before we go, we would like to introduce you to the newest member of the cnn family. meet baby eleanor murray. she arrived to alan -- alex fonseca and one of his -- big sister cecelia is excited and cannot wait to play and dance when her baby sibling is old enough.

>> their middle names is honor of alex's late mother, maria. congratulations to the entire family. we are thrilled for you, and to have another dolphins and heat fan in the world. shot out to alex. >> in the lead with jake tapper starts right now. anger and defiance and denial. the biden damage control strategy in the wake of that special counsel report. the lead starts right now. kamala harris is leading the charge to defend president biden. there is a report that makes serious allegations about biden's diminished faculties and faulty memory. he went before cameras yesterday to disprove the point

and ended up calling the president of egypt the president of mexico. what is the plan to show that biden is on the ball? plus, paging nikki haley. it is not as a former president trump, three years younger than biden is avoiding criticism. he called the president of hungary the president of turkey. he confused nikki haley with nancy pelosi. does the governor have the point about the matchup she calls grumpy old men? and fear grips citizens in another city in gaza as israel signals it is preparing for a new ground incursion. prime minister benjamin netanyahu is again out of step with what biden and other allies are asking for. welcome to the lead. i am jake tapper.

cleanup on aisle 46. bring the good stuff. it is a damage control blitz for democrats in the white house on capitol hill. frankly, across the country today after a special counsel report aimed at president biden painted him as an old man with memory problems. they decided not to charge president biden for his mishandling of classified documents, but the partial expiration for white he is not charging him liens on descriptions of his encounters with president biden that sent the white house spiraling and unleashed this response from vice president kamala harris a few hours ago. >> the comments that were made by the prosecutor were gratuitous, inaccurate, and inappropriate. the way the president's demeanor in that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts, and clearly, politically motivated. >> the blistering report also sent president biden rushing to the lectern at the white house to defend his mental abilities.

he lashed out at the reports suggestion that he did not remember the year that his son died from brain cancer. >> there is some attention paid to the report about my recollection of events. there is reference that i don't remember when my son died. how dare he raise that? frankly, when i was asked the question, i thought to myself, was it any of your business? >> the press conference may end up ultimately being best known for is be referring to the president of egypt as the leader of my skull. a slip-up that did not exactly leave people impressed. evan joins me know. democrats are painting this as a partisan report by a man who is, it's true, originally appointed an attorney by president donald trump. but let me just ask you, in the context of special counsel reports, and the special counsel's role, did they do

something inappropriate? >> i don't think so. you look at special counsel reports, this is what is contemplated. they released these reports. in this case, the fact is, you are in the scanning is sitting president. you know you're not going to be in charge. there are specific things here that i think the white house is drawing attention to, including what they say is gratuitous language in the reference to beau biden. if you look at this, you could argue that it was not necessary to say it in this way. you could pick different words. but if you are robert her, and you are faced with these facts, right, and you are deciding that you are not going to charge the presidents or that you cannot charge the president and you believe there is not enough evidence to charge the president with a crime, you have to explain why it is you arrived at that opinion. he lays out all of the reasons.

everyone is fixated on this one, but he also says a number of other things, including other examples where it appears that way. he couldn't prove whether the former vice president had the class for docket at a home in virginia, for instance, which it would've been when he had that discussion with his a ghost writer. there are other problems that he confronted here. this is one that everyone is focusing on, and the way the special counsel works, you know, this is what you do. you produce a declination manual. they are not pretty. usually they are not released, but because it is a special counsel, it has to be written for the attorney general. by the way, the one thing that happened is when merrick garland received the report on february 5th, he could've said, hey, can you remove some of this language? that would've created new problems. it was required that he reported that the congress.

