cnn is on the scene of cleanup and recovery efforts as president joe biden is now set to visit the disaster zone. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm alex marquardt, and you're in the situation room. we begin with new legal maneuvers by donald trump's defense as his criminal prosecution in georgia is now moving forward. let's get straight to cnn's sarah murry. so sarah, walk us through what happened today including trump's request to separate his case. >> let's start with donald trump entering his not guilty plea officially, saying he is going to waive his arraignment. he now joins about a handful of folks in this sprawling 19 defendant case who have entered their pleas on paper, not guilty pleas those include sidney powell, attorney ray smith and attorney el. he's not going to have to show up in this courtroom i will february 6th. attorneys say they want a speedy trial. donald trump's team is making clear they don't want anything to do with this. respectfully require less than two months preparation time to defend a 98-page indictment charging 19 defendants with 41 various charges including a rico conspiracy charge with 161 overt acts would violate president trump's rights to a fair trial. he's about to go to trial in september on another issue. again these are all hindrances for district attorney fani willis who wanted to try all 19 of these defendants together. we're seeing how difficult it is for her to try to approach the case that way. >> and we're also seeing, sarah, new filings in mark meadows' case, his effort to move it from the georgia state court to federal court. what's the latest on that? >> that's right. that was a 5 p.m. deadline. everyone made their deadline. perhaps unsurprisingly they see the case differently. meadows team is saying, look, if he did one thing related to his role as white house chief of staff, it's all related to his role as white house chief of staff and this should move to federal court. fani willis is saying he participated in a conspiracy. that conspiracy was not part of his role as white house chief of staff. one of the actions he took may have pertained to his duties isn't enough to move to federal court. eventually the judge should have what he needs by now. >> sarah, stay with us. i want to bring in our legal experts and start off with what sarah was talking about. laura coates, trump now asking for his case to be separated from his codefendants. those codefendants, some of them asking for a speedy trial in this georgia election interference case. so how does this judge balance that need to give these defendants time to prepare for trial with fani willis' desire? how does this reconcile with her desire to try all 19 defendants. >> remember there were questions to try them all together not because of the ambitious trial date she wanted to have and i think she said six months but because of the prospect of this happening. when you sever something the whole goal is distinguish your case from the codefendants. one reason might be is because you might have inconsistent defenses. you don't want the stench of the person next to you to float over to this person in the jury or it might be there is some reason to believe you want a quicker trial date. now, in georgia they're a little bit unique. they had a speedy trial which belongs to the defendant exclusive. for example, fani couldn't say to them, look, you must do this for this point in time for reasons you raised, preparation. but if some do want that, you might have a scenario where the jury pool who might ultimately decide on the case for the latter defendants might have a preview unchecked by an attorney whose interest is to protect their cleent and individual defendant. so it's not necessarily a great thing if you're the other defendants to have your case go after. on the other hand, you get a preview of the strength of the prosecution's case. >> and that could be absolutely critical. that andrew mccabe, would be the strategy on the defense side. how would separating this case change the prosecution by d.a. fani will sns. >> she's made it clear from the start she wants all these defendants together, behind the same table or group of tables, in this case 19 people. that's because she want to be able to put all the evidence they have against many different individuals together in the same pile. it creates a much more devastating view for all the defendants. it's easier to get a single jury to get people rounded up into one big group than it is to take your chances against smaller group of people. >> norm, the latest one is we now know that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, in georgia. what do you think the impact of that is going to be? what are you expecting? >> it will have a beneficial impact on the whole. there will be downsides. on the plus side this is a matter of the utmost importance to every american. the amount of attention which was substantial that the january 6th committee got for their televised hearings will be dwarfed by the ratings for these hearings because the american people want to understand what happened, who was responsible, and ultimately they're interested in the impact on donald trump. he'll see if he's in that courtroom for the first set of trials or not. i think he's probably going to be severed. now, there are