>> shimon prokupecz, thank you very, very much. to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. outfront next, court filings just released with new details about the fbi's search of mar-a-lago. what was the fbi looking for, and how much of the focus is on trump himself? plus, stacey abrams weighing in on the georgia criminal probe into trump's efforts to overturn the election. and the little league world series player critically injured after falling from a dormitory bunk bed. one of the doctors treating him is my guest. let's go outfront. good evening, i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight new details on the fbi's search of mar-a-lago. a federal judge in florida today releasing new documents related to that search. i'm just show you, because here they are. just a few pages.

but pages, new pages we haven't seen this before. specific information about the potential offenses that the justice department is investigating. in here is language that does sharpen the focus on the former president himself. for example, if you just look at this part, it says under the search is related to a violation of, it continues to say willful retention of national defense information, concealment or removal of government records, and obstruction of federal investigation. so we got a little bit here. this, again, is new information as part of the whole search of mar-a-lago. the federal judge today also ordering the justice department to possibly release the crucial affidavit used to get the search warrant. so prepare redactions in casey the ruling is to release it. the affidavit itself will tell us what specifically the justice department knew when it searched

trump's home. what specifically investigators were looking for and why. what was their cause. and who helped them figure it out. now, cnn is among the media organizations requesting the release of that affidavit. the doj is fighting it. a top lawyer in the department of justice's national security division arguing in court today that releasing the affidavit would, quote, provide a road map to the investigation and perhaps even indicate the doj's next steps. that lawyer also warning that releasing the affidavit could have a chilling effect on witnesses, again, plural, and on other high-profile investigations. now, trump himself says he wants the affidavit himself. his spokesman tweeting today, no redactions should be necessary and the whole affidavit should be released. no redactions. well, the new information today and this fight over the affidavit is coming as we are learning something else really important. and that is that trump's claim of having declassified the documents from the white house simply doesn't add up.

cnn can exclusively report that 18 former top trump administration officials that trump's claim of having a standing order to declassify documents he took from the white house is utter nonsense. one senior administration official called it bullshit, ludicrous, fiction, a ridiculous. here's how his former national security advisor john bolton put it. >> there was no standing order. i was not briefed on anything like that when i started as national security advisor. i never heard of it, never saw it in operation, never knew in ig about it. the president never said anything to me during 17 months there. i just think it's a complete fiction. >> sara murray is outfront in washington to begin our coverage tonight. sara, i want to get to more of this exclusive reporting in just a moment. but first, take us inside that courtroom. what more can you tell us about

what happened there today and why it matter? >> i think we've gotten a couple of new documents that are shedding more light around that search that happened at mar-a-lago. we previously knew that the justice department was broadly investigating violations of the espionage act, but that language that you were just reading that they are investigating willful retention of national defense information, legal experts say it does sharpen the focus on donald trump as a possible subject of this criminal probe because a good point to the fact that obviously when he was president, he was authorized and had the ability to have these national defense documents. but that was no longer the case when he was no longer in office. when he moved on to mar-a-lago. now, of course the affidavit underlying the search warrant could tell us a lot more. the judge suggested that he did not remain that should be completely sealed and he believed some portions should be made public but he's giving the justice department a week, until next thursday, to propose their redactions. >> so you were part of the team that broke that story that i just mentioned, the 18 former

top trump officials telling cnn that the claim trump had a standing order to declassify documents is ultrtter nonsense. what more are you learning? >> a lot of the credit goes to jamie gangel, but cnn did talk to 18 former top trump officials and they basically had never heard of this so-called standing order to declassify documents once they moved from the oval office to the white house residence. many of them doubted whether that was in fact true. cnn talked to two former white house chief of staffs, including john kelly, who said nothing approaching an order that foolish was ever given. mick mulvaney, another former chief of staff at the white house said he was not aware of a general standing order, erin. >> pretty clear and important that they put their names on the record on this. thank you so much, sara murray. i want to go to a former principal associate attorney general and the general counsel to the national intelligence director. also with me stephanie grisham

