alyssa farah griffin. i remember sitting in that office. i was very outspoken. 6th, and every day after, that i strongly disagreed with what happened. >> internally, correct. >> yes, internally. but when i saw alyssa that day, it was this moment for me, where i sort of felt that split. on one hand, i was very upset with her. she was one of my closest friends. i was upset with her for a variety of reasons. but the one that i think is the most potent for this conversation, i felt that what she did that day was disloyal. >> right. >> saying that now, with hindsight and experience i have, sounds ludicrous. >> but it's an honest answer, i appreciate it. >> but it is. i think that's the important part of this transformation period for me. because on the other hand, when i saw her there, there was a little bit of envy. i was proud of her for doing what she felt that she had to be doing. and for using her voice. i gave alyssa lot of credit. i allowed ventrally came to her side and she was the one that welcomed me. she was the first person that actually welcomed me and h

her former colleague, alyssa farah griffin joins me next. plus the usually calm merrick garland getting into it with republicans on capitol hill in a fiery hearing today as he raises questions about the indictment of trump and hunter biden. >> just the idea with somebody with my family background would discriminate against any religion is so outrageous, so absurd. >> mr. attorney general it was your fbi that -- background.] [minimalist piano enters, plays throughout.] (dad) we got our subaru forester wilderness [heavy sound of water coming from waterfall.] [heavy sound of water stops abruptly.] to discover all of the places that make us feel something more. [heavy sound of water from waterfall re-enters.] (vo) subaru is the national park foundation's largest corporate donor, helping expand access for all. (pensive music) (footsteps crunching) (pensive music) (birds tweeting) (pensive music) (broom sweeping) - [narrator] one in five children worldwide are faced with the reality of living without food. no family dinners, no special treats, no

with us now -- alyssa farah griffin and david axelrod. john, he's not at the debate. he's talking to auto workers. >> there's a political argument we could debate, but he's up 30 or 40 points in iowa. he's up 30 points or so in new hampshire. they're the first two states that vote. the challenge is for one of them to emerge the closest to donald trump. and no one is anywhere right now. so, he's going to run against joe biden. he's going to run michigan. you'll see him in wisconsin. you'll see him in pennsylvania. pick your six or seven swing states. he thinks he's already the nominee. he is not. but right now he's been bullet proof in the republican primary electorate with all these legal challenges. will that change someday? right now he says i'm going to run against biden. >> the first debate was fascinating because chris christie was talking about how he was going to prosecute trump on that stage. didn't really happen. desantis didn't seem to get his footing. it was the chance for candidates to introduce themselves for the first time. do you think strategies are go

joining me now, jamal simmons, former communications director for vice president harris, and alyssa farah griffincations director for the trump white house. alyssa, the capitol physician, they put out a note saying there was no evidence of a stroke or seizure disorder. but clearly even members of his own party have questions about what's going on and if he is being transparent enough. >> yeah, i think the leader needs to speak to his caucus, and i think -- here's the reality. we've got a gerontocracy in washington, d.c. we've got a lot of folks who are living frankly beyond the median age of most men in this country who are in high positions of governing. i think as far -- mitch mcconnell was voted in by the voters of kentucky. i think a conversation about how long he's going to stay on as leader is important to have. and i think to start talking about what a transition plan would look like. mitch mcconnell, love him or hate him, is probably the most effective republican legislator of my lifetime. so i think they need to think about who is ready to replace him and step in if he's going to pass of

alyssa farah griffin as well.'t speculate about his actual mindset, and his motivations behind this. but in that moment, it was clear to me that there was some concession. and i would also like to point out, jake, that the president directed mark to begin to declassify the crossfire hurricane documents before january 6th happened. because he was worried that those documents would never get declassified, under a biden administration. so, there was a mentality in that era of justice, chaos, to be frank. and, it is happening, at the white house. it wasn't lost on people that joe biden had won the election, and it was a free and fair election. but yet, january 6th still happened. >> one of the things i wonder, because you talk about this, this journey. i don't want to belittle it, but it does sound like leaving a cult, i mean it really does. because it was difficult for you to leave, you are talking about loyalty, and you are talking about fear of what happens to you, if you leave. and, you are also talking about doin

joining me now van jones and alyssa farah griffin. alyssa, a typical republican candidate refusing -- you know, bashing a strict abortion law like ron desantis signed, would lose support among evangelicals, conservatives. do you think this impacts him there at all? >> it probably fundamentally does not, and it further underscores how donald trump has just upended all of the rules of republican politics. at the end of the day, even him coming out saying something closer to 15 weeks and criticizing governor desantis, at the end of the day, governors are going to remember he put three conservative justices on the supreme court that led to the overturn of roe. i think donald trump is being expedient and knowing running on a six-week ban would be political suicide for republicans. he got some criticism, susan b. anthony came out against him and other groups. at the end of the day, he's 40 points ahead in iowa. >> do you think a six week ban would be political suicide? >> in a general election, i think it would. trump lies about the lies tha

