against muslims and others. >> we're looking at the root of this horrible tree that, is basically providing the basis for a lot of the hate for other groups. >> part of the new white house campaign includes working with professional sports leagues like the nba, nfl and others to use their powerful platforms to combat anti-semitism. >> very important what happened today. bryan todd, thank you very much. finally tonight, historic moment as president biden announced his nominee for joint chiefs chairman. air force general charles q. brown stand ago long side vice president harris and defense secretary lloyd austin. if confirmed by congress, general brown will become the second african american to hold the job. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room". erin burnett "out front" starts right now.

>> this points to even more evidence of possible obstruction by trump. former white house attorney ty could be is my guest. plus, putin tonight caught in a lie. russians denying a ship was tacked. new video shows a ukrainian grown droen slamming into that ship. in fact, robert kennedy jr. pulling 20% in the new cnn poll. so who are his supporters? and should biden really be worried? let's go out front. >> "the washington post" with significant new reporting this hour. two of trump's mar-a-lago employees moved boxes of documents at the residence, trump's residence, just one day, one day before the fbi and a prosecutor visited his home to

retrieve classified documents. so just let me give you a sense of the time line. this is in june of 2022. it was after a subpoena had been issued. it was the day before the fbi was scheduled to come get documents. sources familiar with the matter telling "the washington post" that investigators believe that timing is suspicious and a sign of possible obstruction. sources also revealing to the post that trump and aides allegedly carried out a dress rehearsal for moving sensitive papers he didn't want to turn over to the feds. there is also evidence from the post indicating that trum health care plan classified documents in his office that were both visible and at times shown off to others. >> when it comes to your documents, did you ever show the classified documents to anyone? >> not really. i would have the right to. >> what do you mean not really? >> not that i can think of. let me just tell you, i have the absolute right to do whatever i

want with them. i have the right. >> as he continues to say. that story also revealing one date that is very important, or another date, i should say. and that date is in this month of this year, may 25th, 2023. the last time the grand jury investigating trump's hand willing of the collides met. that is the grand jury's longest break since december. which could signal that we're almost at some sort of a finish line here. we'll see. cnn is reporting special counsel appears to be in the final stretch of the classified documents probe. a probe where trump's former white house lawyer predict an indictment is imminent for donald trump. first though, i want to good to one of the reporters who broke this story for "the washington post." she's out front. so, perry, look this is information that the special council would have, the grand jury may have seen. this is important information that you have. you report that trump's mar-a-lago employees moved boxes out of storage and returned them just before the fb up.

are your sourc a white aboutm, d to hide documents from the fbi and then put the boxes back? >> yeah. i mean, that is the suggestion. they still found lots of classified materials or documents marked as classified in his home. i think you're right. that is the implication here. in moving these boxes, they potentially removed things and that is why during the search the unannounced search months later they did still find classified materials on his mara l mar-a-lago property. >> can you tell me about the dress rehearsal to move documents?

>> so dress rehearsal suggests they practiced this before, moving the documents. that was a term used in a sealed court document. what they're saying is that even before the subpoena came, so this was back when nara, the government agency that, you know, is in charge of president presidential records, when they were back and forth asking for the materials back, the suggestion there that trump allegedly removed some of the documents to look through them to determine what he wanted to keep. and they call that a dress rehearsal. this was in ppreparation for a bigger scale thing that we see happened in june, or allegedly happened. >> you hear trump saying, i have the right to do whatever i want with them. he continues to say that. what are you hearing from one of your sources, i understand, the lawyer for one of the employees who actually moved those boxes about what trump's intent was or his role was? >> yeah.

we have an on the record statement right now. we know the people saying they didn't know. they were just doing what they were told. so we can, you know, move from there when investigators think that president or the people he knowing what their intent was. >> thank you very much. i appreciate it. she is sharing her new reporting with us. i want to go to ty coulbb. you have been very consistent. you believe an indictment is imminent for donald trump in the classified documents case. and that obviously the obstruction charges are his biggest threat. the latest here from perry on what the special counsel knows. how solid does the case look like to you? >> you know, the case looks increasingly solid every day. but it's been solid for months

as far as i'm concerned. you know, keep in mind that actually the post first reported the fact that documents were moved the day before the fbi showed up. they have a gentleman that represents one of the two individuals involved in the moving of the documents on record saying his client did help not move the documents but wasn't sure exactly what he was doing. you know, a long time, you know, aide to trump. he worked in the white house. i saw him, you know, at least twice a week. >> this person? >> yes. and a nice guy.

