scott jennings, van jones, thanks so much to both of you. surrender of former president trump ahead, and we are also keeping an eye on the aftermath of that plane crash in russia which may have killed the leader of wagner -- of the wagner mercenary army. it's a crash that has many pointing fingers at vladimir putin. so find out what putin is now saying. his first comments on the crash coming up. bother the bugs. not your family. ahh! zevo is made with essential oils which atta bugs' biological systems. it wipes cleanly, plus is safe for use around people and pets. gotcha! zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly. just the three of us girls. i never thought twice about feeding her kibble. but about two years ago, i realized she was overweight. she was always out of breath. that's when i decided to introduce the farmer's dog to her diet. it's just so fresh that she literally gets bubbles in her mouth. now she's a lot more active, she's able to join us on our adventures. and we're all able to do things as a family. ♪ get started at betterforthem.com l

scott jennings, why not?more than half of the republican party, maybe 55% of the republican party, sees this presidential campaign as a referendum on the treatment of donald trump. and that's the primary electorate. now the general election electorate will see it much differently. they'll see a referendum on how their lives are going and the economy and so on and so forth. this pool of people, they see it as a referendum on the treatment of donald trump. they're not asking themselves, do we want to have a general election about joe biden's job performance or about donald trump's persecution. they're just seeing this as a way to -- for him to vindicate himself against all this democratic persecution and the rest of these republican candidates know. it they don't know what to do about it. none of them have figured out to do about it and i don't suspect any will. right now he's in the mid 50s in this thing. mid 40s, he would be unbeatable in a fragmented field. >> here is my question, a, can you tell me the othe

scott jennings, scott jennings' attorney, jennifer rogers, john avlon, thanks. >>> will arizona abbet date to indict former president trump? the state has been investigating trump, allies and arizona's fake electors. we will ask the arizona secretary of state where they stand coming up next. >>> and getting one of our first looks on the ground at the worst of the devastation left behind by the hawaii wildfires. next guest not only covered it for the hawaiian news station but recently found out he lost four family members in the fires. that's coming up. of d dollars in funding along wh school supplies students need. we call l it “the subaru love promise” and we are proud to be thehe largest corporate supporter of adoptaclassroom.org. it's just one of the reasons forbes ranked subaru the number one automotive brand for social impact. subaru. more than a car company. (psst psst) ahhhh... withlonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spray flonase sensimist daily for non-drowsy, long lasting relief in a scent-free, gentle mist. (psst ps) flonase. all good. at the alzheimer's association

back here with my panel, -- scott jennings, jennifer rodgers, and temidayo aganga-williams.e math, 91 criminal charges in four different cases. he is ten days to surrender himself here in this case, along with the other defendants. the first republican debate is nine days away? >> yeah, this is the kind of stuff that wreak havoc on a scheduling office when you're constantly turning yourself in. i don't know when he is going to turn himself in, we were joking off air a moment ago. what if he turns himself in the day of the debate and kind of takes over -- i don't know what he's going to do, but there is clear evidence that every time something happens to him, all of the medias attention goes to him. although the republican attention goes to him, and it sucks the oxygen out of the room for everyone else. if i might, republicans tonight, here is what some are thinking. trying to put a spin on it. he is innocent until proven guilty, this is only one side of the story, hearing that. anybody remember the jury foreperson who is a little weird that came out? still on peoples minds?

. >>> scott jennings is a cnn senior political commentator. he joins me now from louisville, kentucky. good to have you with us. >> thank you. >> so donald trump suffered a big setback tuesday in his attempt to delay the hearing of his january 6th case. the judge rejecting his legal team's efforts to move it to next week, but while trump's strategy to delay proceedings appears to be failing, at the same time, his support rises, doesn't it? ever time his legal woes deepen, how inevitable is it that the republican party will head into the 2024 november election was an indicted, perhaps convicted presidential nominee? and what impact will that have on this country? >> well, he's certainly the leader in the republican primary right now, but you alluded to the calendar. and this is what's very important is that there is a possibility that donald trump could become the de facto nominee of the republican party some time in the spring of next year, then face trial, then be convicted and then go to the republican national convention in august to get fo

matt rose, so scott jennings, thank you so much. >>> thank you so much for joining us.n cnn. you can astepro and go! that's why comcast business de is launching theal. mobile made free event. with our business internet, new and existing customers can get one year of unlimited mobile for free. it's our best internet. powered by the next generation 10g network and with 99.9% reliability. plus one line of free mobile for an entire year. it's the mobile made free event-happening now. get started for just $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities. wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. and it's all right here. streaming was never this easy, you know. this is the way. you really went all out didn't you? um, it's called commitment. could you turn down the volume? here, you can try. get way more into what your into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. >>> welcome to all of our viewers watching here in the united states and around the world. >>> a head on cnn newsroom. the sear

