talking to voters for the last several weeks. what's next for her? >> again, can she pull it off here? two big challenges. she has to convince a lot of people who are planning to vote for donald trump, please don't do that, reconsidering my argument, i'm more electable, he has chaos. can she do this in the state where she was born and twice elected governor? the challenge is she hasn't been on the ballot in ten years and donald trump has won the 2016 primary and the 2016 general election and the 2020 general election. can she convince enough people or get democrats and independents to flood the south carolina primary? it's mathematically are possible, but historically it's never happened. if you go 0-4, one, two, three, four, then, yes, she says she's going onto super tuesday. she has some money, but it's donald trump's party. you have to prove it isn't. the only way to prove that is by

winning somewhere. >> john king at the map. thank you. the news continues here on cnn. ♪ ♪ i'm abby phillip in new york. welcome to a special edition of "news night" alongside laura coates in washington. we are moments away from nevada finishing off its critical caucus. we'll also hear directly from the likely republican nominee, donald trump. also today, historic arguments over a former president trump ballot battle played out inside of the supreme court. plus, a charging decision by the special counsel investigating the sitting president of the united states. there's new attention on joe biden's memory. tonight the president defending his ability to do his job and indignantly insisting that his

memory is absolutely fine. he is replying to a special counsel report that called him, quote, an elderly man with a poor memory, unquote, by flashing some anger and throwing some, well, shade. >> i'm an elderly man and i know what the hell i'm doing. i doen't need this recommendation. >> how is your memory? and can you continue as president? >> my memory is so bad, i let you speak. >> reporters shouting their questions, the president yelling right back for the mistake of asking entirely fair questions to him. listen. >> when you were asked about your age, you would respond with the words "watch me." the american people have been watching and they have expressed concerns about your age. >> that is your judgment. that is not the judgment of the press. >> they express concerns abouta.

you told me you believe there are many other democrats who could defeat donald trump. why does it have to be you now? >> i'm the most qualified person in this country to be president of the united states and finish the job i started. >> a good question and a fair question. if voters were watching for signs that all of biden's neurons were firing, he insists that they are. >> your memory has gotten worse, mr. president? >> my memory is fine. [indiscernible] >> only by some of you. >> only minutes after that, he said that he had a memory misstep that will guarantee likely questions about his age and mental acuity simply have no intention of going away. >> the president of mexico did not want to open up the gate to allow humanitarian material to get in. i talked to him. i convinced him to open the gate.

>> in just a moment, abby will interview biden's democratic challenger dean phillips. for a fact check, we're joined by daniel gale for that fact check. what stood out to you? >> there was one claim that just was not true. president biden was talking about his handling of classified information. he said it was all at his house, unlike president trump who had things at his club. he said all the classified material was in filing cabinet that were locked or able to be locked. there are photos in the report that show that, yes, some of it was in filing cabinet, but there were also kiloclassified docume just sitting in boxes, at least one of which was damaged along said just junk. the special counsel called it household debt .

he denied that he disclosed any information to his ghost writer, which was an allegation from the special counsel. he claimed all this material was a memo he wrote to president obama about why we shouldn't be in afghanistan. president biden took notes about sensitive material during situation room meetings and intelligence briefings with president obama and disclosed some of that information to ghost writers. president biden said that, unlike former president trump, none of the material he had was what he called high classified. according to the special counsel, that is not true. the special counsel reported some of this material was marked top secret and some of it related to highly sensitive clandestine source operations. the real secret stuff that was not suppos to get outside the government was allegedly in

possession of president biden at his home. >> stick around. abby. joining me now is the man challenging joe biden in the democratic primary, congressman dean phillips. your reaction to that feisty press conference from president biden? >> it was sad. americans are watching a good man. i respect president biden. he's suffered a lot of tragedy in his life. this has got to be awfully difficult to invoke his son beau. it appears a crime was committed, but i felt just like a human watching that and it was sad. i think most of the country shares that. i think our president should serve out this term. i think he's able to do so. the fact that he's running for another one is preposterous. i think most of the country recognizes that. frankly, i don't think it should be politicized. we should honor him and he should preserve his legacy and pass the torch in the next election. >> you said a crime was

committed. do you believe robehe should be charged? >> they called him an elderly man with a memory problem. it saddens me. >> he wrote, mr. biden would likely present himself to a jury as he did during our interview as a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory. just generally reading the report, there are aspects that seem they were no fans of president biden necessarily. do you think that that was fair? should the special counsel have gone there in justifying his decision to actually not bring charges? >> like i said, i thought it was unnecessary. i think you make your case, yes, you're doing it, no, you're not. i think there was more in there than necessary. i think everything stated is fairly self-evident if people with watching in the last 24

hours. that's not the point. i don't think it was necessary. it's too bad. on the other hand, it's sad to watch our president at an age and stage in life when people decline. it's not his fault. he's a great man. he saved our country. i think he's lead ably. why are we talking about donald trump and joe biden right now, an 88-year-old, a 77-year-old under federal indictment. >> the reason we're talking about them -- let me ask you. i understand that's the case you're making to voters. so far that has not worked. you are running against joe biden. there have been several primaries. you haven't gained any traction. so it seems that the voters are saying with clear voices that they're fine with joe biden, at least the democratic ones are. >> 4% in south carolina, 100,000 or so in new hampshire. i mean, we're talking about a tiny percent. we have such a crisis of

participation in our country. the fact is everybody complains in november about the choices we have between two parties, and only like 10 or 15% vote in the primaries. my call to action -- i don't care if you vote for me. i do care if you vote. the fact is we are very few people opining . they tend to be the base voters of the far left and far right. center candidates don't get a good shot. >> how many of the 4% did you get? >> 1.7%. >> that is a small amount which suggests -- that's why primaries exist. if you can't perform in a primary, it suggests you wouldn't perform in a general. >> okay. >> i think there's a question about the viability of your candidacy despite what you're saying are the shortfalls of joe biden. >> i can only laugh, because the viability of my candidacy when we just watched the president of

the united states confuse francois and tonight confused the president of mexico about opening the rafah gate. >> no. what i'm saying simply is that you haven't made the case to voters. >> because i haven't been platformed. that's how the system works. >> platformed by who? >> tonight msnbc was talking all about how this is just a political hit job, not talking about what americans are really thinking when they look at our president, a good man who's clearly in decline. i'm grateful. this is our third time together. i appreciate that. but our system is designed to present the kor r kcoronated ca. the only way to take on the system is to encourage people to pay attention and participate. anyone watching the president of

the united states right now and believes that he can serve in the most important seat in the world until january of 2029, i don't think i'm the only way saying the quiet part out loud. in washington i'm the only one telling the truth. but in the country, 70% of our fellow americans don't want either of these men. i think our system is very broken and very flawed that we would somehow be elevating two men who absolutely should not be serving as president. >> it is incredibly difficult to challenge an incumbent. i think that is part of the equation too. the broader question and my final one to you with the time that we have left is, all that you just laid out is, in fact, out there, but voters are still saying that they will cast their ballot for joe biden. >> sure. >> so what do you think is missing? are voters putting aside concerns about joe biden's age?

>> we've had three state votes so far. joe biden has been in washington for 50 years. he became a united states senator when this guy was 3 years old. everybody knows joe biden. 5% of the country knows me so far. i'm going to do what you do when you run for president. i show up, i meet voters, i answer questions, i do town halls and debates and show up in cafes and coffee shops. >> how long will you continue? >> i'll go all the way to the convention. i'll tell you why, because my party should have anticipated what is happening right now. i was trying to say the quiet part out loud for many months. i encouraged the president one year ago to pass the torch. it was so clear this was going to happen. now we're in a circumstance where it is president biden and me in the democratic primary. i think it's important to have options. i would be thrilled to introduce myself to voters. we have costs out of control, chaos at our border and a

president who clearly should serve out this term and pass the torch. special counsel robert hur had harsh words but no criminal words for president biden. he said prosecutors would not be able to prove biden intended to break the law when handling classified documents when he was vice president. >> i want to go to you. it characterizes biden's memory as significantly limited in interviews. they even talk about his failure to possibly recall the date of his beloved son beau's passing. you have interviewed biden. listen to what he had to say in

firing back. then i want to hear your take. >> there's even reference that i don't remember when my son died. how in the hell dare he raise that? frankly, when i was asked the question, i thought to myself, it wasn't any of their damn business. >> when you hear that gloria, you interviewed president biden about the passing. >> about beau. tonight he spoke about it, but when i was interviewing him, he took beau's rosary out of his pocket and showed it to me. this is not a man who is going to forget the day that his son died. i think what we saw tonight was anger about why they were asking him about it. what did that have to do with documents? and joe biden does have a temper. i think what we saw tonight publicly is what i'm sure his aides have seen privately. i bet he was the person who

wanted to go up there and say that, because i think that was very meaningful to him when they accused him of not remembering when his son died. >> first of all, the special counsel report is due to congress. that's part of what they have to do. it's not as if he can just say, yay or nay. i heard a lot of people react to the inclusion of things outside of the scope of why he declined to prosecute. they called it comey-esque for lack of a better time. but he does talk about the memory issues as it relates to his ability to make the case in front of a jury. when you saw that inclusion, what went through your mind? >> when they're referencing his memory generally, that's something that contextually matters, because they use that as a basis not to prosecute. did they have to put in that it was specifically the issue related to his son? probably not.

but what that does show is kind of the gravity of the issues relative to his memory. i mean, the folks interviewing him, they're probably not making this up that he may have forgotten that. contextually that matters relative to such a big decision as to whether once he's finished being president, charging the president of the united states with a crime. >> the question i have for all of you lawyers here is, why does that have to be included in a decision not to prosecute? either you make a decision to prosecute and you say why or you say we're declining prosecution and that's the end of it. >> that's part of why. >> but why do you need to explain why? >> she's making the distinction between the political conversation and then there's the prosecutorial discretion. is it relevant? >> yes and no. when prosecutors write what's

called a prosecution memorandum laying out the reasons they're charging or not charging an individual, certainly they lay out, this is the law and these are the facts we have available to us and this is how we intend to prove the information that we would charge in an indictment. what would have been relevant is, these are the charges, this is the evidence we have and this witness may or may not be able to provide us with useful evidence or testimony. saying it's because he's an addled old man or whatever language they used is simply not relevant and excessive and unnecessary. we might have learned the lesson about what happens when prosecutors in contentious political elections start weighing in with detailed analysis of the people they're investigating. yes, they had to say why they weren't bringing charges. but the specific almost personal attacks on the person they were investigating probably went a little far.

