Transcripts For FOXNEWS America Reports 20240907

She ended Donald Trump to remain in Mexico Policy and she reimplemented the Catch And Release disaster that allows a lot of illegal aliens to commit fraud on our asylum system. We want to go to war with the mexican drug cartels. We want to close down The American Southern Border. We want to reinstitute deportations, and we want to stop the insanity at the Southern Border. That from Vice President ial nominee j. D. Vance, just momentg Vice President Kamala Harris Record as the Border Czar during his mortised up in california for the crisis a major national Security Threat here in the u. S. Law enforcement now morning the dangerous Venice Livein dumb academic venezuelan Prison Gang is ramping up activity in some R Biggt cities. We have been reporting on it quite some time. Welcome, everyone. Im Sandra Smith Sandra Smith New York. John it keeps getting worse, sandra. I am John Roberts in washington. This is America Reports. This time last week, we brought you this frightening Doorbell Video from a Colorado Apartment Complex showing a group of armed men fought to be part of a gang, forcing their way into someones home. Sandra police confirming at least four men arrested are known or suspected Gang Members, and we are now learning all of them were let go into the u. S. After crossing over the border illegally. John Fox Team Coverage starts now. Well get reaction from former Secretary Of State mike pompeo, Gillian Turner is here on how mexicos new policy may make it easier for cartels to operate. Sandra but first lets get right to Bill Melugin, live in Los Angeles on those arrests. What do we know, bill . Well, sandra, i can tell you, over the last two years during this border crisis, i have heard from Border Patrol agents over and over and over, just pure frustration with the fact that they have often had to massrelease men from All Around The World who they often have no way of really venting these guys. Now we have this venezuelan Prison Gang essentially setting up shop in multiple cities across the u. S. Police in aurora, colorado, announced the four suspects they arrested in connection to an attempted murder shooting back in july are all known or suspected Tren De Aragua Gang Members, and p16 confirmed to Fox Last Night that all four at these guys were caught and released at the Texas Border by the biden administration in 2022 and 2023. That was around the same time the administration was repeatedly insisting the border was closed and secure. Also in aurora, in a totally separate event, you just mention it, the suspected Tren De Aragua Gang Members were seen in a now viral video armed with guns while trying to break down a door in an Apartment Complex they had reportedly taken over. Meanwhile, over in texas, Dallas Police are confirming to Fox News that they are now seeing these Gang Members, as well. Telling fox in part, weve had Gang Activity in the North Dallas area linked to the Tren De Aragua gang from venezuela. Our department is collaborating with other agencies to address possible crimes linked to this and other gangs in our city. Tren De Aragua has already been established and they have had presence in new York City and chicago. They have already been tied to violent crimes in those cities. That would include the shooting of two nypd officers back in june. And back out here live, according to cbp data, more than half A Million venezuelans have crossed the Southern Border illegally during president biden presidency. The Bottom Line is the massive majority of them are not going anywhere. Venezuela generally does not cooperate with the u. S. When it comes to deportations, and just last Year President biden gave temporary protected status to hundreds of thousands of venezuelans, which protects them from deportation. Will send it back to you. Sandra Bill Melugin with the latest on that for us. Thank you. John . John now this, sandra. Mexico pushing ahead with a sweeping overhaul of its judicial system, a move that would effectively make every single judge in that country have to stand for election. Now there are fears that cartels could benefit from those reforms. Gillian turner live at the State Department unravels all of this for us. Gillian . Hi, john. It turns out the biden administration right now is in a major feud with the mexican government. It comes after the Mexican Lower Congress passed this bill thats about to be approved by the entire body. The u. S. Officials say it will make corruption in mexico worse and is going to embolden the cartels, whose crimes, as bill just laid out in his report, a right now spilling across the u. S. Southern border. Take a look at this. The Judicial Reform was put forward by the outgoing president , president obrador, and his party. Its going to make all mexican judges elected now by popular vote. Opobrador claims it would improe crime, the top officials say that is dead wrong. This put out by the u. S. Ambassador, ken salazar. I believe popular direct election of judges is a major risk to the functioning of mexicos democracy. It would also make it easier for cartels and other bad actors to take advantage of politically motivated and inexperienced judges. Right now obrador is taking to the airwaves to publicly Rail And Rant against the u. S. Ambassador. Take a listen. [speaking spanish] interpreter how are we going to allow the ambassador . This is not about animosities, but how do we allow him to give his opinion that what we are doing is wrong . We are not going to tell him to leave the country. Not that, but we do have to read the constitution. Mexican citizens, though, also appear to disagree with obrador. His move is now a sparking Mass Scale protests that have been directing across the nation for weeks. The mexican president himself is so enraged right now that he has put a temporary pause on all diplomatic relations between the u. S. And mexico. Timing could not be worse. It comes as illegal immigration from that country, deadly fentanyl, and Cartel Gang Violence is terrorizing more americans than ever before. John its a time to have good but strong relations, no question about that. Gillian turner, thank you. Sandra lets bring in mike pompeo, former Secretary Of State and a Fox News contributor. Looking forward to having you on today. Thank you for being here. We are throwing around games in this country like its normal now. Tren De Aragua, tda. Wendy to become normal to have the largest criminal organization in venezuela running around in our most populous cities . I go back to the first time we identified this gang on the ground in the u. S. With chicago last year. Now we know New York, dallas, denver. Whats next . Sandra, john, its great to be with you. This is another Bungled Mass By Vice President harris and the Biden Administra