so does the trump team flinch every time the dore bell rings? "the lead" start right now. donald trump has been told he's a target of a federal investigation ahead of what could be his next legal fight, a

possible indictment. we are in uncharted waters, people, and a shifting hazard. >> if you don't have to be outside, then don't be outside. >> that's the mayor of washington, d.c. dangerous thick smoke from canadian wildfires is moving south. major cities in the u.s. are elevating their alert as air quality is getting worse. plus, new russian aggression on the battlefield. the significant losses for ukraine as ukrainian forces try to breach enemy lines. ♪ welcome to "the load." i'm jake tapper, and we'll start today with our law and justice lead. donald trump is gathering with his top aides reaching out to allies on capitol hill ahead of possible criminal charges, criminal charges, being filed against him. sources say the justice department recently told trump's legal team that the former president is a target in the federal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents after he

left office and, of course, possible obstruction of justice charges related to those documents. the lead prosecutor in the case john harbaugh, there he is seen at the federal courthouse in miami where a grand jury has heard witness testimony just this woke. cnn has also learn another key witness was interviewed by prosecutors earlier this year, a former official who was in charge of advising both the trump and the obama administrations on how to properly declassify materials. as cnn's paula reed reports for us now, this tm can undercut trump owes claims that he automatically classified f-document he took to his florida resort, sometimes just using his mind. >> were you with you witness in front of the grand jury? >> the attorney refusing to answer questions outside the federal court in miami today. the justice department recently informed the former president he is a target of a federal investigation into the possible mishandling of classified

documents. multiple sources tell cnn. >> we don't have any confirmation that have. >> reporter: the news comes just days after his lawyers met with special counsel jack smith and other officials at the main justice building in washington, d.c. a source tells cnn that beyond initial greetings, smith did not say a word during the meeting, but the target letter is a clear sign that prosecutors are looking at trump, not just those around him and gives him the option to give his side to the grand jury if he chooses. >> it does suggest an indictment is coming down the pike. >> reporter: he's currently hupgerred down at his bed minister, new jersey golf club with some of his closest aides, and reacting on social media saying i have assumed for years that i am a target of the weaponized doj and fbi. cnn reporting exclusively that a former white house official in charge of advising the trump administration on

declassification told federal prosecutors trump knew the proper process and followed it while in office, a claim supported by up of his own lawyers. >> he is aware of a bureaucratic process that can be used. he used that bureaucratic process in the middle of his presidency >> reporter: but out of step with trump's public comments. >> they become automatically declassified when i took them. >> reporter: trump's former lawyer who recently left the trump team amid infighting revealed wednesday that he has heard the bombshell audio recording of trump discussing what he says is a classified document. >> i was aware of the audio tape. >> reporter: but downplayed its significance. >> it's certainly not even clear what he's specifically talking about. >> reporter: special counsel prosecutors are also still calling witnesses in the january 6th probe, including steve bannon who was recently subpoenaed to testify about the events in and around the

insurrection. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. just understand this. all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. >> reporter: and the bannon subpoena, jake, it's an important reminder that it appears that the special counsel's dual investigations are just on different timetables. it appears that the january 6th investigation could go on for several more months as they are still subpoenas witnesses. we know they are still having informal interviews with some key witnesses, and right now had a we're watching and waiting for are potential charges in the mar-a-lago documents investigation. >> all right. paula reid, thanks so much. appreciate it. let's discuss all of this. we have with us tom dupuis and cnn's christian holmes and, of course, abe philip. tom, walk us through what we could see play out here if charges are filed. how would we even know? >> i think we'll know fairly soon after they are filed. doesn't have to be instantaneousous but i would anticipate within 24 hours,

certainly not different than what happened in new york. it does appear the trump team is ready like this. he's behaving like a man who apprentice pats being indicted in the next 48 to 72 hours. gathered his forces in bed minister and making public statements. his lawyer met with the justice department. all the indicators suggest that the trump team thinks an indictment is imminent. the only person who knows, of course, is jack smith and he's keeping his cards close to the vest. >> how much information do you think would be contained in the indictment? would they lay out substantial evidence? >> i think they would. look, in a case like this, i think it would be very peculiar to say the least for jack smith to file an indictment at a 30,000 foot level, said i found obstruction of justice, evidence to follow. he has to provide specific information in the indictment at least to give the public confidence this is not a fishing exercise and this is an indictment based on the rule of law and the evidence gathered. >> and in the new york case in

