minority whip john thune, former whip john cornyn and john barrasso. bret?bret: chad pergram live on the hill. thank you. up next brit hume and jonathan turley with analysis of the legal news of the day. and later taliban brutality on display again in afghanistan. we'll take you there. ♪ ♪ help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. men tell us when they use just for men® to eliminate gray, there's a great “before and after”. then, there's the 'after the after' — that boost you get when you look and feel your best. and that's why more men choose just for men®. [crowd noises] [dramaticlly beat] introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque

you have john berroso and john thune.have only had majority and minority leader in the senate since early part of the 20th century. voters will dictate which party is in the majority. a couple years ago it lasted into january. >> harris: we appreciate you joining "outnumbered" and giving the facts. you are nearby and can feel the emotions. we appreciate it. thank you. how is the senate changed over the years? what is different about leadership position for mitch mcconnell right now than say four years ago? >> jason: senate is based on tradition and seniority. i don't think it is foregone conclusion john cornyn or john thune gets there. if senator tim scott is not nominated vice president, he will be mentioned, j.d. vance, marco rubio. >> harris: it will not look like what it did in the house going 15 rounds? >> they will settle this. growing number of younger senators don't think you should get to your leadership position based on seniority alone. that change took place first in the house and now in the united states sena

but if he loses, that doesn't mean it's going to be john thune or john cornyn, right, then i think johnthe most sense, good at 1 foot in maga world and 1 foot in establishment world. >> let's talk about the possibility that donald trump doesn't win the presidency, that joe biden gets reelected, he just made comments, the first we've heard from him about this decision, this announcement by mitch mcconnell, and he said, he and i have trust. we've got a great relationship. we fight like hell and he never, never, never misrepresented anything. i'm sorry to hear he's stepping down. what would this potentially mean for joe biden? >> well, certainly if president biden gets reelected, he would like to see or he'd prefer to see someone more like mitch mcconnell. i mean, it's not a big secret that mitch mcconnell and joe biden have a good relationship, that they cut a number of deals when they were in the senate, and then of course when joe biden was president obama's vice president, and i do think if biden does get reelected, if he defeats donald trump, then candidates like john thune, and john

i'm talking about john barrasso, john thune, john cornyn. all of those members widely seen amongst their colleagues as potential successors but it's really interesting as you talk to republican members, many of them want to use the next several months to have conversations to understand what the philosophy of these perspective senators are, how they would lead the conference. they view this as a result lead pivotal time to talk about the direction of the republican party because trump is really ascending at a moment where mcconnell has spent the last several months fighting for additional ukraine aid that many of his own members ended up ultimately they voting against that just raises the question of what exactly is going to be able to unite the republican party? what leader is going to be able to unite the republican? in party? and you have a couple of members who are already saying who they're backing. you have senator mike rounds of south dakota saying he does plan to vote for john thune, support john thune, but a lot of these members don

but you also can put john thune in that category. john thune, served with him in the house. telegenic, young, aggressive, would probably be a pretty good candidate. the odds are, if trump were to win, i mean, you can probably, at this point in time, look toward barrasso to being the leader. if trump loses, i think right now, you put your money on john thune, maybe cornyn. that's what's insiders are saying. >> so i just want to ask you to make a little clarification. you say if donald trump is elected president, you think somebody will be in who is more of a person he can rely on to move senate business. is that what's going on or will it be, donald trump will say this is who i want and that will happen? >> remember, there's going to be a vote. and i don't think you're going to see full-on trump if trump were to win. >> you're not suggesting he would influence votes? >> no, what i'm saying to you, though, is there will be a moderating effect inside that whole senate caucus. and while trump may get their person, they're not going to get somebody that's going to be, you know, j

john thune, senator john thune hasn't been always a backer of donald trump. in fact, he's been critical of him now as the number two republican in the senate, he's endorsing donald trump it is significant. it is further illustration that the republican establishment is ready to move on and calling coalescing around the former president. we know that senator thune, really there's no love lost there and he is not an infant who's he asked a trump supporter, he previously actually endorsed senator tim scott. but what this really indicates is that he does not see a path forward for nikki haley. but, you know, her team says that she doesn't need the establishment. she's not listening to the noise there and really she's relying on the voters. and the fact that she argues that a former president, he should be commanding in these early states, upwards of 90% of the vote. yes, she's losing, but she still has a base of support and that is why she is continuing to run this race. sarah >> eva mckend, always great reporting. thank you so much. appreciate it >> john berman.

