press briefing in weeks. and there is a lot of news to cover. the fema administrator is going to join karine jean-pierre at the podium with an update on the government's response to the devastating wildfires in maui. >> gillian: also reporters' first shot really to press the white house since attorney general merrick garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the president's son. we'll take you to the briefing as soon as it begins. first the campaign trail in iowa. >> way up in the polls and all over the country, that's a lot, over 50 points. >> i think i'm the most likely to beat biden and get this stuff done and the ability to serve two terms and will not be a lame duck president on day one. >> leaders don't just give you the list of grievances that are the problem. they actually lead. >> it's going great. i think i've been here more than any other candidate and part of the reason is i actually enjoy it. >> john: a little taste of republicans on the campaign trail five months now until the caucus is in iowa. "america reports" starts hour number two. john roberts, good to be back with you again. >> gillian: nice to see the candidates enjoying themselves. >> john: the vivek ramaswamy rap was interesting. and like the casual dress, too. >> gillian: the current front-runner donald trump is awaiting a fourth indictment out of georgia. also he flew over the crowd in his jet, at one point we heard dueling chants between desantis and trump crowd. >> the former president holds a commanding lead in the hawk eye state, about 27 points, as they look for a breakthrough moment heading into the first debate next week on fox. alexis mcadams is going one-on-one with the candidates and joins us live from iowa where she's on her third corn dog. you caught up with trump. what did he tell you? >> hi, john. i've been running around so much, i could have a few more corn dogs, no one would notice. i have asked him if he's going to come to the fox news debate, could not get an answer yet, that's to be continued and talked with governor ron desantis on the ground for hours, trump was only here a short time, the trump show was on full display. we asked ron desantis about his likeability, and there was a plane flying around that said be likeable, ron. listen. >> do you think you are a likeable candidate? >> i think that's a narrative, but you know, when you have trump doing that, he's got so many people that would never vote for him and i've seen that in florida. we were able to win the biggest republican landslide in governor history in the state. >> other presidential hopefuls like vivek ramaswamy, nikki haley, robert f. kennedy, jr., and mike pence, spent the weekend walking around in the heat and humidity trying to connect with voters, losing their suits and ties and trying to be relateable and make or break moments as they prepare for the fox news debate. kennedy tells us he wants biden on the debate stage. >> i want to debate joe biden. i think that's -- that's the contest that americans really need. and that's the contest that americans have a right to see. >> thousands of people were here at the fairgrounds, trump surrounded by the big crowds in the short visit and desantis was talking with voters one on one, he tells me he plans to hit all 99 iowa counties. trump tells me he feels right at home in the hawk eye state. listen. >> how is it going in iowa? >> we love iowa. >> you are pretty popular in iowa? >> i guess so, the biggest crowd they have ever had, i love them and they love me. that's a good combination. >> so tomorrow, asa hutchinson and also tim scott will be here. we are going to try and catch up with him and talk about how he plans to be relateable to voters in iowa. >> john: desantis hitting 99 counties, refer to as a full grassley, we'll watch to see how that goes. alexis, time for another corn dog, you are getting low. >> that's right, got to go. >> john: see you, thanks, good work. >> gillian: duke it out in iowa, lots of americans are feeling inflation pinch. touting the president's legislative wins. celebrating the one-year anniversary of the inflation reduction act. let's bring in box business correspondent ed lawrence at the white house with all the details. ed, what is the president's messaging this week? >> so really, gillian, he's trying to message his way out of of the economic stresses that almost all americans feel every day. he wants to make bidenomics a household word but a good feeling when they hear about it. what they see is food prices are up about 20% since january of 2021, when the president took office. overall inflation is up 16% in that time. this means people are making about 3% less in their paychecks, everything else is so expensive. moody analytics said americans are spending $709 per month more than two years ago and now we have gas prices on the rise. >> in fact, if you not only look at food prices, but you look at fuel prices, the average fuel price today, 3.84 a gallon across the united states. almost a dollar and $0.40 greater than when joe biden came into office. bidenomics is doing nothing to help the average american family deal with these increasing prices, in fact i argue it is added to inflation. >> following the west coast swing by the president, the white house sending representatives out this week, all with the message that bidenomics will eventually work at some point in the future. the president will be in wisconsin tomorrow. you see the vice president there in seattle. treasury secretary yellen in las vegas today will talk about eventually moving clean energy supply chains to the united states, but with no timetable she's referencing actually china either sourcing or making pretty much everything related to clean energy, but as you remember, the jobs numbers, manufacturing lost 2,000 jobs last month, and in fact, the labor secretary tells me that's only because the plans are just ramping up now and at some point in the future it will be better. back to you. >> gillian: the future always looks brighter from farther away. ed at 1600 pennsylvania avenue this hour, thank you. >> john: jump to the white house, karine jean-pierre has just begun the briefing. we are expecting now the fema administrator and here she is, to give us an update on the situation, the terrible situation in maui. listen in. >> does this sound any better? all right. thank you very much, and good morning, everybody. as you just heard, i did arrive here on the ground very early saturday morning at the direction of the president. and gave me the opportunity to spend two full days, one full day with governor green and the second full day with my staff as well as members of the governor's staff to get a true understanding what the impact is here on the ground. i met with some federal officials that have been deployed and also had an opportunity to talk to survivors and hear from them really some harrowing stories of survival as they evacuated from the area and sought shelter. while we are here and as we continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground we are continuing to prioritize the safety and the well-being of the hawaii residents in coordination with state officials and federal partners. as residents continue to mourn the loss of their friends, loved ones, neighbors, loss of their homes and their way of life, we know and let them know we are mourning with them. nothing can prepare you for what i saw during my time here and prepare them for the emotional toll this has taken on them. and i've been in communication with the president, giving him updates and his team updates letting him know what the federal family is doing to support everything that governor green has asked for. part of that at the request of the state of