For being with us as always ac3 60 starts now tonight on 360, the Supreme Court agrees to decide whether donald trump is immune from prosecution for election subversion and throws into chaos the timeline of a criminal trial also tonight, new evidence. The former president cannot raise the money to pay new yorks 450 plus Million Dollars civil judgment against him evidenced supplied by his own legal team. How hard up he is. And later the results of President Bidens annual checkup, the questions it answers, and those it doesnt. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. We begin a very busy night at the Supreme Court, where about two months from now, Nine Men And Women will hear arguments about whether president should enjoy total Criminal Immunity for their acts while in office. Perhaps even up to and including as Appeals Court judge, florence pan got trump, attorney john sauer to concede, ordering navy seals to murder a political rival. Now that notion, the need for total immunity is at the heart of the former president s appeal, which the High Court Today agreed to take up, goes to a question as old as the country are president s above the law . Oral arguments are set for the week of april 22. The courts decision could then come by june and even if it goes against mr. Trump his january 6 trial is on hold until then. Well be joined shortly by Constitutional Scholar laurence tribe. But first cnn chief Legal Affairs correspondent paula reid. So what does this move by the court mean for the foreign president and for jack smith . Well i and speaking with sources on trumps legal team, theyre still not confident theyre going to win on the merits of this issue of absolute president ial immunity. But they know they are winning on their larger strategy to delay, delay, delay these federal cases until after the election. If trump is reelected, he can have as Attorney General dismissed jack smith, and these cases. So great news. Its for him. But this is a considerable blow for the special counsel, jack smith. This is a second time the Supreme Court has rejected his pleas to just weigh in and quickly resolve this question of immunity so he can move along with his case. As you noted, these Oral Arguments or not until april 20 seconds we expect we probably wont get a decision until late june soon the judge overseeing the federal election subversion case has said she would want to give the two sides two months to prepare for trial, pushes it into the late summer, anderson and just makes it not impossible, but much less likely that this trial will go before november. So the Oral Arguments set for the week of april, 20 seconds. How does that schedule fit with the foreign president . Is there are legal proceedings. Anderson, im going to need the help of our handy Calendar Graphic to go through all of this. It is so complicated. We know the first criminal trial that trump is expected to face is in late march. He begins on march 25th. That is the socalled hush money case. The District Attorney, though frames this as an election interfere appearance case. They argue that the hush money trump paid to former adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election was meant to interfere without election to influence it. Now, that trial is expected to go until maybe early may. And then you see the classified documents case is on the calendar. Ill tell you, Julie Penciled in for late may and tamar, i leave for florida because the judge overseeing that case, its actually holding a Scheduling Hearing on friday. Anderson, it is widely expected that she will delay that case. The question is, will it be delayed once will be delayed multiple times. Will it go before november . Its an open question. Then you see, of course the political events, but the Fulton County case is scheduled for august. Thats when fani willis previously said she wanted to bring that case again, a state case, also a case thats outside the pardon power. But right now, these efforts to disqualify willis are likely going to delay those proceedings. So its really a wildcard down there in georgia, if any cases will start in august and if they do anderson, theyre expected to go on for months its unclear if trump will be tried. So right now, the only thing we know for sure is that trump is currently expected to face his first criminal trial in manhattan, starting in just a few weeks, or paul reid, thanks very much. Former federal prosecutor and bestselling Supreme Court biographer, Jeffrey Toobin joins us, also, cnn senior legal analyst elie honig. And cnns Kaitlan Collins, who anchors the source at the top of the next hour or jefferson is a victory for donald trump. Big a, big, a big victory, you know, one of the things you learn in law school is that sometimes procedure is even more important than substance. And i still think its very likely that donald trump is going to lose this case on the merits. But if he didnt, court would rule against the Supreme Court will say he does not have immunity for all his actions as president. But if they say that at the end of june, which is the likely calendar at this point that will make it almost impossible, not entirely out of the question, but almost impossible for this trial to go forward before for the end of before the election. And thats what trump mourns, wants more than anything. They could have just decided not to weigh in on this and defer to the appeals process, and they could have