when it comes to your fight. welcome back. you're watching the former president's plane take off heading to heading up in the air and heading back to his home state of new york. certainly not the kind of homecoming that he had ever imagined when he went back from florida to new york, but he is heading back on a historic flight. again, not necessarily a . part of history that donald trump or any former president would want to make, but nonetheless, that is exactly what he is doing, and one that he is trying to make the most of going back to face. justice and to face a prosecutor who will formally unseal an indictment that has already been voted on

and filed against him in the state of new york. phil mattingly history. this is the first time a current or former president has ever been indicted . he will now go back to face that. and while as you noted, this certainly isn't something. that perhaps he wanted or was ever thinking about when he moved down to mar-a-lago full time. it is certainly something that he seems to be embracing in every way that the former president often does both for political benefit. he is a 2024 election candidate already, but also for his supporters as he tries to work whatever is happening right now, in this moment history and certainly something that wasn't necessarily expected by he and his team to his benefit. we are also at this point. gonna toss to our pal who's in new york city, where the president is on his way. former president is on his way at the moment, the collins yeah, historic first, of course of the president coming here to be arraigned tomorrow, but they're going to be many other first as well because, of

course, trump is going to come here he is going to be booked. we're told he will then be fingerprinted. we don't yet know if he's going to actually have his mug shot taken that is reporting that even his own attorneys say the details are still being figured out. as of this moment, we do know that after the arraignment tomorrow, the president is going to return to where he just took off from mar-a-lago resort in palm beach, florida, where he is going to be speaking tomorrow night, so we are waiting to see what all of those details actually look like once he is here on the ground in new york were tracking this with our cnn, senior crime and justice correspondent shimon procure beds and cnn's kara scannell. we're both live outside that manhattan courthouse where trump will be tomorrow where we will see. does the judge unsealed this indictment? care. what do we know so far? what. caitlyn. well, there's a one p.m. deadline right now for the district attorney's office and for trump lawyers to weigh in on this media requests. cnn and other news organizations have asked the judge to unseal this indictment ahead of tomorrow's arraignment. they also asked the

judge to broadcast this arrangement given the huge public interest the historical significance in the momentousness of this occasion. now we are also learning caitlin from you and i and others on our team. that trump has added a new lawyer to his legal team. todd blanche, he's a high powered criminal defense lawyer. he was a long time prosecutor in the u. s attorney's office for the southern district of new york. that was the same office that brought the case against michael cohen connected to the hush money payments. now he is going to add significant legal weight to this. he has represented some other people in the trump orbit. he represented paul manafort in the state case here. remember manafort was prosecuted by mueller's team, but he also was prosecuted after after he was sentence and convicted and flat out to some of the mueller charges. manafort was also charged by the manhattan d a s office now blanche represented him in that he got the charges thrown out under a double jeopardy principle. it's not the same issue at play here, but obviously a big win for one of trump's allies, certainly something that is appealing.

he's also represented others in this orbit. remember in the ukrainian saga, there was igor fruman. he was one of giuliani's associates he represents the badlands represented freeman. in that case, he played out and served less than a year in prison. so blanche certainly is bringing a different legal strategy here. certainly the beef up the legal team, we understand that the other two attorneys on it, susan necklace and joe tacopina are still part of the team, but certainly adding additional firepower here as we're heading into an indictment, as this case is really going to get underway as the battle lines will be drawn by the lawyers and the different legal challenges they will take. once we get through tomorrow's arraignment, caitlin. yeah he is certainly known as a top attorney. we have a lot more questions on adding that new attorney just the day before trump is going to be arraigned. one more on that in a moment care, but for now, i want to go to see an instrument program pits german. obviously we're here in new york, and you can see the ramped up security.

there are new york police department busses parked outside of trump tower at this moment in terms of security, not just here outside of trump tower. we are but also outside the courthouse. what is that looking like? and what are officials? you're bracing for well, certainly caitlin can tell you having been here on friday. and now today, the energy here has certainly picked up. this is hogan place. this is the street that we expect donald trump to drive up . he's gonna drive here and he's going to pull up just here ahead of us and surrender. this is where he's gonna walk through these doors here at the manhattan district attorney's office, and once he is inside those doors, caitlin is under arrest. he is no longer free to leave, he surrenders and then obviously the process begins that process. will begin here tomorrow sometime either early afternoon or late morning, but as you can see around, we are seeing more officers here today than we've seen in the past several days. these barriers are

lined up all across the courthouse here here to the corner, and then it stretches down center street to basically surround this courthouse. obviously the nypd, the court officers here that are providing security are all anticipating a large group of people. so what they've done is they've set up these barriers here and tomorrow we'll see. even more of them laid out as many of the streets around the courthouse here will be closed, and so this entire area will be closed, will put out more barriers. obviously the one of the concerns are protesters, people in support of the former president and those that are obviously against the former president. so they're all just preparing today. they're running through some last minute drill some last minute things that they need to do that law enforcement needs to do for tomorrow. now, once he's inside the district attorney's office, we don't expect him to be there for very long. it's expedited a process here. they'll do all the paperwork. he will then be

