major developments tonight on the search at trump's mar-a-lago home. the washington post is reporting that classified documents relating to nuclear weapons were among the items the fbi agents were searching for well on the property. i want to bring in cnn legal

analyst, norm eisen. he was special counsel for the house judiciary committee in trump's first impeachment trial. also cnn global affairs analyst -- susan glasser, and dave ehrenberg, an attorney for palm beach county, florida. susan, i almost butchered your name so i'm gonna begin with you. on this very notion. i gotta ask you, the washington post report is fully frankly breathtaking. i have to ask you, what is your reaction to the reports that they were searching for not just classified documents, but those that may be related to nuclear weapons? not somewhere where it secured under the cover of the federal government, but mar-a-lago? what's your reaction to that? >> yeah, i mean look laura, this is a very, very serious allegation. this is the kind of thing that government does not screw around about. and obviously, the idea of nuclear secrets being held in an insecure way at mar-a-lago

is just extraordinary. and certainly, really changes the conversation in a significant way. we've heard three days of gaslighting from the former president and his supporters, right? about this, as if it was merely a matter of doodles on cocktail napkins. obviously, classified nuclear information is a whole different ball game. and it reminds me of the story of the four years of trump and the president sees himself being in some ways a national security threat. this is another illustration of that. >> susan, you mentioned the idea of nuclear secrets. that was the phrase you used. i want to be clear for the audience, what kind of documents could they be referring to? what would a former president have in terms of the possession of what they would've seen? could there be documents, is there any such thing as sort of a benign related nuclear

document? >> well, that's a good question. even things that you and i might consider to be benign, laura, could also hold within the secret of some information that in the wrong hands, would end up revealing something about u.s. sources and methods, for example. there was one detail that really caught my eye in the washington post report, which was a source, a single source, they attributed to the fact that some signals intelligence was also possible lee collected as part of the fbi search at mar-a-lago. that is the most top secret kind of espionage that the u.s. has. eavesdropping potentially on foreign leaders. again, extraordinary allegations. >> it is extraordinary, if that is in fact what happened. >> norm, if this is what we're talking about, if this is the type of document they were trying to retrieve, and they were somehow trying to, it had to be in --

the head to negotiate to get back, could this explain why authorities seemed so secure, and not only getting a search warrant for former president, but knowing the political risk was enormous? this is really one of those cost-benefit analysis, obviously if it's nuclear information, that's going to a way of political calculus? >> that's right, laura. we heard from attorney general, merrick garland, today, that the government doesn't execute these search warrants lightly. and only when every step has been taken. so we know there were conversations, we know there was an earlier subpoena issued. we know there are reports that a witness, an informant of some kind, gave information that materials were still there. we know there were conversations. so, it seems like the government was left with no choice, you know, as a former

ambassador, i enjoyed a high degree of access to these documents. a security clearance, you get trained in these kinds of informations about weapon systems, nuclear weapons, signals intelligence, again, that is the most sensitive stuff we have. and if the former president didn't turn that back over after being asked and subpoenaed, that is as serious as it gets. >> i mean, dave, on that point, the idea that you'd have to cajole someone or have several meetings to say, here's what i want back. to me, and i think to many people, it stretches very odd that you would have to have the bargaining power, by the way, to be able to have to keep asking and have the doj requests the information. that just strikes me, in and of itself, as why do you still have those when you've they've been asked to be given back? but if this is all true, dave, if this is all true, it does this also explain something about maybe the potential of an

informant? being compelled to tell investigators about what is still in the possession of the president? this does this go hand in hand now? >> laura, you had to have an informant. because you have someone who knew there were still documents left over after the agents came and retrieved the previous boxes. and they had to no locations within mar-a-lago, the inner sanctum of mar-a-lago. i've been to that location before, mar-a-lago, i don't know anybody who's been up to the office to look at the safe. i don't even know there was a safe there. we're talking about someone really close to the -- >> that's why they call it safe, of course. that's why they called a safe, go ahead. >> but you know, sometimes you have the safe that's out there in the public office or something, this one, and that's why you had to have something that's as vital as a national security secret. possibly nuclear information. because they're not going to do all this for love letters from kim jong-un. and so, whoever expose this as someone inside trump's inner circle, that's got to be really

