the pentagon could not find their f-35. this jet cost almost $80 million in taxpayer money. but at one point, the pentagon made an unusual plea, asking the public for help locating it, with a phone number to call if you saw it. congresswoman nancy mace from south carolina summed it up when she asked how the hell do you lose an f-35? the pilot did eject over south carolina and is doing okay. of course, a lot of questions still remain tonight about this entire incident. thank you so much for joining us. cnn prime time with pamela brown starts right now. >> i, pam. >> hey there, got a, say nancy mace asked a fair question, how do you lose that? kaitlan, the thank you so much. good evening everyone, i'm pamela brown. anything you say can and be used against you in a court of law. the famous miranda rights are obviously not a concern to donald trump, at least not during his recent tv interview

spree. because what he's revealing will likely be played in his trials, including the significant admission that he himself was the decider, the orchestrator of the efforts to overturn the election. >> you hire them, you never meet these people, you get a recommendation, they turn out to be wrought, and so they turn out to be not so good. in many cases, i didn't respect him. but i did respect others. i respected many others that said the election was rigged. >> were you calling the shots though, mister president? >> as to whether or not i believed it was rigged, sure. it was my decision. >> his decision, not only is the admission striking, but it completely contradicts one of the defenses that his lawyers had floated that trump was just listening to his legal counsel. >> you are entitled to believe interest and invites of council. you have one of the leading constitutional scholars and united states, john eastman, saying to president trump that this is a protocol you can follow. >> but his admissions, well, they don't stop there. the classified documents case, he gave an if i did it defense when it comes to the

obstruction of evidence. >> would you testify to that under oath? >> i'll testify. the tapes weren't deleted. in other words, there is nothing done to them. and they were mighty. i could have fought them. >> according to the superseding indictment, trump ordered his aides to delete those tapes. and keep in mind, one of those aides has since flipped on trump. separately, he said this when asked about the heart of the case taking and keeping sensitive intelligence that didn't belong to him. >> i am allowed to have these documents. i'm allowed to take these documents. classified are not classified, and frankly, when i have them, they become on classified. people think you have to go through a ritual. you don't.

at least in my opinion, you don't. >> joining us now, former trump white house lawyer, jim schultz. hello, jim. so help us put us into context. the significant admission by former president trump that bears repeating, it was my decision. did trump just throw his own legal defense under the bus? >> i don't know if he threw his entire legal defense under the bus. but his lawyers are certainly beating their heads against the desk after this weekend. i mean, you are talking about documents, whether you're talking about, you, know what he did or did not do, or what he made decisions relative to as a related to january 6th issues. i mean, all of those issues across the board. his lawyers are telling him don't talk about him. don't say anything definitive. don't talk about it at all. and what does he do? he goes out and does it anyway. so they're gonna be banging their heads against the desk for the next, you, know you are so as the trials unfold. and as he continues the campaign and go out and talk

about these issues that should be fodder for the courtroom and not for the public domain. >> yeah, and it's a reminder, right, that he is on the campaign trail, right, and every interview he does, he presumably will be asked about this, right. and it's trump. and we know he's not always the most disciplined with his responses. so do you think now is lawyers have to take what he said and change course a little bit whether strategy? i mean, you heard the one lawyer there say, he was just listened to his counsel. then trump goes out and says actually, no, it was me, he was totally my decision. >> well, he does say that he didn't listen to certain lawyers. yet he listen to other peoples. but he gave direction to it, right? he's all over the place in the way he speaks, which is a problem for his lawyers. but it's also tough to nail the guy down on your cross examining. i can guarantee you that that tape is going to be used as evidence in the court of law.

and also in the trials. and i also think that we don't really know specifically where the prosecution is going on this. so, him going out there and talking about things just kind of gives them more and more because we are really not going to specifically know where they're going, other than what's in the four corners of the indictments. so, i think there's a real danger associated with this. the fact that he said i had listened to some people but not others. it really sounded like he was the one giving direction that the lawyers were not directing him, that he was the one directing lawyers, found folks that were going to listen to him, and they went now and implemented a plan. >> i'm going to ask you about something else, semi related, this development in fulton county today. lawyers for former doj attorney jeffrey clark that said that he was acting in the personal direction of then president trump. what do you think about that? do you think he might flip? >> so look, i think not only that, i think that has more to do with him trying to get this into federal court, right. this is less about him flipping, more about his idea to get this thing in the federal court and make the argument that he should be there because he was acting in official capacity in the justice department, and that he was acting at the behest of the commander-in-chief and that is case belongs in federal court

