rnc chairwoman ronna mcdaniel joins us now from our nation's capital. to be with you as well. donald trump was on with sean hannity saying joe biden is running the economy into a ditch is what he is saying. what also looks like a pending indictment jack smith a new one over january 6th. i saw a story this morning that apparently yesterday or the day before the former president called speaker mccarthy, elise stefanik to try strategize with allies on capitol hill how to defend him. is he strategizing with the rnc as well? >> he hasn't called me about the indictment. i wasn't aware of it until i saw it in the news. the looming indictment. i will say i have heard from a lot of voters and people in our party who are deeply concerned of a two tier system of justice but also we are in a campaign. we have a debate in less than a month. and the frontrunner right now for our party's nomination is potentially being indicted and i think this bodes or looks like hey, we are in the middle of a campaign season. why is the biden administration putting their thumb on th

i mean, ronna mcdaniel can say whatever she wants. and then you have people in the party who are insane and who are all over the place in the republican party. but maybe i believe what she has to say. she is just looking up the numbers, understanding they are going to do is considerably nationally which is why she's trying to change or tune a bit but good luck with that, sweetheart, you late -- listen, i was very clear to my democratic friends because i feel like as republicans manual to state and it didn't matter what that person did and what the message was what the message was the message, lockstep, stay on that message because you know that a political communications, repetitions weight reality and the perceptions what matters, not necessarily facts, which is scary in and of itself with us another conversation. joe biden has been a study competent leader. he's actually been an excellent president. country is in much better shape than it was when we came out of the horror of trump. but he's not getting the credit for it. why? becau

tonight we're getting answers from the woman in charge, rnc chair ronna mcdaniel.et's start with the big subject right now, and that's the republican presidential debates with the first one now just a little bit more than a month away. you have made it clear if you want to be on the debate stage, you want to participate, you've got to sign a pledge to support the eventual nominee, and it's not just donald trump who's giving you trouble on that. take a look. >> it's only the era of donald trump that you need somebody to sign something on a pledge, so i think it's a bad idea. >> i won't be signing any kind of pledges, and i don't think that parties should be trying to rig who should be on a debate stage. >> i don't think the pledge is good. i don't think it's the right thing for the party. i think it's meaningless at this point. >> are you standing firm on this that you want to participate in the republican presidential debates you have to sign this loyalty pledge? >> it's the beat bide pledge. and what we're saying and the debate committee has met for over two years

don't miss john kennedy, representative jim jordan and kristi noem, stuart varney and ronna mcdaniel.conds right here on the channel you trust for morning news, todd and carley, you are watching "fox and friends first." former president trump's announcement that he expected to arrested yet again taking in interesting turn which they focused on the special counsel heading up the probe. watch. >> turns out even jack smith can't resist a $5-foot long. that's according to what we see right there. new and exclusive cnn video of the special counsel at subway. >> he was spotted today by cnn going to subway for lunch, picking up a sandwich, leaving, and not saying a word. >> i couldn't tell whether it was a foot long or was it a 6-inch sub. >> jack smith going to subway today is a message to donald trump. >> the imagery was intentional and spoke volume. >> intentional and spoke volumes. fox news contributor and columnist for the messenger joe concha joins us now. joe, they sure spent a whole lot of time talking about subway. >> yeah. this is the old cnn. not the old, old cnn bernard shaw and

thank you for watching, you can catch my full interviews with ronna mcdaniel and goldie hawn anytime you want on max. and please join us here on cnn every friday night to find out who's talking next. . >> for both pennsylvania and new mexico have been interviewed by federal prosecutors in the election probe and the "new york times" reporting that a low level employee at the trump organization has received a letter from the special counsel on the dock.s case warning of a possible indictment. the employee testified before the grand jury possibly about security camera footage at mar-a-lago and prosecutors are trying to determine if the testimony was truthful. if that all seems like a locality, it's because -- a locality, it's because it is a lot. tuesday judge eileen cannon will hold a hearing in the case and it will be about how to handle classified information involved in the case. with all of this, i have to catch my breath. how will trump's teams handle this cruel, cruel summer? >> we'll start with cnn's senior legal analyst. we want to start with this "new york times" report of a t

you can catch my full interviews with ronna mcdaniel and goldie hawn any time you want on max. please join us here on cnn every friday night to find out "who's talking" next. >>> a new reported target letter issued by the special counsel. why full body contact is all the rage in presidential politics and there is no business in show business. i'm john berman, and this is contract condition condition tonight" or cnn very nearly tomorrow or very nearly next week and that could be a big one into the investigations into donald trump. this week alone has seen a litany of activity. on monday trump lawyers filed a motion to delay any criminal trial, the classified documents case till the 12th of basically never. on tuesday a grand jury was selected in georgia that could indict trump for election interference there. on thursday special counsel jack smith urged judge cannon to reject his delay, delay strategy and found out trump's son-in-law jared kushner testified before the grand jury in the doj investigation into trump's role in january 6th. new today, trump's team filed a petition i

