. >> joining me now to discuss scott jennings former aide to mitch mcconnell and cnn's newest contributeate welcome. i'm glad this is your inaugural debut. >> as am i. thank you for having me kaitlyn. >> scott let me start with you. you heard what governor desantis said. he was saying harris shouldn't come to florida and criticize. >> she's right because he's lying about what happened. it's amazing how something went to the vice-president's office to florida for the speech. i read the standards. i downloaded analysis of the criminal lump and every instance where the word slave was used and read the statement from the african-american school oors who wrote the standards who strongly refute everything she said so this is a hyper partisan attempt to mislead people. they do it all the time to ron desantis. they're doing it again. i don't buy it. >> she was arguing that students should be better prepared if -- president harris wnts into florida. she didn't mention dance by name. you worked in the white house until recently. >> she didn't mention desantis by name but you heard him defensively

talking, and a personalized plan ♪ to guide you through a changing world. ♪ >> i am back with scott jenningsscott was just making the point that basically it is to tears of justice because hunter biden seems to be getting a sweetheart deal and now donald trump is not. is that how you see it then? >> i don't see it that way. but here is what i know. i know that when somebody is on your team. and they get in trouble. you may have heard of oj simpson. okay? there is a tendency to start rallying around even the most nefarious horrible people. >> i understand it's travel. but do you think that there was something fishy with the hunter biden deal? with the doj, and his defense getting blanket immunity but donald trump is not. republicans feel very strongly. i'll let the republican speak for republicans. but here's what i know. if you are a little bit richer and a little bit more famous, maybe a little bit paler, you do get better treatment from prosecutors. that is just the facts. so did hunter biden get a better deal than the average person going through the federal court system? he did get a bet

joining me now to discuss and laughing as i was reading that is scott jennings, former presidents assistantorgia be bush and former democratic state rep and the -- >> you're giving me the giggles. >> okay. i will go to scott. [laughter] >> this is hilarious. >> my parents are watching. i can't do that. scott, what happened to the 11th commandment from ronald reagan, foul shall not speak ill of any republican? now we have the freedom house caucus kicking out marjorie taylor greene. >> i wonder this is a thing of the fact that she has been a pretty good ally of kevin mccarthy. she stood with mccarthy, help him become the speaker. she voted with him on the debt deal. he's used her a lot here. he has a majority. they're using this is a trigger point. actually wonder if it's just they don't like the fact that she is, you know, become card-carrying member of the establishment. in-house are now. >> it definitely shows how fractured house republicans are. >> they are a mess. look, there's an old saying, my father would say, you never argue with a full because people watching can't tell the differen

i am joined by scott jennings, who has advised both from a president george bush and senate mitch mcconnelld -- managing in order of axios. scott, why? what do you think desantis campaign thought that this video would help them? >> they didn't created. they did retweet it, i think, from one of their accounts. ultimately, for them and is about continuing to build a brand which they think is sort of centered on desantis being a reliable conservative, which they are trying to track to post against trump being momentarily interested in things -- paying lip service to things, but not strong enough to follow through on things. i think they've done on this issue now, if the man on immigration, they have done it on several other topics. why -- i would expect him to consent into that. i think they are looking ahead this week, they are trying to launch this coalition which they are calling mamas for desantis, which is going to be an initiative from his wife. they are really going to drill down on his record on taking sexualized content out of the classroom and also the idea of protecting girls sports

john avlon, scott jennings.den. they know what happened in court. they know that the whistle-blower's allegations were not at all part of why this fell apart. but they're saying it anyways. >> well, i think fundamentally republicans believe there's so much more there with hunter biden that this plea agreement as it had been reported was simply not sufficient. >> that's fine, but that's not why the judge questioned it. >> sure. but to them i mean, look, they're not here to give you a legal analysis. they're here to give you the best political spin on this, and the political spin for them is true. hunter biden was involved in a lot of issues involving foreign entities, a lot of money changed hands. there's been a lot of allegations about who knew what, why were they getting this money, foreign entanglements so for them to continue to talk about this, they think there's a direct link to joe biden. and so i suspect it's going to be an ongoing topic for the republicans. i'm glad z the judge stood up f herself on this

cnn political commentator ashley allison and political commentator scott jennings. have all of you here tonight. paul, seizing voting machines, invoking martial law, wanting sydney powell to the special counsel to investigate fake fraud. obviously none of this is how a democracy works, however what is the crime? what is the crime prosecutors are looking at with this unhinged meeting? >> i don't know what it is but i assume it is obstructing the election and the results of that election being carried out. that meeting is obviously a crucial meeting where you have the former president and his advisers contemplating ways to, in fact, through the obstruction of the election. and so i am not surprised that jack smith and his team were focused on that,. >> what i was struck by, can you imagine if the guardrails did not fold. that they were yelling at each other, the trump team really wanted to do these things and the white house lawyers had to say that is not how democracy, i don't know what they said, but somehow they had to talk him out of these things. >> that is why f

