pence and christy -- pence might be ahead of christy, but is not much. we're only talking about 10% of the vote. all of these candidates in that lane, let's call it less than 10% when, they are all really struggling to convince republican voters that they matter really at all because i think that there is a sort of sense of irrelevancy that republican voters -- they are like, they are fine. it is conservative principles, and that is great, but there is something that they're missing that is really not getting them beyond where they are. even rhonda scent this, who is very well funded, well known, gets a lot of good evidence, he struggling to get past 30%. this is trump's party, and no one has proven the ability to dislodge the until this point. >> in kaitlan, in 2016, hope the republican rivals of donald trump really held a back, and they hoped somebody else would take on donald trump, and then those two with destroy each other and jeb bush and marco rubio, whatever, would emerge as the nominee. now, they have that someone. it's chris christie, he would

mike pence. of people say i look like him. no, he looks like me. remember i'm older. ok. today i can't be more proud than to be here and stand with my brother in this race that he is starting off today. [applause] mr. pence: michael as i know him, mike pence as the rest of the world knows t. he's a wonderful man. no other republican in this field has the ability to defeat joe biden other than my brother. he will turn our country around and he will be the next president of the united states starting today. [applause] somebody asked me if my brother has changed for the times or the times are watching up with him. michael has always said i'm christian, conservative, and republican. and i'm not mad about it. in that order. that's the type of man we need today in 2023. on issues of life, liberty, and loyalty to our constitution mike doesn't actually talk the talk, we have seen him lead here at home and around the world. mike is a man who will unflinchingly stand his post. if you are a veteran like mys

what trump and pence did was way different.y created a whole new policy that made separation routine rather than rare. in spring 2018 they're a. g. jeff sessions announced it as a whole new separation policy. it was called zero tolerance and said that in a major change from the obama days. all of the adults car costing the border legally would be criminally prosecuted and that resulted in those adults going to jail. their children were taken to other facilities and so as a result of this new -- routine separation, actually did not exist under barack obama. in short, anderson, mike pence here is dishonestly descent -- jested. >> he also talked about abortion tonight. what did he say? how does that stand up? so our dine about actually talked about the importance of exceptions for life of the mother, for rape and incest. and he made an assertion -- sudanese questions. take a listen. >> should any thorough abortion ban also include exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother? >> well i, those are exceptions that i have

former vice president mike pence entering the pack and in minutes he will

seems to be somewhat similar to the pence situation.tary search and disclosed he had documents, and denied that he knew that he had the documents and pence similarly denied that, and sort of vindicated by doj. and dr. is different, because he knew that he had classified documents, and he has acknowledged that. and the intent, and the new reporting of paula and team shed light on that, because we know that he held these classified documents, and use it to influence some of the political news coverage of him and did he know that he had the documents, for sure. and what was the intent. >> and so there is a special counsel investigating president biden, and so does that mean that there needs to be a much longer investigation by the doj. nobody wants a special investigation, but they are doing nothing more than anybody else, because they are doing it in the same way of the investigation of mike pence. there are administrative differences here n. biden and the trump case, they have to ultimately put the recommendations together, and send them

mike pence? the real mike pence, now disguised as donald trump, have to chase him down and prove his true identity? and if that was the plan, and we suspect it was - [ light laughter ] it backfired spectacularly, because they forgot one thing. mike pence can catch donald trump, because mike pence runs like this [ laughter and applause in reality, the biden and pence revelations show that this is a lot more commonplace than most of us realized, and that if trump had just given the documents back when asked, there wouldn't have been a problem instead he lied and obstructed for over a year. that's what makes his case different. that and the fact that he probably had top secret documents stuffed inside - >> chick-fil-a bags on the floor. [ laughter ] >> seth: this has been "a closer look." ♪ [ cheers and applause we'll be right back with alex wagner, everybody [ cheers and applause ♪ (vo) consnsumer repororts evaluatates vehiclcles for c ppers s in... reliabilility, safetety, ownr satisfacaction, and

