you think ukraine aid is going to ever get on the floor? >> i think it's still a very real possibility. if you're facing a situation that i just outlined, maybe just the right thing to do is what you believe is the right thing to do. and i think as speaker you have a new perspective on the importance of winning this war. it's easy to criticize it when you're a rank and file member, but when the weight of what could potentially happen to ukraine is on your shoulders, i think it looks like a really positive thing to do, and i think he might just push forward. >> brendan buck, eugene daniels, thanks for bringing it home. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. from chief financial officer to a jail cell, donald trump's long-time lieutenant allen

weisselberg sent to rikers island for lying to prosecutors. he's the latest to pay the price for his allegiance to the former president, even as trump prepares to face his own trial in a few days. the raging debate over abortion just got some brand new fuel with arizona's supreme court upholding a near total abortion ban. republicans are now scrambling to limit the political damage. democrats hoping that this will be the issue that decides one of the most critical swing states on the map. and any minute now, president biden and the prime minister of japan will take questions following their meeting at the white house. key to those discussions, how to counter china's growing economic and military aggression. we'll have that for you live as soon as it begins. but we start with donald trump, just days before his own criminal trial getting a real world reminder of what happens if you tangle with the manhattan d.a. and lose. just hours ago his steadfast long-time ally and confidant former trump organization ceo allen weisselberg was sentenced

to five months at rikers island for committing perjury. weisselberg pled guilty for lying during both his deposition and testimony at the former president's civil fraud trial. the sentencing comes just five days before trump's own first of its kind criminal trial is scheduled to begin where he'll face 34 felony charges. philip rucker is "washington post"'s national editor and msnbc political analyst and co-author of i alone can fix it. kristy greenberg, former deputy chief for the sdny criminal, and msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin is here with me in the studio. "the new york times" described this today, weisselberg's pattern of allegiance to trump ultimately resulting in a jail sentence. can you remind us how this all came about and how it connects back to the former president? >> so allen weisselberg was prosecuted for perjury, and that perjury occurred in the context

of the new york attorney general's civil fraud trial that was just tried before judge arthur engoron. that's the case that led to that $454 million judgment. both at two depositions and during trial, mr. weisselberg is accused of having lied about his involvement and the false valuation of trump's triplex apartment at trump tower. you will recall that that apartment was falsely represented to be 30 plus thousand square feet when in actuality it only has 10,000 square feet. mr. weisselberg didn't learn the truth about that until after the forbes article in 2016. again, in actuality, documents show according to the d.a.'s office that he was very much in knowledge of the actual size of the apartment and worked with people within the trump organization to ensure that the truth was not disclosed to forbes or otherwise. >> moral of the story, don't say something that can be disproved in documentation. there is a long line of trump's current and former allies who

have ended up behind bars. this is a man who worked for him for 40 years. having studied donald trump closely, does this hit trump particularly close to home? what do you make of what donald trump must be looking at, thinking about right now? >> well, it certainly hits close to home, chris, because not only did allen weisselberg work for trump in the trump organization for so many decades, but he did so in a role that was something of paramount importance to trump. he was the chief financial officer, he was in charge of the books, the numbers, sort of assessing the profits and revenues as well as the losses for trump's real estate portfolio, and you know, he's the person who trump would go to to learn, you know, heist making money, how they're assessing all of that, what they're reporting back to the irs, et cetera. so a really key figure in trump world for decades before trump entered political office and so to see him now be going to jail

as we learned today is a real blow to the former president. >> so kristy, legally speaking it would seem like this could close the book on allen weisselberg, but i understand that attorney general letitia james now wants trump's court appointed monitor in the civil fraud case to look more deeply into some of the circumstances surrounding weisselberg's plea. what could that mean? >> i think what tish james is really trying to understand is whether or not that some of those documents that made it clear that allen weisselberg had perjured himself at her trial, those were apparently documents that were not in the possession of the new york a.g. and documents that she had requested. so she wants to see what those documents are. she wants to understand the circumstances as to why they were not turned over to her and who was involved in that decision-making to see if there are any consequences that she could bring in connection with the civil fraud case. >> so lisa, all of that, it's against that backdrop that on monday there is still a schedule

for jury selection to begin in the hush money trial. there was also a new filing in that case today, what was that about? >> we still don't know. what it appears to be is a new lawsuit against judge juan merchan, other outlets are reporting that it has to do with his refusal to recuse himself from the case the but chris, i want to note for you that all the filings in this new case are sealed publicly on the docket. there is a possibility we will see some appellate argument. we haven't seen that yet. as soon as we know something, we'll certainly bring it to you here first. >> what do you think the chances are we might? >> know what it's about -- >> know what it's about? >> i'm not sure. again, they're sealed right now. that hasn't been the pattern here of trump's last ditch efforts to delay this. whatever it's about, i don't think it's likely to succeed. i told someone before the beginning of this week, buckle up. you will see any number of efforts made this week by trump and his lawyers to delay the

