today on "inside politics,"

all paths lead through michigan. president biden is on his way to a must-win state trying to lock down key voting blocks that could give him an edge in that tight battleground. plus, gut punch. that's how defense secretary lloyd austin is describing his prostate cancer diagnosis as he admits for the first time publicly that it was wrong to keep his surgery and hospitalization private, and a cnn exclusive. the district attorney leading the georgia election case against trump is refusing to step down amid allegations she had an affair with the lead prosecutor. we'll tell you why she's defiant. i'm dana bash. let's go behind the headlines and "inside politics." ♪ we start in michigan where president biden is about to meet with the group of voters critical to winning this battleground state, union workers. just hours before the president's trip, cnn learned he plans to issue an executive order targeting violent settlers in the west bank.

the white house is clearly hoping that will help with another key constituency in michigan, muslim americans. cnn's mj lee is in detroit where the president is heading. you broke the story about this executive order. what more can you tell us about what's behind it aside from what appears to be pretty obvious politically? >> reporter: yeah, dana. you know, this certainly takes aim at an issue that has been of growing concern for president biden and his white house, and that is the intensifying settler violence against palestinians in the west bank. we've heard the president condemn this kind of violence. we know that privately he has spoken with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, and we're just getting the details of this executive order that is coming today which would impose sanctions on four israeli settlers, we are told, who have been accused of engaging in these kinds of violent acts against palestinians in the west bank. all of this, of course, comes at

such a critical moment for this president as he has come under growing pressure over the israel/hamas war. of course, there has been a lot of criticism for the president's support for israel as the war has continued on, and a lot of people have sort of said he is responsible in part for the humanitarian crisis in gaza, and we've seen his political support eroding among some younger voters, progressives, and voters of color including among the arab american community and there is a significant arab american population here in michigan which is where the president is headed this afternoon. now the plan for this afternoon is for the president to meet with members of the uaw. the campaign is obviously rying to capitalize on that coveted political endorsement he received last week, and for now there aren't any official plans for the president to meet with any leaders or members of the arab american community, but that's a space we'll be watching

really closely. again, the president is trying to feel these criticisms and concerns and try to make sure the erosion of support that we have seen so far, that doesn't become a bigger erosion and a bigger problem as we head into november. dana? >> thank you so much for that reporting, manj, and now let's to the heart of the area where arab americans live and could help determine whether or not joe biden will actually take michigan again. jeff zeleny, you were there. you have been doing a lot of reporting on this. give us a sense of what you are hearing on the ground there. >> reporter: well, dana, this is one place where president biden will not be coming today. in fact, he will be going to a county just north of detroit as mj was saying, talking to uaw workers and some of the employees who he helped win and negotiate that settlement in the new contract last year, but will not be coming here to deerborn, and this is as mj was saying the

heart in the united states. there is raw anger at the president's policies. there is a discontent and discrust at this administration. we attended a rally at dearborn. here's a glimpse of the sentiment voiced by former biden supporters here in dearborn. >> we are saying to everybody that we are not going to sit down with this administration or this campaign. they have to call for a ceasefire. he can make a phone call tomorrow and put an end to all of this. he has chosen not to, and so we say with a very clear and loud voice, shame. >> all: shame. >> we say shame. they think we're going to forget. are we going to forget? >> all: no. >> are we going to forget? >> all: no. >> reporter: and of course, this is about the november election, dana, but there will be a test case before that, and that is february 27th. that is when the michigan primary will be held, and there is a sense of voters here voting

uncommitted. perhaps you can see behind me here, a truck has just pulled up knowing that we're doing a live shot here, but dana, this is a bigger piece of this building the coalition over the next ten months. it's a challenge that the biden campaign knows they have, but it's one of the reasons the president is coming here and of course, they hope to privately perhaps meet with some leaders. it's unclear if that will happen. there is no doubt michigan is at the center of the biden re-election strategy for the next ten months, dana. >> that is a very clever driver of that vehicle behind you. look. they're even backing up so we can see more of it. jeff, you're just too famous. they find you wherever you are. appreciate that reporting. i want to bring in my great panel, cnn's david chalian, elena treen, and john mitchell. i want to start with jeff left off and this is the road to 270, and we played with this.

