tonight on three 60, breaking news. the house takes a major step and voted to authorize an impeachment inquiry into president biden. do they have any evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors? also, judge tanya chutkan. overseeing the federal january 6th case against the former president. today, hit pause on the proceeding raising the question will it ever go to trial at all. later, a cofounder of the conservative group, moms for liberty gets caught up in a sick scandal of her own, and now the school board where she serves once were gone. good evening, thanks for joining, us we begin with tonight's historic vote to formalize the impeachment inquiry into president biden that house republicans have

been pursuing now for months with little or nothing so far to show for it. president biden tonight called it a baseless political stunt, the vote 221 to 212 was entirely along party lines. pushing toward earlier today, house speaker mike johnson said tonight, action was, quote, called for inappropriate. which is certainly a change from the mike johnson of four years ago, who believed the exact opposite on the subject of the impeachment was donald trump. >> the founding fathers, the founders of this country warned against single party impeachments. they had a very specific reason for warning us against that. they said that it would be bitterly divisive, perhaps irreparably divisive for the country. that's what is happening now. >> that was four years ago. when mike johnson said that, he had already seen plenty of evidence against the former president, including sworn testimony from ex administration officials, that the former president had tried to pressure ukraine's president into investigating, or at least announcing an investigation into then candidate biden and

his son hunter. that wasn't enough for him then. this time, it is different. there is next to no evidence of impeachable offenses yet, he's on record all the way back in the august saying, and i quote, the evidence and the allegations against president biden are the worst in the history of the country. it's not even close. he said giving him honest, in addition to lumping allegations and evidence together, he's the one making the allegations along with a number of top republican committee chairman. which led to a certain echo chamber quality to it all. but even for republicans who are not making allegations, to say they just want answers. it's worth examining what this search for answers has yielded so far. >> today, the house oversight committee is releasing subpoenaed bank records that show hunter biden's business entity, owasco pc, made directly monthly payments to joe biden. this wasn't a payment from hunter biden's personal account, but an account for his corporation that received payments from china, and other shady corners of the world. >> that's house oversight

committee chair, james comer, talk about evidence would later suggest were repayments of a car loan back in 2018, before joe biden was president. though there has been testimony that hunter biden played up his relationship with his father, neither chairman comer's committee nor jim jordan's judiciary committee have established the jin -- joe hunter biden influence any decisions by joe biden or -- they've uncovered no evidence that what hunter biden has been saying inched instead again at the capitol today is not true. >> my father was not financially involved in my business. not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of burisma. not in my partnership with the chinese private businessmen, not in my investments at home, nor abroad. certainly not as an artist. >> hunter biden was able to be questioned by the oversight committee in private, today and in defying the subpoena he certainly adding to his troubles, which now include two federal indictments. again, this has nothing to do

with his father and his capacity as president. but don't tell that to chairman comer, who had this to say about hunter biden's most recent indictment last week on textured. >> we think there are many more crimes, and my concern is that -- may have invited hunter biden to protect him from being deposed. in the house oversight committee -- >> indicted him to protect him? >> the classic rubric, invited him to protect him. i got it. >> in that indictment, and the earlier one, prosecutors laid out the evidence that they have gathered. showing comer in jordan so far have not, made plenty of allegations and a lot of tv appearances which could be entirely the point. just ask a former president who recently posted this on a social network, biden is a stone cold crooked, you don't need a long inquiry to prove it. it's already proven. joining us now, one of the no votes california democratic congressman, adam schiff. who's -- the president's first

impeachment. congressman, what is your reaction to votes tonight, are you surprised at all by the unanimous republican support? >> i'm not surprised. these are not serious people, this is not a serious impeachment inquiry. it is a tragedy, and a farce. it's motivated by two things. one of them was that social media post that you just showed on the screen, that is, they want to dilute the stain of trump's two legitimate impeachments with an illegitimate impeachment of joe biden. they have no affirmative agenda for the country, they're doing nothing on housing, nothing on food nothing on health care. nothing on climate change, nothing on gun safety. what they are doing, they do the censure of me, they vacated their own speaker. they had to expel one of their own members. now, they're engaged in a farce of an impeachment proceeding. as a way of taking time on the floor, because they have

