so, he could be very well looking at a number of convictions here. as a criminal defense attorney, i would not be optimistic getting a call like this at this time from the court. bret: all right. as we wait, and it should really be any moment now, let s just take people back to refresh them exactly what happened here. you can look at the video of the different times he has arrived at court and spoken to the media. but jussie smollett, january 22nd, 2019, was says this racist homophobic threatening letter studio in chicago where empire is filmed. police say they believe smollett sent the letter january 9th, 2019. smollett tells police he was attacked by two men 2:00 a.m., he says the men used racist and homophobic slurs, wrapped rope around his neck and poured on him. as we talked about black and
the case of jussie smollett accused of faking his own beating and homophobic slurs, and the two men testified they were paid by mr. smollett and this was all a set up. he took the stand yesterday, what did we hear from them? did you find this is compelling? people need to understand first and for most, jussie smollett is an actor. one of the things making it convenience for him to understand is his ability, his testimony was bizarre. there were a number of different details that came out that were not to be expected and were not typical in terms of what you expect to hear in a case like this. i think it s important to understand that from a sympathy standpoint, he may have been
he tells the cops, i don t know who they are, they re maga people, it is a hate crime. so i think that the implausibility of his story now that, oh, suddenly it was his two friends, who were the attackers, i think the jury is going to have a real problem with that. what about the revelation in his testimony, his claim that he did have a relationship that was sexual in nature, with one of these men? exactly. it kind of plays more to the narrative of what actually happened on that day, january 29th, 2019, in terms of you played upon the fears of america, talking about homophobic slurs, talking about racial slurs and now he wants to put forth in front of the jury because the brother did not say he was in a romantic relationship with jussie smollett, he wants to be the one, we were in a romantic relationship, he doesn t want to say it, i m saying it, and you should judge his credibility based on him not coming out. this is why he came up with this story and it was not a hoax.
racist and homophobic slurs. was there a prior relationship? one of the brothers, when pressed, said, i don t recall. the defense has now rested. and america strong tonight. 80 years since the attack on pearl harbor, the survivors, the american heroes going back. good evening and it s great to have you with here on a very busy tuesday night. that high stakes video call between president biden, vladimir putin over russian troops amassing on the ukraine border. president biden s warning tonight. but we are going to begin with the other major headline unfolding just as we come on tonight. one of the chief doctors with the world health organization saying just a short time ago that preliminary data does not indicate that this new variant, omicron, is more severe than delta. of course, while early, this is
be replaced. reporter: falling trees narrowly missing drivers. this is where my car was parked. reporter: on maui, dan coleman s van washed away. we were in the kitchen and we heard this roar and i knew that was water coming down the road. reporter: david, i a normal december, honolulu only gets two inches of rain a month. over the past 48 hours, we ve seen four times that much, leading to this damage. there s still rain in the forecast and a threat of more landslides like this in the coming days. david? will carr tonight from hawaii. will, thank you. we turn now to chicago, actor jussie smollett taking the stand in his own defense. what he now claims about his alleged attackers, those brothers who he claimed shouted racist and homophobic slurs, calling them liars, smollett said. and was there a prior relationship, were there sexual encounters? one of the brothers said, when pressed, i don t recall. the defense for smollett has now rested, and abc s alex perez from chic