in a defamation suit brought by two georgia election workers. political advisers saying giuliani was wrongly accused in the matter. up next, though, a civil trial that could see trump's former personal attorney held financially liable. joining me now from fulton county is blayne alexander. what more can you tell us about the upcoming arraignments and what this separate motion means for the trial as trump's attorneys, they're seeking to completely sever his case from the other codefendants. >> well, alex, let's start with the arraignments. we know that september 6th, next wednesday at 9:30 a.m., the former president will not be appearing before a fulton county judge. he's waived that arraignment appearance as is his right, and he's entered a not guilty plea, so that certainly answers a lot of questions we had as to whether or not we would see the same kind of extraordinary show of him coming down to georgia, going instead inside a courthouse, and facing a judge we will not see. what is going to shape up next wednesday is it's going to be a busy day regardless. that's because not only did the former president have his arraignment scheduled that day, but his 18 codefendants also had their arraignments scheduled that day, kind of with a running every 15 to 20 minutes, now, the former president along with three others have waived. we expect that others will do the same thing. but certainly will shape up to be a busy day in fulton county. >> you know the judge issued that default judgment. what does that mean, and what's the time line for the trial that will determine whether he's liable for financial damages. >> so we're going to see that in the coming months, but as for what that means, basically a judge has said what he was saying about the two election workers, shay moss and ruby freeman was false. what he was saying about them trying to make efforts to overturn the election or steal votes did not happen. he has to pay attorney fees to $122,000 or so. what a jury will decide is whether he has to pay damages on top of that. the timing of course is so interesting because so much of that overlaps with what we're seeing in the allegations in fulton county. one of the key allegations is spreading false claims about the election, and that includes false claims about those two women, those two election workers as well. alex. >> blayne alexander, thank you so much for that. moving on to what else is new today. court papers showing former president donald trump routinely overstated his personal network to financial institutions over the course of about 10 years. those papers were filed by new york attorney general letitia james who is seeking a partial summary judgment, so in the simplest terms, she's asking the judge to find the former president guilty of fraudulently overvaluing his assets. before that trial even begins. trump's children and the trump organization are also named in the suit. according to a quote, mountain of undisputed evidence that shows trump's net worth was overstated every year from 2011 to 2021, in some cases by over $2 billion. trump has previously denied any wrong doing in this case. joining me now to discuss it is nbc news investigative correspondent, tom winter, and "new york times" investigative reporter, suz anna craig who won a pulitzer prize in 2015 that shattered the donald trump myth that he is a billionaire. what else is in the motion, and what more can you tell us about it? >> you laid out the structure, the idea is the attorney general's office is saying the evidence is so strong, we can decide this before a trial begins. we want summary judgment. a afforded to either party in criminal proceedings. you can't just say, let's just skip the process, and we'll find tom winter, alex witt, guilty in a criminal case. but that can happen in a civil case. i think it's important to remember we have talked about over the past several years, donald trump put out a statement of financial conditions. basically his own self report card on his wealth and current financial status for over a decade. >> he was the one who was saying this is what i'm worth. it was not looked at by an outside institution. >> he worked with people in his organization, according to the court documents. it wasn't always something that trump is doing, and he's not presumably sitting on the computer in excel putting this together. what the attorney general's office here says, what they argue is that in every one of those years, he overstated his income, and they found if they put their own appraisals on it, and trump has 13 expert witnesses who will argue other side, if they put their own appraisals on these properties, anywhere from 18 to 39% you would have to deduct from what he stated those years. for instance, the first year of his presidency was well over $2 million that they say, $2 billion, excuse me, that they claim that he wasn't worth once they took a look at these documents. so it's a significant amount of money. the 2 billion threshold was met in a number of the years and the worst year was in 2020, of course we know that was in the middle of covid, for somebody in the hospitality business, it makes sense that that year the numbers might have come a little bit closer according to the attorney general's office, what they deem to be a reality. >> the washington property, the trump hotel, that would take a big hit understandly. >> the motion was part of the lawsuit accusing the former presidential as widespread fraud. as someone well versed remind us what that case centers on and what the implications are here? >> well, i mean, it's scheduled to go to trial in october, and it does go to the heart, you know, the valuations of his property and did he submit these bank statements, financial statements, did the submit them to banks to get favorable terms on loans and