>> emily: before we go, check out today's new episode of the fox true crime podcast. now episodes are out every tuesday and thursday, and you can subscribe on foxnewspodcast.com or wherever you get your podcast. now this tuesday it was the full episode of my live interview with dr. michael boden, incredible pathologist who has weighed in on so many high profile autopsies and even more, and today's episode was the q & a with a live audience with him. thank you all for joining such a wonderful show on "outnumbered." dvr when you can't watch us live. and here is "america reports." >> we are going to build a wall. it's going to be built.

>> trump campaigned on build that wall. are you willing to tear that wall down? >> there will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration. >> sandra: president biden making it crystal clear on the campaign trail he would not allow another foot of wall during his presidency but appears out of control migrant crossings have caused him to break that pledge. hello and welcome everyone. sandra smith in new york. >> john: good to have you back. john roberts in washington. it won't be another foot, a whole lot more than that, and any moment now white house press secretary karine jean-pierre expected to face questions over the president's stunning flip-flop over securing the border. >> sandra: we will look for that reaction as mayorkas is claiming there is an immediate need to fast track construction of 20 miles of new border wall in

southern texas. where daily illegal migrant crossings have set new records in recent days. but moments ago reporters were able to ask the president about this decision, listen. >> money was appropriated for the border wall. i tried to get them to redirect that money. they didn't. they wouldn't. and meantime, there's nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated. i can't stop that. >> do you believe the border wall works? >> no. >> john: complete coverage now, former acting dhs secretary chad wolf on how significant this reversal by biden is. but first to our jeff paul, he is live at the southern border in eagle pass, texas, where continues to be busy and jeff, why the change of heart from the administration? >> well, maybe it has to do with the scenes we are seeing here at the border on a daily basis. thousands crossing into the u.s. with simply no signs of it slowing down. so, the biden administration is

now going to waive 26 federal laws to restart border construction, something that they had previously stopped. this new stretch of border wall, roughly 20 miles, will be constructed in south texas in the rio grande, valley. the biden administration at the time called the massive border wall when they took office in 2021, "not a serious policy solution." but when you see videos like this, those who have long pushed for border security measures say more wall is needed. these images emerged today and it appears it was shot from the mexican side of the border in juarez. the group was rushing towards the border fence in el paso. a former border patrol chief rodney scott is weighing in on what the biden administration is doing to address the ongoing crisis. >> this is a significant threat to our country and we are just -- we are being silly about it. we had mechanisms in place to secure the border and this administration tore every single one of them down.

>> we just got this video showing charter busses leaving el paso, texas last night. the bus supervisor says the majority of the folks on board are migrants that were in cbp custody. they are reportedly off to denver and los angeles, another example of how the migrant crisis is impacting larger cities that are farther away from the border. a big part of the reason why new york city eric adams is on a tour of latin america, hoping to discourage migrants and telling them his city is at full capacity. >> john: jeff paul along the border in eagle pass. thank you. >> sandra: chad wolf, former acting dhs secretary, thank you for joining us. how significant of a change is this for the administration to now go that route? i mean, alejandro mayorkas, he says there is an acute and immediate need to waive dozens of federal laws to build the wall in south texas.

he has insisted the border is closed for so long now. >> he certainly has and has done it before congress and under oath and testified they don't believe in border walls to be effective. i think this is a very stunning development. i think what this tells the american people is that they have politicized this border for the past two and a half years, and they have put a strategy in place that has opened it wide open and we have more people coming across the border than ever before and i think what this says the strategy is no longer working and we have to get back to fundamental blocking and tackling as i would like to say in what is actually effective. and of course, what we know, walls work, they have been proven effective everywhere along the southern border, from san diego all the way, you know, into arizona and into texas. so, they are effective and they do work. unfortunately, these walls should have been erected in 2021. rgv was the next area we were

going to erect the physical infrastructure in. these should have been put up long, long ago. let me address what president biden said there. they are trying to tell the american people and they are lying to the american people by saying our hands are tied, we have to build it because congress appropriated. they didn't have to do is waive 20 some odd laws to build it immediately. they know it works and they need the wall up pronto in the rgv. >> sandra: such an interesting point of view there. among the 26 laws that dhs has waived, includes the clean air act, safe drinking water act, the endangered species act, all notable environmental laws that limited further construction of the border wall. as we have heard this all along from biden administration officials, play it out, listen. >> i want to be very clear. our borders are not open. >> it would be wrong to think that the border is open. it is not open. and i just want to be very, very

