The lookout for. He did it in front of everybody. But today, he was nabbed, so to speak. He was arrested and booked. No mugshot was taken at the ex president , but his fingerprints were taken. There are no cameras allowed in federal court. We have these sketches, where donald j trump, the 44th president of the united states, was the rain, 45th president of the united states, was arraigned on four Felony Counts for his attempts to steal the election. The ex president pleaded not guilty, there were no literal handcuffed. But he surrendered and was arrested, he submitted to federal custody in the federal courthouse. Special counsel jack smith sat in the front row during the arraignment. Defendant trump was sworn in. We did not hear a lot from him, but when asked by the Magistrate Judge, he stated his full name, quote, donald j trump, john. When asked his age he said 77, 77. He entered a plea of not guilty on all charges for his attempts to subvert american democracy and end the Constitutional Republic as we know it. In an extraordinary and unexpected turn, the Magistrate Judge warned the defendant, donald john trump, to not try to influence any jurors. She warned the defendant to not commit any crimes while he is out on release. And that he would be held by the federal government should he do so. He was released on the condition that he not communicate any facts of the case with witnesses unless in the presence of counsel. The judge warned the ex president would be detained if he violated the conditions of his release. Now trump faces a total of 78 Felony Counts in his three upcoming criminal trials. But none of those 78 counts are like these four. This is the big one. The biggest of all time. I want to take a step back for a moment and make note of how we got here. Because one of the craziest things about january, sixth if you take yourself back to that day in realtime, it was truly wild. When it was all over, this surreal, Upsetting Scene Playing Out In Realtime on live television, everyone just went home. Do you remember that . Like no one got arrested on the spot. Despite the fact that rioters nearly destroyed the nations capital, they smashed windows, ransacked congressional offices, dedicated inside them, including the office of the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, which they ransacked. They overtook the floor of the senate, the temporarily blocked the certification of votes. And they brutally attacked Police Officers with flagpoles and bats and crutches and bear spray, chunks of wood. Blood was spilled. They chanted hang mike pence as they hunted him down in the halls of congress, and then after all of that, after we watched it all, no one got arrested. We saw them commit the crimes. We saw the crimes committed in realtime. The violence unfolding before our eyes. We watched as the violent rioters just went home. Police just walked them out. And their leader, the man who sent them there, the man they stormed the capitol, for the man who told them to go down to the capitol, he had this final message for them. I know your pain, i know youre hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us, it was a landslide election, and everyone knows it. We love you, you are very special. Youve seen what happens, you see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home. I love, you did everything right, totally justified. Go home. Really . No one, no handcuffs . No one is getting arrested after that, an attempted coup with violence and bloodshed . Everyone just goes, oh, goodnight . Americas not the only country on earth, sometimes you forget that here, and when this happens in other countries, it plays out differently. Lets take a comparison. Brazil. Earlier this year, brazils president , Jared Bolsonaro and his followers tried to pull out of power following the election defeat. Brazil had their own january 6th, and their own attempted coup, it happened on january 8th of this year with bolsonaro supporters storming the capitol in brasilia, claiming there was fraud and the election was stolen. In fact, they are casino most explicitly modeled on ours. Like a weird kind of american export. And there was one enormous difference. At the end of that coup, when it failed, all of those rioters got marched out by Security Forces in zip ties, on the very same day hundreds arrested on the spot. Get on the bus, boys. Right there. Typically, when you see Coup Attempts happening in other countries and they dont work, it looks more like that. Its not a go home and chill kind of situation. Here in the, u. S. A over the last two and a half, heres the Department Of Justice, to their credit, launched the largest investigation in its history to try to find the january 6th rioters as they work from the bottom up. Over 1000 people charged, nearly 600 pleaded guilty. Nearly 100 found guilty at trial. The Investigation Continues to this day. Just yesterday, this guy on your screen, a member of the violent January 6th Mob was finally arrested. Why does he look like . That well, he is a st. Louis cardinals superfan known as rally runner. Yesterday, raleigh runner finally got halted. Today, attempts ahead of the attempted coup, and the guy the mob stormed the capitol, for the guy who told them he loved them, well, he finally got he his day in court. He pleaded not guilty to these sprawling conspiracy to hold on to power, that prosecutors