Operation from rescue to recovery. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Wolf blitzer is on assignment. Youre in the situation room. Cnn reporting on the Special Counsels investigation into donald trump. The former president s attorneys subpoenaed for a classified document that trump discussed on an audiotape but are unable to find. Our correspondent paula reed is joining with us the details. Tell us what you are learning. Reporter we have learned back in march, trumps lawyers received this subpoena from the Special Counsel. This was the first time the legal team learned about that meeting in 2021 was trump referenced that classified document in that tape. Lawyers were not able to find the document trump describes in that reporting. Its unclear at this point if the government has it at all. Mr. President , why did you take classified documents concerning General Milley . Reporter cnn reporting that donald trump served with a subpoena in mid march, seeking any records related to the same u. S. Military document he talks about on tape just six months after leaving the white house. Everything i did was right. Reporter Special Counsel jack smith, attorney general Merrick Garland picked to oversee investigations into trump, trying to track down any additional classified materials still in trumps possession. The former president s attorneys turned over some material in response to the Justice Departments request, but not the document in question. The one trump was recorded discussing in july 2021 at his bedminster, new jersey golf club. He acknowledges he held on to a classified pentagon document about a possible attack on iran. S there is no crime. Reporter that tape, now in the hands of prosecutors, prompting them to subpoena all documents and materials related to iran and mark milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Im not going to try the case thats being set up by leaks that i dont believe are accurate. Reporter trumps attorney declining to address where the document is. Has the document been returned to the National Archives . Same vaanswer. Reporter trumps attorneys turned over 15 boxes to the National Archives. The fbi recovered more than 100 classified documents from trumps estate, and trumps team found additional materials in subsequent searches of other trump properties. They have become automatically declassified when i took them. Reporter trump denying wrongdoing. And when asked if he shared Classified Information with anyone not really. I would have the right to. What do you mean not really . Not that i can think of. I have the absolute right to do whatever i want with them. Reporter his former Vice President striking a different tone after retaining classified materials. Those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence. Mistakes were made. Reporter the Justice Department informing mike pence thursday he will not Face Criminal Charges for his handling of classified materials. I take full responsibility. Reporter after a small number of classified documents were found at his indiana home. While pence will be able to hit the Campaign Trail without a Special Counsel probe hanging over him, the same cannot be said of joe biden or donald trump. They both have ongoing Special Counsel investigations. The trump investigation is much more significant. In part, because of the volume, the difference of volume in materials recovered, and also because trumps conduct raised questions about obstruction. And in cnns new reporting, its revealed how much evidence prosecutors have and how significant the legal threat is. Terrific reporting, paula. Thank you very much. Stay with us, as we bring in our guests. The trump team cant find this document, but prosecutors do have this recording. How much does that matter in terms of the Special Counsels investigation . What the Special Counsel is trying to determine is whether there is a version of this document. The Defense Department and elsewhere in government a copy probably exists. So they want to know if there is a version unaccounted for. So they have to track that down. From a prosecution perspective, they have to determine whether or not he or someone else is withholding that document. So they executed a Justice Department fbi search at the maralago residence, but they didnt execute a physical search pursuant to a Search Warrant at the other locations. Instead, theyre Serving Subpoenas that require compliance. Thats different had they executed their own search. Theres still a question whether they would do that. Or whether this document exists. Could donald trump have been lying to impress people . A very important point that the d. O. D. Could still have a copy of this in their system. Youve been speaking with the trump legal team. What kind of evolution are you seeing . When i spoke on wednesday about this, the defense was not really much of a defense. He was basically attacking the doj and attacking cnn, not offering much of a defense. And also trying to claim that trump did two things. One, he declassified, and he also personalized this document. Both of those arguments are called into question by paula and the reporting. First of all, there is just no evidence that its been declassified. That might be contradicted by trumps own comments. The idea that he made a National Security document a personal document would stretch thing it is you put it in front of a jury. But what you are hearing from the trump team is not a whole lot of new this and i said as much to jim trusty on wednesday. Theres no real explanation for trumps conduct as reported by cnn and as put forward by the Justice Department as they have been engaging in this investigation. I dont think that has really changed. Gloria, its rather remarkable that this tape came about because of an interview that Ghost Writers for mark meadows were doing the former president s chief of staff, it was an interview they were doing for mark meadows autobiography that they were ghost writing. It just shows you how remarkable donald trump is, because hes so careless. If if hes talking about Classified Information, who are these people . Did they have a Security Clearance . The answer is no. And why was he talking about it, even if he didnt have the document, why was he talking about Classified Information, and then said, of course, according to the reporting, im not supposed to be talking about this, which shows you that he knew he shouldnt be talking about Classified Information, which also might show us that he hadnt really declassified it as he said he waved his wand and could declassify anything. It tells you something about the cavalier way in which donald trump has always treated Classified Information. Its almost as if he wanted to impress these people writing a book for mark meadows. And the Tape Recording of it is, because he feels like hes been so burned in the past, they wanted to make sure they accurately recorded what he said. But from people who know trump very well, this document may exist, a version of it probably does exist. We have questions whether he physically had it, but also we basically know that his description of what the document was on the tape, as milley creating plans, telling him to attack iran, that is also not accurate. People around trump, you know, just caution that sometimes he i mean, he just fabricates things to make a point. So theres still a lot we need to learn about what really happened here, why that document might be. And if what he was describing has anything to do with what he may have had in his possession. Its just very unclear at this point. This is such a blockbuster, so what more do we know about the timing of the investigation, where it stands . Sure. What its taught me, and we cover this day in and day out, how much they have done that we know nothing about. The fact that they have had this Audio