here now cnn senior political analyst john avalon and host of pbs firing line margaret hoover.nk you for being with us. >> good morning. >> i read the whole thing because people need to see the language, they need to know how clearly it is written there. john avalon, if people have been watching "new day" -- >> which they have. >> fans of "new day" know that this is something you've been talking about for a long time. >> i have been railing on about 14th amendment section 3 in the face of some of our esteemed legal analysts telling me there's no way it's going to come into the conversation. look, my point comes from a book about lincoln and the civil war generation and the fact that this is in the constitution. the civil war generation gave us tools to deal with insurrection and when they passed this it was clearly about future insurrections not just past. this is a very big deal. this lawsuit brought by crew is a very big deal for a couple reasons. it shows that the 14th amendment section 3 can be applied in court. the judge clearly says that january 6 was an insurrection and

and that's your reality check. >> thank you so much for that, john avalon. >>> former president trumplassified documents after leaving office. the latest turn in the investigation ahead. ed. it is just right for my little business. (jeni) we switched, too. (kari) unlimited premium data. unlimited hotspot data. my point of sale is on point. (vo) swititch to verizon business unlimited today. from the network ameririca relis on. the day of the heart attack, i was scared. i didn't know what to do. seeing my daughter have a heart attack, it shook me. aspirin helps reduce the chance of another heart attack by 31 be sure to talk to your doctor before you bin an aspirin regimen. striving to reach the ultimate goal of zero poverty takes more than everyone's hopes and dreams. at citi, it takes a financial commitment to companies who empower people to lift themselves up. it takes funding and building on our know-how to help communities grow. that's how citi is helping create a better future by committing one trillion dollars in sustainable finance by 2030. because it takes everything to reach ze

so joining me now to discuss, senior political analyst john avalon and scott jennings here with cnn seniornalyst nia mallika henderson. good evening one and all. so good to have you-all. john, i'll start with you and go from jon meacham to john avalon. easy transition. we're learning the former president barack obama will publicly appear with candidates and congressional and gubernatorial races and will also campaign with candidates for some sec starry of state races in key battle ground states. not just saying that democracy is at risk here but going to put skin in the game. >> yeah, it's significant he's campaigning for secretary of state. that's not the thing the office of an ex president would focus on but highlights how important those offices are when you have people running that are election deniers with the promise of trying to overturn a future election. but i think obama is uniquely energized in the democratic base and unifies it and in someways beyond president biden. and so i think he'll inject some energy. >> what did you think when you heard the former first lady nia remind p

john avalon with our reality check. >> let's put what happened last night in new hampshire a context.way is to look at the most popular governors. even in our polarized times america's most consistent governors over the past two years have been two blue state governors, charley baker and larry hogan. now in a sane and functioning political system, those two folks would be logical to run for president. they've shown an ability to appeal to democrats and independents as well as rubbles. but no republicans barely acknowledge their existence. and even home state are denouncing them and instead running towards trump. the massachusetts and maryland republican parties seem eager to ditch their own winning playbook by nominating election deniers to succeed their governors. the result, incumbent governors refusing to endorse their party nominees. this isn't just policy differences. larry hogan called dan cox a qanon whack job. and cox has called former vp mike pence a trader and called wes moore a socialist and communist. maryland republicans maryland to nominate a 9/11 conspiracy theorist for

thank you, john avalon.rump and the extreme maga wing of the republican party. good morning to viewers here in the u.s. and around the world, it's friday, september 2nd, i'm brianna keilar with john berman. and the president delivered a blistering rebuke of his predecessor saying the gop is dominated and intimidated by trump and miss maga allies. >> it was a prime time speech in the shadow of philadelphia's independence hall, the president flanked by marines urging americans to fight for the soul of the nation. white house officials insist the speech was not political. here are some of the highlights. >> but as i stand here tonight equality and democracy are under assault. we do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise. donald trump and the maga republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic. they promote authoritarian leaders and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the ver

please welcome john avalon. thank you, john. john: it's an honor to be with you all. i feel like they put me between you all that i'd really have to keep you guys apart but this is a real friendship and some of the fun we're going to have. i want to welcome you all formally to federal hall, and all of you -- i see steve israel and barbara com stock. fergus -- by the way, i loved his book and used it for research i used on george washington's farewell address. this is really a civics base, a sacred civic place. the birthplace of the bill of rights. george washington stood and took the oater here. lower man hatten is one of the most historic and patriotic places you possibly could be. i recall when ted cruz once said dismissably about new york values. i think a walk around lower manhattan reminds us how much of the history we share here and commute with it daily. welcome. i want to ask you about what fergus talked about. how does it feel as current members of congress to be in a sacred place where the first congress served on a day we've had hearings about january 6, wh

to talk about this cnn political commentator and host of pbs "firing line" margaret hoover and john avalonf "lincoln and peace." the president is heading for the road for canned dad fedderman tomorrow. my guess is this will be fiery. >> all political roads this year lead to pennsylvania. and the fedderman race is a backdrop to this. the ex-president campaigning there, the current president. pennsylvania is a must-win, full stop. >> margaret, what's your take on these races? how critical are the races in pennsylvania right now? you saw trump on the campaign trail with dr. oz and mastriano running for governor there. how important are these races? very important it seems. >> yes. they are enormously important. republicans have hoped desperately to win back control of the senate and they have been putting everything on 2022 and almost unstoppable wave of election it's turning out it may not be a given republicans walk away with the senate. i suspect they will still walk away with the house. the senate and the caliber of the candidates that republicans have nominated in order to compete in the

