>> and that turned out to be an actual human, that's just sad for scientists they would not be able to figure that out. but, again, i just need more. more information. >> thanks to everyone for watching the show. don't forget to dvr when you can't watch it live. here is "america reports." >> john: emily, thank you so much. a live look at the white house briefing room, any minute a trio of biden officials set to face reporters. karine jean-pierre joined by john kirby as questions swirl over the shocking deal with iran to swap american prisoners for billions in frozen funds. >> sandra: and hear from biden's top economic adviser jared bernstein after a new report shows america's inflation crisis is far from over. the first time jean pierre will take to the microphone since she cut off the president at the

news conference earlier this week in vietnam. a lot to get to, we will be watching that as soon as it begins. >> this continued to go on and on and on for 14 days, the saga of living in longwood, when he's two miles away. tense, on edge. >> i feel like crying, i can actually sleep now. i've been up all night the last two weeks following this guy, it's a relief. >> john: manhunt finally over. escaped killer danelo cavalcante taken into custody after nearly two weeks on the run in pennsylvania. i'm john roberts in washington. sandra, they got their man. >> sandra: what a terrifying ordeal for all the residents living nearby. this is "america reports." we are getting brand-new images now of cavalcante just after his capture. but we warn you, they are graphic. he appeared battered, and bl

bloodie ed. >> john: a heat signal was found in the search perimeter and after waiting out a storm police closed in. >> sandra: former fbi special agent nicole parker has been joining us throughout the story, she is standing by to explain how it went down. but straight to nate foy, live in pennsylvania, what are the next steps following his capture? >> well, he will be -- he being cavalcante, transered if to a state prison facility, sandra, but man, such a sigh of relief in this community today. at about 8:00 a.m. this morning, border patrol teams as well as pennsylvania state police troopers took cavalcante into custody on day 14 of this manhunt and started with a home alarm going off, in what was the search perimeter behind me, happened just after midnight and an hour later the aviation units

picked up on thermal imaging, gave authorities an idea where cavalcante was, but then bad weather pulled in, they had to bring ground teams back to make the final move at 8:00 a.m. this morning, and say cavalcante gave one final effort to avoid capture. >> began to crawl through thick underbrush, taking his rifle with him as he went. one of the customs and board control teams had a dog with them. the dog subdued him and team members from both of those teams immediately moved in. he continued to resist but was forcibly taken into custody. >> so again, sandra, he will be transferred to a state prison facility, he will not go back to chester county prison where of course he escaped two weeks ago. cavalcante suffered a minor injury from a dog bite. no shots were fired during his capture this morning, and that's

something that a lot of residents worried about after cavalcante broke into a garage and stole a rifle on monday night. >> this has gone on all night the last two weeks, i'm happy it's over. it's just -- you are up all night long and i keep thinking he's in the back yard, in my yard, he could be around here somewhere, so this is great news. >> troopers also said today, john and sandra, there were people intent on helping cavalcante but that they were able to stop that help from reaching him and we do know cavalcante's sister is facing deportation after refusing to cooperate with authorities, of course cavalcante himself is an illegal immigrant, accused of murder in brazil before coming here and then murdering his former girlfriend in pennsylvania in 2021. we'll send it back to you. >> sandra: nate, thank you. john. >> john: nicole parker, former fbi special agent. we have seen it in real life,

seen it in the movies, typically with these escaped convicts always comes down to a dog that finally gets the escaped convict. >> you are exactly right. when i first heard about his apprehension my first question was, was it a k-9? they are highly trained, their handlers are outstanding and they have led to many successful apprehensions. i think the miraculous part of all of this for those in law enforcement is i thought it would end in serious bloodshed. he had taken a rifle out of somebody's garage, he had no restraint, he is brazen, killing his ex-girlfriend in front of two young children, stabbing her multiple times, he had no limits. so in my opinion i would not have been shocked if there was a hostage situation where he took a resident and as you heard that resident, it's terrifying. i mean, these people have been

living in fear the last 14 days but we can never underestimate the power of law enforcement when they come together, this is a picture perfect example of local, state and federal law enforcement officers, they put their agency names aside and they are one team and it is so powerful. think about it. dea, up on aviation, they were the ones that did the thermal imaging. and then the team from el paso as well as the pennsylvania state police, their special emergency response team, they came together with the k-9, all hands on deck effort. and you did not see that law enforcement was likely tracking who he had been communicating with. we thought the sister, who had ended up being taken into ice custody was probably trying to assist her brother behind the scenes and you didn't even know about that. so, you know, as citizens you think gosh, why is it taking them so long, like it's been 14 days. they worked behind the scenes 24/7 on this case, and these

