Support for territories throughout the region, addressed it through sanctions, Military Force posture, do what we have to do to protect ourselves our troops. Nobody is turning away from that threat or their historic and sustained support for these territory groups. John, just a followup to what peter asked, two questions, i assume when the president said aid is not getting fast enough to gaza that hes not critiquing our efforts to get it there. And without Hanging A Hook On who is responsible, is he saying that more can be done from our end . Is there more that can be done to get the aid to them . I think he was referring to actors in the region. And then the second question, for many years you are going to meet with the Australian Government and they have supported the release of Julian Assange. We have not done so saying there were National Security reasons. For the reasons that he has been charged are basically the same efforts that many reporters use, so is there any Change Of Heart in this administrations efforts to free Julian Assange . I wont be able to talk about extradition matters, brian, you know, this is no, no, fair question, but something the Justice Department is handling and its better if you go to them on that. Thanks, admiral. So you have talked in here about Contingency Plans for this conflict potentially escalating, is the u. S. Military planning for possible evacuation of hundreds of americans from The Middle East . There is prudent planning and then theres sort of the tactical Level Planning right before you execute. What we are talking about here is just prudent planning and thinking. There are no active efforts right now to evacuate americans from the region. Other than what we are doing in israel and providing charter flights. No active efforts. We are not parking ships off the coast and getting ready to send marines in to get people out of you pick the place over there. Thats not happening right now. But what was reported in the press is nothing more than prudent contingency planning, and as i said at the outset, given everything thats been going on the last two weeks, it would be irresponsible if we werent taking pen to paper and what that might look like. But no orders given, Nobody Prepositioned to do it, no moving in that direction. But, if it should get to that, my goodness, you would want to make sure we were ready to do it and do it like that. Quick followup on the longer it takes for the house to agree on a speaker, how concerned are you, how concerned is the president that the administration is going to be able to get the necessary aid to israel as well as humanitarian aid. Its a concern. As i said early, we have appropriations to support ukraine and israel a bit longer. How long is a bit depends on the pace and the scale of the Combat Operations in both countries. But yeah, we wouldnt have put a supplemental request in, says in the first line, its an urgent request. We would not say its urgent if it wasnt urgent. We want them to act as quickly as possible. I wonder if we have heard numbers of several Hundred Americans in gaza, up to 600. Do you have a more specific number of the actual number of americans in gaza right now . State department is a better place to go for that. Several hundred i know is accurate. I wish i could be more detailed, but you have to go to state. A better count than i would. Prudent Planning Process for the several Hundred Americans who are in gaza right now, if its in a prudent Planning Stage no, no, dont mix up the two. The question i was getting was on the Washington Post report about regional evacuation planning. We are actively trying to get americans out of gaza, Ambassador Satterfield was appointed for that purpose, also to get humanitarian assistance in and we are doing that, but we know theres americans in there, we know they want to get out, we are working very hard to find safe passage for them. Different than a noncombatant evacuation. Current advice for folks who are kind of trying to gather near the Rafah Crossing in case that is where they would evacuate, advisable for americans in gaza to be at a certain location . I got this question yesterday and i really should refer you to the state department. They manage and handle our communication with americans overseas. I want to make sure i understood the idea of a ceasefire versus a humanitarian pause, and you guys clearly are opposed to a ceasefire, thinking that would be a victory for hamas. On the humanitarian pause, something the u. S. Is actively pursuing or calling for that to be the case . You heard the Secretary Of State talk about the need to look at that, to consider the possibility of a humanitarian pause to allow aid to get in and get in unfetterred and to allow for the Safe Movement of people out. A lot goes into that. Matt, the Rafah Crossing is open on the way in, not on the way out. A lot of spade work and diplomacy to get that to happen. I think its again, i would refer you back to what Secretary Blinken said, but certainly that ought to be considered for the purpose of humanitarian assistance. One last thing on the ten americans that are unaccounted for. Is there any confirmation that some number of those are currently being held hostage, or is it completely that the u. S. Has no idea where those people are. No, the fact that they are unaccounted for means we truly dont know. We know again as i said a handful, less