Cancelled Press Conference. Now a debate no show. That and news on when hell surrender in georgia. Also tonight a Cnn Exclusive. Meet the Trump Adviser who took the fifth when asked what he was doing january 6th. Tonight we know what he was doing and with whom. Later, what Hurricane Hilary could have in store for Southern California, which is bracing for its first storm this magnitude since 1939. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. The former president is expected to turn himself in at the Fulton County jail in atlanta next thursday or friday. That, according to a senior Law Enforcement official with knowledge of the surrender. Friday is the deadline for all 19 defendants. Trump, his former Chief Of Staff, several of his lawyers, a Top Justice Department official, and others all being booked, fingerprinted, and with probably the exception of the former president , photographed. In the last two days, the former president has backed out of opportunities to be seen by millions of television viewers. Yesterday he cancelled that Press Conference hed announced for monday to repeat lies about Election Fraud in jor r jo. Today we learned hes planning, as of now, to skip next weeks Republican Debate on fox in favor of a sitdown with tucker carlson. Criminal Defense Considerations play into his decision, we start with Kaitlan Collins on new reporting on the politics driving it. She joins us with George Conway and cnn contributor john dean, who served as white House Counsel in the nixon administration. So, what is do we know the reason hes backed out . Of the debate or the yeah. Debate or Press Conference, hes not showing up to either. The debate, he had been keeping people on edge this week, asking people should he go. A lot of people he asked that to said they dont think he was really considering it. He hasnt done any formal debate prep to prepare for this. They didnt expect him to show up. It would have been a big difference if he had decided to go. Obviously monday with the news conference, thats a legal decision, i think. I think wednesday is a political decision not to show up to that debate because he does feel like he doesnt really need to go and show up. Certainly everyone has tried to goad him into being there, saying its weak if he doesnt show up, its disrespectful to Republican Voters if he doesnt show up. None of it has registered with him in a way he cares about. They went to Great Lengths to get him to come to this. The republican chairwoman personally appealed to him to come. Fox executives went to bedminster, had dinner with him, trying to get him to show. In terms of what we know about the surrendering next week. Theyre still negotiating the deal of what thats going to look like with Secret Service and the District Attorneys Office and the judge will have to sign off on the conditions they agreed to. The local sheriff said its going to be standard operating procedure. Obviously this is high Profile Prosecution in the country right now. And the idea it is going to be anything standard is obviously not likely to happen when he does show up. Were expecting thursday or friday right now. Well see if that changes. Thats the expectation at the moment. The question is, does he go in and get the exact process that any other defendant would get . We dont know about a mug shot yet. We do believe hell be fingerprinted. We dont believe hell be handcuffed. Theyll do medical screenings. They have other steps they have to go through. When we were reporting this out i was thinking about my reporting when he was in washington, he had grown irritated at the process of going through the standard procedure, having to wait, having to be fingerprinted, sitting in the courtroom for 20 minutes waiting for the judge to show up and its completely silent in the room. Hes not a typical defendant by any means. George, do you think this is the right move for the former president both politically and legally . Certainly not doing the Press Conference legally makes all the sense in the world. Not showing up at the debate . Yeah. I have to say, these are words that are difficult for me to say, but i agree with donald trump. I think hes doing the right thing by donald trump. Absolutely. I dont see the upside for him to appear at this debate. All it does is give his opponents a chance to take free shots at him, which i would love to see. But, you know, hes doing you know, with his commanding lead, there really is no reason for him to show up and take the Downside Risk of running into the Chris Christie chart. I think hes doing the right thing by donald trump. I think the voters i would love i think its better for the voters to see him and to hear him respond to the attacks. But, you know, just looking at it from his interests, hes doing the right thing. John, i mean, every time he holds a rally or makes a social media post or participates, frankly, in future debates, how much legal jeopardy does he put himself in . Well, given his ability to put his foot in his mouth, anderson, i think he has a rather regularly. He has conceded an awful lot in public. He consistently does it. Im sure that the prosecutors are monitoring it. They probably have staffers who do nothing but follow what hes doing and saying. So, i think its high exposure, and it appears that somehow a lawyer got through to him, or he is now dawned on him that he might be in serious trouble. So, hes backing down a little bit. It is interesting, kaitlan, that a guy who was once the president of the United States