Well, now to domestic politics.
The Republican debate stage is s
Just four candidates vying for t
presidential nomination
will face off tomorrow
in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Former South Carolina
Governor Nikki Haley,
Governor Ron DeSantis,
former New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie and entrepreneur Vivek
all qualified for this debate,
according to the Republican
National Committee last night.
The GOP front runner, Donald Tru
he will not attend, opting inste
to attend a fundraiser
for one of the superPACs support
Meanwhile, warnings
are mounting about the threat.
A second
trumpet presidential term
will pose to American democracy.
CNN senior data reporter Harry E
you're joining us.
That's always a good thing.
It makes me happy on
so many different levels
because you explain things.
And the thing
we want to kind of start with he
is this idea of Trump
trying to change the narrative.
He wants on Saturday talking abo
he's the one who's
going to save democracy, not Joe
That has been a big pitch of Bid
Trump obviously attempted to per
a coup in the United States of A
However, how do voters feel abou
Yeah, you know, they actually do
that Donald Trump
committed a serious crime
or at least believe
there's credible evidence that t
that he did.
Look at this.
This is a poll
that was just a few months ago b
58% of Americans
believe that there's credible ev
that Donald Trump committed
serious federal crimes.
Just 37% of Americans disagree.
So that message is breaking
through that Donald Trump
did something very, very unusual
More than that, a Trump
reelection poses
a threat to our democracy
and way of life.
Again, the majority of Americans
believe that this is true.
They agree with the idea
that Trump is a threat.
This is a message
we've heard from Democrats
and Joe Biden over and over agai
It does seem to be breaking thro
Just 41% of Americans disagree.
So all the reporting that's goin
all of the talks from Democrats,
does seem to be having an impact
Here's the question they'll feel
Donald Trump is trying to pull t
reverse you card.
Here we go.
A Biden reelection poses
a threat to our democracy,
our way of life.
Look at this.
A majority of Americans agree on
What Donald Trump seems to be ar
does in fact, seem
to be working to some degree
because 53% of Americans
believe a Biden reelection poses
a threat to our democracy.
And again,
that's fairly similar
to that 57% who believe
a Trump reelection poses
a threat to our democracy
and way of life.
Reverse, you know, card
projection, gaslighting,
all kind of the same on some lev
How does that translate
with favorability ratings for bo
I mean, this is really interesti
I mean, a favorable view of Trum
That's actually slightly
ahead of Joe Biden.
Remember, elections are choices.
And there's a bunch of voters
who don't like
either candidate felt
this is going to be the key grou
going forward
because there's a lot of them.
How voters who don't like Biden
or Trump say they'll vote in 202
Trump holds a ten point
lead on this amongst this group.
This is a group
will be paying attention to Joe
Biden's got to make it up,
otherwise they'll continue to tr
in the polls. Important point.
Smart point, as always, my frien
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Poppy.
For more analysis,
let's bring in
Alyssa Fair Griffin,
CNN political commentator, forme
Trump White House
communications director. Morning
Good to have you.
Just staying on the Biden beat
for just one minute.
This sort of shocking
new poll
out of Harvard
says Biden right
now is under 50%
with young voters at 18 to 29.
He comes in at 48% of them
saying that they would for sure
vote for him.
Trump said 33%, 19% are unsure.
Biden had 60% of those voters in
What is going on with young vote
Well, yeah,
and millennials and Gen
Z make up the biggest
voting bloc in this country.
Listen, I support Joe Biden
and how he's been handling
the war in Israel,
but the vast majority of young v
simply do not.
That's going to be a major facto
that I think probably affects
these most recent numbers.
And I think that there is
a general generational concern
about the fact that we're going
to likely have two candidates
squaring off who are near
or are octogenarians.
So there's a number of factors h
but that is something
I don't think we should look awa
from is the foreign policy disti
that's incredibly mobilizing
with young voters to the point.
You know, the thing, it's
not just young voters
that the entire Democratic
coalition is soft right now.
There has long been an assumptio
that they'll come back over the
of the next 11 months.
When it becomes a binary choice,
it becomes very clear.
Do you think there's a risk
that won't happen?
