united arab emirates, saudi arabia, met with the taliban, southeast asia, china to work: during china's belt and road initiative. i bring that all up to say i watched him last night and it appeared to be a skype feed or a cell phone interview alongside marco rubio after marc fogel's victory, knowing this was on the horizon, i am not surprised. this is an extraordinarily accomplished team. >> you know what, you are talking about the humanity of people fighting for americans abroad and for our policies and everything. it was uniquely refreshing to see the emotion. he couldn't tell us everything, but he had emotion around it. i think we will continue to see that, that the president looked so -- just emotionally relieved and joyful to welcome home marc fogel last night, as well. all right, "america reports" now. don't you move. more news. >> what is a u.s. citizen that

wants to remain private at this point so we will respect that. we have another person that is actually a well-known journalist that was working at radio liberty. >> their nationality? >> i believe they are belarusian. and a third, not sure nationality, not american. bringing americans home a top priority, and people respond to that. it is definitely somebody trying to change the tone with the administration, knowing the state scares peered. >> sandra: breaking right now we are awaiting the white house press briefing. all of this after learning just moments ago that another american detainee has been released. this time from belarus. that news on the heels of a high-stakes phone call that we just learned about between president trump and russian president vladimir putin. we are just now learning the details of that. the president confirming their talks on ending the war between russia and ukraine. like drinking from a fire hose, as we say around here, because

it is moving fast. hello and welcome, everyone, sandra smith in new york. john, good to be with you. >> john: good to be with you. this is the "don't like" and administration. john roberts in washington, this is "america reports." president trump saying they are in talks to end the war, next order of business is to call ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy to kick-start negotiations. >> sandra: we are going to break this down for you ahead of the white house briefing with bret baier, anchor and executive editor of special report. >> john: the first jacqui heinrich live at the white house and, god, things move so quickly these days, and makes the first administration look like it was in slow motion, although it wasn't. what can you tell us about the phone call between the president and putin? >> well, john, it is thought to be the first conversation since their last conversation, which i think was in 2017. the president was a little bit cagey earlier this week about acknowledging whether or not he had in fact connected directly with president putin. we know from the truth social

post that the phone call that we were made aware of happened today. he said this was a positive move toward winding down the ukraine war, but it certainly comes after the defense secretary this morning overseas made some statements about the ukraine war that were pretty newsworthy, seeming to take ukraine's nato membership or at least u.s. support for ukraine's future in nato off the table, something that is unrealistic, and also saying if peacekeeping troops are sent to that region at any point in the future they should not be nato troops, they should be not related to nato. u.s. has supported ukraine's future in nato since the bush administration. the president also supported that back in 2018 is part of the nato joint declaration although a few weeks back you might remember the president did make some comments that seemed sympathetic to russia's position that having ukrainian membership in nato would be provocative to moscow.

he seems to express agreement to that but it was not clear at that point in time if that was an official reversal in long-standing u.s. policy. also not clear, you know, how all of this discussion factors into prisoner exchanges that we are hearing about. certainly the administration is happy to have marc fogel home. they believe the man they released is nowhere near the kind of exchange that we saw under the biden administration where they traded the merchant of death viktor bout for brittney griner. but we are still awaiting further details on the other detainees that are expected to come out today and also looking for answers on whether after speaking or maybe before speaking with putin if the president also spoke with ukrainian president zelenskyy. lots of questions still to be answered today, john peered. >> john: i am told today's hostage release of an american is a two-part deal, first on january the 26th, released from belarus, this is sort of closing the other end of that deal. jackie, look forward to your questions in the briefing coming

up. sandra? >> sandra: let's bring in bret baier, anchor and executive editor of "special report," chief political anchor. take your pick on what you think will be the top question in the briefing room moments from now. >> good afternoon, to both of you peered i think the biggest focus is that phone call. we are getting a more detailed readout from the kremlin that the phone call lasted about an hour and a half, that is significant for these two leaders to talk like that. and the focus being an end back to the war. in that call, president putin invited president trump to visit russia. he would be the first president to go there since 2013 when barack obama went there for a g20 summit. if that happened and then donald trump apparently invited putin to come to the u.s., it sounds like things are going down a road, and you saw in the truth social post that president trump said he would be speaking to president zelenskyy about all of this conversation and what comes next.

>> john: we heard from defense secretary pete hegseth not too long ago on his trip to europe that it was unlikely that ukraine could return to its pre2014 borders, which to me was an indication that if there was a negotiated settlement, russia gets to keep crimea. i guess the question is how much of donbas might it keep? >> that is the question. when zelenskyy was talking about trading properties earlier this week and possibly doing some kind of part of the disputed zones, he was talking about the cursed, which is actually in russia that was recaptured by the ukrainians. he was not talking about crimea or donetsk. i think you are going to have this real back and forth about what the ukrainians are willing to do when they get to that negotiating table and that they don't feel on the back end of a putin schmoozing president trump to get more of that territory. >> sandra: i suppose also we will hear from the white house,

able to take a victory lap on another american being released after marc fogel was released by russia yesterday. i mean, to john's point, the pace at which this white house is moving, bret, it is just absolutely incredible, and who knows what else we will learn when she steps up to the microphone. >> and then you add to that elon musk in the oval office yesterday and kind of detailing what they are starting to find in all of the d.o.g.e. efforts and then the hearing up on capitol hill dealing with that, yeah, there is a lot happening all at once. i think the biggest thing, though, is if this is heading to a negotiation on ukraine-russia, and what the end result is of the deadline on gaza for those hostages at 12:00 noon on saturday. >> john: let's get to domestic politics. extraordinary seen yesterday in the oval office, elon musk and his young son x at the president's side about d.o.g.e. here is what elon musk said in terms of the mission of do

