plus with friends like these, a month until the iowa caucus and on the trail, donald trump is quoting dictators such as vladimir putin. it shows the rottenness of the american political system. in a month will he be his party s de facto nominee? chris christie is coming up. and israel reels after troops kill three of its own hostages waiving a white flag. will that change the way israel is waging war in gaza and affect crucial help from the united states? hello, i m jake tapper in washington where the state of our union is frankly stunned. watchs the leading republican candidate donald trump quote one of our nation s foremost adversaries, vladimir putin, as a sort of character witness while on the stump in new hampshire last night. vladimir putin, of russia, said that biden, and this is a quote, politically motivated persecution of his political rival is very good for russia because it shows the rottenness of the american political system which can not pretend to
ahead. possible indictment of a former president trump. wall street journal is today reporting this, that special counsel jack smith has all but finished obtaining his evidence into whether donald trump mishandled evidence at the mar-a-lago. and some of the trump close associates are bracing for his indictment. they say that clashes within the trump legal team have led to the departure of a delawyer. and the wall street journal goes on to report that jack smith appears to be tying up loose ends saying in recent weeks prosecutors working for smith have completed interviews with nearly every employee at trump s florida home from top aides to maintenance staff. they have pressed witnesses on questions that appear to hone in on specific elements that they need to show to include a crime. and questions aimed at undermining potential defenses that trump could raise reports are that the special counsel as assembled evidence and much of that appears to obliterate many ofhe argume
for abortion rights. and to witness the states democratic governor, roy cooper veto the 12-week abortion ban that the republican-controlled state legislature passed in the first week of may. now north carolina republicans claim that the bill was, quote, a mainstream approach to regulating abortion, but critics say it is full of hidden restrictions and medically unnecessary obstacles that take in together were we dramatically reduce access to abortion and cause women s health clinics across the state to shut down. but the fact that republicans are trying to market this extreme abortion ban as reasonable and mainstream is important. it s part of a larger national effort will cancel determine unacceptable abortion ban standard that they could enact without politically backfiring on them. for the most, where they ve been unsuccessful in this regard. again, the majority of americans support abortion rights. opposed this is importing the criminalization of women and their doctors
we re only ten days out from a potential u.s. default, and there is still no deal on the debt ceiling. that s only step one. keep in mind it still has to clear congress quickly. another critical meeting between the president and house speaker just hours away. we re going to take you live to the white house and capitol hill. also ahead, the naacp issues a travel advisory for florida, accusing the state of being openly hostile towards african americans. details on the driving force behind that warning and how governor ron desantis is responding just ahead. and instead of walking across the stage to get her diploma, a transgender teen opts out of commencement after the school said she had to wear pants. we are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central. the federal government is running out of money and d.c. is running out of time to get america s accounts in order. later this afternoon president biden and speaker mc
beautiful sunrise in washington, d.c. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is thursday, may 18th. donald trump has claimed that he could declassify materials just by thinking about them. like i dream of jeannie. but there is new evidence in the mar-a-lago documents investigation that proves he knows it s not true. the former president is seizing on two failed endorsements in florida from governor ron desantis, while ignoring the lack of success his candidates had in the last election. also ahead, the latest on the debt ceiling negotiations with both sides digging in on one big issue. we ll explain what that is. and we re keeping an eye on president biden this morning as he is in japan for the g7 summit. welcome, everybody. along with joe, willie and me, we have the host of way too early, white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments, elise jordan is with us. and former white ho