0:02

Today on Inside Politics, going on offense.

0:05

Vice President Harris is on her way

0:07

to Arizona, where she'll attack Republicans for

0:09

the state's Civil War-era abortion ban that

0:12

could soon be back in effect. It's

0:14

an issue and a state that the

0:17

Biden campaign hopes will carry them to

0:19

re-election. Plus, it's the final countdown. The

0:21

people of the state of New York

0:24

versus Donald Trump kicks off on Monday.

0:26

The former and perhaps future president will

0:28

spend the next two months in court

0:30

fighting criminal charges. We have new

0:32

reporting on Team Trump's plans for

0:35

inside that courtroom. And

0:37

where does a Republican go when

0:39

fighting for political survival? Mar-a-Lago, of

0:41

course. Today, Speaker Mike Johnson lands

0:44

in Florida, but will embracing Trump's

0:46

election denial protect Johnson from the

0:48

pitchforks in the House Republican caucus?

0:51

I'm Adi Cornish in for Dana Bash

0:53

in Washington, and we're going to head

0:55

behind the headlines and inside politics.

1:03

First up, Vice President Harris has a

1:05

message for the people of Arizona where

1:07

abortion rights are rolling back to the

1:09

time before x-rays and antibiotics. That message

1:12

is Donald Trump did this, and

1:14

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is there. Give

1:17

us a little sense about how the

1:19

vice president will be talking about this today. Well,

1:23

sources tell me that this is going to

1:25

be an opportunity for the campaign to really

1:28

hammer home what they say Donald Trump poses

1:30

a threat he poses to personal freedoms and

1:32

also health care and tying these

1:34

unpopular abortion bans directly to former

1:37

President Donald Trump. Now, in prepared

1:39

remarks that were shared with reporters,

1:41

the vice president is expected to

1:43

cast this state court ruling as,

1:45

quote, one of the biggest aftershocks

1:48

yet from the overturning of Roe

1:50

v. Wade. She's also expected to

1:52

say the following, quote, Donald

1:54

Trump is the architect of this health care crisis

1:57

and as much harm as he has already caused

1:59

a second Trump term would be even

2:01

worse. If Donald Trump gets the chance, he

2:03

will find a national abortion ban. How do

2:06

we know? Look at his record.

2:08

Congress tried to pass a national abortion ban before

2:10

in 2017, and then President Trump endorsed

2:13

it. Of course, the Biden campaign sees

2:15

abortion as a salient political issue that

2:18

can mobilize voters, especially in the critical

2:20

battleground states of Arizona. And in fact,

2:22

the Biden campaign launched an

2:24

ad by this week, some bigger ad

2:27

by here in the state following that

2:29

court ruling, claiming again, putting the blame

2:31

squarely on Donald Trump when it comes

2:33

to the issue of abortion. And just

2:35

moment ago, the vice president putting

2:37

out a fundraising email on this exact

2:40

issue. So you can expect that you

2:42

say a package, this message of the

2:44

threats that Donald Trump poses, particularly on

2:47

personal freedoms and health care all around

2:49

reproductive rights here in Tucson, Arizona. Later

2:51

this afternoon, of course, the Democratic strategist

2:53

tells me that ultimately this state court

2:56

ruling serves as another data point in

2:58

the Democratic argument against Republicans on

3:00

this very issue and one

3:02

that she will be hammering home today.

3:05

All right. CNN's

3:07

Priscilla Alvarez. Thanks so much. I

3:11

want to bring in my panel on

3:13

the CNN's Melanie Zenona, Semaphores, Dave Weigel,

3:15

and Sung-Min Kim of the Associated Press.

3:17

Welcome to all of you. All

3:19

right. So Vice President Harris has tried

3:22

to make this her issue. I think she's talked

3:24

about being on a national tour. She has visited

3:26

with abortion clinic providers. I

3:28

want to start with you, Sung-Min.

3:31

What does it say that she's the one

3:33

who is being put forward on this message?

3:35

Is she more effective than Biden in one

3:37

way or another? I think Democrats

3:39

in the White House have believed she has

3:41

been, just by nature, a much more effective

3:43

messenger than perhaps President Biden himself. This has

3:46

actually been a particular group, sir, particular issues.

