the control of central command. tony. >> two quick questions. what happened to his body? was it carried away like with bin laden's body or too badly damaged? and two, administration officials told reporters today this had been planned for a long, long time, the president was presented in december with a tabletop model of the compound or the building. why was the raid now versus two or three weeks ago or a month ago? can you shed any light on that? >> yeah. his body was left at the site. as for the time being, it is correct, this was a mission long planned, months in planning as i mentioned to jen, but, look, you have to build enough context around the individual's pattern of life, and you have to factor in external factors that you don't get to control like the

weather. so lots of things go into make a decision about when you execute a raid of this complexity and this danger, and there were a lot of factors that had to line up to be just right. you have to, you know, make sure that your intelligence is solid and that the individual that you're going after is, in fact, at the location you believe him to be and that all the external factors -- not just the weather but the ability to operate at that particular time of day and have enough visibility -- all those things factor in. it was multiple factors. it all came together such that this was the best window to execute this mission. and i would remind you that it's not like we were just sitting on our hands for those months. i mean, as you probably saw in

the secretary's statement, these special operations forces conducted dozens of rehearsals to make sure that they could get this exactly right. mike breast? >> hi, mr. kirby. thanks for taking my question. i'm hoping you can vo provid a little insight into where isis stands right now, the threat they pose between the raid at the prison two weeks ago and abdullah's assassination. where do things stand in syria as well as globally? >> well, i'll tell you what, they're leaderless today, and that's a significant blow. this is not something that we believe isis is going to be able to just get over real quickly and easily. that said, they are not the force that they were in 2014 as we all remember that -- their

growth and rapid acceleration across iraq and syria. this is a -- isis is not the threat of the same significant nature they were back then. but they still remain a viable threat. we've talked about that many times, that this is a group that wants to reconstitute its strength, wants to continue to attack and kill and maim and terrorize. and haji abdullah was very much involved in trying to resuscitate the group and to grow their capabilities. they remain a threat to us, our national security, and the lives of innocents. as the secretary said today, we're going to stay at it. >> hi, john. thanks. a couple quick questions. first, on the efforts to get civilians out of the building, you said that they had to call it out to them with a bull horn.

can you say specifically how long they gave civilians to leave the building? and secondly, when we look at photos of the compound and see the damage to the building, was that primarily from the suicide bomb or were u.s. munitions used on that building? thanks. >> the damage you see in the picture with the third floor collapsed onto the second and even more than that, that was caused by abdullah igniting an explosive device, which, as i said, killed himself and his family. as for time, travis, i don't have a minute by minute. there were numerous calls made to encourage everyone in the building to leave, numerous calls made. and at some point not too far into the operation, abdullah exploded this device and that

precipitated more activity by at least one shooter from the building, that led to u.s. force going in, and to your point about, you know, how much time did we give people to -- i would remind that u.s. forces actually extricated four children from the second floor after they went into the building. so the efforts to save the lives of innocents wasn't just in the opening gambit here with the bull horn. i mean, it was well into the operation. it was something that was was ever present on their minds. mike glenn? >> do you believe that this raid might have prevented any future specific terrorist missions they were going to carry out?

>> you were kind of breaking up, mike. i think your question was do we have information that his death. is that it? >> yes. that's it. >> we don't have information that suggests that, mike, but i would remind this was the leader of is is and he was a very hands-on leader. he was involved in helping direct a lot of operations. so we have no doubt that his death will have a blow on isis and their potential to conduct future operations. i do want to remind that they are still a threat and we're not -- nobody's taken a victory lap here. we're going to stay at this. they still remain a threat. they still espouse this extreme ideology and this intent to kill, to maim, to terrorize, and so we're going to stay focused on it.

dan. >> it sounds like they went back at least as far as december involving senior commanders and that sort of thing. can you lay out a bit of what this looked like in terms of how far it goes, who it involved, that kind of thing? thank you. >> yeah, dan, i'm not going to be able to go into more detail than i already have. this was several months in the planning. it included actual physical rehearsals, as i said dozens by the special operations forces as well as you can imagine some tabletop planning as well. i don't have a ticktock of exactly how all that process worked out. it was extensively planned, extensively resourced, and quite frankly extensively formed turnover course of several months. jen? >> talking about russia and ukraine, there's a report that

the u.s. has evidence that russia has developed a plan approved at the highest levels of moscow to create a pretext for invading the ukraine by falsely pinning the attack on ukrainian forces that could involve casualties inside eastern ukraine but also in russia, reported by "the washington post." is that report accurate? has that intelligence been declassified? what can you tell us? >> what i can tell you is first of all we've discussed the idea of false flag base the russians before. we've made no secret of that. and we do have information that it is -- that the russians are likely to want to fabricate a pretext for an invasion, which, again, is right out of their playbook. one option is the russian government, we think, is planning to stage a fake attack by ukrainian military or intelligence forces gen russian sovereign territory or against russian-speaking people, to therefore justify their action.