bothering the former president. he demands complete loyalty, even though his loyalty is a one way street. >> and i also wonder, i mean, it is a national archives dotting every i and crossing every t and seeing some sort of inventory if there's something that is not lining up in some way, from what you said as well. susan, i just wonder, the idea of the security. i don't know the average person, myself included, that we know, essentially, where these sorts of documents are kept. what does it mean to have them safely secured? there's reporting about the phone call made down to mar-a-lago, hey, you've got a further secure whatever area you're talking about. what does this look like? the general security apparatus? if you had these documents, are they required to be kept and maintained in a particular way? and clearances? the only way to access? is that the theory? >> yeah, absolutely. that's a very important point, actually, laura. it's not just well it's fine to

keep them lying around or trump said in one of his many statements, this week, we put a padlock on, therefore is okay. no. these documents are so close -- especially anything concerning nuclear secrets. they are separate compartments known as, facilities, known as skips inside many government offices that are even more secure than the rest of the office complex. you required to do things like leave your phones outside, only access them in a special way. and the past, there have been cases involving government officials and former government officials who did not safely secure those documents, i'm thinking of sandy berger the national security adviser in the clinton administration, who was fined and placed on probation for mishandling documents. that he had -- was researching of his own documents after he left office. and again, it's not just enough to put them in a file folder

and put a lock out the door. these governments even inside a government office, have the tightest, special security. >> norm, it strikes me is something you and i were having a similar conversation about the idea of this not -- there have been a prosecution, there is been the enforcement of laws like this. it's been enhanced by the way, under the trump administration, -- with respect to classified documents more broadly. i wanna play this clip from merrick garland the attorney general from earlier today. here's what he had to say. >> the department filed a motion, and made public the warrant and receipt, in light of the former presidents public confirmation of the search, the surrounding circumstances, and the substantial public interest in this matter. >> okay, so if these documents are released, and we'll know more about this tomorrow at 3 pm, what could they reveal? how much detail are we talking about? when we know all there is the no, the affidavit support, we have everything the judge had to make the decision?

>> no, you'll get the search warrants, you'll get the attachments to the search warrant. which probably will tell you which laws the government believes were shown to have been violated to the probable cause standard. and you'll get an inventory, but we know because classified is involved, that on that inventory document, which is also provided in this case to former president's lawyers, when you have the execution of a search warrant. we know there will be some redactions. you won't get the mother lode of information, which is in the affidavit, and the other supporting documents. the justice department is not seeking to unseal that. that probably also has classified information, and it identifies possibly, that informant who they want to

protect. so that you will not get. >> that's a really important point, because if you think about that, and thank you all for being here, because if you're looking for any insight on the next line of defense or political talking points that might come up, what's under the redacted portions of it? what's underneath the black lines? we've all seen this, we can all anticipated, because if you don't -- no longer have the idea of there's no transparency on your side, over the next thing you say? susan, norm, dave. thank you so much. now, the real question, what are we to make of the post reporting on the possibility that classified documents related to nuclear weapons may have been stored at mar-a-lago? which of course, is trump's florida resort in a state. legendary journalist carl bernstein and presidential historian doug brinkley are gonna weigh in, after this.

