>> john: yeah, that's the big unanswered questions, the documents sat there for five years, why did they become an issue. >> sandra: and that's a huge part of the question still, and the fact that the white house is not providing any transparency or clarity on that is leaving a lot of room for speculation on the part of the media. i mean, i'm sure you saw joe rogan floating the theory that biden's document scandal is a ploy by democrats to replace him, ruin things for his 2024 potential bid. a lot of that out there. and mixed messages from the media, see how the reporters are in the room in a moment there. one of the anchors on cnn saying the classified documents defense by the white house is concerning if you are explaining you are losing. on the other hand, msnbc is praising biden's handling of the documents. it depends where you watch, look, read, john, why the white house needs to step in and offer facts for the american people where this investigation is, what the president knows, who

was there, who went through and why were they looking. >> john: if she does not go to questions soon we'll have to go back and talk about the wizards game. the kids got a picture with denny aldea, 20, 21 years old from israel, the wizards were nice, invited us to come out to the warm-up and the kids just had a great time. molly hemingway is with us and has a lot of thoughts about all of this. it was curious, you subscribe to the donald rumsfeld theory of knowns and unknowns, there are knowns, there are unknowns, and then there are unknown unknowns. what we don't know that we don't know, and there might be some of that in this. >> exactly. when this started we were talking about the process. classified documents and where are they and how were they located. and i think what really will make this a big story is finding out what's in the documents. >> john: she's taking questions now, jump in.

>> alloweded to potentially joining the u.s. and germany to send the patriot missile system to ukraine. can you confirm the announcement out of the meeting? >> we'll have a readout very, very shortly. once we have that i will share that with all. the team will share that with all of you. as far as patriot missiles, i can say they discussed that, the war in ukraine and the importance of all the ongoing security assistance, but i would refer to dutch for any specifics about their own plans as it relates to that specifically. as it relates to the conversation on, i'm sorry, forgot the first question. so look, we are always very careful on what -- on what our, you know, we don't like to tell our allies what they should or should not do. but as you know, we have been partners with them when it comes

to ukraine, partners with our allies and partners with them on how we are continuing to provide assistance to ukraine in this aggressive war that we have seen, this brutal war we continue to see by russia, but certainly that is not something that we will direct. we will continue to focus. we have been the country that has provided the most assistance as you all know when it comes to security assistance, when it comes to humanitarian aid, and we are in constant conversations with ukraine on what their needs are, and so we are going to continue to do that, alongside our partners and also our allies. >> an area where the u.k. is going to be ahead of the u.s. sending western tanks to ukraine, they are going ahead with sending more of a dozen of them in the coming weeks and months. the white house still has not approved that. so, is that in the offing now for the u.s. to leap frog to provide assistance to ukraine? >> again, look, we are in

constant conversation with the ukrainians on their assistance. we have given the most assistance than any other country. the president, when he walked into the administration, he made sure that he brought the nato together, our alliance and partners together to make sure we had the backs of the ukrainian people, and so that is something we are going to continue to do. i'm not going to get ahead of announcements from here but we will be with the ukrainian people as long as it takes for them to defend themselves, for them to defend themselves against the brutal -- the brutality that we are seeing from the russian aggression. >> different topic. discovered classified and official documents at the president's residence and former office. last week i think you said we can assume, american people could assume the searches were complete and the documents recovered. on saturday the white house counsel's office said five

additional classified documents had been found. is it safe to assume now that all the documents are -- have been recovered, all the official records, classified documents are back in the custody of the national archives or are more search he is underway to find out if there are any out there? >> look, i understand your question. we have addressed multiple questions from here, multiple questions have been answered by the president. i know you all spent, some of you, some of your colleagues, maybe you were on the phone with my colleague for about 45 minutes that addressed a lot of your questions. i'm just going to continue to be prudent here. i'm going to let this ongoing review that is happening, this legal process that is happening and let that process continue under the special counsel. i'm not going to comment from here, i'm not -- one of the things that we have said for the last two years when it comes to department of justice, when it comes to legal matters, legal issues, we have been very clear that we are not going to comment, we are not going to

politically interfere, and that continues with this also, this legal issue. and so i would refer you to the department of justice, refer you to the special counsel as it realities to specifics on this issue and my white house counsel colleagues are engaging with all of you and will certainly continue to have a conversation on this. i will say that we are consistent with what we have said on cooperating fully with department of justice on this issue and we will continue to cooperate fully with the special counsel. >> on friday you stood here, though, and were asked about the documents issued by the counsel, 18 times. president's lawyers had found five additional pages of classified documents. did you not know on friday that those documents had been found when you were at the podium or are you being directed by someone to not be forthcoming on this issue. >> i have been forthcoming from this podium. what i said yes to is what the statement at the time that we all had, right. you all had the statement and i