d.o.g.e. >> what is the goal of d.o.g.e., i think a significant part of the presidency is to restore democracy. but you can't have an autonomous federal bureaucracy. you have to have one that is responsive to the people. that is the whole point of a democracy. it is just something we have to fix. >> john: he is saying, bret, we need to be good stewards of taxpayer money and in order to do that we have to go through all of the budgets with a fine-tooth comb. then you have the article three section of government going after the article two section of government and then you've got the article one section of government going after article two. the president is beset here from both sides, but he seems to be forging ahead with this idea that taxpayers deserve to have an honest accounting of where their money is being spent. >> i think you are right. maybe we needn't i'm just a bill sitting on capitol hill cartoon, pretty soon a whiteboard showing everything that happens. i think what elon musk said in the oval office was significant,

one that there are payments going out of treasury that don't have what they are listed to pay, essentially flying out blank checks to things they have been paying for many years that no one has really checked into, which means that congress could authorize or allocate money a certain way but there could be money going out all over the place that does not have proper documentation. the other thing was just some of the stories they are finding in this. you can only have 10,000 people retire in the federal government in one month because there is a limestone tavern in pennsylvania where there are actual manila envelopes with paper, and they write to them and they take them down a freight elevator and there it is, and they are all stored there. i don't think anybody thinks that that is what happens now. that was set up in 1955. >> john: it reminds me of the dmv seen in the movie "utopia," the sloths running the dmv. >> sandra: incredible image we

have been talking about all morning. it will be interesting to see, bret, how this white house combats this messaging from the left about a constitutional crisis. this is some of what we have heard from democrats on that. >> that is a constitutional crisis. that is a crisis for our democracy. >> we've got our toes right on the edge of a constitutional crisis here. >> what we are witnessing is a constitutional crisis. >> sandra: which led "the wall street journal" to publish is there a constitutional crisis? trump actions are aggressive but not an executive who. >> it was on a constant new crashes when president biden was not going to follow the supreme courts ruling on student loans, make efforts like that despite several judges, not only the supreme court weighing in, or you could go down a whole bunch of different things on the biden administration if you say apples and apples, but i think "the wall street journal" makes a good point about it is

aggressive, clearly, but it doesn't challenge the constitutional authority of the executive. can a federal district judge stop what the executive is doing was duly elected by the american people? it's tough to say right now. >> john: they are trying to do it and present trump says that he will honor that but he will appeal it to a higher court. i imagine all of this, some point going to end up at the supreme court. the thing i find curious as we await carolyn levitt to come out is democratic members of congress screaming from the rooftop that they get to basically approve every dime and nickel that goes out but i don't think any of them -- they approved budgets sort of at-large at grand scale but i don't think money for transgender surgeries in guatemala was a line item that went through congress so why do they get to say no, we have to keep that place. >> exactly and these agencies, executive agencies had a broad budget and then they determine,

often times where that money goes. now there is oversight, congress can call people in and ask questions about where the money is going but as far as a line item that is directed by congress, it is very rare, really, the budget doesn't go into that, it gives agencies money in whole, and that is where this back-and-forth is really something. now publicly there is a lot of support for going through the budget with a fine-tooth comb, like you do at home, at the kitchen table, on the back of an envelope, and you say this doesn't make sense, we've got to cut this. so i think there is a battle yet to come. >> sandra: we are probably within a few seconds of seeing karoline leavitt, the press secretary, well inside the two minute window now, and to that point as we build up to her walking up here, that why white house press p thing room is still packed. there is a lot of interest in the media to fill that room and she is taking questions, change things up a little in the

white house press briefing room but your thoughts on how this is going as we are still inside the first 100 days here? >> i have been in that seat, john, you have been in that seat, they are packed because it is a new administration, trying to figure out exactly what they are doing, this one is particularly packed because there is so much going out the door as far as policy, political decisions. there are so many questions on a number of different fronts. i think, you look at some of the questioning and some of the focus, there are so many things, look at the shiny thing over here. because you could ask any number of things and make a lot of news depending on what the answer is. >> john: i remember times in the early day of the trump administration when the brady briefing room was so crowded, so packed full of people that if the fire marshal had walked in, it is not a big room, he or she would have had a absolute heart attack, and we should mention the brady briefing room

is built over the swimming pool that jfk made, during his administration. i don't expect, bret that karoline leavitt is going to come out and add a lot of detail to the putin call because that note from the president on truth social was pretty det detailed, and pretty much answered all of the questions anybody might have with the exception of when does all of this happen? >> his truth social post was detailed and the kremlin's note and post of that call was pretty detailed, so i would be surprised if she gets more into the weeds of that. there is this thought that it begins this negotiation, and one of the big questions is did president trump call president zelenskyy of ukraine to push that forward? and if that happens, you know, he has decided to send treasury secretary scott bessent over to ukraine. it seems like there are a lot of moving parts but in that truth social post he also said marco rubio, mike waltz, steve witkoff, who by the way i should

point out has become the shining star of this administration. president trump has a lot, a lot of confidence in him as a negotiator, as a businessman, but also someone who can forge these relationships. that started as a middle east envoy. i think those relationships lead to a connection to russia, and that's where this has all gone, so he is now taking on double envoy duty. >> sandra: we are now getting word, peter doocy passing along, another truth social post from president trump just now. he just spoke to president volodymyr zelenskyy of ukraine, bret. >> there you go. >> sandra: the conversation he says went very well, he liked president putin wants to make peace. we discussed a variety of topics having to do with the war but mostly the meeting that is being set up on friday in munich. vice president j.d. vance, secretary of state marco rubio will lead the delegation. this goes on to say ample for the results of that meeting will be positive. it is time to stop the