as part of this fake attack, wedge that russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations as well as military equipment at the hands of ukraine or the west even to the point where some of this equipment would be made to look like it was western supplied, ukrainian -- to ukraine equipment. so -- and this is just one example that we can talk about today. we're watching this across the board. we've seen these kinds of activity by the russians in the past and we believe it's important when we see it like this, and we can, to call it out. >> this is being briefed on the hill right now as part of the -- >> they're on the hill in a classified briefing to talk about the whole spate of things

we're concerned about with respect to russia and ukraine. it's classified briefing, so i'm not going to get into an agenda item here in terms of everything i'm talking about. but they are both up on the hill communicating with members of congress. what we're seeing writ large and what we're doing about it to help our nato allies. >> do you know it has been approved at the highest level of the kremlin, this particular case? >> i would say our experience is very little of this nature is not approved at the highest levels of the russian government. is too by that, you mean putin. >> the highest levels of the russian government. kelly meyer. >> you mentioned the mechanical issue on the helicopter. those involved okay or did everything run like clockwork? second, on the u.s. army

dismissing vaccinated soldiers, are any of them on high alert to go to -- >> in terms of the army, who they're discharging with respect to the vaccine mandate, but i expect there's privacy concerns there, so i don't want to speak for the army, but i don't know if thaw i'll be able to give you this level of specify ti. it remains a readiness issue. vaccines work, and we want everybody to take them and to keep safe, to keep their units safe. as for the helicopter crew, my understanding is that they're all fine. as we said at the top, there were no u.s. casualties, and that would include the helicopter crew. it wasn't a crash landing. they landed safely. again, it was a drivetrain issue that rendered that helicopter unusable for the rest of the operation. so obviously it was destroyed, but the crew are safe and sound.

somebody from afp? >> hello. sorry. sorry. can you tell us how many helicopters and how many u.s. troops were involved? >> sylvie, i'm not going to answer that question, actually. back when i opened up the press conference i told you there's going to be some detail we can't provide because we want to preserve our ability to continue to conduct these sorts of operations. what i would tell you is that we had exactly the force levels and exactly the resources we needed to conduct this operation, and i'll leave it at that. tara? >> thanks, john. following up on bob's question, can you confirm whether any sort of intelligence was taken from the compound, any computer drives or cell phones? and then secondly, to follow up on louie's question, the decisions that were made in this

raid, do they incorporate any lessons learned from the civilian casualty report done after the august 29th strike? thank you. >> i've kind of addressed that second question before when louie asked it. i mean, we always try to avoid civilian harm. this operation was of a completely different character than the air strike thanned on the 29th of august. but in general, we always try to learn from previous missions, from previous operations. these are two completely different operations. and the desire to avoid civilian harm was baked in months ago into this particular plan. in fact, the decision itself to conduct a raid using special operations forces speaks volumes of the degree to which the president was trying to avoed

civilian har and quite frankly putting our force at greater risk because of the decision to make a raid like this. and i'm sorry, but i should have written your other question down and i didn't do it. >> oh, about the -- can you confirm whether any sort of computer drives or cameras or anything else were taken from the compound that could provide actual intelligence moving forward? >> yeah, look, as i told bob, i'm not going to get into talking about intelligence matters one way or the other. it is common practice when we conduct raids like this that we try to collect material that can help us and inform us in terms of our ability to disrupt future attacks and to conduct future operations. i think i'm just going to lave it at that. nancy? >> thank you. i wonder if you could clarify a couple points. on the explosion that happened on the third floor, does the u.s. believe that the isis leader was wearing a suicide vest or was exposed to a