you don't have you at the wall, so we'll do one snapshot. imagine a world in which donald trump in november assuming he's the nominee, wins some of those states in the sun belt. arizona and then goes out to georgia, okay? so he doesn't -- joe biden doesn't have that on his side. >> and nevada. >> and nevada, thank you. look at where joe biden is. we have michigan in yellow. michigan has 15 electoral votes. this is just one example of many, how critical michigan is to any joe biden win. >> 15 electoral votes. if that were to flip from blue to yellow, joe biden would be president of the united states. >> that's true. >> michigan and pennsylvania is not competitive because that dna is similar, but we see a specific michigan issue in what you just saw from jeff's reporting that has michigan -- i

will tell you from my reporting, chief among equals in that blue wall in terms of areas of concern for the biden campaign. >> yeah, and i think you're right. there is similar dna in that, quote, unquote, blue wall, but what makes michigan different is the significant arab american community. i want all to listen to debbie dingle. she is a democratic member of congress who represents big sections of that community. >> people need to understand what's going on in michigan with some of these arab american families who i've known forever. they are palestinians. we've got to address this. clear and simple, it's got to be addressed. >> it's so interesting because i actually had the mayor of dearborn on earlier this week who said he didn't want to meet with the president's campaign manager. he wanted to meet with people at the white house to talk policy.

so today -- which hasn't happened, and won't happen today. the president's going and he's focusing on union workers, and as far as i can tell, there's no -- maybe there's something in the works, but that hasn't happened yet. >> yeah. i think it's so interesting because for biden, this is an issue particularly with the israel/hamas conflict, the concerns of arab americans, but we know there are concerns from jewish americans, and there are concerns from national security and defense talks about how biden's response to the conflict, how he responds to calls for a ceasefire, which is quite frankly the line in the sand for a lot of arab americans. they want ceasefire and the fact that biden, although he's called for a lot of things, he stopped very short of a ceasefire. it's problematic for them, but i think it would be problematic if

he were to call for a ceasefire with a different constituency. president bidenn finds himself that, and i thought it was important when jeff said the campaign and michigan primary voters said, they're not comm committed. they're not saying they're going with another candidate right now, but they're not going to vote for joe biden in the primary. >> they're keeping it up in the air, and a lot of times you hear elected officials saying, i'm not going to follow the polls on this. i'm going to do what's right. i genuinely think that in this situation, that's where joe biden is which is -- which is in a place where he thinks israel should have the right to defend itself, but even now he's trying to, given the fact it's been so long, trying to do something, stopping short of a ceasefire. we can talk about that policy later on. let's zero in on the union vote in michigan and elsewhere. you covered donald trump, and what is so interesting and has

been since donald trump has been on the political scene is the way that he has taken some of the rank and file union vote from democrats, and if you just kind of take a look at where the latest polling is, this is union households in swing states, dead even. 47-47, and i want our viewers to listen to what donald trump said as he was very actively recording the endorsement from the teamsters. >> usually a republican wouldn't get that endorsement. for many, many years, they only do democrats, but in my case, it's different because identify employed thousands of teamsters and i thought we should pay our respects. as you know, a big part of the voting block vote for me, a big part. >> he's not wrong. >> he's not, and this is a core part of the trump campaign's strategy, particularly in states like michigan, but also pennsylvania, wisconsin, the states that trump won in 2016, but biden ended up flipping for

himself in 2020. they want to peel away not necessary leadership. we know that the president of the united autoworkers union came out and endorsed biden last week, but they're really going after these rank and file members. many of whom did support donald trump in 2016, that they think they can pull away and peel away from donald trump, and it's part of their argument. they really have been ramping up their messaging and strategy in these key battleground states going after the working class vote. they see organized labor as being a key part of that. again, it is typically a democratic voting block and so that's another thing to reconcile. >> and biden showed more strength than hillary clinton did with that voting block. >> yes. >> that's a point. donald trump would love the endorsement of teamsters. >> everybody stand by. up next, a remarkable moment at the pentagon. defense secretary lloyd austin apologizing for not properly communicating his cancer diagnosis and treatment to president biden, pentagon staff,

and the general public.

