Lets not. Thanks for being with us. The lead with jake tapper starts right now. Jim, come back any time. Good luck, jim. I will. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. As the nation continues to head into an election where donald trump as of now seems likely to be the next republican president ial nominee, and according to pulse has a decent shot of beating President Biden in november of 2024, two pieces of news seem instructive. One you may have missed. From last friday. When mr. Trump took to his Social Media Platform and responded to a profile of outgoing joints Chief Of Staff mark milley in the Atlantic Magazine called the patriot. Describing the ways that milley tried to guide the nation through the chaotic and dangerous period surrounding trumps loss to Biden In November of 2020 including when learning that the Chinese Military believed that trump was going to order an attack against the chinese, in a phone call authorized by the then acting secretary of defense, General Milley saw to leigh assure the chinese that no acwas imminent. Trump called Milley Action An Act so egregious that in times gone by, the punishment would have been death, unquote. Death. That is right. Former president of the United States who well may be the next president of the United States, suggesting in no Uncertain Terms that americas highest ranking military official, a veteran of multiple combat tours in afghanistan and in iraq, deserves to be executed. A man whose followers have a troubling habit of flooding her perceived enemies with Death Threats. That happened. The second piece of news comes from the former top aide to mark meadows, trumps last white house Chief Of Staff, Cassidy Hutchinson. The star witness in last summers january 6 committee hearing. Her new book enough, published today. In the book, hutchinson paints a picture of the closing days of the Trump White House even more chaotic, even more lawless than described in her shocking testimony. For example, what was Mark Meadows Burning in the White House Office fireplace. What was her reply when meadows asked her whether she would take a bullet for donald trump . Hutchinson, as you might recall, was thrust into the National Spotlight with her bombshell televised testimony from the january 6 committee. But that moment, that moment, her testimony, that almost never happened. She had already spoken to the Comm Committee twice Behind Closed Doors and it was her third closeddoor deposition when she chose to come forward and testify fully and honestly and openly about what she really saw and heard in the west wing. Cassidy hutchinson was a top aide to mark meadows. Working a few steps abay from the oval office and watching as her bosss reel from the 2020 election loss and fought it with lies and wild schemes. I remember feeling scared an nervous for what could happen on january 6. At just 26 years old, hutchibson was a star witness in the january 6 special Committee Hearings in june 2022. Miss hutchinson was in a gs po to know a great deal about the happenings in the Trump White House. Her testimony was damning. President trump had been raging for weeks after the election. I first noticed there was ketchup dripping down the wall and there is a shattered porcelain plate on the floor. The valet had articulated that the president was extremely angry and had thrown his lunch against the wall. And then on january 6, 2021, she said she heard firsthand as the president brushed off concerns of protesters arriving with weapons. I overheard the president Say Something to the effect of, i dont fing care they have weapons. Theyre not here to hurt me. Take the megs away. And after fiery remarks on the ellipse. We fight like hell. And if you dont youre not gooding to have a country any more. And she said tony ornato told her privately what happened in the president ial suv. The president said something to the effect of, im the fing president , take me up to the capitol now. To which bobby responded, sir, we have to go back to the west wing. The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at at the Steering Wheel and used his free hand to lunge toward bobby angle and when the story was recounted he month he issed toward his clavicles. In the hours to come, mark meadows struggled to get through to trump. I remember pat saying something to the effect of mark, we need to do something more. Theyre literally calling for the Vice President to be fing hung. And mark had responded something to the effect of, you heard him pat, he thinks mike deserves it. He doesnt think theyre doing anythi anything wrong. She was disgusted with what she saw that day. It was unamerican. Were watching the Capitol Building get defaced over a lie. And she stayed with President Trump until the end of his term. The former president said he hardly knew her and turned down a request for him to go with his team to florida. Committee transcripts showed her speaking the truth to investigators and remaining loyal to trump. After changing her attorney they should investigators that her previous trump funded lawyer wanted her to diminisher role in the white house and tell the committee she did not recall certain events. With those lawyers, she felt like trump was looking over her shoulder. In the end she told her story publicly and put what happened Behind Closed Doors on record. Former President Trump is now vying for another term in the white house. Threatening