, they said pence had all the zing of a mayonnaise sandwich, and in introducing him, one of pence's folks> this morning i read that somebody said mike pence can be a lot like mao place in on toast. and i -- let me just suggest this, i think you're going to get to know the mike pence that we know, congressman pence and i know, there's a lot of iowa bacon, maybe a little tabasco sauce in that toast too. >> do you have to have that at the very least, because whatever else you want to say about donald trump, he commands a room. >> look. i think it's fascinating to think that mike pence, eight years ago, would have been the model of a candidate for president for the gop. he hits all the boxes. he's socially conservative, a man of faith, an economic conservative, strong former presiden -- foreign policy. shows you how much the party has changed. he's running against his own former boss donald trump and the question he is posing to the electorate, how much do you really care about all the things that we said we cared about for so many years, or is this really about grievance and personality and

hang mike pence. laura: pence refused. mr.se who wreaked havoc in our capitol today, you did not win. laura: in the years since, pence has seesawed between criticizing trump for his role in the january 6 attacks. mr. pence: when he returned in the months later to the rhetoric he was using before january 6, arguing that i had the right to overturn the election, i just decided it would best that we went our separate ways. and we have. laura: but defended him on other matters. mr. pence: this is nothing short of a -- of a political prosecution being effected by a manhattan da who literally campaigned on bringing charges against one particular american. while potential legal troubles still loom for trump, including possible obstruction charges for retaining classified documents at mar-a-lago, pence was recently cleared by the justice department, which closed its investigation into the discovery of classified documents at his indiana home. it's not clear if pence will break through in a crowded primary, with his former boss leading

mike pence will do what he can to attract attention.takes. in a very congested race, it's still candidates like him versus the absent donald trump, and it is the former president who still is clearly in the lead. sarah smith, bbc news, des moines, iowa. and just before i go lets take a look at some incredible footage of one of the world's most active volcanoes — which has errupted in hawaii. here you can see the volcano, spewing massive flows of lava around the crater floor. it erupted yesterday, for the second time this year. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello. some weather changes are now starting to take place. today really has been more of the same, more of the weather we've become used to. early low cloud burning back towards the east coast and then some warm sunshine. but, down to the south west of us, you can see this lumpy cloud, some showers and some thunderstorms looming. and just ahead of that over the next few days, a feed of much warmer and much more humid air. i think you really will notice the di

mike pence is already well— known to pence is already well—known to voters and yet he is still trailinglear frontrunner. badly in the polls behind donald the clearfrontrunner. who knows, the more candidates like mike pence who get into the race, the more they split that anti—trump vote and the easier they could make it four mr trump to win the nomination. these voters didn't get to hear from trump himself but is giving this event doesn't seem to who you are supporting for the nomination? trump. or desantis. i would go for either one. but trump first, i think. i either one. but trump first, i think. ., ., , , think. i voted for president trump last time. the _ think. i voted for president trump last time. the name _ think. i voted for president trump last time. the name calling - think. i voted for president trump last time. the name calling has i think. i voted for president trump j last time. the name calling has to stop _ last time. the name calling has to sto -. ,, . ., last time. the name calling has to sto. ,, ., ., ., , stop. straddling a harley-davidson. candidates like _ stop. s

mike pence is in political— alluding to. mike pence is in political purgatory.al purgatory. in the pre— trump era he would be a strong — pre— trump era he would be a strong candidate to win the nomination for the republican party, — nomination for the republican party, a — nomination for the republican party, a former member of congress, former governor, vice president. — congress, former governor, vice president, christian evangelical, perfectly made for iowa _ evangelical, perfectly made for iowa but — evangelical, perfectly made for iowa but that is not whether republican party is today with donald — republican party is today with donald trump in its froze. even today— donald trump in its froze. even today alone, every time mike pence — today alone, every time mike pence tried to define himself ended — pence tried to define himself ended up contradicting himself because — ended up contradicting himself because of about donald trump. everywhere he goes it keeps bumping into him. at a town hall— bumping into him. at a town hall meeting today, he was saying _ ha

