And more, allegedly trading his influence to benefit business associates, and egypt. Also tonight, ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy takes his appeal for western aid to canada after getting a mixed reception from top officials here in washington. This, as Ukrainian Forces target russianoccupied crimea with new attacks. And President Biden leads donald trump in cnns exclusive new poll from New Hampshire. Well break down the numbers and signs that anger at trump that outweigh concerns about bidens age in a potential rematch. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States, and around the world, im wolf blitzer, youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn Breaking News. We begin with the federal Criminal Indictment of a powerful senate democrat, democrat bob menendez temporarily giving up his post as Foreign RelationsCommittee Chair as he faces corruptionrelated charges for the second time in ten years. Cnns Senior JusticeCorrespondent Evan Perez is working to support the story for us, evan, break down the charges for us. Wolf, the senator is facing very serious charges, including bribery and Honest Services charges. What prosecutors are laying out are some astonishing details of what they say the senator was trading in excess access to his office, essentially, for money, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars, Mortgage Payments for the home of his wife as well as a Mercedes Benz car, a 60,000 car that prosecutors say was all paid for by some of these codefendants. Now, prosecutors laid out a june 2022 search by the fbi where they say they found some of is this money. 480,000 in cash was found, some of it stuffed into jackets, bearing the name of the senator, you see pictures there inside the 40page indictment that was unsealed today by prosecutors at the Southern District of new york. They also said they found 70,000 in a Safe Deposit Box that was also searched that day in june. They also noted that they found nine gold bars, they also said that they found fingerprints and dna from some of the codefendants that linked some of that cash directly to the senator. Now, what one of the hurdles for prosecutors is to show what Senator Menendez was doing in exchange for the bribes, in exchange for this money, and heres what they laid out in this indictment. They say that he pressured a Department Of Agriculture official to help one of his codefendants maintain his monopoly on halal meat exports to egypt. They say he pressured State Prosecutors in new jersey to help fix a case for one of his codefendants and friends of his codefendants. They say that he also provided nonpublic information on Military Sales to egypt. Again, information that made its way to egyptian officials as well as editing a letter that was being used to help Lobby Members of the senate, again related to Egyptian Military sales here from the United States, wolf. Evan, what is Senator Menendez saying about these charges . Reporter in addition to announcing hes stepping down from his powerful perch at the as chairman of the senate Foreign Relations committee he accused the Justice Department of discrimination because he is a latino. Ill read you a part of his statement here. He says, i have been falsely accused before because ive refused to back down to the powers that be, and the people of new jersey were able to see through the smoke and mirrors and recognize i was innocent. He promised, wolf, that he will beat these charges as he has in the past. And, evan, how are these charges different than the previous investigation into menendez . Reporter you know, the senator has been under the cloud of doj investigations almost from the time he got to the senate back in 2006. As a matter of fact, when he was when he ran for office in 2005 there was an investigation already ongoing into his relationship with the nonprofit that got federal aid. He later got under another investigation and got indicted, wolf, with a donor, a South Florida doctor. He ended up beating those charges, the jury there was a mistrial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on some of the charges, the Justice Department declined to retry that case. That happened in 2018, and according to prosecutors, thats when the timeline begins on these current charges, the current charges that are now been announced in the Southern District of new york. Evan perez, thank you very much. Lets get more right now on this important story in the menendez indictment. Our legal and political experts are here with me in the situation. And paula reid, let me start with you, we just got a statement from the governor that this is the governor of new jersey, and let me read it to you, because its very serious. This is governor murphy on todays indictment against Senator Menendez. The allegations in the indictment against Senator Menendez and four other defendants are deeply disturbing. These are serious charges that implicate national security, and the integrity of our Criminal Justice system. Under our legal system Senator Menendez and the other defendants have not been found guilty and will have the ability to present Evidence Disputing these charges, and we must respect the process. However, the alleged facts are so serious that they