brought into the courthouse here behind me up to the 15th floor where the arraignment will occur , and then we'll see what the defense attorneys have to say. we'll see what the prosecutors have to say. and then we expect him to leave. we expected to leave and come out this way and then head to the airport. and go home back to mar-a-lago caitlin. yeah quiktrip, but certainly a significant one. shimon keira. thank you both. and as we wait for trump to arrive here in new york, of course, we are looking at all of the threads of this today. the bigger picture here, so joining me now here on set outside of trump tower is cnn political director david chalian and cnn senior legal analyst hoenig. thank you. both for being here is quite the commotion going on. but i want to start with you on this brand new reporting that cnn has confirmed from politico that trump has added a new attorney. his defense team, todd blanche. this is specifically for the manhattan district attorney's probe into these hush money payments. what is you know him? well, so tell me what you know about him and what it means,

potentially for joe tacopina and someone else who had been leading this defense. blanche is really an outstanding lawyer. he's the real deal. i worked with him at the federal prosecutor's office, the southern district of new york. we overlap for about six years. he was in charge of the violent crime and gangs unit and then he moved up to be one of the leaders of our white plains unit, where he would have handled everything, including financial crimes. corporate crimes like we have here, i should add one other person who was there with us at the same time was alvin. brad, the d a. so they know each other, too. so let's keep that in mind. what does this mean for joe tacopina? i'm not sure. but usually in a case like this. you only want one quarterback at a time in football, and i think the same would go here for criminal defense, so they're both alpha is they're both quarterbacks. so in my view, it's going to be hard for tacopina to be a sort of second cedar here and we should have a is still on the legal team. we are being told by sources. they say it's not being sidelined, but i didn't tell some internally. view it, david just on the what bill and denard noting there about how historic this is going to be and what

we're looking at. yes it's actually going to be pretty quick trip for trump in and into new york tonight out by tomorrow night, but the idea that a former president is getting booked tomorrow. turning himself over to authorities is so significant it is just to give our audience a sense of place of where we are, since this case is dealing with a money agreement, alleged money arrangement that occurred just before the 2016 election to our left. we're just half a block where hillary clinton was holed up with her advisers on election night 2016 learning her faith that she would not be president and a half a block to our right. is donald trump's trump tower, where his campaign in 2016 was headquartered. to think that this is now where we are these some seven years later, 6.5 years later to this moment of the first ever former president facing an indictment. it's just a historic trajectory. i think nobody could have fully anticipated. i think the big question is how the country is reacting to this. you have some polling on how people are responding to this. what is their sense of it brand new cnn

poll that we quickly wanted to assess the reaction to the indictment, and you see that a majority of americans 60% according to our new poll approve of this indictment, and when you look at that number by party, you see, obviously overwhelmingly democrats are in approving of the indictment. but 62% of independent voters also approved of the indictment of donald trump. that's significant there because i think when we talk about you know what the republican primary is going to look like the general is obviously what's important as well with independent voters are thinking that ellie the logistics of this. can we talk through what that's going to look like because you heard it with carol was noted there as trump's adding this new attorney to his legal team. we do still have questions about whether or not there is going to be a mug shot. what specifically tomorrow is going to look like and it sounds like trump's own attorney said that they would still be figuring that out. as of today, i think there's going to have to be a lot of improvisation. really, because this is unprecedented. i mean, if you think this is a scene, wait till we see what happens tomorrow. and i think there's also a sort

of effort by the authorities here. the manhattan d. a. the cops the secret service to make this as normal as humanly possible. now in an ordinary case, any criminal defendant would be fingerprinted, and i think that's very likely to happen here. who would have your mug shot taken? we're not sure if that's going to happen. it's not like he's not recognizable. you you would then go in front of the judge and what happens in front of the judge, and this will happen tomorrow. the judge will advise trump of the 34 counts against it. now the judge who typically would not read them all you would say to a defendant like donald trump. have you had a chance to go through this with your attorney would have gone through it. and then the attorney says, we've seen a judge wave the public reading. you don't have to go through all, however many pages and then donald trump standing at the defendant's table, the same defendants table where thousands upon thousands of criminal accused enter his first plea, which most assuredly will be not guilty. and then the judge will set bail, mostly formality here. he's not going to get home on any kind of bail, hoping what we call released on his own recognizance, meaning we trust you go home, come back for your next appearance, and then the judge will set a schedule

moving forward and we'll start to get a sense of when we're going to get into motions and maybe eventually trial. yeah ellie, david. both are going to stay here with me for this hour as we were tracking all of these live developments. bill and donna. obviously that is significant of itself to know that the president is going to be in a courtroom tomorrow. entering that flee, of course, remains to be seen a lot of the other details of what that looks like and what it means not only for his 2024 run, but also for all the other republicans who are now being asked to weigh in on this matter. yeah such a good point, and there's so much connected. so let's break all of this down with our experts here in washington, former federal prosecutor elliot williams cornish, host of the cnn podcast , the assignment with audie cornish, our cnn senior political analyst, gloria borger . and so we want to discuss so much of what's going on. but i do want to start with the news that we just learned and with you, elliot, since you're the attorney at the table. what does it say to you that the former president just signed on a pretty high power new lawyer out of new york taking it very

