court begin surveying potential trump jurors, trump's allies are serving a new class of trump's offensehave here is a tale of two questionnaires. one, people who are seeking to deliver justice, and another for the people seeking to subvert it. the question is, can those seeking justice managed to make questions about a second trump presidency obsolete? we have new developments on all of that coming up next, with neal castillo. with some help from j.p. morgan wealth plan. let's go whiskers. jen y is working with a banker to budget for her birthday. you only turn 30 once. and jen z? her credit's golden. hello new apartment. three jens getting ahead with chase. solutions that grow with you. one bank for now. for later. for life. chase. make more of what's yours. when i was diagnosed with h-i-v, i didn't know who i would be. but here i am... being me. keep being you... and ask your healthcare provider about the number one prescribed h-i-v treatment, biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in many people whether you're 18 or 80. with one small pill, bi

trump -- back the white house.mp really lit a fuse last weekend in new hampshire. >> they're poise sonning the blood of our country. that's what they've done, they've poisoned. mental institutions and prisons all over the world not just in south america, not just in three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world. howard: suddenly, there was a media a explosion with journalists and pundits accusing trump of echoing the racist rhetoric of adolf hitler's "mein kampf". trump absolutely stood by his remarks in iowa but dismissed any nazi influence. >> and it's true, they're destroying the blood of our country. that's what they're doing. they're destroying our country. they don't like it when i said that, and i never read "mein kampf". they said, oh, hit eler said that in a much different way. no, they're coming from all over the world. howard: major media outlets are furiously trying to link trump to hitler, but is that a fact or just opinion? i'm howard kurtz, and this is a special petition of "med

this isn't just a trump thing. they're all going to -- whoever emerges from this primary is going to have a problem speaking to moderate, independent, certainly democratic voters in a general election. >> desantis didn't have a problem talking about this. he when asked about it later gave a terrific answer about the history of the republican party, to your point on ending slavery, over the objection of democrats at the time. i think the real political strategic question here is, not how the republicans are reacting, but how are the independents in new hampshire reacting, because obviously, it's a semi-open primary. she needs some of those people to show up. and my guess is, i'll ask the pollster, but i would think that some of them would not sound like what she would expect donald trump to sound like. >> you know who's trying to capitalize on this is chris christie. you just heard governor sununu say that she can't win. it's very hard for her to win, to beat donald trump in new hampshire with chris christie on the

court begin surveying potential trump jurors, trump's allies are serving a new class of trump's offense what we have here is a tale of two questionnaires. one, people who are seeking to deliver justice, and another for the people seeking to subvert it. the question is, can those seeking justice managed to make questions about a second trump presidency obsolete? we have new developments on all of that coming up next, with neal katyal. katyal. he hits his mark —center stage—and is crushed by a baby grand piano. you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ when you're ready to begin treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, calquence helps you do the fighting. and you can do the exploring. you can do the splashing... ...the sightseeing... ...and the playing. calquence is an oral targeted therapy for cll. more patients begin with calquence than any treatment of its kind, and calquence is proven to work better than chemoimmunotherapy in patients with previously untreated c

and donald trump understands that. and he's amassed significant political power which he's tried to use in the past to overwhelm the force of law in this country. right, he did that on january 6th. he's tried to steer his supporters to intimidate the judges and court personnel in new york and d.c. and these other cases. and undoubtedly he will unleash some of his die hard followers against the supreme court as a way of intimidating to reach the conclusion he wants to weigh and unleashed followers on january 6th. the real question for the supreme court as much as the interpretation as the 14th amendment is going to be whether the rule of law perveil or whether the rule of the law perveils this country. >> well said. for anybody who hasn't read it, it is a very carefully written as you say, ian, document, but it is a very damning well as one. one for the history books. monumental evening we have here before us. thank you for your expertise in all this. i really appreciate it. >>> we will have much more on tonight's break

the trump trump campaign released a statement. we haven't really heard from trump on this. he was speaking in iowa. he did not really note anything. just very quickly, what are his allies saying? >> reporter: one of his allies, his spokesman, his team, they are all framing this as election interference. that is the narrative they have of crafting around the special counsel's criminal investigations, to criminal cases at the federal level that former president trump faces, in addition to state level cases. this feeds right into that. and i think we are gonna hear a lot about this decision from the former presidents allies and his surrogates because it fits into this narrative that they are getting what judges and -- take away from voters. >> paula, thank you, much more on this historic decision tonight. "the source" with kaitlan collins starts now. >>> this is cnn breaking news. >>> we do begin with breaking news tonight. a blockbuster from the colorado supreme court ruling that donald trump is disqualified from running for president in that state in 2024. and officially, bo

