investigation goes from here. hi, david. >> hi, gillian and sandra. safe bet this investigation is now prolonged for at least the next several months now that david weiss is special counsel. all that talk about whether or not david weiss requested special counsel status from attorney general garland, talk about the plea deal in delaware, throw all of that out the window now that he is special counsel. and saying david weiss asked for the status, the trump-appointed u.s. attorney investigating the president's son for several years will continue. attorney general merrick garland decided to give him special county status after plea deal negotiations fell through. in a new court filing shows during the july 26, 2023, hearing, the defendant pled not guilty. since that time they have engaged in further negotiations but are at impasse. the government believes it will not resolve short of a trial. >> i am committed to making as much of his report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and department policy. today's announcement affords the prosecutors, agents and analysts, working on this matter, the ability to proceed with their work expeditiously and to make decisions guided only by the facts and the law. >> ok, this means weiss will have an expanded staff. expect this to hurt the congressional investigation into hunter biden. originally doj made weiss available for testimony. house republicans never picked a firm date. that appears to be delayed. i have a new statement, though, that i'm just getting from a spokesperson for house judiciary chairman jim jordan who expects doj to honor the pledge, we expect to fully cooperate with the investigation including not interfering with the 11 transcribed interviews we had requested and david weiss upholding his commitment to testify. and we have not heard anything from the department indicating it is no longer willing to do so. sandra and gillian, this presents an interesting as you could call it issue, david weiss was prepared to enter into a plea deal, republicans called it a sweetheart deal, and now it will likely take him to trial and behind bars potentially. gillian, sandra. >> gillian: thank you, david. sandra. >> sandra: thank you, gillian. empower oversight.org, the group representing whistleblower gary shapley joins us now. i want to get this in here, the first tweet i have seen from the potus account, yep, okay. so, they are still just referencing kamala harris. three years since they announced kamala harris as his running mate. awaiting white house reaction. first jump into the breaking news on david weiss named the special counsel under the hunter biden probe and the timing we are zeroing in on. what can you add to this? >> well, according to the attorney general, the u.s. attorney in delaware, mr. weiss, asked for special counsel authority just this tuesday. and was granted it. which is odd, because both mr. weiss and mr. garland have been saying for a long time he didn't need special counsel authority. so it's kinds of an odd choice to pick this person who was leading the office during a time when the irs whistleblowers brought forward all kinds of concerns about the way that the probe was handled and the lack of independence and the special preferential treatment given to the president's son to choose that very same person to go ahead and elevate them to special counsel status when he has been claiming to congress he didn't need it is an odd choice and i don't know what is driving the timing other than perhaps they were not able to come to any kind of renegotiated plea deal with the subject. >> sandra: because obviously that's a big part of what we are learning now. garrett ventry says they waited over two years to appoint a special counsel, conveniently after the statute of limitations passed on some of hunter's crimes. career irs whistleblowers have alleged biden's doj have stifled and slowed down investigations into hunter biden, complete b.s. your reaction to that. >> well, it would have made a lot more sense if they had chose somebody from outside government who would have, you know, the full confidence of the public across the political spectrum that they were going to take a true independent look at this and not allow any political considerations or input from political appointees. mr. weiss, one of the key allegations is mr. weiss allowed political appointees in california and d.c. to weigh in on whether or not charges would be brought at the same time the attorney general was telling the public and telling congress there would be no political role, there would be no role for political appointees and everyone could trust mr. weiss. so given that history it's an odd choice to go forward and do this in a way that's going to have any public confidence. >> sandra: very interesting, public confidence is really important. this was a different moment, and the past hour as the news was breaking. chuck grassley was speaking live at the iowa state fair reacting to the news as it was happening. listen. >> we sent a letter, i was one of those that sent a letter saying we should have a special counsel so the short answer to your question is it's about time. on the other hand, i have some question about weiss doing it. they never did anything with the 1023 do you want that i got released. so you just wonder how thorough weiss is doing it. since this administration has exemplified political bias there is reason to raise questions. you can't do one thing for a democrat and another for a republican because the constitution requires equal justice. >> sandra: jason, that seemed to speak to the point you just made. also your reaction to this, peter doocy, and he was snapped at by the president for asking what president biden called a lousy question for hunter biden and his former business