i have seen different institutions where i've gotten feedback. a week ago, ten days ago thursday when we did this. last week a teammate of mine lives in a small town called bridge water, massachusetts. the bridgewater brigade gives holiday gifts to those less fortunate during the holiday season. on that facebook page the director said you've heard of that commencement speaker who gave $1 thousand. one of the students was one of our bridgewater citizens. the day after the speech, she brought $5 hundred to them and the lady said we bring great gifts. >> ainsley: we interview that student. >> lawrence: i hope other people do the same. >> ainsley: god bless you, rob, you are a good man. >> bill: here we go now. big day in court awaiting

closing arguments in the child where the fate of the former president hangs in the balance. a big four days or beyond. regardless the judge said get back to work today after taking a week after. i'm bill hemmer, good morning. >> dana: you already having me laugh. i'm dana perino and this is "america's newsroom." great to be back in business after four weeks of testimony lawyers are about to give closing arguments in the trial of former president trump. a chance for both sides to make their final pitches. it is expected to last all day. the judge will likely give instructions to the jury tomorrow and then from there it's off to the races. >> bill: the 12 jurors will deliberate behind closed door. six alternates. no juror has left the main panel which may be a bit unusual. we shall see with the lawyers throughout the next two hours. how long that deliberation takes is anyone's guess. the verdict could exonerate the former president or make him the first commander-in-chief con factoid of a crime. senator tom cotton is on deck.

rich edson from the white house, jonathan turley and trey gowdy with analysis and let's begin with eric shawn outside the courthouse this tuesday morning as we're back at it. >> good morning. now it's up to the lawyers. what they say this morning here in court could potentially determine the verdict. it will be former president trump's lawyers' chance to go first. this morning in his closing arguments trump lawyer todd blanche will make the case the prosecutors haven't proven the charges against the former president beyond a reasonable doubt. he will hammer away at the credibility of star waft necessary michael cohen reminding the jury of his lies through the years and admission he is a thief and stole $60,000 from his boss. blanche will point out that robert costello testified cohen told him trump had nothing to do with stormy daniels deals and trump's accounting department

employees took the stand they processed the checks trump signed but not told to falsify anything. the prosecutor will say cohen was telling the truth and his testimony was corroborated by other witnesses and documents that back him up like this note described on a memo pad by allen weisselberg shows his financial mathematical calculations that worked out to reimburse cohen for paying stormy daniels. but then this case could come down, some say, to one word, cause. that president trump caused the business records to be falsified. here is what the law says. it is illegal if a defendant makes or causes a false entry in the business records, prevents the making of a true entry or causes the omission there of in business records. the former president has long said he did not do that.

>> you have a lawyer, you pay him a legal expense and it is covered in the books as legal expense. a bookkeeper put it down as a legal expense. they called it illegal, a payment to a lawyer. >> it will take one juror out of 12 to be a hold-out to avoid a conviction. jury instructions to the jury tomorrow morning. they'll begin their deliberations and that means all of us and the country then just waits. >> bill: i think those 12 jurors are waiting for this moment. it has been a long time coming. thanks for that. thank you. >> dana: president biden is reportedly planning to address donald trump's trial from a quote white house setting when a verdict is reached. rich edson is following this part of the story for us. he will probably not sell free on wednesday t-shirts from the

white house. >> probably no merchandise involved with this one. the president is planning on speaking from the white house at the conclusion of his political opponent's trial up in new york. this is according to a report in "politico." it says the biden team is trying to finalize details of all of this. he intends to initially address the verdict in a white house setting once the jury makes a decision in former president donald trump's hush money case. the white house back drop is meant to demonstrate biden is not making a political statement when he speaks about trump's legal situation. the biden campaign is also considering using quote convicted felon donald trump to refer to the republican nominee if the jury finds him guilty. the white house has no comment on the report. biden campaign has yet to respond. biden has made more subtle references to trump's legal problems while campaigning. >> president biden: 492,000 new jobs so far in pennsylvania

alone. [applause] under my predecessor, who is busy right now -- [laughter] pennsylvania lost 275,000 jobs. i mean let's look at the facts. on my watch unemployment hasn't been this low for this long in 50 years. >> this memorial day weekend president biden made an unexpected visit to his daughter-in-law's home. hallie biden married the president's son, beau, who died nine years ago thursday and deployed to iraq with the army. the president's visit comes weeks ahead of hunter biden's gun trial. the prosecution is expected to call hallie as a witness. hunter is charged with lying about drug use on a form to buy a gun. the white house maintains they did not discuss the trial. the reason for the visit the president wanted to visit his daughter-in-law near the anniversary of beau's death. >> dana: thank you so much. >> bill: want to bring in

