need to be ready for anything. >> comcast supports c-span as a public service, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> jake sullivan gave an update. he characterized -- agree to a prisoner swap in exchange for alexei navalny. this is 30 minutes. jake sullivan: thank you. thank you everybody. i have a few opening comments and that i can take your question.

president biden spoke with the prime minister netanyahu, the two leaders discussed the latest development in israel and gaza and they spoke about the state of israel's military operations. the pre to ensuring the long-term security of israel and he affirmed that he israel has the right to go after the perpetrators of the worst massacre of the jewish people since the holocaust. israel has made significant progress against hamas and broken a significant number of hamas battalions, killed thousands of hamas fighters including senior commanders, hamas' number three was put in anthe top leaders are in hiding deep in the hamas tunnel network. justice will come for them to and we hoping to ensure that.more innocent civilians have died in this conflict in this military operation than in all the wars in gaza combined. including thousands of children. humanitarian crisis is descending across gaza. anarchy reigns in areas of

israel's military has cleared. the first u.s. president tortime visit to israel, he said both privately and publicly that the united states has learned a vital lesson over the course of several wars. and military plan cannot succeed without an integrated humanitarian plan and political plan. the president has repeat point that continuing military operations need to be connected to a clear strategic endgame. the president told the prime minister again today that we share the goal of defeating hamas. we believe that we need a coherent and sustainable strategy to make that happen. now, instead of reevaluating where things stand in the campaign and what adjustments are needed to achieve more long-term successinstead of a focus on stabilizing the areas of gaza that israel has cleared so that hamas does not regenerate and retake territory that israel ha cleared the israeli government is now

talking about launching a major military operation in rafah. the prime minister spoke at length about it tothat president explained why he is so deeply concerned about the prospect of israel conducting major military operations in rafah and in gaza city. first, more than one million people have taken refuge in rafah. they went from gaza city to other areas and then rafah. they have nowhere else to go. the other major cities have been destroyed. israel has not presented us with a world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians or let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation. second rafah is a primary ent gaza area from egypt and israel. this shuts that down or at least puts in a great risk. right at the moment when it is most sorely needed. third, roth is on the border with egypt which has voiced its deep alarm over a major military

operation there. it has raised its possible relationship with israel with future military operations. the president has rejected the strawman that raising questions about rafah raising questions about defeating hamas. that is nonsense. hamas should not be allowed a safe haven inou or anywhere else but a major ground operation there would lead to more innocent civilian deaths in a more dire humanitarian crisis. it would further isolate israel internationally. the key goals israel was to achieve can be done by other mean the call today president biden asked the prime minister to send a senior team composed of military and humanitarian officials to washington in the coming days to hear u.s. concerns about israel's current planning and layout an alternative approach that would target he hamas elements in

rafah and secure the egypt-gaza border without a major ground invasion.the prime minister agreed he would send a team. he has his own point of view on the operation when he agreed he would send a team to washington to have this discussion and have this engagement. we look forward to those discussions. the president and prime minister discussed the ongoing negotiations for an immediate cease-fire for several weeks in return for releasing hostages currently being held by hamas in to build on that cease-fire into something more enduring and using the space created by hostility is to serve marian assistance at any vital moment. so far the steel has been worse than we have hope we will press this because we regard as an current priority. hamas could have ended this crisis tomorrow if they chose to do so. before, far too little of the energy and pressure to end this conflict has been applied to hamas. we will keep pointing that out.

the president and prime minister agreed to stay in close touch in the days and weeks ahead on all of these issues and their teams are in dai element of this crisis as well as the other threats that israel faces around the region. that shared threats of the united staners face from iran and its boxy wars across the middle east. i would be happy to take your questions. >> you mentioned the deal has been elusive. i understand hamas put a proposal forward. is that we are stillorking with and is not still alive? >> hamas is but a proposal on the table after israel worked with egypt and the united states had indicated a willingness to move forward on a six week cease-fire in return for the release of a number of hostages. leading to further information and hamas not given us anything. if hamas just handed over the elderly women and wounded tomorrow there would be a six

week cease-fire. they have added a series of other conditions as well. the israeli government has responded by saying they cannot accept that. they regard some of the conditions going too far but that is for negotiations. as we speak today pain from israel, qatar, and egypt to arrive at an outcome over the next few days where there is actually a deal. we believe that those discussions are live and a deal as possible, we should be able to to get hostages home and alleviate the suffering of the civilians in gaza and from our we in the united states will keep pushing on that and the president had the opportunity to discuss that with the prime minister today. >> does the president feel this was an appropriate time for us to locate -- to delegate talks? with this rich the prime

