the lawyers reading this and being an attorney and trying to have to defend this page-by-page, number-by-number, asset-by-asset, property-by-property, so we'll see. >> that was a mouthful, don, you were absolutely right. enjoy yourself. >> see you later. this is "don lemon tonight" and this really hasn't been a good 24 hours for donald trump. in large part because of this. but first off because of his hand picked special master basically told him to put up or shut up. now a federal appeals court is calling out his legal team for refusing to provide a shred of evidence for his claims that he declassified documents found in the search of mar-a-lago, so they're allowing the justice department to continue looking at those documents, upending a trial judge's order that the review be blocked, or block the review. and first on cnn, a source says that ginni thomas, a conservative activist, wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, agreeing to talk to the january 6th committee in the coming weeks. and don't forget that massive lawsuit against the former president, three of his adult children and the trump organization alleging that their whole business is essentially a giant fraud. that's what these documents say. that's what they allege. letitia james, the attorney general of new york, says that the fraud was, and i quote here, approved at the highest levels of the trump organization, including by mr. trump himself. she alleges that eric trump, ivanka trump appear donald trump jr. knowingly participated in the fraudulent schemes. she says trump and his company lied more than 200 times about the value of his assets, and she is seeking a quarter of a billion dollars, that's billion with a b, in allegedly ill-gotten funds as well as seeking to bar the trumps from ever running a business in the state again. the former president denies any wrongdoing and accuses the attorney general, a democrat, of a political vendetta. there is a lot to the to in the coming hours here on c ncnn, so want to get right to jessica schneider and laura coates. good evening to both of you. jessica, further reporting, the appeals court allowing the justice department to resume their review of the classified documents, what can you tell us? >> don, this was a unanimous three-judge panel notably with two trump appointees. they gave doj what the prosecutors there have been asking for repeatedly over the past week plus. now doj will be allowed to resume using those 100 classified documents that the fbi seized from mar-a-lago in their search just about a month ago. they can use it in their ongoing investigation. this has been a huge point of contention for prosecutors because the lower court judge, aileen cannon, she had halted their use of these classified records, meaning they couldn't use it for grand jury purposes or with witnesses. now they can. and the appeals court stressed here when they sided with doj that really it could harm the country if investigators couldn't use that material. here's what they said in part. it is self-evident that the public has a strong interest in ensuring the storage of the classified records did not result in exceptionally grave damage to the national security. ascertaining that necessarily involves reviewing the documents, determining who had access to them and when and deciding which if any sources or methods are compromised. the court there saying doj needed to look at those documents. now doj does have the green light to resume using them, all while the special master and trump's legal team will no longer have access to these classified documents. that was the second thing the doj asked for. so a big win tonight for doj at the 11th circuit, don. >> laura, listen, all of this was because team trump wanted a special master, blah, blah, blah, so on, so on and so on. so what impact does the doj appeal have on what the special master is deciding now? >> well, it's limiting now. you know that tina turner song "what's love got to do with it," don? now what did those classified documents have to do with your discussion about what might be privileged. that's essentially what the appeals court said. you've got these 100 documents that are about classified materials, have these various labels on them that say, look, you're not supposed to look at this. by allowing a special master or anyone to see it but under the pretext of i'm looking for privileged documents, you're going to allow people who don't otherwise have a clearance or otherwise authorized to see what could be the most sensitive information now see it. so now the special master is limited in that. the oar part of that, when you think about the classified documents, a lot of this is a self-inflicted wound from the trump legal team and donald trump himself by speaking out in public, talking about the possibility that he has declassified documents. when it came to actually backing that up in a courtroom yesterday and that special master, they didn't do so. that was taken into account today by the 11th circuit, two of whom were actual trump appointees, one was an obama appointee that essentially said when you had a chance to talk to us about what the classified documents had to do with your particular role, you didn't do anything, and that was used against them now. >> jessica, and this now prevents in my understanding is that it prevents team trump or trump's team from seeing the records with classification markings, correct? >> it does, exactly. it prevents trump's legal