senator tom cotton republican out of arkansas. a number of different topics we'll go through. you are a graduate of harvard law. weigh in on 35,000 feet level. how you believe this judge and perhaps this trial so far has been conducted. >> bill, you don't have to be a graduate of law school. any american can see that this judge has been a partisan who continues to put his thumb on the finger of the sham prosecution. he have hasn't even required alvin bragg to identify the underlying crime that donald trump is supposedly charged with. think about that. the president's lawyers have to make closing arguments to a jury they don't even know what crime the president is charged with. consider why they are making closing arguments today, bill? judge told them to be ready last tuesday. last monday michael cohen the star witness for the prosecution had a meltdown on the stand admitting he stole tens of thousands of dollars from the trump organization. the judge immediately pushed out

closing arguments to today. the only credible explanation he wanted to put as much distance between michael cohen's meltdown and confession to another crime and jury's deliberation to try to influence the jury. if the judge wanted to redeem his reputation and credibility he would direct a verdict of not guilty today for the former president. >> dana: meantime iran has increased its stockpile of uranium to near weapons grade level. biden administration presses allies not to confront iran on nuclear program. why would that be? >> well dana, all the british and french want to do is issue a resolution of censure breaking through all limits on its nuclear program. for joe biden a censure is even too strong. when the french are stronger than the american president, we've got into a bad place, dana. this would have never happened under donald trump and it didn't

happen under donald trump. we had brought iran economy to its knees. under joe biden we've had nothing but sanction relief and hostage payments while it continues to fund hamas, hezbollah and other terrorists across the region. it all gets back to joe biden's weakness that is even weaker than the french. a bad place to be. >> bill: the article points out to have three nuclear bombs. when it does happen it appears this program is not slowing down. now to politics. this headline in "politico" got our attention. dems in full blown freak-out over biden. it goes on to talk about what trump has done right now. you have to remember you are five months away from a national election. the president was in new jersey, bronx and libertarian convention over the weekend and taking advantage of every moment that he can. how do you think that's going? >> well, bill, the democrats are

in a freak-out because joe biden is a weak, failed president. the american people are tired of sky high inflation, the chaos of an open border, and uncle sam wearing a kick me sign on his back around the world because of joe biden. they remember what things were like under donald trump. we had strong wage growth, we had stable prices, the border was secure and america was respected and feared around the world. they want that back. the democrats know the only chance they have against donald trump is to try to convict him on sham charges. that's why you have a democratic partisan prosecuting donald trump in new york with a partisan judge and a prosecutor who deployed from joe biden's department of justice to new york to prosecute this case. the only chance they have but the american people know that things were better under donald trump and no matter what kind of weaponization of the legal system the democrats use, things will be better under donald trump again come next year. >> dana: we only have a few

seconds left but i did want to give you a chance to address the terrible storms from the weekend and all that the people of arkansas, texas and oklahoma are going through right now as they try to pick up the pieces. >> thank you, dana, for that. we had very bad storms in northern arkansas and across the mid-south. my heart goes out to every family who lost a loved one. they are already starting to rebuild. we'll be there with them all the way through until the very end but thank you for your thoughts and thank the viewers for thoughts and prayers not just for us in arkansas but across the mid-south that faced these terrible storms over the weekend. >> bill: give them our best. tom cotton, republican from arkansas speaking of those storms. we'll go to missouri now. that thing just went on and on and now you see the after effects. deadly tornadoes deaf eaves stating the heartland over the holiday weekend from texas forto

missouri and arkansas. the danger from the storm is not over. what you need to know on this tuesday. >> dana: a momentous day in a manhattan courtroom. closing arguments set to begin in donald trump's criminal trial. stay with us for complete coverage. we'll be right back. dating scene. that includes having a smile you feel good about. fortunately, aspen dental specializes in dentures and implants made just for you. and with flexible financing, you don't need to sacrifice quality work for a price that fits your budget. at $0 down plus 0% interest if paid in full in 18 months. helping our patients put their best smile forward. it's one more way aspen dental is in your corner.