separate event, and was it one explosive? can you tell us if there was any -- with any other nation and can you tell us who will lead the review of any possible civilian casualties by the u.s.? >> there's been no decision for a review. this operation is not even 24 hours old. the secretary we're willing to take a look to see if there's any possibility that anything we did might have caused harm to innocent life, but i have no investigational review to speak to today. as for the explosion, all i can tell is what we've already said. there was a large explosion early on in the operation on the third floor, which killed haji abdullah and his family. we believe he detonated that explosion. we cannot say at this time exactly what this device was. so i leave it at that. and then you had -- your first

question. i'm not good at -- i got to write these down. what was your first question? >> just to be clear, i was asking when you say that review, though, that you said the secretary would be doing, i'm trying to understand who would do that. and the other question was there any notification for other countries? >> we're not calling for a review, nancy. this operation literally happened last night. the secretary said we're going to look and see if there's any possibility that any action that we conducted might have led to the loss of innocent life, and if there is, then we'll make decisions and follow on that. i don't want to leave you with the impression there's an investigation in the offing here. that's not where we are at this point. as for deconfliction, i would tell you that deconfliction at the appropriate time was conducted in order to make sure that this operation can proceed safely. and i think i'll leave that there.

promote deconfliction as happens in that part of syria was conducted in this case. let's see. helene cooper? >> hi. thanks, john. does this commando raid in sere yo send a message of any kind to vladimir putin? >> this raid was not meant to send a message to any other nation. it was meant to remove haji abdullah from his leadership of isis, and to that degree, it was successful. and we are immensely proud of the forces that conducted this and planned it, resourced it, executed, rehearsed for it. it says a lot about our capability in counterterrorism, our focus, our continued focus on the isis threat, and our

ability to plan and conduct an execution of this magnitude and with this complexity with the utmost professionalism and skill and, quite frankly, secrecy. i'll take a couple more. yeah. >> did the u.s. forces collect any information or documents, materials from the building? >> i've dealt with this question before a couple of times. it is routine that we try to collect useful material when raids of this kind are conducted. i'm not going to speak with any specificity about this one. okay. thanks, everybody. appreciate it. thanks, everybody. appreciate it.

>> you've been listening to john kirby giving as many details as he can to the raid that took place earlier today. he's been briefing reporters, answering questions following the president's remarks this morning on the raid that took out isis' top leader and his deputy. all of this comes as president biden is in new york city at this moment. he's addressing a major domestic issue that could pose a big political risk for democrats in the midterm, rising crime particularly in urban centers. more on, that but we're learning a lot more about this raid in north west syria. it resulted in the depth of the current top isis leader, abu ibrahim hashimi al qureshi. he's been referring to him as haji abdullah, believed to be his gaven name, blew himself up in the raid according to officials, killings himself and his family. according to a senior administration official, u.s. forces were on the ground for nearly two hours.

early in the operation, al qureshi exploded a bomb, killing himself, his wife, and children and others on the third floor. the pentagon confirmed there were no u.s. casualties. some draw comparisons to a 2019 raid which targeted al baghdadi, in which he also detonated an explosive, killing himself. president biden delivered remarks on this raid and the casualties before leaving for new york. >> our team is still compiling a report, but we do know that as our troops approach to capture the terrorists in a final act of desperate cowardness, with no regard to the lives of his own family or others in the building, he chose to blow himself up, with that vest, to blow up the third floor. this operation is testament to america's reach and capability to take out terrorist threats no matter where they try to hide anywhere in the world. >> joining me now is peter alexander at the white house, courtney kimby in the briefing and joins us in a moment, and

also in a moment we'll hear from former supreme allied commander of nato forces. peter, did president biden watch this happen in real time? >> reporter: the white house said that he did, that he was in the situation room last night. they said he was monitoring it in real time, so it's unclear exactly how much of it he could see in real camera terms and how much of it he and the vice president and others were able to hear about. they were there throughout the entire affair until u.s. troops were off the ground. before he left, he said, "god bless our troops." as it relates to those u.s. special operations operations, operators on the ground there, we're learning new details tact way this all played out. as we heard from john kirby moments ago, they had drilled on this, they had been focused on this effort with rehearsals and with planning that dated back months. president biden was shown a tabletop model of that safe house back in december, and ult

