this is d"don lemon tonight" an i'm laura coates in for don lemon. another night of major developments on multiple big stories. questions tonight about how long immunity lasts from the pfizer vaccine. pfizer saying it's working on a booster shot. a third dose that might be administered as soon as six months after the second. while the cdc and fda say americans don't need booster shots yet. we've got a lot more to come on that. and meanwhile, as we're talking about with chris, one of our most sacred rights as americans is under increasing assault. the right to vote. the very heart of what makes democracy, democracy. republican-led states across the country putting more and more restrictions on voting, especially voting by black and brown people. many of whom vote for democrats. the supreme court upholding arizona's voting restrictions and signaling that they would likely side with other states passing new restrictions in response to the big lie of voter fraud. while in congress, the john lewis act is stalled after the senate refused to even debate the

and cnn senior legal analyst, laura coates. laura, you -- you have had a chance to process, now, the pennsylvania supreme court decision. do you think it is reasonable or unreasonable, purely from a legal perspective? >> on a legally-procedural basis, the decision was actually reasonable. but, of course, we can't look at it in a vacuum, can we? we know that there is the emotion. we know about the silencing of voices of victims of sexual assault. we know about the notion of this being the first case, in the me too movement, to actually be prosecuted. and for a verdict to be rendered. and the supreme court in pennsylvania never said that bill cosby was innocent. they did not address the substance of the factual allegations. or did -- nor did they say the prosecutors in that case failed to meet their burden of proof. the jury found him guilty. what they did say, however, is look, a deal is a deal. and it wasn't bruce castor, in his personal capacity, that created and executed this deal. that effectively immunized bill cosby. he did

laura coates. laura, hello to you., conspiracy, falsifying business records. no taxes on perks like a rent-free apartment, and mercedes cars. are -- are these significant charges? >> these are very significant charges. originally, people thought these would be about fringe benefits. and, of course, they tried to be dismissive about that. the idea of, are you really going to try to charge someone for fringe benefits? but now, it's not the fringe, it's the fraud that's involved. the intent to defraud the taxpaying members of the state of new york. the idea of the combination of the attorney general in new york, letitia james, with the manhattan da's office, who you will recall, the supreme court twice to try to attain the tax information from donald trump and the organization. and now, we see here, it wasn't just a matter of a few mistaken filings but the idea of intentional-fraudulent behavior to not pay the taxation that's owed. this is all allegations, of course. there is, still, a presumption of innocence but the wei

joining us, two former federal prosecutors, cnn legal analyst shan wu and laura coates. laura, you've had a chance to process now the pennsylvania supreme court decision. do you think it is reasonable or unreasonable purely from a legal perspective? >> on a legally procedural basis, the decision was actually reasonable. but of course we can't look at it in a vacuum, can we? we know there is the emotion. we know about the silencing of voices of victims of sexual assault. we know about the notion of this being the first case -- the supreme court in pennsylvania never said that cosby was innocent. they didn't address the factual allegations nor did they say that the prosecutors in that case failed to meet their burden of proof. the jury found him guilty. the deal effectively immunized bill cosby. he did it in his public capacity on behalf of the commonwealth of pennsylvania. and for that reason even though another successful prosecutor came in to handle the case, the commonwealth itself would still be bound. and so this court was saying, look, the deal stands as is. it has g

i'm la i'm laura coats in for don. still pushing the big lie in case you're wondering if that is front and center, look what got the biggest cheer at cpac tonight. >> donald trump won! [ cheers ] >> more of that in a minute and they're still pushing the assault on the most sacred rights as americans, the right to vote with the endless election frauded in maricopa county and another in pennsylvania trying to pass restrictive voting laws in texas after states have passed nearly 30 laws to cut back on ballot access, all in support of the big lie of bogus voter fraud. the party of lincoln. lincoln would be mortified and then there is the gop fear mongering over critical race theory. arizona's governor signing bills he claims will keep critical race theory out of arizona's government and public schools even though the truth is it's academic theory. cpac betting outrage. here is ronny jackson railing against this. >> this is just another government over reach that sits in the narrative that democrats do everything else with