clear about that. >> the border is secure. there's no change in policy. the border remains closed. >> let me be clear. our border is not open, and will not be open. >> sandra: not only that, mr. secretary, flashback to october 2021. the woman we are about to hear from at the white house, that press briefing from the white house is expected to be underway any moment now, that's a little live picture, bottom right of your screen, we are going to hear the white house reaction to this coming up. this is kjp october 2021. listen. >> we have talked about the border wall here in general as a way that it's used to close the border and we feel it is a policy that doesn't work and not just us. you know, experts have said that, the border wall is not -- is not an effective policy. >> sandra: cites experts, not an effective policy, she's going to have to defend this massive

reversal. >> well, absolutely. first of all, those statements are a complete lie. if you ask any border patrol agent, any border patrol chief and folks that actually work along that border, they will tell you time and time again that physical infrastructure in the right places at the right time is very effective and we have all the data that says it is. so when she says certain experts, they are not experts that work along the border. so no one has held her to task of that. that's a complete fabrication and lie. but look, i think the question for her, what has changed. if it wasn't effective policy solution a year ago or two years with ago, yet the numbers were astronomically high then as they are now, what has changed in the biden administration thought process to where you have to waive 26 different laws, which i know them well. i waived them as well. this administration has made it clear that they don't believe in physical infrastructure, they don't believe walls work, and they want to move that money elsewhere, and so if you do that, you don't waive 26 laws so you can build it right away.

you slow roll it and you take three years to build it. >> sandra: that is going to be quite a press briefing when it is underway shortly, i can tell our viewers, peter doocy is in the room so we hope he gets some questions in. we'll be listening for that. meanwhile, we know the migrant crisis is not just a border community, border city, border state concern, it's all over the country, new york, chicago, everywhere. this is just a sampling of the angry residents in chicago and this migrant crisis. >> the areas where migrants are being housed, it's nasty, it's dirty, sloppy, unkept, not healthy for them and certainly not healthy for us. >> you cannot track them. you ain't tracking them good at the police station. you don't know their names but you want to spread them over the city. >> it's not to kick out the migrants here, but the point we have to say no. >> sandra: democratic mayor of the city, mayor johnson, pressed

repeatedly to give a sense of when he plans to visit the border. he says he will do that, administration will visit the southern border to assess the migrant situation it says as soon as possible. so you've got democrats leading up major u.s. cities now who at one point you can make the case rolled out the red carpet, declared themselves sanctuary cities, all are welcome. they have had it. and now they are visiting the border? >> i think what this tells you, it's not a republican or democrat issue. it's an american issue. so when you have mayors of blue cities like new york city and chicago taking trips to the border to try to see what he is going on and trying to figure out what is the solution, that's the job of the administration of the president and the vice president and the secretary of dhs. so maybe now we have multiple secretaries of dhs going to the border and trying to figure this out. i think overall, it's again,

their strategy is failing the american people and now we have two cities, thousands of miles away from the border, saying no more. they were sanctuary cities, you know, a year ago or even yesterday, but when it actually comes home and it hits them firsthand, what they are hearing from the residents, some of which you just played, they have real concerns, not only about some of the conditions but when they say hey, you can't track them, you don't know where they are going, that goes right to the case of security and safety in their communities, and that's what they are concerned about. >> sandra: chad wolf, appreciate you joining us on all that. thank you, mr. secretary. john, as far as the resources these migrants have been getting, speaking of rolling out the red carpet, this is the national immigration law center, housing, cash assistance, food, legal support, among some of the resources that they have been given that are clearly drying up. these cities cannot handle it anymore. and now you look at what's

happening -- we have the live drone video footage that continues to come out of the border. i mean this is happening minute after minute after minute, a crisis that is clearly only getting worse and this administration is forced to handle. >> john: back to what the president said, we can only spend the money on this, we had to spend it. but contrast that with what alejandro mayorkas said in his public statement about requesting the 26 federal laws to be waived, he said there is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the united states in order to prevent unlawful entries into the united states. so this wasn't a matter of as chad suggested having to immediately spend the money. there is a clear and urgent need to stop people from coming into the country. we'll see how karine jean-pierre fields that question. >> sandra: we will be anticipating that highly. all right, now this.

