>> if i if i were found if i were fani willis, of course, a bottle fani willis, i wouldn't have done any of the things she did to get myself in this situation. i would say the nathan, hey, it's been a good fight. you need to hand me your letter record, resignation now, so we i can get this case back on track. but then again, fani willis and my personal opinion has continued to display very bad judgment and just conduct on becoming a i'm an elected official. so what i would do is not necessarily what she would do. >> sure. but she gets to stay on this case. bottom line, a win for her. scott ghraieb, man. thank you so much for taking the time with cnn. important inside from a man who faced off against fani willis in the district attorney's office fani willis going to be allowed to stay on this case, guys. >> all right. thank you. nick valencia, you just heard it's gotten rubbing the attorney for kenneth chesebro, jesper or who has already put in a guilty plea. so that case is over, but he's talking about what the attorneys may do going forward. right. and was very clear, brought up you

the winner i would say is going to be da fani willis. but let's not pretend or fool ourselves to think there isn't going to be some consequence to this prosecution. not only have you spoke about the delay baked in because of the side show but the removal of nathan wade, whether you like it or not, materially impacts this case and the prosecution because he's been through it from ground zero. he helped build this prosecution, led the investigation. put this investigation through a special purpose grand jury. took it to a grand jury and got the indictment returned on 19 co-defendants. so i've said before, there is institutional and historical knowledge that goes away with nathan wade. all of that being said, though, there are skilled, incredibly competent, special prosecutors that remain on this case and they can continue to help fani willis with this case. >> just some of the details that we're going through on page 15, the judge finds that, quote, the record made at the evidentiary hearing establishes the district attorney's prosecution

fani willis.e points out a number of things, this judge, as you have just suggested, doug, where he says there was an appearance of a conflict of interest and as you say, he says there may have been financial gain. the timing of the hiring makes it appear, again, that it was, as the trump investigation was ramping up and there would be long hours that would be worked as a result of that, so it is very curious that he decides to leave her on the case and doesn't explain -- maybe you have seen it in the document and i haven't yet, why he has decided to allow her to stay given all of that. >> yeah, thats the part that bothers me in this case. i've reached out to a couple other folks i know legal and professional retired judges and others to ask about this. i can't separate the fact that the action took place between two people and if the action took place between fani willis and nathan wade how can you split one without splitting the other? nathan wade leaving this case is not a death blow to this ca

he gives fani willis the choice.is gets to remain on this case, the trump team and codefendants succeeded in one other key respect. the mow m.o. of the trump world delay, delay, delay. mike roman was the director of operations for the trump campaign. she made that motion on january 8th, 2024. we are now at march 15th. it took us more than two months to complete all of the briefing and evidentiary hearings and closing arguments and now the decision on this. in the meantime, nothing on this case moved forward. >> blayne alexander is outside the courthouse. how long does fani willis have to make this decision? >> reporter: one would expect she would make it very quickly. keep in mind i want to give you the larger context. for the past 2 1/2 months this has been all we've been talking about. we haven't been talking about the facts of the case against donald trump. this has eclipsed that totally. this can be taken as a win for the d.a.'s office, but the judge is saying get rid of nathan wade and then we can move on. i do

will we hear from fani willis? it really seems at this point only a matter of time before we get a resignation from nathan wade, even though we haven't heard from him in and also the big question right now at this hour is will the da try to get this case back on track before the november reelection? briana. >> yeah, that is the big question. nick valencia, live horse outside the fulton county courthouse in atlanta. and with us now we have cnn chief legal affairs correspondent, paula reid, that the timelines the question here, because theoretically now this case can move forward. fani willis had been pushing for august. that seems increasingly unlikely. >> it seemed ambitious when she said it before these questions about possibly disqualifying her were even raised. this is a sprawling rico case with over a dozen a dozen defendants. and now we've lost time going through this process to analyze whether she should be be disqualified. now she's also likely going to have to find a new lead prosecutor. so it seems unreali

this is a win for fani willis.ewildered as to how the judge got to this conclusion to split the hairs like this, but in the end i think it's a good resolution. it allows this case to continue, even though, like i said, it's not going to go to trial before the election. >> just quickly, i wanted to get your two thoughts here, danny and lisa with me, how quickly this case could get back on track and whether it will happen before the election that we'll see at trial. >> it depends on what else is happening and what i call trump trial tetris, a number of different players trying to get their cases tried before november, alvin bragg now has to figure out when his case will be tried. he said yesterday he would agree to a 30-day adjournment. the only problem is that judge -- has another trial scheduled on may 27th, it's the steve bannon we build a wall case the new york district attorney has. there's a lot of moving pieces, i think if fani willis wanted to go to trial before the election it would certainly be difficult fo