cnn senior legal analyst, laura coates, here. former-federal prosecutor, by the way. explain this to us. supreme court came to this decision saying that bill cosby -- they didn't say that he was innocent? >> no, they didn't. in fact, they never really reached -- no, they did not. they didn't reach that conclusion, at all. they didn't say they thought he should be acquitted. they said this trial never should have gone on because there was an earlier agreement not to prosecute. and that, earlier prosecutor, bruce castor, he didn't make it in his own, personal capacity. he, essentially, foreclosed it because he was doing it on behalf of the commonwealth of pennsylvania. and in doing so, it was the government that agreed not to prosecute bill cosby. and the court found that the later prosecutor could not simply undo what the government already agreed not to do because bill cosby had relied, to his detriment, and actually made statements that they were able to use as incriminating against him, later. it is a procedurally-correct result. but naturally, you can imagine, the e

i'm laura coats in for don. in a week that began with a banner headline that this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated and everyone can go on with passes for a normal life these days. now, that's turned upside down. let me be clear, what we have learned in the last 24 hours makes getting vaccinated even more essential than ever before. vaccination makes it less likely you'll catch covid in the first place and vaccinated people are far less likely to end up in the hospital or die. however, a new cdc study shows the delta variant produced similar amounts of virus in vaccinated and unvaccinated people, if they got infected. so, fully vaccinated people with breakthrough infections could actually spread the virus just as easily as unvaccinated people. all of that as president joe bidenamericans to expect new guidelines as the delta variant spreads. but the good news, vaccinations are heading back up. >> americans expect more restrictions coming up because of covid? >> in all probability, by the way, we had a good day ye

laura coates. >> is that what he's doing? i like nachos. >> at best that's what he's doing. >> if that's the upshot of all of it, chris, i don't know what to think. nice show as always, great show. thank you for the humor and laugh tonight. i needed it. i appreciate it. >> if we're not smiling we're crying. >> i look forward to the show, laura. >> me, too. thank you. this is "don lemon tonight," and i'm laura coates in for don lemon. i know you can remember, because how could you forget? how could any of us forget what we saw with our own eyes exactly six months ago today? something we never in a million years thought we'd see, the united states capitol, the seat of our democracy, battered, defiled by hundreds of bloodthirsty rioters. lawmakers like senator mitt romney and the then-vice president forced to run for their lives. the pictures, the videos are burned into our memories. but just today the fbi released 11 horrific new videos from body cameras, officers who risked their lives trying to keep the insurrectionists out o

i'm laura coats in for don on the night of major developments on multiple big stories. new tonight rudy giuliani's law license is suspended in washington, d.c. after the president's former personal lawyer saw his license suspended in new york all for pushing the big law of non-existent election fraud. >> they only submitted 8,021 ballots from dead people, mail-in ballots for dead people. probably easier for dead people to submit mail-in ballots than it is to vote in person. we cannot allow these crooks, because that's what they are, to steal an election from the american people. >> let's have trial by combat! >> the appeals court in d.c. saying the man once known as america's mayor would be suspended from working as an attorney in the city pending the outcome of the situation in new york. much more on that in just a moment. and it comes as on capitol hill, kevin mccarthy who has been doing everything he can to drag his feet and delay the investigation of the january 6th insurrection now is deciding to put the republicans on the committee. almost certainly to include som

i'm laura coates, in for don. and think about where we are, tonight.ting independence day, you know, just six months ago, tomorrow, violent insurrectionists tried to take over the united states capitol. they tried to overturn the results of the election. they beat police, to within an inch of their lives. hun hunlt hunted for lawmakers and the then-vice president in the halls of congress. >> hang mike pence! hang mike pence! >> they put up a gallows, in front of the capitol. they marched with a confederate-battle flag. all of

i'm laura coates, in for don. and think about where we are, tonight. as we wind down a holiday weekend celebrating independence day, you know, just six months ago, tomorrow, violent insurrectionists tried to take over the united states capitol. they tried to overturn the results of the election. they beat police, to within an inch of their lives. hun hunlt hunted for lawmakers and the then-vice president in the halls of congress. >> hang mike pence! hang mike pence! >> they put up a gallows, in front of the capitol. they marched with a confederate-battle flag. all of that, happened just six months ago, on one of the darkest days in this nation's history. and now, the big lie that fueled all of that is, still, poisoning america. and splitting the country in two. we saw it just this weekend, in philadelphia. hundreds of white nationalists marching in the streets, wearing tan pants, black shirts, and face coverings. chanting, the election was stolen. and, reclaim america. >> take the mask off. too scared. >> shame! [ bleep ] shame on you [ bleep ]! [ bl [

i'm laura coates, in for don. and think about where we are, tonight. violent insurrectionists tried to take over the united states capitol.