to dismantle political norms and investigate his adversaries and secret ribusion for perceived slights. Cassidy hutchinson today is warning we should believe him. Here is part one of our interview. Cassidy, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. So a few years ago, donald trump, President Trump was a man you describe in your book as adoring. And now you are doing this book tour in which you tell the story from childhood to your courageous testimony and youre basically warning the world that he shouldnt be president ever again. A. , that is quite a journey, and b. , why shouldnt he be president ever again . Well i would like to start by saying that i came forward to testify because, one, that was what i was obligated to do. I swore an oath to protect and defend the United States and that was what i was paid to do and i had not been completely forthcoming with the committee charged with investigating the most grave attack on the United States in history. So i came forward not with goal or anything other than providing people with the truth. Ive seen how people are evading the truth and how people are not holding themselves accountable and it was my duty as an american, as it is every americans duty to hold themselves to the oath that they swear. Yeah. But right now the American People are going through another election or about to. And we donald trump is leading in the polls when it comes to the republican primaries. Even in some polls when it comes to a headtohead matchup with President Biden. The other day trump suggested that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the outgoing chairman mark milley committed treason. He suggested that Capitol Punishment would be on the table or should be an owe the table. When you see a message like that, how seriously do you take it . I mean, milley has suggested to people according to the atlantic that he expected if donald trump is elected president again, that donald trump will go try try to go after him. When you see that, do you think he means it . Or do you think oh, that is just hot air . I do, jake. I think that weve seen firsthand. I do meaning he means it. I do believe that he means it. What i would like to say to this is i think for years we have not held donald trump accountable to the things he says and when he says those things and when he strokes those vit Reol Comments with people that have profound years defending our democracy like General Milley, we need to take him seriously. People have been holding him accountable for the past years but not accountable enough. Because were in a position right now where it is looking more likely than not that he could be the republican nominee. And he has also been indicted four times. It is sad that were in this place as a country where were looking at somebody who has executed this horrible assault on our democracy and we are continuing to give this person a platform. That is not what we should stand for as americans and i think that donald trump is the most grave threat that we will face face to our democracy in our lifetime and potentially in american history. When he said things like he wabs to use the Department Of Justice to go after his enemies and said things like he did on truth social the other day, that he wans to curtail Freedom Of The Press for certain channels and that sort of thing. You take him literally. You think he actually means it in a second term and he would do that . I think that Donald Trump In A Second Term does not have any would not have guardrails. I this we saw that at the end of the first term with how things played out after he lost the election. He violated our constitution in multiple ways. It is completely fine to wage or to File Lawsuits in the country or in the states. Sure. But what is not okay is when you threaten an assault the constitution and our institutions of government. I would not put it past donald trump, jake, to to put those institutions of government in a worse position than they were in during the first term. So, as you noted, hes now facing 91 Felony Charges and four different investigations for hes been indicted four times. Youve testified in front of the georgia grand jury. You were interviewed by investigators overseeing the january 6 investigation and an indictment and the classified documents case and an indictment, how do you feel about the charges hes facing . I know youre not a lawyer. But i know that you also read these documents. When you look at the evidence and then when you hear his excuses or his defense, i mean, do you think hes guilty . I want to hold off on providing my personal opinions on that and only because, you know, i and with the platform that i think we all should look towards and the platform that im trying to adopt in this era of my life is it is sometimes just as dangerous to speculate about what could be going on Behind Closed Doors at the justice department. Im confident in our system of government and i think that we have to leave it to the investigators to be able to collect the facts and that is why i came forward and testified truthfully to all of the investigations. I think that if he is convicted, then that is a conviction that we need to accept as americans and we need to trust our institutions of government. But i will say this, too, jake. I think these are the people that were running our government at end of the Trump Administration. The most loyal of loyal