Washington Today (1-8-25): President Biden briefed on LA wildfires, 'anything & everything' to help

welcome to Washington today on cpan radio for Wednesday January 8th 2024 President Joe Biden briefed on the wildfires in Los Angeles calling them astounding and pledging the full support of the federal government in the response he said we're prepared to do anything and everything as long as it takes he was joined by California governor Gavin Newsome president Donald Trump meeting with Senate Republicans in Washington DC to discuss their agenda from border security and energy promotion to tax cuts and the best way to pass them and get them into law leaders of three federal agencies appointed by President Biden who are stepping down with the incoming Trump Administration discuss how policy might change the agencies are the FTC cftc and CDC more reaction to President elect Trump's comments about the us acquiring Greenland if necessary by military force we'll hear from Secretary of State Anthony blinkin Pentagon Deputy spokesperson and the French foreign minister and the Pentagon also talking about what could be the final meeting this week of the Ukraine defense contact group The Coalition that's been arming Ukraine in its war against Russia's Invasion Los Angeles Times reports more than 1,000 homes businesses and other buildings have burned at least two people are dead in wildfires burning across LA County making this one of the most destructive firestorms to hit the region in memory White House said early earlier today at the president's Direction the Biden Harris Administration has been in constant communication with California governor Newsome Los Angeles mayor bass their teams affected counties and other local officials throughout the night federal government has taken action to support local firefighting efforts and Governor Gavin Newsome Democratic California posting on X California secured fire management assistance grants from FEMA to help further ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the Hurst fire eaten fire and pales fire firefighters are working through the night to save lives and battle these aggressive fires California has deployed 1,400 plus firefighting personnel and hundreds of pre-positioned assets to combat these unprecedented fires in La emergency officials firefighters and First Responders are all hands- on Deck through the night to do everything possible to protect lives that was from Gavin Nome today President Joe Biden and the governor were briefed at Santa Monica fire station number five we pick it up with Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony morone so thank you Mr President I'm going to be giving you an update on our eaten fire which is East the county starts all the way up in Lancaster and goes all the way down to the Long Beach border we go from the county line in fentura all the way out to Pomona 4,300 Acres so we have a fire east of the Palisades fire that began last night it's called the eaten fire it's currently 10,600 Acres 0% containment we have over 750 firefighters on the line unfortunately two people have lost their lives residents have lost their lives at the eaten fire it's impacting tens of thousands of homes not only in the City of Pasadena but also the County area of Altadena and we're doing our very best we just had our out of state resources arried from Arizona at the eaten fire to assist us last night as the region one coordinator I contacted the governor's office of emergency services we requested 250 additional engines into LA County with a th000 Personnel we also um are using our inner our compacts with other states like Arizona Nevada Oregon and Washington firefighters from those regions are on their way down to Los Angeles County right now to assist us so thank you for your interest thank you for your attention govern sign today folks the uh fact is that uh I'm directed DOD Mar defense to rapidly provide additional firefighting personnal capabilities also California National Guard is adding two modular air fire fighting system units and two more are being ready for the National Guard the the Nevada National Guard four more uh are coming from northern from the northern command and 10 Navy helicopters water delivered buckets are coming down from San Diego we're prepared to do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires and help reconstruct make sure we get back to gr it's going to be a hell of a long way the uh it's going to take time govern is here to stay everything you need anything you asked you Haven got yet quite the country Mr President just first of all that major disaster declaration being approved next level of appreciation on behalf of all the residents here in Southern California um as the chief said we had prepositioned assets uh this weekend in anticipation of these weather events the complexity of multiple fires of the likelihood of these weather events this wind event will continue with the course of the next many days impacts of over a thousand structures already that have been destroyed 100 plus thousand people uh that have been evacuated lives lost uh Traditions Lifestyles places TNS under uh this means the world to us and and just publicly because I think this is important president happen to be in the region in town it's impossible for me to express uh the level of appreciation uh and cooperation we reeding the White House in this Administration so I beh of all of us Mr President thank you for being here and not just being here today thank you for being here since the minute of this incident when there was a 10ac fire L than 24 or so to go deep gratitude it's astounding what's happening only want my son lives out here in BO they got notification yesterday their home was probably burn the ground today it appears that maybe still standing I'm not sure but the good news is I'm a great grandfather as of today was grandaughter baby girl baby boy so I [Music] remember President Joe Biden and California governor Gavin Nome at a fire station in Santa Monica California Gavin news mentioned that President Biden happened to be in town he came into