team as well as the special master as laura was getting to from seeing the classified documents. laura mentioned it. what was interesting is that yesterday's hearing before the special master, trump's team had argued that they needed to see the classified documents to determine which ones trump had potentially declassified. and that was another area where the 11th circuit called out trump's legal team. you know, they said that so far trump's legal team has refused to present any evidence at all that trump declassified any of these documents. you know, plus the 11th circuit made one more point that trump just has no claim at all to any of these classified documents, writing for our part, we cannot discern why plaintiff would have an individual interest in or need for any of the 100 documents with classification markings. classified documents are marked to show they are classified, for instance, with their classification level. so all in all, this was like a 29-page decision here and it went point by point to take down trump's legal team's arguments on just about every level here. now the question is what does trump team do next, appeal to the supreme court? >> it appears that that's their only recourse because there was some question about whether there could be an en banc review to the 11th circuit and that does not apply under these circumstances. is that the way you read it? >> right. first of all, you have a full appellate court, circuit court. you only have several of them at a time that listen to cases in order to expedite review of matters. as opposed to waiting for everyone to hear a matter, they have different three-judge panels to review different cases. this is one such issue. if an en banc decision was issued, they want to go to the entirety of the circumstit cour. normally you can do that except for now there's a new rule as of this year in the le11th circuit that if it's an order from a stay, which is what the doj asked for, a limited review that said i'd like you to put a pin in a particular aspect of a lower court's rule, i don't want to have to follow that order in a very discreet and confined way, a stay, stay the way it was before the judge ruled anything, a stay, if it's that, then you cannot then go to the rest of the 11th circuit. your recourse is only to the supreme court of the united states. and if past right now immediately is prologue, the fact that you have a majority of the 11th circuit appo appointees, and even though there are appointiees on the supreme court, when national security is at stake, it's unlikely to change, but stranger things have happened. >> stranger things have happened. you said a mouthful there. thank you very much, laura. thank you, jessica, i appreciate it. so that monster fraud lawsuit filed by the new york attorney general, letitia james, alleges that donald trump lied about the value of his properties. so let's take a closer look at the allegations. here's cnn's tom foreman to break it all down for us. tom. >> donald trump and three of his children, others in their family business and the trump organization itself are named in this lawsuit by the new york attorney at law, who's accusing them of massive fraud over more than a decade. specifically she says the trumps and their company made scores of fraudulent, false, and misleading representations about the value of their properties, all to deceive people who were giving them loans or insurance or who were tax officials, don. >> so, tom, give us some examples. show us exactly how he was allegedly lying about the value of his properties. >> well, this is where it really gets interesting. let's start in new york with his own apartment in trump tower. trump said it had 30,000 square feet of space in it. this lawsuit says, no, it was about a third of that, 11,000 square feet up there. and trump claimed it was worth about $327 million. the a.g. says no way. no apartment in the city has ever sold in anything like that. how about his mar-a-lago club in florida? the lawsuit says trump claimed it was worth as much as $739 million. when, according to the lawsuit, it was actually worth about $75 million. his golf courses, same story there. for example, the lawsuit says trump bought one course out there for $5 million in 2012. and the very next year claimed it was worth $62 million. on and on and on it goes of the former president took the feift hundreds of type when he was asked about this under oath. after the lawsuit was revealed, one of his lawyers said today's filing is not focused on the facts or the law it is solely focused on advancing the attorney general's political agenda. absolutely no wrongdoing has taken sgplace. >> okay. but didn't address the numbers not lining up. what happens if the state can prove its case? >> that's when it gets really interesting for the trumps. the attorney general wants the trumps to forfeit a quarter billion dollars as you mentioned earlier and to basically be barred from leading any sort of business in new york. this would just tear the pilings out from underneath the trump empire in new york. this is a civil case, so it cannot send any of them to jail. but a separate credible tax fraud case against the organization by the manhattan district attorney is expected to go to trial next month of the and the a.g. has referred these new findings to the u.s. attorney and the irs, and either could dramatically increase the legal pressure on donald trump an his family. don. >> tom foreman, very well explained. thank