so it is just a difficulty. i know they don't like the report, but this is the way the rules work. >> i have read a lot of legal documents myself. i have to say, prosecutors and prosecutor documents are often pretty rude. they are not nice. they are not polite. he had a section about white what trump did was worse than what biden did when it came to those documents. >> they are focusing on that and pointing that out, but they are not drawing how unusual that is. you could also argue donald trump's lawyers could argue that he has no reason to be commenting on an ongoing investigation that is, by the way, has not even gone to trial yet. that is so unusual for him to bring up another investigation. he has nothing to do with it. but he goes out of his way to say, look, compared to what trump did, which was so much worse, this is why i am not charging joe biden. now, i will say this.

i think the comparisons are very appropriate because you cannot equalize the two things. joe biden sat down for an interview. it was a recorded interview with the special counsel. now, the pressure will be for us to get access to all of the materials from this investigation. we will see whether the white house will allow all of that. >> thank you so much. this sunday, president biden will once again have an interview. it is a missed opportunity to show he is on the ball for tens of millions of viewers, including swifties. fox broadcasted the super bowl last year. they used commitment to journalism as a excuse. this year, it is cps. there is no excuse. what is the problem?

arlette saenz has more on this glaring pr problem. >> president biden, defined and lashing out after special counsel robert hurr's report. >> these assumptions are wrong. >> kamala harris came out and slammed the counsel suggesting that politics were involved. >> the way that the president's demeanor and that report was characterized could not be more wrong on the facts, and clearly, politically motivated. gratuitous. we should expect that there would be a higher level of integrity than what we saw. >> the president fully

cooperated with the investigation including two days of interviews in the opening days of the israel hamas war. >> you wanted to make sure he had everything he needed. >> the special counsel's investigation, ending without criminal charges, but robert hurr's assessment of biden as a well-meaning old man with a poor memory, putting him in the spotlight. >> the president was fiery in the face of questions last night. >> you responded with the words, watch me. many people have been watching, and they have expressed concern about your age. >> i'm the most qualified person in this country to be president of the united states. >> she highlighted the chief issue raised about the president. 304 voters have major or moderate concerns about whether he is fit to serve a second term. >> okay. we know. president biden is old.

okay. it doesn't sound like breaking news to me. >> it comes amid a string of verbal slipups including thursday when he mixed up the leaders of egypt and mexico. >> the president of mexico did not want to open up the gate to humanitarian material to get in. hur's report struck a personal note when he said he doesn't remember the death of his son. >>'s fury was even more direct, telling a group of democratic lawmakers, quote, how would i forget that? >> now, as the fallout over the reports roles, president biden host -- hosted olaf scholz . the president did not answer questions after that meeting.

we anticipate seeing him in a little while when he leaves here for wilmington, delaware. one big question for the coming weeks is whether any transcript or audio of the president's interview with the special counsel could be released. today, a spokesperson for the white house counsel's office would rule out -- would not rule out that possibility, saying that it could be released potentially once redacted for's fight information. >> sure. if they think special counsel hur is unfairly portraying these changes, let's hear about it. joining us now to discuss it is presidential historian douglas brinkley. douglas, good to see you. i'm excited to talk to you about this. you edited ronald reagan's diaries which are evoked in this report. biden suggests he didn't do anything different than what reagan did. i think it is something like that. what is your take on how all of this is playing out?

>> on that score, i think president biden is mistaken. ronald reagan did not have any classified documents and that reagan read something already marked read by someone else that is classified. what ronald reagan did was every night, he went to bed with his wife nancy. he would write a couple of lines, not drawing up reports on just what he saw or felt that day. that became the reagan diaries. other presidents have different ways of doing these things. bill clinton had taylor branch come to the white house and a journalist, and they would make these tapes. taylor would go off with him. it was all of these presidents after watergate -- we are trying to find a way to keep some of the stuff read in regards to donald trump and joe biden, there should never be classified documents being taken out of the white house, whether stuffed in a notebook

