>> oh, i don't know that he's looking to carve a lane, kasie. i think the way he looks at it is he's always been a consistent constitutional conservative. >> is that a dig at trumpism? >> no, i'm telling you what mike pence is. i think if you go back to the time he was a house leader, it's because during the bush years, when there was a lot of expansive spending, mike pence is only one of a handful of republicans who is consistent in voting against republican priorities like medicare expansion, like the wall street bailout, like no child left behind. he was the conservative calling republicans back to their standard. and that's what he's always been and is going to continue to be. >> what is the sense of how the raid on mar-a-lago or the search of the former president's home in mar-a-lago, how has that impacted the behind the scenes thinking for republicans who are thinking about challenging him? i mean, the trump team blassed o out today a several weeks old story about how desantis fell in polls against trump because the raid happened. >> i thi

cnn's kasie hunt. and politico's nicholas woo. bit of the president as we prepare for tonight. again, he goes to pennsylvania frequently. he loves the backdrop of independence hall when he tries to give these big addresses about somewhat he views as the state of america. but this time in recent weeks his rhetoric has turned much more partisan. the question is will we hear this tonight? >> the extreme maga republicans have made their choice. to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division. >> the maga republicans don't just threaten our personal rights and economic security. they're a threat to our very democracy. they refuse to accept the will of the people. >> to this day the maga republicans in congress defend the mob that stormed the capitol on january 6th. but the idea you turn on a television and see senior senators in congress saying if such and such happens there will be blood in the street. where the hell are we? >> you think on the one hand a speech about the soul of america is directed at everybody. you liste

welcome to "the lead" i'm kasie hunt in for jake tapper. we start with politics lead, we are less than 48 hours away from the next public january 6th committee hearing. cnn is learning about text messages from then trump chaief of staff mark meadows linking the white house with a pro trump operative who was trying to seize voting machines. we're going to have more on this exchange in just a moment. we're also learning about new links between the white house and a rioter on january 6th. denver riggleman who was an adviser to the january 6th committee is telling cbs "60 minutes." riggleman will join us on "the lead" in a moment. cnn's sara murray who has been tracking all the developments and what we know about the high level contact. >> reporter: as donald trump as and allies made a final push to overturn the 2020 election. >> there's still plenty of time to certify the correct winner. >> reporter: retired army colonel and election conspiracy promoter, phil waldron. >> the core of these voting systems are rife with vulnerabilities. >> report

. >> i want to get to kasie hunt now. what's so interesting about that excerpt now that jeff zeleny talked about, about maga republicans and what the president is going to say is that he is not backing down, clearly, from his comments earlier, calling them semi-fascist, even though there was a lot of republicans criticizing him, even one democrat. he's doubling down, in fact, on that criticism, kasie. >> he is, pamela. it's very interesting to me in part because there are examples where attacks like this have backfired in the past on both democrats and republicans, instances where one side lumped the other's voters into a category. that's an easy way to energize people. you saw a little bit of that when the president took office and talked about ultra-maga people. i think we have evolved into a slightly different moment here. and i think the white house and certainly some democratic and republican strategists i talk to see an opening for the white house here because, in the course of january 6th, in the course of many of

all the best yes, yes, is it really kasi that someone is picking up the phone from us. reach anyone. listen, i watched the video from the last hunt my watch. do you know where my watch is in the car. at agapov's i can't get through to him, and he's not at home. i don't know how to listen. let's get shorter by the pond try to get through to mons. all right, see you soon. girl, still very heavy. so a couple of questions and that's it. that's it, i ca n't try anymore, not to irritate her with anything. and it’s better, of course, for someone to go and talk. hello masha my name is stepan stepanovich cooler. i am the chief of criminal investigation. i was told that you have information for me. they film everything on camera. got it tell me how they are came out to you. for a long time i understood, we met on a mobile phone and talked for a long time. remember what they looked like, what they called each other. no, mashenka, this is very important, look carefully and think. this man was among the attackers. it wasn't, who attacked you, what did he look like? olya is now now,

