yesterday. their reasons for making the trip night and day. this is "the faulkner focus." i'm dagen mcdowell in for harris. former president trump joined mourners at the wake of officer jonathan diller. he was an nypd officer shot to death during a traffic stop earlier this week. he leaves behind his wife and a 1-year-old son. hundreds of uniformed officers also paying their respects. his wake continues today. new york governor kathy hochul is said to attend. noticeably absent from the service despite being close by, president biden. trump with his thoughts on that speaking to brian kilmeade after the service. >> i think that politically he can't support the police. i think he is also making a mistake but i think politically his base won't let him support the police. and i support the police. i would say at the highest level of any president by far, maybe double or triple. they knew that. when i walked into the fune parlor. it was like love. they didn't call the family. they could have called. >> when asked about officer diller's killing the white house pointing fingers. >> violent crime surge under the previous administration which repeatedly attempted to cut the cops program. all their budgets targeted that key funding for the police, congressional republicans proposed doing it again. biden-harris administration have taken decisive action from the very begin to fund the police and achieving a historic reduction in crime under his leadership. >> she was asked how biden was spending his free time in new york city and deferred to the campaign. biden was just 40 miles from officer diller's wake to host a wildly expensive fundraiser at radio city music hall. obama and clinton joined him at the gala. a-lift celebrities were there stephen colbert and queen latifah and others. mark meredith is at the white house with more. >> good morning to you. it is good to see you. biden-harris campaign is counting on star power and the support of past presidents to show it has momentum. it raised $26 million at the event last night. there are still voters skeptical or against a second biden term. the latest fox news polling shows the president's approval on key issues like the economy, inflation and immigration under water. last night while he was in new york for that star-studed fundraiser president obama told the crowd i think it is worth adding not just the negative case against the presumptive nominee on the other side but the positive case for somebody who has done an outstanding job as president. sometimes we forget where we started and where we are now. the republican nominee he is talking about former president trump who was also in new york on thursday attending a wake for a fallen new york city police officer. while it was not a campaign event, trump told fox afterwards he believes voters will spend much of the next few months comparing their lives now to when he was in office. >> we are a nation in decline. we are a nation in decline. but totally fixable. we have to do it fast. tell you what, the most important day in the history of our country is going to be november 5th, election day. november 5th. >> while we saw the former president in new york yesterday. he will be on the campaign trail going to battleground states that president biden was just in himself. he know trump will be going to wisconsin and michigan. michigan a key state because we've seen the president's support slip amid the war between israel and hamas. questions whether or not the state will stay blue this time around in november. >> more than 100,000 uncommitted voters there. the "new york post" cover highlighting the stark contrast between how the two men spent the day yesterday. the headline, give and take. the editorial board arguing president biden's celeb-packed $25 million fundraiser is the height of dem elitism. we have our political panel. being here, richard, in new york city, it wasn't just the right across the street the ritzy glitzy fundraiser, it was the fact -- was it too much to ask someone who ran as i'm going to be president of empathy to at least get in front of the cameras and say a few words about fallen officer diller? >> thanks for having me. i think the president could have said a couple of words about officer diller but important to not only have rhetoric but also about action. and if you look at the facts on this, i think the facts matter. what we've seen over the past three years in the biden administration is actual funding for policing. not only -- we saw -- mark talked about it in the package. increased funding for police, money to hire, recruit and train officers, but also this past summer, the summer previous to that we saw bi partisan action taking illegal guns off our streets making it easier to get the guns killing them off the street. what you've seen from this white house while you might not have seen the rhetoric yesterday you have seen real legislative action and money going toward local police departments across the country. let me tell you this. i would rather have a action over rhetoric any day of the week even on good friday. >> we did get rhetoric. we got a political pivot toward getting guns off the street yesterday from karine jean-pierre in a city that has the strictest gun laws in the nation, but they refuse to lock up hard criminals so that was the rhetoric we got. what we didn't get were condolences from the president of the united states. >> exactly. look, i'm glad richard said he should have got in front of a camera. i won't advise a democrat what he should do. even in just what was answered is the pivot toward guns and money that always seems to be the answer from a democrat perspective. this guy shouldn't have had a gun to start with. any more laws you put on the books to take away gus would not have helped this situation. quit using it as an excuse for a president who wasn't compassionate use and don't say we passed the first step act that actually work. that actually say there has to be safety. there has to be accountability and you have to support officer. this is a political move and right what donald trump says. he has trouble right now with the far left base and maybe not rich or others but the far left base is upset with any pro-police rhetoric. >> or the american people watching the gas prices skyrocket in the last three months. robert kennedy's junior campaign throw a wrench into the two-party race. which party kennedy will end up pulling more support from. some democrats are freaking out. >> why are you doing this? why do you want to destroy the election and hand it to trump? he is a kennedy. his forefathers are rolling over in their graves. >> i think bobby kennedy might hurt trump more. >> new fox news polling shows rfk takes votes from both sides. 