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>> dana: we're back on courtroom watch waiting to see when president donald trump will come through the doors. we'll bring it to you as soon as he begins. >> bill: serious news in american south. at least 23 are dead across five different states after severe weather struck america's heartland over the holiday

weekend. death toll could rise even higher. storm threat continues today for millions in the midwest and south again. nichole valdez, fox weather live in kentucky. how is it where you are? good morning. >> bill, good morning. likely renewed grief for dawson springs. two years ago this town was many impacted by a deadly tornado outbreak. we saw it play out in places like mayfield, bowling green and the president two years ago visiting dawson springs touring damage like what you see be behind me. what we had over the weekend. one home actually, a couple in their 90s sleeping in that bed you see over my soldier here as that ef3 tornado came crashing through destroying the home around them. you will notice the only walls left standing are those of their bedroom. they were both pulled from that

bed you see just in front of us. miraculously they are alive and doing okay. thankful for that. recognizing the destruction of their community is heartbreaking. a glimpse into that tornado's path. unfortunately the bluegrass state we lost five people here according to governor who says several counties have declared emergencies to get not only state and federal resources but the national guard in to start helping the cleanup and get resources to those who truly need it. but again, this is a very terrifying moment for this community as they face head on a very similar, violent pattern to what they saw just two years ago, bill. you can imagine the cleanup will be a painful one for the next few weeks and months. >> bill: east of pad ukah, south of evansville in western

kentucky reporting on that there. >> dana: we're awaiting president trump to come through the doors. now the doors are open so he could be coming through any moment and speak to the press. let's bring in retired inspect for paul mauro, attorney and founder of ops desk.org and former federal prosecutor andrew cherkasky. closing arguments begin in new york state. defense goes first and then the prosecution. so set us up. your thoughts offer the weekend as you get ready to watch this. >> the defense has to start by inspiring the jury through some patriotism how i like to start my -- >> dana: president trump has just walked through the doors and walking up to the microphones now. red tie today. here you go. >> thank you very much, everybody. make no mistake about it, i'm here because of crooked joe biden.

the worst president in the history of our country. he is destroying our country. this country is being destroyed rapidly. not slowly, rapidly on the borders, on energy, on inflation, on everything you can measure. afghanistan removal. everything about what he has done, he is destroying our country and he is also destroying it with weaponization and this is purely weaponization. see who is in the courtroom? just see who is in the courtroom. you will see and see where they come from and you report it accurately, a lot of people will be very upset. but this is all election interference. it is going after joe biden's political opponent because he can't do it himself and they are helping out. we have a judge who is highly conflicted. he happens to be corrupt. the worst confliction, the worst that anybody has seen. nobody has ever seen anything

like it. it is a shame. "wall street journal" editorial board alvin bragg hasn't proved his case in the trump trial. the evidence shows why the charges should never have been brought. after 20 days in court and a trial transcript of 4,000 pages, the missing piece is still the missing piece. there is no crime. "wall street journal." jonathan turley. it is to use a physical object like a three legged stool. if any leg is missing, the stool absolutely collapses. even a curse re review of the evidence shows that this case does not have a leg to stand on. this is a case without a leg to stand on. this is jonathan turley. the case against trump should end in a strong not guilty. i don't know these people but

they are great legal scholars. gregg jarrett. every defendant has the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him but bragg never a bided by that and even worse merchan let him get away with it. he let bragg get away with a trial that bragg didn't want to push and should have done it seven years ago if they were going to do it. they should have brought the case seven years ago not in the middle of my presidential election where we're leading biden by a lot. they brought it right in the middle election. the local court misused to enforce a federal law where he has no authority or jurisdiction. they have a federal law they're using with no authority and under the federal law i did nothing wrong. andy mccarthy, bradley smith, the number one expert in the

country. testimony would have established that trump did not willfully violated federal election campaign act because ndas are not campaign expenses. nothing wrong with an nda. many companies, they sign them on an hourly basis. ndas can -- trump did not have a legal duty with respect to them. he could not have intentionally flouted the known legal duty. in other words, he is innocent. law fare run amuck against a former president. represents the greatest effort to interfere and steal an election. donald trump did nothing wrong. there is nothing wrong. this is everybody saying it. except we have a judge who is corrupt. we have a judge who is conflicted. you know what the conflict is.

