been -- has been a difficult time for families and americans across the country, especially out west, you will hear from the president about this. let's not forget climate change. climate change is real that's why the president has taken some historic actions to deal with this issue, to deal with climate change, a crisis he called when he walked into the administration and inflation reduction act is one of those laws ha is giving, or going to give the most resources to deal with climate change. the president is very proud of that and you'll hear directly from him on this issue tomorrow. >> have the president and his attorneys been in touch with hunter's legal team today and keeping tabs on the proceedings? >> look, i don't have anything to share. i would refer you to, on this particular issue i would refer you to hunter's representative. prefer you to the department of justice. i don't have anything to share beyond what i shared at the top

of this briefing. >> it's extremely rare in a high profile case for the plea deal to fall apart like this. does the president believe the federal prosecutors have acted appropriately and confidently? >> as you know, jeremy, this was an independent investigation overseen by the department of justice. as we have been very clear, they are independent, we give them the space to do their work. we believe in the rule of law. i just don't have anything else to share on this. i would refer you to the department of justice. again, this was done independently and i would also refer you to hunter's representatives. >> senator tubberville and the military promotions, floated a way to move the nominations more quickly to limit the debate time on each individual nominee. does the president believe it's time to start moving some of these military nominations individually and voting on them individually? >> look, jeremy, i understand the question but this is something one senator is holding

up, one senator, one republican senator and it shouldn't be done this way, shouldn't be done this way. i think the admiral did a good job laying out what it means for the military families and service members, they don't deserve to be treated this way. when we talk about this particular legislation and not just legislation but as we move forward with these types of nominations they should be done in a bipartisan way, and so it's unfortunate that the senate, senator tubberville is treating this as a political stunt and it's -- he has to answer to military families and has to answer to military members who do everything they can to protect us and he's putting them in harm's way. so i get the question but this is truly, truly on senator tubberville here. >> ever come a point, though, where you know, especially as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is set to retire, need to fill that position where it's maybe worth, for the most senior

positions, to put national security at risk to move some of these individuals. >> we should not be in this situation. senator tubberville should not put the military in this situation, not used as a political ploy or stunt to put our military in the situation, not just the military but our national security for americans across this country. and so i get it, i get there are potential other pathways to get there, but we shouldn't be here, we should not be here and what he is doing is dangerous and it's insulting. >> president biden spent most of his political career working on gun laws, on gun reform. does he believe that someone who is charged with possessing a firearm illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law? >> so, i'm going to be -- i think i know where this question

is going, and i'm just going to continue to say as it relates to the case that we are seeing in delaware, i'm just going to not speak to that. it is an independent matter. this is up for the department of justice, even with the question that you are asking me, it's up to -- it's up to -- it's one of those legal criminal matters and up to that legal process. i'm just not going to speak to it here. >> the president when he was a senator crafted gun legislation. as president he talks often about the need to get illegal firearms off of our streets. so when someone possesses one illegally -- >> i'm going to be mindful and careful, i see where this question is going and i'm going to refer you as this has been an independent investigation, it's overseen by the department of

justice, i'm going to let them speak to this as they are moving forward. >> thank you, karine. >> thanks, karine. the president has nothing on his schedule today other than his daily presidential briefings. can you share what he's up to. >> participated in an interview with jay shetty to tackle the mental health crisis that affects millions of americans as you know, the president just yesterday announced a new rule to make sure that mental health is dealt with in -- is indeed health, you heard him say that directly yesterday. jay shetty's podcast on purpose is the number one health and wellness podcast, average of 21 million downloads each month. so just so you all have this, interview will post on monday and he of course has internal meetings. he's had that throughout the day and later today he's going to be delivering a toast at a gathering to just say good-bye

and thank you to louisa terrell, leaving her position as the director of ola, so we will all be toasting her later today. >> can you give us an update east palestine, the president has said he would go, he has not yet, and also governor mike dewine asked the president to issue a major disaster declaration a few weeks ago. is that something the president is going to do and if so, when. >> the president intends to go, don't have a time or date to preview at this time. i have to look into the governor dewine's ask. i have to check in with the team and refer you to fema. i don't have anything to share on that piece. let me try and good around here. >> thank you. moments ago you said nothing has changed when you were asked about the president's previous remarks on his son's business dealings. but the language has in fact changed. i want to clear this up once and for all. the president has previously