senator john clune -- senator john thune from south dakota jointly.ing have our tax information? >> that's a good question. good morning. that's what we are trying to find out. the irs like all government agencies had to have these tiktok devices banned in the workplace. that was a 2022 law. the irs has a report suggesting they are not complying with the law and we want to know how many irs employees have personal devices, how many have access to confidential taxpayer information and what are they doing to keep that information safe? the ccp would be interested in the tax information of american businesses and individuals so this is a serious issue and the irs needs to respond and ensure that americans confidential personal tax information is kept that way. stuart: i don't wish to be sarcastic but don't hold your breath on that one. >> that the experience we had with this irs, but we will keep pushing. stuart: the white house is ramping up its attacks on house republicans after they opposed the bipartisan border deal. watch this. >> house republicans

majority whip john thune told leaders a vote on the security package is inevitable so they need to, quote, stop being bleep and vote according to two people familiar with the administrations. you can guess what the bleep was. meanwhile some other senate republicans are vowing to block the foreign aid bill until the situation at the border is addressed first. let's take a beat and revel in that for a second. they're not going to vote for foreign aid until they vote for the border despite voting against legislation earlier in the day, which would have done exactly that. >> what this administration and chuck schumer, they are doing, is using the crisis in israel to support other priorities of the party. we should first secure our southern border, second provide resources to israel, third, take a look at the indo-pacific, and fourth make sure we have accountability woven into any resources that we give to ukraine. without doing those four things in secession, it's going to be hard for republicans to support it. >> you have already too many republicans who have trnz transitioned from, okay, th

if not, someone like john thune or john cornyn, they have a chance. people mentioned steve daines, people have mentioned tom cotton, anybody who has eyes on becoming the senate republican leader is going to throw their hat in the ring right now. >> the senate has been seen as kind of the last, as i said, bulwark toward maga republican-ism, it's been kind of eroding lately. there have been louder voices than the senate gop. obviously the bipartisan immigration deal was an example of that, the fact that ukraine funding was so hard to pass in the first place in that chamber is another example of that. do you see this devolving into what we see in the house, the trump-led conference that is trying to silence or nullify the influence of the few moderates that are left. >> not to sound repetitive to jake, but all of this depends on november. if trump wins, then, yes, you're going to have, you know, it's going to be the apprentice show at mar-a-lago. you know, and you're going to have to go down there and kiss the ring, and it becomes an audience of one and

john thune, current minority whip, current number two republican. john veraso.ave bases of support. all have different degrees of maga to them. it's probably not an accident that john thune, the current senate number two, and very much a trump skeptic, let's say himself, endorsed donald trump just over this past weekend. john cornyn did so around the time that the former president won the iowa caucus. john beraso was an early trump supporter in this race, has been quick to put his thumb on the scale in favor of trumpy senate candidates. the most important election with the fewest voters in america, the effort to attain that position will start right now. frankly, they probably started at the beginning of this congress if not sooner as mitch mcconnell's health problems became more apparent and simply the fact as mcconnell says himself, father time is undefeated. he could not and would not stay in this position forever. >> i think you are right on all points. let's talk about the most important consequential decision he made was probably merrick garland, preventin

it's believed that the john's john thune, john barrasso, and john cornyn are all in contention. i should note all of them have endorsed donald trump, including most recently, john thune, who did it just this week. is it wishful thinking that trump's hand is not right in the center of this particular cookie jar. >> yeah. i mean, i think it's wishful thinking. i think i filled it was a big step that made a lot of us sad because he had held out and you just see this like what's it worth being the leader of the party if you have to acquiesce to donald trump anyway, like, why do you need this job? so bench or really not going to have any influence. so i think look, i appreciate mitt romney's take on this and i'll give a lot of deference to him because he's on the right side and he knows this caucus better than i do. but i think the idea that i mean, look, this immigration plan was basically tanked because of the former president and yeah, he's got his influence is only going to grow. look at josh hawley he's all over twitter, gloating about this despite the fact that he was the faste

john, john thune, the number two republican who has expressed to me in the past, but he is interested in the position john barrasso, the number three republican, who is also expected to jump into this race. john cornyn also reiterating today that he is interested in running for this position. now, i caught up with one of dunes porter's senator mike rounds. it was a fellow south dakota republican. he indicated to me that this race essentially has already begun. and i asked him about his handling of donald trump, given the fact that they've had a bit of a rocky relationship until thune endorsed him just over the weekend he said a bit of a rocky relationship with trump. is that a liability? >> well, i think just in the last week or so, he has publicly announced his support for the trump campaign. and i think that's something that a republican leader in the senate really has to ponder and be careful of how they approach it. i think he showed the right type of temperament and the way that he approached it. and the fact that he has said he will support the former president and his campaign