3:48

Just on abortion, especially. This was

3:50

essentially put in her portfolio immediately after the

3:53

Dobbs decision in June of 22. We

3:55

know that President Biden, while he has been

3:58

a supporter of abortion rights, his administration has

4:00

done what they say all they could

4:02

to protect care in the aftermath of

4:04

the DAB decision. President Biden personally has

4:06

not always been comfortable with the idea

4:09

of abortion. And he is a devout

4:11

Catholic. He doesn't say the word a

4:13

lot. He has said in private fundraisers,

4:16

he's indicated in private fundraisers in sort of

4:18

discomfort with the whole issue. And Kamala Harris

4:20

being a woman, being a prosecutor who's dealt

4:22

with a lot of these issues, the

4:25

Biden administration, the Biden campaign feels

4:27

she can prosecute this issue. Much

4:30

more effectively than perhaps the president

4:32

would. Now in reaction to what's

4:34

happened in Arizona, you know, it's

4:36

very interesting because basically when they

4:39

passed this bill, it was always

4:41

baked in that this law from

4:43

1864 could come

4:45

to the forefront. So everybody who voted

4:47

for it knew this provision was

4:49

buried in there. And at the

4:52

same, so that means there's a ton of

4:54

tape of them talking about it, lobbying for

4:56

it. Here's an example of

4:58

then gubernatorial candidate Carrie Lake back in 2022. I'm

5:04

incredibly thrilled that we are

5:06

going to have a great law

5:09

that's already on the books. I

5:11

believe it's ARS 13-36-03. So it

5:13

will prohibit abortion in

5:16

Arizona except to save the life of

5:18

a mother. So

5:20

now she's running for Senate and of course,

5:22

and she wants to appeal this law. And

5:25

Democrats are already pointing out on

5:27

social media sort

5:30

of her past comments. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat

5:32

who's running against her for Senate is among

5:34

those. But specifically Dave, he

5:36

says no amount of backpedaling will

5:39

make us forget. Will this

5:41

come off as backpedaling to voters? Well,

5:43

I think it already has. And

5:46

the politics within the state are

5:49

not going her way because if you're a Republican, you're probably

5:51

going to believe in this and wanted to get rid of

5:53

one of the states to ban abortion. One, you knew this

5:55

is on the books for a long time. I interviewed the

5:57

current attorney general, which was running. This

6:00

might happen and and to why would you vote

6:02

for a bill that waters this down? They already tried

6:04

this week the speaker of the house is running for

6:06

Congress in a safe conservative district Is it in his

6:09

interest to undermine something that the

6:11

pro-life movement just won a generational multi-generational?

6:14

Right and and so you're starting to see the

6:16

separation Carrie Lake is part of this Don Trump's

6:19

part of the one side separation from Republicans who

6:21

are very transactional and how they handle this and

6:23

Republicans who believed it and Down

6:26

Trump's has stumbled on this multiple ways this

6:28

week I think lake has started

6:30

to too, but Trump even by saying that

6:32

he endorses Referendum states which

6:34

which which Blake is gonna have to

6:36

take a position on he angered a lot of people in the

6:38

pro-life movement Who say this is a issue of human

6:40

life? This is not issue that you can

6:42

put it on direct Let me jump in

6:44

there You're bringing up Referendum because the abortion

6:47

rights activists are already collecting signatures in Arizona

6:49

to put a ballot referendum protecting abortion Out

6:52

there for November, but they join a

6:54

long list of dates who are doing

6:56

this including, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York

6:59

Melanie is this starting to actually shift

7:01

the conversation about what's possible for

7:04

let's say Democrats in November Yeah,

7:06

absolutely and talking to Democratic sources on

7:08

Capitol Hill They see these ballot

7:10

initiatives as a potential to juice turnout particularly among

7:12

some of these demographics who might sit out We

7:15

might not be enthusiastic to vote for Biden, but

7:17

they will get out for these

7:19

ballot initiatives and Democrats

7:21

are really expanding their battleground map because

7:23

of it and I want to have

7:26

the cook political report actually has When

7:28

we looked at their list of toss-up

7:30

districts, there were a number of states

7:32

Arizona New York included Where lawmakers

7:35

may have to deal with a ballot? Yeah,

7:37

and some of those states that you're throwing up

7:39

there Those are where the path to majority really

7:41

runs and in talking to Republicans Oftentimes they will

7:43

say things like well, we just have a messaging

7:46

problem and we just need a message better But

7:48

what's happening in Arizona is a perfect example. It's

7:50

not the message that's unpopular It's the policy itself

7:52

and this policy was because Roe v Wade was

7:55

overturned But is inadvertently it's on

7:57

camera. It's a message turning Into will

7:59

support bands. The fifteen weeks. You know

8:01

what I mean. Like right now in

8:03

Arizona, they're trying to create a choice

8:05

that says I will repeal this law

8:07

firm eighteen Sixty Four and instead we'll.

8:09

Have this restriction this abortion ban up

8:12

to fifteen weeks, which to me says

8:14

you're still somehow allowing for abortion right

8:16

on, right? Like a what is the

8:18

message that starting to coalesce I mean

8:20

and that's a really good question cause

8:22

I've he work at that. If you

8:24

look at the referendum that Aragon Arizona's

8:26

are trying to points before voters in

8:29

November that looks at on that protecting

8:31

abortion until viability with as much further

8:33

along and fifteen with about twenty four

8:35

weeks or when a fetus is consider

8:37

viable freshly and thus contact so I

8:39

think Nandi. What that says to

8:42

perhaps voters in Arizona is that the Republican

8:44

party is still a party that largely wants

8:46

to restrict access to the procedure regardless of

8:48

whether it's as eating sixty four modest on

8:51

the books or of it you know that

8:53

will, the lawn and will will be on

8:55

the books and in a in a matter

8:57

of days or the fifteen week than which

9:00

is why Republican strategists especially looking at voters

9:02

in Arizona the really hoping that if this

9:04

referendum is on the ballot that voters can

9:06

kind of makes a dual the surgeon you

9:09

know they might support the South random. But

9:11

maybe they support Donald Trump at the top

9:13

of the ticket cause issues like the border

9:15

and the economy. are more important to them.