joining me tonight, cnn political commentator jamal simmons, and cnn senior political commentator, scott jenningsgoing to be dealing with this trials, obviously, but now we've seen republican says they are divided over whether or not he will launch the inquiry in and of itself and what that would mean. mccarthy is saying, you, know just doing an inquiry is not the same as doing in impeachment vote, but that clearly is not going to be enough for the former president. >> while it may not be enough for him in the moment, but it should be because it's the correct strategic move. and i would be shocked, by the, way if an inquiry gets launched without a full vote of the house. but think about where we've come, from six months ago we knew virtually nothing and now, after what the house republicans have done both speaker mccarthy and the committee chairs and various committees, when we think about how much we now know about the biden family activity, doing an inquiry would on like a whole bunch more investigative tools and it would allow a turnover even more rocks than they've been able to turn over. if

cnn political commentator scott jennings is back at the table. ery well, i'm digging through here, here is "the wall street journal," front page, political rookie upstages his rivals at the republican debate. he does not lack confidence. he does lack experience. but he's got a lot of success in business. he's obviously been intriguing to republicans. what are you hearing? >> he's channeling trump. everything about him is trying to rerun and re-create the trump playbook. the trouble is trump is still in the race. and he's sort of serving as just a surrogate for trump. i don't know how he expects to get nomination and be the next president in a landslide. >> brett baer and martha mcccohen did an interview. >> he lacks -- you have to remember in '16, trump had a likability factor and people knew who he was before he came into the race. people kind of liked him. there is a reason that scooby-doo is one of the most beloved characters in animation and scrappy doo is one of most despised characters. >> i love scrappy doo. >> scooby and scrappy here. i th

jo scott jennings and bakari sellers are joining us.have made staff changes during the summer. they went on to win the nomination. this is historic. but given how far behind desantis is in this race right now -- i'll put up on the screen, you can see a recent "new york times"/cnn poll -- trump at 54% to desantis '17%. and this is among republican or likely republican voters. how do you assess the state of the desantis campaign right now? >> i think they're in a little bit better shape in the individual states, for instance, in iowa, than they are in the national polls. that's number one. and i think the problem they've had from the beginning is that for the roughly half of the republican party that wants to do something other than trump, the fragmentation is not going away. what desantis has not been able to do is scare or convince anyone else to get out of this race and allow any kind of consolidation. at the same time, trump has had some rallying from republicans who think he's under unfair legal attacks from the biden administration

and scott jennings, who is our colleague here at cnn, very close with mitch mcconnell.s on cnn earlier today. i think he was one of the first people i heard talk about how these moments are likely relate ed to his concussion. >> since he had his concussion, there's been some moments where his hearing has not been quite as good as it used to be. i can personally aat the banks event, he had no trouble hearing or speaking or telling everybody how focused he is on winning back the senate majority. it was like nothing had happened. >> melanie, you're up there on capitol hill when they are in session. you're interacting with mitch mcconnell as much as he interacts with reporters. he definitely is having more trouble hearing, but this obviously was more than that. >> it is noticeable in recent months. we have noticed him just walking a little slower. he's been hard of hearing. he has trouble hearing questions from reporters. obviously, the freezing episodes are very alarming. they are playing out in front of cameras. it mauks you wonder how often is this happening behind the c

max rose, scott jennings, thank you both.s for such a breaking news hour. laura coates is up next. so why do we leave so much untapped potential on the table? this is a next level bed, for a next level you. my circadian rhythm is kicking your circadian rhythms butt! it's not a competition. i know, but i'm still winning! so, it is a competition. save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed. plus, 36-month financing on select smart beds. shop now only at sleep number. hi, i'm jill and i've lost 56 pounds on golo. hi, i'm barry and i've lost 42 pounds. jill and i are a team. if she tells me to do mething, i usually mp on board. golo was doable, it's realistic, and it'something we can do the rest of our lives. that's why comcast business de is launching theal. mobile made free event. with our business internet, new and existing customers can get one year of unlimited mobile for free. it's our best internet. powered by the next generation 10g network and with 99.9% reliability. plus one line of free mobile for an entire

i will say you agreed on a lot of things tonight, van jones and scott jennings.> if i had five more seconds, i would have agreed with the last point, too. van's got it exactly right. so kumbaya tonight on cnn. >> a total kumbaya. good night, fellows. thank you so much. >>> "outfront" next, president biden on the ground in maui this hour. you see these pictures here from just moments ago. he's about to meet with survivors and with families of the victims after seeing firsthand the devastation as more than 800 people are still missing. >>> plus, forced out by vladimir putin's government. a top journalist was just expelled from russia where she has been reporting for the past ten years. why? she'll talk about that. she's my guest. our ears connect us to the moments that matter. give them the nutrients they need with lipo. it's formulated with ingredients clinically shown to protect your ears from dizziness, ear ringing, and even hearing loss. never miss a moment withipo flavonoid. (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with custo

