eclipse. light that usually reflects off the moon is deflected to the atmosphere that turns the moon red. i did not know that. that's what it looked like in athens as it rose behind the ancient temple. well done. >> dana: wow. thanks for joining us, everybody. "the faulkner focus" is next. here she is. >> harris: president biden is bogged down with the nation's mystery. americans looking to him for solutions to the growing list of problems immediately. i'm harris faulkner and you are in "the faulkner focus". a sliding stock market, the border, and drug usage in crisis, inflation out of control, gasoline and home prices spiking, shortages in food and baby formula. the list goes on. let's visit some. we'll start with gas prices. the national average hitting another record high today nearly $4.50 per gallon.

the price has risen for 18 days. baby formula, parents desperate for answers as store shelves remain empty. president biden blaming a recent manufacturerer recall with the shortage even though the problem has been developing for months and fda and cdc cleared the plant to reopen. republican senator john thune calling out the administration. >> typical in this administration they want to blame somebody else. they blame the manufacturers. the fda should have reacted a lot southeastern. another in a long list of examples in the biden economy of products that people can't get or paying a lot more for. this is the inflationary issue they've created and this shortage is another example, i think, of basic government competence. >> harris: congresswoman will

weigh in. let's go first to peter doocy. >> officials talk about inflation being the number one domestic priority. this president's plans are getting panned by the world's second richest man bezos. the administration tried hard to inject more stimulus into an overheated economy and only manchin saved them from themselves. it hurts the least affluent. misdirection doesn't help the country. the top democrat on capitol hill is urging the president to do more with formula shortages. nancy pelosi said that defense production act would help. >> so we've been talking about that and feels quite certain we have to change the law in order for the defense production act to be called into play and we certainly should. >> then you have rising gas prices. look right now according to aaa

the average cost of a gallon, $4.48. a month ago 4.08. a year ago down at 3.04. >> it's then being reactive to what the republicans have been doing calling attention to this and very reminiscent of the energy crisis we're facing in the country. the president doesn't want to ramp up domestic production. we're sitting on thousands of lease applications on his desk while we have an energy crisis and people are paying soaring gas prices. >> the list of domestic problems remains pretty long. later on this week officials are hoping to shift attention overseas as they send the president on a week-long trip to asia thursday. >> harris: peter, thank you. parents across america struggling to feed their little ones in the face of the formula shortage. new york congresswoman and new mom stefanik called out the president on twitter.

joe biden continues to put america last by shipping pallets of baby formula to the southern border as americans face empty shelshelves. american mothers and babies shouldn't suffer because of the biden border crisis. house speaker nancy pelosi quick to fire back. >> as usual her statement is totally irresponsible. babies are crying, we need to get them food. we must do something as quickly as possible. but as safely as possible. use caution for these babies. but we have to move quickly to do that. and part of this is again the supply chain issue. >> harris: by caution does she mean let's ignore it for weeks before we acknowledge it's happening? republican congresswoman shared this photograph last week that backs up stefanik's claim. the border detention center in donna, texas stocked with baby formula despite the nationwide shortage. congresswoman is in focus now. thank you for being with me

this hour. you know, i was looking. doesn't the fda or could we look at fema or anybody with a back stock on baby formula? this is an emergency now. >> yeah, absolutely. you just heard nancy pelosi say that stefanik's statement was irresponsible. let me tell you what was irresponsible. it was biden's fda shutting down the nation's largest manufacturerer of baby formula without a plan to backfill the 43% that they make up in the marketplace. that is irresponsible. prioritizing american kids is the responsible thing to do. having a secure border, that is the responsible thing to do. now nancy pelosi and the biden administration, they are playing catch-up. just like every other issue. it is a disaster from top to bottom and i this weekend went to the donna processing facility myself to make sure that everything was as it was