seriously and they ought to the new attorney comes from one of the true white shoe for lack of a better term white collar law firms in new york city, and it's not sort of someone who, by virtue of just being a trump, buddy or trump friend is being brought in. this is somebody with sort of the kinds of await credentials that you see at the major law firms in america. so it's find that it's not they're moving forward and are really taking this seriously. it's not just a political witch hunt, at least, is how they're seeing it now. gore i think one of the things you were watching kind of the o. j like convoy to the airport to some degree, the plane taking off it's worth taking a step back for a minute and saying this is there is no precedent. i think sometimes with the course of the last six years we've had so much of that that maybe you get a little numb to it. but the sense of this moment and what kind of these next couple of days and then there's the scale of this trial actually represents for the country. well, it's more breaking of the norms that we've

seen during the trump presidency . those of us in washington we saw the institutional norms being broken time and time again . now we're looking at legal norms being broken. you have a former president as you point out, uh, about to face indictment, whether you think that the indictment is too creative, you know, not worth it. whatever. um, i think that you're seeing a president former president go into this proudly, which is also something that's out of the norms that we are that we are used to, and a former president saying, well, you know this could work to my advantage, which may not be the case, but it's what it's what he's going to believe proudly going into this. i don't know if he's doing it proudly. i mean, it's obviously a sobering moment , right and not just any lawyer is going to sign up even with the trump sort of orbit at this point, because you don't know if you'll get paid. you don't know like a lot of things. there's not a great track record there, right. so even for this firm to

sign on and say, okay, we're going to do this. we're going to do this with you and for him to seek them out. i think shows the seriousness of the moment and it's one thing to kind of throw out propaganda at political rivals. it's another thing to deal with the law and to deal with a jury of your peers, which is how we got here. a grand jury voted and said, yeah, there's sufficient evidence to have this conversation during impeachment . he had a lawyer that he hired that never made it to impeachment because for some reason, they didn't get along and that is the history and i believe that todd blanche, who were speaking about our reporting is that he left this big firm in order to do that, which is very telling about what you were discussing. but does it also say something about this particular case versus the other investigations? the three other investigations that are ongoing against donald trump, meaning that perhaps. those in the legal community. all of your brethren

might see this as something that is more winnable, winnable and maybe even more palatable, more winnable and more powerful. it's the one that's ready to go to trial. it's the one that has been indicted, and frankly, the former president would be well served to get better lawyers if he's indicted in georgia, or if he's indicted federal student loan? yeah, when it comes to something like this. knowing sort of the zeitgeist of the legal community. defending a former president in payment. hush money payments is one thing defending him when it comes to overturning an american election , which is what two of the other three investigations are about our different. sure. i mean this it's hard to say whether this is winnable because we just haven't seen the evidence yet, and that's and it's part of the problem here. now look to be clear the misdemeanor portion of the case where it's just for falsifying business records is actually quite straightforward. they have the checks, and they probably have testimony to

support them. it gets a little more complicated when you start talking about adding in a felony charge, and so on now look in any other universe and any other moment in history representing a former president would have been the mark that catapulted an attorney into the stratosphere. of the american legal pantheon. the problem is that many have regarded the former president as legally as sort of reputational toxic and it's very and i'm sure there are other law firms that turned down the opportunity to represent the former president because of the sort of circus that the files i was talking to an attorney who used to work for them. half dozen alliance is kind of a growing growing group . and you know this was before this occurred. he said to me, look, attorneys quit. it's hard to get an attorney. not only doesn't he pay his bills, but he's a terrible client because he doesn't listen to you. and also your firm doesn't want you to represent the president, the former president because it's harder for them to attract

younger talent. so they are, you know, he said, look, you know that's why they've kind of had to go to lesser and lesser known attorneys. when you've got a client, different client that's out, blasting judges and prosecutors and this system. it is bad for a major new york city or washington, d. c law firm to have that i interviewed joe tacopina, his other attorney on state of the union yesterday, and he had to say multiple times. that he personally as an attorney does not believe that the judge is biased. even though his client, the president said exactly that so that looks at the difficulty here. we have to be careful not to conflate political questions with legal ones. this is not an impeachment . this is not a bunch of people sitting around where they don't have, you know, especially powers in any way saying, what should we do? what could work? what could not work? each prosecutor they're not coordinating has to sit down and look at their case and figure out whether they can move forward and to your point given

what happened to michael cohen. it's not like there's not evidence floating around in new york. so when people talk about whether or not it's ideal or not ideal, that's from a political standpoint, it specifically a democrat or kind of liberal standpoint. what we're witnessing now is what will it be like for donald trump to actually deal with legal proceedings like demands with power, really having to answer for the things you've done and are some of the games? he played politically going to work when you're actually standing in front of a judge? that's such a good point, he as president dealt with, too. proceedings but they were by the constitution. the judge on social when it's just like one of your executives , talk trash talk when you're united states senate impeachment team. it's very different stand up. it's a different thing. but he has, uh made his name on conflating legal and political strategies, and certainly he's doing that right now. okay we have a lot more to talk about much more this hour. we have more news ahead, including new developments in trump's