start of this trial and to create some sort of havoc in the public mind about what this trial is really about. that doesn't mean that we won't see jury selection start on monday in the most mundane of ways, even though the defendant is the former president of the united states and the presumptive gop nominee. >> to simplify, something that is filed this late is in the legal sense a true hail mary. >> it is a true hail mary, and what we can tell from what you can see on the docket is that it is a lawsuit against judge juan merchan. you and i have talked before about the fact that in new york there's a proceeding called article 78 that allows you to sue a state, a local government actor or agency for some unlawful act, sometimes an unconstitutional act. this might be trump's way of suing judge merchan for refusing to recuse himself or taking other steps in this case that trump will allege are not only unlawful but so egregiously unlawful that they demand an immediate appeal. >> so phil, as you well know, none of the attempts to delay this trial have so far worked

for donald trump and team. do we have a sense of whether his legal team is ready for this trial, whether they've actually been banking on the idea that they might be able to push it off? >> well, chris, they've certainly been trying to push it off for a while now. that's been unsuccessful. it does appear that the trial is set to begin next week with jury selection, and that, by the way, could take a number of days to get through the jury selection process. but his team has been anticipating a trial for some time, and frankly, it would be kind of legal malpractice if they weren't prepared with the strategy for that to begin. clearly, the delay strategy was the pretrial strategy, but once it begins, they'll have their own strategy to try to protect and defend donald trump in this trial. >> and kristy, there's something else that maybe points to some disarray on behalf of the trump legal team, maybe not, but you tell me, according to the d.a.'s filing, trump's attorneys actually ended up subpoenaing the wrong guy. can you explain that?

>> right, so they served a jeremy rosenberg but not the jeremy rosenberg they wanted to serve. the jeremy rosenberg they're interested in is a former district attorney investigator, and they served the subpoena on the wrong person. that person said i have no files, and by the way, i'm going to keep the $15 that you sent me that would allow me to, you know, send you documents if i had them. >> wait a minute, and so they sent him 15 bucks and they say send me the files, and he's like i haven't got no files but i'm keeping the money. >> exactly. and the trump team then complained, well, this guy has a flippant and dismissive approach and this is wrong. why is he acting that way? he's acting that way because he didn't have the documents because you got the wrong guy. >> does this stuff happen, i guess maybe is the question? i mean, common name, or should any trial lawyer but

particularly at this level under this scrutiny not make that kind of mistake? >> so they shouldn't make this mistake because this is a former district attorney investigator, and if they wanted to get the right person and not go around the d.a.'s office, you can communicate with the d.a.'s office about who you would like to serve a subpoena on. that is the proper procedure. any criminal defendant in the state, before you get to subpoena a third party or in this case a party that's affiliated with the state, you should be having communications with the state that you wish to do that and you need to get authorization from the court to do so. so there are procedures here, and it seems like the trump team isn't following them. that's really on them for not going through the procedures in the way they need to be followed. >> i should not imply that whoever got the wrong request would have spoken in double negatives, it was kind of a joke. lisa rubin, phil rucker, kristy

greenberg, you cannot make this stuff up. on monday there will be special coverage of the start of the first of donald trump's criminal trials with jury selection beginning in the new york hush money trial. our coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern, and you can watch it right here on msnbc. republicans now rushing to distance themselves from a controversial abortion ruling in arizona. the response that we're already hearing from voters across the state in 60 seconds. ross the state in 60 seconds. we're still going for that nice catch. we're still going for that perfect pizza. and with higher stroke risk from afib not caused by a heart valve problem,... ...we're going for a better treatment than warfarin. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk. and has less major bleeding. over 97% of eliquis patients did not experience a stroke. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking, you may bruise more easily... ...or take longer for bleeding to stop.

