minority whip john thune, former whip john cornyn and john barrasso. bret?bret: chad pergram live on the hill. thank you. up next brit hume and jonathan turley with analysis of the legal news of the day. and later taliban brutality on display again in afghanistan. we'll take you there. ♪ ♪ help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. men tell us when they use just for men® to eliminate gray, there's a great “before and after”. then, there's the 'after the after' — that boost you get when you look and feel your best. and that's why more men choose just for men®. [crowd noises] [dramaticlly beat] introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque

, either john cornyn or john thune.eresting to see. clearly trying to remain in step with the republican base. >> harris: now learning that senator mitch mcconnell will make remarks 13 seconds from now. we'll see if he's on time. i'll ask the team in our control room if we have a shot of the lectern where he will walk to? jason you were talking about inevitability of this in terms of where he is with his career and what he might want to do other than politics. >> jason: he's been a fixture. i was in high school, it's been a while. he has lost his step and had health issues, it is time for natural transition, you have to make sure you don't give up that seat too soon. makeup of senate, you don't want to give up that boat. lame duck session is always nefarious stuff happening. >> harris: leaving in november. >> jason: this is where they need to clarify, maybe leaving the post as minority leader, not leaving senate as senator. >> harris: ap report doesn't say that. >> jason: just saying that is a question. how they elect a

thune, and john cornyn do have a chance.is always a secret ballot vote. people don't actually have to say who they voted for, so that makes it easier for these candidates that are more aligned with the establishment to win these internal party elections. when it's a wide open vote, that's when it gets more complicated because a lot of these republican elected officials don't want to get sideways with their base. >> chuck todd, great to have you on the program with the breaking news. carlos, you're going to stick around. >>> coming up, one of the biggest wildfires in texas history is burning acrosses panhandle, totally uncontrolled. the fight to get it in check. etk panhandle, totally uncontrolled. the fight to get it in check. panhandle, totally uncontrolled. the fight to get it in check. panhandle, totally uncontrolled. the fight to get it in check. t panhandle, totally uncontrolled. the fight to get it in check. he panhandle, totally uncontrolled. the fight to get it in check. le. the fight to get it in check you're probab

i'm talking about john barrasso, john thune, john cornyn. all of those members widely seen amongst their colleagues as potential successors but it's really interesting as you talk to republican members, many of them want to use the next several months to have conversations to understand what the philosophy of these perspective senators are, how they would lead the conference. they view this as a result lead pivotal time to talk about the direction of the republican party because trump is really ascending at a moment where mcconnell has spent the last several months fighting for additional ukraine aid that many of his own members ended up ultimately they voting against that just raises the question of what exactly is going to be able to unite the republican party? what leader is going to be able to unite the republican? in party? and you have a couple of members who are already saying who they're backing. you have senator mike rounds of south dakota saying he does plan to vote for john thune, support john thune, but a lot of these members don

but you also can put john thune in that category. john thune, served with him in the house. telegenic, young, aggressive, would probably be a pretty good candidate. the odds are, if trump were to win, i mean, you can probably, at this point in time, look toward barrasso to being the leader. if trump loses, i think right now, you put your money on john thune, maybe cornyn. that's what's insiders are saying. >> so i just want to ask you to make a little clarification. you say if donald trump is elected president, you think somebody will be in who is more of a person he can rely on to move senate business. is that what's going on or will it be, donald trump will say this is who i want and that will happen? >> remember, there's going to be a vote. and i don't think you're going to see full-on trump if trump were to win. >> you're not suggesting he would influence votes? >> no, what i'm saying to you, though, is there will be a moderating effect inside that whole senate caucus. and while trump may get their person, they're not going to get somebody that's going to be, you know, j

john thune, senator john thune hasn't been always a backer of donald trump. in fact, he's been critical of him now as the number two republican in the senate, he's endorsing donald trump it is significant. it is further illustration that the republican establishment is ready to move on and calling coalescing around the former president. we know that senator thune, really there's no love lost there and he is not an infant who's he asked a trump supporter, he previously actually endorsed senator tim scott. but what this really indicates is that he does not see a path forward for nikki haley. but, you know, her team says that she doesn't need the establishment. she's not listening to the noise there and really she's relying on the voters. and the fact that she argues that a former president, he should be commanding in these early states, upwards of 90% of the vote. yes, she's losing, but she still has a base of support and that is why she is continuing to run this race. sarah >> eva mckend, always great reporting. thank you so much. appreciate it >> john berman.