California because he was going to name two national monuments yesterday that was postponed because of the Windstorm that then turned into the wildfires he and First Lady Joe Biden stopped by the hospital before getting this briefing first lady posting a photo of the two of them holding the baby with the caption we are proud to introduce you to our great-grandson William Brandon Neil IV on the wildfires vice president K Harris who was a US senator from California writing on X I am thinking of those impacted by the wildfires in Southern California and praying for the First Responders who are taking heroic action to help keep Community safe please listen to local officials evacuate immediately if you were told to do so and take care of each other and a spokesperson for her office says her neighborhood in Los Angeles was ordered to evacuate Tuesday night nobody was at the house president-elect Donald Trump has been posting a lot on his truth Social account today about the wildfires and the response including this as of this moment Gavin nuum and his Los Angeles crew have contained exactly 0% of the fire it is burning at levels that even surpassed last night this is not government I can't wait till January 20th and in all caps president-elect Trump writing no water in the fire hydrant no money in FEMA this is what Joe Biden is leaving me thanks Joe President Biden saying he has instructed the defense department to provide more help the Pentagon Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh spoke about this at her news conference at the Pentagon as you probably just saw the president governor Nome and others received a briefing on the devastating wildfires in Southern California which the department continues to monitor at the president's Direction the Department of Defense will provide additional firefighting personnel and capabilities the federal government is working closely with the National Guard which is deployed under the governor's state of emergency declaration the California National Guard is adding two modular air firefighting system units and two more are being readied by the Nevada National Guard the Department of Defense has four additional maths that could be used if needed additionally the department is sending 10 Navy helicopters with water delivery buckets to immediately assist with aerial suppression the Pentagon Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh opening up her news conference one of the questions she got was about whether what they're providing is enough it seems like a slightly anemic um amount of federal assets being provided to the largest fire in California history with the commander-in-chief out there why not flood the Zone if you will with more assets well Jen it's a matter of also can those assets get in the air and right now I mean calire is is um has some of the best capabilities and equipment to fight fires in California um we can surge assets and and the president has directed this department to bolster whatever California needs um but we have to work with California and right now we can't even get assets up in the air because the fires are so bad and because the winds are so bad so until we can do that I mean you're seeing the footage on the ground I know you know you're you're covering ing it as well um until we can get more Assets in the air there's only so much we we can provide so we're going to be standing by to support um in every single way that we can and of course you know you saw the president um has directed the Department of Defense to feed into what California needs but there you know there's safety protocols that have to be followed and until we can get you know additional air support uh in the air you know we're standing by ready to support California with what it needs Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh at her news conference at the Pentagon the US House Homeland Security committee tweeting the committee is monitoring the horrific wildfires in Los Angeles County as fima Works to assist the community our thoughts and prayers are with those impacted and are brave First Responders those in the area should remain Vigilant and follow evacuation orders from local officials and Congressman aim jeffre Democrat from New York the minority leader LED off his news conference in Washington talking about the fire let me Begin by expressing our deepest thoughts uh and prayers with the people of Los Angeles County uh who are in the face of a horrific extreme weather event uh with their lives property homes and families being threatened in a very horrific manner we are thankful for the service and sacrifice of the firefighters and First Responders uh who are racing toward danger to save the lives of others it's exactly why we must continue to support our First Responders our public employees uh and our government agencies that need to be there in times of need for everyday Americans house Democrats are prepared uh to provide any support necessary to this Administration to the state government in California and to the people of Los Angeles County as they navigate through these tragic fires the US House minority leader hakee Jeff today in Washington DC and speaker Mike Johnson Publican from Louisiana posting on X our prayers are with the Southern California communities being devastated by Major wildfires we are grateful to the braady firefighters and the emergency crews responding to this disaster we urge every resident to be safe and listen to your local authorities story from the hill reads that speaker Johnson did not provide any information about disaster Aid amid the California wildfires when asked in the capital on Wednesday we haven't addressed it yet he said when asked if the house will move on disaster Aid and one more article about the fires from ktl TV Los Angeles mayor Karen bass was on her way back to LA Wednesday morning as the city remained Under Siege from several major wildfires when the first of the wildfires broke out Tuesday she was thousands of miles away bass was part of a delegation to celebrate the inauguration of Ghana President John mahama she would