laura coates joins me now. laura, good evening to you.ake of the back and forth over president trump not meeting with jacob blake's parents. >> that's ridiculous that they could not have their family representative actually on the line. they were not going to say anything. it wasn't an opportunity for benjamin crump or member of counsel's team to have a contentious interaction with the president of the united states, it was an opportunity for the family to have a spokesperson. he's somebody who knows full well about the power of publicity to elevate the cases and not only the national consciousness but have people aware that there is a lot of pressure to prioritize the criminal court. the president not meeting with this st the family in the state of unrest almost like he is blaming the family where he says he doesn't want to lose the moral high ground they have by having the protests and those who have a right to a peaceful cause like this family. >> good reporting and good analysis. thank you very much. i appreciate it, laura. >> he says

let's bring in joey jackson and laura coates. you heard me asked for the file to come out.aura coates, relevant, if i seem like i am doing a little too macro on this but blow it up. i am upset and another thing somebody reading it all in a piece of paper. this should not be difficult to determine, right? in a ballistic report whether or not they know where the bullet came from that hit officer mattingly. >> giving they have all the information and had 190 plus days the figure it out and you have an officer who's fired months ago, the officer who's now charged. the police chief was able to come to some conclusion about the case at this point in time. all these mathew knoonths later still finding out. imagine breonna been told she had been converted to collateral damage. it does not matter as long as he justify the use of force by the officers. we don't know if they presented that or told the grand jury's argument in favor of the person. the officer is using reasonable amount of force or the others. the officers who oppose a threat to life has been charged but those two took

perfect person to talk about all this, cnn senior legal analyst, laura coates, former federal prosecutor good to have you here, again, this is your expertise, laura, so thanks for doing this. two big developments in this case. let's start first with the kentucky a.g. says he's going to comply with the release of that audio. here's a statement, says, "once the public listens to the recording they will see that over the course of 2 1/2 days, our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury. our prosecutors presented all the evidence, even though the evidence supported that sergeant mattingly and detective kcosgroe were justified in use of force after having been fired upon by kenneth walker." so we're going to get to hear what the grand jury did. what do you think of that statement and the release? >> well, frankly, i'm surprised that he was so willing to actually fulfill the request of other people including the family for brianeonna taylor tot the information out there. and the pursuit of transparency. of course, a lot was left to be desired after his press conference, n

joining me now to discuss is cnn senior legal analyst laura coates. that president obama was successful in placing two justices on the supreme court in eight years. it would have been a third if merrick garland would have ended differently. president trump stands the prospect of having three in four years. >> three bites at the apple, and that includes lifetime tenure on the land's highest court that decides so many important cases with a longevity and a gravitas that no other court has. we're also talking with an ageing court. justice breyer is also in his 80s. you've got people like thomas in their 70s as well. you're talking about an ageing court. the idea of having three bites of the apple within a four-year term is, again, unprecedented. and what else is new in this administration. >> well, and something else that i think is important to remind people that the two thus far, and i'm speaking of gorsuch, justice gorsuch and brett kavanaugh is essentially an argument on ideological kindred spirits. we could have a discussion on kennedy. but this is d

joining me now, cnn's senior legal analyst, laura coates. laura, hello to you. says he wants a woman, there are a couple of women on his list. amy coney barrett, barbara la goya, what do you know about them. well, remember, infamously, you had amy coney barrett who was a previous supreme court justice. she had an infamous encounter from dianne feinstein asking if the dogma was strong within her, and people criticized feinstein saying that somehow she would be governed by her religious principles, as opposed to her religious objectivity. so we have that battle brewing on the cusp of what we know will be a big fight towards the abortion rights cases, about the reversal of roe v. wade, about freedom of religion and exercise, as it relates to the affordable care act and otherwise. you'll have that battle brewing. with respect to lagoa, she was one of the first women on the florida supreme court to be of cuban decent. so they're both qualified woman. but the problem is, when judging qualifications, the fact that they are both women is not the only criteria nor should

we have evan perez and our senior legal analyst, miss laura coats, a federal legal prosecutor. good to see you both. evan, you first. can you tell me about this white house memo to target cities run by democrats? what is this about? >> well, don, this is a memo that specifies four cities in particular: washington, d.c., new york, seattle and portland. and what it says is that the administration, including the justice department, are going to take a look at the federal funds that these cities receive from the federal government with a view to cutting them off, essential essentially, because of their handling of protests and anarchy in the words of the white house, the fact that the cities are struggling with some of these protests, or at least in the case of portland are still struggling. in washington and new york, i think there is a different scenario altogether. but what you have the white house doing is essentially, as you said, targeting these cities to cut off the funds, defund, essentially, the police and any other city services that get federal funds as punishment for so