. >> katie: politics of this, there is reason the rnc is hosting this debate in milwaukee, ronna mcdaniel is from wisconsin inform terms of the electoral map, wisconsin is crucial place republicans have to win they did not win last time around for the general election. so can you give us more information about the choice of that and how that will play out in either republican favor or not? : well first of all a lot of business by hosting this debate and you getting the republican voters more engaged it in their know people can show up and be part of the crowds and so i think that in south being a factor in it in a changes depending on where you know with a host it so i think this is one of the places that they're just trying to target and will singapore the wink the second debate. katie: indeed beyond the country think he will be a great to see you. olivia: good see you. katie: are coming up conservative activists leo to send a request for comply with the probe into sitting supreme court justice and you we here's reasoning wipe from his lawyer up next. others thing of the past and you get

self-described electors charged including kathy berden, a long time ally of national gop chair ronna mcdaniels publicly cited for targeting the january 6th select committee. she was behind the bid to and also include the former cochair of the michigan republican party. he told politico in november 2020 she was conferring with constitutional lawyers about options would-be trump electors had despite his loss in the state. we do not yet know the individual dates of each defendants' arraignment. congresswoman, does it surprise you some of these false electors are former members of the mainstream michigan republican party and in one case has a connection to rnc ronna mcdaniel. these are not fringe actors. >> no, it doesn't surprise me because we've seen this sort of evolution in michigan from a republican party, sort of your father's republican party to a very, very different thing. and certainly the number two of the cochair of the republican party is one of those who's been now brought up on charges, so it doesn't surprise us in michigan. we've seen that party continue to sort of spiral downward

'cause an rnc election pitting lindell against incumbent ronna mcdaniel could tear the party apart betweencrazies and traditional conservatives, which is why i propose a compromise candidate, someone right down the middle: pillow. he's got everything the republicans want. he's white and he's square. oh, there's some news. what happened? there's some news out of california, the garden state. because yesterday, san francisco voted to let their police force deploy potentially lethal remote-controlled robots in emergency situations. this is where it starts. but before you know it, police are gonna be playing the old mind game "good cop, bleep blorp." seems like an obviously bad idea, but the vote was eight in favor and three about to be executed by robots. the san francisco police department doesn't want anyone to panic, promising they have no plans to arm robots with guns but could deploy robots equipped with explosive charges. oh, it's like the old saying. never bring a gun to an exploding robot fight. now, on a personal note, i just wanna say, it takes a lot of people to put a show like thi

ronna mcdaniel was asked about it. she said he's keeping us guessing.>> i discussed it with him. i will tell you this. on the one hand, he's acting like a frontrunner. he's way ahead. what does he have to gain. it's a natural habitat for him. helped him in 2015 in cleveland, martha. he got center stage. he never lost it and became the president. also, i think president trump will keep everybody in suspense. if i were you, i'd keep that center podium warm. he may be there the day of. you never know. people will watch the tarmac in morris county to see if the trump airplane comes. >> martha: that's probably the way he wants it. i hope he goes. it will be a great night, very exciting and will give the voters an opportunity to hear from all the candidates. the former president is in a very strong position based on our latest polling. thank you. good to see you. >> thanks. >> martha: so let's bring in one of the candidates that has met the debate requirements. former new jersey governor, chris christie. thanks for being here today. what do you make of these

. >> kayleigh: ronna mcdaniel was asked if people won't sign it is it going way she said absolutely not steve: republicans have said if you want to be on the ballot, you have to go ahead and make this pledge. so ron desantis is going to have to make the pledge and so is donald trump. both florida residents who would like to win the florida primary. will they sign it? >> kayleigh: they're going to have to. >> steve: they're going to have to or they're not going to appear on the ballot. i wonder how many other states. >> kayleigh: smart move. >> brian: chris christie says if i sign it doesn't matter because donald trump's not going to support the eventual nominee if it's not him. social media smack down twitter sends meta a cease and desist order over the new threads app, the escalating musk versus suck field. >> kayleigh: britney spears crying foul after she said a top nba guard slapped her. why that player is now on defense. ♪ i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settli

interestingly enough last week i interviewed ronna mcdaniel the chair of the republican national party, that was a key point she made, that people don't want to relitigate the past. what they are concerned with is their future and what you are going to do for them. and at least so far we've heard precious little from donald trump about that. what is plans would be for a second term. >> very true. chris standby, we have a lot more to talk about. developing right now, a massive scandal at the border. texas officials are pushing back migrants into the river when they try to cross. they're sending booby traps and they're denying them even water to drink. congressman castro joins us live or next, plus this just in. new york city is telling migrants there is no more room. you have 60 days to leave shelters or you will be kicked out in the street. and later we'll talk with a georgia lawmaker who just switched parties from a democrat to now a republican. we will hear why. the world never stops moving... growing. evolving. it demands energy that evolves with it. meeting this challenge will take

thank you for watching, you can catch my full interviews with ronna mcdaniel and goldie hawn anytimee join us here on cnn every friday night to find out who's talking next.