Havknown for ty of their time that we have a wide open Southern Border. They have lied to The American people, saying The American border is secure. That is patently false. You can see the video, believe your own eyes. Now we see the results. A failed relationship with the mexican government, the results of these venezuelan criminals running amok in control of Apartment Buildings across the united states of america. And the risk of terror, the risk on half A Million people thats the size ofhom, kansas, one half A Million people come across the board in the course of three years, and you have no idea the we, and you kny came from an authoritarian state like the nation of venezuela, that is highly risky. This will end very badly and Vice President harris is personally responsible for this Field Set of policies. Sandra it is interesting you said that. In my investigation of this gang and comparing it to some other gangs we have reported on over the years, and spoken to you about along The Way obviously ms13 and Others Something different about this gang is they are not covered in tattoos. It may seem minor at first, but when we reported on the ms13 gangs, they were very identifiable. They all had specific tattoos to identify them. Thats different with this gang, right . We are noticing that is not part of their membership. What else can you tell us about who these guys are . These groups are armed, they are deeply tied to the maduro regime, in some cases acting on its behalf. They have the capacity to have real wealth, money flowing into venezuela, and these criminal organizations that are conducting exactly what we think about terror and jihadis and cartels as separate threats. They are acting exactly like The Act when they infiltrate countries like ours. Their physical manifestations on the ground are very different from what we saw with ms13 and other gangs. Its going to be a bear to find these folks and even harder to deport them. The fact that we failed to stop them at our front gate, to stop them at the border, and we have allowed them in, and now, as you have described, have provided protections for some of these immigrants to come here protected status, it is absolutely nuts, sandra. And it is highly risky, whether it is drugs or weapons or crime or terrorizing citizens and our biggest cities. This is something the next administration is going to have to deal with. If Vice President harris is in charge, this will get dramatically worse over the next four years. Sandra and he would be remiss to say, i dont live in one of the cities that is welcoming in these migrants. Case in point, denver, which does designate itself a sanctuary city, that did say all are welcome and welcomed in a lot of these migrants. Aurora is next door. It doesnt share the same politics. The mayor joined us and basically said, this is the result of that spilling over into aurora. This was the mayor earlier. Listen. Denver has historically been a sanctuary city. Aurora has not. Thats why we took the position, again, we were not going to expend any public dollars on this migrant crisis. We did everything we could to, quite frankly, keep them out of the city, because it is not our problem. This is a federal problem. Somehow we got sucked into this, and we are a victim. Sandra because, guess what . They are right next door. So this greatly affects them and all of a residence. Now to the politics of the moment mr. Secretary, i think we got some breaking news. We will have you back on soon. Thank you very much for joining us. Appreciate your time. Thank you. John always good to see the secretary. This is breaking news coming from the new York City courts. Judge juan merchan, the Presiding Judge over former President Trumps socalled hush Money Case, has made a determination that he is not going to go ahead with the September 18 Sentencing Date for the former president , that it will be delayed until after the election. This had been a really fraught decision for this judge because people had observed that, if he had gone ahead with the sentencing, the former president could have accused him of meddling in an election. And if he decided to delay the sentencing until after the election, No Doubt he would get hit by a lot of accusations that he was acting in Donald Trumps political interests as opposed to in the interest of justice. But the breaking news coming to us just a couple minutes ago, judge juan merchan, the Presiding Judge in the socalled hush Money Case with stormy daniels, has decided to delay the sentencing for the former president until after the november election. This is a Big Decision, sandra. Sandra the implications of the timing is huge considering the upcoming election, november 26. Many days and weeks after election day. This just in, we are going to get Brandy Reaction shortly. We are talking about the judge overseeing Fo Former president Donald Trump hush money trial. This is obviously taking Center Stage to many other cases we have been watching this week, but the sentencing now, john, delayed to november 26th, as we learn brandnew details. John the former president was speaking to this just a little while ago in his new York City Trump Tower headquarters, saying that this was a deal that there was nothing wrong with it legally. Dont forget, the Manhattan District attorney decided to bootstrap that case, which would have been a misdemeanor, to the commission, or possible commission, of a federal crime. Election interference, or at least affecting the outcome of an election. And turn that into a felony. In doing that, he got around the statute of limitations, and the jury came back with a verdict that the former president was guilty on all counts. But he will not we are not going to learn about the penalty that will be imposed in this case, if a penalty is imposed at all, until sometime after the election. If the former president wins the election, sandra, that could potentially change the outcome of literally everything. Sandra if youre just tuning in now, we just got word that the judge in his hush Money Case has delayed former president Donald Trump hush Money Sentencing until after the election. You can see the date on your screen is november 26th. John, just looking at the Court Document here and making my way through it to see if theres any further details that would be pertinent, that obviously the news is that this will be happening after the election. John, there will obviously be political Debate And Conversation around this in the coming days and weeks. John yeah, theres no question. Again, as i said, the decision by the judge was fraught, and hes probably going to face criticism no matter what decision he made. Again, if you decided to go ahead with the sentencing, and even sentenced former President Trump to Jail Time, which a