partner, devon archer. listen. >> there's this testimony now where one of your son's former business associates is claiming that you were on speaker phone a lot with them talking business. >> i never talked business with them. i know you would have a lousy question. >> why is that a lousy question? >> because it's not true. >> perfectly fine question and the president answered with that. what did you think when you heard that? >> i imagine just thinking about the testimony of our client, gary shapley, and all the situations during the investigation in which they were not allowed to probe into anything that would go to -- that might go to the president, or joe biden. you know, they were -- they had roadblocks left and right and so, you know, if we -- if we wanted to find out what the truth was, you know, we would not -- we would not put roadblocks in the way of career criminal investigators trying to do their job. >> sandra: when you look at the timing of all of this, and full speed into the presidential election, the first debate is coming up, there's a lot of talk over the implications of political implications for the president and his re-election bid. all of this is coming together pretty quickly here and the doj was asked whether this involves the president, whether he's under investigation, they declined to comment, jason. >> well, i mean, this is where you need an independent counsel who has some actual confidence from the public they can do the job independently, and i don't think given mr. weiss's role in leading the investigation during the time that you know you had whistleblowers come out and say that it was five years' worth of preferential treatment for the president's son, that's not the person that i would have chosen, obviously. because if your goal is to reassure people it's being handled independently and fairly and without political considerations, that's not the person you would choose. i've heard some people saying this is somehow elevating him to special counsel now, even though they previously said he didn't need to be is a way to insulate them from congressional inquiry and i would just, you know, note for people that there is no -- there is no immunity for special counsel from congressional subpoenas. and so folks on capitol hill shouldn't be taking that, and maybe something to say in the p.r. battle but in terms of, you know, legally preventing him from being able to testify before congress, his special counsel status does not do that. it's not a force field against congressional oversight. if i were on capitol hill, i would say august 11th, everything after that fine. we won't look at what's ongoing going forward but all the controversies before that, when he and the attorney general were not on the same page about what authorities he had and the evidence from the whistleblowers and the do you want they have contradicts what authority he had, all of that should be fair game for congressional oversight. >> speaking of reaction and building up to 2024, here is nikki haley, she joined us last hour and said this. listen. >> i don't hear anything about, you know, the hunter biden cases or the trump cases. i do hear a lot about the distrust in federal government, the distrust in our intelligence agencies, distrust in the department of justice and the fact that the federal government's just way too big. >> sandra: she went on to say the american people say it and says something, knows something smells bad about everything that we are seeing and hearing and obviously, jason, you have a very unique perspective through your clients, the whistleblowers themselves. what do you say to the american people who are feeling and thinking that right now? >> i think you are perfectly justified to think and feel that. i mean, based on what we know from the public record, you have a five-year meandering investigation that almost ended in what most people criticized as a sweetheart plea deal, which the judge said, you know, ultimately had this immunity provision in something she didn't have control over so was not willing to sign off on it and the whole thing fell apart. so, the basic facts just don't give you a lot of room to, you know, to trust that everything is handle above board and by the book. >> sandra: and some other reaction we got in the last few minutes here, senator lindsey graham on democrats making a mess of this hunter biden case, he says this. >> this was a political decision, not a legal decision. they're trying to put out a fire and they just poured gasoline on it. nobody in their right mind believes that making him a special counsel, mr. weiss, cleans up the mess that's been created. >> sandra: your final reaction to that, jason. >> well, i mean, absolutely. i agree. i mean, that's why you needed to have -- once the whistleblower's testimony came forward and was released to the public, at that point i don't see any way that mr. weiss could continue to oversee this investigation in a way that would give anybody confidence in the outcome. so you know, but that's what we have. i think it's up to congress now to make sure that there's as much transparency and light of day on the process as possible going forward. >> sandra: surely they want to know what the whistleblowers had to say, the special counsel and this investigation, right? >> absolutely. they have their testimony, and they're willing, they stand ready and willing to provide more testimony and more documents if needed. >> sandra: to be clear, no communication thus far, right? >> i'm sorry, with whom? >> sandra: with the special counsel. >> no, no, gary and the case agent are both off the case. they were taken off the case last may and they have not had insight into what's going on currently and i would be surprised if they were to be brought back at this