lay out an incredible detail. The arraignment today was described by people inside the room as intense. Packed to capacity, several other federal judges, in fact, and the chief judge of the d. C. Federal court seated in the back row, taking it all in. The parties decided on the next hearing date. And the Magistrate Judge gave three options after conferring with the trial judge, judge chutkan, jack smiths team, yes, yes, oh yes, they picked the earliest date. Guess what trumps team did . And they requested the latest. A. They got. It august 28th at 10 am, the judge will set a trial date then. Get ready. Garrett haake is a senior capitol hill correspondent for nbc news, one of the very few reporters actually allowed inside that courtroom during trumps arraignment and he joins me now. Garrett, my impression, we were doing live coverage, rachel was doing an incredible job of reading your live dispatches on air in a way that made me feel like i was in there, you did fantastic work covering it for us. I got the sense there was a lot more activity, more stuff happens in that Arraignment Trial that i was anticipating. It was way less pro forma, way more news worthy than i thought. What did you think . Well, chris, let me give a shout out to our whole team here covering this because it was a cast of hundreds, including great producers, who were able to bring that coverage to people throughout the course of the day. They deserve a lot of the credit. You are absolutely right. Ive been in the courtroom for all three of Donald Trumps arraignments. This was by far the most active in a lot of ways, the most interesting. To me the composition of the courtroom as you are describing it, having these other judges in, theyre a lot of reporters, including myself who were there on january 6th, having so many fbi agents and clerks and other folks who work for the Special Counsel in the room. Kind of felt like a home game for the justice system. You see sort of jack smith staring down donald trump throughout the hearing, making a point afterwards to shake hands and kind of work the room. I think a lot of people were emotionally invested in the outcome of this hearing in the room and the courthouse today. There were several of the officers injured on january 6th who are watching from overflow rooms. You could kind of feel that throughout the course of the proceedings today. And then i think probably the most interesting break from the sort of standard procedure of all this was this warning to donald trump that he not commit any crimes. Okay, that is pretty standard, released fair. But also not try to contact or intimidate or bribe or in other ways interfere with witnesses. A look at think about was all the times ive seen him post on truth social or twitter before that, going after judges and witnesses and others whom he has crossed paths with over the years. It was kind of this weirdly mundane Court Hearing in a lot of ways, but it felt so much bigger and more connected to everything weve been dealing with politically over the last two and a half years. That exchange over the timing, and the fact the Magistrate Judge has already talked to chutkan, that the hearing, the Briefing Schedule on that is already laid out. That was really quite a take, we will get more of that as the night continues. Garrett haake, thank you, fantastic work today, really appreciate it. Jen psaki is the former White House Press secretary for president biden, the host of inside with jen psaki on msnbc nbc news president ial historian and both of them join me now. Jen, i havent gotten a chance to talk to you today as you were watching it, im curious your reaction to tonight. You know, the bureau here is just a few blocks. I could walk to where the courthouse, is to where garrett is. It is raining, but i can still walk there. I think there was this expectation that it would be a circus, or i had that expectation. It really wasnt outside the courthouse a circus, and that speaks to how much things have changed in some ways over the last couple of years, for the good in part, i think, because of the efforts by the Department Of Justice to go after the oath keepers and disincentivizes this type of gathering. But the other thing that struck me, chris, as much as we didnt see in the courtroom and as you noted in your opening there was a lot of development that came out of it that i thought was surprising. Trump was treated like a teenager in some ways, not a 77 year old former president. But also that just listening, he seems smaller in some ways to me. He didnt do a big campaign event. He did have some remarks. He didnt go to a public event. He didnt give a long speech. And that was striking to me as well. But also, we will learn more in a couple of weeks when the judge, who clearly means business, moves forward on getting as a trial date. That point on i want to add something to that because talking with us some of our colleagues here at the special coverage, it is notable that he is alone. There is no posse and no retinol and no family. I would hope that if i were to go through the ordeal that this man is currently facing in my darkest, hours having to go my wife, my kids, my loved ones, my family, i would have a crew, people that stand with. Meet his wife is not, there cant see any of his, gets his daughter, no one. The guy is alone. He is so alone, the warriors willing to take hope his checks