tactical units, we cannot underestimate the physical, the emotional and the mental tax that it takes on you and the toll it takes on you. you don't see that. you are seeing it on your television, you are not seeing what they are experiencing and i can tell you it is real, they were relentless, they never gave up and in the end, they won. i knew it was just a matter of time. it takes patience and perseverance, a matter of time. >> sandra: after the capture, cutting off whatever he was wearing at the time before -- and man, were they happy this came to an end. listen. >> sandra: and -- >> he will be transferred to a state correctional institute where he will be housed and began to serve his life

sentence. >> sandra: so what is next as we track his movements on to the correctional institute, obviously hoping one more secure than the one he broke out of. can i ask you a question about the k-9? those pictures are fascinating, and you see his bloody face and the dog was obviously so trained to hunt him down for his capture but trained enough not to kill him. i mean -- wow, these dogs are impressive, nicole. >> and they are, and i've been involved in operations with k-9s, they bite the criminal's leg and i have had to accompany criminals to hospitals where they have had handcuffs attached to the hospital bed because they did not cooperate with law enforcement. but we are in an environment they think law enforcement uses lethal force all the time, this is a perfect example of professionalism. law enforcement uses the most, you know, they don't use lethal force unless they absolutely have to.

think about it. this man was on the run 14 days, he killed at least two individuals we know of, had known of, and he was taken without any deadly force being used. the dog is perfectly trained, they know the amount they have to use in order to stop him without killing him. there were no shots fired. this is professionalism and we owe it to our law enforcement to say thank you. >> john: as you said, it was a terrific coordinated effort, and now chester county is taking some steps, too, the chester county commissioner saying prison officials have made some immediate changes to bolster security in the prison and brought in security contractors to make permanent changes to the exercise yards and other facilities, and apparently another inmate recently got out the same way. hopefully they will tighten that place up so we don't have to go through it again.

appreciate it. >> sandra: and thanks to the law enforcement for the capture. any moment now, we are inside the two-minute warning, the white house is expected to give some answers on bidenomics, a concerning new report shows inflation did move up for a second straight month. and the first time we hear from press secretary karine jean-pierre since she caught off the president in the middle of a news conference overseas, remember this? >> it wasn't confrontational at all. >> thank you, everybody. this ends the press conference. >> thank you, thank you. note ♪ ♪ >> raised it with every person i met with. thank you. ♪♪ >> sandra: john, that was the president sunday and that was karine jean-pierre's voice that cut him off there. a remarkable moment, and we have

not had a white house press briefing since that moment. >> john: we have been cut off lots of times by white house staff, but i have been to press conferences with the president of the united states since 1999, and i have never heard them play jazz music to play him off the stage. i mean, sometimes at a white house event, you know, the military band will start up and the music will go or whatever, but i have never seen a press conference end with jazz music being piped in. >> sandra: a pretty revealing moment. john, we will get to the white house in a moment, but first mark meredith is live at the white house. first, mark, what are we listening for? >> sandra, listening to see if there is any music to play anybody off as they get ready for the briefing to start. and with john, it's an unusual moment for a press conference. one thing we are expecting here today is the economy, a new report indicating where inflation stands and if you feel like prices are up, odds are you are not alone.

latest consumer price index report, barometer of prices and latest numbers show what is basic services, rent has gone up, also moving and storage, and seeing prices on things like even trash collection. the biggest indicator appears to be it was the price of fuel in the last month that contributed the most to the monthly price increases. the president, persistent concerns about inflation could ignite fresh calls for new leadership ahead of the election, and the president is facing growing criticism in the "washington post," an article out this morning said president biden should not run again in 2024, what he had to say about that column. >> time is running out and in another month, it's going to be too late to have this conversation. so i thought before it was locked in stone it was worth at least raising. >> cnn recently polled democrats asking what their biggest concern is about the president

for re-election. overwhelming concern was the president's age, he's 80 now, he would be 81 by election day. republicans also see the age issue as a major factor into next year's race. one person speaking out about it is florida governor ron desantis, only 44 years old, he says the president's age is hurting his job performance. >> presidency is not a job for someone that's 80 years old. we need an energetic president and if the founders could look at this again, i do think they probably would have put an age limit on some of these offices. >> the white house has been asked about the president's age, his schedule, if he's able to keep up and they point he is, and clips overseas, the recent trip to vietnam and india, but an issue that will come up in the press briefing my moment now. >> sandra: mark meredith, let's get into the briefing room. jared bernstein, chair of the economic advisers for the

president is speaking. >> headline cpi rose 0.69. headline inflation down by 60% over the last year, but we know last month's increase in gas prices puts a strain on family budgets. core cpi inflation, omits gas and food prices, up 0.3% in august. it's rate of 2.4%, lowest rate since march of 2021 and close to the pre-pandemic level. this is important progress. economists track the core, omitting gas and food prices, a signal where inflation is likely headed. the figure one here, yeah, this figure, this compares the contribution of gas and apparel to monthly inflation, and it paints a clear picture of the