nothing else to offer the american people. it's a terrible reason for impeachment proceeding. >> there are moderate republicans who want to do good. did they go along with this just because of pressure from their constituents? because the pressure to tow the line with the former president? >> absolutely. one of the things that donald trump did well, indeed shrewdly, anyone who stepped an inch out of line, he would come down on like a ton of bricks. he would organize primary challenges and go after them. what we've seen is an epidemic of cowardice in the gop conference. that's what's motivating this here. when you contrast, as you alluded, the overwhelming evidence that we had that the president trump had with hundreds of millions of dollars of ukraine to extort president zelenskyy, into helping his presidential campaign, or the evidence that was before all of us in congress, president trump's incitement of a violent attack on the capitol, the subject of the two impeachments

of donald trump to the lack of any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of joe biden, it shows you the glaring abuse of this process. and it just invites further abuse of the impeachment or any other tool, censure, or anything else by this maga crowd. >> is it clear to you how house republicans are going to find, try to find evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors. now they've come up short for months with multiple investigations. >> they have. i think they have no idea. what they also don't fully appreciate in this is something that i think speaker pelosi understood, that is once you get this train started, you darn well better be sure you have any evidence. you may need to gather further insights in flesh out that evidence. it gathers momentum on its own, and then it becomes very difficult to stop. the republican conference

doesn't seem to be able to think ahead of next week or tomorrow. so, they're putting the country on this train, destined for nowhere. so, by contrast, we did a thorough investigation, we waited until the evidence was ripe even to begin a formal inquiry. and we see none of that happening here. this is an impeachment in search of a reason for being. it is an impeachment with a target. but no evidence of high crime or misdemeanor. >> and that, respect -- now comer in jordan are gonna start, they say they're gonna start -- content proceedings against hunter biden for not appearing at his scheduled deposition today. they referenced you in their joint statement saying, quote, democrats have used depositions in their investigations, including the adam schiff impeachment inquiry. i'm wondering what you responses to that? >> we did use depositions, and we've used open hearings, and

they offered hunter biden an open hearing. and then they told him no. they wouldn't accept it. look, i welcome that hearing in the judiciary committee. i think i will move to add jim jordan to the contempt motion. you know, anderson, i don't how these people do it. we're gonna have jim jordan, who failed to appear for his own deposition, failed to cooperate with the deposition, he's gonna be the one to convene a contempt hearing of hunter biden? i'll be very interested to see what that looks like. if he brings a contempt motion, he should be added to it. >> congressman schiff, thank you for your time. i want to get some perspective now from former biden communications director, kate bedingfield. currently cnn political commentator, david axelrod, david urban. former obama senior advisor, and former camp -- respectively. david axelrod, i'm wondering what you thought of hunter biden's appearance in front of

congress today. and their move now, -- >> look, just from a strategic standpoint, i thought it was the right thing to do. it underscored the fact that he showed up, and was willing to testify, and that they didn't want to hear from him. in public. i thought it was the right thing to do. he's got a lot of problems, legal problems if he has to deal with. but i thought, in this particular instance, he did the right thing. i just want to say something, anderson about what adam schiff just said. once you get these things started, they're hard to stop. i don't think they're ever gonna stop. i don't think the speaker can get the votes to actually impeach the president. i don't think he wants to call the question. a lot of people who voted for today who are in competitive districts don't want to call the question. i think this is just gonna be kind of a benghazi-like experience where it goes on and on until the election comes. >> kate, do you think it's gonna happen as well?

do you think the top gonna be? >> i do. i think we have these republicans in 18 biden districts who don't want to take a vote on this. who don't want to have to go back to their constituents and say that they participated in this essentially political sham process. they said as much rolling into this vote today over the course of the last few months. you saw a lot of these republicans in those districts saying, this isn't where our focus should be. they don't want to take that vote. they know that the potentially jeopardizes their majority in the house. you know, i think ultimately what happens here, i agree that republicans have put themselves in a weird box. either a group of them, enough of them, if they took a vote, would exonerate biden, great for joe biden, or you put these vulnerable members they then if you go back to their constituents and explain the votes under the gun, and having to vote for this thing. it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me as a political calculation for the house, for

the house republicans i should say. at the end of the day, i think it will wind up hurting them more than it's gonna hurt joe biden. >> david, urban after that house judiciary committee voted on charges in the first trump impeachment four years ago tonight. then congressman mike johnson, i want to play what he said four years ago. >> the founding fathers, the founders of this country warned against single party impeachments. they had a very specific reason for warning us against that. they said that it would be bitterly divisive, perhaps irreparably divisive for the country. that's what's happened now. >> if that was the principal 2019, why isn't out important tonight you think? >> i think what's happened, anderson, i was listening to congressman schiff talking just gonna laughing shaking my head. it is just impeachment is a political tool. that's what's going on here. it's politics pure and simple. this is gonna be a benghazi