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about the decision. >> did arizona go too far? did arizona go too far? >> yeah, they did, and it ought to be straightened out. as you know, it's all about states' rights, and i'm sure that the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back into reason, and that will be taken care of rather quickly. >> what do you think about florida? >> florida's probably maybe going to change also. it's the will of the people, this is what i've been saying. it's a perfect system. >> joining us now nbc's yamiche alcindor, tim miller former communications director for jeb bush 2016, and writer at large for the bulwark as well as msnbc political analyst. nbc's vaughn hillyard is with me here on set. vaughn, so i wonder how in your observation arizona republicans are approaching this ruling and how it's going to land with the folks there, the voters in particular. >> right, you can say that republicans, a great many of them have deep moral, justifiable convictions on the abortion issue, but the issue in

2022 when roe v. wade was overturned was that was a moment in time. and two years later, suddenly states including archaic laws like an 1864 territorial law that bans all abortions even in the cases of rape and incest suddenly becomes real life. and real life stories start to come forward and also the political ramifications. that's where even kari lake changed her position and said even two years ago she would have defended her governor and called it a state law. take a look at her statement in which she says i speak to more arizonians than anyone and it is abundantly clear that the pre-state hood law is out of step with arizonians. listen to her two years ago and compare that statement to this. >> obviously i think roe v. wade should be overturned, and i think the supreme court, i have a good feeling that they're going to do the right thing this time, and again, i'll echo what steve just said. we have a great law on the books right now. if that happens, we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore. >> former republican arizona

governor doug ducey also posted a tweet in which he said in part, quote, the ruling today is not the outcome i would have preferred. current congressman david schweikert said, quote, i do not support today's ruling from the az supreme court. this issue should be decided by arizonaens not legislated from the bench. i encourage the state legislatures to address this issue immediately. also heard from juan ciscomani which said today's ruling is a disaster for women and providers. these are republicans in the state of arizona that are saying, look, this goes too far, and frankly, when you look at exit polling from 2022, two-thirds of arizonians say they want abortion rights in the state of arizona. >> we're going to talk a little bit more about that. yamiche, i want to go to you. as republicans like trump and kari lake say this issue should be up to the states, up to residents of states, what are you hearing from arizonans, kari lake says she's talked to more of them than anybody.

>> this has really been a bomb shell decision and has sent earthquake like vibes across the state of arizona because you have women who are saying they feel like this decision is cruel, that it will put their lives at risk. take a listen to more of what we're hearing. >> honestly, it was a punch in the gut as a mother, as a sister, as a woman, childbirth and bearing a child is not easy, and it comes with a lot of challenges. i know that they say, oh, it's only in the case of the mother's health, but who is to determine that, you know? >> i just feel like it should be out of the government's control. i just feel like we're going back in time. >> i think it's a culmination of right wing politics that has brought us to this situation. where the political culture has become much less tolerant. >> so you really hear a lot of voters there echoing what we see in polls and what vaughn was just talking about, the majority of americans and it sounds like

the majority of arizonans, they want to have some sort of access to abortion, and you hear women, both republican and democrat, talking about the fact that pregnancy can get really complicated. it can get really dangerous. it can be very personal what needs to happen between a woman and her doctor and to have the state really coming in and saying there's going to be this near total ban and that doctors should face up to two to five years is very scary for so many people. of course there are people that are pro-abortion rights who have advocated for this. of course it was a generational win after roe v. wade was overturned. people are very angry about this. >> let me play devil's advocate if i can, tim, how much do we really know about who's going to get blame or credit for this? and i'm talking about arizona in particular, and i want to look at the 2022 midterms. according to our 2022 exit poll and vaughn mentioned this, 62% of voters said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

but katie hobbs, the democrat defeated kari lake for governor by less than 1%. is it possible democrats are maing too much of this ruling thinking it might give them a big advantage in arizona. >> i think it definitely helps them in arizona. i talked to a lot of republicans yesterday in arizona. we saw a lot of republican tweets you just put up in arizona. i think republicans are telling you they're worried about it. i do think -- and this is something i think a lot of times democrats don't understand. there are a lot of donald trump voters that are pro-choice. donald trump brought a lot of people into the party, these working class voters who are not evangelical, who are secular who used to be democrats, the famous obama trump voters. most of them are pro-choice or at least somewhere in the middle when it comes to abortion, and so there are a lot of voters out there on these kinds of ballot initiatives or in these polls they'll say they're pro-choice but also for donald trump. it's incumbent on democrats to peel off some of those people.