hawaii, fema has activated our transitional sheltering assistance program, now available for eligible residents who were displaced from their home. fema's hotel program. and this will allow them to move from shelters into preidentified hotels and motels temporarily as they develop long-term housing strategies. this is in coordination with the governor as he has stood up a program to provide airbnb rooms or other hotel rooms to support residents and working in close coordination to make sure everyone finds a temporary solution as they begin to develop their plans for rebuilding. and getting funds into people's hands so help with some of their critical urgent needs. this is called critical needs assistance, provides $700 to provide food, water, first aid, medical supplies, other critical needs they need right now. this is in addition to what they will also be able to be eligible for and cash assistance for the loss of their homes, or the loss of their personal property. so i encourage anybody who has not registered for fema assistance yet to go to disaster assistance.gov or contact fema to get into the system and start the process. we also have over 300 personnel on the grounds. many of those can help you also register as we understand that connectivity is still scarce in thresponse and recovery efforts, i just want to note, in hawaii are going to be a whole of government approach. we rely on the experts of dozens of our partner agencies to make sure that we have all of the right resources to support the recovery needs for this area and to make sure that we are successful in providing relief to survivors. we also wante we are getting all the appropriate information out to survivors so working with the state and local partners to ensure the outreach and messaging is also culturally responsive and we can get messages out to people so they know what is available to them. we have been on the ground since day one. we have an office here on oahu staffed with personnel and members that work side-by-side with the state of hawaii each and every day so we were able to quickly integrate with the governor's team as the fires started to arise. our regional administrator was also on the ground already for a preexisting meeting so he was able to connect with the governor as the fires were starting to make sure we were moving the right resources and our federal partners, the coast guard and the department of defense, were providing lifesaving rescues as this fire was evolving. the coming days and the weeks, they are going to be tough. they are going to be difficult as people process what they have lost and what the road ahead looks like. but we are going to be with the people of hawaii as i committed to the governor every step of the way. we are already seeing a tremendous amount of efforts and resiliency across the community as they are coming together to support each other as they work through what this is going to look like in the future. and together with our volunteer agencies and our federal partners we will be in hawaii every step of the way to help residents take control of their recovery and help them rebuild in a way that is going to make them more resilient. and with that, i'll turn it over to you for any questions. >> john: so there is the fema administrator with an update on what's happening on the island of maui and hawaii, such a beautiful, beautiful place where the historic city of lahaina, the town of lahaina, was hawaii's original capital was burned to the ground in the wildfires. a lot of questions remaining why there was not more warning about what was unfolding, why there were no sirens to alert the people in the village and why some of the fire hydrants apparently did not have any water in them as firefighters hooked up to try to battle the flames. we will bring you news that comes out of the briefing. back to politics and going on in the state of iowa so many of the republican candidates crisscrossing the state to try to get noticed in advance of the caucuses there, tammy bruce, fox news contributor and patrick murphy, former pennsylvania democratic congressman. tim scott and asa hutchinson tomorrow, over the weekend it was ron desantis and president trump, a former president trump seemed to be trolling desantis about every opportunity he had. desantis was there, trump dropped in for a very brief visit. keeping in tow with him some florida lawmakers who have thrown support behind him and desantis was doing a fair side chat with kim reynolds, there was an airplane flying overhead with a banner behind it saying be likeable, ron. i mean -- tammy, this is turning into a cat fight. >> well, no, it's turning into an interesting and perhaps fun political season. this is what the campaigns are for is that you find out about people's sense of humor, react under stress, what they do when the media attacks them. this is classic trump. it's what makes people smile. now ron desantis's response, this is what's new, it's very different when you are surrounded by supporters and everyone is telling you you are great and have done a great job in the state. moving out to a nationwide political campaign is very different. less protection if not any protection, the media will come after you and people were educated during the 2016 campaign. when we think about likeability and empathy, in an earlier report there was discussion about how you plan to be more likeable or more approachable. you can't plan those things. either you are or you're not. americans, iowan especially are use to this. and they can tell, and around the country trump is still leading. ron desantis, we still have the debate coming up, which will be very important for every candidate. but if things could change, but at this point i think ron desantis is realizing that maybe this is a little different than what he expected. >> john: on the point of polls, tammy, i want to pull up the rcp average for the state of iowa, donald trump 44%, that's 27 points ahead of ron desantis at 17, tim scott, ramaswamy, haley behind him. desantis is planning on pulling a full grassley and full santorum, 99 county, did work out well for santorum in 2012, eeked out a victory or mitt romney, could he propel himself or close to trump in the caucuses? >> his open, he has to have a ground game, get the grassroots support. the problem, john, the cake is baked. i look at the other poll from new hampshire just last week, 57% of republican primary voters in new hampshire would vote for a former president, donald trump, even if he was in jail. so there is this toxic trans that desantis and other candidates are hard to break, we don't know as you mentioned the debate ten days away, see if former president trump even debates. he's up 27 points in iowa. new hampshire, 57% will still vote for him even if he's in jail, the cake is baked. >> john: certainly it would be good for the democratic process if the former president showed up on the 23rd. what about joe biden? there was a moment yesterday he had spent all day or part of the day on the beach at rehobeth and he was asked as he was leaving about the situation on maui, which we know is so tragic. watch his response here. >> mr. president, any comments on the rising death toll in maui? >> will you come talk about the hawaii response, mr. president? >> john: he says there no comment. you would think he would say yes, it's a tragic situation, mobilizing the federal government to respond. weird. >> it's a shocking, you know, exposition of his disconnect and frankly lack of empathy. some people say he doesn't know what's going on. he knows what's going on. easier to dismiss the information he might have. but regardless, you know, you know something has happened in maui, you know people have died. it is