because it wasn't outside the scope of his duties as working the executive branch of government for the president of united states. so, i think that has more to do with trying to get into federal court, less to do about flipping. but look, as the fisas start to close down on these folks, especially in that georgia case, you're going to see folks start to turn on that one. that's why i think this one's way down the road. it's gonna be a long time before we see a lot of the defendants tried in one particular time, because you're gonna see a lot of motion practice, and a lot of these issues that need to be resolved. >> i'm going to ask you about some news just in, rudy giuliani's lawyers, including bob costello, are now suing him tonight for more than $1 million over unpaid legal fees for work involving the election interference cases. we know that trump was recently fundraising for giuliani, we know that he's been cash-strapped. now, this. what's your initial reaction? >> that's all bad news for rudy giuliani, right. the guy clearly is having money

problems. he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders as it relates to some of these cases coming down on him. he's not a young man. i mean, he's got, he's got a lot coming down on him at one time. and if i'm donald trump, i'm a little worried about that, right? because he is the guy that was with him the whole time through. it'll be interesting to see what happens as it relates to these legal bills if you will, and how rudy giuliani is going to pay for them. he's got to be looking at donald trump and saying, help me out, pal. >> all right, jim schultz, thanks, appreciate it. and speaking of donald trump's tv spree, he's adding more lies to the laundry list. our daniel dale joins us now. daniel, you've basically been going nonstop since this interview there. you know, trump struck me, he could not stop talking about his, quote unquote, perfect call with georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger. >> he did. he spoke about the call. and raffensperger, as you, know has been sharply critical of trump's conduct on that call.

he wrote in his 2021 book that he thought trump threatening him, trying to manipulate him, and that trump can understand elections, don't have his facts straight. but trump claimed in his meet the press interview, he said raffensperger last week said i didn't do anything wrong. raffensperger, trump claims, says that was a negotiation. now, i looked far and wide for the supposed raffensperger quote where he said trump didn't do anything wrong. pamela, it does not exist. raffensperger simply did not say that. trump made it up. and raffensperger was the only old foe if you can call him that that trump kept talking about, he kept falsely blaming then house speaker nancy peli for the january 6th rioter insurrection. he climbed again that nancy pelosi said she turned down 10,000 soldiers. if she can turn down the soldiers, you wouldn't have had a january 6th. and she said he was in charge of capitol security. as i've explained over and over again, nancy pelosi, house speaker, is not in charge of capitol security. that's the responsibility of the capitol police board. second of all, trump is the commander in chief of the d. c. national guard. it is him, not the house speaker, that can deploy it if

he had wanted to. and according to his testimony from his then acting secretary of defense, christopher miller, he never actually issued any such order. >> and it's interesting as well, he said that we have the letter from the mayor saying pelosi turned it down. if he really had, that when you think that would be released by now? >> he'd hold it up. >> and trump also sought to portray democrats as radicals on the issue of abortion. he said that over and over again, let's listen. >> you have new york state and other places that pass legislation where you are allowed to kill the baby after birth. >> what's the truth? >> this is just made up. there is no killing the baby afterbirth law anywhere in the country. that is infanticide, illegal in all 50 states. new york in 2019 passed a 24 -week abortion limit, with exceptions for the life and health of the mother and the viability of the fetus. infanticide is simply not legal in new york. and that wasn't the only wildly inaccurate thing he said. he also made one that was kind

of darkly funny. he was asked by meet the press moderator christian walker about comments he had made about drug cartels. and she said you said that if your president again, you will instruct the department of defense to use special forces to inflict maximum damage on the cartels. he said, no, i didn't say that, people say i said, that i didn't say that. well, listen to what he said in a january campaign video that still on his website today. >> i will order the department of defense to make appropriate use of special forces, cyber warfare, and other overt and covert actions to inflict maximum damage on cartel leadership, infrastructure, and operations. >> in a few more words there, but he basically said what christian walker said he did, he claimed he didn't. >> in an administration like, that i bet on christian walker. let's talk about bacon. because apparently that is trump's inflation gauge. >> so in this interview, trump, for the second time in the last two weeks, claim that the price of bacon has gone up by five

