Negativity behind. With the gop roster set to expand this week, how many candidates will make the debates and will their strategies to topple the frontrunner work . And caught on tape. Cnn learns the Justice Department has audio of the former president talking about a classified document he kept after his term. Are charges coming . Ill speak to ranking democrat of House Oversight committee jamie raskin, next. Plus, making the case. President biden celebrates an unexpected political win. I was told the days of bipartisanship are over. Did democrats get the better deal . People are furious. Key Negotiator Omb T Shallond Young and ken buck coming up. Hello, im dana bash in washington where the state of our union is on the trail, riding hot. Its Campaign Season and Republican White House hopefuls hit the Trail Saturday in iowa for senator joni ernst annual roast and ride. In some cases wearing leather motorcycle vests, as they try to position themselves ahead of a highly anticipated august debate. This week, three more republican candidates, including the former Vice President are officially poised to join the race. The president is sharpening his own pitch for reelection, highlighting the bipartisan deals he struck with congress, including the lastminute Debt Limit Deal he signed yesterday with just two days to spare. And in a speech to the nation on friday, he also warned of the consequences of electing a republican president. His predecessor was notably absent in iowa yesterday, though donald trump remains firmly at the top of the campaign pack, even as we learn more details about his growing legal peril. Here now to talk more about that and much more, the Ranking Member of the House Oversight committee, democrat jamie raskin. Hello, how are you . Thank you for coming in. Let me first just ask how you are feeling. You have finished cancer treatment, youre in remission . Yes. And i got a clean bill of health. Im in remission. They cant find any cancer cells, so im waiting for my hair and eyelashes and everything to come back. Fantastic. Its important that youre feel better. Thats great news. Thank you so much. Lets talk about your reaction to cnns reporting this week that federal prosecutors have an Audio Recording of the former president talking about holding on to classified documents, at least one, about a potential u. S. Attack on iran. He had that after he left office. Do you think this tape could be a smoking gun . Well, apparently the recording also reflects Donald Trumps knowledge that he had not declassified the documents, or he knew that it was still classified, and thats an additional element of importance to this recording. And can you explain why thats an additional element . Well, for a wihile, at least there was a halfhearted effort to claim by donald trump that he could just magically declassify, you know, telepathically or mentally, and this seems to reflect his clear understanding that he had not declassified this document and that it was still classified. So the document is missing at this point, as i understand it, according to published reports. Do you believe based on this and Everything Else that youve seen that the former president should be charged . Criminally charged . Thats obviously a decision for the Department Of Justice and for a grand jury, but the i mean, these charges are very serious. I mean, the allegations that he took all of these documents, including topsecret documents and then didnt return them and deliberately withheld them are very serious. I mean, i dont think any president has ever been accused of doing anything like that before. And just quickly, how much does the fact that he clearly, in this tape, suggest that he knows that he cant, as you to use your words, magically declassify, how much does that play into the dojs case . Well, a lot, because, i think a key ingredient in determining the intent with which a person acts is consciousness of guilt. And if a person acts with consciousness of their own guilt or consciousness of their own potential wrongdoing, that demonstrates that if they go forward, nonetheless, theres intent. And you know, my understanding is that there were hundreds of documents taken, many of them were classified, some of them were topsecret. And yet, they were deliberately withheld. And if the prosecutor, jack smith, has information to that effect, thats very serious business. I want to ask about something that youre dealing with on the oversight committee. Republican chairman, who you work with, of course, james comer, says he will hold the fbi director, chris wray in contempt over an fbi document containing an unsubstantiated bribery allegation involving then Vice President joe biden. Wray offered to let you and comer view the document and do it in a secure location, comer wants it physically turned over to the full committee. What are your thoughts. Youre the ranking democrat on that committee. So the fbis coming Tomorrow Tocomer and me the document theyre looking for. So in other words, the republican chairman on the committee is getting everything theyre asking for in terms of seeing the document, by the way, which they say they have already seen, and yet theyre still talking about holding the director of the fbi in contempt. Even though theyre getting exactly what they want, even though the fbi has been overwhelmingly cooperative and accommodating to this request. So, that demonstrates to me that what theyre really interested in is in holding the fbi director in contempt, not in getting a document that theyve already