79594061 call now vegas story of sensitive. Sunday at ten on cnn its thursday, february 29, right now on cnn this morning, happy leave here the Supreme Court announcing it will hear Donald TrumpsImmunity Claim further delaying the former president s federal election subversion trial. And more trouble for trump in illinois, judge, removing his name from the state ballot citing the 14th amendments insurrectionist ban and the races on top, republicans already angling to replace their departing senate leader, Mitch Mcconnell all right, its 06 00 a. M. Here in washington. A live look at the Supreme Court, not usually the Critical Center of deciding our elections. Its looking like it might be this year. Good morning, everyone. Its wonderful to have you here. Im kasie hunt, donald trump strategy to delay those trials until after the november election, just got a big assist from the Supreme Court, the justices announcing they will here are the former president s claims of absolute immunity. Thats going to happen in late april. A ruling not expected until the end of june and only then can special counsel jack smiths federal election subversion case move forward, assuming that the court rules against trump meanwhile, in illinois, judge just ruled against the former president taking his name off the States November ballot, citing the 14th amendments insurrectionist ban. The decision is paused, giving trump a narrow window to appeal. The Supreme Court already considering whether states have the authority to remove candidates from their ballots lets talk about all of this with former federal prosecutor elliot williams, cnn senior political reporter stephen collinson, republican strategist sarah longwell, and former White House Communications director kate bedingfield. Welcome all. Its wonderful to have you here at the top of the hour. Elliot. Lets just start here with the legal of all of this. I have to be honest after covering the arguments in the case around taking trump off the ballot, there seemed to be kind of an emerging consensus in your legal world that they were going to let him stay on the ballot and they were potentially going to deny even taking up this question of immunity. Were you surprised about what they did here . No, im not surprised at what they did here. So big picture. Its the Supreme Courts job ultimately to rule on big constitutional questions. Now, they didnt have to, they could have just let this go. There was a perfectly wellwritten Appeals Court decision and look, we as americans are well aware that were on the clock here. This is an important issue for the 2024 election that said, i mean, last night, Andrew Mccabe and that seat right there said it was supreme arrogance from the Supreme Court. I think thats kind of a point they see themselves as the arbiters of major legal questions and are going to operate on their own timeline. And if it takes them several months and isnt resolved by the election, so be it. From their perspective, not mine or anyone else. Fair. I mean, Stephen Big Picture here though. I mean, the politics of this even having these conversations, right . Were just in completely unprecedented territory here, right . I mean, this potentially puts a trial starting around labor day. Thats right when americans are actually making up their mind, thats right and we talk about how bush feagle that was the supreme collision between a president ial election. Supreme court this is much bigger than that on multiple levels and its playing directly into what is going to happen in november. I think thats why its so significant. If you think when this case probably gets decided, the end of june, we were on the clock for about two months before the beginning of the trial, before all this happened, that gets us to probably labor day. Right. Is it conceivable . We can see a president ial candidate go in trial on the daytime campaign in the evenings, perhaps even take place, take part in a president ial debate. I think that raises real questions, but the judge is going to have to decide, assuming the court says that trump doesnt have immunity. Can trump get a free fair trial if jurors are watching him on the tv and evening just real quick, he can get a fair trial and i want to pour cold ice, cold water on the notion that he cant. Now, the idea is, can he get a trial by august, september, and that would be lightning fast if the moment they walked out of the Supreme Court in june, everybody ran to the courthouse and start preparing for trial to get everything started by august or september would really be at record breaking. Yeah. So a couple of numbers for you. One, americans view of trump and me nearly 66 say trump should should not be immune to criminal prosecution. 33 say that he should be and then sara, the io exit poll of republican voters, right . Caucusgoers is trump fit for the presidency if hes convicted of a climate 31 say no. The big question now is whether or not there is going to be a trial that is going to make a decision about whether he is going to be convicted before voters have to decide. I mean, early voting starts in september. Thats right. But i talked to voters all of the time and focus groups and i know that this is being read as a big win for trump. But if that timeline holds that you just laid out and voters are having to look at trump on trial, right before theyre thinking about voting think thats very bad for him the thing is, is there was always sort of two tracks to trumps legal problems in a primary, it helps him. Theres a Rally Round Trump Effect from voters, but swing voters, independent voters. Nikki haley voters, they dont like the idea of voting for somebody whos like in a courtroom all the time, whos under multiple indictments. And so that timeline i think would actually be bad for him. I agree with that and i also would say, lets not forget the substance of what this case is about. Like we know that this argument about trump as a, as a threat to democracy is motivating for voters. Its motivates certainly motivating to democrats, but weve seen it is a motivating