like inquiry, it's gonna go on and on and on. there's not gonna be a call for a vote on the question. whether or not to impeach the president, because i don't think that's the ultimate objective here at the end of the day. at the end of the day, it's too, been a political year, is to drop as much blood as possible. look, on president trump's inauguration day, the washington post golfers impeachment on the day that he was inaugurated. it's not like the sport just started two days ago or this evening on this boat. it started way way back in the gingrich days when we impeach clinton for something that may not have been impeachable, and we continue one. here we sit tonight on the verge of another unstoppable movement. >> david axelrod, was the impeachment of trump a sham in this is a sham to? >> i think these are two entirely different issues, because basically, they're basing an impeachment inquiry on something the president son did. hunter biden is not president

of the united states. and after two years of trying, they still haven't been able to make a link between joe biden and what hunter did. this is entirely different. trump was being hill accountable for trump's own actions. but i will say, in terms of the politics of this, mike johnson is playing a game of twister here. i don't know if he's gonna build a stay on his feet. he's trying to keep his trump supporters and is freedom caucus people on board. they are demanding an impeachment. he's trying to keep his moderate biden district members on board. this was the compromise. we'll do this. but he is now at a runway here. ultimately, whether he can mollify everyone indefinitely it is the question. >> david urban, do you think this is motivated by the former president? that he wants this to muddy the waters in these guys, these

folks are dancing to his tune? >> i don't think that's the case, anderson i think it really is red meat for the republican base. his acts alluded to, the speaker has to keep his, he's got to run internally he's got to run a very complex organization. he's got to keep some incredibly complex things done here in the coming months to keep the government going. he's got to get a spending bill, a lot of things to do that kevin mccarthy got fired for trying to do. he's got to balance all those things on the tip of a pin coming up here on the next 30 to 60 days. >> i disagree with that, anderson. i do think this is in order to hit from donald trump who wants to portray a quid valence, they go after me, we are going after him. he wants to muddy the waters. and i think his supporters want to muddy the waters. speaker just made a pilgrimage to president trump, who knows what they talked about.

he came back, now we've got this vote. i think trump very much wanted this vote. he'd be very angry if there weren't this. vote. now the question, is does he pressure them to take more steps that johnson simply can't deliver? >> kate, as we mentioned, hunter biden made the surprise appearance on capitol hill today. instead he's ready to testify before congress, only publicly, i want to play a little bit more of what he said. >> during my battle with addiction, my parents were there for me. they literally saved my life. they helped me in ways that i will never be able to repay. of course, they would never expect me to. in the depths of my addiction, i was extremely irresponsible with my finances. but to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is beyond the absurd. >> kate, do you think he helped his cause here? >> i do.

what we saw, the republicans have been trying to make this a simple argument against joe biden's into his running in the democratic primary 2019. this was something that we had in kim coming to the biden campaign in 2019 what we learned, the more we talked about this, and the more joe biden talked about this, in personal terms and human terms, through the lens of the struggle that hunter went through in the challenges that people of a country can relate to, because everyone has someone in their family or friend who has struggled with the depths of addiction. the more people understood that that's what hunter was going through in some of these financial decisions were made, the more they understood. it that culminated in the 2020 campaign with a debate moment. with joe biden standing on the stage next to donald, trump donald trump coming at him in the debate, joe biden saying i'm proud of my son i love my son. i think every person watching this debate right now know somebody who struggled like hunter has. it's incredibly powerful. i think hunter doing this today, first of, all calling their

bluff and saying i will absolutely speak to you in a public televised hearing, they're saying no. was smart on his part. also, putting this in human terms and standing there and making his case directly, it was really smart thing for him to do. >> everybody stay with, us i want to get your take on today 's legal developments, the big news, the supreme court taken up a case that could help the former president in judge tanya chutkan hitting pause on the january 6th case. later, florida moral crusader, the sex abuse allegations against her husband, the salacious allegations against their private late in threesomes, and the question always about empathy and double standards ahead. .

