strongly on technology if it wants to win the war against russia. we have the cnn exclusive just. ahead >> plus fawning fires back. the district a lick in donald trump now responding to what she calls as salacious allegations against her. hear what more what fani willis has to say in the new court filing she's had that she has had a proper relationship with their lead prosecutor. following these major developing stories, and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. >> thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. at any moment we will see president biden fulfilled one of his most solemn duties as commander and chief. he is receiving troops that made the ultimate sacrifice for the country as they return home. he, and first lady jill biden, are attending the dignified

transfer of the bodies of three soldiers killed sunday during a drone attack in jordan. sergeant william rivers, sergeant kennedy sanders, and sergeant breonna mott. we will bring that to you as we get it. first let's turn to breonna. >> for us, we are now just weeks away from the pivotal south carolina republican primary. today gop hopeful nikki haley beginning a multi day swing through her home state issues trying to narrow the gap with former president trump. trump's team is also hitting the state holding a series of press conferences aimed at attacking his rival. as we move closer to a likely rematch between president biden and trump in november, there is new polling out today that is giving us a snapshot into how the americans are feeling. 35% of people say things are going well that number might seem low but it is actually an improvement compared to last years. let's turn now to cnn political director, david chalian, to take us through this. how much of an uptick, david, are we seeing here?

>> this is 35% number, as you noted, is still a low number. but we do see growth in those who are saying it go well in the country. back in october, november last fall, breonna, it was a 28%. a 7% hike there. we were at 35% saying it was doing well since december of 2022. look at this by party, i think this is instructive. you see an uptick among democrats, independents, and republicans across party line saying that things are going well. again, it is not that 35% is a huge number but it does seem, perhaps, that we have turned the corner on the low point of pessimism when it comes to the economy in our new poll, joe biden doesn't seem to be getting a ton of credit yet. 55%, a majority, still say his economic policies have worsened economic conditions. only 26% say they have improved economic conditions. 19%, no effect. that is pretty similar to where he was last august. if you look here in terms of

people saying they were worse off, or about the same, over the past year financially you do see a little bit of improvement. fewer people are saying they are worse off now. only 42% say that. though that is still the plurality, breonna. only 20% say they were better off now than they were a year. go >> how do voters feel like biden is doing in the top issues? >> if you look at his approval across all the top issues, here in the middle, bianna, the economy here that 37%. overall approval in our polls 30%. the economy is driving. that on protecting democracy in the situation in ukraine he slightly over performs his overall approval. where he underperforms is the israel hamas war in immigration continues to be a stubbornly low approval number for him. >> let's talk a little bit more about immigration, what are you seeing there? >> we are seeing a change in the public over on this issue. back in 2019 80% of americans that a path to legal status should be the main top priority for dealing with undocumented

immigrants. that is down to 60% now. clearly two thirds but it is down. 31% now say deportation should be the main top policy priority dealing with undocumented immigrants. doubling support for that policy since 2019 if you look here about whether or not people consider the situation at the border crisis again republicans have always felt that way but look at this growth among independents. 77% say to the crisis. now two thirds of democrats they it is a crisis at the border with mexico. >> really interesting there. when it comes to the ends real hamas for, how are voters responding to that? >> you and i have talked about this. you see why joe biden is in a political bind. here it is just a divided country over. this 37% of americans say the u.s. assistance to israel in response to this is about right. 33% say the u.s. is giving too much assistance to israel. 29% say too little. look at this by party, 41% of democrats say it is about

right. 38%, nearly four out of ten democrats, the presidents own party, say it is too much assistance to israel, 19% too little. this is a number that joe biden has to continue to address as he deals with the u.s. position in this issue. >> that is very tough for him we are seeing that tension there. thank you very much rooting into the, we appreciate it. boris? let's get some analysis of our political commentator. ashley allison is a former white house see and positive ledger. scott jennings is the former special assistant depressional george w. bush. thank you both for being with us this afternoon. ashley, i want to dig into one of those economic numbers. only 26% of those asked believed president biden has actually improved the u.s. economy. and that number is an improvement over the poll from last summer. how do you campaign a winning message with those kinds of numbers? >> you have to start talking to people and explaining what the

