Of the union. And what that says about the race ahead also tonight with three days to spare the former president comes out with the nearly 92 million in dollar bond in one civil case. Well tell you how he did it and the question is, can he do the same for the other nearly half a billiondollar judgment and a day after President Biden committed to building a port to bring aid in the gaza, look at just how long that might take in corresponded course awards, confrontation with israeli is trying to block any aid from getting in. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. We begin tonight, keeping them honest with how President Biden and the man last night he called my predecessor spent their day after the State Of The Union. It was a study of contrasts President Biden went on the Campaign Trail speaking this evening at a suburban philadelphia middle school, hitting many of the themes he laid out last night. But with one difference, he named his opponent donald trump with the maga republicans are trying to take away our freedoms. Thats not an exaggeration well, guess what . We will not let him the president today doing what incumbent president s do, where they do it campaigning in a swing state, trying to build on them momentum. He established last night by contrast, and far from typical the foreign president did the following. Today, he paid nearly 92 million bond to the E Jean Carroll defamation trial. He lost and appeal the judgment more on that shortly. He also installed his daughterinlaw as cochair of the Republican National committee. The former president closed out his post. State of the union day at maralago, just in the last few hours, hosting hungarys rightwing authoritarian Prime Minister viktor orban. A strong man for which the former president doesnt seem to be a pejorative cnns Kristen Holmes starts us off tonight with more on Viktor Orbans visit at maralago. So what is going on with this meeting will interest that is a very good question. Then i just heard from a sources of the actual sitdown meeting was about 45 minutes to an hour and then the two the went to listen to a tribute band at maralago for part of a members only evening. The source described them as friends and the meeting is friendly. Know, i was told we were going to get a actual readout of this meet again, photos from it, but we have not seen anything like that. They had described to me as a social meeting, essentially saying that the two men were willing to sit down with no agenda. But of course, if you have the leader of hungary, viktor orban and donald trump seems strange that there would be no agenda, but have to remember what think donald trump for all intents and purposes is civilians, they are not obligated to give us any sort of readout or discuss anything. Take notes, take any kind of transcript with a leader of another their nation, but it does give us some insight into whether or not donald trump would align himself with the Viktor Orbans of the world if you were to be reelected to the white house, which is of course what hes seeking to do. He has routinely praised or ban on the Campaign Trail. He has said that the strong man, but thats countries need a strong man to lead. They also are almost exactly politically aligned when it comes to immigration. Theyve both talked about building a wall. They have both lashed out at a free press, calling it fake news. So again, part of the significance here is the fact that donald trump himself, this might give a preview as to what it would look like if you were reelected to the white house in november, its also striking coming the day after the State Of The Union were frozen. Biden talked about the need to strengthen democratic institutions, but to strengthen nato, did the Trump Campaign intentionally . Want to have that contrast by having him meet with his notorious strong man i am told this was actually a coincidence that it came at the request of viktor orban. So just to show how strange this whole thing is, the white house to order any sort of or issue any sort of formal invitation to or ban orban did not reach out to the white house for any sort of official meeting with joe biden instead, he reached out to the Trump Campaign and tried to get an audience with donald trump. And i am told that he was here in the us. He did a forum with the conservative think tank heritage, and then he tried to get on Donald Trumps schedule. And then in fact, did when they want to point out and well talk a lot about how they have similar polarities and their policy. What can they routinely do is praise each other on the Campaign Trail, they have said both of them that donald trump if he was still in the white house, putin wouldnt have invaded ukraine. They have praised each others policies and their behavior that goes along way with the former president , that kind of loyalty and praised particularly clearly when we know that a lot of World Leaders have not, have not praised donald trump in fact, have turned shunned him in certain ways this is the kind of thing donald trump relies on, and thats probably why he took this meeting on this day Kristen Holmes. Thank you. And beyond just the former president , the entire Republican Party seems to have settled on the line. The President Biden politicize the State Of The Union last night, which is some extent is undeniable, but also not unique in modern times perspective now from adam kinzinger, former Illinois Republican congressman your time senior political correspondent, maggie haberman, congressman, i mean, some of