insurance. that's at the heart of it. she's zeroing in on these financial statements that he's saying are, you know, he came up with them, and he thinks they're accurate. in fact, he probably thinks some of the valuations are too low, and that's sort of what they're fighting about. >> so a couple of things here, first of all, trump's attorneys are citing a statue of limitations, as a reason to toss out the lawsuit. what are those details? they're saying something before, is it 2014, shouldn't apply here. >> right. that's a real thing. i mean, they had brought this lawsuit against members of the family, and actually the case against ivanka trump, donald trump's daughter has been removed because they missed a filing deadline, and there was stuff that was too old, and trump's side is arguing that the lot of this stuff is too old to be litigated. what happened is when these partial motions for summary judgment are going to be heard, we could see the case narrowed or, you know, or the judge could rule from one side or the other, it goes forward, but the case could be narrowed, you know, in the coming weeks, which would be a blow to the attorney general if that happened. >> okay. in terms of narrowing, though, prosecutors, here are the two things they have urged the court to consider, as they say two simple and straightforward questions, those being, specifically whether trump's stam statements of financial condition were false and misleading. that's one, and the second whether defendants repeatedly and persistently used the documents to conduct business transactions. that would include things like loans, right? >> it would. you know, what's interesting is, and donald trump gave a deposition for this case that was released yesterday. and it was fascinating reading. there was a lot of noise in it, and, you know, delusions of grandeur in it, he called the properties the mona lisas, as if we couldn't put a price on them. he claimed he averted nuclear holocaust, and some other things in there. between all of that, you started to feel the contours of what is going to be his legal defense, and the first one is he's going to say these statements of financial worth he came up with, they're worthless, there are disclaimers, the accountants say we never saw the underlying stuff, we never saw the underlying statements that the financial statements were built on, and other disclaimers that make them worthless. secondly, he's going to say the banks didn't need them, he could go to the property and assess what that day worth. thing thing is donald trump is going to say, look, the banks made the loans, and i paid tens of hundreds of dollars of interest. there are no victims here, and that could be a persuasive argument for a jury. it's one that sort of resonates with people. there were no defaults, and the banks made, tens hundreds of millions of dollars off donald trump's loans, but you started to see how if this does end up in court, scheduled to start october 2nd, what his defense is going to be. >> tom and suzanne thank you so much for that. we're going to move this forward by speaking with former manhattan district attorney, rebecca. trump has submitted a plea of not guilty. was that expected? >> both of those were expected, yes. this is the way he has been proceeding in most cases, other than waiving the right to be present. >> as we look at the new york attorney general's motion that i was discussing with tom and suzanne mostly, what does it mean that letitia james asked for in partial summary judgment? does that speak to the strength of the case and i'm sorry if you're hearing the music that i'm hearing, but we'll stop. there you go. >> you know, it is somewhat routine for parties in a civil case, even when one of the parties is the attorney general, to seek to narrow the case or to get rid of the case at this stage. essentially to say, you can decide based on the documents that we have already submitted that these facts are as we say they are. there is no legal argument that has any bearing at this point. so i don't think it necessarily speaks to the strength of either side's case, but it does help us understand what those cases are and how the case is shaping up and how it will go forward. >> let's not address what suzanne was talking about what the defense will be at the last part of her answer, when they're going to say, yeah, but it was kind of a win-win for everybody. the banks made millions of dollars off of their interest transactions. let me ask you about this, his defense, sure, partly that this is old news that happened years ago, shouldn't even be considered, but does that argument hold water because with the years in question carry over to influence his present day net worth and therefore make them relevant? >> i think that's the argument that would have to be made about those earlier allegations, that the earlier allegations were not -- that what happened was not complete, that the acts were not complete just because the loan applications were submitted at a particular time. those who were giving him loans, were continuing to rely on these valuations throughout this period of time. if, so they would not be barred by the statute of limitations. >> okay. so we have the date of october 2nd, when this trial is set to begin. what can we expect to see? >> you know, i think there's going to be a lot of those arguments that suzanne was laying out, and a lot of documents because essentially as the attorney general said, this was a case that was almost completely litigated through these documents, and documentary evidence, and then the question is, what to take from those documents. are we going to see stronger case for the attorney general that this was a manipulation in order to receive favorable loans, which itself is a harm, even though there may not be any, you know, the