seen. And you know, i dont know what this document is, because the majority has closed us out. The democrats on the question, they are no longer respecting a bipartisan agreement, that the committees had for the last several congresses. You have no idea whats in it . Well, there have been published reports, which suggest that it has to do with ukraine. That was a period, youll remember, when Rudy Giuliani was running around with a russian agent, who later was found to be so by the treasury department, trumps treasury debate. And he was waving different kinds of documents. Attorney general bar, trumps own attorney general, was so skeptical, that he created a panel to look at all of this information, saying youve got to take the ukraine stuff with a grain of salt. So i think it probably has to do with ukraine and allegations that went nowhere. In other words, this was looked at by the trump Justice Department, and i think they ended all of it in august, with no prosecutions, no indictments. And theyre going back to recycle these unfounded accusations. Lets go back to the initial question about how much access the congress will get to this document, whether you can actually have it. If the roles were reversed, and you found out that the fbi had a document containing an allegation about donald trump, wouldnt you want unfettered access to that document . You always want unfettered access, but youre talking about somebody who was in the majority when donald trump was president when he ordered every department of u. S. Government not to comply in any way with requests of the House Oversight committee. So it would have been remarkable if every time we requested a documents, they brought it over to show it to us, much less give it to us. So they keept c changing the ded torrid to find some reason to find fault with fbi director wray, which is why i say, what theyre really going after is a Contempt Citation against him, and its all part of what Chairman Comer admitted was an effort to get Donald Trumps poll numbers out. Its all about the 2024 campaign. Let me ask you about what happened this past week, where you work, in the house of representatives, the debt ceiling deal. The president said that Kevin Mccarthy worked in good faith. Do you give him credit for this bipartisan deal . The president . Yeah. Excuse me, Kevin Mccarthy. The speaker. Well, look, there is a maga extreme element within the republican caucus, which really wanted to plunge the country into default and economic crisis. Thats the chaos caucus. The same people that supported Donald TrumpsGovernment Shutdown what about Kevin Mccarthy . Right, im distinguishing him from them. I think he recognized and he listened to the voices on wall street and in corporate america, who said, you cannot crash the economy, just because you have an extreme element that is heckling you and he cyou to do. So the center held briefly, because we were able to avert going over the cliff. But we should never come remotely close to that again. The constitution says that the validity of the public debt shall never be questioned. Thats in the 14th amendment. Should that be changed . Well i know you know you think it should be changed. The constitution already establishes a backstop against what they wanted to do. But i think, yes, having a Debt Ceiling Statute is a threat to us, because they will keep trying to careen the whole country over a cliff. I have a few other topics i want to get to. First, you saw, im sure, what happened at the Air Force Academy this past week. President biden tripped over a sandbag, he fell hard on the stage. He says over and over to people concerned about his age, watch me. Now, we want to be clear, he wasnt hurt, which is great. Also want to be clear, president s have tripped. Every tripped. Ive tripped, youve probably tripped. Ive never tripped. Youve never tripped. Okay. But you also as a politician know about how events feed into a perception that already exists. Questions about his age are already there. Are voters wrong to be worried about electing a man who would be closer to 90 at the end of his second term than 80 . You know, america is a country that loves youth and vitality, which is why we have laws against age discrimination, because we tend to favor youthfulness and the new thing. In a lot of countries, people who have been in office a longer period of time are praised for their wisdom. And i think that joe biden rightly says that he has grown very wise in his many decades in public office. And i respect that. So i think that he deserves to be judged by the results of his administration and what hes gotten done in terms of a bipartisan infrastructure law, the inflation reduction act, lowering prescription prices. Really, thats what should matter to us as the people. Off decision to make and that is whether or not you are going to run for senate in maryland for ben cardins seat. He is retiring. Have you decided . Are you going to run for senate . I have not decided. I love the house of representatives, i love the people i serve with, and i love being in the peoples house, but as some of my house colleagues have pointed out, these senate seats only up up over 25 or 30 years. A lot of people are encouraging me to check it out, because theres certain constitutional functions that the senate has that the house doesnt have, like advice and consent, Supreme Court nominations, judicial confirmations. A lot of things im interested in. Thats why im seriously considering it, but i have not decided. When will you decide . Im hoping before