. >>> let's dig deeper with our political commentators scott jennings and karen phinney. you make of the split screen of president biden memorializing emmett till, while florida under governor desantis is trying to limit how black history is taught in our country? >> well, it's a reminder, frankly, of the journey that america is still very much on. that while we could pause and take a moment to finally honor emmett till and his mother and the sacrifice that she made to keep his story in the fore, during the civil rights movement, that finally we could honor that and that moment in history. and yet at the same time, we're still fighting to make sure these stories are told. and it's not just -- remember in florida, it's with the book bans, it's african american history, it's women's studies, it's attacking lgbtq people. i mean, this whole sort of portfolio of, is this anti-woke that the governor embarked on -- frankly, as a way to try to win over trump voters in this election. i think as we're seeing, it's not working. >> scott, you just heard florida's new education guidel

i want to ask you, scott jennings, that hunter biden -- five years for his business dealings. what else can they find, i guess, is the question, as it's been going on for a very long time. do you think that there is more there? i have a feeling i know the answer. >> part of what was going on today, i think, was this concept that he may still be under investigation for his foreign business dealings. did he register under the foreign agents registration act. and i think he walked in thinking he was going to be protected from all that and maybe that's not the case. and so, from a republican perspective, there are still more hunter biden to. no other stuff that has been uncovered by the congressional committee. that is why the republicans aha house right now are talking impeachment inquiry, because they think they need extra tools to get to the bottom of the influence peddling that they say has been going on in the biden family. so, is there more? yeah from a republican perspective there is a lot more. >> i do want to -- speaking of a republican perspective -- presidential candida

with me to discuss are john avlon and scott jennings.[ laughter ] >> what to say about this one. >> what i think is interesting about this, and this is less that robert f. kenny is the conspiracy which is completely object absurd, but more that he is polling at 17 to 20% as a democratic presidential candidate and cynical person would say if you are a republican, let's continue to elevate him on a regular basis and that would include having him testify on capitol hill. republican scott jennings, your thoughts? >> it is sort of governing by trolling. just this screwing with joe biden by having him up there. on the other hand, it's also platforming someone who shhas n just recently become a kook and a crank and a conspiracy theorist, he has been one his whole life. he invented the conspiracy theory that george w. bush rewired the voting machines in ohio in 2004. republicans have known he has been a weirdo for a long time. now because it's hurtful to biden, we are platforming it. i think it's kind of a waste of time, kind of a troll, and par

here to discuss van jones of former obama administration administration and scott jennings who was a dent george w. bush. i mean, scott, a lot of those names that i just read are republicans who were in districts that president biden won and voting on something that is basically meaningless just symbolic, or would send a message, doesn't help their campaigns. >> yes, you might get into a situation where it fails. i mean what if he puts that on the floor and you don't expunge it? i talked one house member he's and maybe the first one might get expunged, i'm not sure about the second one, the optics of this are all bad, and then you take on the political empirical data we have witches voters are thinking about donald trump in the things he did and what he represents. we lose elections just like we did in the midterms, all these people want to look forward, these votes will be looking backwards going into a presidential cycle that's not the disposition the party should take. >> do you think a lot of this has to do with mccarthy not endorsing trump yet in 2024? >> yes, i mean it's about s

scott jennings, the former, actually, allison first, the for the biden 2020 campaign and scott jennings get to everything else we were going to talk about but what did you make of his comments? >> he is right. that there are white nationalists that live in america. but it doesn't mean that the term and definition of white nationalists is not a racist. this is why it is so important that we teach an accurate history in our country. that we explain to children that are coming up the history of our country. we have a torn and tattered and sad history in our country. it doesn't mean that i'm not a proud american. we must be honest about the truth. and what senator tuberville is doing is trying to conflate to things to say, if you're an american. what does it mean to be american? america means to lead up to its greatest ideals and we need to acknowledge we have a racist past. and yet we can still become the greatest country, sustain being the greatest country but we have to be honest about where we come from west can't do it when we have people like senator tubalerville who won't acknowledge

joining me now to discuss is scott jennings, former special assistant to president george w.ush, and bakari sellers, former democratic state rep from south carolina, and the host of the bakari sellers podcast. >> son of a "b," you can't be do thatting. >> -- be doing that. >> scott, what happened to the 11th commandment from ronald reagan, thou shall not speak ill of any republican? >> i wonder if this is really the thing or if the fact that she's actually been a pretty good ally of kevin mccarthy. she helped him become the speaker. she voted with him on the debt deal. he's used her a lot here. he's got a narrow majority, and they're using this as the trigger point. but i actually wonder if they don't like the fact that she's, you know, become a card-carrying member of the establishment. >> it definitely shows how fractured house republicans are. >> oh, they're a mess. look, you know, there's an old saying my father would say, you never argue with a fool because people watching can't tell the difference. when you look at that, you just can't tell the difference of what's happ