you very much, sir, of course. we expect nothing else from mr. tom foreman. thank you, appreciate it. so new york attorney general letitia james said her investigation only started after michael cohen testified before congress. he is here, next. >> it was my experience that mr. trump inflated his total assets when it served his purposes. such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes. and now putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalizized terms, browse for cars that fitit your budget, then customize your downpaymyme and monthly payment. and these aren't made up numbers, it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. wheather you're shopping or just looking, it only takes a few seconds and it won't affect your credit score. finally, a totally different way to finance your ride only from carvana. ♪ ♪ dude. ♪ from bolt to blazer, equinox to silverado, chevy evs are for everyone, everywhere. she was supposed to be the one. i used to believe in the one. and then i realized, there's plenty of savings in the sea. what? 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do you think she can prove it? >> oh, absolutely. i've seen the documents. i know, as you probably saw today, which is why i'm here, she credited the beginning of the investigation to my testimony before the house oversight committee. >> yeah. so you said there's something you believe that we're getting wrong about the amount of money that she wants. >> yeah. so the statements that i'm hearing is that she wants $250 million as a settlement. that's not true. what she said was a baseline of $250 million. she's not going lower than that, because the extent of the theft is so great, my belief is it will be three to four times the amount. i believe somewhere between 750 to a billion dollars based upon all of the fraud. >> so listen, we saw what she said. you mentioned that she mentioned you. i want to get to this. this is the former president responding tonight, where else, on fox news. watch this. >> they would never breping a ce and she brought it. the reason i thought is because she didn't have a case. i was of the impression she wanted to settle. i have a problem because how do you pay something if you're not guilty? this was just a continuation of a witch hunt that began when i came down the escalator at trump tower. >> does that make sense to you? he's saying in his opinion that he could have settled, right? >> right. but who settles a case when you're not guilty? >> he also said that he had disclaimer when he applied for any loan telling the lenders that they had to verify everything themselves. why would any bank go along with that? >> that's not true. the disclaimer is no different than his declassification of all the documents that nobody heard, except for himself. you see, like i said, donald trump will lie. and he lies with impunity, in order to justify whatever the question, whatever the issue is that's confronting him. that's his -- that's his strength. that's his superpower. he lies with impunity. and he doesn't care. i know it's frustrating, right? >> it is frustrating. how do i say this? look, i believe it to be true most of the time if not all of the time. he does not respond to the actual facts of the case, right, of the information that is alleged. he responds by saying someone is attacking me, it is a witch hunt. he doesn't say my apartment that i said was worth whatever -- >> that i built, that i built. >> that was actually a mistake because it's not worth that. you understand what i did saying? he's not responding to the facts of the case. he's simply alleging that people are out to get him. >> which is why he went running to fox news. so that way he keeps his base, claiming that he's the victim. he's always the victim. it's amazing, right? you know what's interesting? a lot of people also didn't pick it up in attorney general james' indictment papers is that they had been requesting certain tax documents by subpoena. he fought it. he lost in court. he appealed it, meaning donald. he lost that. they took it to the supreme court. and he lost it there. so they turned over some documents. and of course that has to be responsive to the subpoena. guess what, when they raided mar-a-lago, what did they find? documents that would have been responsive to the subpoena. that's not obstruction of justice. it's unbelievable. every single time you look at a document, you're going to find that there's another illegality that's going on here. again, donald trump is an enigma. he doesn't care about anyone or anything. he doesn't believe the law applies to him of the and lies with impunity. there's no other way to describe hem. >> i want to go back to my point. what did he say his apartment was worth? >> $375 million. >> so then why isn't he responding by saying this is why my apartment is worth $375 million or that was an error or to the specifics of what is alleged rather than the democrats hate me? >> because donald trump has a fragile ego. over the course -- donald trump has a fragile ego. and during the entire trump administration, have you ever once seen him acknowledge an error? the answer is no. in fact in the 12 years that i worked for him, i had never heard him acknowledge an error. he is incapable of error, because donald trump is perfect. and not to mention, he couldn't then fight you on it because he knows it's a lie. >> yeah. but again, that's why you said he went to where he went to, a friendly media