relative volatility of the gas prices, that's i think the yellow bars up and down, i'm not great with colors, and then the apparel contribution is the red line. so you get the point about the volatility of gas prices. turning to bidenomics, we start from a position of strength. the u.s. economy is in solid strength with real gdp growth, a strong labor market delivering wage gains accounting for inflation. and i have a next figure showing that the extent to which you see inflation coming down and price, and wages actually beating prices there, both for all workers and for middle wage workers. this figure includes today's inflation report, not only has inflation come down, now growing more slowly than the pay of low and middle wage workers, their buying power is increased. our work is not done for sure,

but wages outpacing inflation is some of the breathing room the president talks about. rising real wages for middle and low wage workers at the heart of our middle out, bottom up growth agenda. our gdp, the overall economy prospers, and good reason why trickle down does not work. disproportionately helps those that don't need the help and less likely to spend the marginal dollar, or bidenomics works because when the middle class does well the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do well. another sign bidenomics is working, both for today and tomorrow, is this other figure showing investment in building, manufacturing facilities. the incentives in the inflation reduction act, are reversing decades of disinvestment in

america. through the powerful 1-2 punch of policy incentives crowding in private investment. that creates jobs in constructing the facilities and good jobs tomorrow staffing these factories to manufacture semiconductors, solar panels and wind turbines on our soil. going forward, build on the progress we have made and maintaining the tight labor market while continuing to ease price pressures. many economists argue it couldn't be done, president biden never accepted the tradeoff and he's right. a quick word what you can expect to hear in the president's speech tomorrow. as you'll remember, the president traveled to chicago in june, empowering workers, investing in america and boosting competition. tomorrow he'll travel to maryland to lay out the very clean contrast between bidenomics and the congressional republicans trickle down

economic plan, a plan that has failed working families every time it's been tried. instead of investing in the middle class, trickle down shipped jobs overseas, hollowed out communities and produced soaring deficits. he'll contrast agenda with specific policies congressional republicans have proposed and lay out what the policies would mean in concrete terms for the american people, whether it's unfair taxes, medicare and social security, or increased costs for families. and he'll highlight what's at stake for families as fiscal and budget debates take center stage in the weeks and months ahead. thank you, i'll take questions. >> thanks, jared. you mentioned gasoline prices pushing inflation up last month. there are no good signs when it comes to gasoline prices in the near term, crude oil prices are going up, saudi arabia has signalled it's going to continue to throttle oil production. are you worried that inflation

is going to go back up over 4%? >> well, let's talk about gas prices. as the president said in his statement this morning, he's well aware they put a strain on family budgets and that's why he's working with congressional democrats to take action to cut energy costs. it is correct as you point out, the spike in august caused nearly all of the increase inflation last month. but gas prices are down from last summer's high by about 1.20 per gallon, they peaked at north of $5, in june of 2022, and saves $120 a month. getting more directly to your question, the energy department is in touch with producers and refiners to resolve any issues and to try to ensure stable supply. there is some pressure relieve in september from the switchover from the summer blends to the winter blend, winter blend is a

somewhat cheaper blend, and also we are moving out of peak driving season so that lower demand also takes some pressure off. but i think the key point to leave you with on that question is that again, the president and congressional democrats are cutting energy costs by investing in clean energy and reducing our dependence on foreign countries that often don't share our values. i view the investment agenda i talked about in my comments as very closely connected to this idea of transition to clean energy and more energy independence. >> how closely are you tracking the possibility of a spike in gas prices and are you worried that could erase some of the gains that have been made in lowering inflation? >> well, to answer your first question, one of the first things i do every morning is click on the aaa gas price, so we track it very closely. the -- i think from a policy -- from a policy perspective, again, the actions that we are

taking working with congressional democrats to cut energy costs are at the core of our agenda. now, i think the important point here and you mentioned gas prices climbing and their impact on consumers, the president has been straight up about that, including in his statement this morning. but i also don't think you can divorce that from the other efforts that we are taking to reduce prices in other areas that matter so much to consumers, some of which you could see in today's cpi report, the price of eggs, price of dairy, the price of meat, they came down so not just disinflation but deinflation in those cases. and go to the wage graph, one of the key points there, even accounting, this is the second graph in my presentation, if you can put that back up, or we can get it to you if you don't have it, the key point there is that when wages are beating prices, there you go, you have wages beating prices, wages growing more quickly than inflation. and by the way, most quickly for

middle and lower wage workers. a direct result of the persistently tight labor market and links up closely to one of the first of bidenomics, empowering workers. a tight labor market has delivered wage gains that are beating prices. that means the buying power of your paycheck is going up and that's the kind of breathing room we are looking for here. >> thanks. one potential risk to the economy is a uaw strike. last week the president said he's not worried about a strike. is that still the case, and is the white house ready to support those workers if a deal is not reached and they go on strike? >> the president believes auto workers deserve a contract that sustains middle class jobs. i worked for president biden a long time, clearly one of the most preunion presidents we have had, he encouraged the parties to stay at the table and work to get a win-win to keep uaw jobs are good middle class jobs. let me say a bit about our work

