we deserve better. >> let's bring back errol lewis, adam kinzinger and lee carter. i wonder specifically for you as a republican who decided to lead, who led the january 6th inquiry and who has also been so outspoken against trump, what did last night mean, he talked about the soul of our country. he talked about brooiavery, and talked about the character of the candidate being the most critical issue. >> it was a bit of an emotional speech for me to watch. >> i bet. >> because he's been the one that's been speaking to the heart of the part of the party that i would consider myself, which is like this whatever it is, 15, 20%, you probably have the bet anywhere else, of people that feel like we don't have a home anymore. we're homeless politically. and he's the one -- you know, with everything that liz and i went through, and we're not asking for sympathy on this, but it's amazing to me the number of republicans that in quiet, in silence and he talked about this in his speech -- would say, yeah, donald trump is completely unfit for office. or i'm so glad you're out t

back with us to discuss is john avlon and erroll lewis.y think through when biden was talking about democracy and the lead up to the midterms. he had two major speeches. democrats were mad. nobody wants to talk about this. and then you looked at the cross tabs after the midterms, and it mattered in the exit. it mattered in the exits. does it matter now? >> it does matter. it matters now to more people than it did before. the problem, i think, that joe biden has is it matters to republicans in a different way it matters tos democracies. you look at it just some nu numbers. 72% of democrats say democracy is at stake if trump wins. 5 a 5% of republicans say democracy is the at stake if biden wins. when your making the democracy argument, it actually could help the other side. now i'm not sure when joe biden is talking about this, it could galvanize the base, but it could upset people on the other side. republicans look at the threat to democracy that he poses as people saying you must agree with me. my freedom of speech is not being allowed.

joining us to discuss it all, errol lewis, lee carter, john avlon and zach . and you were in the courtroom yesterday. some of what he was saying was struck down by the judge. what was it like? >> before he even took the stand, there was about ten minutes where the judge and trump's attorney were going back and forth talking about the ground rules for trump's testimony, things that could be asked and what could not be asked given the fact so many of the issues has already been skied. and when that happened, we saw the energy level in the room really change. trump when he had walked into the courtroom in the morning wasn't making a whole lot of audible comments. maybe whispering to his lawyers a little bit. but otherwise just watching the proceedings and the witnesses before him. but then when we got to talking about the conditions of trump's testimony, all of a sudden he started speaking up, talking to his lawyer saying he had never met carroll again claiming that and espousing many of the claims that we've seen him do on the campaign trail and in public. so th

. >>> joining us now to break eng down is errol lewis. let's talk about the nikki haley/nancy pelosi confusion and ambassador haley's reaction. we'll play what donald trump said on friday night and then what nikki haley said about it. let's play it. >>> by the way, they never brought the crowd on january 6. nikki haley, do you know they sold everything, deleted and destroyed all of the evidence, all of it. because of lots of things, like nikki haley is in charge of security. we offered her 10,000 people. soldiers. national guard, whatever they want. they turned it down. >> the concern i have is, i'm not saying anything derogatory, but when you're dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can't have someone else that we question whether their mentally fit to do this. >> so it is not like he said, good morning at 2:00 in the afternoon. this is -- he said nikki haley like five or six times and was talking about nancy pelosi. is this a big deal? is it enough to move any votes? >> it is a big deal. and by the way, what he intended to say

and also errol lewis host of the you decide podcast. let's start with what omar was ending with. what do you think of the statement and the cleanup from nikki haley and also what you heard from ron desantis, what does it say about where the campaigns are? >> what it says about the campaigns is that they are a part of a long tradition and unfortunate tradition of using evasion and euphemism and frankly imaginary facts to try to make a certain kind of american feel okay but a really ugly past that they would not mention if they can get away with it. so you have this odd sort of side talk. it runs contrary frankly to nikki haley's own family history. her father was a ph.d. in biology. and could only find a job at a place called voorhees college in south carolina, historically black college. only place that they would hire hill. her mother was trained in law in india, but ended up starting a closing shop in south care carry because other professional opportunities were not available to her. so they will do what they think they have to do to try to at the time votes in this national k

. >> joining me now to discuss, jessica dean, errol lewis, jeff duncan and bakari sellers. i thought that was really interesting because of how donald trump has tried' to have it both ways over the court of the last several months. i'm against six week abortion ban, but proud of the three justices that i appointed. democrats makes their heads explode thinking that he can kind of get away with walking that line or balance. but kamala harris is saying absolutely not. >> he donald trump can walk that line in the republican primary phase by letting people know, look, i got you your abortion ban, i made good on that, i'm the only president who showed up at your rally on the mall. and i want full credit for that and all of your votes by the way. and at the same time, he is practical, he is looking ahead to november, he is basically thinking like a general election candidate and has already said these abortion bans, these six week ban, it will be terrible. it has already been hard for us politically and the republican party needs to move away from that. now, how that happens rheto

