sa sarah, you've been to mar-a-lago many times. obviously you know the property well, you wrote the book on it. and you include a graphic in your article tonight that shows these locations that they write about. you show where they are. this is -- so this is where they searched. i'm going to keep this document up. tell me what we're seeing here. >> so what we understand is of course that the agents had access to the entire 17-acre estate. but one of the important things to understand about mar-a-lago is it's not just one large mansion, as it's described there, it's more like a series of small units that are connected by staircases and hallways, sometimes outdoor pathways. and really the primary locations of storage and also that 45 office as well as the residence, the private suite where former president trump lives when he's there at mar-a-lago, those are in the main building and the donald j. trump ballroom, so the grand ballroom just to the south of the main building. and that's -- that's where the primary location of this searc

, what do we know about mar-a-lago? well, there were these documents including classified documents that potentially have been mishandled. and so it makes sense that the fbi would be kind of -- would be looking at that. >> elie, do you believe that we will find out what the crime was or, that they established probable cause from a judge so we'll be able to understand whether this was related to the documents or january 6th or something else? >> so the actual affidavit itself, erin, that prosecutors fill out, that wouldn't come out formally through the court process for several months, way down the line. there are other documents that are attached to the affidavit that could come out. some of them are sometimes given to the subject, so it could be up to the subject himself or herself. there's always leaks. there's always ways to find out, so it could be that we find out fairly quickly. if we're talking about that actual affidavit coming out that prosecutors filled out, that a federal judge approved, that wouldn't happen

could he still have more down at mar-a-lago? appears that the only things they know to look for are the things that they saw on the surveillance tape from june. they've gotten that stuff, we think, because they were admitted entry to those storms. in theory, a person whose life three times to the powers that be could be lying again. >> sure, they did an extensive search a multiple hours there. could it be something hidden in some darker cranny that they don't know about? you race earlier, could debris some other property, given the way that delta trump candles classified documents, almost anything is possible. obviously, he was going to rip up, my colleague reported that he was allegedly putting some in toilets and flushing them down. the idea that this is all there is and they recovered everything i think is still an open question. >> let's talk for moment about trump's reaction which has been to basically throw any of this back in the face of the doj. get the sense that he feels like the walls are closing in? >> well, i don't

mar-a-lago is full of trump staff. and when he was leaving the white house, he would not probably have packed all of these documents into boxes by himself. so it is also intriguing to note that the warrant doesn't list any particular target of investigation. so it is unclear whether mr. trump is a target of the investigation, or whether it is somebody in his staff that they might be looking at more closely. so it does lose potential statutes of violations of certain statutes. but it doesn't say exactly who is in focus from the justice department. >> and that is the kind of information we might find in an affidavit, which we are not likely to see. certainly not now. you reported that trump initially cooperated with the fbi, handing over documents that any thoughts at all. but then in the spring, talks between the two parties soured. and it happened after investigators began doubting the trump team was being truthful about what material remain there at mar-a-lago. what can you tell us about how this investigation escalat

they should not have been at mar-a-lago in the first place. tll there would be no need to come and ask for them if they'd been where they belonged. >> absolutely, victor, and merrick garland in no uncertain terms laid it out clearly for the public in his statement in which he noted the time line, all the reporting thus far indicates that there was a robust back and forth between team trump and the doj. in fact, there was a subpoena issued in june, and apparently they didn't turn over all of the documents. you know, merrick garland said specifically, which is true, that doj tries to take narrowly tailored means to accomplish its goals and that this was, you know, required at this point in time. clearly they felt, well, they asked for the information, they asked for the documents, they were not turned over. then they received information that there was more there, this was their only option. it's obviously former president trump is going to say that but i think pretty clearly based on the reporting we've heard and what merrick garland has said,

could he still have more down at mar-a-lago? appears that the only things they know to look for are the things that they saw on the surveillance team from jim. they've gotten that stuff, we think, because they were admitted entry to those storms. in theory, a person whose life three times to the powers that be could be lying again. >> sure, they did an extensive search a multiple hours there. could it be something hidden in some darker cranny that they don't know about? you race earlier, could debris some other property, given the way that delta trump candles classified documents, almost anything is possible. obviously, he was going to rip up, my colleague reported that he was allegedly putting some in toilets and flushing them down. the idea that this is all there is and they recovered everything i think is still an open question. >> let's talk for moment about trump's reaction which has been to basically throw any of this back in the face of the doj. get the sense that he feels like the walls are closing in? >> well, i don't k