(jackie) i've made progress with my mental health. so when i started having unintentional body movements called tardive dyskinesia... i ignored them. but when the twitching and jerking in my face and hands affected my day to day... i finally had to say, 'it's not ok.' it was time to talk to my doctor about austedo. she said that austedo helps reduce td movements in adults... while i continue with most of my mental health medications. (vo) austedo can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have suicidal thoughts. common side effects include inflammation of the nose and throat, insomnia and sleepiness. don't take austedo if you have liver problems, are taking reserpine, tetrabenazine, or valbenazine. austedo may cause irregular or fast heartbeat, restlessness, movements mimicking parkinson's disease, fever, stiff muscles, problems thinking, and sweating. (jackie) talk to your doctor about austedo...it's time to treat td.

td is not ok. visit askforaustedo.com.

tonight, there is bombshell reporting from the washington post that fbi agents were looking for nuclear related documents. we're searching donald trump's mar-a-lago property on monday. we don't know what they found. which frankly, is just as pointed to point out. we don't yet know. but, is this nation, once again, possibly on unprecedented ground because of the former president? joining us now to discuss, cnn political analyst carl bernstein. and douglas brinkley. glad to have you on tonight. i mean carl, i'll start with you. because i feel like we are in the wild wild west. more often than not. so much of what we've experience together over the

past six or seven years is astounding. but nuclear documents potentially being within the documents, not within the federal government's control? but at mar-a-lago? the seriousness of the potential threat to national security information. i just don't know what to say. it is so concerning. what is your thought? >> my first thought is, let's find out exactly what those materials are. we do not know yet. but i tell you what i do know, if you go back to what i said on anderson's show. the other night. i had spoken with someone in the highest level of intelligence, bureaucracy or establishment. the highest level. through the trump presidency. throughout those years, who said look. these documents are of the highest magnitude. there is no question, or garland and the justice department wouldn't have done mess. that's what we're seeing now. we need to wait for them to

identify exactly what they say what they are. but what we do know, and as this person i just talked to a few minutes ago, again. this is something of a magnitude to use the word that came up in our conversation, that is deadly serious. and now it is going to play itself out. all of us have to wait and see. and what we know is that once again, we have a president of the united states who has played fast and loose with the national security. by not keeping documents to care. by not being a lawful president of the united states. by being someone who can not be tested to be the president of the united states. that's what we're dealing with. and now what we have to find out within the next few days, is how agree justice is what donald trump has done this time. >> and yet, the reality is that the second highest number of votes went to him in the 2020 election. so far a large part of our

country, and a part of the electorate, believed that he had done nothing wrong. and this is a furtherance of a potential witch hunt. but doug, as of course carl is correct. waiting to see what actually comes out. as we wait for the future. let's look to the path for a second, if we can. i want to know, is there any sort of, any analogy. have we ever seen a president accused of mishandling such critical information like this? >> no, the old word unprecedented. we can say it 100 times. it is upon us yet again. but look, merrick garland is closing in on donald trump. trump has met a type of prosecutorial legal genius. and merrick garland doesn't understand. this is a typical lawyer that trump has bumped around over the years. some new york pa that he has had powers with. merrick garland is everything that donald trump isn't. he is the epitome of integrity,

educated, civil. cool minded. and only moves when he is forced to. anybody who thinks that garland came in to be attorney general with the idea of rating mar-a-lago and going after donald trump doesn't know him. so i think he's been coy this week, got it done, did the press conference today. we will see what happens. but if this has something to do, which it looks like it does with trump bringing nuclear documents, anything that of a national security concern to mar-a-lago. refusing to give it up. we are dealing with a big, big time in history moment here. where the president of the united states is almost committing the kind of treason. by having it at a treason resort in florida. nuclear documents. >> do you agree carl? >> i don't think we're there yet. but i think what we know is that there are, in mar-a-lago, unsecured. have been, for months and

months and months. documents that the russians, the chinese, that our foreign adversaries would love to have. that is the importance. we are going to learn in a granular way, what those documents are. does it relates to nuclear weapons? nuclear codes? we do not know yet. what kind of, and the washington post is reporting that it has to do with something nuclear. that is certainly possible. what we do know is we can go on with more authority, the magnitude and the importance of what trump took with him. and with that, it is something that no president has done before. and it goes hand in hand with his total disregard through his presidency, for the national interest. we have as seditious presidents of the united states and donald trump. we have a constitutional criminal in dominant trump. and now, what we are seeing, is