instructor for the 2020 campaign, and the former senior adviser to mitch mcconnell, scott jennings,we will get to -- what did you make about senator those comments? >> why is, right there are white nationalist in america, but it doesn't mean that the term, and it definition of white nationalist is not racist. this is why it is so important that we keep an accurate history and our country, that we explain to children coming up in the history of our, country and that we have a torn and tattered sad history in our country. it does it mean that i'm not a part of american, but we must be honest about the truth and what senator tuberville is trying to do to conflate with -- but you are an american, what does it mean to be, american america needs to live up to its greatest ideals, and we need to acknowledge that we have a racist past towards -- asian american and latinos. yet, we can still become the greatest country, whether it could sustain being a greatest country but we have to be honest about where we come, from we can do it we have people like senator tuberville who won't acknowledge

scott jennings and coleman hughes. ott, do you agree, that in the short term, the indictments have allowed donald trump to fund raise and get a lot o of attention and say he is being purse persecuted. but in the long term, they will hurt him. >> the support they have, has caused a rallying around donald trump. we don't know what the evidence is. there can be some bad stuff that we don't know that can be damaging. half of the republican party wants to do trump again. they say this is validation of the deep state trying to stop me. this is not about you. it's about me. this is reinforcing to the people who love him. on the general question, this is an albatross around his neck. look what happened in the midterm. some had to do with trump hand picking the senate candidates. >> do you see it differently? the short term game or long term bad? >> this is making the math problem tougher. we can act like the primary is the most important election but it's not. there's not a person in the mid. there's not a person who says, he g

joining me now, scott jennings, the senior commentator and assistant to george w. bush.s coleman hughes. gentlemen, great to see you here. donald trump's no, no, no strategy. campaign rules don't apply to him. i hate your multiple choice game? >> campaign rules don't apply to him. he is trying to act like and incumbent in this race. like joe biden is in the democratic primary. he's not participating in a campaign, either. and trump voters see him as a defact c defacto incumbent. i don't see him going to events where he's put on a playing field that he believes are lesser or beneath him. it's not hurting him. and donald trump is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. you like it or you don't. >> i'm glad you say you get stuck on the roof of the mouth. >> it could be "b." it would be donald trump thinks he has a vice grip. we saw in the midterms in 2022, a lot of trump-endorsed candidates did not do as well as we thought they would. we've seen governors that won more of the vote than donald trump did in the same states in 2020. so, there could be a certain degree of comp

let's talk about this with senior political commentator, scott jennings. and mark mckinnon. i'm going to start with you. the grand jury is expected to meet. howdy. it's eight day since donald trump got his target letter from the special counsel. and trump's rivals are not going for the jugular, expect for chris christie. how does it help them in the primaries? >> it doesn't. they are afraid of turning off trump's base. add it up any way you want to. but it's a significant part of the voters. their fear is they will turn off the voters that elect for them in the primary. >> as strong as he is, a lot of this is about defending their guy. as soon as we see enough public polling overtime, they will see he will be a loser as the nominee. >> scott, do you agree? >> i do, actually. what the other candidates are hoping for, is eventually, the weight of this drags trump down to where voters say, i love the guy, i love everything he did. i don't want to do it again. they think not alienatiing trump's voters today, they can do that. this is a lot of hope and prayers that things fall yo

of this through with are great guest, elliot williams, john avalon, and political commentator scott jennings. did the judges objection have to do with the terms of the deal or does she have a problem with it under the law? >> all of the above. we talked about this yesterday, judges can not approve plea agreements if they think something does not smell right. the whole point is to ensure that the defendant's rights are protected and he knows what he is pleading guilty to. the whole point is that she felt perhaps the gun diversion thing set him up for future prosecution that would violate his rights as a defendant. i have never seen it happen before. often they will send you to a back room and say you do not seem like you are fully in agreement and you can usually go to a conference room and work it out. i never had a plea agreement get blown up like this but it can happen. >> i want to ask you scott, hunter biden has been under investigation for five years, what else can they find? do you think there is more there? >> part of what was going on today i think is this concept that he may still b

side, we have jessica washington of the root, and our political commentators bakari sellers and scott jennings. scott, here's an interesting paradox about ron desantis. his poll numbers have been flat, basically haven't budged for several weeks. and yet his fund-raising, he raised $20 million in the three weeks since he's announced. so is there enthusiasm for him or not? >> well, there is enthusiasm for him, and he is in a different class than the rest of the people running. the problem is trump's core hasn't moved. let's just rough it out. half the party wants to do trump, and half wants to do something else. the half that wants to do something else, he's got the biggest chunk, but he hasn't been able to dispatch the other people in the race. having a war chest which includes a bunch of money in a super pac and money they brought in from florida, that should help him move some of these people along in theory. but in my opinion, until he gets rid of some of them, it's just going to be hard to grow market share while you've got a bunch of people taking out 1% to 8% each. >> jessica, one of the

