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again. >> sandra: wow, just some of what we saw today. china and russia's friendship on full display, to knock the world's number one superpower out of the top spot. president's xi three-day visit a boost to putin. >> john: looks like a world far less friendly to the west. >> sandra: headlines, putin sees anti-u.s. world order taking shape. lots to unpack in hour two of "america reports." sandra smith in new york. hi, john. >> john: here we go again for another hour. the two dictators are still in a closed door meeting that's been going on for five hours and counting now. even before going into their private talks, they were not shy about blasting the united states and the west. but back here at home, president biden is coming under fire for not responding with tough talk of his own.

>> joe biden has put a kick me sign on uncle sam's back. when america recedes from the world, creates avoid of leadership. >> sandra: the white house says there is no call planned between president biden and president xi, what's the hold-up? john kirby will be at today's briefing, it is expected to begin any moment now. we will dip in there when that is underway. >> john: fox team coverage starts right now with jennifer griffin on where china is looking to expand power next, the middle east. >> sandra: peter doocy right from the white house briefing room, set to begin shortly, peter. this will obviously be a big focus of the briefing today. >> yes, and so far from what we have been able to see, the p utin-xi meeting is a complement fest, heaping praise and each other. >> over the last years china has made a huge leap forward in its development in the whole world,

it is of a genuine interest and we are jealous of it. >> the two are also signalling they are going to talk about xi's peace proposal as western leaders who back ukraine worry china could also provide lethal support to the russians to be used in ukraine against ukraine. >> the world should not be fooled by any tactical move by russia, supported by china or other country, to freeze the war on its own terms. such a move would violate the u.n. charter and delay the will of 141 countries who have condemned russia's war in the united nations general assembly. >> putin is calling xi a dear friend and xi is calling putin a dear friend. also telling putin he is convinced if putin runs for president again in 2024 he will win, some experts say they are skeptical today's meeting is anything more than a high profile way for china to save

face. >> strengths of the relationships despite the failures russia has had during the war. >> over the last year plus, we have heard president biden deter xi and putin separately convincing them bad behavior will affect their position on the world stage. seems like they are ignoring the warnings and teaming up, we hope to hear more about that any minute, sandra. >> sandra: and we'll get back to that briefing room as soon as that begins. john. >> john: the war in ukraine is not the only international dispute where china is looking to spread influence. beijing looking to play peacemaker in the middle east. chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin has more from the pentagon, jennifer. >> john, with all eyes and presidents putin and xi in moscow, it's important to look at the historic deal brokered earlier this month by china to reestablish relations between iran and saudi arabia, two arch enemies in the middle east.

china's top diplomat, known as a wolf warrior for assertive foreign policy also laid the ground work for president xi's visit to moscow. the deal surprised u.s. diplomats watching washington off guard after it tried for years to lay the ground work for just such a middle east thing. talks began in baghdad and six negotiating sessions, recently warned congress china is expanding the diplomatic, military and economic ties throughout the middle east. >> over half the oil and more than a third of all the natural gas imported by china is supplied by those countries, 19 of 21 countries have signed an initiative with china. we are in a race to integrate with our partners before china can fully penetrate the region. >> in the last three months, the u.s. has intercepted five major weapons shipments from iran to

yemen, weapons used against saudi arabia and proxies. saudi arabia cut ties with iran in 2016 after the embassy was formed during a dispute between the two shi'ite and sunni muslim rivals. >> we will meet with the sawed saudi minister. and should reopen embassies. >> henry kissinger, brokered between the u.s. and china in 1971, told "the washinton post" i see it as a substantial change in the strategic situation in the middle east. the saudis are balancing their security by playing off the u.s. against china. israel for its part has remained silent after hoping that saudi arabia would become the next signatory to the abraham accords, establishing relations with tel aviv.

that appears to be on hold. john. >> john: jennifer griffin at the pentagon, thank you. and more coming up in the next little while on this, sandra, james carafano will join us to talk about what china's visit with vladimir putin means for the future of u.s. policy towards both of those countries. >> sandra: and we will have more as the white house briefing gets underway. we will dip in there as the q & a begins. and a grand jury case could lead to an indictment against former president trump. minutes ago witness robert costello arrived at the courthouse in manhattan. he once served as a legal adviser to michael cohen. the former president says he expects to be arrested tomorrow in a hush money case brought by manhattan district attorney alvin bragg. our next guest is highly critical of bragg, arguing he's bringing the case back from the dead. jonathan turley is with us now. jonathan, why would he do that?