i can't say it. i'm under a gag order. another unconstitutional thing. a leading candidate and i have a gag order and not allowed to speak. it's a first. no president has not been allowed to speak. but this is read the cover today of the "new york post." read all the stories in the "new york post." everybody says it is crazy. it is not the trial that should happen. it is a very sad day. this is a dark day in america. we have a rigged court case that should have never been brought and it should have been brought in another jurisdiction. we asked for that and the judge never allows us anything. and just to end, we have an election expert who was going to say everything was perfect. the ftc did nothing. it was fine. and we had a lot of other people. i could give you a list of 40 people that would say the exact same thing as these people said.

so thank you all very much. we'll see how it goes. this is a very dangerous day for america. a very sad day, thank you. >> are you worried about a conviction? >> dana: questions shouted at him. as usual he does not turn around to answer them. he gave remarks. you have heard several things before but ends with this. this is a dangerous and dark day in america talking about the gag order that kept him why the judge has a conflict in his mind and also talked about many of the legal analysts who have written pieces over the past four weeks as the trial has gone on who said what is the crime here? they don't get it and he is urging people to take a look at those and said we'll see how it goes. andrew cherkasky, we started with you and interrupted. let me go back to you as we get ready for the defense to start opening arguments. >> the defense stays away from politics as much as possible. i don't know that donald trump wants them to. i think they start with

patriotism. they start by waving the flag, talk about the idea the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt is the highest known in america but really in the history of civilization because we value freedom and liberty more than anybody else has in the history of civilization. it means more than probably and think this is what happened. no alternate reasonable explanation of the fact besides guilt. when you get to the very basics here, the idea whether these were a fraudulent entry in the first place and legal expenses the most basic question in all of this. removing all of the election interference kind of confusion out there. was it wrong criminally to put legal expenses in those business books? i can't figure out why it's wrong the prosecution didn't provide a witness to prove otherwise. >> bill: it is 9:27 on the clock. in a couple of minutes we'll get a read-out from our producers

and reporters inside the courtroom and overflow room. stand by in a moment for that. also of note, the former president's family is behind him in a significant way. eric trump his son has been there almost every day, i believe. don junior was there early on a month ago. he is back again today and so is tiffany trump standing behind him. paul, you say the prosecution has to do the following, michael cohen is a bad guy but donald trump chose him to be his lawyer. continue. >> that was part of their strategy when they put michael cohen on the stand they had him own up to the fact he has a history of lies and perjury. they know the defense will go there so they own it up front. a nuance to get to some nitty-gritty here. the jury will be willing to believe he is a liar but the prosecution wants to say but he is not lying now. he is telling you the truth now. here is the problem and something the defense is going to tease out. by my count there were three

times michael cohen potentially lied right in the jury's faces. first of all think about the phone call, right? he said that's when we discussed stormy daniels. it looks like the 90 second phone call was a fact about a crank call he got from a kid. taping trump. he says i was doing it to protect trump later on. that's not true. it defies reason. a third subtle nuance i hope they tease out. i haven't much about this. the prosecution did not know in my estimation about the 30 grand that cohen stole. cohen was hoping to get away with that. they didn't know. the defense teased that out. when you go into summation here as the defense you can say jury, he lied to his own prosecution team. he never told them. if they had known about that, they would have owned that up front along with his lies. they never did that. it took cross examination to tease that out. you can engender in the minds of the juror not only a habitual

liar by nature but he did it to you guys as well. he is making you 12 chufrms also. >> dana: andy mccarthy, let's start with you. anything you want to comment as we give underway. no specific question but we have about 1,000. >> the most extraordinary thing i've ever seen in watching or trying criminal cases for decades is we're on the precipice of having summations here and we still don't have anything about what the crime is. the statute doesn't prescribe clearly what the state says trump did that makes him guilty. the indictment doesn't put him on notice of the crime. we have had a five-week trial

after opening statements. we're right on the verge of summ summations and it is still not clear what he did. it is like they are making up a crime as they go along. >> bill: the judge decided to take a week off. i'm sorry, professor, it defies logic for me to understand in a case of such vital importance how you take a week off. they're back today. you believe and you write about this at great length, you expect a hung jury, how come? >> well, what i've said is that the most likely outcome in my view is a hung jury. that depends a great deal on the instructions. and some of the instructions that we're hearing hints about are really rough on the defense. but i still cannot believe that a jury could be unanimous on this evidence. but you are right, it is like a different jury. when you send away 12 people for a week to go into holiday