for donald trump. and i spoke with many of donald trump's advisers about this, and they noted that donald trump himself is personally getting involved in this strategy. he's picking up the phone, calling a lot of these voters, trying to encourage them to come out and vote for him on caucus day in january. and i think one of the things that's really been drag here is i've attended many of donald trump's rallies, especially those in iowa over the past several months. and one key strategy that they've also been implementing is trying to teach caucusgoers effectively how to caucus, where to go on election day in january, and also trying to help them provide transportation for getting to the polls on january 15th. and one other thing that i think is also very interesting. i was in a briefing yesterday in florida with some other reporters and some of donald trump's team, and they noted that they actually expect donald trump to potentially secure enough delegates by mid-march in order to clinch the republican

trump does exist.even paying attention to entire speeches anymore. if you actually watch a full trump rally, it is chaotic, and it doesn't make a lot of sense. in many ways, the editor saves the point of view of donald trump and makes it more coherent than it is. although i admire fox for attempting to stop all of this free advertising, you also have to be aware of the fact that this man makes a career out of being a victim, and then pulling something away actually creates more of a narrative for him, and listening to him just babble on it coherently. >> yeah, and there's an entire massive eco chamber that is outside of fox, that is still functioning. so, you have been doing, i watch a lot of these. i'm a big viewer of jordan klepper stuff and clips. you spent so much time out there talking to trump voters outside of rallies and other events. sometimes, i am watching these in this belief, as i'm sure many people are. how do you kind of approach these conversations? do you know where they're gonna go? d

but trump is both donald trump but, trump isn't.ald trump has now taken over the repue, and do what he says. and, i do think that for joe biden, who was in the senate for decades before he became vice president and president, watching one of the two main political parties in the united states decided to throw aside all of their values and principles and just bow in allegiance to this narcissistic bigoted bullying, is very troubling to him. so, it may be about trump, but i think it's more broadly about trumpism. what joe biden wants, do what i want to do is turn a corner, and make sure that small the d democrats beat autocrat autocrats. it's democrats beating autocrats all over the globe right now, that's what russia ukraine is all about right now, that's with so many of the struggles in the globe are about. we're coming up on our 250th anniversary as a nation, in 2026. and we have to make sure that the united states embraces democracy, and rejects autocracy. and i do think that is a motivator for joe biden, it is a motivator for me,

it is trump loyalists, and it will be trump loyalists. they've had all these years to go through the resumes and try to flag anyone who seems like they might in any way defy his orders. we won't get the heads-up when he tries to pull out of nato or tries to round up migrants. that's not the process. journalism, democracy, and -- that's just not going to be a facet because he can do it before we even know. >> jeffery, let me read from this article that you have -- the issue you published in -- one called "loyalists, lap dogs, and cronies. the availab supply of serious qualified people willing to serve in a trump administration has dwindled since 2017. after all, the so-called adults department fare so wel in their respective room some quit in frustration or disgrace. others were publicly fired by the president. several have spent their post-white house lives fielding congressional subpoenas and getting indicted. even if mainstream republicans did want to work for him again, trump is unlikely to want them. he's made little secret of the fac

not trump. but the thing that really gets me upset the most is i voted early rather than waiting for election day when i did not know most of the democrats would be supporting israel and their genocide. if i would have known that, i would not have voted for them either. i wish we had actual people that cared about the working people rather than the most popular people that can get the votes. that is all i have to say. host: eric in buffalo, new york, democrat. caller: how are you doing? host: good. caller: i am going to refer to this as the beast that follows donald trump. i am a supporter of joe biden. if it was a physical race -- not to mention he is killing him on the mental side --trump walked into a good obama economy. he gave all the rich tax breaks. instead of managing covid-19 he says he is not wearing a mask and it is going to disappear soon. and go drink bleach. it is a shame you want to focus on joe biden's son but forget about his son-in-law. donald trump is a criminal. if republican

she trails trump by 20 poin. hampshire happens to be led by vocal trump critic gornor kristen, who endorsed the former u. n. ambassador earlier this month. and now, sununu has appeared in a new ad for his presidential candidate of choice. he doesn't mention trump by name, but he did have this to say about his disruptive legacy. take a listen. >> we a new generation of conservative leadership who leave behind the chaos and drama of past. >> joining me now is democratic pollster and strategist cornell belcher, and kirk bardella, democratic strategist and contributor for the los angeles times. i have got an all-star panel with me. thank you guys for being here. happy holidays to you both. what do you make of the fact that we are in a space, cornell, where donald trump is now accusing his rivals on the right of rigging the election, or is this sort of not a surprise at all and should be expected? >> well, it should be expected because he traffics in grievance, right? he traffics in grievance, he lives in grievance. g

