> >>> joining me now, john harwood, john avlon, gentlemen, good evening. john, what can you tell us about the testimony of former federal prosecutor bj pak? >> this is part of a series of inte interviews the committee is doing as democrats on capitol hill are trying to gather what they can in addition to what the select committee is doing about january 6 and what they found was that this trump-appointed u.s. attorney was told by justice department officials he would be fired unless he affirmed trump's claims of voter fraud in georgia which he could not because there was no evidence. and so he resigned without explanation in lieu of being fired. we also know that the replacement that donald trump put in the job, somebody shifted over from the u.s. attorney position in savannah, also found there was no evidence. the picture that's emerging from some of these interviews, including those of jeffrey rosen, former acting u.s. attorney, is that donald trump was pushing across the body politic, looking for soft places where he could work his will. and it is fortuna

. >> john avlon, we know trump was pressuring other georgia officials like the secretary of state brad raffensperger to push his bogus election fraud claims. but luckily the system worked and state officials did their jobs. what happens if there is a next time and those officials aren't there or, you know, if these new voter laws go into effect, they could just overturn the election if they want. go on. >> that's why we need to pay attention to these efforts, not just to voter suppression, but what rick hassen, the election law expert, has called election subversion. because you know, brad raffensperger stood up, did the right thing, was under direct threat on tape by the president of the united states to find 11,000 votes to effectively flip the election. he held. but we don't want to underestimate what means for the guardrails of our democracy. raffensperger was kneecapped by his own political party and now trump congressmen are running to hold that office implicitly so that the next time this might occur they would do the will of a trumpist figure. and that's the real danger here. t

and that's your reality check. >> well said john avlon.et tolov is back with us now. margaret, we're tracking this party, this upcoming 60th birthday party scheduled for firmer president barack obama on martha's vineyard. what have you learned about this, as you see the delta variant starting to rage? >> brianna, this party is the talk of the town on martha's vineyard. it should be said even if there wasn't a pandemic and a delta variant, the obamas' parties on martha's vineyard while he was president were always talk of the town. this has an added level of intrigue because, of course, they're expecting, we understand from others on the island, somewhere close to 500 guests. it will be a massive blowout. pearl jam has been scheduled to play. these are friends of the obamas, guests like steven spielberg. you have the potential for some of the most recognizable faces in american pop culture and in the obama social circle to all be gathered. what we understand about this bash, which has been months in the works, is that it will be outdoors, g

john avlon. good evening one and all, both johns by the way. john harwood, you first.'s start with this critical week for the president's domestic agenda. this is where the rubber really is going to meet the road here, and it comes down to the democrats this time. so give us the latest. what do you think? what do you know? >> well, look, don, the democrats are going to have to decide whether to hang together or hang separately, and this is -- the margins are so small in the house and senate that anybody or any small group of people in the house can take down the president's agenda if they want to. so you have this group of moderate democrats in the house who have been threatening to withhold support for the larger budget bill that they're going to do with democrats-only votes, the $3.5 trillion, unless they first get a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. nancy pelosi doesn't want to do that because they're trying to manage the support of the progressives and the moderates at the same time. she has shown historically a lot of skill at legislating, and so you'd h

let's bring in john avlon. lauren fox also with us. john, let me start with you. the president of course trying to put this in the context of this is good for the job market, this is good for families. as we watch the numbers, the inflation numbers, the cost of living, calling it fiscally responsible, he has a huge sales job to do here to the american people. >> he does indeed. that said, i think there's more of an appetite for government spending than there has been in some administrations past, republicans having lost some moral authority on that issue. but the specter of inflation is a big day. that's something americans have taken for a long time that we controlled inflation. but it was a dominant political force for decades in america. to see that creeping up is a real warning sign for the white house as they put forward this massive spending bill, which they hope will transform kind of the approach of government to the citizens and vice versa. the more spending you have, the danger of inflation rears its head and that's what they're confronting today. >> lau

thank you very much, john avlon. >> i want to bring in olivia troy, a former adviser to vice presidentpushed back against this idea that the withdrawal and evacuation operations would have gone smoothly under former president donald trump. and in particular, olivia, you have as we heard in that reality check there sort of pulled back the curtain on what went on during the trump administration as far as getting these folks who are eligible for relief, people who helped u.s. troops getting them through the system. tell us a little bit about you're in meetings about this and this is something that's personal to you. you did serve as a civilian on and off in afghanistan. what would say stephen miller say in these meetings as he argued against relief for these individuals? >> well, it was really hard to hear his statements and they were said very openly in front of cabinet level people and very senior staff people and would say, well what do you want? do you want a bunch of little iraqs in stands across the country, across the united states. it was hurtful to hear that and offensive. to man

john avlon joins me now to talk about this. r said it was, quote, the worst crime any president has ever committed. i think that folks, john, are overwhelmed about the efforts this former president made to overturn the election. when you look at the message he communicated to the justice department in those crucial days and weeks after the election, it's truly disturbing. >> reporter: it's beyond that. as you point out there's a tendency to normalize this amid the noise. are you really surprised that trump told the attorney general that he should try to say the election was corrupt? yeah, you should be surprised, because this is completely unprecedented in american history. the pattern is clear, but this example is particularly damning. the president of the united states trying to use the power of his office to pressure the justice department, to denounce the results of an election so he and the republican congress could presumably take steps to try to overturn it. that's a coup d'etat, right? that's an attempt to destroy our de