said that he has never discussed overseas business dealings with his son. but the white house now says that the president has never been in business with his son. so, why the updated language, which statement is true, or is this semantics and both true? >> as i stated on monday when i was asked the question multiple times nothing has changed, nothing has changed. on this -- nothing has changed on this. and so you could ask me a million different ways on this question, nothing has changed. >> the reason i ask, the white house and the president's circle, you know, that language does seem to be somewhat different. i didn't know if there was distinction there. i wanted to ask about elizabeth naftoli, made with more than a dozen visits to the white house and met with senior advisers. can you tell us why she was

here? >> i have not been tracking the visits you mentioned to me. >> i wanted to ask about the methane summit at the white house. can you explain who is sort of on this task force that's being established, what the next steps are, who was involved in the summit today? >> so, as you know, the methane summit happened earlier today. it is something that as it's related to climate, certainly to climate change, something that the president certainly is committed to and you'll hear from him more tomorrow as he talks to, as he talks about the excessive heat that we have seen. so but just to give you a little by of the download here, some details, it was the first-ever white house methane summit. the event was brought together federal, state and local leaders to discuss the need to reduce methane emissions, to protect public health and good paying union jobs.

summit spotlighting cutting edge detection technology and how they are responding to dangerous events. the reason why we are doing it now is because millions of americans are impacted from extreme heat, you'll hear more from the president tomorrow and so it is important and we think the conversation is incredibly timely and so we were glad to have it here at the white house. >> did the president take part in the summit? >> the president did take part in the summit. he was talking about mental health, part of the unity agenda he has been talking about over a year now and communicated to 21 million americans listen to the podcast, and mentioned as well internal meetings with senior members of the team. >> i want to know if you have any updates on if president biden is willing to declare a climate emergency, more requests to do that. >> i don't have anything to

share there. as you know, the president has the most aggressive and ambitious climate agenda since day one as i mentioned at the top as we are, as he's going to talk about the extreme health and inflation reduction act is certainly an example of how seriously the president has taken this. and he's going to continue to take action. you are going to continue to hear foreign minister on this issue. i don't have anything to talk -- >> on the table? >> i don't have additional actions to preview at this time. but look, if you look at the president's actions over the past two years, taken more action, more aggressive on dealing with climate change than any other president. let's not -- inflation reduction act is going to make a difference as we are trying to deal with this climate crisis. and so he has an ambitious agenda to deal with climate change and he's going to continue to move forward with that agenda. >> thanks, karine. automakers including gm are

forming a new e.v. company to challenge tesla. wondering if the white house played a part in that. >> you talking about the seven companies -- so look, you've heard me and others talk about this, that is bidenomics, and it's working, and because of this president's policies you have seven major automakers coming together to install i think 30,000 high powered e.v. charging stations and that's progress. that's going to help middle class families. the president is investing in america agenda, part of that. part of bidenomics, new union jobs, an important step forward. >> antitrust concerns of multiple companies working together in that fashion? >> look, i don't have any concerns to lay out today but we think it's an important step forward as we are dealing with the issue and also talking about

creating jobs as we are building the economy. this is bidenomics in action. >> has any progress been made since we talked about this bringing home travis keen from north korea. >> i don't have anything new to share than what i shared yesterday. we have the u.n., dod, state department, us here as well at the white house are all engaging together on this. just don't have any more information to share. we are still trying to gather all the facts on this and our concern is the well-being of the private. i don't have anything further to share on this. >> the federal reserve has just announced an interest rate hike by a quarter point which brings it to the highest level in 22 years. does the white house have a comment on that? >> as you know, we see the federal reserve as being independent. we give them the space to make sure that they are able to make monetary decision. it is up to them to make that decision. i'm not going to comment today.

>> regarding the federal judge in california blocking the asylum rules, what is the back-up plan should the ruling not be stayed by the next circuit or the supreme court? >> look, right now the way we see the ruling is nothing has changed. the -- we think that -- we think they made a mistake but nothing has changed. we continue to move forward with our plan. the department of justice has responded to this. so i certainly would refer you to them, but nothing has changed. we are going to move forward. let's not forget the action, the plan the president has put forward has actually shown a lower number in illegal migration into the country than in the last two years, so the plan the president has put forward is working and that is important. again, nothing has changed in this. we are going to see, i believe we are going to see the stay for

the next 14 days and trying to extend the stay. that's why we are at this moment. >> thanks a lot, karine. the other day u.s. drone was damaged by a russian military jet over syria. how does the u.s. classify that particular incident. has there been any outreach by u.s. officials to their russian counterparts about this, about rules of engagement going forward? >> we have seen the early reports of a second russian fighter aircraft this week flying dangerously close to our drone on a defeat isis mission. so i would reiterate that russia's close approach to and deployment of flares over u.s. drones over a routine mission against isis targets violates. violates established protocols of international norms so we remain focused on the mission to defeat isis as evidenced by