what led the fbi to search mar-a-lago. the "wall street journal" that an informant familiar with the documents that trump had told investigators that there were more of them , more classified documents. this informant told investigators this after the national archives had retrieved the 15 boxes earlier this summer. enter the informant, a significant development. justice department officials as cnn reported, had doubts that trump was being truthful. this comes is the head of the fbi was silent when pressed on trump's baseless accusations of fbi agents planting evidence. christopher wray dodged the question. >> as i'm sure you can appreciate, that is not something that i can talk about so i refer you to the department. >> ray was trump's hand-picked director. within the justice department, a major debate on whether they should speak out to the public about the search on trump's home. cnn is learning that some justice department officials believe that they should release a public statement. it has been more than 48 hours sin

and we pick up the breaking news on the mar-a-lago search affidavit next. mar-a-lago searh affidavit next i say, “so are they.” ♪♪ aleve - who do you take it for? laundry truths: the bargain jug. ♪♪ that's a huge jug of detergent. yeah, isn't it a bargain? you know that bargain detergent is 85% water, right? really? it's this much water! so, i'm just paying for watery soap? that's why i use tide pods. they're super concentrated, so... i'm paying for clean, not water! bingo. don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide pods. new astepro allergy. now available without a prescription. pay for clean. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid free spray. while other allergy sprays take hours astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can... astepro and go. >>> good to be with you. i'm katy tur. it's a big day here in the united states. the department of justice compelled by a federal court made the incredibly unusual move of releasing an affidavit before charges are filed or declined in an investigation. not only that but the affidav

and that could be, basically, everything he took from mar-a-lago -- not from mar-a-lago, to mar-a-lago, to the white house. and that could include january 6th material, it may not. it just depends on what's there. obviously, they have some basis to conclude there's something interesting there. and they took out apparently boxes and boxes of materials suggesting that maybe he did not return all of the materials. or maybe there's something in there that indicates some nefarious intent -- he had some nefarious intent in bringing the documents to mar-a-lago. we just don't know at this point. >> if there were a classified document of some kind that the farmer president had improperly kept, manipulated, destroyed, whatever, how and why would it be in the national interest for the fbi to get its hands on that? >> well, i mean, if there are classified documents there, or evidence of classified documents that were mishandled, mistreated or destroyed, you know, that's a very serious thing. people have gone to jail for that. and people have gotten convicted of that. and if he did it with a large

here is what federal authorities searched mar-a-lago for. quote, any physical documents with classification markings along with any containers or boxes in which such documents are located. information regarding the retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defence information or classified material -- any government and or presidential records created between january 20th, 2017, and january 20th, 2021. that's the totality of the term of president. and the evidence of the knowing alteration, to struck shun or concealment of any government and or presidential records, or any documents with classification markings and quote. the fbi had probable cause to believe that there was information at trump's palm beach home that concerned the national defense of the united states or was itself classified material. and they searched the premises for evidence of any destruction or alteration or concealment of government documents, including classified documents, done intentionally to obstruct or impede an ongoing federal investigation. and one fbi a

, he doesn't spend summers in mar-a-lago. mar-a-lago normally shuts down for summer and he's normally this time of year in bedminster nbc news has confirmed he's not there. but it is important to remember it was february of this year the national archives and records administration asked the justice department to examine whether former president trump's handling of white house records violated federal law that was a story first reported by "the washington post" and then confirmed by nbc news so there's another area. >> that's right. and i would just say that it's certainly -- it is certainly possible that this is related to the handling of white house records, classified materials. usually a criminal prosecution wouldn't begin on that basis ironically, of course, the former president was calling on his opponent to be investigated for that crime or charged for that crime i will say that, you know, this could be a number of different matters. we can't be sure exactly what the -- what the potential offense is we'll know more onc

to make some remarks about the search warrant executed at mar-a-lago. former president trump's home in florida. we will bring you those remarks as soon as they begin. >>> but let's turn now to the economy, because for the first time since march, the national average -- i could barely hold my smile. the national average for a gallon of gas is below $4. it's down more than $1 since the peak in june. that's according to aaa. another key inflation measure fell in july after surging last month. it is still painfully high. cnn's business reporter matt egan and cnn's business correspondent rahel solomon with us now. let me start with what these numbers mean for the economy and inflation. >> it means that finally, some relief is on the way. the cost of living, of course, remains way too high, but there are some signs that maybe the worst is over here. these new inflation stats out this morning, they were encouraging, which is pretty rare that we say inflation stats are encouraging. producer price index show that wholesale prices rose by 9.8% year over year, and