classified documents. case the washington post is reporting the special counsel may have more evidence of obstruction, plus an update on the chinese five balloon that sparked a new rift between washington and beijing. it turns out it was able to capture sensitive images of u. s military sites and pro russian blogger is killed in a bombing inside a russian cafe why moscow is blaming ukraine. my most important kitchen tool, my brain, so i choose areva plus, unlike s some others, plus is a multitasker supporting six key indicators of brain elf. help. keep me sharp, areva think bigger your shipping manager left tfind themselves leaving you lost. you need to hire need indeed, indeed, you do indeed, instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visiting .com/ higher that's representative

didn't get that funny. you need a hug. you also need consumer self get the exact same coverage as the nation's leading carriers and 100% us based customer support starting at $20 consumers. cellular double check that that's pretty good. yes crying. are you taking that? and what was that? that no, don't worry about that. here we go. the right question can greatly impact your future qualified to do this. what specially when it comes to your finances. do you have a question? are you a certified financial planner? yes i'm a cfp. professional professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's got to be a cft . find your cfp professional it. let's make a plan .org i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if your age 50 to 85 looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps? what are the three ps three ps of life

insurance on a fixed budget, our price price and price. price you can afford. a price that can't increase the price that fits your budget. i'm 54. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 take medications. what's my price? also 9 95 a month just turned 80. what's my price? 9 95 a month for you, too. if you're aged 50 to 85 call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam. no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock. so you already can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free

just for calling. so call now. for free information. call 1 803 3 to 8300 for your free information and free gift that's 1 803 3 to 830,803 3 to 8300 call now left here with nothing to your name from four men, the poor man. more sad than what you show george foreman ain't no new champions. the new chunk foreman goes down. i'm done. i'm not gonna box anymore. that's right. put you on the right path. but you found all by yourself. it's only two things. i know how to do. he won't pay the bills. last time they saw me under like superman look like the michelin. there ain't no beauty contest format. 28 ensure max protein with 30 g of protein. those who tried me felt more energy and just two weeks i'll take that. max protein with 30 g of protein, one g of sugar and nutrients for immune help. the

day you get your clear choice. dental implants changes your struggle with missing teeth forever changes how you eat, how you feel and how you enjoy life . it changes your smile and now others smile at you. clear choice network doctors have changed over 100,000 lives with dental implants, and they can change yours too. because a clear choice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation. we're also learning new developments on the chinese spy balloon that flew across the us earlier this year. a source tells cnn. the balloon was able to capture images and collect intelligence from us military sites. it was then able to send that intelligence back to beijing in real time. cnn national security reporter natasha bertrand is following this story. natasha what more are you learning? this has been a huge, outstanding question. you've got details now. that's

right. so what we're learning is that when this chinese by balloon was kind of transiting across the united states back in february, it was able to capture some images as well as collect some signals intelligence from some sensitive us military installations. now u. s. intelligence officials are not overly concerned because they say that this was not much more than what a regular chinese satellite that is constantly orbiting above the same sites could potentially collect. but at the same time we are learning that this chinese bible own actually was able to transmit this data. back in real time to the chinese government and that the chinese government had the capability to remotely erase the data that the chinese by balloon was collecting. so that raises questions about whether the u. s government actually knows the full extent of what the balloon was able to gather. because obviously now the u. s government has been analyzing it in the fbi lab in quantico, virginia, and they have some sense of what the balloon was able to gather. but the possibility remains that there is much more that it was able to collect that the us simply

doesn't know about because as beijing was able to remotely erase it. natasha bertrand, thank you so much for that reporting really fascinating. also today, russia is blaming ukraine for orchestrating sunday's bombing at a st petersburg cafe. the attack killed a prominent military blogger who supported the ukraine conflict and injured 30 . others late blogger was leading a discussion at the cafe when the bomb exploded. russian police arrested antiwar activist daria deep ova who they suspect was part of the plot that delivered the bomb to the blogger in a statue. cnn's matthew chance is in moscow. so matthew has russia released any evidence. um no, not evidence yet. i mean, we're still too early on for that. but they definitely, for instance, released a video of daria trip over this. this suspect who is accused of taking the statue to the cafe in st petersburg, which

which later exploded, killing that prominent russian military blogger. they've released a sort of on air admission by her. saying that she did indeed take that statue. you can see the video there that that's her walking into the cafe carrying a large box. i mean, her defense seems to have been that she didn't know that the statue had a bomb inside and it could. it could well be true. but you know, this is to be determined, i suppose, by russian investigators, what they're saying is that this is terrorism. it was organized by the right by the ukrainian security services alongside and this is astonishing alongside. the anti corruption campaign of alexei navalny, the poisoned jailed critic of the kremlin, of course, but the ukrainians and navalny organization, i have categorically denied. any involvement. some latest news can give bring to you the anti corruption sorry, the anti the pro war blogger who was killed in this attack. um vlad lent to