our -- >> sandra: hunter biden just departing, a moment we have been waiting some time for, his legal team departed a moment ago. we will rewrack the video you saw here live, the president's son departing the courthouse, and taking questions to the legal team who did not step in front of the microphones as some suggested they may, or the justice department. the white house through karine jean-pierre is not giving nany further notice other than the president loves his son. >> john: maybe it was wishful thinking, but a podium had been set up in front of the courthouse in hopes the legal team or maybe even hunter would be by to talk about the deal. but clearly after the whole thing fell disastrously for hunter biden and potentially joe biden as well, they decided to

wrap up the proceedings in the court and bug out as quickly as they possibly could. some interesting exchanging there in the white house briefing, even though the press secretary clearly did not want to entertain any questions. and what is the president's position on whether somebody with a gun should face prosecution, she refused to answer it. >> sandra: it was a great exchange and we are cutting that, and will play it for the viewers. tom cotton, arkansas republican senator. would your reaction to the plea deal falling apart in delaware, but also the exchange in the briefing room a few moments ago where a reporter asked karine jean-pierre to clarify this sort of change in messaging that we are hearing from the white house through the press secretary about whether or not, and by the

way, the briefing just ended for anybody wondering if we are back in the room, no question to>> jacqui: -- to jacqui heinrich, but had the president had discussions with his son, used to be no, never had business discussions with his son, to last week it changed to he's never been in business with his son. she's saying nothing has changed. but either both of those statements are true or they are not. she would not say. >> sandra, you laid it out well. for years joe biden said he never discussed business dealings with his son and then we have evidence now that hunter biden actually put him on the phone and joe biden was the sitting vice president to talk to his crooked overseas business partners and now their answer is joe biden was never in business with hunter biden. not that he's ever talked about it or talked with his overseas business partners. it's so legalistic i can only

assume they brought bill clinton off the sidelines to craft a sentence to avoid the plain question joe biden now needs to answer. did he in fact as a sitting vice president speak to his son's shady overseas business partners. >> john: senator, we have been reporting the investigation by david weiss has been ongoing. today that was reconfirmed in court and also the prosecutor went a little further than we have known in the past saying that the investigation, the u.s. attorney is potentially looking at a charge under the foreign agent's registration act, which is what famously took down paul manafort, and if you think that there's an investigation out there that's potentially looking at a charge under the foreign agents registration act, you have all of these new revelations coming out of the house judiciary and oversight

committees, you have a form fd-1023, potential bribery scheme with hunter biden and the sitting president partially corroborated, why would they go into court under the pretense of signing the misdemeanor plea deal? >> it's important to know, the judge did not reject the plea, the plea fell apart under probing questioning. and inconceivable they did not understand exactly what they were trying to accomplish. pleading guilty to two trivial tax misdemeanors, hunter biden was hoping to get and the department of justice was hoping to give blanket immunity for all of his past crimes and misgivings, and when that was exposed in court the u.s. attorney's office could not stand by it and hunter biden

removed his plea. when joe biden's department of justice and hunter biden's criminal defense attorneys sit down at a table, those are not adversaries negotiating, those are co-conspirators strategizing to pull a fast one over on the american people. i'm interested to see what the department of justice does next. i would assume, since they had a criminal defendant willing to plead guilty, they will move swiftly to a trial of hunter biden on these charges and potentially the other charges related to his crooked foreign business dealings. >> sandra: on the gun charges specifically, this was the exchange in the white house that john and i just mentioned with karine jean-pierre a few moments ago with a reporter. listen. >> president biden spent most of his political career working on gun laws, on gun reform. does he believe that someone who is charged with possessing a firearm illegally should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law?

>> so, here, i'm going to be -- i think i know where this question is going and i'm just going to continue to say as it relates to this -- the case that we are seeing in delaware, i'm just not going to speak to that. t it is an independent matter. it's up to the department of justice. even with the question it's a legal criminal matter and up to that legal process. i'm not going to speak to it here. >> the president when he was a senator crafted gun legislation as president he talks often about the need to get illegal firearms off of our street. so when someone possesses one illegally, what does the president believe should happen to them. >> the president has been very clear you laid out what his position has been, policies have been, able to pass into law. i'm going to be mindful, very careful, i see where the question is going and i'm going

to refer you as this has been an independent investigation, overseen by the department of justice. i'm going to let them speak to this. >> sandra: senator, as we listen to that exchange again, that was not a question specific to the president's son. that was a general question about someone who is caught illegally possessing a firearm. should they be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. there is no reason why she could not answer that question, right? >> no, not at all. once again white house running interference for the president personally in his son's criminal misconduct. of course anyone who possesses a gun illegally, in addition to other crimes, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. but it's another example of the two-tiered system of justice, justice for thee but not for me. if you commit a crime as an ordinary citizen, you can expect