senator john clune -- senator john thune from south dakota jointly.ing have our tax information? >> that's a good question. good morning. that's what we are trying to find out. the irs like all government agencies had to have these tiktok devices banned in the workplace. that was a 2022 law. the irs has a report suggesting they are not complying with the law and we want to know how many irs employees have personal devices, how many have access to confidential taxpayer information and what are they doing to keep that information safe? the ccp would be interested in the tax information of american businesses and individuals so this is a serious issue and the irs needs to respond and ensure that americans confidential personal tax information is kept that way. stuart: i don't wish to be sarcastic but don't hold your breath on that one. >> that the experience we had with this irs, but we will keep pushing. stuart: the white house is ramping up its attacks on house republicans after they opposed the bipartisan border deal. watch this. >> house republicans

if not, someone like john thune or john cornyn, they have a chance. people mentioned steve daines, people have mentioned tom cotton, anybody who has eyes on becoming the senate republican leader is going to throw their hat in the ring right now. >> the senate has been seen as kind of the last, as i said, bulwark toward maga republican-ism, it's been kind of eroding lately. there have been louder voices than the senate gop. obviously the bipartisan immigration deal was an example of that, the fact that ukraine funding was so hard to pass in the first place in that chamber is another example of that. do you see this devolving into what we see in the house, the trump-led conference that is trying to silence or nullify the influence of the few moderates that are left. >> not to sound repetitive to jake, but all of this depends on november. if trump wins, then, yes, you're going to have, you know, it's going to be the apprentice show at mar-a-lago. you know, and you're going to have to go down there and kiss the ring, and it becomes an audience of one and

majority whip john thune told leaders a vote on the security package is inevitable so they need to, quote, stop being bleep and vote according to two people familiar with the administrations. you can guess what the bleep was. meanwhile some other senate republicans are vowing to block the foreign aid bill until the situation at the border is addressed first. let's take a beat and revel in that for a second. they're not going to vote for foreign aid until they vote for the border despite voting against legislation earlier in the day, which would have done exactly that. >> what this administration and chuck schumer, they are doing, is using the crisis in israel to support other priorities of the party. we should first secure our southern border, second provide resources to israel, third, take a look at the indo-pacific, and fourth make sure we have accountability woven into any resources that we give to ukraine. without doing those four things in secession, it's going to be hard for republicans to support it. >> you have already too many republicans who have trnz transitioned from, okay, th

john thune, current minority whip, current number two republican. john veraso.ave bases of support. all have different degrees of maga to them. it's probably not an accident that john thune, the current senate number two, and very much a trump skeptic, let's say himself, endorsed donald trump just over this past weekend. john cornyn did so around the time that the former president won the iowa caucus. john beraso was an early trump supporter in this race, has been quick to put his thumb on the scale in favor of trumpy senate candidates. the most important election with the fewest voters in america, the effort to attain that position will start right now. frankly, they probably started at the beginning of this congress if not sooner as mitch mcconnell's health problems became more apparent and simply the fact as mcconnell says himself, father time is undefeated. he could not and would not stay in this position forever. >> i think you are right on all points. let's talk about the most important consequential decision he made was probably merrick garland, preventin

it's believed that the john's john thune, john barrasso, and john cornyn are all in contention. i should note all of them have endorsed donald trump, including most recently, john thune, who did it just this week. is it wishful thinking that trump's hand is not right in the center of this particular cookie jar. >> yeah. i mean, i think it's wishful thinking. i think i filled it was a big step that made a lot of us sad because he had held out and you just see this like what's it worth being the leader of the party if you have to acquiesce to donald trump anyway, like, why do you need this job? so bench or really not going to have any influence. so i think look, i appreciate mitt romney's take on this and i'll give a lot of deference to him because he's on the right side and he knows this caucus better than i do. but i think the idea that i mean, look, this immigration plan was basically tanked because of the former president and yeah, he's got his influence is only going to grow. look at josh hawley he's all over twitter, gloating about this despite the fact that he was the faste

senate republican whip, john thune of south dakota senator john barrasso of wyoming, the conference chair or senator john cornyn of texas. cornyn so far has been the only ones that signal that he's going to jump into that race. but any man or woman who steps into mcconnell's shoes will have to lead a party that is in the end stages of morphing fully into the party of donald j. trump trump mcconnell today, acknowledging that his views on national security and funding american allies are at odds with many in his party, including the former president believe me >> i know the politics of >> them by a party at this particular moment in time. i have many false mr. hundred and seven, politics is not one >> but mcconnell also acknowledged that he at 82 year-old, 82 years old realizes that quote, the end of my contributions are closer than i prefer, unquote mcconnell has visibly struggled on occasion in recent months, appearing to freeze and forget what he was saying for extended periods of time including a news conference last july this week been good bipartisan cooperation and a string of

this is the same john thune who told cnn just last month, the following, i've always been worried about trump's viability as a general election candidate. well, how times change >> this all leaves us where on this monday morning, well, here at least is a delegate math that tells you a little bit of where we are, donald trump now has 110 delegates. nikki haley, 20 delegates. a reminder, a candidate needs 1,215 delegates to lock in the nomination. cnn's alayna treene has more much more math. she's going to do for us from washington this morning. >> oh >> nikki haley says, the math is still not in donald trump's favor, not adding up for donald trump in the long term. she may say that, but what is donald trump in the team around him saying about thinking about this week and what it means for him a look at the math. is there for donald trump and his campaign's still is very confident, but by mid-march, they will >> have the necessary delegates. that 1,215 number that you shared kate, to declare him the presumptive republican nominee, and he's still the favorite in the majority of the primary

