biden's backlash. >> gratuitous, inaccurate, inappropriate. >> the president takes on the special dcounsel after a scathig report. >> how dare he raise that. >> how it will impact 2024. we have a sick and corrupt two-tiered system of justice in our country. do i know better than anybody? >> plus, lashing out. trump warned allies he would push russia to attack. >> i would encourage them to do whatever they want. >> and mocks haley's husband serving in the military. >> what happened to her husband. and gop revolt. mitch mcconnell's republican foes. >> a republican leader should actually lead this conference. >> after a tumultuous two days for the gop -- >> this is maga week on capitol hill -- >> -- new details on the backlash of the republicans who ousted kevin mccarthy.

"inside politics" the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now. good morning. welcome "inside politics" sunday. i'm manu raju. the special counsel report found that there were secret documents. they are pushing back on reports that portray him as an elderly, forgetful man. >> this is a man who is sharp, on top of his game, knowing what is going on in the northeast and around the world. small gaffes are part of what all of us in public life do. speaker johnson of the house, just confused iran and israel. he said we are sending aid to iran. donald trump confused nancy pelosi and nikki haley. >> there is no case. case closed.

then made gratuitous, unnecessary, inaccurate personal remarks. and those are improper. >> the report showed images of classified documents haphazardly stored in his garage. and the special counsel is not charging biden and drew distinctions with donald trump. polls consistently show voters are concerned about the 81-year-old biden's age and mental acuity, even though trump is just four years younger. trump is easing on the revelations. >> more proof we have a weaponized system of justice in this country. crooked joe got off scott-free. they said he was a disaster mentally. he willfully stole gigantic numbers of classified documents. willfully. because of his condition mentally -- is this guy going to make it to the starting gate?

seriously. >> we have a lot to discuss. we have a great panel this morning. melanie, mario parker and eva mccann. good morning to all of you. mario, first to you. you cover the white house. this has been a decision by the white house to aggressively go after this report. it was interesting jill biden, the first lady of the united states, came out yesterday and said that joe is 81, that's true. but he's 81 doing more in an hour than most people do in a day. he's delivered on so many of the promises as the president because he's earned a lot in those 81 years. take us inside the white house and the thinking about how to deal with the very significant revelations here in this report and the decision to combat questions about his age. >> it's not helpful. 76% of americans had concerns

about biden's mental acuity and age before this report came out this, is a troubling situation for the white house, no doubt about it. what they are countering with it is what you said. what the first lady is saying. age is an asset in terms of wisdom. the report was indecent. it was improper for her to say any of those things about the president, as well. political pot shots. and frustration on the part of merrick garland, for his bid to be so impartial was overtorqued in the situation and drawing a contrast with donald trump and his proclivity to make gas, as well, in statements. >> voters say is a major concern about his age and the rest because the report does have damaging things for the president. that's why we're seeing a pushback. just to remind viewers. didn't remember years he was vice president.

when his son died. he pushed back against all that. biden's memory appeared hazy in the afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. and the line has been widely discussed in the aftermath that mr. biden would present himself to a jury as he did as a sympa sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. that's one reason he didn't prosecute. >> it's not helpful. i think it's impact is already being overstated. from being out on the campaign trail, i can tell you that voters' minds are baked in. they well know who trump is. they well know who president biden is, and his many vulnerables. and a lot of voters are making a pragmatic choice. for instance, a black shop owner i spoke to in south carolina, was worried about her personal safety, the environment he

fermented. it's not only a love for president biden but voters making choices. this damning report doesn't move the needle that much. >> and talking about biden pushing back against the allegations. does he change his actions? there's been a debate in the democratic party how the president should deal with questions about his age. until now, has side stepped that or downplayed the questions. you can see from the colleagues reporting, how they can't agree, biden's allies pushing back. "the new york times" liberal editorial board gave suggestions of its own. he dmneeds to be campaigning wi voters, unrehearsed interactions. he should hold regular news conference to demonstrate his command of and direction for leading the country. and i caught up with one congressman before this came out. questions have conpersisted abo the president's age. and he says the president should