ridiculous war, writes president trump, massive and totally unnecessary death and destruction. god bless the people of russia and ukraine, writes president trump, bret. >> we could be waiting, could have been waiting for the end of that call, is possibly some of this delay, to get that truth social out, and she can answer the question about talking to both leaders. we are seeing the development of what could be the beginning of the end of the russia-ukraine war, which would be a major thing. i think for the ukrainians, their big question is how much are they giving up? and what exactly is the security agreement by which they can live in that neighborhood, not worried that vladimir putin is going to take over kyiv at any moment? i think what defense secretary pete hegseth said today was key, ukraine is not going to be in a nato but there is going to be some kind of security agreement, he didn't go into detail but that is a big deal. >> john: this idea of trump going over to russia to visit really is intriguing.

i was on and you were there, too when they met in helsinki, finland. >> secretary leavitt: good afternoon. great to see all of you on this very newsy day, to say the least. i have a couple of updates for you this morning, or this afternoon. as you know, this morning, the president spoke to president putin of russia. they spoke at length, and the president released a statement following that conversation in great detail. i can also confirm that the president just recently got off the phone with president zelenskyy of ukraine. his truth is as follows, "i just spoke to presence on skin of ukraine. the conversation went very well. he like president putin wants peace. we discussed a variety of topics having to do with the war and the meeting set up on friday in munich where vice president j.d. vance and secretary of state marco rubio will lead the delegation peered i am hopeful that the results of that meeting will be positive. it is time to stop this

ridiculous war where there has been massive and totally unnecessary death and destruction. god bless the people of russia and ukraine." i myself just spoke to the president about these calls, and he told me to tell all of you they were very good calls. they were very positive. and the administration is wholeheartedly committed to a peace deal to end once and for all the russia-ukraine war. more on that later. i'm sure you will have more questions to ask. this week, the president has continued to deliver on his promises to the american people. according to new polling that was released at the beginning of this week by cbs news, an overwhelming 70% of americans said that president trump is following through on what he pledged to do during his historic campaign. the poll also revealed that americans see president trump as a tough, energetic, focused, and effective leader, fighting hard to improve their lives and our country. and yesterday, in particular, was a truly special day for the

united states of america. thanks to the great leadership of president trump and the strong and tough leadership of president trump, marc fogel, an american teacher detained by russia, was returned to american soil and met with the president here at the white house last night. special envoy steve witkoff and the rest of president trump's incredible national security team helped negotiate the exchange that secured marc fogel's release. this event shows a good-faith effort from russia and it's a sign, as i just said, that we are moving in the right direction to end this brutal war. malphine fogel, marc's mother, was understand of the upset she would never see her son. slated to join president trump on stage at the july 13th butler, pennsylvania, rally to speak out for marc and then the infamous assassination attempt against president trump took place but that day before the

rally, president trump promised mark's mother that when he returned to the white house, he would bring her son home. god save president trump's on that day in butler, pennsylvania, and now marc fogey with his family as a result. god is good. the president also continues to bring back common sense to our government. this week he signed an eeo to end the procurement and forced use of paper straws, taxpayer dollars wasted on these nonfunctional and massively unpopular products for no other reason that it made radical activists feel good about themselves. and on trade, president trump continues to take bold action to present america's critical steel and aluminum industries, much like he did in his first term. and the president signed proclamations to close existing loopholes and exemptions to restore a true 25% tariff, 25% on aluminum as well. the said administration believe

these will protect american national secured input american workers first. in the oval office yesterday with elon musk, president trump took further action to make our federal government more efficient and effective. he signed an eo implementing the d.o.g.e. if workforce optimization and negative peer now agency heads will coordinate and consult with d.o.g.e. to significantly shrink the size of the federal workforce and limit hiring two essential positions only. the unaccountable bureaucracy will finally be reined in. on another important matter this morning senate republicans continued to confirm president trump's exceptionally qualified nominees. most recently director of national intelligence tulsi gabbard. who will be joining us later at the white house for her swearing-in ceremony. it's imperative that the remainder of the president's cabinet nominees are confirmed as quickly as possible. on another important matter this week, illegal alien criminals continue to be arrested and sent home as part of the ongoing mass deportation effort of the trump

administration. just this week, two planes with 190 venezuelan illegal aliens arrived in the venezuelan capital from fort bliss texas. here is some of the criminal illegal aliens who are arrested in the country this past week. i see atlanta arrested a citizen of nigeria who had been convicted of money laundering. i.c.e. san antonio arrested a citizen of ten san antonio convicted of assault. i see denver arrested a citizen of mexico who had been convicted of aggravated assault, and i.c.e. houston arrested a citizen of mexico who had been convicted of aggravated assault. now before i take questions i would like to address an extremely dishonest narrative that we have seen emerging over the past few days. many outlets in this room have been fearmongering the american people into believing there is a constitutional crisis taking place here at the white house. i have been hearing those words a lot lately. but in fact the real constitutional crisis is taking place within our judicial branch, where district court

judges and liberal districts across the country are abusing their power to unilaterally block president trump's basic executive authority. we believe these judges are acting as judicial activists, rather than honest arbiters of the law, and they have issued at least 12 injunctions against this administration in the past 14 days, often without citing any evidence or grounds for their lawsuits. this is part of a larger concerted efforts by democrat activists and nothing more than a continuation of the weaponization of justice against president trump. quick news flash to these liberal judges who are supporting their obstructionist efforts. 77 million americans voted to elect this president and each injunction is a abuse of the rule of law and in a threat attempt to thwart the will of the people. as the president stated in the oval office yesterday, we will comply with the law and the courts, but we will also continue to seek every legal remedy to ultimately overturn