i'm thinking, first and foremost of senate minority whip john thune, the number two senate republican, who has been a long time time critic of donald trump, has openly said he worries about donald trump's viability in a general election versus joe biden now coming out and endorsing the former president. again, this is someone who said after january 6, that the party needs to move on from donald trump. i think it's just another example of how the party is really coalescing around him and how donald trump is, is able to consolidate support even among those who have been holding out for so long for really years at this point, ever since he left the white house trying to say, hey, we need to move on that's not the case. and this is an example of people like john thune, other senate republican leaders acknowledging the reality of which is is that voters want him to be their nominee. yeah. >> all right. guys, standby for me for a second. we've got this other big story that we're also following here in washington. and that is the countdown to the government shutdown. congress has its back ag

what does that say to you that people like john thune are falling in line behind the former president >> well, it's the unfortunate reality of where we are as a country, but i'll specifically speak to as republicans, we feel the need to kiss the ring into endorsed a flawed candidate. and that's not leadership we have got some tough times on our hands. we've got some tough situations that we need real genuine leaders and each, each candidate has problematic populations that they have to work through. donald trump just either he has this crowd of folks that are with him and then the massive crowd of folks that are never going to be with them. and that makes the math problem and possible for republicans to win. i think there's going would it be a whole lot of regret after donald trump gets beat again? you know, heaven forbid, he wins and nikki haley doesn't prevail in this republican primary. and he comes in and just rearranging the deck chairs again and creates chaos across the party, the country and maybe even a world all right. >> ron brownstein, geoff duncan, we'll leave it there. ou

she's been around, but again, i think a likely successor is john thune. but again, dune came out endorsing trump, which is a good thing, but he's also got problems like cornyn where he was backing that 95 billion billion dollars foreign aid package. and that's not popular with trump world as we know, these are the three johns on the screen that we think are likely successors here. but i have to say not none of them. barrasso probably as the one with this sort of profile that fits trump while also being part of the outgoing administration. the other two a potentially i could see them facing some issues will see. all right. mychael schnell, rina shah. thank you both very much. >> all right. the supreme court is going to hear donald trump's claim of absolute immunity. how big a win is this for the former president? pretty big. i got to say, plus the new all-time leading scorer in women's college watch basketball history. i love her >> job. we >> dietary supplements from volterra for healthy joints. >> stay tuned to get this nut set for you from granite stone

this is a perfect example of it, like john thune endorsed donald trump this week. i like john thune a lot, but like this is what trump does do a party. >> i mean, once you become an snl and cold open, right? conceptually that you're saying something one way. jim risch got to appear on exactly. so random jury humor relies on shared understanding and knowledge. and so the idea is conceptually, we'd all get the joke. >> i'm more intrigued by how how, and why a story like this actually appears and the timing, because we're heading towards a potential government shutdown, the ukraine funding is still an issue and mcconnell has been stymied by trump's outside efforts to rally the troops in his own direction. so like, what is this about? maybe you can tell me because you've been a congressional reporter and ashley yeah. >> worked on stories like this as a congressional yeah. what is going to pressure being exerted in which direction? >> well, i mean, the question though for me, is it less about the timing of the article? and but it's, it's, it's more about you know, wheth

barrasso sd john thune, texas senator john cornyn, tub vile joined me last hour saying republicans needfore mcconnell resigns. >> leader mcconnell has done a good job but i am not for lame-duck leader i am for next month us picking somebody else out that is going to lead us let them pick their own team we have to have somebody number one that is behind the senate behind if american people, and behind president trump. >> indiana senator mike brown member senate budgeting a committees, aging committee that i thinks for being here who would you like to see leadership now that mcconnell is stepping down. >> i go back to will have the time we did this. i was standing right next to rick scott when he decided to kind of on the moment, extemporaneously throw hat in the ring saying entitlement needed to be looked at said wrong way schumer jumped on it then mcconnell nine or 10 votes clearly the party changed since i came in, in have 18, 15 of last come from different way of thinking that is try to fix this place not the old guard we've already got, the senate caucus changed a lot to are '18 that

john thune sounds like a good candidate. i kind of watched him as well. mr. mcconnell is a really nice guy and smiled. there are some different things that he spoke at, and he is such an unlikely politician. just very nice. i remember one time somebody approached him at a restaurant and started being absolutely horrible to him and all the people in the restaurant went to defend him because he was just sitting there and taking it. a lot of people in the restaurant went over to defend the guy. from this person who decided they were going to go off on mitch mcconnell. a nice guy. good seeing you. love the dress. host: is there a politician in kentucky that you think, if he should choose not to run for reelection in 2026, who do you think will win that seat? caller: that is a tough one, but i believe it will probably be a republican. mostly, we know about our democrat candidates. but so far, nobody can touch him. i'm sure it will be a republican. host: democratic caller. let's take a look at 2016 when then senate majority leader came onto c-span's program afterwa