stated to me last week from the border patrol agents that were sending me the photos. yes, there are supplies, yes, there is baby formula, yes, they have been stockpiling it and it is not just a supply room off of the corner of the processing center. they have not one, but two warehouses full of supplies. this is a disaster. >> harris: why not move some of that material? i mention the access that the fda or fema would have. we know we have back stock because we have disasters in our weather and other types of things happening. we know we have to have them. >> as the ranking member of the fema subcommittee on homeland security, i for the last year have been going after fema and the administration asking why they spent over $130 million out of the food and emergency temporary housing budget to fly and bus illegals around the

united states instead of using those funds for americans, they have been paying for plane tickets and bus tickets and they have spent over $130 million through ngos. they don't want to give us the information. they want more money so they can continue to manage the flow of illegals and when title 42 goes away everything is going to be bankrupt and we'll be back here again with nancy pelosi saying that we need to allocate more money for the border crisis of their own creation. >> harris: congresswoman, you dropped some numbers and information there that i have not read anywhere. $130 million of food emergency fund would be exactly what we need right now. >> you would think. >> harris: you are telling me they spent that, some of them surip tishous trips from illegals on trips around the country. we caught some of those happening at night. transportation secretary peat

buttigieg pressed on why it is taking so long to respond to the formula shortage. >> why has it taken so long? >> we're here because a company was not able to guarantee that its plant was safe and that plant has shut down. >> but that is the federal government's job as regulators to help insure. >> regulators, yes, but be clear. this is a capitalist country. the government don't make baby formula nor should it. companies make formula. >> harris: let's be really clear. he is in charge of the supply chain crisis. that's part of what we're experiencing. they have two young babies. are they they getting formula? >> i am sure they are finding a way. typical of people in the elite class seem to find a way. i'll say this. the fda, biden fda shut down the abbott facility in michigan

in march they, the fda, came out publicly and said there was no evidence -- no scientific evidence of the bacteria found in the abbott plant in michigan and the bacteria that tragically killed those two infants. the biden administration admitted there was no connection and abbott was under a voluntary recall. since march abbott has been trying to get back online but it has been crickets from the administration. what else does this plant need to do to get back up online? i would be curious from the administration why they haven't been responding to the abbott folks? let's get them back online. another thing, harris, when biden said last week that he was meeting with manufacturerers and suppliers like target, wal-mart, gerber, curiously abbott was not on the call. it makes you wonder why they didn't have the nation's largest manufacturerer as part of the conversation and why haven't they eased tariffs to import baby formula and why haven't they cut the regulatory

tape and why didn't they have a plan on day one? lots of questions. >> harris: i tell you what sticks out is that information you brought us today, congresswoman, about that food emergency fund and where 130 million dollars went. that seems like such a key point because if this were not an emergency back in november when the recall was happening, and our own fda in between the process of then and now has said the plant can reopen but can't reopen? they're in a nebulous zone, i suppose. that constituents an emergency. that's a long period of time. >> exactly. and that to me just again highlights the distorted priorities of this administration. no one has said that we don't care for babies that are in our custody. that's not it at all. they created such a shortage. no matter if we redistribute the all the formula at the border it wouldn't make up that

this administration fumble the ball. we now have american mothers and fathers scrambling to get their kids fed. babies in the e.r. having allergic reactions to formulas they aren't used to, that they can't have because their parents can't get formula anywhere else. biden is asleep at the wheel once again and americans are hurting as a result. >> harris: this is dangerous. the blame game is stalling. great to have you in "focus." you brought us a lot of good detail we didn't have including your most recent to the visit to the border where you could verify the formula that's there that american parents cannot get. >> thank you so much. >> harris: house speaker nancy pelosi is blaming president trump for the u.s. supreme court's traft opinion striking down roe v. wade and her choice of words is what is getting a lot of attention. plus we're learning more details about the massacre at a buffalo supermarket. police have identified all of the victims and there is new

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>> harris: yesterday one person died, five others hurt in southern california that happened in the afternoon in laguna woods, 50 miles sought of los angeles. police say there were a large number of worshippers inside that church when a man entered and opened fire. church goers subdued the suspect and restrained him with hog tying his legs with an extension cord and he was arrested at the scene. he is an asian man in his 60s.