to be prosecuted. but one of joe biden's associates, look the other way and the white house spokesperson on taxpayer time -- >> john: overall, senator, we don't know if there is going to be a trial of hunter biden on these other charges, we don't know what's coming down the line from the u.s. attorney's office in delaware, but when you take a look at the fact that this investigation is being overseen by a political appointee and a justice department that was -- was laid out, head to toe, by someone who apparently, according to sarah bedford, was a very close associate of the bidens, including a good friend of hunter biden, does this really scream for the need for a special prosecutor to be appointed? >> we certainly need to get to the bottom, not just the allegations of what hunter biden did in his shady foreign business dealings, but also what the department of justice has done to protect hunter biden.

we have now heard from multiple whistleblowers that have said the department of justice and other political appointees prevented career investigators from pursuing the full extent of charges that may have been levied again hunter biden. we'll have more whistleblowers and more witnesses on these matters soon, but this may be the moment that the walls are beginning to close in, not just on hunter biden, but on joe biden as well. when the president's son has to withdraw his plea deal, that was even more of a sweetheart plea deal than anyone imagined until it was revealed today and the same time the white house won't even deny that as a sitting vice president he was speaking to his son's shady foreign business partners. >> sandra: ok, senator tom cotton, appreciate you sticking by with us and your reaction to the breaking news. appreciate that. martha maccallum joining us, "the story," a lot to dig into here, including the reaction we are seeing and hearing on capitol hill. hillary vaughn was able to catch

some democrats walking through the hallways. this is the reaction we have seen so far to this plea deal falling through for hunter biden. listen. >> i just want to know if you would support an impeachment inquiry looking into president biden's possible involvement in his son's business. >> no, i'm running a vote, so -- we are investigating this on this committee with hunter biden. there's no real evidence that the president was involved. >> would you support an impeachment inquiry into president biden? >> in the republican desire to impeach someone, anyone, no matter whether there is any evidence, just shows how they have descended into chaos. >> sandra: some of the reaction we have seen so far, martha. your thoughts on the breaking news this afternoon. welcome. >> well, great to be with you guys, thank you. a lot has happened in recent days and you guys have been

talking about this. we have seen these whistleblowers on capitol hill, i'm going to speak with the attorney for gary shapley to get his reaction to this, but you have seen these sort of regular hard working americans who really would rather do anything but sit in front of this committee, but felt compelled to come tell that they felt there were felonies left off the table in this case. and then you have these reports that hunter biden was putting his father on the phone in the middle of these deals and remember, this is all -- it's all connected, right. when you look at the income that he did not pay taxes on, then you have to roll that back, well, what was this income, where did it come from. it came from working on the board of burisma, from energy deals that he was doing with a chinese company, so then it all kind of starts to unravel and be connected and i think this judge, and interestingly, as you pointed out earlier, john, the prosecution appeared open to

letting this fall apart today. so you have to wonder whether the pressure that has been put on chris wray, the pressure put on the doj, the demands and now the forthcoming testimony that i think is going to happen in september from david weiss about what really happened here is starting to put some pressure on these individuals where they do not want to close the book on this, don't want to give blanket immunity to hunter biden when they have an amount of new material to dig into and new material to dig into. and kevin mccarthy brought up the impeachment inquiry each the other day, what do you expect us to do? to just forget that all of these people who came forward exist and to turn a deaf ear to them? there is a responsibility to continue this investigation and if hunter biden believes he's not guilty, which he has just entered a plea of, he will have his day in court. >> john: you know, you get a sense, martha, since this plea deal was announced in the middle

of june, that the investigation both at the u.s. attorney's office based on what we heard today about the potential of looking at an fara charge and then all of the information that's come out in congress since this plea deal was announced, you really get a sense the investigation has moved past where the plea deal was. >> and there was an effort it appears to shut it down, to contain it. chris clark, hunter's attorney, came out after this plea deal was made, we are good. it's my understanding, he said, that the five-year investigation is now closed. and i think with everything that has come forward and all of these connections underlying and the questions that have come up about the president as well, and it is all of a piece, so to shut this down further than these two tax charges and the gun charge, which obviously this judge was also fired up about, this diversion situation which is highly ever unusual, really sort