>> it's been a terrible 48 hours for fani willis. she's had a bunch of charges thrown out on the grounds that they were deficient and now her lead prosecutor kicked off the case and she's been called out by a judge for making statements that may have been untrue and for making improper statements in public. i think that she's got to take a hard look at how this prosecution moves forward, if it most forward and whether it can credibly move forward in the eyes of the public with her at the helm. >> neil: thanks, gentlemen, both. you might have heard the impact on the trump campaign with all of this. all of this legal piling on as the former president described it has endeared him to many republicans saying this is es -- you heard the former vice president. we now he ken langone feels about that, the home depotco founder. he said given the choice between the two men, joe biden and donald trump, he would probably write in the name of his wife. what the billionaire co-founder of home depot is saying now after this. (bobby) my store and my

allow fani willis to remain on the case. but look, today, we're going to hear oral arguments on a variety of different motions, including one filed by trump's lead attorney, steve sadow, in the georgia case. he's going to argue that, look, the whole indictment should be against trump should be thrown out because the actions described in there and in the criminal charges against trump are protected by the first amendment, by the political speech protections in the first amendment, i want to read what say it out, wrote in his in his motion submitted to the court before today's hearing, he wrote the first amendment and affording the broadest protection to political speech and discussion regarding governmental affairs. not only embraces, but encourages exactly the kind of behavior under attack in this indictment. as you mentioned, too, we've heard similar arguments that have been made in front of judge mcafee and in other cases that have not been successful. so it'll be interesting to see if mcafee, how he questions trump's atto

fani willis is up for election in a november. against a handful of people, they have different opinions on how this would affect their decision to vote. what with that environment due to this case? the stuff the government is doing, the fact that fani willis is an elected, not appointed d.a.? >> you have seen how does politics play out in the court. we have seen fani willis testified in an unprofessional way, as described by the judge because she was appealing to voters. that is going to be happening. donald trump is going to keep saying stuff, fulton county is going to want to respond and this election environment makes it hard to raise questions in the minds of voters that this is a fixed process. >> what you think about the gag orders? scott mcafee, the judge, suggested that the team might find a gag order suitable against fani willis. fani willis has tried to get a gag order trump for the things he says about her. tell me about that? >> i think any prosecutor should take a lesson from jack smith and that is you stick to what

fani willis stays on the case, but it just feels like this is not good. it just feels let's read this one part of the ruling. this finding is by no means an indication that the court condones this tremendous lapse in judgment or the unprofessional manner of the district attorney's testimony during the evidentiary hearing. >> i mean, >> that it just sounds like yes, the case continues, but it almost feels like is it going to hobble along what i mean, what do you think? >> well, let's put this in the larger context. at some point, trump's lawyers are going to have to defend him in a court of law maybe not this year. based on the facts and the law, but until that they have two goals. the first is to delay all four of his criminal trials. the other is to sow distrust in the criminal justice system. and what we've seen down and fulton county over the past few months has helped him with both of those goals in this language today where the judge described fani willis is having a lapse in judgment, calls her unprofessional on the stance that you repeatedly made b

pat from new york, 10,000 texts, fani -- fani may have to call hillary. >> odour of mendacity is my new favourite phrase. that was the name of my band in high school. gary from tallahassee florida, joe stopped by on a charging station on his way to the state of the union. i need one of those. we have james from florida, makes me feel lucky. happy st. patrick's day to the luckiest audience in the world. >> sean: welcome to hannity tonight a new chapter in vines illegal immigration crisis people from haiti, they are appearing off the coast of florida including one group on a boat stocked with firearms and drugs at governor rhonda sanders joins us to respond we begin with our top story, fulton county georgia tonight where the disgraced anti- trump district attorney fani willis has now turn to the atlantic port system into nothing but a joke, tonight the judge in this case all but accused willis of lying and corruption and frankly gross misconduct slamming and saying this financial cloud of impropriety surrounding her illicit affair and co- mingling of finances with the outside counsel whic

fani willis. and today, the judge found no actual conflict of interest, but did manage to gratuitously impugn her integrity. >> also tonight, we need to have a serious reality check about the right-wing propaganda that trump is somehow gaining historic levels of support among black voters. he wishes. >>> but we begin tonight with the most american of realities. if you're a rich white guy and especially if you're a celebrity and a former president, not only are you above the law, you are so above the law that if you get indicted for trying to overturn an election and thus overthrow the government, that case isn't even about you. today, fulton county superior court judge scott mcafee ruled that fulton county d.a. fani willis will not be disqualified from prosecuting the racketeering case against donald trump. trump tried it. it didn't work. his case will be prosecuted in georgia. maga inc. failed to prove a conflict of interest, perhaps because there was no conflict of interest. but in making that r