at mar-a-lago. it was obviously a large resort but there is a section that was reserved just for the president and his family. he has office, there gases residents there it is's primary residence since leaving the white house. when it comes to what exactly they're the investigators and if agents were actually educate -- it we were told it was tied to that investigation how it was handled. we're told it was taken with him when he left the white house to mar-a-lago. there are concerns as to what kind of information was their kind classified information was there. there is still big questions there as they carried out that. and trump is of course criticizing it and saying that kind of assault can only take place broken third with countries. america has become of those countries crept in a way saying that even, quote, broken in my safe. laura, you'll stop some reporting that saying this is the first time trump has not seen these investigators reading the. back in early june mar-a-lago. >> so this is whe

we keep referring to this to the mar-a-lago resort. this is actually the primary residence of the former president of the united states. just like chappaqua is for the clintons, just like the crawford ranches for former president bush. this is the private residence of the president. so, it's protected by the u. s. secret service, the detail does maintain 24/7 presence at that property. the reason is, to protect it and make sure that the residents remain safe and secure, that the former president can return at anytime. their duty bound to do. that now, more reporting today is really unprecedented. we never heard of any type of action by a law enforcement entity becoming to a former president residents to execute a search warrant. what this was not, it was a raid. i think the segment is prior to this, that outlined the discussion around a raid, the phrase that was used by the former president, that's actually not with this is. this is a very well planned, calculated search, execution of a search and seizure moment. that required, federal

an informant at mar-a-lago? well, cnn has not confirmed this part of the story, but we've already reported that investigators believe that trump and his aides had not returned all of the documents, and they also believe that trump's representatives were not being entirely honest with them. trump, meanwhile, seems to be hiding behind the fifth amendment, which, of course, is his right to do. and he did so today during today's session with the new york attorney general's office, who is investigating of course the trump organization. i'm going to give you my take on that a little bit later in the show. but for now, let's remember that trump once said that only criminals took the fifth. >> you see the mob takes the fifth. if you're innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment? >> hmm. what a difference a few years makes. today trump saying in a statement instead, quote, when your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated witch hunt suppo

get this stuff out of mar-a-lago. whether there are criminal charges, you know, it's related but that's another thing that they will be doing. they wanted to get that stuff out first. we're talking about the shifting justifications from trump world. now you have a piece on this today as well. in which you quote former ambassador john bolton. what did he have to tell you about this idea, this defense of a blanket universal declassification of documents by trump. >> right. trump's office put out a statement last week -- at the end of last week saying he had a quote, unquote, standing order that documents that left his office to the oval office to become declassified. john bolton said he was not told of such an order. he still had colleagues who he was talking with at the nsc. his point was, even if you accept their claim that he can just stand over a document and say, it's declassified, there has to be a log of it, a record of it. there has to be some receipts, essentially, so people know what's declassified and what's

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> is there a mole inside mar-a-lago? we know someone tipped off the fbi about more boxes of documents inside donald trump's home, and now we're learning more about the classified information taken from the florida estate. >>> plus, dangerous rhetoric about the fbi may have inspired an attack on a field office. we'll have the latest on a standoff that turned deadly in cincinnati. also ahead, the cdc releases new covid guidelines just before millions of kids return to

the mar-a-lago search warrant is now public. and it reveals fbi agents went to trump's home looking for possible violations ofe espionage act and over major crimes can they left with a trove of secret documents including some classified at the very highest level. we're poring over all the information just released by a federal judge. >> welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room.

our randi kaye is near mar-a-lago now. and randi, what's the latest about what we know of the results of this search? >> reporter: well, john, we know this from our colleagues evan perez and gabby orr who are getting this information for us. the fbi search the did include examining where documents are kept. there were boxes of items taken during the search, the source said. also a separate source telling our gabby orr that documents were seized from mar-a-lago. the national archives previously alleged that documents included classified information that had been taken from the white house to mar-a-lago here in florida. the fbi also, of course, had to verify that nothing was left behind, as sources are telling our colleagues according to the person familiar with this investigation. the search started monday morning. as you know it went on for hours here at mar-a-lago throughout the day, john. plans for the search at mar-a-lago would have been reviewed by the top levels of the justice department and the fbi. that is according