these radical injections and ensure president trump's policies can be enacted. so here in our new media seat today we have chris pavlov ski, an entrepreneur who has a strong passion for protecting freedom of speech, started video sharing platform rumble in 2013 with a mission of protecting a free and open internet from censorship by big tech and governments around the globe, the platform has always been a place for independent creatures to share their authentic opinions, and have always included president trump, in contrast to the way he was censored by other platforms in years past. since its founding, rumble has grown exponentially, recently marking 67 million monthly active users. that's a lot of users. if you are watching right now and interested in sitting in the seat, you can apply, whitehouse.gov/new media. with that, i will take your questions and chris why don't you kick us off on this very busy, busy newsday? >> reporter: carolyn, thank you so you and

president trump, an honored to sit here with the media and the press briefing and be able to demonstrate why freedom of expression is so important. rumble was a victim of censorship at the hands of multiple foreign governments. it is clear there are still many countries who oppose free speech and even target american companies. can you describe what the administration will do to protect u.s. interests and values worldwide? >> secretary leavitt: sure appeared things for the very important question, and i think that free speech and ending censorship both here at home and also abroad is an important part of president trump's agenda. i think first president trump has lead by example on this front as the leader of the free world, the president of the united states, with his show up access and transparency on a daily basis. the president takes questions from all of you. almost every single day, and really reveals what he is thinking and feeling, and i think that serves as a great example to the rest of the world.

as for tangible actions that the president has signed, he did sign an executive order, i believe on day one, certainly within the first week of this administration, to restore free speech and stop government-sponsored censorship here at home. and the eo made it very clear that federal employees are not allowed to engage in any activity that would infringe upon the american people's right of free expression, so i think the president has led quite strongly on this, and i would just add this as part of the reason we have a new media seat, to invite new voices into this room. again we are going to need to expand this room because so many people are interested and we are very excited about that. is a polish to cover this white house but we want all voices to be heard so thanks for being with us here, chris, and i hope you enjoy the briefing. jordan? >> reporter: thanks, karoline. dated this morning showed consumer prices up across a variety of goods. just before that president trump called for low interest rates. the fed said it is holding rates steady to try to tamp down further inflation, so how would

lowering rates help keep inflation in check footy and people? >> secretary leavitt: sure. first of all on the inflation point we did receive those numbers and they were worse than expected, which tells us the biden administration indeed left us with a mess to deal with. it is far worse than i think anybody anticipated because unfortunately the previous administration was not transparent in where the economy truly was. we know people at this very podium told the american people that inflation was transitory and that it would go away. that was not the case. and now the last report of the biden administration, as revealed today, shows that inflation is still about 4.5% higher over the past three months. this is an indictment on the biden administration's mismanagement of the inflation crisis and their lack of transparency in addressing it. as for tackling inflation and interest rates, the president has made his position on this very clear. he wants interest rates to be lower. he wants inflation to be lower. and he believes that the whole of government economic approach that this administration is

taking will result in lower inflation. i have said that from this podium many times. the president had record low interest rates and inflation rates in his first term. he believes the economy can handle it and withstand it, and we are doing a lot to tackle the inflation effort on this front. it is a whole of government economic approach and i have talked about what we are doing to tackle inflation quite a few times from this podium. >> reporter: tariffs going to come before prime minister modi's visit tomorrow. >> secretary leavitt: i believe it will come before the prime minister's visit tomorrow and i will let the president discussed the details on the reciprocal tariff run but this is something he believes strongly in and it is very simple logic as to why the president wants to impose reciprocal tariffs, it is the golden rule which we all learned when we were growing up in school, treat others the way you want to be treated, and far too many nations around this world have been ripping off the united states of america for far too long, and that is why the president believes this will be a great policy that will benefit american workers and improve our national security. j.j.? >> reporter: on d.o.g.e. and

the fraud claims, elon musk in the oval yesterday gave us some information on that. we are just wondering if there's some proof, evidence, is the white house willing to share evidence of those fraud claims or can elon musk come to the briefing room and share material evidence of what he is talking about? >> secretary leavitt: sure, i would love for elon musk to come to the briefing room, that is why we had them go in the oval office yesterday, where i think he provided great answers. he was speaking in layman's terms, speaking common sense to all of you in the media but also to americans at home, but i would say especially to all of you in the media because i think it is a real fallacy that there is this alleged lack of transparency when it comes to d.o.g.e. president trump and elon musk have been incredibly transparent on what d.o.g.e. is doing. there is a x account with the d.o.g.e. handle tweeting out what they are doing on a daily basis. they have a website where they are posting the receipts of the contracts that they are reviewing and the payments that they have stopped from going out the door, secretaries of our departments have stopped going out the door. and i would also say that before

it was elon musk making our government efficient and accountable, it was some unnamed bureaucrat that none of you knew. elon musk is the richest man in the world. he is also now one of the most highly scrutinized men in the world come alongside president trump, because of what he is doing and the access that he is allowing. there is great transparency. as for the actual receipts, we are happy to provide them, and actually brought some today because all of you know i love to bring the receipts. we have contracts upon contracts that we can send and provide this information to you. let me be very clear, we are not trying to hide anything. we have been incredible transparent and we will continue to be. these are screenshots of contracts that d.o.g.e. found across our government. this is a dei contract, $36,000 for u.s. citizenship and immigration services. that is against the president's policies and his america first agenda. this is a $3.4 million contract, a counsel for inclusive innovation at the u.s. patent and trademark office,