compromise the ability of Senator Menendez to effectively represent the people of our state. Therefore, i am calling for his immediate resignation. Thats a thats the democratic governor of his own state. Yeah, and this is not the first person today to call for the senators resignation. As evan just mentioned, this is the second time in a decade Senator Menendez has faced corruption charges. It was several years ago that he was accused, along with very wealthy eye doctor of exchanging nearly a Million Dollars in gifts for political favors. Now, he was there was a mistrial, then he was acquitted, but what makes this case different is youre also talking about sharing Sensitive Information with a foreign government, and that is something that i think is really going to fan the flames calling more his resignation particularly with his now former role on the Foreign Relations committee. Youre going to hear a lot more people calling for his resignation. These charges are pretty serious. Very serious indeed if you read this indictment, nearly 40 pages of evidence, including a lot of pictures as well of some of the evidence. Tia mitchell is with us. Hes going to be under enormous pressure to resign right now. How do you see that unfolding . Well, hes been defiant so far, but who knows how he reacts as the Pressure Mounts . Especially from democrats. Thats something thats also different from his last indictment, there was a republican governor, democrats, you know, were a little bit more hesitant to directly criticize him, and call for his resignation. The circumstances are different. The case is different. The fact that theres a democratic governor who would appoint a replacement is different. And quite frankly, i think the fact that hes facing charges again, that, you know, theres a perception that even after facing this cloud of scrutiny for several years, that he didnt operate a little bit better just to avoid any questions, whether he ultimately gets found guilty or not. And so i think the calls for his resignation will increase. The question is, will he remain defiant or will he start, you know, reacting to that pressure . When he was charged, yeah, years ago, he was acquitted effectively because there was a hung jury, and that he keeps pointing to that right now as evidence that hell be acquitted this time as well. How strong is the case against him . Well, right now i would say from a legal stand poind, gold bars, and cash stuffed in your pocket makes for a splashy press conference. That isnt the meat of the case. They have to show theres a nexus between all those goodies and something he did was improper. He will argue he didnt do anything improper, just acting as a senator. Ill say some of the things in the indictment about sort of nonpublic knowledge being shared look like theyre going ton to be hard to explain. He has a Strong Defense counsel who is a wizard in the courtroom, and i suspect this will end up in the courtroom. I suspect youre right. You know, paula, its interesting, because in this indictment. Ive read the whole thing, one thing that jumped out at me is they accuse him of, quote, secretly aided the government of egypt. Now, until today, he was the chairman of the Foreign Relations committee. When youre chairman of the senate Foreign Relations committee you have access to a lot of very, very Sensitive National security information. Thats a very serious charge right there. It is, because theyre accusing him of sharing Sensitive Information with the government of egypt. The allegation is that his wife received pretty much a noshow job in exchange for him wielding his enormous influence to help the government of egypt, not only sort of advocating for them on certain issues related to the military but also sharing nonpublic information specifically about personnel working at the u. S. Embassy. And this is the part of the indictment, again, that really separates it from the previous case, and i think is what is going to most support these calls for his resignation, and its been an incredibly serious acquisition to lob against a u. S. Senator. Thats a really, big, big deal. Yes. The fact theyre accusing him of sharing Sensitive Information with a foreign government. Absolutely, and im actually somewhat surprised they havent ventured into that area more specifically of espionage type charges. Theyre really sticking with the notion that theres corruption here, theres money and gold being paid in return for the exercise of this influence, spinning, you know, again the prosecution has to show that next us, that what he did was wrong in return for these benefits for his wife and for him, oernds, its not that easy of a road for him either because the question there is like does he not believe in banks . This is really an embarrassment for the u. S. Senate as well. Yeah, i mean, you know, congress is having a lot of drama these days, and i think the last thing either Chamber Wants is another member accused of corruption, another member accused of behavior that undermines Public Confidence in how washington works. So in general, its not great for the house or the senate for, again, for public perception, thats another reason why i think there will be more calls for his resignation. Yeah, i suspect youre