on unions. i think the president understands one of the purposes, one of the things unions do is they help more fairly distribute the benefits of growth. if you are contributing to american productivity and auto workers and union workers attribute to the productivity, you ought to get a fair shake. economic literature showing unions and the dynamics i'm explaining to you are closely associated with the more equitable distribution of earnings. and i think that's one of the reasons why he's a pro union president and the bidenomics. empowering workers, so i think there is a clear connection. >> -- workers if they go on strike. >> he believes the auto workers deserve a contract for middle

class jobs and wants the parties to work around the clock to get a win-win agreement. he's encouraged them to do that, keeps the workers at the heart of the auto future and good middle class jobs. >> jared, there was some alarming child poverty figures that came out very recently. given the constraints with congress and spending, what can the administration do or what is the administration planning to do to aleve -- alleviate those? >> the plan and i am me -- implement, the child tax credit. one of the things i took from the report yesterday and everyone should take from the report, your child poverty rate is a policy decision. this president decides to have the lowest child poverty rate in history, that was his decision and others, including 250 or

something like that members of the house and 50 republicans in the senate have made a very different decision to facilitate a more than doubling of child poverty by allowing the child tax credit that was doing so much of the lifting to achieve that historically poverty rate to allow it to expire. the president has consistently argued for reinstatement. >> with the constraints you mentioned in terms of lack of support, anything else you can do or intend to do to address that issue? >> we intend to continue to not only fight for the enhanced child tax credit but do so in a fiscally responsible way. that is in our budget, we have ample resources to offset that cost, part of the 2.5 trillion in deficit reduction that's raised in the budget that can be

devoted to that -- to that policy. so, not only are we talking about reachieving historically low levels of child poverty, but we are talking about doing so in the context of injecting much more fairness into the very top end of the tax code. so really, two very important values to this president. a much more fair progressive tax code hitting only those above 400,000, and if we are talking about some of these measures, well above that, millionaires and billionaires, he talks about paying 8% effective tax rate, that's not ok in a con -- in an economic context where congressional republicans have allowed child poverty to double by refusing to extend this child tax credit, and republicans go further. they more than double down on that deeply unjust relationship by continuing to fight the extension of the child tax credit while calling for trillions more in high end tax cuts. so, yes, he's going to continue

to fight for those issues. >> thanks, jared. can you just talk a little more about the uaw strike or potential, can you talk about more about what the economic impacts would be to a strike and considering how significant they are, what plans does the president have or what recommendations are you giving the president to step in more to help prevent this, whether bringing them in, to help with negotiations, for example. >> i don't have a readout on this. we are closely monitoring the situation, you know, the council of economic advisers sometimes think of as and constantly evaluating alternative. so we are trying to figure out which way things are going. so of course we are going to monitor this on a daily basis. it would be irresponsible not to. but i don't have a readout on the situation. we are monitoring it as it develops. >> do you feel the president should step in more, does the president have plans to step in more, perhaps bringing in

negotiators to help prevent this from happening? >> the president's been very much engaged. not only has he always fought for policies to ensure that workers get a fair deal, but that the -- he's explicitly talked about the electric vehicle future, strong and good paying union jobs. he's met before the uaw briefed senior staff on their negotiating position. he called president vang on y and all big executives to encourage them for more forward leaning offers and stay at the table. that's what the president has done. he will continue to press on that as will the team that's monitoring that closely. >> thanks, karine, jared. pce and pci. two inflation reports in a row year over year the headline inflation number has gone up.

couple that with real average hourly wages are down since the day president biden took office about 3%. so is that bidenomics? >> yeah, no, i think we have a disagreement on a fact there. and we can certainly show you cea data on this. real wages are up relative to before the pandemic. they are up for all private sector workers, but up even more for production nonsupervisory workers, a term from the establishment survey that comes out every month. 80% of the workforce either blue collar in manufacturing or nonmanagers in services, and you know, those wages are actually above the pre-pandemic level in real terms. we just have a factual disagreement there. in terms of the trend inflation, i think we probably have a disagreement there as well. the trend in the pce, the trend in the cpi, whether you look at headline or core, and in fact, well, it's not here anymore, but the graph just there, showed a

very clear trend in the year over year cpi. if you take the more timely, say, three month annualized average, then see an even clearer result. inflation is easing, it continues to ease. there was a gas spike last month, no question. gas went up almost 11% in august, in the cpi, a little more than it went up in the real world because they seasonally adjust, more like 6%. in the report it was up and we obviously take that very seriously. >> time frame, look at the day he came to office. ask you about the gas prices. gas prices are a large part of the increase in the cpi, why is the president restricting future growth of the oil industry. he made the decision, or the interior made the decision in alaska just last week. >> well, there are -- american oil production now is at an all-time high, just below 13

