"the source" with kaitlan "the source" with kaitlan collins starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> tonight, straight from the source, jack smith piercing donald trump's inner circle, his family. jared kushner has now testified before the grand jury in the january 6th investigation as well as hope hicks, the former white house communications director and trump whisperer. >>> plus, he's already shaking up the 2024 race, hoping to be a third party nominee. but democrats are growing worried tonight about cornell west and whether or not he could tip the election in donald trump's favor. he's here to respond. >>> and drug bust? the secret service has given up trying to find a suspect in the cocaine case that the white house has now closed. but questions still remain. i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source." >>> tonight, my sources have confirmed that jared kushner testified last month in the

here with me now cnn senior legal analyst elie honig, and kaitlan collins. kaitlan, do we know who testified before the grand jury today? >> the most important person, even though he is not really a household name is will russell. he was someone kind of a bodyman, personal aide to trump inside the white house and followed him to mar-a-lago after he left the white house. importantly, he was there on january 6th. he was at the ellipse with trump. there is a ton of videos always by trump's side or kind of in the background. what's notable is this is his third appearance before the grand jury. and that's even baffling kind of to some of the trump attorneys of why he is going so many times. one really interesting thing happened today, and that just speaks to the complexity of this case, and also just how intertwined all of this. all of this is happening at a courthouse in washington. and will russell is before the grand jury. his attorney is this guy stan woodward, who is also representing walt nauta, trump's co-defendant. he was late to a hearing, a verdict readi

i'm kaitlan collins and this is "the source with kaitlan collins." >>> may 20th, 2024, it is somewhereeen what the special counsel pushed for in the classified documents case and what trump's legal team wanted. and why judge cannon is splitting the difference. trump could be going to trial on the campaign trail multiple times. in january, the day of the iowa caucuses, his civil case begins, his hush mon in new york starts 10 days after super tuesday and we could have a good idea if he will be the republican nominee and his classified documents trial starts in mid-may as was scheduled today by judge cannon, there's a possibility that trump could have effectively clinched the nomination by then, that was the month he did so in 2016. and of course, we're still waiting to see if he will be indicted in the january 6th case after he got a tore get letter last sunday. here's what his new attorney in that case said today. >> there's no need to appear in front of a grand jury right now, president trump has done nothing wrong, nothing criminal. when he saw the discrepancies and irregularities go

he told kaitlan collins last fight that is hold is not hurting military readiness or recruiting., he would not be doing it. do you buy that? >> he's wrong. and you cannot just take my word for it, but you can take the word of former secretaries of defense, a bipartisan group have come forward and said that he's wrong, military officers have come forward and said he's wrong. for the first time in our nation's history, for the first time in over 100 years, the marine corps is not gonna have a commandant of the marine corps front of this hold. and by the way, it's not just about abortion, the pentagon policy is if a service member needs to seek reproductive health care because they're station in a state where they don't have access to it, they will reimburse them for the travel, not for the procedure, for their travel. so, you could be like me, someone who had to leave to go get ivf, for example, and he's injecting his personal agenda are into military readiness. and this problem is only going to get worse the longer he maintains this hold. >> kaitlan collins pointed out to him that

i'm kaitlan collins.he night before the united states celebrates its four-week old counteroffensive, president zelenskyy has just penned a new op-ed in "the wall street journal" thanking the united states for both support to his country and liberty. we are now 16 months into the russian invasion. tonight there is an ominous new estimate. 180,000 russian forces making a push on two eastern fronts in ukraine. that's according to ukrainian military spokesmen. and for context, that's more than twice the size of the british army. president zelenskyy has been openly addressing the difficulties that they have been facing on the e front lines. but he does still maintain progress is being made. he's also making news in a new exclusive interview with erin burnett, who sat down with him in odesa, as he told her he does believe president putin's power is diminishing. >> have you seen any changes in how you think he's acting, in his behavior since the attempted coup? >> translator: yes, we see the reaction after certa