trump people. The most loyal of loyal trump people and who have already been indicted. Some people some of these individuals have also been indicted. We have to think what would a second trump term look like . Are these the people running the government, people facing indictments and who would work for Donald Trump In A Second Term. That is a question we should ask ourselves going into the election season. Lets talk about mark meadows who was cleave of staff and you were Chief Of Staff to the Chief Of Staff. You write in your book that in one of the first conversations you had with meadows in the white house, he said to you, cass, if i could get through this job and manage to keep him out of jail, meaning donald trump, i will have done a good job. A. , when he said that, did you think he meant that literally, and b. , do you think that your testimony might actually result in donald trump going to jail . In that moment, when mark said that to me, it was more of a wakeup call and a moment where i sort of felt frightened for the first time. But also concerned about mark. You know, when youre in this job and i think people it is difficult to put this into words especially if you dont have people who are willing to be forthcoming and honest about the positions that you occupy in government. But especially in the Trump Administration. And in 2020. Every day was a hair on fire day. We were swimming to stay afloat but most of us were drowning. So when mark said that, that day, i was alarmed becauses it one of the moments where i thought that i had a grasp on what was going on and i realized that i didnt. But i did take mark seriously in that moment and in my service to mark, i wanted to make sure that i did whatever i could to help mark achieve his goal. To keep trump out of jail . Correct. But that is something that i worked through in the book, it is not the staffs job to control a president who might end up in prison. I think that is the one of the more unfortunate things that we have gravitated to as a society. Where this is normal. Now, it is not normal but it is perceived as being normal now. What was well the other question was do you think that your testimony might ultimately result in donald trump going to prison . I came forward to testify with the information that i knew. And most of the information that i knew could be corroborated by other people. I hope that what i testified to would cause other people to come forward and testify truthfully. So you and meadows were close at one point, i know. An in the georgia case, as you noted, kind of you, alluded to, hes now facing criminal charges. He has pleaded not guilty. Lets show the mug shot of mark meadows. When you see that photo, and that is thats i mean in some ways for people who love mark meadows, or who loved him at one time, that is a tragic f photo. What goes there you your mind when you look at that picture . I see someone that didnt have to be in this position. You know, i i see that picture and i feel sorry for him in some ways. Because he had a lot of opportunities to do the right thing. And to come forward. Hes a man that has a family. And that is also another unfortunate impact of all of this. Is when youre in Donald Trumps circle and you have that loyalty to him, it impacts more of your life in more ways than one could imagine. And, you know, i hope that mark is doing the right thing if he hasnt already been doing the right as what i define the right right thing. You hope hes cooperating with investigators. I hope he would cooperate and uphold the oath that he swore because he knows more than i know about what happened through January Of 2021 period. It doesnt seem like hes cooperating with the georgia case, but we dont know if hes cooperating with federal investigators. That is an unanswered question. Looking at the Republican PartyGoing Forward and whether the Republican Party nominates trump. But i want to play this moment from the first republican primary debate. If former President Trump is convicted in a court of law, would you still support him as your partys choice. Please raise your hand if you would. [ cheering and applause ] that is the first debate. The second one is tomorrow. And basically the only candidates that said they would not support donald trump if he were a felon, a convicted felon, were Asa Hutchinson and Chris Christie. Asa hutchinson does not make the debate stage so Chris Christie will be the only republican candidate on the debate stage tomorrow night would said he would not vote for donald trump if he were a convicted felon. And hes already really the only one who has been outspoken in his criticism of donald trump when it comes to january 6. What does that say to you about Donald Trumps hold on the Republican Party . Well, i wan to point out something that is really critical that you just said, jake, and that is if donald trump is tried and convicted, that wasnt asking if he brett bear does not ask if hes still going through the trial. If hes a convicted felon. And the counts that donald trump is facing, hes facing counts of obstructing the constitution. To me, that is disqualifying. Donald trump should be disqualified from being the president of the United States. To me that is not a question. When i watch that, and i watched that debate and i was hopeful about several of the candidates on that stage. I thought a lot of them have good forwardthinking and answers and i c