. >>> let's bring in cnn political comme commentator errol lewis. let's start with president biden's first campaign speech of 2024. it had a darker tone than we're used to hearing from the president and also urgency to it. how effective do you think his speech was in terms of timing, right on the eve of the january 6th riot anniversary, the backdrop of valley forge, and his messaging that democracy is at stake? >> good morning. it's a great speech and it's a great opportunity for joe biden that he wasn't going to pass up to show his powers as the president of the united states to speak out on behalf of democracy, and then politically speaking, to really galvanize his base. the polls show that while democrats disagree with each other, it's a turbulent coalition in a lot of ways, environmentalists and civil rights activists, different movements that sometimes collide, when they all come together in the 90 plus percent range is around this question of whether or not democracy is under attack and whether or not biden is the best person to defend that de

with us cnn political analyst, sarah fineburg, and cnn political commentator errol lewis. guess i was surprised more than you at how close this is, 7 points, you know, 39% for trump, 32% for nikki haley, but the amount she jumped, she jumped from 20% in november whereas donald trump is down from 42%. >> that's exactly right. look, donald trump has been at essentially the same level since about april of 2022, so people who know him like him and that's where that is. on the other hand, you get a very clear picture of a new candidate who's doing exactly what a candidate wants, which is to have a surge at the last minute, and so she's rising in the polls. she's the alternative. she's tried to identify herself as the alternative. and very interestingly, because new hampshire allows independent voters, non-registered voters you get some insight into what a general election candidate nikki haley might look like, which happens to dovetail with one of her stronger arguments, which is that i can win in november and to the extent that people buy that in new hampshire, she's getting e

and cbs' erroll barnett was there. >> reporter: two days after a joyful win in new hampshire, former president donald trump was stone-faced testifying in his own defense on the witness stand in new york. judge lewis kaplan presided over the previous civil trial in which trump was final liable for sexual abuse and defamation of writer e. jean carroll. for this trial he emphasized no testimony could contradict the previous verdict which left trump's lawyers with few questions. >> she's not my type. >> reporter: including whether he stood by the deposition in which he declared his innocence. trump said yes. at one point, trump said of carroll, quote, she said something i considered a false accusation. the judge ordered the comments stricken from the record. and when trump said, quote, i wanted to defend myself, my family, and, frankly, the presidency, another objection, and instruction to the jury to disregard. trump's entire testimony lasted only four minutes. and when he said before taking the stand "i don't know who the woman is," the judge reprimanded him for interrupting. exiting t

judge lewis kaplan presided over the previous civil trial in which trump was found liable for sexual and defamation of writer e. jean carroll. and for this trial he emphasized no testimony could contradict the previous verdict, which left trump's lawyers with few questions. >> she's not my type. >> reporter: including whether he stood by the deposition in which he declared his innocence. trump said, "yes." at one point trump said of carroll, quote, she said something i considered a false accusation. the judge ordered the comment stricken from the record. and when trump said, quote, i just wanted to defend myself, my family, and frankly the presidency, another objection and instruction to the jury to disregard. trump's entire testimony lasted only four minutes. and when he said before taking the stand, "i don't know who the woman is," judge kaplan reprimanded him for interrupting. exiting the courtroom, trump was overheard saying, quote, this is not america. now, jurors return in the morning for closing arguments and could potentially begin deliberations over this possible eight-figur

judge lewis kaplan presided over the previous civil trial in which trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation of rider e. jean carroll, and for this trial come he emphasized no testimony could contradict the previous verdict. which left trump's lawyers few questions. >> she's not my type. >> reporter: including whether he stood by the deposition in which he declared his innocence. trump said yes. at one point, trump set of carroll, "she said something i considered a false accusation." the judge ordered the comment stricken from the record. and when trump said "i just wanted to defend myself, my family, and correctly the presidency," another objection and instruction to the jury to disregard. trump's entire testimony lasted only 4 minutes. and when he said before taking the stand, "i don't know who the woman is," judge kaplan reprimanded him for inter interrupting. exiting the courtroom, trump was overheard saying, "this is not america." now, jurors return in the morning for closing arguments% and could potentially begin deliberations over this possible eight figure defama