it was a shot across the bow for future people as well. >> laura coates, andrew mccabe, appreciate itnd the others on tomorrow's flight can expect minute by minute when they take off and come back down. we're live from launch site one. we'll be right back. is your family ready for an emergency? you can prepare by mapping out two ways to escape your home, creating a supply kit, and including your whole family in practice drills. for help creating an emergency plan, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com a little preparation will make you and your family safer in an emergency. a week's worth of food and water, radio, flashlight, batteries and first aid kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com as i mentioned at the top of the broadcast, tomorrow morning, jeff bezos and a crew of three others will launch in space from a rocket here at launch site one in texas. the actual launch pad is about two or so miles in that direction. right now, the rocket that they're going to take off on, that building you're seeing with the feather on it, that's where the rocket is being st

want to get perspective now from andrew mccabe, and laura coates, former federal prosecutor, and cnnhat the sentence in the case was significantly below the guidelines of one to two years, what does that tell you? >> you know, it's got to be a really concerning sign for prosecutors and agents working the rest of these cases, anderson. because it's -- there is no doubt that this sentence will have an impact on other cases that judge moss sentences. but also, other cases that other judges review. be -- there's a -- there's a strong desire, within the federal bench, to sentence similar defendants to similar punishment. it makes perfect sense. so, this case, in some very important ways, could set a benchmark that other defendants, who are charged with similar conduct, could -- could use to kind of expect what sort of sentence they can expect a judge to give them. >> laura, i mean, this particular defendant. he said, in court, he was remorseful. but then, his attorney, according to our reporting, made a kind of rambling 30-minute presentation. he quoted abraham lincoln, japanese internmen

let's discuss all of this with our cnn senior legal analyst laura coates, cnn senior legal analyst elieig, former u.s. attorney in the district of new york, and cnn analyst jennifer rogers. let me start with you, laura. as a former federal prosecutor, what do you think we will see in moments? >> well, we are going to see the result of what two different offices in new york have come together to do. remember, talking about letitia james, the ag in new york, followed by manhattan da cy vance. they collaborated and it was a rare combination of efforts here. the question is will it be in like a lion and out like a lamb. certainly, tax charges can be quite significant, we know this. it is a violation of the law not to pay your taxes. the only thing that is certain is death and taxes. they've got to be paid. but in the end game here, if the goal was somehow to implicate somebody whose namesake was on the building we have yet to see that actually unfold. but, remember, we are talking about the complementary of the tax law and the penal system in new york combining. the corporation would not be

this is "don lemon tonight," and i'm laura coates in for don lemon. i know you can remember, because how could you forget? how could any of us forget what we saw with our own eyes exactly six months ago today? something we never in a million years thought we'd see, the united states capitol, the seat of our democracy, battered, defiled by hundreds of bloodthirsty rioters. lawmakers like senator mitt romney and the then-vice president forced to run for their lives. the pictures, the videos are burned into our memories. but just today the fbi released 11 horrific new videos from body cameras, officers who risked their lives trying to keep the insurrectionists out of the capitol. and i warn you, some of this is very disturbing to watch. you know, we haven't bleeped any of it to give you the full context. when there is this video of maga head rioters on the capitol steps. and another sickening video of rioters assaulting police officers . and with threats against lawmakers still increasing, with homeland security and the fbi warning about the potential fo

i want to go to laura coats, our senior legal analyst. laura, it is extraordinary here.t paula is detailing that they're putting on tom barrack and he loses up to $250 million. his son, his ex-wife, his business partner would lose properties if he violates the terms. it does seem extraordinary. >> it is an extraordinary amount of money we're talking about and as paula pointed out, you have a co-defendant in the case that fled several years ago after being interviewed by the fbi. there is cause for concern about him perhaps fleaineing and also compare the other co-defendant that remained in the u.s. i think he had $5 million. you're talking about $200 million compared to $5 million, you're talking about the extraordinary wealth difference here and something else, the person who has maybe the most to lose versus the person who has the $5 million bond, imagine what the leverage we're talking about who might be willing to cooperate against the other. they can't talk to each other by court order so you can expect pressure put on the co-defendants in this case. >> here is one