mike pence serve as ever. the president, mr. pence served under donald j. trump served the g.o.p.at much since he was governor of indiana, less than a decade ago. his party has. it's the same mike pence but a different g.o.p. and it's a different g.o.p. because of his former boss. your thoughts? >> well, it's a little unclear to me what pence is going to try run on. you know, he can say he is a solid conservative. nobody would dispute that. but the field is fuel of solid conservatives. view not different from mike pence's views despite the "new york times'" assertions that the party has gone completely different. it hasn't entirely at all. if you are running to be the alternative to trump, ache solid traditional conservative is where you want to be. there are lots of people that can make that claim e also likes to talk, does pence, about the achievements the administration which he serves, the problem is, of course, he does that without mentioning the name of the president and mr. trump. hard to run on the accomplish. s of the trump administration when you are running against trum

pence: john, thank you. when i wrote "so help me god" as a about lesson learned early in my life and challenges at this season of my public career. but i hope that people who take a look at this book see that it has also been described as the most wholesome defense of the record of the trump-penn's administration because i could not be more proud to have been vice president in an administration that rebuild our military, rolled back taxes and regulations, created 7 million good paying jobs, unemployment was at a 50 year low. we unleashed american energy and became a net exporter of energy for the first time in 70 years. we secured our southern border and reduce illegal immigration by 90%. [applause] and we appointed more than 300 conservatives to our federal courts at every level included justice neil gorsuch, brett kavanaugh and amy coney barrett. that conservative majority gave america a new beginning and -- in the right to life in the last six months. [applause] to me, it was a privilege to be a part of i

i think mike pence, you know, liberals have always hated mike pence.ike pence because of the events around january 6. and, so, i -- frankly, i don't understand why he's in this race. i don't see who the constituency is. >> well, i'm glad he's running. you know? i will say a couple things about mike pence. this is somebody that actually believes in something. i don't agree with him. but he's a conviction politician. and i think that's important. i respect mike pence. but i think it's healthy for the party and healthy for the country. >> you're just covering for the momentum. that's what you want to call it. >> we're not going to talk about that. >> i love that point. appreciate that. >> we'll speak with the brother of former president mike pence, greg pence in, our next hour. and tonight dana bash will moderate the town hall with mike pence. that is at 9:00 p.m. eastern. >> another mass shooting in america. this one at a high school graduation in richmond, virginia. two people are dead including an 18-year-old graduate. several more were injured includi

pence stayed loyal.nt's side, including through charlottesville, the travel ban, trumps's defense of putin, et cetera. are you surprised he's decided to take on trump now? >> i'm actually not surprised. i think that a pence run for the presidency is something he's a long time waited andmented. away will be interesting is i saw pence take on trump very privately on issues that mattered to him, i witnessed that, and i was grateful for it at times,s personally on matters of iran and the national security especially, it will be interesting to see if he's willing too take on trump publicly, which he has failed to do. now is the time to do that. chris christie is a bull in the china shop calling trump out. if pence wants to gain traction, he's going to have to explain a lot of these policies that he was a part of. he's going to have to differentuate himself on how he's different than trump. and that's going to be hard for him. he's not traditionally a man that engauges in confrontation. >> a lot of people woul

mike pence?tainly, at least in eur0pe. — mike pence? he certainly, at least in eur0pe. and _ mike pence? he certainly, at least in eur0pe. and i— mike pence? he certainly, at least in europe, and i also _ mike pence? he certainly, at least in europe, and i also notice - mike pence? he certainly, at least in europe, and i also notice back. mike pence? he certainly, at least| in europe, and i also notice back in our audience — in europe, and i also notice back in ouraudience in in europe, and i also notice back in our audience in germany, in europe, and i also notice back in ouraudience in germany, there's in europe, and i also notice back in our audience in germany, there's a lot of— our audience in germany, there's a lot of attention with mike pence entering — lot of attention with mike pence entering the race. i think that should — entering the race. i think that should mean that he has very big chances — should mean that he has very big chances. as you said, donald trump is the _ chances. as yo