of set this thing on a different tone. you were looking at that podium outside and this morning when i heard he was going to come out and talk afterwards, i thought that's pretty gold and confident to walk into this and thinking when this is done and i'm exonerated and it's done, i'm going to make a statement to the public. we had the understanding hunter may talk. but as the hours went by, he came out and hopped into the car. >> sandra: and his legal team has not done that either. and hunter biden, when you watch that, martha, i suppose you could even say he's somewhat smiling as he exits the courthouse there, just for a moment there, when the sun hit his face before he jumped into the car. karine jean-pierre in the exchange in the white house press briefing room a moment ago where a reporter was pressing on the changing messaging from the

white house on whether or not this president ever discussed business dealings with his son, do we have that exchange? i think it's teed up. >> the president has previously said that he has never discussed overseas business dealings with his son but the white house now says that the president has never been in business with his son. so why the updated language, which statement is true, or is it semantics and both true. >> as i stated on monday when i was asked the question multiple times, nothing has changed, nothing has changed. >> sandra: easy follow-up, are both statements true then? it did seem that messaged changed to he's never been in business with his son, rather than he's never discussed his business dealings with his son. >> you know what, they are going to hear from devon archer on monday in a transcribed interview. and if he says what he's

expected to say that more than two dozen times he was there when hunter, you know, this is the moment where you say oh, yeah, get my dad on the phone right now, he's going to talk to all of you, he introduces the members of the burisma, ceo and a top deputy so dad, they need our help, right. so this becomes really complicated after devon archer's testimony. he knows everything about these business deals. they were best friends, best business associates and that relationship is completely broken down now, so i think, you know, devon archer did not like the fact he got left holding the bag on the other side, they did not tie hunter to with this fraud deal, so i think they have to change their language now and what is the president going to say if he ever answers questions on this about, you know, how did you -- you didn't even know your son was on the board? i mean, these questions are now looking extremely difficult for the president as he heads into this election period, guys.

>> john: you wonder, how could he not know that, particularly when he went to ukraine to get rid of victor shoken, and another had a concern was going to undo everything they had tried to do in terms of burisma when hunter was on the board. see you in 28 minutes. >> john: across the street to capitol hill, chad pergram is there. what are you hearing about all of this on the hill? >> democrats don't know what to make of this, they thought it was basically a done deal, pretty much a pro forma event in delaware and now where it goes and what it means for president biden. josh hawley, the republican senator from missouri said the deal was so sweeping from the beginning it's notable the court seized on this, and what a lot of republicans were saying and

the pressure that they were starting to put on kevin mccarthy especially conservatives to say look, maybe we need to look into some sort of an impeachment inquiry. there's a reason why the past week or two kevin mccarthy has started to talk about an impeachment inquiry and vague about what it means, once you launch an impeachment inquiry, it gives you better ability here on capitol hill to go after information. they would have to vote on that in the house of representatives. and if there was any question to impeach merrick garland or possibly president biden but vote for an impeachment inquiry because it's easier to get the information. that has moved at warp speed and make kevin mccarthy saw some of the writing on the wall and moved in that direction and people like jim jordan, james comer, you know, saying this is what we have been talking about here, you know, they were a little bit shocked a few weeks

ago when the plea deal was announced and that's why they had the whistleblowers in at this hearing last wednesday and they found the whistleblowers to be pretty credible and they want to hear in the fall if not sooner david weiss who is the u.s. attorney for delaware. >> sandra: chad, real quick, we want to ask you about an incident with mitch mcconnell on the hill in a second. what reaction are you hearing on the hill to all this unfolding in delaware. hearing from republicans and democrats walking the hallways what are they saying? >> they are trying to digest this. today has been a big day on capitol hill with mayorkas, the homeland security secretary testifying, and the ufo hearing, and republicans are saying this is what we have been talking about and democrats are having to recalibrate this. they then circumspect, they thought that hunter biden had, you know, reached this plea

agreement, this thing was done, off the table, something they could put to bed and focus on the re-election of president biden. so whatever the democrats come up with, whether it's spin or moving in a different direction, that's going to be the thing to watch. because the republicans have said for quite some time they think there is a lot of fire coming from this smoke. >> john: let's turn to mitch mcconnell, a moment there, he was speaking to reporters, he had to step away and then come back. what happened. >> every tuesday or wednesday in this case wednesday, you have senators from both sides, leadership come out and speak the ohio clock, just outside the senate chamber, weekly press conferences and mitch mcconnell was 12 seconds into his opening remarks before he starts to take questions and he froze. he froze for a full 18 seconds. he had been talking about the defense policy bill that's on the floor right now, and you had joni ernst, the republican senator from iowa, john borasso,

he is a doctor, and he said i think mitch mcconnell is fine. we don't know what happened there. he did come back and continue to take questions. we do know a couple of weeks ago a similar situation where he had a problem with his hearing aid, you know, he had a fall back earlier this year and there was a real challenge to get that hearing aid recalibrated so he could hear questions. but this was a little different, he stopped in mid speech, john. >> sandra: a lot could have happened there, it could be very warm, hot all over the northeast, but he did get back up to the microphone and then continued to take questions. thank you for the update on the hill there, chad pergram, and the continued reaction to the hunter biden news. appreciate it. to jonathan turley now.