this is the same john thune who told cnn just last month, the following, i've always been worried about trump's viability as a general election candidate. well, how times change >> this all leaves us where on this monday morning, well, here at least is a delegate math that tells you a little bit of where we are, donald trump now has 110 delegates. nikki haley, 20 delegates. a reminder, a candidate needs 1,215 delegates to lock in the nomination. cnn's alayna treene has more much more math. she's going to do for us from washington this morning. >> oh >> nikki haley says, the math is still not in donald trump's favor, not adding up for donald trump in the long term. she may say that, but what is donald trump in the team around him saying about thinking about this week and what it means for him a look at the math. is there for donald trump and his campaign's still is very confident, but by mid-march, they will >> have the necessary delegates. that 1,215 number that you shared kate, to declare him the presumptive republican nominee, and he's still the favorite in the majority of the primary

what does that say to you that people like john thune are falling in line behind the former president >> well, it's the unfortunate reality of where we are as a country, but i'll specifically speak to as republicans, we feel the need to kiss the ring into endorsed a flawed candidate. and that's not leadership we have got some tough times on our hands. we've got some tough situations that we need real genuine leaders and each, each candidate has problematic populations that they have to work through. donald trump just either he has this crowd of folks that are with him and then the massive crowd of folks that are never going to be with them. and that makes the math problem and possible for republicans to win. i think there's going would it be a whole lot of regret after donald trump gets beat again? you know, heaven forbid, he wins and nikki haley doesn't prevail in this republican primary. and he comes in and just rearranging the deck chairs again and creates chaos across the party, the country and maybe even a world all right. >> ron brownstein, geoff duncan, we'll leave it there. ou

i'm thinking, first and foremost of senate minority whip john thune, the number two senate republican, who has been a long time time critic of donald trump, has openly said he worries about donald trump's viability in a general election versus joe biden now coming out and endorsing the former president. again, this is someone who said after january 6, that the party needs to move on from donald trump. i think it's just another example of how the party is really coalescing around him and how donald trump is, is able to consolidate support even among those who have been holding out for so long for really years at this point, ever since he left the white house trying to say, hey, we need to move on that's not the case. and this is an example of people like john thune, other senate republican leaders acknowledging the reality of which is is that voters want him to be their nominee. yeah. >> all right. guys, standby for me for a second. we've got this other big story that we're also following here in washington. and that is the countdown to the government shutdown. congress has its back ag

she's been around, but again, i think a likely successor is john thune. but again, dune came out endorsing trump, which is a good thing, but he's also got problems like cornyn where he was backing that 95 billion billion dollars foreign aid package. and that's not popular with trump world as we know, these are the three johns on the screen that we think are likely successors here. but i have to say not none of them. barrasso probably as the one with this sort of profile that fits trump while also being part of the outgoing administration. the other two a potentially i could see them facing some issues will see. all right. mychael schnell, rina shah. thank you both very much. >> all right. the supreme court is going to hear donald trump's claim of absolute immunity. how big a win is this for the former president? pretty big. i got to say, plus the new all-time leading scorer in women's college watch basketball history. i love her >> job. we >> dietary supplements from volterra for healthy joints. >> stay tuned to get this nut set for you from granite stone

this is a perfect example of it, like john thune endorsed donald trump this week. i like john thune a lot, but like this is what trump does do a party. >> i mean, once you become an snl and cold open, right? conceptually that you're saying something one way. jim risch got to appear on exactly. so random jury humor relies on shared understanding and knowledge. and so the idea is conceptually, we'd all get the joke. >> i'm more intrigued by how how, and why a story like this actually appears and the timing, because we're heading towards a potential government shutdown, the ukraine funding is still an issue and mcconnell has been stymied by trump's outside efforts to rally the troops in his own direction. so like, what is this about? maybe you can tell me because you've been a congressional reporter and ashley yeah. >> worked on stories like this as a congressional yeah. what is going to pressure being exerted in which direction? >> well, i mean, the question though for me, is it less about the timing of the article? and but it's, it's, it's more about you know, wheth

will step down as republican leader november early nails include wyoming senator john barrasso sd john thunejohn cornyn, tub vile joined me last hour saying republicans need a new leader before mcconnell resigns. >> leader mcconnell has done a good job but i am not for lame-duck leader i am for next month us picking somebody else out that is going to lead us let them pick their own team we have to have somebody number one that is behind the senate behind if american people, and behind president trump. >> indiana senator mike brown member senate budgeting a committees, aging committee that i thinks for being here who would you like to see leadership now that mcconnell is stepping down. >> i go back to will have the time we did this. i was standing right next to rick scott when he decided to kind of on the moment, extemporaneously throw hat in the ring saying entitlement needed to be looked at said wrong way schumer jumped on it then mcconnell nine or 10 votes clearly the party changed since i came in, in have 18, 15 of last come from different way of thinking that is try to fix this place not