9:17

The paper davis' about turn out getting people

9:19

excited and this. This. There's. No message

9:22

you write that they're still fighting. How do

9:24

you hold on to the Energy on the

9:26

right? Does abortion antiabortion activists while still telling

9:28

them will pump the brakes? You don't want

9:30

to go that far, Know it's a quandary

9:32

Trump campaign haven't figured out yet. One thing the

9:34

Democrats have been talking about and will talk more

9:36

about it in Arizona today. they're sweet threat the

9:38

election is this is. It's not just up to

9:41

the states where a lot of palsy the Trump

9:43

put in place in office when we had conservative

9:45

lawyers into the O J may be says

9:47

that he did. They expect him to bring

9:49

back with or on record saying he's. Going

9:51

to bring back Biden created after the

9:53

before and after the fall of Row

9:55

Attack Reproductive Rights Task Force Conservatives The

9:57

Heritage Foundation want that to get rid.

10:00

that and create a pro-life task force. Yeah,

10:02

it's like the Biden message has become

10:04

more pointed. Trump did this,

10:06

taking away your rights, and the Republican message

10:08

has become sort of messier. Melanie,

10:10

I want to leave it to you. What does this mean for issues

10:13

like migrants and crime? I mean,

10:15

all of a sudden, Kamala Harris can march right up

10:17

to the border, right? Be in a border state when

10:19

a few months ago it would not have flown the

10:21

same way. Right. It's really interesting,

10:23

Arizona, because now abortion and immigration, it's probably going

10:25

to be the two biggest issues in November broadly.

10:27

You're seeing it most impacted in Arizona. So that's

10:30

really becoming ground zero for both of these issues

10:32

and... It's out of what they wanted. Right, exactly.

10:34

So you're going to see that Republicans are going

10:36

to try to seize on the border issue. Democrats

10:38

seizing on abortion. But just like

10:40

we're talking about, Republicans need to address abortion. Democrats

10:42

feel like they also need to address the border

10:45

issue and say what they would do on immigration,

10:47

also laying out legal pathways to citizenship as they're

10:49

talking about trying to secure the border. So

10:51

it's an issue that they're definitely going to have to

10:53

wrestle with. All right. Well, stay with us because

10:55

we're going to be talking about Donald Trump, who

10:57

may be out of legal tricks and out

11:00

of time. Jerry's election in his Fresh Money

11:02

trial begins in just three days. We're going to

11:04

take a closer look at what we can

11:06

expect on Monday anymore. Shopify

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$1 per month trial. This

11:51

week on The Assignment with me, Adi

11:53

Cornish. I Met with Alex

11:56

Garland, director of the new Buzzy Film

11:58

Civil War. The Movie

12:00

That Ass? What? Could. Happen If the system

12:02

of checks and balances, that whole

12:04

the democracy together fall apart. The

12:07

question is in the film is this

12:09

something we should be really thinking about

12:11

guarding against and the answer is probably

12:14

implicitly is just. Listen. To

12:16

the assignment with Audie Cornish onside.

12:22

After trying every legal options out there

12:25

to delay his New York hush money

12:27

taste, the former Presidents first criminal trial

12:29

is just three days away. This is

12:32

an extraordinary. Moment in Us history of

12:34

former President. And presumptive presidential nominee is

12:36

about to sit in court. For.

12:38

Days a week as a criminal

12:40

defendant, all for allegedly covering up

12:42

hush money payments to an adult.

12:44

Film starts before the Twenty Sixteen

12:47

Election. Now the judge says that

12:49

the trial could last for two

12:51

months. Of Trump will have to

12:53

be in court for all of it

12:55

and what happens at their could define

12:57

the presidential election and who ultimately ends

12:59

up in the Oval Office next year.

13:01

So Cnn C Legal correspond Apollo Reed

13:03

is joining us now along again with

13:05

some men and David thanks for staying

13:07

with us on so first remind us

13:09

which case this is an. Ivy.

13:12

and I'm not gonna lie, that are so many

13:14

So what about this particular one that I should?

13:16

We be looking out for the. Third, So funny.

13:18

Even in this case is often referred to

13:20

as a hush money case. but the District

13:22

Attorney's Office doesn't like that they're trying to

13:25

rebranded as a Twenty Sixteen Election Interference Qaeda.

13:27

But at the heart of this case is

13:29

at this agreement that hush money payment that

13:31

was made a Stormy Daniels to keep quiet

13:33

about her affair with it then Candidate Trump.

