CNN Political Briefing
Join CNN Political Director David Chalian as he guides you through our ever-changing political landscape. Every week, David and a guest take you inside the latest developments with insight and analysis from the key players in politics.
Episodes
April 19, 2024 • 23 mins
This week, the first of four expected criminal trials involving former President Donald Trump began in Manhattan. And for the first time in United States history, a former president is now a defendant in a criminal trial. CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen was in the courtroom. He joins CNN Political Director David Chalian to share his analysis of not only this case, but also this week’s Supreme Court oral arguments on the January 6 obst...
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April 12, 2024 • 23 mins
Both President Biden and former President Trump have recently raised mammoth amounts of money at two individual fundraising events. And while Biden is still the fundraising frontrunner, Trump’s team reports he raised a record-breaking $50 million at a single fundraiser in Palm Beach last weekend. Could Trump regain the lead in the race for campaign cash? And how much does money matter? CNN Politics national writer Fredreka Schouten...
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April 5, 2024 • 22 mins
Abortion remains one of the most contentious and polarizing 2024 election issues – and will likely play a critical role in the outcome in November. But can it be the silver bullet Democrats are hoping to make it? Mary Ziegler is one of the world's leading historians of the abortion debate, and has written several books, including ‘After Roe, The Lost History of the Abortion Debate.’ She joins CNN Political Director David Chalian fo...
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March 29, 2024 • 24 mins
This year’s presidential election may be a rematch, but President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump aren’t the only options. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running as an independent, and just this week announced his pick for vice president. Kennedy has never held public office before, and yet, his message seems to appeal to an unexpectedly large audience. Lee Drutman, senior fellow in the political reform program at New America...
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March 22, 2024 • 22 mins
Who would have thought that TikTok could quickly become an election issue? Last week, the U.S. House voted with bipartisan support in favor of a bill that could ban the popular app. The White House says President Joe Biden is prepared to sign it, but some strategists worry the move could alienate young voters. “This is one of the most scrambled, political situations that I think we have seen this cycle. It's truly bizarre,” says Fo...
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March 15, 2024 • 25 mins
Disinformation is one the biggest challenges of modern politics – especially in campaigning. How can candidates spread their message if almost anyone can distort it? Journalist Sasha Issenberg’s new book “The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age” dives deep into this topic. He joins CNN Political Director David Chalian to discuss what he's learned about the people fighting fake new...
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March 8, 2024 • 22 mins
Super Tuesday brought some excitement to this year’s election cycle, with a lot of consequential downballot races. House Republicans are hoping to keep their slight margin, where Democrats only need a net gain of four seats to regain control of the chamber. Senate Democrats, however, are facing an extremely tough map, with Republicans well positioned to win the majority.
Cook Political Report’s Erin Covey and Jess Taylor cover H...
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March 1, 2024 • 18 mins
Former president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden won big at their respective Michigan primaries, as predicted. But the key swing state had some surprises in store, with about 100,000 people casting protest votes over Biden’s policies on the Israel/Gaza war. Michigan is a hub of Arab and Muslim Americans and could be crucial to winning the presidency. Ashely Allison, CEO of the Turner Conoly Group and former White House senior ...
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February 23, 2024 • 25 mins
Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe is a major democratic fundraiser and a top cheerleader for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. He says support will coalesce around Biden once Trump is officially the nominee. He joins CNN Political Director David Chalian to talk about selling voters on Biden and what it’s like inside the Democratic party right now.
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February 16, 2024 • 21 mins
It’s been a huge week for immigration politics with the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Tom Suozzi’s special election win, and the failure of a big border bill. What does it all mean, both for voters and for the presidential candidates? CNN White House reporter Priscilla Alvarez and CNN Political Director David Chalian untangle the meaning and impact of recent events on today’s episode of the podcast....
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February 9, 2024 • 25 mins
This week the Supreme Court heard a landmark case about whether former president and current Republican front-runner Donald Trump should be allowed on the ballot this year. The state of Colorado argued that his role in the January 6, 2021 insurrection makes him ineligible, but Trump’s lawyers attempted to convince the court that one state cannot disqualify a presidential candidate under the 14th amendment to the Constitution. CNN S...
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February 2, 2024 • 21 mins
It's hard to know who to trust in politics these days. Can we even trust ourselves? Artificial intelligence has already made its presence felt in this year’s election, from AI-generated ads to fake Biden robocalls, and it can be very hard to tell what’s real. Nicole Gill founded Accountable Tech four years ago to monitor AI’s increasing impact on politics. She talks to CNN Political Director David Chalian about the biggest threats ...
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January 26, 2024 • 21 mins
President Joe Biden has been the likely Democratic presidential nominee since he announced his decision to run for reelection. So why are Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and spiritual leader Marianne Williamson running against him? Has a challenger ever beaten an incumbent? Writer and political scientist Walter Shapiro joins CNN Political Director David Chalian to talk about historical similarities, and how quickly this election becam...
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January 19, 2024 • 24 mins
Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is hoping for a big momentum boost in New Hampshire after placing third in Iowa. Former President Donald Trump is turning up the intensity of his attacks on Haley in hopes of countering the momentum she seeks. Can Haley slow Trump’s roll to the nomination? Post and Courier senior politics reporter Caitlin Byrd talks to CNN Political Director David Chalian about how Haley’s background influ...
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January 12, 2024 • 22 mins
What does it take to organize the Iowa caucuses? Could former president Donald Trump achieve a record-breaking win? Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann has been doing this for over a decade and knows to prepare for every possibility. He talks to CNN Political Director David Chalian about training thousands of volunteers for Monday’s big event and how there can be “no questioning of these results.”
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January 5, 2024 • 23 mins
If election workers find their system has been hacked, what happens next? What does it mean to cure a ballot? And how will a crop of newcomers to the administration of elections handle this contentious election season? Jessica Huseman is editorial director of Votebeat and she’s here to discuss the efforts underway to protect the 2024 election and some of the new tools that will help this cycle.
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December 15, 2023 • 27 mins
What will it take to win the youth vote in 2024? John Della Volpe, director of polling at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, recently led a survey of voters between the ages of 18 and 29. He discovered that fewer of them are planning on voting this time than in the last election cycle. CNN Political Director David Chalian talks to him about other surprising finds, and how this year’s candidates might persuade young p...
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December 8, 2023 • 24 mins
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie isn’t sure if he’d be running for president if it weren’t for Donald Trump’s attempt to win back the White House. He says he is the only candidate who can beat Trump because he is the only candidate trying to do so. Christie joins CNN Political Director David Chalian to analyze the 2024 state of play and lay out his strategy for victory.
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December 1, 2023 • 20 mins
A recent New York Times focus group of 12 Democrats found voters were split on what the party stands for, and who their next leader should be. What is the value of this kind of data? And what do these results tell us about President Biden’s efforts to unify his party behind his reelection campaign? CNN Political Director David Chalian asks Margie Omero, a veteran pollster who moderated the focus group, for her take. Plus, she pulls...
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November 24, 2023 • 26 mins
CNN Political Briefing is off for Thanksgiving this week, so we are sharing an episode of The Assignment with Audie Cornish. In this episode, David Chalian and Audie Cornish talk about covering this tumultuous political moment, the role of the media as truth tellers, and David’s surprising college major. We’ll be back next week with a new episode. In the meantime, you can find The Assignment wherever you get your podcasts.
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