million barrels a day. there are thousands of available permits, places where oil companies could drill. they have been highly profitable, highly productive, so i don't think that's the problem. as you said, the gas price added 34 basis points to -- more than half the inflation increase was the gas price in august. i'm not going to predict gas prices for september, because that is folly, but there are various sources i mentioned a minute ago putting downward pressure on gas prices in september, including the shift to a less expensive blend and the end of peak driving season. and the same time, look, along with the fact that american producers are more productive than they have ever been, producing almost 13 million barrels a year, we are going to continue to work largely with anyone who will work with us, certainly with the congressional democrats in cutting energy costs by clean energy and the

right agenda and the one we are progressively pursuing. >> jared, a follow-up on the auto workers strike. >> could you speak up. >> sure thing. >> probably hears better than i do. >> no worry. on the potential auto workers strike i have a follow-up to what some of my colleagues were saying. an economic group i spoke with said there could be $5 billion cost to the economy if there is a ten-day strike. is the white house preparing for that? >> we are tracking all the outside analysts. i don't think there is one report we have not seen or read, and our job is to be ready for any contingency that comes our way. i'm not going to give any readout on our own analysis at this point. we are monitoring the situation. we'll continue to do so. and we'll bring -- we'll certainly bring up to date

information as these things develop. >> follow-up -- you talked about how you're following it closely, looking at contingency plans. can you confirm whether you've been asked by the uaw to get involved more or have you been asked specifically -- >> sandra: we are going to jump out for a second, john kirby is going to be at the microphone a short time from now, and see what he's asked about the iran prisoner swap. and karine jean-pierre, first opportunity to respond to the moment in vietnam where she cut off the president. jump out for a second, we have vivek ramaswamy standing by with us, john. need to chew on a couple of the numbers out there. vivek, this constant question to the white house from all sides, why do you keep touting such strength in the american economy when poll after poll shows people are struggling. 60% of the country is living paycheck to paycheck. dealing with the 60% spike in gas prices. consumer prices are up 17% under

this presidency. yet you just heard jared bernstein tout that the buying power of your paycheck is going up. >> that is an outright lie and i think the fact of the matter is prices are up 16%. forget the rate of inflation, gone up and down, may go up and down. cumulative inflation is over 16% and prices having gone up under the current administration. wages have been flat lined by comparison. so everyday americans understand when they fill up gas at the pump, buy groceries at the grocery store, a reason why they are feeling that pinch and the level of dishonesty, the gall of the biden administration to lie with these numbers. and another area they are lying with, sandra, the job numbers. think about the greatest sector that has shown job growth is in the sector of none other than the government. so, when increases in employment or improvement in employment is not driven by increased productivity in the private sector, but instead driven by

the government itself being the main source of expanded employment, we have a structural problem in the economy. the reason americans are not buying it, they can read the facts more effectively, and also because of their own experience and a big part of the problem, i just got out of a speech laying this out, the cancerous administrative state, the three letter agencies issuing regulations on businesses, small and large, our chief impediment to growth in the country and unlooking gdp has to be a top priority for the next president. it is for me. >> john: so jobs, and we were talking about this, you gave a speech this morning you outlined a plan to cut a million jobs from the federal workforce over a course of 4 or 5 years. and the question is, how you would do that, thinking of targeting the department of education, fbi, atf, nuclear

regulatory commission, internal revenue service and the commerce department among them. how do you cut the jobs, what legal basis do you have to do it, what do you do with all the federal workers who will not be drawing a paycheck. >> a couple things. latter question, we have more open jobs right now than we have people in this country, john. so you could kill two birds with one stone. as d.c. bureaucrats can find honest work in the private sector and stimulate the economy that way. the job of the federal government is not to provide employment to the bureaucrats. what i've said, a lot of the advisers in the d.c. bureaucracy, they have duped good presidents, from reagan to trump, by telling them you can't fire these employees because of so-called civil service protections. what i laid out in my speech down the road earlier today is that actually the laws of this country do give the u.s. president power to act. not with individual firings, but with mass lay-offs and they are

not covered by the civil service protections what i'm bringing. >> john: hold that thought a minute, john kirby, the iran deal announced on september 11th. >> in korea. it will be monitored by rigorous due diligence standards reared by the u.s. treasury department, the u.s. will have visibility and able to engage in oversight where the money was going and for what purpose. if iran tries to divert the funds we'll take action and lock them up again. i also want to be clear. this is not a payment of any kind. it's not ransom. these are not u.s. taxpayer dollars. and we have not lifted a single one of our sanctions on iran. iran will be getting no sanctions relief. we will continue to counter the iran regime's human rights abuses, continue to counter their destabilizing actions abroad, support for terrorism, attack on maritime shipping in the gulf and continued support