. >>> let's talk more about all of this with cnn senior political analyst john avlon and former whiteications director and defense department press secretary under the trump administration. she was in kabul for the announcement of the peace talks with the taliban in the previous administration. you know, john, just following on arlette's report there what we have not heard from president biden, what does he need to do in this situation to show leadership? >> well, i think he needs to speak to the american people. he's apparently going to double down and defend his decision. theal been would overrun afghanistan shortly have not come to bear. the opposite is true. and there needs to be accountability for that. whether or not this is a policy that in some ways a continuation from the previous administration, it is on his watch. and the failure to execute this efficiently where we're still struggling to get translators and americans and people who supported us over 20 years out of the country, that needs to be addressed hopefully without further bloodshed, but this is a disaster and peopl

and that's your reality check. >> thank you very much, john avlon.on't go far. >>> what role is right wing and social media and conspiracy theory-loving conservative lawmakers, what role is that playing when it comes to vaccine hesitancy and resistance? let's bring in our cnn senior media reporter oliver darcy into this discussion. how impactful is it, oliver? >> i think it's extremely impactful. unfortunately you have people who are not telling the truth to their audiences about what the vaccine does and it's safe and effective and we say that everyday on cnn but unfortunately we're not reaching the right people the people that need to be reached are viewers of fox news, they're fans and subscribers to these anti-vax channels on youtube or groups on facebook or reddit or wherever it may be and they're not getting these facts. they're getting a totally different world view in which vaccines are killing people, which they're not, but they're being told this. and they're not effective. they're being told that as well which is not true. but this is what

. > >>> joining me now, john harwood, john avlon, gentlemen, good evening. secutor bj pak? >> this is part of a series of inte interviews the committee is doing as democrats on capitol hill are trying to gather what they can in addition to what the select committee is doing about january 6 and what they found was that this trump-appointed u.s. attorney was told by justice department officials he would be fired unless he affirmed trump's claims of voter fraud in georgia which h

i'm brianna keilar with john avlon. >> good morning. >> good morning to you. we have breaking news on two fronts. hurricane ida has been downgrade ed to a tropical storm after inflicting devastating, catastrophic damage in new orleans. the day is early. we're trying to get a sense of things and where the damage is. 1.1 million customers are without power. this includes the entire city of new orleans exactly 16 years after hurricane katrina hit. the storm overtopped levees, has trapped people on roofs, we understand from rescuers, and efforts to get those people are getting under way this morning. we have a live look at ida, as it continues its path toward mississippi. there's still a risk of dangerous flash floods here. also storm surge and possibly even tornadoes. >>> also breaking this morning, the final hours of the u.s. troop withdrawal from afghanistan was pupth waited overnight by rocket fire, targeting afghanistan's international airport. a burnt-out car was apparently used as an improvised launch pad to fire five rockets. five hours earlier, the u.s. c

i'm brianna keilar along with john avlon here in studio. >> good morning. >> good morning to you. >>>

morning to our viewers here in the united states and around the world i'm brianna keilar alongside john avlonfollowing a lot of breaking news this morning on two fronts. hurricane ida, a monstrous

morning to our viewers here in the united states and around the world i'm brianna keilar alongside john avlon>> good morning. >> good morning to you. >> it's monday, august 30th. we're following a lot of breaking news this morning on two fronts. hurricane ida, a monstrous category 4 storm with 150 mile-per-hour winds ripping a catastrophic gash across southern louisiana. at least one person is confirmed dead at this point in time. ida is now a tropical storm but there is still extreme danger with up to 8 inches of rain yet to fall in some cities. the mayor of one louisiana town calling this total devastation. the storm overtopping levies and trapping people on roofs, with no way to rescue them. more than 1 million people are currently without power. this includes the entire city of new orleans, exactly 16 years after hurricane katrina hit. and while ida has weakened some, there is still this big threat that we're tracking of flash flooding and dangerous storm surge and tornadoes. >>> also breaking this morning, rocket fire overnight. targeting afghanistan's international airport. video obtain