13:36

Now there's nothing wrong with paying someone to

13:38

keep quiet about our relationship that you had

13:40

with answer has been little weird. But yeah

13:42

this isn't because it's not something that area

13:44

either by the grace of God right? A

13:46

Cap marine on husband that. they gave

13:49

his focus on how are

13:51

michael collins was reimbursed for

13:53

facilitating that hush money payments so

13:55

the charges are about falsifying

13:57

fitness trackers that the alleged

13:59

crime But people are actually mostly familiar

14:01

with campaign funds or just corporate with his

14:03

own funds Okay now to make it even

14:05

more complicated The argument is that these business

14:08

records were falsified in an effort to interfere

14:10

with the election in order to charge it

14:12

So the felony you have to argue that

14:14

these were falsified in furtherance of another crime

14:16

Even though that crime is not charged and

14:18

does not have to be proven So it's

14:20

a complicated case but at a high level

14:22

This is about falsifying business records related to

14:24

that hush money payment ahead of the 2016

14:26

election All right in

14:28

terms of witnesses who might we expect to

14:30

see in court a lot of familiar faces? Potentially

14:33

Michael Cohen who is at the center of

14:35

this though a problematic witness given his continued

14:38

comments about the former president His disdain for

14:40

him. He's at the center of this strongly

14:42

Daniels could potentially Be called

14:44

David Packer the former head of AMI

14:47

Which was helping to facilitate hush money

14:50

payments to to help Trump's chances in

14:52

the election to suppress Negative

14:54

stories now there's also campaign officials who

14:56

we know also worked in the White

14:58

House Kellyanne Conway Hopec so these

15:00

are some folks that we could see on the

15:02

witness stand throughout the course of this trial Alright,

15:05

so I want to bring in the group

15:07

here because we were just sort of joking

15:09

about like which one is this and it

15:11

is Interesting Sarah Longwell who's a Republican pollster

15:14

full disclosure self-described never Trump Er

15:17

She was saying that when she was talking to

15:19

voters that they kind of look at this case

15:21

a little bit differently Just

15:24

the word porn star which you're gonna hear over

15:27

and over again It's just the kind of thing

15:29

that makes people laugh it off. It's not serious

15:31

even though this is about you know

15:34

Corporate checks being passed and trying to hide

15:36

things before an election so it didn't get

15:38

out Even though that's

15:40

what it's about like if the voters are

15:42

going to interpret this one more I think

15:45

a little bit more through Trump's frame as

15:47

this is them trying to get me on

15:49

something silly Then they would something like the

15:51

January 6th case or the documents case where

15:53

when they are taken singularly See

15:56

more serious to voters than this one does Dave,

16:00

I want to put this question to you because and

16:02

get this out of the way because you're I think

16:04

she's got a point You say porn star and people

16:07

all of a sudden it's something different. How are you

16:09

hearing it as you're out reporting? Well,

16:11

the important thing for Republicans is they've already built over

16:14

years a superstructure for everything Trump has accused of

16:16

everything he's in court for which is the deep

16:18

state is trying to take out Donald Trump and

16:20

and it's true for Their base that that is

16:22

how everything is handled compared this to 2016 You

16:25

could find Democrats saying I'm gonna vote for Hillary

16:27

Clinton But I have my concerns about how she

16:29

handled her email. You cannot find that in the

16:31

Republican Party They will say everything he's accused of

16:33

there's a ruse and they're doing this because they

16:35

can't beat him fairly Look at the polls

16:37

that I think does obscure

16:40

the polls So today most people are rotors

16:42

and it's those last week political everyone who

16:44

polls this finds most voters most Independence don't

16:46

like the idea of what Trump is accused

16:48

of and don't like the idea of him

16:50

being convicted Yes, and this is relevant because

16:52

it's the one he might be the victim

16:54

for the election Most voters thinking that Trump

16:57

charges are serious, right? Well, I mean I want

16:59

to ask one other thing Trump has proved that he can wield

17:01

court appearances, right and create

17:03

a kind of spectacle with them So

17:06

something what does that mean for what

17:08

is going to be this kind of daily case?