all named john. john of wyoming, john thune, john of texas. i think it depends on who wins the presidential election. if trump win, this is his party. he wants to have a say in who the next leader is. he could find somebody beyond the three johns. if trump loses, and this is purely a choice of the senators, i think john thune starts out with an advantage. >> let's speak about mitch mb mcconnell's legacy, a relationship with trump, inconsistent. he didn't vote to convict trump in the second impeachment trial. >> crucial. >> had he whipped votes there, maybe donald trump would not be running for office again right now. >> exactly. >> he's also said he'd probably endorse trump again. >> sure. >> it seems to me, speak about his time, what he meant to the upper chamber, but it impact may have been on the judiciary. >> the sweep of his career in the senate, there's no landmark piece of legislation that he's really connected to. he'll be best known in history for how he shaped the supreme court. he sat on one nomination for almost a year, and he move

thune cornyn or barrasso of the three johns two will be in tension. obviously, >> we see three, they're all in leadership. there's talk that rick scott may run. there's talk that thom tillis also from north carolina, may run. it's what makes this hard is you have to do real math at this point because you're talking about multiple people. so it's not one person versus another who, who gets the most. you have a lot of politicking that's going to happen. and we have a lot of months for it to happen in you didn't answer my question at all. very strategically and intentionally. >> i'll give you one more shot. know who do you think? who do you think has the skills and his position to do it? >> i think all three have the skills to do what i tell you, josh hawley was asked to we support it and he said, john, that's probably a smarter. >> there you go. well i guess he's right. doug. thank you very much. boris. >> as if that weren't enough to digest out of capitol hill right now, hunter biden is being grilled behind closed doors as part of house republicans imp

we do know that john thune, the number 2 ranking republican in the senate, in the south dakota primaryndorsing donald trump. mitch mcconnell had not indicated that one way or another. 's term goes through january of 2,027. not as if he would be leading the senate, just the leadership post. we don't know his plans beyond that. maybe some other issues. in the meantime let's go to hillary vaughan with other issues captivating house republicans after biden testifying behind closed doors but it has already gotten nasty. >> reporter: three hours into hunter biden's deposition house democrats say the case should be closed. they are calling it a deep-sea fishing expedition, a fairytale, hunter biden calling it in his opening statement a maga motivated conspiracy. >> they seem to be obsessively focused on speakerphones and use of speakerphone. i did not know that was the devil's technology but apparently it is. i believe based on this first hour that this whole thing really has been a tremendous waste of our legislative time and the people's resources. >> reporter: on speakerphone is investigat

names to watch, gop whip john thune, former whip john cornyn and john barrasso of wyoming. gop arkansas senator tom cotton is interested in a leadership bid. david: another historical moment for washington, d.c., chronicled by our own chad pergram. we had a lot of them. good work. thank you very much. let's bring in edward lawrence live from the white house on president biden's remarks today, edward? >> reporter: the president going for his physical today, saying everything is squared away. he says his doctors actually told him he looks too young. the president spent several hours at walter reed medical center. he did not get a cognitive test but the white house press secretary says the president doesn't need one. >> the president doesn't need a cognitive test. that is not my assessment, that is not my assessment. that is the assessment of the president's doctor. that is also the assessment of the neurologist who also made that assessment as well. >> reporter: so after seeing his doctor the president spoke about making communities safer and fighting crime, highlighting how

another high-ranking republican, senator john thune, they are suggesting that they may not support it end right here, because republicans want it to. would democrats be giving them what they want by not moving the ball forward in even a small measure on some kind of immigration bill? >> look, republicans are the reason we are here to begin with . the only reason we are where we are is because republicans insisted on saying aid to ukraine to changing what's happening at the border. we should never have been here to begin with. we should have advanced aid to ukraine a long time ago. but they wanted to engage in a border negotiation, if you will. and after months of participating in it, if they are walking away from it, again, the question is on them. when are they want to get serious? we know what solutions will wait, let's now go back to a trump playbook that was shown to fail. >> yeah, it is a question for the folks on the republican side who oppose it, would they that would actually fix what's going on at the border? senator alex padilla, i know that there's still much more to come o

cornyn, john barrasso, and john thune, the three johns, they have been preparing quietly, mitch mcconnell just turned 82, he had some health episodes last year and some people started to worry about his health. he's had his differences with the presumptive republican nominee, former president trump, and even this morning there were some senators talking about they didn't like his leadership style. mitch mcconnell, someone who always seems to know where the votes lie, he always seems to be able to read the politics. just about a week and a half ago, they passed the supplemental international aid package for ukraine and taiwan and israel, and mitch mcconnell did not get a majority of his conference voting for that, as i always say, it's about the math. he wanted to get border security into this bill at the behest of his conference and had to back away from that. it's been clear for a while that mitch mcconnell has not been fully aligned with his conference. listen. >> believe me, i know the politics within my party at this particular moment in time. i have many faults. misunderstanding poli