just a short time ago, defense secretary lloyd austin spoke publicly for the for time about his battle against prostate cancer and his failure to immediately disclose his illness and hospitalization to the president. secretary austin says he apologized to the president and admitted he did not, quote, handle this right. >> but i want to be crystal clear. we did not handle this right. i did not handle this right. i should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. i should have also told my team and the american public, and i take full responsibility. i apologize to my teammates and to the american people. now i want to make it very clear that there were no gaps in authorities and no risk to the

department. we've already put in place some new procedures to make sure that any lapses in notification don't happen. >> cnn's oren liebermann joins us live, and you were at that press conference. tell us what it was like. >> reporter: dana, this was our first chance to ask questions of defense secretary lloyd austin in more than a month and it was our first chance to see him since he returned to the pentagon on monday for the first time in nearly a month following that procedure to treat prostate cancer. he was visibly walking slower and visibly limping. he said he is recovering and recovering well, but he is still feeling pain and still undergoing physical therapy for treatment for the pain that he's feeling. unclear he said how much longer that will take, but he's expected to improve, the feeling and ability to use his leg

there. this medical procedure is ongoing. you heard him a moment ago issue an apology for his failure to notify the administration, the president, the public, and the press. he was pressed repeatedly on why he made that decision. se says there was no order given to keep this secret or to give it hidden. he was also pressed on whether there was a culture of secrecy. he insists this was not a culture of secrecy. he says this shook him like a gut punch and his instinct was to keep it private and handle it privately, a decision he says in hindsight was a mistake, which he apologizes directly to president joe biden. discussions around what his staff may have said or instructed, that will be part of an ongoing 30-day review that's frankly due in just a few days now. i had a chance to ask him first, would he commit to making that review public, and second, would there be any consequences for his chief of staff because the

pentagon says she is the one who should have passed on notification to the administration, but she didn't because she had the flu. listen to this. >> as chief of staff offered her resignation in the wake of this failure to notify? >> i commit to being as transparent as possible and sharing as much as possible. oren, you'll understand that because this is command and control of policies of our government here, there will be elements of this that are classified. >> and has she offered her resignation, the chief of staff? >> she has not. >> reporter: he was also asked about the u.s. response to a deadly drone strike on sunday. he said of the iranian-backed militias in the middle east, they have a lot of capabilities. i have a lot more. >> thank you so much for that reporting. our panel is back here. i just want to play a little bit more so that people who might not have seen it get the flavor

of the way that he was really peppered with all kinds of questions about what went wrong. >> to answer your question on whether or not i directed my staff to conceal my hospitalization from anyone else, the answer is no. i asked my assistant to call the ambulance. that did not direct him to do anything further than just call the ambulance. and so what he said and why he said it, i think that should come out in the review as well. i'm not sure at this point what exactly happened, but i think details will play out as a review is conducted. >> it was a really remarkable hour or however long it was to see and hear the defense secretary take the questions, admit that he was wrong and how he handled it, but also especially for a guy who is

very, very private which is how we got to this place in the first place, talk about having prostate cancer. >> yeah. i mean, hearing him describe ohio shook he was by the diagnosis, which for anybody that has gone through this, i don't think will be very surprised, but when you hear it from the defense secretary from the podium in the pentagon, it resonates in a slightly different way, and he also, i thought, was quite revealing in his thought process. he was processing, like, how could you possibly during all of that time, not have called the president and tell him what's going on? he was -- he was just describing -- and he says that was wrong, but describing being in a mindset of not wanting to burden anybody else, most specifically the president with his own personal health problems. >> yeah. i absolutely lost a friend to cancer. she chose not to disclose his diagnosis to some of her friends.

i didn't know until she passed away that she even had cancer, and so i think a lot of people watching this coverage or who may have watched the press coverage will identity with someone who's, for whatever reasons, chose not to speak about it, and to me it also gives a little bit of clarity as to why some of his closest staff and aides might have gone along with it. again, we know it's wrong. he's secretary austin, so he doesn't get that right to privacy maybe that a private citizen would, but you could see his aides responding to austin, the man, austin, the person who they know is private, not what is the best decision for the secretary of defense. >> yeah. i agree with you, dana, that that was a remarkable press conference. what struck me was he didn't parse words and he was saying, i knew this was wrong. this was a mistake. i apologize. i apologize directly to the

president of the united states. i think that is what a lot of people wanted to hear and needed to hear from secretary austin after having kept this private and obviously not hearing from him in over a month as oren said. the thing that i'm interested in, i'm interested to see how this report does come out because he did, you know, bring up iz aides, the ambulance, they turned off the lights. those decisions saying it wasn't his decision. he kind of cast blame in a couple of places. so i am interested to see if there's any further fallout from this because i do think there's a lot of people who are still very angry, including republicans and lawmakers on capitol hill who want to see more out of this. >> and democrats. >> and democrats. that's fair. >> everybody, stand by. up next, cnn exclusive reporting on the embattled district attorney prosecuting donald trump in georgia. will she step down amid allegations of an affair with a fellow prosecutor? all the details coming up.

