These days it seems like the epicenter of americas secrets isnt the cia, the pentagon or even the white house. Its maralago, where donald trump apparently likes to keep and tell secrets. Tonight, abc and the New York Times both reporting that after leaving the White House Trump told a club member at maralago Sensitive Information about u. S. Nuclear submarines. That member is not only a foreign national, but also an australian billionaire who allegedly spread that information to more than a dozen foreign officials. Among the allegations that trump shared the number of Nuclear Warheads those submarines carry and how close they can get to russian submarines without being detected. Donald trump, of course, is already under investigation for his handling of government secrets and for keeping classified documents at maralago. This certainly fits into that pattern, but in the early stages of his presidency, trump reportedly did other things, including using an Unsecured Phone in 2017 at maralago. The terrace became a Situation Room where trump and the japanese Prime Minister openly discussed a north Korean Missile test. Now, later that spring, trump invited russian officials into the oval office, where he revealed Classified Information from an ally about isis. He also told the philippine president about two Nuclear Submarines off the korean peninsula. A couple of years later, he tweeted a classified picture of an iranian launch pad. His former aide suggests it was common for trump to overshare this kind of information. The short answer is yes. I watched him show documents to people at maralago on the dining room patio. He has no respect for Classified Information, never did. Its not just witness testimony. All sorts of stuff, pages long. Wait a minute. Lets see here. [ laughter ] yeah. Isnt that amazing . This totally wins my case, you know . Except it is highly confidential. I was just saying because we were talking about it. He said, he wanted to attack iran. You did. This was done by the military, given to me. I think we can probably, right . Well have to see. Declassify see, as president i could have declassified it. Now i cant. You have a problem. Isnt that interesting . Yeah. Its so cool. And you probably almost didnt believe me. Now you believe me. Now i believe you. Its incredible, right . That from trump from bedminster, new jersey. Tonight trumps spokesperson did not deny the submarine reporting, but they did slam leaks and said trump did nothing wrong. I want to bring in Cnn National Security analyst james clapper, the former director of national intelligence. What was your first reaction to hearing these revelations . Well, shock, stunning development, but unfortunately not surprising. You know, im having trouble coming up with new adjectives to describe how serious and how dangerous this is. You just presented a very succinct litany of the things the former president has done that reflects his complete disregard for protection of National SecuritySensitive Information and for that matter the very National Security of the country. In this latest episode, one aspect of this that i think is worth mentioning is that when this kind of thing happens and this Sensitive Information is spread out as ubiquitously and pervasively as it was and an adversary gets a hold of it, particularly russia or china, they can use that to confirm or refute their own intelligence holdings. Theres no end to the potential consequences here or the endangerment to sources and methods, the endangerment of the crews that man these multibillion dollar submarines. So from all perspectives, this is really egregious. As assuming, of course, the reporting is accurate. At the moment cnn has not confirmed all the details here. According to abc, the australian businessman, mr. Pratt went onto share this information with a lot of people just within a few minutes. Dozens of people would have heard some version of what trump told him. When you think about the number of people who could be involved here, what do you think are the consequences of that . Well, potentially quite serious, because how many people did those people tell . So theres no knowing, at least at this point, how many people this information was conveyed to, whether accurate or not. Again, if it falls into the wrong hands, which it potentially could do, since both the chinese and the russians certainly look now to the former president as a valuable source of intelligence for them. So they would go to any lengths to gain information, particularly about the holiest of holy for us, which is our nuclear tdeterrent. That is the very essence of protecting this country. The recklessness thats been displayed here is really reprehensible. Its potentially quite serious. So i should point out, joe hockey, whos a former australian ambassador to the u. S. Says australian submariners have been on u. S. Subs for years. Hes downplaying the significance of at least some of the information being shared with australian nationals. Does he have a point . Well, not really. I have Great Respect for former ambassador hockey, but the fact is this has been exposed to people who have absolutely no obligation to protect it. There is no inhibition legally for them not to share what they heard, what theyve learned with many others. So i suppose its reassuring that it wasnt a chinese billionaire, but thats faint