10% of democrats and 8% of republicans say they support him. "politico" describes kennedy's backers as a different breed quote, for decades the kennedy name was synonymous with a mainstream strain of civic optimism that preached public service when more americans had faith in their government. today his supporters tend to place a corrupt government at the root of america's ills. they ask not what their government can do for them, but what it has done to them. richard, how does this play out? joy behar isn't the only liberal freaking out. >> i think what the congressman said and behar said are connected. as you move closer to this election. the longest election cycle of our life. you will see this boil down to some of the main issues affecting the american people. you talked about them at the beginning of the shoechlt economy, crime, other issues. what you see happening is this. we see the economy moving in the right direction the dow going to 40,000. we see crime ticking down. recent f.b.i. study found crime is down 13%. where it was pre-pandemic? no? it is moving in the right direction? it is. that has to do with some bipartisan action taken in the congress to get illegal guns off the street. first step act the congressman referred to. things that president barack obama tried to get done. got done under trump and we need to see more bipartisan action gone not a broken washington. reason why r.f.k. is gaining ground folks see a broken washington and want it fixed. >> i want to get your response to richard but also to this. kimberly strassel's column. democrats might be bite en by a tactic they used for a decade. democrats are finally alive to the threat of robert f. kennedy, jr. dread is building among democrats the third party campaigns are dangling in front of republicans a ripe and tempting tactic. one democrats know all about, having perfected it. for more than a decade left wing groups have interfered in gop primaries boosting candidates they consider most beatable in a general election. what do you say? >> i think she is dead on. we've seen this examples and seen examples on both parties. democrats have played that game well trying to get candidates they want to the run against. i think the difference here with kennedy is if he was going to be truly what i would say somebody to split the parties as was just spoken. washington is broken is a message that resonates. he would have picked something closer to the middle. he did not. he went far left. thumb at this whole topic from the start of the show she is anti-police, anti-prosecution, she funded gascon, the d.a. in l.a. she have is defund the police all the way. this very essence of what we talked about today robert kennedy picking this person is pulling way to the left. i will also say this. republicans have not focused on kennedy. they have not in any way went after him or tried. when the contrast comes up to republican voters in red states and you say you have a kennedy who is pro-abortion and a lot of things you don't like and picks as a running mate someone anti-police and anti-enforcement you will see that move. that's why the democrats are so upset about this because it goes directly at the base. many of those voting uncommitted in the primary cycle. i can see why it would be a problem really for the democrats. if it had been somebody toward the middle maybe different. he made no effort. he went far left. >> we're running. richard, respect, richard fowler, doug collins. blessed good friday. happy easter to both of you. thank you both, gentlemen. court back in session in georgia. why legal critics say d.a. fani willis election interfere answer against former president trump is crumbling. house oversight committee is giving biden a chance to defend his claims about hunter and his family's business dealings. >> it looks clearly to us that he was actually providing access and selling that access to these foreign entities. so we've said look, mr. president, here is an opportunity for you to come in and clear this up for us. >> the white house response was quite something. what house republicans have in store for the president now. legal eagle jonathan turley in "focus" next. oooo. trouble seeing, buddy? you should book an exam at america's best. america's best. they have one of the nation's largest groups of optometrists! oh, you're ... very welcome. america's best. because eye care is healthcare - and you deserve the best. 