smerconish starts right now. is it over before it begins? i m michael smerconish in philadelphia. before a single primary vote has been cast, has donald trump already sewn up the gop nomination or is it still up for grabs? everybody has an opinion. but the data tells a pretty compelling story. peggy noonan writing that i refuse to see the story as over. voting begins now. after chris christie dropped out, nate kohn wrote the christie vote alone will probably not be enough, but haley has been steady gaining in the polls and historically there is a lot of precedent for urge is being candidates to keep gaining especially over a contest s final days. and new hampshire will be a wild card. independents can vote in the gop primary and according to data released yesterday, 43% of americans, look at that graph, 43% of americans consider themselves to be independent. rs and ds are tied at 27. it tie as record for an independent showing making them the largest political bloc in the c
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.
the senate does not have. so is this going to get done today, tomorrow, or certainly before june 5th? reporter: we re hoping before june 5. senators are trying to haggle if they can do this today or if they can do this tomorrow. there is a real desire here to not have to work the weekend, and it s probably a combination of that desire, some jet fumes, the need to get out of town, and then also an agreement on amendments that s likely to get us there. one of the things that s holding this up is people like senator lindsey graham who are unhappy about the way they see defense spending capped in the current bill. he s upset with his own party for negotiating this. here s what he had to say about this. watch. i blame myself for not being more involved and more active because in my wildest dreams, i never believed that the republican party would take the biden budget that they ve attacked for a year and celebrate it as fully funding. reporter: and look, graham is not the onl
news. we have a lot to cover in our second hour of chris jansing reports. let s get right to it. at this hour, bulls eye, the direct hit to retail giant target. it stopped on a downward slide following the pride merchandise controversy. and rescue plan, the demolition is now on pause as the search continues for two people possibly left inside that iowa apartment building after the horrific partial collapse. we ve got a live report on the ground in davenport. also, quote, i expected to die. the powerful words from a rabbi during the pittsburgh tree of life synagogue shooting trial. we ll bring you the latest from that second day of testimony. plus, in just the last few minutes, the house officially took up the fiscal responsibility act, also known as the debt ceiling bill with the first round of votes expected in the next 90 minutes. where things stand on the hill right now. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments, and i want to begin ri
morning joe. it is wednesday, march 29th. we have a lot to get to this hour, including a major development in the investigation into former president donald trump s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. a federal judge has ordered mike pence to give testimony. meanwhile former trump ally chris christie appears to be willing to play the anti-trump role if he gets into the 2024 race. we ll have more on that new reporting. and we re still on so called indictment watch since the president announced, the former president, that he was going to be arrested. we ll have the latest on the manhattan grand jury s investigation into the hush money payments to a porn star. plus, an update on the continuing protests in israel, and what president biden is saying about meeting with the country s leader, along with joe, willie and me, we have the host of way too early, white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire, just ran over. how does he do that? and member of