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
here tonight with reaction. but first, rule and ruin, that s the focus of tonight s angle. of course radical new york prosecutor is trying to take down trump before 2024, duh. this apparent move toward indicting the former president, biden stumbled climbing air force one. rather than focusing on putting away violent criminals, da alvin bragg wants to make a name for himself by squaring off with donald trump on a case that is as pathetic as it is political. bragg made a future trump prosecution the cornerstone as his campaign for da. has the experience with donald trump, i was the chief deputy in the attorney general s office, we sued the trump administration over 100 times. i know how to litigate with him. laura: one little problem for alvin nothing to bragg about, his only path of admission into the trump haters hall of fame is through a sleezeee lawyer and stormy daniels. well today the grand jury got to hear from a man who new michael cohen very well. his adviser, robe
district attorney calls a special grand jury. and for the second time in three years lawmakers on capitol hill are talking about police reform following a black man s deadly encounter with officers. plus president joe biden sends a message to speaker kevin mccarthy, show me your budget. that s all ahead on way too early. good morning and welcome to way too early on this tuesday, january 31st. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we ll begin with a move that could mean potential criminal charges for former president donald trump just as he ramps up his latest run for the white house. a grand jury has been convened in the case of hush money payments made to adult film star stormy daniels by trump back in 2016. that s according to sources familiar with the situation confirming the development to nbc news and first reported by the new york times. the times reports that manhattan district attorney alvin bragg started presenting evidence to a gra
After saying repeatedly he wanted to testify. Trump did, however, stop for the cameras before going into Court Earlier today. And here is what he said. Were resting the case. I wont be resting. I dont rest. I like to rest sometimes, but i dont get to rest. He wont be resting. The main witness, the defense did call, was Robert Costello. And he was back on the stand trying to undercut Michael Cohens testimony earlier today, a day after being admonished and warned by the judge that his behavior was contemptuous. Even though testimony in this case appears to be over, a huge decision is now looming. Will jurors be allowed to consider lesser charges, misdemeanors against the former president . Or will Felony Charges be their only option . The Charging Conference that will decide that question and potentially go a long way toward deciding how this case ends is just one hour away. I want to bring in msnbc Legal Correspondent lisa rubin remaining outside the courthouse with us in studio, Chuck
Its not am here and then agnez, we are now entering the final phase of the first criminal trial of a former President Donald Trump is inside that courtroom there on the right side of your screen as the prosecution spinal and maybe most important witness, Michael Cohen is about to retake the stan moments ago, the judge we are warmer. Shawn, just informed the court that he does expect Closing Arguments will not happen this week, but he does expect them to happen next tuesday because there is no chance of a verdict this week come to see it as a special live cover. On Kaitlan Collins in new york. An object Saverin Washington in minutes testimony resumes with a third day of crossexamination from Michael Cohen, the former trump you would all fix her turn witness for the prosecution. Todd blanche trumps attorney will again ask the questions. The trump attorney landed several notable blows on cohen underlining seeming inconsistencies and cohens memory at one point, Blanche Accused Cohen of inv