there's another group i think when they see the real potential ramifications of something like an 1864 territorial law, you know, from the tombstone era coming into, you know, being the new law of the land in arizona where it's a zero week abortion ban, no exceptions except life of the mother, then stuff gets really real, and i think that is something where there are these swing voters, some of the obama trump voters, and some are the more traditional republican types we've seen moving to the democrats, in the phoenix suburbs, maricopa county over the past few cycles. i do think it helps democrats with both of those groups, but they're going to have to make the case. >> vaughn, you've covered trump as well as arizona politics. i haven't been to arizona in a little while, but i've been reading a lot of interviews with voters, particularly in light of what the state supreme court did there, and look, the split is evident, but voters who support

choice are not necessarily telling reporters at least that they're hanging their vote on choice. they're talking about the economy. they're talking about immigration. there are some young people who you think might be most worried about it. it would impact them potentially for the longest, right, who want to talk about student loans and did joe biden deliver on student loans. i mean, is arizona unique in that way? how do you see this playing out, based on your experience both with donald trump and with arizona? >> right, i think it's going to be really interesting to have voter conversations over these next seven months because of that, right? and it's not necessarily a straight answer that we have e. of course there are other issues that matter to voters, and there's a question, right? donald trump, you already see him hedging on his position. kari lake suggesting that maybe that 15-week abortion ban is what she wants on the books, right? are some voters willing to give greater leniency or be like, okay, i don't want an all-out

ban on abortion, but i may be okay with a 15-week abortion ban. i think that there is a -- you know, folks may be on a different metric scale here when it comes to this issue and really there's not much of a case study even with political elections on this, except for the '22 election. a race for governor, janet napolitano, she was a democrat. arizona was deeper red at that point in time, she was running against congressman matt salmon who was running at the time. and she was critical, highly critical of him for being against abortion rights even in the case of incest and rape and she in a dramatic win won her race in 2002 in the state of arizona by 11,000 vote, largely on this abortion issue. so this is really going to be kind of, you know, outside of that race, the 2022 race, we're going to be learning a lot here from 2024 about the impact on the electorate at larges not just in arizona but across the country. >> i wonder if you think, tim, from a -- and i know we're going back a couple of days now with

donald trump's decision on let's leave it to the states, but if say a 15-week abortion ban, something more specific might have been not just better for him but easier for people in some of these battleground states, in some of these true purple states to run on, i don't know. what do you think? i'm curious because you talk about how folks on the democratic side can run on this. how do you run on this in a purple state? >> as a republican. just first we should note disastrous timing for donald trump to put out a video saying he wants to leave this up to the states and then 24 hours later arizona's like i'll take you up on that. zero weeks now in arizona. that puts him in a huge bind and a bad strategic move by him. i've said this since roe was overturned, i think that there is a lack of appreciation that, actually, the majority view in this country is some kind of compromise on abortion.

i think had republicans afro tried to work with democrats, it wouldn't have been perfect, that would have been a much better place for republicans to be. instead they end up with the bounty law in texas, and those are wrong on the policy, they're also terrible politics. i think that's why they're in a bad place. >> thank you. we've got some breaking news for you. we're learning that donald trump and house speaker mike johnson are going to give remarks at mar-a-lago on friday. nbc's ali vitali has the scoop from capitol hill. what do we know about what they plan to talk about, ali? >> reporter: look, this is a moment where we're seeing speaker mike johnson go down to mar-a-lago, according to sources telling me and our colleague john alan this is going to be happening. the house goes out of session likely friday morning. this is going to be a critical moment as we see the speaker of

the house side by side with the former president and the likely standard bearer of his party, chris. >> thank you so much for that. we have to go live to the white house rose garden where the president is about to hold a press conference with japanese prime minister kishida fumio. let's listen. >> powerful proof of that that investing in our alliance and raising our collective ambitions we yield remarkable results. over the last three years, the partnership between japan and the united states has been transformed into a truly global partnership, and that's thanks in no smart part to the courageous leadership of prime minister kishida, and i mean that sincerely. together our countries are taking significant steps to strengthen defense security cooperation, modernizing command and control structures and increasing the interoperability and planning of our militaries so they can work together in a seamless and effective way. this is the most significant upgrade in our alliance since it was first established. i'm also pleased to announce that for the first time, japan

and the united states and australia will create a network system of air missile and defense architecture. we're also looking forward to standing up a trilateral military exercise, with japan and the united kingdom. and our defense partnership with australia and the united kingdom is exploring how japan can join our work in the second pillar, which focuses on advanced capabilities including ai, autonomous systems. all told, that represents a new benchmark for our military cooperation across a range of capabilities. on the economic front, our ties have never been more robust. japan is the top foreign investor in the united states. say that again, japan is the top foreign investor of the united states. and we the united states are the top foreign investor in japan. nearly 1 million americans work in japanese companies here in the united states, and to name just one example, a few months ago, toyota announced an