. >> thank you, sara >> i want to bring in senior political scott jennings. i do have to ask this the simple question. is what rfk is saying anti-semetic? >> so in his earlier statement, that that the virus wa s targeted in a certain way, of course, this is a thousand-year-old anti-semetic theme that juice simultaneously cause or immune from plagues, what i said eventually you'll draw a jewish card. or conspiracy. it's's a conspiracy in underlie all the other conspiracies, qan on. the i elites in hollywood, they're all the same. he confacilitated in the testimony, well this was based on this study by the cleveland clinic. cleveland clinic had a scientific study. didn't say it was targeted. it rains more in seattle that than phoenix that doesn't mean there's a jewish conspiracy tos cause it to rain in washington. i admire his nerve to just say these outrageous things and boldly contradict his testimony as congressman debars wasserman schultz just said. but outrageous that there is, i think, perhaps a double standard when somebody who spots anti-system system i

. >> you know, laura, i was talking to scott jennings who said that the problem for ron desantis is notp, but those running, and how to eliminate them in a political sense as the months go forward? >> well, it is interesting that scott says that, because seeing the moves that ron desantis has made in recent weeks, he really appears laser focused on trump the, and trying to appear more conservative and to right of the president. we have seen him issue immigration policies and mentions the word invasion multiple times, and the video that the campaign promoted that was staunchly anti-lgbtq, and staunchly anti-transgendered, and he is going to take away rights from the minority groups, and he is going to do it more effectively than the former president, and the former president's defense to that is look at the supreme court that i created and the justices they put on the bench, and the results that we have seen of "roe v. wade" being overturn and the affirmative action decision and the decision on lgbtq rights. >> and to some extent, laura is right, and desantis has been punching up as it w

scott jennings is with us. trump is hitting governor desantis for his position on ethanol.ruz won despite opposing ethanol. what do you make of the messagmessage i from the former president? >> he just continues to pound desantis on anything he can think of. i think the campaign still views desantis as the only person who could even legitimately begin to put together enough voters to challenge him. i'm not sure that that issue is going to be the definitive thing. it's just the continued drumbeat attacks on one guy. it's desantis. they don't seem to be worried about anyone else in the field. >> ashley, how do you see it? >> trump is being consistent in his attack on ron desantis. he is the closest person to potentially contest him at this point. some other folks in the republican field could get closer. trump is taking him directly on. it does appear desantis in recent ads is starting to be more directly attacking trump. until they come -- some of that field in the republican party consolidates, it doesn't seem like one is going to be able to find a direct path to overcome t

the strike lasted eight hours with scott jennings congrats, on existing between late lunch and earlyon, this is worse than what aoc tried to pull. to him it is a hunger strike and he set up media cameras once it was over. twitter user, eight whole hours, what a hero. so many things on social media. >> carley: there were images of him with people putting cold packs on his wrist. this man must need a lot of water. i'm jealous. >> todd: he is the marco rubio on the democratic side needing a lot of water. >> carley: stick around and join us on "fox and friends" later, flo rida, is performing after bringing down the house last year. ♪ ♪ get low, low, low, low. >> todd: forgot to give disclaimer first. the video you are about to see may be disturbing to some. watch. >> todd: yep, split my pants. >> carley: my favorite part of the video is watching your face when you realize you split your pants. >> todd: play poker with me, you will win a lot of money. >> carley: did this feel like christmas? >> todd: my parents are coming in, my dad listens classical music. my mom, who loves the spotlight

. >> all right, now i want to bring in cnn senior political commentator scott jennings and jay michaelson, a columnist for rolling stone, and rabbi. all right, i do have to ask this first, the very simple question. is what rfk is saying antisemitic? >> so, in his earlier statement that the virus was targeted in a certain way, of course, this is 1000-year-old antisemitic thing that simultaneously cause plagues, spread ply, expand our immune. as you said in the column that i wrote for cnn, when you play the conspiracy theory poker game, you are eventually going to draw a jewish card because this is a conspiracy that underlies all other conspiracies. qanon, the railing against soros, the elites in hollywood, these are all the same elites. for rfk junior, he knows this, he has to have known this. it's amazing, he completed in the testimony saying, well, this was based on the study by the cleveland clinic. the cleveland study had a scientific study, it didn't say it was targeted. it rains more in seattle than dozens of phoenix, but it doesn't mean there's a jewish conspiracy. for him to get ou