and cnn political commentator, scott jennings. and renato mariati.iuliani lost the case, in part, because he failed to produce subpoenaed evidence. he struggled to maintain his own access to his electronic records. you have to wonder. given a couple weeks ago, he conceded he made false statements. why would he go about this default in this way? he risks losing millions, if damages are assessed. why would he be concerned about testifying in this matter, perhaps? >> well, he testifies in this matter, all of that can be used against him. he's between a rock and a hard place here. the underlying factual issues overlap with the atlanta, fulton county criminal case, that was charged that you were talking about a moment ago. he would have to take the fifth, which would doom him in this case. or he has to go forward and testify and have testimony used against him. i think he thumbed his nose at this whole process. and judge howell, i think made the correct finding. if you're not producing discovery, treating the women like any other litigant and taking them

and scott jennings. scott, your reaction to how nikki haley is framing this.bviously knows there's four indictments. >> first of all, coming out of the debate, i was surprised to sea haley aggressively confront trump. she sat there and told a fox news audience that he is the most unpopular politician in the country. it was surprising to me to see her take that role. she's obviously continued it this weekend. it strikes me that her strategic thinking at this point is that, hey, i've got to begin to pivot and make the case that making him the nominee, if he becomes the nominee, would be near certain loss for the republicans next november. >> going after trump does not exactly make you very popular inside the republican party right now. witness chris christie and asa hutchinson and so on. when president biden was asked about trump's mug shot, his response was "handsome guy." i know you're going to say that's vintage joe biden. i was having a conversation with tim ryan, the former congressman, this weekend. he was saying maybe this is time for the president to sta

. >> and this is a point that scott jennings who worked for mcconnell said over and over last night.the american people cannot vote in a general election until they know the outcome of this, whether we know if trump is convicted or not. the interesting thing is that that is not how the law works. the law works you bring a case when it is ready and a judge has a lot of say here and the defendant has more say than a prosecution on when something goes to trial. there is a deference to a defendant. >> and trump's team has consistently shown a preference for delay because they believe delay is denial. in some cases donald trump is running to stay out of prison. he is fundraising off this, saying you can't possibly prosecute me because we're in the middle of a political season and indeed the prospect of a hypothetical self pardon should he become president. all these hypotheticals because we're in this unprecedented situation. the important thing to remember that i think in part you are getting at is people might not fully appreciate that someone could be elected to office from prison incl

cupp and scott jennings, thank you. >> and speak of former president trump, we have breaking news just into cnn and the president is deciding to skip his arraignment in fulton county and deciding to enter a plea of not guilty. major implications there. we will discuss when we come back o on cnn "news central." we, the first generation of moms to lose our kids to social media, are sick of waiting. for 25 years, there's been no new laws protecting kids online. while our children are dying. we can pass the kids online safety act. join us. join us. join us. join us. ♪ let's lead the way. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools, like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley. with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. e*trade from morgan stanley th

for more is ben jones, former obama administration official, and senior political commentator scott jenningsrence. scott, do you want to be hearing from donald trump in this moment as a republican? >> he has every right to counter message this. until a jury get this is thing in the eyes of donald trump and his supporters, it's a political document any way. they are going to cast it as part of the campaign to keep him out of the white house. er they are going to counter message that. this thing may never go to trial before people cast their votes either in the republican primary or the november 2024 election. so he has every right to counter message it. most of his supporters want him to counter message it. i would gist say this. if i were a strategic voter, do i want the election next year to be a referendum on donald trump's claims about the 2020 election, or the state of america under joe biden. you nominate someone under the age of 70 who is not indicted and you get the referendum on biden. >> real quick, republican reaction so far, not surprising, kevin mccarthy saying radical da in geor

democrat paul, republican scott jennings, and alice stewart. scott, how concerned should republican candidates and voters alike be that the former president seems to be telegraphing what he will do if he loses in 2024? >> well, the republicans should be concerned about the fact that, today, he looks like he is the odds on favorite for the republican nomination, and there is a real chance, if you look at the way the calendar is laid out, he could become the de facto nominee of the party, then, basically, become a convicted felon -- not basically, actually become a convicted felon, and become the actual nominee of the party at the convention in late summer. it would put the party in a bind because there is a huge cohort of republicans and americans who are simply not going to consider voting for a convicted felon. now, the trump team, maybe they beat some of this, i don't know. if i were him, i would want to chance to try and beat it. his lawyers seem to want to delay it. for him, at this point, anderson, the campaign's defense, and his defense is