own it. >> i do think there's something that you concede. it's out there. each of us has certain things that perhaps we'd rather, you know, not talk about. but in this instance, everybody knows it. own it. >> what are you hearing from democrats? >> not everyone feels the same way. i tried to catch up with tammy baldwin, a senator from wisconsin up for re-election. and she said to me, i don't want to talk about this story. >> before you go on, we have the report there. tammy baldwin. this isn't a story i want to talk about. jon tester, the montana democrat, up for re-election. >> some are saying if you defend it you are giving credence to what democrats are saying. it's already out there. we need to be defending biden in

our private conversations, he is sharp. and pointing that donald trump has made gaffes, too. it's not just joe biden. this is a problem for democrats. there's a lot of worry privately, even if we don't say it publicly. >> talking about the voters, as eva said, just moments ago. this is one poll. cnn poll, independents and democrats, who view biden's age. 46% have concerns. that's the biggest concern among voters. does it change voters what they will do at the polls or not? it is clearly one thing that is on the mind of voters. do you suggest as the "editorial times" suggested, he should do more with news conferences? do you agree with that strategy? >> they've been pressing the white house to put him out there. the fact that you have seen him in some ways bubble wrapped,

reinforces this perception he may not be able to conduct himself publicly in these interviews. you have to give him reps, right? the super bowl is today. they turned down an interview. that was probably a big mistake -- >> a big audience he could have spoken to. >> you look at his rival who would have relished having 10 million viewers right now, the white house, the messaging they had, they are trying to go around to podcasts, tiktok influencers, et cetera, you're not seeing that in the polls. you will see them pivot to a more traditional messaging strategy. >> i think to the extent it presents a problem is attracting voters. we know this president has real vulnerabilities, with a number of key coalitions. a arab-americans, and young, progressive voters. you have to make up for that by getting new voters into the fold. and you aren't necessarily offering an inspiring message. to the extent that this report

pleasant presents a political challenge for this president, i don't think it attracts new spfolks tt aren't baked in. >> republicans come back to the white house, tomorrow or tuesday -- tuesday through friday. whoever is around in the house. the question is, who do they do with this? they have come out attacking biden in the aftermath of this report. does this change the investigative imposter? doing the impeachment imquirery has not produced results they want. hunter biden is coming in for a deposition. >> they are trying to investigate this. they may have hearings on this. in terms of it changing the impeachment case, i'm not sure that it does. i talked to sources that said, that's an issue for the voters. we're going to dig on what we've been digging on. to your point, they've struggled to sell things like hunter biden business deals. or classified documents. they are seizing on the part of the report that mentions the biden memory issues, which is

telling for republican messaging. >> my guess, they're going to investigate. just a hunch. okay. up next, what trump said about inviting a russian attack against a hnato ally. we'll be live from the trail in south carolina.

president biden may have had a rough week. but this morning, president trump appears to have handed him a political gift with controversial comments on the campaign trail. that follows a blockbuster week for trump at the supreme court. his lawyers argued he should not be kicked off the ballot for his actions on january 6th. tomorrow, trump faces another deadline, to ask to put another case on hold, after a lower court ruled he is not immune from prosecution for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency. and he stepped away from controversy about remarks he made about russia yesterday. we go live to south carolina to fill us in. elena, what did the former president said and how did the crowd react?

>> well, manu, the former president told his supporters the hell they want, to any nato member country that did not meet its spending listen to how he put it to supporters yesterday. >> one of the presidents of a big country said, sir, if we don't pay and we're attacked by russia, will you protect us? i said, you didn't pay, you're delinquent? yes. i would not protect you. i would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. >> just a stunning admission from the former president. he is saying he would not abide by the collective clause in the agreement. trump has long held the view that nato was a brain on

american resources. many american countries are concerned about what that could mean if he were to reclaim the white house. i want to point out the context of his remarks, the former president, as he is making these comments. more aid to european leaders are warning about russian aggression across europe. i want to note that the white house immediate ly criticized those comments. it endangers national security, global stability and our economy at home. >> one thing congress did was to prevent the president from unilaterally pulling out of nato. we'll see if that comes to pass. thank you for that report from the trail.

back with us here in the room with our panel here, just a sense of how this has played out on the shows this morning. nikki haley, trump's remaining rival in the presidential race, no surprise, she jumped on this as some of trump's defenders, defended him. >> don't take the side of a thug who killed his opponents. don't take the side of someone who is going in and invaded a country and half a million people have died or are wounded because of putin. don't take the side of someone who continues to lie. >> what he's saying was nato was broke or busted as he took over because people weren't paying their dues. he told a story about how he used leverage to get people to step up to the plate and become more active in nato. he's not the first person president. virtually every american president at some point, in some way, has complained about other countries in nato not doing enough. trump is just the first one to express it in these terms.