bipartisan negotiators in the senate are still talking about a deal for aid to ukraine, israel, and taiwan. house republican leaders have been calling the deal doa in their chamber, but now house republicans are pushing back supporting the idea of a border deal. m manu raju is live on clip. i have whiplash and i have been

covering this pretty closely. is there a change in the rank and file gop conference? >> there really is not among the house gop conference. in fact, most of them are aligned with donald trump, are aligned with the speaker of the house, and they say that the senate border deal, which, in fact, has not been released yet, but we have gotten reports about what is likely nitin it and somf the provisions that are in there. it's essentially dead on ar arrival. donald trump before reading the bill has called it a betrayal and saying that republicans should kill it and republicans and democrats believe that he frankly wants to campaign on border chaos and wants to deny joe biden a bipartisan victory on a key issue that shows what polls show is a major vulnerability of his heading into november, but that is not enough of a reason for some republicans to stay. it is time to get a deal and we should get behind a bipartisan poll in the senate because that's what we campaigned on. that was a message coming from

one texas congressman, dan crenshaw earlier today. >> the height of stupidity is having a strong opinion in something you know nothing about. i'm extremely disappointed in the strange maneuvering by many on the right to torpedo a potential border reform bill. we have a bill that on net significantly decreases illegal immigration, and if we sabotage that, that's inconsistent with what we told our voters we would do. people will make up whatever reasons they want to. there's a number of them, i'm sure, but it would be pretty unacceptable dereliction of your duty. >> and the question is where did us this go from here? the negotiators in the senate are still hoping to put out text of this deal as soon as this week. that is what senator james langford told reporters earlier today, and chris murphy, one of those three negotiators said it makes no sense in his view for republicans to walk away from this deal after cutting or trying to strike one for months

and months and months, but that's exactly what they're weighing in the upper echelons of the senate gop saying, what is the point of going forward with this deal if it's going to get killed in the house? mitch mcconnell noncommittal about the way forward even as he supports the underlying elements of this deal. >> manu, i want to put that dan crenshaw quote on a pillow, talking about being -- the height of stupidity is being very opinionated about something you don't know anything anybody. thank you so much, manu. we are learning fulton county d.a. fani willis has no plans to step down from georgia in the election case against donald trump. sources tell cnn that willis is worried if she leaves, it will effectively end the case. zachary cohen brought us this exclusive reporting and joins us now. so much drama. what are you hearing from the people around fani willis about

why she is standing firm? >> reporter: well, look. this is messy. there is no two ways about it, but look. willis is digging in. that's what my sources say. she will not voluntarily take herself out of this case. especially over the next two weeks, we know willis has really directly addressed these allegations that she was in this improper romantic relationship with her top prosecutor. she's been quiet. behind the scenes she's been intimately and directly involved in writing this response, and she has a deadline to file that in court. we'll see how she addresses this for the first time as early as tomorrow. she has, you know, my sources are saying that she will focus on the merits, the legal merits and the legal arguments rather than address the allegations directly. she's going to basically say that the lawyers are accusing her of these allegations and jumping to this idea that she should be disqualified. they don't know what they're talking about. it remains to be seen, and she'll also be testifying in an open hearing on february 15th.

big two weeks for fani willis. >> really big two weeks. this is, of course, what donald trump wants, is to be talking about her and not the case. so that's going to be consideration i'm sure. thank you so much for that great reporting, zach. nikki haley is back on the campaign trail in her home state and brand-new polling shows just how much support she actually has from her fellow south carolinians. have they got her back? we'll tell you next.