also joining us, scott jennings.l commentator and special former assistant to former president george w. bush. it was this and not all of the other things apparently. if she is, indeed, out. >> i think the more noteworthy activity she's been engaged in is helping kevin mccarthy, one of his most reliable allies. she helped him become the speaker. helped him on the debt deal. she's become quite important to him when he's wrangling the votes. >> do you think they're using the boebert thing as cover? >> the house freedom caucus wasn't created to help govern and pass bills and help leadership get things done. that's what she's become for mccarthy. you wonder how that played into it. >> interesting. >> what does it mean really? >> it signals the unstable leadership of kevin mccarthy is forcing people to take sides. what she was trying to do, i think, was straddle both worlds, be part of the freedom caucus and appeal to that political base nationally as well as support the speaker, the source of all of their power. if they

joining me now natasha alford, jason osborn, scott jennings and jay michaelson, a law clerk for merrick for being with me tonight. jay, i want to hear your thoughts on the significance of this decision but also the fact that the case might have been manufactured. in other words, the web designer's values were not challenged. does that change anything? >> unfortunately, it changes nothing. this really is unprecedented. i've never seen a case of really fraud or misrepresentation be disclosed this late in the process. the opinions were surely already printed, you know, on paper by the time this came to light. this is alliance defending freedom and right wing activist organizations finding the right plaintiff and, you know, they already failed with this case once before because what was asked for -- there wasn't a case or a controversy. ostensibly the web designer said she was worried about being sued or enforcement actions coming against her. that's not how the judiciary system is meant to work. there has to be an active case or controversy. so this one was concocted. i'm not surprised tha

bush scott jennings and former democratic strategist maria cardona. scott, let me start with you. going on with the legal trouble donald trump seems to be getting in? it seems to have an adverse effect on his poll numbers. at some point, does he stop defying gravity? >> great question. we don't know, he hasn't yet. his people believe all of these legal troubles are just evidence that there is this cabal of actors out there trying to tear him down, i think about half the party wants to go with trump again and have the party wants to do something else. the trouble is, the half of the party that doesn't is fragmented among ron desantis and everyone else in the race. while that fragmentation is still occurring, it really won't matter what happens to donald trump because of his people stick, he is destined to get the nomination. my sense is that he will either collapse or he won't. i don't know if money will make a difference here. people will decide hadnough or they want, and right now they seem to be okay with it. >> some of them might be affected by current evts but in the meantime,

i'm joined now by senior political commentator, scott jennings, and marta -- managing editor of "axiostt, why? why do you think the desantis campaign thought that this video would help them? >> well, they didn't create it. they did retweet it, i think, from one of their accounts. but ultimately for them it's about continuing to build a brand which they think is centered on desantis being a reliable conservative, which they're trying to juxtapose against trump being momentarily interested in paying lip service to things but ultimately not strong enough to follow through on things. so, i think they've done that on this issue now. they've done it on immigration. they've done it on several other to topics. i would expect them to continue to do that. also i think they are looking ahead this week. they're trying to launch this coalition, which they're calling mamas for desantis, which is an initiative from his wife, casey. and they're going to really drill down on his record on taking sexualized content out of the classroom and the idea of protecting girls sports from boys playing in girls s

. >> joining me now to discuss, scott jennings, former aide to senator mitch mcconnell, and the former house communications director for president biden, and cnn's newest contributor, indicate bettingfield. you'll be joining us many more sometimes, scott, let me start with you, you heard what governor desantis said, he said, parents shou-- harris shouldn't come to florida and criticize. >> for this, speech, i've read the standards. i down loaded an analysis of the curriculum and in every instance where the word "slave" was used. and i read a statement from the african american scholars who wrote the statement. they do it all the time to ron desantis, they're doing it again and i don't buy it. >> she's arguing that students would be better if these historic crimes weren't glossed over. she didn't mention desantis by name. you, woulded in the white house until just recently, what's your insight into the white house strategy against this. >> you know, we heard desantis and he knows there's something to defend. i would say what the vice-president did was pick a fight that was really smart