organization, because someone will say to him, i would have said to him why is your apartment worth $327 million? why did you allege that? was that an error? can you please explain to the public what that means? why is this wrong? why is the attorney general wrong? and he would not have an answer for that, correct? >> softball. >> so let me ask you about his chi children, because this is alleging that don jr., ivanka, eric, they're involved in this. the business is run like a small family. >> it is a small family. >> talk about their role in all of this. you know because you were there. weren't you based out of trump tower? >> yes. and i was, as i had stated, i had worked with allen weisselberg, which i testified to, not only to the attorney general, the district attorney and to seven different congressional committees, you know, along with other law enforcement agencies. the goal was to appease donald. each and every year he wanted to be richer on the forbes list. it's extremely important to him. so he'd say i'm worth $6 billion. within a second -- you know, in fact i'm really worth $7.5. you know what, i'm richer than that. the more i think about it, i'm worth 10. so figure out how to make the personal financial statement from the year before $10 billion. >> what do you think he's worth? >> up 1, 2, at best. >> what do you think -- do you have any information that could help the attorneys? >> oh, i've given everything. i've gechb tiven thousands of documents. >> do you think they used your information? >> according to tish james, absolutely. i gave personal financial statements. the problem and why trump gets away with what he does is because there's only a handful of people within the inner circle. everybody else is external. what i did is i provided the road map, i provided the information that they needed to understand the trump organization so that they could hold him accountable. >> where do you see this going? >> oh, i see real problems. i see indictments coming and relatively soon. >> including the children? >> including the children. >> thank you. >> you're welcome, don. >> good to see you. president biden speaking to the world today addressing the u.n. and vladimir putin. we'll tell you what he said after this. . emerge tremfyant®. trememfya® is approved to help reduce... joint symptoms in adadults with active psoriatic arthritis. some patients even felt less f fatigued. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®... ask you doctor about tremfya® today. the unknown is not empty. it's a storm that crashes, and consumes, replacing thought with worry. but one thing can calm uncertainty. an answer. uncovered through exploration, teamwork, and innovation. an answer that leads to even more answers. mayo clinic. you know where to go. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ "shake your thang" by salt n pepa vladimir putin escalating russia's invasion of ukraine today along with announcing a partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists. putin made clear references to his potential use of nuclear weapons. >> this is not a bluff. the citizens of russia can be sure that the territorial integrity of our homeland, our independence and predom will be ensured. i emphasize this again with all the means at our disposal. those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction. >> president biden condemning those comments hours later in his speech at the u.n. general assembly. >> this war is about extinguishing ukraine's right to exist as a state. plain and simple. and ukraine's right to exist as a people. whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should not -- that should make your blood run cold. a nuclear war cannot be won. and must never be fought. >> let's bring in cnn military analyst, lieutenant general mark h hertling. thanks for joining us. good to see you. putin again raising the specter of nuclear weapons. it's never a good one when the use of nuclear weapons is implied, but do you see this as hollow rhetoric that he is spewing here or a real threat? >> there's a lot of people that are saying that, don, but you can't look at nuclear, the potential use of nuclear weapons as a hollow threat when a nation has those. you have to consider it a threat. that's what putin is doing. he's done it repeatedly. so as much as many people would like to say, oh, he hasn't used them so far or he's never going to use it or he's too afraid to use it, if there's even a 1% chance that he might use it, you have to take those kind of threats seriously of t. and i think the president today at the u.n. hit a couple of key points in his speech. one of them was certainly holding russia accountable and signaling them about the use of nuclear weapons and how it is unacceptable and how russia walked away from nuclear nonproliferation talks earlier in the u.n. debates. >> let's talk about this partial mobilization, general. you have background on how russian soldiers are trained. you say this mobilization is jaw dropping, but not for the reason people might think it is jaw dropping. explain. >> yeah. i think immediately the number of 300,000 mobilized comes to everybody's mind and it's shocking, don. but when you know the intricacies of taking reservists and taking them out of their civilian environment and suddenly turning them into soldiers very quickly, that's a very difficult thing to do when you have that many, especially with the shape that russia is in right now. the first thing to consider is where