lot of people thought would be the outcome of this, then there would be a great cry from the Trump Campaign and his supporters that this was the judicial system interfering in politics. But if he waited, he would probably get a lot of criticism from democrats, saying, wait a second, this was supposed to be examining the rule of law, and carrying out the rule of law, not taking into consideration the political fortunes of a president ial candidate. Sandra joining is now by phone is Jonathan Turley. Jonathan, jump on in here on the breaking news, as the former president , as we learned weeks ago, moved to delay the sentencing for this hush Money Scheme until after election day. It looks like the judge has decided to do so. Your reaction . Forgive the background, i am on campus. It is not signaling this opi opinion. The decision is not surprising in two respects. One, it was always controversial to have the sentencing before the election, and the judge clearly did not feel comfortable that he was ready to do so. The second reason is the reason for that discomfort. The supreme Court Decision presented some very serious questions about this trial, and the judge knew he would be subject to an appellate review. It is clear that parts of the trial did run afoul of the supreme Court Decision. He allowed testimony of people like Hope Hicks to be entered, and that clearly fell within the privileged aspect of the Immunity Decision. So he has to essentially get this cat to walk backwards. Hes got to try to find a way that that evidence could be excluded, but the ultimate outcome be accepted. That is not as easy as people suggest, and hes got to create a record for that that can withstand appellate review. So i think the judge here is following the most cautious possible approach, to say, lets hold off. Itll give me more time to look at the implications of this, and lets proceed after the election. John in terms of proceeding after the election, it looks like the new Sentencing Date is set for november 26th. But lets not forget, professor, just before then, on November 12th, which is seven days after the election, the judge is going to make a decision on a motion to vacate the conviction, because of the supreme Court Decision on president ial immunity. Do you think that date, the November 12 state, also played into Merchans Decision . I think it does. I think all of this is being weighed together. I believe he thinks he can deal with the full range of issues here in terms of the sensing issues but also the continued viability of the conviction itself. In november. I think all of those things, they are insular questions but they are related to some extent. And the judge said earlier, it sentencing, if necessary, reflecting the fact that he understands there might not be any sentencing because there might not be any conviction. The evidence in the trial corrupted the outcome. Many people are betting he will not reach that conclusion, but then he has to say why it did not correct the outcome, why it didnt taint the verdict. Hope hicks, in some of the evidence coming out of the white house, at the trial, must have had an impact on that jury. And she gave a very tearful testimony that received a lot of attention. And the prosecutors made reference to it in their closing arguments. So you cant really separate these issues. I think that merchan is giving himself a little bit of cushion of time, so he will make sure that when he issues all of these rulings he is ready for an appellate review. Sandra to that point, just reading through the letter from the judge, signed by the judge, in reference to the defendant requesting sentencing, currently scheduled for September 18th, as we all know, until after the president ial election, the judge says he argues the adjournment is necessary to provide adequate time to assess and pursue appellate options in the event the court denies his pending criminal procedure law, and to avoid the potential of politically prejudicial impact in public sentencing could have on him and his prospect in the upcoming election. He goes on further and, by The Way, signed this letter where he ultimately makes this decision, saying this is not a decision the court makes lightly but is a decision which, in the courts view, best advances the interest of justice. It is sort of an ironic passage, because many of us question the rush to have these trials and proceedings before the election. And merchan was largely unsympathetic with arguments coming from the Trump Team that he was gagging the leading candidate for the presidency and pulling him into a courtroom for a long trial when he was supposed to be out on the campaign trail. So it is a different tenor coming out in this letter than the one that was previously heard in court. I think he is making the right decision. This is going to be an historic decision either way, but more importantly, he knows that every part of his decisions on these issues will be reviewed jott for jott by the appellate court and possibly the Supreme Court. Hes going to take more time, try to get it right, and try not to have this Clock Running artificially set by the president ial campaign. Sandra jonathan, if you dont mind standing by with us, weve got our legal panel with us, as well. John yeah, this is the beauty of working at Fox News, because youve got lawyers literally everywhere. [laughs] will come in Kerri Urbahn and shannon bream. Let me read quickly from the decision by Judge Merchan. He said hes made this decision on the position of sentence being adjourned to avoid any appearance, however unwarranted, that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching president ial election in which the defendant is a candidate. So he made the decision that, pushed back several times as it has been, that sentencing the former president now, if there were any delay, that would get us within 41 days of reelection if he was even delayed by another week. He says, im just not going to do it because it would seem to be something that would weigh in on the Breadth And Depth of the president ial election. And he is just going to wait until afterwards. To me that linkage is so interesting. Kerri and i sat through weeks and weeks of this trial in New York, and merchan often made decisions that were not popular publicly or didnt comport with timelines the defendant wanted. So for him to now say, okay, i want to have any appearance of us doing anything wrong, he takes a lot of this language and says the court is fair and impartial, and a political institution. He says by adjourning this and waiting, it should dispel any suggestion that the court will have issued the decision or imposed a sentence either to give an advantage to her to create a disadvantage for any political party, and any candidate for office. So he