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>> john: speculation is finally over. president biden kicking off his 2024 re-election bid at the age of 80. we are just moments away from the first white house briefing since the president's announcement. >> sandra: vice president kamala harris is not going anywhere either, staying at the president's side as they team up to run for another term. >> john: but if they were expecting big excitement over their decision to try for four more years, the polls of voters, even democrat, could show they are in for a disappointment. welcome back as "america reports" rolls into a second hour. i'm john roberts in washington. >> sandra: i guess -->> sandra: and a lot of news is expected. could be setting up a possible trump rematch but this time around, president biden will have to defend his record as americans are struggling to make ends meet. >> our economic plan is working.

we now have to finish the job and there's more to do. i ran for president to rebuild the backbone of american, the middle, grow the economy from the middle out and the bottom out, not the top down. >> john: the president's campaign kick-off comes as another presidential candidate seeks to clinch the moderate vote. nikki haley making news on abortion, an issue her party has struggled to unite on. that is coming up later on in this hour. >> sandra: get right to it with jacqui heinrich top of the hour, live in the briefing room where again this will be the first briefing since the president made his formal announcement this morning, jacqui. >> that's right, sandra. and the official line is the president wanted to make this announcement today on the four-year anniversary of his 2020 campaign launch. democratic pundits think it was time to get a jump on fundraising the two and a half billion dollars this campaign is projected to cost, what could amount to being the most expensive political campaign in

history. but it's not heavily on his achievements. reads like a script that could have been hashed out last july after the supreme court decision overturning roe v. wade. >> maga extremists, cutting social security you paid for your entire life, cutting taxes for the very wealthy, dictating what healthcare decisions women can make. banning books and telling people who they can love. all while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote. this is not a time to be come complacent. >> strikes maga republicans as extremists, they responded with an a.i. generated video. >> this morning, emboldened china invades taiwan.

>> financial markets are in freefall as 500 regional banks have shuttered their doors. >> overrun by a surge of 80,000 illegals yesterday evening. >> closed the city of san francisco citing escalating crime and fentanyl crisis. >> biden just spoke at a jobs event but reporters did not get close enough to ask any questions, that is par for the course with this white house recently, kind of under fire for side stepping traditional news conferences, little chance for scrutiny, including about his age, which he last addressed in february. >> it's legitimate for people to raise issues about my age, totally legitimate to do that and the only thing i can say is watch me. >> notably there are no big campaign announcement events today. we are told that's because the white house, the president, campaign rather wants to see -- wants to let voters see the president being the president, that is their strategy for now and able to do that because

there is not a significant primary challenge, sandra. >> live in the briefing room, we'll be watching for that to begin. thank you. >> thanks. >> john: no challenge, not yet at least. just as the president begins his bid for a second term, son hunter's legal issues are front and center. his attorneys set to meet with federal prosecutors this week as they could be inching closer to filing charges against the first son. david spunt has got more from g criminal investigation, david? >> john, we know hunter by no means is flying below the radar as his dad announces a second run for the white house or for re-election second term, whatever you want to call it. and i do want to say potential charge may be looming. no indication hunter biden will be charged. federal investigation into the president's son began with the department of justice, specifically the fbi almost half a decade ago. younger biden has been tagging

along with his dad on trips, he went to ireland, he was seen shaking hands with a throng of people. also stopped at the white house easter egg roll, another sign he has no problem with appearing in public and his father clearly wants his son out there in the public. federal prosecutors continue to weigh misdemeanor and felony charges related to the younger biden on a variety of issues include his overseas business dealings, taxes, and lying ton a federal form related to a gun purchase. hunter's attorneys will meet with the delaware u.s. attorney, david weiss, running the investigation into hunter. investigation that began in at least 2018, possibly earlier. we are told the point of this meeting was requested weeks ago and the point is a status update requested by hunter's attorneys. hunter may soon head to an arkansas courtroom. a judge in the state ruled biden must appear in person for a