>> john: more than 75,000 kaiser permanente employees are on the picket line for a second day. the largest healthcare strike in u.s. history. jonathan hunt is live in los angeles with the latest and jonathan, are they talking yet, the two sides? >> it appears not, john, in fact we seem to be at something of a standstill right now between the unions and kaiser permanente executives. as a result, there are hundreds back here on this picket line outside one of kaiser permanente's largest hospitals today and tens of thousands of kaiser permanente workers on picket lines right across the country. it's affecting healthcare for 13 million americans. those on the picket lines here say they have no choice because kaiser has allowed in their view staffing levels to fall dangerously low, and they have allowed in their view wages to

fall well below the rate of inflation. so, they say the workers we have spoken to, it is time for kaiser to step up. listen here. >> nobody wants to be out here, everybody wants to be in there doing their job, doing those to the best of our abilities. however, you know, we have to have proper staffing for that and the only way we can catch the attention of the higher-ups is to be here today. >> you are willing to come out again if necessary? >> absolutely. >> now, kaiser permanente says its priority is of course patient care, too. in a statement recently they said "kaiser permanente, our try and our employees, are now operating in new cultural labor and post-pandemic environment that we are all working hard to understand. we are committed to finding workable solutions." but as yet, john, there is no sign of what either side consider a workable solution, at least not one that we can agree

on, so how is it impacting patient care? kaiser says its hospitals and emergency rooms are and will remain open for the duration of this strike. but they admit that some nonurgent procedures are and will be postponed. some medical offices are and will continue to be closed and some pharmacies are and will continue to be closed. this particular strike is scheduled to go three full days. that means it would end around 6:00 a.m. pacific time on saturday morning. if there is no agreement, though, another strike is planned for next month, john, and the unions tell us that will go even longer. at the moment, as i say, no sign of any deal coming together, john. >> john: we will see if the pressure from the union moves things along. jonathan hunt for us. thank you. by the way, we just got the two-minute warning to the briefing, there should be some housekeeping at the beginning. but we'll get to questions in a

little while. sandra. >> sandra: meanwhile, still on the picket lines, united auto workers, although there has been some progress during negotiations, they still don't see eye-to-eye with the big three automakers on battery plants. the strike's uncertainty appears to be fueling layoffs as ford is slashing another 400 jobs as the strike is costing the companies hundreds of millions of dollars. general motors estimating the strike has cost them 200 million in the third quarter alone. >> john: stunning twist in the senator bob menendez corruption investigation. did a fatal crash involving his wife and alleged co-conspirator lead to a bribe. >> sandra: will a divided republican caucus coalesce around a new republican leader. katie pavlich next. >> unite the conference and the

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majority leader steve scalise and jim jordan officially declaring their candidacy. will the party be able to unite around one candidate? bring in katie pavlich. so, who do you believe at this point between scalise and jordan, the two have declared has the inside track? >> jim jordan has a lot of endorsements rolling in, steve scalise a few of them. and jim jordan has been supported by president donald trump, will be on capitol hill next week as the debate gets started. interim speaker wants to make sure the votes are whipped up and counted before they bring it to the floor so they don't have the rounds for the republican party to air their differences. overall, talking to conservatives, they say it's a good thing, they are hashing this out, a number of issues. but you have to find someone to convince the eight people voted

to oust kevin mccarthy, and then the slim margin of only being able to lose four republicans before you have a problem. so, we'll see. i've also heard from congressman max miller who did an interview with the ruthless podcast and he said he's interested in looking at getting rid of all the old leadership associated with kevin mccarthy and he was for keeping kevin mccarthy in place, but he thinks because of what happened, they need to start over with a new slate of candidates for a number of different positions. so it's not just going to be about speaker, it's going to be about majority leader and other leadership. >> john: whip and everything else. because you know, i think that tom emmers is looking up to majority leader and then somebody up to whip. if it is scalise who becomes the speaker. if jordan is, it's a whole different calculation. call four number three here, politico had a brief look at the strengthses and weaknesses of both candidates. scalise, relationships,

personality and story, biggest weakness, old feuds, including with mccarthy, which may be a positive for him. dark horse candidate, jim jordan, conservative credentials and the trump card, trump likes him, greatest weakness, history, tactics and fundraising. if you are looking for a speaker, what is the difference between scalise and jordan? >> scalise is more establishment, been in leadership quite a long time, a great personal story what he's up against with democrats. jim jordan has the argument to hold democrats accountable and focusing what conservative republicans want to be their priorities going into the congress, what his leadership as speaker. both of their letters talked about putting the country first and making sure an agenda that cuts down on government spending, holds the biden administration accountable is something they both want to do. but jim jordan also sets up the situation where if he leaves the house judiciary committee, who is going to take over the oversight capacity, given that

that's really one of the committees leading the charge of the impeachment inquiry against president joe biden. they are similar in a lot of ways. and steve scalise has worked closely with kevin mccarthy and seen as a positive, given how upset all the republicans who wanted to keep mccarthy are. however, also a number of people, including peopler who supported keeping kevin mccarthy they want a clean slate and start over. and jim jordan, unafraid to rule somewhat like nancy pelosi, with no apologies and to hold on to power rather than having these divisions in the party. >> john: speaking of nancy pelosi, the old pelosi rule you had to have, two-thirds of the congress agree to introduce a motion to vacate, and matt gaetz got that knocked back in negotiations with mccarthy and gaetz brought the motion. karl rove wrote about that today in the wall street journal, saying that matt gaetz should be basically made a pariah. if he insists on concessions,