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ask about the power of 3 with ozempic®. veteran homeowners checked your credit card rates lately? many are over 22%, near 30% if you pay late. why not do what thousands of veteran families have done. call newday and pay off that high rate debt with the lower rate newday 100 va cash out loan. it lets you pay off your credit cards and car loans with one easy monthly payment. get the cash you need and the peace of mind you deserve. here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. >> dagen: house oversight chair james comer has invited president biden to testify in the gop impeachment inquiry. it's investigating corruption allegations against the president. congress sending a letter to the president saying evidence shows the president has been untruthful when claiming he had no business interactions with his son, hunter, and brother, james. the president's take on that has changed over the years as we learned more and more about his involvement. watch. >> president biden: i've never discussed me i business or their business my son or daughter. never discussed with my son or my brother or anyone else anything having to do with their businesses period. >> the president was never in business with his son. i don't have anything else to add. >> i can tell you hunter did not share his business with his dad. >> my father was not financially involved in my business. >> dagen: white house spokesman posted a snarky response. lol. comer knows 20 plus witnesses have testified that potus did nothing wrong and knows the hundreds of thousands of pages of records have refuted his false allegations. this is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment. call it a day, pal. jonathan turley, fox news contributor, george washington university law professor and constitutional law attorney is here. where do you see, by the way, a blessed good friday to you. where do you see this going from here for comer and the republicans? >> well, the republicans are not being deterred by any of this. what is really shocking is that is with the white house counsell's office. i can't remember where they engaged so directly in taunting and attacking inquiries from congress. an impeachment process. yet you have a member of the legal counsel's office mocking and taunting that effort. the fact is that the president's public statements to the public stand completely contradicted. he lied. he lied when he said he had not spoken to business associates. he lied when he said he didn't have knowledge of these business dealings. the point of this letter that is key is that in seven pages it reduces all of those contradictions to ten simple questions. that the president can answer. not engage in taunting, not engaging in the type of attacks by the legal counsel. to answer the question for the american people. the reason they are doing this is because they have license to do it. the media has no interest at all in the answers to these ten questions. they bought into this illusion essentially that was created by the biden team. they've just gone too far. they can't ask any of these questions themselves. that's what the counsel and the white house know is that there is not going to be any push by the media to answer any of these questions. >> dagen: i'm sure biden was not confronted with that on the podcast he recorded with obama and clinton yesterday. it is a guess on my part. under this former president trump's georgia election case resumed yesterday. the first action since the judge ruled fulton county district attorney fani willis could stay on. trump and other defendants are expected to appeal that decision. attorneys for trump and his co-defendants are looking to get the case dismissed arguing the charges punish the former president for protected political speech clearly violating his first amendment rights. critics call the case a sham and argue that it is not a good one. >> this case stinks. the only thing they've ever done together is get indicted. the idea that they are a rico organization like a gambino family is preposterous. >> the county attorney made reference to the pattern, the pattern is the part of the racketeering charge, a pattern of corruption or criminal activity that has to be presented. and he is throwing that in because the indictment itself is incredibly weak in terms of its treatment of a pattern of criminal behavior. >> dagen: what's the likelihood this case gets tossed out? >> well, the problem here is the timing. when this case was filed, i wrote a column saying serious free speech problem with what they are doing here. president trump is entitled to question the election. democrats have done that. democrats in the past have opposed certification of election it is all protected speech. i criticized some of his views at the time. i did not agree with a lot of these allegations but he has a right to raise them as did his supporters. this does criminalize political speech in a way that is dangerous. the problem is the timing. what the prosecutor is arguing we'll prove it, give us time and let us go to trial. the problem is the indictment. it doesn't make any true or standard racketeering claims. no evidence of a conspiracy other than the president saying i think i won the election and i think that there is election fraud or improprieties here. many politicians have done that. the question for the judge is can he at this stage say you are essentially criminalizing free speech? most courts don't. it is something to seriously consider. this would mean the prosecutors could pull any number of political groups through a trial before they get any real review of the free speech claims. >> dagen: i didn't ask you about the possibility of getting an impartial jury given fani willis can't be quiet in atlanta. jonathan turley, thank you so much. terrific to see you always. have a wonderful weekend. [chanting] >> dagen: hundreds of anti-israel protestors descending on president biden's glitzy new york city fundraiser. israel's war against the terror group hamas creating more and more political problems for the president as november creeps closer. plus never mind the supreme court, the white house still pushing those massive student loan bail-outs. >> biden-harris administration also launched the save date of action to promote save, the most affordable student loan repayment plan ever. >> dagen: critics say the plan is a ploy to buy votes but it could backfire. marc thiessen up next. ♪everything i do that's for my health is an accomplishment.