and john dean. one of the documents we got today, it's something we didn't have, more specific information on the potential offenses being investigated by the justice department. let me just say that the mar-a-lago search was related to a violation of willful retention of national defense information. also to concealment and removal of government records and obstruction of a federal investigation. what do you think this means for donald trump, john? >> well, to me what happens, and i agree with the others who have reached this conclusion, that it looks like trump is not necessarily the target, but clearly at this point a subject of the investigation. in other words, you wouldn't have taken these extraordinary steps of a search warrant of a former president had he not been high on the list of needing to know. he's not being looked at as a witness, he's being looked as as

somebody who was involved in the misbehavior. we can't take it very far, but we can certainly take it that next step and i think that's pretty clear from these documents. >> so, bob, the big debate today was about the mar-a-lago search affidavit. we get that other document, but the affidavit itself. interesting that the judge says he is inclined to release the affidavit but a redacted version. he gives the doj a week to come back and say you better prepare for it to go this way, come with your suggested redactions, be ready. do you think this is the right call, bob? >> i think it probably is under the circumstances of this case. attorney general garland has already noted the important public interest in this matter. but i think the devil is going to be in what the department of justice actually proposes to be redacted. the most important thing to them is going to be redact anything that could reveal the identity of a witness, not just the name, but anything that could lead somebody to conclude that this

person was a witness. the second most important thing is going to be the information that could indicate where their next witnesses might be, where they might be going. so there's a real possibility that at the end of the day what we end up is a document that's full of holes and doesn't really tell you what's going on here. >> so, stephanie, trump and his allies have tried to downplay all of this by this claim. they said, whatever excuses they have given, they have eventually come to, okay, it's documents but he had a standing order to declassify them so whenever he went home elsewhere in the white house, it was automatically declassified. jamie gangel, sara murray, our team has made all these calls and they report that 18 former top trump administration officials say this is total nonsense, complete fiction, bullshit, those are their words, not mine. your reaction, stephanie? >> i feel like a broken record because i say this all the time.

but i wasn't surprised. this is another instance where the former president told a lie and many, many, many people with national security clearances and with big titles such as the two chiefs of staff have come back and said it's not true. but the problem is, trump has no reason not to lie. he is backed up by republican leadership, most of republican people in offense and a lot of people running for office. the rnc is backing him and he's fund-raising like crazy off of this so he's got no consequences to telling these lies, which, sorry, it's just the same story over and over and over again. >> bob, we end up in this situation, though, and it is unprecedented and it's not a precedent you want to change in terms of putting affidavits out. that's not now things are done. >> that's correct. >> one of the doj lawyers arguing against the affidavit coming out in any form, they say if we put this out, it is a road map to the investigation, could reveal witnesses, compromise this investigation and other high-profile investigations.

so, bob, the question for you is does that stand out to you or is this the go-to argument the doj would use in any case to keep this sealed. is this standard or special? >> no, i think it is signifies something in this case. go back to an earlier point that you made. it does sharpen a little bit the focus on the former president. we all know of instances which have been reported from there have been calls made to potential witnesses before the january 6th committee. we all know of instances where people who did testify were retaliated against. and so i think there's a realistic concern here not just a boilerplate, but a realistic concern that witnesses could be affected. if you know that your name may be released publicly, people will be less likely to come forward and tell the truth.

>> john, where are we? if they're going to release the affidavit and suggest the redactions that they say would, therefore, protect those witnesses and protect other investigations, the justice department has indicated that would be nothing, there would be a sea of black. there would be nothing to read except some prep ositions or something like that. what do you think it would look like? >> i think the judge wants to see what that looks like himself. if it's totally a black sheet that the department feels may be released, he may push them in private discussions. because they're talking about classified information and potentially high-profile witnesses, it will be done out of the sight of the public and the media, obviously. but i think he wants to see how far he can push this to get a better public understanding of what's going on. that's what his disposition appears to be. i'm not sure there is much.