john thune sounds like a good candidate. i kind of watched him as well. mr. mcconnell is a really nice guy and smiled. there are some different things that he spoke at, and he is such an unlikely politician. just very nice. i remember one time somebody approached him at a restaurant and started being absolutely horrible to him and all the people in the restaurant went to defend him because he was just sitting there and taking it. a lot of people in the restaurant went over to defend the guy. from this person who decided they were going to go off on mitch mcconnell. a nice guy. good seeing you. love the dress. host: is there a politician in kentucky that you think, if he should choose not to run for reelection in 2026, who do you think will win that seat? caller: that is a tough one, but i believe it will probably be a republican. mostly, we know about our democrat candidates. but so far, nobody can touch him. i'm sure it will be a republican. host: democratic caller. let's take a look at 2016 when then senate majority leader came onto c-span's program afterwa

john of wyoming, john thune, john of texas. i think it depends on who wins the presidential election. if trump win, this is his party. he wants to have a say in who the next leader is. he could find somebody beyond the three johns. if trump loses, and this is purely a choice of the senators, i think john thune starts out with an advantage. >> let's speak about mitch mb mcconnell's legacy, a relationship with trump, inconsistent. he didn't vote to convict trump in the second impeachment trial. >> crucial. >> had he whipped votes there, maybe donald trump would not be running for office again right now. >> exactly. >> he's also said he'd probably endorse trump again. >> sure. >> it seems to me, speak about his time, what he meant to the upper chamber, but it impact may have been on the judiciary. >> the sweep of his career in the senate, there's no landmark piece of legislation that he's really connected to. he'll be best known in history for how he shaped the supreme court. he sat on one nomination for almost a year, and he move

generation will see which leaders ultimately decide to run three potential successors could run john thune, john cornyn, john barasa, but all of them just moments ago would not commented that decided to if they said they would run to succeed. >> round >> three johns. all right. manu raju. thank you so much for that. let's bring in republican strategist, doug heye. let's talk first about mcconnell's legacy. he is i think obviously people focus on arnold trump and they think of reshaping the supreme court. but it was really mitch mcconnell who orchestrated that. >> well, the first thing i'd say is tenure. he has been in this position for a very long time. the first time i met mitch mcconnell was the first thing after the 2004 elections, i worked for richard burr who would just won the day before, and mcconnell's hit the ground, run i think first and north carolina and then to other states where republicans had won. he's been in that position for that long and clearly part of his legacy is donald trump's legislative victories, his judicial appointments. so if you like those, you should like m

we do know that john thune, the number 2 ranking republican in the senate, in the south dakota primaryndorsing donald trump. mitch mcconnell had not indicated that one way or another. 's term goes through january of 2,027. not as if he would be leading the senate, just the leadership post. we don't know his plans beyond that. maybe some other issues. in the meantime let's go to hillary vaughan with other issues captivating house republicans after biden testifying behind closed doors but it has already gotten nasty. >> reporter: three hours into hunter biden's deposition house democrats say the case should be closed. they are calling it a deep-sea fishing expedition, a fairytale, hunter biden calling it in his opening statement a maga motivated conspiracy. >> they seem to be obsessively focused on speakerphones and use of speakerphone. i did not know that was the devil's technology but apparently it is. i believe based on this first hour that this whole thing really has been a tremendous waste of our legislative time and the people's resources. >> reporter: on speakerphone is investigat

election and the first three people you should probably look at, john cornyn, john barrasso, and john thune, the three johns, they have been preparing quietly, mitch mcconnell just turned 82, he had some health episodes last year and some people started to worry about his health. he's had his differences with the presumptive republican nominee, former president trump, and even this morning there were some senators talking about they didn't like his leadership style. mitch mcconnell, someone who always seems to know where the votes lie, he always seems to be able to read the politics. just about a week and a half ago, they passed the supplemental international aid package for ukraine and taiwan and israel, and mitch mcconnell did not get a majority of his conference voting for that, as i always say, it's about the math. he wanted to get border security into this bill at the behest of his conference and had to back away from that. it's been clear for a while that mitch mcconnell has not been fully aligned with his conference. listen. >> believe me, i know the politics within my party at this

another high-ranking republican, senator john thune, they are suggesting that they may not support it end right here, because republicans want it to. would democrats be giving them what they want by not moving the ball forward in even a small measure on some kind of immigration bill? >> look, republicans are the reason we are here to begin with . the only reason we are where we are is because republicans insisted on saying aid to ukraine to changing what's happening at the border. we should never have been here to begin with. we should have advanced aid to ukraine a long time ago. but they wanted to engage in a border negotiation, if you will. and after months of participating in it, if they are walking away from it, again, the question is on them. when are they want to get serious? we know what solutions will wait, let's now go back to a trump playbook that was shown to fail. >> yeah, it is a question for the folks on the republican side who oppose it, would they that would actually fix what's going on at the border? senator alex padilla, i know that there's still much more to come o

