tapper with the linux on this breaking news from atlanta these cnn breaking news and welcome to the lead arm, abby phillip in for jake tapper. we come on the air this afternoon with huge breaking stories. first in atlanta, video from just moments ago, showing that orange suv right there that rammed into the gate of an fbi office we re told at least one person is now in custody and we ll bring you everything that we know about that incident in just a few moments, but also breaking this our brand new images showing the aftermath of a deadly air strike. iran says that it is a consulate building in syria that was hit and it blames israel for the attack we have brand new reporting from the region in coming up and back here in the united states, a news conference just wrapped up in baltimore. authorities there detailing plans to reopen that major shipping port after last week s catastrophic bridge collapse. but first let s begin with cnn s evan threats, evan what is unfolding rig
you are live in the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in washington. good evening. we are inching closer to i deadline in the government s case against former president donald trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. trump s lars now have about 22 hours to respond to a legal filing from special counsel jack smith. he requested a protective order after trump posted this on social media on friday. if you go after me, i m coming after you. smith wants the judge to limit trump and his legal team from publicly discussing sensitive evidence in the election interference case. today on cnn we heard from one trump lawyer who says he will fight that protective order. the defense attorney also says trump did not tell vice president mike pence at the time to throw out key electoral votes. he says the key distinction is that trump merely asked. you re saying that asking is action. no, asking is aspirational. asking is not action. it s core free speech. what president trump d
it. [ applause ] my favorite, there are 18% of americans according to recent polling that believe you and taylor swift are working in cahoots. after the chiefs won the super bowl, you posted this on social media and wrote, just like we drew it up. now, can you confirm or deny that there is an active conspiracy between you and ms. swift? where are you getting this information? it s classified. classified information? you won t share it with us? i will tell you, she did endorse me in 2020. she did. you might be wondering, might be wondering, you think it might come around again? i told you, it s classified. okay. president biden embracing the dark brand and meme on late night with seth meyers. it was his first appearance on the show in ten years. he was a guest as vice president on seth s first episode as a host. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, february 27th. how did he do, willie? pretty well, i think. he was in his building. had
the fbi director on defense. the lead starts right now. are you protecting the bidens? absolutely not. the fbi does not hold on. you won t answer the question. the fbi, christopher wray on the hill questioned by some of his harshest republican critic. calling for a culture shift at the fbi. and more promises for ukraine but president zelenskyy is not getting the thing he really wanted, entry into nato. why not? plus, taxpayer beware. it s not just uncle sam getting your data, the report out today on who else can see your most sensitive tax information. welcome to the lead i m jake tapper. we start with that explosive battle on capitol hill. republicans released a tsunami of accusations and attacks against the fbi and its trump-appointed director christopher wray accusing wray of weaponizing the bureau against conservatives, lambasting the bureau s participation in last year s search of trump s florida home. american speech is censored, parents are call t
is end. this morning in court filings, we learned the trump appointed attorney reached a plea agreement where he ll plead golt to two counts of failing to pay his taxes on time. he also faces a gun possession charge which is expected to be dismissed. his lawyer joins me for his first tv interview. this investigation was in the works for five years across two administrations. first brought by the doj under president trump in 2019 then continued with the same trump appointed prosecutor, david weiss, under president biden. according to reporting from nbc news, it was thorough across multiple federal agencies and field offices. it began broadly looking at money laundering and fair violations. neither of which were charged. the lengthy time period is part of what the gop is seizing on today. claiming the investigation was slow walked or compromised. and arguing this quote slap on to wrist as they call it shows that former president trump is being politically persecuted. you thin