argument. We saw it play out in the midterms. We see it. Its motivating for independence. So theres not only will he, under this hypothetical timeline be on trial in front of the country two months before a month before the election, or as you pointed out, once people already early voting but were gonna be hearing the argument for you know, exactly why hes such a specific threat to democracy. So that i think its hard to argue that that the politically is a good thing for donald trump. I know theres a constant sense that hes always able to take any legal threat and turn it into political gold. I dont i dont think in this case thats true. Sara, you do as you point out like youre out there conducting these focus groups with voters all the time and the big question that i have had on this iowa graphic and its been true also in New Hampshire and South Carolina and other places thats 31 of people who say hell be disqualified if hes convicted there clearly open to the idea that this guy has major legal problems that would mean that he shouldnt be president. My question has always been, can trump convinced them otherwise, right . And do you think that he can trump and the entire sort of rightwing infotainment media. They will go to work on people trying to make them believed that this is a witchhunt. The thing is, is that that 31 number is high enough that even if they can chip away at half of that, that is still a big chunk of voters who are going to, its going to move their vote right before an election. And as we know, in this hyperpolarized environment, were talking about just a few hundred thousand votes across six states. And so i do think that can be the Difference Maker doesnt have to be that whole 31 . Elliot. This idea that the Department Of Justice has this rule or policy that says like they dont interfere in elections, right . And thats around typically making a decision to indict or not, right . How does it apply in the case of a trial . I dont know when i dont think anybody knows just spoke to understand the 60 day rule. Is that the Justice Department typically its a guideline, not a robot typically within 60 days in election doesnt take investigative steps that might interfere with the election or might interfere with how voters might approach the election. Now this would have been a trial that had been proceedings since well before the 60 day period. It was filed a long time ago investigated years before. Now, obviously, the trial itself would affect the election, but i think they could still proceed and frankly, would want to number one, given the Justice Department stated view of getting this on the record completed before the election day. And two, theyre not filing anything new. Its a trial that started months before and just happened to be held up in the Supreme Court, right. When he could argue that the defendant that held it up as well in a way, yeah. Yeah steven i mean, the number of times this morning already where its been like, well, i dont know because weve never seen this before, right . What have you look at this big picture for us in terms of painting this, i mean, we are living history here. This is what donald trump has done. Hes tested every single political judicial, even constraint. And the constraints of president ial decorum itself. Every president ive covered going back to say bill clinton has had a very advanced sense of the power of the presidency. What could happen if they push the limits of that presidency . Trump is completely different as weve seen before, even got to the white house in his business life. One question i have is whether the Supreme Court took this up because we have a potential president who said hes going to have a second term of retribution if he gets reelected is it important, therefore, from the court to perhaps weigh in on this question of whether the president has immunity because its establishing or bolstering a constitutional constraint, right there at nixon, Be Fitzgerald Bush Versus Gore or notice, all of those are Supreme Court cases not Appeals Court decisions, right . It was to some extent the job of the Supreme Court, at least that they in their arrogance or brilliance wherever you want to call it, they see themselves as the group that should be deciding these questions. And quite frankly, its an Open Question now dr. Everybody has the information they need to decide whether they think donald trump is fit to be present. The United States or not, whether hes convicted, whether hes immune so to some extent, the Supreme Court decision doesnt matter, but its their job. Its open. They ought to do it. Again. History being written. All right. Our panel. Thanks to all of you, are going stay with us. Well be back again later on. And the hour, but up next here were going to take a closer look at Donald Trumps legal calendar writ large towards crammed and complicated plus the heartbreak of a texas family who just lost their home to a wildfire and lawmakers cutting a shortterm deal to head off a government shutdown. 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Well experience more as alencia, florida. Com for your most brilliant smile crest as you covered nice Smile Spotless House for 19 vegas. Story of sin city. Sunday at ten on cnn welcome. Back live. Look at the New York City skyline. Its 06 15 a. M. Eastern. This morning, somewhere in there trump tower, of course, trumps offices in New York City where he made his fame and fortune before coming here to washington dc. The rest is history. The clock is ticking. Donald trump, seems to like it that way. He and his legal team are using Delay Tactics and trying to slow the legal system to his advantage as he faces four trials this year here to break it all down for us, is cnn senior crime and justice just report or katelyn polantz, kaitlan, weve obviously been focused on the big news in the immunity case, but it is just one of four situations he is facing. Can you walk us through them . And now that we have this new information, what the Supreme Courts going to do, how were going to see it play