, two major legal developments today, either or both of which could benefit the former president. the supreme court agreeing to weigh in on the scope of many january 6th indictments, including the former presidents. judge tanya chutkan's decision today to hit pause on the presidents case. joining us now with more of both, cnn chief legal affairs correspondent paula reid. talk to us about what judge chutkan had to say today. >> anderson, chutkan has been out of it that this case will go to trial in march. tonight, she saying, look, that might slide. she's had to put the proceedings on hold. and she has to do this because you really can't put on a case when the court of appeals is considering issues that could render the entire thing moot. this is also what we saw earlier this week, special

counsel jack smith asked the supreme court to just step in and decide these issues. so they can go to trial on time. notably tonight, the court of appeals, which is the next scheduled step, unless the supreme court weighs in, they set an expedited schedule for hearing these matters. even if they move quickly, ultimately, the supreme court is gonna have to weigh in before the trial can begin. >> why is the supreme court considering whether part of a federal obstruction law can be used to generate six cases? >> this is so interesting, they've decided to look at a certain part of federal obstruction law. and depending on how they define that, and how they decide that that may or may not apply to people who participated in the january 6th attack, that could possibly impact trump's case. also the supreme court said today, they are going toto once again weweigh in on n the e abon issue. this time, on mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortion, anderson no matter what they decide their.

the decision is likely to come by july. the height of the presidential campaign season. so, regardless of what the actual outcome is, the presidential front runners are going to once again face renewed pressure on this issue. the supreme court right now looming quite large for the next presidential campaign. >> paul arrid, thanks, perspective now from senior -- elie honig, kate bedingfield and the two dave, it's axelrod in urban. why did judge chutkan hit pause? >> she had to legally. this is the immunity question. here this is where donald trump's claims he cannot be prosecuted because what he did was part of his job as president. the law says that while an issue like that is working its way through the court of appeals at trial court, judge chutkan has to pause, has to be on stay. she probably didn't want to, but she has to. the practical result of that now is this march 4th trial date is very much in jeopardy. even if this appeal moves through the courts with lightning speed, the fastest it can realistically take is

january february, look at in february, if you look at watergate, -- >> the supreme court came in to address it. >> exactly. if they say we're gonna skip the court of appeals, we're gonna take it, we're gonna have a fast briefing schedule. we're looking at a late january, early february. it took the watergate case two months from the start of the time the supreme court took. it super expedited to rule. let's say we get a ruling in february, you can't come back in february, it's the trial judge and say, parties, we have this enormous a complicated case, it's been a trial in three weeks. that's just not realistic. >> there's two issues, could this to the supreme court effectively wipe away most if not all of trump's legal issues? >> yes, if trump wins on the immunity case, and i think it's a long shot for trump but not impossible, if trump wins on the immunity, case jacques mid-january 6th case is over and done. and i think fani willis is likeliest to. there's a separate issue that politics about with the obstruction charge. the supreme court is announced now, they are going to review whether the obstruction charge can be applied to january 6th.

two of the four charges against donald trump, federally are that charge. if the court says obstruction does not apply to january 6th, jack smith loses two of his four charges in that case, there's a couple different ways the supreme court can make a big dent here. >> david urban, on the trump campaign is already saying that shotguns paused election subversion trial in their, words big. when you see it that way? >> yeah, what elliott saying is correct, either way, whatever happens here, jack smith is in a really tough spot because, not just because of the first case the court can hear, but on this obstruction case which former likely the court doesn't generally take cases -- to hear them, if there is gonna uphold circuit court. the d. c. circuit overturned the district court, the supreme court is not gonna take that case empty to reaffirm what the court of appeals did. more likely they're going to overturn the circuit court and knocked down two of those counts in jack smith's case, which is basically his whole

ball of wax. >> do you agree with it? >> i do think it's more likely the supreme court overturns this, as david urban just said, all the courts below have said yes, obstruction does apply to what happened on january 6th. it's hard for me to see the supreme court saying, we're gonna review this just to say yeah, you all got it right. >> david axelrod, if the supreme court gives trump a win on one or both of the issues, is that politically tantamount to him being acquitted? >> well, i think we have to see how the rest of the stories unfold. it's a huge thing for him. look, at a minimum here, anderson, it's always been the case that his strategy would be delay, delay, delay. to try to kick a everything over until the general election. yes, if they throw major pieces of the indictment, that is a huge thing for him. just the delay is useful to him, if it gets delayed long, enough