the candidate would be wise to politely tell him to get lost. his colleagues see him for what he is. now act to weaken him. but gaetz is expected to push for the one member threshold on a motion to vacate. would scalise or jordan or whoever be nuts to sign on to that? >> possibly. but all depends on the numbers. the reason why kevin mccarthy had to agree to this one member vacancy rule is because he was unable to coalesce enough votes to get him to the speakership, why he saw 15 rounds of voting. if one of the candidates are able to get leverage, they don't need gaetz. but newt gingrinch, eight republicans voted against kevin mccarthy so that's why he's out. >> john: jet to the white house briefing. they are talking about the border barrier, let's listen in. >> we believe there are better effective ways of moving forward to secure our border and

security. and we have continuously asked for congress to act, to provide our cbp, the law enforcement, law enforcement at the border to give them the resources they need to do their jobs. and so we are going to continue to call on congress we believe and the president has been very clear even when you ask him, does a border wall work, he said no and he's been very consistent about that. we believe we need border technology that is modernized and land ports of entry and that's what we want to see. that's what i can speak to. and we -- this is something that we were required by law and are complying. this is an administration that does believe in the rule of law. >> but why now, for instance the funds have been available since biden took office. why at this time. >> the president spoke to this and one of the things that he was saying that he's been asking congress to reappropriate the funds, he has been, for the past couple of years. and congress refused and we have to comply by law to get this

done and that's what you are seeing happening right now. >> a way to slow walk this and to delay it? >> we have to comply by law and that's what we are doing at this time. we asked congress to reappropriate the funds, that's what we would prefer to see, not waste the funding in the way they are doing it right now that we are required to do, but they refused and so now we are moving forward. >> thanks, karine. what specific law would the administration break if funds appropriated are not used, especially because the funds are -- go unused all the time. why not let it go unused this time. >> i'm not going to speak to the law, i would have to refer you to the department of justice, i'm not a lawyer. but this is a law that we are complying with. we have asked congress multiple times to reappropriate this. this is not the way that we believe is going to be effective here. we believe in modernizing the system, not actually building a wall. the president said himself he does not think it's effective

and so we are complying by law and we believe that in the rule of law here and we are moving forward and getting that, and in following the law. >> if the administration in some ways recognizing that using these funds at this moment will be useful in texas. >> we are complying by the law that says that we need to do this and that's what dhs is asking for. >> how is this consistent with what president biden pledged to do when he was elected, which is that he will not use any funds to use the border wall. >> let's make it clear. the facts are that this is not new, right. this is something that came from the last administration under the republican leadership in fiscal year 2019, and we are required to do this. we are required, dhs is required to comply by the law. that's what we are doing here, and look, the president, he said this himself. he asked -- basically asked congress to reappropriate the funds, they wouldn't do it, and so now we are -- we have to comply by law. now, this was something announced six months ago, dhs

announced this six months ago and so it's not new. this is not new. >> help with the situation in texas? >> we believe that a border wall is not effective. you heard that from the president, your colleague salina asked him directly he said we don't believe it's effective. we have asked congress to actually help us, you know, use these funds in smarter, more effective ways. that's what we have asked for. they refuse, but we are going to continue to ask for congress, especially republicans holding this back to act. >> the border wall is effective, why is the homeland security secretary saying it's necessary to prevent unlawful entries to the united states? >> i have not seen that full statement. i know -- i hear you, i'm just saying i have not seen his full statement on that. what i can speak to is for the president, the president has been very clear that he doesn't believe it's effective. he answered that question of your colleague, that's what i can speak to. that's what we are going to talk about and we have said there are

smarter ways and more effective ways in dealing with this, and there are. and so we -- the president said himself, he asked congress to reappropriate the funds for something more effective for ways to do this in a smarter way as it relates to border security measures. they refused. this was announced back in june, now we are moving forward. >> you said in 2020 as a candidates, after the law was passed in 2019, not another wall constructed in my administration. how can you say he's not breaking that promise. >> a law the dhs is complying with. we believe in the rule of law and that's what we are moving forward with. as you said in 2019, i believe there was a different president in 2019, right, a republican president who actually pushed this forward, the republican leadership pushed this forward. and so now we are complying by the law. let's not forget, this was six months ago. i know you are asking me about it now but this is not now and this was done six months ago.