department of commerce, another dei contract that d.o.g.e. identified. i can continue to go through these. i love this one, $57,000 for climate change in sri lanka. what is this doing to continue the interests of the american people? absolutely nothing. these are the line items across the federal government that d.o.g.e. is identifying daily. they are moving very fast. there is a lot of paper that we can show you but we are happy to do it. this administration has been more than transparent about what d.o.g.e. is doing. and here is one of their tweets that they posted about the mind, i believe this is in pennsylvania, where the federalt system is being processed, did anybody know this was even happening in our country before elon musk talked about it in the oval office yesterday? a lot of americans didn't. so we are providing transparency and accessibility on a daily basis when it comes to d.o.g.e. i also have a d.o.g.e. daily report if anybody would like it of all of the things that they are identifying in finding peered we are happy to provide this information to you. we are talking about it a

recycle day. >> reporter: are all of those things you mentioned fraud or other waste or they just contrary to the present policies? >> secretary leavitt: i would argue that all of these things are fraudulent, they are wasteful, and they are an abuse of the american taxpayers dollar. this is not what the american government should be spending money on. it is contrary to the president's priorities and agenda. and again i can continue to provide you the receipts for all of the fraud, waste, and abuse. and if anybody in here wants to argue that the federal government is not fraudulent in some capacity, be my guest, because i think the american people watching at home would beg to differ. mary? >> reporter: more on the judges, does the white house believe the courts have the authority to issue these nationwide injunctions? >> secretary leavitt: we believe the injunctions issued by these judges have no basis in the law and have no grounds and we will again, as the president said very clearly, comply with these orders, but it is the administration's position that we will ultimately be vindicated

and the president's executive actions that he took were completely within the law. they were constitutional. and we look forward to the day where he can continue to implement his agenda. and i would just add, it's our view that this is the continuation of the weaponization of justice that we have seen against president trump. he fought it for two years on the campaign trail. and won't stop them now. brian? >> reporter: i want to go back to d.o.g.e. just a second pair of their the subcommittee headed by chairman, her and her staff discovered $2.7 trillion in improper payments to medicare, medicaid, overseas, to people who should not have gotten it, some in this room might have missed that press conference. can you elaborate on what the president is thinking at this point? >> secretary leavitt: again, that's another example, there is a very long list of the fraud, waste, and abuse that d.o.g.e. is identifying on a daily basis. elon musk also talked yesterday about social security payments going out the door for people who are no longer with us,

unfortunately, i would say that is certainly fraud. there is also a lot of contracts they have identified, just as a hypothetical example, are a million bucks been only $500,000 went out the door so where's the rest of that cash? those are the things that d.o.g.e. is working in every single day. i would just are mind everybody in this room, this is what president trump campaign on doing. he is delivering on a promise that 77 million people elected him to do. james? >> reporter: thank you very much, caroline. two foreign policy questions, if i may peered first a statement released after this morning's phone call identified mr mr. witkoff as part of the delegation to resolve the russia-ukraine war. i thought that was general kellogg, so can you clear that up? >> secretary leavitt: sure, i would be happy to. as you mentioned the president and his truth following the phone call with vladimir putin said he has asked secretary of state rubio, the director of the

cia john ratcliffe, our national security advisor here at the white house michael waltz, and steve witkoff to lead the negotiations. as for general keith kellogg, he remains a critical part of the team in this effort. he has play determine its role getting the negotiations to this point. he is very much still part of the trump administration. >> reporter: i took note of president trump's comments in his super bowl interview with our colleague, bret baier, to the fact he wants to do a deal with iran. however, that interview appeared after the supreme leader of iran, the ayatollah, had already ruled out negotiations with the united states. so kind of a two-part question, a, what gives the president and a confidence that iran will come to the table? and b, more fundamentally, why is the president interested in doing a deal with iran instead of doing anything he can perhaps short of u.s. military intervention, to try and hasten

the end of what many of his own supporters regard as an evil regime? >> secretary leavitt: well, the president has made it very clear that he will never allow iran to have nuclear capabilities. that is a redline that he has drawn, and he will not allow that to happen. but you asked why president trump wants to make a deal, i would remind you he is the master of "the art of the deal." he is america's dealmaker in chief. he leads from a position of securing peace through strength, and i think time and time again already in just four weeks, we have seen the president being able to negotiate successful deals with our partners, our adversaries, all around this world. the release of marc fogel just last night is something that i think speaks to the president steelmaking ability. this is something that the biden administration allegedly tried to do for three and a half years. i think you all should go ask some of those biden administration officials what they even tried to do and why wl because for three and a half years marc fogel sat in a

russian prison and it took president trump three weeks to get him back on american soil. there is nobody better at making deals in donald trump. will wegman. reporter matt thank you. two foreign policy questions. ukrainian presence once he has had after the war that he wants naito membership. pete hegseth said nato membership was not an option. >> secretary leavitt: i have not talked to president trump about nuclear capabilities. i will tell you that secretary rubio and vice president j.d. vance will be meeting directly with president zelenskyy in munich on friday and i am sure they will provide a readout of that conversation in that discussion. >> reporter: given this administration has called on europe to take more responsibility for their own defense, i am wondering, will

you or any other european nation other then ukraine be involved in these peace talks? >> secretary leavitt: i don't have any nations currently involved to readout for you. certainly the president has deployed a very strong team to continue these negotiations, and the fact that he was on the phone with both president putin and president zelenskyy today shows that he is very much involved in this effort, as well. >> reporter: a follow-up, i guess, should we expect the president to negotiate in pe person? with zelenskyy and putin? >> secretary leavitt: i don't have anything to readout on that for you today peered maggie, good to see you. >> reporter: you talked about the transparency with d.o.g.e. and elon musk's press availability yesterday. there was a conflict of interest law in place that says the people who have personal interests can't interact with government entities that could touch on those. has president trump signed a waiver for elon musk? such a thing exist? if it does, with the release it? in the interest of transparency?