and he was pressed repeatedly by our kaitlan collins yesterday and pressed repeatedly again by reportersinue to insist that white nationalists are american? >> listen, totally against racism. if the democrats want to say that white nationalists are racists, i'm totally against that, too. >> but that's not the democratic definition the definition of a white nationalist -- >> it's their definition. the next question. next question next question. >> do you believe that superior to all races. >> racism is totally out of the question. >> do you believe that white nationalists are racist? >> yes, thank you. >> reporter: and he just continues to double down. and the fallout on capitol hill from republicans is now that many republicans are being asked by reporters are white nationalists racist. and i talked to several republicans including rick scott of florida. he said absolutely, that the definition of a white nationalist that they believe that the white race is superior to other races. you also heard from john thune who i spoke to just motels ago, he's the republican w.h.i.p. and he was press

. >> hey, kaitlan collins, thank you very much. and stand by for us -- because i want to talk about your new reporting tonight. and in case everyone missed it, cnn is now reporting tonight that prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the election, are very interested in a chaotic white house -- meeting that took place in the final days of the trump administration. now that meeting included rudy giuliani. so, kaitlan collins, what do we know about why special counsel jack smith is pressing on some of these witnesses about this meeting? >> yeah, this is interesting, abby, because we believe that jack smith is in the closing days of the january 6th investigation. closing period i should note, we don't know that it's actually days. but it does appear to be winding down, as they've had this flurry of activity recently. and one thing that i entertained have learned, is that as they were going through this, they have been asking questions for some time, but also recently, about that chaotic oval office meeting that happened six week

i'm kaitlan collins and this is the source. it is not pm eastern and the trump headlines just keep on coming tonight. the biggest what being broken by the former president himself. he says he has been informed by the special counsel that he is a target in the federal general six investigation. and his own words, that quote, almost always means an arrest and an announcement is coming. he does have some experience with this. trump also a target letter shortly before he was and on and the documents case, but this is what he's saying tonight. >> i'm becoming an expert. i have no choice. if you say something about an election, that wants to put you in jail for the rest of your life. it's a disgrace. >> we also have new reporting out of prison, where i have learned that before governor doug doocy has been confident but jack smith's team as a potential witness. doocy was pressured by trump after 2020 election, and recently said he was surprised that he hadn't yet heard from the special counsel. but wait, there is more. in a separate s

our kaitlan collins interviewed him. take a listen to that exchange. >> when you're in the minority in the senate, it's only power that you have to get people's attention, to get them to do it the right way to go by the constitution, only the power we have is to put a hold on something. so we thought that this would get the attention of the secretary of defense. and we're trying to teach them that you cannot legislate from the pentagon. and so it's a tough situation. there's nobody more military than me. my dad was military. career military. i'm all for the military. we need a strong military. but we also need to go by the rules in the constitution and represent the people and taxpayers. taxpayers are not supposed to pay for anything that has to do with abortion. >> just to be clear, you agree that white nationalists should not be serving in the u.s. military. is that what you're saying? >> if people think that a white nationalist is a racist, i agree with that. i agree -- >> a white nationalist is someone who believes t

cnn's kaitlan collins, alyssa farah griffin, and cnn legal analyst elliot williams. so what have you learned, kaitlan, about the members of the inner circle of trump? >> it's notable who is gone, which is obviously jared kushner and hope hicks, probably two of the closest people to donald trump during his time in the white house, and certainly during this time period. we know that they both went and testified before the grand jury, that is hearing the testimony in this, and the investigation into efforts to overturn the election by not just trump, but also his allies. i think it matters because jared kushner was obviously. there i was told back in mid-december of that time period that jared kushner was going with a ivanka trump and urging trump to concede the election. they never bought into the idea that it was stolen. that doesn't mean they spoke up. but going to him privately and urging him to concede. hope hicks is also notable. we know she spoke to the january 6th congressional committee. it's kind of interesting how much of a road map they have paved for a lot o