which trump was indicted on a separate matter will be instructive. the doj won't say that. they don't want to say anything of these things play into this, but in that case some of the details were left out and were -- >> a lot. >> a lot of details were left out and left to be sorted out in the courtroom. it will be critical whether or not these documents that come with a possible indictment are detailed enough and specific enough to support the charges, and from a political perspective, i think that many reap warnings and you heard this from mike pence last night with dana bash at the town hall, they are going to defend trump until they are forced to not to. >> yeah. >> to not defend him, and what will make that change happen is if the evidence that is available to the public in a charging fades is incredibly significant so we will see if that happens. >> take us behind the scenes right now with donald trump and his team. what's going through their minds, and what are they doing? >> look, for the last several

weeks trump had been telling people around him, asking them really do they think he's going to get indicted? that shifted in the last several days. now he's saying he believes he's likely to be indicted, not just him. his team believes that as well. they are bracing themselves for this. they actually believe he'll be indicted likely in this case as well as the georgia probe. however, they are not just signature around waiting for it to happen. now they are actually trying to do as we're talking about, get republicans out there to defend them. they are calling the allies on the hill and calling the staunch protests on the airwaves talking about how this is a political persecution, how this is election interfeerps, and donald trump himself is actually making some of these calls. he's taking so some of these representatives on the hill telling them how he feels and about this indictment. they feel they are red for this, but they also don't have any sort of plan in place once it happens. i mean, we're all in uncharted territory. even though they are saying that they believe that this is imminent, they have no real reason to believe that other than what we've all seen. this is testimony of mark

meadows, the target letter. they are not getting any kind of headsup from the department of justice at this point. >> if this does happen, if the interindictment happens relatively soon let's say within the next couple of weeks, would there be a trial before the 2024 election? >> i think there would be, absolutely. i think would be. i think it's certainly in the justice department's interests to get it over with sooner rather than later. president trump, it's a closer question, but i do think ultimately it would be in his interest to litigate it before the election, too, and i think the timing of this, how this plays out, there will be a big difference if the special counsel elects to prosecute in washington because i'm the trump defense team and he charges mow in washington, i'll tie that up in litigation for months saying this should be done in florida. that may be one reason why the special counsel, if he indicts in florida, decided to do it there where the jury pool would be less favorable, but he can move things along much quicker. >> so you can real divide republicans right now into two groups. up is the group that chris christie and asa hutchinson, basically along the lines of like he brought this on himself, and if he's found guilty, he

should be disqualified from being the nominee, et cetera, and then you have every other republican, nikki -- well, we don't know what nickity healy is going to land and mike pence included, ron desantis who are saying this is all political. the justice department is political. how stopping do you think the evidence has to be to get the desantises and the pences to be like, well, this is -- this looks really bad? >> first of all, i think it's going to be a little bit hard to say. one of the interesting things about this case is that we don't know quite a lot it seems, especially based on the reporting. >> very little. >> we know very little. i also think that even among the sort of trump defenders camp, you will probably have to subdivide those people, too, because i -- i can see a mike pence taking a look at the evidence on the national security issue, i could see this of nikki haley as well. these are some canned dwhit are trying to position themselves as foreign policy hawks, and at the heart of this case, this documents case, we know based on our reporting at least one of

the documents involved, a document that pertains to national security, potential plans that have to do with an attack on iran, so there may very well be a very strong national security component there that might have much more an effect on a nikki haley and mike pens than would on a ron desantis who wants to be on the sort of populist right of donald trump and might want to downplay some of those things because he doesn't want to be seen as more hawkish than trump on things like that. we'll see, but to me, one of the through lines of all of this, the top secret nature of some of these documents is going to be the degree to which these documents are sensitive and significant to national security and how carelessly they were handled, and the why of it all. why would former president trump want to hold on to them and not give them that. >> so a big theme of donald trump's candidacy the first time in 2016 was grievance. here are all the things that are wrong with this country.