interference case against the former president, a fulton county judge has decided the district attorney fani willis can continue to prosecute that case. but blasted willis for what he called a "tremendous lapse in judgment" for having a romantic relationship with one of her top prosecutors. about special prosecutor has now withdrawn from the case. cbs's nikole killion will start us off tonight from outside the courthouse in atlanta. nikole, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, major, and it's not just as new delay in the new york case, but this election case here in georgia has effectively been put on hold until today's ruling by a judge, effectively clearing district attorney fani willis to proceed. fulton county judge scott mcafee gave district attorney fani willis an ultimatum today: either step aside from the 2020 election subversion case, or have her form a romantic partner, special prosecutor nation weighed, withdraw. within hours, wade tendered his resignation, effective immediately, to move this case forward. the former president hailed the move onto route social, calling

this is a win for fani willis. she gets to stay on as da, but how do you expect trump and his co-defendants to respond down the road? >> look, i think first of all, i think they've they've already kind of telegraph that they're going to appeal this, right? and the question of the appeal is going to be, isn't going to be appeal that can be taken interlocutory, which has now that will then tie up the case even further, or do they are they going to have to wait until after the case to have the appeal heard. there's probably pretty strong argument and the judge would have to agree to this, that it gets taken up now, because if the appellate court rules the other way and finds that the trial judge air committed error in this case as far as the log those then the case gets moved on to what it goes to that panel. and then could potentially get moved onto another prosecutor from another county, so that that's that's the next step legally in this case. and you have to remember on appeal the veracity of the witnesses, those

it was the closing arguments on the da fani willis is disqualified have a cation. now their job not fani willis, the job with those people who are moving to her that i keep it straight defense prosecution is all flipped right now. they have a burden to prove there was a conflict of interest. the judge today had a lot of questions about whether they connect those dots when you look at the fact that the judge brandi was focusing on whether an appearance of impropriety would be enough. does that bode well for fani willis >> it does not, but i don't think that they met the standard. i think that's why the judge has a lot of questions. i think that the state certainly argued that they think that you need to have an actual conflict. and here, i think they not only have not established an actual conflict, i don't think they've established even the air of impropriety. however, if they do establish air of impropriety, i do think that that's going to be enough to disqualify her while i don't think that she should be qualified. i think if the judge goes with the standard of a

and the d.a., fani willis, is seeking to hold them accountable. and because she sought the accountability, they, the former president and his friends, allies, ashley merchant, the attorney for one of those individuals, they have been trying to distract us with salacious gossip because that is what this is. it worked so much so that very well-meaning people who know a lot, a lot of smart lawyers in this country are walking around and saying, i don't know if fani willis should stay in the case. this was a distraction. >> that is my point. >> they don't have anything to hang on alvin braggs. >> they didn't have anything about fani willis. i'm so animated about this. i'm sorry. i'm very animated about this because we all have a duty i think to remind people about what this is really about and frankly, if fani willis was a man named frank, i don't believe they would have been able to distract us with the salacious gossip about, frank hired susie so that frank could financially benefit from susie being on the case. it is a little sexist and it is a litt

why would he knowing there was a motion disqualify fani willis and the team. why would he offer statements, particularly as his former attorney in that context? well, they're saying because he was disgruntled because there's a skeleton in his closet and it was a bit of karma returned. the judge has so aside though, kaitlan, who to credit and who not, but i'll tell you what a really telling moment the fact that this judge is focused on whether an appearance of a conflict is enough versus an actual conflict tells you a lot about where his head might be at. if he was just focused on the actual conflict, not the case law to talk about the parameters fani willis would be probably a little bit less nervous than today. >> well, that's fascinating because when the defense attorneys kinda started out, they seem to be saying it's a really low bar for disqualification. it is not necessarily because what's at heart, the heart of this is not that they were in a relationship. it's the financial misconduct allegations. and so the defense attorneys seem to be setting a low ba

fani willis is up for election in november. we interviewed just a handful of people with different opinions. what does that environment do to this case? the stuff the governor is doing, that fani willis is elected and not appointed? >> you have seen how the politics play out. she was appealing to voters. and that will be key. makes it harder to have a trial that doesn't raise doubts. >> what do we think about the gag orders? the judge suggested that the trump team might find a gag order. to get a gag order for trump. tell me about that environment. >> i think that any prosecutor should take a lesson from jack smith. and that is you stick to what is in that indictment. i think frankly, a gag order on all parties assuming it can be limited in a way that doesn't impact your ability to defend yourself and pursue your case is really something that is valuable because there are so many distractions. we don't node to hear. the public doesn't need to hear. none of us need to listen to. and it is something that is very unfortunate, the