i am kaitlan collins. and this is the source. ♪ ♪ ♪ tonight, we have cnn exclusive report.e special counsel's team is investigating efforts. to overturn the 2020 election. has now interviewed michigan secretary of state, jocelyn benson. benson, of course, as you know her, is the highest ranking election official in that battleground state. she oversaw the election, that trump lost. and faced death threats for it. we know that federal prosecutors have also spoken recently to former arizona house speaker, rusty bowers. he broke that news with us last week. but also, georgia secretary of state, brad raffensperger, both of them are republicans, i should note. benson herself is a democrat. secretary benson joins us now, secretary, thank you so much for being here. we know from our reporting, this interview was in march. were you subpoenaed? how did you end up speaking to investigators? >> we responded earlier to a subpoena and then responded to a request for an interview. we've been very upfront and transparent threw out about all that we endured in the 2020 elections cycle and

program "the source" with kaitlan collins.e's not going to stop the military confirmation hold up because the senate could take up each of the 200 nominations separately, but as orin just noted that could take months. and chairman jack reid specifically says the process to do that would take 688 hours, 84 eight-hour legislative days. so that's really a serious counter proposal. >> they just had a two-week recess and about to go on a month long recess in august so when they do have that time on the floor they obviously don't plan to use it for something like this. i think what's important here, jake, how this is causing a divide even in tuber vul's own party, something he has pushed back against. so his premise here on the idea of the pentagon paying for the travel and paid time off, not the actual service, i should note is something that a lot of republicans aren't in favor of. this isn't a policy you would likely see put in place obviously if donald trump was in aufts or any of the republicans. what they disagree with on thei

i'm kaitlan collins and this is "the source." tonight, the window until the first votes are cast in 2024 narrowing and trump headed to trial, is there still time for a viable alternative to emerge? ron desantis is still number two in the gop race. he's trailing trump by more than 30 points in most polls. so what is the florida governor's strategy? what is he doing to turn things around? blaming the media. >> the media does not want me to be the nominee. i think that's very, very clear. if you look at the people like the corporate media, who are they going after? pretty clear that the media does not want me to be the candidate. i think that they've tried to tik create a narrative that the race is over. >> obviously, iowa will be critical for any candidate hoping to knock trump out of number one spot. and republicans have moved the caucuses there to january 15th, martin luther king jr. day. weeks earlier than previous elections. but could a late entrant shake things up? perhaps my first guest tom, governor glenn youngkin of virgini

tonight, kaitlan collins joins us for her latest reporting. also tonight, justice department investigating what they called, quote, troubling reports on the texas border authorities allegedly pushing migrants back into the rio grande and denying them water. we'll have a live report from the southern border, and later, new details about what motivated the u.s. army private to race across the dmz and into north korea. good evening, thank you for joining us. a lot to get to tonight. we begin with behind the scenes drama unfolding as the former president faces a possible second federal indictment in as many months. the grand jury, hearing the evidence in this case that is expected to meet tomorrow. and an indictment, if there is, one could come anytime after that. sources tell cnn that the 2020 election case appears to be bigger than trump's legal team may have been expecting, in part because of the wide scoped charges mentioned in the target letter to the former president. there are deprivation of rights, and conspiracy to commit an offense over

we are starting with cnn anchor of "the source" kaitlan collins, justice reporter katelyn polantz. in terms of what we're learning in "the wall street journal" and others about what this target letter entailed related to the specific statutes. >> yeah, so the target letter, we haven't seen it yet, but we would love to see it because whenever the justice department sends this to someone, a target letter does tend indicate exactly what the person may be charged with. the charges that the justice department has been investigating and is considering bringing against that person, and reporting from a number of different news outlets, including "the wall street journal" this morning, says there are three chs that the justice department has been looking at related to donald trump that he could be charged with, conspiracy to defraud the united states, that is a charge that basically means that the justice department has evidence that two people would have agreed to somehow carry forward something that they believe is illegal. trump and potentially another person, not necessarily another pe

we'll get to that in a moment because that was a significant moment in the interview that kaitlan collinsid with him, but first what happens today in the courthouse with walt nauta? >> so this is the mar-a-lago documents case, this charge. donald trump and his co-defendant walt nauta. but walt nauta still has to plead not guilty. it has been about a month since the indictment, but he has had this dragged out for a couple different reasons about couldn't make his last appearance and he also needed to find a florida lawyer. so we're watching whether or not walt nauta shows up in person today, he doesn't absolutely have to. we think he may be there in person. for the first time by himself really in court without donald trump by his side, the man that he is traveling with quite consistently as his plal aide. and we're also watching to see who shows up as walt thnauts na lawyer. this is the spotlight on him as co-defendant, as that man that was known by the justice department last year before they searched mar-a-lago to be a person who was moving boxes and justice department realizing there we