names to watch, gop whip john thune, former whip john cornyn and john barrasso of wyoming. gop arkansas senator tom cotton is interested in a leadership bid. david: another historical moment for washington, d.c., chronicled by our own chad pergram. we had a lot of them. good work. thank you very much. let's bring in edward lawrence live from the white house on president biden's remarks today, edward? >> reporter: the president going for his physical today, saying everything is squared away. he says his doctors actually told him he looks too young. the president spent several hours at walter reed medical center. he did not get a cognitive test but the white house press secretary says the president doesn't need one. >> the president doesn't need a cognitive test. that is not my assessment, that is not my assessment. that is the assessment of the president's doctor. that is also the assessment of the neurologist who also made that assessment as well. >> reporter: so after seeing his doctor the president spoke about making communities safer and fighting crime, highlighting how

john thune of south dakota, john cornyn of texas, and john barrasso of wyoming.e former president although john thune held out until this week. the sec is investigating -- the wall street journal reported regulators are looking at internal columns by the ceo sam altman related to his ouster in november. sources familiar with the probe say the sec subpoenaed openai in december and told senior staff to preserve internal documents. openai's board chair says the company will continue to strengthen governments. amc theater is cutting the pay for it ceo by 25% after about 2023. the fourth quarter profit missed estimates despite the sales boosts from taylor swift and beyonce concert films. amc sees a 9% revenue drop because the slate of films being released is so limited. jonathan: up next, guess what washington is doing? kicking the can down the road. >> the american people deserve better than this. you would not run a peanut stand over how congress is trying to do the national budget. jonathan: a lot of people might agree with that sentiment. this is bloomberg. ♪ j.p.

the number two senate republican, john thune, of south dakota just became the latest republican to come out against it. a reminder, this deal includes huge wins for conservatives. it requires the border to be shut down when crossings average 5,000 a day. that would happen for a week. make it harder for migrants to seek asylum. make it easier to remove them if their claims are rejected. it would be the toughest border security bill in decades. joining me now is the lead republican negotiator on this bill, senator james lankford of oklahoma. thank you so much for joining me. i guess my first question is about you and whether or not you personally are going to vote to advance this bill when it comes up for a procedural vote tomorrow. >> yeah, this is a bill i believe in, trying to work through the process to be able to help colleagues understand more about it, what's actually included in it, to be able to dispel myths about it, which there seems to be a thousand myths of what is in this bill or not in this bill. we're working through that. there are two different stages, the procedural sta

. >> john barrasso, john cornyn, john thune.m cotton's name was mentioned as well. >> that would be the youngest candidate. maria: a quick break. hunter biden grilled on capitol hill over the family's influence peddling, democrats keep saying there's nothing there. missouri congressman eric burleson will tell us what he learned. google's woke a.i. bot gemini rekindling talks about repealing section 230 which gives immunity to big tech over user content. will they lose that immunity. a live report coming up. don't miss it. you're watching "mornings with maria" live on fox business. we'll be right back. ♪ (luke) so... i hear some of you are concerned about the fact that i'm taking over the company. well, rest assured, company's in great hands. marci, hit the vid'. (both lukes) homes-dot-com. we've done your home work. (luke) now, that is worth celebrating! (brad) i love it. (luke) thank you. (brad) home...work... very clever. (vo) ding dong! (luke vo) homes-dot-com. personalized financial advice from ameriprise can do more than he

gop whip john thune, former women john cornyn and john barrasso of wyoming. the gop won't pick a predecessor until november. >> he's gave us the confidence to sit down and decide what our mission needs to be. what are our goals. we need a more strategic approach to doing that. he's given us that time to have that discussion and then hopefully find a leader that will fully embrace that mission. >> there was tension between mcconnell and conservatives for years. former president trump wanted mcconnell out. it was thought that mr. trump could try to engineer his ouster if he wins in november. neil? >> neil: thank you for that, chad, on capitol hill. we'll give you the latest and whether the former president has said anything about this. the former president plans to go to the border tomorrow. the present president plans to go to the border tomorrow. they're not there at the same time and the same place. it's note worthy. jacqui heinrich has more. >> we're waiting for the results of the president's physical that happened today. it won't include a cognitive test.

