chris cristi may be the toughest debater on that stage and he laid out for me what he was going to do when he was on immediate mediabuzz and he's moved up a little bit in the polls but many republicans believe he's just trying to tear down trump in other words some of that support may or may not go to him. >> we'll see. yeah, he's a fighter, and he, it's very interesting to me that chris cristi story, because he had an opportunity to run for president and that turned out to be romney's rom it nation and he decided to wait and be governor again so a lot of people thought it wasn't a path for him. he has a path in new hampshire. it's not huge but he's neck and neck with ron desantis right now so he's getting attention in that lane. he's saying i'm in that lane with those 63%. those are my people. the people who are already in the trump category, they aren't interested in me and that's fine that's why he's not even going to iowa, so i think this story is far from written, howie, and i think that chris cristi is one of the interesting people to watch in it. howie: yeah, absolutely, and it

>> some are and some aren't, chris cristi is leading the way but there is concern about the focus on rather than the by the administration, here is a sample of what some gop candidates are saying. >> this is a preview of the election coming up with donald trump is the nominee, he will be talking about donald trump rather than joe biden. >> talking to voters and i wanted hampshire, they are not talking about the indictment. >> january 26, 2021, what document was left at mar-a-lago, if it is a referendum on that we are going to lose. >> that is the point here, so much talk about the general election, that's the ultimate goal, the republicans winning back the white house for the party, there is very deep concern that the former president may complicate that. >> i'm sure there's a lot of concern on that. stay with us geoff.>>> bring in ron brownstein, and you're here with me in the situation room, what do you make of the rhetorical shift we are seeing from some of the republican candidates? >> as far as ron desantis and mike pence to a certain extent, people were waiting for this, when w

he will take on mike pence, nikki haley, tim scott, chris cristi and asa hutchinson and of course donald without being there. the new details from the nbc des moines news register poll says just what a tough job it is to take him on. the majority of likely iowa gop caucus goers believe he won the 2010 election despite no evidence of any significant election fraud. nbc's dosha burns is in the milwaukee and msnbc political analyst as well. what more do we learn and that nbc news poll and what can you tell us about what's going on in milwaukee? >> we have another major event for the republican party that the former president has decided to snob but that will play out under his shadow and in fact he has forced a split screen for tomorrow night. he has pre-recorded encounter program the event with an interview with tucker carlson that will play on x at the same time. we know that the host of the event will also ask questions about the former president of the candidates and we also know that he will be turning himself in in atlanta the next morning and i'm sorry about that, we are out in publi

doesn't want to bother sharing stage but i don't think chris cristi or anyone else will remotely dentny way that matters in any debate, period, end of story. howie: i'd at least like to see it and then we have clips we could play because that's what we do on television. thanks very much for coming by this sunday. up next liberal bill maher blames the democrats for the migrant crisis and rfk jr. files suit against google. (vo) sail through the heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking. unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a viking longship, you'll spend less time getting there and more time being there. viking. exploring the world in comfort. this is your summer to smile. to raise your glass and reconnect. to reel in the fun and serve up great times. to help you get ready your aspen dental team is celebrating 25 years of affordable care with an epic summer of smiles event. right now, new patients without insurance get a free full exam and x-rays. plus, everyone can get 20% off their

the other season debaters chris cristi and mike pence know their way around the podium. they will not have any stage fright. i believe the task for each of these candidates is to portray confidence, but also to project competence. if you are hung up on something or somebody is making you angry it is important to stay calm and remember your audience is not each other. it's not even the moderators necessarily. the audience is we the people. look in the camera and take your case directly to the people. last thing, all these candidates are under pressure and none of them are under oath. i know our moderators martha and brett will press them hard on the suppositions and salesmanship they are trying to make tonight. that's important too. >> in a moment we expect the candidates to walk out. standby for that. if we have to interrupt carl, we shall. in the meantime set the stage for what is on your mind. 10 minutes to go. >> everybody has this debate with a plan. that will last as long as they get a question that throws them off the plan. but having an idea of what it is they wan