times, that it has quintupled under joe biden. well, we have very good stats in this country on the price of bacon. 'sncreased about 12% under joe biden, going from about $5. 83 per pound to about $6. 50 per pound. now, trump could just say that. this is another case where donald trump -- he has a stat that could work to his purposes, if he had just cited it accurately. instead, it seems like he can't help himself, he has extremely exaggerated, claiming it's a four and a percent increase in so, again, the 11. 5 increase we actually had. >> that's probably one of your easier fact-checks. >> it was. >> i imagine. daniel dale, thank you for your time tonight. in just hours from now, americans freed from iran will be back on u.s. soil. and president biden is under fire for the steal. john bolton is here with us to react to this. plus, a mystery in the air. or what happened to a u.s. fighter jet that vanished and the military can locate? and gavin newsom sits now on cnn for everything from the strikes to his political ambitions. >> you never looked in the

mirror and said, could i be president?

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just a short time from now, five american hostages wrongly detained inside iran for years will touch down on u.s. soil after finally being freed. it is part of a prisoner exchange that includes the unfreezing of six billion dollars of iranian assets. president biden now facing republican criticism for agreeing to this deal. >> their release may very well be the latest example of

president biden rewarding and incentivizing iran's bad behavior. the biden administration -- and squandered leverage has left americans less secure. >> joining us now, former trump national security adviser john fulton. ambassador, thank you for coming on. first, i want to get your reaction to the release of these five american hostages in the six billion dollar prisoner swap deal with iran. >> well, we are all glad to see the americans come home, there's no doubt that they were put in prison purely on pretext, quite probably to be used as bargaining chips by the ayatollah's and now that has come to pass. i don't think there is any question that when you trade assets, whether it is hostages, other hostage, is money, or other concessions to terrorists, to rogue states like tehran, like moscow, like beijing, that

it is going to encourage others to do the same. one of the really troubling aspects of the way the biden administration has handled this is that it absolutely makes no effort to hide the fact that this is an out right cash for people trade. it is human trafficking. the fact that they are so blatant about it i think is just an advertisement for other bad actors to seize americans. >> you say this is human trafficking, the biden administration says the six billion dollars a rogue longs to the iranian people and this money will go solely to help the iranian people with humanitarian needs. what do you say to that? >> that is total nonsense. this six billion dollars was frozen --

u.s. sanctions, and the purpose of freezing the assets was to inflict economic harm on iran to get it to give up its nuclear weapons program. the money was taken from iran, in fact, because of its bad behavior and now it is being given back to iran for more bad behavior. i have to say that this idea that, somehow, the money will only be used for, quote unquote, humanitarian purposes shows the biden white house just has nothing but contempt for the intelligence of the american people. money is fungible, the state assets of the ayatollah's have been increased by six billion dollars to do with whatever they want. their nuclear program, their support for terrorism, whatever it may be. >> i want to get to the full screen from brett mcgirk, a white house official who is responding to the criticism coming from you another republican. nze says they have not lifted day sanctions, we have not waived any sanctions, there is an account in south korea that, even under the last

administration was available for humanitarian trade and we moved it to another restricted account. there is really no change, the money will be spent over the years and will benefit the iranian people. i want to ask you, though, about former vice president mike pence and what he is saying in this foreign policy speech this afternoon, making one thing clear. he is warning against growing isolation sentiments in the republican party. let's listen. >> some republican candidates, including my former running mate, are abandoning the traditional conservative position of american leadership on the world stage. and embracing a new and dangerous form of isolationism. i believe that isolationism is just another word for appeasement. let's be clear, appeasement will not make america any safer, in fact, appeasement would only make america and the world more dangerous. >> ambassador, is there still

room in today's republican party for the message we are hearing from pence? >> well, i think the vice president is exactly correct and i do think across the country is reflecting the reaganite sentiment that still forms an overwhelming majority of republicans and, in congress as well. there is an isolationism in the party, no doubt about it, i think it was put there by donald trump who does not have enough of a coherent policy to understand what isolationism is. it's a grave danger for america given the threats we're facing around the world whether it is china, iran, north korea, terrorists in afghanistan, this is the last point where we should be engaged in this notion that if we just pull back we will be safer. it is exactly the wrong way. the way to protect america's to project strength in the world to deter our adversaries and i think that is the policy that we should have, a much more vigorous debate about in this upcoming election. in presidential cycles we just