out over the course of the election year. Yeah, its going to be busy. Maybe we see four trials this year. May he be not the its looking by the day less likely, but there are weeks where i would say it looks very likely. So who knows whats going to happen in the next couple of days is were going to get a bit of more solidification of what happens in his florida documents case. So that case is a case that is moving target right now on the calendar, it is set for the end of may, but the judge is going to look at it at a hearing on friday and say, can it go in may or does it move to a different point in time . Trumps team wants it to be scheduled in the summer and then maybe push it back again then he is going to be going to trial. This is the one that is on the books and were moving towards the new york hush money case, Business Falsification of records related to Stormy Daniels in the 2016 election . Thats happening end of march. So Jury Selection will start then, and that will take trump in court through may end with this classified document ms case, not set yet. And with the to 2020 election cases up in the air, we just dont know where they will all land. Its really a game of musical chairs. And the Supreme Court coming into play now, having that case tied up, the federal 2020 election case out of washington, dc the Supreme Court very well could decide that case and put it back in the hands of the trial court by the end of june, the end of their term and then there is indication from the special counsels office they believe its still could go to trial this year fairly quickly after that. It is entirely up to the judge theyre in the trial court in washington, dc. What she wants to do with it really interesting, how does it interact with the classified documents case . Like if if the classified documents case ends up going to trial in the summer before the special counsel, do they have to wait while he finishes that trial or do we know well, trump cant be on trial twice at the same time, right . Because he as a defendant it has a right to attend his trials, so hes going to exercise that right. And hes not going to go to trial at the same time in two different courts out the way that this is going to be stacked up though, is we just dont know how its going to stack up until we get closer to trial. This happens sometimes dates move around. We dont know how well the judges are going to work it out. They might have to play some popcorn. We could see one scheduled and then the other and then flipped. But the summer is going to be really intense whenever were talking about the calendar. And there is the possibility that trumps team is hoping for, which is that the one trial gets scheduled and it blocks everything else. And then that trial gets moved and continues to block everything else. And no trials happen after the new york hush money trial, did you follow . Yes. I mean, i think so. Were basically i mean, i feel like our banner for today should just say uncharted territory because everything were talking about today, weve been there for a couple yeah, i guess we have. All right. Kaitlan collins, caitlin, thank you. Come back soon all right. Coming up next here, President Biden and donald trump making dueling appearances at the Southern Border just hours from now plus remarkable images from the moon, how the lunar lander is defying all odds ahead only purples Gel Flex Grid passes the raw ekg test. No other matters. Cradles your body and simultaneously supports your spine. Memory foam doesnt come close. 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Com today catastrophic wildfires have now scorched more than 1 million acres across texas and oklahoma at least one person, an elderly woman, has been killed thousands of cattle have also perished in this heartbreaking video, a threeyearold react to the loss of her family home. I cant watch this war. Are you crying, mommy you want your health well get another house. Okay that way shes okay. Smokehouse creek fire has burned almost 900,000 acres in texas. It is the secondlargest fire ever in the state, and still only 3 contained in northwest oklahoma, more than 31,000 acres burned with dry air, heat, and winds fanning the flames in the Texas Panhandle alone, more than 100 miles of power lines are going to need to be rebuilt our Weatherman Derek Van Dam has been tracking this system. He joins us now, derek, is there any relief in sight for these families . Good question. Heartbreaking to watch that video. But you said it, right . At least that that girl is ok. Is there some relief in sight . You know, i dont want to be the bearer of bad news, but as my job to tell you what the future holds in terms of these conditions. And i think we are in this narrow window where firefighters can at least get some handle on this this outofcontrol wildfire in the Texas Panhandle. But conditions are going to deteriorate as we head into the weekend, this fire just exploding over the past 48 hours. We know now currently burning roughly the size of the state of rhode island if you add up all the wildfires across the Texas Panhandle and into portions of Western Oklahoma. It encompasses over 1 million acres. So whats at play now . What we do have some precipitation moving into the Texas Panhandle. You can see rain to the south, snow to the north. This is very light. Much of it not even reaching the ground. So were not expecting any more than a tenth of an inch of precipitation within these hardest hit and hardest impacted areas, if any precipitation manages to actually reach the ground. So again, my job to talk about the future, whats going to happen, the temperatures are going to warm this weekend. Were also noticing the winds are forecast to pick up. Look at this by the friday and saturday time im frame augustine, between 30 to 35 Miles Per Hour and some of those hardest hit areas that is why the Weather Prediction Center already has highlighted the Texas Panhandle into Western Oklahoma with this critical fire danger as we head into the weekend, this is valid for sunday. So something