down sides. we know it's a very charged political environment. anybody whose face is on television may have some level of risk. that can affect witnesses. i'm sure they'll protect the jury. it can affect court personnel, so there's already enhanced security measures. pluses and minuses on the whole the pluses predominate. >> it would be extraordinary television no matter what. we have heard trump and his team going after fani willis, sarah. today we heard the republican governor of georgia, brian kemp. he rejected calls by the trump side for a special legislative session to investigate the d.a. is that a surprise? >> a lot of ways it's not. kemp said today it's not feasible for him to call a special session. it may be unconstitutional for him to call a special session for this purpose, and he's kind of in the same boat he was before with the trump allies. they were trying to convince him to call a special session to try to overturn the 2020 election results, kemp wouldn't go along with it at that point either. i think he's it clear whether he agrees or disagrees with the prosecution of this case, he's going to let the district attorney do his job. he's also not going to stick his neck out to do any favors. they don't have a particularly late relationship. trump recruited someone to run against him embarrassingly in a primary, so i don't think kemp is going to go out of his way at this point. >> what about this defense by mark meadows, everything he was doing was in his official purview as chief of staff. there is this court filing by prosecutors who say it doesn't matter if some of these overt acts in this conspiracy were part of his job, laura. what do you make of this? >> well, the arguments against what he's saying are actually sound. just because you and i are having a conversation right now and i'm a lawyer and you're not we have some kind of att attorney-client privilege happening right now. the job of the chief of staff is not to put one's thumb on the scale of the state election, which of course is the purview of the states for that very reason. and the law actually dictates if there's any sort of nefarious or criminal or personal reason for why you're motivated to act the way you're doing outside of your line of duties, you cannot have the protections, and if you have that think of the illogical end to the conclusion here. no matter what i do what i say currently employed i'm completely insulated from accountability. that would go against what we believe to be the case why you have that distinction. >> i agree but the flip side here is very low standard to get removal and very favorable to federal officers because of other cases where there have been abuses. so he may be able to meet that low standard. the judge seems to be thinking, well, does one drop of officialness matter, but laura is right, it shouldn't matter, alex, because at the end of the day it's a three-part test. he almost certainly fails the second part and he for sure fails the third part, but we'll see what the judge does with that low standard and favorable law. >> it's going to be a highly anticipated ruling. we did see two more proud boys, two members of that far right group. remember trump told him during that debate to stand back and standby. two of these members have just been sentenced to 17 and 15 years in prison for january 6th. andy, what is your take on how severe, how long these sentences that are being handed down are for both the members of the proud boys and oath keepers? >> y >> you know, alex, these are significant sentences. however, they're far below what the government requested in this case. i think most natably the judge made sentences he wasn't weighing on whether these individuals engaged in domestic terrorism or acts of terrorism. he said at one point that's for others to decide. actually it's not. it's for the judge to decide. he seems to have taken a pass on the terrorism enhancements that would have made the sentences longer, which is questionable in my view simply because of what these individuals engaged in so perfectly fits the definition in federal law of what constitutes domestic terrorism that it's in my mind applying the terrorism enhancement would have been the appropriate result. >> and we are still waiting for the sentencing of enrique tarrio, the leader oof the proud boys. prosecutors have asked for 33 years in his case. be sure to tune into laura coates right here on "cnn tonight." and just ahead we'll be going to the update on hurricane idalia as prpresident biden prprepares to visit florida. you're in the situation roroom. now!!!! i'm on it. i'm, on n it. already sold to carvana. go to carvana anand track your car's value today. 