paternity case involving a 4-year-old child, the fight ore child support payments continues. i reached out to his attorney in that case and have not heard anything. multiple different legal issues taking center stage, john. >> john: let us know if you do hear back. thank you. sandra. >> sandra: john, so we are going to take a quick dive into brand-new polling from the pew research center that really shows americans pessimism about the current policies under this administration. these are the opinions of president biden when it comes to economic decisions, it really shows that about a third of respondents feel confident in his economic decisions as so many people are still living paycheck to paycheck, and as far as the enter negligence crisis we continue to face, 39% feel confident about president biden's decisions when it comes

to that dealing with china, 34% fresh off that interview with debbie dingle there in michigan and immigration policy as title 42 is set to be lifted and we see the surge of migrants over the southern border, those that say they are confident with president biden on immigration, just 34%, not confident, 65%. and john, inflation continues to plague the average american family. walking into a walmart with a $20 bill to look at what you could get in 2019 with that $20 bill, obviously these are the items in your shopping cart. those same items in your shopping cart in 2023 would then cost 27.91, and that is the difference that so many americans are feeling right now as we head into another presidential cycle. you better believe the sky high inflation will continue to weigh on the minds of the average american voter who is struggling

to put food on the table in this economic environment, john. >> john: especially if you bought eggs lately, the price still pretty shocking. bret baier, anchor and executive editor, and let's put up the approval ratings over time for president biden. february, where he is now, disapprove, 56% versus 44%. last time his head was above water was september of 2021. he tells a lot of stories about hanging out at the pool with corn pop and the crew, he's used to being underwater, this guy. >> i tell you, this is an interesting launch. first of all, obviously comes video in the morning. it starts with january 6th and those images, much like his last launch for president started with charlottesville and in this video, extremism saying he's the person to fight it. it's upside down as far as even his own party wanting him to run

for a second term so he has a lot of head winds to face. i heard your interview with congresswoman debbie dingle but when she said the president is bringing people together and wants to put maga republicans in the room to negotiate, you know, that's not even happening right now with kevin mccarthy, the house speaker on the debt ceiling. the president is not picking up the phone and telling him let's start talking. it has not happened, and we have not seen real evidence. they point to the infrastructure bill as being a real bipartisan success and there were republicans who voted for it, but as far as reaching across the aisle and bridging the country's partisan divide, there's not a lot there there. >> john: doing nothing in terms of actually negotiating. a new nbc news poll is devastating for president biden. here is chuck todd from nbc with the highlights. >> let me show you more, 53% of 2020 biden voters say he shouldn't run, 64% of democrats

who voted for sanders or warren think he shouldn't run and 76% of voters under 35 think he shouldn't run. >> john: yet biden and the dnc are pushing full steam ahead on this candidacy. >> they are. and again, i think it is hinged on running against donald trump and that's what they see right now in the primary, how it's listed. if you look at every poll, the former president is up double digit, sometimes up to 30 points in the morning consult in other polls. and that's what they are seeing, and they say that president biden is the one who is the trump killer politically and they think he can do it again. the question is, you know, when the "new york times" writes an opinion op-ed about his age and questioning those factors, it's not something that is not popping up, it's coming up again and again and again in democratic circles, not just republicans. >> john: the dnc democrats think he can do it the way he did it in 2020.

2020, he was running against donald trump as the alternative to trump based on mostly policy from the obama era. he's got his own policy that he has to run on now, and as sandra was pointing out, some results from a fox news poll. again, he's back in the pool with the kids rubbing his leg hairs, he is underwater on every major issue so far that he needs to be breathing in in order to survive. yet this is a candidacy that is going to take him to a second term? he's got problems, ukraine, inflation, gas prices, border crisis. he's got to run on his own policies and what's happened to this country in the last two years. you cannot just say trump bad, biden will be good. >> and it's also more difficult because it won't be like the covid years. he's going to have to be out and about, he's going to have to engage with voters. he's eventually going to have to sit for interviews and we ask every week for an interview with the president of the united states and have not gotten this

president. he's got real issues with democrats on issues like border security. when he have gavin newsom, the california governor shooting a video on the border saying democrats sh you had pay attention to this issue, red alert time. >> he can't run this campaign from the basement but can use the trappings of the presidency to insulate himself. how much he's going to be out there, i don't know. but keep asking. like to see him on your program. see you tonight at 6:00. >> sandra: mayhem in montana, the latest scene in a state legislature. why far left activists wanted to bring the session to a halt. >> john: and house republicans gearing up for their chance to school teachers' union boss randi weingarten over her role

