you get a fair shake. why would i allow a hostile network and allow people that are polling at zero, polling at zero, one is zero with an arrow left. why would i allow people at 1 and 2% and 0% to be hitting me with questions all night. i don t think it s fair. that was former president donald trump s noncommittal answer on debating the other republican candidates because of their polling numbers when new data shows his own are starting to slip amid his federal indictment and the possibility of another indictment for january 6th coming this summer. the numbers are starting to slip, and you look at the people outside the hard core republican base, republicans and even independents leaning republican. you get outside of that to swing voters, to independents, to everybody else. something like 85% of those voters. i think he needs to drop out of the race right now. we ll have more on that ahead. also ahead, we re learning more about the plea deal for hunter biden as the
we start tonight with that late breaking news that special counsel jack smith has subpoenaed trump s former chief of staff mark meadows part of smith s investigation into trump and his role in the january 6th insurrection. now, i should say this is according to a single source and being reported by cnn. nbc has not yet independently confirmed this reporting. but cnn reports tonight that meadows received a subpoena for documents and testimony some time in january. this comes just one week after we learn that special counsel smith subpoenaed trump s former vice president, mike pence. so clearly things are heating up. and beyond the fact that subpoenaing the former president s former chief of is staff is a huge deal on its own, mark meadows in particular is quite a potential witness. meadows was involved in a now infamous phone call between trump and georgia secretary of state raffensperger in which trump pressured raffensperger to find 11,780 votes. and he was in the office wit
impact on the ground. when the chinese foreign ministry indicated that they would respond in the way they were prepared to. and it turns out the other objects are chinese origin, is there a menu of options prepared for how we deal with that? terrific hypothetical. we re just not there yet. on to the relationship issue, the chinese spy balloon, you got china buying more oil from russia. you got china opening up cases in u.s. technology from u.s. universities. and president xi is going to be meeting with the president. and at what point does the president ask for a call from president xi? again, i don t have a call to talk about today. again, let me say here, i know i m running close on time, sorry no, it s not your fault. the president met with president xi at balanci. at the g20, the whole purpose was to move the relationship. the most consequential bilateral relationship in the world, the president knows that. and he wanted to move that forward. and secretary
react? terrific hypothetical, we re not there yet. you have the chinese spy issue, chinese buying more oil from russia, china, you know, opening up cases in the u.s. trying to steal u.s. technology from universities, president xi is going to be meeting with the iranian president, at what point do a big review of the u.s. relationship with china, and at what point does the president ask for a call from president xi? again, i don t have a call to talk about today. level set here, and i know i m running close on time, but sorry. no, it s not your fault. the president met with president xi at bali, at the g20. the whole purpose of that discussion was to move this relationship forward in a better way. most consequential bilateral relationship in the world. the president knows that, and he wanted to move that relationship forward in a better way. and secretary blinken was dang near wheels up trying to head to beijing to have those kinds of conversations to get some of the
remarkable conversation reportedly between putin and the world s richest man. and mitch mcconnell says he s sticking with herschel walker in georgia. john fetterman in pennsylvania opens up about his long recovery after suffering a stroke. plus, another cnn exclusive. a protester in iran speaking out about the atrocities on the ground. let s go outfront. good evening. i m erin burnett. out front tonight, more u.s. weapons in ukrainian hands. ukraine s defense minister tonight saying four of the highly coveted himars that have turned the tide of the war in ukraine s favor, just arrived from the united states. this as russia warns the u.s. of payback for coming to ukraine s aide. the u.s. is, quote, defactor involved in the ukraine war. russia may take, quote, countermeasures against the united states. president biden tonight speaking out to cnn saying putin knows exactly what he s doing. here he is moments ago with our jake tapper. do you think putin is a rational ac