. >> i want to bring in former south carolina state lawmaker democratic publican poster and scott jenningsunder president george w. bush. is he right? is the reason he is faltering in the polls because he's not storing as people had hoped? even going down in some polls because he had to govern in florida, the left hates him and trump people hate him and that's what was going on? >> there is something to be said for the idea that he is late start did hamper him a bit. i think a medially after the midterms republicans are wounded and just have not had the red wave materialize. they are thinking we cannot let this happen again. >> although they did great in florida we should know. >> subtly the attention is all on desantis and he has a vision for the future. it was a moment where donald trump was really weak. that was the moment when you saw a real appetite for something different. it's like when you are playing a videogame and the boss you are fighting there she'll goes down, now is the moment to strike, he couldn't strike. i think that he is right that there was this moment were suddenly he

along with political commentator scott jennings and columnist for rolling stone who also a rabbi. we're going to have a good discussion here. we're all very much awake and caffeinated. at least i am. i'm going the tart with you, elliot. we hear chris krebs has talked to the special prosecutors. how might he help their case? >> in order to prove anything in court, prosecutors have to establish intent. what was in the defendant's head at the time that he did the thing he is accused of doing. someone like chris krebs can speak to donald trump's intent with respect to did he know he lost the election and continued to engage in acts of fraud, which is really what the accusation. >> right. >> conspiracy to defraud the united states. and that is what the charge is likely to be. it's very valuable information. also because of the fact that krebs would have been briefing the former president as far back as february 2020, months before he was fired, providing the same information about sort of the integrity of the american election system. so there is a lot that he can provide. there is a l

bush, scott jennings. and republican strategist kris ten sanders. ellers, former democratic state representative in this area of town. is this where you worked? >> that's where i worked. >> great. >>> scott let me start with something that desantis allies have been wondering about. donald trump was notified on sunday he was a target and he had until thursday if he had a story to tell the grand jury he had until thursday to do so. he announced it today right before governor desantis announced a new policy proposal for the military right before he did an interview with me that's going to air on "the lead" at 4:00 eastern. do you think the timing is coinc coincidental? >> i can understand why they were trying to think that because it would be like trump to do that. however the vibrations i'm pim picking up are it's better to be lucky than good. i felt the trump team needed to get it out there because it was going to leak. we're talking about the trump indictment >> obviously, the trump team is out there trying to fundraise on this. i suppose it would be

. >>> for more let's bring in elliot williams, john avalon and scott jennings. good to see all of you this morning. el elliot, when we look at what's included in the superseding indictment, the video and new details on that iran document, what does it change for you? >> it doesn't change anything for me, but it puts more meat on the bones. that time line is devastating because of all the crimes that donald trump is either charged with at this point or could be charged with in the future. obstruction of justice is probably the most forward to prove. you don't have to get into the business of classified documents and so on. number one, did you or your folks know that there was an open investigation? number two, did you intend to get in the way of that investigation? number three, what steps did you take to ward it? they start communicating about what the boss' wishes are and immediately took steps to delete this footage. all of that is pretty lock, stock and barrel evidence of obstruction of justice. a lot of the other things are more legally complicated. >> let's

okay, let's talk about all of this with senior political commentator scott jennings. and mark mckenna, former adviser to george w. bush and john mccain. mark, i am minister with you. he was aware that great had, and i love to see it, the grand jury is expected to meet tomorrow as i mentioned. howdy. it has been eight days i think since donald trump got his target letter from the special counsel. and trump's closest rivals are sort of tiptoeing around, they are not going for the jugular, except for with the exception of chris christie. how does this help them in the primaries? >> it doesn't, they are trying to have it both ways, and it just never works. and, but they're afraid of turning off trump's face, which unfortunately -- it is a significant part of their primary voters. so their fear is that they are gonna turn off the voters that can elect them in the primary. so there are them to say do damage if they don't, but i just think that ultimately what may happen is that as strong as he is, a lot of this is just about sort of defending their guy. as soon as we see en

cnn senior political commentator, scott jennings.s, -- great to have all of you guys. here okay, so, scott do you agree with governor christie that in the short term these indictments have allowed donald trump to fund-raise and get a lot of attention and say that he's being, you know, persecuted? but in the long term though? >> yes, i agree with most of that analysis actually. these previous indictments studies have, have consolidated political support. they of rallying around donald trump, i assume that's what will happen. we don't know. we don't know what's in these indictments if they come. we don't know what the evidence is. there may be some bad stuff in there that we don't know about yet. which could be damaging. but, there obviously is half the republican party who wants to do trump again. and they see all of this, as trump said, as validation. the deep state are trying to stop me. this is about you. it's not about me. this is reinforcing to the people who love him. but on the general election, there is no question this is an

