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Trial with wiz former fixer and Attorney Michael Cohen grilled by the former president s defense team about a phone call from eight years ago. Were going to bring you expert legal analysis on that testimony and what to expect next in the trial. Also ahead well explain why President Bidens interview with special counsel robert hur is back in the headlines months after the special counsel decide against seeking charges against the former president. And bring you the latest out of gaza amid growing dire humanitarian concerns. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this friday, may 17th. We made it to friday. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day with us. And we have a jampacked show this morning. And we will begin with Donald Trumps criminal Hush Money Trial, which is nearing the finish line and could potentially wrap up as early as next week. The prosecutions star witness, Michael Cohen, is set to return to the stand on monday after trumps legal team tried yesterday to hammer away at his credibility. Courts in recess today, no actions, so the former president can attend his son barrons High School Graduation this morning and then head to a fundraiser. Todd blanche said cohens questioning will likely wrap up on monday. Didnt quite finish yesterday. The prosecution has said it does not plan to call any additional witnesses and the defense says it may not call any either. That means closing arguments in this case could begin as early as tuesday, clearing the way for the jury to begin deliberating on trumps fate by the end of next week. So Michael Cohen with former trump lawyer faced a second day of crossexamination yesterday and testified that he spoke directly to former President Trump on the phone about the payments made to Stormy Daniels. One of the most consequential moments yesterday came when trumps lawyer, todd blanche, looked to discredit that story. Cohen testified that he contacted trump through his bodyguard, a man named Keith Schiller, on october 24, 2016, about those hush money payments. Blanche pressed cohen about phone records that show he texted schiller that day asking how to handle a teenager who was prank calling him. Cohen responded saying he did not remember that message. Blanche than said this. Do you recall texting Keith Schiller at 7 48 p. M. To say who can i speak to regarding Harassing Calls to myself and office . The dope forgot to block his call on one of them. You dont recall that . Cohen then responded sounds right, yes. Blanche then noted a return text to cohen where schiller simply says, call me. Blanche then pointed out cohen called schiller immediately after that for a conversation that only lasted a minute and a half. Blanche accused cohen of lying, suggesting he did not speak to trump during that call about Stormy Daniels as he had testified. Cohen, however, insisted that both topics were covered despite the short length of that phone call in question. The defense also attempted to paint cohen as having a vendetta against trump. Listen to a portion of his podcast that was played in court. I truly [ bleep ] hope that this man ends up in prison. It wont bring back the year that i losto the damage done to my family, but revenge is a dish best served cold, and i Better Believe i want this man to go down and rot inside for what he did to me and my family. Theres no question that Michael Cohen hates donald trump, and stuff like that has been problematic for the prosecution. But lets get more informed legal analysis than what i just gave you by bringing in msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. Danny, thank you so much for being here again. Lets talk about Michael Cohen and how he did yesterday because there were some some sharp differences of opinion in terms of whether he helped or hurt the prosecution. I feel like im in the minority. I know that moment you just described, the phone call to Keith Schiller. A lot of folks have described that as a major moment for the defense. I didnt really see it that way because it was a phone call from eight years ago. I expect the prosecution has their has lined up with their redirect theyre going to get back up and maybe ask a few questions to try and clear that up, but i dont know they even need to because, look, its just memory loss after eight years. Could he have talked about Stormy Daniels for a minute and a half, maybe, maybe not. But i didnt think it was quite as devastating as others do. Again, i think im in the minoritywrite, but to me this is cooperating with corroborating witness. These are usually hardened criminals. Michael cohen was not that. He was going to be flaky on some issues, he was going to equivocate. He was going to have difficulty keeping his story straight on some level. So, yes, i think it was good for the defense they elicited that, but at the same time this is what happens to corroborating witnesses, people like cohen who have credibility issues. Lets go through the time line here. Courts off today, back mondays. Cohen will finish the crossexamination and the prosecution will get a redirect. Is that right . Yes, exactly. The prosecution gets to get up and as long as its limited to whats addressed on cross they can cleanup. I expect they will especially over the weekend they can look at the headlines and they say it looks like people thought we got zinged so lets get back up there and give cohen a chance to explain it. They cant talk to him over the weekend, but they can make a plan for maybe a short redirect. Or the other option is