toschi. he's just been awarded a medal of bravery by vladimir putin, the russian president and the main suspect in this case, daria trip over. she's now been moved to moscow for further questioning from st petersburg. matthew chance for us in moscow. thanks so much and still ahead. former president trump is in the air right now. you've seen it. you saw the takeoff. there it is again making his way from florida to new york city ahead of tomorrow's arraignment, but there are new developments in the classified documents. caped. remember that one? there's a lot of it going on. we're gonna have more coming up next. there's always a fresh deal on the subway app likee this. 1 50% off that deals s so good. we don't even need an eight time all started telling you about it. wait what? get it before it's gone on the subway out. you're doing business in an app driven multi cloud world. that's why you choe vm ware with flexible

mui cloud services that enab digital innovation and enterprise control helps you keep your cloud options open. the first time you connected your go daddy website in your store was also the first time you realized what we can do anything. cheesecake cookies, cookie sales from one place with a partner that always puts you first started today at go. daddy .com. why did we choose safelite ? we're always working on a project loading up our suv one extra pushed and crack. so we schedule that safelite dot com we were able to track our technician and knew exactly when he'd arrived. we can keep working. safe flight came to us. kendrick replaced our windshield and installed new wipers to protect our new glass that service on our time safely repair safelite replace from friends coming over. two moms coming over. so many ways to

save life ready, happy 3 65 by whole foods market percent still active seems high. seriously it's just a bike weight. they make a treadmill with an intuitive speed knob. want to try 2% stick with it. so can you start a 30 day home trial today terms apply your investment portfolio really customized creative planning each of our private wealth management clients. portfolios is unique. your investment mix will be based on your custom financial plan. if that's not how your money is managed. you're not getting the customization. you deserve your free meeting today at creative planning .com. have you or anyone you know, ever been stationed at marine corps base came april june. camp lejeune is water was contaminated by fuel leaks. if you had any water contact while at camp lejeune had been diagnosed with cancer or parkinson's disease, you may be entitled to compensation. as a marine who was stationed at camp lejeune, myself for four years. this cause hits close to home.

so if you've been stationed or visited marine corps base, camp lejeune and have cancer or parkinson's visit camp lejeune injury .com organ and morgen for the veterans liberty mutual customizes your car insurance. so you only pay for what you need. with the money we saved. we tried electric unicycles. got it, okay. doggy paddle. only pay for what you need already. liberty liberty. about the same . sunday night. we're trying something a little different. one whole story. our world's best journalists dig deeper into everything's changing so quickly. before the xfinity 10g network, we didn't have internet that let us play all at once. every device? in every room? why are you up here? when i was your age,

we couldn't stream a movie when the power went out. you're only a year older than me. you have no idea how good you've got it. huh? what a time to be alive. introducing the next generation 10g network. only from xfinity. the future starts now. factors now the number one best selling herbs and supplements branded walmart unleash your potential with force factor at walmart. wiedemann in eastern ukraine. cnn is brought to you

by audiobook network. others tell your story producing audio book with us earn more profits and find a new audience for your published book produced an audiobook. we handle narration, production and digital distribution 38559. maddie and i . right now. president trump is on the plane that you see there. it just took off from mar-a-lago moments ago. he has headed here to new york city court appearance in manhattan, the first former u. s president to face criminal indictment. trump is making history with this trip . all of this is connected to his alleged role in a hush money payments game and cover up involving the adult film star stormy daniels, who alleges she had an affair with trump. as of now, the grand jury indictment is still under seal. we are still waiting to see what these charges look like. cnn has formally requested the judge to release it. one pm was the deadline for the judge to decide . but trump's legal team says

they plan to challenge every potential issue in that document . it remains to be seen what exactly, they will be challenging. cnn's jeff zeleny and david chalian are back here with me now, obviously, we are still waiting for the legal ramifications all this to see what this indictment looks like, but we're already seeing the political benefits and what this could potentially do for trump's trying to rework candidates. i mean, they are now saying that he has raised $5 million. we should note they are saying that that's not actually in any epc report that we have seen. but clearly initially he is seeing a boost from voters. there's no doubt about it. i mean the short term political benefit of this. we should emphasize short term that's all we know right now. but the short term benefit of this has been so important for him in many reasons. $5 million , as you said, that they've raised or they say they are raised and, most importantly, they frozen the republican field into place. we have seen his rivals who are on the cusp of trying to draw you know some differences between him florida governor and his answers was just a week ago. nikki haley,

the former vice president, mike pence. now they're all rallying , if not to his defense, certainly going against the indictment of the prosecution. so what he has done, he has frozen this race into place and boys sitting here on fifth avenue with trump tower in the background. such deja vu from the summer of 2015 and 2016 1 thing that's clear. stormy daniels has been with him. throughout this entire time of his candidacy and presidency. the allegations have so the question now. politically speaking, it's been very good for him. legally speaking, we do not know how this will go because certainly this is not something he ever wanted. i talked to a longtime friend of his this morning. who said that ? yes he is defiant. but this isn't something he's wanted. he spent his lifetime trying to avoid legal cases just like this really important distinction. this idea that he wants to be indicted obviously is not true. he may benefit from it. i'm also so interested david by how the other republican nominees or potential nominees are playing