clear. That is really striking, michael, on a day that is a huge day. No matter how much he wants to say it isnt and yadayada, i dont think there is any real analog in American History for what happened today. Nothing remotely like it, chris. Chris, you end jen and i, we all have children. To have you guys, yours are younger than mine are, but i guarantee you that they will learn about what happened this day. Not only because it is the first time an ex president was indicted for offenses he committed in office, but look at the consequences. Just as you were saying at the beginning, chris, if this had succeeded, lets say some of those attackers on the capitol had been about five or ten minutes faster and gotten to nancy pelosi or mike pence or others, some of them had a murder and kidnapping in their heart. Or lets say this trial got further delayed and didnt take place before the 2024 election and donald trump begins becomes president next year and he wants to finish the job he did not finish on the 6th Of January with some kind of president ial dictatorship. Aside from everything else, we would lose our democracy, as we almost did on the 6th of december, rule of law, peaceful transfer of power, the way that we choose to have people lead us. At the same time, look at the emptiness that would be there in our system. A president of the united states, donald trump, had committed perhaps the largest offense of any president had come near to committing in all of our history, never had to pay for it, came back to office. Yeah, yeah. It is well sudden, michael. Jen, to your point about this sort of small this. And the enormity of the stakes, right, and how close we came to something truly horrendous in terms of the level of bloodshed and violence, in terms of the real kind of end of the constitutional order, which was being contemplated from the indictment by the coconspirators, as alleged. The people who were trying to stop them. If you do this, there will be violence in the streets. If you do this, we go off the table, right . Donald trumps smallest and his lack of power stands in stark contrast to that today. But its only because he no longer has the power of the presidency. That is the whole ball game, which was, i think, the clear subtext if not the explicit text, jen, today, of this arraignment. Yes. You did this while you were president and we are going to indict you, you are going to be arraigned. These are actions you did while sitting in the white house, sitting in the oval office. And that is vital, that is so important for history. The other pieces you were just talking there, chris, sitting there in washington, ive lived here on and off for 20 years, its not just that the courthouse is close to here. Everything is close to here. We can see the capital behind the bureau. You can see the capitol from the courthouse. Its all very small. The events that happened on january 6th, they impacted so many people in washington who dont even work in the capital. It all happened, the insurrectionists, people marching towards the capitol, they marched near that courthouse. And there are so many aspects of this that kind of bring you full circle, might not be the right description, but that is where it happened, that is where we all watched in horror as people marched violently toward the capitol, as people like donald trump and others looked at the other way while violence was happening and he even sparked it. And today, he wasnt a courthouse, as you noted, without family members, with a Press Secretary, a staffer, no offense to press secretaries, but not the same as your family members. [laughter] that is a stark difference, without the power and the besiege of the presidency. It is quite a jarring split screen between today and two and a half years ago. That is good advice for folks in washington and politics. Your Press Secretary is no substitute for a family member. Keep that in mind. You can be close with them, yes. Dont mix them up. Michael, there is this cliche, trial of the century, sort of trump, because there have been, from time to time, not just here in the u. S. , across the world, trials that captivated the public imagination, the kidnapping of lindberg baby comes to mind as one of those famous ones that caught the nations attention. Oj simpsons is another one in my lifetime. Ive got to imagine that should we get a trial, and it looks like we are headed towards one, this would again be in a category of its own, historically, for a trial of the century. A category of its own, brilliantly side. And then a test of whether it is a trial of any century, and i would say the three centuries or at least over two centuries of American History this would be, look at the consequences. Many of us think the assassination of john kennedy made big changes in this country, beginning with the fact that baby kennedy wouldnt have escalated the vietnam war. That wouldve been a pretty big change. In Donald Trumps case, had he succeeded on the 6th Of January, if he becomes president again, if he tries to institute that kind of president ial dictatorship hes talking about, instituting president ial Emergency Powers and using martial law and the insurrection act, maybe he wanted to do according to this indictment, all our lives would be different. We would be living in a brutal, autocratic state. It almost happened, cannot happen again. Jen psaki and Michael