we have a president of the united states, capable of the kind of recklessness and selfishness at the expense of our national security. it is breathtaking. we are going to learn what those elements are. but we now have some clear definition of what the problem is this time. with donald trump. and your point laura, and dogs as well, is really, absolutely essential to understand. 77% of people who call themselves republicans in this country, support donald trump. and in such matters so far. it's more than a third of the electorate. so we need also, look at what this country is today. in terms of culturally, politically. and if it is not what democrats in washington want to believe it is. because the reality is that donald trump is a power out of office that is absolutely huge.

and we'll see how much power he retains as this goes forward. but what we are really in a place, politically and culturally, this argument is part of that. i want to get to you doug on this. i see you nodding your head. but also the idea here as part of the power. even if we don't know the nature of these documents as being nuclear, the reaction to the news of searching mar-a-lago was nuclear, politically speaking. and we had allies hammering the doj, the fbi, about this. they called it a political hit job. i mean, what do you make of this idea of the visceral reaction to a law enforcement. how to contextualize that in terms of where we are, politically in the marker this makes in our history? >> well, you're absolutely right. and i think that trump did a good job, effectively, people like sean hannity and others of getting on top of this. they were trying to blame barack obama for bringing

documents. which he never did. they were trying to turn on merrick garland to being some sort of rogue justice department attorney general. it doesn't hold up. merrick garland doesn't operate that way. he doesn't operate in a political lens. the bottom line is the national archives has been demanding this. trump has known this moment could happen. he just didn't think that merrick garland had this fine to do it. and trump very well he doesn't emailed trump, he doesn't use computers. he wanted these documents downloaded so he had a copy of them. maybe as a nest egg. maybe they had some monetary value to shop to somebody. maybe to met write a memoir. i don't know the motives of it. but it is deeply wrong and the next president isn't above the law. and merrick garland is doing a great job enjoying the justice department is serious. and the fbi did a marvelous job of reading their, getting what they needed. and now we will let the legal process play. out >> while we shall see

tomorrow. the deadline the judge has imposed about whether the former presidents team wants to oppose making the search warrant public. we will see what happens in this. obviously a game of chess. gentlemen, thank you. nice to see both of you. karlen dog. >> good to see. >> well, an armed suspect a attempted to breach the fbi office in cincinnati. this after posting a violent rant on trump's social media platform. we believe. that's up next. and what the attacks says about the dangers law enforcement officers are facing as we speak!

millions have made the switch from the big three to xfinity mobile. that means millions are saving hundreds a year on their wireless bill. and all of those millions are on the nation's most reliable 5g network,

with the carrier rated #1 in customer satisfaction. that's a whole lot of happy campers out there. and it's never too late to join them. get unlimited data with 5g included for just $30 a line per month when you get 4 lines. switch to xfinity mobile today. as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

unarmed suspect attempted to breach the fbi's office in cincinnati today. the suspect dead after an hours long standoff with law enforcement. he appeared to post ranch on trump's social media platform, called through truth social, about attempting to storm an fbi office. this all coming after the former president and republican lawmakers criticize the fbi for its search of mar-a-lago this week. the doj breaking its silence with -- merrick garland asking to unseal the warrant, citing substantial public interest. let's go now with cnn contributor, garrett graph. garrett, it's nice to see you today. let's be clear, we don't yet know the singular motive of this attack on the fbi office. we do know the suspects seem to encourage violence against the fbi online. and more broadly, garrett, it does show that there are some real world consequences at the

prospect of violence against law enforcement today. >> yeah, and i think we can see is that donald trump's call to arms, and the irresponsible and reckless violence motivated rhetoric of many members of the gop at this time, have some real world consequences. and that the extremism that started and was amplified in white nationalist groups and militias during donald trump's presidency, coming most clearly to the foreground on january 6th, is not over. and that this is a threat that we're continuing to live with. and one that the republican party is increasingly embracing. >> speaking of threats, and before i get to merrick garland's statement, i want to ask you about the reporting we're learning from the washington post tonight, that the fbi was searching mar-a-lago for documents relating to nuclear weapons.