in pandemic school closures. lowest test scores in decades. what could we expect from the hearing tomorrow? >> there was no data or evidence that showed you should be six feet apart, but this was all suggested by the teachers' union. no one looked at the harms created to the children. the learning loss already significant in closing in the spring. te balanced nutrition. together we provide nutrients to support immune, muscle, bone, and heart health. yaaay! woo hoo! ensure with 25 vitamins and minerals and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cat purrs ] [ phone vibrates ] introducing astepro allergy. steroid-free allergy relief that starts working in 30 minutes, while other allergy sprays take hours. now with astepro fast allergy relief, [ spray, spray ] you can astepro and go. when you see all the people who work at shriners hospitals for children.

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>> sandra: three years after the government shut down classroom public schools in washington, d.c. are still requiring students and staff to submit negative covid tests before returning from spring break. numbers are in. fewer than 1% of kids and students have tested positive

out of nearly 31,000 people. critics are asking why mandate testing even though the president has ended the national covid emergency coming earlier this month. big questions over why that continues. house republicans are gearing up, meanwhile, to press teachers' union president randi weingarten about her role in school shut downs, have left millions struggling with failing mental health and grades. and letting the teachers write the guidelines rather than the scientists. but aishah hasnie. >> hi, sandra, good afternoon to you. if you want to know how tough the hearing is going to be for weingarten, she has a lawyered up, hiring a very well-known washington attorney, michael b

bromwich has represented kim foxx, andrew mccabe, as the subcommittee investigates the american federation of teachers. the teachers' union, and its role in "editing the cdc covid-19 school reopening guidance and keeping schools longer than necessary," coming from the committee. it was discovered at the union suggested language actually wound up in cdc school reopening guidance in 2021, and expert witnesses came to the hill and they testified before the same committee that the science really just never justified the prolonged closing of schools. now, the closing of course are being blamed by critics for the learning loss and the rising toll on kids' mental health. >> i think that, you know, the cdc should have said look, we have science and data from here in the united states, we have data from sweden, from norway, from finland, from the u.k. and

australia, there was no data evidence that showed you should be six feet apart, but this was all suggested by the teachers' union. >> so, weingarten's attorney is arguing the union's role was limited and a letter to the chairman, says the subcommittee is basing their investigation on false and misleading claims. question will see the two sides hash it out tomorrow afternoon. i'll bring you the very latest then. sandra. >> sandra: aishah, thank you. live on the hill for us. john, it's really something and here we are looking at these state report cards, so many kids are being passed through the system quite frankly, not reading at grade level, not understanding some of the basic math components of their grade levels, and it's tragic to see that that is happening, and it is still happening years after this pandemic began. >> john: yeah, and the fact the kids just keep getting, as you have pointed out, promoted from grade to grade even though they cannot read at a level of

proficiency acceptable to any modern nation in the world is incredible. it will be amazing to watch that hearing tomorrow. randi weingarten is a bulldog and you'll have some members of congress who are really interested in putting her on the spot. it's going to be a very, very dynamic hearing. >> sandra: we'll be watching for that during these hours tomorrow, john. thank you. let's bring in steve hilton, host of the next revolution. i guess it would be an admission if they didn't pass those kids through the system, admission that they got this wrong and that there is significant lost learning in our public schools. >> everyone can see that there's been significant lost learning. test results show that. every parent in the country knows that. the teacher unions themselves know that. and they don't care. and that's the scandal here. this whole response to the pandemic overall is the biggest public policy failure in history. if you look at the costs that were imposed on kids in schools

as we see now, but you add it all up, the massive debts that have been racked up by shutting down the economy unnecessarily, we knew at the beginning that none of this would make any difference, just take that point about six feet social distancing, amplify that, why was that a stupid policy implemented and that was the reason schools had to shut, they could not guarantee six feet apart and the rest of it. that was based on a completely different disease that was spread mostly by droplets and the whole point that the droplets are heavy and fall roughly six feet away. that wasn't what was the case with the virus, which spread through the air, 30 feet, 40 feet, even further. the whole thing was pointless. we knew it at the start. this is not wise after the event. right at the beginning in march 2020 we knew all this, and still they closed school. and the complete cynicism of the teacher unions, look at what

