russian federation. >> according to the "washington post," his plans to strike at moscow last year made u.s. officials nervous. ukrainian official says the russians have tried to assassinate him at least ten times. recently, his wife and bodyguards became ill from what ukrainian officials said was a poisoning. >> i think the russians see him as a capable military leader, as a threat, and they've tried to take him out. >> one of the biggest concerns for the next army chief, he'll have to make crucial decisions regarding the springtime phase of the war, inspire confidence among ukraine's political and not be seen as a political plant of zelenskyy's. >> thank you very much. thank you very much for watching. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next. protestors meeting president

biden in michigan even as the president signs his toughest executive order yet on israel. we're live in michigan with a special report on what the voters there really seem to want from the president. plus, ukraine sinking a massive russian ship and launching a missile barrage all while the military is in massive turmoil. the head of the military fired. tonight, the biggest turning point yet in the war. and the number rs in. biden beating trump when it comes to cash on hand. where is most of trump's money going to? let's go "outfront." and good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, biden goes to battle taking on trump in a fight for union votes. >> we now have in large part because of you and organized labor, the strongest economy in the whole damn world. we do! >> now, biden who's speaking to workers from the united auto workers. now it's one of the biggest unions in the country and the

union that's given biden its official endorsement over trump, which is significant. today's event though was small and there was a specific and important reason for that. cnn is learning that all day, security was tight around biden. people not able to get close to him, not able to have big crowd because of concerns about protestors who are livid about biden's open ended support of israel. and there's a reason for that security concern. this was the scene outside just moments ago. protestors gathering outside of biden event in michigan and that's not the first time. i mean, just days ago in biden's first big campaign rally of the year in virginia, the president was interrupted at least a dozen times by protestors calling for a cease fire in gaza. demonstrations now taking place at just about every single biden event. >> no matter what that was, it should be built --

>> tonight, the president is in michigan. home to the largest arab american community in the united states. he's there to court union votes, but that community, the community of arab and americans there, has turned on biden in the polls. and biden needs that voting block more than ever. arab americans turned out overwhelmingly for biden in 2020. in michigan alone, 146,000 muslim americans turned out to vote in 2020 and in counties heavily arab american counties, more than two-thirds of voters voted for biden. keep in mind president biden's margin of victory in michigan was 155,000 votes. so these votes matter big time. and michigan is again just one of a handful of states that is going to decide if biden wins or not. that is why before flying to michigan, biden signed an order.

but executive order sounds big. the real question though is whether an executive order that only targets four people as this one does, whether it will move the needle. jeff is in detroit to begin our coverage. you have spent the day talking to voters there in michigan. primary of course coming up there as well. how worried should biden and democrats be? >> well, they would be foolish not to be worried. not just for the images of the protests we're seeing but just the sheer, raw math. you'll remember in 2016, donald trump carried michigan by 10,000 votes. of course joe biden won it four years later but this all hangs over the next campaign for the white house. what was key was building the broader coalition of voters. the question though can he rebuild it to win a second term. >> it's just the two old white guys duking it out. >> reverend charles williams is

bracing for a rematch between joe biden and donald trump. exhausted at the notion of the battle for the white house. >> some may feel i don't have any hope in a donald trump or in a joe biden. >> as castro of king solomon baptist church in detroit, williams was on the front lines of soaring turnout among black voters four years ago. he believes biden can't win through fear of trump alone. >> it's almost like the big brother or sister saying the bogeyman is under the bed. sooner or later, is it really a bogeyman man? maybe this guy ain't the bogeyman. >> one of the -- particularly in michigan. trump carried the state in 2016 along with wisconsin and pennsylvania. but biden flipped all three in 2020. a blue wall that led to victory. >> cease fire now! >> his challenges are complicated by anger among