Beschloss, thank you both so much for joining us on this historic day. Coming up in a little more than three, weeks we will learn the trial date for Donald Trumps latest case. So when should we expect one of the most if not the most important trials in American History to begin, next. Mmercial, i think im late on my payment. Its okay, the general gives you a break. Yeah, we let you pick your own due date. Good to know, because this next scene might take a while. For a great low rate, go with the general. Sleepovers just arent what they used to be. Next scene might take a while. A house full of screens . Basically no hiccups . You guys have no idea how good youve got it. How old are you . Like, 80 . Back in my day, it was scary stories and flashlights. We dont get scared. Oh, really . Mom can see your search history. Thats what i thought. Introducing the next generation 10g network. Only from xfinity. Donald j trump has been indicted and rain, as you, know three times this year. It may not be done quite yet. He is now facing 78 Felony Counts, three different jurisdictions for indictments, two federal, one in state with maximum sentences ranging between four and 20 years for each count. So what would be the options for defendants facing this many charges, say if he were not the former president and the republican foreigner for 2024 . The defendant who is not trump would probably seek some kind of deal to plead guilty, as about 90 due in federal criminal cases did just last year. Chief Legal Correspondent and the host of christian, greenberg the former federal prosecutor who served as the deputy chief of the Criminal Division of the new york. Lashes start with this thought experiment. I think you could even start on the Documents Case, which i think is in some ways maybe the most open and shut of all. Like, you had him, dude. Right . When you think of that, a Defense Lawyer, a good Defense Lawyer talking to a client, facing this kind of legal peril, you are advising, them you are trying to work for the if you are not donald trump, yes. Yes, if you are not donald trump. You get this kind of a Speaking Indictment with this solid a recitation of the evidence, yes, you should be talking about a plea. But donald trump is not any ordinary defendant. His best defense is going to be to try to play the clock and see how far he can delay and if a republican, whether him or somebody else, can get into office and either issue a pardon, if there is a conviction, or just tell the Justice Department to drop. And that is his best shot. We dont think he is going to plea, he is not the playing type. Also other people actually looking at prison, that is something that happens. It is, but he would have to go under oath and admit what he did. He would have to accept responsibility. I dont think donald trump is capable of he lacks the ability in his sort of soul to do that. And then it becomes time, as christy, said you and i were discussing it earlier. I would only amend to say i agree, i dont think he would plead before the election. If he does lose and he is facing prison time, if he has proven very keen on his own selfinterest, and there may be prosecutors, we dont know doj, the prosecutors given all the extraordinary circumstances of this case might look as a plea has a chance to go towards Home Confinement or something that keeps him out of the actual incarceration system, but knowing him that would be after a november loss and he has lost elections before. He lost one before staging this coup. Its a great point. Its a different calculation before and after the election. But clearly the calculation now, ink is is clear to everyone, that he is running for office to stay out of prison. Right. It would be hugely disappointing if the prosecutors, based on this indictment, based on this evidence, and the same with a classified Documents Case, were to offer him any kind of a misdemeanor plea. That just seems completely a nonstarter, or even offered him a sentence that doesnt involve some type of prison. These are really serious charges. He is charged with subverting democracy and trying to deprive people of their right to vote and have that counted. That is the heart of our democracy. How could they possibly look to have him sentenced any differently than any other defendant . It would be hugely disappointing and i dont anticipate that would be the case. The top line, though, you think about he is running to run out the clock, to get elected president , have the charges dropped. And then the state charges, they can throw him in president when he is president , its all jail out of free get out of jail free time. The clock is everything, do you have the same reaction i did today, i think you do because you are saying all that date top right off the bat in the arraignment hearing, pretty striking. Yeah, we were watching this together. We were all as a country looking at some of this together, but this is one of those moments during the arraignment where you could kind of feel and this was larger, you could feel both sides squaring off on it. And the Defense Lawyers got a clue from jack smith. Hes had very little this, week but he said speedy trial. They were keyed in on this. John laura was speaking to nbc this morning, said you waited two and a half years and now you want a speedy trial, trying to have that both. Ways why do you care so much about the timing . Ive said before, the new york case may or may not be significant to people, you can debate it. But there is a world where that case goes to trial and he loses before the election and he is not put in prison, which means it doesnt have, for him, a Material Effect on. It other people might be embarrassed, other people might care in the voting booth. But it doesnt physically change the way this. Currently were all squared off on that. When they will be arguing is, all this granary material, this wideranging investigation, doj said it was one of their largest. When you take it all together, it means they will need more time to deal with. It the question is, yes, but how much time . You said today, very intent by, time you talked about this. Sort of setting, the seat in the argument. I exit. You tweeted it. The recovery of evidence, first line of attack. My first question to you is, this is one of these things that happens but, you still asked, what is the trial going to . The what would be a reasonable trial . First half of 2024 and i predict this will be the first criminal case. Right now, there is the March Manhattan Trial date and the may for classified documents. I think both of those get kicked in favor of this, the judges will confer. And jack smith is really going to push for this case to go first. Why . I dont think he wants to be tainted. Any jury pool or Public Opinion would be tainted by whatever could happen in these other cases. You have to have cases, the classified documents, your jury pool and your judge, lose can, and no pun intended. Most judges dont like to reward lawyer games and lawyer crap. If trump starts coming with a reasonable thing and say this is more than a twomonth project, we need five months for the material, this and, that the judge might say, look, i will if they come in silly and say three and a half years. What we need is november 10th. I dont actually think that will be seen as very reasonable. They have we talked about it, yes, eventually you get to the jury et cetera, they have an audience of one first and that is the judge, do they want to build credibility or wipe it away . Donald trump, today, i feel more confident than i ever have that before the election of 2024, donald trump will have undergone trial for his attempts the American Democratic system. Three days ago i felt less sure. Thank you both. Good to see you, chris. Still ahead, donald trump is currently facing nearly 80 Felony Counts, the very last one could be the most significant. I will explain it ahead. Im Jonathan Lawson here to tell you about Life Insurance through the Colonial Penn program. If youre age 50 to 85, and looking to buy Life Insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. What are the three ps . The three ps of Life Insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. A price you can afford, a price that cant increase, and a price that fits your budget. Im 54, whats my price . You can get coverage for 9. 95 a month. Im 65 and take medications. Whats my price . Also 9. 95 a month. I just turned 80, whats my price . 9. 95 a month for you too. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about the 1 most popular whole Life Insurance plan available through the Colonial Penn program. It has an affordable rate starting at 9. 95 a month. No medical exam, no health questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed. And this plan has a guaranteed Lifetime Rate Lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. So call now for free information and youll also get this free beneficiary planner. And its yours free just for calling. So call now for free information. There are four counts in the latest indictment involving trump, the fourth count he pleaded not guilty to today in his arraignment is the conspiracy against the right to vote and have ones vote counted. Its under a criminal Statute Dating back to the construction era, the strategy to overturn the election is about, he was intentionally trying to knock out, discard, rip up the votes of People Living where . In urban areas, big urban centers, in detroit, in milwaukee, in philly, in atlanta. And whose votes do you think he wanted to throw out in those urban settings . The former president and director of council at naacp Legal Defense fund, she is the director of the new howard university, which im very excited about, she joins me now, so great to have you. Thanks for having me. Lets talk about that fourth charge and what it means in its Historical Context and today in terms of how intensely racially specific and racist in the story donald trump told and the conspiracy he undertook was. It is huge, chris. Im so thrilled it was included in jack smiths indictment. You may recall that at the time i was leading all the f in 2020, we filed a kkk act suit on the civil side because we saw the targeting in detroit and atlanta and other places. That was before we had all the information about the phone calls and about that came out of the january 6th commission. Its critical that jack smith has done this because there was targeting. The whole point of this scheme was to throw out votes in places where donald trump knew he didnt get a lot of votes. In particular to target places where he could carry a narrative about fraud more easily. And you see it with shea moss and ruby moss and the way in which Rudy Giuliani talked about them, and the way trump