for russia's war against ukraine. as you've heard us say before, when we are trying to bring americans home, we often are not dealing on a level playing field. we have to use the leverage we have to bring them home. they are not going to be released for nothing in exchange. but i don't think we should lose sight of the bottom line, we are working to free innocent americans who did nothing wrong, no reason to be detained, bring them home to their families, whole and safe again, that's the goal. >> thank you for being here. i know you dispute this is a ransom pay but obviously many critics say it is just that. suggest it's $1 billion per american individual being released. so, how is this not incentivising bad actors and rogue regimes like iran in the future to detain more americans? >> bad actors like aran and like mr. putin in russia don't need

any incentive to continue to look for ways to wrongfully detain americans. it's been happening a long, long time and we have to accept the reality it could happen in the future. one of the reasons why the state department has the new designation for countries, a d designation, so before you travel or do business in a foreign country look and see if the risk of wrongful detention high in that country before you go. we advise americans not to travel to iran and russia and other places like that. but these bad actors don't need incentives and it's not going to change the calculus, necessarily, of what they have been doing. what it is going to do is get our americans home, and that's what we are focused on. >> for clarity, why isn't it a ransom payment? it's still $5 billion frozen not available in use in any form, the $5 billion may be

humanitarian aid but frees up $5 billion elsewhere. how is it not ransom payment? >> you are right, it's not u.s. money, it's iranian money, that had been established in these accounts to allow some trade from foreign countries on things like iranian oil, to allow the iranian oil to stay on market and for countries who wanted to buy that iranian oil, the transactions were largely conducted in the previous administration, all legal, all fine. but to allow some of our allies and partners to be able to continue to purchase iranian oil without being sanctioned for doing so. several accounts were set up in several countries, south korea being one of them, for many reasons, lots of different reasons, this particular account was not accessible as others were. its iranian number, point number

one. number two, it's not a blank check, they cannot spend it anyway, it's not $6 billion all at once. they have to make a request for withdrawals for humanitarian purposes only and sufficient oversight to make sure that the request is valid and that it's going through vendors who we and the qatar can trust will contract for the goods, medical equipment, the food, whatever it is, in an appropriate way and get it directly to the iranian people. the iranian people will be the beneficiaries of the funds, not the regime. the regime doesn't get to touch the money, peter. it does not go to them, they don't get to decide ultimate destination and they have no direct access to it. now, your second part of your question, won't this just free up funds for them to continue to do bad behavior. they have been participating in bad behavior for a long, long time and we continue to put

pressure on them in ways i would add that the previous administration did not do, particularly in terms of their nuclear and ballistic missile programs. they are still supporting terrorists, still attacking shipping, and still supplying drones and drone manufacturing capability to the russians. and for all of those things, we have and we will continue to hold them accountable. we have not only added sanctions to them for the way they have treated protestors, for the arm sales they have provided to russia, but we have increased our military presence in the gulf region, specifically to address the attacks on maritime shipping. iran has choices to make. they have had choices in the past and in the future, and if they choose, to conduct these destabilizing activities we will continue to use all the levers in our power, economic and military, to counter that and to thwart their efforts. >> john, you just said that iran was not going to do this for

nothing. did you didn't they also get five iranians? >> they will get five iranians as well, yeah. >> why did they need to add $6 billion on top of that? >> this is the deal that we were able to strike to secure the release of five americans. it would be great, wonderful, if we could just pick up the phone and call them and say we want our americans back, send them back on the next plane but you and i both know it's not going to happen, particularly with iran and getting americans home requires decisions, sometimes tough decisions, it requires compromise, requires negotiations with people you would rather not be sitting across the table from but you got to do it because americans overseas in trouble wrongfully detained need to me and the families need to know this president and administration will do what it takes to bring them home. i've heard the critics that somehow they are getting the better end of it.

ask the families of those five americans who is getting the better end of it and i think you get a different answer. we are comfortable with the parameters of the deal and restrictions, frankly rigid restrictions on the iranian's ability to use the money and no apologies we will get the five americans home as soon as possible. >> the president of iran said it's up to them to use the money -- >> he's wrong. >> once it's released. >> it's not fungible. he's wrong. the way this deal is arranged is that these -- the $6 billion, which is iranian money, will go to a qatari national bank, iranians can request withdrawals for humanitarian purposes and qataris and us, we will have sufficient oversight into the request itself, to validate the

request, and then to deliver funds appropriate to that request. the money will then go to qualified vendors to purchase and deliver the food, medical supplies, into iran. so it will go directly to aid organizations or appropriate relevant organizations inside iran so the iranian people can benefit from it. an important point, too. we have issues with the regime, we don't have issues with the iranian people and this funding will be important at helping them get over some tough times. >> what do you say to the criticism this is only going to go against all these efforts to deter iran from getting a nuclear weapon. this came right after the iea director said the international community is losing interest in holding iran accountable, that these violations are routine, and now we are making this deal where they are going to have