muslims and arab americans over the israel hamas war. made clear by relentless protests. including as the president visited michigan. >> he's just not somebody i can trust. >> adam worked as a field organizer for the biden campaign four years ago and said he will not vote for the president again. seeing him as complicit in deaths of innocent palestinians. by taking a stand, do you wonder if it will help elect donald trump? >> it probably will. we have seen four years of trump and biden and people don't really see a difference between the presidency. >> it was nearly four years ago when biden pointedly presented himself as a bridge to the future. >> look, i view myself as a bridge. not as anything else. there's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. they are the future of this country. they're the people. >> those cheers rang out in the j gymnasium of detroit's

renaissance high. >> i don't feel like he represents the young demographic at all. >> dante parker said a vote for biden is hardly guaranteed. >> it may be that eventually outside of it really make some progress. >> the biden campaign tells cnn it will draw sharp distinctions with trump and earn the support of voters concerned about their rights, their pocketbooks and our democracy. > > >> we're not happy with biden but we understand the other option is not an option that's favorable to us. >> norman clemens said voters are eager to hear what president trump would do. >> i'm worried about the protestors. my message to them is that we did that in 2016. we held our vote. folks didn't come out. >> and that is one reason the

president is still here in detroit tonight, erin. he was scheduled to leave a couple of hours ago but he is meeting with more union workers and you saw those protests there as well. there is no doubt that he has significant support here among organized labor but the question is how broad is all of that. a first test will come in the michigan primary february 27th. some voters are saying they plan to vote uncommitted. of course, many democrats here will support joe biden. >> thank you very much and fascinating he's staying an extra couple of hours already to meet with these small groups of e union workers. van, want to start with something we just heard though in jeff's reporting. adam, a former field organizer for biden telling jeff that he will not vote for biden again even knowing that it may help trump. he says biden is just some, not somebody i can trust. how big of a problem is this for biden right now? >> it's a big problem for him right now. there are four syllables that are aimed at him.

genocide joe. that is becoming something you're hearing from the younger voters in the arab american community. he can turn it around but you've got to be honest right now. you've got disappointment in the base with how he's handling the war in gaza. the reality is joe biden is deep ties and friendships in the muslim arab community. he can get back there but he's got his work cut out for him right now. >> this comes as biden is staying an extra two hours to meet with more union groups. he was scheduled to go back. he knows this matters and certainly if you're having trouble in one area, you've got to shore up another and it appears he's got that message loud and clear. he got the uaw endorsement but trump is making a real play and we see that with deteriorating union support with democrats over time. trump met the teamsters to try to get their endorsement. he thinks this is a real chance, david, john palmer did not attend. he refused. last night, he told me there's

no chance trump will get that endorsement. here's why. >> he is not going to do anything for labor. he never has done anything for labor. and frankly, is not a trust worthy individual. >> we'll see what happens. he says there's no way that endorsement's going to happen. david, where are we with this? trump has made this meeting. 1.3 million strong union. will he look bad if he doesn't get that endorsement? >> erin, look. you saw the uaw president on i think it was last week. i can't even, it's all a blur these days. he admitted, the uaw president admitted, right, that the majority of overwhelming majority of his rank and file members will probably end up voting for trump. president trump going to meet with the teamsters leadership in washington showing respect, asking for their vote i think is going to bear a lot of fruit. it's a rule of politics.

you need to ask for people's vote to get it and i think that showing up and putting in the work is going to bear a lot of fruit for him. look, his rise amongst people of color. african americans and hispanics. it's because they are following white working class voters. did with reagan and trump in 2016. they are following, they're moving towards trump because of his policies. they're not big fans of democratic wokeness and the like and so i think you're going to see that slide continue to the republican party as you know educated white folks kind of slide over to the democratic party. it's kind of through the looking glass here. >> race plays such a role in all of this and it plays a role all the way down as well, van. the house minority leader today called for republican congressman troy nails to apologize for comments he made about cori bush. she admitted the doj is investigating her for using campaign funds to pay her