point. >> sandra: got it. great to have you on. thanks so much. gillian. >> gillian: thank you, sandra. the white house is far not commenting after of the justice department has named special counsel in the investigation into hunter biden. so far referring all questions to the doj today. peter doocy has an inside look at the white house team from the north lawn. hi, peter. >> officials that i've spoken to said we are going to need to get any information about this from either the justice department or from hunter biden's representatives. but i do want to flag something that's a couple years old. i asked president biden, he was then the president-elect about this generally right around the time his transition team announced with the statement that the irs and the u.s. attorney were looking into allegations of tax issues, tax affairs with hunter biden. and i asked president biden, from december 16th of 2020 in wilmington, are you confident your son hunter did nothing wrong. and he said i am confident. worth revisiting because now a special counsel not so sure. we played part of it a little while ago but going on almost four years has told me several times he never talked business with his son or with anybody. and something else that he has been saying since he was a candidate on the debate stage and then as president-elect and then president, i promise my justice department will be totally on its own making judgments about how they should be proceeding. so he is hands off with this, and i did ask in the briefing room a little while ago as there were initial talks on capitol hill about a special counsel for hunter biden. what the president's point of view was on that, and we have the clip. >> a lot of stories about hunter biden surfacing this week. to ensure the independence of the investigation, would the president support the appointment of a special counsel? >> the president has never had a conversation with the department of justice about any investigations into any member of his family. he said that during the campaign and he will continue to abide by that. so i point to the department of justice for additional steps they would take. they would make those decisions independently. >> that holds a year and a half later. we know the president has a lot on his plate today, got back from a west coast trip tonight, fires in hawaii, a deal with iran for hostages, new money for weapons going to ukraine. we don't know how much of his day is being consumed with this right now. we don't expect to see him until he walks out of the house towards marine one for a weekend at the beach. and that's going to be about three hours from now, gillian. >> gillian: certainly not what the white house coms team was hoping to be focusing on today. thank you, peter. >> sandra: thank you. a lot more ahead on the breaking news. shannon bream has been reporting on the justice system for years, she's here with her reaction, including the impact on the race for 2024 and political strategist gary ventry has some insight on the timing of this appointment. you won't want to miss it. veter, credit card debt piling up? 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( ♪ ) age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv >> gillian: fox news alert, back to the top story of the special counsel appointed to the hunter biden investigation. let's bring in shannon bream, host of fox news sunday and chief legal correspondent. what did you make of the attorney general's announcement earlier and what do you make of the news? >> well the timing raises a lot of questions for folks. a number of congressional investigations, we talked about this, you hear the reaction from the members, house oversight chair and judiciary chair, and continued push for impeachment. and a lot of folks think ok, by making weiss the special counsel, technically the regulations to the statutes on special counsel say you can't be from inside the u.s. government. special counsel has to be apointed from outside and garland says today weiss is going to maintain both of these roles. so, it has not been strictly enforced in the past but five years to get to this point, the plea deal falling apart why should he be the special counsel. a lot of people wanted fresh eyes and someone the outside. timing is interesting, people ask that as well. why are we five years into this, pressure, does this now stand in the way somehow of the congressional investigations if, you know, they press him, he was supposed to come to capitol hill, i can't now i'm part of a special investigation now as special counsel. so we'll see if the things get cross wise. >> gillian: i know you can't jump into the attorney general's head and read his thoughts, why do you think he appointed weiss, he must have had a lot of options. what do you think the reasoning is that goes into the decision? >> we can only speculate as you say, but i think there's been a ton of political pressure, we are in the middle of hearings, trials in a couple of months, they say look, we have robert hurd investigating, and we are fair in the way we employ and investigate because there's been a lot of criticism they have not been on things from biden and trump to pro life, pro choice, all things the doj has been fighting the optics of looking like they are not being fair. >> gillian: a moment ago we had andy mccarthy on and he said he was surprised by the suggestion that the special counsel did not originate with the attorney general, meaning when merrick garland went out earlier to make comments he said look, david weiss asked me this week to appoint a special counsel. >> andy made a good point writing about this in the past, statute says it's up to the attorney general to look at the situation and say where i need to appoint a special counsel. so it is interesting the