>> well, this is the ultimate grave digger's indictment. he went back seven years to dig up what's really a misdemeanor under new york law, and he's trying to use that to combine it with parts of the federal code to litigate a federal election violation that the department of justice declined to bring to court. declined to charge. now, if that's not weird enough, he has to be able to make that linkage because he's run out of time. i mean, the statute of limitations on that misdemeanor is just two years. so there's a great deal of problem with this indictment that's being reported in the media. but the real problem i think ultimately is the weaponization of the criminal justice system for political purposes. i mean, bragg has just given donald trump the ultimate case positive of his claim that the

system is being used for political purposes. i do think this is a political prosecution. bragg himself threw a flag on this play when he came into office. he stopped this case from moving forward, two of his prosecutors resigned, and then there was this public campaign to pressure him to move forward. >> sandra: in your piece, which you begin, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's moving, it's alive, talking about bragg bringing this criminal case back from the dead but you say -- but he may have reanimated trump's chances. you write this, 1931 movie "frankenstein" came to mind as alvin bragg prepared an indictment of former president trump. the ultimate grave digger charge, you write, bragg unearthed a case from 2019 and through a series of novel steps is seeking to bring it back to life. you also, though, detail and write about bragg attempting something you say many lawyers

think is as improbables a the reanimation of the dead. explain further and what we are about to see happen. what do the next couple of days hold? >> well, there's a host of legal principles designed to keep this from happening, that you are taking something that has a statute of limitations of two years and trying to bring it back to life seven years later. and you have the manhattan d.a. trying to litigate a federal crime that the federal government didn't feel needed to be litigated, didn't bring to court. all of that is troubling in and of itself, but you then combine that with the timing here. we are in the middle of a presidential election and you have brag going to these extraordinary steps to try to prosecute donald trump. and for trump, he could not have hoped for a better case to start with. he's being threatened on a number of fronts. if he had to choose, this would

be it. because bragg is completing the narrative, he's giving him an example of the very thing that trump has been complaining about, that he's being targeted for political purposes. i just don't see how you could reach any other conclusion. i mean, nobody seriously thinks that any individual except donald trump would warrant or bring this type of rather bizarre real theory to life. >> sandra: for his part, the former president says he does expect to be arrested tomorrow, jonathan, to your point about the serious challenges to this prosecution, you say there are many, but most importantly you say an argument that time has expired under the statute of limitations. is that the ultimate end all be all here, jonathan? >> well, bragg can try to toll the statutes, there are argument he can make. if he can boot strap this federal crime into his manhattan case, he can extend the statute

of limitations to five years. but even that seems to be a bit expired at this point. then you have to get the court to agree that this type of boot strapping is allowed under state law. now, he might be able to get a favorable judge, certainly can get a likely favorable jury in new york. but that also means that this is going to face very significant appellate challenges and beyond the election unless it's dismissed before then. >> sandra: very interesting. jonathan turley, thank you. >> thank you. >> sandra: we'll see what develops in the next hour or so. john. >> john: new twist in the murdaugh murder mysteries as the family of a teenager who died near the murdaugh home now wants an independent autopsy. wait until you hear from murdaugh's surviving son is now saying about that case.

>> sandra: all eyes on the white house press briefing room where john kirby is set to brief the press with the first reaction to america's greatest foes teaming up at the summit in moscow. xi jinping and vladimir putin talking about building up an alliance that leaves the west in the dust. what does the white house need to do to stop the team of american rivals? we'll ask james, he's here to weigh in. >> at least he's trying to do something, his leadership out there, i think he can influence putin. you could save hundreds. i don't know, dad. ♪ maybe try switching your car insurance to progressive. you could save hundreds. that's a great idea, tv dad. but i said the exact same thing. some day when you're a father, you'll understand. i'm his father. it's not a competition. listen to your tv dad. drivers who switch and save with progressive save nearly $700 on average.

