cooperation deal that was on the table when representing tavares. dana, to your point, trump has been able to keep a lot of people in the fold, in this case, people who do have a lot to lose and walt nauta and carlos de oliveira, and to see tavares break away and get his own attorney and move away from the cushiness of the trump pac-funded lawyers. >> very quickly, this is a nightmare for trump that some of his co-defendants will flip, begin to cooperate against him. >> of course, and to dana's point, after what happened to michael cohen. he flipped very publicly on the former president. the former president has been much more careful about trying to keep people in the fold and there are some questions about some of his advisers and why they're still around, but i've been told people close to him and even the former president acknowledge that yeah, it's important to keep these people in the fold to the extent possible and help with their

legal fees to an extent. we know there are limits on his generosity there, but he definitely learned lessons from michael cohen, and i'm sure he is not pleased that mr. tavares is cooperating and he is not in the same league as boris epistein or michael cohen at one time and this is not good news for him. >> everyone, stand by. we have more news we are follow following right now. back to our special live coverage of the first televised hearing in the trump election sub version case in the state of georgia. i'm katelyn collins in new york alongside wolf blitzer in washington, and this afternoon we witnessed history in real time and on camera, as you can see inside the courtroom, the argument and the key rulings from the judge overseeing this case. the key issue is whether donald trump and 18 of his co-defendants will be ultimately tried together in a sweeping rico indictment or if the case

will splinter off into several trials? we now know at least two defendants will stand trial together next month. >> based on what's been presented today i'm not finding the severance from mr. chesebro or powell is necessary to achieve a fair determination of the guilt or innocence for either defendant in this case, and so i'll deny mr. chesebro's motions to sever from ms. powell. i'll deny in part ms. powell's motion to sever from mr. chesebro and the plan will be to enter a scheduling order for ms. powell mirroring mr. chesebro with the october 23rd date holding. >> that was the ruling from the judge scott mcafee when pro-trump lawyer kenneth chesebro and former trump campaign lawyer sydney powell will stand trial now on october 23rd. the question, of course, is will any additional defendants be standing next to them? the judge said he was, quote, very skeptical of the state's

request to hold one sweeping trial for all 19 of the co-defendants. cnn's nick valencia is live outside the courthouse, and nick, you were inside that room for this hearing and there were other attorneys for people who were not there trying to get their cases severed, jeffrey clark, rudy giuliani, other attorneys in the room. what did you all see? >> katelyn, we saw the attorney for kathy latham. there were a handful of attorneys there who had a very vested interest into how this would play out and how scott mcafee, the judge in this case, would handle the trial going forward. the big headline out of what happened in court is the judge, mcafee, denying the motion for kenneth chesebro to sever his case from the former campaign, and sydney powell will go forward for the october 23rd trial date. we heard from chesebro's attorneys essentially saying there are two to three conspiracies alleged in this indictment and that chesebro was

only involved, allegedly involved in the fake elector scheme and had nothing to do with the malfeeance of sydney powell. powell's part in this is alleged to have been illegal hacking and voter fraud potentially in coffey county, the illegal accessing of data and chesebro and powell had never met each other and that he had never stepped foot in coffey county. the rico case, evidence against one is evidence against all and the defense is not admissible mere according to the state. it's really interesting. we got the first inside look into how exactly the judge would handle this case unlike other trump hearings and proceedings, the new york charges and the federal hearings and this was televised, adding to the drama. katelyn, this was expected to be a very busy day with arraignments, and as of yesterday, all 19 co-defendant his waived their arraignments and pled not guilty and it was

whether or not these two defendants would have their cases severed. next thursday at 11:00 a.m., we are expecting to hear if this is a trial for two people or a trial for 19. another headline, nathan wade, the lead prosecutor who is working this case with fani willis saying the case will take up to four months and include 150 witnesses and that does not include potential jury selection which would add to the process so this could potentially be a very, very long trial and process. >> it certainly seems that way. nick valencia, back to you. >> happening now, state police in pennsylvania are giving an search for danelo cavalcante. >> one key difference in the escape as compared with the escape of cavalcante is the role of the tower officer whose