reassurance. Director clapper, always good to have you. Thank you for joining us tonight. Thanks, abby. Tonight, in a brand new interview, former Secretary Of StateHillary Clinton was telling Cnns Christiane Amanpour that donald trump will likely be the republican nominee. Shes also issuing a stark warning about a potential 2024 rematch with President Biden. Listen. So for those outside this country who may not know, it is not so much a fight between two different parties. Its an internigh seen warfare within one party, the gop. Yeah. Is there any area of Coalition Building that could happen . There are pragmatic republicans, as you say. Could a whole new way of trying to get legislation going and crossparty governance going by democrats and certain republicans forming a coalition . Well, you saw the number of republicans who voted along with democrats to keep the government open. So theres clearly a common sense, sane part of the Republican Caucus in the house. But i think they are intimidated. They oftentimes say and do things which they know better than to say or do. And it will require us defeating those most extreme measures and the people who promote them in order to try to get to Common Ground where people can again work together. Thats the way it used to be. We had very strong partisan in both parties in the past and we had very bitter battles overall kinds of things, gun control and Climate Change and the economy and taxes. But there wasnt this little tail of extremism wagging the dog of the Republican Party as it is today. Sadly, so many of those extremists, those maga extremists take their Marching Orders from donald trump, who has no credibility left by any measure. Hes only in it for himself. Hes now defending himself in civil actions, criminal actions. At some point maybe there needs to be a formal deprogramming of the cult members. How do you do that . How does this change at all . At this point, i think, sadly, he will still be the nominee and we have to defeat them and we have to defeat those who are the election deniers, as we did in 2020 and 2022. And we have to just be smarter about how we are trying to empower the right people inside the Republican Party. Nancy pelosi had a majority of five votes when she was speaker. Kevin mccarthy had a majority of five votes. Nancy pelosi passed consequential legislation. And she clearly had members of her caucus who ranged across a spectrum of political beliefs and ideology and she kept everybody together and kept everybody focused on the future. He couldnt do that. So he paid a price, but more importantly, the country paid a price. So when you see another matchup between potentially trump and President Biden, what goes through your mind . And particularly, how do you process that this person who defeated you back in 2016 is still at it given all that youve said, 91 indictments, civil fraud, sexual transgressions, according to the courts . How is this still happening . Its a classic tale of an authoritarian populist who really has a grip on the emotional psychological needs and desires of a portion of the population. The base of the Republican Party, for whatever combination of reasons and it is emotional and psychological sees in him someone who speaks for them. And they are determined that they will continue to vote for him, attend his rallies, wear his merchandise, because for whatever reason, he and his very negative, nasty form of politics resonates with them. Maybe they dont like migrants. Maybe they dont like gay people or black people or the woman who got the promotion at work they didnt get. Whatever the reason, you know, make America Great again was a bid for nostalgia to return to a place where people could be in charge of their lives, feel empowered, say what they want, insult whoever came in their way. And that was really attractive to a significant portion of the republican base. So it is like a cult. Somebody has to break that momentum. Thats why i believe joe biden will defeat him. Hopefully then that will be the end and the fever will break and republicans can try to get back to fighting about issues and elect people who are at least responsible and accountable. To see more of the interview tomorrow morning. We also have Breaking News involving the speakers race in washington. Donald trump has floated himself for the position, but now apparently that is no longer the case. Hear who he is backing when we return. Plus, his lawyers are now raising a variation of the nixon defense in one of his cases. We have two watergate figures joining me live next to discuss. Breaking news tonight. Donald trump is no longer coming to capitol hill next week for the speakers election. And hes no longer floating himself as an option for speaker of the house. Instead, sources tell cnn that he is expected to endorse congressman jim jordan. Jordan has been making the rounds and calling around to colleagues. Speaking of jordan, listen to what liz cheney, the former congresswoman said about the prospect of a speaker jim jordan. Jim jordan knew more about what donald trump had planned for january 6th than any other member of the house of representatives. Now, somebody needs to ask jim jordan, why didnt you report to the Capitol Police what you knew donald trump had planned . If they were to decide that, there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected republicans