you actually wrote a book on nuclear weapons, and i'm wondering, what you make of the danger, the idea of sensitive information like this in a residence, let alone that of a former president? >> yeah, and nuclear secrets, you know, there's a wide variety of them, which i think is important to point out. some of this could be information about adversaries, some of this could be about nuclear weapon designs, some of this could be about our nuclear arsenals or our launch procedures. information all that the president would of course have as commander-in-chief, and as someone who would have presumably been briefed in-depth on our nuclear procedures. so there's a variety of information that it could be, but nuclear information is in many ways the nation's highest level of secret. it exists, not just as classified information, but actually as what is known as

also restricted data, and yes i. extremely sensitive information. and those require special clearances and special handling materials and it's something that very, very few members of even the highest ranks of the u.s. government ever get access to. >> well, thank you for that statement, the attorney general for -- again we don't know, but if that's indeed when they were looking for, at least in part with the broader nature of classified documents, you know normally the doj keeps silent about ongoing investigations. i'm wondering, do you think that trump's political size a should have the doj and the allegations that he's becoming that, is that becoming -- what led to his public statement. >> i think what merrick garland felt in the justice department felt was that they couldn't maintain the normal quiet that

we actually asked in our country in our democracy of the fbi and federal law enforcement when it is conducting investigations. it's worth pointing out, the silence of the justice department and the fbi and the way that they only speak in court with criminal charges and indictments at the end of a case is actually an important part of protecting civil liberties in the united states. that you don't want the fbi actually becoming politicized and becoming weaponized against political enemies to smear them in cases short of criminal charges. and so, i think one of the challenges and one of the ironies of this week is that actually the justice department was being respectful of donald trump in its silence through this week, and merrick garland said, in his very brief statement today, that he was in many ways only speaking about

it at all because the president himself had confirmed the search had happened. that the fbi's intention was to never mention that the search happened at all. >> we'll be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. that's part of the lesson learned if you're the trump team right now on this very issue. derek graff, everyone, thank you so much. >> always a pleasure, laura. >> speaking of pleasure, gas prices are falling before $4 a gallon before first time in months. does it mean we could soon see relief from inflation? and later, beto o'rourke getting into it with a heckler at a texas campaign rally. it may be funny to you, -- but it's not funny to me.

carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100 percent online car buying,

car vendinding machines, and now putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your downpayment and monthly payment. and these aren't made up numbers, it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. wheather you're shopping or just looking, it only takes a few seconds and it won't affect your credit score. finally, a totally different way to finance your ride only from carvana.

large out-of-state corporations have set their sights on california. they've written prop 27, to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless. but read prop 27's fine print. 90% of profits go to out-of-state corporations, leaving almost nothing for the homeless. no real jobs are created here.

but the promise between our state and our sovereign tribes would be broken forever. these out-of-state corporations don't care about california. but we do. stand with us. finally, some decent economic news. for the first time in months, the average price of gas in the u.s. is falling below $4 a gallon. that's down more than $1 since the peak just this past june. and another key inflation measure fell in july, after surging last month. but as we all know, every time we shop for essentials, prices are still painfully high. i want to bring in gene sperling, he's a senior adviser to president biden and coordinator for white house american rescue plan. jeanne, good to see you this

evening. especially admitted this very positive news, right? and all in, this is pretty positive news. can you break down with this means for the economic recovery? is this a sign that inflation will cool down and soon? >> well, there's no question july was a very good month in terms of we had 528,000 jobs. and we actually had zero inflation just for that month. and we saw, as you obviously as we just said, we saw gas prices down over $1 from 50 2 to 3 99. the most common gas price at a gas station in the country right now is actually 3:59. we saw other things like you know appliances down, we saw air travel down, we saw a rental prices down. but make no mistake about it, prices are still too high, food prices are still too high. so this is encouraging, it's encouraging that our job market is still so strong, 3.3 million