attorney general holds this press conference and says weiss came to me about that. remember, this ongoing conversation. whistleblowers, irs agents saying weiss said to us in a meeting and there were other witnesses he didn't have the ultimate authority to decide this, but the same time weiss has said if i felt i needed to ask for more, they made clear i could ask. andy has pointed out to that statutory language saying it's the a.g. who should make that decision. >> gillian: so if as weiss said all along he had full authority to investigate and to prosecute as he saw fit, what more additional authority and power does this appointment give him? >> if you are in a particular district, he is delaware. we heard the talk from the whistleblowers he had gone to other districts here in d.c. and california and the u.s. attorneys there said we don't want to prosecute that, what the whistleblowers say weiss told them. but as special counsel he would have authority to bring charges as he saw fit. not dependent on local attorneys to help him out in different districts but so much was forced, hand was forced by the whistleblowers who went public and had conflicting testimony from the attorney general and weiss has said, too. >> gillian: ok, thanks, shannon for joining us. as always, great to hear from you. sandra. >> sandra: if you even just heard the conversation we are already having with these guys, and we found a democrat to respond. david carlucci, not just in gest, what does a democrat say about the appointment of the special counsel in the hunter biden probe and the doj has not said if the president is under investigation as well. >> fresh off the press, doj wants an independent case so it was a surprise to the white house as we learned that president biden did not even know about this happening and garland went ahead with the special counsel for weiss to show that independence. and i think that's what we see here. the>> sandra: why now? >> why ever, right? i think this is something that originally republicans did want, they wanted weiss to be the special counsel. now it's actually happening so i think it shows independence, i think it shows the movement away from the white house and this will be not a political witch hunt but an actual trial. >> sandra: garrett? >> i think weiss has shreded his credibility during this process and one thing to point out here, democrats have been talking about it assuming you will see it come out he was a trump appointee, district court judges and u.s. attorneys are hand picked by home state senators, so essentially hand picked by two democratic senators from delaware. >> it didn't have to happen, trump's blessing, obviously. >> that's not how the process works. but picked by home state senators. reason his credibility is one, he was part of the sweetheart deal that tried to give a back door pardon to hunter biden that fell apart, not only on trying to not give him jail time for illegal possession of a firearm, tax fraud and hundreds of thousands of dollars, but future charges to do with probably foreign business dealings. the second heart, you have irs whistleblowers talking to david foster as well, they have alleged this has been stifled by the biden administration. and the last thing i'll say about the timing. two and a half years to do this. hunter biden is the luckiest man. some of the charges are past the statute of limitations, sketchy there and the second part yesterday we learned from house oversight, biden family members and associates got $20 million from russia, ukraine, and that was while biden was vice president handling the portfolio for the obama administration and also learned from comer that biden was the brand that was being sold to the foreign business entities. so continues to get closer to joe biden, knowledge, certainly he lied about his knowledge of the business dealings, his involvement is closer and closer and just interesting that every time bad news drops for the biden white house or biden particularly, something else comes out. >> sandra: i play out karl rove, i promised him i would, nobody is talking about this, listen. >> we are missing one important question that nobody has asked and it seems to me this is a fundamental question. when joe biden was vice president of the united states, did anybody in the obama white house, starting with the president, and his top aides, ever say this is a problem and go and say to joe biden your son is creating a problem for u.s. government policy by being on the board of the corrupt company, along with, remember, devon archer was the long-time friend and associate and political bag man for who? the secretary of state, john kerry. did anybody inside the white house ever think this was a problem and talk to hunter biden or talk to john kerry about devon archer? be an interesting question to ask, don't you think? >> how about that, david. >> i was not a fly on the wall so don't know what happened inside -- >> sandra: we are answering questions. do you, garrett? >> an article came out that joe biden and the obama administration were warned about hunter biden's business dealings. you have joe biden overseeing ukraine, your son is sitting on the board burisma, getting $1 million a year, and advocating to fire a prosecutor essentially going after burisma and more and more information comes out that joe biden -- >> constant effort to try to connect joe biden to the corrupt alleged deal that was happening. >> sandra: are you saying there is no there there? >> there is not. there is years of investigation. no proof that pinged the president doing anything nefarious. and hunter biden has had some demons to struggle with. if it was anyone else we would not be talking about it and would not be in this issue, not facing these type of penalties if it was an average