. >> scott jennings, the president has made being a family man a central part of his political identityg on this and other issues. the ignoring his own daughter for four years and the president of the united states hanging up a stocking for the dog and not for his seventh grandchild. >> we can have simply for peo sympathy for people struggling with addition. >> you know who end up picking up the pieces? the grandparents and in this case the grandparents would not acknowledge this little girl, it is offensive. >> they have now. >> oh, what a hero! the polling must have been brutal. the polling must have been brutal. >> you can't question the heart and integrity of joe biden as a family man and the human being and the pain, suffering and loss that man has been through including the struggles -- >> we have 30 secondses. >> i think it is far more appalling to see republicans this week starting with you, scott, calling the vice president president of the united states a liar when it comes to the very real personal story. i don't need some, you know, academic to tell me about the horrors of s

but scott jennings, the president has made being a family man a central part of his political identityect who made hunter biden into a complete scumbag on this and other issues. the ignoring his own daughter, for four years! and the president of the united states hanging up a stocking for thewe could have sympathy for people struggling with addiction. let's keep this conversation respectful. >> and agree. and a lot of families deal with addiction, and who ends up picking up the pieces,ed grandparents. and in this case, the grandparents would not acknowledge this little girl. it is offensive. >> but they have now. >> oh, what a hero. the polling must have been brutal. the polling must have been brutal. >> if you question the heart and integrity of joe biden as a family pan and the human being and the pain and suffering that man has been through, including the struggles. >> we have 30 seconds. karen. >> it is far more appalling to see the republicans calling the vice president of the united states a liar when it comes to the real personal stories. i don't need some academic to tell me ab

i want to bring in our political commentators right now to discuss, scott jennings and ashley alisoning us. ashley, how much should democrats actually be concerned by senator manchin's flirting with a no labels third-party bid? >> well, i mean, if he's just thinking about the idea as democrats i don't think we should get overly concerned. but if he actually jumps into the race, we know historically if you look back at a ralph nader or a jill stein -- favorably in the democratic party's favor, so i would be concerned if he actually jumps in the race. the conversation of it, i mean, i understand why they think they need to have a no labels third-party ticket, but right now they aren't actually on a lot of ballots, and so thinking about it -- but if they jump in, i would be concerned as democrats. >> it would take away votes, tho do no doubt about that. scott, in the gop primary, desantis is touting a bigger fund-raising haul than trump or biden, for that matter. but his campaign is burning th out donors and so how should we read these numbers? >> well, i think i wld look at the candida

joining me now, scott jennings, the cnn senior political commentator and former special assistant georgeeman hughes. host of the conversation with coleman podcast. any contributing writer at the free press. gentlemen, great to see you tonight. let me put that question to you in a form of a multiple choice. donald trump's no, no, no strategy. is he winning a, because of it b, in spite of it c, campaign rules don't apply to him d, i hate you're stupid multiple choice game. don't pick that one. scott? >> c, campaign rules don't apply to him. he's trying to act like an incumbent. frankly, as democrats are acting. he's not participating in a primary campaign either. and trump wants republican voters to see him as a de facto incumbent. and guess what a lot of republican voters to see him that way because they don't accept any lost elections. so i don't expect him to want to go to events because he wants to be put on a playing field of people that he believes are lesser or that are beneath him. because that's just not the strategy he's running, it's not hurting him. and you know donald trump is

when we see this moment play out, scott jennings said he spoke with mitch mcconnell, he sounded good.e any difference. he has seen him since that concussion. what struck me is the concern we saw immediately and rightfully so, when you see this moment what sticks out to you? >> it was concerning, there's no question. i'm a trauma neurosurgeon, that's my background, so i'm used to looking, seeing patients with neurological events and something clearly happened. i think anybody could see that. i think his doctors may even have reviewed that video, and you know, come to their own conclusions based on his medical history, but if you just look at, you know, it's maybe hard to tellime line on that, but w right before 2:00 yesterday when this happened, and it was about 23 seconds where he essentially was speechless and staring straight ahead before someone asked him if he was okay. 32 seconds beforas led away from the podium. the sort of timing matters. we know that manu asked him about 12 minutes later and he said he was fine. so whatever it was, he recovered pretty quickly from it. and you

joining us now to discuss, former federal prosecutor elie honig, cnn's jamie gangel, and scott jenningsrved as a special assistant to president george w. bush. elie, let me start with you. there are a lot of steps that have to happen before this trial will start. what are the odds that the trial actually happens or begins in may 2024, do you think? >> jake, in my experience i think it's unlikely that this trial actually does start in may 2024. first of all, trials move all the time, and they only move in one direction. they don't get moved earlier. they only get moved later. as paula said, when you look at the schedule the judge set out, there are 33 intermediate deadlines here. if one of them moves, it's a domino effect. it pushes all of them. and keep in mind, this is a defense team that is heavily incentivized, it's maybe their only strategy right now, to drag their feet and delay and then you have the classified documents issue, which further complicates everything. i think the big question here is are they going to be able to push it back enough that it gets too close to the electi

