its closing arguments in donald trump s civil fraud trial after a dramatic scene in which the former president himself addressed the court. the judge had only allowed trump to speak on the condition that he focus on the facts but the president quickly veered into other territory claiming he is an innocent man being persecuted d the judge telling defense counsel please control your client. th former president has already been found liable for inflating properties to get loan deals. the judge will attempt to issue his ruling by the end of the month. yasmin vossoughian is reporting for us outside the courtroom in new york. vaughn hillyard is urbandale, iowa, also with us, renato, former federal prosecutor. somebody might argue at least in terms of drama donald trump s a tough act to follow. reporter: yeah, i think that person would likely win that argument. nonetheless, i think lee tee james has a lot in store. she is not likely to offer closing arguments to other attorneys.
is the only issue at hand proceedings or some of the most secretive proceedings processes a non political process. this guy is doing politics. he has an agenda that is not the rule of law. its spirits. he s ready to go in and do what he needs to do. this is not a situation that he has any control over. i think right now he s beyond petrified to liberal prosecutor that s doing political revenge against a former president. that s not a precedent that you want to have more dangerous precedent to set here would be to do nothing. today it all happens. today is the day the day good morning, everyone seven am here on the east coast. we re glad you re with us. the sun is up. behind caitlin outside of 100 center, street street, caitlin, the manhattan criminal court house, which is where the world s attention will be on the former president today. yeah i should note that there are a lot of security here. there s a lot of new york police department officers, a lot of barricades. there i
moscow next. happening right now, historic winter storm is pummeling bringing heavy winds snow and ice after slamming the rockies. we ll take you live to minneapolis. also this morning, the epa has now ordered norfolk southern to play for all cleanup operations related to the toxic chemical spill triggered by a train derailment in ohio earlier this month. we ll tell you which major political figures are heading to east palestine today. president biden is wrapping up a high stakes trip to europe as tensions continue to escalate between the u.s. and russia. this morning the president reacted to vladimir putin s decision to suspend participation in the last remaining arms control agreement between the u.s. and russia, calling it a big mistake. his response came hours after sharp new rhetoric from one of putin s top allies who told a russian news agency, quote, if the u.s. wants to defeat russia, we have the right to defend ourselves with any weapon, including the nuclear k
Happy friday, it is 10 00 eastern. Im Ana Cabrera Reporting from new york, and Donald Trumps Hush Money Trial just resuming this morning with a former Trump White House aide facing cross examination. Madeleine westerhout back on the stand, shes testified about trump signing checks and Michael Cohen visiting the white house. And speaking of cohen, we just learned that the prosecutions star witness will take the stand on monday. Nbcs Vaughn Hillyard is outside the courthouse for us. Also with us our legal panel for the hour White Collar Defense Attorney and former federal prosecutor sarah krisoff, and criminal defense attorney bernard via low na. Vaughn, catch us up. Whats happening inside that courtroom this morning . Reporter hey, good morning, ana. Madeleine westerhout who was the trump Executive Assistant inside of the white house for his first two and a half years there is currently testifying Under Cross Examination by Susan Necheles. Theyre currently looking at an email in which a
what if it was suddenly trump tower without donald trump. some of the biggest buildings in the former president s real estate portfolio are at risk as his civil fraud trial nears its end. not only trump tower but trump park avenue, 40 wall street, 1290 avenue of the americas and two of his golf properties. joining me now, federal and white collar criminal defense attorney, caroline pelosi, and former u.s. attorney and former white collar defense attorney, paul charleston, new york times business investigations editor, and author of towers, david enrick joins me as well. can you just explain what actually could be the penalties involving these buildings? is it that his name is stripped off of them, he can t manage them, he can t collect money off