> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in kyiv right now meeting w"> > u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in kyiv right now meeting w" property="og:description"> > u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in kyiv right now meeting w">
one day that's going to be me. "cnn this morning" continues right now. >> u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is in kyiv right now meeting with ukrainian officials. >> this is going to be very much about taking a fresh message back to washington, but also to the united nations. as they seek to hold support together for this in this 19 months. >> special counsel jack myth is accusing the president of making statements in the january 6th case. >> we don't have the opportunity to watch the judge. whether this case should be broken up into smaller cases. >> and you have mark meadows trying to get over to federal court. fani willis took a big bite here. now she has to deal with it. >> the longest sentence yet for january 6th insurrectionists. 22 years, that's how long the former proud boys leader will be in prison. it's not the first time we have heard defendants suggest that trump is behind what they did that day. >> we can tell you it wasn't even here that day. the importance of this sentence was one of deterrence. >> the community is on high alert as the search expands now. >> this is a dangerous game of tactical hide and seek. >> the moment of, oh, my god, this guy is down there. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is expected to talk to his caucus behind closed doors about his health. >> what you're seeing is something very specific. >> who is ready replace him and step in? >> i hope he can. good morning, everyone. we're so glad you're with us this morning. d.c. is back. >> the senate is back. the fall has started. the school year has started. we're keeping an eye on international news because the secretary of state made a surprise visit to kyiv. we're going to keep you updated on that as the morning continues. we want to start with a new development this morning in the federal election interference case against former president trump. special counsel jack smith says trump's daily extra dishl statements are threat tong taint the jury pool. >> this allegation is part of a court fight that remains largely under seal, meaning the public doesn't get to see it, that the special counsel has been sparring with trump's team to get on the public docket. the judge ordering both sides to submit their arguments next week. what is this all about? elie honig is at the table with us this morning. let's begin here. i think your take on this is that prosecutors need to tread carefully here. why? >> there's competing interests. on the one hand, any defendant does have the right to criticize his prosecutors and his prosecution, even the judge. you have broad first amendment rights to stand up for yourself. you don't have to demure if you have been charged. on the other hand, there's a line that can be crossed. the most serious line is when you get into the realm of potentially intimidating witnesses or victims. there's a specific bale term he can't do that. there's another line when you say things that are so inflammatory you might affect the jury pool. they are just regular civilians. it looks like doj is trying to find a way to do something to reign trump in without i object infringing on his first amendment rights. >> you can tell if this makes no sense. is this because they feel like they have to in this moment or because they want something done? >> it's a good question. i think they feel like they can't do nothing. it's really hard to sit there daily, these statements in an ordinary case, some of these statements would cause prosecutors to go to a judge and say we need to up the bail conditions or lock this person up. i do not believe that's going to happen here. i think any notion of trump being locked up on a bail violation is just a fantasy. and to be clear, a normal person might be, but this is not a normal person. this is a person running for the presidency. >> trump wants this in d.c. did you want jack smith have to be careful that he could later argue, look, you have made this jury pool unfair by doing this and now you have to move it. >> if prosecutor rst going to argue to a judge he's tainting the jury pool, trump's team is going to say that's why we have jury selection. it will weed out people who are undually prejudiced. let's fast forward a couple weeks. donald trump is going to say i need to get out of d.c. 95% of the people in washington voted against me. >> now you didn't let me say what i want to those people. >> this jury pool hate mess. jack smith is going to say that's why we have jury selection. we weed out people who are unduelly influenced. that's a bigger fight about where the case goes. i would be careful about arguing. he's prejudicing the jury pool. jack smith is going to want to make that argument. >> jury selection is going to be fascinate ing. i don't know anyone that doesn't have an opinion. >> i think the jury pool here in new york city, we thought that was hard. picking one for donald trump is going -- everyone has heard of him and has opinions. our system can do it. >> that's why it exists. elie honig, thank you so much. proud boys leader er enriqu pena nieto he was ban ned from entering washington. sara murray joins with us more. so significant here. >> it really is. the judge handing down the longest sentence we have seen for any defendant related to the attack on the u.s. capitol on january 6th trying to send a message about the importance of the peaceful transfer of power in this country and sent a strong signal this is a der ternt for anyone who may think about doing something like this in the future. more than two decades behind bars for the man u.s. district judge called the ultimate leader behind the january 6th attack on the capitol. in tuesday's hearing, kelly said former proud boys chairman enrique tar row was motivated by zeal. before being sentenced, tarrio apologized for the pain and suffering that was caused. quote, i'm not a political zealot. inflict ing harm or changing th election was not my goal. tarrio also adding, i held myself morally above others, and this trial has shown me how wrong i was. tarrio was not in d.c. on january 6th. having bye-bye arrested days before and ordered by a judge to leave the city for burning a black lives matter banner and bringing high-capacity rifle magazines into the district the previous month. but the judge said even though tarrio wasn't there, proud boys leader had an outsized