very much wants to take the appearance of any political bias after being hit with those accusations for months. He mentioned he says we are 41 days out. We would be, from a president ial election. Interesting that Judge Chutkan in her courtroom said the election has nothing to do with the decisions in this courtroom. Merchan is saying, he acknowledges they do have something to do with his decision now. Sandra kerri, jump on in. What is your reaction . This whole case has been in order to impact the election. This is coming from the judge who donated to joe biden. Who, as ive said numerous times, it is surprising. He had trump cases percolating before him. Normally judges run the other direction from having any kind of appearance of endorsing a candidate, so she went to have cases before them. So clearly he is not worry about this, and suddenly he has. The reason i think he is, not just because of the Supreme Court. Because we got that decision in the beginning of july. Its for a couple of reasons. One, like shannon said, Judge Chutkan in the federal case said yesterday we will delay until after the election, and not just that. Both of Hunter Biden cases are set to be sentenced after the election, as well. So if Judge Merchan had gone forward with this, he would have been an outlier. He would have been the only one and everybody would have been screaming Election Interference. So he saw all of this and said, okay, ive got to do something. We are going to delay it. And its the right decision. John lets take off the legal head and put on the political hat, by virtue of your role as the anchor of Fox News sunday. Democrats were licking their chops at the prospect that former President Trump would be sentenced to something. They were hoping beyond hope that it would be Jail Time, so they could run against the first president ial candidate who has ever been sentenced to something. Thats not going to happen now. So how does that change the whole political calculus . The Trump Team would have embraced it. If there was a sentence that derogatory for him, he would have said this proves the point i been trying to make the whole time that all of this is lawfare and that all of this they are coming after you but theyve got to get through me. Theyre trying to take me down. I think if he had gotten sentenced on September 18th, the Trump Team would have very much leverage that into fundraising, into rallying the base. Sandra looking for a reaction the Trump Campaign, or the Trump Camp in general, i should say. Seeing right now that the Trump Campaign spokesman is saying there should be no sentencing in the manhattan d. A. s witch hunt, crossing right now. But, kerri, we will likely get more reaction here. No doubt this is exactly what the former president was looking for and this will change the political implications of this case. Yes, for sure. Again, this was the right decision. I really do think it was impacted by what his other judicial colleagues were dealing. I also think that shannon is 100 correct, that this would have helped him. I think Trey Gowdy set it on our air yesterday, that the best thing that can happen to the trp campaign, irrespective of the fact that is not fair, it would have driven people to the polls likely in favor of him because, as shannon and i saw, as we sat through this trial and we were watching the polling, it kept going up throughout the whole thing. People are watching at home and saying this isnt fair, they are changing the law in order to go after this guy because he is a political opponent. We dont do this in america. So any time theres any of Flash Point that reflects that, people get upset, and then he does better. So, yes, this is good, technically, in terms of justice and what is right and fair and wise, it is good for him. Is the best thing for trump, politically, i dont know. John trump still has all this hanging over him, numerous cases. There is sentencing pending, potential federal cases to go yet on the documents. I guess the documents that is on appeal. John and then we have got the Election Interference case, as well. Jack smith has both of those. At the same time, the decks seem to have been cleared now for just a real battle over policy between now and november, with the centerpiece of that happening next tuesday with this very first meeting on the Debate Stage between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. But she still gets to say he is a convicted felon. And a former federal prosecutor, thats a Line Theyve been setting up the whole time. Shes the one who enforces the law and hes the one who breaks the law. But hes not going have to be stuck in a courtroom and facing a sentence before you get to November 5th. As we talked about, early ballots are starting to trickle out. Early voting is starting. John although they delayed it in north carolina. That was supposed to happen today. Thats another legal battle going on as Rfk Jr. Is trying to get himself off that ballot now. Hes not going to be dragged to sitting in a courtroom. Of all these trials hes had to go through this one and he said e. Jean carroll, but the ones with accusations of being very political in nature with Alvin Bragg. He didnt object when they came forward and said we think this needs to be pushed past the election. Had Judge Merchan not agreed to do that, it would have looked like both parties are asking for this, and he risks looking political if he moves forward. Sandra kerri, im finding it interesting, i still havent seen an immediate reaction from the Trump Camp through trumps social or whatever it may be. Perhaps they saw this coming. Or maybe they didnt. Judge Merchan Hasnt exactly i dont think he has been particularly fair toward Donald Trump and all of this, so they may be shocked and deciding how they want to go about messaging. With respect to something shannon was just saying, with Alvin Bragg, this is ada who left a lot of people go free when they commit crimes. This is and Donald Trump here would be a firsttime nonviolent offender, and it was wise of them to put it all on the judge. Its up to you, whatever you want to do. They dont want that on them, but i was wondering how the sentencing was going to play out, because it struck me as inconsistent with how they run Law And Justice in new York City, given that they doesnt seem to be a lot of punishment for similar crimes, certainly not Jail Time. So itll be interesting to see what happens after the election. But, gosh, the stakes just got even higher now. John we discussed this with Jonathan Turley a moment ago, and that is, between now and the November 26 New date for sentencing we dont know if well have a november 26th, depending on the outcome of the election. It might not happen at all. But theres also the Big Decision that Judge Merchan is going to