primary responsibility is to -- and he contacted immediately. cavalcante did not observe nor report the escape. the escape was discovered as part of the inmate counts that occur when inmates come in from the exercise yard. the pennsylvania attorney general's office will be conducting a thorough criminal investigation into the escape which includes this element of the incident and this investigation is both necessary and welcome. the action of the tower officer present at the time of cavalcante's escape are a key part of our internal investigation and will be taking appropriate action based on the results of that investigations. here is a time line of the events. at 8:33 a.m. cavalcante's block entered the exercise yard. at 8:51 a.m., cavalcante escapes from the prison having crab walked up a wall, through razor

wire, ran across the roof, pushed against a fence and through razor wire. cavalcante's block returned from the yard. at 9:45 a.m. officers from cavalcante's block notified central control of a missing inmate and conducted a special count. at 9:45, cavalcante was not there. there was a brief -- there was a belief that he may have been in a phone visiting room which was checked with negative results. the prison was locked down and a special count was conducted. by 10:01 a.m. the sirens sounded and the 911 center had been notified. just as we do in any security-related incident we will review all of the practices, policies and procedure ands make improvements as appropriate. we are formulating claims to include as previously mentioned fully enclosing exercise yards, installing additional security

cameras and when inmates are in exercise yards and it would enhance overall security of the prison. as i close, i would definitely like to thank my local, federal, state and law enforcement representatives once the escape was there. i know they are diligently working to take mr. cavalcante back into their efforts and i cannot comment on any additional investigation including additional investigations, with that i'll turn it over. [ inaudible ]

>> thank you, warden holland. i'll come up with my update and we'll come back to questions momentarily. last evening we had another sighting of cavalcante by a resident in kingsbury township. we searched the area for hours, but were unable to locate him. it illustrates some of the challenges our people are dealing with. in spite of precautions, one of our tactical search dogs suffered a heat-related and emergency remains hospitalized today. we are hopeful that he will make a full recovery. as a result of that reported sighting, residents likely

observed a significant increase in police activity. we did have a reverse 911 message sent out during the incident in an effort to inform residents of the issue. additionally, as a result of that activity we slightly expanded the eastern edge of the perimeter to include free growth. the district attorney and i have continued a regular dialogue with school districts in the area updating them with changes in our operations that might impact schools. as this operation unfolded late last night the unionville, and kenneth consolidated school districts made a decision to close schools. we continue to use hundreds of state, local and federal law enforcement officers, k-9s, aviation assets and various types of technology in an effort to keep the community safe and to bring this to a swift conclusion as possible. excuse me. we continue to increase the number of personnel assigned as conditions dictate. residents can expect to continue to see large numbers of law enforcement officers in their communities and traveling to and

from assigned locations. we continue to ask for the public's help by familiarizing themselves with the photograph of caval kancante to check secu cameras to see if they have seen cavalcante and secure homes, outbuildings and vehicles. cavalcante has clearly obtained clothing come other supplies and we want to minimize any opportunity to obtain anything more. it is important that key keep pressure him as we continue the hunt. i am advising that pennsylvania crimestoppers has offered up to a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of cavalcante. this bring the reward total to $20,000. anyone with information is asked to call our tip line at 717-562-2987. 717-562-2987. lastly, i want to recognize and thank the community for all of

their support through this trying time in their lives. i, and all of us working this man hunt, understand the tremendous stress this puts on families and even businesses. in spite of that stress and unsolicited, we have had individuals, businesses and -- i'm sorry, scouting church and other organizations show up at our command post with cases of water, food and well wishes for all of our people. they are very kind, and i can't thank them enough for their support, and now we will be happy to take any questions that you may have. >> lieutenant colonel, do you think we have more ability to hide since this thing started? >> i don't think he has any more ability than we initially gave him credit for. it is a challenging area and we've had these types of searches in the past. some take hours, some take days and some take weeks and some take months.

we are committed to the search and we will find him and we will bring him back into the criminal justice system. >> you guys have had access, why did it take so long to alert the public that he escaped? >> i can address that. ma matter was referred to the attorney general's office immediately. we are engaged in a thorough investigation. as i stated before, our main focus is bringing this man into custody. we are putting all of our efforts to try to locate him. there was a simultaneous investigation into the prison escape and today was the day that we believed we needed to bring in the acting warden to address the public about how he escaped. [ inaudible ] >> is the attorney general investigation -- [ inaudible ] >> that's correct. [ inaudible question ]