. >> all right, laura coats, i appreciate that.nk you so much. >>> the supreme court giving a green light to red states to impose more voting restrictions. dr. cornell west, there he is, weighs in next. [♪] are you constantly cleaning and sanitizing your bathroom? for an easy solution that lasts, try microban24 bathroom cleaner. simply spray and wipe away to easily dissolve soap scum, and kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria initially. then reapply and allow to dry on tile to prevent mold and mildew growth for 7 days, or on countertop surfaces to keep killing bacteria for up to 24 hours. try microban24 bathroom cleaner. brand power. helping you buy better. you need an ecolab scientific clean here. and you need it here. and here. and here. which is why the scientific expertise that helps operating rooms stay clean is now helping the places you go every day too. seek a commitment to clean. look for the ecolab science certified seal. for a limited time, you can save more on flights, hotels and rental cars during priceline's freedom sale

. >> let's discuss with our top legal analyst jeffrey toobin and laura coates.ny legal chance of succeeding? >> it does not. i think most people know the first amendment acts as a bar on the government discriminating on the basis of people's viewpoints. it does not tell facebook or cnn what it can and can't broadcast, and facebook has the right to ban donald trump from the use of its facilities, according to its own rules. in addition, this is not a class action, and facebook has a rule that if you are going to sue facebook, you have to sue in california, not in florida. so it is a publicity stunt, it's a fundraising device, but it will get a lot of attention. >> it certainly will. laura, he claims these companies are violating his first amendment rights. what do you make of that claim? >> i find it shocking that he was the president of the united states and doesn't understand that state actor distinction. your mother telling you to be quiet doesn't violate your first amendment rights, nor does an exclusion of a private company's playground called twitter or fac

laura coats now. >> i'll market that. brain food. have a good weekend. >> you, too, my friend. >>> this is "don lemon tonight." the sad truth is, america's gains against covid are quickly unraveling because now for the first time since january, covid cases are rising in all 50 states. and president joe biden is pointing the finger right at social media bluntly accusing the platforms of killing people with the spread of misinformation. >> covid misinformation, what's your message to platforms like facebook? >> they're killing people. i mean, they -- look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated and they're killing people. >> now, once we were almost helpless to combat covid. today, we're watching the spread of something that actually might be preventable with vaccination. and the truth is, the ills of social media might also be completely preventable with truth and information. but it's been a week of misinformation on every front. from the pandemic to the big lie that's still alive and thriving even today with bogus claim

our senior legal analyst laura coats is still with us, along with brian lizza, the chief washington correspondenthen i interrupted you, we were talking about former president donald trump talking about everything he has been accused of doing, right? >> right. how shocking. this is why defense attorneys don't want their clients talking. he does make admissions that could be consequential to the organization and allen weisselberg as well. the charging documents talk about allen weisselberg performing this task with others. we have not named who that is. i got the impression that former president trump, who said that everybody else new much less than he did about taxes, that he almost had this attitude of, well, sure, one could essentially evade taxes. but what's the big deal, as long as it's not murder? equating the two of them, obviously they're distinct and different and there should be accoun accountability. but violating our tax laws is a violation of the law. it seems like he did. >> he's clearly trying to play this out in the court of public opinion among his base, if you will, using his old

lemon tries to see if he could eat his weight in tacos, you get laura coats. >> i thought it was nachoshis diet. >> asi'll ask him, assuming he' sober enough to answer. let's take up the case. which side do you want on richardson, pro or on? >> i'm always on coats' side. >> you make pro because that's the right way to be on thi

laura coates. >> is that what he's doing?at to think. nice show as always, great show. thank you for the humor and laugh tonight. i needed it. i appreciate it.

