zachary cohen is joining us, and the trump team called it a huge win, but this is a judge looking at realities here, and saying the appeals court needs to speak, and we know that jack smith has gone to the supreme court to get a decision as well. what more are you learning? >> yes, that is right. the federal judge had no other choice but to put this case on pause, and the judge acknowledges that the two fundamental questions have to be resolved by the supreme court and that is because it is dealing with double jeopardy, because he was acquitted in the senate impeachment trial, and that has to be resolved by a higher court, and does this presidential immunity, and does the president have some immunity over crime committed while president, and does some crime committed while this office protect you when you are not in office. so trump's team is doing everything they can to slow this process down, but the reality is that the march 4 trial date does hold even though the pause could push the date back, but at the moment, the march 4th is the effective trial date, but we will have to see w

zachary cohen, cnn, washington. >>> u.s.itary officials say they will, quote, consider all appropriate responses to keep iran-backed militants from threatening life and trade in the red sea. cnn military analyst lieutenant general mark hertling explains what the u.s. is doing in the region. >> their ships, both the ford and eisenhower groups, were put in specific locations as pat of the preliminary operations to do exactly what they're doing, intercepting missiles from other countries. but it certainly puts the crews in danger, even though they have a great deal of air defense capability on each one of those ships. multiple capabilities on the "carney," for example, so they can self-defend, but what they're also doing is protecting israel and making sure this doesn't expand. but i think what we'll see are additional strikes probably on the houthi rebel groups and other groups in the future. there will be strikes on proportional targets, as we always do, to send a message to try to get them to stop. but this is going to be ve

cnn's zachary cohen is joining me now. so, zach, will rudy giuliani testify? >> yes, fred, that is what we are expecting him to take the stand at some point to testify in his own defense in the four-day trial, and it is not clear if he plans to plead the 5th when he does so, but that is something that we will be watching for. this trial is about how much money and damaging that rudy giuliani is going to have to pay the two former election workers in georgia, rudy and shaye, because it is between 15 to $43 million and that is just reputational damages that the judge has said that giuliani and the trump campaign lies said about them did to them in the case. and she is asking, both of the electoral workers are asking for punitive damages to deter people from singling out election workers in way, and having them to go through the same pain that they went through after the 2020 election, so we will have to see if rudy giuliani takes the stand, because this is the first time in d.c. that a jury is going to be hearing about the actions of the trump campaign and the t

cnn's zachary cohen is with us. what happened in court today and how much are these two innocent, falsely maligned women seeking in damages? >> they're seeking tens of millions in damages from giuliani for defaming them and for their reputation. they want the jury to consider between $15.5 million and $43 million in damages. that doesn't account for emotional damages and also punitive damages. they want to send a message -- they want the jury to send a message with this dollar amount that they land on in this verdict. they want to make sure this acts as a deterrent so people in the future doesn't target poll workers and election workers the way they were targeted. you mentioned rudy giuliani has been found liable. the judge has already determined he did defame these two poll workers in georgia. we caught up with rudy giuliani coming out of court. take a listen to what me said after today's day in court. >> you've heard from one side. stay tuned for my testimony. it will be under oath. like russian collusion, like be

zachary cohen has more. >> reporter: special counsel jack smith is arguing that the former presidentd trump is wrong in claiming he should have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution in the federal election subversion case. and he's asking a federal appeals court to move quickly in hopes of preventing the march 4th trial date from being delayed. this is a new court filing where he says this threatens to license president to commit crimes to remain in office. smith warns that granting trump fraud immunity, "threatens the constitutional foundation of our republic." this filing is coming ahead of oral arguments set to begin in washington on january 9th. the trial was initially scheduled to begin on march 4th, but trump has been trying to delay that, and his fight over the immunity claim underscores those efforts. if the appeals court moves quickly, it could keep the original trial date from sliding. with a looming presidential campaign only months away, it's clear timing is critical for both sides in this case. zachary cohen, cnn, washington. >>> paula abdul is accusing "american i

zachary cohen, cnn, washington. >>> in new york, the times square new year's eve ball got a test run before the famous countdown. it's 12 feet in diameter covered with more than 2,600 crystal triangles and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds. organizers say for the first time ever, it will be re-lit after the traditional playing of "new york, new york." >>> and luckily, not a whole lot of rain and snow in store for the u.s. as the new year approaches. cnn meteorologist alisa rafa has more on what we can expect. >> that potent tomorrow that we've been talking about that has been kicking the waves in california, it's not going to really make it all that too far east. it's not bringing a lot of rain and kind of dies in the rocky mountains. you can see that on that future radar. we have a little hiccup that wants to pop from the gray lakes going into the appalachian mountains, but not going to find too much rain or snow out of that one. that's because we have this big, dominant area of high pressure that's going to bring that dry, sinking air and keep us quiet going into the new year's holiday.