>> obviously someone didn't do their job. >> so as i said earlier, part of the document we did have a consulting firm identify how the individual escaped and we thought we took appropriate measures to prevent that with the razor wire. the one thing we didn't take into account was a failure on the human element side and the infrastructure and not necessarily human element. [ indiscernible ] >> was there no one in the tower, is that why you didn't get the call or was he asleep? >> someone was in the tower at the time. >> did the person in the tower had seen him leave? >> the position of the towers are for observation posts that oversee the yards. [ inaudible question ] >> there was an officer and

there was activity and that officer didn't hear anything and he asked the trooper. he was left in the dark, and i'm hearing now from at level 12 officers that told me they are not able to communicate in concert with you guys. are there multiple channels? ? no, i would have to look into that specific concern, and i would be happy to do that. maybe we can talk after ward and you can supply me a name. we spend time and effort making sure we have solid communications. most have representation in our command post and we would know immediately if we had a communication issue. so if there was something that was isolated to a certain agency or something and we want to look at that. >> has he obtained a weapon? ? >> we have not determined that he has obtained a weapon. >> when was the consultant brought in and what was the name? >> i don't have the exact date

nor name of the consulting firm. >> why? >> because -- >> was there any infrared or heat-seeking device to track him at might? >> there are a number of types of technology, and i think it's certainly reasonable to believe that something like that would be included in the array of technology. the inmates were distracting the guard, in this case, too, we have heard that there were some sort of group of inmates in that yard obstructing or is it just the inmates also figured out how to do this, as well? what is being done to address that concern that you have an inmate standing there in the video. are they all talking about how to do this? what are you doing on the human side? >> as i said, for the investigation of how or why this occurred including the investigation and questioning of the inmates that were there.

that's done by the attorney general's office. so i don't have the exact answer. moreover, as we developed information into this, we are certainly going to look at what the actions of the tower officer were, and i'm not sure as to how or why he wasn't at this point. >> why not share that video early on, if you knew how he escaped? that's the question that everyone asked? >> again, it's part of the investigation. certainly, i'm sorry. as part of the investigation that would have been up to the attorney general's office to release that and when it was to be released. at this point we thought it was prudent and we had permission. >> he's on administrative leave. >> this is the district attorney. >> can you confirm or deny that they had a map of the area and hand drawn from the prison to the courthouse? >> i have no evidence to suggest that he had a map of the area. >> i did not. >> was the individual listed as

an escape risk. it was known that he was looking to do something like this prior. why was he -- and also, he is here on murder charges, being held here and he knows he's wanted in brazil. why is he roaming around the yard like this and not in a more secure location and can they re-evaluate how high-risk offenders? >> to answer your question, we will certainly re-evaluate how we're handling inmates of that level especially murder suspects, but we also have to understand that these individuals have certain rights. y is it's not a question of will we let him out again, and it's certainly a question of will i put him back out there or would it be a one-on-one from this point on? [ inaudible question ] >> i would say that we are open

to anything being a possibility as far as an escape route and we are actively working to keep that area secure. i wouldn't comment on the viability of one versus another escape route. >> do you think he's out your perimeter? >> i do not. what makes you believe that. everything that i'm able see and the various sightings that we've had and other aspects of this lead me to believe that he is there in that area. >> sure. so on the northern end route 921, on the east -- [ inaudible ] >> i'm sorry. 926. on the eastern side 100 creek road. on the southern side, hillendale, and on the western side, 52. >> how big is this compared to what your perimeter was in the past?

>> offhand, i don't know what the square mileage is. it is slightly larger than the perimeter that we had in the past. quite frankly, it was enlarged for two reasons. one because of one of the sightings and two because we are also very cogity nizant of inconveniencing the public. quite frankly, we could have put it more north and we probably would have interfered with photographic on route 1 and would have caused more headaches for local residents and those passing through, as well. so we took the option that we believe is equally secure and yet doesn't inconvenience res dentss. [ inaudible question ] >> we have no information at this time connecting that, but again, that is not up for me to

determine and it is up to the attorney general's office of the investigation. >> have similarities between those released not been made public. >> i'm sorry, one more time? >> would you have chosen to share the details of cavalcante as the information that came to light yesterday? >> i don't think it's a decision of me releasing. i think it was appropriate with the coordination of the attorney general's office when they deemed appropriate and that's why we're here. >> is it authorized only in the perimeter or statewide in the next state if he does not surrender? >> i have no authority in the next state. i have authority, and i think -- >> the directive pertains to this particular search. >> and deciding today -- [ inaudible question ]

>> i'm sorry. i missed the first part of your question. [ inaudible question ] >> no, that was not related to this. >> is the photo of mr. cavalcante that we see here, was that taken just before the escape? >> i believe, it was. yes, sir. [ inaudible question ] >> we are wnot getting a lot of sightings outside of the perimeter. they're being fully investigated and nothing has me ready to believe that any of them were actually him and we have the ability to do this operation and follow up outside of the area. >> any idea where he might be trying to get to? >> i do have some ideas of where he thinks he might be trying to get to, but i'm not prepared to discuss that.