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defend its people, and grave danger. >> sandra: 20 years ago, the launch of iraqi freedom. few could predict the war's profound and lasting impact on the nation when it began in 2003. what the president promised would be shock and awe. bombs and missiles raining down on baghdad, opening one of the deadliest military engagements of the 21st century. the government collapsed in 26 days, but the war did not end until 2011. u.s. troops were joined, and two years later cia reported stockpiles of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons were never found. in all, the war cost the united

states some $2 trillion n some 4,800 american lives. we remember. >> john: the top story now, xi jinping travelling to moscow for a high stakes summit with vladimir putin. the two authoritarians seem to be working toward alliance, specifically designed to hurt the u.s. on the global stage. let's bring in retired army lieutenant general james carafano. clearly this is a partnership in which russia is the junior partner. >> oh, and then some. think about it from the russian perspective, p utin is running around mariupol in a hertz rent a car. >> john: it was a toyota, i know that. >> and disconnected from the fighting on the ground. they would grind through a lot of people, accomplish nothing in the winter and not prepared for the counter offensive in the

spring, so putin did the opposite. they have had a disastrous campaign winter and look weaker than ever, and here they are meeting with xi running around, and it's like we are talking about two different wars. clearly from the russian perspective, this is play is look the opposite, like nothing is working. that makes them totally dependent on the chinese, and not just the junior partner by abbott and costello, abbott only gets paid because costello is there. >> john: what's in it for china? >> a lot, right? a win-win. i have to stop saying this, what i love about the chinese, i love nothing about the regime. but you have to admire the way they do diplomacy. that has evolved over the last couple of years, really since covid and literally bet the entire table. do everything. be tough, be weak, be nice, be -- and it's just try to throw stuff out there and see what works. on the one hand, they really don't want the russians to lose.

that's -- that really sets them back. >> john: taiwan would not look so good. >> the other hand, they are not going to do anything to really help the russians. they will do some stuff if it benefits china and look like they are helping the russians but betting all cards. so preparing just as much for the russians to get humiliated as they are to put the russians out of the fire. >> john: it's interesting you say that, h.r. mcmaster believes china is already supplying weapons to russia. >> clear from the reports and investigative journalists china is supplying weapons, munitions, other support. i think what you are going to see in the coming days and weeks is more and more evidence of chinese support. what you are seeing is really quite clearly this axis of a

athor -- >> there are some state owned enterprises providing some small arms and other stuff, big fricking deal. literally, literally -- you are giving russians chinese equipment to die instead of russian equipment? the war has been going on for a year. if the chinese wanted to help the russians not lose, i think the pentagon is messed up but they waited a year? come on. >> john: but if russia loses, does that not change xi's calculation on taiwan? >> taiwan is a path of its own. >> john: you don't think the two things are tied together? >> what happens if russia collapses and loses, who do i have to compete with in extra small asia? whoever the russians --

>> john: talk of you are my close friend, china and russia have had a fraught relationship. >> like i said, the guy bets on black and red. and the west collapses and don't give aid, good for me. china collapses, you know, i'll figure out how to make the best of this, too. chinese -- so china is in this relationship for only one thing, china. and if you say how do you know this, jim, i'm on my second marriage and a reason for that. i've been through marriage, it's all about one side and not the other, this is it. >> john: could be in it for the oil, john mccain said russia is a gas station massacre -- masquerading as an oil company. >> sovereignty and integrity of all countries. we encourage president xi to advocate for this exact

essential key point, which must include the withdrawal of russian forces from sovereign ukrainian territory consistent with the u.n. charter. the entire world would like to see this war end, especially the ukrainians themselves, put forward their own plan for a just peace, draws again on the same u.n. principles. and let's remember, this war could actually end right now if russia would withdraw its troops from the country. we hope president xi will press president putin to cease bombing ukrainian cities, hospitals and schools, to halt the war crimes and atrocities and withdraw all his troops. but we are concerned that instead china will reiterate calls for a ceasefire that leaves russian forces inside ukraine sovereign territory. any ceasefire that does not address the removal of russian forces from ukraine would ratify russia's illegal conquests. enabling russia to entrench its

positions and then to restart the war at a more advantageous time for them. this would -- the world should not be fooled by any tactical move to freeze the war on terms, without a viable path way to restore ukraine's sovereignty and integrity. it would violate the will of the 141 countries that demanded just weeks ago at the u.n. general assembly that russia immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw from ukraine. efforts to end this conflict must take ukraine's position into account, and so we encourage president xi to play a constructive role by speaking with president zelenskyy, he has not done since the invasion. china frankly we believe should hear directly from the ukrainians and not just the russians, and encourage