>> let me play devil's advocate for a moment. i've done trials. i think to myself, the witnesses i put on, who's going to present sympathetic and who's going to pro provide reasonable doubt. when you talk about a mother of a particular defendant or victim, you have to weigh how you're going to approach that person. i wonder to what extent they were considering that aspect. i also want to tell you what donald trump had to say. he said this on the special counsel decision. he posted on truth social. he said, this case is much more severe than the mar-a-lago documents case against him, calling it, quote, two-tiered system of justice and selective prosecution. jim, when you hear this, the idea of a double standard, do you think it's true? >> look, this is much different than the trump case. they laid it out. biden was cooperative.

he turned over the documents and the evidence. his lawyers made it readily available. in jack smith's case, we've seen facts that donald trump didn't cooperate, donald trump withheld evidence, donald trump didn't turn everything over. i don't think donald trump had he just turned everything over and made it accessible, i don't know where we are in that documents case with donald trump today had he done what joe biden did. >> one more thing. back to what goes into a prosecution memo and doesn't. you used a great example of a mother. if we're going to put a witness on, might this person's feelings and passions be of such that we shouldn't put them in front of a jury. if you write in the memo, we think she shouldn't be a witness. fine. she had a child out of wedlock doesn't need to go in there. it just serves to sully up the

case. >> we all recall when comey decided not to prosecute hillary clinton. he then went onto talk about how reckless she was with her e-mails and went on and on and a lot of democrats believe it really hurt her in the election. it's the same thing. how far do you go? >> there was a press conference. >> we remember that moment. we're going to compile a court of public opinion on this issue. stay tuned to hear what the american public thinks about this issue. up next, we'll discuss the political implications of this report and all of its findings. plus, the plaintiff in the supreme court battle over trump being on the ballot will join us live as it seem that is the justices may very well side with the former president. and moments away from the polls closing in nevada.

do you think your memory has gotten worse? >> my memory is fine.

[ inaudible question ] >> only some of you. >> new tonight, president biden responding to the findings of the special counsel's classified documents case against him, this coming after the special counsel decided not to bring charges against him. anna, i know you've been around president biden physically in person recently. the man who is described in the special counsel's report and who you saw there at that press conference and the man that you've seen in person, which joe biden is it? and did he convince that he has all of his faculties. >> i saw him yesterday. he was here in new york for a fundraiser that i was a guest at. look, i've known joe biden for, i don't know, 25, 30 years. is he the same joe biden that i knew 30 years ago? no. am i the same person as 30 years ago? no. i don't have the same youth

either. today, i think, is a press conference where he was angry. he was emotional. what people are going to remember is the fact that he misstated the difference between the president of egypt and the president of mexico. >> that was a major gaffe. >> that was a major gaffe at a moment when he's pushing back on i'm good, right? people are going to remember that. but i'm going to say this over and over again. this comes down to a binary choice. the binary choice is joe biden versus donald trump. and donald trump makes as many gaffes, probably just not as much scrutiny as joe biden does. last week he confused nikki haley for nancy pelosi. these are actually people he knows, right and he's been working with. how do you justify that? it gets less scrutiny than joe biden. joe biden can't be making these kind of mistakes. i think this is one that's going to be very memorable that's

going to stick. i think you're going to see it in campaign ads. i will tell you the joe biden i have seen is good. the joe biden i have seen is not the joe biden i knew 30 years ago, but it is a joe biden i trust to be my president today and in a year and two years and three years. >> jamal, you worked at the white house. you had the pleasure of being in the communications staff in a moment like this. they decided to put him out just hours after this went down. they decided to let him take questions. he makes that major gaffe that anna was talking about. was this a strategic mistake? >> no. they absolutely made the right call putting him out today, because the president of the united states is the last word on what happened throughout the day. he was able to forcefully push back on some of the questions in that report. he was able to then talk about his son in a very emotional way. he got a little angry. i think that energy plays well. now, i think the sisi comment.

mike johnson was talking to kristen welker on ""meet the press"" on sunday and confused iran for israel. i just don't know if that's a fair critique of the president even though obviously this question is about whether or not he's got the mental acacuity. >> i was in the white house for a year. i saw the president in public settings several times a week. i saw him in private settings. he's very adept. he worked his way through issues. he talks to people in a compelling way. i think that publicly he always makes mistakes when he's on stage. >> do you think this was a call by the press team, or do you think this was joe biden's call? i think this was joe biden getting riled up about what they said about him not remembering

beau's death and joe biden saying i'm going out there and i'm doing that. what do you think? i'm sorry. >> i talked to the white house tonight. they're feeling like this was the right call. they feel like -- >> who made it? >> nobody said who made it. nobody told me who made it. >> the staff would be the first to throw the principal under the bus if they didn't make the call. >> they're also very angry at robert hur for what it is that he did today. he's not qualified to make these kind of judgments and he made these statements in a document that he should not have made these statements in. >> he's not qualified? he's been hired -- >> he's a prosecutor who was supposed to have said whether or not the president committed a crime. >> do you have to be a medical doctor to make a judgment that someone said to you in an under

oath interview i don't remember when i was vice president? >> i think we heard anderson tonight have a conversation about when did i start at cnn? this happens very often. >> this is the president of the united states of america. >> the elections are every four years. >> i think we just need to acknowledge the obvious. number one, those words in that document that's over 300 pages are damning. i think if we're trying to tell people we have to trust our institutions on a daily basis, if we're telling people we are also supposed to take joe biden at his word, it is his own words that have been reported by an official steward of the court in the process of trying to determine whether a crime was committed. it is the opinion of the department of justice that is

not in the interest of justice to explore bringing charges because they do not believe that the man who is currently president has the mental capacity to stand trial. that is effectively what has been imparted through the words of that document. we should take the doj at their word. or something even more pernicious has happened that the doj has undermined the confidence that the world has in the president of the united states. >> anyway you slice it, this is really serious. you can't just poo-poo it as to when did anderson start at cnn. it's much more serious than that. no disrespect to anderson. we all love him. the point is -- >> anderson is somewhere wondering why is he a part of this conversation. i think your point is valid. we're having a conversation also about what was in that document that has to be with joe biden. i want to make this other point. the document also says they did not believe that there was

evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that joe biden committed a crime that is chargeable here. it did say that. so beyond a reasonable doubt is the standard in a criminal case. >> true. but i will say that everyone knows that we give prosecutors discretion. good prosecutors at every level do not bring charges when they don't believe they have a pathway to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. in this particular case, in significant contributing factor was his perception of the acuity of joe biden. again, we should take no pleasure in this. we should not be sitting here trying to gloat. this is much bigger than any campaign ad that can be cut. the department of justice put in an official document that has been stamped and dated that will stand the test of time that in their opinion joe biden is not fit. you can't push that under the rug. >> you also can't push under the

rug that this is a trump-nominated special prosecutor who let the president off the hook and may have been perhaps just giving a little red meat to his republican friends as he let the president off the hook. >> the principle question of the day is, did anything that happened today in this document or this press conference help or hurt this number that three-quarters of the american people before today had moderate or significant concerns about the president's mental acuity and fitness for this offense? i would submit at the conclusion of this document and this preference, that number certainly didn't get any better. it probably got worse. and it firmly shifted the conversation even further towards his own vice president. i would say there aren't too many americans who are going to look at this and say this guy is up to serving for five more years as president of the united states. i think vice president harris

became squarely an issue in this election today. she already was getting there, and now it's even more important. >> everyone stick -- >> the skrucrutiny is so much different than the scrutiny on biden. >> you don't think donald trump gets any scrutiny? >> he says the stupidest things on a daily basis. he confuses people. he's talking about whales and windmills. he makes absolutely zero sense on a daily basis. >> your entire job during the day is to have a show in which donald trump's gaffes are endlessly mocked every day. you don't think he gets the same scrutiny as joe biden? >> number one talk show in america. >> we're going to leave it there for now. there's so much more to talk about. laura, i'm going to let cooler heads prevail. >> you're going to toss to me of

that? wow. what a great panel. so intriguing and fascinating to hear. ahead, though, a monumental day at the supreme court. those nine justices seem skeptical about the argument of kicking trump off the ballot. i'm going to talk to the plaintiff in that case. plus, it's an election night. the polls are closing in nevada, where the former president is expected to speak very soon. everyone stand by.

donald trump is anticipating a win and 26 more delegates in nevada. john king, what are you seeing tonight? >> at the moment, no votes out of nevada. this is the safest bet in vegas tonight, though. this is going to fill in trump red pretty soon. how can we say that with such certainty? the only two people competing in the caucuses are donald trump and ryan binky.