joe. >> joe biden went to dinner with the associates, put on speaker phone, devon archer said he was in business with him, and said i have no knowledge of hunter biden's business dealings and then he's not in business with hunter biden. the story has changed and said no one in the family got money from china. and hunter biden actually testified he got $600,000 from china. so joe has lied and continues to get closer to joe biden, that's the issue here. it does. when you look at all the facts coming out, the bank records, looking at his role as vice president with the portfolio and more and more -- >> sandra: it will be a big question whether or not the special counsel tries to stifle the investigations. >> the last thing, i think that's what comer is worried about. house republicans have had to fight tooth and nail to get the majority and uncover it. two and a half years too late. >> republicans will not be happy unless there is a charge on president biden and be desperate and look and look and try to find something and they should search and see that justice has prevailed anywhere. borderer line of ridiculous, what we want, we want a special counsel, no, we don't. the bottom line is what is it that we want? we want republicans want a crime against joe biden. they don't have it. >> sandra: what we do want is hear white house reaction, we have not gotten anything yet, john kirby was just speaking and did not take a question on this, nobody even asked him about it. obviously national security counsel would not always be a relevant thing. we are monitoring the potus accounts and kjp, the press secretary, a lot of times we catch her briefings during these hours. she has not had time to talk about the special counsel now appointed to the hunter biden case but did tweet this out minutes ago, hip-hop was born out of my home city nyc. happy 50th to hip-hop, says kjp and a tweet 40 minutes ago, about veterans, but nothing, nothing so far from the white house. why is that? >> i think it's a bad day for them. when you are appointing a special counsel three years later from someone who is clearly republicans think has been compromised here, he's part of a sweetheart deal with hunter biden, the irs whistleblowers also allege that he not only investigation was stifled, but that he was essentially burying evidence here. so i think, they are not going to respond to it because it's a bad day for the biden white house. the dealings with russia, ukraine, the failed plea deal, and as house oversight uncovers more money coming from countries, firsthand witnesses, and second and third hand witnesses rolled out. devon archer, business partner said he was there when these things happened. that's very close to joe biden. >> wouldn't be agree the doj is appointing the special counsel to get to the bottom of this without the interference of politic. we can't show there is any interference of politics and i think that's even why garland is being extra cautious in making sure that we have this special counsel without notifying the white house, without them knowing. >> sandra: politically speaking, what is the impact on the president and his re-election bid. a large chunk of democrats are hoping for somebody else. does this build their case? >> i don't think it does. i think it further scrutinizes the president and shows there's no wrongdoing, it shows that joe biden has been doing right by the american people and most importantly, he's actually delivering. the anniversary of the inflation reduction act, we can point to numerous pieces of legislation that have employed more people, help the cost of prescription drugs. >> sandra: policies are so popular he'll be re-elected? >> that's right. >> sandra: here is chuck grassley in his plaid shirt last hour reacting at the iowa state fair. >> we sent a letter, i was one of those who sent a letter saying we should have a special counsel. the short answer to the question is it's about time. the other hand, i have some question about weiss doing it. they never did anything with the 1023 do you want that i got released. so you just wonder how thorough weiss is doing it. since this administration has exemplified so much bias, reasons to raise questions. you cannot do one thing for a democrat and another for a republican because the constitution requires equal justice. >> sandra: a guy you know very well. >> he looks great. so yeah, one response here, the popular policy question, 39% approval rating, 65% of people say the country is wrong direction. >> still leading with the -- >> 43-43 "new york times" poll, but biden is losing steam with african american voters, rust belt -- >> if you make an omelette, you have to break eggs. whenever you pass legislation you are going to insult someone. >> why has it been 60 to 70% the last two years, people say the country is headed the wrong direction. >> any leading political candidate has high negative ratings and trump's are even worse. that's why i'm showing that look, biden is in good shape. once we get beyond the scandal, the controversy, the name calling, we have policy to fall back on and biden has been showing that over and over again and the economic data is boding in our favor. inflation under control. >> sandra: tell that to people paying 17% higher prices than when he took office. >> tough sale. >> it's a global issue. >> what democrats are doing, tell you it's a 98 buick le saber and it's a new sports car. and more people gathering from the 401(k). >> solve all the world problems, no, not yet. >> he created them. >> sandra: debate was promised, debate we got. >> there you go, good time. >> sandra: appreciate the time, gentlemen. and they shake after that. thank you so much, david, garrett. thank you. >> i fought wildfires in california and i was here yesterday when it flared up, i've