d-day, why we still fight for democracy on an all new episode of the whole story. >> that's this sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern only right here on cnn. and thank you so much for watching news night. laura coates live starts right now. have a great weekend well tonight, donald trump turns his conviction into a cornerstone of his and pain. but will it work? >> plus american airlines soon after eight black men say they were kicked off a flight because someone complained about body one of them will be my guest tonight and laura coates live so. >> we actually have no idea what sentence judge messiah is going to actually hand down to donald j. trump next month, but we do know one thing for sure. donald trump is not leaving his political future up to this judge between now and november, donald trump is going to use that 34 count conviction to try to get to 47, the number 47 that is. and today, a furious trump railed against the verdict during a speech in trump tower. you know, trump tower, the same place. this is infamous 2015 announcement. you remember this moment, the ride down the escalator with melania in to really ahead of them. well, the smiling and the waving this time there was no ride down an escalator. there was actually no melania and there were no smiles. and for 33 minutes, donald trump stood alone and told his supporters that he is a victim of a weaponized system everybody is a case where if they can do this to me, they can do this too anyone these are bad people these are in many cases, i believe sick people the man who chose not to take the stand also, children take a single question on what he called a press conference, which is not a speech, it's a time to actually hear questions be asked and you answer them as well. >> and perhaps one that he would have been asked was, why are you telling him? anyone, let alone your supporters and it's all president biden's doing when you know that that is not true, there is no evidence that president biden had anything to do with the manhattan da's case? >> not under his umbrella and under his watch, separate sovereigns entirely state, federal. >> i could go on in fact, biden himself has been careful and say a whole lot. if much at all about the trial, at least until today reckless dangerous. >> it's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict justice and should be respected and we should never allow anyone to tear it down. to simple as that now, in president biden, biden calls and dangerous, there might be some good reason for that. >> it's not hyperbole and think about that because according to reuters, there's been some alarming commentary on some pro-trump corners of the internet okay one example quote, time to start capping some lefties said one post. this cannot be fixed by voting joining. me now, is, adam chins and girls see an senior political commentator and former republican congressman who you know, served on the january 6 committee. congressman. thank you so much for joining. i have to begin on that last point in particular, because you have spoken many times about the power of speaking up, but also the prospect of being harmed, of being called out of being mistreated, of being threatened. when you see what the former president had to say and the actions we're hearing from those who are as allies in congress. they're pushing quite a message what is your action? the other really they really are pushing this message and it's not surprising because when you have to and i mean this like seriously when you have to sell your soul and your entire moral center to stay in power. and you can't look at yourself in the mirror like most of these republican elected officials. you're going to find yourself angry, but you're also going to find yourself very willing to go over the line because your future, your legacy will be judged by who stays in power? this is, this is brown shirt type tactics. what we're seeing when you see those comments, like what you just showed on the internet, an attempt to intimidate people an intent, an attempt to scare people to have people not feel free to speak out. and this is the time when it is essential for democracy, for people to stand against us with authoritarianism, to double down and not be intimidated. but it is a real thing because people have had their brains broken by donald trump. >> there are many who have spoken out. in fact, some of your former colleagues, i want to play for you a little bit of money because of what some have said, whether it's byron donalds it tim scott or jd vance, just listen i think a lot of people are looking at this case and see it for what it is. >> it is a sham, this is a justice system that hunts republicans while protecting democrats this was certainly a hoax, a sham every single thing about this points to the fact that this was a political sham prosecution assisted met hans republicans and for tax democrats, braswell in manhattan alone, there is a democrat on trial. it's also a senator. his name is bob menendez, just to name one example of this. but when you hear that a justice system hunting republicans i'm flabbergasted what's your ekg action i'm flabbergasted to because like with tim scott aye. >> i grew up with him in congress. we were both elected in 2010. this is a man who i believe takes us faith seriously. but yet can go on television and lie to people who are looking for his trust and say that this is hunting republicans when he knows the house, republicans had been spending the last year begging for a reason to go after joe biden and to go after hunter biden? hey have been used. they wanted hunter biden in jail before they even knew what he was going to be charged with. look i get it. they're angry. okay. >> you have you have nominated a convicted felon now who can't own a gun would lose a security clearance if he was in the military and it would be discharged from the military right now. >> i'm sorry that you nominated this guy is your front runner, but it doesn't mean you now have permission to stand in front of the american people to lie to them. you think about officer michael fanon, who spoke out his mother, his 70 some year-old mother was swatted. were they called the emergency services and the police showed up because this is the level of intimidation do not be intimidated, ladies and gentlemen, because they will not win perspective from someone like yourself, having been a member of the military and former air force combat pilot just putting into perspective the limitations now on a potential commander in chief unspeakable adam cans and her. >> thank you so much for joining you bet. i want to bring in cnn opinion contributor and former house gop investigative committee counsel sofia nelson, also here with me, meghan hayes, former special system to president biden. i mean, i want to just play for a second for you all and just thinking about this. what president biden also went on to talk about? and this is one of the first time he has addressed this. we know they were surrogate two were doing it in the past, but listen a little bit more about what he had to say they found donald trump guilty i'm all 34 felony counts now it'd be given the opportunity as he should to appeal that decision just like everyone else has that opportunity. >> that's how the american system of justice works you know, i i'm michele alone, have a series on exonerated people who have not committed the crimes that they were accused, who have sat in prison for it, sometimes decades for egregious unspeakable crimes. >> and they have respected the system, appealed through the actual and while sitting in prison this is not at all, even with a former president, is articulating. and now the current president talking about the reason to do so how can this be where we are? >> that's a great question. i mean, we're going to leave it to the american people decide