john thune of south dakota, john cornyn of texas, and john barrasso of wyoming.e former president although john thune held out until this week. the sec is investigating -- the wall street journal reported regulators are looking at internal columns by the ceo sam altman related to his ouster in november. sources familiar with the probe say the sec subpoenaed openai in december and told senior staff to preserve internal documents. openai's board chair says the company will continue to strengthen governments. amc theater is cutting the pay for it ceo by 25% after about 2023. the fourth quarter profit missed estimates despite the sales boosts from taylor swift and beyonce concert films. amc sees a 9% revenue drop because the slate of films being released is so limited. jonathan: up next, guess what washington is doing? kicking the can down the road. >> the american people deserve better than this. you would not run a peanut stand over how congress is trying to do the national budget. jonathan: a lot of people might agree with that sentiment. this is bloomberg. ♪ j.p.

. >> john barrasso, john cornyn, john thune.m cotton's name was mentioned as well. >> that would be the youngest candidate. maria: a quick break. hunter biden grilled on capitol hill over the family's influence peddling, democrats keep saying there's nothing there. missouri congressman eric burleson will tell us what he learned. google's woke a.i. bot gemini rekindling talks about repealing section 230 which gives immunity to big tech over user content. will they lose that immunity. a live report coming up. don't miss it. you're watching "mornings with maria" live on fox business. we'll be right back. ♪ (luke) so... i hear some of you are concerned about the fact that i'm taking over the company. well, rest assured, company's in great hands. marci, hit the vid'. (both lukes) homes-dot-com. we've done your home work. (luke) now, that is worth celebrating! (brad) i love it. (luke) thank you. (brad) home...work... very clever. (vo) ding dong! (luke vo) homes-dot-com. personalized financial advice from ameriprise can do more than he

the number two senate republican, john thune, of south dakota just became the latest republican to come out against it. a reminder, this deal includes huge wins for conservatives. it requires the border to be shut down when crossings average 5,000 a day. that would happen for a week. make it harder for migrants to seek asylum. make it easier to remove them if their claims are rejected. it would be the toughest border security bill in decades. joining me now is the lead republican negotiator on this bill, senator james lankford of oklahoma. thank you so much for joining me. i guess my first question is about you and whether or not you personally are going to vote to advance this bill when it comes up for a procedural vote tomorrow. >> yeah, this is a bill i believe in, trying to work through the process to be able to help colleagues understand more about it, what's actually included in it, to be able to dispel myths about it, which there seems to be a thousand myths of what is in this bill or not in this bill. we're working through that. there are two different stages, the procedural sta

gop whip john thune, former women john cornyn and john barrasso of wyoming. the gop won't pick a predecessor until november. >> he's gave us the confidence to sit down and decide what our mission needs to be. what are our goals. we need a more strategic approach to doing that. he's given us that time to have that discussion and then hopefully find a leader that will fully embrace that mission. >> there was tension between mcconnell and conservatives for years. former president trump wanted mcconnell out. it was thought that mr. trump could try to engineer his ouster if he wins in november. neil? >> neil: thank you for that, chad, on capitol hill. we'll give you the latest and whether the former president has said anything about this. the former president plans to go to the border tomorrow. the present president plans to go to the border tomorrow. they're not there at the same time and the same place. it's note worthy. jacqui heinrich has more. >> we're waiting for the results of the president's physical that happened today. it won't include a cognitive test.

another high-ranking republican, senator john thune, they are suggesting that they may not support itecause republicans want it to. would democrats be giving them what they want by not moving the ball forward in even a small measure on some kind of immigration bill? >> look, republicans are the reason we are here to begin with. the only reason we are where we are is because republicans insisted on saying aid to ukraine to changing what's happening at the border. we should never have been here to begin with. we should have advanced aid to ukraine a long time ago. but they wanted to engage in a border negotiation, if you will. and after months of participating in it, if they are walking away from it, again, the question is on them. when are they want to get serious? we know what solutions will wait, let's now go back to a trump playbook that was shown to fail. >> yeah, it is a question for the folks on the republican side who oppose it, would they that would actually fix what's going on at the border? senator alex padilla, i know that there's still much more to come on this issue. thank

senators john thune, senator john cornyn, and senator john grasso, each of them have already begun talking to their college, stealing them out. but wolf, this is going to be a secret ballot election after the november elections. so it's uncertain who is the favorite here? there are who will ultimately win here. but a significant moment here in the united states senate with mcconnell's steps down. and now a leadership race to succeed, a very significant indeed been a razo up on capitol hill thank you very much. and to our viewers. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. i'll also see you tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern for cnn newsroom once again, thanks very much for watching erin burnett outfront starts right now