my vly it was on tuesday morning of this week in the oval office that he gave the green light, the final go-ahead order to secretary austin, the department of defense secretary at the pentagon, as well as general milley. as it relates to the specific individual, we're learning more details about what happened, he was on the third floor when he blew up his suicide vest, killings hymn, his wife, and two of his children. the u.s. officials including those at the pentagon right now are going to great lengths to demonstrate what they did to try to lessen the potential for casualties among civilians. president biden, chuck, earlier today saying instead of an air strike they chose to do this as an in-person raid. we heard from john kirby moments ago that there was a u.s. military translator or someone who was communicating with a loud speaker to those in the building to come out, to give themselves up, and ultimately that there were ten civilians who were safely evacuated from

that building, among them eight children. on the second floor, that's where the lieutenant to this isis leader had been living along side his wife. we heard from kirby that both of them engaged in a firefight with american special operations forces on the ground there, and at least one of their children is believed to have been killed in that firefight. we heard from secretary austin a short time ago, chuck, acknowledging that it is possible that some innocent civilians were harmed or even killed in this effort. but the details are pretty remarkable about this. at this safe house, we learned from u.s. officials that this isis leader, al qureshi, that he never left the home, that he was basically commanding isis' global operations effectively through couriers. so a lot of new and remarkable details about it, not the least of which is that the u.s. forces there had to blow up their helicopter on the ground not after a hard landing but after a landing and it was determined to be unsafe to take off and

detonated so hardware wouldn't get into any hands on the ground. >> do we think he, for instance, made the call for the attack in afghanistan, for instance, on our soldiers? >> reporter: it's a good question, one supposed to senior administration officials and to john kirby. while they're not drewing a direct line between al qureshi and that awful attack outside abby gate at the kabul airport last sum they're killed 13 american service members, they do say that that was conducted by isis-k, an affiliate of isis and ultimately he was the head of isis as we've heard from some of the top counterterrorism officials in this country. is is has affiliates or offshoots in three dozen countries around the world. there have been concerns about a resurgence of isis in syria, and

this individual, al qureshi, was effectively overseeing what was going on in both isis and syria and had tentacles that stretched around the world. >> let me bring the admiral in here. it feels as if you look at what we've done with isis in the past ten years, we degrade them a little bit more, a little more, a little more. is this how to look at today and we'll probably have another leader and there will be more of this? or will it continue to be whac-a-mole? >> it will continue to be whac-a-mole. in the last 20 years since we embarked in forever wars, these are shadowy organizations. new leaders will emerge. it's quite inevitable. i can't tell you the number of times we've killed the number two or three of al qaeda.

we used to joke in the pentagon that the most dangerous job in the world was a number three guy at al qaeda. we killed that position so many times. but occasionally you get a big one. this is a big one. this is certainly not quite getting bin laden, but i'd put ut in a top five kills we've accomplished. lit rock the organization. but to your point, another leader will emerge. >> courtney, that's what i want to focus on here. now what in northwest syria? on one hand, here's someone who's been operating out of there for quite some time. does this at all create space in northwest syria in a positive way? >> reporter: one thing we need to keep in mind is ever since he came into this leadership position, isis has not had its own territory. they have not had their caliphate. they've been trying to rebuild in that time and haven't been that successful.

there are pockets of times they've shown they're rebuilding and growing. they have not been a successful terror organization under his leadership. the question is, is there someone who comes up behind him who's able to actually rebuild this terror network in syria and potentially across the border in iraq? no matter the answer, this is a significant blow to that organization. it's not only a big symbolic strike to them, but it also does have an operational piece. we heard from john kirby that he was involved still in the operations of isis. he was specifically asked about the abby gate attack in kabul airport, whether he may have been one of the people who was planning or behind it, and he said, look, we don't know about a direct connection, but the reality is he was in charge of isis, he was controlling them and telling them what to do, so there is that correlation. >> courtney, i guess the other question, though, is about what does this mean going forward?

what does the pentagon think comes next with isis? and the other intriguing factor about this guy, apparently he was -- was he a full-on asset to the united states or just somebody that provided a lot of information after we captured him at one time? >> reporter: yeah. so, there's not a whole lot that's known about him. even when you look at there's a rewards for justice page with a $10 million bounty for him that the u.s. government has, but even with that, we don't know a whole lot. we do know he was born in iraq, he was captured, a member of the baathist army under saddam hussein, joined al qaeda, captured and imprisoned in iraq. and somewhere around the 2004 time frame, that was where he met baghdadi. after he somehow got out of that prison, he left al qaeda and joined isis. so, yes, in that time, there are some reports that he provided information to the u.s. military or government in some capacity in a way to make his life a

