Hello and welcome to inside politics. Im dana bash. Live from california, but we begin back on the east coast because any second, we might see senator bob menendez appear at microphones and talk to reporters. This morning the new jersey democratic senator pleaded not guilty on federal bribery charges. Hes accused of using his influence to help a foreign power, egypt, in exchange for cash, gold bars and a luxury car. That is some of the charges that he is facing in the courthouse today. Cnns paula reid is live there at the federal courthouse in new york city. Paula, what do we know . Reporter as you can see right behind me, media assembled waiting to see if the senator will make remarks following this hearing. The senator and his wife entered pleas of not guilty during this arraign the. They did so through their attorneys. Then the Magistrate Judge took a few moments to lay out the terms of their release. The senator is being released on a 100,000 personal recognizance bond. He has to surrender his personal passport and travel documents, but he can keep his official passport, and he does have permission to travel as part of his official role as senator. Now his wife was relowsed on a 250,000 personal recognizance bond. Thats being secured by her personal home in new jersey. She has far more limitations on her ability to travel. She can travel to certain districts in new york, new jersey, washington, d. C. And florida. She can potentially travel other places, but she will have to get permission from the government. Now were waiting to see if the senator will come out and make remarks. All of this comes as more than half of his colleagues in the senate are calling for him to resign. So far, he has remained defiant, but he has an assembled Immediate Dwra here. This is an opportunity for him to address these accusations and explain to his colleagues why hes refusing to step down. Thank you so much for that report about what happened inside that federal courtroom. Again, just underscore the senator pleading not guilty to the charges against him in this very explicit federal indictment. Again, im here in california. Were waiting and watching to see if innocent dez comes out through the doors and speaks to the microphones. If and when that happens, well bring it live. But i have the pleasure of having my colleague and friend David Chalian here to talk about you heard the legal issues, but the very real political issues going on. The thakt that you are not only saw yesterday a cascade of fellow democrats in the senate come out and say that he should resign, today was the number two democrat in the senate. On sunday, senator dick durbin stopped short of calling for him to resign. Today he changed course saying in a tweet that its because he listened to the people of new jersey. First, lets listen initially to what senator durbin told me on sunday. Hes the chair of one of our most important committees, which the president himself served as chairman of in years gone by. In terms of resident ugh nation, thats a decision to be made by the senator and the people of new jersey. Again, that was on sunday. And today, he reversed course, and he said he wants senator mainenendez to resign. So what does that tell you about where things stand and the concern that democrats have about how this is affecting them politically . Listen, we could see all the Senate Democrats come out and say bob menendez should resign. We havent seen that pressure yet giving an indication that he is listening to that. He was very defiant when he came out and held this Press Conference. I would be surprised if hes anything but defiant here. And hes clearly getting more and more isolated on an island of one inside the caucus. Were waiting to see if the leader, chuck schumer, who has not done that, comes out and, as you note d, dick durbin was there. Does schumer follow that path as well. At this point, what does it matter how many more come out . The entire caucus thinks it would be better to resign. I want to make a point here. I dont know if we would see the entire caucus saying this if there was a republican governor of new jersey who would appoint a replacement. Im not sure we would see that. The democrat is in the governors mansion. And menendez is in cycle. Hes up for reelection. He has a decision to make about whether or not hes going to run. He already faces a primary challenge. There are other potential candidates in new jersey who are thinking about getting into the race. Hes clearly going to have a different path to reelection post this indictment than he thought he was going to have. My understanding, at least in the initial sort of Dom Know Fall Ing of democrats, one of te points of strategy was, okay, they might not convince him to resign. But at least get hill to say you want to run for reelection to let the air out of the balloon just a little bit and allow democrats to start to run on their own probably against each other in a primary to fill his seat. That hasnt happened. Correct. So far hes resisted to that call as well. I think when you saw immediately, remember last friday, governor murphy, democrats in new jersey and the state, they came out first. Before we saw the Senate Colleagues, thats because remember i know they are in new jersey elections, legislative Elections Come ing up in just a few weeks. So they immediately were like, this is not a benefit to us. So whether or not menendez alters what we have heard so far is what we should be listening for, i would be surprised if we were defiant. Dont go anywhere. I want to go back to new jersey. California scannell is there. She was inside the courtroom. Tell us what happened. Reporter so this hearing lasted about 30 minutes. And it began with Senator Menendez and his wife entering the courtroom through a side door. Thats where the marshals keep the defendants. You can see behind him