money to use for humanitarian purposes but to peter's point bringing up $6 billion that they can pull from other places to use for proxy attacks or building a nuclear weapon, how do you argue against that? >> i think i answered that question before, i'll try it another way. we will continue to hold them accountable for destabilizing activities. this arrangement to get these americans home is separate and distinct from the way we are holding iran accountable for all the destabilizing activities to include their continued nuclear ambitions and their ballistic missile program, we have sanctioned and will keep the sanctions in place. no sanctions relief involved in this at all. we will continue to hold them and put them under that pressure. and the president has said many, many times, we are not going to allow iran to ever achieve a nuclear weapons capability. we would have preferred to deal with that through diplomacy, unfortunately the previous administration decided to tear

up a deal that set their ambitions back by many, many months and now they have been allowed to continue to reenrich. nothing we can do about that. we wanted to solve it through diplomacy. we are not able to -- we are not able, and not focused on returning to the jcop at this time. that said, we will make sure we have the appropriate capabilities in the region to defend ourselves and our national security interest if it comes to that. >> thanks. reaction so far on the putin-kim jong-un meeting -- >> john: we are going to jump out of there, john kirby answering questions from jacqui heinrich. kirby insisting the $6 billion they freed up is not a ransom payment and there will be strict controls exercised over that money that sits in a qatari bank by the u.s. treasury department. see if it works or not. >> sandra: 2024 residential

candidate vivek ramaswamy still with us. comfortable in the parameters of the deal, similar to the defense of the deal we heard from the state department yesterday. kirby clarified iran is to make requests, he said, for the withdrawals for humanitarian purposes only. he said it is not a blank check. do you see it otherwise? >> of course. i mean, we have to speak honestly and call a spade a spade. almost orwellian. one is money is absolutely fungible, because they cannot use the dollars for the purpose they laid out does not mean they can't change their budgets on other parts of humanitarian aid so they are able to redirect that to areas where they can't use the money. money is by definition fungible. and this is absolutely a random payment and deeper point in the united states. when we are ourselves weak at home, when we have weak and indecisive leaders at home, our adversaries know to exploit that.

there is a reason why these ransom payments are even higher, even compounded by the rate of inflation than the last time that we have gone through the same exercise. it's because we have a weak u.s. president whose commitments are not credible and our adversaries know that now is the moment to exploit it, when it's iran or otherwise, communist china for that matter, that's exactly what you are seeing today and it's a shame. >> john: so you heard kirby say, vivek, that the u.s. treasury department will exert strict controls over this money, that the iranians will have to request it. the iranian president says i don't care, we are going to use it the way we want. >> this money belongs to the islamic republic of iran and naturally we will decide, islamic republic of iran will decide to spend it wherever we need it. >> john: kirby said he's wrong it does not work that way. when have we been able to

control what iran does? >> he's saying the quiet part out loud. as much as i disagree with him, i think he's speaking the truth about what happened here. money is fungible and because they cut it from one pocket does not mean they are not going to spend -- they are $6 billion richer. bottom line for the country supposedly sanctioned by the u.s. another failed foreign policy from the last 25ers yoo. i think we require a new generation of leadership that in our foreign policy included to be able to be strong at home, to stick to our commitments, to be able to hold to red lines, be very clear about what we will and won't do, and that's how we are going to recommand respect on the global stage. that's what i'm going to redeliver as the next u.s. president. >> sandra: vivek, the five american citizens detained in iran, obviously the reason for all of this. if you were in power and you

wanted to bring these american citizens home, how would you have done it? how would you have constructed this deal? >> first of all, my heart goes out to the families. i know, i cannot even imagine what they have gone through and i think it is good news in the middle of all the politics to still celebrate the return of americans who deserve to be at home. but i would have never put us in this position. if you apply a maximum pressure campaign to a country, do it correctly. that only works if there's no back door out. the problem is iran has gotten closer in its relationships with china and russia so part is a failed diplomacy with iran that pre-dates this particular crisis. it's not just this deal. it's the backdrop conditions for this deal as we see nations like iran aligning with communist china and the hands of russia. shameful, even as we are arming ukraine to go to war with

russia, our foreign policy, i'll keep us out of world war iii, but independence from our own adversaries and assert american interests rather than putting ourselves in the positions of weakness in the first place. >> john: relationship between china and north korea is closer, and implications for the war, putin is looking for new weapons and push you a bit on your ukraine and russia policy. you said you would freeze the lines of control where they are, we have a graphic where the lines are but use it as leverage to get russia to break the strategic alliance with china. if you give putin eastern ukraine, regardless of what deal you cut with him, how do you know that he is not going to one day say you know what, i got eastern ukraine, i'll going to go back for the rest of it.

