good morning, everyone. it's the top of the hour. we're so glad you're with us. it's a busy morning on the global stage. >> global stage and domestic as well. it's crazy how much news is happening this first week of september. >> kids are back in school. the news is back. it is september 6th. secretary of state antony blinken is on the ground in ukraine. he will meet with president s zelenskyy. we will see the first televised hearing in the georgia election subversion case. after former trump and all 18 co-defendants pleaded not guilty. what the judge decides could have a major impact on trump's very busy calendar. also mitch mcconnell will talk behind closed doors about his health with the senate republican conference after two freezing incidents in just two months. the capitol doctor says the senator shows no sign of stroke or seizure disorder. 200 law enforcement officers are searching for the etscaped murderer a week after he broke out of a prison near philadelphia. they have a plan to try to stress him into making a mistake so they can capture him. two school districts remain closed as this manhunt intensifies. >> the world has just experience ed the hottest summer on record by a lot. the heat is so extreme here in the u.s., it's forcing school closings and early dismissals. "cnn this morning" starts right now. here is where we begin this morning. right now, secretary of state antony blinken is in kyiv. this is a surprise visit. his third since the war on ukraine began. he will meet very shortly with volodymyr zelenskyy. it's a major show of solidarity from the west during a critical phase of the war, as troops struggle to breakthrough in this counteroffensive. >> i'm here, first and foremost, to demonstrate our ongoing and determined support for ukraine as it deals with this aggression. we have seen good progress in the counteroffensive. we want to make sure ukraine has what it needs not only to succeed for the long-term. >> before he arrived, russia launched a barrage of missiles, a stark are minder that america e america's top diplomat is in a war soep. his visit also comes as polls show american public support for more u.s. aid to ukraine is starting to wane. u.s. support has been an essential lifeline for ukrainians up to this point. melissa bell is on the ground for it us in kyiv. what have you been hearing about the surprise visit so far? >> reporter: these kinds of visits are tremendously important to the ukrainian people, first and foremost, because as you mentioned, this grinding counteroffensive, we're 19 months into a war that's tiring the entire world. imagine for a moment the ukrainian people. it's incredibly important in terms of showing support, but it comes as a critical juncture and secretary blinken is here to hear what the ukrainian offensive is. the state department's assessment is the gains have been impressive. but he's here to say what more help they need, but it also this visit comes at a critical juncture in terms of western continued support for this war 19 months in. it comes less than a month after president biden went to congress to ask for a $24 billion of help for this war effort at a time when polls show a softening of support for that. it's also time just ahead of the u.n. general assembly. that's going to be about aligning the american and ukrainian message as ukraine president prepares to speak to the world about what is happening with this war and why he needs those 50 countries currently giving not just more financial support, but military support, humanitarian aid, need to stick with it. it's been critical that it hasn't progressed as quickly as it should. it's exactly what progress is being made. >> absolutely. really significant. glad you're on the ground. we have a new development in the federal case against former president trump and his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. special counsel jack smith accusing trump of making daily extra judicial statements that prejudice the jury pool. while trump's team want it is to remain sealed. >> they have waived their right to arraignments. former chief of staff mark meadows is among them. he's trying to move his case to federal court where it could be d dismissed. that could begin as early as next month. sara murray joins us with more. it's really interesting basically saying watch what you say because what you say contains a jury pool. >> that's right. obviously, some of the underlying fight is still a mystery because it's under seal, but we know donald trump has been making statements about the charges he faces in a number of these cases, about the prosecutors who are are bringing them. we saw the team make this argument and these kinds of prejudicial statements. it's going to be really hard to choose a fair jury pool that's not contaminated. the longer the former president is out there whaling against the cases against him. >> getting back to georgia, there will be a televised hearing. there's so much reporting on this particular case and the lead up to it. since the indictment was brought, how quickly could all this it move? >> this is a great question for the judge to work out. >> i was asking you though, sara. >> you are the judge on this show, sara murray. >> i am not envious of what this judge has to do. he has 19 defendants. he's buried in paperwork from all of them filing these different motions. so today is going to give us the first sense from the district attorney of realistically how long does she think it would take to try all these 19 folks together, how many witnesses would she call, how many exhibits would she have. and then for the judge to give us insight into how he's thinking about this, because it's a mess. >> it's a mess. you don't get to go yet. but on a serious note, this sentence that came down yesterday. 