picnics and being in the world, i think it is hard to imagine for the defense counsel. these people went back and they were reminded how unpopular it would be in new york to acquit or even hang in a trial of donald trump. that's the reason i think the defense has to be clear today and has to say look, some of you hate this defendant. the question for you is that enough? is it enough to hate someone to ignore the lack of evidence, the lack of a well-defined crime? that's a question you will have to answer in that room. >> dana: andrew, what is it like when you are standing up as a defense lawyer and your client is there probably chomping at the bit because they want to say something. they have prepared a lot, obviously. give me a sense of what that defense team is feeling right now. >> closing arguments are thrilling. i've done hundreds of them over the years and it is a moment

where it all kind of congeals and comes together and you've got the guy sitting next to you and that's a very heavy burden on you as the attorney because you have to say as much as you possibly can. closing arguments are not necessarily the point in time where you have to say everything. you are supposed to get up and inspire them on the points that are most important. that you want them to take back there in their conversations. if you go on too long sometimes that's a mistake as well because you lose the ability to emotion passion them to find your way. i think here you have to stay with the basics. we can really get lost in the michael cohen aspect of things and get lost in all the periphery. the basics, i keep coming back to this over and over again and the one the prosecutors failed to establish. the entry of the business records. why is that wrong? who came forward in this trial to say that shouldn't have been legal expenses? michael cohen alluded to it but never explained why other than the fact that they had an oral

retainer instead of a written retainer. that's a bar association issue that has nothing to do with the law of contracts. so i just can't get over the very basic elements of this case and if you focus the jury on that, that's the sort of area. >> dana: what would you say to the jury what andy was talking about. they have never explained what the crime is. that seems preposterous. >> when you can't explain the crime that's the evidence of innocence in its own right. when you charge them with something and you are waiting and waiting and never get to it is the idea the person was innocent all along. trying to charge someone with larceny and stole their own property. you have to prove it was somebody else's property and if you don't do that it's not a crime. it's part of the struggle. return the jury over and over again in the defense closing argument to the idea they haven't proven that legal expense category was wrong. >> bill: maria, judge merchan took the bench. greeted the parties and greeted

donald trump. every morning says good morning, mr. trump. judge confirms the parties received the jury charges on wednesday afternoon. 2 1/2 hours for summation for defense. prosecution four to 4 1/2 hours. andrew, you just said you were just saying be brief. i don't think you will get your wish there. judge will ask the jury to work past 16:30, 4:30 in the afternoon if necessary. quick comment on the jurors, paul. investment banker, physical therapist, teacher, and two lawyers. >> that's the real key here, i think. there will be a lot of subtle conversation in both summations that are targeted at the lawyers particularly on the defense side. one of those i would say goes to the idea of protecting the system. a little bit what jonathan -- andrew is talking about which is to protect the system and to inspire. the idea being look, you don't

have to love this defendant or have voted for him but there is a lot more at stake than just this trial and the entire construction of this thing is incomprehensible for a reason. here is the problem. merchan's direction. if what we're hearing is true, is really going to laser through a lot of what we all find confusing to clarify it to them and make them have cover to go where he seems to want them to go. i'm just being frank. unfortunately that's how it will look to them. the judge in the room in a criminal trial is a little bit the juror's ally. their friend in the room. when he gives them direction that seems to go in a particular direction that clarifies this cloud. that's what they'll default to. anything you can do to really undermine that is going to be significant and they have to be good hard things. some of the stuff that andrew

talked about i think focusing on the fact that cohen is week. where is weisselberg? he is the accountant. this is an accounting crime. why isn't he there? >> bill: i'm thinking if i'm a juror and deliberating with peers and he is the missing link for me. >> the missing link. if you are the defense you can say right now he is under the control of the d.a.'s office sitting in ryker's. why didn't they bring him in? >> dana: let's go to jonathan turley, over the weekend i believe this was in the "new york times" a long piece about weisselberg and where is he? it was asked by the judge to both defense and prosecution do you want to bring him in and both agreed no. so is that common? is it a mistake? why would that be? >> it's not common for the prosecution. >> dana: we lost jonathan

turley. andy mccarthy, if you are there i will let you take that. >> bill: lydia hu is telling us that merchan added he asked the parties to get back to him with responses about jury instructions. if they found errors or had further arguments. and apparently the judge says no one got back to him. so we've been talking about how complicated this could be and at least initially the jurors did not find much complication. >> dana: we lost turley and mccarthy for a moment. andrew, the question about weisselberg. i assume this article was correct and because based on the jury transcript that the defense and prosecution said no need for weisselberg. >> right. the idea with weisselberg is the prosecution wasn't expecting him to be beneficial enough and the defense was thinking he would be too damaging to them. it doesn't mean the defense can't argue the absence of evidence. the absence of evidence can be the idea of reasonable doubt without this coming in.