the easiest thing in the world from a 5-year-old on up to anybody in this country can express concern and that you hope, you know, that people are going to be, you know, helped, and that this is awful and yes, the government is there for them. it is a remarkable thing to see, especially since joe biden in sold was part to the american people in 2020 as the empathetic candidate, as the man who can understand you, who feels for you. big stories on joe biden's empathy. well, i think it's empathy for himself. we are finding it's not really there for anyone else. but this is the kind of reveal that there's no excuse for, there's no answer for it, and it explains also why so much in the federal government like food inflation is ignored by this government. it's not just joe biden. it's a government that only sees itself and the american people have become kind of this weird irritant. >> john: patrick, what do you think about all of that? you would think the most catastrophic in terms of loss of human life, wildfire, in decades, if not centuries in this country, and his response is no comment? >> yeah, john, i mean, i think all three of us agree that our hearts, our prayers, are going to the people in maui and hawaii. our fellow americans are hurting and i wasn't there, you weren't there, tammy wasn't there, maybe he didn't hear. we saw the video, the short clip. but you know joe biden. he is empathetic. he talked about the soul of the nation. he has been there and focused like a bulldog on a bone, not just about taking care of the folks in maui but also making sure the economy is back on the right track. when you look at unemployment from 9% down to 3.5%, the lowest in five decades, stock market up 15% from 31,000, to 35,000. and inflation as tammy mentioned. was it 9%, now down to 3%, we have more work to do. but come on. >> food inflation. >> bulldog on a bone, like a bulldog on a bone when it comes to coming back. >> food inflation. eggs are 70% higher than in 2021, scereal, bread, 25% highe. rent. >> john: inflation is costing u.s. households average of $709 more compared to two years ago. 60% of americans as of june say they are living paycheck to paycheck. so -- a lot to chew over. real quick. >> yeah, but the president or me or -- no one is spiking the football saying our work is done. there is a lot of work to do. there are people across america that are hurting. we need to make sure we go back on the right track. >> john: the white house and president tell us how fabulous bidenomics are. there are some people in the country who disagree. thank you for being with us. appreciate it. >> gillian: the fema administrator still briefing about the wildfires in hawaii. now the deadliest in modern american history, at least the last 100 years. more than 90 people were killed in maui alone and more than 1,000 are still missing. both numbers expected to rise. william joins us from maui. how close are first responders there now to getting through rubble, identifying victims, what can you tell us? >> well, they brought in 12 additional cadaver dogs this weekend to try to speed up the process, gillian. given our experience with other intense wildfires, it's possible they will never fully identify those who are today unaccountable. but several fires on maui last week, including this one in upcountry, destroyed about a dozen homes, of course the focus remains down on the beach in lahaina. a crisis is developing about housing. you have basically 5,000 individuals who have left homeless, right. nowhere to go, and here is what they had to say. >> right over there, i'm born and raised here, and i was planning on raising my 3-year-old daughter there. >> lahaina was a nice, small historical place, and it's gone. >> so they have secured about 500 hotel rooms and they are working with landlords to turn some vacation rentals into long-term housing for those victims. another challenge, as of this weekend, cadaver dogs had only worked about 3% of the disaster zone. police are asking for dna swabs. many of those unaccounted for, they need the dna swab for comparison from relatives. >> the remains we are finding is through a fire that melted metal. we have to do rapid dna. >> so there are local distribution centers, right, that they are now filling up with food and clothing. they brought it in by boats and caravans into the hard hit areas. and second guessing, why did the utilities not turn off power when the high winds hit and maui, why did they not activate the start of the art siren system. >> we were never told to evacuate. we had to make the choice on our own. >> so one of the things that is -- they are talking about now, of course, there is a lawsuit. the fact that the company that won $13 billion settlement from pacific gas and electric in northern california, one of the law firms has filed a class action suit here in hawaii against the utilities for this destruction. back to you guys. >> gillian: william reporting from maui, thanks so much. as william just reported, the wildfires wiped out the historic city of lahaina over the weekend. jeff lost his two homes on the island there. he joins us now. jeff, thank you so much for taking time for us amid tragedy and catastrophe. i'm so sorry to hear about your property, the loss of your homes. what can you tell us about what you've been going through the last few days? >> it's been a strange few days, needless to say. i've been trying t get over to the west side, authorities locked the main road in, they are allowing residents that have proper i.d. to come through the back way, and access areas around lahaina. nobody is allowed into the main city because of the toxicity issues and the coroner doing their job with the cadaver-sniffing dogs trying to find people. >> jeff, for our viewers at home, i want everyone to know on the left side of your screen is a before picture of one of jeff's homes. on the right, showing video of the property and the surrounding area in the aftermath of the wildfire sweeping through. it looks like a nightmare, jeff. what are you hearing from -- have you managed to speak to any friends or family members who are also in the neighborhood? what do they say? >> they are all trying to come to grips to what has happened. everybody is in shock. this thing happened so quickly and in a few hours went from a lovely house in lahaina, to absolute devastation. loss of life, i saw people before i evacuated i know they didn't get out in time. a fairly substantial homeless population, they were wondering around and embers and smoke and i'm fairly certain they were not able to evacuate. so sadly i fear the death toll will rise dramatically. >> gillian: have you encountered fema or other first responders while you have been in town now? >> just some encounters with the maui police department, national guard sealing off areas to access lahaina. fema is on the ground. i have not had any interactions with them, but there is support everywhere, food, clothing, shelter, water, a huge response going on right now. >> gillian: and what about the destruction immediately, you know, to sort of -- your neighbors. what's happening with their properties? does it strike you that the fires decimated everything? did some of your neighbors have property that survived? what does it look like? >> in my neighborhood, which is off of front street to the highway south of shaw street, divides the commercial to the residential area, my neighbor's house, historical plantation house on front street survived, nobody can explain it, probably the only house in my neighborhood standing. otherwise everybody has lost everything. >> gillian: i understand one of your tenants in one of your homes lost their pets? >> yes, they had left in the morning to go into town