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>> mcconnell is trying to alleviate those concerns sending messages to his colleagues and allies he's fully able to leave the senate even as questions continue to persist about ow how long he'll be able to be in charge of a conference he has led for the past 16 years. this is the moment, mitch mcconnell freezing again, and that pause opened a new round of questions. this after the second time in many months he froze in front of cameras prompting concerns about the 81-year-old kentuckyian's health. >> senator daniel cameron. do you have a comment on daniel cameron? >> reporter: behind the scenes mcconnell has sought to reassure allies he can continue the job he's held for 16 years, longer than any senate leader in history. and today mccom's office releasing a letter from brian monahan, the attending physician and saying it's not uncommon to suffer occasionally light-headedness for people who suffer concussions as mcconnell did when he fell and hit his head at a washington hotel in march, side lining him for nearly six months. but republican senators and aides tell cnn they are skeptical he'll remain in the job until 2025, potentially opening up a leadership race between senators john thune, john cornyn. after the first time he froze in july gop senators support him stay as leader, but many would not say if they back him in the future. >> do you think senator mcconnell should run for leader in congress? >> hell, the new congress is 18 months ago. do you think if he ran for leader he would get the job? >> i think that's speculation not necessary right now. >> reporter: after his wednesday event in covington, kentucky, mcconnell called key allies including thune and corner and attended a fund-raiser for senate candidate jim banks who told cnn that the republican leader was sharp and engaging. the question about mcconnell's health is bound to intensify when he faces 48 gop colleagues next week for the first time since before the summer recess. >> he should tell us if something big is going on. and whatever he tells me i'll trust to be true. >> reporter: some fear the impact of mcconnell's fall in march could be worse than he's let on. >> obviously the fall he's had it's more damaging than people thought. >> reporter: all of this putting a spotlight on an aging senate where a majority of senators are in their 60s and 70s. today mcconnell getting a phone call from someone who's known for decades, president biden. >> i've spoke to mitch. he's a friend, and i spoke to him today, and, you know, he was his old self on the telephone. >> reporter: and there's no way for any of mcconnell's critics in the senate gop conference to try to force a vote to oust him from his leadership position. that is different from the senate and the house. they can't do that unless he were to step aside voluntarily. the next leadership won't be until after the lame duck session in congress. >> so disturbing to see that clip of mcconnell yesterday. we're joined by chief political correspondent dana bash as well as chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. i want to go to your first about this extremely brief doctors note. what is your take on that note inwhat concerns do you have. >> look, i know they don't really tell us much at all. they say at the end light-headedness could be caused by dehydration, absolutely true but not relevant to what's going on there. everyone's saw these episodes that he's had, and that doesn't explain that. he's entitled to his privacy, but they've tried to address some of these concerns but very inadequate in terms of actually explaining this. i think the biggest thing i got out of that note, frankly, is the doctor said he conferred with mitch mcconnell and he consulted with his neurology team. now we know the senator has a neurology team and that's good. it sounds like he's been seen, evaluated. he may even be getting treated. he could have something they're well aware of and breaking through the effectiveness of medication. for example, you could have a break through seizure when medications drop off and you're fine again after you take your medicine. that could be what manu is describing where he has these episodes and shortly thereafter seems totally lucid again. that would fit. but that note, again people are entitled to their privacy, but if they're trying to explain something here, they didn't do it with that note. >> a three-sentence doctor's note is not going to stop these questions. do you think he and his office are going to have to be more transparent about what's going on? >> you know, if the questions keep coming and they likely will from his constituents most importantly and also from the 48 other members of the republican conference in the united states senate. those are all -- there are a lot of legitimate questions. one thing i will add to what dr. gupta just said in that three sentence letter from the doctor and the capitol physician it did note that the -- in which manu talked about in his piece that was back in the spring. not until this morning when scott jennings who's a colleague of ours, who's a republican analyst, and he also is a very long-time friend and aide, former aide to mitch mcconnell. the concussion mitch mcconnell had in the spring. that does seem to be an indicator what this is, but to underscore what sanjay said and manu said and what you're alluding to, we just don't know many of the details, and it's unclear how transparent he's going to be. look, he is known as a stubborn man, and that stubbornness is something he takes -- he's very proud of particularly when it comes to his health, he's of a different generation. but it's unclear how genuine pressure he feels to say more. >> it does appear, manu, at least his colleagues are hoping for some kind of explanation when they're back on the hill next week. you noted there's some skepticism he may not be leading anymore in 2025. oftentimes