so we don't really know when and how fani willis will decide. we did even radio out to her office for comment, have not heard back. but to your second question about what has been the response, well, there has been two comments that we've received, one from the lawyer for trump that was particularly strong about the disappointment that they had in this ruling and they will chase down any and all available remedies on appeal for his client donald trump. but ashley merchant responded to us, and she is the lawyer representing michael roman, a known gop off difference, ashley merchant filed the original motion to disqualify and dismiss. and she said while we believe the court should have disqualified willis' office entirely, this opinion is a vindication that everything put forth by the defense was true, accurate and relevant to the issues surrounding the trial. and the judge clearly agreed it was a result of her poor judgment and there is a risk to the future of this case. while we do not agree that the courts suggested cure is inadequate, we look

fani willis. >> i am going to do specific rebuttal. the state makes an argument that we should have asked mr. wade questions about his relationship and communications with mr mr. bradley and the counsel objected over and over, claiming everything they were told by wade was attorney-client privilege. your honor made determinations to bradley. we did not get the opportunity to call him back to the stand. it is a false position to take, as disingenuous as it can be. we will be happy to call mr. wade back to the stand but there could be no confrontation of mr. wade when his counsel in the state are arguing it shouldn't be done. second, let's use common sense here. forensic misconduct received about 2 minutes worth of discussion. the rest is all on conflict. misconduct dealing with the state is if you don't accuse someone or you don't say someone is guilty. >> judge mcafee: assuming you can impugn someone's character to the degree it constitutes forensic misconduct, i guess the primary position was the

has to go, but fani willis stays in place. and that case will be televised live nationally, which means that voters will see everything that happens before election day. evidence witnesses, maybe even trump himself. that will be broadcast daily while americans are deciding who to vote for. as early voting is open. and if fani willis gets her way, that trial will still start on august 5th. that's exactly three months before election day. willis has said she believes the trial could conclude in the very early part of 2025, which would be right around the time trump is sworn in, if he's elected. so the real question becomes, how quickly can the georgia case move forward without the top prosecutor, nathan wade, because he is forced to resign. so fani willis up on top she stays it's in place, but he has to leave and trump and his co-defendants and accused willis, of course, of profiting from her now ex-boyfriend, nathan wade and immediately after this decision, the fani willis got to stay on the case. trump's campaign quickly fundr

fani willis will likely be subpoenaed to testify before that. shadow of what we have seen over the past two and a half months will linger for some time to come. >> andrew, let's talk about this case and get past the appearance of impropriety the judge is referring to. he is raising questions about the truthfulness of sworn testimony. does this give a wide opening to the defense? >> it does in a way that was just outlined. there are a number of ways that if the current structure of the leadership remains, there's going to be a lot -- i mean a lot for the defense to work with. i think you will see the defense trying to appeal this. i don't think they will get very far, but that will be a distraction. also, if you look at the decision on page 9, judge mcafee gives a road map of all the other people who may be interested in testimony that he is obviously questioning. he does not -- to be clear, he does not come out and say, i found that credible. that would have been a big win if he said, i found the d.a. and mr. wade were credible. instead he says

fani willis -- d.a. fani willis can stay on. congressman doug collins what he thinks of the drama in his state next. we're taking the best fibers our farm can produce, spinning it at one location, weaving it, then finally into a cut and sewn product. there's value in buying american made it has a real life impact up and down the supply chain. we want our customers to feel how special this product is, right when they open the box. go to redlandcotton.com and receive 20% off your order with code fox 20. buzz baits bobbers. baitcasters, and boat wakes. rod bending , drag screaming, trophy dreaming the fish tales that lured you to go and the stories you'll tell after. if that sounds like where you want to be... then checkout bass pro shops and cabela's spring fishing classic for the biggest fishing & boating sale of the year! save up to an additional $5,000 on the world's leading boat brands during the model year clearance event. plus receive a free gift card up to $2000 with purchase. your adventure starts here. will: back with a f

so if this is a tie, if this is a stalemate, fani willis is going to win. now, i think there have been serious questions raised about the nature of the relationship, the timing of the relationship, whether fani willis and nathan wade testified truthfully and whether there was a financial benefit to fani willis, but the evidence came in in my view, in a very muddled sort of confused fashion. and it's going to come down to the judge's decision. the judges discretion which evidence does he believe? does he believe fani? willis and nathan wade? does he believe the other witnesses? does he how much credit does he give this cell records? that's a really exceedingly difficult call. you could see the judge today starting to wrestle with some of those issues. so he's going to go back into his chambers. he's going to spend two weeks trying to work it out and then he'll give us that decision and neither way would surprise me >> interesting, gloria, gloria borger versions with us as well, even if willis isn't disqualified in this case, the district attorney's office ce