>> but there were a series of waivers put forth last night to expedite this process. can you help us understand, eventually, is there -- why is it this has to be used up right now because you have been not thus far using the funds to piggy back on the question, why not continue to slow walk this, if you don't believe it. >> the answer there is we have asked congress over and over again, the president said this, to reappropriate the funds. they said no. we have to comply by the law, that's what dhs is doing. as you asked me about the environmental laws that we had to -- that we had to deal with, you know, we had to comply by the law, which requires, because we have to comply by the law, which requires the agencies to use these funds. for their appropriated purpose. cbp will conduct resource surveys of this project and so certainly i would refer you to dhs and cbp on the specifics of that, and also the law itself.

what i can tell you is that we are -- we have to comply by the law and that's what we are doing. and that's what dhs is doing. again, this was out -- this was announced back in june, and this is what -- how we are moving forward and you heard directly from the president. his stance on the border wall has not changed. he does not believe it is effective. he's been very clear about that. again, your colleague asked him directly and his answer was no. >> has the government already contracted for this project? >> i don't have any news about contracts for this project or how it's moving forward. i would have to refer you to dhs on that. >> are you expecting the speech to be early next week. >> i don't have anything new to share on the ukraine speech specifically. but look, the president was very clear, he wants to give a major speech on this, and so when we have more information certainly we will share it. and you've heard me say this multiple times, you heard the president say this, there is strong bipartisan support from both chambers for protecting our

national security by backing ukraine as they continue to fight for their democracy, for their sovereignty, and resist the brutal invasion of russian aggression, obviously. which has committed war crimes and atrocities and kidnapped thousands of children. we saw what's happening today at the grocery store, we know at least 49 people have died and that's horrific, how they are living their life. and also i want to bring in the experts into this, too. across the spectrum have stressed if we abandon the people of ukraine and russia is successful, it would send a terrible message and embolden dictators and aggressors and would be aggressors around the world who may want to invade other countries, could draw the united states and create much more of a problem and issue around the world. so, that's, you know, that's why we have to continue, we believe, being behind and behind the people of ukraine, when we have more to share on his speech we

certainly will do that. but yes, the president is going to make a major speech on ukraine and when we have those information we will share that. >> follow up quickly, you said it's not new but to be clear this was posted on the federal register overnight on october 4th, so just to be clear about this, the president earlier today said that he was asked does the border wall work he said no. but in the statement posted within the last 24 hours the department of homeland security said immediate need for physical barriers and rows in -- in order to prevent unlawful entry to the united states. who is right, the statement from the dhs secretary overnight or the comments today by the president saying it doesn't work. >> it showed up on the register today but it's from six months ago. >> it is new, the waiving of the laws did not happen. >> this is something that was out back that the dhs was put out back in -- six months ago.

and they announced -- >> make the law six months ago? >> dhs announced this in june the agency would do so. they said they would do that -- >> and the initial announcement was six months ago by waiving the law. that's new today, understood. the statement -- so when he said presently he was referring to six months ago or referring to the date of which it was filed, october 4th. >> dhs announced in june they were going to move forward with this. that's what i can share with you. that's what i know is to be true and fact. look, i can speak for the president, the president said he was asked directly, he doesn't believe a border wall is effective. >> does he have a disagreement with his department of homeland security secretary. >> i'm going to tell you what the president said and your colleague asked him, he said no, he doesn't believe the border wall is effective. i hear you, i'm speaking for the president. saying he has said he does not believe a border wall is effective. that's what he was asked. he has said that for some time now, and still remains to be the

case. he asked, right, he asked congress multiple times his team has asked congress to reappropriate the funds, they refuse to do that. >> you asked the president on our behalf in the absence of our ability to do that whether he disagrees with the statement there is presently an acute and immediate need to construct barriers. >> i'm happy to take that back. >> the wall, the mexico president said the plans to move forward are contrary to what president biden had been proposing. has the president addressed this with mexico? >> addressed -- >> has he spoken to the mexican leader. >> that came out, i'm assuming -- >> he was meeting with his national security advisers, right, with the new chairmen. so, first of all heard directly from the president, he said he does not think a border wall is effective. so, you heard directly from the president on that as the

president of mexico is speaking to, right. so you heard directly from the president. i don't have -- i don't have a call to read out. the president has been busy meeting with his national security team. i don't have a call to reach out as you know, members of his team here at the white house have, they went down to mexico, they did a delegation and went down there, and had meetings. i don't have a call to read out from the president. >> as someone who spends a fair amount of time in oval office with the president, did you ever have a troubling encounter with commander? >> no, not at all. >> he never nipped you? >> no. >> were you ever wary of being around him because of the biting incidents you had heard about? >> absolutely not. i've seen commander many times, never wary and never bit by commander. >> have any of the members of your staff -- >> i don't have numbers of, you know, exact numbers of any incidents with commander. i do want to lay out something