husband for security services. here's what was said. >> she doesn't even support the police but the idea to pay her thug money to help protect her for what. maybe if she wouldn't be so loud all the time, she wouldn't be getting threats. >> to pay her thug money, van. bush just called those comments ra racist tropes. he's the one who called me young lady when i was interviewing him during the speaker vote for speaker mccarthy. >> did a good job that night. >> we were all together that night. >> i remember. >> pay her thug money. what's that? >> i mean, google how many times he's used the word thug to refer to a white man. the number of times he's used the word loud to refer to a white woman. he's not somebody who goes around calling people out like this, but this is just way over

the line. that is a slur that is almost always only used for black men. and for black women. and it's ridiculous. when jeffries, he almost never does this. when he says look, you are over the line. you're over the line. >> true. david? >> yes. speaker jeffries is an honorable guy. as you pointed out though earlier, the congressman is an equal opportunity offender saying some really outrageous things to you on the set was kind of over the line so i'm not quite certain it's his remarks were trying to be racist. i think he just may be need to be more measured in his comments for everybody. >> all right. thank you both very much. i appreciate it. and next, my exclusive interview with the former israeli prime minister. is there about to be a major cease fire deal? plus, ukraine tonight in turmoil. we are learning that zelenskyy has fired his top general, but

there's no formal announcement of any talk of replacement. this could be the most significant moment of the war. we're live in kyiv tonight. and also, nikki haley now seizing on trump's cash crunch. >> do you really think he's going to win against joe biden when he's spending all of that money on legal fees? he's not.

tonight, new video into cnn showing utter destruction in a southern gaza city as the israeli military conducts extensive operations there. neighborhoods levelled and unrecognizable. abandoned and the video we have here, you don't see a single human being. it comes as israel's far right finance minister is slamming president biden's executive order which just came out. it targets violent israeli settlers of the west bank and the minister accusing biden of cooperating with quote, antisemitic lies spread by israel's enemies. "outfront" now, the former israeli prime minister who is visiting the u.s. here for just a few days. and obviously, you've been on the ground in israel since october 7th. what is your response to biden's executive order? >> well, i think it's unnecessary. i think in israel, we prosecute any violence. any criminal activity.

we don't need any external help on doing it. and i have to say that it's marginal, what's called violence of settlers is marginal. we're talking about a 50% decrease year on year in that violence. to begin with, it's not big numbers. we're taking care of it. i think it's inflated in order to create some false symmetry between the palestinian violence and the settler violence. so we're on top of it. we don't need any foreign assistance to prosecute that sort of thing. >> so israeli special forces conducted a raid this week at the west bank hospital. of course you've seen the footage. i'm just going to play it again here. they're disguised as civilians and medical staff. one has like a pbassinette for baby. now the hospital says that one of the men that was killed was receiving injuries. receiving treatment for injuries

he suffered in iraq in an attack and there's footage of him in his hospital bed obviously prior to this with his family. when you see these images, are you comfortable with these sorts of tactics? with dressing up as civilians and going into a hospital to ki kill terrorists? >> well, the real question is am i comfortable with terrorists using hospitals as their safe haven because we're fighting terrorists who have no red lines. do not abide to any law and were held to double standard because hamas does whatever it wants and uses children, families, as human shield. then when we have to go target those who are using the hospital as a refuge, then we're being accused of -- >> but this is a little bit different at least in this case. if that guy is actually lying in a hospital bed injured, he wasn't yusing it as refuge. he was being treated for injuries. >> we're talking about

terrorists who used the hospital as refuge, not because they're being treated. we have to look at every incident, but by and large, what whe we've seen in gaza and the west bank in very big numbers is hamas using hospitals, schools, kindergartens as refuge. that's the real problem. not 1 in 1,000 cases where we're trying to tweezer them out from where they're hiding. >> i understand completely. i think everyone watching does as well. but i do just want to push on that one point. because it is so jarring. >> i have to say, it's pretty impressive, the operation. sending soldiers who will have to disguise themselves within terrorists. that's what we have to do. we're going see anything necessary. >> people in this hospital could have been women, children, people having babies. >> but we don't target them. we never deliberately target