-- basically mar-a-lago members. so is that broad? is that unusually broad area to be able to search? or is it normal that a warrant like this would be more specific about, you know, here's this room, that room, the glove compartment, here's the safe you can look in, or is that common in terms of issuing these kinds of search warrants where you basically sort of blanket the whole residence and go wherever you want? >> so before answering that, i want to say a little more about your question to olivia about why should the american people care. because if you've handled this information, as i have in two different administrations, you're kind of keenly aware that this isn't your information when you get it. it's a privilege to get it. and it is the property of the united states governme, lives are often lost or on the line in producing that information. and you're keenly aware also that -- you know, that very few federal workers will get this, but anyone who gets access to this information is the target of foreign inte

but you are near mar-a-lago. what did the search include? and of course we caitlin is talking about, the fact that there were still documents that were on site and mar-a-lago that could've been related to what the national archives had already requested is mind-boggling enough itself. what are you hearing and seeing? >> yeah, exactly, it certainly is laura. we now know that the fbi did remove boxes of items from mar-a-lago today. that is coming to us from our colleagues, how members and gabby or. according to a person familiar with the investigation they were told that the fbi search included examining where those documents were kept. so they were very curious about where they were. a separate source also telling gabby or that documents were seized. that really is the headline here. tonight, the national archives as you mentioned previously had alleged that classified information in documents had been removed from the white house and brought here to florida to mar-a-lago, which the president calls home. the fbi also to verify that nothing wa

it then went to visit mar-a-lago in june. and then of course the search warrant was executed not long after that over the summer. but it also shows just how unusual this case is, right? the fact that it waited three months shows an extraordinary amount of deference for the former president. in a typical case, abby, if the fbi were to get a referral like this from national archives or someone else that there's all this classified information intermingled with newspaper clippings and personal records, the fbi would want to go right in, take a look at this material, launch its investigation right away. instead, it took three months for it to start that preliminary review after opening the investigation that then led to concern about three statutes potentially being violated, including the espionage act, a concern about national security. so it's interesting to note just the level -- from the level of deference initially to the level of alarm that escalated. once they saw what was in these boxes. >> yeah, it's a really good and i

-- his private club in mar-a-lago. we don't know what specifically prompted it. we don't know who signed off on the warrant, what specifically they were looking for, why they chose this exact moment, what they found. but broadly speaking, the presidential records act, as we have been reporting on for a number of months, is something that seemed quite clear that former president trump violated. when he left the white house, he brought with him 15 boxes to mar-a-lago which the national archives sort of realized were missing through the natural course of business as they were going through and looking, well, do we have this, do we have that, and they didn't. that prompted them to go down and try to find the things they were missing. as we reported, we know that former president trump took everything from his letter with the north korean leader kim jong-un to a memento, a menu from a dinner party to, more problematically, classified information. not just classified documents, but documents that were marked top secret and d

mar-a-lago would not be the national archives. i have never been to mar-a-lago. i don't know what kind of containment units have. i president the president records act tell you they prefer it be where they know. that time lline that you laid o, john, if you believed at a point in time there was something as serious as nuclear documents, would there be any reason that you would have either advised or thought it prudent to delay in executing a search warrant? there is that little bit of a gap when there was, hey, i want you to better secure whatever it is you had. do you think something made him say an urgent notion, they found out something very quickly? >> i think either top secret or nuclear material. either one of those would justify going. as you know, a top secret classification is some of the most sensitive data we have in our national security archives. so that has an expectation that it can cause serious national problems to, damage to the national security. so that would have -- top secret alone would have been an impetus to go with a search warrant. nucl

he posted some alarming things about the fbi raid on mar-a-lago online. we have that story, next. helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks. tide pods child-guard packaging. i recommend nature made vitamins because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp... ...an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the number one pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. >> as i said, there's a lot of news having to do with this mar-a-lago search warrant, at around 9:15 am, this morning, a man who nbc as identified as as rick walter schiffer, and went to a ohio fbi field office and fired a nail gun at law enforcement personnel. we are not exactly clear about this order of these next immediate events, but the field office schiffer brandished, ar 15 rifle, an alarm was set, of fbi agents response to the attack and shipper flood in his car. you don't northeast on the interstate where he was spotted by state trooper at about 9:37 am. th

just ahead, we will take you to the scene outside mar-a-lago. randi kaye on how the former presidents most ardent supporters react to the news of the fbi search. that's next. i got tai last december. i've spent almost every minute with her since. when i first brought her home, she was eating little brown pieces in a bag and it was just what kind of came recommended. i just always thought, “dog food is dog food” i didn't really piece together that dogs eat food. as soon as we brought the farmer's dog in, her skin was better, she was more active, high-quality poops. if i can invest in her health and be proactive, i think it's worth it. see the benefits of fresh food at betterforthem.com new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. - hey honey. - hey dad. that smell could be eight million odor causing bacteria. good thing adding