also meet with the country's first female vice president during a press conference Wednesday morning bass's Deputy Chief of Staff said the mayor would be on the ground shortly she said I want to assure the community and our city our mayor has been actively engaged 100% of the time the entire last 24 hours throughout this unfortunate event and crisis mayor bass received criticism over the timing of her trip from prominent Republicans as well as Elon Musk and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso that was from KTLA TV this is Washington today president Donald Trump is meeting privately tonight with Senate Republicans in Washington talking about the strategy for passing his agenda including border security tax cuts energy production and the process expected to be used is called a Reconciliation bill which cannot be fusted in the Senate so Republicans could pass it without any Democratic votes the Senate Majority Leader John Thun republican from South Dakota spoke about this on the senate floor today Republicans and Congress are hard at work preparing to address some key priorities through the budget reconciliation process we have a lot to do there to begin with the board of security policies we expect president Trump to implement will need to be fully funded to maximize their effectiveness increasing the number of immigrations and Customs Enforcement Officers and border patrol agents increasing detention space and providing barriers and Technology are just some of the resources needed to secure the Border Mr President border security security is one key part of providing for our national security investing in our military is another and we're working on investing in improvements to military Readiness that will help restore American strength so that we can detour deter I should say our adversaries and keep the peace we're also going to invest in American Energy dominance energy security plays a key role in our national security and Republicans plan to use budget reconciliation to help Advance American energy production another priority is extending the tax relief that Republicans delivered during the first Trump Administration these progrowth policies put more money in Americans pockets and help deliver a strong economy before the pandemic and we need to extend them to protect our economy and the American people from a $4 trillion doll tax hike next year Mr President this is just the start we have a lot of work to do but the American people have chosen the right team to get it done the Senate Majority Leader John th republican from South Dakota on the Senate floor the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer Democrat from New York also spoke today on the floor about President Trump's meeting with the Senate Republicans today president-elect Donald Trump comes to the capital to meet with Senate Republicans we expect they will talk about their first order of business when they assume full control of government and what is the Republican's first order of business going to be will it be helping working people as Donald Trump promised on the campaign Trail will it be in inreasing paychecks or strengthening workers rights or making Healthcare more affordable will it be investing in more Manu American manufacturing jobs like Democrats did three years ago no no and again no Donald Trump and Republicans promised to fight for working Americans but their actions already tell a different story before even entering office Donald Trump is working with Republicans to give very wealthy people and mega corporations another round of trillion doll tax cuts at the same time that Americans are struggling with inadequate health care and not enough inadequate child care and not enough health care and an inability to buy a home these Republicans are talking about helping the mega corporations and wealthy people get tax cuts and many of them are saying let's cut Social Security let's cut Medicare let's cut Health Care let's cut the ability of first-time homeowner to buy a home to pay for for it so instead of working in a bipartisan way to put the needs of working Americans first Republicans are getting ready to Recon to use the reconciliation process to reward the richest Americans and give more tax breaks to America's biggest corporations it's obscene enough that Republicans want to make tax cuts for the ultr rich their first agenda item but it gets worse when you remember they already cut taxes for those same people just a few years ago and we all saw what a disaster it was the last time Donald Trump and Republicans cut taxes for the rich they claimed it would trickle down to the working people to the middle class it most certainly did not Republicans promised the average household would see $4,000 extra per year but in fact real median wages grew less than half of a half of a percent less than half a half of less than half of a half of a percent in the two years that followed following these tax cuts executive pay and bonuses meanwhile soared to record highs stock BuyBacks which only reward shareholders hit a record in 2018 after the Trump tax cuts went into effect the highest income earners in America paid less effectively in taxes than the working class for the first time ever imagine that Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer Democrat from New York on the senate floor the Senate Majority Leader John th Republican also today took the next necessary step to set up a vote on an immigration bill that passed the house yesterday the lak and Riley act that allows Detention of undocumented immigrants arrested for theft charges 60 votes will be needed to advance the bill and quite a few Democrats have already said they will vote Yes Ruben goo of Arizona Mark Kelly of Arizona John fedman from Pennsylvania Gary pet ERS from Michigan Jackie Rosen from Nevada and a procedural vote is expected on Thursday 60 votes needed and Senator th also announced the next two bills the Senate will be voting on are one sanctioning the international criminal court for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister and the born alive abortion