not a decision maker. >> we're going try to get that back up for you right now. just give us a second here. and then we'll have a plan b if we don't get ty back. do we think we're going to get ty back right now? >> the wosh wosh"washington pos reporting that boxes were moved the day before the fib came in june 2022 t after a subpoena. but reporting that they were removed and then replaced, i don't know if you just heard perry stein from "the washington post." she said the clear implication is that somebody would have gone through them to take out documents which could add to the obstruction case. the other thing i'm going to ask ty about is the grand jury has not met, the grand jury that is obviously working in the jack

smith special counsel case on classified documents has not met since may 5th, the largest hiatus for that grand jury since the month of december. so i want to see if ty thinks this makes this whole thing more imminent. anybody who watches this show knows that ty has been clear. he believes trump will go to jail, will go to prison over this. i'm sorry. what did you say? >> okay. all right. we're going get ty back in just a moment. we'll work on that. i want to move to the next story. i don't want to waste any time. we'll get back to ty. i want to go to our other key story which is, of course, ukraine. we have new video just in of what russian officials say is a new ukrainian strike on a russian occupied city. what you're looking at here is a missile hitting a city which is deep inside russian controlled ukrainian territory. the city is about 60 miles from the front lines. obviously, mileage matters here. it means they're using -- can you ascertain what type of missile.

it appears from that distance that ukraine likely used the longer range storm shadow missiles they just got from the united kingdom. this comes as we have new video in tonight. this is that ukrainian drone hitting a prized russian reconnaissance shipp. russia claims the ship was not hit in the attack. they say it wasn't hit at all. look at the video. you can see that is untrue. the video is taken by the drone as it zeros in and then you see the strike the extent of the damage we don't know. of course, we know that this strike like many others is woo y. putin is not meeting goals in russia. >> translator: if it continues like this the country will be fraught with problems because people will start to ask why. >> of course, the fear, why? the russian people may find out how poorly this war is going for putin not just the family of the

many thousands of russians who have died or been maimed. russians on the ground know this. one ukrainian soldier who we spoke to many times on this show, you may know his face, he sent us a new video today. here's the context. he and his fellow soldiers met a russian soldier. they were face to faik face with h -- face-to-face with him. he was wounded. the russian did surrender. as they surrender, they have this conversation. >> translator: they forced me here. >> forced? you didn't want to come here? >> translator: i wanted to refuse. you could run away and go to prison. i wouldn't be able to. how can i escape? did you come here from prison? >> yes. >> translator: are you in the wagner group? no. from where? from the ministry of defense. are they already recruiting soldiers from prisons? >> yes. >> how long you have been fighting here? >> translator: three days.

>> how long did you prepare? >> translator: two weeks of training. >> now, we can't confirm every detail. think about that one moment. three days on the dat will field. already injured and out of commission, two weeks of training. this is stunning. and this is putin's army. fred is out front in kyiv with more. >> just as the ukrainian military says their forces are retaking ground on bakhmut, the boss says they're moving out. >> that's it, moving out in ten to 15 minutes. everyone leaves before june 1st. we'll rest, prepare, and then get a new task. his exit could mark a turning point in one of the bloodiest battles in europe since world war ii. they sauassaulted them for mont. he tried to prove to putin his

hired guns can get the job done where regular russian units fail. even during the withdrawal, a swipe at his minister. he'll leave two scrawny fighter behind to take over when they take over wagner's positions. that is beaver and that is dog, he says. the moment the military are in a tough position, they'll stand up and block the ukrainian army. guys, don't bully the military. while the ukrainians tell cnn they cannot confirm he is really pulling out of bakhmut, they believe a withdraw can give them a boost in the quest to retake the city. >> translator: compared to other units, wagner did fight better and conducted more offensive actions. but this was literally due to bloody discipline. and threats of execution. >> while moscow's army struggles in ukraine, russians clearly feel threatened on the homefront as well. the intelligence service fsb releasing dramatic footage of