is not willing, at least for this debate, to stand on a stage and take the punches and, you know, show himself to the American People in a debate format. And its not like hes staying home. Hes going on, you know, tucker carlson, who has been, you know, supportive of him all this time. I think that its more of the idea hes angry with fox news, who has been picked to host the debate. He thinks that they are covering his challengers in a more favorable way than they are him. He has always had this expectation that to cover him, you know, accurately is to cover him unfairly. To actually cover whats going on or to give other people air time, its a dig at him. Thats how he views it. He thinks that they are in the pocket of ron desantis. That is his view. So, i think it has multiple avenues that he wants to go down by sitting down with a host that they fired, having this moment. And i just think he also understands that there is a potential at that debate for someone like a Chris Christie. He knows they will only be attacking him. They are going to go after him on these issues. In his mind, he avoids all of them by not showing up. Hes citing reagan and other people when hes talking about not dog it. But hes doing it because of his own political will and why he doesnt want to show up and what that looks like. George, we havent heard from the since the georgia indictment. Its a sweeping case with a huge rico charge at the head of it. How strong of a case do you think it is . Well, i think its a very, very strong case. I think the evidence is overwhelming against him. I think its a more complex case than the case that jack smith decided to bring in d. C. And its an interesting contrast to put the cases up against each other. One is rather simple, straightforward, kind of like a bullet. The other one is more like an air raid. And its just its going to be more complex. Its going to take longer. But i think theres a utility to it because you get to see the scope of the damage and alarm that trump caused. John, do you think many of the coconspirators will flip and work with the prosecution . It seems unlikely all 19 will go to trial . It does seem unlikely, anderson. If they go into the jailhouse and surrender and get arraigned and get a whiff of what that place is like or have any knowledge of what a Hell Hole Is Georgia Prisons are, i think youll have several who come forward and say, lets see if we can work out an arrangement. I think eight or nine will fall by the wayside and plead. Kaitlan, have you heard of any concern among the people around the former president that, you know, left alone on the debate stage, some of these candidates may have breakout moments . Maybe they will. We always kind of see that in a debate. Someone has their few moments. Certainly weve seen who clearly Governor Desantis is worried about. They know he is going to be the next person on that stage if donald trump is not there that theyre attacking. So, the debate happens on wednesday night. Someone has a breakout moment. Trump goes on thursday in georgia and surrenders himself. That breakout moment has a 24hour life cycle because then its going to be trump showing up at the jail, which is notoriously bad, as john was just mentioning there. Theyve opened investigations into it. The conditions of it are pretty horrific. And when you look at just the idea that the former president is going to be walking in there to be arrested and to be his arraignment, which wont actually be an appearance is remarkable in and of itself. Even if there is that breakout moment, were at such a bizarre point in the history of this country that 24 hours later the former president is going to be turning himself in. Its not clear if it would have legs. Well see what happens in the defense of donald trump is it thursday or friday . Were not sure exactly . Were not sure exactly. Who knows. It is donald trump. Everything comes with a caveat. Maybe he decides to turn himself in the day of the debate. That seems unlikely at this moment. Governor christie saying if youre going to defend donald trump on the stage, just get off the stage. Trump has been very bothered by Chris Christies criticisms and others criticisms. Mark meadows is trying to move the case to trump as well are expected to do the same thing. Do you think they have a good shot . No, i dont, because basically its no business. Its essentially no business of the executive what happens when states count their votes. I mean, the constitution provides that federal elections are in the hands of congress and in the hands of the states. And the Chief Of Staff and president has no authority to supervise the counting of votes in Fulton County or anywhere else. The fact that mark meadows went down there on his behalf wasnt an exercise of president ial authority. And he wasnt really exercising he was acting as a campaign staffer, and that should not be that should not entitle him to move the case to federal court. John, the april 26 trial date that the former president s attorneys have given to the judge in the january 6th case, i mean, almost three years from now. When do you realistically think that would go to trial . Shaes not going to give them what they want. I think its more likely to be somewhere between ten months and 14 months, which is ample time and certainly well within the strictures of due process. Its going to be much sooner than later. Kaitlan, thanks so much. Well see kaitlan at the top of the hour. Thanks so much. We know now what the lawyer who allegedly