i will support president trump. >> would you be willing to serve in a trump cabinet? >> in the right position. look, if i'm the best person for the job -- this is what i tell president trump too. what president trump needs to do in this campaign, it needs to be about rebuilding, restoring, renewing america. it can't be about revenge. >> he's talking about retribution day in, day out. >> he needs to stop that. he needs to stop that. >> congressman, is kevin mccarthy dealing with reality? >> well, no. i mean he says he needs to talk about rebuilding and restoring. certainly donald trump is not going to be the face of restoring and rebuilding. yeah, he was right at the very end by saying that donald trump needs to stop that. but let's work in reality. he's not going to stop that. this is his whole campaign. the whole reason he's running, jim, is for retribution. it's for revenge. it's to stay out of jail. it's to be able to pardon himself if, in fact, he is convicted. it's the whole reason he's running. kevin knows this. and sadly, kevin mccarthy went from my friend and

this is trump. now he is unelectable in his own state and can back nikki, who has no chance of winning. >> i think we have seen in sort of the trump era of the republican party these endorsements by officials for more establishment candidates hasn't really helped them. if you look at how ron desantis is doing in iowa at least in early polls, the endorsement from that governor there hasn't really helped him. so it's hard to imagine that this governor endorsing nikki haley who i think is down by about 20 points in some of these polls out of new hampshire. i don't know that it's going to help her very much. in terms of her real fight in overtaking trump. >> add to this, remember, this is also about signaling to the rest of the group, hey, it's time to drop out. a lot of this is not just about the voters. it's like if there's a shot, this is a hail mary to say everyone, like, let's start to get behind a person and stop dividing this alternative to trump vote. >> important point, guys. thank you very muc

i have to support trump . you can't unring that bell now, but a lot of people say well, what if he gets convicted . i don't know that that is fitting this bond he's now got with a big chunk of the gop election. >> he's asking for what would otherwise call transparency, for him it is free televised attitude and his nose to the courts, he wants everyone to see him in court. pushing back against judges, freewheeling and disregarding rules and getting away with it. >> let me ask you as the democrat at the table, your guy is losing to him. >> by voters and by polls, i'm not sure what more joe biden can do to remind people what is at stake. the state of the union, the soul of democracy constantly talking about battle for the soul of the country on the world stage, there is a responsibility for everybody else to also take the challenges seriously other democratic party is in the white house. i know incumbents in general are not popular, do you ever think maybe we should have a new candidate? >> no. a new candidate wo

the times say the trump d. c. trial would also fuse his role as a criminal defendant as a presidential candidate. it would transform the steps for daily impromptu daily rallies. and the legal case for the race to the white house on a direct pledging chorus, each one increasingly capable of shaping the other. ? it that sort of what we saw today the beta test that dynamic. but there is a very live question right now as to whether that case even goes to trial before the 2024 election. because while donald trump may enjoy the spectacle of a campaign royal of a campaign steps, he is very much still doing very much to do everything in his power to become a convicted criminal. and today trump's lawyers made a significant delay to delay his d. c. trial and a move that may very well end up succeeding. as we have been covering on this show in recent days, trump has been trying to get this case thrown out on the grounds that he is immune from prosecution for anything he did as president. and trump's mind, the presidency is a

smith is trying to cut off donald trump's escape routes. trump's tried to wriggle out of the d.c. coup claiming claiming first amendment protected speech. rejected. trump trying to claim he is immune from prosecution. rejected. jack smith is pushing to get across the finish line at the supreme court while also making new moves to keep the heat on donald trump. joining me is christy greenberg, the criminal division at the sdny and hugh from the guardian. my thanks to you for getting us started. christy, first question to you. considering the trump defense team is whining, and i use that word because the letter they filed today in that case was pretty whiny, and their refusal to look at discovery, what do you think about jack smith's decision considering that there is a stay in the litigation, what do you think about his decision to nudge this 1/6 case forward? >> i think it's a valiant effort. he is certainly, you know, i understand why he would want to try, but the way that the judge's order is written, it says that anything that moves forward towards trial is put on hold for the

this benefits people like trump.this insecurity to go around the country and start talking about how, yet again, the democrats are trying to steal the election from him. yet again, the system is failing. yet again america is being beholden to the far left, as he would say. this is right for somebody like trump to grab power and assert himself into the white house. many americans, i think, will feel relief. most people do not like uncertainty. they would rather have somebody like trump who is going to tell them things they want to hear, rather than have a period of time when they don't know what the outcome will be. >> we are out of time. i want to close out by reading you to you, david. juraj, for a democracy to continue, however, the democratic system itself must be the supreme commitment of all major participants. we are getting very close to seeing whether that commitment will hold true. david frum, barbara f walter. thank you both very much for coming to the saturday show. coming up, an appeals court oppose the g

