live starts right now. laura? you've got a lot to fix with what's going on in washington. >> you think i can fix it? hold on, i'm the want to fix this? you will not put that on me today. >> laura alone can fix it. >> well, then you have some very high hopes. thank you so much, nice to see you as always. and we do have, to her point, there is breaking news out there as republicans are just now choosing another speaker. the big question is, how long will this one last? tonight, i am laura coates live. >> all right everyone, mike johnson, come on down. you're the next contestant on the next speaker, right? well, for the fourth time in three weeks, republicans have chosen another speaker designate. congressman mike johnson was elected with 128 votes. do the math, that's less than the total, you do realize. and get this, kevin mccarthy, who was kicked out of the job three weeks ago, received 43 votes. the next highest tally. which means it's groundhog day all over again. just go ahead and cue up bill murray, as we'll see if this time they can get it right. but of course, no one knows the answer to this question. what are the chances that anybody can come to 217 votes, needed to win the gavel, with the way that things stand right now? plus, remember earlier today if you are tuning in. it was a different person who was going to be the person voted on the house floor. it was tom amr. he has now dropped out of the race after donald trump thanked him with a blistering social media takedown on the day that he happened to be in court in new york city. the former president, trying to control one of the few things he maybe can control. the maga wing of the republican party still causing chaos in the house and controlling what it does and how it can truly move. now, as the court cases are swirling around, the former president, now the person that you're seeing over there, or maybe over there, mark meadows, is reportedly talking to prosecutors. abc news reports that donald trump's former chief of staff was granted immunity by special counsel jack smith, and they reported that he's met with federal prosecutors at least three times this year alone in their investigation into the efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. now, cnn has reached out to meadows attorney for comment. but, what mark meadows tells investigators may really be the closest thing to getting inside of donald trump's head. learning his state of mind. that's the kind of thing that makes juries stand up, take notice, and lean on in. but you know when you get immunity, there are always strings attached, they're not handing it out like halloween candy. there are strings attached. the question is, what are those strings and what will it mean for donald trump? and that's not only the bad news for the former president today. there is also his ex campaign attorney jenna ellis sitting here, pleading guilty in the georgia elections subversion case. following now what sydney powell, ken chest burrow, they also pled guilty just last week. ellis pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements in writing, and she gave a cheerful apology in court today. >> i relied on others, including lawyers with many more years of experience than my, to provide me with true information, especially since -- >> a kind of a penny, have? what kind of epiphany was that? one of convenience? we'll have to see. because after all, this is the same jenna ellis who stood up with rudy giuliani, who i assume is one of the lawyers she talks about having more experience, sydney powell, perhaps as well? standing behind them to push bogus election lies. so is she now signaling that she might implicate someone else, and to that bigger fish or more experienced attorney might very well be? the big question tonight is who is the most nervous tonight? and our breaking news, republicans, as i said, they've chosen another speaker nominee. representative mike johnson. this, after another speaker bid went down in flames earlier today. let's go right to cnn's melanie 's nonna, who joins us from capitol hill. melanie, this has been whiplash after whiplash, day in and day out. i'm sure for you and everyone else. congressman mike johnson has no clinched the nomination. bring us up to speed. >> laura, after three weeks of chaos and turmoil inside the gop, it's finally looking like the and might be near. if you have some fresh issues with this republican conference, it would be understandable, because the past three nominees have not been able to get the job done. they've all had to drop out of the race. but this latest candidates, mike johnson, who just got the nomination, he just took a very key vote behind closed doors. it's a positive side for him, because in that vote they had lawmakers voting on whether they back him on the house floor. and only three members said they'd vote present. nobody voted against johnson, and every single other member said that they would ultimately back mike johnson on the floor. there were around 20 absences, so mike johnson is going to work with those members through the night. they're going to try to do a floor vote tomorrow at noon. but they also had a press conference with the