. >> alyssa farah griffin, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate it. six days from now riright here on "e lead." e. we'll b be right back. all right here. free. and fastst. see all you can do with the free experian app. download i it now. >> tech: cracked windshield on your new car? bring it to safelite. my customer was enjoying her new car, when her windshield cracked. [gasp] >> customer: my car! >> tech vo: she didn't take it to the dealer. she scheduled with safelite. we have the latest technology for the newest vehicles. and we do more replacements and recalibrations than anyone else. >> customer: thank you so much. >> tech: don't wait-- schedule now. ♪ pop music ♪ >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ >>> we're back with the varied lead, stories that we feel deserve more attention. a sobering statistic shows the child poverty rate in the united states has more than doubled in the last year from 5.2% to 12.4%. democratic new york congressman jamal bowman blames congress for the rise, writing on x, let me be clear things like the child

to work on january 7, 2021, even as she watched people like former communications director alyssa farah griffin denounce the insurrection on television. and here's part of what she said. >> when i saw alyssa on tv that day, it was this moment for me where i sort of felt that split, because, on one hand, i was very upset with her. she was one of my closest friends and i was upset with her for a variety of reasons. but the one that i think is the most potent for this conversation is i felt that what she did that day was disloyal. and saying that now with the hindsight and the experience that i've had sounds ludicrous. >> stephanie, as i mentioned, you resigned on january 6th, right? you walked out the door the day before the incident she's talking about even occurred. what's your reaction to this? >> i mean, honestly, it hit me hard. because, you know, look, you go into the white house, you work 24/7, you get these people who are your comrades, you're in the trump administration and you feel like you're just under siege all the time. i have so many friends who still to this day don't speak to me

alyssa farah griffin as well. i can't speculate about his actual mindset and motivations behind this, but in that moment it was clear to me that there was some concession. >> the crux of the special counsel's election meddling case against trump is proving that trump knew he lost. does this suggest to you that prosecutors have enough evidence to do that? >> well, i think her testimony really is corroborated by really her earlier testimony. i'm calling her interview today testimony in part because there's a lot of consistency did from what we heard in that televised interview before the january 6th committee that followed two separate occasions where she was actually deposed by them as well. you've got a theme of connective tissue of the same story being told by this person. if it can be corroborated by other sources as well, those who might have had a firsthand knowledge of a particular statement that he made, a statement that he's made to other people, that would only buttress her credibility and the ability of j

times" senior correspondent maggie haberman and former white house communications director, alyssa farah griffin. you worked on capitol hill during a time of, some would say chaos, when the freedom kaw sus was getting rid of speaker bainer. have you ever seen anything like we've seen play out right now. >> for historic context, i was there one of the times of rule that was taken down by the republican party. the tpa vote. this is an existential threat to kevin mccarthy. you asked the question at the end, could anyone other than him get 218. a couple things to look at here, these fights from the right -- and i know these guys very well -- tend to be veiled as fiscal fights. this is about addressing deficits and budgets. i worked in the trump administration. we spent as much as most democratic administrations do. often times it's something a bit more partisan. i suspect what will ultimately end this, if anything does, will be some kind of a concession on the more political side, whether it has to do with more investigations, it's empowering something on the oversight committee. i think for a handf

. >> let's get some reaction from former trump white house communications director alyssa farah griffintienne, former communications director for vice president harris. alyssa, let's talk to you first. you and cassidy hutchinson, you worked together in the trump white house. what's your reaction to actually hearing her testimony put -- hearing that her testimony she felt put her life in danger? >> it's heartbreaking. but i can tell you it's true. cassidy and i are also close friends. and at the time i saw the vitriol that she was getting online. i was made aware of both the congressional committee's concern for her safety but also her own attorneys and family. listen, over 10 million people watched that hearing. i think she moved many hearts and minds. but you also know that there are folks on the far right who were threatened by what she was doing. and i think she was in danger and it was the right call to leave. >> yeah. certainly. ashley, what do you think? >> i mean, my heart goes out to her, of course. but what i appreciate is she showed a level of courage that we're not seeing eve