it's gonna run right into the conventions and the general election. motivations, you have talked about this before, for his candidacy. this is part of his legal defense strategy. run for president, use your candidacy as a shield, and try to kick this thing to after the election, movie election and kick all these cases, these >> kate, given the timeline of the various cases, depending on what the supreme court rules if trump was on trial in the spring or the summer, what would that mean for the biden campaign? >> >> well, for the biden campaign, it gives them an opening, they want to make this about the contrast between trump the chaos trump brings, and what biden would do in a second term, biden's vision. if trump is ensnared in legal proceedings, in the heart of the campaign, it makes it harder for him to talk about his own vision, the things that

he wants to get done in the second term as he's focusing in on all the oxygen around him and the coverage around him is about the trial. i think it will give the biden campaign a natural built in contrast. the other thing that i think it's interesting here, as i know judge chutkan said the gag order remains in effect well this pause is taking place. i actually think that's a little bit of a political gift to trump. i expect there probably people in his political orbit who wish they could put a gag order on him on other issues. the kind of quieter more disciplined version of trump, probably benefits him in the end. it's just interesting that he will continue to be unable to really hold forth on this the way that he probably wants to. but that probably doesn't serve him. in some ways, i think this gag order probably does him a favor. >> you mention this before, how soon would the supreme court decide whether there are gonna weigh, in and how long would it take them? what's the process. >> two different issues here. on the immunity question, i think we will know by right around the new year whether the supreme court is gonna take it directly. i think they will. i think we have a ruling around february. on the other question, the obstruction question,

ordinarily, we would get a ruling on that the end of the term, which is june, july. i would not be at all surprised if doj makes a motion to the supreme court to expedite that one. they need to get that one resolved as soon as possible. you can't go to trial if you're jack smith when two of your charges might get knocked out later by the supreme court. >> for the supreme court to consider it, if they chose to consider it, do all the parties in it make an appeal? did actually go to the court and speak? >> it takes four justices for the court to take a case. it's not necessarily the five that you need to overrule the case. on the question of what they expedite it, either party can request it, a party can oppose. donald trump's team may well say, no, take your time and normal. coach don't rush this. we have to fully brief this. ultimately, as with everything

in front of the supreme court, it's up to the supreme court. >> with jack smith appear before the supreme court arguing his case, and trump side as well? >> sure. prominent jack smith himself. probably a member of his team or the solicitor general or to represent the government. >> david axelrod, how much -- for the supreme court given the history some history we've seen with this court. >> look, we know from past experience 2000 election when supreme court ruled on the florida election issue in the presidential race there, it took quite a hit after that. the supreme court has a lot of problems right now. and the more that people feel that it is functioning in a partisan way it is difficult for them. either way you rule on this, you're going to irritate people for sure. just back to your question before about throwing out the two counts on obstruction. anything that supports trump's idea that this whole thing was unfair to him, that it was contrived, will give energy to his campaign. so, that would be a really big deal. >> everyone, thank you, appreciate it. just ahead, the wake of these

developments, we're gonna check inin with the e former preresid, who isis in iowa tonight.. weeks s ahead of t the caucus ss touting g his poll n numbers, ad they get to o president t bidenn montanana.

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legal developments for the former president come as he was on the road in iowa, riding high in the polls. he's now up double digits against his opponents for the republican presidential nomination. we're joined now by cnn national correspondent, kristen holmes, who's following the former president on the campaign trail in coralville, iowa, his campaign wrapping up moments ago. what is the message tonight from the former president? >> anderson, his message to iowa voters was fairly clear. telling them that it wasn't just about the primaries in the caucuses. it was really about the primary election. heading into joe biden using unpopularity of biden to galvanize voters. ahead of these caucuses. just five weeks, out his message was fairly clear. take a listen. >> we are just 33 days away from iowa, first in the nation. i don't know how you got that? you got that because of me.