women and children. >> but that guy was also injured. >> if osama bin laden is in the hospital and his thumb is injured, do you go in and kill him? the answer is yes. >> okay. is to u.n. relief agency in gaza says it's going to have to suspend its relief work across the entire middle east because more than 20 governments have shut down funding for unrwa. that more than 13,000 gaza employees were involved in the october 7th attacks. now prime minister netanyahu said that unrwa must be eliminated. obviously, it does provide. it does good work in the region in other ways. do you think it should be eliminated completely? >> i think it should be disbanded for two reasons. one is the tactical reason that indeed, dozens of its workers are terrorists who went, some went in and killed, murdered israelis, which is you know, participated in the massacre.

but there's something bigger than that. this agency, instead of solving the refugee problem, it internalizes the problem. these refugees are great grandchildren of refugees. it's the only case in the world where refugee status is from one generation to another. instead of solving it, they internalize it. in the war of independence, those -- 700,000 jews became refugees kicked out of arab countries and they didn't become refugees. we absorbed them and now they're full israelis. so there's a goal to keep the palestinians in misery and i think unrwa is part of the problem. not the solution. >> i understand that, but i wanted to provide specific examples but if you want it eliminated, what replaces the good it does?

7 million people get annual health visits from these facilities. 200 schools operated. you can quibble with the numbers here and there, but those are significant things. you eliminate it, that goes away, too. >> clearly we have to have those services continue and there has to be some transitory period. we're not talking about cutting off day after day and having these palestinians without solutions. but we have to look at an organization that became so rotten that some of its own employees went and murdered and massacred jews and the problem with its very mission. so there's going to be a transitory period, but we have to fix it. >> there have been reports that hamas has given initial approval of a deal. we've been hearing about a possible deal that would pause fighting for multiple weeks. that has not happened yet. this would be hugely significant if it happened then you would get the remainder of israeli hostages back. theoretically according to what

we've been hearing. can you tell me anything about where the negotiate is? >> there are very advanced negotiations going on between the two sides. and with america, qatar, egypt, being involved and trying to broker a deal. the parameters are how many of the captives are going to be released. how many palestinian terrorists will be released and what sort of pause there will be. from israel's perspective, there is a degree of flexibility, but what we cannot do is finish the war without eradicating hamas. that's the one or main red line that we're focused on. also, we don't want to release massive murderers that will go back and kill. >> and i understand that you can move one piece of a negotiation in something else that's seen set changes. >> i'm not negotiating so it's hard for me to comment.

what i would say is hamas abducted men, women, children, and some of them are still there. 140. have to bring them home, but we have to eradicate hamas. >> is there a possibility that all 140 would come home as part of a deal at this point or does that seem out of reach? >> i don't know. >> all right. thank you so much. appreciate your time, prime minister. thank you. >> thank you. all right. "outfront" next, incredible video into "outfront." ukraine claiming it has taken out a russian warship, but behind the scenes of this massive attack in crimea, ukrainian military is in turmoil. the top commander fired. what's going on. and cnn learning fani willis is digging in, refusing to step aside and tonight, sources are telling us why.

tonight, new video of what ukraine and russia both say was a massive ukrainian strike on kye crimea. you're looking at attack drones. the drones explode on impact. that's the massive fire ball then that you see.

ukrainians say that ship was sunk. the massive show of force coming amid intense turmoil behind the scenes in ukraine. turmoil that could change the course of the war and of history. there's been a week of cloak and dagger threats, back door negotiations. we understand that president zelenskyy, after all this, has told the general leading the war for ukraine that he's fired. he's credited with saving kyiv from putin in those first days of the war. he is a beloved figure in ukraine so this move does not come lightly and it could signal something significant. in a cnn op-ed, he's saying ukraine doesn't have the manpower to defeat russia. fred pleitgen begins our coverage in kyiv. this is an incredible moment. you've been there in kyiv when all this is going on. what more are you learning? >> you're right. it is certainly a critical moment now in kyiv and all this has been going on behind the scenes really since monday. that's the first time that we