let's bring in cnn's kaitlan collins, the anchor of the source, along with senior legal affairs columnistpaula reid. kaitlan, what are you hearing, first of all, from your sources about kushner's testimony, and just how significant, potentially, it could be. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, we have now confirmed that not only jared kushner, donald trump's son-in-law, but also hope hicks have both testified before the grand jury that is investigating the efforts to overturn the 2020 election results by former president donald trump and his allies of course. they are two of many witnesses who have gone before the grand jury that is investigating january 6th and what happened here. all of this of course is being done by the special counsel, jack smith's team. this is something that was first repo reported by "the new york times." we have confirmed that it was, yes, jared kushner, and hope hicks who went before him. this is significant because a lot of people have testified in this january 6th investigation, wolf, but these are obviously two people who were incredibly close to donald trump. jared kus

here's more about what jocelyn benson told kaitlan collins last night about what she testified to. >>t's a connection between what we witnessed which i've talked about for several years now, a real coordinated strategic effort to block the counting of votes in our state and then spread lies that transnoormds threats against lives of election officials doing our job. >> so this investigation now having information from this top official in the state of michigan about what happened after the election to her and others, but also it's a sprawling investigation and we don't exactly know where it stands right now, jim, but what we dough know is that the grand jury, it is in, again, today and prosecutors from the special counsel's office here at the courthouse behind me. jim? >> of course trump continues on the campaign trail to spread those election lies about 2020. brianna. >> the state ge set, actors poi to go on strikes. what does this mean for your favorite shows. >>> a pill that could have big impacts on women's health here in the u.s. the fda okayed the first over the counter birth co

our reporting, kaitlan collins has the report. this did catch the trump team off-guard. the started later. they were not expecting jacks mitt to bring charges this month, or against trump at all. how is that possible? >> you know, as you saw, folks from the inner circle coming into the grand jury being reportedly coming into the grand jury, you can see that this thing was coming to a close. you can see that the target was likely donald trump. so, i don't think there's any real surprise here that donald trump received the target letter and will likely be indicted in ten days to two weeks. >> okay, everyon that. a, drew will other people face charges? is it possible that only donald trump is the target? >> you know, alison, i guess it's possible. i find it to be highly unlikely. when you think about the different charges that trump may face. almost all require the presence of others. you're talking about three 71. conspiracy to defraud the united states government. by definition, it's a conspiracy, it requires the presence of another offender. the rest of the charges have

let's bring in our chief political correspondent dana bash, the anchor of "inside politics" and kaitlan collinsf "the source" that debuts tonight. what can you tell us about the deadline and how it fits into the disputes about the time line for this case? >> yeah, well, you saw the special counsel jack smith recommended a trial date for the documents case of december. initially we had seen it in august or so, now it's a little pushed back from there, and so i think the question, of course, we know what the trump team wants to do here, which is to delay. this he'll make an argument that essentially they believe the case can't happen because it does have a lot of complicating factors given it is related to national security information that it can't happen that quickly. i think the question remains what judge cannon is going to decide. what this is going to look like because an ideal world for the trump team they'll push it and then argue, of course, that next year it is running up against the 2024 presidential election where trump is obviously right now based on the polls, the gop front-runner b

i'm kaitlan collins. seismic shift is being felt across the nation again tonight with the drop of two more crucial decisions on the final day of the supreme court's term, as a reshaped court continues to reshape american life, how americans live, pay their debts, and even get into college. three monumental decisions in a row. today it was on student loans and gay rights on the heels of yesterday's affirmative action ruling. president biden has said that he is angry and disappointed after the supreme court blocked his student loan forgiveness plan. and he is accusing the court tonight of misinterpreting the constitution. the president is also blaming republicans, when he was asked if he gave borrowers false hope. >> i didn't give any false hope. what i did, i felt was appropriate and was able to be done and would get done. i didn't give borrowers false hope. but the republicans snatched away the hope they were given. >> biden himself once cast doubt on how much authority he had to take when it came to exec