for donald trump.respect to the fani willis, with respect to letitia james, with respect to alvin bragg, some of those things are not necessarily going to fall in line. several actions may -- have something else to do and funny will sit at the state level. certainly, when you talking about jack smith, you're talking about these federal offenses, and this indictment, those are gonna be almost all but done away with if, for whatever reason, the supreme court were to decide that donald trump hadimmunity. because of his actions connecting to his responsibilities as president. >> so, interestingly, the demoatppoint justices on the colorado supreme court ted the decision by conservativesupreme court justice gorsuch. when he was a federal judge in the state. gorsuch then ruled a naturalized citizen should be kept off the presidential ballot because he didn't meet constitutional requirements, charles. is it possible the colorado justices were kind of angling for approval from the conservative justices in their

trump off the ballot will be paused until at least january 4th, and if the trump team appeals it, his name will be on the ballot for the primary and the real question will come as to whether his name is on the general election ballot. so we will have to see if the supreme court actually takes up this case. if they do, how quickly they act because there are major constitutional questions here. they have to decide if in fact, trump was engaged in insurrection as the colorado supreme court said he was, if he was engaged in insurrection, whether he would be precluded from the ballot, whether an officer of the united states also means the presidency which the colorado supreme court said it does and then there's questions about the due process of this case. was trump afforded due process? is this a thing that should even be decided by the court? there are major issues that the supreme court would have to decide if they were to take up this case. presumably they would decide to take it up quickly and if they do take it up, which is likely, they will have to decide this case pretty quickly. w

look, trump engaged in an insurrection. he incited a violent group to try to stop the peaceful transfer of the presidency. in the constitution, it clearly barrs someone who swears to uphold the constitution and then does those types of actions from serving again. so, i think that it's the right decision and also courageous because the atmosphere that we are living in leads to lots of threats and threats of violence, so you do have to have bravery to make the right decisions. >> colorado, it seems, was cited heavily in this decision. is it colorado now the model for, not just maine, but other states who are seeking to disqualify trump from the ballot? >> there has only been to court in the united states that have examined whether trump did engage in an insurrection. those two courts are in colorado and they both determined that he did engage in an insurrection. so, from that point of view, there is a really strong president meeting made in colorado. now, whether other states will follow, i can't answer that. but, i do think

trump rematch. iowa has shut us anything, especially on the republican side, it loves a surprise. it's also not necessarily predictive of who that republican nominee is coming. you heard michael steele say that. i love michael, but he's also painting this picture where the expectations are so high for donald trump, he's almost a victim of his own success. anything less than double digit wipe out, where he wins by 20 or 30 points, in iowa, would be a little bit of an eye racer. and if god forbid for trump, if nikki haley is within single digits or if it's a lot closer, more of an upset happens, then the whole thing collapses because the other economic taking place is that if you look at polls, alicia, nikki haley's movement like a speeding bullet in the state of new hampshire. and a bed showing in iowa, a bad result in new hampshire would be very, very, very problematic for donald trump. >> michael steele, that analysis. the possibility. i do think there's some truth to the fact that, one, donald tru

like trump and definitely don't like being told what to do. >> all you need to know is trump started fund raising all of this after the ruling came down. every time we've seen these court cases go against the former president, you have seen republicans really rally around him, come closer to him, and because they believe that he is a victim in all of this. now, there is a sect that don't want to vote for him, but it doesn't mean that they like that he is in this this llegal jeopa. this could backfire and close ranks against him and make him a stronger force in the republican primary. >> interest ing to see what the fallout and tale of this will be. jeff zeleny mentioned a new ad from the haley super pac. seeming to respond to trump's new focus and attacks on her. i want to play a piece of it for even. >> why is trump only attacking nickykki haley? want an 80-year-old name from the past or a new generation of conservative leadership? >> what does it say what they think the race in new hampshire specifically is coming down to? >> still behind the former president, but compared to where

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people can say this is just donald trump being donald trump. it sounds as though, and it just is the case, this is what he believes. >> and he's operating a political context where he's confident most voters are going to agree with him. the way the phrase i often here republicans use to blow off everything trump says is mean the tweets. he had some mean tweets, but lock at the policies he had. when he's talking about immigration, are they thinking about his quote or eric adams saying new york is fall ing apart. are being held and protests about that. are think thinking about chaos. they are going to be ready for me no matter what i say. he does get led into the cul-de-sacs where something is discussed on tv and he talks about it. but where people are talking about immigration, no matter how he talks about it, is a good day. a lot of these ideas, bulding a wall, look at the polling from when he left office. democrats are trying to change the conversation. he's very confident now that no matter what, people will quietly agree with him. >> and nia