so, i connected with an old friend, alyssa farah griffin, who is my first guiding light in this journey. and it was her i worked within the trump administration. and she spoke out after january 6th, on the seventh, against what happened that day. but then i was driving up to new jersey, as i do every night. need to get a little bit of relief from d.c.. and i start googling watergate. and i was thinking, there had to be somebody -- there had to be somebody in watergate that had a similar position to me that had known a lot, and that had a position that require this incredible, incredible amount of trust and confidence that ended up doing the right thing. and that's when i came across alexander butterfield's name. i searched his name and i was like, he must have had to write a book. and he didn't, in the immediate. and i found this book that he worked on with bob woodward. the last of the presidents men -- >> we both have our copy. >> -- in new jersey, and i wrote it three times in a night. and i saw in alex the person i wanted to be and i saw this incredible moral character, this incredi

alyssa farah griffin is a cnn political commentator is said that this kind of accommodation would orsidential sign off. she doesn't know how closely trump would've looked at this before he signed it, but for him to claim that he had nothing to do with it is patently absurd. >> not for nothing, the backlash against fauci at that time was well underway. danielle, spring this interview, trump claimed on a separate topic that he never had an impeachment inquiry. >> he did. he did claim that, and he did have an impeachment inquiry. so let's listen to what he had to say on that subject. >> that is up to them, if they want to do impeachment or impeachment inquiry. i never had an inquiry, nancy pelosi, crazy nancy said we are going to impeach him. they didn't, they went out and devoted. >> so there was an impeachment inquiry. that house speaker, nancy pelosi announced in 2019 over trump's efforts to pressure the president of ukraine to investigate ascend political rival joe biden. this is very public, you may remember a televised hearing after televised hearing, that was part of the impeachm

. >>> and out front now, we have alyssa farah griffin, the former white house communications director for former president trump, and baa sil basil smiek . these poll numbers, are they probl problematic? >> there is time for the president to lean in on that economic message, and you know, there are so many people that want him to talk a little bit about the sort of trump effect and what's happening with trump in these legal battles, but the reality is for a lot of democrats that's baked in, for republicans it's baked in. who are we really talking to? a number of disaffected republicans and indmependents wo were there for democrats in the midterm elections. i think they're going to be incredibly receptive to leaning into this economic message. and also, factor in that the, you know, years ago we used to talk about all of these states that were these bellwether states, ohio and florida included. not so much anymore. as the number of states and voters shrink in terms of who can swing a general election, i do think that that economic message becomes more and more tailored to those voters,

i think -- i'm going to reference my friend alyssa farah griffin. house. she was one of my closest friends but for a while -- >> you were mad at her. >> and i talk it about it in the book. i try to be as vulnerable as i can and candid as i can. frankly, i think a lot of the parts of the book aren't that fodder, but a lot of parts of my journey aren't meant to be fodder and i'm not trying to rewrite my own history. but i think about alyssa and after she spoke out after january 6th, she spoke out on the 7th and part of me was angry with her and i felt she'd broken that conduct and loyalty pledge. but there was another part of of me that was almost envious of her. when i reached the decision to be more forthcoming with the committee i reached out to alyssa. alyssa had no obligation to open her doors to me. she had no obligation to help me. she'd been on the forefront of this battle, quote-unquote battles, the battle for the truth for almost a year and a half at that point. but she opened her door and she let me in, and she was really the first person th

certainly a lot there to talk about, and here to do it abby philip, david axelrod, john king, alyssa farah griffin, david urban and scott jennings. john king, what did you make of it? all >> that was feisty. the big question, the fundamental question is, if donald trump is ahead by roughly 30 points in iowa and roughly 30 points in new hampshire, to this change anything? you could see the desantis haley exchanges, they are both in second place right now. they had a little bit of a go at, it trying to be the primary second place candidate. i think if you like a candidate everybody had a moment -- but then the fundamentally change anything -- i -- i'll be interested to what the republicans who do this for a living do at it. there's another one in 40 days, the third debate, and then there's gonna be a lot of pressure to shrink this field. because if you have six or seven candidates and all trump, don't trump was -- >> david urban, axelrod, -- nikki haley -- in taking on vivek ramaswamy or rhonda scent is. >> and also she got into it with tim scott and maybe at the end in a way that was not particular