say, look, none of this laid a glove on the real prosecution. The real cool thing is to stand up and say were fine, no closing questions. And then theres closing arguments and the jury gets it. Dont forget theres a Charging Conference with where the lawyers hash out what the Jury Instructions are going to be. Those can last longer than you might expect. My last trial lasted an entire day in the Charging Conference, but it varies depending on the judge. So, yes, your time lines about right, and once the jury gets the case, who knows . Although generally speaking people tend to think jurors deliberate longer than they actually do. And lastly, theres no chance trump takes the stand, right . Look, ive been jokingly taking the underdog bet donald trump might take the stand for no other reason i would be the only one who said it, i would be a legend if he did take the stand. Realistically, statistically, hes highly unlikely to take the stand. Even his bravado saying he would take the stand, thats pretty common in white collar criminal defendants. As the trial approaches theyre fully confident about testifying, and as that day arrive as lot of them say you know what, im good. Well have complete coverage of the trial all morning here on msnbc and speak to you, im sure, again next week. Msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos, thank you as always. So outside the courthouse yesterday new yorkers and tourists alike have been standing in line for hours and sometimes days hoping for a chance to see the trial firsthand. The General Public is allowed to watch the proceedings, but not everybody makes it inside. There are roughly a half dozen seats or so reserved in the main courtroom, and about 30 others are allowed to go into an Overflow Room down the hall where proceedings are shown on a closedcircuit tv. Its free to get in, but some people are paying a hefty price a good spot in line. According to the New York Times the woman 12th in line yesterday morning was selling her spot for 450. Behind her was a lawyer who paid hundreds of dollars for line sitters so she and her friends could get into the Overflow Room. Members of the media also standing in line early to get inside. A case not shown on television. Still ahead here, President Biden asserts Executive Privilege over Audio Recordings that were made during his classified documents. Plus a House Oversight hearing devolves into complete chaos with lawmakers going after each other. It wont surprise you to learn who one of those lawmakers was. Those stories and a check on sports and your weekend Weather Forecast when we come right back. End Weather Forecast when we come right back its a beautiful. Day to fly. Wooooo her uncles unhappy. Im sensing an underlying issue. Its tmobile. It started when we tried to get him under a new plan. But they they unexpectedly unraveled their price lock guarantee. Which has made him, a bit. Unruly. You called yourself the uncarrier. You sing about price lock on those commercials. the price lock, the price lock. so, if you could change the price, change the name its not a lock, i know a lock. So how can we undo the damage . We could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. Their connection is unreal. And we could all unexperience this whole session. Okay, thats uncalled for. Welcome back. As we turn to some of the morning other top headlines President Biden is asserting Executive Prevolog in his refusal to release the Audio Recordings of his interview with special counsel robert hur. White House Counsel is telling leaders oof the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, that means congressmen james comer and jim jordan about that letter released yesterday citing a recommendation from Attorney General garland while citing transcripts have already been released and accused them of want to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan purposes. But chairman comer said they wanted to make sure the transcripts are accurate saying it may explain hurs Copclusion Biden should not be prosecuted because of mental acuity and poor memory. We believe that there are some more theres more to the story. We would like to know if it was joe biden answering those questions in the transcript, or was his lawyer answering those questions for him . And with what ive seen in the in the transcribed interviews that weve done, weve released all the transcripts like we said we would. A lot of times theres a Lawyer Whispering in and answering the questions for the various family members. So i think that the American People deserve the truth, and i dont think what were asking for is unreasonable. House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries withheld judgment on bidens decision to invoke privilege saying he needed to examine the legal grounds first. Well, ive got to take a look at the legal case for Executive Privilege. I do generally believe that transparency is in the best interest of everyone, and i think the Biden Administration has been really transparent in a variety of different ways throughout their term. But in terms of this specific instance, you know, im going to reserve comment until i get an understanding. We should note nbc news is part of a lawsuit to force the Biden Administration to release the audio of the hur interview under the freedom of information act. Nbc news and other News Organizations believe the audio is public record, that the white house has no grounds to with hold it, and its release would be in the publics interest. We will keep you updated. Meanwhile, the House Oversight and Judiciary Committee