now it really has in 2020 and 2024 it looks like turned to persecution. i am being persecuted. obviously he is already trying to turn this -- these pending possible indictments as well as the case in new york into an asset. we can run some of the sound, a campaign ad, which he even features special counsel jack smith as well as there's jack smith with the beard. there's mueller and alvin bragg. this is part of a campaign ad literally. this is -- i mean, this is their main talking point right now. >> it is, and i go back to when trump did his first rally in texas in 2024, and he was as manhattan indictment was looming. if you listen to the speech, it was essentially all grievances, how everyone was out to get him. it was a very dark speech. it wasn't problems, as you said with america. it was problems face wiing him

he's the voice of all people and he's standing in their way and they are attacking the trump maga voters, but he's the one in front of them so he's taking all the incoming hits. that's a big theme of this, and as we know that's why he's calling these allies, wants them out there saying this, too, talking about how this is election interference. that's not going to end, and they believe and trump himself as part of his campaign, they believe that this is going to help him, that this will give him a boost in the poll numbers, that this is going to increase his fund-raising dollars. now, i do also want to point out that there are some very senior advisers to trump who i have talked to who do not believe that this is a good thing. they think this is actually a terrible thing. >> of course it's not. >> and even if it ends up okay, there's a lot of concern that this is not going to help him in a general election. >> he escaped two impaetsch or at least two conviction votes and still his place in history in a lot of conservative voters turned off. >> there's short term and long term.

he may fund raise and may rally a republican base, but it is a bad thing to be indicted. that's just a fact, and -- >> where i come from. >> right. in my world it's bad to be indictmented. on top of that he was impeached once and he lost the presidential race. like let's not forget that part of it. in part of trump's world they don't believe he lost but he did lose that election, and so the serious people in trump's orbit understand the challenges that this would present to them, and they -- they are taking it seriously for that reason. >> and particularly just one thing to note here is that the people around him who are building this campaign this time around, they know that trump needs to broaden his base if he's going to win. obviously this is not something that will help with that effort. >> why would he think that if he won the last time? that doesn't make any sense. moving on. thanks one and all. another presidential candidate without the legal drama has launched his open bid for p.you'll know his name maybe, cornell west. we'll hear his pitch. also wildfire smoke sinking

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in our health lead now, the source of that all that east coast united states smoke, more than 430 wildfires that are pushing right now up north in canada. the hazardous smoke caused by these canadian fires is creating this ominous and apocalyptic orange haze throughout the new york region and now that nearly inescapable smoke is covering other lockales such as baltimore and washington, d.c. thick smoke is seeping too buildings and into transit systems. cnn's brian todd reports now from the nation's capital where the air conditions are so bad that officials say it's unhealth for everyone. >> reporter: thick haze rolling into the mid-atlantic today causing more health warnings and scattered cancellations. around 75 million americans now under air quality alerts as the smoke from canada's wildfires continues to move south, philadelphia, baltimore and d.c. showing readings today that ranged from very unhealthy in purple to even hazardous in maroon. >> getting ostomy tree i felt

like i couldn't breathe or catch my breath. >> this is much thicker than i was expecting. surprised by how hazy it is. >> i'm a little worried, i'm mott going to lie. >> reporter: the nationals baseball game postponed and horse racing cancelled and zoos closed in d.c. and new york. d.c. and baltimore parks suspending outdoor recreation. >> there will be no track practice, in outdoor sporting event, any of that through friday. >> reporter: schools in d.c. and some suburbs cancelling outdoor recess and sports. a few school districts in the northeast closing schools entirely. a brief ground stop at new york city's laguardia airport this morning as well as flight delays at newark and philadelphia. the advice from authorities there, wear a mask if you have to go out. >> if you don't have to be outside, then don't be outside. >> reporter: at greatest risk, those with respiratory problems as well as senior citizens, children and those who are pregnant, but even if you're healthy -- >> this is like smoking, and so it's cumulative exposure will