>> do you think he's trying to head south? >> i believe he's trying to head south in terms of his final destination. again, i'm not prepared to discuss that. >> are family members cooperating or -- [ inaudible question ] >> we are not going to discuss any parts of the investigation involving the family. >> to take it back to the escape, in particular, the distance from one wall to the next. >> i would say five feet, maybe less. [ inaudible question ] yes, sir. >> so the perimeter -- the yards the block wall with an exterior fence with an open top and along that line are razor wire so someone can't climb the fence and there is a smaller mesh fence so the fence is probably

10 to 15 feet high and the proposal is to cap that whole thing as a cage so no one can physically climb out. >> all of the way in all eight yards that we have. . >> is there a video of him practicing this and did he just do this on the whim to crab walk up the wall? >> we have no supportive evidence as far as video that shows him trying to do this or him attempting it nor any other inmate. >> yard a, yard b or c? >> so this is c yard. >> in the control tower, could there be a guard that did not observe, is there any corrections officer that is physically present with the inmates when they're in that recreation area? >> there are no correctional area in with the inmates, for the observation tower, inmates one for any type of injury and any escape attempt. >> why are they not outside?

typically, the other thing we have is a video monitor so we don't put two staff in there as far as operating system. >> we will continue to monitor this press conference and new information being released right now. i want to bring in cnn's danny freeman, he's joining us from west chester, pennsylvania from right outside where where this inmate escaped. this is how we learned how this guy managed to escape that prison, right? >> that's right, wolf. listen, cnn reported earlier this morning that this prisoner danelo cavalcante was able to climb up on to the roof and that was how he escaped and a law enforcement source told me that earlier, but wolf, we all just watched that video and i don't think anyone expected it to look as stunning as it did. danelo cavalcante crab walking and putting his hands up against the wall and his legs up against the other and basically

shimmying up to the top of the roof. what's interesting is the prison warden said there is still razor wire on the roof and he basically blasted through that razor wire and ultimately escaped. >> this is a very important point, to understand what happened days ago, you have to go back four months because four months ago in may, another inmate at this prison behind me escaped from the chester county prison the exact same way and i want to read from the affidavit that we got our hands on, cnn obtained just a few hours ago and let me ask you if it sounds familiar. the defendant was a rock climber and he was able to climb in a narrow area and from there he was able to scale the wall to the roof and pulled himself on to the roof of that prison. wolf, that is an affidavit four months old. the prison says that they put in security measures to prevent that from happening. they added that razor wire, but

again, clearly seven days ago that razor wire was not enough and of note, that particular inmate was captured about five minutes after he got off the prison roof and started running toward the town and cavalcante has been on the loose for seven days. there was about an hour delay in actually realizing that cavalcante had escaped and that is perhaps why this issue has escalated the way that it has. wolf, one of the other -- i should say, things that we learned today is that this search area has largely expanded. instead of being toward the south where one of the more prominent sightings was on monday evening, we are looking at the east of the prison and kind of the southeast area and the lieutenant colonel george bivens. hoo says still emphatically that he believes cavalcante was in the area and there was a sighting not too far from where we are right here and to the

southeast, and the man hunt still very much under way and the stunning video, wolf, surprised a lot of folks seven days after the escape. >> truly stunning video, indeed. danny freeman, stand by. i want to bring in cnn law enforcement analyst jonathan mcenroe right now. what do you make of this amazing video showing how this murderer actually escaped? >> wolf, first of all, the video that was shown during the press conference highlights the complexities of tracking down an escaped prisoner and the complexities of the post-incident investigation that is ongoing. what we saw here -- what we heard was two themes right now, focused on internal vulnerabilities at the prison, human error and external. the threats still remain at large, but they're doing everything they can to track down the suspect. i think the acting warden tried to get in front of the issue. a lot of questions and a lot of