cnn's zachary cohen has more from washington. >> special counsel jack smith is arguing that the former president, donald trump, is wrong in claiming that he should have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution in the federal election subversion case. and he's asking a federal appeals court to move quickly in hopes of preventing the march 4th trial date from being layed. this is in a new court filing by smith, in which he says trump's claim of absolute immunity threatens to license presidents to commit crimes to remain in office. smith also emphasizing the storical importance, warning that granting trump such broad immunity threatens the democratic and constitutional foundation of our republic. this filing is coming ahead of oral arguments. those are set to begin in washington on january 9th. the trial was initially scheduled to begin on march 4th, but trump has been trying to delay that in his fight over the immunity claim really underscoring those efforts. but if the appeals court moves quickly, it could keep the original trial date from sliding. and with the looming presidential c

joining me to talk about this, zachary cohen. zachary, what do we know? >> this is really a forceful rebuke of trump's argument that he should have absolute immunity for any crimes he may have committed while in office, and that includes what he said and did after the 2020 election. the judge in this case, judge chutkan, really making clear that she does not agree with what trump's lawyers are arguing in this case. i'll take you through a couple passages. the first passage compares trump to a divine king, says, four years as commander in chief do not bestow on him the divine right of kings to evade criminal accountability. she goes on to say, whatever immunity a sitting president may enjoy,y, the uniteted states isy one chief executive at a time, and that position does not confer a life long get out of jail free pass. this is an issue, presidential protections, that's going to have to be sorted out by an appeals court before it can go to trial. it's scheduled for march. the judge making clear she has no issues unless a federal appeals court steps in and t

>>> cnn's zachary cohen explains why a move to federal court could get meadows out of legal trouble.> reporter: the lawyer for former president trump's chief of staff tried to argue that meadows' charges should be moved to federal court because he was serving as the white house chief of staff at the time the alleged actions happened. the judge argued just because of that doesn't fall within the means of the job title. they pushed him several times to explain his argument in depth. take a look at one exchange that really stuck out at friday's hearing. >> what the prosecution is here for by the record in this case and by the overt acts that are listed in the indictment are acts taken in the west wing of the white house by the highest appointed white house official. >> according to him, it seems like everything was within his official duties, and that just cannot be right. >> reporter: so no decision was handed down by the three judges on friday. that could come at any point in the near future. but it was clear that the judges did not buy what mark meadows' lawyer was selling completely

zachary cohen, cnn, washington. >> as zach mentioned, trump has taken the stand from a defense perspectivet much to be gained from other round of testimony and a lot to lose. cnn legal analyst elie honig explains. >> this is the smart move, or i guess i should say the lease self-destructive move for a couple reasons. first as said, trump has lost a piece of this case. the judge has ruled for the a.g. on one of the causes of action. it's not that donald trump's testimony was going to get the judge to reverse himself. the second thing, donald trump also testified. he was called to the stand as one of the a.g. witnesses. that did not go well. has testimony was all over the maps at times, self-contradictory. from a lawyer's point of view there's no reason for him to get on the stand. politics and p.r.-wise, that's not my area, but he's done that by deciding not to testify. >> elie honig speaking earlier on. >>> in tennessee at least six people are dead and dozens are injured after multiple tornadoes and strong thunderstorms tore through the state. one tornado hit madison and nearby hendersonvi

cnn's zachary cohen joining us now. zach, set the stage for what we might expect tomorrow. >> reporter: yeah, fred. trump's own lawyer suggesting we could hear more of the same from the former president who has gone out of his way to attack the judge, the attorney general, and the case itself in new york surrounding his business and his business dealings. last time he took the stand, we also heard trump defend his properties and his brand, suggesting for example that his mar-a-lago resort in florida was worth a billion dollars but it's important to remember the judge in this cay has also ruled that trump and his codefendants including his kids are liable in this case, so it raises the question, why is trump so adamant about taking the stand again in this case, despite the risks and especially the risk of being cross-examined by the attorney general again. take a listen to how trump's lawyer explained his reasoning. >> he still wants to take the stand even though my advice is at this point, you should never take a stand

zachary cohen is part of the team behind this exclusive new reporting from cnn. what do these recordings reveal about just how far the plot went? >> these e-mails and audio recordings shed new light on what was a mad scramble that took place on the eve of january 6th 2021 and they come by way of ken chesebro who's been described as the architect of the fake plot. he recently sat down with state level negotiators in battleground states. when he sat down with the michigan investigators, he laid out the document and how the trump campaign and officials at the top of the hierarchy were intimately involved in trying to get these fake certificates to washington, d.c. on january 6th and specifically, the certificates from two key battleground states. michigan and wisconsin when they learned those certificates had been stuck in the mail. take a listen to what he told v investigators in michigan a few weeks ago. >> at this stage, the trump campaign is still actively involved. yeah. that is the trump campaign is freaked out that roman reported that the michigan votes are s

let's get the details now from cnn's zachary cohen. he is part of the team that broke that story. so zak, what do these emails and recordings reveal about the effort to overturn the 2020 election that we didn't know before? >> yeah guys, it really does shed new light on just how far trump campaign officials and operatives went to execute what was really, what jack smith has said, is a core pillar of the effort to overturn the 2020 election. that includes new details about this mad scramble that took place on the eve of january 6th, right before mike pence was supposed to go to the capitol and certify joe biden's win. the scramble took place because the trump campaign officials realized that two of the certificates were stuck in the mail. take a listen to what ken chesebro, who's been described as the architect of the fake elector plot, told investigators in michigan about the scramble and about the reaction of trump trump campaign officials. >> the general law -- of the trump campaign is freaked out that roman reported that the michigan votes are still -- it doesn't look like they

