authorities ramp up security. then, republicans quick to defend the twice impeached trump but some want to have their cake and eat it too. how will it all shake out in the 2024 race? and vladimir putin s visit with china s president just days after a warrant was issued for putin s arrest. what this relationship signals for the war in ukraine as the 11th hour gets underway on this monday night. good evening. i am mehdi hasan in for stephanie ruhle. we are in the midst of an extraordinary moment in our nation s history. the people of america are watching, waiting to find out whether manhattan district attorney alvin bragg will bring criminal charges against the former president, donald j trump, related to a hush money payment related to stormy daniels. it would mark the first indictment of a former president in u.s. history. the grand jury in the case heard from another witness today, attorney bob costello, robert costello, the new york times describing him as appearing, quote,
criminal charges against the former president, donald j trump, related to a hush money payment related to stormy daniels. it would mark the first indictment of a former president in u.s. history. the grand jury in the case heard from another witness today, attorney bob costello, robert costello, the new york times describing him as appearing, quote, at the request of the former president s lawyers providing testimony aimed at attacking the credibility of the prosecution style witness. that star witness is former trump lawyer and fixer, michael cohen. the times as that costello was once a legal adviser to cohen when he was facing a federal investigation into the hush money payment following his appearance. castilla s book about what he told of the grand jury. michael cohen told us that he was approached by stormy daniels lawyer. stormy daniels had negative information that she wanted to put in a lawsuit against trump. michael cohen decided, on his own, that s what he told us
is the first person to take on permanent washington. in 2017 donald trump dropped on d.c. like a nuclear bomb. the president was finally telling the bureaucrats who pulled the levers of our government. permanent washington then hit trump with everything they had. investigations impeachments, and leaks the useful idiots in the press who cost play like they speak truth to power but, instead, carry the water for the powerful. 2020 comes around and they hide under hunter biden s laptop right before an election only pulling back the curtain after joe biden slips into the white house. now trump s back on the campaign trail, promising, in fact, in ed the ukraine war within 24 hours. no says permanent washington. so a district attorney in new york that almost no one has heard of cobbles together a frankenstein prosecution to take down his party s biggest political enemy. the two star witnesses a disbarred lawyer and a porn actress. both with a lot to gain. stormy daniels is getting r
north myrtle beach. and it is rising here in new york city. it s actually a beautiful day. ainsley: and, if you live in chicago, go vote early in the morning. i think they are expecting bad weather later this afternoon. steve: but, if it s chicago. ainsley: for mayor. steve: if it s chicago vote early vote often. ainsley: is that the slogan? steve: for many years. ainsley: polls just open. brian: important election in wisconsin as well. everyone is talking about what is happening in new york. steve: couple hours away from former president donald trump s unprecedented arraignment here in new york city where he will be arrested. brian: one report indicates he will have 34 felony counts it however the indictment remains under seal. a press conference from alvin bragg later. sources say he is not expected to be put in any handcuffs. ainsley: our fox news senior correspondent laura ingle got up early. she joins us outside of the court house. when i was dri
in case i rudely interrupt any of the great minds assembled to talk with us, in a matter of minutes, alvin bragg is expected to address this newly unveiled indictment, indicting donald j. trump. this is thfirst time we ve heard from him since trump turned himself in this afternoon. while we wait, a lot is happening at this moment, including developments in the last few minutes we now have our hands on the actual indictment. it s a doozy it s just been unsealed. people are still going through it, processing it, and it s been made public. you can read along with us if you want to. importantly it includes 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election we understand, thank to our nbc news colleagues, there s a courtroom with trump himself, in his own voice, pleaded not guilty today the former president is on his way to laguardia airport, he s going to fly for mar-a-lago, blah, blah, blah purchasers shared a number of examples of o