donald trump is going to win. 26 delegates are at stake. 37 delegates coming into the night. that's because he won iowa with 51% of the vote. then he won new hampshire with 54% of the vote. and donald trump now is going to be undefeated. he's going to win the third contest tonight. you'll see any minute now. the polls closed nine minutes ago. by the end of the night or early morning, donald trump is going to be 3-0. it's unprecedented in modern times, the same candidate wins iowa and new hampshire and now he's going to win the third contest. he is going to say, why is nikki haley still in the race? she says she's not going anywhere. >> on that point, we are three contests into this race. if he does, in fact, get nevada, that's then 3-0. people will say it's all over. nikki haley is being steadfast and doubling down and saying she's not going anywhere, including all the way to south

carolina. what do you make of the trajectory of all of this? >> if you look at the momentum, trajectory is going to be trump red. let's go to south carolina. let's bring up south carolina. the hard part for nikki haley is, yes, she was the governor there. she's quite popular there. donald trump won all but two of the 48 counties in south carolina back in 2016 when he was brand new on the political scene. that was his second win in south carolina. eight years later, he's even more popular in south carolina. marco rubio won here in richland county. marco rubio won in charleston county along the coast. i'm just back from south carolina interviewing voters there. trump is more popular now than he was then. they say they like nikki haley. they just love donald trump. is it mathematically possible? she has 16 days left to try to change minds. it is possible. if trump goes 4-0, she says

she's in the race to stay. but it's pretty hard if you have four in the delegate chase. , s. she says she's going to stay until super tuesday and beyond. this is donald trump's party. the only way to prove it is to beat him somewhere. she's not going to do that tonight. >> thank you so much for being here. up next, historic arguments before the united states supreme court. lawyers arguing that donald trump should remain on the ballot in colorado, and supreme court justices frankly seem receptive in their questioning. the pa

some might say it's obvious what's about to happen, unless today's oral arguments were a kaiser sose like head fake. the supreme court seems likely to side with donald trump in his 14th amendment fight to stay on the ballot. there was a lot of nodding in agreement when the former president's lawyer made his case. they seemed to be content to go along with the assertion that congress has to set the 14th amendment. they were focused on the butterfly effect on democracy this could enlunleash. the justices somehow didn't really get into the ultimate question. what question is it? did he actually engage in an insurrection. it's hard to read the tea leaves

in full. i want to bring in a long time colorado republican, who actually is one of the plaintiffs in this case and was se censured by her county gop for having the audacity to be a part of this lawsuit. it is great to see you in person. >> it is great to see you in person. i'm very proud of that censure. i like the fact that you brought in a kaiser sose reference. that is quite nice. >> when we look at this, i wanted to be in that room where it was happening to get a sense what was happening. when we were listening, there were no cameras allowed there. you were in that room. what was it like? >> quiet. >> really? >> it was so strange. occasionally justice kagen was

quite funny. >> the fact that colorado as one state was making a decision like this that may have had impact of disenfranchising or influencing other voters' choices. listen. >> i think the question you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the united states. in other words, the question of whether a former president is disqualified for insurrection to be president again is -- just say it. it sounds awfully national to me. >> what did you make of that? >> i understand her skepticism, because it does become very disruptive. one state makes a ruling. how does that affect this national scene? i get her skepticism. but just because something is disruptive doesn't make it wrong. if they rule with us, it could be disruptive.

if they rule against us, it could be dangerous to have somebody involved in insurrection able to run again, what does that say to future presidents? what does that say to anyone who might lose an election and decide they're not happy with that loss and they're willing to do whatever it takes, including violence, inciting violence to stop that peaceful transfer of power. disruptive, dangerous. i'll take disruptive. >> interestingly enough, in this tit for tat era, there is a thought that if this is allowed to happen for trump to be taken off the ballot, then the next time somebody has an issue with any policy dispute or otherwise of any president, including biden, that they'll do the same to him. >> i thought of that. i was a congressional staffer during impeachment. president clinton was impeached. some said we've really lowered the bar. we're going to see impeachment used a lot more after this.

it's true. we have but let's keep in mind that it also has been used for legitimate reasons, as in insurrection, influence peddling. it has been used for real reasons. we have to make sure that the 14th amendment third clause is used for legitimate reasons. they don't just get on the shelf and say it's going to be problematic because we need it used when insurrection happens and insurrection has happened. >> that's a really important point because, of course, the claws of engaging in insurrection is as important as whether the person is taking an oath, in an office in the united states, forum or all of these arguments. but they're so i've got this- ism about the supreme court having to wait in to whether trump had, indeed, engaged in an instruction. in fact, it was almost an hour into the whole argument before we heard the word raised. listen to this moment because, when it was raised, i think it

was between justice ketanji brown jackson and jonathan mitchell, representing trump. listen to this. >> for an insurrection there needs to be an organized, concerted effort to overthrow the government of the united states through violence. this -- >> so the point is a chaotic effort to overthrow the government is not an insurrection? >> we didn't concede that it's an effort to overthrow the government, either, justice jackson. now these criteria are met. this was a riot, not an insurrection. >> what is your reaction to that moment? also, take me into that courtroom. >> i loved her comment. i thought she was terrific. i actually thought the two newest justices asked some of the best questions. doesn't have to be organized? can it just be a chaotic ride? the fact is it was a deliberative action to stop the peaceful transfer of power. you know, riots happen. riots have happened throughout our nation's history, but this is the first one i could think of since the civil war in which a group of people did not like an outcome, an individual especially, donald trump did not like the outcome, decided

he wanted to disenfranchise 80 million voters who voted for his opponent, pushed that false narrative to the point of violence, to the point of insurrection, and we saw our capital, a place i used to work at, attacked by thugs basically at his command. i don't know if it is chaotic, i don't know if it's organized, but either way it does insurrection. >> i wonder, you talk a couple of times since this case has come out, you've not been treated kindly, shall we say, by some of the people sitting in that courtroom today in front of those justices. did it feel worth it, even if the result is not what you want? >> it did feel worth it. you know, i kept thinking of that lincoln quote way back when of, we need to do right. of course, i'm not gonna get justice, but we need to do right by the light that god has given us to see what is right and we must continue on. i thought about that. i thought about that, in posterity, regardless of what happened, i sure with somebody had done something.

i wish somebody had tried to do something. the fact is we did try. whether we succeed or not is not the issue. we took the constitution and rule loss areas lee and we wanted to hold this individual responsible, accountable, and to preserve our democracy. we did what we could. >> it is no small feat to have the supreme court when you want to grapple and with an issue or you raised. very, very important. christopher, thank you so much. abby? >> more on the story that we're following tonight. more results from nevada, the republican caucuses are tonight. trump is expected to speak for the first time since that supreme court argument this afternoon and biden has been cleared from the special counsel case. all of that, up next.

tonight, a split screen of epic proportions. you're watching democracy in action. tonight, nevada republicans make their choice for november. >> in just a few minutes we'll go live to las vegas where donald trump is expected at an important delegate victory on his march to the nomination for the republican nomination. it follows a consequential day for trump and his lawyers inside of the supreme court and what appears to be a bench inclined to side with trump's stay on that ballot. >> and, by the way, abby, if that was not enough news for everyone joe biden, the president of the united states, venting his frustration at the special counsel who decided not to indict him.

but did he decide to add gallons of fuel to an already burning questions about his age and ability to be the president of the united states? i'm laura coates in washington, d.c.. thank you so much for joining us tonight for what has been a marathon day, abby, of consequential stories. >> to say the absolute least, laura. abby philip in new york. today the supreme court stepped into the spotlight and direct role of the 2024 presidential contest, judged by what we heard and the justices, they seem poised to preserve trump's name on the ballot. now, you can call that a big win for trump team. >> and you can call this a donation for trump. the special counsel said joe biden did willfully retain classified materials, but why he won't charge him is pretty stunning. we'll hear all kinds of chatter of if biden is still able to do the job that he's running for, again. the reason, by the, way robert her gave for not bringing

charges, in, part was that joe biden -- jurors and that his memory was not at its peak. it might be far gone, in certain areas. >> >> >> there are so much more on all of these stories in just minutes, but i onto nevada where the caucuses wrapped up just a few minutes ago and were donald romp is anticipating a win, probably a big one, and 26 more delegates. let's go straight to john king who is over at the magic wall with more. so, john, what are we seeing? anything coming in just yet? >> we are seeing the early votes come in, and to your point of what donald trump expects, he's going to get it. you see red starting to fill out on the map. that is very early, we have about 1% of the vote counted. the two biggest counties, obviously clock down here, 75% of the state population lives in las vegas or the suburbs around it. up here with reno. trump is doing well in both, you've got 96% of the vote so far. again, it is early, but this we expect a romp.

we expect a rope tonight in vegas. he's getting clark county, which includes vegas, he's getting 99% of dumont, and then if you round up the texas business with brian vaguely, the only other person on the ballot. so, to your point, abby number, one if you come out to the full lap iowa, new hampshire, nevada. that will make trump three and oh. it's never happened in modern times, where somebody winds iowa and new hampshire. he's going to win nevada as well, the same candidate, three and oh. you mentioned 26 delegates at stake. you need 215 to win, so nikki haley is right that she says it's early in the process, but here's another look at it. coming into tonight, coming into tonight trump was winning 50 per 6% of the delegates. that percentage should go up because he's going to get, if not 100 percent, close to 100% of those nevada delegates. if you want to prove it's not donald trump's party -- in need to beat him in the states so that he can catch up and that's not happening at the moment. now we are still at 1%, but we can expect, abby, is to

continue throughout the night. 96% of the vote for donald trump at the moment. three and oh. south carolina next in 16 days, nikki haley says that that is her home state, she's in for that and beyond. but trump made the argument, even before that turned right, he thinks it's time for you to get out. there will be some pressure, of course, the anti-trump forces, as you will know, at, the will pressure her to keep in and stay on. >> john, i want to backtrack a little bit for those who might not be paying attention. they're probably wondering, why are we talking about nevada for the second time in a single week? who is on the ballot even tonight in that state? >> for a second time in a week, let me go back in time. we'll go back to tuesday. tuesday they had a primary, the state decided have a primary but no delegates were at stake. so it is essentially a beauty contest, right? donald trump did not file for that ballot, the state republican party said if you want to participate in the caucus, you've got to be on the primary. nikki haley did decide to file for the primary ballot, but, again, no delegates at stake. she didn't spend any money on

advertising, and she didn't campaign, there is a shot it's meaningless but it's embarrassing when none of these candidates get 60% of the vote and you get 30% of the vote. again, it doesn't count for anything, but she would have loved for this to be yellow, to say, look the thousands of voters came out to say that they want me and not on trump. that didn't happen. that was the primary on tuesday. this is for today, only trump and the texas -- now ron desantis had filed for the caucus and he is long gone from the race. he was going to participate, but he's gone gone. so, it is essentially trump at the moment. you see what is happening right there and this is the one that matters, it can be confusing. primary tuesday, caucus thursday. but, in the end, delegates is how you win the nomination. all the delegates are awarded tonight. >> john king, thank you very much. now our cnn projections. cnn projects that donald trump has won the nevada caucuses. john king is still with us.

