ally s phone. and a judge s ruling that trump s tax returns can go to house lawmakers. each headline a major development on its own in the legal sphere. here is the big picture when it comes to the legal pressures trump is facing. two department of justice probes. one involving classified documents. the other january 6th. there is also the house select committee investigation into his role in the insurrection. then in georgia trump s infamous fine the votes phone call, the crux of an election interference case. then there is his taxes, his finances. there are three separate investigations here and, today, there was a deposition involving the civil probe in new york. that is where we want to begin with cnn s kara. would the former president answer questions or would he assert the fifth? he chose the latter. reporter: yeah. that is right. that was the big question this morning. donald trump arrived here about four hours ago. he is in the building just over my shoulder at the
documents that were released today. but even that gives us more information about where things are headed, and that s why i think, no matter how redacted the release of this affidavit is gonna be, take the first thing on their. the espionage act. the 18 usc seven 93, we will all were wondering, i rode along piece, what angle are they taking? well, they ve just stated their theory of the case, one, that they might or might not argue to the jury. he retained government documents. well, don, if i go to the white house and help myself to property that s in the oval office, and i take it with me, i m retaining government property. that s a crime. and these are boxes and boxes and boxes. so, we re already learning more. okay, he says he wants this information out there. do you think this is going to be helpful to him? i do not. i think it s going to tell the story of why the government, they had to put the details to convince a judge that there was probable cause of crime. is
america. the president saying today s gop is, quote, dominated, driven, and intimidated by maga republicans. we ll have complete political and historical analysis of his address to the nation. plus, the latest developments in the investigation of former president trump s mishandling of classified documents, as another conservative legal voice predicts trump will be indicted. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is friday, september 2nd. with us, we have u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay with us. the host of way to early, white house bureau chief at politico and the author of the big lie, jonathan lemire. pulitzer prize-winning columnist at the washington post, eugene robinson. and nbc news presidential historian, michael beschloss joins us this morning. glad to have you all. so much to talk about. jonathan lemire, i must start with you. it is like secretariat at the kentucky derby in 1973. starts out slow and then, boom, takes off. i kn
fresh election results in this morning and some hints of democratic optimism. i m john berman. brianna is off, cnn chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins here in morning. a lot to see in these races from last night. it really s when you look closely again, hints, which was, scents. everyone is wanting to pick up on those to know what to say come november. there were some big names on the ballots in several states but it s the special elections in new york that could point to national trends. cnn projects that democrat pat ryan will win the battleground 19th district, this is a district that joe biden narrowly carried in 2020 and that republicans really had hopes of flipping. democrats worked to make abortion rights the central issue in this race, much more on this in just a moment. also here in new york powerful committee chair jerry nadler defeat carolyn maloney which illustrated redistricting struggles for democrats. in florida val demings the former po
faces a critical decision on student loans. we know august 31st is a date that many people are waiting to hear something from. we ve been talking daily about this, and i can tell you that the american people will hear within the next week or so. but up first, a federal judge in plain english delivers a rebuke of donald trump and his legal defenders. the facts are reliable. those words came from judge bruce reinhart in a new court order this morning and it makes clear that the judge views that the affidavit that was used to justify the unprecedented search of mar-a-lago as iron clad. that order also coming as the justice department is now deciding what it wants to keep out of public view, including sensitive information about witnesses and steps into its investigation into former president trump. let s get straight to kat katelyn polantz for more. why did the judge decide to put out this new filing today and what is the significance coming ahead of this all-important deadl