a new poll paints a bleak picture for nikki haley in her home state. nearly 6 in 10 potential south carolina republican primary voters say they will vote for donald trump over haley in the state's upcoming presidential primary. that's according to a monmouth university "washington post" poll. it comes after haley kicks off a multiday swing around that time. that's why kylie atwood is in beautiful hilton head. what are you hearing from the campaign about what she is going to try to do to turn that around? >> reporter: yeah. well, listen. the campaign isn't saying much unsurprisingly about that poll today because obviously if it is an accurate marker of this moment in time, it demonstrates that nikki haley has quite a bit of ground to make up here in south carolina, trailing former president trump in that "washington post" poll by 26 points, and of course, it's important that they point out that she's going to get in front of voters. she's going to be doing a lot of events here in south carolina. i also want to note that it comes after a few days she's

been focused on fund raidsing, dana. she was in new york, she was in florida, and that is critical as well to her campaign, to try and continue filling up their bank accounts. she came into the year with about $14 million in her bank account. that's a substantial amount, but it's about half the amount that trump's campaign had in the bank account earlier this year. so they are focused on that in addition to getting in front of voters and there are two messages here in south carolina to voters from the campaign. first, they're casting trump and biden in the same vein as what they are saying are grumpy old men. they're going to call them stumbling seniors, basement buddies. so they're trying to draw that elderly comparison with those two, and then the other thing they're trying to do here is remind voters what nikki haley did in the state when she was governor here, and listen to a digital ad they put out just today on that. >> because it's a great day in south carolina. when we get to south carolina,

donald trump's going to have a harder time falsely attacking me. the great people of south carolina know i cut their taxes. >> now she went on to talk about what she did for immigration reform here in the state, ethics reform, welfare reform, but we should also note that trump has dispatched south carolinian lawmakers who have endorsed him here in south carolina today to go after nikki haley, and we have, of course, seen some of those attacks make an impact given the fact her favorability numbers in the "washington post" poll have gone down substantially since september. dana? >> somebody in that campaign is a movie buff, and i like that the movies are from, like, an e era that i remember. "mean girls," and maybe even older. we can talk about that. thank you so much. appreciate it. our panel is back here. let's just dig in a little bit further to the numbers that kylie was just talking about,

and explain how they stand versus where they were just a few months ago. 58% right now for donald trump in south carolina. 32% for nikki haley in september. 46 for trump, 18 for haley. so nicky kki haley's gone up 14 percentage points and donald trump has also gone up 12%. there is a big gap there because she mentioned the favorability rating. i wanted to show that as well. trump has a high favorability rating, much higher than the former governor who he's running against, and so that's another big challenge she has to make up. >> that's because donald trump is more popular with republicans than is nikki haley, and republicans dominate the south carolina republican party -- primary. so this is a similar pattern to what we saw in new hampshire, right? donald trump inside this poll is dominating the conservatives with republicans. yes, nikki haley wins moderates and liberals.

there just aren't that many of them inside a republican primary electorate in south carolina. that's why she's 26 points behind the former president. >> what are you hearing from trump world? >> i mean, exactly what david is saying is what they also tell me, that they look at new hampshire. they see how well she did with independents and democrats. they're, like, that is not the game we're going to be playing in south carolina, and a lot of them -- i mean, they're still holding out hope, the trump campaign, she'll drop out before south carolina and they think that, you know, they can continue to embarrass her by parading lawmakers and surrogates around south carolina, people in her own backyard to try and say, you know, we like trump more than nikki haley, and that's going to continue to be their plan in the lead up to the primary, but oh yes. >> i was going to say, one of the reasons -- one of the reasons she is not dropping out is because she's got money. >> yeah. >> she doesn't have as much money as her competitor, but she has money, and she's still raising money as kylie was just talking about, but on that, let's just look at the cash on

hand numbers since the start of 2024. joe biden, the incumbent president, $46 million. donald trump, $33 million. nikki haley, $14.6 million. i just want to focus for a second on the biden versus trump number because she's an incumbent president. he's not really playing in the primary space, and he doesn't have that much more money in the bank than donald trump who has been playing in the primary space-ish. >> yeah. i mean, i think -- i think the cash on hand is an interesting indicator because biden is doing pretty well with fund-raising, but not as well as other incumbents who have -- who have, you know, gone for a second term as well, but at the end of the day, he's able to boast that he has more money to spend. i think it also is worth noting that because he doesn't have a competitive primary really, that i think he can say that i'm

