To book your free consultation. All right. Good morning, everyone. It is the top of the hour. Were so glad youre with us on this monday and a busy one already. New polling, new arraignment. Polls, polls, polls, and they all the same thing. Thats the most important. Theyre not focused on one poll. Ill die on this hill. Its a good hill to die on. To the law this morning, a second trump employee scheduled to be arraigned in the classified documents probe, as the former president says he did not direct anyone to delete Security Footage at maralago. And will thousands of smalldollar donors to trumps Political Action committee care all the that their donations are being spent on legal fees. Theyve already spent 40 million this year and thats double what they spent last year and its only july. And theres a giant x at twitters headquarters. San francisco are investigating whether the sign is a permit violation. This hour of cnn this morning starts now. This morning, the Property Manager who allegedly said the boss wanted the Surveillance Video servers deleted at maralago will be at a miami courtroom to answer to four charges. Carlos dol e oliveira is the th person indicted alongside President Trump and walt nauta. He met up with nauta to scope out the Surveillance Cameras around the storage room where documents were moved in and out of. They say that de oliveira asked a different employee, quote, what are we going to do about the boss request to delete footage. This comes as another maralago employee, Yuscil Taveras previously received a target letter from federal prosecutors. Sources tell cnn that a taveras had met with investigators since the initial indictment, but whats not clear is whether hes cooperating with prosecutors or not and we should be very clear, he has not been charged. Were also following new details in other trump investigations. The Special Counsels office dpets ready to meet with another Committee Witness in the fake electors scheme. And in georgia, the District Attorney will decide whether to charge anyone by september 1st. Well get to those new thread in a second. First, lets go to cnns randi kaye, shes outside the courthouse where the Property Manager will be arraigned. Randi, what are the expectations today . Good morning, phil. Well, what were seeing now is that he is really caught up, apparently, in this alleged plot to try and destroy Security Camera footage of plea marala which would have sho these boxes of documents, some of them sified. We are waiting for him to appear here in court this morning. The official charges are pretty serious. Hes facing conspiracy to obstruct justice, false statements that were made as well as two counts of concealing or destroying an object. Now, we know hes going to appear here in court with his lawyer, john irvine, this is a washington, d. C. Based attorney. He will need a floridabased Attorney Insider to enter a plea. If he doesnt have a Florida Attorney this morning, his case could be delayed. And of course, all eyes are watching that, because that could weigh into whether or not donald trump could go to trial in this case before elections. So certainly, that is being closely watched. But also, as you mentioned, at the center of this new allegations, is this i. T. Worker from maralago named Yuscil Taveras. What we understand from sources is that he was working with prosecutors, speaking with the fbi, and the investigators and apparently some of these new allegations against donald trump were based at least in part, phil, from some of this information, coming from Yuscil Taveras, this i. T. Worker. So now, a fourth employee identified and all in this alleged plot to try to get ready of this Security Camera footage. Phil . All right, randi kaye, thank you. Well, also this morning, the Georgia Probe investigating efforts by donald trump and his allies to overturn georgias 2020 president ial election result, that could be nearing its end. Fulton county District Attorney fani willis telling wxia that any announcement of an indictment would happen before september 1st. Some people may not be happy with the decisions that im making and sometimes when people are unhappy, they act in way that could create harm. The work is accomplished. Weve been working for two and a half years. Were ready to go. Willis has previously signaled that she would make any Charging Announcements between july 31st and the end of august, meaning that they could come any day. And this comes after a judge scheduled an august 10th hearing on the trump teams motion to disqualify willis from the case and toss much of the evidence she has collected. Trumps team is also trying to remove another judge in Fulton County from presiding over that case. Were also waiting for another potential federal indictment against former President Trump over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Former new York City Police commissioner and trump ally, bernie kerik will meet with Special Counsel jack smith in a matter of days. Kerik worked alongside Rudy Giuliani in the weeks after the 2020 election to try to search for evidence of fraud that could have shifted the election in trumps favor. Keriks attorney tells cnn that hes going to speak to jack smith and his team of prosecutors about the trumps team unfounded claims of voter fraud. Earlier this month, youll remember, kerik turned over lots of documents about those claims, after previously shielding