>> secretary leavitt: i am not seeing the law you are referring to. what i can tell you is elon musk, as i confirm her for come as a special government employee. he is filing the proper financial disclosures, and he is complying with federal laws. you heard elon musk all addresss directly. the alleged conflict of interest. everything he is doing his public and if you perceive a conflict of interest you are welcome to bring that up. and as the president said, if he feels like elon is engaging in some thing that is a conflict of interest he will tell elon not to do that and elon also said yesterday that before he moves forward with anything, he consults with the president of the united states, so we are very confident with the ethics and the guardrails that have been put in place here. >> reporter: i have a few things for you but on the commitment by president trump he said that president putin agreed to visit each other's respective nations. are there any preconditions that president trump has that president putin must do before he goes, withdrawing some

forces, withdrawing all forces, anything like that? >> secretary leavitt: not that i'm aware of but that doesn't mean they don't exist. i was talking with the president and our national security team. i was not made aware of any conditions but if they exist i'm happy to provide those. >> reporter: installs himself as this master negotiator. he is now deploying these negotiations the start immediately. we heard from defense secretary pete hegseth saying nato membership is not realistic for ukraine and neither is returning to pre2014 borders. aren't they giving away bargaining chips before these negotiations have even started? >> secretary leavitt: again, i have not to the president about ukraine's nato membership and he appointed several individuals to negotiate on his behalf. he is directly involved in these negotiations, as well, and i'm sure if you're asking that question in the near future when you're able to he will give you an answer, i just want to get ahead of him on it. >> reporter: which white house official made the decision to bar the ap reporter from the oval office and the diplomatic reception room last night? >> secretary leavitt: first of all, let me just set the record straight.

it is a privilege to cover this white house. it is a pillage to be the white house press secretary. and nobody has the right to go into the oval office and ask a president of the united states questions, that is an invitation that is given. and their hundreds of outlets on this campus peered many of you in this room who don't have the privilege of being part of that pool every single day and getting to ask the president questions peered we reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the oval office, and you ae credentials to be here including the associated press was in this briefing room today. >> reporter: but isn't it retaliatory in nature, is the argument because the reason the ap was barred was because they are not using the phrase go for america, they are using golf of mexico in line with their standards. the white house will retaliate against reporters who don't use the language you guys believe reporters should use and how does that align with the first amendment commitment. >> secretary leavitt: i was upfront on day one if we feel their allies being pushed by all

that's in this room we are going to hold those lies accountable, and it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of louisiana is called the gulf of america, and i am not sure wise news outlets don't want to call it that, but that is what it is. the secretary of interior has made that the official designation and geographical identification name server and apple has recognized that, google has recognized that, pretty much every outlet in this room has recognized that body of water as the gulf of america, and it is very important to the said administration that we get that right, not just for people here at home but also for the rest of the world. >> reporter: the prisoner exchange with russia coming at the same time as the president is now announcing negotiations to end the war in ukraine, the timing of that is hard to ignore. was ukraine discussed as part of this prisoner swap? >> secretary leavitt: i was not involved in those discussions, so i can't comment on whether that came up or not. what i can say is this was a very good deal for the united states of america and for the rest of the world. as you know, we have confirmed

that the russian will be coming home soon alexander minnick was a nonviolent crypto criminal and is part of this exchange he has forfeited more than $100 million that he obtained in that illegal crime. and in exchange, we got marc fogel, who is a middle school teacher who kissed the american soil, kissed the ground last night when he returned to the united states of america. it was a great deal and a great day for our country and i think everybody regardless of political affiliation agrees with that. >> reporter: was russia made aware ahead of time of the parameters the administration and secretary head seth was going to be announcing today? >> secretary leavitt: the nato parameters? i'm not sure, you have to ask secretary head seth and the department on that. >> reporter: just to be clear, when we are listening for a shift in position on u.s. policy should be only listen to the president and maybe not secretary of defense?

what he outlined today with represent a shift in u.s. po policy. >> secretary leavitt: i'm speaking for the president of the united states behind this podium and i will let him discuss that. weijia? >> reporter: next hostage releases come americans coming out today. >> secretary leavitt: it speaks to present trump steelmaking ability and we can confirm the safe release of one american and two individuals from belarus, one of whom worked for radio liberty. out of respect for the privacy of these individuals, they request we have no further details to announce on their identities but we can confirm that one american was released today, and it is a remarkable victory on the heels of marc fogel returning to america last night. >> reporter: who the u.s. might release -- >> secretary leavitt: i don't have details on that at this moment but i know the three individuals have been released under on their way home to their respective countries. weijia? >> reporter: can you explain how president trump envisions the war in russia and ukraine

coming to an end? does he expect ukraine to hand over all the territory in question? >> secretary leavitt: again these negotiations are ongoing. i will allow the president to divulge any redlines that he may set, but i think as deals in the past have come to fruition, the president has proven one of the things that makes him a very effective negotiator is not revealing what he is anticipating from both sides, but he is at the forefront of these negotiations. in addition to the very qualified individuals who he has tasked with speaking to both president putin and president zelenskyy. >> reporter: speaking of deals, a meeting with the president of the united states offers any foreign leader credibility. was it part of the prisoner swap with fogel that president trump agreed to meet with putin? >> secretary leavitt: again, i was already asked this question. i said i was not made aware of that. but we can certainly get you an answer on that, i will check in with the nsc. monica? >> reporter: thanks, karoline.