, not by admiration for donald trump, but by fear of donald trump. that is why they do not say publicly what they feel inside, what they say to their colleagues privately, because they are afraid of donald trump. because for them it is more important to hold on to power than to be committed to the truth. that is the big difference between liz cheney and a lot of other republicans. she was committed to the truce, not just to stopping donald, trump is telling the truth, and even though she lost her election, i certainly think it was worth it. >> let's move on to these new details regarding what mike pence told jack smith's team, what could the former vice president reveal if he took the stand? >> one thing he is going to, reveal a, man is in the conversations he had with trump, there's handwritten notes for example that were produced at the special counsel, and we know there were -- conversations in the lead up to january 6th, where trump was pushing in and urging him to try to set aside the election, overturn the election. mike pence is the only perso

so even many of trump's rivals feel compelled to attack the ruling and to defend trump.n party is threatening to withdraw from state's primary if trump is not on the ballot. joining me is michael cohen, trump's former lawyer. he is the host of the mea culpa podcast and most of the beatdown podcast. michael, always so good to see you. first, let's start with the big news today. what is your take on trump now trying to delay his coup case from getting to the supreme court? i mean, for somebody as innocent, in quotes i'm putting, as he claims to be, trump isn't in any rush to be vindicated by the highest court in the land. >> because as we have been talking about forever, katy, everything would donald is delay, delay, delay. his hope is that the result or the decision by the supreme court will be delayed post-the election or you will to the point the election is taking place. that way, once again, if and when he loses, and this is really the more dangerous aspect, if and when he loses the election, he will now have something to blame it on, because as we all know, donald ca

so you know, it may be about trump but i think it's more broadly about trump-ism. what joe biden wants to do, what i to do, is make sure that democrats be autocrats, that's what russia and ukraine is about, we are coming up on our 250th anniversary, in 2026, we have to make sure that the united states embraces democracy and rejects a taco see, and i do think it's a motivator for joe biden and for me, and i think it is a motivator for american voters. >> if that's the fear and right now, the polls, do you think that biden is the best candidate to go against someone who poses a threat like what you just laid out there? >> kaitlin, i heard the segment when you are talking about with your guests, it's not just about with the other side is doing that troubles you, it's also about what is being accomplished, and look, joe biden has got a record to run on. dramatically low unemployment, dramatically accelerated job growth, growing salaries in the middle class, he's got a lot to run on. and i'm running on those things, too, i'm on the ballot next year and everywhere i go i

heil hitler to donald trump.ald trump, even though he said last week, as you say, i'm not a student of hitler, i know nothing about hitler, i think that belies it quite clearly. it's not accusations. it is remarkable. and of course it's more remarkable that he is repeating. it started last september, october, he started using this poisoning the blood of our country which hitler repeated multiple times in both mein kampf and other speeches they were talking about immigrants and of course jewish people. and he has repeated it. he says it's not mein kampf. i didn't read mein kampf. and he's almost saying it's my own idea. about police poisoning the blood of the country. it's remarkable that he is doing it, and it's remarkable that he is simultaneously admitting that he would like to be dictator for just today, or from day one, and those are of course been judy for things. and some are treating that is a joke. yesterday, for instance, on his truth social, his social media site, he was promoting dictator and dictators

donald trump. men as well as women. this is not just a play for center right women but for men as well. and axios does monthly surveys with swing voters, we're in north carolina next week and one the questions is about nikki haley. it is precisely this question. if she could take that argument into iowa successfully and surpass say hypothetically surpass ron desantis, it could give her the kind of momentum she needs, if all of the national surveys are correct, she needs something to compete with donald trump. although she's soft selling the impact of iowa, she has a lot riding on her performance. >> any of the candidates will say biden is beatable. every poll said that biden is beatable. yes, haley may be winning but trump is winning outside of the margin of error. >> and republicans will point that out. elect me because biden is not doing so well right now. but of course the biden campaign is trying to say many times, don't compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. look at what tr

it was uncontested by trump. as for the oath, their claim -- i listened to the two and half hour argument. the biggest claim the trump lawyer had was that the president is not an officer of the united states because he stands above all the officers. ridi oath d in the 14th amendment is not the actual oath the president takes. his oath is more encompassing, a greater oath taken by those by military officers. he has to preserve, protect and defend. the constitution of the night states. the first principle is that we have peaceful transfer of power. i listened on january 6 to the speech on c-span. i'm yelling at the radio, wait a second. he's inciting a riot. the next thing is somebody is being killed as they stormed the capitol. that hasn't happened since 1814. we need to wake up. have a blessed day. host: that is frank talking there. we are showing the video from january 6 speech the former president gave that day. he says he listened. you can go back and listen to it in its entirety. go to our website, c-span.org