through heavy winds, no one was to know what was to happen, of course, and they locked their dogs in the house because of the debris that was being blown about. when they turned around to come back, the fire was in progress. they had sealed off the road to come back. they were not able to call anybody in lahaina, cell communication was down, so sadly they lost their two labradors. >> gillian: i'm so sorry to hear that, jeff. i guess blessedly they are ok, you are ok, we are happy to see. how do you feel looking ahead, how do you feel about all of this? what do you think you are going to do? >> it's hard to say. it's just too soon to know what's going to happen. obviously things will ultimately be rebuilt, the old charm of lahaina will never come back, it will be different. but i imagine it's going to be a huge rebuilding effort that will take time. i'm not exactly sure what i'm going to do personally. i consider myself lucky. i lost two homes, but so many people lost so much more, including a lot of lives. so i just don't know yet. >> gillian: jeff, extraordinarily difficult times and things to talk about. thank you so much for sharing everything you have with us. it's very eye opening, very helpful to all of us, with we appreciate it and stay in touch. >> you are welcome. thank you. >> gillian: thank you, jeff. if you want to help victims of the hawaii wildfires, redcross.org. >> john: back to the white house, karine jean-pierre is fielding questions, this about hunter biden. >> political interference from the white house and we want to make sure we continue that since the white house has not been involved, just to be clear again, certainly i would refer you to any questions about this specifically to department of justice and certainly to hunter biden's personal representatives. i will say this, and you've heard this from the president, is that he loves his son, and he is proud of him overcoming his addiction and how he's continuing to build his life but i don't have anything else to add to that. >> i wanted to follow up on his statement on the negotiations with the -- involving the uaw he issued earlier today. can you discuss more why the president felt compelled to issue that statement now, we have a month out. is he concerned about the pace of the negotiations and the prospect of a strike are increasing? >> so look, the president -- the white house has regularly -- fairly regularly urged employers and unions to continue negotiating in good faith, to reach an agreement that benefits both sides and what certainly the president is doing with the statement. he feels strongly that the transition to a clean energy economy should provide a win-win opportunity for auto companies and also union workers. that is what is stated certainly in the statement that you saw from the president because he's truly believed that. and again, it is fairly regular that we do this, regularly that we do this and so as we have said many times, the president believes in collective bargaining and what we want to see here. >> thanks, karine. given what the administrator said about the perils of the president travelling to hawaii now, does he want to travel there eventually and survey the damage and meet survivors. >> we are going to have conversations with the administrator, certainly the governor in hawaii on what the opportunities might be, what that may look like for a trip. but right now we don't have anything to share. >> any point for him to speak publicly about the death toll? >> you'll hear from the president, you've heard from him already on thursday, certainly you'll hear from him, you know, continuously this week as he is travelling tomorrow. i don't have anything to share on that. but look, this is something that the president clearly is deeply concerned about. that is why you heard we had the administrator zoom in, right, clearly from where she is in hawaii to talk directly to all of you to take your questions. you heard from her, there is more than 300 personnel, fema personnel on the ground. there are more than a dozen federal agencies who are taking actions and that is including the coast guard, u.s. navy, you heard me say that at the top, the department of defense and fema has staged more than 50,000 meals, 75,000 liters of water and thousands of cots and blankets and we are going to be available to them, continue to do a whole of government response in hawaii and maui specifically to make sure they have everything that they need. and look, you are going to continue certainly to hear from us on this issue. >> quickly follow up, what's the level of concern in the white house about a potential work stoppage at u.s. auto plants given the tense nature of the negotiation? >> the president believes in collective bargaining, continues to encourage, what the statement basically lays out and we saw how that worked well, right, with the teamsters and ups, they were able to come to the table and come to a mutual beneficial agreement on both sides. we saw that with the west coast ports, seen it many times play out, that's what the president wants to see and he supports and we are going to have to be hopeful and be positive that they will come to an agreement. >> the president told donors that china is a ticking time bomb and the growth rate is about 2%. china estimates their growth is higher than that. where did the president come up with that number? >> the president speaks very candidly and will do so about the prc and legitimate disagreements. it should come as no surprise he will have tough things to say about each other, right, and we certainly are not alone in that, in those comments, so the president believes diplomacy, including the recent high level engagements undertaken by u.s. officials over the past few months is the responsible way to manage our competition. diplomacy is the way he believes is the best way to lead forward, especially as we are talking about our foreign policy, national security and that's what the president will continue to do, he has never shied away on sharing his comments candidly. >> secondly, a top israeli official is visiting washington this week. what's the status of the talks between israel, saudi and the united states, aimed at a normalization deal? >> part of a broad spectrum -- talk about a broad spectrum of issues, part of a regular routine engagement. as we said with our israeli partners we agree to continue to work together on several issues and stay in regular contact this is certainly part of the agreement both sides have come to agree on. >> following up on the special counsel, you said the president was not in business with his son but now that the investigation is in the hands of a special counsel, has some more sweeping authority, can you say with certainty david weiss is not going to unearth connections between the president and his son business dealings. >> i said the president was not in business with his son and don't have anything else to add. i've been clear about that, the president has been clear about that. anything else specific to this case i would have to refer you to department of justice. >> can you say -- it seems you thought this was behind you a couple weeks ago, now a possible criminal indictment in the middle of a presidential election. >> what i can say about both questions you asked me. if you think about what republicans in congress have done for years, making claims and allegations, right, about president on this front, over and over again, and month after month, year after year, they have been -- they have been investigating every single angle of this. and looking at -- and looking for any evidence to back their allegations. that's what they have done for years, for months and we have seen it over the past