little bit more pleasant there. we don't know about that, but there have been reports about that in the past. that being said, you would think we would know a little more about it given the fact he was in u.s. custody for some time in iraq. but i think the admiral makes an excellent point here when he talks about how, you know, one of the worst jobs you'll have in a terror network is the number two or three people because those jobs don't tend to last very long. the fact he was taken out, he's the number-one leader of isis, a huge counterterror win for the united states, symbolic, a big win, but someone else will most likely come up after him. >> admiral, that's what i want to get at. sometimes we outline, say isis and its affiliates, and people here, is this some corporate structure or just affinity groups and people that share a set of beliefs and maybe an ambition and they don't necessarily aren't operational together?

help me in understanding the disparate groups of isis and affiliates. >> it's little bit of both, as in there is kind of a hierarchical aspect it to, and yet it's pretty disaggregated. a way to think about it would be the mafia gangs, which we all know from "the godfather," the five families of new york, all of that kind of thing, each of these elements. and here i speak of al shabab, for example, in east africa or boko hara in nigeria, et cetera. there are similar groups in the philippines, in mali. they kind of pledge allegiance to the greater cause. they were very excited to be doing so during the absolute peak of the islamic state, you know, kind of five years ago-ish when the islamic state was rolling in tanks toward baghdad. we all remember that moment. in that period of time, a lot of these affiliate groups pledged

allegiance, they took formal names. theoretically they're part of this idea of a caliphate with individual areas. so they're not direct chain of command kind of entities, but they share information, they work together in the world of cyber and online recruiting, recruiting, proselytizing, conducting operations. they try to take glory from each other. i'll close by saying this is a wonderful moment to kill this leader of isis, but look for a reaction, look for this organization, either it or one of its affiliates to do something in the dramatic in the days ahead. i'm sure all our intelligence are focused on that. >> i want to switch topics to the issue in ukraine and the latest news this intelligence report -- and i guess, peter, i'll start with you -- that once again, and this appears to be

second time now i think in the last few week where is the u.s. is declassifying intelligence saying that they have evidence the russian government has a plan to essentially create a false flag operation in ukraine. what more can you tell us about this? >> well, we heard from john kirby on this. we know as we speak the top administration officials are briefing lawmakers about the circumstances related to the situation on the ground between the united states and ukraine. we know in recent weeks, we've witnessed this, as you look at that satellite image there, the swelling operation or population of russian forces now surrounding ukraine, numbers that reach up to 130,000, as administration officials have been saying in recent days, though not details that specific new reporting today about a false flag operation, it has long been their belief that vladimir putin and those at the top of the russian government would try to create a false flag operation here, which is, in effect, a moment where they make

it appear as though ukraine is doing something aggressive, which requires russia to respond so they can claim that any offense, any assault, attack, invasion they take into ukraine is a reactive effort, not an offensive one right now. the president, the white house has said that the potential for the attack remains imminent, but they've changed their language saying imminent makes it sound like vladimir putin has made a decision. they don't know if he has. but he has the capability to do so in the anytime. >> admiral, "the new york times" wrote this from one angle, it looks like we're really amping up the information warfare against putin, make it clear. we're declassifying things that maybe five jurors ago when you were there they wouldn't have declassified. but they want to make it clear, they're shouting it to the world what putin is up to. is this squeeze effective, do you think? >> we'll know in time whether

it's effective, but in my view it's the right thing do. this idea of shining a light on vladimir putin both personally and the oligarchs around him and the entire russian system of control it tries to exercise in the, if you will, near and abroad, the nations around the prefry like ukraine, armenia, belarus, moldova and so forth. shining a light on that, chuck, helps rally the democracies. it helps put pressure on putin inside russia to some degree when we're illuminating his wealth, his ability to move funds around. and thirdly, it is a warning shot to vladimir putin about the level of knowledge we have. >> peter alexander, courtney kube, admiral, thanks for helping us unpack this. the president is in new york city speaking about crime. he's been mourning the police officers in new york that were