they did in california. what were their demands for reopening school in california, wealth taxes, a ban on charter schools, and medicare for all. that was their list of demands. nothing to do with protecting kids from coronavirus. the whole thing is a massive scandal. randi weingarten was the leading advocate of the madness and she needs to be held accountable. >> sandra: take yourself back t all the decisions we now know were not based on the science, sitting six feet apart, and kept the kids out of the school and for so many of us looking back at that time of our lives and you think wait, and then when they did get the kids back in the classroom on rotating days, they did not have enough space to space them out and you think about the economic consequences of that. we are talking about lost learning, what about mom and dad who could not go back to their full-time jobs. could not earn for the family. moms working who had to then come home because the kids were not there in school. i want to play this out, randi weingarten, we will hear from her tomorrow, we will certainly

be watching for that. but in front of that she's admitting lockdowns were tough on the kids. it is remarkable now, so many years later to hear her say this. listen. >> our kids are in crisis but for two years of disruption, two years of looking at the screens, two years of not having a normal kind of routine and rhythm. recovery is really tough. >> sandra: where was she? she was behind those decisions. >> if the kids are in crisis, randi weingarten, it's because you put them there. that's why they are in crisis. that's why all these schools were closed. because the teacher unions blackmailed the politicians who they basically fund in so much of the country, in the political

donations, they still persist with this madness. and test results to go back to the classroom when it does not mean anything at all and the requirement that they still in some some places have to wear masks. in los angeles county not long ago if there was one case in a classroom the entire class was sent home. complete madness. >> sandra: and this administration and friends say they are setting out to help get hurt the most. guess what wealthy people did and the upper middle class, took their kids out of the public school, put them in private schools, put them in parochial schools, we have story after story of that over the years. as far as the science, this is an epidemiologist on the teacher's unions having a more dominant voice than the scientists, steve. listen. >> it was a hopeful message in europe about children are not

spreading covid-19 in the schools as much as we had feared, and we were able to reopen the schools. i don't know what happened in the united states with our messaging. the normal thing to have schools closed until proven otherwise. >> seemed like the teachers' unions had a more dominant voice in creating those guidelines than the scientists. >> sandra: and now apparently dr. fauci is defending his record on the pandemic. he says he has nothing to do with the economic or the school closures. people say fauci shut down the economy, fauci said it wasn't fauci. show me a school i shut down or a factory i shut down. never, i never did. i gave a public health recommendation that echoed the cdc recommendation and people made a decision based on that. well, well, well, final thoughts, steve. >> that is -- he knows perfectly well, he loved the attention he got. he was the face of the response to the pandemic.

governors, mayors, right across the country, business leaders, they hung on every word from fauci. ridiculous well, fauci should have been fired. even if he was fired, he was built up by the media. got it wrong on every single step of this pandemic, and in fact, as we now know, he's most likely responsible for it because he commissioned experiments that most likely led to the pandemic in defiance of rules in place both in the obama administration and the trump administration. he needs to be held accountable for the origin of the virus itself and then the calamity of the response. >> sandra: this time tomorrow we will be watching the hearing and for weingarten to see what she's saying now and what are we doing about those kids who are struggling, who are behind in their reading, their writing, and arithmetic. >> the people who can afford it the least, the most vulnerable, the poorest, those are the families that suffered the most.

these are the exact people the democrats say they are fighting for. >> john: cast of the long defunct tv series, "the l word," joined karine jean-pierre in the brady briefing room, there to celebrate lesbian visibility week, ran on show time from 2004 to 2009, the last episode was 14 years ago. followed a group of lesbian and bisexual women, so there we go, as the white house celebrates lesbian visibility week. earlier this afternoon there was another one to add to the president's blooper reel of tall tales. this one about his coincidental family history. listen here. >> by the way, when you do,

think about it this way. my grandpop, i never met, he died in the same hospital i was born in two weeks before i was born. >> john: anecdote to pull on the heart strings. but sandra, it's a story. it does not appear to have the added benefit of actually being true. biden's grandfather that he was talking about there died september 1941 in baltimore. president biden was born november 20, 1942, in scranton, pennsylvania. so we looked, could he have been talking about his other grandfather? that grandfather died years later. so -- take it for what you will, but apparently history does not line up with the way that the president recounted it earlier today. >> sandra: if we had that white house briefing room, it's remarkable, not to change the subject, but to get back to the discussion with steve and the emergency so many of these kids so far behind in this country, john. and to think about the urgency in that, and the urgency of this