are pro trump. people who have never gone to a political event in their lives, but they are coming for donald trump. i spoke to someone over the weekend had given me a similar story. but at some of the other events, where there's a ton of candidates at the same type of event, that's where you hear some same commentary that joe was saying. there was one woman who said she's gone to several events where she's trying to find someone who could be the alternative. there's a lot of people who are concerned that they really don't want joe biden to continue to be president. they do worry that if donald trump wins, that will effectively allow joe biden to have a much ease run at it. >> that's why there's concern about trying to coalesce around one alternative instead of sev several. none of those fighting for second place particularly desantis and haley, neither one. s to leave the race. chris christie has indicated he doesn't want to get out. and without that, they are a able the to split the never trump fi

and donald trump is half of them. but the house wasn't done with the trump insurrection just yet. the bipartisan house select committee to investigate january 6th would reveal far worse allegations against the president, and a group of co-conspirators. after weeks of scathing testimony by trump's principal advisers, white house employees, allies, and even his own daughter, the committee concluded that trump and his co conspirators attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and they concluded it in more ways than one. >> in our hearing tonight, you saw an american president faced with a start and unmistakable choice between right and wrong. there was no ambiguity, no nuance. donald trump made a purposeful choice to violate his oath of office. to ignore the ongoing violence against law enforcement. to threaten our constitutional order. there is no way to excuse that behavior. it was indefensible. >> the panel voted to refer donald j trump for criminal prosecution. that brings us to november of 2022, which acts mid was appointed as special counsel to oversee 2 distinct mat

and a trump presidency. so this is somewhat in line for that. and it is just the confluence of events here that have led biden to the white house. i've talked to former democratic aides to both biden and his late son beau who said if he were still alive, he'd be running. so this is just very much in line to the circumstances that brought biden to the white house. >> let's also broaden out the conversation too because part of it is if donald trump were elected to a second term, and i think the biden team knows this as well, he's already had four years of figuring out how to pull the levers of power inside the government. that is knowledge and expertise he didn't have when he started on day one in his first term. this man, kash patel, his face likely not terribly familiar to viewers, but he is somebody who served in donald trump's administration. he also had previously served on capitol hill in the intelligence committee. he became someone who was kind of embedded inside these efforts that donald trump had lat

one-on-one, trump against nikki haley, trump against desantis. you see trump easily beats both of them. desantis by 30 points. beats haley by 40 points. today it was the most promising sign that they recognize what's up. they have to go after the former president if they want to beat him. this idea that they can somehow be the last person standing doesn't make any sense looking at the numbers. and today is perhaps the first sign that maybe they're starting to recognize that. >> yeah. with that in mind, you would think the debates would have been a perfect chance to go after them. they did not do that with the exception, i suppose, of kriss kriss. >> that's exactly right. >> politico put these numbers together. how many times did they attack? you would have thought given the numbers in that first slide that they would have gone after trump the most. it didn't happen. they went after the other gop candidates more than double the times they went after donald trump. sometimes, jim, i watch politics and i go, am i taking crazy pills? am i the only one

it is not involving trump but it directly involves trump. half of his case will rise or fall based on how the supreme court decides this issue with fisher and the other january 6 defendants. we talked about in the last episode, the accelerated plea for cert by special counsel jack smith at the supreme court to hear president trump's immunity claim which has been rejected by the d.c. circuit and by the trial judge here. >> it has not been rejected by the d.c. circuit yet. >> you are right. >> they said they are going to consider on expedited basis. i do not think the supreme court is going to grant a motion on that. if the d.c. circuit upholds that order by judge chutkan, it's going to make its way up to the supremes. the reason i misspoke about the d.c. circuit is you do have the d.c. circuit decision about whether president trump has any official immunity for civil lawsuits. which, there is a basic constitutional run through the immunity case, also this issue we could talk about now, the rejection by the 11th circuit of mark meadows effort

an empty trump campaign headquarters in trump tower because they only had about a handful of people working there, and the first person i met was john mcintee, who very earnest, young, he had just left a job on the desk at fox news. so he was there at the inception. and he was a former cornerback at the university of connecticut and somebody trump liked for a lot of reasons. i think partly because he looked the part. good looking young guy, a little taller than most of the other staffers. by the end of the trump presidency, he was actually appointed to the head of presidential personnel, barely 30 years old. he was in charge with the hiring and firing and vetting of all political appointees throughout the executive branch. and he used that position to root out trump appointees, republicans, people working for trump, who were deemed insufficiently loyal. now, john mcintee is working for project 2025 out of the heritage foundation, which is there to set up the next trump administration. and first and foremost, it's about finding people that will be completely and totally loyal to dona