a Jail Cell Torks give him a sense of reality that must have been sinking in. It was relatively brief. He entered a plea of not guilty, as well as his wife and the two other businessmen who appeared in court. As part of his bail conditions, he was released on a 100,000 personal bond, and he has to surrender his personal passport, not his official passport. He can travel on official business, but the judge had restricted his contact with his staff, his staff on the Senate ForeignRelations Committee and his political advisers with knowledge of the case saying they cannot meet outside the presence of counsel. So that is a pretty significant restriction there. He only spoke he didnt enter the plea himself. His lawyer entered the not guilty plea, but he spoke a couple times to acknowledge he understood the warnings she was giving him. During most of the hearing, he sat still with his hands in his lap. When the hearing was over, he and his wife were over by the side of the courtroom. They classed hands again and walked out of the courtroom with the marshals escorting them along the way. He didnt answer any questions on his way out. Kind of kept his head down. But they showed a united front walking in Holding Hands and walking out of the courtroom today Holding Hands. Now he is right now being processed. So he is signing the paperwork for his bond, and hes also surrendering his personal passport. Were expecting him to be exiting the courtroom any time now, because that process doesnt take very long. So this certainly a moment, the second time Senator Menendez entering a plea of not guilty in a criminal case in the last ten years. He will be leave ing shortly. You can see everyone is gathered there waiting for his hymn. He made no comments to Reporters Restaurant on his way in. Were waiting to see if hes going to say anything as haes leaving momentarily. Im glad you brought up that this is the second time that he has been in this position of facing a federal indictment. He did so within the last decade. He successfully beat back those charges in a court of law. He was not found guilty. And i know its probably hard to read tea leaves by looking at body language, but did it seem as though his demeanor was such that hes seen and done this before and perhaps thats part of why hes so defiant right now . Been there, done that. Reporter well, its interesting. His comments when he was at first indicted on friday and this came to light were very defiant saying he will be common rated. Saying he was selected because hes hispanic. Then it felt at his Press Conference on monday, wait until you see the evidence, i will be exonerated. Today other than walking in with a straight face, barely speaking to his attorney, clearly not someone who didnt know what was coming since he had been through this process before and walking out with his wife, but hes not saying anything today, et yet, about the allegations or a sense of defiance here, although as yo n noted there are degreeing calls for him to resign. Hes made it clear hes not going to resign. And back in 2015 when he was first charged, he didnt resign then either. It will be interesting if something tips the scale in the other direction. But as for now, he is maintaining this defiant posture, not say ing anything i court for a senator, not addressing the press, not at all. Just head down, walking out, holding his hands behind him so they could make their way through the crowd of reporters. Hes on the side of the courtroom. When hes looking out, he can see a courtroom entirely filled with press that were remaining behind, waiting for him to leave. And following him down the hallway, where the marshals took thim to the other floor to be processed, he didnt address the media. He didnt say a thing. So its really going to be interesting if he says anything as he walks out today. We are watching those mike foehns with you. Lelt us know. You want to go to capitol hill now. Lauren fox is there. One of the arguments were hearing quietly made from the menendez world is, first of all, why would he resign his seat when he maintains hes innocent, but tactically, if it he did acquiesce and resign, the question would be whether or not he would lose leverage in this court case, lose leverage in any potential plea deooel, although we have no indication hes going there yet. That is a reality that the colleagues that he has in the senate and the house know about. Absolutely. But that doesnt stop the reality for some of those democratic colleagues who are are also face ing their own Political Considerations here given the fact that you have a number of democrats running in red states or competitive states that have come out swiftly saying that senator maine innocent does should step aside. In part because they cant argue on the Campaign Trail one thing about donald trump potentially and then deal with another thing when it comes to their own colleagues. So that is the consideration youre starting to see. But we should just take a step back. There are more than 30 Democratic Senators calling for their colleague to step aside and resign. And one of them is senator dick durbin, the number two in the senate, who days ago told you that he thought that was a decision that menendez should make, but tweeted, leaders in new jersey, including the governor and my Senate Colleague cory booker have made it clear that menendez can no longer serve. Just to put in cob text for viewers n a couple hours, were going to hear directly from senator chuck schumer. He fwoez to the goes to the mick and gives a Press Conference on the day after lawmakers return to washington. Were going to look forward to that. Hes going to be pressed by reporters, who are going to ask him, you now have 31 Democratic Senators call ing for Menendez O Step aside. Are you also going to call for him to step aside. Obviously, the Majority Leaders are important. Even though ultimately its always going to be up to Senator Menendez to decide what hes going to do. Absolutely. Very important. But as David Chalian said, will it change anything given the fact that there is such a huge number. 