could be counted onto defend the constitution. Ed rollins is a republican political consultant and the former chief political advisor to president reagan. Also with us is ana navarro. Let me ask you about this news that donald trump after saying he would go to the capitol and maybe put his name in contention to be speaker isnt doing that, but hes going to endorse jim jordan instead. Its beneficial that hes not going to the circus. We need to get focused and pick a leader to lead. I think the former president would be a distraction. The thing i worry about, i like jim jordan and scalise. I ran a congressional committee, so i know most of these members. Im not sure they thought this thing through if jordan is going to be their candidate. Unless you get every single republican to vote for you in conference, youre not going to win this thing. You need a couple democrats. Unfortunately jim jordan, because of his aggressive behavior, certainly is not going to attract democrats and certainly trump is not going to help attract democrats. Its a good point. Look, jim jordan is a very polarizing figure. As liz cheney was pointing out, he does have ties to the stop the steal movement. There are videos and pictures of him outside the capitol with stop the steal signs. All of that ties in. For moderates, do you think it will matter . Will he be able to get to 218 . First of all, i do think it matters. Kevin mccarthy, who after 15 rounds did become speaker also had some ties. Lets remember that just a few days after january 6th, where was he . He was at maralago kissing Donald Trumps ring among other body parts. That wasnt enough. So the problem with jim jordan, i think, is for republicans in districts like where i live, florida 26, which is represented by a republican, who understands that its a swing district. In swing districts, the polarizing nature and character of jim jordan is going to be very hurtful to republican congresspeople. It will be a question of whether the moderates say enough to potentially stop that. We have to remember that Steve Scalise is super popular and hes running as well. Ed, i want to talk to you about some 2024 politics. Earlier today we heard from ron desantis some pretty strong criticisms of former President Trump. Take a listen. Nobody is entitled to be nominated. Nobody. Especially anybody that couldnt even stop joe biden. You are not entitled to be nominated. Youve got to earn the nomination. Youve got to show how youre going to be able to get the job done. The reason im interested in what you have to say here, you used to work for the Desantis Super pac. Do you think that is enough to really signal to voters that desantis is going up against trump here . No. No one knows florida better than ana. Shes the next generation. Desantis has not run a good campaign. He cannot connect. Hes overspent his budget. He has good operatives, but he has chaos in his campaign. It takes a lot to make this happen. To beat donald trump in a primary is going to be very, very tough. My sense today is that the debate and all the rest of it is going to go on. Weve got to settle who our nominee is quickly just as we have to settle on a speaker quickly because we have a big task to hold the house and the presidency back. Ed has so much experience on this, but i dont think the problem with desantis is he hasnt run a good campaign. I think the problem with desantis is ron desantis in that hes not a good cant. He frankly was a paper tiger. He looked incredibly strong on paper, because he managed to win in florida. He was running against charlie crist, who i said here on Election Night was like beating a corpse. I apologize to corpses. Yes, ron desantis looked very, very strong coming out of november in that election. But he wasnt. He is a person that lacks charisma, that is not likable, is very awkward. And he based his entire campaign on this notion of being woke and antiwoke and fighting with disney and fighting with drag queens. Well, guess what . Taking on the largest employer of florida, which is disney world, because they express an opinion on policy is not a conservative value. So i dont know how he thought that was going to make him that popular. That might be a question for ed. I mean, at some point we will need to discuss what happened there with desantis. I want to raise this to you. The Trump Campaign says this about desantis. We took out ron, a far less talented person than people originally believed. Crooked joe is down to us by 11 points. Now we have to focus on one of the most overrated people we know, nikki. Hes talking about nikki haley. Is trump right that theyve already taken ron desantis out of the race and this is about him and nikki haley . I agree totally with ana on desantis. I didnt see a good candidate when i was working with him and ive seen a lot of candidates in my lifetime. I think to a certain extent he didnt define himself. The critical thing is President Trump has got a lot of legal challenges ahead of him and he doesnt get to define his message all the way as hes done pretty well in the past. I think this thing is still wide open. I would bet on him to win the nomination. But politicians is about addition. Ana is the new generation. Im the old generation. I tell people go find more voters. We need more voters. Thats how we win races. Its a game of edition. I dont think the house or the senate or