was repeating what the counsel was sharing at that time. and so -- >> we had the statement, but you also knew, did you not know -- >> i'm telling you, i just answered the question, i just said that i was repeating the information we had at that time, that you all had. i was confirming from what the special counsel had provided to all of you and that we knew as well from here. so just to be very, very clear, and look, i've also been very clear about being prudent from here, i was also clear about being consistent from here, and not going beyond what is currently happening, right. and again, this is an ongoing -- i also said this was an ongoing review that was happening with the department of justice and as we know with the special counsel, i've been very consistent about that as well. and that is one of the reasons, your question to me is one of the reasons why i'm -- we are being very, very careful and very mindful and to not

interfere here and to make sure, to make sure that the department of justice has their independence. your question actually proves that and that's why we are going to continue to refer you to department of justice and refer you to the special counsel or my colleagues. white house counsel. >> does president biden have confidence in the way his team is handling this with this trickle out of information and the documents being found day after day? >> i can tell you this. the president has confidence. i can tell you this, that the president and his team rightfully took action when they learned that the documents existed, they reached out to the archives, they reached out to the department of justice, that is the steps. we have been very clear about that, the steps and the process that we took here and look, we are going to continue, we are going to continue to as we have said fully cooperate with the department of justice. we are going to fully cooperate with the president's team is going to fully cooperate with the special counsel. that does not stop and that will

just continue. again, we are going to respect the department of justice. >> can you describe his mood on the conversations you've had on this issue? >> his mood is very clear. i traveled with him this weekend, he wants to make sure that he's continuing and we are continuing to deliver for the american people and we have been, you know, we have been pretty consistent on that. if you think about last week, you heard from him how his economic plan is working, how we have seen inflation go down for six months straight, how we have seen unemployment numbers at its lowest level in 50 years. that matters. that is also the things that this country, the people in this country are also very, very concerned about, and want to hear what this president is doing every day. that's his focus and that's what he's going to continue to talk about. >> what's the white house reaction to the news where the russians bombed a department building and killed dozens of civilians. >> look, this weekend's strikes are another example as you have heard us say of the brutal and

barbaric war that russia is waging against the ukrainian people. and we have seen this over and over again for about ten months now, 11 months now. the united states will continue to provide as i said at the top ukraine with what it needs to defend itself, that is incredibly important, a promise the president made to president zelenskyy when he was here not too long ago. and that's including air defense system, along can allies and partners as i just said, we will continue our work to hold russian forces accountable for the atrocities that they have caused and also the war crimes. but one of the things that we continue to see russia do is they underestimate the strength and the courage and the resolve of the ukrainian people, and they will be proven wrong again in their latest attempts. >> the debt ceiling is supposed to reach the ceiling on thursday. how do you see the debt ceiling by playing out, what is your strategy -- >> look, we have been very clear

on this and i said it at the top, on friday and say it today so has the president. this should not be political brinksmanship. we should be dealing with the debt ceiling without conditions. it's important. we are not going to work around this, we are not going to negotiate on this. this is the basic, the basic duties of congress is to deal with this issue. and let's not forget in the last administration, they -- they, meaning democrats and republicans were able to deal with the debt limit three times, three times, so this is something that needs to be done, that should be done, and we call on congress to act. >> lastly, is the president going to sit down with republicans and talk about this? >> again, this is something that should be done without conditions. we have been very, very clear about that. we are not going to be negotiating over the debt ceiling. but i'll say this more broadly. at the start of the new congress and i spoke about this last

week, we are reaching out to all members in both parties to build relationships and establish points of contact. that is something the office of leg affairs has done for the past couple of weeks. but you know, this has been done -- talk about the debt ceiling, it has been done in a bipartisan way and there should be bipartisan cooperation to address this. it should not be a political football. this should not be a political football, and we should do it without conditions. >> the president and his team had a strategy, a list of goals heading into this year. is there any concern that may be overtaken by what's been happening over the course of the last week with the investigation? >> i mean, i just talked about last week what we saw with the economic plan, the cpi data is showing that inflation is indeed going down because of the president's economic policy. we have seen the president do bipartisan work, bring both sides together when you think about going to the bridge in kentucky and you saw that for yourselves how the president was

able to bring both sides together to talk about an issue so important for that region in kentucky. to talk about infrastructure, something that many presidents before this president had tried to do and were not able to do it and the last administration it was a punch line, it was a joke, when we talked about infrastructure week. and under this president we have been able to do it in a bipartisan way. look, we are going to continue to do the work, we are going to have mayors here in a couple of days, we'll share more information about that event and the president will talk to them about the work that we are doing and the work that we are going to continue for the american people. we went to mexico city just about a week ago, we were in mexico city, feels like two weeks ago, but yes, we are in mexico city about a week ago and you saw the president on the world stage talking to our closest partners in north america how we are going to deal with issues that matter to the american people and you saw the friendly engagement, how