jonathan, welcome back. >> yes, thank you. >> john, good to have you. we are talking about the reaction that's pouring into the hunter biden, like what -- what should we believe happens next. now, after this dramatic turn of events at that federal courthouse today. >> well, has hit washington like a thunder clap. this was supposed to be a done deal, but the problem is that nobody consulted with the court until today. and the obligation of the court is the defendant and the government have to be crystal clear on the meaning of this plea agreement for the court to sign off on it. they were not. and so you had the biden team saying this was a closeout plea deal, the end of it, and quite frankly, if i was drafting it, it would have been a close-out. i would have never signed off on an agreement not a close-out of all charges. and so this all came to the forefront with the court. it's amazing how fast it

collapsed. with just the slightest inquiry, all these conflicts came to the forefront. it's also important the department of justice has to say this is an ongoing investigation. because they have been denying information to congress. and so you can't get by with a wink and a nod when a federal judge has to have this confirmation and this has really hit capitol hill. i've been speaking with members all day about the implications of this collapse and it has a lot of implications for not just the investigations of existing committees, but the possibility of an impeachment inquiry. >> john: so you are there on capitol hill right now, i don't know if it's the senate, the russell building or the -- >> it's the house. >> john: we did hear from senator chuck schumer a short time ago, correspondent asked him about the political implications of all of this. listen here. >> are you at all worried that hunter biden and the

controversies and the cases around hunter biden are going to be a liability for president biden in 2024? >> no, bottom line this is a prosecution done in a fair way by a former trump prosecutor and i have faith in the results. >> john: he has faith in the results. we thought the results were going to be completely different. jonathan, you said if you were crafting that plea deal it would have been a close-out plea deal. would have given him immunity from future prosecution. but how could the doj in good faith with everything else that's swirling, including the potential fara charge they were talking about in court today and everything else that we have heard in the house committees and the fd-1023, how could the doj in good faith craft a close-out plea deal? >> well, i don't think they can. you are asouping that this is based on good faith, and this deal was in my view almost

laughable. you know, you had the whistleblowers tell congress just a week ago that there was an opportunity for the department of justice to extend the statute of limitations on the 2014/2015 tax matters. that's the burisma issue. those are the ukraine questions. and according to the whistleblowers, the department of justice had that opportunity and let them expire. well, why? why would any prosecutor allow them to expire if you didn't have to, and we are going to be seeing those questions raised more and more. now, what this means for hunter biden is that he went from a sweetheart deal to a real poison pill. he -- this is going to expose him across the board. now, those counts that ran out in 2014/2015 can't, you know, be revived, there is not a way to make this catwalk backwards, but there's a lot of other things on the table, and fara is the most

immediate. as you recall, john, when the plea bargain came down, the first reaction that some of us had, where is fara. i mean, hunter biden's role as a foreign agent is all over these emails. i don't even understand why there's an joan going investigation. with paul manafort they had him at hello, when he came in, they said here is your fara charge. with hunter biden, the department of justice is still noodling on this, which leaves a lot of us confused. but now you are going to have some rather interesting times ahead. he doesn't have protection on the tax issues. he just pled not guilty. and congress is moving ahead with a potential impeachment inquiry. and this is a brand-new situation and it's not nearly as predictable as the white house had hoped. >> sandra: that is for sure. jonathan turley, thank you for joining us on all of that, live

from capitol hill. all right. this is a breaking news afternoon, john. we have to now take a look at markets. because there is a strong reaction happening in the u.s. stock market right now. see the green, the far right side of that dow screen there, that's a huge tick up from what was a negative market reaction earlier in the day as we were anticipating the fed's next move with interest rates. they have decided to raise rates again to try to tackle this inflation situation in this country, and in doing so, they have raised another quarter point, the key fed fund interest rate. that brings borrowing costs in this country the highest level they have been in 22 years. the market right now is reacting to what federal reserve chair powell is saying at this live news conference. tick up is because the indication from the fed is that they may be done raising rates through the end of the year. so the market seems to be applauding that news, and now