arrests from earlier this month of what they claim were ukrainian intelligence operatives plotting to attack two nuclear power plants in northwestern russia. russia blames kyiv and moscow also lashing out after u.s. intelligence assessment saying ukraine may have been behind a drone attack on the kremlin in early may. >> behind this is the key. we know this. and we are carrying out our work based on this. >> russia using the incident to justify its war against ukraine. putin's top group is regrouping the forces and vowing to return. >> of course, one thing that we always have to keep in mind is that he did threaten to pull his forces out of bakhmut several times over the last couple months. he felt he wasn't getting enough ammo, every time he was in issue with the russian defense ministry. the last time, in fact, was may 10th. he was going to pull them out and back pedal then.

now what we're getting from the ukrainians is they are telling us they cannot confirm this pullout is really happening. this complete pullout. they noticed the significant decrease in attacks coming from the russian side in the bakhmut area. as we heard from that ukrainian soldier, if he is pulling out his forces completely, they do believe it could be a good opportunity for them to then the battle is by no means over. they say they still have a foothold in the city and making gains on the edges of theciy as well. >> thank you very much from kyiv. i want to go now to retired u.s. army brigadier general peters whack, former defense to rush yachlt he just returned from ukraine. so, let me ask you. i really appreciate your time. what about this latest announcement? the troops out by june 1st. obviously as fred shows, never been true of the times he said it before. the ukrainians are saying they are seeing a real decline in the number of wagner troops, a visible on those front lines. what do you make of this

announcement now? >> well, yevgeny, a warlord and firebrand and formerly a putin crony is increasingly working his own narrative. and it's divisive. for the kremlin. the military. the position on the ground. and whether they pull out on the first of june. it just creates confusion on the other side. ukrainians, i think, have a measure. this was not a -- this was not a turning point battle at all. though it was gruesome for boek sides. and i think the fact that he called out the last day or two the regime and used the word revolution in the context of 1917 in talking about the

situation is extraordinary. stay tuned. >> it did seem extraordinary. i played this sound earlier from roman, that ukrainian sniper that we talked to many times on this show. he and his fellow soldiers had a russian soldier who surrendered. he had been shot twice. he was talking to them, answering their questions. he said he was recruited from prison from the ministry of defense. he had only been on the front lines three days. this is how it ended, right? now injured and in captivity. two weeks of training. what -- i know it's not surprising. we're hearing this. but now we're actually seeing it. a soldier we know who just filmed this and sent it to us. what is your assessment of the state of putin's army at this time? >> yeah. first, whether wagner or the regular army ministry of deferngs the fact that they're using convicts and convict units just shows extraordinary due

praf ti to me. they had a massive call-up of 300,000 a while ago. and they haven't all been committed. it looks like a lot of them are being committed. and, yeah, they're poorly trained. morale is horrific. the word is out among the russian military that this is awful. if the russians and the ukrainians are very adept with this in finding mechanisms to bring the russians across the battle lines to surrender. it just shows that while the russians have still weaponry, they are really really fragile. they may try to push the whole door down this summer. >> all right. thank you very much, general. i appreciate your time. >> as always. >> all right. and next, we have ty cobb, trump's former attorney is back us with. and he's going to talk about this imminent criminal indictment he sees coming. plus, abortion access, legalized