put people at greater risk even if healthy at baseline. >> reporter: over the next 48 house, the smoke is forecast to continue spreading south, but compared to yesterday, new york city today seeing some signs of improvement. >> you may see continued improvements later tonight and overnight. >> reporter: but could this happen more often? >> increasing climate change and increasing warming, we can expect more and more of these kind of wildfires to continue. >> reporter: and we can give you a really good visual of how good the smoke and haze is here in the d.c. area. we'll past where i am at the iwo jima memorial where on a normal day on a straight line you can see very clearly the monuments in washington. look, in the haze here you can barely see. you can see the lincoln memorial better than a few hours ago, and then even further behind it the washington monument, and if we zoom in even tighter you can barely make out the u.s. capitol in the background but a couple hours ago that capitol was not visible at all, that relief, really serious relief in the washington, d.c. area may not come until the end of the

weekend, if not later. jake? >> brian todd at the iwo jima memorial in arlington, thanks so much. coming up, what u.s. officials describe as a significant loss for ukraine after trying to make a run on russian forces. stay with us. he's on verizon, and she has the new myplan where she gets exactly what she wants and only pays for what she needs. she picks only the perks s she wants anand saves on every one! all with an incredible new iphone. act now and get iphone 14 pro onon us when you switch. it's your verizonon. it's easy to get lost in investment research. introducing j.p. morgan personal advisors. hey david. coect with an advisor to create your personalized an. let's find the right investments for your goals okay, great. j.p. morgan wealth management. he snores like an angry rhino. you've never heard an angry rhino. baby i hear one every night... every night. okay. i'll work on that. the queen sleep number c2 smart bed is now only $899. save $200. plus, 48-month financing on all beds. shop now only at sleep number. ♪ you're a giant who walks among us ♪ ( ♪ )

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and toppling our world lead. this afternoon at the white house, british prime minister sunak thapgd the united states for its steadfast support for ukraine. nearly a year and a half into the biggest ground war in europe since world war ii. >> the uk is proud of our contribution including providing tanks, long range weapons and training ukrainian soldiers, but

let no one doubt u.s. leadership and resources are the decisive contribution allowing the forces of democracy and freedom to prevail. >> cnn's jim sciutto joins us now with new reporting. jim, despite all of that support for ukraine from the west, u.s. officials tell you that ukraine has been suffering significant losses on the battlefield. show us where. >> that's right. significant losses and meeting stiffer than expected russian resistance, this taking place in an initial push here around bakhmut, ukrainian forces pushing towards these russian-controlled territories. now to be clear, this was always expected to be difficult. why? because russian forces are dug in in multiple lines. sometimes two, three, four deep. in addition to that, this is a literal minefield of the they have been planting mines for months. they have had a long time to prepare, and those ukrainian

forces being met, not just with the mine fields but also shoulder-fired weapons, mortars, grenades,ette, and that's been responsible i'm told by u.s. officials with both losses and heavy equipment and in personnel. one of the officials saying the losses are sadly significant. >> jim, tell us more about the kind of equipment that ukraine is losing as they attempt this advance. >> well, as you know, one of the big focuses belong long range missile systems, artillery, et cetera, is to supply ukrainians with armored systems including the m-rap. they were built specifically to pre-text troops against mines and other forms of attack. they can be vulnerable. the u.s. has provided hundreds of them to the ukranians and some have been lost in the unusual push as well as other armored personnel carriers. now, to be clear, that initial push is not the only rush. the ukrainian counteroffensive,

long anticipated is not just to come from bakhmut but other targets where russian forces currently occupy. i'm told that these initial losses are not expected to define the success of this counteroffensive, jake. that is this was expected to be difficult. it is just beginning and u.s. officials have high hopes for what the ukrainians can accomplish. >> jim sciutto, thank you so much. appreciate it. moments ago known's kaitlyn collins spoke with prime minister sonniac about his meeting with president biden and the brutal war in ukraine and you can see that on "cnn primetime" at 6:00 p.m. eastern. now to southern ukraine, president volodymyr zelenskyy visited the city of kherson from the catastrophic dam breech earlier this week as both russia and ukraine continue to blame each other for the deadly deluge. a top red cross official says displaced land mines floating in the water are, quote, a big problem there. cnn's fred pleitgen is in