♪ ♪concerns of getting screened faded away♪ ♪to my astonishment.♪ ♪my doc gave me a script i got it done without a delay.♪ ♪i screened with cologuard and did it my way.♪ cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45 plus at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for cologuard. ♪i did it my way!♪ sara federico: at st. jude, we don't care who cures cancer. we just need to advance the cure. it's a bold initiative to try and bump cure rates all around the world, but we should. it is our commitment. we need to do this. what makes a medicare supplement insurance plan, like an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare a good choice for people on medicare? it's smart for you to have now... i'm 65. and later on, for the future you... i'm 70-ish. it's really smart. hey, looking good. you made a great choice for us. with this type of plan, see any doctor or visit any hospital that accepts medicare patients. there are no networks. your healthcare future will have more freedom. i kept our doctor. and when i needed a specialist. no referrals needed, right? bingo. in fact, see any doctor anywhere in the u.s. really smart to have when you travel. when i visit this little cutie in arizona my plan goes with me. ahhh...grandkids. i can't wait. don't worry about surprise medical bills, either... you'll know up front about how much your care will cost. and knowing your expenses makes planning your financial future easier. i'm glad my husband and i can use our savings to do the things we want to do. i'm glad i don't have to shop for a new plan every year. that's right. once you enroll, your coverage is guaranteed for as long as you keep this plan. have questions? call unitedhealthcare now to talk with a licensed insurance agent or producer. they know a lot about what makes these plans smart now and really smart later. or just ask for this free guide. benefits and rates in one place so it's easy to compare options. year to year, 94% of members renew their plan. and medicare supplement plans with the aarp name are the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp... meeting the high standards of service and quality. so give unitedhealthcare a call today. and set yourself and your future self up with an aarp medicare supplement plan from unitedhealthcare. 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[shouting] >> you have blood on your hands. blood on your hands. >> dagen: anti-israel protestors crashing president biden's star-studded fundraise and shin dig that included obama and clinton. obama even scolded them at one point saying you can't just talk and not listen. that's what the other side does. biden facing lots of backlash over his israel policies, much of it from within his own party. his own administration. another state department employee announced her resignation joining two others who have left. she explained it this way. >> i think as it became clear what u.s. policy was going to be as far as enabling the ongoing military operations in gaza as well as the intentional use of starvation as a weapon, i was initially just going to resign quietly. i just didn't want to be part of this government anymore. but as i started to let colleagues know of my intention, they said please speak for us. please use your voice. >> dagen: democrat aligned jewish group is endorsing primary challengers to two progressive squad members jamal bowman and corey bush off their anti-israel rhetoric. on the other side, house republicans accuse the biden administration of undermining israel in its war against hamas by abstaining from a vote on a u.n. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire. they, along with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, argue the move has emboldened hamas and just this week a hamas leader said the terror group will not release any hostages unless israel complies with its demands. marc thiessen, fox news contributor and former white house speech writer is here. marc, how do you see this playing out here in the election? there is also an alan dears witch in and editorial lieberman wrote joe biden will lose democratic jewish voters. >> voters generally. a harris poll said 56% of americans think that biden is more concerned with domestic politics and than what's best for israel and the world. pandering to the anti-semitic minority on the left. he was standing on that stage with bill clinton. take a page out of bill clinton's playbook and turn to the protestors, you know why there are so many civilian casualties in gaza? hamas uses civilians at human shields and launched a terrorist attack against israel and it is responsible for all the civilian deaths taking place in gaza today. the united states stands 100% behind israel in its campaign to liquidate and remove hamas from gaza. that would have gotten huge applause. that would have done more for him politically than pandering to these pro-hamas terrorist sympathizers on the radical left. >> dagen: a poll finds between the conflict in israel and hamas voters back israelis by a 31-point margin. the recent drop in support, it's been a significant drop in support is driven by liberals, democrat voters under the age of 35 and women. the number of republicans, conservatives and white evangelicals backing israel has mostly held steady. this is troubling from a humanitarian standpoint that people are not standing against terrorism in a way. >> yeah. i think that another poll showing more support for israel but there was a harris poll that came out, mark penn on our air a lot that 77% think hamas should be removed from gaza. 67% hold hamas responsible for creating the conflict. 