jim, it's interesting to hear john say we all knew that he was a target, because our reporting, kaitlan collins has the reporting that this did catch the trump team off guard, this target letter. they were not expecting jack smith to bring charges this month or against trump at all. how is that possible? >> you know, as you saw folks from the inner circle coming into the grand jury being reportedly coming into the grand jury, you can see that this thing was coming to a close. and you could see that the target was likely donald trump. so i don't think there is any real surprise here that donald trump received a target letter and will likely be indicted in ten days and two weeks. >> everybody is on agreement on that. andrew, will other people face charges? is it possible that only donald trump is the target? >> you know, allison, i guess it's possible. but i find it to be highly unlikely. when you think about the different charges that trump may face if he is indicted, almost all of them require the presence of others. you talk about 371 conspiracy to defraud the united states government by defin

so we will wait to hear from that, and kaitlan collins, thank you so much for all of your reporting andf your work on the new show "the source." and we will be probably checking back in with you. >> thank you, kaitlan. now, joining us is former trump white house attorney jim schultz. the reaction to this news that we have now that donald trump is receiving this target, donald trump's legal team and donald trump receiving this target letter into the investigation of january 6th. >> well, i mean, we saw it beginning to wrap up. as you are closer and closer for the inner circle and more and more folks getting to the grand jury, that is a signal they are coming to the close, and the culmination to that is that they have sent him a target letter and we don't know if anyone else has received a target letter associated with it, and i expect it has a lot to do with perhaps the conspiracy to commit fraud of a valid election relating to -- and you know, a number of factors, the elector scheme, and perhaps trying to switch the attorney general out, and pressure on the former vice president -- ther

. >>> news continues, cnn prime time with kaitlan collins starts now. ♪ >>> good evening, i'm kaitlanollins, the special counsel's january 6th investigation has been ramping up, and while we know that georgia has been a key focus, we hadn't heard as much about arizona until now. tonight there is new reporting that jack smith's office has subpoenaed the office of the top election official in the state as part of his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. the arizona republic is reporting that this subpoena came as recently as may, and it was seeking information on two lawsuits, one from the trump campaign, and another from the former arizona republican party chair, kelli ward that alleged fraud and errors in the election results. this also comes on the heels of reporting that donald trump pressured the former republican governor of arizona, doug ducey to overturn the election results, with ducey later telling a donor he was surprised that the special counsel jack smith hadn't called him. my first guest testified before the january 6th committee about a call t

that's it for us "the source with kaitlan collins" starts now. >>> tonight, straight from the source, new charges against donald trump and a new codefendant. what prosecutors say about how the boss wanted surveillance video destroyed, and why the audio of trump discussing classified military plans can no longer be dismissed as bravado. this as trump sees another indictment and the other investigation is all but a done deal. what the former president is saying about today's closed door meeting with prosecutors investigating january 6th and what the special counsel's office is and isn't telling his attorneys. plus, he briefed trump on classified intelligence of a near daily basis for two years. dan coates will join me for an exclusive interview. i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source". >>> tonight, donald trump is facing new federal charges and he has a new codefendant, as prosecutors are now accusing the former president of asking walt nauta and coarlos deoliveira to delete security footage. they lay it in intricate detail that the steps take ton ensure the footage be destroyed a

i'm kaitlan collins and this is "the source." ♪ >>> good evening. grand jury here in washington that is investigating donald trump and his actions surrounding january 6th will meet again tomorrow. that is the former president's legal team believes that he is on the verge of being indicted for potentially a third time. tonight we have new exclusive reporting on what jack smith is asking questions about. this time another oval office meeting that happened in february of 2020. sources tell cnn that in that eting trump praised the very improvement to u.s. election security that he has now spent years attacking. this is right around the same time that his administration put out a report and this quote here, the department of homeland security's cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency has helped state and local election officials secure online votering systems, voting machines and other election infrastructure. trump was apparently so on board with those changes that he pushed the fbi and homeland security to hold a press conference talking about