here is why federal authorities searched mar-a-lago for. quote any physical documents with classification markings along with any containers or boxes in which such documents are located. information regarding the retrieval, storage, or transmission of national defence information or classified material -- any government and or presidential records created between january 20th, 2017, and january 20th, 2021. that's the totality of the term of president. and the evidence of the knowing alteration, to struck shun or concealment of any government and or presidential records, or any documents with classification markings and quote. the fbi had probable cause to believe that there was information at trump's palm beach home that concerned the national defense of the united states or was itself classified material. ates oand they searched the pres for evidence of any destruction or alteration or concealment of government documents, including classified documents, done intentionally to obstruct or impede an ongoing federal investigation. and one fbi

and then we're requesting a search warrant for mar-a-lago. you'll see the address, 1100 south ocean boulevard. and then you'll see blacked out paragraph after paragraph. we're just not going to see that much. they're certainly not going to describe the witness interviews that they conducted, who the confidential sources are, what grand jury materials they have. we're just not going to see any of that, if this is properly done, and if the judge orders something further than that, you can be sure that the justice department will take it up to the court of appeals. so i think what we're going to see is just swiss cheese. but that said, i mean, it's going to be something to actually see page after page of blacked out material going on to i don't know how many pages. they said it's a very lengthy affidavit. just the fact that you're seeing a lengthy document with all this information blacked out i think is going to tell us, just going to give us the feeling that there really is -- there's something behind the curtain. we already know that. but to

and all of a sudden 30 agents descend upon mar-a-lago? sean, this didn't come from a local fbi field office in palm beach, florida. you know this came from. this came from one place and one building, and that is the white house in washington, d.c. they want to attack a guy who they view as his greatest threat, biden's greatest threat. and that's exactly what donald j. trump is. if you know what? he had an incredible strong country, people realize he was an effective president. see biden right now. taiwan is getting circled by military planes literally as we sit here and speak right now. you've got russia and ukraine, a total disaster. everything is happening in iran, which is a disaster. all the things you talk about all night, we are not respected by anybody around the world, our economy is garbage, and they worry that donald trump will come back in and win this very easily. they also worry about the 2022 midterms, which is the only reason they are doing the sham january 6 panel that does not have a single republican on it buried other t

cnn has learned four federal investigators visited mar-a-lago in early june. sources say trump's attorneys met with the investigators and took them to the basement room where boxes of material were stored with the investigators later leaving. however, the source says some of the documents had top secret markings, and trump's attorneys later received a letter asking them to further secure the room where the documents were stored. >> i really don't believe the department would have taken such a significant step as getting -- pursuing a search warrant for the president's residence about information that they already had back there had to be a suspicion, a concern, and indeed specific information that led them to believe that there were additional materials that were not turned over. >> reporter: trump releasing a lengthy statement. "these are dark times for our nation as my beautiful home mar-a-lago in palm beach, florida is currently under siege, raided and occupied by a large group of fbi agents. nothing like this has ever happened to a president of the united

justice department search of donald trump's mar-a-lago resort. they come in a court filing, opposing trump's request for a special master to review all the materials seized by the fbi. the department reports it has now recovered more than 320 classified documents from mar-a-lago. prosecutors say, some documents or likely concealed or removed from storage in an effort to obstruct their investigation. the court filing cast serious doubts on a statement by trump's attorney that all classified material had been returned. the justice department also argues that trump lacks legal standing to request a special master's, since the documents belong to the government, not to him. the court filing came with this photo showing documents taken by the fbi from trump's office. more now from cnn's sara mine. >> the justice department weighing in with the good side of the story of what's happened in the run up and in the aftermath of the search at mar-a-lago. this is all part of the court battle playing out over whether there should be a special master, an indepe

there would be evidence of this crime in this location mar-a-lago. we don't have the affidavit to lay out the facts to base that finding but you can imagine probably a lot of that information came from the interactions with the trump team to include of course the meeting in june when represent i haves from doj and the fbi went down to mar-a-lago, allegedly went into the storage room in the basement and may have taken some documents with them on that day. so the facts that they used to make the arguments for probable cause were very strong. a lot of them likely based on the observations. >> at issue are documents that the highest classification levels. the former president said he declassified the documents before leaving the white house. why would a president want documents to be declassified? >> it is very hard to understand although with donald trump if you recall in the russia investigation there was a point at which donald trump tweeted that he wanted all documents related to this investigation declassified. that did not occur. a judge got involv