we want to monitor and its all being driven by a lot larger storm system impacting the west coast already starting to light up our radar system i want to hone in on whats going to happen this weekend across the california Sierra Nevada mountain range, eight plus feet of snow, 75 mile per hour winds. This could bury cars, it could make roads impassable and make conditions shins disorienting, very dangerous situation this weekend across this area. Kasie. All right. Our weatherman, derek van dam. Derek, thank you very much for that all right. Up next here, deflect and delay. I Supreme Court just helped donald trump implement his legal strategy and his Campaign Strategy, plus, an illinois judge adding one more legal challenge. Mr. Trumps growing list by booting him off the states ballot and hollywood says goodbye to comedian and curb your enthusiasm starr, Richard Lewis i think where it all again today. Im a word of wisdom, man, i didnt three try and a street in a him really on a good strike. Huge streaks that vegas story of sin city. 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Joe biden, the current resident, donald trump, of course im trying, to figure out a way to move back in next january. Good morning. Thanks for waking up with us. Im kasie hunt, just after 630 here on the east coast, Donald TrumpsCampaign Strategy and legal strategy are basically one same with the Supreme Court, potentially giving him an assist here, the highest courts decision to take up the former president s president ial Immunity Claim could put push trumps federal election subversion trial to around labor day, raising major questions about what the Justice Department would do given its general policy not to interfere in elections. Why is this also critical to take a look at this exit polling from the republican contests in iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, where about a third of gop voters say they dont think trumps fit for the presidency. If if he is convicted of a crime or panels back, elliot williams, stephen collinson, sarah longwell, and kate bedingfield. And actually kate, let me start with you because i dont feel like weve dug into what the Biden Campaign really thinks of all of this and how theyre positioning themselves are preparing for all of this. I mean, what what has been the conversation behind the scenes and i know youre still in touch with people used to work with at the white house. Whats the traffic on that . Yeah. I mean, look, i think they think writ large this is still a good thing for them for this to be front and center. I mean, of course would they prefer to see the trial play out before the election . Yes, of course. Mean people we see in the numbers as we were talking about in our last segment. People say if hes convicted of a crime, it will have an impact on their vote but regardless, for them, this is donald trump front and center on one of the issues that he is most vulnerable on, which is this idea that not just these a threat to our democracy, but also actually sort of a bigger issue that hes all about himself. That power is for him a personal pursuit that the presidency is not about. Whats happening to you, your family at your kitchen table, but its really about his personal grievances and vengeance and so those two things combine those two narratives combine in a way that is helpful to the Biden Campaign. It helps them illustrate the difference. Yeah, i think look, i think that the Trump Campaign might have been lulled into a false sense of security around the legal issues by the republican primary voters. And they just cant tell you how different republican primary voters are from these General Election swing voters. The republican primary voters are the ones who are going to say, this is a twotier justice system. Im furious about this. This makes me one vote for trump more, but it is those swing voters rightleaning independents, soft gop voters. Theyre the ones who say they still have respect for the courts. They still think that if somebody actually is convicted of a crime that matters to them. And so i do think itll make a difference in the General Election. Yeah, briefly, elliot, before we want to talk about the border to here and just a second. But on that, that kind of question the institutional trust. How does that i mean, how do you view that as someone who has worked inside that system because i also think i wonder, i guess, is there a difference in how people feel about the Supreme Court and whether they trust the Supreme Court versus whether they trust the outcome of a trial. There is an astonishing amount of data on the fact that americans just trust institutions overall, including courts, generally and its frankly, to some extent this goes back to bush versus gore which did have an impact on the 2020 election, on the 2000 election. And it happened sort of based on its timing and so on theres no winning here for anybody. The court is going to come out with its reputation tarnished because in some way theyre going to rule all in favor of a major candidate for the presidency. I dont think this is part of a big broader trend in america is how people see courts and the law generally really, really tough reality. All right. You guys are going to stick with us, but i do want to take a turn and take a look down on our Southern Border because President Biden and former President Trump actually both going there on the same day, trump is going to speak in eagle pass, texas. Biden will be about 300 miles away in brownsville. Hes going to meet with local leaders and Border Patrol agents and rosa flores joins us now, she is in eagle pass. Rosa. Thanks very much for being here. What is the significance of the location where trump is going to be going . Whats he going to see . Versus what President Biden is going to see well, kasie, good morning. You know what President Trump is going to see here in eagle pass is a lot of Military Toys. He is going to see humvees and soldiers with long guns, razor wire shipping containers that form a border wall. In essence, he is walking