first in the nation caucuses, we're gonna keep you first in the nation for a long time. you know, the democrats bailed out. without trump you wouldn't be first in the nation anymore either. we kept you right here where you belong. you're gonna be here for a long time. first in the nation. on monday, january 15th, we're going to win the iowa caucuses. and then we're going to crush crooked joe biden next november. we are going to very simply make america great again. during this holiday season, families all across america are struggling under the brutal weight of bidenomics. more bidenomics, means a lot of bad things. this year alone, the typical american family is $7,500 poorer because of crooked joe's blunders and greedy betrayals have really hurt us badly. >> this is actually the most on message i have heard trump recently on the campaign trail. really focusing on the economy, something that he and his team believe will help him in a general election should he be the nominee. the other thing to point out,

here anderson, his team is growing increasingly confident here in iowa. particularly after that latest des moines register poll that had him up at 51%. we had heard chatter among gop operatives here on the ground, they believe trump was leading, they did not think the margins in recent polls were quite as wide until that des moines register poll, which has a lot of his advisers and the former president himself feeling good going into those caucuses. >> did you talk about the various legal cases he faces? for the impeachment inquiry? >> not really, we know, of course, that donald trump has been working with his allies on the hill over the impeachment inquiry. he has been briefed by various republicans in congress, he did not bring that up tonight, in terms of court cases, he mentioned the indictments helped him politically. he did not mention anything about chutkan pressing pause on that case. we do know from conversations with senior trump advisers, they do believe that today was

a win for them. >> did he talk about his rivals on the republican side for the nomination? >> the most interesting part about him talking about his rivals was actually how hard he went after nikki haley. usually, she was just a mention, he calls her name. it is clear that this endorsement by sununu got under his skin, as has her, lead or her growing lead in new hampshire. by that he mentioned how he doesn't believe that nikki haley is actually surging. he hasn't actually seen that the polls don't show that. but it clearly is something that he and his team are focused on. he also went after ron desantis. he didn't directly address any of the comments that desantis made in our town hall last night. he just went after particularly for ethanol, talking about farmers, an issue that's very important to voters here in iowa. anderson, just one thing i want to point out, that i think has been really unique to donald trump. something i've noticed in the last several events that have

been at. it there are people in this room, more than half, who raised their hands and said that there be caucusing for donald trump, and had never caucused before. that is something i've seen at the last two events that i've been at. it goes to show you that, despite the fact that he is facing all of these legal problems, he is still gaining new support that was also confirmed at the des moines register poll. >> interesting, kristen holmes thank you. quick programming note, presidential candidate, vivek ramaswamy, will participate in the cnn town hall tonight at nine pm eastern. he'll face republican voters in iowa, the des moines's grandview never say die, with my colleague abby philip will moderate in our time hall starts in less than half an hour. cofounder of the concert of, group moms for liberty, which has pushed anti lgbtq policies, is herself now caught up in a very public sex scandal. the florida school board she serves on wants her out. that's next.

the group moms for liberty is establish itself as a conservative powerhouse in schools around the country. remembers push for book bans and advocating against any discussion of gender or sexuality and critical race theory in classrooms. the group has been embraced by ron desantis, but it's also facing an intense amount of criticism for, among other, things the group stance on lgbtq issues in schools. now, a cofounder of moms for liberty is caught up in a sex scandal involving sex with another woman. cnn's the -- has the story. >> having sex with another woman in a threesome with her husband is not the issue.

but when you claim a moral high ground and then you attack the moral integrity of others, the blatant hypocrisy of mrs. ziegler, and how it reflects on the credibility of this board is a significant concern. >> this man is talking about this woman. brigitte ziegler. >> know who the candidates are first school board, know where they stand. hold him accountable. >> she's a cofounder of a conservative group, moms for liberty. and on tuesday, was asked to voluntarily resign from the sarasota county school board. >> if you are in support of everyone at having these illicit types of relationships, that wouldn't matter. >> ziegler, a close ally of florida governor ron desantis, helped off the -- and education law. dubbed by critics as the don't say gay bill. it removed discussion of sexual orientation and identity from public schools curriculum, desantis also appointed her to the board that manages disney's

special taxing district. the resolution recommends that brigitte ziegler immediately take all steps necessary to voluntarily resign. >> now, she's under intense criticism for the sex scandal involving her husband christian ziegler, the chair of the florida republican party and a woman, accusing him of rape. according to an affidavit, the woman told police that there was a planned sexual encounter with both christian and brigitte ziegler in october. brigitte canceled, leading the other woman to also cancel. but christians still showed up at the woman's home. brigitte, who hasn't been accused of criminal wrongdoing, admitted the couple had a previous three-way sexual encounter with a woman, quote, over a year ago, and that it only happened one time. >> mrs. ziegler, or you have ties to the school board here. the apoxsee in duplicity. >> ziegler sat stoically through the three hours a public comment at the school board meeting tuesday night and gave no indication of stepping down from the school board as her husband is being investigated.