i don't think -- they're not going to release highly classified information, national security or defense information, and they're not going to release witnesses. so it's never going to satisfy the media and their curiosity, but it may wet their whistle much more as a result of this drill. >> stephanie, you mentioned fund-raising. but that's what it's been. the fund-raising figures as we understand it, cnn learning that trump's pac got more than a million dollars a day after the fbi search for the first few days. dozens of emails have gone out to supporters about it, texts and every other republican signed up for those pac distribution lists, jim jordan, everybody else, have all been sending them out to fund raise. are you surprised at all this has been so successful? >> sadly, no. again, the broken record over here, not surprised. even having his attorney go and sit in the courtroom today and not actually say anything

officially to the court that they want the affidavit released, it is all about pr for them. it is all about fund-raising for them. it is about fact-finding. i believe they want the affidavit released so again they can try to figure out who near him is talking and also so they can start crafting their messages about how they're wrong, how this is corrupt, all of the things that he does every single day and he's quite successful at it, unfortunately, as we're seeing with the fund-raising. and again, all of the people backing him up. not one person, it is astounding to me, has said, well, maybe we take a minute and look at this. the guy is under investigation six different ways. >> it is pretty incredible. thank you all very much for your time. for your perspective tonight as we have this new information. and next, trump's former right-hand man at the trump org actually pleading guilty in his tax fraud case, 15 years of fraud and now he's preparing to testify. what does this mean for trump? plus stacey abrams running

for the governor of georgia and embracing joe biden while other democratic officials in her state are doing the opposite. abrams is outfront. and mitch mcconnell now hedging his bets on republicans dominating the senate races in november. >> i think the -- there's probably a greater likelihood the house flips than the senate. ♪(music: dance! by christian a medice, elisha noll)♪ ♪ are you ready? ♪ ♪ ahh yeah ♪ ♪ you're going out tonight ♪ ♪ dance ♪ ♪ get with the groove and ♪ ♪ dance ♪ ♪ get up and move let's ♪ ♪ dance♪ ♪ kick off your shoes and ♪ ♪ show me how you ♪

♪ dance ♪ so we need something super distinctive... dad's work, meet daughter's playtime. thankfully, meta portal auto pans and zooms to keep you in frame. and the meeting on track. meta portal. the smart video calling device that makes work from home work for you.

my active psoriatic arthritis can slow me down. now, skyrizi helps me get going by treating my skin and joints. along with significantly clearer skin, skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after two 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 is 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.

with skyrizi, there's nothing like the feeling of improving my skin and joints... ...and that means everything. now's the time to talk to your doctor about how skyrizi can help treat your psoriatic arthritis- so you can get going. learn how abbvie can help you save. new tonight, trump's former long-time right-hand man in the

trump organization pleading guilty to a 15-year tax fraud scheme, including $1.7 million in income. allen weisselberg who is said to know where all the financial bodies are buried in trump org admitting he got plenty of perks he didn't pay for, his apartment in manhattan, leases to two cars and private school tuitions. he will testify as a witness against the trump organization. he worked there more than 40 years. outfront now, david cay johnston. david, what is at stake for trump when weisselberg takes the stand in october? >> well, donald trump and allen weisselberg are stuck together like two pieces of fused glass. you shatter one, you're going to shatter the other. and since he knows about all the deceptive practices of the trump

organization, when the trump organization goes on trial, now scheduled for just a few days before the fall elections, he can give a road map under examination. now, i don't expect him to go out of his way to cooperate. he may even be treated as a hostile witness by the prosecution when they call him. >> and he's -- and i should be clear here. the requirement is that he's going to appear as a witness. you're pointing out that could be hostile. that's not the same as cooperating and flipping. in fact he is not doing that. over and over again we've heard from people in trump's orbit what you describe as diffused glass. listen to this. >> it's been his life. he's always -- he's always been saved by donald. >> he knows everything about donald. next to a family member and perhaps even more than a family member, he knows everything about donald. >> everything went through donald. you name it.

allen weisselberg's kids' payments, rents, everything, would have donald's signature on it or his initial. >> so, david, are you surprised weisselberg has not formally flipped on trump? >> no. and certainly not psychologically. i don't think that's possible. but the fact that he pled after his lawyers an trump's lawyers pooh-poohed these charges does suggest that they have something else on him. now, it may be threats to prosecute his two sons who also received these benefits that were not reported to the tax authorities. and by the way, we're not talking about a piddling sum here. if you're a worker at the median wage, you'd have to work 34 years to make $1.8 million -- 52 years, sorry. >> and you're talking about this went on for 15 years. look, he's going to testify, this is a trial about the trump

organization and, yes, that inevitably leads to trump. as michael cohen said, nothing happened that he wasn't involved with, but it's the trump organization formally on trial. what happens to the trump org, to the real estate company here when this is all said and done? >> well, it's possible in this case or the letitia james civil case that the trump organization at the top will be extinguished. donald can still own his properties but own them directly and the liability shield from having a corporation goes away. so something horrible happens, his liability personally goes way up. this is bad news for him. now that weisselberg has confessed that he's a thief, a felon, a serial felon, there may be difficulty with banks and trying to get any new financing. >> the guy was in charge going to the banks and admitted he was involved in tax fraud for 15 years. you've got an important point there.