than ten, are being held hostage. But when we give you the number of unaccounted for, and the reason the number goes up and down, you get information. Sometimes its really bad news. Sometimes its not. So that number fluctuates. It has not fluctuated much, its hung around 10, 10, 11. Today its 10. About you we are working real hard to solve those mysteries so the number is 0 and at least families know, they have information and we are working hard on that. Sorry i was late. See . Its my fault. Noted for the record. Yes, noted for the record indeed. A couple topics. On the expanding uaw strike, obviously 5,000 workers walk off the plant in texas today. The strike is in the sixth week and ford laying off workers in michigan and ohio, im wondering how concerned the white house is right now that you can get a resolution thats in a timely fashion to avoid significant economic damage. Obviously we are monitoring all of this, everything you laid out. Yesterday i was asked about sperling and Secretary Su Playing Point from the administration and helping, clearly not part of the negotiation but certainly helping communicate with the parties, both uaw and the big three. Look, the president continues to believe that Collective Bargaining is incredibly important. The options under Collective Bargaining, uaw has the right to, you know, kind of think through those options. And so we believe that if everyone comes together in good faith, that there could be a winwin agreement. And so we are going to let them have those negotiations, have those conversations, obviously everything you laid out we are going to monitor very closely. I dont have anything beyond that. And on the supplemental packages, obviously you set up the National Security focus last week. We have reporting, others have reported as well, there are plans to send up a Domestic Supplemental, talk through the idea of sending it in two different packages, especially because you have people like Bernie Sanders saying congress cant pass just tens of billions for priorities abroad without addressing the priorities at home. Why did the white house choose to do it in separate packages . In Director Youngs letter, she said there would be a Domestic Supplemental as well, its coming this week. So, certainly its going to lay out the president s priorities as it relates to disaster relief, as it relates to childcare, and so that is forthcoming. We did the certainly as you heard from the admiral with the supplemental that we released last week, the foreign the foreign one, international one, it said urgent on it in the first line, we believe it was incredibly important as we see the war in ukraine and happening with israel and hamas, we wanted to make sure we got that out there as soon as possible. But, the domestic one is coming this week, thats what Director Young said in her letter that you all, im sure you all saw, that theres going to be additional request on the domestic front and those are going to be priority and just as important, but also priorities for the president as well that is critical to Domestic Push or platform that he has. Thanks, karine. We have heard from Senate Republicans humanitarian aid to gaza is an issue for them. Are there any modifications to the aid package that would be red lines for the white house . Im not going to get into hypotheticals or red lines. We believe there is no reason for congress should not pass we believe this National Security priority, right, which includes as you know, critical aid to ukraine as well, and thats just aid to what is happening to israel, with whats happening in the region. But we also believe in strong bipartisan support. Heard it from mitch mcconnell, heard it from chairman mccaul, from chairman turner. We believe there is strong bipartisan support for the supplemental package that was introduced by the president last week and we believe theres no reason, no reason at all congress cant get it through. Does the president have any reaction that Dean Phillips will be seeking the president ial nomination . Im not going to talk electoral politics 2024. One thing i would say outside of that is we appreciate the congressman almost 100 support of this president as hes moved forward with some really important key legislative priorities for the american people. I dont have anything to share on the 2024 from here. Republicans have selected tom emmer as their speaker nominee. I know youve said very often that the white house does not have a vote in this process but emmer has been one of the more supportive republicans for ukraine aid across the board. Do you see that as a positive signal . Im just not going to speak to the process. Im sure there are more steps to go before we get to the end here. Sandra a quick break from the White House Briefing room and head to the pentagon now, where the Pentagon Press secretary Brigadier General ryder is briefing. An update from there. As we have highlighted this includes capabilities requested by israel to include precision guided munitions, small diameter bombs, iron dome interceptors, and other critical equipment. Continue to stay in close contact with our israeli partners on their Defense Needs and remain committed to the security of israel. We also continue to underscore the importance of safeguarding innocent civilians, palestinian and israeli, and delivering humanitarian aid to those in need. Since the hamas Terrorist Attack