we hear, from manu's reporting and scott jennings, it comes, and it goes, these symptoms. he can have a pretty quick rebound. and therein lies another clue, that can happen with petite mall seizures where you have a loss of time. i would be curious to ask him, does he remember that time? if he doesn't, that's another clue as to what this might be. bottom line, jim, i hope he's getting it evaluated. my guess is that he is and the doctor are aware of this. if not it needs to be addressed so it doesn't get worse or happen again. >> understood. dr. sanjay gupta, so good to have your expertise. >>> it was the strongest storm to hit florida's big bend region in 125 years, and it left a path of destruction and just massive flooding across the southeast. up next, we'll speak to a florida business owner whose restaurant was battered by idalia. >>> important disclosures released by supreme court justice clarence thomas and samuel alito raising only more ethics concerns. ahead, what we're learning about expensive trips they took and who paid for them. >>> a horrifying situation in so

let's talk about all of this now with cnn political commentator, ana navarro and scott jennings. good to see you both. scott, you first. you heard donald trump last night. pointing out how his indictments seem to help his poll numbers and donations as well. so how does the republican party handle all of this? especially if he, especially if the party wants to win the white house? >> well, the republican party, there's still a way to go. there's a lot of highway left to travel in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina and other places. he is in the dominant position right now but i don't think this race is over. there's a lot more news for the republicans to digest. we just saw what happened last week. we've got stuff possibly probably coming up in georgia in the next couple of weeks. so republicans have a lot to think about because there's polling out there that indicates if he were to be convicted of a felony, a whole bunch of people wouldn't be able to vote for him. a long way to go. he's ahead, but you never know. >> and scott, i mean, you look like you're running for office becau

. >>> long time mcconnell ally and republican commentator scott jennings, good to see you. i know this is sensitive, nobody likes to see people go through health issues like this. you were with mcconnell at a fundraiser last night. how was he and how do you reconcile how he was last night with the video of him freezing up for 30 seconds or so? >> it was business as usual. i was here in louisville, he attended a fundraiser for jim banks who's running for senate in indiana and he made remarks about policy, politics and took a bunch of questions from the attendees, if you hadn't known something had happened earlier, you would have never have suspected it. >> how do you reconcile that with what we saw. you think mcconnell and his team need to be more transparent as some republican senators are calling for about whatever's going on? >> yeah, i mean, obviously as someone who has known him, my whole life and you see things like this, it's personally concerning. i have the benefit of being able to talk to him and i've seen him the entire month and he's been on quite a robust schedu

let's listen to what scott jennings, a long-time mcconnell confidant told our colleagues on cnn thisorning. >> he came back home to louisville, i was with him with jim banks, who's running for senate in indiana. he met with a group, answered questions, worked the crowd and was on top of it, sharp, and fully in command of, you know, all the politics and issues of the day. i should also tell you i was with him two days ago and watched him give a long speech to a lunch crowd and then answer several questions from that crowd. and in the midst of another long day. so throughout the month of august he has kept up a pretty robust schedule. >> reporter: that is obviously very encouraging to hear but statement we don't know what's causing the freezing episodes. all his office has said in both of these freezing episodes he felt light headed and was totally fine afterwards. because of that speculation continues to grow and mount about his health and political future. i think one of the big questions going forward is whether mitch mcconnell will continue to be the gop leader in the years ahead.

joining us to discuss, two conservative voices, scott jennings, special assistant to president georgebush and eric erickson, host of the eric erickson show. good to see you both. we have the lineup, the placement on stage that fox has released. right there in the center we see florida governor ron desantis, and vivek ramaswamy, they are sharing center stage. chris christie off to the side. does that make them the two main targets, do you think, tomorrow night? >> well, certainly desantis is going to be a main target, and he's got the most riding on this debate, in my opinion, because he's been the principle alternative to donald trump since we started and there's a little bit of blood in the water, and i suspect the other candidates are going to be gunning for him. this is a real opportunity for desantis to rise above the noise. everything above his campaign that people hear comes from people other than ron desantis, trump, never trump, democrats, media, this is a chance for him to tell his story, who am i and why am i running. if i were him, i wouldn't get too drawn into fights with

take a listen to what scott jennings, a long-time mcconnell confidant told you guys. >> he came homelouisville. i was with him with jim banks, who is running for senate in indiana. he met with a group, answered questions, worked the crowd and was on top of it, sharp and fully in command of, you know, all the politics and issues of the day. so i should also tell you, i was with him two days ago and watched him give a long speech to a lunch crowd and then answer several questions from that crowd in the midst of another long day. throughout august he kept up a robust schedule. >> of course, that is really encouraging news to hear, but at the same time, we still don't know what caused these episodes. his office has still not said what the issue was, even though he was supposed to seek a doctor yesterday. they have been reluctant to share details about his health. questions about his future and his fitness to serve likely going to intensify, especially as the senate returns after the august recess next week. >> so much concern tied to the uncertainty of what is going on here. scott walkin