her name fani is swahili and means prosperous.ifornia, willis attend attended howard university in washington, dc, then got her law degree from the emory school of law. she forged her professional reputation with successful prosecutions in a massive cheating scandal in atlanta's public schools. and by bringing anti-corruption charges against rapper young thug, a workaholic that is very driven, very smart and very like, if you're on a case, it's step one, step two, step three, get to it from here. >> analysts say the pressure on willis to be above reproach in the trump case will be enormous and one veteran attorney advises her to toe that line as far under the radar as possible. >> but i'm fani willis. i want to in retreat from the limelight of this case right now in the sense that let your line prosecutors let the team you assembled be the face of this case. >> analysts bradley moos willis should stay in the background so that when the public sees this case playing out in the months ahead, especially in the lead up to election day

fani willis and nathan wade.used of having improper romantic relationship that could lead to them being disqualified from the trump case. steve harrigan. >> steve: closing arguments just minutes away. does the judge believe the d.a. and prosecutor she hired or did they lie under oath about when their relationship began? we've seen three days of fiery testimony in the seven-week-long drama, which sidelined election case in georgia. defense attorneys used eyewitness testimony, text and travel documents. >> if they were not telling the truth about when the affair started, the judge can decide they were not telling truth about cash reimbursement. if the judge believes cash reimbursement didn't take place, back to square 1, financial conflict of interest that could get her disqualified and end the entire case. >> the defense is trying to use cell phone record from the prosecutor nathan wade that show average of six calls per day, 30 messages per day for a year before the two said their relationship began. the judge is

we're still waiting to hear from fani willis, the d.a. directly. that nathan wade, not a huge surprise has selfered himself from this case. now we're waiting to hear from her. >> wade didn't have any option. the judge said he could choose to resign. there was not much else he could do. if he didn't, the whole case would be taken out of the office. the only alternative was to go on an appeal that would delay the case further. the big question as you know is what will willis do? she has now had multiple opportunities to do the right thing, which recuse herself. every time that moment has come, she has declined to do so. she's put her personal interests ahead of the interests of her office and the people of fulton county. i can't imagine how even willis could go forward after this order and these damning findings from this judge. i mean, he goes in great detail about how she made unprofessional decisions in a litany of errors in her public statements, how she dealt with these allegations. she's damaged goods. that's not going to be to the advantage of

he is going to turn this into something against fani willis. they also believe that taking nathan wade off the case could help them in the long run because they have to bring someone else who is that person going to be? do they have to get caught up? again, this goes to that delay, delay, delay tactic, boris, kristen holmes, thanks so much for the reporting. appreciate it. as always. >> still have this hour on cnn news central, daylight reveals complete devastation in parts of indiana and ohio. after reported tornadoes tear through those states. our next guest says that buildings in her town are completely gone plus diplomats have tried to prevent it and humanitarian groups have been fearing it israelis prime minister says he has just approved plans for action in rafah the intends to evacuate palestinian civilians first the big question now, how and we're following a developing story that could have a major impact on how much it costs to buy and sell a home. the national association of realtors just agreed to a deal that would mix the standard

her name fani is swahili and means prosperous. originally from california, willis attended howard university in washington, dc, then got her law a degree from the emory school of law. she forged her professional reputation with successful prosecutions in a massive cheating scandal in atlanta's public schools and by bringing anti-corruption charges against the rapper, young thug, a workaholic that is very driven, very smart and very like, if you're on a case, it's step one, step two, step three, get to it, but this isn't the first time willis has been in hot water over personal conduct. she held a fundraiser for someone running against a potential target of her investigation. >> so what are you thinking moment. if the optics our horrific one former prosecutor says, in this current case, willis should have known better than to get so deeply involved with special >> prosecutor nathan wade, even if the relationship didn't start until after she hired him, as they both claim, these are things that i think our missteps and our unforced e

paula nathan wade resigned and fani willis is staying. but this ruling from the judge was pretty scathing. it did not leave her without some black marks on her reputation. >> that's exactly right. well, the judge found that she did not engage in a corrupt scheme to profit from investigating trump and his associates. he criticized her judgment, her honesty, and her professionalism, and now, abby, she's gonna go into a court of law in try a case in front of the same judge, and then let's talk about the court of public opinion. we know trump is trying to undermine trust in the judicial system. he goes after anyone who invested gates him, or brings a case against him. here. he doesn't even need to make things up. you can just quote from this opinion. so she certainly is not emerging unscathed, but this is a self-inflicted wound it certainly is an elliott. do you think that ultimately this will have an effect on the case at all to have the lead prosecutor suddenly yanked off of it when they're trying to move this case quickly forward. >> oh, l