entire conference around him. they rallied everyone inside that room, and it looks like he might be the next figure of the house. and i think one thing he really had going for him, laura, is the fact that at this point members are just exhausted. they were desperate to find someone, perhaps anyone, and really it's interesting that this contest has shaped up not to be who is the most likable candidates, but he was the least hated candidate. and mike johnson, he's a member of the judiciary committee, he was a lower member of the leadership level, he is well liked by conservatives, not heeded by moderates, and so it looks like he might be able to get the gavel. but we'll have to wait and see. but it has been whiplash and unpredictability. >> no wonder they are trust issues. those saying behind closed doors that the vote, we've seen in the past there have been defectors. people who behind closed doors said that you've got my vote but on the floor it's a different story. what are republicans saying about kevin mccarthy's role in all of this? >> i talked to multiple republicans who said that they believe that kevin mccarthy has been trying to sabotage every single nominee up into this point. him and steve scully's, who was the first republican nominee, have had a very rocky relationship over the years and he said that he was working behind the scenes to try to move jordan over to him. even recently, during these last rounds of ballots, there were 33 republicans who are still voting for kevin mccarthy on these ballots, despite the fact that kevin mccarthy was not in the race. so there's a lot of miss trust in the ranks about mccarthy and his allies, and what their motivations for. i think big picture here, laura, even if republicans do get a speaker tomorrow, they're under so many -- inside the party. i was talking to one member who said they might be able to move on from this, but healing is going to take a lot longer. and they have all these critical issues that they're immediately going to have to address. when that's government funding, which expires on the 17th, or aid for ukraine and israel. we'll see if they can get it done tomorrow, laura. >> somebody better call dr. phil. thank you so much, good to see you. did you hear that? i want to bring in right now cnn reporter harry enten, along with scott jennings, who's also the former specialist to -- ioc didn't introduce you because you need no introduction. you hear that notion about kevin mccarthy sabotaging, that's the thought. he can't stand up on the floor to talk about jim jordan and talk about the relationship they had, but what's your reaction tonight, scott, knowing that there is now another person, his name is now going to be put forth, we've been here before. >> yes, but it feels different tonight. what you're hearing from republicans is that johnson is well liked. >> or just not hated as much. >> yeah, doesn't really have any enemies. these people all have pockets of enemies. johnson doesn't appear to have that. he's a straight shooter with upper management. but in all seriousness, the -- his personality is so affable, so you keep hearing from members like, i like this guy. and there's a lot of fatigue that has set in. but the underlying realities haven't changed for him. a spending deal has to get done with democrats, the aid package is laying out there, a farm bill that a lot of conservative members voted for is coming around the bend. and republicans only control one leg of the negotiating stool, which he will be in charge of. so there's a lot of optimism and relief that the idea of this getting done tomorrow's insight. >> but the numbers, again. 2:17 is the goal, it got, what, 221 total numbers? but no consensus so far. >> no consensus so far. the margin of error is so thin. we should keep in mind that this is the smallest gop majority in 20 years, and it's the most ideologically diverse republican majority ever. i was looking back at -- its most ideologically diverse majority ever, and when you have such a small majority, that makes things awfully difficult. but what i will point out, even though i don't have a scale or any statistics on likability within the caucus, i haven't taken a poll, i will say johnson's ideological record kind of fits right in the center of that caucus. so he's somebody that can hold on to those moderates and also potentially appease those conservative republicans who tanked emirate earlier today. >> i can't get my mind to go past the notion of a potential salvatore. -- but is there a chance, if your mccarthy, who doesn't think that he ought to be ousted for any reason, we actually still don't know what deals he may have made over these 15 rounds to get that. do you think there's any truth to maybe he's waiting for the right moment for people to say why don't you just come back? >> there was murmuring all day that they couldn't find somebody, that mccarthy -- there was even rumors of a power sharing agreement between mccarthy and -- >> what was that about? him and jim jordan. what was that even met? >> the idea that they were going to try to appease all wings of the party and get everybody on board with that. pelosi, by the way, to this once