17:11

Do you think that there's more spectacle to

17:13

come and if so, what does the Biden

17:16

White House if anything do about

17:18

it? Right. I mean we are in a

17:20

very historic moment here next week So it's

17:22

going to consume a lot of public oxygen

17:24

a lot of the political oxygen This will

17:26

be asked about basically everywhere you go Whether

17:28

it's at the con whether it's on Capitol

17:30

Hill or at the White House or on

17:32

the campaign trail But what the Biden campaign

17:34

is gonna do is really kind of steer

17:37

focus away from that when they've tried to

17:39

make the contrast with Donald Trump they actually

17:41

haven't talked too much about his specific legal

17:43

troubles They like to make the contrast with

17:45

what he would do in office if right

17:47

elected It also plays into the deep fake concern

17:49

very much very much. So so next week They're

17:51

gonna really focus on tax issues Biden's traveling to

17:54

Pennsylvania. Obviously a key state in November So you're

17:56

gonna hear a lot of that. It might not

17:58

get me I'm not going

18:00

to make an adjustment here. Paul,

18:03

I want you to have the last word because more than 500 Manhattanites

18:06

have gotten notices to appear in the

18:08

criminal court. They've got to select 12. Trump

18:11

has always made a lot of hay about

18:13

who's on juries, where the jurisdiction is, that

18:15

that somehow means something. But how should we think

18:17

about what's happening in New York? It's

18:19

a daunting process to try to whittle this group

18:21

down to a group of 12 impartial

18:24

jurors and then some alternates. Impartial about

18:26

the world's most famous person. Exactly. And

18:29

it can't be argued that he is

18:31

likely at a disadvantage here in terms

18:33

of the fact that he is the

18:35

most famous person in the world. Most

18:37

people are familiar with this. And there

18:39

is an anti-Trump sentiment within this jury

18:41

pool. It probably skews anti-Trump. Even though

18:43

you'll find people who did vote for him and

18:45

continue to support him. So they're going to go through this

18:47

process. And it only takes one, right? Exactly. And

18:50

a jury to change things. Exactly. And

18:52

I think that it's going to take a couple

18:54

days to go through 100 people at a time

18:56

and whittle them down. But the defense, look, they

18:58

are at a disadvantage. Each side gets 10 preemptive

19:01

challenges. But if you're already dealing

19:03

with a pool that is

19:05

skewed against your client, that's a

19:08

disadvantage. But the judge has found that, look, this

19:10

is not going to prevent you from getting a

19:12

fair trial here. But I think it is an

19:14

open question about whether there will definitively be a

19:16

conviction. And that's not based on the

19:18

feelings or opinions of the jury pool. That's based

19:20

on the fact that the structure of the case. So

19:25

we're going to be talking about this a lot

19:27

for days and days and days over the next

19:30

few months. Please watch CNN for

19:32

special live coverage of the Trump-Hushmani

19:34

trial. You can actually see it

19:36

Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern right here

19:38

on CNN and also on streaming on

19:40

Macs. Now,

19:43

ahead, Donald Trump will host and

19:45

battle speaker Mike Johnson in Florida

19:47

later today as the GOP-led house

19:49

swirls in turmoil. It's

20:00

the build up before the kiss up. Later

20:02

today, House Speaker Mike Johnson will make

20:04

a joint appearance with Donald Trump at

20:06

Mar-a-Lago. They'll be pushing fears

20:08

of illegal voting by non-citizens, despite

20:11

little evidence that that's an issue. But

20:14

it may be Trump's priority. House

20:16

Speaker Johnson is probably his own

20:18

job security that's important to him,

20:20

as fellow Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene

20:23

continues her campaign to oust him.

20:25

So we're going to bring in two great reporters

20:27

to talk about the CNN's Lauren Fox on

20:29

Capitol Hill, also CNN's Kristen Holmes is in

20:31

West Palm Beach, Florida. Lauren, I want to

20:33

start with you. Speaker

20:35

Johnson travels to Florida. He's going to stand

20:38

side by side with Trump, but

20:40

it's kind of a delicate time for him to do so, right?

20:43

Yeah, it's a delicate time perhaps, Adi, but

20:45

perhaps it's also the best time for him

20:47

to do this. And there are

20:49

a lot of questions swirling around whether

20:51

or not he is going to continue

20:53

to keep his speakers gavel as he

20:55

continues to try to pass several priorities

20:57

in the next couple of weeks. What

21:00

we are seeing today is this fight

21:02

over FISA, the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act

21:04

renewal happening on Capitol

21:06

Hill. And just a

21:08

few hours ago, even before this vote

21:11

started, you saw Marjorie Taylor Greene,

21:13

you can see there on the

21:15

bottom left of your screen with

21:17

Speaker Mike Johnson. They have this

21:19

very lengthy back and forth. It's

21:21

unclear precisely what they were talking

21:23

about, but I asked Johnson about

21:25

it later and said, you know,

21:27

was she applying pressure to you? What was

21:29

she trying to ask for? And he

21:31

said that they usually agree in terms

21:33

of conservative priorities, but that

21:36

they sometimes disagree about

21:38

the strategy and the best way

21:40

to implement their policy ideas. And

21:43

obviously this is something that's been going

21:45

on for the last several weeks. And

21:48

it's just not clear if Marjorie Taylor Greene is

21:50

going to try to bring and force this

21:52

effort to oust our speaker, Mike

21:54

Johnson. And any time she could do

21:56

so, that is part of the reason

21:58

that Johnson sort of needs this backup,

22:01

this moment, this photo op of

22:03

him and Donald Trump, someone who

22:05

still has a stranglehold on the

22:07

conservative here on Capitol Hill. So

22:09

that is what you're going to see

22:11

today. He was asked

22:13

specifically, Johnson was, whether or not

22:15

he was going to ask Donald Trump

22:17

for advice about this question of his

22:19

outfit. Here's what he said. Are

22:23

you planning on speaking with President Trump about the

22:25

motion today? I

22:28

don't ever comment on my private conversations with President Trump, but

22:30

I'm looking forward to going to Florida and spending time with

22:32

him. Interestingly, Mike

22:35

Johnson also would not say

22:37

when or how you came

22:39

in, is going to pass on the floor.

22:41

That's another issue that Donald Trump has

22:44

been railing against. And obviously

22:46

something we're going to be keeping a close eye on

22:48

because it could have a huge impact on whether or

22:50

not he's able to keep his job. Kristin

22:53

Holmes, I want to ask you, we know

22:55

what Mike Johnson wants

22:57

out of this, but what's in it for Trump? I

23:01

mean, well, Trump has given an opportunity

23:03

to talk about how the 2020 election was

23:06

stolen or how election systems are rigged.

23:08

He's going to take it particularly, give

23:10

some gravitas to the situation to have

23:12

two top Republicans, really the top two Republicans

23:14

right now, to stand side by side

23:16

in their first press conference and talk

23:18

about it. Now I do want to

23:20

talk a little bit about what exactly

23:22

they are saying, because one of the big

23:24

things that they're going to talk about

23:26

is this idea of non-citizens voting. They

23:28

say they're going to bring attention to

23:30

state proposals and lawsuits that might make

23:32

that an issue. As you said, there

23:35

is no indication it is an issue

23:37

anywhere. And I want to be very

23:39

clear, there is currently a federal law

23:41

banning non-citizens from voting in federal elections,

23:43

which are the only elections that these

23:45

two men really are focusing on at

23:47

this time. However, it has become somewhat

23:50

of a rallying cry for Republicans. Donald

23:52

Trump himself has gone far enough to

23:54

say that Democrats want undocumented immigrants crossing

23:56

the border in order to help them

23:58

in the 2020 election. for elections.

24:00

Now there are some new lessons here.