or stuffed in a briefcase. >> it is interesting. there is another section of the special counsel report that said that then vice president biden saw himself as a historical figure and that is why he kept these documents. i suppose a lot of politicians view themselves in that way. but he also went out of his way to say that president biden was more like previous presidents in how he handled or mishandled classified documents. then he was like donald trump, who, hur noted, refused to give the documents back , encouraged witnesses to lie about the documents and on and on. what you make of that? >> i think the white house made a mistake not celebrating the big headline, biden vindicated. once the sacraments were found in his garage, he cooperated fully. he did the interview. there are a couple of barbs that i know would get under joe

biden's skin. i think it was deeply unfair to evoke beau biden. but otherwise, that is the way these things go. you read these special counsel reports. as for the legacy piece, that is why we have watergate. he was going to bring them back. he was going to write a multiple volume thing. this will be the mistakes. i would recommend any president in the future, don't bring classified documents to the house. put them in the garage or put them in the bathroom. they belong to the american people. >> and if you could, having known the reagan presidency so well, obviously, there were concerns about reagan's faculty and ability. he put that to rest and that presidential debate with humor. what do you think biden should

do, and you think he is capable of doing it? >> you just said the great word. humor. you cannot be like jimmy carter was over the killer rabbit and get in a funk about it. they are going to go after you every day. ronald reagan kept a group of filing cabinets and he put jokes in them under a, b, c, d. every topic under the sun. he would grab these jokes and unleash them. it was a way to make a joke about being the elderly guy. i think because beau was evoked, biden blew his top off. he said, i'll show these whippersnappers what is up. in the end, we start confusing the same rep -- at a time of crisis like this -- it doesn't bode well for you. it was a lost day for biden.

>> presidential historian douglas brinkley, always good to have you on. we have some breaking news for you. this is something we would all focus on today. the s&p 500 just closed above 5000 for the first time in the history of the s&p 500. the moment comes as economic growth is strong. earnings reports have been better than expected. the federal reserve is expected to start cutting interest rates. maybe that would've been our lead if the white house hadn't been in such a tizzy about the report. coming up, president biden says that israel's military response has been of the top as netanyahu directs his military to drop evaluation plans. and haitians are once again rising up in protest, the many elections they were promised but never got. killings and kidnappings in the troubled country sore. we are going to take a closer

look.

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we are back with the political fallout from president biden's surprise news conference is not where he attended damage control and it was not under much control. he confused the president of egypt with the president of mexico. let's bring in our panel. paul, let me hit you off with a pass because i know you are going to mention things that trump has said that were similarly confused. so here are some of those. >> they deleted or destroyed all of it. all of it, because of lots of things like nikki haley in charge of security. victor or bonn. he's like one of the strongest leaders anywhere in the world. he is the leader. he is the leader of turkey. >> okay. so he is the leader of hungary. nancy pelosi is who he was referring to. still, the perception of him being doddering is not equal to the perception of biden. so how does biden deal with

this? >> he is effectively as old. >> 77 versus 81. >> i think the thing to do is to first off, what we ought to do -- i think, okay, this is one of the things i hate about politics. we say the clash on the lunar landscape. how about we call buzz aldrin. i have talked to the people who overlap with presidents, who worked for both donald trump and joe biden and to a person, they said, and i'm not a reporter, so they may be spinning something, but they say, that's not trump. they say crazy and unhinged and dangerous. for biden, they say he is all there. ab they are wrong. maybe they are right. i think journalist should call these people and pointed out.

the perception is what it is. the reality from what i have heard is that biden is up to the job.these are from career people who are not democrats. we say, oh, well. >> but perception is reality. most americans will trust their eyes and they see the president who is aging. they see the president struggling to remember certain phrases or appearing to be confused about certain cities. this isn't a negative against the president, jake, but the reality is, by the end of his second term, he will almost be 90 years old. i have older individuals in my family. that conversation with my grandfather and grandmother about this. my grandmother said, at 81, there is no way i should be in academia anymore or leading an institution anymore. we know that to be true. most americans know that to be true. >> does it apply equally to mr. trump? >> are making that point.