what happens is a wait and see, john. you raise interest rates to the highest they have been in 22 years, raises borrowing costs for every american, whether it's a car loan, a home loan, whatever that your credit card payments, those all go up, and now they have to wait and see what the economic implications of that are. they have to see how it plays out and if it eventually brings inflation down. that wait and see can take some time, but right now markets reacting to some sort of indication from the federal reserve chair that maybe they are done raising rates for now. >> john: when i first heard about the increase and the 25 basis point increase i thought the market would like this. but if powell is saying we might be done, that is something to look forward to. interesting, too, when you look at the value of the dow, 35633, that's doing to where it was prior to covid so maybe we are slowly clawing our way back here and people's 401(k)s are gaining

in value, good for their retirement. >> sandra: if they are in there, people got spooked about what's happening. >> john: let's hope they didn't. >> sandra: a lot of economic indicators need help, like wage growth, for example, inflation is still up. and so we are going to be watching how all those economic indicators react, the whole point is inflict economic pain to bring those prices down, so that could take some time to play out. all right, that's the reaction on wall street. dow up 152 points. there is breaking news on irish singer sinead o'connor. we'll have that for you after the break. your spouse has earned the right to apply for a va home loan. a va home loan is unique. it's different than other loans because it allows you to borrow up to 100% of the home's value. that extra borrowing power may allow you to pay down debt, lower your monthly payments, put cash in the bank, and give you the peace of mind that every veteran deserves.

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>> john: this is a real shocker, some sad news from the music world. singer sinead o'connor has died at the age of 56. o'connor shot to stardom with "nothing compares to you," number one world single in 1990, the following year won a grammy for the album "i do not want what i haven't got." her career became clouded in controversy after she tore up a picture of the pope while performing on "saturday night live." sinead o'connor, just 56 years old. no cause of death at this point. but when we hear more about this we'll bring it to you. i really appreciated her music. i remember i used to ride my rode bike humming some sinead o'connor songs, the beat was great for turning over the pedals and she was a very, very

talented young woman. >> sandra: amazing, and a rough last few years. she's a mother of four, her son shane, just 17 years old, took his own life. that was about 18 months ago after he left a hospital while on suicide watch. and she has notably said in interviews since that she's had an incredibly difficult time since then, struggling from mental illness herself, an absolute shock to so many who have loved her music for decades. >> john: such a shame, too. sinead o'connor dead at the age of 56. >> sandra: house republicans grilled alejandro mayorkas on capitol hill, appeared to dodge questions about the biden administration border policies. lawmakers pressed the health and human services secretary on a rise in unaccompanied migrant children.

t tom tiffany is on deck, but first aishah. >> democrats are fully expecting it to happen very, very soon, but we have not really seen much movement from republicans, that's because there are a number of republican holdouts who are not convinced the bar has been met for impeachment, perhaps the hearing may have moved them. we will see. but today secretary mayorkas told this committee that despite a broken immigration system his policies are working. republicans did not agree and lots of complaints today that mayorkas was not being forthcoming enough. watch this. >> 2 million people encountered and released, not the expulsions under title 42, not the criminals. how many of those people have you deported? >> so, congressman, a few points.

number one -- >> how many people, i want to know how many, just a number. >> congressman, we are dealing with a completely broken immigration system. >> i get it. >> mr. secretary, i'm not going to let you burn my five minutes. >> you are telling the judiciary committee you don't know what the number is? >> we will provide you with whatever data you request. >> democrats came to the secretary's defense today. >> the facts show the southern border is doing better last month than it was under trump in may 2019. thank you, secretary mayorkas, for your public service and now the republicans want to impeach you? good luck with that one. >> meanwhile, both democrats and republicans on the house energy and commerce committee basically shared immense concerns with the health and human services secretary over the surge of unaccompanied migrant children, many of whom were exploited as soon as they were released into

the u.s. he told lawmakers today this is a real problem, and it's unacceptable. sandra. >> sandra: aishah, thank you. john. >> john: sandra, some house republicans are pushing to impeach the dhs secretary, bring in wisconsin congressman tom tiffany, he was questioning the secretary today. you want for you the highlight was alejandro finally acknowledging the dhs does not have operational control of the border. >> he's been asked that question repeatedly, he relented and said they do not have operational control. and the former head of the border patrol came before committee under oath and said we do not have operational control. mayorkas finally admitted it today. >> john: in terms of not having operational control, it seems to me as though the men and women of the border patrol and customs

and border protection terribly overworked, just basically trying to plug holes at this point and they feel like they are not getting support from the leadership. >> they know they are rudderless at this point and i think back to sheriff mark daniels, cochise county, southern arizona, he said things have just gone south here since january 20th of 2021, and that is what's driving the fentanyl coming into the country and we focused on that, in addition to the operational control. i mean, you think about it. probably the largest human trafficking operation in the history of the world is going on right now in our government complicit in that. 140 people on the terror watch list and he could not answer that question today. where are they, who are they, we have no answers, that's what's so frustrating. >> john: congressman ken buck of colorado questioned mayorkas about the fentanyl crisis earlier today. let's listen to that.