24:03

There are some cities and some states

24:05

that are allowing non-citizens to vote in

24:07

very particular local elections, one

24:09

of those being pool board elections, just throughout

24:11

the idea. But there is no indication that

24:14

this is a widespread issue. Alright,

24:16

Kristin, thanks so much. You know,

24:18

bringing back my panel here, what I'm

24:20

interested in is what they're not talking

24:22

about, Ukraine aid, or just

24:25

about anything else. So, Melanie,

24:27

help us understand what, how is this

24:29

helpful to Johnson, other than maybe

24:31

protective? Yeah. Does it help with any

24:33

of the array of things he's trying to pass?

24:36

So, I've actually been told that some allies to

24:38

Johnson have counseled him to try to keep Trump

24:40

in the lube on anything he plans to do

24:42

on Ukraine, and that they really want Trump's buy-in,

24:44

because I think there is a recognition here that

24:46

Trump can make or break not only the legislation,

24:49

but also Mike Johnson's speakership. Now, it's an open

24:51

question whether Trump can get behind anything. Johnson has

24:53

floated the idea of turning the aid into a

24:55

loan, which is something Trump has previously expressed

24:58

support for, so we'll see, but Johnson is

25:00

treading very carefully here on all of these

25:02

issues that we're talking about. I feel like

25:04

there's a timer over Speaker Johnson's office, right?

25:07

Like a countdown timer. Right, right. What's your

25:09

sense of how this can help him against

25:11

someone like a Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is

25:13

very well known for sort of having Trump's

25:16

ear, or at least him having hers? Right,

25:18

right. Well, I mean, having Johnson and Trump

25:20

stand side by side, I think is the

25:22

hope is that even

25:25

with someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene, you know,

25:27

hanging this, you know, the

25:29

threat of the motion to vacate over Speaker

25:31

Johnson's head, that Trump is ultimately the one

25:33

in charge here. Maybe he can counselor her

25:36

away from making that decision, because I think

25:38

we know that having another

25:40

leadership fight in this election year would

25:42

be absolute chaos for the Republican party,

25:44

and most Republicans, especially in election year,

25:47

do not want that. Donald Trump doesn't

25:49

want that. He knows this is not

25:51

going to be helpful to his re-election

25:53

chances. So even just that visual

25:55

of those two men standing side by

25:57

side, projecting that unity, it feels be

26:00

helpful to Johnson at the end of the day. Dave, last

26:02

word to you. Is there any

26:04

incentive to pass anything, right? Like

26:06

does Donald Trump want a productive Congress?

26:09

No, in the Senate we're seeing that any progress towards

26:11

some sort of tax deal by the end of the

26:13

year is being killed because Republicans want Donald Trump to

26:15

win. There are not many incentives for anything getting done.

26:18

From Johnson's perspective, though, he's going to keep

26:20

getting embarrassed by something or other. He's lost

26:22

a lot of conservatives like Greene over the

26:25

Hanley spending bills, but next week we're going

26:27

to see the Mayorkas impeachment effort probably die

26:29

in the Senate. Not 100% sure yet. Marjorie

26:31

Taylor Greene said she's going to bring it

26:33

back up in the House if it fails.

26:35

So his calendar,

26:37

every time they're in session, there is

26:39

going to be something that he loses on that

26:42

irritates maybe the entertainment wing of the party, you

26:44

could call it. The people on talk radio, online,

26:46

who want wins and are angry this guy can't

26:48

deliver them. Feels like watching someone step on a rake

26:51

over and over again. Next,

26:53

new reporting on how Trump's economic plan for a

26:55

second term would send the U.S. into a recession.

26:57

We're going to break down the numbers for you.

27:05

I understand that anybody who's paid

27:07

attention to the media will have

27:09

to come to the conclusion that

27:11

I killed my wife. Hi, my

27:13

name is Zach Stewart-Pontier. I'm one

27:16

of the filmmakers behind the jinx

27:18

and I'm excited to bring you

27:20

the official jinx podcast. We'll be

27:22

revisiting all six episodes of part

27:24

one and watching along with part

27:26

two as it airs on max

27:28

starting April 21st. Bye bye. The

27:30

official jinx podcast. Listen on max

27:32

or wherever you get your podcasts.

27:38

The Biden administration announced another round

27:40

of student loan forgiveness this morning.

27:42

This time it's seven point four

27:44

billion dollars in debt for two hundred

27:46

and seventy seven thousand borrowers. Now the Supreme

27:49

Court blocked a much broader Biden effort on

27:51

student debt but as election day nears the

27:53

administration has ramped up its efforts to wipe

27:55

clear the debt of millions of Americans and

27:58

the White House says it's in total, its

28:00

efforts have now helped 4.3 million people. Now,

28:04

we want to take a look today at

28:07

one of the many ways that this election

28:09

could impact your life, especially economically. So we're

28:11

also having new reporting about Donald Trump's

28:13

economic policies, specifically tariffs and what

28:15

they could do to the economy.

28:18

Trump has floated a 10% across

28:20

the board tariff on imports from anywhere

28:23

and an even bigger 60% tariff on

28:26

all goods coming from China. Now

28:28

that's on top of 100% tariffs on foreign cars. In

28:32

a worst case scenario, some economists fear

28:35

that those plans could trigger a recession.

28:37

CNN's Matt Egan is here with his

28:39

new reporting. Okay, Matt, help us square

28:41

this. What are you seeing? Well,

28:44

Audie, remember Trump loves tariffs so much

28:46

that he dubbed himself the Tariff Man.