senators john thune, senator john cornyn, and senator john grasso, each of them have already begun talking to their college, stealing them out. but wolf, this is going to be a secret ballot election after the november elections. so it's uncertain who is the favorite here? there are who will ultimately win here. but a significant moment here in the united states senate with mcconnell's steps down. and now a leadership race to succeed, a very significant indeed been a razo up on capitol hill thank you very much. and to our viewers. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. i'll also see you tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern for cnn newsroom once again, thanks very much for watching erin burnett outfront starts right now

john thune is in many ways many people i talked to see him as the front runner, kind of the more natural error of mcconnell but on the other end of things he does not have a good relationship with the former president and trump circle so that could be a hindrance there for his attempt on his part to run for leader. meanwhile john barrasso has been a long time endorser of the former president. he's also back a lot of the more conservative kind of maga style candidates so far. those running for senate this year. he's an interesting character to watch as well because of his appeal to the further right flank of the republican party, whether we see those senators polson power in essence with over the decision. lastly, john cornyn has also been close to leadership for a long time. he seems likely to make a run for this position. he's a texas republican conservative, also has little bit of a difficult relationship with former president trump but he has endorsed the president, never endorsed any other primary challenger for the president, which john thune did. >> host: stef kight is a political

senators john thune, senator john cornyn, and senator john grasso, each of them have already begun talking to their college, stealing them out. but wolf, this is going to be a secret ballot election after the november elections. so it's uncertain who is the favorite here? there are who will ultimately win here. but a significant moment here in the united states senate with mcconnell's steps down. and now a leadership race to succeed, a very significant indeed been a razo up on capitol hill thank you very much. and to our viewers. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. i'll also see you tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern for cnn newsroom once again, thanks very much for watching erin burnett outfront starts right now >> outfront. next we are following several breaking stories this hour, the supreme court agrees to weigh in on whether trump is immune from criminal charges related to january 6, it's the heart of trump's defense. is the doj's case now in trouble, also breaking right now, trump on the hook for $454 million. the clock is ticking because a new york court

we expect john thune to jump in, likely john barrasso.'s a possibility of a dark horse, that comes from the more conservative wing of the republican party, even closely more associated with the former president donald trump. we should point out, right out of the gate, one of the first things john cornyn made a point do was tell reporters he has been in communication with donald trump and has talked to him about his intention to run for the republican leader of the senate. this is going to be a long process, jose. keep in mind that the term as leader is not going to run out for mitch mcconnell until after the november election. they won't decide on a new republican leader until december. the fact that folks are out of the gate, less than 24 hours after mcconnell announced his intention to step down, shows just how competitive this race will be. >> meanwhile, the house is set to vote on another short-term spending bill today. what's in that deal? >> reporter: what it shows is that leaders are now getting serious about doing everything they

i say that even senator john thune number two a trump critic has now endorsed donald trump. question is crossover appeal, can independence you largely like nikki haley back trump in the general versus joe biden. stuart: you're not supposed to say this in journalism but only time will tell or it remains to be seen. another no, no in this business. trump says republicans are united but take a look at this from the wall street journal editorial board donald trump's divided republican party, brian brenberg with me now, which is a republican's divided were unified. >> i don't think there divided as editorial says look at the issue at the top of everyone's minds there donald trump issue, the border, the economy a battle between haley and trump in the longer she stays in the harder to get haley voters back on the trump site but this is trumps parties and issues he won by 20 points in south carolina, her own state you can't tell me doctor hardy on the brink. stuart: ronna mcdaniel will step down as the chair of the republican national committee next friday, that is more proof that t

the johns, if you will, john barrasso, john thune, john cornyn people jokingly say, i'm for john, for john. and i think they're pretty be safe and saying that if president trump were to say, i'm for this one versus that one, i don't think again, these 49 or 50 republican senators are going to say, oh i'm going to do what? donald trump tells me to do this pretty headstrong group weeds think we're pretty good and people like me actually ran for president once we got a bunch of guys who ran for president. yeah. >> but you're different in this sense of how you stand up. and we just saw trump's influence on the immigration bill the senate, that bipartisan bill with foreign aid that came out. he did have a lot of influence on at least some of those republicans senators. >> yes. i think on various issues he will have an influence. i think he has more influence in the house then he does in the senate. but i think by-in-large senators vote their conscience. they do what they think is the right thing for their constituents, for their reelection for the country and so i don't, i don't think that

replace mcconnell has already begun with senators john cornyn of texas, and senator minority whip john thune of south dakota all expected to seek the position. joining us now congressional reporter for politico, daniela diaz. momentous moment, one speculation would occur considering mcconnell's health issues in recent months. let's take a minute and weigh in on his legacy, what he's leaving behind, an imprint on the upper chamber to be sure but also the judiciary. >> that's completely correct, jonathan. i mean he's been the leader of the senate republican conference for nearly two decades, and he's been the longest leader that the republican conference has ever had, that is why the news yesterday, which, we of course expected at some point he would announce his future plans for his role in the conference, but we didn't know was going to happen yesterday came unexpectedly and really sent shock waves through the republican conference, and he only started calling some of his republican colleagues yesterday morning to tell them the news. so it's really a huge day, and it's hard to overstate what

i'll is ask minority whip john thune if beijing has our tax information.o voters care about that? mollie hemingway, coming up. the 10:00 hour is next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ .. ♪ you were made to act spontaneously. we were made to help plan accordingly. ♪ that first time you take a step back. i made that. with your very own online store. i sold that. and you can manage it all in one place. i built this. and it was easy, with a partner that puts you first. godaddy.