banks themselves may not have come out harmed, that he got favorable loans that somebody else may not have gotten and, that was a harm in and of itself. or are we going to see some of the former president's arguments amplified and strengthened throughout this track. >> can i ask you a simple question based on your experience. you hear the phrase, numbers don't lie. is that going to be the case here? >> you know, i think that's true. i think the fact that this is over billions of dollars that the exaggerations of his net worth and assets, the worth of his assets was so extreme makes it much harder for him to put forward some of these defenses, essentially, this is industry standard, people do it all the time, and this is what's expected and the banks expect it. maybe they expect some kind of, you know, a little bit here and there, but would they really expect to see this kind of discrepancy in an individual's net worth or a company's net worth before they give them such a large loan, and i think that's going to be one of the central arguments that comes from these documents, whether they can prove it or not remains to be seen. >> correct. okay. rebuck ka roiphe, many thanks. what the recovery effort from tropical storm idalia looks like in florida as major flooding hits south carolina. we're live from both states. plus the biden administration is moving to eliminate a so-called gun show loophole, what second amendment activists are planning to do to challenge that. >> and inflation kicked back up in july. what it means for you. we're back in 60 seconds. r you. we're back in 60ec sonds oh, hello! hi! do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as $300? 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>> alex, this is the fairway in, as one of the hotels in cedar key, there's a lot of clean up to be done, and you've got a combination of residents, you also have crews restoring the power here and doing some work, and you also have authorities assessing the damage. so you can see structure behind me. this hotel is right in front of the water. they had a lot of little, beautiful cottages. there was one that used to stand right here. you can see this is a building that was made out of cinder block, so the storm surge came in, and it took the entire cottage, made out of cinder block, stuff that was in there, the beds, the microwaves, and all of that is all around us, and there's another one here where the whole wall was destroyed. the owners of this property have been here all day cleaning up and also trying to assess the damage. there's other cottages over on this side, here's what's interesting when you look at the images from all of the damage, you look at the buildings, and they look like their fared okay. they weren't destroyed from the outside, look like they made it already. as soon as you look inside, you'll see that everything is destroyed. here's part of the conversation i had with the owner about the damage they're seeing inside of these units. >> i had a bed, a tv. oh, the tv is gone too. coffee, a little coffee station here. microwave, refrigerator, bathroom. it's all gone. nothing is saveable in this room. in all three of these rooms. >> reporter: we were looking around. i think the tv that was in that unit is now sitting over here, alex, and you know, one of the reasons why so many properties in florida are right off the water is because a lot of people like to vacation or retire and enjoy this beautiful view. these are the views that you have in florida, and also she mentioned the microwave. it's somewhere in the water. that's the type of clean up we're seeing today, as you go down this street and that street, there's other neighbors doing what they can to clean up. authorities assessing the damage. that's what it's like here in cedar key, alex. >> there's a lot of work ahead. thank you so much for all the details on their recovery, guad, appreciate that. still ahead, the white house just announced one of the biggest attempts at gun reform in years. what president biden is doing to close the so-called gun show loophole. plus, inflation stayed elevated in july, what could it mean for interest rates and how it could impact you. we're going to ask the white house that question next. you we're going to ask the white house that question next (woman) it is high. whenever you are ready. 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great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. after a string of recent shootings put gun reform back in the spotlight, the guiden administration today announcing a new rule that would close the so-called gun loophole. the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives is proposing legislation that makes clear all firearms dealers must get a federal license and perform criminal background checks regardless of where they sell guns including online. joining me now is "new york times" chief white house correspondent and msnbc political analyst, peter baker. welcome, my friend, tell us about this new move, is this a sign that biden and democrats are facing pressure to do something, do anything on guns? >> yeah, you even heard the president use that same language, alex, you've heard him say, meaning congress do something, do anything, effect, and what he's done here, what the administration is doing here is taking that law that was passed last year, and interpreting it as expansively as they can to say what the law empowers the administration to do is something that congress has refused to do itself for several years, which is to apply the background check requirements to all gun sales, essentially all gun sales for profit, and not just those that are sold in brick and mortar gun shops. this is something that the gun safety community has wanted for a long time, that the gun rights community