make on the motion to dismiss the case and vacate the conviction. Based on the supreme Court Decision regarding president ial immunity. So merchan has got a couple of things to consider here. Its a really big one. This is the same thing that Judge Chutkan will be leaving through in the federal case. What survives, what doesnt . We saw Jack Smith came up with a whole new indictment after the decision from the Supreme Court, trying to weed out what he thought the court would object to, but support the charges he has. Kerri and i, again, set to that trial, saw Judge Merchan Making Decisions all the time. I dont think if i am the Trump Team i would hold out hope that this decision completely disassembles this New York case. John dont forget, Jack Smith would have loved to say that, as well, that he had to completely rewrite his indictment in a way that disassociates Donald Trump from the office of the presidency at a time when he still president. So they can make whatever they want. Without Hope Hicks and some of the other things. I dont see Judge Merchan going for it, personally. I never have. But the stakes for Donald Trump could not be higher. If he wins this election, most of these cases go away. He gets rid of the special counsel, that half of those cases, and the rest georgia, we will see what even happens there. Thats a disaster in general. And then well see what happens on appeal. That is certainly interesting. Again, that will be directly related to his department of justice. So these things pretty much go away, more or less, other than Judge Merchans case in New York right now. If he loses, thats a pretty serious situation for him. Hes not just fighting for his political life in this election, but his legal and potential his freedom. John standby, if you would pray lots more to come. Sandra interesting segue from shannon. As i continue to read through the judges letter, we come to Nate Foy, referencing the protection of constitutional rights. Unfortunately we are now at a place and time for it with complexities rendering the requirements of the sentencing hearing, should one be necessary, difficult to execute. Thus, in accordance with certain of the ground submitted by defendant and the reasons for adjournment provided by the people, coupled with the unique time frame, that this matter currently finds itself in, the decision on the motion in the imposition of sentence will be adjourned to avoid any appearance, however unwarranted, that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching president ial election, in which the defendant is a candidate. Nate, the latest from you in Lower Manhattan . Hey, sandra. Judge merchan, definitely sensitive in this ruling with the politics that are clearly front and center in this case. At least the political impact. At least right now, this is a temporary political win for former president Donald Trump as the sentencing for his men had a criminal case will now happen after the november election. On november 26. End two weeks prior to that, Judge Merchan on November 12th will rule on whether or not his conviction should be thrown out because of that supreme Court Decision on president ial immunity, that president s are immune from official acts that they take in office. But reading from his decision that just came out here in the past few minutes, this is not a decision the court makes lightly, but is a decision that come in this courts view, the best advances the interest of justice. Its important to note, sandra, the manhattan d. A. Office did not object to a Sentencing Delay here. Just for background, trump was found guilty of 34 Felony Counts of Falsifying Business records related to defrauding The American public in the 2016 president ial election. And he has issues with several parts of this case, and Judge Merchan wrote about trumps concerns, saying in his decision today, the concerns that trump has regarding this case were not the reason for the delay of the sentencing. But rather it was the political ramifications of how this would play out. Earlier today at Trump Tower, trump spoke about this case and called it a disgrace. He said the 34 Felony Counts essentially came from nothing. He argued that his former attorney, Michael Cohen, is responsible for the payments that he made and facilitated so the money could eventually get to adult Film Actress stormy daniels. Trump had maintained during the trial that he trusted his lawyer and that the payments he made to Michael Cohen were in fact legal expenses. But, in total, in The End, he was found guilty of 34 counts of Falsifying Business records. The sentencing now will have a november 26th, after the election. At the big take away here. We will send it back to you. Sandra Nate Foy on that for us. Nate, thank you. John back to Jonathan Turley now who joins us by phone. I got a couple of questions for you, because we were talking with kerri and with shannon about this. And that is, the motion to vacate the conviction, set to be decided on November 12th because of the supreme Court Case on president ial immunity. First of all, how do you think Judge Merchan will rule on that . Shannon and kerri seem to think he wouldnt go for that. Secondly, this is a State Case, not a federal case. Could trump pardon himself . You Cant Pardon on a State Case because you are a federal official. However, The Way that Alvin Bragg bootstrapped this thing, the underlying crime was a federal crime. Could he in fact pardon himself . Two questions they are. They are both very good questions, starting with the second one first. No, i dont believe he could pardon himself, because it is a state question. I think that what may happen, trump is opposite going to litigate this question of the bootstrapping, saying that they not only use privileged information, but went well beyond the confines of this law. I have always been critical of this law not this law, but the case, because i do believe that it was politically motivated and that merchan made reversible errors in this case. And all of those have to be addressed in the course of the appeal. I also want to know one other factor, and then we can get to the first question. That is, there is an interesting dynamic here with the timing that may actually work and a strange way to help merchan not impose Jail Time. If Donald Trump is elected president , merchan could use that fact to say that the court is aware of the complications of a person who must carry out the duties of his office now as the President Elect. And it could support his not imposing Jail Time. In some ways it would help him take that cup from his lips and say, im going to impose other types of penalties. So there is a curious aspect to all of this timing that might make it easier for merchan not to impose an actual prison sentence. Sandra the