successful that summit was. and so that's not going to stop the president. he is very much focused on what are we going to do to lower cost. what are we going to do to continue to lower costs, continue to deliver for the american people. and let me add, too, what republicans are putting forward. house republicans, the extreme members of the house, the maga republicans, are talking about raising taxes for middle class americans. they are talking about giving a tax break for the wealthiest among us. that's what they want to do. they are talking about attacking women's rights to choose. that's what they want to put forward. and the president is going to speak against that, as well and try to make sure that we deliver for the american people. we can do both. >> the president weighed in on the issue a couple times last week, given the limitations what you talked about from the podium we should not expect the president to give his thoughts or opinions on the ongoing investigation. >> and you just said, it's an ongoing matter, right, it's an

ongoing legal process that's happening currently and we are going to continue what we have been doing for the last two years, which is when it comes to the department of justice, when it comes to legal issues, we will not comment, we are going to be prudent from here, we are not going to politically interfere. one of the things the president was clear during the campaign and for the last two years, we want to give back the independence that the department of justice has. go ahead, peter. >> just to follow up, the white house says republicans are faking outrage on this issue. why shouldn't americans be outraged about classified documents being found in a garage? >> look, and i think i've been very clear about this. we have answered questions on this at this podium, you've heard as phil was saying twice from the president talk about this. he said that he didn't know, right, he said that he was surprised, and he said that he takes classified information and

documents very, very seriously. we heard directly from the president on this issue. now, anything else, anything beyond that we are just not going to talk about. there is an investigation going on, there's a legal process here as we have been very, very clear about. i will let the white house counsel talk about any specific details about that. but we are going to be prudent here and make sure that we are not interfering in this process. >> i guess that's why i'm asking, you have said you don't want to interfere and be prudent about the process. but the white house did post a statement saying that republicans are faking outrage. to that point, why shouldn't americans be upset about documents found in a garage? >> that's for the american people to decide, right. that is for you all i'm sure are going to talk to many folks out there and have this conversation. what we do know from polling we have seen over and over again, from your coverage, from what we hear, the president goes out and talks to the american people,

they also care about the economy, what is the president going to lower costs, which is why he took historic action in making sure that gas prices went down at the gas pump and we saw that happen by more than a buck $0.70. that's the work the president is going to focus on. inflation reduction act, that's going to lower prescription drug costs, lower medical costs, right, when you think about that, lower energy costs, so that's going to be our focus here. we know that's what the american people truly care about as well and it is very important for them that we do that work. i'm going to try to go to the back, go ahead. >> just back -- seems everybody is talking about tanks the last few days, europe countries say people should give tanks and the germans are on the fence about it. everyone is talking about it, nothing is actually happening apart from the brits, president's position himself as the leader of this whole

alliance pretty much, right. is this a moment when he feels maybe he should step in as the leader and either, you know, cajole, not that word, but talk to the germans or go with the u.s. tanks. is something going to happen in short, it feels a bit of a boiling point. >> a couple of things here. the president's view has not changed and i kind of said it when i was answering zeke's question, he believes it's up to each country to make their own sovereign decisions here on what types of security assistance and what kinds of equipment they are able to provide ukraine. as ukraine defends itself against russia's brutal aggression. for instance, we welcome germany's recent announcement they will send infantry fighting vehicles and patriot missile to ukraine, and support the decision by the u.k. to send challenger tanks to ukraine, we

welcome that. we have seen incredible solidarity by nations around the world to support ukraine, and also i know that secretary austin is hosting another meeting of the ukrainian -- of the ukraine contact group that was just happening this friday, this week, and we look forward to further discussions on how this broad coalition of allies and partners can continue to support ukraine as russia continues again, continues this brutal war and barbaric war against the ukrainian people. but again, as i said at the top, you know, we -- it's up to each country to make their own decisions on this. look, again, when it comes to -- when it comes to these types of security assistance decision, it is up to each country to make that decision and we leave it to them. >> documents, if you don't mind. given these documents that have shown up in very personal spaces, we all know the president loves his delaware home, extremely personal space

for him. is he -- is he joining in the search of the things, rummaging around the boxes in the garage or whatever else, literally? >> are you listening to the question you are asking me? >> i'm serious about it. is he taking part in searching for his own documents. >> look, i'm going to be very consistent here. i am going to be very clear here as i have been for the past couple of days, almost a week now, dealing with this. you know, we are going to -- any specific questions that you have about this issue i would refer you to my colleagues at the white house counsel's office who spent almost an hour taking these questions from all of you, many of your colleagues, i'm going to let you ask that question to the white house counsel's office and anything else specific to this i refer you to department of justice, i prefer you to special counsel. >> on -- thanks. on monday in regards to police shootings, the president said i

think i did the only thing i can do, is it the opinion of the white house that there will be no more progress on the issue of police reform going forward, that there's nothing more to do? >> look, the president has been very clear in asking congress to take action. he has taken executive action, i'm sure you have covered a lot of the actions that he's taken the past two years, and he believes it's now in the hands of congress to take action, and it is important to do just that, and i'll leave it there. >> one more. steph curry, he talked about britteny griner, and then one in iran on a hunger strike. >> our thoughts are with namazi and his family, committed to