before. she had a power sharing with a representative. or an assistant. but then you saw mccarthy start to get some votes tonight in one of the conference meetings. he wasn't even nominated but he got some votes, so that murmuring got a little louder. and then johnson took control. so now he had nobody vote against him, there were some absences tonight, but it doesn't feel like there's a faction that's sort of the whole no faction. you have that with every other person. and with amber, he got knifed harder than anybody by donald trump, that's what sank him. that hasn't emerged yet in the last few minutes with johnson, and i just think that these republicans are tired of this fiasco. and if johnson is well liked and a piece is multiple wings of the conference, and this is a chance to put them behind them and move forward, a lot of people will jump behind it. >> how is the gop base looking at this? -- come out repeatedly, chaos, circus, clown car, all these things have come out. >> if you ask very conservative republican voters, they are the folks who have been the hardest on 10 am or, they were the hottest on kevin mccarthy. and there of the belief that they want to stand firm. they want the congressional gop disdain for. they don't want compromise. they don't like that word, compromise. you see that in the polling. 52% among very conservative republicans saying these representatives should stand firm. don't compromise, even if nothing gets done. and that is the proof that needs to be appease the most. johnson looks like he has those very conservative republicans, but we'll have to wait and see. >> and how much leash will they give him? >> there we go. >> the funding deadline for the government comes up in mid november, and he's going to have to deal with the other party on this and on the aid for ukraine and israel and even if you throw the border and there. so we'll see if he's conservatives, who may be happy with him today, will they give him the latitude to operate and move the institution forward? or are they going to keep on in a very short leash? >> you can't overstate the fact that you would ever be tanks by trump, and then obviously johnson reported. you had the deputy whip in johnson, the difference between the two of them is who was supporting trump. >> i believe that johnson -- >> deputy whip. vice chair of the house of representatives. >> i believe he may have helped in trump's impeachment trials. >> absolutely he did. >> i believe he defended trump, so there's probably some good feeling there as well. >> and in support of that texas a.g. about the election and the electoral college. there's a lot of good will there, but we'll have to see. because you know, wait 20 minutes. the weather might change. >> who knows, maybe it will snow tomorrow. >> there was a frost advisory around the area. >> hope springs eternal. >> we've exhausted all of the weather. thank you. harry enten, scott jennings, thank you both. next, what is mark meadows telling prosecutors and what will it mean for donald trump? we'll have the very latest on the abc news report we've all heard about, mark meadows received immunity to testify to the special counsel, jack smith, in the federal election subversion probe. well, abc news is reporting tonight that trump's former chief of staff, mark meadows, has been granted immunity by special counsel jack smith. meadows has reportedly met with federal prosecutors multiple times in their investigations into the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. we have reached out to meadows attorney for comment. let's talk with two former trump white house aides, former trump white house press secretary stephanie grisham, and former white house deputy press secretary sarah matthews. glad to have you both here. sarah, let me begin with you. this has been quite a day between jenna ellis and now mark meadows. what has been your reaction? who should be the most nervous tonight? >> i think that donald trump has to be shaking in his boots right now. this was a blockbuster day in terms of witness cooperation. first, you have jen ellis in georgia who took a plea deal and is now agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against donald trump and the other coconspirators. this is someone who donald trump would know well. she would talk to him regularly because she was one of his key people on tv and that is what he cared about most, was his image that was being represented on tv. so, she would have had the ear of the president. then you look to mark meadows, his own chief of staff now is being reported by abc as cooperating, potentially, and has immunity of some sort with the doj. mark meadows was a very essential figure when it came to the efforts to overturn the election and january 6th i think we see oftentimes with donald trump that he will try to say, i didn't know that person. we saw him do it with sydney powell. he said, she wasn't really my lawyer. he can't do that with mark meadows, can he? this was his own chief of staff, his right-hand. he definitely has to be very nervous about these developments, today. >> i want to read to you a part of what he had to say on truth social. he is weighing