ayman. coming up, conservative elites want to play by a different se of rules, enter clarence thomas, donald trump and gop megadonor leonard leo honored all seem t think you should be held accountable, but not them. then, the trump trial collidin with the campaign trail, 202 is becoming a referendum among the rule of law and th potential gift to presiden biden. and silencing their critics, tennessee republicans just expelled to democrats of color from the state house over a gu control protest. why are they so threatened b the scent? i am ayman mohyeldin let s get started. summer is just around the corner, and you might be starting to consider som vacation plans, maybe a trip t an amusement park with the kids, or i don t know, maybe a weekend get away, you know just you and your partner, maybe even a trip to the beach with your friends. or if you are a supreme cour justice like clarence thomas you might be planning to jum on a friend s private jet, and spent the weeken
good morning to you on saturda april the 8th, i m velshi. it is been a short week in american politics. former president donald trum appeared for arraignment i manhattan, criminal cour political tensions are on th front. his extremist ideology wil carry on whether or not he succeeds in getting back to th white house. on tuesday, we saw trump i unfamiliar territory inside courtroom waiting for the judg to give him the criminal charges division filed against him. former president already twice impeached and still currentl facing eleni of other criminal and civil complaints, he pleaded not guilty to the 34 felony accounts of falsifyin business records in relation t the hush money payments made t stormy daniels with whom h allegedly had an affair. trump continues to lie those allegations. he s also reported to making dozens of social media pos criticizing the manhatta district attorney, alvin brang the judge assigned to his case and even their family member who have nothing to do
very dangerous, and i hope that as the nation watches that we to say we should sound the alarm across the nation we re entering dangerous territory. that was one of two democrats in tennessee that was just expelled after participating in a gun violence protest on the floor of the statehouse. we ll have much more on this partisan punishment just ahead meanwhile on capitol hill one of donald trump s most vocal allies in congress sends a subpoena to a former prosecutor in the manhattan district attorney s office we ll explain why this move may backfire on jim jordan, and we ll dig into a bombshell report exclosing years of lavish vacations taken by supreme court justice clarence thomas, all paid for by a gop mega donor all right, good morning. and welcome to way too early on this friday, april 7th. i m sam stein in for the irreplaceable jonathan lemire. republican legislators in tennessee voted yesterday to expel two black democrats from the statehouse over their protest o
in the office s possession prior to my time here. he is talking about some new evidence are you aware of what that might be there s no new evidence that s spin. also this hour, house speaker kevin mccarthy meeting with taiwan s president tsai at the reagan library in california a show of support for taiwan how is beijing reacting? international pressure for vladimir putin to release evan gershkovich falsely charged with spying as he remains locked in a prison in moscow in my own mind there s no doubt he is being wrongfully detained by russia good day, everyone i m andrea mitchell. today in los angeles, former president trump continuing his attacks on both manhattan s district attorney and the judge presiding over his case while dismissing the felony charges that he is facing. there is no case. there s no case. my lawyers came to me and they said, there s nothing here never thought it could happen. the only crime that i have committed is to fearlessly defend our na
elections. and house speaker kevin mccarthy trading partisan political fights for a diplomatic one, meeting this hour with the president of taiwan mccarthy says the meeting will help make the world safer. china says it s doing just the opposite so a lot to get to we start with today and donald trump embarking on an effort rarely tried in american history running for president while simultaneously fighting criminal charges. his late night speech at mar-a-lago gave us a glimpse of what s to come, a defiant trump surrounded by a loyal band of ardent supporters thumbing through a well-worn political playbook lashing out at his perceived enemies and seeming a little stunned by what happened. i never thought anything like this could happen in america never thought it could happen. the only crime that i have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it one of many things that need fact checking. i want to bring in nbc s vaughn hillyard outside