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laura coates. want to bring her back in. she is our cnn legal analyst. laura, thanks for joining me and helping me out here. so let's talk about sort of procedure here. how could a -- how this is going to affect the country -- how could a 5-3 conservative court factor into the election? >> well, first of all, the numbers. we sti you still have a majority, 5-3. you know that. but i think the biggest issue here is what will be the consequence? and can there actually be decisions made if you have less than nine justices? remember, merrick garland was somebody who was not treated with respect, shall we say, for almost a year that he sat there trying to figure out if he was going to be given the courtesy of an actual hearing. we know, of course, he was not. but there were cases that were able to go forward. and it was to, really, the detriment of certain case if there was a tie to have presidential value. but the supreme court could operate with less than nine justices. is that ideal? obviously, we want to have a definitive marn definitive majority. we want to

perfect person to talk about all of this is laura coats, a former federal prosecutor.ve you here. again, this is your expertise so thank you for doing this. two big developments. let's start first with the kentucky ag saying he's going to comply with the release of that audio. here's a statement. it says once the public listens to the recording they will see that over the course of 2 1/2 days our team presented a thorough and complete case to the grand jury. our prosecutors presented all of the evidence even though the evidence supported that sargeant mattingly and detective cosgrove were justified in their use of force after having been fired upon by kenneth walker. we'll get this to hear what the grand jury did. what do you think of that statement and the release? >> well, i'm surprised he was so going to actually fulfill the request of other people, including the family for breonna taylor. to get the information out there and transparency. a lot was left to be desired after his press conference, namely, why did we learn about inconsistency and incon clues sift at th

joey jackson, laura coates, thank you both. we're going to stay on this breaking story.they're going to hold a press conference. we're hoping it sheds some light on what may happen to an officer tonight. there are reports that an officer was shot in kentucky surrounding the events in louisville. as soon as i get the information, i'll bring it to you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you're having one more bite! no! one more bite! ♪ kraft. for the win win. that's your weathered deck, crying for help. while you do nothing, it's inviting those geese over for target practice. today, let's stain. 'cause if you stain your deck today, they can't stain your deck tomorrow. behr. today, let's stain. when you think of a bank, you think of people in a place. but when you have the chase mobile app, your bank can be virtually any place. so, when you get a check... you can deposit it from here. and you can see your transactions and check your balance from here. you can detect suspicious activity on your account from here. and you can pay your friends back from here. so when someone asks you, "where's your ba

that's what we're talking about here. >> major neal franklin and laura coates, stick around. i'm going to come right back to you. and we're going to continue to cover what's going on in louisville. but i want to also note that coming up from the wife of the republican presidential nominee to endorsing joe biden for president, what a difference a decade makes, cindy mccain will join us live to talk about her decision. >>> plus, we're continuing to follow the breaking news. tense protests in louisville. we're going to squeeze in a quick break. stay with us. get ready - our most popular battery is now even more powerful. the stronger, lasts-longer energizer max. the stronger, lasts-longer keeping your oysters growing while keeping your business growing has you swamped. (♪ ) you need to hire i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base so you can start hiring right away. claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo my job is to help new homeowners who

let's go to laura coates and martin luther king iii. martin, the president traveled to kenosha, wisconsin, not to meet with jacob blake who remains in the hospital after he was shot in the back by police, what did you think of the president's message today? >> well, i thought his visit was strictly a political visit to drum up support for his base. it's so unfortunate that the leadership to bring people together is not reflected. we heard the blake family saying they are ignoring what the president is doing because the president, the way he has presented himself in the past and currently is presenting himself, is not the spirit they would want to see. they are trying to rebuild and bring the community together which i think is appropriate. >> laura, the president dodged this question about systemic racism. let's listen to it. >> you know, you just keep getting back to the opposite subject. we should talk about the kind of violence we have seen in portland and here and other places. it's tremendous violence. you always get to the other s