>> you've been on the trail a lot with nikki haley. how do you think this is going to play out in south carolina? >> i know for many voters, foreign policy isn't a key motivator. that might be way the former president makes the remarks so casualty. he has said similar variations about this time and time again. and we know from voters, especially those struggling economically right now, they have very little interest in foreign aid. and so, trump's arguments leans into that notion. that america is overtaxed, and contributing too much to countries around the world. it's a populous argument that may be palatable to folks outside of the republican gates. >> it's the tension between the republican base and the libertarian leaning, if you want to call it that or the trump-minded wing of the parties, playing out for some

time. and trump went after nikki haley's husband. took a swipe at her husband, that is deployed in africa. he is a member of the south carolina national guard. back and forth, played out, after those comments. >> what happened to her husband? he's away. what happened to her husband? what happened to her husband? where is he? he's gone. >> if you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don't deserve a driver's license, let alone be president of the united states. >> michael haley posted on twitter -- formerly known as twitter, the difference between humans and animals, the animals would never allow the dumbest ones to lead the pack. that's tough. this is all playing out in the context of a primary we're headed into. the first primary of this month, in south carolina. she's losing considerably in the polls, according to polls from

last week. she's obviously going to try to capitalize on all these remarks. is it too a little too late? >> it is. the polls show she's down about 30 percentage points to donald trump right now. in a previous segment, we spoke about the callation that the white house is making and drawing this contrast with donald trump, right? the fact that you have the ex-president assume -- presumably the front-runner for the nomination, essentially making disparaging comments about women and marriage, et cetera, isn't going to win him any of the independent suburban women he's going to need in november. >> it's a general election issue with trump. trump mocked john mccain's military service and it didn't have much of an impact on him when he made those remarks, too. >> i think to some extent, this is baked in when it comes to trump supporters. he's known for this rhetoric. and supporters say we don't like the way he talks but we like his policies and we're not happy

with the state of things in the xhun. in the general election, i don't think those help. but in terms of the primary, i don't think it impacts at all. >> trump has legal issues. criminal cases upcoming, to remind viewers of the potential start dates of this. the federal election interference case. that's been put on hold until the supreme court -- probably the supreme court rules on his immunity case. first, trump has to appeal that tomorrow before the full d.c. circuit or faktake it to the supreme court. and the hush money payments in new york. that's the one that will come to verdict before november. we'll see what happens in the classified documents case. the georgia case seems unlikely given all of the problems of what's happening with that case. mario, you were at mar-a-lago this week, after trump's lawyers argued before the supreme court. how were they handling all this? how is the trump campaign handling these court cases coming up? >> aside from the comments he

made yesterday, it was a pretty good week. the former president was in a good mood. the supreme court was going to rule in his favor. some of the most liberal justices, as well. the biden case, you see him pounce on the age and mental acuity issue. but more so, making this argument that it's a two-prong, selective prosecution, two-tiered system. you'll see a lot of that. you'll see them make delays to get closer and closer to november. he can bolster his election interference argument, as well. and try to convince the independent voters. republicans in the camp. it's the independent voters you have to convince it is a selective prosecution as he argues. >> what is remarkable, to put it gently, is trump lives a dissimilar life forh his whole life for americans. he's effectively marketed to a significant number of republicans that i'm a stand-in for you. they are coming after me. but they could be coming after

you next. and you hear it on the campaign trial, people make this argument and feel a certain kinship and solidarity with him remarkably in the wake of the many legal challenges. >> the questions i've had for some time, is at what point does biden jump in and talk about the issues? he's tried to avoid talking about these really, at all. that is a question we'll have to explore a little later. that's been the decision, to talk about the merrits of the allegations and let the court cases play out. maybe he will change his mind. coming up, trump tries to taint the massive foreign aid package pushed by the top republican. mitch mcconnell's critics are growing louder. my new reporting, next.