heard that there was this disagreement between the top general and zelenskyy. there was a meeting apparently between the two men where zelenskyy cold him he would be fired. now apparently, he offered him a different position, ambassador in another country. we know he said he would decline that offer and zelenskyy told him he's still going to fire him. now, since then, all of political kyiv has been waiting for some sort of decree from the ukrainian president saying if he was really going to fire him and also, who the possible successor could be. there has not been a decree issued by zelenskyy so as you can imagine, there's a lot of speculation going on here at what is, you're absolutely right, an extremely critical moment for the ukrainians on the battlefield. >> and fred, look, this is a huge test for zelenskyy. he knows some of the realities

here. ukrainians have an incredible amount of faith in the general. if we look at the poll numbers in december, 88% say they trust him. 62% say they trust zelenskyy. zelenskyy knows this. so getting to a point where you have to fire the guy, that says so much on its own. i mean, this is a huge gamble for zelenskyy. >> i think it certainly is. one of the things we're also seeing here is that the russians are already trying to capitalize on this. in fact, the kremlin spokesman peskov, he said look, all this shows that things aren't going well for the ukrainians on the battlefield. now that there's all these problems. i think one of the big things that we're going to look for in the next hours really is who the possible successor could be if and when he gets fired. now, there's two people who are very much or have been handled as top candidates.

one is currently the head of the ukrainian land forces. he's also someone really made a name for himself in the early stages of russia's invasion of ukraine. also defending kyiv. then there's the head of the military intelligence service. you know those pictures you were showing at the beginning of the daring raid against that russian ship, that was his agency. >> interesting and that coming now. perhaps very telling. fred, thank you very much. live in kyiv where all this is happening. as putin is capitalizing on what's going on in ukraine, he's also brutally punishing rivals at home to shore support. we've been closely following the story of the russian journalist here "outfront." he was imprisoned nearly two years ago after calling putin's government quote, a regime of murderers. now he's been moved to one of russia's most brutal penal colonies and matthew chance filed this report "outfront."

>> this is the last time he appeared in public. his prison uniform flickering on a court tv screen in january as he praised russians who like him opposed the war in ukraine. he's already serving a 25-year sentence. now, the dissident's wife tells cnn her husband has been unexpectedly moved to one of russia's toughest siberian prison colonies. >> the reason for his transfer apparently was that he had been declared a consistent violator as the rules of serving his sentence. for example, a violation that his pillow was not put in the right way on the bed. and now the violation that his button on his shirt was not, that it was not buttoned all the way. >> these are all really petty, petty little, you know, violations. why do you think authorities are

using those kinds of tactics? what are they trying to do? >> i believe that everything is being done to isolate those political prisoners who refuse to be silent even behind bars and of course to intimidate others. >> for years, he's been one of the kremlin's fiercest and bravest critics. this was us in 2015 after he had recovered from what he says was a deliberate poisoning but his opposition to the kremlin never faltered. especially after the invasion of ukraine in 2022. >> this regime that is empowering our country today, it's not just corrupt. it's not just clept craddock, authoritarian. it's a regime of murderers. >> he's one of several key opposition figures including the most well-known, alexei navalny, who had been locked up as president putin tightens his grip on power.

meanwhile, she tells me she's had just seven short phone calls with her husband in the two years since his arrest. >> the last phone call came before, just before new year and it was a 15-minute call. the first one in over half a year. i had to take away the phone from one kid after five minutes and give it to his sibling because i wanted to make sure that all three of them got to talk to their daddy. >> it is heartbreaking for his family. and for russia, say critics, this growing kremlin fear of any political challenge. well, erin, there's no reaction tonight from the kremlin, which of course tries to distance itself from the imprisonments of critics, but the truth is as russia prepares to stage presidential elections next month, elections meant to confirm putin for another six

years, this crackdown on dissidents inside of russia looks set to continue. back to you. >> all right, matthew, thank you very much. next, trump's critics now pinning their hopes of trump getting kicked off the ballot in the words of antonin scalia. plus, trump's legal problems are costing him so much money that he has now losing the race for campaign cash massively to biden.