but here the tables are sort of turns so that defendants are trying to disqualify fani willis. they have the burden of proof. >> all right. counselor, you can have a busy day. thank you very much for being with us. >> for sherling visits at the border. president biden, for and former president trump meeting with local officials as when they were there. and now the mayor of breath sounds bill texas, where president biden just was he joins us next. also, an emotional day of testimony as the assistant director for the movie rust recalls his final moments with the film's cinematographer halyna hutchins who was my recollection that i might have been the first person to her. she was on the ground what did you say >> are you all right? >> did she respond >> yes. she said i can't feel my legs at least one person has been arrested, 22 others detained for trying to attend the funeral of russian opposition leader alexei navalny. we have more for updates, how this is playing out in moscow today. thousands of people risking their lives and freedom to be there will be back eliot spitzer, cru

that it is far from over and fani willis may not be safe. there are other avenues for her dismissal, the georgia senate has opened its own misconduct investigation. in fact, governor kemp or georgia attorney general christopher carr could appoint a special prosecutor to investigate and possibly disqualify willis depending on its findings. your take. >> that's certainly true. this is going to continue to undermine the prosecution. from the very beginning of this controversy, willis has put her interests and those of mr. wade ahead of her case, ahead of the interests of the people of fulton county, and ahead of her office. that's one of the things that is most shocking about this. she should have recused herself weeks ago. there is this disconnect in the opinion. i get much of what the judge is saying. he has done a fine job. he has been fair, he has tried to get it right. and i get it when he says look, i can't say that this relationship is the reason that she brought this case. that's true. unfortunately, the case was not brought for persona

today fani immediately accepting his resignation. the judge may have shot down his attempt to disqualify willis. he did find that their relationship does raise a, quote, significant appearance of impropriety that infects the earn tire -- excuse me, current structure of the prosecution team. fani willis while admitting to the relationship has denied any wrongdoing, vehemently defending herself at a hearing last month. >> you're confused. you think i'm on trial. these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020. i'm not on trial. let's be clear because you lied in this. let me tell you which one you lied in here. i think you lied right here. no, no, no, this is the truth. it is a lie. it is a lie. >> so fani willis stays but some say the damage to her credibility is already done. a washington post associate editor saying even though the decision is technically a win for willis it is, quote, devastating and nothing short of humiliating for willis. "the new york times" noting this is just the beginning with georgia republ

fani willis. i think the way ford fan is shes to voluntarily recuse herself. i don't know that she hantarilys in her. >> the dea should consider recusing herself as well as thee case moves forward to allow it to do so cleanly. langu >> all of this, especially this language from the judge, and we're just giving the opinion right no judgengw. i'm sure there's there's likely more. it's really a gift to former president trumt itp and his co-defendants because they're not only going to fight this case on the merits. onlgointo fightthey fight it ii of public opinion. optics here, not anyinio one of these statements by a judge would be a career ender for a normal prosecuto star to t an on the record finding that there are reasonable questions about whether you liedn th tha under oath.ting that would be that would be devastating. and we'll see what the political effects will be. the bottom line, the d.aliticali survives, but not without serious bruising, to use your analogy, sir. >>si your ana now, even "

and for fani willis, this is eyes on the prize. there is a mountain of evidence that donald trump and his coconspirators allegedly were involved in one of the most egregious in serious crimes. and american history, as they try to overturn and still in american election, that is the bottom line. and whenever this case gets tried and it probably won't happen, maybe it will, but democrats cannot focus on will perhaps this is going to be one of the things that brings down donald trump. no, we have to do that on our own. but whenever it happens, this is going to be something where donald trump, even if he gets elected, is not going to be able to make this go away. so i think at some point he is going to have to face the music for those very serious alleged crimes. and let's also keep in mind that even with the scathing commentary of this judge fani willis is a very popular da, where she is from. and with all due respect to his honor, i disagree and i know many many women disagree about his commentary on her testimony. they thought that

rachel: fani or fani, will? will: i don't know. rachel: i think fani. will: did i say it wrong? rachel: you said fani but there's a lot, tomato tomato. the brooklyn da saying this man acted in self-defense after attack ago man on the subway. we're going to be talking to his lawyer about the double standard. pete: in just moments and former alabama head coach nick sabin calling for a different kind of play for florida athletic and they can play most of the players and playing national legislation. pete: third hour of "fox & friends" weekend starts right now. pete: remember when we did this? rachel: we had a segment where we should bring that moment back and he was a true leprechaun in that moment. pete: this is a stick carried in the parade today and magical powers they say. will: that's what the old irish super natural powers. pete: consuming a lot of fighting 69th irish whiskey and the theme of this and love this. gentle when stroked and fierced when provoked. rachel: that's a motto? if ever there was a motto, that's a good one. pete: pretty cool. certificate of authenticity an

