this evening. alex wagner tonight starts right tonight with my good, friend alex wagner. ts righ thank you, chris, and thk you as always for joining us this hour. we have some breaking news tonight from the new york times this evening, some reporting that makes a recently unearthed trump recording even more incredible. if you ve not yet heard it, nbc news has independently obtained the audio of former president trump and his bedminster unit new jersey golf club, essentially admitting to a crime. here is trump in july of 2021 telling a group of people that he still has classified information after leaving the white house, and then proceeding to destroy his own defense. he explicitly says on audiotape that he could have declassified this when he was president, but he did not. take a listen. isn t that amazing? this totally wins my case. except it is highly confidential this was done by the military and given to me. i think that we can probably do that, yes? we ll have to
within, it s more questions he has to find answers for. confusion and uncertainty in russia this morning after a failed revolt by the head of the wagner mercenary group. this was the most significant challenge to vladimir putin s authority in decades. we ll go over what exactly happened and what it could mean for putin s leadership as well as the ongoing war in ukraine. plus, despite mounting legal challenges, new polling shows donald trump expanding his lead in the 2024 republican primary. we re breaking down the new numbers straight ahead. and special counsel jack smith asks a federal judge to delay trump s upcoming classified documents trial. what we re learning about the possible new timing for that. good morning and welcome to way too early on this monday, june 26th. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we ll begin this morning with this weekend s developing news out of russia where the head of the mercenary wagner group launched the most
his first television interview since the announcement in iowa last hour. sandra: polling has him at a distant third, and he will have to walk a fine line between his white house experience and distancing himself from his former boss turned rival. how will he stand out? john: one top issue, the push for parental rights, republicans are campaigning on. they need to stop asking little children what they sexually identify as. six years old to decide about sexual things they don t even know. john: a brawl breaking out in southern california where parents pulled kids from classrooms over the push for lgbtq materials in the curriculum. assistant principal instructed staff to teach kids that every child by default is queer and socialist. a busy one, sandra. sandra: second house. a hazy orange new york at the moment, start with the dangerous wildfire smoke smothering not just new york but the entire eastern united states, john. wild pictures coming in. john: take a look
Saying in a new interview about his reelection campaign, concerns about his age, and where this Debt Ceiling Standoff goes next. Plus, you have to see this one to believe it, former president Donald Trumps Video Deposition in the Defamation Lawsuit against him. He defends he is Access Hollywood comments on even insults the attorney asking the questions. The impact the testimony could have on the jury as the civil trial comes to an end. We have a lot to talk about, so lets get started. We are going to dig into President Bidens new interview with Msnbc Stephanie Ruhle in just a few moments. But first, is the Supreme Court compromised . More stunning reports about conservative Justice Clarence thomas have Many Americans and democrats calling for greater oversight on the judicial body. We cited think statements that billionaire gop, harlan crow, paid for thomass nephew to attend boarding school. That same day, the Washington Post detailed correspondents in 2012, between former Vice Preside
you re live in the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. we re at a crucial moment in the high-stakes debt ceiling talks. we re waiting for details on a phone call that just wrapped up in the last hour between president biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy. negotiations are down to one final sticking point, safety net for social programs. leaders may have as little as eight days to prevent the u.s. from defaulting on its debt. many experts predict economic disaster if that happens. manu raju is up on capitol hill. manu, i was hoping since you were there in front of the cameras for us today that that meant i think this is probably our strongest indicator, that you were on capitol hill for us. president and kevin mccarthy spoke. at this point if the speaker were to come out and touk alk t reporters, that would be a good sign. you tell us. reporter: that s right, jim. the speaker said today he would be the one to make the announcement that there is a deal. well, he