$8 billion investment in a massive battery production facility in north carolina, which will employ thousands of people. the prime minister is going to travel to north carolina tomorrow to visit that project. don't stay. don't stay. we need you back in japan. they'll probably try to keep you. they also affirmed the science and education ties between japan and the united states. those ties stretch up to the moon. where two japanese astronauts will join future american missions and one will become the first non-american ever to land on the moon, and they reach into the high schools and universities as well where the ambassador manetta's program exists. we're going to invest in new student exchanges, help train the next generation of japanese and american leaders. we'll also discuss developments in the mideast including our shared support for a cease fire and a hostage deal, and urgent

efforts to deal with the humanitarian crisis that exists in gaza. we also want to address the threat, they're threatening to launch a significant attack on israel. as i told prime minister netanyahu our commitment to israel's security against these threats in iron and their proxies is ironclad. let me say it again. we're going to do all we can to protect israel's security. and finally i want to commend the prime minister himself. he's a statesman. the fact is that you condemned putin's brutal invasion of ukraine when it happened. you pledged more than $12 billion in aid. prioritizing nuclear nonproliferation at the united nations security council, standing strong with the united states as we stand up for freedom of navigation, including in the south china sea. and as we maintain peace and stability across the taiwan

straits and taking the brave step of mending ties with the republic of korea so we can all stand shoulder to shoulder together. tomorrow we will both be joined by another good friend, president marcos of the philippines for a trilateral summit, the first of its kind. and through it all, our commitment to the defense of japan under article 5 including -- excuse me -- is unwavering. mr. prime minister, through our partnership we've strengthened the alliance. we have expanded our work together. we've raised our shared ambitions, and now the u.s./japan alliance is a beacon to the entire world. there's no limit what our countries can -- and our people can do together. so thank you for your partnership, your leadership, and your friendship, and now over to you, mr. prime minister. >>

[ speaking in a global language ] >> that japan u.s. partnership is immensely important. the international community stands at a historical turning point. in order for the japan, the u.s., the indo-pacific region and for that matter the whole world to enjoy peace, stability, and prosperity lasting into the future, we must resolutely defend and further solidify a free and open international

order based on the rule of law. and again today i told the president that now is the time to demonstrate the true value that japan and the united states can offer as global partners that we must together fulfill our responsibilities to create a world where human dignity is upheld and that japan will always stand firm with the united states. i explained that based on our national security strategy, japan is determined to strengthen our defense force through position of counter strike capabilities, increase our defense budget and other initiatives and was reassured by

president biden of such strong support. in such context, we confirmed again the urgency to further bolster the deterrence and response capabilities of our alliance and concurred on reinforcing our security and defense cooperation to increase interoperability between the u.s. forces and our self-defense forces including the improvement of our respective command and control frameworks. we will be discussing the specifics as we plan for the next japan, u.s. 2 plus 2. the president and i went on to discuss various specific challenges faced by the international community. first, we confirmed that unilateral attempts to change status quo by force or coercion is absolutely unacceptable wherever it may be and that we

will continue to respond resolutely against such action through cooperation with allies and like-minded nations. from such perspective, we agreed that our two countries will continue to respond to challenges concerning china through close coordination. at the same time, we confirmed the importance of continuing our dialogue with china and cooperating with china on common challenges. we also underscored the importance of peace and stability in the taiwan straits and confirmed opposition to encourage peaceful resolution of the cross straits issue. the situation in north korea including nuclear and missile

development was brought up as well. we welcomed the progress seen in many areas of cooperation based on the outcome of the japan/u.s. summit last august and concurred to holding it even more closely as we face serious concerns under the current state of affairs. president biden again demonstrated his strong support towards the immediate resolution of the abduction issue. we reaffirmed the importance of realizing a free and open indo-pacific based on the rule of law and close collaboration through various opportunity including the japan, u.s., philippines summit, which is

starting tomorrow. regarding russia's invasion of ukraine based on a recognition that ukraine today may be east asia tomorrow, taking the issue as our own problem for japan, i expressed our resolution to continue with stringent sanctions against russia and strong support for ukraine, and we concur to maintain close partnership with like-minded countries. on the situation in the middle east, i expressed my respect for the efforts of president biden towards the release of the hostages improvement of the humanitarian situations and calming down the situation. i then explained how japan is continuing diplomatic efforts to improve the humanitarian situation and to realize a sustainable cease fire and agree

to continue the cooperation towards the improvement of the situation, the realization of the two-state solution and the stabilization of the region. regarding the economy, we firstly concurred that for both of us to lead the global economic growth together, the promotion of investment in both directions is important. i explained how the japanese businesses are making a significant contribution to the u.s. economy by their investment in the creation of jobs to which president biden agreed. in order to maintain and strengthen the competitive edge in the area of advanced technologies and to respond appropriately to issues such as economic coercion, non-market policies and practices, and excess capacities and to