we have been Crystal Clear we do not want to see the situation in israel widen into a broader regional conflict and as youve heard president biden, Secretary Austin and other senior u. S. Leaders say our message to any country or group thinking about trying to take advantage of this situation to widen the conflict is dont. We have already deployed a significant number of additional u. S. Military capabilities into the region to bolster our regional deterrence efforts, strengthen our capabilities there and enhance our ability to respond to a range of contingencies. In addition to the capabilities that we have already announced, i can also confirm that the new Jersey Air National guard 119th expeditionary Fighter Squadron arrived in u. S. Central command area of responsibility with additional f16 fighting Falcon Squadron bolstering u. S. Posture to deter further aggression in the region. Again, it is our aim to avoid any regional expansion of israels conflict with hamas, but we stand ready to protect and defend our partners and interests and will act to do so. In terms of Force Protection, message is simple as Secretary Austin has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our troops and interests overseas. With that, associated press, alita first. Hi, thank you. A couple things, just quick clarifications. Can you give a better sense of what the total number of attacks against u. S. Bases and iraq and syria has been. Was there additional one today or not. Can you sketch us out, because theres been a lot of kind of haphazard reporting on the numbers and how many people were injured in addition to the contractor that we know died from the cardiac arrest. And then i have one other thing. So in terms of those numbers and statistics, we are working with u. S. Central command to get you a comprehensive list for the Public Record so we will endeavor to get that to you all as soon as possible. What i can tell you right now, and again, we are still continuing to ensure this accounts for everything, but between october 17th and the 24th, u. S. And Coalition Forces has been attacked ten separate times in iraq and three separate times in syria, via a mix of oneway attack drones and rockets. We are working to get you the facts on these and so again, well get that to you as soon as possible. Im sorry, you said you had a followup. Yes. Can you say whether any of the prepared to deploy forces have actually been activated at this point and can you give us a better sense of what general, Lieutenant Governor glenn and this team is doing in israel. Are they did that sort of double the number of advisers there, or and what what, just give us a little bit more clarity on what they are doing. Sure. In terms of the prepare to deploy, the forces that have been notified under prepare to deploy orders, those forces have not been tasked to deploy at this point in time. I will say that separately the deployment of the terminal High Altitude area defense battery and the additional Patriot Battalions we announced this weekend, their deployment is underway. Im not going to be able to go into numbers, im not going to be able to go into locations other than to say to an undisclosed location in The Middle East. Again, those forces are aimed at enhancing Force Protection for forces in the region. I can they will you the thad battery is coming from fort bliss, texas and the Patriot Battalions and batteries from across fort liberty in North Carolina and fort sill in oklahoma. As it relates to general glenn, we have asked a few officials with relevant experience to help israeli officials think through the kinds of questions they need to consider as they conduct their planning, including advice on mitigating civilian casualties. As im sure youve seen reported, these officials to include general glenn have deep experience when it comes to urban combat and so again, they are there temporarily with their Military Expertise to just go through and discuss some of the hard questions that the idf should consider as they plan various scenarios. I will be very clear here, though, the idf will and always will make its own decisions. They are not there to direct, again simply to provide advice. Back into the room here. Matt. Thank you, pat. Can you say what, if any, efforts the u. S. Is making to prevent future attacks on u. S. Forces by these iranbacked militias in the region. Have there been any counter strikes, any kind of efforts to thwart future attacks and if not, why not. Thanks, matt. Again as we announced this weekend, we are posturing Additional Forces in the region for two reasons. One, again to bolster our broader regional deterrence efforts, and two, a clearer message that we will protect our forces. We will always maintain the inherent right of selfdefense and if there is a response should we choose to have one, we would do that at a time and place of our choosing. Thank you. Megan. A group of senators sent a letter to osd yesterday about a new overthecounter Birth Control pill requesting tri care cover it. Does osd plan to respond by the end of the month as the senator has requested . I dont have anything to provide on that. Ill take that question as always we will respond to congress appropriately, ill take that question for you. Thank you. Thank you, very much, asking about china, the Chinese Defense minister was removed today. So does the pentagon believe engagement between the u. S