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. the significant report from "the washington post" on the mar-a-lago documents case. two of trum's employees moved boxes of documents the day before the fbi and a prosecutor visited his home to get those documents. and then they put the boxes back. unclear what they did. the grand jury in the case is not met since may 5th. that is 20 days ago. that is the longest hiatus since december. on that note, let me bring back ty could be. and, ty, i'm glad we have you back. you know, good to have to do some tap dancing every once in a while. make sure everybody is awake. so glad we got you back. okay. i know you believe in indictments imminent. i want to ask you about that grand jury not meeting in 20 days. what does that signal to you? >> i think that's a significant thing. you know, the last time they

met, you know, some of the reporting indicated, you know, what the activity of the day was. >> i think we had an exchange where we were commenting on there was a lot of i dotting and t crossing which suggests they're near the end. i do believe that is the case. they have some compelling evidence. i think the evidence with regard to the moving of the boxes, the evidence that they're relying on primarily with regard to the movement of the boxes they received the day after the boxes were moved. there were tapes of this, you know, the access and to the

storage room. the reporting is out on that for a long time. but as they zero in on that issue, you know, there are two witnesses. one of them is represented by john irving. that is the source for the, you know, the post quote. >> yeah. >> yeah. the statement they got about not not knowing what was going on. he's not a management guy. you know, he's a very nice guy. i'm sure he would do whatever mr. trump asked him to. but i doubt that mr. trump actually let him in on very

much. the fact that they were moving the documents, the fact that the justice department poured in on that, you know, it has been widely reported that walt was interviewed repeatedly by the justice department and at one point admitted moving, you know, boxes at the direction of trump on that day and also subsequently to the delivery of the subpoena. i think that's very -- i think that will be very important evidence. there was a point in which he was likely to be immunized and cooperating. but he's not currently. i suspect that will change. i think the another thing that brings this into focus and makes it relevant now is the testimony

of evan corchran and tim parlator. two lawyers who because the court denied trump's claim of attorney-client privilege and found that the crime fraud doctrine overcame trump's claim and forced them to testify. keep in mind that, you know, corchran testified that he warned trump that he could not retain any classified documents beyond the subpoena. and parlator, you know, he subsequently resigned, you know, expressed great concerns about direction that's were given by boris epstein and the extent that epstein was translating their advice faithfully. >> all right. thank you very much. thank you for speaking to you

soon. >> and next, the robert kennedy jr. phenomenon is not fading away. a new poll showing the democratic candidate is polling at 20%. who are his supporters now? we go inside the numbers. and the head of the oath keepers given the longest prison sentence yet. the judge making it clear he believes that man is still a threat. ievers. you're making the most of every hour of your life. except the hours that you're sleeping. so w why do we leave so much untapped potential on the table? this is a next levelel bed, for a next level you. my circadian rhythm is kicking your circadian rhythm's butt! it's not a competition. i know, but i'm still winning! so, it is a competition. save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed. plus, special financing and free home delivery when you add any base. only at sleep number.

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it's not just possible. it's happening. tonight robert f. kennedy jr. is not going away. he is polling at 20% in our latest cnn poll. 20% against a sitting democratic

president joe biden. by the way, this is the second poll showing this in a month. keep in mind, the 2020 election, democrats needed 4% to participate in debates. now kennedy is not meeting that threshold. he is obviously trouncing it. kennedy was, of course, once best known for his environmental activism and family name. now he's gained a lot of attention, a lot, for his anti-vaccine stance. a stance that is supported by some on the right and apparently some maybe on the left. and, of course, his spread of other types of misinformation. i want to bring in our numbers expert. ha harry, let's talk about the actual numbers. 20% is a big number. okay? and i think what stands out about it is not just that it is big. it is that it is consistent and it is not an outlier. >> it's not an outlier. our cnn poll had kennedy at 20%. the we had two fox polls the last month. one had him at 16%. the other one had him at 19%. and so we're seeing this very

consistent sort of range of kennedy -- somewhere between 15% and 20%. all the polls have joe biden in the low 60s. biden is clearly ahead. kennedy is putting up a far more impressive showing than i would have thought. >> right. and, i guess the really is, if this is consistent, who are these people? who is the base where robert f. kennedy jr.? >> the base can be best described as people who don't self-identify as democrats. those who self identify as independence and those not liberal. those that are moderate or conservative. if you look at our cnn poll and the moderate and conservative, look at that. biden is ahechad by six points. look at how close this race is. this makes sense over who some of the people backing kennedy are. like someone like a jack dorsey, the former head of twitter. he was somebody who was supported andrew yang and those are the types of people who i think are sort of congealing behind the kennedy canvas.