>> there is a back stop, u.s. interest back stop. if putin renegs and the deal, instant admission of ukraine to nato, and pressure on russia. under the deal that i would do, putin would have no reason to do it. the reason why -- >> john: no reason to do it in the first place. >> i disagree from the position he is in, he has to rely on china because we have put them in that position. if we reopen economic relations with russia. this is -- this is a long and complicated history. putin craven -- >> john: he wants to be the next czar. you can have eastern ukraine. >> i'm not saying you can have eastern ukraine. i'm saying a deal to require russia to exit to china.

russia and china alliance is the single greatest threat we take. russia's hypersonic missile capabilities, combine with china naval capacity, our economic dependence on china, that's the threat we face in the united states and an opportunity to use the ukraine war to achieve a more vital u.s. objective by pulling russia apart from china. nobody in either party is talking about it, but stay out of world war iii and reducing our economic dependence on china and that's how i'm going to win. >> sandra: some headlines crossing right now, based on what we are hearing at the white house and also a briefing that's happening at the state department, the white house through john kirby saying we obviously have concerns about defense relationship between north korea and russia. at the state department, the state department said it's troubling when you see russians talking about cooperating with north korea on programs that would violate u.n. security council resolutions.

this also crossing, it's a concern that russia could be actively promoting the improvement of north korea's missile program. what do you take away from that, or make of it? >> i think these are deeply concerning, sandra, and reinforce the same point. i worry, we have a u.s. president that is sleep walking us day-by-day, closer to world war iii and see an opportunity to do what nixon did in 1972. he did not trust mau but pulled him out of the ussr alliance. reopen economic relations with russia, a reasonable deal allows ukraine to have sovereignty intact but use it to pull russia out of china's hands, pull apart the alliance with north korea, this is how we achieve security, not because we trust putin, but because we can trust him to follow his self-interest and that's how we deescalate a growing alliance between russia, china and north korea that i think is deeply problematic for u.s. interests, and it will take

a new generation of leadership in our foreign policy to keep us out of the kinds of wars that we have sleep walked our way into over the last 25 years. >> john: so i know you have to go, one last question, you talk about a new generation of leadership. we just got breaking news in the last couple of minutes that senator mitt romney of utah said he is not going to run for re-election, citing his age, 76 years old the main reason, saying he wants to clear the way for a new generation of leadership. and meantime, we know the stories of mitch mcconnell, feinstein, joe biden, even former president trump is 77 years old. what do you say to what romney is saying, saying i'm leading by example here, i'm bowing out because my time is done. >> i do respect romney for making the decision, i think it's the right decision for him and for the republican party and country. i don't favor age limits. it should be left to the voters

and people like romney making decisions like the one he's just made. one thing i will say in this discussion, john, it's not just about age. it's also about where we are going. not only a fresh generation of leaders, but a fresh generation of ideas for how we actually move this country forward. so, there are people who are younger than romney or mcconnell or otherwise that still espouse reciting slogans memorized in 1980 and i don't think that's the way we move the country forward. i think we have to wake up to the unique threats we face today from the administrative state at home, the real threat today, not congress, as well as abroad on the global stage, it's communist china, not the ussr. i'm the youngest person ever to run for u.s. president as a republican and i think it takes somebody whose best days may still yet by ahead of himself in life to see a country whose best days are still yet ahead too. >> john: thank you for spending time and hanging through the

briefings. appreciate it. >> sandra: back to the white house. john kirby is being pressed by a reporter about president biden's statement about being at ground 0 the day after 9/11 and pressing on a series of misstatements from the president recently. listen. >> to remember that day. and he did that. and he spoke about a visit to ground zero, he did participate in, a week or so after the event. and what that looked and what that smelled and what that felt like and had a visceral impact on him as so many other americans on that terrible day and he's focused on making sure an attack like that never happens again, why we have proved over the horizon terrorism capability and hold terrorist networks accountable and why he spent so much time last week shoring up our national security interests in a vital part of the world on issues that aren't necessarily

tied to terrorism but very much tied to our ability to secure peace and prosperity there and and the world. >> saying things that happen, easily debunked, why does he keep doing that? >> the president was grateful to spend time with the family members and troops. >> has the moroccan government accepted earthquake assistance from the united states? >> we have been in constant touch with moroccan officials and usaid has allocated a million dollars to resist in response relief. i'll let usaid and the moroccan government talk about how they will use that. and we stand ready to provide even more assistance should it be required and needed. but we are in direct contact with them about their needs and you want to do the best to meet needs as they see them. >> admiral, why wouldn't the

administration reengage, if it would be possible with the jcpoa. >> well, we wanted it to be possible. i mean, my goodness. the first couple years of this ade worked hard to get us back into the jcpoa and iran keep larding up the negotiations with things that had nothing to do with their nuclear program and we realized the futility of the effort. so we stopped putting energy and effort into it. all around the time that they were whipping and beating female protestors so we held them accountable for that, that was a significant moment as well. look, the president has been very consistent that we want to make sure they never achieve a nuclear weapons capability. he would prefer, vastly prefer to do that through diplomacy, not a viable option. >> what is the administration's goal, is it to defeat russia, or is it ultimately to seek some sort of negotiations settlement? >> man, i don't know how many times i've answered this