david, thank you so much. i appreciate it. next, georgia's criminal investigation into trump's efforts to overturn the election ramping up tonight. stacey abrams weighs in next. was all the talk of republicans winning back the senate just totally premature? well, our data expert, harry enton, is outfront and he's got the numbers.

the citi custom cash℠ card automatically adjusts to earn you more cash back in your top eligible spend category. hi. ♪ you don't have to keep tabs on rotating categories... this is the only rotating i care about. ... or activate anything to earn. your cash back automatically adjusts for you. can i get a cucumber water? earn 5% cash back that automatically adjusts to your top eligible spend category, up to $500 spent each billing cycle with the citi custom cash℠ card. i love it... [voice vibrating] so, i'm a beach side hotel. as you can see, i'm pretty relaxed. i uh don't mean to brag, but i do have multiple pools. i'm looking for someone who likes sand and sun. active types are cool. i know a lot of fun spots. if you have kids, great. i'm great with kids. and uh yeah that's me, a beach side hotel. ♪ ♪

i'd like to thank our sponsor liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. contestants ready? go! only pay for what you need. jingle: liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. it's 5:00 a.m., and i feel like i can do anything. we've been coming here, since 1868. there's a lot of cushy desk jobs out there, but this is my happy place. there are millions of ways to make the most of your land. learn more at deere.com through the endless reasons to stop... through the challenges, the hurt, the doubt, the pain. no matter what, we go on. biofreeze.

with xfinity internet, you get advanced security that helps protect you at home and on the go. you feel so safe, it's as if... i don't know... evander holyfield has your back. i wouldn't click on that. hey, thanks! we got a muffin for ed! all right! you don't need those calories. can we at least split it? nope. advanced security that helps protect your devices in and out of the home. i mean, can i have a bite? only from xfinity. nah. unbeatable internet. made to do anything so you can do anything.

tonight a georgia judge setting a date a week from today to consider governor brian kemp's request to throw out a subpoena in a criminal investigation related to former president trump. this is the investigation by fulton county district attorney fani willis looking into trump's

attempts to overturn georgia's election. in a court filing, kemp's lawyers detailing the multiple attempts by kemp to voluntarily cooperate with the ongoing investigation and accusing willis of playing politics. they call the timing of the subpoena, quote, an effort to politicize the investigation against the governor in the final sprint of the 2022 election cycle. now, kemp refused trump's efforts to overturn georgia's election and could be a key witness in this investigation. i want to go outfront to stacey abrams, kemp's democratic opponent in the governor race and the former minority leader of georgia's house of representatives. leader abrams, governor kemp says the fulton county d.a. is playing politics with this subpoena and doing it to help your campaign. what do you say to him? >> i think once again brian kemp to wants to take credit but doesn't want to take responsibility. he has coasted on this notion that he is an anti-trump moderate, but we know that he has described himself as a trump conservative, that he is seeking donald trump's endorsement for

this race, that he welcomes it, and that this subpoena has been outstanding -- or this request for him to testify has been ongoing for months. he has had time to do this. and if he doesn't have time to show up to testify, he must not have time to go and raise money or do anything else. if he is as concerned about the state of our democracy and he would hope people would think he is, he would show up for this incredibly important subpoena and provide testimony in a timely manner. >> his lawyers say the fulton county prosecutors had an agreement but they rescinded it. that was to lay out in advance the topics kemp would be asked about before the grand jury and they rescinded it and cancelled a voluntary interview and went ahead and subpoenaed him. if that's really what happened, would you testify under those conditions if you were in his shoes? >> first, i do not actually believe the -- if you look at the emails that have been released about the back and forth and having dealt with the

kemp administration, i would actually put my faith more in the fulton county d.a.'s office. i know that this has been a meticulous and very thoughtful investigation and that he is not the only republican who's tried to skirt his responsibility to provide information. rudy giuliani has tried it, lindsey graham has tried it, brian kemp is trying it. the reality is brian kemp wants to win this election under the pretext that he is knonot a tru conservative and you can tell that from his hard right policies to the voter suppression laws he signed after january 6th. he is a trump skaeconservative is afraid if he shows up to of testify, the country will know it. >> trump pressured him to do it and kemp didn't do it. he certified the election four separate times for biden.