into the biggest stage regarding Border Issues on the us Southern Border. This is where the biggest Border Battles are being fired. Thats why all these Military Toys that are out here, even though those battles are really being fought in court, im talking about the big Border Battles between the state of texas and the federal government. This is where the border buoys are this is where the legal fight over the razor wire is. This is where the public park was taken over by the state of texas. Thats what you see way behind me because we were moved. Of course, because of curating. But this is where President Trump is going to be and to be honest with this is where also the line in the sand is drawn when it comes to who are you with . Are you with Governor Greg Abbott where he has taken over the border and he is showing President Biden how its done, or are you with President Biden . Are you with border Border Security . The been enforced by us Border Patrol. A lot of republicans have come here, governors, lawmakers to make that statement to stand with texas Governor Greg Abbott, and thats exactly what President Trump is going to be. Theres gonna be a lot of photo op ops. Where hes going to be able to with military, with soldier with long guns. And of course, thats going to go with that persona of taking the matter into your own hands. Thats what were going to see a lot now. Eagle pass has gotten a lot of attention from around the country. And one of the concerns from people in this community is that not all of that attention is good. Some of the people here in this community that have been outspoken, have gotten threats. Take a listen members of our community have had the surprise. Visitors show up on the doorstep. Yes. They are bringing their hate into eagle pass, were be invaded from the north. The people who are coming across the river, theyre seeking asylum the people who are coming to us from the north, theyre bringing guns and theyre bringing hate now, kasie, President Biden is going to be just down river in brownsville, texas the image is going to be very different theres not going to be all of those military towards that. I was just grabbing there will be a border wall. Of course, that area is not very busy right now when it comes to migrant crossing the area here is not very busy when it comes to migrant crossings either. And heres the last thing that ill leave you with. Present biden will be brief federal authorities in south texas, and of course, you will be with local officials. President trump will be briefed by state authorities kasie, again, that federal, state fight here, even with who is going to be brief . Thank you. Kasie, back to you. Really, really tough. All right. Rosa flores in eagle pass, texas. Rosa, thank you very much for that. All right. So weve got these dueling trips to the border. Stephen collinson and i know again, you kind of spend all of your time looking at The Big Picture and painting it for us. And i mean, this is just remarkable reality, right . Were going to have both of these men on the border at the same time. It says a lot about how important this issue is. I think it also says something about the men themselves. What do you see here . Its a fascinating sort of multilayered story here. Probably the most intense clash of the emerging General Election so far, i would say, were going to see a lot more of this gun going into november, Presuming Trump is the nominee the strategy is very interesting from the white house because the president is going to the border, which has been the symbol of one of his biggest political vulnerabilities. And hes going to stand there and hes going to take this on and i think its consistent with what weve seen in recent weeks. Of the present. Looking at his weaknesses of his coalition and some of his vulnerabilities and starting to chip away at them. Weve seen him go talk to union voters, for instance, in michigan well probably see him engaged Arab Americans after what happened up there to that. So this is interesting and trump clearly looks like his but angry that the president was barged into his photo op. And is taking this issue, which trump thinks will get him back to the way. Yeah. Yeah. Look, it is aggressive move and it does actually speak to the power of a photoop. I can tell you. I mean, i worked on bidens visit to the border last year when i was sold at the white house, worked on the trip, went with him on the trip he, he, he went, he visited the border and the thing that emerged from that trip was a photo of him standing in front of the border wall with law enforcement. It was a powerful photo and it is a good for the average person whos just going about their life and maybe picks up the paper and sees okay, well, theres joe biden at the border. Those the power of those photoops is is meaningful and so forth. I think for, for the white house and the Biden Campaign to not let have trump, not let trump have this day completely unchallenged. That was the point. Is that as we knew, trump, i think i think this was very smart of them. I will i will say that. Do you think so . They have to go on offense on this issue. When you look at any poll that shows when people disapprove of biden the number one reason why is the border . And so this matters to swing voters is not just Republican Base voters, even though donald trump has used this issue, think about what made donald trump the candidate for the Republican Party in the first place. What made him in 2016 and sort of vault to the top of that field. It was things like building the wall. I think he was the first one to read how important this was to americans and i tell democrats or anybody who will listen all the time, this is a major vulnerability youve got to start going on offense and weve seen some of these house races. Suozzi, just one by going on offense on this new york and new york race. Yes. So i think that this is real at least smarter biden. I think hes got to do more of this because i think if people feel like he cares about it, that will just go along way. They want to