mike pence one. >> although pence -- trump said this week, well, they should close mine too becauseust as nen as mike pence. but he's going to try to make the argument that because pence wasn't charged he shouldn't be charged either. and by the way, margaret, this is not the only case he could be facing this summer. >> that is a good point. that is also true. but look, the former president is in a completely different level of legal jeopardy than political jeopardy. the base of the republican party is not developing how they view his conduct with records on the basis of legal briefs or what the constitution said or, you know, what the legal analysis of his responsibilities are. they're basing it on news coverage on conservative outlets and on the idea there is a distrust of the establishment or there is traction to this idea inside of the base that the fbi is gone left on -- on politics or something like that. that is completely different than whether he has actually put himself in legal jeopardy because of this conduct. i think you condition look at what jack smith is going to be o

circumstance, and that number seemed to be hunting mike pence. it is coincidently the same amount he is lagging behind the front runner, his former boss, donald trump. mark: it seems to suggest pence has no chance, but it does point to a split within the republican party. now to the health of pope francis. he underwent surgery to repair a hernia. the pontiff is expected to remain in hospital in rome for several days. the vatican said there were no complications after the three-hour surgery during which the pope was under general anesthetic. >> a pope's regime could not have had more reassuring words for catholics awaiting the end of his operation. >> now he has awakened. he is fine, and he is already at work. >> still far from john paul ii's nine operations at this very hospital, the pontiff has been treated here several times. pope francis has had 33 centimeters of his large intestine removed here two years ago, an operation that triggered his latest hernia and persistent pain. >> during the operation, we found an important connection, and we re

crowd chanting: hang mike pence!e" was the cry from rioters who stormed the rioters who stormed the capitol onjanuary 6. now, defying donald trump and defending the constitution is a campaign pitch. i believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the united states. mr pence is on much safer ground in iowa, which will be the first state to pick a republican presidential nominee. also gripping and grinning with voters is florida governor ron desantis, senator tim scott — in fact, eight presidential candidates were all under the same roof last weekend. i want to say to you with deep conviction that god is not done with america yet. mike pence is already well—known to voters, and yet he is still trailing badly in the polls behind donald trump, the clear frontrunner. who knows? the more candidates like pence who get into the race, the more they split that anti—trump vote, and the easier they could make it for mr trump to win the nomination. these voters didn't get to hearfrom t

mike pence is in a fix.er it is was, he was loyal on the verge being obsequious. and then he did a very courageous thing. and he has managed to tick people off on both sides of the donald trump debate. people very loyal to donald trump think he was a traitor. people who watched over the four years give him credit for what he did, but still hold him accountable for essentially being an apologist for trump over the four years. it's a very tough place to be. >> scott, what do you expect? >> well, i think i'd like to know whether mike pence would pardon donald trump. to me, it's fairly obvious that he's likely i guess to hedge, to be indicted that might lead to a conviction. i think it's a relevant question and probably ongoing in the primary. i think pence is in a different argument spot than say desantis. desantis' argument against trump is we have to end the culture of losing. the argument mike pence made today is he violated his oath of office and cannot and must not be returned to the white house that is no

pence is courting.s currently polling in the single digits below 4 points on average, which is far, far behind donald trump and governor ron desantis. so pence is now the first president to run a challenge to -- to challenge the president who first took him to the white house, but it is unclear what exactly that gets him in 2024. earlier today i spoke with the hosts of the great "pod save america" about this very unusual republican primary race, and here is some of our conversation. guys, thank you for doing this. thank you for your time. in advance, there are really no three better people to talk to what is happening in american politics right now. i know you well. actually there probably are. >> we said yes. we're some of the best people that said yes. >> i am eager for your thoughts, how about that? >> great. >> and specifically i mean we -- it's announcement week as it concerns the republican party and its nominees in 2024, and mike pence just a few hours ago threw his hat officially in the ring wit

look, there is no question mike pence is conservative. i enjoyed working with him when i was in congress. but again, he has four years is a lot of things to disentangle yourself from and so that will be a problem with a large part of voters. how does that help in november? we have to make sure we're putting somebody up who can appeal to independents and conservative democrats. that's the opportunity. joe biden's numbers are terrible. he is one of the worst polling at this time of any president. that's the opportunity for republicans and we have to make sure that we are putting forward a good candidate. we have to make sure we're making the case for a modern republican party. and i don't know if there are many candidates making that case. >> julie: look at joe biden. mark, he campaigned as a moderate but not a moderate whatsoever. i think this country would like to see a moderate. it is hard to trust what we are electing into office these days. >> well, i think that's right. i think that the country has wanted a moderate for a long time. a