never seen something ravage so fast. >> gillian: one resident is reacting to the devastation of the wildfires in hawaii as the desperate search for survivors continues this hour in maui, after catastrophic wildfires scorched the hawaiian island, wiping entire neighborhoods off the map. so far, at least 55 people have perished. senior national correspondent is on scene in maui. hi, william. >> well, sandra, the number of victims is expected to grow because the mayor says the victims found so far were only found outside buildings and we know some individuals died inside their homes as well. so they brought in search teams from the mainland, including two cadaver dogs who will go through 1700 structures, the governor said were destroyed. >> people are found in houses in a huddle holding each other because the fire surrounded their homes before they could get out, and beautiful homes old and made of wood. nobody had warning. went up like a match stick. >> some questions are also raised about why officials did not use the tsunami system, the sirens to warn people when the winds started toppling power lines and roofs. we also spoke to two survivors, one who escaped the wall of flames, watching the harbor and the boats inside destroyed from her sailboat, another who jumped in the water with 75 others as flames and smoke raced overhead. after eight hours and a shallow reef they were rescued. >> no route to go north or south or the mountains, the only escape once the thing swooped in was to get in the water. >> we made the decision to save ourselves, and we were worried about the smoke, it was so black and thick, worried about getting killed from the smoke. >> that woman said she saw the town engulfed in the amount of minutes, forcing her and another captain to abandon ship. >> she saw fleetwoods, the restaurant go up in flames and burn and be completely gone in 3 to 5 minutes, and that the library was completely engulfed, the park was on fire and that she was really worried that the fuel dock might potentially explode. >> sandra, they have imposed a price freeze here on maui to prevent gouging. also they moved about 15,000 tourists off the island yesterday to make room for the residents who have been displaced. the governor also wants the airbnb's to pitch in as well. back to you. >> gillian: sandra and gillian here. thank you so much. stay safe out there. appreciate it. if you want to help people affected by the hawaiian wildfires, donate, and text hawaii to 90999, and make a $10 donation that way as well. sandra. >> sandra: really important stuff. thank you so much. vice president kamala harris meanwhile is touting the administration's work on gun safety in a city that has been torn apart by gun violence. about you that's not the only thing she's highlighting. v.p. marking three years since she was tapped as then candidate joe biden's running mate. that moment captured on camera. >> hi, hi, hi, sorry to keep you. >> that's all right. you ready to go to work? >> oh, my god. i am so ready to go to work. >> sandra: it of course have been a rocky ride for the vice president, in national polls, historically low approval ratings, comes to a head in chicago where she is speaking. the city democrats will showcase as the best of the best of policies at the 2024 dnc convention. the reality on the ground is telling a much different story there. brazen attacks and senseless shootings, including this one, a 9-year-old girl was playing outside of her home, a man pulled out a handgun and fatally shot her in the head. all over what appears to be an argument about noise. >> she was sweet, she would just ride her scooter up and down the sidewalk smiling. >> something needs to be done, something has to change to somebody so senseless like that, and cut her life short at 8 years old, does not make sense. >> mike tobin is live in chicago, a city you and i both know very well, we have been reporting on for years, decline of the city due to crime and the brazen attacks in broad daylight on the streets there. >> sandra, 6:30 last night a man on the west side was shot and pulled out of his car and executed. since that happened, five more shot in killed, one killed, one stabbed, and a postage worker was killed on the north side. and the 9-year-old girl shot for making too much noise as she played and was killed. and vice president harris is speaking about gun control. handed a big victory by the illinois supreme court today, following a mass shooting at highland park, killed six and under woulded more than 48, lawmakers approved a ban on guns defined as assault weapons, and also to switches, converts average firearms to fully automatic. 5-2 majority but the decision was 4-3, upholding the ban. pritzker promised to keep driving the issue. >> we need a national ban on these assault weapons and switches and high capacity magazines, and he wants that to happen, too. but it's the congress, republicans in congress that will hold that up. >> pritzker also supported the end of cash bail, meaning defendants termed not to be a flight risk will go free before posting a bond. and it's not over for the assault weapons ban. a federal case in the 7th circuit challenging the law and they are now waiting on an opinion. sandra. >> sandra: mike tobin reporting on the ground in chicago for us. a sad reality for so many that actually remain in the city. chicago alderman raymond lopez knows many have fled the city, including big companies, could not keep their employees safe or recruit top talent because of the rising crime rates. this is new sound of the vice president on the ground in chicago, a bit of what we heard out of the gate. >> how you are thinking about this issue right now in this moment. >> vote.gov. [laughter] >> sandra: alderman, a bit of a puzzling moment of laughter as we have