zaporizhzhia as russia claims to be thwarting ukrainian attacks in the south. >> reporter: breaking news on kremlin-controlled tv claiming moscow's forces are facing massive attacks in southern ukraine. >> ukrainian forces attacked with nato tanks and light armored vehicles. our army has fought off these attacks. >> reporter: russia's defense ministry releasing aerial videos hike this one allegedly showing their forces targeting advancing ukrainian formations in the zaporizhzhia reg op. moscow also claims to have taken out a modern western anti-aircraft system close to the front line. on a visit to an arms depot, russia's defense minister urging faster weapons deliveries. the enemy tried to advance today, he says, so this equipment is needed. let's hurry up. while the ukrainians have not confirmed offensive operations and cnn can't independently

verify the specific russian claims, u.s. officials have told cnn the russians are putting up stiff resistance. ukraine's leadership says they understand their counteroffensive will be lonr t russia's defenses. they showed us this repair and modification shop where they fix up mostly vehicles captured from the russians, including this modern troop transporter. even with all the western equipment that the ukrainians have already received, they still have a lot less than the russians do. that's why every taping and every armored vehicle that they can get back on the battlefield will be vital for ukraine's war effort. that includes even seemingly destroyed vehicles like this blown up armored personnel carrier the project manager tells me. >> all this can restore the units. >> reporter: further along the southern front line, the situation in the areas flood by the recent destruction by a major dam is deteriorating.

ukraine and russia accusing each other of targeting operations to rescue flood victims. ukraine's chief dodging for cover to bring shells down. >> to bring people here from over the river and the russians -- is not ukrainians say several people were wounded in kherson as the authorities continue to fight to bring those stranded to safety. jake, whether it's a coincidence or not, it appears as though the shells came raining down on that area where people who were being evacuated were actually being brought on shore just shortly after the uke yap president volodymyr zelenskyy visited that area. unclear whether or not the russians were trying to target him. nonetheless, the shelling went on for a considerable. a time. the most recent info that we have is that eight people were wounded in that shell, of course, a traumatizing event not just for the people who were wounded there but, of course, for all those rescuers who are

continuing to go out this on the water and try to get people out of their houses while that shelling is going on. some of the video that we've seen from kherson certainly looks extremely scare we people there on rubber boats trying to evacuate folks and then at the same time the shells popping down into the water, a really difficult situation. it was quite interesting because volodymyr zelenskyy after he visited that area, he said that he believes that the situation, as we heard is catastrophic, but he thinks the situation is even worse in the legs occupied areas and he called for a swift and clear response by the international community. jake? >> all right, cnn's fred pleitgen in zaporizhzhia for us. thanks so much. the up expected ruling at the u.s. supreme court today that side with plaque voters in alabama. gro potting mix. that's it. miracle-gro. all you need to know to grow. (vo) if you've had thyroid eye disease for years and your enflamed eyes are so watery,

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additional black majority congressional district. in other words, it's giving more opportunities for minority voters to elect a candidate of their choice and not have the black vote diluted in congressional districts. two conservative justices sided with the three liberals. with us now to discuss cnn chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny and ariano deveaux. most did not expect the ruling to go that way. what happened? >> the maps had only one black majority district despite the fact that there's 27% blacks in the state. a lower court said that violates the voting rights act, ordered these new maps, and the state went right to the supreme court and everybody thought that this supreme court was going to really gut section 2 of the voting rights ac, and instead that's not what we got. chief justice john roberts writing for the majority. instead he left section 2 alone.

he ordered new maps, basically alabama had said these challengers, they can't take race into consideration in the early times of drawing these maps, and he rejected that 100%. here's what he wrote. the contention that map--makers must be entirely blind to race has no footing in our section 2 case law. it was so stunning. i got so many e-mails from investigate right experts who did not -- who did not expect this at all. the vote roberts and the liberals with conservative brett kavanaugh all on the same side here, 5-4. >> very interesting. very interesting. jeff, how does this ruling impact the political landscape, not just in alabama but beyond? >> well, in alabama first and foremost as ariane was saying there's one black district meaning there's one democratic member of congress. there's seven seats so they are likely to get one more seat there, but activists and democrats i was talking to today, i believe that louisiana

sees an opportunity and north carolina as well and other southern states as well. in a house where there's such a narrow majority, we're talking the number of votes on one hand, it is a big deal. now in north carolina, there is something interesting going on. republicans are expected to gain some seats, so it's hard to say at the end of the day in november 2024 after the election what it's going to be exactly, but in alabama for sure democrats are likely to get one more seat, but beyond that, it was incredibly surprising ruling just because everyone had assumed that the supreme court was moving so far in a conservative direction. there were no boundries. the voting rights act would be gutted. that didn't happen. one more example that chief justice john roberts, you know, trying to hold the court at least a bit more in the middle. >> and ariane, chief justice roberts not only sided with the liberals, he wrote the majority opinion? >> right. that's why this is so surprising.