tonight. not stepping down. we are learning that fani willis has no plans to recuse herself from the georgia election case against trump. this comes in the face of gro growing scrutiny that she misused taxpayer funds while having an affair with nathan wade. wade received hundreds of thousands of dollars for his work on the case and has paid for trips with willis according to court records. nick valencia is "outfront." >> fani willis, defiant.

sources tell cnn the embattled fulton county district attorney has no plans of stepping aside or to recuse herself. willis indicted former president trump for his defiance following the 2020 election. now herself digging in and not backing down. something she has done through the nearly three-year investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in georgia. even when trump attacked her personally. >> and in the wings, they've got a local racist democratic attorney in atlanta. >> the comment does not concern me at all. it's ridiculous in nature, but i support his right to be protected by the first amendment and say what he likes. >> though with the warning not to cross the line. >> people have the right to say whatever they choose to say as long as it does not rise to the level of threats against myself, my staff, or against my family. >> attacks and threats have followed her through her time in office. >> been called the n word so many times i don't think i hear

it anymore. it's not going to stop anything i'm doing. >> especially as she's taken on how profile cases like the racketeering case against the rapper, young thug. >> i've made no secret nor any apology that as the district attorney of fulton county, my number one focus is targeting gangs. >> and a case against the atlanta public school system roughly a decade ago. >> what happens with a no excuses policy? >> willis has grown accustomed to living in the cross hairs of the public and her political enemies. >> i knew when i was making the endeavor into several cases that those cases were against high profile individuals that i would be threatened. did i know in a matter of a couple of months it would be a hundred something threats? z no. >> the most recent accusing her of financially benefitting from an improper romantic relationship with her top deputy, nathan wade. while she's defending his

professional kre den nationals, she's not addressed the allegations. she's talked openly in the past about her relationships. >> i do think that relationship is important and that love the important and that you are b better with a partner. i've always limited my dating pool to african american men. >> now she's preparing to defend herself. >> a judge has given her a friday deadline to respond to these claims in writing. sources within the d.a.'s office tell us that willis is not expected to address the allegations directly but instead is expected to argue that the defense attorneys who are trying to get this case dismissed over these claims are wrong on the law. >> thank you very much. fascinating view on fani willis. "outfront" now, ryan goodman. it is interesting just to watch her over time. the cases she's dealt with. the situations she's dealt with, the pressure she's come under.

give some context to this that she's not going to step down. she has no plans to recuse herself that she hired someone that was not competent over an improper relationship and then used the money for lavish vacations. those are the allegations. do you think it's a mistake she's not recusing in this case? >> it's a difficult decision for her because i think at some point, she might need to decide she has to recuse in order to save the case but she's currently deciding to stay on to save the case because if she were removed, it might put the whole case into turmoil. who knows what her replacement will decide to do because there are a lot of decisions that go into it, especially a replacement that comes after this cloud has come over the case. that might be difficult for that person to pursue the case. at this point, she's right. like i do think on the law, it doesn't work to disqualify her even if the allegations are true. but there's still this issue of ethical violations that are not disqualifying her from the case, but whether or not she can hold

on inside the office. >> and as you say, down the line. it could cause risk to the case. i want to ask you also tonight about the supreme court getting ready to hear oral arguments in a case in whether trump can be disqualified from being on the ballot. you've got the georgia case. the jack smith case. also waiting on a decision there on immunity. then this case on whether trump can be disqualified from the ballot because of the actions on january 6th. what's fascinating is that the groups trying to get trump removed are using the words of the late justice scalia. they're using his words, his arguments, conservative giant, to justify taking trump off the ballot. what's happening? >> so they have dug up essentially a case in which he didn't write the majority opinion, wrote a dissenting opinion. it's 2014 and in the case, he says something that's very favorable to their side it seems. they need to argue that the president is an officer of the united states under the 14th