28:48

And he has made clear that if

28:50

he wins in November, the Tariff

28:53

Man sequel will be even bigger than the

28:55

original. Now, remember a tariff is a tax

28:57

on imported goods and he's floated this 60%

29:00

tariff on imports from good, from

29:03

China. So that means if you were

29:05

buying, let's say, a Chinese made bicycle

29:07

or sneakers, you'd be paying a lot

29:09

more. And these plans are not sitting

29:11

well with some economists who are warning

29:13

that this could really do some damage

29:15

here. Now, Moody's told CNN

29:17

that Trump's trade policies would kill

29:19

675,000 jobs if they were enacted,

29:24

that they would shrink GDP, they

29:26

would lift the unemployment rate and

29:29

they would also make inflation worse.

29:31

And that's even if Trump used

29:33

the new revenue from these tariffs

29:35

to fund tax cuts. Now,

29:38

this is not just coming from Moody's.

29:40

Goldman Sachs warned its clients as well

29:42

that Trump's tariffs could lift

29:44

inflation and slow GDP.

29:47

I talked to an economist from the right

29:49

leading tax foundation who told me that this

29:52

is just a bad policy and it's likely

29:54

the worst and most damaging part of Trump's

29:56

economic agenda. Now, we should note there is

29:58

a lot of uncertainty. here, right? We

30:01

don't know how much of Trump's trade

30:03

proposals are just threats, how much of

30:05

this is bluster or real. We also

30:07

don't really know how other countries would

30:09

respond, but there's no reason to think

30:11

that they would take this lying down,

30:14

especially not China. And listen, timing is

30:16

important, right? Tariffs are already high. Inflation

30:18

is already high. This does seem like

30:20

a risky time to make them even

30:22

higher. So how much bigger

30:25

are these proposals compared to the

30:27

tariffs that President Biden actually kept

30:29

on, right, from the Trump era

30:31

on Chinese goods? Give

30:34

us a sense of the scale here. Well,

30:36

it is telling that those tariffs remain

30:39

in place. Because remember, this is a

30:41

White House that is searching for ways

30:43

to show that they are attacking inflation.

30:46

And one way to lower the cost

30:48

of goods would be to lower some

30:50

of these tariffs. But that has not

30:53

happened. For the large part, these Trump

30:55

era tariffs, they remain intact. And that's

30:57

because tariffs have become a bipartisan tool.

31:00

Trump does have legitimate gripes here when

31:03

it comes to China and trade. We

31:05

hear from Democrats and business leaders

31:07

who are also concerned about

31:09

China's alleged intellectual property theft,

31:11

dumping goods at artificially low

31:13

prices. These are very bipartisan

31:15

concerns. And one expert told

31:17

me that, listen, trade has

31:19

become toxic to both parties. And there's no

31:22

reason to think that that's going to change

31:24

no matter who wins the election in November.

31:26

The question is whether or not tariffs are

31:28

going to go even higher. And that is

31:30

certainly what the Trump campaign is signaling. All

31:33

right, Matt Egan, thank you. Thanks. And

31:36

coming up, RFK Jr., the most insider

31:38

outsider, seems to be winning over swing

31:40

voters in key states. We're going to

31:42

hear from voters in Michigan who say

31:44

they plan to flip from Biden

31:46

to Kennedy. The

31:56

presidential election isn't just between Joe Biden

31:58

and Donald Trump. The threat

32:00

of an independent candidate, Robert F.

32:02

Kennedy, Jr., is actually posed to

32:05

both candidates, and he's in double

32:07

digits in most national polls. And

32:10

I want you to

32:12

hear directly from a group of swing

32:14

voters in Pennsylvania, because they flipped from

32:16

Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020,

32:19

and so they're very much up for grabs. Four

32:22

of the six in the group said they'd pick

32:24

Kennedy over Biden and Trump. Neither

32:27

of them is a viable

32:29

candidate. I'd almost just

32:32

roll the dice with

32:34

Kennedy and just

32:37

see what would happen. He has a lot of attributes

32:39

of Robert and John F. Kennedy.

32:42

So I feel that he would be the best

32:44

choice out of the five there. I'm kind of

32:46

really tired of Biden, and I'm not going to

32:48

vote for Trump. So to me, it would

32:51

be put someone new in there. Let's come up with

32:53

some new ideas. Our

32:55

thanks to EngageUs and Seiko for that group.

32:57

My panel is back with me. I tend

33:00

to think of third party candidates as people

33:02

who have a movement or policy ideas behind

33:04

them, whereas this is a little bit of like, well,

33:06

not one of those dudes. So what

33:09

have you been learning about what the curiosity

33:11

is for these candidates? Right, right.

33:13

Well, for our AP poll story this

33:15

week, I talked to a lot of

33:17

voters, and a lot of these voters

33:19

are very disenchanted with both Biden and

33:21

Trump. So at a minimum, there is

33:23

a curiosity among voters saying they don't

33:25

want to support Trump again. They're unhappy

33:27

with what President Biden has done in

33:29

office. So they at least want to

33:31

know more about RFK. And I think

33:33

we're still collecting the data on who

33:35

this hurts more Biden or Trump, who

33:37

RFK hurts more in a general election

33:39

contest. But I do think there is

33:41

that appeal of the Kennedy name. You

33:43

know, people don't know a lot of- We've heard the attributes

33:46

of Robert in it. Exactly. The attributes sounded like

33:48

the name Kennedy. David,

33:50

I want to ask you, because we know

33:53

that there was an RFK Jr. campaign staffer

33:55

who was actually fired because she was caught

33:57

telling voters that her

33:59

number one priority- was to prevent

34:01

a Biden victory. Why was this

34:03

a significant moment? Well, it was found

34:05

by a Democrat, independent Democrat, working on his

34:07

own who just doesn't like Kennedys trying to

34:09

undermine him, and the Democratic Party elevated it.

