LIVE: President Biden delivers remarks following Special Counsel report on classified documents

good evening we're coming back on the air at this hour because we received late word that President Biden will speak at the White House his comments set to come after the special council's report today made public into President Biden's handling of classified documents uh clearing the president of any charges but questioning the president's memory special counsel Robert her highly critical of President Biden's action saying he quote willfully retained and disclosed classified information after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen the materials included classified documents concerning military and foreign policy in Afghanistan and also handwritten notes about National Security and foreign policy issues the special counsel who was once a US attorney appointed by Donald Trump did note what he considers the differences from the Trump documents case saying unlike Trump President Biden handed the documents over now we're awaiting you can see the live picture from the White House at this hour the Diplomatic reception room the president expected to come before the cameras uh this was an unscheduled moment from the president and again it comes amid these headlines today that he has been cleared in the classified documents case of any potential uh charges that could have come in this case attorney general Merck Garland in the last 24 hours coming out publicly saying that he'd been made aware of the special council's findings uh that he had no part uh in this investigation uh or in these findings the White House was said to be briefed on this again today uh the results of the special council's report made public making it clear that the president will not be charged in this case let's listen to the presid let me say a few things before I take your questions as you know the special Council released this finding today about their look into my handling of classified documents I was pleased to see he reached a firm conclusion that no charges should be brought against me in this case this was an exhaustive investigation going back more than 40 years even into the 1970s when I was still a new United States Senator the special Council acknowledged I cooperated completely I did not throw up any roadblocks I sought no delays in fact I was so determined to give the special counsel what he needed I went forward with a 5H hour iners 5H hour inperson interview over two days on October the 8th and 9th of last year even though Israel had just been attacked by Hamas on the 7th and I was very occupied it was in the middle of handling an international crisis I was a especially pleased to see special counsel make clear the Stark distinction and difference between this case and Mr Trump's case special counsel wrote and I quote several material distinctions between Mr Trump's case and Mr Biden's are clear continuing to quote most notably after giving multiple chances to return classified documents to avoid prosecution Mr Trump Alle legely did the opposite according to the indictment he not only refused to return the documents for many months he also obstructed Justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it in contrast went on to say Mr Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice consented to the search of multiple locations including his home sat for a voluntary interview and in other ways cooperated with the investigation end of quote I've seen the headlines since the report was released about my willful retention of documents this these assertions not only miss leading they're just plain wrong on page 215 if you had a chance I know it's a long it's ath document on page 215 of the report of the special counsil found the exact opposite here's what he wrote there is in fact a shortage of evidence that I willfully retain classified materials related to Afghanistan on page 12 the special councel also wrote for another documents the decision to decline criminal charges was straightforward the evidence suggested Mr Biden did not willfully retain these documents the evidence said I did not willfully retain these documents in addition I know there's some attention paid to some language in the report about my recollection of events there's even reference that I don't remember when my son died how in the hell dare he raise that frankly when I was asked the question I thought to myself wasn't any of their damn business let me tell you something some of you have comment I wear since the day he died every single day the rosary he got from our lady of every Memorial Day we hold a service remembering him attending by friends and family and the people who loved him I don't need anyone I don't need anyone to remind me when he passed away passed away simple truth is I sat for a 5 hour interview or two days of events Going Back 40 years years at the same time I was managing International crisis their task was to make a decision about whether to move forward with charges in this case that's their decision to make that's the council's decision to make that's his job and they decided not to move forward for any extraneous commentary they don't know what they're talking about it has no place in this report the bottom line As a matter is now closed I'm going to continue what I've always focused on my job of being president of the United States of America now thank you and I'll take some questions President Biden something the special counil said in his report is that one of the reasons you were not charged is because in his description you are a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory I'm well meaning and I'm an elderly man and I know what the hell I'm doing I've been president I put this country back on his feet I don't need his recommendation it's totally how bad is your memory and can you continue as president my memory is so bad I let you speak that's that's that's memory has gotten worse Mr President my memory is not got my memory is fine my memory take a look at what I've done since I become president none of you thought I could pass any of the things I got passed how'd that happen you know I guess I just forgot what was going on Mr President voters have concerns about your age how are you going to assuage them and do you fear that this report is only going to feel further concerned only by some of you criminal liability today but do you take responsibility for at least being careless with classified material I take responsibility for not having seeing exactly what my staff was doing there goes in and twins out things that appeared in my garage things that came out of my home things that were move were moved not by me but my staff but my staff Mr Mr Mr President Mr President for months when you were asked about your age you would respond with the words watch me many American people have been watching and they have Express concerns about your age that is your judgment that is your judgment that is not the Judgment of the press they express concerns about your mental acuity they say that you are too old Mr President in December you told me that you believe there are many other Democrats who could defeat Donald Trump so why does it have to be you now what what is your answer to question I'm most qualified person in this country to be president of the United States and finish the job I started why are youus names of worlders thank you everyone you I did not share classified information I did not share with your ghost with my ghost I did not guarantee you did not but the special Council said he did not say that okay he did not say that but Mr President one let me answer your question the fact of the matter is what I didn't want repeated I didn't want him tonight I didn't read it to him was I had written a long memorandum to President Obama why we should not be in this in Afghanistan and I was multiple pages and so what I was referring to I said classified I should have said it was should be private because it was a contact between the president and the vice president as to what was