moment, and contrast that with what we were just seeing from the white house, john. where is that messaging? where is the plan to get these kids back on track and not just pass them through the system and put them out in the world not being able to read and write. where is that? >> john: it appears to be, you know, mostly about identity politics coming from the white house whereas a lot of parents would like the department of education and the white house to focus on getting back to the basics of actually teaching kids how to get ahead in the world, and that involves teaching them how to read. reading is the basis of everything. >> sandra: everything. >> john: everything. >> sandra: we are going to keep monitoring that, the first briefing that is happening since the president announced his re-election bid and will dip in as the news warrants. china's ambassador to france sparking outrage after questioning the rights of some nations so exist.

is this a sign what they could be planning for taiwan? morgan ortagus is here on that. >> john: could beijing be taking its fight against america into space? cyber warfare alarming top officials at the pentagon. >> even recently the nasa administrator said china could very well try to take sovereignty over the moon, which is a violation of a u.n. treaty. o build a better future. so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom. we're providing greater access to investing, with low-cost options to help maximize savings. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive. oh yeah, that is them. (that is howard) yeah, that's on howard's campus.

ohhh, she's so powerful, she carried on the family legacy. we were blown away. (chuckles) i not only was a student and an undergrad, but i've been a professor there for twenty years, so it's really a special moment to know that i had a family member who over a hundred years prior have walk these grounds. it's deeply uplifting. yes, it is. we're walking in their footsteps.

>> john: we are back and let's jump to the white house for a little while, karine jean-pierre taking questions about the 2024 campaign for the most part punting to the campaign, but let's see what she's got to say here. >> i think the president spoke to this himself when he was asked before today about his intention to run and his plans to run and so i will refer you back to what he has said more explicitly when he had those interviews, so i again don't

want to say much more than that from here. but again, you know, i want to be really mindful. there is now a presidential campaign, re-election campaign and so those type of questions i would refer you to them. >> his personal decision, not politics. >> i totally understand. i don't have anything to share on that. i would refer you to totally understand like what was his decision, what was his thinking process, i would certainly refer you to the 2024 campaign. >> can you just tell us when was julia chavez rodriguez final day here. >> i don't have anything to announce from a timeline from here. >> on sudan, karine, what diplomacy are you engaging in to try to get the ceasefire extended? >> so, a couple of things, steve, that i want to lay out for you. so the president's senior national security team has been in direct contact with the leadership, you heard directly from our national security advisor jake sullivan on this yesterday to urge the generals,

to urge them to end hostilities immediately without preconditions, and we are consulting very closely with regional and other partners as well and i know many of you have been reporting this, but following the intense negotiation over the past 48 hours, the saf and rsf have agreed a nationwide 72 hour ceasefire last night midnight april 24th, and we will urge them to fully uphold the ceasefire and to support a durable end to the fighting. the united states is coordinating with regional and international partners and sudanese civilian stakeholders to assist in the creation of a committee to oversee the negotiation, conclusion, and implementation of a permanent ceasefire of hostilities and humanitarian arrangements in sudan. we will continue to work toward the shared goal of a return to civilian government in sudan. look, and you've heard us say before there is no military solution to sudan's political

crisis. the ongoing violence threatens the safety of all civilians, jeopardizes the progress made to date in negotiations to restore sudan's democratic transition and undermines the aspiration of the sudanese people. and so -- >> secondly, on the debt ceiling, what's your best estimate on -- >> john: all right, we are going to jump out for a little while. jacqui heinrich is in the briefing room, see if karine jean-pierre gets to her, not giving a whole lot on 2024, referring to the campaign for any information about that. and we are likely to hear a lot more of that for the next 18 months, sandra. >> sandra: we'll continue to monitor the briefing for any news and get back in there. jacqui heinrich will be listening. more fallout from the leaked classified documents at the pentagon. u.s. officials fear china is