seen with the vice president, she takes a question and laughs. apparently she was being asked about gun violence in the city of chicago and that was the response. but why are they highlighting a city that's having such clear problems? >> well, sandra, let me just say this is not a laughing matter and i don't find it funny one bit. having had to comfort families who have been torn apart by gun violence, gang violence, they never want to say out loud and the drug fueled violence. she's touting democrat success in the state of illinois, city of chicago. crime is out of control, immigration is now at our feet because of the border crisis which she has ignored for the past two years since she was named the border czar, and we are trying to address this in a way that makes sense for our future. >> sandra: i look at the headlines all the time, you know i'm from that city and every weekend, especially in the summer months, we come out of these weekends and it's one deadly weekend after another. yet here is the current governor of illinois praising the vice president for her travel to chicago today earlier. listen. >> we are very pleased that the vice president is coming to represent the administration and to, you know, let the country know here in chicago that this administration is gonna help to keep people safe across country. >> sandra: help people stay safe across the country. again, no better example of people not feeling safe than chicago right now. you've seen major corporations who have picked up and left. we have had residents on the air for years saying they did not feel safe enough in the city that they have now left. what exactly is the disconnect? what is this alternate reality they are talking about and touting that's happening there? >> you know, as you say, businesses from mcdonald's to the small mom and pop close up because they cannot make it in the city because violence is out of control. ups workers attacked, killed because violence is out of control. federal employees are not safe, let alone private sector employees. and so disconnected. often times they are not paying attention to what's going on on the streets, they don't have to walk the streets the way someone like i have to, living in a ward that is so impacted by the violence, living with gang members down the street who are throwing up gang signs as you are going to work. it's something i see every day and because they don't see it they are living in a very academic world and they think it's some sort of exercise that can be changed with rainbows and hugs and it's not going to happen that way. >> sandra: and the irony, kamala harris, almost 900 days ago, whatever it is, we were keeping track a couple days ago, appointed the border czar and we are looking at a border crisis deeply affecting the city of chicago, it's not a border community issue any longer, it's everywhere. this is woodlawn, just outside chicago, a neighborhood there, a community meeting where they are sounding off over the migrant situation that they are dealing with. listen. >> the city of chicago is taking on this burden, they disrespect us, they rob us, they harass us. >> we are afraid to come out of our apartments at night. >> where are the 2 million for the people who have been here? ten years, 20 years, 30, 40 years. >> they are out of hand, they are trying to run everything. whatever y'all are doing it ain't working. >> sandra: you feel for the people who are dealing with this with the migrants put in chicago, it's all over, highridge ymca, putting them in police stations, college campuses, elementary schools, using to house the influx of schools they are handling there. this as kamala harris, by the way, exact count, 870 days it has been since appointed the border czar. what about this was a good idea, alderman? >> you know, i would love and extended an invitation to the vice president on twitter to come and join me at any one of the shelters housing the migrant asylum seekers in the city of chicago. spent $163 million in the first six months alone because the federal government has failed, not only chicago but the entire united states in addressing this issue. no answer from the vice president. we have 1,000 people living in police stations, 5,000 people living in temporary shelters across the city, including woodlawn, i was at that meeting, the individuals are not only taking over vacant spaces but taking over public spaces, taking over blocks, loud music, selling drugs, engaging in prostitution, recruited by gang members, and no solution, simply unsustainable and unfortunate for communities that did not ask for this. >> sandra: a lot of money, $100 million only to have the problem worse. i know you have solutions, we'll talk again soon. thank you. >> gillian: thank you, sandra. 2024 candidates now are taking the iowa state fair by storm. we are going to take you there next. ( ♪ ) can't stop adding stuff to your cart? get the bank of america customized cash rewards card, choose the online shopping category and earn 3% cash back. let me be direct... you're watching football wrong! what do you call a guy in face paint that can't get the game? ...a clown! sorry, what app was it again? no, no. just give me a second... amateurs. ohhh! sorry everybody. directv sports central gives you access to every game... ...so you never have to compromise on gameday. ...was that necessary? i was just illustrating a point. oh. get in the redzone with sports pack. call 1-800-directv >> this just in, ukraine's president has now fired all of his regional military recruitment chiefs, it's a move his office says it is meant to crackdown on corruption, it comes as his armies in dire need of replacement troops. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot joins us. >> dramatic move from president zelenskyy hours ago to try to deal with this still present corruption, announcement to replace the recruitment heads -- bribes and payoffs are being made to get some out of the military service. this is a russian missile was shot out of the sky over kyiv, 8-year-old boy killed and reminder the war continues and takes its toll, people cope -- take a look. >> 18 months in, war is taking its toll on ukraine. industrial use of landmines, shelling of missiles killing many and more. 50,000 ukrainians have lost limbs, set to be close to world war i levels. >> this is bad for our people, it's big trouble. >> among those injured, a russian mind left him badly hurt. >> i lost my leg under the need. friends carried me out. >> luckily there are organizations in ukraine like without limits and centers across the country they can construct artificial limbs and fit them on folks. he was injured in a russian air attack, now he says he's got nearly 95% of his life back. >> thanks to this, i am back to normal. >> hard rehabilitation work done at the center and others and not everyone gets treatment like 30-year-old kevin but there is determination. >> this is our reality today. ukrainians adapt and we will do it. >> all great people, my favorite that young man who said despite the sacrifice he has made he feels 95% back. >> jillian: wow. as always greg palkot in key for us. >> i would love to hear from anyone of them go my primary interest right now among other things is the national debt we are in. >> republican or democrat, not choosing that way, it's more the person. >> sandra: there were some folks of the iowa state fair weighing in on big issues as republican hopefuls dissent on what experts see a make or break event. it has become a traditional stomping ground for presidential contenders. alexis mcadams is there at the state fair in des moines. white the assignment you have i'm tempted by the rides, looks fun. what are iowa voters telling you? >> i am a midwest girl just like you and i feel at home and so o some of the candidates. the voters i talked to say this isn't washington, d.c., this is the heart of the midwest, they want to see how they talk one-on-one and also how they flip some pork chops out here and how they connect with everyone. >> i've always been told politicians tell you what you want to hear. is nothing new. they will probably tell you what you want to hear. >> i like that we get that exposure. >> i like getting to know the candidates, it's a great opportunity. >> locals say this is the heartbeat of the midwest here, the nation's g.o.p. -- it's a caucus state. the candidates work hard for each and every vote. voters are listening to candidates who talked with iowa governor kim reynolds on what they would do for americans. >> i'm running because i know in this executive branch with a right to leadership we can make a difference and we can make a difference quickly in literally every american life. >> i'm running for president because i think this country is in a lot of trouble. >> part of my reason for running for president as a fundamental belief that our future, our children's future is not guaranteed. >> tomorrow, governor desantis will sit down with governor kim reynolds to talk about his policy and try to convince voters to be on his side here as he runs for president. one person who won't sit down with the governor's former president donald trump. you talked to yesterday, i would love to talk to them if he changes his mind, his team says he would rather be one-on-one with the voters here and not have his message be filtered through the governor. >> quite a message he sent back there. enjoy, thank you very much for the coverage, looks like a beautiful day. >> suspected cartel members caught on a drone video, they smuggle the whole group of migrants across the border into texas while armed with machetes and guns. bill melugin joins us from la joya, texas. >> good afternoon. down here it is the cartel who calls the shots, they're the ones who decide who does or does not cross into the united states in these images are a reflection of that let's get right into that. drone images courtesy of texas dps show suspected cartel members armed with machetes threatening and extorting migrants on the mexican side of the river telling them they better pay up or they aren't going to cross. you see one of them using a machete to smack one of the migrants and he dumps out his backpack and goes through it, you see large groups of migrants going running in all directions as the guys with machetes show up and tell them you better pay us or you're not crossing this river. some of the migrants who did cross ended up telling dps these guys are threatening us, we paid them, they let us cross. one final thing we want to show you, take a look at this in the rio grande valley, border patrol stopping an immigrant trying to smuggle spider monkeys in his backpack committees are endangered animals, he came across with these live monkeys in his backpack, border patrol telling us this sometimes happens because they want to sell them here in the united states and is not always just human smuggling down here we will send it back to you. >> thank you. spider monkeys, wow. great to have you these couple days. >> thank you for having me. >> set your dvr, never miss us, thanks for joining us -- i'm sandra smith. the story with martha maccallum starts right now. >> martha: you never know what he's going to find down there. i martha maccallum, there is lots to talk about this afternoon. hunter biden's case now has a special counsel, but this is a tricky one. this is not an outside player, in fact it's the same person who the two whistle-blowers testified wouldn't take action on what they saw and based on their experience going through all of his files as clear felonies. render the sar