minister in ways it had not previously? >> we are partners. we hha between our military, intelligence diplomats, we have not had the opportunity to have after comprehensive integrated strategic discussion about how to achieve two things. one is the hamas and two the protection of civilians and stabilization of gaza in a way that will lead to the long-term security of israel uction of innocent human life -- protection of innocent human life in gaza. we have arrived at a point where each side has been making clear to the other its perspective and now we need to get down to brass tacks and have the for the delegation from each side on an integrated basis, everyone sitting around the same table talking through the way forward. @jfrom the u.s. perspective this is not a question of defeating hamas, anytime i hear an argument that says if you do not smash into rafah, you cannot

defeat hamas. there are ways for israel to prevail in this conflict and secure its long-term future and end the terrorfrom gaza and not go into rafah. it will have a back and forth and we will let >> can you describe the reports that there have beenh the tone was and also, is the president saying an invasion of rafah his head redline -- is his red line? >> for me, i think that is somethingha in your question, it is not stated in the declaration of our policy and we have made that clear. with respect to the call, i am not the best person to givassessment or tone, i confirm it did not end abruptly, it is in a totally normal way. i would say that it is businesslike, each of them recognized that we are a critical moment in this conflict

and they share a common objective that is for israel to prevail over hamas. they have a different perspective on this operation on that and had the opportunity to elaborate each of their respective views in a full flooded we wait of they always do and in president biden and the prime minister talk. that call is much like a previous call. they each agree toability to get together and the two would stay in touch as we go forward. >> the deadline for israel to comply with national security memo on sunday. as israel responded in writing? >> they have to provide edible assurances that they will abide by their international obligations. obligations have freely accepted with respect to international humanitarian law. it includes not arbitrarily impeding the flow of humanitarian assistance where they can control that.

i cannot tell you today or confirm that they have provided that. as you have had several more days before they had to do so. we anticipate that they will. >> on march 1, president biden said that he was going to let israel facilitate more trucks to get more people to help that they need. today, and the call, did he make that clear? >> before today, the result of the president that can this was a priority for him and his team working that in a detailed level operationally on the ground and in israel has resulted in certain steps including the opening of a new gate that we have seen since the president gave the state of the union and working to flow moreh along the beach road as well. in addition to other steps like the landing of the first ship through a maritime corridor on the beach of gaza and active war going forward to get that set up

off the coast of gaza as well. we have taken steps, the president reaffirmed today that need for israel to do everything in its power and even more than it has already done tothe humanitarian crisis and obviously we have seen you on reports which the director of u.s. id spoke to quite eloquently, an alarming report if everyone does not do their responsibility to ensure that we address that. is our first and foremost, the obligation to step up and infer that more is done to deliver food to starving people in northern gaza. it is incumbent on us andhe rest of the international community to step up as well. they are the largest contributor to is an all hands on deck effort. >> given the alarming report that that famine is imminent there must be conditions in military aid? >> enough, the action

that matters is flowing dashboards are not enough, the action that matters is flowing minute hearing assistance, food, water, medicine or people are in need of it and elaborated. we those sustained and we need to see them built on. ultimately, our judgment comes down not to pledges worries, comes down to action and we will continue to press on israel and see the kind of action. we will take responsibility to do our pard t antemporary -- >> people have been killed in a hospital attack. how confident is the u.s. and israel that they are reducing civilian deaths? >> the attack, israel states it was going after senior hamas commanders and hamas militants and it is clear that hamas fired hospital. second, we have seen hamas over the course of this conflict use

civilian facilities including hospitals to store weapons for command and control and house fighters. that places an added burden on israel. few militaries have to deal with. insurgency and a terrorist group using the shield of civilians to protect themselves during a fight rather than meeting israel on open fields of battle. third, and tells her that i'm concerned -- it tells us ingisrael cleared hamas and hamas came back into shifa. it raises questions so that hamas cannot retake territory 's objectives to a sustainable strategy that is the final thing we need to focus on right now rather than have israel go smash into rafah. that is what the president talk to the prime minister about today. >> during the call, did the presidentmilitary aid to israel if it moves into rafah?