34:12

Democrats have a playbook, they've used it in

34:14

a couple of elections, sometimes not successfully, of

34:17

taking a third party candidate who's not very

34:19

well defined and emphasizing all

34:21

of his right wing views to

34:23

convince those kind of voters, really, people who

34:25

might have voted by Biden's path to come back on

34:28

board. They're just dead convinced that a third party takes

34:30

from Democrats. Not everyone who's voting

34:32

for Kennedy or says they would is going

34:34

to vote Democrat, but some will. And they

34:36

convinced a soft voter who just doesn't like

34:38

the way things are going but doesn't want

34:40

Trump back, no, this is actually a way

34:42

to get Trump back. That is their entire

34:45

game plan. Everything they're doing, this is Liz

34:47

Smith and a couple people at the DNC

34:49

doing this, all their opposition

34:51

research at the moment about Kennedy is emphasizing right

34:53

wing things he has endorsed. Because if you look

34:56

at his paid media so far, including the Super

34:58

Bowl ad, I have totally no content. They are

35:00

just that his name is Kennedy, he's Kennedy, he's

35:02

not Donald Trump and Joe Biden. They want to

35:04

say yes. And leaning on that

35:06

so hard that I think the Kennedy family was

35:08

actually quite upset. And they found in their polling

35:10

that when people hear the Kennedys don't support him,

35:13

that that alone gets people to move off of him.

35:15

And they're very confident that works. So I want to

35:18

follow up on something you said, though, because Donald Trump

35:20

has actually, I think, made some comments

35:22

on Truth Social about

35:24

RFK Jr., where

35:27

he is essentially calling him radical

35:29

left. RFK

35:32

Jr. is, as you know, the most

35:34

radical left candidate in the race. He's

35:37

more so than the Green Party. He's

35:39

more so than even Crooked Joe Biden.

35:41

If I were a Democrat, I'd vote

35:43

for RFK Jr. every single time over

35:45

Biden. Melanie, I don't

35:47

want to turn this into some sort of 3D

35:49

chess situation like saying this and they're saying that.

35:52

So when you hear that, what comes to

35:54

mind? Well, listen, when you talk to Trump

35:56

allies and Trump's campaign, they're not so sure

35:58

that this is a clear cut spoiler. for

36:00

Biden, they're a little skeptical, a little worried.

36:02

Yeah, because it's a big anti-vax contingent, right?

36:04

Anti-vax. That's how he came up. He

36:07

has said some things that appeal more to

36:09

the MAGA base. He's been sympathetic to January

36:11

6th defenders and rioters. And so they're not

36:13

entirely sure. And it is a risk to

36:16

try to elevate him and try to, for

36:18

Trump anyway. But you see, Trump can't always help

36:20

himself when he says he would be good. In

36:22

his true social posts, he said he would be

36:24

good for the MAGA movement and that he loves

36:26

that he's running. So Trump clearly feels like this

36:28

is potentially a win for him, but we haven't

36:31

just seen evidence just yet that Republicans

36:33

are taking this as serious of a threat as

36:35

the Democratic Party is. And we know, because they'd

36:37

spend money, right? I mean, is that how we think

36:39

about it? And their overall theory is that, well,

36:42

Donald Trump has never gotten more than 50% of the vote, that

36:45

the double haters that we heard a lot about

36:47

in 2016 are hearing more about now. Well, the

36:49

negative partisan. That's true. But

36:52

double haters are getting on. Those voters, any

36:54

vote that's not for Biden is great. It's

36:57

off the board. That is their overall theory.

36:59

And they're being kind of cautious about this.

37:01

They're trying to elevate in lower ways, more

37:03

obvious left-wing threats to Biden like Cornel West,

37:05

like Jill Stein emphasizing from Jill

37:08

Stein's perspective. And I talked to her about this, that

37:10

she wants to talk about how Joe Biden's

37:12

drilling more than Donald Trump did, or allowing

37:14

more, I should say, not personally, allowing more drilling. Like

37:16

allowing the change. There's

37:19

a number of sort of soft spots. They're more

37:21

confident in elevating those voices and saying, hey, if

37:23

you're a left-wing Democrat in Madison or

37:25

in Ann Arbor, please pay attention to Cornel West and

37:27

Jill Stein, because that worked for them in 2016. Kennedy

37:30

is more of an X factor. All right. Well,

37:32

thank you to the group for talking with me today. I

37:34

had a lot of fun. I appreciate it. And

37:37

if you like talking about politics, I do too. Thanks

37:40

for joining Inside Politics. CNN News

37:42

Central starts after the break. Before

37:45

you go, I just want to invite you

37:47

to listen to my podcast, The Assignment. We're

37:49

going to be talking this weekend with the

37:51

movie director, Alex Garland, about his new film,

37:53

The Civil War, which is about partisanship, the

37:55

threat of US divisions. You can get new

37:57

episodes of the show wherever you get your

37:59

podcasts. Thanks so much.