securing his freedom and the u.s. government is continuing to work to bring him home along with u.s. citizens who are wrongfully detained in iran, including ahmad jagry and another, iran's use san francisco wrongful detention is outrageous. the u.s. will always stand for our citizens overseas, you've heard the president say that directly. one of our highest priorities is bringing all of our wrongfully detained citizens home safely as soon as possible, and resolving the cases of missing and abducted u.s. citizens. this will continue to be a priority for the american people -- for the president. >> does the white house have reaction to the arrest in new mexico of a former republican candidate organizing men to shoot at the homes of democratic elected officials? >> don't have a comment on that

at this time. i heard the stories, i just need to check with the team to get the full rundown, but i don't have a comment at this time on that. >> on cecilia's question and sorry i missed it, on friday did you or did you not know about the additional -- >> i already -- literally just answered that question. >> i missed it, why -- yes or no. >> you are not far sitting from here. i provided the information that you all had at the time. >> did you know. >> no, i did not know. i'm saying i -- i said this to cecilia, i said i had the information that you all had at the time, right. and so this is why, i also said, why we are trying to be very prudent here and very consistent and say this is an ongoing legal process and this is why i say we are just not going to comment from here. that is a perfect example in cecilia's question and i was very clear about that. >> when did you learn about the

documents found at the penn center in november, and in wilmington in december. >> when you're team was doing a story on it. because i was also asked a similar question about if our team has been engaged on this, and i've been very clear this is something that the white house counsel is handling, something handled by the president's lawyers, and been very clear. that's why -- this is why we are being prudent here, why we are being consistent with what we have done the last two years when it comes to doj, department of justice investigation, we are just not going to interfere. >> on that note -- on that note, you've repeatedly emphasized the need as you did today for independence, for integrity, of the department of justice investigation. one reason why you continue to point us to the doj. i wonder why did the white house

counsel go to wilmington to facilitate the handing over of documents to the doj? >> that is -- >> how is that separate? how is that separating the white house from the doj. >> i appreciate the questions, i know dozens of more questions probably today and i will say reach out to the white house counsel's office, that's one of the reasons my colleague was on the phone with many of you taking questions today, and i'm just going to leave it there. that is something for them to answer. >> but -- it's related to something that you keep telling us, which is how much it is important to this white house to separate the white house from the doj's investigation. but the white house counsel was the one to go and facilitate the documents, to look for the documents. >> again, they have been working very closely with the department of justice. i would refer you to them. if you want to know specifically about their actions, specifically about what they are doing, i would point you to the white house counsel's office.

look, guys, you guys can ask me this 100 times, 200 times if you wish. i'm going to keep saying the same thing. i hear your question, it's been asked, answered, noted, and we are going to try to move on here and we are going to move on. >> move on. >> one more. one more because ian did have that call today and he said that the white house would fully cooperate with the investigation. does that mean that president biden is willing to be interviewed? >> i'm just not going to -- you are asking a question that should go to the white house counsel's office, as you just said. ian, you spoke to my colleague just moments ago, that is something the white house counsel's office should be answering. anything specific to the doj or special counsel what they are doing you need to reach out to them. >> are you upset that you came out to this podium on friday with incomplete and inaccurate

information? and are you concerned that it affects your credibility out here? >> what i'm concerned about is making sure we do not politically interfere in the department of justice, that we continue to be consistent over the last two years and continue to refer you all when it comes to ongoing process and i'll just leave it there. and let's not forget, there was actually a statement from the counsel's office that you all had at the same time as well. i'm just not going to go down any rabbit hole here, i'm going to be very consistent, very prudent, and again, i've been asked that question, i've sense answered it. it's been noted, the question, and we are just going to move on. j.j. >> to clarify on the debt ceiling, the white house has no intention of sitting down with leader mccarthy on the debt ceiling in the coming month or at all? >> what we are saying here is that we have been very, very

clear, it was clear at the top, clear when i was asked this question. congress is going to need to address the debt without conditions and it's just that simple. this should not be -- there should be no hostage taking here, there should be no attempts to exploit the debt ceiling or to leverage it. we are going to be very, very clear about that. and again, and i said this before, this was done three times under the last administration in a bipartisan way. this is the duty of congress. this is something that is their basic duty to deal with the debt ceiling. and so we are going to continue to be consistent here about that, and again, there should be no -- should not be used as a political football. >> accurately report that the white house is not doing any outreach to republicans at this time? >> i have said, i said just moments ago one of the things that we do, and i laid this out pretty clearly when the new congress started, we reached out

to republicans and democrats alike to talk about who their point of contact is, to have that conversation, to figure out how we are going to work together, and so i've -- i've -- there is constant conversations happening with members of congress and their team, that is something that we are doing almost on a, certainly a weekly basis, and that always is going to happen. those conversations are always going to happen. i'm certainly not going to read out every conversation we are having with congressional members or staff. what i am saying is that we have been very clear that this should be done, we are talking about the debt ceiling, it should be done without conditions and it should not be used as a political football. >> just wanted to go back to the bilat earlier and the one last week with the prime minister of japan. two countries that are huge players in semiconductor chain. have you made any progress in getting these countries to join the efforts that the u.s. has