president xi to press president putin. the world and china's neighbors will be watching closely. i also have a few updates on israel. understanding reached yesterday between security officials between israel and the palestinian authority. the second meeting in this format following the gathering three weeks ago and included participation by officials from the united states, egypt and jordan. parties held candid and constructive conversations on steps to improve security and stability for palestinians and israelis, and to strengthen the economic stability of the palestinian people. meetings at this level have not taken place in nearly ten years. and they help to build a critical foundation to deescalate tensions and reduce violence, that's what we want to see happen. we look forward to continuing the discussion as we enter the holy month of ramadan, passover

and easter. president biden has also spoken with prime minister netanyahu. in that call he welcomed the meeting and reinforced the meeting for all sides to take urgent steps to enhance security coordination, condemn all acts of terrorism and maintain the viability of a two-state solution. also reiterated unwavering commitment to israel's security and to county the threats posed by iran, and there are many. the president also stressed democratic values have use been and must remain a hallmark of u.s.-israeli bilateral relations. fundamental changes pursued with the broadest base of popular support. offered support for efforts to forge proposed judicial reforms, and call on all israeli leaders to reach such a compromise without delay. on a separate topic, earlier

today i think you saw president issued a statement welcoming the recovery and soon return of jeff woodke, a u.s. citizen held hostage in africa for more than six years. he is safe, and he is in the hands of the u.s. government officials. as the president said in that statement not too long ago, we extend our deepest appreciation to the nigerian government in their help to secure his release. for more than six years, a multi-pronged effort dedicated to locating and recovering jeff, spearheaded by our military, our law enforcement, and our intelligence community working together with french support. jeff, like other hostages and other wrongful detainees will be offered the best medical care, to include post isolation support. after a full medical screening, united with his loved ones in the near future. you can understand ask you to

allow jeff and his family privacy as he adjusts to new surroundings and life moving forward and back into american society. biden-harris administration unwavering to bringing hostages held home to their loved ones, another example of the commitment in that record. and it's not lost on you that today is the 20th anniversary of operation iraqi freedom. what anyone thinks about the war and what started it, two things. one, looking ahead, a good collaboration and partnership with iraq and iraqi security forces who we continue to partner with and enable, advise and assist role, there is still a viable threat of isis in iraq and syria, and number two, the president and the first lady remain absolutely committed as they always have been to the men and women of the -- our military as well as across the

interagency who served, fought, died and suffered in iraq. 4,399 troops did not make it home from the war. more than 30,000 came home forever changed by wounds and injuries. and it's not just them, it's their families that continue to suffer, that continue to sacrifice. 4,399 chairs at 4399 dinner tables empty and it's important to remember that, and never forget the bravery and sacrifice, and no matter how you feel about it, committed. >> russia, moscow has indicated a pause on the grain deal by may 18th if the u.s. does not comply with some of their demands, which include putting some banks back in the swift system, what's your reaction to that and what's the plan b if they do halt? >> first -- we obviously welcome the extension, it's for i think

60 days, not the 120 that i think everybody was hoping for, by 60-day extension, a good thing. over the weekend, two ships left with hundreds of thousands of metric tons of corn, and a lot of that corn, a lot of that grain is heading for low and middle income countries that have been suffering. no question and suffering since the beginning of this war with food insecurity, so it's a good thing, and we are grateful for the work of turkey for the u.n. to move forward with that. i won't get into speculating about repercussions one way or another. we are focused now that this is extended, to make sure we get the ships loaded and out and get them to places where they need to be. that's what the focus is. >> remind us of your position on conversations between president xi and putin about assistance to russia in ukraine. what is the u.s. position on that, and what if china does decide to aid russia?

>> all right. so, on the communications, hang on -- i want to write this down. you have heard the president say this himself, he wants to have another conversation with president xi, and he'll do that. we'll do that at the most appropriate time. i don't have a call on the schedule to speak to but it's important that we keep those lines of communication open, particularly now when tensions are so high. that's why we still want to get secretary blinken back to beijing. that visit was postponed, it was not canceled, and we are still hopeful we can get that back on the calendar. as a matter of fact, we are having discussions with the prc about potential visit by secretary yellen and secretary ramando to talk about economic issues. so all of that, keeping those lines of communication open, are still valuable. now you asked about lethal weapons and provision of lethal