what they believed was still at mar-a-lago, not just what they believed months ago was at mar-a-lago but what they believed the evidence would be that they would pick up the moment when they walked in the door, that they had recent information that could cause them to go in right now, to need to get it. they would also have to disclose the statutes of the crimes that they are investigating to the judge. there is just a lot of information that the justice department behind the scenes has collected in this investigation that really at this point and from what we understand appears to be pretty far along even though we have not heard much about it at all. and there have been other investigations around donald trump that have consumed the discourse up until now, up until this week. >> all right. we just got the two-minute warning about remarks from attorney general merrick garland. he will make remarks about the search warrant execution at mar-a-lago on monday. in the interim, there was a request early this year for documents, they took 15 boxes of documents from mar-a-lago. there was th

first, 360's randi kaye joins us from outside mar-a-lago tonight. a lot of people have been gathering outside mar-a-lago in support of the former president. what have you been hearing from folks there? >> reporter: a much larger group earlier today, some of them still hanging around tonight. almost everyone we spoke with is very angry about the fact that the fbi came here to mar-a-lago just yesterday. they believe -- they didn't say what the basis for this was, but they believe that donald trump has been cooperating with the department of justice, which is investigating the handling of presidential records and presidential documents. they don't think that it was a good idea for the fbi to come to mar-a-lago, especially when the former president wasn't even home. here's what else some of his supporters told me. >> they don't want the truth. that's the bottom line. they don't want the truth. >> you don't think that's why they came here to mar-a-lago to try to find out the truth? >> no. they are scared to death of donald trump. >> it's just a show. thi

how serious would it be if those documents were at mar-a-lago? >> well, it would be extremely serious. i think it would certainly forform legitimate basis for attorney general to approve unprecedented search of the former president's estate. this is information at the highest order that's important to keep classified for the national security of our country and i think would justify, if true, again. as i think some of the reporting indicates, these kind of documents may have been searched for. we don't know whether or not there were any that were found in the possession of former president trump. >> according to "the washington post" reporting, we don't know why they thought that documents relating to nuclear weapons were there and we don't know if they took documents related to nuclear weapons. we only know they sought them. so in theory, why would the fbi or justice department not want them, not want this type of document at mar-a-lago? >> well, because, as i said -- i just said this is information that is classified at the highest level. it's

that should not have been at mar-a-lago. there was one box carried out that was labeled ts/sci, top secret, sensitive compartmented information. which means what? >> well, it's one of the highest levels of classification that we have in the intelligence community, john. my job is easier than joey or paul's here because it's a counterintelligence question. we know two things for sure, one is as you just alluded to there was some very, very sensitive stuff that was improperly stored at a hotel. a nice hotel, but nevertheless a hotel. that's not the way you deal with classified information. there are skiffs, especially designed locations where that type of information can be stored and dis gussed. the second thing i know is that mar-a-lago has been the target of adversarial intelligence services in the past. we've seen chinese nationals show up trying to get inside of mar-a-lago with recording devices, with media that they can record massive information about. so there is no doubt in my mind that foreign intelligence services,

they are lying around all over the place at mar-a-lago. and trump is on notice, for more than a year, that he has these things, and he needs to return them. i can't see how he evades criminal charges, unless there's something in those redactions, that is exonerating. >> jill wine-banks, you have watched everything that donald trump has done in this presidency. but you also watched something that a different president did. there is a watergate enis to this, in that the bubbly-ness of it, the intermixing of documents with i don't know what, the underwear, other things, makes it seem like it's not a secret as it is. but what barbara just sent, there is stuff in here, that had no business being in the president's house. and it's been there for 18 months. we have no idea what those ndi, would that information about human intelligence, what those fisa documents? who has seen them? where they might have been? oh my to photocopy them? we just don't know. it seems dumb, but this might be the most serious thing yet. >> this is very serious. and i sa

from the mar-a-lago property. i have this search warrant and the receipt right here. it says the fbi took possession of the executive grant of clemency for roger stone, info regarding the president of france, three boxes of -- and at least five boxes that contained top secret documents. it doesn't get much more secret then top secret. the world that has access to top secret information is very small. the washington post working with nbc to confirm -- documents of course would be in the top secret range. republicans and democrats on both sides of the aisle are really concerned about this fbi search. but of course were very different reasons. here's what some had to say. >> it's definitely concerning, but why not just subpoena. this is a long history now where one of our most valued institutions are being degraded because they're being very clearly politicized. people higher up. >> there's a lot we don't know. all tell you as someone who didn't have -- who used to have a top secret clearance, the idea of taking that