started to restrict china's access to semiconductors and that technology? >> i just want to be very clear on this as well. we don't push our allies or partners. we consult with them closely, and they make their own decisions. and this is how we move forward with our relationship, again, with our allies and partners. we recognize the importance of this issue to national security and the president did discuss it along with a host of other important regional and global issues. look, this is going to be a continuing part of a group consultation here, and i don't have any announcements to make or anything further to share on this. >> does the president feel that the u.s. can be successful in preventing china from getting that technology if these types of countries, like the netherlands, like japan, don't join even if it's not exactly the same restrictions, but don't join in those types of efforts? >> again, we are not going to push our partners and allies here. again, the president, it did

come up in their conversation. i'm just not going to get into a specific conversation or what happened or what was said. what we believe is that our close allies and partners make their own decisions on these types of things. >> is there a bipartisan plan for our youth today, do we have a focus on either education, are we looking at -- soften the mood in the room, anything we are focusing on in terms of education, funding, new programs that we have come to the table to agree upon? >> well, thank you for your question. look, the department of education, which is leading on that, on education and what we are doing to deliver for young people certainly is a priority for this president and for the department of education. don't have any specific programs or new programs to announce from here, but that is, you know, making sure that young people

have the -- what they need to have a good strong education. of course is a priority for this president, let's not forget the first lady is an educator herself and she talks about that and has done the work as well as first lady on the things that this administration is doing to move that ball forward. don't have, again, don't have anything specific to share but clearly it's a priority for us and our young people across, our millions and millions of young people across the country to make sure that they have, you know, just and fair opportunities that they should have. >> so i want to ask you about trade. we are days away from the president being two years in office, and there have been no completed trade deals. why not? >> so a couple of things here. so when the president was running he made clear that we

will invest in american workers and communities before pursuing new trade deals, and this is exactly what we have been doing. you've seen it for yourselves. you've heard the investments that have been made, especially as you think about manufacturing coming back to the u.s., and that is what we are going to continue to do. so you have seen our economic agenda for historic recovery and a manufacturing boom at home, more than 750,000 manufacturing jobs were created right here under this president. at the same time -- >> most of -- created 149,000. >> we go back and forth on this, ed. i hear you, i'm -- 750,000 jobs, let me finish your answer, you asked me a question. at the same time, we are working swiftly to finalize the indo-pacific economic framework, represent 40% of the world gdp and address the core issues to define much of the success in the coming decades like clean

air, digital economy, while fortifying the economies against a range of threats, from fragile supply chains to tax havens. promote investment to promote good paying american jobs and also high standards and supply chain resiliency, and that has been the president's priority at every step of the way, we will work with congress to negotiate and develop trade policies that advance the interest of all americans, support u.s. innovation and workers and enhance our competitiveness and that has been the president's priority, that is what he talked about during the campaign, and that's what he's been doing and delivering on for the past two years. >> go ahead, april. >> karine, two questions. you just, from the podium, in answer to one of the reporters, you said something about you don't want to politically interfere when it comes to this investigation on the documents.

i asked you when we first heard about the documents, there is a political component and a legal component. can you expound upon what you don't want to interfere on politically because many pundits, many lawyers, many politicians are saying that this is also an issue that could prohibit a lot of work in this one -- with the 118th congress, a lot of work for the american people in this moment. could you expound on what you were talking about? >> well, look, i'm not going to get into politics from here. and i've been very clear about that. i've answered that question multiple times already. what i can say is that the president is going to stay laser focused on delivering for the american people. and that's going to continue to be the work that he sees at hand. when it comes to the economy, when it comes to the bipartisan infrastructure legislation, when

it comes to implementing the inflation reduction act which we announced a couple of items last week on how important it's going to be for medicare to negotiate. that is something that is going to be critical for the american families, for american people across the country, able to negotiate the price of drugs and cap it at you know, at $2,000 a year. that's going to make a difference in people's lives, right. continuing to do the work that he has been doing to lower costs. and we have seen that. we've seen the president's economic plan is indeed working and so look, that is not going to stop us, that is something we are going to continue to talk about, and you are seeing, you are seeing how the work that he's put in the last two years, his administration, the work he's done with congress in a bipartisan way, historic fashions, is actually working. and so that's going to be our focus. >> the last question. in this moment there are

democrats who are saying, they are looking to tomorrow, a bright spot for democrats with the inauguration of wes moore as maryland's first black governor and the third black elected governor in the nation. what does the president say and what does this white house say about elevation, the citizen who rose to the highest heights in the state of maryland, especially as he campaigned for him. >> the president is very much looking forward to working with governor wes moore, and you saw the governor, is he a governor-elect yet -- governor-elect, i want to give him the right title here, and you saw wes moore, governor wes moore and the president many times over the last several months. they developed a friendship. the president is looking forward to working with him and we think it's important, it's important to have that representation, it's important to have someone who is qualified and passionate about the work as wes moore be