around this because jeff's right that they there is no clear cut way. they're kind of dancing around it rallying around him, but maybe not explicitly him any better example of how the dynamics of the modern day republican party and trump's way within it, then what we've seen from his field of actual and potential rivals. a candidate in some pre trump europe would be indicted on criminal charges that would be an opening as a line of attack and a contrast not the case here. the case here is a rallying around effect, as jeff is saying, because there's such concern about trump's supporters and the need for them come the end of the day. when you're running for the republican presidential nomination. i will say one thing in our poll, caitlin. was really interesting was an overwhelming majority. three quarters of americans do see politics at play in this prosecution. and so while there is a majority that's approves of the indictment, you also see voters saying, hey, yeah, he may have done something wrong here, but it's not devoid of politics here, and that gives trump a bit of an opening to

continue to make that attack on alvin brad. and we even saw two senators who voted to impeach him. don't mention and bill cassidy yesterday, questioning the merits of this as well so that you guys were waiting on trump to arrive here in new york. of course, dan and phil, you're back in washington, where the political ramifications will be playing out there as well for weeks, maybe months to come. i feel like they haven't stopped playing out since since i was sitting outside trump tower during the transition back in 2016 after the election. what is old is new again. but it is important to note and we've been talking about this repeatedly over the course of last week's. there's so much going on in the investigative front, and it's not just new york as the former president prepares to face the historical criminal charges in manhattan tomorrow, the washington post has new reporting on the special counsel pro it says investigators could have more evidence of obstruction tied to the classified documents that mar-a-lago, including efforts by trump himself to sift through contents of some boxes to keep certain items in his possession. cnn's evan perez is tracking all

this and heaven. i feel like i need like the court board with the strings to figure out all the things that are going on. but when you get a sense of where things stand what sticks out to you right now, i always feel like this has been the kind of the biggest anvil of all of the legal cases that the former president and look i mean the seriousness of the obstruction issue has been clear since the day they the fbi went. two mar-a-lago to conduct a search and then uncovered all these additional documents. the danger for the former president. legal danger for the former president has been, you know, abundantly clear. it is also clear, though, that in recent weeks based on the activity of the special counsel with a number of witnesses that they've been bringing in giving tight deadlines asking them to turn over things that there is a sort of this this movement, certainly by the special counsel's office , jack smith to get to a place where they can make a decision as to whether charges are coming and again. what makes this different than just say, you know him holding back documents

the former president having access to these classified documents, he was former president. what made this a much more serious thing is the fact that they believed he was obstructing and so we're beginning to see at least from this washington post story a little bit of what the prosecutors have maybe showing their hands, uh, in in some of their interactions with witnesses. they're telling them about certain things that is now abundantly clear that they have someone on the inside. who told them about. for instance, this this this this this evidence that the former president maybe reviewed some of this some of these documents and purposely was holding them back. that's what makes this so much more serious, directed people on his staff to hold them back. that's the washington post reporting, and that goes to what you were saying. this isn't just about, um, the classified documents being at his home just like they were at joe biden's home or mike pence's home. this is about his active attempt attempt. to

withhold them even and despite the fact that the federal government was trying to get them back, directed those i mean, his attorneys are the ones that filled out the paperwork and said that there was no no more here. and clearly someone told him that you know that they spoke with one of his attorneys and said, you know, you had to testify evan corcoran. i mean, it could also be perhaps that he wasn't telling his attorneys the truth. yeah you know, these are all the classified documents are gone, blah, blah, blah. i mean, we don't know what his attorney has testified to, so that could be part of this puzzle surveillance video, exactly the special counsel. seems to have of what went on in those really moments after the former president and his lawyers had told the feds. you know what you have everything you need, and then perhaps there's actual

visual. evidently you guys can talk about this. i'm sure there have been legal setbacks in terms of the trump people kind of asserting this privilege or another or saying this person shouldn't have to testify. this person can. these things are starting to be beaten back. there are judges who are saying no, i don't think so. and that has you know a broader ramifications for the legacy of this what will happen for other presidents, but it also means that he is he is quite literally. on the defense right now. because a lot of these sort of kind of little legal battles on the way are not going his way and so go ahead. and i think when you look at what obstruction of justice actually is, this ought to be somewhat concerning to the former president because in order to establish obstruction of justice have to prove that number one the president or whoever is being investigated, knew that there was an open investigation and then took some steps to frustrate that investigation. now, the washington post reporting seems to suggest that they had received a subpoena and after receiving the subpoena,

the president then directed people to perhaps open boxes or move or mishandled documents that sort of lock, stock and barrel obstruction of justice. if it happened the way that reporting seems to suggest that it did. it's quite concerning and ought to be and you know, just so our viewers don't get legal. whiplash here. we want to make clear. what we're talking about is the one of the federal investigations into donald trump where there has been no indictment, yet. we're going to go back to katelyn polantz where in new york there has been an indictment. it is under seal and caitlin been out there reporting on what we're going to see when it comes to the history being made of a former president going and having an arraignment. in and about that indictment. yeah. big questions about what exactly we are going to see. we do have breaking news out of manhattan courthouse just now. that is where cnn's kara scannell is karen. we have been asking all morning whether or not they were