jobs, 3.5% unemployment. this year. and it's encouraging that you're seeing more and more signs that inflation is moderating. not just sign that it will moderate, but actually a little bit more relief. again, you know, it's one month, we gotta keep making progress. with the president is trying to do is make sure the things that he can do administratively and legislatively to help ease the burden of pocket costs for american families, we're doing everything we can, whether it's keeping to release the strategic petroleum reserve, to help keep more supply of oil in the global economy to his legislation that we hope will pass tomorrow that will reduce prescription drug costs, give a lot of people lots of ways to save energy costs as well. >> it's great news about the gas prices at the very least, but you're right to point out all the other areas that people are spending their money on and the things that are really impacting all of our pockets day in and day out. looking forward to having maybe

11 more months like that in the total year. jeanne, there is actually some more good news for the president tomorrow, house democrats are expected to push through a climate health care and tax bill, this after senate democrats passed at this last sunday. there's been a little bit a new since sunday, but the focus is still on this in terms of legislatively. tell us, what impact this bill might have for americans? >> well, i was starting to mention that, i'm an old guy, i was working in the clinton administration, that's how long ago people started to say, why doesn't medicare have the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices? why are seniors, people with chronic illnesses, having to pay so much? that's finally been achieved, it's going to cap out of pocket costs eventually at 2000 very soon. if you're in medicare you will have to pay more than $35, insulin. that's good health care. but that's also relieving some of the price pressures for about 14 million americans, they're going to be able to continue to gavel to get health

health care and 800 dollar savings, that puts more downward pressure, and this historic climate change bill that we have, it's important to us for what it means for the future of our planet, is also going to provide a lot of tax incentives for consumers, whether it's solar panels, to the cars you buy, to both do things that are more energy efficient, save money that way, but also give a tax incentive to do so and then obviously as we've seen, it's going to reduce the deficit another 350 billion dollars, and that's going to put more downward pressure. so, there's no question that inflation reduction act that pass tomorrow is going to be a positive step in directions from your pocketbook to climate change. well one can certainly hope that will be the case but it's not without some criticism of the normalcy of washington d.c.. you never get everything that people want. some things are included, some things are not. and off on the cutting room floor. and this is progress.

but as one area, people are looking at jean and that's the idea of mortgage rates are up to 5% now. and they will raise rates yet again. things are going off. but housing causes are high, rental cars are also high. tell me what workers are still left to do even in spite of the legislative victory so far? >> laura, let me be really clear. our job market is equivalent to job growth. it's really strong. there is a lot more resilience in our economy. a lot more consumers with extra savings. that is very strong. but we don't want for a second anybody to think that we are okay with where prices are. this is obviously a global phenomenon. but we understand that is of little comfort for someone going through it. and food is an area that hits all americans, and that is not an area we saw come down. so we know that there is more to do. but, our view is to try to give

you a balance. there is a lot of strength, and resilience, is in this economy. there are some good sides on inflation. but we are the first to get that prices are still too high. and that's why the president's number one focus is have the back of working families. and he knows right now that there are number one concern is continuing to get downward pressure on the prices that they have to pay to live. and as he says, support their family with a little breathing room. >> it's so true, and on that point. i mean gee. and obviously there are so many americans who are working. who still live paycheck to paycheck. and that was before the pandemic. it's certainly true now. and so, it's getting stretched thinner and thinner on every day needs. obviously, still more work to be done. thank you for bringing us the good, the bad, and perhaps the hopeful coming down the road. >> yes, that's a good summary. thank you so much. >> and beto o'rourke, calling

out a heckler while discussing the uvalde school shooting. and he did not mince words. we'll hear what he said next! [sfx: stomach gurgling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪ when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, ♪ ♪ upset stomach, , diarrhea. ♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for r fast relief... when you need it most.