overcome vulnerability of the supply chains and to lead a sustainable and inclusive economic growth, we affirmed that the collaboration of japan and the united states is indispensable. in addition, we concurred to advance our cooperation in the areas such as decarbonization, ai, and startups. there was a huge achievement also in the area of space. in the first half of the 1960s when i was in the united states, it was the dawn of space development in the united states. i am one of all those who were so excited in the u.s. by the spectacular challenge in space that an arrangement has been signed on this occasion and the provision of the lunar rover by

japan and the allocation of two astronaut flight opportunities to the lunar service to japan were confirmed. under the artemis program, i welcome the lunar landing by a japanese astronaut as the first non-u.s. astronaut. we also discussed the efforts towards a world without nuclear weapons. we affirmed the realistic and practical endeavors of nuclear disarmament, including the issuance of the hiroshima division last year and i welcomed the participation of the united states in the fnct -- which was launched by my initiative. lastly, in order to further

strengthen the people to people bond, which is the corner stone of our unwavering japan/u.s. relationship, we affirm to further promote people to people exchanges. as the outcome of our meeting today, we will issue the joint statement titled the global partners for the future. this is the expression of the determination of japan and the united states to maintain and strengthen the free and open international order based on the rule of law that underpins the peace, stability, and prosperity of the community and states the guiding principles. with our partnership, we will defend the future of japan and the united states, the indo-pacific and the world and make that future all the more prosperous. >> thank you. now we'll take a few questions.

jordan of bloomberg. >> thank you, mr. president. last month you predicted the federal reserve would cut interest rates thanks to falling inflation, but today data showed that inflation rose more than expected for the third straight month. so how concerned are you about the fight against inflation stalling, and do you at&t by your prediction for a rate cut? >> well, i do stand by my prediction that there ought it been a rate cut. this may delay it a month or so, i'm not sure of that. we don't know what the fed is going to do for certain. but look, we have dramatically reduced inflation from 9 % down to close to 3%. we're in a situation where we're in a better situation than we were when we took office where inflation was skyrocketing, and we have a plan to deal with it, whereas the opposition, my opposition talks about two things. they just want to cut taxes for the wealthy and raise taxes on other people.

and so i think they have no plan. our plan is one i think is sustainable. >> mr. prime minister, you've said that in the steel acquisition of u.s. steel is a private matter, but i'm wondering did you discuss the matter today with president biden and do you believe that politics are influencing president biden's decision to oppose the deal, and i wouldn't mind, mr. president, if you answered that one too. >> translator: on the issue that you have raised, we understand the discussions are underway between the parties. we hope these discussions will unfold in directions that would be positive for both sides. japan believes that appropriate procedures based on law is being implemented by the u.s. government. japan is the largest investor to

the united states. japanese businesses employ close to 1 million workers in the united states, and investment from japan to the u.s. can only increase upwards in years to come, and we wish to cement this win-win relationship. thank you. >> i stand by my commitment to american workers. i gave my word, i'm going to keep it. i stand by our commitment to our alliance. this is exactly what we're doing, a strong alliance as well. >> prime minister's microphone, please. [ speaking in a global language ] >> at the summit, you confirmed your strong objections against

unilateral attempts to change status quo by force or coercion by china and agreed on reinforcing response capabilities. under current circumstances japan and the united states bolster defense capabilities, china may become more preoccupied in military expansion and intensify its coercive behavior. that is the risk of -- in order to avoid the divide, how should japan and u.s. respond? let me then take that question first. at this summit, we confirmed that the united states and japan will resolutely defend and bolster a free and open international order based on the rule of law and that japan and the united states as global partners shall work together. for that purpose. on challenges concerning china

including the point you raised on objecting to unilateral attempts to change status quo by force or coercion, we concurred that japan and the united states as global partners shall work in close coordination. and also, as i said previously, we will continue our dialogue with china and we will cooperate with china in tackling common challenges, and the president and i confirmed the importance of such dialogue as well. based on the solid trust with our ally, the united states we will continue to call on china

to fulfill its responsibilities as a major power. japan's policy which i have consistently em e braced is to comprehensively promote the mutually strategic relationship we have with china and establish a constructive and stable japan/china relationship through efforts by both sides. that has been my consistent position that i have upheld. we will continue to seek close communication with china at all levels. that's it for me. >> you know, first of all, we keep improving our lines of communication with one another. that's the united states and china. we -- i've recently spoken at length with president xi, and we've agreed that we would, number one, have personal contact with one another whenever we wanted to discuss

anything so there will be no -- nothing slips between the cup and the lip so we know exactly what the other team is thinking. number one. and so we had a long discussion last almost -- i guess almost two weeks ago now, and the best way to reduce the chances of miscalculation and misunderstanding is number one. number two, in our alliance we have with japan is truly defensive in nature. it's a defensive alliance, and the things we discuss today improve our cooperation and are purely about defense and readiness. it's not aimed at any one nation or a threat to the region, and it doesn't have anything to do with conflict and so this is about restoring stability in the region, and i think we have chance of doing that. okay. third -- the next question. who do i call on next? hang on a second. i got my list here.