in, surprise, surprise. he is saying, in part, quote, i don't think mark meadows would lie about the rigged and stolen 2020 presidential election, merely forgetting immunity, all caps, against prosecution. some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards. i don't think that mark meadows is one of them, but who really knows? what is this code? unpack it. >> sounds like witness tampering to me. i am no legal expert but it definitely sounds like he is trying to intimidate meadows. he knows that meadows was in the room and in these meetings and part of these conversations and would know a lot. so, he has to be worried if meadows is talking to the doj because that could spell trouble for him. meadows is smart to cooperate if he is doing so because donald trump, time and time again, is loyal to one. he only cares about loyalty and return. so, it would be very smart of meadows to cooperate if this reporting is true. >> stephanie, i am eager to hear what you have to say about this. i remember you wrote in your book, you wrote, if there was a scale of awfulness in the trump white house, with five being the most terrible person around, i would give mark meadows a 12. you are not pulling any punches, stephanie. what has been your reaction to this news? >> i think i lowballed that's number, by the way. but today's news did surprise me a little bit. i am really surprised when it comes to anything trump related. i think that trump has to be extremely worried, and that tweet that you read, or the social post that he did that you read, that was definitely a veiled threats of having worked for him for five years, i know all of his codes. that was a veiled threat. i think that if the doj will offer meadows immunity, when you have to imagine that for three years meadows has done nothing but side with trump and say the election was stolen. he wrote an entire book saying that he stands by the fact that the election was stolen. i am not a lawyer either but that is a pretty damaged witness. the fact that doj offered him immunity means there is a lot more to this. sara is right, especially at the end, meadows never, ever left trump's side. he was there for everything. i think there will be a lot more that comes out of this >> as a lawyer, you think about the credibility and the reliability of what he has to say, in part, because of the book, the consistency, or the inconsistencies that are at play here. he reportedly told federal prosecutors and investigators that he repeatedly told trump that 2020 voting fraud claims or baseless, but then in the book it is contradicted in his own claims. he wrote in part, i will read this for you, the people who rigged this election knew that, eventually, these irregularities would come to light. the people asking questions about the election we're only reacting to what they were seeing, actual evidence of fraud right there in plain sight for anyone to access and analyze he says that he told trump the truth, but fancy books as something different, credibility and reliability, stephanie. what do you say? >> it is perfect mark meadows. he talks out of both sides of his mouth so imagine after the election was over and donald trump had lost, mark probably still saw a path for himself, professionally and politically. i think he wrote the book to try and stay within trump's good graces and i think he was going to ride that wave as long as he could. but now i think he saw that he was in real trouble and he went to the path -- the only path he could, which is to get immunity. again, it is all looking out for mark meadows. i am happy he is doing it, i am happy if this is all true that he is doing it. i think that everybody can do the right thing. i was glad to see what jenna did this morning. so, everybody can do the right thing. sometimes their motives might not be for the best, but at the end of the day, mark meadows does what is best for him. i have never faltered from that, and i think this is the exact same situation >> we will see. that statement about, i don't think meadows is one of them but to really knows, it does have a little bit of a feeling of, nice place you've got here. hate to see anything happen to it. stephanie grisham, sarah matthews, thank you both so much. >> thank you. >> look, mark meadows -- we are talking about him right now, but he is not the only person that donald trump may be worrying about, today. jenna ellis, remember her? one of his former attorney's not flipping on him in the georgia trial, or at least pleading guilty. and another former attorney taking the stand against him in yet another trial. this might be called the avalanche part of the election season. we will be right back. you want to be able to provide your child with the tools or resources they need. with reliable internet at home, through the internet essentials program, the world opened up. fellas, fellas. that's how my son was able to find the hidden genius project. we wanted to give y'all the necessary skills to compete with the future. kevin's now part of this next generation of young people who feel they can thrive. ♪ ♪ well, quite a dramatic day in court, or should i say, courts. there was a tearful gianna ellis apologizing for