survivors protection act which provides babies born alive after an attempted abortion with the same rights to Medical Care as other newborns that vote he said will coincide with the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington on January 24th us house today not in session in honor of former President Jimmy Carter lying in state in the Capitol rotunda the house will debate and vote on the ICC sanctions bill on Thursday as always you can follow the House and Senate live on the cpan networks house on cpan and the Senate on cpan 2 and both on the cpan now mobile app which is free three Federal agency heads who will be leaving when President Trump takes office this month were at events in Washington on what they have accomplished and how things might change with the new Administration those agencies are the Federal Trade Commission commodity Futures Trading commission and Centers for Disease Control and prevention we start with FTC chair Lena Khan interviewed by Bill bear Brookings institution governance studies fellow and former Assistant Attorney General for antitrust in the Obama Administration Katherine rumel Washington Post this morning I don't know if you saw it wrote an opinion piece um that talk generally about how little of uh what Biden has done is going to survive and she took on Annie trust I'll read you uh a short summary of what she said and asked for your reaction she says the courts largely thwarted the administration's anti trust battles against big Tech and its parentheses commendable ban on worker non-compete agreements as for the broader Progressive agenda of making anti trust enforcement less focused on low consumer prices and more on goals work of welfare political power Administration officials have little to show for themselves to it the fate of any ongoing Tech cases will soon be in the hands of the Trump Administration whose top advisors include Tech billionaires I believe you addressed some of this yesterday on CNB BC but give us your reactions well well look it's important to have your analysis closely correspond to the facts and what's actually happened in the courts and you know I rattled off a dozen instances where the courts have actually fully Vindicated what the agencies have been doing uh the doj won a major monopolization lawsuit against Google that's now proceeded to the remedies phase uh and so I think we've kind of racked up pretty significant wins uh with the courts embracing a lot of what we have put forward of course there have been largely thwarted I think the facts uh contradict that entirely um I do think that there is going to be an open question about what in the next few years look like um I think it has been striking that probably in antitrust more than many other areas we do see some bipartisan agreement about the importance of strong anti-monopoly enforcement uh making sure we have checks on you know monopolis ation and corporate power um you know what that commitment looks like at a higher level as translated into specific enforcement choices and specific policy decisions we'll have to wait and see Federal Trade Commission chair Lena Khan at a Brookings institution program today she'll be leaving that position with the incoming Biden Administration story from Reuters us commodity Futures Trading commission chair rostin Benham will step down when president-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan January 20 the agency said on Tuesday Paving the way for Trump to appoint his own Chief and Kickstart a crypto policy overhaul the article says while the cftc which oversees commodity derivatives markets has traditionally been a junior player in financial policy it is expected to play a much more prominent role as Trump's Administration pushes for more crypto-friendly rules here is chair benam at a separate Brookings institution program today speaking about the future of cryptocurrency since the first Bitcoin Futures Contract and binary options self-certified in 2017 I have urged for greater action to provide legal certainty with respect to rapidly developing fintech products like cryptocurrencies there have been a few targeted efforts but overall the digital asset Market has continued to integrate into traditional financial institutions without comprehensive regulatory guard rails concerns regarding customer protections increasing instances of Fraud and Market abuse broader Market resiliency and even Financial stability are intensifying in the absence of federal legislation we've seen this before in our history where we leave large swaths of Finance outside of oversight and responsibility and we have seen time and time again that it ends badly American investors small and large have demonstrated eagerness to incorporate digital assets into their portfolios it's our duty to ensure that when we they do so the full protections afforded by our regulatory oversight are in place and that illegal and illicit conduct is swiftly addressed for the cftc whose role is yet to be determined the crypto era has highlighted the need for our rule set to address the derivatives industry's current course as more entities seek to move away from the traditional and familiar models which have evolved over decades and withstood countless shocks towards structures that combine unique activities around increasingly novel products new questions are ultimately arrived issues regarding vertical integration disintermediation and decentralization raising important questions about conflicts of interest the strength of capital margin and segregation requirements and the role and responsibilities of self-regulatory organizations Rustin benam is chair of the commodity futur trading commission today at the Brookings institution Centers for Disease Control and prevention administrator Dr Mandy Cohen is also leaving her post when the Trump Administration begins in about 2 weeks she was at csis today centers for strategic and International Studies asked about vaccine policy now we know the incoming Trump Administration is going to press for greater study and transparency of vaccine safety and mandates and they're