know that this is something that matters to the white house yeah. Elliot, i mean, one of the criticisms of President Biden is, i mean, theyre thinking about doing an Executive Order right around this and the argument that theyve been making is that while we cant do this under the law, we need congress to do this. The challenge of course, is that if they do it now, i think theres a legitimate possible opening christmas like, hey, why didnt you do the three years ago if you really think this, what does the law say about this . Congress ought to act and stepping. So look, i worked at ice for five years and i will take a slightly different gotten their background apologize. No worries. But the number one, these photo ops do nothing to fix the border, but i agree with everybody here that they are politically powerful. People open their newspapers and see them mean something, particularly on a president whos seen as having immigration as a vulnerability. Now, Look Congress had opportunities in 22,000, 2000 2014 to address all of these questions, but chose not to for various different reasons. Sometimes it was the left oftentimes it was the right, but congress can see that congress has sometimes inabilities why this is different when i just say like yeah, the reason that joe biden can go on offense right now is because republicans just refused to pass a deal. Why would a deal on the table . And so now hes got a little more moral high ground that hes had in the past on this issue . Yeah. Last word, student then i want to talk about Mitch Mcconnell. I think to your point, them about photo ops. But this here is the problem why congress hasnt been able to do anything, because immigration does become a photo op back to the Reagan Administration is the last time that these asylum laws, which are being completely overwhelmed by different type of Mass Migration that is taking place not just in the United States, but All Over The World just you in europe. Thats why it never gets fixed. So while this is good politics, really, it isnt good policy and its something thats really needs fixing. Yeah. No, for sure. All right. So lets talk a little bit about our newspapers here. Show the i think weve flipped the Washington Post frontpage, but Mitch Mcconnell its really the end of an era here contend with him stepping down and he said he acknowledged that it was time for new generation, right in the Senate Floor Speech that he, that he made. But there is also this Big Question About Whether and i think Mitch Mcconnell said this too, that the politics ive just turned against him, right . And then he can see that right. Im not sure if he said it so explosive, but he said he said politics is not something im bad at. I might be bad at other things, but its not that sara i want to show you conduct these focus groups as weve talked about with voters. And you spoke to some who supported trump who also, you ask them what they thought of Mitch Mcconnell, the Outgoing Senate leader, and they did not hold back. I want to play some of that hes just, out for himself and he doesnt do anything for the party. Its like were stuck with it. The challenge with mcconnell as we talked about her, i talked about this earlier about about term limits to have people in congress that will pass bills that will affect a future generation, generations and theyre not going to be around next ten years, doesnt make any sense for this nation. These people in their high 80s, they have no accountability i mean, sara, this it says so much about where things have been. I mean, Mitch Mcconnell is extraordinary, controversial, but no doubt impactful in terms of especially how hes handled the Supreme Court but i think that reality that you just heard there also explains the kind of how and why hes kind of at the political end of the line. What do you make of all of it . Yeah. I mean, look in those clips, the voters were sort of talking about his age and they, but i dont even think that gets at how much i hear about Mitch Mcconnell, where it would blow peoples minds to hear this, but voters talk about him like hes a rino right . He is a vestige of her Republican Party that donald trump ran against, defeated then coopted, and now is completely in charge of. And so Mitch Mcconnell, they can talk about it like its a generational change, but it really is a total ideological shift away from other Republican Party that i joined and i was a part of and Mitch Mcconnell wallet great tactician. He just does represent you. There was a tweak that was put out by one of the republican groups yesterday, sort of making front of him on his way out and saying Mitch Mcconnell, democrat ukraine, right. And they were they were blasting him because hes part of an Old School Republican group thats still cares about American Leadership the world and democracy. And for as much as people have hated Mitch Mcconnell all this time, they may actually ms him when hes gone a little bit because the thing thats coming after him is not going to be pretty utterly remarkable to me about he hasnt served as hes a rhino and so on his one legacy, his biggest legacy is casey touched on the federal courts and just everybody talks about Merrick Garland was the one guy he kept know it was the only two of obamas Appeals Court nominees in his final two years were confirmed because of Mitch Mcconnell. Trump got 234 federal judges on the federal courts. Quarter of the federal judiciary. That will be there for general curations carrying out conservative ideals are going to be on courts for generations. And this idea that Mitch Mcconnell somehow isnt serving the goals of conservatives is absolute nonsense. When you consider nothing else in shrines, political beliefs than the core Roe Versus Wade was overturned because yes in getting those justices on the bench as well, lower courts here, let me hear me. Last week, he did more to political, so did more Tooth Politicize the process of nominating judges. And then anybody which is a dangerous, i mean, its a dangerous legacy which were living with now and well for many years, but