good morning. to viewers here in the u.s. and around the world it is tuesday, may 24th. and we begin with a proxy war playing out on primary day, and the fate of the republican party at stake. voters will head to the polls in five states today. but the spotlight is really on georgia, where former president trump s 2020 election grievances loom large. last night former vice president mike pence stumping for incumbent governor brian kemp in an election eve rally. and this race is pitting pence against his former boss who is supporting pence s primary opponent david perdue. kemp has been a top target against trump s vengeance campaigns. trump issued a statement that may be unprecedented when it comes to former running mates. he said, quote, mike pence was set to lose the governor s race in 2016, before he was plucked up and his political career was salvaged. now desperate to chase his lost relevance, pence is parachuting into races hoping someone is paying attention. we re liv
stations signs climb higher by the day. it could plunge the u.s. into a deep recession. sandra: first america reports with five states holding primary elections today as voters choose their party s nominees, in critical midterm races and the results could say a lot about president trump s influence over the republican party in 2022 and 2024. hello, i m sandra smith on this tuesday in new york. john: john roberts in washington. voting underway in alabama, arkansas, georgia, minnesota and texas. several races could give us clues about trump s grip on the republican party and whether the progressives are gaining control of the democratic party. sandra: georgia gubernatorial race, david kemp is facing david perdue, and who will face stacey abrams in november. john: rick scott, chairman of the republican senate committee standing by. sandra: our team on the ground, aishah hasnie, but mark, what is the latest on the governor s race? hello. hey, sandra, good afternoon.
war, plus trump versus pence, candidates in duelling rallies just hours before the polls open, is trump about to face his biggest primary defeat yet and was it a love triangle turned deadly? texas marshalls looking for a woman who allegedly killed a cyclist dating her boyfriend. let s go outfront. i m erin burnett, pentagon confirming plans under way to send u.s. forces to protect the embassy in ukraine s capitol, planning includes potentially sending special operations forces there and that would mark the first u.s. troops into ukraine since the war began. even as president biden promised there would be none. just a short distance from the u.s. embassy, mean time, towns are still under attack like desna where according to ukrainian president volodomyr zelenskyy, 87 people were killed after four rockets hit the town. this this comes as putin faces growing opposition to his operation in ukraine inside russia, today long-time russian diplomat quit in a damning letter saying h
militarily to defend taiwan if it comes to that? yes. you are? that s the commitment we made. now, a white house official be the pentagon tried to walk back the president s comments, insisting the decades old policy of strategic ambiguity has not changed. but the defense secretary had a different explanation than the president when asked if biden s comments could mean putting troops on the ground. putting troops on the ground defend taiwan? our one china policy has not changed. we reiterated that policy in our commitment to peace and stability across the taiwan strait. cnn s jeremy diamond is in tokyo. this is not the first time that president biden said something like this about taiwan. reporter: that s right, alison. it s certainly not, and that is what is is critical to understanding biden s words here. back in august, president biden said we would respond if there s an attack on taiwan. two months after that, he said the u.s. had a commitment to if it were
an explosive report of sex abuse cases inside the southern baptist convention. survivors repeatedly ignored and disbelieved by the largest protestant denomination in the united states as leaders themselves tried to protect their own reputations instead of protecting the victims. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we start with our world lead and top white house advisers caught off guard by this response from president biden when he was asked in a news conference in tokyo if the u.s. would be willing to foe further than it has with ukraine to help taiwan in the event of an invasion. you didn t want to get involved in the ukraine conflict militarily for obvious reasons. are you willing to get involved militarily to defend taiwan if it comes to that? yes. you are? that s the commitment we made. now, president biden didn t specify what he meant by militarily, but the question defined the term as the u.s. military getting directly involved as it has not done in uk