weapons by china. we'll see what they come out of this meeting talking about. we don't know if there is going to be some sort of arrangement. i would tell you we don't believe china has taken it off the table. we don't believe and have not seen indication they are moving in that direction or made a decision to provide or they are going to do that. we continue to believe, it's not in china's best interest to do that, to help mr. putin slaughter innocent ukrainians. and also run counter to what we have heard president xi talk about in terms of what his ultimate goal is. op-ed talking about territory integrity, a peaceful way to end this war that providing lethal weapons would seem to be inconsistent with that goal. >> when is the right time to -- thank you, admiral, do you -- you encouraged by progress or seeming progress in israel on

the judicial reforms, it seems that prime minister netanyahu and his critics agree on some key things but not others. how do you assess the situation? >> we are glad they are talking. the president was encouraged by the efforts by the president to come up with alternatives. we are going to let israeli leaders speak to the details of that. this is for them to work out. one of the messages president biden had when he spoke to the prime minister, it's important for the efforts to be fully explored and compromises to be made. beauty of democracy is, in fact, compromise, and the strength of both our democracies, we believe in checks and balances and also in a consensus among the populus that, to make these changes, whatever changes they are, to make them sustainable. all that has to be factored in. >> just a couple follow-ups here.

you said you have not seen confirmation that china has made a decision when it comes to providing aid. why do you think china has not made the decision yet. do you think they are waiting for the meeting today? >> difficult to know. it's hard, you know, could not get inside president xi's decision-making to see what he's thinking. china has, as you know, not condemned the war, but they have not provided lethal weapons. they haven't participated in sanctions, though we would have preferred them to do. they have made their own sovereign decisions and largely at least tacitly have come down on the side of russia, including the russian propaganda, it's a threat to russia and the u.s. or nato is pushing russia which is nonsense. i cannot speak to president xi and why he has not moved in this

direction. reiterate from the podium what we have reiterated to chinese officials privately, we don't think it's in their best interest, and said earlier, appears inconsistent with what president xi has said publicly what he wants to see happen. >> on the phone call between president biden and president xi, what is the hold-up here? you seem interested in talking, are the chinese not interested? >> no hold-up at all. we want to make sure when we have the conversation it's at the appropriate time and in the right context. president xi has been kind of busy of late, he had the people's congress, just ended, now he's in moscow. so look, when it's the right time and for both leaders, we'll get him on the phone. just as importantly to my first answer on this, we are still trying, you know, still interested and working towards getting secretary blinken back to beijing. he was practically on the plane when we had to pull the visit back and postpone it.

and we are having active discussions with the p rc about the visit by secretary yellen and secretary rolando. >> on the call yet with prime minister netanyahu, any discussion in the u.s. government of withholding potentially some military assistance to israel because of the -- the judicial reforms do proceed, a number of instances -- withhold military assistance for democratic reasons or concerns. >> one of the main things that president biden stressed to prime minister netanyahu was iron clad support for israel's security and that's going to continue. we face some common challenges in the region, not the least of which is iran, that will continue. >> and different topic, and homeland security side in light of some discussions around the protests and the future indictment of the former president. has the white house been briefed on any security concerns or

involved in any operational planning to investigate threats or assure homeland security? >> i'm not aware of specific briefings or specific threats. as i said yesterday, we always monitor this, even absent the context of those comments, we are constantly monitoring this, as you would think we should, particularly in the wake of what happened on january 6th. i'm not tracking any individual or specific threats or any specific or operational moves by the federal government. >> john, does the president plan to invite prime minister netanyahu to washington for a visit? >> there's nothing on the schedule right now for that. >> russia question, is there another way to look at president xi's visit other than a show of support for president putin? >> i think clearly -- look, take

a couple steps back here. this is a relationship that has been burgeoning of late, the two countries have grown closer. they are both countries that chaffe and bristle at u.s. leadership around the world, and this idea, sounds like a wonky term, but the rules based order, international rules based order which so many countries help to establish in the wake of world war ii, these two countries, they don't like that much and they would like to challenge it and in china's case in particular, they certainly would like to challenge u.s. leadership around the world. and in president putin, president xi sees a potential ally in that effort. for president putin, he sees in president xi a lifeline of sorts for a war that he's conducting that has clearly not gone

anywhere near the direction he wanted it to go and a military clearly failing on the battlefield. so it's a bit of a marriage of convenience, i would say less than it is of affection. and again, we'll see where this goes after this meeting, but these are not two countries that have, you know, decades-long experience working together and full trust and confidence. it's a burgeoning of late based on america's leadership and trying to check that. >> thank you. i wanted to ask you about the india attack on the consulate in san francisco yesterday, doors were broken, windows broken, i have not seen any action taken [inaudible] yet. >> we certainly condemn that vandalism. it's absolutely unacceptable.