john avlon with a reality check. >> america's battling against the virus continues, not just the deltah our country. from attempts to deflect blame from the january 6th attack to almost daily disinformation about the covid vaccine, but if kr you're looking for a reason why the lies are so contagious among republican elites, don't look for logic, follow the money. ex-president donald trump has built up a war chest of more than $100 million. with all things trump, it's not quite what it seems. i'm not talking about how he inflated his totals for the first half of the year, i'm talking about how it's evidence of the grift that goes on even as trump cows republicans to staying in an abusive relationship because for all the fundraising over nonexistent mass voter fraud, trump has spent no money on the fruitless fraud that continue to keep the big lie alive in the heart of his hard core supporters. the president deceived his donors a former ftc official told the guardian. they asked to give money so he could contest the election results, and spent the contributions to pay off unrelated debts

joining me now, cnn senior political analyst john avlon and legal analyst jennifer rodgers. she's a former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. so good to have both of you on. thank you so much. good evening. jennifer, i'm going to start with you. 11 women now speaking out against governor andrew cuomo, and investigators say that they interviewed 179 people and reviewed 74,000 pieces of evidence. cuomo is denying any wrongdoing, but this is an extremely thorough investigation. am i wrong? >> no, you're not wrong, don. and that's really what puts the lie to this notion that charlotte bennett or another woman just kind of misunderstood what he meant. you know, 11 women, and the experts who were the investigators in this case and know the law better than anyone agree that it's clear-cut sexual harassment. so you're not wrong at all. this clearly was harassment. and today those women i hope felt some vindication from these experts finding just exactly that. >> john, there were a lot of people waiting on this report saying, hey, let's wait and see what t

john avlon with a reality check. >>> tokyo's ghost olympics have offered a host of contr contradictionsnt contradiction has to do with taiwan, which has been renamed chinese taipei for the purposes of the olympics. and the reason why should really spook you. chinese taipei is a name that appears on no map. 1970s era ioc compromise to the one china policy that comes with a ban on the use of taiwan's flag in any olympic capacity. the island nation of 23 million, own democratically elected government has been erased. the past few weeks taiwan had the best tally of olympic medals ever, the real flag was not allowed to be shown in ceremonies or even on the olympic twitter account. instead this dummy flag was put in its place. things got really heated when taiwan bested china in men's bad mittton. they were berated by online trolls from the chinese mainland. one popular taiwanese star found herself losing $1 million in sponsorships from a hair care brand because she joked on instagram she wanted to invite our national players other to her house. that's real cancel culture. and it should matte

i'm brianna keilar along with john avlon here in studio. >> good morning. >> good morning to you. >>>he clock is ticking. the desperation is building for thousands and thousands of americans and afghan allies who are trying to escape from afghanistan. here is what we know right now. we know that 3,000 people were evacuated in the last 24 hours on 16 military transport flights. that is a number that includes 350 americans and u.s. permanent citizens. now, for people on the ground, trying to get out is simply terrifying. this is harrowing. you see a video here of a young child being handed to american troops on top of a wall at the airport perimeter there in kabul. >> president biden will be briefed on afghanistan later this morning and will address the nation at 1:00 p.m. eastern. all u.s. senators will also be briefed virtually this afternoon. we also have new details about a classified cable sent to the state department by u.s. diplomats in mid july calling for swift action to prevent a catastrophe in afghanistan. and in an extraordinary move, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan ha

. >> joining us now to discuss john avlon and sitting down at the desk moments ago i saw christine romans>> how about that. >> i hope she's here to talk about this. nice to see you here as well. i think we need to frame this last 24 hours the right way. what you had is a bipartisan infrastructure deal that mitch mcconnell and elizabeth warren both voted for. that is the joe biden path forward that so many people said this doesn't exist. we don't have the possibility for bipartisanship in washington. that passed the u.s. senate. within the same 24-hour period, you had democrats on their own passing this huge budget resolution. this doesn't make it law. this opens the door to basically write the legislation for $3.5 trillion worth of new programs that people say christine romans, the most ambitious programs since the new deal. when you take these two things together, what you see is big movement in the biden agenda. >> big time. you cannot really overstate what happened last night in terms of this administration's legacy. first of all, biden bet so much on the idea that there could be bipar

welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world, i'm brianna keilar alongside john avlonn this monday, august 30th. and breaking overnight, hurricane ida downgraded to a tropical storm but not before leaving behind catastrophic damage in louisiana. right now at least one person is confirmed dead. 1.1 million customers are without power. this includes the entire city of new orleans. exactly 16 years after hurricane katrina hit. now, this storm has sent water topping levies. it has trapped people on their roofs. rescue efforts are getting under way this morning here in the coming minutes, here in the next hour. and a live look now as ida is moving toward mississippi. there is still here a risk of dangerous flash floods, storm surge and possibly even tornadoes. >>> also breaking this morning, rocket fire targeting afghanistan's international airport. video obtained by cnn shows the burnt out car that was apparently used as an improvised launch pad to fire five rockets. five hours earlier the u.s. carried out a preemptive drone strike on a potential suicide car bomb in kabul