nathan with the special in more ways than one prosecutor engaged by fani pronounced fani willis to prosecute, to persecute trump for crooked joe biden and his department of injustice for purposes of election interference and living the life of the rich and famous so what do you make of this? >> well, this has just donald trump gloating, which is something i think we've come to expect in a way. his team did have a real victory, even though fani willis is staying on the case. this is going to delay the case for him and i think he's should be very happy about that. but this gives him an opportunity to continue to undermine the justice department. the way cases are conducted. and even though this is a state case, it's going to be important in the election because it's the state of georgia, which is a very important kaye state. and it's up for grabs and if he can continue to say that the district attorney, who's up for reelection in the state of georgia was playing hanky panky here with my future. it could help him in the general election. yeah, georgia has emerged as a real battle >> indeed, mic

disqualified because of fani willis's romantic relationship with nathan wade.ecutors she hired to assist her with the case. a ruling on that issue is expected by end of this week. kayleigh. >> kayleigh: thank you, jonathan. emily, i was reading footnote that listed counts that are quashed for lack of specificity. how monumental is this in the case? >> emily: the error itself is colossal and i want to send message appropriately of what a rookie mistake it is. first year in law school you learn standards of pleading and same for warrants and subpoenas, we talk about that a lot. it is fundamental and mayor rudy giuliani said it there, without it, the defendant does not know what to defend against. on pleading, your initial threshold step, district attorney failed to do so hallmarks what a rookie she is, how sloppy this has been, how utterly a sham this entire procedure has been and she's making mockery of herself and the courts. the overacts these relate to and they can still stand in the pleadings, there is different standards. she needed specificity, all you nee

fani willis has accepted it immediately.lis's response. he said. although the court found the defendants failed to meet their burden of proving a conflict of interest wade goes on to say i am offering my resignation in the interest of democracy, in dedication to the american public, and to move this case forward as quickly as possible. that is the key, ellison, since we broke the news early this morning the big question has been what's going to happen next, and namely, what is fani willis going to do and when is she going to do it? that was the thing that was holding up this prosecution, once nathan wade is removed from the equation she is free to move forward in the prosecution of this case. she accepted his resignation as well today, i want to read you a little bit of what she said. she basically is thanking him for his professionalism, and dignity he's shown over the last 865 days, the amount of time he spent on this case, and then she goes on to underscore the number of threats that have been received, she says, by natha

laura coates live starts right now well fani >> willis survives what this case is playing out in two very different courts. one is the court of law and the other the court of public opinion. tonight on laura coates live all right so. >> now we know the answer to the question we've been waiting months to actually find out fani willis is not disqualified from prosecuting donald trump and his co-defendants. >> but the judge, he didn't just issue a ruling judge mcafee issued an ultimatum >> either. she goes >> or nathan wade goes nathan wade went. >> and if you'd thought robert hur's one line throwing some shade at president biden was savage while judge mcafee is order hardly had any sunlight when it came to willis and wade, although there were moments that he recognized that the burden had not been met to show that they in fact, had a conflict of interests that made a fair trial impossible. >> there's >> one particular quote, georgia law does not permit the finding of an actual conflict for simply making bad choices. >> in repeatedly >> all the scrutiny of fani willis and nathan wade an

pat from new york, 10,000 texts, fani -- fani may have to call hillary. >> odour of mendacity is my newname of my band in high school. gary from tallahassee florida, joe stopped by on a charging station on his way to the state of the union. i need one of those. we have james from florida, makes me feel lucky. happy st. patrick's day to the luckiest audience in the world

they're not thinking about fani willis bradley mass. appreciate the analysis. thanks for joining us anytime >> brianna, former president trump is already fundraising off of judge mcafee is ruling to put things into perspective here, his campaign sending out this text to supporters not long after the decision was handed down here, trump's legal team also releasing this statement, slamming the ruling while respecting the court's decision, we believed that the court did not afford appropriate significance to the prosecutorial misconduct of willis and wade including the financial benefits testifying on truthfully about when their personal relationship began, as well as willis's extra judicial mlk church speech, where she played they'd the race card and falsely accused the defendants and their counsel of racism we will use all legal options available as we continue to fight to end this case, which should never have been brought in the first place. let's talk about this now. a cnn senior political analyst, ron brownstein and republican strategist matt gorman all righ