that my colleague, elizabeth alexander over at the first lady's office, our communications director and just to be clear here and we want to, you know, make sure that folks understand in case you guys didn't see her statement here and it goes as follows, the president and the first lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the white house and those who protect them every day. they remain grateful for the patience and support of u.s. secret service and all involved as they continue to work through solutions. commander is not presently at the white house, on the white house campus, and while next steps are evaluated. that came out from the first lady's office. i will leave it there but no, as it relates to me, i was never wary of commander, i've seen him many, many times, and so i can only speak for myself, though, and i can't speak to anything else outside of that. >> i'm surprised, i've been bitten by a dog, if there was a dog that had bitten 11 or 12 other people i would be a little

nervous around that dog. why weren't you? >> i mean -- i'm not sure why this has to do anything with me. i was just not nervous at all. so -- that is not a concern for me, that is not something that, i can't speak to anything else outside of what you have heard from the first lady's office, and so i'll just leave it there. >> make the dog available for questioning? >> you want me to bring the dog into the briefing room? that should be fun, that should be fun. go ahead. >> thanks, karine. take another question on the wall. you said quoting the president he did not believe a wall was effective and in your own words said it would be a waste. i wonder if you could talk about why a wall is ineffective for a number of different reasons, whether it's stopping drugs, stopping illegal migration, obviously the president has voted for the secure fence act

in 2006, specifically talking about how it would be effective in stopping drugs. >> we believe -- first of all, he was asked do you believe -- the exact -- do you believe the border wall works, he said no, he answered that directly. so we believe there are more effective ways of dealing with this, dealing with the border security, and so of course we have repeatedly asked congress to make sure that cbp have the resources they need to do their jobs, and we think there are other ways to do that, whether it's smarter, more effective border security measures, and so you know, like border technology, when you modernize that and land ports of entry, we believe that's what works to deal with the border security. and so we have been very clear, the president has been very clear about this. he doesn't believe the border wall is effective and that has not changed. that has not changed. we are complying by the law, dhs

is complying by the law that an appropriation that came from fiscal year 2019 under the last administration, republican leadership, and that's what you are seeing now. >> follow up with a question about the letter that governor pritzker sent earlier this week. he asked for one person in the white house who deals with the president to be a coordinator for border issues for irregular migration and how it's impacting some big cities. what's the white house response to this idea he needs one person because it sounds like he thinks this bears more coordination -- >> so, here is the thing. there are multiple folks here who deal with -- who are -- have been in touch with governors across the country on this issue. you have the intergovernmental affairs office led by tom perez, and that is someone who has kind of led these conversations with these governors and talks to them pretty regularly about the

issues that they are having. and array of issues, not just this, and so -- and there are multiple other people that have been in touch with governors across the country. look, let's not forget we provided a billion dollars to those counties, states, cities, who are dealing with this issue, right. and so we have been -- we have been very engaged, whether it's to the governor in illinois or the governor in new york, on how to move forward to really deal with the issues they are dealing with on the ground ineffective ways. so that's what we are going to continue to do. you know, and -- you know, it is -- it is an issue that's incredibly important to this president, and that's how we are going to continue to move forward and have those engagements and conversations, and figure out what ways the federal government can help them on the ground.

>> thanks, karine. two questions, one is about commander. are there more dogs of the first family on the white house complex or not, wanting to find out if there are more -- >> it was just commander here on campus as i mentioned. >> and the gap in central america, a lot of talks between apparently the government of panama is making a complaint against the governor of colombia with the migration going through and damaging the environment there. has the u.s. considered any action to help either panama or colombia to manage the migration flows in that region. >> i don't have any new policy announcement to make at this time. as you know, the president has had, and his team, right, whether it's dhs or state department, diplomatic conversations with folks in the region as you know when it comes to migration, it is a regional issue, not just at the border.