its sarah was alluding to. I mean, its its i have my issues, but it is frightening to think about whats coming next. You can imagine one of the three johns making, standing up to donald trump, a centerpiece of their argument for why they should be the next leader. So its, it is frightening to think about whats going to come next. All right. Elliot, sara, steven, kate. Thank you, guys very much for some great conversations this morning. I really appreciate it. All right. Weve got a bleak milestone. Its important for us to mark in the Israel Hamas War more than 30,000 people have been killed in gaza since october 7. Thats according to the hamascontrolled Palestinian Health ministry. Israels air strikes have displaced nearly the entire population and created a devastating humanitarian crisis. Israel estimates about 10,000 hamas fighters have been killed since october 7. More than 1,200 people in israel were killed during hamass attacks on that day. And more than 250 were kidnapped and taken hostage in gaza. All right. It is 47 minutes past the hour here, and we have your morning roundup President Biden undergoing his annual physical handling it with some humor all right, the president s dr. Says hes a healthy, active, robust, 81 yearold male who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency, noted defense secretary lloyd austin appearing before the House Armed Services committee today. Hes going to be questioned about his failure to inform the white house about his hospitals station for Prostate Cancer earlier this year. And hollywood mourning the loss of comedian and curb your enthusiasm starr, Richard Lewis youre talking youre up top. Where did you get that dress anyway, did a substitute teacher designer, whereas lewis died of a heart attack on tuesday night at his los angeles home. He announced last april that he had been diagnosed with parkinsons disease. Larry davids set of his friend quote, he had that rare combination we should have been the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob. And for that, ill never forgive him. Richard lewis was 76 years old all right. Up next here, congress set to vote on a deal to keep the government running for now. Plus congressman andy kim, hes live on cnn this morning. He is running for senate in new jersey and just filed a lawsuit claiming the ballot is unconstitutional. Thats next its nothing sounds like something when you have nausea, heartburn and Pepto Bismol Coats and suits for fast relief when you need it, most sometimes Jonah Wrestles with falling asleep, so he takes z quell the worlds number one sleep aid brand, and wakes up feeling like himself. Get the rest to be your best with none on habitforming cql. Better days start with z equal nights. I kept the cabin for three days because what im 12 hour short upon weekend was that necessary . Know either as a blond weekend would pay calm employees do their own payroll he can fix problems before they become problems get pay calm, and make the unnecessary unnecessary. 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Ai, ai or download well, the app back room deals cia secrets of fairs bribery, corruption, prostitution or so much more to the store United States of scandal with jake tapper sunday at nine on cnn Closed Captioning is brought to you by audio book network authors tell your story, produce an audio book with us. What earn more profits and find a new audience for your published book, produce an audio book. We handle narration production, and digital distribution. Color scan, the qr code. Now all right, you may recognize my next guest from a viral photo of him as a sitting member of congress in the capitol on january 6. He was cleaning up garbage after that violent attack by rioters that day and that day, of course, has since stirred all of the legal repercussions around trumps role in insurrection, and whether trump will be eligible to be on ballots across the country. While its not just the republican president ial front runner who takes issue with a ballot in his race joining me now is democratic congressman andy kim of new jersey, who is running for senate there this year. Congressman. Thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me this morning. So i just wanna give our viewers context if theyre not paying close attention to this race, its to run against bob menendez, the democratic former chairman of the chairman of the Foreign Relations committee. And essentially its a heated democratic primary in which the Party Apparatus in new jersey has a lot of control over how the ballot appears. Im going to show people a mockup of it in a second. But first, you filed a lawsuit because you dont think whats happening to you is fair. Do you think in new jersey democrats are practicing what they preach about, making sure elections are free, fair, and democracy first, well, thank you. Brazen i am trying to do exactly that. I stood by while i was right there with biden when he gave his january 6 speech and he said we know who donald trump is, but who are we. And i think a fundamental question is who is the Democratic Party . I believe that the Democratic Party is a party of protecting our democracy and making sure were preserving that. But right now, in my homes state, Democratic Party elites are the ones that are putting their thumb on the scale of this senate primary, trying to be able to put this in the favor of the first lady of new jersey, the governors wife will obviously controls a lot of power and that family, whereas i believe that a democracy should be fair and open to anyone, that should be able to participate, not just the welloff and the wellconnected yeah. So to give people a sense of what its going to look like, right . Like the main part of the ballot is over here. And youll see President Biden and then youll see the senate race likely murphy and many of these counties. And then other candidates down here, then there will be additional columns. And if youre someone else running like our congressman right here, youre gonna be over on this side. What actual ramifications