fani willis. in fact, at the original setting of the evidentiary hearing, he was actually doing the oral arguments on some of these motions. and i think that's really telling that we're getting this order today. it shows that judge mcafee is doing the work that needs to be done, and, number two, i think it also shows -- in my opinion -- why would you be doing this if you're going to disqualify fani willis anyway. don't hold me to this, it is not gospel, but i think that is an interesting thing that you're getting this order now, but this was going to happen no matter what, jose. this is not some big tell that this indictment is fatally going to be going away one day. in fact, to catherine's point, it is very clear this indictment is still in play, just portions of it are now gone. >> and so as we have been talking about, this comes at a time when we're still awaiting the decision from judge mcafee on whether to disqualify d.a. fani willis from this case. the judge has intimated he essentially has

that was because fani worked her fani offer two and a half years while doj sat on their hands and sheprosecuting this sprawling case. so again, this idea that, if we're keeping score here, you know, they did not show that fani willis was enriched in any way profited from nathan wade's work. similarly, the same way that they can't show that joe biden profited from hunter biden's work. but where is the evidence? the evidence is that you know, donald trump and his sons actually profited, they profited to the tune of 400 and $64 million from abroad. so if anyone wants to look into those things if the rich and famous scrutinize for ill gotten gains, look at donald, trump don't look. here >> we have one, minute let's talk about the criminality, george conway, this is from new york times, the polling showing that 53% of voters believe mr. trump has committed serious crimes. feud another, way mr. trump's current lead over mr. biden's build with a significant number of voters who believe he is a criminal. >> because he is. >> he is. >> i'm just mystified by that. but i must say, i'm not going

here is the d.a., fani willis' acceptance of this resignation. accept it, she says, effective immediately. i complement you for the professionalism and dignity you have shown over the last 865 days, as you have endured threats against you and your family, as well as unjustified attacks in the media, and in court, on your reputation as a lawyer. she goes on to say, others who were considered were understandably concerned for the safety of themselves and their families that would arise from their acceptance of your role. you were the one who had the courage to accept the role even though you did not seek it. blayne alexander joins us now from atlanta. this was expected, what do you make of the point that both fan willis and nathan wade say, about their safety? >> reporter: you know, it is something that they've been saying all along. i think that, one, fani willis has certainly been talking about safety for quite some time and the fact that she has referred a number of threats and something that came up in the evidentiary hearing, she had to move t

knotts like let's just make this about fani willis.she appears to have violated in hiring nathan wade from the get go that jeopardize the legitimacy of the case. people are say saying, two-thirds of americans in some of these cases say these prosecutions against the president are political. it's really important that the public has confidence in our legal system and in our elections. 40. howard: yeah. >> and talking about whether this is election interference, trying to put trump on trial and put him in jail so that he can't run for president. it's all important. that that's why the legitimacy of this case and the way it was conducted by fannie willis is extremely important. howard: i have another question for you, richard, but just briefly, if fani willis is thrown off the case, that's the judge's decision, this could be the end of the rio --ly coe prosecution. >> it could be with. there's been a number of individuals, folks who have been on this, folks in other places who have already taken plea bar gains, already pleaded guilty -- h

fani willis accepted nathan wade's resignation meeting the case will move forward as planned. consider that even in losing, trump world got most of what it wanted. as we speak, there are emails flooding inboxes, disingenuously shouting "look here, fani willis is corrupt ." there's no legitimacy to that but it goes beyond those attacks, considering the motion to remove tran 16 and wade from the case, filed january 8th. trumps team ran out the clock for two months, and exasperated the development, given what we discussed yesterday. that is how successful trump has been in deploying a topic -- a tactic of delay. it's a potential offramp for the disgraced ex-president and his legal troubles and eight months separate the american people from the prospect of that bid although, we should never forget what this case was about, a sitting president actively working to undermine the result of a free and fair election and here's what happened when it did. >> calling for backup. >> they were peaceful people, these are great people. the crowd was unbelievable and i mentioned the love, the l

that's how a judge summed up the behavior of district attorney fani willis. well, ruling she can stay on trump's election racketeering case in georgia. but under one condition, for live with the fulton county courthouse with all the breaking details, plus running out the clock. it's team trump's legal and political strategy with multiple court dates. now on hold. >> it is paused so voters could decide the former president's beit before any of his cases reach a jury. and the white house has a message for republicans trying to impeach president biden, move on >> shockingly, >> the house may listen, will bring you that new sin and reporting this hour. i'm dana bash. let's go behind the headlines inside politics we start in georgia where a judge just ruled that da fani willis willis can continue spearheading the election case. they are against donald trump if she removes her top deputy in the case, nathan wade, with whom she has had a romantic relationship that is part of a win for the district attorney, but the rest of the ruling leaves a major stain. the judge