going to be cameras in the courtroom for this proceeding, and you just now learned what trump's team their position on. this is what do you know? yeah, that's right. katelyn polantz saying that they would oppose any broadcasting of this arraignment. they're saying that they have a couple of concerns a grave concern that a circus like atmosphere will be exasperated, exacerbated. i mean, there are tons of news crews here, but there are no signs of protests. also they're saying that they have concerns about what it would mean for the security around the former president as he is going to show up here tomorrow, with the floor closed off and restricted access and for what is going to be a very kind of controlled environment of when he will walk down that hallway and go into the courtroom to enter his plea, which his lawyers say will be not guilty, and they also have raised concerns. they said about what it would do to trump's presumption of innocence. if this were broadcasted to the nation, now the d a s office saying that they are not taking a position in this point out

that there is no first amendment right of access in new york state two cameras in the courtroom, but they say that they also has said that the law does not have an explicit prohibition against it. they also noted that in other cases, some of these high profile cases , including that of trump's former chief financial officer, alan weisberg, that camera was allowed a still photographer was allowed to go into the courtroom . snap some photos, no recorded images, but some photos of the defendant at the table of the entire room just so people can get a sense of what that was like. they noted that that had occurred before, but they're not really putting their thumb on the scale here as to whether that should be allowed this time. but again, trump's team saying that they do not want any ability to broadcast no cameras in the courtroom, and then this will be a very controlled environment. of course, the media argument has been that because this is of such great public interest a historical moment. the monumental moment american history that the public should have a right to know they

should be able to watch this with their own eyes. you know, there are a lot of questions about the transparency of this process. what the former president may say what he may not say and so to give the public the ability to see it with their own eyes to be able to determine what they believed that happens and takes place whether it's fair. there's something that the media has pressed the judge to weigh in on now. we're still waiting for a decision by the judge on this and also the decision of whether to unseal the indictment ahead of tomorrow's proceedings expected to take place after lunch tomorrow. we are told that the judge is likely to issue an order today. the timing of that remains unclear. caitlin. yeah notable to see the opposition there from trump's legal team to having cameras in the courtroom tomorrow, we'll wait to see what the judge decides. caress colonel. thank you for everyone else. watching we have much more of our special live coverage is trump is on his way to new york, where he will be arraigned tomorrow. that's a heck.

old school wisdom. with a passion for what's possible. that's what you geget from the morgen stanley client experience . you get listening more than talking and a personalized plan. built on insights and innovative technology. you get grid vision. and the creativity to guide you through a changing world old school grid. new world ideas. morgen stanleylways take care of you. my name is richard bowser. i was in new york city fireman for 34 years i was ready for retirement. i was physically pretty spent. i had low energy

focus wasn't ground. i wasn't sleeping good at night, and then my wife suggested we try to balance of nature. my energy came back for anybody who wants to feel better. it's really worth giving me the shot. i mean, it's changed my life. start now by going to balance of nature .com and don't forget to use discount code cnn. i love shopping, the real real, it's scoring something amazing for 90% off retail coochie. thousands of new finds everyday real real luxury is yours to define now and get 20% off at the rail rail .com supply. for adults with generalized mice, thenia gravis who are positive for acetylcholine receptor antibodies. it may feel like the world is moving without you. but the picture is changing with guard in the clinical trial participants achieved improved daily abilities added to their current treatment. and they've guard helped clinical trial participants achieve reduced muscle weakness. they've got may

increase the risk of infection. clinical study the most common infections, urinary tract and respiratory tract infections. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or if you have symptoms of an infection. can cause allergic reactions. the most common side effects include respiratory tract infection, headache and urinary tract infection. picture your life in motion with achievement designed using a fragment of an antibody. ask your neurologist. fifth card could be right for you. life doesn't stop for diabetes be ready for every moment with glue. sarna it's the number one doctor recommended brand that's scientifically designed to help manage your blood sugar. live every moment loose, erna. when you find that perfect pair, nothing can stop your shine because when you feel fly, you look flood, jamie. i'm pretty sure that was my line.

get two pairs of prevail revo, plus a free exam for 89 95 exam online today, the regular season ends drama built playing ends drama built playing tournament on tnt, four teams our customers don't do what they do for likes or followers. their path isn't for the casually curious. and that's what makes it matter the most when they find it. the exact thing that can change the world. some say it's what they were born to do... it's what they live to do... trinet serves small and medium sized businesses... so they can do more of what matters. benefits. payroll. compliance. trinet. people matter.

double the cleaning crystals enough for up to 40 windows. just pay a separate fee call or go online now. good morning, everyone we do begin with breaking news this morning. house speaker kevin mccarthy is set to meet with taiwan's president later this week in california. cnn's melanie is an owner joins us now and mel. it's been fascinating watching us officials over the course of the last couple of weeks really try and play down the transit of the taiwanese president yet knowing far very well that this was likely going to happen. what more can you tell us about this meeting, particularly given the tensions with china that are only expected to accelerate in the coming days? yes speaker kevin mccarthy, forging ahead with this meeting with the president of taiwan. we know it's going to take place on