going on that's what he is referring to it was not classified information in that document that was not [Music] class he called on me um when you look back at this incident is there anything you would do differently now and do you think that a special prosecutor should have been appointed in the first place in both of these cases first of all what I would have done is overseen the transfer of the material that was in my office in my offices I should have done that if I go back on I didn't have the responsibility to that that was my staff was supposed to do that and they reference that in the report and my staff did not do it in the way that for example I didn't know how half the boxes got in my garage until I found out staff gathered them up put them together and took them to the garage in my home and all the stuff that was in my home was in filing cabinets that were either locked or able to be locked it was in my house it wasn't out in like in Mar Lago in a public place where and none of it was high classified didn't have any of that red stuff on it you know what I mean around the corners none of that and so I wish I had paid more attention to how the documents were being moved in where I thought they were being moved to the archives I thought all of was being moved that's what I thought now what was the last part of your question whether a special counsel should have been appointed in this case and in the case of your rival president former president I think a special Council should have been appointed and the reason I think a special counsel should have been appointed is because I did not want to be in a position that they looked at Trump and weren't going to look at me just like they looked at the vice president and the fact is they made a firm conclusion I did not break the law period thank you all very very much [Music] hostage negotiation I'm of the view as you know that the conduct of the response in Gaza in the Gaza Street trip has been um over the top I think that uh as you know initially the president of Mexico CCE did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in I talked to him I convinced to open the gate I talked to BB to open the gate on the Israeli side I've been pushing really hard really hard to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza there are a lot of innocent people who are starving a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying and it's got to stop number one number two I was also in the position that I'm the guy that made the case that we have to do much more to increase the amount of material going in including fuel including other items I've been on the phone with the qataris I've been on the phone with the Egyptians I've been on the phone with the Sodis to get as much Aid as we possibly can into Gaza they're innocent people innocent women and children who are also in bad badly need of help and so that's what we're pushing and I'm pushing very hard now to deal with this hostage ceasefire because as a you know I've been working tirelessly in this deal how can I say this without revealing to lead to a sustained pause in the fighting in the taking place in in the Gaza Strip and uh because I think if we can get the delay for that an initial delay I think that uh we would be able to uh extend that uh so that we could increase the prospect that this fighting in Gaza changes there's also negotiations you may recall in the very beginning right after right before Hamas attacked I was in contact with the Saudis and others to work out a deal where they would recognize Israel's right to exist let them make them part of the Middle East recognize them fully in return for certain things that the United States would commit to do and the commitment that we were proposed to do related to two two two items I'm not going to go in detail but one of them was to deal with uh um the protection against their Arch Enemy to the northwest a Northeast I should say the second one by providing ammunition and material for them to defend themselves coincidentally that's the time frame when this broke out I have no proof what I'm about to say but it's not unreasonable supect that the Hamas understood what was about to take place and wanted to break it up before it happened thank you everybody president Biden this evening in an unscheduled moment with the press the Diplomatic reception room a rather extraordinary scene at first the president talking about the findings of the special Council looking into his classified documents case clearing President Biden of any charges but going on to say a few things about uh his memory in this report uh the President coming out addressing that with the reporters who asked multiple questions about his memory about his age particularly in the middle of this presidential election cycle now obviously election day now nearing uh the president looking at this point to be up and a rematch with uh Donald Trump of course the former president uh they have made age uh and mental acuity a significant issue at least so far in this presidential race I want to BR Mary Bruce at the White House Mary uh the president it was clear wanted to make it very clear uh that the special counsel here also laid out in great detail and this was a US attorney appointed by former president Donald Trump uh that this special counsel pointed out what he saw as very significant differences between Donald Trump's CL classified documents and what they discovered with President bidens yeah and David I cannot tell you I don't recall the last time I saw the president this angry and fired up it is clear that he is taking a lot of issues with this report while he did praise uh the report of course for laying out those Stark differences between his handling of classified documents and the way that the former president handled these documents which as the report said was basically completely opposite Joe Biden cooperated with authorities turned over everything that they found Donald Trump did not and has been accused of uh D helping to destroy evidence and obstructing justice but the president making it very clear that it as he put it it is misleading and plain wrong that the report concludes that he willfully retained these documents the president saying he did not share classified information and saying the only thing he really regrets is that he didn't oversee more the transfer of the this material essentially pointing a finger at his staff and David when it comes to the issue of the president's memory he was Furious saying I know what the hell I'm doing my memory is fine and not only that a quick follow-up Mary he was extremely angry over the mentioning of his son's death and and the implication in the Special council's Report the president did not remember when his son died the president saying that is obviously not the case uh and did not hide his anger here tonight yeah it clearly struck a deeply personal cord with the president saying how the hell dare he referencing her saying how the hell dare he include in this report and question whether he knew and remembered the date and the year of his son's death saying that's something he could never forget but David the fact of the matter is that while legally this report May close this case politically it could still be extremely damaging to the president we know the concerns over his mental Fitness are a top concern for voters and yet the president you know while he tried to Tamp down those concerns by by holding this very last minute event making clear his annoyance and his frustration David there at the end when he was answering a question he did mistakenly refer to the president of Egypt as the president of Mexico he did he went on to mention Egypt a couple of sentences later so not making excuses uh but wanted to point that out as well Mary of course there'll be more reporting on this our coverage continues on ABC News live ABC news.com I'm David buor reporting from Phoenix tonight uh we'll have much more on world news tonight tomorrow and we'll see you then good night this has been a speci report from ABC News