no word on why he did this. this fox news alert. we're learning more about the suspect in a deadly mass shooting at a grocery store in buffalo, new york that happened on saturday. police say the accused shooter is 18 years old and had undergone a mental evaluation after making a threat in his high school last year. he drove more than 200 miles from his hometown to target that store in a predominantly black neighborhood. one witness described the scene. >> he shot a woman, a deacon, another woman and then he went in the store and started shooting again. >> i think for somebody to do something like that is sick. there is no excuse for nothing like that. >> all of them were innocent and did not deserve to die this way. >> i usually come back. thank god i didn't come back. >> harris: in a manifesto the

suspect posted online he adent filed himself as a white supremacist. 11 of the 13 people were black shot on saturday. among those killed 86-year-old ruth whittfeld. she was on her way from visiting her husband in a nursing home and stopped to get something to eat. another victim, who i featured in my twitter feed, i knew of her before this happened. 77-year-old pearl young, alabama native who ran a local food pantry. she fed people every single saturday. alexis mcadams live in buffalo. >> that's right. this community is grieving the loss of those innocent lives. police tell us there is no mistake about this, it is planned out, that manifesto had so many details about what this teenage suspect wanted to do. he chose that grocery store behind me because it's in a

black community in buffalo. that community is grieving. it is an active investigation still. this is brand-new video from a few hours ago at the scene. we saw federal agents out here casing the area taking photos and marking several bullet holes left in the grocery store building where the gunman opened fire killing 10 and injuring three. police say the gunman's rampage was not going to end at the grocery store. he planned on shooting people in the blacked neighborhood he chose because it has the largest black population in buffalo driving three hours to get here. listen. >> many more people could have lost their lives. that was the intent of this shooter, to kill as many black people as possible and that kind of hate there is no place for it in our country. there is no place for it anywhere in the world. >> we're learning more about

those who lost their lives. you can't imagine what their families are going through today. range from 32 to 96. they ran to a grocery store to pick up a few things. now taken away in the senseless shooting. a couple of the people so far that we're learning about. one of the victims hailed as a hero retired buffalo police officer working security at the tops grocery store was killed while trying to stop the gunman. 67-year-old deacon heyward patterson was shot and killed. he would often drive to and from the grocery store just to help them out. >> he had left the soup kitchen at our church and then went over there, i guess, to work a couple hours with the service and from what i understand he was assisting somebody putting their groceries in their car when he was shot and killed. >> police say there was a 200-page document posted online

they are still going through page by page that had information about this specific neighborhood. they believe he canvassed this grocery store and here for 24 hours trying to figure out how this was all going to go down. he live streamed the entire mass shooting and this community is still grieving. tomorrow president joe biden and first lady jill biden will be here to talk to those community members. many have questions for the president, harris. >> harris: i understand and forgive me if i didn't catch it in your reporting. police have talked with his parents now, the suspect's parents, correct? >> correct. they have a very heavy police presence 3 1/2 hours away in down state new york at his house. talked to his parents and they are cooperating. people in that community described it as a normal family but said that a lot of the people didn't know him very well. looking at that manifesto, it's very scary to see these thoughts going through a an

28-year-old's kids head and he wanted to go around at the grocery store he thought he would keep driving. it is tragic for these people to process. >> harris: thank you very much. so while the tragedy was playing out the media and others were quick to jump on the shooting to push a certain narrative. the "wall street journal" says it is simply not that simple. its editorial board wrote partisans are already using the massacre to leap to broader political conclusions as they always do. there is no doubt a racist sub culture exists in america and spread on social media. politicians and media figures have an obligation to condemn it and such conspiratory notions but mass shooters have had many motivations in recent years and mental illness is the most significant common denominator to the extent there is one. will cain on the mez in "focus" today, co-host of "fox & friends" weekend. good to see you. you and i have both read the