if they had done that. Judge chutkan in washington could have started this week in doing the pretrial proceedings that could get the case hes going in plenty of time before the election, but they didnt do that. And thats why its a big win for trump. So elie, i mean, Oral Arguments april 22. What does that say about the courts view of the urgency of this . I think theres a lot of frustration out there from people who see this and say, oh wow, now donald trump, in all likelihood, not impossible, but in all likelihood will not be tried before the election. But one of the light lessons i take away from this is this Supreme Court doesnt care about that. They dont share jack smiths sense of urgency. And i think theres a couple of ways you can look at this decision to take the case. There is a way to look at and say, well, theyve theyve done donald trump a great favor, which certainly they have in the outcome. But theres also some truth to this this is a classic case that the us Supreme Court would take. I agree with jeff. I think theyre going to rule against donald trump, but this is an unknown issue. Weve never had a ruling from Supreme Court directly on the question of Criminal Immunity. It goes to the heart of executive powers, of separation of powers. So as jack smith himself argued to the court two months ago, this is a paradigmatic at a case, a classic case that the Supreme Court would and should take. So jeff, would there still be timed to hold a trial . I mean, if they ruled at the end of june it depends. I mean, its very its very hard to know at this point. I mean, lets just work the schedule forward. End of june decision the judge has already said there, too months of pretrial police proceedings, at least that are necessary, that takes you approximately up to labor day could you start a trial at labor day when its one of the defendants is a candidate for president the Justice Department has a policy that says the Justice Department should not interfere, should not take action on the eve of an election that this is came up in the james comey situation. Unclear if that applies to a judge scheduling a trial, and whether Merrick Garland will instruct jack smith not to proceed because of this policy, you think that i think its going to be very if i think doj is still going to try to get this case and i think as soon as the case comes down for the Supreme Court, theyre going to say started in august, start it whenever you need. But important to understand. Theres going to be, theres always a tug of war. Prosecutors, Defense Lawyers prosecutors usually want a quicker trial. Defense lawyers want to push it back. Its up to judge chutkan. She will be the one to decide. Am i willing to start a case late summer, kaitlan, what reaction have you been hearing from the form of prose and salahs theyre overjoyed tonight. I mean, they view this as a huge win for them. They dont think that theyre going to win on the merits of this, but would this Decision Just to review this, what the ruling from the Appeals Court here that trump does not enjoy Blanket Immunity as president we just taking that up helps them achieve their strategy here, anderson, which was to delay all of the trials, but specifically this one which they were incredibly concerned about. And now they have succeeded potentially with this. And you know, elie saying it is up to judge chutkan. Of course it is, but you have to look at the legal landscape here. And thats what trumps team is doing because of course we its also got the classified documents case and florida thats still has to be scheduled. And if it gets pushed and that is something thats happening when this june decision comes out from the Supreme Court, then the trump team does not believe that this january 6 case is going to go forward because they believe its going to be too late. They cant just restart that trial immediately in june once the Supreme Court decision comes out, and i think thats a really Pivotal Moment here could be a Pivotal Moment in this election. And of course may remind you this election case was supposed to go to trial starting next week here in washington. Now it is an open question of whether it ever goes to trial. It all. Jeff, i want to play the now infamous clip from the dc Appeals Court hearing last month, one of trumps lawyers here is argued that he could have Seal Team Six kilo political opponent and it seems were having problem with that. So anyway, never what they say. Yeah. He basically was asked, could a President OrderSeal Team Six to assassinate a political rival . And then the person said thats an official act in order just no way they went on. But but thats why i think this case could have been disposed of with just denying crt and let the case proceed. This is an easy case. Yes, its a profound issue, but this is an easy case that The Dc Circuit, i think demolished to all the arguments against against the trump made. And this is why i think it is a frustrating decision because it means that theres going to be delay to what seems like an inevitable conclusion that trump does not have this immunity is also now were in a situation where the trial that is going youre forward is the one thats always been considered a kind of the weakest, the Thinness Grewal of the bunch, the alvin bragg, its true and that one is going to happen. I mean, that case is going to start picking their jury on march 20, but yes. I mean, our political experts can talk about if thats an ideal scenario, but this is the way its played out. And by the way some blame in here has to be laid at the feet of the Justice Department because it took doj twoandahalfplus years, almost 2. 