as a young lawyer in the reagan justice department, he went after the voting rights act. just in 2013 he wrote a big decision that practically gutted a separate section of the law, so this was not on anyone's bigo card. nobody thought that chief justice jop roberts here was going to do what he did. that said, that doesn't mean that overnight he's become this huge liberal. we've got other cases. >> no, no. >> we've got affirmative action. we've got lbgtq rights, but here the liberals didn't even have to pick up their pencils and write a thing. they got exactly what they wanted. >> robert as soon as next week will vote to take away affirmative action in college admissions. jeff, it was ten years ago this month that you were with the late civil rights icon congressman john lewis of georgia when the supreme court struck down a big part of the voting rights act. tell us about that. >> i was thinking about that today. the late congressman was watching this ruling happen, watching our friend terry moran

from abc news talking about this rule, and he said, you know, it put a dagger at the heart of the voting rights act so he was very disappointed, very forlorn of what was going to happen to the rest of the voting rights act. >> yeah. >> so you have to imagine that he was smiling and thinking all is not lost with his voting rights act, of course, which he marched as a student. he was >> he bled for. >> he did bleed for it on the -- on the edmund pettus bridge in alabama, so this was something -- i guess, just a reminder that we don't always know. he always talked about the arc, of course, of the moral universe as long as it bends towards justice. it's certainly his supporters thought that today. >> it's not that it heads towards justice. it bends towards justice meaning it's an effort. >> it's back and forth. >> as president obama always said that as well. it's not a straight line. >> all right. good to see boast you. he became a harsh critic of barack obama's time in office. he tried to help senator brnds

run for president, and now cornell west is launching a bid of his own. we'll talk about why he thinks he's the best candidate for this political moment of stay with us.

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in our 2024 lead, the field is growing in the 2024 presidential race with former vice president mike pence and north dakota governor doug burgum entering the race. the total number of republican candidates increase to 12 and just this week a third-party candidate jumped into the race

on the democratic side, dr. cornell west, who lauched his bid as member of the people's party and dr. west joins us now. dr. west, let me start with the obvious question how are you running to win? are you running to get your issues of importance that you think joe biden is not paying enough attention to to the forefront? >> well, i mean, one, my dear brother, you always have a calling to win. you want to bear witness at the highest level of quality, integrity and honesty that you can, yes. i'm trying to push toward the finish line, why? because i want to reintroduce america to the best of itself, and it's fairly clear that brother trump and neo-fascist gangster not the past. brother biden neo-liberal hypocrite and i want to do what chief joseph and grace lee bald and louise moreo, those are those fighting for poor and

working people. both parties stand in the way of the impoverished and poor and working people. both parties are tied to wall street, militarism, pentagon, tied to silicon valley. what about the 60% oppresses america of all colors who are struggling every day and month to put food on the table and are hardly doing it while the 1% is simply tied to their quest. >> mm-hmm. >> their luxurious life. american democracy not just is at stake, but the whole planet, brother jake. you know that, with fossil fuels and look at the debt ceiling agreement. we can make a deal with brother manchin in terms of his pipeline that will do in not just working class people spaces but ecological collapse given what's going on on the east coast but we can't make a deal with him in terms of voting rights when you go offer the filibuster, that's brother biden. we need something better. where's the best of the country? >> yeah. >> not just the working people here but around the world

because the militarism abroad is something that i'm deeply concerned about, be it in latin america, in africa or the middle east. >> i hear you, but these elections often do come down to a binary choice between the democrat and the republican. dr. laurence tribe, a harvard university professor as you were tweeted wtf. you know what that stands for. does cornel west really want to help the gop nominee win the way ralph nader helped defeat al gore in 2000. please stop this foolishness before you really hurt the things that you care to help, unquote. >> his fear obviously that would sap away enough votes of progressives who otherwise would vote for swriden and thus deliver the white house to the republican making things worse than they would be under biden in laurence tribe's view. your response. >> well, one, i mean, brother tribe, he's looking at the world again through these manekian