several weeks and what's been the result of that, if you ask yourself what we have seen from that, they keep turning up documents and witnesses showing that the president wasn't involved, never discussed these business dealings, and did not wrong, there has been 0 evidence showing otherwise and so that's what we have seen over the past several months, what we have seen over the past several years, so i'll leave it at that. >> thank you, karine. there's been plenty of criticism over weiss's appointment as special counsel from the folks who criticize the deal, plea deal he pushed through later rejected but now the attorney for hunter biden also suggested that if special counsel weiss brings any more charges than have already been brought, it would be because something other than the facts and the law have come into play. suggesting that he could potentially buckle to political pressure. so you had criticism from a lot of different areas over weiss. how can the white house assure people that the case involving the president's son is being handled fairly? >> anything that has been stated or said by hunter's representative i would have to refer you to his representative. that is not something that i would respond to, say at the top when i was first asked this question, the department of justice is independent, he believes this white house will not politicize the department of justice. this was done under the leadership of a trump-appointed u.s. attorney as you all know, and so i'm not going to add anything else to that. >> go before congress to answer questions and the sake of transparency. >> up to the department of justice. >> on iran, mike pence said the unfreezing of those assets would amount to the large of the ransom payment in american history and the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, saying arrangements that do not dismantle the iran nuclear infrastructure, would go to terrorists sponsored by iran. most if not all americans support bringing home hostages. is the administration not also concerned the same time he's talking about giving iran $6 billion, they are considering putting marines on commercial vessels to bolster security against this state. >> a couple things. you asked me two questions. i'll take the first one. so, i want to be clear that the negotiations for release and return of the united states are ongoing, to the united states of these five individuals. they are ongoing, just to be even more. these are not u.s. dollars, they are not even taxpayer dollars. what's pursued is an arrangement wherein the iranian people, with the oversight of the u.s., and aid organizations avail themselves of iranian funds held in a south korean account since 2018. this money -- this is the money that the previous administration allowed iran to make and keep in a special accounts. they let iran spend billions of dollars of it and got nothing in return. so the only thing we have discussed with iran is a process through which these funds could be assessed for humanitarian purposes. we have fully visible -- full visibility about where the money was going and what purpose. we are discussing a good deal here which -- we would limit how they can use their own money through this deal. iranian people with whom we have no quarrel with, must get a break from the pressure, we want to make sure that's clear. the positive step is not linked to any other issue or about anything else and we have not changed any aspect of the overall approach as it relates to iran, it focuses on deterrent, and the president moves forward when it comes to foreign policy and bringing home these u.s. citizens, reuniting them with their loved ones, that's what this is about, nothing else. >> will it harm the u.s. and israel relationship at this critical time, though? >> look, this is about bringing home u.s. citizens, home to their families. that's what this is about, not about anything else and we have been very clear about that and we are going to make sure we do everything we can to get these u.s. citizens who were wrongfully detained, let's not forget that, back to their families. >> the border, congressman castro was calling on the white house to end all cooperation -- >> john: we are going to jump back out of the briefing, you heard jacqui heinrich questioning the press secretary on the hunter biden investigation. karine jean-pierre, who usually shuts down questions said more about this than she has said in the past, telling jacqui that the republicans, according to her, have been making claims about -- and allegations about president biden which are just not true, that they keep turning documents and evidence that show biden was not involved in any of his son's business dealings, but there are a lot of people who say that is still an open question, that that has not been fully investigated and the more james comer and his committee and jim jordan pull on the ball of wool the more they find out about it. and asked whether or not weiss would testify before congress, she said that's up to the doj, which again shows the difference between the independent counsel statute of the 1990s when ken starr was appointed to look into the clinton affairs and what's happening now, because the statute, under the doj, the special counsel used to be fully independent, could basically do whatever they wanted to do and now david weiss, the special counsel, is still under the umbrella of merrick garland. and merrick garland has final say over anything. >> gillian: and interestingly, john, long time messaging the president considers anything having to do with his son to be a personal private family matter. reiterated just now to abc that the president loves his son, and that he's proud of his recovery. unclear what that has to do with the ongoing special prosecutor's investigation at this point. it's going to be very difficult to stick to a messaging strategy of this is a personal matter. now that the attorney general has weighed in. >> john: guess who has a lot of thoughts about this. >> gillian: who? >> john: it's a big surprise. let's bring in jonathan turley, constitutional law attorney and fox news contributor. so, what do you make of what karine jean-pierre was saying there in the briefing, jonathan? >> well, it was an extraordinary moment. the level of denial has reached a pathological level. i mean, she's talking about an investigation that just produced evidence of $20 million passing through 20 different companies and accounts and getting money transferred to biden family members, including grandchildren. you just had devon archer say that the president is saying something categorically false saying he had no knowledge of business dealings, all of that is the recent developments and you have the pre saying they found nothing at all. dangerous for president biden, you can sort of boot strap earlier misdealings and misconduct into your presidency. it can become an impeachable manner when you have white house staff spreading false accounts and some people are saying it's clearly false, the white house is trying to now pursue a new narrative, but that narrative is also falling apart. every time we have new evidence come forward, we have a new narrative, that narrative collapses and we have yet another explanation. >> john: so, let me get to the elevation of david weiss as the special counsel. you are very critical for three reasons. you say first of all, merrick garland should have gone outside the doj as happened back during the trump administration when robert mueller was plucked from private life to be the special counsel. weiss accused by whistleblowers running a fixed investigation. so in your mind he's potentially tainted and then also critical that garland didn't announce the investigation