in position where he can make change and make a difference for marylanders, and so that's critically important. look, you know, there is bright spots. there are just, if you look across the country, what we saw in state elections and what we saw with governorships, what we saw in other really key important states -- state offices, it was a bright spot. and let's not forget, one of the reasons that we saw that is because of the president's plan, agenda, what he was able to set forth for the midterms. everyone was talking about the red wave and that didn't happen because of the president's leadership. >> karine. >> karine, i want to ask you, sorry, ask you about something you said last week. last week you were pretty insistant you believed the president's attorneys did the right thing. you still believe that? >> yes, did the right thing when it comes to making sure when the

documents were found they handed it over to the archivist and it was handed over to the department of justice. but again, steve, i'm going to be very prudent here. i am going to be very consistent. it is an ongoing legal process, i'm not going to say more. >> the reason i ask, what we now know, the president's counsel statement, personal lawyer statement shed a bit more light on this but raised more questions, namely the first call that the president's personal attorneys made on november 2nd was not to the fbi that they had found what we now know were top secret documents out in the open. the first call was to officials here at this white house in the west wing. how is that the right thing? is that the right thing when you -- you are a lawyer and you see a classified document, shouldn't you call the national security office right away? >> i'm going to refer you to the white house counsel's office to answer, that's a very specific question that they should

answer, that they will engage you with, engage with you on this, just like my colleague did for almost an hour and had this conversation with all of you. >> it was about a half an hour. why is it the matter of this white house counsel to deal with documents from two administration's ago. these -- we are not talking about presidential records from this white house. why is this white house counsel involved in this matter at all. >> again, something for the white house counsel to address. i'm not going to address that from here. i will refer you to them and refer you to the special counsel and anything that is specific to this particular issue. >> karine. >> we are being pulled. we have to -- folks have to gather, ok. i'll see you guys tomorrow. >> six times turned out to be false -- are you sorry about that? >> i'll see you tomorrow, come talk to me. >> john: one more question from steve from cbs, why is the white house dealing with documents

from two ago, and not the fbi and the national archives. >> sandra: some pretty tense moments there, and a question, are you upset you came to the podium on friday with incomplete and inaccurate information. obviously not knowing that there would be another, a classified document reveal. she was also pressed, john, on why americans shouldn't be outraged. reporter specifically pointing out the white house is blaming republicans for faking outrage on this issue. this was a must-see exchange. here it is. >> the white house says republicans are faking outrage on this issue. why shouldn't americans be outraged about classified documents being found in a garage? >> look, and i think i've been very clear about this. we have answered questions on this at this podium. you've heard as phil was saying twice from the president talk about this. he said that he didn't know, right. he said that he was surprised,

and he said he takes classified information and documents very, very seriously. we heard directly from the president on this issue. >> sandra: john, you and i have discussed time and time again, i don't know how you can put it in one sentence. he didn't know, he was surprised and that he takes classified information and documents very, very seriously. so definitely some tense exchanges and growing fro frustration from the press secretary. >> john: if you take classified documents seriously, why were they in the unsecured locations, in the garage and the library and not the possession of the archives and records administration, doj, fbi or in a secure compartmented facility. jacqui heinrich was ignored, and she did not take a question from

peter doocy last week, and today pass d you over. what's going on? >> i would love the answer to that question and other questions, but we have been as a press corps referred to the doj multiple times today, karine referred multiple times to a background call that senior adviser for the white house counsel's office held which was not an hour long, it was about a half hour, we were not allowed to ask follow-up questions, they selected the reporters to call on and did not give us a lot of material. a lot of i refer you to the doj and repetitions of the same information we have heard before. we have heard from this white house plenty of information trying to encourage us as reporters to smear republicans, to look at their claims about this with skeptism, but have not heard forthcoming new information each on the issues they should be able to answer, for instance, before this issue was referred to the doj, why did

it take from november 2nd until november 9th for doj to launch an investigation. was that politically motivated, did the white house coordinate with that, you had critics of the administration say why wait until six days after the election until doj has launched a probe. it's something the white house should be able to answer. these are fair questions, we want to get answers to and a whole lot of others. but a lot of us were left unsatisfied from that briefing call and as you heard her say multiple times to us, you know, refer you to doj, not going to say anything more to the extent of what i'm going to tell you. bottom line, i think we are going to hear a lot more spin on this issue from this white house, if yesterday and today is situation how the next few months go. >> sandra: there was pivots to the economy when answering questions about the revelation of classified documents in the president's garage, and other places. and that happened multiple times, by the way.