"washington post" article saying hate is not at the root of most mass shootings. >> pretty fascinating from the "washington post". what it suggests is there are deeper personal issues. in other words, not something that you can use to indict society and certainly not a political party or a partisan point to make. rather you need to look at the individuals and what might be troubling the sick individual that heads down this path. that makes sense. there are clearly people, harris, will who use the moment to indict political opponents and saying it is a result of certain rhetoric in the our political sphere. they do it after every national tragedy. to some extent both sides are guilty of doing just that. but if we really want to try to solve the problem you look into the individual, you look into some things that contribute. he was racist. he laid out he did believe in

this idea of white supremacy. he also said he got bored during the lockdowns. in 2020 spent time falling down the internet rabbit hole. a lot of stuff we can peel the onion layers saying what did we miss and where were the red flags where you end up with the tragic situation in buffalo? >> harris: our research shows mass shooters walk a common routes to violence through early child had trauma. material wealth, power, success, happiness. they reach a crisis point. i don't see race necessarily mentioned there. the reason i bring that up is this case has to be adjudicated and the more narrative and what people put out there it is a strategy no matter how you look at it. >> no doubt. you nor the "washington post" are saying race didn't play a

role. this individual made it clear race played a role. if we try to solve the problem in the long term to make sure it doesn't happen again we need to ask other questions than the one we're simply having a nation at all times about reconciling our issues over race. it is about something much more as well. >> harris: we were saying something similar in terms of don't indict certain segments of the population based on what one person is doing and mental illness as well. it is not a reason or a trigger or motive for why people do it. it may be an underlying -- plenty of people with mental illness who don't do this. how do we get to a kid who said he wanted to threaten his high school and kill people? do you do it through counseling at school? you know you have a problem before he had gone down the rabbit hole of finding radicalism. >> we try to correct the problem by looking to analyze and place blame and try to take

out our previously held grudges on others. >> harris: that helps no one. democrats on social media were quick to capitalize as a means to push for gun control legislation. schiff said angry the gop blocks the most basic gun safety measures. we can stop this. republicans refuse to, cowards. another one said mass shootings are an epidemic. end it now. white supremacy and gun violence are grave threats so far beyond time for congress to act and save lives. a couple members of the squad there. >> bill: pressley lays out both of the athames to make it about something bigger and happen to be the things see is opposed to, white supremacy and guns as well. the democratic party has shown an increasing trend to say no matter what the crisis may be it's an excellent opportunity to advance our agenda no matter. inflation, oh, you know, we heard this from katie porter. further evidence we need to

allow for abortion. people should control how many mouths they feed. she made that argument. >> harris: secretary yellen said black women who have babies and don't get -- can't raise them and don't get abortions are part of why the economy isn't working. i'm paraphrasing her somewhat but it got such a reaction from senator tim scott. >> joe biden tweeted in order to control inflation look at the corporate tax rate. bezos ridiculed that. let's push our agenda. we have another terrible crisis in buffalo and what is the response from many politicians? push the agenda that already existed. >> harris: let me get to this. house speaker nancy pelosi said conservative supreme court justices slapped women in the face with the leaked roe v. wade draft ruling. the speaker also responded to criticism that democrats should have been more prepared for such a ruling given the court's makeup. she took it as an opportunity to go after former president

trump. >> who would have ever suspected that a creature like donald trump would become president of the united states waving a list of judges that he would appoint getting the support of the far right and appointing those anti-freedom justices to the court? >> harris: watch this. >> i don't have an official u.s. government position on where people protest. but we do. it's wrong. it's intimidation. it's against the law. look, it's not terribly violent obviously but would you want this outside your house? >> harris: 18 u.s. code 15.03 i've read it many times. >> the connection between nancy pelosi and bill maher. there is not an institution in

the united states of america thatan attack from the left if their chosen goal or outcome is not accomplished. this leaker and now the protests outside the supreme court justice's homes are the product of not getting the outcome that they want, which is roe v. wade being upheld. by the way, roe v. wade has been criticized not just by potential justices that donald trump might appoint but some of the left as well. bad law since the 1970s. not the law of the land and law professors even from the left have said it is bad law. >> harris: senator marsha blackburn of tennessee said this doesn't wipe away a woman's choice to go get an abortion but it leaves it to the hands of the states. and that's really -- that's actually true. read the document. that may be why when obama was in office and had the majority they didn't do anything to codify the law.