would be expanded to include potential corruption or bribery on joe biden's part when he brought in david weiss. explain your rational. >> john, the regulation itself says the appointment is to be made outside the justice department. there was an exception with john durham, for example, but john durham was not under this cloud of suspicion. you have members of weiss's own team coming forward and describing a fixed investigation. you just had an fbi agent tell congress yeah, hunter biden was tipped off about our attempt to interview him. he described himself as very upset, had to sit a block away and not allowed to go up to the house. all of that is coming out and you will a that occurred under weiss before he became special counsel. and then finally, as you note, you know, it has been a very simple matter for the attorney general to respond to the public perception here of two systems. the department of justice is at one of its lowest levels of public trust. all he had to do is say you know what, there are a lot of questions here. i'm going to pick someone new, someone outside the department of justice and tell them to investigate it all. the influence peddling, the taxes, everything that's gone into this to assure the public this is being handled correctly. and instead he picked the guy who's currently being investigated. weiss is effectively being investigated by congress. you have whistleblowers who have accused him of saying things that are false or misleading and yet garland appointed that individual as special counsel. it turns the regulation on its head. >> john: so the doj as we know on friday petitioned the judge to vacate the plea deal that weiss and his office cut with hunter biden, and even the "washington post" editorial board took notice and said this remarkable statement in an editorial. initially appearing reasonable, the deal will peculiar details that critics might have been justified that mr. biden was given special treatment, that in the "washington post" and i swear, jonathan, a few minutes ago i saw a pig fly by our window. >> yeah, i mean, the level of reluctance expressed in those words is quite impressive. the fact is that this plea agreement collapsed after only a few questions from the court, and one of the most remarkable moments was when the judge asked the prosecutor, have you ever seen language like this before, and the prosecutor said no. well, that's not a good sign when you are trying to sell this as just being handled like anyone else in the department of justice. this was a sweetheart deal. the problem is that you just appointed the man special counsel who inked that deal, and that creates a certain conflict for weiss. is he willing to go back and say you know what, we did allow some things to go by. if it was a new special counsel say look, i want to look at all this money that congress has detailed, where taxes did not appear to be paid on. if there's $20 million going to the bidens, we don't see $20 million worth of taxes -- taxable income in these reports. all of that would be reexamined. but for weiss to make that decision it would be a sort of self-indictment of what occurred before, which is why garland needed someone new. >> john: last week i tweeted, or xed or whatever it is that you do now, that the appointment of weiss as a special counsel was going to make it difficult for a lot of our colleagues to ignore this story, and i think that editorial in the "washington post," some of the questioning we saw at the briefing today is an indication that people are sitting up and taking notice. thanks for joining us, appreciate it. >> gillian: there's also this. kim jong-un just ordered north carolina's military to drastically ramp up its missile production. why now, and is it a threat to u.s. security? details coming up next. try n 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 (psst psst) ahhhh... with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary spraying flonase daily gives you long-lasting, non-drowsy relief. (psst psst) flonase. all good. - [narrator] wounded warrior project helped me find the strength to go further than i ever thought possible. - [narrator] i was able to come outta my shell and really connect with others. - [narrator] so i can feel like part of a team, part of the community again. - [narrator] it's possible to live better. - [narrator] it's possible to have a voice and to be heard. - [narrator] to feel understood. - [narrator] to find peace. - because i've experienced firsthand that anything is possible. (inspirational music) there's never a dull moment for the nelsons'... fifth generation montana ranchers. since 1868, they've been... move! herding cattle, reeling in trout, and exploring paradise valley from their backyard. here's to another 150 years of adventure. there's a story in every piece of land. run with us on a john deere gator xuv and start telling yours. sleep more deeply. and wake up rejuvenated. with purple's new mattresses fall asleep 20% faster have less aches and pains and sleep uninterrupted. visit purple.com or a store near you. veterans, if you're applying for a home loan to get cash...surprise. some lenders charge hundreds upfront for your appraisal and other fees. not at newday. a veteran shouldn't have to come up with money to get money. every business that's why comcast business de is launching theal. mobile made free event. with our business internet, new and existing customers can get one year of unlimited mobile for free. it's our best internet. powered by the next generation 10g network and with 99.9% reliability. plus one line of free mobile for an entire year. it's the mobile made free event-happening now. get started for just $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities. >> john: breaking news out of philadelphia. the fbi says they arrested a 17-year-old on terrorism related charges. officials say they became aware of the teen because of his ties to al-quaida. >> the individual had communicated with ktj, which is designated as a global terrorist group by the united states government in 2022 an affiliated with al-quaida. this individual was also sending and receiving media containing terrorist propaganda and guidance on committing criminal acts including how to construct a bomb. >> john: officials say the investigation is ongoing. we'll let you know if we hurt anything further. north korea dictator kim jong-un is ordering his military to boost missile production days before president biden hosts japanese and south korean leaders at camp david. alex hogan is watching this. what have we heard today, alex? >> we heard really strong words from kim jong-un. they're promising overwhelming military power to annihilate enemies. we've seen artillery and other weapons promising that north korea will be ready for war. this ominous warning comes a week before annual joint military drills between the u.s. and south korea. field trainings are expected to be the largest in years. the two countries will also conduct intensive commuter simulated exercises. >> it's designed to be a tough and realistic exercise to strengthen the combined defense posture of the alliance response capabilities. >> kim jong-un has condemned these drills as he plans to increase the country's nuclear capabilities in retaliation of the west. those weapons seen on full display at the country's military parade to mark 70 years since the end of the korean war. at the same time, north korea welcomed delegates from china and russia to pyongyang at the end of last month. washington has accused pyongyang of supplying russia with military equipment and munitions in the war in ukraine. something that the country has denied. those images showcasing what north korea calls a militant