also voted yesterday to hold Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress Last night amid the fight over those audiotapes. The two Committee Votes fell along party lines with oversights vote happening later in the evening. As Many Republican members were in New York City during the day for former President Trumps Hush Money Trial well have more on that later on both committees will now send the reports to the full house for a vote. House Speaker Mike Johnson has not said when this matter involving the Attorney General could be resolved. And another congressional story. As things got heated last night, as House Oversight Committee Members debated Holding Garland in contempt, the chaos erupted with republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor greene. Id like to know if any of the democrats on this committee are employing judge merchans daughter. Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland. Oh, godman, thats right, hes advising. Do you know what were here for . Well, you the one talking about i think your fake eyelashes are messing up no, aint nothing. Regain order of your committee. And i would like to move to take down ms. Greenes words. That is absolutely unacceptable. How dare you attack the principle appearance of another person. Are your feelings hurt. Oh, girl, baby girl. Oh, really. Dont even play. Baby girl . Were going to move and were going to take your words down. I second that motion. That was aoc there. Not a surprise that Marjorie Taylor greene would be at the middle of this. Eventually greene said she would strike her words but she would not apologize. Still ahead well turn to sports with a really good night of Playoff Action against the nhl and nba as the timberwolves force a game 7 with a shocking win. And the New York Rangers with a come back as they punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals. Well bring you those highlights and a check on the forecast when we come right back. The forecasn we come right back so this is pickleball . Pickle ah, these guys are intense. With e trade from Morgan Stanley, were ready for whatever gets served up. Dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. Id rather work on saving for retirement. 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Call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. Theres no obligation, and youll receive a free Beneficiary Planner just for calling. This isnt charmin no wonder i dont feel as clean. Heres Charmin Ultra Strong. Ahhh my bottoms been saved with its diamond weave texture, Charmin Ultra Strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. Enjoy the go with charmin. Swing, swing, open shot. Daniels up to 18. Edwards on the steal. Edwards, oh, what a move to the rack there will be a game 7 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the denver nuggets. Anthony edwards led the t wolves out of their midseries slump scoring 27 in a 11570 just blow out victory over the nuggets last night. Minnesotas 54point win marks the nbas largest margin of victory in a playoff game since all the way back in 2015. A weird series, a lot of blow outs. The conference match up will be decided sunday in denver. Twolves, nuggets sunday game 7. Over in the Eastern Conference the New York Knicks will try to put away the pacers tonight on the road in game 6. And in indiana a victory would send the series back to msg for game 7 on sunday. So far the home team has Won Every Game in this round. So we may indeed get that game 7. But last night fans at msg were celebrating and celebrating a Playoff Victory in the nhl as the New York Rangers secured a trip to the Conference Finals with a win over the hurricanes. Hurricanes were up all game and chris criders third period hat trick they were down 21. They win 53 and avoid a game 7. The rangers now awade the winner of the series between the Boston Bruins and florida panthers. The panthersvise a 32 lead heading into tonight for game 6. And j. T. Miller scored the goal ahead of the canucks. Vancouver now leads that series 32. We turn now to wnba and Caitlin Clark had, lets say it, a pretty home debut with the Indiana Fever last night. Held just 9 points the fever got blown out 10266 by the liberty. This follows clark marks the First Time Since january 2021 which was clarks freshman season in iowa. Lets be clear though these are early struggles and her team not very good not yet. She will be fine. To golf now. Round 2 of the Pga Championship tees off in just a couple hours at the valhalla country club. Xander schauffele tops the Eleader Board at minus 9 to tie the record at a major championship. He currently holds a threestroke lead over a trio Of Americans Tied For Second followed by rory mcllroy and six other golfers at minus 5. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler hold out for an eagle to start his day but finished minus 4 in a sixway tie for 12th and that includes defending pga champ brooks koepka. Tiger woods, meanwhile, bogeyed the final day to end his day at 1 over par. Time now for the weather, and lets bring in our friend meteorologist michelle grossman. Michelle, we finally made it to friday. There were real doubts there for a while. Whats the Weather Forecast look like for the weekend . I know. When we were together last weekend it felt so long ago but we made it. In the south so, so soggy. We have showers and storms really a slow moving system bringing soaking rains. Also talking about louisville today were looking at the chance for showers and storms, and thats going to be the same story for the preakness tomorrow in baltimore. For today were looking at the chance for flooding throughout the south mainly along the central gulf coast states, record highs in the southeast. Sunshine returns in new england and sunny and warm in the southwest through central plains. A little snow and rain in the inner mountain west. This is what it looks like right now on radar the yellow, reds and oranges showing where the heavy rain is falling. Right now mainly through alabama, the panhandle and florida and going to see showers and thats going to bring the chance for flooding. As a result we have 16 Million People under flood watches that includes waco, lake charles, over to panama city. Were expecting 2 to 5 inches in most spots and we could see locally 6, 7 inches of rain and were 300 to 800 above normal in terms of rainfall in some of these spots so were going to see some runoff as we go throughout this friday. A chance for severe storms, 7 Million People at risk. Were looking at the risk for some hail, not too large, about an inch, wind gusting up to 60 miles per hour. New orleans, montgomery, mobile, could see a chance for strong storms as we go throughout the afternoon. Tomorrow were going to shift that a little further to the east. Were talking about the aerolineas into the southeast, so albany, georgia, columbia, wilmington, savannah, jacksonville small storms. Pretty much the same as today small hail, damaging winds, heavy downpours and a chance of a tornado or two. The preakness tomorrow at 4 30 that track is going to be a little wet because were looking at a canc for showers. Temperatures only in the 60s. So if youre lucky enough to get out there looking at the chance for showers and storms. Unfortunately, umbrellas not allowed out there. Certainly dryer to watch it at home on nbc. Michelle grossman, thank you so much. Have a good weekend. Coming up here with his criminal Hush Money Trial on recess today, donald trump is heading to minnesota for a fundraiser tonight. Well look at his return to the Campaign Trail when we come right back. To the Campaign Trail when we come righbat ck [coughing] copd hasnt been pretty. Its tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. But trelegy has shown me that theres still beauty and breath to be had. Because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flareups. 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I never even thought of that. I thought i won in 2020. We thought we had a really good shot in minnesota. We have great friendships up there. Weve done a lot for industry. We just played the clip where you said the thing you then said you didnt say. I mean, donald trump, ladies and gentlemen. Joining us now National Politics reporter for bloomberg, stephanie lai. Lets talk minnesota for a minute. Its true the Biden Campaign won minnesota in 2020, lets be clear on that, but it was fairly narrow and the Trump Campaign made a real push there. Theres some similar demographics to the states like michigan and wisconsin where trump and Biden Run Neck And neck. Even though minnesota has been going blue now for many cycles, it stands to reason the Trump Campaign will at least make a play. But behind the scenes do they really think minnesotas in play . And do the Biden Campaign, do they worry it could be . Certainly. Well, what were seeing right now is that this is the first time that former President Donald Trump is headed to minnesota, and whats really notable about this is that minnesota is not necessarily one of those key Battleground States that we think of that will determine the outcome of the general election, but what i scooped for Bloomberg News earlier this month is that trumps top advisers believe he has the ability to flip blue states like minnesota and virginia. They said this at a retreat in palm beach earlier in may, and its quite significant because their internal pollings show him virtually tied in minnesota. And so if he is able to make a play for these states, this could end up diverting money the Biden Campaign would otherwise spend in a key Battleground State like pennsylvania or wisconsin, these states that really might have a better chance of determining the outcome of the election. So lets talk for a minute about other states that could be in play. It seems the republicans you just mentioned minnesota and Vurm Virginia are the two they think even if they cant win, they can make the democrats spend there. On the other side the democrats feel like they can win north carolina. For them its maybe florida the state where they maybe cant wip but make republicans sweat a little bit. Tell us more into their thinking. Yeah, well florida has been an interesting state, and its very clear the Biden Campaign has made a big push in the area especially making sure they reach out to hispanic and black voters. And spent some time with the dnc earlier this cycle during the primary to see some of the groundwork that theyve been doing, so they are definitely very interested in trying to win over florida, but their mentality has always been that the vote is never guaranteed, and they have to put in the groundwork early onto get voters to back them in november and lastly, lets talk a bit about the weeks big news, which was of course the president and the former president have agreed to a pair of debates. The biden team feels pretty good about the groundwork theyve established that trumps not going to benefit from having an audience, that hes going to have to deal with a setup where his mic could be cut off at any time if hes interrupting. Take us behind the scenes in the two camps. How do