john, we are so early in the night, but as you just laid out this is a one-man race in nevada. >> let me say, as we go back, let's just look more closely at the results. leave nevada so people can see it as votes are starting to trickle in. this is a republican party event, they can be counted as quickly as they can. it was a foregone conclusion even if candidates in the race, and i say that because the state party is trump. the state party organization is for trump, they structured these caucuses to before trump, as you heard a complaint for nikki haley that essentially the guy who keeps complaining about rigged elections stacked the deck here. people have to show up, they stopped counter votes, don't get me wrong about that. but this was a process that was set up by trump's friends in the state, including those who run the party, to help donald trump. and, you see the result, he's at 96% right now. is he going to stay that high? who knows. but he's going to stay way up there because, again, he's running against the long shot candidate of the texas -- riot brinkley, who is in the case.

he campaigned aggressively in iowa, but he's in the race for name and attention right there. again, we've now projected donald trump on iowa, then new hampshire. it doesn't happen, not in modern times, the same candidate winning iowa in new hampshire. now he is three and oh. abby, it is early in the process and anti trump people will say stop saying he's going to be the presumptive nominee with so much contest to go, but my point is that this is his party now and if you want to prove otherwise you have to fill one of these states in. not trump right. i know it's only three, but south carolina comes in 16 days, is nikki haley's home state. if there's a place where you wanted him -- that people are having second thoughts, you better do it at home. >> you've got to put some points on the board. as you pointed out, john king, donald trump and his campaign are trying to show that they are dominant in this republican party. not just how he shows up in the polls, but how these primaries and caucuses are structured due to his advantage. john, thank you as always. we are still waiting for trump

to speak, but first let's go to laura coates who is in the court of public opinion. >> tonight we're taking you inside of our own virtual courtroom where our court of public opinion is going to hear legal arguments on the very issues of the day. we're trying -- a special counsel report of joe biden's handling of classified documents. special counsel robert hur has released his teams report on the investigation into the mishandling of obama era classified documents at two locations connected to now president joe biden. he did not charge biden with a crime, but the report painted a picture of a forgetful commander in chief who failed to properly protect highly sensitive classified information. a picture that president biden does not want out there as he campaigned for us african determine. a green president facing reporters at the white house tonight. >> president biden, something the special counsel said in his report is that one of the reasons you were not charged is

because, in his description, you are a well meaning, elderly man with a poor memory. >> i know what i'm doing. >> the question tonight, should president biden have been charged? here with the american public, the two top lawyers layout the arguments on both sides of that question. norm wizen is the white house ethics in the obama administration. we'll be arguing that biden should not be charged. and harry litman, former u.s. attorney and former deputy assistant attorney general will argue that biden should have been charged. then our jurors are going to weigh in, it's a diverse group of every day americans to share their opinions with each other and, of course, you. now, trump was charged, biden was not. is there a double standard? first we'll talk with harry lippman and make his case. harry, why should, in your estimation, president biden have been charged? >> your honor, ladies and gentlemen, in february of 2017, a month after leaving office,

the former vice president was working on his memoirs with his ghost writer. he had a lot of classified documents that had been taken from the white house, there is no doubt about. they were strewn about carelessly in a garage. you've seen a picture. but in a recorded conversation in february 2017, then citizen biden told his ghost writer, and i quote, he had just found all of this is classified stuff downstairs. i just found all this classified stuff downstairs. should biden immediately call the archives and say, oh gosh, i've got these documents i found out and i want to return them to you? no. in fact, he talked about them with his ghost writer who didn't have security clearance, and he used them the right the memoir. it is 100 percent obvious that he willfully retained classified material. you have heard evidence that he was more cooperative once it was found then donald trump was and that is true. but that has got nothing to do with the basic charge of

willfully retaining the arguments. donald trump was charged with obstruction, in addition that -- >> at its core this is a case about equal justice under law, it was fair for trump to open charge but by the same token it is also fair to charge biden. they both willfully retain documents and, to not to charge biden here would simply be to inflame the partisan tensions in this country that have so plagued us. what is true for trump is true for biden. >> norm, i wonder what your argument is. or asking question of whether biden should or should not have been charged. harry litman's is in this exercise that he should have been, what do you say? >> your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, joe biden should not have been charged because he committed no crime. in america we don't charge people when they have not committed a crime.

please, do not take my word for it. listen to the words of special counsel robert hur who spent over a year investigating this matter. reviewed thousands of documents, talked to a vast number of people, he is stated we conclude that no criminal charges are warranted in this manner. biden did nothing else, of his long career. again, as mr. herr, who was a trump appointed united states attorney who spoke from the podium in the trump administration, in the trump white house, here is what mr. her had to say about that. historically, after leaving office, many former presidents and vice presidents have knowingly taken home sensitive

materials. my distinguished opponent tells you that the president in his house that he shared when he was reviewing for his book, but here is what president -- mr. her says about that. that there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt and that they could have been stored by mistake and without his knowledge. mr. her would not have charged him. this is apples and oranges with the situation of donald trump, where there is ample proof that trump knew he had documents, he refused to cooperate, her points out, biden did cooperate. it shows criminal intent for trump. >> jurors you've now heard the two arguments about why they believe president biden should have been charged and why they believe he should not have been charged. i want to return to their jewelry now on this discreet

issue. do you think that president biden should have been charged knowing that president trump also was? what do you think? number three? >> no, i don't. i think it's two different things. president trump obstructed justice and i think, unfortunately, made himself look more guilty than maybe he was. president biden did cooperate, it's clear there is a pattern of politicians taking home classified materials. often in many du jour areas or justice systems like -- crimes come before them and make a decision on whether it is enough to prosecute or not and, in this instance, it's not the case. so, there is no smoke here. >> i agree, vice president pence was not charged. he had documents and it is unfortunate. it has happened over the years, but there is a precedent for not to charging a president when there is a belief that some crime had been committed. and that was the mueller

investigation. he did not exonerate trump, but he did not charge him. so, the issue is true, are different, but the end result is the same. so, no, i don't think he should be charged. >> apples and oranges seems to be a theme. what do you say juror number one? >> i don't believe he should be charged, either. i think there is a difference in the personal documents, some of them or classified documents and some of the more his own personal notebooks. and so where he had hand written notes, where he had notes during meetings, and i think that we kind of look at that and we say, well, what is classified and what is not classified if it's someone's personal notebook and they're writing their personal notes? so i think that some of the documents that donald trump had were actually documents that he was maybe trying to keep for something in the future. i don't know. but, they were not necessarily from personal notes he had taken. so i think that was also the difference in that. i think the only problem that i

have with president biden is that he did use some of his personal notebooks for help with writing his memoir, so i think that some people may look at that and say, well what was he actually trying to do there? did he really know that he had these documents all the time? as he said he did? or what? >> when you look at this issue, to remember, four on the points just raised, is the fact that the manner of the documents were kept, compared to how donald trump's documents were displayed, does that make a difference for you? does the idea of a ghostwriter impact you see this? >> it doesn't at all. biden, we know, is a well mannered, old, octogenarian man who apparently knows what he is doing. clearly there has been a history of politicians who have been very lax about classified documents. again, we are comparing former president trump having classified documents, with how they restored, the way that he

used them, they're completely different here. so there is nothing really to charge president biden with, perhaps the lack of judgment, but that comes along with the territory of an octogenarian president. >> juror number two, you are nodding. do you wonder in this consideration, you are talking about there being a pattern or history of this happening in other contexts. does that, to, you decide that we should never charge because it's happened before? >> it means congress needs to do its job and tighten up on the laws. then they need to be enforced. but congress doesn't seem to want to do a lot for the last four years, except fight. >> i think it doesn't take a dive of patriarchy, white male privilege. they're used to being able to do these things. joe biden has been in political office for a lot of years. he's used to having a lot of privileges. donald trump is a multi millionaire. he's used to having privilege in doing these types of things and so have many of our congress people, our

politicians that used to have access and things that, it's an all-boys network and now social media and the news, it's more public, but this is not something that is new. >> none of you have raised the issue of the nature of the documents. you touched upon the idea of the classified, but i also wonder, from the perspective of each of you, does the fact that biden was cooperative and alerted the doj, of course, the entity that was looking at this issue, yes or no? does that assist do you, does that make a difference that he cooperated? yes or no? >> yes it does. how about you? >> yes. >> absolutely. >> that seems to be definitive on that point. we will see what congress ultimately will decide to do, now that we know it will not be a charge for now president biden. thank you again tim norm eisen and harry litman, and a special thanks to our jurors and court of public opinion. if you would like to be a juror on the next court of public opinion get in touch with us at the address on your screen, laura coates jury at to

cnn.com. >> fascinating conversation there. much more coming up next, the chair of the colorado republican party will join us to discuss that historic supreme court argument over trump staying on the ballot. plus, one of the potential vice presidential candidates meet her audition tonight on cnn saying that she would not certify the election on january 6th. and, more from nevada. cnn is projecting that donald trump has won the republican caucuses.

tonight, the reality republicans perceived clashing with reality that actually exists. police stefanik wants to be in the conversation about who could serve alongside trump as

vice president, so consider this part of her audition. >> have you been vice president on january 6th, 2021, what would you have done? >> i stood up for the constitution -- >> if you are vice president? >> i would not have done what by mike pence did. i don't think it is the right approach. >> that is brave talk if you're an election denier, but marc short, who was mike pence's top aide posted this on social media. this, right, here is a photo of at least fonac our ring in the gallery. 's question to stefanik, you mean you would've hidden in fear rather than do your job? we're back with our panel here in new york. anna? it's no surprise, if you want to be trump's vp, it seems like there is a prerequisite here. you have to disavow what mike pence did because trump is still hung up on that. >> it almost feels like an episode of the apprentice, right?