senators john thune, senator john cornyn, and senator john grasso, each of them have already begun talking to their college, stealing them out. but wolf, this is going to be a secret ballot election after the november elections. so it's uncertain who is the favorite here? there are who will ultimately win here. but a significant moment here in the united states senate with mcconnell's steps down. and now a leadership race to succeed, a very significant indeed been a razo up on capitol hill thank you very much. and to our viewers. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. i'll also see you tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern for cnn newsroom once again, thanks very much for watching erin burnett outfront starts right now >> outfront. next we are following several breaking stories this hour, the supreme court agrees to weigh in on whether trump is immune from criminal charges related to january 6, it's the heart of trump's defense. is the doj's case now in trouble, also breaking right now, trump on the hook for $454 million. the clock is ticking because a new york court

he is not the only person named john. we expect john thune to jump in, likely john barrasso.'s a possibility of a dark horse, that comes from the more conservative wing of the republican party, even closely more associated with the former president donald trump. we should point out, right out of the gate, one of the first things john cornyn made a point do was tell reporters he has been in communication with donald trump and has talked to him about his intention to run for the republican leader of the senate. this is going to be a long process, jose. keep in mind that the term as leader is not going to run out for mitch mcconnell until after the november election. they won't decide on a new republican leader until december. the fact that folks are out of the gate, less than 24 hours after mcconnell announced his intention to step down, shows just how competitive this race will be. >> meanwhile, the house is set to vote on another short-term spending bill today. what's in that deal? >> reporter: what it shows is that leaders are now getting serious about doing everything they

john thune is in many ways many people i talked to see him as the front runner, kind of the more natural error of mcconnell but on the other end of things he does not have a good relationship with the former president and trump circle so that could be a hindrance there for his attempt on his part to run for leader. meanwhile john barrasso has been a long time endorser of the former president. he's also back a lot of the more conservative kind of maga style candidates so far. those running for senate this year. he's an interesting character to watch as well because of his appeal to the further right flank of the republican party, whether we see those senators polson power in essence with over the decision. lastly, john cornyn has also been close to leadership for a long time. he seems likely to make a run for this position. he's a texas republican conservative, also has little bit of a difficult relationship with former president trump but he has endorsed the president, never endorsed any other primary challenger for the president, which john thune did. >> host: stef kight is a political

the johns, if you will, john barrasso, john thune, john cornyn people jokingly say, i'm for john, for john. and i think they're pretty be safe and saying that if president trump were to say, i'm for this one versus that one, i don't think again, these 49 or 50 republican senators are going to say, oh i'm going to do what? donald trump tells me to do this pretty headstrong group weeds think we're pretty good and people like me actually ran for president once we got a bunch of guys who ran for president. yeah. >> but you're different in this sense of how you stand up. and we just saw trump's influence on the immigration bill the senate, that bipartisan bill with foreign aid that came out. he did have a lot of influence on at least some of those republicans senators. >> yes. i think on various issues he will have an influence. i think he has more influence in the house then he does in the senate. but i think by-in-large senators vote their conscience. they do what they think is the right thing for their constituents, for their reelection for the country and so i don't, i don't think that

i say that even senator john thune number two a trump critic has now endorsed donald trump. question is crossover appeal, can independence you largely like nikki haley back trump in the general versus joe biden. stuart: you're not supposed to say this in journalism but only time will tell or it remains to be seen. another no, no in this business. trump says republicans are united but take a look at this from the wall street journal editorial board donald trump's divided republican party, brian brenberg with me now, which is a republican's divided were unified. >> i don't think there divided as editorial says look at the issue at the top of everyone's minds there donald trump issue, the border, the economy a battle between haley and trump in the longer she stays in the harder to get haley voters back on the trump site but this is trumps parties and issues he won by 20 points in south carolina, her own state you can't tell me doctor hardy on the brink. stuart: ronna mcdaniel will step down as the chair of the republican national committee next friday, that is more proof that t

the johns, if you will, john barrasso, john thune, john cornyn, people jokingly say, i'm for john, for john. and i think they're pretty safe and saying that if president trump were to say, i'm for this one versus that one, i don't think again, these 49 or 50 republican senators are going to say, oh i'm going to do what? so what donald trump tells me to do this pretty headstrong group weeds think we're pretty good and people like me actually ran for president once we got a bunch of guys who ran for president. >> but you're different in this sense of how you stand up. and we just saw trump's influence on the immigration bill listen at that bipartisan bill with foreign aid that came out. he did have a lot of influence on at least some of those republicans senators. >> yes. i think on various issues he will have an influence. i think he has more influence in the house. than he does in the senate but i think by-in-large senators vote their conscience. they do what they think is the right thing for their constituents, for their reelection for the country and so i don't, i don't think that th

i'll is ask minority whip john thune if beijing has our tax information.o voters care about that? mollie hemingway, coming up. the 10:00 hour is next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ .. ♪ you were made to act spontaneously. we were made to help plan accordingly. ♪ that first time you take a step back. i made that. with your very own online store. i sold that. and you can manage it all in one place. i built this. and it was easy, with a partner that puts you first. godaddy.