conversations and reactions we're seeing in public are very different than what's being said in private. what are you hearing, manu, behind the scenes? >> a lot of questions. remember the senate is on recess, in fact the last week of a five-week recess which is why a lot of these questions are going to be building. that happened right before the senate left for its summer holiday so essentially these questions died squun doand everyone is back in their home states and doing their own things, but now these are right back into the floor after this latest episode. mcconnell will face his leadership team and have a sit down meeting with them on tuesday as he does every week when they're in session and have a full republican conference meeting next wednesday and mcconnell may address these questions then and he's private about these issues and perhaps may not even discuss it. there is some rumblings perhaps a handful of members can try to force a special conference meeting to discuss their future leadership team, but that has not been decided. they have the power to do it and at the moment mitch mcconnell is content to stay as public leader. >> obviously there are questions about president joe biden's age as well. this has to be a concern for both parties, no? >> it is because these are two examples you just gave of the aging political class, the elected officials in this country. and it is in both parties and it is across up and down pennsylvania avenue, nevermind the supreme court. so that is definitely a concern among people in -- among american people. that is true if you look at polls, and this is only going to keep that conversation going. >> yeah, there's a recent associated press poll saying that -- asking americans whether they favor a maximum age limit to run for congress, and 68% were in favor. all right, we have to leave it there. manu raju, dana bash, and john jay gupta, thank you for joining us. donald trump's new not guilty plea and more gop presidential candidate will herd will join us next. to reel in the fun and savor every bite. to help you get ready your aspen dental team is celebrarating 25 years of affordable care with an epic summer of smiles event. don't miss enjoying a moment, with our onsite labs to help you, fast, and 20% off your denture care. so, whether you need a new look or a quick fix, you can celebrate with a smile all season— always at aspen dental. book today. 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ubrelvy is another option. it works fast to eliminate migraine pain. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. allergic reactions to ubrelvy can happen. most common side effects were nausea and sleepiness. ask about ubrelvy. we are getting new reaction to donald trump's not guilty plea in georgia and his attempt to separate his case from his codefendants. joining me now one of trump's opponents for the republican presidential nomination, former congressman will herd. congressman herd, thank you so much for joining us this evening. i do want to start with that news. trump pleading not guilty today in the georgia election interference case and asking that his case be severed from his codefendants. they want a speedy trial. what's your reaction to that, and how important do you think it is this case is resolved before the election next year? >> look, of course he's trying to separate this from everybody else, and he wants to draw this out as long as possible. i'm of the opinion if you have nothing to hide you should want a speedy trial. it would be great to have this resolved and have all these 91 charges sorted out before the election. that's unlikely to happen, that's why for those who want somebody other than donald trump to be elected we have to get engaged in this primary season and make sure that the issue of the court cases don't have an impact on the election. >> district attorney fani willis hoping that trial with the 19 codefendants starts as early as october. i want to ask you about senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. as you he had a second freezing incident in as many months. he was speaking yesterday with reporters in kentucky. the physician at the capitol now saying he's medically clear to serve. do you think he's fit to continue leading senate republicans? >> if brian moynihan said he's fit to serve, if mitch mcconnell said he's okay, then i trust their word. i hope senator mcconnell is fine. the thing i've learned in my time working with him when i was in congress is he's going to do what's right and what's good for the american public. and so i wish him, you know, that he has success and has a great long weekend and looking forward to having his back in congress when they're back in session. but here's the reality. age is going to be an issue. and if the american public thinks people are too old or maybe too young, then it's our responsibility to settle that at the ballot box. the other thing i'm hearing and we know age is going to be an issue not just in the senate, but it's going to be an issue in the presidential race. and the thing i'm hearing from people when i'm talking to them whether it's in new hampshire or iowa is people want elected officials that actually understand the issues they're dealing with now and going to be dealing with in the future. one of those i get asked