where you have these people competing for donald trump's favor and who can suck up the most to donald trump. right now i would say that tim scott and elise stefanik are neck and neck on the suck up award, gold medal. you know, i look at elise stefanik and i wonder what happened. what happened to this woman? remember when she was first elected and the youngest woman elected to congress, and it is like she snapped, it's like the invasion of the body snatchers, right? you see this person,, now is comparing january 6th insurrectionists to hostages at a moment when we have been talking about hostages since october 7th and we know what a hostage is. what it means to be beaten up and killed and tortured and held in tunnels. and we have been doing that just to curry favor. >> the question to what happened, she went from being a

respectable young member of congress being someone in a conversation about being potentially trump's vp? >> her profile and star in the republican party is rising rapidly, apart from the conversation about trump's specific stuff. her performance at the hearing, with college presidents, vaulted her and then the subsequent dismissal of a couple of them vaulted her into a whole different stratosphere in terms of the republican grassroots. she has long been a top surrogate for trump, even during his impeachment, trial was one of his biggest defenders. but that moment a few months ago, when she took the reins of the committee hearing and put herself on another level, it has just dramatically increased her visibility and put her, i think, in the top tier -- >> we should be a good pick for trump? >> i mean, i think she is an extraordinarily talented person. she's an ambitious person.

i mean, the truth is, trump has got a lot of fairly good people to choose from. whether it is her or tim scott, will you mentioned, there are some talented young folks. >> to me the irony of elise stefanik, yes, i agree with you, i think that the hearing on antisemitism catapulted her to a different stratosphere. but, at the same time, she is belittling what is happening in israel and gaza by comparing the january six insurrectionists to hostages at a time when hostages is something we equate with the people that are being held in tunnels from four months in gaza. >> i don't think she belittled it anymore than joe biden did tonight than she called the response over the top at his press conference. >> biden has been working day and night, every single day since october 7th, to get those hostages back to make sure that this does not -- >> ease walking it back every day. >> joe, i want to ask you this. if you saw elise stefanik on a

convention stage with donald trump, holding his hand out, she's his vp. what does that say to you as a republican about what direction this party is going in? >> it tells me president trump is serious about closing a 20- point gap and winning. he is picked one of the sharpest minds in the political party. look, there's a lot to unpack about what has just been said and what is being said about congress woman stefanik online. number, one holding up a photo of somebody who is a mother, who is a wife, daughter, not knowing what in the world was happening on january 6th. none of us knew what was happening on january 6th. to hold that up and say -- >> i know. i watched it on television. there are people trying to come into the -- >> i'm talking about in that moment, obviously people didn't know -- >> you're saying she didn't know that outside of the capitol, trump supporters had gathered? >> that's not what i said.

we had mike pence take a photo of the congressman hiding, as many people were hiding, in the midst of a melee at the capitol where people were trying to use the flag of this nation to break glass at people's house. i think that is beyond the scope of what we should be doing when we have these conversations. as it relates to you, whether elise stefanik should be president trump's vice president, the key would actually be to his benefit to pick elise stefanik. if you're trying to figure out what has happened to her, i'm exhausted by people trying to pretend that republicans have been taken out of something out of the body snatchers. president trump has laid words in the brains of republicans, it's not what's happening. republicans, writ large, are tired of being dismissed, tired of being disrespected, tired of these shifting goalposts where one day democrats are allowed to pretend that ray epstein is a hero, on another day they're going to sit here and pretend that anybody who is even in the presence of january 6th is somehow the same as somebody

who quite literally forced their way into the building, broke glass, defecated in the building, all these different things. as we have to be specific because where we are right now, or people in congress are referring to republicans writ large as insurrectionists, i think that is how we got into this place where the division has basically run it over and got us to the rhetoric that has gotten people in a lot of trouble. >> she is an unrepentant election denier at this point. >> i would disagree with that. that she's an unrepentant election denier. >> she said it tonight. >> what she said is that she wants to make sure the process is legal. i think that is what -- >> she said that, if she were mike pence, she would not have certified the 2020 election. that is what she said. >> i don't know the full remarks, i will say this is not the first time she is talked about the 2020 election. she's had an interview with nbc where she talked about wanting to make sure that the process in 2024 was a legal one and

that she would not have gone about it in the way is mike pence. issued have to ask the congressman herself to elaborate on that. but i do think -- >> mike pence had one role, and it was to say the election is certified. to certify the electorate that came from the states, that was is wonderful. he did it. it should be basically overturning the results -- i want to give him all the last word. but we have to put that on the table. she is not walking back that she believes that mike pence made the wrong call to do his constitutional duty on that day. that is a big deal. >> it is interesting that she deleted all of her press releases from the time around january six. so, because the internet is undefeated, people are going around and finding those tweets and press releases to talk about how -- >> not people, liz cheney. liz cheney who she has betrayed, and she's got liz cheney's position leadership

now. >> the saying to me about all the is that people are shape- shifting in order to get in line with donald trump who has been indicted in 91 counts, right? it is amazing, i can't imagine that we could possibly nominate somebody as president of this country who has probably committed several crimes and we are probably on the verge of putting him just a hair is breath away from the white house again, after he gave aid and comfort these insurrectionists on january 6th. >> all right everyone, stick around for us. laura, back to. you really interesting conversation. up next, more on the supreme court arguments about whether donald trump should stay on colorado's ballot. we'll talk with ahead of the colorado republican party about that very point, next.

i think he's having a midlife crisis i'm not. you got us t-mobile home internet lite. after a week of streaming they knocked us down... ...to dial up speeds. like from the 90s. great times. all i can do say is that my life is pre-- i like watching the puddles gather rain. -hey, your mom and i procreated to that song. oh, ew! i think you've said enough. why don't we just switch to xfinity like everyone else? then you would know what year it was. i know what year it is.

the highest court in this land, hearing arguments at one of the most consequential cases of our entire nation's history. they were expressing some deep concerns on the bench about states ability to disqualify a candidate from seeking national office. joining me, now the chair of the colorado republican party, dave williams. he is opposed to the decision by the colorado supreme court wanting to disqualify trump from that ballot. thank you for being here. they've, we were all listening intently to the supreme court and, i've got to be honest with, you we can't all read tea leaves, but they seem to be on her side of not having disqualified him. what was your impression today? >> yeah, i was actually in the supreme court where i got to get a front row seat to it all

and it looked like the supreme court justices were pretty much skeptical of the -- and their claim. at one point events of justice gorsuch even bringing jason murray, the attorney, to task over some very critical points. so i think that it shows that the momentum is on our side and we're going to, knock on wood, we're going to have a 90 decision in our favor. >> i'm not gonna get bogged down in legal arguments. i, mean the idea of all the services office, office of, there is a lot of nuanced discussions happening today. but, big picture here, dave, if he were to be disqualified at taken off of the ballot, and say the justices decided that that should happen, what is your biggest concern there? >> well, this was talked about even during -- but there will be a cascading effect all across the country where a secretaries of state and other states would seek to disqualify donald trump and blue states. but there is also a potential

for retaliations or republican states might very well disqualify joe biden. it's something that we shouldn't want to see in our country. we should want these candidates to be on the ballot is a ultimately the voters should decide. >> there is a moment where justice kundananji brown jackson mentioned that if there is any ambiguity in all this, why not -- thinking about the voters deciding this issue. i would know that several justices seemed to be signaling that congress as some role here. they have the power to decide, really, whether there can be this a cause of action to be brought, or even on the ballot. do you think that this is up to the courts, congress, or the voters? >> well, i think that there are many different ways to look at this. ultimately, in order to invoke the section three of the 14th amendment, i think you do need an act of congress. in, fact you already have laws on the book. jack smith could have charged

-- on that count by congress. but when there is ambiguity, i think justice jackson alluded to this very eloquently, that we should leave it to the people to decide. >> you know, this is obviously a gigantic elephant in the room, the general election coming in november, assuming donald trump secures that rnc nomination and is on the ultimate ballot. the attorney representing colorado voters saying today that if the court sides with trump, then their power may be done in terms of trying to remove him. listen to what he had to say. >> if this court concludes that colorado did not have the authority to exclude president trump from the presidential ballot on procedural grounds, i think this case would be done. but, i think it could come back with a vengeance because, ultimately, members of congress may have to make that determination after a presidential election if president trump wins, about whether or not he is

disqualified from office and whether to count votes cast for who under the electoral count reform act. >> gosh, if you were to follow that thread, are you worried about the potential chaos that that would cause? >> ultimately i'm not. you will see challenges during the certification process of congress, but by and large the majority of congressmen and senators usually certify the election. so i don't see that being a big deal. ultimately, democracy will prevail in this and people will decide that both houses of congress will certify it. >> i look forward to the days when certification is a given. dave williams, thank you so much for your time today. we know there is a lot at stake and this is a very nuanced and a specialized argument. thank you for joining. >> thank you. up next, we will go live to las vegas. it is actually behind me right now. we've got donald trump to take the stage any minute after cnn has already not projected that donald trump won the nevada

republican caucuses. stay tuned, we've got more cnn special coverage next.

any moment now the former president will take a victory lap in the find out where he just picked up 23 delegates so far. cnn -- 's as at the trump headquarters in las vegas, elena, how does the trump campaign feel tonight? >> they are feeling great. granted, this was a state they had expected to win, they knew they were going to especially nikki haley, was not on the ballot for the caucuses, she participated in the primary. but they still are feeling very

good about tonight. part of that is because it is capping off a great day for -- the argued it was one of the best days on the trail for him. that is not just because of winning the nevada caucuses, and also the virgin islands cox's earlier today, more because of what we saw play out on the legal side of what has been wrapping donald trump, which is the special counsel's report from robert hur saying that joe biden will fully retain classified documents and mishandled classified documents, something donald trump and his campaign have already seized on and planned to continue to use against joe biden moving forward. particularly the language around joe biden's mental fitness, what her described as maybe being a poor memory. that is something already we have seen donald trump's team really try to push the narrative on, and i know they will continue to use that in the weeks ahead, especially as they pivot to a general

election strategy. you also had this court's argument, this supreme court argument where, trump and his team really do feel like they are primed for a victory, it seems like the justices do seem prepared to side with donald trump over colorado. so that in addition to this big win in nevada, tonight it is really embolden them, and emboldened their confidence that donald trump is going to continue to keep picking up the delegates that he needs to what they have become the nominee by mid march, or presumptive nominee by mid march i should say. >> in las vegas, thank you very much. we are as we just, noted waiting for donald trump to speak in moments, we will be back.