some of them from congress and federal investigators on the grounds of Attorney Client privilege. So you may have noticed in the process of the six and a half minutes we spent walking through all of the different elements of this, the president has a lot of legal issues. And that also means he has to spend a lot of money. His Political Action committee has to spend it, i should be very clear on that. More than 40 million on legal fees alone for the former president and his associates this year alone, according to a source familiar with the matter. Thats more than double what he spent last year. The pac, which raises most of its funds through small dollar donation is expected to report to the fec this morning as the president s legal battles continue to mount. Cnns Kristen Holmes is live in washington this morning. Kristen, i think maybe this question is, are they going to have a cash problem at some point during the campaign . This is a lot of money and i know theyre trying to set up a separate legal entity. Is this problematic for them from a mechanics organizational perspective, financially . It certainly seems like it could be, phil. And obviously, as youre laying out step after step, all of these legal pabattles, those co money. And theyve spent 40 million so far this year. It is only july. The entirety of last year, they spent 16 million on these legal fees. And again, it is not just donald trump, it is all of these associates, these former and current aides, employees, anyone who was wrapped up in these investigations that his team gamed worthy to actually pay for those attorney fees. And there are a lot of them. You mentioned that maralago case. Both of those codefendants are represented by lawyers who have received an enormous amount of money from that save america pac. And it certainly looks like this could lead to a huge money issue here. This will not cover any of trumps legal fees, but it will cover some of those associate fees, those outside witnesses. Unclear exactly how big the umbrella of this Legal Defense fund is going to be, but it is clearly something that they are taking into account right now, as they are hemorrhaging money for these legal fees. Again, 40 million, and it is just july. And they are not wrapping up, these legal issues are not wrapping up anytime soon. In fact, they seem to be continuing and possibly mounting, getting worse. Yeah, if you want to make 40 million, look at what every other candidate and their super pacs have raised. 40 million is a lot of money. Kristen holmes, great reporting. Thank you. Florida Governor Ron Desantis president ial campaign is seizing on this news. Hicaaign communication statement. Rote this in a trump has spent over 60 million this year on two things,alsely Attacking Desantis and paying his own legal fees. Not a cent on defeating joe biden. Governor desantis soul focus by contrast has been campaigning for this countrys future, defeating biden, and reversing the decline of america, closed quote. Desantis also responded himself. When he sits me with the juvenile insults, i think that helps me. I dont think voters like that. I think they look at it and they realize, like, you know what, thats not effective. And so i dont think its effective. So i actually dont mind it at all. I think its just a reminder why theres so many millions of voters who will never vote for him going forward. Later today, desantis is going to hold a news conference, a press conference, focusing on his economic plan, trying to turn around those slipping poll numbers. Joining us in rochester, New Hampshire, hes talking to press outlets he never tukd before and now hes Holding A Prmess conference on the economy. A i think a question or two might be about how Cdominant Trump is in the polls. Desantis is really trying to put the last few weeks behind him. There has been so much focus on staff cuts and an attempt at a reset on his campaign. He wants to get pack to introducing himself to voters, having one on one conversations with them, and really making the case that he is the best person to represent the party in 2024. Over the weekend, he had a lot of intimate gatherings, like you said, a lot more media thats given access to him lately. And today, he gave an economic speech, which is really something we havent heard him talk much about. Hes so well known for being a Culture Warrior and his socalled war on woke, but we havent so much seen him talk about these kind of Kitchen Table issues. Hes going to do that later today, where hes going to give his Economic Policy speech. This is an issue, obviously, republicans six months ago thought it was one they were going to win on. However, with Inflation Cooling and the economy seeming to be doing better, democrats are feeling much better about their odds on that issue goingesantis interesting. Thanks for the reporting. I mean, my questions will be about tax policy. I know they were. But youre here, not there. So you cant even ask them. That looks really good for a campaign trail. Very put together for campaign correspondents. Very sun eunsettling. President obama publicly acknowledging his Seventh Grandchild on friday. Describing the situation as a family matter. Reaction to statement, coming up ahead. For everyone who lives here. vo Verizon Small Business days are coming. From august 7th to the 13th. Now is the time to partner with our experts. Get started today with verizon business. Its your business. Its your verizon. When moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis takes you off course. Put it in check with rinvoq, a oncedaily pill. When i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid Symptom Relief and helped Leave Bathroom urgency behind. Check. When uc tried to slow me down. I got lasting, steroidfree remission with rinvoq. Check. And when uc caused Damage Rinvoq came through by visibly repairing my colon lining. Check. Rapid Symptom Relief. Lasting steroidfree remission. And the chance to visibly repair the colon lining. Check, check, and check. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. Serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. People 50 and older with at least 1 Heart Disease risk factor have higher risks. Dont take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. Tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. Put uc in check and keep it there with rinvoq. Ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq and learn how abbvie can help you save. I need it cool at night. You trying to ice me out of the bed . Baby, only on game nights. You know you are retired right . Am i . Ya save up to 500 on the new sleep number® smart bed. Plus, 60 month financing on most smart beds. Shop now only at sleep number®. A single strand of mrna. Could individualize how we approach cancer. And the company thats getting us there . Moderna. This changes everything. This morning, we have new polling showing former President Trump dominating his rivals in the republican primary field. The latest New York TimesSiena College poll shows him way up out in front. 54 . Thats 17 apppoints more than h nearest challenger, ron desantis. Trump has remained consistent at 54 in the past few weeks. But whats significant is how much desantis has slipped since last july. The Quinnipiac Poll had him at 22 . And its been dropping. Trump has been rising. Joining us now, White House Correspondent at bloomberg news, kala gardner. Also a buckeye, get excited, poppy. And cnn political analyst and White House Correspondent at pbs newshour, shes cool too, laura barone lopez, One Of The Best in the business. Laura, i want to start with you on kind of the i think we have similar views in terms of one poll does not make everything. Its the consistency of these numbers and the kind of, at some point, we have to stop repeating over and over again, its reheearly, its early, its early. Were getting there at this point. Whats your read in the current state of the race . Look, trump has a really strong grip on the republican base. And even a recent pbs npr marist poll we just had come out on friday said the exact same thing, which is that 58 of republicans say that despite his legal peril, despite all of these indictments that are piling up, they still are supporting him over other gop candidates. So right now, shes the one that the gop base wants, and ron desantis appears to be the second one that consistently is highest in polls, but hasnt been able to convince voters, either because hes more focused on policy and they want more emotions, which is what weve heard from voters, saying that they really are just still attached to trump and his ideologies and his the messaging that hes bringing, which is essentially one of grievance skand just all around his legal peril and all around election denialism, but thats what theyre going for right now. The economic speech today, kayla, that desantis is going to give is going to focus on the economy and largely go after biden. Not go after trump. The extent to which hes gone after trump has been like, hey, he spent 20 million, you know, sort of going after me and attacking me. Thats as far as he will go. But do you have any indication that republican primary voters are thinking about electability in the general election, because thats what desantis is banking this whole thing on. Absolutely. I think electability is top of mind here. And i think the speech today comes at a very crucial time in his campaign. Weve seen backtoback bad headlines for desantis. His campaign is in a cash crunch. Hes laid off now two rounds of layoffs for his staff. And donors have been telling him, they want him to focus on more moderate issues. He became popular in florida because of his culture wars, but we really havent seen him focus on these Kitchen Table issues. And the economy is top of mind for voters, it has been, and it will continue to be. And he really needs to prove himself on these issues to continue in this race. Hey, laura, switching over to the democratic side, you know, our friend of all of us, Jonathan Martin at the New York Times had a column sorry, hes now at the politico, a column about the potential for another democrat hopping into the race to challenge the incumbent president joe biden. Deane phillips, a congressman from minnesota, i have thoughts on this, but i am intrigued by yours, in terms of who dean phillips is, how hes thought of inside the House Democratic caucus. Well, i know that we both know who dean phillips is, phil, because weve covered congress, ive talked to Dean Phillips A Number of times, but i mentioned his name to a relative who does not live anywhere near d. C. And they said, who, yesterday . I dont think that he has any Name Recognition outside of d. C. , among the democratic caucus, he is certainly respected, and they feel as though hes a very serious l