going to tie that to rebuilding trust um there also is the possibility that they're going to take another look at the composition of the acip the the the committee housed at at CDC that reviews vaccines um how can this be managed effectively without going off in the wrong direction and causing damage to further damage to public confidence or to the processes themselves which are essential to keeping that confidence up well first it starts with um knowing that we we care very much about vaccine safety and transparency and want to make sure that that the public understands that and and and sees that on an ongoing basis second you know we have for a very long time made so much progress um to protect the health of of folks using vaccines right it is why we don't see cases of polio um we are starting to see more cases of measles right as such an infe you know it's so contagious it is always the canary and the coal mine um so we um I think that we need to make sure that um we are being clear about the folks who are on those advisory committees what their role is um in in terms of looking at the data and the science and they are from very different walks of life with different perspectives on it so I do think that we have diversity of thought um and they have good discussions at every meeting about are we looking at the data to make sure sure we're evaluating it and so I I hope to see that continue um and to make sure that folks are using those processes the way they were designed to look at the the the data and the evidence but also to recognize when when settled science is settled science Dr Mandy Cohen is director of the CDC Centers for Disease Control and prevention today at csis centers Center for strategic and international studies in Washington D.C she also expressed concern at what she said was a draft Congressional Republican budget calling for her agency's funding to be reduced by 22% president-elect Trump has said he plans to nominate Dave Welden as the new CDC director when he takes office in a few weeks Welden is a medical doctor and former member of Congress President elect Trump writing Dave will proudly restore the CDC to its true purpose and will work to end the chronic disease epidemic Wall Street today the Dow up 106 NASDAQ down 10 S&P up 9 Washington today continues in a moment President Jimmy Carter the 39th president of the United States and the nation's longest lived leader passed away last month at the age of 100 joined cpan for live coverage of the state funeral today the public will have the opportunity to pay their respects as his body remains in state at the US capital on Thursday the national funeral service will take place at Washington National Cathedral followed by his final resting ceremony at the Carter family home in Plains Georgia watch c-span's live coverage of the funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter on the cpan networks cpan now our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org welcome back to Washington today available as a podcast on the free cpan now mobile app and wherever you get your podcast a few more headlines from AP president Donald Trump is is asking the Supreme Court to call off Friday's sentencing in his hush money case in New York Trump's lawyers turned to the nation's highest court on Wednesday after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by judge Juan M meran who presided over Trump's trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records Trump has denied wrongdoing and the justice department has said it intends to release special Council Jack Smith's findings on Donald Trump's efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election but will keep under wraps for now the rest of the report focused on the president-elect's hoarding of classified documents at his marago estate the Revelation was made in a filing to a federal appeals court that was considering a defense request to block the release of the two volume report while charges remain pending against two Trump codefendants in the Florida case accusing the Republican former president and current president-elect of illegally holding classified documents reporting from AP Mexico's president writes in New yor York Times rejected several of president-elect Donald J Trump's assertions about her country and even joked that the United States should be called Mexican America after Mr Trump said the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the Gulf of America president Claudia Shin BAL of Mexico used her Wednesday morning news conference to show a world map dating from 1607 the map labeled North America as Mexican America and already identified the Gulf of Mexico as such 169 years before the United States was founded that was from the New York Times here's a bit of that news conference it was posted by Midas Touch Network and the English interpretation the network says provided by AI obviously Gulf of Mexico is name recognized by the United Nations it's an organization of the United Nations but the next question is why don't we call it Mexican America it sounds nice doesn't it right since 1607 the apatzingan con tion referred to it as Mexican America so let's call it Mexican America it sounds nice doesn't it and Gulf of Mexico well you see since 16007 and it's also recognized internationally well historically speaking because as you might know I know they're going to ask me I think that yesterday president Trump they misinformed president Trump with all due respect CU I believe they told him that Filipe Calderon and Garcia Luna were still in power in Mexico Mexican president Claudia Shin Bal at a news conference in Mexico City again the English interpretation provided by AI as posted by Midas Touch network from Associated Press outgoing US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin is advising the world not to waste a lot of time on what president-elect Donald Trump has been saying about Greenland Trump made clear again this week he'd like the semi autonomous territory of Denmark to come under Us control and said he would not rule out the use of military force to make that