>> the president do not make threats. when he said todayas understand this, exactly where i am on this. i am for the defeat of hamas, i believe that they are an evil terrorist group with not just israeli but american blood on their hands. i believe that to get to that you need a strat. that strategy should not involve a major military operation that was thousands of lives civilian, innocent lives at risk. there is a better way, and your team to washington and let us talk about it. i will leave it at that. >> schumer's election, what did he say about that? >> the prime minister raised his concerns about a variety of things that have come out in the american press. i would not talk specifically about anyone of them because i want the prime minister to speak for himself and protect the discretion of the ci will say that from president biden's perspective this is not

a question of politics, it is not a question of public statements. it is a question of policy and strategy. that is what he focused on and that is what he is focused on in the c>> the timing of the meeting in washington, is that the coming days and weeks? did israel commit to not invading rafah until that was cleared? >> we have every expectation they will not proceed with the monetary operation until we have the conversation and they talked about as soon as the end of this week it could be at the beginning of next week. each side needs to prepare effectively. within that timeframe. on a longer timeframe. -- not a longer timeframe. i will not put words in their mouths. you can ask them. i think you will find they will they are not going to go ahead with this before we sit down and talk about it. >> vladimir putin in a press

conference spoke possible prisoner swap. he claimed that he agreed to exchange prisoners in the west on condition that they never come back to russia again. is there any plans in place? >> we have spoken to russian officials over the course of months and years with respect to american detainees who are unjustly being held in russia. we have not heard a russian official raise navalny as part of a prisoner swap. if this is something they were interested in, it sounds like it would come quite late, too late since he is no longer alive because we did not hear that from them before. >> the prime minister netanyahu talked about having the support of the majority of the israeli people for his politics including going into rafah. is there more the administration needs to do to speak to the israeli people directly so that they do not support this idea of going into rafah? >> inherent in the question is a

kind of interesting irony or just you have the prime ministers speaking on american te in israeli politics and your question is should americans be speaking to israeli politics? we do not do nearly as much as they speak in two hours. that is not a construct of answer to your question, an observation. have said before, the president's perspective is not about politics, this is poand so, the president is not focused on what is popular and what is not popular and how do you shape public opinion? he is interested ihow we get to the right results. the right result is the enduring defeat of hamas, a two state solution, that has a secure israel and a palestinian state that indicates the aspirations of palestinian people. a broader normalization of relations so israel also has

peace with all of their neighbors. we need to drive to that outcome and while it is true that many today that is not going to ultima -- alter the president's view that ist is the only solution to israel's future as a democratic jewish state that is secure and at peace with its neighbors including the neighbors of the palestinian people. >> he was denied entry into gaza, you mentioned in a report that northern gaza is facing imminent famine. this is you are raising with the israelis and another question, with 5000 prisoners that are being missing, nobody knows anything about them, they were captured by the israelis including doctors and journalists and we are hearing about that this morning as well. what can you do to push the

israelis, or are these prisoners? -- where are these prisoners? they are to our information civilians. >> this is the first i am hearing an aid worker is denied access, we will inquire the circumstances of that. with respect to the detention al jazeera journalists i have seen the reports i saw them recently before coming into this briefing room, and had the opportunity to race that withwill do so. we believe in the capacity for journalists to do their job even in difwar zones must be protected. this administration takes this seriously in all contexts. we have regularly indicated to the israeli government that they have a responsibility under international humanitarian law and not just with respect to the literary operations but with respect to the treatment of and access to prisoners in their custody. that is something we will remind them of as we go forward. even point out that

the enemy they are fighting is not close to the same sport or ring about humanitarian law. >>he president said he felt prime minister netanyahu had a come to dejesus moment about their conversation today on the rafah operations, was that his conversation? >> i would not characterize that on behalf of the president. i would describe the call is being done today and i will let you draw your own conclusions. [laughter] >> why is it that it is so hard for the administration to tell netanyahu he has been ignoring many of your requests? he has threate launch a ground invasion into rafah. the white house has been sending weapons? there is a big push from the white house? >> that is more of a statement

than a question. >> president macron, what do you make of his statements? saying that he might send troops to ukraine? >> i cannot speak to him, he continues to make his points publicly and obviously has every right to do that. we have made our position clear which is that we are not inteukraine. fight and reiterated that for the american people in the state of the end and we have not t today. >> [indiscernible] do you have any reaction to>> we have

seen the facebook posts from saturday night, we are in touch with them and this follows discussions we have had with them about our concerns with their trajectory and aleta at that because that is discussions with the authorities and they are ongoing. pipes coming from israel and the humanitarian situa -- i am coming from israel and humanitarian situation in gaza, eight is not getting in, -- aid is not getting in. who is responsible for that? is there more aid coming into gaza? >> the primeintends toaid coming to israel but as i have said to an earlier question, it is not statements it ision, we have seen things over the past few days that represent steps forward