her role in the georgia election subversion case and a guilty plea. that, former trump victor michael cohen taking the stand today as a key witness against trump in the new york a.g. civil fraud case against him. that brings us to a striking development and special counsel jack smith's 2020 election case against donald trump. a reported immunity deal with mark meadows. or the walls closing in, or is this just par for the trump golf course? let's go to cnn legal analyst and former white house ethics ambassador, norm eisen, and attorney, marcus childress, who served us investigative counsel to the house january 6th committee. glad to have you both here, this is been quite a day in terms of the courts and what this could mean of all the different legal battles -- matters. norm, mark meadows had constant access to trump. he would have been in the rooms where things were happening. there was a lot made about one's state of mind and what he could tell. is that what we are looking for, here, or is it more? >> according to the press reports, prosecutors have grilled him about whether or not meadows believed these claims were true that the election was stolen. meadows said no, and about whether trump was being honest or not. meadows has said that he thinks -- again, according to press reports -- it thinks that trump was not honest. that is devastating. we will talk about other evidence that came into the official record today about trump's state of mind, but i think the reported meadows testimony is a body blow on just that point, criminal intent. >> marcus, you saw it as part of the january 6th committee testimony from meadows. for a lot of the reasons you just described, the access, what he was privy to, but he was told, and what he heard from donald trump. he did not appear or was helpful to the january 6th committee. what were you looking to hear from him about? >> i don't think it's different from what the department of justice was looking for from him. from what we heard from reports today, he had access to the former president. we want to do know with the former president and those around him thought about the election. for example, mr. meadows reportedly said today that of course we did not with the election. that is important for the former presidents actions after the fact, like on december 19th, now you are calling people to come to d.c. for this rally that was allegedly stolen from you. and then what you were doing on the 187 minutes while people were attacking the capitol, attacking democracy, that you -- on life you knew or lies. that's what we want to talk to meadows, to understand what everyone in that room knew about the election. that, what were your actions after the fact, having known that the election was lawful. >> an important part to think about, but the immunity is not given out like candy. there are strings attached. i do wonder what meadows has to do in order to secure it, obviously testifying as others would. but i want to talk more deeply about one of the issues, jenna ellis, another important factor, here. certainly we have seen her in those press conferences beside rudy giuliani, beside sydney powell, sydney and her have now pleaded guilty, which means the last person standing is giuliani. do you think that they are after giuliani, eastman, trump? are those the biggest players for her testimony? >> you were a prosecutor, you know how it works. you flip the people lower down then you move up the food chain until you get to the big fish. there is to, giuliani and beyond him only trump. >> not eastman? >> eastman is probably going to be approached more through the can chesbrough plea. chesbrough worked more closely with eastman. but here, when you combine on the giuliani front, sydney powell, ken chesbrough, and now perhaps his closest aide, jenna ellis who was so persuasive and court today, whether she meant it or not, her remorse, her tears, even the judge complemented her, saying he seldom heard from a defendant that trifecta is very dangerous for giuliani. and then, what fani willis and jack smith flipping giuliani, get to trump. so, meadows and alyssa like, big development and trump's federal and state liability, today. >> call me a skeptic, but i watched her tearful, remorseful apology and i think there was a lot of commentary about either a smirk or something before she actually stood up. people wondered about that. i don't put a lot of weight into once nerves and the takes that come into a courthouse, of course. but walk down memory lane a bit to the epiphany and how to judge once upon a funny. here is jenna ellis, and how many instances she had to have the epiphany, sooner. watch this. >> this is an elite strikeforce team that is working on behalf of the president and the campaign to make sure that our constitution is protected. the facts matter, the truth matters, and if you are fair reporters, you will cover that fairly and appropriately. >> there have been a massive amount of irregularities, there have been ignorance and complete disregard for the law of the state of michigan. >> so, we remember that she said these things. now she is saying, i relied on more experienced attorneys and did not do my due