we have elle honig here and scott jennings and van jones.itical analyst and senior "the new york times" political reporter maggie haberman. where this goes from here is question of timing, what it means for the election, what stands out to you most from this indictment that you didn't know before? >> well, it's interesting. okay, there's a lot that we knew before and that's notable. most of what's presented in here is information that has been in the public record for quite some time. it was always criminal. the simple fact is it's now put in a legal document. a few things, one, about how we're now criminalizing speech -- >> which is the defense's defense. >> now, if you're thinking of this indictment as the january 6th indictment, this is all about criminalizing the events of that day you could make an argument it's about the speech the president gave, but no, this was an effort stretching back months and seven states in which there was an effort to undermine an entire american election. that's not speech, that's a crime. and it's a very ea

political commentator, david axelrod, senior adviser to president obama, and political commentator, scott jennings, former assistant to president bush. david, giuliani has issued, we will analyze that in a little while. let's talk about the debate and debate counterprogramming most specifically. donald trump is now talking about counterprogramming the upcoming debate. i wonder why he wouldn't show up to the debate. it seems an easy argument, and he's been making that and folks have been making that. he's far and away ahead, why would he even give them the time? why would he show up? what do you think? >> well, he would show up because he doesn't want others to have the stage. he would show up because he's attracted to the main stage. he would show up because he doesn't want people to think that he is afraid to be there because of these indictments. those are the reasons he would show up. i've thought all along that he would not show up because if he doesn't show up, it's not the same show. the audience will be smaller, there will be less interest. what we're seeing is he's planning a whole week of

we're joined by cnn's steve contorno along with kate bettingfield and scott jennings. this so-called advice memo from a pro desantis superpac outlining a proposed debate strategy for desantis in next week's debate. the memo urges him, let me quote. to defend trump when chris christie attacks him with a specific suggestion for an attack line. trump isn't here, so let's leave him alone. he's too weak to defend himself here. we're all running against him. i don't think we want to join forces for someone on the stage who's auditioning for a show on msnbc. it's interesting he's getting this advice from his superpac. >> i've been hearing from people close to his political operation all afternoon who are just baf led why they put this out. he's been in prep for weeks. working with one of the best coaches in the industry. why at this point would they feel the neaed, one week out, t put this out. it was clearly intended to get in front of the eyes of the desantis campaign and provide guidance but instead, it's done the opposite in terms of putting desantis potentially in a box

scott jennings and former fellow prosecutor renato mariotti. glad you are here.his into context for a second. giuliani lost his case in part because he failed to produce subpoenaed evidence. he said he struggled to even maintain his access to his electronic records. you have to wonder, given that a couple of weeks ago he conceded in some respects he had made false statements. why would he go about this in this way? he risks losing billions id damages. why would he be so determined about testifying in this manner as well perhaps? >> if he testifies in this matter, all of that can be used against him. between a rock and a hard place here, factual issues here over that with the atlanta fulton county. criminal case that was just charged. we were just talking about a moment ago. >> and so he other has to take the fifth which obviously would already do him in this case. or he would have to go forward and testify and have testimony that can be used against him. so he is that a very difficult position and as you mentioned, regarding discovery i think this whole process,

not until this morning when scott jennings who's a colleague of ours, who's a republican analyst, andd and aide, former aide to mitch mcconnell. the concussion mitch mcconnell had in the spring. that does seem to be an indicator what this is, but to underscore what sanjay said and manu said and what you're alluding to, we just don't know many of the details, and it's unclear how transparent he's going to be. look, he is known as a stubborn man, and that stubbornness is something he takes -- he's very proud of particularly when it comes to his health, he's of a different generation. but it's unclear how genuine pressure he feels to say more. >> it does appear, manu, at least his colleagues are hoping for some kind of explanation when they're back on the hill next week. you noted there's some skepticism he may not be leading anymore in 2025. oftentimes conversations and reactions we're seeing in public are very different than what's being said in private. what are you hearing, manu, behind the scenes? >> a lot of questions. remember the senate is on recess, in fact the last week of a fi