it is clear this and administration is dedicated to truth and transparency. we know that with d.o.g.e. and this administration declassify the assassinations of martin luther king jr., jfk, and rfk. i'm wondering if it is likely we are going to see more information regarding the assassination attempts on the the president life while he was on the campaign trail? >> secretary leavitt: in regards to the assassination of the individuals you mentioned, president trump signed that executive order directing the respective agencies to do it. i know that that process continues and is ongoing. he is committed to transparency and the declassification of these very important files that i think many americans are not only interested in learning about but also have the right to know about. as for the two heinous assassination attempt on the president life, he has spoken to this publicly, i have spoken to him about it privately, as he said publicly to all of you, he feels he has a right to know about further information about the individuals who try to kill him, tried to take his life, so if and when -- when we get that

information, i will leave it up to the president to decide whether or not he would like to reveal it, but i believe in the effort of transparency that we have seen consistently from this president he certainly will. daniel? >> reporter: i want to ask about the $59 million fema sent to new york city migrant hotels. secretary kristi noem just put out a statement saying she clawed back the pole payment to fema activists gave to migrant hotels, mark my word there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the american people. what does the trump administration send to bureaucrats obstructing the president's agenda? >> secretary leavitt: signing executive orders daily and he expect all officials regardless of if they are a political appointee or if they are a career. pratt to adhere to the will of the american people and the 77 million americans who reelected president trump. he is here for a reason and he

is focused every dan implementing his administration schools and sending $59 million to a migrant hotel to house illegal immigrants when people in california and north carolina that have not received fema funding is not funding this demonstration will tolerate. >> reporter: on new york, new york city comptroller brad landers accusing d.o.g.e. of clawing back $80 million that was intended for new york city fema funding, wondering if you heard about that figure, if that figure is accurate, and why that money was taking back. >> secretary leavitt: i'm not heard about that figure. d.o.g.e. is moving quickly but i can get the receipts and send them to you. the story is likely of great interest to "the new york post." >> reporter: is president trump waiting for a kind of signal or an action from putin to go to russia? and would he be willing to go to ukraine in the future? >> secretary leavitt: i don't have any decisions to make on

the president's potential visit to russia or any in-person meeting at this time. john? >> reporter: to questions, one on foreign policy, one on domestic policy. following up on the presence call with president putin, does the president view russia, view president putin as an ally, as a partner, as a competitor, or as an adversary? >> secretary leavitt: i believe this nation views putin and russia as a great competitor in the region, at times in adversary, as the president has said, as well, he enjoys having good diplomatic relationships with leaders around the world, finding that common ground, also calling them out when they are wrong, and leading from a position of peace through strength. that is the president's greatest strength and we have seen that again time and time again. >> reporter: pointed out in your statement regarding the confirmation of tulsi gabbard, there was one republican who voted against the nomination of tulsi gabbard. it was senator mitch mcconnell.

similarly, how does the administration view senator mcconnell? can he be a partner in the president's legislative agenda? are you disappointed that he voted against not only tulsi gabbard but also pete hegseth to be the defense secretary? >> secretary leavitt: i think we are greatly disappointed in any republican who chooses willfully to vote against the president's exceptionally qualified cabinet nominees and picks to lead his america first administration. not a single democrat swayed from voting against president biden's nominees, and we know how many of them turned out. they turned out to be atrocious at their jobs leaving america much worse than they were when they took the oath of office, though i have said it repeatedly from this podium, i addressed it at the beginning of my remarks, we expect all republicans to vote to stay tough and strong, vote for president trump's nominees so we can get to work and continue to work very hard to implement this president's agenda. sure. >> reporter: thank you, karoline. on south korea, south korea is

currently in a chaotic situ situation. how does the president trump react to the current chaotic situation in south korea? secondly, if south korea -- what role do you think the u.s. will play? >> secretary leavitt: sure, i have not spoken to the president on the ongoing situation in south korea i would defer you to his previous statements and i will see if i can get you something from the national security council. i guarantee officials are on this book and i'm not spoken to them about it but i am happy provide it. >> reporter: does elon musk have power of the presidency? >> secretary leavitt: absolutely not. ridiculous question. >> reporter: the democrats have been hurling insults, calling him president musk, most recently jamie raskin, calling for musk's impeachment, saying he has somehow usurped the power

of the presidency. what is your response? >> secretary leavitt: it is utterly ridiculous. elon musk addressed this in the oval office yesterday. the president addressed it, as well. elon musk is serving at the pleasure of the president, just like everybody else on his team, he takes corrective directly from the president of the united states, and some of the comments he referred to are nothing more than a failed attempt from the media and from democrats to try to sow division and this white house peered we saw them do it in the first term, we are not going to let them do it in the second term. this is a unified team working at the pleasure of the president to do what is right for the american people. i have one more quick housekeeping note before i leave you all today. the president wanted me to share with all of you that he had a wonderful meeting with king of doula of jordan yesterday. they discussed many things, including the gaza strip and its future at great length. the king would much prefer that the palestinians stay in place with the additional land to be used for new development which would greatly create jobs at levels never seen before but the president feels it would be much