let's discuss with our cnn senior legal analyst laura coats.c presidential nominee joe biden outlined his reasons why he won't release a list of potential nominees before the election despite a push from the republicans, including president trump, to do so. listen to this. >> first, putting in judges names on a list like that could influence that person's decision-making as a judge and that would be wrong. at least create the perception of influence. second, anyone put on a list like that under these circumstances will be subject to unrelenting political attacks because any nominee i select would not get a hearing until 2021 at the earliest. she would endure those attacks for months on end without being able to defend herself. >> and as we know, president trump has released a list of about 20 potential nominees for the u.s. supreme court and so many of them are getting a lot of scrutiny right now. even though they're sitting appellate court judges and have other really significant positions. >> certainly. and the concerns that biden raised ther

. >> laura coats, as always, we're grateful to you.ing us. >> thank you. >>> as we've been reporting the united states has now lost more than 190,000 people to the coronavirus. before i say good night. i want to take a moment to remember some of those lives. larry john kelly was a kbee loved father, husband and teacher. he taught high school students for more than three dpecades in south florida. his family says they will remember him by his quick wit, piercing blue eyes and deep love for his country. he's survived by his wife joan and his daughters kim and christina. he was 78 years old. >> in mississippi, the middle school is mourning the loss of coach james. he was a teacher and football coach who led his students to several championships. friends and family remember him as a social and happy man who loved to wear bow ties. he is survived by his wife and daughter. he was 42 years old. may they rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing. i'm wolf blitzer here in washington. i'll be back tomorrow 7:00 p.m. eastern with anothe

and laura coates, former federal prosecutor. thank you both very much. lauren, the title of your book says it all, "will he go, trump and the looming election meltdown of 2020." what do you see happening here if the president worry about is we need to connect two points. back when trump issued this tweet raising the possibility of delaying the election, a lot of people faux kusd on that. they observed that that's kind of a preposterous notion. the president can't delay the election. but on that very same day, he issued another tweet that got very little attention. and he tweeted the following. he said, must know election results on the night of the election, and not months, or even years, later. and i think if we connect that point with his relentless attacks on the integrity of mail-in balance t los, these kind of baseless attacks, we have to worry that what he's trying to do is trying to take whatever lead he might enjoy on november 3rd itself. and i do think, again, it's possible that he would have a lead on november 3rd because of the millions of mai

laura coates. >> trayvon martin, michael brown, ahmaud arbery, breonna taylor and now jacob blake.common denominator, their attorney benjamin crump, how did he get in these civil rights cases? told me it started at home, growing up in poverty. >> my mother like most black women in america, she was a miracle worker. watched her sacrifice everything for us. and everything i am today, it is because of her. would tell me all the time, baby, life ain't fair, life is hard. you make it fair by what you bring to the table. and if you don't bring anything to the table, don't expect anybody to let you sit down at the table. >> reporter: he also credits supreme court justice thurgood marshall as inspiration. >> in fourth grade we integrated the schools and kept thinking why do they have it so good and we have it so challenging. and my mother told me it was because of brown versus the board of education and thurgood marshall. >> since then he's represented trayvon martin's parents, families of victims of police brutality, including high profile cases that have reignited national conversations

of the 1619 project and also with us is cnn senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor laura coats. it is great the see both of you and so glad you could join us for this discussion and, nicole, what did you think about the ag's comments? >> i mean, where does one begin? they were cynical. they were ahistoric and offensive. slavery was a crime against humanity. it is amongst the most brutal institutions that existed in the united states and to compare slavery to, one, there is no national shutdown order, never has been and compared to those sbernded to save american lives is not based at all in any type of factual understanding of american history, of slavery or what the shutdowns are supposed to do. and it's just part of this administration's efforts, continuing efforts to down play slavery and the politicize life saving measures for america because of a failed coronavirus effort. >> laura, what did you think? >> i have to say i was waiting on batded breath from nicole and i agree about the ahistoric idea and the role to be the head of the decpartment of justice to enforce laws an

. >> and laura coates, do you think americans realize the extent to which this effort by the president mitch mcconnell is reshaping the judicial system as a whole because the impact is going to go on for years and shall we say decades, these are lifetime appointments. >> if they didn't know before, they certainly know now with that interview. most people focus on lifetime appointments, they think of the supreme court of the united states. but the federal bench is as important if not more because the overwhelming majority of cases never reach the judicial nine. they stay within the so-called lower courts. so if you are being paing those courts, you will guarantee far more pervasive victories. on the other hand, you are talking about the president who is keenly aware about compartmentalizing on behalf of the voters, those who are willing to sort of take the good and the bad as long as there is going to be that long game that gloria is speaking about. the sink bgular focus of mcconn to fixate on the judicial bench is the part that people say, well, voters who want trump to be in office is