absolutely right. Guys, thank you very, very much. Coming up, the star witness in the January 6th Congressional Hearings opens up about her fear of testifying. Cassidy hutchinson revealing she almost ran out of the u. S. Capitol. vo trade in any iphone in any condition for a new iphone 15 pro on us. Only onon verizon. I was stuck. Unresolved depression symptoms were in my way. I needed more from my antidepressant. Vraylar helped give it a lift. Adding vraylar to an antidepressant. Is clinically proven to help reeve erall depression symptoms. Better than an antidepressant alone. And in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. Elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. Report unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. Antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. Report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, as these may be lifethreatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, weight gain, and high cholesterol may occur. Movement dysfunction and restlessness are common side effects. Stomach and sleep issues, dizziness, increased appetite, and fatigue are also common. Side effects may not appear for several weeks. I didnt have to change my treatment. I just gave it a lift. Ask about vraylar and learn how abbvie could help you save. Hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours not coughing . Hashtag still not coughing . mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from Chest Congestion and any type of cough, day or night. Mucinex dm. Its comeback season. Kayaking is my thing. Running is awesome. E eczema kayaking is my thing. Would make her skin so uncomfortable. Now im staying ahead of it. Dupixent helps heal your skin from within. So, they can have clearer skin and less itch. Serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. Dont change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. Ask your doctor about dupixent. So its decided, well park even deeper into Parking Spaces so people think theyre open. Surprise. [ laughs ] [ horn honks, Muffled Talking ] cant hear you, jerry. Sorry. Uh, yeah, can we get a system where when someones bike is in the shop, then we could borrow someone elses . No no or you can get a quote with americas numberone Motorcycle Insurer and maybe save some money while youre at it. All in favor of that. [ horn honking ] theres a lot of buttons and knobs in here. We have new Exclusive Cnn polling from New Hampshire, a key swing state and the site of the first in the nation primary showing a sliver of good news for President Biden and a potential headtohead contest between President Biden and former president trump. Lets bring in our political experts to discuss David Chalian our political director share these numbers for us, what were seeing in New Hampshire right now about a potential 2024 rematch. Remember, Hillary Clinton edged out a narrow victory over donald trump in 16 in New Hampshire, joe biden won it more substantially three years ago. Take a look at this brand new cnn poll in conjunction with the university of New Hampshire, and you see, well this is splitting by party, but overall joe biden is at 52 , and donald trump is at 40 . Take a look here when you look by party, wolf, 94 of democrats are basically universally aligned with biden in this, and that helps him overwhelm a slight 6 percentage lead that trump has over biden and independents, 45 to 39, but note here donald trump is lower, 79 than biden with democrats. We see joe biden in each one of the general election matchups with republicans, wolf, winning this state outside the margin of error. It could be a Battleground State thats tilting a little blue if it stays this way the full year. But it is welcome news to the white house, even though what weve been talking about with joe biden in the past, we do see in our Poll Concerns about his age, his health, among democrats, they remain. But theyre just not enough to swamp what is this substantial lead he has over donald trump in the state. Thats a pretty strong lead, 52 to 40 , at least right now. Karen finney is here with us, were hearing directly from the former trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson who testified before the january 6th select committee as we all remember. I want you to listen to what she said she feared at that moment. Listen to this. In the days after my testimony, you know, theres the immediate Security Protocols and security concerns, so my life changed in the way the way that i was living my life for a while. You could not go back to your apartment. I could not go back to my apartment. I ended up moving down to atlanta for several months. They didnt think it was safe for you to stay in d. C. . No, no. What do you make of that, karen . Its terrible, but unfortunately it follows a pattern that we have seen time and time again sometimes brought on by rhetoric from the former president or folks like Rudy Giuliani in the case, for example, of the two poll workers from georgia where sometimes the supporters of the former president act in ways that jeopardize peoples security, and its terrible to think that a young woman who was simply trying to do her patriotic duty and tell the truth in front of the congress of the United St