First Lady Pool Reports of November 17, 2023

FLOTUS pool report #1 - Spouse event

Dr. Biden hosted an APEC spouses' event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, which is about an hour outside of San Francisco. The topic of conversation is mental health and the role technology plays. The event lasted about an hour.

FLOTUS walked in at with Apple CEO Tim Cook. She was wearing a green pants suit and her blue sneakers.

FLOTUS was joined by spouses from South Korea, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.

The surgeon general and Rose from Black Pink were also present. (Full guest list below).

Ironically there were tech issues. The teleprompter went out. During the discussion the microphones went out and had to be swapped. The translation was slow.

And, toward the end of the talk, the First Lady of Maylasia called out Tim Cook on artificial intelligence technology and on privacy issues (see details below):

Cook started out the remarks but a few minutes into speaking he said: "The teleprompter just went out."

"Don't you hate that. I hate that," FLOTUS said.

Cook went ahead. "Let me go ahead and ad lib." He thanked all for coming and introduced FLOTUS.

FLOTUS then spoke and used paper for her formal
remarks. She put her reading glasses on.

She talked about how technology facilitates connection: "Now technology, computers, phones, and watches help connect us to people who matter the most in our lives, their love and their friendship at our fingertips. We can text our children, wishing them good luck on their big exam. We can see our husbands and wives on a computer screen, even if they happen to be on the other side of the world. We can quickly and easily let our friends know that we are thinking of them."

More: "All became so much more important during the COVID 19 pandemic. As first spouses I believe that all of us in this room have a deep understanding of the innate desire for human connection. We see it every day in our own communities."

More: "Because when people have the tools and the resources to support their mental health and well being - they thrive. And they help us create stronger communities and stronger economies, and that's what this APEC summit is all about - coming together to build a brighter, more resilient future."

She then thanked Rose from BlackPink for accepting her invite to come and thanked Mrs. Kim for bringing Rose.

Rose came up to speak and she and FLOTUS hugged.

Rose: "I have discovered, however, that mental health is not the easiest of subjects. As for me it has required much patience and, most importantly, lots and lots of attention. Just as we feed ourselves for better health and fitness - mental health can only be maintained with equally - if not more intentionally - as our physical well being. I hope we can always remind ourselves - no matter what the world may otherwise tell us - that our self worth is not determined by where we are now. It is to be determined by what keeps us close to the ground, which is a message that a very special song of mine holds and is what I tried to remind myself every day."

Dr. Vivek Murthy then led a round table discussion. He noted that they would discuss "loneliness and isolation around social media and its impact on mental health." He added it was a "world problem."

The group talked about the stigma around mental health and the how to change that so it's talked about more.

FLOTUS noted "I think as we go on, that especially after the pandemic, that people are much more open to wanting to share and communicate."

Cook agreed "we've come a long way in this area" but said there was more to do.

And FLOTUS said there was a "marked difference" in how mental health is talked now about compared to pre pandemic. She noted the shutdown was hard on everyone: "I think it's human nature to get on each others nerves after a while."

Rose talked about her own mental health experiences, particularly when it comes to social media: "In my experience, there comes a time where - sometimes - I do feel like some of the things I do is just never enough and no matter how hard I work on something, there's always gonna be somebody who has their own opinion or who enjoy taking control of the narrative. And so, that comes to me as a sense of loneliness."

Rose noted that having a large following on social media makes her feel vulnerable especially when people are critical. "Sometimes feeling like I have such a huge following of people ... they're not always on my side, ... just feeling like I'm vulnerable in this whole journey with this massive following. And so I think social media does affect me."

Tim Cook: "We definitely feel a responsibility to be part of the solution. ... I heard here today some people spending too much time on on their devices. We've never wanted people to spend a lot of time on the the iPhone. You know, my my own view is if you're spending more time on your phone then you are looking into somebody's eyes, you're doing the wrong thing."

"Very romantic," FLOTUS said.

"It's very romantic," he agreed.

Cook: "So we developed things like screen time to help people control the amount of time they spend on devices."

Cook noted, for example, "And so if you for example, if you ask Siri about suicide, she will prompt you to get help."

Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail of Malayasia noted the role AI manipulation can play in effecting mental health and also asked Cook about protections on technology to protect people's private information.

"If you've ever had an Apple watch, you are being watched all the time," she said.

"Absolutely not actually," Cook responded.