wednesday at the ronald reagan presidential library. there's going to be a bipartisan group of lawmakers in attendance, and this has been a very carefully orchestrated trip with the official line being that the president of taiwan is transiting back from central america passing through the u. s on her way back. to taiwan. now this is happening. despite threats from china, there's threats of retaliation, which could include something like military exercises. and so this meeting could really rattle the already tense relationship between china and the us, especially after the recent spy balloon incident, but kevin mccarthy isn't ruling out traveling to taiwan himself. that is something that he has expressed interest in. he has made standing up to china a top priority of his speakership, he told reporters last month. last month that he is not going to let china tell him when and where to go. of course. his predecessor, nancy pelosi, did make a historic trip to the island. last year. she was the first speaker to travel to taiwan in 25 years, and china did respond with extensive military exercises exercises so

it is always a balance for leaders of wanting to stand up and counter china's threats. without triggering further conflict belladonna it's an ongoing balancing act when u. s officials are watching very closely with the chinese reaction will be melanie's and thanks so much as always. still ahead. more than a million americans are under new tornado watches as part of the midwest and mid south recover from the brutal stretch of extreme weather. asking the right questition can greatly impact yr future. are you qualified to do this? especially when n it comes to your finances? are you a certified finanancial planner, p professional professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's got to be a c f p the first time your les reached 100 k with go. daddy was also the first time your profits left you speechless. at the counter or on the go save 20% with the lowest transaction feesnd keep more of what you make. start saving today at go, daddy .com this is

our premium platinum coverage map and this is consumer cellular zmapp. i don't see the difference to you. well that one's purple, the exact same coverage as the nation's leading carriers, starting at $20 consumer cellular. your record label is taking off, but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire indeed you do indeed, instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visiting .com slash higher i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if your age 50 to 85 looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps? what are the three ps three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget, our price price and price. price you can afford. a price that can't increase the price that fits your budget. i'm 54. what's my price? you can get

coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 take medications. what's my price? also 9 95 a month just turned 80. what's my price? 9 95 a month for you, too. if you're aged 50 to 85 call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam. no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed, and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so you re can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now. for free information. call 1 803 3 to 8300 for your free information and free gift that's 1 803 3 to 830,803 3 to 8300 call now i

brought in ensure max protein with 30 g of protein. those who tried me felt more energy and just two weeks here. i'll take that. max protein with 30 g of protein, one g of sugar and nutrients for immune help. my most important kitchen tool, my brain choose new areva plus, unlike some others, areva plus is a multitasker supporting six key indicators of brain health. keep me sharp, areva think bigger. good morning, everyone we do begin with breaking news. joining us now are two lawmakers from different sides of the aisle also live in ukraine, dr sanjay gupta 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 75% a year. and it's only available

to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities™. actually worth, then the auction it to their network of professional buyers. get more for your jewelry with worthy .com i'm david culver in los angeles, and this is cnn. closed captioning brought to you by meso book .com. we offer a free book on mesothelioma call for the free book and receive so

much more call 1 808 31 37 100. right now across parts of the south and midwest. more than a million residents are under a tornado watch more severe weather, including heavy rain and powerful winds expected tomorrow throughout the region. cnn's derek van dam is in hard hit when arkansas and derek even talking to residents there. how are they coping with what they've experienced the last couple days? well they're they're fearful because the threat of severe weather looms heavy on their minds right now. you know, phil, dana, i just want you to see what 165 mile per hour winds are capable of. that is a church van, a two ton van that was literally catapulted in the air flipping at least 50 ft. that was what one of the residents of the church that you see behind me that has been completely demolished, told me just a few moments ago. just incredible to hear some of the eyewitness

accounts of how powerful this tornado was. i mean, you can just see how destructive this force of nature of this ef three tornado actually was at an opportunity to speak to a resident from one of the wynne arkansas neighborhoods. listen to what she had to say about how she's used to tornadoes here. but how this one was different. sir. we have had tornadoes and wind arkansas before, but it was never nothing black. never never miss thing. unfortunately dana and fill her neighbor deceased within this particular tornado, and that brings the tornado fatality count from this past weekend storms up to 32. that is two times we're working towards two times the amount of tornado fatalities compared to last year. we haven't even entered into the peak season of tornadoes just yet. i asked the

governor of arkansas yesterday. what role meteorologists have in saving lives here. what she told me. because that you could believe that the media elements gave adequate warning time for this particular tornado. do you feel like that's safe life? absolutely there's no doubt that the warnings that came from meteorologist certainly saved lives. fill in dana, you can see that the recovery efforts are well underway. there's an excavator. there have been utility companies on the site. they are busy. it is going to take weeks, if not months to recover. but remember, we have another threat of tornadoes tomorrow. back to you. absolutely heartbreaking. derek van dam, thank you so much. and as we have been telling you, former president trump is in the air right now on route from florida to new york, where he

will soon land tomorrow he will be in court to answer to fraud charges are special coverage continues in a moment. don't go away. own a small to medium sized business. you may qualify for the employer retention tax credit up p to $26,000 per employee, not alone. the money is yours if your business suffered during covid revenue drops or government shutdowns, time is limited to refunds. pro dot com now takes five minutes, and the average refund is $247,000 with refunds pro .com no refund, no feet. promise if you don't receive a refund, you pay nothing. that's it? yeah progressives home quote explor insurance options. cool. what do we do now? we live. save time and money with progressives. homecourt explorer once you do afterwards is up to you. subway keeps up in the game