>> secretary mayorkas, it is your responsibility to secure of the border, the killing by fentanyl is a direct result of your dereliction. when people die of fentanyl poisoning it is your fault. >> this is an scurge we have to work together to combat and with the federal partners are taking it to the traffickers to an unprecedented degree through innovative operations targeting criminals. >> john: what do you say to that answer. is this administration doing enough to combat fentanyl? >> no, not at all. what they are trying to do, slight of hand at this point. they are saying we are introducing bills, trying to find ways to fight fentanyl. one way to fight fentanyl at this point, secure the border. we passed a bill that will accomplish that, hr2, will secure the border. that's the way to do it and that's what sheriff daniels said

in his testimony a couple months ago. if you secure the border, as a result of the border policies changing, january 20, 2021, that's where most of the fentanyl is coming from. it is squarely on his watch, as i said in my testimony, fentanyl is becoming synonymous with the name mayorkas, and these fentanyl families, as ken buck said there very well, poisonings at this point. >> john: supporters of biden border policy say look at all the fentanyl at border crossings, ports of entry. shows what we are doing is working. but then we talk to art del cueto and brandon judd and the border patrol, and they say we are just getting a tiny fraction of what's coming not country. >> think about all the fentanyl at the ports of entry. that tells you how much is being pushed in the country. go outside the ports of entry and it is just unbelievable. all you have to do is talk to your local sheriff. anywhere in the country, every

state is a border state, right. you can talk to any sheriff, including where i live in northern wisconsin they will tell you about fentanyl and the harm it's doing. >> john: we have had a war on drugs since the 1970s, but a lot of people are saying we need to up it. congressman, good to have you in. thanks for hanging with us today. appreciate it. >> happy to join you, john. >> sandra: fox news alert as we approach the top of a new hour with all the breaking news today on hunter biden, delaware courtroom, we have just gotten the sketches from inside that courtroom where biden pled not guilty earlier today. you are looking at those images now, john. >> john: and i was wondering if the courtroom artist did some sketches of when everything fell apart, that would seem to be an indication that yes, bill

henessy, jr. did, the worried faces and prosecutor and hunter biden's defense attorneys. it is remarkable to me, sandra, they went in there thinking this was going to be routine and then when the judge started asking questions and the prosecutor started giving answers that hunter biden's attorneys did not like, the whole thing just blew up in realtime. >> sandra: it did, and the reaction on capitol hill has been interesting to say the least. a lot of democrats avoiding talking on it at all. some bringing up the lack of evidence as the investigation continues. james comer also weighed in, the republican weighed in earlier saying it makes a stronger case for them and their investigation. and here is the image of hunter biden as he left the courthouse, he did not step in front of the microphone, nor did his legal team as some had anticipated they may do, john. >> john: we understand it, two issues caused it to come apart. first of all, the judge did not

like the idea of this diversion program on the gun charge and then there was the disagreement between the prosecution and hunter biden's attorneys over how far immunity on the plea deal and the misdemeanor charges would go, that the prosecutor indicating potential charges coming down the pike regarding the foreign agent registration act and who knows what else, and then hunter biden's attorneys said well, if this doesn't give him immunity from that, this deal's off the table. we'll see if it's going to go to trial or what happens now. i think it's in limbo now. >> sandra: ongoing investigation as we have been reporting on the fox news channel and the judge apologizing to hunter biden after the plea bargain imploded during that court appearance saying mr. biden, i know you want to get this overwith and i'm sorry but i need to get more information to do justice as i'm required to do. and yes, she is required to do

just that, john. >> john: yeah, you know. there's no apology for making sure that justice is done. who knows, maybe the judge said i know you want this over and done with but i'm sorry, i have to look into this further. all in the inflection, right? >> sandra: deep breath, a big two hours, john. great to do it with you. set your dvr. our coverage will continue. i'm sandra smith. >> john: i'm john roberts. we will see you tomorrow for friday eve >> martha: thanks. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum. breaking now, the story of the day, hunter biden's plea deal derailed. there he is leaving court just moments ago. managed to put a little bit of a half smile on his face, i guess, for the folks waiting outside. there's now a trial and clearly, according to the prosecutors, further investigation that is already underway. the president's son after it