scott jennings, a long-time mcconnell confidant told cnn this morning. >> he came back home to louisville. i was with him with jim banks, running for senate in indiana. he met with a group, answered questions, worked the crowd, and was, you know, on top of it, sharp and fullry in command of all the politics of the day. i should tell you i was with him two days ago and watched him give a long speech to a lunch crowd and then answer several questions from that crowd, and in the midst of another long day. throughout the month of august he has kept up a robust schedule. >> but despite this effort to try to reassure republicans that he is able to serve, there are still lingering questions about how long mcconnell can continue to serve republicans in the senate. right now his term as leader will last until the end of next year. he has said he will continue to carry out his duties as leader until then. it's unclear if he would run for leader again or have the support of his conference to do that. in fact, there is some early chatter, according to our colleague manu raju, from rank and file repub

sanjay gupta and scott jennings. that's where you want to start. the contrast of yesterday really feeds into what i have been hearing over the course of the last several months. you talk to people around mcconnell. i spoke to them last night who say our interactions we don't see stuff like this. which almost make it is more jarring and more unsettling when you do. yesterday was a great example of that. a couple hours later, he was at a fundraiser for a senate candidate in indiana. you were with him as well yesterday. how is he doing? >> he was doing great last night. what's not being shown is 30 seconds later he came back and answered several more questions from reporters and took off. he came back home to louisville. he met with a group and answered questions. he worked the crowd. and on top of it sharp and fully in command of all the politics and issues of the day. so i should also ytell you wheni was him two day ago and watched him give a speech and answer several questions from that crowd. so he's kept up a robust schedule. so it's really kind

joining me right now is cnn political commentator scott jennings and jamal, and now, let's talk aboutt, and the cnn poll of polls that is finding that trump tops the closest rival by 40 points in the latest polls, and if that is what they are looking at going into the debate, what do they need to do, and how do they change that on the debate stage? >> well, the challenge for the people on the debate stage is the challenge that we have been talking about since the beginning, and that is the fragmentation of the non-trump portion of the electorate. looking at the iowa survey you mentioned, and you have some 60% of the republicans not with trump right now, but if you divide it up among the other people, it is hard to beat someone who has over 40% of the vote which trump does have, and the people on the stage want to supplant ron desantis as the principle choice, and the fives are going to be out for desantis, and for him, he needs a minute to reassert his dominance, and he has been at the top of the heap, but there is blood in the water, and he has faced a barrage of $20 million attack a

i also want to bring in cnn political commentator bakari sellers and scott jennings.earlier this afternoon president biden commented on trump's latest arrest. let's listen to what he said. listen to this. >> have you seen donald trump's mug shot yet? >> mr. president, are you -- >> i did see it on television. >> what did you think? >> handsome guy. >> so bakari, what do you think of how president biden has handled trump's legal troubles so far. does this create an opening for the biden campaign? >> i don't think so. i think that they're going to allow the trump legal troubles to consume the trump campaign. they're going to run their own campaign. but not only that, you have to remember that save for new york or georgia, the federal justice is prosecuting the former president of the united states and their run on the economy and bidenomics on what most peep usually run for president of the united states on which is a vision for the future. whornt you agree or not, that is your choice. donald trump is doing something different. he's running a campaign of grievance. and

for the january six community -- karen friedman, cnn political commentator david axelrod and scott jenningslowing up with john's point, you're a democrat, we helped obama get elected. but you're also student politics and history with the white house experience. i asked him the context to you, the former president of the united states, who happens to be on this day the faraway front runner in the next presidential election, in a mugshot and he says that he is trying to raise money off this. he is trying to boost his political standing off of this instead of showing any remorse. >> look, i think the bigger concern that i have is not about donald trump, but about the impact that he is having on the country. the fact that, yes, large numbers of republican office holders have echoed his narrative that the system is corrupt and rigged and has been weaponized against him. his political project requires him to destroy public faith in our institutions, and he has been pretty successful, at least among his own party. and that to me is the long term legacy of all of this. everything is disturbing, joh

juices committee, also our cnn legal analyst and senior political commentators daniel axelrod and scott jennings. let's start with a. law this is the beginning of the process today. president was processed. a former president in a mugshot, having to walk into a county jail to get that done. what is your biggest question about what comes next? >> really, what comes next, what i want to know is, where will this case be tried? because several of the defendants are looking to remove it from state court into federal court, citing federal officers removal laws that allow that in certain circumstances. so will some or all of them be tied in federal court, or will the entire case remain in state court? the other question i have is we'll where will the case go and we'll go with all 19 defendants the way fani willis has says she would lie to try the case or will it be broken up for various reasons whether it's like kenji's al chesebro has requested a speedy trial scheduled to start october 23rd of this year, two months away, or whether it's because a judge says hey we can't possibly have 19 defendants and