hang on. i apologize. >> thank you, my first question would go to both of you, mr. president and mr. prime minister. is there a path for japan to become a member, and i would have a second question for you, mr. president, you're now saying that benjamin netanyahu is making a mistake in gaza. what are you willing to do to make him change his strategy, and would you consider conditioning military aid to israel? thank you. >> hi. >> thank you. your question about -- i will respond. our country we want to contribute to the peace and stability of the region and,

therefore, we have consistently supported, having said that, the participants u.s., uk, australia, with bilateral relationship or multilateral occasions we have established the various relationships but for japan to have a direct cooperation with nothing has been decided at this moment. countries with multilateral frameworks, we will continue our cooperation so that will continue to be considered. at the moment, at the relationship between japan and akus, that's it. >> with regard to my discussions with bibi netanyahu, prime

minister netanyahu as well as our relationship with israel, i have been very blunt and straightforward with the prime minister as well as his war cabinet, as well as the cabinet, and the fact of the matter is that bibi and i had a long discussion. he agreed to do several things that related to number one getting more aid of both food and medicine into gaza and reducing significantly the attempts, the civilian casualties in any action taken in the region, and thus far and that's tied to the hostages. there are a number of hostages that are being held by the -- by hamas and just yesterday when meeting with the vice president or the national security adviser before that, and our american hostages as well, and they know how committed we are and the whole team to getting their loved ones home. we're not going to stop until we do. the new proposal on the table of

bill burns led the effort for us, we're grateful, now up to hamas, they need to move on the proposal, and as i said we get these hostages home where they belong. and the fact is that we're getting in somewhere in the last three days over 100 trucks. it's not enough, but needs to be more, and there's one more opening that has to take place in the north. we'll see what he does in terms of meeting the commitments he made to me. >> this will be the last reporter. shimizu of nhk. >> translator: as the prime minister mentioned the of north

korea was discussed. prime minister you expressed your wish to have -- they have that abduction is already a result, which means they are refusing during the meeting, what did you tell president biden about the outlook of a summit, and what engagement did you ask president biden, president biden my question, what did you hear from prime minister kishida and what is your observation and feeling your president with the nuclear missile issues? what is your position? do you support the summit between japan and north

. first of all, if i may start, regarding my summit meeting with president biden about north korea, including the missile and nuclear issues we have discussed, regarding the increasingly worrying situation we have agreed here to continue our close coordination, and on top of that, it will be concurred that the window of discussion with north korea is open, and we discussed that japan, u.s. will continue to work closely together. i also asked for the continued understanding and cooperation for the immediate resolution of the abduction issue and president biden once again gave myself a very strong assurance regarding the recent announcement by north korea. i will refrain from commenting on each and every announcement by north korea, but as i have been mentioning repeatedly, based on the perspective that the establishment of a meaningful relation between japan and north korea is in the

interest of both japan and north korea, and that it would be hugely beneficial to the peace and stability of the region. my policy is to aim for a summit meeting with north korea to resolve various issues and with advanced high level consultation directly under my instruction and that remains unchanged. that is my response. >> we did discuss this issue. we both agreed that dprk must also address the serious humanitarian concerns of the international community, including the immediate resolution of the abduction issue. the prime minister has just spoken to the potential of what these plans may mean. i welcome the opportunity, we welcome the opportunity of our allies to initiate dialogue with the democratic republic of korea. i have said many times, we're open to dialogue ourselves at

any time. without preconditions of the dprk. so i have faith in japan, i have faith in the prime minister, and i think seeking a dialogue with him is a good thing, a positive thing. thank you. thank you. >> why doesn't everybody holler at once. >> on the issue of abortion, sir, respectfully, what do you say to the people of arizona witnessing a law go in place that dates back to the civil war? >> elect me. i'm in the 20th century, 21st century, not back then. thank you. >> thank you all very much. >> thanks, everybody. >> how will the war in ukraine come to a head, sir? >> this concludes press conference. >> house leader allowing a vote. there's overwhelming support for ukraine among the majority of