don't talk about foreign affairs and now if. we are in a dangerous world and we do know which of the prospective candidates have the strength to lead us through dangerous times. >> i want to ask you, on that note, about what we're on foreign policy, or former boss donald trump told nbc news, when asked about the war in ukraine, that -- something he has said before, and that he does not believe that putin would ever have invaded ukraine if he was president. what do you say to that? >> well, first, the idea that this war could be ended in 24 hours is just complete fantasy. it is a part of a line of patter that trump has that is intended to showcase what he thinks are his great negotiating skills. what it really shows foreign leaders is that he doesn't know what he is talking about, which simply gives them more incentive to try to take advantage of us. the only thing that putin was waiting for during the trump administration was to see if

after the disastrous phone call with ukrainian president zelenskyy in the summer of 2019 that, in a second term, trump would withdraw from nato, which would have made a russian invasion of ukraine much less problematic. i think this is a real danger if trump gets our nomination and is reelected, i do think you will try to withdraw from nato which would be a catastrophic mistake for the country. >> ambassador, while i have, you i would like the reaction to the f-35 fighter jet that went missing on sunday near charleston, south carolina, and what they are describing as a mishap. tonight we have learned crews have discovered the debris field, but it's still unclear why this happened. out of the hundred million dollar jet disappear? >> well, it should be an embarrassment, there is no doubt about it. whether the various means to locate a downed plane suddenly went dead who knows, we will have to do the forensic of that but it is not a good sign.

i understand parts of the military -- of other f-35s until they can locate the cause and it is something that we should be concerned about because in a time of war you want to know where your pilots have gone down nearby, anyway where the plane is a you can rescue them. we'll have to await the result of the investigation that is sure to come here, but for a piece of equipment as expensive as the f-35 this is something that we shouldn't have allowed to happen. >> ambassador john bolton, thank you for your time. >> glad to be with you. >> just in, a billionaire donor's now bailing on ron desantis. here why, coming up after this break. plus, a cnn exclusive. dana bash sitting down with california governor gavin newsom, his thoughts on the auto strike, biden's performance, and his own presidential ambitions. we will be right back.

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gavin newsom, the california governor is seen by demi democrats as the future of the party and an exclusive cnn interview dana bash asked him about his presidential ambitions, joe biden's performance, on the historic strikes keeping the economy on edge. >> i want to talk about what's going on with labor. starting with the uaw strike, it is a historic strike against the big three automakers in the u.s.. we are now on day four, workers are demanding a 40% raise and a four day work week. do you support the strike and are those demands reasonable?

>> i support the workers and i support the construct that has to be resolved. i think it's plutarch said the imbalance between the rich and the poor is the oldest and most fatal element of most republicans. we have to address that fundamental gap. >> you support the strikes? >> absolutely i support the workers and the strikers. for fundamental reasons. it wasn't that many years ago, it wasn't in the black and white movie days that they took pay cuts, as we the american people, taxpayers, build out these corporations that are now enjoying record profits. i think the american people overwhelmingly support those workers. as it relates to the details of the negotiations i do enough labor negotiations to not opine what has been presented and public but obviously what everyone wants to see this go through quickly. >> another strike, the writers guild, sag, this is going been on for months now. hollywood, in your home states. these are your constituents, this is a very important industry in your state, experts estimate the strike already

cost five billion dollars. >> probably more. >> from your states economy. i don't believe you've been out on the picket line, have you? >> i've been deeply involved with talking to the wga and members of the studios over the last week. we're going to be meeting later this week. i am in a different position as it relates to trying to be constructive on both sides, to utilize the formal authority that i have as governor, the capacity i have a governor, the moral authority that i can bring into the conversation to try to get everybody to the table. it is the work i do in the state to address the issue of not just public sector disputes, which i deal with often, but private sector disputes. i am encouraged by the conversations over this last weekend, i'm not going to overstate that, and i am encouraged that they're meeting again later this week. >> you support the uaw in their strike, but you don't want to go that far when it comes to the writers guild and green actors guild? >> that's the same question, i