these documents were in unsecured locations at mar-a-lago. the basis of the affidavit was to lay out this argument, why the federal judge in this case should grant a search warrant for mar-a-lago, which he eventually did. the affidavit put it this way saying there is probable cause to believe that additional documents that contained classified ndi, national defense information information, currently remain at mar-a-lago. there is also probable cause to believe that evidence of obstruction will be found at the residence. the search warrant was executed on monday, august 8th. to give you a glimpse of how scattered all of those documents were throughout mar-a-lago and these boxes and how unprotected they were. here's one more clip from the affidavit where it talks about the initial 15 boxes taken away. it said they contained newspapers, magazines, printed news articles, photos, printouts, notes. presidential correspondence, personal and post-presidential records and a lot of classified records, significantly concerned that highly classified reco

mar-a-lago is penetrated and probed and all kind of stuff has happened at mar-a-lago if it's the case that there's documentation of this kind. let's put aside the question of trump's motive for the moment which is important. foreign adversaries of the united states were to learn there were top secret or higher classifications and documents on site at mar-a-lago, basically behind a door with the padlock on it from truevalue hardware. what would they do? what would be the move at that point to try to penetrate the minimal security there is to get a hold of these documents? >>. >> as you referenced, mar-a-lago is more like a sieve than a scif. there were counterintelligence investigations related to mar-a-lago, chinese nationals gaining access, fbi miami very publicly busy catching russians and chinese trying to get around and into that property. so, look, i cringe when i think of being assigned this damage assessment. some poor souls in the government are going to have to figure this out. what does damage assessment do? it is a comprehensive look backwards at where these documents were,

and then mar-a-lago happened. and then the base jump back on board with him. >> i've heard actually the trump feels more confident that they can clear the republican field. and that's another reason why they want to run. they don't think he has a challenge when they see the entire party to extend behind. saying this is the biggest political witch hunt of all-time. finally speaking his language in this court. and he thinks that he will have -- >> i would note, rhonda status is on aaron ohio. i'm doing a great job. >> this is my prediction. thank you all, i appreciate. it officers removed from duty after a violent arrest is caught on camera we will talk about that next. [sfx: ding] [message] hey babe, meet us at the bottom of the trail. oh, man. hey! open up! the redesigned chevy silverado. with a sophisticated, high-tech interior... open the door! it's easy to forget it's a truck. ♪ - thanks. - nice truck! it was. find new style. find new roads. vo: hi. we're zerowater. and we believe everyone deserves the purest

that is mar-a-lago. remember we had a lawyer for president trump certify that there were documents so somebody flipped on the the president. i w i would be looking for who that informant was if that stuff is e.r.a. leased. they should release it. people will try to hunt down who informed, wolf. >> that is a good point. david, this intelligence bullet just released is warning of threats against specific people including a man you know, the federal judge magistrate who approved the search warrant for mar-a-lago. how is he holding up amid these specific threats? >> wolf, he's holding up fine. he's a well respected magistrate. he had a a lot of respects on both sides of the aisle because he works hard and has a lot of experience and he does justice without fear or favor. but it is a shame, a really awful stuff that he's been the subject of threats. these threats and lies about federal law enforcement need to stop and it is coming from the party of law and order. they're the ones sowing mistrust toward law en

the justice department revealing significant concerns over top secret documents and lax security at mar-a-lago and the search at the former president's home. plus, donald trump's reaction to the affidavit's release of. >> this is a police attack on our country and the people understand it. >> and reporting on trump officials who say they're not surprised to hear classified docs were handled in such aham hazard way. plus, the only way to tame inflation is to slow economic growth, including the job market. welcome to "the lead." we begin with the money lead. a major slide on wall street. the dow, as you can see there, down about 1,000 points. this will after a sobering assessment today from the federal reserve chairman jerome powell. taming inflation, powell warns, will require some painful let's get straight to the business correspondent. powell's warning really led to a jolt on wall street. that's a pretty significant drop. >> really spooking wall street and main street in terms of the messaging we heard here. we haven't seen a day like this in the market since mid june. every sector in the s&