reaction from the trump side, interesting that we have not seen any yet, jonathan. One might assume that they could be quite stunned by this. This is not what you have come to expect from Judge Merchan. I sat in that courtroom and, quite frankly, i was baffled by many of his decisions. And he made some rulings that were clearly in error. Against the prosecution and the former president. That is the reason i think there are aspects of this trial which are really screaming for appellate review. But this is the correct decision. I mean, he not only has a lot of work to do, because this is a very difficult question about whether the supreme Court Decision will invalidate this conviction. I have always believed that he would ultimately uphold the conviction. He cant just do that with a wave of his hand. Hes going to have to explain why a clearly privileged evidence that he lit into the trial was not determinative, was not essential to any conviction. I think thats the argument he is likely to embrace. Sandra jonathan, thank you very much. If you could stand by with us, we are going to bring in former deputy white House Chief of staff Karl Rove. Please do give us your thoughts and reaction to this news. First of all, it is a reasonable decision. I think even the judge figured out that it would be enormously disruptive to the country and reflect badly on the judiciary if he attempted to insert himself into the middle of the final stages of a president ial campaign. I also agree with the notion that was offered up by several other of your analysts, and that is, if he had gone forward with this, it would have ironically enough serve the interest of Donald Trump. Donald trump has risen in the polls. The more that people have reacted negatively to his treatment in the courtroom. If the judge had gone ahead with this, he could have easily been the october surprise. That is to say, he would have potentially gone after Donald Trump and his verdict and the reaction of The American people might have been negative on it, and helped advance the cause of Donald Trump in the election. A wise decision, good for the country that this not be forced into the final stages of the president ial campaign. John karl, sandra mentioned a moment ago we have not heard from the president himself on his Social Media Platforms or otherwise on this. The only statement we have is from one of his Campaign Officials who said there should be no sentencing in the manhattan d. A. Election interference witch hunt, mandated by the united states Supreme Court. This case along with all the others should be dismissed. We have been talking with Kerri And Shannon and with Jonathan Turley about this upcoming decision by Judge Merchan on November 12th, as to whether or not he should vacate the conviction because of the supreme Court Decision on immunity. Everybody has thought so far that the judge will probably not decide in Donald Trump saber on that that point. What do you think . I think that is probably likely because the supreme Court Decision had to do with immunity for actions as president. He has had to do it with actions of the business and going back years before he was president. But look, the Bottom Line is, as a country, we are better off not having the election look like one side is trying to influence the voters by pressing these legal actions forward in the closing stages of the campaign. I also think it would be wise if the former president responded to this in a way that kept the focus on the issues that help him in the campaign. That is to say, im glad this issue was removed from the closing days of this campaign so we can focus on inflation, the border, the economy, the role of america, the position of america, and respect for america around the world. These are the big issues on which we ought to decide the election, and im glad we are going to be able to have a fulsome discussion of it and go after her, go after her on the issues where he has the lead. Shes got the lead on the question of who is a more effective leader, and who is the change agent. He has the lead on he was the person who shares your views on these big important issues. Sandra also noting, we are talking about the time of the election, this is also happening just days before the big debate happening next tuesday, which would dumb it could be very consequential in this election process, karl. Absolutely. This is going be the most important debate or the second most important debate in the history of debates, and the most important since the last important debate which was june 27th, when we saw the absolute demolition of joe bidens president ial aspirations. But that is a reminder of how important these debates can be. And this one, which may be the only debate between a candidate we know well and a candidate we dont really know well, could be decisive for either one of them. John we will see karl at the Trump Campaign, if the former president takes your suggestion. I think we will make up a graphic of what you said and compare it to what he says when he eventually comes out with a statement. Something tells me there might be a little bit of a difference. John there might be some daylight. We will see. Sandra thanks, karl. You bet. Thank you. John lets bring in former federal prosecutor andrew. So far the consensus seems to be that it was the prudent thing for him to do. This was the obvious answer. But Judge Merchan has repeatedly ruled against Donald Trump. So i think we were all kind of holding our breath to see what would actually happen here. There is way too much to do between now and The Actual Sentencing Date, if it were to actually have gone on September 18th. Most specifically, that Immunity Decision from the Supreme Court had to be litigated in front of the judge, and then the defense, Donald Trump had the right to then take that up on appeal. So all of that could not have happened without Fireworktype Litigation before the 18th. So prudent as well as something i think turns us takes us away from being the political Hotbutton Issue before the election. Sandra to karl his point that it may be a stunner but a reasonable point, back to The End of the letter in which he announces this news, that this will now be delayed until after election day, this is not a decision, he says, the court makes lightly, but a decision which, in the courts view, this advance is the interest of justice. So that will too be observed. The sentiment of the judge in this major decision, andrew. I think this is one of the things that may be used on appeal to say that Judge Merchan was actually fair and reasonable to Donald Trump. Undoubtedly the defense is going to challenge Judge Merchans ability to have set on this case fairly. I think the timing is also interesting because Judge Merchan was on different pressure