does does this have, if youre a voter going into the voting booth, does it make a significant impact, a huge impact, and its been determined, in fact, our lawsuit has the newest data about how this impacts it upwards of doubledigits advantage for someone who is in whats called the county line because its something that just draws in the voters and oftentimes people, even ms that there are other columns further off. So this is something that is a real concern and its trying to basically manipulate and take advantage of voters. And i think that thats wrong. We should be able to give everyone a fair chance. Were the only state in america that does this. 49 other states do whats called office block ballots, which is the norm. And its a norm from because its fair. And thats all i said. All the candidates for senate or in one place where all the candidates for president or in another place. Exactly. Okay. Fair enough. Lets broaden out a little bit because again, this is about menendezs seat. Why do you think more Senate Democrats havent been willing to call from an endless to step down in the face of the indictments that hes facing. Well, first of all, because the starting point is that menendez himself is not willing to do so. And thats something that really prompted me to step up if hes not going to step down, but look, right now, we have a razor thin majority in the senate. We have the republicans with a razorthin majority in the House Of Representatives so i think that theres probably a lot of just practical thinking of just how do we continue to try to get things done for the country . Thats probably weighing on peoples minds, but ive certainly called for the senator to step down. Ive called for them to proceed with expulsion. If he doesnt do so, but if thats not going to happen, thats why im stepping up to give the people in new jersey a choice. All right. Lets talk about but some of the major issues that are facing not just the congress, but also the country President Biden, traveling to the Southern Border today to kind of Shine A Light on that problem. Do you think that the House Speaker mike johnson should put the boer the border bill on the house floor. If he did, would you vote for it considering the restrictions on immigration that are in it . It will look, i believe that we should be able to vote in the house of representative. The fact that the speaker, it can control the legislative agenda of america is absolutely wrong in terms of just the total control that hes trying to exert, what i would want to make sure though, is that we in the House Of Representatives have a say, have an ability to be able to do this our job is not to be a rubber stamp for the senate. Could you support the policies that were in that though . Well, i support some of them, but i would want to be able to engage on broader ones. Id like for us to be able to have conversations that can bring in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that have raised concerns. What we all want is an orderly process when it comes to our border. And i think investments into addressing the the backlog of 3 million pending Immigration Cases and needing more immigration judges. That makes sense. But look, my son of immigrants merited an immigrant. I want to make sure that were standing up for the values that we believe in. And id be concerned about making some changes there that could fundamentally alter how our country approaches immigration. If President Biden moves as forward with an Executive Order to reinstate some trump era immigration policies. Is he portraying Progressive Values . Well, well look. I understand he feels a need to act because we are paralyzed in the House Of Representatives on this, because we have a speaker of the house and republicans that honestly, after five years working alongside that, they dont actually want to solve the problem because its such a good political weapon to them. So i understand why the president feels desire to build, to move. But again, i call on him and asked him, youll meet with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, meet with us in the House Of Representatives, talk through these issues, and we can try to find a way for that. I think can both preserve our value of immigration in this country while make he sure we have an orderly system for immigration. Do you think its the right policy for the country . What hes proposing in this Executive Order, why id have to see what he comes down on in that kind of fashion. And again, i understand his desire to take action. And again, all of us in this guy, i worked in National Security before i want us to be safe. I want us to have security over all of our borders, land, air, sea. But again, i worry that we have to be careful here not to sound like donald trump, not to sound like the republicans. We are a Different Party with a different set of values and the american people, i believe our with us when it comes to making sure that we respect what it is that our heritage is brought in terms of immigration. All right. Congressman andy kim at congressman. Thank you so much for taking some time to be with really appreciate your time. All right. Before we go, ill leave you with this remarkable new images from the odysseus lunar lander in the moments after its historic touchdown on the moons surface the photos capture the moment the spacecrafts engine was still firing for stability, kicking up moon dust an American Flag can be seen on a white cloth attached to the lander. That flag was certified for flight. In 1970 at the height of the apollo program. During the landing, the odysseus snap one of its six legs and it came to rest on its side. But officials revealed yesterday its beaten the odds and was still transmitting data despite concerns that it could lose Battery Power by now odysseus is the First American vehicle to touch down on the moon in five decades. So cool. Heres hoping we go back soon. All right, thanks to all of you for joining us on this thursday morning. Im kasie hunt. Dont go anywhere. Cnn news central starts right now