do you process those individuals? how do you get them from their civilian lives into a soldier's life? how do you get them uniforms, weapons, get them retrained, get them integrated into units? and the units that they're integrating into have been devastated on the battlefield, so the morale is already low. so you're affecting not only the military in a very negative way by trying to insert individuals who haven't trained or been a part of a unit since the start of this war, but you're also talking about affecting the civilian society. and, boy, aren't we certainly seeing that tonight with the amount of protests that are going on all over russia. and this is one thing that i don't think putin really considered, the blowback from the mothers and the citizens, and especially from the young men that didn't want to go. >> yeah. i think you talked about that early on as we were covering the war. you and other experts said that this was -- once you start affecting mothers and their kids don't come back or what have you, it was going to -- the tides may turn when it comes to public sentiment about what's happening in the war. what does it say about how effective russia's military will be if it is conscripting people -- it's getting conscripts an those are the people who were protesting? >> don, i can only say that this will not contribute to success. so far the russian military in the first three phases of this operation have been exceedingly unsuccessful because they have untrained soldiers, very poor leaders, terrible equipment, and a dysfunctional supply, as well as a horrible command and control aur rchitecture. so you have an army on the battlefield that has been mauled over a period of over 210 days. morale is low, leadership is in the toilet, and now you're going to say, hey, we're going to put new people into these units. well, having been on the battlefield in units that are not in good shape and trying to introduce the raw recruits, even though these individuals may have been in the russian military before, they're going to be raw recruits if they eventually report to the front lines. they are not well accepted because they have not fought with the teams that are there. the morale of the teams that are there is already poor. so it's just -- it's just laying on another layer of disastrous activity. and, you know, don, what i'd say is most people who don't understand the military think that these human beings are interchangeable, that soldiers can just fall into line an suddenly contribute to the actions of the russian military. you can't. because of all the things i've stated. i'm sorry for going on like this, but it's just phenomenal that anyone in the russian government would think mobilizing 300,000 people in the midst of a war would help the situation. it just won't. >> you can go on, perfectly explained. thank you, general, i appreciate it. thanks so much. >> pleasure, don, thanks. so money now costs more money. the fed raising interest rates again to the highest that they have been in years. stay with us. anything it takes to make dentistry work for your life. so we offer a complete exam and x-rays free to new patients without insurance e - everyda. plus, patitients get 20% off their treatment plan. we're on your corner and in your corner every step of the way. because your anything is our everything. aspen dental. anything to make you smile. book today at aspendental.com, walk in, or call 1-800-aspendental. president biden signed the inflation reduction act into law this afternoon. ok, so what exactly does it mean for you? out of pocket costs for drugs will be capped. for seniors, insulin will be just $35. families will save $2,400 on health care premiums. energy costs, down an average of $1,800 a year for families. and it's paid for by making the biggest corporations pay what they owe. president biden's bill doesn't fix everything, but it will save your family money. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b, do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your doctor. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. if you're living with hiv, keep loving who you are. and ask your doctor if biktarvy is right for you. so this might hurt a bit. the federal reserve bringing out the big guns to fight inflation, raising interest rates for the fifth time this year, up three-quarters of a point just today. it is the toughest policy move since the 1980s to fight inflation. it will likely cause some economic pain for millions of americans pushing up the cost of borrowing for things like homes, credit cards, and cars. now, the federal reserve chairman, jerome powell, saying that the fed is committed to getting inflation down, but it will be painful getting there. the job market will have to get worse if we want inflation to fall. ouch. the fed now expects the american economy will grind to a near halt this year and the unemployment rate will rise a percentage point by then. we've got more on all of that, what you can expect, coming up in our next hour. but next, you have never heard of this man. but one lawyer is saving lives, keeping people without a voice out of prison. and the new york attorney general suing donald trump. here. aspercreme arthritis. full prescriription-strength? reduces inflammation? thank the gogods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. no matter who you are, being yourself can be tough when you have severe asthma. triggers can pop up out of nowhere, causing inflammation that can lead to asthma attacks. but no matter what type of severe asthma you have, tezspire™ can help. tezspire™ is an add-on treatment for people 12 and over... that proactively reduces inflammation... ...which means you could have fewer attacks, breathe better, and relieve your asthma symptoms. so, you can be you, whoever you are. tezspire™ is not a rescue medication. don't take tezspire™ if you're allergic to it. allergic reactions like rash or an eye allergy can happen. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection or your asthma worsens. sore throat, joint and back pain may occur. avoid live vaccines. by helping control your asthma, tezspire™ can help you be you. no matter who you are, ask your asthma specialist about tezspire™ today. do a little more good. that's what we want... at unitedhealthcare. it's why we have dual complete. a health plan that offers people on medicare and medicaid more benefits and support than you'd get with original medicare, at no extra cost. it's our way of doing a little more good. ♪ it is time for champions f change, the week-long series brings you extraordinary people working behind the scenes in innovation, vision and courage to lift us all up. poppy harlow recently earned a master of studies in law from yale where one mild-mannered professor was a relentless fighter for justice. his name is steven bright. he helps the most destitute people entangled in the legal system. he is poppy's champion for change. >> when you're on death row, that's when the clock starts ticking. he said i'll going to do my best and he saved my life. >> i'm like i can't make it through this. i can't do 25 years in prison. >> the people that we've represented have been the most desperate, the most despised unfortunately, and the poorest and powerless people in the country. >> steven bright is a lawyer, but for his clients, he is their last hope. >> katherine julia harlow. >> i met him the day that i walked into his class at yale law school. >> thanks to them and thanks to their work, both in atlanta and here, there's one less person facing execution in georgia today. >> listening to him talk is like listening to justice. >> if we don't do better, we're going to have to sandblast equal justice under law off the supreme court building. >> what does the southern center for human receights stand for? >> represent people facing the death penalty and represent people in prisons and jails with regard to unconstitutional conditions and practices. i wanted to go where the problems were and where i could be helpful. >> he has argued for capital punishment cases before the supreme court, and he won them all. >> you've often said people are much more than the worst thing they have ever done. >> of course. tony amad echea is a perfect example. >> i get up morning, think about my blessings. >> tony served 38 years in prison for his involvement in two murders. >> i'm responsible for their grief, my family's grief. i'm deeply, deeply sorry. >> how close was tony am mamad being put to death? >> we basically threw a hail mary pass by asking the supreme court to take the case. >> he won in a unanimous decision. >> the evidence discloses an intentional program of rigging the jury by the prosecutor's office. >> why do you represent people that you know have committed murder? >> everyone has to be represented if the legal system is going to work. if you talk about a champion for change, you're talking about somebody that makes an individual commitment for the betterment of other people. i'm getting emotional. >> i certainly wouldn't have been the kind of lawyer i became without his model. >> civil rights attorney brian stevenson started working with bright right out of law school. he would go on to found the equal justice initiative. >> in a lot of ways, it does become like ministry. i think you can't actually appreciate the burdens of the condemned, of the poor, of the marginalized, if you haven't tried to carry some of those burdens. >> you have to let your heart be broken. >> yes, that's right. steve made it safe to love the people you represent. >> someone, like shawna shackelford. >> what happened in 2009? >> my house burned down. i ended up getting blamed. we lose everything, end up hom homeless, and i was charged with first degree arson. they offered me 25 years at first. >> 25 years in prison? >> yes. >> for a fire you didn't set? >> right. >> and then you wrote a letter to someone. >> i received a letter just two weeks ago. >> oh, my god, i have not seen this letter in forever. i've lost my job. i've lost my home. i've lost my dogs. now i sleep in my car. >> i'm tired and i'm beaten and i don't understand how to fight this. it's been days now since i've eaten. >> so bright took on her case for free. what happened to the charges? >> they were dropped. >> dropped. because he had done a few weeks of investigation. >> and it was determined that it was actually an electrical fire. >> how long has it been since you saw him? >> about a decade now. >> what would you say to him if you got to see him? >> thank you for saving my life. >> we thought it would be nice if you could tell him yourself. >> because of his teaching and influence, he's doing more than most people to make sure that that legacy is carried on by new generations of lawyers and advocates. but nothing is ever quite as good as the original. >> poppy harlow is here with me now. how are you not crying you can see my tears don lemon? >> and of course i was crying