I think it's a tremendous risk
to assume that just because
that it will be Donald Trump
and therefore people
will turn out for Joe Biden,
He uses the line,
you know, don't contrary to the
but to the alternative.
Here's the fact where we stand r
Donald Trump will likely
be the GOP nominee.
This is a historically unfit per
This is somebody
who is a former president,
the only in history
who's been denounced by former c
of staff, former secretaries of
former chairman of the Joint Chi
of Staff, former White House
communications director,
former White House press secreta
And the list can go on.
He's very likely to be the nomin
There's only three ways to stop
The primary season,
which we're still in the course,
which very likely may not convic
an election or the general elect
And four,
for Democrats,
who I think rightly have argued
he's a threat to democracy.
You're saying
we're putting one guy
as the backstop to stop Donald T
We're not engaging in a primary.
We're not considering governors
or a younger fighter.
I worry that Democrats
may be running into sort of a Ru
Ginsburg moment or something
where they put all their stock i
somebody who's
who do they believe in
but could end up losing to someb
other than Dean Phillips?
Democrats aren't
putting themselves out there.
He's the one who's saying those
and saying
more of us
should be doing this
and giving Biden a real primary.
But can we talk about Nikki Hale
Really interesting to see her ri
Chris Christie,
there's New York Times
reporting that some Republican
big donors have a message
for Chris Christie, which is get
and they're throwing their money
behind people like Nikki Haley.
And part of what's interesting t
is that she's willing to
talk about real entitlement
reform on Social Security and Me
Listen to her.
The ones we change it for
are those like my kids in their
coming into the system.
We change retirement age to refl
life expectancy for them.
We limit benefits on the wealthy
instead of cost of living increa
We do increases based on inflati
and we expand Medicare Advantage
which seniors love that
allow competition
and reduce the costs of health c
Big money donors
like Ken Langone
here in New York, for example, s
Why do I need 30 $500 a month?
This has to this has to change.
What's the political calculus?
Because that was sort of a third
rail untouchable.
I think that Nikki Haley
actually has the political nuanc
to be able to tackle something
like entitlement reform
and not fall into the trap
the Democrats often set,
which is you're taking away enti
She's talking about reforming it
for the future generation.
She's talking about its solvency
ten years from now,
which is something that absolute
has to be addressed
and we're all going to come to h
I also think, listen,
the reality of it is she's
now has the support of the Koch
This has been a major priority.
They're true fiscal conservative
for many years.
And I do think at this rate,
this does
resonate in places
like New Hampshire and South Car
where she has to do well.
The debate,
obviously, Trump's
going to be on the stage,
the debates being a central acce
to Nikki Haley's rise.
I think it's undeniable.
What do you expect on stage?
Well,
I think the fact that it's a shr
and this is really narrowing,
it is going to give everyone
more speaking time.
It's going to give them a bit of
to go beyond
just talking points in the fight
I just, based on previous perfor
would expect
she'll be the winner of this deb
which her campaign is
hoping is going to give her the
to rise to number two in Iowa
and pull off a miracle in New Ha
then go to her home
state of South Carolina.
But to the point of Chris Christ
hearing from more and more Repub
on, let's say,
the more NeverTrump side of thin
or who want a Trump alternative
we like what you did.
But if this is truly about
stopping Donald Trump
and a different future for the G
you need to back Nikki Haley now
Liz Cheney, interestingly,
had said she wouldn't
run as a third party,
but she did
this interview
around her new book
with The Washington Post
saying she will do whatever it t
to prevent Trump from running fo
and saying several years ago
I would not have contemplated
a third party run.
But now she may contemplate that
Can she be so sure
that her
third party run,
if she does, it, would help prev
a Trump presidency?
Isn't that a gamble?
Well, she certainly would not be
I think that her calculation wou
that she would be taking votes
from Donald Trump.
I think there's always a concern
that you may be taking
soft Joe Biden voters.
Nikki Haley
I'm sorry,
Liz Cheney is not somebody
who would do this lightly
without data
to show
that she would only be able to h
Joe Biden win the election
if she were to do that.
So I wouldn't get ahead
of that decision yet.