last three and a half years of policies have done to decrease inflation to increase wages, to really meet the american people where they are. right now the numbers are saying in terms of the federal reserve, in terms of mortgages, the numbers are saying that things are going in their interaction. the challenge is people are not feeling that right now. the campaign is going to have to connect facts with feelings. part of that is meeting folks where they are with compassionate messages. proving the point that we are going in the right direction. we need more time. in ten months things could feel a lot better than what folks are feeling right now. this is what the campaign is about. selling your campaign, your policy, meeting where people are make them want to recommit you for another four years. is it going to be an easy conversation to have? no. i do believe that voters can get to a point where they

understand that the biden harris administration are fighting for them. >> scott, it does look like the economy is trending the right direction. we have a job report that shows great job growth, wage growth, as well. the stock market looks healthy. donald trump is trying to take credit for the stock market. it looks like it might be tougher in a few months for republicans to keep campaigning on the economy, don't you think? >> no, i think the republican message was going to be things in the united states may be getting better on some fronts in spite of joe biden. ultimately i think one of the reasons people are not giving him credit is because they think his policies were a net hindrance. it doesn't mean the american economy is always destined to go down. it does mean that perhaps people believe we didn't have to have the inflation have and it didn't need to take as long for people to come back. that is where biden has trouble. here he wants everyone to give him the credit anytime -- they

have some pretty darn mad at him specifically over inflation. it's not like the memories can be wiped out. it's not the next sequel to men and black. we don't have the flash things here. people are gonna remember that, hope that joe biden wins reelection and we are gonna see more those types of policies that largely dominated his first term in office. >> got, one of the most illuminating parts of the pole with me had to do with immigration. there was a double digit jump in independents and democrats who say the situation on the southern border is a crisis. that is a noticeable difference from 2022. on capitol hill it doesn't sound like a lot of republicans are eager to pass this senate deal that has been brokered pairing ukraine aid and other things with restrictions to asylum, et cetera. largely it has been attributed to donald trump not wanted to give president biden a win. how do you respond to criticism

that republicans care more about appeasing trump and winning the election cycle than about passing meaningful legislation? >> they haven't seen the text yet. the problem some of these republicans have as they don't know whether this bill will be a net help. given what has been sent by senator lankford and others even if it will incrementally help they should do it. we as republicans have told the american people that it is a crisis. a humanitarian crisis. the word invasion has been used. the country has moved to the right on this issue and believing it is a problem and believing joe biden is the cause of it. to say all those things and to win that argument and then to say, we can wait a year to solve it, i think that makes you seem less serious. in order to get there you have to have the text of a bill. you have to convince republicans that it will at least a little bit somewhat help the situation. even if you know donald trump is always going to be tougher on border security than joe biden will ever be.

i think doing nothing for a year after the way we sold the problem is really not an option. >> you might say that trump will be tougher on the board about the fact is back in 2018 when he was looking at the deal with durbin in the setup he turned down an immigration deal because he felt that he gave up too much to undocumented migrants seeking protections. this bill does not include anything for dreamers. i'm wondering, president biden, couldn't he turn around and say, look, we gave them a lot of what they wanted without getting much back. if they don't pass this, they are spiking this out of spite. >> he should really lean into folks acting in good faith. who is showing up to actually doing the work for the people. if republicans are obstructionist on this bill, to scott's point, saying they are gonna kill it before the even read the text. that is an opportunity for the biden campaign to say, they are not here working for you. they are telling you that there are problems with not trying to find a solution.

i think that can go for the border. i think it can go for the economy, like we were just talking about. to scott's point about men in black, not being able to race folks memories, folks won't forget that joe biden went into office under a pandemic, did everything he could to get money in people's pockets to keep people employed, to keep people vaccinated. to get our country back. that was something that no president has ever been able to do. joe biden did. that the same thing, i don't think folks will forget the draconian policy that trump did when we saw babies crying in isolation when they have been separated from their parents. i think that there are some nuances to this. i hope that democrats really lean in and say that republicans are not actually trying to move our country forward. they are just trying to keep us fighting with one another for political posturing. >> ashley allison, scott jennings, we could go all afternoon. we will have to leave it there. appreciate you sharing your time with us.