better and more majestic if these palestinians could be moved to safer areas. i would just add that the president remains wholeheartedly committed to seeing peace in the middle east and our arab partners in the region have been tasked with coming up with a peace plan to present to the president. that is ongoing. king abdullah mentioned that yesterday. committed to accepting 2,000 sick children from the gaza strip which the president called a beautiful gesture. the administration continues to work with our arab partners in the region. we stand closely with our ally israel, and the president has presented this big new bold idea to secure peace in the middle east, and he is not going to waver from that and we look forward to seeing that goal of this administration achieved, as well. thank you very much, everybody, and we will see you very soon. have a great day. >> john: and so ends the briefing come on then at the king abdullah of jordan, visited president up in the oval officee

palestinians stay in gaza while it is being rebuilt, no surprise there. i don't think the king of jordan wants to be on record saying movie palestinians out of gaza, probably get blowback in the region, i would think, sandra peered. >> sandra: a trend, this was 37 minutes, and started at 16 minutes past the hour, took a lot of questions, and there was really very interesting moment where before she took questions she addressed the white house press corps on something we brought up to bret before we went into it about the press pushing a dishonest narrative that the president is creating a constitutional crisis. we played out sound of many democrats who have made that case to bret heading into the white house press briefing. what she felt the need to address that before she got into questions. >> john: that really stuck out in my mind, too. let's bring bret back to discuss this. the talking points are gone around to the democratic side but as kerri urbahn would say,

if anybody is precipitating a constitutional crisis, it is these appointed judges standing in the way of president trump's article to authority. >> i think karoline addressed that, pointing to the president's answer on this question, saying they are going to continue to fight these orders, but they believe that they are misplaced and the executive action that they are taking is justified. and how this money is spent. i thought it was really interesting. she did not add much to the detail on a conversation with putin and zelenskyy, only saying that this next step is going to happen in munich on the sidelines of the munich security conference. >> sandra: not a lot of detail in the actual exchange. about what, you know, what the u.s. has promised an exchange. it seems we have not been offered any detail about that, bret. >> i think this is where obviously the devil is in the details about how this all comes together at the negotiating table. it seems like he is leaning

towards a split of pre and post-2014 ukraine, and where that property lies and if ukraine is willing to get to that spot. they have said in the past and i have interviewed president zelenskyy numerous times where he has said he would not do that, and he would not do anything without an agreement of a security agreement of some time, even if it was short of nato. pete hegseth the defense secretary saying u.s. troops will not be on the ground in ukraine defending that property. >> john: then the question is, is zelenskyy willing to give up anything? he is probably going to have to give up something if he wants the war to end. obviously he does not wanted to go on in perpetuity because it is devastating his population and has been really tough on his economy. there are almost daily missile attacks still in kyiv and i'm sure he would like to get back to the business of running the country but if he gives away a part of it in a negotiation can he survive as president?

i don't think so. and i think there is really dangerous times ahead for ukraine if they give away too much without the security agreement attached. the treasury secretary scott bessent is over there now talking about rare earth mineral deal, and the president mentioned that on the super bowl interview with me over the weekend. i think there is a lot of optimism that they can get to the go sheeting table but i am not sure we know with the details of that negotiation look like. >> sandra: the constitutional crisis that she just addressed. judge jeanine is going to join us next hour on that. on the economy, bret, austan goolsbee coming up, want to ask about what we just heard in the room, a reporter asked karoline leavitt about inflation and how can we tackle inflation as a country if we lower interest rates? that could feel the economy and actually serve to push prices even higher, was the question is their concern about that peered i will put that to

austan goolsbee, but it is interesting, bret, that we haven't -- it hasn't been in the forefront of the news coming out of this white house. we have been promised and karoline leavitt has said that this is a priority for the president to bring those prices down, but this is going to be a huge undertaking. and historically speaking when prices go up, it takes a long time, if they ever come down, but tackling inflation was obviously a huge election issue. >> yeah, and you heard karoline leavitt with the answer that the mess that the biden administration left behind, and we are seeing that this month. this is a big issue, and i asked the president about that this weekend, considering all that he has planned for tariff policy, the thought that tariffs could go back to increasing prices for consumers, he said it might happen in the short-term but in the long-term it would help. that inflation number i think as you know better than anybody, sandra, is scaring the market because of anything it indicates interest rates going up, not

down, and that is something the market doesn't like to see. >> john: at the same time as we have the price increases across the board, the price of eggs is skyrocketing because of the bird flu epidemic among poultry flocks and now among dairy cattle. we are going to be talking about that in the next hour. but trump has to be looking at this and saying, i told people i was going to get a handle on inflation. and it seems to be more of a thorny issue than even he thought it could be. >> it is allusive when prices are high, to sanders point, they stay high to for a while so you have to do big things to change that dynamic. they are going to try to cut spending and come up with a budget reconciliation bill that looks at the big picture, but as far as the short-term, tough tough to deal with, but people feel it. >> sandra: as far as deportations are concerned and immigration, that would lighten in the briefing room but we

continue to learn more on how this is related to d.o.g.e. all of the spending going to new york city hotel rooms to house illegal migrants, when you still have people out in the cold in north carolina, bret, final thought on that? >> $59 million yanks back, department of homeland security secretary kristi noem saying that will be put back to the american people, and that is part of the d.o.g.e. effort. each one of those agencies is going to be opening up its doors to elon musk and his crew. >> john: dhs firing four people involved with those payments to the new york city hotels. bret, great to see you, thanks for spending time with us and i will see you tonight at 6:00. now this. ♪ ♪ >> as you know, this morning the president spoke to president putin of russia. they spoke at length. and the president released a statement following that conversation in great detail. i can also confirm