Recording and spoken to General Milley. Those were significant details that we had no clue of. So its interesting to me. It reminds us to be humble, that we dont know everything that they know. And its unclear exactly when they could make a charging decision, but its clear theyre in the final phase of this, and we know that because we have reporters, and we know the kinds of witnesses theyre speaking to now. So folks you would speak to in the later phase of an investigation, the things that they have done. We dont know if any charges will be brought, and we dont know when that could happen. We also know that they are likely to handle this investigation and the one into january 6th separately. So there wont be any waiting to find out what they will do here. Jack smith in charge of both of those. Terry, pauls piece laid out the difference between trumps attitude towards classified documents, and his former Vice President mike pence and classified documents found with him. Mike pence shows how a Senior Leader would handle this situation if the disposition of the documents was an accident, and he wants to return them and do the right thing, and it shows how easily the whole thing gets resolved in a way that does not involve an investigation, that go further, does not involve potential prosecution. So mike pence took responsibility, and the Justice Department does its job and it gets closed out. Complete opposite with the situation of the former president , which is that documents were retained, the Justice Department went down and talked to him and tried to get them back, he refused. You end up with this execution of a Search Warrant, which is a quite dramatic event. And you have this investigation that has now continued month after month after month. And it involves now not just the issue of the mishandling of Classified Information, but also the potential of obstruction. Thats why this new reporting plays in. Is there a document thats been withheld, not provided after a Court Order Subpoena to obtain it, according to legal process, and is it out there somewhere orb was it destroyed or did it never exist . Its so surprised that they did not search bedminster. That is a place that the former president spends time. Clearly, he was dealing with documents there, too. Thats a great point. We know that the prosecutors pushed for subsequent searches. They urged the trump team to do their own searches. And they encountered some resistance when they were going to search bedminster. This is a president who turns his attorneys into witnesses, and this is every single time. This is the problem they now have, because they told the Justice Department, yeah, were giving you all the documents. Clearly, they were taking Donald Trumps word on a lot of this. Clearly, they did not go through all of these boxes. And so now, these attorneys find themselves as witnesses, and theyre in a very difficult situation. It wouldnt be the first time that donald trump has put his attorneys in tough positions. Just to make one quick point, we often forget former president trump, he has two residences that he spends a lot of time in. Both of them are basically public places. Thats why there is such an elevated sense of concern here. This is not like mike pence and his house in indiana. These are basically hotels. For that reason, the Justice Department has some extra concern here. We have to leave it there. Abby phillip will be back at 9 00 eastern and again on Sunday Morning at 11 00 a. M. Eastern for inside politics sunday. Now, just into the situation room, exempts from joe Bidens Oval Office address on the Debt Limit Deal. Well share that with you after this quick break. Because its powered by ththe most potent source of energy there is. You. This is the lexus variety of electrification. Inspired by, created for and powered by you. When you really need to sleep. You reach for the really good stuff. Zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. Its nonhabit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. vo sail through the heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking. Unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and cultural treasures. 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This is our premium platinum coverage map and this is consumer cellulars map. I dont see the difference, do you . Well, that ones purple. [announcer] get the exact same coverage as the nations leading carrier. Starting at 20. Consumer cellular. Tonight, joe biden will address the country from the oval office in just an hours time. And now we are getting a first look at what his message will be. Phil mattingly is live at the white house for us. Phil, what are you learning . Reporter ive been talking to white house officials and one thing they focus on is that the president wanted to talk about just how serious, just how high stakes the last several weeks have been, the gravity of the moment, underscored by the fact that he was willing to make this address from the oval office, his First Oval Office address. Thats reflected in the excerpts that we have seen so far, talking about a crisis averted, talking about the highest stakes. The president talking about the agreement itself, saying no one got everything they wanted, but the American People got what they needed. We averted an economic crisis and economic collapse. Were cutting spending and bringing deficits down and makes clear that Entitlement Programs like medicare and social security, which he committed were not touched, were not touched, and almost all of his legislative agenda enacted over the course of the first two years was protected in this agreement. Thats kind of a frame when you talk to white house officials, the fact that they can keep the primary priorities of the democrats out of the agreement and assured the country didnt default. He paired that reality, given how much of a cloud this has been over the administration and over the u. S. Economy and the country, with todays very jarring look into where the u. S. Economy is. Yet again, once again, u. S. Jobs report coming in higher than expected, showing the economy remains on a row bous pace at this point in time, going against all projections. 339,000 jobs added, and i think it brings together a moment where i think the president and white house officials know they want to ensure Everybody Knows just how dicey things were, and why that leads into the coming weeks and months where white house officials believe they can make real progress. And that the stakes could not have been higher. Phil mattingly, thank you very much. I want to bring in my guests now. Thank you both for joining us. Audi, to you first. Biden will talk about the bipartisan nature of this deal that he struck with kevin mccarthy. But in this very divided environment, do you think that vote rs care about Working Acros the aisle . And this is an oval office address. How much of a victory can he claim here . We only have excerpts so far, so we dont know how much time hell spend on the bipartisan part. Fundamentally, he went into that deal asking for nondefense spending to go up by 7 . It didnt. But House Republicans went in hoping that nondefense spending would be slashed by 20 . So in terms of who moved and who compromised, the president feels he can look the public in the eye and say i protected the things i considered priorities. He also wants to get out ahead of what progressives have been saying because of the changes that will happen to some antipoverty programs. They have carveouts for veterans, for the homeless, et cetera, but there has been a loud contingent saying he did not protect the most vulnerable. So i think that joe biden wants to, as people talk about the narrative. He wants to stop being underestimated, and he wants to come out and say look, this is what it looks like when things function. Tha