. >>> joining us now is laura coats and cnn law enforcement announce charles ramsey, the former philadelphiacommissioner and former police chief. what is the legal bar here? what is the consideration that this grand jury is making about whether to press charges? >> well, they're going to look at the different statutes for killing in kentucky that range from first degree which is intentional murder, whether it was planned or malice aforethought or reckless. going in between those is not only about the intent but the perceived risk of the officers' pave year. did they appreciate a risk, a loss to human life? do they do it indifferently or intentionally in some way? they'll consider all of the factors including the fact that one officer at least has been fired for what they called the wanton disregard for human life when he fired what ten bullets into the home. potentially harming people next door as well. so all of that will be on the table for consideration. but remember, even if the grand jury may make a decision, the attorney general could keep it close to the vest, determining whether or n

. >>> all right, i want to bring in laura coats to talk about what we've just seen from the attorney general in kentucky. one of three officers who fired into the apartment of brianna taylor has been charged. three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree. but none of those charges have to do with the death of brianna taylor. and just to take people back to the night of march 13th and what happened here, on one side of that door, of apartment 4, brianna taylor's apartment, were police executing a warrant involving brianna taylor's ex-boyfriend, who was not present at the apartment that night. and this was a no-knock warrant but according to what we heard from the attorney general, it had been told to them that they needed to announce themselves and appeared one witness that said they did. but to hear it from brianna taylor's then boyfriend, who was inside, all he heard was knocking. he didn't know it was please. and when the door came off the hinges, he said he fired a shot and that is a shot that hit sergeant john mattingly in this case. and i just want laura and ariva, for

with me once again now, cnn's chief legal analyst jeffrey tubin and laura coates. good to see you both again. jeffrey, this is what mitch mcconnell said, this was in may. >> we fill it. >> i could not hear. sorry, what did he say? i'll fill it. okay. so he, has already said that, the trump nominee will get a full vote on the senate floor. what are your thoughts? >> well, if it succeeds, it will be the greatest act of political hypocrisy in the nation's history. the fact that they jammed through a nominee with less than two hours to go. shows that the words of senators mean nothing. all they care about is temporary political advantage. mitch mcconnell has 53 votes. he is a master of the senate. i have learned in covering the senate. you don't make much money voting against mitch mcconnell. but his power is not absolute here. and the egregiousness of his hypocrisy, may force some senators to revisit their support for what he did four years ago. and this is going to be a big issue in the senate campaigns as well as in the presidential campaigns. and good luck to these

with me once again now, cnn's chief legal analyst jeffrey tubin and laura coates. good to see you both again. jeffrey, this is what mitch mcconnell said, this was in may. >> we fill it. >> i could not hear. sorry, what did he say? i'll fill it. okay. so he, has already said that, the trump nominee will get a full vote on the senate floor. what are your thoughts? >> well, if it succeeds, it hwil be the greatest act of political hipocracy in the nation's history. the fact that they jammed through a nominee with less than two whos to go. shows that the words of senators mean nothing. all they care about is temporary political advantage. mitch mcconnell has 53 votes. he is a master of the senate. i have learned in covering the senate. you don't make much money voting against mitch mcconnell. but his power is not absolute here. and the egregiousness of his hypocracy, may force some senators to revisit their support for what he did four years ago. and this is going to be a big issue in the senate campaigns as well as in the presidential campaigns. and good luck to these

laura coates is joining us, and martin is with us as well.'s talk a little about what we're hearing. your father, he devoted his life to this fight for justice in the united states. what goes through your mind hearing the attorney general compare the coronavirus lockdowns to the history of slavery in our country? >> this is beyond unconscionable. it should be quickly changed. when you look at the fact that yes, it's been invent for people to be at home for a few months. but to even compare it to the most cruel institution in history, in modern history, slavery for over 200 years, is unconscionable. it is very sad that that's where we are in this nation. but also, when you think about the fact that this administration basically does not acknowledge systematic racism, that everyone realizes, most people who see visually that it exists, this administrator, the president, has stood up in charlottesville for those who really promote hatred. this administration decided to disable protesters, nonviolent protesters in front of the white house. and so