senators mitch mcconnell and senator john thune, they're calling for the to proceed to an impeachmental against homeland security secretary mayorkas. senators manchin, tester and other democrat senators oppose that. your final word on that. >> i think that the democrat senators don't want a light shone on what's happening. but unfortunately for the democrats, it's the not just fox business and fox news reporting it now. now you're seeing it on your local tv stations, on your local radio stations because so much is happening. and and it's important to remember that there is no historical precedent for what is happening at the southern border, for the rate at which mayorkass and biden are letting people illegally into this country, for the rate at which the people who are on the terror watch list are coming into this country. philadelphia elizabeth got it. >> in which drugs are entering this country. there is no historical precedence for this. this is an aberration. this is not even something president obama did, and it's going to take a strong and tough commander in chief, hopefully do

look for the three republican senator john thune, who's currently the number two republican senator john cornyn, a former republican whip, and john barrasso, the number three republican senator. all of them could run for this spot in a secret ballot election between that will happen after november. so a lot of jockeying will happen between now and then as members of congress, the senators grappling with this historic moment. yeah, the battle of the johns wow, this is certainly quite a moment. manu standby, because i want to bring in scott jennings. he is a cnn contributor and a long adviser to mitch mcconnell before he was formal and now he's informal and i would say scott, it's probably fair to they say a very close friend. i mentioned to manu that i don't remember. we were talking here. i've seen senator mcconnell get sort of emotional understandably. so when longtime colleagues pass away, but he his voice was cracking throughout this entire speech. it was obviously not easy for him to give. and one of the many lines that struck me, scott was him when he talked about his age and the fa

lisa murkowski, for people like susan collins, there's a lot of discussion about the three john's, john thune, the number two republican right now, john cornyn, a republican from texas, the former whip and john barrasso, another member of current republican leadership. and that discussion is going to continue. but again, seven for months until republicans have to make this ultimate decision. and you can expect that trump is going to loom large in the months ahead as people are jockeying for that role, john john power i can get lineup behind that. lauren, 24 hours ago, we thought there might be a government shutdown looming where do things stand right now? >> yeah, things are moving in a much more positive direction. you had that announcement yesterday from house republican leaders that they are going to move forward with a short-term cr to give themselves a little bit more time than the expectation is that they are going to be able to pass six of the appropriations bills by march 8. the other six by march 22. now, a lot of things can fall apart between now and then, but there is a realization

republican whip senator john thune says, he's unclear whether there will be enough support in his conferencee the bill as former president donald trump continues to encourage republicans to vote against the bill all while he makes his rounds on the campaign trail. now, the possible failure of t bill comes as states plead with the government for more federal assistance to help quell the increasing flow of people seeking asylum. according to customs and border patrol since october 1st, staff have encountered nearly 1 million migrants at the southern border. whit? >> whit: and that bill still in limbo. thank you so much, ike ejiochi, for us. >>> we want to stay on politics and democrats this weekend turning their attention to south carolina, the first time that the state is getting to go first in the democratic primary, and it's a major test for president biden in the 2024 race. white house correspondent maryalice parks is there. maryalice, good morning. >> reporter: whit, good morning. we're in front of a polling location. you can see still quiet here this morning, but, look, president biden a

for him and his allies, there's a coalescing, even senate republican john thune backing him last night. i want to let you hear my yes to lindsey graham, the fellow south carolinian. >> what is your message to fell le south carolinian. >> we like you, we admire you, we're proud of you. it's time to unify. >> the republicans want to unify. the dnc and joe biden are outfund-raising them by millions of dollars, not only the campaigns, but the super pacs. . >> we know trump has tried to use his legal woes as a campaign boost, as a fund-raising boost. here he is this weekend, now in a new controversy because of comments he made about his legal woes connecting with black voters. take a listen. >> i got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time. and a lot of people said that that's why the black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as i'm being discriminated against. i'm being indicted for you, the american people. i'm being indicted for you, the black population. i am being indicted for a lot of different gr

