notot going to comment on anon ongoing independent investigation as anything that is related to it. this is something the president has been very clear about making sure there is no political interference unit making sure that the department ofe justice has that independence when it comes to investigations. so, just not going to comment on anythingen related to it. >> one more click on a different topic. questions about the maga

republicans. very strong in his language and direct saying the former president posed a threat to america's democracy. does he then denounced the efforts by some democrats. [inaudible] >> i'mm not going to talk about the political action or what is happening in the midterms. i am just -- i'm not going to talk about anything related to the midterms or politics. i cannot standing where i am and in the role that i have. i'm going to go to the back end andthen i will come back up fro. go ahead, sir. >> does president biden believe that trump can claim executive privilege for government documents that he took with him? >> anything related to the independent investigation that

is being done by the departmentg of justice, we are not going to comment. the content or any underlining material, not going to comment from n here. >> she set herself biden hadn't weighed in. that is refuted in the national archives letter. does president biden having an opinion on and has he exerted ashis opinion on whether the executive privilege applies to the former president trump after he left office? >> i am not going to comment about what the judge said yesterday. the court has laid out again that is for the department of justice. this i whole independent investigation. just not going to comment on it at this time. >> the department of veterans affairs put out this morning. [inaudible] offering special incentives. i know we had the conversation in here shortly after the fall of rowe about this idea of

doctors performing abortions on federal land and talked about how. [inaudible] what's changed and what is the legal justification to make this happen? >> i would lead that to the veteran affairs department. it's their decision to make and i will refer you to them. we don't have a lot of time. go ahead. [inaudible] >> the united states and india as i said to you before will continue to work together every day and to deliver

opportunities, security, freedom and dignity to our people. we are partners in many important areas including defense, vaccines, climate, tech andd our ever growing people to people connection. the united states will continue to work to advance a free and open indo pacific and address the challenges both our countries face around the world. that is a commitment that we have and our partnership with india. [inaudible] >> say that one more time. [inaudible] >> we are committed to supporting the afghan people and we've said thatpe many times before. we are proud to be the largest provider of humanitarian oassistance and we are working closely with the united nations and others to provide this assistance directly to the

afghan people without benefit to the taliban. we will remain vigilant against any terrorism threats directed at the united states or our allies as we have demonstrated just recently in july as you know when we took out the leader and we will reprioritize efforts to the afghan allies and welcome our afghan allies to the united states. this is our commitment to them is enduring. so we will also continue to press the taliban for the safe release and to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all afghans including women and girls and that is going to continue to be our commitment. i will just go around and then i will come back to you. >> the president has yet to nominate a permanent ig at the state department and hasn't had a permanent one since before president biden took office.

what is the president and white house doing behind the scenes to find permanent ig is for those important decisions? >> i don't have anything to read about the process in filling the permanent ig's. i would refer you to the state department specifically on anything on what they have laid out and how they've worked through that. i don't have any updates on naming anyone or anything we have to share. [inaudible] >> you asked me what we are doing as well so that's why i said you should go to the state department to figure out what they are doing while we try to figure out the permanent ig's. i don't have anything to preview at this time of the process or where we are on that particular question. >> i know the>> administration s encouraged applying for loan forgiveness. when you. [inaudible]] is there an ending deadline

before applying if there is a sort of deadline considering of course that this was already approved? >> i talked about this last week. you mentioned november 15th. so that is an order that we are saying in order to receive before the payment pause that expires december 31 of 2022. so, that's why we want, as we want to get thatan relief, we wt to also. [inaudible] to make sure as those two things are happening and you are not put in a bind, that's why we recommend doing it by november 15th. with the department of education will continue to process applications as they are received even after it expires on december 301st. so it will be continuing. the reason we gave the deadline of november 15 this because we know the pause is going to be lifted. so to give, as we said, we want to make sure we give americans a little bit of breathing room and

that is why we have that deadline. >> 2023. >> yes>> they can. go ahead. >> a follow-up about the maga republicans. so if we are all in agreement that it's incorrect that it was stolen, what about the 2016 election? >> i'm not going to go back to where we were or what happened in 2016. we are going to focus on the here and now and what's happening today. this inflection point as the president pointed out, very clearly, very decisively in a few speeches about what the country needs to do at this time to bring the country together. and he believes that is where the majority of americans are when it comes to protecting the democracy and when it comes to protecting the rights and protecting the freedoms. that's what we are going to talk about and what we are going to focus on on where we are today. >> trying to understand the new attention on the maga of the maa

republicans, you tweeted. [inaudible] >> i was waiting for when you were going to ask me that question. >> you tweeted. ifle it is extreme now, why wast it then? >> let's be clear the comparison that you made is ridiculous. i have been -- you're asking me a question. let me answer it. [inaudible] >> i was talking specifically at that time of what was happening with voting rights and what was in danger ofd the voting rights. that's what i was speaking to at the time. he and here's the thing. he won the election in georgia. i've been clear about that and i said president trump won the election in 2016 and i've been clear about that. what we are talking about right now let's not forget what happened on january 6, 2021. we saw an insurrection, a mob that was incited by the person

who occupied this campus, this facility at that time. and it was an attack on our democracy. let's not forget people died that day. law enforcement were attacked that day. that was the danger we were seeing at the time. that's what the president has called out and that's what he's goingg to continue to call out. so when you have maga republicans, and extreme party of republicans who just to deny deny ordo not want to really sat exactly happened on that day or say it was a protest when it was not a peaceful protest, that isn't what we saw on that today, yes the president is going to call that out and here's the thing. the majority of americans agreen with him. the majority of americans agree with the president on protecting our democracy and our freedoms youur to protecting our rights. that's what we are talking about today and with the president is going to focus on. we are going to have to move on.