to move in a different direction come november, but i do think that the president is trying to make the point that we need to continue to respect a lot, just the congressman was saying like people we need to tell people this is not acceptable, this behavior is not acceptable he was found guilty by a jury. he has proper things that he can do to move forward. he needs to take those steps. and that's the way it needs to happen. we need to have faith and our justice system, whether it is hunter biden who's going on trial in a few weeks or whether it's the former president. this is a justice system that we need to have faith in. and what are your microstates built upon. and of course, the president i'd say it's not for nothing is the head of the executive branch whose job it is to obviously enforce the laws. >> and under that is the doj. so i don't know how you're going to be the president and say a whole entity that you're responsible for doesn't really have any credibility. but how do you bring the temperature down? i mean, you have and so get really gave me a lot i know i've given you the hard question and maybe in some respects it's a fool's errand. think you can solve the problem. but we're 189 days away from a presidential election. >> how do you get the point where you can bring the temperature down first, i think we have to be very serious about this. >> one of the problems here, laura, is the celebrity apprentice flair to this this is a reality show that we're all really addicted to. i used to watch the bobbi brown and whitney houston thing. it was awful. you remember that show recited and i'll be like, why did i watch that? but i'd go go back and watch it. i think that's where we are right now. we keep watching this donald trump show in the way that we get this temperature down is to be sober and serious about one thing that i hope we all agree on his america gins and that is that no one is above the law in this country and no one is below it either. so former president trump has the right to appeal. he will he is going to be sentenced in july on the 11th, which that's gonna be very interesting because he could be in jail before the convention four days later that is something the country is going to have to wrestle with what happens if this man goes to jail, or we really going to put on the same stage will debate will be over with president biden, right? but are we going to really elect someone that's in prison? whereas secret service agents can stay as congressman kinsey pointed out, right now donald trump couldn't get into the military, enlisted because he's a convicted felon. how are you going to be commander in chief when you can't get into million yet, he is fund raising an extraordinary amount of magnetic is my 53 million has been already been raised the calculations a site broke down because of all of the traffic that was coming in. this has been his consistent drumbeat that i'm standing in the way for you. i'll take this. he even said today, it's an honor to go through this because it's on behalf of you. when you've got that sort of messaging and the money is coming in, how do the demo? gratz combat that? >> i think it's really tough. i think it's challenging, but i think that the president needs to continue to show the contrast at the kind of person he is, his characters really makes a difference here. and i think this election-related going to be decided. and what five or six states there? president biden won arizona by 10,000 votes, that those votes on the margins right now. and i think those were the people who are going to make the difference in this election. so his base is going to be drummed up. he's going to raise a ton of money which is totally great. i'm sure biden is also raising money and the same way today off of this, but election will be decided on the margins and those are the people who are going to need to pay attention and the character issue is really going to come into play. >> why aren't we seeing more of his family that have an impact? melania did not come down to be at this press coverage. she was in manhattan. on the day of the verdict. she was in manhattan obviously for this as well. she has not been there. she's not appeared and she was not the most omnipresent prior first lady, as it can't. and the campaign. but what we see more of her what impact would it have? there's an old latin seen kliger test it, constant. terry, the day tour she who is silent when she should speak, is understood to consent that means her silence tells you everything you need to know because a wife in this situation would come and stand by her husband normally, we've seen political wives do at eliot spitzer when he was in trouble, he was getting run out. his wife stood by him and some of the worst circumstances. so i think the fact that mrs. trump has been absent and silent it speaks volumes. she doesn't have to say a word. >> you know what i love about sofia nelson and we to meghan, hey, is but what's really in the same conversation we talked about bobby brown and whitney. i mentioned just quoted latin and the way she did and then explained it without dropping a bit i'm a be announced it i didn't press. >> and meghan, hey, you want me seven years seven years. a latin. >> now i feel sorry for sofia now well, trump phase prison time. and if so, for how long he's already spreading lies about it, we'll talk about the reality next the assignments are going off, the tornado here you cannot out swim you cannot outrun it really is a terrifying experience. >> it is the stuff of nightmares you just hear and feel it is my throat. >> we're burning i'm thinking i'm going to die. >> and i thought that was it with liev schreiber, premiere sunday at nine on cnn? 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are they violent? are they armed or they are fugitive? that's not really the case here, works generally in the president's favor deterrence is an interesting one because there aren't that many presidents are former president's alive. but needless to say, cam the judge seek to deter future people from committing crimes or this person from community or crime. and the big one, the defendant's conduct right here wows the defendant behaved and here we've had these gag orders. this defendant, the former president, has mouth off quite a bit. but to the judge and the judge can consider that really important to see all these and writing and again, with exceptions, responsibility, he can accept the process without admitting his guilt. and that could be looked upon by a judge in his what they call the allocution. now, trump says he's going to appeal and that could be a very lengthy process to walk us through how it's going to work. >> oh, lengthy is exactly the right word, laura. so three levels of courts in new york and elsewhere, you've got the new york criminal court that's where we are sentencing july 11, then after sentencing, a series of dates and deadlines come up, the defendant within 30 days of his sentence syncing can file what's called a notice of appeal, just a document signifying that he intends to appeal the decision, then he has six months in which to file is briefs, pull the transcripts, and everything. the government then has 30 days after that. now if you're doing the math that gets you into now, 2025, and the appeal hasn't even been briefed yet. then more back-and-forth. the appeals court can will write a decision when they wish that could take months, if not up to a year after that after that decision, then the former president, if he loses, can go all the way up to the new york court of appeals, the highest court in the state. they don't have to take it, but they can. and that whole process starts over again. this is why appeals can take years and years and years to finish. >> 2025 is what i'm hearing you say as well. and now that trump has been convicted, there are certai