when push came to shove, didn't he ultimately do the right thing? >> let's be clear, he agreed to certify the election and, yes, i am proud that he did not commit treason. however, he also then pushed through one of the most aggressive voter suppressive laws that we've seen in recent years and it was entirely based on the big lie that there had been mismanagement and poor action in the election. he used the trump lie to justify a voter suppression law. moreover, he said himself that he changed the laws in the state of georgia regarding voting because he was frustrated by the results of 2020 and 2021. yes, brian kemp gets to cross the very low bar are not committing treason. but our bar for democracy should be higher. he should not only agree to certify the election as was his job but he should show up and tell the truth about what happened. if he truly believes that donald trump did something wrong, then now is the time to say it. i'm not certain what he would be

hiding from america, from georgia, by waiting until after the election to tell the truth. if he could tell the truth before, he should be able to tell the truth now. >> so let me ask you about the investigation yourself. you've talked about it as being run meticulously and obviously you know it has come under some scrutiny. that's because the district attorney, fani willis, has been rebuked by a judge. the judge blocked her from investigating republican senator bert jones. he was one of the fake electors involved to subvert georgia's election. he is now the nominee and willis hosted something for his democratic opponent. how much did that damage her credibility to host a political fund-raiser? >> i can't speak to why she chose to do that, but i can tell you that brian kemp has not only lauded bert jones, one of the fake electors, he has also reappointed another fake elector

to a very important appointed office. that he has subborned those who have used the big lie to justify their actions. so while i understand the concerns that have been raised, we have to focus on who's actually responsible and who is in charge. brian kemp is a dangerous extremist who has tried to hide himself behind one good action, and he has distracted the rest of us or certainly distracted most of america from looking at his actual record. he is trying to play both moderate and maga but he is just extreme. he wants credit standing up to trump but is refusing to testify to tell the truth. i encourage people to go to stacey abrams.com -- >> i understand your point. i understand your point. ultimately, look, there were plenty of people running for office, whether for governor, secretaries of state who said they would not do what brian kemp did. they would not certify the election and they would have done what donalpresident trump wanted. what he did, it is no small thing in the world that we live

in now, is it? >> it is an important thing to do your job. and i am not diminishing the fact that he did his job. but i would not lionize someone for not committing treason. if we have lowered our standards so much that not doing wrong is the only metric, that is deeply problematic, especially when the person in question, brian kemp, has a long and unfortunate history of voter suppression, of not only supporting donald trump, but seeking his endorsement and his support even today. he has not rebuked trump. he has not rebuked his bad behavior. he's simply hoping no one pays attention and that is not heroic. that is self-interested, hubristic and wrong for the voters of georgia. >> i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> absolutely. thank you. >> we did invite governor kemp to come on the show tonight. his office said he was unavailable. i do hope he'll come on because he is welcome on this show any time. outfront next, republican

senate candidates tonight struggling to get the upper hand against their democratic noents pennsylvania, ohio, georgia and arizona. the list goes on. harry enton, the data expert, is next with the numbers. and the little league world series player who fractured his skull after falling from a bunk bed is kbrimproving tonight. his doctor is outfront. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensu, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitaminsnd minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ it's time for the biggest sale of the year, on the sleep number 360 smart bed. why choose proven quality sleep from sleep number? because proven quality sleep is vital to our health and wellness, only the sleep number 360 smart bed keeps you cool, then senses and effortlessly adjusts for your best sleep. and tells you exactly how well you slept. your sleepiq score.

our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. so, you can be your best for yourself and those you care about most. and now, all smart beds are on sale. save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. only for a limited time. people with plaque psoriasis, or psoriatic arthritis, are rethinking the choices they make. like the splash they create. the way they exaggerate. or the surprises they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis, you can achieve clearer skin with otezla. for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla can cause serious allergic reactions. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression

or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you.