maybe they didn't have the kind of support. >> they don't now. what they are trying to push through in the senate it's worse than roe v. wade. many of them answer is it's a woman's choice. when pressed what about the day of birth? a woman's choice. they are adopting a radical position more than roe v. wade. >> harris: i wonder if mayor adams -- it was interesting to say yeah, right up until -- which puts him opposed to anybody that might see it otherwise. >> north korea and china. the united states is more progressive and more liberal an abortion than france and vast majority of europe who set their limits at 12 weeks. the labor department says tens

of billions of taxpayer dollars were stolen. how criminals were able to get their hands on all that covid relief cash. meant to help americans struggling with the shutdown. plus the first trial begins today in special counsel john durham's investigation of the russia hoax probe. how did it start exactly? he is getting into it. matt whitaker is here on the charges against a former hillary clinton campaign attorney in the first trial. >> we have suspected and now know for sure it was -- the dossier was made up and the whole trump communication with the alpha bank was made up as well. i'm tatiana, here to say you can get an average of $60,000 with the newday 100 cash out loan. that's at least 25% more cash than you get at a bank. it lowers your payments by an average of $600 a month, too. with today's soaring home values, the time to turn your equity into cash is right now.

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>> harris: first trial in special counsel john durham's investigation of the trump/russia probe starts today. the origins of that russia hoax. a former clinton campaign attorney michael sussman is accused of lying to the feds when he relayed alleged ties

between trump and russia. here is part of the indictment. sussman's lie was material because among other reasons his false statement misled the f.b.i. and sussman may have lied about his own ties to hillary clinton. it reads i'm coming on my own, not on behalf of any client or company. want to help the bureau. >> this is a democratic lawyer who misrepresented to the f.b.i. who he was representing and gave them phony claims of more russian collusion. it is part of the broader russian collusion hoax. john durham has been investigating it for three years. it is a very important first step trying to get to the bottom of what was happening during the campaign and how it is the f.b.i. used its investigative powers to target donald trump's campaign. >> harris: i believe it is my next guest who told me durham would be a dog with a bone. former attorney general matt whitaker you said he is dogged

in his pursuit. >> it will be a hard and easy case. it is in the district of columbia and that makes it hard in front of a jury with mostly left leaning jurors because of the jury pool you pick out of in d.c. in front of an obama-appointed judge. that's the hard part. the easy part is the case. the case and the factual basis for the case is fairly simple. either he told the truth when he met with jim baker, the f.b.i. general counsel at the time or he didn't tell the truth and he hid who his client was and that he was actually trying to feed disinformation to the f.b.i. in hopes that they would launch an investigation into the trump campaign and then that would be a political story that the hillary clinton campaign, who he represented, could use against donald trump. >> harris: "wall street journal" op-ed calls the sussman trial a mueller legacy

arguing an f.b.i. would have figured out what hillary clinton's lawyer was up to. mr. durham's task would have been unnecessary had mr. mueller not messed with the swear to tell the truth law enforcement culture replacing savvy special agents and in a room with a lone attorney has shown the shortcomings. >> that is so true. mr. sussman went to jim baker, a lawyer, the general counsel at the f.b.i. instead of sitting down with an agent or a couple of agents to talk about the evidence. i think f.b.i. agent trained in this type of receiving of information would have sniffed out the false nature of the information and, you know, it is hard to know. there was so much noise around this and the clinton campaign was trying to make this all about russian collusion in order to distract from the

30,000 emails so it is hard to know whether on f.b.i. agent would have completely understood they were being fed false information but i sure think it would have been different than jim baker receiving that information. >> harris: one person in the room. let me get to this. billions in taxpayer dollars siphoned from fraudsters from covid era unemployment benefits including, according to the labor department, according to the labor department. it estimates that it could have been at least $163 billion in wrongly-paid sums and many cases criminals stole money using real american's personal information. the democrat from oregon says the outdated systems are -- the covid money was spread around a lot. $100 billion through fraudulent loans to the ppp program. >> yeah, harris. obviously they were trying to save the economy and push as much money into the system as they possibly could and get it into the hands of the american