a lot about is artificial intelligence. people are worried about a robot taking their job, and they want to make sure they have folks that understand these tools, have used these tools and know the best we can take advantage of technology before it takes advantage of us. that's one of those issues of how age is going to play in some of these elections and one of the reasons i'm running for president. and hopefully people that believe in those things and want to make sure someone in their 40s and working on these issues go to hurtforamerica.com and donate at least $1. >> you do have a few young opponents. though he just dropped out of this republican presidential race, a move he said he would make if he failed to qualify for that first debate. you, sir, also did not qualify. if you don't make it to a second debate stage, are you going to consider dropping out? >> alex, my focus is meeting the requirements to hit the debate stage. i've made it clear also i'm not willing to sign the loyalty oath as is, so the fact we weren't able to negotiate that with the rnc the last time -- we're focused on continuing to move forward. we've met the polling requirements in new hampshire. we're close to the donor threshold, and my focus is on these next couple of weeks and talking about issues people care about. people are already for someone who is not afraid of donald trump, also articulating a vision for the future, i recognize i'm a dark horse candidate. our goal is not to peak today or peak tomorrow. our goal is to peak which voting starts come late winter. >> congressman, before i let you go i want to ask you about another opponent, nickki haley. today she spoke about not ruling out speaking former president trump as vice president. what's your reaction to that, and what do you think that says about the state of gop and the race? >> well, let's just say donald trump's not on my short list for vp. and i think one of the reasons i'm running is donald trump has been a national security threat to our country. i think he's the reason that the gop has lost elections. we lost the house in 2018. we lost the white house and the senate in 2020. a red wave didn't happen in 2022 because of donald trump. and in wanting to mimic the patterns and behaviors of a proven loser is not the way that the gop is going to change a trend for the last 20 years of losing the national popular vote. >> well, congressman will herd, former congressman, best of luck on the campaign trail. thank you for joining us this evening. and coming up new video reporting the show the wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin just days before his death. that video has just surfaced. we'll have a live rereport heren the situation room. there's a story in every piece of land. run with us on a john deere gator™ xuvuv and start telllling yours. 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( ♪ ♪ ) ( ♪ ♪ ) experience the sanctuary of handsfree highway driving with lincoln bluecruise. it's the final days of the lincoln summer invitation event. right now, get 3.9% apr and $1000 trade assist cash on a new 2023 lincoln. there is newly released video purporting to show the former wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin appearing unconcerned about his safety just days before his death before his death earlier this month. fred pleitgen is covering this story for us. it really is quite eerie hearing this new clip from prigozhin after his death. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, eerie and quite fascinating as well because he seems to sort of pinpoint the time he was talking about. that was mid-august and where he is, he says he's in africa. as you mention he also addresses the speculation he might soon be killed. i want to listen in to what prigozhin said in that video. >> translator: for everyone discussing whether i'm alive or not and how i'm doing, it's currently a weekend in the second half of august 2023. i'm in africa, so for those who like to speculate about my elimination, my private life, my work there, or everything else, everything's fine, as a matter of fact. >> everything is fine, yevgeny prigozhin said in that video. a couple days later if indeed that was recorded in august not everything was fine for him anymore. we know a couple days before that plane came down there was a video released by wagner of yevgeny prigozhin in africa, and vladimir putin himself also said that when the plane was brought down yevgeny prigozhin was returning from africa as well. the kremlin coming out now and saying they are now investigating, as they put it, the chance the plane was brought down deliberately. certainly that doesn't come as a surprise to many people. the other thing that also happened today is one of the senior leaders of wagner was also laid to rest. he was instrumental in forming wagner and also gave the organization its name, was also military chief of that organization as well. one of the things we picked up on quite interesting he was laid to rest in a memorial cemetery south of moscow and he did receive military honors unlike yevgeny prigozhin. >> major questions what will happen to wagner in africa. fred pleitgen, thank you for that report. for more on the story i'm joined by adjunct professor jill dougherty. listening to that prigozhin video i can't help but