your former republican colleagues are complaining it was too partisan for the hallowed house chamber. Does that strike you as just kind of bizarre given the Prior Administration and the behavior of people like Marjorie Taylor greene yeah, absolutely. I mean, look, she wore a maga hat on the Floor Violation of the house rules as if she cares about that, might be fined or warned. You think back to the president and doing, i forget which one thing it was, but he did like straight up Campaign Events at the white house, contrary to whats been done in the past, this the guy that politicizes everything, what this says to me. And it was a political speech and i think given kind of normal times, i probably would have been a little critical of the tone of it, but this isnt normal times. I mean, donald trump is out there continuing to spread lies about january 6, about ukraine, about everything else. And the president had to do this. And he also showed what this shows me anderson is that it was a really good speech for them to have to now turn around and focus on the fact that it was political because they had all their Talking Points set for joe biden is unable to govern. He cant speak or whatever and he showed quite the opposite of that. Megi, drought pointed last point in particular, i mean, it does seem somewhat thin gruel that that clearly the Talking Points were all set for. Oh, you know, hes stumbling on this. He can barely speak when clearly you know, certainly from the democrats perspective, last night he did quite well the former president has never been really successful. Its Setting Expectations for joe biden. He consistently sets the bar down on the floor and then the president steps over it and i think thats what you saw again last night. I also think that for the biden team theyre feeling is that the president was speaking to reality both about january 6 and about the border bill and what happened and about the need for funding for ukraine and what will happen if there is an unfettered russia. And so they dont see this as a partisan speech. I understand that thats been the criticism, but to the congressmans 0. 1 of the first people with the president so when he got to the chamber, was congresswoman greene, a maga hat, who was very clearly trying to make a statement Neither Party is exempt from criticisms of politicization, but that was a clear stunned. And maggie, the foreign president , as we mentioned, got a bond for the E Jean Carroll verdict. Do you know what his options are for the half 1 billion bond and the Civil Fraud Trial well theyre not good. Certainly. And we know that they have been having a hard time. They had a hard time getting both of both bonds. They cleared one with the E Jean Carroll case, which is a smaller amount by a lot. He has he has a hill to climb in terms of getting a bond for this other judgment which shes almost half 1 his options are a Lending Institution is options are selling an asset. He, he does have options but theyre not grade and his folks would much rather have somebody bond him than him have to put up the money himself while theyre appealing and congressman kinzinger, i mean, the foreign prison, what do you think hes trying to signal by hosting viktor orban of all people at maralago. And obviously hes been praising him for a long time now as Tucker Carlson yeah. I mean, look, its Worth Remembering. He called viktor orban, the president of turkey at one point. So lets remember that, but no, i mean, look, this is viktor orban has become almost like bukele and el salvador, some meme for the right in terms of strength, you see that he flirts around with almost endorsing putin donald trump does, and viktor orban as a strongman, that since hes in nato and since hes european, donald trump can just outright embrace and thats what hes doing. Hes signaling to the base and the Republican Party that somehow think a strongman like this is good and really all just has to do with making the left mad. Thats what hes doing. Hes signaling that this is really bad. Viktor orban, all you have to do is watch anytime aid for ukraine comes up in the eu, for instance, they always block it until they get some payoff on the side. Or even swedens accession into nato was delayed because viktor orban, turkey, i mean, hungry finally came around and accepted sweden, but hes been very clearly sympathetic to Vladimir Putin and russia. And i think donald trump wants to signal that to his base, omega. We heard from Kristen Holmes just a second ago that it was orban who was reaching out to the folks at maralago to try to get on the presidency schedule from the former president s standpoint, it certainly seems to have been not only just a meeting in the minds, but also makes sense to have a contrast with the current president yeah, i think theres a bunch of things going on. Anderson. Its also Worth Remembering that the former president hosted viktor orban at the white house in 2019. This is not some new relationship. The former president has certainly ratcheted it up and his speeches, including praising him as a strongman, that, that we have not seen before. I think that it lets the former president look as if hes on parity with the current president by hosting another countrys leader. I do think that it is consistent with the message that we have seen him deliver the brain, which has been antiimmigrant. I think they have both used messaging about immigrants that has been widely criticized as echoing fascists. And so its not surprising that theyre meeting. I dont know that