the National President ial politics is adding new voters. We need democrats and independents to win in the general. Pivoting to the middle weve seen in some of these debates she pivots all over the place. Nikki haley, as i look at her, is a human wind sock. She goes whichever way the political winds are blowing. She will be protrump when she has to be, she will be antitrip when she has to be. Shell say anything, shell do anything. I do think its good news for her, in part because she has performed well on those debate stages, but also because everybody around her has been to mediocre or less than mediocre. The reason there is room for nikki haley to be on an upward trajectory is because ron desantis has failed and flailed like a fish desperately gasping for some oxygen when theyre out of water. Well see, first of all, if there is another debate and how that goes for all of those candidates. Debates dont win the presidency. Debates are a great exercise and entertaining. What wins campaigns is getting out and meeting people, articulating issues they care about. None of these candidates are connecting. The two debates weve had has been disastrous as far as im concerned. Nice to be on with you. Up next, in one of the legal cases trump is facing, his lawyers are now raising a variation of the nixon defense. Well discuss with two watergate figures who join me live next. Plus, the Biden Administration cant seem to get their story straight on why they are building more border wall. Cmon, were right there. Cmon baby. Its the only we need. Go, go, go, go ah Touchdown Baby touchdown are your neighbors watching the same game . Yeah, my 5g Home Internet delays the game a bit. But you get used to it. Try these. Theyre noise cancelling earmuffs. I stole them from an airport. Its always something with you, man. Great solid greek salad . Exactly dont delay the game with verizon or tmobile 5g Home Internet. Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. In another of Donald Trumps legal predicaments, tonight he is officially pulling out a variation of the Richard Nixon def defense. That is, when a president does it, its not illegal. Thats the basic point Trump Lawyers are making in new Court Documents today for why his federal election case should be tossed out. The argument is essentially president s and former president s are immune from criminal prosecutions. Now, before you dismiss it, this argument is not entirely meritless. This is uncharted, entirely new ground. The law here is murky and unsettled. The question of president ial immunity is not in the constitution. It has rarely been tested at the Supreme Court level and certainly never for a former president who has been indicted. Now, Richard Nixon did come the closest when he fought to keep the infamous Oval Office Tapes secret. His lawyer argued, an absolute unqualified president ial privilege of immunity from judicial process under all circumstances. Now, the justices dismissed a portion of that argument then. But what about now . Ive got two perfect voices to give us some information here, john dean, former Nixon White House counsel and cnn contributor and also with us john sale, former assistant special watergate prosecutor. The law here really is not settled on this issue. Some legal experts say you cant dismiss it out of hand. How do you see it. It is a gray area. Reading this motion they have filed to dismiss because of president ial immunity kind of got my attention. Its not a frivolous brief. Its a well done brief. I have not checked all the law on it yet. I havent had a chance to do that, so im very anxious to see the governments response. If anything might delay this case and pit iut it off after t election, this is the brief that will cause that to happen. While interlocutory appeals are very rare, only when a significant motion and a motion to dismiss a president because he thinks he has immunity is pretty significant. This could go up on appeal and that would delay everything. Delay is incredibly significant in a case like this when youre talking about somebody who is a president ial candidate right now. John sale, the trump team is insisting the president is not Above The Law here. In their filing they write, importantly, this recognition of absolute immunity regardless of internal motivation does not place the president Above The Law, but instead simply clarifies that the remedy for alleged official misconduct lies as the cusonstitution requires with congress and through impeachment and other informal means. But as weve seen, there have been a couple of impeachments already for this former president. These remedies could still mean that a former or current president could skirt the law, right . Well, there is an office of Legal Counsel opinion that goes back years that says a sitting president cannot be indicted. Now, some people may disagree with that, but thats been the practice. It does not say or imply that the former president cannot be indicted. Impeachment is the remedy, if twothirds of the senators vote is removal from office. Even Mitch Mcconnell said on the floor he was voting not to convict the president , but he said the president can be held accountable in a court of law. I think that argument is not frivolous, but i think its not going to go anywhere. My friend john dean may remember the litigation to the Supreme Court over the tapes went in