. >> john avalon is a political analyst and melissa served in the trump white house as communications director. john, why is governor desantis in this. his statement said that florida is not a sanctuary state. well they weren't in florida. he sent the plane to texas to pick them up and take them to martha's vineyard. >> because this is a stunt. this is a stunt designed to show how allegedly tough he is on illegal immigration as he explores a presidential run. it is a stunt that treats people as political pawns and where the cruelty is the point because the trollishness, owning the libs is the driving impulse here with getting attention in the right wing eco-system. and, you know, he gave a speech talking about faith and christianity and the obligations people have to the poor and the displaced. that this wouldn't apply there. also all of the rhetoric we've seen from desantis and other republicans about refugees from the madurea regime. that failed left dictatorship that they're seeking asylum from, treating them as political pawns instead. >> i wonder where governor desantis got the i

. >> really stunning numbers there, john avalon, thank you for that. >>> now this. >> found it. >> whered an emotional harrison introduced the final chapter at the d-23 expo. >> "indiana jones" movies are about mystery and adventure, but they're also about heart. and we have -- we have a really human story to tell. >> getting emotional seeing harrison ford get emotional. harry, let's talk about "indiana jones" by the numbers here. as a franchise how does it compare to other film franchises? >> okay. if there's one thing about indiana jones you should know is that it makes a lot of money. this is the average domestic growth among franchises with three or more films. indiana jones, number three with 319 million per films. avengers ahead of it, star wars ahead of it but nothing else. 519 million over four films over multiple decades. that john, is really impressive. >> a lot of money there. how about the critical acclaim? >> notice those films on the list. not really on this list. what "indiana jones" does that's so unique, not only makes a ton of money but the critics love it. this is the

cnn's senior political analyst john avalon joins us now. what do you think? i think this is the big deal and the right thing to do for john fetterman, not necessarily for his self interest but the people of his state. he's got to be able to show that he can fan and deliver. auditory issues that's ominous, there are details to be worked out but "politico" has an interesting article out today about how few senate candidates this cycle are actually willing to debate. >> yeah. >> it's pathetic. >> one of the things i do want to say, give context to this debate controversy. i've covered a lot of campaigns in my day and every campaign i've covered there is one candidate who wants to debate less than the others other, usually the candidate who is ahead. it's not unusual for a candidate to try to minimize the number of debates but there are questions here and we always want as much out in the public as we can. >> it is easier to screw up than to succeed. the fact that there is this trend away from debating, this cycle more than even past is squirrely. >> former presi

. >> joining me now, cnn political commentator margaret hoover, john avalon and alyssa griffin.raham is doing here. i want someone to take a stab at what's driving him to do that. margaret you volunteered? >> i signed up. the rule in almost all things in life when you're in a hole, stop digging. republicans are in a hole on the issue of choice, on dobbs, the overturning of roe v. wade. this is not going well. what we can see from all the polling and voter registration, especially with women in key states in the election is that the gains that democrats have made has blunted, severely blunted potentially the advantage republicans had historically going into this election. so what mitch mcconnell needs lindsey graham to stop doing is talking about abortion. and what lindsey graham is trying to do is talking about the very specific slice of the issue that republicans win on, which is when you talk about late term abortion and republicans are losing because the entire debate is now about the fact that women have lost a right that they had for 50 years because of a conservative court

let's discuss with margaret hoover and john avalon. thank you so much for being here.epends leaning hard into denouncing graham's bill. they -- don't have to speak in hypotheticals about the senate republicans wanting an abortion ban. this would ban abortion at 15 weeks nationally with exception for rape and incest. it would allow states if they have stricter bans to have stricter bans. >> right. >> federalism in one direction. >> exactly. it's not like here's a compromise we can come around, it's compromise on one side and not for the other. i guess my question is, is this going to work for democrats? is this going to work for republicans? >> okay. so any time you're talking about abortion right now in this cycle, you're helping democrats and hurting republicans. democrats have just won the messaging on this, and republicans, the reason -- look, you and i, john, and you may also know this, there are two kinds of bills. there's a bill that you propose as a senator because you want it to become a law and a bill that you propose for a totally different reason. maybe you'

john avalon and se cup are back with me, along with a primary care pediatrician, from the irving medicaltart with you. now, clearly, even just looking at it, we know this is not a good idea. and they're calling at the sleepy chicken challenge. avalon, do not start. but, can you just explain seriously how dangerous this can be, especially for teens, tweens, who tend to have a good time and jump on some these challenges? >> yeah, i mean, listen. i can't believe we're talk about these things, and we're talk about these challenges. but this can be extremely dangerous. we're talking about a medicine that your concentrating by cooking it. so, we're talk about ingredients that are now gonna be very, very concentrated. and retired ingredients that could be dangerous on their own and together. we're talking a potential overdoses. and even if you don't eat the chicken, because as you showed, and as you mentioned, it looks nasty, quite. frankly but even if you don't cook the chicken the vapor's can be incredibly dangerous immune hail them, right. even have some long irritation as well as other issu