the state department's diplomatic security service is working with local authorities. i can't speak for the san francisco police, but i can say that the diplomatic security service is working with local authorities to properly investigate and obviously to state department working from an infrastructure perspective to repair the damage. it's unacceptable. >> now that you have the u.s. ambassador to india confirmed by the senate, it's two years you did not have an ambassador to india. can you look back and see how it impacted your ties with india, not having an ambassador on the ground in dehli? >> it always helps with a senate confirmed ambassador, particularly so important to india in the region and the world. we did not let that stop us. president biden has prioritized that bilateral relationship and even though without an ambassador we certainly had a very competent person there and

career staff in the embassy able to continue to advance our foreign policy interests and this bilateral relationship and did so effectively, but having the ambassador is always important and we look forward to that. >> what is the administration doing specifically to counter the growing russia and china relationship? >> what we are focused on is revitalizing our alliances and partnerships around the world and advancing our foreign policy goals around the world. and in working to strengthen the foreign policy objectives and mutual security objectives that we share with so many other countries. i mean, last week on monday the president was in san diego to unveil with prime minister sunak and the prime minister of australia the ocus deal, to help

australia get their own nuclear powered submarines. that's just one example. that's what we are focused on. it's not about -- it's not about countering them, it's about advancing our goals. >> thanks, john. russia and china, it seems like these two super powers are teaming up now against the u.s. why did president biden let this happen? >> peter, these are two countries that have long chaffed, as i said to jeff, long chaffed at u.s. leadership around the world and the network of alliances and partnerships that we have. this is not -- this is not something that these two countries just cooked up since president biden got elected -- >> he has talked tough, tried to pressure putin and xi to act right or risk their standing on the world stage. does he see now that they don't

care? >> i think if you ask a lot of russians they certainly care. i mean, their economy is barely being propped up by some pretty radical measures by mr. putin. their military has been b roundly embarrassed inside ukraine and they continue to lose ground there. and as for china, again, take a look at the way the president has revitalized and restored alliances and partnerships that were let go if not ridiculed in the previous administration. we have prioritized them, and there's no other nation around the world that has this alliance and partnership network that we do. five of our seven treaty alliances are in the indo-pacific. >> young putin and xi fear president biden? >> you would have to ask them whether they fear or they not. it is not about fear.

it's about president biden advancing our foreign policy goals around the world, it's about president biden revitalizing these alliances and partnership, it's about president biden and what he's doing to preserve our national security interests around the world. that's what we are focused on. >> welcome back. >> thank you. >> john: yeah, national security department spokesperson john kirby insisting that the united states has got the allegiances in the region to counter china, and as well has the allies to counter russia as xi jinping and vladimir putin team up together, sandra, in a show of good friendship as chinese president xi jinping put it and the opportunity to work together for the future. as james was saying, russia clearly, the junior partner in that relationship. >> sandra: fair enough, and fair question by peter doocy, why did the biden administration allow the meeting to happen on the world stage to counter the

united states. john kirby at one point saying these two countries have grown closer, talking about a marriage of convenience, less about affection. so, some really interesting questions and answers in that white house press briefing room. we will continue to monitor. >> john: and some real fireworks before kirby came in as well. the part of the briefing we did not take live, jason and the cast from "ted lasso" came out to the podium and as they were departing the dias, a correspondent for "today news africa," or sorry, simon from "today news africa" claims he has never been allowed to ask a question, got into it, mostly with his colleagues over not being called on again and it was a bit of a shouting match. listen here. >> so you have a choice. you have a choice. you have a choice. >> a number of people in the briefing room and saying that's not right. this is not china, this is not

russia. this is the united states. i sent -- >> the rest of us are here too, pal. >> you have grievances, bring them to her later. this is for -- >> the press corps is tired of dealing with it. >> as you all know, many of you know, this is the white house press briefing room, historic room, a room that should have decorum, a room where folks should respect their colleagues and the guests here. i will not appreciate is disrespecting your colleagues, and disrespecting guests who are here to talk, were here to talk about incredibly important issue which is mental health. and what has just occurred the last 10, 15 minutes is unacceptable. it's -- it is unacceptable. >> you've been -- >> so we are either going to continue the briefing or we can just end the briefing right here. ok. well, then let's go.