donald trump to speak any minute now after cnn has predicted he has won nevada. let's go to harry enten with the latest on the vote count, harry, what are you seeing? >> what are we seeing, we are seeing donald trump dominating in the silver, state nevada, look at this. he has nearly 97% of the vote, of course i will not only have 792 votes. the only other guy who's competing and these caucuses -- just 2% of the estimated vote is in so far, we have votes down from clark county, which of course home to las vegas, look at, this donald trump way out ahead there. also, -- which of course is where reno is, reno to las vegas, myself a donald trump at 96% of the vote to run big lisa 4% of the vote. you might be wondering, where is nikki haley on here?

where is nikki haley? the reason you don't see nikki haley, is because she decided to instead take part in the nevada primary, basically the candidates have, teachers take part in the primary on tuesday, or take part in the caucuses on thursday. the caucuses are where the delegates are allocated, but on tuesday technique you really had the idea, maybe i could not to win here even if i don't get any delegates. no, she in fact lost to none of the candidates, or none of these candidates. nikki haley just got 30% of the vote, michigan if you look at where we are right now in these caucuses, we see that donald trump is well ahead here. he is leading in both these counties. i will also note, laura, there was another contest that took place today, and that have been right over here. let's see if we can get. it there we go. the u.s. virgin islands, 99% of the estimated vote there, what do we see, here this was actually matchup between donald trump and nikki haley. we see donald trump is really winning here, 74% of the vote to 26%. look, just for delegates, but you know, what four delegates

will certainly help donald trump as he is on his road right now as we look overall, we see look, hear donald trump 60 dollar, get nikki haley with just 17, donald trump should expand that lead tonight has more and more delegates to donald trump based on the votes in the silver state where of course we see donald trump absolutely dominating even though there is 2% of the vote. we will keep counting, laura. >> this breakdown is so helpful, also a reminder of why nikki haley is not part of, this in nevada and tuesday, that was the primary, who we are with this caucus that had all the marbles as we rightly point out. harry, anton thank you so much. we are going to take a bit of a break right, now we will take a bit of trump's victory speech when it comes out. plus the other seismic news and politics, president biden defending his memory after that special counsel report has come in, not from jack smith, but the other special counsel. and donald trump supreme court hearing over whether he should in fact stay on the ballot.

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>> there is plenty of news tonight to go around, i'm abby philip in new york alongside laura coates in washington. cnn projects tonight donald trump has won for nevada, republican cox, as a victory that surprises no one. nikki haley chose not to compete for that state's delegates. the former president has now -- all three republican contest so far in this race as he continues his -- through the primary season. and at the white house, tonight, abby an angry president biden dismissing -- in the wake of the special counsel report that concluded

he will fully recall remained undisclosed documents, but will not face charges. -- >> my memory is fine. my memory, take a look at what i've done since i've become president. nobody thought i could pass any things i got past. how did that happen? you know, i guess i just forgot about it. >> let's bring in harry enten back at the magic wall. harry, we heard president biden defending his memory, earlier today telling our own cnn's mj lee -- pulling about the concerns that she was wrong. and what did they say? >> i will tell, you need to think president biden is a little bit too old. so this is a question we got a little timeline for you here. i think -- you go back to june of 2020, just 36% of registered voters nationally believe his to ought to be an effective president. look at where we are in

november of 2020, three just a few months ago this was taken in six key states that biden won. look at this number. it is lift up to 71%, nearly double where we were in june of 2020, and you, know, laura i have been looking at trying to figure out why joe biden is trailing donald trump, even as the economy is, improving and i do believe it is tied to edge because this is the one place that gets worse in voters minds. he just keeps getting older. we see here on this individual question about age, when we are looking specifically at joe biden, i also want to look, here i want to compare trump and biden. all right, better at being confident and effective, this i think tells it all. so if you look back at june of 2020, -- i was up 47% to -- look at where we were just a month ago. this is an nbc news poll that came out over the weekend, and

donald trump 48% of registered voters say that compared to just 32% of voters who say joe biden. so it is not just on the individual age question or voters are increasingly believing that joe biden is too old, he is also -- become significantly worse for him. again, when i look at all of these different pull metrics, there seems to be the one that is most closely tied to how voters are in this election, and this is the number one reason i believe joe biden is losing to donald trump at the national polls, and unless he is able to do something over the months to come, this will be the reason that joe biden is not reelected. >> this will be -- the voters ultimately, say pulling us, one thing the voting is another. harry anton, thank you so much. abby? >> thanks, laura. my panel in new york is back with me. before we get started, i just

want to make a note in the last hour we are discussing -- here on cnn. mark, you remember, the former vice president of mike pence, he tweeted a photo that he said was -- and it turns out according to advisers that was not her in that -- showed congresswoman -- that was a correct information by marc short and chief of staff. now on joe biden which has been a big conversation, hear what harry just -- it really is just the big picture of all of this. we talk about the age questions pacific, lee when you look at the trend in just the poll numbers, this is something we did not see in 2020. donald trump leading joe biden in the polls, and that specifically ferrying better than joe biden on the question of whether he is fifth in

edgewise, to serve in this office. >> i don't know that -- between donald trump has -- because of the press conference i don't know how he's going to recover, the only way to recover it would be to undertake a series of public facing events. now gave people something else to think about what you. on every time he has a public facing event, it gets worse just like you did tonight when he had this press conference and had a mix up while out there in -- so, they are in a real bad fix here on this topic. of course, trump is not without his candidacy as limitations as, well not the least of which he may be convicted of a crime before it is over with. right now, trump has a

consistently mostly due to concerns about biden's fitness, and it is not going away and it will not go away. >> is this one of those things where it is like you see this totally different ways depending on whether you are an r&d, whether joe biden actually came across tonight as you described it, someone who -- emotionally in all the red places when it comes to a son, who is angry about being aligned in this document, who has a feistiness, do you see it that way? but to be honest, a lot of people did not see it that way. is that how it is playing out to do you think in the american public? >> i think people who watch, this there is a lot of people who watch this. and then saw the president give a statement where he was batting down some of the issues that he was speaking very forcibly. so the one mistake he made which was about refusing the -- we have seen other people do that recently, including mike

johnson, the speaker who did it on sunday with meet the press where he confused israel and iran. about harry's point about the polls, you know, joe biden should have never been president according to history, we haven't seen a democratic vice president get elected to the presidency since 1836 on his own, cents -- so this should never have occurred in the first place. he ran, he no democrat who had run before that even won the nomination since -- in 1956. so democratic voters actually broke history when they made joe biden president. so the polls and the history, they say one, thing but i think this president has beaten history already, and we may see him do it again. >> yes,, look i think all of that is correct. the missing caveat is that yes, it was a historic presidency because we are coming out of a once in a generation pandemic. in fact we are going through that once in a generation pandemic when the election was

held. so certainly, i think that had an impact in many ways if you go back to nancy pelosi, bring up the speech of donald trump coming off of that, that state of the union, that point it was quite clear that a trump presidency for a second term with the 7 million jobs, preschool with had been created, it was all but assured. so the what has changed in many ways since, then one of them is the fact as you see in these, numbers people do not believe that he has the intellectual dexterity at this particular moment to deal with the issues confronting this nation. it is not just about the press conference, because i think there are democrats who would say they would like to see that fight, that is still there. but it is about what happens when the cameras go away. if you remember going all the way back to afghanistan, when the president of the entire nation in the eye and said it was unanimous recommendation of senior military advisers to remove every single last troop, then we watch that chairman of the joint chief going for

congress as it was his recommendation to leave at least 2500 troops behind into the state nobody has asked who was lying or what was preventing that message from getting through to the commander-in-chief? so again, yes, you can see there is fire in the belly. yes no one should take any pleasure when a statement coming officially on paper from the doj, that the president is compromised from a capacity standpoint. but it opens the door to questions many people have been talking about, and whispering about for a -- >> canal say something, i think what you are seeing in those poll numbers is america having a memory lapse. i think we do not remember just how bad donald trump was because he hasn't been under the scrutiny that the sitting president has been under for the last four years. also, i will tell you, that for the last three, years very difficult make up in the congress, joe biden has gotten more done than any other president in my lifetime. i think he is the most

consequential affective president of my lifetime, who gets the least amount of credit. so the memory i want to have is about the infrastructure act, the $35 cap on insulin, it is but all the things he has done that we don't give him credit for and again this is a binary choice. i think biden's campaign slogan should be 81 years, old record 91 counts. republicans do not care that we are nominating a criminal. republicans do not care that we are nominating somebody who we heard -- sexual assault. republicans do not care that we are nominating somebody that was just held liable of sexual abuse, and liable of $83 million. if joe biden was under one count, 90, one democrats would not be nominated. >> all right we are going to -- right there, everyone, stick around. we will go to the court of opinion next. laura? >> we are back with our court

of public opinion, our virtual court room where jurors hear legal arguments then will weigh in on the big questions of the day. now we are turning to colorado's efforts to remove former president donald trump from the primary ballot. now as you can imagine, it could have major consequences in these states. the chief justice john roberts made this, well, dire prediction. >> it will come down to just a handful of states that will -- that is a pretty daunting consequence. >> meanwhile justice -- had the big question in all of this. >> the question that -- a single state should decide who should be the president of the united states. >> the american public thinks of this, we are bringing in to top attorneys to -- now he founded the organization that actually brought the 14th amendment, case but he is not involved in that organization