>> he says he doesn't agree. >> my problem is i expect more of this points from an independent counsel. he is a partisan, the guy who wrote this report. who led the fight in his confirmation? senator joe biden. maybe he is biased. he worked for donald trump, which got him to lose his job as prosecutor. this was a terrible choice by merrick garland. this is a partisan thing. >> are justice correspondences this is how special counsel reports and prosecutors work. >> that they shouldn't. this book he is a disgrace. >> this is also someone who gave financially to john mccain. >> we are not talking about a

maga individual. >> what do you make of the fact that he went out of his way to say what donald trump did was far worse than what joe biden did? >> that is not in his purview. he has the right to be smashing donald trump. he clears him legally. it is more proof that it is a political document. you need a political disclaimer. >> he is a person hack to the point that jake made, which is that there was a comparative to the former guy. he was clear that what the former guy did was worse than what president biden did. this is someone who attempted to be objective. >> they are out to get him politically. >> white would he make that case? the president appears to be too old and his memory is not quite there. that is a legitimate point to make. >> he said he couldn't prove in front of a jury that this was

on purpose and willful. then he gave the reasons as to why that was. >> that is not what i was taught in law school. i was taught that prosecutors speak through their indictments. when they choose not to indict you, you are innocent. >> we will come back to. more than 1 million people have fled to rough up. it is the target of the next military assault as they pursue the terrorists of hamas. the fear is that raffa will become a zone of bloodshed.

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in our world lead, the leaders of the united states and israel, showing once again that they are not in on the same page. president biden said last night that israel's conduct in gaza is, quote, over-the-top. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is drawing up evacuation plans before the is really good entrance. it was in the city of rafah. that is for missed -- displaced palestinians that are sheltering.

nada bashir reports from gaza. >> there are simply no words . this grandfather, cradling the body of his seven-year-old granddaughter. beside the shallow grave, where she will soon be buried. i told her mother that she is now in heaven. with her aunt, her cousin, and grandmother, who are all waiting for her. have many martyrs in our family. he says his family had been taking shelter in the school when an airstrike hit. it took hours, he says, to reach the nearest hospital, still able to treat her. but it was too late. across gaza, more than 10,000

children have been killed since the war began. according to the hamas-run health ministry. many are injured and facing life-threatening injuries. in the central city, airstrikes are made daily. those who survive, left to dig through the rubble with their bare hands in search of their loved ones. meanwhile, in rafah, one stained a safe zone, unicef estimates there are more than 600,000 children among the million people in the area, many taking shelter in sprawling tent cities. the southern city has for weeks come under relentless airstrikes by the israeli military, who say they are targeting hamas. but now, a looming ground operation is stoking fears that rafah could become, as one group called it, a zone of

bloodshed. >> if by some misfortune, there is an invasion of rafah, two thirds of the publishing will die . he says, we cannot get out of rafah. we have no other alternative. israel says it is now calling for a mass evacuation of civilians in the southern city ahead of a planned ground offensive. it is almost impossible to fathom where else these civilians can turn to. but rafah has not only become a vital lifeline for the displaced. it is also a crucial gateway for humanitarian aid, crossing over from egypt, and many in the international community are now sounding alarm bells over israel's morning. >> i'm alarmed by reports that the israeli military focuses on rafah, where thousands of palestinians have been squeezed in a desperate search for safety. but the state department has

warned that it cannot support a military operation in rafah without serious planning for civilians there. with u.s. president joe biden on thursday describing israel's actions in gaza as, quote, over- the-top, but israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has already dismissed a proposal from hamas for a prolonged truce, which would see a phase of troops from gaza and a gradual release of hostages in exchange for palestinian prisoners. netanyahu, who described the proposal as delusional, has vowed to push ahead until a, quote, complete victory over hamas is achieved, leaving little hope for diplomacy, as negotiations continue, and little hope for what lies ahead in gaza. truck behind the scenes, they are still having efforts between the united states and

egypt and regional foreign ministers to discuss a prolonged truce or cease-fire. here in cairo, we have seen a high-level delegation of hamas officials arriving. they have now departed. they arrived early on thursday morning. the focus of those discussions was a cease-fire agreement or a prolonged truce. that is what we have seen. president benjamin netanyahu has dismissed the counterproposal. there is mounting pressure from the international community as concerns over the situation in rafah continue. >> that is nada bashir in egypt. we are not talking about the middle east. this is a country that is a neighbor of the united states. stay with us.