continuing to raise money, but i don't have to have so much money right this moment. things are going to heat up for me this summer. >> we should just make clear what we don't know, right? we don't know the breakdown of how much of that is primary dollars, that could be spent on the primary season versus election dollars. we don't know that for president bide. or trump, and this was a month ago. it's february 1st. there were two hotly contested contests where haley spent a lot of money, and trump spent money too. this is where they started the year. we don't know what it is right now. >> that's a very important point. this is something i have been wanting to talk about, and just the news has gotten away from us. $50 million. trump pacs have spent $50 million on his legal fees. so these are, and it's a cover in 2023, that was to cover his legal bills and expenses related to multiple ongoing investigations. just look at that number. so people are giving to his

political organization, the political organization that supports him. that's the correct way to say it. >> mm-hmm. >> they're paying for his legal bills. >> this is donor money. he's using donor money to pay for his legal expenses. >> in a lot of these cases, small dollars. >> it's majority small dollar donors. >> people don't have $3,000 to throw away. >> fund-raising with small dollar donors for this pot of money, or a big chunk of it began after 2020 after he was sending fund-raising appeals telling a lie to them saying the election was rigged when it wasn't, and that money is going to pay the legal bills. >> i think the thing to keep in mind is, that number is likely the grow. he has four criminal cases and if any of those go to trial, that's going to grow exponentially, and i don't know how these pacs are going to be able to continue paying for this without potentially donald trump having to put up some of this money. >> everybody stand by because up next, we're going to talk about pullups in the capitol dome.

members spilling the tea on taylor and travis. legislating? not so much. what is going on, we're going to tell you next.

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richard mccormick admitted to doing pullups at the capitol hill. >> it wasn'tdangling over. i marine, i know safety. i know safety. >> i like the thai, too. the taylor swift conspiracy controversy, that is continuing. in an incredible way, on capitol hill. some republicans and right-wing commenters are continuing to push the theory that the super bowl is going to be rigged. take a listen to what seth myers did to illustrate the absurdity of all of this. >> joe biden is the president, travis kelsey is 87, 90 to minus 87 as five. what has five sides? the pentagon. >> you are back with me now. quickly, let's finish off this mccormack thing. i have been, have you've been

on the capitol tour? it is treacherous. i'm not a marine. i'm not an e.r. doctor. i may or may not have a huge -- but you can see from the outside, just look at the tip top. it's the balcony, below the statue. it's very treacherous. >> yes. we were just discussing this but it's dangerous. i think that he was saying that it's overblown, i saw he told cnn that it's overblown, everyone's making too much of a deal out of this. for the people who work in the capital, who get these tours, that is their key concern. that something is not only going to happen to a person on the tour, but a member of congress. that is where a lot of this is coming from. it is very weird. >> let's talk about the issue that david, our political director, wants us to lead every hour with. this is of course a taylor swift story. i'm kidding. let's listen to what some republicans are saying on

capitol hill. >> they are saying, tommy tuberville. football is football. you should know. hopefully we stay closer to that than we can all on social media. eric schmidt. if they're both in love, good for them. i have a 13 year old who is a huge taylor swift fan. she is our favorite, robert marshall, the senator says that everyone should embrace the travis intake story. i think it's a great story, and american love story. something that walt disney wrote. i mean, these are actual conversations being had. it's because they are hearing and their conservative echo chambers about concern, i can't believe i'm saying this out loud again, that taylor swift is going to use her fame and connections to the nfl to get democrats registered and push the election over to joe biden. >> i think it's a fair concern of republicans that taylor

swift is very popular, and has indicated her democratic leanings in the past. she has proven the ability to get her fans to register and be politically active. i think all of that is a fair concern. it seems on the level. i don't think there's a conspiracy about that. now it's been married up with the most viewed event in american culture, which is nfl football games. again, i think that the conspiracy concern seems completely outlandish. >> also, she is one of the most powerful women in the world. i don't think she needs travis kelsey to help get people registered, if she wants to. i have to play what he said about all of this. >> were two people in a relationship, supporting each other, having fun. it is nothing more than that. as much as the world wants to paint the picture, make us the enemy, we just have fun with

it. >> i think that, i was going to say that i think my son will be very proud of me that i play travis kelsey on this show. maybe not so much as it relates to taylor swift. thanks for having the fun conversation, i appreciate it. thank you for joining inside politics, cnn news central starts right after the break.