talked about them as hustlers, right . Drug dealers, cocaine. You can only do that because they were black women. This idea, trump kept saying detroit is so corrupt, it always has been, it has been for many years. Everything he said reinforced that trope. And then you heard it today, when he left the courthouse, and he spoke very briefly. Suddenly he said, washington, d. C. , only speaking for 20 seconds, but he had to talk about what he claims he saw on his right to the courthouse. A crumbling city, graffiti everywhere. This is the same narrative, and what really frightens me about it, chris, is that the Republican Party is taking it up as well. When they say that trump cannot get a fair trial in washington, d. C. , why are they saying that . Why do they think he cant get a fair trial . Because this is a city where they feel and they know that many of the jurors are likely to be black. Its important for us to see that this is part of that same narrative and that same targeting that trump was doing. And it is why he is able to be successful. It is the fundamental battle of American History, which is that, are we equal citizens under law or are there different classes of citizens . And the contention, either explicit or implicit in both the president and his supporters, is that there are two classes of citizens. Some of whom whose votes are suspect, theyre asked actions are suspect, cannot be trusted to fulfill the constitutional obligation to serve on a jury of peers because they are fundamentally a lower order of citizen. Thats right. That is the argument. I will take a step further. I think they are making that argument about the judge in d. C. , who is a black women as well. We are seeing this percolate and this is important because if we think about these reconstructed amendments and reconstruction in general, the whole point of the 13th, 14th, 15th Amendment was to ensure black people would become not just citizens but first class citizens. What we hear from trump and his republican enablers is essentially an assault on that very idea. By suggesting something that was really important to the framers of the 14th Amendment was that black people could participate in the legal system, could bring cases, can testify and so forth. But you hear them attacking, you know, our ability to be on juries. Its one thing that bothers me about the jack smith indictment, its that is a whitewashed. None of that is present in the text of the indictment. It doesnt have to be a claim based on race, right, for 241, but it is what happened. Just as you and Michael Beschloss were talking about earlier, there is a historical record to be made. It also would provide an opportunity to interrupt this narrative going forth with trumps enablers about washington, d. C. , and about black jurors and so on and so forth. Even when he talks about the moss is in the indictment, there is no illusion to the fact that they didnt just get Death Threats, they got very specific Death Threats that call to mind a racial history that is really frightening. Speaking of those threats, i want to play fani willis talking about what shes faced. And other black women. Shes been investigating, we think may bring down indictments any day now, probably we think next week, we dont know. Here is her talking about what her incoming has looked like since she undertook this investigation. All the typical racial slurs you can imagine. And they are very grotesque things. We are on family television, i dont know that i would like to say all of them, but slave is one of them, ive probably been called the nword more times and last two and a half years than most 100 people combined. When you hear that, this is where we are. And to pretend that is not a very essential part of trumps strategy, his appeal to a segment of the american population, and the willingness of the Republican Party, and in fact they have trafficked in this stuff perhaps less blatantly for many, many years. That is what we are facing. If we pretend that this is just about trump and just about some charges, but we leave that part out, we are leaving the danger and the cancer still among us unaddressed. No, it is the mainstream view of many elected republicans who Lindsey Graham and others who ive seen, that of the black citizens of d. C. Cannot be trusted with the power of being on a jury. That is the mainstream standard zero. And you would remember roger stone, when he was convicted and proceeded to attack the four women of the jury, who was a black woman. They have been working on this for sometime and it is a threat to the integrity of our citizenship. We have to call it out, be honest about, it and be prepared to fight on that turf. Fully consistent and a continuation of the theory of the coup itself, which is really important. I had not thought of that. Always a pleasure to have you at the table. Still to come, jack smith savvy plan to make sure the election case goes first. The massive implications that could have on the 2024 president ial election, next. Im Jonathan Lawson here to tell you about Life Insurance through the Colonial Penn program. If youre age 50 to 85, and looking to buy Life Insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. What are the three ps . The three ps of Life Insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. A price you can afford, a price that cant increase, and a price that fits your budget. Im 54, whats my price . You can get coverage for 9. 