>>> NEW CNN REPORTING ON THE CLASSIFIED
DISCOVERY KICKING UP A STORM OF QUESTIONS FOR THE CURRENT
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. A SOURCE TELLING CNN THE
DOCUMENTS FOUND IN JOE BIDEN'S PRIVATE OFFICE INCLUDED
INTELLIGENCE MEMOS AN A RANGE OF ALLIES AND ADVERSARY, IRAN AMONG
THEM. MORE DETAYS IN A MOMENT.
MINUTES AGO, NO RESPONSE FROM PRESIDENT BIDEN.
HE IS IN MEXICO AND WAS SHOUTED QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS.
IT'S A REPEAT LAST NIGHT. THE PRESIDENT HEARING THEN
IGNORING SHOUTED QUESTIONS ASKED TO TALK ABOUT THAT DISCLOSURE.
LOOK AT THE PICTURE. WHERE IS HE?
NEXT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES, MERRICK
GARLAND WHO WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE TO DECIDE IF THIS INQUIRY INTO
HIS BOSS DESERVES A SPECIAL COUNSEL.
HERE IS WHAT WE KNOW THIS HOUR. THE FIND THAT SPARKED A FEDERAL
INVESTIGATION ORDERED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL GARLAND AND LED
BY A CHICAGO U.S. ATTORNEY WHO IS A TRUMP ADMINISTRATION
HOLDOVER. TEN DOCUMENTS, A SOURCE SAYS,
WERE CLASSIFIED MARKINGS AND THEY DATE BACK TO MR. BIDEN'S
TIME AS VICE PRESIDENT. AND BIDEN LAWYERS SAY THEY
FOLLOWED PROCEDURE TO THE LETTER IMMEDIATELY ALERTING THE
NATIONAL ARCHIVES WHEN THOSE DOCUMENTS WERE FOUND BACK ON
NOVEMBER 2nd. BUT THERE IS ALSO PLENTY STILL
IN NEED OF EXPLANATION HERE. NO EXPLANATION AS OF RIGHT NOW
FOR WHY MR. BIDEN HAD THOSE DOCUMENTS OR EXACTLY WHAT THEY
CONTAINED. NO EXPLANATION ALSO ABOUT WHY
THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE KEPT WORD OF THE DOCUMENTS AND THE
INVESTIGATION QUIET FOR TWO PLUS MONTHS NOW.
ALREADY, REPUBLICANS MAKING A VERY PUBLIC CASE, CONGRESS
SHOULD LOOK INTO THIS. >> HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN
SITTING AROUND? WHO HAD ACCESS ALL OF THIS TIME?
HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD ACCESS ALL OF THIS TIME?
WHERE IS THE FBI RAID? YOU KNOW, WHERE IS THIS BIG SHOW
OF FORCE TO MAKE SURE THERE'S NO OTHER CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
THERE? >> I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE
DIFFERENCE IN THE VOLUME AND THE DIFFERENCE IN COOPERATION.
I THINK THOSE ARE QUESTIONS THAT WE'VE GOT TO HAVE A COMMITTEE
ASK. I GUESS AT THIS POINT I'M NOT
WILLING TO TAKE THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S WORD FOR IT.
LET'S ASK A FEW FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS.
>> WITH ME IN STUDIO TO SHARE THEIR REPORTING CNN'S DANA BASH,
CNN'S EVAN PEREZ, THE FORMER PROSECUTOR PROSECUTOR SHAN WU
AND JAMIE GANGLE. W
>> WHAT WAS DISCOVERED? YOUR REPORTING IS THE SEARCH OF
A PRIVATE OFFICE, LAWYERS INVOLVED BECAUSE THE FORMER VICE
PRESIDENT NOW PRESIDENT KNEW THERE WERE SENSITIVE MATERIALS
IN THERE, HE WANTED SOMEBODY SENSITIVE LOOKING AT THEM AND
COME ACROSS AN ENVELOPE, OWN IT UP AND --
>> I THINK WE HAVE TO UNDERSCORE 98%, 99% OF WHAT IS FOUND IN
THIS OFFICE IS ABSOLUTELY PERSONAL BIDEN MATERIAL,
INCLUDING THINGS LIKE THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR HIS SON BEAU'S
FUNERAL, CONDOLENCE LETTERS, WHAT HAPPENS IS AS THEY'RE GOING
THROUGH THE BOXES, THE LAWYER WHO IS DOING IT FOR BECAUSE
THESE WERE CONFIDENTIAL FAMILY MATERIALS OPENS A BOX AND THERE
IS A PLAIN MANILA ENVELOPE THAT SAYS IT'S STAMPED VP PERSONAL.
SO MAYBE THAT'S HOW THIS ALL HAPPENED WHEN IT GOT PACKED UP
SOMEONE THOUGHT IT WAS PERSONAL. THE LAWYER OPENS THE ENVELOPE
AND THERE IS SOMETHING THAT SAYS CLASSIFIED RIGHT THERE.