this is when an attorney for mike pence found about a dozen documents marked classified in mike pence's possession. evan perez and katelyn polantz is with us. i am going to you first, kate. >> well, it is clear that the justice department is not bringing any criminal charges related to the discovery of classified records or records with the classified markings with them in the possession of former vice president mike pence. what happened to start this investigation, buzz that back in january, a lawyer had gone to pence's home in indianapolis to make sure that he had no records after he left the vice presidency. they found a dozen of documents there with classified markings on them, and called federal government and got them back into the hands of the fbi. after that, there were fbi searches of both mike pence's home in indiana to make sure there were no others, and they recovered one, and then a search of the office in washington, d.c., but then, fast forward a couple of months and not is a very long time when those searches took place in february of this year, mike pence's team did rec

a pro pence super pac. congressman, the latest cnn poll shows pence way behind trump and desantis, only in single digits with republican voters right now. it's early, he just announced a few hours ago. but how does pence unite this party? >> well, as you point out, jake, it is early and the last three winners of the iowa caucus were polling about in single digits now. so the vice president has very high name identification, but a lot of republicans simply don't know him beyond his role as vice president. i served alongside him in the house of representatives, and i think he will obviously make the case, and in your sound bite, the lead-in from earlier today, there is a huge contrast. constitutional conservative, those are revered words in the republican party. and what a contrast. we have the vice president, he put his life on the line to protect and defend the constitution, and another candidate sat on his duff and watched the capitol being attacked for the first time since the war of 1812. so he will take

pence is courting.gle digits, below four points, on average, which is far, far behind donald trump and governor ron desantis. so, pence is now the first president to run a challenge to the president -- to challenge the president who first took him to the white house. but it is unclear what exactly that gets him in 2024. earlier today, i spoke with jon favreau, jon lovett, and tommy vietor, hosts of the great "pod save america", about this very unusual republican primary race. and here are some of our conversation. >> guys, thanks for doing this. thank you for your time. in advance, they are really no three better people to talk about what's happening in american politics and democracy than you guys right now. >> really? >> well, actually, there probably are. but -- >> -- >> we said yes. we are some of the best people that said yes! >> i am eager for your thoughts. how about that? >> great. >> and specifically, its announcement week, as it concerns the republican party and its nominees in 2024. and mike

and i wouldn't be surprised to see him take on pence as well and call out pence for being what he mightese years. of course, pence famously took over the transition operation in 2016 from chris christie who was running until pence was picked vice president. so we could see some harsh words for pence from christie as well. christie really relishes being the attack dog and, you know, is really kind of focused on litigating the case specifically against trump in a way no other competitor seems to be comfortable with at this point in the race. >> we should also note of course that christie, himself was supportive of trump up until january 6, even being part of his debate team. adam wrenn, great stuff this morning, thank you for joining us. >>> up next on "way too early," a shakeup in the biden administration with the departure of a second senior immigration official in just the past week. we will get into that. >>> then coming up on "morning joe," new developments in the donald trump classified documents case as his attorneys ask the justice department not to charge the former president. >>

for pence.ow christie, 47% negative among republicans. so those are two huge liabilities for those candidates. in terms, hey, if pence has a strategy, a thought, an inkling how he can pull this out, it has everything to do with where he was today and sounds like where he's basically camped out for the next six months. that is iowa. iowa is a caucus state. and a state where the republican electorate is dominated by evangelical christians. in the 2016, they made up 3 out of every 10 republican voters. ted cruz beat down north carolina. he won the evangelicals. rick santorum won in 2012, evangelicals. mike huckabee won indiana state, he won the evangelicals. the thought for pence, he may have a natural constituency there. he has a long-standing tie, a cultural christian conservative, long-standing ties to the evangelical christian community. you got to think maybe that will help him join this club of iowa winners. but there's the other question, yeah, trump may have lost in iowa 2016, but has he in