friendship. joe biden will welcome the leaders of japan and south korea next month to camp david. something, of course, john, we'll likely to see more condemnation from when it comes to the kim jong-un. >> john: we'll be following that as well. alexis, thanks so much. alex hogan. thanks. gillian? >> there's this suspected crypto conman sam bankman fried is back in jail. let's bring in trial attorney mercedes colwin to break down the developments for us. mercedes, he was out on this $250 million bond backed by his parents. this -- take a look. this is what prosecutors say he's been up to. they say he sent over 100 e-mails to the press, held 1,000 phone calls with reporters and leaked his ex-girlfriend's diary entries, which are witness evidence to "the new york times." he's been a busy man. >> super busy, gillian. great to be on with you. this is the third time that he's been in the cross hairs of the judge. the judge is a no nonsense judge. there's a very strict gag order in place that says that neither side, prosecution, defense, are not to speak to the media. end of story. this type of evidence is extremely damming to to bank man fried. now attorneys are in a panic because the trial was looming in october, a lot of evidence, a lot of digital data that needs to be unpackaged. guess what? their key individual is going to insist that a defense is no longer available to them. that's why the defense are crying foul. with this type of ed that the prosecution has and with this judge who is no nonsense, everybody that practices at sdny, myself included, now he tough judge kaplan is and he means business. he took this very seriously. the fact that the defense said this is going to affect his constitutional right to a fair trial and the judge still felt the need to put him in prison awaiting trial. it's very significant. >> in your experience with trials like these, why do suspects like sal bankman fried violate the terms? his parents paid $250,000 to get him out of jail until his trial started. >> what a great question. pure arrogance. i mean, i cannot understand and most defense attorneys will tell you, the most frustrating clients we have those that don't listen to us, listen to the judge. when they don't listen to the s something that is going to be extraordinarily problematic. when a judge makes this type of determination, which is so significant given the balance of what we're dealing with where he's saying he will not have a fair trial if he's placed in this detention center means the judge feels that he's not controllable. he's not controllable by his defense team, especially if all the ed was amply established during the hearing and the judge revoked it. >> illuminating talking to you as always. thanks for taking the time. >> great to be on. >> john: great spending this afternoon with you as well. >> like-wise. you sound better than last week. that's all we can ask for. >> john: i started out sounding like trace adkins and kermit the frog. then i went to harvey firestein. now i'm in the david webb genre. >> or scarlett johansson as i said during the breaks. you ever heard her? >> john: set you remember dvr. see you tomorrow. >> see you tomorrow. >> martha: thank you. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum. right now on "the story," we're hearing from the white house for the first time since the news dropped that there is now a special counsel in the hunter biden investigation case. critics slammed the choice of the u.s. attorney, david weiss as wildly inappropriate as he already orchestrated the now defunct sweetheart deal for the

Related Keywords

Protection , White House , Campaign Team , Decision , Incidents , Listing , Ecuador , Two , Assassination , Pol Political , Majority Leader , House , Candidate , Secret Service , Committee , Minority Leader , Member , Consultation , Speaker , Role , House Minority Whip , One , John Roberts , Polls , Average , Pennsylvania , Fox News Alert , Peter Doocy , 1600 , 13 5 , Lot , United States Government , Administrator , Maui , News , Wildfires , Fema , Response , Update , Karine Jean Pierre , Press Briefing , Jean Pierre , Podium , President , Special Counsel , Gillian , Son , Briefing , Campaign Trail , Merrick Garland , Reporters , First , Country , Iowa , Points , Beat Biden , Stuff , Ability , 50 , Part , Terms , Problem , Leaders , Lame Duck President , List , Day One , Reason , Grievances , Number , Republicans , Caucus , Good , America Reports , Taste , Five , Candidates , Dress , Vivek Ramaswamy Rap , Ron Desantis , Point , Donald Trump , Crowd , Indictment , Chants , Jet , Georgia , Debate , Alexis Mcadams , Lead , Breakthrough , Hawk Eye State , 27 , Trump , Corn Dog , Hi , Classic Trump , Ground , No One , Answer , Corn Dogs , Fox News , Narrative , Plane Flying , Show , Display , Likeability , Ron , People , Estate , Hopefuls , Landslide , Republican , Florida , Voters , Robert F Kennedy Jr , Ties , Suits , Heat , Make , Humidity , Nikki Haley , Mike Pence , Joe Biden , Americans , Break , Contest , Debate Stage , Fox News Debate , Visit , Right , One On , Crowds , Thousands , Fairgrounds , Counties , Home , 99 , Combination , Tim Scott , Asa Hutchinson , Thanks , Work , Lots , Feeling Inflation Pinch , Ed Lawrence , Details , Anniversary , Wins , Touting , Inflation Reduction Act , Way , Messaging , Message , Stresses , Household Word , Office , Inflation , Food Prices , Feeling , 2021 , 20 , 3 , January Of 2021 , 16 , Everything , Fact , Gas Prices , Paychecks , Rise , Analytics , 709 , 09 , Fuel Prices , Fuel Price , Dollar , 40 , 3 84 , 0 40 , Deal , Wall , Nothing , Family , Bidenomics , Representatives , Prices , American , West Coast Swing , Yellen , Energy , Vice President , Fabulous Bidenomics , Treasury Secretary , Wisconsin , Seattle , Las Vegas , Supply Chains , Manufacturing , Timetable , Jobs Numbers , Sourcing , China , Plans , Labor Secretary , Jobs , 2000 , 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue , Everybody , Situation , Sound , Staff , Opportunity , Members , Understanding , Impact , Direction , Survivors , Officials , Area , Stories , Survival , Residents , Coordination , Shelter , Safety , Well Being , Life , Homes , Neighbors , Partners , Loss , Friends , State Officials , Mourning , Loved Ones , Toll , Team , Governor , Communication , Updates , Request , Assistance Program , Shelters , Hotel Program , Preidentified Hotels , Hotel Rooms , Program , Housing Strategies , Motels , Airbnb Rooms , Everyone , Funds , Needs , Some , Hands , Rebuilding , Solution , Water , Food , Needs Assistance , Supplies , Aid , Addition , 00 , 700 , Anybody , Property , Cash Assistance , Assistance , Disaster Assistance Gov , Process , Personnel , Many , Contact , Grounds , Connectivity , System , 300 , Hawaii , Whole , Resources , Approach , Partner Agencies , Recovery Efforts , Experts , Dozens , Note , Information , Recovery , Relief , Outreach , Messages , Oahu , Fires , Regional Administrator , Meeting , Preexisting , Side By , Fire , Department Of Defense , Coast Guard , Rescues , Road , Community , Step , Each Other , Resiliency , Efforts , Amount , Control , Volunteer Agencies , Questions , Town , City , Of Lahaina , Beautiful , Place , Was Hawaii S Original Capital , Warning , Sirens , Village , Firefighters , Politics , Fire Hydrants , Flames , Caucuses , Patrick Murphy , Contributor , Advance , Tammy Bruce , Trolling , Democratic , Support , Lawmakers , Keeping , Tow , Airplane , Side Chat , Banner , Cat Fight , Kim Reynolds , Media , Campaigns , React , Stress , Interesting , Season , Humor , Sense , Job , Supporters , Empathy , Campaign , 2016 , Things , Report , Discussion , Coming Up , Tammy , Rcp Average , 44 , 17 , County , Victory , Santorum , Mitt Romney , Eeked , 2012 , Cake , Grassroots , Poll , Open , Ground Game , New Hampshire , Jail , Trans , 57 , 57 , Ten , Beach , 23rd , Rehobeth , 23 , Comments , Mr , Death Toll , Comment , Government , Hawaii Response , Weird , What S Going On , Disconnect , Shocking , Exposition , Something , Thing , You Hope , Concern , World , 5 , Oman , 2020 , It , Kind , Anyone Else , Excuse , Reveal , Food Inflation , Irritant , Wildfire , Human Life , Catastrophic , Tammy Wasn T , Video , Hearts , Three , Prayers , Folks , Economy , Bulldog , Bone , Track , Nation , Soul , Care , Lowest , Stock Market , Unemployment , 9 , 31000 , 3 5 , 15 , 35000 , Come On , Eggs , 70 , Households , Scereal , Rent , Bread , 60 , 25 , Plus One , Paycheck , Football , Deadliest , American History , 90 , 100 , 1000 , Responders , Victims , Rubble , Numbers , William Reporting , Experience , Cadaver , 12 , Course , Housing , Crisis , On The Beach In Lahaina , Focus , Maui Last , 5000 , Nowhere To Go , Lahaina , Individuals , Nice , Daughter , Small Historical Place , Landlords , Challenge , Vacation Rentals , 500 , Police , Disaster Zone , Dna Swab , Cadaver Dogs , Dna Swabs , Dna , Comparison , Relatives , Finding , Metal , Clothing , Distribution Centers , Hit Areas , Caravans , Boats , Winds , Choice , Utilities , Guessing , Art Siren System , Start , Power , Company , Lawsuit , Settlement , Pacific Gas And Electric , 13 Billion , 3 Billion , Destruction , Class Action Suit , Law Firms , Guys , Northern California , Jeff , Island , Tragedy , Catastrophe , Authorities , Areas , West Side , I D , Issues , Dogs , Nobody , Coroner , Toxicity , Viewers , Side , Aftermath , Picture , Screen , Family Members , Neighborhood , Nightmare , Shock , Devastation , Smoke , Embers , Homeless Population , Encounters , Access Lahaina , Interactions , Maui Police Department , Sealing , National Guard , Properties , Everywhere , Front Street , Neighbor , Shaw Street , Historical Plantation House On Front Street , Highway South , Tenants , Yes , Neighborhood Standing , Pets , Progress , Debris , Cell Communication , Labradors , Rebuilding Effort , Charm , Personally , More , Lives , Times , Sharing Everything , All Of Us , Opening , Stay In Touch , Hunter Biden , Redcross Org , Department Of Justice , Interference , Anything , Addiction , Statement , Negotiations , Felt , Pace , Uaw , Agreement , Sides , Prospect , Negotiating , Unions , Strike , Faith , Employers , Union Workers , Auto Companies , Transition , Win Opportunity , Bargaining , Travelling To Hawaii Now , Damage , Perils , Conversations , Given , Opportunities , Hawaii On , Trip , Look , Administrator Zoom In , Agencies , Top , Meals , Cots , Liters , Actions , U S Navy , 50000 , 75000 , Issue , Blankets , Level , Negotiation , Work Stoppage , Auto , Nature , Ups , Table , Teamsters , West Coast , Time Bomb , Sports , Donors , Growth , Growth Rate , Prc , 2 , Surprise , Disagreements , Diplomacy , Foreign Policy , Competition , Engagements , Official , Status , Talks , Washington , National Security , Israeli , Spectrum , Normalization Deal , Talk , Saudi , Routine Engagement , Stay , Investigation , Business , Authority , David Weiss , Case , Son Business Dealings , Connections , Add , Certainty , We Don T , Criminal Indictment , Middle , Congress , Allegations , Claims , Front , Election , Evidence , Angle , Result , Business Dealings , Wasn T , Showing , Documents , Witnesses , 0 , Plea Deal , Appointment , Criticism , Charges , Attorney , Facts , Law , Pressure , Play , Question , Representative , Hunter , Leadership , Know , Iran , Transparency , Sake , Unfreezing , Assets , Arrangements , Benjamin Netanyahu , History , Infrastructure , Ransom Payment , Security , Administration , Most , Terrorists , Vessels , Marines , Home Hostages , 6 Billion , Release , Arrangement , Money , South Korean , Account , Oversight , Aid Organizations , 2018 , Accounts , Purposes , Return , Visibility , Purpose , Quarrel , Aspect , Deterrent , Citizens , Relationship , Nothing Else , Families , Cooperation , Congressman Castro , The Border , Hunter Biden Investigation , Jacqui Heinrich Questioning The Press Secretary , Any , Jacqui , Wool , Ball , Jim Jordan , James Comer , Counsel , Statute , Affairs , Ken Starr , Clinton , Difference , 1990 , Family Matter , Say , Umbrella , Special Prosecutor , Abc , Attorney General , Matter , Guess Who , Strategy , Thoughts , Constitutional Law Attorney , Denial , Jonathan Turley , Companies , 20 Million , 0 Million , Devon Archer Say , Knowledge , Grandchildren , Saying , Developments , Boot Strap , Pre , Dangerous , Presidency , Misconduct , Manner , Collapses , Explanation , Reasons , Elevation , Whistleblowers , Mind , Weiss Accused , Robert Mueller , Corruption , Bribery , Rational , Garland Didn T , Regulation , Suspicion , Exception , Cloud , Example , Fbi , Agent , Attempt , Congress Yeah , Block , Levels , Systems , Perception , Public Trust , Someone , Taxes , Guy , Public , Influence Peddling , Judge , Individual , Doj , Head , Office Cut , Notice , Editorial , Washington Post , Editorial Board , Critics , Special Treatment , Pig , Words , Court , Plea Agreement , Window , Reluctance , Prosecutor , Anyone , Language , Before , Sign , Sweetheart Deal , Conflict For Weiss , Bidens , Self Indictment , Income , Sort , Reexamined , Story , We Saw , Colleagues , Xed , Kim Jong Un , Indication , North Carolina , Protein , Missile Production , Military , Threat , Muscle Health , Try N , High Protein , Allergies , Flavor , Flonase , Boost , Boost Com Tv , Cinnabon , Psst Ahhhh , Narrator , Strength , Others , Wounded Warrior Project , Spraying , Shell , Psst , Peace , Voice , Ranchers , Fifth Generation , Inspirational Music , Montana , Never A Dull Moment , The Nelsons , 1868 , Herding Cattle , Backyard , Trout , Adventure , Paradise Valley , 150 , Land , Mattresses , Piece , Purple , Rejuvenated , Pains , Aches , John Deere Gator Xuv , Store , Lenders , Appraisal , Veterans , Home Loan , Fees , Hundreds , Cash Surprise , Visit Purple Com , Veteran Shouldn T Have , Newday , Event , Mobile , Business Internet , Internet , Reliability , Customers , Network , The Next Generation , Launching Theal , Comcast Business De , 10g , 10 , 99 9 , Line , Comcast Business , Powering Possibilities , 49 99 , 9 99 , Breaking News , Philadelphia , Terrorism , Because , Al Quaida , Ktj , Terrorist Group , 2022 , Terrorist Propaganda , Bomb , Acts , Guidance , North Korea , Camp David , Alex Hogan , Japanese , Military Power , Enemies , Artillery , Weapons , War , Countries , Military Drills , Largest , Field Trainings , Commuter , Defense Posture , Exercises , Alliance Response Capabilities , Exercise , Capabilities , Drills , West , Retaliation , Military Parade , Delegates , Military Equipment , Munitions , Korean War , The End , Russia To Pyongyang , Russia , Accused Pyongyang , Friendship , Images , Ukraine , Japan , Alexis , Condemnation , Conman Sam Bankman Fried , Crypto , Mercedes Colwin , Parents , Bond , Mercedes , Prosecutors , 250 Million , 50 Million , Press , Diary Entries , E Mails , Phone Calls , Ex Girlfriend S , New York Times , Defense , Prosecution , Gag Order , No Nonsense Judge , End , Hairs , Trial , Type , Attorneys , Panic , Unpackaged , Data , Man Fried , Nonsense , Practices , Ed , Judge Kaplan , Sdny , Prison Awaiting Trial , Right To A Fair Trial , Sal Bankman Fried , Suspects , Trials , Arrogance , 250000 , Clients , Defense Attorneys , Determination , Detention Center , Balance , Defense Team , Hearing , John , Illuminating , Spending , Like Wise , Harvey Firestein , Trace Adkins , Kermit The Frog , David Webb Genre , Scarlett Johansson , Breaks , Dvr , Time , Martha , Hunter Biden Investigation Case , Martha Maccallum ,