think of a surveillance video. without getting the surveillance video or someone who refuses to testify or they simply didn't call them. if you will find proof beyond a reasonable doubt you will have had to heard the accountant and the rationale. without that testimony you have a doubt as to what happened. that's perfectly fair in a closing argument in a criminal case. >> bill: maria now. before the jury entered the judge asked the parties not to go into the law quote that will be my job. sorry. dana and i ask dumb questions about law all the time. we didn't go to law school. what does that mean? >> that goes a little bit to what merchan posture has been all along and not allowing an expert . i'm the expert and the judge in the room and the idea of the jury instructions here being so crucial, all right? as we all agreed as andrew

mccarthy laid out the theory of this case at the end of the day really seems to be -- merchan will tell them under color of law how this is going to work. they will follow that roadmap. when they go into the room they'll have a jury sheet with the charges in front of them and the charges in the indictment, the 34 charges. he will tell them those are the charges you have to prove. this is what lurks behind it. the theory that none of us can coalesce on and that's what they'll follow. merchan, as a result, has tremendous ability to steer this. that's why i keep coming back to the idea they have to doubt. they have to see something hard and fixed in this thing that they can say that's missing or this guy is lying to me. they need something concrete to overcome the fact that the judge is going to frame this in a way that i'm sorry, is just beneficial to the prosecution. >> dana: so the jury has entered the courtroom. underway with closing arguments. we'll be right back. a lot to get to. using the finest materials,

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>> bill: closing arguments may have already begun and todd blanche will be delivering those when they do happen. we're right on that moment where frankly it will be a long day. trump's team is saying 2 1/2 hours, state saying 4 1/2 hours.

you throw in an hour for lunch and already you have are at least 5:30 east coast time. it has been a rare day in this trial where they've gone that late into the day and we'll see whether or not. i would also add that listen, i mean based on the schedule they may not wrap up today. stand by. we'll get all of that to you momentarily. charlie hurt is with us. jonathan turley, andy mccarthy, paul mauro, andrew cherkasky. let's continue our conversation. we have the signal established with jonathan turley downtown. nda is legal, correct? influencing an election is legal as well, correct? politicians do it all the time. what is the crime for trump if you were to draw a parallel that joe biden makes decisions to try to influence elections and try to get people to vote for him

and $7 billion in student loan relief. would that be under some court in some courtroom under some jurisdiction by some judge somewhere in america that you could consider that illegal? >> no, that's exactly the question that many of us have raised. because we're all still debating what is the crime that is being alleged that trump was concealing through these alleged bookkeeping errors. there continues to be a roaring debate about that question. we're at closing argument and we are waiting for the government to state with clarity what it is alleging and obviously that is a problem. much about this case is impressionistic. bragg is relying on that jury not looking beyond who the defendant is and looking for key figures like weisselberg.

this entire case turns on a serial perjurer who many think lied on the stand in front of the jury. in in case i know of they would bring in the other party that cohen has been referencing, weisselberg who is not far from here sitting in a cell in rykers. they didn't call him. they know he would not could ob rate what cohen said. the defense has to bring that out. the other thing i like about your question it began with an nda is lawful, right? i was glad to hear trump start oust talking about the nda. his defense has been keeping the nda at an arm's length. they should be very clear with that jury, an nda is not unlawful and not uncommon. indeed, david pecker said that he was killing stories for trump long before the election and did so for other celebrities.