diligence. what is your reaction? >> we are all attorneys at this table and we know as attorneys our number i'm number one job is to do due diligence, especially if we are representing publicly. it's what we do every single day. we saw giuliani on the screen, with jenna ellis. i agree with norm, i think he might be the next attorney to flip in this case. if you go back to our january 6th committee deposition, rudy giuliani described generalist as his number two, his co-counsel, and if you get an opinion from gel, it is basically an opinion for me, right? so, if i see jenna ellis as rudy giuliani now flipping and pleading guilty, i am starting to get nervous. as ambassador eisen just said, we are getting closer now to former president trump, and that is how you build a successful case. >> but the big question is, will he, if he ultimately does plead guilty, will he get a similar probationary sentence or request from the prosecution? the bigger the fish, the bigger the splash. that is an original analogy, you are welcome. noise -- norm eisen, marcus chill dress, thank you so much. there was a brazen raid, missed intelligence, a spiraling humanitarian crisis. we have colonel cedric leighton who has had decades of military intelligence experience. he will break down the very latest from the war between israel and hamas right after this. pers! time to win is running out in our prize packed kick off the savings monopoly game! hurry in to play for your chance at over $25 million in prizes and money saving offers like this, and this, or even this. plus, you still have a shot at up to $100,000 in guaranteed prize money. stop in while you can still win and shop your favorite brands sporting the kick off the savings monopoly tag for unlimited bonus game tickets at lucky! the humanitarian crisis is deepening for millions and gaza as the israel-hamas war reaches on. cnn journalist ibrahim damon is reporting from gaza. the people are resorted to drinking water meant for the toilets. >> [speaking in a non-english language] >> all of this being made worse by the fuel crisis and gaza because fuel is needed to pump and clean water from local sources. that is not the only use for the fuel. hospitals are running out of power, that means no ventilators, no incubators, and the toll for innocence will just keep going. today, and idf spokesperson is saying that no fuel will enter gaza because hamas needs it to stay operational. let's bring in colonel cedric leighton. colonel, just hearing those reports and about the impact of fuel, i mean, it is being said that the u.n. says that gaza needs about 1000 barrels every single day. 160,000 liters of fuel per day, every day. logistically, just thinking about it, how would you get that fuel and? and of course, how would you prevent it from going to hamas? >> those are huge questions, laura. the key thing to remember is that in august before all of this started, 1200 trucks entered gaza from egypt with fuel. so, for that month the entire month, 1200 trucks. right now, we have no fuel trucks coming into gaza. and in order to keep everything moving, that is the kind of volume that you would need in order to make sure that hospitals run, sewage system runs, water system runs, and none of that is happening right now. >> it could be diverted to hamas, how do you stop that? >> that is the problem. the u.n. has tried to develop a system where they would actually track with the final recipient is. the problem is, it is almost impossible to control that once it gets into gaza. there is no way to do that. they might try to half an end user type of thing, but that is almost a bridge too far at this point in time. >> in many ways, israel is still under a dak. there was a raid by hamas divers today as well. they attempted to infiltrate israel through a tunnel in the sea of the northern gaza coast. what happened with that? >> what happened was, the hamas divers went into israeli waters very close to gaza and were attempting to get into ashkelon near the border with gaza. the israeli navy was able to stop them, and this is one of those classic special operations type movements that hamas was able to plan. when you think hamas, think that they are very well versed and special operations, both land and sea. when you think of the paragliders and the air. >> there is 83 start marine corps general whose name is james glenn who has now been sent over by the u.s. to help the idf. >> general glen is a very experienced combat operations. he has experience and fallujah and mo sewell and he is there to advise the israelis on what the possible scenarios might be when it comes to urban combat. urban combat is a very dangerous, very specific type of combat, and the more advice he israel's can get from somebody experienced as general glenn, the better it will be. >> so important to have your perspective, thank you so much for being here. colonel cedric leighton, everyone. up next, the other trump lawsuit that just is days away that could potentially keep him off the ballot in at least one state. donald trump has been sued in new york, indicted in georgia, florida, manhattan, and, washington d.c.. you know about all those cases, but there is a