including the opening of a new convoy that has gone to the including through rafah. we have seen that before and then numbers have dipped for variety of reasons. some to do with the difficulty of moving aid around gaza once it gets inside once we have seen and tragic circumstances. and from our perspective the key thing is that we need to flood the zone. we need to use every tool in our disposal every land rour of trucks, sea routes air drops, to get as much aid in as possible. israel has the responsibility to facilitate the aid and they can do more. international community including the united states has a responsibility as well. we have done a significant number of things and we can do more. this is an urgent undertaking and an urgent priority and we will keep at it. >> to follow up, i know youwhen asked about president putin's comments that he had not heard of a russian official

selecting valny as part of a prisoner swap. they have come to the table too late. is that saying negotiations or reporters are not on the table? are the >> we have had a continuous effort to secure the release of both bob whalen and others. that means regular communication at senior levels at the russian federation making a series of offers which we have gone over time and will continue to do. we have now slackened 1 inch in our zeal to get them. and remains an utmost priority of hours and that will continue notwithstanding the tragic death of alexi navalny. >> the state department announced this weekend that more than 30 americans have been evacuated from haiti.they were evacuated from the northern city, not

port-au-prince. more than 1000 u.s. citizens have reached out asking about their options or departing. the island. are there plans for the u.s. to support areas? >> more than 1000 americans have been in touch with the embassy to seek more information. some have asked for information about the portg and others have heard about how to remain safely or if they choose to depart in the future, how they might do so. the 1000 is encapsulating a number of different categories. we did have our first evacuation flight out of cape patient mor 30 u.s. citizens were on and we are looking to continue operating out of cape patipe haitian. if people want to leave out of the port-au-prince air airport, there is active analysis of the risks of doing

so. we will stay in close touitizen who wants to be in touch with us in haiti and get you to look for office to ensure that they are safe and their passage out ofeave. >> why did president biden wait so long, 32 days pass between the phone calls with the prime minister netanyahu? >> our teams are in contact every single day at every level president biden gets a daily twice daily sometimes nine meing on and he reserves his calls to the prime minister when he believes there is a key strategic moment needs to come forward. point 2, the prime minister knows how to reach president biden. the prime minister felt he needed, he would have picked up the phone and called. president biden has never declined a phone call from prime minister netanyahu. the normal give-and-take from leaders operating governments and foreign policies and working with their teams. the key inflection point in the dialogue between the two sides coming together and talking i

would not make more of it than that. >> when president biden was told his handling of the war between israel and hamas starting to affect own numbers, he began to shout and swear. when he does t is he swearing about in yahoo! or hamas or his poll numbers -- netanyahu or hamas or his pollthis is kind >> this is kind of like when did you stop beating your wife kind of question i had never seen him shout or swear. >> what can you tell us about the temporary timeline, how it will be secured? how soon aid will be delivered? >> they can into the operational details on it, what i can tell you is that our original timeline extended out something like 85 or 60 days to have it fully in place. we are hoping to beat that

because we are moving heaven and earth to get all of the complex with it fully integrated into the pipeline for aid going into gaza. ulti move the peer off of the coast and it will be the idf acid to secure it. there are no u.s. boots on the ground in gaza. that is underway and the commander feels good about the progress we are making and he will be able to move this on an expedited basis they have done in the original timeline as they have provided. one more question? >> [indiscernible] first nothing about the election outcome was unpredictable. putin had closed the political space, had locked up political opponents, or they had tragically died. there is nothing free or fair

about this election. the outcome was preordained. the reality is that president putin is the president of russia. we have had to deal with that reality throughout the war in ukraine, throughout the other aggression russia has undertaken, throughout the other steps contrary to u.s. national interest we have seen from this president and from the russian federation under his leadership, we will continue to deal with that reality. defy the fact that this election was not something that met any >> tuesday on c-span, the house is back at turn for general speeches, followed by legislative business at 2:00. members are considering several foreign-policy related bills including legislation that blocks the sale ofs. at 8:30 a.m. on c-span2 bank executives and financial regulators discuss the banking system at a gathering in washington d.c. followed by a

conversation on cybersecurity senate chair mark warner at noon eastern cream at 3:00, the senate considers the nomination of a judge on the fourth circuit of confirmation vote is expected at 5:30. on c-span3 retired general's testify on the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan before the house foreign affairs committee. you can watch our live coverage on the free c-span now video app , or♪ >> 2024 campaign trail, a weekly roundup of c-span's campaign coverage, providing a one stop shop for what candidates are saying to voters, along with first-hand accounts from political reporters, fundraising data and campaign ads. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, friday night at 7:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-sp or download as a

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