californians have a choice between two initiatives on sports betting. prop 27 generates hundreds of millions every year to permanently fund getting people off the streets a prop 26? not a dime to solve homelessness prop 27 has strong protections to prevent minors from betting. prop 26? no protections for minors. prop 27 helps every tribe, including disadvantaged tribes. prop 26? nothing for disadvantaged tribes vote yes on 27.

tonight mitch mcconnell downplaying chances of republicans winning back the senate, which looked almost like a foregone conclusion just a few months ago. >> i think there's probably a greater likelihood the house fl flips. the senate candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome. >> several republican senate candidates are struggling right now to get an upper hand, including memet oz, herschel walker and j.d. vance. even republican in incumbent ro johnson is seven points behind his democratic challenger. this is not what everybody said

was going to happen 30 days ago, 60 days ago. harry enton is cnn data reporter and with me now. harry, the landscape has changed pretty dramatically, at least people's perception of the landscape. where do things stand? >> yeah, i must admit, erin, i am surprised at where things stand. you look at key races like in arizona, in ohio, in pennsylvania, in wisconsin, what do you see in these races, in georgia? you see the democrats ahead in arizona. a new fox news poll out last hour, plus 8 points. georgia, again, democrats up 3 points. ohio. you do see that j.d. vance is ahead but barely ahead. pennsylvania, fetterman up 10, wisconsin up 4, barnes in an average of recent polls. this is not where i thought things were and it speaks to a shifting tide towards the democrats that we've seen nationally. biden's approval rating is up and now we're also seeing in senate races as well. >> which is very significant and mcconnell says something.

he's always careful with what he says and it's always very evenly delivered. but he said something important. he said candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome. and on those races you see there, those are the candidates people point to for exactly that issue. >> that's exactly right. just go to pennsylvania, for example. mehmet oz, 20 points underwater on his favorability. in georgia, her sschel walker, minus 5 points. arizona, blake masters, 4 points underwater. and you see that in all those races that we mentioned where the democrats are ahead, the net favorability of the different republicans is underwater. their unfavorable ratings are higher than favorable ratings. this is a long-standing problem with republicans. we saw it in 2010 as well. they blew it then because they nominated bad candidates in the minds of the voters. >> you've got johnson an incumbent, but oz that was

completely discretionary. that was their choice. walker, completely discretionary, that's their choice. >> and in a lot of those cases, who was the man who got those candidates over the finish line? the former president donald trump who went in and endorsed mehmet oz, for example. because of trump's endorsement he barely got oz over the finish line in pennsylvania. >> president biden's approval rating does remain low, it's still bad. the latest cnn poll has him at 38%. i understand direction matters. what is more important here for democrats, the level or the direction? >> i might argue that while they're both important, the thing that's most interesting to me if you go back over time and say let's look at the senate races or the senate years in which the incumbent, the white house party did not in fact lose any seats or in fact gain seats and look at the president's approval rating in those years, we don't actually see that much of a relationship. >> that's amazing. >> you look at 1982, for example, ronald reagan was not anywhere close to 50%.

in fact republicans held their grounding. you look just four years ago, donald trump was well underwater. what happened? republicans actually gained two senate seats. there are years where the president's approval rating is high and the white house party holds or gains seats, but the relationship is not as straight as you might expect it to be. at this point even though biden's approval rating is low, it's not shocking to me that democrats are not only holding their grounding but if the election is held today, they might gain some seats. >> harry, thank you very much. he knows the numbers better than anyone. >> i try. next, a little league world series player who fell from a dormitory bunk bed and cracked his skull, what is his condition and are other children in danger? the doctor treating him is outfront. and have you ever gotten a call like this? >> hi there, this is jessica calling in regards to your volkswagen warranty. >> well, did you know americans have received more than 8 billion spam calls just like that one? and a new lawsuit points to two

california men, two, who are allegedly behind them all. ♪ b, living it up ♪ ♪ never touch ground, never enough ♪ ♪ gotot me feeling good vibes ♪ ♪ everything's everything's good vibes, good vibes ♪ new astepro allergy. now available without a prescription. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid free spray. while other allergy sprays take hours astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can... astepro and go.