ahead of the election then he will be after the election. Jonathan turley was just explaining, perhaps this is a path to him finding or reaching a decision that does not have Jail Time for Donald Trump. It could be a signal to the opposite, trying to jail the president ahead of the election would have been disastrous for the nation at large. But if he waits until after the election, then that becomes more of a viable option for him. Im not saying i think that is necessarily going to happen. Im kind of playing it from both sides of the deck, thinking about what he might be thinking in terms of a final sentence in this case. John so, if the former president is elected to a second term, i assume that all of the federal cases will likely go away. But this was a State Case, even though it had federal elements to it. So could it still be, if trump wins the election, he gets sentenced . Or do you think Judge Merchan would look at sort of the overwhelming interest of the country and say to himself, its not really in Anybodys Interest for me to be sentencing the President Elect of the united states to Jail Time . And then the whole thing goes away. Well, while President Trump or a sitting president effectively Cant Pardon himself from a statebased charge, there is good precedent that says States Cant essentially an Act Or Act upon their Criminal Law against a sitting president. So while he was in office, i would see that the new York Process would totally stop while those four years played themselves out. In the short term, i think thats a big question. Does Judge Speech Merchan See A Latesentencing as, putting some sort of punishment on the former president ahead of the inauguration . Because obviously, during the time between the election and inauguration, hes not actually the president. Perhaps trying to do something dramatic in the weeks in between. Theres no saying exactly what hes thinking other than to say right now it is on pause, and that is assuming we get to sentencing. Theres a lot of issues that need to go up through the appellate system before we even get to that sentencing. Sandra also noting that the ap is mentioning in their latest Write Up that a message seeking comment was left for the manhattan d. A. Office, which prosecuted trumps case. That office has not taken a position on the defenses delay request, deferring to merchan. So itll be interesting to see reaction and where they stand on this decision now from the judge, andrew. I think that deferral idea, a couple weeks ago they sent a memo after the defense had asked for this delay, saying its up to you. They recognized some of the issues specifically with regard to the need for appeal prior to sentencing. And thats an open issue. I think thats a strong symbol from Alvin Bragg that they saw the Writing On The Wall that this was going to be delayed. They didnt want to come out directly and oppose it. I think that would have been legally kind of difficult for them to do. But theyre also going to want to support it or join in the motion because they have this adversarial position. But i think the comment is very clear from their kind of deferral to the judge, as to the delay. John so all of this goes away until after the election, but the one thing that Kamala Harris can still lean in on is the fact that trump was convicted in the New York case, and use that against him all The Way through November 5th. Certainly Kamala Harris is going to continue to pound that drum and complain about Donald Trumps prior, i guess, criminal issues he has had throughout the system. I think it all kind of boils down to whether it is lawfare or not, and there is strong evidence that it is lawfare. There is still going to be quite a bit of litigation both in this case as well as the d. C. Case between now and the election. More evidence coming out from Jack Smith, and perhaps we see more sentencing or arguments that go into the Immunity Order in New York. So i think there will still be more legal stories coming from this and more Data Points that come out to the electorate, but not The Actual conclusions or finality. John thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. Thank you. Sandra lets bring in Fox News legal editor bring back, i should say Kerri Urbahn, and chief legal correspondent shannon bream. For anybody just tuning in, we have just gotten word through a letter from the judge in this case that he has decided to delay former president Donald Trumps New York criminal Trial Sentencing and his henchmen a case until after election day. It was set for september and its not going to be november 26, 10 00 a. M. Of course that has big implications. Wright, shannon . John two days before thanksgiving, as well. It deftly does. In this letter from the judge, it feels like the first time to me that he is acknowledging the public objects of this thing. As we all sat through this Trial And Kerri and i were talking here during some of the other commentary, too they were so many decisions that merchan made that clearly did not go in President Trumps favor, and the judge did not see Del Maxime moved at all by the attacks on him that were political in nature, bring his family into it. He just plodded forward with The Way he was going to handle this case. But this letter and The Way that it reads seems like the first time hes acknowledging, there is a political p. R. Optic for this that i have now got to make sure i can say with a clear conscience, and it looks publicly as if im not allowing politics to enter into this. He talks about President Trump making unsubstantiated claims, but despite that, im going to move forward with this because i think it is the best decision for this case. John Judge Merchan in the letter writes, Adjourning Decision on the motion and sentencing, if such is required, should dispel any suggestion that the court will have issued any decision or imposed sentence either to give an advantage to create a disadvantage for any political party and or any candidate for any office. So you are supposed to separate the judicial system from the political system, but it is quite obvious that, while the federal judges in the trump cases are saying politics is one thing, justice is another, and never the twain shall meet, Judge Merchan is obviously taking into consideration the politics of this in making his decisions. Right, and there is not necessarily anything wrong with that. People, i think, sometimes say, a judge can consider this or that. Wait a second, judges have a tremendous amount of discretion when they do things and why they do things, and when youre talking about the former President Of The United States and possible future President Of The United States, that is something to take into consideration, because The Public Interest is at stake. Its whats good for the