they need to be clear and direct with the jury on that point. >> dana: andy mccarthy, trump also said this. call for 15 is about how he sees the federal law here. >> they should have brought this case seven years ago not in the middle of my presidential election where we are leading biden by a lot. hopefully it doesn't work out for them. the same way allowed the local court could be misused to do federal law, which they used but no authority and under the federal law i did nothing wrong. >> dana: so andy, in the juror instructions being as important as they are to president trump's point, when the judge says listen to me about the law, don't listen to them. he told the two teams don't bring up the law. i'll explain what the law is. will it be clear that the federal law -- he doesn't have

jurisdiction under the federal law in that court and ndas are a legal thing? >> i don't think so, dana. i think the discussion of the federal law, the more we look at it, is basically a pretext for them to make up a crime as they go along. they are not following the interpretation of the federal election commission act or campaign act that the federal election commission follows, that the justice department follows. i think it is an excuse to get the case into court where upon they make up their own fraud crime and what i believe is happening, based on what little we've seen of what the jury instructions are, is that they are trying to make up a fraud crime without the necessity of showing fraud as fraud is commonly understood but rather a deceptive practice that offends alvin bragg's idea how a campaign should be carried out.

for example, as i understand the fraud instruction that merchan is talking about giving, you could go into court and prosecute president biden for saying that inflation was 9% when he came into office. he continues to say that. it ob wasn't true. you could aim it as a device deceiving the voting public into voting for the wrong candidate and it would be just as valid as what we're seeing in the courtroom here. >> todd blanche has begun. he is saying president trump is innocent. quotes from inside the courtroom. he did not commit any crimes. d.a. did not meet the burden of proof and went on to say this case is about documents. a paper case. this case is not about an encounter with stormy daniels 18 years ago. it is not even about a non-disclosure agreement.

an nda signed eight years ago. he said the charges are whether or not trump had anything to do with payments to cohen on his personal accounting ledger. the answer, the bookings were accurate and there was no intent to defraud. there is no conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, the proof doesn't add up. that's his opening argument from todd blanche, president trump's attorney in quotes. charlie hurt joins our conversation. charlie, on the politics of this we get word at 10:15 eastern about 25 minutes from now, the biden/harris team will hold a press conference across the street from the courthouse and so our viewers know in this part of manhattan there are buildings all around massive city block but a park right there in the middle and a lot of trump surrogates have been going to that park. today some biden/harris surrogates will be there for the first time just perhaps a comment on that as we get back into the legal matters in a

moment, charlie. >> bill, it's interesting. i've long been a believer if you want to know what a politician or campaign believes in and focuses on, just watch them and pay attention and you will see what they care about. i think it is so interesting that not only is the campaign going to do this, the white house has announced that joe biden, the president, is going to give some sort of oval office address or white house address from the white house about this after the verdict is read? this is the same guy that if you focus on issues that people actually care about like the border and the economy, took president biden forever to respond to those issues. i would argue has never actually responded to the economy except by doubling and tripling down on his terrible policies that make things even worse for the american people. he has never really addressed the border, for example. he has made words about it but not done anything to fix anything but on the trump trial,

it is all men on the ramparts. they are going to go full bore on the trump trial. i think they believe this is their only hope of winning this election and what they want to talk about. it is truly extraordinarily and very disgusting that the president would use the white house in order to use such a nasty political thing in order to go after somebody -- president trump, who successfully prosecuting a campaign talking about things like the economy and the border, which is what voters actually care about. >> dana: one comment from me before we toss to break. i noted that last week the democrats and biden/harris campaign made fun of the supporters of president trump going to the same microphones that the biden/harris campaign is going to use at 10:15 and realize they are being bested at the game of politics and they'll lose on the law on this one as

well. >> bill: more. lydia lou and shannon bream sends this now. in the overflow room. blanche is using a visual with the jury that appears aimed at making the case as simple as possible. at the top of the screen it says invoices sent by cohen with an arrow pointing to the next heading vouchers accounting department. then an arrow to the final heading checks accounting department. keep in mind the controller for trump's company, he worked there for nearly 30 years. he was on the stand three weeks ago saying that when the checks came in for michael cohen he is the one who assigned them to the ledger that said legal expenses. i want to say one more thing quick. blanche is arguing the records are not false and there is no intent to defraud. so the bottom line, he says, is the charges in this case have to do with invoices and vouchers and checks. i am going to talk a lot about

michael cohen today. that should not surprise you. leave it there, more right after this break. watch me. with cascade platinum plus i have upped my dish game. i just scrape... load... and i'm done. in that dishwasher? in that dishwasher. only platinum plus is packed with more dawn to remove up to 100% of grease and food residue. get the highest standard of clean, even in your machine. clean enough for ya? yeah. scrape, load, done. cascade platinum plus. dare to dish differently.

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