HE CLOSES THE ENVELOPE, HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM, HE MAKES THE
APPROPRIATE CALLS, HE SAYS TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, COME AND
GET IT. WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT WHEN THEY
GO THROUGH -- THERE WERE ABOUT THREE OR FOUR BOXES THAT DID NOT
APPEAR ONCE THEY STARTED GOING THROUGH THEM TO HAVE JUST
PERSONAL THINGS AND WHAT THEY FIND, A NUMBER OF RECORDS THAT
ARE UNCLASSIFIED, BUT FALL UNDER THE PRESIDENTIAL RECORDS ACT AND
THEN THEY FIND TEN DOCUMENTS THAT ARE CLASSIFIED.
AND WHAT MY SOURCE SAYS IS THEY INCLUDE INTELLIGENCE MEMOS,
NATIONAL SECURITY MEMOS, BACKGROUND BRIEFING MEMOS THAT
COVER AREAS FROM IRAN, UKRAINE AND THE UK.
>> ALL RIGHT. WAIT, COME BACK TO THIS FOR
MORE. WHERE ARE WE IN THIS
INVESTIGATION? THE PRESIDENT IS OVERSEAS RIGHT
NOW WHILE HE'S SOUTH OF THE BORDER OUT OF THE COUNTRY WITH
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WHO WHEN HE GOT
WIND OF THIS DECIDED HE WANTED SOMEBODY WHO HE COULD SAY WAS
IMPARTIAL TO LOOK AT THIS SO THE TRUMP APPOINTED U.S. ATTORNEY IN
CHICAGO LOOKS AT THIS. WHAT'S THE PROCESS.
>> RIGHT, SO JOHN LAUCH, ONE OF THE TRUMP APPOINTEES WHO
REMAINED IN THE CURRENT JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN DOING A
REVIEW WITH THE FBI AND THIS IS A STANDARD PROCESS, THIS HAPPENS
ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, MORE OFTEN THAN PEOPLE REALIZE, NOT JUST
WITH FORMER PRESIDENTS AND FORMER VICE PRESIDENTS, SO THE
FBI HAS A PROCESS WHERE THEY TAKE A LOOK AT THESE DOCUMENTS
TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THEY'RE STILL
CLASSIFIED, WHAT -- WHO OWNS THAT INFORMATION, WHICH
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY WOULD OWN THAT INFORMATION AND WHETHER
THERE'S BEEN ANY HARM DONE TO NATIONAL SECURITY AS A RESULT OF
THEM BEING STORED IN A PLACE WHERE THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN
AND CLEARLY THIS IS WHAT THE CASE, WHAT HAPPENED HERE.
WHAT HAPPENED HERE IS HE AND HIS TEAM COMPLETED THE INITIAL PART
AND HAVE COME BACK TO THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND COME BACK
TO MERRICK GARLAND AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FACES AN
IMPORTANT DECISION, SORT OF LIKE AN INFLEX POINT OF THIS
INVESTIGATION WHICH IS, WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?
DO WE OPEN A FORMAL FULL-BLOWN INVESTIGATION AND HAVING SEEN
MERRICK GARLAND OPERATE, CHRIS WRAY OPERATE, I THINK WE'VE SEEN
THEM MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS DONE BY THE BOOK, CROSS EVERY
"T." DOT EVERY "I."
THAT'S WHERE I WOULD SUSPECT WE GO NEXT.
>> SO LET'S TRY TO BRING IN FACTS AND INTERSECT THEM WITH
THE INEVITABLE POLITICS. THIS IS GETTING MORE ATTENTION
THAN MAYBE IT MIGHT OTHERWISE BECAUSE OF DONALD TRUMP, THE
FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND ALL THE DOCUMENTS
FOUND AT MAR-A-LAGO. FROM WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR AND
KEEP AN OPEN MIND, THERE ARE SOME SIGNIFICANT AND VERY, VERY
IMPORTANT FACTUAL DIFFERENCES. THAT DOESN'T MEAN POLITICALLY.
WE'LL GET TO THE POLITICS IN A MINUTE.
YOU SEE THE REPUBLICANS BRING IN THE CONGRESS, INVESTIGATE, SEE,
EVERYBODY DOES IT. HERE WE GO.
IN BIDEN'S CASE, FEWER THAN 12 DOCUMENTS.
SOME TOP SECRET. HIS ATTORNEYS FOUND THIS
IMMEDIATELY RAISED THEIR HAND AND SAY WE HAVE A PROBLEM.
PLEASE, WHAT'S THE PROCESS? IN TRUMP'S CASE, 160 PLUS
DOCUMENTS. 60 TOP SECRET.
HE'S BEEN UNDER INVESTIGATION. HE HAD LAWYERS SIGN OFF THAT ALL
OF THEM WERE RETURNED. THEY FOUND OUT THEY WERE NOT
RETURNED. THIS WENT ON FOR MONTHS AND
MONTHS AND IS STILL ONGOING. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE
DIFFERENCES WE KNOW RIGHT NOW FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE AND
WHAT ARE YOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE CURRENT, THE BIDEN TEAM IN THIS
CURRENT CONTEXT? >> FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE,
TOTALLY DIFFERENT KINDS OF CASE, I MEAN, EVERYTHING FROM THE WAY
THAT THE LAWYERS BEHAVED IN TERMS OF IMMEDIATELY TURNING IT
OVER TO THE TRANSPARENCY AT THEIR NOW SAYING THEY'VE
APPOINTED -- NOT APPOINTED, THEY HAVE ASSIGNED A PARTICULAR U.S.
