is a u.s. president above the law? the lead starts right now. donald trump s day in court, as his legal team argues by the former president cannot be prosecuted, even if his actions were criminal. site i have skepticism from the judges will not decide how this case proceeds. six days before the crucial contest in iowa. a new cnn poll from another key primary state, chose a candidate gaining ground on the gop front runner. the defense secretary, treated for prostate cancer. the pentagon has been pressed on his hospital status. or the president didn t know one of his top cabinet members was in the hospital, and couldn t do his job. welcome to the lead. on pamela brown, in for jake tapper. getting ready for tomorrow s cnn republican presidential debate. we start today with our law and justice lead. donald trump, in a federal courtroom. lawyers say that he should be immune from facing charges for any alleged crimes that he committed while in office. the three appeals court
experienced in the department of justice. they have investigated this case to the highest ethical standards and they will continue to do so as this case proceeds. the case jack smith is referring to could proceed in new jersey, according to legal experts, which could explain some of the things trump was not charged with in the indictment filed in the southern district of florida. also tonight, what to expect when president biden attends a major gun control summit tomorrow in connecticut. senator chris murphy joins me. plus, i have a big announcement about a blockbuster reidout special next week with a very special guest. they don t get much bigger. i will spill the beans a little later. but we begin tonight with the wild card in the mishandling of classified documents case against the twice impeached, twice indicted former president, donald trump. the wild card is the judge, who is set to oversee the case, u.s. district judge aileen cannon. you may remember her as the t
coverage of a historic federal indictment of a former president of united states begins at this hour with the dramatic full statement made by special prosecutor jack smith this afternoon when he, in effect, introduced himself to the american people, speaking publicly for the very first time in his six and a half months of investigating donald trump. good afternoon. today an indictment was unsealed. charging donald j trump with felony violations of our national security laws as well as participating in a conspiracy to obstruct justice. this indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the southern district of florida and i invite everyone to read it in full to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged. the men and women of the united states intelligence community and our armed forces dedicate their lives to protecting our nation and its people. our laws the protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the united stat
if we want a more viable future for our kids, we need to find more sustainable ways of doing things. america s plastic makers are investing billions of dollars in new technologies and creating plastic products that are more recyclable. durable. and dependable. our goal is a cleaner, healthier planet for generations to come. for a better tomorrow, we re focused on making plastics better today. they ll be here in 5, we ready? - there s uh. - oh. left. left. i don t have it. i don t have it. - keep going. - we should ve used behr. yeah. today let s paint. right now, get america s most trusted paint brand at a new low price starting at $28.98. behr. only at the home depot. good evening. one subject and one subject only. joining me tonight, the lead s jake tapper. thank you for having me. jack smith took the rare step of releasing the indictment today ahead of mr. trump s tuesday court appearance in miami. as we all discovered when it hit, the details inside the pages are simply
jack smith released the indictment today ahead of the court appearance in miami. and as we all discovered when it hit, the details inside those pages are simply stunning. yeah, and disturbing. the indictment alleges the former president transported boxes containing hundreds of classified documents from the white house to mar-a-lago. some were stored on the stage of a working ball room that he used at the time for events and gatherings, that anybody could wander into. the club s website calling it perfect, quote, for smaller soirees or an incredible cocktail party. some of the documents were kept in the bathroom. most telling in the indictment was that trump aid walt nauta texted of papers spilling onto the floor, including one so restrictive it s restricted to the five eyes, our closest allies. and the anderson, the indictment alleges that mr. trump took some of these documents to a second club, bedminster, where he is today, and where he shared the information about an a