impact on the events of the day. during the months-long trial, prosecutors showed tar row was readying for a revolution and helped create a command structure within the proud boys in the run-up to the insur insurrec insurrection. make no mistake, we did this, he said. during tuesday's sentencing hearing, the prosecutor called tarrio the leader of this experience, that targeted our entire system of government. tarrio's attorney promising an appeal . t>> tarrio's attorney said the sentence caught them off guard. even though he faces the longest sentence of any of the def defendants, it's well below what prosecutors asked for. they asked the judge to put tarrio behind bars for 33 years. >> sara murray, thank you. right now, we're going to show you live pictures in kyiv, where secretary of state antony blinken is there on a surprise visit to the country. he's set to meet with volodymyr zelenskyy at any moment now. this trip comes at a critical moment in the war. ukraine's counteroffensive is struggling to breakthrough. president biden is pushing for more funding. the american people are less than convinced. the kremlin weighed in on this visit. >> vladimir putin's spokesman told reporters that blinken's visit will not change the course of the war, and the u.s. is intent on keeping the war going into the last ukrainian. as we continue to watch the live pictures and look at the images, kiley atwood joins us. a surprise trip, his third since the war broke out. and a critical phase. >> yeah, a really critical phase. the war has been going on now for more than a year. and the secretary of state already making remarks this morning talking about continuing the u.s. commitment to the war in ukraine. it's a really pivotal moment, a strategic moment for the secretary to be on the ground for a number of reasons. americans are headed back to school, headed back to work after the summer getting caught up on the news. having the secretary of state in ukraine sends a very clear signal that the biden administration is still prioritizing this war. it's also at a moment when there's going to be a funding fight again in congress with the president putting forth $24 billion in proposed new funding for this war to congress. there has been some criticism continued in congress about new funding. and it also comes as the u.n. general assembly is later this month in new york. as you know, that's when world leaders are going to convene. according to a senior state department official, this is an opportunity for the secretary of state to meet with ukrainians ahead of that pivotal meeting in new york, and to really align as to what the message is going to be. when it comes to the counteroffensive, that has been a grinding, troublesome moment of breakthrough for the ukrainians in recent weeks in the south and the east. but the secretary of state wants to be on the ground there to assess what the ukrainians are actually seeing. what they are hearing, what their plans are in the coming weeks and monthsen opt the counteroffensive. and we should also note he's expected to announce about $1 billion in new u.s. support for ukraine humanitarian support, economic support, military support, all of these things while he's on the ground there, he will be meeting with president zelenskyy, that should be coming up soon. he will be headed to lay wreaths at a cemetery for fallen ukrainian soldiers. so there's a number of thing he's going to be doing there, meeting with u.s. diplomats, who have been on the ground and really learning what those on the ground are seeing and what the future of this war could look like. >> kiley atwood, we're going to be keeping an eye on these pictures. that meeting between secretary of state antony blinken and volodymyr zelenskyy, you're looking at top state department officials. you saw the ukrainian ambassador to the u.s. who is back in kyiv for this meeting. >> a close eye on that. also the first televised hearing of former president trump will take place today. it's going to happen in georgia. we'll explain what you can expect. plus tommy tuberville could jeopardize the nomination of the chairman. that's ahead. ♪ when you have e chronic kidney disease... there are places you'd like to be. like here. and here. not so much here. if you have chronic kidney disease, farxiga can help you ke. ♪ farxiga ♪ and farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections in women and men, and low blood sugar. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may lead to death. a rare life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this bacterial infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. farxiga can help you keep living life. ask your doctor for farxiga for chronic kidney disease. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪ farxiga ♪ ♪ chevy silverado has what it takes to do it all. with up to 13 camera views. and the z71 off-road package. ♪ you ok? yeah. any truck can help you make a living. this one helps you build a life. chevy silverado. purple mattresses exclusive gel flex grid draws away heat relieves pressure and instantly adapts. sleep better. live purple. right now save up to $900 off mattress sets during purple's labor day sale. visit purple.com or a store near you. we're still keep ing an eye on kyiv where secretary of state antony blinken hz made a surprise visit. he will be meeting shortly with volodymyr zelenskyy. >> also happening today, the first televised hearing in the case against donald trump and 18 co-defendants. this is in the georgia state election subversion case. it's the first televised proceeding for any of trump's criminal cases. it has to do with the critical issue of that busy calendar. a d.a. pushing for all defendants to begin facing trial october 23rd. former president trump is opposing that speedy timeline. many of the defendants want to break up the case. with us at the table is jennifer rogers, elie honig, john avlon and erroll louis. jennifer, does this mean everything is going to be on tv? >> pretty much. there's some things that are going to side bar, but everything that is public that would happen in the courtroom in full view of people who could walk in off the street will be televised, which is terrific for all of us. we can see the wheels of justice turning. >> what do we see today? >> the judge has to get everybody together and set some dates. so he's got to impose some order on the skchedule sorks they are going to want these two defendants early in october where they are going. i think she's going to ask for one trial date and then start to thin that herd. the low-hanging fruit will plead