ATTORNEY TO LOOK. HOW DID THE DOCUMENTS GET THERE
AND THAT WILL TAKE A LITTLE WORK BECAUSE IT HAPPENED A WHILE
BACK. THEY NEED TO TRACE THAT.
HOW SECURE WERE THEY IN THAT PARTICULAR ROOM AND PROBABLY THE
MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION, DID PRESIDENT BIDEN KNOW THAT THE
DOCUMENTS WERE THERE? DID HE HAVE ANY ROLE IN PACKING
THEM UP? >> WE MAY GET ANSWERS LATER
TODAY. THE PRESIDENT IS SUPPOSED TO
TAKE QUESTIONS. HE HAS REFUSED TO SAKE QUESTIONS
DURING HIS EVENTS IN MEXICO. HE WANTS TO FOCUS ON THE
IMPORTANT BUSINESS OF WHAT HE'S DISCUSSING THERE AND WILL HAVE
MORE OF A NEWS CONFERENCE LATER TODAY WHERE WE SHOULD GET
ANSWERS. ONE THING HE WILL HAVE TO ANSWER
FOR, AGAIN, THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM SO FAR ARE VERY DIFFERENT,
PRESIDENT BIDEN, FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP.
THEY'RE VERY DIFFERENT, BUT, BUT THIS IS JOE BIDEN, TALKING ABOUT
DONALD TRUMP, HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO ANSWER FOR THIS.
>> WHEN YOU SAW THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE TOP SECRET DOCUMENTS LAID
OUT ON THE FLOOR AT MAR-A-LAGO, WHAT DID YOU THINK TO YOURSELF
LOOKING AT THAT IMAGE? >> HOW THAT COULD POSSIBLY
HAPPEN. HOW ANYONE COULD BE THAT
IRRESPONSIBLE AND I THOUGHT, WHAT DATA WAS IN THERE THAT MAY
COMPROMISE SOURCES AND METHODS? BY THAT I MEAN NAMES OF PEOPLE,
ET CETERA. AND IT JUST TOTALLY
IRRESPONSIBLE. >> AGAIN, THE FACTS ARE
DIFFERENT BUT THE TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE PART, JOE BIDEN,
40 YEARS IN THE SENATE, 8 YEARS AS VICE PRESIDENT, HIS CALLING
CARD IS I KNOW HOW TO DO THE SENSITIVE STUFF.
I KNOW HOW TO DO THE HARD STUFF. I DON'T MAKE THESE KIND OF
MISTAKES, EVEN IF IT'S AN HONEST MISTAKE, THERE'S A TRAIL, WHEN
THESE DOCUMENTS ARE REMOVED FROM A SENSITIVE PLACE SOMEBODY KNOWS
THEY'RE REMOVED. THERE'S A LOG AND GO OUT TO A
FILE. NOW HE WILL HAVE TO ANSWER.
>> PIE UNDERSTANDING IS HE KNOWS HE'S GOING TO HAVE TO ANSWER FOR
IT. IS PREPARED TO DO IT WHEN HE
FACES REPORTERS LATER TODAY WHEN HE'S IN MEXICO.
AND THAT HE -- THERE IS A VERY CLEAR-EYED UNDERSTANDING OF THE
POLITICS OF THIS INSIDE THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION.
>> FORGIVE ME BUT TRUMP DOESN'T DO NUANCE.
HE WILL SAY, SEE, HE DOES IT TOO.
>> THIS IS THE PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS VERY HARD TO EXPLAIN.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO LISTEN BEYOND THE,
SEE, I TOLD YOU SO AND OUR POLARIZED ENVIRONMENT IT'S HARD
TO GET PEOPLE TO LISTEN. THE EXPLANATION FOR WHY THEY'RE
THERE, WE STILL DO NOT KNOW AND I DON'T THINK WE'LL KNOW UNTIL
THE INVESTIGATION IS OVER AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE
PRESIDENT IS GOING TO BE CAREFUL WITH THAT BECAUSE OF THE DOJ
INQUIRY, MAYBE NOT AN INVESTIGATION YET.
BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE FACTS YOU JUST LAID OUT IN THAT
GRAPHIC, THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO HEAR FROM THE PRESIDENT
AND HE'S RIGHT. THEY ARE VERY, VERY DIFFERENT
SITUATIONS. THE TRUMP SITUATION WAS, HE OR
HIS PEOPLE TOOK CLASSIFIED INFORMATION AND THEN MISLED OR
EVEN LIED TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT ABOUT WHAT HE HAD TO THE POINT WHERE THEY HAD TO GO
RAID. THE BIDEN PEOPLE FOUND SOMETHING
IN A CLOSET ACCORDING TO YOUR EXCELLENT REPORTING, JAMIE, AS
SOON AS THEY FOUND IT, THEY TURNED IT OVER.
IT'S PAST TENSE. IT'S DONE.
IT'S NOT ONGOING.