here is "the source" with kaitlan collins. >>> tonight, straight from the source.ke on donald trump? a potential rival will join me. plpl

i'm kaitlan collins and this is "the source." good evening.is evening with how trump is adding more fire power to his team as he is bracing for another potential indictment from the special counsel. as we know, trump shocked the world when he announced yesterday he had gotten that target letter from jack smith's team. now i have learned that he is quietly added a new criminal defense attorney in reason weeks to his team. i'm told that a former federal prosecutor turn white collar attorney will be joining that team. that team that is focused on what could be an indictment in the coming days. he'll be focused on the january 6th investigation and of course, that come after last month when trump was indicted in the documents case. two of his key attorneys departed his team. one of them who is very familiar with the january 6th investigation. now trump is adding a flew person to that team. of course, as they are trying to figure out more about that potential indictment. what evidence does jack smith have, what witnesses has he spoken to that trump

cnn tonight with abby phillip starts right now. >> hey, kaitlan collins, thank yo

this after he danced around that issue last night in an interview with kaitlan collins who was askingify previous comments he made not going as far as denouncing white nationalism in the military but moments ago, asked by reporters about his past comments saying white nationalists are racists. that is his verbatim comment. now this comes amid criticism from members on both sides as well as a direct comment from senate republican leader mitch mcconnell who i asked earlier about tommy tuberville's refusal to say it was racism. mitch mcconnell was clear. >> senator tuberville seems to have a hard time denouncing white nationalism as it pertains to white nationalism in the military. >> white supremacy is simply unacceptable in the military and in our whole country. >> reporter: now this comes as tuberville has faced some criticism from both sides of the aisle over his decision to hold up more than 250 nominees to the pentagon, mainly promotions, typically nominations that would be confirmed quickly in the united states senate. any one senator can place a hold and slow that process down. h

lots of talk about, with cnn's kaitlan collins. the aforementioned griffin, and cnn political commentator, and senior analyst, elliott williams. what do you think kaitlan about the numbers of the inner circle? >> it's notable who has gone. which is obviously jared kushner aunt hope hicks. possibly two of the closest people to donald trump during his time in the white house. and certainly during this time period. we know they both went and testified before the grand jury. hearing the testimony in this testimony to overturn the election but not just trump at his allies. i think it matters because jared kushner was obviously there. i was told back in mid december of that time period that jared kushner was going with ivanka trump. and urging trump to conceding the election. they never bought into the idea that it was stolen. that doesn't mean that they spoke up going to him privately and urging him to concede. hope hicks is also notable. we know that she spoke to the january 6th congressional committee. it's interesting how much of a ro

afterward, they sat down with cnn's kaitlan collins. >> right now people are sick and tired of what they'rel and halvoc. we can do better than this. and people expect us to do better. this is a good movement. >> reporter: they said americans deserve a third choits. if a rematch emerges next year between biden and trump. >> should the political -- the mainstream political system produce the same results in 24 as it did in' 20, in which case three fourths of the american voters said, no, not again. we want an option. >> reporter: for more than a decade the no labels movement has promoted bipartisanship over extremes. the group which registers as a nonprofit and declines to disclose its donors plans to raise $70 million for a candidate in waiting. on monday night, the group unveiled what it called a common sense policy book, aiming to find middle ground on controversial issues from abortion rights to guns to immigration. it's a centrist agenda that sounds down right utopian in today's deeply divided washington. >> we're trying to make sure that parties understand you can't stay in extreme left

"cnn primetime" with kaitlan collins starts right now.