31 democrats just in the dem senate alone, which is a pretty remarkable. My understanding is that part of the reason why were seeing the leadership, except for chuck schumer, start to colt out and say that senator maine innocent does should resign is some frustration about his stubbornness in not acquiescing, even to the notion he wouldnt run for reelection. Thank you so much. Let us know if you get anymore reporting. Youre seeing on the screen, were waiting at the federal courthouse to see if senator maine innocent does comes out. A quick break. When we come back, why im here in california. That is theres a debate tonight. Its a time for choosing or has the choice already been made. Republicans will hit the debate stage here in california. It will happen once again without donald trump. Were going to talk about all of that, after a quick break. We are waiting to see if bob menendez comes out to cameras at that courthouse, the federal courthouse where he just pleaded not guilty, innocent to federal bribery charges. We will go live back to new york when that happens. Now to tonights republican debate, and why it matters. Donald trump will not be be here. And seven who will take the stage here in california understand that at this point its a battle for survival. A shiny debate moment may translate into momentum and the kind of cash required to carry on a president ial campaign into the fall. I want to start with David Chalian who is here. Can you just explain what we should be looking for and what were beginning to see tonight matters, if at all. It does matter because there is still a significant enough swath of the Republican Party that remains open to considering somebody not named donald trump. As long as that exists, these candidates not named trump will be on the debate stage have a case to make and try to grab them. They have the mission with donald trump so far ahead of needing to peel away some donald Trump Supporters to their cause, but some do also have consideration of other candidates. So thats key. The other thing i would just note here, donald trump is so dominant in the information flow. Hes in every headline. Hes the dominant force. This is an opportunity for these candidates tonight to capture the attention of republican primary voters directly. Oneonone basically into their living rooms without a donald trump headline interfering. Thats not something they get all that often. When you talk about early voters, we dont need to remind our voters, were talking first and foremost about voters in iowa and New Hampshire. Lets look at the snapshot of where the polls say things stand. This is the latest cbs poll. In New Hampshire, trump, 50 . Desantis, way behind at 13 . Nikki haley at 11 . Vivek ramaswamy, 8 . Chris christie, 8 . And then in iowa, you have the same situation. Desantis is doing a bit better there, but everybody still trails in a very big way. Desantis is still 30 points behind. Donald trump is not going to remain at 51 , but thats a High Water Mark for him as this Campaign Moves forward. Well see. They are not just desantis, but all these campaigns are pursuing a theory of the case they can draw blood in iowa or New Hampshire and change the dialic of the race. That may happen. That may not happen. But its the one theory they arer pursuing because its the only one available. Thank you so much. I want to bring in for their reporting and their i object sights kasie hunt, and Jackie Kucinich of the boston globe. I i wish i was with you in person. I wish i were there with you. I love simi valley. I wont make you jealous. Lets talk about one of the many excellent points that david just made, which is whether or not any of these candidates will or can draw blood, met flets star with some of the arguments from ron desantis in the center of that stage tonight. He will be at the center. And kind of the preview that hes made when it comes to the man not there, donald trump. Hes running in 2024 on a lot of the same promises he ran on in 2016 and didnt deliver on. He said he was going to drain the swamp. They didnt drain the swap at all. They were going to pay for the border wall. That didnt happen. We have a lot more to be able to do to finish the wall. He said he was going to eliminate the national debt. I they added almost 8 trillion to the debt in 4 years. Before i bring you n i just wanted to play one other sound byte. This is from Chris Christie way back in june after he announced. You might sound the argument might sound familiar. Donald trump spent more money than barack obama and left us with a bigger deficit. I stood on that stage and said im going to build a big beautiful wall and mexico is going to pay for it. Four years later, we got a quarter of a wall and not one peso. Ill start with you. It was really striking to me to hear Governor Desantis go there not on the democracy issue, which Chris Christie also does, but just on the notion of donald trump as basically as an incumbent president. Hes not president. But looking at somebody who has a record in the white house and the thing he is didnt do, clearly, were going to hear something along those lines from ron desantis didnt. He hadnt done a lot of that before. Youre right. He had not. I think the question for ron desantis is whether this is too little, too late. Think about what the reaction would have been like if he had come out of the gate right after he announced. He was running for president with this strong argument. There would have been headline after headline. Instead there were just questions about whether and how would he be able to take on trump. I think one of the things that a