Soon. As you point out, the symbolism of just announcing the Nuclear State in their constitution, those things matter. Will ripley, thank you very much. And thank you all very much for being with us as well. Its time now for ac 360 of its time now for ac 360 of course with anderson. Captions by vitac www. Vitac. Com tonight on 360, a setback on top of a body blow. A federal judge tells the former president shes not going anywhere, shes not recusing herself. And weve learned more about another judges ruling that legal experts are calling a possible dental Health Penalty for trumps business. Mrs. Menendez, partners in crime, how they came to be a couple and how they pleaded to bribery charges today. The manhunt for a convicted predator and alleged murderer, a man one top official claimed will kill and do anything he can to cause harm. We begin with breaking news. The end of what would already be a difficult day, even for someone whose Business Empire was just dealt a devastating blow by one judge. Tonight another judge, Federal District judge Tanya Chutkan denied the former president s motion she recuse herself. Judge chutkan said her comments made during her sentencing of january 6th defendants were not evidence of bias, as trump attorneys claimed. The court, she writes, has never taken a position. The defense describes to it that former president should be prosecuted and imprisoned. This comes after a new york judges yesterday that the built on evaluations of assets. The new york judge today gave the defense 20 more days on top of the ten days theyd already had to put forward a plan for putting the Trump Organization into receivership. The rest of the civil trial, which could result in a quarter billion dollar civil penalty goes on, whatever happens next, the judges fraud ruling is knocked down, the foundation over which Donald Trumps business was built over the years and how he portrayed himself. Heres the good news. Im very rich. I started off with a Million Dollar loan. I met a net worth of more than 10 billion. I would say im worth more than 5 million. Im very rich. Hey, im rich. This is taxing the rich by a rich guy. The money youre talking about, but its peanuts for me. I have many, many companies, hundreds and hundreds of deals. Great assets, low debt. I built a very big nettle worth, but its a lot of money. Fortunately im very rich. Perspective from New York Times senior Political Correspondent maggie haberman, and chief assistant District Attorney karen ago nif low, and what is the recuse herself, a surprise . Not at all. She did everything the right thing. Its a wellwritten, well reasoned opinion in every way. The fact is, the standard is whether the impartiality of the judge might reasonably be questioned, and she goes carefully through the facts and shows that no one could question her impartiality. As you already told us, these statements that he thinks show parse yallty were made in proceeding in the courtroom. Theyre called intrajudicial statements. They werent made on a tv show. They werent made in a rally. They were made in court in the sentencing. And she was responding to the arguments of the two people who were being sentenced. She has to state the reasons for her sentence. She has to respond to the arguments made. And its important that people trust the judges who make decisions. So, she did absolutely the right thing in every way. And its a good, strong opinion. I dont think theres any risk of reversal on appeal. Judge, how high is the bar for a judge to recuse him or herself . Its very high. You have to show that a reasonable person knowing all the facts would question that judges ability to be impartial. So, the judge gives some examples of cases where the judge says outright, this person is guilty, this person should be in jail, before there was ever a trial. So, the example she gives or a judge saying in an interview, the witness there was a liar and i know it before the trial was even complete. So, those are examples where a judge has expressed partiality very, very clearly. Nothing like that happened here. Could judge chutkans decision not to recuse herself being used as grounds for appeal . He certainly can try, but i agree that judge that this is appeal proof. She also cites a case from Watergate Times which was very similar, where the judge there was sentencing multiple people in that case and actually said talked about those particular defendants and actually talked about gave names of people she thought should be prosecuted. And there, the entire d. C. Circuit, all the judges, upheld that decision. So, i think shes completely appeal proof and will be fine. Maggie, lets talk about the other judge. It comes just yesterday, New York State judge, the former president and his adult sons liable for fraud, cancel the Trump Organization business certification. How much does that cut to the heart of the former president s identity . Theres two questions here, anderson. One is the legal question and what it means in terms of the reality of this decision. And i think that trumps lawyers had made very clear in court that theyre not sure what that looks like. In terms of what the judges words were about the former president and about the reality that he created for himself, he was very clear, which was that trump was creating something of a fantasy world. And this is an image as a successful businessman, fabulously wealthy person that trump has honed for a very long period of time over many decades, used it to thrust himself into pop culture, used it to push himself into politics, used it to become a bestselling author and a Reality Television star. Look, anderson, he is