only two things are forever: love and liberty mutual customizing your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. if anyone objects to this marriage... (emu squawks) kevin, no! not today. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin.

tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you.

the democratic candidate for governor, texas battle rock. confronted a heckler at a campaign rally. that was when he was talking about the evolve the school massacre that left 19 children and two teachers dead. >> ar-15s. hundreds of rounds of ammunition. and take the weapon that was originally designed to be used on battlefields to penetrate an enemy soldiers helmet at 500 feet. and knock him down dead.

up against kids at five feet. and maybe it's funny to you but it's not funny to me! [applause] [applause] >> joining me now cnn commentator david. david it's good to see you my friend. i have to ask you, i mean, what do you make of this moment? what is your reaction? >> good to see you laura. so i think it goes both ways for former congressman beto o'rourke. on the one hand he shows his passion there, he shows that he cares and he shows that this issue isn't just a talking point to him. remember the san antonio, sorry, the el paso walmart shooting happened in his hometown where he was a congressman. and the city counselor. remember that right after uvalde he confronted governor abbott at a press availability. this means a lot to him. and i think that comes across clearly and sincerely but on the other hand, the goal here is to win a hotly contested

gubernatorial race. and even though o'rourke has closed abbots lead here. governor abbott still leads by about six points. i checked out the real clear politics polling average. it's down from a double digit lead. so if you are on the aurora campaign. you have to ask yourself, okay, on the one hand in my igniting my base and driving turnout. and my showing people that i really mean what i say? or am i alienating potentially persuadable voters who may like some of the things that i have to say but who might think that i've gone over the top dropping an mf in that situation. >> well, i doubt the swear word is probably the big issue with people. the idea that you listed, like the instances that he was speaking about these issues. and we know how controversial this topic can be. the idea that the second amendment, the conflation of all these things is really

fascinating to see how it actually goes. but i do want to turn for a second because david, you and i are always together with some sort of breaking news story happening. we're learning right now that the former president, donald trump, has now provided a response to whether he would oppose the actual motion to unseal these documents. he says on his twitter, sorry, his social feed saying not only will i not oppose the release of documents related to the un-american, undocumented and unnecessary raid in my home. in mar-a-lago. i'm going a step further by encouraging the immediate release of those documents even though they have been drawn up by radical left democrats and possible future political opponents who have a strong and powerful vested influence in attacking me. much like they've done for the last six years. there you have. it of course you wonder, would these be the final word or will his thumb will say you may have

type that but here's our reaction to. this what is your reaction to the statement? >> this will not be the final word. it never it is with the former president trump. on one, hand he if he's not opposing the justice department motion i think that is good. the public, we in the media want to know as much as we can know about what the justice department and what the fbi were looking for with that search warrant. on the other hand. this is a little bit of sleight of hand on the part of the president. if for no other reason than he and his lawyers have a copy of the warrant, know what the fbi were searching for. and could just announce it. they have that right. attorney general garland, when he spoke today, said again that president trump has that right. as a citizen. if he has nothing to hide, then i suppose that he could come out and just say what they were looking for. and what he potentially has. and i think, ultimately, the most harm done in the situation. and many others have said this. is not whether we know exactly

what the fbi was looking for, or exactly what president trump's legal team would do. but the notion, perpetuated by president trump, still a little bit in that statement. still by leaders of the republican party. that this was somehow foul play. when, based on everything we know right now. this was a duly authorized, by a magistrate, and duly executed search warrant. by the fbi. and this is something that happens all the time in america. that it is a former president at his residence, obviously, is very extraordinary. but if we believe that no one is above the law, then that should include a former president and his residents if there is a proper warrant. and if there is a proper search. >> we'll see what happens next. the president, the former president has spoken. thank you! and thank you everyone for watching. our coverage continues!

♪ (queen - we will rock you) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

the new gmc sierra. premium and capable. that's professional grade.