asked doesn't want anything, fame, money, nothing. what do you think? what motivates him? what drives him? >> that's what's so amazing to me, it was a man who said he was my professor in law school last year, and he changed my life. he gave me a new lens to see the world, and he could be a, rich fancy lawyer. he works with the poorest people that no one else will take on. he almost died in 2007. his heart stops he says, poppy, i think i'm living on borrowed time. i do everything with it to make sure, those forwards above the supreme court, equal justice under law. that makes a true with the wealthiest. and through the poorest. you don't even have a competent lawyer. if you don't have a competent lawyer, you don't have a chance, and that's what he's changing. >> if you have means and i always ask people, what did you learn? when you went to law school, have you lost your mind? >> you know, when i made that announcement, i was going to go to law school. it's always when they are when big things happen. >> i remember you passed on the, are you overheated. >> you called my husband, you told my husband, when i was pregnant. you are always there for me in these moments, and you are part of encouraging me to take this on. >> what did you learn from that? just from this experience, you obviously met him. >> what you learned from him, and from this awful experience is that we have the power, and capacity to use our lives, if we use this power in the right way, for the people who don't have it. being a voice for the voiceless, that's how it is. so, that's what we have to do, as journalists. we need to stand up, we need to tell these stories, and he fights for them. could you believe, winning all four cases before the supreme court? all four? >> you have him, but, right, he is a trail blazer. you also have brian stephenson, and they work together, in tandem. amazing. >> i'm so glad you pointed this out. ryan stephenson, the amazing civil rights attorney, the founder of the equal justice initiative, author of just mercy, told me, he would not be the lawyer he has today, and would never have gotten into this work without stephen bright. stephen bright is the unsung hero behind what ryan stephenson has built. so, don, we want to show the world a bit about him. >> and unsung hero. poppy k. that's my mom's name. >> you remember what it was a lemon poppy? i think you said you like lemon poppy the most. >> so in the morning. >> i know. have we lost our minds? >> maybe. i blame you! >> why? >> because you are a big reason why want to be there, don lemon. >> can i tell them what you said? >> sure, what are you not going to tell them? >> they said, the only reason i'm letting you do this is because of don. >> it's true! can i blow our lives and make your job at home a lot harder, getting up at three in the morning? he said, for what and i said, for don? he said, okay, you can do it. i'm so excited to have caitlin with us, we're gonna have a lot of fun. >> i love you. >> so you. >> if you don't wake, up can i come knock on your front door? >> yes, of course. thank you, love you as well. >> we are continuing to share these stories, 8 pm eastern, and is changing a one hour special. we've got a lot more ahead, with the new york attorney general, suing trump as an appeals court rules against him. not a great night for the former president, and there's a lot to talk about. that's next. carvana's had a lot of firsts. 100 percent online car buying, car vendinding machines, and now putting you in control of your financing. at carvana, get personalized terms, browse for cars that fit your budget, then customize your downpayment and monthly payment. and these aren't made up numbers, it's what you'll really pay, right down to the penny. wheather you're shopping or just looking, it only takes a few seconds and it won't affect your credit score. finally, a totally different way to finance your ride only from carvana. ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card. former president, donald trump, and three of his adult children are, now, facing a huge civil wall suit from laetitia jaynes. packed with allegations of fraud, lies, and more than 200 false evaluations of trump's assets, that reach back long before he became president. and, another legal blow, an appeals court ruling that the justice department can resume their criminal probe of classified documents found at mar-a-lago. joining me, to discuss, cnn senior legal analyst, elie honig. also, norm eisen, in cnn senior analyst, and house judiciary special counsel in trump's first impeachment trial. that is a long title, norm. also, cnn presidential historian, timothy neff tally. thank you for joining us today. let me ask before i get to, you elie. some of the day for us. summit up. >> donald. trump's. worst. day. ever. >> you think? so >> he got a body blow on the criminal side tonight with the 11th circuit, allowing the doj, lifting the stake, the doj can proceed in using these classified documents, don, to investigate him. probably his most serious criminal exposure, and, even worse for donald trump, what does he care about above all? whose, they have businesses, his work, and in the worst-case, talking about it last week, which is a new york attorney general is the equivalent. >> this is my question, elaine. it was a strong interest, and is ensuring that the storage of the classified records did not result in exceptionally great damage to national security. why did the doj have a winning argument? >>