now. he was also as you remember the house judiciary special, counsel and the first impeachment trial. tonight he is representing the former president in this presentation alone. and for the plaintiffs and the action who are trying to remove him from the colorado ballot, we had -- the deputy assistant attorney who will make their arguments, then our jurors are going to tell us what they think of what they have heard tonight, this is the first group of everyday americans meeting tonight for their opinions with each, other and of course with you. so let's start with -- putting forth the argument on behalf of the former president donald trump. norm, why should trump's day on the ballot? >> judge laura, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the united states is the world's foremost democracy. the thing that makes this a democracy is that the people, you decide who should be

president. you get to choose. my interposing the 14th amendment for the first time to block a presidential candidate, donald trump who is not been charged with insurrection or convicted of insurrection, it is interfering with your right to choose whether you want, him or not. if we allow this to happen, if we allow colorado to make this decision under arm of the ballot, we heard today that will unleash chaos across the united states as all 50 states do what they want. do not take my word for it as council for donald trump. here is what ketanji brown jackson had to say who is appointed to the supreme court by president biden. donald trump's adversary. >> i guess my question is why

the framers would have designed a system that would, could result in interim this uniformity in this way where we have elections pending, and in different states suddenly saying you are eligible, you are not on the basis of this kind of thing. >> it is not only the common sense, it is not only the meaning of democracy, the chaos, it is the words of the 14th amendment because section five of the 14th amendment says, congress shall pass implementing legislation if the choose. that is how we get a uniform national system. that has not happened here. donald trump should not be disqualified. our democracy is in your hands. thank you ladies and gentlemen of the jury. thank you, judge. >> well, harry litman takes the opposite position. harry, share with, us make your case of how you think your

president should be removed from the primary ballot. >> judge, ladies and gentlemen, you have in front of you a important registration, but fortunately it is a simple one. our constitution, our highest law imposes qualifications for people who are truly does as president. we have to be 35, they have to be born in this country, and they must not have taken an oath to unfold the constitution and then engaged in an insurrection. when that happens, they are disqualified. new country does it have to take the risk they will abuse their power, and there are no do overs. donald trump engaged in an insurrection, and forfeited his right to hold future office. you start in front of you as january six, you saw it again in this courtroom. after he lost the election and the electoral college confirmed other was left to do was to -- the votes, but at that point

trump had one last desperate chance. what worked up his supporters into a frenzy, and send them down to the capitol that was an insurrection. and how do you know that? if trump had been taken by surprise, when that right, broke out he would've done everything they could to stop it. what did he do instead? he said it is okay to hang mike pence. he rejoiced in the -- who was the opposite. look, -- bhcho the vindication requires me exactly that trumpy disqualified from having a do- over and another shot.

thank you. >> we heard from both sides of this issue the big question of the day that the supreme court was trying to synthesize and summarized for us today let's turn now to the jury i'm very curious of what you all think about this. the big question, do you think -- do you think that donald trump should be disqualified from the ballot, though he is not been convicted or charged with insurrection? what do you say? >> i think it is a slippery slope. i think that on the one hand, you know, he was president prior, and there were things that, happened and that day he did incite a riot. i feel like he did. that he told the people go down there and get mike pence to do his job. that is what he said to them that day. and he even told him he was coming, with him he was going to come with him don't worry i will be there with you. he kept saying that to them. i will be there with you. so you are telling the crowd, i'm coming, with you i will be there with, you that is getting the more hyped up. so they went down, there he even tried to get his secret

service driver to take him to the capital. so we did confine and head out down the line, during some of the trials. they have had where they had secret service take the stand, talk about what happened that day, where he tried to grab the wheel of the car, try to get them to take him to the capital -- >> cassidy hutchinson, january six hearing about what was happening in that moment. so based on, that it he think then that means he should be disqualified, or -- >> i think that he probably shouldn't have been allowed to run again in the first place. but fortunately, here we are. he is able to do that. i also see it from the other side where i am worried about what will have been if he is not on the ballot. what will the people who incited that riot, what will they then do? >> you are nodding your head. >> yes, it is a slippery slope. it is a slippery slope indeed. the question really becomes, if it does in some ways get to the

heart of our democracy. if we remove trump from the ballot, what is to say that we cannot remove another candidate from the ballot? these sort of laws become than arbitrary, and re-sort of set up new precedent of who we can and can't put on the ballot. you look at the heart of the 14th amendment, we are moving any viruses or prejudices we may have towards president trump from president trump. certainly it does get to the heart of the fact that no state can impose certain laws, that don't ensure liberty. so we get to that issue. -- >> there is a reason why perhaps even though a certain demographic of americans may like for him to re-removed, constitutionally is that -- >> joe number, two you are -- >> yes, i, i think certainly every four years of, perhaps every election year, somebody

is disappointed the person they like to vote for is not on the ballot. there were millions of us in 1976 who wanted to vote for ronald reagan for president, but we couldn't because of the process. he was not nominated by the republican party and -- was. we waited for years, that had our chance. but granted, the to process and reasons here are different, he and a result is the theme. we did not get the vote. and, the other question for me is a lot of pricing of words, but does the 14th amendment mean anything? and is it part of the constitution, what doesn't work anymore we should take it out? >> juror number three, how do you see in terms of thinking, about that stuff hasn't been charged with insurrection to the point of your other jurors here, but the slippery slope

you are both identifying and alluding to as well, could go either way. how do you see this? >> i don't think that we should not take him off of the ballot because of what could break loose, i think that globally we are just in challenging times, and i think that these systems that the country were built on are flawed, and i think this is another example of that. if colorado did not bring this to the forefront, then who would have. there is something to be said about this section in the constitution, i agree with juror number one that he did -- he aligned with them. he never told him to stop doing what they were doing on january 6th. i think he created an environment to welcome people to washington d.c., to behave in this manner, and not thinking actions would be taken against them. to me it seems like incited an insurrection, and i'm curious to know how or who would be

responsible to bring up the constitution if it was in this state, because it did not happen with a supreme court. it did not happen in congress. i think it is a conversation that needs to be had. >> looking down the line with each of, view we will ask in a yes or no question, do you think trump should be on the ballot? yes or no? >> no. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> that seems hesitant when you talk about you want today maybe option as well. let me ask you another question, i have explained why you are reluctant to give a yes or no on this. let me ask, you you have alluded to this, who should be the decider of this? you have heard some deaf arguments here, who should decide this. is a congress? is that the court? is that the voters? to a number four? >> do i believe he should be on the ballot, no i did not. i don't think anything he stands for. i agree with -- and -- said. absolutely, he didn't set a riot. so do i believe he should be on, it no. but looking at the facts constitutionally, it does call interesting question about what is the rubric in terms of who

we decide -- and what states decide who gets on the ballot. so we go down this very slippery slope for the republican, that is what i'm putting into question. no different than any sort of rhetoric president trump is using to go down a slippery slope of eroding our federal republic. >> so should he be this is from the states, or the voters decide, english or congress, what do you say? states, voters, or congress? >> added the current time, i think that i would want to say the voters are reliable, but i think you would be -- i would like for congress to get themselves together, and do their job that i think they should be doing and that probably is this. war, really, the judicial system, the relation, i don't think we should leave this up to state i think that kind of takes into account you are telling the state don't get colorado, you can take him off the, ballot we are giving you this opportunity. it scares me that we want him on the ballot, it kind of

scares me as to what can happen down the line with future states and future decisions with other states. who can decide whether okay, i don't really want so and so on the ballot, let's find a reason to not put somebody on there. that can happen. so i don't think about that. what do you say? >> my concern with all of this is the constitution, the preservation and constitution, and i -- we have a process procedure we are in that process now, so i think the supreme court can decide how they can throw back of the -- but that is part of the process of the procedure. >> i reluctantly think congress should decide. >> reluctantly so -- >> i think people should decide. >> we have a lot of varying opinions here tonight. the supreme court has that were cut out for them. her lippman, thank you for making tonight arguments. it presents a lot of questions with his tour. a special thanks to these jurors in the court of public opinion. if you would like to be a juror on the next court of public opinion, gonna touch with us --

it is laura coates dewey had cnn.com. >> in just moments, donald trump is expected to speak. we are going to take a quick break and we will -- it looks like donald trump's coming straight to the microphone. let's listen. >> -- [inaudible] [applause] [inaudible] >> all right there is a little

bit of an audio issue in the room where donald trump is. we will take a quick break and wait for that to be resolved. we will be back after this.

we are back now, donald trump is on the stage possibly -- let's listen. >> this would have never happened, it is really attack would have never happened. inflation would have never happened. the world would be a much better place right now. we are going to make sure -- we bring back fast, and we bring it back very soon. very very strong. but, it is so sad to see, it is all of the death you have witnessed with ukraine and russia fighting, and again what happened in israel, all of the death and destruction of cities and places that are ancient places in the stands, ancient

buildings being knocked, down you can never replace it. all of those people that, died most importantly, they wouldn't have never happened and we will change it around and get it back to normalcy. we can't continue like this. we are always exploding. >> we will respect it. like never before just -- we are now a laughing stock all over the world. we are not respected even a little bit. you understand why, we understand why we need leadership in this country does not have leadership. it has no idea what is happening and lost his way it is a feeling nation. we are not going to have a feeling nation much longer. i just want to really think the great people of nevada, because this was a turnout, a few broke

the all-time caucus record was broken and we kept waiting and waiting because they are all flowing in for more parts of the state, and i said -- marriott said when they come here and everyone -- and you know, if we win the, state we easily win the election on november. we have to win the election. you know, great countries -- >> thank you. great countries are all about a lot of things, but two things in particular, you have to have strong voters, and you have to have free fair and honest elections. and we don't have either. and we are going to have them