case you may not be as familiar with, or may not even know about at all. it is a very consequential one, and argues that trump is constitutionally disqualified from holding office, again. it all hinges on the 14th amendment, which, and short, says that anyone who, quote, engaged in insurrection or rebellion after taking an oath of office to defend the constitution is forbidden from holding public office. colorado is one of the states that is suing to block the former president from the 2024 presidential ballot. joining me now? colorado secretary of state janet griswold. jenna, so glad to are here today. i am interested in this case for a number of regions -- reasons. people have not been as focused on it, but it is very, very important. we are it's dance right now is that in georgia saying that this likely has to go to a trial. tell me what is on stake in terms of the question before a jury in this case? >> thanks for having me on. this is a big case. we didn't rank the case, but instead six colorado burgers, republicans and unaffiliated, filed a lawsuit to disqualify trump from the ballot. what is at stake is whether trump will be able to sure and be put on the colorado ballot. the 14th amendment is clear. it says if someone swears to uphold the constitution, they cannot take office if they subsequently engage in insurrection or rebellion, or give comfort or aid to the enemies >> it seems very straight for the first, the question is whether or not he can re-up the ballot at, all whether he can begin in the primary, ultimately who decides how to enforce that mechanism, that is where your office really comes other you didn't bring this lawsuit. what will you be looking at, and listening for in this upcoming trial that starts next week by the way, to figure out what role you will ultimately have to play? >> ultimately, as secretary of state, i will follow the law, and of course the u.s. constitution. where the constitution is unclear, a court should weigh in. so i think it is good that this court is hopefully weighing in, a trial is scheduled on monday, we expect it will begin on monday. i think it will be really good for the court to outline some of the big questions to election administrators. the presidential primary will start very quickly, i certify the ballot for colorado in the first week of january, so resolving some of these big issues soon is a great thing for the country. >> that is very quick to think about january. there are other, brad raffensperger will name one out of georgia who does not have the power to actually block trump from the ballot. you've heard from the former a.g. who wrote a piece in the wall street journal about how the only way to decide this issue is really through the elections. so if the court rules that you do have the legal standing to take trump off the ballot, will you? >> well, i think that is premature. there is a lot of big questions about this case, and ultimately i will follow whatever the court orders, and let the legal process play out, including if there is potential appeals. now i do think that one thing is really noteworthy. this is a big case. the question is, did donald trump disqualify himself for engaging in insurrection. you would think with such a big case he would want to come and explain his point of view. but in fact he is not going to testify or give a deposition. i think it just comes down to a basic fact that when he has the opportunity under oath to tell his side, he refuses. he is a liar, and it seems he knows he has won. >> it is a very consequential case, one with think he would want to testify for the reasons you have just said. but then there are those who will look at a case like, this and say wait a, second this is indicative of people trying to rig the quote unquote elections yet again. what is your response? >> oh, well, i very much disagree with that. as soon as this case was filed, donald trump started to blast this election interference. bringing a lawsuit to determine whether a potential candidate is disqualified by very clear language of the u.s. constitution is not election interference. it is living in a society that believes in rule of law. having a proceeding where a judge decides if there is questions about a constitution or law, the ultimate way things will go and how american democracy should work. how it should not work, is an insurrection, or a fake scheme incited by a president to try to put forward fake electors. how this country should not work is a sitting president trying to steal the election from the american people. >> well if this case goes to trial as expected, if it would make its way in the, process there was a, judge a supreme court justice instead of an appeals court judge in colorado weighing in on the ability of states to do what you are talking about. that was -- so, looking for to see how all of this plays out thank you so much. >> thank you. >> well, you, know everyone, i want to thank you all for watching. it is a very consequential case. we will follow it of course. our live coverage continues after a short break. to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch, it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today.