they each feel about going into these debates . Look, well, the democrats have definitely setup a favorable condition for President Biden they contend without a live audience, which trump is known to capitalize off of, and with the ability to mute mics with the candidates time up, this may limit trumps ability to command the stage. And certainly this can help President Biden have a more favorable debate, which in turn would, you know, show hes exceeding expectations. And when like what we saw with the state of the Union Address a cogent delivery enabled him to have a polling bump for weeks following. And so taken to this extreme, should President Biden overperform in the debates early on in, say, june this could change the narrative of the general election. All right, big moments ahead to be sure. And i think that its telling that they want that first debate in june, indeed, to try to rattle the status quo in the polls right now. National politics reporter for bloomberg, stephanie lai, thank you. We appreciate your reporting this morning. Still ahead here, well take an early look whats driving wall street after the dow briefly topped 40,000 yesterday, the very first time its ever done that. Plus walmart beats revenue expectations and reports major growth in ecommerce. Well dig into what led to those higher profits when Way Too Early returns. Higher profits when Way Too Early returns its a beautiful. Day to fly. Wooooo oh, yeah, man. Take it from your inner child. What you really need in life is some freakin torque. What . The dodge hornet r t. The totally torquedout crossover. I thought i was sleeping ok. But i was waking up so tired. Then i tried new zzzquil sleep nasal strips. Their four point lift design opens my nose for maximum air flow. So, i breathe better. And we both sleep better. And stay married. Im jonathan lawson, here to tell you about Life Insurance and we both sleep better. Through the Colonial Penn program. 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Time now for business and for that lets bring in cnbcs silvia amaro who joins us live from london. Good morning, silvia. Good to see you. So dow futures starting flat this morning after the blue chip average briefly went over the 40,000 mark for the very first time. That happened yesterday. What should we expect from wall street today . Thats right. At this Stage Futures do suggest it could be a slow start to the Trading Session on wall street today. And that is after we saw the dow hitting that 40,000 level mark, which is happening basically for the first time ever. So an important threshold there that the dow crossed over yesterday. However, lets see how the equity session will fare today. Its likely to be more quiet compared to yesterdays session simply because no corporate results are expected today. Investors will be looking, however, at some economic indicators. But all in all what we saw yesterday happening with the dow actually suggests the recent momentum around a. I. And better than expected corporate results have contributed and boosted u. S. Equities, but lets see what will happen for the rest of the year because theres still quite a lot of uncertainty about how many rate cuts were actually going to get from the federal reserve. How many and when. Lets hit a couple other headlines here. Some businesses from mcdonalds to home depot are struggling to attract shoppers right now, but walmart continues to grow, consumers drawn to low prices it would seem. Tell us more about this. Exactly. So we heard from walmart yesterday. They actually beat expectations with their latest results. In essence their performance on ecommerce as well as the fact they have been attracting more High Income Earnings has actually contributed to their recent performance. And actually if you look at their share price reaction, we saw walmart shares hitting an alltime high yesterday and actually ended the session up by about 7 , so investors clearly enjoying what they heard from walmart. Having said that, the cfo when speaking to cnbc, he did make the comment that for instance when you look at their grocery business, one of the reasons its contributing to that performance is the fact people are still finding it very expensive to eat out, and therefore theyre choosing to cook at home. And facebooks parent company, meta, was hit yesterday with a Major Investigation from the european union. Tell us what prompted that. So this is quite significant. The european commission, thats the Executive Arm of the eu, they decided to open a formal investigation looking at instagram as well as facebook for what they call and ill quote here, May Stipument behavioral addictions in children as well as create socalled rabbit hole effects. This investigation is actually coming at a time when were seeing widespread concerns really across the european continent about the use of social media among young people but also overall the use of smart phones. Now, meta has responded and said that they want to create a safe and ageappropriate experiences online and they have been creating the tools to do so over the last 50 years. Lets see how this will unfold. Its just the start of this formal investigation. However, the eu said it will be treating this as a matter of priority. Yeah, and they should. Certainly an important story the impact of social media shapes each and every one of us. Well certainly be following this. Cnbcs silvia amaro live from london, thank you as always. Next up here on Way Too Early, a group of republican lawmakers show their support for donald trump sitting behind him in court yesterday during his Hush Money Trial. 