has successfully stopped in congress, and biden is saying i have the power thanks to that law last year to do it myself through executive action. >> he's targeting gun shows for sure. a move like this is going to bring back push back. does this new rule have a chance of standing the test of the courts? >> that's a real question. you'll definitely, i think, see the second amendment community as they call themselves talk about, take this to court, probably, to say that the administration has overstepped his bounds here. remember what they are talking about here is they're saying, anybody who sells guns for profit, now need to get a license and use the background check system that most gun dealers already use. the idea is you can't simply avoid the background system by going to one of these off, you know, off the grid kind of sellers to the internet and so forth. there's going to be a push back, you're right, and it's a good question. we'll see what courts say. the courts have upheld the current background check system, at least they haven't overturned it. we'll see if they have a problem with the president using his powers to pick up on these. >> should we expect this issue to gain traction in the runup to 2024? will the majority of americans who want elected officials to do something about the gun epidemic, will that drown out the campaigns of those that do not support this effort? >> well, there hasn't been much evidence of that so far. polls absolutely show that a vast majority of americans want tougher gun laws. they have specific things they're in favor of, including this closing of the loophole, and yet that hasn't managed to impact elections in such a way that the gun rights, you know, side of the equation has lost seats. they seemed to manage to translate their position through more fervent supporters well through elections, and that the vast majority of americans who support gun laws, tougher gun laws have not translated that into success at the ballot box in a consistent and overwhelming way that would be commensurate with the numbers they have in polls. we'll see. obviously these horrific gun, you know, gun-related massacres we have seen so regularly now have activated a lot of americans, a lot of americans are concerned. the question is whether they can translate that to outcomes in the ballot box. >> peter baker, thank you so much for that. and i'll look forward to speaking with you this weekend, no doubt. the federal reserve has warned americans for months now that the road to get inflation back within a normal range would be bumping, and new data shows they weren't exaggerating. the metric by which the fed measures inflation climbed to 3.3% in july from the previous year. it's up from 3% in the last report. despite this, consumer spending jumped last month as shoppers shelled out for restaurants, live shows, games, and recreational equipment making it the strongest monthly spending game since january. joining me now is chairman of the council of economic advisers, jared bernstein, my good friend who makes sense. numbers when they seem to suggest polar opposite things. what does this signal to the white house, jared? how do you interpret this? >> we have healthy consumers taking advantage of a historically strong job market. unemployment's been below 4% for a year and a half. a strong job creation and real pay gains. i notice that you cited that year over year inflation number, and then went to the monthly consumer spending number. i'm going to try to make this not confusing. i apologize in advance if i fail. the monthly inflation number ticked up .2%. that's the same -- that was for july. it was the same in june. the thing you want to do right now because of some of the factors that distort the yearly number, look at the past three months. over the past three months, the inflation game came out today. it's the one that the fed looks at most closely, went up 2.1% in an annual rate. that is awfully close to the pre pandemic trend. we have easing inflation, a strong labor market supporting solid consumer spending and the path is straight ahead based on those dynamics. >> consumer spending, folks have been tightening their belts, despite the higher prices, why do you think consumers are spending on the fun stuff? >> i think if you look at the extent to which inflation has come down. i mentioned about 2% for a three-month annualized growth rate. if you go back a year, the number was north of 6%. we have had a strong bout of disinflation, slower growing inflation. at the same time, as i mentioned, very strong labor market. what does that mean? it means wages are out pacing inflation. we have wages growing at a rate faster. that means people's buying power is getting back to where it needs to be. i think we're seeing that in the consumer spending data. >> as you know, a majority of americans say they are living paycheck to paycheck. what is the message to those people who don't really personally feel the economy improving, despite the white house's messaging? >> well, i think there we have to consider what we have been talking about in terms of current events where we have, again, a strong labor market supporting consumer spending and real wage gains. it's early days for the wage gains. i'm very sympathetic to the idea that people need to see them continue, and i think the job market stays tight, they will. but i think we also need to look around the corner. you see a president that is working day in and day out on behalf of the american people. the prescription drug announcement that came out earlier this week is going to help the incomes of millions of seniors by allowing them to spend less on prescription drugs. this morning, we announced a proposed overtime rule so that people could get fair overtime pay on the job, and of course there's the deep investment