i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source." >>> this is something you don't really see every night. donald trump and a dozen of the people hoping to take his place as the republican nominee and potentially the republican president are all in one room in iowa just right now. the former president is about to speak any moment now, and this is his first major speech since he was charged again in the classified documents probe. so far tonight, only one other candidate at that dinner has been willing to go on stage and explicitly criticize the former president. >> donald trump is not running for president to make america great again. donald trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020. donald trump is running to stay out of prison. and if we elect -- i know, i know, i know, i know, i know. listen, i know the truth. the truth is hard. but if we elect donald trump, we are willingly giving joe biden four more years in the white house, and america can't handle that. >> that is former texas congressman will hurd. it's not surprising that he is

kaitlan collins joins us with the latest reporting. also tonight, the justice department investigating what it calls, troubling reports on texas border authorities allegedly pushing migrants back into the rio grande and denying them water. we'll have a live report from the southern border and later knew details about what motivated a u.s. army private to race across the dmz into north korea. the good evening, thank you for joining, us a lot to get to tonight, we begin with behind the scenes drama unfolding as the former president faces a possible in as many months. the grand jury hearing the evidence the case is expected to meet tomorrow, and indictment if there is one key come at that. sources tell cnn the 2020 election case seems to be bigger than trump's legal legal team may have been expecting, in part because of the wide scope of the charges mentioned in the target letter the former president received. their deprivation of rights, conspiracy to commit an advancement of united states, and tampering with a witness. that's according

the source with kaitlan collins starts now. >> tonight, street from the source, -- donald trump has beensking for. the speaker of the house making his most direct threat yet about impeaching president biden. why the sudden shift, as even kevin mccarthy is admitting his republicans have not yet proven any wrongdoing by the current president. plus, panic on the court. one of the biggest names in college basketball in the hospital before he's ever even played a game. bronny james, the 18-year-old son of lebron james, suffered cardiac arrest in his now thankfully out of the icu, but fear and questions remain about his condition. and 15 months after he was freed in a prisoner swap, a u.s. marine veteran has been injured in ukraine. what we're learning more at this hour about what trevor reed was doing in ukraine, and what this could potentially mean for other americans who are being wrongfully held in russia. i'm kaitlan collins, and this is the source. ♪ ♪ ♪ tonight, donald trump is on the campaign trail in new orleans, as his legal team is bracing for a third potential indictment. >> do you

i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source." it is 9:00 p.m. eastern and the trump headlines keep on coming tonight. the biggest one being broken by the former president himself. he says that he has been informed by the special counsel that he's a target in the federal january 6th investigation. in his own words, that quote, almost always means an arrest and an indictment is coming. he does have some experience with this. trump also got a target letter shortly before he was indicted in the documents case, but this is what he is saying tonight. >> now i'm like becoming an expert. it's a disgrace. >> we also have new reporting out of arizona where i've learned that the former governor, doug ducey, has been contacted by jack smith's team as a potential witness. of course, ducey was pressured by trump after the 2020 election and recently said he was surprised that he hadn't yet heard from the special counsel. but, wait, there is more. in a separate state investigation in michigan, yes, we know that this is a lot to keep up with, but there 16 fake e

kaitlan collins. legal analyst and former assistant to u.s.ttorney elie honig, pilot -- former fbi deputy fbi director. but how worried should the former president be tonight? >> he should be very wary. . just a couple things about target letters. he did know how many people in -- the department is not required to serve a target letter on anybody before they get indicted. they can do it in some cases, they've clearly done it here. it is a very clear indication that they are looking squarely at him, but they had substantial evidence against him. they are likely to indict these -- if the matter is still up for judgment in the prosecutors office. i think he should be very concerned about getting indicted on what will undoubtedly be a very serious case. >> elie, do you agree with professor tribe about the timing, and also the possible charges? >> i agree with professor chi -- the charges are very near. i wouldn't bank on a certain day, i think he was careful not to do that. i agree in part, disagree in part on what the charges are likely to be. i

the news continues, the source with kaitlan collins starts now. >> tonight, straight from the source, a 2024 republican candidate for president who also happens to be a key witness in jack smith's january 6th investigation. former vice president mike pence is here live. and a few republicans are defending republican senator tommy tuberville after our exclusive interview last night. what alabama's senior senator is now saying tonight about white nationalists. plus, she was recently descendants to dad -- >> spent life behind bars. now, a follower of charles manson has just been freed more than a half century after two gruesome murders. i'm kaitlan collins, and this is the source. ♪ ♪ ♪ tonight, we have news on three separate investigations with donald trump at the center them all. in georgia, a grand jury has now been formally sworn in in fulton county. that is the grand jury that could decide to bring more criminal charges against the former president, this time for trying to overturn the 2020 election in georgia. just picked attorney fani willis has indicated potential indictments cou

