welcome to the beat. i m ari melber. it s halloween. there s a ton of news. i was in for nicolle last hour. this is a new hour as we re awaiting announcement of state charges against the suspected attacker of speaker pelosi s san francisco home. we ll bring you that live when we get it. charges are hitting after a separate action from the justice department which has already charged david depape with assault and attempted kidnapping. there s new information on what may be the politics of this. i say may be because we have to follow the evidence and what the authorities say and the information is slowly coming into view. the suspect did say that the goal was to, quote, hold nance hostage, viewing her as the leader of the pack of lies told by the democratic party, and said that if nancy were to tell the truth, he would let her go, but if she lied, he was going to break her kneecaps. he said he would show other members of congress there are consequences to actions. the suspect
emerging about the brutal hammer attack on nancy pelosi s husband, paul. the fbi revealing that the suspect planned to kidnap the house speaker herself and potentially break her kneecaps. also tonight, the midterm campaign hits the closing stretch. cnn is on the ground in crucial swing states as both parties make one final push to win over voters. and the death toll rises from a halloween celebration that turned into a crushing crowd surge. we ll go live to south korea where grieving families are demanding answers about how this horror could happen. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. at any moment we expect to learn even more about the attack on paul pelosi when the san francisco district attorney holds a news conference. right now cnn s josh campbell is in san francisco for us with all the chilling new information about the suspect s confessioned plans to target speaker nancy pelosi.
we are right now awaiting an update on this case any moment from san francisco s district attorney. coleman is in san francisco with everything we do know so far. good evening, christina. good evening, bret. yes, authorities say the suspect admitted to breaking into pelosi s house through the back door with a hammer. is he now facing two federal charges. one count of assault of an immediate family member of a u.s. official and one count of attempted kidnapping of a u.s. official. if convicted, he could fails up to 50 years in prison on both charges. police say 42-year-old david depape broke into the home woke him up and demands to see his wife. when he told him he went be mommy home for a few days he said he would wait. he was able to slip into the bathroom and call 911. he went to the door and grabbed onto the hammer he was holding. when he arrived. depape gained full control and swung it into his head. depape was arrested immediately. during mirandized and recorded interv
special coverage of donald trump s criminal hush money trial. the cross-examination of michael cohen already back under way this morning with the defense expected to wrap by mid morning followed by a likely redirect from the prosecution. after that we expect the defense to get its turn. it s still unclear at this point how extensive the defense s case will be, or will it be a defense at all? joining us to discuss all that, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos, a criminal defense attorney and kristin gibb bin fed din, along with former prosecute bernard villalona. we ll head out to the courthouse in just a moment as we establish our contact with yasmin vossoughian on scene. we can take our viewers inside a little bit to what s happening with this cross-examination, a lot of discussion about what cohen was dealing with in his own business dealings during the time of the 2016 election, from his taxi medallion business down to then dealing with david pecker. they re also talk
the value of this corrupt is the meeting cannot be overstated. this theme cooked up by these men could very well be what got trump elected. tonight, rachel maddow recaps the arguments with lawrence o donnell, jen psaki, andrew weissmann, lisa rubin, and katie phang who were all inside the courthouse. and nicolle wallace, chris hayes, joy reid, ari melber, and stephanie ruhle is special coverage of trump on trial begins. , now. thank you for joining us tonight. we know you have every option in the world for where to follow the news of this remarkable moment in american history. it makes us all the more glad you are with us. i am rachel maddow and i am here with the great chris hayes and nicole wallace. the one and only lawrence o donnell who was in the courtroom today in the closing arguments in the hush money, former president donald trump, lawrence will join us in a moment. he is still down at the courthouse it will join us as soon as he can get to a camera which w