there is some greater aim for trump other than what hes been doing all along. But i think anything that can let trump use the trappings of the office he wants held to look as if he is an equal incumbent to the actual incumbent president is in his mind a good thing. And maggie haberman, adam kinzinger. Thank you much more now on how republicans are continuing to react to their own official state of the Union Response is delivered by the alabama senator katie britt to think about what the American Dream can do across just one generation in chest, one lifetime. Its truly breathtaking but right now, the American Dream has turned into a nightmare for so many families the true unvarnished state of our union begins and ends with this our families are hurting our country can do better well, senator britts delivery drew comments from the stars. So to the choice of putting an accomplished senator who serves on the powerful appropriations and rules committee, the youngest republican woman ever elected to the senate after a vicious contest. In a kitchen. Fellow alabama senator Tommy Tuberville tried to spin that as a virtue. I have and post political reporter quoting him as saying, she was picked as a housewife. He also told newsweek quote, i thought she did good. I mean, what else youre going to do . Other republicans werent said charitable gop pollster Christine Matthews tweeted this out today, quoting now, not sure whos green idea was to put a us center in the kitchen to deliver the response the State Of The Union. In the panel work ive done with swing womens since 2014, weve tested as like this. I women talking health care in the kitchen and adjusts its women voters off cnns melanie zanona. Its been talking to republican sources. She joins us now, what are you hearing from gop lawmakers well, the reviews were really mixed inside the gop. I mean, there was universal excitement, i would say but the choice of katie britt, she is young, she is a conservative, she is a woman. She was really seen as a rising star inside the gop, but some republicans were really baffled not only by the setting which was in a kitchen, but also by her delivery, which was very dramatic and halting at times to just not how she normally talks. Heres what one gop lawmaker told me using some rather colorful language to criticize the speech. They told me who thought this was a good idea . If this is our attempt to get suburban women good effing luck with that i thought both the so2 and the rebuttal were unwatchable. We continue to have a woman problem, just keeps shooting ourselves in the face. And meanwhile, another senior gop aide told me that it was difficult to watch but also noted that these things are notoriously tricky. They said, its an impossible task. The pro tip is just never do the state of the Union Response. It never goes well for anyone, but there were plenty of other republicans and even some democrats who had nothing but praise for katie britt and defended her performance. Take a listen. I think its a really its a really tough job and anticollege. Her message was right on. I wish she had a little bit more trumpism in there as well. So we will see, i love katie britt. Shes a great colleague. And thats a really hard job. I thought she she did find and other republicans we talked to said they really loved the message and what she had to say, even if not ever be loved, the delivery. And they said she still has a bright future. Inside the party, anderson, its usually because she made a video right before she did the saved the union, which she was talking normally, and had she just talked normally i dont think there would be all this kerfuffle. It was the sort of a drama School Delivery or like the regional Theater Audition Delivery of it. That was sort of so captivating. Lee bizarre or bizarrely captivating what is it clear why the center is kitsch . I mean, i guess i mean, i know why the centers kitchen was chosen as the venue for her speech. Do you know like was there a lot of coaching involved . Do we know anything about it . Yeah. Theres definitely a lot of preparation that went into it. Obviously, the kitchen was a choice. They really wanted to portray an image of a working mom. She even posted a picture last night with her entire family surrounding the Kitchen Table and said our future starts with moms and dads like, you so clearly trying to appeal to suburban moms, in particular and dont forget that this comes on the wake of the controversial ruling in her home state of alabama on ivf, which schermerhorn that frozen embryos are people and has had a real Chilling Effect on fertility clinics. But a lot of people really found those optics offputting and said it really only reinforced the stereotype of women belonging in the kitchen. But for her part, her team is defending the speech she said it was fiery and passionate and said it was a stark contrast with President Biden anderson. Thanks so much coming up next, how the former president made the payment deadline barely in his defamation case, weve talked about a little bit with maggie and authors Andrew Weissman and Melissa Murray, who are just out with a new book explaining the four criminal cases and 91 criminal charges. He also faces later seen as Clarissa Ward at the crossing where humanitarian aid is trying to get into gaza from israel and the israelis. She spoke to who are trying to stop it long after guests leave viruses and bacteria lingers. Air fresheners at ascent, but only lysol Air Sanitizer helps erase the trace, eliminating odor and kil