time. it's life's most precious commodity, especially when you have metastatic breast cancer. when your time is threatened, it's hard to invest in your future. until now. kisqali is helping women live longer than ever before when taken with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant... in hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's proven to delay disease progression. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain... a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. your future is ahead of you, so it's time to make the most of it with kisqali. because when you invest in yourself, everyone gets the best of you.

before treating your chronic migraine— 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more you're not the only one with questions about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start—with about 10 minutes of treatment once every 3 months. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you, and if a sample is available. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. in a survey, 92% of current users said they wish they'd talked to their doctor and started botox® sooner. plus, right now, you may pay zero dollars for botox®. learn how abbvie could help you save on botox®.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ "shake your thang" by salt n pepa we have an update on the 12-year-old boy we told you

about last night who fractured his skull and was in critical condition after falling from a bunk bed in the little league world series. easton oliverson's family says he is moved out of the icu and is in a regular hospital again. it's a positive update. it comes as his teammates are preparing for their gfirst game tomorrow. his younger brother will take his place on the team. outfront is the chair of the pediatrics at the hospital where easton has been treated and he has been involved in his care. doctor, i really appreciate your time. easton's family just posted some pictures on easton on instagram of easton at the hospital. these are hard to look at but i know that he is getting better. what is the latest on his recovery tonight? >> well, easton continues his recovery and he actually continues it in a fairly remarkable manner. it's been far more accelerated than we would have predicted, considering the degree of his injury and his initial

presentation. so we're thrilled. you know, he still has some hurdles, but he's moving out of the icu -- he moved out of the icu today which is a great moment of progress for the family to see him out of the icu and in a regular ward bed so it's been tremendous. it's been really, really encourag encouraging. >> are you surprised by how quickly he's progressed? it sounds pretty incredible. >> yeah. i think there's not one of us who's not surprised. i think that it was fortunate to be part of the team that admitted him very early in the morning on sunday, sunday into monday. you know, epidural hematomas can presenting in a variety of ways. a lot of the kids actually presenting more on the mild side. i will tell you that easton presented far more in extremus

and had some concerning features that perhaps did not bode well for his prognosis and certainly would not have been consistent with this degree of recovery, which again we are all just very appreciative of the team's effort to get him here. but certainly we are all somewhat surprised that he's done this well this quickly. >> we know it's miraculous and it's wonderful news. we know there's still a road ahead. but big positive developments tonight. the reality, doctor, is a lot of parents look at this and are really worried. a 12-year-old kid falls out of a bunk bed at camp and ends up in a medically induced coma with a fractured skull. how common is this? kids everywhere have bunk beds. what should parents be thinking here? >> so i have five children of my own and my boys had bunk beds but we were very careful about

the manner in which we put the bunk beds in. there are some important regulations that i think parents should make certain that the bunk bed they're using is in compliance with the consumer product safety guidelines. there's a commission that actually looked at bunk beds. so there are a lot of injuries, even in bunk beds that have the appropriate safety issues addressed. but the vast majority of the injuries are minor, so the american academy of pediatrics has reported over 30,000 or so bunk bed injuries a year. the vast majority of minor contusions and lacerations, occasionally a fracture. but there are the potential for serious injuries, especially in those bunk beds that don't have the safety mechanisms and are not compliant. so we're worried about those situations where we're not maximizing the safety of those bunk beds. >> and a finl question, doctor.

you talk about the mir rack -- miraculous recovery thus far. i understand that he is expected to make a near-complete recovery. that means that fully in terms of his brain and his head he's going to come back basically the way he was. it's pretty incredible. >> again, i would share your description, incredible, and remarkable as far as the weight of recovery. we did some follow-up imaging after the decompression by our neurosurgeon here who did a fabulous job. the mri really is very, very encouraging. we don't see any residual injury. again, that's an image, an important image, but what's really most important is easton and to follow him closely to make absolutely certain that his recovery is up in every possible way. >> doctor, thank you so much. i appreciate your time and easton's family for being