>> still ahead, we are awaiting the dignified transfer of the three u.s. soldiers killed in jordan. we are getting our first images of president biden awaiting that arrival at dover airbase. we will bring you that, next.

we are getting new images coming in from dover. the dignified transfer the three associates killed in jordan. mrs. joe biden just moments ago at dover air force base we are joined now by cnn's mj lee have been tracking this for us. walk us through what is happening now. >> reporter: boris, this is, of course about to be the president bearing witness to this solemn homecoming of these three american shoulders killed in the line of duty. sergeant rivers, sergeant sanders, and sergeant moffatt. the first u.s. service members to be killed since the beginning of the israel-hamas war. you are watching the president there walking next to the first

lady. it is not hard to imagine at all what the president is doing today and he is about to do in a few moments. that that is one of the hardest and most got retching things that he can do in his role as commander in chief. he is honoring the three americans killed in the line of duty. spent a better portion of the day trying to come for angwin troop sole all of their families. we know that he had a significant window of the day built in a significant window into his schedule so that he could spend that time speaking with some of those family members. of course, we also got a sense of how he speaks with some of these families, these gold star families. this was a rare look earlier this week when he spoke to the family members of sergeant kennedy sanders. actually informed them over the phone the decision to

posthumously provoke her to the rank of sergeant. you can see how emotional that was for family to learn that news. as he so often does, we heard the president referring to the death of his own son, beau. talking about his own grief, his own process of grieving for his son as he tried to bring some measure of comfort to that family. the president has attended a deeds dignified transfers in the past. as vice president, as senator, and actually once before as president back in 2021 when those 13 u.s. service members returned home after being killed at an attack outside of kabul airport outside of afghanistan. this is something the president is, unfortunately, familiar with. it is something that he hopes to never have to participate in. again, with permission and

encouragement from the three families, we were told, the president is there to receive and greet these three u.s. service members coming home. really, most importantly, to be there for these american families that are grieving these losses, flores. >> it is a solemn moment for president biden. we have oren liebermann as well at the pentagon. oren, this is an event that has a meticulous amount of precision, detail. every single step is done with grace and a degree of coordination that ounce is of massive importance to those carrying this out. >> of course. and that is because of the occasion. this journey home, under the most difficult of circumstances, for these three soldiers. the dignified transfer of remains, as it is happening.

you can see there, if we can show the video of them standing there, waiting for this process to begin. you can see that the chain of command, not only president joe biden, and joe biden right next to him. secretary of defense, lloyd austin. the head of the defense department in the military. next time is a chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. -- celiac, troy black, the senior adviser but top enlisted service member in the u.s. military. the chief of staff of the army, general randi george, you see all of them here for such a solemn occasion. for a difficult moment for all of them. they know full well of the difficulties and the duties of serving one country, what that entails. the risk you pray is never realized in this worse way. fully aware that sometimes it is. that is what we are seeing, as difficult as it is, playing out here. the dignified transfer of remains. these three service members make their way home. make their way to their

families. >> we are watching the play back of that video happening now. let's listen. [silence]

you have been watching one of our nation's most solemn moments. they dignified transfer of three american service members back to united states. you saw that president biden, defense secretary lloyd austin's, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, as well as top leaders from the reserves. you notice, of course, there was no sound on the video we have been playing for several minutes. that is the protocol of this, out of respect for the families of these fallen heroes. you also did not see those family members, but they are there. they are there actually in front of president biden, the

first lady, and all of the senior officials. they have been standing across from them as we witness this dignified transfer, although out of view of the press. it is just a reminder, the ceremony, the sacrifice of these heroes, and their families. actually, we shouldn't calling this a ceremony. this is very clearly a dignified transfer. this is something very specific. those who gained, in the name of abraham lincoln, the last full dimensions of the country. we are watching this with mj lee, at the white house. oren liebermann at the pentagon with us. we are joined here in studio by krista simpson anderson. a policy adviser for taps, tragedy assistance program for survivors. it is the leading nonprofit for gold star families. also a gold star wife herself. her late husband, army staff sergeant, michael simpson, was killed in may 2013 in afghanistan. krista, you have attended a

dignified transfer, his dignified transfer. you were explaining it to us as we were watching some of this. can you tell us a little bit about what the families are going through here? >> i think every family goes through something different. but they kiss their person goodbye, i pray that they will come home. this is the next time they see them. it is very difficult because you can't approach the casket. you can go and lay your hands and pray over them. you stand back, as you said, as the dignified transfer. so we were with seven other families on the day of mics dignified transfer. everyone reacted differently. and that inquiry that you know on that day is extreme.