laura coates, bring you in for legal expertise and say the first count, i think i know what it was, but cut off a little bit. but laura, sort of take us through it. it appears, and you tell me if i'm correct in this, that there are three counts, all have to do with just one officer? i don't know if there could be more with others? you tell me that. but it appears to be at least two of those maybe three wanton endangerment in the first degree having to do with shooting into apartments occupied by initials c.e. c.n. and z.s. what does all of this mean? >> this is, first aof all, waiting for accountability for the killing of breonna taylor, 26-year-old emergency technician in kentucky, louisville in particular. now we see there will be some form of accountability, at least a charge on one of the officers. there were three officers involve ared in the shooting. a first officer who went in, shot in his leg. severing a femoral artery after being shot by mr. walker and a third officer not named in this particular indictment here white now also involved as a plained clothes narcotics officer. t

and cnn legal analyst, laura coates. good evening, jeffrey. good evening, laura. jeffrey, the nine, i remember reading that baook that you had written. and it offers so much insight into the court. so i want to -- i want to hear from you because this is incredible loss for the court. but not only the court, the country. and it comes at a critical point, with the election so close. give me your thoughts tonight. >> well, it's just -- it is kind of an overwhelming thing to think about. one thing about ruth bader ginsburg that's, i think, important to remember. even if she had snerved on the supreme court, she would have been an epic figure in the history of american law. because she was, as a private lawyer, the architect of legal gender discrimination, in the united states. she was a lawyer, in a series of cases that, during the warrenburger years on the supreme court, that -- that really broke down all the rules that said the law could treat men and women differently. it was an enormous achievement. obviously, many, many lawyers were involved and many, many people

we are joined now by senior legal analyst laura coats and cnn legal analyst carrie cordero. like they have the votes, carrie, although we have to see where senator romney stands. how quickly could there be a new supreme court justice confirmed for life before the election and when would they sit? >> well, it depends on how quickly they actually move to the hearing. it certainly sounds like they're going to move very, very quickly. and so if they have the votes, then they'll be able to do it. look, the issue is, first of all, there is an incredible amount of hypocrisy. so -- >> carrie, sincere apologies. dr. anthony fauci has just begun his conversation with our sanjay gupta. let's join in live. >> -- the fact it's expected 200,000 americans will have died of this coronavirus within the next -- a little bit of time here. maybe during our discussion which is an unbelievable number to think about. you know, dr. fauci, you and i are both doctors. no one likes to think about deaths being preventible. no family member likes to be told their family member's death is preventible and

national intelligence dan coats is calling on congress to form a bipartisan commission to oversee the integrity of the election. any chance of that happening? good afternoon to you laura someone who has known for over 20 years. a man of impeccable integrity. if he's come out and said that congress need to do so in a bipartisan fashion, this is something that i would listen to. but sadly, i think that between the leader of the democrats and the senate and nancy pelosi the spectre of the house and kevin mcconnell at their respective current leadership, i think there are so hell bent on either taking the house of republicans are taking the senate from the democrats that bipartisan consensus seems to be an ocean an mile away. ron, the president said in 2019 here take it if russia offered help again. presumably, he doesn't mind. well, i think it's a foolish statement. write ? doesn't mind. well, i think it's a foolish statement. write? if i were running for president, if i was running for president, if i was running for president, if i was running for dog catcher in the district of columbia i wouldn't want outside influence bearing on my election. i want my fellow constitu

laura in ellicott city, maryland. wes moore, i am wondering if you and tanner haughey coats knew each other or talk together about baltimore and structural racism. >> guest: he is another one, very proud, his father, very active inside baltimore and a person i look to and admire deeply. in addition to his son who i am proud of. and we have had a chance to speak a lot about where the city is and where the city is going and why the city is the way it is. i ask people, obviously known for all, toni morrison was something before, james baldwin, don't know if you can give a higher complement to than the brilliance of james baldwin, you see it all over the place. but if you read a beautiful struggle, a book about his upbringing growing up in baltimore, that is another i worked recommend to people who understand baltimore and its history and consultation and why people are so very proud of the city of baltimore so i am thankful he continues to drive me and so many others and still firmly very much committed to the city, very much firmly committed to the city in the way that i am in the way we know it can and should. >> host: you