willing to let you share this. so far, knock on wood, good news with everyone. thank you. >> thank you. next, officials are cracking down on two california men who are allegedly behind billions, billions of robo calls. we fit your standards, with no-compromise quality and a lifetime guarantee. bath fitter.r. it just fits. visit bathfitter.com to book your free e consultation. if you have age-related macular degeneration, there's only so much time before it can lead to blindness. but the areds 2 clinical study showed that a specific nutrient formula can help reduce e risk of dry amd progression. ask your doctor now about an areds 2 supplent. moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day, that's effective

without topical steroids. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. plus, they felt fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin cancer, death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least one heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq, as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. disrupt the itch and rash of eczema. talk to your doctor about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... the burning, itching. the pain. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections

and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®. ask your doctor about tremfya® today. wanna help kids get their homework done? well, an internet connection's a good start.

but kids also need computers. and sometimes the hardest thing about homework is finding a place to do it. so why not hook community centers up with wifi? for kids like us, and all the amazing things we're gonna learn. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities.

tonight, cracking down on illegal robo calls. cnn learning that two people in california are the alleged masterminds behind 8 billion spam calls about car warranties. spam calls that i think it's safe to say we've all received. now authorities are closer to shutting down the whole scheme. gabe cohen is outfront. >> hi there, this is jessica calling in regards to your volkswagen warranty. >> reporter: odds are you've received a bogus auto warranty call similar to this. >> the warranty is up for renewal. >> reporter: authorities are cracking down on a scheme the fcc calls the most sophisticated robo call operation they have ever seen. more than 8 billion spam calls to americans. a new lawsuit claims two california men are behind nearly all of it.

aaron michael jones and roy cox jr. are accused of violating telemarketing laws by tricking americans into buying vehicle service contracts and making millions of dollars off the scam. cnn tried to track them down. dozens of calls, texts and emails, but no response. both cox and jones have been sued by the federal trade commission in the past and ordered never to telemarket again. and yet like many robo call scammers, they're accused of just retooling their operation. >> we're coming in to try to take them down. >> reporter: so now ohio attorney general dave yost is suing cox, jones and their associates potentially for millions of dollars. >> this is enough to take back everything they have made. if a slap on the wrist doesn't work, punch them in the face and knock them down. >> did you consider criminal charges here? >> criminal charges are not off the table. >> reporter: yost is part of a new anti-robo call task force.

attorneys general from nearly every state working with federal officials to ramp up a legal robo call enforcement. in 2021, americans received an estimated 21 billion scam robo calls costing them nearly $40 billion in a 12-month period. >> it's usually very hard to find the callers. all of these unwanted robo calls are undermining the value of our telephone system. >> most of the calls come from overseas, and tracing them is a fairly new technology. so up to now, authorities have struggled to stop them and the callers that do get caught often go right back to scamming, according to an fcc official. so authorities are turning attention to the gateway providers, the telecom companies that let those robo calls onto the u.s. phone network. >> specifically those we believe that may be turning a blind eye to these kind of calling scams. >> if there are not this tier of providers who are willing to

take this bad traffic, then the robo callers will find themself with no place to place their calls. >> reporter: in july, the fcc ordered all telecom companies to block all robo calls from cox, jones and eight voice service providers they say are linked to the scheme. since then, those calls have nearly vanished, according to a robo call analysis company. do you think you can really stop these scammers? >> i think we can significantly decrease it. >> reporter: how long will that take? >> years, not months. it's an arms race between the enforcers and the criminals. but we're getting smarter and we're on to their ways. >> reporter: so illegal robo calls are trending downward, although now text schemes are on the rise. erin, look, the ohio case is a good example of the added attention that robo calls are getting from authorities and in this case these auto warranty calls are down to nearly zero. so it does look like that

enforcement strategy is working, even though consumer advocates say much more needs to be done, especially, erin, with telemarketing laws. >> pretty amazing because when you -- as i'm watching your report, i was realizing i haven't gotten that auto warranty call in a while so maybe we can all notice that it really is working what they're doing. thanks for that report, gabe. and thanks to all of you. time for anderson. good evening. we are one step closer to knowing what the government's criminal case may be against the former president and we may be closer still because the former judge who signed off on the search warrant signalled his intention to make at least portions public in support of it. he unsealed a number of documents and we'll have details in just a moment. also ahead, what some of the former president's top white house officials make of his claim that he had a standing policy of declassifying documents by default. and there's also new