agenda behind bidenomics, supporting manufacturing across this country in rural areas, urban areas, blue states, in red states, so we believe that the current dynamics in the economy are moving in the right direction, but we're planting the speeds for a more prosperous future as well. >> a few more data points including tomorrow's jobs report and the consumer price index inflation report, and that all happens before the fed meets at the end of september. what are you watching for over the next few weeks as the fed considers what to do with interest rates? >> well, look, we really respect a very independent fed, so we just stay out of there netting. our client is the american people and american households, and in that regard, we want to keep doing -- maintain some of the trends we have talked about. it's very unusual in economics to get this much disinflation, have the inflation rate come down as far as it has. on a 6 month annualize rate, to have that much inflation, maintaining such a strong labor market, the president told us we could do it, and in fact, that's what's happening. we want to keep our heads down, and keep building on those pose trends. >> but keep the smile on your face that you're wearing today, even if your head is down. thank you very much. a houston school district plans to eliminate almost 30 libraries. what they're replacing them with and how parents are react to go it. plus a former proud boys leader just got one of the longest january 6th prison sentences. what he's facing. h prison sentences. what he's facing day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. 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[sneeze] (♪♪) astepro allergy, steroid free allergy relief that starts working in 30 minutes, while other allergy sprays take hours. with astepro's unbeatably fast allergy relief you can astepro and go! it's not at all unusual to have a response that sometimes happens to mitch when you've had a severe concussion. it's part of the recovery. and so i'm confident he's going to be back to his old self. >> president biden there responded to senator mitch mcconnell's latest health scare just after speaking at fema headquarters on hurricane idalia relief. it follows the second time this summer the senate minority leader struggled to speak nor 30 seconds. the first came in july following a concussion earlier in the year that the president was discussing after falling at a political fundraiser. joining me now from capitol hill is nbc news correspondent, ali vitali, so this was all very difficult to watch, nonetheless, regarding senator mcconnell. what's the latest on his health status and what's been the reaction on capitol hill? >> reporter: it has been difficult to watch both in the first instance in july, and of course yesterday when the same thing happened again. mcconnell freezing during a q&a with reporters, seemingly unable to speak and staring off just like you see in the images next to me on your screen, but now a doctor is saying, an attending physician here at the capitol saying that this is all because of a concussion that he sustained back in march and that dizziness is a usual side effect of that. the doctor also says in a letter that he conversed with mcconnell's neurologist and they are in agreement that he's fine to return to his regular schedule. again, it all comes in the context of these larger concerns about mcconnell's health. we'll put up for you on the screen, a time line of what we know about the senate minority leader. including in august, he fractured his shoulder after falling, then in march, he was hospitalized with a concussion and broken ribs, that stemmed from a fall he sustained while leaving a fundraiser here in washington, and now of course we're seeing these latest two freezes, difficulty hearing is always something that we've seen with the top republican here in the senate, but now in this latest letter from his doctor, we're seeing perhaps the clearest link that we've seen in terms of linking the march fall and the concussion that he got from it to these current moments that we saw in july and yesterday, regarding staring off and seemingly being unable to speak. >> yeah, again, tough to watch. we do wish him well with his health, and we'll see, hopefully we don't have to go through that again for his sake. ali vitali, thank you for that. also some breaking news to share, it came in one moments ago. one of donald trump's codefendants has waived her arraignment in fulton countiment jenna ellis pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and asking a public official to violate an oath. she's the fifth defendant in the case to waive the court appearance. ray smith, sidney powell, trchb cutie and donald trump. what officials are in doing in houston amid the shutdown of almost 30 libraries. e shutdown almost 30 libraries. communities and the people who live and work there grow and thrive. we're proud to call these places home too. they're where we put down roots, and where together, we work to help move everyone's financial goals forward. pnc bank. ♪i've got home internet from t-mobile.♪ ♪it only costs $50 bucks at t-mobile.♪ ♪just one cord to set up.♪ ♪say goodbye to that truck.♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful mornin'...♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful day...♪ ♪they won't raise your rates at t-mobile...♪ ♪you'll get a great deal every day!♪ home internet from t-mobile... just $50 bucks a month. type 2 diabetes? 