kasie, let me start with you and get reaction to eva's great reporting from georgia.erstand why that special house election in new york could be driven by the democrat pushing abortion rights. is it a risk in places like georgia, though? >> it could be. i think in the case of stacey abrams, look at the campaign she's run in the past and how she runs them. she runs turnout elections and this is a turnout issue. we've seen more democrats, especially women, get out to register to vote and this is an issue they are activated on. she's done with it black voters in the past on voting rights and that sort of rings a little true to me. i also think i'd be really interested to see deep polling numbers on the atlanta suburbs to see how this plays with white women voters who were willing to vote for raphael warnock over david perdue back in the senate races that flipped those two seats over to democrats. >> yeah, and i wonder if the six-week ban, i wonder if in his heart of hearts, if governor kemp would do it differently today and make it a 15-week ban or something more palatab

wade, but it was -- but kasie was precedent upon precedent.imate. because they lied in their confirmation hearings. yeah, they caught the car, you saw in kansas, it was what, 59 -- or -- no. 59/41. in kansas. this is a pretty conservative state. and you saw what -- you know, what happened in michigan, is a perfect example of how the republican party has ceased to participate in good faith in our democracy. this is their canvassing board that is a two-two board, two republicans, two democrats, they had 750,000 signatures from people saying we want this on the ballot. we want to be able to vote on this. they -- these two commissioners said, oh, no. they found some absurd little like spacing in the -- and so they rejected this while the supreme court then decided 5-2, a heavily republican supreme court that what they were doing was absurd, a what they were doing. so now the people in michigan are going to decide. look, this is something that a woman should decide. that a woman with her doctor should decide. this isn't something that should be dec

with me to share reporting and insights, cnn's kasie hunt, cnn's melanie zanona, former federal prosecutort williams. the committee resumes public hearings tomorrow. the big question is what new evidence can they push forward as they continue to build their case, not just about what happened on january 6th but all the planning in the weeks and weeks and weeks from election day through jigsth. this document footage, before we discuss, let's listen to a little more. i want to -- we bleeped out the profanity. the content is disturbing. >> i suspect it will be -- i really suspect it will still be up in the air. when that happens the key thing to do is to claim victory. possession is nine-tenths of the law. you're wrong, [ bleep ] you. >> what they're assuming is the election will be normal. the election will not be normal. oh, these are the california results. sorry, we're not accepting them. we're challenging them in court. if the lectors show up, armed guards will throw them out. i'm the president. [ bleep ]. i'm challenging all of it. >> for the record, roger stone says that was digitally m

. >> looking forward to your takes on kasie's coast to coast this weekend. >> the electric cord of liberty. >> up next, one conservative former judge said that what the department of justice has revealed so far in its investigation into the classified documents donald trump took with him to mar-a-lago is more than enough to indict him and probably enough to convict. we'll play for you his argument and bring you the developments from yesterday's day in court. >>> plus why the fbi is now talking to hall of fame quarterback brett favre. >> this is -- this doesn't sound good for brett. >> it surrounds a welfare scandal sweeping through mississippi. we'll bring you the details next on "morning joe." >> electric cord of liberty, still sparks in our hearts. >> bart, lisa, stop that. >> wait a minute. nute joe biden and democrats in congress just passed the inflation reduction act to lower our energy bills. investing in american-made clean energy means our families will save $1,800 a year on energy bills. that's more savings for us. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ "shake your thang" by salt n pepa welcome to allst

director kasi lemmons' biopic of whitney houston.of the na'vi and readying viewers for the further adventures of "the way of water," the magic only movies can provide. >> this is an era where people can feel and secure and safe coming back to the movies and what they want to show people is, hey, as a part of that, let's give you old favorites and hits you love and feel comfortable with. >> reporter: everything old is viewed again and not just from your couch. "avatar" returns to movie theaters today, guys. >> ray, chris, we're not going to let you off the hook in talking about "the bodyguard" without telling people you had a cameo in "the bodyguard" back in the day. >> oh. >> oh. there he is. freeze frame. we got it. we got a freeze frame for you. >> i'm just going to say, despite a personal best in sheer amount of hair product worn, i was overlooked by the oscars and even by the golden globes. why, i ask you. that's vanilla ice quality hair product there. >> those residual checks are just rolling in. >> you can't imagine, by the cen