killed. let's dip in and take a listen. >> i want to -- i spent 12 years going to school there, not 12, i started in third grade. at any rate, a catholic school called holy cross across from a police department and a fire hall. everybody i knew growing up became a cop, a firefighter, or a priest. i wouldn't qualify for any of them, so here i am. but i admire the hell out of all of you. i really do. i mean that sincerely. to the many parents, spouses, brothers and sisters, who had to bury a piece of their soul in a deep earth that's tough stuff, hardt as hell. you all know it, to lose a colleague, a son, daughter, husband, wife. and i want to thank -- there aren't many here, but i want to thank all the spouses of every one of you or your significant other because every time you pin that shield on and walk out the

door, they're worried whether they're going to get that phone call, get that phone call. too many have gotten a phone call lately. and every day in this country, 316 people are shot, 106 are killed, and six nypd officers have been victims of gun violence so far just this year. the same in a town north of philadelphia and my smaller town of wilmington, delawaredelaware washington, d.c., 64 children injured by gun violence this year, 26 killed. enough is enough because we know we can do things about this but for the resistance we're getting from some sectors of the government and the congress saying the state legislatures and the organizational structures out there. you know, mayor adams, you and i agree, the answer is not to abandon our streets. that's not the answer. the answer is to come together,

building trust and making us all safer with police in communities. the answer is not to defund the police. it's to give you the tools, the training, the funding to be partners, to be protectors, and community the community needs you. [ applause ] treat everyone with respect and dignity. that's why i called on congress to pass a budget later this year to provide cities like new york and others with an additional $350 million for community policing. you know, where the police interact with the community, get to know the community, build trust in the community. and i have noticed in my experience when i wrote the first crime bill, i noticed that, you know, i don't hear many communities, no matter what their colors or backgrounds, saying, i don't want more protection in my community. i don't know. i haven't found one of those

yet. and so i've asked the congress to provide $200 million to invest in community violence intervention programs as well. they work. they work. community members with credibility work directly with people most likely to commit crimes or be victims of violent crimes. and they work. for example, 2017, the program i'm going to see this afternoon, which sends people in the community to interrupt violence, to mediate conflicts, de-escalate, succeed in preventing a single shooting from occurring in this largest public housing development last year. no shooting for a full year because they engaged directly with the community. you know, i know this is a priority for senator schumer, what you all are doing here. if i hear one more call from him that we need more money for housing and more money for cops, i don't know, i'm going to send him back to y'all. but all kidding aside, this is a

half a billion dollars of proven strategies, and we know we'll reduce crime. congress needs to do its job to pass the budget. every one of these folks here, a couple from congress, are all supportive. but it's time to fund communities, community police, and the people who are going to protect them. look, as i said, we're not about defunding, we're about funding and providing the additional services you need beyond someone with a gun strapped to their hip. we need more social workers and mental health workers, more people who called on a scene with somebody wanting the jump off a roof, not someone standing there with a weapon, someone who knows how to talk to people, talk them down. we can't expect you to do every single solitary thing that needs to be done to keep the community safe. it's time to fund community policing to protect and serve the community i'm also calling

for increased funding for the bureau of alcohol, tobacco & firearms and the u.s. marshals office. i'm confident that we fund these programs, we'll see a reduction in violence. and the next year's budget i'm also going to try to double down on this investment. i think i got a lot of partners here in new york going to help. mayor adams, you say that gun violence is a sea fed by many rivers. well, you know, i put forward a plan to dam up some of those streams. you know, you can count on me to be a partner in this. i have the united states attorney general here with me today, and we've put together a comprehensive strategy to combat gun crime in cities like new york, philadelphia, atlanta, and many other cities, san francisco. first, we want to crack down on the flow of firearms used to commit violence. that includes taking on and shutting down rogue gun dealers.

it's about doing background checks as well as outright selling of making sure that people who are not allowed to have a gun don't get the gun in the first place. again, this doesn't violate anybody's 2nd amendment right. there's no violation of the 2nd amendment right. we talk like there's no amendment that's absolute. when the amendment was passed, it didn't say anybody can own a gun and any kind of gun and any kind of weapon. you couldn't buy a cannon when this amendment was passed. so no reason why it should be able to buy certain assault weapons. but that's another issue. and, look, one of the things that we focused on, the attorney general and i, and we're getting to the point where i think we're going to be able to have a real impact on it, includes going after ghost guns. ghost guns are the guns everyone in this room knows that can be purchased in parts, assembled at home, no serial number, can't be