record speed. The d. C. Circuit in an appeal about Executive Privilege recently gave the trump team less than 24 hours to respond. This can really be fast tracked. I dont think that anybody concerned is going to let this case be put off a year. John dean, i want you to respond to that and just the idea that the Trump Lawyers are basically saying there have been two impeachments, two acquittals in the senate. Does that matter . Well, they appear to be trying to track the constitution on an area thats very unclear and very muddy. My friend john whos an excellent lawyer and pointed out there are opinions in the Department Of Justice about this issue for sitting president s is right in noting there are no opinions. Thats why i worry about this having to go through the Court Of Appeals process and then to the Supreme Court, because it would be a fairly significant issue. And we have a court that is very definitely leaning right now. They might just slow it down for the president. I hope they would not. I hope it would be like during watergate when all the courts acted with incredible speed. I think everyone knows trumps m. O. , so theyll know what hes doing. But if they decide for political reasons to slow it down, this could be the motion they do it on. The world is watching. I think that the principle that no ones Above The Law is going to prevail and thats going to apply to donald trump. When hes in the courtroom, hes not President Trump. Hes defendant donald trump. The rules apply to him like they would to anyone else. I think youre right about that. The world is indeed watching. Thank you both. Thanks, abby. President biden is building more border wall. The administration cannot get its story straight about why. Ill speak to a democrat whos not very happy about this. Plus, ominous news tonight for the embattled congressman George Santos, who is under investigation. The border wall became one of the most hotly contested issues in the 2020 election. Now tonight President Biden and his administration are tying themselves into knots to explain why theyre going to keep building it. There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration. The money was appropriate for the border wall. I tried to get them to redirect that money. They didnt. They wouldnt. In the meantime, theres nothing under law other than they have to use the money for what it was appropriated for. I cant stop that. The Biden Administration announcing that, yes, it will build more border wall as the Migrant Crisis gets worse. Now, one of his first actions as president was pledging no more taxpayer dollars for the wall, while biden today insisted that walls dont work, his secretary of Homeland Security clearly did not get that message. In a statement Alejandro Mayorkas said, quote, there is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the physical vicinity of the border of the United States to prevent unlawful entries to the United States in that protected area. The White House Press secretary also had trouble explaining the administrations position. If the border wall is ineffective, why is the Homeland Security secretary saying its necessary to prevent unlawful entries into the United States. I have not seen that full statement. I hear you. Im just saying i have not seen his full statement on that. I can speak to what the president has been very clear about. Does he have an agreement with the secretary of Homeland Security. He said no, he doesnt believe the border wall is effective. Thats a direct contr contradiction. I hear you. Im speaking for the president. He said there will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration. Something changed. What . You want us to break the law . Is that what you want . You want us to not comply with the law . Im asking about you want us to not be an administration that follows the rule of law . Mayorkas would later say the administrations position has not changed. Joining me now, democratic congressman of new york. Congressman, biden did pledge not another foot, no more money for border wall. Why is this happening . Well, opinions change, views change, people evolve. I trust the president. I think hes a man of his word. Do you think his opinion has changed about the wall itself . No, i dont think so. I know theres money that was allocated back in 2019. Perhaps they need to access that money. This crisis is a deep pocket crisis for cities and the federal government as well. I tell you a wall is a byzantine answer to a current problem. It really doesnt work. What we really need to do is take a deep dive into whats happening in central and south america and look at whats happening for example in venezuela. Many of the migrants are coming from there. The Haiti Being Run by gangs, cuba. Its not even a right or left wing crisis. Guatemala, honduras. So there is a crisis in latin america. What do you want the president to do at this point as it relates to the wall . You call it a byzantine solution to the problem. But at this point, should they or should they not go forward with building this wall . Absolutely not. I think the money should be spent smart. Ports of entry are a problem. The cato institute, a very conservative institute, has given us information that shows that only 0. 