happen Trump said we need Greenland for national security purposes but blinkin said Wednesday that the incoming president's Ambitions are unlikely to amount to anything more than talk that was from the Associated Press Secretary blinkin spoke at a joint news conference in Paris France with the French foreign minister one of the basic propositions we brought to our work over the last four years is that uh we're stronger we're more effective we get better results when we're working closely with our allies uh not uh saying or doing things that may alienate them um having said that uh it's um the idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one uh but maybe more important it's obviously one that's not going to happen so we probably shouldn't waste a lot of time talking about it Secretary of State Anthony blinkin at the Joint news conference in Paris France that news conference with the French foreign minister Jean Noel pero who said that France also thinks the US will not take control of greeland but he says such talk from president-elect Trump shows that Europe must become stronger militarily and more competitive economically friendship in between France and the United States goes back more than two centuries ago I mentioned Lafayette I talked about dday which president um macron Biden commemorated together and I'd like simply to tell you that we um survive there some 59 American elections and of course we'll survive the 60th American election um then let me tell you about Europe and tell you that remind you where we stand today where more specifically Tony blinkin and myself are standing this is exactly here in front of this chimney that some 7 5 years ago almost to the day um um Robert Shuman made a um 92nd um statement that launched the political institution of the origins of um of um the European Union that was on the 9th of May 1950 at the time the European um um Organization for for steal and call so like Tony I will um put a question to you do we believe that the United States will um uh take Greenland the answer is no no invasion of Greenland that being said um is um are we entering a period of time where the force is um present everywhere the answer is yes if you look at what Europe has been doing in terms of competitiveness and many respect Europe has been strengthening up we are expressing who we are and like the once again president mcon said on Monday Europe has to to wake up the French foreign minister Jean Noel barau at a news conference in Paris with Secretary of State Anthony lincol again from the Associated Press article in Germany Chancellor Olaf Schulz said Wednesday that the principle of invol of borders applies to every country no matter how powerful in a reaction to Donald Trump's remarks that did not mention the president- elect by name Schultz said borders must not be moved by force and today at the Pentagon the deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh was asked if the Pentagon has thought about this does the Pentagon have military plans to invade Greenland if ordered to do so yeah I thought i' get a question on this um appreciate it uh look uh I I saw the the comments um I'm I'm certainly not going to get into hypotheticals I think that's uh for the incoming Administration to speak to uh we're concerned with the real National Security concerns um that confront uh you know this building uh every single day uh which is why you're seeing the secretary convened the UDC G um tomorrow in Ramstein uh for the 25th time you know we're going to continue to keep our eye on the ball and focus when it comes to Ukraine when it comes to what we're doing in the Middle East to support Israel um and also continuing to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and then you know while we only have limited amount of days left in this Administration we're certainly keeping an eye on our pacing challenge in the Indo Pacific you are a planning organization is are there plans to take Greenland by force if order to do so yeah I appreciate the question and there I'm not aware of any plans to do that Pentagon Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh at her news conference returning to Paris France and the joint news conference with secretary State Anthony blinkin and the French foreign minister secretary blinkin was also asked about the state of US foreign policy in general less than two weeks before the B Administration transitions to the Trump Administration and he talked about the Middle East and Ukraine as we transition as we work to hand off to uh the Trump Administration what I've been animated by these past couple of months is making sure we give them the strongest possible hand to play in dealing with all these challenges um the world doesn't stop because we have a transition there uh are so many things happening in real time that I want to make sure the administration that's coming in is fully prepared to engage from day one and that's exactly what we're doing and what we've been doing and it's why I'm continuing my work for these uh next however many days it is right until noon on the 20th of January and I believe in area after area we're handing off in some cases things we haven't been able to complete but that create real opportunities to move things forward in a better way in the Middle East we're very close to a ceasefire and hostage agreement we've talked about this too in recent days um I hope that we can get it over the line in the time that we have left but if we don't then the the plan that President Biden put forward for a ceasefire hostage deal will be handed over to the incoming Administration and I believe that when we get that deal and we'll get it uh it'll be on the basis of the plan that President Biden uh put before the world back in May we've done an incredible amount of work of what follows the hosage ceasefire agreement uh in terms of the necessary uh arrangements for gaza's security its Administration its reconstruction a day after plan we talked about this with the foreign minister as well there too we're ready to hand that over to the administration so it can work on it