donald trump, effectively killed a bipartisan border deal in the senate last week. now, he is trying to do the same

to a $95 million aid package ahead of the key peerl roceedal this afternoon. my report with lauren fox is detailing how he is facing the loudest pushback he has endured in his 17 years atop the conference. >> i think it's a huge mistake for him to be championing sending money to ukraine, at the expense of figuring out our border problem first. >> mcconnell's problem is that he doesn't talk to or listen to voters or his members. i don't think i've had a conversation with mcconnell in over a year. this is remarkable. the guy -- he's completely bubble wrapped. >> do you have concerns about him? >> everybody does. the direction we took on this. got to have leadership. i think he needs -- there will be a lot of talk about it when we come back, i promise you. >> this is in large part, has to

deal with the handling of the ukraine package. this is a massive bill. not just ukraine. $95 billion. $60 billion goes to ukraine. and the indo american -- indo pacific partners, i should say. he was among 17 republicans who voted to advance this package. he's in the minority of the conference. there's a sizable amount of mcdonnell supporters within the conference who say that, if he wants to, he wants to lead this conference, he can. >> there's no question in my mind that as of right now today, mitch is the leader and he would have more than a majority of support in the conference. >> the question is, does he want to. he's the world's greatest vote counter. i don't know what he would want to do. i can't imagine why he would want to run again. you add the trump factor to it. this is a complicated series of

months for republican leader. >> if trump is president again, it's hard to imagine that mitch mcconnell would want to hang around or could hang around, given where his conference is. it's interesting with mcconnell. he's been out of step with his conference. he voted for the bipartisan infrastructure package. he voted for gun perform. and he is pushing the ukraine aid package. what is important to point out is mcconnell hasn't changed or evolved. it's the republican party that's changed underneath him. >> it's such a good point. often times, he would let his conference make a decision and get behind the decision they made. now, the decision is much more aligned with the trump wing of the party, with the more accomplished mind of the party. such a shift in the trump years. and trump is trying to kill the aid package as i mentioned. he went on social media and said, are you with it?

no aid should be given to a foreign country if it's not alone. senate republicans say why move forward when the house republicans are going to kill this bipartisan border deal that was cut with a conservative member of the senate and the white house. why move forward with it. they gave donald trump a victory. >> donald trump wanted the border bill to be killed. and we killed it. the base of our party is happy with that. we did what donald trump wanted. president trump didn't think this is what we should be doing. i think it's good politics on his part to underscore that president biden has failed. >> trump wants these issues to collapse to campaign against biden's failures. >> he does. it's the best possible outcome for president biden for the border bill to collapse. it's not the prevailing sentiment in washington.

there is a sizable progressive base in the party, immigrant activist organizers. that would be difficult to go back to the communities and lean on them for support. listen, when it comes to mc mcconnell, he is diminished by his age, the freezing episodes, the health scares. i'm skeptical because so many times the voices that have tried to challenge them, we heard from them this morning, senator hawley, senator paul, they've been at this for years, to no avail. >> i would agree with you. but they're much more outspoken now. before, in years past, mcconnell's critics would grumble privately and talk to you on background. now, those are more outspoken. you're right. it's a small fraction within the republican conference. i want to point out somebody that you just mentioned how democrats may deal with the failure of this border deal. vulnerable democrats. immigration has been an issue

that they struggled with here. clearly seeing that the fact that senate republicans voted to block a bipartisan border deal is something they can campaign on. >> as frustrated as people are there aren't more resources and more solutions at the border, they will be more frustrated to know this was stopped for a political reason. my opponent, mr. mccormack, came out four-square against the best solution to the border crisis in 25 years. i don't know how you can have that position but he does. >> we've had other members talking about how the border needs to be secured. he's putting out a press release and not supporting that for political reasons. that's crazy. not why people sent us here. >> the dr. senator is the campaign committee chairman, steve gaines. interesting what bob casey said about dave mccormack, his