somehow pivoted the economy, when a reporter pressed her about why the american public shouldn't be outraged, they should be happy, the economy is doing so well. to paraphrase what we just heard from her. at some point i think you have to wonder if she's getting any new information. after john and i have had multiple briefings live during this program since these documents, many documents were revealed, or multiple discoveries were made of classified documents, there was no new information on this in that press briefing today, 0. >> right. and another thick that stands out you mentioned, sandra, during the background call, they suggested we should be asking kevin mccarthy what kind of a deal he made with the freedom caucus to get the speaker's gavel. when we are on a background call, supposed to be getting answers about the documents, and also if they cannot give us information that pertains to an ongoing investigation, somehow limited by that, there are other

questions that still need answering. for instance, the secret service did not keep watch over biden's home after he was no longer v.p. for a number of years. they don't have visitor logs during that time. the white house does not keep visitor logs for the president's home while he's in office, so there's a period of time there is big question about who may have been in the home, obviously the president's son had access to the home, and he's under federal investigation for his tax affairs and potentially foreign business dealings, crimes related to foreign business dealings. we have honest questions whether there have been a potential breach to national security or assessment put in place to determine if that's happened and they should be able to answer that, sandra. >> sandra: and she did also take a question from one of zeke miller, are more searches underway, considering the revelation over the weekend to which she responded, and we heard her many times, i'm going to let this ongoing review

happen, that is happening, this is a legal process that is happening, we are going to let the process continue under the special counsel. jacqui, keep us posted from the white house as you learn more. thank you. >> john: and if the searches are being conducted, who is conducting them? mollie hemingway, you showed remarkable discipline. had we been playing a drinking game, we would be flat on our faces right now, every time she said prudent. >> she claimed she was being prudent or clear or transparent. if she were clear or transparent, none of that press conference would have even happened. she seemed to be stonewalling, seemed to be scared, and not the image you want to present as press secretary. you don't want to make it seem like there is something really big that you are hiding and scared about revealing. a few were asking good questions and she was unable or unwilling to answer them. >> john: steve from cbs, and

jacqui would have asked a pertinent question. >> and terrified to ask certain questions, and a pattern with fox news reporters. there's a lot here, we don't know what's in the documents. is that why karine jean-pierre is so scared to talk about them and what they tell us about the university of pennsylvania's biden center, how much money it was getting from china, whether it was a pass through operation to fund the salary of biden associates, this is just the begin. the substance stage it will be harder and i think the biden white house might want to bring someone more capable and coherent to talk to reporters. >> sandra: even if she's perfectly capable, might not be given more information. she might not have new information to reveal to the public and i think it's fair to wonder at this point because of the demands she's getting from the reporters who otherwise

don't normally press the press secretary in that briefing room. to that point, we were running a banner a moment ago, and it was a follow-up to question from a reporter who pointed out that the who us is putting out statements basically claiming fake outrage on the part of republicans over this document reveal, and she was pressed by the same reporter again, she responded by saying that the american people should be ok because the economy is great. here was that exchange. >> the white house did post a statement saying that republicans are faking outrage. so to that point, why shouldn't americans be upset about documents found in a garage? >> that's for -- that's for the american people to decide, right. that is for you all i'm sure are going to talk to many folks out there and have that conversation. but what we do know, right, what we do know from polling that we have seen over and over again, from your coverage, from what we hear, what the president goes out and talks to the american people, they also care about the

economy, right. they also care about what is the president doing to lower costs, which is why he took historic action making sure gas prices went down at the gas pump and we saw that happen by more than a buck $0.70, and that's the work the president is going to focus on. >> sandra: certainly a moment, we were told by the white house press secretary we shouldn't be outraged by our nation's secrets laying around in the president's garage because the economy is so great, a point that can also seriously be challenged. >> it's a problem in multiple ways. they are saying don't care about mishandling of classified documents by someone not president at the time he was handling classified documents and it was years in which the documents were just strewn about the eastern seaboard, don't worry about that. but you are supposed to worry tremendously and ok the fact the department of justice has been running a really aggressive campaign against the previous president over that paperwork dispute. but i do think there is something to be said that a lot of people don't necessarily care about classified documents.

what matters is why they are classified and what they tell -- why did biden take these, why was it important for him to do that. we have had some reporting suggest that these documents related to china or ukraine. these are issues that do affect the american people. we are engaged in supporting a war effort, ukraine who has just been invaded by russia, and the biden family has a lengthy history and involvement with ukraine, and then there is tremendous issue with china, you know, a country that very much affects the current economic situation of the u.s. that had the covid virus, and the bidens have been very close to chinese communist officials so these things are important to the american people and they need answers. >> sandra: not only why did he take them there, why were they looking for them? i mean -- we just don't know a lot. >> john: a big question. >> sandra: mollie, thank you very much. >> john: why on november 2nd did the president send an attorney

to check out what was in the closest at the penn biden center. don't know the answer to that. turn to a fox news alert, a big one. a murder warrant has been issued for brian walshe, the husband of ana walshe, still missing after disappearing early in the morning on new year's day. bryan llenas is following the case, they have not found her but are charging her husband with murder. >> the norfolk county district attorney came out with a statement and a short video saying brian walshe, 46 years old, has been charged with the murder of his wife, a mother of three young boys, 2, 4, and 6. also have heard from a source another charge he can expect to face tomorrow during his arraignment, perhaps as early as 9:00 a.m. here at the quincy district court will be a charge of disinternment of a human