out. some cooperators will plead out and they'll want to end up with 6 to 8 defendants. >> i want to go between the legal and political because they are so intertwined as we have all discussed. the poll of voters do not think the charges against trump are relaevant to his fitness to be president which he's the leading republican contender by 1 to 60 points. etspecially when you line it up it's going to be on tv. people are going to be watching. what's your read? >> i think you'll start to see some of those numbers change. because we saw this with the january 6th committee hearings. you start watching it and going through the fd that's allowed or not allowed and ongoing discussion and conversation on national news about what has been happening piece by piece. i think people will be a little more informed about it. the flow through the to the polls and people's decision making. at the same time, what you're going to see is a number of people who have decided i want to be with donald trump. i don't really care about these legal charges. however, that same poll, the latest cnn poll shows they think it's very serious if the gets convicted. will he be able to actually serve. and then it starts to really start to matter. so you can believe he's innocent and the charges are bs. you can decide you're going to support him say in the primary. but if he gets down the road towards conviction, people start to think about it. >> there's an interesting legal and political overlap here, which is let's say we have two sets of trials. we're looking at the early trial and the later trial. a big advantage for trump. want to go second, want to see all the evidence come out early. you can scout it and see what worked and what didn't. if there's a televised trial of chesebro or sidney powell, it will be collateral damage. meaning he's taking shots from those witnesses that may resinate. >> i think that's exactly right. this poll is fascinating. one of the things it reenforces is you have 37 to 42% of republicans who are hard core donald trump supporters no matter what. that's still a lot of folks moved to a road. we have 20% who aren't going to support him no matter what and you have folks that are persuadable. it shows there's an emerging top tier. including tim scott, nikki haley, vivek ramaswamy and desantis. the other thing that's striking is trump's support is under the rubric of i support his po policies. and i do think as that starts to collide with basic values, peaceful transfer of power, that could have a further negative effect. >> thank you. >> i want to switch topics here. enrique tar tarrio. the judge yesterday in the sentencing of tarrio said you were the ultimate leader. you have some thoughts on this. >> yes, i don't think tarrio is the ultimate leader. he was a leader of one of militia groups, the proud boys. the fact the leader of the oath keepers have been convicted of seditious conspiracy is incredibly significant historically. that's a very tough charge to prove. but the ultimate leader according to the people who were told to stand back and standby, the people they thought they were doing this for and the expectation of the case, it was donald trump. and i think the judge had a lot of clarity in his comment around the sentencing yesterday, which was very tough. but the ultimate leader, nobody was storming the capitol for tarrio. >> i was just glancing back. just thinking about a republican president in that moment in this country at that time at this juxtaposition. it's very striking. >> the decision by jack smith, people refer this as the january 6th trial. it's not. it's about everything leading up it and after it. but to that point, why not? >> i think one of the great misconceptions about this case at large is that it was all one nice, organized conspiracy. and i think this was the error in merrick garland's initial approach. he said we're going to start at the bottom and work our way up. what we have here is multiple conspiracies separate from one another, but with a similar goal. tar row never conspired with donald trump. they never met or spoke or had any indirect connection. donald trump was run ning his on conspiracy to try to steal the election. most of which happened before the actual date of january 6th. then you have these other people clearly acting on his behalf at his urging. he lit the spark and stormed the capitol. and that was sort of the way i viewed it from the start. the way a that it's been charged has played that out. when the judge says tarrio was the ultimate leader, that means of the oath keepers, of the people who physically stormed the capitol. but trump was still the spiritual leader. >> stand back and standby. >> that's what i mean. >> circling back to the point you think there already defendants of trump's that plead out. michael cohen, the former president and one of his lawyers and fixer said something interesting last night. here he was. >> my recommendation for them would be speak now because as soon as the guy next to you or the woman next to you starts speaking and spilling the beans, your information is not as important or significant. so the person really who starts to speak first is the one that will get the benefit. >> so that's true here like it's always true, but not as much because, first of all, we were talking about this earlier. there's not a lot of cooperation that they need here or that they are going to get to be honest. some of these people might want to cooperate. i think they will use a couple of thesm. but it's not like they are going to have i was in the room with donald trump. we lost this election, how are we going to steal it, that's not the kind of evidence you're going to find. they want to get people out of this case. can't do all these trials. they will thin that herd and get a couple cooperators and they are going to plead people out cheap to a lesser offense. >> they used to move the indictments. where you go, we better hope one of these guys flips. i agree. i don't think that's the case here. i think cooperation will be lovely, but i don't think they need it. >> we had a few cooperators. tougher guys than this. >> that sounds interesting. she was a good chief. >> we will be carrying that hearing live here on cnn starting at 1:00 p.m. it's been nearly a week since convicted murderer made his escape from prison. we're learning details about the strategy law enforcement are using to try to find him. also the disgraced lawyer convicted of murdering his wife and his son now his defense says they have new evidence and they want a new trial. was also the first time you heard of a town named dinosaur, co