how do you see the pence campaign in iowa? because he is not just facing down the former president, but new political stars like the florida governor ron desantis and others running for the nomination. pence has to get through all of that and convince voters in iowa that he is the best positioned religious conservative to be their standardbearer for a general election. this is a historic playbook he is following in a way. if you look back at the campaigns of mike huckabee in 2008 and rick santorum in 2012, senator ted cruz in 2016, they all used iowa as a platform for them to outline their conservatism, go to churches and religious voters and use that as rocket fuel for their campaigns down the line. always great to talk to you. let's take a look at some other stories making the headlines around the world. tests carried out on human remains found dumped in a ravine in mexico suggest they are those of workers who disappeared from a call centre. eight young employees were reported missing in the days leading up to the discovery

chris christie is in and vice president pence is in. are in this moment where they can't go all the way it seems to totally disavow trump. walk us through that dynamic and i know it's informed in part by the pledge you've got to take to go on that debate stage. although how binding is that really. give us your sense on these early days and tactic taking on trump. >> that's absolutely right. the difference is it would be shocking if mike pence did not do that, him being such a party loyalist for all these years and yet yesterday goes out there, hits donald trump as hard as he's hit him before saying he should never be president again and basically saying trump was on the wrong side of the constitution. pence casting himself as somebody who was faithful to his oath on january 6th and trump as somebody who was not and also saying donald trump's abandoned conservatism on abortion and other issues. the problem here for mike pence, of course, is that he's going to lose the support of republican voters if he says that he wouldn't support the r

pence is hoping to tap into that.he problem is you go to the next state, new hampshire, none of them were able to follow it up with a win there. you just don't have the same concentration of evangelical christian voters. >> if you wonder what his message is, in the wifi password for the people covering him out there, it's kept his oath. that is the message from mike pence. david jolly, let's turn to chris christie. he laid into donald trump last night, going after him on immigration, ivanka and jared kushner. >> the person i am talking about, who is obsessed with the mirror, who never admits a mistake, who never admits a fault, and who always finds someone else and something else to blame for whatever goes wrong, but finds every reason to take credit for anything that goes right, is donald trump. i am going out there to take out donald trump. here is why. i want to win. i don't want him to win. >> david, nobody has been as blunt as chris christie. not surprisingly, going after his former boss. well, the former preside

mike pence is mike pencing.tical sideshow of complete double-talk and contradiction. in other ways, it's quite significant. he is running for president today. it's not often you see a former running mate going up against the person that was his president in a subsequent election. that's a hard political trick to pull off even without everything else that went down between these two. pence launching a campaign and as you just saw there embracing trump but then also -- i mentioned thisarlier in the broadcast, as a political matter, while running and talking to republicans, who he needs to win over, pence tried out this argument about january 6. >> january 6 was a tragic day in the life of our nation. on that day, president trump also demanded that i choose between him and the constitution. now, voters will be faced with the same choice. i chose the constitution. [ applause ] and i always will. >> as they say in washington, no, dog, nobody is buying this. as a factual matter, republicans and trump maga fans don't b

mike pence and his advisers says they're pleased, but not surprised.told us that, and there's been a discovery of classified information, but they believed he handled it much different live. to highlight that, this is what pence said in january after this news broke that were found. >> while i was not aware those classified documents with in our personal residence, let me be clear, those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence. mistakes were made. i take full responsibility. >> of course, this is a very separate investigation done by an entirely separate section of the justice department. then the special investigation that jack smith is doing into donald trump, and the investigation around documents found in president joe biden's possession from his previous terms in office, but ultimately, this comes at quite a crucial moment. it is days away from mike pence announcing that he's running for the presidency, will be challenging donald trump for that nomination of the republican party. they're getting this letter, and it's als