, i want to get your response to this exchange between cnn's chris wallace and rnc chairwoman ronna mcdanielhat happens if trump is the nominee and he's been convicted. take a listen. >> do you have any problem with the republican party nominating a convicted felon? >> that's hypothetical. we're not even close to that. so i don't think we're even there -- >> well, i -- >> scott, do you think republicans need to start considering what they will do in that possible scenario? >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, in the pantheon of attributes you have in a nominee for a major political party, being a felon, convicted felon is not one i would recommend. so if this were to somehow go to trial in may and be concluded by the the time the convention rolled around, i suspect somebody would go to the convention and say what are we doing here? now, whether that would make a difference, i don't know. but i'll tell you who it would make a difference for, are independent swing voters who are not strong republicans but have voted republican but have shied away from the republican party in the last few cycles. this

rnc chair ronna mcdaniel had this response to that. >> i think he should be on the stage.ant everybody on the stage that qualifies obviously. i think it's a mistake to not do the debates , but that's going be up to him and his campaign. >> joining us now is cnn national correspondent john king, the john king. >> contractually that's how you have to respond to it. that's how you have to address him, the john king. >> so john -- so john, what is your sense of things right now? trump is facing his third indictment. he's, you know, 30, 40 pounds -- points ahead in the polls, and ron desantis is really struggling. does he take the debate stage at this point? the expectation if you talk to people close to the former president is yes as of this morning. a the the as of this morning part is important. you've been through this with donald trump. he likes to keep us waiting. he says he doesn't have to be there because he has this big lead. we have a consequential 39 days between now and that debate. it is certain we will hear from jack smith or almost certain we will hear from jack

involved if the trump campaign was involved, people like rudy giuliani, even the rnc chairwoman, ronna mcdanielrised that more people at higher levels weren't also part of the charges here? >> the attorney general in michigan has said this is part of an on going investigation. so, i think this is the first step, perhaps the first in an on going effort to not just seek justice for those actively involved at the front end of this scheme. but everyone involved. and so there may be additional charges filed in the future. we'll see how the case progresses. my office is going to fully cooperate with all legal efforts to bring everyone who ran afoul of the law and tried to subvert legitimate presidential election, bring them to justice. >> one of those 16 fake electors went on to become the co-chair of the michigan republican party. she accused the state's ag of a personal vin debt and the added this was part of a coordinated effort to stop trump. what's your response to those accusations? >> well, first, there was a coordinated effort. it was a coordinated effort to overturn the will of the voters, n

. >> you know, and our last section we, we're talking about ronna mcdaniel not giving a yes or no answerk, a third party candidacy, and he's talking about doing it on the new labels manner banner, identity, you got cornell west talking about doing it with the green party. remember, back in 2020, joe biden won some of these key swing states, i think it was georgia by 11,000 votes, arizona by 10,000 votes. if you get joe manchin on the ballot, if, if you get cornell west on the ballot, and i think most people think that they would draw more votes from biden than they would for trump, and this is, you know, it's a three person race, a four person race, this absolutely hurts joe biden and increases the chances for donald trump, if he's the republican nominee, whoever the republican nominee, of actually taking a lot of those swing states. so, it's a very big deal. and if you're in the biden white house, this has got to scare the heck out of you. >> and have the noncommittal answer of it and not ruling anything out, if your strategist looking ahead trying to figure out where to go from here, y

the chair of the republican national committee, ronna -- ronda mcdaniels, casting doubt about joe biden'sour thoughts? i have no words. >> i mean, that's why you lose the next election, because you are lying about losing the last election. willie, you know, we grew up playing sports. what if at the end of every game we lost on our football team, our coach took us in the locker room and said, "you guys didn't really lose. you didn't lose 24-3. you really won." like, because they've got a leader, willie, of the republican party that continues -- i'm talking about donald trump here -- that continues to lie about losing. they're not going to -- they're not going to learn the lessons they should have learned from that loss. >> yeah. i mean, the good game, good game, good game is fundamental to our culture, right? after every little league game, we teach our kids to shake hands, no matter how painful the loss was. you look at the scoreboard. you did actually lose the game. i know it doesn't feel good, but you move on to the next. congratulate your opponent and try to win the next one. it is pai