planning cyber control of other countries things in space, and hack a cybersecurity program. more from the washington newsroom. gillian, what are we learning from these documents? >> so, this newly leaked intelligence reveals chinese military is going on offense once again in cyberspace. now targeting u.s. satellites, as well as a key biden cybersecurity program. the administration is still really in the process of building. the cia document first obtained by the financial times says the liberation army is planning to hijack u.s. satellites the military relies on during wartime. biden officials not confirming the leaked details. the chief of space operations hinted at this exact threat in recent congressional testimony. take a listen. >> equally alarming are the threats that endanger the satellites the nation relies on for prosperity and security. we have seen cyber attacks to dismantle, gps jamming, they recognize face is a force

multiplier and are willing to attack it. >> science, space and technology acknowledges china already has the capability to disrupt u.s. satellite communications. >> china is able to produce attack satellites, able to scramble our signals, and these are -- this is really important technology. >> a separately leaked document classified top secret reveals u.s. intelligence believes chinese hackers will get access to president biden's highly prized cybersecurity program, it's known as 0 trust in the next five years. meant to protect the entire u.s. government computer system. >> we are talking about the entire u.s. infrastructure, the entire u.s. government, dod, intel, civilian agencies, 50 states, seven territories and around the world. consulates and embassies. >> we know the biden administration is planning to spend billions on the 0 trust model but right now as this program is still being built

biden's intelligence agencies are saying china will be able to breach it in the near future. sandra. >> sandra: gillian turner live on that, thank you. john. >> john: sandra, beijing now trying to walk back controversial comments made by its ambassador to france who suggested that former soviet countries like ukraine, latvia, lithuania, are not sovereign nations at all. they are not actually independent. raising questions about china's intentions for taiwan. comments coming days after fr french president emmanuel macron visited china, and spotted weakness and embarrassed macron. morgan, good to have you back after your deployment. appreciate you coming on. >> thank you, john, good to be back. >> john: the statement from china's ambassador to france is one thing. the chinese foreign ministry

trying to walk it back. and say oh, no, no, we believe the countries are sovereign. seems as the ambassador to france said the quiet part out loud here. >> you are taking the words out of my mouth, john. literally what i was going to say. this has been the concern from europe and from western nations because of the russian invasion of ukraine, crimea first in the obama administration and now ukraine, the worry is that china, we also know sees taiwan similar to how putin sees ukraine, would feel emboldened and attack taiwan and take it militarily. but it's important to remember we talk about taiwan as we should. there are other disputed territories that china wants to get their hands on, right. disputed islands in the western pacific with japan, and also disputed lands with india that china and india have clashed over. so you have russia and china. if we look at the big picture, xi jinping and putin what was

it, a month ago when they met together, promised a no limits partnership. they said, paraphrasing, that there was going to be a change in the world order, that the world had not seen in 100 years. so it's very important to note that the relationship between xi jinping and between putin are stronger than ever. so whenever you see a chinese ambassador, when you see a representative like that effectively saying the former soviet states, baltic states, central asian states are not sovereign under international law, you said it correctly. they are saying the quiet part out loud and the two of them, russia and china, want to behave like old school imperialists from another area. >> john: the lithuanian foreign minister did not like that at all, wondering where they don't trust china to broker peace in ukraine, arguing that crimea is russian, our country's borders have no legal basis.

we talked about macron making a state visit to beijing in which he said look, europe shouldn't take sides, maybe you could be an honest broker and macron is trying to sell air bus jet liners to china, you point out in an op-ed in the washington examiner could be convert today dual use. >> helicopters they are selling really could. it's the helicopters that i think would be most applicable in a taiwan scenario for a dual use. and that's why american businesses for the most part do not do business with the pla, with the people's liberation army, because you don't want the chinese to have that sort of infrastructure. listen, but going back to macron, john, you know, his -- his forray on to the world stage with xi jinping was an epic disaster for reasons you just talked about. but important to remember, and european politicians should

remember this and some american politicians, capitulating or trying to be nice to xi jinping or putin gets you nowhere. these are essentially thugs, they have imperialistic 1010 -- tendency, he goes to asia, to china, and what does he get for it, embarrassed. >> john: morgan, great to have you back. really appreciate it. see you soon. back to the white house, karine jean-pierre taking questions regarding the president's age. >> you know, republicans in congress have not. literally have not been able to get things done and very clear about that. as it relates to the polls, mindful of the 2024 election and what the polls are saying. in 2022, let's not forget, more americans voted for this president than any other president in history.