scott jennings, let me start with you and kind of get your overall takeaway of let's just start with initial reaction was sort of centered on ramaswamy, because of, you know, how much he dominated the attention after the debate. but after 24 hours of thinking about it, i really think desantis actually may have come out as the winner. he made no mistakes, advanced himself on a couple of big-time answers, especially early on. his opening statement indicting the biden economy. so i think desantis did himself some good. i think nikki haley kid herself some good. i was glad to see mike pence turn in a feisty performance. and on net, i'm just not sure the schick of ramaswamy will play that well over time. >> is there anybody on that debate stage that will concern you as a democrat? >> all of them concern me. >> as an opponent. meaning somebody who is most formidable as an opponent. >> the person who wasn't on the stage, and that was donald j. trump. his mug shot took it to a whole another level, raising over $7 million since the mug shot came out. as one of the people said on the commentat

scott jennings, let me start with you and kind of get your overall takeaway of let's just start withbecause of how much he dominated the attention after the debate, but after 24 hours of thinking about it i really think desantis may have come out as the winner. he made no mistakes. i think he advanced himself on a couple of big-time answers especially early on. his opening statement sort of indicting the biden economy, so i think desantis did himself some good. i think nikki haley did herself some good. i was glad to see mike pence turn in a first feisty performance, and i'm just want sure the schtick ramaswamy will play that well over time. i think it wore thin as the night wore on. >> is there anybody on the debate stage, nina, that would concern you as a democrat? >> all of them. >> i mean as most formidable as an opponent. >> the person who was not on the st stage, donald j. trump. the mug shot over $7 million since the mug shot came out and as one of the people said on the commentators asked the questions, moderators, excuse me, we will talk about the elephant that's not in the

scott jennings, i say that's your former boss. that's your former boss. what's up?efense of donald trump has destroyed his reputation and his personal finances. and he's done it basically all for free. which is to say that for acting as his lur, there was no evidence he was paid for that work. some of his expenses have been reimbursed, but this is a man who in 2018 during his divorce proceedings had a net worth of more than $30 million. he was very wealthy in the wake of his lifetime of public service. and to see him now to this place, where the irony of rico statute is being used against him, the volume of court cases all focused on his defense of donald trump and the damage he's done to his reputation, lighting it on fire, the man was america's mayor, one of the most successful prosecutors in his generation, having a hard time else it selling his apartment. >> it's so critical to new york. >> nenormously effect i have mayor beyond 9/11. to see where he is today is a tragedy. and you would think the former president would help him more than he has given how much he

. >> scott jennings, who was with us last hour, said republicans will not vote for a nominee who has been convicted. i wonder if you agree, if there are people who consider what we saw on the stage at the debate where the six candidates said yes, if he is convicted i will support him as nominee. do you think voters will split? >> there will be some. there will be folks who if someone is convicted of a felony, you know -- >> can he win the nomination? >> well, yeah, he can win the nomination because you are talking about the primary voters that come out and that's what's problematic for the republican party right now, which is the folks that control their party, the folks that self-identify as republicans are people who support trump and really do see this prosecution as political in nature. i'll tell you that in georgia on the ground, there are elected republicans who are pushing that narrative every day. so when you see people who are legitimate elected officials who are saying this and attacking the district attorney and saying it's political, that really just bolsters trump's clai

scott jennings made an interesting point. republicans who have openly called for their party to turn away from the former president hasn't lined up behind this indictment. what's your sense of it on first read? >> yeah, i think that, you know, to a large extent, the republicans in congress reflect their congressional districts and states from which they come. you see folks from purple states, you know, have one expression here, and then you'll see folks from very, you know, r-plus 24 districts standing with trump. they are not going to waiver because their voters at home are with the former president. and that's, you know, something that's very interesting. i will talked about this -- we talked about this yesterday a little bit. if you look at polling, "the new york times" poll out yesterday, trump is doing incredibly well not just in the primary, but in the general election in a head-to- head-to-head against joe biden. i am not sure this indictment or the next coming indictment by fanny williams or another indictment will ma

of the justice department, elliot williams, long-time conservative attorney george conway and scott jennings, the former senior adviser to mitch mcconnell. all right. george, let's start with you. here we are. and we, like everyone, scrambling to read through this. you have been furiously taking notes, noting down your list of co-conspirators. i just quickly went through. finally we got a version of this we could search. "knowing" or "knowingly" appears 37 times. they made clear he was told that the allegations he made were false. and then, after being told that, he went out and continued to lie. >> and that's what -- i mean, we have all been talking about these various statutes for over a year. >> right. >> they were mentioned by the january 6th committee and in the litigation about eastman's papers in california, section 371, which is count one, which is conspiracy to defraud the united states, and fraud is about lying, detecting to deceive. one of the things here is they summarized basically everything we have heard over the last two or three years about all the people who told him, polit