absolutely support what their concerns are and i support the wga and sag as it relates to their existential stress as it relates to -- and how it's radically changing the business model. as it relates to artificial intelligence. one thing i know about a. i. is that we don't know what we don't know, and that anxiety stacked upon all the stress and anxiety through is well been feeling around income and wealth disparities, all the challenges post pandemic that we've gone through, make the perfect stew of stress that is leading to a lot of anxiety that we're experiencing all across the country. not just at sake and wga as it relates to that expression of the strike, or the uaw, but we're seeing at starbucks, more broadly as labor is exercising more muscle and more fear and stress about the world we're living in. i don't think that's a bad thing, i think fundamentally it's a good thing. i think i believe in collective bargaining, i believe that working families and working poor to better when they

organize together and in california is a state in rna shunt that supports that framework and bargaining unions. >> as a proud democrat and supporter of president biden in his reelection, the frustration being expressed like this among people in the workforce, labor unions, is that warning sign? >> it has been a through line for decades. even in the last few weeks, and the last years. this is by no means anomalous, these are well established trend lines. this president knew that and campaigned on this. scranton joe, no one with a better record on some of these issues, not rhetorical substantive effort, record in the senate. a leader on these issues, he's had a great labor record, he has more authority not just in the prison but -- so none of this i think is surprising. >> i want to talk about that as it relates to the headwinds that president biden is facing when it comes to the perception, the gap as you call it, between how people think the economy is

doing and how people feel the economy is doing. it is true unemployment is near all-time lows. >> 3. 7%. >> inflation is back under 4%. interest rates are high, gas prices are rising again, and the bottom line is the majority of americans just don't feel good about the way things are. is this just a messaging problem or is there more fundamental problems than that? >> look, we have dealt with, we have been polarized and traumatized over the last five or six years. i don't think any of us have given us time to give a deep breath and reflect. what we're experiencing is not unique in the united states at all, it's a global phenomenon. the issues of covid and stress it created, the supply chain impacts, what happened with the invasion in ukraine, impacts with opec plus in particular, another reason to get off the dependency of fossil fuels, all of those things stack up at this moment. but, directionally, this president is performing. we have seen inflation down roughly two thirds, just shy of

two thirds that speak. that is a directionally very positive sign. the lowest unemployment for blacks, hispanics, disabled, with all respects the republican party can point to figure and say could be better, but they offer nothing in terms of alternative strategies to make it so. >> but joe biden is the president and so the expectation and the sort of referendum is on the incumbent. is there danger in telling people what the stats are and making them feel like they shouldn't feel as bad as they do? >> you have got to feel peoples pain, you've got to acknowledge it. it's why i began talking about how traumatized and polarized we've been, i've been talking about that stacking of stress and talking about the distressed people are feeling and that sense of dislocation, disequilibrium. this notion that we are more disconnected in our politics. you see it on the nightly news, that stress and frustration that we haven't come to grips

with. all of that is real and i think that is making it more challenging. >> you promised, if dianne feinstein stepped down before the end of her term to appoint a woman of color as an interim. i am sure you saw that congresswoman barbara lee who is running in the primary did not like that very much. she said the idea that black woman should be appointed only as a caretaker to simply check a box is insulting to countless black women across the country and then she went on to say that the perspective of a black woman in the u.s. senate is sorely needed and needed for more than a few months. >> i appreciate that point of view, we have a primary in a couple of months and this is a hypothetical on top of a hypothetical. under that hypothetical situation i am asked to make an appointment, i will make an appointment of an african american woman. period, full stop. why? because i think the best person should be there and i happen to think that representation

matters, it is why i made two out of three supreme court justices positions of african american women and appointed them, a remarkable woman is our secretary of state, an african american woman, the first tenderloin forsman agency, -- head of the california resources board, an african american women. i've got a good record in this space and i'm going to hold myself to account if that hypothetical on top of a hypothetical ever occurs. >> before i let you go, i know you said many, many times that you do not see a world in which you will run for president in 2024. >> yes, no. the answer is no. >> no, you will not run in 2024? >> no. >> generally speaking, do you think you make a good president? >> that is now a triple hypothetical. >> so you never thought about it? >> no, i'm not that guy. i'm just not. >> you never looked in the mirror and said could i be president? >> no.

