this is a historic moment for the united states supreme court and for american democracy. the justices about to consider whether donald trump is constitutionally barred from being president again. we ll hear the unprecedented arguments and the court s responses live. welcome to cnn s special live coverage of the trump ballot battle at the u.s. supreme court. i m kaitlan collins live outside the supreme court. and i m jake tapper. the nation s highest court will review this landmark case. the division by colorado s supreme court to disqualify former president trump from the 2024 ballot based on what some call the insurrectionist ban 12349th amendment to the u.s. constitution. today the nine justices, three of them nominated by trump, are poised to have the most direct impact on a presidential election since the supreme court decided bush v. gore nearly a quarter sentry ago. now among the questions before the highest court in the land today, did trump incite an insurrecti
election he lost. and hearing the case, the panel of nine supreme court justices including three that president trump himself appointed to the bench. whatever they decide has the potential to transform the trajectory of this year s election, and trump s bid to retake the white house making it the most consequential election case since bush v. gore a quarter century ago. these oral arguments expected to begin in moments and potentially last several hours, and we will be here with you for all of it. and joining us now, nbc s ken dilanian outside the court along with andrew weissmann, former fbi general counsel and former senior member of the moeller probe. and neal katyal. before we dive into the big question, your thoughts about the gravity of this moment, exploring an issue that this country has never had to confront before. the founders of our 14th amendment in the 1860s put this in as an ironclad guarantee that we wouldn t have insurrectionists leading our governm
are inherent in marbury versus madison are like delivering a seal when requested, because there is a separate statute, and the secretary of the state had two of the hats on and he was on one hand the direct agent of the president, and that could never be examinable by the courts, but on the other hand, the original statute had imposed all of the purely ministerial duties that had to do with the recordkeeping and delivering of documents and if you had a land deed that had a seal on it, and the person asked for it no, discretion at all, but the take-care clause, there is no statute that could impose on the president, a, a mandatory duty to engage, and the notion that when the president is meeting with the department of justice and enforce federal fraud statutes and that being ministerial strikes me as insupportable. well, i think that you are missing what i am asking. which is, i think that it is paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care of the laws be fait
any moment now donald trump will be arriving at the courthouse where a three judge panel will hear arguments, can the former president be held criminally responsible for his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss or does he have immunity from prosecution. this is special coverage, i m layer ar laura coates. and i m kaitlan collins. this could ultimately change the landscape of what presidents are allowed do. trump is foregoing the campaign trail to be at these oral arguments as he claim that s has absolute immunity, that his actions constitute official acts that he took while in office. of course i was entitled as president of the united states and commander in chief to immunity. i m entitled to immunity. every president has immunity. especially one that did the job i did. i did a great job. and i wasn t working for myself, i was working for the country. i wasn t campaigning. election was long over. wasn t campaigning. i was looking for voter fraud, something that i have to
along with analysts chuck rosenberg and lisa rubin. what can we expect based on arguments put forward in advance by both sides? reporter: to set the scene, because donald trump is here in person the security has really been ramped up. there s a much greater police presence. in terms of in the courtroom, this is a long shot for donald trump, this idea that a former president can t be prosecuted for any acts whited while serving in offense, it s belied by the fact that gerald ford pardoned richard nixon. this three-judge panel is an all-female panel with two judges appointed by president biden and one appointed by former president george h.w. bush. in addition to arguing immunity, trump lawyers are also making the argument that this produce is improper under double jeopardy. ken, i need to interrupt you because the hearing is starting. let s listen in right now. our jurisdiction was challenged by an amicus. you are not questioning our collateral order jurisdiction? [indis