>> john: simon's colleagues are not happy he was jeopardizing the briefing and taking up a lot of time. we have seen him from time to time, he tries to ask a question, and never gets called on, according to him, i don't know if he ever has, but clearly he did not appreciate it today, sandra, and let that fact be known. >> sandra: and a moment she addressed and they did continue on after that. 11 minutes to the top of the hour, the white house is in touch with billionaire investor warren buffett how to deal with the banking crisis. the market cheering at the moment, up 300 points, nearly 200 banks could be at risk the same fate as the silicon valley bank. ja jackie, great to have you here. warren has never missed a sale, i suppose he could walk away with a deal from all this. but that sign of confidence is

boosting markets right now. bottom line with the story, people want to know, is their money safe? what is the talk on wall street today. >> today wall street seems to think your money is safe. i would disagree with you on why the market is up, i think they are looking at wednesday ahead to the fed and thinking the fed will not act, the fed will be forced to pause as a result -- >> sandra: not disconnected. >> so when i think about the warren buffett thing, i have less confidence in the administration, they have to go to outside forces. when your treasury secretary is janet yellen and jerome powell on the fed, why can't they come up with the plan. the study of regional banks is concerning, there could be contagion down the line. bad news is good news, i'm not a fan of that. >> sandra: ask yourself, now that we are anticipating possibly the market is pricing in, a good possibility there could be no change to interest rates at this next meeting.

that was not the case before svb melted down. so you have to ask yourself the question, is that meltdown, is the small bank like svb dictating federal reserve policy and i don't know how you can answer that other than yes. >> i think it is, i think you are right and i think what's happening is the american taxpayer who is dealing with inflation at 6% right now and the consumer who is feeling the pain of that is being put second here because the fed was going to hike probably 50 basis points before this all happened. >> sandra: if the mismanagement as larry kudlow likes to say, a bank gone rogue, if all of a sudden they are dictating federal reserve policy, ask ourself that question. here is elizabeth warren on "meet the press." >> these extreme rate increases are something that he should not be doing. he is responsible for dealing with inflation but he is also responsible for employment and what chair powell is trying to do, and he has said fairly explicitly is that they are trying to in effect slow down

the economy so that this is by the fed's own estimate, 2 million people will lose their jobs. and i believe that is not what the chair of the federal reserve should be doing. he's failing in both jobs. >> she throws him under the bus and that's why i always say it's not good to be jerome powell, you cannot win no matter what you do, but not addressing why he needs to slow the economy down. democrats spent six and a quarter trillion dollars during the pandemic and that's why inflation spiked the way it did. jerome powell did not want to raise rates, i believe he wanted it to be transitory and see it play out. he started a little late and now we are in a quandary here, she needs to take responsibility for the spending that started this, sandra. >> sandra: and you have to continue to point that very thing out. this is an administration that is now saying the federal reserve has to tackle this inflation crisis that they did not even admit until it was a huge problem, right.

there is no inflation, this inflation is transitory, now we have this massive inflation problem and the federal reserve's problem. >> it's hurting banks and also what she said in the interview at a certain point he should not continue to raise rates and basically saying to the american consumer is tough on you, we are going to keep inflation high. >> sandra: and meanwhile, we are asked as taxpayers to bail out the banks in tough positions. tech companies announcing layoffs, amazon another 9,000. >> keeps racking up. 27,000 in total. a company that did, you know, sort of build up its labor force during the pandemic, it needed an army of workers now scaling back. the stock is doing well, wall street says oh, ok, you are more efficient. these are hard working people losing their jobs and i think more people will lose their jobs. >> sandra: very interesting. jackie, thanks for standing by

with us. dow up 316 points. >> john: a democratic san francisco city official is pleading for more police in the crime-ridden city. remarks turning heads, complete 180 from the stance three years ago when she supported defunding the police. let's bring in byron york, fox news contributor. so, the person in question here is hillary ronen, one of the city council supervisors there. what she said in 2020 is completely opposite to what she said just recently. let's listen to what she said this recent city council meeting. listen here. >> i've been begging this department to give the mission what it deserves in terms of police presence all year-long and i have been told time and time and time and time again there are no officers that we can send to mission. and then i see these numbers protecting shoppers, and it