3 quarters years to indict this case the indictment came down august of 2023, and they left themselves with a year and change between now and trial. And by the way you can see this Immunity Issue coming the moment that indictment dropped, that had to cause delay. So yes, the Supreme Court has allowed this to get carried on, but but doj bears some fall here kaitlan with the foreign president s team, relish the idea of him being on trial during the convention or during the fall. I mean, would that play into their narrative . I think it depends on which case it is. I mean, it would it would play into their narrative in the sense of theyre arguing that he is being politically persecuted, which of course we know that these cases were brought long before the election. Its just the sense of how long its taken and the way that theyve sought to delay them. But when it comes to which ones they fear the most the election case is certainly up theyre the classified documents case. Theyve seemed to grow more confident about. I mean, thats just there speculation that doesnt really actually mean what it will bear on the case and what that will actually look like. But it would help them make their argument. But i think its actually the alvin bragg case that you just mentioned there that is going to be something that theyre pointing to and given it is one of the weaker ones you look at all of these and just what the allegations at the heart of the prosecutions are, they believe that one will be more effective in helping boost him. And every time hes been indicted, other republicans and former challengers of his, like ron desantis will say it only has boosted him. They believe that that case in new york is only going to help boost him. It is a novel hello, legal theory that at the heart of it. So that is something that could be helpful. I dont think that they believe that the january 6 case, if hes actually on trial for that before the election, would be helpful to them. So he might win that case, right . I mean, imagine what a gift that would be if he not only is on trial, but gets acquitted. Right. And thats the only case goes before the election. Elie honig. Thank you. Kaitlan collins, caitlin has guest on the 09 00 or republican senator mitt romney, look forward to that. Jeff toobin is gonna be back shortly joining us now, Constitutional Scholar, Supreme Court litigator, Harvard Law School professor laurence tribe. So Professor Tribe, why do you think the Supreme Court decided to take this up instead of just letting the Appeals Court ruling stand well, i think both eli and jeff are right that the Supreme Court sees that because a very fundamental issue the question, isnt why did they decide to take it up . But why didnt they take it up in december . Theres nothing new under the sun here fact is if they shared the view that it matters to get this case tried and to get it to verdict one way or another to an acquittal or to a conviction before the election so that the American People are aware of who theyre voting for . Are they voting for someone who committed the serious crimes that are alleged here or not . If they share that sense that theres an imperative public necessity, they could have decided to leapfrog the court of appeals grant Certiorari Back in december. Even now, having decided to take the case, its obvious that the dynamic within the court is leaning very heavily pro trump, because although everyone seems to agree that if the end of the day the court is not going to say that former president s have absolute immunity from any criminal prosecution for anything they might do while in office we all know the end of the story so why the delay as long as they did to issue this order is amazing. Allowing months to last before they hear argument is even crazier. We now know that the odds of this case reaching a verdict before the election are very low. So this case really gives the gives the meaning to the phrase, justice delayed is justice denied . Whichever side of this issue youre on. Its crazy that the court processed it this way. It doesnt suggest go ahead. Is it possible that the Supreme Court, i mean, i know they do things the way they do things and they have their own timetable. But i mean, could they if they wanted to if enough of them wanted to speed it up . With no question just remember bush v. Gore when the state of florida wanted to keep counting ballots, they handled everything in a matter of weeks, not months. And between the final decision that they reviewed and the Oral Argument, there were only a few days in between the Oral Argument and the decision. There was only one day it doesnt make any sense to stretch this out this way just the fact that they are waiting two months when all the issues have been teed up, where everyone knows how story ends is disgraceful, frankly. And the way they phrased the question presented is scary and its implications. Instead of asking whether a former president has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for trying to prevent the next president from taking off office. Narrow question. The only question they had to decide, they put the broadest possible question whether and to what extent does the former president have immunity f