makes history charging donald trump with more than 30 counts connected to a hush money coverup of his alleged affair with adult film actress stormy daniels. all those details are still under seal. but republicans aren t waiting on the facts and are rushing to defend the former president. this is legal voodoo. you got a misdemeanor that s been made of felony. this case will follow, like a cheap suit under legal scrutiny. plus team. trump plans to mount a loud defense in the court of public opinion and to keep a list of who is defending him. and who isn t. but first the people of the state of new york versus donald j. trump manhattan grand jury, returning a 30 plus count indictment against the former president of the united states. sources are telling cnn and the arrangement and the charges are expected to be on tuesday in a hold your breath moment for the entire country. but today, trump s attorney says that his client plans to plead not guilty, and he puts the odds of a plea
alex marquardt in washington. thank you so much for joining us today. we begin this hour with new details surrounding the indictment or former president donald trump. he is now the first ex president in us history to face criminal charges. trump is expected to travel to new york on monday, then surrender and appear in a manhattan court on tuesday. that s when charges against him of which sources tell us there are more than 30. that s when they will be. formally unveiled. attorneys for trump say he has quote ready to fight and will not accept a plea deal ahead of his appearance in court next week. the nypd is preparing for potential unrest. all officers are being told to report to work in uniform and to prepare for deployment today. cnn s kara scannell is outside the manhattan courthouse and cnn s leyla santiago is near trump s mar-a-lago home in west palm beach, florida. karen i want to start with you in new york. what more are you learning about what may be in this historic
york, the u. s secret service is playing an active role in planning for thompson. trump s court appearance. this as trump is holed up right now in mar-a-lago and florida rally. his supporters and lashing out at the prosecutor. and we re following breaking news on the tornado danger right now in the midwest and parts of the south as twisters are spotted in arkansas and illinois, millions are under a rare high risk storm alert right now, welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. this is cnn breaking news and we start with the breaking news. a very dangerous tornado outbreak is tearing across the midwest and south right now, with millions and millions of americans under a rare high risk. storm alert. let s check in with cnn meteorologist chad myers, chad give us the latest off about an hour ago, we had a tornado that rolled through little rock. we do know that there is damage there. we do know that the
a fiber freelancer. former vice president mike pence joins wolf blitzer, cnn primetime tonight at nine. top of the hour this thursday. i m jim sciutto. great to be with you, jim. hi, everyone. i m jessica dean. and any moment now, officials at fort campbell in kentucky will be giving everyone an update after two blackhawk helicopters collided overnight, killing nine u. s service members that is, according to an army official. we re standing by for that, and we ll bring it to you live as soon as it happens. the governor among those who will speak their plus russia has now arrested an american journalist, it says on suspicion of espionage. even draskovic, a reporter for the wall street journal, detained in a small town east of moscow, the wall street journal strongly defending their reporter, the kremlin says. he was caught red handed, refuses to offer any details their track record on this kind of thing. begs a lot of questions. we re going to have details ahead. we begin this
ahead. i ll speak with the family of paul weiland, another american, the kremlin has locked up on espionage charges and a group of military families gets the tragic news. nine service members killed when two black hawk choppers crashed. cnn has a crew right near that save. plus tension in the house from paper tossing to hallway shouting in your face. debates are getting heated on the hill. welcome to the lead. i m pamela brown in for jake tapper, and we start today with our world lead. top u . s. officials are strongly criticizing russia after an american reporter was detained on charges of spying. evan gersh covic appeared in a moscow court today accused of trying to steal russian state secrets. his employer, the wall street journal, says it quote vehemently denies those claims. but now gorshkov itch faces up to 20 years in prison. and today , lawmakers on capitol hill are accusing russia of using this journalist as leverage, and the white house is dismissing the charges.