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get the bank of america customized cash rewards card, choose the online shopping category and earn 3% cash back. houston's public schools are coming under fire after what some parents call a hostile takeover of the school system. dozens of the city's poorest schools with mainly black and hispanic students are now replacing libraries with discipline centers. the move comes after texas governor greg abbott replaced houston's superintendent and the entire school board earlier this year. here with more on the story is nbc news correspondent antonia hilton. this is quite remarkable. as a parent who has had two kids go through school, it is deplorable to think you don't have access to libraries. first of all, what led to this so-called hostile takeover? >> well, this fight has been brewing for a long time. there have been allegations of mismanagement and poor academic performance at houston isd and the state was warning they might need to do this takeover. the local families and leaders fought this for a very long time. this is not the result that they wanted. so when it happened this summer, there has been outcry, there has been anger, because they've lost their elected representatives here and they've seen sweeping changes including at the libraries. take a look. >> cherries, blueberries. >> reporter: houston mom jessica compos has spent the entire summer dreading the return to school. >> i feel like i've spent my entire summer fighting. so coming here, it kind of, i can breathe. >> reporter: ever since her daughter's elementary became one of 28 schools in the houston independent school district, replacing their library with a center for work and discipline. >> what is happening to the houston schools? >> it feels like they're being taken apart, dismantled, destroyed. >> reporter: this summer the state of texas took over hisd, a district of almost 200,000 kids, a blue city in a red state. they replaced the elected school board members and swapped the superintendent for a charter school owner and former leader of dallas schools. some like houston mayor sylvester turner say it's a hostile takeover. >> houston has been state government for years. let's not be fooled. >> reporter: everyone agreed houston schools needed to change. some were failing. many students fell behind in reading and math. district leaders tried to improve and the state even gave them a b rating in 2022. they took over anyway and laid off employees and replaced libraries in underperforming schools so they could give some students higher salaries. >> i can't afford a laptop for my kid. so books is where we get to travel, you know. to dream. >> reporter: jessica's daughter sophie is starting fifth grade at one of the new education schools. >> i barely know how to read. i just started reading this grade because my english teacher helped me a lot. >> reporter: she says the library was a place she could practice. the superintendent mike myles understands families are anxious about change but he says books will still be available on shelves and the centers where students can work where they are disruptive will help her catch up. in a district where there are so many kids struggling to read, why disrupt the library of all places? >> so reading is key. we may not have librarians but even in this room, books are on the shelves. >> do you believe librarians are important? >> every single position has value. we can't be all things to all people and we can't have everything we want. >> reporter: so does that mean you're robbing peter to pay paul? >> no. i wouldn't phrase it that way. what i would say is we're putting in a bold, different model that works. >> reporter: jessica campos considered busing sophie to another school, away from her neighborhood and friends. >> i'm not going to do that because i'm not going to leave those kids there. >> reporter: she says parents won't let their school change without a fight. alex, parents that i've been talking to tell me that they're going to do what they can to fight this. they've been doing block walking and door knocking, going around to neighborhoods and trying to talk to other parents in both english and in spanish so everyone in a community as diverse as houston could understand what is happening here. they're talking about the possibility of creating community libraries of getting books that they share among groups of friends and kids, because they tell me the library still matters. even this day and age in which kids are always on the computer or some kind of device, they want books in their kids' hands and they want experts working with their kids. despite the changes, they want a seat at the table and get the library at least closer to what they envisioned it should be or what it used to be. >> can i ask you quickly, i late that the name discipline center, was there any thought about making it a hobby center or a project center or something that didn't have such a negative connotation for these kids? >> reporter: you know, it's interesting that you bring that up. the name of the center has changed a bit. so initially some members of the department, the leadership were using the phrase discipline center, and it has changed to team center now. and i think it is because of some of the connotation that you are seeing there, and parents have asked questions about why the name change? if there's been any change in what is really happening in that room or not, but that is a central question. parents will be keeping a closer eye on what will be happening this year. >> that's it for me today. i'll see you right back here tomorrow. "deadline white house" starts right now. hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in the east. he is practically up to his eyebrows, nearly buried under a crush of indictments, both state and federal for a series of historic alleged criminality. just this afternoon, in fact, we learned not only will donald trump exercise list right to waive his arraignment in fulton county, georgia, where he has pleaded not guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges brought by district attorney fani