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ashley allison, former national coalitions director for the biden/harris campaign along with scott jenningsgeorge w. bush. thanks to both being here. trump clearly remains in commanding position right now. he had previously suggested that heigthe first debate. if he continues to lead this field by margins this big, do you expect he is going to follow through with that threat? >> well, i wouldn't go to the debate if i were him. he doesn't have to. he doesn't have to do anything. he doesn't have to go out and do the normal, you know, hit the campaign trail kind of stuff that everybody else is scraping and clawing at. so no, i wouldn't go if i were him. he may not be able to resist a television show, but he might just be content to sit it out and let the other campaigning bang on ron desantis is obviously what they would do if trump weren't there. smart play will be to sit it out, but we'll see if he can resist the attention. >> ashley, in addition to the polling requirement to meet the threshold to be in the debate, candidates have to reach 40,000 donors to make the rnc debate stage. donation

come back to the table and let's talk to our political commentators, bakari sellers and scott jennings part of this poll that has to do with the law and federal laws. just 17% of likely republican primary voters think that trump has kpcommitted a serious feder crime, just 10% of those voters think he did something wrong in the handling of classified documents. this is, as some other legal analysts are pointing to the fact that they think the mar-a-lago case is like the most threatening to the former president, politically, in the party, not at all so. >> yeah, that's disturbing when you have a party that trumpets and kind of marches to the beat of following the rule of law. and you have a president who has these very serious allegations against him, particularly in mar-a-lago. i've always maintained that the president's worst legal trouble or legal jeopardy is going to be in atlanta, georgia, with fani willis and this rico conspiracy. but i don't think that's going to sway these polls either way. i don't think we've ever seen an individual have a grip on a base of a particular party th

let's talk about all of this with our political panel, scott jennings, to rmer adviser to george w.e sojourn to a corporate media, a non-conservative media. do you think he set out what he wanted to do? >> well, all of the things that you talked about today, whether it is transgender policy or things he had to say about the culture of the military and all of these things are pleasure centers for republican voters. and that is what he's trying to get done today. he may not think that tons of republicans will watch it live, but obviously getting those things into the eco-system that they live in, which is internet and twitter, i think he hit a lot of topics that they think will work. and it is his brand. this anti-woke stuff is his brand and i don't think he's going to come off of it because he's talking to a non-conservative media. >> i asked him about a concern among some of his supporters and a sympathetic republican pollster, i should note it wasn't you, but somebody who said that he shot up in the polls because he was seen by republicans as an electable trump and then since he st

here to discuss, van jones, a former obama administration official, and scott jennings, who was a specialnt to president george w. bush. i mean, scott, those, a lot of those names that i just read all republicans, who are in districts that president biden won. and, voting on something that is basically meaningless, just a symbolic message. it doesn't necessarily help their campaigns? >> yeah, and you might also get into a situation where it fails. i mean, what if you put something that on the floor, and you don't expunge it. i talked to one house member today, who said that maybe the first one might get expunged, i'm not sure but the second. when i mean, think about this. the optics of this are all. that and, so and then you tack on the political, empirical political data we have. which is when voters are thinking a lot about donald trump, and the things he did, and what he represents. we lose elections, just like we did in the midterms. so, all of these people want to move forward, these votes will be looking backward. and, go into a presidential cycle, that's not really the disposition

let's bring in scott jennings now, the former special assistant to former president george w. bush. the context here what kristen just said, she said trump just gave an interview and said are republicans going to do anything about this. you guys are supposed to come knights in shining armor to his defense. what's your response to that? >> well, there will be a lot of republicans who come to his rhet rhetorical defense and help him as a public relations matter, but there's nobody that can help him from the evidence and these indictments. i heard ty cobbs saying it was a strong indictment. i read through it. you may stupid games, you win stupid prizes is what it looks like to me. i think there's going to be a lot of republicans especially house republicans in purple districts who are going to look at this and say do i really want to go through the next cycle dealing with this every single day when the voters of my district don't like it, "a." and "b," want me to be dealing with other topics. there are going to be voters who don't believe any of this, who don't think he ever had classi

anniversary in august 2017, then-treasurer scott morrison sent his congratulations on lynelle's facebook page. "happy anniversary guys - still remember you telling jen our little flat in bronte that you had an amazing guy - you were right." these photos which they shared on facebook are from the following year, when the morrison family holidayed with the stewarts on the new south wales south coast. when the morrisons moved into the prime minister's residence in sydney, kirribilli house, lynelle stewart was hired to work as a household attendant. karen: lynelle was looking after the children and the dog even before she was employed, so certainly was helping out. she's technically employed by prime minister and cabinet and her role has been to assist in looking after the children and things like that. louise: lynelle stewart has frequently posted photographs from kirribilli on her social media, including this one of her and her husband tim stewart in 2018. the families even celebrated new year's eve together at the prime minister's residence. in january 2019, tim stewart shared these photos from kirribilli saying he was house sitting. the little boy i