opponent in the krace in pennsylvania. he has enabled weak policies that made pennsylvanians less safe and hurt our economy. but democrats believe they have something to argue on the campaign trail on this key issue. >> something that's been elusive for them for the better part of the last year or two. maybe historically, right? a weakness for them. now, they get the message that donald trump was the one that tanked this. they get to tie those candidates to trump. that's something that the democrats are professionals at right there. and you saw president biden say he was going to hit the campaign trail and explain to americans what happened here. he conceded to republicans a lot of the demands they had on the border in immigration. they pulled the rug from up under him to make the political calculation and support trump. so, you'll see democrats really tying them to that and tying this to the maga movermment. >> how do you think that speaker

johnson will deal with the fact that this bill package, is most likely going to pass the senate by wednesday or so? he's going to have to make a decision on how to proceed, as trump is telling him to kill it. >> right. he's in a difficult spot. he is not committed to putting this bill on the floor. he tried and failed to pass a standalone bill on israel this week. he is clearly saying the issues should be separate. now that you have donald trump out there to get this deal killed, i think it will be hard for him to put something like that on the floor. most of the republican conference probably still does support ukraine aid. the problem is, it's the wing of the party that can make his life miserable, including the motion to vacate the speaker's chair. >> to discharge the petition. 218 members to force a vote on the house floor. very rare it succeeds. up next, the bad blood between mccarthy and who he calls the crazy eight who pushed him out of the speakership.

how some of the woes are facing threats to their seats. with the super bowl tonight, i ask roger marshal what he thought about the superstar in the stands, taylor swift. >> i'm celebrating it. i got my own taylor swift playlist now. i'm trying to understand her music. i get it. everyone has the ups and downs in their own life. she does an incredible job of making poetry out of it and making music. and travis kelce, the greatest tight end of the history of the nfl. what's there not to love? >> other than mike ditka. >> what's the point? that's a good point. >> what do you think about the conspiracy theories this is about the nfl trying to help joe biden? >> i dismiss all of that. let's enjoy the ball game. let's put the swords back in our sheathes and enjoy the ball game.

iced out by donors and exiled by caucuses, life has become more difficult for some of the hard-line republicans that voted to oust then-speaker kevin mccarthy in october. melanie zanona dives into the backlash that the eight are facing, including challengers lining up for the chance to take them out. one of them, congresswoman nancy mace, facing an uphill battle in her race, that mccarthy predicted when i spoke with him in november. >> just from the basis of watching someone on the job they do, i don't think she will have earned the right to get elected. i don't think it will heal for the consequences of the action. >> part of the consequences are donors not shutting their wallet. that's what a couple of the members said, what are they

sentsdonors? there has been an impact. >> are you seeing your support dry up? >> yes. >> who is that? >> wealthy folks. they've been kind to me in the past. i hope we can mend the fences. >> there's a lot that mccarthy's allies, are going after the eight. is that happening to you? >> that's a reality. and i think anybody that participated in that and knew that going forward. >> now, talk us through what you're learning from this reporting, especially nancy mace and bob goode, two of the eight that voted to oust mccarthy. they are going to face a difficult primary? >> they are the most vulnerable. there's an outside group playing against them. we're hearing that kevin mccarthy himself is expected to get involved in some way. some of his allies have been donating to primary opponents. some of them have officially endorsed the primary opponents. and even on capitol hill there's been an effort to make the

members pariahs. there's been two center right-leaning groups on capitol hill that nancy mace was belonging to. they quietly dropped her as a member. they see her -- kevin mccarthy was especially burned by her. she was something that built herself as the governing wing. she wasn't a part of the freedom caucus. kevin mccarthy spent a lot of money to initially get her elected. they are trying to keep her at arm's distance. the question is whether the voters care about this. in bob goode's district, he's confident that the conservative area, they didn't like kevin mccarthy, same with eli crane and andy begbeggs. >> bob goode said, if my opponent wants to bring in kevin mccarthy, he can. the outside groups spending. the potential outside groups coming in to spend money in race. what was interesting about what

mccarthy predicted, is his ouster and the chaos and dysfunction, would lead to a wave of new republican retirements. in the past two days, we've seen two key committee chairman both announce they were going to step aside. this often happens when members believe that, yeah, they're the majority now. but going to be in the minority next year. >> there's regret from many members how this played out. the year congressman thomas massey saying they are in a worse position without mccarthy. i shouldn't be surprised by mccarthy trying to get his pound of flesh here. we know he has long telegraphed he has a vindictive streak. this guy, after dealing with all of the folks, you think he would be on a beach somewhere in california, enjoying his money and his time, rather than going after some of these folks.