senators john cornyn, john barrasso and john thune all expected to be in the running in the newsroom.reg lee, ktvu, fox two news. >> house and senate leaders have reached a bipartisan deal to avoid a partial government shutdown ahead of the friday deadline. the deal would temporarily extend funding for one set of federal agencies through march 8th and another group through march 22nd, but emergency funding for ukraine, israel and other allies remain stalled. the house is expected to vote on the temporary funding bill tomorrow. the senate would vote soon after, and president biden and former president trump are both set to visit the southern border tomorrow. president biden is headed to brownsville. mr. trump is scheduled to go to eagle pass, which is about 300 miles away. both areas have reported high concentrations of border crossings. president biden is set to meet with border patrol, law enforcement and local leaders and to renew his calls for congress to pass a bipartisan border agreement. >> desperately needed aid arrived in gaza city today, where officials say hundreds of thousa

here's the number two senate republican john thune today. >> i believe the senate needs to hold a trialthink this is such a miscarriage of the law. and it is important that the united states senators sit in hear and the american people hear about this incredible crisis at our southern border. lisa: hear him saying this is about the crisis at the border. democrats say he has done nothing wrong that there is a crisis. but the issue here is i think democrats, my reporting is want to move to not have a trial. they do not think there's reason for one. we're going to check in with that maybe next week, maybe the following weeks after we get past the other crisis. geoff: all right. following it at all for us. thanks so much. lisa: you're welcome. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with "newshour" west. here are the latest headlines. the pauls up close and we have the winners. president biden and former president trump won their respective parties contest, which was expected. the final vote count will be closely watched i both parties. israel and hamas cast doubt today on president biden's suggestion

mitch mcconnell, john thune of south dakota, joni ernst of iowa and shellie had moore capito all brokeemocrats on this. lindsey graham has been bulking on it. he actually backs now donald trump's plan for foreign aid essentially as being a loan rather than money. the other thing about all this money to ukraine that looks like a gigantic number but i have heard a number of people say a lot of that money actually stays in the united states. >> brian: because they buy our weapon systems we replenish. buy from american companies. >> ainsley: let's bring in chad pergram fox news senior congressional correspondent knows all of these players and so well versed on what is happening there on the floor. chad, what do you expect to happen now in the house? pass the senate and now it goes to the house. >> yeah. we don't think that this is going to come up right away in the house of representatives. house speaker mike johnson sent a statement last night saying that the status quo from the senate was unacceptable. he wanted some border provisions attached to this bill. remember that was the plan tha

so the republican whip, john thune, was telling our colleague, ted barrett just a couple of minutes ago that he's confident they're going to be able to get an agreement to move this across the finish line in short order, but that agreement hasn't quite come together yet, so we're still keeping an eye on the senate and how fast they can move. but looking more and more likely that this deadline is going, this shutdown deadline is going to be protected and they're gonna be able to pass this bill. >> lauren fox and important update from capitol hill. thank you so much >> so >> former president donald trump's january 6 federal case is now on hold at least for a few more months. the supreme court has announced that it is going to hear arguments on trump's presidential immunity bid in late april. >> this is a big win for the former president, of course, given his election subversion trial was supposed to begin next month with us. now we have cnn senior supreme court analyst joan biskupic, and cnn justice correspondent jessica schneider. jones starting with you here. why would the supreme court

i mean, you are seeing john thune endorsed him, that it reports about mcconnell getting ready to do so. i think it would be hard for the remain in mexico is a hard piece for democrat even wonder if there's 218 votes in the house for that version. that they've come forward with. but look, i mean, the senate bill, the thing that understand what the senate bill is that all of the quote concessions to democrats where on issues other than immigration, i mean the immigration policy pretty consistently moves and republican direction, in particular, by changing the standard that asylum in a way that would significantly reduce the number of asylum seekers. we didn't get to first base. and that was a clear conservative victory, doesn't have everything they want to. alice's point in the old days, if you are getting renal ronald reagan to say, you know, 75% agreement, you're my friend, not my, not my enemy. if you're getting 75% of what you want and giving a very pretty little on the other side, you would take it. now it's a very different world, by the way, the number of immigrant major immigrati

this while donald trump picks up a new endorsement from senator john thune of south dakota. he's the number two republican in the senate while it seems that trump is on stoppable right now, he is facing some looming court dates and trials will discuss if that might throw a wrench and things. but let's turn now to cnn, crime and justice reporter katelyn polantz, because kaitlan, you have new reporting on the strategy that trump's legal team is employing to try to avoid a federal trial before election day. >> right. donald trump has all these cases and two federal trials that could still happen this year. now, we know he's going to go to trial in march at the end of the march, and basically stay in trial probably through mid-may in new york. his hush money case but then those two federal trials, his attorneys, according to the sources, i'm talking to, are planning on using one against the other, two box out the ability of him to go to trial at all. so what they want to do starting on friday is asked to move his mar-a-lago documents case trial. so this is the case in florida mo