More Cook: "No, we're the privacy company. And so we believe that privacy is a fundamental human right. And so we collect very little data, the data that that is collected is on your device. And so it's it's much like in the days before technology where it would be your filing cabinet. We keep things on the device that are sensitive to you -things like your health records and your and and also things like banking records and so forth. These are encrypted and Apple doesn't even see them. We can't see them. And if it is somebody wanted to get that from us, we don't have it. It's data that we never collect."

Ismail then said "You can affect mental health if your site been hacked into your stuff. And then you've been scammed."

Cook: "We see that one of the very key roles that we had is providing people privacy and security. These two things go hand in hand."

FLOTUS then made closing remarks: "Thank you to all of you for being here to being a part of this discussion. I think it's a powerful way to close our time together. It's really been so valuable to hear all of your stories and your experiences. And so I want to thank you for sharing and for opening up and so it can't be easy for you Rose to talk about your experiences and what you've gone through. But as you say, I mean so many young people listen to you and know your experience and so you have such a positive effect on people. And I'm really inspired really by all of you by your dedication to improving mental health in all of your countries. And you know, we need to address this globally. And that's why we have this discussion today."

After the discussion they all gathered for a group photo.

The Steve Jobs Theater is a circular room of white, black and gray. The Apple logo is on the wall behind a podium. There are gray couches where the participants are seated. It feels like a giant Apple Store.

Ahead of the event FLOTUS was greeting spouses and doing a family photo that was closed press.

NBC is here as a TV pool. APEC host TV is also here.

FLOTUS and company are now taking a tour of the Apple campus while pool holds (tour is closed press).

After the event FLOTUS will head to the Moffett Federal Airfield to fly back to DC (she is flying separately from POTUS) and pool will split off to return to San Francisco.

This will be the only pool report unless there is news that warrants another one. Please reach out with any questions.

REPORTABLE BACKGROUND FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY
Background | First Lady Jill Biden APEC Spousal Program at Apple Park in Cupertino, CA – Friday 11/17
On Friday, November 17, 2023, as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Week, First Lady Jill Biden will host an independent event for spouses of APEC leaders at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, CA. The program will include a conversation on mental health facilitated by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. Portions of this program will be covered by a U.S. and foreign press pool.
PARTICIPANTS:
The First Lady will be joined by the following spouses of APEC leaders:

• Mrs. Kim Keon Hee, First Lady of the Republic of Korea
• Her Excellency Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia
• Mrs. Rachael Marape, Spouse of the Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea
• Mrs. Louise Araneta-Marcos, First Lady of the Republic of the Philippines

PROGRAM:

The First Lady will greet spouses as they arrive. After, the First Lady will deliver remarks and host a conversation on mental health moderated by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. This portion of the program will be covered by a U.S. and foreign press pool and video coverage will be made available at>>www.usapec2023video.com<<;

Following the conversation, the First Lady and guests will have the opportunity to tour the Apple Park campus and engage in various activities focused on mental health and Apple technology, including experiencing mindfulness features on the Apple Vision Pro and Apple Watch. This portion of the program will be closed press.

Opening Remarks:

• Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer, Apple
• First Lady Jill Biden

Conversation participants:

• First Lady Jill Biden
• U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy
• Mrs. Kim Keon Hee, First Lady of the Republic of Korea
• Her Excellency Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail, Spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia
• Mrs. Rachael Marape, Spouse of the Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea
• Mrs. Louise Araneta-Marcos, First Lady of the Republic of the Philippines
• Rosé, Korean-New Zealand singer and member of BLACKPINK

Closing Remarks:

• Dr. Sumbul Desai, Vice President of Health, Apple
• First Lady Jill Biden

Additional background on First Lady Jill Biden:

• Dr. Biden continues to teach English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has been a professor since 2009. As a classroom teacher for more than 30 years, the First Lady continues to shine a spotlight on education and has worked to support youth mental health across her education efforts.
• In August 2023, as part of a series of back-to-school events across the country, the First Lady and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy visited Westfield High School in Westfield, IN to highlight the importance of mental health resources for schools.
• In May 2022, Dr. Biden hosted a White House Conversation on Youth Mental Health featuring Selena Gomez, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and a group of young mental health leaders.
• In October 2021, Dr. Biden and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy visited the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan to host a discussion on youth mental health and highlight Project AWARE funding.