people but any time you have a program that's so poorly conceived and executed you are going to end up with fraud everywhere. the hard thing is that these are a lot of cases for federal prosecutors to try to investigate and bring. we're talking probably tens of thousands of individuals that need to be investigated. >> harris: the lessons were learned and we knew that under the trump administration because you were with that administration and some of you were talking about it. but now we're generations of spending cash for covid away from those lessons and conceivably could do it again makes you wonder and hope that they fix the problem. >> it does. remember, these unemployment claims were adjudicated and managed by the states. so each state uniquely has their systems for pushing that money out. the federal money came over the top of it to give people more money so that they weren't as

harmed during that very difficult time in american history. >> harris: good intentions. matt whitaker great to have you in "focus." thank you. the violence in chicago -- i mean, out of your imagination over the last year or so and maybe even into the future unfortunately. look at over the weekend. chaos, shootings, prompting a curfew now. critics having a field day after lori lightfoot tried to dunk on a red state over banning books. she thought she could play a game and meanwhile her city is on fire. mid-term strategy unfull display. >> harris: my predecessor, the great maga king, the deficit increased every single here. i don't want to hear republicans talk about deficits and their ultra-maga agenda. the maga crowd is one of the

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>> harris: axios is reporting president biden is telling white house aides to avoid any mistakes and highlight differences with republicans and appears biden wants to make november's mid-term elections choosing between two competing visions than a referendum on his two years in office. i get it. axios writing biden's approach undercuts one of thinks selling points, a centrist democrat could transcend bickering in washington even the liberal media are acknowledging the writing on the wall. >> voters views about the economy begin to harden around may. that theory holds. democrats are in serious trouble right now. >> harris: reality. a new poll showing a staggering 75% of voters say america is on the wrong track and in that same survey voters are split on whether they would prefer a

g.o.p. or democrat controlled congress. power panel now. david avella and marie harf. the president of the united states walked into the east room about to award the medal of valor to two police officers. we want to watch this. there are nine police officers who will be recognized and four firefighters. my team is explaining. we'll stay with david and marie because the president is not quite up there yet. so let's go back and let's talk politics. marie, is this going to work for the president just getting everybody to focus on the campaign right now with all those crises that's upon them? >> this is always the challenge, harris, for the party in power. historically they always lose seats in the mid-terms. elections are about a choice between two people, two ideologies, two parties and democrats have to make that case because it is very easy for the republicans to

criticize democrats, to lob things at them but they also have to say what they will do if they actually get in charge. democrats have to make them do that. that's the challenge for the democratic party heading up to the mid-term election. >> harris: does it have you worried or gleeful? >> my big question, not a single democrat who will tell the president that it is bernie sanders and elizabeth warren causing him problems in the mid-term elections. they're going and electing the most extreme progressives. they got three big wins in texas congressional elections. bernie sanders down in north carolina and pennsylvania which tomorrow they'll nominate a very extreme lieutenant governor as the democratic nominee. you have elizabeth warren in oregon working to defeat a moderate and the president's problem going into november is the progressives are winning in primaries when he is trying to be a voice of moderation or at

least present that to voters. the problem is he has two problems. one he is getting progressives as nominees and independents believe he is the problem and it is his policies that have america where it is today. >> harris: a new nbc news poll found the cost of living and the economy are the most important issues for americans ahead of the mid-term elections. 176 days away. i count, keep track. voting rights and election integrity with 12%. behind that abortion despite fallout over the u.s. supreme court draft opinion leak and the crisis of the southern border are the top five. marie, your reaction. >> i think that's right, harris. we know economic issues matter the most. on the republican side you have republican leaders like stefanik calling democrats pedophiles on twitter and throwing these outlandish claims against democrats. joe biden will say i'm getting

you infrastructure. >> harris: we've had a president say terrible things about reporters. if you want to say what the bars are, we try to figure out how do you ignore seven or eight crises to focus on campaigns? the president wants to do that right now and you saw the polling numbers. he is underwater on everything especially the economy. >> well, i would argue democrats are trying to talk about those issues. biden is talking about inflation and oil prices, he is out there trying to get republicans to come to the table on these things. he will make the case that he is a moderate and there are no republicans willing to work with him and there is some evidence to back that up, harris, when it comes to action this year. >> harris: i'll come to you first when we come back. the president giving out medal of valor to police officers and firefighters. let's watch. >> president biden: hands in the back.