that's chris cristie, mike pence and of course former president donald trump. am told mike pence said he is expected to sign that pledge. i do think you will end up seeing some of those three on the debate stage next wednesday. >> thanks so much for us. >>> we've got a lot to talk about. let's dig deeper on that conversation about potential political violence with elliot williams and jonathan wakro. job than, i want to start with you because there is a serious challenge when it comes to protecting a judge in such a high-profile case. it is not just her. her family was threatened as well. >> yeah. boris, what you are raising is a problem that just keeps metastasizing and getting bigger and bigger. what we're seeing is the deliberate targeting of not only judges but we're seeing prosecutors. we're seeing jurists now in the favorite foil of the former president, which is the fbi. but how do you protect them? it is a challenge for law enforcement to assess the means and the intent for individuals who are making those threats to actually transcend from political rhe

, governor desantis, former vice president, mike pence, nikki haley, as well as senator scott, chris cristio you just heard called the former president a coward. governor purdom in north, i felt as former governor. >> tell our viewers have significant complete and all of these polls is right now. >> he continues to be pretty dominant in the cnn poll. he is at 7%. governor desantis follows by 17% and in the i will pull, and this is perhaps even more instructive because these are the state level polls, ultimately this is a status that contest and it looks like the former president is that 42% to governor desantis is 19% and senator scott's 9%. we still have five months to go and i will say just from being on the ground in iowa last week, you do see some of these other candidates having the special moments with conservative voters there on the ground, so perhaps too soon, allison iowa, to count any of these other folks out yet. >> still time for things to change. don't go too far away. we are joined by the cnn political director and political commentators. as you know, trump is ahead in his la

chris cristie expected to be on the attack. >> i think the big loser of tomorrow night's debate has already been determined, and that's donald trump because he didn't have the guts or the respect to show up on that stage and defend his record. >> reporter: but new polling from nbc news shows that among likely republican caucus goers in iowa, no position is less popular than aggressively attacking the president over his mounting legal battles data that supports the strategy of south carolina's tim scott. >> people will make the decision based on what's going on with their family. >> reporter: but that could dominate the discussion nonetheless. the former president is expected to turn himself in to face wide-ranging charges in fulton county for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election there. john eastman booked and released on bond tuesday. eastman asked if he still believes the election was stolen from mr. trump. >> no question >> absolutely? >> no question, no question in my mind. >> reporter: a mar-a-lago employee changing his testimony, according to court documents, implicating t

there is no indication of any major strategy shift, which means former new jersey governor chris cristie could likely be the only one directly and forcefully attacking former president trump. it's going to be interesting, savannah >> thank you very much. >>> new developments tied to donald trump's criminal indictment in georgia. officials now investigating online threats against grand jurors in the case that's just days after a woman was charged with threatening the life of the judge. nbc' blayne alexander is in atlanta with the latest on all of this good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. here at the fulton county courthouse, the barricades and added security are in place. but no officials dealing with new safety concerns related to the grand jury that voted to indict former president trump in fact, the sheriff says in a statement that they are monitoring any threats and working with other law enforcement agencies to track them down. this morning, as the legal cases surrounding former president donald trump continue, there are new concerns for the safety of the judges and juries

we are seeing with each new indictment he's only solidifying his lead you have candidates like chris cristie, will hurd taking the gloves off former vice president mike pence started to sharpen his tone this week, but he's barely registering in the polls he doesn't qualify for the debate nikki haley said, i don't want to talk about this i want to talk about the issues. why is that unusual? they are literally ignoring the elephant in the room i spoke to a top gop lawmaker who said he doesn't want to see trump as the nominee who says we need to see one of these two things these candidates either need to start dropping out or speaking from the same chorus book and condemning or at least making arguments to voters that trump has too much baggage >> in 19 days, it debate. the former president donald trump says right now it doesn't look like he's going to come. and why should he? why should you go when you are crushing your competition. >> strategically speaking, it doesn't make much sense. i spoke to an aide close to him that said, no, it doesn't make sense. you see the ways in which the court da