traced. and there's as deadly as any other weapon out there. but the fact is they are out there. and, you know, this spring, the justice department, this spring the justice department will issue a final rule to regulate these so-called ghost guns. but there's more we can do. across the country, police departments report sharp increases in the number of ghost guns found at crime scenes. that's why today the department is launching an intensified national ghost gun enforcement initiative to deter criminals from using those weapons to cover their tracks. if you commit a crime with a ghost gun, not only are state and local prosecutors going to come after you, but expect federal charges and federal prosecution as well. as cracking down on gun trafficking across state lines. as the mayor said, guns have

been used to kill people in new york city, they aren't made in new york city, aren't sold in new york city. they are sold in other places. today the attorney general directed all u.s. attorneys in the united states to prioritize combatting gun trafficking across state lines and city boundaries. the justice department is sending additional prosecutorial resources to help shut down what's referred to as you all know the iron pipeline that funnels guns to shops in states like georgia and crime scenes in baltimore and philadelphia and new york and so many other places. governor, you worked with the mayor and the nypd and nine other states to create an interstate task force on illegal guns. that's the kind of leadership that's going to solve the problem. you're going to hear more about that progress. folks, the second thing i want to point out is we want to help every major city follow new york's lead, put together partnerships like this one you

put together and meet on a daily basis. every day here in new york city, like this meeting today, federal, state, and local enforcement meet to discuss shootings the day before and work to take those shooters off the street as quickly as possible. just look around. this is what partnership looks like, and this is what you put together. and it's an important partnership. we need more cities adopting the same model. that's why today the attorney general is also directing u.s. attorneys to work with state and local law enforcement to strengthen partnerships like this one and to get repeat gun violence offenders off the street and behind bars. you know, i want more cities and states to use some of the $350 billion we sent to them on the american rescue plan to fight crime to keep our communities safe, by hiring more police officers for community policing and paying police overtime and

purchasing gun-fighting technologies like the technologies that hears, locates gunshots so there can be immediate response, because you know exactly where it came from. the third thing our plan calls for, investing in critical services that reduce crime and violence. community violence intervention programs like the one i'm going to see after this meeting, summer school, after-school programs for teens. as the saying goes, teacher taught me, an idle mind is the devil's workshop. we have to have things for these kids to do, jobs for young adults, more school counselors and nurses, more mental health required in school, and mental health substance abuse treatment as well. fourthly, when someone finishes their time in prison, all our experience tells us you just can't continue to give them 25 bucks and a bus ticket. they'll end up under the same

bridge they arrested him in the first place from. so i don't want them ending up back in prison or being there because they've committed another crime. we need to be able to train for and get a job, find stable housing, reenter society and have a second chance at a better life. my department of labor is funding programs to help formerly incarcerated individuals, including young disabilities, receive the education and training they need and then connect them to quality jobs. i'll keep doing everything in my power to make sure the communities are safer, but congress needs to do its part too -- pass the universal background checks, ban assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, close loopholes that keep them out of if hands of domestic abusers, repeal the liability shield for gun managers. imagine the only industry in america that is exempted from being able to be sued by the

public. only one. imagine had that been the way with cigarette manufacturers. where the heck would we be? we'd be in tough shape. why gun manufacturers? because of the power of their lobbying ability. it's got to end, end. they've got to be held responsible for the things that they do that are irresponsible. and, folks, you know, it another the only industry in america that i said is exempt from being sued. and i find it to be outrageous. and, folks, these laws if we're able to pass will save lives, and more importantly, help protect one another and protect yourself, put law enforcement in a safer circumstance. we have an opportunity to come together and fulfill the first responsibility of government and our democracy to keep each other safe. so i want to thank you all. there's much more to say but i probably already said too much because a lot of people are

going to speak. but let's get this done. let's get this done. and god bless the men and women who put their lives on the line every single day to keep our communities safe. now i'm going to turn it over with your permission to the attorney general, attorney general garland. general? >> thank you, president biden. as the president said, the justice department is doubling down on the fight to protect our communities from violent crime and from the gun violence that often drives it. but we are not doing this work alone. as the president also said, what you see in this room represents the core of our efforts, our partnerships, which are essential to success in disrupting violent crime. yesterday when the president and i spoke with the mayor on the telephone, the mayor talked about the importance of the excellent cooperation he has seen between the city, state, and federal law enforcement agencies who are represented here. at the justice department, we

know that the best anti-violent crime strategies are tailored to the needs of and are developed by and in partnership with individual communities. that is why all of our justice department law enforcement agencies and all 94 of our united states attorneys offices including the two respected by the united states attorneys who are here today are working with their partners in the state and local law enforcement to develop and implement district-specific anti-violent crime policies. we also know that while many of the public safety challenges our cities face require this tailored approach, fun violence is a universal challenge and one that demands comprehensive action. that is why as the president said the justice department is taking action to crack down on ghost guns and to hold those who illegally sell firearms to criminals accountable.