. >> joining me now, defense attorney and former federal prosecutor and zachary cohen is also back wu. let's start with the assessment that this argument that trump has presidential immunity is a dud. you've represented at least one client in a special counsel probe. do you think could you successfully defend this idea of presidential immunity? >> i agree with tim in the sense that a very broad presidential immunity that just blanket covers anything while president. i don't think that will fly with the court and certainly legally it has very weak support for that. the supreme court is unlikely, and the d.c. circuit is unlikely the one to take a huge broad view of that. there are ways that it can be focused more narrowly. and i think trump's lawyers are beginning to lean in this direction of trying to argue that what he did was more within the so-called outer perimeters. meaning somehow there's some official action on his part. if they can manage to get a little of what he did within that, then the court, the courts, might say that some of that would be immune. but the broad immunity t

let's go to cnn's zachary cohen. he's got more for us. >> reporter: perez special counsel is arguing that the former president donald trump is wrong in claiming he should have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution in the federal election subversion case and he is asking a federal appeals court to move quickly in hopes of preventing the march 4 trial date from being delayed. t smith's trump's claim of immunity threatens to license presidents to commit crimes to remain in office. smith also emphasizing the historical importance of the court's decision warning that granting trump broad immunity, quote, threatens the democratic and constitutional foundation of our republic. this filing ahead of oral arguments set to be -- begin in washington on january 9th. the trial was initially scheduled to begin on march 4 but trump is trying to delay that in his fight over the immunity claim underscoring those efforts. if the appeals court moves quickly it could keep the original trial tate from sliding. with the presidential

cnn's zachary cohen joining us now. zach, what more do we know about this sudden change of heart? >> reporter: yeah, fred. clearly a reversal here from donald trump, who had seemed adamant he wanted to take the stand for a second time in this new york civil trial. now as you mentioned posting on truth social just moments ago he will not be testifying, in all caps he says, will not be testifying on monday. he goes on to continue to attack the prosecutors and the judge in this case. calling it election interference, witch hunt, some familiar terms, familiar attacks we have seen from trump, fought only in this case but in others. i want to play the sound from trump's lawyer, lena habba from the other day when she said that lawyers had advised trump not to take the stand again, but he was adamant about doing so anyway. listen to what she said to reporters just a few days ago. >> he still wants to take the stand, even though my advice is at this point, you should never take the stand with a gag order, but he's so firmly against what is happening in this court and so firmly for the old

cnn's zachary cohen is on this reporting this morning. zach, what have you learned?rter: john, this is really the first piece of concrete evidence that prosecutors in the georgia election subversion case are seriously considering calling former vice president mike pence to testify in a trial. on one hand that makes complete sense, right? we know from the indictment in this case that the pressure campaign on mike pence to throw out, to reject the electoral college voting votes in georgia is a key part of this broader conspiracy case that prosecutors have been building, but it's also interesting because mike pence has not testified under oath in the georgia case at all in any capacity. that's different than what we know about his engagement in the federal election subversion case overseen by special counsel jack smith. it's interesting, too, because pence was actually asked about his willingness to testify in the federal case back in august. take a listen to what he said then. >> i have no plans to testify, but, look, we will always -- we will always comply with the la

cohen as victoria. i work at the correspondence zachary taylor and millard fillmore here american university and zachary taylor and. millard fillmore are probably not the first presidents people would think of or historical figures people would think of when they look at connections between the past and the present. they are not often in the news but a blog that we've been doing on our project. we actually have been dealing a lot with some parallel lives and contrasts between the 1840s and 1850s and today. so i'm going talk a little about that. before i do that though, i want to point that wasn't really intentional. we we ran a blog at the project, as i said, but every two months we publish an article and the original idea was quite different from what it became. it emerged from sort of two similar ideas. one is the principle of the center where we're based. it's the center congressional and presidential studies here at asu. and that center is committed to drawing connections between scholarly research and education, public engagement. so the purpose one purpose of the blog was to be a way for us to sha

myself and our colleague zachary: that that probe is possibly widening, ramping up, and the ch burrow corporation is a big part of that. breanna? >> echo as early as per marshall cohen, jackie received report. and with us now is secretary of state brad, he easily co- authored an op-ed for the national review along with several other secretaries of state. talking with the need for both parties to help restore trust in american election systems. to that point, secretary, you dissolve! the reporting here that chest burrow is not cooperating with probes in michigan and wisconsin, already pleaded guilty of course to conspiracy in georgia. are these investigations in cases enough to put an end to conspiracies and to rebuild public trust in elections? >> well i think it is incumbent upon all of us both exile to stand up and give people the facts, that is what we have been doing with georgia since 2020. i have been refined to people, giving them the facts, and giving back in georgia going back to 20 is that 27,500 people process the president ovaries to get done in developing that his ways are republican congress and get about 27,500 votes more than president trump and also