-- the history of our country, and our -- military so many, things and the tragedy of -- there is nothing less. and president putin -- what i wanted to, do they never wanted to -- and when he wanted to do. and we are going to bring the world back, we will bring it back to normalcy and this country is going to be the leader and we are going to be also at the same time focused on america first. [applause] it will be -- a few terms that are very descriptive, but there is no you reason for, this i left the middle east and bombing and i remember that before i came it was bombing. you don't have to bomb, we

defeated i.s.i.s. radically. and then he will have -- first and 72 years and i remember on the debate stage with -- somebody else. i retired that was a good night for -- i retired the day from -- and put it on to joe, crooked joe. we have a country that has tremendous potential, anything you can have in this election as -- we are not going to have it anymore. and tremendous record, and an all-time record. and coming back, they sort of

knew who was going to get 98%. we wanted to get over 80 and we have 98 and also if you remember in last night you know what happened last night, right, none of the above. so i would like to congratulate none of the above. i was one of those none of above. i was one of them. no i watched that last night and they won by 44 points none of the above. so i want to congratulate. most seriously we have to get back. this was a great day this was a great night and i was supreme court hopefully we'll be doing something in terms of helping our country and preserving democracy. we have to preserve our democracy. i think they had a very, very interesting, day a very beautiful day perhaps. i think it was a very beautiful

sight to watch. it is the way it is supposed to be. hopefully the decision will be an important decision, but there has never been anything like it in any polls we are leading everybody. we are right now, is there any way we can call the election for next tuesday? that is all i want. i want to call the election for next tuesday. but we are going to make our country great again, we will make it great, we'll make it greater than ever before. the enthusiasm and the turnout, they're and i were talking, i don't think you have ever seen anything like it. we were at various caucus, sites and they both came back and said we have never seen anything like it. would you like to see a few words? please? >> thank, you president trump. i just wanted to build on that, i had the caucus sites we were at tonight, the lines were around the, block those

buildings people -- >> listening to donald trump all who is in, las vegas going through a number of different factors, today including his concerns we are not -- we are talking about an all-time record number being broken in terms of the caucus, he also is asking for the election to be called for next tuesday, living he would be successful there. we have a lot to go with our panel in particular here right now. i've daniel dale with us here, very important function on a day like this, also -- jim schultz. there was this moment, i will turn to you on this, question the turnout, a focus of -- only he was a contender in? >> he did, i think he is still entitled to claim, we don't have full, results but you know he is a dominant figure in the republican party, some of that fact check perspective, he wants to claim a record, i should point out he did a softer version of his usual

election denial. he said we need free and fair elections in this country. we do not have them. we have them. we had them in 2020. we have them before. so in these unanimous victories, he tends not to say elections are, rigged rigged and stolen and so on. but i think even the softer version needs to be called out when he says it. >> i was really surprised, we all started talking about how will he begin his speech. and we thought maybe presidential, biden at the supreme court, he did not adjust biden also far. but he did talk about the supreme court, and he said, hopefully scotus, he didn't say scotus, over the supreme court will have a interesting and beautiful day. he did not really go into the details of the fourth amendment argument disqualifying him from colorado, did that surprise you? >> yes, well, i thought he was going to -- i thought that is what he would lead with. but you know, i think he played the victory lap which was a smart decision, to get to the

victory, lap and the supreme court briefly, and get offstage, not a bad strategy. he's going to turn around and -- >> well, tomorrow is already here in some parts, not quite, yet but when you look at that particular aspect, some would look and he would talk about joe biden, the only respect ellery clinton was saying he had change the name of crooked hill are now crooked joe. that is where it really ended so far. >> -- maybe that is potentially in his opening. so, to be clear, he is probably not on speaking. he seemed to have the microphone off to somebody else. he made a reference in the context of the supreme court talking about preserving or protecting democracy. it is a generic point. frankly, it is not an unreasonable point if you believe as the president seems to, or's attorney seem to believe that their position in this report today was for the good of american democracy.

-- interesting enough, the primary for example, the former president did not necessarily focus on the victory lap we are talking about now. it is focusing on the audacity he received of nikki haley staying in the race. there was a focus on what she was doing, or not doing. that is getting under his skin. this time he is talking directly about the victory he has, at the securing, and again talks about the all-time caucus workers he says they have. he also went on to say this. if this election isn't one by us, we are not going to have a country anymore. >> yeah, that is a staple of his. israeli rhetoric. i think it is obvious hyperbole. we currently in the country, is currently not the president despite what he may try to suggest at some point. so yeah, this is how he operates. he operates based on his mood on a given day, sometimes he can be convinced to read the script after a victory. sometimes he wants to begin

exacting or revenge against someone he perceives has slighted him like nikki haley on that night. so, very much day-by-day with donald trump. >> we will see minute by minute, maybe is not on, speaking we will talk more mothers in our special coverage when it continues. stick with us.

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welcome back to cnn special live coverage of a seismic day. just moments ago, we heard donald trump speaking after cnn projected that he won the nevada caucuses, let's discuss with my panel, the big headline actually out of the trump speeches that he and did it, and he was happy about the supreme court and seemingly in

his favor, but said nothing about joe biden. >> said nothing about biden, he took a in direct punch at nikki haley over the nine of the above thing, and kept it short and got off the stage. it was rather surprising frankly and subdued. this is one of those days where he doesn't need to make any news. there is plenty of news today. and most of the -- that was a smart move tonight, we are in and get out. >> we are time donald trump seems to be listening to somebody. >> it is interesting to me, that we are talking about what we heard donald trump saying, but we did not hear him. after four years of being president, all these years of campaigning, he had terrible -- it was very difficult to make out what he was saying. i think it was smart of him not to actually direct comments. i don't think he mentioned nikki haley's name. >> he congratulated none of the above. >> you know what, he did, he is that which happened last night.

the caucuses were -- the primary was sunday. if joe biden had confused sunday for wednesday, it would be a alarm fire. but it is donald trump. like i said to earlier, we says stupid stuff on a daily basis. >> the reality of this very odd campaign that we are in, is that we could be in effectively a general election pretty soon. the question will be how much of donald trump will we see. that might be a determinant factor in how well or how poorly he does against joe biden. >> where the question is how much will the biden campaign make us see. because part of the strategy of the biden campaign is the more people see donald trump, the more they are reminded of how bad it was when he was telling us to inspect ourselves with bleach, the more people get reminded of what things were like when he was president, the more they will say you know what, i do not want to go back to that chaos.

so you have president biden who has gas prices going down, unemployment going, down wages going up, the gdp is going up, he has all of the right indicators and donald trump doing all of the wrong things. i think he has -- he's trying to sell it but i think when you look at the polling numbers, the american people aren't buying. it and i think, if you focus on the little things that president trump did focus on tonight, he was talking about the apprehensions of americans writ large. when you are looking at the actual chaos around the world and he's talking about what is happening in gaza. he's talking about what's happening in ukraine. he's talking about what is happening in the south china sea. and the fact that, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, it has been joe biden's weakness on the global stage after he quoted abraham lincoln, said his whole soul was in uniting this country, and that america was back. and now, we find ourselves closer to a world war than we have ever been.

so, yeah, so we can talk about the wages going up. but the wages not keeping up, with inflation. we can talk about the fact that unemployment is coming down. but we have 7 million able- bodied americans who are still have some from the workforce. so, he has, there are a lot of ways to skew the statistics. but ultimately, have the american people feel? they feel as if they are not doing as well today as they were when joseph robin biden took the oath of office. >> there's still a lot of time left, not on this program. but in this election. >> joe biden -- >> consumer sentiment -- >> donald trump wanted to offer him advice on how to negotiate on slavery. >> there is still time for the sentiment of voters to change. everyone, you gotta stand by for us. whether, actually, you guys are going home tonight. thank you for being with us tonight. coming up next for us, tucker carlson is speaking with russia's president vladimir putin in a controversial interview. we will discuss all the things that were said with an expert on russia. that is ahead.

donald trump may have won his third contest now. but he has a very complicated primary and legal calendar ahead of him. cnn's harry enten is back at the wall. harry, what can you tell us about these two things? >> yeah, the two things that are colliding, i feel like 2024 is going to have more news in it than i care to handle. thursday had too much. but the rest of it, who knows? trump is up a potential legal calendar. where are we now? we are at least in the east, on friday, february 9th, you have a little bit coming ahead, deadline, scotus to intervene and the -- cases on monday. but in reality, the next big date in terms of trump's

potential legal calendar isn't at least eight -- in total. march 25th. now, why is that important? the fifth is super tuesday. right? that is when there are a ton of delegates that are at stake on the republican side. and then, the 12th, as i circle right here, that's the first day that anyone can potentially accumulate a majority of delegates to win the nomination. so, that happens before the stormy daniels hush money trial starts. it's before the classified documents start in may of 2024. and it's certainly well before a fulton county prosecutor's proposed trial starts. so, the fact is, primary may not in fact be all that impacted by. i will note, though, if trump wins the nomination, is convicted by the gop, what should the gop do? the majority, the clear majority, of likely south carolina gop primary voters say, keep trump. 60% of them say keep trump. replace trump is just that 36%. so, i'm not sure that a conviction would have any real effect even if it were to

happen before, in fact, the republican nomination process wrapped up, or even afterward. but here is the one thing, laura, that i would keep my mind out on. one thing for primary voters, it's another thing in the general election. biden versus trump margin. currently, trump lost two points. but if trump is convicted, look at this. we see biden up by four point. so, just because something holds with the primary electorate, laura, does not mean it will hold in the general electorate. this to me is the number one x- factor that i'm looking at as we head toward the general election, whether trump gets convicted or not. we will just have to wait and see. >> it ain't over until the general election sayings. harry enten, thank you. we'll be back in just a moment.

thank you for watching our special coverage tonight. >> a, abby and i are going to be back tomorrow night at ten pm and 11 pm easte backed back tomorrow. later on today, the news continues, next.

two leading candidates for senate. two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican, is too conservative for california. he voted for trump twice and supported republicans for years, including far right conservatives. adam schiff, the leading democrat, defended democracy against trump and the insurrectionists. he helped build affordable housing, lower drug costs, and bring good jobs back home. the choice is clear. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.

good evening from new york. i'm anderson cooper. >> and from washington, i'm kaitlan collins. you saw there a seething president biden wrapping up a press conference, dealing with special counsel robert hurd's report on his handling of classified documents. president biden denied a critical part of