in our world lead, escalating political unrest in haiti, in the caribbean, is sending the country further down the abyss of chaos. the united nations say last month was the most violent month and two years in haiti. there are reports of , killings, gang violence, and widespread poverty. antigovernment protesters demand that the prime ministers resign. we see how haiti got to this volatile point. >> a state on the brink of collapse. haitians are demanding presidential elections that were promised but never delivered. it has been three years since their old president was assassinated.

they are disrupting the supply chain of basic necessities and displaced many civilians, with kidnapped things and shootouts on the streets. >> my interim government and police were working hand-in- hand to restore life in the country. we are aware that a lot of things have to change. we need to make those changes together. >> the current prime minister, ariel henry has been urging calm, but swaths of the publishing are rising up against him. ariel henry took control after being chosen by moise. henry was a suspect. henry is largely seen as an illegitimate

leader by the public. the final straw is that he failed to keep his arms to move forward with elections, citing terrible violence. now, amid desperation, some haitians are rallying around any figure, guy philippe. >> no one loves them. this government is helping gangs. they are killing innocent people. kidnapping people. they are serving imperial interests. they deny those allegations. guy philippe took to the streets to rally against henry's governments. the former high-ranking national police officer rose to prominence after leaving a coup that led to the ousting of

jean bertrand aristide. he has only recently repatriated to haiti after serving six years in a federal prison after taking a plea deal, admitting to taking bribes from drug smugglers. he was scheduled to do an on camera interview with us but security concerns had him flee to an undisclosed location. >> you accepted the plea deal. as for taking bribes. from drug smugglers. how do you respond to people that say, how can he be trusted to run this country? >> first of all, they forced my lawyers to sign it. >> the doj said he accepted a plea deal and admitted wrongdoing. >> it is clear. according to the laws of haiti, i can be president, prime minister, whatever i want. it is up to the people of haiti. they want me to the be the

leader, i will be glad to be the leader. >> today, guy philippe swords are galvanizing the public. humanitarian crises, and constant lyrical unrest period, to give you some idea of how bad the violence is, in 2023, the u.n. document it over 8400 direct victims of gang violence. that is a 100% increase from 2022. rafah says he will continue to rally and continue to run no matter what happens in his home country. >> thank you. thank you for that report. it is normally a joyous moment full of hope, but in idaho, for a number of women learning they are pregnant, that active learning about it brings fear. we are going to show you how new abortion restrictions are changing the lives of patients and physicians. that is next.

this ad? typical. politicians... "he's bad. i'm good." blah, blah. let's shake things up. with katie porter. porter refuses corporate pac money. and leads the fight to ban congressional stock trading. katie porter. taking on big banks to make housing more affordable. and drug company ceos to stop their price gouging. most politicians just fight each other. while katie porter fights for you. for senate - democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. in the health lead, u.s. a and court set to hear second major abortion case since it reversed roe v. wade in 2022.

the court will decide if emergency room physicians can perform medically necessary abortions in states that prohibit them. the case will focus on idaho's so-called distance of life act which is a near-total ban on abortion with narrow exceptions for rape, incest, and prevent the death of the mother. the bill criminalizes doctors who perform most abortions in that state. meg tirrell brings us to look at how idaho's ban is impacting both patients and physicians.'s defensive as soon as the ultrasound technician put the wand on my stomach and i saw the baby on the screen, i knew something was wrong. >> reporter: 12 weeks into it jen atkins pregnancy, she and her husband john got devastating news, their baby had turnovers -- turner syndrome