the fourth of july, i will have an answer for everybody. The election is not until may 24th, 2024. The primary. The primary, and then the election is a year and a half away. Your fellow marylander, steny hoyer, who was a leader of your party for a long time, he endorsed a different candidate. Obviously, steny hoyer is my friend. Ive talked to him and all of my colleagues about it. Weve got awesome political leaders in maryland and i would not run against anybody else. I mean, its totally based on the experience ive had trying to defend our democracy and our freedom and the bill of rights against the trump movement. That sounds like youre getting ready for your Campaign Message there. Well i suppose you can never be too ready. But i really havent decided and theyre compelling reasons that my constituents are presenting me with on a daily basis. And i love hearing from people. Congressman, thank you so much for coming in. And again, such great news about your recovery. Youre very kind. Thank you, dana. Thank you. President biden is praising Speaker Mccarthy, as we just talked about. But is the conservative backlash to the speaker growing . Thats next. Plus, new rules for the gop debate. Which candidates are worried they wont make it on stage. Stay with us. Nice Iphone 14 Proro cute coup. Trips dont last forever. Neither doeses summer love. So, sadidies moving on. Apple music . Check. Introducing myplan. The first and only unlimited plan to give you exactly what you want, so you only pay for what you need. And get iphone 14 pro on us when you switch. Its your verizon. From prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if yo teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccation for meningitis b. Although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. Now as youre thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. To finally lose 80 pounds and keep it off with golo is amazing. Ive been maintaining. The weight is gone and its never coming back. With golo, ive not only kept off the weight but im happier, im healthier, and i have a new lease on life. Golo is the only thing that will let you lose weight and keep it off. Who loses 138 pounds in nine months . I did golos a Lifestyle Change and you make the change and it stays off. soft music starting a new chapter can be the most thrilling thing in the world. Theres an abundance of reasons to get started. How far we take an idea is a question of willpower. Because progress. Is a matter of character. My active Psoriatic Arthritis can make me feel like im losing my rhythm. With skyrizi to treat my skin and joints, im getting into my groove. uplifting music along with significantly clearer skin. Skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. And is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. Skyrizi attaches to and reduces a source of excess inflammation that can lead to skin and joint symptoms. With skyrizi 90 clearer skin and less joint pain are possible. Serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. Thanks to skyrizi, theres nothing like clearer skin and better movement. And that means everything. Nothing is everything nows the time to ask your doctor about skyrizi. Learn how abbvie could help you save. Welcome back to state of the union. House speaker Kevin Mccarthy says he wants to work on bringing House Republicans back together, after the conservative Freedom Caucus sharply criticized his debt ceiling deal. But after the Concessions Mccarthy made to get the gavel, can he keep those members that criticized the debt vote from trying to remove him as speaker . Here with me now is a member of the Freedom Caucus, Congressman Ken Buck of colorado. Thank you so much for joining me this morning. I want to make clear, you dont vote to raise the debt limit, so you certainly didnt vote on this deal, but i want to ask you about it in the context of the Freedom Caucus. You called the deal atrocious, and yet it passed by almost 200 votes, including a majority of republicans. President biden signed the bill yesterday. What does this say about the power of your colleagues in the Freedom Caucus . First, dana, if i may, i want to correct something that jamie raskin said earlier, my colleague from maryland. There is no maga group in the house that wants to make sure that we default. Thats just a Talking Point that is unfair. There are a lot of people in the house and a lot of rechts in the house Freedom Caucus who want to make sure that we dont spend more money than we have and that we dont spend ourselves into a really bad situation. But i think the house Freedom Caucus, with a fivevote majority in the house still retains a lot of influence in the house. The key is that we use that influence in a way brings conservative results. Thats what we tried to do in this case and we failed. The speaker Got Democrats to vote for this bill because the bill is a democrat bill. It not only avoided a default, but locked in the progressive gains that the president made in the last two years. You said that Speaker Mccarthy should be concerned about a motion to vacate. When one member can vors a vote on whether to remove him from the speakership. Is that going to happen . I dont know if a motion to vacate will happen right away. He promised when he was running for speaker that we would use the 2022 Baseline Numbers as the Appropriation Numbers for this year and went back on that promise with this particular legislation where he promised and signed into law the 2023 numbers. So we continue to see the swamp winning and th