and let's not forget in 2022 the midterm election against all odds, right, against everything that we were being told that this president had one of the most successful midterm elections for a democratic president in 60 years. and we were able to stop that red wave, that did not happen. and able to hold on to the senate. and so that's what i lay out and that's how i will deal with the question you just asked me. go ahead. >> karine, on the re-election specifically, can you tell us when and how you learned the president was going to announce he was seeking another term? >> just like all of you. >> from the video this morning? >> just like all of you. i am not from this perch being a government official, i cannot talk about 2024, i'm not involved in the re-elect and i learned like all of you this morning at 6:00 a.m. >> and specifically on senator klobuchar's comments on sunday about her position and what the president should do with respect to meeting with speaker

mccarthy, she said he should negotiate on the budget, that is the place to negotiate and start with those negotiations now, not using the american people and mortgages as hostage because you have to make clear we are not going to default and get it behind us. is that something the president would be open to, and ready for that suggestion to start at? >> so, look. here's what, and i said this at the top, here's what house republicans are saying to us along with the speaker. they are saying to us that they want us to agree or to support, us, meaning the senate, the senate and the president to agree with every agenda that they put forth in this bill. the entire agenda. and i said this at the top. that is not negotiable and that is a devastating ask of us, especially what it's going to do to the american people. we have talked about the 22% cuts that it's going to make to programs, it matters, to

veterans, seniors, our children, i mean, that's what they put forward. and to say to us that the only way you want to move forward here is for us to agree on everything that they laid out in this bill is just ridiculous. and so that's what we are talking about, right. we are not going to negotiate on something that they should be doing, which is avoiding default and we have been very clear. we are not going to negotiate on that. but, when it comes to the budget, when it comes to how they want to see spending cuts for the american people, we'll have that discussion. but right now that's not what we are seeing. that's not what they are doing. that's not what this bill is. has linked these two things together and we have been very clear that we are not going to negotiate on default. >> follow up on that question. doesn't the president risk rattling financial markets if he does not agree to speak with the speaker? speaker mccarthy says he wants to meet with biden. why hasn't that happened yet?

>> it's speaker mccarthy and the maga wing of the republican party that is doing this. we are not doing -- they are the ones who are saying they want to hold the american economy hostage. they are doing this. and what the president is saying is you need to do your job. he is saying to house republicans, you need to do your job, your constitutional duty and avoid default, that's it. something that they were able to do, speaker mccarthy and other republicans when democrats joined them in the last administration three times, three times to make sure that they did their constitutional duty. this is something that the speaker is doing, something that he has cited and aligned himself with maga wing of the party. so that question honestly is for them, not for us. >> don't really care who to blame, they want to know there is a plan -- >> you are asking me a question and i'm answering it. honestly, this is a question for speaker mccarthy and the maga wing of the republicans to

answer. they are the ones who are holding the american economy hostage. literally, that's what they are doing. that is exactly what they are doing. what we are doing is calling them out and telling them to do their constitutional duty. >> karine, you just talked about the maga wing of the republican party, kevin mccarthy is trying to rally votes for the limit -- >> john: all right, so karine jean-pierre there taking some questions about the lack of negotiations, even the lack of contact between the white house and the speaker of the house kevin mccarthy about the debt ceiling. the limits save grow act was proposed last week by mccarthy. the president, sandra, has denigrated it publicly in the court of public opinion but has not had a conversation with mccarthy about it. a lot of people are saying the two of them should get together in the oval office to hammer out a deal before we head off a fiscal cliff, looks like that's not going to happen. >> sandra: to tie in the beginning of the program, we had the congresswoman from michigan,

debbie dingle on, reaction to the president's re-election bid even though a majority of the members of her own party don't want this, she said this is a president that is seeking to unique and there was, i don't know, 3 or 4 references to the maga wing of the republican party in that briefing room. you have to ask yourself, do you get the sense that there is an effort to tie the country together, to unite? >> john: and i'm still trying to figure out why the president said that he was born in the same hospital that his grandfather died in two weeks previous, when that didn't happen. >> sandra: that -- cue, our political panel is here, thank goodness. garrett, former communications advisor to chuck grassley and patrick murphy is here as well, former pennsylvania congressman and former under secretary of the army. we were reacting as karine