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They showed their loyalty to trump outside the courthouse holding a News Conference with they repeated many of the former president s false claims. Weve seen this for a few days now. Frump has a way of getting around the gag order. He doesnt violate it, just has his republican colleagues do it for him. Host of the fast politics podcast molly jonfast. Shes also an msnbc political analyst. I mean, let me just set you up here to talk about this display of sycophants. And we also had matt gaetz quoting what donald trump said to the proud boys in that debate, stand back, standby in his in a tweet where he basically said look, there it is. Standing back and standing by, mr. President , says matt gates as hes standing behind mr. Trump outside the trial. You know, all of that was incredible. And i want to say if you look at nancy pelosi, i want to harken back to when the house was normal nancy pelosi would never have let that happen because it puts the entire house majority, the one or twoseat majority depending how you count it in jeopardy. Watching this was such a display yet yesterday was Freedom Caucus day at the trump trial, and that was the Freedom Caucus crew. We had the speaker of the house this week. I mean it just is what it does and again, we dont know but the downstream consequences of this, right, i mean democrats could run on this. House democrats could say why is the speaker of the house at Donald Trumps criminal trial . Why is the Freedom Caucus at Donald Trumps criminal trial . What does this do for the American People . What are you know, are they doing their jobs . Right, the same can be said for Say Doug Bergman of north dakota. How is he doing the business of north dakota by appearing on Center Street in manhattan . But he is there because its part of the veep stakes. Donald trump clearly in no rush to get this done and hes demanding displays of loyalty whether its in the courthouse or elsewhere. Youve written about it for vanity fair. Tell us where this stands. Donald trump has lucked into this situation where he has all these people who want to be Vice President , all of them completely craven, having no interest in doing anything but trying to appeal to him. And so since theyre trying to appeal to him, and since theyre hoping to audition for the veepstakes, he is able to use them just like hes using these republicans to get around the gag order, which is pretty craven. Hes also using these Vice President ial hopeful as support when hes in court. So he has and i mean i think its pretty interesting hes had only one family member, eric, but hes managed to get much of the Republican Party there. Eric has gone several times, actually. Lets talk about the other main political event this week which was the agreement. I got new reporting out this morning about how the biden team really spent a lot of time looking at the conditions of the debate. They were spooked by that cnn town hall trump did exactly a year ago with a crowd rallied to the side. Also we dont want this to turn into a spectacle. We want it to become as much as it can be a substantive exchange of ideas. How important do those debates bloom and does does it tell you we start ipjune . You did good reporting on this earlier in the week, too, and i think biden world the president ial Debate Council has really messed up. And biden world said they were done with them because they were not enforcing the rules. They were not cutting the mics. They were not doing what needs to happen with donald trump, and donald trump is not a normal president ial candidate. You cannot have normal president ial in there. So i do think thats smart. Look, theyre smart to do it in june. They have to get the American People to Pay Attention. Yeah. I think that is why theyre doing it in june, and then they have one in september. I also think, like, obviously, biden is not running against someone who is a normal candidate. Norms in this way, like, debate committees, arent necessarily i mean, i think this is i think theyre doing the right thing by just pushing along, having it with cnn and abc, and just doing it as soon as possible. I think they should do three. The biden camps case has been once americans Pay Attention and realize, this is your choice, biden or trump, theyll choose biden. Having a debate this early forces americans to Pay Attention. You pull trump into their living rooms. Molly jongfast, thank you, as always. Well talk soon. Up next on Way Too Early, the leaders of russia and china are putting on a united front in beijing today as they deepen their partnership. Richard haass joins us to break down their new era of cooperation and what it could mean for the rest of the world. Thats next. Then, coming up on morning joe, well bring you the Key Takeaways from Michael Cohens testimony yesterday in Donald Trumps Hush Money Trial, as Defense Attorneys press cohen on his credibility and details about his personal life. Also ahead, democratic senator Richard Blumenthal of connecticut will join us live in studio. Morning joe a few short moments away. Oh, yeah, man. Take it from your inner child. What you really need in life is some freakin torque. What . The dodge hornet r t. The totally torquedout crossover. Power e trades awardwinning trading app makes trading easier. With its customizable options chain, easytouse tools, and Paper Trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. E trade from Morgan Stanley hey asthmas got you going through it . Grab nucala for fewer asthma attacks. 