much wealthier than many americans. Theres no question about that. But exactly what he is worth has always been something of a question. Some reporters had pulled back the curtain, tim obrien of bloomberg, my colleague, sue craig, russ and others have worked on it. But this is the first time hes been held to account in this kind of way. Judge, the trial for the new york fraud case, thats set for monday. Can you explain what that would entail, given the judge has already granted a partial Summary Judgment . How long could appeals drag out that case. Oh, the appeals can go on for a long time. In fact, im sure theyre going to appeal his recent Summary Judgment opinion. And there could be a stay. If they go to the appellate, as they should, the remaining days this week, they may get a stay of mondays trial. Theres a lot of things that are uncertain now as to what is left to be tried. Surely they have to try the damages. There are other charges there that are not part of his Summary Judgment opinion. So far the opinion really dealt with two Major Properties in new york city. But theres properties all over. Theres properties outside new york. And its unclear whether the ruling can reach those properties eventually too. So, i dont know if the whole empire is going down or just the new york portion. I dont think anybody knows yet. So, things are unclear. Yeah. Many things are unclear. Karen, the process of dis, sort of,ing dissolving some trumps properties would we have to liquidate his new york City Holdings . Could he move them to an umbrella company, the Trump Organization, to another state . Hes under monitorship with former federal judge barbara jones. And she has been overseeing the finances and making sure that all the paperwork and everything remains accurate. And she has found that during the pendency of this case, that hes continued to misrepresent his information and his assets. So, he cant really do that without her permission. And the other thing that this decision did today is it said that any licenses he has in new york, including his llcs, he can no longer have those certifications and those licenses. So, many things, in addition to real property, are going to be at risk here and dissolved. So, i think its just a matter of when it happens because this judge gave ten days and then now another 20 days. And then lets see if an Appellate Court stays the execution of this. But in the meantime, he cant do much because of former judge barbara jones, who is very much in charge of making sure that he doesnt do things like that with his assets. And maggie, the former president is skipping the republican debate, which happens later tonight. The more legal problems he has, does it make him less interested in facing his opponents . He didnt get harmed by not being there the last time in terms of polls. I dont think that appearing at the debate has much to do with his mindset at the moment. I dont think they see an advantage in his campaign because he is so far ahead in the polls. I do think youll see some of his rivals in the republican primary use this ruling from the new york judge to try to attack trump as not what he says he is. And i think that you will hear that in the coming days. I think the question is going to be how trump is processing that himself and how he handles this going forward. Because to go back to the earlier question, this company, trump tower, these are central to his identity and how he sees himself. And i think that seeing that potentially gone is going to have real ramifications just for him personally and psychologically. And maggie, is it clear, does he have 250 million, that that was an actual penalty the company was to pay . Im not sure how liquid he is at the moment and whether he can pay that. I dont know whether they will get that in damages. They have had a couple of Cash Infusions with sales, recently won the d. C. Hotel, won the license on the bronx golf course, among other ways they get cash. This is a big question is what his assets are. His folks have insisted he has a lot of money. We will find that tested, if this goes ahead. They could win on appeal. His lawyers have made arguments arguing this is not legal. Maggie haberman, Karen Freedman live low, and judge shyamalan, as well. The former president is not in south carolina. Hell be speaking shortly. Hes not at the reagan library, where seven primary opponents will be debating in an hour. Dana bash and i will have postdebate coverage tonight at 11 00. With us now Alyssa Farah Griffin and david axelrod. John, hes not at the debate. Hes talking to auto workers. Theres a political argument we could debate, but hes up 30 or 40 points in iowa. Hes up 30 points or so in New Hampshire. Theyre the first two states that vote. The challenge is for one of them to emerge the closest to donald trump. And no one is anywhere right now. So, hes going to run against joe biden. Hes going to run michigan. Youll see him in wisconsin. Youll see him in pennsylvania. Pick your six or seven swing states. He thinks hes already the nominee. He is not. But right now hes been bullet proof in the republican primary electorate with all these legal challenges. Will that change someday . Right now he says im going to run against biden. The first debate was fascinating because Chris Christie was talking about how he was going to prosecute trump on that stage. Didnt really happen. Desantis didnt seem to get his footing. It was the chance for candidates to introduce themselves for the first time. Do you think strategies are going to be different this time around . Some people did distinguish themselves. Ramaswamy went running away with that