. the longer the pregnancy continued, the higher risk she had of developing life- threatening high blood pressure. >> i wanted to be pregnant and have this baby, she was not going to live and my health was at risk. >> reporter: they are idahoans through and through. john family goes back six generations. they are raising their 2-year-old son here along with 11 tax they took in and ended up adopting. what happened next made them feel betrayed by the state they loved. >> because you are in the state of idaho, we cannot provide termination for you, we cannot provide abortion. >> reporter: in 2020, idaho passed trigger band that would ban abortions in all circumstances of roe v. wade was overturned which happened in 2022. the abortion ban went into effect, it is illegal to get an abortion in almost all circumstances. one of the few exceptions is to save the life of the person pregnant. there is no exception for a

circumstance like jen where her health was at risk where her life was not immediately threatened. how are you wayne the risk to yourself and your family? >> i knew that there was no question in my mind that i would travel and get an abortion one way or the other because i knew that my son deserves a chance to have his mother here and healthy and nonviable pregnancy is not worth risking that comfort and safety to my living son. >> reporter: jen and john ended up driving six hours to portland, oregon for an abortion. >> we honestly felt like we were fleeing and had to do so under the cover of darkness. it was a really bizarre feeling like we were going to get, like we are criminals that have to hide from the state. >> reporter: those kinds of drives are becoming more common.

one of the least densely populated states in the whole country. one doctor we spoke with sat in the rural area where she practices, the drives already before the abortion ban were 65 miles for her patients to get this kind of care. with abortion banned in idaho, they are driving over 300 miles. >> reporter: the laws are weighing on doctors, dr. lyons has practice family medicine in haley, idaho near sun valley for 18 years. >> it is terrifying to know we cannot practice full scope, we are needing to manage and triage patients often outside of the state to get the reproductive health care that they need. >> reporter: the laws leave many of the colleagues she depends on for higher risk pregnant patients have left the state. >> we had 10 taking care of women in idaho, that is down to five. >> reporter: she says the laws are changing how she talks to

patients on the first visit in a healthy pregnancy. >> we more than ever are having that discussion, need to go out- of-state, check with your insurance, make sure you buy life flight insurance. many of my patients are scared to be pregnant in idaho. it is horrible and tragic. you expect to go to the appointment talking about prenatal vitamins, what should by e -- i'd be eating. then we have the soul -- this other discussion. >> reporter: jen and john have that conversation because they are pregnant again. congratulations. how does this pregnancy feel knowing what you went through with your last pregnancy? >> anxiety, nervousness, hoping that everything goes well. i have friends pregnant at the same time as me in the state and we all share the same

sentiment, we hope we get through this pregnancy unscathed . >> reporter: jen and dr. lyons are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state of idaho with abortion laws and lack of exemptions. dr. lyons practice is not part of that lawsuit. reached out to the state attorney general's office for idaho, spokesperson says that idaho's law safeguards the life of pregnant women and the state healthcare system is stronger and better serves women and children when our doctors prioritize saving two lives rather than prioritizing abortion on demand. >> if they felt confident about that, you think they would give an interview defending their law. his age not just a number and more of a state of mind? both age and state of mind are central to the race to the white house. why that matters and how this we could be defining in the campaign. don't go anywhere.

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welcome to the the lead. i'm jake tapper picked this hour some of us are lucky enough to be in las vegas ahead of the super bowl, not me of course. some of us are lucky enough to sit down with the winningest super bowl quarterback of all time. tom brady gives his take on the sunday qb battle. and yes, taylor swift. one of the world's leading elder statesman on pressing issues of our time, former polish president and nobel peace prize winner joins me with urgent warning for the world about the fight for democracy. beating death our special counsel report may have legally exonerated president biden but is creating major political headache for him. the white house in damage control mode with vice president kamala harris leading the charge against the report. that biden has diminished faculties and