we're going to see them wear this as a badge of honor, though. for congresswoman mace, she is trying to make an argument that she is a maverick with an independent streak. mccarthy going after her might be helpful. >> yeah. she's part of the maga wing now. which one, we'll see. the senate has been very interesting in recent days. republicans had some good news. trump is backing tim sheehee, the choice over matt rosendale, who is one of the eight. seen his fund-raising dry up, as well. saw larry hogan, trump into the race in maryland. a huge boone for the republicans, turning a blue state into a competitive seat. what is interesting is how trump, how the leadership, steve danes, has aligned himself with trump, and they've avoided so far the battles they have with trump in the midterms.

that cost them the senate majority. >> he's been masterful in this. as you mentioned, the blame for the autopsy out of the midterms was essentially that the folks they put forth was a little too trumpy, right? the fact that trump came out and endorsed ssheehee after rosendae said he would run, shows he is aligned with the rnsc this time. it was a bump on trump's record that he took so many losses. we were talking about how he was weakened politically. he's learned that lesson, as has republicans, as well. the fact that hogan has jumped in is a boone. the calculations that republicans have a strong chance to flip and get the white house. >> you saw the map on the screen there. the republicans had such a good map to take back the senate. we'll watch larry hogan. but it will force democrats to

spend money that will be an expensive state when they have to defend the battlegrounds here. i want to talk about the new york three special election that's happening on tuesday. george santos' former seat. the democrat, former congressman, tom swazi. so much spent there. $10 million for the democrats. $6.5 million for the republicans. then, you look at the fund-raising totals between the two of them. the millions raised so far. the polls show this is a margin of error raised, neck and neck right now. what is interesting is how the candidates dealt with the top of the tickets. swazi keeping biden at a distance. marcy pillup wouldn't tell me who she voted for. and then, she told "the new york post" she supported trump in 2020. >> you're seeing biden and the border issue become a huge part

of the race right now. we tend to overload the special elections. this will be a critical bellwether for both parties. >> absolutely. that's why we're watching it so closely. confidential informant recorded bob menendez about his bribery case. what the senator told me about that next.

two leading candidates for senate. two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican, is too conservative for california. he voted for trump twice and supported republicans for years, including far right conservatives. adam schiff, the leading democrat, defended democracy against trump and the insurrectionists. he helped build affordable housing, lower drug costs, and bring good jobs back home. the choice is clear. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.

one night this past week, federal prosecutors made it a mission in their corruption case against senator bob menendez that they had relied on recordings from a confidential informant to help build their bomb shell bribery and fraud case against the new jersey democrat. now menendez and his wife are accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars, gold bars, and a luxury car in exchange for helping the qatari and egyptian governments. they have both pleaded not

guilty. and now i caught up with menendez who argued that this confidential informant could even help his case. >> senator, your response to the fact the prosecutors revealed an informant recorded your conversations? >> they got it wrong. they said they recorded my conversations. where did you read that? where did you see that? so we're the ones when we filed our motion to suppress that cited the confidential source. we're happy to see them, number one, release the name of the confidential source and release the recordings because we think they would show it. of course, they have it under a seal because they have this confidential source. i don't know if they paid this source, how much they paid him. >> but menendez says he is being

persecuted, not prosecuted. will still not discuss many of the allegations made against him. >> at this point, the gifts, cash, the bars, the cars? >> that is for court. i've explained some of it already, but i'm not going to try my case on cnn. >> menendez's trial set to begin on may 6. that's it for inside politics sunday. you can follow me on x, formerly known as twitter. if you ever missed an episode, search for inside politics wherever you get your podcast. now up next in the union with dick and dana bash. we will discuss more. thanks again for sharing your sunday morning with us. we'll see you next time.