good evening. happy holidays. welcome to the beat. i am ari melber. i ll be joining you the next two hours for a special holiday edition of the beat. donald trump has a criminal trial problem. he has several trials looming in 2024. that s where we begin tonight. we ll do it a little different for the holidays. former federal prosecutor joyce vance with me to start the show. we re looking at this legal heat coming up. i want to get into this with you, joyce, but first show you and viewers something we put together to consider tonight, historic indictments on the road donald trump has already been on. donald trump has been indicted under seal by the new york grand jury. 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. we have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. this will now be months if not the next year of our lives. the former president was placed under arrest on charges brought by the government he once led. the guy who s running for
you re live in the cnn newsroom. i m jim acosta in new york. much of california is under a state of emergency this afternoon, and mandatory evacuations are under way in parts of monterrey county on the central coast. a short time ago we received drone video of a levee that failed this morning. as you can see, the waters rushed through the breach and into a nearby neighborhood. the floodwaters have washed away roads and bridges and cut off some communities in the area. this is new video. we also have coming in from springville, where many have lost their homes and belongings in that area. california s reeling from its tenth atmospheric river of the winter in the central and northern parts of the state. it s dumping huge amounts of rain and snow on the ground that is already saturated. cnn s mike valerio joins us. you spoke to a county supervisor a short time ago there. what have you learned? reporter: well, he told us, jim, that there are hundreds of people now in shelters
cnn newsroom. we re grateful to you have this afternoon. i m boris sanchez. hi, everyone. it i m jessica dean. political lines deepening, law enforcement preparing for what would be a first in american history. the criminal indictment of a former president. the key witness in a case against donald trump is expected to be challenged today before a grand jury in new york. a former legal advisor to michael cohen telling cnn testifying at the request of donald trump s attorneys. look at video of costello arriving at the courthouse moments ago. robert costello saying he ll offer evidence that contradicts cohen. cohen, who once labeled himself trump s fixer said he paid adult film actress stormy daniels $130,000 in the weeks before the 2016 election for her silence on an alleged affair with donald trump. now, that was a campaign finance violation, as cohen lied on forms to cover up that payment. in 2018. you may recall. cohen cut a deal with federal prosecutors and adds mitte
do it for us tonight i promise you alex wagner will be back in the chair next week when she is back from vacation thanks for having me here last night, and tonight i ll see you again for m regularly scheduled rachel maddow show on monday. it s time for the last wor with lawrence o donnell. good evening, lawrence good evening, rachel, happy friday this is a show that doesn t, you know, in an officially recognize the aging process. about tomorrow, i m going to say happy saturday, just going to leave it at that. it s paul manafort birthday tomorrow! there you go. which, it s a big deal. yeah, so, rachel, i have baltimore story for you that i ve had for years and i v been struggling in the last 20 minutes to figure out how to say this publicly. so, here s - you know, in my memoirs, thi will be much more specific okay okay. no one involved really, except me, at this point, is still alive. so - [laughs] i went to the world series i baltimore years after former govern
you don t officially recognize the aging process. tomorrow, i m going to say happy saturday gonna leave it at that it s paul metaphors birthda tomorrow there you go. a big deal so, rachel. i have baltimore a new story that we ve had four years. i ve just been struggling in the last tournaments to figure out how to say this publicly in my memoirs, this will b much more specific okay. no one involved really is still alive, except me i went to the world series i baltimore. years after former governor of maryland, as you pointed out the vice president was force to resign because of the crime he committed in baltimore. and maryland, when he was governor so, i met at the world series, as can happen, depending on wh you re with, someone i wil call very, very highly placed, at the very top level of wha they used to call organize crime in baltimore and found myself that night at the best italian restaurant in baltimore, whereupon back gu who was incredibly charming an was ju