>> you're chief executive of big state, it's not that big of a leap. we have seen governors of california become president. >> and others that have tried. look, i am blessed and humbled beyond words, they tried to recall me a couple of years ago, so humility and grace is front and center in my consciousness. what is also front and center is getting out of this navel gazing around joe biden. let's get going, let's get on the train. this train has left the proverbial station. we have got to get on and get a move on, and get this campaign going. i'm excited about it, i'll do my small part and what are they asked me to do all do and stand up and stand proud and strong because i just never had an opportunity to find a record that i think is impressive of the biden email -- humility and recognition, and not every problem the role being solved and people still have deep unease and anxiety about the world are living in and that is part of our responsibility every single day to make those lives better and

it is why i look forward to the next year and a half of the current administration and the next four years of an extended term of the biden harris administration. >> governor, thank you so much. we appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me. >> cnn anchor and chief political correspondent dana bash with us now. dana, that sounds like a hard no on running for president. >> it sounds like a hard no on running for president right now. i don't know. i think there is definitely a rorschach test for the have i ever, he says no, i've never thought about it, but look there is no question that the reason why the california governor is coming out to do an interview with me, he was out over the weekend last weekend i believe is because there is the perception that there is a bit of a vacuum when it comes to really pushing the national

message, pushing the biden harris message. of course, the president is out there. she is out there a bit, but there is so much hand wringing and you heard him at the end there, so much hand wringing. you hear this as well, among democrats saying is joe biden the right guy? is kamala harris the right person? what he is trying to do is say let's just stop doing that, democrats, let's, as you heard him, get on the train and figure out how to get this team reelected. that is by and large the main, main argument that he is trying to make and, again, he's trying to make it to american voters, but he's also trying to send a signal to democratic operatives, donors, everybody who is very concerned. >> all right, dana bash, thank you so much. be sure to watch dana's full

interview on cnn. com. just in tonight, a billionaire republican donor to ron desantis is bailing on the candidate. his explanation up next. we're going to discuss. (dad) we got our subaru forester wilderness to discover all of the places that make us feel something more. (vo) subaru is the national park foundation's largest corporate donor, helping expand access for all. ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop,

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hedge fund billionaire who can griffin, the ceo of citadel, with a major donor to republican candidates as he sitting on the site lines of the upcoming gop -- he is supporting ron desantis, but no more. here's what he told cnbc. >> i'm still on the sidelines as to who disappointed in this election cycle. look, if i had my dream we would have a great republican candidate in the primary who is younger, other different generation, with a different tone for america and we would have a younger person on the democratic side in the primary who would have his message for our country and we would have a debate around ideas and principles and policies to make this a great nation. we are not having that dialogue right now. >> so let's discuss with cnn

political commentator ashley allison, the former national coalitions director for biden harris 2020 and replicated strategist michael singleton. this is pretty significant, this major billionaire donor who was a rhonda santos supporter now sitting out. how significant is this? >> it is significant, can has been around a long time and is well respected by republicans, many of them go to him for financial support, particularly some of the major packs and what it indicates, pamela, is that desantis is not the star that individual thought he once was. he shot for the moon and somehow missed. a lot of these donors are looking for someone else. >> for every day that a donor of this magnitude is out of a gop primary, what does that mean for trump? >> well, it gives him an opportunity to continue to expand his lead and raise money from his base. i think the other thing with

someone of this magnitude sitting out as other people who also are large donors look to someone like him and, if you are sitting out and not going with the candidate you originally supported, iran desantis, then maybe i should sit out and see if there is another superstar can rise to this occasion in the upcoming debate. it again gives another day for donald trump to potentially come closer to confirming that republican nomination. >> it was interesting because he doesn't really understand desantis's strategy and desantis, as we know has fired people in the campaign, he is done all sorts of things and at this point is there any way that he would recover? >> i don't think so. this is pretty unprecedented what we have seen from the desantis camp. i've worked on three presidential campaigns and usually this doesn't happen to a campaign and a candidate until after the primary has officially started with the

votes. i, mean it is way of head of the process and i would out, i've spoken with individuals who are in contact with some of the family offices for republican donors and there's a lot of frustration, pamela, in among some of the megadonor's with the options right now. many of them are looking to trump, but they don't necessarily want to go back in that direction they want someone to address peoples problems today, dispatch to the future. >> well, griffin, for his party clearly is not happy with the have seen on roblin side but want to play a clip of what he said about president biden that reflects what a lot of people on both sides of the aisle are thinking and feeling right now. let's listen. >> interesting analysis, there is no real contender against joe biden who, with all due respect, it is time for him to enjoy retirement. >> he went on to talk about the concerns about his age and that one people go to the polls to vote they have to think about would he be able to do a full term, another four years. biden, for his part, he actually touted his age tonight as a reason to reelect him. i want to read to this quote, east of camera, a lot of people seem focused on my age. believe me, i know better than anyone when this nation was flat on its back i knew what to do. do you think that messaging is enough to overcome some of the fears that people have about his age? >> i think it is, but i think it's not just the fact that he knew what to do but it is also what he continues to do and how he continues to govern. he needs to be talking about