02 of the fentanyl thats coming in is being trafficked by migrants. Over 90 by u. S. Citizens. Its coming through the ports of entry. This is what thesaying. Theres a 2019 law that appropriated this money. If they didnt spend it on the border wall, they should be out of compliance with the law. Do yo i dont think they necessarily have to use that money to build a wall. They could build roads near the area of the border. Were living in the age of artificial intelligence. So they have other options. Just to be clear. I i bebelieve they do, yes. I dont believe the money is strictly for building a wall. I think they have options and i think they should resort to those options. Why do you think Secretary Mayorkas said, quote, there is an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers along the southern border . Why would he say that . Look, this is a difficult crisis. Theres a lot of stress out there. St its a budget problem. The federal government has to deal with it on a daily basis. Its very stressful. Im sure there is space in the debate for Border Security. I support the dignity act, which is a bipartisan piece of legislation for comprehensive immigration reform. It has Border Security provisions in it. So theres room for that. But a wall is not the answer. But i mean, physical barriers, fences, walllike things have been a part of Border Security policy even before trump. They never worked. I guess what im saying is, isnt there a world in which that is part of a package of Border Security in the areas where maybe it will be an impediment . My question is, did the Berlin Wall Stop Germans from going to freedom . No. Would a wall stop a mom thats traveling 2,000 miles with two of her children because they want to be recruited by a gang . No. It wont stop. Im not trying to make a case for the wall. Im asking as a part of a compromise to get to more comprehensive solutions, would you be willing to accept some money for physical barriers in order to get there . I would be willing to accept a robust discussion for Border Security. We can discuss the details of that, not a wall. Theres plenty of Technology Available now that will probably be best suited for the border and will be more effective than a byzantine wall. So i would be willing to discuss that and to see how we provide work permits. The dignity act provides those provisions. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation thats sported by me, who represents one of the most progressive districts in the country and some republicans as well. Border democrats support it. Its a comprehensive piece of legislation that i think stands a shot. If given the day arounnd time. If taken up in the house, which nothing is being taken up in the house right now. Up next for us, as George Santos faces an investigation into his actions, one of his former aides just struck a plea deal. Laura coates joins me live on what this means for the congressman. Tonight some more troubling news for George Santos the embattled congressmans former Campaign Treasurer has now pled guilty to account conspiracy to defraud the u. S. Thats the marks oversaw sentences Campaign Finances before being dismissed after a series of filing abnormalities. Those lead to accusations of Wrongdoing A Band gets both her and George Santos. She now faces a maximum of five years in prison. Now this could all signal even more trouble for the scandal tarred republican congressman. Rexs case has the same docket number as the same went listed for santoss federal fraud case. Hes facing 13 fraud cases including money laundering, wire and others. Santos has pled not guilty to those charges. Laura coates joins me now to talk about all of this. So laura, one of the interesting things about the acquisitions that she pled guilty involved working a now sitting congressman on a fraud against United States government. So what does this mean for George Santos . Its not good news for him abby and heres why. Not only in your allocation which is a fancy way of saying the things are gonna tell the judge you did wrong when you plead guilty. Here are the facts here is what we agreed upon heres what were meeting to, its all under the allocution. Talks about a Coconspirators Somebody shes working with specifically who also happens to be a sitting member of congress. His lawyer i understand was in the courtroom over hearing all of this and did not object in any way which singles to you that his knees maybe shaking a little bit. If she has direct knowledge of his behavior as alleged, and she may very well end up being a witness against him. There is not currently a cooperation we are being told, but the fact that she has Insider Knowledge and can testify specifically with actual firsthand eyewitness accounts, that could be very damaging for a defendant but the Process Keyshawn still has to make their case. Yeah, this is going to be one to watch. Its incredible to see a sitting congressman facing this kind of cloud around him while he is in office. Although we have a United States senator, a United States senator in basically the same position. Laura coates thank you, and everyone be sure to stick around, because in a few minutes more is going to be digging much more into these allegations and those about donald trump. That he shared Nuclear Secrets with a foreign businessman. Last, up next for us, just in. Police are contradicting Vivek Ramaswamy after an incident at a protest in iowa today. Just standby for that. And just to. Police are contradicting