views. either this or that. tweedle dee, tweedle dumb. frick or frac. neofascist catastrophe, neoliberal disaster. are disasters better catastrophes? absolutely. but are disasters disasters? absolutely still. so the idea that brother trump would reduce -- brother tribe would reduce what i'm trying to do and focus on this unbelievable suffering of social and working people around the world as some ego, vanity, i say good god almighty, what are you doing, do you actually think that the rich legacy that the figures that i talked about can be reduced to their ego vanity when they moved in the electric al political context? part of the problem is it's people who believe either the democrats or republicans have left out serious discussion of mass incarceration, left out of what's been going on around the world, 800 military bases around the world. from the vantage point of the west bank our oppressed palestinian brothers and

sisters. what does it look like the bombs dropped by the u.s. government. this is a moral and a spiritual issue. it's not simply narrow strategic thinking of neoliberals who view the world in terms of either republicans or democrats. brother jake, we will never defeat fascism, which is on the march, by milkcoast neoliberalism. neoliberalism will only be a care-taking postponement of the fascism. we've got to get at the source of it. that's why i'm going into trump country. talk to some of my white brothers and sisters who are following the neofascist pied piper. i'm concerned about your suffering. look another way. the words of martin king. let us embrace one another by accenting our best. that includes acknowledging those who right now are on the other side. we want re-alignment. we want what my dear brother clifton west calls a paradigm shift in american politics. that's in part what this is about, my brother. >> let me ask you just a practical question. where do the people's party, where will you be on the ballot?

will you be on the ballot in michigan? will you be on the ballot in wisconsin? i don't think the people's party was on the ballot in all 50 states last time. are you hoping to get on the ballot in every state or even just the battleground states? >> we're trying to get on the ballot in every state, which means we've got to get the requisite signatures in each state. we are in process of ensuring to make sure we get on that ballot. as you know, people's parties broke away from brother bernie's attempt in 2016. so we're very new at this in that regard. but most importantly, we just want to make sure that our fellow citizens get a chance to see what the best of america's about. the best of america, the best of any nation is about fighting for poor and working people no matter what color, gender, sexual orientation, and not just confining it to the states. i'm talking about solidarity with iranians dealing with fascists, iranian elites. i'm talking about solidarity

with workers in brazil. i'm talking about solidarity with workers in guatemala. this is an international project, my brother. that's what martin luther king was concerned when he said the bombs dropped in vietnam fall in ghettos and hoods and barrios and poor white sections. we have got a professional managerial class that has turned its back too often to the plight of the most vulnerable. that's my tradition. that's -- that's what this campaign is all about, my brother. >> so dr. west, i have a ton more questions but we're out of time. you can see by the clock. come back. i'm going to just cut and paste and we're going to ask these questions about your policies and your platforms next time you're here. open invitation. we love having you on. >> no, indeed, salute you, brother. you stay strong. god bless your loved ones, man. >> you too as well, dr. west. thank you so much for joining us. coming up, a former white house official interviewed in both the biden and trump classified documents cases with distinct

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and welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. this hour, exactly what are you breathing in if you're on the east coast? we're going to show you just how much smoke it takes to create the dangerous levels that we're seeing. all the way up and down the east coast of the united states. plus the politics against transgender health care for children. 2024 gop candidate mike pence made his case on cnn last night. >> we're going to protect kids from the radical gender ideology and say no chemical or surgical

gender transition before you're 18. >> we're going to talk to a conservative republican from ohio who has a transgender child and talk to them about what mr. pence said. and leading this hour donald trump's legal team standing by for a possible indictment after the former president was told he is the target of a federal investigation. let's bring in cnn's katelyn polantz in miami where a second special counsel grand jury has been meeting p. we also have with us senior cnn justice correspondent evan perez. evan, what's the significance of pe special counsel smith deciding now is the time to inform trump he's the target of his investigation? >> well, jake, you know, the fact is that donald trump has known for months that he has been under investigation and prosecutors had the option to notify him much earlier that he was the target of that investigation given the fact obviously that they did a search