when on thursday smith replied to trump voters if skoe husband, e ignored trump's claim that he's acting with an eye toward the election. instead he vaguely referenced what's in the public's interest and vowed to have the charges promptly resolved. but why not just say the public needs to know if a presidential candidate is a convicted felon before voting. or that because a president cannot be prosecuting while in office, there's a risk that a trump election victory will bring a potential four-year delay during which time memories fade. witnesses could die. or that absent fast resolution, any prosecution of trump is going to run up against a doj rule not allowing conduct perceived as political close in time to election. smith won't say it because trump would then claim confirmation that a prosecution gietded by the election schedule is political. and viewed that way, it might be political, not necessarily partisan. smith is no doubt concerned that trump is going to win the election and either order doj to stand down or self-pardon. what remains to be seen is whether smith will ever knack

choose trump. we seen that happen again and again. there are a lot of reasons. i think the elected republicans themselves have been playing a very damaging role. i think donald trump has managed to lie to and convince millions of americans, very good people, that somehow he will be their voice. he has prayed on patriotism. the people who are elected in washington like mike johnson and many others, know that what donald trump is saying is not true. they know the election was not stolen and they know what he did on january 6 was illegal. yet they have decided to go along with it. we have sort of lost sight of the extent to which elected officials have an obligation not to be a collaborator or enabler. not to sit on the sidelines. when to many republicans have sat on the sidelines and suggested that trump will just fade away, what that means -- what i sometimes hear around the country is if trump is so dangerous, why aren't more republicans saying so? i think that's the phenomenon of republicans who h

trump has not yet appealed either of those decisions but cnn also learning moments ago that trump will file those appeals on tuesday. and with republican voters set to start caucusing and voting in some states just days from now, the clock is truly ticking. colorado's republican party has filed an appeal with the u.s. supreme court asking it to overturn the state ruling. the turmoil from the unprecedented legal and political situation unlikely to end until the dispute is settled by the high court. one thing is clear. the court will play a major role in the 2024 election, and not just on trump's eligibility to remain on the 2024 ballot, but several other crucial cases as well. today a federal appeals court issuing a ruling that could have major implications for trump's legal future saying that trump is not shielded by presidential immunity in a lawsuit brought against him by u.s. capitol police officers related to january 6th. i want to start tonight with jes jessica schneider in washington. a lot of legal decisions looming tonight that could have major consequences for trump. >> report

ron desantis is now talking about trump's campaign, trump's immigration campaign pitch. here's his take. >> when you start talking about using those types of terms, i don't think that helps us move the ball forward. i would not put it in those terms. i want to stop the invasion at the border 100%. but legal immigration should be for people that buy into our core values as a country and want to assimilate into american society. >>> joining me now anchor john avlon and political commentator scott jennings. thanks for being here. john, 42% of likely republican iowa caucus goers saying they're more likely to support trump after his poison comments. is this not the lesson of what we have learned from eight years of donald trump in public life, which is he says this and he gets more support amongst his core republican base? what does it tell you? >> i appreciate you saying what have we learned the last eight years. >> i'm big on lessons. >> yeah. clearly donald trump has a hard core sqconstituency inside the party. and for some folks on the far right, the poisoning the blood o

the trump campaign has said in response to this reporting, in a statement, quote, all of trump's actions were taken in furtherance of his duty as president of the united states to fatedfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity. what do you make of that response? >> his duty at that moment as someone who had lost a presidential election was to accept the results. accept the loss and enable a smooth transition of power to the actual winner of the election. instead, to abdicate that duty and call the local officials had a were simply prepared to do their job under the law and certify the accurate election results. perform their ministerial job under the law, to try to interfere in that process knowing this great conspiracy could unfold and enable him to block the full nationwide election results, starting in wayne county. it was really remarkable. it was incredible to live through. every day you didn't know what additional tactic would be thrown our way. the bottom line was his duty was to accept the loss, accept the results and move on. we've been waiting for that to happen

there is no one, even trump's people, know that trump is not a good candidate.cing 91 counts of criminal counts. this is not a great candidate. but it doesn't matter because these republicans have decided they've seen the polling and they think for whatever reason that they can offer something that is and trumpism. so they're offering this lay trumpism, and anytime trump comes up against any problem, they are just jumping all over each other to defend him in a really, truly embarrassing way. again, maybe they're running for vice president. who's even to know what is happening in their hearts of minds? but it is appalling. and every time they do that, they're degrading the rule of law, right? and they're sort of missing on these institutions which are really the fundamental bedrock of our democracy. >> reporter: i thought you were going to say they're degrading themselves. you are totally read that they're degrading the rule of law, but they're basing and degrading themselves by embarrassing themselves by going to slow. kurt, as all of trump's primary opponents,