>> who knows whether they'll stay there. some of these individuals may be people who just don't want to vote for trump. but they like some of the other things. >> i would call them anti-establishment. that is what i would call them. they're people who don't necessarily identify as republicans. they're more on the left side of the ring. they're anti-establishment. they don't like joe biden. >> all right. traditional democrats though, kennedy seems to be a nonstarter. despite the name. >> exactly right. look at the view that strong democrats have of robert f. kennedy jr. 50% unfavorable. kennedy is a nonstarter among traditional democrats. >> right. fascinating. when it comes to a broader election, right, depends where you can vote as in a primary. obviously independents are the biggest identified group in the country. all right. >> thank you.

>> well, more on that jaber in moment. there are big things happening in the state of minnesota that have been flying under the radar nationally. but they're important to know about. the democratic governor waltz d. a one seat majority passed a democratic dream list of laws. these include guaranteeing abortion access, securing the largest infrastructure package in minnesota history, there's a new child tax credit in there, free meals for schoolchildren in there. universal background checks for gun purchases. legalizing recreational marijuana. and just moments ago, up to 20 weeks of paid family and medical leave for minnesotans this is any democrat in the country, right, people are looking at that saying, wait, they got all those things? republicans in the state are not

happy. zbl >> this is the most partisan session not in my memory but in the history of the state. >> out front, tim waltz of minnesota. what do you make plaiof mr. johnson's point. they're jealous of. that you were able to accomplish one of those things but it goes on and on and on. how did you do it with a razor thin marge snin that one seat majority in the senate? >> i think, erin, it was courageous legislators understanding you don't get political capital to think about the next election. you burn political capital to improve lives. and these are very popular things. access to reproductive and abortion services, universal meals in our schools, expansion of health care to anyone in minnesota. these are things that improves lives and make us more competitive and in response to republicans on this, i'm not going to be partisan in your

hate and bigotry. we're going to pass things that improve people's lives. people have a right to be able to be home with a sick relative. i think it's more about the messaging and courage of legislators who are sick and tired of the gridlock and said these things improve lives. >> so when he says, look, you got only about 50% just over 50%, but you're essentially getting, you know, 100%. you're getting so many things that you want, you don't think that makes sense? >> will with, many of the members voted for these things. they maybe tried to message it. will they'll certainly take -- they'll be at the ribbon cutting for roads. i'm sure they're upset about abortion access and those things. look, i represented a very rural district in congress. i was in the majority in congress in the minority. it's terrible to be in the minority. that's the way this works. i think what happens is they're focusing saying we're going to come to the next election. good luck telling people you're going to make it easier for

people to get guns in schools. good luck telling people they're not respected for health care decisions. good luck taking food out of this because you're angry we didn't pass cuts for millionaires. i just think again you have a party that is devoid of ideas right now. they want to fight culture wars in minnesota. they're not interested in. that they're interested in improving quality of life. >> what do you say? you mentioned congress. what do you say to your political peers in washington who are really only in gridlock. they are not only unable to pass sweeping legislation like you have. they can't even guarantee the nation pays its bills. what do you say to them? >> first, i know they're all a reflection of the voters. i say to the voters, if you really want to see things get done, this debt krilgceiling ths ridiculous. i was asked to support the debt ceiling. i did it. it is an absolutely essential thing that has nothing to do with spending or anything else. and i would just simply tell them and tell the voters, we can have nice things. we can get to carbon free

energy. we can create the new jobs we're talking about and protect our children. none of these things are radical positions. i think they're really playing with fire in that i think the electorate is going to come out and they're going to ask for real effective change. that electorate is younger. that he elect rat is more engaged. i think they want to see that change. >> all right. i want to talk about that electorate. on the democratic side. rfk jr., cnn poll, 20% among democratic voters who last month, a month ago, fox news had kennedy at 19%. these numbers are incredibly consistent. you know, its not like it just came in a flash in the pan and gone. obviously, he is known for positions including his vaccine skepticism. what do these polls tell you about your own party? >> i think we're big 10. we're not lock step i had