think of that mark twain quote. days later he was indeed killed on that plane. what do you make of this posp posthumus take? remember there really were questions where is he and kind of disappeared for a while but he was at a the kremlin. let's not forget we have the president of the united states and other, you know, senior officials all over the world saying i'd watch what i were eating if i were he. that's not surprising, but i think let's preface it all by saying the kremlin continues to say they had nothing to do with his death. i think look at it this way, what prigozhin did was unforgivable according to putin, and i think putin the indications are let him think that, that actually things were forgiven, come to the kremlin, have other meetings. but in the end after they begun to dismantle and certainly made a lot of progress in dismantling his empire, they didn't need him anymore. if they didn't need him anymore, he was gone. >> we've now just seen one of the biggest drone assaults in russia presumably by ukraine since this war started, and it really is sig nunying how this conflict is moving deeper into russia. do you think this will make russians up to the realities of what putin is doing in ukraine or perhaps cause russians to rally around vladimir putin? >> you know, i think it's almost a little more complicated. the whole thing that the kremlin has been doing is saying since the beginning of this -- the invasion, don't worry, everything is under control, go back to every day life, nothing's happening, everything's okay. and so now look what russians are faced with. right in the city of moscow they have drone attacks constantly and this big wave we just saw. prigozhin is assassinated. there's a secret burial of prigozhin. you have casualties in the war. inflation is skyrocketing in russia and other economic problems. so i really think at this point it's really hard to avoid what they will end up thinking is another question. >> there's also being fed a very steady diet of disinformation. thank you very much. just ahead how two conservative justices are trying to answer questions over ethics on the u.s. supreme court. >> woman: why did we choose safelite? >> vo: for us, driving around is the only way we can get our baby to sleep, so when our windshield cracked, we needed it fixed right. we went to safelite.com. there's no one else we'd trust. their experts replaced our windshield, and recalibrated our car's advanced safety system. they focus on our safety... so we can focus on this little guy. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ you've evolved. ♪ you've changed. so have we. that's why dove body wash now has 24 hour renewing micro moisture for continuous care. dove body wash. change is beautiful. 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[ engine revving ] ♪ ♪ made it! mom! leave running behind, behind. the new turbocharged volkswagen atlas. does life beautifully. tonight with the u.s. supreme court mired in ethics controversies justices clarence thomas and samuel aleto are releasing new financial disclosures. joan, what do these new filings tell us? >> they reinforce the relationship justice thomas has with harlan crow, a texas real estate billionaire who we knew from propublica reporting had taken many trips with clarence thomas and had lavished all sorts of, you know, private jet travel, yachts, other vacation excursions. but in this report clarence thomas himself is disclosing in 2022 he had two sets of private jet travels down to dallas, texas, and that he also had gone to harlan crow's private estate up in upstate new york. then clarence thomas also disclosed something that had happened in 2014 involving harlan crow, when harlan crow had bought three-pieces of property that had been owned by the thomas family, and that he said it was inadvertent he hadn't put than that on his prior filings. the justices have no transparency and the reports are pretty skimpy. his lawyer responded and he said any mistakes justice thomas made are inadadvertentitant and the attacks are nothing but ridiculous and dangerous and set a terrible precedent for political blood sport through federal ethics filings. >> joan, we only have a couple moments left, but what impact do you have on these calls for greater transparency? >> well, i think it's getting the attention of the justices themselves. you know, alex, the senate democrats had been pushing legislation and the senate committee had adopted the bill. but given how tightly divided the congress is, it's unlikely anything will develop actually with the legislation. it's in the hands of the supreme court justices, and if they want to enhance public confidence and get congress off their back they might -- >> and of course you remember samuel alito saying essentially in congress you have no say over what we do. i'm alex marquardt in the situation room. thank you so much for joining us this evening. erin burnett out front starts right now. out front next trump pleads not guilty. the former president entering that plea in the georgia 2020 election case as the state's republican governor comes to the d.a.'s defense. plus mitch mcconnell now medically cleared to keep working. that's according to the capitol's attending physician. the okay coming after the 81-year-old froze for the second time in just a few