95 a month. Im 65 and take medications. Whats my price . Also 9. 95 a month. I just turned 80, whats my price . 9. 95 a month for you too. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about the 1 most popular whole Life Insurance plan available through the Colonial Penn program. It has an affordable rate starting at 9. 95 a month. No medical exam, no health questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed. And this plan has a guaranteed Lifetime Rate Lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. So call now for free information and youll also get this free beneficiary planner. And its yours free just for calling. So call now for free information. I think thats how its gonna work. I think fani willis has suggested shes giving him some breath alvin braggs on the same thing, and i think obviously jack smith wants to bring this one forward. Its a practical matter, and its otherwise a logistical challenge, i think were gonna say this chase built for speed happening first. Why . The number one aspect of this indictment to me is the caption. Usa versus donald trump. You could have had seven defendants here, seven times the challenges. This one is built for speed. Built for speed. Special counsel jack smith did something really savvy and i think underappreciated and unexpected in this new indictment for trumps coup attempt. He charged a single defendant and the case, donald j trump. Despite that, trump is by no means the only person involved in this criminal conspiracy to steal the election. Look at the first few pages of the indictment, half a dozen coconspirators listed with their attempts to support democracy detailed through the remaining pages. But result legal actions taken by smiths office imply he wants this case, the january 6th case, to go first. Let me explain. One week ago tonight, we were all expecting this indictment to come out of the washington, d. C. , federal courthouse. We were on pins and needles. But instead, smith was focused on another case, 1000 miles south, miami. That day, he added a third defendant in the classified Documents Case. He also released a superseding indictment, adding new charges against the ex president and the new defendant, it maralago property manager. This came out of nowhere. Completely unexpected. And it was kind of strange because, whats that going to do to the case . Its going to slow it down. When you add a new defendant and new charges, it serves to tap the brakes on the trial date in this case. The new defendant, Carlos Deliverer had to be a range. Trump and his co defendant, walt nauta, had to be arraigned because there are new charges. And if that was not enough to push back the documents trial, yesterday, smith asked for a hearing to discuss potential Conflicts Of Interest surrounding walt nautas Defense Lawyer, because hes representing these seven other clients that have been interviewed in the classified Documents Case. Take a step back. The kelly of what we have. The Fulton County and new york prosecutors have signaled they will defer to the federal prosecutor on scheduling we think the georgia case might be coming soon. In the past week, smith has ended a defendant and the classified Documents Case and request a Conflict Of Interest here in. Both are things that slow down the pace of that case. Then, tuesday, smith and its a single defendant, donald j trump, and the elections interference case. Does not and directly coconspirators. All of that shows, smith has all the pieces in place for this case. The most important case, to my mind, by far. Critical to democracy for this case to go first. Basically, it takes the timing of the first Trump Federal trial a bit out of the hands of the maralago judge Aileen Cannon and centers the focus on washington, d. C. , and the faith of our democracy itself. Itself. Good to know, because this next scene might take a while. For a great low rate, go with the general. Bridgett is here. Next scene might take a while. She has no clue that im here. She has no clue whos in the helmet. Are you ready . Im ready alright. Xfinity rewards creates experiences big and small, donald trump is gonna face and onceinalifetime. Trial for his efforts to steal the last president ial election. As the clock comes down to the president ial election, and the prosecution seeking a speedy trial, the trump 2024 campaign is basically the Og Bronco Chase at this point. Running for his own freedom. It bears that trumps advisers are blunts privately, their goal is to win their cases so that it can disappear from the Justice Department. Michelle is that Opinion Columnist of the new yorks times, and is where they wary about the Trump Indictment and they join me now. Trump election just became winner go to jail. Trump says what these charges im about to be president again. Once he doesnt have that hes got nothing else to follow back on. I thought the big takeaway from the arraignment here today was. Everyone is on the same page. There is not really really much pretends on the bias. Is it gonna happen early enough . What was your take away by the dates exchange of the fact that that was brought up in the arraignment. Trumps campaign for president is not a campaign for president , its a prison break. And the question is can he give up before they catch up. The fed was really nice today because whether