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Most common side effects include runny nose, sore throat, common cold symptoms, flu or flulike symptoms, back pain, high blood sugar, and redness, pain, or bruising at the Injection Site. Talk to your doctor about repatha. Welcome back. As we turn to news from overseas, israel will send more troops into rafah despite the growing and persistent International Concern about a fullon Ground Invasion of the Southern Gaza city. Israel Defense Minister made the announcement yesterday, saying the Military Operation will indeed continue. Until now, troops have conducted just limited attacks in eastern rafah. The idf also seized the gaza side of the rafah Border Crossing earlier this month. That area remains closed, leaving hundreds of aid trucks piling up in egypt as the humanitarian condition gets worse. Diplomats and palestinian Officials Say that move has created a dangerous environment for the humanitarian workers themselves, as well. Meanwhile, russian president Vladimir Putin and chinese leader xi jinping have reaffirmed their no limits partnership while meeting in china in a brazen show of unity. On thursday, the two men signed a joint statement deepening the comprehensive Strategic Partnership as there is rising tensions with the west. This is as putin is waging a war with ukraine. China notably has not criticized the invasion and proposed a broadly worded peace plan in 2023, calling for a ceasefire and direct talks between moscow and kyiv. Even though beijing continues to supply key components needed by moscow for weapons production. Not lethal aid but stuff that helps their military and their invasion. Joining us now, president emeritus of the council on foreign relations, richard haass. Author of the weekly newsletter home and away, available on substack. The newest issue comes out later this morning. Well look for that. Richard, good to see you. Lets start with beijing. Putin and xi, a display of friendship, military and strategic ties, as well. How do you view the partnership . Everyone hoping the nolimits agreement you eluded to on the eve of russias invasion of ukraine, people were hoping maybe it wasnt that real. Guess what . It is. Its really disappointing. If anything, the chinese are doubling down, jonathan. Russians, we know, have nowhere else to go, but the chinese embrace, literally. The two had a public embrace, which is rare for xi jinping. The bromance is in full flower. This just basically shows the chinese are ignoring what the United States is saying. The other thing you mentioned that is worrisome, the idea that theyre giving them the machines, the tooling. They may not be giving them bombs and the rest, but theyre giving them the ability to make drones and other types of equipment. China has moved closer to a real partner of russia and the war in ukraine and more broadly. Yeah, it is a real disappointment. One more quick beat on russia. When you speak to u. S. Officials, how concerned are they about the new russian offensive . How far can they go . Ukraine itself isnt threatened. Theyll have trouble taking kharkiv, the second largest city, but momentum is shifting. One is because of the four months in gap for aid from the United States. Also, the ability to access arms from places like north korea and iran for russia. Lets move to the middle east. You were just in israel last week. Give us your sense of whats your take of the events of the last few days . The rafah operation nears. The new pier is being built in gaza, which would help with the humanitarian aid even as the crossing remains closed. Dissension also in israel. Two things in addition to the aid issue. One, the israelis are going into rafah bigger than people wanted, and theyre essentially pushing back against international opinion. You know, there is the extraordinary public breach in the israeli war cabinet. Gallant, Defense Minister, has publicly taken on the prime minister. I mean, frontally. He said, what youre doing is going to fail. Where is the plan for after . I am not, he said, going to order israeli troops to occupy gaza. You now have bibi netanyahu, who is a political survivor, but on a tight rope between, on one hand, his Defense Minister and several military men in the cabinet saying, the plan you have is bound to fail, and the rightwing extremists who bibi is in bed with politically, and how he is going to navigate this is anybodys guess. Its on full display its failing. The idf has to go back to Northern Gaza because areas they thought they routed hamas, now, theyre reconstituting. 100 . You can defeat hamas on monday, but if you dont have a substitute government, someone providing security, thousands of hamas fighters will survive and seep back into the population and take over society. The absence of a serious, viable plan for what comes after rafah is the major, glaring weakness in israeli strategy. National security adviser Jake Sullivan heading to israel in the coming days. Israel said we wont go into rafah while he is in the region, but after that, all bets are off. Richard haass, thank you. Well talk to you again later on morning joe. Thanks to all of you for getting up Way Too Early with us on this friday morning and all week long. Morning joe starts right now. You referred to President Trump as a boring cartoon misogynist, didnt you . Sounds like something i would say. A chinesedusted Cartoon Villain . That also sounds like something i said. You referred to President Donald Trump as dictator dbag, Department You . Cohen says, sounds like something i said. Damn trump is jus