that is why we are strengthening our firearms trafficking strike forces to disrupt the pipeline that floods our community with illegal guns. and that is why we are spare nothing no resource in identifying and holding accountable the repeat offenders who are the major drivers of violent crime. as we work in partnership with state and local law enforcement, we are also working in partnership with the communities most affected by this violence. shortly president biden and i will be meeting with leaders of the community violence intervention program here in new york. in 2021 the department provided over $37 million in grant funding directly to community violence intervention efforts, and we will expand that work in the year ahead. the justice department will use every tool at our disposal to protect our communities.

we will hold perpetrators of violent crime and gun violence accountable. we will work alongside the communities most affected by that violence, and we will work together to build the public trust that is eventual to public safety. before i close i want to note that in times of crisis, both large and small, the american people look to law enforcement to help. every day officers, like those who are with us here, answer the call without hesitation, despite the difficulty and the danger, they show up and they put their lives on the line. that is what detective jason rivera and detective wilbert mora did. there are no words i can offer

that can capture their bravery or the pain that has been inflicted on their loved ones. what i can say is that the department of justice will seek to honor detectives rivera and mora in the work we do to keep our law enforcement officers safe as we work to keep our community safe. i will now turn the program over to mayor adams. >> you have been listening to the president and attorney general in new york city today, and you have heard the remarks on crime. in some ways the president trying to pivot almost the entire democratic party back to a place where they think joe biden has been more comfortable in when it comes to the issue of crime. let me bring mike back in. in his polling we have seen this

is always one of those things, the joe biden that i have covered over 30 years usually has an arm around a cop. here's joe biden today taking on the defund phrasing, saying we're not talking about that, but he's talking about reforming police. how important is this pivot to the white house? >> oh, it's critical, chuck. the president there was speaking to a room that included new york city and state leaders as well as the leadership of the nypd, and some of the rank and file of the nypd, and the real audience for this speak, as you say, is the democratic party, and you covered when he was the obama's administration ambassador to law enforcement, and whenever there was a meeting regarding law enforcement biden was at the table. a lot of the rhetoric we heard over the years, and some of the policies he was discussing, the white house announced last summer, and they are doing this

in new york because mayor adams, the white house feels they have an ally that has a similar example for the democratic party. remember joe biden as chairman of the senate judiciary committee, he referred to the crime build a few minutes ago, and that was used against him by the two dozen democrats that is running against him in the primary, and guess who won the nomination? mayor adams ran in a crowded mayor's race, and the president is trying to send a message to a party, and a lot of governors in tough races this fall are doing the same thing, getting on the funding and not defunding the police side of things and talking about stricter

enforcement and not less. >> it feels as though the election of eric adams gave the white house a permission slip to lean more in again. it's almost they were waiting for, yes, they won the argument but they were a little nervous where progressives were, and when eric adams won, and this is a guy that has approval ratings that are high and he's in a honeymoon period, and yet progressives are still ankle biting on him. >> think about what joe biden's experience is as well. his secret to winning seven statewide elections in delaware, is winning black voters and he wants to make sure it's a formula for victory. adams is a perfect illustration of what biden talked about as he recalled his own experience in

wilmington, african american leaders are those often vocal in wanting more for law enforcement, and progressives have had a voice on social media and the like, and you heard the president twice there distancing himself from the defund movement, and adams so far he's called himself the biden of brooklyn and he said he's my guy. there's a real kinship here that the white house could not wait to put on display, and that's what we are seeing today. >> i am curious. we will see if adams is that kind of icon for the democratic party, and does he become the surrogate in purple states. mike on the ground for us, as always, sir, thank you. that does it for us this hour, and it's a busy day in washington and new york city, and we will be back tomorrow, and msnbc coverage will continue with katy tur after this break. k

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i am katy tur. the leader of isis is dead after a raid carried out by american special forces. he died after detonating a bomb as the u.s. military moved in, killing himself, his wife and his two children, another isis deputy and several civilians. a rescue organization known as the