it shows is that the Magistrate Judge and the actual judge they are in cahoots. They are in sync. And it looks like they are going to try to move this as fast as possible. And that is encouraging. But we are talking about putting a former president on trial in under 15 months. And even if you think that somehow the trial goes off sometime early next year, youve got the conviction, youve got the sentencing process, youve got the appeals of that process, there is just no legitimate way, i do not think, that trump actually ends up in jail before the election. Which means he is going to have the opportunity to free himself from jail by winning the presidency. I totally agree with that. But here is where i am slightly more bullish on the timeline. Based On Everything Smith has done and chickens reputation as a serious judge. Understanding that its important for the public. For this man to be tried before the election. Not for the least of which, for the Republican Party honestly. I really feel like its fair to do it this summer. Because they can vote on the guy who is convicted of a felony. That a trial happening before the general election, now seems to me, a real possibility. Even a probability of what he did before. Yes a trial. And the trial in which one of the other candidates. Serious ones. Are gonna testify. His Vice President is going to testify against him. It seems like there is very little way around that. What i find so frustrating is because of the stakes, not what i find so frightening, is for the stakes not so much for trump. But for the country. Think about what he did in both 2016, and 2020, the reason that he is going on trial. And you might think its a trifling case in comparison. But its also about breaking a lot to get elected in 2016. If people are allowed to stay in office in 2020. And both of these cases, what was at stake was his own eagle. Now what is at stake is his own freedom. So just imagine he has no incentive to be restrained by the law in any regard. Because either he winds and he assumes dictatorial powers. Or he loses and he goes to prison. Ill add two more to. That just here in point there. Its an important one. The new york case is about crimes committing in pursuit of being elected. This is about crimes he considered for considering staying in power. Despite being unelected. The first impeachment was about initial misconduct in pursuit of being elected. And the case brought by mueller, in which he indicted no other than yevgeny prigozhin. Was for conspiracy to the u. S. Which was a criminal case in the russian government, on trumps behalf in 2016. Theres a lot of associated crimes. Absolutely. But i think we also need to talk about the complete punk ness of the Republican Party. Because one of the reasons why we are here is because none of the republicans really have the feelings to stand up and to talk about how this man should not be the nominee of the party. If a Democratic Frontrunner was under two federal indictments, that would be a line of their opponents outside of your door waiting for their five minutes to get up here and talk about how much they do not like the Democratic Front runner. But the republicans are so weak, and so in thrall to donald trump, that they are going to let this twice indicted person run their party. I also think this is a really key point, i think it is under price. The potential political effect of conviction. I really do. And here is polling today. Reuters ipsos. Would you vote for donald trump if he was convicted of a felony crime by a jury . These are republicans. Yes 55 , no 45 , 25 dont. Know i wonder how many of those people, if you ask them if you wouldve voted for donald trump if he was convicted, or not convicted, but found yes of sexual assault. People would say no and then they would find some reason to discount it. So i think that no one says oh my goodness, he has actually done those terrible things. I think there could be a point at which they say, oh my goodness, he might lose. Not great. He might, do we really want to sacrifice the presidency to this man . The thing that has never happened to donald trump. Except for two moments, right after the access hollywood tape, and a little after january six. Is to rush towards the exit. You dont want to be the last one holding the stock. Or holding the bag that is being traded down. And i dont, im not predicting that happens, but that number to me. To your point if a democrat would strike fear in democrats hearts. If that number is only 10 , 10 of Republican Voters who are like im out for conviction. Thats a serious political problem. One would hope. And i think this goes back to the whole point that trump is running this whole thing out of jail. Because if he ends up being the nominee. What youre gonna have is the juxtaposition between joe biden, who is running to do the business of the american the bu American People and donald trump running to get a get out of jail free card. And ive got to hope even in this country that some persuadable voters consider that. Michelle goldberg, great to have you here. That is all in on this very eveptful thursday. Alex wagner tonight begins right now. I see i saw a few hours ago. Thanks to you at home for joining us. Around noon today donald trump left his estate at bedminster, new jersey. He got on his trump plane at Newark International airport and flow back to washington, d