you also know that it lasts forever. >> it carries significance. the president of the united states is there. they are only there, most often, at the request of the families. with permission of the family. i'm wondering what got your mind as he watched that? knowing that you have been there before. knowing what these families are going through. knowing that not every service member that comes back has the president attending their dignified transfer. >> every death is important. for me, whether the president is there or not, it is still significant. it's still mean something for our nation. and definitely for our families. -- whether we are there not. the importance of the laws. i do think it is beautiful for

him and his wife to attend. for all of our senior leaders. and we saw we saw the senior leaders, they have been there before. they dread those days. it is incredible for him to be there but, again, it doesn't validate the significance of the loss. >> the families you mentioned, they are standing across from these senior officials. in a way that view that the camera has is a view that they have as they are watching this process unfold. talking about this, i think it is so important. this is one of the things the president was saying. he spoke to kennedy sanders

family. the servicemen and women, they're the 1% defending the 99%. it is obviously a very small group that makes up the all volunteer force. that really speaks to the fact that a lot of people don't have this connection. as they are watching this, maybe they do have a connection to what service and sacrifice means. >> absolutely. i think generations ago everyone knew someone that either served or died in service to our country. today it is a little bit different. as we look around it is our neighbors, it is the people in our communities, we don't all as military families live on installations anymore. secluded by the civilian world. it is -- we are 1%.

i think when we experience -- taps, as you mentioned i am with taps. last year we had over 9600 survivors joined taps, to be served. to be part of the programs and services that taps provides. which also have the 24/7 hotline. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you can call and have these conversations. this is what it was like. or i just came from a dignified transfer. or my friend just experienced it. or, what do i do for someone who is experiencing this? that is a common question, i think. i think when you don't have anything to say, you don't have anything to say, that's exactly what you do say, right? i'm so sorry, i have no words. >> obviously everyone grieves differently. you even mentioned interactions that you saw during the dignified transfer of michael.

i'm wondering, for these families, what of the next few days like? >> for us it was a waiting process. we were in dover for a day or two afterwards at the fischer house, which is amazing. we were all able to gather as families together. i remember going into the gym and seeing the brother of another service member who came home on the flight, meeting him. then we go home. it depends on, for us, mike came back to base luis mccord. he flew in tigray army airfields about four days later. so, and then we had a service for him there.

within a few weeks we were back here for arlington national cemetery. it depends on each family and what the arrangements are. there is definitely a process that the military has to adhere to within a few days afterwards to be able to transfer the soldiers back home. >> you mentioned the fisher house there at dover. there are official houses many military medical facility so that a lot of veterans have places to stay when they are getting treatment. the one at dover is particularly special. it is run by the fisher house foundation, i believe it is called. is where families, families like yours, or certainly the families that we know are there today, what other resources, taps for instance, are there for the families? reaching out to the families here in the coming days, weeks, and even years? >> there are registered

organizations. taps will reach out. bonnie carroll called me back then, once a month, for four months to check on me. to see if i needed anything. to make sure i knew taps was there. they also provide peer to peer support. i can talk to another widow, another spouse. i wish i could say, everything is gonna be fine. everything is going to get better. we have the opportunity to walk that journey with them. temps gives them that opportunity. there's also support when it comes to benefit. that is gonna come up in the future in the next month or so as the military benefits unfold. there are signing a lot of