senators mitch mcconnell and senator john thune, they're calling for the to proceed to an impeachmental against homeland security secretary mayorkas. senators manchin, tester and other democrat senators oppose that. your final word on that. >> i think that the democrat senators don't want a light shone on what's happening. but unfortunately for the democrats, it's the not just fox business and fox news reporting it now. now you're seeing it on your local tv stations, on your local radio stations because so much is happening. and and it's important to remember that there is no historical precedent for what is happening at the southern border, for the rate at which mayorkass and biden are letting people illegally into this country, for the rate at which the people who are on the terror watch list are coming into this country. philadelphia elizabeth got it. >> in which drugs are entering this country. there is no historical precedence for this. this is an aberration. this is not even something president obama did, and it's going to take a strong and tough commander in chief, hopefully do

minority whip john thune of south dakota all expected to seek the position. joining us now congressional reporter for politico, daniela diaz. momentous moment, one speculation would occur considering mcconnell's health issues in recent months. let's take a minute and weigh in on his legacy, what he's leaving behind, an imprint on the upper chamber to be sure but also the judiciary. >> that's completely correct, jonathan. i mean he's been the leader of the senate republican conference for nearly two decades, and he's been the longest leader that the republican conference has ever had, that is why the news yesterday, which, we of course expected at some point he would announce his future plans for his role in the conference, but we didn't know was going to happen yesterday came unexpectedly and really sent shock waves through the republican conference, and he only started calling some of his republican colleagues yesterday morning to tell them the news. so it's really a huge day, and it's hard to overstate what the news means for the future of this body. >> so

, john thune, the number two republican right now, john cornyn, a republican from texas, the former whip and john barrasso, another member of current republican leadership. and that discussion is going to continue. but again, seven for months until republicans have to make this ultimate decision. and you can expect that trump is going to loom large in the months ahead as people are jockeying for that role, john john power i can get lineup behind that. lauren, 24 hours ago, we thought there might be a government shutdown looming where do things stand right now? >> yeah, things are moving in a much more positive direction. you had that announcement yesterday from house republican leaders that they are going to move forward with a short-term cr to give themselves a little bit more time than the expectation is that they are going to be able to pass six of the appropriations bills by march 8. the other six by march 22. now, a lot of things can fall apart between now and then, but there is a realization they are five months into this fiscal year. it is time to try to put this behind them becau

for him and his allies, there's a coalescing, even senate republican john thune backing him last night. i want to let you hear my yes to lindsey graham, the fellow south carolinian. >> what is your message to fell le south carolinian. >> we like you, we admire you, we're proud of you. it's time to unify. >> the republicans want to unify. the dnc and joe biden are outfund-raising them by millions of dollars, not only the campaigns, but the super pacs. . >> we know trump has tried to use his legal woes as a campaign boost, as a fund-raising boost. here he is this weekend, now in a new controversy because of comments he made about his legal woes connecting with black voters. take a listen. >> i got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time. and a lot of people said that that's why the black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as i'm being discriminated against. i'm being indicted for you, the american people. i'm being indicted for you, the black population. i am being indicted for a lot of different gr

senators john cornyn, john barrasso and john thune all expected to be in the running in the newsroom.reg lee, ktvu, fox two news. >> house and senate leaders have reached a bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown ahead of the friday deadline. the deal would temporarily extend funding for one set of federal agencies through march 8th and another group through march 22nd, but emergency funding for ukraine, israel and other allies remain stalled. the house is expected to vote on the temporary funding bill tomorrow. the senate would vote soon after, and president biden and former president trump are both set to visit the southern border tomorrow. president biden is headed to brownsville. mr. trump is scheduled to go to eagle pass, which is about 300 miles away. both areas have reported high concentrations of border crossings. president biden is set to meet with border patrol, law enforcement and local leaders and to renew his calls for congress to pass a bipartisan border agreement. >> desperately needed aid arrived in gaza city today, where officials say hundreds of thousa

republican whip senator john thune says, he's unclear whether there will be enough support in his conferencee the bill as former president donald trump continues to encourage republicans to vote against the bill all while he makes his rounds on the campaign trail. now, the possible failure of t bill comes as states plead with the government for more federal assistance to help quell the increasing flow of people seeking asylum. according to customs and border patrol since october 1st, staff have encountered nearly 1 million migrants at the southern border. whit? >> whit: and that bill still in limbo. thank you so much, ike ejiochi, for us. >>> we want to stay on politics and democrats this weekend turning their attention to south carolina, the first time that the state is getting to go first in the democratic primary, and it's a major test for president biden in the 2024 race. white house correspondent maryalice parks is there. maryalice, good morning. >> reporter: whit, good morning. we're in front of a polling location. you can see still quiet here this morning, but, look, president biden a