. >> reporter: pence cited january 6th and how trump pressured him to overturn the 2020 election. >> and i hope mike is going to do the right thing. i hope so. >> anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the united states again. >> reporter: pence's refusal to do trump's bidding that day made him a target of the former president's loyal base. >> president trump also demanded that i choose between him and the constitution. now voters will be faced with the same choice. >> reporter: with roughly a dozen candidates in the race and pence's polling in the single digits, he is counting on a strong showing in the iowa caucuses, appealing to the state's evangelical voters, many of whom oppose abortion rights, he knocked trump again. >> sanctity of life has been our party's calling for half a century, long before donald trump was a part of it. and now he treats it as an inconvenience, even blaming our election losses in 2022 on overturning roe v. wade. >> reporter: pence told cbs news he went after trump because the election is a crossroads f

but also it's a really difficult thing for pence pence mike pence who has a nuanced campaign. he's trying to separate himself from donald trump while also highlighting the things he thinks are good about the administration. he wants his heart in politics. >> nuance is hard in politics. let's focus on pence. this is history. a former vice president has never run against a former the president. so you have many ripples of history there. you mentioned the fact that the nuance. this is a launched video where he does not mention donald trump by name, but he does try to take some of the credit for the trump years. >> i'll always be proud of the progress we made together for a stronger, more prosperous america. but today, our country is in a lot of trouble. president biden and the radical left have weakened america at home and abroad. different times call for different leadership. today our party and our country need a leader to appeal as lincoln said, to the bitter angels of our nature. >> i have been at this a long time. if you roll back a few years, he's a perfect iowa candidate.

mike pence joins his former boss donald trump. who said nice things about him and former new jersey governor chris christie just launched his campaign yesterday and the former president did pick out the fact that chris christie he says, watch chris christie will go after the spiralling governor desantis. i think he will go after president trump >> ainsley: he said he's willing to take on the front-runner, desantis is willing, too. chris christie is someone to watch, someone we enjoy hearing. his sound bites can be colorful. he's not afraid. remember in 2016, he was yelling at someone who stood up and he yelled back at them. he is always interesting, can he beat donald trump? he wasn't able to in 2016, not sure he will get traction. >> steve: it is 517 days until the election. >> ainsley: the countdown is on. >> steve: absolutely. it is interesting, going back to former vice president mike pence, what they're trying to do and if the former vice president is watching, happy birthday, 64 today. his team -- >> ainsley: you said he is

crowd shouting: hang mike pence!was the cry from writers who stormed the rioters who stormed the capital. now defending the constitution is a campaign pitch. i believe anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the united states. anyone who asks someone else to put themselves over the constitution should never be president of the united states again. mr pence is in much safer ground in iowa which will be the first state to make a presidential nominee. also gaining with voters is ron desantis, senator tim scott and eight presidential candidates under the same roof. god is not down with america yet. mike pence is already well—known to voters, and yet he is still trailing badly in the polls behind donald trump, the clear frontrunner. who knows, the more candidates like mike pence who get into the race, the more they split that anti—trump vote and the easier they could make it for mrtrump to win the nomination. these voters didn't get to hearfrom trump himself but is giving this event.

it wasn't as if pence took them himself. according to pence's attorney. and he actually invited the fbi over, they had a voluntary search over the course of five hours, there was no subpoena or search warrant type of situation, which stands in contrast to his former boss. and so now the department has officially closed the investigation with no charges. and has no further comment about it, jose. >> laura, president biden is facing a somewhat similar probe over his handling of classified information as vice president. where do things stand there? >> the situation with the president is a little bit different, right? that situation you have a special counsel appointed by the current attorney general merrick garland and the way he decided to do that is he said, look, i want to make sure that obviously it at least shows this is an extraordinary situation, and i'm treating these evenly, given that i appointed a special counsel with the former president donald trump, so he appointed one with biden, but never did with pence and it was always interesting that he n

but that's what mike pence announced today and as dasha burns reports, pence took some sharp shots at the republican front-runner >> pence >> reporter: he was former president trump's running mate, but tonight he's a rival, mike pence throwing his hat in the 2024 ring and taking direct aim at his former boss. >> we cannot expect to unite the nation around an agenda of a politics based on grudges and grievances. >> reporter: and pence unleashing his sharpest criticism yet of the former president's actions on january 6th when he refused trump's push to overturn election results. >> the american people deserve to know that on that day, president trump also demanded that i choose between him and the constitution now voters will be faced with the same choice i chose the constitution, and i always will. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: pence today embracing trump administration achievements. >> i was proud to stand by president donald trump every single day when we made america great again. [ applause ] >> reporter: but questioning the republican front-runner's conservative bona fides o