body, means the moving of a human body. remember for 16 days, ana walshe has been missing but a lot of the evidence has really pointed towards wrongdoing. there was the blood and the broken knife with blood on it found in the family basement. there was the reported hatchet and the hacksaw and blood found in a trash facility. and then there was the reality that there was surveillance video the day after ana walshe went missing on january 1st, so on january 2nd, showing brian walshe inside of a home depot beige in cash wearing gloves and a mask $450 worth of cleaning supplies that included a mop, a tarp, a bucket, and also tape. there was a ton of circumstantial evidence. remember, brian walshe has been in custody over a week, charged with misleading investigators about his whereabouts during this entire investigation. in fact, he said on the 1st he

was at a walgreens and cvs but he was not. this is huge, we have a murder charge. ana walshe, sadly, and the three young boys in state custody. john. >> sandra: bryan, so we are looking back at some file footage. a man that has come out to cameras, it's on the screen right now, smiling at times when the press was waiting to get some of these first images of him before it all led up to today, when this warrant has now been issued. >> yeah, and you know, we have seen in prior cases, friends of the family said at one point he was clinically diagnosed as a sociopath, and another friend called him a sociopath and someone who gets angry and violent, he walked out after being arrested smiling, a big alarm for everyone who watch that, and seems to fit the mold

what family friends have described him. and he was in the middle of being on house arrest for scamming people for $200,000 over art. so -- >> john: bryan llenas with the breaking news. brian walshe, the husband of ana walshe, still missing and has been since early in the morning of new year's day charged with murder in connection with her disappearance. thank you. >> sandra: fox news alert, exclusive new video from the southern border showing cartel smugglers in action. texas dps video shows three separate times agents busted the smugglers as they were trying to sneak migrants over the border. a record number of migrants continue to cross at the southern border, the crisis showing no signs of slowing down. and an american trained afghan soldier remains detained in a texas facility months after trying to enter the u.s. to

reunite with his brother. chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon on that. what is the latest on this case? >> well, sandra, this is a story we first reported in mid december about an elite-u.s. trained afghan commando, who fled afghanistan because the taliban wanted to kill him. crossed the southern border illegally, but was tossed in a texas prin cell. tormented by his american prin guards who call him taliban. republican lawmakers have tried to take up his case, now democrats like congresswoman sheila jackson lee of texas, has requested the president intervene and pardon him. so far the white house has remained silent.

>> i characterize this as a logistical error. and a nightmare for mr. safai. these processes are very complicated. but i cannot imagine the horrors that he has faced in making his way across several continents to be able to be free. >> safai filmed his journey from brazil to the southern murder with mexico. he received a head injury from security forces in panama and is still bleeding from his ear. his repeated requests to see a doctor are ignored, according to his brother sami, a u.s. citizen who once worked as a translator in afghanistan for u.s. troops. >> disappointment, pleading to the biden administration, step up, do the right thing, and do what was promised to this man who fought alongside the very

troops that you told them we will never leave our allies behind. >> the fbi interviewed him on january 3rd. lawyers with security clearances and experience in afghanistan who have spoken to safai say his story checks out. the u.s. attorney's office in west texas is overseeing the case. jury selection is slated for february 14th. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pleading for president biden to step in and offer a pardon. sandra. >> sandra: live on that from the pentagon, thank you very much. >> john: pictures from the east room of the white house where the golden state warriors will be in the room in the next few minutes to celebrate their 2022 nba championship. they were in town playing the wizards yesterday. they came away with a win over the wizards, despite the fact it was a very close game up until the last four minutes when steph curry turned it on and started banging every three that he

attempted. a great game to be a part of, great to watch. >> sandra: packed house at the white house and the game, i should say. >> john: it was sold out yesterday from martin luther king day. my wife had a chance through military charities she's involved with to meet tommy shepard, the g.m. of the which sa -- the wizards, and he invited us down to the floor for the pre-game warm-up. it was a great afternoon. >> sandra: it appears the former speaker of the house nancy pelosi is up there, front and center waiting for this to happen. and market check for our viewers, we have been watching the dow, not a huge selloff, down 342 points. some concern from some of the big companies, goldman sachs, warnings about what's happening with consumer debt, etc. something we are watching as the economy is sort of in the wait

and see as to what happens next. >> john: and then tomorrow they'll find reasons to be optimistic and the dow will go back up again. as long as it does not continue to crater, i think we are in one of those volatile periods, up one day, down the next. >> sandra: great to be with you all. thanks for joining us. i'm sandra smith. see you tomorrow. >> john: i'm john roberts. we'll see you >> martha: a lot going on. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum. i guess you could say there's been a big mood shift at the white house after the elation that followed the mid terms has turned into a crisis management mode and a mood of quiet resignation. that mood is, according to this reporting through the halls at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. >> why shouldn't americans be outraged about classified documents being found in a