opportunity for candidates, i m not sure whether they ll take that opportunity. for those who have gone against trump, have suffered some backlash, and nobody decided that they re going to be the brave one to go carry that message through with the platform that s conservative but an argument that trump is, you know, effectively damaged goods, or maybe even did something wrong at some point. we haven t heard a lot of that. these events, as you know, the lincoln day dinner for republicans the democrats used to have the jefferson jackson dinner. if you remember, 2007, barack obama really launched himself in iowa with his speech at that event, a similar type of event with a lot of activists, you know, in the room to listen. there s an opportunity here for some of these candidates to really grab the attention of iowa voters and particularly big-time iowa insiders who go to these dinners. we ll have to see. so far, if past is prologue, none of them are really going to take on trump. iowa
the same robot that found the titanic sub is back at the wreckage site, the lead starts right now. what went so tragically wrong? causing the implosion that killed five people on that v voyage. first on cnn, a new mission today for that remote vehicle that discovered the sub debris. plus, a cnn exclusive. fake electors compelled to testify. as a special counsel investigation looking in efforts to over turn the 2020 election heats up. and in the shadow of trump, 2024 republican hopefuls converge on a conservative conference and try to separate themselves on one of the most divisive issues of this election cycle. welcome to the lead, i m abby phillip in for jake tapper here in washington.
trump s supporters, he s always the victim. i mean, donald trump himself said i could walk out in the park avenue in manhattan and shoot someone and everything would be fine. that does describe the average trump supporter. now, there are a lot of swing voters in this country who actually decide elections. they don t make up the base of either party, and those voters have less of a tolerance for donald trump, his behavior, and his antics, and we saw those voters punish republican candidates in the 2022 midterms. we haven t heard from republican candidate nikki haley, desantis just spoke on it now. is there a danger politically for some of these folks just for not talking about it? you know, it s a trap that republicans face, jose. they have to be loyal to trump, but they can t operate in the shadow of trump. how do you beat donald trump if you re operating in his shadow. at the same time, you do have to distinguish yourself, but if you distinguish yourself too much,
to ask ours the question as americans what are our responsibilities? what is our primary responsibility to secure the well-being, the flourishing of our democratic policy? so it s a crisis point, jonathan. and i know there are pocketbook issues, they are kitchen table issues. questions around inflation, question around crime. but democracy is at stake. so i think the president was absolutely right to say the choice is clear. there s no in between, you either conclusion the side for democracy or against democracy. certainly, the shadow of trump looms large. even though his name is not on the ballot. polls show democracy ranks high and abortion rights but, of course, number one right now, the economy. and the senate is a toss-up, most analysts believe, and it may come down to pennsylvania. what is your take of what you saw in that highly anticipated and closely scrutinized debate
polls between trump and bush. athena jones has more on these two with republican heavyweights going to war with words. you win when you campaign like this. you don t win when you train like this. jeb bush hitting back at donald trump today. you win when you connect with people about their aspirations. not about how great you are. how rich you are, how this or how that you are. that s not leadership. those remarks are on the heels of wednesday s war of words between bush and trump. the real estate mogul dissing bush with comments like this. i don t see how he is electable. jeb bush is a low energy person. echoing an emerging narrative that the former governor isn t energizing voters. you know what is happening to jeb s crowd, as you know, right down the street, they are sleeping. they are sleeping now. in fact, one woman dozed off at bush s town hall today. even his fans say they are