paperwork there belongings are gonna come home those are gonna be shipped to the homes of their families. they are going to be doing things they don't want to do. they are going to have to close out a lot of affairs. that is a very emotional time. taps is there for today, tomorrow, and always for them to do the. as you mentioned, the fisher house. they are just so many organizations out there. you find your fifth. >> that support so critical at such a delicate time. we also have mj lee and oren liebermann with us. mj, for perspective, this is now the second dignified transfer that president biden had attended. his first, i believe, back in 2021. attending the dignified transfer of 13 service members killed in afghanistan. he uses that experience, and his personal experience, the

service of his son beau in iraq, to communicate with the loved ones of these fallen service members, right? >> that was the first time he attended a dignified transfer as president back in 2021. he had attended previously as vice president and senator. watching the dignified transfer you saw how every movement, every step, every second was precise. there was a very careful and meticulous choreography reserved for precisely this moment and this occasion. breonna, you mentioned earlier the silence as the dignified transfer was happening. there were no words spoken. no music. for so many minutes, the president, the first lady, the leaders of the u.s. military. they were all standing by watching incomplete silence. i thought that silence felt

quite loud it's both volumes about the occasion that this is the depth of the sacrifice that we are talking about. the significance of the grief that these family members feel today and will feel forever as christa said. we've been talking today about how we are able to watch this dignified transfer take place today. that is not always the case we've been able to do it since 2009 and former president barack obama once said, and wrote, but he thought allowing the public to witness some of these dignified transfer as we give our country a clear means to reckon with the cost of war and the pain of each loss. i am certain that is precisely what we just witnessed. >> it certainly is. krista, i do want to give the

final word to you. we do not want to lose sight of the families that this is affecting. they say military service is a family business. certainly, bearing the ultimate sacrifice in that service is one that is borne by the family that remains. what are you thinking of when you think of what is ahead for them and what this means for them? >> well, i pray that, along with the grief, that they are extremely proud. proud of the service. just signing, it doesn't matter who you are. when you dedicate your life to this nation, to serve this nation, no matter what happens, you know? it is, again, you said it is 1%, right? i pray that these families feel

a deep sense of pride in their loved one as they move forward through the weeks, months, and years. people are not replaceable, unfortunately. you kind of wish they were, but they are not. we will never be able to replace these three soldiers. >> thank you so much. >> thanks to christa, mj, and our, as well. stay tuned to cnn news central. we will be right back.

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this is cnn. new today, fulton county, georgia district attorney fani willis is responding to allegations of a conflict of interest and improper romantic relationship with her top deputy on the donald trump 2020 election subversion case, nathan wade. that's as she is also facing a subpoena from house judiciary chairman jim jordan, he is demanding willis produce documents related to how her office spends federal funds, according to a copy of the subpoena cnn obtained we have cnn's docket: with us. what is willis saying here? >> busy day for fani willis in atlanta, but she is pushing back vehemently on the idea that there was any sort of financial gain she got from her relationship with the top prosecutor, nathan wade, but she does acknowledge that they had a personal relationship with each other, but at the end of the day, she says it all falls short of being within the legal threshold to disqualify her from this case.

she says while the allegations raised garnered the media attention, they were designed to obtain and not provide this court [ indiscernible ] she is talking about the release disqualifying her from the case. she then goes on to admit in a personal relationship, to be clear, has never involved direct or indirect financial benefit to district attorney willis. this was the bridge that defense attorneys are trying to build your committee are trying to say that, yes, there was a relationship, and that fani willis benefited financially. without the second half the fani willis says their emotion has no merit. >> he benefited from a that's undeniable, this is a clear ethical lapse on her part, whether she wants to argue that or not. so, how might this impact this case against trump and others?

>> it remains to be seen. the question is did fani willis acknowledge and admit to enough in this filing today where judge mcafee doesn't need her and wade and others to come in and testify during public hearing on february 15th, that's already on the schedule. and willis in promotion today says the judge should cancel that hearing, that is not needed because of what was in today's filing. we will have to see, it is up to the judge now. but fani willis forcefully responding and denying. >> zach, thank you so much for that but still to come on cnn news central, we are watching a michigan courtroom as a defense gives their closing arguments in the trial of jennifer crumbley, she is the mother of the oxford high school shooter. we are going to bring the latest from cora, ahead. >> [ music ]