63% support a cease-fire only after hamas is returned and hostages return and 66% israel the trying to prevent civilian deaths. they are not sympathetic to hamas. joe biden is making a huge strategic blunder by pandering to the small minority of people who support hamas and protesting. arab american voters make up 5% of the electorate in michigan, what he is concerned about. he should be more concerned about the rest of the electorate who sees him as weak. the voters who -- only 34% of americans support his policies on israel. the only issue he has lower approval on is immigration. that's saying something. i think he needs to be more concerned with the mainstream of this country that understands that israel was attacked and that has a right to defend itself than by pandering to these people who won't vote for him anyway because they are radical terrorist sympathizer. >> dagen: 87% of americans have no student loan debt. the biden administration facing a legal challenge to forgive student loans. biden announced so far $144 billion in student loan forgiveness since his original plan was struck down by the supreme court last june. now 11 republican-led states are suing the biden administration. critics say the president is exceeding his authority. here is republican senator from utah. >> the president of the united states doesn't have the authority unilaterally to go around canceling this many loans at once just the stroke of the executive pen. yet he defiantly persists insisting he will find ways to do what he has already been told he may not do under the law. this is the sort of thing that should cause us all pause not to elect any leader willing to defy the law like this. >> dagen: new opinion piece slams biden for trying to buy his base with the massive hand-out. before i get you in here, marc, i want to note that because money is still going out in student loans paying out money, and this forgiveness required us to borrow money, so in essence we now all owe the student loan debt that biden has forgiven. it is vomitous. >> i love that word. you are 100% right. no such thing as student loan forgiveness. transferring the debt from one person to another. the bill is not forgiven. taxpayers have to pay for it. somebody has to pay for the loan. democrats say democracy is on the ballot. they are right. no greater threat to democracy than a president who is circumventing the supreme court, circumventing the constitution, circumventing the elected representatives of the american people trying to cancel if you add up $144 billion with 454 billion that he has a plan to add onto it, that's half a trillion dollars or more in canceled debt that he is passing on to the taxpayers. you know, one thing that gets lost in this is that when he initially announced this, democrats controlled the house, the senate, and the white house. all three. they had unified control of government. why didn't he pass it through congress? the answer is he didn't have enough democratic votes to pass it through congress. he circumvented the democrat controlled congress to do it by executive fiat. when the supreme court slapped him down he finds his way around it. donald trump isn't a threat to democracy but joe biden is by trying to circumvent the constitution which puts the power of the purse in the hands of congress. >> dagen: that bottom up, middle out nonsense that we keep hearing, there is nothing more than like supporting the elite and privileged than forgiving a six-figure debt for somebody who earns half a million dollars every year. and that is exactly what's happened. marc thiessen. >> a reverse robin hood plan. >> dagen: new reports that rnc could be looking for some payback for n brick c after its disastrous firing of former chairwoman ronna mcdaniel. we'll tell you what the party may be planning. today is one year since putin's thugs detained "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovitch. his sister on this very emotional day. >> we look for signs that evan is okay and doing well. we just notice all of his expressions, his smiles, it is incredible. he is holding on and he is so strong. >> dagen: use the #i stand with evan to show your support. each day is a unique blend of people to see and things to do. that's why you choose glucerna to help manage blood sugar response. uniquely designed with carbsteady. glucerna. bring on the day. did you ever worry we wouldn't get to enjoy this? [jeff laughs maniacally] (inner monologue) seriously, i'm on the green and all i can think about is all the green i'm spending on 3 kids in college. with empower, i get all of my financial questions answered. so i don't have to worry. empower. what's next. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. i was on a journey for a really long time to find some relief. cosentyx works for me. cosentyx helps real people get real relief from the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis or psoriasis. serious allergic reactions, severe skin reactions that look like eczema, and an increased risk of infections, some fatal, have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to or if ibd symptoms develop or worsen. i move so much better because of cosentyx. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. >> dagen: republican national committee may be looking for revenge after the mcdaniel fiasco. its biggest stars melted down on air in protest. "politico" reports the rnc is weighing whether to limit nbc's access to its national con convenience this summer. it reports nbc journalists are afraid of losing gop sources in the backlash. critics say mcdaniel's firing is the latest example of censorship by the left. >> god forbid they have one single dissenting voice on any of their nbc platforms, right? they will not have it. >> what you have is the most vivid example of left wing hostility to republicans. >> what they're saying, election deniers. they have had election deniers non-stop. >> an incredible move on the part of a so-called news network where journalism is not a practice but a joke. >> dagen: joe concha, politics and media columnist is here. would it be smart for the rnc to tell nbc no go this summer? >> i don't think it would be. you are playing the same game they are playing in terms of dissenting speech and squashing the ability for nbc to report. would they be fair at the convention? no. they have a history of not being fair. the first 100 days after donald trump was elected 93% negative coverage out of nbc and cnn. still, if you keep them from coming, they play the victim and they could call trump and the rnc authoritarian. i say let them have their press pass no problem. what i would say if i'm a republican, the kind of republican, not a lincoln project one but one that supports donald trump i would never go on "meet the press" again and never allow or attend any debate that anybody from nbc or msnbc hosts before the presidential election. >> dagen: let the clatter bags keep clattering. they are their own worst enemy. the enemy of actual reporters who work at nbc. as evidenced by this report about the rnc maybe icing them out first and then just to hear nichole wallace talk about their sacred airways, as if it's a church. >> that's what stands out the most, right? the sanctimony. the piousness we heard on those sacred airwaves at it was described went to 30. look at all the people that have programs on msnbc, al sharpton and joy reid, jen psaki negotiating her news contract while serving at white house press tech secretary. joe scarborough. interviewed trumps 41 times before the election. hypocrisy anyone? they celebrate diversity over there all the time. they say they do. the most diversity of all is the diversity of thought, ideas and debate. that is something that will not be happening in the 225 days leading up to this election. >> dagen: joe concha, thank you so much. great to sigh. today marks one year since russia detained "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovitch on bogus espionage charges. the kremlin says evan was caught receiving secret information. it has yet to produce a shred of evidence. the "wall street journal" and u.s. government denied the absurd charges. president biden said the administration is working hard to secure his release. it all started with evan's arrest on this day last year. nearly a month later, a russian court detained him. bail on october 26th evan turned 32 in detention. this week russia extended that detention. his sister spoke to "america's newsroom" this morning. >> he is an innocent man behind bars and i just see my little brother there, too, just -- he has always been silly, we have no other choice but to keep going and we are going to stay positive and believe that we will get him home. >> dagen: to mark this somber anniversary, "wall street journal" staff and supporters held a series of global runs for evidence. the journal also hosted a read athin of his work and his story is on the "wall street journal"'s front page. evan's detention is a blatant attack on the rights of a free press when evidence abounds of the vital role quality journalism plays in bearing witness to history. fox news correspondent benjamin hall is here. benjamin, i will hold up. this is the "wall street journal," his story should be here and a stark reminder of what is missing. what is the latest you can tell us about evan's detention and where he is being held? >> well, dagen, yes, that front page says it all by journalism trying to be silenced by the russians and hold a few americans at the moment who are totally innocent of any charge. what we know at the moment evan is being held in a prison inside moscow. notorious place for decades has been used to torture dissidents. we know he has a schedule he sticks to to keep himself going. he does exercise, reads, writes, meditates every day. because he is only allowed to leave his cell for one hour a day. the conditions for evan aren't great at the moment. as you see in the pictures of him in court he is smiling. he has managed to keep up his spirits, his humor. you know, he was accused of trying to obtain military secrets. there has been no evidence of that whatsoever. the russians haven't put forth any of it. right now they're asking what more can the biden administration do and how to try to get him home? >> dagen: any talk of a prisoner swap, ben? >> there has. i think that's what many people think will happen when it comes to evan. we've seen a few prisoner swaps over the last few years, britteny griner exchanged for victor boot, a huge weapons dealer. trevor reid exchanged for another russian agent. the one person vladimir putin suggested might be able to be swapped for evan is a former fsb agent who is a hit man in germany being held in a german prison. the state department has said recently that negotiations there fell apart. that's because they were hoping to release navratalny and evan whalen. vladimir putin knows full well if you take an american, now you get someone in return. some people would argue against that hostage diplomacy. >> dagen: you were a journalist targeted by russia. this must feel especially close to you and personal. >> yeah, it does, i suppose in many ways. me and my team two years ago in ukraine and attacked by the russians. we believe in reporting journalism. you look at he have -- our team felt that journalism was trying to be silenced and what happened when they arrested evan. he would be writing a number of articles in the weeks before he was taken. that were critical of the russian regime. the economy wasn't working so well after the ukrainian invasion. i feel with him. i'm back home with my family. he is not with his family. alone in a cell and i can only imagine for him how hard and difficult that must be. >> dagen: benjamin hall, thank you. and we remember pierre and sasha always. thank you for watching "the faulkner focus." "outnumbered" is right after the break. ♪ ♪