unanswered questions by him around what was the -- what was the focus of the internal investigation. any time there is an escaped prisoner there will always be an investigation. were there other intrinsic issues at the prison that were in play and whether it was the collusive guard and other inmates collusive in the escape plan. what failed? that's what investigators are looking at right now and really when looking at what could fail is people processed and technology. we are starting to hear more of the human factor of this. the tower guard specifically. what was going on? were they sleeping and complacent in their duties and were they not in the tower? and those are critical because that role is critical who overseeing that they're the overwatch of that prison yard. separate, we heard the state police lieutenant colonel trying

to reassure the public, right? reassure the public that there is action and they do believe that the escaped suspect is still within the search area, but also asking for the public's assistance and that is key. as time has gone on, the public's assistance has become critical in terms of the sightings and the alerting and any type of behavior or of an individual or any type of anomalous activity around residences or businesses need to be reported immediately because that could be a critical clue in finding this individual and final point here. it was raised that communication may be a factor in terms of the inner operability of different law enforcement in response entities. i think the lieutenant colonel from the state police got ahead of that saying that currently, they have an incident command structure in ics that's in place that should be addressing any type of communication issues

that are out there, providing one unified command in strategy to locate the suspect. so a lot coming out of this press conference, but a lot of questions still remain unanswered, wolf. >> yeah. one thing that jumps out at me, jonathan. i want to quickly get your reaction and four momgs earlier doing the same thing and that dannello cavalcante was doing. >> exactly. what we heard was a little bit of that investigation which was focused on the control and there was a vulnerability that was identified in the physical review of of this space and just what i heard from that press conference, that is when they added that extra layer of razor wire. what was not in the calculous during that review was the potential for human error and how human error could contribute

to a -- somebody escaping. that's what happened in this case. again, focusing in on the tower guard and the roles and responsibilities of that position and how does that play in the overall structure of, you know, securing that facility, and i think that's what investigators are going to look at right now. >> yeah. they'll learn the lessons and make sure it doesn't happen again and thank you very much for that analysis. >> thank you. >> still ahead, we are staying on top of all of the news out of fulton county, georgia. we also have breaking news if the federal classified documents case against trump in florida. the mar-a-lago i.t. worker has flipped against former president trump. we have lots going on and much more coverage coming up. that's n next. for freeee. that's what i'm talking about. order in the subway app today. for your most brilliant smile, crest has you covered. ♪

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president and is cooperating with the special counsel jack smith's team, that is according to the former defense attorney for the mar-a-lago i.t. worker referenced as employee number four, but confirmed as tavares who has agreed to testify in the case in exchange for that testimony, he is not going to be prosecuted. both tavares and carlos de oliveira, the club's property manager were suspected of giving false testimony after they denied that they had tried to erase incriminating security camera footage, and tavares was never charged and this filing marks the first public acknowledgement that jack smith has now won the cooperation of the key witness in the case against trump, his one-time valet walt nauta and carlos de oliveira, as well. this is something that we had suspected because after we got the superseding indictment we knew there had to be some

testimony, and that usail tavares is cooperating. if you look at the indictment, it is quite clear they are basing some of the new allegations about the effort to delete surveillance footage. taveras was as trump employee four. the indictment has want alleged that usail taveras had ever had direct contact with donald trump and he was with mr. de oliveira. >> the property manager and the i.t. director. >> exactly. he is one of the three defendants, trump, de oliveira. hey, the boss wants us to take a look at this surveillance video. the boss, fairly clear who that means and important to know, prosecutors can use that testimony against donald trump, even though he's not a part of

the investigation, it's against donald trump. >> karen, what do you make of this? >> i think it's big news. the fact that the defendants are starting to flip on one another that was always the plan with jack smith by charging much lower level individuals for walt nauta and carlos de oliveira and now we have usail taveras and he's flipping on donald trump. he's the guy that can tell everybody whether or not, for example, did somebody ask, and was that interm or not in order to destroy tape or destroy evidence and what was going on there? he's the guy that said he didn't know how to erase the tapes, maybe he did and maybe he didn't, but he couldn't. it is a big deal when you have an insider who will testify about the efforts want only to possess these classified documents, but to evade law enforcement and make it so that