and the south. and so we have consistently continued to have those conversations, those diplomatic conversations. as you know, he brought more than 20 countries to the u.s., and the west coast as you all know, to have those conversations on how we can work together. there was a declaration that was put forward on ways that we can move forward in dealing with this migration issue that we see in the region. i don't have anything new to read out, new policies to read out today. >> thanks, karine, couple on the border. timing, you said this is in the works but it's been out for six months. specifically on this notice coming out last night, is it at all related to the funding request for ukraine that the administration has been pushing for, given what some house republicans are saying they want border money right now, more focus on border security. is this some sort of we will put this out now so we can make more of an effort to get the ukraine funding. >> look, i wouldn't connect the two. i think again, the president has

said multiple times when it comes -- as entering why now, the president has asked congress to reappropriate these funds. they wouldn't do it. and so we are moving forward. this is -- this is nothing new, this was announced by dhs about six months ago back in june and that continues to stay the case. as it relates to the border and what republicans are asking for, we believe one action should not -- one action should not be dependent on another action. it should not be. we have been very clear. in august the president told congress we needed up to 4,000 more troops to support border operations, resources, equipment and overtime to support the operations of 24,000 more customs and border protection, 39,000 detection beds, technology to prevent cartels from moving fentanyl and republicans failed to act. and two weeks ago they put

forward c.r. that proposed cutting the dhs to 8%, which would remove law enforcement at the border, would make our border less secure, and so you know, those two things, ukraine funding and that should not be linked. we have seen bipartisan support in both chambers for ukraine funding and that's what we believe should be -- we should be moving forward and continuing that funding for ukraine, and we have been asking. we have been asking the gop, house republicans in particular, hey, to take action, right, to take action in helping us and partners with us in dealing what is happening at the border. >> you said many times, the president many times asked congress to cancel or shift funds for other uses at the border. how has he done that? formal budget or funding requests, when did that happen? >> i don't have the exact timeline. i can ask the office of leg affairs. his team works on that and so i'll ask the office of leg

affairs. >> appropriated funding from 2019, does that have an expiration date? >> i don't have the timeline or the date on if there's an expiration. i would refer you to dhs on that particular question but again, we are complying by the law on this. >> will there be a future border project from the allocation of funding appropriated in 2019? is this the end of it? >> look, i don't know about any additional funding from the fiscal 2019. i can speak to this right now as it relates to the structure that we are being compelled by law to have to deal with. anything specifically about the -- about border or what's next or how they are moving, i would certainly refer to dhs. >> and back on commander, where is commander the dog right now, wilmington? >> i'm not going to go beyond saying he's no longer in campus. >> phil in the back. >> you've reiterated the president's position is

consistent when it comes to the border wall. his dhs secretary previously said in 2021, he was against the border wall as plenty of my colleagues has pointed out, recently said there is an acute need. seems his secretary has changed the mind. so, will the president or has the president inquired what caused that evolution? >> evolution of -- you just heard from the president. >> curious what mayorkas saw? >> i'm just saying you heard from the president, he was asked directly the question, he said no. i don't have anything else beyond that. >> any comment on a u.s. f-16 shot down a drone in syria? >> we did see the reports as we were walking out here. i would have to confer with the national security council. but in the meantime, i would refer you to the department of

defense. >> thanks, karine. two questions on two different subjects. one, is the issue with the border wall funding the same issue that caused former president trump to get impeached the first time when he wouldn't spend money that congress told him to spend for ukraine? is it the same -- if you were not to spend the money, would you about he facing the same sort of threat that the former president did? >> you would have to do your research and look into that. >> secretary question unrelated topic, three-judge panel in alabama had put out a new congressional map for alabama that appears to create a new voting rights opportunity district. is the white house aware of that and do they have comment on that. >> the president believes the right to vote and have that vote counted is sacred and fundamental. it is the right from which all of our other rights spring.

a few months ago the supreme court's ruling confirmed the basic principle that voting practices should not discriminate on account of race. we are glad to see that process result in a federal court selecting a map that includes all the people of alabama to have their voices heard. >> i understand you are saying that dhs is complying with the law. but to do so the president is not keeping his promises or his commitments to the immigrant community, to environmentallists because he's waiving environmental laws to build this wall. is there any concern he's not keeping his promises? >> the president is always working to keep his campaign promises. you've seen that in many other policies and issues he's worked on. he's complying by the law. he's following -- certainly we believe in following the rule of law and that's what he's doing here. it is as simple as that. >> concerned about the border

issue because it does look like he's backtracking on a promise. >> he's been very clear. he even took the step to ask congress to reappropriate the funds. that's how much he did not want these -- this -- these appropriated funding to be used, right. and so they wouldn't do it, he took that step, they wouldn't do it, now dhs is complying by the law. we are following the law here. it's as simple as that. we are following the law. go ahead. >> on the -- you mentioned the kaiser healthcare strike, and the uaw strike is still going on. at what point does that become a problem for the president in terms of whether it's starting to have a negative effect on the economy overall and will he speak out about that? >> i mean, the president went to michigan recently just last week, a week ago, actually, to show his support and to stand in solidarity with union workers and that is, he did that because