hurts, it hurts, and i feel betrayed by the department, i feel betrayed by the mayor. i feel betrayed by the priorities of the city. >> john: contrast with what she said byron in a tweet three years ago, august 16, 2020, i want to make it clear that i believe strongly in defunding the police and reducing the number of officers on our force. for decades we have had an imbalance in the city's budget with hundreds of millions going to sfpd to have them do work they are not qualified to do. quite extraordinary how crime in your back yard will change your opinion on things. >> yeah, it really is. i mean, 2020 was not that long ago. this is the old story about a conservative as a liberal who has been mugged but you know, in san francisco if you look at the crime rates, homicides did increase in 2020, and in 2021. and the same time, there was a huge increase in property crimes. larceny, gangs walking into stores and clearing out the

shelves, throwing everything in bags, really giving residents a feeling that the city is out of control and ironically here, one of the things that supervisor ronen was upset about, the police chief of san francisco was spending a lot on overtime trying to control retail theft. san francisco is one of the places you go in a store and the toothpaste and hand lotion is locked up, and they are trying to improve that situation, and that made her very, very mad because she wanted more police presence in her district, which is exactly the opposite of what she said just three years ago. >> john: mayor london breed and supporters of defunding the police had proposed $120 million in budget cuts to the san francisco police department. last october, one station reported it decreased, but way below the inflation rate and way

below the cities of oakland and san jose, raised police budgets by 17%. san francisco is still falling behind. >> yeah, they have. and we saw something similar in minneapolis as well where they actually cut police funding and then decided they had to increase it to try to catch back up. but the problem here is that the rhetoric that they employed about cutting the police force just happened to coincide at a time, so many places, businesses in the united states were really having a hard time getting enough staffing to keep going, it is no different on police forces and to discourage a lot of police officers and to drive them to retire early, to leave the force at a time when crime is increasing is a really bad idea, and that's what happened as a result of this defund the police movement which had its moment in 2020. >> john: byron, a few seconds

left here, ronen appears to have the crime driven equivalent of a death bed conversion when it comes to funding the police and more officers out there, but still plenty of people, including the d.c. city council who are saying oh, no, we have to roll back the criminal penalties. >> that was an absolutely astonishing move, still does not make a lot of sense. d.c. council did it, as you know, republicans in the house stood up and said no, we will not let this bill become law in the district of columbia, and then democrats started going along. president biden said he wouldn't stand in the way of what republicans were doing and in the end, a lot of democrats joined republicans in stopping this law, but when you look at the law which liberalized the already liberal criminal code in the district of columbia, the mayor opposed it, and these are all democrats, democrats arguing with other democrats, and the city council overruled the mayor even. >> john: well, out of control crime not necessarily a winning political issue.

byron york, always good to talk to you. >> thank you, john. >> sandra: hold on for this one, good news for all the fun loving silly fathers out there. all the corny dad jokes, it turns out, that you tell to embarrass your kids, i'm sure you do, too, john, may actually be good parenting. the cheesy puns can help with childhood development. experts say it helps kids learn to be embarrassed and toughen them up to being an except it's not necessarily a bad thing. i'm sure you are silly and fun. >> john: our twins are going to be happy to hear that, because our son got me a dad joke calendar and both of them regaled themselves, turning over the days and reading the dad joke for the day. so, i'm really happy to hear that. >> sandra: perfect. but i think nothing better than all the silly dads out there, have fun with their kids and life lessons it turns out can be learned from them. great news for all. >> john: well, i spare no effort to embarrass myself on a daily basis. if we can learn to laugh at

ourselves, good medicine. >> sandra: it's so important. we have a silly dad in our house. great to be with you. jam packed couple hours to start off the week. thanks for joining us, everyone. sandra smith. >> john: i'm john roberts. i will see you tomorrow afternoon and i will see you tomorrow morning with dana perino. >> martha: hello. good afternoon, i'm martha maccallum in new york. at times a testy white house briefing that kicked off from the folks from ted lasso talking mental health. a head-to-head is under way with china's and russia's leaders calling each other dear friends. they begin three days of meetings that they will undergo in moscow. putin seeking ammo. xi seeking a dominant role as a power broker on the world stage. john kirby telling reporters the u.s. believes that