democrats and republicans. there should be a vote now. >> so president biden with a couple of last questions on the issues of abortion and ukraine. after a press conference with prime minister of japan, kishida, both domestic and international but they had a meeting in the oval office, and they have a pretty busy schedule for the rest of the day and into tomorrow. i want to bring in victor cha, senior vice president for asia and korea at the center for strategic and international studies. it's always good to see you, especially in a situation like this. you heard president biden say that the alliance between the u.s. and japan is a beacon in the world, they have important military partnership, they both talked about the importance of their economic partnership. a lot of people may not know that the u.s. is the largest investor in japan, that japan brings more money into the

united states than any other country. and also something new, a space partnership. but as you listen to them, what can the impact of an alliance like this be, and what did you hear as a geopolitical headline out of this press conference, victor? >> well, thanks chris. to me the most interesting piece of this was the word they did not use until they got to the questions from the press, and that is china. you know, what we're seeing now is the united states is facing multiple challenges from europe with regard to the middle east, china, north korea, iran, and you see allies like japan really stepping up to join the united states in helping to preserve the rule space. we see it with japan, australia, south korea, they're going to meet with the philippines leader tomorrow. we see it with the uk. this is a very unique set of alliances that the united states has, unique historically, and they're beginning to produce fruit at a time when the united

states really needs -- is challenged on multiple fronts. biden is challenged on multiple fronts. this summit meeting today is sort of a very strong reflection of how closely tied this particular key ally in asia is with the united states. >> i also want to bring in nbc's peter alexander, chief white house correspondent who is just steps from those podiums, and we heard you asking one of those questions, peter. president biden was asked about a range of issues from the new inflation numbers to the warning to israel to your question about the new abortion ruling. i wonder what your big takeaway from this press conference is. >> obviously the backdrop to all of this on a stifling day in the rose garden is the warm relationship between the u.s. and japan. obviously the basis for the visit, to try to fortify that relationship, to demonstrate its strength and to sort of reinforce the military ties that exist between the two with the joint defense counsel that the

two men spoke about as well. there are obviously some other issues around the world that were a part of the topic of conversation for these two leaders behind closed doors today that the president addressed. among them, the president saying so far he has been seeing improvement in terms of what benjamin netanyahu has been doing, allowing additional aid to go into gaza right now. the president, you also heard from the prime minister of japan as well, who communicated his support of this effort to try to broker a deal. president biden, who just in an interview in the last 24 hours, described the way netanyahu has been prosecuting this war to this point as a quote, mistake, today said that he in his conversations with netanyahu called for a cease fire that would include a hostage deal. that desire only 24 hours after some members of the hostage families came to the white house to visit with the national security adviser and the vice president to bring individuals home as soon as possible. to this point, hamas has balked

at the latest offer on the table. finally, the issue that has dominated domestic politics in recent days. that of course the topic of abortion, which is the question that i posed to the president, hoping that even after he had answered the questions that he had scheduled for the 2 and 2 as they described, he might stop to answer. his answer was simple, elect me. simply criticizing, again, what we have witnessed in recent days, most recently in arizona, this strict law that has been put back in place, dating back to the mid-1800s. a law that basically makes almost no exceptions that would allow for abortion except for the life of the mother. this has become a politically complex issue for republicans. we heard from donald trump earlier today, the former president indicating if he were elected president, he would not support a national abortion ban. he said earlier in the week, he supports what exists presently, the states can do their own thing.

president biden again today described that as turning back the clock, basically saying that is something that should be left to history, and if he is elected he would focus on restoring roe v. wade as the national law of the land with the votes in congress he would need as well. chris. >> thank you for that. and victor, one of the last shouted questions, and one of the last comments the president made about aid to ukraine, calling on congress to vote on that now. he says that there is overwhelming support in both parties for it. look, prime minister kishida has spoken about how russia's invasion of ukraine deeply alarmed japan, saying ukraine today may be east asia tomorrow, referring to china's territorial ambitions. japan under kishida has made major and historic moves to militarize in recent years. i wonder if you can put into context how important japan is, particularly in capabilities to defend itself, but to the american strategy in the pacific. >> sure. it's extremely important.

you're right, chris, there have been historic changes really in the last five years in japan with regard to their defense spending, their willingness to coproduce weapons and colicense with the united states. these are major steps. japan is the third largest economy in the world, but for nearly half a century, it didn't have a military or military capabilities that were commensurate with that. we're seeing that change now, and we're seeing a better integration of the u.s. japan alliance. these are the sort of expert details, issues that make these militaries run better together, and not just separately. with regard to ukraine, you know, it's not just japan. japan, south korea, australia, have all stepped up and played some sort of role in the defense of ukraine. in japan's case, the united states contributes missiles to ukraine. they have given billions of dollars of assistance. we see them operating together, ob