Joining us, msnbcs Yasmin Vossoughian outside the courthouse. Temidayo agangawilliams, a former prosecuor and Defense Attorney caroline pull lisi. Yasmin, Jury Instrekss under way right now. Whats going on . Jury instructions under way ahead of Opening Statements, jose and ana. 45 minutes for the prosecution, 25 minutes for the defense. Theyre doing that because theres going to be a lot of details, much of a timeline, a lot of dates and they dont want to overwhelm the jury in the Opening Statements process. Judgments made from the bench that i want to talk about with you quickly, first, when it comes to the evidence if, in fact, the former president decides to testify, judge juan merchan is allowing six various cases to be decided if donald trump it was. Talking about the trump payroll judgment, the trump civil fraud gag orders as well along with e. Jean carol assault case and the defamation case. A couple more things happening in court this morning. The former president spoke about ho
Good afternoon, so good to be with you. Im jose diazbalart in for katy tur. This is just the beginning. It has been a historic day inside the manhattan courthouse. Both sides completed their Opening Statements in Donald Trumps criminal Hush Money Trial. The prosecution, Zeroing In On Donald Trumps alleged attempts to interfere with the 2016 election saying they have receipts that prove the former president , quote, covered up a criminal experience by lying in his new York Business records over and over and over again. Now, the defense meanwhile says that former president simply didnt do anything wrong. Quote, theres nothing wrong with trying to influence an election, todd blanche told jurors, its called democracy. We heard from our first witness in the trial. Trumps long time friend and former ceo of the National Enquirer, david pecker, a man at the center of the alleged scheme to bury claims from women who say they had affairs with donald trump. Well tell you what he said and what his
i m katy tur. it has been a dramatic day on capitol hill. emphasis on dramatic as house lawmakers loudly debated whether to formalize an investigation into president biden. as you would imagine, it got combative. we were waiting on the vote, but if all republicans tow the line, it will pass. that is not all. this morning, right outside of the capitol. hunter biden told reporters he was ready to testify in front of the house. but only if republicans agree to do it in public stating, quote, my father was not financially involved in my business, not as a practicing lawyer, not as a board member of burisma, not my partnership with the chinese private businessmen, not in my investments at home nor abroad, and certainly not as an artist, and he s blaming republicans by name for using his own personal struggles to try to take down his father. in the depths of my addiction, i was extremely irresponsible with my finances. but to suggest that is grounds for an impeachment inquiry is
taylor swift got her fifth nomination for the taylor swift eras tour film. our coverage continues with katy tur reports right now. good to be with you, i m katy tur. special counsel jack smith is going directly to the supreme court, asking the justices to weigh in on his election interference case. smith is looking for a ruling on whether a president has immunity from crimes while committed in office. it is a potentially very risky move. after all the justices say, yes, he is immune, the case is over. kaput. but if they rule no, it cuts off donald trump s ability to delay the trial through appeals. so big risk, big reward. meaning he would go to court on or close to the march trial date, thereby giving voters a chance to hear the evidence against the man who is asking to be president again. jack smith writing, quote, it is of imperative public importance that respondent s claims of immunity be resolved by this court and that the respondent s trial proceed as promptly as p
tarts right now. greetings everyone, you are watching symone. republicans may officially be in charge of the house of representatives. but democrats, they appear to be the only party interested in doing any governing. what are republicans doing? while they are trying to start fights with each other. and, even with a witness to the committee hearing. are they just to emotional to lead? and don t forget, congressman george santos facing potential expulsion, again. we will dig into a historically weird, wild, and just unfortunate week on capitol hill. plus, fulton county d.a. fani willis sets a date for donald trump s georgia election, interference trial. a few months before election day. what that means for him legally, and politically. and, why it is so hard for judges to rein in trump s dangerous trial rhetoric. and, tiktok is back in the hot seat folks, after hosts sympathizing with terrorists of some of bin laden went viral. how do we get here? and, what is tiktok doing abo