country, as well. You dont want to because for some kind of civil War Or Something of that magnitude. I will say, where Judge Merchan says about not taking into consideration, this case moved at rapid speed. Typically these cases take years to get through the new York Court system. They wanted this very badly to happen before the election. It didnt. And i was saying this to shannon a bit ago, in the letter, i do detect a bit of annoyance from the judge towards the Supreme Court. Because he says, notably, had the defendant been sentenced on July 11th as scheduled, they would of course have been no reason for delay. Im sure this is not what he wanted to do. But i dont think he has a choice considering what his colleagues all around the country are doing at this point. Sandra interesting, shannon, thinking back to Karl Rove joining us a short time ago, saying it would be wise of trump he was asked to talking about what trump should focus on right now after this decision was made. He thinks it would be wise of him to respond to this and keep focus on the issues that help him. That will be interesting, to see how he proceeds, and what he does say after this. Still nothing on his truth social account. And it was just a couple hours ago that he was holding that Press Conference in New York to respond to this e. Jean Carroll Appeal on the first case, the 5 Million verdict. That appeal of the 83 Million case with e. Jean carroll is still ongoing, too. But he was in front of the microphone not long ago talking about how he feels completely persecuted by the judicial system and how he feels like these cases have been political in nature. So that is the tone we have already had from him today, fighting back on the e. Jean carroll case, at least one of them. So itll be interesting to see what tone he takes with respect to this. This is what his team pushed for and asked for, so you would think they would want to say, we thank Judge Merchan for making what we think is the right decision. Now lets get on to the economy, the border, all those things. The debates on tuesday, we know the Vice President is hunkered down in pittsburgh doing traditional debate prep. President trump does interviews every day, thats how he is prepping. Even folks who support him say lets get to the policy. Thats going to be our winning lane. Go there. John do you think, kerri, to What Shannon was speaking about a few minutes ago, that this takes an arrow out of former president terms political quiver here as we head toward the November 5th election . If there had been a sentence upon him, and his supporters have been outraged, that would be seen as blatant political in appearance, judicial interference into the political process. But now that its not going to happen, trump will not have that leverage. There are democrats who have loved to run again somebody was sentenced to something, particularly Jail Time, but at the same time, as shannon was pointing out, that could have played in his favor. I do. As unfair as i have thought this whole proceeding has been against Donald Trump, it was remarkable to me to see how much the polls would go up in his favor. Every time some thing that happened, especially in this case. Given the closeness of the race right now, you Cant Help but wonder, had he been sentenced and shannon and i were just discussing this, in any way, house arrest, you name it, whatever it was, its possible he could have leveraged that to his advantage, because it has only helped him thus far. That being said, it is still the right move in terms of whats best for the country, and we will certainly see what happens. We will have a very interesting november and december, thats for sure. John to say the least. Lets get to september and october 1st, because theyre going to be unbelievable. Sandra there was never a more accurate prediction, see five. Shannon, final thought to you as we work our way to the top of an hour . And Judge Dinning will be coming up to react. As you are looking live at new York City and we continue to seek reaction from the Trump Space 19, shannon, to this news of the judge delaying the sentencing in the criminal has many trial until after election day. Shannon, final thought from you. It is helpful politically, but legally a lot of stuff may still be waiting for him. As weve talked about, this is a situation where hes not just fighting for his clinical feature but his legal future and potentially his own freedom. The Maralago Case that got tossed, the federal cases on appeal. Theres a good chance that case comes back. You got the other federal case here and many of the others he had outlined. So i can imagine the president may at some point make that part of his stump speech, that this is about a political and legal fight. Ive got to win this election for many reasons. John he was making that point, as you pointed out, and his Press Conference a couple of hours ago. He even went back to Jud Judge Engorons Decision against him. A 400 Million fine that was levied against him for allegedly inflating the value of his buildings when seeking loans. So i think a lot of this, if he becomes president , goes away. Some of it may be waiting for him until after The End of his second term. Too early to know. A lot more of this coming this afternoon. Here on America Reports we will take a quick break and be right back. Stay with us. We handcraft every stearns foster® using the finest materials, like indulgent memory foam, and ultraconforming innersprings, for a beautiful mattress, and indescribable comfort. Save up to 900 on select adjustable mattress sets, at stearnsandfoster. Com when was the last time you checked in on your heart . With kardiamobile, the personal ekg device, you can check it from home using your smartphone. I use kardiamobile every day. Sometimes twice a day. Every morning i check, make sure im in good shape. And it makes me feel pretty good about my heart condition. Its a complete gamechanger. [chuckles] i mean, you might as well be in a doctors office. Theres a way i can communicate with patients now in a way i never could before. They have their own ekg in their pocket. 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Leaffilters technology keeps debris out of your gutters for good, guaranteed. What more could you ask for . Call 833. Leaf. Filter today, or visit leaffilter. Com. Ichi, ni, san, shi. 1,2,3,4. ruri never thought she would live out her dream. Then one day, she did. You were made to chase your passions. We were made to put them in a package. John continuing coverage now, the judge in former president Donald Trumps socalled hush many trial deciding to postpone sentencing, which will now take place after the president ial election. With that, so begins another 60 minutes of a whirlwind of news. Im John Roberts in washington