i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source." >>> tonight, my sources have confirmed that jared kushner testified last month in the special counsel's january 6th probe. questioned before a federal grand jury that is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election by donald trump and his allies. kushner, of course, is trump's son-in-law and was trump's senior adviser in the white house. according to one source, the grand jury is asking whether or not trump had been told he had lost the election. back in 2020 in december, after trump had lost that election, i reported that kushner was one of several people who approached his father-in-law about conceding the election. kushner had been in the middle east and just returned to the u.s. the day of that capitol attack. he later told the january 6th congressional committee he was at home when he got an urgent call from kevin mccarthy. >> i heard my phone ringing, turned the shower off, saw it was leader mccarthy, who i had a good relationship with. he told me it was getting really ugly over at the capitol, and he said, please, anything you

i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source." >>> tonight, the special counsel is expanding the january 6th investigation. jack smith going into all seven battleground states that trump lost and where he fought the results to gather more evidence. we have learned exclusively tonight that two more top election officials have met with the special counsel's team. pennsylvania secretary of state al schmid, a republican, was interviewed back in march, a source tells cnn. he was asked about the impact of voter fraud misinformation, as he was serving as philadelphia's city commissioner at the time. and according to a second source, new mexico's top election official, democrat maggie oliver, was also questioned in recent months. that's on top of the other officials we already know about, arizona former republican house speaker, rusty bowers, broke the news right here he had been subpoenaed by jack smith. we were the first to hear from jocelyn benson, after learning she too had been subpoenaed. >> was there a certain area they seemed the most focused on? >> i think, again, you can look back to t

our kaitlan collins is part of the reporting team that has the exclusive. she joins me here. what have you learned? >> this is essentially something that has been of continued interest to jack smith and has been a renewed one, based on what we're hearing, which is that he and his team are asking witnesses commit before either his team or the grand jury about this meeting. there were a lot of chaotic meetings and the trump white house. this one was described is probably the most chaotic, the most unhinged, and it happened about six weeks after trump lost the election. it was an oval office meeting where the advisers from outside the white house were essential going off against the actual attorneys inside the white house about this plan for him to seize voting machines with the military, basically to go back and recount the votes in the state, redo the votes and the states that he had lost. and jack smith is asking people about this, his team is. they've been asking witnesses months ago about it but also asking people recently about it, including rudy giuliani, who we learned o

the source with kaitlan collins starts now. tonight, straight from the source, i have a brand-new reporting on how trump's beefing up his legal team as he is bracing for another potential indictment from the special counsel. i will share that scoop in a moment. and stunning new details on the u.s. soldier believed to be detained in north korea tonight, after crossing the heavily fortified demilitarized zone, a witness says she saw him build across the border, and you are going to hear her account. plus, the music video that is rocking the world of country music, and beyond. why jason aldean's entire chart topper was pulled by country music television. i am kaitlan collins, and this is the source. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> good evening, we start tonight with that breaking news on how trump is adding more firepower to his legal team, as he is bracing for a potential another indictment from the special counsel. of course, as we, know trump shock to the world when he announced yesterday that he had gotten that target letter from jack smith's team.

i'm kaitlan collins, and this is the source. tonight, the city of odessa is staring down another attack. just moments ago, air raid sirens were blaring, as the ukrainian city on the black sea is bracing for more. >> [sirens] this would be the fourth straight night of russian attacks in odessa, a city already on edge after being bombarded russia, says it is retaliating for ukraine's attack on a critical bridge to crimea. and ukraine, says that moscow has used almost 70 missiles and 98 drones in just 48 days. president zelenskyy says that some were shot down, but he warned that his country's air defense, as it stands right now, can protect the entire ukrainian sky. now, key infrastructure is in ruins, including major grain tournament tools like this when you see here, burned to the ground. cnn's alex marquardt odd is live in odessa, where he has been all week. alex, what are you seeing and hearing? tonight >> well caitlin, it was very struggling to hear that aerate silence go off just a few minutes ago, because of how on edge the