jean-pierre was conducting that briefing. your response to what you just heard and the debt ceiling fight. mccarthy's plan avoids default. so, this idea that somehow republicans are holding the economy, holding the country hostage, your reaction. >> yeah, like you said, speaker mccarthy, too, has been wanting to meet with president biden for a request out there for two months to meet, which they should. the debt limit, things attached to it, whether it's spending cuts, tax cuts, 13 times since 1985. speaker pelosi did this, no republican wants a default, no republican wants anything to do with the cuts to social security and medicaid but dealing with 6% inflation, we have over 30 trillion in national debt, something has to be done here and the measures put forward by senator joe manchin, cutting

nondiscretionary funding and then senator joe biden voted for some of these things to do with some of the worker benefits as well. so it's something that is signed by democratic president bill clinton at that time. things you could democrats could get in line with. >> i was on the appropriations committee, we have to get a deal done, no default. a step back, today's announcement, joe biden went in there and said we are going to lower the political temperature. we just got through the worst global pandemic, a million americans died, things are moving in the right direction. not as fast as people want but the right direction. 12 million new jobs, gdp up 5%, stock market up 8%. now again, a lot more that needs to happen and that is clear, but what we can't do, default on our debt. we got to get a budget done and make whatever deal -- >> sandra: that involves a lot of government spending and that got us in the inflationary situation that we are in,

gobbling up all the payback from the stock market, all the wage gains. >> yeah, inflation. 9%, now it's at 4%. but yeah, the deficit and the debt of our country is immoral. $31 trillion, 94,000 per american. >> sandra: we are out of time here, gobbled up with the briefing. nikki haley on the big abortion speech, she'll be on the program tomorrow exclusively following that speech, where she stands on abortion running as a gop candidate. >> we have to face this reality. the pro life laws that have passed in strongly republican states will not be approved at the federal level. p>> sandra: she urged consensus in her party on this, and in the country, moderate republicans on abortion, she's really tackling the issue head on. did she get anywhere with this,

garrett, with the country? >> i think it's been said multiple times before. two different views, in congress at a federal level proposed by senator lindsey graham, 15-week abortion ban. folks like president trump, a more traditional model, to say you know, once roe v. wade has been overturned, leave it to the states for restrict or not restrict. abortion going into 2024 doesn't really poll in the top 5 or 10 issues. right now, it's all about the economy, about inflation, a section of voters that care about it. >> sandra: are you sure? five seconds. >> even president biden said it's about freedom and a woman's right to choose, her freedom. >> sandra: and whether or not republicans will get the issue right after what we saw in the midterm elections. great to have both of you. sorry we are out of time. hope to have you back soon, john. >> john: familiar sight, chaos in a state capitol. this time montana. william is following this in los

angeles, william, what happened here? >> well, john, show you what zephyr said that caused this controversy. last week she said colleagues would have blood on their hands if they approved a bill banning transgender surgery on minors. zooye zephyr. >> if you vote yes on the bill and the amendments, next time an invocation when you bow your heads in prayer you see the blood on your hands. >> the republican house speaker said hate filled remark violated house rules. >> no representative is above our house rules, our house rules apply to all 100 representatives, we'll take this to the board. >> so fellow lawmakers voted along party lines to ban zephyr from speaking until she apologized. when she refused, supporters chanted let her speak, suspending the session. police moved in when protestors refused to leave, seven were

arrested outside, zephyr told supporters. >> i was sent here to speak on behalf of my constituents, to speak on behalf of my community. >> so the bottom line, john, you know, these bills, there's 500 in the statehouses around the country, so the fight is the tip of the iceberg. back to you. >> john: the fight will continue. sandra, it's going to wrap it up for us. >> sandra: i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'm john roberts. >> martha: good afternoon. >> here's the story developing as we head into this tuesday this afternoon. we'll be joined by bill hemmer and brian kilmeade as the 2024 race takes shape in a big way today. the president is in despite a lot of speculation that maybe he would make another decision. he made it this morning and he vowed to fight "maga