his policies and how he is improving the life of americans. let's not forget, though, if donald trump is also the nominee, we have two older candidates running. >> why is that people seem more concerned about biden? because trump is only a few years younger, why are people more concerned about biden's age than trump? >> i think the reason why is this is the actual president right now and he is most likely, by all indications, going to be the democratic nominee. i think that if donald trump actually becomes the nominee of the republican party that age argument will start to fade a little bit more for both parties. >> trump has been careful with that, as well. i will say, i think the american people are pretty clear on where they stand on president biden and his track record. they are not very happy. now, the white house have argued that jobs are better, inflation is gone, down but

when you look at the numbers more closely that is not exactly true. energy is gone, up commodities is a problem, sure you may have a job but wages have an increased with inflation. these are very real things that the american people are feeling and touting numbers it does not -- what people see in their bank accounts every day. the president is gonna have to speak those things. >> i think he's going to have to meet voters where they are. americans are still suffering, but he has a plan. he is lowering inflation, he is siding with workers to try to get wages increased, but he also has social policies like abortion and like the culture wars that ron desantis really is playing donald trump two point oh on many issues that overwhelming majority of democrats and republicans support joe biden and the democrat side. >> standby, we have more to discuss. up next, could we soon be seeing more shorts on the senate floor? it is possible and that's all because senate majority leader chuck schumer is changing the dress code and he is being mocked for it. we'll discuss. providing materials to teach healthy habits. so they can kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria.

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the senate stressing down majority leader chuck schumer says the informal dress code will no longer be enforced. that means men are no longer required to wear a suit and tie. it is seen to a nod to john fetterman who likes to wear shorts and a hoodie to work, as you see. schumer's move is facing some backlash. >> the u.s. senate just eliminated it's the dress code because you've got this guy from pennsylvania who has got a lot of problems. he wears like sweatshirts and hoodies and shorts, and that is his thing. we need to be lifting up our standards in this country, not dimming down our standards in this country. this is an example why. >> john fetterman wasted no

time responding, it tweeted back at desantis writing, quote, i dress how he campaigns. back with ashley ellison and michael singleton. both of you, does a dress code for men -- 's members of senate matters? >> i think it matters, professionalism indicates ones respect for the institutions and values and this lowering of standards is not a good thing. i'll use this quick example before i handed over to ashley. i went to miles college for undergrad, every single week all the guys had to wear a suit and tie for the form, and it was about respect for each other, the individual, and respect for the history of the institution. i would like to see that in my united states senate. >> i will say that i think there is a big spectrum between a suit and tie and a hoodie in terms of fashion and so a suit and tie does not the only way to show professionalism. i also think that, i come from a family of sunday best, and the way you present yourself,

but this could also be a generational thing. many voters, young voters in particular, they don't really care how you show up. the fashion is changing, they want to see what you were doing and how you're governing. is this a priority for me right now and many americans? probably not. the other thing is that this is who john fetterman's, he's not changing for the senate and there's something i respect about it, but i can understand -- >> sure the rule change for everyone else? >> i don't want to wear this tie right now, but i respect -- i respect you as a host. >> i don't like to wear heels, and i'm wearing converse right now. >> you can still wear suit into if the rules change, it doesn't have to change what your dress code is, it's just allows -- >> a special for the entire body, i would say. >> michael singleton, ashley allison, thank you so much. an emotional revelation about chris rock after will smith slapped him on the oscars stage.

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it was the slap seen around the world when actor will smith struck comedian chris rock at the academy awards ceremony in 2022. longtime friend of rock, let's leave jones, tells people magazine that rock was so humiliated that he sought counseling with his two daughters who witnessed the attack as did chris rock's parents. smith slapped rock after a comedian made a joke about data pinkett smith's bald head which is caused by alopecia. do the backlash, will smith resigned from the academy as you may recall, which has barred him from the oscars for ten years. for ten years. thanks for wapwatching. the news continues next on cnn. a warm welcome to our viewer