amendment and therefore can be disqualified from office from having engaged in an insurrection. that's the big legal debate. well, justice scalia said essentially except where the constitution are valid, federal law provides otherwise all officers of the united states must be appointed by the president. for them, that's a big deal because for them, that means there are others that aren't appointed by the president. that's the president. gramtologists would have a field day because they would say all it really means is there are some who are not appointed. but scalia writes a letter to a professor asking about the ambiguity. because of that letter, it does seem to be that scalia lines up in favor of disqualification. >> wow. which is, very, very -- many reasons -- wow, would you want to hear what he had to say. thanks so much to ryan and next,

a warning shot. the rnc reporting its lowest cash on hand in ten years, in a decade. this comes just as we're learning just how much trump's legal issues are costing him. majorly falling behind biden in the race for campaign cash. plus, a ph.d. student thought he was studying quote, the chicken from hell, but guess what he wound up discovering. we'll explain.

tonight follow the money. the republican national committee reporting its lowest cash on hand figure in a decade. the democrats on the other hand have a nearly three time cash advantage. this comes as we're learning about what president biden and former president trump have in their war chests and how they're spending it so far. harry is here with me and you've been digging into all this. i'm glad you have. when i read articles on this and i try to add the numbers up, it is completely nonsensical. oh, they have this or this. let's get to the bottom line. biden has a lot more cash than trump. okay. what does that say in.

>> it says a number of things. if you look at the cash on hand for the actual campaign committees, what you see is that biden's campaign has about $13 million more cash on hand than donald trump's campaign does. that was what you would expect because incumbents tend to raise more money than challengers. granted, trump is a quasi incumbent. as you hinted in that opening, when you add in the democratic committee's fundraising, the amount of money that biden and the democrats greatly dwarfs any money the republicans have at this point. so as we're going into the new year, as we're looking at the potentially spending money in these swing states, this cash on hand is a major advantage for democrats and something that joe biden could use, given the polling numbers he has right now. >> when you look at how the money is being spent, biden cannot spend it on the campaign. trump is spending tremendous money on legal fees. >> he has used $50 million of his campaign funds on legal

fees. do you really think he's going to win against joe biden when he is spending all of that money on legal fees? he's not. >> what's the context here? >> what's the context? if you look at committees affiliated with trump, what you see is that they have spent $55 million in the last year on legal fees. and more than that, what you see is it is not just that they spent $55 million in the year. they spent more in the second half of the year than the first half of the year. and to be honest with you, if they weren't spending this much money on legal fees, donald trump's campaign and the affiliated pacs and everything like that, they would have a lot more money. part of the reason they're having money problems, all the money they have to be spending in the court system. >> he said i guess i'll using thought money on legal fees. might as well use the court for my campaign. how important is what happened in the court where he is

spending all this money? >> not just that he's spending a ton of money. it is that the big x-factor is what happens in these four different trials? these four different criminal trials? if you look at the key swing states, donald trump holds the lead by 4 points. if trump is convict and sentenced to prison, what we see is a very different campaign. biden winning by 10 points. a lot will come down to those big trials. >> nearly a 15-point swing. the dates of when these start matter a lot. you don't get a conviction if you don't have a trial. up front next, the ph.d. student discovering a new species.

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tonight, an accidental incredible discovery. oklahoma state university revealing that a 28-year-old ph.d. student has discovered an entirely new dinosaur species. so this is a rendering of that species. a new one that we know. this is what it would have looked like when it lived about 66 million years ago. now, the ph.d. student thought he was studying the bones of a bird-like dinosaur referred to fondly as the chicken from hell. you can see why. then you notice the bones here were even smaller than that. he sent them out for further inspection. the results revealed the truth. it was not a chicken from hell. it was a