the cover-up is always worse than the crime. he will be able to talk about the cover-up. >> jim, for the reason this all matters is because essentially his old attorney is arguing he should not be allowed to testify. prosecutors are raising questions about the attorneys involvement and he represents multiple people in trump's orbit, but we can see where he is cross examining his former client here. not just that he's represented other witnesses. he represents walt nauta, right? you can't have someone representing someone in the case. it shows how smart jack smith and his team are being about taking care of these conflicts. you have walt nauta in the pocket of co-defendant donald trump because he's being paid by the pac and he's represented all of these other people is you have to find a way to at least have the client think about getting rid of the lawyer if the lawyer is not acting in his interest. so you go to court, have a hearing and the court explains to the defendant and this is what your interest is is having

an independent lawyer that has only your interest in mind and nobody else's and mr. taveras says maybe i do want my own independent lawyer and that lawyer will comes in and next thing you know he has a cooperation and stanley is off the case. >> president trump, former president trump was asked by hugh hewitt today on a radio interview, straight away, whether or not he directed anyone to move boxes at mar-a-lago of the documents and he said i don't talk about anything because i'm allowed to do anything i want and i come under the presidential records act and i'm allowed to do everything i did. so you see that he is not changing at all from where he's been throughout this entire process and now, you know, he can keep saying that and if more witnesses start cooperating this will be much more difficult for the former president. >> when trump is paying for their attorneys with employee number four taveras was to erase

tapes and now he has that testimony. it does speak to the legal fees and who is paying for that, though. >> no doubt about that, and you can see the difference when it changes. >> yeah. this is a tried and true trump tactic. he's done it to protect himself in the january 6th investigation and congress over cassidy hutchinson and she had a trump-funded lawyer and she was able to come clean and it happens all of the time. >> thank you all. much more on this breaking story and the news out of fulton county, georgia, where we watched that first televised hearing right after this. helping businesses both large and small, communities and the people who lilive and work there grow and thrive. we're proud to call these places home too. they're where we put down roots, and where together, we work to help move everyone's financial goals forward. pnc bank.

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mitch mcconnell is addressing his health publicly and privately, but saying much more behind closed doors. he just wrapped up a news conference, the same setting he was in when he froze once again last week. cnn's chief congressional correspondent manu raju is joining us right now. did the senator explain what led to his freezing episodes? >> he gave more detail to senate republicans for the first time since they have met in the aftermath of those two freezing episodes indicating to them that his cognitive ability has not been impaired and the two episodes were the only time they've ever happened and they also happened in front of cameras. that's what he said to his members and when he spoke to reporters there were still questions about exactly why he

froze up. instead, mcconnell repeatedly referred to the letter that his office released yesterday from the capitol hill physician that outlined the medical conditions that could have led to that freezing moment, it was not seizure disorder or parkinson's and did not give a previce reason for the freeze-ups and when i asked the leader given that he's had a number of medical evaluations and what the precise reason was he referred back to the letter. >> you've had all of these evaluations, what have doctors said is the precise medical reason for those two freeze-ups? >> dr. monahan's report addressed was concerns people might have that things that happened to me that didn't. really, i have nothing to add to that. i think he pretty well covered the subject.

>> so now the question is whether or not the explanation has satisfied republican senators, many of them who were concerned about the leader's health and about whether he could continue to lead the republican conference. i did speak to many republican senators leading that closed-door meeting and a lot of them did say that they were satisfied with what they'd heard and they were willing to move on and they were watching senator mcconnell very closely and mcconnell understand kating privately his colleagues, wolf that he and his outside groups would raise 50 million in their push to take back the senate majority indicating that he is well positioned to lead them back to the majority. he did tell reporters, too, wolf that he does plan to serve out the rest of the senate term which is the end of 2026 and will serve as republican leader to the end of this congress which is the end of 2024, but no decision and no announcement about what he would do in 2025 if he were to step aside. >> manu raju, thank you very

much for that update. right now i want to get back to the breaking news we are following, the fulton county superior court judge mcafee just held his first hearing in the georgia election interference case against donald trump and 18 co-cold fronts ruling that trump ally attorney ken clhesebro and sydney powell will both be tried together and there are logistics worked out with the other co-defendants and the timing of this trial. the goal of the judge is still to begin october 23rd. that's not too far down the road. we just learned more about some of these co-defendants getting some reaction. what was your bottom line assessment of what we saw today. it was very important. >> well, this judge has no interest in this being invest for you to have a trial. you better have a good reason to sever. it stands right now october 23rd but will it just be those two or