22 years for the proud boys leader. longest sentence so far of any of the january 6th defendants. very significant. but i was really struck by the words that the judge chose to use when explaining the sentence. >> yeah, this is a very interesting sentencing. the judge took a lot more time in laying out his sentence than he did for some of his fellow proud boys. and also faced lengthy sentences. they faced 10 or 15 years. he's the only one cracking the 20-year mark with the 22-year sentence. let's talk about some of the things enrique said at the trial trying to defend himself. he said i'm not a political zealot inflicting harm or changing the outcome of the election. it was not my goal. he said i held myself morally above others. the judge in this case essentially pointed out that enrique was the ring leader. the had been ordered to leave te city because he was arrested on another matter. they still said you're the ring leader. you're the guy who essentially helped organize this and helped make this happen. the judge said it's not my job to label anybody a terrorist. nothing i do today does that in one way or another. but he was pointed in saying this is not what the founders of our country had in mind. >> it was a very interesting distinction. it's not the judge in the georgia election subversion case. butwater going to act like it because you know all the things. thank you so much. an extremely dangerous murderer is still on the lose. we're going to tell you how searchers are trying to force him to make a mistake. and mitch mcconnell will meet with senate republicans. members of his party have questions about his health. >> i think it's an inadequate explanation to say this is he e delaware hydration. it's one more step towards taking charge of your healthth. so every day, you can say, ♪ youuu did it! ♪ with cenentrum silver. then add the whoa! of listerine to your routine. new science shows listerine is 5x more effective than floss n at reducing plaque shows ahhhhh. listerine. feel the whoa! 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(chainsaw revs) (tree crashes) (chainsaw continues) (daughter screams) let's pretend for a second that you didn't let down your entire family. what would that reality look like? well i guess i would've gotten us xfinity... and we'd have a better view. do you need mulch? what, we have a ton of mulch. today mitch mcconnell is expected to address fellow republicans behind closed doors about his health after he froze twice in front of reportsers. the attending physician releasing a new pretty short but important letter yesterday writing, there's no evidence that you have a seizure disorder or that you experienced a stroke, tia or movement disorder such as parkinson's disease. the senator made a passing reference on the senate floor. listen. >> at one particular moment of my time back home has received its fair share of attention in the press over the past week. but i assure you all this was a busy and productive month for me and my staff back in the commonwealth. >> melny zanona joins us. you have this letter that's a few sentences that every word is being analyzed. what do we know? >> so the topic of mitch mcconnell's health dominate d te discussions in the hallways yesterday as the senator returned for the first time from a recess. and i will will say that most republicans are standing by mitch mcconnell saying they have no concerns about had his f fitness to serve. that includes some critics and some of his potential successors. but notably, there were several republican who is were openly expressing concerns about his ability to lead, saying they are not sure whether they would support him again for gop leader and also casting doubt on that assessment from the capitol physician. let's take a listen. >> i think it's an inadequate explanation to say this is dehydration. i practiced medicine for 25 years and it doesn't lock like dehydration. it looks like a neurologic event. it doesn't mean he can't serve. it means that somebody ought to wake up and say, wow, this looks luk a like a seizure. >> i have seen kids in my profession of football really struggle for a long time after a concussion. that's the reason you don't play them after that wp they don't go back into the game until you're completely well. >> mitch mcconnell is expected to address the topic of his health during a closed-door party lunch today. obviously, members still have questions, so that's going to be a critical moment for him, but as one gop lawmaker put it, mcconnell knows transparency is his friend. there's more of an effort to be more forthcoming with details about his health and what is going on. after that party lunch, we are expecting mitch mcconnell to deliver his weekly press conference in front of reporters, in front of cameras a very similar setting to where we have seen these freezing episodes occur in the past. no doubt his performance today is going to be very close ly watched. >> for sure. lots of questions. melanie, thank you. joining us is reporter for the root jessica washington and political analyst john avlon. i think there are major questions, and we discussed them not just in the context of mcconnell, but age in politics. i want to start with mcconnell and his moment and place in the republican conference, which he has ruled and been very popular within since 2006 when he became leader. for context, rand paul and mitch mcconnell do not get along. they do not like each other. tuberville, not a big mcconnell fan. josh hawley also raise d concerns. if you put this up for a vote behind closed doors, mcconnell would be reelected without any question at all based on everyone i have talked to. and yet, there's validity to concerns in this moment. >> yeah, we have seen him now have these episodes twice. it's important that we have the capitol hill doctor send out that note. mcconnell is talking to people about his health much more openly than before. we know this is going to be happening behind closed doors, but there are concerns. we watched it happen in realtime. we can't all pretendwet didn't see what we see. this idea it's only happening when we're watching and there isn't anything behind the scenes is going to feel suspicious to people. >> but there are defenders too. let's play mitt romney and what he said. >> the reality is that we may expect the mitch mcconnell will check out for 20 seconds a day, but the other 86,380 seconds of the day, he does a pretty darn good job. >> seconds in the day. >> that's a good stat to crunch. you think he prepped that? >> a little bit. >> but chris murphy defended mcconnell saying these are isolated incidents and he's had a chance to interact with the senator and i find him to be still in charge of that caucus. >> i think he is very much in charge of the caucus, to phil's point. he's been an effective leader. but statistically, you can't pretend these are the only two times where he happened to be in front of cameras. and it does highlight age, particularly within the senate. and not just republicans. but fractionally for reasons of her dignity, i think it's an unfair position to keep putting her in, but that's a separate conversation. i think mcconnell is going to have to restore some confidence, but it's obviously a broader conversation we should be having about at what point do people need to step aside. >> to that point, you were on the hill forever. >> how old am i? >> let's not. but i think