moment in terms of getting more media. Nikki haley has done quite well, and New Hampshire has repositioned herself in a way thats very good. I think the question is, to what end . Are we looking at a debate among potential Cabinet Members . We always talk about vp. Are we looking at people who are completely not relevant in so many ways to large chunks of their own party . The one thing i want to say about trump, though, is this is the most substantive move toward looking ahead to the General Election we have seen from him to date. He captured more of union households, especially white men, than previous republicans had. And obviously hes seeing a moment to zprie capture that energy again. And i think its fascinating for this country to be in a moment where you have the president and then also a leading candidate both vying for a union vote after years of being told that Union Membership was on the decline and that somehow that vote wasnt significant to both parties the way it is now. I think that that just to pick up your point, i think this is entirely about him sending a signal that this race is over, that this event is irrelevant. Yes, michigan is important. I think he was looking for a dramatic event that can hes a programmer. He was counterprogramming against this debate. I do think theres meaning in michigan. I do think that going after you know, michigan was the home of the reagan democrat. Theyve morphed into trump republicans. Hes going to talk to them. The biggest thing hes trying to do is say, dont pay much attention to whats going on over here. It is irrelevant. It is over. Im moving on. Vivek ramaswamy did get a lot of attention in the last debate, didnt translate to bumps in the polls. Correct. The candidates youll see on the stage tonight, their collective National Polling adds up to 36 , still under trumps roughly 50 . In some ways this feels like a run for the Vice Presidency or the cabinet. Something i think you cant ignore is theres a cbs poll out of iowa and New Hampshire that says about as many as 70 of republicans are open to considering someone other than donald trump. What should we watch for tonight . Nikki haley and ron desantis. She has come close to overcoming him as second place. And mega gop donors who want to see someone other than trump are softening on desantis. If she can pull ahead, make the case for General Election electability where she head to head is the best against biden, about six points ahead of him, that could signal a difference. I underscore, there is no historic evidence of any candidate overcoming such a significant lead donald trump has. To be clear, nikki haley has slipped ahead in some New Hampshire polling. Shes still Single Digits in the National Polling. I do agree. I think to be the nominee, you have to beat donald trump. To beat donald trump, you have to beat all the other people and become, as john said, the Singular Alternative to donald trump. Desantis whole campaign was premised on that he was that guy and now he is fading. I think theyre going to try and accelerate that tonight. And i think nikki haley, by virtue of her performance last time will warrant more attention. Shes earned the right not to be ignored and shes going to be tested tonight. John, you just got back from there. You spent a lot of time in New Hampshire. In iowa and New Hampshire, trump is ahead. What gets fascinating, one of them is trying to convince republicans, i have a chance to beat donald trump. I am the alternative to donald trump. Thats the challenge for these candidates. Iowa, about 60 of the electorate will be evangelicals. Watch for desantis, tim cscott. Yes, he gave you the Dobbs Decision with the Supreme Court justices, but hes gone soft on abortion. What does nikki haley do . Hes more moderate. She says shes pro life, but lets not judge people. She wants to take back the suburbs. You have a libertarian electorate in New Hampshire, where abortion is much less of an issue. To these fractured candidates to try to find a place to make a statement. Someones going to try to win iowa. Someones going to try to win New Hampshire. If no one catches donald trump, the fracturing and the state by state strategy helps donald trump. One of the interesting strategic questions is, should you focus on trying to differentiate yourself from trump, or should you focus on trying to differentiate yourself from the other contenders on the stage . Chris christie will clearly continue to go after trump, and hes made some progress in New Hampshire. But hes very unpopular among republicans. What do the others do . I expect theyre going to be focusing on each other, which is another reason trump how much of that conversation forgive me real quickly. How much of that conversation is the fox panel allow snd. Audi, who are you going to be watching tonight . Im interesting in tim scott. He said he would fire the auto workers. Thats a weird line when you have the front runner showing support for auto workers. Im interested in nikki haley as well. Youre calling it a fracturing. Theres incoherence to what is neighbors lane. What do you represent, right . If you cant beat up on trump, who are you and what do you want . And what do you offer a voter . And i dont say that as opinion but actual analysis. I have not understood, Out Of The Past debate or even the dialogue after what a coherent alternative to trump theology, ideology, is out of the republican party. Audie cornish, john king, daift axelrod, Alyssa Farah Griffin. Well see all of this team with our postdebate coverage. Bob menendez in court and his wife in court. What some House Republicans are doing that doesnt have anything