logically. he we certainly don't look like the republicans where we, you know, if democrats were there on january 6, i would have been the first one condemning every one of them. they can't do that. look, i have voted for people in the primary. i certainly voted the general i election. we have a healthy party. lot of ideas. i disagree strongly and i think mr. kennedy's statements around covid were dangerous. but there is ab electorate out there listening to. that i think when they take the total of things like abortion access, climate change and other things and to be honest, mr. kennedy did do some good things around climate. he is wrong on. this i take it that democrats are watching. it's a new electorate out. there tend of the day, they are certainly not going to vote for the former president. >> the polls the last time around, right, he polled at 20%. that entitled you to a debate. do you think the sitting

president if these polls continue should be on the debate stage with rfk jr.? >> i don't know. i have to tell you, i dealt with this here, too. i think there is a responsibility of people who are putting out information. i dealt with it as a governor during covid. i have the mayo clinic and best health care systems running against people promoting, you know, horse medicine and things like that. i think there is a responsibility to screen out the dangers. look, i'm all for the democracy. they'll work that one when it gets out. president biden is going to get the nomination. he's going to win re-election. he's doing the work. it's fine. we're healthy party. we can deal with it. >> governor, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thank you, erin. >> next, ron desantis meeting with key donors today the day after the rocky campaign launch. so you has that set him back? one of the donors he met with joins me next and tonight the white house fighting back after the head of the rnc, ron mcdaniel set a fault on the debt bodes very well for the

rerepublican field.

sto night, ron desantis off the campaign trail despite launching his president hl bid last night. delayed by technical glitches on twitter. one reporter with sources inside the campaign says the inner circle admits the launch did not go over well. >> well, they certainly were not

pleased and not so happy with the fact that they trusted elon musk and twitter to pull this off after all this a guy that launches rockets and builds electric cars. they couldn't pull off a glitch free twitter interview which happens with others. >> out front now, desantis donor who met with him today. you'll see him out for dinner momentarily. you heard the reporting. cnn is reporting a veteran gop operator said i think the format is bad. i don't think the tech glitches were a big deal. you could spin. that the biggest problem was the content. what are you hearing from inside the campaign? >> i don't think that's true at all. i think the interview was great. he is really focused on policy and can talk about policy at length and draws a stark contrast with the performance politics of donald trump. >> do you wish that he had done something with his wife, his

children, sort of a more yes traditional but also inspirational message? >> i think the way he launched was bold. i hope on the campaign trail we see a lot more of his family and his wife. he really showcases the depth of the family and the traditional values that he espouses. >> what is interesting is that in terms of the jumping on the glitches, however important they may end up being or not being, obviously trump is jumping on it. so are others who really want nothing to do with trump. so let me just play that. >> what do you think about ron desantis? >> i think he had a rough opening. >> i think elon musk hired too many guys. that's what it is. >> not too bright. >> it did not work out well. you can't blame ron desantis for that. >> so even if desantis is not to

blame and that was governor sununu who is very clear he doesn't agree with him on a lot of policy things. he is saying even if desantis is not to blame, there is concern. do you worry this may stick? >> i don't worry. i think eventually what this is going to come down to is how people in ohio and new hampshire vote. i think 18 months from now the launch will be forgotten. what won't be is governor desantis' record in florida. >>, so dan, if desantis did take some subtle shots today at donald trump, subtle but not direct, what is he saying? is he going to take the gloves off and have it out with him? is there a strategy for when he does that? or is that still undecided? >> i think what you're going to see from governor desantis is he's going to punch back and hit back against donald trump on policy. i think you're going to see his style is drastically different from donald trump's. you're not going to see him in the gutter. you won't see him trying to

smear people. you'll see him saying, look, here's the policy difference. here's how i can win and put points on the board for conservative policy. and pro economic growth measures. >> but where he is different from trump on policy? >> i think he's a consistent conservative. he doesn't flip-flop. he has a track record in florida of producing economic growth. and trump's policies are all over the board. he is trying to be to the left and right. ron desantis on abortion, for instance, he's not really clear on spending. he's not really clear on other policy initiatives where governor desantis has got a clear record and a clear vision. >> all right. dan, thank you very much. i presideappreciate your time t. >> the head of the republican national committee saying a default on the debt plays well to the field and the founder of the oath keepers receiving the longest prison sentence yet for the january 6th attacks. uh... here i'll take t that. -everyone: woo hoo!