devised the former president s scheme was doing on the day it came to a violent head at the capitol. Also the latest from Hawaii Tonight where the military has deployed experts. Julians about to learn that free food is a personal eating trigger. No, it isnt. sigh yes, it is. And thats just a bit of Psychology Julian learned from noom weight. Sign up now at noom. Com. Drumroll by lonis, Little League this just in got the keys to what you want and what you need something new Something Sweet moving to a different beat okay now what . can i get a get a drumroll . what . can i get a drumroll drumroll . what . can i get a can i get a drumroll please oohh thats nice yahh ya, can i get a drumroll, can i get a drum thats nice somedays, i cover up because of my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Now i feel free to bare my skin, thanks to skyrizi. uplifting music nothing is everything im celebrating my clearer skin. My way. With skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90 clearer skin at 4 months. In another study, most people had 90 clearer skin, even at 5 years. And skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. Serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. Thanks to clearer skin with skyrizi this is my moment. Theres nothing on my skin and that means everything nothing is everything nows the time. Ask your doctor about skyrizi, the 1 dermatologistprescribed biologic in psoriasis. Learn how abbvie could help you save. Oh, booking. Com somewhere, anywhere. I just want to lie motionless in a chair booking. Com, booking. Yeah Cnn Exclusive tonight on one of the 18 other defendants who will be turning themselves in next week in atlanta along with the former president. The story, however, is not about where hell be next week. Its what cnns Simone Prokupecz and the kfile Investigative Team discovered about where he was on january 6, 2021, something he himself refused to say when asked under oath. Reporter he is one of the alleged coconspirators in two cases against donald trump for 2020 Election Interference. Now for the first time, cnn has identified Kenneth Jess Pro outside the capitol on january 6th, shortly before a Mob Stormed The East Side of the building. He followed right wing conspiracy theorist alex jones for about an hour. Chesbro is the alleged architect for a plot to stop the certification of joe bidens win. This week he was indicted along with trump and 17 others in georgia. Hes been identified as an unindicted coconspirator in the federal case against the former president. Cnn predicts joseph r. Biden jr. Is elected the 46th president of the United States. Reporter in the days after the November 2020 election, chesbro wrote a memo to a lawyer for donald trump. Its among the earliest Known Documents Outlining The Legal Strategy Trump would try to use. His memo focuses on january 6th as the hard deadline with ultimate significance to determine the validity of votes. Emails obtained by the January 6th Committee showed chesbro, that the fear of, quote, wild chaos on that day could provoke the Supreme Court to take action. At the same time, alex jones was helping pay for and plan the january 6th rally, urging his massive audience to gather in washington, d. C. Jones would warn of a coming battle. This will be the waterloo, this will be their destruction. We fight. We fight like hell. And if you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country anymore. Reporter when the January 6th Committee asked if chesbro was in Washington The First week of january, chesbro pleaded the fifth. Lets go take our country back. Its only minutes away. Lets start marching to the capitol. Reporter but there was no question he was there. Cnn has analyzed publicly available photos and videos from that day, which show his movements. In the hours before the insurrection, he was with alex jones and his entourage a short distance from the capitol. Chesbro is here, wearing a red trump 2020 hat. As lawmakers prepare to certify the results of the election inside the building, chesbro follows alex jones and a crowd of protesters, as they walk toward the capitol. Chesbro has his phone out, seemingly recording jones every move. Lets give the system what they want. We are peaceful. Reporter as jones was leading a crowd to tooes side of the capitol, the west side was breached and rioters poured in. At one point, while chesbro was on capitol grounds, he appears to show something on his phone to a moefb jones security team. Then jones and chesbro climbed the capitol steps. 1776, 1776. Reporter there is no indication chesbro entered the Capitol Building or engaged in violence. Shortly after chesbro and jones left the steps on the east side, the capitol was breached again, as the mob poured into the doors. In all, more than 2,000 rioters would enter the building, vandalizing and looting, attempting to prevent a Joint Session Of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes. The House Committee investigating january 6th would eventually call it the final step in Donald Trumps plan to try and overturn the election, a plan that started in earnest with kenneth chesbro. Its incredible reporting, shimon. Has he responded . No, theres been nothing, no response. His attorney did issue the kfile team, kaczynski and his team, a statement, saying theyre going to deal with this in court. Chesbro is supposed to be one of the guys turning himself in next week. Asked throughout this entire thing, theres really been no clear understanding or ex