he goes through it at mar-a-lago. he feels these documents and these things are just accouterments that are part of -- mementoes of his time as president. and over 18 months that the government was trying to retrieve some of these things, he seemed to never really appreciate that this was serious. and that's reason why we get to the place we are now. you know, it is one of those things where there's a history. and there's a history of mar-a-lago, too, where you have foreign nationals who were prosecuted for trying to get in there. we knew and everyone knew that the security and the protocols for entering mar-a-lago were not what they should be, certainly not if you're going to be storing these sensitive type of materials there. >> and doug, to the point of -- i think many people are asking the same question. you've heard the same of -- and i reference it like in "the office" when michael scott says, i declare bankruptcy, as if that's the way one declares bankruptcy. there's a process you have to do it and you can't ju

plus, more security concerns at mar-a-lago. a russian speaking woman who reportedly posed as a banking heiress got into the resort and next to president trump. the reporter who broke the story is our guest. and democrats see a winning message going after republicans on abortion. so far, it seems to be working. let go out front. "outfront," obstruction. the affidavit the justice department used to obtain a search warrant for mar-a-lago. the affidavit, about 38 pages long. about half of it is redacted. blacked out. it is still shedding light on the criminal investigation including the probable cause that warranted the search. according to the doj, of the 15 boxes that trump handed over in january, 14 contained documents with classification markings. that included 67 which were marked confidential noorks marked secret, and 25 marked top secret. according to the fbi, of most significant concern was that highly classified records were unfoldered, intermixed with other records and otherwise improperly identified. tell affidavit said

and then, this search of mar-a-lago happens. and he said this is the end of. it we must not tolerate this one. that's what he said two days ago. and that's what led to this entire thing. so my worry is that this is not on the darkest part of the internet. i know those places. i know where the neo-nazis hang out. i know they're telegrams, and all that stuff. this is on the parts that are obsessed with donald trump. these are your neighbors. these other people down the street who are convinced by the way, that the irs higher ranked 87,000 new agents, that's a secret ploy for people to come and take your guns. and they're gonna come any day now. so you gotta get arms. >> he had posted again, we are not repeated all of, it but you written about it. he had posted for people to get the gun shops, and pawnshops, as soon as i can, to be armed. i mean so this is bill talk about war, it wasn't even talk about -- and there's been civil war talk in the last couple of days. and people like me think that's nonsense. but the fans are being flames in fairly mainstream conserv

his private office at his residence in mar-a-lago. kristen: so they are staged in no way where it is put there for an evidence photo and that is what we all saw. do they serve as a smoking gun when it comes to either the obstruction element you talked about, or the improper taking of national secrets? rick: well, clearly, the documents were there. whether they were improperly taken or whether there was an effort to obstruct their return, gets to the key question that the former president has claimed, as we just heard in the report a few moments ago, the former president is saying he declassified the documents. he has provided no evidence of that. is lawyers haven't yet claimed that in any formal filing. these are just things he has been staying publicly. many of the statements he has made about the documents have proven to be false. many were taken on directly by the department of justice. in fact with kmart yesterday was a direct result of his efforts to get a special master to reveal the documents -- to review the documents, and as

we are waiting on the court to unseal the documents that apparently justified the mar-a-lago search. we expect them to be heavily redacted. hello, everyone, this is "outnumbered" and i'm kayleigh mcenany on this friday and with me is jackie deangelis, doctrine janette nesheiwat, and tomi lahren, and joe concha. sensitive details about witnesses and the scope and direction of the investigation from the affidavit but it may offer some new details on the events leading up to the search we will keep you updated on the breaking news. in the meantime, president biden president biden drawing severe criticism today. he kicked off his midterm push in maryland yesterday back from vacation. it was a build as a unity rally. interesting name because he decided to attack. >> i respect conservative republicans. i don't respect these maga republicans. the maga republicans don't just threaten economic security but they are a threat to our very democracy. they refused to accept the will of the people here in maga republicans don't have the clue about republican spirits because they have made their cho

some records came from mar-a-lago. this sort of seemed to be in the rear-view mirror, that trump had done something wrong, but a deal had been struck and the records eventually got to where they needed to be with the january 6th committee. the notion they are still holding on to these records, and not only that a federal judge had signed off on a warrant saying that there was probable cause a crime had been committed, but basically indicating that there was no way to solve this without a warrant, that kind of the implication of this is that the time for talking was over. there had been discussions back and forth between the doj, between the government and the trump -- and donald trump and his people. and they'd reached the point where a warrant was necessary, not just because it indicated probable cause a crime had been committed, but there was no other way to obtain those documents. and the implicit suggestion trump might have still be in position to destroy them. i think all of that is genuinely surprising. the last