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unprecedented surge of new business openings, a nearly 30% increase in new businesses as compared to before the pandemic. >> excellent. one minute. >> reporter: part of a nationwide post pandemic boom for mom and pop shops and the nearly half of all private workers they employee. >> let's take a deep breath. inhale and exhale. >> reporter: this is something jen yates and alex thought would never happen. >> obviously we have been through a lot the past three years. it's been a lot. >> reporter: this was their los angeles street in 2020, the start of the pandemic. covid shut down the country overnight, cratering small businesses. >> i was sitting on the floor, just sobbing. >> how are we going to survive with -- we're going to wake up the next morning and have zero income. >> reporter: that wouldn't change for a year. >> what are we doing with this thing? >> reporter: $300,000 in debt, they started selling off equipment. >> separate your legs.

don't leave the floor. >> reporter: pivoting to virtual classes. struggling to stay open, they moved exercise machines outside. >> 18 machines, yeah. 350 pounds each. >> reporter: every single morning and night while they wondered if they'd ever climb out of a financial abyss. >> the whole prospect of having a business in this climate seems impossible. >> reporter: but there was a lifeline. >> we're desperate for this relief from the government. >> reporter: they filed for and got ppp, and sba loans which kept them open. >> that left leg bent and drive it up. you're doing awesome. >> reporter: and as the lockdown lifted and americans returned to restaurants and the gym, they reopened in los angeles. >> you got it. keep going. keep pressing. >> in three, two, one. >> reporter: and broke ground this spring with a new studio in brooklyn. >> we were so unsure. we didn't know that small

businesses, there was ever going to be a boom again. sometimes you just got to go for it. you got to take the risk and just go for it. >> reporter: with headwinds from inflation, lack of workers and fears of the debt ceiling impact, economists say it may be months before we'll know if the small business surge sustains, or if this year becomes another struggle for main street. >> you just have to figure it out and hustle. i mean, that's what a small business, and it's a lot of hustling. >> you made it. nice job, you guys! >> despite what the economic indicator show, despite the various reports like the jobs report, and despite the fact that small businesses are having a very good year, it doesn't feel that way to studio metamorphoses, and that's a sentiment being echoed through a lot of independent small mom and pop shops. the numbers may say one thing. but how they feel about the economy is vastly different.

erin? >> kyung, thank you very much. coming up on "ac 360," with candidate for president, a closer look at the first lady of president, casey desantis. that's coming up next hour. and next here, a federal judge ripping into the leader of the oath keepers as he received the longest sentence yet for what happened on january 6th. but one out t of two women over 50 will suffer a fracture from osteopororosis. you should know yoyou can build new bone with evenity® for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture. ask your doctor if you can do more than just slowing down bone loss with evenity®. want stronger bones? then build new bone; evenity® can help in just 12 months. evenity® is proven to reduce spine fracture risk by 73%. evenity® can increase risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from a cardiovascular problem. do not take evenity® if you have low blood calcium, or are allergic to it. serious allergic reactions and low blood calcium have occurred.

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tonight, 18 years, that is the prison sentence a federal judge handed down to stewart rhodes, the leader of the oath keepers for his role in the january 6th insurrection. he was convicted of seditious conspiracy. the judge pulling no punches in handing down the sentence, telling rhodes, quote, i dare say, mr. rhodes, and i have never said this to anyone i sentenced, you pose an ongoing threat to democracy and the fabric of this country. oath keepers were at the capitol that day clad in camouflage among the crowd. thank you so much for joining us. it is time now for anderson and "ac 360." good evening. we have two big stories breaking tonight. new word the debt ceiling talks may be, may be yie