and it was because of the threat of donald trump. we saw what four years of donald trump meant.how devastated this country was because of trump. and we see that donald trump still has not learned a lesson from that time. he still wants to go after the rights of women to protect their own bodies and to make decisions about their own bodies. he still wants to go after voting rights in nis country. he wants to gut the freedoms. he does not believe in democracy. he believes in revenge, and so the president understands that we cannot allow, you know, odds are donald trump is going to be the nominee for the republican party. we cannot allow donald trump to destroy america, and president biden's is going to stand in that gap like he did before, and so we don't care about the polls and all of the like. it's about making sure that we have the right leader who is fighting for the decency and the freedoms of all americans. >> i wonder given the stakes you so articiately outline here and given tonight's show what you make of the potential candidacies of congresswoman liz cheney, senator joe

the trump organization and trump, and his family, with respect to some of these representations thate made. the thing about not having -- to the victims, but the law is actually that once you've made the misrepresentations. if you made them intentionally then that in itself is a completed fraud. so, that defense that didn't matter to so much of the victims is not going to get as much sympathy from the judge, as it might from the jury. >> important distinction, in terms of deciding and making the distinction, between a victimless crime and -- in a simple context. a michelle, i want to turn to you. let's talk about political fallout here. this is only a civil trial. but a bad break could do damage reputationally to the notion of donald trump and -- what do you see as the ultimate cost politically, if this does not go well for him, and goes further or worse than it already is? >> a huge ego -- we all know that for donald trump, building his empire, that is what he is known for. that is his name brand. that is what he used in many ways to coach through to the white house. i think this is

trump path. that is not a good path in some of those districts. we fully intend to win the house in this next election. but in the meantime, we have plenty of work to do, instead of this impeachment, well, what do they have to offer? i don't like to call him president trump in the same sentence, but the former -- of the white house would say we have to overturn me for the affordable care act. others will say we have to pass it, a total ban on abortion in our country. these are the kinds of things they have in store for women and families. these are the kind of kitchen table issues that they have in store should they win, which they must not. but in the meantime, to keep people distracted, to look affective to their base, this is red meat to their base. let's impeach the president, for no basis, no respect for the constitution, no respect for the president, and certainly don't respect for the house of representatives and their own members. >> i want to focus on that last bit, the lack of respect f

what you've seen is that the parties base loves trump, they want trump, they're gonna get trump again. that is something that all the fantasizing from megadonor's on the republican party cannot possibly change. it will not alter where the gray -- in the maga base are in their hearts and minds, such as they are politically. they want trump, they're gonna get it. >> let's go with that dance a little bit longer here and break it down, the frank about what we're dealing with. a second trump term poses a direct threat to american democracy. the reason i say that, i think the reason why people are aware, the man told us he wants to be a dictator on day one, right? like, that's gonna happen. there are alarm bells out there. >> sure. >> that, to me, they just don't make sense when people look at biden and his polling numbers, you have him trailing president trump at this point. do you think biden and the democrats are doing enough to get the message out that there is a real threat here that has nothing to do with biden's age, it has nothing to do with biden's son, and everything to do with do

they do not want donald trump as the nominee. i liked donald trump. i will probably vote for donald trump, but i'm willing to look around. i'm a sometimes trump voter. finding the issues that bring them together has been really challenging. ron desantis failed at being able to do that. nikki haley is trying to make that balance. he's consolidate ing the vote a we're going to see. we have iowa and new hampshire. new hampshire has a lot of those anti-trump voters. a the lot of those voter who is are part of the coalition of people who are more friendly to a haley candidacy. >> i want to zero in on that. they mentioned that ron desantis has failed to do what he set out to do. >> the numbers don't lie. he made the point in an interview yesterday that part of the issue he's been dealing with is all of the oxygen has been sucked out of the room by 91 charges against the front runner here. and that comes at the same time the trump and legal news has rocketed back to the forefront of things with just three weeks until the caucuses. >> he didn't mention he def

trump is in reno today, later on. last night in new hampshire he was applauding vladimir putin, as priscilla just outlined, for his knowledge of democracy. >> reporter: that's right, fred r. the former president actually quoted vladimir putin. he also praised other authoritarian leaders including prime minister of hungary, viktor orban. he called him highly respected. he also referred to north korean leader kim jong-un, as being very nice. here are some of the comments he made about vladimir putin. take a listen. >> vladimir putin, of russia, says biden's -- this is a quote -- politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for russia because it shows the rottenness of the american political system which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy. >> reporter: now, fred, clearly some pretty remarkable language coming from a former president. but it's not totally surprising. donald trump has actually expressed fondness for authoritarian leaders multiple times throughout his travels on the camp