Oh, my God.
Oh, my goodness.
I wonder why.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Happy Friday.
Don't say things.
Don't get exciting in here sometimes.
I really.
There's no introduction
that really is needed here.
I have a special guest.
As you can see,
Mark Hamill has decided to join us
on this wonderful Friday,
and I am really excited
to turn it over to Mr.
Hamill. Here we go. Just okay.
How many of you had Mark
Hamill will leave the press
briefing on your bingo card hands?
Yeah, me either.
And I just got to meet the president.
He gave me these aviator glasses.
Mean, I love the merch.
Love it all.
But listen, I just wanted to say
I was honored to be asked to
come to the White House
to meet
the president.
The most legislatively
successful president in my lifetime.
And, you know,
I don't have to go through the list.
The bipartisan infrastructure law,
the packed act, the chipsets,
all of that inflation.
15 million jobs, it's all good.
I mean, I was really thrilled to meet
the entire staff
because, you know, it's
not just one person.
It's like a a composite endeavor.
And all these people, my goodness.
You know, I mean, I have no idea.
I had no idea just what went into
what is on his plate on a daily basis.
So
that's pretty much it.
I'm open to questions,
although no Star Wars questions, please.
But I want to say once again how
grateful I am.
And it just shows you that
one person can be
so influential
and so positive in our lives.
And
again, thank you so much.
And Peter Baker, I loved your book yes.
Wow.
Thank you all for being here.
What did you ask?
What did you talk about
with the president?
Well, first of all,
I only expected to be there
for like 5 minutes
he showed us all his photographs.
And, you know, it was
really amazing to me
because, you know, I was
I was invited to the Carter White House
and I came
and then I came to the Obama White House.
But I never was
invited into the Oval Office.
And it was a large gathering.
So this one was really extra special.
All right.
So, yes,
I'm going to have Star Wars to you, sir.
Well, you know, I called him Mr.
President, he said, you can call me Joe.
And I said, can I call you Joe
Obi-Wan Kenobi?
And
he like that.
But listen,
I'm not really here to dominate.
I have to turn it back
over to our wonderful press
secretary, Curry, Sean Pierre.
So thank you all so much.
All right. Thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, so glad to be here.
You got to get those shades.
I think this is your nephew, Mark.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
No one ever claps for me
when I get off the podium.
Just say
I know the unexpected, expect
the unexpected.
I don't even know where to go from there.
But I do have now I feel very by myself.
It's let the team in.
Thank you.
Thank you, Sam, for joining.
All right. Okay.
I do have a couple of things
before we get into turnout.
Turn it into some serious business
and take your questions.
Thank you so much for indulging us today.
We thought that might be a nice thing
to do for you all to to see Mark Hamill
as he was here, as you just heard
visiting from with the president.
President Biden, president here today.
So today marks World Press Freedom Day
and occasion that highlights
the importance of a free press,
both of our democracy here
in the United States
and for our societies around the world
from exposing corruption
and human rights abuses
to covering
communities and conflicts the world over.
General journalists risk their lives
every day
in the pursuit of truth,
in the pursuit of truth.
In a statement
this morning, President Biden
reaffirmed his commitment
to support
and take action
in defense of media freedom.
The Biden-harris administration
has already launched
a robust
government wide campaign
and built a coalition of countries
to counter
the proliferation
and misuse of commercial spyware,
which has been misused
against journalists
and continues
to provide legal
and other support
for media
who face persecution around the world.
The president
also called again
for the immediate, unconditional release
of all journalists
who have been detained around the world,
including The Wall Street
Journal's Evan Garcia with Gersh
Kovic,
Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty's, Elsa
Kama, Shiva
and of course, Austin Tice in Syria.
In the coming weeks,
the president will take executive action
in response
to the global crackdown on press
Freedom Declare
declared a grave threat
to national security
and authorize measures
including sanctions and visas, bans
against those who attempt
to silence the press.
The United States stands by media
around the world
and will continue
to do our part
to support their important work.
Today, we also have another important
day event happening later today.
The president, President Biden, is naming
19 recipients of the Presidential Medal
of Freedom.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom
is the nation's
highest civilian honor
presented to individuals
who have made
exemplary contributions
to the prosperity values
or security
of the United States, world peace
or other
significant societal, public
or private endeavors.
We're honored to have these individuals
or members of their families
come to the White House today
to celebrate their service.
President Biden often says
there is not nothing
beyond our capacity when we act together.
These 19 Americans consistently
demonstrated over their careers
the power of community,
hard work and service
Finally this morning,
Secretary of Education
Miguel Cardona sent a letter to schools
addressing the sharp rise
in anti-Semitic hate on college campuses.
His letter made clear to schools
that not only is anti-Semitism abhorrent
and unacceptable,
it is also discrimination
prohibited under Title
six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Secretary Cardona reminded schools
that the Department
of Education provides
a number of resources,
including trainings,
technical assistance,
to ensure that school
environments are free of discrimination.
His letter comes one day
after President Biden spoke
to this very subject.
As you all know,
Americans
have a right to free speech
and peacefully protest.
But but breaking into buildings,
destroying property
and shutting down
campuses is not peaceful protest.
There is also no place on
college campuses
or in America for anti-Semitism.
This administration
will continue to defend
free speech
while standing up for the rule of law.
And Josh, good to see you.
Good to see you, Kareen.
May the force be with you or tomorrow
the fourth
be with you,
however you want to look at it.