look for the three republican senator john thune, who's currently the number two republican senator john cornyn, a former republican whip, and john barrasso, the number three republican senator. all of them could run for this spot in a secret ballot election between that will happen after november. so a lot of jockeying will happen between now and then as members of congress, the senators grappling with this historic moment. yeah, the battle of the johns wow, this is certainly quite a moment. manu standby, because i want to bring in scott jennings. he is a cnn contributor and a long adviser to mitch mcconnell before he was formal and now he's informal and i would say scott, it's probably fair to they say a very close friend. i mentioned to manu that i don't remember. we were talking here. i've seen senator mcconnell get sort of emotional understandably. so when longtime colleagues pass away, but he his voice was cracking throughout this entire speech. it was obviously not easy for him to give. and one of the many lines that struck me, scott was him when he talked about his age and the fa

here's the number two senate republican john thune today. >> i believe the senate needs to hold a trialthink this is such a miscarriage of the law. and it is important that the united states senators sit in hear and the american people hear about this incredible crisis at our southern border. lisa: hear him saying this is about the crisis at the border. democrats say he has done nothing wrong that there is a crisis. but the issue here is i think democrats, my reporting is want to move to not have a trial. they do not think there's reason for one. we're going to check in with that maybe next week, maybe the following weeks after we get past the other crisis. geoff: all right. following it at all for us. thanks so much. lisa: you're welcome. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with "newshour" west. here are the latest headlines. the pauls up close and we have the winners. president biden and former president trump won their respective parties contest, which was expected. the final vote count will be closely watched i both parties. israel and hamas cast doubt today on president biden's suggestion

mitch mcconnell, john thune of south dakota, joni ernst of iowa and shellie had moore capito all brokeemocrats on this. lindsey graham has been bulking on it. he actually backs now donald trump's plan for foreign aid essentially as being a loan rather than money. the other thing about all this money to ukraine that looks like a gigantic number but i have heard a number of people say a lot of that money actually stays in the united states. >> brian: because they buy our weapon systems we replenish. buy from american companies. >> ainsley: let's bring in chad pergram fox news senior congressional correspondent knows all of these players and so well versed on what is happening there on the floor. chad, what do you expect to happen now in the house? pass the senate and now it goes to the house. >> yeah. we don't think that this is going to come up right away in the house of representatives. house speaker mike johnson sent a statement last night saying that the status quo from the senate was unacceptable. he wanted some border provisions attached to this bill. remember that was the plan tha

just last month, south dakota senator john thune told cnn that he's always been worried about trump's viability. and in general, now, his office tells cnn that he's backing him as well meantime democrats are holding their own primary in michigan on tuesday and is likely to show president biden how deep anger runs over u.s.'s support for israel >> the, battleground state is home to one of the largest arab and muslim populations in the us. there has been outrage over the u.s.'s support for israel and its war with hamas and congresswoman rashida tlaib and her other michigan leaders are calling on voters to voice their protest at the ballot box is awesome to create a voting bloc. something that is a bullhorn to say, enough is enough we don't want three that supports warm or the bombs and destruction. if you want us to be louder, then come here and vote uncommitted >> but state governor gretchen whitman tells cnn's dana bash, that's a dangerous strategy any vote that's not pass for joe biden supports a second trump term, a second trump term would be >> devastating, not just on fundamental

so the republican whip, john thune, was telling our colleague, ted barrett just a couple of minutes ago that he's confident they're going to be able to get an agreement to move this across the finish line in short order, but that agreement hasn't quite come together yet, so we're still keeping an eye on the senate and how fast they can move. but looking more and more likely that this deadline is going, this shutdown deadline is going to be protected and they're gonna be able to pass this bill. >> lauren fox and important update from capitol hill. thank you so much >> so >> former president donald trump's january 6 federal case is now on hold at least for a few more months. the supreme court has announced that it is going to hear arguments on trump's presidential immunity bid in late april. >> this is a big win for the former president, of course, given his election subversion trial was supposed to begin next month with us. now we have cnn senior supreme court analyst joan biskupic, and cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider. jones starting with you here. why would the supreme court

john thune came out, finally endorsed donald trump is there a feeling? and what is the feeling around people who are still holding out? you've got the food endorsement that mcconnell thought. you've also got todd young, senator from indiana, who is basically saying no, i'm never doing it and come at me, please. what is what's the vibe check on the hill right now? >> yeah. i would say that these members that are still not coming out for trump are under an increasing the amount of pressure from not just their colleagues, but the major republican political movement, especially right now in an election year where trump is pretty much going to be the presumed nominee. i think that, a lot of a lot of these moderates are going to fold and have already started. and we're seeing this. and i think that there's a big push in the party to really get behind wants him or not, despite the fact that privately, a lot of members are very critical of him and skeptical of whether he can win the general election all right, ladies, stick with us for a second. i do want to swi