was on the back of a pickup truck, watching mike pence, getting great shots of pence and joni ernst. that's probably going to be the smoothest ride he face as he prepares to launch. a town hall coming up wednesday in des moines with dana. it's a question now, i'm looking at him how he's going to handle this. how does he talk about january 6th? there's so much around trump. pence never puts a lot out there. fair or not, this is central to his story. and we've heard a little bit about it but not a lot. >> and he's almost afraid to take credit for something that a lot of americans give him credit for, which is standing firm and going ahead and counting the electoral votes there on january 6th and finishing that job. and yet it seems that he's reluctant. he'll get out there and say the former president was wrong about what he said about the 2020 election results but it's almost as though he knows in the back of his mind he can only go so far with that base. >> what's so ironic about it, what is a campaign? a campaign is i.d.ing voters, putting yourself out there, gaining recognition, get

mike pence is a good guy. i think he waited too long to say anything about trump and, you know, to say i stood up on january 6th, i don't think he had any choice. i just don't see the path. i think cornell and dasha are right. i guess iowa, it's your last hurrah, but i don't see it. everybody wants to count everybody out and force everybody to get out. give it time and let there be oxygen and see what happens. >> going back to what the governor -- >> mayor suarez, remember that one, though. >> trust me, we're going to do a follow-up segment on that tomorrow if that's your intel. maybe you can come back and talk more about it. >> yeah. >> but one of the things that the governor said, cornell, was about looking ahead to things like new hampshire and south carolina. i mean, let's be honest, in your party, last time, joe biden was all but dead going into south carolina. a lot of people wrote him off. suddenly he's the nominee, right? here we go. we've got -- is that mike pence. no, that's his brother. i thought mi

let's talk first about mike pence.ave some questionses about christie, but i want to ask you about mike pence and he's rolling out his campaign today and he goes directly in his launch video and he goes directly at joe biden, but he does not mention donald trump at all. the video, i don't think includes an image of donald trump when he's launching his campaign video. what do you make of that choice right out of the gate. >> clearly the campaign recognizes the fact that there is no daylight between pence and trump for four years throughout this administration until the very end when the vice president stood up and said he was not going to take orders from trump about not certifying the election. another strategy with that is the goal of any republican challenger to trump is to keep his base onboard. those maga republicans, the solid core trump supporters need to be moved into another camp and by pence not making direct shots at the former president, he's making a play to those supporters which is key, but i would imagin

why mike pence says trump is not fit to be president again.aking overnight, a major development and an arrest in the case of a missing mother from minnesota. an abc news exclusive. having fun is not worth the cost of life. the husband of the woman killed in this parasail accident speaks out on what happened moments before the fatal crash into a bridge. also this morning, a new option in the works to save on streaming tv services. and later, a trend at the office. how more helicopter parents are hovering to protect their kids in the workplace. from abc in new york this is america this morning. good thursday morning everyone. i'm andrea fujii in for rhiannon. i'm andrew dymburt. we begin with the air quality crisis in the northeast and midwest. 85 million americans on alert. air quality in new york city has hit the worst level on record due to smoke spreading from the canadian wildfires. new york looked more like mars yesterday. the state is taking new action today to protect the public. and now other parts of the country are bracing for conditi

. >> norah: former vice president mike pence jumps into the republican race for the white house, taking donald trump. >> i believe anyone that puts themselves the constitution should never be president of the united states. ♪ ♪ >> a florida woman is facing manslaughter and assault charges after a very disturbing shooting that is leading to new questions about the state's "stand your ground" law. >> she had no weapon. she posed no imminent threat to anyone. ♪ ♪ >> the fight over transgender rights. meet a teen activist pushing back against a growing bans on transgender care. >> what are you fighting for? >> the right to exist.po francis is expected to be hospitalized for several days after undergoing abdominal surgery. ♪ ♪ >> norah: and rap icon tupac gets some... ♪ california love ♪ >> we proudly welcome to the hollywood walk of fame, the legendary tupac shakur. [applause] ♪ ♪ >> norah: good evening to our viewers in the west, and thank you for joining us on this wednesday night. we begin tonight with a dangerous situation. hazardous air quality alerts from the northeast to chicago, and