he believes that unions have the collective bargaining rights to ask for fair pay and fair benefits. they should be able, you hear the president talk about this often, the dignity, dignity of work, having that dignity to be able to provide for their family, and he believes, as it relates to uaw, record profits should lead to a record, a record contract. that is something that the president has been very consistent on. and so -- and same for the kaiser union workers. they have the right to strike and they have the right to do collective bargaining, which we have seen in multiple instances in the past several months that when both sides come together in a good faith effort, that there's a win-win situation. and so the president is always going to be proud of being the most pro union president ever, he has said that, that's a label that has been given to him by

unions, and that's because he's done everything he can to make sure that union workers are certainly respected and have that dignity and he's going to continue to speak up for them. i'm not going to get into hypotheticals here. the president is the most pro union president for a reason. he believes union workers have the right to ask for fair pay and fair benefits. and it is something that they have the fundamentally right to fight for and to ask for, and so again, he stood very proudly in doing -- taking a historic action, going to an active picket line to really speak on behalf of union workers. >> karine. >> thank you, karine. there is a senate delegation going to china next week. i wonder if the white house is going to give them advice or guidance and if the president will talk to them before or

after their trip. >> so, we have been in touch with senator schumer's, leader schumer's office about the upcoming senate delegation as you just mentioned, that trip, and we support certainly their engagement in the region. so we would have to refer you specifically to leader schumer. we certainly support their trip to the region. up here, you are throwing me off. >> miss the l.a. times? don't tell time. >> my hometown paper. on president biden's first day in office, january 20th, he posted a proclamation, halted all funding those being redirected to build the border wall and also ended the national emergency on the southern border. also in the first order of the proclamation asked for a careful

review of all resources appropriated to the southern border wall. what was the result of that review? >> i don't have a result on the review but we can talk to the team. >> two and a half years. from june to restart construction on that section -- >> i understand, you asked me for review, i'm not going to make something up from here so i have to figure out from the team what came out of that review. i don't have an answer from the first day of the president's administration, but i will also add the first day, a comprehensive immigration reform, right, to perform the system, to fix a broken system that has been broken for decades. you know, every president has had to deal with the immigration system, a broken immigration system -- i don't want to say every president but the last few for sure in the last 20 years. so the president took that seriously. he put forth a piece of legislation, it was his first piece of legislation, that's how seriously he took it and when

congress would not act, he took action, he took action to make sure that we had cbp, additional cbp, 24,000 folks on the ground by the border, something he did, make sure there was record funding and recently back in august, i just listed out moments ago, asked for more from congress. and republicans refused to act. look, that is how seriously this president has taken it. of course always more work to be done, since may we have returned -- we have returned or -- sent away or sent back more than 300,000 migrants who came here undocumented. and so that is -- shows our commitment to the border and that shows a commitment on making sure that we tried to work in a system that is broken. >> thanks, karine. the supreme court at the beginning of the term this court

has been known in the last couple years to -- [indiscernible] issues the white house does not care about. can you talk about how you are viewing the supreme court term and what you are doing to prepare given so many issues that you are watching. >> we are always going to watch what the supreme court does. we don't ever know until it actually, they actually make their decisions. but certainly we are going to take, keep a close eye on what they are going to take up and how that's going to affect the american people. but i just don't have any specifics on what we are specifically taking a look at. but of course, of course we are always, we are always curious and always going to be certainly focused on what the supreme court takes up. >> acting secretary su and gene sperling were assigned to work on the uaw strike. are they in washington or have they gone to michigan -- >> i don't have anything new on

the engagement of the secretary or sperling as it relates to uaw. if we have anything to share we will do that. >> way in the back, go ahead. >> two questions on the border wall. first just to clarify -- >> john: so they continue asking about the border wall and karine jean-pierre continues to stonewall insisting they had to comply with the law, which is not the case, particularly when mayorkas, says there is a clear and present urgent need to build the barrier to keep people from coming into the country. >> sandra: stunning moment, she said she had not seen the federal register where the statement from mayorkas was posted. i mean, this is driving the news today. she said she had not read it. presently acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the united states to prevent unlawful entries to the u.s..

she was put into position to ask who is right then, the president's doubling down, says president still stands as he has said that the border wall does not work. so, who is right? the dhs secretary or the president? that went unanswered, peter doocy did not get a question, not yet, ongoing, and edward lawrence in the room. we'll continue to monitor it. >> john: as i sent a note to peter alexander from nbc, former colleague, who read out the statement to karine jean-pierre saying good on you for presenting the facts to her. doocy is up. >> appropriated in 2019. he said there will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration. something changed, what. >> you want us to break the law. not comply with the law. you want us to not be an administration that follows the rule of law. >> you do this all the time, the student loanve