>> wondering if you have any sort of preview about the event tomorrow. [inaudible] >> tomorrow president biden is looking forward to welcoming back president obama and michelle obama to the white house for the unveiling of their official white house portraits. over the course of their eight years together in office in close partnership between the two men grew through the highs and lows of the job and life. president biden and doctor biden are honored to have the former president obama and former first lady michelle obama back to the white house for the unveiling of their portraits, which will hang on the walls of the white house forever as reminders of the power of hope and change.

[inaudible] would president biden hold the same ceremony for president trump but a portrait to be done? >> we need to for those questions to the white house historical association who actually they lead to the process unofficial portraits for both presidencys and their spouses, so that question would go to them. >> is there anymore. [inaudible] >> i don't have anything else to share at this time. if there is more interaction to share, we certainly will. >> going back to the new prime minister, can you talk a little bit about what president biden's relationship is with her and has he met with her in the past? >> that's a good question. i can go back and ask to see if they have a prior relationship, but i do want to say as we talk about theut change that's happening, our countries have a close long-standing special relationship as friends and nato

allies and we are looking forward to continued close cooperation on key priorities including supporting ukraine as it defends itself against russian aggression and addressing the challenges posed by china so we see the relationship not just with the leadership but also the people of the uk. [inaudible] i wanted to ask about whether they've been walking across the southwest border. senator ted cruz has publicly suggested that you come down to see that for yourself. he suggested that you come down and see for yourself whether migrants are crossing the border. is that something you would take him up on? >> i've been to the border. i went in 2018.

i stood outside facilities where the trump administration was separating families, tearing babies out of their mother's arms. some. of those kids still havent been reunited with their families. and so, one thing i will say is i certainly don't need lectures or invitations from republicans about the border were border policies. and i certainly won't take advice on border from anyone who voted against securing record levels of funding for the department of homeland security. and you know, while folks are sending invites i will use this opportunity to invite him or anyone else next time to vote for record funding for dhs as president biden has requested. so we will move on from that. [inaudible] what is the administration doing

to address those kind of tragedies? >> that is tragic when we hear news like that. our hearts go out toto the families, certainly, and that is what we try to work very hard to do to secure the border and make sure that we don't see that type of tragedy and heartbreak. so i know the department of homeland security is working hard to continue to secure the border, to do work that wasn't done in the past several years. so we will continue to focus on that. okay, go ahead. >> go-ahead on kenya. what's going on? [inaudible]

>> i spoke to angola a couple of times last week and the president actually took a question i know on angola specifically about ten days or so. on kenya i will say this. we congratulate william on his election as president of kenya and we also congratulate the people of kenya on the conclusion of a peaceful, electoral process. we commend other candidates for abiding by the supreme court filing, transparent electoral processes and the peaceful and adjudication of disputes are testaments to the strength of the democratic institutions. the united states and canrs yesteryear a strong partnership based on a commitment to democracy, security, economic prosperity. we look forward to enhancing the cipartnership with president and his new government. i don't have any calls or

previews to read out at this time. [inaudible] i'm not going to get ahead of thed special envoy. i know we announced that as you mentioned last week. i'm not going to get into any conversations that he may potentially have. this is a priority for this president and when we have more to share we will. i've got to jump around. go ahead. >> thank you so much.

will there be any action on the nuclear program and can you comment. >> ig don't have anything to share. it's been several weeks now. don't have more to share on that. look, going to -- when it comes to the j jcpoa, i am going to kp it very simple. we've said this many times. we've taken a deliberate and principled approach to these negotiations from the start. if iran is prepared to comply with of the commitments under the 2015 deal then we are prepared to do the same. the administration is preparing equally for the scenarios with or and without a mutual return to the full implementation of the jcpoa.

the president will only conclude a deal that he determined in the interest of the united states. again not going to negotiate or have conversations of hypotheticals and what may or may not happen. we have been very clear aboutwi what we intend and it's to make that iran doesn't acquire a nuclear weapon and that is our ultimate goal. i literallyca have two minutes. [inaudible] >> i don't have a timeline for you. i can give you an update on the status of the negotiations. it's a regular back and forth. we are studying the response and coordination with our allies as you know we have received a response. we are not going to negotiate in public. some gaps have closed in recent weeks. the president will conclude a deal that is in the interest of

the united states. i'm not going to get into further detail. i can take one last question. >> the administration continues to talk about accountability but there hasn't been any. what is the administration going to do to press for accountability, what steps are you taking? >> what i can tell you is wean have been in constant communication and very public about making sure that there is accountability. the u.s. security coordinator finding there's no reason to believe the killing was intentional and instead was the result of tragic circumstances is based on a series of engagements and the totality of the available evidence with

situational and environmental factors. our profound condolences go to the families. we understand the concerns and the examination was conducted by two members with over 42 combined years of forensic expertise in addition to the analysis they were granted full access to both defense forces by summarizingio both investigation they concluded the gunfire from the positions would likely be responsible for the death and found no reason to believe this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances. our hearts go out to the family members. i have to go. i will be back tomorrow --

>> i disagree. one thing the president has been clear about making sure that we stand up for our journalists and the freedom they should be given an order to report whether it's here or across the globe and the president has been clear about fighting foror human rights. that will never change. he's talked about it boldly and clearly and with leaders as well. that is something he respects and he will continue to speak to that.

>> the world changed in an instant but mediacom was ready. traffic soared and we never slowed down. schools and businesses went virtual, and we powered a new reality because of mediacom, we are built to keep you ahead. >> mediacom supporting c-span as a public servicelo