i would like to thank members of congress today, senator chris murphy, chris and i want jimmie hines is here with us today and congresswoman -- you can call me bidden. we've known each other so long and i stumbled. i apologize. good to see you all. they represent members of the districts that many of you are from and, of course, we're honored to be joined by law enforcement and firefighter leaders from across the country. we can fully thank you for your service and sacrifice but today is an important day for the nation to give thanks for all that you do for everybody. for all of us. because of covid-19 we couldn't have this special ceremony for the past two years. i'm honored we finally can today honor 15 public safety

officers, 8 different departments with the medal of valor, the highest award a president can bestow on a public safety officer. this designation reads, and i quote, for action above and beyond the call of duty and exhibiting exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness and presence of mind or unusual swiftness in action regardless of his or her personal safety in an attempt to save and protect human life, end of quote. that's valor. that's valor. the honorees, i don't know all of you personally but i do know you, growing up you are the ones who when we were outnumbered 3 to 1 you jumped in. you did. i grew up in a neighborhood where you either became a cop, firefighter or priest. i didn't qualify for any of them but here i am. and you jumped in and helped the one. not a joke. think about and your parents can attest to it. you were the ones to run into

help when everyone else ran away even before you became involved in firefightering or law enforcement. as adults the first ones to volunteer to coach a little league team or shovel your elderly neighbor's walk when it snows. the heart and soul on the very spine of this country and your communities. each one of you from small town departments to big cities, you are cut from the same cloth. you possess the selflessness that's really hard to explain. a rare commitment to your neighbors and your fellow americans. and an unusual bravery that inspires everyone and singled out because of your extraordinary herroism. in a few moments the full citation of your valor will be read. this is who you are. you plunged into icy lake waters and dove into choppy

oceans to save people drowning and faced a hail of gunfire and climbing burning buildings to save a baby and senior citizens. you drew fire to yourself to save a hostage and you did all this without concern for your own safety thinking only of somebody else, the other. you know, you've gone above and beyond. i think it is instinctive. this job isn't just what you do, it is who you are. we also know you didn't do this alone. to the parents who are here today, you get -- you set a standard, a remarkable public safety officer. they didn't just get this by osmosis. they got it through all of you. something about the example you set made them want to do what they do. i want to thank you moms and dads here for teaching your children the values that we honor today because they are

basic values. i want to -- i want to thank the spouses and the children of the honorees. it takes a special person to marry or a child to be the child of a firefighter or law enforcement officer. how many times have you sat if front of the steps of your house when the city lights have gone out and turned to your husband, wife, holding your kids and say we'll be fine, we'll be fine, go do your job. go do your job. you know, when your loved one puts on that shield and walks out the door each day, every family member dreads the possibility of receiving that phone call knowing that uncertainty that faces you as they walk out the door. so today from the bottom of our hearts we thank you, the spouses, the children, the

public safety officers. i really mean it. there are two families in particular i want to acknowledge. two of our honorees, officer jason shpink and lieutenant gerad lloyd. they gave their lives in the full service of their communities and this nation. to their families, unless you would rather not, i would like you to stand so everybody can see you. [applause] on behalf of the american people, jill and i extend our love. we know from experience that

these events are bittersweet. it brings everything back, if you just got the news. your proud, but it's hard. just yesterday i stood at the united states capitol for the national police officer memorial service to pay tribute to hundreds of fallen heroes. i was joined by the president of the fraternal order of police, who is here today. i don't know where patrick is, but i know he's here today. thank you for yesterday and thank you for today. we pay tribute to all law enforcement officers and their families who understand what it takes, what's at risk, to save and protect all of us. that includes paying tribute to the buffalo police officer, aaron slater, who gave his life trying to save others when a gunman shot and killed ten innocent people in the grocery store in buffalo on saturday. he