and run with it when the opportunity is there and more broadly the work the investment we've made in transformative arrangements for the Middle East starting with the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel all of that is ready to go if the opportunity presents itself with a ceasefire in Gaza as well as understandings on a pathway forward uh for the Palestinians so there's tremendous opportunity there similarly with Ukraine everything we've done to make sure that Ukraine would survive um and not only survive have an opportunity to thrive in the future is ready to be carried forward Putin tried to erase Ukraine from the map he's failed he's endured I think uh a heavier and heavier strategic setback in everything that he's done in Ukraine now we're at a point in the coming year where it may be that the parties will choose to negotiate we want to make sure and I think we are making sure that the incoming Administration will be able if it's going to oversee such a negotiation to make sure it's doing it from a position of strength and the president Trump could get the strongest possible deal I can go down the list but the point is this we're handing over a lot of uh positive opportunities uh initiatives work and if the next Administration chooses to carry forward I think that will be clearly in the interests uh of the United States Secretary of State Anthony blinkin in Paris France at a joint news conference with the French foreign minister as the Pentagon Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh mentioned NATO's Ukraine defense contact group will be meeting for the 25th time on Thursday at Ramstein Airbase in Germany us defense secretary Lloyd Austin will be in attendance the contact group was formed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has about 50 Nations as members which the defense department says have provided more than $126 billion in security assistance to Ukraine Sabrina Singh answered a couple of questions about this at today's news conference the latest amount is not clearly the entirety of what is left How concerned is the administration that you are leaving a pretty substantial amount of money not delivered to Ukraine in terms of weapons and several billion dollars and do you think that those weapons will eventually get to Ukraine and is there a danger of a a lag follow sure um so on on Ukraine um you know as you mentioned there will be um a few billion dollars in Authority left uh for the incoming Administration to decide what um what they decide to do with with that remaining Authority and and um you know what I would say is on the question of Are We concerned Ukraine has bipartisan support um within Congress and it is because of our efforts that Ukraine continues to be successful on the battlefield um and you you know this um you know back in uh February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine uh many people many pundits thought that Ukraine would fall you know immediately and it is because of this administration's Way Forward um and the commitment of the ukrainians and their and their courage and fighting on the battlefield that they continue to survive um but they do that with the support of the United States and other Allied countries and coalitions through the Ukraine defense contact group and I think it's pretty clear that the Ukraine defense contact group is um it's more than just a common understanding it's a common cause and so um it's really up to the incoming Administration to decide what they use uh what they decide to do with the remaining Authority that's left um but of course we hope that you know in some way the Ukraine defense contact group continues on um but certainly support for Ukraine uh remains strong within uh within Congress Pentagon Deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh at her news conference at the Pentagon and finally the tweets of Elon Musk owner of X and billionaire also advisor to president-elect Donald Trump now coming up in prime minister's question time in the British House of Commons an AFP article says that the tweets by Elon Musk have rattled European politicians by championing the far right in Germany and Britain Liberal Party leader Ed Davy asked prime minister kir starmer of the labor party about musk's calling for Nigel farage to be replaced as reform UK party leader while The Honorable member for clacton may miss out on his big allowance from Elon Musk the Spectre of the richest man in the world trying to buy a British political party should give us all pause for thought and after years of the conservatives taking millions in pounds of Russian money will the Prime Minister now work with us to bring in long overdue reforms of party funding so that power in this country lies with the voters and not wealthy overseas oligarchs I think we all had a smile on Su when The Honorable member said how cool it was to have the support of musk only for musk to say should be removed uh just a few hours uh later that's the rough and tough of politics and of course we're looking at the question of funding more generally Prime Minister of Great Britain Kier starmer labor party leader questioned by the liberal party leader Ed Davy during prime minister's questions British House of Commons in London today member Parliament Nigel farage was there watching it all another topic raised by Elon Musk also came up today during prime minister's questions political Europe rights after a week dominated by ex-owner Elon Musk tweeting inflammatory comments about the British State's failure to tackle the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young women by predominantly South Asian gangs conservative leader kemy benock pressed prime minister Kier starmer on why the government won't hold a fresh National inquiry into the issue you can find the full video of pmq prime minister questions at our video library cp.org and thanks for listening to Washington today sign up for c-span's free evening newsletter word for word and get the stories making headlines in Washington email to you every day subscribe at cp.org connect have a good night [Music]