. >> scott jennings.nnocent until proven guilty as anybody is and should been united states justice system but a rap sheet. now four criminal against him and if you look at our cnn poll, the average recent polls, he's at 57%. you see the other candidates there. governor desantis is 17 and a 40 point gap national if you go state-by-state to pick nominees but that is a good baseline of where we are right now. the guy with the reps the is a 57%. what does that tell you about today's republican party? >> most republican think antilles convicted that he is being unfairly persecuted or prosecuted. however you want to say it. maybe both. i do think that if he ever becomes convicted, you will see this change significantly. i know this because there were some polling recently. 58% of republican said, a convicted felon should not be eligible to be president. 70% of all american said that. until he is convicted, i think he is going to continue to get the benefit of the doubt from republicans and he will continue to

elliott williams and scott jennings are back. karen, let me start with you because you do know jack smith and we did see him briefly come to the cameras. it's a brief statement. he clearly doesn't like being in front of the cameras, that is clear, but he's put that out. knowing him, reading this, what do you think this day was like for him? >> i think he did his job. he's a public servant and he did what he had to do. he wanted to get the information out there clear and from his words before donald trump had a chance to spin it. i think he also kept it short and sweet. i thought it was wonderful that he praised the heroes of the capitol that day who -- it gave me the chills who he said they protected the building and the people in it but our democracy, our people and our values. that's who jack smith is. that's what he believes in. he's a public servant. he's been a public servant his whole career. it was both our first jobs out of law school. we worked at the manhattan da's job together and we were a small group and we were trai

tonight in milwaukee -- joining me now, david axelrod -- abby phillip, alyssa farah griffin, scott jennings, and david urban. let's go around with first impressions. david urban, let's start with you. >> i think tonight prove that you don't need donald trump to be a debate to have a crap show there. >> -- >> it's cable. [laughter] >> the moderators didn't do a great job of controlling the crowd. i think a lot of the candidates were stepping on each other -- the american people don't want to hear this. they want to hear people argue. they want to your policies. i want your ideas. it's a chance to put things forward. and i think a lot of the folks did a great disservice to their own candidacy by just talking too much about things that don't matter. -- talk directly to the people. and i think the big winner tonight was vivek ramaswamy, who took up most of the time in the debate. >> scott? >> i think what surprised me most was nikki haley supplanting chris christie as the principal anti-trump foil in this primary. i did not expect that. but she came out. i think he's the first candidate to go a

jennings! [cheers and applause] thank you, johnny gilbert. welcome, everyone to "jeopardy!" second chance brought to you by moderna. f. scottald once observed that there are no second acts in american lives. well, the players you'll be seeing today and over the next two weeks have come here to prove fitzgerald wrong. yesterday, jessica stephens convincingly advanced to the first of our two finals, but who will join her today? will it be erica, tracy, or molly? good luck to all three of you. let's go to work in the "jeopardy!" round. we begin by revealing the categories you'll be dealing with. first, we have some... then... blank & blank... and finally... each correct response will contain one of those political positions. -erica, where do we begin? -celebrities, $1,000. an oscar winner for "dreamgirls," in 2022, she became an egot, adding a tony for "a strange loop," which she co-produced. -molly. -who is hudson? -jennifer hudson, yes. -um, astronomy for $600, please.

scott. not if he does that. not if he does that, jen, mary, it's so maddening.department. donald trump still's nuclear secrets. he lies to the doj about turning everything back. he lies about everything. he sends his workers to try to destroy video surveillance tape that shows him moving those documents around with top secret classified military secrets about nuclear weapons, attacks against iran. america's weaknesses, and they go oh, he's just trying to politicize the process. he tries to steal votes from millions of americans by setting up fraudulent electors? to replace electors who actually represent the millions of people that did vote in the seven swing states? and they go oh, they keep pointing at the ghastly, dangerous, merrick garland. are you kidding me? merrick garland. and i keep looking right past the guy who stole nuclear secrets allegedly. the guy who stole military secrets i will still say allegedly, even though they have him dead to rights on that. all of these things. and i'm serious. when are you going to get serious about running for presiden

tim scott -- not if he does that. not if he does that. jen palmieri, it's so maddening, they keep talking about the weaponization, the weaponization of the justice department. donald trump steals nuclear secrets. he lies to the doj about turning everything back. he lies about everything. he sends his workers to try to destroy video surveillance tape that shows him moving those documents around with top secret classified military secrets about nuclear weapons, attacks against iran, america's weaknesses and they go, oh, he's just -- he's just trying to politicize the process. he tries to steal votes from millions of americans by setting up fraudulent electors to replace electors who actually represent the millions that did vote in those seven swing states and they go, oh -- they keep pointing at that ghastly, dangerous merrick garland. can you kidding me? merrick garland and they keep looking right past the guy who stole nuclear secrets allegedly, the guy who stole military secrets, i'll still say allegedly even though got him dead to right on