17 others who will join. remember, the speedy trial rights belong to the defendant. they could ask for it. the prosecution must abide by that in georgia. but if all don't want to be on that date, now the ball is in the court of the prosecutor to suggest, well here is why i could still do it and i could maybe try to force the hand. the judge wants to have a ruling on that very issue. because 19 co-defendants and one room is logistical nightmare. >> that is a big deal. >> it is. what i think one of the most important things that he did today was he said you don't get to separate yourselves just because you don't believe you were part of all parts of the conspiracy. and that is part of the law. the georgia rico law is structured that way. and the judge is basically say, too bad. this is what you're going to deal with. and so what that does, i think it provides an incentive for some people to try to figure out whether they want to be tried with former president trump, or tried with, you know, with

sidney powell and chesebro. now the other question that hangs over this is what happens with mark meadows' request to move his trial to federal court. and the judge indicated this, that is part of the litigation that makes this very difficult to go forward with an october trial for every defendant. >> and we're already seeing more motions to that effect. so we're seeing mark meadows ask the state court judge could you put pause on these proceedings and sever me. i'm trying to move to federal court. jeffrey clark also wants his case moved is also asking the tate court judge, i too want to be severed and i have this federal court thing going on and that is one of the judge's concerns in fulton county, how will we proceed if there is this parallel effort going on for you to move to federal court and that could take months to play out so how do we move forward.

and he was skeptical that they could move together as a group of 19 but made some speedy rulings today and that he wants to rule quickly on other scheduling matters. >> this judge is decisive and willing to make these decisions. a lot of the judges will listen to the proceedings and then come back in a week and so at least from that standpoint, it looks like he wants to get things moving. and at least give some incentive for people to make some decisions. if you want to go to trial in october, you ineed to speak now before we let things go too far. >> and part of the reason is a lot of the decisions are made during the briefing, what is written beforehand and given to the judge. what we saw as oral argument is just a part of the whole equation. so he likely knew what he wanted to do based on the case law. but now you're looking for that federal judge. there is no requirement that the state has to stop their proceedings. they could have a full blown trial until that ruling but i'm hoping that federal judge will

say i see there is some urgency here, let me give my ruling as well. >> and there is more breaking news just coming into cnn right now. the special counsel david weiss intends to seek an indictment against hunter biden related to gun charges by the end of the month. thats according to a new court filing. he had a gun possession charge that would have allowed him to avoid prosecution if he met certain conditions over a 24-month period. once his plea deal fell apart in court, the future of the gun deal, the gun deal has been in limbo. laura, the judge has been highly skeptical of the prosecution's case. but what do you think about what is going on. >> if you're hunter biden, you're furious that your plea deal didn't go through because this is solved for you. but on the other hand, david weiss to suggest his hands were tied. now he twice told congress, no, i have the full authority and power to do what i wanted with this case.

but he had to limit himself to his actual jurisdiction. he's out of delaware, not the entire nation. now that he's a special counsel, now it opens up other avenues. jack smith might be based in washington, d.c. but he could look at other jurisdictions to figure out whether there might be a crim matter. this now widens it. i'm curious to see where a charge will be brought, will it be in delaware, will it be in other states as well? but ultimately what went so wrong and what is the impetuous behind this is in the pleadings. >> i think wilmington is where the alleged crime with the gun occurred and what i don't see and i'm reading this court filing is what this does for the two tax charges that were still outstanding. that is not clear in this filing that was just -- >> and there is the question about whether this investigation would broaden further and whether there other potential crimes that are back on table.

they brought up the potential foreign agent dealings. so look, hunter biden has a host of problems that he didn't have or think he had a couple of weeks ago. >> thanks very much. important news day indeed. thank you. and i'll be back at 6:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." "the lead" with jake tapper starts right after a short break. ♪ old school wisdom, with a passion for what's possible. that's what yoget from the morgan stanley clientxperience. you get listening more than talking, and a personalized plan built on insights and innovative technology. you get grit, vision, and the creativity to guide you through a changing world.

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on select adjustable mattress sets. learn more at stearnsandfoster.com donald trump said he would absolutely testify in his own defense. what could go wrong? "the lead" starts right now. trump on trial. cameras in the courtroom. a first real look at the case in fullon county, georgia. and the charges of conspiracy to overthrow that state's 16 electoral votes as two defendants get some bad news from the judge. and in