>> as people may know, i serve another public board. this issue did not come up, we are able to forge ahead with the business of the board. >> still, she got an earful from the community. >> resign. >> the majority of those that showed up criticized her. though she did have some support. >> what an adult does in her private life is hers. it's not for you to judge >> some of the community are pointing to ziegler's hypocrisy in passing judgment on others. >> we hear about all of those hypocrites for my entire life. it's always do as i say, not as i do. >> the fallout from the sex scandal and the criminal investigation has been swift. a moms for liberty chapter in pennsylvania split from the national group, and top republican officials in florida, including governor desantis, have called on christian ziegler to resign. >> i don't know that she had any real standing with that hanging over. >> in a statement, christian ziegler attorney said, quote, we are confident that no charges will be filed, and mr.

ziegler will be completely exonerated. >> carla suarez joins us. now what's the next step? where does it go from here? >> well, anderson, the school board doesn't have the authority to remove brigitte ziegler, only governor ron desantis can. so far, the governor has not called on her to step aside. as for christian ziegler, the executive committee of the florida republican party is going to meet this weekend, and they're going to decide whether to suspend christian ziegler and take a vote of no confidence. right now, anderson, both zieglers remain in their leadership positions. >> carlos suarez, just ahead, what some are calling historic agreement today, the united nations cop28 climate summit in dubai, then there's the oil and gas indudustry, thosose who have beenen applaudining it, billll r has thatat story comoming up.

>> about two weeks weeks of controversial negotiations over questions about how the world should address the climate crisis and deal is reached today, the united nations climate summit, cop28 in dubai, some nations and climate -- disagreement can really be counted as a victory. cnn's bill weir has more. >> of the 198 nations that gathered in dubai, any one of them could've derailed this global conference on climate change. >> i must say, that you did it. for some, there was a sense of relief.

when sultan -- gathered in a groundbreaking agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. >> i see a request from similar. similar, you have the floor. >> the small island nations most vulnerable climate change saw no reason to cheer. >> we didn't want to interrupt the standing ovation when we came into the room, we are a little confused about what happened. it seems that you just gavelled the decisions the small island developing states were not in the room. we have come to the conclusion that the course correction that is needed cannot be secured. we have made an incremental advancement over business as usual. what we really needed is an exponential spread change in our actions and support. >> the influence of petrol states is still evident in the half measures and loopholes included in the final agreement. al gore tweeted about the watered down language. as opec congratulated the sultan and called for oil field

expansion, climate envoy john kerry tried a more hopeful tone. >> the message coming out of this c. o. p. is, we are moving away from fossil fuels, we're not turning back. that is the future. the united states is going to continue to lead the charge on this. on the home front, through investments, and the inflation reduction act and bipartisan infrastructure law. >> those laws have uncorked billions in clean energy investment. and the price of renewables has dropped so dramatically, texas leads the nation in wind power. the u.s. is still producing and exporting oil and gas at record rates. >> john kerry was trying to frame this as somewhat of a win, it is historic, they're finally using the f-word. anna koch in a meaningful way. but he has to come back to a white house that has approved massive liquefied natural gas infrastructure into drilling in alaska and other places. how will those words work going forward into holding countries to account?

>> unfortunately, the reality is that it was a disappointing agreement. there was no agreement reached to phase out fossil fuels. much weaker tea language of transitioning away from fossil fuels. the analogy i use, it's like your doctor telling you you have diabetes and you promising him or her that you'll transition away from eating donuts. that's not gonna do it. >> chief climate correspondent bill weir is here with us. what are the metrics in the specific goals by the numbers that experts say need to be reached to avoid the worst effects? >> professor is among the many that remind us, climate cooking pollution needs to come down by more than 40% by 2030. just a few years from now. right now, the world's on pace, and along with the pledges, to only had about 10%. the ambition needs to be quadrupled in speed and scope. and then the united states, as the legacy big polluter, needs

to do more, professor man argues our reduction should be about 60% to send a message for the rest of the world, when right, now it's about 5%. there's so much of a gap between ambition and promises and the reality of the physics of the planet. >> wow. >> any other, i, mean wins the next meeting? or is this? it >> there's one more in azerbaijan next year. eastern europe's tune. that's the only country russia when that in. they're brazil in 2025. that will be a big one, to see if they take this promise, and really put some meat on the bones. >> bill weir, thanks very much, appreciate. we wilill be rightht back.