you get laura coates. >> i thought it was nachos? >> that was last night. >> all right, well. >> he may have no discipline. he loves diversity in the diet. >> i don't know. assuming he's sober enough to answer. let's take up the case. which side do you want on sha'carri richardson? pro or con. >> you take pro. that's the right way to be. rules are rules. here's my push back. not all rules are the same. weed is not a performance enhancing drug. she did nothing to help herself gain advantage. it would be a disadvantage you could argue. she did a time during mental duress and serves no purpose as a policy to enforce this. the united states should be more to resist. not to enable. >> it's hard to be fully pro or con. although the rules are rules we have a patch work of rules when it comes o weed in the country. justice thomas spoke about this. having uniformity. i can see the argument in order to be an elite athlete and you have to have the discipline to abide by the rules. we want that to be the case. again, it's hard for people to unde

i want to bring in now cnn's senior legal analyst laura coates and analyst philip mudd.h for joining. let's start with what happened on capitol todhill today. i want everyone to hear from harry dunn. he talks about this pro-trump mob calling him the n-word. >> one woman in a pink maga shirt yelled, you hear that guys? this nigger voted for joe biden. then the crowd, perhaps around 20 people, joined in screaming, boo, fucking nigger. no one had ever, ever called me a nigger while wearing the uniform of a capitol police officer. in the days following the attempted insurrection, other black officers shared with me their own stories of racial abuse on january 6th. one officer told me he had never in his entire 40 years of life been called a nigger to his face, and that streak ended on january 6th. yet another black officer later told me he had been confronted by insurrectionists in the capitol who told him, put your gun down, and we'll show you what kind of nigger you really are. >> it doesn't get more explicit than that. then he says that 20 people all chimed in. laura, loo

it is now time for "don lemon tonight" with the upgrade, laura coates. >> chris cuomo, how are you doing i'll take your high road, better than i deserve. >> you're not me. you deserve good things. >> i don't believe that. we're all doing the west we can especially on a night like tonight. >> what's leading the show for

laura coats now. >> i'll market that. brain food.urday truth this is america's gains against covid are quickly unraveling because now for the first time since january, covid cases are rising in all 50 states. and president joe biden is pointing the finger right at social media bluntly accusing the platforms of killing people

you get laura coates. >> i thought it was nachos?y have no discipline. he loves diversity in the diet. >> i don't know. assuming he's sober enough to answer. let's take up the case. which side do you want on sha'carri richardson? pro or con. >> you tak

let's break all this down with cnn special correspondent jaime, former federal prosecutor laura coats and the former dc police chief, charles ramsey. chief ramsey, you know and you actually know some of these brave officers who testified today. they testified under oath. what went through your mind hearing the torture that they had to go through back on january 6th. >> first of all, wolf, it was very powerful testimony and in some ways listening to them tell their story in my mind was even more powerful than watching the video because when you put the two together, you get -- it's in context in a different way. and i think it was very smart on the committee's part to have these officers start because there's been so much said about, you know, the crowd wasn't violent and hugs and kisses and normal tour. and absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. i do know a couple of those officers in particular. i actually swore him in when i was chief of mpd. a very, very good police officer. all of them are good police officers. but the heroism displayed that day was just unbelievable

it is now time for "don lemon tonight" with the upgrade, laura coates. >> chris cuomo, how are you doingto be -- i'll take the opposite. i feel pretty good. but i'll take your high road, better than i deserve. that sounds much -- >> no, no. you deserve everything. you're not me. you deserve good things. >> i don't believe that. we're all doing the best we can especially on a night like tonight. >> what's leading the show for you? what's got you burning? >> voting rights. it should be burning everyone. the idea that we're in a democracy in 2021 and it's still up for debate, whether it should happen, whether it can be happening. it's unbelievable to think that i'm still and everyone is still talking about voting rights because they're still seeming to be on the chopping block. i don't understand why. >> sure you do. because they want more of theirs and less of others to vote. this is about winning. and it doesn't matter if it winds up creating racial strife. it doesn't matter if it takes us back culturally. it's about winning. >> i keep thinking about sisyphus, you know that story where th

i wish you a good weekend but first, "don lemon tonight "with the upgrade of laura coats tonight. >>. >> you know what? that's what we'll name this outfit today. this is called the under score. i love it. i love it so much. happy weekend ahead to you. great show, as always. nice to see you. >> be well. >> this is

lucky on a friday night, you get the upgrade laura coats in for don lemon. husband, as well. >> shout out to your husband. thank god and blessings to you both for finding a way to stay together. we all know it's work and not easy. ten years is a beautiful milestone. >> it is, indeed and he's cute so it helps. >> of course he is. i would expect no less. let me ask you a quick take. you have tons of news tonight. a headline came out simone biles decided to withdrawal from the event finals from vault and uneven bars which means she's not out of everything but she's out of the vault and uneven bars and continuing to be evaluated